So Much for Monday

I have been so freaking busy I can't figure out what to do first. We're only about half way done unpacking. Why does that take so much longer than packing? We're swimming in packing paper and empty boxes. Our trash and recycling day was Monday and we missed it this week, lol.

So, our stuff arrived in a timely manner and it didn't end up in storage which is all good. The MC decided to finally pay us our travel pay something like 5 days after we had already arrived in N.C. Gotta love the efficiency. Our washer and dryer (which are totally awesome and I love, love, love them) arrived a day late. We've put together 3 desks in two days. The first week of my classes is over and I haven't been able to turn in any of my assignments on time. I was a bit unrealistic in my expectations of being able to get my work done while moving. It was hard to anticipate not being able to find a hotspot once we got here. Our cell phones don't get very good reception in our house. I think it might have something to do with it being brick, and Verizon won't let us out of our contracts. I've been trying to decide if I want to live with having bad reception or pay for a land line.

The house is still great. We have more rooms than furniture, lol. The only negatives are that the kitchen and the bathrooms are tiny. I have so much bathroom and kitchen stuff and nowhere to put it all. I've thrown away so much just to make room.

We met our new landlord yesterday. He seems to be pretty cool. We told him about a couple things in the house that needed repaired and he called his guy while we were there in the office and made arrangements for the repairs to be made. Also, while we were in downtown New Bern, we stopped by the birthplace of Pepsi. I had no idea Pepsi originated in New Bern. We looked around the shop and bought a magnet and then walked back to our car, lol. New Bern seems to be a pretty nice town. We actually live in a smaller community right outside the city limits. Anyway, the girls started school today. Everyone there seems to be so nice and the other kids were really excited to meet the girls. Their first day seemed to go off without a hitch. Both of them made new friends already which is all good.

I know this sounds crazy, but people here are too polite. I think I got used to the aloofness that was the norm in New England and in Cali, it was every man, woman, and child for yourself. And I can't believe we've been here for 5 whole days and I still haven't been out to the beach. NO TIME!!!

I have so much more to say but I have a TON of homework I need to catch up on, so I'm off. I'll try to start updating more regularly from now on.

We're Here!!

We made it safe and sound. I'm at the New Bern library trying to get some school work done but their computer won't let me. The cable company will be hooking us up on Monday though.

The new house is great. It's in an awesome neighborhood and aside from an outdated kitchen, it's really nice. Bailey loves the backyard. AND...It's 65 degrees here and we're walking around without our coats. Woohoo! It is F L A T here. That's weird. Oh. And I'm glad we got our house in New Bern because Havelock is a hole. The base is pretty big compared to what we're used to though. Miramar is a postage stamp comparitively.

And I have some schmoe looking at what I'm typing so I'm gonna go. Be back Monday.

Quick Minute

I'm writing this from the Maryland welcome center right outside of Baltimore so I only have a second. I just wanted to let everyone know that things are going smoothly and we couldn't be happier to be out of Vermont and on the way to N.C. The high at our old house today was -2. That alone is enough reason to want to be out of that state. It's only 31 here in Maryland but who cares?

So far, we've seen NYC again, driven past Yale University, Rutgers, Princeton, Newark airport which was freaky cuz the approach path takes the planes right over the interstate. Anyway, we're getting ready to head into Washington D.C. and then it'll probably be dark after that.

But I gotta go pee before everyone else is ready to head out. I don't know when I'll be back on to write next but it'll be from North Carolina. Woohoo!!

Laters.

Packing Day!!

The movers should be here any minute now. I've been up since 6am trying to get last minute things done before they get here. I'm being hampered by dizzy spells though. I woke up feeling like I had gone on a bender last night and even though I was tempted, I haven't had a drink in forever. It's probably just stress. I also get forgetful when I get busy like this. This morning in the shower, I forgot to condition my hair. I don't think that I've not conditioned my hair since I was 5 years old. By the time I realized that I had forgotten I was already dressed and it was too late. Now I'm not only the Queen of Blogginshire but I'm also the Queen of frizz. Fun, fun.

