"11,000 major characters, most of whom have hard-to-remember names like ''Flagodirt'' or ''Grempkin...''

It would appear that Dave Barry is hosting his blog at blogspot. I'm loving it.

Go read his parody of LOTR. Funneee..

Ugh, I'm so full I could burst. BBQ ribs, scalloped potatoes and home made crab salad. Throw in a diet coke and you've got dinner. Now we've got coffee brewing, I'm hoping it will bring on the digestion. I decided I have entirely too much food here to ask to go out to dinner.

Emma likes her new glasses, but has already taken them off a couple of times and left them "elsewhere"..thinking we wont notice I think. We got a little purple glasses case for them, and she's as thrilled with that as anything else. She has said several times how much better she can see now. I'm so glad about that. The optometrist recommended that she wear them with an elastic strap. She said based on the Rx, they're necessary to wear all the time..so we might go looking for one of those tomorrow.

I went to arc by myself, just needing the "time"..you know. and found a couple of really rare pyrex bowls that I'm gonna slap on ebay tomorrow. I'm happy about it, I've strayed away from my ebay selling, but now that the bedroom's clean I can move around and work in here, and it's time to get back in the swing. I did just recently sell the 10 old pyrex cups I got way back when in Monte Vista for $27. (I paid $1.75) That's fun in a moldy bun.

What else, i dunno.

I think I've got Amanda's flowers lined up for the wedding, pending approval from the neurotic bride, of course. Not bad, I think I called around enough to find a pretty good deal, and I really like the owner of the shop. That's important, isn't it?

It's Friday, why doesn't it feel like Friday. I think we need to go out to dinner or something. Emma loves the Chinese Buffet up the street. Wonder if we can talk Daddy into it.....

Just breaking news...

Police are investigating a bomb threat called in to the WalMart at 92nd and Sheridan. (About 3 miles away.) All entrances to the parking lot have been blocked and the store has been evacuated.

But what you don't understand is the entrance to the parking lot is always blocked. You can't get in or out of there. Ever. Amanda was stuck there at Christmas for 45 minutes, called me crying cause she couldnt get out. It's the poorest designed parking lot in history.

So, if WalMart blows up, we'll have Qtips, Nicorette and Old Roy dog food from here to kingdom come. Could be fun.

School registration, Emma's new glasses, Clean the kitchen, setting up meetings at schools, fill book orders, take a shower, post office, ACT test set up, Amanda's flowers. Ack..it's a busy day.

Laura, your site is not numbing. This one is. And for God's sakes, This one offers to help you build your website for you. For money. Would you pay these people?

It is 3:13. Why am I up. i don't know.

I've been reading up about my sister's upcoming gall bladder surgery. Not fun not fun not fun. Dunno if she's having the laparoscope version or the full incision dealie. Some sites say 4-5 days in the hospital, some say home same day. We need information.

I'm feeling better. But I'm listening to Tool, so how good can it be, really.

I've been working so hard on web pages, and getting them transferred over to my new place in space, and I just can't do it. I don't know what I'm doing wrong and I'm feeling increasingly stupid. I spend 2 hours on something and it goes nowhere. I'm really not smart enough for this. Im frustrated and feeling hopeless.

Martha Stewart has gotten fat.

A horrible, terrible no-good very bad day.

I don't feel well, and it's getting worse.

Just achy, crabby, and generally blah. Maybe that accounts for my bitchfest last night. Ah, who knows.

I just made a fire and gonna go zone waiting for American Idol. btw, I Just started reading this book called "Endangered Minds" and it's enforcing my feelings about turning off the tv as much as humanly possible. Of course it's entirely possible to turn it off completely, but I don't think that's realistic. What I've found most interesting is numerous warnings and descriptions of the "glass-eyed child" The zoned-out look that children get when they watch tv. This is actually a very detrimental condition, and one not to be favored, by any means. It looks like a positive thing, "oooh, look at his attention span!"... but in reality it's not a good thing at all. Children's brain waves during a tv/movie 'zone out' period are actually markedly dulled, and in this certain state, they lose an enormous amount of important brain cells, a state comparable to a senior citizen whose brain cells have stopped absorbing information. Their brains essentially go to sleep. There is only a slight increase in brain activity when children are watching "learning tv".

I've only read information about this regarding children, but Im sure the same must be true for adults, albeit maybe less so..i dont know. it's definately something I want to keep reading about. Maybe there will be a show about it..on tv.

I've said before, sometimes I like to write people who's blogs I'm enjoying. (Or is it whose blogs I'm enjoying...? Dy? Trish?)

And..as I've also said before..the emails aren't always well received...or maybe I should say they just don't seem to be received at all, because at least 1/2 the time, I never get a response back. Who doesn't respond an email that someone took the time to sit and compose? My goodness people.. if busy people take the time to write and say they like what you're doing, have some common sense and say thanks. (Or you could be sarcastic and snarky like some other people..)anyway..that's not even my point. ...and I do have one...

In addition, if I find a "bad" blog, I want to write to those people too. I want to write and say - (These are actual comments I've thought of sending...)

"Your layout is numbing..."
"Who are these people you're talking about, I've been reading for 2 months and I'm still lost.."
"Is this an abandoned blog?"
"Your text is atrocious.. what is that?"

And 9 times out of 10 I got to this horrible blog through a link on someone else's blog so I want to write to the referrer too and ask them
"Are you really reading this crap?"

I would never ever send it..but man I think about it. I compose the letter in my head, and it seems so appropriate..and then it seems mean. I've even thought about having a blogrolling list of blogs to avoid, and blogs I hate. But I always think better of it. I would be sad if someone did that to me, cause we're all just trying to find a place here, kinda.

But damn, some of these really suck.

Something dumb, cause I'm bored.

[Current Clothes ] A new shirt I got at Arc yesterday that i love. Jeans, and socks.
[ Current Mood ] bored as shit, headachy
[ Current Music ] New Found Glory
[ Current Make-up ] eyeliner and mascara
[ Current Hair ] cute half pony tail
[ Current Annoyance] Daniel is stalling and bitching about putting the dishes away.
[ Current Desktop Picture ] One I took on the way to Fairplay
[ Current thing I ought to be doing ] Cleaning the kitchen
[ Current Book ] Am reading two books (as usual) "Breathing Lessons" by Anne Tyler and "The Everything Wedding Book"
[ Current Refreshment ] Ice Water
[ Current Beau ] aww...Mark
[ Current Favorite Celebrity ] Hmm..gotta be Nick Cage.
[ Last Person You Touched ] Mark (hug..mm)
[ Last Person You Talked to ] Daniel
[ What You Said ] "Please unload the dishes before you go to bed"
[ Last Person You Hugged ] Mark
[ Last PersonYou Instant messaged ] Mark
[ Last Person You Yelled At ] Mark (hee)
[ Last Person You Kissed ] Mark
[ Last Person You Ignored ] Hmm, I don't really do the "ignore" thing. I yell at people, then get over it.
[ Last Person Who Broke Your Heart ] Katie, talking about how she can't wait to move out. Not in a mad or bad way...but it breaks my heart to think of her not being here.

