Something in your house which isn't where it should be:

Okay, I may bleach my woodwork every week; but this is my garage.
Do you see all that shit?
I have boxes in there that I haven't unpacked from when I moved in last December.
All of the colored plastic boxes on the left are holiday decorations; but not Christmas, those are seperate. I have twelve boxes of Christmas decorations.
Does someone want to come help me get rid of that stuff?
Somthing that is broken, but you keep it anyway:

This is Macy. She is my sweet, fourteen year old Maltese dog and she is very broken!
She can't hear.
She can't see.
She has doggy Altzheimers.
And she only has one tooth.
She walks around at my feet ALL DAY LONG, and she has to sleep in my bed right next to me.
Here she is with LBCG:

Pathetic isn't she?
But I heart her and she is my little baby dog; so as long as she lives, I'll take care of her and love her, even though she drives me crazy sometimes.
Food you have in your house but you never eat:

Do you see those leftover containers?
I always take home my leftovers, but I NEVER eat them.
In my refrigerator at this very moment is Ceasar salad, mashed potatoes, and chocolate cake. The chocolate cake I ordered to go, brought it home and realized they gave me the wrong one; it had raspberries in it, (I do not heart raspberries...) I meant to take it back, but that was last Sunday and I don't think I'm going to get around it. I really wanted the cake I ordered. Damn.

So that's it friends.
I'm going to check out your stuff now...
Ciao y'all.

LBCG and me...

I was hoping to have some time to sit down and thoughtfully post about this; but alas soccer practice, piano lessons, dinner and watching my TiVo'd episode of The Amazing Race with my dd's took precedence. So here I sit in my bed when I should be sleeping because I know that one or two of you are patiently waiting for my story...

Anyone who has read my blog for a little while and knows me IRL has known the back and forth, on again, off again status of my relationship with my LBCG (Lovely But Confused Girlfriend.) In July, after one year of our being "together" and going through a lot of changes in our lives, and our relationship, LBCG decided that she needed to try to work things out with her ex, The Captain. After a short while, a very short while, she realized that she made a terrible mistake and that her desire to try to work things out with The Captain were stemming from feelings of guilt and misgivings about some of the choices that she had made throughout the past year in regards to her relationship with me.

That was about the time that I was setting off for my camping trip in the big woods, searching for Big Foot; followed by my trip from East to West with my brother, followed by my trip to Blog This 2005. In between, LBCG was going on her own camping trip with her kids and all total we weren't going to see eachother for about three and a half weeks. We/I/We decided that we/she would take that time to REALLY think about what we/she wanted in regards to our relationship. For me, it was pretty straight (even though we're not,) foreward thing. If we were to have a relationship it was not going to be like it was; we were going to need to actually give it an effort and not go back and forth with our/her feelings. Our relationship would also need to be out in the open; with her family and The Captain aware of it, and someday our children.

So we spent a lot of time contemplating our relationship and what we wanted from eachother during those few weeks. It was a fabulous reflective time and I was very happy that I had the time to myself and the time to really think about where I had been and where I wanted to go.

For me, something important happened during that time.
I realized I wasn't afraid of being alone anymore.
I realized that I am really okay just being with me and that I was going to be okay, I was going to make it work out, no matter if I was partnered with someone or not.

For so many years I had been someones girlfriend, then someones wife, then someones girlfriend, then someones wife, then someones girlfriend to being alone.

I was really okay being alone and getting to know who I was again. Enjoy myself; take crazy trips accross the country, fly to California and spend four days with total strangers that I met on the internet, whatever.
It was a place that I journeyed inside of myself as I journeyed accross the country in August, and I returned feeling very good about myself.

LBCG figured out that she was ready to put her relationship with The Captain behind her and wanted to give us a shot. We both knew that she still has a while to go to try to get where she needs to be to feel okay about everything; but she is taking it one step at a time. The one thing that I don't doubt, and have never doubted is how much she loves and cares for me, and how much I mean to her. She's had quite a journey herself and one that she is still travelling. I love her very much, and I'm willing to help her along the way.

The priority for me is that we have a happy, healthy, communicative relationship. I'm not worried about where it's going or trying to stay on a track. We're happy, we love to be together, we help each other out, we enjoy each other, love each other, and are the best of friends.
It's all good as far as I can see; and I feel like I am in so much more of a better place with myself than I ever have been. I no longer feel desperate about her. I'm okay with whatever and wherever we end up. I just want to enjoy her, and enjoy all of the good that we have.

