We Won!

Yeah! Our football team won. That means we are 3-1 so far. But, it also means we have already beat last year's record. Yes, that's right. Our team sucks. We only won two games last year. That is why my boys do not play football. The fact that they are skinny little runts is beside the point.

My boys are band geeks instead (and yes, I have some "one time at band camp" stories). But, really, really cool ones (kids and stories). Daredevil plays the bass drum. That was the only instrument he wanted to play. Although, he was made to start out on the symbols first. Luckily, he advanced from there. But I worry because he came home and told me, "you only have to be 10% smarter than the instrument you play." So now instead of banging two metal lids together, he beats on a pot with sticks. It's a drummer thing, absolutely nobody understands. So much for intelligence. Good thing he is handsome. Chowhound, on the other hand, does percussion keyboard during marching season. During the spring, he is in concert and jazz band. He plays the tenor sax, contra bass clarinet, and several other instruments. He is musically talented. They don't get it from me that's for sure.

Hurricane Katrina Stories

My sisters and I have been trying to track down information on our stepfather. We have been unable to get in touch with his wife since Hurricane Katrina struck. The last we knew he was in a VA Hospital in Biloxi (He suffers from Alzheimers). But, we were not sure which facility he was in. My sisters have been making phone calls and I have been scouring websites trying to find out anything. Tonight, I found some information dated Sept. 12 which states he is in East Biloxi at a residence, but we don't have an address. But, at least we know he is ok. This gives us some relief while we continue to get in touch with his wife.

While I was searching the VA's website, I found where they have been posting some of the VA employees stories. There is one story entitled Saving a Child. It is about three VA workers in Biloxi finding a 5 year old little boy right after the Hurricane. He had been in the apartment complex that was destroyed. It is a very heart touching story (one of the thousands that came out of this catastrophe). But, the part of the story that got to me said,

"He told us his momma had given him a pop tart and told him to go upstairs. All through his ordeal, the boy had clutched that wet pop tart. He didn't want to let go. "

Think about it. He was in a building that was blown apart. Through all the winds in excess of 100mph, pelting rain, the debris and everything else, he held onto that poptart. This was his last piece of security from his mother and that is what he held onto. I can't even imagine the terror he felt. The VA workers went out then and tried to find the boy's family, but to no avail. Later, they found the boy's mother and brother at a hospital, but unfortunately his father and grandmother were killed.

It just shows you how important the little things are. Especially to children. And for every story you hear about the terrible behavior a few have shown, remember, there are thousands of heroic stories to be told. They just don't make the primetime. Most people are good at heart and it is sad that the good that comes from this catastrophe does not sell as many papers as the crimes.

Taking out Mexicans

Daredevil poses this question:

It is illegal to help a Mexican (or any other illegal person) into the United States. Is it illegal to help him go back to Mexico? I've never really pondered the situation before. I know you are a bunch of smart people. Is it? And who would you get in more trouble with; the US for taking him out or Mexico for bringing him back?

Yes, these are conversations that come up at my house.

"American Girl"

"...She's trying to make it in her Daddy's world...mow the grass, fix the sink isn't really hard if you get paid...." The sink I fixed. But, I need a goat because the lawn mower is broken. Now, when we are setting record highs here, my AC dies. Sometimes it really sucks being a single mom, no one to go to and say, "Honey, fix this". I'm capable and I will get it all fixed. It's just frustrating. It is always something. So, if you don't hear from me anymore you will know I melted.


**Yeah! I fixed the AC. Now I'm off to tackle the lawnmower.

It's my BlogGreatGrandPappy's Birthday

Happy Birthday Harvey! It's a little strange that your (blog) daughter Bou, granddaughter VW Bug, and greatgranddaughter (me) are all older than you. Proving that anything is possible in cyberspace.

Just in time for your birthday I received this:

The New Bra!!

Dr. Calvin Rickson, a scientist from Texas A&M University has invented a bra that keeps women's breasts from jiggling and prevents the nipples from pushing through the fabric when cold weather sets in.

At a news conference, after announcing the invention, a large group of men took Dr. Rickson outside and kicked the shit out of him.



Or there is always this new bra.

Happy Birthday.

*I had a written a lot more originally, but I came back to put in a link to your site and somehow wiped out half the post. Blogging so much fun!

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

Logical Geometry

Homework time. This is always an interesting time at my house. Sometimes I can help them; sometimes I can't. Chowhound is in 10th grade. He is taking geometry. Last night he had this problem:

Consider the following statements: All deer like lettuce. Gail likes lettuce.

a) Do these two statements imply that Gail is a deer? Why or Why not?
b) Suppose the second statement said, "Gail is a deer." What, if anything, could you conclude?