So there ya go. Now I'm bored again.

I had to run some unpleasant errands today, and while I was gone Mark cleaned the bedroom. This was a huge monumental task, let me tell you. While he was tidying etc I cleaned out my closet and I have two bags of clothes to donate to.. where else..Sally's Army of course. I'm ashamed to admit one skirt still has an ARC tag on it! Now if I can just keep from buying my old clothes back...

Im just tickled to death that my bedroom is tidy. he's been doing laundry all day, load after load after load, and is so diligent about bringing each dry load and putting it away immediately. I know! I know! It's fabulous. He's such a good cheerer upper.

We had a nice dinner alone, which is always a treat. Now I'm just waiting till Curious George is done blathering so I can see the last American Idol auditions. It may turn out to be an ok day after all.

Bill collectors do not care that you stayed up until 4am worrying about things when they call you at 8:10 on a Tuesday morning.

I have an intense headache, I've had very little sleep, and I feel shitty about life and the universe in general.

Im depressed and bummed out. I want things I can't have. I want to provide things to the people that I love that I can't. I want to have some fun, and I'm not. I'm sad and weepy and feeling lower than low.

Hectic day, it seems.

Katie called from school and wanted to go to Target, so i had to get up and get my butt in gear. We went there, and then to arc. Great fun. Katie is fun to shop with, as I've said before. We laughed a lot and bought lots of junk you buy at Target but don't really need.

Came home and had to rush to the post office before Katie had to take the car to work. Mark is sick, so he's out of commission book-work-wise. Since then I've cleaned the kitchen and cleaned off my desk here up in the bedroom. no small feat, let me tell you. But it had gotten so bad, I ddin't have anywhere to even put a cup of coffee. there's so many things around the house that just dont have a "place" ...know what I mean? I hate the kind of stuff.

I'm off to plant myself in front of the 27" for Fear Factor and Joe Millionaire. Fun in a whole-wheat bun.

Here's something silly I've been playing with. A United States map of places I've been. Pretty darn pathetic, really...that I haven't seen more of this country. I'm working on a page with photos and journaling on the visits I've had in some of the states.

(Purple - states i've only driven through)
(Pink - states I've stayed overnight or vacationed in)
(Green - states where I have family)

Well, tonight is the big anniversary celebration. We're going back to the original place where we had our first date...Mark's idea. He's really much more romantic than he gives himself credit for.

I've been pulling and labeling, and filing books. Sunday is just another work day around here. I didn't go along on the midget drop, which I think was a good thing. I feel like I got a lot done around here.

We may be moving cyber homes soon, I've been graciously given my own domain and free hosting...with an additional promise of a Moveable Type move for the old blog here. The domain name is fabulous, if I do say so myself. Some people are just too damn nice.

Because Jodi said so, I checked out Vienna Teng's music, and I'm hooked. Downloaded a bunch tonight, and getting ready to make a CD. Whee!

Other than that, I'm bored and boring. Katie is at the movies with charlie, Mark and I rented "Unfaithful" so we might watch that later. We'll see. Dropping off the midget tomorrow then heading out for our 'anniversary'.

More later maybe, I'm restless right now.

Nell Carter died. Wow. I took down my deathwatch list, cause I hadn't made a new one for '03. Makes me wonder who else will sign the guest register this year. Bob Hope? Jerry Lewis? I hope not, I love Jerry Lewis...but he does look absolutely miserable.

I am so hopelessly, incredibly bored.

I've been wondering...does Munchausen by Proxy only affect mothers? You only ever see women doing this. It's a bizarre condition.

We had some fun and games tonight regarding lying. Kids get away with a lot of it, certainly. But once in a while there's an opportunity for a lesson. Tonight Emma looked me straight in the eyes and told me a bold-faced lie. And even with that cutie patootie little fudge-a-licious face, sometimes a line has to be drawn.

Daddy had told her "no more tv for today"...which she pouted about initially but realized soon that resistance is futile. A little while later I noticed her in her room, fiddling with a tape in the VCR, and the tv was on. I said "Whatcha doing?" and she said "I'm watching Cinderella".

"You are?"
"yup...do I hafta rewind it?"
"Did Daddy tell you that you could come and watch a movie?"
"yep."
"What did he say?"
"He said go upstairs and you can watch a movie"

I knew this was a lie for 2 reasons. First, I know Mark wouldn't go back on something he said like "When this show is over, no more tv." If he said that, he means it and he will follow through. Also, he never would have sent her upstairs to watch a movie alone, without some assistance with the VCR. She knows how to do it herself, but he always comes up with her anyway..to make sure. If a movie does need rewinding, that's the part that always gives her trouble.

I said:
"I'm going to go ask Daddy if he said you could watch a movie, ok?"
"Noo..!" (Now she tried to block me from going downstairs, where daddy was...)
"Noo, nell..."

So she faced the judge jury and executioner and had to admit to Mark that she outright lied to my face. She knew that she'd told a lie, cause she knew that moment when she'd been caught. She didn't get in trouble, she just had to go back to what she was originally supposed to be doing..which was "playing something else.." after a Mark style 'talking to'. Heh. He never ever raises a hand to her, which is a different approach than I took with my kids..but fair dues to him he makes it work. The simple change in tone of his voice and the calm, even, cadence of the reprimand is enough to even make me turn an ear when I hear it.

I went up to her room after about 5 minutes and asked her if she wanted to paint or read, or something. We painted at the kitchen table for a good long while and I tried to explain to her we wanted to turn the tv off not cause we were punishing her, but that we felt she would have more fun doing things like...painting. And sometimes someone will paint with you, and sometimes it's nice just find things to do on your own. After a few pictures she took a long toy-filled bath..and now is happier than a pig in shit.

My day got considerably better, due to many things. First, I put on some music. Dunno what it is about listening to music, but it is a definate mood thing with me. I know what music lifts me up, and I know what music makes me mellow, and I know what to put on when I'm sad. So I loaded up winamp and chatted to my friend Alan, the second part of my pick-me-up. Alan and I have been chat buddies for 3.5 years. And it's not someone I occasionally say "hey" to. We talk for a significant amount of time almost every day. We'll probably never meet, but it really doesn't matter. I doubt if we could be better friends, even if we met.

We've been through hell and high water together, and through everything I went through with Mark in the early days...Alan was the only one that kept telling me to hang on..hang on..hang on. I know he saw me sad and depressed and lonely, and occasionally it got so bad he broke down and suggested that maybe it was time to put some distance between me and Mark and move on. (Advice I never listened to.) But for the most part he nudged me along, every single day and helped me stay strong when my dignity and my strength was at all-time lows. He told me something that he probably doesn't even remember, but it stayed in my mind, and every time I wanted to give up, the words always came back. He said "When all is said and done, he'll see you're still standing there".

And it really was true. Mark and I were both floundering and trying to find that perfect someone..not seeing it in each other. We did eventually, but it took a long time to get there. Alan truly was the only person that kept me feeling like there was hope. I have tears in my eyes just thinking about how special of a friend he is to me and remembering everything we've gone through together.

