Yes i know the template is messed up. No, I do not know what Ive done to it.

Oh and if I was dressing up, I'd undoubtedly go as Bobby Trendy. Luuuxxurious!

Bleh. The Halloween pumpkin brought me the gift of the blahs.

I am listing a few more things on my new best friend Ebay. Getting the bowls and some other things ready to ship that ended yesterday. I've made $100 on $16 in the past week. Not too shabby. Packaging and shipping is the worst part. I really need to go procure some more boxes, somewhere.

I need to take a shower and get some stuff done around the house, it's really gone to crap the past couple of days. It's just so cold and dreary that it makes me want to just curl up and channel surf. I started watching what looked to be a decent movie last night (Panic - with William Macy) but of course after about 30 mins..ZZzzzz.

Mark is on his way back home from picking up Emma. Apparently she had a poopy accident right after mommy dropped her off, so they had to take some extra time to get her cleaned up. They went to Taco Bell after that so Emma could settle down and they could start driving back on a good note. I hope she sleeps some inthe car, I'm sure she's already wound up to the hilt from her school party today. Cindi came over and brought her a Halloween Beanie Baby, she'll love that.

Time to make the donuts.

PS, Alan..I've been here, where are you?

Going going GONE! $57.01. Wow. Im stoked.

Im also tired. and bored. And crampy and headachy. And I am a joy to be around.

Not accompanying the british man on the trek to pick up the halloween kitten tomorrow, I have to stay home and help Daniel put a costume together for what..I dont know. He doesn't know either. All he knows is that he's going to do "something." I'm afraid he's gonna go up to Ridge Home with a bunch of kids and poke around. It is an old (very creepy) mental home near here but it has been closed for ages. It has old decrepit buildings, broken window, the perfect halloween gathering for teenagers. Actually, I'd like to go take some pictures up there. I might just do that. But not tomorrow, no thank you. I like to be scared, sure..but Im not gonna go inviting the paranormal into my surroundings. Nuh uh.

We've got a little fire in the fireplace and I think I just want to go lay in front of it on the couch and chill.

Oh, btw Happy 17th birthday CHARLIE!

16 minutes left to go on the bowls and they are at $57.01! omg!

It's 2:00 in the afternoon and it is 19F degrees. Brrr.

I really love blogger bStats. I love to see the who is and why fors of visitors. The numbers could be impressive..but they're not. You know damn well 98% of those people bounced here by accident and said oops!

SUMMARY STATS
Page views today: 99
This hour: 5
This week: 256
This month: 2659

Searches:
how do i start my life over
MY HOUSE IS A MESS
see me in my shower
free pictures of girls being fucked by horses
crv lesbian top 10 gay car
you are the love of my life
sebring gay car
lesbian cars jetta crv miata
my crazy adult halloween party pics
my life is a mess
My Sister Was Sleeping

You could feed a 3rd world child for a year with the cost of those pants, ya know.

What pisses you off?

I was blog hopping and found this annoying little blog where the person continually speaks in third person about herself. Akin to me saying "Danelle went to the store today, and Danelle spent too much money". FreakingA that was annoying. I won't be reading that again.

I've had this on my personal webpage for a long time, but I thought it was funny enough to slap here:

Banned Childrens Books

Dad's New Wife Timothy
Pop! Goes The Hamster....And Other Great Microwave Games
How to Become The Dominant Military Power In Your Elementary School
Mommy Drinks Because You Cry
Some Kittens Can Fly!
The Tickling Babysitter
Babar Meets the Taxidermist
Controlling the playground: Respect through Fear
Curious George and the High-Voltage Fence
The Boy Who Died from Eating All His Vegetables
The Pop-up Book of Human Anatomy
Things Rich Kids Have, But You Never Will
The Care Bears Maul Some Campers and are Shot Dead
Mister Policeman Eats His Service Revolver
You Are Different and That's Bad
Getting More Chocolate on Your Face
Where Would You Like to Be Buried?
Kathy Was So Bad Her Mom Stopped Loving Her
The Attention Deficit Disorder Association's Book of Wild Animals of North Amer -- Hey! Let's Go Ride Our Bikes!
All Dogs Go to Hell
The Kids' Guide to Hitchhiking
Garfield Gets Feline Leukemia
What Is That Dog Doing to That Other Dog?
Why Can't Mr. Fork and Ms. Electrical Outlet Be Friends?
You Were an Accident
Strangers Have the Best Candy
The Little Sissy Who Snitched

Kind of a blah day. Started off the day bummed out and depressed about money. But when we sat down and looked at everything on paper, it's not as bad as it could be.

It's been snowing for nearly 24 hours. I had to go to the grocery store, I was wishing I had gone yesterday, cause the streets were slick as snot. The first snow always finds me unprepared..the lawn furniture is still outside:


And when you need a fire, and are out of wood...well, Bill provides the flame..

I just put this weeks pictures up on the Fall Pics 2002 page over there --->. Looks more like winter.

Im so frustrated. I have a domain name that I don't know how to use, I have a blogger template that I don't know how to use. I don't know how to post thumbnails, and I have some great pictures I'd love to put up. Fuck.

Im to the point of tears.

What a day, what a day.

First, the ebay update. Copper bowls are at $31. The golf shoes went for $20 at "buy it now." I only had them listed for ONE day! I should have listed em for more. But feh. I'm still very pleased.

We left the house early this morning to run over to the Stupid Thrift Store That Was Closed On Sunday to pick up the amber dish that I should have bought on Saturday. Then went to a Sally we've only been to once before and picked up mucho books: (This is all of them listed and ready to be put away. blech.)



Then Mark came home and I headed out wtih Kt to go get her REAL license, which we got without a hitch. Now she is a regular licensed driver. Watch out! She hates driving on the freeway so I made her take I-70 and I-25 all the way to Charlie's house. hee. She did fine. In rush hour no less. I went to the post office (35 items!) and then went to three thrift stores and didn't get home until 7. Got a couple of fun things I think.

I have to relate something funny about Katie. She's normally not a skittish person at all, it takes a lot to rile her, and she sloughs off most scary things with a roll of the eyes. Well, Saturday night her and Charlie went to go see The Ring. She said she was scared to death! Then Sunday she got up and everyone was gone. She said she was just cleaning the kitchen and kept hearing things. She said it sounded like people moving furniture around in the garage. Then the phone rang, and it was her friend Vanessa. She said she was too freaked out to talk to her. Then she started hearing voices, again she thought from the garage. Phone rings again. Wrong number. She hangs it up and it rings AGAIN. She said it was making beeping noises. She said she was totally freaking out and took her phone outside to the Corsica and sat in there, called Charlie and insisted he come over immediately, and she sat in the car and waited for him. Squeeee! I've GOT to see this movie!

About a hundred people signed the guestmap lately. Ok, 4.

Howdy do to you, Emperor Norton, Kent, (who came to see me through my very good buddy Phil)...Zardoz (no web address - another knife fiend, I mean friend) and Diana who came all the way from Mexico. She says her life is a mess too, but her site is in Spanish so I can neither confirm or deny.

Now Im getting tired finally, in spite of several diet pepsi's and some coffee. I think I will go and read. I'm reading a book I got out of the "library" The Walk West. I read the first book, The Walk Across America and I loved it. (voyeur, non fiction me.) THEN. Someone went and ordered the book from us. Heh. I made Mark cancel the order (it was only .75) cause I had told him not to list it in the first place. I'm only halfway through Texas so far, the nerve.

We decided to do something really nice for Kimmy's birthday..it was on Halloween this year.."
~ Anna Nicole

I am desperate. Does anyone know how to get a template made in Front Page to be my blogger template? Please please please someone help me. I also have a Blogger Plus account with ftp services if that helps. Please please please. I don't pay well but I can say thank you in several different languages. And I'll give you credit. And maybe a pony.

