Mental Mojo

From a farm kid

2007-09-20T06:06:00.000-07:00

I got this from my friend who lives in South Dakota. Her whole family (and about 80% of the rest of the population) are farmers. If you've never had the honor of working on a farm, a REAL farm, trust me. This is pretty acturate! Them farmers is tough folk.

Plus, I've been traveling all week and my brain's too jumbled from all the turbulence to think of something witty to post.
~Recycled for your viewing pleasure~
Cheers!

A LETTER FROM A FARM KID,
Dear Ma and Pa,
I am well. Hope you are.

Tell Brother Walt and Brother Elmer the Marine Corps beats working for old man Minch by a mile. Tell them to join up quick before all of the places are filled.

I was restless at first because you got to stay in bed till nearly 6 AM but I am getting so I like to sleep late.

Tell Walt and Elmer all you do before breakfast is smooth your cot, and shine some things.No hogs to slop, feed to pitch, mash to mix, wood to split, fire to lay.Practically nothing.

Men got to shave but it is not so bad cause there's warm water.

Breakfast is strong on trimmings like fruit juice, cereal, eggs, bacon, etc., but kind of weak on chops, potatoes, ham, steak, fried eggplant, pie and other regular food. But tell Walt and Elmer you can always sit by the two city boys that live on coffee.Their food plus yours holds you till noon when you get fed again.

It's no wonder these city boys can't walk much. We go on "route marches," which the platoon sergeant says are long walks to harden us. If he thinks so, it's not my place to tell him different. (A "route march" is about as far as to our mailbox at home.) Then the city guys get sore feet and we all ride back in trucks.

This will kill Walt and Elmer with laughing. I keep getting medals for shooting but I don't know why. The bulls-eye is near as big as a chipmunk head and don't move, and it ain't shooting at you like the Higgett boys at home. All you got to do is lie there all comfortable and hit it.You don't even load your own cartridges.They come in boxes.
Then we have what they call hand-to-hand combat training. You get to wrestle with them city boys. I have to be real careful though, they break real easy. It ain't like fighting with that ole bull at home. I'm about the best they got in this except for that Tug Jordan from over in Silver Lake. I only beat him once. He joined up the same time as me, but I'm only 5'6" and 130 pounds and he's 6'8" and near 300 pounds dry.
Be sure to tell Walt and Elmer to hurry and join before other fellers get onto this setup and come stampeding in.

Your loving daughter,

Carol

It's Friday- laugh, damn you, laugh!

2007-09-14T11:06:00.000-07:00

It's FRIDAY!!! To celebrate I give you some funnies to start your weekend off right!

Top 11 excuses for NOT showing up to work....

“If it is all the same to you I won’t be coming in to work. The voices told me to clean all my guns today.”

“When I got up this morning I took two Ex-Lax in addition to my Prozac. I can’t get off the toilet, but I feel good about it.”

“I set half the clocks in my house ahead an hour and the other half back an hour Saturday and spent 18 hours in some kind of space-time continuum loop, reliving Sunday (right up until the explosion). I was able to exit the loop only by reversing the polarity of the power source exactly e*log(pi) for the clocks in the house while simultaneously rapping my dog on the snout with a rolled up New York Times. Accordingly, I will now be in late, or early.”

“I have to go in for a blood transfusion… My stigmata’s acting up again.”

“I can’t come in to work today because I’ll be stalking my previous boss, who fired me for not showing up for work. OK?"

“I have a rare case of 48-hour projectile leprosy but I know we have that deadline to meet, so if you really want me to come in…”

“I am stuck in the blood pressure machine down at the pharmacy.”

“Yes, I seem to have contracted some attention-deficit disorder and, hey, how about them Skins, huh? So, I won’t be able to, yes, could I help you? No, no, I’ll be sticking with Sprint, but thank you for calling.”

“I just found out that I was switched at birth. Legally, I shouldn’t come to work knowing my employee records may now contain false information."

“The psychiatrist said it was an excellent session. He even gave me this jaw restraint so I won’t bite things when I am startled.”

“Constipation has made me a walking time bomb and I have to keep my back to an open window.

Also, these were too funny not to share....
What's in a name anyway?

All aboard the Huyndai Express! I'm on the road (AGAIN) this week and will be back to the regularly scheduled programming on Sunday! Here's hoping you find laughter and cheer this weekend!

*special credit goes to http://www.funnyandjokes.com for all these.

Musing....

2007-09-14T09:09:00.000-07:00

You never know *who* you might run into in the blogging world. It's amazing to me that with the sheer number of bloggers out there that-without looking- I would run into one I know. But I did.....

How does that happen! Weird kharma? Or fate? Perhaps it was destiny? Maybe it was just plain old science. But I am still surprised to have come across this person as I traveled through the very crowded blogging universe. I mean really, people are pretty easy to find when you are deliberately looking for them(I learned this a few months ago when I was "found" on MySpace!) but what about when you're not looking?

Weird.

It also makes me much more cautious about what gets said on a blog. Nothing can be a secret if it's posted on the web!

News you can't use

2007-09-12T20:07:00.000-07:00

I've come up with my own version of the "Darwin Awards" from today's top news articles...

ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- The body of a 41-year-old man was found in a wooded area next to a guillotine he built and used to kill himself, police said.
The man, from the Detroit suburb of Melvindale, was discovered Monday by workers from a shopping center near his home.
Allen Park Deputy Police Chief Dale Covert said the roughly six-foot tall guillotine was bolted to a tree and included a swing arm. Covert said police also found several store receipts detailing the materials used to assemble the device.
"I can't even tell you how long it must have taken him to construct," he said. "This man obviously was very determined to end his life."

Comments: OMG! How distraught must you be to BUILD A F-ing GUILLOTINE! And creative-- 2 snaps for thinking outside the box!!

FORT PIERCE, Fla. -- Police documents said a Fort Pierce teenager told detectives he allegedly killed his parents because he didn't want to disappoint them anymore.
According to documents released Tuesday, Jacob Brighton, 16, said he shot and killed his parents last month because he always felt like a disappointment to them. On the tape he says he did not have a job when his parents wanted him to, smoked marijuana and did not share the same "qualities or interests" as his father.

Comments: What disappointment they must have felt at the moment they realized their son was killing them. And how about just getting a job and not smoking marijuana. Didn't think of that did ya, genius. Hard to think straight through the haze?

NANUET, New York (AP) -- Stomping on garlic with your shoes on is apparently not the correct way to prepare food.

Dan Barreto, who sometimes ate at Great China Buffet, took this picture of garlic being stomped.

The Rockland County health department hit the Great China Buffet restaurant with two violations after someone took pictures of an employee stomping on a bowl of garlic with his boots in an alley.
The photographer alerted health inspectors.
"I go back there, and the guy's stepping on garlic," said Dan Barreto, who used to eat at the restaurant. "There he was just jumping up and down on it, smashing it up, having a good time."
The health department does not consider a person's shoe or boot a proper instrument to use in food preparation, senior public health sanitarian John Stoughton said Tuesday.
"It was a novel way to prepare food," he acknowledged.

Comments: "Huhhh Uh Uhh. Huhhh Uh Uhhh. Hey Beavis. Huhhh Uh Uhhh. He said instrument. Uhhh Uh Uhh.
Nyeah, Nhaahaa Nhaahaa. Instrument."
Ummm. Yeah. Real novel idea buddy. Thanks for making sure I never order garlic bread again.

HONOLULU -- A man accused of killing a pet pig may blame the pig as part of his defense.
Joseph Calarudda is charged with stabbing 300-pound "Porky" to death as its owners pleaded for him to stop.
Calarudda is going on trial this week for felony theft of livestock. One of his defenses may be that the pig was aggressive and dangerous.

Prosecutors said they hope to use video of Porky in a television commercial to show how peaceful he was around people. Porky also appeared in the ABC television series "Lost."
The trial could begin on Wednesday.

Comments: "Hey Ned- Shoooot! He's comin' right for us!"
The Pig's name was Porky? Really?
Well, pigs CAN be dangerous. Especially when they let fame and fortune go to their head. *Snicker* -Porky!-HA!

2007-09-10T10:55:00.000-07:00

Blending Families: Surviving the Step-Parent Role

by Jami Cameron

Taking on the task of helping raise a child who is not biologically yours can be a great experience, but can also be overwhelming. You are coming into a situation where a child sees you as an outsider, and may not be too happy with it. Until you came along, that child probably had fantasies of his/her parents reuniting, but you changed everything....

The bad news isn’t over yet – you have one ex-spouse who, more times than not, has a bitter taste in his/her mouth over the marriage and the role you will play in their child’s life.
Add all of these issues up, multiply that by the age of the child, and more than likely, you have a lot of work ahead of you. Don’t worry, you can do this. You owe it to yourself and to your spouse.
You Are Not My Mother/Father.
Anytime you start a family, there is a period of adjustment. The first months of your marriage and new step-parenting role will be the hardest. Everyone involved is learning more about each other – house habits, likes and dislikes, discipline ideas, etc. – which can be a lot to digest in such a short time. When faced with this situation, many in a family may lash out or grow impatient with one another, especially step-children.

While you are not biologically the child’s parent, you do play a very important parenting role in his life. Over time, hopefully the other parent will realize this, but don’t count your eggs before they hatch.

