more animals
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Greed
Overwhelming Greed.
The source of our woes? Greed. Those banks giving out bad loans? Greed. Those politicians having their pockets stuffed by lobbyists? Greed. The willingness of half of America to vote for a blatantly obvious Socialist? Greed. Those people who bought expensive houses they couldn't afford? Greed. It's all greed and it's destroying this country. Point fingers? First, check your own greed.
I'm disgusted. I may not be a scholar, or economist, or even highly educated, but I sure can spot what's going on here. We're in for it one way or another.
My greed? Stupidly putting 20% of my income in my 401k. I no longer have faith in that system. Luckily I was only in it for 2 years. I can recover, and will recover. Now I will only put the minimum necessary to get the full company match. Besides, if things go the way they are looking, the supermajority will make sure they get their fingers all nice and sticky in our investments anyway.
I used to think Oh Bam Uh was a good person although I disagreed with his world view. I don't feel that way any more. He is attempting to deny that his views, ideas, or plans are Socialist when it's as plain as day that his intention is to spread the wealth, other people's money mind you, which is deceptive and insidious. This is apparently all right with at least half of the country, and I don't understand why people can't see that is wrong.
Oh Bam Uh spends millions on his own personal infomercial, and Sarah Palin is maligned for wearing expensive clothing, which cost nothing near what was paid for his 30 minute prime time t.v. ads. The hypocrisy is astounding. Astounding!
I just want this election to be over. Just hurry up and get it over with.
The source of our woes? Greed. Those banks giving out bad loans? Greed. Those politicians having their pockets stuffed by lobbyists? Greed. The willingness of half of America to vote for a blatantly obvious Socialist? Greed. Those people who bought expensive houses they couldn't afford? Greed. It's all greed and it's destroying this country. Point fingers? First, check your own greed.
I'm disgusted. I may not be a scholar, or economist, or even highly educated, but I sure can spot what's going on here. We're in for it one way or another.
My greed? Stupidly putting 20% of my income in my 401k. I no longer have faith in that system. Luckily I was only in it for 2 years. I can recover, and will recover. Now I will only put the minimum necessary to get the full company match. Besides, if things go the way they are looking, the supermajority will make sure they get their fingers all nice and sticky in our investments anyway.
I used to think Oh Bam Uh was a good person although I disagreed with his world view. I don't feel that way any more. He is attempting to deny that his views, ideas, or plans are Socialist when it's as plain as day that his intention is to spread the wealth, other people's money mind you, which is deceptive and insidious. This is apparently all right with at least half of the country, and I don't understand why people can't see that is wrong.
Oh Bam Uh spends millions on his own personal infomercial, and Sarah Palin is maligned for wearing expensive clothing, which cost nothing near what was paid for his 30 minute prime time t.v. ads. The hypocrisy is astounding. Astounding!
I just want this election to be over. Just hurry up and get it over with.
Monday, October 27, 2008
You Know I've Got Nothing To Talk About
My Exciting Life.
I live my life in one week increments. The only thing that matters in my life really, when you boil it all down, are the people in it. One week my husband is home, and we spend time together as a family. We don't usually do anything particularly special most of the time, we just exist together here in our little house. The next week my husband is gone, off to work he goes, and I spend most of my time watching shows he doesn't particularly like, and going shopping, another activity he doesn't enjoy nearly as much as I do.
We want to do some projects around the house, but at the moment are apprehensive to dedicate money to such things. The reality is, we're stuck in this house for who knows how much longer. We most likely can't sell it, and renting it out for the mortgage might be a stretch, besides with renting a whole new set of problems arises.
So, we are just here. We have our little routines which aren't nearly exciting enough to bother writing about, and that's just where we are. We are very thankful and grateful for what we have, and know what it's like to have a lot less. Things aren't perfect by any stretch. Our daughter faces struggles that he and I can't take away, or make better. Her health has been an issue for her, and we're looking at one, possibly two surgeries in the near future with her. This weighs on my husband and I, we know she needs it, but we are not looking forward to it.
We would like to move, but that decision will be made later when we have more information available to us. I don't look forward to another winter of my husband heading off to work in dangerous driving conditions. We need to move closer to his job, but right now things are in transition so we must wait until the path is more clear.
It will all come together for the best one way or another.
I live my life in one week increments. The only thing that matters in my life really, when you boil it all down, are the people in it. One week my husband is home, and we spend time together as a family. We don't usually do anything particularly special most of the time, we just exist together here in our little house. The next week my husband is gone, off to work he goes, and I spend most of my time watching shows he doesn't particularly like, and going shopping, another activity he doesn't enjoy nearly as much as I do.
We want to do some projects around the house, but at the moment are apprehensive to dedicate money to such things. The reality is, we're stuck in this house for who knows how much longer. We most likely can't sell it, and renting it out for the mortgage might be a stretch, besides with renting a whole new set of problems arises.
So, we are just here. We have our little routines which aren't nearly exciting enough to bother writing about, and that's just where we are. We are very thankful and grateful for what we have, and know what it's like to have a lot less. Things aren't perfect by any stretch. Our daughter faces struggles that he and I can't take away, or make better. Her health has been an issue for her, and we're looking at one, possibly two surgeries in the near future with her. This weighs on my husband and I, we know she needs it, but we are not looking forward to it.
We would like to move, but that decision will be made later when we have more information available to us. I don't look forward to another winter of my husband heading off to work in dangerous driving conditions. We need to move closer to his job, but right now things are in transition so we must wait until the path is more clear.
It will all come together for the best one way or another.
The Toothless Cat
A Love Story.
I love that darn cat, and I'm so happy we got him the oral surgery. He truly seems so much happier, and the really neat thing? His breath doesn't stink anymore. Oh he still has some teeth, more than half of his teeth, the vet said he can go right on eating dry cat food still too. He seems fine with it, although it was so sad to see him after the surgery stumbling around, and basically freaking out all over the place.
He was so hungry, and went straight to the food bowl, but I don't think he could get used to the stitches, and the new feeling of his mouth with missing teeth, and of course there is the pain of just have a bunch of teeth pulled, but he managed within a day or two to get back to pretty much normal eating.
All better now. He's back to being cool breeze, sitting on my shoulder and following me around.
I love that darn cat, and I'm so happy we got him the oral surgery. He truly seems so much happier, and the really neat thing? His breath doesn't stink anymore. Oh he still has some teeth, more than half of his teeth, the vet said he can go right on eating dry cat food still too. He seems fine with it, although it was so sad to see him after the surgery stumbling around, and basically freaking out all over the place.
He was so hungry, and went straight to the food bowl, but I don't think he could get used to the stitches, and the new feeling of his mouth with missing teeth, and of course there is the pain of just have a bunch of teeth pulled, but he managed within a day or two to get back to pretty much normal eating.
All better now. He's back to being cool breeze, sitting on my shoulder and following me around.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
A Word of Advice
Avoid Hungry Cats.
I got sketchy sleep last night at best, and it's all the cat's fault you see. He kept me up all night because he was hungry. I'm not starving the poor boy, it's just that he is having oral surgery today, and couldn't eat or drink after 6:00pm last night. Of course being a cat, night is the time of day that he likes to eat, so he missed his meal last night and was definitely going to let me know it, and he did about 25 times throughout the night if my fuzzy brain cell remembers it correctly.
Poor thing has bad teeth. He's only 8 years old which is relatively young for a cat to have rotten teeth. I asked the vet what I did wrong, was it the wrong food, or what? She told me that just like some people have bad teeth, so does my cat. And because I know people love details, I will proceed to gross you out. Sunday he came up to me and his breath was more stinky than usual, I looked in his mouth and saw a horribly infected canine, the whole roof of his mouth around the tooth was bright red and swollen. I noticed there was actually puss draining off the tooth.
Well first thing yesterday morning I got him to the vet, and she started him on antibiotics and scheduled him for oral surgery this morning. Yippee! I don't even want to mention what this is costing, and I'm ashamed to admit I've never spent that much on my own teeth, of course I have opposable thumbs and own a tooth brush so that helps, but still as the economy falls out from beneath us, I hate to spend $500.00 on my cat's not so pearly whites.
Of course my husband had one question for me when I told him how much it would cost, "Is he really worth that?" What? Umm, yes, of course he is! What else am I going to do? He's not to happy about the cost as we're going into winter and with all the financial stuff happening in the world my work has declined dramatically, which in short means, less money.
The vet just called and informed me that they are going to have to remove 7 of his teeth. That he has some problem with his teeth that causes them to be really bad, and painful, she told me what it was called, but it was such a mouthful I'm at a loss to repeat it. Poor thing.
We've had real bad luck with our animals lately. I hope this is the last of troubles for a while.
I got sketchy sleep last night at best, and it's all the cat's fault you see. He kept me up all night because he was hungry. I'm not starving the poor boy, it's just that he is having oral surgery today, and couldn't eat or drink after 6:00pm last night. Of course being a cat, night is the time of day that he likes to eat, so he missed his meal last night and was definitely going to let me know it, and he did about 25 times throughout the night if my fuzzy brain cell remembers it correctly.
