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 |  The wayward wonderings of a weird woman |
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** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Welcome to pmanljy's blog!  STOP   I've given this an 18+ rating for language and subject matter. If you're easily offended, this is not the blog for you. Now that that's out of the way, I figured if everyone else can have a blog full of inner contemplation and philosophical nonsense, so can I. I'm fairly opinionated and as a married mom of four, I definitely have plenty of goings on in my life to journal about in here. I could post on anything that crosses my mind, including but not limited to topics such as:  My views on politics, religion, and the war. Anything and everything having to do with my kids. The things my husband does to piss me off, and how great he is when he's not pissing me off. along with my more serious and philosophical topics like: Why do some farts stink and others don't? If I was a chicken, why would I cross the road?and more importantly Why do we say "taking a shit" when we're really depositing one?If any of these topics sound up your ally, then kick up your feet, grab a virtual beer out of my virtual cooler, and share your thoughts on my thoughts. NO ASSHOLES ALLOWEDI don't mind someone expressing an opinion different than my own, but I'm not going to tolerate belligerant, abusive assholes who want to argue with me because I don't see things their way. If you get shitty or cop an attitude, I'll take back my virtual beer and delete all of your current and future posts.  Have a nice day!** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** |
I really should be writing, or reading, or something besides just hanging out in scroll. Seriously, that's like (Gawd, I hate that word} all I've been doing lately. Well, not all I've been doing, but I'm pretty damned addicted! Just found out Pete is scheduled to deploy again in September. Home for a year... I suppose that's better than some... Still, it sucks! Other than that, not much else to share on the home front. I just wanted to post an update. It's been sooooo long! I have views daily and I felt so bad for not letting everyone know I was doing okay that I just had to poke my head in and say so! Okay. Going back to scroll now. I am so addicted to that shit! |
I just wanted to post a short entry since I haven't updated this thing all summer long! I've had a busy summer! We left as soon as the kids got out of school for their summer break and headed to my mom's. We were only supposed to stay for a few weeks, but it turned into nearly a month and a half! While we were there, we took off to Tennessee, where we pitched in with a few of Pete's siblings to rent a house so we could gather and visit for a week. After that, we returned to mom's and stayed there for a few more weeks. Unfortunately, while we were at mom's I didn't have a lot of internet time because between her and my three oldest, someone was ALWAYS on the computer playing games! Luckily, I had my laptop and was able to finish the first draft to one of my novels! Yay! Anyway, since we've been home, we've been preparing for Pete's return home. He leaves Iraq tomorrow (Sunday) and is supposed to make it back here to the base next Sunday! As you can imagine, we are so excited!!! We've been painting signs and making posters and cards and stuff all week! I am sooooooo relieved that it's all finally over. (Well, almost!) The kids start school this coming Thursday so it sucks Pete won't make it back in time for that. The school supply list this year for three of them instead of just two was insane! I spent $179.00 on nothing but school crap yesterday!  And I still have to go back because the store was out of a few things I needed. It was worth it though, listening to Lucas picking out his first backpack and lunchbox. He's so excited. It's only preschool, but it's in the same school building where Nathan goes so it's "big boy school" to him no matter what.Between trying to straighten the house, Nathan's birthday last weekend, and a birthday party this weekend, my time still isn't quite my own yet. I've missed keeping track of all my dear friends these past few months. I check in and read a blog entry or two daily if I can, but just haven't had time to really sit and get into posting comments or emailing. In addition to everything going on in real life, I've been reading/helping judge a contest here that had 60+/- entries! Hopefully, when Pete gets home and we spend a week or two readjusting, and the kids are back in school, I'll be able to get back into participating around here a little more because I've missed "here" so much! Day 220: Anxious. Excited. Relieved. Happy. I'm listening to: The new Fuel cd, Angels and Devils. I'm reading: Who has time to read over the summer? I'll read when the kids go back to school. I'm watching: I watched Hell's Kitchen this summer. My oldest, Alex, and I are hooked on A Haunting that comes on Discovery Channel. What a great show. Movie-wise, I've seen a few lately, nothing new mind you. The Messengers, Bridge to Terabithia, Premonition, Music and Lyrics, to name a few, and some old classics that have been coming on dish. I'm writing: As I mentioned earlier, I finished one of my favorite novels, "Brotherly Love"  , if anyone wants to check it out. It's a decently edited first draft and I could use all the feedback I can get before hammering into the first revision phase. In the meantime, I've just been tinkering here and there with whatever I'm in the mood to work on when the mood strikes me. Honestly, since we've returned home from mom's, I haven't had much time to work on anything. Plug Of The Day: A short story. I ran across this one as an entry for the contest I've been helping to judge. I fell in love with it so much that I wanted to share. Hope you all enjoy it as much as I did!
Quote Of The Day: This totally sums up "me" this summer! There's a fine line between genius and insanity. I have erased this line.--Oscar Levant |
| Well, thankfully, time is dragging by for me. I feared that once it got closer to time for Pete to leave, the minutes would disappear like lightening. Word was passed from the command over the weekend that they were going to leave this coming Saturday, but the date got bumped to next Wednesday now. Hey, if it gives me a few extra days that I hadn’t counted on, I’m good with that! We had a great visit with our friends over New Year’s weekend. I didn’t realize how much I missed them until they walked in the door! As always though, the visit was much too short and it was a tearful good-bye when the time came. One good thing about the holidays being over is that the kids went back to school yesterday. Call me a bad mother if you want, but they were driving me crazy! With the weather too chilly for them to go out and play very much, they were locked here in the house with me, and the extra noise and running around totally screwed up Jack’s nap routine. Days in a row went by where the poor guy was either jipped out of his naps all together, or was rudely awaken after only being down for a few minutes. The being over-tired most of the time really did a number on him. I’m hoping it won’t be hard to get him back into a routine, but if the past two days are any indication, I’m afraid these past few weeks of disruption have prematurely abolished his morning nap for good. Aaah, I know that babies outgrow their naps. I think part of me is clinging to that old routine because he’s growing so fast and I want to keep him a baby for as long as possible.That’s about it for now. I hate only posting once a week or so. I promise I’ll try to be more regular once Pete leaves and I come off my little hiatus. I also look forward to catching up to all the reading I’m in store for too!I'm listening to: The Doors, Greatest Hits. I don’t where that mood came from.  I'm reading: Still working on that Jayne Krentz novel. I really like her, and usually get so hooked on her books that I can read them in a matter of days. I don’t know if it’s me, or if this book just isn’t as gripping as the rest of her stuff, but it feels like I’ve been working on this book forever!I'm watching: We watched Lady in the Water. I love all of M. Night Shyamalan's work, and was really looking forward to this movie, but I have to say that I was totally disappointed. Pete even went so far as to say he thought it sucked. I wouldn’t go that far, but it definitely wasn’t as good as I had hoped. I'm writing: I haven’t been writing. I’m beginning to think that it’s just this time of year for me or something. I blamed it on being pregnant last year when I went through this slump, but I have no excuse this year. Every time I sit down to try to write, I either just stare at the screen until I fall asleep, or I end up just joy reading the things I’ve already written. Am I totally weird or does anyone else go through seasonal spells like this?I have been working on putting a contest together, and the distraction could account for my lack of real writing. I’ve never hosted a contest before, and I’ve never seen one even remotely like this one. I think I’ve come up with an original idea ( ), and I am soooo excited about it! I’ve almost got it ready to post. I’ll plug it for you guys when I have it up and running.Plug Of The Day: My good buddy, Starr Phenix  , is hosting the final round of her awesome sig auction. Get yours while there is still time!
