I'm In a Mood

Several things have led to me being "in a mood" and I feel the need to vent. I also don't feel the need to A.) Make sure I type proper paragraphs, 2.) Make sure everything flows, 3.) To be polite, politically correct, and to not use offensive language. So freaking read at your own risk.

First of all, last night on 20/20 they did a piece on the popularity of You Tube (which I hate and refuse to go to, btw), blogs, and other contemporary means of eradicating privacy. Video capable cell phones, digital cameras, etc., are prolific and have made privacy as we knew it, a thing of the past. How do I feel about this? Well, A.) If you don't like videos of yourself drinking out of a beer bong, making out with strangers in a bar, or stripping for your 13 year old boyfriend (this has to do with this volleyball teacher they profiled on the show) then don't freaking do it. Have some common sense and decency and stop using youth as an excuse for doing dumb things. And 2.) Get used to it. It's not going anywhere. Secondly, there was this woman who posted on her blog about EVERYthing from having an abortion to what she ate for lunch. Because of her openness, she's received hate e-mails wishing she'd get cancer but find out too late to treat it among other hatefulness. This is appalling in a country where we tout the benefits of having freedom of speech. You can disagree with her willingness to share private moments of her life but you don't need to wish death on her. I, for one, would never share something so private on a blog but that doesn't give me the right to say someone else shouldn't do it. Geez. Also, freedom of speech is a farce. Nobody has freedom of speech unless the person listening to them is hearing exactly what they want to hear. Otherwise, everyone should just shut up or click the red "X" in the corner of the window. Cause I'm telling you right now, if I truly had the freedom of speech that I'm supposedly granted as a citizen of the United States, I would have said a heck of lot more to certain factions than I have been allowed to these past few weeks. Assholes.

Furthermore, did the passing of Christmas automatically take away people's goodwill? This bitch at the grocery store nearly ran the girls and me over with her cart today at the grocery store. Geez, lady. Go home and take a pill.

Also, just because you wake up in the morning not feeling so hot, (which, by the way, I was sick as two dogs yesterday but still managed to maintain a good mood all freaking day) doesn't mean you need to act like a 5 year old with a runny nose. Suck it up or lock yourself in your room with your blankie and your pacifier so that others may enjoy their day. MAN!!

Lastly, going back to being the voyeurs that we are these days, does anyone else find it disgusting when others hang around like huge f**cking vultures waiting for the ball to drop on someone else's life? Yeah. You know who you are.

And more lastly, cuz I'm not finished yet, I've turned off my cell phone and have no plans on turning it back on until Tuesday morning when the girls go back to school. I hate New Years Eve and don't care to hear other people calling me drunk (I hate when people call me drunk at any time of the year just so you know. It's immature and shows a lack of control.) at midnight to wish me a happy New Freaking Years. I don't care. Every time I formally try to celebrate the damn thing it turns into crap so I've stopped. The last good New Years I had was at M's house in Lakeside. That was in 2002 so there you go. I will, however, be eating my spoonful of blackeyed peas in hopes that 2007 will be a better year than 2004, 2005, and 2006. Should I go on about how I feel about New Years resolutions? In one phrase: Waste of freaking time.

There. I'm done now. And yes, just so you know, I feel tons better.

Winter Has Finally Arrived

There wasn't a posting yesterday because I am recovering from a stomach bug. It really sucked. But after a rough morning I managed to get myself showered and dressed so that we could take the girls shopping. They both have gift cards burning holes in their pockets. I was proud of them though as they only spent about half of their money so they can go on another shopping spree once we get moved.

C and I bought new speakers for the computer. They are so kick ass that they have more watts than our home theater speakers do. These things literally rattle the house. It's a good thing that I no longer live in a townhouse, lol. I managed to piss my neighbors off with my "noise" enough while we only had a shelf system at the time. I don't miss them.

It finally feels like winter here in Vermont. It's snowing right now and we have a snow advisory. I don't mind snow on days when I don't have to go anywhere like today.

Anyway, I'm gonna head outside with C, the kids, and the dog to play in the snow.

Are You Warm Enough

Yesterday C got into an argument in a chat room of all places with some guy about global warming. C and I often have discussions on global warming and the humans place in geological history. And then this morning on the Today show I saw a story on how polar bears have been put on the threatened species list. So, I thought I would share my views on this subject today after it snowed another 3 inches this morning.

