Confessions Of A Busy Mom

Dichotomy

2009-04-20T05:33:00.000-07:00

disclaimer: this would be a poem. Insert monologue here about how poems are not necessarily based on any truth whatsoever, nor are they necessarily any reflection of the author’s beliefs. With that said, well, you know me…

We must protect our turf against outlaw regimes even if this entails atomic gleam.
Where once the land continued past the edge the earth is knocked clean, as we pledge
allegiance without reading the fine print like resting yr head on the pillow w/out removing the mint.
We must disarm the ghetto and give guns to the official militia, (none of whom are senators’ sons), and we will enact our television fantasy of John Wayne and Dirty Harry in hyper-masculine ecstasy!
We will take it to the desert, sell it as a pay-per-view concert:
The Outlaw Regime versus Wild West—Without our UN tagteam.
Live Rematch: US vs. Iraq!
Buy the lunchbox, t-shirt, backpack!
We’ve sold out our citizens, our culture.
There must be something in the water there, something that makes them all so angry.
Us/them Crazy/angry.
There must be [oil] in the water, and we imbibe that as excuse to slaughter.
The president has ordered troops to take a pill that will make it guiltless to kill.
Robots have an easier time obeying the chain of command.
They follow through as planned and die in their smiling prime.
Robots are expendable, rebuildable—not born with a spoon up the nose—not worth more than the rifle they carry, and are rechargeable.
It goes to show—goes to blow-by-blow award-winning coverage on the evening news.
news you can use to rock the vote.
The vote we rocked…ballots rigged like raffles at the church bazaar.
He rocked, she rocked, we rocked while the clock sped from November across winter,
and there was no consensus, and there was democratic chaos.
We, as in the brotherhood of broken states who fixated on Clinton’s boxers instead of forced burkhas;
We, who gyrated in the New Year as suicide bombers descended on Israel.
And explode in Northern Ireland, Chechnya, and explode over all those places ignored by our media, and we think, yeah, that’s how it’s supposed to go, this broken down connection.
We’re supposed to be siblings and I guess we are, disowned.
All I hear is how we’ve got to protect our own we’ve got to make our presence known.
I object to guilt trips based on lack of evidence when we reverse our policy of innocent until proven guilty.
And there are everyday explosions that we turn away from because there is a hot new unreality show to pacify and entertain us.
Us/ them Crazy/angry out of touch/out of sight.
out of our minds with fear.
Did you buy the fear of smallpox and rage of a madman? Did you?
Are you buying the propaganda?
I’m not.

Protecting the Unborn

2009-04-20T05:28:00.000-07:00

It's cases like this in which we need legislation to make murder of unborn babies punishable. I don't buy any of the bullshit that yadda yadda yadda it'll be the slippery slope/domino effect and then abortion rights will be revoked. No. Two very separate things. A fetus, 9 months in the womb, is a baby for all intents and purposes. Clearly the mother was set on having this baby, and some asshole with bad aim shot her.

On a similar note, this is irritating to read about, at the least, because I am going to Boston next month.

Happy Birthday Jack!

2009-04-20T02:51:00.000-07:00

My puppy is 2 years old today. He's still very much a puppy - licking, shaking his tail into everything, and loves to follow me around EVERYwhere. I open the cellar door and he RUNS from wherever he is in the house to join me. You're going downstairs, mommy? Can I watch you doing laundry? OO, are you going out to the porch? Can I join you? How about me almost knocking you down the stairs at every chance?

He is trained - he actually went to puppy camp last summer, so he does listen well. In fact, he listens better than Maggie a lot of the time. Maggie is STUBBORN. Jack will come back with ONE call. We got both dogs as 7-week-old pups, and boy, have they GROWN!

And he is a LOVE. He likes to curl up on your lap and snuggle in. Someone should tell him that he is a DOG. Nah. I like him this way. I like him climbing in the dishwasher when I clean up. Sorta.

So Jack, my furry buddy - my hairy little friend, happy birthday! And thanks for crappying on the carpet the other day.

Bow, BOW!

Sweetpea helped me write this post, since, after all, Blue is her FAVORITE character EVER!

Unleash the HOUNDS!

2009-04-12T07:43:00.000-07:00

Hubby had a wonderful idea today - why don't I bring the dogs to the dog park for a little run? There was some rain overnight last night, and they were calling for thunderstorms for the late afternoon and evening, but there was a nice window of nice (albeit humid) weather, perfect for a little pooch exercise. Hubby was working, kids were resting. I actually like taking the dogs out to the park alone - it's a relaxing time. Pups, want to go for a ride? Circle, circle, bark, squeak, WOOF!

When I got there today, there was 1 other car there, with the owners and the pooch playing in the field. Btw, this field has a fench on the side where the entrance is, with 2 gates along it. We used to live closer to this park, but we still manage to drive there when we can, to give the dogs a big field to run and play. And this park entertains all sorts. Young, old, nice dogs, mean dogs. There are rules. And there are nice people and biotches.

Today was the day of the bitch.

Let me explain. I parked RIGHT next to one of the gates, and because my dogs didn't have leashes, my plan was to open the gate door, open the van door and get them into the field asap. Now I am a responsible dog owner, and I have respect for other dogs and their owners. I saw the wench/bitch...ah..OLDER WOMAN with her 3 pups - a golden lab, a pug and a little brown YIPPY Dachshund - drive up. She had them on leashes, BUT I didn't see her bring her dogs into the field through the other gate until it was TOO LATE, I GUESS!

Mind you, I was trying to be quick with my dogs. Parked right next to the gate. I opened the door, then turned to open the van door. Mere seconds. And all of a sudden, I heard a voice resembling my mother's:

CLOSE THE GATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
DON'T LEAVE THE GATE OPEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It rang so loud and so shrill that I think everyone in the 10 town area heard her. I was instantly a 10 year old girl getting in trouble for leaving the door open. "Do we live in a BARN?" My mother was the disciplinarian. The one who wore the pants. The bitch on wheels.

This woman instantly got my hairs up. I shut the gate quickly (as I saw her little yippyskankpup - and I use that term with the most love I can muster - coming towards my ankles, although it would've taken that dog a whole day to get to me, it was so small) and proceeded to get my dogs out of the van, put them on "heel" so they didn't run, because you know, I train my dogs to not run after STRANGERS, and got them into the field safely.

You know, I have no problem understanding that I should be sensitive to others at the dog park, and I have no issue with other people asking me to close the gate. In fact, I could understand an emergency tone to a person's voice, if they were nervous about their dog's safety. But to SCREAM at me? CLOSE THESE, BIOTCH!

Where the HELL were this bitch's MANNERS? Ever hear of the word PLEASE, lady?

I got my poop bags from the dispenser and led my dogs to the other SIDE of the field, where I didn't have to talk to that witch. We played fetch with tennis balls (I use something called a chuckit that makes the balls fly far) and kept to ourselves. And if she said one more WORD to me, I would've unleashed something like, "you know, I expect my preschool children to struggle with manners, but not a grown WOMAN!" I'll be damned if I was gonna take any more crap from this woman. She was probably over on the other side of the field telling all the old people who arrived after me that I was a thoughtful 41 year old who WAS GOING TO LET HER DOGS GET RUN OVER BY A TRUCK BECAUSE, after all, THE PARK WAS ON A ROAD TRAVELED BY 6 TRUCKS A MONTH! Heaven help us. And what would've happened if that little yippyskankpup bit me? I would've dropkicked that beast into next WEEK, I kid you NOT!

Ahem. But I digress.

After a nice 40 minutes of playing, the rain came down, and we all made our way back to our vehicles. And this woman. Ugh. As she drove away, I saw that she was sporting Florida license plates. Let's HOPE that she isn't here for the entire summer. Hopefully she was on her way HOME.

Whee!

2009-04-01T10:41:00.000-07:00

Okay, cool. My account's all set up, and this is officially a his n hers blog. Kev's much better about update-age than I am, so you'll be hearing much more from him than I.

My kids are funny

2009-03-28T13:02:00.000-07:00

From a forum my wife frequents: here's a note she posted today:

"Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2009 3:24 pm Post subject: Poor confused Alexander.