Quote Of The Day: People who say they sleep like babies usually don't have them.-- Leo J. Burke |
***edited to add photo!*** I can’t believe it’s been so long since I’ve updated this thing! I have been thoroughly enjoying having Pete home on leave. Christmas was awesome. We were able to afford to go all out and make it a really special for the kids (and ourselves). I guess we were trying to overcompensate for his leaving, but who cares! I won’t bore you with the list, but just the rattle off the big stuff instead. We got the kids a Playstation. Pete wanted to get them the new one, but I wouldn’t go for it. At my insistence, we went to the pawn shop and got them an old PS2 instead. I’ve always been adamant that I never wanted them to have a game console – period - but Pete thought it would give me some terrific leverage while he was gone (plus he wanted to play with it too, of course). His logic is that if they start acting up or giving me trouble, I can just threaten to (or actually do it if necessary) take their game away, and viola! Instant, angelic cooperation! (In theory. ). I see it as one big brawl-waiting-to-happen.Also, we got them a telescope. That was more like a family gift. One of the gifts Pete bought for me was a star from the International Star Registry (one in my beloved Aquarius no less!), so he wanted me to have a telescope to be able to look for it. Last night was the first night it has been clear enough to see anything. It was still too over-cast to see my star, but the kids really dug being able to see the craters on the moon! Pete also got me a videocamera so I can send him footage of the kids. He’s especially emotional and disheartened that he’s going to be missing most of Jack’s major milestones, so I think that even though the gift was for me, it was really more for him, so he could have a way to keep up with all he’s going to miss. He might be here long enough to catch Jack taking his first steps though! All of my boys have been early walkers, and Jack looks like he’s going to follow in his brother’s footsteps. He’s cruising around by holding on to the edges of furniture so far, and has been brave enough to let go and stand alone several times. He’s trying to go from sitting to standing on his own but just gets stuck with his butt up in the air and one hand on the floor for support. He’s so funny! In other news… I’m pretty excited because some of our close friends that from South Carolina are coming up to spend the weekend with us! We met them when Pete was going to college down in SC, and we’ve managed to stay close and connected over the past few years since we left them. We’ve seen them several times over the years. The last time was when they came up to visit when Jack was born. Man, are they going to be in for a big shock when they see how much he’s grown! As for Pete… He goes back to work on the 2nd. There isn’t a confirmed date yet, just a date range. They’re leaving sometime on or between the 3rd and the 8th. I’m getting so nervous and so scared about being alone, but I’m hoping the time will fly quickly. Pete is torn between being sad and excited. He doesn’t want to leave us and regrets all that he’s going to miss, but there’s no denying what an incredible and life-changing experience it will be for him. And really, he has to go, so there’s no use dreading it. Might as well be excited right! On that note, I’m going to stop here for now. I know I have some serious blog reading to do. I hope everyone understands and doesn’t feel slighted that I haven’t been keeping up. I’m sure I’ll have plenty of time on my hands to catch up once Pete is gone. For now, the kids are wanting to play one of the new games we got them for Christmas, so off I go! I'm adding this picture of Jack and Pete that I just took. Jack is just such a ham. Enjoy!** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** I'm listening to: Pink Floyd, The Division Bell. One of my favorite, most awesome cd’s of all time. I'm reading: I’m still working on the Jayne Krentz, Truth or Dare. It’s pretty good, I just haven’t wanted to take the time to sit down and get into it with so much else going on. I'm watching: We watched Spinal Tap the other day. What a funny ass movie! And we also bought the first season disc set of the tv series, Smallville. It looks good and we’ve been wanting to get into it, so we finally decided to check it out. The first few episodes have been pretty good so far, but we haven’t made up our minds yet if we want to give it a chance. Any of you out there watch it? Any thoughts? As for my TIVO, it’s going to self-combust if I don’t watch all the crap I have saved up on it.I'm writing: Not much of anything. I’m trying to get into finishing one of the novels that I started a while back and gave up on it ¾ of the way through. Right now, I’m just reading and editing what I already have written, hoping that somewhere along the way, inspiration will strike and I’ll be able to pick up where I left off. I should only have to write four or five chapters to have it finished, if I can just get into it! Wish me luck. Which reminds me, I need to update my Going Pro! journal too.  Plug Of The Day: An activity. This is one of the most awesome ideas I’ve seen around here in quite some time now. I wish I could steal it for myself, but the idea is just so original that to copy-cat would just be too obvious and seem too desperate.
Quote Of The Day: In honor of my husband: We can't all be heroes because somebody has to sit on the curb and clap as they go by.--Will Rogers |
| I just wanted to drop in real quick to share one of my favorite Christmas links with my friends here. For all my WDC friends out there with small children, this is a website that uses real time to track Santa as the big day approaches. http://www.noradsanta.org/en/default.php I am having so much fun with Pete while he's on leave. We stay up playing Tiger Woods PGA Golf '07 against each other on our computers half the night. Last night we hooked up the play station and he kicked my ass on some race car game. We've done all our shopping together, and he's been doing lots of stuff with the kids. We let Nathan's pet frogs go. I refused to handle them to take care of them while Pete was gone, so we made a big production about setting them free. Luckily, the weather here has been nice enough to do it, and we only had them for a few months, so I'm sure they'll adapt to their freedom just fine. Pete's been helping me around the house, doing last minute fix-it jobs before he leaves, and taking care of making sure the car and all the bills are in order for me to take over. I think he's going to play golf with one of his buddies today so I might try to hang out and catch up a little here while he's doing that. I miss you guys, but I've been logging on and doing the minimum to stay involved (emails and Secret Santa and such), so I haven't really missed too much. Mainly, I just need to catch up on a few blogs and make some appearances in my favorite group forums. If I don't see you around before then, I look forward to being back in full swing after the holidays when Pete leaves and I have a multitude of time of my hands. I'm listening to: Christmas mix. I am so in the mood. I'm reading: Truth or Dare by Jayne Krentz. It's a sequel to a book of hers I read a few years ago and really enjoyed, Light In Shadow. So far so good. Not as riveting as most of her stuff that I've loved, but I'm still only 1/4 way into it so there's plenty of time for it to pick up. I'm watching: OMG! I have over two weeks worth of TIVO to watch! I'm going to have to delete stuff without watching soon or else the TIVO will automatically stop recording when I run out of memory.I'm writing: Plug Of The Day: A website. I recently found this wonderful group that shows lots of promise for becoming huge around the site! It's off to an excellent start so go check it out and get in on the ground floor!