My classes start today as well. Finding time to get my work done is going to be a definite challenge. Oh. And the weather decided to be a butt as well and it's snowing right now. Sheesh. Luckily, all the work that will be done today is all inside work so the snow shouldn't be too much of a problem. Tomorrow we have a forecasted high of 10 degrees so that should be fun for the movers, heheh.

I think I hear them in the driveway. LET THE CRAZINESS BEGIN!!

Today's Shite

Today was a vast improvement on yesterday. We found out through the course of having to fund our own move to N.C. versus having the military pay for it because they couldn't find their own butts if their lives depended on it, that the price we were asking for C Bug is 1/7 of what it's actually worth. SO! We're not selling it anymore and we're going to transport it south so's that we can make a tidy profit off of it.

Secondly, since we were smart enough to rely on ourselves rather than the idiotic military to actually do their jobs, our move is going ahead as planned. As a matter of fact, the movers will be here bright and early in the morning to begin packing and we'll head out either Thursday night or Friday morning. We haven't decided yet.

Thirdly, my poor dog is finally starting to come out of her depression. She was actually in the mood to play for the first time since Saturday. We'll see how long that lasts since we're going to be moving her.

Lastly, I'm so freaking excited to move I can barely hold myself together. The sooner we get out of this state and C gets checked out of this joke of a command and we can put all of this shite behind us the better. Oh. And the woman that's interested in renting the house is REALLY interested and turned down another house to look at ours over the weekend. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed but it sounds really promising.

So, I think that's it for today. I'm completely exhausted but it's all worth it since it's for the move and my classes start tomorrow and I want to get a head start on the reading. Woohoo!

Huh? What?

I didn't post earlier today because my dog isn't feeling well. That's a lie. Not the part about my dog not feeling well though. She seems to go into a depression when we get rid of one of our pets. She moped for a couple days when we got rid of the cat and now she's moping again since the rabbit went bye bye yesterday. She also split on of her toe nails down to the quick. Her nails do that a lot even though the vet says they look fine. Whatever.

Anyway, the real reason I haven't posted before now is because I'm pissed. Big surprise, right? Well, I am so far beyond pissed that pissed is the light from a freaking star that just reached the Earth. Or however that would go. WHATEVER! Pissed don't even begin to describe the depth of my anger. My rage! MY FURY!!!!

I actually typed up a page long post earlier this morning right after the news arrived that pissed me off but I have it saved as a draft while I think on whether or not it would be wise to post it for the public to read. Also, it's so scathing some of you might be scarred for life just from clicking on my Blog. I wouldn't want to injure innocent bystanders. So I'm going to take some time to consider whether or not I really want to post my post.

Good news though!! We have interest in our house. I talked with the rental mgt people today and she said that she's been fielding calls and talked to a woman today that sounded real promising. Keeping my fingers crossed. Oh. And we found someone that's willing to clean our basement out for us for a nominal fee. Could we do it ourselves? Sure. But we don't want to. We really don't want to. It's mostly boxes and packing material from when we moved to Vermont but still. I have about a gazillion loads of laundry to do and I have to start packing our bags and like I said, I just don't want to.

That's it for today. I'm going to go to bed and hope that certain people's privates shrivel up and fall off. Ahhh. Sweet dreams for me.

Sunday Edition

I don't really have much to post on today. I'm basically killing time until we have to leave to take Chloe to St. Albans.