I really do love you Alan, and I wanted to tell you thanks, buddy. You're one of the best friends I've ever had.

As much as I love love love the people in my life...sometimes I just really really want to be alone for a time. An hour, an afternoon..even a whole day. But that's really not an option when you have a family. Today I just feel like I'm on the edge of my seat, waiting for someone to bother me a little too much. I just really want to be solo today.

You know..i don't know.

Is it me? I wrote someone an email about their blog. "Hi, how ya doin, nice blog..etc" this person also happened to be in colorado, so I wrote something about coming out with the cologgers, etc.

Nothing. No response, no "how ya doin" not even a "go to hell".

Then they write in their blog that they are banning someone for leaving "chicken shit anonymous comments".

One's no worse than the other, if you ask me.

I made angel food cake. One word of advice...use a proper pan. I have angel food droppings all over the bottom of my oven..which smell really really bad...and the cake looks like Mt St. Helen's.

I hope you all are reading the diet chick. I've been following her progress from the beginning of her weight loss campaign till now, where she's nearly 60 pounds lighter and just beginning to put herself on the line and start dating again. We could all learn something from her, in one way or another.

My new best friend Adam is a hero. I helped him with a minor "sumthin sumthin" and he did me a favor of magnitude proportions. Thanks, Adam.

I'm so having a "Brock" moment.

Bllleehhhh. I could never clean houses for a living. We spent about 4 hours over at Mark's condo tonight, cleaning cleaning cleaning. That place looks like a god damn show home. It was pretty bad, worse than we remembered. When you start wiping the nooks and crannies you realize how dirty it really gets. And once you wipe one corner, you pretty much have to do it all. We are completely tuckered out.

Here's something weird, we got an order today for a book called "Act Now, Apologize Later, by Adam Werbach. And guess who ordered the book? Adam Werbach. Now why would that be? Why is an author ordering his own books? Is he disgusted that they are being sold on the "half" market? Does he want to round up all the copies floating around? Wouldn't he have access to as many copies as he could ever possibly use? Mark says "Maybe he never read it." heh.

On the reccomendation of the presurfer, I went to Virtual Models and made a model of myself. You punch in all pertinent information about your body type, hair, weight, etc...and get a virtual image of yourself for your viewing pleasure. Here's my virtual model (but where's her "I've had 3 kids" belly?):

While Mark and I were driving around today we saw a "guy with a sign" on the corner that said:

"Please help! Homeless. 3 kids, wife recently died trying to get a room".

We made more than a couple of jokes, and laughed like crazy. We decided we should go to jail like the Seinfeld folks, for being bad Samaritans.

See, what did I tell you. Schatze was not gonna be a happy camper.

He's always been a surly, irritated feline that couldn't care less if we existed. And now he's letting us know what he thinks of our little adventure today...by pooping and peeing in several of Katie's shoes tonight.

He's pissed.

Well, just when I was about to go downstairs and got messaged from my old buddy S. who is getting a divorce from his wife. I met them both just before I got divorced, I was looking for some people just to go out and do stuff with, and met them online. We had a lot of fun together, but A. (the wife) just starting to explore some sexual avenues that started taking up more and more of their time, so we sorta kinda started drifting apart. Also the fact that S. wanted a one-on-one relationship with me behind her back and I just wasn't up for that. He and I did see each other a few times for breakfast and whatnot, but eventually it petered out, and we only chatted online now and then.

Then...awhile back, S. chats me up online and wants to see me. He and A. had decided to divorce because she's decided she wants to be with women full-time. Can you believe it?! I won't tell you what he does, but he has a great job, makes very good money, and is more than just a little cute. So 3 months ago he chats me up, wanting to start dating. But..obviously..I'm not available any longer. Whee. It's feast or famine, isn't it?

Talking to him tonight about all that's happened, how they told the kids, and what life is like when your wife decides to become a lesbian.

It's not so good for the ego, apparently.

It's been a really busy couple of days. Last night I got about halfway through my Survivor amazon bios and predictions when Mark messages me (we're 4 floors apart in the house, so yea we IM each other frequently) and says he wants to go cuddle and watch a movie. Who could resist? So we watched "A Beautiful Mind" which was very good. Touching..and sweet. Watching movies about true events like that makes me want to go read up about the person, which I immediately went and did. We went to bed very late, then stayed up even later talking about anything and everything. Mostly the past, and what makes our situation "work" and what made other situations "not work..." You know..just Life Rehash 101. We're coming up on our 3rd anniversary of meeting each other, our first date was on Superbowl Sunday. We had met online just a few days prior, and since both of us were anti-SuperBowl, decided to meet up and see what we thought of each other. And here we are...three years later.

Today we had to get up at the ungodly hour of 7:30am and take Schatze to the vet for his snippotomy. Then no sooner had we gotten home when the managment company of Mark's condo called to say there was a water break and it might be in Mark's condo. So we had to hurry down there in rush hour traffic through T-Rex construction traffic, only to discover it was not Mark's condo. bleh. We came home, went to the post office then went to pick up my new freezer that we bought yesterday at the thrft store. it's so nice...it's a 15.3 cu foot "fridge size" Sears freezer. It was $92, but yesterday was 50% off day at Arc, so we got it for FORTY SIX DOLLARS! And it's perfect. Nothing is broken, it has all the shelves, the seals are perfect..and it was FORTY SIX DOLLARS! We bought it last night, then realized we really didn't have a plan to get it home. I called Amanda today and asked if her and Justin would be willing to "truck it" for us, and they met us over there this evening. It wasn't near as heavy as I thought it would be and we got it in the garage nicely. Now I can stock up on all the frozen food my heart desires, and buy meat from men who come to the door whenever I want.

We picked up Schatze and he bolted out of the cat carrier as soon as we got him home. He's dragging his back legs, I suppose because of the anesthesia. He ran straight for his spot under Katie's bed and we haven't seen him since. Poor guy, I'm sure he's pissed as hell at us. heh. When we left the vet says "In 6 hours or so he should back to his usually happy self". Mark and I just laughed cause Schatze is never happy.
He hates all of us...all the time.

Tomorrow we have to go down to Mark's condo again, and clean out the fridge and shower. They've started showing it some, and we never did quite finish cleaning it. It's weird to be there. Not bad weird, just weird. Normally when you move, you leave the old place behind and just remember it in your mind. But now we've been moved in here together for 6 months, and it's just weird to go back to his "bachelor pad". Mostly good memories there, but also memories of when we weren't really together and I wanted to be....and knowing he was "entertaining" frequently. I'm so happy the way things are now, and that we're happy together.

American Idol starts tonight..now in fact. Im gonna go make cookies and watch it.

Everytime a new Survivor is just about to start, I thoroughly go through the bios and make predictions. I wish I had saved those in a certain file somewhere, to see how I did. I just wrote them in a blog and forgot about em. I'll also go and visit numerous vivor-sympathetic blogs and leave my comments there. This time I'm saving all my banter them on another page, and I think I'll add comments as the show progresses. This new blog took me hours to set up tonight. You fellow vivor guys better come and see. Feel free to leave your own predictions, Survivor fodder, chit chat, rumors and the like:

VivorAmazon

We're gonna have some fun!

