August 31, 2004

What's He Doing in there?

So today on my way to work...

Taking the toll road again. To get off, you must pay a 25 cent toll... (NOTE: sane people buy the auto-transponder so you don't have to stop, it just debits your account, but some morons pay every day in cash)

Guy in front of me had $1, so he needed change. The toll booth operator was in the booth, with the window closed. ????? Just sitting there???

People started honking...in my opinion, if the gate is up and the attendant won't take my money, I'm driving through, which this guy eventually did, but not before waiting quite a while.

Very strange...

August 30, 2004

Hurricane Frances...

Ok - Friday we're supposed to fly to Sarasota, FL to see my mother-in-law...and the Hurricane Frances is coming Saturday. Lovely....Hubby is freaked out. This is why we don't live in Florida - it's pretty sucky luck to have one coming while we're there. If anyone has updates on Frances project path, please send them our way. We're considering moving our flight times, but have no idea what we would change them to.

UGH!

Closing!

We got a date! Oct 26 we can move in! Yipeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

(Of course, I won't be saying Yippeee on Dec. 1, when I make the first of 360 mortgage payments...But that's another story)

Saved her life...

Ok I drive down Fairfax County Parkway to get my shot, it's 55 mph on that road. There are people turning off of another road onto it. They have a stop sign or yield, I'm not sure which.
As I'm approacing this intersection, a car that wants to turn onto the parkway guns it and goes in front of me...ok, it only requires me to remove my foot from the accelerator a bit to not hit him... HOLY SMOKES! The lady behind him guns it to try and get in front of me too...remember, I'm driving a HUGE BLACK SUV with a large stopping distance. Halfway into the intersection, she realizes her mistake and stops. So now she's halfway in my lane, stopped. Remember, I'm going at least 55 mph. And I require almost all of my lane because my truck is quite wide. I have to swerve WILDLY to avoid hitting her and get back in my lane before the guy on my left hits me. UGH! STUPID #%@%@%@%@% -

first - she shouldn't be taking chances like that with MY life

second - if she'd actually pulled out, it would've been easier for me because all I would have to do is slow down, not swerve. Because she'd have been accelerating (I hope) I'd have more stopping distance.

third - if I hit her, in her driver's door, going 55 mph, she'd be dead, my grill through her forehead. She's lucky I swerved.

It occurs to me now, that if I'd hit the guy on my left and NOT her, I'd be at fault in the accident! FU-K!

I hate stupid people...truly and honestly, they make my blood boil.

August 26, 2004

Facts of Life...

Now, I have not read the book by Lisa Welchel, from the Facts Of Life TV show. But from reading reviews and her own comments on Amazon, I cannot imagine why anyone would. It does not seem acceptable for me, no matter what the behavior of my child in parking lot, to drag them by their hair. She sets it up as though she's giving the child 2 choices, hold her hand or she holds their hair. This is nuts. To me, this is just a altered version of getting results the same way spanking gets results - picking something that is quick and easy for the parent which is so traumatic, the child quickly changes behavior...for the moment. What are we truly teaching here? If my son won't hold my hand, he doesn't get to walk, he knows I will carry him (which he doesn't like), so this particular behavior was not a problem after the second time. I agree with teaching him that he chooses the consequences by his actions, I just don't think the consequences should include hurting the child.

If that doesn't work...then I move onto my list...I don't do anything to my son that shouldn't be done to others, meaning no hitting, no hurting on purpose (like pulling hair, etc.). If he's misbehaving, I generally have a couple things that I do...
  • remove favorite toys, one by one, until the offending behavior stops.
  • tell son to sit in time out facing wall until he calms down

    No, neither gets me instantaneous quiet and compliance. But he's learning. He knows that offending actions have consequences. We're just working thru what all counts as offending actions, but that is to be expected, he's TWO.
  • Coming To America...

    Michele, no the other one, has this article about a visa being revoked from a teacher w/ties to al Qaeda...duh... I can't imagine that anyone would think this is a bad idea...if you are affiliated w/a group that wants us dead, you don't get to come here and cause problems. Done deal. I have no problem with that.

