Words Don't Work

But I Will Try.

I've started this post over about 3 times now. It just kept sounding corny and cliche. I am forced to admit that I lack the words to describe the love I feel for my husband. It seems impossible to write about. Every time I start I think, ugh, that sounds dumb, that sounds silly, that sounds too private.

What can I say after all of that? I don't know. I guess just simply, I'm glad I married the man I did. I'm glad we had a beautiful child together. I'm excited about our future together. I am an individual as is he, but together we make one.

If this ship goes down, we go down together. We're the young version of the old couple holding each other in the bed as the Titanic went down. As we have endured the various sucker punches that life sometimes offers up, we have shared the bruises, we have overcome the obstacles together.

Just as he tucks his feet under mine for warmth on cold winter nights, so do I turn to him for his strength when I am feeling worn. When I have gone and screwed everything up, he is there to say, "Don't worry." When he is tired on his long journey home, I am there on the phone talking to him for hours to keep him company. He can't wait to get home, I can't wait to see him arrive.
When I get stressed out and cry, he stands next to me and rubs my back, and says, "What's wrong?" He listens when I tell him. He offers solutions. He defends me, even if he thinks I'm overreacting, or that I'm just flat out wrong. He'll say, "You're my wife, I can't believe you are letting people treat you like that." He is saying, no one will mistreat what is mine. I like being his.

He doesn't make any big decision without asking, "How is this going to affect my family?" I have always admired this about him. There is no greater force to be reckoned with than a man serving his family. He defers to my opinion, he respects my insight on things.

The man loves my cooking, or he is smart enough not to say otherwise. Sometimes he makes fun of the stuff I make, but he always eats it, and then he goes back for seconds and says, "That was really good, you put that together very well, I could eat that again."

It wasn't always so easy. Neither one of us has changed much since we got married. We've matured more, we've learned to really put our trust in each other and not just give lip service to the idea, but we are basically the same people with the same likes and dislikes we've always had. The big difference now is we have found a way to put all of those mix matched puzzle pieces together and come out with one coherent image.

It saddens me when people divorce for reasons like, "We just can't get along." I always try to encourage them to work it out if they ask for my opinion, and sometimes even if they don't. If it is a case of abuse, or adultery then I don't try so hard, but if it is just disagreements, those can be overcome. Anyone who has known us over the 13 years of our marriage knows we have had plenty of disagreements.

People who have had the misfortune of being present when we have a fight are always amazed at how vicious we can be with each other. We get downright mean. Sometimes a houseplant or two might get hurled across the room. Haha I'm laughing really hard as I write this, but it is true. We don't strike out at each other, just the houseplants.

Once my niece was staying over and she woke up to us fighting. She said, "Are you guys going to get divorced? I can't imagine you guys not together." I said, "Oh hell no, we're just having a fight, we do that, but we love each other."

He used to stay mad for a long time. It drove me nuts. Finally I had to tell him I can't stand it when he stays mad so long. He must get over it. I can't stay mad at him, even if I tried, and believe me I have. He doesn't do that anymore. After it is all over, and some time has passed, I usually walk up to him and kiss him and say, "I love you dickhead." He used to tell me to leave him alone, but now he usually laughs and then we talk.

After we got over the psychological idea of the perfect relationship that permeates society, we realized that yes indeed people do fight, it does get ugly, and there is no pretty way to do it. Sometimes you just have to cuss someone out. Get over it. Stop psycho analyzing your mate, and be surprised at how much things improve.

That's all I've got.

I'm Home From Work

That's About It.

I found out from my daughter that my sister is a double handed flipper-offer when she drives. According to my daughter, my quiet and shy sister will even roll down her window and stick her arm all the way out to give people the single finger salute. This shocked me, so I asked my sister tonight if this was true, she did not deny it. In fact she said, "yes, I need to watch my mouth around her." Apparently there is a narrative to accompany the hand gestures.

Here I am innocently driving along and having old men starting flip off wars against me for no reason at all and I find out my sister is an actual aggressor in these types of things. I'm shocked. Truly I am.

I don't have to worry about her reading this, she only goes online to go to a shopping website, and she doesn't look at any other websites.

That's it. That is all I have to talk about right now. I can't keep going on with the, oh my gosh I'm tired, I'm so busy, life is hectic, laundry is piling up thing. It is so boring. Anyway, in a great show of strength my daughter and I whipped this whole entire house into shape last night. The laundry is pretty much done. Everybody has laundry, this is not a topic of discussion, is it?

I will close for now. Have a good one. Hugs.

I Woke Up To Two Hundred and Forty Problems Today

That's What I Get.

Procrastinating never pays. This is the lesson that college courses are really meant to teach. Sure, people think they are being given a well rounded education in math, science, history and English, but what they are really being taught is how not to let molehills turn into mountains. If one can master that, then by golly he is master of all.

I wasn't actually so much guilty of procrastinating as I was giving too much time to my other class, and that is what landed me in the position of waking up to 240 math problems to do this morning before I went to class today. It keeps working out this way because my other class takes so much time for reading and note taking that by the time I get done it is bed time and I have to put the math off until the morning right before class.

Oh well, at least I enjoy the math. I can't believe I'm saying that. I never really liked it, but I've found it much more fun then I remember it being. My father would be proud, he would love nothing more than to have one of his children follow in his footsteps and be a total math nerd. For years I remember my father spending countless hours in his office working various math problems. For fun. He did it for fun. I could never understand that, but now I do. There is something very satisfying about completing several steps to find that one has arrived at a correct answer.

All right, I admit I'm at a very beginning level in math, but I keep thinking each time I go to class, if I master this, I am ready for the next thing, and I will just keep getting it all until suddenly I will look up and I'm doing calculus or something.

I keep saying to myself, so this is what it is like to be a non-traditional student. I can't get enough of this stuff. Yes, I'm a lot more stressed out and busy with it, but everyday I think I am taking one more step towards something new. It is exciting stuff.

That Time of Year Again

Cookie Blackmail.

For days I've managed to not buy a box of girl scout cookies. It is that time of year where friendships are put to the test, and the only determining factor of how good a friend is can be seen in the number of boxes of girl scout cookies they buy from your kid, well you actually, because 9 times out of 10 it is the parents who are pushing these things. There is not a store in town which is not staked out by these zealots, these fanatical cookies sellers.

What exactly they get from selling all of these boxes of cookies is what remains a mystery to me. I would stop and ask, but then I would get the pouty hurt look if I didn't buy 12 boxes to take home with me. I'm really not into breaking kid's hearts. They really want us to buy these things.

Well guess what? I don't want to buy any. And according to some people that makes me a scrooge of the most evil nature. "We neeeeed to support themmmm!" they cry to me. Why? Why do I have to buy over priced cookies to show support of complete stranger's children? Why do I even need to support other people's children? Answer that question there Mister Smarty Pants. How about I just don't want any darn cookies? Sheesh if I were to say that all hell would break lose, soccer moms and dads in mini vans would circle my block with signs while screaming profanities at me for my selfishness.

If people want to buy them great, if I don't want to buy them leave me alone about it. I got tricked into the selling girl scout cookies when I was a kid. I honestly do not remember what the purpose of it was. I think we got a badge or something, maybe we made some money to take our troop on a field trip or something. I don't even remember, I do recall my parents doing most of the work by taking the things to their workplaces and bugging their co-workers into buying them. Most places won't even allow people to bring in stuff their kids are selling anymore. This is why they stake out store entrances now.

I refuse to feel guilty about not buying the cookies. I just don't want any.

Thoughts Swirl

For Real.

My mind is in a whirl. I've just spent the evening with some very hefty reading. I don't even know who or what I am anymore, or if I am even real. For all I know I could be in a padded room somewhere living all of this out in my mind. You might not even be real, who can say? Maybe we are all just figments of someone unknown person's imagination. No, I can't believe that. It just doesn't make sense.