Pretty fun day.

We left the house early to hit a couple of stores before we left for all parts southward to deliver the Emma child to mommy. I had seen a certain candy dish at a thrift store and thought it might be "something" but didn't buy it, even tho it was only $1. Well, I come home and see the exact same thing, same brand just sold on ebay for 28.50. pooooop. So we went back to that same store today but it was closed on Sundays. Sheesh. A store closed on Sunday? Unthinkable. Then I had seen one of those things that rolls newspapers into fireplace logs at another store, and Mark wanted to check it out..but it was gone. *sniff. So we went out to breakfast where we ate eggs and toast because Emma devoured all our sausage. She's a meat eatin maniac!

Finally made the trek through the hills and encountered every weather system imaginable. First it was just gray. Then it got foggy as heck, couldn't see the car in front of you. Then it got really sunny, then raining, then when we finally hit Fairplay it was snowing. Weclome to Colorado where you can golf in the morning and ski in the afternoon. Bring your bikini and your parka. And that's just for one day.

We came home and Mark and I tackled the gross daunting task of putting away 5 baskets of clean clothes. GROSS! I hate putting away laundry. But I have a washer, so I'll just be happy about that. Now we are making a huge pot of potato ham and cheese soup, to have with some crusty french bread. It smells so yummy! Later will be
a night jam packed with bad TV. Urban Legends on TLC, Anna Nicole, The Osbournes, then Cheaters. Whee fun.

Laura and Denny are in Barstow. Man, there's little or nothin in Barstow. Gotta get to Baker. Home of the biggest thermometer on earth. I know, cause I seen it.

For those of you following along, the copper bowls are at $20.25! Still 4 days to go. Insanity.

Cindi came over and we tweaked her blog a bit, and added a tagboard. Go see. While she was here she was looking at digital cameras on ebay and bid on one that only had 50 mins left, and got it. It's nice...and she got a great deal. Ebay is our FRIEND!

Daniel is at Dan's and Katie is out with Charlie. It's nice. Katie just called and said her and Charlie saw The Ring, and that it was fabulous, and really scary. Mark is so against going to the theater for any movie, cause we cal always download them the day they come out..but I really want to see this one in the theater. I think I'm gonna have to just kidnap him to go. I wanna go this week, while it's spooky and halloweeny.

I'm washing clothes and it's FABULOUS.

Cindi is over and said that she and others have had trouble getting my page to load. Susan mentioned the same. She also said that the font get's smaller as you scroll down the page. Bleh. I need feedback...anyone else having the same problems with this page? Im probably gonna remove some stuff tonight. *sniff.

The washer is IN and it's WASHING. Water coming out, suds forming, agitator agitating. It's like 10 Christmas' rolled into one. I hope you never have to find out what a household of 4 and a half people without a washing machine is like. It wasn't as hard to move it as I thought it would be. It's a really nice washer, a Kenmore "extra capacity PLUS". Whee! This baby's a monster. Looks like it's been barely used at all. I so excited!

Forgot to mention something else VERY fun we got at the Thrift store yesterday, a WASHER! Woo Hoo! Salvation Army had everything in the store for 50% off for 2 hours only yesterday so we went and they had a very nice washer for $90. So with the extra money Mark made fixing Jane's pc, we got a great washer for $45. Now we have to go get it. UGH!

The Friday Five at 3:05 on saturday morning.


1. What is your favorite scary movie?
I love "The Changeling" and "Cujo" for their mental horror, "The Evil Dead" for the stuff that keeps you awake.

2. What is your favorite Halloween treat?
I love those disgusting little peanut butter chewy things in the black and orange wrapper.

3. Do you dress up for Halloween?
Not anymore. I barely like getting dressed in the morning. I won a contest once dressed up as a Hare Krishna, tho.

4. Do you enjoy going to haunted houses or other spooky events?
Love it. I love to be terrified. I remember dragging my dad to a haunted house when I was about 14. He got so scared he cried. I'm not kidding. I was scared to death and LOVING it

5. Will you dress up for Halloween this year?
Sorry, no.

Whew! Listed a buttload of stuff on ebay..and took pictures of the stuff I'm listing later. I could list everything at once, but that means all the auctions finish at once and that's no fun at all. Much better to spread them out so it's not so daunting to ship everything.

Found some wonderful things today..some sherry glasses that I'm pretty sure will fetch a good price. Others similar go for around $35 on auction, these were $3 for 8. I found some pfaltzgraff china that was a steal, and some brand new in the box golf shoes. Yes, I know nothing about golf shoes except that these particular ones retail online for $160, the last pair like this went for $45 on ebay, and I got them for $2. That's all I need to know about golf shoes.

My copper bowls that I fretted over paying $5 for 2 days ago are already at $10.50. this is so damn fun! I had some auctions end recently and so I just deposited $19 into the bank on items that totalled $3 in expense for me. Squeee!

Oh, what else, what else.

Was feeling poorly about some things earlier, but after a nice build up from those that matter, I feel much better. Was reminded that I have done nothing wrong, and I shouldn't change a thing.

Some think that blogging is a dangerous weapon, and I suppose it can be, in the wrong hands.

Heading out to the thrift stores today. Fun in a bun.

I went to a guestmapper's blog, Hi Shirl! and found this:

I have issues with...

domination men father mother age

Take Word Association Test

Ouch.

No one is posting. No one is signing the guestmap. People are depressed. I have a headache.

Emma has another DDS appointment tomorrow to replace the fallen spacers. gr. Not much else planned. Something fun and exciting that we can do for about $1.23 would be good.

I need to go to bed.

Today was sorta kinda blah, and sorta kinda good.

Mark left early for mega errands. Had to return Jane's pc that he fixed (in one day, mind you..at her insistence.) Oh please, can you fix it tonight...?! hee hee hee..I'll pay anything!! puke. So he did, charged her $90 and she gave him that, plus a nice bonus. (more money! be NICE!) Then he also had to get the Rug Doctor back to the store, and go get Emma in Fairplay.

I will say after actually meeting Jane I don't feel any weirdness at all about her. She was Amazonian, and wears a ridiculous amount of makeup. Wrong wrong wrong color foundation with even wronger color powder caked on top of that. She had this death line of colors around her jawbone that was absolutely garish.

I stayed home from the Emma drive and my only plans were to go to the post office to mail the batch of books we had sold in the past few days. (31 books!) Then, I got the mail and saw that YET AGAIN the Social Security Administration had denied Katie a *duplicate* SS Card because she did not insert the proper documentation. This was the SECOND time she'd submitted the request.

Well.

I looked up the address and drove to the office and proceded to raise some hell. I was going on about how this 16 year old girl was trying taking the initiative to handle the things she needs like an adult. In early September she printed an application from the SSA Website, filled it out, gathered the documents they said she needed and mailed it off. no go. documentation not good enough. So again on her own, she resubmitted. Nada. I was so fucking pissed when the mail came today. I felt like someone had slapped Katie's face right in front of me for no reason.

It's all straightened out. cough.

Then I went to the post office. We usually use the Arvada po where they know us and know what we're doing. They're great, and fast. Well, I saw a po down by SSA so I went there. Biiig mistake. This post office is to be further known as "where very skinny, very pretty girls in short skirts are allowed to butt in line".
Finally, my turn. The guy was new, and did not understand what I was saying.

"I need to mail these books"
"Is there anything liquid or breakable in here?"

(umm no, I left all my liquid, breakable books at home.)

"I need these all to go Media Mail, unless it's cheaper to send them First Class"
(some packages are so light that they cost less than the standard $1.42 Media Mail fee)
"Well, are any of them going to go first Class?"
"Some probably will, the lighter ones"
"Oh, so if it's light, it might be cheaper to send it First Class, and you want to use the cheapest method possible"
"riiight"
*A minute later
"This one is $1.52 to go First Class compared to $1.42 for Media Mail, do you want it to go First Class?"

sigh.

