hi! how's it going?

So, apparently this is a day of blogger silence in memory of the victims at Virginia Tech. While I feel badly for what happened, the victims and their families, I apologize. I just can't be silent.

I HAVE A JOB!!!

You may now return you to your moment of silence.

think think think... ouch!

For some odd reason my L'il Sis Jessica has bestowed the "Thinking Blogger Award" on me. She says, "I love Lisa’s blog for many reasons, but mostly because she’s smart, witty, honest, and not afraid to cuss like a sailor in public." Aw, thanks Sis! Really, I think she just wants to make my head hurt while I try to actually think of something to say instead of just opening my head and letting my brain spill out all over the place.



So, now it's time for me to pass the award on. This is the thinking part, so consider yourselves warned - this will hurt. But what's a little fun without a little pain, right? Okay. Without further ado, and in no particular order, I am happy to pass the "Thinking Blogger Award" on to:

{forking madness over here}: Okay. You all knew this one was coming. No. I'm not giving Stacie this award because she's "my girl" (even though that'd be as good a reason as any). I'm giving her this award because she truly makes me think, each and every day. Sometimes her life gets a bit hectic, and her blog doesn't always reflect her deepest thinking self. But that's the way life goes. I know she's always thinking even if she doesn't show it.

Sizzle Says: One of my new friends, Sizzle, tells it like it is. Whether it's spilling her guts about self awareness or laughing at her klutzy self, every day is a good read and enlightening for me. Besides, we practically share a birthday, so I had to pick her!

Home on the Fringe: I started reading this blog back during the NaBloPoMo craze. Kristin and John are the tag team writers for this blog -- Kristin does more of the writing and John speaks volumes through his photography. It's deep. It's funny. A definite must read.

patron saint of smartmouths: Another NaBloPoMo find, Lesley Girl runs the gammut on her blog. An avid knitter and former clergy student, she spreads happiness, opinions, and foolishness across the blogoverse. I know how much she hates ads on peoples blogs, so let's see what she thinks of awards!

evil, silly n stoopid: Yeah, I know. Another big surprise. Really, even though it's like pulling teeth to get him to blog once in a blue moon, Groove's another deep thinker. So much in fact it keeps him awake at night. Maybe if he blogged more frequently he'd get more sleep!

There are tons of other bloggers I'd give this award to, many who've already received it. But since I had to narrow it down to 5, there ya have it. Now I need to go take something for my throbbing head. Thanks a bunch, L'il Sis!

The rules behind this Thinking Blogger Thing are as follows:

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think.
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme.
3. Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger Award' with a link to the post that you wrote (here is an alternative silver version if gold doesn't fit your blog).

anyone got a step ladder?

While catching up on my blog surfing I came across a post from L.A. Daddy about a "height predictor" he found at an online parenting site. Of course being the total dork that I am, I filled in all the required fields and clicked the predict button.

Your boy will likely be 6 feet, 4 inches at age 18.

Holy kraut!

I'd always suspected eventually I'd be looking up at my son but never thought I'd need a crane to do so. Makes sense if you look at my side of the height gene. There's some pretty tall people in my lineage. Not on his father's side so much though. Yeah, his father's half-brother (same mother, different father) is freakishly tall compared to the rest of the family, so maybe one of those freaky genes carried through.

Only time will tell. In the meantime, guess I'd better take him more seriously when he says he wants to be a professional basketball player.

the sound of silence

I've spent the day by myself, in the deafening silence. Good Lord is it ever quiet here! Stacie hit the "windy city" (literally) almost two hours ago and should be arriving in the "armpit" in a few minutes. The kiddo is staying one more night at his dad's. And I sit alone.

I miss you, my friend!!

What an incredibly awesome birthday weekend this has been! The best in decades. Seriously! I can say that since I've now lived through four of them. LOL You can check out some of the fun on my Flickr site. Can't put anything too incriminating up there though, cuz what happens in WA stays in WA.

I do, however, want to show you this.

He had it done the day before my birthday. Isn't this cool? It's an original from the tat artist. I so wanted one of these to wear for my next 40 years (no, not Groove tattooed across my upper back - something else) but couldn't figure out what I wanted to have, so haven't done anything yet. If ya have any ideas, lemme know cuz I'm definitely gonna go get me one.

Anyway, the party's over and it's back to reality. Tomorrow is yet another interview with yet another (yes, this makes about six) state agency. We'll see.

