DragonBlog

You can't handle the Internet!!!

Okay, so I'm trying to set up my DSL so it's a) less expensive, and b) coming from my local phone provider. That way, if there's a problem, it's all inter-connected and I shouldn't have any more worries if something goes ka-flooey on me.

In order to get the price I'm seeing on the Internet, I have to order on the Internet. So I did. Put in the order and marked the section for them to call me if there is a problem. I get an e-mail saying my order is received and they'll test the line and get back to me...

So I wait...

This morning, waiting for me in my inbox, which I access through my current DSL provider, is the following:

Dear [company] Customer:

Thank you for your recent [company] DSL service order request.
Unfortunately, at this time the lines to your home do not meet the
minimum data speed necessary to deliver this service. [company] Customer
Service is moving quickly to bring this service to your area. Once it is
available in your area, we will contact you to see if you are interested
in placing an order.

We appreciate your order and thank you for choosing [company] service. We
value your business and look forward to serving you again soon. If you
have additional questions, please call [company] Customer Service at
[toll-free number].

Sincerely,

[company] Customer Service

The company name and phone number were removed to protect the innocent - mainly me from them getting pissed about me blogging this.

So, how am I getting on the internet right now? This was the very question I posed upon calling their toll-free number. I was transferred to a sales department, who's computer was down and couldn't get any further today.

hmmmm.

In the meantime, the place we got server space at finally got through with the login and password for Brian, so I got his blog up there for him just a little while ago. I'm finding that the original titles to our previous posts have taken leave and if we want them back we'll have to pull them off our archive posts copied off the server from the original Blogger files. That sounds tedious, so It might be a while before I get to it.

I did get the categories to show below the posts on mine though! And I changed the font, and such. I'll get things tidied up sooner or later. Instead of just dropping a new look on the site, I might just ease it in gradually instead.

That's all for now.

G'night!

Dreaming...

First off, I'd like to drop a link to Blindfold Blog before I forget. It's an interesting read. The blog is complete, as in finished a couple of days ago, and follows a woman training to become a guide dog trainer. Part of her learning experience is to spend a week blindfolded to better understand what it's like to be blind and reliant upon the dogs she is to train. It's very insightful, and no - that word is not used as a pun.

Second, I had a dream last night. It wasn't the kind of dream that I seem to be uploading onto DragonBytes lately, but it was still very colorful and vivid. I was in this dream - I'm not always in my own dreams as me - and my husband and I were following this school bus, which careened off the road and rolled onto it's side. I got out of the car and ran forward, yelling for someone in one of the other cars that stopped to call 911. I don't carry cell phones in my dreams either.

I ran to check the front of the bus first, for some reason, and the two drivers (two drivers???) were both dead, blood streaking down the big flat windshield of the bus. I was suddenly afraid the bus would explode, so I ran in back and hurried helping my husband who was getting all the kids off the bus. They were all about 6 to 8 years old I think. Some of the kids were a little banged up, and one girl had a gash along her forearm, but none of the kids had died.

That's the point when I realized my son was on the bus. He was unharmed, but not wearing his shoes. I found myself very irritated that the shoes had been left on the bus, when the police started to arrive and move everyone away. The kids were being taken care of and we were told to go home with our son. So we did.

We had a much nicer house in my dream. Then again, we usually do. LOL. Some parts of dreams are wish fullfillment. The next day came along and a police officer came to our house with my son's shoes. My husband wasn't home, and I realized that this police officer was someone I'd gone to high school with, so I invited him in for a coffee. He revealed during the coffee that he'd had a huge crush on me all through high school. (and no, this part isn't wish fullfillment, as he had a name that I can't remember anymore but wasn't anyone I'd gone to high school with. I don't think he looked like anyone I specifically know either.

I was surprised by his admission and quickly found an excuse to send him away, as he was giving me this look like he wanted to fullfill some high school desire. He made a point of mentioning he was a police officer now, as I escorted him out the door. That, made me nervous. I called my husband (and yes, Brian was still my husband in the dream) and told him about it, and he came home to reassure me.

Then this police officer started stalking me and trying to give me some strange story that was supposed to make me feel sorry for him and leave me husband or something... very strange.

And then I woke up before I could find out what happens. That's often the case with my dreams - I never get to the end. The only psychobabble I can really apply to the dream would be my fears of anything happening to my son, my need to get things organized and accounted for (the shoes), and my own poor self image and desire to be... well, desired. On an intellectual and social level though, I've got the other one covered. *grin*

Not that I'd expect some guy from high school to be harboring any feelings for me other than "that girl with the long scarf? The one who talked to her locker? Yeah, she was weird."

Thank goodness for my cat and my son. Now I have animate objects, so to speak, to babble my list of things to get done to during the day, instead of cold, unfeeling metal lockers that liked to try to snag at my long scarf. And now... now there's blogging too!

Well, so that's my dream. I'm now going to read some blogs and maybe figure out why nobody can see my categories yet, before I head off for more dreaming... And one of these days, I'll have to explain my spiritual understanding of what dreams really are... but that belongs in another category.

G'night!

More moving stuff...

*whew!*

Okay, so I just finished the grand task of copying all 62 comments from my prior blog site over into here. Hopefully, I put them all where they belong. I even updated my husband's web address and e-mail on the comments he left to go to the web site he will be moving to. (assuming they ever send him a login so I can move him over there)

I will not, however be updating my husband's links within my blog unless there's an easy search and replace - which there might be, but I haven't tried it yet. If it doesn't work, I'm not browsing through to fix every single one.

I will, however, be browsing through to categorize my previous entries, make a way to get to those categories, and fixing image links so they work again.

sheesh... it's almost as hard as moving in the real world!!!

One Nation, Under God, with Liberty and Bling-Bling for All...

Okay, so I've been following this post over at Father Jake Stops the World. He and his wife Demi attended a meeting about gangs in their area.

It sounds like they addressed methods of identifying possible gang members through insignia and hand gestures. They also brought in an ex-gang member, who is now in prison for murder. He doesn't say who all was present at this meeting - whether it was meant as a neighborhood "come and be informed" kind of presentation, or one that was only attended by certain professionals. I'm assuming, for the sake of argument, that it was an anyone-can-come kind of thing.

This will probably ramble a bit - I'm ranting and making some comparisons here. Bear with me.

First off, it seems Father Jake is unhappy with the classification of "gang". So I will separate into two types of gang for clarification: "family gang" and "thug gang".

"Family gangs" were probably not the focus of the meeting. They are merely banding together and causing a little bit of trouble here and there to show off and feel cool, but they aren't the ones being charged with murder, or rape. They will most likely get into trouble for tresspassing or vandalizing. What to they want? Attention, respect (according to Demi's post on her site), and enough of a "presence" that the "thug gangs" won't mess with them. They will probably only become seriously violent if they are approached wrong and feel backed into a corner.

"Thug gangs" are the ones who want the power, respect, and "bling-bling" (per Demi's post again - means stuff/riches). Land has always been a sign of power. Voting priveleges were first given to land-owners, for example. So these gangs stake out their territory and protect it as if they own it. These are like mini-wars. How would we react if Canada decided they wanted Michigan as theirs? We'd defend it. We'd push them back - with force if necessary. These "thug gangs" are no less dangerous on a neighborhood level than countries can be on a global scale. Challenge any of them, and they will want to show you who's boss. It's Bush vs. Saddam on a mini scale...

Now, for point of reference, we are not a Democracy in America - we have a Capitalist government. And we demand the power and respect of other countries, and show off our "bling-bling" every chance we get. So many people want to be part of this "gang" called America that we close our borders and make people go through initiation rituals, so to speak, to have the right to live here. We're a big enough gang that some people slip in unnoticed.

We'd rather be a family gang, but in reality - right now, we are a thug gang. And, those who don't conform to the gang rules - are "out". We put them in jail, we take away their right to a say in how the gang is run. No more priveleges.

Now, if a person in this country commits murder - gang member or otherwise - they go to prison (assuming they are caught). They took someone's LIFE away, they deserve whatever they get! I feel that the crime of murder is not judged harshly enough. I can't condone "an eye for an eye", because I don't condone the taking of another person's life and thus ending their experience. But they put themselves in a position to be punished - punish them damnit!! Yell, scream, smack them around, I don't care - they lost their rights and priveleges when they took someone else's life.

So, the convict who got reamed out by some guy at this meeting? Damn straight!! Especially since the likelihood of that particular convict knowing who that particular angry man is - is probably pretty slim. We should be mad! We should do more...

I agree that more could be done in the beginning. Programs to help encourage family values and togetherness are good things. There are some "gangs" called Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts and similar groups that are a positive experience - we should be reinforcing those.

But there are those who've passed the point where a kind word, a hot meal, and a hug are going to help. And if some do-gooder-average-Joe just walks up to try and "help" that type of gang member towards a better life - they're likely to get treated rather poorly. Anything from a tongue-lashing to a shooting could occur.

And that is what the police officer was likely trying to make people understand. He's saying "here are the signs to watch for - if you see them, stay away - let the professionals handle it." Sometimes the "professional" can be a social worker or a priest perhaps. Sometimes it has to be the police.

By not trying to change the rules of our government, we are saying that we are willing to live under those rules. If there is a law that says a girl can't sleep in her car, for example, then either work to change it, or accept it.

