THE MOTHER Attends a Graduation Party

I was sitting and enjoying the visit with K.'s family when I looked up and The Mother was coming into the living room. I honestly think the only reason they showed up was to see if I would be there. We said hi to each other--just as if we were acquaintances who happen to be invited to the same parties every few months. She, of course, made a big deal of fawning over my grandchildren--let everyone know how Marcus is shy with people he doesn't know. This said right after I brought him to her because he stared to cry with me. She made it clear that the kids know her much better than they know me. I don't quite remember what she said, but the message came through loud and clear. The trouble is, she doesn't ever think she does anything wrong--she REALLY doesn't see how destructive and hurtful her actions are. This is the kind of person you can't reason with--so it IS better for me to stay away from her. I only got a small glance of The Father as he walked through the kitchen.

The only real enjoyment I got was the realization that I would be raked over the coals for many days after seeing her. This was the first time she saw my tattoo since I got it--totally blew her mind, I'm sure. Of course, she is just too polite to say anything to me--at least in front of other people--but I KNOW it was a hot topic of conversation that night and will be for a long time to come. :)

Of Moose and Wolves

I know I have mentioned, in at least one post, the amount of wildlife we get to see in and around our house. Now that isn't such an incredible thing except for the fact that we live in the middle of a small city. Well, the wildlife is (are?) on the loose again! A couple of weeks ago we had a wolf about two miles from our house and the other day a moose was wandering a block from us. The police officer who saw the wolf watched it leave the area, but no one actually saw the moose leave town. I am assuming it has gone, but one never knows. I feel so sorry for the moose as it was just a baby and it probably misses its mother very much.

Of course, I never get to see any of this exciting stuff until it is shown on the local news or is in the newspaper. That is, until today. Now, it isn't QUITE as exciting as seeing it in my own backyard, but today I saw my first moose in the wild! It was grazing peacefully on the side of the road and I wouldn't have even noticed it (it was dusk and the moose blended in with the surroundings very well) but several cars had pulled over so the occupants could watch. This was an absolutely thrilling event for me! I guess that shows how exciting my life is. :) Moose are magnificent animals--very impressive.

About Shopping and a Bald Cat

We got back from our shopping expedition quite early yesterday--before 8:00 PM. I guess it shouldn't be such a surprise--after all, we left the house before 6:00 AM. The shopping went fast--we knew what we needed so there was no unnecessary meandering. I must say, though, doing that much in one day just wears me out--my feet and legs were just throbbing last night. I got to sleep earlier than usual, so it wasn't all that bad.

Now I don't know what I was thinking, but I decided to clean the upstairs room today. As if my legs weren't tired enough from yesterday, I have been up and down the stairs all evening. The cat has decided that the room is hers, so it is quite a job to keep it clean. If I don't get up there at least once a week, then it is a major bit of work to try and get it in shape. The allergist said I am only allergic to dust mites, but with all the fur I breathe in when I clean that room, I think I'm developing an allergy to cat dander! I swear, the amount of fur I vacuumed up would be enough to make three good sized cats. She should be completely bald by now!

It looks as if we will have a quiet Memorial Day weekend--which is quite all right with me. Other than the graduation party on Sunday, we have no other plans. Sunday will be busy, so I will be happy to just rest on Monday.

TP and Other Boring Stuff

There was a time when I actually could figure out just how much TP I would have to buy when I went shopping. Then when A. moved out, I had to reevaluate the situation and determined I would need much less than before. Everything was going quite well until the manufacturers decided they needed to Super-Size! Now it is a guessing game as to how much I need to purchase at a time. Charmin now comes in no fewer than 4 different size rolls. Do we really need rolls of TP so large that a holder extender has to come with each package? How much toilet paper do people use in one day? Unbelievable.

As you can tell, I really don't have much going on that is interesting. Tomorrow we will be going out of town to do some shopping. We will only be gone for the day, and that is fine with me.

On Sunday we will be going to K.'s great-nephew's graduation party. We only got one other graduation invitation this year and I don't think any more will be coming. An inexpensive year for us, thank goodness. Hopefully K. won't decide we have to stop and see The Parents while we are up there--I don't really need to see them any time soon. At least we WILL be able to see C. and the kids for a short time.

To Those Who Write Comments...

I will be handling the answering of comments differently from now on. If you leave a comment, I will post an answer right after, instead of answering on your blog. This will make it easier to follow a thread, I think. Does any of this make any sense? Thank you to Dragon Child and cantellya for commenting on my posts. It is nice that SOMEONE actually reads my drivel! :)

Crawlie Thingees

I can tell this is going to be a WONDERFUL summer. (Can you just feel the sarcasm?) This past week I have found more crawlie thingees: there was a tent caterpillar in the basement--never had one there before--and I found a red ant crawling on the bed. Yippee! I can't wait to see what I find next.