    It goes along w/the Muslim couple caught videotaping the supports of the Bay Bridge. Apparently the wife has said they were targeted simply because they are Muslim. Tough pa-tooties. Not that all Muslims are terrorists, but since all terrorists currently on our radar screen are Muslim, profile away, in my opinion. I am paying police and the government to keep me safe - if that's the best way to do it in this case, so be it.
    As a side note, she cannot possibly believe anyone believes her story that there were simply on vacation and shooting home movie video. When is the last time you, while on vacation, stopped the car and videotaped support structures?

    August 25, 2004

    On Purpose??!!

    I was doing some research, to see what happened to the Discus Olympian that was stripped of his Gold medal (which bumped the Estoninan athlete in 4th to 3rd - go Estonia!)...

    Seems he did not provide the required amount of urine. He claims he has a problem producing... ?? Really?

    BUT the reason they are skeptical is that they have run against many atheletes catheterizing themselves, to insert clean urine so they can pee a clean sample. REALLY? Someone came up with this and someone tried it? On purpose?

    Phone Call...

    I decide to call my Mom to see how son is doing this morning, since I went to work.

    Son answers phone: Hello.
    Me: Hi Son!
    Son: Mommy?
    Me: Yes, it's Mommy
    Son: You are not here?
    Me: No, I'm at work
    Son: so you are far away?
    Me: yes
    Son: where
    Me: at work
    Son: no, where
    Me: oh, Herndon
    Son: ok
    Me: did u have breakfast?
    Son: yes - sausage, two toast, bagel, milk, water
    Me: was it good?
    Son: yes
    Me: what is Grammy doing?
    Son: cutting meat for your dinner
    Me: can you put her on the phone please? (NOTE: he doesn't hang the phone up right, so in order to not have it just sit off the hook, I need my Mom (Grammy) to hang it up)
    Son (puts phone down): Grammy! I need you to pick up phone!
    (Sounding farther away) Grammy! I need you to pick up phone!
    (Sounding farther away) Grammy! I need you to pick up phone!

    As Great Grandmom said before she passed away, we can have conversations with him, "he is good company". And he's only TWO.

    August 24, 2004

    Ugh...

    Some days, you just do not have the patience, now matter how hard you try to deal with certain people.

    On those days, whenever those people are around and trying to talk to you (in this case, answering some questions for me but kinda being a pain in the ass about it) you blood boils....everyone's blood boils right?

    You just want to scream "Get the F**K away from me, now" (where the "now" is growled)...

    Is it just me?

    Have a good break, Michele!


    here

    Wish Michele a nice break, even though we'll be missing her posts!

    oooopsss!

    We took son to see his new preschool today - he's in a 2 1/2 year old class, 2 mornings a week. He was quite excited. I was not so much excited when I discovered he had to be potty trained by Sept. 14. Exactly 3 weeks from today. oh fun and joy. Guess what'll be occupying my mind between now and then?

    August 23, 2004

    Review: BoneFish Grill

    So this is where we girls had dinner Saturday night. Excellent choice...here's the review...

    The Wait - they said we'd be seated 20 - 30 minutes after arriving and gave us a beeper. It was 60 minutes.
    The Beer - SUCKY choices of beer. If you don't like Bud Light, get a mixed drink. The closet reasonable beer was Amstel, and it's not my fave.
    Appetizers - Bang Bang Shrimp. Enough for all 3 of us to have some...slightly Asian taste (which I generally don't like) but it was mild enough to be tasty. Spicy though..bang bang.

    Dinner - I had the blackened Swordfish with a side of angel hair marinara and garlic mashed potatoes. EXCELLENT! I usually don't like garlic mashed potatoes, but since they didn't have fries, that's what I got and they were good. The fish was excellent and perfectly cooked.

    Toddler cell phones?

    Really? Are these necessary?

    from Engadget

    My son is a well connected young man (he's 2) and able to carry on phone conversations w/Granny, Grammy, Mommy and Daddy (and any unsuspecting phone solicitor)...but he doesn't need his own phone!

    Monday...

    Another Monday dawns...I let the alarm go on and off for an hour, which apparently didn't please hubby too much. I talked myself out of my morning run, trading for sleep in 10 minute alarm increments.

