Now What??

Okay, so I found out some information from a new acquaintance on a website I frequent (and no folks it wasn't an online dating site just for the record *insert cheesy laugh here* because I don't "frequent" any online dating site period).  Anyway, he informed me that he tried to leave a comment on my latest blog, but couldn't because it wouldn't let him.  Then I tried starting this blog and I got some stupid warning message that I couldn't leave certain fields blank.(the title..umm...never happened before)

*KNOCK! KNOCK!*
"Mercury, you silly lad, is that you knocking on my door?"

Okay, okay, I don't blame every computer, travel or communication snafu on Mercury being retrograde, but sometimes I just blame it on Mercury because it's so much better(and easier) than saying "I'm a technological idiot"...ya know?

This was kind of a crazy day though. My boys were bouncing off the walls. They were fine last night, perfect... almost.

Kind of...like...

The
Calm
Before
The
Storm.

*shivers*

Anyway,  so now I have to figure out what I did(or didn't) do and fix whatever I did (or didn't) do so that people can post comments. Because I could have sworn that I added an option to leave comments. And a friend of mine did post a comment on my Bathroom/Petshops/Angry Birds    blog, so I don't understand why this new acquaintance couldn't comment. Hmm...at last check I was at 1,199 views and as I mentioned to my new acquaintance/friend(these days I don't know what is PC to call people anymore(online/offline doesn't matter), I'm just going to cover all bases here because in all honesty some supposed "friends" are really more like "acquaintances" and some "acquaintances" turn out to be better than supposed "real" good friends, ya know?)

Meh.

Anyway,(hey let's count how many times I use the word anyway in my blogs from here on out. It will be like that drinking game the night of the presidential debates when those college kids around the country took a drink every time Obama said "Umm." )...so yeah, Anyway....*chug away*....as I mentioned to my new Friendtance (I don't like Friendquaintance....too long to type so I'm making up my own word) I am baffled that with all those views that I haven't had more comments.

*Takes a deep breath and decides not to make a 

cup of coffee to go with the freshly baked lemon squares I just made*

Well, this is what happens when I am tired. I ramble...on and on and on and on....If anyone watches Rookie Blue, I am that new chick cop that is with what's his name, she won't shut up, but she is funny as hell..and smart...just like me!

Oh crap, I'm too lazy to google the episode and too tired to care to anyway. *oops, chug!* She was in the last episode that aired last week.

This is why I don't drink.
Because I do stupid things when I drink...
and share more than I need to and not in a good way either.

And also why I try to refrain from blogging late at night...
Because I ramble and I say things and act in a way that is just...well...
more of me than I should probably share to an internet full of strangers.

My friends, they "get" me, but strangers on the internet highway,
might hop, skip, run...flee from here never to be seen again.

Of course they wouldn't be strangers would they if they would comment....
if they could comment....
and we could actually communicate, ya know?

And you all can't comment(yes I just went from the third person to the second in one fell swoop, there are probably shitloads of typos and more grammatical errors  in here too...do I look like a give a crap?)...so no one can help me out here because apparently no one reading my blog can comment on it.

Dammit!


I shall google,  I shall use that lovely little "help" button on here if I must and ask blogger help for "How do I fix my technological stupidity and find the error of my technologically challenged ways?"  Notice how I don't just enter a few simple words or phrases, but I talk to Blogger help as though I'm instant messaging on Facebook.

I digress.

Well it's late, and by golly my ass has to be up at 6 a.m.  Technically I could get up at 7, but I like some "ME" time before I head into work.

This is it.

For now anyway.

If my children fall asleep at a reasonably early hour tomorrow, I shall return.

If not then I will return when I can I guess.

Makes sense.

It's July 4th...Meh

And it's just another day here at my place.

Kids are with their dad this  year for holidays, so I'm sitting here doing absolutely nothing.

Well, not nothing I suppose. I'm sitting here blogging. That's doing something.

I was invited to a friend's house, but my van is a death trap and the less I have to drive it the longer(hopefully) it will last me before it dies for good.  So, I'm missing out on festivities this year.