As far as humans contributing to greenhouse gases, does anyone ever add to this point the fact that volcanoes release 110 million tons of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere every year? Or that animals release greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere as well? How about the fact that humans are indigenous to the Earth and that our time spent here on this 4.5 billion year old rock is but a speck in the grand scheme of things? Ice Ages are a natural earth cycle as well as warmer periods. Dinosaurs as well as thousands of other species became extinct without any influence from humans in the Earth's history as well. Does anybody consider that the warming we're experiencing now is also a natural cycle that was going to happen no matter what technologies we have on Earth and no matter which species are currently roaming the surface?

Now, I believe in recycling, not burning your trash in the backyard, using those ineffective twisty bulbs (I hate them but I use them), and not leaving anything behind when you go hiking or to the beach and such. I also believe that we should be trying to change things that we can actually change: Prison reform, education reform, cleaning up our government (this one might be wishful thinking), keeping people from caging their children and microwaving babies, literacy, and finding ways to make it safe enough for our kids to play outside "until the street lights come on" again. As I'm always saying when it comes to my kids, "Pick your battles" or you'll end up constantly arguing and fighting about the same thing over and over again.

The Christmas Post

This is what it looked like Christmas day at our house:



This is what it looked like the day after Christmas at our house:


Other than a green Christmas in Vermont, we had a really good holiday this year. The girls seemed to be really happy with what they got and C and I were good to go too. Fun stuff.

Anyway, I've been reading Henry VIII: The King and His Court by Alison Weir for the past few weeks. If you have any interest at all in this time period, this is the book for you. Weir conducted so much research and goes into so much detail that you have the most complete and accurate picture of 16th century England possible. I'm about a third of the way through the book and am just now getting into the meat of Henry's machinations. The first part basically described every day court life, the pomp and circumstance of various ceremonies, his staff, and all of his belongings. It was a little tedious to read due to the great amounts of detail given but at the same time Weir painted a vivid picture of life at Henry's court. An interesting fact about Henry VIII is that he died in debt due to his lavish lifestyle and the salaries he paid to the legions he had working for him.

Besides reading, I've been playing the hell out of Guild Wars. I'm stuck on a mission and am borderline obsessed with getting past it. So, I'm gonna grab a bite to eat and set out to kill some minions.

Pardon Me While I Mommy Blog

Okay. So I didn't make it back last night. Sue me. I was exhausted and besides that, we had to go on the hunt for a specific kind of Cabot cheese. It was a busy night.

Anyway, the girls' parties went really well. S had a pizza party and her teacher bought her a going away gift. Then they sang Christmas carols and watched two Christmas movies.

M's class made a really neat poster for her that all of her classmates signed as well as all of her teachers. Some of her friends bought her gifts as well as some of her teachers. Then they had snacks that were brought in by some of the parents. I took some really great pictures of her with her friends that I'll post to the picture blog later.

Despite being tired and the other worries that we're dealing with, it was a really great day.

If I'm not back until after Christmas, I wish everyone a happy and safe holiday and the hope that you all get a bunch of good loot. ;)

ARRGGHH!!!

This is the first chance I've had to sit down today since I got up at 6 this morning and I only have about 20 minutes before I have to be on the go again.

I started out the day by hauling C's butt into work and then getting the girls ready and off to school. I hit the Shaw's at 9 to do my grocery shopping and pick up what we needed for Christmas dinner. (Ahhhh. Ham gravy.) Then I get to the check out and realize that I left my freaking check card at home on my desk where I had used it to make an online purchase. Geez!!!So they rang up my stuff and put my order on hold so that I could run home and get my card. I ran about 5 stop signs and drove about 20 miles over the speed limit the whole way. Good thing all the cops had the day off. Then I get back to the store and they go to ring me up at the customer service counter and their computer crashes. Then I had to wait and see if the charge went through or not so that they didn't double charge me. They finally got me checked out at a regular register and I left the store at 10:30. Yes. It took me 1 1/2 hours and a lot of feeling like an idiot to go grocery shopping.

So, then I get home and get all the groceries put away and then I had to cut up a crap-ton of fruit for a fruit salad that I'm making for M's going away party that her class is having for her today even though we no longer have any idea when she's "going away" anymore.

Now, I'm sitting here typing this up, having a bite to eat for lunch, and checking my e-mail before I have to go to the school. Oh, and S's class is having her going away party today too so I have to figure out a way to be in two places at once because they both want me to be there for both parties. I probably should have put more thought into whether or not I actually have time to sit here and eat for the first time today.