Yesterday we sorted through our bedroom closet trash dividing stuff up into "office trash", "shredded trash", and "regular trash" so that the majority of it can be recycled instead of just thrown away. I have learned that I'm a pack rat. I keep old computer stuff (among other things) on the off chance that I'll need it again. Something I never consider is that most computer stuff is outdated in a month. Case in point: The girls' computer needed speakers and I thought, "Hey! We have two extra sets of computer speakers. I'll dig them out of my closet." I get them out and they're at least 3 years old and didn't have the right type of male plug so unless we get our hands on a really old computer, the speakers are worthless. They don't even make adapters for this type of connector. So, I've been toting these dumb things around for who knows how long and they're basically trash. Lesson learned. I also like to keep my old copies of National Geographic magazine. ::sigh::

I'm listening to my neighbors ride their sleds for the first time this year. Sleds are also known as snow mobiles for those of you who don't do cold weather sports. It's been such a weird winter that nobody has been able to ride yet this year. You need at least 6 inches of packed snow before they open up the trails.

Well, I gotta gather up Chloe's things so that we can go.

Current Events

I'm beginning to wonder if I should cut back on my Podcasts, Blog reading, and useless Internet surfing to make more room for watching the news. I had to find out from my dad yesterday, who lives in Ohio, that Vermont was once again in the national headlines. I had no idea. And it's not for a positive reason either. Vermont's judicial system has once more seen fit to allow a sex offender off with little to no punishment. In the three years that we've lived here, this would be the third time this has happened that I'm aware of. What does a person have to do to actually warrant jail time in this state? Pretty soon, Vermont's going to become known as a safe haven for sex offenders and they'll start relocating to the state. Not that I have to worry overmuch since I'm headed out to warmer climes but hell. Does Vermont really need to be such a liberal state that sex offenders get to run around free??? How much sympathy does a rapist and/or child molester really deserve??Open your eyes, people!

And on other topics...

I made arrangements yesterday to take Chloe back to her previous owner. She's almost five now and I didn't think it was right to make her live in a crate for 3 days while we relocate to N.C. I'd worry that she wouldn't make it. So I figured the right thing to do was to give her back. Anyone who's met her knows she's a special rabbit. She has an attitude to match mine. We're really going to miss her.

I also spent 3 hours on the phone yesterday making various arrangements for our move. There is so much to do even when you have hired movers. I’ve been arranging to have things shut off or discontinued at our current residence and scheduling new service at the new house. It’s weird, but the city of New Bern makes you fill out an application for electric and water service. C was like, what happens if you get denied? Good question.

The topic of second chances came up again last night. I can’t go into details as this isn’t my story to tell, but I think we should all take a long, hard look at who we give second chances to and whether or not they truly deserve it.

Random Stuff

I forgot to mention how my kitchen caught on fire the other day. It was crazy. C and I were both sitting at the computer which is right next to the kitchen. I was making some lunch and C looks up from what he was doing at the comp and says, "The kitchen's on fire." Then he proceeds to finish typing whatever he was typing. What a nerd, right? I look over and see the flames and go for the fire extinguisher. No damage or anything beside ash being all over the house which was a pain to clean up. Oh. And a lost pan, spatula, drip pan and burner. Just goes to show how people react differently to certain situations.


After reading about Henry VIII and Jack the Ripper I needed to relax with some fluff chick lit. I hate that term by the way but what can ya do. I'm reading Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series. I like to read in bed and these books make me laugh so hard that I often wake C up, lol. These books have very little depth to them but they're entertaining nonetheless. And I need some mindless reading to offset all the moving stuff and I have to take it in while I can since my classes start in a week. Speaking of which, my books should be here today. I know this makes me a total nerd, but I love getting my text books in the mail, lol. And according to my UPS tracking number, they should be here any time now.

WindChilly

It's so very cold here. Right now, it's -4 with a windchill of -22. Yes, that's right. And it's warmed up a few degrees since I woke up this morning. Nice, huh? As a result of the temps, today will be a day of phone calls and little household fixes that I've been putting off. I have to go out to pick the kids up from school, but other than that, I have no plans on going out into this arctic weather.

