Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.And I mean that in an exasperated kind of yelling way.

Aren't we just a ray of sunshine today! 2 houses viewed, both nayed. A freakin scary allergic reaction to the antibiotics I was given, and a chat with the I-Swear-To-Jesus-Christ-and-all-the-saints-Stupidest doctor I have ever encountered.[the night shift replacement for my doc] Have a listen:

Gail: I think I'm having a reaction to the antibiotic I was prescribed. Here are my symptoms: [yada yada] [I can't breathe and my heart is pounding it's way out of my chest should have given him to know I was askeered]

Dr: Well, you can stop taking the antibiotic, maybe start taking them again next monday. How are your symptoms [of the sinus infection]?

Gail: I'm feeling Much better....


Dr: OK, then stop taking the pills.
Gail: The Dr told me not to stop taking them,because it could create a superbug, and to contact the office right away if I had a problem. Do I need to take some thing else....... [thinking he could call it into CVS]

Dr: [picture a parrot speaking the only words it knows, over and over again]Nope, just stop taking them, and maybe start taking them again monday, ok?

Gail: Yeah, Sure. ~click~

EVER so erudite! Scholastic! and Helpful! I love my doc, but her support staff stinks so badly, my ass isn't big enough for them to all bite me.

BUT!!! Good news.I went [ok, I got shoved into talking to my supervisor by the other supervisor] about my hours. I can't travel 45-50 minutes one way for a part time m-f job, and that's the commute I'll be looking at when we find the house. I was telling the supervisor my dilemma, and he said, we don't want to lose you! You need full time? Cause you can do that right now, I'll set it up! Well, no not full time, lets' meet in the middle somewhere. So,I'll be working 3+ floating full days a week. YAY Team Gail, that is perfect! Then I was late getting home, everyone there wanted to know how it shook out for me. They tell me I miss all the gossip at lunch :O) Like I said, I might not have picked this job for myself,but it looks more and more like this job picked me. I just told Steve that, and he told me more than one person told him the same is true of buying a house, we won't pick it,it will pick us.Well, if that's the case, it must be siesta time in houseland :X But at least we're getting to see these places at their worst, I won't have any illusions about how the roads are maintained.When you live where we do,that becomes a Major consideration. [I added the Crazy 8-ball to the blog, and click it every time we look at a house. Haven't gotten a good answer yet, dammit]

And this,from that "Failed" site in my list of places I like to visit,over to the right. I swear, this belongs in my town: [and on my street, I have my doubts about that dumbass neighbor]

February 1st

-Serpents Day

~If nobody knows the troubles you've seen, then you don't live in a small town.~

Relationships [When worlds collide]

Yup.Facebook.
Facebook is from de debbil.

How it Starts:
You sign up under a fake name to wish a niece "Happy Birthday" on her facebook.Your loving hubby, not knowing you are not interested in facebook, writes a drop-dead lovely sentiment on your wall. So you write back "I love You". And people who "friended" Steve, who know Steve and I from high school, know I am his wife even if I *did* write under a pseudonym, and "friend" me. And then it starts. I switch to my real name,- after all, everyone on certain aol boards knows my full name address, phone number, and the ice cream flavor most likely to succeed in bribing me. And then.......someone friends me. Whom I like. I friend her back, and look at her friends. And discover someone I abhor, whom I do not want to know my real name. Well, missy, THAT cat was out of the bag a few years ago, wasn't it?

I am from an age where you were warned about "THE INTERNET", and internet predators. Adults and children alike were regularly warned against revealing ourselves online [hence "user names" or "screen names" ] where it was considered the height of stupidity, to volunteer to give YOUR info out to make a collection to help out a board mate [which I have done repeatedly, whoopsie]

Now, my IRL [In Real Life] life and my online life are colliding at facebook.
My loopies here, my good online friends there, a child or two or three thrown into the mix. Then the games begin. Drinks here, food fights there, and now I have been tagged. I'm supposed to write 25 things you don't know about me [Here ya go: I dropped out of Mensa when the kids were babies 'cause I couldn't afford the dues, and I can drive a forklift. I think that might cover it all, since I've been bloggin'] and then TAG 25 MORE PEOPLE !!!!! A facebook meme! Hehehe, I can't handle wordless Wednesday around HERE,and now I'm supposed to deal with facebook memes? Not bloody likely!

I read 2 of my friends "25 Things" lists, and I don't think I can make lists like that, I speak in paragraphs,not sentences [oh,HUSH,don't be mean] [oh,something else you may not know: I live in the town I was born in, but the hospital I was born in, also in the same town, no longer exists!]

