DragonBlog

I Spy, With My Little Guy...

Today we checked out some of Spring Brook Nature Center in Itasca. It was one of the field trips for the summer camp thing that we've been doing this summer on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. It didn't seem like Jareth would be old enough for the "program", but we headed over to see if we couldn't hook up with anyone else who came with younger kids, and maybe do the picnic lunch with the group. It seems that everyone else that came did the program so we ended up never hooking up with them anyway. In the end I was kinda tired and hot so we bailed before lunch after checking out one of the trails, heading home with intent on enjoying our air conditioning instead. It was nice enough on our patio, however, so we lunched out back and Jareth played while I brought some of my beads and hemp out and did some work on more jewelry.aston key crack

By the way, here's a pic I took of the swingset:

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I have to say that some things struck me about the Nature park and reminded me of some things I saw on our travels across the country when we spent a year living in a motorhome... Nature, for one, has been roped off for our viewing pleasure. And yet, I see so many instances where it is attempting to reclaim the land - plants popping up through cracks in the pavement (or alongside wooden beams holding the picnic shelter up in today's case). While the Nature Center was pretty, it also felt manicured. Long grasses stopped in long curved lines where the mower didn't mow. Wooden beams were lining a wood-chip-lined trail to guide you in the right direction, or entire walkways with fenced-in sides were built to keep you from every setting foot on the ground at all.aston key crack

There was sometimes something very unnatural about the way we were seeing nature. And I've seen it countless times across the country, where fences, ropes, and even walls have been erected to keep the general public from actually getting to get close to nature.aston key crack

It saddens me greatly to know that so many people have been disrespectful to make this necessary. And that others are so selfish that they want their "nature" served up to them on a nice, tidy platter with a side of fries and a wet towelette.aston key crack

Thus, I present the future as it seems to be headed:aston key crack

"Step right up folks! Our first item on the tour, and a very special exhibit, we have here a MAPLE TREE! Once falling into extinction due to subdivisions and tacky townhouse developments where landscapers thought 'exotic' was the only way to go, this tree was found as just a small sapling and brought here to the safety of our little arboretum so that everyone could still have a chance to see one. We are tediously working to make sure that more maple trees can be grown as a result of this one. Please don't try to touch it kids - that second fence beyond the faux wood one you're leaning on is electrified and we wouldn't want anyone getting hurt. And next folks, if you'll step down the walkway just a bit, you can see the once-mighty OAK..."

*sigh*aston key crack

You never know. I could happen one day.aston key crack

Somehow, on the trip back from the place, the buildings I passed all resonated towards me with this hollowness to them. The gleaming windows, hard concrete and steel beams were all just hollow.aston key crack

I did take pictures today, both at the Nature Center and later at home. Instead of a photo album thingy or massive picture lag on this page, I threw together another collage, including a pic off the hemp jewelry I made for my friend RainMoon. I got to give it to her when she came and hung out this evening, after which we slipped away for some coffee for a bit. aston key crack

The collage can be seen by clicking on the thumbnail of it here:aston key crack

We saw lots of bugs. And flowers. And long, tall prairie grasses that ripple as the wind flows across them. And not the guy with the bucket who worked there and kept inadvertantly managing to walk right out into my shot just before I went to snap the picture. No pictures of him. Just my kid. Because there's always pictures of my kid. *grin*aston key crack

Enjoy, and G'night!aston key crack

Current Mood: melancholy aston key crack

If Found, Please Call...

I have lost my brain. If found, please leave very precise directions in easy-to-read layman's terms in the comments for this post. Although it is very likely I have hammered, ratcheted, or otherwise inadvertantly built it into the swing set. There is also the possibility that my brain isn't lost at all, I may have just finally USED IT UP. *blink-blink*aston key crack

Jareth was feeling better this morning, and we had already cancelled our plans for the morning (and promptly overslept as a result too) we headed out into the back yard and built the swing set. I rigged up a mister off the hose that I had bought sometime last year and never had the chance to use yet. Even with the wind occasionally blowing the cool mist at me, and the bottles and bottles of cool water I poured down my throat, I left lots of drippy-sweaty water spots on the instructions as I agonized over them. Most of it wasn't as bad as I'd feared, although four of the screws they sent could have been shorter. I found a way around that though, with bits I chose not to use elsewhere or that were extra. They sent two extra screws for the slide that fit what I needed elsewhere perfectly, and there were washers I didn't use on one spot that I was able to use with the two other, longer, screws. Everything is tightly fastened together and swingy-slidey now. I will get a picture of it at some other time. When I have energy again. Which may mean NEVER.aston key crack

Oof. Tired.aston key crack

The asprin has been taken, the victory beer has been opened (more brain cells go bye-bye in the swishy-foamy beeeeeeerrr), and dinner has been consumed. It may not be long before I crawl under the sheets tonight...aston key crack

Perhaps my brain will find me while I am asleep, and leak back in through an ear. I hope so, or I will still feel like an exhausted, mumbling idiot tomorrow.aston key crack

G'night!aston key crack

Current Mood: tired aston key crack

Introducing The All New Kid Car Spy Cam!!!

Upon further investigation, Jareth has decided that his toy car can also function as a camera to take "pitchers" with...

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G'night!aston key crack

Current Mood: amused aston key crack

The Sick and The Superball...

My little guy is sick today. He has spent about half the day sitting in my lap with his face in my chest or shoulder and his little arms thrown around me in unhappy despair. He's had sudden bouts of nearly unconsolable crying. He is certainly not well, no matter WHAT the darn thermometer says. The baby Tylenol didn't cut it today either, we needed some of the more serious cold/flu stuff to cut through the ickiness.aston key crack

He's feeling a bit better now. A while ago he asked to go "down" off my lap and played for a while. Then he followed me upstairs while I went to cook dinner, since it's a cold pasta salad that would need some chilling time before actually being served. In the kitchen he had a fun time following me around as I plucked up ingredients out of the fridge. He named the ones he knew, like "carrots" and repeated after me when I gave him names of things like "onion" and "green pepper" as I chopped them up into itty-bitty bits.aston key crack

He also discovered the wonderful combination of "superball" and "kitchen floor". Since most of our house is carpeted, especially the family room, he hasn't really realized what's so "super" about the "superball". Until today. When he learned what "bounce" really means.aston key crack

Oh man, but that little laugh is contagious! How could I make him stop playing ball in the house when he was giggling gleefully as he bounced it across the kitchen floor or down the stairs to the family room when he'd been feeling so miserable only an hour or so before?aston key crack

I couldn't. Nope. I was too busy giggling along myself. *whistles innocently* What? MY house, MY rules... *grin*aston key crack

Then I took that test-taste of the salad before putting it into the fridge. Which he happened to catch and wanted to be a part of. Last night this kid was shaking because he hadn't been eating enough yesterday from not feeling good, and I hadn't gotten him to eat a whole hell of a lot today. Thus when he got his "taste" and wanted more...aston key crack

I'm sitting here at my computer with a bowl of it for him, feeding him mouthfuls upon request. Hey - he's eating. He must be feeling better, and at least it's pretty close to dinnertime too. I'll have to remember to give him more medicine before bed though, and let him get a good night's sleep in. Poor little kid.aston key crack

Current Mood: sympathetic (for my little guy)aston key crack

The "Other" Store...

I was at the corner where my local grocery store is today, and as I crossed the intersection I changed my mind about stopping and kept on driving. The televisions in the checkout aisle are bad enough, but last time I caught Jareth watching the big flatscreen television in the produce department and I'd had enough. I finally went to the big Woodman's grocery store that has been looming further out there, awaiting its chance to intimidate me with its enormous size.aston key crack

From the outside, it's one scary place. The darn thing has FOUR MAIN ENTRANCES into it for goodness sake! FOUR! Most grocery stores have two ways to get into their ONE main entrance. After further examination, however, it seems that one of those entrances into the Woodman's is, in fact, to the liquor section directly. I think it's kind of a separate entity. I dunno for sure though, as I didn't need to buy any liquor today. Nope, we're pleasantly stocked on that right now... *looks over at the mini-fridge, feeling tempted*aston key crack

On first stepping into the store, it seemed HUGE. Big, honking grocery store. Now generally my experience with big, honking grocery stores has led me to believe that there will be a limited selection of brands to choose from for each item and that you will have to buy a bazillion of each just to get the one you need at a decent price. Fortunately, this store is not about bulk shopping. In fact, the produce prices were better than I've seen in a while, which was nice. There was an aisle where you could buy industrial jugs of mayonaise, but it was marked as "industrial" and there was regular mayonaise jars to be had elsewhere. This was good. Very, very good. I don't have room for industrial-sized mayonaise, much less the need.aston key crack