So, I was bored the other day. The blogs that I read regularly haven't been updating very much as of late so I decided to try the "next blog" button and see if I could find something new. Big mistake. I came across this blog that had photographs of naked people. Not just adults either. This freaked me out and I was one second away from hitting the "report this blog" button until I realized that I'm just a naive American. These weren't nasty porno photos but pictures from somebody's vacation and they were at a nude beach. My very American sensibilities say that even though this might be acceptable in your country that it still might not be appropriate to post nude pictures of your children where any pedophile could find them. Suffice it to say, I won't be blog-surfing again any time soon.

Good News. Finally!!

We found a house today. Yay! And for about $200 less than the max we wanted to pay for rent so it was a good deal too. It's about a mile from the school, close to shopping, and not that far from base but far enough. I'm so excited. It's one big, major thing on my "to do" list that I get to cross off. I also talked to the rental management company about our current house and they're hopeful that they'll have it rented by the 1st of Feb which would be awesome for us. Things are finally starting to fall into place. It's a nice change. We also got our bedroom closet cleaned out and have more boxes of stuff to take to the Salvation Army. We're pretty close to hitting our max weight for household goods so we need to get rid of some stuff. We're also considering getting rid of our monstrosity of a sofa. I'd like to drag it out to the backyard and set fire to the dumb thing but I don't figure my neighbors would like that too much. We also decided to leave our washer and dryer for our renters and buy new ones on the other end. I can't wait!! I've had my eye on those new super capacity washer and dryers for some time now. It's just been a day full of positiveness. It's been awesome.

Well, I still have some straightening to do in my closet before I call it a day so that's it for now.

When the Internet Sucks

I had a really nifty post all typed up and ready to go yesterday except that I was trying to add a picture. IE froze up and crashed on me and I lost the whole thing. Talk about being irritated. So what did I have to say that was nifty?

Well, I finished the Jack the Ripper book yesterday. It was compelling. Cornwell's theories and the proof she backs them with are enough to make you believe she finally figured out who the real killer was. Considering that I haven't read anybody else's arguments on the subject, my opinion would be very one-sided. Some, mostly Londoners, claim that Cornwell became obsessed with the Ripper and that her accusations are way off base. When you take into account that the funds used to conduct the research and perform DNA testing all came from her pocket and that she also purchased several works of art as well as documents, it's easy to believe that maybe she lost some of her objectivity. Then again, when you take into account that Londoners opinions are biased as well who's to say either way. At any rate, Cornwell's novel, whether you believe her or not, was first class. It was hard to put down at times and I lost many night's sleep reading it. I'd completely recommend it to anyone interested in true crime novels, Jack the Ripper, Patricia Cornwell, or if you're just looking for something different to read.

Another topic I discussed was how I almost popped on to post on Saturday night. Why, you ask, when I hardly ever post on the weekends? Well, January 13th just happens to be the anniversary of when I graduated high school. It also happens to be my uncle's birthday, lol. But I thought that I should mention it. A lot has happened and changed in the last twelve years. Do you still think of that day every year, J?

Also, the funniest thing happened this morning and I'm not allowed to tell!! It's killing me too, btw. It involves C and he's the one that made me promise not to tell anyone but my sister, lol. Let me just say that I laughed so hard I could hardly breathe and I almost puked and every time I think of it I start laughing again. It was hilarious.

Our weather didn't hold out like I'd hoped. We got several inches of snow and a covering of ice on top of that. We're supposed to get several more inches of snow by tomorrow morning but I think they might be wrong about that. Only time will tell. Luckily, the kids had today off of school so I didn't have to drive anywhere. I probably wouldn't have had to anyway since there were 50-some school cancellations for those who did have school across the state today.

Yesterday's lost post was way niftier, but this is what you get for today.

::Ring:: Hello?

