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 |  A collection of words... |
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Today's flash fiction piece I wrote was in referencing various things that I am good at making for parties. There are a few others, but this was flash fiction and you know how I can ramble.
What kinds of things are your favorites to make for parties? or at all? Feel free to send along a recipe.  Hmmm... I just realized I haven't eaten anything today... perhaps that's what stirred my muse in that direction with the story.  Happy day! |
| First-year students at Texas A&M's Vet school were receiving their first anatomy class, with a real dead cow. They all gathered around the surgery table with the body covered with a white sheet. The professor started the class by telling them, "In Veterinary Medicine it is necessary to have two important qualities as a doctor: The first is that you not be disgusted by anything involving the animal body. For an example, the Professor pulled back the sheet, stuck his finger in the butt of the dead cow, withdrew it and stuck it in his mouth. "Go ahead and do the same thing," he told his students. The students freaked out, hesitated for several minutes. But eventually took turns sticking a finger in the anal opening of the dead cow and sucking on it. When everyone finished, the Professor looked at them and said, "The second most important quality is observation. I stuck in my middle finger and sucked on my index finger. Now learn to pay attention. Life's tough, it's even tougher if you're stupid." |
There's been a couple little mice hanging out in my building for several months now. They are very clever, somehow managing to get into spaces I'd never think they could... like, a desk drawer for example. So, some folks may know that I feed the groundhogs, squirrels, chipmunks, and birds, and sometimes the fish and turtles in the pond... well, I confess, I've also been feeding the mouse. This is not for purely altruistic or stupid reasons. He'd taken to sometimes pooping in my desk drawer or on my keyboard, which is frankly disgusting. So, I started leaving a bag of chips, or nuts, or crackers on the floor next to the central heating/cooling unit. Today I was sitting there minding my own business when I heard a rustle and looked over just as he was jumping over the bag. Awww! I saw it! Then I see the bag moving again, and watch as he wiggles up out of a hole he made in the top, sits on the corner of a box and just looks at me. OMG, he's adorable! Tiny little thing with a tiny tail, big eyes and ears. He scoots. A minute later I hear it again, and he does the same thing... ending with sitting on the corner of the box looking at me for a few seconds. This is repeated about 3 times. I don't have my camera, so I take out my cellphone and poise it to shoot when he sits there again. As I'm looking at his regular sitting spot, I notice he's further over, staring at me from a space between the box and the wall. Then, of course, I didn't see him again... so, I didn't get his picture.  BUT, I looked in Kiyasama's sig shoppe today and found this! It looks like the little guy! I'm going to ask him to sort my mail! ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Have a great day!  |
I wrote a "flash fiction" story yesterday for the carnival contest, again over 90% true, and my kids loved it. They said it was their favorite so far.
We're still partially snowed in, but I'm back at work today. Hope everyone is having a great week... |
Been playing at "Invalid Item"  I've written 2 poems and 2 pieces of flash fiction (a new genre for me) and have won some stuff. Here's the 2 flash fiction pieces... they're not really fiction, they're more than 90% true, very few writer's liberties taken
I won an image in a game raffle made by Kaya  from "Invalid Item" and chose this:** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Some of you may remember I "have a creak in my swing"... this is probably in part how I got it. Hope everyone is having a fun day! I got a snow day today! |
| To those who read my brief bio in the Talent Pond Murky Waters, I have found my slippers. |
After some encouraging and prompting from others, I decided I was going to play with my camera tonight. Here's the results from that:
This month I'm a featured writer in the Talent Pond's Murky Waters... that's for my 18+ writing. I had to write a little "bio".  If you'd like to check it out, click on the picture below: ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** I've been having some fun at the Talent Pond's Winter Carnival... contests, games, raffles, auctions, prizes... everyone is welcome... it's this week only... stop by I've donated to and bid in the auction and have written a fun poem for a contest, bought raffle tickets, I might write some stories.