I think I liked this store. I think I saw signs saying it was "employee owned" too, which suggests a few things in and of itself. The fact that they gave me paper bags for most of my stuff without my even having to consider asking was a nice touch in this over-plasticked instant-gratification-no-matter-what-the-cost society. Paper bags are more environmentally responsible. They are also, technically, more useful in my opinion. And they fold flat. Very cool. There were plastic bags available and those were used in the case of a few unweildy items (like some of the bigger fruits I picked up) instead of the paper.aston key crack

And, oh-my-insertdietyhere, they actually knew how to BAG.aston key crack

Woah. *cue Matrix music*aston key crack

Considering that Jareth is coming down with something and wanted to be anywhere but the cart for most of the shopping trip, I actually came out of there not totally frazzled. And I didn't have to be bombarded with televised marketing while I shopped or waited to check out. The only catch so far seems to be the extra 10 - 15 minutes to drive there, which will go down some when a particular area of road construction finishes up.aston key crack

Hmmm. I think I can live with that. Now I'll just have to deal with RainMoon and my mother-in-law being all "I told you so..." about checking that store out in the first place. Doh!aston key crack

G'night!aston key crack

Current Mood: hopeful aston key crack

The Rest Day & The Rain...

Well, it wasn't entirely a rest day after all, but pretty close. I'd gotten wind of a potential sandbox with cover at a garage sale, and since I want one of those for Jareth at some point we headed over to see if the thing was still there. It wasn't, but we did pick up a couple other items for him. The kid's clothes that they had out was all for girls, but some of the toys were univeral. We were able to pick up a few little vehicles, one of those wooden marble on thick twisty wires puzzle things, and a small tube thing where beads fall through holes. He's technically a little old for the last one, but it makes a nice noise when he shakes it and he kind of latched on to it. It was only a quarter, so hey...aston key crack

We also took the money we'd gotten from returning the stuff to repair the freecycle swing set we'd gotten, along with some other money we'd stashed aside for a garage sale day we never did, and picked up this swing set at the Toys R Us today. We strapped the box for that sucker onto the roof of my car and took the back roads home. Even going 30 mph the straps were making this buzzing noise as we drove, which Jareth mimicked from the back seat.aston key crack

We didn't assemble it yet, as it was supposed to be a "rest day". We'll either get it up one of these evenings or next weekend, unless I brave the heat and try to do it myself. It wouldn't be unheard of, as I assembled the home gym we got a couple years ago and survived. The stuff on amazon.com on this swing set says that the directions suck, however, so I might wait until I have someone else to help me watch Jareth while I hunker down and figure it all out. I think I have a general idea of how it's supposed to be put together, so it will probably just be a matter of reading to find out which bolts fit where. We'll see.aston key crack

So we tucked the box out of the weather some on the patio and headed back into our air conditioning as it was sweltering out there. We relaxed for a while and took showers to cool off. I got to take Jareth in with me today and although he didn't like it at first, he didn't want to stop playing in the water by the time we were done.aston key crack

Later in the day, it stormed for a while, which brought the temperature down about 20 degrees. I watched it, remembering how hot it had been, and finally couldn't help myself. I threw on some clothes from the laundry basket (since it wouldn't matter if they got soaked by that point) and ran out to play in it. Eventually, Brian caved in too and stripped Jareth down to just a diaper and they came out and joined me. It took a while before Jareth was willing to come out into the rain, but since we have a covered patio, he was able to stand in there and stick his hands out into the drips running off the roof of it. After a while, we finally managed to coax him to come out onto the grass and into the rain with us. He had great fun helping me collect up sticks in the grass and put them in a pile with the one branch that had come down in the wind a little earlier.aston key crack

There's something about getting wet in the rain that affects one's skin. I've noticed that it's like my skin feels healthier, hydrated and softer after I've come in from playing out in the rain. Interesting. It's like nature creates the best possible means for cleansing you. I felt cleaner and better after coming in and drying the rain off than I had just after stepping out of the shower a couple hours earlier. I think Jareth noticed too, as he kept rubbing his legs and touching his hands with his fingers and having that thoughtful expression on his face. He is really learning "concepts" right now and trying to put words to them. And he's starting to put more and more two and three word sentences together all of a sudden. It is so amazing to watch him learning. And I loved getting to show him about the rain today! What fun! I wished later that I had thought to take pictures, but then I was so busy enjoying the moment. Oh well. Maybe next time!aston key crack

Later, for the second night in a row, he picked me for snuggling up with his nighttime bottle. Oh wow... It seems like it's been so long since I really got to hold him and give him a bottle, except for the occasional night when Brian is out. I felt bad for Brian, as he's had the nighttime bottle for a long time now, but then Jareth stopped taking the morning one quite some time ago, so I haven't been getting that particular kind of snuggles in a while. There was just something about it tonight that felt so special to me too. I literally wept a couple of tears I was so in love with my little boy.aston key crack

Okay, I'll stop gushing over my kid now. Which means I gotta stop writing on the blog for tonight then. But no promises that I won't gush over him more tomorrow...aston key crack

G'night!aston key crack

Current Mood: loved (and totally smitten too!) aston key crack

Shadowrunning...

I'd mentioned last week that I'd talk about the roleplaying thing another time. Mostly because I had other stuff going on to talk about instead. Today, however, we had another session. I also mentioned last night that I'd been finishing up a character, which I hadn't explained...aston key crack

The last character I had made for the campaign Brian is running for our group, was an ex-corporate exec in a futuristic setting where the corporations have kind of taken over and where the world has "awakened" so that magic exists and people have mutated or been born as elves, trolls, dwarves, orcs, and other "metahumans". There are still humans too though, and my characters for this campaign have been human.aston key crack

The first character had gotten a clue that maybe being a "corp" person wasn't quite the moral thing she had wanted to believe it was when a friend of hers got in the line of fire and died. Someone tipped her off that the same corp she worked for had been the ones to send in the people in the first place. She did some digging, which confirmed the fact, but was about to be found out. In fear of her life, she faked her own death and fled the city she'd always called home, heading to Seattle to start a new life in the shadows. She'd been in charge of selling and installing corporate security systems for a major security company. Now, she was helping defeat those very same systems with the people she had worked so hard to foil for the bulk of her career.aston key crack

She was not adjusting well. And, in fact, was not getting along with those people she had been up against while she was corp. She still had the wrong mentality and didn't get along with anyone else in the party!aston key crack

Bah. That's no fun. Time to make a new character. Especially after one of the other charcters pretty much made it clear that he had no reason to ever ask my character to work on a job with him again. Because she was a haughty corporate bitch!aston key crack

Boy did she just not turn out like I had hoped her to!aston key crack

Every now and again a character will do that to me. Where they seem perfectly fine on paper, but when they actually start to speak and interact with others they are not the person I expected them to be. This gal, Kayla, was one of them.aston key crack

So, for this week's session, I made a new character. I now have Vika, who likes guns. She's got some experience with unarmed combat and knives as well, but mostly she likes to shoot or blow shit up. She gets along with the group great! She gets a rush out of making things go boom and yet she's got some interesting character background going on that will give her some roleplaying dynamic, hopefully, for the downtime too. If the others find out about it, that is. We shall see. By the end of the session tonight, one of her little secrets had already come out. We'll see how long she manages to keep the others...aston key crack

It's so much fun to slip into another character's persona sometimes. To just kick back and pretend. I love my imagination. It gives me a break from the "real world" for just a little while and I can forget about all the errands and other crap I have on my schedule. I do keep myself somewhat in this world now so that I can keep Jareth out of trouble while we play the game, and play with him some in the process. He enjoys having extra people around, and "sharing" his toys. He also has this new game of crawling into my chair when I get up for any reason, and getting tickled and hugged before I evict him again so I can sit down. And he's absolutely fascinated by the dice we have. So much so that a while back I got him some oversized plastic ones of his own from a quarter machine at the grocery store so that he'd have some to roll too.aston key crack

So today was a fun day. Tomorrow is a "rest day". Hopefully. We'll see how it goes.aston key crack

G'night!aston key crack

Current Mood: pleased aston key crack

The Rest Day, or How I Did Not Rest At All...

