So I’m sitting here at Barnes and Noble, with a tall mocha, typing on my computer, watching people coming and going, and talking to my son about the upcoming school year and Obama’s speech for tomorrow while he drinks his double chocolate chip blended drink, occasionally suffering from brain freeze because he’s drinking it to fast…
I just have to say there’s something about being here, sipping on a cup of joe. Maybe it’s the lack of screaming children and parents yelling at their screaming children that makes a trip to Barnes and Noble a real treat…but I just really enjoy spending an hour or 2 here on a Sunday evening…. relaxing.. flipping through the bazillions of books they have… tonight we’re going home with a few books on Aikido, (which we’re all starting tomorrow night as a family) and a book on Japanese Cuisine… YUM!
Am I missing the huge deal about Obama’s speech to the nations children this week? I feel like it’s being blown into something much larger than what it really is.
This is a sad story- lets keep these affected families in our thoughts…
http://ow.ly/j6Ap
This is a story close to me…. please read and keep this family in your thoughts and prayers…thankyou.
www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/01/siblings_allegedly_shot_by_fat.html
Well, it happened again this morning. This time at 6am- at least I got to sleep in!
Since we’ve been getting all this snow and below freezing temps, the field mice have become a bit more daring, and coming into the house. I think they’re getting into the water heater room which is really nice and warm, and thats where the cats nab them. We live at the edge of town, with open fields all around us, so I do expect some if this. Although I would have never guessed we had mice except for the occasional dead mouse body that shows up from time to time. There’s no other sign of them anywhere in the house. No holes in the bottom of the dog or cat food, no droppings, nothing.
At first Wendy (my cat) would kill them and leave them at the bottom of the stairs for me to find in the morning- which for me was perfect! I got in the habit of checking the floor below the last stair so that I wouldn’t step on a mouse body. Then I would kindly call back up the stairs to the love of my life to let him know Wendy had left us a gift, and he would sweetly come and gather up the poor small limp body and dispose of him (or her) in some way. I don’t ask questions. And Wendy was very clean about it too. No blood, no half eaten body, no mess- I loved it! My boyfriend, 11 yr old son and I would joke that maybe she just cricked their little necks and left them for dead- very stealth like-quick and clean!
Well, in the last 2-3 weeks, she’s decided it’s more fun to catch the mouse and bring them up to our bedroom, spit them out and chase them through the room, into the master bath, and back through the room. It’s quite a sound to wake up to a mouse chirping first thing in the morning.. but now I know immediately what’s going on when I hear that sound in my room. So then, picture if you will, my 2 cats AND my boyfriend chasing this little brown spot around the room at 5 or 6 am. Our dog gets excited because everyone else is up and excited and he just wants to be part of the fun, but he really has no idea what’s going on here. I don’t think he even sees the mice at all. Poor thing.
I don’t know why she has started bringing the mice upstairs. She does eventually kill it.. well, between her and my other cat Mo. (And for those of you who haven’t met Mo- he’s 20-25 lbs of a whole lot of lovin’. Mo does move quite quickly when it comes to chasing the mice, although all he’d really have to do is lay the mouse for a bit and suffocate it with his massive body. He’s a lot like Jabba the Hut.)
The cats want to play with the mouse first though. I swear the other day it seemed like Wendy and the mouse were walking side by side, holding hands and skipping together out the bedroom door. She’ll even have the mouse in her mouth and I’m thinking… ok here it goes… death- she gonna put the crunch on……but she’ll just spit it out and play with it some more. I mean really! And you wouldn’t believe what these little mouse guys can do. Ok, maybe you would. The first time she brought a mouse into the room, I had to tuck in the bed skirt and pick up the oversized comforter off the floor because the mouse was halfway up the bedding before he fell back onto the floor and scurried off-and guess who was on the bed? YEP-ME! No way was I staying ON the bed until this thing was caught! I hadnt really thought about the mouse getting on the bed.. but now it was a very real possibility and I didn’t want to be trapped!
She does eventually kill it, and she’ll bring it back into the room, lay it on the floor at her feet, she’s given her praises, and then she’ll walk away.