I'm wondering why she didn't want to go to court?

By breaking the rules, you are saying that you are willing to pay the consequences for your actions.

But perhaps she didn't know there was such a rule...

Now some would say "ignorance is no excuse", but I disagree on that count. The rules themselves have gotten so out of hand since the first constitution and bill of rights were written, that it's a very rare person who knows them all. I've been saying for some time that the whole thing needs to be re-written from scratch again, to better reflect our current technological and social developments. The internet alone changes how individuals interact with the world around them. Suddenly we are a global community too.

Nonetheless, the girl could have gone to court and stated that she didn't know there was a rule, and that she was sorry and wouldn't do it again. At worst, it was probably a fine. Instead of helping her to escape the law - why not help raise the funds to help her with the fine, and raise awareness about getting that law changed?

Then there's the view of the police in general. It's almost been trained into us at this point - even with my "good suburban upbringing" - that the police are "pigs", or essentially "the bad guys". We let these laws remain - they're just doing their job and upholding them. Sometimes they break the laws themselves by letting people slide. How many people have been let go with just a warning for speeding? Yet we put that speed limit there for a purpose - our own safety. And that's the most frequently broken law there is.

I've met quite a few very nice police officers. However, I still get a lump in my throat if I see their lights suddenly go on from behind me. It was trained into me to have that response. Pavlov-esque.

A few bad officers spoilt the whole bunch, so to speak. I'm also thinking that once you've had a bad encounter with an officer, you're likely to expect the same for each encounter after that. Thus, you'd approach them with this preconception that they aren't on your side. That will affect how they react to you as well. Negative energy will draw negative energy from those around you.

Now, continuing with my gobal comparison - who polices the world? The United Nations? Not really. The idea is there, but not all countries are willing to conform to the rules enough to even be a member. What if we compare the gangs to the "enemy" in the middle east? If we hold out a proverbial hot meal and hug to them and they slap our hand back and give us attitude - how do we react? We "arrest" them. Siege. And, in the process of trying to gain control, we are condoning murder somehow... and the innocent get caught in the crossfire if they don't know what to watch for (gang insignia) and what to do if they see us (run!!! run!!!).

I just found this blow-up from neighborhood to world that came into my head a little too much to not post. I'm not much for political commentary - I try too hard to see both sides. So feel free to begin picking it all apart now...

*cringes*

Wow... this post gave me a category I wasn't expecting to make. LOL!

And now,

Okay, so it's not Tuesday anymore. Hell, it's not even Wednesday anymore, but I was busy site moving and stuff and just now saw the link in my blogroll and went ACK!! So here it is, two days late...

Would you rather:
1. have the lifetime channel make a movie out of your life OR the playboy channel?
Lifetime. My life has more drama - it'd make for a good mini-soap opera.
2. lick a cat's nose OR give it a proctology exam without gloves? (thanks nicole)
I'll be licking the cat's nose. My cat licks hers often enough it ought to be clean.
3. find a bag containing $20,000 and turn it in before you find out it belonged to an known mob boss OR not turn it in, spend it all, and find out it belonged to an orphange?
Bah, doesn't matter - I'm far, far too honest. I'd turn it in. And that's all well and good, as I don't think I'd be particularly fond of having a mob boss come after me for his cash!
4. find out your parents kidnapped you when you were a baby and raised you as their own OR find out you had a twin that died at birth that they never told you about?
OOH!!! Kidnapped!! Oh, please?! Errr... ummm. It would just be nice to know my genetics came from somewhere else...

Coupon Day...

Ugh. Today was errands day. Five stops (although it turned out to be seven) on the list:

1) return dvds rented over the weekend. Stop, drop, go... easy enough.

2) deposit my paychecks into the bank (since they are erratic, I've not bothered with direct deposit). Drive through tellers make this one a cinch.

3) stop at a "popular herbal chain store", with the intent of picking up some mutivitamins and looking over their calcium supplement selection again. Get very frustrated, as I like my pills in capsule form. I once had a nurse explain to me that most tablets don't get fully absorbed into the system, as they don't completely break down in time. I'm not into liquid supplements - eww! So I prefer capsules if possible.

Thus, I got disgusted and added a stop into my trip for another herbal store instead. Mind you, I hadn't known about the other herbal store until the first one was out of my alfalfa (helps with a colon problem I have) and he sent me to the other one! Talk about a bad business move.

3-b) Spend about an hour browsing the other herbal shop until I finally choose a new multivitamin to try and end up buying a tablet form of calcium as it seems only the tablet forms have a respectable quantity without you having to take 6 pills a day. I've been trying to cut down on the actual quantity of vitamins and such I end up taking every morning. Bleh. But I still want to boost my system up. Calcium supplements are important to me, as I've never been big on drinking milk.

also - spend about 15 minutes in the bathroom of the herbal shop, dealing with the problems the alfalfa doesn't completely help with. (nor does the prescription I take too, but it's unbearable without both, and usually controllable with my current compromise). Flush twice, feel bad 'cause I know I'm probably leaving it smelly. Wash hands and hope for the best. Pay for my stuff and make a hasty retreat.

4) Pick up prescription at the pharmacy. Birth control is a good thing right now - we need at least a little space between kids, so "conception" is tenatively scheduled for January 2005. My New Year's resolution is going to be to get "knocked up". heehee!

4-B) Realize I should not go to the grocery store hungry! Realize I do not want Taco Hell, so I go to McFrownald's instead. Pay $2.05 for a cheeseburger and small fries. Fries are too salty, but eat them anyway. Several months of not being a customer and the cheeseburger tastes like crap. Eat it anyway, and hope that if I ever try smoking a cigarette again it will have the same effect. Re-affirm my disgust with McFrownald's food, and head onward.

5) Spend two hours doing the monthly "big" shopping trip. By now, my son has decided he's really had enough of this errands crap, and is getting fussy. I thus attempt to drive a cart with one hand and keep him preoccupied with the other. We "chatter" for a while, which keeps him happy some.

Coupon day means that I've gone through the set of coupons I have and removed the expired ones. Then I've gone through and looked for anything we might like to have over the next month. I also set aside those which will expire soon. I then sort through all of those to weed out those I really shouldn't be buying anyway. Any coupon that requires me to buy 10 of anything is probably not going to make the cut. I just don't have that kind of storage space, no matter what the deal is. Most coupons I wistfully kept for cookies and chips generally don't make the cut - although some usually do. Coupons for anything already planned into the menu get saved. Some meals get planned based on the coupons themselves.

I rarely bother with coupons for the rest of the month unless something comes up that I know I've got one for. Coupon day is expensive. I somehow manage to justify at least a few goodies that we don't really need, or stock up on something we just don't have the space for - because, after all, I had a coupon!

Egads!!!

I'm getting better as time goes on - the weeding continues at the store when I compare prices too, and sometimes I'll just not get the item after all, but once I'm at the store there's also the sale items to contend with too!

Damned marketing gimmicks. Trying to get me at every turn!

The problem is, they work... grrrrrr.

So I only do coupon day once a month. The rest of the month it's quick trips to pick up the essentials and usually ingredients for one recipe I'm adding into the mix. This keeps us in bread and milk and lunchmeat. Coupon day is for planning ahead - stocking up on spaghettie sauce and noodles or frozen veggies or chicken to keep in the freezer until we're ready for it.

Oh, and can somebody tell the people who make up the numbers on the coupons that they spit out for you at the cash register (at least they do around here) that there are very few people in the world who want to buy and stock TEN boxes of Hot Pockets. I was buying those for lunch a while back, and the coupons kept escalating higher and higher. When it hit 12 I had to stop using the coupons - I had already found that I really can't fit more than 10 into my freezer and have room left for anything else! Sheesh!

And my little guy hadn't had a proper nap yet, so by the time we got home we were both wiped. After buying all that food, my husband ran out and got sub sandwiches for us for dinner, after we'd fed some jarred stuff to Jareth. He was starving, but needed a nap so he crashed pretty quick after his dinner.

eep. I've rambled again! Why didn't you stop me? Oh yeah, you can't. Mwahahaha!

I'll stop now. More tomorrow.

G'night!

P.S. - forgive the typos if there are any (and it's pretty likely there are), but I'm not seeing a spellchecker for movable type, so I'm going to have to get a plug-in for my browser or something soon.

Precious... oh yes...

I suppose one could tell that I enjoy when people comment on this site by the fact that I am lovingly pulling each one out of Haloscan and recreating them here.

I've so far done the ones up to and including February.

Mind you, they are all going to look like they were posted within a couple of days in April, but at least they'll still be there.

See? I wuv my readers!!

But now I have to take a sanity break and do some work for my boss...

Yes, that was an odd way to put it.

Spicing it up, Baby Style!!!

So, dinner tonight was Hot & Spicy Kung Pao Chicken, as per the recipe on the back of a packet of the seasoning I picked up at the store. Basically it was chicken, green onion, peanuts, and sauce - all on a bed of rice. Until you stir it all together, that is.