Anyway, I hope you all have a great weekend. I think we will be doing some gardening. :)

Staying Up Late and Scaring Small Children

Any of my friends and family know that I am a night owl--I would do very well working the night shift. This is why people don't hesitate to call me in the late evening/early morning hours. So with that in mind, I don't know why my heart skips a beat every time the phone rings late at night, as it did the other night shortly after midnight. My first thought was panic. Then I saw on the caller id that it was C., so I got even more concerned. And the fact that she was calling from her cellphone made me think she was on her way here because she was in premature labor. (How in the world can one think that many thoughts in the space of 5 seconds!?) As it turned out, she was driving through the next state on her way to pick up her husband. G. drives an 18-wheeler and had a 36 hour lay-over and she went to get him so he could spend some time with her and the kids. (He has been gone for over a week and won't be back until this coming weekend.) She called me because she was bored and knew I was the only person she could call who would actually be up at that time. I've always said, one way or another, my kids would shorten my life.

Some people wish they could go back and spend their high school years over again. Or they want to have their college years back. Or the early marriage years were the best times of their life. I don't yearn for the past--I am quite content to be in the here and now. There are only two things I would like from way back when. The first is: I want my old body back! I want the pre-pregnancy, pre-hysterectomy, pre-gravity wrecked, pre-OLD body back! And to think I felt I was too heavy when I was in high school. What a fool I was. The other thing I want is my former ability to wake up and leave the house in less than 15 minutes. These days it takes me at least an hour to get ready to leave the house--and this is just doing enough to myself so that I won't scare small children, not so that I will look great! Oh, the toll time has taken on me.

Not Truly Obsessive-Compulsive

At the risk of being accused of using generalities and stereotyping, I must ask: Why is it impossible for men to put things away? Granted, I only have my husband to point to when I ask this question, but I know the same thing goes on in other homes.

I don't understand why my hubby cannot put things (Doritos, chips, etc.) away in the pantry where they belong. What he does instead is leave whatever snack food he is finished with on the bench in the breakfast nook. Now this might not be cause for being annoyed except for the fact that he only has to take ONE more step to put the food where it belongs! And he cannot understand why this irritates me. After all, he's not finished with the snack--he'll be eating more tomorrow.

Another thing he physically is unable to do is put his bathrobe back in his closet. His robe has been on the floor next to our bed for so long that it is light blue--instead of navy--because of all the dust that has settled on it. This, I understand, might be harder for him to put away because he actually would have to open a door to get into the closet--very difficult.

Most of the time his inability to put things away only causes me to be annoyed. However, his inability to put his tools away DOES cost us money. At the moment his toolbox has one set of sockets in it. The man has more tools than you can shake a stick at and he cannot find a screwdriver when he needs one--because they are not where they belong. The first thing he does when he needs a tool is he heads for MY toolbox and uses what he can find. Of course, he doesn't put it back when he's done, so now MY tools are MIA, also. The biggest problem, though, is when even I don't have what he is looking for. This gives him an excuse to go out and buy whatever he can't find in the house. This in turn has brought us to the situation we are now in--we have a hammer for every room of the house, more screwdrivers in more sizes than anyone ever imagined they made, and enough socket sets that we could've left a set in every vehicle we have ever owned. All of this is moot, though, as I can only find one socket set, three screwdrivers and one hammer (brand new) at the moment.

Okay, okay, I can hear you screaming, "If it bothers you so much, put it away yourself!" Tried that. And for my effort I got blamed for putting things where they cannot be found. And I even get blamed for things I never touch--I'm just a good scapegoat when he can't remember where he left something!

So, to try and keep my house in some semblance of order, I clean and organize what I can get away with and leave the rest. And because I haven't had a breakdown, yet, I know I am not truly obsessive-compulsive.

Retainers, Bugs, and Rob Thomas

I don't really know why I haven't written for the last two weeks--maybe a bit of laziness, maybe the fact that I can't keep the days straight! Anyway, I mentioned in my short post of yesterday that K. has been working almost non-stop for the past several weeks, so it is hard to remember what day it is.

