The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

I know I often joke about my professional 'car-pooler' status, but today I started thinking about it and I was really shocked on how much time I spent in the van. I drive more right now because my daughter's car is disabled. After calculating my driving I've come to the conclusion it would be much cheaper if I just repaired her car and let her pay me back(every payday she has one excuse after another why she can't fix it, the car's alternator went out 3 weeks ago). Just having her driving would make things alot easier.

Here's the driving log for today:

7:40 a.m. Drive son to school--9 miles(the boys probably ride the bus 3 out of 5 days. They have to be waiting outside at 7 a.m. sharp, I'll admit it's hard to get 4 of them up and out the door every morning)

7:50 a.m. Drive daughter and oldest step-son to the High School--9 miles(when her car is repaired she can resume this trip)

8:05 a.m. Leave High School and return home--12 miles

8:15 a.m. Back at home, throw in a load of laundry and pick up various messes, get ready for work.

9:30 a.m. Leave for work--11 miles

10:30 a.m. Youngest step-son is sick at school, go pick him up, take him home and go back to work--22 miles

11:15-3:00 p.m. Back at work

3:00 p.m. Back to the High School to get the two oldest and back home--17 miles(the younger boys ride the bus home each afternoon)

3:45 p.m. Take daughter to the dentist--20 miles(luckily the boyfriend will pick her up as he comes back from late classes)

4:00 p.m. Leave dentist office and make a mad dash back to neighboring town to the grocery store--20 miles

4:25 p.m. Back to the High School to pick up step-son from weight training--15 miles

4:50 p.m. Home to cook dinner

Some days I have to take my daughter to work then pick her up at 10 p.m. This is INSANE. 135 miles in one day and I didn't even leave the county! My husband commutes to Knoxville everyday to work, I drive in circles a longer distance than he does. Does this validate all my bitching and moaning? lol

Today as I was cleaning up my bedroom I ran across a stack of vacation pictures. I have all the photos gathered to start scrapbooking. I started planning to take up the scrapbooking hobby about 6 months ago. *sigh* One of these days...

Anyhow the photos were of my vacation in the of Summer '03 to Colorado. I went out there to see my then fiance, now husband, who was working. I had a wonderful time there. Colorado is an amazing state...it's not the beach though. The other pictures I found was from our(the man and me) trip over Spring Break also in 2003. Our children thought we were just awful for leaving them with their other parents while we took a well deserved trip to Florida.

Living in TN I have been vacationing in the Sunshine State since I was a little girl. In fact most everyone I know makes an annual trek to Florida. Tim and I went to Panama City, which is a relatively short drive from here. We stayed at the most adorable 'Mom & Pop' motel. It was right on the beach, extremely clean and had a wonderfully friendly staff. We'd never heard of it before our arrival. I'm usually very leary of hotels & motels and I was honestly expecting the worst. We had an incredible view from our balcony. There were several families staying there. They'd have BBQ's at night and then the hotel would furnish watermelon for everyone. Our neighbors in the next room were extremely interesting too. They were from Tx and had been coming to that particular motel for years. They also were microbrewers. We sampled some fantastic beer from them. That was the first night, all the rest were just as good.

The next day I couldn't wait to get to the beach. I am major sun worshiper! I try to use my head for the most part and apply sunscreen liberally. But I didn't think it was that hot in April and skipped it completely. My husband and I never have beer in our house but we thought we'd walk on the wild side after tasting the home brew the night before and buy a 12-pack. We figured that would last us all week. We also bought some "kuzi's" (not sure about that speeling, lol). Kuzi's being the foam things you put canned beer in to keep it cool. These kuzi's were nice and sturdy so they wouldn't tip over in the sand. To me that seemed like a good thing, unfortunately there was a drawback. Because they were heavy you couldn't judge how fast you were drinking. The man loves to walk along the beach while I love to bask in the sun. So he took off walking and left me to sizzle...and drink. I didn't realize I was drinking so fast! It was that kuzi I swear. I had lost sight of him down the beach when I realized I had to pee. Only then did I realize he had the room key while mine was inside the room. After a bit of thought I figured I'd do what I used to do when I was a kid...yes go into the water and leave a little deposit. When I stood up I knew I'd had several beers, whoa I was more than a little dizzy! But I trekked on down to the water's edge. I've never been afraid of water, I was a lifeguard and competitive swimmer for years. But about 10 feet into the water I realized that I may be in trouble! In fact I got so paranoid I couldn't even "do my business". My main objective was getting out of that ocean! And naturally the man was NO where in sight. There was another woman in the water and I was just about to yell for help. Finally a big wave pushed me back onto the shore. My legs were like jelly and my always out of sync heart was beating a mile a minute. As I walked closer to my chair I saw Tim coming from the motel. "Honey why didn't you wait for me to go swimming?" he asked. I rolled my eyes at him and told him of my dilemma. He got a great laugh out of that and told me that's what I get for drinking 6 beers in an hour. At that moment my head began to pound and my bladder was plainly screaming for some attention. We loaded up our stuff and headed back to the room.