    Work...too much fun to be here today -it's silent. Wonder why?

    Someone has to stop by Target today for the things we need - hopefully hubby does it ;-)

    Not much else new - I imagine hubby and son are home having a ball or at the pool having a ball. Me, I'm stuck at work.

    I remember: I never liked bedtime. I'm a night owl, so when I was a kid, early bedtimes were sucky. But I knew, if I laid there long enough, my father would to into the bathroom (which was next to my room in our small rambler) and run his bathwater. As my last resort, that bathwater lulled me to sleep many nights. I can still hear it and smell the steamy water smell everytime the door was opened (I slept w/my bedroom door open as well). At this point in my life, I would give anything for the secure feeling of knowing my father was in the next room, enjoying a hot bath.

    August 22, 2004

    Weekend!

    Busy, busy weekend! My girlfriend in Blacksburg, S, brought her son up so they and we could (terrible grammar, I know) with my other girlfriend who lives here see THE WIGGLES! It was son's first concert! I think he was a bit awestruck at the large number of noisy people, darkness, light sticks and Wiggles show. He sat very attentive, and claims he enjoyed it!

    Today, we did A LOT of lounging, since we've been out of town for the past THREE weekends, and will be out of town for the next three weekends as well. This was our last day of summer to relax together as a family. I did wander over to my cousin's house to see the new baby and leave lots of cute girlie clothes! What a treat to shop for girl clothes, it's so much fun! Not that son isn't terribly cute in everything I buy, but the clothes are NOT as much fun or cute!

    Side Note: remember the smell of a closed car, sitting in the sun, that had vinyl seats?

    August 19, 2004

    Oh No, Not HALO!

    If hubby sees this, I'm doomed!

    Check the facts...

    On your politician!

    Ted Rall

    Once again, Michele bitchslaps Ted Rall.

    I still do not know why this man is being paid anything to write or draw anything. He's not funny. He's not insightful. Who keeps reading it and who keeps paying for it? I don't even read him except when someone like Michele points out what an ass he's making out of himself (which he seems to do quite often).

    Review: Independence Air

    Ok -so now I've flown Independence Air twice - to Buffalo and to Boston. So I think I'm qualified to review the airline, for your information.

    Good Points:
  • We were able to switch to any flight that same day because we arrived way early for our flight - this was nice.
  • Nice new leather seats.
  • Flight not crowded (this of course, varies).
  • Did serve soda and cookies/pretzels.
  • Flight attendants very nice.
  • Three of the four flights arrived on time.
  • Can do kiosk checkin.
  • Easy to book on internet.
  • GREAT PRICES.

    Bad Points:
  • Gate lady on first flight was not "with it". She's standing at gate, 5 min before departure time. I ask "can we board". She replies "I don't know, I just got here.".
  • Signs at gate wrong 25% of the time. We arrive for the 9:45 a.m. flight. Sign says "9:45 Flight to IAD Delayed". Bummer. We take son to playground. Happen to check back later, 9:15, sign says "11:45 Flight to IAD Delayed". YIKES! I ask the lady at the desk what happened, she says "9:45 flight is on time". I look at board, and ask about the discrepancy. She says this is the later flight, my flight is on time. I ask if it's still this gate. She says yes, why? I said the board says differently. The guy behind her says "I told you not to change the sign this early". Duh...you think you might be confusing the people on the 9:45 flight?
  • Must walk on tarmac out to plane. They have computer signs pointing out which plane is which, since they load 6 planes out of one gate at a time. TWICE the computer signs were off, which left customers wandering around the tarmac trying to figure out which plane was which. No employee in sight to ask.
  • Must walk up/down very narrow steps to get to plan (Yeah, I'm a Princess, get over it).
  • Checkin guy printed me 2 boarding passes for my son and none for me, which I didn't notice until we got to security. After running back to checkin guy, he argues with me about the impossibility of him printing dupes. They almost lose their first employee.
  • August 18, 2004

    Fixing Code...