Poor thing has bad teeth. He's only 8 years old which is relatively young for a cat to have rotten teeth. I asked the vet what I did wrong, was it the wrong food, or what? She told me that just like some people have bad teeth, so does my cat. And because I know people love details, I will proceed to gross you out. Sunday he came up to me and his breath was more stinky than usual, I looked in his mouth and saw a horribly infected canine, the whole roof of his mouth around the tooth was bright red and swollen. I noticed there was actually puss draining off the tooth.
Well first thing yesterday morning I got him to the vet, and she started him on antibiotics and scheduled him for oral surgery this morning. Yippee! I don't even want to mention what this is costing, and I'm ashamed to admit I've never spent that much on my own teeth, of course I have opposable thumbs and own a tooth brush so that helps, but still as the economy falls out from beneath us, I hate to spend $500.00 on my cat's not so pearly whites.
Of course my husband had one question for me when I told him how much it would cost, "Is he really worth that?" What? Umm, yes, of course he is! What else am I going to do? He's not to happy about the cost as we're going into winter and with all the financial stuff happening in the world my work has declined dramatically, which in short means, less money.
The vet just called and informed me that they are going to have to remove 7 of his teeth. That he has some problem with his teeth that causes them to be really bad, and painful, she told me what it was called, but it was such a mouthful I'm at a loss to repeat it. Poor thing.
We've had real bad luck with our animals lately. I hope this is the last of troubles for a while.
A Wide Screen High Definition Flat Screen T.V. In Every Home
Because You're Worth It.
Let me be perfectly honest here when I say the thought of an Obama presidency really makes me think we're doomed. Whenever I think of his commie/socialist ideals, the fact that the Democrats seem to view him as their own personal messiah, it makes me cringe. That's nothing though, the thing that is the most disturbing is that half of the country is already in the tank for this guy.
I mean seriously, half of the population sees taxing other people's success and giving it to those who are less successful as no big deal. Not everyone with more than 2 pennies to rub together woke up that way, some have worked very hard, and made huge sacrifices to achieve financial success. Success that Obama wants to tax and give away. Why should anyone work so hard? Oh he says NOW that he only wants to take from those making over 250K a year, but we know it won't stop at that. It just won't. There is no accounting for greed, it never ceases it never has and never will.
I think about the several men who when offered a better paying job working in the oil fields my husband works in, literally turned their noses up at that idea. They didn't want to work outside, do physical labor, or in some cases couldn't sober up long enough to pass a drug test. I guess they don't have to, Obama is going to see to it that they will still benefit from the labors of other men, those who like my husband leave their families every other week, and head out to work in the fields. Really, it's all right that not everyone is willing to do the work my husband and men like him do, that's fine and dandy, but don't expect to reach into my husband's pockets every time he gets paid and pull out a little something for yourself. Why any self respecting man would support a candidate like that is beyond me.
I'll cast my vote for John McCain, who although I haven't always agreed with his politics is a good and honorable man without question.
Let me be perfectly honest here when I say the thought of an Obama presidency really makes me think we're doomed. Whenever I think of his commie/socialist ideals, the fact that the Democrats seem to view him as their own personal messiah, it makes me cringe. That's nothing though, the thing that is the most disturbing is that half of the country is already in the tank for this guy.
I mean seriously, half of the population sees taxing other people's success and giving it to those who are less successful as no big deal. Not everyone with more than 2 pennies to rub together woke up that way, some have worked very hard, and made huge sacrifices to achieve financial success. Success that Obama wants to tax and give away. Why should anyone work so hard? Oh he says NOW that he only wants to take from those making over 250K a year, but we know it won't stop at that. It just won't. There is no accounting for greed, it never ceases it never has and never will.
I think about the several men who when offered a better paying job working in the oil fields my husband works in, literally turned their noses up at that idea. They didn't want to work outside, do physical labor, or in some cases couldn't sober up long enough to pass a drug test. I guess they don't have to, Obama is going to see to it that they will still benefit from the labors of other men, those who like my husband leave their families every other week, and head out to work in the fields. Really, it's all right that not everyone is willing to do the work my husband and men like him do, that's fine and dandy, but don't expect to reach into my husband's pockets every time he gets paid and pull out a little something for yourself. Why any self respecting man would support a candidate like that is beyond me.
I'll cast my vote for John McCain, who although I haven't always agreed with his politics is a good and honorable man without question.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Update
Nothing Going On.
It is strange how one day you can feel like the whole world is weighing so heavily on your shoulders, and the next, barely recognize that the day before you felt so discouraged. I guess it just takes a while to put it all in perspective that's all. Sometimes there are things that just can't be helped. I hate that, but it's real, and there is no way around it.
Our children aren't always what we expected, our lives aren't always what we expected, things don't always turn out the way we planned. I trod along every day thinking my marriage is made of stone, and that nothing can ever change that, I picture us together the rest of our lives, and then there is a disagreement, or an argument, and for a split second I think, "What if we never make up?" "What if we don't ever reach an agreement?" For me that is a cold and dreaded thought because I have truly dedicated myself to the idea that he and I will be together forever, as long as we live, period, end of subject.
Then it happens one cold morning, we have an argument that ends bitterly without words, in silence. Silence is such a deadly thing to let enter a marriage. Silence builds on so many weaknesses, it will drive a wedge, and do the worst thing possible: cause distrust. Not distrust in the obvious way like, I can't trust you to leave the house without seeking out another woman's company, no, it's much more sinister than that, it is when you wonder, is there a possibility that this person does not want to spend the rest of his life with me, and they are just playing along? Oh it's such an awful feeling, it hurts so deep in my soul just to think of the possibility.
That is why you "don't go to bed angry with each other", that old saying that older, and wiser people tell young people in love. I remember being told that so much when I first got married, and I thought, "well, what if you're tired?" So, we went to bed angry, and woke up angry, and we stewed, and we ignored each other, and I absolutely would never want to go through that again. I HATE the silent treatment. I think it's cruel, mean and petty. It lends an ear to all sorts of demons, doubts and mistrust.
It is in those times, when we are too upset to speak to each other that I realize how fragile a marriage can be. That one fight, one big long unresolved argument can drive a wedge the size of Texas in there, and there isn't a damn thing that's going to remove it other than a court of law. I hate the thought of that, but like a tango, it takes two people, and they have to agree to not let a small crack in the bedrock become an enormous canyon that will divide, and separate us.
It's not always easy. I don't mean that just from my perspective either, I know he feels the same sorrows and pains when we fight. I guess it will just take time for souls to heal.
It is strange how one day you can feel like the whole world is weighing so heavily on your shoulders, and the next, barely recognize that the day before you felt so discouraged. I guess it just takes a while to put it all in perspective that's all. Sometimes there are things that just can't be helped. I hate that, but it's real, and there is no way around it.
Our children aren't always what we expected, our lives aren't always what we expected, things don't always turn out the way we planned. I trod along every day thinking my marriage is made of stone, and that nothing can ever change that, I picture us together the rest of our lives, and then there is a disagreement, or an argument, and for a split second I think, "What if we never make up?" "What if we don't ever reach an agreement?" For me that is a cold and dreaded thought because I have truly dedicated myself to the idea that he and I will be together forever, as long as we live, period, end of subject.
Then it happens one cold morning, we have an argument that ends bitterly without words, in silence. Silence is such a deadly thing to let enter a marriage. Silence builds on so many weaknesses, it will drive a wedge, and do the worst thing possible: cause distrust. Not distrust in the obvious way like, I can't trust you to leave the house without seeking out another woman's company, no, it's much more sinister than that, it is when you wonder, is there a possibility that this person does not want to spend the rest of his life with me, and they are just playing along? Oh it's such an awful feeling, it hurts so deep in my soul just to think of the possibility.
That is why you "don't go to bed angry with each other", that old saying that older, and wiser people tell young people in love. I remember being told that so much when I first got married, and I thought, "well, what if you're tired?" So, we went to bed angry, and woke up angry, and we stewed, and we ignored each other, and I absolutely would never want to go through that again. I HATE the silent treatment. I think it's cruel, mean and petty. It lends an ear to all sorts of demons, doubts and mistrust.
It is in those times, when we are too upset to speak to each other that I realize how fragile a marriage can be. That one fight, one big long unresolved argument can drive a wedge the size of Texas in there, and there isn't a damn thing that's going to remove it other than a court of law. I hate the thought of that, but like a tango, it takes two people, and they have to agree to not let a small crack in the bedrock become an enormous canyon that will divide, and separate us.
It's not always easy. I don't mean that just from my perspective either, I know he feels the same sorrows and pains when we fight. I guess it will just take time for souls to heal.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Account Violators
Email Rapers.
I think it's terrible that someone would stoop to the level of violating someone's personal privacy and get into their email account, and not only that, but that they would publish such on the web. I have no idea where the emails are posted, and I would refuse to even look at them. No website of any credit should be willing to publish such things, but we know scum exist as do low life websites.
As this topic was discussed this morning, I found myself thinking what a horrible violation that it is. What these hackers have done is no less repugnant than peeking in a person's window and watching them undress. They have gone even a step future and published the evidence of their perverted deeds. It is disgusting.