So twice this week, this is how I’ve woken up. Monday is was at 5am, and then this morning at 6am. And the time before that is was 5 am again. I’m not sure how to get her to keep these things downstairs, and not bring them up into our bedroom, but it doesnt look like she’s interested in changing this arrangement anytime soon, and she seems to like getting everyone in the house involved- like a game for the whole family. Right now, the mouse from this morning is in under the cabinet in the master bath and Wendy is on watch,… but guess who’s not taking a shower in that bathroom until its gone? I’m not at all interested in having a mouse run across my bare feet.. ick!
I thought I would share my story of the Christmas Eve Mouse. I hope you enjoyed!
Ok- So I decided that if I’m going to have to look for a new job, that I will need some new clothes too… mainly shirts and blouses… something not black and tan or black with blue flowers on it. But when I got to JC Penney and Fred Meyer all the shirts they had had black as the main dominate color. Now, there’s nothing wrong with black, but I wanted something brighter. Something to wear during spring and summer. But everything seemed it was just off the trucks for fall and winter. I even tried Ross… where just last week I got these super cute pants with the super cute back pockets! LOVE them!
Anywho, My last stop was Macy’s. Now, I have a Macy’s card and all, but their prices are so out of my price range that I never ever shop there. Unless I find something on sale rack, and even then, it’s usually more that I really wanted to pay. Hey- I was scoffing at the price of the $14.99 pair of super cute jeans I got from Ross. When it comes down to it, I really hate to shop, and I really don’t like spending money….. but mostly… I hate shopping.
Again, everything ‘dressy’ at Macy’s had black in it. I know black goes with everything, but it just doesnt seem very summery or anything. I was just about to give up when a sales lady came to ask me if I was finding everything ok. I told her what I was looking for.. something with color…. and so she and this other sales gal started showing me clothes to try on… and they started me a room. Now, the shirts they were bringing me did still have black in them, and some of them even though they had color, they were darker colors, but some of the shirts they brought me were cute. Except for this one silky yellow, black and white shirt… made me look like a big fat bumble bee with ruffles. Cute I guess, just not the look I was going for.
So after they brought me all the shirts I thought were in the store, there had to be a million shirts in my dressing room. So, I tried on shirt after shirt, capri pant after capri pant. and after all of that I think I bought only 5 shirts. But it’s more than I started out with. All the shirts that I bought, I can wear to work, and a couple of them are more casual. But most of all, even though there is a black and white shirt, all the others are bright, and have lots of color. And, they’re super cute too!
I found that most every shirt out there is made the same way. V-neck with the panel or elastic that sits right below the girls…. you know what I’m talking about ladies… the babydoll type shirts. The ones that make you look pregnant when you’re the furthest thing from it. Now, I get that we’re an overweight nation, and maybe this is a style that hides all those extra pounds really well, but I just dont like them. I’m a girl of 5′7″, and my weight is proportionate to my height, with no extra pounds to spare… but I do not care for a shirt that makes me look fat, or pregnant. This seemed to be the only style out there… what’s that about? Where’s the variety? What ever happened to the simple women’s dress shirt? Are they hiding them somewhere?
So after my shopping experience I called my boyfriend, and told him we would never need to worry about me shopping and spending all of our money, cause I hated shopping! Now, don’t get me wrong, I do love shopping for clothes for my son. And that’s good, because he’s 11, and doesnt have the whole style thing yet. I had to explain to him just yesterdat that when a man wears a button up shirt, he must always wear am under shirt. He’s sooo cute!
And I do have to say that over the last few years I have found a love for shoes. Precious, Precious shoes… and expensive shoes. I don’t buy these shoes, because I can’t afford them. I take that back. I CAN afford them, but I won’t spend that kind of money on something I wear on my feet. But I love to look at them… covet them… and dream about them. Now, if i ever get over spending money, then we’re in trouble, but until then… I’ll just keep saving my money… and not putting myself through the shopping nightmares.
No matter how old I get, I’ve decided there are just some things that I, as a woman, must do, no matter what.
Now, I know my friends, family and boyfriend may not understand my reasoning, but maybe someone else out there reading this will agree with me.
It never fails when I leave the house, looking less than presentable that I bump into someone I know, or someone who knows someone I know. Every single freaking time!!
I was staying with my sister in Portland (no-not the cute one j 
), and she asked if I was going to shower and all that before taking my son to the airport at 4am the next morning. I immediately said yes, but then after we talked about it a little more, I came to the conslusion that I wasn’t going to bump into anyone I knew at the Portland Airport at 4 in the morning. So why bother getting myself all dolled up, just to come back and go back to bed?