Alexander is definitely a 21st century child. Today at Target, I bought a drying rack for some of my sweaters. The kids were watching me set it up, and Alexander looked all around the bottom of it, and asked, "Where does it plug in?" "It doesn't plug in, honey. The sweaters just lay on it and get dry." He didn't miss a beat. He plopped down on the floor next to it, got comfy, and announced, "I'm going to watch how it gets hot." So I had to explain. "It doesn't get hot. It doesn't plug in. It just sits there with with sweaters on it, and they get dry." He eyeballed it for a minute, gave me this dubious "If you say so, lady." look, and wandered away, totally bored with the whole thing."

Post-binary Gender Chores

2009-03-05T14:04:00.000-08:00

Clarification is the strongest ally of mine, so I am going to focus and expand on ideas I have previously written on: genderfuck and prescribed gender roles.

What is known: Gender is different from sex, though for the sake of simplicity in public schools (and not wanting to say “sex” to 8 year olds), the two terms begin to weave together to mean the same thing. They don’t. Sex is chromosomal. Sex is penis or vagina. Sometimes, we know, that people are born with the variety pack of sexual equipment. I do not know how often such an event occurs. That is not really the point. The point I am trying to make is that while my vagina does not interfere with my ability to reason, endure, or perform, it also does not determine any other emotional traits. One is not born predisposed to frolicking in the mud versus playing My Little Ponies.

What I am adding to this: I identify as a woman because I have all the girl parts. What is the difference? Do I therefore think only girl thoughts? In my Composition Theory and Rhetoric Pedagogy class several years ago, we studied the concept of gendered writing. Allegedly, men would write in a more direct, assertive manner than women. I can never figure out what is true or not because I think of myself as the odd one out, rather than normal enough the gauge such things. My academic writing is assertive as hell. I have a clear understanding of rhetoric, and I am not afraid to use it. My journal/blog writings fall into a different category because my imagined audience is different. I don’t know if my writing has gender. Maybe I could post a sample of my academic writings, and ask for a consensus. If boys are taught to be more assertive, then it would logically translate into their writing. . .but we are entering a different time and place. Girls today seem a whole lot more assertive than when I was their age, and that was not too long ago, so I can only imagine what the gap is like for those even older. (It’s a pain trying to maintain control of a classroom because of this, but it does make me secretly happy that girls are as willing to tell me to “fuck off” as the boys are)

Traits obtained through socialization are capable of being eradicated. I know I was not born with the desire to ask forgiveness for things that are not even my fault, and so, I changed this a long time ago when I realized I had taken up the habit I considered insipid and unnecessary. I’m not sorry for the way I look. I’m not sorry if I’m taking up too much space. I’m not sorry if I have offended anyone ever. I’m not sorry if you bumped into me. Somewhere along the way, we pick up these things. Women pick up the idea that they need to be nice to everybody all the time. That’s dangerous, in a bad way. Once we figure out that the snake is a snake, then we should work on subduing it, if we are not fond of snakes. I guess if somebody likes being a simp, they can take that route too.

What is the difference between boy and girl? Where does this intersect? I understand the need for women’s literature classes because women are still ignored by the canon, But, I fail to see how it is a genre. What is exclusive to the female experience, and what applies to the human condition, without gender specificity?

Genderfuck. I’ve written a lot about this one, and I don’t think I have come close to exhausting it, but I will address that in my zine. I have trouble understanding the idea of a “woman trapped in a man’s body” (or vice versa) because I can not grasp that the difference between man/woman, other than in the physiological sense. A woman may give birth, but she may be sterile, not interested in babies, in female-female relationships, or practicing safer sex. Childbirth is not mandatory (or womandatory, if I want to be cute about it). Is there anything non biological that is unique to sex and gender, beyond the response of culture and society to the gender?

Coffee is SO Gay

2009-03-03T01:28:00.000-08:00

Normally I run away from the business section of the newspaper as if it were contaminated with anthrax (or austin power's mojo), but this caught my eye. It caught both of them, come to think of it. GayCoffees. Yes. For real. I guess I picked the bad time to give up coffee. Hook Flaming IV in my arm and let's call it a day.

Send me GayCoffee, and I'll love you forever.

Wait, if you think you're straight, but you drink GayCoffee, what happens?

Where I've Been

2009-02-28T01:38:00.000-08:00

Here's a map of Where I've Been (traveled to, driven through, visited, etc).

As you can see, I'm not that well-traveled (and that's fine by me!).

create your own personalized map of the USA

Scrapbook Pages

2009-02-21T06:07:00.000-08:00

I just saw a blog that had "latest pics" in it's right-hand sidebar.
Maybe I'll change mine to showcase Rubi's latest scrapbook pages.
Of course, that means more work for me... scanning, editing, uploading, changing the template or finding a script to rotate the pics.

Hmmm... something to think about.

100 Things from the LJ archives

2009-02-06T05:54:00.000-08:00

Getting to know you, getting to know all about... oh nevermind.
100(ish) Things About Me.(in no particular order)

