Thursday, February 24, 2011

Gun Store Robber Flees, Leaves $40 Behind

http://www.kmbc.com/news/26925521/detail.html

Delicious, yet potentially Deadly, Girl Scout Cookies!

A Florida woman is behind bars today after kicking her roommates ass over a box of Girl Scout Cookies.  The cookies were Thin Mints, so I can see how this might have happened, they are very tasty.

The Thin Mint lover is Hersha Howard.  This Collier County woman was
arrested Sunday after kicking her roommate's ass over a box of the delicious Girl Scout cookies that she had forbidden her kids to eat.This is according to naplesnews.com.

The fight started when 31 year old Hersha accused her sleeping roommate of eating the cookies, the roommate responded by saying she had given the cookies to Hersha's kids who had the munchies about 1 a.m.

The roommate offered to pay $10 for the cookies, but Hersha wasn't having it and the beat down began. (I think the current price for a box of Girl Scout cookies is about $10 now so that seems fair to me) The roommate's husband pulled Hersha off her so she could escape, but Hersha followed after her.

According to a police report, Hersha grabbed a pair of scissors and threatened the woman. When the woman started to run down some stairs, Hersha allegedly dropped the scissors, picked up a board and hit the woman as she ran down the stairs.

Hersha caught up to the woman again and knocked her to the ground and started to beat her. When the roommate managed to get outside the house, Hersha grabbed a nearby sign and started hitting her with it.

Police finally arrived and arrested Hersha, charging her with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

No word on what dessert was served in jail.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Pat Robertson is an Idiot!!!!

So yesterday afternoon, Evan was napping and Aden was doing his Jumpstart on the computer and I sat down for an hour of happy knitting.  Not much was on.  I was flipping through the channels and heard a little advert, something about people who "have seen the other side".  Sure why not, nothing good is on anyway, other than the Talk so I was thinking I could flip back and forth.  So Checked the Talk, commerical flipped back to the other show.  I quickly learned that the other show was in fact, none other than...The 700 club.  AHHHHHHH
Run for your lives.  I didn't turn the channel, I should have immediately.  I already know that its a stupid show.  I know I don't like Pat Robertson, I doubt he has changed much over the years.  But, they showed this little boy who was talking about going to heaven and a chic who was saying she had been to hell.  I could not help myself.  I had to stay on the channel.  So they started out with a little global news, unrest in the middle east.  Yes we know, that's not exactly news.  Nor do I personally believe the 'unrest' is caused by all of the 'heathen's not 'heeding' the word of God.  It was probably a good thing I was alone, because after about 2 minutes I was just livid.  Then they do a segment on Yoga.  That's nice I thought, wrong.  Did you know that according to Pat and his cronies, Yoga is an occult practice and if you do it, you are going to HELL!!!!  Yes that's right, Yoga is the work of Satan.  And if you think about it, it sounds just like him!  Trying to get everyone all flexible and healthy!  Damn that Satan!.
WTF Pat! Really Yoga?  It's stretching and deep breathing. Terrible!  Well you know all of those Eastern practices are Satanic.  Karate is satanic too.  I did not know that.  I thought  it was self-defense.  I didn't know that people who actually do karate are getting their "power'" to break boards and stuff from Satan. I had always thought it was practice and focus.  I just was not aware.  Apparently according to the Grand Master Idiot himself, all martial arts are Satanic practices.  Yep. 
Personally, I would have thought that they would have brought up Tai chi.  That has got to a Satanic practice.  All of those elderly Asians in great shape, completely healthy, up at dawn.  Very, Very suspicious!. 
(to avoid any confusion, the above was mostly sarcasm on my part, I do not in anyway, endorse Pat Robertson or anything he says, I think he is an Idiot!)
Anyway, I missed most of the Talk, which I later regretted, because really Sharon Osborne is so cute!.
But on to the reason why I was watching the 700 club, which I will never do again.  This is 'the other side" week or something, so every day they are interviewing people who have died and gone to either heaven or hell and then came back.
And believe it or not Syliva Brown wasn't on the show at all! I know shocking right.
 So they are interviewing this boy's parents.  Guess what?  His dad is a preacher...WOW. Didn't see that one coming. So when the boy was 3 his appendix burst and he died briefly or almost died (they weren't clear) during surgery and he met Jesus, his grandfather and his baby sister that died before she was born.  Now.  I happen to have a little experience with 3 year olds, they are easy to coach.  If you tell them something enough times they will believe it.  Santa Claus is a very good example of this. Anyway I listened to these "interviews" and was not convinced.  I could go on about why I wasn't convinced, but I'll spare you.  But it was typical Pat Robertson bullshit.

So I was in a pissy mood all afternoon, until the boys talked me into making beads with the play dough that was getting all dry and probably only had a few days left.  That was calming. 
But I cannot for the life of me understand why people listen to Pat Robertson. 
Although I can certainly understand why there are some people in other countries, who practice religions other than Christianity, think Americans are evil.  If Pat Robertson is the example they see, it is totally understandable.
I saw nothing on the show that would lead me to believe that Christianity is a good religion.  No 'Love thy Neighbor', No kindness of any kind.  There was a lot of "bearing False witness against your neighbor' . 
I can't wait to get back to doing Yoga!  I had only thought about getting the boys in some sort of martial art, I am convinced now that they should learn karate or something!
Anyway, I need to move on.  Maybe there is a Tai Chi Group around here I can join.
But Pat Robertson is still an idiot. :)

Friday, February 18, 2011

Urban Knitting

I have no trouble admitting that I am fascinated with graffiti.  It makes waiting at railroad crossings a little less annoying, and we spend alot of time here waiting on trains to go by so we can continue down the road.  I love the colors and the designs.  Now not all graffiti is worth looking at, but every once in a while I'll see something that is just stunning!  Some of graffiti is just pure art. But it is illegal and bearing that in mind, the real graffiti artist should find a venue that is not illegal.  Enough of the spray paint graffiti, let's get to what kind of graffiti I am currently in love with.
Urban Knitting aka Guerrilla knitting to me is so freakin' cool!!!!!
Check this out!