So that, my fine blogging friends on the internet, is the story.

Blogger likes me again?

I think so; but I'm not so sure. There seems to be a few things that Blogger is angry with me about, but I'm happy that my page is loading and everyone is able to actually read it.

I'm so happy that Merry Widow and Sarcastic Journalist are okay after that hooker-ass-bitch hurricane, Rita. She was a bit of a let down, as far as natural disasters are concerned. I still haven't heard from Valerie. I'm hoping everything is a-ok with her too. I'm sure she is fine. Shelly's parents are fine; everyone seems to be okay, well except for the people that are dead.

Work SUCKED this weekend. I usually really like work and I went there on Saturday and some bitch ass ho said that I gave her service that wasn't "up to par." She said that I behaved as though I had better things to do than to wait on her.
Well.
Actually I DID have better things to do than to wait on her but I certainly didn't give her bad service. I really, honestly don't know what the problem was, but my perception of her evening was far different than her perception.
Stupid bitch.

After work on Saturday I met my friend Angie at Double Down, a gay and lesbian night at a local club. It was a fun time, but I was TIRED. Nothing says "old lady" than someone who is tired at a nightclub.

Sunday at work, my manager Pierre, (who is not French,) asked me if I wanted to take the night off as he had too many people scheduled. After thinking it over for about 30 seconds I agreed and came home to a lovely evening with LBCG. We hung out, watched TV, ate chocolate cake, did a bunch of other stuff I can't mention here...

It was lovely.

Hope everyone else's weekend was well.
Ciao y'all.

WTF?

I can't view my blog. And I don't think that anyone else can either so this effort is futile I suppose.

I can only view individual pages if I go into the dashboard and through posting click on view on each page.

Anyone, anyone???

Sassyfemme? She usually saves me in my computer crisis time...

Rita

Is a Bitch-Ass-Ho!!

I am so bummed that so many people are going to be again affected by another fucking hurricane.

I've been reading the blogs of our friends in the area and I'm just sick that they have had to pack up and leave their homes; it really makes me sad.

Please keep Valerie , her friend Kim, and Merry Widow in your thoughts and prayers. Sassyfemme and her partner are preparing for the storm. They live inland so they will probably be fine; but I'm thinking of them as well. I'm still getting around to everyone to check on our Houston friends. Shelly's parents are staying in their home and riding out the storm. They only live about 30 miles inland and Shelly and Angie are VERY worried about them.

In 1992, I was living in South Florida when Hurricane Andrew hit. I, being from the NE, did not have one inkling of what to do in a hurricane; luckily my husband at the time, (XH#1,) did. We lived about 11 miles inland between Ft. Lauderdale and Boca Raton and we lived in an older house that was built better than a lot of the newer ones; it was made out of steel beams and poured concrete. We had storm shutters on all of our windows and a newer roof. We were looking okay and we even had friends who lived on the inter-coastal waterway who came to stay with us.

I went to Wal-Mart (this was pre-boycotting,) to buy supplies. Never being in a hurricane before, I just looked to see what everyone else was buying; water, batteries, etc. There was a big ass display of Clorox bleach and everyone was buying some. I had no idea why, but I figured that everyone else knew what they were doing, so I bought two gallons. Later I found out that you can sanitize water with it to make it potable. Perhaps that is when my love affair with bleach began!

When the storm started, it was later at night. I was so nervous I didn't know what to do with myself. About ten o'clock we heard loud popping, explosions noises, they were the electrical transmitters; that was the end of our electricity for several days.

Throughout the night the storm blew.

Andrew changed his course and shifted south at the last minute to a place that was NOT expecting him; Homestead, Florida. I will never forget the sounds of the people calling the weatherman on the radio screaming, "When is it going to be over???" It was terrifying for me, I can't imagine how they must have felt. The weatherman was telling them to cover themselves with their mattresses, get into an interior room; he was so calm and collected. He really helped a lot of people to ride out the storm by talking them through the entire night. That weatherman's name was Bryan Norcross, I have never forgotten him, and I will always consider him a hero.