Alrighty, gotta run and help keep my girl awake on her hour and a half drive home from the airport after getting only about an hour and half of sleep last night. Oh, and I'm still trying to catch up on my blog reading/commenting, so if you haven't heard from me yet, keep your panties on. I'll be there as soon as I can.

Ciao!

the airport, the birthday and silliness

What a great day yesterday! Thanks to all of you sent me birthday wishes through phone, computer or in person. It truly was a fabulous (yes, Groove, I did just use that word) day!!

So lemme back up to Wednesday night when we first picked up Stacie. Amazingly enough her flight made it on time. As we stood in baggage claim watching people come down the escalator, WJ kept saying "I think I see her" and then "Nope, that's not her!". (Remember, this was our first time seeing each other in person.) But as soon as we saw her coming down, Wesley took off running and barely let her get off the escalator, giving her a big hug, followed by me. I had my camera with me, but in all the excitement, didn't even think to pull it out and take any pics. It's too bad we didn't have a third person just standing there capturing the moment, but whatcha gonna do? We made it home by around 10:30pm and tried to get settled since Stace's body clock was three hours ahead and WJ had to go to school the next day.

Now back to yesterday. Stace went with me to drop WJ at school and we made our first Bux run of the trip. LOL Then it was time for beautifying ourselves for the day - easy for her with all that natural beauty she's got. Around 11:30am Groove showed up and we all headed out to lunch at this little place downtown called Tugboat Annie's. With a little food and lots of beer in us, we yaked and laughed and basically did what we normally do when we're on the phone together, except this time we were sitting across the table from each other. Groove dropped us back at the house just in time to go get the kiddo from school.

After letting him play with some of his friends for awhile, and introducing Stace to some of the people she hears me talking about all the time from the school, we made our way home to kick back a bit before going to dinner. She brought this crazy "hairy ball" thing for WJ, and the three of us got a little silly with it playing hot potato, making it into a hat, and pulling it over various other body parts.

Everyone was getting hungy, and the beer was wearing off, so we headed off to the Mayan for dinner. Their food is yummo!! And, of course, they serve so much we had to bring half of it home. Stace took a few goofy shots of WJ and I which is great since we rarely get any shots together. Then it was back home and time for vegging out.

Not sure what the plan is for today yet. Any ideas for us?

A 40 Year Reflective – Part II: The Last 20

Tomorrow I will turn “two twenties” as I like to call it. This is the first milestone birthday I’ve actually looked forward to since turning 21. Looking back at the last 20 years, despite major life changes (both good and bad), I can see just how much I’ve changed, grown, and finally learned to accept myself and all my idiosyncrasies.

My early twenties were spent in and out of school, trying to decide “what I wanted to be when I grew up”. I still haven’t quite figured that one out, but I’ve tried my hand at a variety of things over the years – catering, administrative support, event management, consulting. One of my major regrets is not completing my degree. With only 18 credit hours left to complete, you’d think I would have found a way to do so, but I haven’t. I keep telling myself “Someday I’ll finish”, but that someday just never seems to come. There are a million reasons why I never finished – most I don’t want to discuss here – and I have grown to accept my failure and continue to move forward despite it.

The first 29 years of my life were spent living in California. My parents, in fact, still live in the same house I grew up in. Being the wild and crazy, rebellious woman I was at that time, I met someone on-line and moved to Arizona. It was a new adventure for me, living in another state for the first time in my life, and one that (later) became a real introspective discovery.

The year after moving to Arizona, I married the man I moved for, and we began our life as husband and wife. Little did I know then how many curve balls would be thrown my way in the future. After a miscarriage early in marriage, there was a shift – one that I didn’t see then, but have spent countless hours working through in the past few years. Then, in 2000, we were blessed with the birth of our son. It was then I truly realized what “love at first sight” was. I never knew it was possible to love someone so much, without reservation. Unfortunately, it came with a hefty price – the continued distancing in my relationship with my husband.

In April 2001, through the powers of the military relocation demands, we ended up here, in Washington. A place I felt comfortable having visited countless times growing up. A place I knew would be a place to start “anew”. Only I didn’t know the whole world would be starting anew along side me on September 11th. My husband was deployed to the Middle East just 15 days before the attacks, and I was left to fly solo with a one year old toddler. It was preparation I would need for the future.