1. I believe Jesus is the Son of God, died to take the punishment for our sins, rose from the dead 3 days later and is now preparing a place for us to be with him someday, and lives with us as the Holy Spirit.
2. I'm married to a wonderful woman.
3. I have three beautiful, extremely well-behaved children.
4. I don't tell them that enough.
5. I'm actually in my 30's. I mean, I am really in my 30's. I can't believe that. I don't feel like it, but I am.
6. My parents have been married for 50 years. They've had a profound impact on my life.
7. I actually like my in-laws. They're much cooler than my parents.
8. I love to read science fiction.
9. My wife is a geek too. But she wasn't before she married me, if that tells you anything.
10. I like salads without dressing. I mean "I don't like dressing on my salads", not "I like to eat salads while naked". That's just weird.
11. I take notes poorly. I keep records poorly.
12. My comic books are organized though.
13. I'm a pack-rat. But being married is starting to cure me of that.
14. I like legos.
15. I like Transformers.
16. I don't read my Bible enough.
17. If I had a dog, it'd be one of those yappy little fuzzballs and I'd name it Fizzgig (the name of a dog-like creature from the Jim Henson movie The Dark Crystal).
18. I like Star Wars better than Star Trek, but I like Stargate the best.
19. I abhor the thought of yard work and procrastinate it as long as I can. But when I'm doing it I almost enjoy it - I get sense of accomplishment.
20. I love to have time all to myself, completely alone and away from any distractions. Browsing at Barnes & Noble is a good example of this.
21. I want to write science fiction stories, but I'm not that good at it and I'm not dedicated enough to sit down and do it.
22. I don't think I'm as smart as other people think I am.
23. I live in the biggest small town you'll ever drive through. We have the 2nd largest street festival in the country, 2nd only to that New Orleans thing.
24. I am quick to anger. But it passes even quicker. Almost like ADD. "Why the #$%^& did you do that?!? Oh look, a puppy... I'm not mad."
25. TV Shows I like: Stargate and Atlantis, Family Guy (if it ever comes back), Smallville.
26. I have blue eyes. I'm glad my youngest daughter does too.
27. I'm waaay overweight. My blood pressure and cholesterol levels are fine though (for now).
28. I'm really glad my kids got their looks from their mom's side of the family.
29. I don't go to church enough.
30. My favorite rock group is Queen.
31. No one I've been close to has died.
32. All my grandparents are deceased.
33. I love to doze off on the couch while watching TV.
34. I think I'm more funny/more witty than I probably am, and most people probably don't get my sense of humor.
35. Each of my kids middle name is a family name.
36. I have no real friends to speak of, besides my wife - she's my best friend. I'm bad about letting friends slip away, sometimes literally. Some of my closest friends live really far away.
37. I've never really been outside of the country. Rubi and I crossed from Detroit to Canada once, but it was just for a few minutes so we could say we did.
38. My first job was at Little Caesar's Pizza, fifteen years ago, and I have very fond memories of it. mmmmm, Crazy Bread....
39. I'm the youngest child of 5, I have 3 sisters and a brother. My oldest sister is the same age as Rubi's mom. My middle sister has nothing to do with our family anymore. My brother is just weird, and it's kind of sad. My youngest sister, who is nine years older than me (yes, I must have been an afterthought), is the coolest of the bunch. She's married, has 2 great kids and home schooled them.
40. I've never been drunk. Unless you count taking too much cold medicine then drinking a lot of caffeinated beverages and getting that loopy, spinning head feeling. I have maybe one or two drinks total per year. And those are Amaretto Sours.
41. I've never really liked sports - watching or playing - but I think ice hockey is kind of neat to watch (not that I ever really do).
42. I don't like the taste of alcoholic beverages.
43. I'm extremely proud of my wife and the way she's raised our kids and how selfless she is in so many things.
44. I was a radio DJ (that could be the misleading title of my Memoirs!) for seven years.
45. I don't really like to drive, but like riding in a car with someone else driving even less.
46. On the other hand, if I had a motorcycle...
47. ...And a helmet.
48. I have nice thick hair that needs a trimming by the time I get home from the barber. I want a flat top or buzz cut just so I don't have to deal with it, but I'd probably look funny(er).
49. I can clearly remember the day I gave my life to the Lord. I was five years old, in the steel and concrete skeleton of what would become the new sanctuary of our church.
50. I'm content in my life.
51. I did okay all throughout school, but I could've done better.
52. I like doing the laundry. Putting it away is another story.
53. I like to "toot my own horn" but I try not to be obvious about it (hence the blog).
54. TV Shows I wish they'd bring back: Fraggle Rock, the Muppets, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Farscape, Buffy, and Angel.
55. I hate bugs.
56. I don't play with my kids enough. But then, I can't remember my parents ever really "playing" with me, and I turned out okay.
57. I really like my job.
58. I've only seen the ocean once in my life. And that was earlier this year.
59. I like Monty Python.
60. I dream in color, and I can read in my dreams - most of the time I'm completely aware I'm dreaming.
61. I'm a "nice guy".
62. I should probably be working right now instead of writing this...
63. I never imagined I'd be a "dad", let alone enjoy it.
64. I don't really like other people's children.
65. I get weepy when reading or watching emotional scenes in books or TV - I never did before I had kids.
66. Marriage = 1 man + 1 woman.
67. I've never been West of St. Louis.
68. I've never been East of Cincinnati.
69. I almost joined the Navy after high school (but that weight thing was an issue).
70. I drove an Army Reserve Hummer once. I don't know what that has to do with anything, but I thought it was neat.
71. I refuse to pay more than $13 for jeans.
72. I think it's ridiculous that women's clothing is much more expensive than men's and doesn't last as long. But they always look better than we do. I will never understand that.
73. I own one suit, and it was bought for a funeral.
74. The only time I've worn a tuxedo was at my wedding.
75. I made my bride-to-be cry when I picked out my tuxedo. She had to redo it (something about stripes and checks I think).
76. I don't like carnival rides, rollercoasters and other vomitoriums, I'm even hesitant with ferris wheels. It's a control thing. I want to be the one driving.
77. Every now and again, I think about getting a more active career, maybe applying for a Sheriff's Deputy job or taking the Postal Exam again. Then I think, "Yeah right!" And remember how much I like my job (and how out of shape I am).
78. A few years ago, I took the test to be a mail man (United States Postal Employee). I made the list.
79. I drove a "sno-cone trolley" for a summer. And enjoyed it.
80. I miss taking classes and learning in a structured setting.
81. I miss taking Bible classes in elementary school. I've forgotten so much.
82. I miss taking Spanish classes. Again with the "I've forgotten so much".
83. Uno is my card game of choice. I once played a single hand of Uno with eight or more people and that single hand lasted a couple of hours, and I was the only one not cheating - and I won.
84. I would totally drive a yellow VW bug with a big red Autobot symbol painted on the front.
85. I don't believe in aliens or evolution, and I'm a skeptic about a lot of the freaky stuff you hear about. But I believe there is a great deal about this world that we don't know about and don't understand, and much yet to be discovered.
86. I believe Genesis is accurate and literal.
87. I like techno/electronica/trance/dance music. Please don't tell anyone.
88. I never was, nor am any good at video games. Never really had the patience to practice to get good.
89. I like chocolate milk.
90. Lottery is the answer to many of my problems. Now I just need to remember to buy a ticket.
91. Math and I don't get along that well.
92. I think the theory of relativity is just that: a theory. And will probably be proven incorrect eventually.
93. I think George W. Bush went to war with Iraq to finish what his father started, and only for that reason. I'll still vote for him.
94. Sweets are my weakness. Especially white cake with white frosting or cinnamon rolls. Candy I can do without.
95. I put Doritos on my sandwich. I learned this in high school when another student did a demonstration speech on how to make a Ham, Cheese, and Dorito Sandwich.
96. I wish I had the time to take walks in the woods. Sometimes with my family, sometimes alone.
97. I like to cook, but I'm not that good at it, and I abhor cleaning up afterwards.
98. I download mp3s. I do not share my collection. I do not play well with others. I run with scissors.
99. I'm thrilled Rubi has my stupid sense of humor. No one else would "get it".
100. I can't stand election ads and political campaigns and debates. I yell at my kids for some of the stuff politicians do in those things.
101. Me + straight line = "oops". I can't draw, trace, cut or walk a straight line to save my life, or to roof my house, or build a fence.
102. I like power tools. I don't like needing to use them. See previous entry on yard work.
103. I know nothing about cars. I can check and add fluids, that's about it.
104. Apparently, I can't count to 100 correctly. See # 91.

easons I Love My Wife

2009-01-19T08:02:00.000-08:00

from my LJ archives
(Stole this idea)
Reasons I Love My Wife, in no particular order:
-As a mom, she Rocks! Excuse me, I mean she's an excellent mother to our children.
-She is always doing things for other people, almost to a fault.
-She's not vain at all, quite the opposite. But she's so beautiful.
-She encourages my geekiness.
-She is the smartest person I know.
-She encourages me to be a better person, do my best, get the job done, do what needs doing, etc.
-She also sometimes shares my bad habits with me, which is nice.
-She shares my incredibly odd sense of humor.
-Family means alot to her. Our family, her family, the extended family.
-Her hugs feel so... right. Like I'm meant to be there, in her arms.

to be continued...

Globe of Blogs

2009-01-12T02:30:00.000-08:00

I just submitted this blog to globeofblogs.com
In categorizing the blog, they have a place to list hobbies.
They have Dumpster Diving, and Smoking.
As hobbies.
I think those are both more lifestyle choices than hobbies...
Well, maybe not dumpster diving. I guess that could be a hobby.
dude: "Heyman, what'd you do this weekend?"
heyman: "Dude, I climbed in a dumpster and found a half eaten grilled cheese that has a picture of the Virgin Mary burned into it!!"

dude: "You climbed into a dumpster? That's disgusting!"
heyman: "Not as disgusting as that grilled cheese. It tasted like whoever made it considers smoking a hobby!"

Tweaking

2008-12-27T07:29:00.000-08:00

Well, I've done some tweaking to the right-hand column and submitted this blog to some blog indexes.
Now all I need to do is come up with some, er... content?

By the way, have you ever seen the following quote?

"Be polite. Be professional. But have a plan to shoot everyone you meet."
I read it on Tactical Response Magazine's 25 Cents Worth Of Survival.

I think that's a hilarious quote!

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I Am a CLOWN!

2007-08-09T08:53:00.001-07:00

Now I have a thing about clowns. They kinda FREAK me out. But I was just nominated for Class Clown over at An Island Life and now you can all vote for me so I can WIN! Yes...WIN!! It's the First Annual Bloggy Hoss Elections, and I want to win VERY badly! I didn't win a senior class superlative in high school (although I SHOULD'VE, but that silly saxophone player girl beat me out, the band geek! Wait, I was a band geek, too... shit...) so go vote!

I think I only get the title, but oh my, how glorious it would be! So get over to An Island Life between Saturday, Aug 10 (tomorrow) and ll 15 of you.

I will bribe you with everything I can get my hands on and send to you via UPS. PLEASE! I just want a little old title. Is that SO much to ask for? HMMMMMMMM?

(Say it with me - cookies of your choice, cookies of your choice...)

And whoever nominated me for this award, thanks a million. You TOTALLY made my day. Seriously!

I Need to Change my Ringtone Now

2007-07-08T13:21:00.001-07:00

I had it all set. Today I was gonna go to BJs to get some shopping done ALONE. Ah, thoughts of bliss. Hubby is working from home this week, and I planned my trip out when the kids were down for rest/nap time. You know, because I was being all thoughtful of the big man. And when I left, he was working on the bills.

Look, I don't really like to whine about the spouse. I really don't complain to many others than you, and I'm just not comfy with doing it most days. He's a good guy, but sometimes he's HUMAN. Like I am. I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO human sometimes. Anyway, in "real life," noone hears it. And the only person to hear it was my bestest bud today. (gotta love a vent, eh?) I just DON'T bitch about him into too many ears. But he blew my "afternoon of bliss." And I probably didn't help matters.