Today was supposed to be the "rest day". Admittedly, I did stay in bed until 10:30 am, although only because I stubbornly refused to get up at 7:00 am as my alarm tried to play some radio station that had drifted some and was seriously staticky. I had forgotten to reset the alarm for a later time to let myself sleep in, and then had trouble falling back asleep after the alarm went off! I kept drifting towards sleep and then waking back up again before I finally conked back out around 8:30 am. Annoying. Totally.aston key crack

Jareth, in his totally mommy fashion, looked just as thrilled to get out of bed as I felt, even though moments before I went in to get him he was standing at the side of his crib calling "moooooommmmmmmyyyyyyyy" whilst I tried to pee. This is a new morning ritual on the mornings we don't get up early for camp. He hears me enter the bathroom and calls me. Then I sit on the toilet peeing and call back "Jaaaaaaarrrreeeettthhhhhh" and he giggles before we begin again.aston key crack

But then, when I actually finish up in the bathroom and go into his room, the little stinker lays back down in his crib and grabs up his blanket and says "no. no-no... no." to me when I come in to get him. He then proceeds to pretend he's "tired" while wriggling his legs and feet at me something furious. I don't know where he picked this up, since I've always gone in there all but singing "good morning sunshine!" to him (I do say it in a sing-songy voice though - too much Mary-freakin'-Poppins as a kid I think!). And yet, somehow, he reminds me exactly of myself in the mornings. I guess there is something to that hereditary thing after all.aston key crack

Today was supposed to have been a rest day. Oh, wait, I said that already. Yeah. Except I spent my "rest day" running to the hardware store to return all the crap I'd bought for the rusty swingset, running to the toy store to make sure they carry new swing sets for when the checkbook says we can go get one, assembling the wheelbarrow I bought yesterday at the hardware store, filling and running the dishwasher, putting away the clean dishes, and finishing up a character for tomorrow's roleplay session. Oh, and catching up on some e-mail too.aston key crack

All that around the usual diapers, meals, and making sure my kid got at least some of my attention. I think the only restful point I really had was when a friend of mine stopped briefly in to refill her water since her drive home was going to be long and she was in the area. She and I stood around in the kitchen chatting for a few minutes before she had to head on her way.aston key crack

The good news, however, is that after two weeks of having my sinuses give me hell in the form of burning nostrils and nasty headaches, I didn't have so much trouble today. Of course the reason is clear - I turned on the air conditioning again yesterday, thus stopping all the damned allergens from traipsing into my house and messing with me. Someone please get me out of the midwest!!! RAWR!!aston key crack

Anyway, now that we're not going to try to recover the swingset we got free (since it will cost us the same to repair it as it would to buy a NEW one!), we will have Sunday to rest maybe.aston key crack

I think I shall plan for naps and bathing and more naps. Mmmmm.aston key crack

G'night!aston key crack

Current Mood: amused aston key crack

Shopping at the Hardware Store and Other Fun Ways to Use One's Cleavage...

This thing about cleavage is surprising for me, to say the least. Normally, when I go to the hardware store, I'm dressed in the usual shirt and shorts or jeans. If that's the only stop, I will likely not be dressed overly nice as I am probably planning on doing whatever project I need to purchase something for as soon as I return home again.aston key crack

Today, however, I went after camp. It was going to be hot in the sun at the playground where Jareth's camp is at. There is only so much shade available and Jareth has this nasty tendency to pick the sunniest spot to play in, no matter how many times I try to coax him back into the blissful less-hotness of the shade. Thus, I wore a spaghetti-strap tank top with one of those built-in bras to keep me from being too bouncy when I moved. Or at least to keep my nipples safely hidden beneath the fabric where they ought to be, instead of poking out all over the place like beacons on my shirt.aston key crack

Remember the other day, when I mentioned that I rarely wear tank tops outside the house? yeah... I was also thinking my pasty-white shoulders could use some sun.aston key crack

So, as I sit here, wondering how much pain my overly-pink shoulders will be in tomorrow, I will tell you that tank tops can be your friends. In hardware stores. When the guy answering your questions is male. At least that's all I can think of that would have made the difference between today and EVERY DAMNED OTHER TIME I've tried shopping at the hardware stores. Because normally I have to hunt down salespeople as if they were going EXTINCT! Yet, today I not only got help, but one guy stayed overtime to help me find everything I needed. And I had a list that included bolts in a variety of sizes that all needed matching nuts to go with them.aston key crack

I hope he isn't there when I go back, either tomorrow or early next week, and return the whole lot of them. I'd feel so badly about it, after he worked so hard!aston key crack

But I found out today that it actually costs about the same to de-rust, re-paint, and put all new hardware on an old metal swingset as it does to buy a goddamned NEW one!!!aston key crack

Screw that! I am not going to spend my entire Sunday this weekend slaving out in the heat to save an old swingset when for only a few bucks more than we'll spend on it we can have a new one, fresh in the box, with instructions and non-rusty stuff! No way! There is a point where I draw the line between the cost of something and the amount of time to accomplish the same thing and save some money, and that is one example. I could spend all that time playing with my kid, instead of getting dirty, sweaty, hot, and grumpy while laboring over a bunch of rusty metal pipes to make them once again resemble a safe-to-use kid's swingset and slide. So I'm going to return all the stuff I bought and we'll apply that plus a little bit more towards a NEW swing set instead. Then everyone's happy except our checkbook.aston key crack

Also, I am SO loving having my camera back in limitless action again. Today I took it to camp and took pictures of Jareth...aston key crack

And yes - I know he needs a haircut. He'll get one eventually. And he's still cute, even with his bangs falling in his eyes. So nyah.aston key crack

Okay, I'm tired.aston key crack

G'night!aston key crack

Current Mood: tired aston key crack

Pic-Nic!

We went to a picnic some friends were having tonight. I also got my camera battery charger today. Which means I have pictures. LOTS of pictures. Here are just a few...

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Enough for now though.aston key crack

G'night!aston key crack

Current Mood: bouncy aston key crack

Being too social for my own good...

Alright. So, lately I've gone from "the girl who never really leaves the house except to run errands," to "I have more stuff scheduled into my PDA than I can actually attend each week!" How the hell did that happen anyway? I mean, I thought I had turned into some sort of pasty-skinned geek and today I actually got sunburned because I wore a tank top in public today. I never risk wearing tank tops in public. At least not since the devastation of the "pregnancy acne incident" where my body decided to treat my pores as if puberty had been an under-realized event still waiting to mature.aston key crack

Tomorrow, I do the unthinkable. Tomorrow, I wear a bathing suit in public. In front of people who know my name and aren't related to me by birth or marriage.aston key crack

*gulp*aston key crack

Whatever am I thinking?!?aston key crack

Oh yeah... that I have this cute little boy who wants to go out and play and explore this great big, wonderful world.aston key crack

I've lost a little weight, yes, but the diet is NOT working fast enough for my needs here... *grumble* I will not be the sunbathing goddess I would rather be tomorrow, but will likely hide in my towel or cover-up half the time instead.aston key crack

*sigh*aston key crack

I know. It shouldn't matter one twit what they think of how I look. But it does. Mostly because most of them have managed to get back into shape since having their kids. I'd only just gotten into shape before becoming pregnant - which snatched that little victory back awfully darn quickly with all those silly cravings. Oh well. One day maybe I'll be skinny again. That will probably be the point I start the next pregnancy too, at the rate I'm going here...aston key crack

Anyway, tomorrow we check out a "spray park" thing. I hope it's cool, as it's quite a drive to get there. If it is, I'll tell you all about it tomorrow. And probably more on my unrelenting schedule of events upcoming. Ooof. No. time. to. think. lately...aston key crack

G'night!aston key crack

Current Mood: busy aston key crack

More ranting on the insurance thing...

