Sunday, October 31, 2004

Halloween Photos

Here are a couple of photos of the Trick-or-Treaters. I'll post a better one of the Chick when Jerri sends me one. I had my camera set on macro and didn't realize it until after she was too tired to sit still for another photo. Jami didn't bring Krysten, MeriKate, and Abie over for me to see so I'm hoping that she took some photos of them. I hope Trish took photos of Jordan and Jaylen too.



Saturday, October 30, 2004

Quickie

Banking, Cooking, Playing, Laundry, Trick-or-Treating.
Photos to follow tomorrow.
Nanny's pooped tonight.

Happy Halloween Weekend!!

Friday, October 29, 2004

Family Stress Test

How to score: 0 if the statement is never true, 1 if it is rarely true, 2 if it is sometimes true, and 3 if it is always true.

1. ___ Conversations often begin with "Put the gun down, and then "we can talk."

2. ___ The school principal has your number on speed-dial.

3. ___ The cat is on Valium.

4. ___ People have trouble understanding your kids, because they learned to speak through clenched teeth.

5. ___ You are trying to get your four-year-old to switch to decaf.

6. ___ The number of jobs held down by family members exceeds the number of people in the family.

7. ___ No one has time to wait for microwave TV dinners.

8. ___ "Family meetings" are often mediated by law enforcement officials.

9. ___ You have to check your kid's day-planner to see if he can take out the trash.

10.___ No-Doze gives you bulk rates.

How you rate:
30 - A perfect score. Welcome to the neighborhood!
20-29 - You are doing reasonably well, but still have too little going on in your life. Crank it up.
10-19 - You have mastered some of the aspects of the stress-filled life, but still have a long way to go. Have you considered a parallel career path?
0- 9 - Enjoying all that extra time? What do you do anyway?

Thursday, October 28, 2004

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

58,000 absentee ballots missing in Florida.

Attention focused on a batch of 58,000 Broward ballots given to the Postal Service on Oct. 7-8. Though some voters have completed and returned ballots mailed those days, hundreds of others have called to complain their forms have not arrived. It was unclear how many absentee ballots were affected.

Why am I not surprised?

I'll be so glad when this election is over and one of the two evil candidates sets forth to do his doings.

Try your hand at the political game here with the Presidential Campaign Simulator.


Excuse me while I go do something totally nonpolitical like clean my fridge.

Wednesday, October 27, 2004

One of Those Days

It didn't start out too good around here. I was up at 6 and then, before I could even get my second cup of coffee and talk Zach into getting dressed for school, Jami was here with the MeriKate and Abie for me to watch while she went to a meeting. I gotta tell you, if someone expected me to be at a meeting by 7 they could just kiss my big, old, tired ass. Even if I did make the meeting, they'd be sorry they ever ask me to come that early in the morning for sure.

So, I got the girls settled in front of the tv with colors and coloring books and came in here to post to my blog and see what my blog buds have been up to. My site would not open, the Blogger site would not open. I felt as though there'd been a death in the family!

I finally gave up and got my shower and after the girls went home, drove into town to buy more groceries (I swear they inhale food around here like a coke addict does cocaine). I went to my favorite of all places to shop, (Wal Mart) where they most likely have my mug on a Wanted Poster back in the Employee's lounge. (That's how they honor you as a disgruntled, bitchy, take no shit, customer ya know). Naturally I ran into everydamnbody in the world who knows your name while I was there and had to be courteous and stuff.

As I was getting ready to make my escape I saw the mother of one of the football boys who played ball for years with my son and I tried to quietly back down the aisle so as not to have to be courteous and stuff some more, but she caught me and followed my retreat to tell me that ESPN had been trying to get in contact with my son for an interview for the piece they're doing about Hometown football teams (or something like that. I only half-ass listen to stuff and then it comes back to bite me on the butt on occasions like this). ESPN is supposed to be at the game on Friday night and they're interviewing some of the players who were part of this team's (Barton Bears) record breaking tradition. I gave her his cell number and got away.

