I was in a ripper of a mood yesterday. And the day before come to think of it. Today's not much better. I was trying to figure out why I was/am so irritable. The littlest things are setting me off and I have a pretty strong urge to break something...or someone. Then I realized the date. It's July 20th. One year ago today we said goodbye to Hannah.
At the time, I couldn't blog about it. I didn't want to talk to anyone about it and I still don't want to talk to anyone about it. I had a really hard time sorting through my feelings and mourning my girl. On the one hand, I couldn't help but feel that I was overreacting. She was, after all, a dog. Some people will say, "just a dog". But if you know me and if you know my husband and daughters, you know that our pets are very much a part of our family. We talk to them like they're people, they sleep in our beds, and they eat Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner with us too. Not at the table, but they get their own plate. Hannah wasn't just a dog.
Making the decision to end her pain and sickness was the hardest decision I've ever had to make. My head knew it was the right thing to do but my heart ached. It was a really terrible time. The Mister and I were with her until the end which was also incredibly hard. But we didn't want her to be alone. I cried so hard that I made the vet cry too. I'm crying right now remembering it all.
We made a collage of pictures of Hannah and Bailey to hang on our wall. The vet also made an imprint of her paw in plaster for us too. Both her regular vet and the specialty vet we had to take her to sent us sympathy cards and donated money to a charity for pets (I can't remember which one right now). It's all a comfort to me and my family but I miss her all the time.
She was the goofiest, happiest, and most endearing dog I've ever been around. She was also one of the most loving animals I've ever met too. Her passing left a whole in our home and in our hearts. A year later, it's still hard to think about and both the Mister and I have a hard time talking about her. I guess my way of dealing with it is being angry at everything. I miss my Hannah. She was a fantastic dog and she loved her family and was loved by her family.
Friday, July 20, 2012
Thursday, July 19, 2012
The Value of Entertainment
Whatever happened to the idea of entertainment for entertainment's sake? Was such a thing ever really real? I'm pretty much sick and tired of the entertainment industry using music, television, and movies to push their political agendas, ideals, and opinions down my throat.
Just saying.
And maybe certain people should stop and think about something...When they are dogging another group of people for being uptight and judgmental, aren't they doing the exact same thing in return?? But because these certain people have fame and fortune, they get away with it when the other group just gets to be called old fashioned, greedy, and out of touch. Get a clue.
Just saying.
And maybe certain people should stop and think about something...When they are dogging another group of people for being uptight and judgmental, aren't they doing the exact same thing in return?? But because these certain people have fame and fortune, they get away with it when the other group just gets to be called old fashioned, greedy, and out of touch. Get a clue.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
An Argument Older Than Time
:::WARNING! This blog post contains adult content, themes, and language. Do not read it if you're a minor or easily offended. Consider yourself warned.:::
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
I've been bouncing this topic around in my head for a good month now. At least. I don't know why I hesitate to put my thoughts into words. I enjoy a good argument. I enjoy instigating arguments. I'm generally an argumentative person. Unfortunately, arguments don't happen on my blog. I'm beginning to question the future of my blogging but that's not the point of this at all. But I think more it's that the subject is a bit difficult to write about to a general audience and it can be construed as TMI.
50 Shades of Grey. Know it? Heard of it? Read it? Loathe it?
I first heard of the 50 Shades trilogy on the Today Show (which I no longer watch since they ditched Ann Curry, THANK YOU VERY MUCH! Idiots.) They had a bunch of so-called "house wives" and other "every day" women talking about reading these books. How hot they were. How steamy. How much reading them improved their sex lives. How much their husbands loved them reading the books. Blah blah blah. Still, I was intrigued and downloaded them all to my Nook.
My First Impressions - I'll admit that I read all three straight through in about two days. They were superficially compelling.
To put it briefly, these novels are about a somewhat naive college girl who meets a man who is into S&M and the romance that ensues. Supposedly, and according to the women interviewed on the Today Show, the relationship that plays out in the trilogy is one that all women fantasize about. Hmm. Maybe some women fantasize about a more...adventurous love life, but I don't think that necessarily equates to all women dreaming of being in a relationship where they are dominated by a man who can only relate to a woman when he ties her up for sex. But I can only speak for myself.
After my initial impressions of the books settled into a more distanced perspective, I had a hard time getting past the plethora of typos and grammatical errors. Didn't the author have an editor? I also thought the author's repeated descriptive words were trite and well...repetitive. Very reminiscent of Stephenie Meyer's novels. I'm surprised Mr. Grey didn't sparkle. ;)
In the end, if women used these books as inspiration to spice up their love lives, then more power to them. But what I really think is that for some odd reason, the 50 Shades books brought erotica for women to the mainstream and made it okay for women to read these types of books and admit it out loud. It's an extreme double standard in our society that pornography geared towards men is ubiquitous and even expected and accepted but when a woman picks up a novel in the same vein as 50 Shades, she has to read it in the dark and hide it under her mattress. Which brings me to point #2...
