hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work we go

Despite popular opinion that my job is top secret and not keeping me busy enough, I thought I'd shed a little light on my current "occupation" and denounce any myths floating around out there. I'm in a new career field for me - purchasing. And I work for "The Winnebago". (You didn't really think I was going to really tell you where I work, did you? Silly readers!) Of course all my other careers (as varied as they've been) have had certain aspects of purchasing involved, but this time that's what I do according to title. What I really do on a daily basis is anything but purchasing.

Here's a typical day in my worklife:

7:30am - Arrive at work, log-in to desktop computer (no laptop for me this time around) and wade through the 20-40 some odd emails that have accumulated from the day before.

8:00am - After a quick scan of emails, deleting whatever I can, I launch our SAP system and check for new orders that need to be placed.

9:00am - Here's where the fun begins! Go back through the email and deal with all the "Why hasn't this puchase order (PO) been paid?" or "We received your order but need xxxx changes made before we can process it." or "I know this isn't your PO, but if you could just check the status..."

11:30am - Walk with Groove - unless he decides to have a FAW or FOF (I'll let you decide what those acronyms stand for)

12:30pm - Start the process all over until it's time to go home. Oh, and work on clearing my "opens" from prior months.

4:00pm - Get the heck out of Dodge!

Pretty glamorous, no?

So, as I mentioned the other day, my manager called me into her office shortly before quitting time last Thursday. Actually, she sent an email that said "Can we talk before you leave for the day?" Not the sort of email you want to get when you're a) a contract employee, b) just coming back from a break, and c) it's the day before your manager leaves on vacation for a week.

Well she sits two cubes down and across the aisle, so I can hear her on the phone as I'm reading the email. I email her back and tell her to let me know when she's ready. Not 2 minutes later she calls my phone. My PHONE!! Have I mentioned I'm only 2 cubes away from her!?! I answer (tentatively) and am summoned to her cube. After having a minor attack on my walk over there I park my ass in her "guest" chair and she asks "Would you be willing to take over _________?"

Have you ever had someone ask you to do something and know damn well that they aren't really asking, they're just telling you in the form of a question to make you think like it's your idea in the first place?? Um, yeah! Apparently the other part of her group, who I've had nothing to do with since starting and barely get a "hello" out of most days, is drowning (her word, not mine) and needs some help. And I'm the elected savior. Yay me! Notsomuch.

What does this mean for me? Well, it means I'll be doing a workload of at least two, if not three, people, making the same amount of money, still not getting any benefits, and wondering where my next job will be when my contract comes to an end a mere 9 months from now. Sounds appealing, doesn't it?

So this week I'm in training hell, am still taking off early on Wednesday, and have had a change in plans for the weekend. Man, I love Mondays, don't you?

Coming soon: They're back! The carnie adventure continues

someone has a crush on me

Someone has a crush on me. Hehe! I'm not sure what I did to warrant him having this crush but I like it. It makes me all warm and fuzzy inside and kinda school-girlish. (And, yes, I went to a parochial school, so put that in your image maker minds! LOL)

So you probably want to know who this crush is, yes? It's none other than Neilochka at Citizen of the Month. I was just toodling through his site this morning before heading off to work and happened to notice my blog listed in his sidebar, there on the right hand side under the Blog Crush of the Day listing. There's a new blog listed there now, but I know I saw it and it put a smile on my face. And, if damned blogger hadn't been giving me fits this morning, I would have posted this then instead of now. Doesn't matter. I still know I was Neil's blog crush for a day. Yay me!

Can I just tell you how freakin happy I am that's it's Friday? Good Lord, this week's been crazy! Just little things - like almost getting run over by a semi on the Interstate, getting a migraine while driving (after almost getting run over by a semi on the Interstate), dealing with the rotten kids in the neighborhood playing ding-dong-ditch at my front door, stupid drivers that seem to think if you don't know where you're going it's okay to stop in the middle of the road to figure it out, getting called into the bosses office just before leaving to find out that your workload is increasing by half a head, and dealing with little Mr. Diarrhea of the Mouth for the past two days.