Have fun! |
| For everyone that followed my link and tortured themselves by listening to the hardcore (grindcore? I don't know the difference) song I spoke of... I'm wondering how many of the lyrics were discernable... perhaps they sound better in the written word OR... maybe not LOL Artist: Alesana Album: On Frail Wings of Vanity and Wax Title: Apology Sweat drips in my eyes screams of lust we cry tonight you are everything you're everything... you're everything to me no more as I wake from this perfect dream I'll escape from Eden's walls can I not stay and live this lie? go away and I'll think only of myself And to think that you would not be scared or surprised if I'd severed all these ties this is the end... I'll lose myself in anguish for tonight help me get over you I feel so numb to see this bitter end of beautiful illusions... would this be the same? broken pieces will not mend to save our past now...go away... I'll lose myself in anguish for tonight help me get over you one last false apology help me get over you Now we must let go urgency overwhelms me as I must restrain my flood of tears I refuse to be slave to your false beauty again I'll lose myself in anguish for tonight help me get over you one last false apology help me get over you In my mind blood drips from your eyes a beautiful last goodbye *************** How cool is that album title though? "On Frail Wings of Vanity and Wax" This week coming up we're all going to some jazz fusion concerts at the college. Even my oldest is looking forward to it, many of the musicians are friends of mine and like to tell him such things as "your mom's the shit"... they are well-accomplished, and he thinks they're cool, so he'll let that slide without telling them they're crazy. lol Hope everyone's day is in tune. |
| I am not an artist or musician, but I know a lot of both, and have a deep appreciation for those forms of expression. I CAN draw made up cartoon characters and have done a few charicatures, I could when I was younger draw the hell out of "Cubby" (never did get that art scholarship though), and I can kick butt at Pictionary... if I'm talking to you on the phone I can draw a fantastic doodle... I learned that from watching my mother... BUT, I am not an artist. I am also not crafty, I can't knit or crochet even though I know the steps, I won't canvas or needlepoint, or paint, or any other such thing. I can't play an instrument, even though I know the first part of "Galveston" by Glenn Campbell on the organ. I can and WILL sing, but not well, even though I was 5 years in the choir at church when I was a kid. I was an only child, that meant Sunday school, choir, Girl Scouts, dance lessons... doesn't mean I was good at any of those things. I do love to dance, but mostly that's in my living room alone with the stereo blasting. I'm a good cook when I choose to be, probably a better baker. I have somewhat of an eating disorder, and I'm very fussy, so I don't cook for myself... well, I can, but I won't eat much. When I cook for myself it feels like work, and by the time it's ready, I'm ready to be done with it. If you go on vacation and leave me your plant to care for, it will be dead by the time you get back. Photographs... I'm pretty good at taking those. You will not see many pictures of me, and partly because no one can pry the camera out of my hands long enough. It is something, to "capture moments." I love many kinds of music. When I was in junior high my favorite singer was Red Sovine... makes me tear up just thinking about it. lol Some music has gotten really heavy and I resisted for a long time... this is what my kids listen to, the kinds of concerts they go to... I have been hearing this music for months now and cringing... until one night I heard something different "what's that?" I asked. My kids know me well enough that I will ask them what a song is probably half a dozen different times before I remember what it is when I hear it. Anyway, this song captured me for some reason... I think it's the contrast of sound, the music, the words (or the ones I understand), and how the contrast seems to appropriately convey the emotion that was intended... is anyone feeling the urge to listen to what I'm talking about? Try listening to the whole thing... if you can. It's a "video" but there is no video, just a picture of the band while the song plays: http://youtube.com/watch?v=pdZ_EtgBHTYHave a wonderful day! |
Briefly back to my 3 boys, their friend, and the 2 girls who went to the concert Saturday. Their friend's date is also friends with my oldest, M, and twin Z, they text and talk a lot on the phone. M says he's not dating the other girl, they are just friends. I inquire if "just friends" kiss each other often? He assured me they do, and reinforced that with "like that lesbian I was kissing at the other concert." Then suddenly I remember a story he told,  "NOT that 30 year old one you moshed with and helped get on stage?" He said "noooo, this one was about 18." Well, ok then. lol I'm pretty sure he would have fessed up if it had been the 30 year old because just the other day he admitted to making out with his cousin's bff, the one with the double lip piercings, at a concert. I just laughed and said "ewwww"... he said "no kidding, I'm the one that kissed her." lolSo, this afternoon he said "OH! I forgot to tell you that K (the one he and Z text and talk with that's dating their friend) said that you are awesome, and funny, and she loves you." I laughed and said that was nice. PA inquires of M, "what did she say that for?"  