Now let me say that we pay most bills online, and most of them my Hubby takes care of. NO sweat. Before I left, I asked him if I should stick around to offer help with the bills. No, it's all fine is what I got. And what I got, when I pulled up to BJs , was "what is the online password for such and such?" Do I know? Off the top of my head? Most online users names and passwords are the same, but those were no help to him. The ones I have are saved either in my day planner or on the actual site on MY computer. Nah, he wanted to take care of them THEN, and wanted to put ALL the passwords on HIS computer.

Sigh. After about 6 phone calls (including getting asked "who the heck are you text messaging?" - I guess he looked at my cellphone bill!) his tone chilled out and his guilty conscience rang thru. By the time I got home, I got "can I help you with the groceries, dear?" Yeah, you can help me alright. See, I am not the most organized person. I used to be. I used to be in business for myself and used to keep track of everything in my day planner. I would be punctual. Sure, I've always been a procrastinator, but hey, we all have to have SOME ticks, RIGHT? So if I was more organized, I could've led him to my day planner on my desk, where all of my passwords are listed.

BAHHAHAAAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! OOPS! Whoa... um....
Sorry, I had to pick myself off the floor there.

So Hubby apologized, and I said that frustrating him is part of my charm. Dontcha love marriage? I love him dearly, but yowza. And shit, can I try going to BJs again tomorrow, when I can enjoy the slabs of tomato sauce and aisles of vacuum cleaners with a spring in my step instead of a cellphone in my EAR? Can I get a do-over?

HELL yeah!

I Need to Change my Ringtone Now

2007-07-08T13:21:00.000-07:00

Thursday Thirteen

2007-07-04T19:31:00.000-07:00

Happy 100th edition to Thursday Thirteen! To celebrate, instructions were giving out to all Thursday Thirteen participants to write about 13 of our favorite lists. I've read many good lists, for sure, but the funny ones are the ones that I especially remember. Therefore, my 13 funny lists are here for your enjoyment. Because if I'm laughing, I think that you are laughing as well. Well, at least I'd hope so! And why not share a laugh or 13?

**Thirteen Funny Thursday Thirteens**

1. Sam over at Temporarily Me with this list: Glamorous Geek Please go read this girl's stuff. She is very real and very funny!

2. Annie over at Blue Monkey Jammies, with her list of 13 Dangerous Things. They are SO true it's scary.

3. The Rock Chick over at Life is Rantastic! with Thirteen Reasons Why I Think Paris Might Have Been Released from Jail Early. Even if you aren't a Paris fan of any kind, you'll still find these amusing!

4. Mommy the Maid cracks me up all the time. Check out another list from her that'll make you laugh, titled Thirteen Things to make you laugh.

5. Rhonda Stapleton's post titled Thirteen People I Wanted to Be When I Was A Kid. A Great list and a great writer. Kevin Arnold's girlfiend! Ha! I wanted to be Donny Osmond's girlfriend, but I'm OLD!

6. Write Out's shares her wit with her post, Thirteen things that irritate the holy hell out of me. Amen SISTER!

7. Christine D'Abo's listed 13 jokes. I especially like #3: Why are hemorrhoids called hemorrhoids instead of “assteroids”?

8. Lulubunny's list over at 3am Therapy Sessions, 13 Things she Can't Live Without. I LOVE this list. Could be me. MMM, delivery guys.

9. Shelly Kneupper Tucker's post about the symptoms of blog addiction. I think I actually peed a little when I read this.

10. Carol over at A View of the World from the Middle shares Words that Make You Sound Smarter than You Are. Funny stuff!

11. Toni at Special K Family's list titled Please raise your big toe and repeat after me: You HAVE to go read this. Definitely snort milk outta your nose material.
12. Mama over at Mama's Moon shares The 13 Different Types of Friends Every Woman Should Have. Funny, and very very true!

13, I'll share my favorite list from MY short list of lists. A typical list of WHYS

Enjoy these funny lists, and please go read more of these great blogs. There are some GREAT writers out in blogland who write some amazing things. So go go Go!

And have a great Thursday!

Sunday at the Depot, With Speedbumps

2007-07-01T19:21:00.000-07:00

Most of today went well. Hubby and I took the kids out today for some family time, and we had a good time, all in all. A few roughspots, but mostly a good day.

First stop, Home Depot. There was definitely a party at the Depot today! I remember practically living there when we first moved into this house. They were having a huge sale on outdoor grills today - we were SO close to buying one, but alas, the guilt and our budget clearly led us into the "we really don't need a new one" mindset. Whew, that was close.

After picking up some filters (water and furnace), a little birdbath, some suet (bird food) and some bug spray, we were off to Toys R Us. The kids were THIS close to not getting toys. ONE toy each, Daddy said. Did you get toys often when you were a kid? I certainly didn't. And we try to not spoil these guys, but every so often, with good behavior as the reason for them, they get to go to the store to pick out 1 toy each. But as I said, they were testing us today, and we were close to rendering them toyless. They turned things around, and there was much rejoicing. YAY!

You know, it's kinda interesting to watch my hubby be the disciplinarian. He's real good at it, really. He has that booming voice, but most of the time, it's his quiet, stern attitude that gets them all weepy. What is REALLY interesting is that I heard Princess really get under his skin today. Now we've had recent discussions about how I tend to react to Princess with anger as of late, and he makes a solid point there, and I'm not proud of it. I'm working on it. But to see him get his hairs up when she constantly doesn't listen to him certainly makes me take notice and file it all away. He sometimes really experiences how difficult it is to stay calm with that little pill. I am NOT losing my mind! That girl REALLY has a talent!

But I digress. They got their toys, after they shaped up and flew right. We proceeded to lunch at the mall, and then some hang out time at the bookstore. I love bookstores. Today it was reading with the girls while Daddy took Pumpkin about. It was wonderful.

Then we came home. OMG. These kids were SO tired. And bouncing off the wall. And weepy for NO reason. Did I tell you that Sweetpea has a tendency lately to WHINE? OMG. Take the batteries out of that kid! Needless to say, it was an early bedtime for all.

I can almost hear quiet up there. (Princess is STILL playing up there. PLEASE fall into deep slumber, my little sassafrass! Wait, is that Sweetpea singing? I KNOW that Pumpkin is sleeping - he was half asleep playing with his new helicopter earlier.)

Ah, to be a kid again.

Chicago-bound baby!!

2007-02-15T03:15:00.000-08:00

I have got to make my to Chicago before Feb 23.
Spamalot! A pre-Broadway musical based on the classic movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
It's a 6-ish hour drive one-way. Tickets start at $25. Rubi would go with me.
I have no idea what we'd do with the kids. It's probably have to be an overnighter.

Must. Start. Planning.

Hahaha

2006-07-30T04:34:00.000-07:00

After 4 long months of cold and winter, we are finally coming up to summer and BBQ season. Therefore it is important to refresh your memory on the etiquette of this sublime outdoor cooking as it's the only type of cooking a real man will do, probably because there is an element of danger involved.

When a man volunteers to do the BBQ the following chain of events are put into motion:

Routine:
1) The woman buys the food.

2) The woman makes the salad, prepares the vegetables, and makes dessert

3) The woman prepares the meat for cooking, places it on a tray along with the necessary cooking utensils and sauces, and takes it to the man who is lounging beside the grill - beer in hand.

Here comes the important part:

4) THE MAN PLACES THE MEAT ON THE GRILL.

More routine....

5) The woman goes inside to organize the plates and cutlery.

6) The woman comes out to tell the man that the meat is burning.

He thanks her and asks if she will bring another beer while he deals with the situation.

Important again:

7) THE MAN TAKES THE MEAT OFF THE GRILL AND HANDS IT TO THE WOMAN.

More routine...

8) The woman prepares the plates, salad, bread, utensils, napkins, sauces and brings them to the table.

9) After eating, the woman clears the table and does the dishes.

And most important of all:

10) Everyone PRAISES the MAN and THANKS HIM for his cooking efforts.

11) The man asks the woman how she enjoyed "her night off." And, upon seeing her annoyed reaction, concludes that there's just no pleasing some women...

Love a Drunk

2006-07-30T04:30:00.001-07:00

A man and his wife are awakened at 3 o'clock in the morning by a loud pounding on the door.......

