my scratching post....

blogworthy...

2009-11-11T07:45:00.004-05:00

it's not too often we have, well, ANYTHING happen around here but yesterday was a pretty interesting day for kittyville residents...

early in the morning I started noticing police cars whizzing past our house with sirens going - this is not too uncommon as we live a few miles down the road from a police station

however normally (for an accident, fire, whatever) you see maybe 3 or 4 cars go by and that's the end of it... but yesterday I was seeing/hearing car after car after car... troopers, sheriffs, unmarked vehicles all with lights and sirens going

after about 30 minutes of this I was thinking this is NO normal accident/fire/whatever - so I decided to check the local newspaper's web site to see if they had any idea what the heck was going on

at the top of the page it said 'KITTYVILLE HIGH SCHOOL ON L*CKD*WN'
so of course I clicked on the article... and of course being the useless piece of crap that it is... they had no useful information

so of course I did the next logical thing... went to facebook!! haaa
where better to get news than from the people living it?

I (and 99% of my facebook friends) went to school there and several of them have kids that go there now... half of them are on the rescue squad or have a relative who is - which means information was immediately pouring into facebook from people listening to scanners...

without using too many keywords (so's to avoid local people looking for info on the situation stumbling on my little blogeroo) a g*y with a g*n went into the sch**l and took the pr*nc*p*l h*st*g* !!!

to make things even MORE interesting... rumors immediately started flying about WHO the g*y with the g*n was... once I showed up on facebook I instantly started getting hit with IM's from people saying they were hearing who it was... and who it was is someone that we ALL know

a local guy... someone I've known all my life... who dated my sister off and on for YEARS and she is still friendly with

so when SHE got onto facebook and got word of this... and the fact that he was still in the building which at this point was surrounded by police, SWAT, and helicopters she was obviously concerned

of course for the kids and staff... but also for HIM

at this point his name had not been officially released so there was hope it was NOT actually him... but sadly nobody seemed too overly surprised when his name came up over the scanners and through the grapevine

being 2000 miles away and having to go to work where she couldn't be on facebook she kept calling me asking for updates...

throughout the morning my phone was ringing off the freakin' hook - ohio friend saw it on the news there and was in complete shock... things like this just do NOT happen here

we're talking about a school that ranges in age from 12-18 - basically grades 6-12 and STILL only has probably less than 1000 students!! it's a tiny, rural school that unlike so many places nowadays doesn't even have metal detectors - in a community where most people don't even lock their doors - EVERYONE knows EVERYONE and when something bad happens to one person pretty much everyone feels it!!

so obviously when this started it was literally only minutes before the tom-toms were beating

people living near the school who weren't even home were offering their homes to parents waiting for word that their kids were safe and could be picked up... local businesses offered space for the hoards of people to sit and wait

all you city mice who wonder how us country mice can stand living so far off the beaten path... THIS is how!! that sense of community is priceless

anyway... as time went on we learned that it definitely WAS the person it was rumored to be - but thankfully all went well, he eventually surrendered and everyone was safe!!

everyone was watching the news and it was SO weird to see our little school on tv... and friends being interviewed and all that stuff - SO WEIRD!!

but weirdest of all I think was in the evening as I was cooking dinner I heard a knock at the door... people don't usually knock on our door and when they do somehow their individual knocks are distinctive but this was a knock I didn't recognize

I opened the door and standing there was a strange man in a suit - he introduced himself as being with a news organization who's name I won't mention but I will say it rhymes with LOX - behind him was another man with a camera!!

they said they had been given this as an address for Chr*s (the g*nm*n) HA!
I was like... ummm he does NOT live here!! they asked if I knew what they were talking about (asking about him) and I said yes... they asked if I was surprised by what happened and I was like HELL yes - who the hell ever thinks something like THAT is going to happen???

they started asking what I knew about him, what I thought of him etc. and I was just like ya know what...I don't really want to discuss it... I don't particularly care to be on the news

eventually they gave up and went away... but I HOPE no more news people show up here!!

anyway... that's probably the most blogworthy thing to happen around here in a long time - the last time something 'major' happened in this town was like 25 years ago - I hope it's another 25 before another major event... of this type anyway!!

bleeding like a stuck pig...

2009-11-09T09:15:00.002-05:00

for the most part I can't complain too much about the fact that I only seem to get my period every few months for the last year or two now - in general it's a great money saver for one... in fact before my sister moved (almost 3 years ago now) she gave me all her leftover pads from after she had her baby and it has taken me until NOW to finally go through them

I know I know PADS? ick! yuck! gross! blech! - but I've never been able to use tampons - not sure if my body is deformed or it's just a mental thing going back to a story I read in the readers digest one time (probably before I was even old enough to get my period) about some woman who got toxic shock syndrome and ended up losing her hands or her feet or some awful thing... that seriously freaked me out!!

anyway... it's been really nice saving all that money... like I said, what I already had combined with what my sister gave me - and the fact that I only get my period like every 3 months or so, I haven't had to buy any of that stuff in like 3 years!! unfortunately one thing that kinda sucks about that is the fact that buying such things hasn't been on my mind... so when I discovered I was getting my period yesterday I looked and saw I only had TWO pads left!!

I was fine last night but by the time I woke up this morning I was, as the title says, bleeding like a stuck pig!!!

now I have ONE pad to get me through the whole entire day - until Sam gets home with more...

I think it's gonna be a long, bloody, disgusting day!!

hmmm...

2009-11-03T10:10:00.002-05:00

I seem to have seriously lost my groove... I feel like I have NOTHING to say - and when I do I just don't seem to be taking the time to say it

part of it is that somewhere along the way I became more interested in facebook than blogging - part of it is the fact that nobody else seems to have much to say so I guess 'outta sight outta mind' if I'm not spending much time in blogville (reading) I seem to be less inspired to spend much time here writing...
part of it is the fact that I just really don't want to be rotting my ass in front of this idiot box so much

there have been a few things I have meant to blog about over the last several months... for example our new kitchen cabinets, our roommate situation - and just different little things that have popped up along the way... but when I sit down to write I either get distracted by a ringing phone or a shiny object... whatever - ya know?

I think part of it also is that my schedule seems to have changed... I used to do a lot of my blog writing really early in the morning... I'd always wake up way before Sam and get on here and just type away before the little interruptions of the day started creeping in - but for some reason I seem to sleep better (or at least longer) now and rather than hop on and blog as soon as Sam leaves I guess I go ahead and do the facebook thing first... which often leads to games of farkle or just mindless jabber on there... until the daily interruptions start hehehe

I have a REALLY hard time focusing - once the tv comes on or someone speaks to me that's usually it... I move into a different mode and whatever I had been thinking about writing goes away for another day - until eventually I just don't care enough to write about that anymore...

now of course since I'm actually making an effort to say something today - I don't really seem to have much at all to say...

let's see... I've been having a VERY hard time breathing lately - I seem to have this problem a lot this time of year... I mean I always have some issues but not like THIS!! I remember when my breathing problems started (a few years ago) it was late summer early fall - and ever since then it seems like every fall I just have a really hard time

I've always had fall allergy issues (mainly headaches) so maybe this is an allergy thing - who knows - all I know is that most of the day (and night) I'm really struggling to get good breaths and then here and there I get breaks where allofasudden I can breathe clearly for a little while...

and I keep hearing that people with asthma should be getting this stupid swine flu vaccine... I HATE the idea of getting a vaccine like that... especially a 'new' one - I'm not comfortable with anything new like that - it seems like so many times with new drugs/vaccines etc. that months later they discover all these horrific complications from them

I don't really want to be one of those people who dies from some ridiculous thing like complications from a new drug or vaccine... on the other hand I don't really want to suffocate to death from complications of the freakin' SWINE FLU!!