To add insult to injury I was fried like a clam from the sun! I had to wear loose shorts by day and sweats by night because of the sunburn pain. All in all it was a wonderful time. My husband and I have such a good time when we're alone together. It's always a laugh riot. Needless to say there was no more alcohol for moi :-)

I just love the beach, any beach. I would like my next beach adventure to take place up North. I love the lighthouses and I think Nantucket would be a great place to start!

Saturday January 29 3:03 p.m.

It's raining just like it's been raining since about 10 p.m. last night. The ice went South and the snow North. I think there was some chunky rain falling about an hour ago. So now there's no snow, no ice and I have 4 gallons of milk! I feel lucky not to have to deal with the bad weather and dangerous conditions, but I'll admit I'm just a little disappointed.

The milk thing isn't a problem either. There are 6 of us in the house, 4 of those big, growing boys. I usually buy 6 gallons a week. 5 gallons 2% and 1 of Skim. My daughter and I only drink skim milk. The taste of 2% makes me want to wretch. Luckily we have access to Mayfield's milk http://www.mayfielddairy.com which is the best I've ever tasted. Their skim is not like water. And why consume all the fat if you don't need it? My husband really poo-poo'd the skim milk when we first started dating, then he started to drink it and had to admit it was good stuff. The boys on the other hand bitch constantly about "the gross skim milk." But ya know when the helions drink all of the other milk they don't think twice about grabbing the skim!

While I love skim milk I simply cannot handle the dry powdered stuff. YUCK! There was a time after my divorce that I had no milk in the house and no money to buy any. I'm not sure where that box of milk came from but I figured I'd mix it up in the empty jug and the kids would never know the difference. Ya, right! Oh it was horrible...it was worse than horrible. I still keep it on hand to cook with but thank God I can afford to buy a gallon (or 6) of real milk when I need it :-)

I am curious though, does anybody really drink the powdered milk? If you do use it what do you use it for?

Well, well, well...it's here! The anticipated threat of winter weather. Snow, ice and sleet don't mix well with Southerners. The weather-people are calling for a wintry mix later on tonight. In fact I think there's a winter storm watch in effect. My 84 year old Grandmother hit panic mode about 8:30 p.m. last night. I had to make a 'mad' dash to the grocery store for her this afternoon. The salt crews were already out putting the salt/sand mixture on the road. It's sunny and 45 degrees now...go figure.

Granted when we do have even a small amount of winter precipitation things get a little crazy. First of all we Southern folk don't drive well in the stuff. Second of all this is such a rural area there are literally places where you have to "pump the sunshine" in. But this frantic need to get in supplies that rival Y2K provisions still escapes me.

By 10 p.m. tonight there won't be a loaf of bread or a gallon of milk to be had in this small town of 5,000. I'm not sure who set the standard of bread and milk being a 'must have' when there's a possibility of snow? I realize this panic mentality comes from memories of the Blizzard of '93. Now THAT was a fiasco. I had 4 foot snow drifts in my yard. The snow was so deep my children could not play in it. My Aunt who lived about an hour South of me had no electricity for nearly two weeks. We just don't do good in snow.

I'll admit the threat of ice does scare me, we only have electric heat and if there happened to be a power outage we'd be in trouble. During the aforementioned blizzard I had gas heat and we stayed toasty for the brief time the power was out. We do have a fireplace in the basement but we've never used it...let's hope it works if need be.

Are you expecting some bad weather this weekend?

I had an interesting conversation with a male co-worker this afternoon. He'd watched Larry King Live night before last. Debra Lafave's soon to be ex-husband was Larry's guest. Mrs. Lafave is the Florida teacher arrested last year for having sexual relations with a 14 year old student. My co-worker(male of course) said he thought he'd just stick by her, since she was such an attractive woman and obviously wasn't thinking straight. HELLO....not thinking right?? His statement sickened me, or should I say his egotistical, groin influenced, dumber than dirt comment sickened me! He almost had the tone as if to say 'she probably didn't realize what she was doing'...