Knowing that I am someone's crush has made it all worthwhile. Peace out!

music mania

I spent a bit of time this weekend stocking up on some new music, updating my iPod, and ripping a few CDs. Picking out some new tunes was (obviously) the best part. Music is such a big part of my life. It takes top billing over teevee and movies. And most of the songs I listen to somehow intertwine themselves in my life in interesting little ways.

Have you ever thought about your life put to music? What would your soundtrack sound like? Just for fun I thought I'd go through some of my current and old faves and put together a little soundtrack of my life as it is right now. Enjoy!

tell me what you think

Sometimes I just have to jump on the bandwagon and go for a ride. First it was Snackie, then it was Sizzle. So, now I really want to see how some of you answer THE TWENTY "QUESTIONS" MEME.

Lisa is.....
Lisa needs.....
Lisa's best friend is.....
Lisa's dog is named.....
Lisa smells like.....
Lisa drives like.....
Lisa craves......
Lisa's favorite TV Show is.....
Lisa hates the actor whose name is.....
Lisa's alcoholic drink of choice is.....
Lisa's NON alcoholic drink of choice is.....
Lisa's favorite musical artist is.....
Lisa's favorite cupcake flavor is.....
Lisa's hair is.....
Lisa's celebrity crush is.....
Lisa's occupation is.....
Lisa's favorite book is.....
Lisa's favorite color is.....
Lisa hates.....
Lisa wishes.....

so, you wanna know about meme...

Freak Magnet wants to make me suffer as much as she did, so she tagged me with this little meme. Thankfully, there's no thinking required. Good thing since my brain's a little mushy today.

Anywho, the rules: You go to Wikipedia and type in your birthday (month and day) Then you write down 3 events, 2 births, 1 holiday, and tag 5 friends.

Events
1927 - Mae West is sentenced to 10 days in jail for obscenity for her play Sex.
1987 - The Simpsons make their television debut in the short "Good Night" a segment for The Tracey Ullman Show.
1995 - Oklahoma City bombing: The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA, is bombed, killing 168. That same day convicted murder Richard Wayne Snell, who had ties to bombing suspect Timothy McVeigh, was executed in Arkansas.

Births
1946 - Tim Curry, British actor
1969 - Jesse James, Television personality, Custom motorcycle builder

Holiday
Bicycle Day.

And now to do the obligatory tag.

Liss because she loves doing these crazy things.
Stacie cuz I always tag her.
Lesley so when there's a day she's got nuthin' else to say she can just put this up.
Marni cuz she really doesn't have much time to think about what to say these days.
Kyra because after the horrible return trip she just had, she might need something to just have fun with.

brother can you spare an ice cube?

Does anyone have a couple of fans to spare? Even a few dozen bags of ice to throw in the tub would be great. We're burning up here! It's a scorching 94 today after hitting 90 yesterday and never dropping lower than the mid 60's last night. The best thing about today was going to work. Yep, bet you didn't see that one coming. They've got A/C, and lots of it. So much, in fact, that stepping outside every now and then for a smoke actually felt good, defrosting the bones for a few minutes. Coming home to a house with no A/C that only had the windows cracked all day since we can't give the creeps attempting to break in any help, notsomuch good.

Speaking of creeps, I'm confident that the attempted break-in of my front door was definitely someone up to no good. When we (my neighbor and I) changed the locks, we found damage on the door frame and weather stripping obviously made from a sharp object (like a screwdriver or something). Then last weekend, another neighbor from down the block came home from being away over the 4th and told us about thier dog sitter walking in to two young males in zipped up, hooded sweatshirts and sunglasses trying to break in thier backyard windows. She called the cops, but by the time they arrived the culprits were gone (of course!). I'm thinking it's time for a neighborhood watch program and a few lessons in target practice (HINT, HINT!!!).

On the lighter side of things, I finally got my hair cut today. After waking up from my mid-morning migraine nap on Monday I remembered I'd wanted to call and make an appointment. Lucky for me she had an opening this afternoon, which I gladly took. Nothing much different except all the dead ends and scragglies are now gone. Oh, and there's less to tie up off my neck on hot days like this. I just love the feel the first day of a haircut. My whole head feels lighter. No, it's not the air seeping out of my ears!

One last random thought since I've jumped around a lot here and am now hot and sweaty from doing so. I couldn't help myself from checking out my rating. Hehe! I am pleased to announce that I've hit the big time, baby!! This blog is Rated R.