Here are a few suggestions for what to do when faced with hard situations:

The other parent is saying bad things about you (or their ex). This sort of thing is mean, and can break a person’s heart – especially if they are trying so hard to be a good step-parent. Don’t feed into this. The only reason why the other parent is doing this is to get back at the spouse, and ruin your relationship with their child. They are very insecure, and possibly didn’t want the divorce to begin with. Bottom line – the child will get to know you, and as they become older, will understand what the other parent is doing. It kills you now, but it will get better. Ignore the ugly words from the ex, and be sure to correct misinformation the child tells you that their parent said. Don’t say anything terrible about the other parent, take the high road. A good way to give the correction is “I understand that your mom/dad may think that about me, but that is not who I am. You know that. I love you and would never hurt you. They have a right to their opinion.” Always end the conversation with “your mother/father loves you a lot.” It may kill you to stick up for the ex-spouse, but it shows the child that you don’t have ill will towards the person they love.

And a few things to avoid all together:

Don’t ever fight with the ex. When things get heated, it may be your disposition to confront the other person. If that person happens to be the ex of your spouse, don’t do it. This can only lead to bigger problems in the future. Grit your teeth and bear it. Keep in mind that you aren’t required to have contact with them, so don’t.

Don’t ever say “I hate you”. No matter how hard it is to deal with your step-child, no matter how bad they are – never, never, never tell them you hate them. Not only will you sound like a 5 year old, but you can’t take that back once it’s been said.

Don’t ask them to call you mom. It isn’t your place to request a title to be called. If they decide to call you mom, that is their choice to make, not yours.

Don’t put your spouse in the middle. Any sort of riff in a family comes with its stress, but don’t make your spouse fight for you. Your relationship with his son or daughter is just that – yours. You can discuss the difficulties or issues and get his insight, but don’t make him fight your battles. This will only be an added stress, and possibly cause distance in your relationship.
There aren’t any black and white “this is the way to blending a family” rules. Everyone’s situation is unique. The only thing they have in common is they are divorced and are starting a new family including their child from the previous marriage. Nothing in life comes easy, and this is one situation that can take years to change.

Perseverance, hope, faith and love are the only qualities that can make blending a family a great experience. You have to want things to change, and work at changing them. Nothing comes easy, but when you see your step-child’s eyes light up at something you said, or you get a kiss on the cheek – it is the best feeling in the world – and it’s worth all the pain you have gone through to finally arrive at that happy place.

Endless Love

2007-09-09T07:57:00.000-07:00

I am truly inspired! I witnessed this weekend something that I just wasn't sold on anymore. The concept? That love can endure. It can thrive even after hurt, anger, time and space. If tended properly it can even flourish.
This weekend I had the honor of being in the wedding of my two best friends in Denver. I have known both the bride and groom for over 14 years and have weathered many hardships with them both. I met them first as a couple in an explosive relationship. It involved many nights where the bride would end up on my doorstep because they'd had a fight and she was moving out. We even once caught the groom with his "hand in the cookie jar" so to speak. They stayed together through several years of this but finally broke up.
While the bride moved to Denver, the groom stayed behind and we became very close friends. It felt strange at first, listening to the bride talk about her new love interest, the groom talking about his and as time went on (4 years actually) I almost got used to them being apart.
But, as life would have it, a day came when the bride, while visiting me, would run into the groom and they would hit it off again immediately.
Fast forward 4 more years to last night. The wedding. The groom blubbered worse than I did and the bride was glowing. These two are truly happy and in love. They've been together- off and on- for 16 years and they still can't get enough of each other. It made my heart smile to see it.
I've been a little jaded lately about whether love can really endure. Since my divorce, I've wondered if people are destined to cycle through partners their whole life and if love is just fleeting, at best. I sure hope not. And after this weekend, I'm open to the possibility of endless love. And I'm also hopeful of it's promise.

Chester Cheetah's WMD

2007-09-05T14:08:00.000-07:00

Harry Callahan: I know what you're thinking. "Did he fire six shots or only five?" Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I kind of lost track myself. But being as this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself a question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?

Iowan accused of Cheeto attack
Police report: Evidence includes Cheeto dust
By Associated Press
Published: September 4, 2007
A man has been charged with a cheesy snack attack on his dad, police said.The weapon? A bag of Cheetos.Patrick Hamman, 22, of Des Moines, was arrested on a charge of domestic assault after he threw a bag of Cheetos at his father, Michael Hamman, hitting him in the face Sunday night.The bag hit his father’s glasses, causing a cut to the bridge of his nose, police said.The police report said “Michael’s T-shirt was also covered in Cheeto dust.”Police said Patrick, who lives with his father, admitted that he was on methamphetamine at the time of the argument.

Don't cha wish your girlfriend was HOT like me?

2007-09-04T11:10:00.000-07:00

The only thing I have to say about this is:

DUHHHHH!

Men want hot women, study confirms
Story Highlights
Dating study: Men base their decisions mostly on physical attractiveness
Men are much less choosy than women
Women are aware of the importance of their own attractiveness to men

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Science is confirming what most women know: When given the choice for a mate, men go for good looks.

In the dating game, men know what they want.

And guys won't be surprised to learn that women are much choosier about partners than they are.
"Just because people say they're looking for a particular set of characteristics in a mate, someone like themselves, doesn't mean that is what they'll end up choosing," Peter M. Todd, of the cognitive science program at Indiana University, Bloomington, said in a telephone interview.
Researchers led by Todd report in Tuesday's edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that their study found humans were similar to most other mammals, "following Darwin's principle of choosy females and competitive males, even if humans say something different."
Their study involved 26 men and 20 women in Munich, Germany.
Participants ranged in age from 26 to their early 40s and took part in "speed dating," short meetings of three to seven minutes in which people chat, then move on to meet another dater. Afterward, participants check off the people they'd like to meet again, and dates can be arranged between pairs who select one another.
Speed dating let researchers look at a lot of mate choices in a short time, Todd said.
In the study, participants were asked before the session to fill out a questionnaire about what they were looking for in a mate, listing such categories as wealth and status, family commitment, physical appearance, healthiness and attractiveness.
After the session, the researchers compared what the participants said they were looking for with the people they actually chose to ask for another date.
Men's choices did not reflect their stated preferences, the researchers concluded. Instead, men appeared to base their decisions mostly on the women's physical attractiveness.
The men also appeared to be much less choosy. Men tended to select nearly every woman above a certain minimum attractiveness threshold, Todd said.
Women's actual choices, like men's, did not reflect their stated preferences, but they made more discriminating choices, the researchers found.
The scientists said women were aware of the importance of their own attractiveness to men, and adjusted their expectations to select the more desirable guys.
"Women made offers to men who had overall qualities that were on a par with the women's self-rated attractiveness. They didn't greatly overshoot their attractiveness," Todd said, "because part of the goal for women is to choose men who would stay with them"
But, he added, "they didn't go lower. They knew what they could get and aimed for that level."
So, it turns out, the women's attractiveness influenced the choices of the men and the women

I carry your heart with me(I carry it in my heart)

2007-08-30T17:15:00.000-07:00

"I want you to be my mom!" said the Girl.

"Sweetie, you already have a mom." I said.

"I mean a mommy over here, at daddy's house." she responded

"Ohhh. I see. Well your dad and I aren't married yet. When we get married, then I can be your mom."

"Oh. Well I'll call you my future mom then- is that ok?" she asked me.

Is that ok. I can't think of anything MORE ok than that.

I Carry Your Heart with Me~ E. E. Cummings

I carry your heart with me(I carry it in my heart)

I am never without it(anywhere I go you go, my dear; and whatever is done by

only me is your doing, my darling)

I fear no fate

(for you are my fate, my sweet)

I want no world

(for beautiful you are my world, my true)

and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows

higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart
I carry your heart (I carry it in my heart)

I don't suck, you suck. Nuh uh, YOU suck...

2007-08-30T12:39:00.000-07:00

From the backseat:
Girl: "I sort of got in trouble on Friday and had to go to my room."

Me: "Oh really. Why was that?"

Girl: "Well stepdad isn't playing at the fair anymore because he got fired. And I said, they must not have like the way you played. I didn't know that it would hurt his feelings and I had to apologize 3 times and write him a letter telling him how sorry I am. I really didn't know it would hurt his feelings."

Me: "Well, I'm sorry you got in trouble, but that probably was a little hurtful."

Girl: "Yeah, I know. Stepdad also said that Dad's band sucks and that their drummer is just average."

Wow! Talk about textbook displacement.

Here's the skinny

2007-08-29T13:52:00.000-07:00

The time has finally come. I can no longer avoid it. I've spent the past 6 years battling my weight and I have finally won- sort of.

It's been a challenge too. I have always been thin. When I graduated from high school I weighed in at a whopping 110 lbs, and I'm 5'6". Even after 14 years I still only average about 120lbs. What's wrong with this you say? Well, for one thing, I'm not built like a runway model. I've been an athlete all my life- gymnastics, ballet and track- and was, at one point in my life, a body builder. I'm built lean and very strong. In fact, I could out "bench" most of the men I knew at that time- 190 lbs to be exact. Not too shabby for someone who weighs 110lbs! Putting weight on and keeping it on has always been a struggle.

The news lately has got me thinking. What if I were a celebrity. Would the paparazzi hound me for being too thin? Granted there have been times in my life where I looked in a mirror and thought "holy crap you look sick!" And I even had a parent- principle meeting in high school about whether or not I was anorexic-- My mom laughed her way out of his office, offering to have him pay our grocery bills for a while. People have pretty much always assumed that I was trying to be thin. That there simply must be something wrong with me.

Well, at least until recently. The combination of being in a great relationship and being in executive management instead of in a branch (I work for a bank), have made my life much, much less stressful. So, after trying for long time to put weight on (and after months of eating hotdogs and drinking Budweiser), I've finally gotten to my sweet spot, 125lbs!!