Not much of a weekend, really.

We got books yesterday, 7 bags..we're listing them now. Some gems, mostly regular stuff. Made chili stuffed potatoes for dinner last night, that was pretty yummy. I chatted online to Mary for the longest time, we had a hell bunch o fun looking at match.com ads.

Today was the drive southward to deliver the midget to mommy. We got to meet her "company" and he was very nice. We all ate lunch together and then I slept most of the way home.

Tomorrow we have no plans. tuesday Schatze has an "ornament removal" appointment at Planned Pethood. That's really what it's called! I hope this stops some of his obnoxious behavior. If not, I think I can find a recipe for cat soup somewhere online.

Wow, my life is so exciting.

Oh, fabulous.

I think we've all been here. (obscenity alert..don't listen at work..)

Hmm. What is there to post about.

We went and picked out Emma's glasses today. They had very few to choose from that were covered under Mark's plan, but I think they're cute. Dark grey/black wire frames, with tortoise shell ear thingies. It was that or gold..which looked horrible..or these clunky purple transparent frames. Ick. Emma had a great time trying them on. She wanted to take them home today!

then we got back to the car and discovered we had a parking ticket, even tho we'd fed the meter. the ticket was for "improper parking at a meter" and the officer wrote "door in front of meter". WTF? I guess they want you to park JustFuckingRight or forget it. Mark was sour the rest of the day after that.

We bought some meat from a guy that came to the door. Weirdness.

I'm chatting to Mary and having too much fun. I love Mary.

Daniel has a new flame, apparently. He did really like Heather, but then she got grounded for a month, over Christmas Break.

Daniel called her and her dad said "She's grounded for a MONTH!" and in true Daniel fashion he responded "What for?!" heh. The dad yelled, "None of your damn business!!".

So now school is back in session and Daniel and Heather don't have the same lunch hour anymore, so I guess he figured it was time to move on. Enter Katelyn.

She's been calling pretty frequently, and her and Daniel were supposed to go hang out at Colorado Mills (mall) this evening. But...again in true Daniel fashion..now he's grounded because his art teacher just called me and said Daniel was shooting staples around the room with a staple gun. (with another student..a GIRL, who initiated the behavior.)

Teenagers for sale...cheap!

omg, some people just do not get it. ArtW, the dude we know has gone off the deep end and is lower than a snake's underbelly. I don't even know what to say. I wish I could post this conversation I just had but there's a chance this person reads here. He certainly has access to the url. Suffice to say, that if no one wants to be around you...and I mean NO ONE...there is a reason. Examine thyself.

Gees, I wish Mary was online. I love to be snarky with her about....certain things.

Some time ago I was the lucky 6000th visitor to my bloggin buddy Tyler's website. So, for my wonderful prize, he sent me a great CD that he made himself, and a package of sand, which is the prize I choose over all the other wonderful prizes.

Interestingly enough, the sand came in a snow-seal...if any of you know what that is. And if you do, we'll just keep it 'tween ourselves here. If you don't ..just leave well enough alone. Don't ask, don't tell.

Thanks Tyler, I'm loving the tunes. And the sand is in a special resting place on my desk, to remind me to work hard so I can go to the beach this year.

I remembered two fun things.

Katie and I went shopping by ourselves today, and it was so great. I really miss spending as much time with Katie as I used to, we always have a really good time together, we laugh our asses off..and besides, Katie is a really fun person to be around.

She needed some new work pants because she'd lost so much weight. (yay Katie!) We went to Old Navy and she tried on the next size down from what she was and they were still too big! (yay again Katie!) So she had to go down to even the next size, and they fit her well, but even a little big in the waist. I wish wish wish I had her motivation! She comes home every day from school where she takes honors classes and gets straight A's, eats, goes to work, comes home at 10:30, works out, does her homework, goes to bed and does it all over again. She told me today her science teacher recommended her for College Prep Honors Physics next year. She's so damn smart, yet she has no idea what she wants to do out of school yet. She's thinking about Pharmacology, which would probably be good for her.

Also, Amanda called and wants me to help make calls and arrange flowers for the wedding. Im glad about that. Not too difficult, and nearly impossible to screw up as she is being very specific about what she wants. As long as what she wants gets there on the right day, Im golden.

We've decided to get Schatze "snipped". He has "marked" in the house twice now, and I don't know if this will help, but I'm hoping. If not, he maybe sleeping with the fishes. Nah, I'll just send him home with Emma..maybe Dy wont notice.

Do you ever get to know a couple and wonder why the hell they are together? They don't mesh or jive well, and they look like shit standing side by side.

Hmm, I feel like I have nothing to say.

Had a nice dinner of pot roast, Cindi came over and enjoyed it with us. It was really, really good. After she left we watched the repeat of Joe Millionaire, which I was SO glad was on again tonight. That damn Heidi, she got her come uppance didn't she? heh. Tell you what tho, I really don't like that wild haired Melissa. Bleh.

No plans tomorrow, may try to go get Emma's glasses again, maybe they'll be open later than 1:30 this time. Sheesh. Other than that, I think it's just gonna be a lazy day..to bad it's not snowing, we haven't had hardly any snow to speak of this year, and I'm bummed about it. I love snow days when the weather is all over the news, and everyone is rushing to the store to get milk and toilet paper.

Nothing going on. Dull, dull, dull. The kids don't have school Monday, Martin Luther King Day. Yippee ki yay.

This morning, Uncle Bob asked his readers for their most memorable movie moment. There has been at least 50 postings so far. Go read em, you'll think of a ton of your own. Those of us that are movie freaks will really get a kick out of it.

I was listing books just now, and came across a book on how to run your own home daycare. I flipped through it and had to laugh, most of the ideas and protocols are so illogical. I could have written the book myself, having had run my own home day care for nearly 9 years. But mine would have been called "Tear Your Hair Out And Watch Your House Get Destroyed".

There was one summer, I believe the summer of 1993, when I had 11 kids in day care. Not all were full time, but there were plenty of times when they were all there at the same time. It was mind numbing, but damn I was making the cash. That's the summer we went as a family to California and Magic Mountain, nearly solely on my day care income. What do people charge for day care these days? I was charging $65 a week for full time. It's probably at least double that by now. If I wasn't such a hot tempered demon these days, I'd consider doing it again. The money was terrific, and I was having a great time, too.

One thing I will never regret about that time, even though I really was tearing my hair out sometimes..is being able to stay home with my kids for so many years when they were little. I stayed home until Daniel was nearly half-way through first grade, and I had been home since Katie was a newborn. I was able to do a mountain of things with them and for them that I never would have been able to do if I worked, even part time. Amanda got the short end of the stick only briefly, she was in day care for a short amount of time and I hated it, then once pregnant with Katie I vowed to find a way to get what I wanted, which was to stay home with my kids.