This is an abandoned Gas station  in syracuse, new york



I saw somewhere and I think it was Japan, were someone had covered a park bench.  Now that's just flippin' thoughtful! and the knitting on the stair rail?  Also very nice.  It's colorful, its fun and just seems to make people people smile.

Now personally, I am not at this level of knitting, but I do have aspirations that someday, I may be good enough to do something this creative.  I probably wouldn't do it in a public place, because this is illegal too I think.  But it would be nice to knit a few trees in the yard, just to spruce up the place a bit. 

The other day, Bill told me I might need to slow down on the knitting, so I don't run out of things to knit.......  That does not seem like it will ever be an issue :)

Wonder what kind of wool they are using???  Acrylic?  Wool?  Some sort of Blend?  What weight?  I just have to wonder, what kind of wool do you use to knit on a tree?  What would the tree like?
Thinking about that ought to keep me busy today.  I'm off for my first trip out of the house since before the surgery.  Well to someplace that isn't the hospital or doctor's office, although I will visit the doctor this afternoon.  Hope that appointment goes well, I am tired of sitting on my ass:)

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Well before I get started with the complaining .. I have to give a little shout out to Denmark,  if we had had a contest on the most readers from countries other than the US, Denmark certainly won yesterday :) Still not sure why, but alrighty then, Thanks Denmark.


Moving right along to the pressing issues of the day.
This is a bit of older news, but I just heard about it.  This 14 year old boy was expelled from school, for the entire year, for spit balls.   here is a link


http://weblogs.dailypress.com/news/columnists/herenowblog/2011/02/va_school_makes_pea_shooter_a.html


I really do believe that the school was right in having a no tolerance policy on weapons.  But for weapons.  No one was hurt, the boy in question had never been in trouble before and if I heard correctly had dreams of joining ROTC and eventually going to Westpoint.  He can probably forget that now.  The boy does have a good lawyer so you never know.
But, I can't believe that a pen that has been taken apart to use to "shoot" spitballs, even if they were little tiny plastic disk things, should be considered a weapon.
Now I really hated when I was a kid and would hear adults say things like "when I was a kid..." but I have to go there.  When I was kid and granted it has been quite awhile.  You really had to work at it to get kicked out of school.  Bill and I talked alot about it and he thinks it has alot to do with the size of the school.  He is probably right.  My graduating class had 40 people in it,  His had a few thousand.  So I can see were you might need to be alot stricter at bigger schools, I really do get that.  But, this was a 14 year old boy.  14 years old.  He is a boy.  Yeah it was stupid of him to do that, I am sure he gets that now.  But, really expelled for the entire year?  Most 14 year olds do stupid stuff.  I did stupid crap like that when I was 14. Expulsion? Not a fitting punishment.  Detention seems alot more fitting. Perhaps it would have been a fitting punishment if he had been bullying another kid or if he had taken a crossbow to school.


It makes me nervous that the school in question, who does have alot of room to interpret the Gun Law, choose to classify this as weapon.
It makes me even more nervous when I think about my kids going to school.  Especially my youngest who seems to excel in stupid behavair.  But he is also being a boy.
Another case that really bothers me is a case of some kindergartens who were on the play ground and were using their hands as 'guns' and they were pretending to shoot each other.  5 and 6 year olds.  Yes it is not appropriate behavior, but these are little boys.  They were also kicked out of school.  I may be confused a little about why kids go to school, but isn't it to learn?  How about the teacher take the boys aside, call in their parents and everyone can sit down and discuss why you don't pretend to shoot someone.
Kicking a kindergartner out of school for that seems a bit harsh.  I saw that and am very concerned about my boys.  They are pretty rowdy.  Should I just plan on homeschooling them because I am sure they will do things that are stupid.  Do I need to worry about them getting kicked out of school because Aden has a thing about screaming and throwing a fit if someone doesn't play a game the way he wants it to be played?  Or that Evan will get kicked out because he really hasn't played much with anyone other than his brother, so we do have some social graces that will need to be learned?  He has been known to hit and while we have solved this problem at home that doesn't mean that in a new environment he won't do it again. What about if Aden takes a toy away from another kid?  Will this be considered assault? Will he be arrested?  What if Evan hits another kid with a toy?  Is he going to go to jail?  Should I start saving up bail money?
I have probably made it sound like my kids are really violent.  They are not.  They are just young boys and they are brothers who are very close in age. They fight.  They are still learning what is and what is not acceptable.  That's part of growing up, doing stupid shit and learning why you shouldn't have done the stupid shit in the first place.
My boys have learned that it is really really bad to embarrass me in public.  Things just go better for everyone involved, if they act really good in public.  So, we have had very few instances of tantrums being thrown in stores.  Its only been a total of 3 times in their entire little lives that I have been mortified by their public behavior.  So I am very lucky there. Maybe that will keep them from getting kicked out of school.  Home however is another story.  Evan will jump off anything, throw stuff, jump on the dog and act like a monkey who has drank an entire truckload of mountain dew.  Daily, this is a daily thing.  Aden is a bit more subdued, but sneaky.  He can basically be trusted.  But he is the instigator in most cases.  He likes to tell Evan to do stuff that he knows isn't allowed.  He will pester Evan until Evan hits him so he can tattle on him.  If Evan is playing with a toy, Aden has to have it.  Typical little boy stuff.  I know I shouldn't worry to much about them in school,but I do.  The crap we pulled as kids will land you in jail now.