The only problem with this is that I realized last night after a heathly walk in the park that I am in the worst shape I have ever been in. I highly doubt that I could lift the bar let alone bench press 190lbs anymore.

My solution- drop $700 on an expensive coat hanger, errr I mean Bow Flex! This seems to be a good solution since I hate cardio and love lifting weights.

Plus, my clothes are dying for change of venue.... We'll see, we'll just see.....

Once upon a time...I woulda knocked your block off!

2007-08-28T15:20:00.000-07:00

There once was a time when, lacking maturity and experience, I would have reacted differently to the dealings I've had recently with a few angry individuals. I wouldn't have been able to contain myself, keep my mouth shut, and keep my anger in check. Fifteen years ago, after enduring the comments I've heard spouted off by these folks lately, it would have come to blows.

I spent many years of my life battling assholes and injustices with my fists. I know- not too lady like, and certainly not a noble way to handle things. I couldn't STAND a person who thought they were so much better than someone else that they would treat them poorly. This was usually the school nerd, or the poor dirty kid that got made fun of all the time. If I heard it, you might as well have said those words to me. I was getting involved and you wouldn't like it.

I alway stood up for those who I thought could not stand on their own.

I was good at it too. There is a perverse pleasure in doing something that you're good at. I learned to fight young and often growing up. Being a military brat meant living in base housing and at that time, the 70's, it wasn't the nicest neighborhood around. When I was 4, a 16 year old neighbor girl "befriended" me. She spent the next year terrorizing and torturing me. My dad then taught me self defense moves that I have actually come to cherish. Unfortunately, they came in very handy in my high school fights.

By the time I reached the age of 16, I had been in a handful of "real" fights. No pulling hair or scratching here. Nope. I used my fists. And be the time I reached the legal driving age, I had used them several times on girls and guys alike. I never hurt anyone too bad. I was always cognizant of hurting someone to teach them a lesson, not permanently damaging them. But I'm sure I left mental scars instead, which is almost worse.

It wasn't until after getting the tar beat out of me by 3 girls at once that I started to realize what a total BAFOON I had become. Not because I stood up for myself and others but because I allowed ignorant, shallow people to make me angry. And the root of all my fighting was anger. I was anger at being picked on as child. I was angry at seeing others being picked on. I was just angry.

I also learned that I could speak my mind without it resulting in something physical. In fact, to have to degrade youself to a gross physical act to get your point across is not a sign of intelligence but ignorance. I can still stand up for injustices and for those who can not stand on their own. Only now if I decide to act, it's to perform an act of kindness. I've also learned that I can have the tools and physical ability to defend myself. This is ok. It's not ok to use these to dominate a situation.

Today, as I sat thinking about a few people in my life who LOVE to trash on me and my boyfriend, I thought- "Ooooh if only I could meet them on the street. I'd....". Fifteen years ago, that sentence would have ended quite differently than it would today. Today I, if provoked, would likely give them a peice of my mind (hey I'm not perfect!) If not provoked, I'd smile and make eye contact. I might even say hello. Then, I would let go of any anger I had and walk away.

Still I rise....

2007-08-16T20:13:00.000-07:00

I've been to: Reno Chicago Fargo Minnesota Buffalo Toronto Winslow Sarasota Wichita Tulsa Ottawa Oklahoma Tampa Panama Mattawa LaPaloma Bangor Baltimore Salvador Amarillo... "gasp" breathe....Tocapillo Barranquilla And Padilla....

Okay maybe not quite. But it sure feels like it lately. Now don't get me wrong- I enjoy wracking up the frequent flyer miles and I always said I wanted a job where I could travel. But you know the old adage, "be carful what you ask for. You just might get it."

It didn't really starting hitting me how much time I've been away from home until last week. While visiting beautiful Baker City, Oregon I awoke one evening, and like usual, had to look at the time (I do this repeatedly throughout the night, almost every night.) This evening things weren't quite right. I couldn't for the life of me figure out WHY in the world Tim would move my alarm clock to the opposite side of the bed. What the hell??? Ahhh, Duh! That alarm clock would belong to the Best Western.

I also started really feelin' all the miles when in 5 days I had traveled to 5 different states. I started out working in Oregon until Friday, back to Idaho, then Tim and I were off at 8:00 on Saturday morning to Nevada, only to then drive to California for Tim's gig- which didn't get over until 1:00am on Monday morning, to then get up at 2:30 am (yep, that's an hour and a half of sleep folks- not pretty) to drive back to Nevada to then fly to Spokane to give a presentation for work at 1:30pm that same day.

Please understand- I don't get to travel to exotic lands and far off places of adventure. No. I get to spend 3 days and 800 miles going to places like Enterprise, Pilot Rock, Pendleton, Burns and John Day. Haven't heard of these high profile tourist destinations? Exactly my point. But it's not all bad. The Best Western of Baker City gets balanced out with the Davenport in Spokane-which MORE than makes up for it!

Now I'm home, and I am ready for a few days of peace and quite. What will I do with all that time?

Hmmmm. I'm not doing anything this weekend. Maybe I'll plan a trip somewhere.

The Pot Calling The Kettle Black ( to say something about someone else which is actually true of you yourself ... )

2007-08-09T21:44:00.000-07:00

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third
Edition. 2002.

pot calling the
kettle black

Criticizing others for the very fault one
possesses.

Story of the Kettle

By Christine

When the pot called the kettle black, the kettle was somewhat offended. Until he thought deep and hard about the issue. "How could the pot call me black," he asked. "The pot is even blacker than me!"

The kettle marched right up to the pot and shouted "Hey you skinny-armed, pot belly piece of tin! How come you called me black!"

The pot, who hates confrontation, was quite put off by this. What was that good-for-nothing kettle doing yelling at me? That kettle is sooo judgemental How could he be the way he is. I am so much better than him. I would never be like that.

So, he yelled back "Hey kettle, you are so judgemental. I would never be that way. You should be like me."

The kettle looked sympathetically at the pot then, suddenly deeply sadden that the pot couldn't see it's own shoot and dirt. He came to realize that the pot was so busy scrutinizing and judging everyone else he couldn't see that he was just as black as the kettle. As black as anyone....

Pot calling the kettle black
from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The phrase "Pot calling the kettle black" is an idiom, used to accuse another speaker of hypocrisy, in that the speaker disparages the subject in a way that could equally be applied to him or her. In former times cast iron pots and kettles were quickly blackened from the soot of the fire. If personified into animate objects, the pot would then be hypocritical to insult the kettle's colour. The phrase "It takes one to know one" has a similar meaning. Chinese philosopher Mencius relates a similar story about a soldier laughing at another soldier retreating 100 steps, while retreating 50 steps himself.[1] There's a similar idiom in Turkish; "Tencere dibin kara

Our Time

2007-07-26T11:17:00.000-07:00

"I wish it need not happened in my time," said Frodo.

"So do I," said Gandolph, "And so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time given us."

JRR Tolkien

Doesn't seem too stupid to me!

2007-07-10T16:48:00.000-07:00

The "Stupid" 31 Flavors. Okay, inside joke from my previous post! :)

Tim's band, "The 31 Flavors"-- They're great; The camera woman (me) sucked!

Say Cheese

2007-05-15T20:12:00.000-07:00

Say cheese!

No matter what kind of day I've had I can always count on my buddy
to make me laugh. Weiner Dogs are s0000000 funny!

Happy Mother's Day

2007-05-13T06:52:00.000-07:00

Today, like many, I celebrate Mother's Day with my mom. I hope you are all able to enjoy this day with your moms as well.

For those who have lost their mothers, I give you this Dennis Franz quote from Allison Gilbert's book, Always Too Soon: Voices of Support for Those Who Have Lost Both Parents:

"Though I miss my parents dearly, I'm so glad that I miss them. If I didn't, it would mean that they didn't have as much of an impact on my life as they do. I would like to have the same sort of impact on my own children."

Happy Mother's Day!

Memory Lane, Small Town USA

2007-05-10T15:15:00.000-07:00

I recently received an email from a childhood friend that took me down memory lane so quickly and so aburtly it unleashed a torrent of memories that I can't seem to now turn off. What this email did for me though was to make me realize that blessings are almost always in disguise. It took this letter from an old friend and nearly 20 years to realize how blessed I was to have "grown up" in a small town. I lived in a town of 100 people and "going to town" meant to drive 15 minutes to a larger town of 2000 people. At the time- I lived there from 3rd through 9th grade- it seemed torturous. Now I realize, I was so lucky to grow up in such a place.