I just thought how kinda funny that would be... FAT girl dies of SWINE flu!! OINK OINK
of course the pig jokes are not WHY I don't want to die of swine flu... I just don't want to die!! hehehe

anyone who has been here a while probably knows I have anxiety issues... I do NOT need the added anxiety of worrying about crap like THIS!!

nobody needs to tell me I could wind up with a deadly disease or virus or whatever... I get a bruise in a weird place and I'm convinced it's some weird blood cancer - the LAST thing I need is the media filling me with crap that supports my crazy, anxious, hypochondriac-y thoughts!! haaaa

and now for something else that's brown and lumpy...

2009-10-09T13:31:00.004-04:00

Brian is on my case to post something... anything to push down the image of bear poop from the last post - since it's his birthday I suppose I should oblige...

we recently purchased our very first brand new piece of furniture - all of our current hand-me-downs are totally falling apart and my recliner outright BROKE... when it was in the reclined position it didn't want to let me un-recline it - so I had to do this weird limbo-like move to get out of it and hopefully not completely collapse it in the process

my original plan was to just find something used off of craigslist BUT our truck isn't exactly roadworthy at the moment so that wasn't an option and the seating situation was kind of urgent - sooooooooooooo a couple weeks ago we spent an entire weekend sofa shopping

we all know I HATE shopping - BUT I hafta say... furniture shopping is a different story - I mean what's not to love about lounging out in super comfy furniture all day?? well alright some of it wasn't super comfy - but for the most part... ALL of it was better than anything we had!!

we started out HERE and (comfort-wise) both fell in love with THIS - I used to have a kick-ass leather recliner that I LOVED... I still miss that thing!! and of course when you walk in, the first thing the sales people direct you toward is the leather... I LOVE love LOVE leather!! ohh yeah!!

Sam practically had to drag me out of that thing to keep looking - and even then I kept wandering back to admire it

a few sofas down the line the sales droid assigned to us (who obviously knew how to read his customers) pointed us in the direction of something he described as 'the ultimate in lazy' - at first I thought he was talking about ME... but that didn't seem right hehehe

what he WAS referring to was certainly NOT the nicest looking sofa I had ever seen... in fact it looked like what would happen if Jabba the Hutt and a sumo wrestler got together and ummm... pooped out a couch

BUT it had something none of the other couches had... these neat little reading lights in the center part of the head rest - also each end reclined - AND the center foot rest area pulled out for storage.. and even had these nifty ice packs you can use to keep drinks cold INSIDE the sofa!!

did I mention it also had HEAT & MASSAGE??!!

so we had to stop and think... what is more important? style or comfort?? neither of us was particularly thrilled with the look of this thing... but it was hard to focus on THAT when we were being heated and massaged to sleep right there in the store!!

we were pretty sure we had settled on it... even though it was (altogether) going to be a few hundred bucks over what we had been planning to spend - but we went home and slept on it - because large purchases aren't something either of us is particularly comfortable with - and the next day decided to look around elsewhere - just to make sure we were making the right choice

so we went to the only other two furniture stores around and relaxed in every single sofa, loveseat and recliner available - we found some pieces in the same price range that we could have certainly lived with... and we went back and forth over the idea of the leather sofa we looked at first - but in the end... none of them had HEAT & MASSAGE!!

so we went BACK to the first store... relaxed in the thing some more (just to be sure) took a quick break and discussed it over some of the FREE Haagen Dazs they offer in the cafe!! seriously this place has a FREEEEEEEEEEE CAFE at the back of the store!!

a chick back there will scoop you out your choice of like 4 or 5 flavors (I had strawberry) - they also have coffee, tea, lemonade, water, cookies and bins of penny candy... all for FREE!!

after eating their free ice cream I suppose we HAD to buy our couch there.... soooooo

without further ado...

OUR (NOT VERY ATTRACTIVE - BUT OH SO COMFY) NEW SOFA

which I call THE VIBRATRON hehehe

my sister calls it a porno couch...

now in the evenings Sam and I can relax together on the same piece of furniture and hold hands - or I can lay down with my head in his lap... or he can lay down with his feet in mine (for foot rubbins) or we can both kick back and buzz away in vibrating massage heaven...

YAY!!

update...

2009-09-23T13:21:00.004-04:00

so earlier I decided to take a stroll around the edge of the yard hoping to find my missing thistle feeder... and guess what - I DID!!

about half way down our yard we've stopped mowing so that eventually it will be wooded again - but we cut a path through so that we can get to the stream (not that anyone ever goes down there)

anyway... I got a few feet from the edge of the unmowed portion of the yard and saw it laying in the middle of the path... but not before I saw THIS in the grass at my feet:

it's hard to make out the size of this from the picture but it was freakin' HUGE

I took another pic next to my size 10 croc to give you a better idea of just HOW huge it is:

now I'm sure it was a bear that mangled my feeders -- and one of my facebook friends (where I also posted this) says it's bear poo... which I knew cause nothing else is gonna poop like THAT!! (yes, Whirl - 'cept maybe sasquatch)

anyway... I was maybe 10 feet from the feeder but once I saw that massive pile of poo I kinda froze - I felt like once I enter the unmowed area I don't know what might be hiding in the grass - but if something that poops like that is in there I have no business being in there!!

so I left the feeder laying there...

Sam says I just need to make noise... that a bear won't mess with you if it sees you coming

but I figure I'm going in there to essentially steal it's lunch box so I'm kinda thinking it might be a little less than friendly toward me

besides if HE'S so fucking brave let him go get the feeder... HE can bring a gun!!

I'm thinking a warm, fluffy bear skin rug would look nice in front of our super new couch (which I haven't posted about yet) - stay tuned!! =)

bird feeder massacre

2009-09-21T12:29:00.005-04:00

I knew something was wrong when on my way to the kitchen to get Sam's lunch together this morning, I noticed I had an unobstructed view of the yard through the window (where I USUALLY see bird feeders hanging)

this is what I saw when I got a closer look...

my thistle feeder is GONE and the suet feeder is clear across the yard!! and the metal can I keep all the seed in was knocked over, the lid yanked off and as you can see an entire bag of black oil sunflower seed was dragged several feet and dumped

you can kinda see my favorite wind chimes were torn apart - part is still hanging from the pole... the chimes are laying in the dirt =(

the heavy duty pole that my brand new platform feeder was on is BENT!!

I don't know what the heck happened... normally since we've had problems with raccoons before (though NOTHING like THIS!!) I would assume it was raccoons - but the way that one pole is bent I have a hard time believing a raccoon could have done that - the feeder was too high for them to reach and pull down without climbing and the pole is WAY too thick for it to bend just from them hanging off the feeder if they did manage to get up there

I've been trying to get Sam to buy a trail cam for a while (cause I'm always hearing creepy weird animals sounds out there) but I don't see that happening any time soon so for now I'm gonna put some sand on the ground - chances are whatever it was will come back and leave tracks in the sand so I can know for sure...

keep your fingers crossed that all I find are cute little raccoon tracks!!

letter to my sister...