My first problem with that is she's 24 years old, not an infant and certainly not pubescent teenager. While she may be 'young' by some standards she absolutely knew what she was doing was wrong. And according to the affidavits published on The Smoking Gun, she knew a heck of alot about sex and what she wanted. The two defiled her classroom, her home and even her car. Yes I can understand someone being unhappy or unsatisified with their husband or partner but is that any excuse for adultery, be it with a consenting adult or a consenting child?

This whole scenario is nothing new after the years of Mary Kay Laturno. But it doesn't diminish the disturbing pattern. As a parent of 4 boys, 3 of them the same age as the ones being romanced by these teachers, I am shocked. First of all WHERE is the attraction? I'm not talking about physical attributes I'm talking maturity level. It's just disgusting. None of my boys have the kind of 'charm' or 'charisma' I think it would take a 14 year old kid to have to convince me to even kiss them. YUCK! I know I would have felt the same way when I was 24. So where does the problem lie? I think I could understand more a relationship developing between say a Senior in High School and a teacher, but not the middle school kids.

Am I the only one that thinks this way? I hope I am not the only paranoid mother out there. What are your thoughts on this story as well as the Laturno one? Harsh prison sentences? Black mark on your name for years? Is there a way to prevent it? I'm bothered and looking for a little feedback

:-)