Fun. So then I went to Goodwill where I found nothing but dirty people and rude women who stand in the middle of the aisle and pretend they don't see you trying to get around them.

Then I went to arc and found some really pretty pfastzgraff black china that I am slapping on ebay tomorrow. I already have several auctions up right now, and I don't want them all to end at the same time. The copper bowls I got the other day are already at $7.50! whee! I could get into this.

Survivor was great. I was cheering and hollering when Robb got voted off. I really thought Shianne was gone. But no one fell for Robb's stupid "life changing revelation" and I am happy happy happy. The merge is soon, and the tribes are even. I just wish damn Chuy Guan would find their boat! It's right THERE!

The votes are in. According to the "Car Talk" International Radio Show, and courtesy of The Presurfer I give you the most Gay and Lesbian cars in the world. (Based on votes via telephone calls, letters and emails from America and overseas).

These cars say "I'm here, and I'm Queer":
(From 10 to 1, 1 being the car most associated with Gay Men)

10. Chrysler Sebring (cough)
9. VW Cabrio
8. VW Golf
7. Saturn SC1
6. Saab 900
5. Maxda Miata
4. Jeep Wrangler (Red Especially)
3. BMW 3-Series (White, Red or champagne)
2. VW Beetle
1. VW Jetta

And their counterparts, screaming "Rugged and Functional"
(The cars, not the lesbians)

10. Chevy S10
9. Volvo Wagon
8. Ford Ranger
7. Nissan X-Terra
6. Geo Tracker
5. Honda CRV
4. Ford F-150
3. Jeep Wrangler
2. Subaru Forrester
1. Subaru Outback

There ya go.

Whew. We finally made if over to Mark's condo today with a rented Rug Doctor. Wow! It's a rug surgeon is what it is! It did an amazing job. Decided to leave the Doctor there on his own overnight and then make another pass in the morning before Emma time.

I went back to the thrift store for that copper bowl and low and behold, it was actually a set of 3 bowls. Hopefully they'll fetch a handsome price. Also found some other interesting things to list like some old pyrex bowls and some kids coats. $10 here, $20 there. It all helps.

We didn't get home from Mark's till around 8:30 so the kids taped Amazing Race for me. I haven't watched it yet, so am keeping myself off the sites that I know are talking about it.

Bleh. I got nothin to say.

I just woke up from a really weird dream. I was at a party with Jerry Seinfeld. Actually we'd gone to several places before that, but ended up at this party. There were toys in the bathroom to play with. I took a bath. My camera was broken. I slept over at the party and had to scramble to find all my belongings in the morning. Daniel was there with a scary mask on, telling me I didn't wake him up and tell him I was going home.

Really weird.

My stomach is full for no apparent reason, except that I've been grazing all night (aka eating empty calories). I just had some hot cocoa a little while ago (by a nice fire..it's snowing!) and now I'm having a soda. Sheesh.

Today we went thrift storing. Got some books, a couple of printers, some pc "servers" or some crap and a mint condition password game from 1963. Gonna slap it all on ebay and see what happens. I was so disgusted with myself...I saw a hammered copper bowl at a thrift store for $2 and didnt buy it. Came home and saw the same thing on ebay for about 56 dollars. I am going to go back tomorrow and see if it's still there.

I did not go take the jeffco test today. Do you want to know why? Because they just, as of yesterday enacted a hiring freeze. Isn't that just fun? I saw it on their website and called HR - they said.."oh yea, we're not doing the test". I said "Were you gonna tell me that before I drove all the way to BFE in rush hour?" gr. I am still putting in for substitute teacher job, even tho I only got 2 letters of recommendation, and I really wanted to get 3. We'll see what happens. It'll probably all come together just in time for Summer break.

Tomorrow we have hella errands. Hitting a couple of stores that have clothes for 75 cents on Wednesdays, already scoped out some Columbia ski jackets Im gonna put up for auction. Then we have to rent a carpet cleaner, go meet Mark's "friend" (cough) Jane in DTC to get a pc from her that's on the fritz "can you fix it by tomorrow night...? I'll pay anything!!" groan. I know Dy is laughing. Then we have to go clean Mark's carpets, and do some laundry at Mark's condo. Sheesh. I better make it home in time for Amazing Race, that's all I've got to say on the subject.

Time to go..do something.

Very cool that BeerMary came over after reading a comment I'd left at her place and signed the guestmap, and even put me on her "list". Whee! I've been reading her for some time, and think maybe I need to drag her kicking and screaming out for a beer with Mark, Max and Drew. Insanity in the making.

This is how thrilling my night is. I am making a permanent color coded map of thrift stores from Northglenn to S. Denver. Sounds simple. It isn't. It feels like work. Blech. Someone get the Lysol.

You can thank blogger for the fucked up pictures, since I use their server and their ftp service. Fug you very much.

Dear Sniper;

Sorry about the other day. I couldn't talk. The kids were screaming, the dog was barking and I was trying to get dinner in the oven. I promise to pay better attention next time. Call me back.
~DC Police.

Am listening to my friend Max doing his first co-hosting (send money!) at kuvo, the jazz station in Denver. I dont know if he's nervous or not, but he doesn't sound it. I just wish I could stand this music for more than 5 seconds. Breep blatt..doo wah..

As promised, a few pumpkin patch pictures. We had a great time, and yes..the balloon is attached to her headband.

No one is posting. Why. Why. Why.

Emma lost another one of her little spacers. You'd think for $1000 they'd stay in longer than a weekend, huh?

We went to a fun little halloween festivity put on by Village Homes today. They had a pumpkin patch, some crafts, free starbucks (helloo!!!), free cotton candy and free popcorn. We also took a hayride with some very weary horses. I took some pictures, I will post them in a little while..first i need coffee. Everyone that came to the party also got a free pumpkin, so so far we've had zero cost for our halloween fun. Now if someone would just plop 10 or 15 pounds of candy at my front door to give away to the kiddies, all would be grand.

Tomorrow is Emma exchange day, we got a little extra cause she didn't have school today. Nice to have the whole Sunday to do stuff without driving for 4 hours. We're also going to get Katie's official license, she passed the test but couldn't actually *get* the license till she'd had her permit for 6 months. Then Katie has a dentist appointment at 4:30 that will cost me another $150.00 in installment payment. No fun no fun no fun.

One more, shut up.



Me, mean spirited? lol...

Your'e the thong. Your the spunky one out of all friends.
You keep having fun till it kills you. You always except a challenge and never back down. You love taking risks and you hold nothing back.

Which underwear are you?

This sniper thing is really starting to piss me off.

Oh, man there's been people guestmapping and I have been oblivious. (the game show you don't even know you were on!....nevermind)
First, my bf buddy WayLander. A late nighter like me...we were chatting the other night at around 3am Gotta love that.
Also, bobbi who came here via "fortysomething"..(over there on the list.). She has a cute blog that's fun to read. Probably will become a regular there.
Then we have Heather that didn't like my confederate flag diatribe, but had other nice things to say.
And this was the nicest of all, a note from CJ in Missouri:
"Enjoyed your pictures immensely, the rest of your site too. Thank you for sharing the pics especially, I went to college in Boulder for a year and a half, miss Colorado so much. Love the Rocky Mtns., Mount Evans, Pikes Peak, Sand Dunes, you name it... Colorado has it! Thank you, thank you for the pictures, made me feel at "home" again and brought tears to my eyes for the memories. "

Awesome.

Im not posting. Why I dont know.