2009-09-17T14:56:00.003-04:00

my sister is the type of person who thinks the world owes her... she was always the squeaky wheel when we were growing up which put me on the back burner (if I even rated a spot on the stove)

she's very book smart but has zilch in the way of common sense (I don't think if she stumbled across this that would offend her... I think she MUST know it by now)

she has degrees in both philosophy and psychology from a major university and often thinks she has the answers to solve all the worlds problems... ah hell don't we all?

earlier today she called me on her lunch break... I assume to just BS - she calls me a lot on her breaks... probably because I'm the only one available in the middle of the day

anyway... almost immediately she started going on about the state of the human race and somehow got on the subject of family/community and how we're all fucked up because we're all scattered across the map - families and friends used to take care of each other... often living multiple generations to one house or one piece of property - but people don't stay together anymore and it's 'what's wrong with the world' (which by the way I totally agree with and could go on all day about)

then she said she supposes that she is guilty of that too as she did up and move herself and her child 2000 miles away... but of course as is usually her way she proclaimed that SHE is an exception because her family wasn't providing the help and support that she needed

and sorta went on and on about how things were for the first few years after my niece was born and her and her husband split up (which was pretty much right after the baby was born)

blah blah blah we've all heard her sob story 18 million times

anyway... I don't particularly like when she calls me and goes on in like a 10 minutes rant about everything and nothing all at once like she picked a topic out of a hat went on a rant and then goes back about her life when the timer goes off - leaving me to hang up the phone like I was just whapped upside the head by a bi-polar tasmanian devil

apparently during today's rant it became clear that I didn't appreciate once again being told how useless we all are and she doesn't like when people dare take it personally when she tells them how useless they are... so when it was clear I was less than pleased she acted like I had no right to be (even though she has all the right in the world to YET AGAIN express HER displeasure)

so she hung up on me...

what I do when I get pissed is write a letter to the person who upset me - I rarely send them it just helps me get my feelings off my chest... this is my letter to my sister:

"ya know what... don't call me on your lunch break and bring me down going on about the state of the human race and then tell me how you are an exception because everyone in your life never did enough to help you and then hang up on me when you don't appreciate my negative reaction... we all know you were dealt a shit hand

I was dealt a shit hand, 'Sam' was dealt a shit hand... find me a person that doesn't think they were dealt a shit hand in some way!!

maybe you need to stop longing for the family unit you don't have and learn to appreciate and make the most of what you do have

I'm tired of walking on egg shells wondering if I'M gonna be the next one who says or does the wrong thing on the wrong day and gets cut from your and E's (the monkey) life

we all know you don't think we do enough to help you... I don't know what to tell ya - nobody is jumping to help me either - I've spent my whole life on the back burner... nobody pays the least bit of attention to me - and ya know what... it's my own damn fault for not jumping up and down saying LOOK AT ME!!

the most important rule in life... you can't count on anybody but yourself!!
sure there are others you can lean on for support and that's GREAT but you can't count on them always being there (sometimes they have their own shit to deal with) so ya damn well better be prepared to do it all alone!! sucky as that sad fact is... it's just the way it is

would be fucking GREAT if we could all get everything we need in life... every bit of assistance and support and love and care and appreciation - but that's not the way life is"

that is where I lost steam...

what can I say...

2009-09-16T07:25:00.010-04:00

so - several news sources this morning are featuring an article entitled "House admonishes Wilson over outburst"

being the nosy nellie that I am, any time someone is being admonished for any reason, I wanna know about it!! also being the clueless twit/tv junkie that I am, saw 'House' and 'Wilson' and naturally assumed the article was about Dr. House and Dr. Wilson

although I did think it was odd that they were referring to them as if these characters were real people... but what do I know?

surprise surprise!! - not a whole lot...

obviously the article had NOTHING to do with either Dr. House OR Dr. Wilson - or at least I think it was probably obvious to pretty much anyone... anyone who pays any attention at all to what's going on in the world... or at least our country!!

of course I had NO idea what the article actually was referring to - it was some political BS... the 'House' was THE house (of representatives) and the 'Wilson' was some congressman (or something like that)

I'm sure it's no surprise to anyone who knows me that I don't even really know what the purpose of the house of representatives is... or what the function of a congressman is - nevermind being in the know as far as what kind of crapola they might be involved in...

maybe it's true what they say... too much tv really does rot the brain

I gotta say though... I don't really mind being clueless when it comes to stuff like this... in fact as far as the government is concerned I'm really starting to feel like maybe ignorance IS bliss!!

shine on... you crazy nut job!!

2009-09-10T10:20:00.005-04:00

so... my sister is planning her funeral... which some people think is weird - I think it's smart... if I had the money I would totally do this!! especially since I have very specific ideas of how I want to be laid (to rest)

anyway we were talking about how my one aunt thinks she's nuts for dealing with this stuff now and she was going over how freakin' EXPENSIVE a funeral and all that is... even the most basic of funerals!! and how it's not fair to leave that kind of thing on your loved ones cause even if you have the money personally, YOUR money will be tied up for a while and the funeral is kind of immediate... etc.

she starts talking about how much caskets and all that cost - and thennnnnnn she starts in about how much her diamond is going to cost...

and I was lost - WTF?? what DIAMOND?? I've been to a funeral or two or twelve in my day and never once did I see or hear anything about a DIAMOND!!

she was like YEAH! when you die they can take your remains and use the carbon from your body to make DIAMONDS... like for KEEPSAKES!!

I've never heard of such a thing... I mean who the hell wants a freakin' diamond made of grandma's wrinkly old corpse???!!

that seems pretty creepy to me!! and if I think it's creepy - it's CREEPY!!!

I mean what kind of ghoulish GENIUS came up with this idea?

I can see it now... a wife nagging her husband for a diamond - him saying 'yeah, you'll get a diamond alright... over my dead body!' and her thinking heyyyyy that's not a bad idea!!!

hehehe

anyway... I thought my sister was nuts so of course when we hung up I had to google it - and sure enough THERE IT WAS...

and it turns out you don't have to actually DIE to have diamonds made from your own personal carbon... all they need is some of your (or your beloved's) HAIR!!

I assume Angelina and Billy Bob were not aware of this all that time they were walking around wearing vials of each other's blood... I mean if they wanted a ghoulish reminder of their undead... err undying love, surely a diamond would be better... after all as they say 'a diamond is FOREVER' - and if your relationship is NOT (like theirs)... then at least a diamond is a lot more saleable than a dried up vial of crimson bio hazard!!

it will be mine... oh yes it WILL be mine!!

2009-09-03T10:22:00.005-04:00

OMG!! seriously if this doll exists I MUST have it!!

CHAMPION 4

2009-08-31T10:01:00.004-04:00

a few months ago we were told we need a new toilet - apparently our super hard water has over time created a crust which has slowly narrowed the passageway through which the err... stuff you flush, passes

I started noticing this was a problem when Sam was no longer the only person clogging the toilet

if it was up to me we would have gotten a new toilet like IMMEDIATELY!! but I had to wait for the proposal to be approved as we had no intention of shelling out our own money for what is our slumlord's responsibility...