It gets you to thinking.... "Do I REALLY want to say this on X's wall, if child 1, 2, or 3 can see it? Am I allowed to write on the kids walls, or is that not cool? Do I WANT to be looking at the kids profiles, am I going to see something mama shouldn't see? Will they see something of mine THEY shouldn't see? What if your life doesn't measure up to everyone elses? Are you supposed to care? And,what if you make a friend request to someone you really like, and they ignore it,or never answer you? I just made my first friend request tonight, cause I'm a little leery of just that situation :X

I made a righteous attempt at the "25 Things" meme. Out of the blue, #10 was "Facebook is overwhelming me right now". That was a lightbulb moment for me. I have to decide how much facebook I want. I don't want to miss anything my friends are doing over there, or anything Steve or the kids want me to see, but I can't devote that much time to it, I have other things I'd rather do.
So, please feel free to friend me, and I'll return the favor.How is THIS for a facebook friendship,- if you want, you can start a food fight, and I'll let you win! Can't be a better friend than that :O)

[psssst,...the high school person that friended me first? I never thought she particularly liked me anyway, so I deleted her.She caused all this angst for me, and will never know :X]

~Always be sincere, even if you don't mean it. - Benny Hill ~

As wordless a Wednesday as you're gonna get outta me.

[This IS Wednesday,right?]
OK, a *few* words. See this?

It came with my cell phone. I had NO idea what it was so I slid it under my laptop, onto the cooling mat, and promptly ignored it since May. Fast forward all this time later,- to me getting in the doghouse for taking a lot of pics with the phone. I was e-mailing them to myself, not knowing how much you get charged for that [I can txt til the cows come home, but no pics] So Boo says to me Ma,- you need an adapter and a memory card for your phone.When I think "Adapter" I think a large black boxy type of thing with a long power cord. So, just for kicks I show this to Boo. She informs me Ma THAT is a cell phone camera adapter. [don't worry,it gets worse, and I wasn't sick yet, I can't blame this on the codeine cough syrup that makes you pass out on the couch] Did your phone come with a memory card or not? I don't know? So we look in the phone and sure enough *I* have a damn memory card too! I'm all set to take pics at a moments notice, and put them right on my puter all by my lonesome, with no expensive help from Sprint ! Thank You very much Boo :o)
I can see a lot of fun with this, I take the phone everywhere, the camera not so much. So, here are a few pics from the snow today:

This morning when it got light. Steve took the truck, this was early on. These are basically for Shirla, my southern snow-lovin friend

This is from Tater, thank you honey:

And Thank you Elyse...and she found this article in my local paper. I remember this pic: [linking to article, pic is there]

http://archive.recordonline.com/archive/2005/12/14/sn.html

January 29th
-Free Thinkers Day
-National Corn Chip Day

~'Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind.' - Dr. Seuss~

Real Talent

I told you I've been feeling really bad. I was feelin better, but not for long. I thought it was cause I am SO friggin sick of winter, and a cold. Finally said the hell with it and saw my doc today. I have a sinus infection and an ear infection! A double-whammy, my first time out ! I never had either one of these before. I have such talent. And, to be honest, I'm happy and relieved. That was really bugging me, my get up and go,I mean it's GONE, and there's a bit of pain involved, so now at least I know why. The doc gave me a "get out of work" pass for tomorrow, but I can't use it,- we're due for 5-8" with a scrim of ice on top tomorrow night into wed., and fer sure I won't be going in wed. If it's that bad, Steve will need the truck [or I will need his ass to be in the truck so I am not worried]

As for my previous blogging about swears,well.....it's like this. I am who I am.I cannot be who I am not. When I first started blogging, I was gonna be so careful not to say anything to offend. Before you know it, you are so afraid to offend that you have nothing to say. I won't blog like that. The only caveat I gave myself, is that I would never intentionally blog something with the aim of hurting or embarrassing someone. I may well hurt or embarrass someone, but I will never intenetionally do that, and hope if I do, they'll let me know.With this crowd, I have no Doubt I'll hear about it. Now,that's not to say I won't call bullshit where calling bullshit is due, like on our beloved asshat governor. But if I have a thought or idea, or read or saw something interesting, or something happened in my life to make me think, chances are you will read about it. I was totally honest about the swears bloggie, how it came to be. I'm only blogging what I thought about. I am not going to apologize if it didn't make you laugh or if it offended you. Just like my advice to younger women, that was hard but it was real.The swears were easy as pie, but they were real too. And that's all I promise.Real, with a soupcon of funny thrown in just because.

~Of all the things I've loved and lost, I miss my mind the most.~

Swear Words! Really! A lot of em' too! But in a clinical sense,not a dirty one.But,you may think swears are always dirty! So,who knows?

I had a situation at work, where a co-worker said something that had to be instantly negated and neutralized. By me. So, I let her have it, and used the work fuck 3 times in one paragraph.This gave her to know that she'd better be listening, yanno? That got me to thinking about swears, and why and how I use them. Everybody is different. For some people, the word fuck is a part of their every day life, as in "Hey would you give me the fuckin' remote already?' I see it on blogs all the time,and also the "WTF". [although I have been known to use the WTF, somehow it's more innocuous that the word fuck] IMHO, that takes away the gravity of the word. For others, even a whispered damn or hell turns their face red, and results in comments about potty mouth.

In the upper echelon of swears, for me, fuck is the star.