Emma has already had one of her little spacer thingies come out. It was weird, we had just got through telling her that if one should ever come out, to try not to swallow it and take it to a grown up. Not 2 minutes later she's got one in her hand. Bleh.

We had a busy but unproductive day of arc, sally army, grocery store, bank, laundromat. Bought nothing at the thrift stores except a littlest pet shop love birds and cage for Emma. She's so addicted to those littlest petshop dudes! She first named the lovebirds "Mommy and Daddy" because every toy we buy has to have (in Emma's words) a "sensible name". [I'm thinking someone finally tired of her naming all her pets "gillobi" and "dry-ina", etc. For example..her mice names are Picky, Drawry, Aitra and Aiwa. I think the explanation someone told her of "sensible names" worked, because today she named a stuffed animal of mine "Steve".]

So anyway, as she was gayly singing loudly and dancing animatedly around the thrift store with her new toy, she started singing "mommy and daddy are lovebirds, lovebirds, lovebirds...mommy and daddy are lovebirds, lovebirds.." Mark and I laughed hard and then gently suggested we rename the lovebirds. After a brief "awww...!" she was satisfied with naming them mommy and laura. lol.

Didnt buy a thing at Sally Army, we just missed the closing of the bank, went and did a load of Daniel's laundry and came home. Wow! Action packed! How do I keep up?! And now, as if that wasn't enough activity and stress I have to keep my eyes out for an ice bucket with a lid at a thrift store for Cindi. I'll go mad! oh...AND. Find a truck to help get Mandy's old washer to my house. SOON. Lordy.

Hooray. Just got a call about a job in Jeffco schools. I have to go take a 2 hour test on Tuesday. Cross your fingers and toes, kiddies.

I think my sinus infection is on the mend. I no longer have the pain and pressure of 35 elephants on my face, but now the draining has begun and I feel as if I am drowning in my own snot. Isn't that lovely.

The little british man just left to go get the midget. We're going to go to the little farm down the street on Saturday and see their pumpkin patch. Emma has a dentist appointment tomorrow, this one is to put spacers in where they took her teeth out. Not pleasant, we're told. Even less pleasant will be trying to arrange a payment plan with the dentist after the work is done. (You always wait till after the work is done to tell them you don't have all the money today...duh.) Hopefully she'll do fine, but if she's not up for the pumpkins, we have no other plans for the weekend except to just chill out.

I need to find a job. I send resumes out like a crazy person and there is no response. Oh, I get the "we got your resume and are reviewing it" nonsense, but that's it. I have started the ball rolling to start substitute teaching, but that's a long process. Par for the course, it will probably all come together just in time for summer break.

I have the house to myself. Gonna go enjoy it.

What's really whacked about this test, is that I had to correct no less than 6 spelling errors in the description...whcih was way long. I shortened it cause it was stupid. Damn Stoners.

People enjoy listening to music with you and can spend much time discussing the varying depths of sound..either that or they sit for a time in a semi-comatosed state. Often people in your company think they can understand Einstien's theory of relativity when in fact they are so shitfaced they cant even tie up their shoe laces. Spending great amounts of time with you makes people want to lose their job and live an alternative lifestyle.

If You Were A Drug, What You Would Be?

Wow, I have just spent a ridiculous amount of time playing this game. It is SO addicting! Try it out. I was up to 290598 points after level 5. How did you do?

Omg this and this is the funniest thing I have seen in a long time. "Kids Crappy Art Review." I was rolling.



Megan, age 4
"First of all, I don't even know what this is. If it's supposed to be a dog, then it's the shittiest dog I've ever seen."

Seen in Conifer while waiting for Dan to arrive.



It sparked a discussion between Mark and I about why I found it offensive.

Some have said that the Confederate flag is an affront to black community because it represents slavery. Others have said the flag has nothing to do with slavery, but honors the history, heritage and war dead of the Confederacy. Proponents shout that this is the flag of the Confederacy and should be displayed whenever and wherever for it's historical value. In truth, it was never the official flag of the Confederacy. The original flag of the Confederate States of America, commonly known as the "stars and bars", was approved by the Congress of the Provisional Government of the Confederate States, and ( I had to look this up, but knew it to be true, even without the date) first hoisted over the capitol building in Montgomery, Alabama, on the afternoon of the 4th day of March, 1861. It wasn't this flag.

Recently a school in Alabama deflected a proposed ban on any Rebel flag wear or paraphernalia. A pair of lawyers made the absurd proposal of offering classes about the Confederacy to "educate" blacks and other students, who find the battle flag offensive, presumably to convert them into acolytes of "The Lost Cause."

It's an insane proposition, of course, because the people who object to the rebel flag do so precisely because they are educated.

It's easy to imagine the perverse history lessons that would be used to argue that the Confederate battle flag is not a racist symbol. The arguments are old and invalid.
The first is that the Civil War wasn't about slavery -- it was about states' rights -- a premise that conveniently ignores the fact that the Southern states seceded to defend only one right, the one allowing white people to enslave black people.

Then comes the argument that the Confederate battle flag isn't a symbol of disunity because it came along after the initial Southern act of treason -- secession. Instead, it's a symbol of the brave soldiers of the Confederacy, who fought and died for what they believed in (whatever that was). The trouble is, the battle flag's history didn't end with the Civil War. Since then, it's been adopted by hate mongers ranging from the Ku Klux Klan to segregationists who hoisted it over their statehouses (or incorporated it in their state flags - Hello Mississippi) to show their opposition to the civil rights movement.

Aye, there's the rub.

The flag has stopped being a symbol of pride and history. When I see this huge flag flying valiantly off of a pickup truck in Conifer, Colorado..I know damn well what the teenaged driver is saying. And it ain't historical.
It's racist.

[/rant mode]

Amazing Race was awesome. I always feel so bad for the people that get eliminated. This time I actually got teary-eyed. Oh brother. And those damn twins. Someone needs to sabotage them.

It's almost time for the Amazing Race...yee haw. Scoff as ye will, I liketh.

I ran errands galore today, and yet got very little accomplished. I got an Emissions test on the Hyundai, which went fine except when I got to the license plate office, they told me the emissions testing office was supposed to do some VIN Verification or some shit that they didn't do. Which will cost extra... of course. It doesn't really matter because the dealer is Washington DC didn't sign everything he needed to to enable me to get my plates.... thank you very much. So I got a 30 day temporary tag to give me time to sort it out.

Also went by the laundromat with just enough quarters to do 2 loads, and jiminy christmas...I didn't bring any soap. Hellooo! I had to scrounge the car and my planner for 2 more quarters for a tablespoon of soap from the vending machine. Cripes.

Also had to go to the post office (books, books books!) and was supposed to go to the grocery store, but I was so dragged out from all the other stuff that I didn't make it. Tomorrow, maybe.

I removed some links in the blogroll. If you're looking for something that you used to read, email me for the url. I'm hoping susan is cool with me removing easy bake coven, cause I still have her other site linked, and that's the one I actually read most regularly. I love you, Susan..really!

Finally got the Fall pics working. Sheesh.

My first Middle Eastern guest map signer! Hello Dubai!

Oh, and I'm 99% sure I have a sinus infection. Having some fun here.

This-or-That Tuesday (It's already Wednesday, but just barely...)

1. DisneyLand or DisneyWorld? - I've only been to Disneyland, but it sucked. I love Magic Mountain.
2. Amusement park or Themed park? - Definitely Amusement Park
3. Seashore or Mountains? - Mountains, everytime I've been to the ocean it was cold and dirty.
4. Hotel/Motel or rental house? - I love a cheap motel. Seriously.
5. Guided tour or aimless meandering? - Aimless meandering.
6. Drive or Fly or Boat? - I like to fly, but i LOVE roadtrips.
7. Close or far away from home? - Far away
8. Daytrip or by the week? - By the week.
9. Camping in a tent or the Holiday Inn? - Camping, anytime.
10. Rent a car or drive your own? - Hmm, prolly my own. Unless it's the POS and I have fears of not making it there.