Civilized people should be truly outraged by these filthy acts, and yet, what is even more sickening are the talking heads that suggest that we somehow need to be privy to the contents of this woman's hacked email account. I want no part in it, I don't want to know what's in her emails, and anyone of any sort of class at all would refuse to be a witness to anything produced by such a violation.
I think it's terrible that someone would stoop to the level of violating someone's personal privacy and get into their email account, and not only that, but that they would publish such on the web. I have no idea where the emails are posted, and I would refuse to even look at them. No website of any credit should be willing to publish such things, but we know scum exist as do low life websites.
As this topic was discussed this morning, I found myself thinking what a horrible violation that it is. What these hackers have done is no less repugnant than peeking in a person's window and watching them undress. They have gone even a step future and published the evidence of their perverted deeds. It is disgusting.
Civilized people should be truly outraged by these filthy acts, and yet, what is even more sickening are the talking heads that suggest that we somehow need to be privy to the contents of this woman's hacked email account. I want no part in it, I don't want to know what's in her emails, and anyone of any sort of class at all would refuse to be a witness to anything produced by such a violation.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
So Tell Me
What's the Deal?
Are 95% of the men in America impotent or what? I mean, I don't mean to be crude, but why not, I can't watch 30 minutes of television without being inundated with numerous ads for erectile dysfunction pills. I know more about Levitra, Cialis, and Viagra than I ever wished to know. It's really my biggest pet peeve right now, I'm tired of it.
Oh sure, I could change the channel, but guess what, the commercials are on the next channel and the next channel. It's annoying.
No, you know what it is, the pills must not be selling enough because American men are so virile. I don't mean that sarcastically at all, I mean that sincerely, stud muffins that they are. I thank God I was born in this country where women aren't treated as less important than the family goat. I wish everyone had the rights and freedoms we have. I really do.
But, I'm really sick and tired of those commercials.
Are 95% of the men in America impotent or what? I mean, I don't mean to be crude, but why not, I can't watch 30 minutes of television without being inundated with numerous ads for erectile dysfunction pills. I know more about Levitra, Cialis, and Viagra than I ever wished to know. It's really my biggest pet peeve right now, I'm tired of it.
Oh sure, I could change the channel, but guess what, the commercials are on the next channel and the next channel. It's annoying.
No, you know what it is, the pills must not be selling enough because American men are so virile. I don't mean that sarcastically at all, I mean that sincerely, stud muffins that they are. I thank God I was born in this country where women aren't treated as less important than the family goat. I wish everyone had the rights and freedoms we have. I really do.
But, I'm really sick and tired of those commercials.
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Before I Read Any Other Blogs
I Want To Speak My Mind.
I'm dying to see what all of my favorite bloggers have been writing about all of the current political happenings, but first I want to put down my observations before I read others. First and foremost, I LOVE Sarah Palin. I watched the speech tonight, and found myself in awe. She's so incredibly plain spoken, and brave, and that line about the difference between a hockey mom and a pit-bull being lipstick was hilarious! Just Wow!
I've never been a big fan of McCain's, but I have to say, this campaign has brought me from highs to lows to highs again. Before I say anything else, this is going to shock people, but I tell you, I really like Obama. I never thought I would say that, but I really do. I like him so much that I even considered voting for him. That's how strong his charisma factor is with me. When I hear him speak I think to myself, he seems so good, so honest, so genuine, I like him. BUT, then reality sets in, and I remember what exactly he stands for, and it's nothing that I stand for. Nothing.
The truth is, Obama is more of the same extreme liberal politics that have infested so many of our institutions of today. Our schools, our courts, our work places, our media, our entertainment, so many of these are completely and unabashedly left leaning, and/or left controlled. The conservatives I work with speak in whispers amongst themselves, ever cautious of "offending" the delicate flowers who will quickly run to management if a conservative dare do so much as defend an unborn child's right to live. We're not supposed to speak about these things you see. Luckily, conservatives are pretty good at spotting a loon quick enough, and know to hold their tongues around these types, when in the work place at least.
I watched as much of both conventions as I possibly could, and even though I had a momentary lapse of sanity and actually considered voting for Obama, I've come around again. All it took was listening to a liberal attack Palin 5 minutes after she was announced. It was disgusting. It was disgusting when I accidentally flipped to MSNBC and some commentator was saying, "we will see how she explains this pregnancy of her 17 year old, and her husband's dui when he was 22 years old" Oh for crying out loud, you have got to be kidding me.
Anyway, I always knew I would vote for the conservative candidate, McCain was not my choice, but I believe he is a good man, and will make a great president. My choice is made, and it will be McCain. Other notable mentions though, Fred Thompson and Rudy Guliani totally ROCK!
Now, I've just got to go read blogs and see what's being said. Back later!
I'm dying to see what all of my favorite bloggers have been writing about all of the current political happenings, but first I want to put down my observations before I read others. First and foremost, I LOVE Sarah Palin. I watched the speech tonight, and found myself in awe. She's so incredibly plain spoken, and brave, and that line about the difference between a hockey mom and a pit-bull being lipstick was hilarious! Just Wow!
I've never been a big fan of McCain's, but I have to say, this campaign has brought me from highs to lows to highs again. Before I say anything else, this is going to shock people, but I tell you, I really like Obama. I never thought I would say that, but I really do. I like him so much that I even considered voting for him. That's how strong his charisma factor is with me. When I hear him speak I think to myself, he seems so good, so honest, so genuine, I like him. BUT, then reality sets in, and I remember what exactly he stands for, and it's nothing that I stand for. Nothing.
The truth is, Obama is more of the same extreme liberal politics that have infested so many of our institutions of today. Our schools, our courts, our work places, our media, our entertainment, so many of these are completely and unabashedly left leaning, and/or left controlled. The conservatives I work with speak in whispers amongst themselves, ever cautious of "offending" the delicate flowers who will quickly run to management if a conservative dare do so much as defend an unborn child's right to live. We're not supposed to speak about these things you see. Luckily, conservatives are pretty good at spotting a loon quick enough, and know to hold their tongues around these types, when in the work place at least.
I watched as much of both conventions as I possibly could, and even though I had a momentary lapse of sanity and actually considered voting for Obama, I've come around again. All it took was listening to a liberal attack Palin 5 minutes after she was announced. It was disgusting. It was disgusting when I accidentally flipped to MSNBC and some commentator was saying, "we will see how she explains this pregnancy of her 17 year old, and her husband's dui when he was 22 years old" Oh for crying out loud, you have got to be kidding me.
Anyway, I always knew I would vote for the conservative candidate, McCain was not my choice, but I believe he is a good man, and will make a great president. My choice is made, and it will be McCain. Other notable mentions though, Fred Thompson and Rudy Guliani totally ROCK!
Now, I've just got to go read blogs and see what's being said. Back later!
Monday, August 11, 2008
Okay, Okay, I'm Awake Now
You Can Stop Licking My Nose.
It seems there is a new trend developing in this house, one that I'm not sure I agree with at all. Apparently, Puppy has learned, like Pavlov's dogs, certain behaviors bring about a positive result. For instance, he knows if I stir ever so slightly in the morning that if he jumps on my chest and starts licking my nose I will reluctantly get out of bed, and this pleases him to no end.
Oh I've tried everything from burying my head, to turning over, but no, once he starts he will persist until I get out of that bed come hell or high water. He won't give up. I don't know exactly what he wants, but my first instinct is to put them outside which I do, but I have usually already let them out a couple of hours earlier. For some reason I've been waking up at 5 a.m. regularly and been letting them out.
He's become a bit of a cat dog in some ways. You know how cats will always flop themselves down on the magazine you are reading, or on the computer keyboard when you are typing at it, well that's Puppy. I lay across my bed reading a book, and he picks that very time to come and snuggle up under my chin begging for petting and affection. It's too darn cute to ignore, so I have to pet him, then when I stop he keeps nudging for more and more, completely taking away from my book reading time. Well, he's spoiled I guess.
I guess it wouldn't be so bad if I could just teach him how to make coffee first. My life is a Folger's commercial, I simply cannot wake up without it anymore. Sometimes when hubby is home he brews the coffee then wakes me up to the sweet aroma of Folger's in my cup, and I love him more than ever, if that's even possible.
Puppy is actually a year old now, but he's still very much puppy, so we keep calling him that. He had his bath this week and is in extreme fluff mode. He has a bath once a month, he's usually dirty within the hour of returning home from the groomer, but he'll smell good for at least a week. She put some type of leave in conditioner on him last time, and he was like a freshly bathed little baby you just wanted to cuddle him.
My husband is quite taken with him. I even heard him refer to him as "My little Pumpkin" once, and of course I couldn't help but find that endearing. When I got Pumpkin I did so without consulting him, which I usually never do, but he was at the rig so I didn't have a way to get ahold of him, anyway, it's done now, but I did send him a text message and a picture saying, "I got a puppy, I hope you don't get mad", and of course he was very annoyed with me for that. He cussed and told the guys, "she got a puppy", and he showed them the picture, to which they all exclaimed, "awww." He told them we named him Pumpkin.