We spent summer after summer at Water World, going there almost daily..! Dragging along whatever day care kids happened to be there that day. I always asked the day care parents to purchase a Water World pass for their kids, and they were always happy to, knowing their kids would be having some hella fun.
I always felt bad when one of my day care charges smiled for the first time, walked, talked..or did some other monumental milestone while at my house. Most of the time I wouldn't even tell the parents, and wait until the child did it for them, then they would think that was the first time. I can't tell you how many kids took their first steps or said their first words at my house. It made me even more grateful that I was home all day every day with my kids. I didn't want anyone else telling me what my child had for lunch, or showing me what handicraft they made for me while I was off at work.

Nowadays I have a little more consideration for moms with little ones that have to work, but back then I was a rabid "stay-at-home-mom" advocate. And even now I will argue that there are a plethora of things we can do to make money that don't take us away from our kids when they're tiny. I'm not trying to appear pious about my choice, it was the right one for me and I wish more moms would investigate ways to stay home with their kids longer.

This book just brought a lot of things back from the recesses of my memory, and made me so glad and grateful that I had the opportunity to raise my kids myself, and be happy that one thing they'll not remember from childhood is their babysitter.

Well, ya just never know, do you. We picked up a $100 book on Rolex watches on Monday, and a SIGNED Arthur C. Clarke book. We're pretty good book pickers, eh?

We usually never know what the heck we have till we get home. We pick the books ourselves when it's $2 a bag day of course, but it takes a long time to go through all Salvation Army's books, and 6 or 7 bags will take us a good 2 hours. So mostly we are picking decent looking books, discarding what we know we have trouble selling, or that there is a glut in the market of. The last few bags of books we've listed had several 20, 30 or even 40 dollar books in them. And expensive textbooks are selling like MAD right now. I love finding these gems in the rubble.


Mark and I were beginning to wonder if the grannies (landladies) had forgotten to cash our rent check this month. When we moved in in July, we gave them 12 checks, one for each month..for them to cash on the first of each month. We just didn't want to be bothered with making sure a check got to them every month. We pay absolutely everything else electronically, so remembering to write a check each month was more than we could handle, I guess. lol. Anyway, so here it was the 15th of January and they hadn't cashed the check yet. We were contemplating how long we would actually wait before considering the money ours again, if at all. Would we call them and remind them to cash our check? Should we just count it up to their negligence and go on vacation? Well, we needn't wonder. It cashed today. *sigh.

I'm wishing today:

I wasn't so tired.
My bedroom was clean.
Amanda would involve me in her wedding.
I would remember to call my dad.
My hair was clean.
I weighed 30 pounds less, at least.

That's all. Can I have all that by bedtime, please?

The rest of the pics can be found here. Click the album called "Cologgers January!". (Must have a yahoo ID to sign in)

None of them came out all that terrific. We need to start taking pictures at the beginning of the night instead of the end, I suppose.

We are scheduling another meetup for February. Watch the Cologgers website for details, and a chance to voite on the venue!

One to whet the appetite while I work on the others. This was our attempt at a timed photo.

Good day, everyone is in a good mood, business is good, and people are being nice to each other.

Already pulled and packaged the orders that were waiting for us this morning, now gonna tidy the kitchen and play catch up in other areas. There's a snail mail letter (my buddy in prison) that I need to answer, and of course the cologgers pictures!

Alan will get a kick out of this...

This morning, it was windy as hell, and when I first got up I could hear the screen door banging, it hadn't been latched when the kids left for school. Sooo....I opened the front door to lean out and latch the screen, and lo and behold there was a salesman right there, about 2 seconds away from knocking on the door. I was wearing a very short sweater and underwear. That's it. I must have jumped 50 feet cause he said "Oh, I didn't mean to scare you"... There was nothing I could do at that point but just stand there, he'd seen it all already. He started in on his spiel, and I quickly said "no thanks" and slammed the door. Geesh. Mark was laughing his ass off. Why do I always get caught in these predicaments?

I know...I've been busy! I havent even *read* any blogs today. Gonna go work on pictures to make Mary happy, cause she's so cute when she's happy.

Just wanted to say too, that no matter what you think of Christina Aguilera, these are some lyrics that are close to my heart today,
and I am loving this song, over and over and over...

No matter what we do
No matter what we say
And everywhere we go
The sun will always shine
On the other side

Cause we are beautiful
No matter what they say
Yes, words won't bring us down, oh no..
We are beautiful
In every single way
Yes, words can't bring us down, oh no...

So don't you bring me down...today

There's a new virus out there, called America Online 8.0.

I am an informed AOL hater, and the time has come to vent.

The fact is that savvy net users hate AOL. Search for "aol sucks" on the internet, and you'll find nearly 10,000 web pages. But why? AOL is the world's most successful online service, with more than 20 million users relying on its user-friendly services. It's also a survivor which has been around, in its current incarnation, since 1985. AOL, indeed, has often played the role of underdog in the face of companies armed with new technology - technology which should really have rendered AOL obsolete. We're still praying.

AOL's public relations problem stems largely from its success at recruiting first-time users - a key market when the net population has grown, within the last five years, to encompass 45% of the US population and more than 28% of UK adults.

My problem with AOL is not just its ability to introduce legions of naïve newbies to the net, but I am disgusted at the range of AOL policies, from its privacy rules to its customer service. Take into account their technological gaffes, and all-pervasive advertising, and it becomes nothing but a nuisance and a joke.

They will kick you off at unexpected intervals. You can find yourself logged off for inactivity after as little as 5 minutes, especially if you are using an IE browser. Reason: You're only supposed to look at their stuff. They actively hinder your exploration of the rest of the web.

The URL of every AOL user page is http://members.aol.com/joe_user , rather than something less lengthy such as mb.aol.com or m.aol.com ... why all the extra letters?

AOL doesn't offer you a personal domain name (even if you pay for it) because it would carry no advertisment for AOL. Ridiculous. So your website name is a ridiculous, long, forgettable string of meaningless letters.

The AOL ftp uploader, oh brother. This "toy" is an embarrassment requiring the user to upload each and every file ... one at a time, and type the name of each and every file not once but twice to complete the drawn out process (about twenty clicks per file! ... plus typing). OR you can buy and configure WS_ftpPro and this will solve this problem. Only 60 bucks or so. Ha! But ... It's painfully apparent that AOL did not want its users to make heavy use of their free megabytes of storage space.

Now take the technological side...when AOL first introduced the power to post to internet newsgroups, there was a bug in its software which meant every message was posted five times. It took them 10 months to fix this.

Also, its obscene-word filter software which prevents British users from saying they lived in Scunthorpe, (because of the word cunt) and an incident in 1995 and again in 2000 when women talking about breast cancer in AOL's chatrooms were told not to mention the obscene word breast, or their accounts would be terminated.

Then there were the constant busy signals when membership grew faster than the company could handle. This is still an issue, ask any aol user.

In one of many incidents which have led critics to question the company's attitude to freedom of speech, the American Civil Liberties Union expressed outrage last October over newspaper allegations that a gay AOL subscriber had been instructed to remove details of his sexual proclivities from his online member profile. Meanwhile, anti-racism groups have protested, the firm's policies banning hate speech have allegedly been insufficiently policed and frequently violated.