On top of all that, we have other stuff going on today that isn't public knowledge yet but that I still have to find the time to deal with as well. If my head hasn't exploded by the end of the day, I might be back later to update on how the rest of my day went.

Dinner Out

I can't believe that I forgot to mention our adventure at Applebee's last night.

Aside from someone dying or finding out that you have a terminal disease, C and I had the worst day in the history of the world yesterday. We thought that we'd cheer ourselves up with a dinner out so we loaded up the kids and headed to Applebee's. We arrived at about 6:30 and we were seated almost immediately. Not bad for that time of the night, right? We get all situated at our table and it takes the waitress about 15 minutes to take our order. When did we finally get our dinners? 7 freaking 30. After the day that we had had and the fact that we were all starving and the kids were restless, I was ready to chew glass. The waitress came out and apologized and said that she'd speak with the manager about the kitchen staff. A few minutes later she came out again and told us that 2 of our meals would be free (since they had brought the kids' meals out about 10 minutes before ours) and that she was terribly sorry and that it wasn't really her fault. (She was obviously trying to protect her tip.) Our meal for four ended up only costing about $17 and a lot of aggravation. So, we topped of the night with some frozen yummies from the store.

People are truly a pain in the ass.

Second Chances

There was a story about this topic yesterday on the Today Show so I thought I would post my own thoughts on the subject since it is something that I often contemplate.

How many second chances does a person deserve? It seems that when it comes to family they get an unlimited amount of second chances. Friends, on the other hand, could go either way. The general consensus also seems to agree that it depends on the offense as well. I have my own ideas, of course.

First off I'll say that almost everyone deserves one second chance. Child molesters, rapists, people along those lines, don't get a second chance in my book though. Lock 'em up and throw away the key. Friends deserve a chance to redeem themselves if they were ever friends at all. Family, however, is a whole other ball of wax in my opinion.

Most people think that if you don't forgive and move on that you're being hard-nosed and holding a grudge and this especially applies when it comes to family. As a result, most family members receive second, third, and fourth chances, sometimes even more. By doing so, aren't you just feeding into whatever that person is doing? Becoming an enabler I think the correct term is. And if the wrong is done to you by someone in your family, isn't that going against the definition of what family really is? What I mean is that if they were your family in the truest sense of the word, would they really have hurt you in the first place?

Let's look at the women who continually forgive an abusive husband. He beats the crud after her time and again and she believes it's the last time and he'll change. Forgive and forget. Then you have someone in your family that seems to betray and deceive you at every turn. But they're family and they didn't really mean it so you forgive and forget. In both of these instances, and aside from the emotionally abusive factor in the woman's case, in my opinion you're being a push over and somebody's carpet to be walked all over. You are allowing yourself to be taken advantage of.

Of course, I define "family" in a totally un-traditional way than most people do. Blood ties do not automatically make family. That makes you related. Family to me is proven by actions and words. I have friends that never forget my kids' birthdays but "family" that forgets S's birthday almost every year. I have friends that I would lend money to in a heartbeat because they've been there for us in the past and I know I can trust them. On the opposite side, I have family that I would never lend a dime to because I know they'd spend it on stupid crap and I'd never get it back. Those friends I consider a part of my actual family. My sister isn't related to me by blood but she couldn't be more a sister to me than if we had been twins in the womb together.

These are the people in my life that I give second chances to. Not so-called family that doesn't think twice about turning their backs on me. I think there is a fine line between being unfair and unforgiving and being spineless and not standing up for yourself. I also think this whole topic is all a matter of opinion and that there is not a definitive right or wrong answer. Furthermore, I think there are more carpets out there than people with spine. If you're going to be somebody's carpet, at least be a Persian.

The Boogeyman is Visiting

There is a Grumpy Grumperson boogeyman lurking in my house this morning. Grumpy is actually quite scary, let me tell you. It is covered in fur that sticks out as if electrocuted and it stomps around and growls menacingly. I'm trying my best to pretend that it's not here which isn't hard to do seeing as how it has retreated to the cave and slammed the cave door after it. Hopefully the cave door is stuck shut and I won't have to deal with it overly much today. Still, it is quite worrisome knowing that it is dwelling nearby. I wonder if an exterminator would know what to do about my dilemma.