Why did they stick a logic question in the Geometry homework? I didn't have Logic until College. And, if I hadn't of had it, I would have been shaking my head too going WTF. Needless to say, this question made for interesting conversation. His conclusion....if Gail thought she was a deer, she was mental and needed some serious help.

My Grandmother's Stories

I am going to be doing a weekly post on My Grandmother's Stories. My Grandma Edie is an awesome woman at 91. She has lived a wealth of life. I love her stories and I want to write them down so they will never be forgotten. She has lived all of her life in central PA. She was the tenth of 14 children. She has been widowed twice. Raised my mother, her only child. Worked in factories and supported her family because my Grandfather Paul (her first husband) was stricken with MS and then died when my mother was 20. She is an incredible woman with a strong will which has shocked people on more than one occasion since she is only about 4'10" (or less). And always a lady, through and through. She told me once that she didn't have much to leave me. When I said all I wanted were her stories, she said, "Oh, I have plenty of those."

Teenagers!!! Ack!

The Daredevil has a job. and money. This means he can spend his money on what he wants, right? He bought 2 Stephen Lynch CDs. He is a singing comedian. We watched him on Comedy Central. But, I did not know he was going to buy these. I found out when I walked in the kitchen and heard "...you caught me spankin' it. It's no use denying it. I was really crankin' it." The CD is actually really funny, but these are my children bringing this home. It's that testosterone element again. So, I listened to the rest of that song. It did make me reconsider something though. One part said, "...I completely understand if you never want to hug again or shake my hand." Ugh! HE SAW ME TYPING THIS, NOW HE IS PLAYING IT AGAIN! Teenagers!!!!!!! I am going to lose me mind. Now he is dancing. Ewwww, he just hugged me.

Daredevil and Improviser

This is Daredevil and Improviser with their Uncle's Dog. Notice Improviser's expression. Apparently, the dog's breath stinks. Daredevil has that sweet, innocent look that will fool you. What a handful.

Don't let a teenager drive your car

I am about to lose my mind. I let the Improviser use my car. He just called and said, "You know how you are always telling me to lock the car...." Well, now he is trying to improvise a way to open it while the keys are inside. *Screams* I know that this doesn't seem like a big deal. But, this car is the replacement of the one he had stolen from him back in April. He was trying to do a good deed and give someone a ride. Mistake. They stole the car from him. Luckily, he wasn't harmed and he learned a valuable lesson. But, ever since, I have had a hard time letting him use my car. So, I reluctantly let him use it tonight to go to a going away party for his best friend who leaves for bootcamp tomorrow. And what does he do, he locks the keys in it. This poor child. It seems that everytime he tries to do something, something goes wrong. He has a heart of gold and tries really, really hard. But, it seems the harder he tries, the more that things go wrong. He felt bad enough when my Explorer was stolen. He had to call me at 11:30 on the first night of my vacation in the Bahamas to tell me. Plus, he had finally convinced his 2 brothers to let him trade in the PS2 for an Xbox. He never made it home with it. His brothers gave him hell. Patience Mom, patience. I can't go help him because I DON'T HAVE MY CAR. and I don't have a spare key. Mom gets lashes for that. I haven't had a spare made yet.----He just called back. They got into the car. He said, "It looked real good, we were all standing around with flashlights and a slimjim." He said he is going to stop at Wally World on the way home and have a key made. Gotta love him.

Overheard at Work

Sometimes I can't believe the things I hear. This was an actual conversation at work the other day:

1st guy: "Hey, Goofy"

2nd guy: "I dun shed that name once. Don't call me that."

1st guy: "What do you want me to call you?"

2nd guy: "Call me, uh....uh....call me...uh.....uh, I don't know what you call dem guys but call me one of those."

What do you say in a situation like that? I kept my mouth shut but idiot rolled around in my brain. I know that sounds terrible. But, I heard once that it is best to keep your mouth shut and be thought an idiot than to open it and remove all doubt.

Other things I have overheard at work:

"Them living wills is better than them wrote down ones."

and the best one....

from a clerk filing papers, "were there 30 or 31 days in February last year?"

I swear, I am not making this stuff up. (I have done and said my share of stupid things too. But, I don't have to tell you want I did). As you can tell I don't work at NASA. I don't usually talk about people, but somethings are just too funny.

FYI and Ophelia Update

On the radio today, they answered my question about hurricane names. According to their weatherman, if they use all 21 names on this year's Hurricane List, they will start using the Greek Alphabet. They have never had to do that, but they did use all 21 names once.

Ophelia Update

I know that this storm doesn't concern most people, but it is still lingering off my coast and eroding our beaches terribly. They are forecasting now that after it loops around it should make landfall around the GA/SC border. That is IF it does what they are saying. But, as we all know Hurricanes do not like to be predictable. So, I'm still watching it.