I had a great weekend in the Mountains with the kids! I had fears it would turn into a 3-ring circus, but I'm happy to report it went off without incident. For this I am both thankful and relieved. On Saturday evening we were making our way back to the hotel from a rushed shopping trip when it began to snow! The beautiful big icy flakes excited us all but for me it triggered many fears. I am perhaps one of the least coordinated creatures able to walk upright on the face of the Earth. I trip over thin air! I began to imagine all sorts of horrid falls as we made our way around the narrow, winding road. These fears are well founded as I have had many a good fall in my 39 years... One of the most memorable was about 11 years ago. It was winter time and I had made a late night trip to the grocery for among other things a gallon of milk. Our house had no back entrance, you had to park on the street in front then walk up two series of steps. The second set were connected to the house. They were wooden and open underneath. Just as I reached for the front door the gallon of milk slipped out of my hand bursting open. After a few choice words I got some hot water in my mop bucket and half-asssed washed it off the porch and steps. I went to sleep shortly thereafter not thinking of the milk. The next morning my routine went as usual, after getting my daughter dressed for school and trying to force feed her breakfast I went out to start the car. The icy wind startled me as I opened the front door. My bedroom was right off the porch and my ex husband was still asleep after working overtime the night before. I never gave a thought to the water/milk mixture from the night before until my left foot hit that first step. The next thing I saw was the sky above me and the ice covered steps below. I fell for what seemed like an hour. It happened so fast I don't think I even screamed. That was probably a good thing since the shear impact of my body on those old steps made enough noise. I landed on all fours hard against the concrete pad at the bottom. As I gathered my thoughts and my dignity a city worker stopped in front of my house to see if I was ok. Apparently he'd seen the whole thing as he was driving by. Fantastic, the horror of me bouncing down those steps braless in an old ratty pair of sweatpants was now emblazoned in the mind of a man named Bart. Just then my front door flew open and my ex was standing there in his underwear and he said "What the hell are you trying to do? Wake up the whole *&!$%^! neighborhood?" Thank God he did that, me standing there explaining to Bart I was ok wasn't humiliating enough, luckily the 'Boy Wonder' swoops in and adds insult to injury! I wish I could say that was the end of the story... I took my daughter to school, kissed her goodbye and promised her I'd see her in a couple of hours to eat lunch with her. It was Parents Day and my attendance was mandatory. I went back home and realized I hadn't broken anything in the fall but the soreness had already began to sit in. My son was still asleep so I figured I might as well nap for a bit until he got up. About an hour later I heard him in his crib, as I slowly opened my eyes I knew I just didn't feel 'right'. I didn't realize how not right I felt until I tried to get up. My back, legs and arms were so sore I could barely move them. I went to the bathroom, pulled up my shirt and was frightened by what I saw. My entire back, butt and thighs were already turning a yellowish, greenish, purple color. I was one solid bruise. I wasn't sure I didn't have broken bones but at the moment I didn't have time to attend to them. I had to be at the school in an hour and a half and before I could do that I had to dress and feed the baby and make myself presentable. When I got to the school it took forever to unload the stroller and make my way into the school. I was very involved as a room mother and PTA officer so there were people to 'meet and greet' the minute I walked in. Every breath I drew made me cringe. I'd never even thought about having to 'sit' down to eat with Jade! How in the heck was I going to do that? At that moment I had a horrible flashback to the previous school year when an elderly woman attending 'Grandparents Day' had slipped while trying to get up from the small picnic-table type accomodations. I'm sure alot of you have seen these death traps for adults? The little round seats are attached to the tables by a series of metal bars. This poor woman had lost her footing while trying to get up, slipped and became lodged under the table. The rescue squad had to come and use the 'jaws of life' to free her from the lunchroom labyrinth! I was mortified for her as I was now mortified for myself. I debated about not even attempting to crouch down to eat, but Jade came up to me beaming, grabbed my hand and at that point I knew I had no other choice. I was lucky enough to get an end seat because I had a sibling in a stroller. To this day I have no idea what we had for lunch nor what any of the table discussion was about, what I do remember is the gut-wrenching pain I was in! But even more so was my mounting fear of becoming yet another victim pinned under that table. I still remember the looks of bewilderment in the children's faces as the poor woman laid helplessly on the floor. I was imagining the number of therapist visits I'd have to attend to relieve my daughters anxiety of eating in the lunchroom after the table ate her Mother! Finally I pulled myself together just in time for the bell, I kissed Jade goodbye while still sitting firmly in my seat. All of the children had left and the sweet cafeteria workers were starting to clean the tables for the next group. The head cafeteria lady knew me pretty well and came over to ask if I was ok. After telling her of the morning's events she slipped her hand under my arm and helped me ease myself up. What a precious woman, I think maybe she'd fallen from grace before too. I hobbled my way home, put Jacob down for his nap, grabbed the heating pad and headed for the sofa. It took several weeks to work all the soreness out. The bruises went from bad to worse. I looked like I'd been in a terrible car wreck. I showed my backside to more people than I ever had before in an effort to expose my clumsiness, and well, honestly to get their opinion of whether I should seek medical attention or not. I choose not to. I would monitor the color changes every day and finally decided that while I did look like a punching bag I wasn't seriously injured. To this day I freak out at the thought of walking on icy surfaces, hence my high anxiety this weekend in the potentially bad weather! I come from a long line of 'fallers' and have passed the gene onto my kids. My son was playing with a balloon in his Dad's living room, just tossing it back and forth with a friend. He dove for the balloon and smashed his hand into the bottom of the sofa. Ya it swelled up, ya he complained alot, but it didn't even bruise. The next day when he was still complaining so I took him to the Peditrician. She was a little worried and sent us over for x-rays, it turned out he'd broken a bone in his hand! The torch has been passed. While I was excited to see the snowy stuff this weekend I too saw the potential for bruising! I've often joked I wouldn't be able to survive in a region that saw alot of snow and ice! Do any of you readers have the 'faller gene'? If so I wanna hear about it! And Bart if you're reading this you could give the other readers a little insight on what wittnessing a spectacle like me falling was! Or if any of you have seen other 'fallers' in action...share with us :-)

Sad but true! I've been reading alot of blogs the last couple of days but when it came to sitting down and writing I just never could find the time. I am at work now and have just a few mins. so I thought I'd catch you up!

Most everything on the homefront is about the same. The youngest step-son got suspended from the bus last Friday so I have to take them and pick them up. I hate that.

The husband and I rarely see one another since he got this new job. Heck did I even mention the new job? Geez! He's now an Electrical Project Manager in Knoxville. It's a 45 min. commute each way but the salary is good enough to drive that far. He leaves before sun up and get's home after dark :(

This weekend the me,the man and the 4 boys will be traveling to Gatlinburg for Resurrection 2005. It's a youth extravanganza for United Methodist Churches. There will be about 10,000 teenagers there. This is my husband's first time going, he's really looking forward to it. It's really a pretty cool event, the speakers are more mainstream, contemporary Christians and the music is all rock/contemporary Christian. The kids always have a blast. The weather guru's are predicting snow. Woo!

My daughter made an 18 on her ACT. Not thrilled with the score,  but atleast she can get state and federal aid with that score. She retests in Feb.

Bush was inugurated today. I rarely ever speak of my political views in this blog, but I think it's a sad, sad day in the lives of Americans.