I can't figure out why my cat likes eating cellophane but he does. Well, I shouldn't say eating, it's more like chewing on it before we grab it away from him which royally ticks him off. He is the only one of the three that does that. If there is a plastic wrapper to be had he will find it, and try to eat it.

No matter how often I fill the dog bowls, they still eat cat cookies. I wish they wouldn't do it. It is not nice to live with.

I've finally got to the bottom of the mysterious laundry pile. Unfortunately, I have nothing interesting to report as to my findings. All I can say is that for some reason getting to the bottom means I find a lot of socks which irritates me because if there is nothing I hate doing more it is folding an entire basket of socks. I don't actually fold them, it is more about pairing them until I get sick of it and eventually open the drawer and dump the rest of them in it. I'm somewhat ashamed to admit this, but we don't all have our own socks, we just have one sock drawer that is completely filled with socks and the whole family just picks and chooses which white sock they want to wear that day. I like to keep things simple.

It once came to my attention that there was a point in time when we were so busy with work, school, etc. that instead of doing laundry, I just kept buying new clothes. I kept thinking, we don't have enough clothes, I should buy us more clothes, and so I did, and then when I did all the laundry I realized we had way too many clothes. I don't do that anymore. Those were dark days.

I went through a phase recently where I bought a big old stack of paper plates. It was nice for a while, we had less dishes to wash, but the plates have run out, and now we have to use real plates again which means more washing of the dishes, unless I go buy some more paper plates which I'm debating the merits of. I am a woman on the edge here people.

I think I will go to bed. Good Night.

What Are You Doing?

I'm Not Doing Anything Either.

We had beautiful weather today. It really makes me long for longer days and warmer temperatures. The house has been closed up all winter practically, and it is starting to wear on me. It seems so silly to complain about the weather, what can we do about it anyway?

I have been dreaming about all the things I would like to do to the house. I wish I was more creative, I would love to turn our backyard into a beautifully landscaped place for relaxation and just spending time together. I picked up one of those gardening magazines which claimed to make it simple, I flipped through the pages and thought, there is nothing simple about any of this. Besides, I guess it is really not my style anyway. We're not perfectly manicured lawn types of people. We are just not.

I realized that I must accept the fact that my home will never look like a magazine spread. We just don't live that way. Most likely I've just fallen for all of the marketing, when I really think about it, I don't need that stuff. I have a great husband and a terrific kid, I suppose I can live with a bare looking backyard, although we definitely do want to get a privacy fence.

I'm not a planner I guess. What I am is a messy sort of decorator, I put something somewhere, if I like the way it looks I leave it there and move on. I look at those perfectly planned yards and I have to admit they are lovely, but I don't think I could do that. Don't even get me started on the rest of the house.

We've got a lot of weeds to kill off. They had pretty much run over the place before we bought it. We worked on it last summer while we could, but we only had a couple of months before the weather turned cold. It has been darn cold ever since.

Life is short, and precious. I shouldn't spend so much time worrying about the silly things that don't matter at all. This post stinks, but I don't care. It is not all that important. I'm sorry to have wasted your time. Thank you for stopping by, and please come back soon.

I've Never Even Been There

You Are 8% NYC

At best, you're a tourist. At worst, you're a poseur.

How NYC Are You?

a la Miriam

My Brother

He's a Chef in Training. He made this. It was delicious.

I Want To Blog

Really I do.

So many things have crossed my mind this week that I've had to say, "That is going on the blog." Then, when I actually have time to sit down and pound on the keyboard, I get nothing at all. Nothing. Yet, I sit here wanting to write something, wanting to put something down. I don't know why, I just want to.

My own family rarely if ever reads my blog, although my husband did confess recently that he enjoys reading it. I never really knew that. He has always been very honest with me, I can't imagine he would say that for my own vanity.

I guess I'll start with my test results. Not exactly as I wished them to be, but not necessarily unexpected either. This is what he did, he graded our tests, which were a lot of writing about all sorts of interesting things, and he gave us a grade on that. I did quite well except on the last part which he graded specifically on grammar and our writing itself, and not necessarily the thoughts we had. On this part it seems I made several errors which resulted in lowering my grade from an "A" to a "C". Bummer.

Probably all of my sloppy blog writing has had an effect on my writing structure. I guess I'm a bit rusty with writing. The good news is, he is going to allow us to fix our errors and get those points back, which means I could get the "A" that I covet. I'm happy with that idea. It seems pretty fair to me.

Now, my sister on the other hand, had quite a strange thing happen. Apparently, he overlooked part of her writing, and thought she had not included it, and therefore gave her a zero for that section. She looked at me with tears in her eyes as she told me what she got on her test. I could not believe it. I encouraged her to speak with him after class, which she did, he apologized for missing it, and agreed to grade it over the weekend. Poor girl was about to drop the class, she looked at me and said, "D means Drop." Which I understand really.

What I have to do now is find in a writing book just what exactly the errors I made are, and then show him, and he will raise the grade. I guess I can handle that. I feel sort of embarrassed that my writing was so poor after all I actually write just for the fun of it. Granted it has been a long time since anyone has graded anything I wrote.

Wow. My life is incredibly boring. What's more, I just want to go to bed now. Ibuprofen, muscle relaxant, sleep. In that order. Good Night.

Full Moon

I blame it on that.

I was pretty tired, but not sleepy, when I drove home from work this evening. I was driving about 5 miles below the speed limit, in the right lane. I exited, got in the proper turn lane, I didn't do anything wrong. I thought. I was talking on my cell phone, maybe that is what it was.

I stopped at the light, and when it turned green I didn't hesitate to turn. I turned into the proper lane. It was then that I noticed this bozo in a mini van next to me flip me the bird as he passes me. My reaction was, what the? What did I do?

Being not in the mood for dealing with jerk offs in mini vans, I honked my horn, and gave it right back. I looked and it was some old man. Which for some reason really made me laugh. He stopped at the light in front of me, and was looking back at me, and I couldn't stop laughing because for some reason it struck me funny that a man my father's age would actually go around town flipping people off for no apparent reason.

He looked like a crazed lunatic as he sat at the light watching me laugh hysterically at him. I just couldn't help it. Finally, I just waved at him and smiled because I figured since he was picking for a fight with a woman half his age, it would probably bother him more if I did that. The light changed and he took off in a heck of a hurry.

All I could think is, what is a lunatic like that doing running the streets at all? It was so strange. My dad would never stoop to flipping off a woman in traffic, or anyone for that matter. This man was clearly not in his right mind. Whatever, I blame the moon. It seems to have brought the ugly out in a lot of people this weekend.

So I carry on, and as I approach the turn to my street there is a car just sitting in the middle of the street. I stop behind the woman, and wait. Well, she gets mad at me for doing this, yet I don't know what else to do, if I go around her I will literally miss my turn. She flips me off for having the audacity to not do whatever it is she thinks I should do and then drives on. Good gosh.

I'm glad I'm home. I plan on staying home until the moon wanes and these freaks go back under their rocks. And there you have it, not much of a post, but I suppose it will do for now.

It is Starting Again

The Busy Stuff.

I hate to sound like all I do is say I'm busy and name X, Y, and Z reasons for that, but really...that is sort of what is going on. I love school, but of course it is very time consuming. I'm happy that on both of the tests in my math class I have made "A's". That makes me feel good. I don't know about my other class yet, but I will hopefully know on Thursday how I did on that test.

I'm trying to hang in there, it just feels like I'm always running from one thing to another. Wah. I know I'll shut up. Seriously, I am so happy and grateful that I can finally go back to school, it is something that I have dreamed of for the better part of at least the last 10 years. I really shouldn't sound like I'm complaining so much about the work.

This post is going nowhere, I'm going to close it and do something else.

Furniture Store

Yes!