[an aside...I use that word so little,..kids be QUIET, I am a classy broad and do NOT use that language in public......that I just had to teach my spellchecker that word]

It's the big bright shiny sledgehammer of the swear world. You only whip that out in extreme cases, and when you do, peoples heads snap back and they look at you as if you grew antenna. And they LISTEN to what you are saying, and generally do not forget it, if you have used the word fuck correctly.

Hell, Damn, pissed off, they are more stiletto-like, they slip into the conversation and I barely notice them, except in a subliminal way.

Then you have your exclamatory swears. Long strings of every swear and curse you know,in every language you can swear in [except for fuck, we don't want to sully fuck] strung together in a narrative or anecdotal way. The machete of the swears world. They are yelled while hammering a thumb, or having a turkey and a ham thrown onto your feet, then they have mysterious analgesic properties. The longer the string of swears is, the more healing power it has. I believe in natural remedies for pain relief, so I swear a lot. Big, long, glorious chains of swears that either relieve the pain or make me laugh.

Next would be your swears for body parts and family members. My favorite swear in this catagory is "sonofabitch", all one word. Asshole. Hmmm. Now,THAT can be used in a multitude of ways. For everything from getting cut off in traffic, spoken sotto-voce, to being yelled at full lung capacity at the asshole neighbor who almost ran you off the road cause she was on the phone and not looking.[and it's your one asshole neighbor, the whole family refers to her as "The Asshole,...hey, so it can be an appellation too!] Yeah,I would say asshole is a workhorse.

You know,not all swears are nouns or adjectives. Hot Damn, for instance, that is more of a verb, or a conjunction used in conjunction with a string of swears. Usually when I start a string of swears for pain relief, it starts out as God Damn or Hot Damn, if I know religious people are around I won't use "God Damn", it might offend them.

And last,you have your "sort-of" swears, I consider this to be the "Scrubs" effect. In this catagory would be frick, frickity-frick, crappity-crap, friggin,...euphemisms for the real thing, but not real swears in and of themselves. Public swears.

A whole bloggie,just because someone said something irretrieveably stupid. Turning lemons into lemonade !

The phone rang a little while ago. It's Stevie, he is getting out of class, and heard "THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE" [Boo is here, and she texted him, I just KNOW it] that we are having chinese for dinner, true? I HAD to laugh.Told him yup, he said he'd be here for dinner. Chinese and video games, with all the kids just happening to be here.Good Times ! I think I need to tell a certain daughter that there's no "Go to Hell" button on the video game controller ;o)

January 24th:

-National Belly Laugh Day
-National Compliment Day

Genes

You know, if you're a parent, you look to see yourself and your honey in your kids. Whos' eye color did they get? Can they hold a wrench? Play an instrument? Are they really good people, like their Dad? Do they have their Grammas eyes? Grandpas' weird little finger? My brothers' hair? We have had great pleasure over the years identifying who the kids got what from. BUT....last night, I discovered a gene I didn't know existed. The "Spittin-Fridge" gene. I indeed am a carrier of that gene. You have read here about how my refrigerator balks me. It laughs in my face, and attacks me at the very first sign that I am not paying attention. It spits things out at me that have NO business being spit out of a fridge, and it broke it's own shelf to dump a turkey and a ham on my pretty pink-slippered feet. Remember the Teriyaki? I can still smell that stuff in my dreams, and I think the shock of THAT bomb going off killed the water cooler, I really do. So, although it was a shock, I should have expected it. Last night, dinner-time. Steve and I were at the dining room table. I forgot the shredded cheddar for the potatoes, and asked Tony to grab it from the fridge. He opened the door, and I SWEAR, a bottle of mayo jumped STRAIGHT out of the fridge and hit him in the belly. It happened so fast he had no time to react, and it was one of the funniest things I ever saw....... Attack of the Hellmanns, When Hellmanns goes Bad, but then it struck me. The fridge recognized Tony as mine, and treats him the same way it treats me. The "Spittin-Fridge" gene, THAT is what I passed on to Tony. There's a lil twist to his fridge gene though.The fridge door has adjustable bins on it, and a least once a week, when Tony opens the door, the whole bottom bin jumps off the door onto the floor, condiments fly everywhere. The Teriyaki attacks me, the Soy Sauce attacks Tony. That's my boy.

January 24th:

-National Snow Plow/Mailbox Hockey Day

~Never look at the trombones. You'll only encourage them. - Robert Strauss on conducting

Trowel time

Congratulations to my Steve,...a Toyota Parts "Equinox" Award winner, for the third time !
We are so proud of you!