This time it's not me. No, RainMoon is the one getting screwed over by the "lack of insurance" thing. Because yesterday they gave her the boot out of the hospital. I wasn't there at the time, it being Father's Day and all, but from the sound of it they all but ripped the IV of pain medication out and shoved her out the door. They gave her the name of a doctor and said "sorry, we can't do anything more for you."aston key crack

Bullshit. Even the nurses aparently agreed that it was likely the "no insurance" issue that was the real reason they sent her away. The doctors weren't even nice enough to give her a prescription for something to help with the pain. Nope. Nothing. Nada.aston key crack

And they never bothered to give her an ultrasound looking at her gallbladder, after their first diagnoses was that it might be gallstones... um? huh?aston key crack

I'm confused. And irate. Because I've been there.aston key crack

I got sent away too, off to University of Illinois Medical Center in Chicago. Because I was told, pretty pointedly, that nobody else was going to give me the time of day. I trudged into the city and went through all the humiliating crap where they made me feel like crap for not being able to "afford" insurance for myself. They not only treated me like I was no more than the number on the little blue card I had to show everywhere, but they also tried to tell me I was lying. That they couldn't find anything wrong with me.aston key crack

Shortly after I finally HAD insurance (Brian's job had become permanent in the duration and after a certain amount of time the benefits kicked in) I got a doctor on the insurance plan. Within weeks he had done an ultrasound and I was scheduling my gallbladder surgery to have the damned thing removed. They also mentioned, after removing it, that the spastic colon problems I have with my irratable bowel, had been rubbing against the gallbladder, probably causing additional pain.aston key crack

Nevermind that the STRESS that being without insurance caused me was giving me additional irritable bowel "issues" too! Thus, the act of just diagnosing the problem was actually making it more painful throughout.aston key crack

*grumble, mumble, explative, grumble*aston key crack

Now, with RainMoon, maybe it's not the gallbladder after all. But you'd think they'd run the tests on the right spots to check. Wouldn't you? I guess not. They did give her an ultrasound, but I guess it was checking something else altogether. They could have moved it to a different spot while they were there and given the gallbladder a proper look-see too. But that's just my thinking. I wouldn't expect doctors to use common sense when ordering testing on their patients. Nope. That would obviously be asking far too much.aston key crack

*stops to mop up the sarcasm off the floor*aston key crack

There ought to be a law. Good people should not be given the shaft on their medical health just because they are going through tough times financially.aston key crack

It's also got my own stomach grumbling again over the fact that I don't have insurance either. Brian and Jareth are covered in an emergency, but I am not. The private insurance we're paying through the nose for refused to take me. Because some doctor wrote something said in casual conversation down on my medical record. I guess from now on I'll let the doctors figure out what's wrong with me without giving them any family background anymore. And I most certainly won't repeat anything that was mentioned to me by a doctor previously regarding my health but wasn't specifically diagnosed or put on paper. Because it might, accidentally, get put down on paper and suddenly be considered hard-core, solid FACT. After which point I could spend the rest of my days trying to prove that it isn't really true after all.aston key crack

That doctor that wrote the info down on my file is SO FIRED too! I won't go back to THAT office again. They also wanted me to pay them $50 in "copying fees" to get a copy of my file. Screw that. I guess I won't give the next doctor records of my medical history after all. I'm not going to have inaccurate crap following me around.aston key crack

Okay. Done now. I'd better go do something uplifting. Or violent. Maybe a computer game, as that can be a bit of both... *shrug*aston key crack

G'night!aston key crack

Current Mood: bitchy aston key crack

Being the Black Sheep...

First off, let me wish my darling husband a Happy Father's Day! Of course it's technically over with by now, but I didn't blog until after it all happened. He knows already anyway. He got gifts. *grin* One of which was a "card" that required two sessions to complete - one of teaching Jareth to paint with watercolors and brushes, and another where he learned to dip his fingers in fingerpaint and smear it all over the "front" of the card. Of course it turns out the inside is "upside down" but hey... the effort was there. It was tricky enough getting a kid who doesn't like his hands dirty to even touch the fingerpaints! Brian said he cried something fierce when they made my Mother's Day card back in May. We had better success this time around at least. I'll get him making mud pies eventually!aston key crack

Moving to a different topic however, it is becoming very clear to me that some people around me have not entirely grasped the nature of the spiritual views within this household. The mere mention of the word "paganism," for example, sends some people running for safe corners to shield their ears from having to hear and possibly accept the fact that we are not following within the religious mainstream.aston key crack

And I am not amused. And my patience is slowly wearing thin.aston key crack

Our views are not entirely the same, and mine do not entirely fit within the "pagan" classification all the time. There is a heavy lean of pagan to my views but they also somewhat lean in the "new age" classification as well.aston key crack

All that aside, Brian and I have been hashing over the way we want to handle certain holidays and the gift-giving that goes with them. We've technically made a few decisions, we just haven't really sat down and explained to anyone what we've decided. It keeps getting put off. Mostly because we know that parts of it may not be taken well.aston key crack

Probably. Probably won't be taken well. *sigh*aston key crack

Thus we keep dancing around the subject every time it comes up. A few times now I've had people go directly against something I've already tried to explain wasn't going to happen. I fear there could be a point when it gets ugly. I don't want it to get ugly. I want to just have everyone nod and say we have a right to believe whatever we want to believe (because actually we DO have that right here in America - seeing as that's one of the reasons that brought settlers here when "the colonies" were first starting out) and be respectful of our ways.aston key crack

I need to figure out how to either a) get Brian to start telling his family what our beliefs are going to mean when it comes to holidays that they want us to participate in, or b) tell them myself and hope they will actually listen. Mine won't listen. I'm not sure my sister really understands, she just sort of nods and moves on to the next topic but at least I know she's not against my having my own beliefs. My uncle seems to think I'm still a child sometimes and that I don't know anything about anything yet, so I'm not to be taken seriously. But if I tell them how we want to handle gifts and such I think they'll just say "oh... uh... okay" and shrug and move on. It's not so simple with all of Brian's family.aston key crack

But we've got to get it all figured out. How can I be webmistress and co-conspirator in getting the Pagan Parents web site under way and not be able to explain to the family that we are, in fact, celebrating pagan holidays now.aston key crack

Which brings me to remind everyone that summer solstice is on Tuesday. That's something we'll be celebrating. Each year we'll probably work at figuring it out until we have an understandable, proper holiday out of it. I tried to mention it tonight when we had some of Brian's family over to dinner. Oh well. I guess we'll celebrate on our own on Tuesday and gather with friends to picnic and chat about it on Wednesday when the full moon comes out to play.aston key crack

In other news, I just got these nifty new icons from Catharsis, one of the web comics I try to keep up with in the little bit of spare time I have (also known as the wee hours of the night when I should be sleeping but can't seem to anyway). So I'm going to start doing the "current mood" thing that some people do on other weblogs. I don't have a proper plug-in for Movable Type yet, so I've set up some "notes" in my Opera web browser to handle some of the source code to point to them for the moment. It ought to add a little dragon fun to my DragonBlog at the bottom of each post.aston key crack

G'night!aston key crack

Current Mood: discontent aston key crack

Sending Out The "Get Well" Vibes...

Well, got a call earlier today and found out that RainMoon is in the hospital. They're running tests to find out what's up. So far they think she might have gallstones, which is something I've been through before, so at least I can relate in that regard. It sounds as if there's currently two different opinions on the matter though, and there could be something else wrong too. I just hope they get their heads together over there and figure it out soon so they can make her all better again! They ought to be able to do a good job, as this is the same hospital that took care of me when I whacked my head on the pavement and also when I had my son.aston key crack

In the meantime, send some good karma and thoughts her way. She could use them. I did stop by a couple of times today - the first time she was out of the room having a test and I didn't get to see her, so I slipped away for a little while later to try and go when she'd be in the room. I just couldn't bear to not give her a hug and make sure she knew that I was thinking about her. She seems like she's hanging in there though, despite how complicated everything is in diagnosing her properly.aston key crack

I had roleplaying today too, but I'll likely talk more about that another time. Right now I'm tired. Really, really tired. So I'm going to head to bed rather than spend my energy blogging, as I want to have some energy for Father's Day stuff later.aston key crack

G'night!aston key crack

A little bit of Drama...

The last couple of days have been utterly exhausting. Not due to errands, or even the illness I'm still fighting off. No, none of that. It was one of my meetup groups and the explosion on the Yahoo! Groups web board they've been using since meetup.com started charging their fees.aston key crack

One person had invited the members of the group to join her at a picnic. Another person assumed it was a "group event" and started planning an activity to happen that person A didn't want going on at her picnic. A third person wanted the activity too. Person A finally sent out private e-mail's to persons B and C to try and explain the situation as well as give them a heads-up on some issues she and others were having within the group. Persons B and C took offense. Person B reacted in a surprising manner, being rather harsh on Person A. Person C was expected to react poorly, but exceded the expectations and acted like a self-important child instead. Let's just say it all went downhill from there.aston key crack

I left that group behind today after a couple of final stab efforts at trying to see if I couldn't make Person C understand that Person A and myself were not trying to be "troublemakers" but were trying to help make the group better by pointing out problems. Both Person A and I (and some others who were involved as well) were attempting to suggest potential solutions to the problems we saw too. Not just whine and complain about how the group wasn't perfect. But pointing out stuff we saw and saying "this is one way we might make it better for everyone." Unfortunately, we got the "Screw you, I'm doing it my way and if you don't like it then I encourage you to leave" type of response. So we left. Buh-bye.aston key crack

I'll miss quite a few people there though. I didn't get the chance to know most of them as well as I had hoped to. Some are joining the new group that is forming as a result of all this, but others won't. Others will stay there and submit to person C's agenda, whatever it actually is.aston key crack

*sigh*aston key crack

I've spent a lot of hours writing posts that needed a lot of thought put into them for that board. I tried to weave my words together with intelligence and diplomacy. To speak with some measure of clarity and tact. I've given myself some nasty headaches over it. And yet one woman absolutely, positively, refused to even try to see another side of things than her own. And the type of group was one where half the point was to be open-minded about other's opinions...aston key crack

I shouldn't be letting it bug me so much. There's nothing I can do about it now. It's all part of the experience - hers and mine. It's all good.aston key crack

I'm sure it will feel better in the morning. Or, if nothing else, after I take time tomorrow to shed my skin and slip into the imaginary world for a little while during the roleplaying session.aston key crack

But, for right now... I need to go put my little guy to bed.aston key crack

G'night!aston key crack

Quote of the Day...