FINALLY after MUCH prodding I managed to nail Mom down on a price range (our usual arrangement is that we just buy what we need and take it off the rent... if a plumber/electrician/whatever is required we have them send her the bill) but it usually takes a while to get her to narrow down a price range - she wants to go LOOK at our options and then still not come to a conclusion for months... she is the worlds worst procrastinator!!

she's content to live with broken down crap and/or badly cobbed repair jobs... I am not!! it's 2009 and society hasn't COMPLETELY crumbled yet... I don't think a toilet that flushes is too much to ask!!

anyway... I was VERY excited when I heard we'd be needing a new toilet - I've wanted one ever since we moved in here... the toilet we have was SO disgusting (think TRAINSPOTTING) I didn't think I'd EVER get it clean... but after gallons of bleach and several hours of scrubbing I made it ACCEPTABLE!!

now 5 years later I'm FINALLY getting my wish hehehe

as soon as we heard we had to get a new toilet Sam and I checked out our options at Home Depot and he fell in love with this American Standard Champion 4 which claims to be able to flush a BUCKET OF GOLF BALLS - but at nearly $300 we figured we were shit out of luck (haha)

surely mom would want us to get the cheap-o piece o' crap model... or something close to it

but one day last week after several attempts to duck the question I FINALLY managed to nail her down on a price... she asked what new toilets go for... good question - I mean when is the last time anyone bought a new toilet?? they usually come with your house and are still there when you die

I told her they range pretty much anywhere from $100-$1,500 (by the way WHO the hell is spending $1,500 on a ceramic bowl you piss, shit and sometimes PUKE in???)

to my surprise she agreed to let us spend $300 - $400

YAY!! that's enough for Sam's 'bucket of golf balls' (suck the poop right outta yer butt) model!! which we went and bought yesterday!!

the plumber is on his way... wish us luck!! oh how nice it would be to NOT have to plunge EVERY time you try to flush the toilet... also to NOT have to SCRUB the toilet 17 times a week from all the clogging and plunging - WOO HOO!!

but don't be surprised if I come back tomorrow saying it's broken because Sam bought a bucket of golf balls on his way home to test it out!! haaaa

every wife's nightmare....

2009-08-24T10:45:00.003-04:00

I always suspected it... I have no idea why - just a nagging suspicion I've had for years and years - I would push it out of my head... tell myself I'm just being silly - there's NO way!! he couldn't be... could he? naaaa - after all how would he find the time? how could he manage to hide it? yadda yadda

but then the other day my suspicions were confirmed...

imagine my shock when I discovered my husband with a cock in his mouth!!!

~hangs head in shame...

where do we go from here??

snip snip

2009-08-19T09:59:00.004-04:00

so I did it...

for the first time in probably close to 15 years I had my hair cut by a professional - for the last 15 years any time I felt the need to take off some of my hair I just lopped it off with a pair of kitchen shears - I would just usually tie my hair in a knot and whatever hair got pulled through I would just snip

no more 'bun-head' I guess...

for a long time Sam has been threatening to sexually assault my bun - maybe I should have just let him haaaa

I'm REALLY not in love with my new hair... the thing about hair is it needs to be trained - and having it do NOTHING for so long it just kinda still wants to do nothing - unfortunately I have zero skills in the hair styling department - aside from one halloween like 7 years ago my hair hasn't seen a spritz of hairspray, a squirt of gel or a puff of mousse in geez I dunno... 17 years?! and I kinda plan on keeping it that way...

I don't own hair styling equipment... I only just bought a blow dryer last winter because I tend to shower at night and with long, thick, curly hair it would take forever to dry and I'd wake up with a stiff neck from going to sleep with damp hair

otherwise I do nothing with my hair... after I got it cut I had to go buy a round brush - the only other brush I own is just a regular bristle brush I've had for over 20 years!!

I REALLY suck at doing all that girly bathroom crap... I always have - my hair is pretty fine and tends to be limp and frizzy - if I remember correctly it does hold a curl pretty well... but that means I would have to actually CURL it... which means I would have to buy a curling iron I suppose...

this is all a lot more work than I want to do - especially considering I don't even leave the house most days!!

it's funny though how some habits don't die... as a teenager I picked up a habit of running my hands through my bangs and pulling them off to the left... it was a bit of a nervous thing I guess - I did it to the point of creating a cowlick which never really went away

now that my hair is down and I have bangs again I find myself constantly running my left hand through my bangs and pulling them to the side

anyway... my hair is SHORT now... they cut like 13 inches off - which is cool cause I get to donate it - now some little bald kid can get stuck with my unruly mop!!

and I have to figure out a way to make my hair not look like a fucking hair HELMET every day... YIPPIE!!

YIKES!!

2009-08-17T16:00:00.003-04:00

I heard today that "somewhere in the world a woman dies of breast cancer every 68 seconds"

HOLY CRAP!! I don't know where this somewhere is... but I hope I never find myself living there!!

DISGUSTED!!

2009-08-05T09:02:00.003-04:00

I've been avoiding writing about this here because I know how much this type of thing upsets some of you... but I just can't hold back anymore... I want to SCREAM!!

a couple weeks ago there was a car accident about an hour from kittyville... you may have heard about it... it was kinda big

as the story goes - a woman (Diane Schuler, 36), her husband, their two children (a girl,2 & a boy,5) and their three nieces (5, 7 & 8) had been camping for the weekend (a few hours north-ish of their home) - they left the campground around 9:30 Sunday morning in separate vehicles as allegedly the father wanted to do a little fishing before heading home - the mother takes off for home with the 5 kids in their minivan - along the way mom & kids stopped at McDonalds (which helps explain the chunk of missing time along the way)

around 1pm she pulls off the road near a rest stop and calls her brother (the father of the 3 girls) saying she was feeling disoriented and having trouble seeing... he tells her to stay put and he'll come get them... but she says she doesn't know where they are... the 8 year old ends up on the phone attempting to tell her father what she sees around them... the phone call lasted 8 minutes - she did not stay put, she continued driving (later that day her phone was found on the ground near the rest stop)

a short while later the brother calls 911 asking for help finding them... he sets off looking

at around 1:35 the woman turned the wrong way going south on the northbound lanes of the taconic (ignoring/not seeing multiple DO NOT ENTER - WRONG WAY signs)

traveled 1.7 miles with multiple people honking and flashing their lights at her and calling 911 to report a wrong way driver before the minivan ultimately collided with an SUV carrying 3 men headed to a family gathering - then careened down an embankment and burst into flames... the children were thrown from the vehicle

all 3 men in the SUV were killed as were the woman, her 2 year old daughter and the three nieces... only the little boy survived

it's kinda been the water cooler story of the week as each day new information comes out... there has been MUCH speculation as to WHAT would cause something like this - disorientation, vision problems etc. and WHY did she continue driving???

how could your average typical drive home from a weekend family camping trip end this way?

there were no known medical issues but could she have had some underlying condition nobody knew about? was it her blood sugar? could she have been having a stroke?

I thought perhaps a fever... being a camper she might have had Lyme disease or an other tick-bourne illness like ehrlichiosis that could cause a fever that would come on kinda suddenly

surely it was just some freak thing... an illness causing her to not be able to think clearly enough to get off the road

even I (who admittedly often assumes the worst) didn't naturally consider the possibility that she might be COMPLETELY SHIT FACED DRUNK!!!!

according to autopsy results/toxicology reports/whatever - this chick had a BAC (blood alcohol content) of .19 (more than twice the legal limit of .08 - the equivalent of ten drinks) an additional 6 grams of unmetabolized booze in her stomach AND a high concentration of THC in her system... according to some test they are able to do they figure she smoked pot within 15 minutes to an hour before the accident (which means she had to have been drinking and smoking not just before she got in the car but most likely WHILE she was driving!!

with the kids in the car!!!

further investigation uncovered a partial 1.75 liter bottle of Absolut (vodka) in the charred remains of the minivan

I don't know what it's like where you are but here in NY you can't buy alcohol before noon on Sundays so either she stopped at a liquor store in her travels and slammed down like 15+ ounces of vodka in about an hour) or she had it with her on the camping trip

the family is claiming they are SHOCKED and never had any indication that this woman was anything but a caring, RESPONSIBLE mother - but you can't convince me that at the very least her HUSBAND didn't know she was a boozer!!

there has been speculation that perhaps there was a fight with the husband and maybe she was distraught - (meaning this behavior was out of the ordinary for her) but who would let their distraught wife take off on a 3 hour car ride with FIVE kids in the car???

