Freaking Rain!!! I am so sick of it raining.....and feeling swampy. Yuck.....thought I was gonna go to the Davenport Farmers Market this morning, but just looked at the radar, and another HUGE batch of thunderstorms is rolling this way. Hopefully this wave of crappy weather gets out of the area before my Mom arrives from Oregon on Wednesday. Can't wait to see her! I've been spoiled this year though, because she was just here in February.
This is the first time in my life that I have been a "stay at home mom". Seriously...I have had a job that I have worked at every day since I was 12. Paper routes, salon cleaning, Drugtown, Campbell Dining Center, Wolfe Eye Clinic, and Hy-Vee since 1988. So what do people do on Fridays when they don't have to go to a job and the kids are home for the summer? They go GARAGE SALE-ING!!! Hehe...well not everyone, but since I am TRYING to decorate my first new home on the cheap, I figured it was worth a shot. I mean, when you live in a trailer (excuse me....mobile home), your idea of decorating is rotating the tires (sorry...you can take the girl outta the trailer park...). My home is lovely, but it has pretty much nothing on the walls cept pictures of the girls. What DO you put on the walls anyway? I have a few ideas...so with those in mind the girls and I hopped in the car and drove to the rolling metropolis of CARBON CLIFF, IL. They were having a community-wide garage sale, so we were sure to find some GREAT bargains there right? Um.....no. It was pretty much Grandma and Grandpa sitting out front getting rid of ole redneck junk. NASCAR stuff, Fishing Flys, hunting gear, glasses from the 1970's, yada, yada, yada. At the first place we went to, I found a couple of standing lamps. They looked to be in fairly reasonable shape (from an outward glance), and were only $1.00 a piece. I asked the lady if they worked, and she told me that we could get some light bulbs and plug them in. I, like a fool, said "not necessary" and "I'll take them". RULE #1 learned about buying stuff at garage sales.....if it has to be plugged in...test it before buying. I also should have moved the lamps from the place they were sitting on the uneven lawn, and put them on the driveway to see if they were even level (which I discovered later they were not). Plus, one of them broke apart before we even got them into the car. By the time we got home with them....I was all ready to play Mrs. Fix-it. NOT! They were COMPLETE junk. Oh well...I would have been pissed if I had spent more money on them. My daughter however, later found a lovely purple lava lamp for her bedroom. This time we had learned our lesson, and had the lady plug it in before purchasing. It bubbled nicely.
I love crockpots. One of the best inventions ever. Before we left for the garage sales, I put a pot roast in the crockpot...dumped 2 cans of Cream of Mushroom Soup, a packet of dry onion soup mix, and a cup and a 1/2 of water in the bowl...put it on low, and when we got home dinner was cooking up lover-ly. Good thing too, because it was HOT AS HELL. I tried to lay out to tan my jiggly parts, and made it about a half and hour before I said screw this. I wonder if the neighbors would be righteously pissed if I just went and jumped in their pool about every 15 minutes? I don't need to swim around or anything....just need to cool off. Yeah, I don't think that would get us any invitations to the block party.
Well...it's sunny outside now. The calm before round two of storms. I suppose I probably could make it to the market quick. I only need a couple of things...........
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Scanning, Sunning, and Capitalism
I am not intellegent enough to tie all three together, but they are the biggest highlightsof my day. Most of the morning was spent scanning old photos, the afternoon sunning on this gorgeous day, and tonight watching the documentary "Captalism" by Michael Moore. I will, of course, comment on all.
After finally getting Jo off to school after 3 days at home with an ear infection (which doesn't even really count as "school" because she was only there for 4 hours to make it a "legal" day), I decided to work on one of the projects I always said I was going to do when I have "free time". My first child was born in 1998....when 35MM cameras were king, when "advantix" film was gonna be the NEXT BIG THING (what a flop that was), and when 8MM camcorders were selling for $450.00. I have piles of photographs still in their original developing envelopes collecting dust in a bin in my basement. So I took an allergy pill, pulled out that bin, and started digging in. We have an old HP scanner that is hooked up to our aging Gateway desktop computer, so I sat down and went to work. Went through all the actual "professional" shots taken of the girls over the years. Pictures from La Petite Academy in Iowa City, and Kindercare in Davenport, and all the school photos...as well as the two family pictures we've have taken since both the kids were born. What a trip down memory lane that was. Hard to believe that little girl Alyssa swimming in the teddy bears is now 5'5" and has bigger feet than I do. And Jo through the years, every picture reflects her flair for the dramatic....even when she was two she was hamming it up for the camera. It was seriously fun. I figure if I scan 10 pictures a day, I should catch up with all the photos by the time Jordan graduates from High School in 2020.