I share with you the excepts of this email:

From: Layne
To: Christine

"I looked at your pictures on flicker and there are two kids, a boy and a girl. Are those Seans kids? He's married right. I heard that once upon a time he did get hitched. I think the only person not married is Darin McDonald. He lives in his dads old house in chamberlain. Just him and two cats. Ones name is Jackie and the other one doesn't have a name. He just calls it the white one because Jackie is all black. I bet you miss cruising up and down south main on the weekends in chamberlain. Down main street to the stop sign. Go left down the truck route and left up the hill. Stop, take a right at McDonalds and go down south main street at 25 miles an hour. Pull into the road that goes up to taco johns and make a u-turn and go back down south main until you get to the stop sign by the bank clock. Repeat as many times as you can before mid-night. They removed the bank clock a few years ago. Everyone was in a big uproar over that one. Someone had their kids set out on the corner with a dry-erase board one weekend and they kept writing the time on it every five min. or so. There was a kid on the corner for 4 or 5 days with that board. Really. When ever I go back there I can't recognise anybody. I don't know where everyone I used to know went. "

From: Christine
To: Layne

"Yep, those are Sean's progeny. You'll *LOVE* this: He married the sister of the local prosecuting attorney! Awesome!! Her dad owned (he died last year) the only hotel in town and they are related to everyone in town.After moving to Washington, Sean continued the same antics--as we ALL did--and was drinking alot and smoking pot and crashing his cars and motorcycles (that one actually cost him part of his arm!) When he met his wife he totally changed. Now he spends his time in the forest, either for work or to play, and with his family. He doesn't have email or I'd give you his address. I'll tell him about Darren for sure, he'll get a kick out that. I loved you trip down memory lane- thank you! My most vivid memories of you, besides being the friend that always flirted with and "sweet-talked" my MOM, seems to revolve around music. I can remember you coming over to the house and watching MTV with me. I loved that basement- cool and quiet in the summer, satellite TV, comfy recliners. First, it was MC Hammer. " Oh, you've got to see this guy! He wears weird pants and does a funny dance" you said. I think you even got up and tried to show me the "dance". Ohhh, Ohhhh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Can't Touch This....Then it was Faith No More and the crazy fire-fish-piano exploding-crazy guy>video that was "soooo coool!"- And it was. It's funny. While I lived their, I hated it. I couldn't wait to get out. Small Town, USA, nothing to do, only old people as the majority population- this sure lent itself to what, in the moment, seemed like "suffering", but now seems to be some of my fondest memories. To THIS day, when I smell Lilacs in the the spring, I am instantly transported to the Brooks' backyard where there were a line of huge Lilac bushes. I can see, as if looking down upon it all like a bird in flight, their house- big, white, 2-story colonial style house with a huge yard. I can see Joe and Sarah playing basketball outside on the court. Terry is in the garden and Kathleen is mowing the lawn. As fly further, I come upon the Hubbard household. Through the kitchen window I can Denny, staring at Kathleen and commenting about her shorts and long legs. Carla is in the kitchen baking, something, and Michael is in his basement bedroom doing "god knows what". Mandy is out in the yard kicking a soccer ball. Their freaky cat that was struck by lightning and live through a fire, is lying in the sun on the cement slab that was to be their garage, half finished for 10 years. As I cut across, I see the Mayer's house. The whole brood is on their way back in-doors because one of them got in trouble. Otherwise, they're all in that immense yard, riding on the motorcycle or swinging on the tire under that beautiful enormous tree. I think I see Billy crouched in the weeds across the street, aiming his .22 or B B gun at the Mayors house. I swoop around and pass the Keiner house. Here I see Bill Sr. out front mowing his lawn. He's wearing shorts, socks, and no shirt- His round belly directing the actions of the mower more than his hands. Mrs. Keiner ( I can't remember her first name) is yelling at Billy about something and he's ignoring her. I see your house out of the corner of my eye as i circle back around and come to the heart of the city, Main Street. There's the Bar, the Hotel, the Ballroom, ahhh I loved the Ballroom, the Fisher's hole, errr I mean house,>and the Coop. Of course there were all those empty, condemned buildings that we all love to play in so much, all along the way. Somewhere out there are you and Sean. Probably driving my dad's electric golf cart, beer in the back, through some mud hole like it was a 4X4. That>is what small towns do to you though, you get very creative and you do>things like "Mud Bogging with Golf Carts"! As much angst as it caused me at the time, including the travesty of living in a town with a name like Pukwana, it was actually a beautiful thing. That small town was my world and it was a beautiful world. I wouldn't trade it for anything!"

Today, I remember to count my blessings. Even those that I don't recognize yet.

Oh we're movin' on up...

2007-04-02T11:14:00.000-07:00

...to the eastside. To a deluxe apartment, in the sky -eye-eye.

Yep, folks, after 6 months of talking about it, I finally moved to beautiful Boise!! It's hard to believe the time has actually arrived. It seemed like it was going to take forever and a day when the time would come, then all of a sudden-boom, it's here.

One thing I've learned through this is that it pays to have lots of large, muscular friends when you move. Which was the case on one end of the move, but not on the other.

It's been over a month since I've posted on this blog, and for good reason. I've been busy, damn it! But now that the move is behind me, I'm Baaackkkk! And I've missed you all terribly.

Let me tell you a little about my move. The first thing, I had 3 dogs. Yes, I said 3, and a cat. This wasn't going to work. No apartment in the world was going to accept me AND my entire brood. Also, having dogs that bark a lot makes selling your home nearly impossible. So, sadly I had to find a home for 2 of my dogs. This wasn't necessarily a bad thing since the two I gave up were Miniature Pinschers. If you've ever owned one or known anyone who has, you'll understand that last comment. They are ridiculously hard to house train. I got so tired of stepping in dog pee I could've screamed. They are also very high strung and bark a lot. All things that potential landlords just love-- no doubt. And my wonderful ex, being the responsible, caring individual that he is, just up and left me with all 3 dogs. So, after much deliberation, and sadness, I put an ad in the paper for a good home for them. Luckily, I found one that wanted both dogs- what a blessing (well for me anyways, I don't think the new owners really knew what they were getting into, or *stepping* into, so to speak.)

That horrible deed being done, I decided to try to sell my home- by owner. What a stupid mistake. I figured I had to at least try before succumbing to spending $8000 for a realtor. I gave myself 1 month to give it a try. Dumb, dumb, dumb. I don't believe that most Realtors do anything to earn that kind of money, but the truth is, after 1 month I had shown my house to only 3 potential buyer. I hired a realtor and the house sold in 1 week. Trust me, I learned my lesson on this one!

Once the house sold, I had to finally "face the music" and tell my boss I was quitting. I promised her 60 days notice. This wasn't exactly what I wanted to do but the world of banking is a very small and somewhat vindictive one. Not wanting to burn any bridges, I submitted to this request and agreed to help find and train my replacement. Ughh!

It's funny how the past 6 months seemed to drag on relentlessly. Especially since Tim and I had been trying to make our relationship work while living 300 miles apart. Weekend trips back and forth every 2- 3 weeks was really hard. Thank goodness we live in the technology age and we've been able to communicate virtually every day since we met, 1 year ago, through text messaging, email, and phones.

The sale of my house seemed to accelerated the pace of things for me 10 fold. I suddenly went from having FOREVER to wait to not having any time at all. Since I had given 60 days notice, and most houses close in 30-45 days, I knew I'd have to figure out where I'd live for a while. I also had to find an apartment in Boise as well. Which turned out to be easier than I thought it would be. I found a great 2 bedroom place that suits me and my pets.

But, what about that 3-4 week gap where I still had to work at my old job with no home? Well this is where things get interesting.

I was invited to assist with a merger of a bank our company bought in Utah. I was asked to stay in Utah for 2 and 1/2 weeks to assist them. Ahh darn. A free hotel room for nearly 3 weeks. "Ahh Shoot, I guess if I have to, I'll make the sacrifice!" That covered a few weeks of homelessness for me. The rest, the last 2 weeks, I'll be staying with friends. Whew! That was tough.

Then came the actually move itself. I thought, "I can do this on my own- how tough can it be?" I got online and rented my Uhaul, called a couple of friends and "called in my chips" (well really I threatened them all that if they didn't help me I'd break down and actually call my Ex to help me. It's amazing how well that worked!) And I rented my new apartment so that I could move all my things in before I left for Utah.

The moving day came and I picked up my Uhaul. It looked so much smaller in person than on the web. I figured it had to be the right size, that the Internet would never lie. The website said this truck would fit a 3-4 room house. I have no concept of space, and how much of it my stuff takes up. I knew that moving from a 1600 sq ft home to an 1100 sq st home would be an adjustment. I had 2 whole sets of "living room" furniture since I had a family room and a living room in my house. I gave my very expensive formal living room furniture to Goodwill, so I didn't have a ton of stuff-- so I thought. After loading up half the truck it became glaringly apparent that everything was NOT going to fit. Too late to get another truck, so at the last minute, we unloaded the only Sofa I had planned to bring with me and carted it off to the dump. Even with that, I still had some things that just flat wouldn't fit on the truck. It was so full, I was afraid to open it when I got to Boise. Yikes!

Just to make things slightly more challenging (since I do love a challenge!) the apartment I rented is on the 3rd floor. I moved box after box up those damned steps. I thought I was going to die! Luckily Tim had a few big friends who could help for just a few hours with the real heavy stuff, so I didn't have to try to lug my TV and larger furniture up, but still it was back breaking labor. Something this banker does not do often or well.

It felt like I would never get it all done, but then suddenly, it was. It felt so strange to finally be moved in to my new home in Boise. This being not only a new home for me, but a new city and state for that matter. And after ALL these months of thinking and planning and pining, it was done! What now? I suddenly felt useless--but in an *oh so wonderful* way!

Now I sit in Utah, writing this post, so proud of myself for being so independent and able to do things on my own. Knowing that a world of greatness awaits me in only a few more weeks. What I thought would be an absolutely impossible task was done. And *I* did it! It's so gratifying.

And now I literally live in an apartment in the sky! Ohh I'm movin' on up.......Now if I could only get the "Mr. Jefferson" strut down.....

2007-03-02T08:23:00.001-08:00

Oh What a Week

2007-02-15T12:06:00.001-08:00

What a week. You may have noticed that I haven't been around this small corner of the blog-o-sphere much lately.
I have officially caught the plague and have been home from work now for 2 days.For those of you who don't know me this might seem normal, but it's not. I don't miss work. In fact, I almost ALWAYs at least make it in to work. I figure I can try to work and if, once I'm there, I am in fact too sick to work, then I'll go home. This week I actually "called" in sick. That means, I'm really ill. Not just playing hooky. Boo Hoo. I've learned though that being single means having to take care of yourself when you're sick. No one to care if you need cough syrup or soup, no back rubs, no pity party. (I should re-phrase that. I have people who CARE, just no one within 5 hours of where I am now wasting away in my bed.)

