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. 

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. 

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.

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. 

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. 

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 :)

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