I got my appointment in Cleveland, OH! It's on March 31st. That's right in the middle of Spring Break for the kids so I won't have to worry about someone getting them to school as they can stay with other parents and Grandparents. I think the man and I are going to spend an extra day or two there as an Anniversary getaway. If you're in Cleveland or know the area let me know some fun things to do :)

Well that about covers it. Once I am home again I'll try to be a little more creative. What's going on in your neck of the woods?

I have never considered myself any sort of a fashion plate. In fact I feel I'm very un-trendy. More conservative and traditional would be a better definition. On one of my latest 'people watching' escapades I noticed various clothing ensembles. Making notes in the middle of a busy lobby made me accutely aware of how well I did in fact dress. These are strictly my opinions and hopefully I won't step on any of you dear reader's toes :-) Here are some of my observations:

1.) Hip-huggers are intended to be worn by women with flat tummy's, or relatively flat. I don't think there's an age barrier in the low rise denim but there are some guidelines. In my opinion if you've got it flaunt it. Nothing makes me happier than to see a 40 something woman with an abdomen you can bounce a quarter off. Ok...I'm jealous, not happy but hey if you can pull it off, kudos! I wonder what kind of friends some of these women have? If your belly hangs out over the waistband, it's not a good look! It ain't workin', girlfriend. I'd tell a friend of mine that. 'Donelap'(done lapped over your belt) is for 60 year old men drinking Schiltz and wearing a wife-beater, not a young woman. I understand the need to actually be trendy, but let's be realistic.

2.) Black socks with tennis shoes. Mary Mother of God! What is up with this? Am I the only one that thinks this is horrific? Unless you're a 70 year old man in Bermuda shorts, this is unacceptable. In a one hour time span I saw 2 women, probably late 30's, wearing capri pants, black socks and Nike's. Mind you this wasn't my hometown, I was in Knoxville, not metro L.A. but certainly not a small, rural hick town.

3.) Fuzzy sweaters from the '80's. I'm not talking cashmere or angora. I'm talking cheap, acrylic stuff. The lady donning this fashion faux pas was a very, very young woman. The look wasn't retro, it was just wrong.

4.) Open toe sandals and panty hose. Alright, on the first point it's winter, secondly, unless you're over 70 and wearing orthopedic stockings, this is bad. I honestly can't think of any situation, regardless of the age that would merit wearing sandals and panty hose.

5.) Overalls. Granted there are a some people that can pull them off, but not many. Overalls are one of the most unflattering articles of clothing that a woman can wear. The particular subject I saw was a very attractive woman, well kept and except for a momentary lapse of judgement, a woman of taste.

6.) Knit pants. Great for lounging around the house. *Note* Knit clings to everything it touches, if you've got any dimples the rest of the world is seeing it!

7.) Hiking boots and sweat pants. Do I really need to elaborate?

Just a few of the many things I saw. I'm all for comfort and ease but some of the outfits I saw were just awful. For those who were wondering, that day I was wearing jeans, lightweight sweater, wool blazer and mules. Proof that I am not a trendsetter! I'd love to say to a few of those people, "You're far too attractive to be dressing this way." And most of them were.

Am I the only person that notices really bad clothing choices? If not, have you ever seen an ensemble you'd like to burn and replace?

And how can you mend a broken heart?
How can you stop the rain from falling down?
How can you stop the sun from shining?
What makes the world go round?
How can you mend a this broken man?
How can a loser ever win?
Please help me mend my broken heart and let me live again.

A little exerpt from one of my fav Bee Gee's tunes. But it's quite fitting with this post. I had a visit to the Electrophysiologist today. He told me the results of the tests I've had done recently, and I'm happy to report they look pretty good. No major changes, that's a good thing. We chatted about possible solutions when he looked up at me and says, "Are you up to a trip?" Heck ya, tropical island maybe I thought. But no he was thinking a destination further North. To be exact The Cleveland Clinc Heart Specialists. Hmmm probably on my Top 20 choices but we can discuss it. He has come colleague in Cleveland he'd like me to see. He thinks since this Dr. deals with this particular heart disease on a daily basis, and he has pioneered several new treatments and procedures, my Dr thinks this is the guy to see. I'm very excited! Having this rare disease and a truck-load of questions I feel it could be a very beneficial trip. There are a few procedures that would make my everyday life alot more bearable. That would be a great thing.