AND if boozing and smoking pot were out of the ordinary... HOW did she have pot in the first place? it's not like she could just stop at a mobile-mart and pick up a couple joints along the way... not to mention - who the hell decides that during a ride home from a family camping trip with 5 kids in the car is a good time to take up smoking pot?

gee that's odd, Diane never smokes pot at home...

allofasudden she decides to give smoking pot a whirl... on a road trip with the kiddos??

BZZZT - I don't think so!!

and why VODKA? everyone knows vodka is the sneak drinkers booze of choice - not to mention that beer would be A LOT easier to come by (particularly on the spur of the moment) you can get it at ANY rest stop/gas station/grocery store etc. unlike vodka which (in NY) can only be purchased at a liquor store

I don't buy this uncharacteristic BS - I don't like to pass judgment but COME ON!! this chick OBVIOUSLY had a problem!!

I don't know WHAT was going on in her life - everyone's got issues and if you wanna drown your misery in booze or pot or whatever, that's YOUR problem... who am I to judge?

unless you start taking OTHER people's lives in your hands anyway!!

in my opinion what this woman did was unconscionable... and totally UNFORGIVABLE... it completely disgusts me that 7 innocent people had to die because this selfish alcoholic couldn't wait a couple hours to tie one on!!

I have NO tolerance for people who drink and drive... I don't care what your reasoning is... there is NO EXCUSE... EVER to get behind the wheel when you have been drinking (or doing drugs)

some people (even some people reading this) may try to justify it... bzzzt - WRONG again!! no excuse!!

and anyone who drives drunk and hurts/kills someone I care about... let's just say they better hope they go out like this chick did!! because surely burning to death in a fiery crash would be preferable to spending the rest of your life with a pissed off ME on your case!! (that includes my alcoholic mother and one of my best friends, also an alcoholic)

NOTE: I should mention that the husband questions the findings, says his wife did NOT have a drinking problem and has called for an exhumation and independent autopsy in an effort to prove his wife had some sort of medical condition that caused the accident

I can't help but think he's a desperate and distraught man, grasping at straws (and trying to cover his own ass!!) - but if he proves his case - strike any unkind things I may have said about her (although I don't know what medical condition he thinks they'll find that will explain her BAC and the THC levels in her system)

either way I wish him luck... I HOPE they were somehow wrong and this really was just some freak thing... because the alternative (that someone would CHOOSE to do something like this) is just TOO disturbing!!

goodbye...

2009-08-03T07:46:00.003-04:00

so the monkey left on Saturday... obviously I have mixed emotions about that - on one hand I would love to have her here all the time... on the other there is something really nice about getting back to normal

Sam and I had the whole weekend to ourselves - and it was nice to not feel like we needed to hurry up and relax - most weekends while she was here, her father had her for one of the days of the weekend - and we always felt like we had to make the most of every free moment - which obviously makes it kinda hard to relax - especially for Sam who does NOT do well in such situations

he kinda just shuts down... which is actually the state he was in for most of the last 6 weeks - hopefully he'll pull himself out of it soon!!

sometimes he frustrates me just as much as a child... I'm not sure if that's just a guy thing or what - he is used to being the one I 'take care of' - I cook meals I know HE will enjoy, I TRY to get dinner ready when he wants it, I try to keep the tv at a volume that won't make him crazy or keep it off altogether if I see he needs the quiet - etc.

but as I'm sure you all know, with a child in the house ALL adults and their needs/wants/whatever wind up on the back burner - everything is about the child

so for the last 6 weeks I felt like I was having to choose between the two of them... and Sam (being all growed up and HOPEFULLY able to understand) lost to the child who actually NEEDS the attention!!

I KNOW he understands and of course wants what's best for the monkey - he just doesn't deal with stress very well... and having his usual stress compounded by the addition of a little one who comes with a butt load of issues and drama kinda sucks - and I feel for him

BUT I also think... you're an adult and this is temporary - SUCK IT UP!!! ya know?

help me help you by NOT making things harder on me!!

strangely he was reminding me A LOT of his step father recently - who will think nothing of throwing a tantrum if he's not getting his way

I think there are a lot of similarities between being a dominant male and a spoiled child

that being said... I do think he exercised quite a bit of patience - he didn't actually move out at all while she was here haaaa

I just think it's a shame he wasn't able to relax a bit and maybe try to make the best of a difficult situation instead of shutting down and avoiding (two things that drive me up the fucking wall!!!!)

anyway... she is back home now and things are starting to feel normal again... this morning we were able to speak at an audible volume and turn the tv on to catch the weather and a bit of the morning news... I was able to make Sam his smoothie - none of which were possible all summer because I didn't want to wake the child who was sleeping 7 feet away in the middle of the living room with nothing to buffer the sounds but the thin vinyl of her disney princess tent

soooooo let's see... some of the highlights of her visit:

according to the weather people it has rained something like 40 days of the last 2 months - which means we were stuck inside A LOT!! - so she/we saw EVERY episode of Spongebob ever created at least a dozen times!!

she got TOTALLY spoiled by the DVR... if I put on an episode she didn't particularly like I could change it to one she did (I had at least 12 hours worth of spongebob on there at all times) our dvr was practically filled to capacity... she was also spoiled by the ability to fast forward through the commercials... I have a feeling my sister is going to have tv issues for a while while she re-adjusts to being home - where they have a 19" tv with rabbit ears (converter box now I guess) - that gets like 7 channels

anyway... I have to say - THANK GOD for SPONGEBOB!! seriously... if it wasn't for that show I don't know how I would have made it through the last 6 weeks!! I LOVE kids shows and cartoons but I can't think of another one I could sit through as many hours of as I did with Spongebob and not completely lose my mind!!

if you've never seen it - you should... it's clever and amusing and actually entertaining enough for adults (adults with a big inner child at least) - I had watched my share of spongebob on my own in the past... but I really gained a whole new appreciation for it this summer

she also got to watch A LOT of So You Think You Can Dance - which she LOVES!!! she just LOVES to dance and sing... when she watches that show she stands in front of the tv trying to copy their moves (as best as a 5 year old can) she does pretty well actually... and she'll dance like that - back and forth across the living room floor through the entire show, periodically looking back at the screen studying each move...

she fell in love with AC who has been sorta living with us for the last few months... he took her on a few outings... one of which was a day long trip to the Bronx Zoo in which she got to go on her first train ride to the city - she had a blast and got airbrushed tattoos so she could look just like him (he is pretty much covered from head to toe with ink)

we went to a carnival and she won a crap load of prizes all by herself!! one of which was a goldfish she named Fiona who died 3 days later... we replaced Fiona with a BEAUTIFUL almost iridescent blue delta tail betta - which brings the number of fish bowls here to 3!! - YIPPIE!!

after a couple weeks of trying to figure out new ways to keep her entertained I remembered we have the Wii - including Wii Play which has a bunch of games that are really great for young kids... she especially loved the one with the cow (you ride a cow down a country path trying to hit scarecrows along the way to rack up points... the faster you do it the more points you get because at the end whatever time you have left is converted to points) it took her a little while to get the hang of it but once she did she was like a pro... she didn't even need me to turn the game on for her

she also LOVED creating new Mii's - the only problem with that was when it came time to give them names... then her not knowing how to spell was kind of a pain in the butt... for the most part though the Wii was a GREAT tool for keeping her entertained long enough for me to get dishes done and stuff

and she actually kicked both of our butts at batting practice on the baseball game - earning herself a silver medal!! I SUCK at Wii baseball... it KILLS my shoulder!! haaaa
she also bowled a 170 one day all by herself!! I was pretty amazed!!