He returned the following year, and exactly a year and a day after his return, he was deployed again. After another safe return, the shift had grown to epic proportions. We were no longer a family, as family should be. We were no longer husband and wife, as partners. We were simply two individuals living different lives in the same existence. I am still uncertain whether this shift was a continuation of the shift from the early years of our marriage, or whether the perils of war were too much for us to sustain, but we didn’t sustain – and it ended.

In April 2004, ironically exactly 3 years ago today, I found myself faced with being a single parent, without more than an Associates degree, and not having worked out of the home for four years. It was the most painful, scary time of my life, feeling completely lost and alone. The one thing that was both a curse and a blessing was my son. Though I would never, ever even remotely consider him a curse, the simple fact of having him to care for and worry about prevented me from just picking up and moving on with my life without having to take his well being into consideration. But, without him, I would never be the same person I am today – stronger, wiser, more attentive.

I firmly believe that all things in life happen for a reason. It has taken me years to truly embrace that idea, but with the love and support of many friends and family, I do. Without my ex, I wouldn’t have my wonderful son. Without my son, I likely wouldn’t have met my dear friend Stacie. Without being forced to find work, I wouldn’t have met Groove, or any of the other people I still keep in contact with from my last job. And without all of these changes, both good and bad, I would not be the same woman I’ve become in my “two twenties”.

tick tock tick tock tick tock

Today's the day!!!

WOOHOO!!!!!!

Stacie will be on her way in just a few hours, and then it's PARTY time!!

Stay tuned for fun and adventure.

A 40 Year Reflective – Part I: The Early Years

With my 40th birthday just a couple of days away, I thought I’d write a little about my past – reflecting on how I’ve gotten to where I am today.

It’s funny how some childhood memories are so vivid, while others only have meaning from being heard over and over again. Every single year for as long as I can remember, my father tells me the story of the first time he saw me after my birth. He swears I was looking directly at him, smiling.


I am an only child – a ranking that has both good and bad connotations. When quite young, I was the “model” child; never getting into mischief, never talking back, never having to be punished. As I grew, and came into myself, I started to test the limits, never doing anything too extreme but enough to catch my parents attention. It wasn’t until my teen years that I really started expressing myself, uncaring of what others thought of me. Being an only child, I had no one else to blame, or point fingers at, and learned early what it was like to either accept your actions, or dig yourself a huge hole.

Once of my earliest memories of traveling (an activity I grew to love until 9/11) was driving from California to Washington to visit family. Ironically I ended up moving to Washington, via Arizona, some thirty years later. I’ll talk about that more, later. Back in the “good old days” before wearing a seatbelt was the law, I would have the entire back seat as my playground.

On one such trip, after leaving very early in the morning and driving straight through we arrived in Washington and were only maybe 15 miles or so from my Aunt and Uncle’s house. My father, exhausted from the 14 hour drive, made what we call a “California stop” as he was making a right turn. (For those of you who don’t know what a “California stop” is, it’s basically when you yield at a stop sign rather than coming to a complete stop.) Unfortunately there was a police officer who witnessed this atrocious violation of the law and pulled my father over. During his questioning he glanced in the back seat, and being it was dark, caught glimpse of me (sitting up at this point) and my “baby” (a life size doll). While he lectured my father on driving safely with “two children in the back seat” I had the sense to keep my mouth shut instead of saying, “What two children? This is a doll!”

The travel bug was in all of us – most especially my father – and we made trips to Chicago to visit family, Disneyland, Tahoe, Las Vegas, Yosemite, Hawaii, and a rented cabin on a lake every summer. My parents – consciously aware of my only child status – would usually allow me to invite a friend along on our travels. I used to think it was for me, so I wouldn’t be bored hanging out with my parents; but now, as a parent myself, I think it was more for their sanity than anything.


When I was 16 my mother went back to work, returning to the career she had before having me. She was a flight attendant. This opened up a host of new travel possibilities for our family and we traveled even more visiting places like New York and London, England. Between my father working at that time for one major airline, and my mother for another, we were able to travel to our hearts content.

It was during my freshman year in high school that my friend Denise and I started planning our graduation trip. While most kids would take a week after graduation to go to Hawaii, Mexico, or Florida, we planned and saved our money for a month long excursion to Europe. We did it too, traveling to England, Belgium, France, Spain, Italy, and Holland. Definitely a very memorable trip.