No biggie.

Here's a few things I have thought of doing this week when the kids weren't around and I am stuck in solitude:

1.  Count the number of channels that had infomercials on them.  (*I actually did this one)40 out of 165 channels have infomercials on them at 5 in the morning.  Yeah, that's right. I counted how many channels I actually have for the 120 bucks a month I pay in the bundle package I got suckered into. 165 channels, 15 of those were Spanish Channels, which may as well be infomercials because my Spanish sucks since I graduated from high school back in '87.

2.  Organize the refrigerator.   That was just a passing thought that never really came into fruition.

3.  Make donuts.  I always wanted to make donuts.

4.  Have a full-fledged conversation with myself. It would go something like this:
Self: "Can you believe the price of milk these days?" 
Self to Self reply:  "I know it's insane!  I prefer the store-brand vs. the name brand when it comes to milk though.  If powdered wasn't so nasty I'd buy that instead"
Self: "Do they still make powdered milk?"
Self to Self: "Gee, I don't know."

Silence.

Self: "How about those Cubs!" ......

5.  Invent a new parent-friendly item.  Like a wallet or purse that magically restores the money you just spent on groceries or gasoline.

6.  Count the threads in my bed-sheets. How do you really know if it's  200-count thread anyway? You just trust it because they SAY it's 200 - count?

7.  Go to an online dating site for a free communication weekend.  (*Yes, I actually did this one too)  That was a waste of an hour. It keeps telling me my profile is 80% complete. I have no idea where the other 20% to complete it is. No wonder it's free to communicate, hard to communicate with an incomplete profile.  I honestly signed up just for shits and giggles. A friend suggested it. She found love on the internet highway and told me I should try it too.  Some of the profiles scare me. And unless you subscribe, you can't see photos. That scares me even more.  No thanks. I'll stick to lonely nights of talking to myself and surfing the net I guess.

Self to Self: "Would you like a donut?"

8.  Count the ants that have tried to enter my home. Count how many I kill with the bottle of Windex I am holding as they attempt to do so.

9.   Sleep.  (*that's a possibility)

10.  Blog.

11.  Blog some more.

12.  Blog about blogging.

13.  Take a bath.

14.  Buy some wine.

15.  Actually drink the wine I buy instead of having it sit in my fridge for 4 months then throw it away.

16.  Write a book.

17.  Submit it to a publisher on a whim.

18.  Cash the advance check on my new book.

19.  Buy a new car.

20.  Pick up my kids and drive the new car somewhere.  Preferably out of the state.

Now I'm hallucinating. I better go to the store now and get a brief snippet of fresh air.  Do they sell that there? Because between the triple-digit heat, the fires raging out of control to the northwest and east of me, walking out the door is a death-trap today.

Have a wonderful 4th folks. I'm sure there are "folks" that may read this.  Even if it's just one "folk", I thank you for passing by.  Feel free to leave me a comment...or two....or three even.....

Living in an Oven

This is what living in the desert looks like in the middle of summer from my patio...

Let me tell you sitting on my patio with the heat radiating from the sun like that is no picnic. 

Which is why, on any given day when the mercury skyrockets over a hundred, my ass is indoors.

Of course being indoors may save my body from feeling like I'm dying, but if someone knocks on my door , I may end up blind one of these days.  That is what happened to me a couple of weeks ago when a friend of my boys came knocking on my door. I went to look out the peep hole and was practically blinded by the light permeating through the hole.

See? 

 

There is no escaping the damaging effects of the sun out here, no matter where I go.

We have a pool, however, I don't swim, and even if I did, the walk to the pool alone would feel like it's killing me for sure. 

And it's only a matter of time before my van craps out and dies on me for good in this heat. Yesterday after I did all my running around, I could hear my radiator sizzling like someone was grilling burgers under the hood.

Who chooses to move here and STAY?!