On my way home I stopped in at Jerri's shop to tell her that someone would be calling Bubbie about an interview and the Chick decided that she wanted to go home with me. After I got her settled in to watch cartoons, I hurriedly slipped out to unload the groceries from the truck. After we (yes, she helped) put away the grub, we settled in to watch Dora The Explorer and Blues Clues. I was about to be shocked to see Blues and Magenta behind the same screen changing into their Halloween costumes until Steve called Blue she a time or two and my shock turned into surprise to find out that Blue IS A GIRL! (Blue just sounds like a boy's name to me I guess).

When it was time for the school bus, we went outdoors to sit on the porch and wait for Zach to come home. After homework we went back out to play for awhile and I was attacked by this MONSTER BUG!



The Chick was in my lap as it was crawling up my leg and as I was trying to get the damned thing off me the Chick abandoned my lap in a hurry cause as much as she loves her Nanny, she wanted no part of that BUG. Zach came over and caught it and put it in a Sprite bottle so he could keep it for a pet.



That only lasted as long as it took the BUG to get enough of captivity and release his pretty stinky defense mechanism and Zach released him into the wild, really fast.



We also had some chocolate.

Nanny is tired now and she sure is glad that Blogger is over he/she/it's Wednesday crisis.

Tuesday, October 26, 2004

I'm Gonna Bitch Today

I stopped in to see John this morning and his entry started me thinking of a really old burr in my butt concerning taxes. So I decided to share Mary and Fred's tax story with you so that you can see why I have this aggravating butt pain.

Please take your blood pressure meds prior to reading.

Tax Story

Fred and Mary are married, both work, and have 4 children under the age of 17.
In 2002 Mary worked part time and earned $13,550 and had no federal income taxes withheld from her wages. Fred earned $22,900 working on on a farm driving a tractor and had $3030.(his choice) federal taxes withheld from his earnings.

A correct 2002 tax return for this couple (married-filing-joint) would have resulted in a tax liability of $1063. but it would be offset by the Child Tax Credit of $4000. (1000. per child) giving them a refund of $2937. of the taxes withheld from Fred's wages.

BUT, Mary and Fred have worked hard, they have 4 children, and they feel they deserve more for their efforts so Mary and Fred decide to follow the course of many of their fellow U.S. citizens and commit a little fraud because it's easily overlooked with the way the tax system works these days.

They each take their W-2s to different tax preparation businesses where they give false information to the tax preparer who has to accept their answers to the interview questions as truth unless they know beyond a doubt that they're not. (The preparers are allowed to submit information to the IRS on returns that they feel are suspect.)

Mary, with her $13,550. in wages, files as head-of-household and takes 2 of the children as dependents. Because her wages are less than the standard deduction and the personal exemptions allowed, she has no tax liability. She had no federal tax withheld BUT she does qualify for Earned Income Tax Credit because according to her interview she maintains a household for 2 dependents who are under the age of 23 and are in school. She receives a refund of $4140. due to the EITC.

Meanwhile, Fred goes to a different tax office and also files as head-of-household, taking the other 2 children as dependents, with his W-2 wages of $22,900. After his standard deduction and personal exemptions are deducted he has a tax liability of $703. This is off-set by the Child Tax Credit so his tax liabilty is reduced to 0. Fred also qualifies for EITC because his gross wages are below $34,178. so he receives $2170. EITC for his 2 dependents. Fred's refund totals $5180 once you add the tax he had withheld also.

The couple's total refund now has increased to $9320.00

This goes on every year folks and not just occasionally. You can't imagine the list of suspected fraudulent returns that I've submitted to the IRS over the years and as far as I know, none of those returns were ever audited. In 2002 that list had over 300 suspect returns on it.

You add it up. That was $6,383. of your money that this one couple gained.

Monday, October 25, 2004

My Bad Bird

Ya-Ya is spoiled rotten and I swear sometimes he (although I'm not certain of the sex yet) doesn't know he's a bird. If he's in his cage in the kitchen and I leave the kitchen/living room area, he raises 9 kinds of hell until I'm back in sight. If I let him out he follows every step I make and if he fails to keep up, raises hell some more until he finds me. His wings are clipped so he can only do the short hop flights so mostly he follows me on his little birdie feet. We have to be careful around here so as not to step on his little birdie head. He loves to perch on my feet when I'm cooking dinner or at the computer.