In reference to something I a added to a post on a yahoo board being a little too late:

"I know. It's kind of like trying to snuff out a volcano with a tampon, but I had to TRY!"

aston key crack

Yes. It's one of those days. Whatever that means.aston key crack

Maybe more later. Maybe not. We'll see.aston key crack

The Good, The Bad, and The Downright Annoying...

Today is turning out to be one of "those" days. You know... the kind of day where every little thing you try and do turns into this complicated, hard-to-make happen kind of task. On top of that, it's "laundry day". And we all know how much I loooove laundry.aston key crack

Everything also is getting interrupted. I spent more than three hours just trying to get my Quick Shtick Writing post done today and it wasn't an overly long one. In fact, halfway through the first paragraph of this blog post I stopped to answer the phone when Brian called. He's going to pick up a dvd rental on his way home tonight. It will be a miracle if we manage to make it a full two hours without something happening to keep us from watching it. And Jareth doesn't count. Actually he's been a little angel today. I think he know that mommy is frustrated.aston key crack

Plus there's trouble brewing in one of the groups I'm involved in. It's heading in the kind of direction where I'm going to have to actually put my own two cents in - something I generally try and be very diplomatic about doing. But the storm is brewing and about to break. I'm just hoping to not be the one standing under the lightning when it strikes.aston key crack

This weekend is another Rolepaying Saturday for us though, with the new roleplaying group that met up last month. Today I think I'm focusing on that as being in a direction beyond today's hassles, dramas, and chores. On Saturday I get to step out of my own persona and be some other character for a while. She's got troubles of her very own, but she's imaginary so getting out of those troubles is a lot less complicated. Her current concern being the tracking device in the cargo her group just stole from the bad guys. 'Cause there's nothing saying that the bad guys can't now track her group by the same means, and that's no good in a world where people have magic and guns and aren't afraid to use them. *insert ominous music here*aston key crack

Anyway, I'm off to swap out loads of laundry and throw some dinner together before Brian gets home. With any luck I can do at least one of those things without interruption. I'm only going to get about half the things I'd had on my list for today done. The other half will have to wait until tomorrow afternoon sometime instead. There goes some potential naptime. *flush*aston key crack

G'night!aston key crack

P.S. - I just checked my "trash" folder on my e-mail after emptying my spam and it totalled 666 e-mails waiting to be deleted. I think I'll take that as a sign and empty that folder out now. Egads! That's just freaky!aston key crack

"Summer Camp" & And now,

I think this "summer camp" thing is going to go over well with Jareth. Basically we go to a park twice a week for an hour and a half where he can run around and play in the vicinity of a bunch of other kids. Sometimes he'll even notice that all those other kids are there. *rolls eyes* He is, however, learning to understand about playground equipment finally - like slides. He managed to go down one face-first at one point - fortunately he didn't actually slide on his face, but he may now have an idea why mommy kept telling him to "turn around" before going down the slides. The look on his poor face as he tried to stop his forward motion down the slide with his outstretched hands was pretty classic. I wish I'd had the camera for that one, except then I might not have caught him before he would have gone face-first into the mulchy-spongy-bark stuff that the playground had on it. It was springy stuff but I still think he would not have been pleased to have gotten a facefull of it.aston key crack

He also learned the word "helicopter" today as one flew over the playground early on and he followed it with his finger in wide-eyed amazement. I rushed over to dutifully make sure he had the right word to connect with this new marvel in the sky and he repeated it several times afterwards. I guess that means we're officially up to three-syllable words now. So long as they aren't too complicated.aston key crack

After that we picked up a vest thingy to help him float better for learning some water confidence and swimming, and a portable kid potty-seat so we can handle the potty thing when we're out and about too. We started wearing the pull-ups instead of the regular diapers today when we got home and I've got his potty just outside the bathroom for the moment until I get to baby-proofing it somehow as that's where we keep the cat litter box. I really don't want to be fishing toys out of there and he likes to put things into other things, so I'll need to figure out something. We've never had a top over the litter box though, so I think the cats would be confused if we suddenly gave them a domed one. I'm going to try to gate it off or something I guess, and I need to latch the doors on the cabinet under the sink too before I can give him free reign to go in and out of there. I haven't done all the safety stuff in the house much as he's been supervised nearly ALL the time. But he's getting big enough to start wanting more and more space and freedom. This is going to mean my bag of safety goodies will come out and latches get put on in tactical positions. I don't care if all the pots and pans end up getting pulled out, (well I do care but it's not a huge deal is all) but I don't want him getting under any sinks as that's usually where I store the icky cleaning stuff and all that.aston key crack

More little stuff to add to the "to do" list is all.aston key crack

In the meantime, before I forget...aston key crack

Would you rather:
1. have the eyes of a fly OR the arms of a squid?
I think the arms of a squid would at least prove useful in the fact that there are more than two. I have many uses, as a mom, for more than two arms. I'll go with that one.
2. speak like you were in a shakespear play OR speak like yoda?
Shakespear I like. Yeeeeessss. Class on him I took.
3. be bitten by 300 mosquitos OR getting 50 paper cuts and soaking in a tub of lemon juice?
I'll take the mosquitos ONLY because you added the lemon juice to the damned paper cuts. Otherwise I'd go with the papercuts. *itches at the very thought of all those mosquito bites*
4. drink the pus from your friend's infected toe OR lick their hemorrhoids?
Eww. Just. Um. Ewww. I guess one quick lick is less painful than INGESTING THEIR PUSS!! *gags*

My. Wasn't. That. Pretty.aston key crack

G'night!aston key crack

Enter the "Potty"

Well, it's time. We're about to start the whole "potty training" gig. Not something I remember doing before when my sister was little. I hope I didn't just block that whole time period out due to some horror or other. I picked up this potty by Safety 1st today for him. Tomorrow I'll go snag a travel potty seat too (since they don't seem to carry them at Wal-Mart), so I've got something when we're out and about. Then we'll start the actual "training". Oh boy... *takes deep breath*aston key crack

Tomorrow we also start "summer camp". Not the kind of camp where I drop him off and have the day to myself or anything, but an hour and a half each Tuesday and Thursday morning where we go to a park with other moms and he gets to play with other kids his own age over the summer. It's being held in a different park each week. There's also a "crafters" section of the "camp" too, but I didn't think he was quite ready for that this year. Next year he will be probably though.aston key crack

This will give me another opportunity to meet some of the moms with kids Jareth's age. That will be cool. Over the summer we'll be doing this camp thing and then when we have time we'll hit the pool with RainMoon and her daughter too. I still have to get some sort of water wings or something for Jareth. I'm not sure which kind though. I'll be investigating that when I hit Babies 'R Us tomorrow for the potty. Hopefully they have something I'll like.aston key crack

In other news, today Jareth seems to have picked up on mimicking "thank you". Except he has it slightly backwards. Brian handed him a can of soda to bring to me and he handed it to me, promptly saying "Tank You!" as he did. A bit backwards. We'll get it sorted out though. My gosh my kid is cute! *swoons*aston key crack

Current mood: smitten. *grin*aston key crack

G'night!aston key crack

No Solicitors.