On top of being sick, I also put my house up for sale this week. I've spent the past 6 months getting the house remodeled and repairs done so that I wouldn't have to die of embarassment every time the realtor parades some stranger through my home. Though there are still a hundred little loose ends that need to be taken care of--such as raking up the leaves that have been in my back yard since last fall, and cleaning out the garage-- I am running out of time, patience and energy. So, needless to say I finally hired a realtor.

What a racket! I DID try to sell my house as "For Sale By Owner" for a month, only to get just a few bites of interest; mostly people who buy houses as investment property. It was just too darn time consuming to do it on my own. On top of working endless hours every week and trying to work on "fixing up" the house on the weekends, I was also trying to show the property on my lunch breaks or after work. YIKES! Now, I can at least say I tried.

Having to pay a realtor 6-7% of the sale price is one tough pill to swallow though. Anyone out there who's a realtor, please understand that I know you work hard to sell the properties that you're contracted to sell, but even on my small, cheap, $140,000 house, it will end up costing me $11,000 with realtor and closing costs.

This sucks, but it's also compounded by the fact that prior to my divorce, we used the equity in the house to pay for some of the remodeling projects we had done, and to pay off credit card debt. Some mine, most my ex's. This means that I may end up having to bring money to closing in order to sell my humble abode. They say, hindsight in 20/20, and had I know my husband would decide to walk after 10 years together, I certainly would not have used this precious asset- my home equity-to pay off debt; debt that my ex accumulated from HIS first marriage-yada yada yada. Ughh- enough about the ex.

Lastly, work this week has been a terror. I have a very small staff where I'm at right now, and last week 1/2 (which equates to 2 people) of them quit. No, not a mutiny. But they both quit without notice. I have spent the past week reading, sorting, and grading resumes. I have 60+ applications to go through for these two positions. As a side note, about 2/3's of those applying for these somewhat "entry-level" positions, have a BA or even their Master's degrees. Goes to show that the job market is a tough place right now. There are a lot of people job hunting.

Once the resumes are selected, then comes the interviews. Then possibly a second interview, then the selection of an applicant, making the offer, running the background and credit checks, drug test, personality test, etc, etc. I know, I'm moving and going to work for another company, but I promised my boss I would leave my job ready to hand over, turn-key if you will. So, I unfortunately have to put some real time and thought into who I hire, even if I won't be there after they start.

And who do you suppose has to cover those two positions while we're trying to get them filled?? Well it's ME, Super Woman,of course! CAN YOU SAY, "BURNING TO CANDLE AT BOTH ENDS." It's really no wonder I'm sick.

On top of all that, I just spent Valentines Day without the one person in this world I wanted desperately to spend it with, and that just takes the cake for me this week. I haven't even seen Tim for a month. I am not one of those people who has a problem with being alone. Sometimes, I even relish being alone. I've never been someone who HAS to have a boyfriend. But when I do, I want to BE with them, especially on the most romantic day of the year. I know, boo hoo again.

I just can't wait until we actually live in the same area code and can see each other more than either of us probably cares to see each other! This is the motivation that keeps me going when I think about the daunting task ahead of me- selling my house, moving my stuff, starting a new job in a new State-- and doing a lot of it alone.
I imagine it's weeks like this that keep the travel industry afloat. I think I need a Bahamavention! Or a Carribavention! Or a Cabovention! Anyone want to join me? Ok, but you have to pick up a paint brush or rake and earn your keep first! Or pay for the trip ;)
Cheers!

Not Just For Grandma Anymore!

2007-02-08T11:24:00.000-08:00

Until the recent news about astronaut Lisa Nowak, who stalked and maced some poor lady for dating a guy who Nowak was infatuated with, I had truly under-appreciated the Adult Diaper. Think about all the possibilities:
1. Great for those long distance road trips
2. You no longer have to get up half way through a great movie to use the restroom
3. Of course it's easier to stalk someone you want to catch and mace
4. You no longer have to be frustrated when you have the window or middle seat on the airplane. "Excuse me, pardon me, excuse me. Oh sorry. Oops. Pardon me....."5. Get stuck in rush hour traffic a lot?
6. Maybe you can't possibly miss the commercials during the Super Bowl?
7. They are just so darn sexy.
8. Addicted to playing Xbox?
9. When you're having a real lucky streak in Vegas?
What a great invention!! Of course 100's of astronauts can't be wrong! They swear by them. Especially if you need to stalk and mace someone.

Single to SULLY In 7 Seconds

2007-02-06T10:55:00.001-08:00

When did Single become synonymous with sully? Has it been true throughout history that bachelors are inevitably messy people?

This question came to me as I begin the process of listing and selling my house. I have come to realize that it is a lot of work keeping your house clean enough to sell--especially when you live alone. But what about those "singles" who aren't forced to keep their happy abode neat? And please understand, I mean messy not necessarily dirty, though some of us are innately dirty as well (present company NOT included--I can handle clutter, but not dirt.)

Here's an example. I have a friend, who we'll call B for anonymity's sake, who is single--that is, he lives alone-- and has no children. The other day I went to his house to visit, and as I entered his front door, I was blasted with smell of rancid baby puke and floor cleaner.

I instantly recalled a conversation we'd had just the week prior about the jug of milk in his refrigerator that had an expiration date of sometime in October. Low and behold, the rotten milk ate through the plastic container and leaked down the front of the refrigerator and onto the kitchen floor (hence the floor cleaner smell.)

And this isn't a rarity with him, or me for that matter. If you opened my refrigerator today you would find 2 or 3 dishes with some now mysterious left-overs in them and probably some moldy cheese. And though I've never had food go so bad that it actually ate thought the container it was in, I've had my share of fuzzy fruit and lumpy milk.

But the refrigerator isn't the only problem. Just looking around my kitchen you will usually find dishes in the sink, the bread has gone moldy, and my potatoes have grown something resembling "little albino old man" legs. You know, those crazy little tentacles that oddly sprout from your potato when you're not watching.

If you were to then venture from my kitchen to my living room you'd find that my dog, Murry, has decided to annihilate a paper towel or wrapper that has fallen to the floor. He's a long-haired Dachsund, so he basically looks like an Irish Setter with no legs. He's such a "low-rider", that when he walks he proceed to carry everything under him, with him. So needless to say, my living room floor will sometimes be covered in leaves or those annoying "balls" that fall from the Sycamore tree I have out back.

From there you could see that my bedroom has a few articles of dirty clothes in the chair next to my bed (because of course the laundry hamper is full of clean clothes waiting to be folded and put away.) The bed hasn't been made and my 12 year old cat may have decided this day was a good one to puke up a hair ball smack dab in the middle of the room-- oh joy! The bath room is buried in all my hair and make-up "stuff" and I never seem to be able to get the damned toilet paper roll in it's proper place. It ends up instead on the floor next to the toilet.

I know a few bachelors who are "neat as a pin," as Senator Biden would say, so I don't know if messiness is a god given right of single people, but it sure seems that the majority of us live in a clean / messy dichotomy. Their house might be clean only for special occasions or there may be special rooms that are maintained while the rest of the house is a disaster. Or maybe you're the weekend warrior type (like me) who goes "balls to the wall" for 2 days each week and then just let it all slide the rest of the week.

Like I said earlier, I am selling my house for my move to Boise. This requires that every nook and cranny be clean and neat. After spending a week scrubbing, sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, and shampooing, I now know why people let this stuff go. It's alot of work. Especially alone-there's no "honey-do" lists; no delegation. Especially if you are like me and work A LOT of hours every week. I feel like I spend my whole life working and cleaning.

Well forgot that! I am too busy, too tired, and too bored with cleaning.

I hired Merry Maids today.

Ahhhh someone else can deal with being neat for me. Maybe being an un-tidy bachelor isn't so bad after all.

THE JOURNEY

2007-02-02T11:53:00.000-08:00

The Journey

One day you finally knew

What you had to do, and began

Though the voices around you Kept shouting

Their bad advice -

Though the whole house

Began to tremble

And you felt the old tug

At your ankles "Mend my life!"Each voice cried. But you didn't stop. You knew what you had to do,

Though the wind pried

With its stiff fingers

At the very foundations,

Though their melancholy

Was terrible.

It was already late

Enough, and a wild night,

And the road full of fallen stones.

But little by little,

As you left their voices behind,

The stars began to burn

Through the sheets of clouds,

And there was a new voice,

Which you slowly recognized as your own,

That kept you company

As you strode deeper and deeper

Into the world,

Determined to do

The only thing you could do -Determined to save

The only life you could save.

By Mary Oliver

Failure

2007-01-31T16:09:00.000-08:00

You may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing that we call "failure" is not the falling down, but the staying down.

Mary Pickford

ABOUT MARY PICKFORDFrom a very early age, MARY PICKFORD was determined to become a success. If she set her mind on something, Mary would not give up until she was in the door, and had the chance to prove herself. Whether she was surprising Toronto audiences at the age of five, auditioning for David Belasco, or convincing D.W. Griffith that she was worth more than any of the other stock performers in his Biograph company, Mary believed in her ability to overcome all obstacles.Her ambition may have stemmed from a need to survive in troubled times, but her innate talent is what made Mary Pickford one of the most incredible performers on screen, and her head for business made her one of the greatest perfectionists in the history of film.