Now, every week when he returns to the rig, it's "How's Pumpkin?" and "Pumpkin this, and Pumpkin that" they are relentless about it. It's all fun though, and he takes it in stride.
Everyone should have a Pomeranian, they are so much fun. Even so, he likes to drag things out and make messes, which has been a pain, but when I come home from work and find him wearing a pair of underpants around his torso because he's practically climbed into them, I can't help but laugh at what a little clown he is. They weren't my underwears anyway.
So, I'm off to another day of back breaking physical labor, err I mean, I'm off to clean house and do laundry, tomorrow is trash day, and I'm truly of a mind to just start chucking stuff into the cans outside. I'm so tired of all this clutter.
And, there is a pie to be made today. I guess that will be a nice reward.
It seems there is a new trend developing in this house, one that I'm not sure I agree with at all. Apparently, Puppy has learned, like Pavlov's dogs, certain behaviors bring about a positive result. For instance, he knows if I stir ever so slightly in the morning that if he jumps on my chest and starts licking my nose I will reluctantly get out of bed, and this pleases him to no end.
Oh I've tried everything from burying my head, to turning over, but no, once he starts he will persist until I get out of that bed come hell or high water. He won't give up. I don't know exactly what he wants, but my first instinct is to put them outside which I do, but I have usually already let them out a couple of hours earlier. For some reason I've been waking up at 5 a.m. regularly and been letting them out.
He's become a bit of a cat dog in some ways. You know how cats will always flop themselves down on the magazine you are reading, or on the computer keyboard when you are typing at it, well that's Puppy. I lay across my bed reading a book, and he picks that very time to come and snuggle up under my chin begging for petting and affection. It's too darn cute to ignore, so I have to pet him, then when I stop he keeps nudging for more and more, completely taking away from my book reading time. Well, he's spoiled I guess.
I guess it wouldn't be so bad if I could just teach him how to make coffee first. My life is a Folger's commercial, I simply cannot wake up without it anymore. Sometimes when hubby is home he brews the coffee then wakes me up to the sweet aroma of Folger's in my cup, and I love him more than ever, if that's even possible.
Puppy is actually a year old now, but he's still very much puppy, so we keep calling him that. He had his bath this week and is in extreme fluff mode. He has a bath once a month, he's usually dirty within the hour of returning home from the groomer, but he'll smell good for at least a week. She put some type of leave in conditioner on him last time, and he was like a freshly bathed little baby you just wanted to cuddle him.
My husband is quite taken with him. I even heard him refer to him as "My little Pumpkin" once, and of course I couldn't help but find that endearing. When I got Pumpkin I did so without consulting him, which I usually never do, but he was at the rig so I didn't have a way to get ahold of him, anyway, it's done now, but I did send him a text message and a picture saying, "I got a puppy, I hope you don't get mad", and of course he was very annoyed with me for that. He cussed and told the guys, "she got a puppy", and he showed them the picture, to which they all exclaimed, "awww." He told them we named him Pumpkin.
Now, every week when he returns to the rig, it's "How's Pumpkin?" and "Pumpkin this, and Pumpkin that" they are relentless about it. It's all fun though, and he takes it in stride.
Everyone should have a Pomeranian, they are so much fun. Even so, he likes to drag things out and make messes, which has been a pain, but when I come home from work and find him wearing a pair of underpants around his torso because he's practically climbed into them, I can't help but laugh at what a little clown he is. They weren't my underwears anyway.
So, I'm off to another day of back breaking physical labor, err I mean, I'm off to clean house and do laundry, tomorrow is trash day, and I'm truly of a mind to just start chucking stuff into the cans outside. I'm so tired of all this clutter.
And, there is a pie to be made today. I guess that will be a nice reward.
I Promise No Whining
And Minimal Complaining For Once.
I know, I know, it just won't be the same without my usual whine fest going on, but I get tired of hearing myself. There is more to me than bitching and complaining.
I bet you're wondering what has put me in such a good mood? Only spending about 5 hours straight with my mom doing crosswords on a cool rainy Sunday afternoon. It was just so nice to spend the day with her. She even conned me into cooking dinner for everyone, just like old times!
My dad laughed himself into a tizzy during dinner, because he found a piece of mail on the table from his "financial advisor" and my mom had wrote an arrow next to financial advisor, and wrote the name FELIX in there. It was her way of expressing her disapproval over his choice to discuss their finances with a complete stranger. You see, for years my dad used to jokingly call his cat, Felix, his financial advisor, which she kindly reminded him.
So, I look at dad during dinner, and his face is beat red, and he's obviously concealing laughter. I asked him what's so funny, and he holds up the letter, and says, "Felix", and then cracks up really bad. It was because earlier that day mom had been quite forceful in her opinion about him seeking financial advising from anyone other than her. According to her, "I've kept you out of the poor house all these years" she informed him.
Anyway, it was just good to see him laugh so much over it all.
I spent most of the day there, and completely blew off the stuff I needed to do at home, but it was totally worth it. She wants me to come over tomorrow and bake a peach pie, and truly, how could I refuse? Even though, I will have to get my hind end in motion right away in the morning to get all the stuff I need to do done so I can have time to go help with the pie.
I bought a brand new beautiful red vacuum, and I won't let anyone touch it. I refuse to have these heathens ruin my new vacuum again. My vacuums always work fine until other people use them, and for some reason, they just go to pot after that. Because I am having such control issues about the vacuum, I am stuck doing all the work.
Before you say anything, I HAVE tried to instruct these people, namely my daughter on how NOT to clog the thing up beyond all repair, and my vacuums still get murdered horribly. Even my brother in law resisted instruction and ruined two working vacuums while he was staying with us. That and completely drinking up every drop of liquor in the house was enough to ingratiate himself with me.
It's the chinchilla you see. All the live long day he throws his food, and his turds out of his cage. We have a severe problem with him doing this. Trust me, he may have a brain the size of a peanut, but I swear to you, he knows what he's doing. I've seen him throw his bowl across his cage when he wants a raisin. He stands at the bars and drives the dogs mad with his heckling. And sometimes, I think he secretly wants us all dead.
That's the way it is with caged animals. Somewhere in the archives are probably some posts about the bird. That guy had it in for me really bad. I could just sense his desire to pluck my eyes from my head. Honestly, I've never been big on having animals in cages, I don't like the feeling of it, it makes me feel bad for them, but he's here so we do the best we can by him.
Personally, I wouldn't recommend any caged animals as pets as I said above, it makes me feel guilty keeping them in cages. I do enjoy the little guy, but they are not cheap pets, and do require special situations, for instance, chinchilla's can't take high temperatures, so we have an air conditioner especially for him. Our house is 90 degrees some days, that type of heat will kill a chinchilla. They are fun, but with the dogs, we have to be careful of him getting out. Anyway, he's really funny, and has a cute personality, but his hair really clogs up my vacuums.
Well, there is a storm brewing outside, which means time to get off this computer. Thank God for some rain. Goodness knows it has been a hot dry summer.
I know, I know, it just won't be the same without my usual whine fest going on, but I get tired of hearing myself. There is more to me than bitching and complaining.
I bet you're wondering what has put me in such a good mood? Only spending about 5 hours straight with my mom doing crosswords on a cool rainy Sunday afternoon. It was just so nice to spend the day with her. She even conned me into cooking dinner for everyone, just like old times!
My dad laughed himself into a tizzy during dinner, because he found a piece of mail on the table from his "financial advisor" and my mom had wrote an arrow next to financial advisor, and wrote the name FELIX in there. It was her way of expressing her disapproval over his choice to discuss their finances with a complete stranger. You see, for years my dad used to jokingly call his cat, Felix, his financial advisor, which she kindly reminded him.
So, I look at dad during dinner, and his face is beat red, and he's obviously concealing laughter. I asked him what's so funny, and he holds up the letter, and says, "Felix", and then cracks up really bad. It was because earlier that day mom had been quite forceful in her opinion about him seeking financial advising from anyone other than her. According to her, "I've kept you out of the poor house all these years" she informed him.
Anyway, it was just good to see him laugh so much over it all.
I spent most of the day there, and completely blew off the stuff I needed to do at home, but it was totally worth it. She wants me to come over tomorrow and bake a peach pie, and truly, how could I refuse? Even though, I will have to get my hind end in motion right away in the morning to get all the stuff I need to do done so I can have time to go help with the pie.
I bought a brand new beautiful red vacuum, and I won't let anyone touch it. I refuse to have these heathens ruin my new vacuum again. My vacuums always work fine until other people use them, and for some reason, they just go to pot after that. Because I am having such control issues about the vacuum, I am stuck doing all the work.
Before you say anything, I HAVE tried to instruct these people, namely my daughter on how NOT to clog the thing up beyond all repair, and my vacuums still get murdered horribly. Even my brother in law resisted instruction and ruined two working vacuums while he was staying with us. That and completely drinking up every drop of liquor in the house was enough to ingratiate himself with me.