So we just have to wait for the info to arrive from Cleveland and get word on when the appointment is scheduled for. We already know it will be atleast April or May, but I'll wait in order to get to see a physician who specializes in this type of disease. Yay me!

I'll keep you posted as we proceed on!

Have you or a relative ever had to visit a large hospital that required traveling a long distance ?

I have a very good friend who I don't talk to as much as used to. Our youngest boys are the same age, we met while volunteering in school for our older kids. We immediately hit it off and have enjoyed many, many laughs, cries and screaming fits. We talk about once a week and our youngest kids play together in the Summer, we live a mere 10 minutes away in seperate towns, but it seems almost impossible to get together with our schedules going in so many different directions.

I could tell something was wrong from the first minute she spoke. Her oldest son is almost 2 years younger than my daughter. For years we've exchanged 'kid' stories, I'd been warning her about the peril of teenagers driving and such. I think deep down inside she thought her boy would be different. Don't we all? But sadly, her teenager is just as typical as the next one. Coming in late when he never had before, leaving campus for lunch when at one time he'd never consider it. And now...well now he has a steady girlfriend. I tried to warn her what this would be like, but again I think she really believed it would be different for her.

So the son is officially 'car dating' now, and Mother is more than a little leary of this female creature completely corrupting her innocent, pure as the driven snow, son! Well she's not quite that dramatic about the whole situation but she's definitely in denial. She learned last weekend that her son and the she devil had in fact been having sex. Well, DUH! He's nearly 17, what did she think they were going to do once they left the house? Actually go to the movies? Now I will consent that they're a good many teenagers that do abstain from sex, atleast for awhile. But the vast majority of them are sexually active.

I'll tell you I was 18 when I lost my virginity. I'll also tell you that I was one of the last of my 'circle of friends' to do that. That was 1983, most everyone I knew was having sex. I wasn't blind when my daughter reached 16, I knew what was going on 20 years before, how could I possibly think that teenagers attitudes towards sex would reverse in that time. Not likely. I told my daughter that sex before marriage was wrong, I also educated her in birth control methods. I did not put her on the pill as I saw that as a license to have sex. She admitted to me at 17 that she was having sex with her boyfriend(they're still dating).

I knew that my daughter would eventually become sexually active, but I didn't expect to feel the emotions I did. These are the feelings my friend is dealing wiht now too. It's hard to explain, but it's an aching in your heart. It's a natural thing you knew would some day happen but never quite expect. While we both hoped our children would hang on to their virginity we both also knew that in this day and time, even in our day and time, it was a hard thing to do. I told her yesterday, "It's as if they've lost their innocence, that they're suddenly not our little girl or boy anymore". And I think that's exactly what it is.

So for those of you who have 'little' folks in your home, enjoy them, cherish every single minute you have with them. Before you know it you'll be sending them off on a car date with some flirtatious, skinny blond chick or skinny legged, gangly boy.

In keeping with this post I was curious as what age you lost your virginity?

I sit here in my office starring blankly out the window as my eyes are swollen and wet. No I'm not crying I'm just frickin sick again, I think. Well I'm pretty sure I am. I'm hoping that it's just an allergy thing but every bone in my body aches, that doesn't sound like an allergy thing. Does it? Hells Bells this is SO not what I need right now.

I am taking a butt-load of Vitamin C and trying to force fluids. I'm leaving here at lunch hoping an afternoon of rest will help too. Alot of it has to be attributed to the weather here...I'd wager the mold spores are reproducing at warp speed in this damp, warm climate. It's just crazy.

I haven't gotten around to doing my usual reading today, but I will! I've been overrun by folks stopping by just to "chat". It's an occupational hazzard but sometimes it's just downright annoying, especially when I need to catch up on everyone's blog!

OMG and what about Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston splitting? I think like most Americans, I've been expecting it but kept holding out hope that they'd work things out. I really like both of them as actors, and I like what I see of them in interviews and such. I think they are both extremely attractive, but I just had fears that Brad would crumble under the pressure of having beautiful women throwing "it" in his face over and over. Not to say that Jen doesn't get her fair share of attention as well. It is rumored that Brad's affections for Angelina Jolie might have fostered the split. Who knows, I'd bet we'll never know and frankly it's not any of our business....but I sure would like to!

Jennifer vs. Angelina: Who would you choose?