My rating is based on the following:

• shit (9x)
• crap (3x)
• dead (2x)
• kill (1x)

So now that I'm done rambling about crap you could care less about, I'm gonna go crack another brewski to cool down before this shitty heat kills me dead. Peace out, bitches!

accident update

Thanks to those who sent prayers and positive thoughts the other night for Liss and her roommate. Here's a quick update and request for continued P&PT.

The night of the accident G was airlifted from one hospital to another in preparation for surgery. He had much internal bleeding, a broken pelvis, broken leg(s), broken thumb, but was so very fortunate to not have any head injuries and only a small scratch on his helmet. (They really do save lives!!!)

They monitored him overnight and the following day (yesterday) put a pin in his leg. He was scheduled for surgery today to try to rebuild his pelvis but he never made it to surgery due to being rushed in last night to stop the internal bleeding that seemingly was stopping the night before.

This boy is in some bad shape and can use all the P&PT he can get. And our dear, sweet Liss is a total wreck, so she can use lots of P&PT as well.

Thanks for any support you can offer.

Updated: Liss spent some time giving more of the details. You can read it here.

prayers for a friend

Our sweet friend Liss' roommate has been in an awful motorcycle accident. He's headed to surgery now and your prayers for him are much appreciated. Even moreso, your prayers for our dear friend Liss to be strong through this trying time are appreciated as well.

Liss, I love you girl! Hang in there!!!

hair days of summer

For weeks now I've had hair on the brain. Every morning when I fight with my unruly hair it reminds me it's time for a cut. Nothing drastic, just a reshaping really, getting all the old, dead ends taken off and the layers redone. My days of drastic hair changes are over. Afterall, who'd want to see a 40 year old woman with a mohawk? Hehe! I was thinking about coloring it again, but I'm pretty sure that'd be a big waste of money at this time of the year when being out in the sun naturally lightens my hair.

I know that because I've been thinking about making a hair appointment I'm more aware of conversations having to do with hair, but this past week's been ridiculous.

It started off with a conversation at work with one of the girls telling us about a coworker who commented on her haircut by saying "Oh, I see we've got a new 'guy' on the team!" Uh, yeah. WTF? She cut her hair really short. And, yes, she's a lesbian and doesn't get all foofy and shit, but c'mon. Why does our hair style make people want to say nasty things to us? Then this other coworker was telling us about the cafe manager stopping her in the hallway to tell her "Your order is taken care of and will be delivered at xx:xx time." She just looked at her and responded, "Huh? I'm not S. I'm K. S is the blonde." (which is funny because S is by no means blonde, but in comparison to K she's a little bit lighter). That of course prompted S to tell us she's really sick of her hair (the color, the length) and needs to do something different. Then A starts in with "I really need to get my hair cut! It's such a PITA, but my hubby doesn't like short hair." Okay, that one got me going. Since when do men get a freakin' say in how we keep our hair?? It's our hair, dammit, and until they start washing, styling and taking care of it for us they've got no damn say in what we do with it.

Then at the BBQ on the 4th the topic of hair came up again. The two teenaged neighbor boys (not brothers, just friends) are in some funky phase of growing their hair long. The hanging in your eyes, greasy, scraggly sort of long. One comes walking past the adults wearing a baseball cap. Apparently the parents finally said 'enough' and made him chop it off. LOL The other, well as of Thursday he was sporting a brand spanking new summer cut. You can actually see ears and eyes on him now.

Even my kiddo who fights me every time I make an appointment for him was looking at a picture taken at school last year when I'd gotten really lazy and hadn't had his hair cut in a couple months. Looks like he's got a mop on his head, literally. He say, "Mom, I hate that picture of me!" When I asked why he tells me his hair is too long. So I reminded him about the fit he pitches every time we go to get his hair cut and he says, "Yeah, I know. I just don't like going, but I like it when it's done." Kids!

And finally, of course, where is Stace today? Taking Michael to get his hair cut. Okay, let's all say it together now. Shocker! Uh, yeah.

So, I still haven't made a hair appointment. And I'm still not really sure what I'm gonna have done if I ever get off my ass to make one. But I'm sure until I do, the topic of hair will be floating into my life over and over again, cuz that's just the way it works for me. Sheesh!

wednesday wrap-up (is there even a version anymore?)