Another facet of my life that was very important to me while growing up was sports. I started dancing (ballet and tap) when I was 5, but with two left feet I gave it up. I tried tennis (boring!) and bowling (now this was something I loved, did well, and still do today), but it wasn’t until I was in the 6th grade that I found my true forte – volleyball. I played basketball, softball, soccer and ran track as well, but slamming that white ball over the net was where I really felt at home.

I continued to play volleyball through my twenties, playing indoor, grass, sand, teams, and doubles. Weekends were filled with tournaments – both watching the professionals and playing myself. Though I never won any trophies or medals, the thrill of the game was all the motivation I needed.

Some of my other favorite early years memories include (in no particular order):

My handmade dollhouse, complete with lighting
Halloween parties and Fourth of July parades
Flying to Chicago to see Shawn Cassidy in concert
Meeting David Coverdale on a flight home from England
Learning to play the guitar
Learning to ride a bike
My grandmother’s cooking and holidays in her postage sized flat in San Francisco

There are a million more I could write about, but since this is already this long, and if you’ve gotten this far I thank you for reading, I’ll keep the others to myself – at least for now.

Part II will come tomorrow or Thursday if you care to come back and read. Until then, g’night.

I rock! and the countdown clock

A few month's ago, I met Elizabeth over at Table for Five. It was her 40th birthday, and feeling a kinship with my 'two 20's' just around the corner (April 19th), I posted a "Happy Birthday" message to her. Since then, we've traded emails and commented on each other's blogs. She also helped me get started with the PPP program. She's an amazing woman. If you don't believe me, check out her site and read her "100 Things About Me".

Earlier in the week, she announced the "Elizabeth thinks I ROCK!" award. And yesterday, she gave one to me! Heehee!! My first blog award. Really I think it's Elizabeth who rocks, but if she wants to think I rock too, I'll proudly display my award. Thanks girl! You made my day!!

While you're looking at the sidebar admiring my new award, check out the countdown clock. Only 3 more days until Stacie gets here!!! Holy crow that time went by fast! I am SO freakin' psyched!! That also means only 4 more days till the "BIG 4-0" for me. Afterall, that's the reason I finally got her to come out here after practically begging for the past 2 years. For those of you who don't already know, Stace and I have been friends for the past four years -- but we've never had the opportunity to meet in person before this. For real. We've been through hell and back, together, with various hurdles in our lives. We've talked for hours on end over IM and on the phone. But this is the first time in four years that we'll be sitting in the same room dishin' it.

We pretty much don't have any plans except for making several Starbuck's runs and going out to lunch with Groove on my birthday. So, in the spirit of Sizzle and Karl's recent visit, I'm gonna jump on their idea of taking pics and open it up to ya'll -- tell me where you'd like to have pics of Stacie while she's hangin' here with me?

five questions: the interview for me and you

Ok, I know I already posted once today, but that was before I saw Snackie's pseudo meme. Unlike the traditional meme, the following 5 questions came straight from Snackie. And since she asked me questions directly related to today, I didn't want to wait until tomorrow to post. So here you have it. After you read the questions and answers, read the instructions so you can play along too. You know you want to!

1. Friday the 13th....friend, foe or just a bunch of hooey?
Definitely friend. Oddly enough the number 13 happens to be my lucky number and when it falls on a Friday it’s usually even luckier. Since today is one of those days, I’ve gotten a call for an interview with yet another state agency on the 23rd, and a call for a follow-up 2nd interview on Tuesday with an agency I interviewed with on the 4th. I count this as a lucky day! What would be really lucky is if I get a job offer call from my interview two days ago.
UPDATE: Thanks to the trying to be nice man at the post office, I was foiled at getting the number 13 from the "take a number" wheel and was stuck with number 12. Subsequently, I came home, and there was NO call with a job offer. Ugh!

2. Who is your all-time favorite cartoon character?
Now this is a hard one. I honestly have never been too much of a cartoon fan. At least not in the way of buying cartoon memorabilia, or anything. If I had to pick one character I can most relate to it’d be Taz – whirling from here to there, cranky then happy then cranky again. Yeah, that pretty much sums me up!

3. Do you believe in love at first sight or is that just poppycock?
Definitely poppycock if you’re asking about romantic love. The only “love at first sight” I’ve ever experienced was with my son. I seriously never knew I could love anyone so much, without reservation. Of course now at his ripe old age of six and a half (had to put that extra half in there since he’s always reminding me of it when I say he’s six), there’s definitely been times I haven’t liked him very much, or been pissed as hell at something he’s done, or not done, but my love for him never changes.