C and I were having a discussion yesterday about people and phones regarding usage and other issues. Our cell phones have timers on them that allow you to track the length of your calls, incoming and outgoing, as well as your lifetime usage. We've had these phones for just about 12 months exactly now. These are my stats and keep in mind that I've never reset any of the timers so this has been for the life of the phone (about 12 months) up to this morning:

Total Received: 230 hr: 30 min
Total Dialed: 75 hr: 47 min
Total lifetime Calls: 306 hr: 13 min

That's a lot of freaking talking. Also you should also keep in mind that my phone is basically our house phone so I'm not the only one that uses it. However, I will admit that probably 85-90% of the calls are mine. One website that I checked out while trying to find an average usage said that the average cell phone usage by 18-24 year olds is about 1300 min/month and the average usage of 25 - 36 year olds is about 970 min/month. I average about 1531 min/month. GEEZ!! That explains why I had $300 and $400 cell phone bills. This is actually embarrassing, lmao.

Additionally, this is proof that when people say I never call them, they're right. I receive way more calls than I make. Maybe I should've made some of those people pay my overages, lol. And while we're on the subject, just because it may have been a week or more since I've called doesn't mean it was deliberate. Not everything is about you. If your phone hasn't rang, I do believe that means you have a phone with which to make calls. It works both ways.

And furthermore here are some guidelines for phone usage etiquette:

1.) If you call someone and they answer, "Hello?" don't answer back with "Hello" and then wait for another response. Ummm. You called!! Say who you are and what you want, not "Hello".
2.) If you call someone after 11pm you're scaring that person unless you know they routinely receive calls at all hours of the day and night. Calls after 11 usually mean someone is dead, dying, or sick in the hospital and you need to request emergency leave.
3.) Don't always call to bitch about your problems. Every once in a while, shake things up with something positive.
4.) Unless you need a DD, don't call people drunk. Well, unless you're 21 years old and it's still considered funny. 25+ you're just being dumb. I don't enjoy having to interpret what you're saying over the phone while you're inconsiderately eating up my cell minutes. And I don't care if you call after 9 or on the weekends. I don't freaking like it!!
5.) If you're a business, bill collector, or telephone solicitor, don't bother using one of those automated deals that tells a person to hold on the phone while they wait for a real person. 99.9% of people (this is my own estimate) will immediately hang up.
6.) Call waiting is freaking annoying and borderline rude. Yeah, I sometimes use it but only when it's unavoidable and I hurry up as fast as I can. Again, I'm sitting on the other end while my cell minutes float away. Usually I just tell the original person I'll call them back. Which leads us to:
7.) If you say you're going to call someone back, DO SO!! And calling 1 day, 2 days, or a week later doesn't count. You're just rude and self-absorbed. Yeah, we've all done it but some people do it habitually.
8.) If you choose to keep your number blocked, don't get pissy when your call is ignored. I don't answer "unavailable" or "blocked" calls.

I think that's it. And one last thing, I'm cancelling my Hotmail and my Yahoo E-mail accounts in an effort to streamline a little. I don't think it's necessary to have 4 E-mail accounts, lol. Besides, all that my Yahoo and Hotmail accounts are used for is Junk Mail which I never get to see anyway. For the few of you that do use one of these accounts, I've sent you an E-mail letting you know the deal.

BRRRRRR!!!!

I just got back from taking the kids to school. It's 4!!! degrees outside and MAN!! does it feel it. N.C. weather can't come soon enough. But, I can't really complain. Up until this week, it's felt more like fall than winter.

I'm about 2/3 of the way done with the Jack the Ripper book. I was a bit disappointed that Cornwell gave away who she theorized as being the killer right in the very beginning. I sort of thought that it was going to more like she was going to tell you all her theories and leave you guessing up till the end who she figures as being the actual Jack the Ripper. All that aside, it's turning out to be great book. Cornwell is very convincing in the evidence that she presents to back her theories to the point where you figure that after 119 years, you finally know who the real Ripper is.

So, our movers are coming today to take an inventory of our house. The kids' rooms are a wreck but other than that, it should all be good. It's just all kinds of great. I'm so entirely happy to be moving that there aren't words to properly express it. They could be moving us to the Siberian Desert and I wouldn't care so long as it's away from here.