Code Name: Tulip

2007-01-22T19:48:00.000-08:00

I have a confession. I live a secret life. A life that only a handful of people know about. Its a life not many understand.

I am a video game junky. This is something I usually don't readily share with many people. In my normal life, I am a 31 year old accomplished professional--an experienced business woman. To share that I love to gun down an opponent at point blank range on my 25' monitor is somewhat embarrassing, and maybe even considered juvenile to some. And this certainly would not be understood by one of my 70 year old clients. I don't even know that my 30 year friends can understand the pleasure I derive from *snipping* an opponent from a hidden vantage point.

Now, you could easily explain this strange phenomenon away by saying that I must just crave and enjoy the violence, and Lord knows, that for some odd, very unfeminine, unwoman-like reason, I do enjoy the violence. I like the blood and guts (the more the better), it's true; sick and true. But the truth is I like all sorts of video games. Give me a real good sim or strategy game, even a puzzle, and you're likely to lose me for hours, if not days. There's something more there for me then just the violence.

Like everything else in life (just kidding mom,) I can blame some of this habit on my parents. I grew up in a household that looked a little different than most of my peers. My dad not only bought us a video game system for Christmas, he sat down and played it with us. He eventually stopped buying them for us all together and just bought them for himself. To this day, he still plays and owns the latest and greatest Xbox. And though I think he's currently a little addicted (the pot calling the kettle black, blah blah) to gaming, it's one the the things I've always loved most about my dad. That, and the fact that he watches South Park with me, and once yelled at the top of him lungs from a Hampton Inn window "I am the Great Cornholio, I need TP for my bunghole!"

So its in my genes a little bit. And I grew up on video games. I started on a Colleco (sp) System when I was in the 3rd grade, and my friend next door had the Atari. We played games like Asteroids, and Pit Fall for hours on end. I graduated to the Nintendo in Middle School. This is when I first learned that I was pretty good at video gaming. I later moved on to the Super Nintendo and then, after high school, had an epiphany! My cousin introduced me to the genre of Computer Gaming, and shareware-god bless it! He turned me on to my still all-time favorite games, Duke Nukem. It changed me forever.

I grew up with video games and I am good at them too. I'm also a woman, and up until the last 10 years there weren't many of us out there--female gamers that is. Things are different now, especially with the existence of video game consoles, but we're still a minority. In high school I came to love the amount of respect I could command from an entire room of guys by beating them on the Nintendo. I began to harvest a lust for kicking the ass of some cocky guy who thought I couldn't play Serious Sam or Command & Conquer because I was "a girl."I loved racking up the *kills*. It became a competition. A huge Adrenalin rush, and yet extremely relaxing as well. When my marriage began going south a few years ago, gaming became an escape; a place where I could hide from reality. It wasn't a crutch, like a drug so much, but a conscious decision to not deal with the life in front of me-- a comfort from the stresses of day to day life.

My life is different today. I don't play video games quite as much as I used, but I do still play. I no longer feel the same need to live in fantasy, versus reality. But I do still love a graphic First Person Shooter. The bloodier the better.

I don't know why. Please don't think me juvenile. Please try not to judge me. And boy oh boy, don't dare cross my path on-line playing a game like Unreal Tournament. You'll recognize me by my code name, Tulip.

I'll be the one pickin' ya off from a mile away, with a smile.

2006 Best Headlines

2007-01-18T13:00:00.000-08:00

THE YEAR'S BEST (actual) HEADLINES OF 2006...enjoy!

Crack Found on Governor's Daughter

Imagine that--Which end were they looking at?

Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Expert Says

Isn't that something?

Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalker
Making punishment fit the crime

Is There a Ring of Debris around Uranus?
Whaaat??
Panda Mating Fails; Veterinarian Takes Over
What a guy.
Miners Refuse to Work after Death
Those unions, what will they gripe about next?
Juvenile Court to Try Shooting Defendant
See if that works any better than a fair trial.
War Dims Hope for Peace
It DOES have that effect, doesn't it?
If Strike Isn't Settled Quickly, It May Last Awhile
This headline PEGGED the obvious meter...
Cold Wave Linked to Temperatures
Who would have thunk it...
Enfield ( London ) Couple Slain; Police Suspect
Homicide
They may be on to something.
Red Tape Holds Up New Bridges
You mean there's something stronger than duct tape?
Man Struck By Lightning: Faces Battery Charge
Lightning has that affect on some people...
New Study of Obesity Looks for Larger Test Group
WOW. Weren't they fat enough?
Astronaut Takes Blame for Gas in Spacecraft
That's what he gets for eating those beans.
Kids Make Nutritious Snacks
...and they taste just like chicken, too.
Local High School Dropouts Cut in Half
Chainsaw Massacre all over again.
Hospitals are Sued by 7 Foot Doctors
Boy, are they good at basketball, too.And the winner is....
Typhoon Rips Through Cemetery; Hundreds Dead
Not one of them complained, though.

Dedicated to Dirty Dan

2007-01-14T06:25:00.000-08:00

I was going to save this poem for another day when my "Lame-Brainedness" kicked in again like it did Saturday and I can't think of anything interesting to write about. However, I learned recently that Dan over at Dan's Blah Blah Blog has never heard of Shel Silverstein. And this has been one of my favorite poems since I was a kid.

Forgive me for flooding this blog with poems from Shel-- But I had to dedicate this one to my dear friend Dan! Please visit his site, you'll understand the irony of this poem! The only simularity is the name-- I hope !

DIRTY DAN

Oh I'm Dirty Dan, the world's dirtiest man,
I never have taken a shower.
I can't see my shirt--It's so covered with dirt,
And my ears have enough to grow flowers.

But the water is either a little too hot,
Or else it's a little too cold.

I'm musty and dusty and patchy and scratchy
And mangy and covered with mold.
But the water is always a little too hot,
Or else it's a little too cold.

I live in a pen with five hogs and a hen
And three squizzley lizards who creep in
My bed, and they itch as I squirm, and I twitch
In the cruddy old sheets that I sleep in.

If you looked down my throat with a flashlight, you'd note
That my insides are coated with rust.
I creak when I walk and I squeak when I talk,
And each time I sneeze I blow dust.

The thought of a towel and some soap makes me howl,
And when people have something to tell me
They don't come and tell it-- they stand back and yell it.
I think they're afraid they might smell me.

The bedbugs that leap on me sing me to sleep,
And the garbage flies buzz me awake.
They're the best friend I've found and I fear they might drown
So I ever go too near a lake.

Each evening at nine I sit down to dine
With the termites who live in my chair,
And I joke with the bats and have intimate chats
With the cooties who crawl through my hair.

I'd brighten my life if I just found a wife,
But I fear that that never will be
Until I can find a girl, gently and kind,
With a beautiful face and a sensitive mind,
Who sparkles and twinkles and glistens and shines--
And who' almost as dirty as me!
-Shel Silverstein, "Where the Sidewalk Ends"

Anywhere and Nowhere or Somewhere in between

2007-01-13T21:26:00.000-08:00

On many occasions, I've been asked the question, "so where did you grow up?" For a long time, this question caused me pause, and sometimes even rendered me silent for a few moments while I'd try to formulate a simple answer to this very simple question. When asked this, most people can answer quickly and confidently. They know what the question means and can easily tell you the name 0f the town they grew up in.

You see, I was an Air Force Brat growing up. We moved many times, living in 5 different states and spending a short time overseas. It had become a family joke that we had moved (some of these moved before I was born) 16 times by the time we had made it to our final stop in Washington State.

I was born in Riverside, CA, but since we lived there for only a matter of months, and I--of course-- have no recollection of this city, it surely can only be thought of as the place I was born, not where I grew up.

Not long after I was born, my family was moved to the Philippines and was stationed at Clark Air Force Base. This would be the first place I have any cognitive memories of a place where we lived. I can remember the sirens going off in the middle of the night as the base was shut down to catch a King Cobra that had gotten in. And I can remember that the windows had no glass, only shutters that you left open at night to allow the lizards in. They ate the bugs.

But we moved again less than 2 years after arriving there. This again, can't really be considered where I grew up, can it? I only lived there until I was 2.

We moved back to the states and settled in Chesapeake VA as my dad went to school at the George Washington University. This too was a short stay; less than 2 years. I have almost no memory of this place except that we had docks behind our back yard where we could feed the ducks. I was attacked by one and it scarred me for life!

After that we moved to Omaha NE. Now I begin to remember a lot more about the places we lived. I remember my brother who was 14 at the time, decided it would be a good idea to tear up the Officer's Greens with some friends. We were kicked of base and had to move to a house in a suburb. We spent almost 3 years here. Though I went to kindergarten and 1st grade in Omaha, I still don't think it constitutes being considered "where I grew up."

My dad finished school and left the military and again we moved. This time to South Dakota. What an experience this was. We lived in a town of 100 people on the Missouri River called Pukwana and had to ride the bus for 45 minutes to go to school "in town." I spent 7 years here and of course, have a multitude of memories from this place. I remember digging up Indian Arrowheads and beads from the back yard and snow that would drift so deep, we would find clothes lines when we dug tunnels in it. But yet again, my family moved after my freshman year in high school.

We ended up in South Bend WA. Of all the places I lived, I disliked this one the most. Actually, I hated it there. My graduating class had just 28 people, and it rained incessantly! Our little harbor town recieved more rain than the Olympia Nat'l Rain Forest. I left 2 weeks after I graduated and moved to where I currently live in Eastern WA. Even if someone was to suggest that this is where I grew up ( I did spend 3 of my 4 high school years there,) I'd refuse to believe it out of sheer hate.