The man gets up and goes to the door where a drunken stranger, standing in the pouring rain, is asking for a push.

"Not a chance," says the husband, "It is three o'clock in the morning."
He slams the door and returns to bed.

"Who was that?" asked his wife.

"Just some drunken guy asking for a push" he answers

"Did you help him?"she asked.

"No. I did not. It is three o'clock in the morning and it is pouring rain outside!"

His wife said, "Can't you remember about three months ago when we brokedown and those two guys helped us?
I thinkyou should help him, and you should be ashamed of yourself!"

The man does as he is told (of course), gets dressed and goes out into thepouring rain.

He calls out into the dark, "Hello? Are you still there?"

"Yes" comes back the answer.

"Do you still need a push?" calls out the husband.

"Yes Please!" comes the reply from the darkness.

"Where are you?" asks the husband.

"Over here on the swing!!" replies the drunk

Funny Pictures by first-love.ru

2006-07-30T04:30:00.000-07:00

See more on http://first-love.ru/a-humor

First Joke

2006-04-30T13:33:00.000-07:00

A man and his wife are dining at a table in a plush restaurant, and the husband keeps staring at a drunken lady swigging her gin as she sits alone at a nearby table.
The wife asks, "Do you know her?"
"Yes," sighs the husband. "She's my ex-wife.She took to drinking right after we divorced seven years ago, and I hear she hasn't been sober since."
"My goodness!" says the wife. "Who would think a person could go on celebrating that long?"

Friday's Feast!!!

2006-03-02T19:43:00.000-08:00

Appetizer
How many pillows and blankets do you sleep with? I have a ton of pillows on my bed, but I only sleep with one pillow and one blanket.

Soup
What are you currently "addicted" to? Why blogging, of course.

Salad
If you could make a small change to your current routine or schedule that would make you just a little bit happier, what would it be? To not wake up at 5am to workout. I just can't find any place else to fit it in. I would like to sleep in until about 6am. Yes, that would be nice.

Main Course
Which adjective do you find yourself using often? CUTE!!!! Everything is just too cute!! My kids are cute...your kids are cute...babies are cute....clothes are cute.....houses are cute....animals are cute, etc. etc.......

Dessert
Have you ever picked up a hitchhiker? No siree! Not in this day and age.

13 things about how I met my hubby

2006-03-01T22:49:00.000-08:00

1. I started dating my husband in April of 10th grade. I actually new him in junior high, but didn't really 'notice' him until 10th grade.
2. He left San Diego at the end of 10th grade. His dad was in the military and received orders for Millington, TN.
3. We kept in touch when he left. His mom allowed him to call me every weekend and he sent me tons of letters which I still have. When I read them now, they seen kinda corny but back then I thought they were so sweet.
4. He actually kept all my letters too. I can't believe I actually wrote some of that stuff.
5. He hated living in Tennessee with a passion! All his friends he grew up with were here in San Diego and of course me too! :)
6. Toward the end of 11th grade, he surprised me on my birthday(May) and returned to San Diego.
7. He actually came by himself without his parents knowing. In other words, he ran away from home. I know, that was pretty bad. That is a long way to run away from home.
8. He had worked at a gas station while in Tennessee and saved up all his money.
9. He finished his senior year of high school with me. It was a very tough year for him. He was actually homeless. He lived with several friends throughout high school and had no place to actually call his home.
10. My parents hated that I was dating him. They thought he was a very bad influence on me, which was partially true. Some of my friends thought that I could do better too.
11. But I was young and in love.
12. After we graduated, he saw that his life was going no where and decided to join the military. At that time, the military was scraping people off the streets. That was the best decsion of his life (next to marrying me :D)
13. I guess this story need to be continued next week.....so stay tuned!!

Wordless Wednesday!!!

2006-03-01T06:26:00.002-08:00

Darnit! It's so hard for me to remain wordless! (My husband is shaking his head behind me) Anyway, these are pictures I took yesterday evening from our backyard. On a crystal clear day you can see the beaches of Torrey Pines and Del Mar. Okay, I think I said enough! Happy Wordless Wednesday!

Blogkeeping

2006-02-28T19:19:00.000-08:00

I just did some blogkeeping tonight and shaved down my regular blogroll quite a bit. I'm keeping blogs on that I read on a regular basis. Mostly the ones that I feel I've developed a friendship with. I will continue to visit new blogs whenever I can and add them if I feel a connection...an "I like you~you like me" kinda thing. What I can't understand are these people who have blogrolls longer than the Colorado River. Do they actually read those blogs on a regular basis or what? I just don't get it.

Anyway, if I deleted you by accident, let me know. You know, sometimes I just get click happy. Or if you're a lurker (and my stats show that I have several), leave me a comment and I'll go check out your blog!!!

Have a great night!!

Can I Just Stay Home Today?!!?

2006-02-28T07:48:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's raining here in San Diego. And the word is out that it'll be like this all week. As much as I don't like rainy days, I know that it is needed here. Its just that the roads and freeways get pretty scary, at least for me. I hate driving in the rain!! People drive faster than they should be driving....it seems like everyone is in a rush. For crying out loud, I'd rather be late than cause an accident.
I just got home from taking the kids to school and it was a madhouse at all 3 schools that I had to drop my kids off at. UGH!! I just want to crawl back in bed with a good book. BUT reality is that I have to get my stuff together and hit the roads and freeways. I have eight stores on my list that I have to visit. Usually I can get my work done before the kids get out of school, but on a day like this it's probably not going to happen. Tomorrow I'll have to pick up where I leave off. I'm just so tempted to push my whole schedule over one day so I can stay home, but it'll be like this all week so what's the use?!?!

Join the Party.....

2006-02-28T07:26:00.001-08:00

And you can win $250. Yes, you heard right.

Blogparty.net is hosting a contest. Very quick, simple and easy. All you have to do is write a post on your blog about Blogparty.net just like this one and link it back to them and you're eligible to win $250. They are a new network of sites and need help in spreading the word.

Here's a blurb from their website:

Blog Party brings bloggers together by providing blog resources all in one place, and just a click away. The partners of Blog Party Network have joined together to provide you with such things as blog forums, blog directories, blog advertising exchanges, blog news, plus a whole lot more.

So what are you waiting for....go check out Blogparty.net and join the contest!! Who couldn't use an extra $250?!?!?

Baby Fix Needed!!

2006-02-27T13:52:00.000-08:00

Yesterday at church, my husband and I snuck in the back row. (We were a little late because we went out to breakfast first). A few minutes later, this younger couple sits in front of us with a little baby girl no older than one month.

As I was trying to focus on what our pastor was saying, my eyes kept ending up on the baby girl. She was so adorable, so precious, so tiny. I looked at my husband and he said, don't even go there. At that moment, I wanted a baby really bad. He just shook his head. I wrote him a little not on the program that said...."But you said you wanted six when we got married." He just mouthed...Snap out of it. I almost tapped the lady on the shoulder and asked her if I could hold her baby. I was that desperate!!! Do you gals ever have those moments? I know my husband was just about ready to walk out because I was being so obnoxious. Okay, okay....Let me pay attention to the message. All I got out of it was 1 Thes. 2:1-12. I have no idea what the message was about. I didn't hear one word our pastor said. I feel like such a sinner!!!

After church, I told him that we needed to go to my sister's house. She just had a baby five months ago. So we went and I just loved on Baby Elijah all afternoon!! I felt better, I had my baby fix and have no desire to have another one. Thank God!!!!

Manic Monday

2006-02-27T06:52:00.000-08:00

Don't you just hate it when you know the rest will end up the way your morning started out?!?!? Today is one of those days!! UGH!!!

Blessings for You!

2006-02-26T17:45:00.001-08:00

May You Be Blessed!!!

Friday's Feast

2006-02-24T06:54:00.001-08:00

Feast Eighty-Two

Appetizer
Choose one: moving to another state, having triplets, or never being able to eat chocolate again.

Oh my goodness, that's a hard one. I would NOT want to move to another state. I would NOT want to have triplets. But I think I can do without chocolate?

Soup
Name a news story that truly shocked you.

This story that I posted this week.

Salad
What was your very first job?

A nurse at the VA Hospital on the NeuroSurgery Floor.

Main Course
If you had the chance to read the diary of someone you're really close to, would you? Why or why not?