We went tonight. I love looking at furniture. Even when I was a kid I would go to the furniture section and look at all of the beautiful stuff there and imagine living with such nice stuff. My friend since third grade and I decided to take our daughters out to eat, and after dinner decided to head to the furniture store. It is a pretty big store with lots and lots of pretty and expensive and even some not so expensive things to look at, and of course the kids ran off to find the "kid" furniture.

My daughter has grown very tired of her little girl day bed thing, she was immediately drawn toward the many bunk beds they have there. Of course I told her, "I'm not buying you a bunk bed, in two years you won't want it anymore." This was not enough to persuade her, she wanted it now. Two years is so far away. We moved on, but she didn't forget the bed she wanted, which frankly looked like something they would have prison inmates sleep on. It was metal, and looked like something straight out of a jail house. The thing that she really liked about it though was that under the top bed it had a computer desk and chair and all of that jazz.

Of course I wasn't there to make any big furniture purchases anyway no matter how many times she said, "Please!!!" Beg. Pout. I knew that just like I did when I was a kid, she was imagining this wonderful--to any prison inmate--bed in her room with her stuff all around it looking very cool. I was imagining her in Jr. High begging me to get that kiddie bunk bed out of her room. The wallet won, and we left without any metal prison furniture, or any other thing for that matter.

I felt pleased with myself for not buying that really nice table for only $143.00. Resist. That is the good thing about having a small house, I find it much easier to NOT justify buying a piece of furniture that will not fit anyway.

Finally, we got in the car to head home. She was still trying to plead her case, my friend said, "Oh my gosh, be happy with what you have, you could live in Cambodia or something!" To which I inevitably had to add, "Yeah, just think, you might already be married off in some places!" Of course we laughed because she was so completely mortified by the idea. I guess the thought of marriage brought the point home because she didn't mention the bunk bed anymore.

That was that, and now I'm off to bed. I'm completely and totally pooped.

Not Your Average Bus Passengers

True Love.

Feerocious Peet Bulls

Monsieur Connor

He is French.

It's That Time Again

Don't You Have Work To Do?

Why Yes, Of course.

So? I'd rather do this. Have I mentioned that everyone in the 5th grade at my daughter's school have made a song out of that commercial, they even have hand movements. We're treated almost daily to the latest rendition of, "Nausea, Heartburn, Indigestion, Upset Stomach, DIARRHEA!!!!!" My husband said that one day while I was at work she and her little friend sang that song all day. They start by placing their hands over their mouth, this is the nausea, then over their heart for heartburn, and so on and so forth. Then when they get to the DIARRHEA!!!! part they grab their behinds and have the most desperate and pained look on their faces when they say it.

Yeah, it's fun. Of course proper people with good upbringing might frown on such behavior, but what? It's not like they are singing the dirty things we used to sing when we were kids. We had some doozies.

Well she's having a friend spend the night tonight, they are upstairs in my fancy living room playing Bratz. Yeah, I let them play with dolls that look like sluts. I played with barbies, I most certainly don't carry on the way my barbies did. I'm not worried.

What else? Oh, I've been wondering if I reach a point in my development where I find that certain bloggers who I used to adore are constantly pressing the boundaries of my tolerance, and I find that I disagree with them more often than I agree, should I just move on? I mean really? When is that type of thing appropriate? Should I just quietly lose the links? If the disagreement I have reaches the point of utter disgust does that mean I really should move on? Because I'm feeling that way about a certain couple of bloggers who I used to really think highly of, but the more I read their stuff, I think, these people are horrible. Yeah, I think it is time to move on.

I'm nobody here, but I do have some standards. Kindness is important to me, I may be a broad, but I attempt to be classy, not that pretentious fancy table setting and multiple forks type of thing which really does not mean crap no matter how some people try to say it does, but I believe the ultimate sign of class is treating others with dignity and respect. I may not always be so kind, and I certainly don't expect it from everyone, but I don't care to spend time breathing in just pure old snotty nastiness either. Perhaps it is time to move on. They don't read my unimportant blog anyway, so this isn't some sort of ceremonial delinking. I'm just saying is all. Yes, I think it is decided.

All righty then. I just needed to get that off my chest.

Yer Weird

No I'm Not.

Anyway, here’s the game rules: Each player starts with posting 6 weird things about themselves. Persons/blogs who get tagged should write something of their own and state the rules clearly on their respective blog. Then select an additional 6 bloggers to be tagged and list their names. Leave a comment that says you have been tagged in their comments section and hope they don’t hate you after tagging them.

All righty, I've actually had some time to think about this. The Dragonlady, who I'm completely sure is not anything at all like some of the dragon ladies I've known in my lifetime, and is probably way nicer than your average dragonlady, but I digress, has tagged me with this thingy. So, now I will proceed to entertain you with 6 of the weirdest things that I can think of about myself, I will disclose that I did consult my sister on this subject, because she knows every weird thing about me, and still loves me. Here goes:

1. According to everyone I know, I am the busiest person they know that never gets anything done. They are wrong in fact, while I'm very busy, I do actually get things done, the problem is the things don't stay done, so I am in fact doing the same things over and over which keeps me very busy, rinse, repeat.

2. I know every song on the radio, regardless of era or genre. I know them all, and will sing along, off key of course because I can't sing worth a lick, but I love to sing with all of my heart. The strange thing is, I can hardly name a band, or singer for most of the songs out there. I could very easily be one of those bumbling contestants on American Idol, have the passion, but no talent AT ALL.

3. I am in constant fear that others can actually see my flatulence.

4. I like to paint my nails just so I can pick the nail polish off. I've found this works best with 3 coats of paint, it peels nicely that way. The best types of polish for peeling are those express finish polishes, for some reason they peel off in one nice sheet. This is extremely creepy sounding I know. All right, I don't always peel them, sometimes I actually remove the polish with remover, but sometimes I do in fact pick the polish off. What? Like you're perfect or something!

5. Birds like to poop on me. I have been pooped on many times by birds. They always get my hair. I still like birds though, but I'm always wary when they fly over my head.

6. I'm an overgrown chicken. I hate scary movies, I hate staying home alone at night. I'm pretty much a big fat chicken. I slept with the hall light on until I was in high school, and sometimes I still turn on the bathroom light when my husband is not home. I've always been somewhat afraid of the dark. I become almost paralyzed if the lights go out and the house is pitch black.

There you have it. I'm weird.

This Is The Way We Post On The Blog

Post on the blog, post on the blog.

Beautiful weather we've had lately. The sun is shining, the sky is clear, the temperatures nearly reaching a balmy 70. It's been nice. I'm glad about it.

Other than nice weather it has pretty much been a whirlwind of a week for me. The birthday party we had on Sunday was a success, although it did take several days for me to get around to getting everything all cleaned up. I had that test to do, which I finished typing up on Tuesday, right before I turned it in.

Then there were appointments, and other homework, and reading, and everything else I've neglected for yet another day, laundry, I'm speaking of you. Oh laundry why won't you go away? I see you there lying in a pile on the floor, practically begging for attention, but why? Why can't you fix yourself, why do you have to be so needy all the time. I just get one crisis averted to look around and see that you've gone and crumpled yourself up into another fussy mess on the floor. I'm tired of your tantrums, your demands, your obsessive compulsive need to be folded, and put away. Leave me alone! I have no time for your whining, and looking pathetic. I hate you. There I've said it. You've accused me for so long, now I've told you, I do loathe you laundry. Now, go away.

Oh yes, I will return later with many more fascinating examples of just how far off the deep end I am capable of going, but right now, I absolutely have to get up and go to school, and take a test in math. I like math, at least so far. I can't say I've actually ever said that before, I used to dread it, but now I like how math is math and there is no funny business about it. Gotta go.

All Right, Listen Up Peeps

I've Got a Ton of Work To Do.

I anticipate being all tied up the next few days, I would say don't look for much from me until after Monday. I've got to work tomorrow, then after work do some shopping for the kiddo's birthday, and birthday party, and after that if it is not already 9:30 p.m. I will study, but I've got to get to bed at a decent hour because I've got to do the exact same thing on Saturday.