His favorite perch is on the back of my chair when we're watching tv. He loves to have his head and the back of his neck rubbed and when I sing his song, "Bad Bird" (sung to the tune of the "Cops" song) he runs back and forth across the back of my chair bobbing his head.

Here are photos of a pissed off Ya-Ya the other day when we went outside without him.
He's standing at the door raising hell.



Sunday, October 24, 2004

Saturday, October 23, 2004

Another Rainy Saturday

Guess who didn't wake up until almost 9 this morning? It's the same person who was in bed around 10 last night. I think this Nanny is gettin mighty lazy of late but I'm going to blame it on the coolish morning and the rain pattering on the roof.

Jerri and her Chick side-kick, and Bubbie came to visit today and after the rain we went out and sat in lawn chairs and watched Zach (his second mud bath of the day) and the Chick play in the mud and water. Those two should have been frogs.

We then cooked a lucious supper of fried chicken breasts, mashed taters, french-friend eggplant, broccoli casserole, lima beans, and biscuits. Jerri made peanut butter/choc chip cookies, another choc chip/walnut dessert, and a dump cake for desserts.

Now Nanny is stuffed and sleepy.





**There was a tornado south of the farm today around 1:00. We didn't have any bad weather here but they told us that the storm down there took out an ag plane hanger and several cotton modules were shorn off and there's cotton strewn around everywhere down there.

Friday, October 22, 2004

Reminders

People who have access to younguns should take advantage of their amazing abilities to remember things. They could throw away all those blasted sticky notes (I have a shit-load of these) and balls of string they have lying around as memory jogging tools.
Honestly folks, kids remember EVERYTHING and you can especially count on them to remember things that you've said with unconscious thought.

The other day the Chick was making her rounds with one of her books. She'll take it to everyone in the room (and amazingly, she seems to know the age group of those who can read) and each person has to take their turn to read the story to her. About the second time that your turn comes around, she wants more interaction with the story such as sound effects, and likes for you to ask her questions about the pictures in the book. Big Bird's Day on the Farm was the preferred book of the day.

During my second turn, we came to the last page where Big Bird, Floyd, and Ruthie, were gathered at the table having a farm grown and raised lunch and we were discussing the items on the menu.

Milk (comes from the cow)
Salad (comes from the garden)
Honey (comes from the bee hives)
Bread (comes from the wheat)

Then we come to the picture of the eggs.

This Nanny was on her second trip through this book in an hour and decided to throw a curve ball at the little tyke.

Eggs (comes from a chicken's butt)

Then her Mommy pipes up,

Milk (comes from a cow's boobies)

Ask the Chick today where honey comes from and she won't remember, but ask her about the eggs and milk.

Go on, I dare ya.

Yesterday wasn't long enough...

So I'll be working on a post for today once I get my left eye open here.

Wednesday, October 20, 2004

Oh Joy

I'm so excited that I almost can't contain myself.

I just remembered that Zach gets out of school early today and I have have to be at the school for a half hour of conferences with 2 teachers at 3.

I will have to wear clothes.

And brush my hair.

And wear shoes.

How fun.

I thought this was neat.

So I borrowed it from Dawn. I followed her lead and have put the things I've done in gold letters.