My kids.....so I can really know what they are thinking about me! :)

Dessert
What's something you're looking forward to?

Heaven!!!

Wordless Wednesday

2006-02-22T06:44:00.001-08:00

*********If you'd like to join in on Wordless Wednesday and be linked up, drop me a line in the comments section and please leave your link so I can piece your photos!
Kdubs

13 Reasons Why I Love Living In San Diego

2006-02-22T06:15:00.000-08:00

1. I have lived here since I was 2 years old.
2. I can't see myself living anywhere else.
3. San Diego has great beaches!
4. I live 10 minutes from the beach.
5. There are 9 great shopping malls here in San Diego County.
6. My family lives here. (Mom, Dad, Sister, Brother)
7. The weather is great.
8. Our 'cold' is nothing compared to the 'cold' on the east coast.
9. If we want to see snow in the winter, it's only 2 hours away.
10. I have visited other places around the country and there's no place like home.
11. The Zoo, Wild Animal Park, SeaWorld and Legoland are 30 minutes away.
12. Disneyland is an hour and fifteen minutes away.
13. My inlaws live far, far away. (Georgia)

Different Kinds of Viruses

2006-02-21T19:24:00.002-08:00

-The George Bush Virus - Causes your computer to keep looking for viruses of mass destruction.
-The John Kerry Virus - Stores data on both sides of the disk and causes little purple hearts to appear on screen.
-The Clinton Virus - Gives you a permanent Hard Drive with NO memory.
-The Al Gore Virus - Causes your computer to keep counting and re-counting.
-The Bob Dole Virus - Makes a new hard drive out of an old floppy.
-The Lewinsky Virus - Sucks all the memory out of your computer, then e-mails everyone about what it did.
-The Arnold Schwarzenegger Virus - Terminates some files, leaves, but will be back.
-The Mike Tyson Virus - Quits after two bytes.
-The Oprah Winfrey Virus - Your 200 GB hard drive shrinks to 100 GB, then slowly expands to re-stabilize around 350 GB.
-The Ellen Degeneres Virus - Disks can no longer be inserted.
-The Prozac Virus - Totally screws up your RAM, but your processor doesn't care.
-The Michael Jackson Virus - Only attacks minor files.
-The Lorena Bobbitt Virus - Reformats your hard drive into a 3.5 inch floppy... then discards it through Windows.

Different Kinds of Viruses

2006-02-21T19:24:00.001-08:00

WOW!

2006-02-21T19:24:00.000-08:00

This just blows my mind. I can never imagine giving birth at that age!

62 year old gives birth to her 12th child
Grandmother of 20
Great Grandmother or 3
Legally blind since birth
Diabetic
Married to ger 48 year old husband

Although she is not the oldest in history, my jaw just dropped when I saw this on the news over the weekend. Read the full story here. Can we all say WOW together?!?!?

And the Winner is......

2006-02-21T08:18:00.001-08:00

(drumroll, please!)

Rachelle from Ramblings of a tired teacher (and mom) going mad!!

Go over and congratulate her!!! She's an awesome cheerleader and a new owner of a Logitech Harmony Remote!

And Rachelle, email me your address at sonlightscents AT yahoo.com and I'll get your Harmony in the mail this week. Thanks for playing!!!

Happy Monday!!!

2006-02-21T00:13:00.000-08:00

Thanks to everyone who participated in the Endless Cliffhanger. We've got a real wild story going. You can still add to the story and participate as many times as you like because like it says, it's endless!! I have another one in the works for the end of this week. :)
Why is it a Happy Monday? Because I totally blew my diet this weekend and didn't gain a pound. I sort of slacked off on the exercise over the weekend as well. But hey, the scale doesn't lie. :)

We had a great weekend! We went on a family outing with 2 other families to La Jolla Cove. Our goal was to check out the tide pools. Little did we know that it was high tide. But that didn't ruin our trip. The kids had a grand old time. Here are a few pictures

My youngest daughter flying her kite. There was a perfect breeze for kite flying.

My Little Man playing in the cold water.

Writing in the sand

La Jolla's California Coastline

My four kids looking out into the big blue yonder
How was your weekend???

Weekend Wrap Up

2006-02-20T08:45:00.000-08:00

This weekend went by too fast. Here's an update on what has happened.

The runaway teenager situation is very sad. Going into the situation, I knew that there were two sides to the story and I only heard one. She let me listen to messages on her cell phone that her mom, grandmother and stepfather left. Unbelievable is all I can say. Her stepfather said she was a Dumba** B**** and hopes that she never comes back because she is a worthless piece of sh**. Her grandmother said that nobody wants her, not even her real dad because she is too much trouble for them. Her mother said that if I ever find you, I'll beat the cr** out of you.
OMG....what horrible things to say to a teenager. I could see why she didn't want to go home.
After 24 hours we found out that her mother filed a police report and has been calling all of her other friends looking for her. I was encouraging her to at least call her mom and let her know that she is alive. She didn't even want to give her that satisfaction. I let her know that I was harboring a runaway and could be charged with a misdemeanor, really the least of my worries at that point. Her mother finally got a hold of another friend's mother and told her that she really doesn't care if she comes home or not. She just want to know that she is okay. I have spoken with this other mother and she said that she would take her for the week. From what I gathered, her mother is willing to sign over guardianship of her daughter. This whole situation just breaks my heart. Her mother just got remarried last weekend and at the wedding she was trying to force her daughter to call her new husband 'dad.' She just couldn't do it because it didn't feel right. She got smacked for that. She also told her that she'd choose her husband over her any day. Obviously this family need serious counseling, but her mother has too much pride. She thinks it's all her daughter's fault for not adjusting like she should. UGH!!!

On a happier note, I had a great time with my kids this weekend. We played basketball, watched a movie, I took my girls shopping and out to lunch while my husband took my son fishing and we even managed to clean house!!

Have a great day and for those of you who have today off.........ENJOY!!!

For Those of You Who are on a Diet.......

2006-02-18T13:08:00.000-08:00

Reading this makes my dieting much more easier to handle any day.

On the Menu today

Runaway Teenager

2006-02-18T10:29:00.000-08:00

I'm dealing with a runaway teenager right now....no, not my own. My daughter's friend has ended up at my house and does not want to go home. She has confided in me in the past about certain issues that have been bothering her at home (i.e., her mom recently remarried, feels unwanted, etc) I do not know her parents, but I have told her in the past that if she feels she is in danger, my home is always open. So here she is at my house in tears, barely able to speak. I think that my weekend will be focused on her right now and trying to find a solution for her situation. Keep her in your prayers.

Have a great weekend everyone!!!

I Love Mine....You Can Have One Too!!!

2006-02-16T19:44:00.001-08:00

How many of you have 4 or 5 remotes to control your tv, vcr, surround sound, dvd player, etc? When company comes over do they always mess up your remote control settings? What about your kids? Or even parents? How would you like to control your entertainment system with one universal control?
Logitech Harmony remote can do exactly that. Press one button and your tv comes on. Press one button and you can watch a dvd or video. Press one button and you can listen to music.
This is the best remote yet. Easy to set up over the internet, even I can do it. Has help button if you run into problems. Read the reviews here.

My kids no longer mess up our settings. My parents can come over and just press one button to turn on what they want. It is so simple to set up and use.

Can you tell that I was a rep for this company.?!?! Well, I have remotes that I purchased as a rep that I am going to put up on ebay in a few weeks, but I am feeling gracious and would like to give one away FREE!!! It's a $150 value. You ask....what's the catch? Nothing really. Just promise me that you'll use it and love it like I do. Oh and one more thing.....I'm only giving away one so I'll have to decide how I will choose. Let me think.........

Okay, I'm back. My girls helped me out on this one and being the cheerleaders that they are they thought it would be cool to hold a cheer contest. In your best cheer voice, make up a cheer on your current remote control and why you should win this Harmony remote. We'll take entries until 12 midnight (pacific time) on Monday, February 20th. My daughters will help me judge.

My daughter made up a cheer to get the ball rolling........

(Rallying in and getting into position)

(Rallying, toe touch, round off back handspring tuck)

BTW-It does not have to be an audio entry.