I have two "no solicitors" signs. One for the back door (which is really on the side and more people go to that one anyway) and one for the front. Both nice and clearly displayed so that they don't come a-knockin' at my door anymore.aston key crack

But, apparently, my driveway is the gateway to the rest of the neighborhood.aston key crack

First, it was the mormons. I've used the link from the bumper sticker on the car that parked in front of my house so the nice mormon ladies could traipse across my lawn while they figured out which direction they should begin their little path of salvation in. Oh goody. Not only that, but I had to run errands that day, and happened to be pulling out of my driveway when they picked a direction. I stopped to ask if I could "help" them, knowing full well (having seen the bumper sticker as I had started pulling out) that they and I could not possibly help one another in the ways that they might want. But by then it was too late. With a smile and a shake of my head, I managed to avoid the religious documentation they excitedly wanted to "share" with me and burned rubber out of my own driveway.aston key crack

Next, it was the Northwest Baptist Bible Church. I could't find a link for them, although it looks like they are based out of Elgin, a town not far from me. They drop women off in pairs on. my. driveway. They need a BUS to bring them in! A whole damned BUS of Baptists! I have to wonder if that's how many it takes to try and canvas this neighborhood. Kinda reminds me of the Lambuel site, although when I went to watch the lambs head spin in that sick, sadistic fashion I found that the web site seems to be missing at the moment. Hmmm. I guess now I can't teach my kid what to do if he should encounter an atheist now. Gosh. *gets a mop to clean up after all the drippy sarcasm*aston key crack

But now, we've gotten off the religious tract track I guess. Perhaps my grass just isn't green enough anymore. Yesterday, we were reduced to the van that drops off door-to-door salesmen in our yard. I swear it seemed like they opened the van door, tossed the poor salesguy out on his ear with his bag of gear and drove off in a hurry. Poor guy squatted there for a good ten minutes, shoving dirty washclothes and spraybottles of some kind of cleaner into his cargo-short pockets until he headed off on the quest for sales. How do I know he was a sales guy? Trust me - he did not look like he belonged in this neighborhood. Actually, he looked like he belonged in an office. With a cup of coffee in one hand and a sales report in another.aston key crack

The job market must be a whole lot worse than I had thought. I just hope they didn't give the poor bastard a quota he had to fill before they'd pick him up again.aston key crack

"Sorry man, you're stuck in this crappy neighborhood until you get 20 orders for our cleaning solvent. If you don't get your 20, you don't go home."aston key crack

Ouch.aston key crack

Oh, and in other news - The Walker was seen yesterday in a long-sleeved t-shirt instead of the usual attire. That confirms it - it must be getting hot outside. I wouldn't know though - I broke down a couple days ago and turned on the air conditioning. The blissfully cool, wonderfully happy air conditioning. I refuse to ever live in a house without it again. Unless I somehow end up living in Alaska. Because air conditioning in Alaska would be silly.aston key crack

RainMoon keeps threatening to go out there and talk to the guy. He passed in front of my house no less than six times yesterday while she and I were chatting it up in my kitchen for a couple of hours. I'm just afraid that if we talk to him a) he'll suddenly make a point of walking elsewhere to avoid the psychotic women, and b) it will ruin the whole mystery that makes him so interesting to notice in the first place.aston key crack

Speaking of mystery... there is a strange look on my kid's face that seems borderline on constipation. I think I'd better go now.aston key crack

G'night!aston key crack

Current Mood: Annoyed

Okay, so I bought my charger for my camera battery from this site. I was under the impression that they had the damned thing in stock. Silly me. I found out my order was on "backorder" so I e-mailed them wanting to know why they didn't let me know that in the first place and when the heck it was going to arrive. They had something on the web site that said it would ship in 1-2 weeks, so I expected that's how long it would take. They told me that the manufacturer would have it to them by the 6th, which meant to me that it would ship out to ME on the 6th too - seeing as how that was the VERY LAST DAY of their two-week span to get it off to me in.aston key crack

Today I get the following (and only because I e-mailed them yesterday wanting a tracking number for my supposedly shipped battery charger):aston key crack

Looks like the manufacturer still shows a backorder, with an Estimated Ship Date of 6/14/05.

Sorry about the delay,aston key crack

Sales
Technology Galaxy
tel: (702) 642-4123
fax: (702) 655-7262
sales@tekgalaxy.com

Now, I'm sorry, but that is about the lamest customer service I've gotten in a while. I'm going to look and see if there is another person who's got my damned charger actually in stock. If there is - I'm going to tell TekGalaxy they can cancel my order since they have defaulted on the time they had to get it shipped.aston key crack

Damnit. Damnit. Damnit.aston key crack

Oh - and the blog comment spammers seem to have noticed me again. I had to delete some 30-odd spam messages in my comments over the last couple of days. I have taken the usual measures against them and deleted the comments, but I still find it annoying as hell. Not quite annoying enough yet to pay the fee to get the latest version of MT yet though. I just can't afford it right now, and I can't use the free version as I have two blogs with "more than one author" and I have my blogs spread out over a couple of web sites. I did install the newer free version for RainMoon, when I set hers up, and it looked nice but I think they want me to pay something like $70 for the licensing on mine. Poop.aston key crack

And on another note - my darling kitten decided wood beads are yummy and ate one of the little wooden beads off one of my favorite hemp necklaces that I've made. And here I was worried the cats would go after the actual hemp. Silly me again. I guess after I find another source for my battery charger I'll have to re-make that particular necklace. Good thing she ate a bead I have more of. The rest of the hemp jewelry I've been making has now found safe homes in some plastic drawers I picked up at Wal-Mart when I did errands earlier this week.aston key crack

Thank goodness it's Friday. If this were a Monday, I'd think the whole week was potentially doomed to suck. Bleh. But weekends almost always cheer me up 'cause Brian is home. Then again, he'll spend most of tomorrow helping his sister move into her new apartment. I backed out of helping as Jareth is not very good at staying quietly in one place, out of the way, while we run boxes to and fro. I'm hoping I get to see her new place soon though - Brian's sister has a knack for finding some of the coolest apartments I've ever seen. They are usually the kind of places that have something a little unique about them and a certain measure of "charm."aston key crack

That's all for now.aston key crack

Later!aston key crack

More On The Walker...

A while back I took a picture of The Walker. But the day I happened to have the camera handy to do so, it also happened to be Jareth's birthday. Needless to say I had other stuff to blog about and other pictures to post. So the picture has sat there, quietly waiting for it's time...aston key crack

That's The Walker. I got him from behind for two reasons. A) I didn't want him seeing me taking the picture. He'd probably start being worried about the nutcase in his neighborhood taking pictures of total strangers walking by on the sidewalk. He doesn't have to worry much about little ole me, but he doesn't know that... B) He didn't see me take a picture of him. Which means I don't exactly have his permission to be putting his picture up on the internet. Which means I wasn't going to get his face in the shot anyway - in case he's the type of person who wouldn't want his face put up on the internet. From the back - he could be anyone. Which is part of what I like about The Walker anyway. He's a mystery.aston key crack

The Walker has some obvious favorites for clothes when it comes to walking. He often has a sweatshirt he'll sometimes wear that has holes in the back of one shoulder, suggesting to me that it's one of those shirts that's been worn in to the level where one just doesn't want to part with it. I have a couple shirts like that. Ones I can't bear to wear in public because they are so tattered and holey, but I also can't bear to throw out because they are still the softest and comfiest clothes to lounge about in when you know nobody is coming over.aston key crack

He also usually wears his hiking boots to do the walking in. I have seen different footwear on the rare occasion, but he does seem to favor those boots. I bet they've got good arch support in them but have been broken in enough that they bend right when his feet move. Worn, comfy boots.aston key crack

He's usually in jeans too, and often wears another shirt that looks like it's made of flannel (seen above, actually) over a t-shirt. He used to wear a hat too, and a coat, but they have disappeared as the weather got warmer. I imagine The Walker as the kind of guy who favors comfort over fashion - he doesn't care what he looks like while he's out walking. Then again, he doesn't know some crazy lady like me has snapped a picture of him to put on her weblog either.aston key crack

My latest thought on him is that he finds the walking itself to be relaxing. He does it to get away from the chaos of job and home. It makes me wonder what it is he does for a living. For some reason right now I imagine him doing something with his hands... Who knows.aston key crack

One can only imagine.aston key crack

Sometimes I just love being a "people watcher". Or maybe I'm just a nosey neighbor... hrm.aston key crack

G'night!aston key crack

The Country Mouse visits the Big City...