Blech.That about sums it up.
I have the flu, or something like it and bad cramps [regular two gun Sam] .I walked into work this morning and my supervisor said "You look like Hell" [thanks!] LED me over to my favorite work station and told me to stay there. He asked if I wanted to go home, was I ok, was that tea or high tension cocoa in my mug, every time he walked by me, he asked if I was ok. [there is kind of a joke about me and caffeine, I was so happy to find out about caffeinated cocoa!! Thank You Boo]. I was floored. And they made me laugh and that hurt, and they APOLOGIZED for making me laugh,which made me laugh again, a mobius strip if I ever saw one. Everyone that walked by, hey Gail, we don't hear you, are you pissed or sick? Need tea? Tissues? A coughdrop? One of the head honchos' who I assumed never even noticed me, let alone knew my name, asked me by name if I was ok. I REALLY musta looked like hell, cause my job performance was spot on. God I'm glad I didn't look at myself if it was that bad. I even wore blush today, cause I was really pale. Guess I shoulda laid it on with a trowel. And You know, I said this wouldn't have been the job I would have chosen for myself, but I work with such a genuinely nice group of people. I am really lucky.
Well, well,well,I just remembered that today is that "wordless" day of the week. Shit. Gotta remember what day of the week it is. I have one thing I can show you, I got this from Tony. I LOVE the Simpsons:




January 22nd:
-Answer your Cats Questions Day

~Life is a grindstone. Whether it grinds you down or polishes you up, depends upon what you're made of.~

Question Authority !

If you've been here long enough [a day or two at LEAST] you know the cello is a passion of mine. I'm always looking for knowledge and inspiration, when I get a new piece and need help with fingering or bowing, I turn to You Tube, to hear and see some of the masters play. I adore Yo-Yo Ma. He has a definite feminine side that speaks to the way I play. I really enjoy watching say, Rostropovitch perform a piece, and then listen to Yo-Yos' interpretation of it. I only had Yo-Yos Bach Prelude for Cello suite #1 [ it's in G Major] in my faves at You Tube. But it isn't a very good video....long on the scenes, short on actually seeing Yo-Yo perform. When I watch a video, I want to see the artist perform, not a set of grassy stairs. But something wasn't true for me with this video. No matter WHAT I did, I couldn't get the warmth, the singing quality Yo-Yo has. My interpretation is always too bright. I figured, well, THAT'S the difference between world class cellist over there, and classy broad over here. Until I REALLY listened. He isn't playing that in G! If you listen carefully, either the audio is slower than it ought to be, or he tuned that damn cello down a half step. All the same fingerings, all the same strings, but a half step down to G flat, no WONDER I always sound so bright and perky, like a freakin school crossing guard hopped up on the crack, rather than mellow hot summer day, with with big puffy clouds overhead. I call SHENANIGANS on that! I went looking, and my man Rostropovich was at You Tube. I listened to him, and sure enough, I was right,- Yo-Yo ain't playin' in G. You can hear it for yourself. Here are two links,-the first will be Yo-Yo, the second Rostropovich, both playing the same prelude:

Yo-Yo on Bach>

Rostropovich on Bach>

I feel like that's makeup....or anti-wrinkle cream. Covering up something to make it look [or sound] like something it's not, or changing the intrinsic heart of the piece. I know, I know, guitars have capos', you can mute brass and strings, yada-yada-yada. I don't know why it bothered me,- it's a video, not a concert performance. And you have to admit, the effect is lovely. Just wish I'd hit myself with the clue-bat before I tried so hard to reproduce that sound.

On to Stevie! I promised him,any time he makes a new creation in that new kitchen of his, if he sends me a pic, I shall blog it. So Yaaargh, here it be.......Stevie beef and broccoli, wok-style. Well done. :o)

And the house...Our r.e, the SELLERS' r.e, and Steve and I are all in agreement as to the worth of the house. The seller thinks it worth 25 grand more than that. The sellers' r.e is trying to get him to see the light, but I'm not holding my breath,we're still looking.

January 21st:
-National Hugging Day

~People are more violently opposed to fur than leather because it's safer to harass rich women than motorcycle gangs.~

...waiting......

This was my Christmas day, except the plunger was in the kitchen sink:

And this is just funny:
.......waiting......
.......and fun waiting too, the e-mails and phone calls are really flying now, "did you find one, did you offer, did they contact you", it's nice and reassuring, to see all the people wishing us well and rooting for us to get a happy ending, house-wise. My mil saw a picture of the kitchen in the house we put the offer on, and jokingly told Steve that I wouldn't know what to DO with that many cabinets, but I'd sure learn :o)
I think one way I know I'm getting older is, the older I get, the longer winter gets. I am ITCHING to go play with something outside, ANYthing. I've lived here my whole life, I don't know what I think I'm expecting in mid-January here in NY. I got out of work at 12:30 today.The sun was out,and warm on me,and it was a balmy 30 ! I was THRILLED!
January:

18 thru 24th: Hunt for Happiness Week

~Never have I seen a word as accurate as politics. Poly meaning many, and tic being a blood-sucking thing.~

Same old/Same old.

So here we sit. Usually I have a bloggie in the back of my mind, but my whole mind, or what's left of it, seems to have been taken over by the waiting. Waiting to see if our offer was accepted, laughed at, or signed back on.We were in total agreement with the r.e agent as to why we offered what we did. I ABHOR anticipation of any kind. I don't find it pleasurable, even as a kid I hated it. You never knew exactly what you were anticipating, it usually came to no good. I just want to get this the hell over with, yea or nay. I'm not saying that again, though,because I KNOW Steve feels the same way,.....but won't say that because he is trying to support me, and I am trying to support him. I'm wavering back and forth between dead calm and WOULD YOU FRIGGIN SAY SOMETHING YOU SELLER PUTZ YOU. And the funny thing is,we like the house,but we can walk, our r.e agent already has another house for us to view. I thought when I found a house I loved, I'd have a problem walking away if we couldn't come to a meeting of the minds. I absolutely don't. I just hate waiting for someone else to act, I'm a "jump in with both feet " kinda person.