Quote Of The Day: Family isn't about whose blood you have. It's about who you care about.--Trey Parker and Matt Stone |
| I am officially putting myself on a WDC hiatus for a bit. Pete started his leave Tuesday, and since he's going to be home, I want to enjoy my last few weeks with him and the kids over the holidays. He leaves for Iraq sometime during the first week of January so this is literally, the last together time we're going to have. I'll stop in daily or so to check my emails but I won't be back to hang out until after he leaves. I already miss you all, and can't wait to come back, but I know you all understand. |
| We finally got our tree put up. We spent most of the day yesterday decorating. And to add to all that bustle, I complicated everything by wanting to rearrange the living room. Did we need to? No. There was a nice little niche that was perfect for the tree without having to move a single piece of furniture, but sure enough, as soon as Pete finishes putting the lights on the tree, he looks over, catches me sliding my chair across the room, and says, "What the hell are you doing?" "Switching my chair and the TV," I say, with a "duh" tone. "Why?" "Because I want to see how it looks this way?" "But then I'll have to hook the tv back up. Do you know what a pain in the ass that is?" I shoot him a smile and wave away his worry. "You'll have it hooked back up in no time. It's not like you've never done it before." I knew it was bullshit when I said it. There are two dozen cables that run between the tv, the cable box, the TIVO box, and the DVD player. It took him two hours. Needless to say, when he finally finished, I sat down to watch the tv, just to get a "feel" for the new room layout, and wouldn't you know it-- there's a glare on the tv from the light through the living room window. Of course, I wanted to change it right back, but I know Pete, and he wouldn't have had any trouble telling me to kiss his ass. I didn't say anything; I'll just get him to do it after Christmas when we're tearing everything down and packing stuff away again for next year. Or maybe I'll wait until next weekend. If it interferes with him watching a ball game, I'm sure he'll do it with little prodding on my part. Now, it's no mystery that I personally think my boys are four of the cutest on the planet. You don't have to agree. My mind is already made up. But, what I didn't know until this morning, was how intelligent they are. Let me preface with an account of our typical Sunday morning routine as it is relevant to the story I'm about to tell. We go to the 7:30 mass. It lets out at 8:30, we get home at 8:45, then turn around and leave again at 9:15 to get the boys to their 9:30 catechism class. This schedule leaves little time for breakfast so we can't dilly dally with eating. Get it, eat it, and go is our motto. Fuck around and you're fucked, basically. We usually have time for is cereal or donuts. Well, this morning, the kids had plenty of time to eat before mass, but Alex interrupted me putting my make-up on to inform me that we didn't have any cereal. Now, I admit that I did indeed think this strange. The kids hate Kix cereal. They know they hate it, I know they hate it, their dad knows. Yet, each time we're picking out cereal, one of them says they want Kix, and just to be a smart-ass, occasionally I get a box for them. Each time, I think, "Maybe they'll remember this the next time and will quit bugging me for it." But they never learn. So my point is that I knew we had a box of Kix because I didn't remember ever throwing the box away. Yet, sure enough, I checked all over the place and couldn't find it anywhere. We were out of eggs so it was either eat nothing, or have Pete make a batch of homemade waffles as quickly as possible between church and catechism. Half hour isn't a lot of time to fix breakfast and them to eat it, but Pete is a culinary wiz so he pulled it off with a few extra minutes to spare. Anyway, afterwards, I stayed home with Jack to clean up the breakfast mess, while Pete took the kids to catecism. While I'm putting stuff away back in the pantry, I go to sling the jumbo bottle of veggie oil back into the bottom shelf of the cupboard, but it won't go. I shove it with my foot and then bend down to slam it with my hand, but it just won't budge. "What the..." I think to myself. There is usually plenty of room to just shove stuff without having to organize to make it all fit. So I pull out the papertowels, the kids snack packs of lunch chips, the sack of potatoes, the bulk box of Swiss Miss, all out of the way to see what the problem could be.A 3/4 full box of Kix, hidden all the way in the back so I wouldn't know it was there, and they wouldn't have to eat it. I love my boys. They are soooo like me. And to end this... Pete got a new computer game: Tiger Woods PGA 2007 It's a load of fun and we have been playing it all evening. I have totally neglected my emails. I am so sorry guys.  But, I wanted to enjoy what little time I have left with him while he's still around. I'll answer all my emails tomorrow while he's at work, I promise. I'm listening to: John Legend, "Save Room" I'm reading: I just finished reading Until You, by Judith McNaught. Judith McNaught is awesome. I feel so inadequate as a writer when I read her stuff. I'm watching: I am so caught up on my TIVO! I watched Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest with Alex Friday night. Or rather, he had it on and kept saying, "Mamma, did you see that!" And I would pause in typing up whatever blog comment I was working on to say, "Yeah, man. That was totally the coolest!" He would grin. I would grin. He would go back to watching tv. I would go back to typing. Oh to be blissfully unaware of the joys of sarcasm... Today, I convinced Pete to watch the girly flick, John Tucker Must Die. It was cute. Pretty funny. I'm writing: Are you kidding! I haven't written in two weeks! I open up a file every night, but sit there reading/editing what I've already written. Never adding to it. That bitch of a muse. Plug Of The Day: A contest. I thought this one was cool because it offered to change things up from the normal holiday themed contests out there right now.
Quote Of The Day: A synonym is a word you use when you can't spell the word you first thought of.--Burt Bacharach |
| Just a short entry to make my continued presence known. We had a nice weekend here. The weather has been fantastic, but way to warm to get into any holiday mood. We got the lights hung outside, and we drug the decorations for fixing up the inside of the house, but Pete and I neither one felt like putting the tree or anything else up. I suppose we'll get to work on it one night this week when the mood strikes. If not, we'll get it done next weekend. Last night we took the kids to have their group pictures taken. They turned out too cute for words. I'll share the photo album as a way of wrapping this up.
I'm listening to: "Strict Machine," by Goldfrapp I'm reading: I'm still reading Until You, by Judith McNaught. Unfortunately, I still haven't had time to curl up with it and really get into it. I'm watching: Holy shit! Can you believe I am all caught up on all my TIVO! I have absolutely NOTHING to watch! Yippee! I'm writing: Yeah right! What's this writing thing you speak of? Plug Of The Day: A forum. It is actually a wonderful way to show holiday spirit by nominating and supporting your friends and fellow authors. If you want to take a look...