After the dog walking me to school to pick up Jo...I decided to tan my jiggly parts in our backyard. I used to love to sunbathe, back when I was 125lbs. But I am just beastly white. I mean seriously, my Wonder Bread loaf is darker than I am. So I unfolded my old rubber tube lounger (circa 1992), and grabbed my NOOK (my e-reader, circa 2010), and headed out to the back porch/cement slab. 10 minutes in I am sweating like Robert Hays/Ted Striker trying to land the plane. Holy crap! There was even a nice breeze. I had to get up like every 15 minutes and literally hose myself off. The dogs are looking at me like I am crazy. I wonder if I stuck out my tongue and pant like they do, I would sweat less. I think if I go out again, I am going to rub myself down with Right Guard instead of tanning lotion. Anyway, now my legs look more like teeth with a little tartar build-up rather than ultra brite.
While I was cooking dinner my husband started watching a Netflix movie he got called "Capitalism". I happened by the TV on one of my many trips out to the grill, saw a snippet, and made him turn it off so that I could watch it later. Everyone I know pretty much knows that I am a Democrat. I don't throw my political opinion around unless I am asked, and even then I only jaw with those I know can handle a good debate. Now Michael Moore made this movie, so I knew that it was going to be radically left. It was kind of like watching JFK by Oliver Stone. A lot of what he said is based on fact, but I know that a lot of it was taken out of context. Sorry....we interrupt this blog for an important announcement....
THE CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS WIN THE STANLEY CUP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
At least one Chicago team can win a title........and I don't count the Sox.
Anyhoo.....I did learn some things about the downfall of big business that I was not aware of. That's my own fault because in the big picture that was my small little world, I didn't realize that it was going to affect me....until I saw my paltry little 401-k lose 1/4 of the money I had invested in it. Then I started getting interested.....and realized that I really didn't know anything about our governement. My family is the epitome of middle class...My name is in the middle of the alphabet, my birthday is in the middle of the school year, I grew up in a state in the middle of the country, in a town in the middle of the state. My dad earned a modest wage....we never went hungry but I wore hand-me downs, and drove junk cars. I started living in apartments, duplexes, mobile homes, and was 36 before I owned my first single family home. My kids don't have big college funds, and we live paycheck to paycheck (which are a lot smaller now!). I do feel blessed because I know that a lot of people are a lot worse off than I am. Does Capitalism work...where people have the right to choose, but don't have the means to choose? Where the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer? I don't know. At the end of the movie Michael Moore shows a clip of FDR talking about a second bill of rights he proposed in 1944...it went something like this....
The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industry -- our shops, our farms, our mines of the nation. The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation. The right of every family to a decent home. The right to adequate medical care. The opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health. The right to adequate protection from economic fear, from old age and sickness and accident and unemployment. Finally, the right to a good education.
Hmmmmm....this all sounds great!! People like Rush Limbaugh (whom by the way married his 4th wife this week....congrats), claim this was FDR's was of promoting Socialism. What he didn't say is how all this was going to be achieved, and who was going to be responsible for making sure these things happen. We never got to see what would have happened because FDR died within the year and his ideas never took off. Very interesting....
Later Taters!
After finally getting Jo off to school after 3 days at home with an ear infection (which doesn't even really count as "school" because she was only there for 4 hours to make it a "legal" day), I decided to work on one of the projects I always said I was going to do when I have "free time". My first child was born in 1998....when 35MM cameras were king, when "advantix" film was gonna be the NEXT BIG THING (what a flop that was), and when 8MM camcorders were selling for $450.00. I have piles of photographs still in their original developing envelopes collecting dust in a bin in my basement. So I took an allergy pill, pulled out that bin, and started digging in. We have an old HP scanner that is hooked up to our aging Gateway desktop computer, so I sat down and went to work. Went through all the actual "professional" shots taken of the girls over the years. Pictures from La Petite Academy in Iowa City, and Kindercare in Davenport, and all the school photos...as well as the two family pictures we've have taken since both the kids were born. What a trip down memory lane that was. Hard to believe that little girl Alyssa swimming in the teddy bears is now 5'5" and has bigger feet than I do. And Jo through the years, every picture reflects her flair for the dramatic....even when she was two she was hamming it up for the camera. It was seriously fun. I figure if I scan 10 pictures a day, I should catch up with all the photos by the time Jordan graduates from High School in 2020.