    Ugh - some programmer somewhere didn't test for long values...The "Wednesday" part of the post timestamp made that line too long, and so therefore my pages weren't displaying right...They should test with the longest day of the week, for the longest month name of the year, and make sure it isn't too wide - it pushes the pretty bar to the right -->
    all the way down the page, so that it doesn't start until after the last post.

    Fixed now though, thanks to my superior debugging skills.

    Where AM I supposed to pole dance?

    If I can't do it here?

    Shameless...

    I am a reality TV addict. Ok...Maybe I'm just a TV addict (is 2 TIVOs too many?)...But I focus my addiction on reality TV (though some shows, like "Six Feet Under" keep me coming back too (and "Nip/Tuck", and any documentary, and any new movie I can find)...

    My list and some comments that I'm sure you need to make your day complete:
    Extreme Home Makeover : love it! Though some of the people just seem more like slobs than people that need a free house-redo...some of them really deserve it though (the kids that lost both parents, the wife that lost husband after long battle with cancer)...

    Big Brother 5 : Hubby hates this one. I cannot resist the urge to simply watch other people living and wondering what drives them to act the way they do...Why do the larger percentage of people on this season (and the previous 4) not wash their hands after using the bathroom? What does someone truly look like when they lose their mind? Are people like Jase & Scott really that delusional? Do women REALLY sleep with them and find them attractive? Think they are smart? Really?

    Dr. Phil : Love this show! I'm tied to the show in general, but really tied to the Dr. Phil family versions - they have 2 - a family falling apart w/a teen daughter that had a baby and another family where the wife cheated on the husband (note, husband number three) and got pregnant with baby number 5...Now she's pregnant with baby number SIX (supposedly with hubby)...

    Six Feet Under : absolutely love it, can't live without it. I found it right after my family was rocked by the sudden death of my father... I was fascinated by it and all the death. Now I'm just hooked because it's an interesting show.

    Deadwood : found this one by 'accident' on HBO. Love it - love it more because it apparently is quite accurate and that just about counts as reality TV - that these people really existed and generally possibly acted like that fascinate me!

    More later if I get the feeling like anybody read/liked my reviews! Don't get me started on Survivor!

    Getting on plane w/out Driver's license...

    For those that asked, I had my passport handy, thank goodness! You never know when you'll need to jet to Europe! ;-)

    Too Cute!





    Isn't he TOO cute! Unbelievably so, if you ask me!

    Congratulations Cousin S!


    Congratulations!


    My cousin, S, had a little girl yesterday! This is their (her and hubby) second little one!

    Am I Old?

    "Hangin Tough" came on the radio today, by New Kids On The Block ( or NKOTB as they are known by fans ) and I was excited!

    August 17, 2004

    Blogging on Tuesday...

    No blogging today...had meeting in Boston, requiring me to fly there and back.

    BTW - Dulles Airport - planning to close a runway due to construction @ 3:30 p.m. on a Tuesday is a STUPID idea.

    Parking Toll Attendant - $15 please. Would you like a receipt?
    ME: yes please (handing over $20 bill)
    Parking Toll Attendant hands me a $5. Looks at next car.
    ME: can I have my receipt please?
    Parking Toll Attendant: (Rudely) did you ask me for one?
    ME: yes
    Parking Toll Attendant: well I didn't print one. Most people don't need one - do you?
    ME: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

    August 16, 2004

    Olympics...

    Hubby and I have noticed that quite a few atheletes are messing up in the Olympics. Watching the men's gymnastics, almost every guy messed up at least one thing (if not TWO) during each performance. What is wrong with these guys? I do expect to see some messed up performances - but I was not guessing the error rate would be something like 80%!? Don't these guys spend upwards of 8 hours a day on this stuff? Guys that screwed up were even getting high scores because compared to the other guys, they were doing pretty well.

    In men's synchronized diving (don't ask me what the point of this 'sport' is), the guys from Great Britain did a TERRIBLE dive and got cheers and even a 9.0 from the judges...Shocking!

    Update!

    Ok here goes....

    Thursday - the day dawned beautiful and we played on the beach until it started raining (Hurricane Bonnie, remember) right at Son's naptime, so no beach time was lost!