Then on Sunday it will be the invasion of the long lost relatives as my house, which hopefully will be halfway clean, will be run over by family, children and everyone else my mother in law decides to invite. We will have cake, and if I'm feeling all Martha-ish maybe a frickin' veggie tray. That's about it people. Hopefully by 4:00p.m. everyone will have decided to head on home.

And that is when I've got to get extreme on the homework thing, which I will be working on every extra minute I have until then. I have a take home test due on Tuesday, and well, he made it extra hard since it was a take home test. It will involve a lot of writing, and a whole lot of fretting. Gah, why did I choose this dumb class? Seriously. The subject is severely overrated. Never again I say.

My sis is taking the class with me, and she feels pretty much the same way. We wish we could drop it, but it is too late for that, we wouldn't get our money back, so we've decided to just try to get through it. We are praying for C's or better. I've never had any subject make me feel so dumb in all my life.

Anyway, that's my overwhelming life right now. There just isn't enough time. I can't do it all. I've got to accept that. Dang feminists lied. I can't have it all, and I sure the heck don't want it after seeing what I have to do to have it. Baby steps. Baby steps.

I feel like some pictures

Allow Me This

A Couple of Things. Some of them Might Be Gross, You Have Been Warned.

Kiddo is sick. Again. This time it is not the flu which I'm sure she had some odd week ago. My friend's son had this stomach bug last week, she called me up early one morning and asked if she could borrow my carpet shampooer, of course I said yes. It seems her son had a bout of projectile vomiting all over her carpet, walls and ceilings and the ornamental bushes outside her front door. She said, "I've never seen anything like it."

I woke up to that this morning, although not quite as bad, it wasn't projectile, and she did make it to the bathroom leaving only a small mess on the floor and the house plants managed to make it out unscathed. She's home from school today. Unlike some parents who send their little monsters, oops, I mean children, out sick to infect the whole world, I try not to further the spread of disease so carelessly. Besides, my kid's teacher quit, in the middle of the year, in the middle of the week, so they have a substitute anyway.

I asked my daughter who was teaching her class now, and she said, "the detention teacher" Apparently the name of this person is not important. Sometime this week I will be going in and meeting the new principal, who has replaced the old principal in the middle of the year, just a couple of weeks ago. To the children these things might just seem run of the mill, but I find it quite odd, and suspect there is something afoot in the administration of the school. People are leaving left and right, abandoning ship mid course so to speak. Have got to try and squeeze some information out of someone at that school.

I've realized there is a point in which my house crosses a threshold from being "lived in" to "not fit for pigs" Before I started my stint of working this weekend, the house was at lived in status, with some rooms even fit for unexpected guests, laundry was even mostly done. As the busy weekend at work waned, the house reached the climactic, "Oh my gosh, I think a bomb went off in here somewhere, but I can't tell where," look.

It is my fault I suppose. I shouldn't have been so lazy yesterday morning. I knew the trash was full, I took the bag out and sat it on the side of the can thinking I would grab it on my way out the door for work, but I forgot it because I have too many other things on my mind I suppose.

The little girl dog waited until no one was home to have a field day with the trash bag, spilling it's contents all over the kitchen, and eating who knows what out of it. It was bad, very bad. I know it was the little girl dog because the boy dog never digs in trash. He's more mature and doesn't give in to such behaviors. He's content with digging in the cat boxes anyway.

So, we had that to come home to. That single event took the house over the edge, and suddenly everything seemed out of place, and dirty. If that is not enough grossness for one day, the little girl dog then decided to eat a turd out of the toilet. Oh my gosh. It is enough to make me hurl. I blame the environmentalists for that.

Now look, we don't just leave things lying around in the toilet without flushing. What probably happened is the kiddo went, and then flushed and walked away assuming the contents were whisked away, but they weren't. Because everyone knows it takes 2-3 more flushes when one is the lucky owner of a low-flushing toilet, still kids in the middle of something might just flush once and run off. Now my dog has eaten a turd, and no one wants her around.

The question is how long will it be before she is not gross? Both of the furry beasts eat out of the cat boxes, the boy dog always comes up stairs all nonchalant like, "What? I didn't do nuffin'" And we know by the cat litter on the tip of his nose where he has been. Now we just say, "Guilty as charged." Because one time he came up, and I said, "For the crime of eating cat cookies, I find the defendant, Guilty as Charged." It was funny at the time, and it stuck.

I asked the vet if eating cat cookies was harmful to them, she said, as of yet, and she has been a vet for a good 25 years, she's never seen any ill effects related to it. She admitted that her own dog does partake in the occasional cat cookie, and he seems fine. I felt better at least other people's dogs do it too. It is still gross stuff though.

Now one might be asking, don't you feed your dogs? Of course, I keep the bowls full, but apparently dogs will eat gross things for their own sake, and not necessarily out of hunger, this is the only conclusion I can reach. That girl dog is particularly fond of gross things. I've had to adjust the way I dispose of other things as well, I won't mention them as I'm not trying to make people lose their lunch, suffice it to say it only happens about once a month. Things my boy dog never bothered with, she's happy to chew up.

I worry the little girl dog is going to get sick from the nasty stuff she ate yesterday. We will all be watching her closely.

All right, I need to clean today, and take a huge bite out of some hefty reading, and note taking. In other words, I'll be reading blogs all morning, and doing pretty much nothing. Have a good one.

Have You Ever Wondered?

Things I Need To Know.

A lady never passes gas while in the company of others. Yet, we must accept the fact that biology dictates that in fact, even ladies do pass gas, the only exception being my sister who really hasn't passed gas in the presence of any other human being since approximately 8th grade. That was the last recorded instance of her passing gas, oh wait, I'm sorry there was that time we were all playing cards at my mom's kitchen table about 2 years ago, and we had a huge laugh because my sister passed gas.

What was so funny about that is not someone passing gas, but someone so proper passing gas is hilarious. She had kept up her record for 20 years, and finally we watched and listened as her will broke, and she let loose a thunderous roar. What made it even funnier is we were all thinking the same thing, "She hasn't done that since 8th grade!" Of course, someone blurted that out, and we all started laughing even more, including my sister, who then was unable to contain about 3 other outbursts of hot air, which nearly had us all falling out of our chairs. We found it enormously funny that she could not stop the wind from blowing no matter how hard she tried.

Now, broads on the other hand might be a bit more free with these types of things. A broad might even belch in front of others, really, it does happen. Being the broad that I am, I try not to be too rude about things around delicate types, but in the privacy of home I pretty much let whatever thing that wants to, rip. It's not a pleasant thing, no, not at all, but why hold it in?

I inherited this stomach problem from my mother. Certain foods make our bellies rumble, and well, neither one of us could hold a fart to save our lives. Generally though, I still try not to release embarrassing sounds in front of co-workers and other shoppers at the Wal-Mart store, I can't say the same for my mother who has the honored distinction of having cleared a line at the grocery store. I don't know why she always decides when she gets in line that she can no longer hold the thing, but it has happened multiple times with everyone in the family, and we all know she does it.

I realized one day as I walked through the parking lot towards my car at work, I had been holding in a manly amount of gas. I looked behind me, no one around, all right, time to release I thought, and so I did leaving a trail of Silent and Not So Silent But Deadlies in my wake. But then the weather turned cold, really cold, and now I have this horrible fear that when I do it others will be able to see my breath, and I'm not talking about the breath coming out of my mouth and nose if you catch my drift.

How I reached this age in life without figuring this out is beyond me, but here I am. I can't be the only one who has ever wondered about this.

Just a Matter of Opinion You see

It's All Relative.

I have a headache. I just spent an hour in class discussing moral relativism, and listening to people defend this position. Well, it is my opinion that the theory stinks to high heaven. Killing Jews, female circumcision, those things are bad, but that's just an opinion. Who are we to question what other societies deem morally correct? That's the question being asked anyway.

