Category Archives: Life

That Insidious Smiley!!!

 

Sometimes when I see this :) , rather than inspiring warm fuzzy feelings for the person who typed it, it makes me want to barf… Or throw something at my computer… Or both… Not always, though. In fact, only a few times a day, and only a couple of specific people (none of them being my fb pals – thank goodness! That would get pretty messy – all that barfing and throwing things!!!). It is because I know what is really behind that :) , and I know for a fact it is nothing warm and fuzzy, rather evil and twisted. How can a simple emoticon convey such sarcasm and vile irony???

Don’t get me wrong! I use the :) all the time and with the utmost sincerity. What can I say? I am just a smiley gal.

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Sorry for eavesdropping

 

Overheard last week: “Fat chicks aren’t real people.”

I’ll set the scene. I was in a gas station getting a bottle of water because it was scorchingly hot and my van had no air. I paid and was walking out. As I came though the door, there were two guys standing outside the door smoking. One said, “Oh my God! That was harsh!” to which the other one replied, “What do I care? Fat chicks aren’t real people.” I know I had to look shocked or something because the one who had said it rolled his eyes at me.

Yeah… I was going to give my two cents, but whatever… Let’s go with that. Fat chicks aren’t real people. Too bad we still have to pay taxes. :(

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Bone Marrow Donation

 I found out that I cannot donate my bone marrow due to my sleep apnea and BMI. Since both of those are totally related, I will definitely be more focused from now on so that I can get those both under control and get on the Registry. This is something James and I have both wanted to do for a long time but have never sat down to begin the steps. About a year ago, I started looking into it, but did not look at the medical requirements. That won’t be a problem for long, though. :)

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Just like riding a bike…

Everyone is outside right now with Reice trying to teach him to ride a bike.  We have been trying to teach him for nearly 4 years now, I think.  James and he fight so much and they have such little patience with each other that BOTH dread the couple times a year they decide to bite the bullet and actually try the endeavor again.  I cannot stand watching the kids get hurt, even the little cuts and scrapes, so like a coward I do not join in the “fun”. 

Pawpaw got a new bike recently so he and Reice decided it is time for Reice to buckle down and just do it.  Well…  He actually did it tonight!!!  At one point, he was having trouble keeping the bike up and going, and he got mad at Champ for getting in his way, so he started heading straight toward him in anger, but it WORKED!!!  He kept the bike up and going! He got in several good runs and even  made it from one end of the block nearly to the end. I am so proud of him!  I think a lot of what helped this time was the fact that Pawpaw and Shawn were here to motivate him instead of just me and Daddy.  He wanted to be able to ride around town with his Pawpaw as well, so I am sure that help, too.

I made the comment the other day, that I wanted to start riding a bike, but I was so afraid that it wouldn’t be so much like “riding a bike”.  Everyone always throws around that cliche, but I have been so afraid that it would be difficult to pick back up again. Shawn says he recently started riding again, though, and after only a few moments of wobbliness. I’m hopeful! :)

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25 Things… Well… 26, I guess…

 

Recently, for my job, I was tasked to come up with “25 Things You Don’t Know About Me”, which was an old Facebook meme and I have seen several blog posts on it as well. I thought I’d add my two cents worth of what you don’t know to the world-wide web. :)