Tragedy makes a lot of people hero's; and I'm sure we will see more of them rising up our of Rita's wake. With all of the bad things in the world; it is so comforting to know that when push comes to shove, and shove comes to need, we really are all there for eachother.

Imagine if we could have that kind of mentality all of the time in every act, throughout every day of our lives. That we every day, woke up and found ways to give of ourselves, our time, our talent, and our treasure, to others. Imagine what kind of world we would live in then.

Maybe that is one of the lessons that we can all learn from those two bitches Katrina and Rita. Let's not wait for tragedy to be good to one another; to give to others, to help, to love our neighbors. To lay hands on other people with compassion and kindness and heart. Let's try to do it without the tragedy of a big-ass-mother-fucking hurricane.

Let's just do it because we can.

In closing; I'm blaming these hurricanes on George W. Bush... It's GOT to be his fault.
I DO NOT heart him.

I really have nothing to blog about.

LBCG told me today that I haven't blogged in awhile and I agree, I just don't know what to blog about. The kids are good, my glamorous waitressing job is good, no major traumas to report. Life is okey-dokey.

So, I'm playing on the little football thingy over at Kristines. Guess who has the number 1 and 2 spots for picking the winning teams last week???
Yes, it's me. I forgot to add my name the first time I picked; which is why I have two spots, (the TOP two spots...)
I am sooooo butch.

I made home-made macaraoni and cheese with four cheeses in a bechamel sauce last night.

I have open house at school tonight.

I bought three new long sleeved shirts at Target today; all the same, just three different colors; black, grey, and brown. I wanted the dark red but they didn't have my size.
I also bought Gain detergent (my favorite, on sale, for 8.79,) Downy Simple Pleasures in Magnolia scent, (also on sale,) and Mr. Clean Magic Erasers, (on sale...)
I heart Target.

I spent $50.60 filling my gas tank today.
I do NOT heart George W. Bush.

I was missing Pissy and Kristine today. Pissy is sad, so that makes me sad. I want to go outside and smoke with her; but she's in Tennesee. Kristine is in pain; I want to give her drugs; but she is in California with my dog Mushu and my laptop power cord.

I volunteered in DD#1's classroom today; we did reading groups discussing the TIME magazine for Kids article on Hurricane Katrina. One kid asked, "Why didn't they build the flood walls higher?" To which I responded, "Because President Bush cut New Orleans flood prevention federal funding by 42 million dollars"
I love molding young minds!!!

Two minutes left, then I'm off to pick up DD#2 and 3 from school, drive them to piano, drive back to the school to pick up DD#1 from choir, drive back to pick up the other two from piano, take DD#2 to Girl Scouts, pick her up, then take the little one to soccer at 5:30. Open house at 6:30 and hopefully my mom will have the girls fed, showered and ready for bed by the time I get home. Whew, I'm tired already, and I haven't even left yet.
And XH says I'm doing "nothing" with my life. HAAA! Who does he think is raising OUR children?

Gotta go, Ciao y'all.

Saturday Soccer Fun

This post has been edited...It was brought to my attention that "someone was posting pictures of our kids on websites; and to protect the kids, please don't do this." I don't know if the coach was referring to me or not, but just to be safe, I blocked out all the other kids faces...

It's soccer season which translates into six practices and three games per week.
All three of the girls play soccer and they all love it; I'm so glad that they have their father's love of sports because God knows that they didn't get that from me. I was more of the dance, drama, newspaper, get stoned before the football games kind of girl.

I missed DD#3's game today because I had to go to my Glamorous Waitressing Job for wine tasting and a meeting. There is nothing like drinking Clos de Bois at nine in the morning. It doesn't go real well with coffee and Krispy Kreme's.

DD #1's game was good. She is playing on a full field for the first time; she gets tired out!


DD#2 kicked some serious ass! She played goal keeper for the first half and didn't let any goals go by!

Then she scored in the second half. It was very fun to watch her.

After the soccer fun I came home to color my hair. I figure it's almost officially fall now; it's time to color my hair darker and redder. (Although not quite as dramatic as Jessica Rabbits!) I'll let you know how it turns out; I'm processing right now! Then I'm off to my Glamorous Waitressing Job where I anticipate selling lots of Clos du Bois and being very busy.

Ciao y'all!