It's been ages since I've done a Wednesday Wrap-up and since today I'm off work and I've actually had time to catch up on reading and commenting on all my favorite blogs, I thought I'd do a quick wrap-up before getting my lazy butt in gear for the festivities of the afternoon.

The Birthday Circuit - Bad, I know, but I didn't even post a birthday message to my main squeeze. Happy Birthday Kiddo!! The kiddo brought in his 7th year with a birthday bash at one of the local bowling alleys. And that was just the start to almost a week of birthday celebrating. His actual birthday (the 26th - same as Dan's) was spent dining at his favorite restaurant, The Mayan, and playing with his hot new PlayStation, courtesy of his grandparents. Then last weekend was spent attending two birthday parties for friends. I swear he's got more of a social life than me!

Break-in(g) News! - I am now the proud owner of a new set of front door locks. Thanks to my awesome neighbor who came over on Sunday to help me get the crazy thing installed, I'm resting a little bit easier now. I'll always wonder who was trying to get in, for what reason, and when, but with all my neighbors on alert, the 100+ pound furry protection system I own, and the sparkling new jewels adorning my front door I'm not worrying about it. Not too much at least.

(Not) Flying Under the Radar - My second round at The Winnebago has been educational, frustrating, enjoyable, and as of Monday, rewarding. I know I haven't really talked at all about my new job, so suffice it to say I've embarked upon a new career. The world of procurement. I've done my fair share of purchasing through all my previous careers, but this has been a new game entirely for me. One thing I vowed to myself when starting this job was to maintain a certain amount of restraint. By that I mean not get in there and give more than 100% right from the start. That was a hard decision to make for me because I'm one of those people who feels that if you're not performing the best you can, then you aren't doing what you should be doing. Last time that got me nowhere fast (unless you count heading out the door 3 months before my contract was due to expire). Anyway, I've been holding back. Attempting to fly under the radar. And obviously not doing a very good job of it either. During our biweekly staff meeting on Monday afternoon I was presented with a Customer Recognition Award. Not one but three of my customers sent beaming emails to my manager about me. Ugh! I truly hate being in the spotlight, but what I hate even more is that I can't even get myself to just do what needs to be done and stop trying to fix everything that's broken. Ah well! At least I got a teeny tiny little bonus out of it.

BBQ Fever - We're off to the neighbor's for a BBQ this afternoon. No. The evil spawn won't be there. They're gone on vacation and the neighborhood's been a peaceful haven ever since. This is the party crowd getting together. Last Saturday night we sat around drinking, and talking, and drinking for hours while the kids ran around the neighborhood. All without incident. What fun! And today should be more of the same. It's gonna be damned HOT but with the help of the sprinklers and a new slip-n-slide, not to mention the A/C coursing through the neighbor's house, we shouldn't have to put up with too many sweat beads in our eyes. Now I've got to get off my ass and get my fruit platter put together, dig out my chip bowls, and get this place picked up before the good times begin. I hope all of you are off enjoying some holiday fun today!

Cheers!!

what was it I was just saying?

What was that I was saying the other day? Something about not having anything to write about? Uh... yeah. You'd think I'd learn my lesson about posting stuff like that. But noooo! I had to go and open that can of worms. Didn't I?

First, thanks to all of you who not only read my whining but actually left me comments and suggestions. You gave me the warm fuzzies because frankly I figured ya'll probaby gave up on me and got tired of coming over here to see nothing new. You like me! You really like me!!

Anyway, as my life goes, whenever I lay things out on the line, like saying there was nothing worth writing about, all sorts of things just start gelling. Take yesterday for example. During my lunch break not one but two blog worthy stories came up during conversations with co-workers. I was really excited to come home, get the normal shit of the day done, and plunk myself down in front of the computer to write. Except life had other plans for me. So these two stories and using some of the suggestions from my adoring fans will have to wait for another day. Today I tell you about my Friday night adventure at home.

It started off as a typical Friday evening - leave work, drive home through the massive downpour that decided to come down right in the middle of rush hour causing traffic to back up for miles in both directions of the Interstate, pick up the kiddo, hang with him for awhile, then yak on the phone with my girl Stace. Sounds boring enough, eh? Well don't run off yet. This is where it gets good. Or bad. It all depends on how you look at it.