I guess there is no sense in worrying about it now.  But just in case, I am going to start saving up bail money and checking out homeschool programs :) 

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Suffering from SSF

SSF is a growing problem.  I believe that this year it will reach epidemic proportions.  There are no shots to prevent it and only one cure.  Yes, SSF  affects millions of people all over the world, every year.  But we never see commericals about fantastic new drugs, with frightening side effects,  that have been developed to treat the disease. No, like the common cold, people suffer in silence.
It has hit my household very hard this year. 
SSF, more commonly referred to as Severe Spring Fever, is in fact somewhat treatable. 
You can see the masses searching for relief from the terrible symptoms at such places like Home Depot, Menards, Lowe's and other home and garden stores.  You can spot the sufferers in places like Walmart, by their shuffling feet, vacant eyes, searching over and over for things that just aren't out on the shelves yet.
Symptoms will vary from person to person and in some cases can be quite severe.  
Symptoms include, but are not limited to;
Constantly looking out of the windows to see if the snow has all melted yet.
Frantic searching of Internet sites looking at "spring" projects.
Drawing up plans for landscaping projects or gardens.
Searching through seed and bulb catalogs, going through stashes of seeds on hand and putting them in the order that you plan to plant them.
Strange urges to pick up accumulated dog crap in your yard the first day it hits 50 degrees (I think that is about 10 Celsius). 
Making unnecessary trips outside.
Wanting to turn off the heat and open the windows.
Planning trips to above mentioned home and garden stores with the intent to look at seeds, bulbs, plants and fencing.
There are just too many symptoms to mention, but beware, this dreadful condition can strike at any time, without notice. 
While the symptoms in adults are in most cases, fairly benign, they can be devastating in children.
It seems to cause destructive behavior, even violence.  It is believed that these symptoms such as breaking an unusually large amount of household items by children are best treated by sending the offending small people outside so they won't tear the house down. This is exactly what this diabolical disease wants!  But it is alot safer than leaving the affected children inside to wreak havoc on yet another unsuspecting piece of furniture.  
SSF can also affect pets.  Most notably dogs.  It can cause them to run about the house at top speed and crash into things, usually small children who don't move fast enough to take cover. They also have been know to leap hysterically from one piece of furniture to another, all while running as fast as they can.  
It can be a dangerous time, when SSF has presented itself in your home.  So here are some helpful tips, that may help keep you safe and sane.
Just get out the mud boots, dress the children in old clothes and kick them and the crazy manic dog outside.  Make frequent trips to home depot, menards and lowe's.  Go to Walmart at least once a week and wander around in the garden center.  Ask everyone you see when they are going to put the gardening stuff out.
The symptoms are however, short lived.  By mid-June all symptoms in the US should have passed.  To be followed by WDSSS (When Does School Starts Syndrome). 
So Best of luck making it though SSF season.  I'll be at Home Depot :)

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Completely Freaked Out

I have completely freaked myself out!   The Culprit??  Knitting.  I love it!  I can't believe it, but I really truly do.  It's freaky.  I have always fancied myself a creative person trapped in a very uncooperative body.  I really would love to be creative, however, I just am not.
Having married into an obnoxiously creative family, I tend to stick out like a sore thumb.
Every single one of them has something they are disgusting good at, a couple of them more than one thing.  We'll start with my father in law.  extraordinary painter, awesome drummer & singer.  Disgusting really.  When I found out that his band had opened for Aerosmith, many, many years ago, I thought I would just die.  Really, that just floored me.  Then there are his paintings.  OMG.  You have to see them to believe them.  I couldn't in any stretch of the imagination describe them in a way that would do them justice, so I won't.  But they are unbelievable.  My mother in law..  What isn't she good at??  Her cooking is to die for.  I am not talking about one or two dishes, its everything she cooks.  Little bit of Heaven on a plate. My youngest sister in law makes fabulous jewelry!  That's irritating too, although I do enjoy it when I get something she has made for me.  Even Bill.  He can draw, omg can he draw.  Not just pictures of crap of stuff he sees,  he can draw anything you ask him too.  But designs for building the kitchen, etc.  He does all of that.  Its like living with an architect, which he did go to school for, but I doubt a lot of them can actually build personally what they drew.
Which leaves me.  I would love to draw.  My stick people look deformed.  Writing?  ah maybe but I am really too lazy.  See I get my big ideas when I am in bed, trying to sleep and am really to lazy to get out of bed to write them down.  I am a pretty good cook, most of the time but nowhere near the level of Fran, may her name be praised :)  I like to do crafty things, but I have the attention span of a 2 year old, so unless it takes under 3 minutes I will get bored and move on. 
However, this knitting thing is amazing.  I am big on multi-tasking and this is it!.  I can knit while watching tv or refereeing the boys.  I am working on reading while knitting. That in my opinion will be the ultimate.  But right now I am just not good enough at the knitting, but I am working on it.
It just surprises me that I like to do it.   I find myself getting all excited looking at patterns and different types of stitches.  Freaky.  Knitting is so not me.  Or rather I don't feel like it should be, but apparently it is.  I get so excited thinking about yarn.  Yarn?  It's right up there with picking out a bottle of wine for me now.  I can't wait till I can have some wine again.  Stupid medications.  I love knitting like I love wine and chocolate.  Creepy and strange.  Knitting is oddly calming.  I just can't seem to get over that it doesn't bore to me tears.  Doing the same thing over and over and over.  
 I am really looking forward to making things for everyone for the holidays. Now the big questions are what?  Since very few of the people who will be getting presents actually read this blog, I feel safe in revealing what I have in mind.  I am sure those people can keep their mouths shut and act surprised when the time comes lol. besides this list is subject to change without notice.