Guess What I'm Doing

I'm, right this minute as I sit here typing, watching tv on my computer while I surf the net. No, no, no. I'm not watching television on a television set but I'm watching television on my computer with our tv tuner thingamajigger that we have for the computer. I know. This isn't new technology or anything but it's the first time we've used our tv tuner and it is so COOL! I'm such a nerd. I understand this and embrace it but technology is the best. I can also record shows just like Tivo or a DVR on my computer too which is really handy cuz you can record them onto DVD's.

Ok. So I'm done being dumb but I just had to share my excitement. Like I said earlier, I'm easily entertained these days.

Observations

I saw the funniest bumper sticker at the grocery store the other day. It read, "Don't steal. The government doesn't like competition." Lmao. Too funny, right? I'm easily entertained these days.

M had a substitute teacher yesterday that was so freaking young he looked like he just walked out of his high school. Where the heck do they find these people? This particular guy also happened to be the son of the elementary principle so I wonder how he landed that position. Another one of the school's sub's is the mother of one of S's friends. It's weird when one of your kid's friend's mom is teaching your child. That's one of the many quirks about living in a small town.

Another small town oddity is when the road you live on is known in the area as "Divorce Lane" because so many people living on it are divorced or getting a divorce. Not a huge selling point from a real estate angle. Then, you find out from another aquaintance that your road should also be known as "Alcoholic Lane" as well.

Oh. And I forgot to mention that I have new neighbors. The couple that lived right across from us (one of the reasons we live on "Divorce Lane" which I heard from my realtor of all people) finally sold their house after 7 or so months of trying. The good thing about it is that we're not going to live here long enough for them to be a nuisance to us. Heheh. You all know how I feel about neighbors: They're evil.

And why is it that kids work on one volume level? They talk in loud voices and only respond to being yelled at. Geez.

Hilarious

In light of our recent drama, I thought this story was hilarious because, if you didn't already know, recruiters are the epitome of straight as an arrow, human perfection. I wonder if the FBI has any other areas under surveillance. Hmmm....

FBI: Recruiters Caught in Drug Probe Sunday, December 17, 2006 3:46 PM
EST

The Associated Press

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — A dozen Army and Marine
recruiters who visited high schools were among the personnel caught in a major
FBI cocaine investigation, and some were allowed to keep working while under
suspicion,a newspaper reported Sunday.

None of the recruiters was accused of providing drugs to students.

The recruiters, who worked in the Tucson area, were targets of a federal sting called Operation Lively Green, which ran from 2001 to 2004 and was revealed last year. So far, 69 members of the military, prison guards, law enforcement employees and other public employees have been convicted of accepting bribes to help smuggle cocaine.

The Arizona Daily Star reviewed the investigation and court documents and found that the FBI allowed many recruiters to stay on the job even though they were targeted by the investigation. Some were still recruiting three years after they were
photographed running drugs in uniform (Sheesh!!), the newspaper said.

Most of the recruiters pleaded guilty and will be sentenced in March.Some honorably retired from the military. (Maybe we should look up "honorable" in our trusty
dictionary. If I'm remembering the definition correctly, this isn't honorable
behavior.)

The sting began after the FBI received tips that a former Army
National Guardsman was taking bribes to fix military aptitude tests for recruits,
FBI Special Agent Adam Radtke said. (::Shock and gasp!!:: This sorta thing never
happens on recruiting duty.)

Military officials say they kept the recruiters on the job because the FBI told them to leave the suspects alone to avoid jeopardizing the sting.The military said it also didn't know some recruiters were under investigation, the newspaper reported.

Military officials say the criminal acts by recruiters were rare out of the thousands of recruiters working across the country. "This was an isolated incident," said Marine Corps recruiting spokeswoman Janice Hagar. (Yeah, right. And I'm a flying monkey's uncle.)

A governing board member of the Tucson Unified School District, Judy Burns,
criticized the FBI for allowing the recruiters to stay on the job so long.

"It's ludicrous to me that the FBI would leave these people in place
and allow them onto our high school campuses," Burns said.

Special Agent Deb McCarley said the FBI generally performs risk assessments before deciding to keep suspects who work in public positions on the job during undercover investigations.

So, I have now provided my trusty readers with their morning entertainment. I shall now go forth and spread joy across the land.

P.S.

I went through this post three times and tried to fix the spacing. Each time I posted it, Blogger put it the way they wanted to so I'm done trying. Sorry that it's so f'd up.