4. Are you more of "a saucy evil pirate wench" or a "fair maiden in a tower"? Why?
What do you think? Hehe! Certainly a very “saucy evil pirate wench”, of course!! I’ve no time to be a “fair maiden” – in a tower, or elsewhere. I’ve always been a very opinionated, independent girl. So much, in fact, it sometimes drives people away. Being an only child, rapidly approaching 40 (in 6 days), female, a single parent, and hanging around a bunch of evil, bad influences makes me the best “saucy evil pirate wench” I can be. Order up!

5. And finally an easy one....Miracle Whip or Mayonnaise?
An easy one? Who says this is an easy one?? It depends on what the Miracle Whip or Mayo is being used for. Salads require Miracle Whip Light, but sandwiches must have Light Mayo or I won’t touch them.

Here are the instructions to continue:
1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me, you saucy evil pirate wench!"
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions. (You must have an email address on file in your profile for me to send the questions to.)
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

kookaburra sits in the old gum tree

Yesterday we spent the day at the Woodland Park Zoo with WJ's aunt, uncle and cousin. It's the first time we've seen them all since the Big D. They came up from California for Spring break week and are doing the "tourist" thing, so we tagged along for the day at the zoo.

The boys are about a year and a half apart in age and had an absolute blast together. They ran around, laughed, made up silly marching songs, and basically drove us adults crazy. Obviously they played their roles well. The pic to the left is just one of the various things they climbed up on and shouted, "I am King of the Mountain!"

The Woodland Park Zoo is fabulous! If you're ever in Seattle, mark it as a must see on your list of touristy stops. Even with the weather being grey and overcast, most all of the animals were out and about. You can see pics of some of them - bears, the eagle, a couple of kookaburras, and the enormous kimodo dragon - and other family pics by clicking on my new Flickr badge in the sidebar.

Here's a few more of my favorite photos from the day!

an open letter to my neighbor previously identified as Mrs. A

Dear Mrs. A,

When you and your family first moved into our comfortable little neighborhood, I was happy to see you had children around the same age as my son. After getting to know you a bit better during one of our neighborhood gatherings, and watching your lackadaisical parenting style, I knew it would be up to me to sit outside and monitor the kids activities. Watching your son run amok through the neighborhood without any restriction, guidance, or discipline frustrated me. But he is your son, not mine; so I didn't say a word. Hearing him screaming bloody murder at the top of his lungs when he doesn't get his way, is trying to get someones attention, or otherwise just exercising his lungs makes my hairs stand on end. But again, he is your son, not mine; I didn't say a word. As summer ended and outdoor playtime came in irregular intervals due to school schedules and changes in the weather, I breathed a sigh of relief.

During our first snow "storm", when all the kids got to stay home from school, we ran into each other at the park. The kids were having a blast sledding down the hills as we stood there making small talk -- afterall, what else is there to say when you don't know someone really well and don't have a very high opinion of them in the first place. You volunteered to build a snowman with the kids and told me if there was something I needed, or wanted, to do, I should do it. So I headed back to the house for a bit. When I returned, you were nowhere to be found. That may be fine for you and your kids, but you offered to watch mine too. And you weren't watching him at all.

Last week we enjoyed a couple days of gorgeous weather. Who wouldn't want to be outside on days like that? When WJ saw many of the neighborhood kids playing in your front yard, I encouraged him to join them hoping that your obnoxious brat of a son would have grown up and mellowed out a bit. WJ was excited to share his new football and took it across the street to play. You probably didn't see me sitting in my garage enjoying the sunny day, but I saw, and heard, you.

Your first mistake was telling my kid that nobody wanted to play football because they were playing freeze tag. How the hell do you know what they want to play? Obviously you were wrong since everyone except for the quiet child of Mrs. C wanted to play. But he wasn't playing freeze tag either -- just laying on the grass watching all the kids play, as usual. So he got up, and went inside.

Within the first five minutes of play I'd heard enough of your whiney offspring to push me into the next millenium. In case you haven't told him, you might start with "The world doesn't revolve around you and no one wants to hear your big ass mouth, so shut it!" The rest of the kids seemed to be having a great time tossing the football around. Even you seemed to be having fun. What happened next I can't believe any mature, intelligent adult would do.