Something Random
I was trying to find the love letter that Brian Baker (the Sprint PCS Guy,) wrote to me in college professing his love and admiration for me; but there is way too much shit in my garage to find it! Maybe next time.
So I decided on my candy dish. This is the candy dish that held the circus peanuts and the gum drops at my grandparents house during my entire life. It was the first thing I would go for when I walked into their house; every single time. None of my other vulture relatives apparently wanted it, as it was left right where it always was, on the end table in the living room. I carefully transported it accross the US of A to it's new home on my piano. I hope that I still have it when I have my own grandchildren and I will always have it filled with nasty, sugary candy for them to enjoy!

My Kitchen
This is my kitchen. It's quite small but I really enjoy it. I would love to replace the counter-tops to slate to match my fireplace sometime soon. I need to get LBCG on that project!
My cabinets are white and I bleach those motherfuckers every week. I bleach my counters, my refrigerator outside and my stove EVERY DAY!
The three decorative signs in my kitchen make me HAPPY. The one on my sink is the Chinese character for "longevity." It was given to me by one of my former friends on my 30th birthday. The other sign above the cabinets says, "Good Morning, Let The Stress Begin" and the other is a Pennsylvania Dutch Hex sign for happiness.

My Handwriting

Judge not, that you shalt not be judged: Matthew 7

My LBCG and I met at church.
She and the Captain and XH and I and all of our kids attended church together. The Captain was in charge of Sunday school and I volunteered regularly. I really adored all of them; LBCG, The Captain, their girls. We also attended church with our good friends and their kids. It was a great time.

Over time, LBCG's and my relationship shifted into something much different than it was. There were a lot of reasons why this happened and way too many to unveil at this particular moment. Whatever the reasons, and whether they were right or wrong or indifferent; it was what it was and what happened, happened.

Once XH and The Captain were aware of mine and LBCG's relationship; our church relationship was going to change. During our divorce, I told XH that I hoped that he would continue to go to church and take the girls. It was their church home and they shouldn't have more of their life disrupted. He has done that for the past year.

LBCG attended that church since she was an infant. She was baptized in that church; her family attended that church for years and years. It was a great loss to her. Our pastor told LBCG that it would be best for her to take a "hiatus" from attending until everyone's feelings settled down. She (our pastor,) didn't have that conversation with me; but she did tell XH that I was no longer welcome.

And for a year, I have not heard from her.
I received no spiritual counseling or guidance or ministering throughout this past year. I suppose I didn't really deserve it but I did expect a little more from the pastor of the church that I was a member, even if I was a sinner.
I got nothing.
I didn't hear from her when I had my emergency gall bladder surgery.
I didn't hear from her when I moved out of my home.
I didn't hear from her when XH and I got divorced.
I didn't hear from her when I had pneumonia.
Nothing.
Nada.
Zilch.

Until last week.

She e-mailed LBCG and called me. Said she was thinking that it's been a year and would we be interested in coming back to church.
Hello?
Is that weird?
We were pushed out; ostrasized if you will. And now, almost a year later, she's extending an invitation to return.

We were both a little bothered and put off by it. We both had our respective conversations with her basically saying the same thing; she wasn't a help to us at all during the hardest times of our life. I told her that I had to grow and learn about myself and accept certain things. I forgave a lot of people in my life that really surprised me, but I'm okay just being me and being on my own right now.

Today I spoke to XH. I asked him if our pastor has spoken to him about it.
He said that she did and that he told her that if I or LBCG attended the church; he would take the children elsewhere. He was already considering it. Apparently the fact the pastor extended the invitation bothered him enough to begin thinking about a new church home for them.
And because the girls are with him on Sunday's; I have no say about it.

He was sure to tell me that "if he wanted to take them to a church that hated gays and lesbians, he could." He followed that statement by saying he wouldn't do that; but I'm sure it was fun for him to go ahead and put that out there.

It still amazes me how much I let him get to me; how much I fall right into his manipulation and his threats. In that fifteen minute conversation he threatened my alimony, threatened to alter my children's spiritual education, and accused me of not "doing anything with my life." He told me he couldn't stand to be around me, didn't trust me, wasn't comfortable around me, and didn't approve of the choices I made in my life. He said that we weren't a family anymore; and that our children were suffering. He had his family with them and I had my family with them; but we were not and never would be a family together.