Forgot to Mention

I knew there was something that I've been forgetting to mention for a few days now and it just came to me a little bit ago. Not a big deal but I thought everyone should know that I'm not sending out Christmas cards this year. It's nothing personal, I just don't have the time for it this year. I'll catch back up with it next year though.

Stupid Cat

So much for him going back to his righteous ways. He just proceeded to stink up my entire house by using a blanket in the toy room as his toilet. So, he's gone. I'm calling the animal shelter in the morning. I cannot take an animal that has bad habits and I can't, in good conscience, take an animal into somebody else's house that is not properly house broken. I have no idea what's gotten into him. He's been really good about using his litter box the past few days with no incidents. Sheesh. Just in time for Christmas too. I'm having a hard enough time getting into the spirit of the holidays as it is.

Speaking of which, our tree is something else. If Charlie Brown's Christmas tree had an obsessive eating disorder his tree would look like ours. The place where we get our tree is outside so it's hard to see the fullness and they hang them in tight rows from the ceiling so it's hard to get a good look at them until you get them home and in the stand. Our tree is interesting to say the least.

We attempted a trip to the mall yesterday afternoon. BIG mistake. People were parked in the overflow parking lot, in the grass, alongside the drive, and anywhere else you could fit a car. It was madness. So we drove on through the parking lot, out the other side, and to the Blockbuster to rent some movies. It was a much better choice.

That's our big exciting weekends. Oh, and one last thing...If it doesn't snow for Christmas...in Vermont...our last Christmas here I'm going to go ballistic. There isn't one bit of snow on the ground right now and it's Dec 17 for pete's sake. Wth is up with that??

10 Days to Go

We finished the rest of the Christmas shopping today and I wrapped and ribboned everything as well. We also broke down and bought a tree. We weren't going to with the move and stuff but I think it's impossible to get into the holiday spirit without a tree. At least it is for me. And it felt unfair to the kids. I'm 29 and haven't gone one year without a tree my whole life. Having everything done 10 whole days before Xmas is a personal record for me. I can't remember a Xmas Eve where I wasn't wrapping last minute presents.

And while we're on the subject, why in the world can't everyone just respect everybody else's holiday traditions and keep their mouths shut about it? Did you all hear about the SeaTac airport fiasco with the trees and the menorah? Geez. Gimme a break. I could care less if there were a Star of David and a menorah on every street corner or a Kwanzaa light thingy (sorry, I don't know what it's called) in every store front so long as nobody cares if I have Santa in my front window. When there are heinous, evil, sub-humans microwaving their babies and neglectful parents "sleeping" while their puppy gnaws off their baby's toes we have more important things to worry about than holiday decorations. People need to get priorities straight is all I'm saying.

And now I'm so freaking tired I can't think of anything else to rant about so I'm done for today.

Done!

Ok. Not completely done but almost done. Oh. I'm talking about my Christmas shopping. I have one or two things left to get, mostly stocking stuffers, and then I'll be alllll doooonnnee! Woohoo! Yes, we'll miss the last minute, Christmas Eve, crazy, mad shopping but I think we'll survive.

And the cat has gone back to his righteous ways of faithfully using his litter box. It's a good thing for him because I was giving him one more chance before he was going to find out how hard it is to survive a Vermont winter with no food or shelter, the little pooper. Now he's taken to sleeping in the dryer, in the tub, in the linen closet, and anywhere else that's soft, dark, and away from me. Oh well. He'll come around eventually.

I guess that's it. When you spend your entire day in the mall, it really doesn't leave you too much else to talk about.

Christmas Music Critic's Corner

In honor of the holiday season and also because I'm desperately trying to get into the holiday spirit and failing miserably, here's a list of my favorite holiday music and it's not in any order...

1. White Christmas performed by Bing Crosby
2. The Twelve Pains of Christmas by Bob Rivers
3. Santa Claus is Coming to Town performed by Bruce Springsteen
4. O Christmas Tree from A Charlie Brown Christmas
5. Baby, It's Cold Outside performed by Doris Day and Bing Crosby
6. You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch
7. Santa Baby performed by Marilyn Monroe
8. O Holy Night performed by Martina McBride
9. Carol of the Bells performed by the Trans Siberian Orchestra
10. Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer

And last but not least...
11. The Chanukah Song by Adam Sandler


I have a lot of others, mostly your very traditional songs but those are my top favorites.

As Seen

I took this pic last night. Bailey is going to be E.T. for Halloween next year. She looks excited about it, doesn't she?