It's the chinchilla you see. All the live long day he throws his food, and his turds out of his cage. We have a severe problem with him doing this. Trust me, he may have a brain the size of a peanut, but I swear to you, he knows what he's doing. I've seen him throw his bowl across his cage when he wants a raisin. He stands at the bars and drives the dogs mad with his heckling. And sometimes, I think he secretly wants us all dead.
That's the way it is with caged animals. Somewhere in the archives are probably some posts about the bird. That guy had it in for me really bad. I could just sense his desire to pluck my eyes from my head. Honestly, I've never been big on having animals in cages, I don't like the feeling of it, it makes me feel bad for them, but he's here so we do the best we can by him.
Personally, I wouldn't recommend any caged animals as pets as I said above, it makes me feel guilty keeping them in cages. I do enjoy the little guy, but they are not cheap pets, and do require special situations, for instance, chinchilla's can't take high temperatures, so we have an air conditioner especially for him. Our house is 90 degrees some days, that type of heat will kill a chinchilla. They are fun, but with the dogs, we have to be careful of him getting out. Anyway, he's really funny, and has a cute personality, but his hair really clogs up my vacuums.
Well, there is a storm brewing outside, which means time to get off this computer. Thank God for some rain. Goodness knows it has been a hot dry summer.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
One Day
Today.
I've got one day off then it's back to the grindstone, I'll work two days, then have two glorious days off. My house has gone to hell in hand basket, and I've got a list as grand as the pile of laundry needing done. Plus! The kiddo and I have come up with a decorating project for her room that will take some doing. Am I the only fool dreaming if we fix her room up nice she'll keep it clean?
Then there is the rest of the house, not for decorating, it just needs a good cleaning, but what else is new. Honestly I have no intention of making this post about cleaning although I've got plenty of material for it.
No, this post is to ask a question. What the hell has feminism done for me lately? I ask this question all the time. I ask my girlfriends, what has feminism done for you lately? Hmm? They all have pretty much the same answer, which in summary is: I now get to work as much as a man, and still try to mother at the same time, which any mother, except for Supermom's will tell you is a total crock.
Actually, I admit feminism has really done a lot for women. I think we are much more free today than ever, and I literally shudder when I think of how other women in this world have it. I have a say over my own life and destiny, well, I can work in any career I choose anyway. That is nice. Not all women want to be housewives. Not all women are in a position to be dependent on a man. I get that.
Now, it is expected that women will work outside the home, that they will be equal earners, or at least put in the same amount of hours at it as their faithful husbands. Guys don't want to carry the burden alone anymore, I don't necessarily blame them for that.
What are we to do when it comes to having a family? Well, men are supposed to help out more with the children. Men are supposed to help more with the household chores.
My mom was a supermom, she worked a hard physical job for over 30 years. She was a nurse. She ended up with a broke back, and a handicap sticker. She worked until her back just couldn't allow anymore. She took care of us kids, and the house. Dad kept the outside chores done, mom never pushed a lawn mower, or planted a flower. She was too busy running after us rug rats to deal with that stuff.
I don't know, I just know I wanted my mom home. I missed her when she was working. She never acted tired, even though I know she must have been exhausted. We were latch key kids. I'm sure that works for a lot of people. I'm sure my parents felt they couldn't make it without my mom's income. It's just the same with my husband and I, we have become dependent on my paychecks as well.
So, I better get to work. I've got one day off now, I shouldn't waste it lolly gagging around blogging and surfing the internet. This pig stye isn't going to clean itself. Today is the day.
I've got one day off then it's back to the grindstone, I'll work two days, then have two glorious days off. My house has gone to hell in hand basket, and I've got a list as grand as the pile of laundry needing done. Plus! The kiddo and I have come up with a decorating project for her room that will take some doing. Am I the only fool dreaming if we fix her room up nice she'll keep it clean?
Then there is the rest of the house, not for decorating, it just needs a good cleaning, but what else is new. Honestly I have no intention of making this post about cleaning although I've got plenty of material for it.
No, this post is to ask a question. What the hell has feminism done for me lately? I ask this question all the time. I ask my girlfriends, what has feminism done for you lately? Hmm? They all have pretty much the same answer, which in summary is: I now get to work as much as a man, and still try to mother at the same time, which any mother, except for Supermom's will tell you is a total crock.
Actually, I admit feminism has really done a lot for women. I think we are much more free today than ever, and I literally shudder when I think of how other women in this world have it. I have a say over my own life and destiny, well, I can work in any career I choose anyway. That is nice. Not all women want to be housewives. Not all women are in a position to be dependent on a man. I get that.
Now, it is expected that women will work outside the home, that they will be equal earners, or at least put in the same amount of hours at it as their faithful husbands. Guys don't want to carry the burden alone anymore, I don't necessarily blame them for that.
What are we to do when it comes to having a family? Well, men are supposed to help out more with the children. Men are supposed to help more with the household chores.
My mom was a supermom, she worked a hard physical job for over 30 years. She was a nurse. She ended up with a broke back, and a handicap sticker. She worked until her back just couldn't allow anymore. She took care of us kids, and the house. Dad kept the outside chores done, mom never pushed a lawn mower, or planted a flower. She was too busy running after us rug rats to deal with that stuff.
I don't know, I just know I wanted my mom home. I missed her when she was working. She never acted tired, even though I know she must have been exhausted. We were latch key kids. I'm sure that works for a lot of people. I'm sure my parents felt they couldn't make it without my mom's income. It's just the same with my husband and I, we have become dependent on my paychecks as well.
So, I better get to work. I've got one day off now, I shouldn't waste it lolly gagging around blogging and surfing the internet. This pig stye isn't going to clean itself. Today is the day.
Friday, July 11, 2008
I Know I'm Not Supposed to Say This
I'm Tired.
I've been really tired lately. Not in the I need a nap sense, although I could use a nap, and we all know how much I love napping, but in the working, mothering, wifing, and taking care of the house sense, I'm just tired. Of course, I increased my hours at work, but really I should be able to handle that.
Should is a word I use quite often. I should clean house, do laundry, shampoo the carpets, stock up the cupboards, make appointments, pay the bills, clear clutter and so on. I should do a lot of things, and I shouldn't really complain about any of it. I try not too.
I know women who manage these things so much better than I do. I shouldn't compare, situations are different.
My mother did all of these things with 3 kids. She was a nurse, and she was tired. She didn't even make it until her retirement age before her back gave out. She just couldn't do it anymore. Sometimes I think I'm like my mother, and that I will continue doing what I'm doing until my back can't take it anymore. She was a feminist, went to nursing school at age 17 and worked as a nurse for 30 years.
She told us girls, make sure you can support yourself, my dad made more money than she did, but her income made a huge difference. She did it all, and I wonder now if she thought it was worth it.
I told myself, I will be there for my kid. My mom was there, but there were times she was not physically present, and those were hard times for us kids. I still work outside the home like my mom did, but I work part-time, and I am home in the evenings, and at night. I could work full-time, but I honestly don't think I can handle more to deal with in less time. Two days off a week is just not enough anymore.
My father worked the grave yard shift for as long as I can remember. He still does. He's past retirement age, but he is scared to retire because of gas prices. He puts off his retirement for six months at a time. Now, he might retire in October. He has hardly missed a day of work in 30 years. He often cashes in his vacation hours, instead of taking vacation.
My husband works his butt off on an oil rig. He is gone for a week at a time, and then home for a week. He drives 9 hours to get to his job. He makes more than a lot of college graduates. He never complains, but I know he's tired too. His body hurts, he tells me every week that his shoulder hurts, and wonders what is wrong with it. His week off goes so very fast. I feel horrible when he gets in that car to start his long journey back.
I guess we're all happy. The funny thing is what people do with the money they make. They spend their whole lives working for a big house, newer cars, and all the stuff that fills these spaces up, then they die, and all that stuff is given away, or donated to goodwill. They get old and want a smaller house, with a smaller yard, they sell the big house, and downsize, the money ends up being spent on health care, or assisted living, if they are fortunate and the government permits it, they are able to leave a small amount of an inheritance to their children, who will most likely spend it on a new car, or a down payment on a new home, or pay off credit card debt.
As my dad says, "you never see any U-hauls at the cemetery". And he's right you know.
Although I've thought about going full-time to help with the ever increasing demand for our money, I don't really think it's worth it, yes, I have that luxury because my husband works full-time, he also makes 4 times what I make. Because of this, I put an enormous amount of pressure on myself to make sure that he has all the comforts he wants when he is home. That means coming home to a clean house, nice meals, and clean clothes.
I drop the ball about half the time. I've spread myself too thin at times. I probably spend more time relaxing than I should. I probably should spend more time cleaning, and so on. When he comes home we enjoy spending every waking moment we have together. I don't get a lot done when he is home, but it sure is nice to spend time with him. He likes it too.
What am I complaining about? I think we have a good life even if our home is not fancy, or clean, or well decorated. Priorities. That's what is needed.
I've been really tired lately. Not in the I need a nap sense, although I could use a nap, and we all know how much I love napping, but in the working, mothering, wifing, and taking care of the house sense, I'm just tired. Of course, I increased my hours at work, but really I should be able to handle that.