I burst into tears after that conversation. I remember the feeling so well; I felt that way too often in my marriage with him; worthless, bad, not good enough, empty, sad.
LBCG asked me why I let it get to me; why do I let him "in?"
I tried to explain that I spent ten years loving him,
trusting him, giving myself over to him.
I trusted that he loved me and cared for me, he took care of me, protected me, was there for me. Didn't he know what he was talking about as far as I was concerned? If says I'm a bad person, or I'm irresponsible, or incompetent, a bad friend, a bad mother, or a bitch, or a cunt, then it must be true; because HE was my husband and loved me and cared for me. So what he says, MUST be true; otherwise he wouldn't say it.

I know things are different now. I hurt him, betrayed him. Broke up his family and now cause him financial hardship.
I know I don't deserve anything from him but probably exactly what he gives me; animosity and hostility.
I just wish he was able to see past some of that and remember that there was a time that he loved me. I wish that we could have some assemblance of a relationship that included being friends, and being kind to eachother. That we could remember the part of our relationship that was good and okay.

I suppose only time will help to heal both of our wounds.
Until then, I have to figure out a way to not fall apart everytime I talk to him about something non-superficial. I have to find a way to not allow him to rip apart my heart and tear me down and I have no fucking idea how to do that.

The school year has begun

and with it begins the season of soccer practice, piano lessons, chess club, scrabble club, and choir.
School board budget meetings, PAC meetings, classroom volunteering, school fundraisers, open houses.
And homework.

DD#1 has no problem with homework; it's assigned, she does it, done.

DD#2 is a different story and it has nothing to do with her alien abduction.
She will find ANY and ALL excuses NOT to do her homework.
That girl spends more time fussing about doing her homework than actually doing it. If she would concentrate one-fourth of her energy into actually sitting down and doing her work, we would have absolutely no problems, but that, unfortunately is not what happens.

As soon as we returned from piano lessons today and before needing to get ready for DD#3's soccer practice, I announced that it was homework time. First she tried to negotiate being able to do her homework while watching re-runs of Full House that she's seen ten times each.
I said emphatically "no" and then it began.

One of her assignments was to draw a picture of her family at the dinner table.
Sounds simple enough, doesn't it?
Well, she came over to me and told me, while conjuring up a huge crying voice, that she couldn't possibly do the assingment because, "HER FAMILY IS DIVORCED," She then ran sobbing up the stairs to her room. She called out to me from upstairs, "Please can we call Mrs. P and tell her that I can't do that part of my homework?" "No," I answered and the sobbing began again.

Deciding that she was off the hook for the family at the dinner table assignment (she's not,) she came over to have me explain her spelling homework.
The entire time I'm trying to explain it to her she was crying into a throw pillow, wiping her runny nose all over it. I calmly asked her to stop but she continued wiping her face into my couch's throw pillow as I read to her.
Finally I took the pilllow and told her to stop it.
The hysteria began again.

That, my blogging friends on the internet, is how my afternoon has been.
I know you all wish you were me right now.

The movie that you shouldn't see...

unless you like getting the shit scared out of you.

Yesterday I agreed to go see the movie The Exorcism of Emily Rose with my brother.

Big mistake.

Huge.

That movie fucking frightened me so fucking much that I couldn't sleep at all last night, and now I'm terrified to be alone.

Hello?

I live alone. Well, I live with my kids most of the time; but THEY aren't going to be able to save me from getting posessed by the DEMONS.

I used to be terrified of the devil, and demons, etc. I was always afraid that if I thought a bad thought or wasn't good enough that one would get me. Well as I got older and matured I discovered a spiritual path that I really believed in; and it happened to be one that DIDN'T believe in the devil or demons. Whew, what a relief, I didn't need to worry about it anymore.

Until yesterday.

Now, once again, I'm afraid of something getting me.

On Monday I think I'll go out and buy some crucifixes and rosary's. Maybe a few candles and statues of saints. Any recomendations?

One thing I was thinking about though; why is it that only Catholic people get posessed by demons? You never hear about a Methodist undergoing an excorcism. Perhaps if I just stay away from the Catholic church, I'll be safe?

Just whatever you do, my blogging friends on the internet, don't go see that movie.
Unless you like being TERRIFIED!

Blog This 2005

This will be the second post that I make with the same content; this time I am saving it as I go, god damn it...