For the boys I am thinking blankets, hats and booties in their favorite colors.
For Rich I am thinking a lap blanket in Red and Black checks.
For Bill  I am thinking possibly camo socks that he can wear around the house, since Sam has this thing about his slippers. Maybe a beer coozie?
For Jana, a slouchy beret style hat with matching fingerless gloves..maybe
For Fran, Hat, headband and scarf maybe still thinking about it.
For Dunkle Phil, Aunt Miss Andrea and Barry....Wine coozies.  I was thinking hats and scarves for everyone, but I saw this pattern and its really way cool, since they like wine I thought it may be a good idea. Maybe the hats & scarves anyway.
And that is all I have come up with so far.  I still have some more  people on the Christmas list, you know who you are :)  but still not sure of what to do, so I will ponder it.

I have another doctor's appointment Friday and I am actually looking forward to the long wait in the waiting room.  I will knit. 

Monday, February 14, 2011

Happy Valentines Day!!

Another Valentine's Day.  Peachy or should I say Strawberry because that goes better with chocolate?  Either way, this ranks up there among holidays that I find to be rather silly, cute, but still silly.
I like flowers. I love chocolate.  Cards are nice.  However, I like flowers that are alive and in my garden so I can look at them for more than a week. This has alot to do with my pollen issues. I like pollen to be outside. The flowers will die and end up setting around and shriveling, a living plant or a few packets of flower seeds would be in my opinion, alot nicer.  I can't think of many things more delicious than chocolates, but do I really need to eat an entire box?  No I don't. But that would be exactly what would happen because I flunked sharing in Kindergarten and never have the desire to share chocolate of any kind with anyone, unless it's nasty and I just want to see if someone else will eat it.  That is some good info to tuck away for future reference.  If I offer to share some chocolate,  I probably think its nasty.  Unless of course I am trying to get something from you, in that case, most people don't need to worry, Bill might need to worry ;)
And well its hard to complain about a card, but one could always just save the money and say it.  Saves Time and Money.  But I know some people, sometimes have a difficult time expressing themselves, so cards are okay, I guess.  But 80% of Valentines day cards are purchased by women.  Hmmmm.
Moving right along to another issue with Valentines Day.  Just one day?  Really?  Every single day should be an occasion to express to someone how important they are to you.  Not just once a year.  Everyday.  This can be done quite cheaply.  Little notes are good or hey you could just say something. If the point of today is to celebrate the deeds of Saint Valentine, which might be hard to do, since there appears to have been more than one, We should probably do something nice for people in general.  But what would depend on what story you believe.
There are alot of stories concerning how the day came about and exactly who St. Valentine was. Apparently there were three or so.  All were martyred.  So we have three men, who in one way or another, believed in something and were killed for their beliefs and we get flowers and chocolate out of it. 
Here are a few quick rundowns of the stories I like best.

#1
One story says that Valentine was a priest who served during the 3rd century in Rome.  Emperor Claudius II felt that single men made better soldiers so he outlawed marriage for them. Valentine, thought this was a dumb idea and performed marriages in secret. When Claudius found out, he had Valentine put to death.
Now, that is pretty romantic, not for Valentine, but from this one I can almost see the reason to celebrate. But maybe with wide scale marriages.

#2
Another popular story is that Valentine helped Christians escape from Roman prisons, where they were probably tortured and beaten.
That's the whole story, so not seeing any romance there. So if you go with this one how would you celebrate?  Freeing political prisoners??  Maybe.  Not sure on this one.  Unless maybe we could make it a "let's not torture or beat anyone today', Day.

#3
Now in this other story, Valentine sent the first 'Valentine' himself.  Supposedly he was in prison and fell in love with the jailer's daughter.  At his death he sent her a love letter signed "From Your Valentine".  Ah isn't that sweet, but wasn't he a priest? celibate?  She was probably very cute and nice he just forgot.  Another romantic one.

Here is another theory.
Perhaps the Christian Church decided to celebrate in the middle of February, to further Christianize" celebrations of the pagan Lupercalia festival. At the time, in Rome, February was the official beginning of spring and a time for purification. Houses were ritually cleansed by sweeping them out and then sprinkling salt and a type of wheat called spelt throughout the inside of the home. Lupercalia, which began at the ides of February, February 15, was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus.

Now, I will skip gory details but in a nutshell, animals were sacrificed and women were touched by the hides of the animals, believing it to make them more fertile.  The woman put their names in a large urn and bachelors picked names out and they paired off.  These usually resulted in marriages. Pope Gelasius declared February 14 St. Valentine's Day around 498 A.D. The Roman "lottery" system for romantic pairing was deemed un-Christian and outlawed.

So there you go.  Your guess as to what is true, is as good as mine.
But what I want to know why more people don't get married on Valentine's day?   If you think this little rant on Valentine's Day was irritating, just wait till Easter.  I have plenty to say about that holiday. :)

Enjoy your Flowers, Chocolate and Cards :)

Friday, February 11, 2011

The Weekly Bitch :)