I have some video of her playing different games... it's funny to watch her reaction when she beats her high score or gets a medal... she shouts ' I DID IT I DID IT - I can't believe I actually did it!!'

it's very adorable!!

my mother is planning to get them a Wii for Christmas I guess... if she does I think I'm going to get her Dance Dance Revolution - the Disney edition - I think she'll get HOURS of fun out of that... AND be able to burn off some of that energy too which couldn't hurt hehehe

let's see what else... she got to go to work (at an upscale Italian market/cafe) with Grandma one day and spent the whole day clearing tables and helping customers - people just LOVE her... in fact they love her too much... everywhere she goes people gravitate to her and get all in her face like she's some kind of celebrity and it gets to be too much

seriously... every time she leaves the house total strangers walk up to her and get in her face, touch he hair etc. - you can be at a place where there are dozens of other adorable children and everyone wants to see HER - and it's been that way since she was born - she's always attracted way more attention than the other babies/children

she asked me the other day WHY strangers are always talking to her and getting so close - I told her she's just magnetic

a little while later a woman walks up to her and picks up one of her braids as if she was examining the shade of blond or something - then looks at me and says 'she's very beautiful you know... such gorgeous hair and eyes'

it was kinda creepy actually... like she was calculating what a kid like her would fetch on the black market or something

when the lady walked away the monkey looked up at me and said 'I wish I wasn't magnetic! I just want to be normal!'

I said 'I don't blame ya sweetie... all that attention would make ME uncomfortable too!!' haaa - what the hell are you supposed to say??

personally I think it's ridiculous that full grown adults don't know better than to do that kind of thing to a child... don't they know that children are constantly being told not to talk to strangers??!!
not to mention just having a little respect for someone's personal space!! NOBODY likes having their personal space invaded, or to be manhandled by random strangers - ESPECIALLY children!!

anyway... I'm rambling so I guess that means it's time to shut up now... besides I think I better start getting the house back in order - I've been neglecting the housecleaning for TOO LONG - I think I'll turn on a good NON child appropriate movie and get to work!!

=)

the countdown begins...

2009-07-27T10:15:00.003-04:00

so it looks like this is our last week with the monkey - her father (who is accompanying her on the flight home) was told she is welcome to stay until the weekend of the 1st - and he said he was going to offer us a chunk of money to keep her until the 13th!!
not really sure where he pulled that date from... I think he might have a custody hearing between now & then...

I told him I would LOVE to be able to keep her for the rest of the whole summer... but with our limited space/privacy... the (not enough) water situation - among other issues we have that aren't being dealt with because of the lack of time and energy it's really just time for the visit to end

besides as we all know and everyone agrees - 6 weeks is LONG ENOUGH!! hehehe

now that our visit is drawing to a close it's time for the waterworks to begin... every time this monkey leaves me I cry like it will be the last time I see her or something - and really with them ya never do know when it might actually be the last time...

there has always been a fear that at some point her father will take her and not bring her back

the other day when we were arranging his weekly visit I asked when I should expect her back and he said he'd hope to have her back around christmas... but flights from australia are pretty expensive HaHa

then he was late bringing her back and I was like SONOFABITCH he better have been kidding!!!

but really I don't necessarily trust that he wouldn't take off with her... he's originally from another country and would have no problem bringing her back there and then good luck with us ever getting her back!!

anyway - I know it's definitely time for her to be going back home - and for us to get our life back to normal but 5 days just doesn't seem like enough

last week a friend of her mother (we'll call her A) called to schedule a play date with a kid she babysits for today and this morning when she woke up the monkey didn't want to go... she said she just wanted to stay home and hang out with me because she hasn't seen me much (she had a sleepover at my aunt's house Saturday and then spent Sunday with her father) so of course I didn't know what to do... I already made plans with this chick to take her for the day

I told the monkey to go so we don't hurt anyone's feelings and if she's not having fun she can always have A bring her back here

but hopefully she's having fun going swimming and all that good stuff - it IS summer after all and in the over 5 weeks that she's been here she's only been able to go swimming 3 times!! (it's been strangely cool and rainy in kittyville this summer!!) and being such short notice and all I didn't have time to turn my house into a fun zone before she got here so we have nothing fun... I'm afraid I'm turning her into a lazy couch potato (just like me) hehehe

she started out her visit like Tigger bouncing around wanting to go swimming and go for walks and play outside - now she just wants to have 'lazy days' where we hang out in our PJ's and watch movies all day haaaa

of course she still bounces like Tigger while we watch movies - YIPPIE!!

anyway... like I was saying - I don't feel like there's enough time now... 5 days is so little time and she's not here today... and her father is hoping to get another day in this week and I just want to keep her all to myself - especially when she says that's all she wants too =(

even though I know if we just hung out here together just the two of us all week she'd be bored to death and we'd drive eachother crazy!!

another update on the great monkey invasion...

2009-07-15T07:55:00.005-04:00

sorry I've been so absent... this kid doesn't let me do anything that doesn't serve her in some way hehehe

we've gotten into a groove and things have gotten much easier... on me at least
we play, do crafts, watch movies - run around outside as much as possible - Sam and I have both had Lyme Disease once each already this summer and I've pulled two ticks off of her since she got here so I'm a little afraid to let her play in our yard much which kinda sucks

we had gotten one of those inflatable pools to play in BUT of course since my mother hasn't gotten the water situation fixed yet we only got about 5 inches of water in it before we started having issues and had to stop filling it in favor of bathing and flushing the toilet

the pee pee issue has ceased... I think she was just adjusting to being away from home and parents for the first time - for the daytime accidents we told her if she didn't stop we'd get her diapers... after a few 'warnings' she decided she isn't a baby and didn't want to wear diapers like one!!
as for the bed wetting... it turned out she was too scared to go by herself - once I told her she can come wake up one of us to take her, that is what she does... so no more problems there - YAY!!

althoughhhhhhhhh there have been incidents where I was asleep and Sam was wide awake sitting on the couch and she wakes me instead of asking him ~sigh... whatever - at least she's not peeing in her pants

out of everyone involved I think Sam is having the hardest time adjusting - he doesn't deal well with stress to begin with... not being able to relax and get some peace & quiet when he gets home at the end of the day is REALLY wearing on him... which is in turn wearing on me

if there was any doubt before it is gone now... no kids for us!!
I can really understand now why so many people with children wind up divorced... it's hard enough to maintain a healthy marriage WITHOUT the constant distractions and interruptions - I don't think Sam and I have had one decent conversation since she got here

I don't even think to ask him how his day was anymore - either because my brain is total mush by then or there is a monkey jumping around distracting one or both of us

I also don't appreciate feeling like we have to have sex just because someone has generously given us a little time to ourselves - maybe I would like that time to enjoy the fact that I'm finally NOT being clung to

but Sam is putting up with enough already... I can't exactly deny him THAT too haaa