This really handsome man came to my door today and asked me to take a little ride with him. Said he had a few thing to do and would very much like for me to come along. Those few things were tasks needed to be done for my Mother and Grandmother. A little grocery shopping and change a few light bulbs. We visited with both of them briefly and our "date" officially began. The handsome man and me made our way to a slightly larger town south of here, we debated about where to eat dinner for awhile. The choices were a large crowded steakhouse buffet thing or a very small but exceptionally good steak-house, the beauty of this little place is that we could have eaten with the Senior Citizens and gotten the benefit of the "Early Bird Special", the final choice was a large national Steakhouse where the servers say "G'day" as they serve you a Bloomin Onion! Hmmmm decisions, decisions...neither one of us wanted to decide. So we flipped a coin between small steakhouse and the national chain. The franchise made the right call! We arrived about 20 mins after the doors opened only to be told there would be a 40-50 minute wait. Hmph. Well I don't mind waiting too bad, the man on the other hand took that time to run to the Home Depot behind the restaurant. I told him I wasn't waiting on him if they called us, I was headin for the table and ordering the onion! He made it back in plenty of time. We did in fact order the onion, unfortunately our onion saw a little too much time in the fryer...it wasn't great, but edible. Then came the salad and bread...both good. Finally the slab of beef was delivered. I always eat my steaks medium rare, in a bad steakhouse I'll order rare, they usually arrive med. rare, at The Outback they normally know how to cook them to order. Not tonight. My steak was charred on the outside, the man said, "Oh it's just a little seared" but trust me it wasn't seared! But hey I can manage, it wasn't the worst meal I've ever had, but one of the worst from that particular chain. But I'll definitely give it another try one day!

From dinner we didn't know what to do...I mean we had no kids, no job, no nothing. My hubby looked at me and said "We've forgotten how to date" we both laughed hard at that one. Then as we drove around trying to decide what we were gonna do we walked down memory lane of our early courtship. That was such a sweet thing. The whole evening was shaping up to be very sweet.

We decided on a movie. Something we RARELY do together. Normally we just wait for it to come out on DVD. So this was starting to seem more and more like a "real" date, and both of us were liking it :-) We couldn't keep our hands off of each other, nuzzling to one another, many sweet kisses, and tons of hand-holding. We saved the groping for the car! Anyhoo we saw "Meet The Fockers", which was hmmmm well it was ok. Nowhere nearly as good as Meet The Parents, but there were some funnies but not enough to justify a big ticket price at the theatre, save this one for a DVD selection.

So that's what I did tonight....pretty darned exciting for us!
Has everyone else had probs with tBLOG over the past couple of days? Do they ever post anything telling what's being done to fix the little problems? I have heard some people chat about changing hosts. Is this something many people are considering?

Hope everyone had a great Sat. :)

During my time at the Dr.s office Tues., I got to spend quite a bit of time in a heavily traveled entryway. This provided me with the opportunity to do one of my fav things; people watch. I feel like a 'hunter' in the woods watching the animals in their natural habitat. Anyhoo I'm working on a future post about several things I saw there, one of them is the variety of wardrobes I saw.

This morning I was rummaging through my closet trying to find something to wear. I have WAY too many clothes. Most never get worn. I really should make a trip to Goodwill.

While sitting her tonight typing I glanced in the closet and thought to myself, "What are the most important things in there?" So here's my question to you:

If you were abducted by the Fashion Police and told you could only take 3 items out of your closet what would they be? *shoes will be counted as one item*

Take the 3 items that are your favorites and they don't have to be an ensemble.

I'll post my 3 in the comments

:-)

It's days like today that make me wonder why I deprive myself of sleep to blog, lol. Crazy, crazy day. Anyhoo I started thinking about this blogging thing a few days ago. Eventhough I am a relative newbie to blogville, I started wondering what attracted me to the hobby. Thanks for your responses, now here's mine:


Where did you first hear the word 'blog'?
I heard the term 'blogging' and so & so's blog on CNN. It was a story I was just half-way paying attention to. But it made enough of an impression that I jumped on Yahoo one night and did a search on "blog" of all the results I clicked on tBLOG! For the first week or so I just drifted around reading. I started commenting immediately because I'm a typical Southern woman that likes to talk(type). I finally got the nerve to put one of my own together.

Why do you blog?
I've enjoyed writing for years. I always got rave reviews in school for my writing skills, I thought they were all just BS! I didn't particularly like to write then, so any compliment went in one ear and out the other. When I took the job I have now one of the duties was to be the editor of the montly newsletter. I very much enjoy that because it takes me back to the days when I worked as a graphic artist. And I began to garner alot of praise and compliments for my 'stories'. I wish my grammar and punctuation were better, I am the queen of run-on sentences! But after discovering the world of blogs and thinking about my current story writing I thought, "why not?"