January 19th
~ Happy Birthday Brenda !

~How come when you are driving through a neighborhood looking for an address, you turn the music down?

Dainties

I laughed right out loud at this, the aol welcome screen is good for something! [G-rated]

http://tinyurl.com/9fj53l

Can you imAgine! Would YOU get on a train wearing only your dainties?

We go to write up the offer for the house we've been looking at tomorrow ! Keep em crossed...we don't hold out much hope,but you never know.

Am feeling EXTREMELY stabby today,between bad weather and fighting with the friggin insurance company [nothing spectacular,but they can all bite my left ass cheek anyway]. I almost feel bad for Steve, he is due home in a few, and I don't see Stabby leaving my forecast anytime soon. I even made him his favorite dinner and I'm STILL feeling stabby. What the hell is it with health insurance companies? Not auto, or anyone else, but I can feel my shoulders climb up into my ears when I THINK about having to talk to Aetnathebastards.

UPDATE: 2 cans of Yoo-Friggin-Hoo,in that plastic band-thingie,just jumped out of the frig and onto my foot.They are dying a slow death on the front lawn. I just hope the bears are REALLY hibernating and that they don't like yoo-hoo anyway.

January 16
-Appreciate a Dragon Day
-Nothing Day

If the left side of your brain controls the right side of your body, then only left handed people are in their right mind.

Growth

The plants don't know it's winter......from flowers,to aerials, to great sheaves of seeds [on the palm] to new bumps [on the cacti]....a whole lotta growin goin' on in here.

January 15th:
-Women in Blue Jeans Day

~Buy land - they've stopped making it. -Mark Twain~

Fractal Wisdom

Well, we had so much to discuss yesterday, I never made it here! We saw the house we are interested in for the second time. The detached garage has a major issue with the rear wall, and Steve will insist that the owner...a Contractor, for Gods sake...fix it as a condition of sale. As soon as our r.e gets the details of the easement on the driveway, and we think they are ok................we will be making an offer!!!! WOO-HOO !! We really did our homework,....but we believe our offer will not be accepted. We want to pay a fair price for the house, and that is 20 grand less than the seller wants. I LOVE the place,but I can walk away if the garage isn't fixed or if the price ain't right. Our very first offer! Go Team Gail!!!!!

Stevie has done it again, and told me to be sure to blog it,so here it is...his version of pasta with meat sauce,^5 Stevie hehehehehe..... And, Hi Keri :O)

January 12th
-National "Clean off your desk day"
[Do you HEAR that Steve? Do I NEED to draw you a diagram, honey? Well,OK then, here's a Fractal Wisdom diagram for you:

All you'll have to do is answer a few easy questions,and I'll give you a pass on the desk cleaning,OK? NO CHEATING!

a)Given self to the third power is moi, what are the chances of you remembering to pick up your socks in our lifetimes?

b)If the angles formed by 0, 7, and 5 represent your checkbook, when do you think we'll be going back to that restaurant supply store? [Tip:factor in the broken side mirror on my truck in this answer if you're a wise man, ignore it at your peril]

c)If the center of self is at a right angle to the hypotenuse of the triangle, when do you see a secure bracketing system being installed on the lowest shelf of the fridge? Aetna is interested in this answer too,they do not want pay for my medical coverage should the refrig spit a big old honkin' ham at me again.

You can submit your answers with an Andes chocolate candy [in the hutch dear, they're in the hutch] any time after dinner.

~I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is. I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat. - Rebecca West, 1913~

IMHO.....

A-HA !! See, I TOLD you, you get goin' with the link from yesterday, and you'll be back for more! I told you I have a counter on the blog...it tells me how many hits the blog gets.

[An aside,...if you laugh at my blog numbers, I will hear you, and I will put a piratey-sounding curse on you! I KNOW there are huge blogs, and blog rings. Well, this ain't one of 'em.]

I usually get 45-53 hits a day. I got 78 on yesterdays bloggie, so people are coming back to click that link again, I just KNOW it ! [remember....laugh and you get cursed. I'm good at curses, in case you're not a regular reader here. Just ask my family :X]

A Rozerem Review
Well, I took my last rozerem last night...the insomnia pill. Fell asleep a lil after 11, and was up with a bullet at 1:12am. I think my problem is, I don't have a Dimmer Switch.You know that feeling of drifting off before you actually fall asleep? I don't get that. I'm either awake or asleep. And when I wake up in the night, I'm up and that's that. The rozerem, for me, worked a lil less than 50% of the time. When it did work....when I felt that drifting off feeling......it was heaven. I felt that the 50$/month was worth it. I don't drift off anymore, and it never kept me asleep. When I wake up in the night I am UP, rozerem or not, so I'm not taking them anymore. There's my review for it....if you need a non-controlled substance sleep aid, and you're willing to go thru the torture your insurance company lovingly calls the "PreCert process", then pay thru the nose to try it, do it up. You won't wake up feeling drugged in the morning, but you might not get to sleep in the first place :X Or stay asleep once you get there.If you are like me, and apparently missing your Dimmer Switch, maybe it isn't worth it. I'm very lucky,I'm very healthy, so I guess if I have to have something, insomnia isn't the worst thing in the world.