    Friday - we had planned on leaving the beach on Friday anyway, to head to Buffalo for Grandma's Memorial Service. So we did. We stopped ONCE on the 8 hour drive home at a McDonald's / Mobil combo. Apparently my wallet fell out of the car unnoticed. Rest of drive uneventful.

    Saturday - wake up at 4 a.m. to shower and load car to leave house by 4:30 a.m. 4:30 I make some off-handed remark to hubby about my wallet in car...he says he hadn't seen it. Mad rush around looking for wallet in car and among shambles that is our house because of the unpack/repack frenzy we had going on. Cannot find wallet. Remember, you NEED a license now to board a plane! Frenzy to find passport. Get to aiport late. Run from far end of parking garage carrying 30 pound son (hubby carrying luggage and carseat). Get boarding passes, run to security, wait in long line. At front of line, realize DUMBASS BOARDING AGENT printed 2 passes for Son and none for me. Sprint back to checkin counter - tell boarding agent what happened. He proceeds to argue with me that he did NOT print 2 for son. I indicate that I don't really @#%@^# care, just print another. He proceeds to insist he show me how what I am claiming is an impossibility. UGH! He's lucky I was in such a hurry, or he'd be minus some limbs right now. Run to gate and go thru security. Hubby's watch and belt stuck in xray machine. Security lady thinks Hubby is joking about not having his stuff... Not funny! Run to gate 5 minutes before flight time. They've switched gates. Go down 2 more gates. Ask lady at gate if we can still board. She is confused "what?" she says...We need to get on plane, isn't this the gate for our flight? She says "I have no idea, I just got here, go sit down". AHHHHHHHH! Finally board plane. Arrive in Buffalo - start calling credit card companies to cancel cards - they've been used already.

    Have a beautiful Memorial Service for Grandma (more posting about this later) and an even better family only dinner that night. What was so wonderful about the family dinner is that would've been Grandma's favorite part - her whole family (well, almost whole, some members did not come to service/dinner) - the whole part of the family that loved Grandma was together, even though some had not seen each other or gotten along in years. We had a lovely sharing of memories of Grandma. Father-in-law described how her last days went and how contented she was. Then we talked about how we would like to honor her memory by keeping in touch and finding some way to share information about our lives on a continuing basis. It was quite wonderful.

    Sunday - fly home.

    Monday - drag my sorry ass to work. Drive to DMV to get new license. License agent tells me I look so much older than old picture, I should take a new one. Nice comment, thanks!

    Update (LONG!)

    Ok here goes....

    Thursday - the day dawned beautiful and we played on the beach until it started raining (Hurricane Bonnie, remember) right at Son's naptime, so no beach time was lost!

    Friday - we had planned on leaving the beach on Friday anyway, to head to Buffalo for Grandma's Memorial Service. So we did. We stopped ONCE on the 8 hour drive home at a McDonald's / Mobil combo. Apparently my wallet fell out of the car unnoticed. Rest of drive uneventful.

    Saturday - wake up at 4 a.m. to shower and load car to leave house by 4:30 a.m. 4:30 I make some off-handed remark to hubby about my wallet in car...he says he hadn't seen it. Mad rush around looking for wallet in car and among shambles that is our house because of the unpack/repack frenzy we had going on. Cannot find wallet. Remember, you NEED a license now to board a plane! Frenzy to find passport. Get to aiport late. Run from far end of parking garage carrying 30 pound son (hubby carrying luggage and carseat). Get boarding passes, run to security, wait in long line. At front of line, realize DUMBASS BOARDING AGENT printed 2 passes for Son and none for me. Sprint back to checkin counter - tell boarding agent what happened. He proceeds to argue with me that he did NOT print 2 for son. I indicate that I don't really @#%@^# care, just print another. He proceeds to insist he show me how what I am claiming is an impossibility. UGH! He's lucky I was in such a hurry, or he'd be minus some limbs right now. Run to gate and go thru security. Hubby's watch and belt stuck in xray machine. Security lady thinks Hubby is joking about not having his stuff... Not funny! Run to gate 5 minutes before flight time. They've switched gates. Go down 2 more gates. Ask lady at gate if we can still board. She is confused "what?" she says...We need to get on plane, isn't this the gate for our flight? She says "I have no idea, I just got here, go sit down". AHHHHHHHH! Finally board plane. Arrive in Buffalo - start calling credit card companies to cancel cards - they've been used already.