On 28 April I got my braces off. Yeah!!!! And then, I also was given my retainers. Boo!!!! After being without braces/with retainers, I now know why people won't wear the retainers. It isn't that there is any pain involved, it's just a royal pain in the kazoo! Of course, you can't eat with retainers, and I won't drink anything but water while wearing them. (Probably my being anal, but I worry about the acid from coffee/soda getting under the retainers and rotting my teeth.) Then, after eating, I won't put the damn things back in my mouth until I've brushed. I guess I will have worn the enamel right off the teeth by the time I'm told to only wear them at night. (Hint, hint: I eat WAAAAYYYY too much.)

Mother's Day came and went like any other day. K. worked the night shift, so we didn't even go out to eat. However, he did get me a card and a small box of fudge and 4 lottery tickets. Three of the four tickets were winners--I got $60! That will ALMOST pay for Photoshop Elements. C. called and wished me a good day--the first time in a LONG time that either of the girls have acknowledged me on a special day. I appreciated her calling. I never have expected a gift or any big fuss from the girls (not that I would turn anything down!), but I would like to be acknowledged as the woman who gave birth to them. A card would be nice--a phone call is fine--even an email would be acceptable (and it is free)--but too many times I get nothing. I don't understand it, they weren't raised that way. Even when The Mother and I have been estranged, I have always remembered her birthday and Mother's Day. ENOUGH WHINING!

We are experiencing our typical weather--one day so hot that I can't remove enough clothing to keep myself cool and the next day so cold that I'm bundled up in socks, long pants, and a sweater. We might even be getting some snow during the next few days. I guess we will be doing the planting a bit later than usual.

In one of my earlier posts I mentioned the spider problem we have in this house. There still are quite a few of them--and I kill every one I see--but I now have been having a much creepier problem--I have been seeing centipedes in the basement. Not only do those things have WAY too many legs, and are WAY too long to be considered bugs, but they are VERY fast. If I don't get to them fast enough, they crawl under something and hide from me. This is not something I can live with. I know beyond any reason that if I let any bug live after I have seen it, the next thing I know is it will be on my face as I sleep. And getting to the things isn't the last of the problems: they are next to impossible to kill! I have hit a centipede five times before the thing would die! That just is not right. I swear they are part cockroach--they also are hard to kill. I guess I would have to live in a very large operating-room environment to not have to deal with all the creepy-crawlies I can't stand. And I know that wouldn't even work: they would find a way to get to me.

What I've been listening to: Something To Be by Rob Thomas. Great!

I'm Still Here!

Just wanted to post this and will write more (hopefully) tomorrow: I'M FINE! Thank you for worrying, cantellya! Anyway, it has been a bit crazy here--nothing in particular, just slightly off of normal. K. has been working almost all of his days off--nice money, but he does need some rest, too. I can't remember what day it is, most of the time! So, I will catch everyone up with my life in the next few days. Have a good one.

Cows With Guns

Saw this for the first time quite a while ago and it still makes me laugh every time I see it. Enjoy Cows With Guns.

What I'm Reading, Watching, and Listening To

For the last week or so, I've been reading State of Fear by Michael Crichton. I'm enjoying it quite a bit--but, then, I enjoy all of his books.

The last movie I watched was Miracle. It's the story of the 1980 US Olympic hockey team and their miracle win. A great story done very well.

The last couple of weeks I've been listening to King of the Electric Blues (Muddy Waters) and Howlin' Wolf/Moanin' in the Moonlight (Howlin' Wolf.) Great blues.

Hope you have a great weekend.

Ch-ch-ch-changes

Yes, this is still my blog. Thought I would try a different look for awhile. Can't get too comfortable with the same old, same old. Hope you enjoy.

Hopelessly Romantic?

I re-read yesterday's post and had to chuckle to myself. I really got a sense that I might be a hopeless romantic from what I wrote. WRONG!! I could be described as a cynical, sarcastic, cold, hard-hearted bitch, but NEVER as hopelessly romantic. :)

Quite cold today--I'm just happy I didn't have to go out. But never fear, warmer weather is coming.

Cantellya asked me if I was having a "braces removal" celebration--actually, I hadn't even thought about it. I am thrilled to think I will be able to brush and floss in less than 20 minutes that I don't know how much more celebrating I could take! Actually, we might go out of town on a shopping trip, so I will see if I can celebrate by buying myself something!

A Little Bit of Me

Cantellya asked for the answers to the following questions:

1. Where did you grow up?
I was born and raised in the north central part of the U.S.

2. What is your favorite daydream?
One of my favorite daydreams: A musician would fall passionately in love with me. When he realizes he can’t have me, he writes a song about his love and it becomes a rock classic; e.g., Layla.