Quote Of The Day: If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try missing a couple of car payments.-- Flip Wilson |
| For the first time in a long time, I am finally caught up on all my blog reading. Unfortunately, I had way too many in my list to read and keep up with, which was why I could never stay caught up, so I had to pare down my list a little. I hate having to cut out some of the ones that had been on my list for so long, but keeping up with over a dozen was just too taxing for me. It seemed like every time I logged on lately, all I ended up doing was trying to read blogs. It left me no time to do anything else, the other things that I really wanted to do here, like reading and reviewing, participating in my favorite forums and groups, writing, etc. All the reasons I joined the site, it seemed, were getting less and less attention, and I hated it. So, I have to get myself back to basics, and cutting out some of the blogs was the only way I could do it. I'll still try to stop by them and post every so often, but there were just too many to keep up with on a daily basis. I now have my list down to half a dozen or so that I can keep up with daily, and for the past few days, it seems to be much more manageable this way. I hope no one feels slighted but I had no choice. Now, having all this excess of time to tool around again, I've been able to read and review a couple of items yesterday and today so far. I've done a Product Review or two, and plan to do a several more today. My goal is to PR all the books I've read this year. I already had a few in there, but there are sooo many more. That'll be a task in itself! In my personal life, I mentioned moving home to stay with my mother while Pete was in Iraq. It's looking like I'm going to do it. Instead of staying with my mother though, I'm going to rent my own place. We've already put in our notice to vacate at the housing office. Pete starts leave on the 12th, so as soon as he's out of work, I'm going to go home and scout out a place to live. Hopefully, I'll be able to find something in just a day or two, and be able to make it back home by the time the kids get out of school for the holiday break on the 14th. We're figuring that if all goes well and I'm able to find something quickly, then we can move and be settled in back home by Christmas. We'll spend Christmas together and then within a day or two of New Year's (that first week in January, but we're not sure of the date yet) Pete will have to leave. I am so not looking forward to him going. We've been married for just over seven years and this will be the first time we've ever really been apart. Yes, he goes on little field ops where he stays gone for a few days or a week at a time, but never more than that. It's still up in the air exactly how long he'll be deployed. His unit is saying 7 months, but the unit he will be detached to is saying a year. I can't complain though. SOme guys have been over there for two or three deployments, and most are definitely staying a year at a time. That doesn't make it any easier to watch him go though. I know six or seven months seems like a silly amount of time to warrant moving home, but there is another reason besides just wanting to be near the support of my family. Right now we're living in a really cramped little 3 bedroom/1 bathroom house that is just way too small for six people. They have 4 bedroom/2 bathroom houses but the wait is six months to a year to get into one. We just didn't have that much time to wait when we first moved down here. We needed something right away and what we got is all they had at the time. This way, we'll be able to put our name back on the waiting list for a bigger house and hopefully one will come available either before, or by the time Pete gets home. The money we could save staying with my mother would have been substantial, enough to make it worth staying with her, but the headache wouldn't have been worth it at all. We'll still pocket quite a bit though even with me renting. We get a housing rate for the cost of living here. It's looking like I'll be able to rent a place at home for a third of what it would cost here (I dare say, perhaps even a quarter in some instances!), and will be able to pocket the difference. It sucks to be making another move at Christmas time. We've only been here a year and it was literally, last Christmas when we were still getting settled in to the place we're in now! It's a bummer, but that's the way it goes I suppose. The only thing that sucks is that we weren't preparing for this, and with the cost of moving coming out of our own pocket instead of the government's, this is going to make for a tight Christmas I'm afraid. It'll be worth it though. We haven't got to spend Christmas with any family, on either side, since my firstborn was just a baby. It'll be so nice to be with my brother and his family, and mom this year. The kids are going to love it! They're already so excited that it's all they want to talk about. I called my best friend, Pam, and told her and she was almost in tears happy. Her health isn't that great (she has MS). She has no children of her own and she loves my boys like they are her own. She misses us and I know our being home again will be medicine for her soul. Also, I come from a beautiful part of the country: The Great Smoky Mountains. Those mountains are in my soul and in my blood. Anyone familiar with my writing knows this because I've set all my stories there and make all my characters love "home" as much as I do. I want my kids to experience what it's like living there in all that beauty, with waterfalls and mountain streams, and... oh man, I can't wait! Can you tell that I'm excited! I could ramble on all day but I have other things I want to do so I better stop now. I'm listening to: Radiohead, Creep. What a great song. Thanks, spun2sugar, for putting it my head in one of your blog entries. I'm reading: I started Until You, by Judith McNaught a few days ago, but I haven't had time to sit down with it and get into it yet. It's off to a good start, I just haven't had the time. I'm watching: Nothing worth mentioning. The usual. TIVO and our regular primetime line-up. I'm writing: Nothing but reviews and PR's lately. I can't seem to kick start my muse. I was all into writing when my laptop died, and then all my creative juice just fizzled out and died while I was waiting for my new one to get here. The timing of that sucked!Plug Of The Day: Another raffle. This one is hosted by a friend and it is for several great causes! Please stop by and check it out if you get a chance!