M grinned and said "I didn't want to be rude and ask." He was still smirking at me when he did this exaggerated shrug and said "I dunno, I guess she... liked her??" With the expression suggesting "I know it's crazy, but..." So, of course this made me laugh harder... partly because PA asking made it sound like he couldn't think of a reason why she would, and M's reaction was like "omg, that was stupid, but I'm going to play this for all this is worth." (Yes, I read a lot in expressions. lol)So, Z came down awhile later and I said "I heard a nasty rumor." He asked what. I told him that I heard K likes his mother. He raised an eyebrow like he didn't know what I was talking about and started brushing his teeth. He speaks through the brush "what did you hear and who told you that?" I said "M told me"... Z still looks like he doesn't know what I'm talking about so I repeat what M said and he replied "yeah, she told me that too." I ask "and what did you say?" He said "I told her she was crazy" and started laughing, little bubbles of toothpaste. I said "oh, that's really nice"... he responded "that's exactly what she said." M came downstairs and I told him... and then the part where Z said she was crazy and M said "that's exactly what I told her." LOL Of course he said none of that at first so he either made that up or he was seizing the opportunity before to accentuate the PA said a dorky thing... or perhaps both... he's a complicated kid. And to think, I'd just had that mother-son "your brothers and your guy friends are usually more solid friendships at your age than girls you might 'date'... and you will always have your brothers, girls will come and go" conversation with him. (It's what the kids refer to as "bros before hos" with a few extra words thrown in.) Anyway, somewhere there's a teenage girl that thinks I'm cool.  lolBe cool, stay warm, have fun ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** |
| It's been great having 4 days off. Thursday, I didn't really have a family Thanksgiving... the twins were at their father's, my oldest at my aunt's, and my mom had to work. That night the boys' cousin (actually their cousin's daughter, on their father's side) stopped by to visit. They've recently become acquainted as friends. She's 17, 4'11 and full of energy. She likes to try to persuade me to her way of thinking by calling me her aunt. I told her I'm actually not her aunt. She asked how we were related. I told her my ex husband is her father's uncle, and they hardly ever saw each other. She decided that still made me her aunt. "So, can M go with me to pick up something?" I told her no, it was foggy out... I'd just been in that direction to pick the twins up from their dad's. She said "I drive good, and I've had my license almost a year." I had to remind her I followed her in town driving once, and actually she doesn't drive that great. So, she asks if she can take one of the twins instead. Uhhh, no? She said she didn't want to go by herself... so, I told her I'd take her. "But I have a license." I said I do also, and if she wanted one of my kids to go it would have to be with me. She relented with "well, I guess that would save me gas." YES, it would. Part of the issue here too is none of my kids are "chomping at the bit" to ride anywhere with her... and hopefully it stays that way. So, they think it's funny when she challenges me like that because she always thinks she's going to get her way. She finished high school in 2 years and is starting college 3 hours away in January... I'm sure hoping they have dorms. Friday I rented an 8 passenger suv to take the kids an hour away to a concert. The usual concert group we've been taking on these trips is my 3 boys and a male friend of theirs. This time the friend and my oldest each wanted to bring a girl... and the 2 girls are best friends with each other. Well, the boys' cousin I spoke of above wanted to go also, with her "bff", a 14 year old girl with 2 lip piercings... so, they wanted to follow us because the cousin had never driven that far and gets lost easily. So, in our suv was 4 boys, 1 18 and 3 16 year olds, and 2 16 year old girls... and following us 2 girls, 1 17 and 1 14... first stop? The mall... and Hot Topic... with eight teenagers... EIGHT. Then they all played "Rock Band" at Best Buy... which was actually entertaining... and they were all, surprisingly very well behaved, especially when you consider there was EIGHT of them.... unless you count the boys' cousin chatting up random boys and exchanging phone numbers "I'm 17, single and looking, I have a license." It appears this is her mantra, as when we were walking back through the mall to get to the cars she was yelling out her whole name (with "17, single and looking!) and hugging random people. We got them to the concert and went to dinner. Dinner actually sucked, and we sent half of