3. What are you wearing right now?
I can usually be found in a pair of yoga pants and t-shirt.

4. What is your favorite food?
If one could see me, it would be obvious this question is a bit absurd. I DEFINITELY don’t have any ONE favorite food. However, my biggest indulgence is carbohydrates. I am a carb addict.

5. Cat or dog?
I have a cat who is 12-years-old. A cat is much easier for us to have when we go out of town on a regular basis.

6. If you could go back in time to elementary school, is there someone you'd have been nicer to?
Yes—a girl named Mary. I wish her health, happiness, and a much more wonderful life than she had growing up.

7. Name one of your favorite memories....
When K. asked me to marry him.

8. Do you have a favorite pair of pajamas?
No favorite pair of pj’s, but I have a flannel robe I absolutely love.

9. If you could have any job, what would it be?
I would love to help “computer illiterate” people learn to use a computer—and learn to love computers as much as I do.

10. If you could have lunch with one person, who would it be?
I couldn’t choose just one person.

First, I would like to have lunch with God so I could ask Him, “Why”?

Albert Einstein: I would ask him to explain the theory of relativity—and, as a bonus, maybe he could help me understand chaos theory.

Any gossip columnist: I would ask for ALL of the dirt on EVERYONE.

Eric Clapton: I would ask him if he would be so kind as to sing one song for me—ANY song.

What Are Noogies?

On Monday, we had a record high temperature of 79 degrees. Today it is so cold that I'm freezing my noogies off. (Don't know what noogies might be, but if I have them they are freezing!) :) The forecast is even calling for snow over the weekend--which I told everyone would happen. The beginning of April is WAY too early for us to have the last snowfall of the season.

I have been thinking about what television character I would like as a friend and I finally came up with my first one: Lorelei Gilmore from the Gilmore Girls. She is the type of person you could have as a best friend and do all the best friend stuff with: have pajama parties, watch chick flicks, eat ice cream to help with depression, and tell your deepest, darkest secrets to. The character is quirky, smart, funny, compassionate and has just as much emotional baggage to deal with as is appropriate for a friend of mine to have. (A friend can't have more baggage than me, otherwise, we would never get around to MY problems.) Definitely Lorelei Gilmore is a friend worth having.

Only Freud Knows?

While working a jigsaw puzzle on the computer the other night, my mind started wandering--as is the case whenever I'm doing something that is fairly mindless. Anyway, I started thinking about the television shows I watch regularly and came up with this question: What character (not actor or actress) in what show(s) would I like to have as a friend. The answer I came up with was, "No one?" Or, at least, I couldn't think of any. What does it say about me that I can watch something week after week and not want to know the "people" I get so involved with? Why can I love to watch "someone's" life and yet not want to have that person as a friend? Hmmm. Maybe that's a question only Sigmund could answer? So, my dear readers, how would you answer that question? Or, don't you watch TV? I will be eager to read your responses.

Happy Happy, Joy Joy

Just got home from the orthodontist and the braces come off in two weeks!!!!!!! I am singing the "Happy Happy, Joy Joy" song! ( You can find the song here.)

Payback's a Bitch

You reap what you sow--what goes around, comes around--revenge is sweet. The Mother's Curse is alive and working--and I just laughed myself silly! The story follows.

C. called today and I could barely hear her because of the screaming and crying in the background. Asked her what was going on and she said Noelle was having a temper tantrum. What about, I asked. Well, she had a royal fit because her mother took her in from being outside! C. said she was afraid Social Services (or whatever it is called these days) was going to be knocking at her door because Noelle was acting like she was being beaten to within an inch of her life. (And she was sure she saw the neighbors peeking out their windows to see who was getting killed.) All I could do was laugh and say, "You are getting paid back for all YOU did!" C. acted the exact same way at the same age, so it is nice to see the "I hope you have children that act just like you" curse is still working! At least C. has a sense of humor about the whole thing--she admits she was a brat and can see why she is getting it with her own kids. :)

Gmail Invites and Pregnancy

If there still is anyone wanting a Gmail account, I have 50 invites to give away. Let me know via the comment section and we can go from there.

C. was supposed to see the doctor and have an ultrasound today, but I didn't hear from her. I will have to call tomorrow and find out what he had to say. At least she doesn't have to travel out of town for this pregnancy--the neonatologist said there was nothing more that could be done for her. Hopefully the doctor is correct in what is being done and this pregnancy goes as well as the last one. And I hope she doesn't have to be here for a week because of premature labor, as she did last time. At least they were able to stop it--that is a great improvement. I guess a mother's concerns never end, no matter how old the kids get!