So the next morning I got up, brushed my teeth. Put my hair up in a clip, did the best job I could do with unshowered bangs, got dressed and was out the door. No shower, no makeup, no hair done just right. But I was proud I did it. I wasnt going to worry about who saw me… I had no one to impress…. I mean- who was going to be at the airport at 4 in the morning?
Well, so I was sitting there at the airport at 4 in the morning, when much to my surprise, the best friend of a guy who I had been seeing years earlier came up and said hi. Actually he came up and said “I know you don’t I?” Well, right there I could have died. I smiled back and said “yes.. yes you do.” After exchanging ‘hellos’, and meeting his new wife- they were off flying out for their honeymoon.
When I got back to my sisters house she was up and I had to tell her all about it. Told her I was sure he was going to tell the other guy he bumped into me and boy did I look like hell… and it would have been the truth!
Well, so this morning I said to myself… who was I going to see at the store while I got a coffee and some cat food? My loving and adoring boyfriend doesn’t understand a womans need to look presentable.. but bless him.. he’s a guy.
So there we are getting out of my car, he sees a couple getting out of their car, whom he and his ex wife knew. He’s told me about these people and how they’re a little anoying, and I’ve actually met the husband a few times, but never the wife. The wife works with the ex-wife- so I’m sure you can see where this might be going…. The guy seems nice enough, but then again, when you meet someone for only a few seconds it’s tough to really know anything about them, or how annoying they may or may not be. And I didn’t want to see them, because of course my first thought is, OMG- my hair isn’t done, I don’t have any make up on, and I’m looking frumpy in my sweats…. and they’re going to go back to the ex wife and say.. “oh- we saw so and so this weekend, and man, is his new girl uuuuugllllyyy!”….. ‘You look so much better than she does”…. or “man, did he make a big step down after you”.
Ok- call me shallow, but as the new girl, you want to make an impression of the good kind.. not the man she’s scary kind.
Well, once my boyfriend sees this couple, he all of a sudden ducks sortof behind me and rushes me, almost in a walking fast sprint into the store where we proceed to walk as quickly as we can, without actually running, to an isle so we can hide out. And while hiding out, I found some really cute hair clips…..
We wait there until it’s clear and we proceed as cautiously as possible through the store for the few items we came in for, do the quick self check out.. and we’re back out the door. A quick stop at the coffee shop, for coffee to go, and into my car.
I was actually surprised we didn’t bump into them on an isle.. thats usually what happens when you’re trying to avoid someone- you still end up bumping into them. And I guess you can’t very well, turn and run when you do see them round the end of the isle you’re on, coming towards you. I mean, I guess you could…… but that woud be a little too obvious I think.
So my lesson….(and I’m sorry honey) if I want a Starbucks coffee in the morning, I’m either going to have to put my sunglasses on, and go to the drive through over on 27th, or I’m going to have to drag my butt out of bed a little earlier and get all pretty to go to the Fred Meyers Starbucks so I can get groceries at the same time.
I have a trip to Africa coming up, and I wasn’t going to worry about make up and fixing my hair while on safari and all, but with my luck I’ll bump into someone else I know.. so I may have to rethink that one.
You know… as the years go on, everyone and everything around us seems to get more ‘politically’ correct.. with everyone trying to please everyone else. I say enough!!
In Australia this year, they were telling store Santa’s not to say “Ho Ho Ho” because it may or may not be offensive to women. I’m sorry.. but when I hear “Ho Ho Ho” especially coming from Santa, I would have never even considered it offensive, or that Santa was referring to me as a “Ho”. Never in a million years would this have even come into my mind. The only way I can imagine it being remotely offensive is if you are a “ho”. And if you are.. that’s your business. But if you’re offended, then change your ways.. dont expect people to change years of tradition just for you.
And what about the people on the new campaign kick for a new healthy Santa…. that the current Santa portrays an unhealthy, unfit Santa….what the CRAP is THAT about? I mean, lets be serious here people! All the stories and books about Santa, show a chubby Santa…one who is ‘jolly’.. ‘and when he laughed his tummy shook like a bowl full of jelly’. Do you mean to tell me you are going to rewrite possibly hundreds of years of folktales, bedtime stories, and family tradition? I can’t picture a slim Santa being jolly and his tummy would definately not shake like a bowl full of jelly if he was all skinny! My Santa is not wafer thin!