People are crazy to live in the desert. I am not here by choice, but by obligation. I am counting down the years until my daughter turns 18. She and her brothers can  go to college, stay here and bake with their father in this  or they can come with me back to the balmy midwest or east coast even where beaches, rain and snow abound.

I can't take much more of this.

I'm surprised I've lasted this long.

I would do anything, and I mean just about anything to be able to stand in 3 feet of snow, scraping the ice off of my windshield  in subzero weather or shoveling my driveway. I would love nothing more than to hear the sounds of thunder and see a bolt or two of lightning with a torrential downpour of rain to follow.

Anything beats this desert living. 

Although for shits and giggles, I thought about going out onto the parking-lot blacktop and trying to fry an egg on a piece of aluminum foil. 

Wouldn't that be funny?

My neighbors would probably think I'm crazy. Not that I care if they did anyway.

At 9:51 this morning it was 102 degrees.  I haven't turned my air back on yet. But it is starting to get a tad bit toasty in my apartment so I think I might have to cave in and turn it on.  I just can't believe the heat out here.

If I wanted to live in an oven I'd of married the Pillsbury dough boy.

But MOM, We Want a Step Dad!

~Magickal Graphics~   My kids made me laugh so hard a few weeks ago.   We were at a stop light on the way to school/work.    As I looked to my left I noticed a police officer at a the light and as he passed by me I just nonchalantly said "He's cute!" and my daughter immediately says "Mommmmmm!" And I looked at her in the rear view mirror and said "Well, he is!", and I grinned.   I said to her, "Don't worry I wouldn't date a cop anyway." 
"Why not?", one of the boys asked from the back seat.   "Well, I just wouldn't. I have dated a casino worker, a soldier, and a construction worker(there are others, not a whole bunch of others, but they don't need a whole list of my dating history). The construction worker's name was "Jim"(not his real name).  He was a nice guy, very good looking and fun to be with." Then my one son says to me "Mom, we want a step dad." I said "Well, that's not going to happen anytime soon. I'm not going to date for a while." "Awwwwww man! But we want a step dad!" I'm grinning and chuckling at this point. I change the song on the radio and was shocked when my oldest twin son says to me "Hey mom, do you still have Jim's phone number?" *huh??!!* "Umm...no, I don't." "Well maybe you can find Jim and call him." The minds of children fascinate me. They don't realize the harsh reality of breaking bonds with someone and moving forward.  And I find it funny that they think I can just call "Jim" up on the phone and he'll date me again and be their step dad some day.  That's hilarious. "I don't want to find Jim." "But didn't you say he was nice?" "Yes, I did." "So why don't you want to find him?" Silence, on my end. "I just don't want to date anyone right now." "But we want a stepdad!" Oh lord... *sigh*   "Some day MAYBE I'll find a stepdad, but for now it's just us okay?" Geeze. I felt like those 30-something women who have mothers asking them when they are going to have babies because their eggs are drying up.  It was pretty comical though. Made me feel like they cared anyway,  for the moment that is. So, if there are any guys out there who would like to be my children's stepdad, feel free to step forward.   ~~~dust blows in the wind~~~   ~~~hears crickets chirping~~~   LOL   That's what I thought.   *Giggles and grabs another cup of Java as I think about my next blog*

The True Meaning Behind Memorial Day

Magickal Graphics    

I was doing a little thinking this morning about this holiday.

I have been seeing photos and salutations such as this nice design:

It got me wondering about how Memorial Day can possibly be associated with the word "Happy". Isn't that an oxymoron of sorts?

I mean, I get the Happy behind the phrase Happy New Year, or the Happy behind Happy Valentine's Day, but to place Happy in front of Memorial Day just doesn't seem right at all to me.

Men and women have died for many years serving this country of ours.  

Where is the happiness in that?

Here is a brief history of the holiday and my thoughts shall continue following this little excerpt of mine.

In 1862 General John A. Logan called for a national day of remembrance for those who had fallen during the Civil War. It was honored as a time to decorate the headstones of those who lost their lives and a time for reflection and prayer.  It was termed Decoration Day.