it back and decided to go for dessert near the concert venue. We had a very friendly guy, with a genuine vibe for a waiter. I commented to PA about the good feeling I got from him, and he agreed. So, when he came back I commented him "I really like your spirit, you seem happy to be here." He got the biggest smile and said he was. The next thing I knew we were in the middle of a conversation... he only works as a waiter one or two nights a week, during the day he's a meter reader... he has 2 boys at home ages 2 and 5... his wife is a nurse. He enjoys interacting with people as he doesn't get that often... so, he's not suffering from burn out at the job, and he's not doing it because he has to, but because he wants to. He seems to have a good balance in his life of things he enjoys, and that comes across. Anyway, on the way out I notice a dressed up guy cleaning off a table who bid us good night. I asked "are you a manager here?" He said "yes, I am." I told him that Adam waited on us and I just wanted to say how much I really enjoyed his service, that he seems genuinely happy to be here and taking care of people. He said "Oh! Adam is wonderful, and there's nothing fake about that attitude." I said that was definitely my feeling about him. He was very pleased to say that he'd relay that sentiment to Adam and thanked me for saying so. It's cool to see strangers' faces light up when you "give them a cookie." The rest of the night was fun, and went smoothly... despite, you know, eight teenagers and all. I am a little perplexed about mothers of 16 year old girls who let them go with anyone without seemingly needing to know who it is. Apparently, I'm the only one that is concerned with this, as I tell them all I want their mother's phone number and I want their mother to know who I am and have my phone number also. I find it disconcerting that they don't think to worry or care?So, yesterday was "Thanksgiving" at my mom's. My oldest, M, decided to stay home, and asked if I'd pick up his female friend to stay with him, and I did. I got a ration of crap from my mother for doing so. Apparently she forgot that I dated my 18 year old boyfriend when I was 16 and my dad used to take me to his house... or write me notes so I could take the bus to his house. I said "he's 18, ultimately I can't control him." She said "maybe not, but you didn't have to go pick her up." I asked her to consider where I was at 18, and that apparently trying to rule an 18 year old with criticism and not allowing them to do anything didn't work because I moved out with my boyfriend and his alcoholic parents when I turned 18, and then no one had any control of me whatsoever. To me, it's better if they like me enough to stay around and that allows me a little bit of influence over what they do. Besides, I was an only child and I did a lot more my mother didn't bother to try to know about, or care about, than my 3 kids do... yet, she worries about mine? Anyway, after dinner she's telling me in front of the twins what she's giving everyone for Christmas. She tells me I have a choice between X dollars and a "mother-daughter day". I raise a perplexed eyebrow. The twins say I better not take the money, I need to do the mother-daughter day. I have no idea what this is... but I let the twins go on about how that is so much greater than money and all the reasons why... and then I tell them "guess what you're getting for Christmas? I wouldn't insult you with money... a "mother-son day" is so much more fantastic." Well, THEY want money... but, now they're stuck. lol Z asks "what is a mother-daughter day anyway?" My mother says "ask your mother, she knows." I'm thinking I don't... but I offer "it's when your grandmother and I get together and she spends the day telling me of all the ways in which I've disappointed her and made wrong decisions in my life?" Everybody laughs and my mother says "ohh, noooo, I didn't say I was taking a year off from work." lmao Then she very conscientiously adds "and then we'd both have to take another 2 years off from work so I could hear about everything I've done wrong." lol Perhaps, out of some kind of morbid curiousity, I should go for the mother-daughter day. Well, she CAN be great fun when she doesn't have a bee in her bonnet. I think that's actually a great idea, and I'll probably do that with each of the boys also. Hope everyone is having a great weekend. |
| But, had to talk about my experience with picking up lunch... So, I stopped at Panera and decided I was going to try the Southwest Tomato and Roasted Corn soup. The girl takes my order, she is about 20? maybe, glasses, soft lilting voice, like she seems kind of shy but doesn't come across that way. She is a happy girl. I finish placing the order and I look down and notice the display has changed and they now have cookies sitting there, she asks "would you like a cookie?" I smiled and said "oh, no thank you." She asked for my name for the order, so I told her Brenda. She said "hi Brenda! how are you today?" I was a little caught off guard and it made me smile unexpectedly and I said "I'm fine, thank you, and how are you?" "Ohhh, I'm fine too!" The sun was coming in the window at that point and shining