Have you ever,,,,,

01. Bought everyone in the pub a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula.
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said "I Love You” and meant it
09. Hugged a tree (I've kicked em too)
10. Done a striptease
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea (if a bay counts)
14. Stayed up all night long, and watched the sun rise
15. Seen the Northern Lights
16. Gone to a huge sports game
17. Walked the stairs to the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa
18. Grown and eaten my own vegetables
19. Touched an iceberg
20. Slept under the stars
21. Changed a baby’s diaper
22. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon ( I was too chicken to go up, but I was the spotter)
23. Watched a meteor shower
24. Gotten drunk on champagne
25. Given more than you can afford to charity
26. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
27. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
28. Had a food fight
29. Bet on a winning horse
30. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
31. Asked out a stranger
32. Had a snowball fight
33. Photocopied your bottom on the office photocopier
34. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
35. Held a lamb
36. Enacted a favorite fantasy
37. Taken a midnight skinny dip
38. Taken an ice cold bath
39. Had a meaningful conversation with a beggar
40. Seen a total eclipse (I've seen lots of eclipses but I can't remember if any were total)
41. Rode on a roller coaster
42. Hit a home run
43. Fit three weeks miraculously into three days
44. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
45. Adopted an accent for an entire day
46. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
47. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
48. Had two hard drives for your computer
49. Visited all 50 states
50. Loved your job for all accounts
51. Taken care of someone who was shit faced
52. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
53. Had amazing friends
54. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
55. Watched wild whales
56. Stolen a sign
57. Backpacked in Europe
58. Taken a road-trip
59. Rock climbing
60. Lied to foreign government’s official in that country to avoid notice
61. Midnight walk on the beach
62. Sky diving
63. Visited Ireland
64. Been heartbroken longer then you were actually in love
65. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
66. Visited Japan
67. Benchpressed your own weight
68. Milked a cow
69. Alphabetized your records
70. Pretended to be a superhero
71. Sung karaoke
72. Lounged around in bed all day
73. Posed nude in front of strangers
74. Scuba diving
75. Got it on to Let’s Get It On” by Marvin Gaye
76. Kissed in the rain
77. Played in the mud
78. Played in the rain
79. Gone to a drive-in theater
80. Done something you should regret, but don’t regret it.
81. Visited the Great Wall of China
82. Discovered that someone who’s not supposed to have known about your blog has discovered your blog
83. Dropped Windows in favor of something better
84. Started a business
85. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
86. Toured ancient sites
87. Taken a martial arts class
88. Swordfought for the honor of a woman
89. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
90. Gotten married
91. Been in a movie
92. Crashed a party
93. Loved someone you shouldn’t have
94. Kissed someone so passionately it made them dizzy
95. Gotten divorced
96. Had sex at the office
97. Gone without food for 5 days
98. Made cookies from scratch
99. Won first prize in a costume contest
100. Rode a gondola in Venice
101. Gotten a tattoo
102. Found that the texture of some materials can turn you on
103. Rafted the Snake River
104. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
105. Got flowers for no reason
106. Masturbated in a public place
107. Got so drunk you don’t remember anything
108. Been addicted to some form of illegal drug
109. Performed on stage
110. Been to Las Vegas
111. Recorded music
112. Eaten shark
113. Had a one-night stand
114. Gone to Thailand
115. Seen Siouxsie live
116. Bought a house
117. Been in a combat zone
118. Buried one/both of your parents
119. Shaved or waxed your pubic hair off
120. Been on a cruise ship
121. Spoken more than one language fluently
122. Gotten into a fight while attempting to defend someone
123. Bounced a check (the bank failed to transfer some money and I bounced a BUNCH)
124. Performed in Rocky Horror
125. Read - and understood - your credit report
126. Raised children
127. Recently bought and played with a favorite childhood toy
128. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
129. Created and named your own constellation of stars
130. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
131. Found out something significant that your ancestors did (had an ancestor who was hung as a horse thief)
132. Called or written your Congress person
133. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
134. …more than once? - More than thrice?
135. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
136. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
137. Had an abortion or your female partner did
138. Had plastic surgery
139. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
140. Wrote articles for a large publication
141. Lost over 100 pounds
142. Held someone while they were having a flashback
143. Piloted an airplane
144. Petted a stingray
145. Broken someone’s heart
146. Helped an animal give birth
147. Been fired or laid off from a job
148. Won money on a T.V. game show
149. Broken a bone
150. Killed a human being
151. Gone on an African photo safari
152. Rode on a motorcycle
153. Driven any land vehicle at a speed of greater than 100 mph
154. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
155. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
156. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
157. Rode a horse
158. Had major surgery
159. Had sex on a moving train
160. Had a snake as a pet
161. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
162. Slept through an entire flight: takeoff, flight, and landing
163. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
164. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
165. Visited all 7 continents
166. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
167. Eaten kangaroo meat
168. Fallen in love at an ancient Mayan burial ground
169. Been a sperm or egg donor
170. Eaten sushi
171. Had your picture in the newspaper
172. Had 2 (or more) healthy romantic relationships for over a year in your lifetime
173. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
174. Gotten someone fired for their actions
175. Gone back to school
176. Parasailed
177. Changed your name
178. Petted a cockroach
179. Eaten fried green tomatoes
180. Read The Iliad
181. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
182. Dined in a restaurant and stolen silverware, plates, cups because your apartment needed them
183. …and gotten 86'ed from the restaurant because you did it so many times, they figured out it was you
184. Taught yourself an art from scratch
185. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
186. Apologized to someone years after inflicting the hurt
187. Skipped all your school reunions
188. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
189. Been elected to public office
190. Written your own computer language
191. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
192. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
193. Built your own PC from parts
194. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
195. Had a booth at a street fair
196: Dyed your hair
197: Been a DJ
198: Found out someone was going to dump you via Blogger
199: Written your own role playing game
200: Been arrested