Ophelia

With all the hoopla and blame game playing still going on with Katrina, there is little being said about Tropical Storm/Hurricane Ophelia (she is teetering on the edge, going back and forth. She was a Hurricane when I went to bed last night). But, she is lingering off of Florida's coast. I just checked the latest forecast and it looks like she might pull a loop-te-loop like Jeanne did last year. Ophelia has not done any of the things she has been forecasted to do so far. Everyone in Florida keep an eye on her. She won't be a Katrina, but Hurricane is Hurricane. I'm sick of them.

(I tried to put the NOAA page in here, but it didn't work, so you will have to click the link. I still have things to learn).

Happy Birthday to my Sweetie, D

Today is my Sweetie's birthday. He is "29" again. He is doing anniversaries of his birthday now. But to him, I say:

My love,

I know you say that you don't celebrate birthdays anymore. But, I celebrate yours because I cherish everyday that you are in my life. I couldn't and wouldn't want to imagine life without you in it. Getting older doesn't have to be grim. Grow old with me, the best is yet to be. Happy Birthday and here's to us celebrating many more of them together.

Casket Furniture

I was worried about not having anything interesting to post today. But, then the boys and I started watching Ripley's Believe it or Not. They featured a young man who decided to make casket furniture (Yes, they have a website). These are caskets you can use before you die. So, when you do kick the bucket, you already have your coffin. He originally came up with the idea because caskets were so expensive. So, now for $25,995, you can have a casket pool table. There is also entertainment centers, sofas, even a child's casket coffee table (custom made for someone in Ft. Lauderdale). What a way to tell your child you love him! "Well, son, I love you but your about to outgrow your coffin. I guess we are going to have to do something about that." Yes, the funeral business has gotten way out of control, but get real. I am not going to sit around staring at my coffin or worse yet one for my child. It is really sad because he has a thriving business. I guess I'm just not with the times. I'll have to live forever because I can't afford to die; it's too expensive.

Dive Photos

Last Sunday, I went on my 2nd scuba dive. I am still in awe of the beauty beneath the ocean. The dive went wonderfully. Then, as we were preparing to ascend, we spotted this ominous looking creature heading towards us. From the distance, we were unable to determine the species. It looked like some type of jellyfish or something. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be the dreaded bag fish (plastics family). Warning: this species also is land dwelling and will attack horses. I know, I have encountered it.



We had two barracuda join us during our dive.



And, we saw lots and lots of spectacular tropical fish.



(Click on thumbnails to enlarge)

I'm back

I'm back from my trip. I know I haven't posted in a few days and I feel sorta guilty, too. (Although, I have been guest posting at VW Bugs of One Happy Dog Speaks because I promised. So I haven't been totally irresponsible.) I know I shouldn't feel guilty, it's just a blog. But, it just kind of gets in your blood. I have some beautiful pictures to post from my dive. So, please keep checking back, I haven't quit blogging.

Observations from the Airport

I just had the pleasure of spending about six hours in Airports. I would like to address the following people:

To the man sitting about 20 feet away from me. TURN DOWN YOUR CD PLAYER. Headphones mean that I am not supposed to hear it. If I wanted to listen to that music, I could have stayed home and been tortured by my children. You give the appearance of wanting to be courteous by wearing headphones but then you turn it up so loud that it is annoying. If you don't have any regard for those around you then at least do it to save your own hearing.

To the man pacing back and forth while talking on his hands free cell phone. YOU LOOK LIKE YOU BELONG IN A PSYCHO WARD AND NEED MEDICATION. If you have business to conduct that is fine. Then sit in the corner and quietly conduct your business.

To the couple with the two small girls sitting behind me on the plane. You have wonderful adorable children. Your oldest daughter who appeared to be about 4 or 5 is very observant. But, I was nervous enough flying and her observation that the propeller wasn't turning (we were still on the ground) and her comment that they shouldn't have put us on a broken plane did not make me feel any better. I did chuckle when she couldn't remember an event and said, "Oh, that must have been when I was little."

The the man that sat next to me on one of my flights. Thank you for a very interesting and personable conversation. It made the flight go by very quickly. To often these days, people are engrossed in their personally electronics and do not take the time to talk to the person six inches away from them.

Despite my delays, I had a good trip. I am spending the holiday weekend with my Sweetie so it was all worth it. (Labor Day is Monday for those of you going WHAT HOLIDAY?)

I hate dial up

I HATE DIAL UP

I had an award winning post on Airport Observations ready. But, you will never see it because I lost my connnection and lost my post. I hate dial up. I will try to reproduce my masterpiece (I can say that since no one will ever see it) but it will not be the same. I hate dial up. I have become spoiled with DSL. I am visiting my Sweetie in the Bahamas right now and all he has is dial up. Have I mentioned I hate dial up. Well, I have to go work on my post, again.