Now, my son had already eaten dinner...

a) dinner wasn't going to be ready for another half an hour and he was starving, so we fed him a jar of his chunky chicken noodle stuff, followed by a jar of mixed chopped up veggies. (did you ever notice that almost every single Gerber baby food has carrots in it? Even chicken noodle has carrots?) He's going through a growth spurt right now, so he's like a little black hole on legs at mealtime.

b) If you've ever eaten Kung Pao, you'll know that it can be very spicy. We've been doing blander meals lately, since Jareth now eats what we do most of the time, but I keep some jars handy for those nights when we just need something with some *zing!* to it. This packet says Hot & Spicy, and they mean it. It's on the border of what might almost get too spicy for me, but doesn't go over the edge. Hence, my hesitation to expose my little guy to this particular meal.

However...

He's reached the "whining stage". Or else we've accidentally spoiled the crap out of him, which is very likely too. He refuses to pick up food and eat on his own, but will sit and whine until we pick up food sitting right in front of him and feed it to him. My husband sometimes refers to our son as his "little prince" (and no, he's not read the children's book by that name yet, but I have it somewhere), and Jareth must understand, as he sits in that throne of a high chair and demand we feed him upon command!!

And he wanted what we were eating.

Even after all the dinner he'd already eaten!

And so he whiiiiiiinnnnnnnned at us.

And we caved.

And mommy filled his sippy-cup with fresh cool water, while daddy gave him some of the rice off his plate. Just rice, as we hadn't cut up the chicken that small and he shouldn't be having peanuts yet.

But this was after the part where we had stirred our plates up to make sure the sauce was good and mixed into the rice...

And it went into Jareth's mouth...

And he loved it!!!

He did start understanding why I had that sippy-cup nearby after a while however, but he spent most of the time either demanding we give him more, or giggling - we think he was enjoying the sensation that "spicy" was leaving in his mouth!

After all, he didn't know about "spicy" prior to that point. He had no real basis for comparison. And where the one accidental "hot" I gave him a few months back gave him a look of alarm, "spicy" was a sensation that apparently tickled his tongue. And I was able to read when he needed the first sip of water (he won't take the cup, but he'll let me tip it into his mouth and pour a sip in), but then started going back and forth between wanting the water and wanting more of our food...

Well... On the bright side, I finally found a way to get him to drink something other than just formula!

Then again... Who knows what "spicy" will look like when it comes out the other end...

*insert ominous music here*

On that note... g'night!

Long, Long, Long Day...

Phew! *wipes brow*

What a long, long, long day...

I actually got up with the alarm today, at the ungodly hour of 8:00 am.

By the time I got my son up I had already gotten the second load of laundry into the wash, hand-washed 11 bottles and some assorted delicate dishes, taken a long hot shower and seriously conditioned my hair while I was at it, and finished setting up the Movable Type program so I could start moving my various blogs into it. Not to mention consumed 1.5 cans of diet mountain dew. The other .5 can was finished during breakfast.

*blink*

So, for the rest of the day, including the usual attentions spent on my son, I finished the laundry, moved 5 blogs off of Blogger onto the new server and imported them into Movable Type, partially set up said blogs so that they could be posted to by whomever they are supposed to be, and retrieved my blogroll from cyberspace, called in a prescription refill, sorted through old coupons to get rid of expired ones, set up new e-mail accounts and re-directed my personal domain name, redirected my efax account to a new e-mail, cooked dinner, cleaned up dinner dishes, ordered one part of a gift for someone, played a couple games scrabble and boggle on computer with my husband...

*blink*

Whoah... so much time in one day when you get up that early!!!

And yet, my desk is still a mess with tons of things that need to be done!

*sigh*

That's not very reassuring to the part of me that prefers to sleep in in the mornings...

Made the Move...

Well, I've successfully moved all my stuff over to the new server and into a Movable Type format. Now I just have to figure out why all my titles went away! But they're here now, and I put up little pages with the new urls for each of the other sites I moved:

To our children's children is now at http://www.rayndragon.quickshtick.com/tocc/

DragonBytes is now at http://rayndragon.quickshtick.com/dragonbytes/

And Quick Shtick Writing is now at... can you guess? c'mon, I'll bet you can!!! - http://www.quickshtick.com/ !!!

Yay!!!

I've also moved my private blog, but I'm not telling you where that is or it wouldn't be private anymore now would it? heh.

I've redirected stuff, set up a new e-mail account and redirected amy@rayndragon.com to send to it.

And I tested out the e-mail, and it's working just fine.

So if my ISP suddenly cuts me off at the knees, I've got all my stuff off their webspace and onto my own little paid-for niche.

*phew*

Now I just have to get Brian moved, but for some reason I haven't gotten his login and password for his new server. I accidentally put his name instead of switching it to mine for the credit card number (damned auto-filling forms!) and I fear it may be in the process of rejection and/or who-knows-what as a result...

*grumble*

Anyway, more later. I gotta go post at the other sites now.

Well, I'm trying to figure

Well, I'm trying to figure out Movable Type tonight... wish me luck!

I pulled copies of all of my web site pages as a backup into my computer, now I've got to get stuff up and running over at the new host.

There will be a point in the future where this site will come down...just make sure you're using www.rayndragon.com to get here and it won't be a problem. I'll be re-parking that domain name so that it points in the right direction. I think it sometimes takes as long as 24 hours to go into effect though, so if I disappear for a day suddenly - that's likely why.

And if I disappear for a week it means the ISP I currently have is screwing me over because I'm changing to a different one...

*clutches head*

Please... for once... can this all fall into place smoothly?

Well, enough blogging tonight. More MT and then bed.

G'night!

Okay, so I totally cheated

Okay, so I totally cheated on the phone calling thing - I was able to do it online instead. Now they have to call me instead!

mwahahaha!

And then...

Got some domain names and hosting stuff...

Look for my husband to be moving to thefictionrealm.com in the near future, and look for Quick Shtick Writing to be moving to quickshtick.com , which I picked up while getting some hosting for myself to park this site onto. They gave the option of getting a free domain name with my hosting package - how could I pass up the chance!

Yay!! Once the hosting accounts are properly up, I'll have to change all sorts of links and stuff...

Also... ignore any e-mail addresses for me on my site for the moment - I'm diverting all e-mail over to amy@rayndragon.com, and it's going to take me some time to fix all the areas where it says otherwise. When I kick over to the new ISP, I'll lose the current address. I just sent a bazillion e-mails out letting people know...

Alright, maybe not a bazillion... but quite a few.

Oops... I hear a little boy awake and playing... 'scuse me while I go play too!

I'd planned on starting the

I'd planned on starting the ball rolling with switching ISPs... I'm going to have to make a phone call to do it.

I also have to make a couple phone calls in order to invite people to my son's first birthday, although some are just getting e-mail, which I can handle a whole lot better.

What is this fear of mine with the phone???

I've got some papers sitting next to me, with the phone number for the ISP I want to change over too... I've got papers all over the place with people I need to call for one reason or another. And I have two phones within reach, as I want to test out the cordless and see if it kills the internet or not.

I'm still having problems with my service... I'm ready to tear all the phone lines out of the walls and rewire it myself!

Okay, no... I'm actually not ready for a task of that magnitude...

After all, I can't even seem to handle picking up and dialing the damned phone!

*sigh*

What's the term for this?

Telephobia? (no, that would be a fear of Teletubbies)

Phonophobia? (that sounds more like a fear of old phonograph records)

hmm.

You want to know what the really funny part is?

One of the numbers I need to call is to set myself up with a new therapist...

DOH !!

Weekends are the best part

Weekends are the best part of the week. My husband is home on the weekends. His folks were out of town this weekend, so we didn't do the usual Sunday dinner thing. So today didn't feel like a Sunday at all. It felt more like a Saturday, as we didn't do much of anything yesterday and got a couple of productive things done today. Usually, it's the other way 'round.

Lately, when my husband is home, I don't think we can make it through a four hour stretch without say "there's a blog in that" about something or other we've ended up doing or discussing. Today was no different. But, when I sat down to finally write - *poof* - it all seems to slip out of my mind.

*grumble*

Today I put in a new phone in the kitchen, and a new "under the cabinet" can opener. These two things might seem somewhat unremarkable, and the can opener installation was unremarkable, though it allowed me to finally dispose of my mother's can opener which looked like it dated back to the beginning of time. Or the invention of electric can openers anyway. It was a horrible 70's yellow - you know, the kind of yellow that looks like you bathed a bright yellow something in a nicotine bath? Yeah... Diarrhea yellow. That's the color. *shudder* I'm amazed the thing hadn't completely stopped working yet, but it was on it's very last legs. It's gone now - may it rest in peace.

The phone installation involved putting a new jack on as the previous one looked in bad shape. Whomever installed that jack did a crappy job - in fact it looked like it had been replaced a few times, based on the remaining drywall screw anchors still stuck into the wall when I pulled the jack off.

In the process of trying to put the new jack in, I got one part screwed into place and tested to make sure it was going to work properly. Something wasn't right, so I had to unscrew the thing and re-adjust. Sounds simple, right?

Wrong. So, so very wrong.

Part of the anchor broke behind the screw, and the screw would no longer come out. And I needed it to come out. After some attempts to convince it to unscrew, I finally grabbed my bolt snips. I figured they'd be tough enough to handle this little wussy screw, but nooooo.

I broke the wall.

*sigh*

Got the screw out though. Anchor too. Which meant I also had to remount the phone in yet another location on the wall with another set of anchored screws. Of course this all would have been much simpler in the first place if there had just been some slack in the cord coming out of the wall. But either the person who put that wire in didn't know to leave slack, or that jack has been replaced and remounted soooo many times, that there's just no slack left as everyone else just snipped away at the wires...