Well it appears as if the new changes at Bill's work are not working in the way, we thought they would.  Last night he logged 18 hours, I am pretty sure that before he went to work yesterday he was already sitting at 60+ hours.  So here is a little background, so my bitching makes sense.  The company he works for is a grocery supply warehouse.  He is the shipping supervisor.  Before he was promoted, 60+ hour weeks were fairly common, several times a year, around the weeks when people eat more, holidays and such.  Now they aren't a really large company, but unlike other companies in this crappy economy, they are still growing and hiring. People still need to eat.  Anyway, they are switching everything around to basically make everything more efficient and better utilize personnel etc.  You get it, I'm sure.  So instead of leaving the house at 1 or 2 pm now he leaves around 10 am.  Instead of getting off anywhere from 3:30 am to 7am he now gets home..oh wait that part hasn't changed. And there in lies my issue.  He is truly one exhausted dude.  This morning, he rolls in at 4:30 am, drops his lunch box on the counter, staggers upstairs, strips and falls into bed.  He remained awake just long enough to tell me he needs up no later than 10 because he has a meeting this morning.  So the meeting is at 11:30 and who knows how long it will be.  That means he has to leave here no later than 10:30am to get there in time.  Its about an hour each way.  There goes our Friday.  Because this is his Saturday to work.  He used to only work 1 Saturday a month and would get 1 Sunday off a month, on a normal week he is off Friday and Saturday.  Now he just seems to work all the time.  I really hate this for him. He got really used to spending alot of time with the boys the first 2 weeks after my surgery and he thought that this new schedule would help at least with him being able to spend the mornings with us.  With the new schedule he wouldn't get off work before 10:30 pm anyway but he would be getting up in the morning with us.  I Think.  It confuses me, but then its not hard to confuse me.  So Bill is pretty stressed, frustrated and tired.  He hates making plans with the boys and then having to cancel.  He was supposed to have Superbowl Sunday off, which would have been the first Superbowl he would have gotten to see in over 5 years.  He and the boys planned a Superbowl party.  They were all very excited, especially since Daddy promised to cheer for Aden's  'Cheese Hats".  That is an entirely other story, but I'll get to that later.  So ended up no Superbowl party with daddy and Mommy didn't cut it.  To make up for it, he said he would take them up to Menard's today to help him get some things.  They love Menard's because they have a huge play area.  But because of the meeting, no Menard's today.  Friday is usually errand day.  Walmart, library, etc.  We can't skip walmart, out of too many things and we'll never make it till next Friday. So, to make things even worse for him, he's  going to running around all afternoon. There is no such thing as a quick trip to Walmart. There is a $20 cover and at least an hour minimum, not sure how they do it, but they do. Besides I have books and stuff waiting at the library.  That wouldn't be such an issue if the Doctor would clear me to walk.  But its about 9 blocks and all up hill coming home so I am pretty sure I shouldn't just walk lol.
Hopefully, things will get straightened out soon at the warehouse.  I am not bitching so much about the hours as about how tired he is.  So that's the bitch of the week, I miss my husband and the boys miss their daddy :) but on the bright side he so far isn't scheduled to work next weekend, so hopefully he'll be off Friday and Saturday.

About the Cheese Hats.  Aden caught me playing a game called Fate on the computer a year or so ago, when he snuck downstairs after bedtime.  He really loved the game, mostly because you can change your dog into things and you can fish.  So I set him up with this own character and used the cheats to really modify the game so its a little more appropriate for him to play.  He mostly fishes, changes clothes, buys and sells stuff.  When we were doing his character, I used a code to get him a Cheesehead hat' which he loves.  Apparently someone who designed the game was a packers fan.  So that's where the "cheese hats' come from.  He Does love football in general, but if you ask him what team he likes he will tell you his favorite team is "his Chiefs" .  Evan loves the chiefs too, but really likes anyone who wears a blue uniform, Aden just likes people in Red uniforms with the exception being the Cheese Hats.  Mommy still prefers College football.  I like seeing guys play well even though they aren't getting paid.  I still think NFL players make entirely too much money.  IT'S a GAME.  No one pays when I play a game, even if I am exceptionally good at it.

The Critters are all the same.  Mama is still Fat and Cranky. Gracie is still wandering around the house at night and washing her paws in Sam's water bowl, Monkey is still Monkey and mostly avoids everyone and everything.  Sam, is well still Sam.  She still thinks the cats want to play with her. So I have come to this conclusion concerning her, puppies are stupid.  She is a pretty smart dog unless cats are involved.  I don't get it.  But I do have some earrings handy just in case mama cat pierces Sam's ear again.  Almost a year of this and its the same.  Sam goes back, bugs Mama, mama mutilates the dog.  Dog cries and whines like a baby and then tries it again the next day.  Weird. 

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Ah how precious..the circle of life



So This fella has decided that our old elm tree in the back yard is the absolute perfect spot for a nest.  For all I know he's been living there for a while and its only because there are no leaves on the tree now that I can see the nest.  He's just so cool.  I am calling it a he until someone else decides to check.  I am not checking to see if its a boy or a girl.  We had entirely too many pigeons anyway and this dude is doing some serious thinning out.  Saw him for the first time a couple of weeks ago sitting on the roof of the house across the street, chowing down.  We thought at first he might have been injured.  So we kept a close eye on him just  in case.  Figured if he didn't move by the time it started to get dark, we'd call fish & feathers to see what they could do.  He's just fine was just enjoying his meal.  So now we have been seeing him on a daily basis.  My only real complaint is the mess.  There are pigeon feathers everywhere.   It could be worse.  So he's welcome to stay as long as he keeps up the good work :)  But I think that means that we won't be doing as much trimming of the elm tree this spring as we had originally planned.  I do not want to disturb the nest.  But we do need to get a dead branch off of the tree before it falls on the neighbor's garage.  I think I'll call fish & feathers anyway to see if we can do that without disturbing Mr. Hawk.
I love hawks. Actually I love all raptors, but this guy has me a bit stumped.  he only stayed on the ground for about 4 minutes before he took his lunch and left.  So I didn't get a really good chance to see his back and tail feathers until he took off and that wasn't long enough for me to figure out what he was.  But I think he is a Red-Shouldered hawk just going by his chest.
If anyone knows different please let me know!  Anyway, I like him hanging out alot more than the skunk and the possum. 


Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Too Much to Choose From

I will admit that over the last 3 weeks I have watched entirely too much TV.  But since I was too stupid to read most of the time I just went with it.  TV and knitting.  Boring.
I did start wishing I had a lap top because I was really inspired on several occasions, on a daily basis.
People are fucking stupid.  I am truly amazed that the population on this planet has grown to the obnoxious numbers it has.  Maybe its just what they chose to show on TV, that is giving me the impression that there are a good amount  of people who, instead of doing really dumb-ass things, should be absolutely thrilled that they are still alive.  Proof, that miracles can and do happen.
Detroit- Man being investigated for sexually assaulting a 13 year old girl, goes into the police station and starts shooting at the police.  I don't think I need to let you know how that turned out for him.   But just in case you, like me are concerned for the safety and welfare of the officers who were there, No officers were killed.  I believe I heard that 4 were injured but are expected to recover.  I really don't even have a smart-ass remark for that one. Okay, I do.  What the fuck?? Yeah buddy, no one thinks you are guilty now, dumb-ass.  And unfortunately, Mr. Stupid is dead.  So he got away with harming not only the little girl, but 4 officers and the families of all of them. 


Next on the bitch list.  Dude robs a bank and leaves the bank using a woman as a shield.  Slips on ice, woman runs away, cops shoot stupid bank robber.  Okay time for some honesty.  I really could not stop myself from laughing.  He ran right through the cops after the woman.  Then they shot him.  I believe he was the only person injured, actually I believe he died.  Ha Ha
Why would you run toward the cops?


Idiot # 3
Guy in KC is pulled over, he decides that a high speed chase would be a good idea.  A few minutes later he crashes his car.  He abandons the car and goes into a gas station. Asks to borrow the phone. Then he calls 911.  Tells the operator he needs a ride.  The cops being considerably more intelligent, knew he went into the gas station, because they were right behind him.  One of them walks in and tells the guys he will give him a ride.  Another Funny one.


Are humans de-evolving??????  I could see someone doing stupid shit like this if they were oh say, 16-21 years old there abouts.  We all know that its hard to not be stupid before you hit thirty.  Okay, I know for a fact I was a dumb ass right up until about age 28 or so. Still suffer from occasional stupidity, but not on the scale of these geniuses.


There was alot more.  I got alot of great ideas from watching unhealthy amounts of court shows. 
I also watched to much entertainment news.
Heard and saw many disturbing things.  Donald Trump is deciding whether or not he will run for President.  Oprah has her own network.  Why doesn't  Jerry Bruckheimer have his own network??  Or several?


Trump for President.  Hmmm... Well apparently he's not to shabby at running businesses.  Not too sure how I would feel about him running the country though.  But Obama hasn't been in office for very long.  Maybe everyone should chill out a bit, maybe brush up on how our government really works, before deciding  that he's not doing a good job. 
Is it just me or does anyone else have a hard time remembering who the vice president is??  Does he speak?  Maybe I just keep missing him.


I really hate watching all of this TV but I am pretty limited on what I can do still. Thankfully the boys are actually being pretty good.  I just knit and think about why there seem to be so many stupid people running about without supervision.  Maybe its just that there are more people with video phones and we get to see more of them. 


Currently working on a huge blanket.  Its going well.  Thinking about hats and scarves for all the girls for presents.  For the guys, well I am still deciding.  I was thinking hats, but hats are pretty easy to get. so how about knitted tank tops?  maybe tube tops?  Socks???

The boys are loving riding the bus.  Which I need to go and get them ready here pretty quick. Went to the freezer for the first time in over 5 weeks yesterday to get something for dinner.  WOW, someone besides me has been stuffing it with food.  I bet Nana did it. She tends to do stuff like that if she isn't supervised :)  So I couldn't even get to the stuff I made before the surgery.  Oh well, that just means longer before I actually have to cook. 

Got an interesting phone call last night from a very unique group of folks yesterday.. I'll blog about that later.  I believe the follow up call tonight should make it even more..let's go with interesting lol.