Dang, I'm pretty boring aren't I? I'm going to have a lot to accomplish before I bite the dust.

************************************************************************************
Zach wanted to decorate for Halloween and I didn't so we compromised by making a Halloween corner for him in the dining room.



A new Zach and Chick tale.

Tuesday, October 19, 2004

Warning!!!

This rather graphic picture of an overdose victim is not being shown to you for shock value. Rather, it's in the hope that you will have a frank discussion with friends and family about respecting moderation or knowing their own limits and knowing when to just walk away. As you view this picture, remember, this did NOT have to happen.

Thunder Boomers and Tornados

While my Northern Buds, Ms. Leslie and our one and only Special K, were having snow yesterday, we had to be somewhat different and have a run of Spring-like 80 degree temps, and tornado spawning thunderstorms.

Around noonish the satellite signal was lost just as they were announcing a tornado warning for our little spot in the delta. The storm had already sprouted a few twisters west of here(south of Little Rock and near Stuttgart) so when it became as dark as twilight outside I grabbed my camera with hopes of capturing something good, but the storm decided to just dump a whole bunch of rain in a couple of minutes here and the rain even kept me from seeing any good cloud formations.



We did have some pretty gusty wind and I had a call from Jami, who'd been in Holly Grove a few mile west of me, and she saw a twister touch down over there. Since we usually get so much rain during a bad storm, it's not easy to spot them unless they do touch ground nearby.

In less than 20 minutes it was mostly over and I took this photo.



Five minutes later and the sun was peeking through.

Then last night between 10 and 11 another pretty strong storm cell meandered through (the storms weren't moving very fast at all which they think led to the really bad storms north of here in the Missouri bootheel and in N. E. Tennessee.) It dropped some hail along with a couple of inches or rain and we had some more of the gusty wind stuff.

The weather news was brought to you this morning by Brenda down here in L.A. (Lexa, Arkansas).

Monday, October 18, 2004

Monday again.



Yep, that would be pretty much how I felt as I rolled from my nice soft bed with it's load of pillows this morning. Even with 2 cups of coffee flowing through my veins now, I'm still trying to get the left eye open and it's protesting.

Speaking of eyes, I gotta tell ya'll a Jerri story. This gal is full of stories, most of which will make you pee yourself laughing.

It seems that years ago they had a neighbor Alton, or Alfred, or something like that, who had a glass eye. Don't ask me how we got around to glass eyes but I think we were talking about neighbors when we were growing up. I think the glass eye episode must have stuck with her or something.

Anyway, she told me that Alton (or whoever this dude was) always looked so icky and wicked looking because he wouldn't wash his eye even though it could very easily be taken out for this purpose. I kept my cool face on as she told me this story about the dirty glass eye until she came to the part where she said her momma used to tell the guy, "Alton, you really need to wash your eye", whereupon he would remove the eye and hand it to her momma so she could give it a good scrubbing.