*sigh*

Phone's up. Wall is spackled. Just so happens that I had spackle handy as I'm still not finished with the unending project of redoing my upstairs bathroom from the studs up. The only things that aren't new in that room are the tub itself, the ceiling, the door, and the window. And the window should technically be replaced as well, but we don't want to spend the money right now.

I don't mind a little spackle on the wall - it's not noticeable where it's at, since the phone is bigger than the jack it's hanging on. Not to mention we have to redo the kitchen anyway. It's on the project list.

We spent the evening relaxing with some dvds and our son. I find it amusing that he has next to no interest in watching TV, but he is fascinated when I'm checking up on webcomics and blogs at my computer. He'll sit in one of our laps and watch us play a computer game though... it's wild. I think it's because we have toys strewn across the living room floor, and he'd much rather play with them instead. His new thing is to pick up a toy, throw it, and then crawl over and get it to throw it again.

I'm continuously amazed by this little boy. I came out of the bedroom with a glass of water Saturday morning just after Brian had changed his diaper, and he lay waiting on the changing table, looking up at the brightly colored glass in my hand. It had about an inch of water left in the bottom, and it's sort of a double layered plastic mug, designed to stay cooler and not leave condensation everywhere. One of the remnants of my mother's kitchen.

The next thing I knew, I'd brought it over to a couple inches above his nose and looked down into the glass at him. He looked up at me and giggled as I moved back and forth between looking through the glass and looking at him away from the glass. Of course the glass isn't actually glass - it's more like pink plastic, but you can still see through. We were both fascinated for a couple of minutes like that.

I see him watching the cars and people pass in front of our house, his eyes bright and shining and alert. Sometimes, I can see the world through his eyes, and it's fresh and untainted. I hope I can keep it that way for him for a while. Now I understand why parents try to shelter their kids from the bad things in the world. I don't want to do that though. I want to know he'll be prepared too.

Man oh man... I'm worried about preparing him for the world and protecting his fascination with it and the kid's not even a year old yet.

Then again, we were discussing this stuff before the poor little guy was even a twinkle in my eye...

We keep pondering what this little representation of ourselves will grow to become one day...

Well, look out world! 'Cause here he comes...

Well, okay, not for a while yet, but sometimes he gets such a determined look on his face as he crawls across the floor, jutting his chin out. And I've also noticed he's not as keen on us helping him learn things, as he is with us showing him things. He wants to do things himself, and I see myself there. The kid's got my stubbornness... I have no idea how I'm going to counter that yet. I expect I'll get a crash course when we hit the infamous "terrible twos".

Ah, well. I'd better stop before I ramble on any further.

G'night!

Okay, first off - a

Okay, first off - a link *warning - there is nudity - sort of*: Erotic Name. Just type your name in and see what comes up. I typed in the whole alphabet just to see them all, and I've decided I like the "T" one the best. I don't remember where I got this link from though... oh well.

And then I found this over at beancounter daydreams...

Which Princess Bride Character are You?
this quiz was made by mysti

Heehee!

I've also recently added to DragonBytes, for anyone who might be interested in checking out what my convoluted mind dreampt up this time... literally. One of these days I have to go in and finish the bit on the first dream sequence I put in there, but I sense a potential in it and am still pondering it.

Oh, and if you wondered about the title of my post last night at 2:00 in the morning... um, well... I was busy last night, as I said. The kind of busy that a parental couple can only be after the little one is tucked safely into bed. The kind of busy that leaves one requiring recovery time the following day. The kind of busy where you're glad the windows were shut because then maybe the neighbors didn't hear the second half of "busy" as we were enjoying our "together time" rather loudly. I'm amazed I even found the energy to blog before I dropped into bed.

For a period of time last night, I forgot the world outside of our home. I forgot to feel overweight, or over 30 years old. For a period of time last night, I was sexy and vibrant and my husband and I were the only two people in the world.

mmmmm.

Since we've become parents, I've noticed the distinct decrease of available time and energy for such encounters.

DAMN, but we needed that!

Oh, and the "little balls of silver snot" are actually some sort of nose jewelry that my sister's boyfriend is wearing. Just to clarify. Although I still don't get it.

But maybe I'm not that old after all...

G'night!

Well, Brian was the only

Well, Brian was the only one to leave questions for me, so it's time to put down some answers...

What is the biggest fear you're ever overcome?

Well, first I wrote this:

I'd have to say my fear of water. I'm not necessarily totally over it, but I've taken great pains to learn enough swimming that I know I can at least float if I need to, or swim if I've got to. I prefer the backstroke though - I don't like getting water up my nose.

Getting into rickety little boats or deep pools of water still both require a quick courage check, but I don't let it stand in the way of going fishing or swimming when the season is right and the opportunity presents itself. And I actually had the best night's sleep ever in a hotel room where I could see the ocean through the windows from where I slept. That water lulled me into a wonderful sleep with it's rushing waves hitting the beach.

But then I realized that water is not really the biggest fear I've overcome. Marriage and now Motherhood is, although I'm still working on my fears of motherhood as I do it. I had always assumed that I would never find a man I would want to marry. I really doubted I could allow that kind of trust to happen between myself and a man. After watching my mother's example, I figured there was no chance I'd find a man who'd be willing to stick around through thick and thin, and love me no matter what... Fortunately, I was wrong. *happy blush*

Have you ever played a practical joke on anyone (if so, what was it)?

You know, I can't recall ever doing that myself. I'm a) too honest to pull it off with a straight face, and b) too worried that if I did play a practical joke on someone they wouldn't take it in the right spirit. I'm sure there have been some little "sillies" over the years, but no real practical jokes.

What do you have the hardest time forgiving?

I would say lying, but there is one that tops even that. I absolutely cannot stand it if someone asks me to choose between them and someone else. As a result, the person who asks is automatically the one that loses. I lost one of my best friends in high school after she asked me to choose between her and the man I'm now married to, as she felt betrayed because she'd had a falling out with her boyfriend who happened to be his best friend at the time. After she asked me that, I thought about how that made me feel and just stopped taking her calls. I never saw her again. I don't even know if she realizes why I stopped talking to her. My marriage proves to me that I made the right choice. Brian would never have asked me to stop being friends with her.

It is a Friday night.

It is a Friday night. And I'm busy. So I won't be blogging, even though I had plenty I planned to blog today.

Like my sister, coming by with her boyfriend, whom she refers to as "the boy". And the "twin balls of silver snot" coming out of his nose. But he was a nice-seeming guy... but I couldn't stop glancing at those twin balls, that looked like he had silver snot hanging out his nose... maybe I'm just getting too old to understand just how that could possibly be considered "cool"...

Whatever....

And I was going to answer the questions from the three questions meme.. but I've been busy... and Brian was the only one to leave any questions, the last time I checked...

So I'll blog tomorrow.

or, rather, today... since it already is tomorrow...

oy.

Time to sleep.

G'night!

The Ageless Project... This is

The Ageless Project...

This is something I found yesterday, but forgot to put in last night's post. I signed up, but am not necessarily listed as of yet, but am encouraging everyone to add their names to the list if they aren't already. It's an interesting picture of who encompasses the blogger community. The only thing it really ought to have is a bar chart or something to show us the statistics based on the people currently included. It would make for a great visual.

Camera Woes...

Damnit! I'm not going to get my camera for another week at the rate this crap is going! The guy I'm buying the camera from on ebay is refusing to ship. I was initially waiting on a transfer of funds from my bank to my PayPal account, which took a couple of days longer than I had anticipated. The amount transferred was more than enough to cover the camera I did win, as I was originally bidding on a camera that came with extra lenses and cost more, so I'd transferred enough to cover that bid, in case I won. This guy couldn't wait, so I did an echeck thingy through PayPal yesterday, which is technically another transfer (which I'm hoping my bank doesn't charge me a fee for), and not something I had wanted to do. Now the guy sends me an e-mail this morning saying he'll ship once the transfer is confirmed!

The last guy I did business with on ebay, refused to pay until I sent him a confirmation on the shipping! I sent him the tracking number and then he transferred the money into my account. The deal finished once he received the item, and we both left feedback for each other. On ebay, you ARE your feedback as far as I'm concerned, and if this guy doesn't get with the program pretty quick then he's going to be in for a big surprise when I don't give him a positive feedback. If he doesn't ship soon, I may see if I can cancel that money transfer and scrap the whole deal completely!

Not to mention, I still don't know if the camera will be what was advertised on the page - I sure as hell hope it's in good condition after all this rigamaroll !! I've been checking my PayPal account two or three times a day, hoping that transfer would come through, and told him that if it didn't by the end of Wednesday, I'd pay with my Mastercard - but PayPal didn't give me that option when I went to pay the invoice, it just wrote an echeck on me instead!

RAWR !!!! DRAGON WANT CAMERA NOW!!! DRAGON WANT TAKE MORE PICS OF HATCHLING WITH OWN CAMERA, NOT BORROWED CAMERA!!!

Okay... moving right along...

Take your kid to work day...