Should is a word I use quite often. I should clean house, do laundry, shampoo the carpets, stock up the cupboards, make appointments, pay the bills, clear clutter and so on. I should do a lot of things, and I shouldn't really complain about any of it. I try not too.
I know women who manage these things so much better than I do. I shouldn't compare, situations are different.
My mother did all of these things with 3 kids. She was a nurse, and she was tired. She didn't even make it until her retirement age before her back gave out. She just couldn't do it anymore. Sometimes I think I'm like my mother, and that I will continue doing what I'm doing until my back can't take it anymore. She was a feminist, went to nursing school at age 17 and worked as a nurse for 30 years.
She told us girls, make sure you can support yourself, my dad made more money than she did, but her income made a huge difference. She did it all, and I wonder now if she thought it was worth it.
I told myself, I will be there for my kid. My mom was there, but there were times she was not physically present, and those were hard times for us kids. I still work outside the home like my mom did, but I work part-time, and I am home in the evenings, and at night. I could work full-time, but I honestly don't think I can handle more to deal with in less time. Two days off a week is just not enough anymore.
My father worked the grave yard shift for as long as I can remember. He still does. He's past retirement age, but he is scared to retire because of gas prices. He puts off his retirement for six months at a time. Now, he might retire in October. He has hardly missed a day of work in 30 years. He often cashes in his vacation hours, instead of taking vacation.
My husband works his butt off on an oil rig. He is gone for a week at a time, and then home for a week. He drives 9 hours to get to his job. He makes more than a lot of college graduates. He never complains, but I know he's tired too. His body hurts, he tells me every week that his shoulder hurts, and wonders what is wrong with it. His week off goes so very fast. I feel horrible when he gets in that car to start his long journey back.
I guess we're all happy. The funny thing is what people do with the money they make. They spend their whole lives working for a big house, newer cars, and all the stuff that fills these spaces up, then they die, and all that stuff is given away, or donated to goodwill. They get old and want a smaller house, with a smaller yard, they sell the big house, and downsize, the money ends up being spent on health care, or assisted living, if they are fortunate and the government permits it, they are able to leave a small amount of an inheritance to their children, who will most likely spend it on a new car, or a down payment on a new home, or pay off credit card debt.
As my dad says, "you never see any U-hauls at the cemetery". And he's right you know.
Although I've thought about going full-time to help with the ever increasing demand for our money, I don't really think it's worth it, yes, I have that luxury because my husband works full-time, he also makes 4 times what I make. Because of this, I put an enormous amount of pressure on myself to make sure that he has all the comforts he wants when he is home. That means coming home to a clean house, nice meals, and clean clothes.
I drop the ball about half the time. I've spread myself too thin at times. I probably spend more time relaxing than I should. I probably should spend more time cleaning, and so on. When he comes home we enjoy spending every waking moment we have together. I don't get a lot done when he is home, but it sure is nice to spend time with him. He likes it too.
What am I complaining about? I think we have a good life even if our home is not fancy, or clean, or well decorated. Priorities. That's what is needed.
Monday, June 30, 2008
How About Some Pictures?
Coolest Story about this picture, a very good friend of mine that I met while stationed overseas actually got to come and visit for two days last week!!! We became great friends while working together, and haven't seen each other in 5 years. She, her husband, and their two sons came to visit, and we went to a hot spring about 100 miles from my house.
We found this place which was recommended by another friend of mine, and headed up there and had a very nice time. The view? Stunning. The camera, a cheapy kodak disposable one did nice, but nothing could do that view justice except seeing it with your own eyes.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
What's Been Going On
A Lot.
I know I've been absent quite often lately, but I honestly have been really busy. First, to be honest, I've had to increase my hours at work, to be even more truthful, it's because of gas prices. Yep, gas prices are officially kicking us in the rumps. Hubby drives Oh, I don't know, about 8 hours to work and 8 hours back. Of course he doesn't make that journey every day, but he does do it approximately 4 times a month, at say 100-150 dollars each way, well that takes it's toll on the old pocketbook dontcha know.
Gas has always been an expense that we endured because he was making so much money, it was still worth it, but now, now things are different somehow. We just can't get a handle on things. My car, it costs almost 15 dollars more to fill up now than it did the day I bought it 2 years ago. And as we all know it's not just gas that is rising, there are groceries, and our health care costs add up quickly, with several hundred dollar bills for things as simple as an ultra sound.
We've discussed at length that perhaps we should move closer to his work, but that would mean losing my income. Income we've come to rely on, that would not necessarily be as easily replaced in the market we would be moving to, and besides, there is that little issue of being unemployed which I'm not too crazy about. Plus there is that sticky issue of buying this house, and the prospects of selling it are not all that great right now. We're not in the position to become landlords by renting out the property, it doesn't seem feasible right now.
We've discussed that perhaps he should move to a job closer to home, but that would mean leaving a crew he's really really happy with, and frankly, good crews are hard to come by. Those guys put their lives in each other's hands every day, and it is a comfort knowing he works with competent people out there, and not a bunch of drug addled drunks. Besides there is not really a job close to home that would provide equal compensation, or even close for that matter.
No easy solution to our problem, though we have thought and thought about it. We just don't know what to do, but the bottom line is we've decided to ride this thing out as long as we can. That seems the most secure choice at the moment. That means toughing up on a lot of spending.
Speaking of spending, I'd like to know just where exactly our stimulus check is. The letter said it would arrive May 2, and we still haven't received a darn penny. The letter said, if you don't get it, then call, well I called, and was redirected to an office somewhere on Mars or something because the chance of speaking to a human was nil to zero. I would love to stimulate the economy if we could just get our check please! Don't worry, we paid in way more than what they are sending us, so it's not like I'm being greedy here. It's just some of our money back.
That in a nutshell is what has been going on around here. I know it seems a silly reason not to have even a few minutes to blog, but I've practically gone full-time to work, and I'm pretty much useless when I get done with working all day at that job.
The thing that gets me is I'm not even sure if putting money into my 401k is even a wise choice right now, but I see every check I am contributing to it. I hope it is not in vain.
It's amazing really what a few more dollars at the pump has done to our finances. I'm really in awe at the effect. All in all, I guess we're better off than a lot of people, and I'm not complaining about our situation, just noting the effect these prices are having on us. We'll be all right come what may. We're grateful for what we have. Just have to hang in there I guess.
I know I've been absent quite often lately, but I honestly have been really busy. First, to be honest, I've had to increase my hours at work, to be even more truthful, it's because of gas prices. Yep, gas prices are officially kicking us in the rumps. Hubby drives Oh, I don't know, about 8 hours to work and 8 hours back. Of course he doesn't make that journey every day, but he does do it approximately 4 times a month, at say 100-150 dollars each way, well that takes it's toll on the old pocketbook dontcha know.
Gas has always been an expense that we endured because he was making so much money, it was still worth it, but now, now things are different somehow. We just can't get a handle on things. My car, it costs almost 15 dollars more to fill up now than it did the day I bought it 2 years ago. And as we all know it's not just gas that is rising, there are groceries, and our health care costs add up quickly, with several hundred dollar bills for things as simple as an ultra sound.
We've discussed at length that perhaps we should move closer to his work, but that would mean losing my income. Income we've come to rely on, that would not necessarily be as easily replaced in the market we would be moving to, and besides, there is that little issue of being unemployed which I'm not too crazy about. Plus there is that sticky issue of buying this house, and the prospects of selling it are not all that great right now. We're not in the position to become landlords by renting out the property, it doesn't seem feasible right now.
We've discussed that perhaps he should move to a job closer to home, but that would mean leaving a crew he's really really happy with, and frankly, good crews are hard to come by. Those guys put their lives in each other's hands every day, and it is a comfort knowing he works with competent people out there, and not a bunch of drug addled drunks. Besides there is not really a job close to home that would provide equal compensation, or even close for that matter.
No easy solution to our problem, though we have thought and thought about it. We just don't know what to do, but the bottom line is we've decided to ride this thing out as long as we can. That seems the most secure choice at the moment. That means toughing up on a lot of spending.
Speaking of spending, I'd like to know just where exactly our stimulus check is. The letter said it would arrive May 2, and we still haven't received a darn penny. The letter said, if you don't get it, then call, well I called, and was redirected to an office somewhere on Mars or something because the chance of speaking to a human was nil to zero. I would love to stimulate the economy if we could just get our check please! Don't worry, we paid in way more than what they are sending us, so it's not like I'm being greedy here. It's just some of our money back.
That in a nutshell is what has been going on around here. I know it seems a silly reason not to have even a few minutes to blog, but I've practically gone full-time to work, and I'm pretty much useless when I get done with working all day at that job.
The thing that gets me is I'm not even sure if putting money into my 401k is even a wise choice right now, but I see every check I am contributing to it. I hope it is not in vain.
It's amazing really what a few more dollars at the pump has done to our finances. I'm really in awe at the effect. All in all, I guess we're better off than a lot of people, and I'm not complaining about our situation, just noting the effect these prices are having on us. We'll be all right come what may. We're grateful for what we have. Just have to hang in there I guess.
Monday, June 23, 2008
What Part of Bug off Do You Not Understand
Tired.