After World War 1, Congress felt the need to honor those Americans who lost their lives during ALL wars. So the Uniform Monday Holiday Act took effect, and since then Memorial Day as it was later termed was a day to honor those whose lives were lost during wartime.

So as you can see, nowhere in there does it state that one needs a barbecue, or some cheesy store sale to honor this holiday, nor does anyone even need a day off of work. Yet, here we are, decades later, and I bet half the kids out there don't even know why we have the day off and I'm guessing half the adults probably don't even care. 

Sad really.

I'm not saying we should be all depressed and sulky on this holiday, I'm just saying, there should be some reverence behind this holiday.  Remembrance with thoughts such as this one:

Parades are good, I always get goose bumps whenever I am at a parade and they play the Star Spangled Banner and the jets fly over. I think of all those soldiers who lost their lives, family and friends whom I know serving now and it just gets me every time. I feel a tear or two well up in me. It's more than "just another parade" to me. It really does make me think of those who have fought for this country.

I'm also not saying "Ban Memorial Day Barbecues", but I'm just saying somewhere along the way, the translation of the true meaning behind this holiday got lost somewhere. Know what I mean? It's the "Unofficial start of summer", or it's "The day you can finally wear white again."

Who comes up with this stuff anyway?

This is just my random opinion. One may agree or disagree or simply not care either way.

I just thought I'd share my opinion on this. 

Because someone died for my freedom to share my opinions.

Thank you to the dear soldiers who did(and still do) that, so that I can share.

***SOURCES***

http://www.history.com/topics/memorial-day-history

http://www.va.gov/opa/speceven/memday/history.asp 

The Good and the Bad

So there I was, 80-degree weather, kids in the van and tired and restless as I was driving along when all of a sudden like bad fate, my van overheats.

I pull over to the side of the road put the van in park and sit and stew. Kids are whining after only 3 minutes or so of sitting there. My oldest twin is digging his head into the youngest twins shoulder, my daughter is complaining she is thirsty(thank Goodness I didn't take the 32 bottles of water out of my van yesterday I had just bought), and I'm on the verge of a meltdown. Then my youngest twin decides to yell at me and tell me "Just go mom! I'm HOT!" I looked at him with that lovely "mom stare" and said "LOOK, the last time you guys said 'Mom go!' I did, and my van was smoking all over the place and broke down. Remember that?"

Finally silence.

So I get out of the van, pop the hood and hope the slight intermittent breeze would help it cool down faster.

No...

Such....

Luck.

So after about ten minutes of this madness, it finally cooled down enough that when I opened the radiator cap, the heat didn't spray hot water at me and I was able to pour the rest of my "spare" gallon of water and some of the bottled waters we hadn't consumed yet. I couldn't believe not ONE person bothered to pull over and see if we needed help. Van full of kids, woman on the verge of a meltdown and not one driver even slowed down to ask if I needed help. As I shut the van hood, I looked up at the sky and said "Where oh where is my knight in shining armor?"

Mine probably died in the war.

We made it home and the boys took off.

At which point my poor daughter said "I'm bored!" So then I proceeded to tell her "Let's Bake!"

So we did.

Then about half an hour before curfew here(sundown) two little girls who live beneath us came out and I explained to her mom my daughter's poor dilemma with no friends. She is very protective of her girls(rightfully so, especially where we live) and I told her that my daughter has some activities she does during the week, so if anything it would only be once every other week that she would need to hang out with her girls. Thankfully she was open to that option. For my daughter's sake, I was glad I asked.

I peek my head outside the door and I hear the one girl tell my daughter, "I never say the word ask, because it has the word ass in it --" my daughter cut her off and said, "there's a "k" at the end you know."

So I just went out to tell my daughter that she has to come in.  My daughter wanted to meet another girl who just moved here, and she is begging me for more time. The little girl playing with her says "Pleeeeease, it's her only chance!"

How could I say no to that pleading little voice?

So I said, "Fine, five more minutes and that's it."