The good news, the instructor said flat out, moral relativists are wrong. I was glad to hear that. I was hoping that I wasn't going to have to spend the rest of the semester with peanut butter in my ears, and just putting the "correct" answers on tests knowing full well I might very well be paying for a load of donkey dung.

I know murder is wrong, I know what the Nazi's did was wrong, I know a lot of things are wrong. I can't tell you necessarily why I know this--which my instructor said was a relativist's position--but I still know it is wrong. I guess it is just cause my mom and dad taught me so, but I don't remember them specifically saying so. Which reminded me of the movie Waterboy, which I only just saw for the first time this year. I felt like the Water Boy tonight when I said, the killing the Nazi's did was just wrong, because my momma said so that's why.

My parent's taught me that life is valuable. That could very well be a moral relativists position, but I believe it to be more than that, I believe that to be a moral principle that should extend to every society, and it does for the most part, just some folks need to be reminded. That surely doesn't account for tyrants and all, we know they are out there.

Anyway, I'm just blabbing. I'll post more later. I've got a lot of reading to do this weekend. Have to get myself up to speed on this stuff, or at least be able to make a point without referring to my momma saying so. (I didn't really quote my momma in my class, but I sure wanted to!)

My My

Time, It Does Fly.

Oh gosh, I'm sorry I haven't posted much at all lately. I apologize to those who bothered to stop by here and see what kind of unimportant events are taking place, only to find that nothing is happening here at all. Which is as usual actually, but in this case, I'm not even talking about anything, even if I never talk about anything anyway. Goodness, does that make any sense at all?

Well, I'm here to tell you, I've got a handful of excuses for my willful neglect of this little site. First and foremost, the kiddo has had a serious and nasty bout of flu which required my constant bedside attention which included pushing fluids, monitoring temperatures, watching movies with her (Nanny McPhee is a cute movie) running up and down the stairs at her every whim, replenishing the cool wash cloth which she dramatically kept on her forehead while looking altogether pitiful, and crying out for mommy to make the discomfort go away. That lasted for 3 and a half days. She's all better now, and back to her usual antics.

My second excuse, hubby was home and I wanted to give him my undivided attention, except of course during the moments that I was playing nurse to the ailing 11 year old. He didn't necessarily want my undivided attention, I just wanted to pour it on him because I missed him while he was out in the patch braving the cold, and the wind. It mattered to me that I was available to sneak up and give him hugs and kisses whenever I felt the urge to do so, which he gladly received and returned in kind.

Third, I'm steadily working on striking a balance between school, work, the family, and the pets. I found that I could not handle the 3 classes I originally registered for, and so dropped one, and have felt a whole lot better. Balance is returning to my life again. That balance thing is really important to me at this point in my life. It may mean taking longer to finish school, but I think it will produce a better quality product in the end. I'm hoping at least.

Fourth, I told you I have a ton of excuses here, I've been taking care of me. I don't want to talk a lot about it, but I'm just trying to eat healthier. I'll leave it at that. None of this even accounts for my cat who sits on my book just to get on my nerves, well actually I think he does it for attention, which I give him constantly, but I can't seem to give him enough. Then there is the girl dog who sits on the chair next to me when I'm at the table trying to study. Who ever heard of a dog sitting at the kitchen table? It's ridiculous, but she insists. My life is out of control people. Just to give an example, my cat has sat on the keyboard and stared at me right in the eyes at least 3 times as I write this. He wants to crawl up on my shoulder and purr in my ear, but I can't type with his cat butt in my face like that. I just can't. He sits on a chair nearby now looking very annoyed.

Lastly, although I could go on indefinitely here, I've just been too busy to sit down on the computer. I did manage to get our taxes done, and we're getting a small portion of what we paid in back, but it is enough to pay off the couch and computer we purchased on credit, and leave a bit in savings which will inevitably be sucked out into the checking account when a bad month hits again. December and January were tough months financially. We had Christmas, tuition, the registration of 2 cars amounting to no less than $700, plus all of our other bills of course.

I realize responsible people plan for these events, and we did see them coming and tried to prepare, but we've been paying for other events like medical bills and so on. We did manage to cover everything without breaking the bank, but it has been a long time since our checking account balance has seen single digits. It got a little hairy there.

Whew. Now I've got to go do some homework. I hope to post more this week. Don't hold your breath though, I don't think I can take anymore pressure. Hugs.

Cat Fishing

It Has Been A Long Week.

My husband and daughter love to eat fried catfish, me, not so much. I can eat a bit of it here and there, although I am just not much of a fish eater at all, and catfish is not my particular favorite. Several years ago my husband spent one hot summer exploring the joys of cat fishing. I supported his quest to find the most stank foul smelling bait imaginable, trusting that he would be responsible with the limburger and old gym socks he rustled up to lure the evasive bottom feeders from their dank smelly holes in the gooey sediment.

It was probably the hottest summer I can ever remember having spent here that year. Temps in the 100's everyday, and no a/c at mom and dad's house who we were visiting before we were to head overseas. I was enjoying the family while hubby set out on a course for adventure and fishing. All was well, or so I thought.

About that time I got in the old Corsica, and was going to brave the heat for a quick trip to the store to pick some things up for my mom. I got in that car and it must have been 120 degrees in there with the windows up, and of course, the a/c didn't work, even with all of the windows down, I sat there wondering, "What the hell is that horrible smell?" I couldn't figure it out, but it was the smell of something decaying. It was just awful.

I searched out my husband and said, "Do you have any idea what that stench is in the Corsica?" His eyes began to switch back and forth as he searched his mind for the answer to this extremely important question. He got up and went to investigate, sticking his head in the car, smelling, and then he went and opened the trunk. There, buried beneath all sorts of manly outdoorsy stuff was a small container of extremely pissed off spoiled chicken livers, which he immediately removed, along with all other smelly items accidentally left behind. That was pretty much the point that the Corsica forever became known as the smelly Corsica.

I tried not to look too mortified, or act all prissy about it, but it was the grossest thing ever. Ever.

Why am I talking about this? Oh, yeah, tonight I sat for the better part of an hour watching my daughter cat fish. It was actually quite amusing. She sat on my new couch, with a broom handle, with a long piece of yarn threaded through the hole at the top of the handle. She cast her line and waited. Within a few moments the buggers were taking the bait. First the fat one, who is usually never around, pounced on the orange string, she reeled it in, and giggled watching him go after it. Then the little one with the white paws became mildly amused with the string, eventually he could not contain himself and was trying to grab hold with all of his might.

The third one sat on my lap acting all indifferent, but eventually got up and slowly perched himself out of the string's sight, and when he felt the string looked vulnerable enough, he jumped on it, and they were all in a frenzy each trying to get the string, and chasing it as it moved along. Apparently, the child thought it would be fun to tie a piece of string on the tail of one of them and see what happens. He took off running from the string which was attached to his tail while the others chased behind him trying to get the orange string flying behind him. Three orange cats, one orange string, I'm surprised at how entertaining such a thing could be.

He got scared and ran under the super enormous insecure ottoman, it must be insecure and trying to prove something for it to be so big, I took pity on the cat and called him out and took the string off of his tail. He thanked me by crawling up on my shoulder and purring in my ear.

Eventually I had to ruin the whole thing because I was getting annoyed by all of the string all over the place, and felt the need to start cleaning up around the place. There were scissors near my new couch! I could not take it anymore. But that few minutes of watching my daughter fishing for cats was the highlight of my day.

Oh My Gosh

I've Got Big Books.

Really big books, and people who insist that I read them and regurgitate the information on these things called tests and quizzes. I feel like a fish on a treadmill, a bit out of place, and running like mad, I know fish can't run, but work with me here, I generally don't run either. Does that make any sense at all? I'm so confused right now.

Anyway, I'm getting used to a more rigorous routine and having to answer to people I'm paying darn good money to. These instructors are much more demanding than I remember them to be from past experience, but I'm going to do the best I can.