People, I'm tired of it. T.I.R.E.D. The last few days it seems like everywhere I go there are people waiting around just to bug me into getting involved in their pet causes, or buy something. Seriously, I can't walk in a store without getting "ma'am, would you like to sign our petitions?" or "ma'am can I talk to you for a minute?" or "ma'am, are you registered to vote?" Now, most of these people have been satisfied with a one or two word response, but not the boob lady. Oh no.
The boob lady was as determined to talk to me, as I was to get our pizza. I ordered the family a pizza, and when I went to pick it up low and behold boob ladies were staking out the frickin' entrance. As I pulled into the parking lot and saw them there in their pink shirts, I sighed to myself and thought, "oh great, what are they selling?"
Luckily, a hapless couple leaving the pizza place provided what I thought might be a nice diversion so that I could jot past them and get right in without being accosted. I glanced over before I started to make my bee line towards the door, and could see the older couple in the 60's slowly backing away from the boob lady that was so intent on their attention, but she kept talking. I jump out of the car and start walking briskly, not making eye contact, not making eye contact, oh my gosh, I might just make it, reaching for handle of door, going to make it, then, I hear, "Ma'am, Ma'am!" Busted.
I look over and see boob lady staring right at me, "Ma'am" she says again, "Can I talk to you?"
"No thank you." I reply. Which in a civilized world should be enough. Shouldn't it? "Oh ma'am, we're not selling anything."
"No thank you." I say again much more firmly.
Then I open the door and duck inside. I could feel the hate. I get to the counter and find that our pizza is not quite ready so I take a seat, and sit around nervously thinking the boob lady might just persist enough to come inside to talk with me about whatever it is she's not selling. I notice on the counter there is a big plastic bin that says something like "walk for breast cancer" or something. I know the boob ladies have been here. I had surmised from their signs outside they were doing something to a) raise funds for breast cancer or b) recruiting people for their walk i.e. raising funds for breast cancer.
It doesn't matter, I was not particularly interested in knowing. I just wanted to pick up my pizza, and not be bothered. Which I did, and then took a deep sigh and opened the door to head to my car, luckily another woman was walking up right when I headed out, and I heard, "Ma'am, can I talk to you for a minute." Whew, off the hook.
I imagine the boob ladies thought I was uncaring for not stopping to discuss breast cancer with them, but sometimes I just don't want to talk to strangers. I'm sure they have good intentions, but that doesn't mean I'm obligated to get involved.
It's not just the boob ladies though. Yesterday afternoon when I was leaving Wal-Mart, there were people outside gathering signatures for about 5 different petitions. The guy told me briefly about each one, and after he was done I said, "Hmm, I don't think I want to sign off on those." and walked away.
Oh, but I'm not done. We have out of town visitors coming, so we spent most of the day tidying up the house. Ha, that sounds to simple, in actuality, we spent the whole day sweating our asses off cleaning up this pig stye. After scrubbing the toilets, the kitchen floor, vaccuming, and generally busting butt all day, I went out on the front porch to have a smoke and cool off. I sat and watched as two young men on bikes wearing identical uniforms of black pants and white button up shirts park their bikes and chain them to the street sign in the corner of my yard.
"Mormons" I thought to myself, and of course, I was right. "Hmm, guess they won't bother me after seeing me out here smoking." Phone rang, I went back in, and the Mormon kids started up my street. Some time later the door bell rings, I'm gathering laundry. I hear my husband say, "who the heck is that?" I yell back from the laundry room, "Oh it's Mormons, don't worry, I'll go answer it."
I run to the front door with laundry basket in tow, "Hello ma'am, how are you today?" The nice kid asks. "I'm fine, but we already have a church" the mean fat lady with little patience replied. (that would be me by the way) "Oh ma'am, we just want to talk with you about getting closer to Jesus" and then I give it, my pat response, "No, thank you" and I walk away from the door. Leaving them looking sorta disappointed.
Geez Louise, yes, I am actually a person who uses this term on a regular basis, that's not all though. Last night about oh, 7:30pm ish, some young fresh faced kid comes to the door, all I'm thinking is that I want to put a sign on my door that says, "Lay off my door bell." I go to the door, kid starts in on his speel about my roof, and all the hail damage from all the storms we've had lately, I'm thinking, "Umm, you've got to be kidding me".
We've barely had a drop of rain in months, let alone hail for goodness sakes, I want to blurt out, "Yeah, I think you're about a 1000 miles away from the actual places getting a lot of hail storms lately" but I don't, I just cut him off and say, "You know, I think it would be better for you to talk to my husband about this roof stuff, I'm a lady and don't even know what a roof or a tool is." Well, that last part I didn't say, but I assume it was implied. Hubby dealt with that one.
But all this left me thinking, when is enough enough. It's simple, you approach me, and if I feel like selling you my time, or interest, I will, if I say, "no thank you" then kindly bug off. I'm not rude or hateful about it, but if you continue after the first time, I will say it much more firmly, and maybe even rudely. I don't owe you my time, I don't owe you anything.
What I really hate are the people who send kids around selling stale candy bars for like $2.00 a piece, and they always have some line like, "I'm part of a program to keep me from becoming a thug and a thief, if you buy my candies, I basically will not come back 5 years from now and steal your hub caps, or your barbeque grill" I've actual seen these kids get dropped off in the neighborhood by this big burly man with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth driving some big passenger van with a hand painted sign on the side, I mean, by gosh, he looked like a criminal himself. They always tell you they are trying to earn money for a special trip or something, like going to an amusement park is going to keep them from a life of crime. You either become a criminal or you don't, I don't think Six Flags has much to do with it, and no I don't want any candy bars, sorry, and like most children when told no, they basically get to the "oh but please", and then skulk away if told no again.
Gosh I sound so mean, what a heartless bitch. But that's just the thing, that's what these folks want me to think. They want me to feel bad, and guilty, but I don't anymore. I just say "no thank you" and walk away.
People, I'm tired of it. T.I.R.E.D. The last few days it seems like everywhere I go there are people waiting around just to bug me into getting involved in their pet causes, or buy something. Seriously, I can't walk in a store without getting "ma'am, would you like to sign our petitions?" or "ma'am can I talk to you for a minute?" or "ma'am, are you registered to vote?" Now, most of these people have been satisfied with a one or two word response, but not the boob lady. Oh no.
The boob lady was as determined to talk to me, as I was to get our pizza. I ordered the family a pizza, and when I went to pick it up low and behold boob ladies were staking out the frickin' entrance. As I pulled into the parking lot and saw them there in their pink shirts, I sighed to myself and thought, "oh great, what are they selling?"
Luckily, a hapless couple leaving the pizza place provided what I thought might be a nice diversion so that I could jot past them and get right in without being accosted. I glanced over before I started to make my bee line towards the door, and could see the older couple in the 60's slowly backing away from the boob lady that was so intent on their attention, but she kept talking. I jump out of the car and start walking briskly, not making eye contact, not making eye contact, oh my gosh, I might just make it, reaching for handle of door, going to make it, then, I hear, "Ma'am, Ma'am!" Busted.
I look over and see boob lady staring right at me, "Ma'am" she says again, "Can I talk to you?"
"No thank you." I reply. Which in a civilized world should be enough. Shouldn't it? "Oh ma'am, we're not selling anything."
"No thank you." I say again much more firmly.
Then I open the door and duck inside. I could feel the hate. I get to the counter and find that our pizza is not quite ready so I take a seat, and sit around nervously thinking the boob lady might just persist enough to come inside to talk with me about whatever it is she's not selling. I notice on the counter there is a big plastic bin that says something like "walk for breast cancer" or something. I know the boob ladies have been here. I had surmised from their signs outside they were doing something to a) raise funds for breast cancer or b) recruiting people for their walk i.e. raising funds for breast cancer.
It doesn't matter, I was not particularly interested in knowing. I just wanted to pick up my pizza, and not be bothered. Which I did, and then took a deep sigh and opened the door to head to my car, luckily another woman was walking up right when I headed out, and I heard, "Ma'am, can I talk to you for a minute." Whew, off the hook.
I imagine the boob ladies thought I was uncaring for not stopping to discuss breast cancer with them, but sometimes I just don't want to talk to strangers. I'm sure they have good intentions, but that doesn't mean I'm obligated to get involved.
It's not just the boob ladies though. Yesterday afternoon when I was leaving Wal-Mart, there were people outside gathering signatures for about 5 different petitions. The guy told me briefly about each one, and after he was done I said, "Hmm, I don't think I want to sign off on those." and walked away.
Oh, but I'm not done. We have out of town visitors coming, so we spent most of the day tidying up the house. Ha, that sounds to simple, in actuality, we spent the whole day sweating our asses off cleaning up this pig stye. After scrubbing the toilets, the kitchen floor, vaccuming, and generally busting butt all day, I went out on the front porch to have a smoke and cool off. I sat and watched as two young men on bikes wearing identical uniforms of black pants and white button up shirts park their bikes and chain them to the street sign in the corner of my yard.