If I'm not roaming around the house doing laundry or cleaning up the kitchen I'm usually pacing between the garage and the living room when I'm talking on the phone. I hang outside smoking then retreat to the quiet of the living room for awhile so I don't have to listen to the teevee and play noises. Anyway, last night I was sitting on the sofa in the living room. It runs the length of the long wall and faces the wall of the front door entry with the actual front door to the left. As we're yakking about whatever something caught my eye - the trim around the front door. From my position on the sofa something looked amiss. Like the trim, or the door, was warped or something. And no I wasn't drunk. I was only on my first beer.

I stood up and walked to the door for closer inspection and as I approached I realized that the entire door frame where the chain lock is attached and draped over to the front door was pulled out from the wall. WTF? Completely off the wall. So far off the wall that the tiny little nails used to hold it up had about a quarter inch between the ends of them and the backside of the trim. At this point I interrupt whatever Stace is saying and tell her what I'm looking at. It completely baffled me because 1) my parents were just here for a week so there was always someone around the house during the entire day and night and if they'd had any mishaps with the front door they not only would have told me, but would have made sure it was fixed better than it'd been before they left to go back home, 2) we rarely ever use the front door since I park the car in the garage and we just come in through the laundry room, and 3) with a dog like my Jake, someone would have to really want in bad to go through the trouble of trying to get past him.

With no damage to the door, inside or out, and the door being double locked (deadbolt and all), and the chain still attached to both the trim and the door, it was baffling. Besides me, there are only three others who have a key to the house - my parents (previously exhonerated), my neighbor who was watching my kiddo all week before and after summer camp, and my ex (long story why, and not something I'll discuss here). So I asked WJ if they (him, the neighbor, the neighbor's kids, or any or all of the above) had tried to get into the house at all during the day while I was at work. Nope. Wasn't them. So that left only two other options. The ex, or someone who somehow got a key to my house or knows how to pick a lock AND relock the door when they're done.

At this point Stace suggests that I call the police. I debated on this one for two reasons. First, I hate calling the police because you always have to call the 911 number and then explain that's it's not "really" an emergency as emergencies are classified but that you really do need to talk to someone or you wouldn't have called them in the first place. I wish they had a non-emergency number for situations like this. And second, I'd already been home for like 2 hours when I'd discovered this and being that I was fine, WJ was fine, and nothing seemed to be missing from the house it seemed a little strange to get the police involved. Despite my reservations I called them. And you know what? They showed up maybe 5 minutes later. Impressive.

So now that this post has gotten way longer than I ever intended it to be, here's how the rest of it played out. The officer listened to my story, took pics, and said he was going to call my ex to see if he'd tried to get into the house for some reason. If he had, I was told I should explain the "rules" to him about entering the house univited, and if that didn't work, I should file a restraining order. Uh, yeah! If he says he didn't, it was suggested I have the locks changed and I would be assigned a case number as a victim of potential break-in.

Can you guess what happened? Here, let me give you a hint. Sometime between the two birthday parties we have to go to this weekend and all the usual laundry, house cleaning, etc. that is always on the schedule, I now have to either go to one of the big box home improvement stores to buy new locks and try to figure out how in the hell to install them, or I'll be calling a locksmith.

This really wasn't the sort of interesting blog worthy writing I was looking for, but hey. Whatever works, eh?

warning: whining ahead

I've read on several blogs in the past couple of weeks people posting about other bloggers who waste time blogging about how they have nothing to blog about. Let this serve as your warning.

IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ MY WHINING ABOUT HAVING NOTHING TO BLOG ABOUT...

STOP READING NOW!!!

Okay, for those (if any) that are still reading, pull up a seat and listen to me whine. I don't know why it's so hard some days to actually sit down and write something. It's been almost two weeks since I've said anything out here. Maybe it's because ever since I went back to work and spend virtually the entire day sitting in front of a computer I have absolutely no desire to come home and park my ass in front of another one? Or it could be that it's summer and there's so much more to do to keep the house and yards up so I'm spending more time outside instead of feeling my brain rotting staring at the monitor? And then there's been the yearly visitation from The Rents that's kept me doing other stuff and having to socialize, whether I wanted to or not. Whatever the case, they all add up to the same result. No blogging.