I hate the city. I loathe the city. I abhore the city. No, really. I'm not too fond of that big cluster of buildings sitting over by the lake in the wind. Chicago is just not my kind of town, no matter how I look at it.aston key crack

But that's where the damned museum-things happen to reside. And so, I braced myself, packed the car, plunked the kid in his car seat, and headed to that hateful place once again. To see the fishies. Oh yes, the fishies. The fishies weren't the problem. The people were.aston key crack

Because when you go to a museum, in this case the Shedd Aquarium, people around you suddenly become complete, utter, self-important, bastards that you want to strangle. Oh, and they forget that you're supposed to stay on the right too for some odd reason. I seem to recall learning that one back in grade school. When walking down halls or on stairs, you stay to the right. But when you go to a museum people forget all sorts of things. Like manners. Because, obviously can't I tell that they are, in fact, the most important people there? Wow, silly me. I just wanted to show my two-year-old son the fishies and turtles and other critters. He was learning new words today, like dolphin. He might even remember what the hell a dolphin even was if people would have let me wedge his stroller in long enough for him to catch sight of one.aston key crack

I got blown off by the people I was supposed to meet from my meetup group, I guess. So it was Jareth and I on our own, fending for ourselves against the swarm of people hungry to feast their eyes on the fishies today. In some areas it was almost as hot and sweaty inside as it was in the blistering heat outside as people packed together in tight little clusters that seemed as if they were trying to make it so my son couldn't see anything. I wanted to hurt someone. badly. I mean come on people - full-grown adults can stand to one side (and teach their unruly children to do so as well, mind you) so that the kid in the stroller doesn't have to try and peer through the cracks in your fat asses just to catch sight of one little fish!!!aston key crack

Yes, I'm breathing. Breathe in. Breathe out. Yes, that does feel a little better now, thanks. Sorry 'bout that, but 60-some-odd people too many decided that the best view of the tank was the only view of the tank and stepped in front of my son's stroller in order to obtain said view. The poor kid was in danger of starting to confuse "fishies" with "buttcheeks" if I hadn't been waving and pointing at the "fishies" so he'd know.aston key crack

I'm far too timid for my own good. I waited patiently, attempting to maneuver the stroller into obvious "I'm next please damnit" positions to discourage the arrogant ones who will quite literally walk right over your stroller or even push it out of their way, bowling you over in the process. I did manage to get to show him a lot of "fishies" and even gave some of them proper names in the process, like turtle, penguin, dolphin, whale, and otter. I even managed to get some decent pictures so we can review at home. A few 30-second videos as well. I really hope my new battery charger arrives soon, as I finished using one of my two batteries up today and am worried it won't be here before I run out of camera power. Today was one of those things I was saving the camera for.aston key crack

Overall, I think he had a good time. I know I would have if it hadn't been for the crowds and being on my own. It would have been nice to have done it with Brian or with RainMoon and her daughter, but her daughter isn't quite on summer break yet. I had thought I had someone to go with, but they weren't in the spot we were supposed to meet. Oh well. I think the whole experience will go better when Jareth is a little older and can walk it. I also have to not schedule something else that day too. We had a meetup to go to tonight, and it was all I could do to get Jareth home in time for some nap before we turned around and headed out again. However, the friends at the meetup are a different crowd than the ones in my mom's group I was supposed to go to the aquarium with. They helped keep an eye on Jareth while he ran around some. And, he picked (with help) his very first flower for me tonight. It's wilting on my desk right now, although I took a picture of it while it was still fresh.aston key crack

I've included it in the collage from today. I figured I'd just do a quick collage instead of try to put up a bunch of pics. I haven't done the photo album thing yet because I'm running low on server space on this particular server and I'm too cheap to buy more right now. I may do something on the "flicker" thing I keep hearing about instead. We'll see. If I do, I'll link it then. In the meantime, click the thumbnail below for the collage from today's adventures. I thumbnailed it as it's bigger than the usual pics I put up here so I didn't want anyone to have to have this page load extra slow from it.aston key crack

Tomorrow, we rest.aston key crack

G'night!aston key crack

And now,

Would you rather:
1. eat two dozen hot dogs in one sitting OR three cups of peanut butter?
I think I could manage two dozen hot dogs if I absolutely had to and there were no buns included. I do not think I could actually sit and eat three cups of straight peanut butter. Ack! My arteries clog just thinking about it!
2. have the dry heaves for two days OR diarrhea?
Diarrhea. That's easy. I deal with diarrhea often enough that it wouldn't phase me a whole heck of a lot.
3. have a week vacation in las vegas OR a week in new york city?
Vegas baby! Give me some desert and those beautiful mountains and that lovely dam and I'll be one happy camper! I'm not much of a city girl myself and never got hooked on the gambling when we've been in Vegas in the past, so I'd be way better off there.
4. break your nose OR your collar bone?
Nose. Ow either way... I think the nose would involve less trouble during the healing process though.

Tomorrow we go to the Shedd Aquarium and see the "fishies". Jareth loves fishies so much that I've been toying with the idea of setting up a saltwater tank where the family room television is (since we watch television on the tv in the living room, and never in the family room anyway - that's where the computers are!). We'll see if we get inspired after we see all those big fishies!aston key crack

Oh, and today? Today was errands. Shopping. Boooorrring. Not gonna blog it. Dry stuff, Wal-Mart is. Jewel too. *yawn*aston key crack

G'night!aston key crack

Happy Birthday to my Sister!

Well, I didn't end up getting a ton of stuff done today, other than some miscellaneous small stuff that needed doing and a little bit of jewelry. I got off to a rather late start, actually. I forgot how much the heat can make me lathargic when morning comes around. I'm very close to giving in and turning on the air conditioning, however I hate bumping up the bills with it when I know that it will drop down and get cool again during the night. I haven't broken down yet, and have been trying to embrace the weather as best I can, but I'm close - very close.aston key crack

I must have slept right through the alarm today as it was still on when I checked it later. I vaguely remember getting up to hit the bathroom briefly just after Brian left for work, as he usually says goodbye to me whether I'm entirely conscious or not. I saw the clock on my way back and thought how nice it was that I had a couple hours I could sleep yet before I needed to get up...aston key crack

So I was rather suprised when I saw the clock after I'd slept some more - it was already 1:00 in the afternoon!!! I scurried out of bed at that point, fearing the worst in diaper leakage. To my surprise he was not only leak-free, but the poop in his pants seemed to have been a recent enough occurrance. Yes folks, I have ways to measure how long poop has been in a kid's pants. It's a mommy thing.aston key crack

He didn't want to get up though. I guess he really is my kid after all. It took a couple of times calling his name to even get his eyes to open and then he flopped his arm at me and grunted as if to say "Mommy I don't wanna get up yet!" I know the secret though. All I had to do was ask him if he wasn't hungry and he sat bolt upright in bed and threw his arms out saying "cereal?"aston key crack

He ate three servings. And still wanted lunch a little later. I guess he was hungry.aston key crack

Since I was carless today and not gonna get to go anywhere, RainMoon came by and kept me company for a good chunk of the afternoon, thus solidifying my right to blow some of the crap I didn't want to do today off until another time. I did get the presents wrapped for my sister's birthday however, since it's today.aston key crack

Ack. My little sister turned 21 today. 21 years old. My little sister whom I remember holding in my arms when she was just a tiny little infant. My little baby sister is now old enough to legal go out and order a drink.aston key crack

I. Feel. So. Old... *sigh*aston key crack

But, in case she happens to read this:aston key crack

If she does read it, it won't be until after the fact though. I already talked to her and she's gone out drinking with her boyfriend (who's apparently doing the "designated driver" thing tonight) and some other friends tonight. I hope she has fun... just not too much fun. Oh, you know what I mean.aston key crack

I'll see her tomorrow night though. She's going to stop by here and pick up her gifts.aston key crack

But right now, I think I'm going to blow some more stuff off and play some computer game before bed. *grin*aston key crack

G'night!aston key crack

Sunday Dinner and the Double-Ingredient Meatloaf...

I really wish recipes would mention how much longer it takes to cook something if you intend on doubling the recipe. Perhaps there's a web site out there with some conversions for some of that, maybe I'll google it if I have time at some point. But I doubled a meatloaf recipe and had to give it an extra half an hour tonight and bump up the temperature to have it done at some reasonable hour near dinnertime.aston key crack

Other than that, the day seemed to go well enough. We had the folks (Brian's) over for dinner and then dropped my car off for some repair work that they'll do for me tomorrow. When Brian gets home tomorrow we'll get my car back, but until them I'll be here all day. It's pretty much the only day next week I don't have something planned that I need to go out of the house for so I'll see what I can get done around here. Maybe laundry. *sigh* Maybe not. We'll just wait and see.aston key crack

Not much else to say today, and I have to go help tuck my little guy into bed now.aston key crack

G'night!aston key crack

The Earrings, Bubblefest, and Poof Goes the Garage Sales...