    1. I HATE watermelon but LOVE artificial watermelon flavor. I LOVE cherries but HATE artificial cherry flavor.
    2. I can’t keep plants alive, indoors or out.
    3. I HATE talking on the phone, probably because I am beginning to lose my hearing. It makes me very self-conscious.
    4. My dream job is very closely related to my current job. I LOVE historical documents as well as information sciences. I am thinking museum curator or librarian of a HUGE library.
    5. James and I are currently writing a novel.
    6. I HATE left turns. I sometimes go out of my way to avoid them.
    7. I cannot stand trying to untie knots.  It chills me to the bone and makes me painfully cringe. I have no idea why.
    8. My cousin and I were both born on the same day, only hours apart. I also share a birthday with my mother-in-law and such celebrities as M. Night Shyamalan, Andy Warhol and Lucille Ball.
    9. Davy Crockett is my 6th great grand-uncle. My great-grandmother was a Crockett.
    10. My great-grandparents emigrated from Poland, but both died before my grandfather was 8, so he was raised in an orphanage, specifically Girard College in Philadelphia, PA.
    11. I was on the front page of the local newspaper when I was 12 for winning the county-wide spelling bee. I went on to compete in the regional spelling bee in Memphis, but placed something like 13th.
    12. I have one dog (a Scottie-schnauzer type mix named Snidely) and two kittens (both tiger-striped named Kreacher and Dobby).
    13. My favorite color is purple and for over a year I wore a purple top at least 5 out of 7 days of the week.
    14. My favorite thing to do is cook. I LOVE cake decorating but have had no formal training.
    15. I am a LEO.
    16. I have seen the Deftones in Corpus Christi, TX as well as Cincinnati, OH, and Jacksonville, FL, all within one year. Met them in Cincinnati and Jacksonville.
    17. I have never had a speeding ticket.
    18. I have a special place in my heart for kitschy crafting.
    19. I collect perfume bottles, all types, but I prefer vintage.
    20. My favorite gas station/truck stop is in Italy, Texas. It is just yards from the Starship Pegasus that was once a gift shop and an arcade.
    21. I am on my 3rd iPhone. My first met an untimely death when it was dropped in the toilet (and peed on), my 2nd now belongs to my children as it is literally about to fall apart and my 3rd has already been dropped and shattered, but still works like a charm.
    22. If I could vacation anywhere on earth, it would be the Maldives. My second choice would be Jamaica.
    23. I LOVE long drives with a good audiobook.
    24. James and I have been married 9 years.
    25. My favorite food is my own greek salad.
    26. Due to the formatting of my blog, when I posted this originally, it converted all my NUMBERED bullet points to LETTERED bullet points. I don’t know why. Also originally, I had only 25 things, but since that left the blog only going through letter Y… Well, we just couldn’t have that. So… The 26th thing about me is apparently I am weird about not finishing a list if it only goes to Y. :)
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Thoughts On My Family

 

So… I have been thinking a lot about my family lately.  My older brother just got married and has a baby on the way. I wish him all the best. My younger brother has two children, and I have three. Meaning my mother will have 6 grandchildren by later this year.

Currently my younger brother is incarcerated in a county jail awaiting transfer to a state facility. He has been in jail since January. My mother was also in jail for the same incident, but due to my brother taping a confession, she is now in a recovery home for a year.

My rambling is all for this: How does one woman have three children, and they all turn out so differently? Or at least one of them? My older brother and I seem to have it together, even if it took us a little while to find our way. What will it take for my little brother to see that he can’t repeat my mother’s mistakes, or he will end up just like her – nearing 50 years old with no stability or security. My mother will not say anything to him. Her reasoning: “I made the same mistakes. I can’t say anything.” WRONG!!!  She is the ONE person who can say, “DO NOT FOLLOW IN MY FOOTSTEPS!!! If it wasn’t obvious, look at where it has gotten me. Think of your children. Put them first!!!”

Don’t get me wrong. I LOVE my mother. Always will. I see the good in her. Until I was about 12 or 13, my mother hung the moon. She could do no wrong. But right at around that time, we lost our home and everything we owned due to her mistakes. She will blame it all on one person, and I used to believe her, but after growing up and marrying and having my own children, I cannot sympathize with her anymore. There is NOTHING and NO ONE on this planet for whom I would sacrifice the safety and security of my children.

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Dreading Friday This Week :(

 

I have to go to my office tomorrow to train for a new position. I am seriously dreading it. No air in my van still and it is supposed to reach 100° in Memphis. A good pal and co-worker that I have worked with for almost 6 years now put in her notice yesterday.  That makes me so sad!!!

At present, our air in the house is also out, but thanks to the kindness of my father-in-law’s manager, we now have two window units to tide us over until payday so that we can get our central unit repaired. It is now nice and chilly in here, whereas normally at this time, it would be hot and miserable.

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