12 Things about Whale Watching

2006-02-16T06:22:00.000-08:00

1. Yesterday I went on a field trip with my youngest daughter's class to go whale watching.
2. Every year all the 5th grade classes go on this field trip.
3. My daughter begged me to go and I reluctantly agreed to be one of the drivers.
4. It was the most horrible field trip of my life.
5. Half of the kids were throwing up over the railing and all over the deck. It wasn't very pretty.
6. My daughter was fine. She loved it when the boat was rocking and the waves crashing against it.
7. I was feeling a bit queezy myself, but managed to hold myself together.
8. It was a VERY LONG boat ride.
9. We never saw any whales. :(
10. I spoke with one of the fifth grade teachers in charge and she said it's never like this. No one ever gets sick and they always see whales. She said that the ocean was the roughest that she's ever seen and she been doing this for years.
11. I felt sorry for all the deck hands who had to clean up after the mess.
12. I will never volunteer for that field trip again!! When my son goes in 2 years, I'll have to pass. Maybe my husband will go if he can get the time off, after all he was in the Navy for 20 years.....he can handle it.

Duped by WalMart!

2006-02-13T11:46:00.001-08:00

I don't know how many of you do this, but I start my Christmas shopping early. Last year I started asking my kids for their lists in August. I just don't want to be bombarded with a million things to buy in the two weeks before Christmas.
High on my 15 year olds list was a Nano ipod and a digital camera. I planned on getting her both, one for her birthday and one for Christmas. Her birthday is on December 22 (poor child).
Anyway, my husband and I were at Walmart in September and found a great deal on a digital camera so we jumped on it. Since it was so far away from December, I asked the salesperson if I would have any problems returning it if I had to and he said no, as long as I had my receipt and it was unopened. That was good enough for me. We bought it and hid it in a safe hiding place.
Well, two weeks before Christmas as we were talking during dinner, my daughter mentions that she doesn't want a digital camera any longer, but would rather have Uggs. OMG, can she please make up her mind and stick to it.
That night, my husband and I go online to Nordstrom.com and order her a pair of Uggs. I planned on going to WalMart the next day to return the camera.

I'm standing in the long customer service line with the unopened digital camera and my receipt. I finally get to the counter and the customer service rep looks like she doesn't want to be there in the first place. There has to be a better place in the store to put her. Anyway, I proceed to tell her that I want to return the camera and she looks at my receipt. Nope, can't do it, she says. She points to the sign above her head which says that all electronic items must be returned within 30 days. What? Nobody told me that!! I then told her what the salesperson told me and she didn't want to hear it. I couldn't understand the problem, I had an unopened package and my receipt. It says nothing on the receipt about the return policy. At that point, I ask to speak with a manager. She looked a little disturbed at my request and said fine, but I'd have to step aside while I wait for the manager so she can wait on the other customers in line. Fair enough. She pages the manager and I wait......and wait........and wait......by now, I have no patience. I wait until she is finished with a customer and step in. Now, I'm demanding my money back. She said she couldn't do anything until a manager was available (which could take forever in WalMart). I am just so frustrated that I take her name and the general manager's name and leave the store.
So there I was with a brand new, unopened digital camera that I didn't need. UGH!! I go home and write a letter of complaint and until this day, have not heard back from good old WalMart.

Let's fast forward to last week. My girlfriend was over and I told her the story. She used to work at Target and said they use to take returns past the 90 days all the time. It could be done with or without the manager's approval. She asks if she could try to return the camera for me. So we take a drive to WalMart. I didn't want to step foot in that store so I waited in the car. Ten minutes later, she walks out with no camera. What? How did she do that? She said she just went up to the counter and said she wanted to return the camera and showed the lady her receipt. No questions asked, she got the refund. She said she even saw the 30 day policy sign, but did not say a word about it. I was happy, but I'm still not happy with WalMart. They could have returned my money to me in December. I feel like I've been duped by WalMart. They certainly have lost my business, but I'm sure they're not too worried about that.

I'm at Peace!!!

2006-02-12T21:36:00.000-08:00

Thank you, everyone, for all the comments that you left regarding my previous post.
It certainly lifted up my spirits. This situation has totally consumed my mind over the weekend. One comment that really struck me was the one that Tara left tonight. She encouraged me to read Romans 12, starting with the last verse (v21) then read and
re-read through the chapter. It didn't take but the first verse to touch my heart. It reads:

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:21

Last Wednesday night, I was overcome by my flesh. A million thoughts a minute were
running through my mind. Confusion, hurt, hate, revenge, etc. was what I was feeling.
I would like to share three more verses that dove into my soul. They read:

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody.
If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. Romans 12: 17-19

Tara also has co-authored a book called Peacemaking Women. It deals with conflict
within yourself and others. I quickly hopped on over to Amazon to check out the reviews.
It has received five stars and is highly recommended. I am definately going to buy
this book.

So in closing, I would like to say that I will be sleeping peacefully tonight!!! YAY!

Amnesia?!? I think NOT!!

2006-02-10T00:47:00.000-08:00

This past Wednesday our family went to the Wednesday night service at our church. The message was good, I was feeling good, my husband right next to me, and my oldest daughter managed to stay awake! All was GOOD!

We all leave the sanctuary after the service. My husband goes upstairs to pick up our son and I proceed to pick up my other two daughters. As I was standing in line to sign them out, someone taps me on the shoulder and says "hey it's good to see you again." As I stare this woman in the face, my memory is a bit blurry. She proceeds to invade my personal space and gives me a hug.
Okay? (I'm a bit puzzled here)
After we all retrieve our children, we stand in the courtyard and continue talking. She brings up our upcoming 25 year highschool reunion in 2008. Okay, she's someone from highschool. She eyes my husband walking down the stairs and says "Did you guys get married?"
Uh, yes. (Everyone of my friends from high school knows that we got married)
She continuously calls me by my name, but her face is still a blurr to me. It's either I have a really bad memory or her face has become somewhat distorted over the years. As she continues to talk about people and memories here and there, I grasp on to everything she has to say. I try to somewhat have a two way conversation with her while I desperately try to put the pieces together.

Then all of a sudden, she brings up elementary school and junior high. Have I known this woman that long? She recalls the teachers we had in elementary school and junior high together. It's not until she mentions our 7th grad PE class that everything all of a sudden clicks together. She is that witch of a girl that totally harassed me throughout Jr and high school!!! Just to clarify, I don't have a bad memory, but her face has changed dramatically. I'm guessing a nose job, more prominent cheeks, kinda plastic looking and to top it off packed with make up that cracks when she smiles. No wonder I didn't recognize her right off the bat.

Okay, now I'm getting hot and my blood is boiling inside. The feelings are coming back. What I don't get is that she was talking about all these memories from the past, but did she forget that she made my school years, especially junior high, miserable?!!? Did she forget that she slammed a book on my head while she was walking up a ramp to one of her classes, or that she ripped a necklace of my neck during PE, or that she was constantly trying to turn my friends against me, or that she made fun of the way I dressed, or that she spit in my face one day in front of my friends or even that she put a dead rat hanging on my hall locker?!?!? DID SHE FORGET THESE THINGS?!?!? Everytime she did something I would turn the other cheek. Never told anyone or made a big fuss about it. Just prayed everyday that it would someday stop. She never did once apologize and now here she is talking to me like we were old buddies. The nerve of some people!!! Over the years I have forgiven her, but have not forgotten. And now those memories are brought back fresh in my mind. UGH!!!!

Okay, help me out on this one, please!!! Why is she talking to me like she never did anything wrong to me? I stood there contemplating whether I should confront her, but my whole family was around the courtyard and I didn't want to make a big scene, especially at church. Did she actually forget all those things that she has done to me? Or was she just hoping that I didn't remember anything? Why all of sudden does she want to be my friend? Is she asking for forgiveness in a round about way? Does she think that being my friend will make it all better? Did she actually have some type of amnesia that blocks out bad memories?!?!? I think NOT!!!

Finally, my husband gave a subtle hint that we should go because it's a school night. We exchange business cards and she says she'll be in touch. Oh great, why did I do that?! Now she has my number. :
My family gets in our van and I just burst into tears. My husband has no clue what is going on. I told him that was her, it was Tina, the girl who harassed me in school. He was in shock because he didn't recognize her as well.

Now what shall I do if she ever calls me? Should I just be as fake and phoney as her and pretend nothing has ever happened? After all, this happened decades ago. Or should I confront her, snap her out of her amnesia and bring her down to her knees? Should I make her relive every horrifying moment of bullying that I have encountered with her? Should I make her cringe and shrivle up as I tell her every emotion that I felt and how she made my school years miserable? Boy, I hate confrontations, but this will be eating at me now that it's fresh in my mind again. I'm not a mean person by nature, but this is bringing out the worst in me.