Wow, what a day today...aston key crack

I didn't seem to want to get out of bed today. I don't think my body and I have yet come to terms with the digging we did to make the tomato bed earlier this week. Not to mention I'm still finishing up the antibiotics, so who knows what that's doing to my system. Once we managed to drag my ass out of bed, however, there was the "earring incident."aston key crack

I figure I better mention it before my darling husband does, as he's threatened to blog it if I don't. He may still blog it anyway, who knows. But, while most men might have to wait while their wives sort through their clothes or jewelry finding a match, mine had to wait this morning while I created a pair of earrings to match the beaded hemp necklace I've been wearing. Because, after all, the other earrings I made recently were for a different necklace altogether, and I wanted ones that matched the necklace I wanted to wear. After all - that necklace matches the anklet I like that I've made...aston key crack

So poor Brian had to suffer an extra 15 to 20 minute delay while I futzed with wire and beads and pliars until I had something I was satisfied with.aston key crack

But it's okay, see - because he was busy sewing his bear claw onto the brim of his hat while I was doing it. So it's all good. *grin*aston key crack

Then we went to Bubblefest. They could have, honestly, used some more soap or sugar in their bubble mixes to compensate for the windiness of the day. Jareth didn't seem to notice however, he's young enough still to just get excited when the bubbles do happen as opposed to notice while they don't. I used up some of my precious battery power on my camera to get some pics...

Afterwards we checked out the museum they had, which was actually a pretty cool deal for such a small space they have to work with. It is very kid-oriented too and we will have to make a point of taking Jareth back - especially once he has learned to read and can really understand what all the stuff there means.aston key crack

As we left the museum they were having to close and pack everything up in a hurry - there was a storm rolling in. It only lasted for abut an hour, but it managed to totally close down the long strip of street in Aurora that we had planned on going to next, where they were having a big garage sale day. We even had a small amount of cash burning in our pockets in case we saw anything we wanted, and had brought straps to ensure we could tie something to the roof of the car if we needed to since we had the big stroller in the trunk. But all the garage sale was closed by the time we got there.aston key crack

Instead, we popped in on my uncle, who lives in Aurora, not far from where we were at. We visited with him for a while before heading to the house of some friends of ours - the ones who had told us about the garage sale in the first place since they live on that street - and visited with them next since they had extended an invitation on the web site for the group we are all in. We weren't sure how long we'd be dropping by there, as Jareth hadn't had a nap, but in the end we stayed for quite a while. Poor Jareth finally passed out in the car on the way back, although he had quite a fun time at the friends' house too. We finally tucked his sleepy little self properly into a bed at nearly two hours past his bedtime - we had to make a brief stop at the grocery store on the way home too, for some items we need for tomorrow's dinner.aston key crack

Tomorrow is the family Sunday dinner thing we do (every other week nowadays) and it's at our place this time. I knew what I was cooking, but was lacking a couple of ingredients. We hoped I could sneak out and then back into the car without waking Jareth, but no luck there. He cried (loudly) all the way home after that. Poor little guy. Good thing we don't get all social like that very often! *laugh*aston key crack

But now it's time for me to wind down a bit and then crawl into bed. After all, I've got some preparation to do for tomorrow's dinner in the morning so I'm not doing everything last minute when they get here.aston key crack

G'night!aston key crack

Quiet night...

I'm feeling quiet tonight. No blog, I should sleep instead.aston key crack

(nevermind that it's already 1:30 in the morning...)aston key crack

G'night.aston key crack

Aminals...

Yes, I've spelled it "aminals" on purpose. Yes, I will make sure my son actually knows that they are called "animals" so that he won't be considered some sort of freak by his peers later on...aston key crack

That being said, we went to Randall Oaks Park & Barnyard Zoo today as one of the "events" that was scheduled for my stay-at-home moms group on meetup.com. Basically we paid a nominal fee to see some animals - goats (lots of goats), llamas, chickens, peacocks (since when are there peacocks on a farm?), a cow, more goats, turkeys, hens, sheep, a racoon, pheasants, and - oh yeah, did I mention goats?aston key crack

Goats. Lots of goats to be had there. And they sell feed at the door - how could I possibly resist? Well, duh - I couldn't. I bought some feed and slowly coaxed Jareth closer and closer to the goats. I let him see me hold out my own hand with some feed and let the goat eat out of it. Then I got him to do it too.aston key crack

I swear, you have never seen anyone look so pleased with themself until you've seen a little boy give a goat some feed. I mean, really! He was so darn excited that he was more than happy to feed the goat some more when I explained that he could reach into the bag and get more feed out for that purpose. He was so excited that he started feeding the goats one. piece. at. a. time.aston key crack

I thought for sure that we were going to end up standing in that barn, with me hunched over holding the bag of precious feed for him, all darn day! Eventually I took the initiative when he paused to do that cute little laugh of his, and I dumped the end of the bag into one of the bowls we were supposed to be feeding the goats with in the first place. At least that's what the sign I saw said. I hadn't seen it at first though - it had been blocked by the swarm of children feeding the goats by hand. Jareth didn't mind at all that the goats finished the feed from the bowl. He was still basking from having them slobber on lick his fingers clean. But mommy carries Wet Ones® Singles Antibacterial cleansing wipes (which I couldn't find the homepage for to link up properly and I'm too lazy to run upstairs and find out who owns them to search further) so all was well when it came time to break out the picnic lunch later on.aston key crack

I've been being particularly frugal with my pictures lately, as the battery charger for my camera batteries abandoned me while I was in Florida. I think I accidentally left it sitting on the desk instead of packing it up. Since it's the first time I've actually lost something while traveling, I think I'll count myself lucky. I've ordered a new one, but it was on backorder, as I found out today, and won't even ship until the 6th. In the meantime, it's a really good thing I got a second battery for Mother's Day, and I'm limiting how many pictures I take until I can charge them up again. I'd hate to run out of battery just as something got really good. I only took three pictures today - none of which were of him by the animals or any of that. Instead, I showed him he could use the bottom of one of the big ole' trees they've got in their park as a handy kid-sized seat:aston key crack

He's turning his head to mimic me, as I was turning mine to be able to see the viewscreen and get the shot when I turned the camera. He likes to do that now. When someone crouches down to get a picture of him at his level, he crouches down too and gives them this grin as if knowing it's going to make them smile. I love my little boy...aston key crack

G'night!
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First off, I've been meaning to mention RainMoon's new blog (which I designed, by the way *grin*), and officially welcome her back into the blogsphere. I kept getting distracted, mostly be being sick, but I reminded myself last night when we went for coffee. Although technically neither of us actually had coffee, mind you. I had a root beer and some tapioca, which was a poor choice of edibles when the topic of snot came into play. Which it did. Eww. No. More. Snot. Please. Eww.aston key crack

So stop on by when you have the chance and you can see the cool moon I put on there, which Jareth kept saying "moon" and pointing at when I had it up on the screen during the design. She's mostly blogging in the "daily journal" style, and though she's had a live journal before, this is her first time with a Movable Type blog so cut her some slack if she makes the occasional html error. She's already figured out how to do links on her own and I haven't had a chance to have her over and show her the ropes on what all her new little program can do. I was sick, remember? Snot? Eww? Yeah.aston key crack

Today, however, was the tomato plants project. I timed it so that I could stop off at the hardware store before I went to the gal's house and got some of the wayward tomato plants that had strayed across the rest of her garden, threatening to inundate her with a scattering of tomato plants in places she wasn't going to actually want them. She helped me gather some of the best ones up and I popped them into a bucket I'd brought along for that purpose. Then we zoomed off home for a quick lunch and a slathering of sunblock on Jareth before we headed out into the back yard to begin.aston key crack

Three hours of hard labor (digging and transplanting the grass to some bare spots in the back yard) later, I have a small strip of garden alongside my patio.

I added some garden soil and topped it off with some mulch and we'll water them and see which ones survive their abrupt transferral of living quarters and which don't. Once we separate the weak from the strong, we will spend our time hoping that the local wildlife (and loose pets) don't make their lunches off our new little tomato plants. Right now they look all limp and unhappy. I'm hoping they perk up in a day or two. I really don't know how long it takes - it's been a very, very long time since I tried my hand at any real gardening efforts.aston key crack

Now, however, we have a very tired little boy. He got to run and play in the yard for hours and then got a shower and a short nap. He's eating dinner as I write this, nearly an hour after we finished ours because we realized he wasn't going to actually eat anything while he was that tired! I expect he'll sleep good tonight. I hope so, at least, as tomorrow we're going to a local petting zoo place. Hopefully that will help make up for all the times I told him "no" today to keep him in the yard while I was working. I did sit with him for about a half hour afterwards though, playing with bubbles. Amazingly he was actually a really good little boy though. He was curious to see stuff but didn't try to go out of the yard much at all. I think he's finally starting to learn about boundaries, much to my relief.aston key crack

That's all for now.aston key crack

G'night!
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