I lost control then and hee-hawed the rest of the way home.

I wish I'd had a neighbor with a glass eye so I could remember cool stories like that.

Sunday, October 17, 2004

Movie Weekend

I've been doing some major movie watching this weekend. Jami bought a few new ones this week and brought them over so I settled in to watch 3 of them Friday night and early Saturday morning.

The Day After Tomorrow




I know this one didn't get good reviews but I liked it. Of course it could be the fact that one of the hunky actors (Dennis Quaid) that I like had the lead part. It left me wondering if such a diaster could ever occur in such a short time. Who knows? They are still trying to figure out how the dinosaurs disappeared in a flash way back yonder aren't they? (Some with food still in their mouths and undigested in their stomachs). Being a southern gal, I'm quite sure that I wouldn't survive such a cold snap though.

The Diary of Ellen Rimbauers



I'm not sure that I can fairly review this tv movie from 2002 cause Stephen King is my hero! I can only dream of having his imagination, the man is brilliant! This movie (and the book, I'm sure) is one of those where you'd best not be folding your laundry, or making a snack during the viewing or you'll miss part of the plot. It made my heart jump up into my throat on several occasions. Viewing this movie is a must prior to viewing the next in line..

Rose Red




This un got my blood flowing. During one really tense part of the movie the toilet in the front bathroom made a loud noise and I nearly jumped out of my skin and I really didn't want to venture into the room to see if something needed fixin either!

Rose Red left me questioning the intelligence of the characters however. (I often do this when I watch spooky movies). All sorts of weird shit's been going on, a couple of folks are dead from entity encounters and you get thirsty and decide to go to the kitchen for a glass of iced tea, alone.

ARE YOU STUPID???!!!

The only way I'd think of getting a drink was if an entire platoon with high powered weapons, gernades, and the Ghost Busters, were to accompany me!

I guess I won't be remembered for my bravery.

Saturday, October 16, 2004

Saturday Photos

It was so nice and cool outside this afternoon when I took these photos.





If I could go back to a place in time,,,

I'd go back to this time. Trish was 21, Jami was 14, and Bubbie was 13.



My family was together, my Mother and Grandfather were still alive and coming to my house for holiday dinners. This was a time when I didn't feel this awful dread of the approaching holidays.

In going back I don't know if I could change the outcome but knowing what I know now, I'd do everything in my power to try.

For this weeks Chick stories.

Friday, October 15, 2004

I think Autumn's arrived.

I had to throw the season's first blanket on the bed last night and yesterday I spent as much time as I could snuggled beneath an afghan wearing my thermal pjs. The temp when I got up this morning was 42 degrees so I reckon Autumn has arrived here in the delta.

I noticed a brisk bite to the air as I stuck my head out the front door this morning to threaten the neighbor's dogs for tipping over the trash dumpster. I'm keeping an eye on the bag of trash on the ground out by the drive in case they want to try to distribute it across the county. I'm trying to wait till the sun gets up a little higher, and it gets a little warmer before I go out clean up their mess.

Hubby has been making short trips down to the farm the past couple of days but is not staying nearly long enough to allow me to get over the time he was here. Call me evil if you want, but if he ever retires I think I'm going to have to go back to work in my old age or find a hobby that will take me away every day. The man makes me crazy.

Thursday, October 14, 2004

Deeply conversing...

During a kid action movie the other night, that I know not the title of, a couple of the boy actors were having their first dates and were working on getting their first kiss from their young lady friends. This led to a deep conversation.

Zach: Nanaw, how old are those boys?

Nanaw: Why?

Zach: Cause they're kissing girls.

Nanaw: Well they're about 27.

Zach: Oh.

Nanaw: Yeah, you'll be about 27 before you'll be old enough to kiss a girl like that.

Zach: Oh, ok.

Nanaw carefully uncrosses fingers and toes.

Wednesday, October 13, 2004

My Prayer

Dear Lord,

This is Brenda. Please, please, PLEASE let the sun shine, the wind blow, the cotton dry out, so this man will leave my house during daylight hours. Otherwise I am going to break the "Thou Shalt Not Kill" commandment and go to jail and be someone's bitch for life.