pretty bright and I asked her about them closing the shades for her. She said "oh, it's ok... the sun goes down about 4, it's really not very long that it's that bright." We exchanged a few more pleasantries and I went to pick up my order. As I'm walking back by her, she's with another customer. I look back over my shoulder and she looks over with the biggest smile she waved adorably and called out "bye, Brenda." I was all too happy to smile, wave, and tell her the same. Then I couldn't stop smiling... or saying "oh my god, she's adorable." Just one of those people that can give another person an enthusiasm for breathing just by being around her. It wasn't until I got back that I thought about Eagle~The Cowboy's Wife 's experience at the store the other night... and the warm fuzzy she got, and let me tease about... and it wasn't until I started writing this that I realized, like Marie's friendly stranger, the girl offered me a cookie too! So, as the holiday season approaches... I hope everyone gets to feel the warm fuzzies from a friendly stranger offering a cookie (whether literally or metaphorically ), and I hope too that we can each be that stranger for someone else. May I be the spirit and the light I so enjoy in others. Have a great day all. |
| This interruption to "random info 7" courtesy of my furry friends... My bf had to work today, the twins are at work also, my oldest is sleeping (scheduled to work at 4)... so, I'm here alone, essentially, and hear the new dog "yip". I go to see what is going on and Jake sort of stumbles over her and looks in the other direction as if to say "nothing to see here." His butt is up against hers, they are standing butt to butt each facing the opposite direction... only... they are... stuck together... at the top of the stairs. They try to pull apart, but they can't. Now, Jake was fixed 4 years ago, this apparently doesn't matter. I've never had a female dog and I'm not sure what to do... the more they pull, the more they lock. I tell them to stay, find my phone, and call my bf... he used to have German Shepherds that would breed. He said they have to come apart on their own... but cold water at the connection point might help. So, again I tell them to stay as they're even closer to the edge of the stairs... on carpeting of course. I get a bucket of cold water and throw some towels underneath them... two splashes and PRESTO... almost. They run in opposite directions. lol I worry he's hurt her because she's young and small. She seems fine. Now she's after him again... sniffing his boy parts and rubbing against him and playing. Lesson here? Women are tougher than they might seem. AND, "Yip" = "oh, you're so big"... Apparently dogs can fake it too. LOL |
| I love animals. I don't particularly care for most holidays... I do, however, appreciate the energy and spirit it can give to others. No, I'm not a "party-pooper"... I don't need a holiday to celebrate. I don't need Christmas or a birthday to get someone a gift, I do it when I want to because I want to, regardless of the day. I don't need a holiday to dictate certain expectations of me, like spend $5,000 I don't have or it's going to suck. That being said, I still celebrate them for the kids. The twins are 16 and my oldest is 18, they still get Easter eggs and Christmas stockings. Why? Because it's fun. Best holiday? Probably Thanksgiving... extended family getting together, cooking, being a family. Worst? Probably Halloween. I remember going out in the cold darkness dressed in some thin plastic "gown", with a thick plastic princess mask making my face sweat to collect such "treats" as candy corn, cold popcorn, nasty apples, Mary Janes, and a host of other nastiness and you had to be careful of whose door you knocked on. Why am I doing this when we have a bowl of Hershey bars at home? I remember my feet tangling in my "gown" and falling half way down a steep hill in the dark because I couldn't see through those little cut out eye holes. Then there was that year when I was in the choir that I went to the Halloween party at church... the expectation that I stick my face in the water to bob for an apple that I didn't want anyway, and that "game" where a balloon is tied around your ankle and you have to run around and try to pop other kids' balloons and be the last one with yours intact to win a prize. Screw that, leave my balloon alone. So, anyway... with my kids, I used Halloween as an opportunity for us to pay a quick visit to extended family and old friends. We did that up until last year when I decided to just buy them candy instead, since the youngest was 15. But, it WAS nice to visit their old babysitter, friends I've had since childhood, their uncles on their dad's side that they never see, etc. How did I love animals turn into that information? A few days ago, on Halloween, my bf found a dog. She was very fearful, hungry... she seems to have been abused. She looks like a smaller, artistically mixed version of our dog. Of course, she's home with us. I called her Misty at first, but one of the kids asked if I named her after that 120 length light menthol cigarette... so, since I've said since we've known her that she radiates peace, I started calling her