So where did I grew up? Anywhere or Nowhere or Somewhere in between?
Is it true that "home is where the heart is" or maybe "where I grew up," is wherever I was at at any given time in my adolescence. Sure. But how do you answer someone making small talk who askes,
"Where did you grow up?"

BATTLE IN THE SKY

2007-01-13T11:02:00.000-08:00

BATTLE IN THE SKY

Shel Silverstein

It wasn't quite day and it wasn't quite night,
'Cause the sun and the moon were both in sight,
A situation quite all right
With everyone else but them.

So they both made remarks about who gave more light
And who was the brightest and prettiest sight,
And the sun gave a bump and the moon gave a bite,
And the terrible sky fight began.

With a scorch and a sizzle, a screech and a shout,
Across the great heavens they tumbled about,
And the moon had a peice of the sun in its mouth,
While the sun burned the face of the moon.

And when it was over the moon was rubbed red,
And the sun had a very bad lump on its head,
And all the next night the moon stayed home in bed,
And the sun didn't come out 'til noon.

A Good Reason To Be Broke

2007-01-12T10:42:00.000-08:00

This story was sent to me by a good friend and it kind of freaked me out. I am forever looking for reasons to justify being broke, but this one takes the cake. I find this scary on so many levels-- not that I have anything to hide, really!

And who knew the Canadians were so 007'ish? I suddenly have a new found respect for our Northern cousins!

Moral of this story, spend all your money before they can find you!

WASHINGTON (AP) - Money talks, but can it also follow your movements?

Updated: 12:43 p.m. PT Jan 11, 2007

In a U.S. government warning high on the creepiness scale, the Defense Department cautioned its American contractors over what it described as a new espionage threat: Canadian coins with tiny radio frequency transmitters hidden inside.
The government said the mysterious coins were found planted on U.S. contractors with classified security clearances on at least three separate occasions between October 2005 and January 2006 as the contractors traveled through Canada.
Intelligence and technology experts said such transmitters, if they exist, could be used to surreptitiously track the movements of people carrying the spy coins.
The U.S. report doesn’t suggest who might be tracking American defense contractors or why. It also doesn’t describe how the Pentagon discovered the ruse, how the transmitters might function or even which Canadian currency contained them.
Further details were secret, according to the U.S. Defense Security Service, which issued the warning to the Pentagon’s classified contractors. The government insists the incidents happened, and the risk was genuine.
“What’s in the report is true,” said Martha Deutscher, a spokeswoman for the security service. “This is indeed a sanitized version, which leaves a lot of questions.”

"We Put the Lime in the Coconut...."

2007-01-11T13:40:00.000-08:00

What Happens When You Have... 1) Nothing to do 2) A sharp knife 3) A large lime 4) A patient cat 5) Too much tequila 6) And it's football season?

**(This one might warrant using the "Tragic Mutual Incomprehension" phrase !!)

"Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain!"

2007-01-11T06:44:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I read an article about Stephen Hawking's planned space flight on Richard Branson's Virgin Galastic in 2009. It reminded me of his purported conversation with Pope John Paul II regarding creation and the beginning of time. I find Stephen Hawking fascinating and if you haven't had the opportunity yet, I highly recommend reading "A Brief History of Time." His life story is pretty interesting as well.
Considering he should have died long ago, I wonder if he'll actually make it to the 2009 launch date??
Stephen Hawking says pope told him not to study beginning of universe

Posted 6/15/2006 9:17 AM ET HONG KONG (AP) — World-renowned astrophysicist Stephen Hawking said Thursday that the late Pope John Paul II once told scientists they should not study the beginning of the universe because it was the work of God. Hawking, author of the best-seller A Brief History of Time, said John Paul made the comments at a cosmology conference at the Vatican. He did not say when the meeting was held. Hawking quoted the pope as saying, "It's OK to study the universe and where it began. But we should not inquire into the beginning itself because that was the moment of creation and the work of God." The scientist then joked that he was glad John Paul did not realize that he had presented a paper at the conference suggesting how the universe began. "I didn't fancy the thought of being handed over to the Inquisition like Galileo," Hawking said during a sold-out audience at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. The church condemned Galileo in the 17th century for supporting Nicholas Copernicus' discovery that the Earth revolved around the sun. Church teaching at the time placed Earth at the center of the universe. But in 1992, Pope John Paul II issued a declaration saying the church's denunciation of Galileo was an error resulting from "tragic mutual incomprehension." Hawking is one of the best-known theoretical physicists of his generation. He has done groundbreaking research on black holes and the origins of the universe, and he proposes that space and time have no beginning and no end. During a question-and-answer session, Hawking was asked where constants like gravity come from and whether gravity can distort light. But there were several humorous moments. The wheelchair-bound Hawking, who suffers from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, communicates with an electronic speech synthesizer. Hawking was asked why his computerized voice has an American accent. "The voice I use is a very old hardware speech synthesizer made in 1986," he said. "I keep it because I have not heard a voice I like better and because I have identified with it." He said he once considered using a machine that gave him a French accent, but he did not because his wife would divorce him. But Hawking said he is shopping for a new system because his current hardware is large and fragile, using components that are no longer made. "I have been trying to get a software version, but it seems very difficult," he said. He urged people with physical disabilities not to give up on their ambitions. "You can't afford to be disabled in spirit as well as physically," he said. "People won't have time for you." Hawking ended his lecture saying, "We are getting closer to answering the age-old questions: Why are we here? Where did we come from?" Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Excellent retirement advice

2007-01-10T13:30:00.000-08:00

Excellent retirement advice that seems very logical to share with family and friends:

If you had purchased $1000.00 of Nortel stock one year ago, it would now be worth $49.00.

With Enron, you would have had $16.50 left of the original $1000.00.

With WorldCom, you would have had less than $5.00 left.

If you had purchased $1000.00 of Delta Air Lines stock you would have $49.00 left.

But, if you had purchased $1000.00 worth of beer one year ago, drank all the beer, then turned in the cans for the aluminum recycling REFUND, you would have had $214.00.

Based on the above, the best current investment advice is to drink heavily and recycle.

"I Can't Believe I Ate the WHOLE Thing!"

2007-01-10T07:20:00.000-08:00

I have to admit, I've eaten more fast food in the past year than in my entire life. I can count on my hands the number of times I've eaten at McDonald's or Burger King or Taco Bell. In fact when I was 17 I got my first job ever at a Burger King. I quit 3 hours after my shift started!

They put my out on the cash register the minute I started and basically told me to "figure it out." Not that it was too tough-- If you've ever worked fast food you know that they make the cash registers with pictures so you don't even need to know how to read to work there. The problem for me was, I had no idea what Burger King served! I had no idea what a BK Broiler was (this experience was made even better since you had to call out over the microphone/PA system what the order was so that everyone knew my ignorance, not just my fellow employees.) Needless to say, I (luckily) was not destined for the Fast Food career path!

Recently though, I've come to utilize the convenience of fast food quite abit. I absolutely LOVE to cook, and I'm darn good at if I don't say so myself. But I can't seem to get excited about cooking for one. Hence, in comes Burger King.

I work alot of hours, typically 50- 60 a week. Last night as I drove by the local BK at 7:45pm I thought "I'll just run through the good ol' BK drive-thru and pick up some dinner." As I drove away from the drive-thru window with my purchase, I opened the bag and started munching on the french fries. What I should say is "crunch" not munch. The fries, though very hot, were almost as crisp as a potatoe chip.

When I got home, I took out my Whopper Jr and unwrapped it. It certainly did not look anything like the big, juicy cheese burger they pictured on the outdoor menu. If fact it was about 1/2 a centimeter tall on one side and and an incch and a half on the other. When I removed the top bun, I saw that all the condiments were stacked very neatly on one side of the cheese burger. Now, I realize that the title "Fast Food" means that they only have a short time to prepare the food before their customers begin to complain, but how much extra time can it take to spread the condiments out over the tiny burger patty? Really?

I don't recommend pulling this concoction of sub-standard meat, bread, and cheese-product apart to look inside. When I did, the flimsy bread of the bun disintergrated in my hand. By the time I put it back together it resembled something like Frankenstein's Monster. The meat just slid out the side of the bun and the condiments that I had tried so diligently to spread out evenly on the burger patty, squirted out the back.

As I was eating this "thing" I thought, how could they serve this garbage and stay in business? But I quickly reminded myself that I, like so many others now a days, am just way too busy to even think about cooking, let alone do it. So the convenience factor weighed in heavily on my decision to go to BK. And furthermore, it did only cost me $4.92 for a Whopper Jr, large fry, and a large soda. Pretty cheap, even for crap.

So until you can go to say, PF Chang's and get dinner for $4.92 in less than 5 minutes in a drive-thru, I will probably go to Burger King again. Or McDonalds or Wendy's; maybe even Taco Bell.

Oh, and yes, I ate the WHOLE thing.

Mondays

2007-01-08T06:50:00.000-08:00

http://www.bullshitjob.com/officespace/mondays.wav

To Live

2007-01-05T10:40:00.000-08:00

After I put up my last post I got to thinking about that fact that for me, 2007 is about taking chances and living a little. I pulled this off my "Manager's Motivational Moment" shelf and dusted it off:

To Live

Author Unknown

There once was a very

cautious man,

Who never laughed or cried,

He never cared, he never dared,

He never dreamed or tried.

And when on day he

passed away,

His insurance was denied.

For since he never really lived,

They claimed he never died.

Weeeeeee!!!!