Monday, February 7, 2011

Frosty

So NOAA is saying another storm is on its way.  I have completely stopped listening to local weather people. For the last storm, they were all over the place with their forcasts.  We were told to expect around 4 inches from one channel and as much as 6 by another.  We got around 9.  They also never mentioned the ice.  Whatever.  NOAA is always pretty spot on, so we go with them.  This storm doesn't look like it will be the end of the world.  5-6 inches maybe. Not that bad.  It will however be a bit cold, 15 below wind chills tonight.  Thats okay really, I will be inside and probably in bed.  Really though, do you notice a difference once it hits 0 degrees??  Wind chill is alot like Heat index.  I know what it feels like, you don't need to point it out or assign a number to it. Once it hits about 15 degrees I do realize its chilly, 0 degrees and I am well aware that its cold.  I don't need anyone to point out that it feels like 15 below.  I have felt 45 below 0  (actual temp not wind chill) its cold.  I didn't really care if it felt like 55 below.  I was freezing my ass off at 0.  Once it hits 90 degrees and it will, it does every year, I am too freakin' hot. I don't care if it "feels like" 112.  I've felt 112 actual temp too.  I think I had actually started to melt, I know my boots were, really no shit, my boots were melting.  Anyway, don't tell me what it feels like.  Tell me when its perfect.  I would like the news stations to break in if the tempature is exactly 68 degrees and stays there.  Let me know, so I know to go outside.  I can tell if its raining, snowing, storming or if the wind is blowing.  I know all of this by going outside or by using this bit of magic called looking out the window.  I know, people are awed in my presence because of these spectacular gifts I possess.
But Because I am such a team player, the actual tempature outside, right now is 27 degrees, supposedly it feels like 15 degrees.   I have been outside this is my take.
Its really not that bad right now, as long as you don't get a gust of wind, then its just cold.  Its cloudy, feels a bit damp.  Big, dark, low hanging, 'Something Wicked This Way Comes' sorta clouds, except these are just sitting there.  By my observations, I would suggest, staying inside if and when you can.  See how easy that was.  No special or expensive equipment needed.
I am however continuely amazed, by everyone on TV acting like this never happens.  Yes, Snowmageddeon was a large and pretty nasty little storm, but, ummm it is winter.  We still have almost 2 months left of winter.  Then it will be spring.  It will rain and there will be tornados, hail, 70 mph winds and widespread flooding.  Then summer, where suprise, it will be nice for a month or so, then it will get to hot.  Then Fall and then Winter again.  Its the Midwest, this happens every year, pretty much like clockwork. 
Okay I'm done, I do feel a little better.  I have to blog now.  I have learned I can't just say things to the TV.  Little ears hear and repeat.  For example.....
Was upstairs and the boys were in their room when I hear a little voice say very forcefully,"Oh My God, what is wrong with you people,  you really stupid"..  I get up and look in the boys room.  Evan has a bunch of dinosaurs and stuffed animals sitting on the train table, yelling at them.  I am not sure what the toys did but apparently it was bad. Once I composed myself, we had a chat about how it is probably not a good idea to say that, Mommy shouldn't be saying that either.  Oops
As funny as it was, that's not the worst thing to come out of his mouth.  Aden isn't really like that.  Its all my mini me, Evan.  From him you'll hear all sorts of fun phrases, like 'Damn dog", Friggin'  dumb ass, Shit, although with that one its  mostly just thrown into a sentence randomly and makes no sense.  My favorite so far is 'Douche bag'.  I'll wait whilst you compose yourself.  That's not something I say, ever.  So it was a bit of a puzzle to figure where he got it.   I have tried very hard to modify my language since the boys were born.  My choice of words has always been more toward the more colorful and descriptive than most people expect.   But I believe I have done very well, considering.  My darling husband, however, has gotten worse.  He never really cussed that much, when I first met him.  I believe I was bad influence.  Now he cusses like a sailor. 
I am convinced that we are now offically out of the running for any parenting awards. 

Sunday, February 6, 2011

The Economy- Quick fix

I normally don't like discussing politics.  But sometimes and this is one of them, stuff really starts to annoy me.  So, today's rant is about the fucking economy.  This is not rocket science people, I am no math genius and I can figure it out.  First big issue and we'll use Egypt as an example.  If they want to revolt and I completely support the Egyptian people on this one, revolt.  Go on ahead.  Just leave the museum alone. They seem to be doing a decent job of getting their wishes know, let's let them take back control of their own country. I actually feel this way about most countries that are unhappy with their government. Put your big pants on and overthrow your government if that is what you want.  Now in some cases, if we are asked to help, fine we should help those who ask.  But if they aren't asking We should just lend Moral support maybe some training or advice.  That's it.  Not money,not troops.  Now I know that no one has even mentioned the US going in to 'help' in any way.  Let's keep it that way.  Unless of course it is to help protect the nations treasures.  That I could agree with.  The Museum of Cairo should be protected.  That said, let's let the Egyptians handle their own business.  Only they know what is best for them.  We have enough crap to deal with, we should be too busy to be sticking our nose in everyone else's business.
Moving right along.  The economy.  So it sucks, we all get that and yet, no one really seems to be making any big strides at fixing the problem. I don't see how continuing to send jobs overseas is helping, but like I said, math really isn't my strong suit.   But I have given this some thought and its really, no really, fixing it is stupid easy and I can't believe that everyone would rather sit around and bitch about it than fix it.
Here is the simple fix.  2 simple steps.
1. legalize prostitution
2. legalize marijuana
Ta Daa!!!!!! 
Economy all fixed.  Both are not legal now and people are still buying pot and renting hookers.  Legalize it, the government can regulate it and tax it.  Make prostitutes get a license, mandatory health checks, rules , taxes..yada yada.  Prostitution won't go away, ever. Its always been around, legalize it.  Think of the support jobs it would create.  People to handle the paperwork, booking, scheduling, the possibilities are endless. Legalizing it would make it safer for everyone, especially the women and men to choose that as their profession. I could go on for days but in a nutshell,  Win win for everyone, tons of money for the government.

Marijuana is not legal and people still smoke it.  Now they even make synthetic drugs to mimic it.  That's a waste of time.  Why not just legalize it, tax it.  Now we have another cash crop.  I don't think we would have to bother exporting it.  Farm land that is going to waste, could be used, you could make the taxes on it stupid high, hehehe that was funny sorry, anyway, you have once again created tons of jobs and money with no real effort. Farmers could go back to farming.
Sure I would imagine that the first few months there may be a 'rush' to buy it, but really how is that different from alcohol?  What is the first thing most 21 year olds do?  Give it the same rules as alcohol. No smoking and driving, no showing up to work zoned.  Easy.  If you tax it enough to make money, but not so much as to create a black market, you have solved alot of issues.  People who legitimately can benefit from the medical uses can.  It may even help with the issue of keeping kids from ever smoking.  I read somewhere that with all the tobacco  nasty campaigns, the rates of kids smoking has seriously declined.  I am not advocating smoking pot, I don't think everyone should.  But then I know alot of people who shouldn't drink, at all.  There will always be people who abuse it, but we have researched it for years and while we don't know everything about pot, we know more about it than we know about this K2 stuff, which I think they will find out is just flat out dangerous because of some of the things they are using to create the stuff.  I don't think heroin, cocaine, meth, Ecstasy or any other drugs should be legalized, just pot.  Just legalize it and start the campaigns to teach people why they shouldn't do it.  Just like tobacco. 
But legalized, the government would be creating jobs, in this country.  Farmers could go back to farming, the government can regulate it and tax it.  There are plenty of people who will buy it regardless, but there are also alot of people who won't.  Cigarettes are legal, alcohol is legal, lot of people choose to do neither.  Some people choose to.  I don't think that it really will cause a collapse of society.  It will probably be the same people who smoke pot now.  But it might cut down on drug trafficking from other countries.  Hopefully anyway.
Its not a bullet proof plan but it could possibly generate enough jobs and cash to get the economy back on track.    Just a thought. 