Do your family, friends, etc. read your blog?
Not no but, hell no. I have printed out a few blogs for my hubby to read but that's it. He's not very internet savvy so I don't think he could find the website. But even if he could I would prefer he ask me before reading anything. I don't have a single thing to hide but I treat my blog like I would a journal or diary. I can make very small innocent remarks in my blog that my family would definitely take out of context. And please that's the last thing I need, lol. They can read my efforts in the monthly newsletters just like my sister does, after which she immediately calls me and points out all my errors. She's even marked them with a red pen to show me. She's a real peach, eh? Usually when she does something like that I'll say, "And your IQ is?" That shuts her up as her's is considerably lower than mine. Not like I care, nor is it going to get me very much but there's just sometimes you need to shut the likes of her up!

Well there ya have it. I don't know about y'all but I enjoyed hearing your comments. Maybe we'll try this again on a different subject. I sat in a Doctor's office for over an hour 'people watching'today and several good blog topics presented themselves :-)

Greetings reader! Today was my maiden voyage back into the real world, roughly translated, since my hospitalization in Nov. I have not gone anywhere by myself. My husband would take me to work and pick me up, take me to the grocery store, doctor appointments, etc. He was my shadow, but it was a good thing :-) I am happy to report all went well except for the fact that I am utterly exhausted! So exhausted in fact that I don't know if I will get to catch up with everyone's blog this evening as usual. But I will catch up in the morning or afternoon...if I don't read I feel like I'm missing out on what's going on with the neighbors! I did however want to post a few questions...

When was the first time you heard the word 'blog'?

Why do you blog?

Do your friends, family, etc. read your blog?

I'll post my reasons tomorrow.

How do you classify friends? Most of us would say we have a 'best friend' and I think most women have a 'circle of friends', right? But what about those people who are more than just a passing acquaintance or someone you chat with online? Do all of them fall under the same category? Of course there are your life long friends, one's that you haven't seen in a few years but just as soon as you are in each other's company it's like you were never apart.

Do you get hurt by these different types of friends in the same way? Is there some sort of chart to go by? Maybe less hurt and more understanding for a very close friend. And so on and so forth. Or should the degree of hurt be the same across the board for anyone you consider the friend? Certainly different situations would merit different results.

Just wondering.

Yes I'm a little hurt but not sure I have any reason to be, but if I do, I wonder to what degree I should be hurting?

Does anyone understand?

Well I did it for the first time this year yesterday. Yes, I wrote a check and wrote 2004 in the date line! Usually I am very aware of the year change for the first week or so of January and progressively get worse. This is not a good sign! I really dread this week at work, no telling how many times I'll forget.

My driver's license has to be renewed in 2005. I remember when I last had them renewed, I knew I'd be 40 the next time it had to be done. The time has come. It's amazing how time flies, huh? Just the other day I was reading an article that reflected back 20 years ago. 1985 seems like just yesterday! Madonna started the 'Virgin Tour', Michael J. Fox was staring in 'Back to The Future' and Nintendo game systems were introduced. I can't believe it's been 20 years ago.

Well things have been very boring around here which is a good thing. Oh we have had a bit of excitement...seems now that ALL my step-sons will be staying here with us. My husband is thrilled, I am looking into a Valium prescription. Just kidding, I am taking my own advice and am going to go into this adventure with a positive attitude. We've never lived 'long-term' with all the children under one roof.

The weather here is CRAZY! It's been 70 degrees for the last two days. And all I could get my mind on for dinner was homemade vegetable beef soup and cornbread. I suppose my internal thermometer knows it's supposed to be cold outside. At any rate it's simmering in the kitchen right now. It's times like this that I wish I'd done more canning and freezing from the garden this Summmer. There's just nothing like freshly canned veggies in soup on a cold winter's day.

Yesterday for those who don't know the Tennessee Vols won the Cotton Bowl, wooo hooo! They looked better than they have all season. As much as I love them they are without a doubt the most unreliable, inconsistent team around. Of course it should be said that Texas A&M wasn't having a very good day. I am anxious to see what Fall '05 will bring to TN football. Seems that Philip Fulmer has a plethora of quarterbacks to choose from. Should be interesting.

So how was your weekend?