Today was "take your kid to work" day, but it's not like you can really take an 11.5 month-old kid to work with you, so Brian had to settle for me popping in around lunchtime with our son and stealing him away for some lunch. Much fun was had, showing off our little guy to all the co-workers. The poor kid looked like he was ready to climb into his daddy's shirt and hide after the 10th or so person came up close and talked to him and tugged at his sleeve or some other manner of personal introduction.

He's finally at that age where he's wary of new people and that office was teeming with them. It didn't help that the poor guy was ready for a nap. He conked out in the car on the way back home, so I drove an extra half an hour on a "scenic" route just so I wouldn't have to wake him up yet. He's such a good little boy, I just couldn't bear to interrupt his much-needed naptime. I found out that this one road does connect two other, more major, roads near me, and has really cool expensive houses to look at along the way, dropped in amidst some beautiful foresty trees. I saw one that made me *sigh*, it was so pretty.

And it got me away from...

Those damned cell-phone drivers...

Okay, you idiots! I drive the speed limit. Yeah, yeah, whatever - they were posted that way for a reason you moron - for YOUR SAFETY!! So, when you not only go zipping by at my speed +10 mph, but are chatting merrily with one hand keeping your goddamned cell phone glued to your big, fat, swollen head - I have to only assume you have a death wish.

Thus, I propose "open season" on the cell-phone-chatting-speeders on the roads near me. Don't kill them, just kill their cell phones and take away their driver's licenses please. PLEASE?????

I saw at least eight people on cell phones today, either tailgating me in my rearview mirror (all pissed that I wasn't driving a zillion miles per hour like they wanted), or zig-zagging their way around me as they maneuvered through traffic that apparently needed to go a zillion +5 mph to satisfy them. All of these people on cell phones are DISTRACTED FROM DRIVING !!!! I don't care how good a driver you are - that is just plain dangerous! Yes, I'm shouting at you! I have a small child - I do NOT want to be the one you KILL when you veer off because you didn't notice the guy in front of you stopping for the stoplight! If that call is so damned important - PULL THE FUCK OVER!!!!!

I so need to print myself a new "hang up and drive" bumper sticker. I had one on my last car, but haven't made one for this car yet. I even saw one woman, who was behind me, get off the call she was on and then dial someone else at the stoplight! I wanted to put it in park, get out, go take that cell phone from her and fling it, then get back in my car and drive off. It kind of reminded me of a story I once heard of a friend of my husband's who got out and picked up a cigarette butt, still glowing, off the pavement and tossed it back into the car of the guy who'd just flicked it out the window.

But, sadly, I don't have that kind of nerve. I just hope, when these people whack their proverbial trees (something my husband read about - I think in a Stuart Wilde book), they don't kill someone else with their car in the process.

Okay... getting off that soapbox now...

New fodder for the blogroll, and cool site for Earth Day...

Did some web browsing and blog reading today. Checked out the site that Father Jake sent me over to - This Is My Body, This Is My Blood, and her other blog Prose and Cons, both of which are wonderful, and a worthwhile read. So much so, I might even break my own, newly imposed, rule about not reading archives. As it is, I've already read the current front pages for both blogs... A teensy, miniature *rawr* over at Father Jake for giving me yet another reason I didn't get much done today... LOL!

Also, in blog reading today, I popped over to hey, monkey! who reminded me it was also Earth Day today. So happy Earth Day everyone - I hope you all remembered to recycle extra hard today, or bought stuff made from recycled products, or... I dunno... something. Technically, I blew it - using extra gas to drive all over the place to go to my husband's office and then the extra time getting back were not exactly "environment friendly".

I do try to be kind of picky about making sure stuff gets recycled in this house though, so that's something at least. Now that we live somewhere that has recycle pickup, I'm all recycle-happy, nagging my husband about every little scrap of paper or plastic he might accidentally toss in the garbage instead. I know he thinks it's some new anal-retentive obsession for me or something, but there's no real harm in it, so he just smiles and nods and breaks down the boxes so everything will fit nicely in the bins the way I like it. I feel all justified when the amount of stuff being recycled is overflowing the two big orange bins we have, and the half-filled trash bag sits there looking intimidated by it. Yay me!

Oops.. got sidetracked. Anyway, at hey, monkey!, there was a link today for Ghost Town, which I spent a good chunk of my afternoon reading/viewing after my son decided I was not going to get any work done right then as he absolutely had to be playing in my lap! It's and interesting piece done on Chernobyl and the surrounding area as it is today, with some reflection on what it was like then compared to photography of what it is like now. At first I wasn't sure about it, but it drew me in. It's definitely a worthwhile read, although I suppose it might reinforce some people's negativity towards nuclear power.

A thing that made me go hmmm...

So, it is still a "typo" if it's handwritten?

I wrote something down quickly today and put the wrong letter at the end of the word "mount", turning it into "mound" instead (and that's in the context of mounting a phone on the wall, nothing bad - so get your mind out of the gutter if it strayed that-a-ways). My husband noticed, and pointed out my "typo".

So what would it be? "Typo" indicates that I made an error whilst typing. So would an error made whilst writing be a "writo"? I hope not, as that's just silly.

hmmm.

And lastly, to nail the coffin shut...

In my browsing, I found the need to head over to cnn.com, my husband's second favorite site for gathering news tidbits (second only to the intranet news site at his work lately), where I saw a poll asking me to vote yes or no on whether the Pentagon should raise their ban on pictures being taken of caskets arriving from Iraq. Now, normally I don't post stuff related to news or politics - I generally don't want to go there - but this one intrigued me. Why would anyone want to take pictures of that? Morbid fascination? Yes, I do see how it could be looked at as a "somber moment in American history", but does that really get the point across? If you really want to show Americans what happens in war, show them the bodies! Oh, wait... that would be morbid, and horrible for the bereaved families... and yet, it's fine to show the pictures of bodies of "the enemy" on websites, magazines, and papers? How is this right?

Damnit, this war is about two things - Politics and Religion. It's the same war we've always been fighting, just in a new location. Until we can all learn to accept each other's differences, we will continue to fight it. The bodies don't matter. The caskets don't matter. It's all part of the experience. And it will continue to be until we don't require that experience any more. Until we, as a whole, can agree on even one simple thing we will continue to fight each other in one form or another.

Find me two people in the entire world who think exactly alike. Snowflakes. We're all just snowflakes in one big blizzard. Each of us searching for that one spot on the ground where we won't melt. And, even if we find it, we'll have to either share it or be crushed by the next flake to fall there.

Damnit... and I wasn't going to get into all that. Phooey. Anyway, the poll was referring to an article I found where someone was fired because she took a picture of some caskets awaiting shipment back to the united states.

"Silicio said she hoped the photo of the 20 flag-draped coffins awaiting transport from Kuwait to the United States would show the relatives of soldiers killed in Iraq that civilian and military crews return the remains of their loved ones with care and devotion." (from this article at cnn.com)

Now, in that context, I suppose I can understand her thinking. I recently read an article in a magazine written by one of the soldiers on the receiving end of those caskets, removing them from the plane and such. It was a well-written article, and he talked about how the whole operation just moved in unity and silence. They knew the importance of their job and had a proper respect for those they were there to care for - those who'd given their lives serving their country. I don't remember what magazine it was in, or who wrote it, but it imprinted on my mind. If there were any pictures with caskets in it, I don't recall. So if the accompanying article to Silicio's picture was half as well written, it shouldn't be a problem. But if it's just a picture to accompany a splash headline of "More soldiers dead!!", then I don't think it's necessary. It's just there for shock value. Hell, I think if some magazines were allowed to open up the coffins and take pictures of the dead lying inside them they would - and that's just callous. Which takes all the dignity out of the bravery these people showed for fighting for their country. Regardless of the cause, they did their duty and it cost them their lives. For God's (or however you want to put it) sake - let them rest already!

This is why I don't get into the political discussions - I'm too eager to understand both sides of the coin and then can't present a qualified argument for either side. And now my brain if fizzling out for tonight. And to think, last night I was saying that Pilgrim's Progress's posts were long! Pfffft! Don't get me started, I'll talk yer ear off! Or your eyeballs in this case...

G'night!

A few notes for today...

A few notes for today...

#1. I've decided I am no longer going to try and read the archives of every cool blogger I find. I just don't have that kind of time and I just don't read that fast! Even some of those people who've only been blogging since sometime late last year can be hard to wade through. Some I have already read, such as Belle de Jour (who seems very quiet as of late), Word Shadows (for whom I reserve my comment as of yet - he's still hedging at the corners of his life, waiting, so I'll wait too), sobering up on the red line (as she's from Chicago, it makes her closer to being in my world despite the fact that her "sexy city chick" attitude makes me look downright dowdy), and my husband's blog (well, duh).

There are others that I wish I had the time to sit down and properly read, but I've got to stop trying as I never get anything done... Pilgrim's Progress (who I made it to October of last year before I had to give in and just leave myself wondering about her archives as I started getting behind with just the current posts. She writes wonderful, but seriously long posts sometimes), bald rhetoric (who I find to be down to earth, but never replies to comments and hasn't got accessible archives anyway), little.red.boat (who I now idolize for her carefree way of just throwing something terrifically amusing out as if it was just "rubbish" - someone give that woman a book contract already!), to name just a few.

So, from now on I'll read from the point I discover them. And not everybody gets a daily read. Although all the webcomics do, but not all of them post every day which helps me keep up on them.