    Have a beautiful Memorial Service for Grandma (more posting about this later) and an even better family only dinner that night. What was so wonderful about the family dinner is that would've been Grandma's favorite part - her whole family (well, almost whole, some members did not come to service/dinner) - the whole part of the family that loved Grandma was together, even though some had not seen each other or gotten along in years. We had a lovely sharing of memories of Grandma. Father-in-law described how her last days went and how contented she was. Then we talked about how we would like to honor her memory by keeping in touch and finding some way to share information about our lives on a continuing basis. It was quite wonderful.

    Sunday - fly home.

    Monday - drag my sorry ass to work. Drive to DMV to get new license. License agent tells me I look so much older than old picture, I should take a new one. Nice comment, thanks!

    Update (LONG!)

    Ok here goes....

    Thursday - the day dawned beautiful and we played on the beach until it started raining (Hurricane Bonnie, remember) right at Son's naptime, so no beach time was lost!

    Friday - we had planned on leaving the beach on Friday anyway, to head to Buffalo for Grandma's Memorial Service. So we did. We stopped ONCE on the 8 hour drive home at a McDonald's / Mobil combo. Apparently my wallet fell out of the car unnoticed. Rest of drive uneventful.

    Saturday - wake up at 4 a.m. to shower and load car to leave house by 4:30 a.m. 4:30 I make some off-handed remark to hubby about my wallet in car...he says he hadn't seen it. Mad rush around looking for wallet in car and among shambles that is our house because of the unpack/repack frenzy we had going on. Cannot find wallet. Remember, you NEED a license now to board a plane! Frenzy to find passport. Get to aiport late. Run from far end of parking garage carrying 30 pound son (hubby carrying luggage and carseat). Get boarding passes, run to security, wait in long line. At front of line, realize DUMBASS BOARDING AGENT printed 2 passes for Son and none for me. Sprint back to checkin counter - tell boarding agent what happened. He proceeds to argue with me that he did NOT print 2 for son. I indicate that I don't really @#%@^# care, just print another. He proceeds to insist he show me how what I am claiming is an impossibility. UGH! He's lucky I was in such a hurry, or he'd be minus some limbs right now. Run to gate and go thru security. Hubby's watch and belt stuck in xray machine. Security lady thinks Hubby is joking about not having his stuff... Not funny! Run to gate 5 minutes before flight time. They've switched gates. Go down 2 more gates. Ask lady at gate if we can still board. She is confused "what?" she says...We need to get on plane, isn't this the gate for our flight? She says "I have no idea, I just got here, go sit down". AHHHHHHHH! Finally board plane. Arrive in Buffalo - start calling credit card companies to cancel cards - they've been used already.

    Have a beautiful Memorial Service for Grandma (more posting about this later) and an even better family only dinner that night. What was so wonderful about the family dinner is that would've been Grandma's favorite part - her whole family (well, almost whole, some members did not come to service/dinner) - the whole part of the family that loved Grandma was together, even though some had not seen each other or gotten along in years. We had a lovely sharing of memories of Grandma. Father-in-law described how her last days went and how contented she was. Then we talked about how we would like to honor her memory by keeping in touch and finding some way to share information about our lives on a continuing basis. It was quite wonderful.

    Sunday - fly home.

    Monday - drag my sorry ass to work. Drive to DMV to get new license. License agent tells me I look so much older than old picture, I should take a new one. Nice comment, thanks!

    August 12, 2004

    Bonnie & Charlie

    Are headed inland. Charlie is threatening Sarasota first, which is where my mother-in-law and Kat live. Wish them safety and no damage. From what I hear, the keys and islands around Sarasota have already been evacuated.