College is for kids, not grown ups with responsibilities other than choosing which subject to write a research paper on. I should have listened to my mother. Kids, listen to your mothers, they do know a bit about the world. She told me to finish school before I ran off and married that handsome Marine boy. Ah pooh, I'm glad I married him when I did, love and hormones just can't wait sometimes. We had a beautiful baby girl, who is a wonderful almost 12 year old now.

I'll be all right. I'm a lot better about studying now then I was way back when anyway, it is just that things have changed, and well, with the computer technology things are easier, but everything else is so rusty to me, I'm having to dig deep into my memory unit to try and remember things like, 6 divided by zero equals...What? A long time ago, I knew that, thankfully my sister knew the answer to that one. What complicates things even more is now we can do things online, and some teachers want certain things online, and others in person, and it seems like a lot to remember.

I will post a bit more when I feel less overwhelmed.

Further Humiliation

Why Not?

This is me at about 3 or 4 years of age. I cut my own hair, the day before the picture was taken. This picture has always cracked me up, I think there is jelly on my cheek. I dare YOU to post your funkiest childhood picture. Go ahead. What are you chicken?

What? It Was the Cat

It's a Couch, What Else?

Excuse the lousy picture...My living room needs a lot of help, but at least I've got this enormous ottoman to distract from that fact. The dogs like to sleep on the ottoman, the cats, as you can see like to sleep on the back of the couch. I give up.

Poor Thing

Further Proof That The Thong Is Just Wrong.

I recently put site meter back on this site. I'm not all that interested in "hits" I mostly just wanted it to see who was stopping by. The referrals feature is sort of fun though. A lot of people have probably been disappointed to find this site based on some of the more common searches that bring them here.

I've had a lot of people looking for thongs end up here, this should not be confused with the poor person looking for salad thongs which I'm sure was mortified to find out that thongs do not belong in salads at all, ever, which I'm sure was a major disappointment for them, but probably none is more sad then, "my mom bent over and I saw her thong." Having a mom of my own, I can only imagine this poor child's dismay at seeing his/her mother's thong. It must have been very troubling for the person, so troubling they sought out through internet searches information on this very subject.

I'm sorry I can't help more on that subject. My mom never wore thong underwears, although I do vaguely remember being completely shocked and dismayed when she bought some horrendous piece of naughty lingerie at the K-Mart store with my sister and I muffling uncontrollable snickering as we trailed behind her pretending not to see the bright red hooker outfit our mother was intending on, and actually did purchase. So, yeah kid, I feel your pain to some extent, although I never actually saw her WEAR the hooker outfit she bought, that's a whole 'nother monster.

I think the best thing I could suggest at this point is, pretend you didn't see it. Practice exercises in imagining cotton granny panties, although at this point in your delicate state I would not add imagining granny in them, that would be a very troubling thing that might take years with a good therapist to overcome.

Other interesting searches, and a surprisingly recurring one is, "bang my husband" Now, I don't know how I ended up being the authority on this subject, but apparently some words came together which bring people here looking for information on this subject. I have never posted on this matter, and consider it a topic that is not open for discussion. I always wonder, do they think I'm banging their husband, because I can assure any and all right here and now, I am not, and will not. Your husbands are safe with me. I've got my own, and one is plenty for me.

Now this next one, I'm a little glad to see, although I don't think I fit the bill. I'm not an "older broads", but I'm glad that older broads are finally getting their fair share of internet search hits. Older broads need love too.

One last thing, and I'll tell you, and thankfully they are far less often then most, there are some real sickos out there. Serious perves that make me wish we could colonize a special place on the moon just for them. I don't welcome such deviants here.

I Like Totally Apologize

I'm Like Sorry, You know?

Like I totally apologize for neglecting my little website. I've been you know, like totally busy.

I've been busy like totally enjoying my awesome new couch. Like oh my gosh, it's so pretty. I've been inviting everyone over to just you know, like sit on it.

All right, all right, I'll quit it already. I have been enjoying the couch, but mostly I've been guarding it from the children who wish to sit on it, or worse play with their filthy toys on it. The children are not allowed to sit on it, they've got the yucky one they can sit on. It sounds so cruel, but I don't care. Actually, I'll let them sit on it, if I'm present, and that's the last thing they want. I've got to stand strong and firm now, before they get too comfy with the idea that they are welcome on my new couch.

I went to the store tonight and all I could imagine was my daughter and her equally messy friend jumping on my couch with glasses full of red kool-aid, while sucking on purple popsicles. I just can't have that my friends, you understand. I just cannot tolerate a red kool-aid stain on my brand new couch, ever.

And you know what? I'm right. Given the opportunity my couch will have sticky hand print smudges, pizza sauce, grape juice and whatever they didn't mean to spill on it. NO. I say NO. Not this time. There will be no built in cupholders, there will be no toys, or potato chip crumbs under the cushions. I will not give in. I must remain vigilant. I must remain strong.

More couch updates to follow. Is it wrong to mention the opportunity to sit on my new couch when I invite people over to visit? I called my sister and invited her to come and visit my new couch, and being the faithful and loving one she is, she came right over. We didn't actually sit on the couch now that I think about it, but it is the thought that counts.

The day the couch arrived my friend and her two kids came over, I made fajitas for dinner and after we ate we all went and sat on the new couch. I think they just came over to sit on the couch if the truth were known.

It is a truly exciting life I lead isn't it? I don't even want a t.v. in there, that might encourage people to sit on the couch for long periods of time therefore increasing their desire to have a beverage which might be spilled on the couch. If only I could convince people the benefits of spilling their drinks on the carpet instead.

I'm a very sick woman. At least I erased the camera phone pictures of the couch, I'm taking steps here. Baby steps.

Yee Haw

Blogger Round Up.

This post by Johnny Virgil at 15 Minute Lunch is hilarious. A must read for all those who toil in the modern day cubicle.

When I read the post entitled "Aunt Sophie" by Tony at Blah Blah Blog, I knew I'd found a keeper.

I love this lady. Her blog is called, "Ask Mom" It doesn't get better than that. Read what she writes, there's a lot of wisdom in there just like a mom.

If you have any country in you at all, or even if you don't for that matter, you'll love I Was Trailer Trash When Trailer Trash Wasn't Cool.

These are some of the blogs I've found only recently, but they've been around a while.

I've also got all my favorites over there on the blog roll thingy. Easy and convenient.

Killer Smile

Sugar Overload.

Isn't it amazing how you can be having this great day, and you run into Ms. Sourpuss Face and somehow you just feel cruddy afterwards? I realize the world is full of all sorts of faces, but what is it about Ms. Sourpuss that just seems to spoil every great mood? Is it her haughty hateful attitude, or is it the way she sneers at the people serving her just because she can?

I used to have a boss that on a great many occasion looked like she had just taken a big old suck off of a lemon. She had the worst demeanor. She was such a sourpuss face that she could barely return a good morning through her clenched teeth, that is if she even bothered to respond beyond her usual glare.

Other people seem to just ignore the angry Ms. Sourpuss face. I usually can, in fact, I rather enjoy wrecking her day with an overwhelming amount of cheer. This is the antidote to the sourpuss face affliction, and if it doesn't work, well, it is fun to watch her anger grow all the while you smile and apologize for bothering her, while you are bending over backwards to serve her every want and need.

My dad always used to say when dealing with mean angry people the best thing to do is, "kill 'em with kindness." And you know, most of the time that works, at least it makes me feel better. If you have a Ms. Sourpuss face in your life, try a little sugar, no better yet try a sickeningly sweet molasses coated ridiculous amount of sugar, and enjoy watching her squirm.

Every once in a while I forget my dad's advice, and I get sucked into the anger vortex that is Ms. Sourpuss Face. I'm just reminding myself. Ahh, I feel better.

Mean People

They Do Suck.