After the dog walking me to school to pick up Jo...I decided to tan my jiggly parts in our backyard. I used to love to sunbathe, back when I was 125lbs. But I am just beastly white. I mean seriously, my Wonder Bread loaf is darker than I am. So I unfolded my old rubber tube lounger (circa 1992), and grabbed my NOOK (my e-reader, circa 2010), and headed out to the back porch/cement slab. 10 minutes in I am sweating like Robert Hays/Ted Striker trying to land the plane. Holy crap! There was even a nice breeze. I had to get up like every 15 minutes and literally hose myself off. The dogs are looking at me like I am crazy. I wonder if I stuck out my tongue and pant like they do, I would sweat less. I think if I go out again, I am going to rub myself down with Right Guard instead of tanning lotion. Anyway, now my legs look more like teeth with a little tartar build-up rather than ultra brite.
While I was cooking dinner my husband started watching a Netflix movie he got called "Capitalism". I happened by the TV on one of my many trips out to the grill, saw a snippet, and made him turn it off so that I could watch it later. Everyone I know pretty much knows that I am a Democrat. I don't throw my political opinion around unless I am asked, and even then I only jaw with those I know can handle a good debate. Now Michael Moore made this movie, so I knew that it was going to be radically left. It was kind of like watching JFK by Oliver Stone. A lot of what he said is based on fact, but I know that a lot of it was taken out of context. Sorry....we interrupt this blog for an important announcement....
THE CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS WIN THE STANLEY CUP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
At least one Chicago team can win a title........and I don't count the Sox.
Anyhoo.....I did learn some things about the downfall of big business that I was not aware of. That's my own fault because in the big picture that was my small little world, I didn't realize that it was going to affect me....until I saw my paltry little 401-k lose 1/4 of the money I had invested in it. Then I started getting interested.....and realized that I really didn't know anything about our governement. My family is the epitome of middle class...My name is in the middle of the alphabet, my birthday is in the middle of the school year, I grew up in a state in the middle of the country, in a town in the middle of the state. My dad earned a modest wage....we never went hungry but I wore hand-me downs, and drove junk cars. I started living in apartments, duplexes, mobile homes, and was 36 before I owned my first single family home. My kids don't have big college funds, and we live paycheck to paycheck (which are a lot smaller now!). I do feel blessed because I know that a lot of people are a lot worse off than I am. Does Capitalism work...where people have the right to choose, but don't have the means to choose? Where the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer? I don't know. At the end of the movie Michael Moore shows a clip of FDR talking about a second bill of rights he proposed in 1944...it went something like this....
The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industry -- our shops, our farms, our mines of the nation. The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation. The right of every family to a decent home. The right to adequate medical care. The opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health. The right to adequate protection from economic fear, from old age and sickness and accident and unemployment. Finally, the right to a good education.
Hmmmmm....this all sounds great!! People like Rush Limbaugh (whom by the way married his 4th wife this week....congrats), claim this was FDR's was of promoting Socialism. What he didn't say is how all this was going to be achieved, and who was going to be responsible for making sure these things happen. We never got to see what would have happened because FDR died within the year and his ideas never took off. Very interesting....
Later Taters!
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Ear Infections and Going Greek
My sick kid is driving me crazy.
Ok...not literally crazy, but nutso...loco....etc. She has been down with an ear infection for two days. She is supposed to be in school (.the last three days of school before summer break), but instead she is home....with a fever above 100 and a case of the I'M BORED'zzzzzzz. Now, technically, she is still supposed to be in school (did I say that already?), which means that she's bored and school isn't even out yet. It is going to be a LOOOONG summer. I remember when the girls were babies and they would become ill, even though it killed you to see them hurting....all they wanted to do was snuggle with you. Now you want them to go away.......
It's been a gross rainy day today. LOTS of rain this morning, so I thought we'd hunker down with a nice movie. Finding a movie that is appropriate for a 12 year old as well as an 8 year old is very hard. The 8 year old doesn't get what the 12 year old does....but the 12 year old does't get a lot either. Cartoon movies are too babyish for the 12 year old, but romantic comedies are too far reaching, and too provacative sometimes for both. You can only watch the Princess Diaries and Hannah Montana so many times before they turn your brain to mush. I actually had to have the birds and bees talk with my 12 year old....solely because she wanted to read the Twilight Series of books. Damn you Stephanie Meyer. Anyway....we tried Grumpy Old Men, but I'd forgotten about some of the language, so my kids proceeded to call each other "Dickheads" all morning. Then we tried "Just One of the Guys" from 1985 which I remembered as being relatively tame. Let's just say that PG in 1985 isn't PG in 2010. I mean in the first 10 minutes the word HORNY is used 15 times. We settled on Notting Hill....which I knew the kids wouldn't fully understand, but I love Hugh Grant.....so, there. I could handle the roomate SPIKE in his tighty greys....the girls thought it was funny.