    Bonnie will be here in South Carolina tonight, but we've already had numerous storms today, with high winds and tornado warnings. Wish US safety as well. I guess we'll head home tomorrow morning and should be right behind Bonnie, but ahead of Charlie. Then it's off to Buffalo for the Memorial service for hubby's grandmother. It should be a good service and celebration of her life - her beloved children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren will be gathering together in one place, which doesn't happen all that often. She will be surrounded by all those important to her all at once for one last time.

    August 10, 2004

    Beach Update...

    Ripley's Aquarium last night was a hit! So was the Ben&Jerry's ice cream we had after!

    Tonight it's the NASCAR Imax and the fireworks at Broadway @ The Beach. Hubby loves imax and son loves NASCAR, so we're in - better be good @ 7.50 a head!

    Just discovered the nice restaurant across the street does take-out, so I think we're eating in! :-)

    Last night's dinner, at Seafare in Surfside was ok - I wouldn't go out of my way to go there again. The food wasn't super, but the had a pool IN the restaurant with 2 mermaids. Those 2 young women looked miserable and it felt really inappropriate - seems like they were required to swim over to anyone that walked up and chat. Made me uncomfortable. The place was a bit slimy - there was a guy selling timeshares by the door too. But we did get full at the buffet...I would not have gone if I had known about the mermaids in advance. Is that what it's like at a strip club? It just made me feel sad for those girls...

    August 09, 2004

    I wanna talk about me...

    I thought while here I would blog as usual but our DIAL-UP connection sux, so these posts will all be about our trip! Yay!

    Last night we took son to the Pavillion to ride rides! What a bargain - because he's 2, he gets to ride anything free. And the adult that goes with him goes for free as well! Great deal!

    My brother and I did ride the hurricane roller coaster though - it was GREAT - it is an old-style wooden one and what a ride! Bounced me so much I bounced right out of my bra! (is that too much information?) I would increase my site traffic a bit if I posted a picture, but you're not going to get that lucky today! Then we went to the Pavillion arcade - boy do the owners of that need to put some money into it...30% of the machines were broken in some way. It was dirty and didn't have any new games...Very disappointing.

    We've already been to the beach for the day, and now son is napping while hubby & my cousin play golf. The weather is great - maybe 83 degrees or so?

    I'm Lovin' It!

    August 08, 2004

    Myrtle Beach

    We're here and loving it - after a long drive yesterday, son got re-aclimated to the ocean. Today he was out with hubby in six feet of water, riding the waves!

    Signs you're too close to me:
    you walk thru the shadow of my beach sunshade

    Signs you might be a redneck:
    you think the South Carolina BoJangles is the perfect backdrop for you yearly family portrait.

    August 06, 2004

    Posting Will Be Sporadic, Starting Tomorrow...

    We're off to our family vacation spot - Myrtle Beach, SC! My entire extended family goes (grandparents, mom, brother, aunts, etc.) and we have a blast...though I'm hoping my dial-up account works from there, I won't be sure until we're there...so please forgive me if I don't update...

    Myrtle Beach Favorite Things:

    Hot Dogs at the Pavillion
    Fireworks @ Broadway At The Beach
    Dinner Date with Hubby at Phillips
    Playing in ocean and sand with son
    Running in the mornings to the Garden City Pier
    Riding Rides at the Pavillion
    Ripley's Aquarium
    Waterslides!
    BEER on the porch at night!

    So, wish us fun!

    August 05, 2004

    I hate John Kerry!

    Steve lists out most of the reasons...

    Damn Cell phones...

    Ugh...Ok...I get very little time to myself. Very little, which is fine, but when I manage to wrangle so 'me' time, don't bother me! Usually, my "me" time is at the gym - generally I get in there 3 days a week, but because of my back problems, only once this week - which means 1 hour to myself for the whole week...

    And thanks to the lovely cell phone (which I leave on in case some family member or work has some emergency) - I can be reached anywhere. And nothing makes my blood boil to answer the phone when I'm at the gym and it's someone wanting to tell me something stupid, that can totally wait until later...generally, it's something they shouldn't be bothering me about during the work day anyway...Today's caller started going thru a list of things I should've been writing down...I said "look, I can't write that crap down right now, call me later"...

    UGH!

    August 04, 2004

    Birthday Dinner!