#2. This blog is mine. Over time I've gone from wondering what other people want to read, to not really giving a damn. Yes, this blog is turning out to be more of a diary - I did this today, I really hate that. If you don't like the way I write, don't read it. I am not superbly funny like Anna at little.red.boat, I cannot constantly weave words into fine silk like Keith at Word Shadows does, and I do not have the lurid tales to share as Belle de Jour does with such style. If you want that kind of writing, I've linked them here... twice... and they're on my blogroll.

If you want to see my "tale weaving" skills, then head to my DragonBytes blog, where I do fiction and poetry and such - hell, I even posted one there today. Or, you could follow Quick Shtick Writing, I'm every other post, and that one gets posted on daily as well. Last I checked, we had one person actually linking to our story, and since we haven't discussed how we want to handle any links we put into the sidebar there, I dropped a reciprocal link for them on my own blogroll here, instead. (by the way, thanks for linking us Cyclic Synchronicity - I check in on your blog now and again, but I just don't get some of the poker stuff. Love the spam poetry though!)

There. I've let the hair down a bit. This is my little spot to bitch and complain about whatever I want, or marvel at all the wondrousness of the world around me. I find myself worrying too much about what anyone who happens to come here thinks of what I'm writing... nope, not gonna worry anymore. Pffft. Too much energy in that - it sucks away time I could spend writing on DragonBytes instead.

#3. I will still try to post every day. But if I lose my DSL service for a week when I eventually change to a new provider, I'm not going to submit myself to the re-wiring nightmare just to plug in for a dial-up connection while it's out. Then again, I don't know that my - what four now maybe? - readers will actually miss me much... everyone's so quiet... hmph. *pout*

Then again, I may have scared off those four with this post anyway... *sigh*

Anyway, back to the usual "dear diary"-style stuff...

So, I'm still looking for an inexpensive DSL provider. If anyone can recommend one, drop me a comment or an e-mail. I won't be needing web hosting from them, as it looks like we'll probably be getting some web space over at CleverDot.com, where I've got my business site hosted. (LOL - all these links today and I didn't even link my own business site??? What's wrong with me?) Brian is looking at getting a proper domain name finally too - yay!! Then I don't have to tell people my domain name and then tell them to use the link to get to his... hehe.

Also, once I move over to a properly hosted server, I'll be able to use Movable Type, which will be cool. No offense to the blogger people, but there are options I want to have on my site that I just can't pull off with Blogger. It's been a great tool to get started on though. That means that this site will probably look the same when I move it, and then change over to a new design after I get MT up and running properly. And then, it's likely I'll fuss with it and change it more, but I'll take this one step at a time...

Oh fooey. I spent all this time rambling away and I never even got to the little story about the humping dogs! Oh well. No biggie. It was just the first time I'd actually seen that happen when it wasn't part of a television documentary. It caught me off guard a moment - and then I saw the one get off the other one, who looked as if she hadn't even noticed he'd been there in the first place. Sheesh. Remind me not to be a dog in my next life...

Well, on that note... I'm off.

G'night!

Okay, first off - what's

Okay, first off - what's with this freaked out weather? By my approximation we had a whole one day of spring, followed by one day of summer and now it's darn near winter again? Did we miss fall altogether or step backwards seasonally? I checked weather.com at one point today and it said it was 54 degrees in my area! Not to mention the fact that it "felt" like 54 degrees too. Then again, I think they're taking readouts at the airports which are usually windier and colder, but still I broke down and turned the heat back on!

Now, just two days ago I was having trouble sleeping from all the new noises I was hearing through my widely open windows. Some animal had a fight with a dog, some woman had a fight with her husband, and some wind chimes rattled away in the wind.

The wind chimes, mind you, have got to go! I've a mind to get out my wire clippers and start snipping them down in the dead of night. Wind chimes were fine and dandy when houses weren't built six feet away from one another... I hear at least two sets competing with each other - one to the north of me and one to the south. I have to turn on a loud fan just to drown them down a little so they don't drive me out of my skull...

Please people. Use wind chimes responsibly. If you can see into your neighbor's windows at a casual glance and know what colors some of their rooms are - you might be too close for wind chimes to be a respectful option.

And that's my service announcement for today, thank you...

Now, I know 54 degrees isn't intensely cold, but only a couple days ago I was too warm in a t-shirt and shorts! When, oh when will I get the opportunity to move off to someplace warm like Arizona without feeling guilty or putting us into serious debt?

*sigh*

I miss the desert.

Right now weather.com says we're having "light rain", but there's a thunderstorm warning scrolling across the top of the page that mentions parts of the county I live in. And yet, I hear no rain at the moment, although it has been raining all damned day.

*sigh*

Even the weather people can't figure it out. They shouldn't call Chicago the "Windy City" anymore - but the "Indecisive City" instead. Then again, I've never been into the city to not find it "windy", so nevermind.

Anyway...

On a positive note, I figured out how to do trackbacks today, so that I can ping the people who's posts I quote here. Blogger doesn't give me a handy-dandy way to do it when I post, but I found Wizbang Trackback in the process of looking up how to make it work, so those of us who can't use something cool like Movable Type can still ping our little hearts away! I dropped it into my blogroll for the moment. I've still got to pay blogrolling.com so I can separate the blogs from the web comics and other links.

I'm starting to notice that the blogs I like best for layout are all done on Movable Type, but I can't seem to figure out if I can use it with my current ISP or not. Bugger all that - one more reason to be looking for a new DSL provider, assuming they have web hosting in the package.

Well, that's all for today.

G'night!

Okay... this one seems to

Okay... this one seems to be traveling about, and far be it from me to stay off the bandwagon...

I stole this from The Mommy Blog, who in turn swiped it off of Simply Shylah who also got it through others and so on. I'm not sure if my trackback stuff works, but you can always use the permanent link thing to link back if you continue it forward:

I want everyone who reads this to ask me 3 questions, no more no less. Ask me anything you want. Then I want you to go to your journal, copy and paste this allowing your friends (including myself) to ask you anything. (Do a trackback ping thing so I know you copied it.)

I'll post answers in a separate post.

*edit note - links above weren't working, but they're fixed now*

And now,

Would you rather:
1. eat pickled herring with every meal for the next year OR eat just one live monkey's brain?
*gack* Um, I guess gimme the brain. I generally go for the one-shot-get-it-the-hell-over-with ones.
2. assuming they paid the same, clean up elephant poop at the circus for a living OR be a senator's aid?
There's a difference? If you say so... I guess I'll take the elephant. I can stop feeling dirty with just a shower after that one...
3. have every joint on your body be double-jointed OR be able to jump 6 feet straight up from standing?
I think jumping up 6 feet would actually be very handy - at least with all those top-shelf items at stores and such.
4. choke the very life out of a cute, little bunny rabbit OR sleep in a vat of maggots for a month? (thanks nicole)
Sorry bunny. Time to die. *shudder*

My son has started to

My son has started to stick his nose up at his dinners. It used to be that he'd learned to refuse anything served in a jar - and since quite a bit of his food so far has originated from either a jar, or a box or can of powder this was a problem. One easily circumvented, however, by dumping said jar into a bowl. This suddenly made the food seem that much better and now he'd eat it. Battle over, it was Mommy=1, Jareth=0.

The last two nights, however, he has begun refusing to eat his dinner. He will, however, happily eat anything that happens to come directly from one of our plates. We have been trying to feed him regular food, when it's suitable for him - i.e., when we're not eating junk, or something spicy, or something he isn't supposed to have (like spinach, nuts, and anything he won't be able to properly gum to death and swallow). Well, he certainly has noticed that the food on our plates is usually funner to eat than the stuff in that brightly-colored bowl he's getting spoonfuls out of. No matter how much I taste it and go "mmmmmm, yummy!" at him (and yes, some of it is actually pretty decent - usually kind of bland, but not at all bad) he still wants the stuff that came out of the pan mommy was stirring away at on the stove.

He clamps his mouth shut and scooches down in his high chair until he whines in discomfort, since he can't get back up out of the position once he's slid down like that. If I hadn't put straps onto the antique high chair I have, he'd slide right out under the tray and fall down to the floor. If I sit him back up and go get the spoon again, he immediately returns to the uncomfortable scooched down spot again.

*sigh*

After a combined effort between Brian and myself tonight, he did eat the bowl of food in the end (mostly from Brian doing it - once he came home from work I gave up completely and handed the task off to him before I blew a gasket or something). However, he somehow managed to find a whole lot of room in that little tummy of his for enchiladas flavored Hamburger Helper. I'd added some salsa to the mix as well. He was acting like he was still hungry and looking at me with that "me too?" look and making all those pitiful noises a small child who hasn't mastered words yet will make. I gave him a tiny little taste, figuring he'd scrunch up his nose at the spiciness of it and that would be the end of it. We got a cup of water handy, just in case he really complained.

He loved it. I probably gave him at least 1/10th of the large plate I had (missed lunch again - was starving!) before he finally stopped wanting more.

I've been building him up to this point for some time I guess - upping the consistency of the foods he'd been eating as we went along - but somehow it crept up on me. And yet - I still can't seem to get him to understand that he can put food in his mouth too!!!