"Mormons" I thought to myself, and of course, I was right. "Hmm, guess they won't bother me after seeing me out here smoking." Phone rang, I went back in, and the Mormon kids started up my street. Some time later the door bell rings, I'm gathering laundry. I hear my husband say, "who the heck is that?" I yell back from the laundry room, "Oh it's Mormons, don't worry, I'll go answer it."
I run to the front door with laundry basket in tow, "Hello ma'am, how are you today?" The nice kid asks. "I'm fine, but we already have a church" the mean fat lady with little patience replied. (that would be me by the way) "Oh ma'am, we just want to talk with you about getting closer to Jesus" and then I give it, my pat response, "No, thank you" and I walk away from the door. Leaving them looking sorta disappointed.
Geez Louise, yes, I am actually a person who uses this term on a regular basis, that's not all though. Last night about oh, 7:30pm ish, some young fresh faced kid comes to the door, all I'm thinking is that I want to put a sign on my door that says, "Lay off my door bell." I go to the door, kid starts in on his speel about my roof, and all the hail damage from all the storms we've had lately, I'm thinking, "Umm, you've got to be kidding me".
We've barely had a drop of rain in months, let alone hail for goodness sakes, I want to blurt out, "Yeah, I think you're about a 1000 miles away from the actual places getting a lot of hail storms lately" but I don't, I just cut him off and say, "You know, I think it would be better for you to talk to my husband about this roof stuff, I'm a lady and don't even know what a roof or a tool is." Well, that last part I didn't say, but I assume it was implied. Hubby dealt with that one.
But all this left me thinking, when is enough enough. It's simple, you approach me, and if I feel like selling you my time, or interest, I will, if I say, "no thank you" then kindly bug off. I'm not rude or hateful about it, but if you continue after the first time, I will say it much more firmly, and maybe even rudely. I don't owe you my time, I don't owe you anything.
What I really hate are the people who send kids around selling stale candy bars for like $2.00 a piece, and they always have some line like, "I'm part of a program to keep me from becoming a thug and a thief, if you buy my candies, I basically will not come back 5 years from now and steal your hub caps, or your barbeque grill" I've actual seen these kids get dropped off in the neighborhood by this big burly man with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth driving some big passenger van with a hand painted sign on the side, I mean, by gosh, he looked like a criminal himself. They always tell you they are trying to earn money for a special trip or something, like going to an amusement park is going to keep them from a life of crime. You either become a criminal or you don't, I don't think Six Flags has much to do with it, and no I don't want any candy bars, sorry, and like most children when told no, they basically get to the "oh but please", and then skulk away if told no again.
Gosh I sound so mean, what a heartless bitch. But that's just the thing, that's what these folks want me to think. They want me to feel bad, and guilty, but I don't anymore. I just say "no thank you" and walk away.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
We Interrupt This Blogging Interruption
Or, Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs.
I've noticed my lack of blogging lately. It's quite bothersome to me especially since I read my blog more than any other soul on this planet. It is so annoying bothering to open an internet browser and come to this blog looking for new content only to find the same old post that's been there for who knows how long now! Sheesh, I'm boring the heck out of myself, and I suppose I sound quite kooky right about now.
YOU try being the mom of a 13 year old girl who went from playing dolls one day, to thinking boys are suddenly the coolest creatures to ever grace this planet the next. What? This is nothing new? Every parent of every girl ever born has gone through this? Well, this is my first time around so I'm a little shaky. I thought I had AT LEAST 10 more years before I would have to deal with this type of thing.
Guess what else? 12 and 13 year old girls are NOT the sugar and spice and everything nice we've been hearing about all these years. In fact, they are pretty darn vicious at times, particularly to each other. So there's that as well, which involved a heated trip to the guidance counselor, and talking. That's basically what guidance counselors do, they just sit around and talk about stuff all day, and nothing changes. I guess they hope that if they nag these kids long enough they might suddenly get the concept that it is necessary to respect other people's feelings, their property, and their beings.
Who am I telling? These are things that should actually be taught by, you know, parents? I'm forced to wonder just what kind of homes these kids are growing up in. We're not perfect by any means, but my goodness, I wouldn't dream of sending my child off to school without at least her own pencils to use. Those kids cleaned out every bit of school supplies I sent with my daughter the first WEEK of school. They constantly take her things, get into her back pack, and take whatever they like, I mean there is absolutely no respect for other people's property at all. Then, they even have the nerve to demand she buy them things like candy and soda from the school store, which why in the hell are they selling those things to these kids any way?
I couldn't figure out why my daughter wanted so much money every day, it seemed like every morning she was asking for money, 5 dollars here, a couple there, suddenly I woke up, and demanded to know what all this money was going for, that's when I found out that my daughter was basically running her own personal charitable organization and providing treats nearly daily for all of her friends, and even kids who weren't even her friends. Needless to say we cut that off immediately. No more money. Suddenly, she has a lot fewer friends. Funny how that works.
She's learning some hard lessons, 1. you can't buy friends, 2. you can't let other people define you, 3. some kids have no home training at all.
Not only did these girls stop being her friend, they have been particularly nasty about it as well. One has taken to smacking my daughter in the head all the time, which she only just told me was happening a couple days ago. Of course, I've been very frustrated with everything and have been trying to talk her through all of these things, but I draw the line at her being smacked in the head by some little twerp at school, so we had to have a "meeting" with the school about it, in which I laid out in no uncertain terms that when my daughter is at their facility she is in their care, and they are therefore responsible for her safety, and are to ensure that my daughter will not be smacked in the head on a regular or semi-regular basis.
So far the smacking has stopped, but it's only been a couple of days. We will see. My first instinct was to tell my daughter to punch the girl in the face, but my kid is apparently scared of this girl. All right, I understand that, so I had to go in there and stomp my feet a little about it. I had a bully in my life when I was my daughter's age, I would have loved for my mom to go the school and speak up for me, but that didn't happen.
Anyway, the school year is almost over, and I can't say who is more glad about that. I'll be back later. Hopefully I'll get around to it sooner this time.
I've noticed my lack of blogging lately. It's quite bothersome to me especially since I read my blog more than any other soul on this planet. It is so annoying bothering to open an internet browser and come to this blog looking for new content only to find the same old post that's been there for who knows how long now! Sheesh, I'm boring the heck out of myself, and I suppose I sound quite kooky right about now.
YOU try being the mom of a 13 year old girl who went from playing dolls one day, to thinking boys are suddenly the coolest creatures to ever grace this planet the next. What? This is nothing new? Every parent of every girl ever born has gone through this? Well, this is my first time around so I'm a little shaky. I thought I had AT LEAST 10 more years before I would have to deal with this type of thing.
Guess what else? 12 and 13 year old girls are NOT the sugar and spice and everything nice we've been hearing about all these years. In fact, they are pretty darn vicious at times, particularly to each other. So there's that as well, which involved a heated trip to the guidance counselor, and talking. That's basically what guidance counselors do, they just sit around and talk about stuff all day, and nothing changes. I guess they hope that if they nag these kids long enough they might suddenly get the concept that it is necessary to respect other people's feelings, their property, and their beings.
Who am I telling? These are things that should actually be taught by, you know, parents? I'm forced to wonder just what kind of homes these kids are growing up in. We're not perfect by any means, but my goodness, I wouldn't dream of sending my child off to school without at least her own pencils to use. Those kids cleaned out every bit of school supplies I sent with my daughter the first WEEK of school. They constantly take her things, get into her back pack, and take whatever they like, I mean there is absolutely no respect for other people's property at all. Then, they even have the nerve to demand she buy them things like candy and soda from the school store, which why in the hell are they selling those things to these kids any way?
I couldn't figure out why my daughter wanted so much money every day, it seemed like every morning she was asking for money, 5 dollars here, a couple there, suddenly I woke up, and demanded to know what all this money was going for, that's when I found out that my daughter was basically running her own personal charitable organization and providing treats nearly daily for all of her friends, and even kids who weren't even her friends. Needless to say we cut that off immediately. No more money. Suddenly, she has a lot fewer friends. Funny how that works.
She's learning some hard lessons, 1. you can't buy friends, 2. you can't let other people define you, 3. some kids have no home training at all.
Not only did these girls stop being her friend, they have been particularly nasty about it as well. One has taken to smacking my daughter in the head all the time, which she only just told me was happening a couple days ago. Of course, I've been very frustrated with everything and have been trying to talk her through all of these things, but I draw the line at her being smacked in the head by some little twerp at school, so we had to have a "meeting" with the school about it, in which I laid out in no uncertain terms that when my daughter is at their facility she is in their care, and they are therefore responsible for her safety, and are to ensure that my daughter will not be smacked in the head on a regular or semi-regular basis.
So far the smacking has stopped, but it's only been a couple of days. We will see. My first instinct was to tell my daughter to punch the girl in the face, but my kid is apparently scared of this girl. All right, I understand that, so I had to go in there and stomp my feet a little about it. I had a bully in my life when I was my daughter's age, I would have loved for my mom to go the school and speak up for me, but that didn't happen.
Anyway, the school year is almost over, and I can't say who is more glad about that. I'll be back later. Hopefully I'll get around to it sooner this time.
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