I don't know if I mentioned this but what happened was my sister called here FREAKING out saying she needed a break (she does this all alone 24/7/365) and asked if we could take her for a couple weeks

I said I'd check with Sam... he was cool with it so I said yes
the next thing I know she's talking about a month - so Sam and I agreed to 2-4 weeks

my mother was paying for the plane tickets... since my sister was having such a meltdown my mother (without consulting me) told her to get a one way ticket and we'll play it by ear!!

uh hello... not YOUR home that is being invaded... not YOUR life that is being flipped upside down - so who are YOU to just leave it open like that???

but it was too late... the ticket was bought before I had any chance to say anything

so anyway... the kid shows up here expecting to spend the summer - today is the one month mark and I've just started to be DONE - the last few days have been the nail in the coffin... I mean I LOVE her to bits and enjoy having her around - but it's enough already

Sam told me a week ago to tell whoever is arranging her return to get on it - he wants her on a plane back to AZ by the end of the month (that will be a 6 weeks visit by then) which I think anyone would agree is MORE than enough!!!

part of the problem is that I was under the impression that since her father is in NY she'd be spending at least one day a week with him... but my sister keeps cutting off his visits or waiting till the last possible moment to let us know if he'll be allowed to see her (she doesn't think he deserves to see her if he doesn't pay his child support) whatever - I mean I understand that is all she has to try to make him pay... but the kid is a human being not a bargaining chip

so we can't plan our lives if we never know what the weekend will hold

long story short-ish - they've all been told they need to arrange a departure date that starts with the number 7 or Sam says the rules will be HIS!! - we'll see what happens there haaaa

of course I feel bad because the kid thinks she's spending the summer and I don't wanther to think she's going home 'early' because of anything SHE did... it's just time, ya know?

I spoke to my sister and told her that we'd be glad to take her again... for no more than 2-4 weeks and with MUCH better planning before hand - so we'll see

update...

2009-06-25T09:46:00.003-04:00

things are going pretty well... considering

a couple days after the monkey arrived I discovered I once again have the dreaded LYME DISEASE!! and possibly some sort of abscessed tooth or something... I had what felt like a popcorn kernel stuck in my gum then one morning it hurt really bad and was pretty puffy so I tried AGAIN to get out whatever was stuck in there - and it worked... I thought all was well

then I woke up the next day with the same jaw pain... and as I poked around trying to find the problem I somehow caused the whole left half of my bottom lip to go NUMB!!

which of course FREAKED ME OUT!!

it was a Monday morning and I did NOT like the prospect of having to look after this child ALL day by myself while I was freaking out over what might be causing numbness like that... sooooooo I managed to get Sam to stay home and take me to the doctor - I needed to get some antibiotics for the Lyme disease anyway - I WAS hoping to just get them to call something in for me but since this lip thing happened I figured I might as well go in and get looked at...

the doctor said I might have an abscess or it could be bells palsy (which sometimes comes with Lyme disease) YIPPIE!!

it's been a week now though and the numbness is all but completely gone... I'm gonna have to see a dentist at some point but for now I'm hoping the 3 weeks of toxic waste (doxycycline) do the trick

as for everything else... the monkey and I are getting along fine during the days although Sam says I'm too much of a softy - and he's probably right

I'm having a hard time adjusting to the complete topsy turvy-ness - I'm used to having my days to myself to do whatever the hell I want whenever I want (pretty much) I mean I still have stuff to get done but I can do it on my schedule and watch whatever I want in the process - and now that is pretty much blown all to hell because this kid is SERIOUSLY clingy!! she climbs and hangs onto me like a monkey (hence the name) - and she's a kid so she wants to do stuff all the time... color, play, go outside, dance, do jumping jacks, help me in the kitchen etc.

she refuses to use the bathroom without my presence because she says it's scary in there!!

so I'm finding it hard to get anything done... I can't even complete a thought because just as I start to think something, she jumps in and asks me for something... and she doesn't seem to understand 'hold on a minute, I'm on the phone!!' or I'll be doing the dishes and she wants me to hurry up and make her something to eat or come color with her

she thinks I should just be able to take a day off from my chores and if we run out of clean dishes we'll just go to a restaurant!! haaaaa

anyway... I'm doing pretty well with her during the days even though we have a serious lack of fun activities here in kittyville... especially since I don't drive - thankfully I was blessed with remarkable patience because seriously this child is MUCH more like a 3 year old than a 5 year old!!

she's CONSTANTLY soiling her undies - not sure if it's because she's looking for attention of having too much fun to stop and go to the bathroom - probably a mix of both

but she's a filthy monkey - always sticking her hands in her pants and touching everything and sucking her thumb - she's ALWAYS sucking her thumb... no matter how much she's told big girls don't do that - it's a battle I can't be bothered with - there are much bigger fish to fry

like her complete lack of self confidence, the fact that she can't identify letters and consequently can't even read or write the most basic words - can't identify numbers - etc.

apparently there is a school of thought that such things aren't important at her age - and the 'school' she attends feels this way... I'm HOPING to remedy this somehow while we have her here... I don't care what school you go to - it's important to be able to read and write!! the earlier you start working on it the better!!! who the hell wants to have to try to learn these things when they're 8 or 12 or 24???

anyway... as for how Sam is coping - he's having a very hard time!! the other night I actually found him hiding in the bathroom!! - after he works all day he REALLY needs to decompress and get some quiet relaxation time and well... how do you get that when you have a jumping, singing, dancing, talking monkey in the house??

we get zero time to talk in the evenings - yadda yadda yadda - typical parent BS

only we're NOT parents!!

I think he'd have her on the next flight back to AZ if he could... and to tell ya the truth I'm not far behind... only because I miss US... our routine, our life the way we're used to living it!!

on one hand I can't wait until she's gone and on the other hand I wish she never had to go back - for reasons I just don't feel like getting into at the moment - maybe some other time

I THINK that if we could get into a better routine it would help... if anyone has any suggestions on how to make our evenings more calm... how to stop a kid from peeing and or pooping (sort of) in their pants, sucking their potentially poopy thumb, or to help them learn how to identify letters - feel free to fill me in - cause I'm completely clueless about all things 'parenting' related!!

anyway... I'm trying to pump out this post so I can enjoy my kid free day... my mother took her to work with her for the whole day!! WOO HOO

I'm having a hard time figuring out a way to be able to blog or comment with her around so don't expect to see me around much while she's here - I am checking in and reading blogs - just not having much success working out a way to be my usual commenty self hehehe

the monkey has landed...