Now, it's off for a bite to eat. Breakfast is, after all, the most important meal of the day.

Hmmm...

I just learned from another blog that I read that this week is International Blog Delurking Week. Which means, come out of hiding and leave comments. Some of you were one week early but have been pardoned by order of the queen and are exempt from leaving any more comments...please, lmao.

On to other things...

We finally have an unofficial move date. No, I'm not telling yet cuz it's not official but we're still extremely excited to have an end in sight. I just hope the weather holds out. When we moved here, it was so freaking cold that the moving trucks were unable to start and our stuff was stuck in storage for two weeks. This time, we have our nifty SUV and a car top carrier which I plan on stuffing full of household incidentals just in case we have to live without our belongings for any length of time. Although, this would be an excellent excuse to have to buy new pots and pans and towels, heheh.

My weird rabbit is licking her blanket right now. She can be so strange. She also likes to attack the vacuum cleaner when I'm trying to clean.

OH! OH! OH! I almost forgot that I just finished registering for my spring semester. Woot woot! I'm excited to be getting back to the books. I actually miss it believe it or not. I'm taking some sort of research type class that's required by my school, a computer class, and an English class that's required for my major. The computer class isn't your typical computer class. It's about the history, psychology, physiology, and engineering of computers and how they affect humans. Weird, but it's required. My English class I'm really looking forward to. It's the Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. I know. I must be crazy to be looking forward to it, but I think it'll be interesting. After all, English is my major so it only makes sense that I like the classes, right?

More Pictures

Just an FYI to let you know I posted a couple more pictures from our trip on the picture blog.

Our Trip

We just got home, last night, from our trip to New York. It was the most exciting two days ever. Our very first NYC experience was getting yelled at by a toll booth operator on a bridge. It was great. Anyway, we stayed out on Long Island and Sunday night we decided to check out Jones Beach since it was a little too late to go into the city. It's been about 5 years since I've seen the Atlantic Ocean and it was just as gorgeous as ever. Jones Beach was pretty cool too. They have a really great board walk and several historical buildings so there's plenty to see and do there.

Then, Monday, we drove into the city. Just getting there was thrilling. We took the Queens/Midtown tunnel into the city. When you first get to the tunnel, you're still a little outside looking at the skyline and stuff. When you emerge out of the tunnel, you're THERE. Right in the midst of midtown Manhattan. It was so awesome! We wanted to walk around so we found a parking garage at freaking $23/hour!! if you can believe that and walked around for a bit. We were very pressed for time so we didn't get to see a whole lot but it didn't matter. Just being there was enough. Walking in the midst of humanity on the streets of New York was freaking exhilarating. We had the kids with us, of course, and they were just as awestruck. S wasn't intimidated at all and was, in fact, pulling me around by the hand at times. We got yelled at again by this lady trying to cross the street. I yelled right back waving my arms and all. I could totally live in New York.

I'm not going to run down a list of the things that we saw but I will mention the very first landmark we walked by, The Empire State Building. When you're right next to it on the street, it's so tall that you can't even see the tower on top. Oh, and you get vertigo when you look up, lol. We went into 4 out of the 5 boroughs, Harlem being the only one we didn't go to. We accidentally ended up in Brooklyn but besides the $4.50 toll to get there it turned out to be pretty cool since we got to see the Brooklyn Bridge up close and personal.

Something that I found interesting about the city but isn't something you always hear about is how traffic laws may as well not exist. Nobody pays attention to them at all. It's illegal to turn right on red and I saw a lady almost get hit by a car doing that exact thing. There's also a $350 fine for honking but that doesn't stop a single soul from doing it, lol. Oh, and pedestrians pay absolutely no attention to the crossing signals which in turn provokes people into blowing their horns, heheh. To pull out a Friends nerd moment, when that lady almost got hit I was reminded of the episode where Joanna dies, lmao. Anywho...