Nevermind about the Fall pics, btw. I am having hella trouble with attbi. Bleh. Ftp'ing to blogger plus is great. Effortless, works every time, no problems. Ftp'ing to attbi however seems to ERASE every other picture I've ever uploaded previously. I don't know what the hell to do. For now, I've transferred all blog pics to blogger plus. I wish I was smarter about this crap.

Well brew with Drew was fun. He brought his wife and that made it even more fun, I like her a lot. She teaches kindergarten in Denver.

Mark's busy listing books, I go down there every once in a while and put some away. We're so cramped for shelf space right now..some spaces are capacity, and we can't fit any more books in of authors with certain letters of last names. C's, for example...maxed out completely. S's fill up fast but we've allocated a huge amount of space for them. I know at this point you're all asleep.

I'm trying to add to my Fall pics webpage. Check it out if you're bored enough.

More book buying today. Hit the E. Colfax Sally Army and hauled off about 160 books or so, for about 14$. We woke up this morning to 8 waiting orders, and got three more while packaging those for the post office. Life is good, indeed.

We are meeting Drew at the Cheshire Cat this evening, he's got the last bits of things from my desk at DPL to give me, and said he was in the mood for some fine brit beer. I like Drew a lot, I hope we stay friends, normally you leave a job and never see or talk to those people again. Which in this case, is *fine* with me. I'll be gloating like a mofo this Saturday night while they're all acting like dumbasses at the ball. (By the way, Anne..you might want to show up on time..you have a knack for coming late to your own events. Tacky, very tacky.)

Need to go to the laundromat tomorrow, the washer is on the fritz again...beyond repair we think this time. Amanda has my grandma's old washer that she isn't using that we are going to make arrangements to acquire soon..but for now I wash at the laundromat and dry at home. Do what ya gotta. Also have to go get an extension of my temporary plates for the Elantra tomorrow. Looks like it'll be errand day.

As is the protocol here at MLIAM, I have to shout howdy doo to the guestmap visitors. We're up to 40!

Ms. Mackenzie who says she came here via Fussy, which is cool cause I'm pretty sure Ms. Fussy doesn't read here. Must have been an errant comment or something that got the Mackenzie hopping to here. Cool beans.

Also, Cindy from Holland, no webpage listed. Welcome all! I love when people hop around comments and links and land here. Expecially when they leave a note saying so.

Time to get ready for brew..more fall pics loading up tonight. See ya then..

We've added over 550 books in the past week. I thought I would post a picture of the "library" (which is actually the laundry room) so you can see what 2500 books looks like:




Isn't that fun?!

If anyone's interested, I really want the new Trivial Pursuit 20th Anniversary Edition.

There's just too many bad smells in here tonight.

Last night we lit a fire in the fireplace wihtout opening the flue. Hellooo! The whole house (4 floors, mind you!) filled with smoke and we were seriously having trouble breathing. Flames were licking up the wall of the fireplace into the living room. whee! So now it totally smells like campfire in here.

Now Mark just heated up some delicious chinese food i made the other night, but from up here in the bedroom it smells like someone is boiling B.O.

*sniff.

Daniel's birthday was pretty good. I didn't pick him up in Conifer until nearly 4 (Dan was late) and then we came home and did presents. Cindi took him out to dinner and then came back here for some cake and 'scream. Daniel went off on his bike for a bit and has been in his room with Saves the Day blaring ever since. He said it didn't feel much like his birthday. Guess I shoulda got a clown.

Amanda said I shouldn't call tonight, cause dad was leaving at 4am to go to Nevada to see Jimmy, my stepbrother. She said I should write him a card and ask him to call me. Groan.

Cindi: yeah-- so why don't you call and ask him over for dinner? I'll come.... and so would amanda....
Danelle: im afraid
Cindi: what would be the worst that would happen?
Cindi: you would have tried and then you'd try again another time
Cindi: do you just want to call him and just say hi, or do you want to say other things, or do you want to say you want to change things or what
Danelle: i want to say that not talking to each other is stupid. and i feel stupid for not calling for so long
Cindi: I don't know that I would use the word stupid....
Danelle: i would rather just pick up and go, and never talk about it.


Cindi: ah yes.... welcome to how our family deals with things... avoid the issues at all costs

Danelle: mark and i were talking about it, and the issue here is that there's no issue really.
Danelle: same with mom. It's not like there's an argument that needs to be settled. I just cant stand her negativity
Danelle: and dad was being ridiculously meddling and I got tired of it
Danelle: they both act like im still 12
Cindi: you know there are some people (a lot, actually) that believe the things we find fault with in others are the things we don't like about ourselves
Danelle: i tend to agree..about some things. But im certainly not meddlesome or negative.
if anything im too flippant
Cindi: parents are like that-- everyone's parents
Cindi: bite the bullet and say something
Danelle: thats exactly what i did with mom, made the effort, offered the olive branch. and the response was "yea, whatever".
Cindi: it takes lots of little branches
Cindi: feelings are hurt on both sides so neither person wants to admit they acted immaturely, that's true with just about any relationship
Danelle: well, i dont even have his number
Cindi: 720-***-****
Cindi: so there
Danelle: ugh
Danelle: i just hate the estrangement. i'm fine with dad, mostly. i just cant get over this shit
Danelle: mom makes me insane but i feel so bad for her. i can't imagine me being nearly 70 and none of my kids talking to me. i would be suicidal if i lived her life
Cindi: so remember that when you get to be in your 60s and call your kids every week and bug the heck out of them
Cindi: okay--I need to go
Danelle: ok.
Danelle: thanks
Cindi: may the force be with you
Danelle: bleh.

God, I really need to call my dad. It's his birthday and I haven't talked to him in 2 years..and it's eating me up. Not just today, but everyday. Rarely does a day go by where I don't regret the estrangement. I miss him a lot, and yet I just cant bring myself to pick up the phone. Im so afraid he'll be rude, or dismissive and I will be..what? What will I be? I dunno. Im sitting here stressing about it to the point of tears. I miss him. I know I said that already. Im tired of not talking to him. Im tired of everyone in my family not talking to each other. I tried to make amends with my mom, but it's just not happening. There's too much water under the bridge and she's holding a grudge. Is my dad holding a grudge? I dont know. When I broach Amanda on the subject (she's close with him) she seems a little iffy. She'll say "call him" - and if I say "what if he's like 'yea, whatdya want?'" Her response is "wellll.." Which leaves me with no encouragement to do it whatsoever. Mark thinks writing him an email is a copout. It is, I know..but it's safer. Im so ridiculously afraid to pick up the phone just now. But I so want to. Fuckity fuck fuck fuck.

Heading out for all parts southward. It's Mommy day! Will spend the next 4 hours sitting in the car reading, snacking, dozing and taking pictures. Whee!

Dunno why I'm not blogging. Just blah and bummed out. Had dinner with Mark, Sue, Max and Cindi last night, that was a lot of fun. Boisterous conversation and great brit pub food at the Cheshire Cat (yes, again!).

Since we got home from there and practically up until now, things are really bleh. Weird airs going on.

Katie and I watched One Hour Photo on my pc tonight, pretty good. Subtle, but an interesting premise, I thought. Not very exciting, but still kept our attention.

I know when I am one line blogging it's time to not blog. I might be depressed again, I think.

Tomorrow is Daniel's 15th birthday, and my dad's 69th. Not sure what we're doing yet for Daniel's birthday..he'll be at his dads till mid afternoon, so maybe just some cake and pressies. There's been some strain here and everyone is a little grey-mooded. It's starting to perk up, but slow going. It's just a tough time right now. Everyone is in a money pinch, and there's no light in sight.