I saw a comment on Facebook recently where someone said that if there had been a movie made about strippers that men got all excited about that they'd be perverts but when a movie like Magic Mike comes out, it's okay for women to want to see it. Hello!!! How many movies have been produced for men having to do with strippers, hookers, gratuitous sex, etc. etc.?? Do women have an equivalent to Hooters or The Tilted Kilt?? How many strip clubs geared specifically to women exist compared to strip clubs for men? And I'm willing to bet that if women had a restaurant called Buns or Banana Hammock and we said that we like to go there for the wings (ha ha), very few of our husbands or boyfriends would eat there with us. We can be expected to eat a meal while some 19 year old coed flaunts her perky boobs in the faces of our men, but I doubt very seriously if men would have a meal with their women while looking at the washboard abs of a well-endowed 19 year old man. Am I wrong?
To conclude...The double standard irritates me. The success and popularity of 50 Shades irritates me. Going by quality of the writing alone, it's like shouting out that women read books without really reading them. It also irritates me that everyone constantly says, "Read them. Your husband will thank you." Psh. Lastly, someone really needs to open up a restaurant where I can ogle some guy's six-pack while I eat my dinner. ;)
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
I've been bouncing this topic around in my head for a good month now. At least. I don't know why I hesitate to put my thoughts into words. I enjoy a good argument. I enjoy instigating arguments. I'm generally an argumentative person. Unfortunately, arguments don't happen on my blog. I'm beginning to question the future of my blogging but that's not the point of this at all. But I think more it's that the subject is a bit difficult to write about to a general audience and it can be construed as TMI.
50 Shades of Grey. Know it? Heard of it? Read it? Loathe it?
I first heard of the 50 Shades trilogy on the Today Show (which I no longer watch since they ditched Ann Curry, THANK YOU VERY MUCH! Idiots.) They had a bunch of so-called "house wives" and other "every day" women talking about reading these books. How hot they were. How steamy. How much reading them improved their sex lives. How much their husbands loved them reading the books. Blah blah blah. Still, I was intrigued and downloaded them all to my Nook.
My First Impressions - I'll admit that I read all three straight through in about two days. They were superficially compelling.
To put it briefly, these novels are about a somewhat naive college girl who meets a man who is into S&M and the romance that ensues. Supposedly, and according to the women interviewed on the Today Show, the relationship that plays out in the trilogy is one that all women fantasize about. Hmm. Maybe some women fantasize about a more...adventurous love life, but I don't think that necessarily equates to all women dreaming of being in a relationship where they are dominated by a man who can only relate to a woman when he ties her up for sex. But I can only speak for myself.
After my initial impressions of the books settled into a more distanced perspective, I had a hard time getting past the plethora of typos and grammatical errors. Didn't the author have an editor? I also thought the author's repeated descriptive words were trite and well...repetitive. Very reminiscent of Stephenie Meyer's novels. I'm surprised Mr. Grey didn't sparkle. ;)
In the end, if women used these books as inspiration to spice up their love lives, then more power to them. But what I really think is that for some odd reason, the 50 Shades books brought erotica for women to the mainstream and made it okay for women to read these types of books and admit it out loud. It's an extreme double standard in our society that pornography geared towards men is ubiquitous and even expected and accepted but when a woman picks up a novel in the same vein as 50 Shades, she has to read it in the dark and hide it under her mattress. Which brings me to point #2...
I saw a comment on Facebook recently where someone said that if there had been a movie made about strippers that men got all excited about that they'd be perverts but when a movie like Magic Mike comes out, it's okay for women to want to see it. Hello!!! How many movies have been produced for men having to do with strippers, hookers, gratuitous sex, etc. etc.?? Do women have an equivalent to Hooters or The Tilted Kilt?? How many strip clubs geared specifically to women exist compared to strip clubs for men? And I'm willing to bet that if women had a restaurant called Buns or Banana Hammock and we said that we like to go there for the wings (ha ha), very few of our husbands or boyfriends would eat there with us. We can be expected to eat a meal while some 19 year old coed flaunts her perky boobs in the faces of our men, but I doubt very seriously if men would have a meal with their women while looking at the washboard abs of a well-endowed 19 year old man. Am I wrong?
To conclude...The double standard irritates me. The success and popularity of 50 Shades irritates me. Going by quality of the writing alone, it's like shouting out that women read books without really reading them. It also irritates me that everyone constantly says, "Read them. Your husband will thank you." Psh. Lastly, someone really needs to open up a restaurant where I can ogle some guy's six-pack while I eat my dinner. ;)
Friday, July 06, 2012
July 6, 2012: Five Question Friday
Before we get started...
Today is the Oldest Child's 16th birthday. It's really hard for me to wrap my head around that, lol. Where does the time go? She's grown into a truly beautiful young woman. My birthday wish for her is that she follows through with her dreams and doesn't let fear, uncertainty, or jerkwads stop her.