So I've been home from Blog This 2005 for just three days and the post-blogging-conference-depression set in. I had to go back to bed this morning and sleep until 10:30 because I've just been in a funk.

We had such a great time and I left Sacramento with new old friends and memories that I will carry with me forever.

I told everyone the second night that we were there that meeting your blogging friends IRL is sort of like if you were to meet a celebrity. You think that you know them, you understand their language, you know personal information about them, their spouses names, their children, where they live; you feel like you KNOW them. The reality is that they are only showing you a part of who they are and they are showing it to you in a form of expression that may differ from how others IRL see them and experience them. It's not a bad thing, or a good thing, it's just a thing.
All in all, the girls and Shaun were pretty much like I already "knew" them. There were a few things that I did learn about them from the weekend.

PISSY

Pissy is an absolute sweetheart, and hardly pissy at all; unless she sees some hooker-ass-bitch in a short skirt strutting her stuff!
She is very prim and proper and polite and cordial.
She is old-fashion in a way.
She loves her husband with all of her heart and soul.
She is a loyal and dedicated daughter.
She has suffered tragedy but hasn't lost faith.
She is a loving and devoted mother and step-mother.
Her little girl means the whole fucking world to her.
She wants to make a difference in her step-children's lives and strives to give them what they need.
She likes to clean like I do.
She doesn't talk about sex, or say certain words that start with a "c"; If she does then, she does THIS:


KRISTINE


Kristine is like she is on the blog; only realer. (Is that a word?)
She is kind and sweet and warm and welcoming to everyone she runs into.
She knows everyone in the old-person karaoke bar.
She knows everything about BINGO.
She is a loving mother, and step-mother, and step-step-mother, and step-mother to Shaun's step-children.
She goes through a LOT of towels at her house.
She doesn't own any Clorox Bleach.
She is smart and sassy and sexy and beautiful.

SHAUN

Shaun is kind and nice and wonderful.
He is a loving partner to Kristine and looks after her constantly.
He is a caring father and son.
He doesn't mind standing there while five women goe from gift shop to gift shop.
He carries all of their shopping bags.
He doesn't smoke, but carries a lighter to light cigarettes for others.
He doesn't drink, but hangs out in a smoky bar to drive three drunk women home.
He's just as smart and funny as he is online.

DASHABABY AND THE FONZ

Dashababy and The Fonz are FUN, FUN, FUN!
They are sweet and nice and lovely.
Dashababy is HOT!
The Fonz is too cool and I would like to adopt her as my second mom.
Being with them was easy and comfortable and awesome,
I only wish we had more time to spend with them.
So that's what I think.

Here are some other pictures from our weekend...

Tutorial on the D-70

Bingo Whores

The cold, foggy, but beautiful Golden Gate Bridge.


Hopefully the post-blogging-conference-depression will soon pass; and we will all start to prepare for Blog This 2006 in Nashville, Tennesee!!!

Ciao y'all,
you hooker-ass-bitches.

Blogger sucks today

I just spent an hour putting pictures and making this long-ass post about Blog This 2005. Very elloquent and thought out too.

Blogger fucking ate it.

It's fucking gone.

I am so pissed I could scream right now.

I'll try to reproduce it later, right now I am peeved.

Let them eat cake...

Okay I don't do a lot of political writing here, afterall this blog is about me being a recovering straight girl; but this wee bit of political drama just rubbed me in a way so wrong that I HAD to bring it to the light of my blog.

Barbara Bush, former first lady and mom to our stupid-ass president actually said THIS to a reporter yesterday in reference to the thousands of refugees at the Houston astrodome.

"What I'm hearing is they all want to stay in Texas," she said. "Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this, this is working very well for them."

OH HEEEELLLLLLLLLL NO SHE DIDN'T JUST SAY THAT????

This is working very well for them?
Is she out of her fucking mind?
Oh sure, you can spin just about anything; but there is no spinning in this case, that is what she SAID!

Read The Nation article here, or if The Nation is too liberal for your taste, read The Moderate's article here.

I am so sad for those people; rich or poor, black or white, they are NOT better off for losing everything they had and living in a stadium with thousands of strangers. Oh yeah, Barb, they are just living the high life now.

Stupid Ho-Ass-Bitch.

Home Sweet Home

Home from my trip safely and without incident.