Thursday Thirteen Break

2006-02-09T06:22:00.000-08:00

Sorry guys, I'm going to have to sit this one out. :(
I don't think there will be enough hours for all the things I have to do today. I feel really bad, but I will get back on track for next week. I'll visit all you 13ers later this evening. Leave me a comment and I'll still link you up down there. Have a great day and Happy Thursday Thirteen!

Thursday Thirteen #5 Yummy Food!!!

2006-02-02T06:08:00.000-08:00

1. California Pizza Kitchen's BLT Pizza

2. Red Robin's Artichoke Dip

3. Jack in the Box's Southwest Chicken Salad

4. Crab legs

5. Peel and Eat Shrimp

6. Mandalay Bay's Bayside Buffet

7. In and Out's Double Double

8. Quizno's Turkey Ranch and Swiss Sub

9. Starbuck's Zucchini Nut Muffin with a Chai Latte

10. Boston Market's Asian Chicken Salad

11. Rubios Fish Tacos

12. Claim Jumper's Cedar Plank Salmon

Home Sweet Home

2006-02-01T05:56:00.000-08:00

We came home last night from our trip to Vegas. It was SO fun!! The girls performed on Monday and did an awesome job. We are so proud of them. We were up against nine other teams. I have to say that all of the cheer squads there were the best of the best. We went up last in our division because we were the defending champions and the girls pulled it off. All the stunts went up and all the tumbling passes were complete. The awards ceremony is always the hardest. When it came to our division, all the girls locked arms with their heads down and the coaching staff just as nervous. After a very long season of working hard on this routine and tweaking it to perfection, it all paid off because the we took first place and still hold the champion title for our division!!!! YEAH!!! It was a sweet victory. Tears of joy and sadness were shared by the whole team because although we won, this was the very last competition that the girls would have as a team. And what a way to end the season!!! Some of these girls have been together since they were 8 years old and now they are 12 and 13. So yes, we had an exciting weekend but it's always nice to be home sweet home!!!

Endless Cliffhanger #2- Cheerleaders In Vegas

2006-01-27T07:19:00.000-08:00

Come on gang, play along. Let's see how creative we can get. I got this idea from a Discovery Toys game that I used to play with my kids. Here's the idea and how it works:

* I will start off the story
* The first person who comments adds on, the second person who comments adds on to the first, the third person who comments adds on to the second
* And so on, and so on
* You can add to the story as many times as you wish
* The story will go on throughout the weekend
* Oh, and spread the word so we can get a great story going!

You guys catching on? Okay, then let's get this story rolling..........

After the cheerleaders' last practice before defending their National Championship title in Vegas, they headed for their rooms. The coaching staff instructed everyone to go straight to bed so that they would be well rested for the day ahead. As the coaches turned the corner, the cheerleaders took one quick detour to..........

( I will be gone from Saturday night to Tuesday morning for the Nationals in Vegas.....wish us luck)

Thursday Thirteen #4 Cheer Stuff

2006-01-26T06:08:00.001-08:00

Thirteen Things about how I became a Cheer Coach

1. My Oldest daughter, who was 12 at the time was interested in cheerleading. She was fascinated with competitive cheer, their routines and their stunts.

2. I started looking into competitve cheer organizations locally and found the all star teams to be a bit pricey. I still continued to look. Someone finally led me to pop warner.

3. My daughter and I attended one of their meetings during their open registration. There were quite a few people there. They notified us that the age group that we were interested in did not have a coach and that they wouldn't have a Pee Wee squad that year if no one volunteered.

4. No, I did not raise my hand voluntarily. I looked around the room and saw other moms who were starting to raise their hand, but their daughters sitting right next to them grabbed their mom's hand and brought it back down. It happened to a few moms.

5. I looked at my daughter and said I know nothing about cheer and she said "that's okay, they send you to workshops to learn." I told her.....I don't think so.

6. By the end of the night, no one had raised their hand and they were about to end the meeting. They called out one last time for volunteers and my daughter right next to me, raised my hand and she said PLEASE! I saw in her eyes that she really wanted to do this so I said what the heck.

7. After I raised my hand, four more did and we had an instant coaching staff ( who knew nothing about the sport) Pretty scary, huh? This particular Pop Warner group had a reputation of placing in the top 3 of all their competitions. How were we going to do that?

8. To make the long story short, that first year that I coached we had 3 competitions. We placed 3rd, 2nd and 1st. It was a lot of hard work, but well worth it.

9. Second year of cheer came around and my second daughter joined the team. I told my daughters I would not be able to be on the coaching staff because of the time factor. They were pretty bummed about it and everyday until the girl's first meeting they asked me if I changed my mind. NOPE!! At the meeting, the coaching staff welcomed all the new and returning cheerleaders and my girls did not look happy at all. Gosh Darnit, they really wanted me to coach. It got me thinking......... sooner or later, there will come a time where they might not want me around at all so I might as well do it while they still want me around. Coaching a cheer team takes an enormous amount of time. They practice everyday in the summer for 2 hours and when school starts it goes down to 3 days. So yes, I coached that year as well. In all our competitions, we placed 1st or 2nd.

10. Third year of cheer(this year).....my oldest daughter had to have knee surgery so she took a break. And yes, I'm on the coaching staff this year. This season we have been undefeated and we have one more competion to go. It's the Nationals in Vegas which will be held this weekend. The team took first place last year so we're returning to hold on to our title.

11. I've had a great time with my girls, but am so glad this will be our last year. My oldest daughter will be on the high school cheer team in the fall and my second daughter decided she wanted to go back to soccer and then try basketball.

12. I have learned a lot about cheer this past 3 years. When I was in high school it was just 'rah, rah, go team, go' But cheer is really a sport. It takes blood, sweat and tears to put together and pull of a great routine.

Thursday Thirteen #4 Cheer Stuff

2006-01-26T06:08:00.000-08:00

Can't Think Straight!

2006-01-25T07:31:00.000-08:00

Don't you just hate it when you don't have a thing to post????? I'm having Blogger's Block right now. I think it's because I'm preoccuppied with other things. I have lots on my to do list today and I'm working on a secret special project that I can't tell anyone about. No, not even you. :)

I'm off to start my busy day. I won't be able to make my daily rounds until later so leave me a comment and I'll be sure to visit you when the day is done.

Toodle-Loo!!

Good Choices

2006-01-24T06:01:00.001-08:00

Yesterday my 15 year old daughter called me up from school.
Mom, can I ditch school today?
Ummmmmm.................NO!!!!
Why? Please! Please! Please!
Don't ask me again, the answer is NO. And anyway, why do you want to ditch?
Because everyone else is.
Who's everyone?
(She rattles off about 7 names)
Oh, I see. And where do these girls plan on going?
To the beach.
Who's driving?
Nikki
She only has her permit
I know
Okay, you just walk you butt right to class. You know it's wrong to skip school and get in a car with someone who only has their permit.
I know mom, that's why I called you to ask you.

So off she went to class. And off I went to call a few girls' moms. I am good friends with the moms a few of the girls she mentioned, including Nikki. I would expect them to do the same. All the moms that I talked to were very grateful that I called. To make the long story short, all those girls not only got in trouble with their parents, but with the school as well. They have to serve after school detention, do community service and are suspended from any sports activities for a week.

Now, what I was trying to figure out was, did my daughter call me because she really wanted to go with them or did she call me to tell on them in a round about way. Last night I sat down with her and had a heart to heart. I thanked her for calling me and gave her different scenarios of what could have happened to those girls. Without me asking her, she did confess that she really didn't want to go but she was scared that something bad was going to happen to her friends. I assured her that she did the right thing by calling me.

Peer pressure is one of the things that I dread my kids going through. I homeschooled my oldest until 3rd grade and then put her in a small private school until 6th grade. I so feared the public school system because that is what I grew up in. In 7th grade, because of certain circumstances I transferred her to a public school. I felt that she was well grounded in all that we have taught. I thought, why am I so scared? God is bigger than the public school system and I trust in Him. So prayer everyday is what gets me through. I think it's one of the best decisions we have made. She has encountered so many situations and has dealt with them well. It has made her a stronger person. So yes, I am proud of my 15 year old daughter!!!! :)