After sending the evil spawn in to check on the "I'm going to isolate myself from the group" child, he apparently didn't come out of the house fast enough to suit you. So you went in to see what they were up to and to try to coax them to come back outside to play. Finally a smart move on your part. What wasn't so smart was to take my kid's new football with you despite him calling after you asking you to give it to him. Last time I checked, you weren't deaf. But maybe you've shoved the earplugs so far in your ears from having to listen to the ear deafening volume pouring out of your spawn that you couldn't hear the pleas from my son for the return is HIS new football.

As you lingered inside, my son still calling through the screen door for his ball, the girls (being girlish at times) ran off and left WJ standing alone in your front yard. Without his football. I'd seen more than enough at this point and called for him to get his ball, even if it meant walking into your house and ripping it out of your hands, and to come home. After ringing the doorbell at least 3 times, and persistently calling you through the screen door, you finally managed to return what was never rightfully yours to take away. It's no wonder your children act like maniacs. With parenting skills as half-assed as yours, I'm surprised they haven't killed each other yet.

I am writing to inform you that my son WILL NOT be playing with your animals any longer. NEVER again take my son's toys while you work out issues created from inaction on your part. And, in case you're wondering -- when you get that sense that someone's watching -- it's me.

Sincerely,

Your "unsocial" neighbor

making plans for spring break

It's Spring break week here for the kiddo. Do you remember Spring break? Where'd you go? And what'd you do? Okay, nevermind. Some things are better left unanswered.

Unlike some of his friends who are going to exotic places like Mexico, Hawaii, and Disneyland, we're staying local and heading up to Seattle this week. His aunt, uncle and cousin (from my ex's side of the family) are coming in from California on Tuesday and we plan on spending at least one day in the city doing "touristy" stuff with them. It'll be the first time we've seen them since the "big D" so should come with some interesting stories.

I thought about making some hotel reservations and just staying in the city, but the fundage is getting a bit tight right now, so we'll just drive back and forth. I have to say it's tempting though. There's some pretty good rates being offered for mid-week, and with the cost of gas it would probably equal out. Still, there's the dog to think about. He just hates it when we're away, and I hate having to burden the neighbors with taking care of him.

Of course right now I wish we were heading to the likes of Hawaii or Disneyland. A change of scenery would be nice. I really love to travel and would like to (some day) show WJ some of the places I've been fortunate enough to have traveled to over the years. There just never seems to be the right time. The worst part is when I have a job I'm too busy to get away. And when I'm not working, I don't have the money to spend on a vacation. Maybe I'm just making excuses?

We're bound and determined to have some fun this week. And maybe, just maybe, when I find that special rate for the perfect overnight get away, we'll actually stay in the city for the night. If you're looking for your last minute price savings, why not check out HotelReservations.com - great locations, great rates. Get away and enjoy your Spring break!

hoop-dee-dooin' kinda night

After enjoying two days of 75-80 degree weather we awoke to rain today. Usual for this area at this time of the year but definitely putting glitch in our plans to finish up the welcoming Spring yardwork and bulb planting. We spent the day indoors, playing games, messing with the half installed dishwasher, doing some laundry, and washing some dishes. Between the karate classes and spending time outside this past week, I think we were both feeling a little pent up.

As we started scanning through OnDemand for a movie to watch, cable reset itself (as it does at least once a day) and we couldn't get anything other than the regular stations. So WJ opened the drawers holding our movie collection (DVDs and video tapes - yes, we still have stuff on video) and pulled out Hoop-Dee-Doo! (For those of you who aren't familiar with this classic, it's a Wiggles DVD.) With lots of laughter and memories, we Hoop-Dee-Doo'd the night away.

We haven't watched the Wiggles in about a year, but when WJ was younger we used to live, eat, and breathe the Wiggles. We went to see them twice and were both very sad when Greg announced he was leaving due to medical problems. Because of the constant action, dancing, and singing, I've often said I was tempted to pull out our old collection and pop it in to use as exercise videos. Tonight, that's just what we did.

I leave you with one of our favorites. If you don't feel like getting up and dancing with this one, there's just something wrong with you.

wow, it's wednesday again?

Apparently I opened my mouth and inserted my foot! And other (un)employment updates.

Remember I told you I'd emailed the hiring manager from last week's interview? Well, I got a response from her yesterday, and my big mouth screwed me out of a job. In all fairness it was a trick question. But aren't they all? Here's what she had to say.

First I would like to say that you should be very proud of yourself for going as far as you did in the interview process. We had 80 applicants for this position and it was a very long process narrowing the applicants down to 10 for the interviews. You did a wonderful job in your interview also.