I just took this picture a minute ago. The cat was trying to get away from me spraying Febreze around the house and got himself stuck in this chair. He's trying to play it cool, but he was really stuck, lmao.

Wonderful Morning

I just love days that start out with the kids fighting over cereal. You just know that the rest of the day is going to be aces.

I had the best night's sleep last night though. A solid 6 1/2 hours of uninterrupted sleep. Ahhh! I did have a really weird dream though but it didn't wake me up. The night before I got absolutely no sleep at all. C has a cold and he snored loud enough to wake up the dead on another continent. He's also been taking a nighttime cold medicine so it was impossible to wake him up enough so that he would turn over.

Anywho, I've been making some headway on our move. I haven't been mentioning that at all considering our recent circumstances, but despite all that, I have some really good leads on a few houses down south. One house is a block from the ocean so we're not too sure about that one. Hurricanes worry me, ya know? Plus it's a 40 minute commute to the base and that's pure drive time. That would be a big difference compared to the 10 minute drive to C's office now. All things to consider.

Lastly, I'm stealing this from someone else's blog:

6 Weird Things You Might Not Know About Me

1. I like to hum, whistle, or sing songs that I make up in my head. It’s a strange habit that drives C crazy.
2. Typos and grammatical errors make me nutso. I worry about making them myself to the point where it makes me a little OCD and I’m judgmental about other people that make them. How hard is it to hit spell check? Sometimes I really don’t care but that’s only about 2% of the time.
3. The pressures of gift-giving occasions push me over the edge. I can never remember birthdays and I never know what to get for people. If I do buy someone something, I never put it in the mail on time. I should have been a Jehovah’s Witness.
4. I like to make up weird names for people. For instance, I call C, C Lieberheister (I have no idea if this is spelled correctly because I don’t think it’s an actual name, lol) cuz his middle name is Lee. I call Bailey, Bailey Bailerson. Those are just two examples.
5. I’m fanatical about my crayons (Yes, I still have my own box of crayons. Shut up.) being arranged by color in the box. I get seriously pissed if they get out of order. I’m the same way with my DVD’s. They’re in alphabetical order on the shelf and they have to be perfectly aligned with the edge of the shelf.
6. I have a phobia about rushing water. I don’t really know how to explain it but the sounds and the look of water rushing over a dam or something like that literally makes my stomach drop. I also have frequent nightmares about being at the ocean and a sudden huge wave rushing up and pulling me into the ocean. What’s even weirder is that being at the ocean doesn’t bother me in the least except at night. I know, it’s weird and I’m strange.

I think all this list did was to prove that I’m obsessive compulsive and teetering on the edge of sanity.

Boring Weekend

We did absolutely nothing of interest over the weekend. Saturday we sat around bored all day and Sunday we went to the grocery store. Fun, fun. Actually, we started having cat issues over the weekend. My cat is great. He's not one of those cat cats who's too good to be around people and only wants to be petted when he wants to be petted. He actually likes people and affection. He's also hilarious when he chases the dog. He was the perfect cat up until a few days ago. He's stopped using his litter box for some reason. I have no idea what to do since I've never seen a cat do this before. Thankfully, he's neutered so at least he's not spraying and peeing everywhere but it still stinks and it has to stop. We can't move into someone else's house with an animal who's not house broken. I need advice!! What do I do to make him use his litter box again?

Also, the strangest thing happened this morning. On the way home from taking C to work I heard on the radio that the girls' school was on a 2 hour delay this morning. You're probably thinking, "You're in Vermont. What's so strange about that?" What's so strange is that if I hadn't heard the delay on the radio I never would have guessed it. The roads are wet but they're not slick or snow covered at all. We had 5 inches of snow last week and no delay at all and the roads were a mess. And the girls' school is usually the last one in the tri-county area to delay or cancel school. They usually hold out until the last possible minute to issue a delay. It's just too bad that I didn't turn the tv on this morning or the girls could've slept in, lol.

So, that's that and I'm off to slay some demons. Till next time...

The Performance

I'm back from the band deal. M did such a great job. What really surprised me is that she wasn't nervous in the least. I was nervous as all get out, lol. The band instructor drew names to see who would do solo's but M didn't get picked. I did, however, take some video from when each section had a solo and posted that to the picture blog as well as to my Myspace page, both of which can only be viewed by "friends" so if you want to see, hit the email link here on the blog and let me know. I also posted a picture of her on the picture blog too. Can you tell I'm a proud mom, lol?