It was such a high being there. I didn't come down the whole time we were there. It was great and an experience that I will never forget. We plan on stopping through again on our way to North Carolina when we'll have more time to see more stuff.

Lastly, we bought a GPS gadget for the sole purpose of this trip and it paid for itself in those two days. We drove there and back and around the city without a map and besides the little side trip into Brooklyn, which wasn't the unit's fault, it functioned perfectly and we got around like pros. Totally and completely worth the money and a lot of fun besides. As C would say, we're gadget whores, lmao.

Ok. So the pictures below...The first one is the very first glimpse of the city that we got driving out to Long Island. The second one is Jones Beach. The third one is the Flat Iron building. How cool, right? And the last one is, of course, the Empire State Building.

If...

If you had only one day to spend in New York City and you had never been before, what would be a "must do" itinerary for you?

My Last Post

…On the subject. Is this a democracy? No. It’s a blog, which by definition makes it impossible for it to be a democracy. Is this a land where a god rules? No. As I’m not sure on my beliefs in god, it would be impossible for me to pretend that I am one. Is this a monarchy? Damn straight people! This is my freaking kingdom and I will do and say as I please. Do I have to allow people to attack me? Nope. Do I have to allow people to voice their inane opinions? Nope. Do I have to address anyone besides my own self? Nope. Do I care if anyone likes my kingdom? Nope. I don’t force any one of you to click that button, link, open that e-mail, or whatever means it is that brings you to my blog. I don’t cater to anybody. I’ve said that before. If you don’t have an understanding of what a blog is, look it up. There’s a very nice definition on Wikipedia’s website.

From this point on, I will not allow any comments that attack or threaten me in any way. If you have a valid point, and since this is my kingdom, I get to decide what’s valid and what isn’t, I’ll allow your comment to be posted. Am I going to continue to even acknowledge comments from idiots? After all of this, if I did, I’d hope someone would have the good sense to have me committed. But, please feel free to waste your time and keep trying. Some of you obviously have a lot of spare time on your hands. Additionally, continue to remain behind your cowardly cloak of anonymity. You have my permission. It only serves to make your words small and ineffective.

Do I care whether or not you’re bored? Nope. It’s not my job to entertain anybody except for my husband, my kids, and my dog. Do I care if you think that I actually care or not? Nope. Why should I? You’re going to believe what you want to believe. If anyone out there is actually deluding themselves into believing that any sort of relationship and/or acquaintance that is based solely on your time “spent” with someone on the Internet, then I’ll just sit back and enjoy the show. Unless you’ve met me face to face and spent quality time with me, you couldn’t possibly in this universe have any inkling of who I am or what I’m about and this is the last time I will address that as well.

I will admit to one mistake in all this: Giving psychopathic, bored, small-minded housewives more attention than they deserve. Why’d I rise to the bait? Because I couldn’t resist a good fight. Why am I stopping? Because this isn’t what my kingdom is all about and I don’t want it to disintegrate into a sniping, bored, military wives message board which is what almost happened. I hope you all enjoyed a good laugh at my expense as I did at yours.

One last thing that some of us here, myself included, should consider is why the stereotypes about military wives came to be in the first place and why they’re all freaking true.

I hope you all enjoyed the commercial break. Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming.

The Year in Review

In lieu of celebrating New Years and having New Years resolutions (I think I’ve made myself pretty clear on how I feel about all of that), I decided to take a look back at 2006 listing the good things and the bad things or things that I regret.

Good Things:

1. My kids are having a good year in school.
2. None of us had any serious illnesses.
3. Nobody close to me died.
4. I completed another semester in college.
5. We paid off two of our vehicles.
6. We finished the hardwood floor in the dining room.
7. Not selling our house. We’d be homeless right now if we had.
8. We’ve had an extremely mild winter so far.