Our Human Resources Department gave us the questions to ask based on what our job description was and we had to score each candidates responses to the questions. There were three tiers on the scoring section. One section was regarding your preference in working independently or close working relationships. Your first response was that you enjoyed working independently and had great satisfaction in doing so. This position would require you to work as a team in a close-knit work group.

In my defense I did not state a preference for working independently. The question was posed as "Do you like working independently or in a group?" As with all the other questions asked, I started at the beginning and worked my way through. In order. I stated that I appreciated working independently on certain things and that working in a group also has its benefits. Notsomuch the answer they were looking for I guess. Damn!

Yesterday I went to our local WorkSource office for my randomly selected job search log review. Basically what that translates to is we want to see if you're really applying for work, or just sitting on your ass collecting unemployment. While I was there they put in a referral for me. What does that mean? It means I have to go online, complete yet another stupid application, then submit that and a resume to an unnamed company paying a measly bullshit hourly wage and then go and talk to them if they want to interview me. Oh, and this has to be done within 48 hours. And I have to report back to the dude I met with yesterday. I swear I feel like I'm in Kindergarten.

This afternoon I have an interview. I cold called this guy last Friday. He called Monday and we're meeting today. If anything comes of it I'll tell you the whole story of finding him. But for now, cross something, light candles, or work whatever mojo you think might get me a freakin' job. I'd really appreciate it!

Why is it nothing can ever just easily work?

C & D came over yesterday morning to help me install the new to me dishwasher I picked up a couple weeks ago. All was going smoothly -- read as, we didn't have water flooding the kitchen after detaching the pipes, and no one got electrocuted while taking the wiring apart. We lugged the old machine out to the garage, brought the new one in, and... where the hell is the water "out" connector? After digging around online, we finally found where the hose would connect. But will the hose I already have work? Of course not! The one requires some special jiggy to attach to the dishwasher, and not only do I not have the special jiggy, I don't know whether the hose I currently have will be able to attach to it because I have no idea wth the special jiggy looks like. Ugh!

C put a call in to the dishwasher's original owners. Far as I know, she hasn't heard back from them yet. D told me to check with Lowe's for parts. I did. They don't have them. So, this morning I'll be calling around town to see if anyone has what I need, assuming they even know what I need and that I've gotten the correct part numbers jotted down from the skematics online. In the meantime, dishes are once again piling up in my sink. Anyone want to come wash them for me?

No, really. Safety at school isn't a concern. Not at all.

An email started circulating yesterday, along with a lot of gossip. What was all the hubbub? Oh, nothing much. Just that there was a threat made by a 9 year old child to shoot two of his classmates. In mid-January. Um, hello!?!?! WTF? And we are just now hearing about this???

The kid was sent home that day, and was not allowed back to school the following day. That was it. No extensive suspension. No expulsion. No mention of this to anyone other than the parents of the kid who made the threat. Not even the parents of the girls who were threatened were told until one of the girls just happened to mention it. Two days later! Again. WTF?? The principal "lawyered up". The girls' parents went to the police. They boy's parents refused to let them talk to him. The board said it would be discussed at the next meeting. In February. It wasn't. And not again in March.

There's a ton of people who're hoppin' mad about this one. Pissed even. Then there's people who seem to think the school acted accordingly and dealt with the issue. I know there are always two sides to a story. But come on. How is sweeping this under the carpet and not even following through with what you say you're going to do appropriate? It's not. I was telling Groove about this last night, and suffice it to say, we agreed to disagree. He asked me what I really wanted out of this, and I paused to think. Accountability. That's what I want. Is that so wrong?

Have you ever been in this situation? What happened? How did your school handle things?

Ending on a good note!!

Only two more weeks till party time! YEE-FREAKIN-HAW!!!!

everybody's workin' for the weekend

Or in our case, workin' through the weekend.

As tired as I am, I can at least say we got off our arses and got a ton of stuff done this weekend. It's so much easier / faster when I have my little helper working along side me. Yesterday was all indoor work---house cleaning, dishes, laundry--- while today was tackling the weeds out front in preparation of planting bulbs.

The planter box on the side of the house was covered in weeds and grass despite having weed block down under the bark.

Thanks to the help of Dumpy...

and my awesome little man...

we are now weed free and the bulbs are planted.

Of course not ten minutes after we finished, we had a sleet and ice pellet storm roll through. Hope the bulbs are snug as bugs in their new little holes in the ground.