So, that's it for today.

No Time

I actually had a really good post planned for today but it turns out I didn't have time for it so maybe on Monday. You would think that I would have had plenty of time to type up my topic since I've been up since 4am but you'd be wrong. I've been busy with stuff that I'll mention later and I have to go to the oldest child's band performance today. I have to leave 30 minutes early just to make sure I don't have to park on the road, lol. The school's parking lot just isn't big enough. We had about 5 inches of snow dumped on us last night so I really don't want to do off road parking. I worry about getting stuck even with 4 wheel drive.

Anyway, if it's not too dark in the Cafegymatorium, I'm going to take pictures that I'll post up later on the picture blog. Till then....

Music Critic's Corner

It's been a while since I've visited this topic. Listening to tons of radio lately has given me plenty of material though.

First off, I think I'm the only person who hates Hinder's song, Lips of an Angel. I've hated that song from the first time I heard it and hearing it played 100 times a day hasn't helped. It's such a cookie cutter song and it seems as if they're trying to take off of the 80's hair band era.

Secondly, Justin Timberlake, Nelly Furtado, and Fergie get way too much play. There are other artists out there that have made music recently. Try playing some of those songs. The same goes with Nickleback's Far Away. OMG!! If I have to listen to that song one more time I'll poke out my own eardrums. And wtf ever happened to Nickleback?? They used to have loud, angry songs and now it's fluffy Top 40 crap. They did the same thing Aerosmith did going from Walk This Way and Back in the Saddle to Jaded for sweet crap's sake only instead of it taking them 40 years it took them 5. Sheesh!

Songs that I do currently like are: Beyonce's Irreplaceable. It's getting played a lot too so I give it about another week or so before I hate that one as well. I like it because it's mean, lol. I also like Hellogoodbye's song, Here (In Your Arms). It's a bubblegum song but it makes me feel good. I'm also big on Chingy's Dem Jeans and Ludacris' Money Maker. Both of those songs are meant to be played loud enough to rattle your windows and I do. I also really like John Mayer's
Waiting on the World to Change. It's very soulful and reminds me of an older song that I can't figure out for the life of me what it is. I'm also really into Frank Sinatra.


I've also discovered Radio Disney on the XM. I find the station highly irritating but it's great for the kids. It's so freaking cheerful. Give me some angry Godsmack. Anyway, I've never been one of those parents who turns on the Kids Bop or cartoony music in the car for the kids. A.) Because my kids know how to entertain themselves in the car and 2.) They listen to an edited version of what I listen to because when I'm in the car, if there isn't something good on the radio I'd rather tuck and roll. The girls get to listen to Radio Disney in the house though. They really like it too.

Additionally in my XM exploration, I've become a bigger fan of classical music and jazz. I've been listening to those stations a lot to add variety into the music that gets played into the ground on the other stations. As much grief as XM has given me in the past, I don't know if I would ever be able to go back to listening to traditional radio. There aren't enough choices and too many commercials. On the XM, you can also set it up to let you know when artists you like have a song playing which is totally nifty.

To recap:

Good:

Chingy - Dem Jeans
Ludacris - Money Maker (It's also my current ringtone, heheh)
Beyonce - Irreplaceable (For the next week or so)
John Mayer - Waiting on the World to Change
Frank Sinatra - Anything he's ever recorded
Radio Disney
Loud and angry.

Bad:

Hinder - Lips of an Angel
Justin Timberlake
Nelly Furtado
Fergie
Nickleback - Far Away.
Bubblegum lovey, dovey, sell-out crap.

And this concludes Music Critic's Corner.

The Mother of All Headaches

I experienced the worst headache of my life yesterday, hence why there was no blog entry. I went to bed with the tiny, nagging, beginnings of a headache the night before and figured that I would sleep it off. Boy, was I wrong. I managed to get C and the kids off for their days and then I came home and went back to bed until 1:30 when I had to get up and take my shower. I never stay in bed like that even when I have the flu. I was finally able to get some Excedrin Migraine into me about 4:30 and felt semi-normal about an hour later. Shaky, but functioning.

I talked to my sister-in-law for the first time in about 5 years Monday night. Yeah, we've spoken in that time but we haven't really talked. Know what I mean? She was going through some things and I pulled back from her which I fessed up to last night. It was one of the most brutally honest conversations I've ever had with anyone which consequently made it one of the best conversations I've ever had. I know speaking honestly is a recurring theme on here, but I don't think people do it often enough. Not even me. It's a human trait that I wish could change but don't think it ever will.