This afternoon I got a case of the grumpies. I decided to organize all my medical records and payments for tax purposes (think I might get a write off this year), but all it did was depress me. I guess I should be grateful that I am not nearly as ill as I was in July-Nov last year, or even Mar-Apr......but I am nothing what I used to be. I am coming to the realization that I may never be able to return to Hy-Vee in a management capacity. The Lyme is always there....ready to rear its ugly head. So I got about 1/2 way through....thought screw this, and stuffed it all back in the drawer.
Made a new recipe for dinner tonight. Greek penne pasta with olive oil, sundried tomatoes, garlic, feta cheese....delish. One of the few nice things about disability is that you can try new things instead of tacos and spaghetti every night, or scrambling when you finally get home at 6:00 at night to have something on the table before its time for the kids to go to bed. Of course the kids picked out all the tomatoes but at least they finished it.
The Dog took me for a walk tonight. It was sooo swampy outside that I was sweating before we got to the end of the block. He was a regular crazy dog as usual. We walked by this same lawn every time we go for a walk, and Wrigley pees in that yard every time. It's one of those beautiful...lush...green...no weeds, growing straight, perfectly edged. Sigh......heck, I want to piss on it. I'd be afraid though that my BIG bright white butt would blind drivers and cause car accidents. Just sayin.
Topping the night off with a DVR'd episode of Friday Night Lights. I love this show, the acting is amazing and Kyle Chandler is some nice eye candy (since I can't have REAL candy.....the aforementioned ass).
Hoping tomorrow will be nice...want to get somewhat of a tan on my white parts.
Later taters.....
Ok...not literally crazy, but nutso...loco....etc. She has been down with an ear infection for two days. She is supposed to be in school (.the last three days of school before summer break), but instead she is home....with a fever above 100 and a case of the I'M BORED'zzzzzzz. Now, technically, she is still supposed to be in school (did I say that already?), which means that she's bored and school isn't even out yet. It is going to be a LOOOONG summer. I remember when the girls were babies and they would become ill, even though it killed you to see them hurting....all they wanted to do was snuggle with you. Now you want them to go away.......
It's been a gross rainy day today. LOTS of rain this morning, so I thought we'd hunker down with a nice movie. Finding a movie that is appropriate for a 12 year old as well as an 8 year old is very hard. The 8 year old doesn't get what the 12 year old does....but the 12 year old does't get a lot either. Cartoon movies are too babyish for the 12 year old, but romantic comedies are too far reaching, and too provacative sometimes for both. You can only watch the Princess Diaries and Hannah Montana so many times before they turn your brain to mush. I actually had to have the birds and bees talk with my 12 year old....solely because she wanted to read the Twilight Series of books. Damn you Stephanie Meyer. Anyway....we tried Grumpy Old Men, but I'd forgotten about some of the language, so my kids proceeded to call each other "Dickheads" all morning. Then we tried "Just One of the Guys" from 1985 which I remembered as being relatively tame. Let's just say that PG in 1985 isn't PG in 2010. I mean in the first 10 minutes the word HORNY is used 15 times. We settled on Notting Hill....which I knew the kids wouldn't fully understand, but I love Hugh Grant.....so, there. I could handle the roomate SPIKE in his tighty greys....the girls thought it was funny.
This afternoon I got a case of the grumpies. I decided to organize all my medical records and payments for tax purposes (think I might get a write off this year), but all it did was depress me. I guess I should be grateful that I am not nearly as ill as I was in July-Nov last year, or even Mar-Apr......but I am nothing what I used to be. I am coming to the realization that I may never be able to return to Hy-Vee in a management capacity. The Lyme is always there....ready to rear its ugly head. So I got about 1/2 way through....thought screw this, and stuffed it all back in the drawer.
Made a new recipe for dinner tonight. Greek penne pasta with olive oil, sundried tomatoes, garlic, feta cheese....delish. One of the few nice things about disability is that you can try new things instead of tacos and spaghetti every night, or scrambling when you finally get home at 6:00 at night to have something on the table before its time for the kids to go to bed. Of course the kids picked out all the tomatoes but at least they finished it.
The Dog took me for a walk tonight. It was sooo swampy outside that I was sweating before we got to the end of the block. He was a regular crazy dog as usual. We walked by this same lawn every time we go for a walk, and Wrigley pees in that yard every time. It's one of those beautiful...lush...green...no weeds, growing straight, perfectly edged. Sigh......heck, I want to piss on it. I'd be afraid though that my BIG bright white butt would blind drivers and cause car accidents. Just sayin.
Topping the night off with a DVR'd episode of Friday Night Lights. I love this show, the acting is amazing and Kyle Chandler is some nice eye candy (since I can't have REAL candy.....the aforementioned ass).
Hoping tomorrow will be nice...want to get somewhat of a tan on my white parts.
Later taters.....
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