I know it's a bumper sticker slogan, but it is true. It just depends on what you think is mean or not. Now, I admit I do have an eensy weensy teeny tiny little mean streak in me. I can be somewhat mean when provoked. Sometimes I use the F word when I probably shouldn't, and I've had moments of utter meanness that could make a preacher cuss.

I may be mean, but my meanness is nothing compared to those people who make fun of complete strangers. It is nothing compared to people who think themselves so fantastic and superior that they routinely post pictures of unattractive people on their websites just so they can have a laugh at them. I don't think that is funny. I don't think that is classy. I think that is downright to the core mean.

What amazes me even more is that these same people seem to have quite a following of other fantastic and superior people who think it is just dandy. Now of course I would not bother to make a comment, or criticize on their blog that would be rude, but that doesn't stop me from doing it here.

Oh I used to think I was mean, but I'm not. I just can't be that cruel. I guess I'm too soft. I'm not innocent, I've made fun of people who didn't deserve it at all, and it was wrong. However, seeing that trait in others has shown me just how ugly it is to carry on that way, even if it is not something I do on a regular basis, I'm guilty of it as well perhaps not to the same extent, but I'm still guilty.

I don't know. I just stumbled onto a website that made me cringe. The way that the subjects were mocked, laughed at and made fun of didn't set well with me. Not cool. Not cool at all.

I've Got To Clean My House

Yet, I'd Rather Blog.

Times up. I've pilfered my free time this week. Hanging around the internet, reading people's thoughts. I'm not going to say it was a waste of time, but I will say I probably should have tended to the home a bit more instead. I did make some wonderful stew last night, which I will probably have to freeze since there is no way daughter and I are going to eat that much stew anytime soon.

We're supposed to be getting another snowstorm. Neither my husband's new computer, nor my new couch and enormous ottoman has been delivered. I'm sort of bummed out about that. I got out the paperwork this morning, and was going to call the Furniture store and ask just where in the sam frap is my new couch and gigantic over indulgent ottoman, but when I read the fine print on the paperwork it said, "Please allow 14 days for delivery" Daggone it. I bought the thing on January first.

The fellow who sold me the couch said, "it will be here in 1-2 days..." Well, he put something else on the paperwork.

Oh who cares? I guess it will get her when it get's here. If I haven't heard from them by next Monday, I will be callling, and possibly even be asking for my money back. You just shouldn't give people that much time to have their buyer's remorse that's all. I could spend that money on something else, or better yet, just not spend it at all.

I've still got another over priced text book to buy for school. I've decided against adding that fourth class to my schedule. I think 3 will be enough this semester. Although I was thinking of taking an English class. English is pretty easy for me, but I don't want to get in over my head with the family, job and school combo.

My dear husband suggested I quit my job and just go to school full-time, but I just wouldn't feel right about that. He works so hard, I feel I must contribute financially to his efforts. Perhaps if I ever get to the University level I may just consider going full-time, but not now with the easier classes. This way I have a couple of years to save up some of the excess to carry us through the last couple of years at school.

I know I have to change careers. After visiting the Chiro, he confirmed that my body can't hold up to the work I'm doing much longer. He affirmed my decision to change careers, saying he understood it completely. My neck is completely jacked up. He was somewhat appalled at how messed up things were. I was amazed at what his hands found when he adjusted me. I did feel a lot better, although a bit sore in my muscle tissues. The soreness has abated, and I slept fairly well last night.

All right, I've got to get that vaccuum going. The kitchen floor could use a good mopping, and so on and so forth. Be back later.

Dinner's Done

I Have Nothing Important To Say.

As usual. I did have an actual thought today, so maybe I'll talk about that. There I was folding laundry and I was thinking about that Chavez fellow, and how he is virtually taking over the press, and I thought, it probably won't be long before folks are being imprisoned or worse for opposing the regime. Maybe they already are, I confess I don't know much about it all.

I thought what would I do if my freedom of speech was suddenly ripped out from beneath me? What if I were hunted down and imprisoned for the very things I've put on this blog. I remembered a man I met once, he was from Texas. He was a stranger to me, but in conversation he described something in a colorful way, and I said, "Are you a writer? That sounds like something a writer would say." He laughed and said that indeed he was a writer.

He told me a bit about his views, and the types of things he writes about, stuff right up my alley, but I could not let on in that particular situation, I'm not permitted to share such personal things like my own thoughts. Then he asked me point blank, "Is there anything (belief) you care so much about that you would be willing to die for it?"

A lot of things came to mind, my family first of all, which was the safe answer I gave him. I don't think I gave him the answer he was looking for, but he accepted it, and didn't delve further. I have since thought a lot about that question, and when I did, I realized that's not an easy question to answer at all. I've tried to imagine scenarios where I'm forced to make that sort of decision, but I can't. I have to look outside of this country to imagine a place so horrible that people are forced to choose between death and expressing their beliefs. I know there are plenty of places like that in the world.

I think of our troops overseas risking their lives for the people of this country. While I sit here comfortable spinning my moral compass to see where it lands, they've already made the decision. I have no tolerance for those who speak ill of the military folks, cough, John Kerry, cough.

As to the question, I'm still pondering it, and hoping things never get to that point. Could things ever get so bad in this country? At times I think wow, we are in for it if things continue like this, but I think we've probably got a long way to go for things to ever get that bad, and I pray it never happens.

Well, I better go fold some more clothes, maybe put another load in.

Midnight Posting

Why Not?

Are you over it yet? I think I've finally recovered from it. Although I still feel a bit under the weather, I think by the end of January I will have recovered from the stress of it all. I'm talking about the holidays. Never have I felt it like I did this time. I've heard people bemoan the commercialization of it all before, I never really saw it. I thought buying presents, shopping, the crowds, the excess was all part of the fun, but I guess I've finally reached the age where it becomes not fun.

Funny thing about working all of the holidays, you gain quite a different perspective on the whole thing. The only thing I thought about the holidays, was not about the presents, it was about the time with family I was missing. It was about mom's cooking, and sitting around the table enjoying each other's company, all of us, together. That's what it's all about for us. Simple.

December was quite a cranky month for a lot us. I notice at work people are really sort of burned out. We seem to be getting back to normal, but it was touch and go for a while there. I saw sides of my co-workers that they generally don't show at work, I was unable to contain myself at times as well. I figure it will take another week or two for people to feel better.

This is not what the holidays are supposed to be about. We've strayed so far. I'm not going to do it this way again. I'll work yes, that I must do, but I'm not doing all of that shopping, and stressing again. I think the 3 blizzards we had really sort of added to the pressure. People couldn't get out to do that last minute shopping. I ended up buying gift cards at the last minute at the grocery store. It was just nuts.

I'm so over it. I'm leaving the herd. I'm not doing it again. I'll buy the kiddo stuff, but that's it.

I Should Be In Bed

But I'd Rather Be Here With You.

My cat would prefer I go to bed so he can lay across my side. He's hanging out on the desk waiting for me.

It's been a busy week, and I have to say I've been missing reading people's blogs, and actually posting on my own.

This will just be a quick I'm still alive post. Tomorrow I have an appointment with the Chiro where he will hopefully be able to crack my neck back into place, and then my neck will hopefully stop making those squishy noises when I move my head certain ways.

My neck has been bothering me really bad lately. I've been in a fair amount of pain as a result. Not only that, but my back is hurting too.

I should have been getting care after my whiplash, but the idea of chalking up enormous bills with people under the belief that the insurance companies would actually take care of the costs has caused me to a great deal of anxiety about going to the doctor.

The thing is this, since I was injured in a car accident, my health insurance company will not cover any visits related to said accident. They say it is the car insurance people's responsibilities, well, the car insurance people are bickering back and forth over who is going to pay what, and in the meantime no one is paying anything at all. I've already been paying out of pocket for some of this stuff, but we just can't keep doing it.

I'm assured that my costs will eventually be covered by the insurance companies. I was at no fault at all in the accident. I was simply sitting in traffic when two cars slammed into me, and totalled our big enormous pick up. The pick up, by the way, is still sitting on the side of our house rotting with both insurance companies pointing the finger at each other as to who is going to pay for the thing. It's been over a year now. Dreadful.