Yet, even if I had (or made) the time to blog these days, what in the hell would I say? I don't want to talk about my job because frankly, it'd be boring. I can't talk about certain issues I'm currently dealing with because it wouldn't be prudent. And since I live a pretty mundane existence of work, kid time, house shit, yard work, and whatever other crap comes my way that doesn't leave much to say.

So, maybe if I ask all of you to give me something to write about it will get the mojo moving in my brain again. Go ahead. Make a suggestion. Ask me a question. Anything will do. Just get me writing again, dammit. It's been too long.

he said, she said

Here's some of my favorite quotes from the past week. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

"He's just a big, whiney bitch."
Then they deserve one another.

"I have to poop!"
From "things you don't want to hear when having sex".

"If we all waited until we weren't busy to chat with friends, we'd never have friends!!!"
Possibly. Unless your friends are just as busy as you are.

"ABBA - not just a band"
Seen on a local church reader board, and a favorite in honor of Neil.

"Don't let your past dictate who you are, but let it be a part of who you become."
I'm working on it!

"No, I'm not in that room. My children needed something."
In response to me pointing out why a supplier's invoice was blocked for payment after they called ME in a panic.

"I'll have a medium chocolate coffee with caramel on it."
When what she really wanted was a grande mocha latte with caramel drizzle but decided to hold up the line of at least 12 people while the barista figured out what the hell she was ordering.

What's your favorite quote of the week?

salt & pepper

I don't know much about politics. I don't talk politics. I don't read about politics. I don't watch political debates on teevee. Some would say I prefer to have my head in the sand, but, honestly, it just bores the crap out of me. Apparently only until I get recruited to campaign that is.

Somehow, despite my distaste for the bullshit of listening to people fluff their egos by embellishing their accomplishments, make false promises that they not only don't intend to keep but most likely couldn't keep even if they wanted, I found myself on a campaign team - read as a witch hunt clan - for one of the candidates running for our school board. The election having been postponed for two weeks after the school endured a flu epidemic and closed early for the Memorial Day weekend was finally held this past Thursday.

A little history about the past board: Can you say Old Boy's Club? The only thing they ever did was say "no" to any and every idea for change that was proposed. Topics that were supposed to be on monthly meeting agendas conveniently fell off the schedule. Questions that were asked were met with the standard "We'll look into that" and never followed up. When personal contact was attempted throughout the school year, parents were berated with such statements as "I'm a very busy man. I don't have time to sit in front of my email answering questions from everyone." WTH?

The board has six seats that serve out three year terms - two of which came open this year. There were four candidates running. Actually there were five up until the morning of the election, but one of the chickenshit candidates backed out at the last minute.

Let's meet the candidates:

Mr. P (incumbent) - Decorated military career. Academic career. No children at the school. Delusional thinking that there's nothing to worry about when enrollment drops over 25% in one year. Attempts to answer questions by repeating his ego fluff then wonders why the voters are staring at him like he's just spouted like Vesuvius.

Mr. L (our candidate) - Businessman with 14 years customer service management experience. One child in attendance, two more to be enrolled in the coming years. Well spoken. Forward thinking. Nailed each and every question with complete answers.

Mrs. S (our other candidate) - Single parent of one student. Previous high school teacher. Current state worker. Direct. Focused. Problem solver. Oh, and by the way... female.

Mr. B - Asshole extraordinaire! Husband to staff member. Grandfather to student involved in previous scandal. All questions are responded to with a joke, a story, or "Let me ask you a question". That is until he decides it's past his bedtime at 8pm and calls for the questioning to stop and the votes to be cast. Refuses to respond to any additional questions for the next half hour.

At 8:30pm the votes were cast, tallied (by yours truly, the principal, and two current board members) and the results are announced. Mrs. S and Mr. P win the election. Hmm! Maybe I should start referring to them as Mrs. Salt and Mr. Pepper? That pretty much describes their personalities - complete opposites.

It's complete bullshit that Mr. Pepper was reelected! How people can sit and watch the inactions of the current board and feel they've done a single thing to make the school better, then vote to have one of the main opposers to change reelected is beyond me? Now that's what I call having your head in the sand.