~BTW, FWIW, IMHO, AFAIK, yes. OTOH, AAMOF, maybe not. YMMV.~

That's WHY they're called Personal Days.

I love days off from work ! I had taken today off as a personal day. Every year I have a physical, and make an appointment for the next year right then and there, so I can't ignore it. I made todays appointment last year.You should have heard the lady supervisor at work yesterday, "Talking" to the person next to me, about how Dr's have evening hours, and there's NO NEED to miss work". I told her, I HATE physicals, esp the ladies one [and that's coming up,shit] When I make an appt., it's for the first slot of the day, and after the appointment, do whatever the hell I want to....hit the library, practice all day, read, bake, anything for me and me alone. THAT is what personal days are FOR. She got quiet quick, maybe she never looked at it that way before.

We had a conference call with our r.e agent last night,about the house we're interested in. It seems that, anytime you put up drywall in this county, you have a finished room, and you need a permit and then a C.O. The guy who owns the house finished half the basement, and had a permit and a C.O for that. However, he drywalled maybe 3/4 of the attic [never finished it, Steve and I figured we'd practice our home building technique up there :O)] and that changes things....the guy never got a permit. So,on top of the crack, and the detached garage having issues, now we have to tell him,you straighten this out, or we will walk...and we will, we have had enough shitstorms in our lives, we don't need to borrow someone elses. And, the whole point of buying a house [getting out of here aside] is to leave something of value to the kids, to enrich their lives and help raise our grandkids. Steve and I never had much in the way of help from our parents, and we want to make sure our kids do.
Every once in a while I want to share a website with you. I had found a great website, but was back-tracking it....following back links to see what else there was to see,...and found myself at one of my favorite sites, PCMag's site,and this list:

http://www.pcmag.com/category2/0,2806,7488,00.asp

DISCLAIMER:
Please remember when you scroll down to the "Top 100 undiscovered websites" that you should allow for some time to explore, if you get yelled at because you aren't at the dinner table, or wind up still looking around at 2am, it ain't my fault. I'm almost looking forward to the insomnia now, that is guiltness surfin' time,I wouldn't EVER run the vacuum at 2 or 3 am.

Woo-Hoo! More snow tomorrow, 6-9". Milk and OJ? Check. Popcorn? Check. Wine? Check. We're set :O)

January 10th:
-Positively Penguins Day

~Music is the art of thinking and speaking with sounds~

Hearing vs Listening

I was thinking today about the difference between hearing and listening...using your ears,vs.using your body.
I was at work, and a co-worker told me I could not possibly be doing my job correctly [and she is always wrong] because the machine I use makes a certain sound when you have coupled parts correctly,and she didn't hear that sound once. Every single thing I did tested 100%. I tried to explain to her, BEFORE the machine makes that sound, you can listen with your hands,...you will feel the connection taking place,and there's no need to run the machine until it begs for mercy....,IMHO,then you've gone too far. I shaved one full hour off a very good time for that job, when I started listening with my hands instead of my ears.

[an aside...my company is just a few minutes from my home, located in the same mountain pass, so we have trouble with radio reception.This morning I said Screw it, took the CD changer out of the truck with me when I went in, and queued up music for the whole morning. THAT might have had something to do with my speed too. You can't sit still when good tunes are being played.When I left, I left them with "Bat out of Hell" and OutKast, THAT oughta keep things moving :o)]

After trying to explain that to the co-worker
[who claims listening with your hands is not a valid response ! How the hell would she know if she never tried? ] I got to thinking about another body part we listen with.
Actually, I laughed right out loud, 'cause I thought of Steve and I, and every person on this road who has developed superior bad weather driving skills because of our poorly maintained road. We listen with our asses! It's true,if you listen with your ass you'll know when your vehicle wants to go in a different direction than you had in mind.You can start to correct before the car tries to yaw, instead of waiting for a visual cue that you're about to have an off-road experience. A cue like a telephone pole. Or a ditch.

Here's an interesting read:

http://www.cracked.com/article_16931_dickonomics-how-5-everyday-businesses-trick-you.html

Let me warn you,the author is kinda gross at times, but I have 3 kids,so I ignored it. I could have TOLD you about supermarkets re-arranging everything to keep you looking for things.That pisses me off no end. Bastids.

~"The national budget must be balanced. The public debt must be reduced. The arrogance of the authorities must be moderated and controlled. Payments to foreign governments must be reduced if the nation doesn't want to go bankrupt. People must again learn to work instead of living on public assistance." -Marcus Tullius Cicero, 55 B.C.