Quote Of The Day: Where we love is home, home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts.--Oliver Wendell Holmes |
| I just wanted to post a real quick entry to say that I received my new laptop yesterday! Yippee! And it has internet! I am using it right now and I must confess: I am happier than a pig in shit! Anyway, it is the coolest. I know I must seem like such a nerd for being so orgasmic over being able to use the internet on my laptop, but my old one was too old to do it. Hell, it didn't even have a USB port! , so cut me some slack and just let me be happy! I'm still bonding and getting to know and love it in all it's splendor. I feel traitorous for liking this one better than my old one, , but I can't help myself. Laugh if you will, because my smile is goofy and totally laugh-worthy. I must go now. I'm having too much fun to hang out in one place right now. |
| Wow, I really have no idea where to start. On my last entry (besides the one I posted this morning), my father-in-law was on his way in to town. I'll start there. FIL came for a quick visit Saturday, Oct. 28. He spent the night, then Pete had to drive him back to the airport Sunday morning. Lucas' birthday was Monday after FIL left. Because it was a holiday, the kids had the day off from school and Pete didn't have to go in to work. Since no other family could make it into town, and Luke isn't in school so he doesn't have any friends to invite, we decided just to do a small family deal for him this year. We made it special for him and all was right in his little world at the end of the day, which is what mattered. Halloween was so much fun! The greatest place, of course, were the guys at the end of the street. There were half a dozen of them dressed up in costume, sitting out in the dude's front yard, playing cards at a small table while someone's wife passed out candy. They had a cooler full of beer, and while the wife handed out candy to the kids, the guys handed out beer to the adults who were interested in partaking. Naturally, we hung out there for a few minutes, and decided that we want to do that ourselves next year. Anyway, the kids had a blast. There is still half a bucket worth of candy between them that hasn't been finished off yet. As you can imagine, because the kids leave me alone with their stash all day, knowing I have no self-control, my weight loss hit a stark and sudden stand-still, and then reversal. Candy is almost gone. I hope. I'm working on it. Anyway, I thought my life would return to normal after Halloween, but no. For the rest of that week, the kids had early dismissal everyday for parent/teacher conferences so they were all home underfoot just about that entire week. Then, on Friday afternoon (the 3rd), Pete had the day off and we picked up the kids early so we could pile up in the car and drove three hours to Myrtle Beach, where Pete's command held it's Marine Corp Birthday Ball. Our friend/neighbor/coworker got a room in the hotel, and his kid (who is our usual babysitter anyway) watched the boys while we attended the ceremony. We've never left Jack alone with her before so he gave her a run for her money. I had to go up and tend to him a couple of times, but overall, he did okay considering he missed his mommy. The ball itself was a blast. There was much fun and camaraderie to be had. The drinks were way too expensive, but fortunately for me, as fate would have it, we missed most of happy hour. We got there just in time to order our first drink with only a few minutes to spare. We both drank out of our straws to kill them, ordered one more five minutes later, killed it through the straw again, and were instantly well lit enough to tolerate the drunk and obnoxious shithead who sat beside me all evening. It was a bad joke. All of Pete's buddies know I can't stand this one dude, so to be cute, they made sure to put him, not only at my table, but in the seat right beside me. I will get them back for it. Each and every one of them. Other than that, the evening was a lot of fun. Hands down, the most fun I've had a ball to date, I think.We spent the night in a hotel right on the beach that had a great view, but unfortunately, it was way too cold to do the beach-comber thing with the kids. So instead, on our way home Saturday, we stopped to visit the USS North Carolina in Wilmington. That was awesome! Surprisingly, the kids loved it too, and are still talking about it. Well worth the admission fee if any of you ever get a chance to check it out. We made it home super late Saturday after that. All was well and normal after the kids went back to school Monday morning. Pete took leave for the week so we spent some time together Monday. Then on Tuesday afternoon(the 7th), Pete's sister came into town. She spent Tuesday night and hung out most of Wednesday, before leaving Wednesday evening. That was a nice visit. Pete went back to work Thursday morning, and then got off early for the start of his long weekend. He went to play golf. While he was gone, my computer died. It was a long time in coming. It was a good and faithful machine that lasted much longer than I ever could have hoped, considering it was a few years old and used when I got it, over five years ago. A truly dinosaur machine, but one I had bonded with nonetheless. I miss my baby. Pete called from the golf course and promised me we would figure something out over the weekend, but by the time he got home that evening, the sore throat and fever had already started kicking in. Strep throat. For our long holiday weekend, Pete spent all of Friday in bed with a major fever. He finally went in to the doc Saturday, then came home and went straight back to bed. He stayed in bed all day Saturday until well into the evening. He felt well enough to get up and come out of quarantine for a few hours and we watched a movie after the kids went to bed. Sunday (the 12th--yesterday) was our seventh wedding anniversary. Pete's antibiotics had kicked in and he felt well enough to go to church. Afterwards, I took a short nap with the baby while Pete scoured ebay looking for a replacement laptop for me--finally. When me and Jack woke up, we drove out in town to get a rat for Gonzo, then came back home in time for Ashley, our babysitter (the neighbor's daughter), to come over to watch the kids--except for Jack, of course. Remember the whole ball fiasco? We decided to make it easier for everyone and just take him with us out for our anniversary dinner. We went to a nice Japanese restaurant. Jack, surprisingly, loved the entertainment. I thought the fire and all would scare him, but he was utterly enthralled the entire time until the chef finished and left us alone to eat. Because Pete still didn't feel completely back up to speed, we skipped the wine this year. However, once we returned home and had all the kids in bed, we spent a few moments truly alone together and partook in the annual, ritualistic eating of Runts. All was cozy and right in our world. Unfortunately, with him still recovering from his strep throat, we were resigned to that being the extent of our "quality" anniversary time. . So, we cut the sap short and got back on ebay to buy my replacement laptop before heading off to bed for the night. Hey, you regular readers should know by now that this is as romantic as we get.Today, finally, my world is back to normal, even if only for one day. Pete will be in and out of the field this week, and with the threat of strep throat still hanging over all of our heads, I'm waiting on the shoe to drop at any moment to send everything back out of whack. I did just get an email confirming that the seller shipped my laptop today so I'm hoping it'll be here by the time the weekend rolls around, just in time for Pete to wrap up their field exercise and get it all set up and ready for me to use. In the meantime, as long as nothing happens to keep me from it, I caught up on my emails one day last week so all I have to do now is catch up on blogs. I missed so much that it's taking forever. I got caught up on two and a half today so it'll take me a while, but I am getting there. If you haven't seen or heard from me yet, give me another few days--I'm a slow reader. And that's it for now! Thank goodness! Finally! I'm listening to: Mat Kearney, Nothing Left To Lose. I only had to hear this song once and I liked it. Twice, and I had to track it down for myself. On the album, there's only one or two other songs that I liked, but this one rocked. I'm reading: The last time I made a real post I had just started reading A Wife Most Begrudged, by Deeanne Gist. I have long since finished it. It was okay. Now I am reading another author that is by no means new, but is new for me: Fern Michaels, Sea Gypsy. I'm not too far into it yet. So far, the story is decent, but I really can't stand her writing style. We'll see how I feel when I finish it, I suppose. I'm watching: I've watched several movies lately, the most recent and best one being Firewall, with Harrison Ford. It was worth watching. Aside from that, just the usual television crap. I'm writing: One thing about my little hiatus is that I got some serious writing accomplished--before my laptop broke down, that is. I have four new chapters of Brotherly Love written, but nowhere near ready to post. I am so excited about this! I've had a major block on that story for over a year now so to actually make significant headway is awesome for me! The great thing, too, is that it is still coming!Plug Of The Day: A static item. I haven't been around enough to come across a whole lot lately, but I did read one item that I thought was worth passing along. The author reviewed an item of mine so I read this as a return favor. I really liked it, although there were suggestions to be made. She hasn't had many reviews for it so I'm sure she would appreciate more opinions on the item other than just mine. If anyone has time to offer up some constructive criticism, here's the plug:
Quote Of The Day: In honor of my wedding anniversary, which was on November 12th... I'm sure Pete feels the exact same way. I love being married. It's so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life.--Rita Rudner |
I've been putting off updating my blod because if I had put anything in it over the past two or more weeks, it would have been nothing but whining and complaining and I didn't want to bore anyone. Suffice it to say, that while life hasn't been absolutely horrible around here, it has been unexpected and out of the norm. I'll explain more later. Right now, the most important thing to pass on is that my laptop died on me last week. It didn't have internet capability, but I did do all of my writing on it. I would type up my blog posts, reviews, etc., on it, and then save and transfer everything to the house pc when I was ready to post something. Without my laptop, I am lost, and am a little helpless because I just don't have time to sit glued in front of the house computer all day. Not that I could do that on my laptop either, but it was portable so I could work on it in the living room, or kitchen, or bedroom, or outside, or wherever the kids happened to be at any given time. Anyway, I was hoping to have it replaced over the past weekend, but it didn't happen (long story,(), and now it looks like it'll be this coming weekend before my new one gets here. Ugh, I'm complaining, which is what I didn't want to do! I'm going to go now before I really get going on a whining streak. I just wanted to check in while Jack was taking his morning nap and there are other things I wanted to accomplish besides this. Real quick before I go, I want to say congratulations to two of my good buddies who were promoted to moderator this month! StephBee - House Targaryen   , and kelly1202, congratulations to you both! Also, since I can't be here as much as I wish I could lately, I do have a few cute pics of the kids to share to show that I am here in spirit, including a really late Halloween shot. Hope you like. The first is of Jack sticking out his tongue. I thought it was too cute not to share. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** The next one is of Jack and his big brother Lucas. They love each other and pal around all day while the other two are at school. This shot is typical of what you'd see in my house all day everyday. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** And last but not least, a Halloween pic. I know it is really late, but... you know the old cliche - better late than never, I suppose. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** That's it. Over and out for now. |
I just wanted to drop in real quick to say thank you to all my friends (my SA especially) who have been sending me well wishes and hoping me and mine feel better. I do. We do. But I'm still not going to be around until the beginning of next week. My beloved father-in-law is rolling into town for the weekend and we have Lucas birthday party to do while he's here. I do have lots to catch up on though so barring further mishap or illness, I should be able to get back on here and caught up starting Sunday evening after FIL leaves, or more likely, Monday morning after the kids go to school. Hope you all have a good weekend. I miss everyone sooooooo bad! I can't wait to have time to sit down and catch up!  |
| The past few days have been very busy for me. I haven’t had much time to do more than log on, check my email, then log back off. Sunday and Monday I was hardly home long enough to even do that. I wasn’t that busy yesterday, but Jack is cutting three new teeth all at the same time and he has been just miserable. I’ve been just sitting around coddling him for the past two days, trying to keep him comfortable and happy until those teeth are completely through. One bit of news I have to share is that he crawled yesterday for the first time. He’s not good at it, and he looks clumsy as hell when he’s doing it, but I’d say that by the end of the week he should be a pro. We are totally unprepared for this in terms of childproofing the house. I’ve got a busy, busy week cut out for me in that respect.The biggest thing we had to do was buy a crib. He’s been sleeping with Pete and me (he simply would NOT sleep in his crib as a newborn), so now that he can move around, we had to get a crib so he wouldn’t fall out of our bed during his naps. This is the first kid we’ve ever allowed to sleep with us so we’ve been kind of loving it. We had a crib for him before, but like I said, he wouldn’t sleep in it (maybe two or three times at the most), and after two or three months, the bigger kids played around and climbed on it so much that it broke. So, over the weekend, we had to get the new crib home and set up. He’s taking to sleeping in it much better than I could have hoped. In fact, the first two nights in a row, he slept through the night without waking a single time! If I had known he would adapt so quickly I would have done it months ago! I know you guys could care less about all this, but for me it really is exciting! My baby is growing so fast! He’s crawling and sleeping in his own bed now. Before I know it, he’s going to be walking and weaning and everything else that means he’s no longer a baby anymore. I miss him being a “baby” already and he still is one. Pete does too. We’re already discussing the possibility of a #5, and trying to plot and plan when we want to do it if we decide to. I know. I must be crazy.Anyway, because I haven’t had time to hang out here for the past few days, I am so far behind on blogs that I’m overwhelmed at the thought of even trying to catch up! Also, my inbox is so full of reviews and emails that it’ll take me a solid chunk of hours to get those answered and caught up. At this point, because of Jack, I just can’t hang out on the computer that long. I promise, I’ll try to get caught up quickly, but it might take me a few days. Not to mention that Pete has a new game so if I can’t hang out during the day, you can forget it because he’ll tie the computer up playing in the evenings. If I owe you a blog, email, cnote, or review response, I promise, I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. Jack is squirming and it’s getting hard to type this up with one hand so I’ll stop here now.Here's a pic of Jack crawling! ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** I'm listening to: Nothing right now. I'm reading: I did buy a new book but it’s still sitting in the bag out in the car since Sunday. I think it was titled, A Wife Begrudged, but the author is new for me so I can’t remember the name. I'm watching: I am almost completely caught up on TIVO. (One of the things about Jack not feeling well is that there’s nothing I can really do but sit and hold him, so I get to watch a shit ton of TV.) We’ve also watched a few movies: X-Men III, which was great, and Lake House, which I absolutely LOVED! I have Elizabethtown that I’m about to sit down to watch as soon as I get this posted. Hoping it’s good.I'm writing: What little time I’ve had to do anything on my laptop has been spent revising my query letter for SFS. I think I’m going to go ahead and test the waters with it here in a few days. Plug Of The Day: An In & Out. This one has been around for a while so I’m sure you guys have seen it already. I’ve never posted in it but it looks like lots of fun if you all want to check it out.
Quote Of The Day: D'you call life a bad job? Never! We've had our ups and downs, we've had our struggles, we've always been poor, but it's been worth it, ay, worth it a hundred times I say when I look round at my children.--W. Somerset Maugham |
| Today has been such a bust! Pete had to work today so the kids and I are stuck spending our Saturday alone. God, I'm going to miss that man when he leaves. Even though it sucks that he had to work, my day hasn't been an utter waste. I did some mad housework this morning and got a lot accomplished. I've dicked around here quite a bit and got lots accomplished here as well. For a change, I am caught up on blogging! (Until the next time I log back in, that is.)To top it off, I've added quite a few new items to my port. One is a poll to go along with my Merit Badge article that I plugged in the last entry:
Also, I created a book to hold all of the items I want to keep bookmarked. Yes, I know that we have our little Favorites panel for bookmarking items, but I had so many and it was getting so unorganized that I coulnd never find anything I was looking for. I was keeping it private until I could find a header for it. I was trying to buy one from intuey of House Lannister  , in her "Invalid Item" shop, but pencilsoverpens  swiped the one I wanted, (), so I'm going to go ahead and make it public sans a header for now. If you want to check it out...