2009-06-18T08:19:00.002-04:00

thanks to the stupid time difference (and poor planning) their flight got in to NY in the middle of the night... then they had to drive up here so she didn't get to our house until 2am!!

which meant I got virtually NO sleep... between not sleeping very sound while I was anticipating a knock at the door... then being woken up to get her settled on the couch for what was left of the night and me being a not great sleeper to begin with I wound up with maybe 5 hours of really crappy sleep - considering I don't generally function well on less than 6 quality hours AND it was pouring rain here yesterday our first day was a rather LONG... and exhausting one

exhausting but fun

fun until bed time anyway...

we made delicious berry smoothies, played with play doh, watched some cartoons, made grandma a pretty beaded necklace, jumped rope (well SHE did anyway) hehehe - then when the spousal unit got home we made tacos (he helped thank god!!) - I gave her the worlds messiest bath, then grandma came over to brush and braid her hair for bed (she has REALLY LONG hair and I SUCK at that girly hair brushing/braiding stuff)

thennnnnn

seein' as how our bedroom is currently occupied by AC's stuff we needed a place for the monkey to sleep... so we bought a very cute Disney princess tent and put it up in the living room right next to my chair

of course she wanted to stay up late and play play play... but by then I had had enough - phew I had had MORE than enough!!

holy crap - I've said it before and I'll say it again kids were meant for people who are too young and stupid to know what they're getting themselves into!! NOT fat 36 year old couch potatoes!!

anyway... of course she was 'scared' and didn't want to sleep in her tent - even though she had big fun playing in it half the day, for some reason once the sun went down it was sooooooo scary =(

she had been trying to get me to let her stay up late and watch tv and stuff - so who knows if she was just trying to play me or if she was actually scared... she has never spent a night without either mommy or daddy - but I didn't want to make her think she could get her way just by looking pitiful AND I don't want her sleeping on the couch for the whole time she's here or at the very least my poor husband will go insane!! hehehe

we were still finding our groove and she got to bed a half hour late last night - don't think it went over too well with him - especially when she then refused to sleep in her tent - but we finally had her in there and silent by 9 (an hour late) not TOO bad - considering

now after a good nights sleep for all of us - today is another day

wish me luck!!

crowded house...

2009-06-08T11:56:00.003-04:00

as if I haven't already been distracted from my little blog to the point of barely posting anymore it looks like a good part of the summer (if not longer) is about to be consumed

apparently my niece is coming for a visit... although the way my sister is talking it might end up being more than a visit - we'll see... either way I don't anticipate there being much time for blogging in the near future

this should be quite an adventure... I've never had a kid for more than a few hours without a parent present to make and enforce the rules - it started out with her coming to visit for a couple weeks... now it's sounding more like a month or maybe the whole summer - maybe even longer!!

my niece loves me - because I'm the happy happy fun-time person... my inner child is very apparent so I'm good at the play time stuff - we'll see how she deals with me when things can't always be fun & games - because I can't have her here for that long and neglect my other household duties (like I tend to do when they come for a visit)

I'm sure this all sounds crazy to you breeders out there who are used to having kids around... but I'm sooooooo NOT used to it

I'm good with the more grandmotherly activities and then sending the kiddo back to mommy when fun time ends... but the difference between me and grandma is grandma's have had the benefit of being mothers first hehehe

I never even babysat as a teenager!!

so it should be interesting... wish me luck!!

in other news:

AC moved in with us a couple months ago... I haven't blogged about it yet because well... he hasn't spent a single night here since he moved in haaaa
we moved our bed out to the far end of our living room (a basically unused area) and gave him our bedroom which he has pretty much filled to the rafters with everything he owns and now he stops by once or twice a week for a change of clothes

his reason for staying with us was so that he could get away from his wackadoo girlfriend - he was actually supposed to leave there two months earlier and it took him that long just to tell her he was leaving - once he did that he had his stuff moved out within a week or so and like I said another 2 months has gone by

so basically he's still living with her with the added inconvenience of everything he owns being in a house in another freakin' county 40+ minutes away!!

I'm not really sure how this will work out having the monkey here AND AC - but I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it

anyway... that's what's going on here

now for your listening pleasure:

lucky 13...

2009-06-02T14:55:00.001-04:00

Happy Anniversary!!

summertime...

2009-05-28T11:10:00.008-04:00

the summertime of my youth was:

feeling the squishiness of the soggy, fresh grass under my bare feet as I sloshed around in the cold pools and streams of melted snow and spring rains that ran through my grandparent's back yard

being sprung from school early on Fridays for trips to lake taghkanic

games of 'mother may I' and 'red light green light' as the sun went down

then catching lightening bugs and letting them loose in my bedroom

waking to the sound of classical music and the delicious smell of Sunday breakfast wafting through the house...

picking black caps (and not being bothered by the heat, bugs or prickers) - it seemed like we'd pick bushels... but very few actually made it to the house - YUM!

swimming... for countless hours - until I practically had to be dragged from the pool with blue lips and chattering teeth!!

stalking around the yard catching frogs, salamanders and caterpillars

the sound of baseball games on my grandfather's transistor radio

hearing the dinner bell at the ranch and realizing the day is almost over =(

ice cream cakes from Carvel and Holy Cow

picking dandelions... a penny a piece

frog jumping contests at the rec on the 4th of July

going outside to wash my hair in the rain

dumping out our huge box of miscellaneous legos all over the living room floor on a boring, rainy day and building practically the same stupid multi-colored house every time

THE FAIR - our last hurrah before school started back up...

and finally... going to the local pizza place to stock up on pies for the winter

man I miss those days!!

technology...

2009-05-20T13:04:00.002-04:00

so this morning I get a text from the spousal unit... basically a to-do list (because god knows I didn't already have a to-do list) it says:

litter – call about spigot/plumber – laundry?
Just ideas since Willow is complaining! Hehehe love you

~due to... several reasons - the house is a mess... Willow (our cat) doesn't like when the house is a mess!! she expresses her disapproval by scratching at the mess until you want to throw her out a window... anyway

so I text back to him:

pile of clothes...washing machine...tools in kitchen...kick thingy... stool (as long as we're listing things) :P

a to-do list for him...

and he says:

suck it lick it love it hehehehehe

HA! - so I say:

fix it – finish it – put it away

and he says:

know your role
shut your hole

HAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

ya just gotta love that man o' mine!!

a little while later I'm on facebook doing my daily '5 things' list (because everyone wants to know my top 5 pet peeves) when my sister pops in to chat...

she says:
the monkey (my niece) says HI!

So I said HI!!

she says:
the monkey says she loves you

then as I was saying it back - she said the monkey asked her if she thinks I'll say it back haaaa - as if I wouldn't!!

then she says:
she loves you again and she hopes all your dreams come true because she loves you so much all your dreams come true

have you ever heard anything so adorable in your life??!!

I LOVE technology!! - today anyway

goodness...

2009-05-13T07:57:00.002-04:00

a lot of unpleasant crap has been going on mostly involving our friends The Bickersons (see right) that has been making me think about my husband and our life and how much I appreciate him and what we have - it ain't perfect but it works for us

the other day I was out hanging the laundry on the line and I couldn't help but smile - it's been absolutely GORGEOUS here in kittyville... sunny, breezy, temps in the upper 60's - in my opinion there is NO better weather (except maybe a thunderstorm!!) hehehe

all around me birds were singing, the smell of freshly cut grass was in the air , wild flowers are blooming everywhere

anyway... even the giant scary vultures flying overhead looked pretty swooping in their overlapping circles - and I thought how AWESOME that this is my life!!

to live in such a beautiful area - even to be in a town that allows me to have a clothes line - can you believe some places don't allow them? o_O
actually I don't know why that surprises me... where Ohio friend lives they don't even have recycling!!

to have the time to enjoy the world around me and for it all to be so awesome is really a blessing ya know?

with all the yuck going on in the world both far away and close to home it's nice to have such a wonderful life - a great guy that loves me to pieces and just sooooooo MUCH to be thankful for

as I was sitting at the picnic table pairing up socks to clip to the line I remembered the big reason I wanted this laptop was so that on nice days like we've been having lately I could sit out here while I do all my usual computery stuff - grocery list making, news reading, blog hopping and whatnot... hopefully 'whatnot' is more blog WRITING!!

I've really been neglecting the whole thing lately - for months now actually and it turns out I miss it =(
but maybe now that the weather is getting nicer I can climb out of the wintry fog and get back on track... OUTSIDE... with the fresh air, the birds, the flowers - and YOU =)