Well, five more minutes turned into an hour later. I was chatting with the girls mom and another mom and we ended up talking for a while. Made plans for tomorrow to hang out with our kids.

My daughter was like the pied piper. All three girls followed her around wherever she ran. They had so much fun yesterday.

So despite the drama-induced start to my day with the kids, it ended with a lovely evening.

I guess it is true when they say with the bad comes the good.

Because I Love My Job

I absolutely love working with children.

The downside to this lovely career is the list of delightful maladies that can happen while working with these lovely little beings:

Colds and/or Flu: This one is the "Fun" one. Because not only can you contract a cold or flu from a child but you can also be puked on (or near) at warp speed. Most of the time there is no warning, no flashing red lights or some type of verbal alert even uttered from the child before Niagara Falls starts streaming.   You're in the middle of reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear and as you look up from the book you find little Jenny hovering over your shoes showing you what she had for breakfast. Not pretty at all to say the least. Or little Joey's nose is running like a faucet and as he manages to run to hug you and  he pulls away... it looks like a scene from Spider Man.

Just a messy, sticky string of goo from his nose to your pants.

Pink Eye(fancy name Conjunctivitis):  No matter how much you wash desks, tables, chairs, little hands and walls, somehow, some way this little virus manages to creep into your eyeball and force you to throw away all the makeup you just purchased on sale at Walgreen's.  Not to mention the "not-so-fun" feeling of having your eyelids glued together and the annoying watery itching that comes with it.

Strep Throat: An evil little bacteria that sneaks up on you out of nowhere. I can count on one hand, how many times children cover their mouth when they cough. Or they cover their mouth and then grab your face with that same hand.

Head Lice:  *shivers* Ugh...I really don't want to go there. Let's not shall we.

Getting Hit, Bit, Kicked and Slapped:  Nothing more fun than a 3-yr old throwing a tantrum. It's even worse when they are bigger and old enough to take a school bus. At that point you REALLY need quick reflexes or your shin will pay a very dear price. I got kicked in my shin one time at work, and it wasn't at a child care center either. It was at a store I worked at. Go figure.

Classroom Chaos:  It happens. Even the most well-educated, most disciplined teacher has moments where the classroom just goes crazy. I know someone who was pulling two toddlers off the table, and one was on a chair ready to climb onto said table. I also had a day like that yesterday. My children just would not sit on the reading carpet at all. As I sat the last child down on the carpet, two others popped up and began to run to the middle of the room. I'd finally get those two sat down and another THREE would jump up. This is the aerobics part of my afternoon. Who needs a gym membership when you are a teacher of overly-energetic toddlers?  I should have lost at LEAST five pounds yesterday. I was literally sweating from all that running around. Where do these kids find the energy? Is it in the fruit snacks or those new-fangled squeezie veggie/fruits? Maybe it's the yogurt puffs. Whatever it is...I want some of that.

Just think of this movie the next time you send your kid to preschool or grade school:




I hope you have a new-found appreciation of what your child's teacher does after seeing this video.  True, every day isn't like this, because most of us find the "Ferret"(see movie clip) that works to keep the classroom under control.

For the most part I do have a pretty good classroom, but on occasion...it does happen...the kids win the battle...at least for about five minutes or so. 

Then normalcy finally resumes.

I taught them to meditate. Well, sort of. I was being silly and I closed my eyes and started humming. They all just looked at me. Then they joined in. It was fun. I was told by my boss I am not allowed to use the term "Meditate"(???) so we hum. Or I will say "Buzz like bees", and they hum. It's cute. That's the "Ferret" in my room.

Despite all the things that can happen on a negative aspect, I find working with children to be quite rewarding. In the last six months since I've had my classroom,  I've watched little toddlers learn their colors, say their first word/simple sentence ("want juice"), learn empathy, and color/paint a picture.  True, it does bother me some days that I spend more time with other people's children and wish so much to spend that time with my own kids.

For now though,  this is how it is. Because I do love my job, and all the children who are a part of it.

And for now I try to enjoy it the best that I can.