And finally, I created a quiz for my port. Actually, it's turned out looking more like a contest! I made the questions so hard that I doubt anyone will be able to ace it. I wanted to generate exposure for some of the items in my port so I purposely made it to where people would have to prowl around in my port quite extensively to find some of the answers. It turned out so difficult that I'm offering a prize to anyone who actually scours my port and aces the quiz. If you want to give it a whirl, have at it!
That's it for now. I'm listening to: Weird Al Yankovic, White and Nerdy I'm reading: I've just been reviewing a few things around here for now. I'm watching: I'm catching up on my TIVO just a little. I'm writing: I worked on the revision on that last chapter of SFS last night. And, as noted above, I've been doing lots of projects here. Plug Of The Day: A member. This great author has been around the site for a while, but recently he has added quite a few new articles to his port. And as we all know, one can never have too many reviews... or plugs... Morganisms Quote Of The Day: What if "the hokey pokey" is REALLY what it's all about?-- Curtis Spencer |
| I finally got caught up on blog reading yesterday, only to have fallen back behind again as of this morning when I logged on. It’s an endless cycle. I actually read and reviewed a few items over the past few days as well for a change. I miss reviewing on a regular basis. There was a time when I was always, not only in the top 100 reviewers, but within the top 50 or so. Now days…((sigh)) I really am going to try to get back into the habit of it more. I took Nathan to his first Tiger Cub meeting last night. He loved it and was so excited to be there. If you knew Nathan, you would understand that for him to have liked it and had fun is tantamount to a fishing loving land. Nathan is just soooo shy that sometimes I fear he won’t make any friends or learn to do anything without an adult holding his hand for constant reassuring praise and guidance. It’s very frustrating and annoying to deal with him sometimes because he’s the only one like this. Pete and me, and the other boys as well, are… well… outgoing isn’t quite the word, but shy is definitely way off. I guess if I had to put myself on a scale, with “outgoing” being one extreme, and “shy” being the other, I would fall a little off center toward the outgoing side. Pete, Alex, and Lucas all would be even further toward that end of the spectrum than I am. So to have a kid that is way over on the other side of the scale is totally alien and maddening for all of us at times. Anyway, the point to all that rambling is this: I am really, really hoping that scouting will help him come out of his shell and give him a little more confidence so he won’t be quite so moody and introverted. If anything, it did show that he isn’t so bashful as to worry about picking his nose and eating it in front of the entire den and their parents. I'm listening to: Believe it or not—nothing! Well, that’s not technically true. Jack has been watching Baby Einstein movies this morning, so Bach and Mozart on the television is about the same as listening to the stereo I guess. I'm reading: Nothing just yet. I haven’t given up on Tuesday’s With Morrie yet, but I just haven’t had time to read. I'm watching: Gilmore Girls were on Tuesday. Wednesday we watched Lost. Awesome episode, btw. And last night we had Survivor, The Supernatural, and ER. Yet the TIVO is still in a state of neglect. Pete’s gonna shoot me if I don’t get rid of some of it.I'm writing: Do reviews, and blog comments and entries count as writing? Plug Of The Day: A static item. I am going to be shameless and plug myself for once. A few of you may remember me trying to find an article about the merit badge thing. Well, I couldn’t find what I was looking for, but it did inspire me to do my own article on the subject. If anyone has the time to take a look, I would appreciate it.
Quote Of The Day: You know there is a problem with the education system when you realize that out of the 3 R's only one begins with an R.-- Dennis Miller |
| I’ll be perfectly honest – I haven’t done shit all weekend. We took the kids bowling Saturday afternoon, and that was it. Pete actually got to spend a decent amount of time at home this weekend so we just took advantage of that rarity by just staying at home and being together as a family. It was nice. Or at least normal for a change. It'll take me the rest of the week to get caught up on blog reading, but time with hubby home was worth it. It was so blissfully boring ( ), that I really don’t have anything else to talk about. Therefore, I thought I’d revert back to a few of my original posts. For those of you who haven’t been around my blog from the beginning, you may have missed my earlier preoccupation with “shit.” If you want to take a look, the entries are: "Invalid Entry" , and "Invalid Entry" .(BTW, I have since learned that it is indeed "shat.")Now I know some of you may have seen this before so bear with me. For those who haven’t, this is an email that has been circulating for years. I had forgotten all about it until one of my good buddies sent it too me a few days ago. It reminded me of my earlier posts so I just had to share it. THE MOST FUNCTIONAL ENGLISH WORD Well, it's shit ... that's right, shit! Shit may just be the most functional word in the English language. Consider: You can get shit-faced, be shit-out-of-luck, or have shit for brains. With a little effort, you can get your shit together, find a place for your shit, or be asked to shit or get off the pot. You can smoke shit, buy shit, sell shit, lose shit, find shit, forget shit, and tell others to eat shit. Some people know their shit, while others can't tell the difference between shit and shineola. There are lucky shits, dumb shits, and crazy shits. There is bullshit, horseshit, and chicken shit. You can throw shit, sling shit, catch shit, shoot the shit, or duck when the shit hits the fan. You can give a shit or serve shit on a shingle. You can find yourself in deep shit or be happier than a pig in shit. Some days are colder than shit, some days are hotter than shit, and some days are just plain shitty. Some music sounds like shit, things can look like shit, and there are times when you feel like shit. You can have too much shit, not enough shit, the right shit, the wrong shit or a lot of weird shit. You can carry shit, have a mountain of shit, or find yourself up shit creek without a paddle. Sometimes everything you touch turns to shit and other times you fall in a bucket of shit and come out smelling like a rose. You could give a shit or don't give a shit! Or you could catch a load of shit from some shit-head. Hey, shit happens. When you stop to consider all the facts, it's the basic building block of the English language. And remember, once you know your shit, you don't need to know anything else! --Author Unknown Well, that's it for now. I hope you guys enjoyed all that shit! I'm listening to: The original motion picture soundtrack to Grease. I was just in the mood. I'm reading: Nothing right now. A few months ago, I started reading Mitch Albom’s, Tuesday’s With Morrie but didn’t give it a chance to get into it. I started it again Friday but haven’t had time to get more than a few pages yet. We’ll see if I can get into it this time. I'm watching: I caught up on some of my TIVO over the weekend. And we watched Heroes tonight. I really like that show. I'm writing: Finally! I spent the day working on a few revisions to "Starting From Scratch" . Nothing major, just an alternate ending that should only affect the last chapter. Also, I’ve been working on adding to what originally started as a short story for a contest here, "Invalid Item" . After much popular demand though, I’ve been plotting ways to turn it into a full-length novel or novella, and wrote over half of a new chapter for it. Plug Of The Day: C-Notes. Since I haven’t spent much time here over the weekend, the only thing I’ve seen that sticks out as new for me is a collection of c-notes. I happen to have a wonderful Secret Admirer this month who knows where to find the best c-notes, and since I’m being spoiled by getting them, I thought I’d share them too!