How about unsolicited email, or "spam" - carrying advertisements for pornography, gambling and get-rich-quick schemes - is an internet-wide problem, but AOL subscribers get much more than their share. The firm has been passive in pursuing "spammers" through the courts, but the scourge continues: two years ago, CNN - now an AOL bedfellow - reported that between 15% and 40% of the service's email traffic was unsolicited. Completely unacceptable.

AOL uses a system of "community leaders", volunteers who agree to welcome new users and police content online in return for free access to the service. The practice, condemned as Orwellian by free-speech activists, was the subject of a US lawsuit in May of 2000 filed by two former community leaders who alleged that the company's use of volunteers violated labor legislation. Disgruntled former leaders now share their woes at the Observers.net website.

AOL's "free net access" trials - which require credit card details to be submitted so the company can charge users who decide to continue after the trial ends - are more trouble than they are worth. Some trial subscribers who follow online instructions to help them disconnect have found instructions to telephone the company and been plunged into a maze of unhelpful recorded messages. Cancellations sent by fax and mail have often failed to take effect, and subscriptions have continued to be deducted for months.

and when you sign on and get a message saying AOL is loading updates for you? Those are marketing updates, and they are slowing your computer down in the long run.

If you have a website, did you know that your graphics are corrupted and might not even be showing up? That's because AOL has an option that compresses graphics the AOL way, and only other AOL users can see them if you save them like that. And the option is automatically on when you install AOL. They never tell you about it.
You are also going to miss out on other very cool effects, like a lot of java scripts, and Cascading Style Sheet.

Last of all, the cost. aol users are paying up to $23 a month! That is a staggering price, look at www.thelist.com and see what others are charging for always on, fabulous service.

Ok, Im done. As you were.

Many drinks were consumed.

Pictures were taken.

Mary wrote a check with a crayon.

Something was said about Bert, Ernie, Drag queens....and that's all I can remember.

No Frills Grill is CLOSED permanently. Alternate plans in the works. Stay tuned.

Here's something else Im going to make you click. These two books were in our $2/a bag haul from Lakewood last week.

Oh, this was fun. It's Michigan's Lawsuit Abuse Watch site, and it holds a contest each year for the wackiest warning labels. This years winner was a massage chair that contains this warning:

"Do not use massage chair without clothing... and, Never force any body part into the backrest area while the rollers are moving."

Ha! Some others from the previous contests:

A warning on an electric router made for carpenters cautions: “This product not intended for use as a dental drill.”

A warning label found on a baby stroller cautions the user to “Remove child before folding”

A sticker on a toilet at a public facility in Ann Arbor, Michigan actually warns: “Recycled flush water unsafe for drinking.”

A CD player carries this unusual warning: “Do not use the Ultradisc2000 as a projectile in a catapult.”

A label on a hand-held massager advises consumers not to use “while sleeping or unconscious”

A container of underarm deodorant says, “Caution: Do not spray in eyes”

A cartridge for a laser printer warns, “Do not eat toner”

A 13-inch wheel on a wheelbarrow warns: “Not intended for highway use”

A cardboard car sunshield that keeps sun off the dashboard warns, “Do not drive with sunshield in place”

A warning on a pair of shin guards manufactured for bicyclists says: “Shin pads cannot protect any part of the body they do not cover.”

A box of birthday cake candles says: “DO NOT use soft wax as ear plugs or for any other function that involves insertion into a body cavity.”

Looks like we're on for No Frills Grill tomorrow, bloggers of Colorado. Write me if you need info, or visit the Cologgers site for time and address. So far it's me, Mark, Mary, Dave and Max. Good times... bring your camera! Please check in here tomorrow before you head out, I've been trying to call No Frills all night to verify they still have karaoke on Monday nights, and I've gotten no answer. Im sure everything is kosher, but just in case.........

Spent most of last night hugging the potty - sick...

I feel a bit better today, my stomach feels a little tender, but I'm starving. I think that's a good sign.

There's a Cologgers meetup scheduled for tomorrow night, we're in if anyone else is. Let me know!

Quick post before I hit the couch for a bit.

Busy day..we headed out to go to the eyeglass place to pick out emma's new glasses, but they closed at 1:30(?). So we headed for a thrift store, and I finally found some jeans. Perfect fit, fine shape..2.89. Whee! We called Sally Army from this other thrift store and found they were having "books by the bag" today so we headed over there and picked up six bags, plus a perfect IBM 17" computer monitor for 20 bucks.
We came home and ate leftovers from last night (yumm) and then headed over to my moms, the recipient of the 17" monitor. She was thrilled! She has her fonts set to "oh my god" large anyway, cause she can't see for crap. So this made everything even bigger, and she's happier than a pig in shit.

Came home and I made a grocery list, looked at all the grocery ads and decided Cub Foods was the best deal this week, so I headed up there and spent $150. (eep!) But that will last us a gooood long while.

Daniel is at Dans, Katie is at Charlies, and Mark is putting away books. Emma is watching Spirit for the 45th time (no not really, we've weaned her down to one movie a day, and one hour of "shows" - yay!) and all is peaceful. I am SO ready to go plant my ass on the couch for a few minutes, Diet Coke in hand.

Had a real nice time with Denny and Cindi et al today. Had us some terrific grub that I am STILL full from. Who knew veggie food could make you so satiated? Don't worry, Im not throwing the burgers out with the bathwater just yet.

It's about time...

Denver has closed many of its major golf courses for winter play due to the drought. In addition they've closed many other playing fields for now. It pissed me off so much to not be able to fill a wading pool, wash my car..or god forbid water my lawn last summer, but then drive by the fucken soccer fields and see the sprinklers just whizzing away. I wish they'd close em all. Permanently. While your at it, round up the soccer moms in their SUV's and punch them in the face. Trish is ok, tho. She's the only one.

I took this picture at a booth at the Capitol Hill People's Fair. It's the magnificent and wonderous Psychic Channeler Charol Messenger. She's supposed to be surrounded by this wonderous aura. Looks like she's channeled herself into a big fat butt if you ask me.

Album of the year nominee Norah Jones? uhhh, no.

My eye is twitching. Why the hell is my eye twitching? Do I have tourette's all of the sudden? I hope n.... Fuck you!

I found a funny blog, one of the funniest I've ever seen. Not My Desk. Tales, woes and revelry that make up the life of a temporary employee. This excerpt is from one post that had me rolling...

"...according to the article, this former co-worker, upset and angry over losing his job, burst into the building with a gun. Burst through these very doors I'm sitting in front of, the ones that are now locked except when I decide to open them for somebody"
Not My Desk "Insecurity"

I've been to the store, made a krab salad, 7 layer veggie bean dip, and brownies...Cindi's made tortellini salad and bought bread..I think we're ready to have some yummy dinner time fun! We're planning on eating early, I'm not sure how long Denny is staying but Im sure he's anxious to get on the road for 4 hours to get home. Will be nice to spend some time with him tho. I wish the whole MV gang could have come!