Ok, now you can wet yourself. There's also a link for the "Blog Cast In Pictures." Whee-o-rama.

I added another photo page over there --->. Just sky pictures. Don't wet yourself.

I know there's some pictures missing here and there. I'm having trouble. I'll fix it tomorrow. C'mon, it's after 3am!

Oh, this is kinda sexy...

Uriel. You're most like the ArchAngel of Transformation. You like teaching, and bringing the joy of learning new stuff to others. You have limited patience for stupid people despite having an amazing amount of patience otherwise.

Which ArchAngel are you most like?

News: RCA signs record deal with American Idol Runner Up.

Isn't that the way it always is?

I remembered tonight that some weeks ago I suspected my sister had a blog, so I went looking for it. If you know someone's usual user id (usually email id), you can sometimes find their blog. sneaky...I wont divulge any secrets by saying for example, Denny's email address is pagendenman@yahoo.com. It's listed publically on his blog, and probably elsewhere. It's also his yahoo messenger id, also public knowledge. It's his standard id. So if I suspected he had a private blog, I could try www.pagendenman.blogspot.com. And you know what? Bingo, we have a winner. That IS his blog address.

So..when I was suspicious that my sister had a secret blog (lol) I used one of her more common (and public) id's and went to wolfdancer.blogspot.com. What I found wasn't my sister, but was very interesting. It's a guy who is experimenting with polyphasic sleeping. (aka The Uberman's Sleep Schedule, sleeping briefly several times a day to gain longer and more productive awake periods). It was a log of his trying to adjust to minimal sleeping. A website I found says this about polyphasic sleeping:

The Uberman's Sleep Schedule
"...The Uberman's sleep schedule revolves around forcing yourself to rely on six twenty to thirty minute naps spread throughout the day for your daily dose of sleep..."
..."Adjusting to this schedule (as you might imagine) will make you feel like you've put your body and mind through a blender for a few weeks..."
.."The obvious first benefit is more free time. I currently clock in between two hours and fifty minutes and three hours and ten minutes of sleep per twenty four hour period. Compared to my previous sleep cycles (roughly nine hours a night), I have an incredible amount of time to do things that I wished I had time to do before I switched..."

So over at wolfdancer.blogspot.com I found not my sister, but folks who are trying to sleep 3 hours a day and get through life. The blog seems to have been abandoned the blog on September 12. Maybe he's sleeping in...

kt: mm this cofffee is awfully tasty
Danelle: bring me some
kt: hell no

But she did! lol.

Oh well, aren't we having a good time.

Came home from my sister's book fair just in time to see the last part of The Amazing Race. Tramel and Talicia were eliminated..too bad, I really want to see those Harvard girls get booted. bleh.

The fair was uneventful, a few people in and out. I was surprised how much money some of these parents spent on books. Sheesh, half.com people! Mostly I worked on Cindi's blog. No small feat considering I have never used an iMac before. I will henceforth be calling it an iAck, thank you very much. I did what I could there, but became so frustrated..that I had to finish at home. Go check it out..it's coolio. She reads most of you, now you all be nice and do the same.

My sister's library was fun, as expected. She always had a knack for dressing up a classroom. She was a bit grouchy at first cause she thought someone had stolen a $25 light up Broncos hat, but then later someone found it..so that was a relief.

The kids are out of school until next Tuesday. 'Fall Break'. Fall Break? What the hell is that? It's called "Teachers Need a Break" is what it is. "Dear Parents. We've had your students for a few weeks now and they're driving us crazy. Please keep them at home for a few days."

It's getting so close to Halloween, one of my favorite holidays. Some of the neighbors have decorated their houses so it looks like this is a "trick or treat friendly" place to be. Remember last year, not one damn person came to my apartment. We called it Hallowasn't. Emma will have a good time charming the neighbors out of their stash.

Oh no. Katie and Charlie are making coffee.

Just got home from Salvation Army again, 100 more books or so. Gotta get ready to go to my sister's school and help with the book fair. I need to eat. I need to shower. I am uninspired. I can't find my jeans.

One more. But the *only* reason this was me because the questions pertained to being stuck in an elevator!

Which Sesame Street Muppet Are You?

What Drink Are You?

Hmm, everything except the criticising part...

"Yes yute, see a nice ting fe you deh...."

I've just found this absolutely fun blog. "The Dr. Is In." Delve into the daily doings and craziness that make up the life of a Jamaican Dermatologist.

And speaking of "let me spy on you while you're at work"..I am loving deadmousedotnet. He is a 911 dispatcher (like my friend Tom) and he relates so many funny stories from his job. Whenever I'm brave enough I try to get Tom to tell me stories like this, but he's always "blah blah, it's not interesting" and yet I find it fascinating. I love to hear recounts and anecdotes of real people at their worst. I can watch Cops, and World's Worst (insert something here) all day long. Ditto with any r/l medical show. Paramedics, Trauma (Oh, I love that show).

Does that explain any of my obsessions with Survivor, The Amazing Race, Big Brother, Anna Nicole and the Osbournes? I eat that shit up. I was never an addictive TV viewer. In the past I watched it whenever there was nothing else to do, with the exception of St. Elsewhere LA Law, and Seinfeld.

But now, good god. Someone will ask me to go somewhere on a certain day, and I have to think what TV night that is. Some shows are "tapeable" and some are not. Fear Factor..can tape that, Survivor..cannot. That's why I am helping at my sister's Book Fair tomorrow, and not Thursday.

Reality Blogs and Reality TV. Im hooked.

Whee it works, Im a genius.

Playing around with ftp'ing and I really have no idea what I'm doing. Here's an attempted picture of my sister:

We did not make it to the condo. We got a late start and then Mark started listening to Kate Bush and well, that was that.

But we did make it to the post office and Salvation Army. Books were $2 a bag today. We got about 120 books or so, for $12. Fun in a bun. Should boost sales up quite a bit.

Daniel finally got his mtn bike fixed, he was having such troubles. He gets so frustrated and I feel bad for him, but I really can't do anything, except encourage him..and that just doesn't go very far. So he just took off for the bike hills and parts unknown. That kid lives on that bike.

My friend Karen won a 1968 Corvette in Blackhawk (gambling town 30 miles up the road in the mtns) last weekend. I'm glad for her, she's been on disability for a few years after a bad car accident and supplements that meager income with winnings from gambling. She loses sometimes too, but surprisingly, she does pretty well. She had the option of taking cash (about $45K I think) for the car instead, but she kept the car for her hubby Greg (pant pant) cause he's a total gearhead and has supported her for all these years. What a win, eh?

Time to check the chicken. Southern Fried tonight, tater tots and corn on the cob. Sheesh, you'd think I was cooking for my family in Gastonia.

I'm so irritated today at people. And I'm probably just as guilty of the things I am bitching about.

People are sneaky, underhanded and selfish. And 'just desserts' isn't very yummy sometimes, but oh how I wanna serve some up.

No comments. Where are my comments?

We are going to Mark's condo today, hopefully for the last time before it gets listed for sale. Great condo in DTC for sale! Get it while it's hot!

Am sitting at my messy desk enjoying a tall cup of coffee and some good music that Amanda turned me onto, Josh Groban. Surfing blogs, and monitoring online auctions, etc. Life is pretty good.

Found on the web...Captions, anyone?

My sister has a blog, finally! I added it to the rolls over there.

She PASSED!!!

Mark is out letting Kt have some practice before her driving test at 4. I'm so glad, cause I just can't take it. He just called me to find a certain street:

"Where's Harlan at?"
"It's between Sheridan and Wadsworth"
"Ok, I thought it was east of Sheridan." (muffling) "Get in the right lane, why are you in the left lane? Get in the right lane, we need to turn right. Don't stop in the middle of the street, get over. Watch out. Ok, turn right"
Click

Groan.