Quote Of The Day: Boys, I may not know much, but I know chicken shit from chicken salad.-- Lyndon B. Johnson |
| I’ve been fairly occupied for the past day or two, oddly enough. Wednesday morning, almost as soon as I walked in from taking the kids to school, my friend/neighbor, Shannon, called and kept me on the phone for nearly two hours. She’s leaving for the weekend to vacation in my hometown and has been enlisting my expertise in coming up with some ideas for their itinerary. All over the phone mind you, even though we live hollering distance from each other ( ), we’ve been going through websites that I’ve been finding to help “hook her up,” so to speak. Then, after spending half the morning on the phone, we took a break for lunch, then went shopping together in the afternoon. By the time I picked the kids up and ate dinner afterwards, I had my church class, so my evening was over before I could blink.Yesterday morning, after the big guys were in school, Lucas, Jack, and I drove out to the beach ad spent an hour or so just chilling and enjoying one of the last beautiful days we have left. The weather here is supposed to take a rowdy turn this weekend so I figured it might be our last chance. Then, in the afternoon, Shannon wanted me to help her with a few more last minute ideas for their trip so we were on the phone again. Last night, one of Pete’s buddies came over for dinner. After he left, Pete had to work on some computer program that he has to create for work. He had a hell of a time with that, instead of us watching our usual Thursday night shows. I fell asleep waiting for him to finish. Today, got off to a bad start when my ex-friend, Patty, (see old entry, "Invalid Entry" ) called this morning. Apparently she and Gene have just now started talking about what happened before he left. I guess Gene told her everything I said verbatim so she called me to start throwing crap in my face. She must have thought I was going to deny it, because she sounded a little surprised when I didn’t. I also told her that I didn’t like being in the middle of her marital shit and that I was tired of the two of them trying to drag me into it. I told her I didn’t like the way she was treating Gene, I didn’t like the way he was trying to back me into a corner behind her back, and that I didn’t like either of them trying to put me in situations where I felt like I had to lie or compromise my own conscience for their sake. That if her marriage fails, I want it to be their fault not mine, or because of anything I said, and that I was done with them both. Fuck both of them! I don’t want to be friends with someone who fucks around on her husband, and I don’t want to be friends with someone stupid enough to put up with it either. They both deserve to getting fucked over by each other! Okay, deep breath. In… Out… In… Out… I can’t believe it is this early and I’m already stressed. Anyway, I actually have two very excellent blog ideas, but I think I’ll save those for tomorrow and the next day since this is turning out to be a little longer than I thought it would. I'm listening to: Crazy Bitch by Buckcherry. It’s totally obscene and vulgar as hell, but man I dig that song! I'm reading: I’m almost finished with The Cinderella Hour; only about twenty pages left to go. It’s a great book. I couldn’t put the damned thing down! I'm watching: I haven’t watched TV – literally – in like two or three days. I’m behind on all my TIVO crap again. I just can’t make myself watch tv when there is good reading and writing to do. I’m thinking of just taking this section out of my blog.I'm writing: Again, you’re looking at it.Plug Of The Day: A contest. My good friend, Starr Phenix , has a new contest up and running that looks really cool! I couldn’t resist throwing it in here!
Quote Of The Day: The friendship that can cease has never been real.--Saint Jerome |
| Just a real quick entry--needing help finding something that I forgot to bookmark. Or more likely, forgot what is bookmarked under. I think it was in a blog (I think by one of the moderator's but not sure) about the trend of members "buying their own" merit badges, so to speak. I know that's a bit cryptic but that should be enough for anyone who read the article/blog to know which one I'm referring to. I totally agreed with the argument and wanted to link to it and discuss it some time soon, but can't find it now. If anyone knows what I'm talking about and where I can find it, could you please email me? |
| Can anyone explain to me what the deal is with scroll? I feel silly asking this after as long as I’ve been a member on the site, but I’ve never played around in scroll-land and I’ve always wondered what they do over there besides IM’ing that is such a hit. I know they have that number game but I never can seem to catch one in progress, and I don’t want to start one without knowing what I’m doing. Just curious. Now that that is out of the way, I have another question. Now don’t start throwing tomatoes at me or anything. I’m just curious. Think of me as one of those nosy, sadistic voyeurs who stares at an accident when she drives by. But I’ve been reading in several blogs about the blogwars that are taking place here. I want to know where they are going on so I can check them out. I don’t want to contribute to the war by flaming things, but I just want to see what all the stink is about. Can anybody shoot me an email and hook me up? I know; I’m warped and demented.On to other news. This is sooooo cool. I’m from a very small town. I get my hometown newspaper delivered to me so I can stay current on what’s going on with all the people and events at home. In this weeks paper there was this article about the Sheriff Department’s discovery of a 12-foot tall marijuana tree, that was eight feet in diameter! Holy shit! But the funniest part was that this whole time it has been growing in a kudzu patch in someone’s back yard who lived right smack in the middle of town, right under the Sheriff’s nose! Here's a pic for you: ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Where was shit like that back when I was a pothead? Now my question is: What are they going to do with all that herb? Does anyone know how they get rid of confiscated weed? Do they give it to the medical community to distribute for medicinal purposes, or what? Or do they just burn it in a big bonfire somewhere out in the middle of nowhere? And if so, how does one go about applying for that job? Yes, I’m joking. I’m just getting a little loopy because I’m tired and sleepy from staying up to make sure Pete got up and to work on time. One last thing before I move on to the mundane part of my blog. I got this cool Merit Badge from my September Secret Admirer, dogfreek21. ![Merit Badge in Family
[Click For More Info]
You love your family so much you did your handle after them! You are very sweet!](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/genre-Family-584.gif) I thought that was too sweet. If you’re reading this, thank you dogfreek21 You were an awesome SA! I'm listening to: Damien Rice. Pete got me hooked on him a few months ago and I got his song Delicate stuck in my head earlier and haven't been able to shake it yet. Great song. I'm reading: I started my new book, The Cinderella Hour, but have only made it a few pages so far. It’s off to a slow start. I'm watching: We finally watched ER from Thursday night, tonight. We also caught the recap episode for Lost. I can’t wait for that one to start back up. It’s one of my top three favorites. I'm writing: Sadly, again, this is it. Plug Of The Day: A blog. This is the excellent blog of my September Secret Admiree. I’m sure she won’t get too squirrelly (I'm such a dork) or bite if anyone wants to head over and check it out.
Quote Of The Day: Anyway, no drug, not even alcohol, causes the fundamental ills of society. If we're looking for the source of our troubles, we shouldn't test people for drugs, we should test them for stupidity, ignorance, greed and love of power.--P. J. O'Rourke |
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