Hee. I think Cindi's in class. Let's see if we can get one up before she bogarts the game again. heh.

I was just looking through the old box of movie wavs to decide on the next one to put up, and I thought of something. I have several wavs that I have NO IDEA what movie they are from. Maybe we'll do some of those too. We gotta get Laura up and running first, tho..I want her to play too.

I know, I've been playing wav games and not really blogging. Today wasn't that great of a day, I was very bitchy and depressed about having no money. Unconsolable, really. But I feel better, a little. *sigh. It's just so hard waiting for things to "look up" even tho there are some lights at the end of the tunnel. Please don't let it be Amtrak.

Denny brought Emma to Denver tonight, that was great. Great to see Denny and great that we didn't have to do the drive. Thank you Denman! We're having some dinner (Made by Cindi, thank you Cindi..)with folks here tomorrow night with him, that'll be fun and interesting. Maybe pictures will be taken..oooooohh..aahhh....

What else. Nothing.

And btw, Tracy, if you're reading...please get in touch. I want to know all that is happening.

Bonus! Hee...what movie/who's saying it..hmmm?

Ok, here ya go. Let 'er rip.

Tomorrow morning...new movie quote quiz. Ready?

And...in the past two days, people have used these words to search for something..and found my blog instead..

Littlest pet shop
Life is a book of days
My life
Cerebral palsy and oral sex
Jerry Seinfeld quotes
Im sick of life
Danelle
What a mess
My life is a mess
Cerebral palsy + sex positions
Water in my lungs
Used sega genesis
Saves the day pics

What I want to know is who are all these people search for "cerebral palsy and sex"?

Also, found a buttload of new referrals from msnbc.com and found that I was on their weekly best of blogs list, which is (I think) just an extension of their original list. That is fun in a big fat bun!

What Spooky Being are You?

Wow, Cindi guessed the movie quote trivia already! It was of course Alec Baldwin from Glengarry Glen Ross. I love love love this movie. I bought this movie the day after I saw it for the first time. If you haven't seen it, you've got to check it out.

So tomorrow I will put up another movie quote. Should we do this every day? How much space is this taking up? Is the page slow to load with this on here? We'll try it for a while and see how it goes. You guys are gonna be hard to stump, I know that. This will be fun, tho. I'm going through my hundreds of movie sounds now to see what would be fun.

We're going to start having movie quote trivia. Ok? Name the movie, and the actor. Some will be easy, others more difficult. I think this is medium difficulty, it's one of my favorite movies of all time.
Winner gets nothing except your name in lights.

From Dr. D's blog, an article about "ricin". Scary. Like Dr. D, I had no idea this shit even existed.

Two for Tuesday
1. Have you ever gone to one of your high school reunions? If you have, were people still the same or were they different? If you haven't, why not? If you haven't been to one because well, you haven't made it to the 10 year mark of being out of high school, are you planning to?
I have gone to both of mine so far, the 10 and the 20. I don't know why I keep going, it's just so ridiculous. I don't even like these people. And the ones I do like, I talk to frequently already. The people are basically the same, the cheerleaders hang out at the bar with their fake boobies flopping all over the place, the choir folks pulling all the tables together so they can all sit in a circle and look dumb..and the band dicks are all left on the patio. The last one, the 20 year, I got in a fight with the waiter...I don't remember what happened, I just remember Mark had to "take care of things". I could plan a reunion 100 times better than these lame-o's.

2. What was your life like in high school? Would you ever want to go back and make changes? What would you want to change?
High School was ok, I was in band/marching band all throughout, the first year playing clarinet, subsequent years being the baton twirler...aka IDidntMakeCheerleader. I didn't do well scholastically, and I think I graduated by the skin of my teeth. If I could go back and make changes I would speak out more, do my homework, and not have a steady boyfriend.

Kinda fun little dealie bob going on over at wkenshow. An "I love..." photoblog that he invites everyone to participate in. I sent some pictures in, you should too.

What is going on... The shelves are DONE!! Just finished...and Mark is pooped. No energy to shuffle books tonight..I wish I had a volunteer coming in on Wednesday. *sigh. Sales are great, we're working hard.

Mark's condo is going up for sale in a few days. Nice condo in DTC, people...c'mon..you know you want it!

I think Im gonna go make cookies..Dy mentioned she made some and it sounds so yummy..hot chocolate chip cookies, and dough left over (the best part).

Lowa, lowa. You're family, I can't cut you just on principal...wouldn't anyway. I enjoy your posts too much. But yea, I got tired of seeing Mr Cusak for 10 days straight. Ok, 3.

What am I doing up at the ungodly hour of 9 am. Do you know how long it's been since I've seen 9am? No plans today, thats nice.

I feel fat.

I've got to drop some blogrolling links. Don't I? I know some people have a billion (ok, million) folks on their list, but I get so tired of going to blogs with no updates, and with other annoying bloghabits. I normally say "no blogging for 2 weeks and you're Philiminated" (TAR reference)..but then sometimes they'll eek out one or two paragraphs every 12-13 days. Blech. Bionicle is the exception to that rule, because he leaves home for like 20 days a month to go to work in the desert (ssh..I can't tell you anything else about that).

I've stopped reading certain blogs because the spelling was so atrocious I felt like I was reading 3rd grade work. iespell people. Make an effort. I've stopped reading other blogs because what used to be a thoughtful few paragraphs of good reading turned into 2 lines a day of "hey, look at this link.." I do not read "link only" blogs, unh unh. They're booooriiing...as Emma would say. I find enough great links on my own, and through my buddy the presurfer. I've also been boycotting people who don't respond to comments or tags. God, that's rude. I know we're not writing for an audience (are we?) but when someone takes the time to leave you a note, let em know you read it...even occasionally. Gees.

Hey, Im not telling you how to write your blog. I'm just telling you I gotta trim the list down. Say I'm a bitch. It'll be the second time today I've heard it.

Joe Millionaire was delicious tonight, btw. Hee, stupid gals.

Denny's coming for a visit! Whee, that'll be a good time in the old town.

He is bringing Emma up on thursday night, then stopping back by on Friday for some food and revelry. Cindi is coming, and Katie and Char are gonna stick around too, if only because the meal will be meatless. Heh. See me at McD's around 11pm. Kidding, kidding. I would invite you, lovely amanda, but we will be eating around 4pm. Come if you can!

Wow, blogland is getting even more interesting lately, isn't it? There is all kinds of interesting things going on. I'm checking updates even more frequently than usual, to get the latest juice. Im hopeless! Amanda called me tonight and said "ALRIGHT ALRIGHT!! how do I get a BLOG?!" Hee. We got her. Url to be released post haste.

Sometimes, I swear to God, I want to leave the not-so-nicest comments on people's blogs.

"The feeling of owning a stinkbomb gave me a feeling of enormous power- and I pondered upon the right time and place for it's usage."
from Castle Norwig (New blog link)

I re-did the blogrolling list, there was so many blogs that I read every day that weren't on there. Check em out if you want, they're good.

Oh man my cursor is flashing like a mofo. What is up with that.