And who wants to be politically correct about the holidays? Again, I’m sorry. But I don’t get offended when I see a Hanukkah card in the store, or Kwanzaa on my calendar, or Canadian holidays. for that matter. I understand there are many religions, celebrations, and beliefs. And everyone should be able to celebrate their belief without getting crap from everyone else. What I AM offended by, is that I have to bend over backwards, and even tip toe around the holidays that I grew up with because someone else out there may not feel or believe the same as me. Tell you what, you believe what you believe in, and I will believe what I believe in. We won’t try to convert one another, won’t put down each other’s beliefs. I won’t snicker and sneer behind your back while you celebrate in the way your family has for centuries. I don’t want to say Happy Holidays… I want to say Merry Christmas! And if you don’t like it, then that’s just going to have to be too bad!
I have to give kudos to Mike Huckabee in his Christmas message, where he actually wished people Merry Christmas. He wasn’t afraid of his beliefs, and if people would accept them of not. He said his Christmas message the way he wanted to say it. Way to go Huckabee!!
I grew up with Christmas… Santa… Baby Jesus, the Easter Bunny, and all the other calendar holidays. Will we try and change Thankgiving to be something else, so that we don’t offend race or religion… or color? What about the 4th of July? President’s Day?
My question is, if you start changing the things that have followed alongside the building of our great nation.. the things that our ancestors believed in…holidays, religion… whatever it might have been.. where does it end? People want to change my Santa and my Christmas. The things I have believed in all of my life.. the things my parents believed in.. the things my son believes in. Everyone is so afraid of offending someone by saying Merry Christmas, but what about those of us who are offended that we can’t say “Merry Christmas’ because it might be offensive to someone within ear shot? Instead of changing things so we don’t offend, why dont we all embrace our differences and be happy with that?
When you say Merry Christmas to someone, they don’t have to say it back.. they can say Happy Holidays, or Happy Hanukkah. We are after all a nation of different people, cultures and religions. Who said there is only one right way to celebrate or believe? I saw a sign years ago that read “God created so many different kinds of people, so why would he choose only one way to serve him?”
Now, I’m not saying I’m religous, but I loved that sign. Embrace your belief and let others embrace theirs. None is more right than the other…. but please, leave my Santa alone….. leave the “ho ho ho” alone.. and leave my Merry Christmas alone!
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight!
Well, it’s been a while since I last wrote anything, but life has been crazy and very busy, and am hoping that sometime soon it might all slow down.
I need to list a few of my newer favorite places to eat. The first place is Batter and Beans in downtown. They have a nice selection of crepes. My favorite so far is the banana, peanut butter, nutella and granola. There may be another ingredient in there, but off the top of my head I cant remember what it is. But it is reeeeaaally good. They also make those mexican, egg and salsa ones… my boyfriend likes those.
The next place I really like is the 541 lounge. Augustine, the owner, is great. He takes time to come and talk with you, and even remembered us from a few days before. Their filet is delish!! They have a nice assortment of red wines… my favorite, and it’s not to expensive is the writers block syrah. I’ve not been there on Friday or Saturday late evenings, but I hope it is popular or will get there… the service is awesome, and their live music is a nice change from the piped in stuff at most places…
My boyfriend, son, and I went on vacation last week. We had a blast! Seaworld, water parks, the Alamo. The flight down was good. pretty much on time… no problems. A little bumpy turbulance on the descent, but all was good. The flight back however was a disaster. The flight was cancelled after a three hour delay, then another couple hours at the airport waiting to hotel/food vouchers from the airline, waiting to get booked out of LA the next day, and then again, another line once we got to the hotel. In bed by 4am, and back up at 8:30am. didnt get home until 7pm that night.
Back home and into the heat of the summer. I, unfortunately until last night, did not have airconditioning. My house in the mornings, was 88 degrees. But lastnight my boyfriend and I took an older air conditioning unit to Sears to get re-charged, Long story short, he ended up buying a new unit altogether. So we got it all hooked up and I finally had a good nights sleep in some cooler weather. Thank God the storm is here today.. ok- well maybe later tonight, because that will cool off my house finally.
Looking forward to the weekend. Going kayaking for the first time, but it will be nice in the hot weather. Maybe a fall in the water will be nice too.
Thats it for now…