Amen.

Tuesday, October 12, 2004

Another cloudy, dreary day,,,

but I did step out this morning to take a few photos of the saturated blooms.





I'm done,,,,

with posting tidbits about my grandchildren. I finally had time this morning to open my server email and I got this.

Trish is my oldest daughter.

Wed, 6 Oct 2004 07:40:46 -0700 (PDT)

I have been reading your blog lately. I just wanted
you to know that it really hurts my feelings that you
don't even mention my girls...you wrote about Jaylen's
birthday party....and talked about Alexis the whole
time. I am SO glad my kids aren't old enough to
realize it.

=====
Trisha


I started blogging a year and a half ago in order to have a place to put my thoughts, my ideas, my wishes, my pain, my happiness, and my humor. I never intended for my family to read my blog because I felt that I'd have to hold back on all of the above.

I'm really tired of trying to deal with things that were not my choices and I'm sick of feeling guilty for things I can not change.

Monday, October 11, 2004

Is this stupid or what?

Town Declines Cash from Calendar Girls

Mon Oct 11, 7:19 AM ET

Oddly Enough - Reuters

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A group of California women aged from 51 to 84 posed for a racy calendar to raise money for their local firehouse, but the town turned down the cash as too hot to handle.



The women raised $30,000 to help fix up Carmel-by-the-Sea's firehouse because the upscale town was short of funds, calendar organizer Patty Ross said on Friday.

"I learned we were $2.2 million in debt and thought it would be a fun idea," said Ross.

She said she had obtained permission from the mayor to use the firehouse and its equipment as props for the "Carmel Fire Belles" calendar, which features some partially nude shots.

"One of them is a school teacher, one is a business owner," said Ross, who is Miss November. "We're just hard-working members of the community who thought we were doing a nice thing."

Carmel's mayor was not immediately available for comment, but City Attorney Don Freeman said town officials decided that taking the group's money would open the town to potential lawsuits.

"It would open us up to workplace causes of action such as sexual harassment and hostile environment and things of that nature," Freeman said. "This is the kind of thing that just can't be done in the workplace ... It runs the risk of offending people."

With its white sand beach, Carmel has long been a favorite vacation spot for California's rich and famous. Many also keep homes there, and actor and director Clint Eastwood once served as the town's mayor.



I'd pose for a calendar if the cause were good enough. What do ya'll think?

Hey guys, just in case you remember!

I gave these smilin street musicians my blog link and told them I'd be posting their happy faces here. I hope they enjoyed our Blues Fest and plan to visit us again someday.

Sunday, October 10, 2004

Happy Thanksgiving to our Canadian Buds!!





Another wet day

When the hubby's home on wet days it's hard for me to have uninterrupted computer time (interruptions pretty much piss me off) so I'll probably be behind for a couple of days until they can get outdoors to do stuff. If they don't get outdoors to do stuff soon, ya'll may need to gather up some funds to send me to a nice sanitorium.

With hunky orderlies please.

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The pizza was filling enough last evening and the kiddies had a belly full.


Krysten and the Terrorist


The Chick's happy pizza face

Saturday, October 09, 2004

Rainy Saturday Morning

This is a pretty typical Blues Fest weekend since the rain moved in late yesterday. We've been drier than a popcorn fart for about 8 weeks before this. The rain scratches my plans to stroll through the crowds today with a few cold buds in hand because I'm afraid it would make the kids sick to be wet and chilly all afternoon.

I took a few photos during slack times at the beer tent Thursday and Friday so here are a few more of my festival views.


Charlotte Taylor


New blues artist who's name wasn't on the program


Gov. Mike Huckabee and The Capitol Offense
(the Gov. is on the far left)


I caught one of the set up crew to get a shot of his tee shirt. I thought it was much cooler than the one we had to wear.


Standin on the corner blues, Japanese style.


This little dude was "gettin down"!


I tried the alligator on a stick and although it was tender and ediable and I loved the peppers and onions stacked on there with the gator, I'm afraid I wouldn't spend $6 for another portion of it.