Angel. She's so gentle, dainty, and loving. I called an old friend that lives near where she was found to find out if she knew of a missing dog, she didn't... but, that led to a 2 hour conversation and her telling me that she is now doing psychic/medium stuff... which was funny because just a few days before I was looking for a new psychic. (That's another LONG story.) She gave me a couple messages from my grandmother and her own mother, and she's going to "read" me for free. Oh, and the night before my oldest and his gf had a calm, mature break-up... and the house has been quiet ever since. So, yeah, best Halloween ever. lol I tried to upload pics here this morning, but I've been having trouble doing so. I started a photo album "Invalid Item" . The first 2 pics are of Angel. Awww, she's coming to see me now, guess that means I'm done with my blog. She sleeps with me at night, on her back with her head next to my pillow, little paws rested gently on me like she's giving me Reiki... she relaxes into me and breathes peacefully, like she is teaching me to give up stress and be peaceful.Hope everyone has a relaxing day. P.S. I have no idea how to add descriptions to the pics in the photo album. I'm not exactly a master of technology. |
| Being an only child, and/or an old soul, I always enjoyed the company of adults... I still prefer the company of older people. I also love games... card games, board games, video games, computer games, puzzle books. When I was a kid, the adults (mom, aunts, uncles) would play a card game called "eighty-eight", that they learned from their mother, who learned it from hers. I usually just got to be the score keeper... they said I had the neatest handwriting and the best math skills. LOL (Yeah, likely story). Most people have never heard of eighty-eight, Hoyle hasn't... but that's ok, the handed down lullabies that were sang to me no one seems to know either. (I checked one a few months ago, and found it was an obscure song from the early 1900s... made me wonder who started singing it to whom... and since I worked a lot on my ancestry over the summer I could actually guess names... but that's another story). I have had a Pogo games account for a few years now... before that I used to play games on Yahoo. My son actually introduced me to that when we got our first computer in 2000. He was an 11 year old canasta whiz and suggested I start playing on line with him. This is how I met my boyfriend over 6 years ago... he moved here 5 years ago. (That's another story also.) No, we don't play canasta often anymore. lol I'm not much of an artist, but I love Pictionary... I can't get anyone to play word games with me anymore... and no one can get me to play Chess or other such games that require far too much thinking for me. Jigsaw puzzles are fun on occasion, they are one thing my mother used to do with me when I was little... but we also used to color the designs on napkins together, and I'm not exactly into that anymore... even for reminiscing. My adaptation of that for my kids, who had problems with concentration, if I took them to a concert I would create cartoon characters on their programs for them to copy or color. But, back to games... I had to wait for my son to get out of work a few nights ago and bought something I hadn't for a very long time... a Dell crossword & variety puzzle book. That brought back memories. The new 3d games the kids have, I can't play at all... it's totally disorienting to me. I had a very close relationship years ago... it only lasted a brief time. One day he randomly mentioned he liked playing Tetris on Gameboy... I said "ohhh! me too!"... well, he happened to have the connectors so we could challenge each other. He said "I'm VERY good"... I said "me too"... well, I kicked his ass. In retrospect, maybe I should have let him win. LOL My son surprised me a few days ago with a Nintendo DS version of Dr. Mario... of course, he had to let me use his DS to play it. The 3 boys were giggling, and I cautioned my boyfriend about my past addiction to this game. He said "really?" I said "seriously"... twin Z said "for real...... there used to be four of us." lmfao Hope everyone has a fun-filled day. |
| I have a degree in social sciences. I started a second degree in English, but life was too busy to really get into it. Here is an example of how one thing leads to so many others. When I was in high school I placed first in the state in a business math competition and won a scholarship to go to college. My boyfriend, who later became my husband, didn't want me to go. We ended up working and living together right after I graduated in 83. In 87 his father died and I became his mother's legal guardian. In 89 I had our first child and his mother moved in with us. I went back to work. In 91, I had twins. I didn't go back to work. I became friendly with the visiting mental health nurse that my mother in law had. He said I should go to college, and so I did. By the time I was finishing my degree, my mother in law passed. I started working with an abusive men's group, as a co-facilitator/educator. My co-worker and I did 4 groups a week for 2 1/2 years. I loved that job. We were doing it when it was new... he had a master's in theology, and our supervisor was an LCPC. He referred to us as the Mod Squad, 2 hippies and their girlfriend working out of the trunk of his car. He was my best friend and confidant. We both knew we had always been friends. I miss the regular contact of that relationship. I met another friend through him in 98, and he started me on writing poetry........ Anyway, when I divorced, I was no longer able to do that job as it was at night. I got a job in administration, day time, and have been there since. I realized I could help people no matter what job I was in, and that I didn't want to just work with people in crisis 40 hours a week. So much of who I am now, all that I've mentioned and more that I haven't, started with decisions made so long ago. What's that line from that poem about "knowing how way leads on to way." "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and sorry I could not travel both, and be one traveller long I stood, and looked down one as far as I could to where it bent in the undergrowth..... I took the road less traveled by and that has made all the difference"? Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day. |
| There was a blood drive at work a couple days ago. One of the volunteers stopped by with a little spiel about giving blood. I told him I was sorry I couldn't, but I'd had hepatitis A as a child. I was almost 6. I don't remember feeling sick, I do remember the doctor telling my mother that's what I had, and that I had a touch of jaundice also. I remember my mother seeming unnerved about it. I loved that everyone that I lived with, and people who might come to visit, had to go get a shot when I didn't. At that age I thought it was very cool, and it was symbolic to me at the time that these people cared and wanted to be around me. My co-worker had hepatis A when she was 18. She was in the same town as me, but it was a year and a half after mine. She said that if someone has that before they are 19 they can't donate. I thought it was anyone at any time, so I'm not sure what the difference is. Whenever I've been to a dentist, they always have to do extra things - additional sterilization, etc. - because I had that. Anyway, I told the volunteer it was too bad I couldn't because my blood is type O negative. He said "me too!" 5% of the population has this type, we are universal donors... any blood type can take from us, but we can only take from other people with type O negative. If I remember correctly, it's AB positive that are universal recipients... they can receive from any type, but can only give to other AB positive people. I discovered I had this type when I was first pregnant. One of the initial blood tests is for type. If a woman has a negative Rh factor, the father is typed...if he is positive, she has to get a shot half way through the pregnancy. Once the baby is born, the baby's blood is typed... if s/he has a positive Rh factor, the mother has to have another injection. This was the case with my first. The reason is that a negative mother carrying a positive child will create antibodies against the positive. It would not be a problem in that pregnancy, but in a future pregnancy if she were carrying another positive child. If a negative woman has a miscarriage she would need an injection also. The twins spared me from the 2nd shot, they are both negative. Hope everyone has a "bloody good" day! |
| 2. I am an only child. My bio-father had another daughter in his 2nd marriage, I didn't meet either of them until I was a teenager. I was adopted by my mother's 2nd husband when I was 8. My half-sister died 2 years ago. She had type I diabetes and died from complications with that, as her mother did about 12 years before that. My bio-father now has type II diabetes; my mother is borderline, my dad has it, my mother's mother got it when she was 80, my cousin got it in her late 20s, my son got it when he was 13... I've checked many times, I don't have it... yet anyway. When my son was diagnosed with it we learned from the endocrinologist about a number of early signs of it which he'd had for a long time, but his pediatrician had never seemed to notice. In elementary school he started putting weight on mainly in his stomach/lower abdomen, like disproportionate to the rest of him. This is a sign of insulin resistance. Also, he'd had a slight tan discoloration in the crease around his neck and under his arms, which is the body's insulin. I have to resist the urge to go up to strangers that have these characteristics and ask them if they have diabetes, and if they think they don't they should check. Then advise them that if they start watching their diets (specifically their carbs), exercise, and lose weight, they may not have a problem with it for a long time. Yeah, how rude would THAT be? lol By the way, we have discovered that "sugar free" candy has more carbs than regular candy, and if I remember right, as many calories. Who do they make this for? Who are they marketing it towards? I think it's very misleading. If someone has diabetes and buys this thinking it's ok for them, it is NOT. Well, there's my 2nd random fact. Next up: Number 3. Have a great one! |