If he picks it up - it's throwable. There are some things that are also edible, however food is apparently not one of them. Cheerios, Kix, Zwieback, and others are apparently all good projectiles to an 11-month-old. Unless mommy or daddy has it in their fingers - then it's food and the mouth opens up wiiiiiide!

Stuffed animals and silky-edged blankets, however, get stuffed straight into the mouth. So do some of the other toys.

*sigh*

Sometimes I just can't figure out what is going on behind those bright blue eyes of his... I suspect - much mischief...

Now mommy needs sleep for tomorrow's adventure. Whatever that may be...

G'night!

Today was quite a busy

Today was quite a busy day. Between the guys coming to put in the cleanout, the quick run to pick up developed pictures and then the sorting of the pictures for various people to get some of the double prints, my sister coming by to drop off some coveted cookies for me, and the Sunday dinner being at our house, it's just been hectic all day long. To top off all the chaos, my little boy broke a new tooth today and was miserable for most of the afternoon and evening as it worked itself the rest of the way through. The baby Oragel stuff doesn't seem to help much, but the baby Tylenol worked a little. Whenever he's teething he gets really needy - wants to be held all the time - I think he really is trying to have us distract him from the pain mostly. I do try. But, with all the goings-on he didn't get as much nap as he needed earlier in the day, so that can't have helped much either.

Naturally, my mother-in-law wanted to snuggle with him and fix it somehow, and I got frustrated at her as a result. When my son cries, my own "mommy instinct" kicks in and I generally have to do everything in my power not to snatch him out of the arms of anyone else who might be holding him at the time. It's not that I don't trust my mother-in-law to comfort him, it's just that I'm around him 24-7 and can read what he wants based on his body language and such - especially when I'm holding him. I'm not perfect at reading him, but I often get it right.

I ended up scooping him up, having Brian make up a bottle, and we snuggled up downstairs - away from all the people and distractions - while he drank his bottle and then worked on a teether for a while. I turned on some music on my computer to soothe him, hoping he'd fall asleep. I had also dosed the poor guy up with a little baby Tylenol too. Once that had a chance to kick in, we were able to put him down for a nap while I finished cooking the dinner and we ate.

It all worked out, but I was worried that I might have seemed a bit rude when I practically pushed my mother-in-law out of the way so I could get a look at my kid and try to read his face and know what was wrong. I did pass him back to her later in the evening for more snuggling, but not until after I'd fed him his regular dinner, as she's not as current with the "feeding a baby food off a metal spoon while his gum hurts badly" technique, and I wanted to be as gentle on the poor guy as possible while making sure he ate all his dinner. It was challenging enough for me to do that I wouldn't have wanted to hand off the task to anyone else but Brian, who also has recent experience with such things.

Since I was feeling somewhat grumpy (I think Jareth's moods wear into me the same way he reacts to my moods), I had a bit of a shortness about me when it came to being interrupted mid-conversation and such. I just hope that dinner was enjoyed at least half as much as it got compliments for, and that it wasn't all just people trying to be nice and cheer me up. I later made up some yummy milkshakes for everyone, since we were all a bit warm, and I know those went over well. But I was pleased that the Caribbean Pork Ribs seemed to go over well as I had made a couple changes on the recipe.

I don't have a bunch of "family favorites" recipes from my own family, so I'm attempting to try a whole bunch of new ones out to see if I can start some. I guess I can cook after all, but don't expect me to admit it face-to-face. Just because I did once find myself both barefoot and pregnant in my kitchen, doesn't mean I'm going to turn into the perfect housewife overnight. And the day I greet my husband at the door in heels, with dinner just finishing cooking and a martini in my hand for him is the day you need to start wondering what kind of weird drugs I've been taking, or who this evil twin is... Not that Brian would want a martini anyway. A snifter of fine brandy, perhaps... but a martini? Nope.

Well, anyway. That's today. Chaos and confusion and crying mostly. I think Jareth and I will spend most of tomorrow just snuggling and cuddling. Hopefully his tooth will be better in the morning.

G'night!

Mazda Rev It Up

So today we went to the Mazda Rev It Up 2004thingy here in Illinois. It was hot, a lot of standing in line in the sun, both Brian and I got some sunburn and needed naps by the time we got home...

And yet...

It was a blast!

We got there a bit early and scoped the place out a little while we waited for my sister-in-law to arrive with some friends of hers. Once we grouped up, we traveled about the place in a group of 5-7 depending on what time you might have seen us - a couple of her friends came at different times and ended up hooking up with us later. Everyone was fun, and friendly - both her friends (and her of course!) and the other people at the event.

Now, sometimes I have a problem with crowds - I'll end up feeling squished in, hugging my purse so I don't get robbed, and otherwise paranoid of all the other people invading my "personal space"...

This didn't happen today. Maybe it was the group of people I was with, maybe it was the overall mood of the people at the event, but I was able to relax and get caught up in the adrenaline rush that one gets when they drive a car like a maniac around a little zig-zaggy loop. Especially when the car has been set up for such an adventure, and you're being given tips on how best to do it. I learned some stuff about how to make fast turns and when to slow down and speed up while doing them. As the day progressed, I went from being "mom-car driver" to "wheeee! zoom!" and did improve my score on the timed course by almost 3 seconds. I started out the slowest in the group of us, unable to let loose from my usually careful and leisurely driving - when you spent a year traveling the country in a motor home, you don't worry about how fast you are driving, you worry more about if you can actually make it up the hill! Hehe!

But, by the end of the day I felt like I could hold my head up as a respectable first-timer, instead of slouching off in shame. And, the goal I set for myself in the very beginning was to avoid hitting any of the course cones, and I succeeded in that, so I'm feeling pretty good. And I just got more and more "stoked" with adrenaline at each drive - there were skill courses to teach you stuff, which we did all three of them once each, and then we got two timed runs on the course in competition where our best time was recorded and also printed on a certificate for us. I won't be winning any of the stuff they have for top scorers or anything, but I think I can still hold my head up.

On the drive home we were still coming down from the adrenaline rush, so I had to concentrate to not drive like we'd just been doing on the courses. We stopped to cool down with some ice cream before heading home. We were crashing and ready for a nap once we reached our house, and fortunately our son was also badly in need of a nap - he was only just starting to fall asleep on his grandma when we arrived - so we tucked him into his playpen with his blankey and then cashed out for a nap ourselves.

This evening we played some of this game, GunBound, that I recently heard about over at the Catharsis forum. We hooked up with one of the other forum members and learned the game better (while usually getting our virtual asses handed to us by the "pros" - lol) while having some more fun. We ended up playing more than expected as I can play one-handed if I need to, although my son got a kick out of watching that one on my screen. I just had to keep little hands away from the keyboard! I'm wondering how long it will be before I have to set him up his own little station on our lan... This kid may not know how to pick up food and put it in his own darn mouth yet, but he's got a keen eye for which "toys" mommy and daddy like best. I may have to password protect my screensaver sooner than expected!

Well, anyway, I think I'm going to try to pack it in early tonight - I've got plumbers, in-laws, and my sister all coming at varying times tomorrow. My sister's got cookies from my favorite bakery though - mmmmmm!!! I'm trying a Caribbean Pork Ribs recipe in the crock pot for Sunday dinner - looks yummy! And, tomorrow we get a sewer cleanout put in so we can flush with confidence again! Ooooh!

There ought to be plenty to blog off all that!

G'night!!

*Glee!* I won! Soon to

*Glee!*

I won!

Soon to be my new camera!

I just hope it's all the description says it will be!

Wheee!

Tomorrow, I do this: Mazda

Tomorrow, I do this: Mazda Rev It Up 2004. Hmmm. For $40, I get some instruction on how a car "handles", I believe, and then some practice, and then some competition. I've been trying to learn a little more about this kind of thing, as my sister-in-law has gotten into it and sent over links so we could know what she's been excited about lately. When this event got brought up, it looked like a good opportunity to find out firsthand, get some interesting car knowledge, and see if it was something we could get into too. And not risk our own vehicles trying. Heh. It sounds like all-around fun, despite the fact that I am as un-car-geek as they come. I do enjoy the occasional vvvvrrroooom!, but I have that guilty look afterwards that gives me away as someone who doesn't dare very often.

Jareth, on the other hand, gets a whole lot of time with his Grandma, who's coming to our house to watch him, as all the "stuff" is here. Which does make it a whole lot easier than bringing half his stuff over there for the day. And, it means he won't have to spend the day in disposable diapers - yay! Good for the environment and his little bottom!

There's only one item left on my list from last weekend - ways you know you're a "mommy" now and/or an "adult"...

I think I'll just start a list of them, and see how far it eventually gets. Not all in this post, mind you. Just a couple here and a couple there... Oh, and I'm changing "adult" to "grown-up". There's a difference. So here's the first couple.

1. You know you're a "mommy" when you start referring to yourself as "mommy" and often in the third person. i.e. - I should get this cereal for mommy, or Ooh! Mommy's towel!

2. You know you're a "grown-up" when you start deciding which furniture is safe to have sex on based on it's cost, durability and whether or not it's been scotch-guarded.

Okay, that's the list so far. You'll get more as they occur.

Well then, what else? Oh yeah...

I lost the bid on the camera to someone else, but I've another bid on another camera that also ends tonight, so we'll see what happens. Easy come, easy go. I've lost nothing by just bidding, so I really can't complain - it wasn't the only camera in the world, it just had what my father-in-law called "sex appeal". Heh.