I actually laid on the couch and watched 2 movies today, and stayed awake. Daniel and I watched The Beverly Hillbillies (movie from 1993). What a ridiculous stupid, dumbassed movie. But after 30 minutes I felt vested enough to not risk losing my very comfy position to lean over and get the remote. Besides, it was 2pm on a damn sunday - what the hell else is on. Then I watched Hysterical Blindness with Uma Thurman and Juliette Lewis, which I loved . Change the names of the people and the names of the bars, and that was pretty much my life in 1982. Great movie. I cried.

We also watched the premiere of "High School Reunion" which looks like it has promise as being a "Survivor's Not On" replacement. I can't wait for "Surreal Life" which starts on Thursday. More good bad tv to make ya groan.

I sent a resume in for an Admin Asst job that is about 3 minutes away from where I live. Wouldn't that be fun?

The rest of the night we've just been doing "book work". Business is good!

Emma is back at mommy's and it's quiet 'round here.

what sexual performer are you?


"You are perverted..in a way. Not only do you celebrate excess but you find ways of making everything exquisite. You like pool parties, lots of skin and other gatherings that turn into bachanallian bliss. You're a humanist with near inhuman carnal desires. More often than not your breed are predicted to rot in hell, so sayeth television evangelists.
Satan reserves a seat for you.
You won't demure from an orgy if invited and you never cease the search for new contorted bodily pleasures. The party-animal in you could smell the scent of sex from a mile away. You say yes to occasional bdsm and say no to bestiality.
Oral sex? You like it porn style.
Sexual positions? You can write kama sutra variations every year. "

Meeow...

I feel like it's been a trying day, though it really hasn't. We went over to my moms so gramma Maxine could give Emma her Christmas pressies. She got 4 cute little dolls and a pop up grinch book. She loves the dolls SO much, carrying them around everywhere and constantly messing with them. they are just the right size to use all the implements from her Littlest Pet Shop toys, so she's loving it. Good shoppin, mom.

Emma was gracious and sweet until my mom said "I like your coat, it's pretty" and Emma said "So what."

It's been a nice long stretch having Emma here, but it really makes you realize how tied down you are when you have a toddler full time. I know we feel blessed when she is here, and blessed when she's with her mom too. 4 year olds are trying, I remember when Amanda was around 4 she was quite a handful. To boot, I had Katie when Amanda was 4, and then had Daniel when Katie was just 23 months old. It's no wonder I'm half looney now. To know them now, it's evident they've all been dropped on their head a few too many times. I remember reading something funny once about how when you have your first child, you sterilize everything. Then when you have your second child, you just wash things off in the sink. By the third child you're rinsing their pacifiers off with your own spit and teaching the first child how to wind the baby swing.

Cindi came over to pick up her mountain of books I had set aside for her. We watched tv and basically did nothing at all. Cindi tried to play a game of CandyLand with Emma but packed up the game about halfway through because Emma was very sullen and naughty because she wasn't winning. The clincher was when she stuck her tongue out at Cindi. bling! Game over! We've been trying so hard to teach her that some things have rules you have to follow, and you can't cheat or pout to get your way. It's such an important lesson to learn..and she's getting there, but not yet.

There is some delicious doings in some of the blogs I read. People are breaking up with their boyfriends, waiting for tvs, badmouthing their loved ones, and waxing poetic about joblessness. Hope you all are reading em.

Oh, Im just feeling cynical and bitchy.

There are so many women who genuinely don't like sex. I didn't like sex when I was married. It seemed like another chore at the end of the day. Get it over with so I can go to sleep.
Then later in my marriage, I discovered that I really did like sex...what I hated was my husband. It was like a lightbulb coming on.

I was chatting to two women tonight and they both had the same blah attitude about sex that I keep reading about over and over in some women's blogs. Pretending they are on their period, pretending they are sick, asleep or whatever...just to get out of it for one more night. But they are head over heels in love with their husbands. I just wonder what is it that makes them have such a distaste for something so damn fun.

Im doing laundry, and have a promise of help putting it away later. Other than that, I don't feel like doing a damn thing today.

We're Listin, listin, listin. And no that doesn't mean we're leaning sharply to one side. Although Mark kind of is, he did something wicked to his back and now he's suffering. He's downstairs packaging the orders we got today and watching John Q on the pc. Emma is on the couch watching Spongebob and drinking a Capri Sun. Katie is at work, Daniel is at the neighbor's, and Im in my bedroom (no it didn't get cleaned, I don't want to hear about it) listing books and eating peanut m&m's. All's right with the world.

I need a housekeeper. Just one time through. Might take her all day, but after that I can keep up. Thank goodness Katie keeps the kitchen and living room clean.

I need to do laundry. I don't wanna.

This was sparked by a discussion and an incident that isn't important, but I felt the urge to rant about it..

I will start by saying I'm not really a dog person. I mean, I've had my share of dogs over the years and I do become attached to them, but I think it must be on some shallow, cursory level because I see behavior in some other dog owners that I find abhorent. Most people's dogs are fine, but some are not, and some people just don't seem to notice. And some people spend embarassing amounts of money on dogs.

We had a neighbor once who had a beautiful Irish Setter. Dakota was his name. Gorgeous, playful dog. But Dakota had this annoying habit of eating rocks from the backyard. Not pebbles that would pass smoothly through his digestive tract. No, Dakota ate huge rocks that would have to be surgically removed time and time again. The family removed the rocks from their backyard, but Dakota was always digging one up or finding one somewhere, and eating it. I swear, this dog had a least three surgeries to remove rocks from his stomach..each surgery costing around $1000.00. I'm sorry, but I am not paying the equivalent of a month's rent just because my dog is a dumbass. Night Night.

Dakota was also a crotch sniffer, one of the most inexcusable dog behaviors of all time. Believe me, if your dog puts his nose in my crotch, I will ensure that both you and the dog recognize it as unacceptable behavior. Sorry dog..don't get up on me, don't jump on me, and certainly don't lick me. Don't even act like you want to.

People pay riduclous amounts of money to get sick dogs well, make stupid dogs appear smart, and to keep dead dogs alive. I cannot afford to get my teeth fixed, buy the medicine I'm supposed to take, or have regular gynecological exams.

I know i know, you'll say "he's a part of the family", "he's like my kid"...etc...but just remember not everyone loves your dog..and if you've been so neglectful of his common training that he exhibits behavior like this...we don't like you all that well either.

Katie and I were watching "From Martha's Kitchen" and she had all these different types of chickens lined up in a row, to show the difference in sizes, quality etc. Katie, being a great cook, albeit a vegetarian one...said:

"Don't chickens ever die in a different position?"

Sssh, please. Don't blog so loud.

We had a magnificent evening, a houseful of people and a free flowing potpourri of refreshment and fun. Emma finally went to bed somewhere around 1am, she was fine until about 12:30 but then petered out pretty quickly after that. Most of the kids stayed till just after 2, and a few spent the night. I don't know about anyone else, but I am hugging the Aleve bottle this morning.

We're gonna head out and do some New Year's Day thrift storing. Whee.