2007-01-05T07:16:00.000-08:00

Off to Boise again this weekend. And, of course, the weather is not cooperating. I'll be passing through 2 nasty passes on my (hopefully) 4 hour journey. The first, Cabbage Hill or otherwise known as Deadman's Pass ( remember that Journey video with the bus?) had 8" of new snow yesterday. It reminds me of the icing on the doughnut I ate yesterday. It was so fresh it slid right off the doughnut like a pile of sugary slush.

Oofta! Good thing I was raised in South Dakota! Living somewhere where you have to dig your way out your front door in the mornings seems to prepare you for winters anywhere else! But driving in snow, especially in Hyundai, is always a crap shoot. Luckily for me, I have chains! Unluckily though, I'm not looking forward to the crash course I'll be forced to take in putting them on. Especially since by the time you know you need them, it's pretty sh**ty out there!

I hope I make it, otherwise I'm camping in a rest area for the night, and you know how fun that can be.

~"You know Rest Areas are the bathhouses of the 90s?"- There's Something About Mary.

Viva la 2007

2007-01-03T07:00:00.000-08:00

I say bring it on! It's now officially the NEW YEAR- and I have to say, even though '06 has been an awesome and adventurous year for me, I'm glad it's over. 2007 just holds too many possibilities of greatness to fear it. So again, I say, "Bring it!"

Oh The Glory of the Technology Age!

2006-12-27T13:37:00.000-08:00

I LOVE text messaging. I work in an industry that requires me to spend easily 80% of my day on the phone, so the thought of having to be further glued to the phone in order to get a short message to a friend or loved one is sometimes flat out exhausting for me.

Low and behold, the telecommunication gods graciously bestowed upon us the gift of Text Messaging. It's short, it's sweet, it's inconspicuously non-commital. But beware, it CAN sometimes be dangerous as well.

Oh Yes, I said dangerous. I learned today just how dangerous it could be. Here's how things went down:

I send a text this morning stating "Hi Sweetie! Got plans 2nite? I'd love 2 spend sme time w u and I cd really use ur help on something...

Cl me 2day if u hve tme." (Notice the "text" lingo I've mastered so

well)

Now before I finish, and in my defense, it was 7:30 am and I hadn't had

any coffee yet. With that said I proceeded to select my recipient for

this message and hit send. No sooner had I sent this message out

did it occur to me that my autopilot had kicked in and I sent it to the

one person I text most-- Tim. Thinking nothing of it, I quickly sent him

another text telling him that, "Sorry that message wasn't meant for

you. Love ya babe!" And then I sent the text to the intended person-

my friend DeeLyn.

Say it however you want to say it: Doooh ( Homer style) or Dee Dee

Dee (Mencia style). Just say it--what a moron I am!

I soon get a call--of course--from Tim wondering just who it was that the text was meant for and just who was I calling sweetie. He did this of course in his usually jovial "joking" manner, but trust me, I "got it."

So, word to the wise. If you are like me and a. get up way too early in the am or b. haven't yet truly mastered text messaging, check the recipient before hitting send.

It's Coming on Christmas...

2006-12-24T11:20:00.000-08:00

I love Joni Mitchell and this song, though I find it very sad, always reminds me of Christmas at home-- no snow, only rain and evergreens!

River

Joni Mitchell

It's coming on Christmas They're cutting down trees They're putting up reindeer And singing songs of joy and peace Oh I wish I had a river I could skate away on But it don't snow here It stays pretty green I'm going to make a lot of money Then I'm going to quit this crazy scene I wish I had a river I could skate away on I wish I had a river so long I would teach my feet to fly Oh I wish I had a river I could skate away on I made my baby cry He tried hard to help me You know, he put me at ease And he loved me so naughty Made me weak in the knees Oh I wish I had a river I could skate away on I'm so hard to handle I'm selfish and I'm sad Now I've gone and lost the best baby That I ever had Oh I wish I had a river I could skate away on I wish I had a river so long I would teach my feet to fly Oh I wish I had a river I made my baby say goodbye It's coming on Christmas They're cutting down trees They're putting up reindeer And singing songs of joy and peace I wish I had a river I could skate away on

2006-12-21T10:05:00.000-08:00

Found this on Excite.com- Horoscopes. I'm not too sure if I really believe in this stuff, but this one is right on....

LOVE MATCH

Libra and Leo
When Leo and Libra come together, they make a co operative combination. Leo and Libra are two signs apart in the Zodiac, which gives each partner an innate understanding of the workings of the other. When the Lion's energy is combined with Libra's natural sense of harmony this is a partnership of great balance. Leo and Libra are flashy versus refined, direct versus peace-loving. Leo and Libra can have a very successful relationship because each of them can appreciate and benefit from the attributes of the other.
Libra calms and smooths Leo's flamboyant style. As a combination, Leo and Libra are well-balanced. Libra is charming and cultural, and has good manners which offset Leo's direct and acerbic personality. On the other hand, Leo is far more decisive than Libra. Leo can help their partners to make decisions more easily and act on them, and they can teach the art of spontaneity.
Leo is ruled by The Sun and Libra is ruled by the Planet Venus. The two Signs coming together form the basic foundation of relationships -- warmth and passion. The Sun and Venus go well together. The sun is a masculine energy and Venus a feminine, so this relationship is a good balance of charged energies. Venus is about beauty of romance, and The Sun is about sustaining life and propagating light. This couple is resilient and can fortify one another for a long time.
Leo is a Fire Sign and Libra is an Air Sign. These two elements together either fuel each other beautifully or extinguish one another's efforts. Libra can work diplomatically with the impetus and ambition of Leo, and both partners tend to participate in each other's efforts. They have learned a perfect balance and click together in romance or business like clockwork! When they are a team anything is within the realm of possibility, but this couple must be mindful of one another's feelings and individual desires. Leo's action-oriented approach to projects may conflict with Libra's more cerebral approach. Both Signs have wide-ranging interests, and Leo's desire to get into the mix gives them great stories to share with the more reserved Libra.
Leo is a Fixed Sign and Libra is a Cardinal Sign. Leo's stamina outlasts the fleeting fancies of Libra, the initiator. They have to work together as a team for their dreams to come true. Leo will be the leader because of their energy and forceful nature. Libra will gently take the reins from an intellectual and team-oriented standpoint. Leo likes to give orders through personal authority while Libra charms others into doing things and is satisfied in placating Leo's giant ego. It's important for Leo to understand compromise. Libra, able to see both sides of the argument, can compromise easily, while Leo may be more unhappy about yielding.
The best aspect of the Leo-Libra relationship is the harmony resulting from the union of Venus and The Sun. The balance between self and other represented by this relationship is a great learning experience for both partners. Each partner brings to the relationship what the other is missing, so theirs is a highly compatible relationship.
- By Astrology.com

Winter is Coming! Better Watch What Falls From The Sky!

2006-12-19T09:49:00.000-08:00

ONIONS AND CHRISTMAS TREES

A family is at the dinner table.The son asks his father, "Dad, how many kinds of boobs are there? The father, surprised, answers, "Well, son, there are three kinds of breasts. In her 20s, a woman's breasts are like melons, round and firm. In her 30s to 40s, they are like pears, still nice but hanging a bit. After 50, they are like onions". "Onions?" "Yes, you see them and they make you cry." This infuriated his wife and daughter so the daughter said, "Mum, how many kinds of 'willies' are there?" The mother, surprised, smiles and answers, "Well dear, a man goes through three phases. In his 20s, his willy is like an oak tree, mighty and hard. In his 30s and 40s, it is like a birch, flexible but reliable. After his 50s, it is like a Christmas tree". "A Christmas tree?" "Yes - dead from the root up and the balls are just for decoration."

One Last Fall Photo...

2006-12-17T15:11:00.000-08:00

There are only a few more days of Fall left and the weather here was perfect today for a Fall photo shoot with my beloved Irish Setter--ok, he's actually a Long-haired Daschund, but he does look like an Irish Setter with stubs for legs-doesn't he-- Murry. I've always loved his silky red fur and thought the leaves in this picture really accentuates it.

Yes,I know, it's darn near Christmas and I still have not raked the leaves up in my yard. Oh how my dad would be so proud! :) This was one of the advantages to being married to my ex; he did ALL the yard work. This was good because my "green" thumb isn't just black, it's practically rotten.

My First Time

2006-12-12T14:16:00.000-08:00

Ok. So this is my first time. I mean blogging of course. This is however, a first among many firsts for me. As well as beginning a new "blogging" journey, I also began a new chapter in my life this year called Divorce. Yes the unavoidable divorce monster reared its ugly head at the beginning of this year. Low and behold, I am again single after 8 years of marriage.

"But that's not all folks!" Another first for me: long distance dating. YIKES! I've been dating a man from Idaho for the past 8 month; I live in Washington. What was I thinking!!!?? Well it's too late now, I'm hooked. And though I can't believe I'm doing it, I am moving to Idaho to, among other things, see if it's really something of substance or not. Ahhh, the power of love.
I was going to say I don't recommend long distance dating, but it wouldn't really be true. I've found that it's actually worked out well by forcing us to slow things down. But 8 months is a long time for long distance dating, and I am looking forward to the luxury of the midnight "booty" call! A 4 hour drive makes that pretty much impossible.

Another first- he has a 7 year old daughter from his first marriage. I have no children of my own. Though I know she is an absolute sweetheart (at least what I know of her anyways-which isn't alot since Tim & I have worked very hard to not incorporate her into our "mix" yet.) She and Tim both come to me with alot of the typical divorce baggage.
With all these firsts, I thought I'd finally jump on the bandwagon and try my hand at blogging. Wish me luck!