Mrs. Salt has a hard job awaiting her. Not only is she the only female, she's the first female in a decade and will be up against the OBC. The clan will be there to support her. Whether that'll be enough, only time will tell.

Mr. B can kiss my ass!

Poor Mr. L, who put an enormous amount of time and energy into his campaign. Well, there's always next year when another seat will be up.

And people think I know nothing about politics. Ha!

3 out of 5 friends agree

Happiness is something I struggle with daily. Not that I'm an unhappy person most of the time, but there are days, or events, that get me down. Mostly it's frustration and the feeling of being out of control, not really depression, that cause me to either rant and rave uncontrollably, clam up entirely, or physically shut down.

I truly have a lot to happy about, and have constant reminders and reinforcement. Some things that make me happy are:

• my son
• music
• friends
• working
• being able to pay the bills without worrying if I have enough money
• knowing that I'm putting money back into my unemployment account should I need it in the future
• my health, and the health of family and friends
• beer
• good food
• my house
• my computer

With all these happy things surrounding me you'd think I'd be bouncing off the walls with excitement. Notsomuch. Fortunately I've got friends - 3 out of 5 that agree - whatever makes me happy is good.

Now if I can just convince myself.

a mish mash of streaming thoughts

I've done a lot of blog reading over the past few days, and as you can see, haven't done a lick of writing. I get caught up in the circle of thinking about all the stuff I could write about - a flu epidemic closing the school, the yearly visit from my longest childhood friend, updates on the neighborhood drama with the evil spawn child - but it all seems so "ho hum" and "zzzzzzz" compared to the writings of my personal blogging favorites. So, I sit here feeling guilty that I haven't written anything in almost a week.

Just look at some of the stuff people are writing about this week.

Sizzle and Stacie and Karl spent some time in the land of the blues this week. It kills me when I see such awesome people struggling and there's nothing I can do to help. We all have our own demons to fight, and sometimes it seems they're winning the game. I know because I fight with mine on a daily basis. Sometimes I just want to throw in the towel, let them all win. Then I get pissed and say "Eff you!! This is MY life and I'm not gonna let you get in the way!" But I never write about it. Even during times of struggle these people write. They write about what they're going through. What they'd like to change. What they're doing (or not doing) about moving forward. Why is that so difficult for me?

Then there's Tim and Kyra writing about parenting - what it means to be a parent, and how some parents seem to just not give a damn. I could write volumes on these subjects, talking about my own messed up experiences of being a single parent and trying to do everything right. I could go on and on about kids in the neighborhood, kids we encounter at stores and restaurants, and kids at school who's parents have seemingly taken a hiatus from parenting, allowing these kids to rule the roost. And sometimes I do write about these things, but they always seem to be rants and raves and bitches and whines rather than anything meaningful.

And Hilly is always diving deep into her psyche in one way or other, sometimes hitting issues head on, other times circling the wagons of generalities. Either way she writes what she wants, how she wants, and says what's on her mind in a deep, yet entertaining way. My psyche is in constant need of a deep cleaning (much like my house), but I don't go there.

Sometimes I think I have something to say, something beyond the mish mash of streaming thoughts that lead nowhere. So I write. Then I delete. And on rare occassions I consider pulling the plug, so to speak. But today I leave my whirling thoughts and appreciation for my fellow bloggers. Writers really.

two years and still going

I can't believe it's been two years since I first started blogging. Ok, let me rephrase that. I can't believe it's been two years since my troublemaking friend Stacie started me blogging. I was reluctant, to say the least, and made every excuse in the book as to why I didn't want to blog. But the more time passed, and the more I wrote, the more I enjoyed having an outlet for my rants, a place to share pics of the kiddo.

Looking back with the knowledge that we can only gain by moving forward in life, this blog started at just the right time for me - on the heels of my divorce and suddendly finding myself single again after 9 years. Once again proving to me there are no coincidences. Thank you, my friend!