Anyway, I'm still not thinking clearly this morning so that's it for today.

Christmas Shopping

I actually started my shopping this weekend. This might sound late to some of you but I'm normally one of those desperately searching for presents on Xmas Eve type shopper so this is really early for me. We decided to get up early and go to Manchester, NH yesterday because New Hampshire doesn't have a sales tax. Plus, we just like going to Manchester because it's an actual city with actual people and places to shop. We hit our usual restaurant while there too, Bertucci's. They have, quite possibly, the best pizza and pasta. It's really weird cuz I just did a restaurant locater for them and they're all over New England with one single restaurant in North Carolina of all places. How strange is that?

Anyway, we also hit up the Cinnabon for some take home buns and they were so sickening sweet we were all sick afterwards from eating them. That isn't stopping me from craving one for breakfast though, lol. That was the first time the girls had Cinnabon and the first time for C and me in about 5 or 6 years.

As for the weather, we didn't get hardly any snow at all. They had originally fore-casted "moderate" snow for us and then that big storm went north and all we got was rain and the loudest thunderstorm we've had all year. That was Friday night. Saturday and Sunday night we got a dusting of snow and our temps are only in the 20's now. Brrrr!!!!

Oh! And I almost forgot to include some pictures that I took along the road in New Hampshire. This is the first exit off of I-93. We find this absolutely hilarious every time we drive past it. You'll need to click on the pictures so that you can read the road sign and the sign on the building. And please keep in mind, this is a road side rest stop, heheh.

I Forgot One

Vermonters say "wicked" to describe everything. Not meaning that everything is evil but it basically means very or extremely. "It's wicked cold outside" or "You did a wicked good job today".

Vermont-isms

Anyone who has moved around a bit knows that different parts of the country have different customs if you will. For instance, in Ohio, Pepsi or Coke is referred to as "pop" whereas in California it's called "soda" or even "Coke". Which I've always found weird. A conversation with certain people in Cali could go something like this:

"Would you like a Coke?"
"Sure."
"We have Mt. Dew, Sprite, and Pepsi. Which would you like?"

It's strange. Vermont has some weird ones too, let me tell you. They have something called a Creamee, Creamy, or Creamie, depending on where you buy one. This is also known as soft-serve ice cream. When we first got here and someone asked if I liked them, I thought they were referring to Krispy Kreme, lol.

In Vermont, when someone says they're "going to camp" they don't mean the deal that you do in the fourth or fifth grade where you go off to cabins and sing songs. This means: going camping as in a tent, camper, or RV. I was confused about this one for the entire first summer we were here.

They also have a winter tradition of snow with maple syrup and dill pickles. I have no idea why and as it sounds gross to me I've never tried it out.

C also told me of another Vermont-ism last night that I've never heard but seeing as how he's talked to about 90% of the state's population in the last 3 years, he's heard it all. Anyway, they like to say, "...I weren't..." about stuff. In case you're clueless here, that's never proper grammar. It should be I'm not, or I won't, or I wasn't. He said it's impossible to correct them too. They just don't understand it.

Something else I find funny is that as soon as the temps get above 50 degrees you'll see all kinds of people going around in shorts and t-shirts. My threshold for being cold has risen a lot since living here but 50 degrees is still jeans and sweater weather in my book. However, around 65 I can stand wearing something like capris and short-sleeved shirt like yesterday. In Cali, if it got below 70 degrees I was hauling out my jeans and sweatshirts hoping I'd survive the "cold".

Oh, and if you're not from here, you're considered a "low-lander". I was called a low-lander during our first spring when I was talking to the guy that mowed our lawn about the bears that lived on our road. He thought it was funny that I thought that was so neat and called me a "low-lander". Interesting considering I moved here from Cali and that's by no means a "flat" state, lol.

And another one is that they think you're weird if you prefer bottled water. I, personally, can't stand the tap water at our house. It tastes dirty to me. People here can't understand why we installed an under-the-sink water filter. Oh well.

They also have an un-official state car which is the Subaru because they all come standard with 4 wheel drive. You can also travel to anywhere in the state on snowmobile trails. They have snowmobile crossing signs on the road for just this purpose. Billboards and neon signs are against the law. If you're buying anything alcoholic everyone you're with has to show I.D. even if they're not buying or drinking it.

That's all I can think of right now but that's quite a lot anyway.