I ran into my good friends Joe and Michelle with their baby in the airport in Sacramento; they were on my same flight home. That was really cool, because I boarded with them early, woo-hoo, seats in the front! It was nice to visit and play with the baby (who's not really a baby anymore, he's almost three...) XH, DD#1, and I were all in their wedding and they are DD#3's godparents. I was also their doula; they are very special to me.

I sat next to a young woman and her baby whose husband just got deployed to New Orleans to help with the effort there. It all happened so suddenly that she decided to take her baby and go to Portland to stay with her parents. His stay is planning on lasting a minimum of 60 days, and after that, who knows? She said that he was told he may need to resort to staying in abandoned homes and will only receive three bottles of water per day ration.
I'm sorry, are we having a bottled water shortage in our country too?

I sat next to another woman who was a lovely, lovely person. She shared with me pictures of her children; a son, 28, and twin daughters, 25. One of her daughters is recently engaged, the other is bi-polar and currently in Rome on a vacation. She had a big huge manic episode and has taken off; she's not sure where her daughter is, but believes that she will snap out of it and return. Being that she's only 25, she hasn't had the diagnoses very long so is having a difficult time dealing with it.

I picked up my kids at their dad's house to find DD#3 covered from head to toe in hives. XH has no idea what could have caused it, I think it might be nerves about the first day of school. She seems okay otherwise, just covered in hives. I've given her boatloads of Benadryl so I'm hoping it will clear up soon.

XH also told me that a good acquaintance of mine, Jerry, passed away suddenly on Sunday night. I worked with him on several school projects and really liked him; he was a very, very kind man. His wife Marcy and I are also acquaintances and his daughter has babysat for us occasionally for several years. Apparently they were camping and he had a heart attack and died. I don't know any other details; I just know that it saddens me so very, very much. Marcy works at our elementary school, I'm so sad for her and her children. I think I'll bake them a bundt cake today; a bundt cake is always appropriate when someone passes. I always liked Jerry so much; he was a very active member of the community and in the schools; he will be very missed.

The girls and I had dinner and hung out last night. I tried to go to bed early (around 9:00,) but sleep didn't work out for me so well last night. My crazy dog kept me up literally ALL night. This is the fourth or fifth time she has done this, she is quite old and is suffering from dimensia or something. She paced all over my bed panting continuously. I'd put her on the floor and she would bark to get up on the bed, then start the whole panting and pacing thing. I was woken up pretty much every 15-20 minutes all night. I'm fucking exhausted.

So here I sit; suffering from a bit of "after BlogThis conference blues," and coping with a few stressors that I came home too. This combined with the fact that I had NO sleep last night; I'm a teeny bit down. I think a nap may be in order to try to restore myself to some assemblance of my normal self.

I promise to post more pictures from the trip very soon!
Nap time.

Having fun, being good...

Kristine's been posting pictures on her site so feel free to journey over there to see how the trips going...
We're having a blast!
Today we are off to San Francisco with Dashababy and the Fonz; we're gonna raise some Hell, I'm sure; Pissy wants us to get tatoos!

Tomorrow we will be having coffee with anyone in the area who wants to get together. Just leave a comment here or at Kristine's and we'll be in touch!

Ciao y'all!

California here I come...

Out of here y'all.
I'm headin to the airport.
Shelly and Angie are taking me to board my flight to fun and fantasy.
Okay, maybe just fun, but it will be great!

We'll be in touch...

Attention Northern California Blog Friends

I'm still procrastinating, but I'm packing, and folding laundry...

I don't know what Kristine has planned for Pissy and I for the "conference," but I wanted to be SURE to let all you Northern Cali Blog Friends know that you should contact that cruise-director-activities-coordinator Kristine if you want to schedule a "sit down" with the three of us girls.

Maybe breakfast on Sunday morning somewhere?

Y'all got Waffle House in No CA???

Six hours left...

Am I packed?
No.
I might just have to go in my underwear afterall.

Pissy must be on her way by now...hopefully security didn't detain her cuz they couldn't understand her through her accent.

I've got to move; packing to do, cigarettes to buy...

Ciao!

The hours are a countin' down

Okay fine friends. It's nearly 10:00 AM and I'll be boarding a flight to Kristine's in NINE hours.
I'm not packed.
My house is NOT cleaned.
But I am so FUCKING excited!!!