Bad Things/Regrets:

1. I had to take a break from school instead of being able to finish up my Associates.
2. Allowing myself to become so stressed that it’s affected my health.
3. Coming to the realization that recruiting duty beat us after all.
4. Losing my respect for the military and coming to hate my husband’s job.
5. Being harassed/stalked by people in my husband’s command. (Edited to add that the comments prove my point.)
6. Having to keep my mouth shut these past couple of months.
7. Harboring as much hate and loathing for as many people as I do.
8. Having the kids go to Ohio for the summer.
9. Not speaking my mind more often.


Hmm. Almost all the things in the second list have happened since October. I guess if you take that into account, my year wasn’t all that bad.

Scenario

Let's say you're working at this job where they're paying you $20/hour to do 4 different tasks. It's enough to pay your bills, buy groceries, and still have some left over at the end of the month. One day your boss comes up to you and says that they no longer need you to do 4 tasks but just 3 instead with a $5 pay cut. You agree to this, do some financial juggling, and manage to squeak by at the end of the month. Then, a couple months later the company realizes that they still need you to do all 4 tasks so your boss informs you that they need you to do your old job but are still only going to be paying you $15/hour. How do you react to this?

Do you do the job with no complaints even though this extra task adds financial strain without the additional $5/hour? Do you tell your boss that you'd be more than happy to do all 4 tasks but need your full pay or you can't do it? Do you just quit and find another job? Or do you do something else entirely?

Title This

It's been a couple days, right? Well, embarrassingly enough, I've been crocheting nonstop for the last few days and have nothing to show for it. I'm attempting to make a poncho and after I had gotten almost halfway done, I realized I had done it completely wrong and had to start over. Now I'm about 1/4 of the way done and it's going really well. Reading those darn patterns is like trying to learn a foreign language. Anywho...

Did I ever mention that I have a new neighbor? They seem nice enough but we haven't been over to welcome them to the neighborhood. They actually do that kind of thing here. Since we're moving, I actually don't have any plans on introducing myself. The woman looks like someone I could be friends with and I don't want to make friends with someone when we're supposedly going to be moving here pretty soon. They probably think we're bitches for keeping to ourselves. Oh well.

I finished my Henry VIII book. It was fascinating to say the least. I'm already on the hunt for more books on that period. Weir has written another book on just his wives as well as his children and a book specifically about Elizabeth I that I want to read. In the interim I'm getting ready to start Patricia Cornwell's Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper - Case Closed. I've already read tons of her fictional books and can't wait to get started on this one. It's gotten rave reviews and promises to be a good read.

And is there anything more irritating than getting back into your routine after a vacation?? I am so tired in the mornings after not having to get up for almost two weeks. 6:30 is sooo early in the morning, lol.

New Hobby

I've decided to try out crocheting. I know. Am I 80 years old or something? But you're way off here. M, my 10 year old, has been crocheting chains like a champion for about a year now since her grandmother taught her how. Seeing as how grandma lives 15 hours away, it was hard for her to continue on with the lessons and show M the next step. Up until yesterday, I had never attempted to crochet in my entire life but figured the easiest way for me to teach M how to do it was to learn how myself. So we hit the craft store for a how to book, yarn, and more hooks. After reading and re-reading the book and searching out two really great websites, I finally figured it out and M and I crocheted until about 11 o'clock last night, lol. Now this morning both of our hands are sore and my fingers are swollen but once we got started neither one of us wanted to stop. You all should try it out. It's fun and relaxing and you make things that are useful.

As for today, we have no plans except to enjoy the last day of vacation in peace and quiet. C will probably be spending most of his time on the comp playing a new baseball game that he got. He had to negotiate in order to buy this game too which is a funny thing. In exchange for his game I made him promise to be in a good mood until at least Wednesday and to also clean the kitchen today. So far, so good. M wants to crochet some more so I gotta run. Keep your fingers crossed that my hands and fingers hold out.