I've met a lot of great bloggers in the past couple of years, many I call my friends. They've helped me to grow as a writer, look at life a little differently than I might normally see it, laugh, cry, and ask "WTF?". And I've grown and changed and travelled down the road of finding the me that I used to be, and looking forward to the me that's yet to develop. All in all, it's been a great journey! A journey that will continue on for as long as I have something to say. That pretty much leaves it wide open there, eh?

take me out to the ballgame

There's nothing like spending a Sunday afternoon at the ballpark with friends. The food. The crowds. The game. Oh, and don't forget the rain. Thankfully, we were under the overhang so the typical Pacific Northwest spatter didn't bother us at all until the bottom of the 8th when they had to call the game since the real wet stuff had started falling around the top of the 7th. It was still a great day.

The Tacoma Rainiers were playing the Tucson Sidewinders and finally broke their losing streak winning 4-3. And because I know how much you all enjoy useless facts, here's one for you - the Rainiers are owned by Nick Lachey. No. He wasn't at the game. Or if he was, we didn't see him. But the kids had a blast when Rhubarb, the reindeer mascot, made his way up to our seats and autographed their baseballs.

The food was pretty darn good too, though a little pricey. We stuck with burgers and fries. I opted to save my money and not spend the whopping $6 for one domestic beer when I knew I could buy between six and twelve for that price at the store. Guess I'm just a cheap date.

I'm pretty sure we'll be heading back up there again throughout the summer, only next time we'll be getting the 1st or 3rd base seats instead of behind homeplate so we can actually catch some of the balls, shirts and whatever else they're pitching into the crowd and not be blocked by the net.

Batter up!

my week in bullets

I've thought about bullets a lot this week. Being shot down. Being the shooter. Trying to catch you all up with my week in bullets. So, here we are. The highlights (and lowlights) of the week.

Neighborly Drama - The evil spawn is up to no good again. This time I got the clear picture after he smacked another neighbor kid upside the head - twice. I finally went down the street to talk to victim's mother, and boy did I get an earful! Not only did I hear about all the crap evil spawn's done to victim, I witnessed a pissing match between Mrs. A and victim's grandmother (a fiesty hispanic woman who ain't taking evil spawn's shit no mo). I know evil spawn is ADHD, and I'm sympathetic to any child living with that. What I'm not sympathetic to is the slacker parent who sets the spawn free to reek havoc and then pisses and moans when she's told evil spawn's behavior will not be tolerated. Get off your lazy butt and control your spawn!

When Trains Collide - Generally speaking my commute to The Winnebago isn't all that bad. Drive across town, pop on the Interstate, and a couple exits later I'm off. This is assuming that two trains don't derail effing up the backroad traffic detouring it down the mountian and dumping it at the tiny little intersection in the basin where the onramp I use is. I'm pretty sure I was on time at least once this week. Of course being on a modified work schedule for the next couple of weeks has its advantages.

The Winnebago - Training is done and I'm in the pits. Seriously. Digging out from under all the crap that rolled downhill from two people ago. My trainer has been trying to dig out for the past 14 months and still isn't done. Now it's my turn to pick up a shovel. And this is all the back end cleanup, not counting the new stuff that comes in every day. I am in email hell. Within 5 minutes I can have upwards of 20-30 new messages in my inbox. And that's not counting the 20 or so that fill up my home email waiting for attention when I get home.

Elections - Most of the home email is related to the election. No, not the Presidential election. The BOD election at school. Somehow I was drafted to be a campaign manager for two new candidates vying for the two open spots on the BOD. The change is seriously needed, but with only two spots open and six total BOD members, it's not even enough to tie the voting at this point. What really needs to happen is ousting the administration. Then again, I'm not totally invested in this like others are since I've decided I'm tired of paying for the priviledge of an effed up administration and would rather have one for free. The kiddo's headed to public school next year.

Final Note - Thanks to all of you for your supportive messages on my last post. It will probably be quite awhile before I'll be able to say much more on the subject I was alluding to, but wanted you to know I have an army of support now and am confident things will work out. So no more thinking of bullets. And no more bullets to write about right now.

Enjoy your weekend!

just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water

I knew going back to work would put a damper on my blogging, telephone convos, keeping tabs on friends, etc. That was something I was prepared for, having done it once before. What I was NOT prepared for was the drama that reared it's effing ugly head this weekend.
*Editing to clarify the drama has nothing to do with work. It's personal life crap.

I can't go into any details here because I don't want it used as evidence against me. Just wanted to let you all know that I'm still alive, haven't forgotten you, and try to get around to at least a couple of your blogs every day.