Inspired by Jennifer, I made a page of the fall scenery I've been taking pictures of as we drive to Fairplay each week. I forgot to put a "back to the blog" link, so hit your back button to return.

Check it out.
Fall 2002 in Colorado.

Katie takes her driving test in 14 hours. Good god. I'm not ready.

A buncha pictures from the last couple of days...and a look inside the life of a 21 year old anal retentive. They're not too large, but if you're on dialup, go get a cup of coffee.




Amanda hanging out looking cute...




Showing off her "shoes and accessories" closet...




Her sage green bathroom...



And her sage green vacuum that matches her sage green bedroom...




She has a minor obsession with "Bath and Body Works"...




Amanda and Katie




They finally let Daniel be in a picture too...


More later...Gotta check out Cindi's blog!!!

And a big wave to "Captain Chuck" and Miss Jodi who popped in and were kind enough to load up the guestmap some more. Hooowdeee!

Oh man, Katie and Charlie made some good coffee last night. We were all up past 3am, including Katie. Mark and I finally got to sleep somewhere around 4:15 after tossing and turning, chatting, and whatever. We decided no more Starbutts at 12:30am.

It's been a nice lazy day so far. Daniel isn't home from his friend's house yet, but he called to check in. That's always been one thing my kids have been really good about is "checking in." When they were younger and would go out and about for the day, the rule was to check in every couple of hours. It was so funny, they would race home, not even open the door, but press their faces to the screen door and holler "CHECKING IN!!" They'd wait for my "ok!" and race away. Last night, it got to be about 11:15 and I hadn't heard from Katie, which was unusual and I was just finishing a sentence to Mark saying "It's odd that Katie hasn't checked in yet..." when the front door opened and there they were. If she leaves early in the day with Charlie, like today I can expect to hear from her around 8pm or so. She's always been really good about it, that's why I knew something was horribly wrong the day she ran away for 4 days. Ack, I can't think about that time. I feel like that was another person's life.

My kids have never had a staunch curfew as much, I just need to know where they are and what time they expect to be home. I've drilled into their heads that if they expect to be later, or end up somewhere than where they originally told me they'd be, to have the courtesy to call. And for the most part, they've been awesome about it. Daniel falters sometimes, but not very often.

Ok, time to brush my sweatery teeth and get ready for the 4 hours on the road for midge transfer. The crow flies at midnight. (Oh, and Anna Nicole's on at 8 - lol).

Last night we went and met englishman in denver. What a hoot!

We went to the Pearl Street Grill and had a really nice time. He and Mark are both transplanted Brits, brought here by the same company. They had a lot in common, talked a lot about the UK and people they knew in common. And of course my wildest fear was confirmed, he knew SheWhoWillNotBeNamed. Neither one had much good to say about her, which made it tolerable.

I'm not sure what he thought of us, but we liked him a lot.

***************
Daniel ended up not going to Dans, but is spending the night at a friend's. Yes, you read that correctly. He has found a friend in "Nick" aka Marshmallow. They've been riding bikes together and hanging out together a lot. I'm so glad..and he seems nice. And normal.

Supposedly, Daniel is going to Dan's next weekend, to spend the whole weekend. I'll believe it when I see it. Amanda said Dan didn't call her on her birthday or anything. Niiice.

Emma goes home tomorrow, she just got here on Friday, short week this week cause she had a fun field trip on Thursday that went late into the day down at her mom's. It feels like she's hardly ever here anymore, but I'm glad she's in school during the week, it's so good for her. I can't believe she'll be in kindergarten in 10 months or so!

Katie and Charlie just made coffee.....better go get some before it's all gone.

I'm always a little melancholy after I see Amanda.

She's all grown up, I feel like I'm outside looking in at her life. She has a wonderful apartment, lots of friends, a faith that holds her up, and a life with someone she loves and who loves her.

I'm so proud of her. So why does that make me so incredibly sad.

The house is a frenzy of activity, everyone getting ready to leave for the day. We're all heading to Amanda's first to have some birthday fun, then Mark, emma and I are going to Michele's, Daniel is going to his dads, and Katie is going elsewhere with Charlie of course. It's practically like leaving for a trip, the way everyone is running around packing bags, backpacks, Emma's stuff, etc. Crazy.

Time to go. more later.

Happy Birthday Susan!

I thought I had a great idea. Apparently, I'm an idiot.

Daniel is forever working on his bikes. There's always some niggly thing wrong here or there, and he really has no clue what he's doing. Once we took it up to the bike shop to see how much they would charge to help him thread a brake cable and they said it would take about 2 minutes, but be $10. Stupid. He finally did it himself, with a little help from his dad, who is generally no help at all. Mark tries to help him when he can, but he doesn't know all that much about bikes, and generally ends up being frustrated with Daniel.

So I called the bike shop with what I thought was a great idea. I said "my son is 14, and loves to work on bikes, but he really doesn't know what he's doing. Would it be possible for him to come in maybe 1 afternoon a week and "apprentice" as a volunteer, to learn?"
"No."

Oookaayy, then.

Nobody wants to help out a kid anymore.

I noticed the other day that the grannies (our landlords) have started using the same last name. It was no secret that they were "life partners" from the day we met them, but then yesterday on the water bill I noticed they were both going by the same last name now. I wondered how they decided who's last name to make "primary". I've always thought "E" was the more dominant partner, she is always the business like one, kinda crotchety and grouchy. The leader of the two, that was obvious. But they picked "C's" last name. All in all, I thought it was cool.

It's 12:30 pm. Do you know where your crock pot is?

I have 3 crock pots that don't belong to me. I've had them since Mark's birthday party in May. People brought food, then left them behind. I've moved them here to our new house and have them tucked in a little-used cupboard.

One of them is my best friend Michele's, and we're going over to her house on Saturday, so I told her I'd bring it.

"Which one is yours?"
"Um...I have no idea"
"Well, what does it look like?"
"I can't remember"
"You don't know what your crock pot looks like?"
"No."

So I IM my friend Sue, who's crock pot I also have.

"Hey, do you know which one of these crock pots I have is yours?"
"Oh, you have my crock pot?"
grr.
"Yes, do you remember what it looks like, I have several"
"no."

So since no one knows or cares what their crock pot looks like, they all just get one at random.

Know your crockpot.

Well this is more than a little embarassing. Thank you, alan, dear.


What kind of porno would you star in?

Don't freak out. I've removed a couple of links. Some have seemingly stopped posting, others were well...just cause. I seem to not feel so bad about removing those that apparently don't read here. I assume that if someone does read here, my link appears somewhere on their reads. Is that presumptious? Is it bitchy? Or is it just good manners? Or do we just get into that whole blog whore 'i linked you so you have to link me' mess. I really want no part of that. I guess what Im saying is I've stopped reading them for some reason, and since they never linked me anyway...ppfftt.