Friday, February 4, 2011

It's Friday.....Time to shovel out

So yesterday I saw a news clip of people in KC complaining that their streets hadn't been plowed yet.  And????  Really this is news?  We only get Kansas City local channels, 3 of them and during the blizzard they didn't cover anything else that was happening in the world or country. No World Evening news, no mention of the stuff going on in Egypt, nothing but snow.
Fine, I get it, but I have to assume that everyone else was watching the same 3 channels I was.  KC has 250 snow plows, all were working non stop throughout the storm. Did these people miss the bits about I-70 shut down? Or that most of the friggin' state was shut down???  Actually I think the entire state was shut down, but the maps they use here for the weather don't go past the Lake of the Ozarks, so we have no idea what was going on with those people who live in Southeast MO.  I am guessing they had some pretty shitty weather too.  My street hasn't been plowed.  They didn't even salt during the first part of the storm when we were just getting ice.  Are we flipping out????  No.  Here is what has happened on our street this year.  Everyone just went out and started shoveling.  Everyone helps everyone one else out.  Last year, during the Christmas Eve Blizzard, Bill and 3 of our neighbors had to work together to get cars dug out.  Did we see a plow then....no.  We would probably die from shock if we did see a snow plow.  But no one is bitching about it.  There are alot of roads here, I think we may only have one or two plows for the entire town, I don't know, not really all that concerned.   I just think that everyone should calm down a bit.  It could have been worse.  It could have been an ice storm!  how quickly they forget how bad it can be. 

There will be school today......I think.  I haven't seen an announcement closing it.  Nana goes home today.  She will be missed.  The boys really don't want her to go.  The dog is in love (traitorous bitch), I will miss her too!  Now I have to eat my own cooking.  I am a good cook, Nana is of course better!!!!.

But it will be nice to attempt to get things back to normal.  The boys have been running loose for too long.  To the best of my knowledge they haven't done a single chore since the day before I had surgery.  That will stop, today.
I spoke with the Doctor yesterday and asked when I could lift 5 pounds again.  Now this is my fault.  I should have been for specific with him. He said yes I can lift 5 pounds now, as long as it doesn't hurt.  I hung up and realized what I did.  I really wanted to know when I would be cleared so I can lift between 5-10 pounds.  I did call back, he chuckled (he really doesn't laugh) and said I can lift  5 pounds and push no more than 8, which means I can vacuum, as long as it doesn't hurt.  I do still have stitches.  Fever is pretty much gone. nothing higher than 99.9 all week, the bleeding is practically non-existent.  Now my only issue is getting tired really fast, which bugs me alot, but I am sure those around me enjoy it.  I tend to bounce around less when I am tired :)

Bill officially starts his new work schedule Sunday!  So we'll be a bit more like normal people. He'll actually get up with us in the morning... Which means he'll be able to sleep when the boys are, so he might actually get to sleep.  The boys don't seem to yell as much when they are sleeping.

Lot's stuff has happened since the surgery so I think I'll go and blog about that on another page.  It's a bit involved and I am still trying to sort things out.
Try and enjoy the snow while its here.  In a few months, we'll all be bitching about the heat and mosquitoes :)

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

The Blizzard of Oz 2011

Snow, Snow, Snow.


So they are saying it was a historical snow event.  Duh.   Highways and interstates are shut down all across Missouri and Kansas. We didn't lose power, yet, I won't totally relax until the winds die down, but so far so good.  Snow is about 8-9 inches so not that bad, although the drifts are amazing.  Bill had to work yesterday so he left about 3 hours early to make the 50 minute trek to work.  He said the highway was not too bad but there were spots were he had to drive through drifts a few feet high and the visibility was terrible. 
Not sure how he is going to get to work today, it looks like every road out of town is shut down.  Maybe I should go and wake him up so he can start walking lol. 


The boys really want to go out and play in the snow but the temps are terrible right now I think it is about 12 below zero with the wind chill, so that is what we will be dealing with today and tomorrow. 


I think that when Nana goes home Friday I will just try and get along by myself next week.  I still have the babysitter, who does live close by, if I need help in the evening.  But I am doing alot better.  I can get around okay as long as no one expects anything to be done fast lol.
Still really sore and still having some bleeding but the incision is closed so thats a plus.  Doctor still won't lift  the lifting restrictions so that may prove to be a bit of an issue, but I do have to strong young guys here with me all the time if I need any heavy lifting done.  Nana just needs a break.  I think we have totally worn her out. 


Sam is not happy with the snow.  When she steps off the porch when we take her out, the snow is up to her chest and she has to wade out about 10 feet to get to a place where she can do her business.  Its pretty funny to watch. 


I really don't have anything witty to post at the moment lol.   Tons of stuff to post about the situation in Egypt, but I'll do that later.  I really do wish that they would move the protesting a bit further away from the Museum in Cairo. 


Hope everyone is safe