And the plumbing is still not fixed. We're having a cleanout put in on Sunday, and then they can clean us out right and proper. Our pipes that is... the ones under our front lawn... Just wanted to clarify that.

Well, I'm off to watch the bidding and wind down with some solitaire...

G'night!

So much to blog, so little time (part 3)...

- upcoming plans made for Mother's Day/Jareth's first Birthday combo bbq - dinner, my birthday, and flowers - candle obsessions - ways you know you're a "mommy" now and/or an "adult"

Of course, before I begin on this list again, I have to rant about the plumbers first...

You see, last Saturday we paid $125 for two men to come and take the toilet out, rod out the pipe, and then put the toilet back in again. We don't have a cleanout, so they a) can't rod it out with the big machine, and b) have to take the toilet out. Naturally, they quoted us on getting a cleanout put in, and left after the pipes were draining again.

Today, I ran a load of laundry.

After running said load of laundry, I found a large puddle encompassing the bathroom and laundry room off my downstairs family room (finished basement - sort of). And an unhappy cat who'd found a large puddle between her and her food and litter box which reside in that bathroom.

Naturally, I called in reinforcements - I mopped the mess and phoned for my husband to come rescue me. I don't deal well with puddles. I always envision the worst. He came home and determined that it was stopped up again. He called the plumbers.

Then he tried calling them again.

And again.

And then at another office number.

And another.

Nobody answered any of their phones!!!

I should be worried.

I am.

So now we have a different plumber coming out tomorrow, whom we will have to pay as well. And this plumber will do the exact same thing the others did (although hopefully much better) for probably more money than we've already paid to the first plumbers!

Is this "Let's screw Amy and Brian over month?"

Because if it is, someone could have at least warned me. It's always gotta be April, doesn't it? Did I ever mention that our motorhome engine went kaput for the last time while we owned it in an April. That was the end of those journeys, as we had to borrow money to have a new engine put into it, 'cause Ford screwed us on the warranty.

Anyway...

Now then, where was I?

Ahh, yes - upcoming plans made for Mother's Day/Jareth's first Birthday combo bbq...

So, Jareth's birthday is May 6th. It will be his very first one, and his grandmother is very disappointed she won't get to see him on his actual birthday, which is a Thursday. I promised I'd take pictures and possibly videotape the first little cake. And then, on the Sunday after, the 9th, it's Mother's Day. So, we're having the "shindig" at our place. I figure we'll barbecue, weather permitting, and eat outside so that washing up will be easier afterwards - hose the kid down, right? Don't worry, I'm kidding. But it will leave less mess if done outside than having cake all over my kitchen floor. I can hose down the patio afterwards, and the squirrels and birds can feast on the remains.

My sister got to inviting my best friend before I had a chance, but she's not going to be able to make it. Relatives would be invited, naturally. But who all gets invited to kid's birthday parties? I mean he's only going to be one, it's not like he's made any best "buds" yet. I'll have to confer with my mother-in-law. There is someone I'd like to invite, who's got a little boy near my son's age. I'm starting to think I'd better buy some invitations... Oh man, now the hard parts of being a mommy come into play...

Dinner, my birthday, and flowers...

The day after Easter. My actual birthday. Started out pretty much like any ordinary day. I ended up opening the gifts from my husband the night before - he got me some music, one from my list - Varekai, and another that wasn't - a 2-disc set of Glenn Miller music (which I can't link, as it's not listed at Amazon.com).

Normally, he's not big on the big band music or the classic musical soundtracks like "The Sound of Music" or "The King and I". He just doesn't "get" it, although I've made him sit through some of it in our cultural exchange. There was a really good movie I once saw depicting Glenn Miller's life that I'll have to remember when we do the next one. The cultural exchange usually means him making me watch either a) a comedy I just don't get, or b) something nasty - last time it was the original "The Shining" *shudder*, and I make him watch some old classic film with Audrey Hepburn or Cary Grant or a musical. It usually makes for some interesting contrast and conversation now and again when we've exhausted the new releases that appeal to us.

So, for him to choose to buy me something he is unlikely to enjoy, was very sweet. Although I loved how he slipped in that I might enjoy playing Glenn Miller during the day. You know, while he's away at work? LOL! What he may not realize is that he's given me the perfect music to learn to dance on. And one of these days we need to nail the basic "box step" so we can stop embarrassing ourselves at weddings and such. heehee.

So, I woke up late on Monday, but didn't allow myself to feel guilty. My son wasn't unhappy about it, and it was my birthday, after all. After breakfast, Jareth and I snuggled up in my computer chair and browsed the web some in between tickles and giggles and singing and other such fun things we like to do in mommy's chair. Sometimes it's him sleeping - that's always so "awwwwww."

We lost track of time and were still hanging out when Brian came home early from work, with a single red rose tucked in a sprig of baby's breath. I already knew we were headed out for dinner, so I changed clothes and threw on some makeup. We headed out, back to my hometown of Glen Ellyn, where we went to one of my all-time favorite burger joints - Alfie's Inn. The best burgers evah!! Yum, usual order - Alfie's Cheesburger, medium-rare, with grilled onions and Swiss, and a side of barbecue sauce. My son got his first tastes of both burger and French fries that night. We shared with him, although most of his meal consisted of a jarred food I brought with, as I didn't know how well the burger would go over. He seems to get a kick out of eating stuff he sees come directly off our plates though. I think he knows that if mommy's eating it too, it must be good. Sometimes I'll take the first spoonful out of his food and eat it, just to prove to him that it's yummy.

After that, we came home and settled in again. Relaxed in front of our computers until Jareth's bedtime. I lit up the candles I have on and around my desk, which fascinated my son. We tucked him into bed, and then... errr... cuddled. That's it, yeah - we cuddled. Energetically. *grin* 'nuff said.

Candle obsessions...

After Brian went to bed, then I was left to do my blogging and wind-down thing with my brightly burning candles. I've got two of them that I'm "feeding" carefully to see if I can keep them burning without wasting a bunch of the candle. This is a hobby my mother-in-law picked up, the "art of candle efficiency" so to speak. I'm not immune to such endeavors myself, although I just love playing in the hot wax and with the fire. I'm always careful with my candles, but I'm a pyro at heart. I love to watch things burn. The life and energy in a flame just draw me in.

Oh dear. Now I've just envisioned myself as a giant moth with my head stuck on it like some bad photoshop project. Only, instead of heading to the flame I went *smack* into a window.

Well, there goes the romance of the moment. *poof*

One more left on the list yet, but I'm stopping here for tonight. After all, we've got a plumber coming in the morning, a thing to go to on Saturday, and the dinner is at our place on Sunday. And I've got to figure out what I'm cooking on Sunday and do the shopping sometime tomorrow too. So I'd better get some sleep tonight.

Oooh... and an e-bay auction ending tomorrow too. Will I win or not, I wonder?

Wish me luck folks...

G'night!

So much to blog, So little time (part 2)...

Things still left from the previous list are:

- music and movies (and planned activities for "Talk Like a Pirate Day" on Sept. 19th)
- my "dreaming" drive
- my horrific dreams as of late
- cameras - woes and wishes
- my realization of my own learning capabilities
- upcoming plans made for Mother's Day/Jareth's first Birthday combo bbq
- dinner, my birthday, and flowers
- candle obsessions
- ways you know you're a "mommy" now and/or an "adult"

Ahh, music and movies...

The dvds I received from people were "The Lion King", which is one of the few Disney movies I had on my list that I haven't actually seen yet. I have plans to curl up with my husband and son at some point soon. I love collecting the Disney stuff, although some of the more recent stuff doesn't necessarily intrigue me as much. I also received "Cutthroat Island", which prompted new plans for September 19th of this year which just happens to be falling on a Sunday!! We're making sure dinner is at our place for that one, and planning to start early for a back to back pirate movie day with that one and "Pirates of the Caribbean". If you don't know why we'd want to do that, then you need to visit www.talklikeapirate.com afore I make ye walk that there plank. Arrrr.

My "dreaming" drive...

Not to sound all matrix-y, but have you ever had one of those moments when you don't feel as if what is going on around you is real? I had one of those while I was driving out to my in-laws' for Easter. I sat in the car, driving along, my son playing quietly in his carseat in the back, and I felt like it wasn't really me.

For me, this just reinforces the belief that not all of what I am is here in this "moment" with me. I was disconnected from myself and what I was doing, and it felt as if I was dreaming it - I've had dreams feel that real. It also reinforces the idea that dreams are views into the other "lives" I have lived/am living/will live. Of course that makes the next bit a little scarier. heh.

Horrific dreams as of late...

I've been having "horror movie" dreams lately. Evil warlocks casting spells that turn them into lightning and then into demon dogs that can only be killed with silver... Awaking from a mastectomy surgery and looking in the mirror at my lopsided bosom... An orphan girl looting shops during a world war/apocalyptic bad thing happened type scenario, and then narrowly escaping an astutely religious innkeeper and her cannibalistic friend... And the innkeeper chose to cook that cannibal and serve parts of him to the people looking for the orphan girl...

They get a little worse, but I don't feel like trying to really describe some of the more gruesome bits, like some guy pulling a child's leg out of the dead leg of the cannibal... it got really icky. And those dog