| OK, so I was sorta tagged by Eagle~The Cowboy's Wife yesterday, and I will get to that... but... first, a story: I have a favorite in & out here, "Fortunately/Unfortunately" , it was one of the first things I enjoyed when starting here 3 years ago. Anyway, this morning I was doing an addition and had a recollection of something I'd forgotten about. A little while ago I asked my co-worker if SHE remembered it. She said "yesss, in fact, let me tell you a little story about that." She said when she and her ex husband were first married and had their daughter they were living in California with another couple. It was their first Valentine's Day together, yeah, they worked fast. She used to be really tiny back then, but said she still had some extra pounds from the pregnancy, that she probably weighed 130. Anyway, the 2 husbands came home from work... the other husband brought a dozen red roses for his wife... and my friend thought it was very sweet. Then, her own husband hands her a wrapped package... she said she was so surprised as she hadn't been expecting anything. So, she opened the package, and it was... a box of chocolate Aids. OMG, that has to be the worst gift I've ever heard of! She said to me, "I don't mind that you're laughing, but I was devastated at the time." I think 35 years and a divorce several years ago would have given the distance now to find it funny... and she sorta does, but not really. I mean, this is a guy who had long bushy curly red hair who would come out of the shower in a towel, let it drop, swinging his hips so the "front of him" became a propellor, which he thought was sexy, and would say his famous line "so... you wanna f*** or what?" Seriously, before you carry hurt feelings for so long, consider the source! So, that was what I asked her about. Do you remember the diet aid, appetite supressant, from the 70s called Aids? AND, has anyone ever heard of a worse gift than that?? OK, now that I spent so long with that, I only have time for one item on my list of 8 right now... so, here we go: 1. Due to a combination of my tendencies towards OCD AND procrastination, my mailbox here gets full a lot. The strange thing is it would go from 90% used space to 104% used space in an instant. Anyway, given the amount of stress I've been under lately, I decided THIS is something I can do something about... soooo... I upgraded my account a couple days ago. Now I won't have to worry about it filling up for awhile... and my OCD/procrastination tendencies are relieved about this. lol (Of course, when it does get full, I will have twice the mess to deal with... but, hey, worry about tomorrow tomorrow. )Hope everyone has a great day. |
| My co-worker who was mysteriously absent for a week, is back... hopefully things at work will settle down and start to get back to normal. You ever have conversations with someone you know in which you suddenly feel like you're speaking a completely different language? This morning when I got up, my son was on the computer. He said he got a splinter off the railing and asked if I could get it out. I am the splinter queen, of course I can. I go to get the tweezers which I saw PA using last night, and they're not where they were. I call and say that M got a splinter off the stairway railing and ask him where he put the tweezers, he says "right back where they were"... I say that I checked there... he said maybe they fell... I looked around and asked if he was sure he put them back, he says yes and asks me why I need them... I repeat that "M has a splinter?"... he asks how he got that... I said "off the stairway railing?"... he says "huh?" and acts like he has no idea what I'm talking about... I said "the r - a - i - l - i - n - g... that goes up to the kids' rooms?" he made some more sounds like he was totally perplexed as if I was talking about something he'd never heard of before... I said "you know, I've gotten a couple splinters off it? the kids have?" He said "no... but whatever" like he's a little aggravated that I'm not making any sense. Now, this is something that can drive me a little batty... when I'm talking about something so simple in such simple words and can't seem to get the idea across. How can he be lost about this? DAMN! I can be very patient, but this is like... ridiculous? So, I take a deep breath and say "do you know the railing that goes up to the kids' rooms... when we moved that chair up there we scratched the railing, and we've gotten splinters off it?" He said... (ARE YOU READY FOR THIS?), he said "yeah, I know, that's why I don't hold onto the railing when I go up there." I say "yessss, and M got a splinter on it this morning." He says "Oh." with a tone like he still doesn't know what I'm talking about. I ask "busy day?" He says "kinda?" I tell him I'll talk to him later. I use my fingernails to remove the splinter. A couple days ago I was playing a word game and he sat next to me and said... "I was going to suggest the word 'lotion', but you don't have an E." I say, "that's ok, lotion doesn't have an E." He says "good point!" lol Perhaps the stress of hanging out with me is getting to be a little much for him. Hope everyone has a great... CLEAR day. |
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