I can't talk about it. I don't want to get upset. I just pray that justice is done.

This Can't Be Good

Commie Stuff.

I harp on Commies a lot because I grew up in the 80's, and I remember when most people in this country knew that communism was a bad thing. There are a lot of people who still know that, but there are an awful lot who are just plain dumb about the dangers of communism, in fact there's a whole bunch of liberals who seem to think it is a good thing. The way I see it is communism will always be one of the biggest threats to mankind, and something we must always combat.

Don't be fooled by it's cousin Socialism. That's just diet Communism. It may be even more dangerous because it sneaks up on its victims, slinking in like a thief in the night to steal from the productive and give to the non-productive. We've got a real problem with creeping Socialism right here in the good ole U.S.

At least we don't have it quite as bad as they do in Venezuela. They've got bad news all around. Over at Common Sense and Wonder, there is a post that details the harm that is done when the government tries to control the economy. Those commies always end up hurting the farmers, that's why North Korea is starving to death as I write this, that Kim junk ill dufus made them stop working the farms to serve his state. This Chavez guy is doing the same thing one way or the other. I've taken a snippet of the article posted there, but it would be better to go read it yourself.

Venezuela has only allowed farmers to raise the price of some foods, such as sugar, once in the last four years, compared with a 103 percent increase in consumer prices during the same period. That means farmers’ incomes aren’t keeping up with the rising costs of machinery, fertilizers and worker salaries.

To escape the controls and supplement their income, some farmers sell their crops at unregulated street markets for a higher price, Moreno said; others, such as dairy producers, are exacerbating a milk shortage by making more goods whose prices aren’t regulated, such as cheeses.

Reluctant to Invest

Meanwhile, companies are reluctant to invest to increase production. Manufacturers, concerned that Chavez will deepen state involvement in the economy, have trimmed spending on new plant and equipment to the point that non-government investment equals no more than 4 percent of gross domestic product, the lowest among Latin America’s 10 biggest economies.

Faust said many are reluctant to expand production because of a lack of private-property guarantees from the government. Chavez has seized rural estates and factories the government deems to be unproductive, including some assets of Lorenzo Mendoza, Venezuela’s second-wealthiest man., and of H.J. Heinz Co., the world’s largest ketchup maker. Foreign investors sold $778 million more in Venezuelan assets than they bought in the first nine months of 2006, according to the central bank; a decade ago, in the same period, they added $5.9 billion more than they disposed of.

“Companies are working three shifts a day,'’ the construction group’s Perret said. “But the next decision is to expand capacity, and they’re reluctant to do that.'’

Quite Possibly The Dumbest Piece Of Clothing Ever

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Dinner Date

With Hubby.

Lovely daughter is spending the night at the house of my friend since third grade. Handsome husband and I were all excited about a whole night alone. It has been a while since we've had time to just be together, alone. We decided to go out to eat, we went to Texas RoadHouse for a steak and some ribs.

The place was packed and noisy, but we didn't care, we were there together, just the two of us. We enjoyed our dinner. I love their ribs. Everything was great, except...now let me preface this by saying, I'm all for taking the kiddos out to eat, and I've always thought people who complained about kids in restaurants were just being snobs, but this kid kept screaming. Amid all the noise, the hustle and bustle, the table of 9 young adults, the music, the conversations, the clinking and clanking of plates and silverware, this kids high pitched squeal rang through the air, and everytime it did I would see the heads of other diners perk up and look around for the source of it.

I guess it was probably a young toddler, sounded like a frustrated 2 year old's scream. I'll tell you, everytime that kid screamed it was like nails on a chalk board to me. It was too much. My inclination was that the kid needed a trip to the bathroom, and a good talking to. It was just being a little stinker, and to be honest, I'm not a perfect parent, my kid can be as big of a spoiled brat as the rest of them, but I wouldn't have let her sit there screaming like that. Even if that meant getting a to go box. Just my opinion. I don't imagine the words, "Knock it off NOW!" are part of that kid's parents vocabulary from the sounds of things.

The Force

Switching Over.

I was forced to switch over my blog to the new thing that blogger has. I'm not complaining mind you, it is a free service, and it works quite nicely for my little meanderings. However, when I switched, I also had to switch my daughter's blog. Somehow my profile was overwritten by her profile, and my posts were being signed with her signature. I managed to switch it back to mine, but now her posts are signed by my signature, and I no longer have a profile, which isn't that big of a deal, I mostly wrote silly stuff on it anyway.

Anyway, that is what is going on with that. Now on to more important matters.

Party's Over

Take The Tree Down Already.

I'm well ahead of the game. I've already taken my tree down, and am completely done with holiday festivities until at least July. I like the 4th of July, I like a good barbeque. Whew. I'm actually glad that is all over.

I'm a tad superstititious, I believe one should try to start the new year off right, and that by doing so set things in motion for a good year. I'm afraid we've started off with a little debt, but hopefully we can get it whittled down some. If we were more patient we would have waited to buy the new things we bought until we could have just forked out the cash for it. We weren't patient, we bought a new computer, and a new couch, AND charged it! This goes against our principles, and we knew it wasn't the smartest thing, but we did it anyway.

Well, I'm paying cash for school, and we have some big expenses coming up which we will need to pay cash for, i.e. our car tags. That's about $2000.00 for all of those things, so it will all come out in the wash I suppose.

The couch was a bargain, I didn't want to pass it up. It was on clearance, I also bought the insanely humongous ottoman thing that was so comfy to put the feet up on when we were all sitting on the couch in the furniture showroom, will have pictures of that, believe me, it is huge. And I guess I was just feeding the beast of greed. I'm so looking forward to sitting on the thing and watching t.v. We will have a pretty living room, modest, but pretty. We have a cruddy family room downstairs, the couch is ugly, the furniture is functional, but cheap, the kind that falls apart if you move it once, well we've moved it a couple times, and it's pretty much at its permanent resting place until we get rid of it which won't be for a very long time.

When our child was younger she built in cupholders, yeah she actually took something and cut out cup holders in the arm of the couch. The cats have dug and pulled and tugged at the filling, and now the whole couch just looks completely jacked up. We will keep the cruddy couch until she is older, I'm thinking a nice housewarming gift when she gets her first place, yes, I'm that mean.

The kiddo has been given strict orders that there will be no funny business about the new couch. She'll be lucky if I let her sit on it. It is that nice. Yes, I'm that mean. She's got the ugly one that used to be a nice couch. It's downstairs where she can make her messes and people won't have to step over her junk when they first walk into the house. I don't know who these mystery people are, pretty much everyone I know is used to our house having a "lived in" look about it, and they are most definitely aware of the homemade built in cupholders in the couch, and know how they got there, and most of them think it is hilarious, but that's of course because it wasn't their couch it happened to.

So, pretty soon I will have to get a t.v. for the pretty living room otherwise it will just be sitting on the new couch and staring at my plants. I'll be able to watch t.v. again. I can watch all the HGTV, Food Network, Fox News, and Discovery channel I want to watch, and won't have someone pouting because they want to watch That's So Raven! Which is actually a pretty cute show, and I'm glad she'd like to watch that rather than many other things, I can even stand to sit and watch that one with her, but sometimes, just sometimes I like to just watch Fox News, and that is so boring to the kid.

We only have 2 t.v.s in this house, one in the family room, and one that is hooked up to a video game thing, and I don't like messing with it. Yes, I realize how nice we've got it. I wish the whole world could have things as good as we do in this country, but as far as I can tell, Communism, and Socialism has ruined things for many millions of people.

When you get to the point you start harping on Commies, albeit a legititimate source of griping, it is probably time to end the post. Give up your commie ways, and you too can have multiple t.v.'s and a brand new couch with an insanely enormous ottoman. Embrace freedom.