I did it again

Very exciting stuff! The mortgage broker called me today, and told me she was printing up our pre-approval letter :o) We are going to see one of the houses a second time, and want to be ready. Steve and I just discussed this last night,and BAM,there's the broker today, and neither one of us had called her, we both forgot :X Do you know how fan-freakin-Tastic it will be to have a dedicated music area, and a place for all my books? You know,THAT is why I took up the flute,cause you can play,set it on the counter to start dinner,and then play again.You can't move a piano around from room to room, and my poor Ruby has been in places no cello should ever have to go :O)
We had a pretty good ice storm here today,so I stayed home. I can't impress on you, what it means to live at the top of the horseshoe of a dirt road in the winter. Any moisture allowed to melt, then freeze, provides a nice slick ice skating rink surface on the road. Our landlord SUCKS, [it] does not maintain the road. We have seniors and babies that live up here, as well as our asses, what if the firetrucks or cops had to come up here? Usually, you do not say anything, that is the way it is.Well,this year, Steve and I called BULLSHIT on that, and bitch every time the road is dangerous [i.e.,even an all wheel drive vehicle would have great difficulty or no shot at getting up here] LET them want us out, we are leaving anyway, but in the meantime, maybe we can help the neighbors out a bit [except there IS no hope for Bridget,- the one neighbor no one can stand, that dumbass couldn't drive a kiddy car.] [See? The minute you make the decision to buy your own place, you can call Bullshit on the landlord and the dumbass neighbor! Very liberating :o)]
OH SHIT !! This was wordless Wednesday,wasn't it! OK, so memes aren't a strong suit of mine yet. I'll just have to find [make up] a meme that can stick with. Wordless ain't one of them :X Who made that rule up,anyway? I think I'll make up my own set of rules while I'm at it. Boo,if you have suggestions,please make them blogable ;o)

January 8th
-National Joy Germ Day
-Show and Tell Day at Work [oh,I see having a lot of fun with that]

Decisions

I've been thinking whether to blog this or not. I guess I will, let's keep it real. Actually there are two things I wanted to say, but they are connected.They have to do with my deciding to be a stay at home mom for my kids. And I'm saying them because I know of at least 4 young women, plus my daughter and my niece, who read my blog when they have nothing better to do.This applies to them.
When the time comes for you to have your babies, you need not only to think about the here and now, but the 20 years from the here and now.You need to think about what you want your life to be like when the kids are grown.You CANNOT just say, "you might as well rip my beating heart out of my chest and stomp on it, as to ask me to allow someone else to raise my Children." THAT will not decide nor secure your future for you. Also, It's always hard to say that, because women who hear it, and choose to work outside the home, think you are judging them.Even though YOU were the person supporting their decision to work outside the home by picking up their children, and always being the go-to gal, SHOWING your support for them, they will still feel judged. This is a judgement on ME. I never thought, at 22,- woo-hoo, what type of job will I have when I'm 48? All I know is that I have this beautiful baby in my arms and ain't NO ONE raising him but me. And at 25, and 29, when my other babies came along, I never gave a thought to The Later.Well, guess what? NOW is "The Later". The women who continued to work outside the home have a lot to show for their efforts. Guess what, ladies ? I don't. And I wanted it to be crystal clear, there is not one thing I would have changed about being home with my kids. Not one THING. But, speaking to you across the years, so to speak, be VERY sure to calculate your "The Later" into your "Right Now" when you make plans for your children. And YOUR future. And don't judge women who choose differently from you, they are just as worried about the decisions they have to make as you are. I am NOT saying to work outside the home. I am NOT saying stay home. I'm saying,think very hard about it,don't ignore it,and make a conscious decision,that's all. That was kinda hard to put out there, so please just take it the way it was intended....just an FYI.

Well, that was one thing. The other thing was to Steve.This has been SO freaking difficult for me, the "Later", and I certainly have shared my feelings with him. Who you are, your brains, your talent...at this age, unless you've been out there all these years, you're OUT. The job I have now...I am very lucky that it requires some brains,and problem solving skills,and I really enjoy the people I work with...but this is NOT what I would have chosen for myself, if, all those years ago, I gave it a thought. I believe to this day I made the right decision, but that doesn't help in the "Right Now" when I come home feeling broken, and actually bleeding and blistered some days. I'd rather have this job than just about anything available to me right now, but that doesn't say much, does it? Steve, I am so sorry for being such a dickhead lately. I made the decision to do what I did, and I guess jobs like this are a form of penance for that, but I had the opportunity to do what I felt I had to do as a Mom.Thanks for being there, and not getting too bent out of shape in the morning. Thanks for working so hard so that one of us could always be there for the kids.You supported me and held me up then,and you support me and hold me up now. Thanks for being You. I appreciate it.

In a delicious twist of irony,

January 7th is both:

-I'm not going to take it anymore day

and

-International Programmers day. hehehe.
.

And, NO list of holidays would be complete without:

-Harlem Globetrotters' Day

More Deep Thoughts

~Why is it that inside every older person is a younger person wondering what the heck happened? ~

Thar she be !!