    Well, we went to Rainforest Cafe for my birthday dinner (because it's "kids night") - there was a 2 hour wait! And we didn't get there until 7:15 p.m.! So off to Slades for us...it was excellent and son behaved beautifully for the entire meal! What a night!

    Breaking News...

    As we speak, Hubby is shaving his hair off for his first ever cool summer haircut!

    Updates later!

    He can't be serious...

    I hope he isn't really running for office - please let it be a joke ( a bad one at that )...

    Found via Michele...

    Forwarding Email...

    It amazes me when someone takes an email that was a personal exchange with someone else where they reached some decision that affects the group, then just forwards the whole dang exhange onto the group...forgetting of course, that in the earlier exchange, they might've been talking about someone (and not very nicely I might add) that is on the forward group list!

    Why not just start a fresh email? Not only do I not need your whole exchange eating up space in my mailbox, you won't hurt anyone's feelings unintentionally. Though you SHOULD get called out for what you said that wasn't very nice.

    August 03, 2004

    Working Out Update...

    I tried to walk Saturday around the neighborhood - it felt GREAT, but boy did I pay for it Saturday night - every time I rolled over my back screamed at me...so I don't get to start working out like I had planned this week - I'm thinking maybe Thursday I'll try and goto the gym and just do the elliptical machine, since it's no-impact.

    Wish me luck!

    Dumbass...

    Marcus Vick gets suspended...

    Best.Present.Ever

    When I got home, my hubby & son had the only thing I truly wanted for my birthday waiting (other than a new house, new car, keys to Nordstrom)...a birthday card that son had signed himself! Call me a crazy mommy, but that's what I wanted!

    Feeling Old...

    Hubby just was bugging me about something he could get me for my birthday (we agreed no expensive gifts w/the house coming)...and I'm so old I couldn't think of anything! Nothing...Of course, i could easily blow a couple hundred on a cool purse or shoes, but it's right before the fall stuff comes out, so I'll wait.

    I was always confused when I was little and adults wouldn't be as excited about their birthdays as I was about mine. Now I get it.

    Like so many other things, with age, comes understanding.

    Happy Birthday!


    Happy Birthday to me!

    August 02, 2004

    So Frustrating!

    Ok - we live a good 15 minute drive from the nearest store. Fine.

    The way I commute to and from work are on major roadways, that don't go by any stores. It's a direct route.

    So, when I need JUST 1 THING from the store it's a major pain to add 15 minutes to my 40 minute commute just to pick up something stupid. Like I have to do tonight on my way home. It makes me SOOOOOOOOOOO grumpy, I'm sure that I'm unbearable. I CAN'T WAIT to move into our new house, with it's location picked SPECIFICALLY because it's near everything! October, I just have to hang on until October. Right now, because we live so far out, we're wasting a lot of money on gas and tolls (we have to take the Greenway, at $2.25 a pop because it saves SO much time ). When we move, we won't need the Greenway anymore! Speaking of the Greenway, they're raising the toll to $2.30 (plus $0.35 to for the road it connects to) on Sept 7. Fuc*ers. I can't wait until we move and I can send them a scathing letter how both my husband and I won't be using their stupid road and paying their crazy high tolls anymore. The toll used to be something like $1.50, but they keep raising it and the people that live on that end of the county can either pay it, or add AN HOUR to their commute to go around.

    I'm in a great mood today, huh?

    profiling...

    Steve says it best. go read it, then return here.

    I agree - anything that keeps our nation safer needs to be done. I don't care if it's a pain in the ass to be questioned at security every time you fly. Or be searched. Or have your bags searched - I'm willing to do anything the checkpoints ask to keep us safer - if you have nothing to hide, the check won't take long, will it?

    When I was travelling overseas, we were searched MANY times, simply because we were American. Yes, it was a pain. Yes, my clothes were more wrinkled because the guards never put stuff back correctly. Big hairy deal. You suck it up and deal with it. And that was before Sept 11, 2001.

    Now...Now that there is a legitimate threat, they need to do all they can to keep us safe - and if that means extra scrutiny on a particular group, so be it. If you come with nothing to hide, it'll go well.