1. Is love at 1st sight possible?
No. Lust at first sight is but not love. Can you trust and respect someone without actually knowing them? Not really. Love, trust, and respect all go hand in hand.
2. How did you choose your pet's name?
We got Bailey's name from a Boxer Dog name website, lol. We're that creative.
We named Hannah after Muhammad Ali's daughter because he was a boxer.
Our cat has gone through many names. He started out being Sophie when we were told he was a girl. We named him/her that just because we liked the name. Then when we found out she was a he, we changed it to Shelly which is short for Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory because of the episode where he had all the cats. Then we were watching old episodes of Psych and someone on that show had a cat they named Chairman Meow. The Mister thought that was so freaking hilarious that we decided that'd be the cat's official name. But to his friends and family, he's Dear Kit-ten or Kit-ten for short. That's because people used to call Chairman Mao Dear Chairman.
Our rabbit's name is Rex because that's his breed. Yeah. Like I said, we're real creative, lol.
3. What are you considering giving up (cable, home phone)?
We stopped having a land line back in 2002 or so. We have four cell phone lines. What in the world do we need with a land line??? It'd be superfluous and a waste of money. Not once in all these years have I said, "I miss our land line." I also totally do not get why people with cell phones keep their land lines unless it's for business reasons and not even really then. I think land lines are dinosaurs and unnecessary. As for cable, I've been tempted to get rid of it for about three or four years now. What holds me back is that the majority of shows that I watch are on HBO and Showtime. I can think of three shows that I watch on CBS, ABC, NBC, or FOX. Everything else I watch on a regular basis is on cable channels. Some things I can watch online and that's great. But shows on HBO and Showtime, I'd have to wait for them to come out on DVD. I hate being behind on my shows. It'd be really hard to have to wait for my favorites to come out on DVD. And bottom line, until we get a better Internet provider with faster and more reliable service, getting rid of our cable isn't an option.
4. How much do you pay your babysitter?
I've never paid a babysitter that I can remember. I've always swapped babysitting with friends and neighbors. Now my kids are both old enough to babysit other kids so it's a non-issue.
5. How "young" is old enough to babysit?
It really depends on the maturity of the person. Sometimes, I think a 12 year old would be old enough to babysit but in general, I would say 13 or 14. I think the Red Cross certifies babysitters as young 11 or 12 though. Probably 12.
Today is the Oldest Child's 16th birthday. It's really hard for me to wrap my head around that, lol. Where does the time go? She's grown into a truly beautiful young woman. My birthday wish for her is that she follows through with her dreams and doesn't let fear, uncertainty, or jerkwads stop her.
1. Is love at 1st sight possible?
No. Lust at first sight is but not love. Can you trust and respect someone without actually knowing them? Not really. Love, trust, and respect all go hand in hand.
2. How did you choose your pet's name?
We got Bailey's name from a Boxer Dog name website, lol. We're that creative.
We named Hannah after Muhammad Ali's daughter because he was a boxer.
Our cat has gone through many names. He started out being Sophie when we were told he was a girl. We named him/her that just because we liked the name. Then when we found out she was a he, we changed it to Shelly which is short for Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory because of the episode where he had all the cats. Then we were watching old episodes of Psych and someone on that show had a cat they named Chairman Meow. The Mister thought that was so freaking hilarious that we decided that'd be the cat's official name. But to his friends and family, he's Dear Kit-ten or Kit-ten for short. That's because people used to call Chairman Mao Dear Chairman.
Our rabbit's name is Rex because that's his breed. Yeah. Like I said, we're real creative, lol.
3. What are you considering giving up (cable, home phone)?
We stopped having a land line back in 2002 or so. We have four cell phone lines. What in the world do we need with a land line??? It'd be superfluous and a waste of money. Not once in all these years have I said, "I miss our land line." I also totally do not get why people with cell phones keep their land lines unless it's for business reasons and not even really then. I think land lines are dinosaurs and unnecessary. As for cable, I've been tempted to get rid of it for about three or four years now. What holds me back is that the majority of shows that I watch are on HBO and Showtime. I can think of three shows that I watch on CBS, ABC, NBC, or FOX. Everything else I watch on a regular basis is on cable channels. Some things I can watch online and that's great. But shows on HBO and Showtime, I'd have to wait for them to come out on DVD. I hate being behind on my shows. It'd be really hard to have to wait for my favorites to come out on DVD. And bottom line, until we get a better Internet provider with faster and more reliable service, getting rid of our cable isn't an option.
4. How much do you pay your babysitter?
I've never paid a babysitter that I can remember. I've always swapped babysitting with friends and neighbors. Now my kids are both old enough to babysit other kids so it's a non-issue.
5. How "young" is old enough to babysit?
It really depends on the maturity of the person. Sometimes, I think a 12 year old would be old enough to babysit but in general, I would say 13 or 14. I think the Red Cross certifies babysitters as young 11 or 12 though. Probably 12.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)