A Drumroll, please....didn't think I had anything to say today, but got this from Stevie tonight.....his first roast chicken,in his own kitchen:THIS is what God intended camera cell phones to be used for!!! Congrats Stevie,and you are next Boo, I will roasting-pan you yet!!!!!
Oh,...and we are going to have a second look at the house we are interested in. On sat,the first time we saw it, the owner followed us around like a lonely puppy.The r.e agent wants us to walk away if we can't view it this time without the owner around. So, anything you had crossed, please keep it crossed. I'm sure your insurance will cover injuries due to crossing things for good luck for friends and/or relatives.If they claim they don't, you just tell them you know a pirate with an aluminum baseball bat ;o)

Couldn't think of a title.

Well, we went house huntin' today...we saw three homes. Honest to God, I don't know what some people are thinking. If you are trying to sell your home,do you REALLY want the viewers met by a pit bull? Or unable to walk around a room? Yuk.The good news is, we did see one home we are very interested in. Now we wait for the r.e agent to give us more specs, including the taxes. Not as much land as I wanted, but plenty of woods.

I got a lil surprize today, my Boo im'ed me with a link to her facebook,where she put a pic of Steve and me on Christmas day. I *think* it's the only time a pic of me appears on the net. I'm really careful, asking people whos' pics I have blogged here, if that is OK with them or not, and it appears to me, the younger you are the less you could care. I asked one sis if I could blog a pic of her, and she acted like I hit her butt with an electric prod, so I was guessing that was a no. I don't know how I feel about being on the net. I'm just who I am, but I'm not a teenager, or a young person anymore. I guess I have two views of myself, one when I can't see what I look like, only how I feel, and one where there's a pic in front of me :X

January 4th:

-World Hypnotism Day

One of those Great days :O)

What a great day ! The kids came home,and got me something I have wanted for so long.

When they were 12, 9, and 6, for a few years we had a sega genesis unit [video games]and the sega channel...a video game channel. Some of these games were really technically challenging. At the time, moms were saying that video games were from the debbil, and no one of my acquaintence let their kids play. [or if they did they'd turn up their noses and never admit it.]*I* did. I thought, and still do, that they teach hand eye coordination, perseverence, and problem solving ability, and in controlled doses, when the parent selects the games,they are fine for kids.[ and those games were NO where near as violent or bloody as todays' games] They played in our livingroom, and Steve and I played too. I can't tell you the good times we had beating some games, we all had a hand in it.Well, fast forward to today...all the kids got together and got me a sega unit, and a basket of games for it, including our family favorite, Kid Chameleon. That game was a true BITCH to defeat, and we couldn't have done it without each other. I just about cried my eyes out, I know it sounds like a stupid thing, but we all loved those snowy Saturday afternoons,and they remembered the good times, and were showing me that. I felt all the good memories I have of those years were TOTALLY validated by my kids, we all shared a lot of good times .... I'm crying again. :O) We all played and noshed all afternoon,then had chinese for dinner.Boo and Stevie just left.A Great Day,thank you so much kids...... Plus we go to see the 3 or 4 houses tomorrow. A Great day today,and a lot to look forward to tomorrow.

Dancin' Girls

A very happy New Years to You! I spent most of the day doing exactly what I wanted. I'm waiting for the men to get done watching a movie [they are upstairs.....Tony has blueray on his laptop, so they hooked that up to the tv to watch some movie the name of which I can't remember, but could not be less interested in seeing ] so I can go practice, they'd have a bit of an issue with my volume.
Sat., we HOPE, we will be seeing at least 2 houses. We pretty much in agreement about what we MUST HAVE ,and what we need and want. One of the houses, omg, 3.5 acres, I can plant the HELL outta that, and a lot of it is wooded. It occurred to me, I've never really lived away from woods, except our first few years of marriage in the apt. I need them nearby, if I can't have them as part of the property. We've seen a lot of nice houses, but they either are in mega developments [very small lot size] or the price or taxes are simply more than we will pay. In NY, school taxes are skyrocketing in some areas, so we really need to watch that too. Nervous scary territory.

I spent a little time today getting the blog and my sig for message boards and e-mail updated to spring, I am SO ready for spring already !! Poor Tony,he got off work early Wednesday,came home around 1:30... [we had a snowstorm, bitter cold, high winds, the whole magilla] they did NOT plow our road...still haven't...and Tony couldn't get his car up the hill to our house. I hoofed it down and MADE it come up the hill [cars know my name, or they know I'll report them to Steve, it's just refrigerators that hate me. Refrigerators and the occasional microwave.] I SWEAR,when we are out of here I am going to put such a smackdown on this friggin landlord, you'll hear it in 'Jersey. Oh ! Note the new ticker! A nod to my gearheads, The Daytona is The Holy of Holies on a Nascar fans' religious calendar. And please note the dancing girls, I know that ya gotta have some boobs around racecars :X

January 2:
-55 MPH speed limit day [@@]

~May God bless those who love us. And those who do not love us, may He turn their hearts. And if He does not turn their hearts, may He turn their ankles, so we may know them by their limping. - Irish Blessing~