Things We Would Never Know If It Wasn't For The Movies

`During all police investigations it will be necessary to visit a strip club at least once.
`All telephone numbers in America begin with the digits 555.
`If being chased through town, you can usually take cover in a passing parade - at any time of the year.
`All beds have special L-shaped cover sheets which reach up to the armpit level on a woman but only to waist level on the man lying beside her.
`All grocery shopping bags contain at least one stick of French Bread.
`Once applied, lipstick will never rub off - even while scuba diving.
`The ventilation system of any building is the perfect hiding place. No one will ever think of looking for you in there and you can travel to any other part of the building you want without difficulty.
`You're very likely to survive any battle in any war unless you make the mistake of showing someone a picture of your sweetheart back home.
`Should you wish to pass yourself off as a German officer, it will not be necessary to speak the language. A German accent will do.
`The Eiffel Tower can be seen from any window in Paris.
`A man will show no pain while taking the most ferocious beating but will wince when a beautiful woman tries to clean his wounds.
`If a large pane of glass is visible, someone will be thrown through it before long.
`The Chief of Police is always black.
`When paying for a taxi, don't look at your wallet as you take out a bill - just grab one at random and hand it over. It will always be the exact fare.
`If staying in a haunted house, women should investigate any strange noises in their most revealing underwear.
`Word processors never display a cursor on screen but will always say: Enter Password Now.
`A single match will be sufficient to light up a room the size of RFK Stadium.
`Medieval peasants had perfect teeth.
`It is not necessary to say hello or good-bye when beginning or ending phone conversations.
`Even when driving down a perfectly straight road it is necessary to turn the steering wheel vigorously from left to right every few moments.
`All bombs are fitted with electronic timing devices with large red readouts so you know exactly when they're going to go off.
`A detective can only solve a case once he has been suspended from duty.
`Most laptop computers are powerful enough to override the communication systems of any invading alien civilization.
`It does not matter if you are heavily outnumbered in a fight involving martial arts - your enemies will wait patiently to attack you one by one by dancing around in a threatening manner until you have knocked out their predecessors.
`When they are alone, all foreigners prefer to speak English to each other.
`You can always find a chainsaw when you need one.
`Television news bulletins usually contain a story that affects you personally at that precise moment.

So Mark is reloading my machine, he's in the bedroom with the door shut...that means stay out. lol

We watched 'Vivor and had a good laugh about everything going on. That Ghandia. She needs to *go*. So many people on the other team that need to vamoose, also. I was hoping Rob would get his just desserts, but not this time. And that immunity challenge, I know those people (at least some of them) had played Towers of Hanoi before. I think Shi said it best "I could have done that in my sleep." Yet they lost. Threw the game if you ask me. Cause it was time to weed the herd.

Looks like we'll be hooking up with the englishman in denver soon. Will be fun to meet a fellow blogger and someone with whom Mark has so much in common. Both British, both transferred to the US by the same company, neither employed there now. I guess I'll bring a book. lol.

Today is Amanda's 21st brithday. I called her about 6 different times, playing various "happy birthday" mp3's on her machine. The Beatles, Mickey Mouse, Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, etc. She called me back, reminding me that now we can go to Vegas together. Whee! I love Vegas. We're all going over to her apartment on Saturday to do some celebrating.

Back to the couch...

It always feels weird when you've previously been on somone's blogroll or daily reads or whatever...and then you notice they've taken you off. I'm not offended at all, it just made me wonder why. I take people off for any number of reasons. They've gotten boring, gotten too political, they don't post enough, etc. Mostly because they don't post enough. I read blogs several times a day, and if someone posts less than once a week, chances are they're gone soon. I also start looking at the blogroll sometimes and say "ooh, that's too many." I actually read several more blogs than I have posted here.

So anyway, thats my ponderance for the day.

If someone asks for your number, and you don't want them to have it, don't get all flustered and embarassed trying to a)save face and b) remember someone's number that you hate. Just give them the number to the rejection hotline. A seemingly reasonable phone number will tell the caller this:
"Hello, this is not the person you were trying to reach. This is (insert city name here) Denver's rejection hotline, because the person that gave you this number did not want you to have their real number."
The message goes on to insult the caller profusely, finally saying that "possibly going out with you is as attractive as playing leap frog with unicorns"

I have memorized Denver's rejection hotline number.

Well, today we had gran intentions for getting up early and getting some things done. Then we stayed up till 4 am, and all that went out the window. We rolled out of bed near 1pm, just when the grannies showed up to get an assessment on the house, so they can re-fi. Mark thought they were coming tomorrow and we were totally caught unprepared. The house was clean except for our bedroom tho, everything on the floor went right in the closet and it looked fine.

We dallied around till the kids got home from school and took Katie driving again. Sally Army has clothes for 75 cents on Wednesdays and Katie was dying to go over there. She found enough stuff to total 11 dollars! We hit the grocery store and came home just in time for Enterprise.

We made my famous Nachos for dinner (An entire block of Velveeta, a jar of chunky salsa, a can of no bean chili, a tub of sour cream - crock pot, one hour - to die for), made a fire in the fireplace and watched the season premiere of The Amazing Race. We were so happy that the soccer moms lost. Yee Haw. Any team that calls themselves the 'soccer moms' deserves to leave with their tail between their legs.
"We're so happy, we set a goal for ourselves and we did it. We always tell our kids they can be anything they want, just look at us!"
Um, hi. You just lost. On the first day. sheesh.

Then we made coffee and retreated to our respective computers to do..whatever.

Life is fabulous.

This blog said that Florence Henderson died 3 days ago. I can't find any other evidence of that anywhere. Has anyone else heard this? I've checked the Dead People Server, and they are always up to the minute with who's dead and who isn't. Damn. She wasn't even on my list.

Some people are only walking the earth because it is illegal to shoot them.

I have been in a shit-assed mood all day and it is not getting any better with time. I'm starting fights, crabbing at everyone, and generally just being a bitch.

As you were.

More fun visitors to the guestmap to be recognized.

John Wilson has a fabulous site all about Colorado, I found him through Trent's guestmap. Amazing pictures, and a plethora of information. Colorado's commissioned sites don't have this much info.
Also, I don't know where they found me but Elsa and Adrian from Canada came by and left me a very complimentary note. Thanks, guys!
And last but not least, Desiree (also from Canada) gave me a shout from way up north.

"Helloooo everybody!"
(movie reference, who knows it?)

We're all finally feeling better, so we got out and about today and got some errands done. Post office (It's like 3x a week), and then to two different Sally Army's for books. Certain days certain stores have books for $1 a bag, or there abouts. So we picked up $11 worth of books (a lot) and then came home and listed them. One of them has already listed for 80 bucks, so it's been a good day.

Katie drove all the way to Northglenn and didn't do too bad. She even had to deal with some quick merges and construction back-ups. Her test is Monday. I didn't pass the first time, and neither did Amanda, so we'll see what happens. Amanda actually got into an accident in the parking lot before her driving test started. You'd have to know Amanda to believe this...all true.

Now just sitting down to sip some coffee and see what's on the tube. It's been raining buckets since mid afternoon, which is good because the new watering restrictions went into effect today. No watering. At all. Ever. Man, the golf courses are green tho.

Testing. I think blogger is having a brain fart.

Well, I would venture to say that library folks are spending more time here than I ever did at work. BD, you really should secure a copy of my site meter reports and referral listings to see for yourself. You'd be amazed at the amount of time and energy your minions are spending here. The '144,000 beans and counting' mistress would be writing severance checks till her arms fell off if you only knew. Oh, no she wouldn't cause she's too busy on the god damned phone talking to her muttley children. Eeek. Thems some scary ass kin. So, in this vein - Here's a little something...just fer you all:

I hope you're so thrilled with your sad pathetic selves. I've almost shaken off all the cooties, myself. You'll never really know the extent of the damage. (To me, or from me? Which will it be?) Chew on it for a while.
There are things going on right now..that you still have no idea about, regarding people that are still there. Things that could rock your literary world.
A campaign is in order. And so it shall be.

Stay tuned.

Ok. Enough of that. I know most of you dear genuine readers are just lost. That's ok. They are too.

Some very interesting employment irons in the fire. New and different. And maybe working together. Hey, how about that.

I've added a link or two over there. I can't stop. I refuse to be one of those people who link a billion people, but these are just so good. An englishman living in Denver is..well just what it says it is. The crazy thing is, is that he worked at the SAME place Mark worked at when he first came over. Laid off since then, but the coincidence is uncanny.

Also, jhames who is just plain damn fun. Also in Denver.

Whee!