Saturday October 27th
(jump earlier)
Here but now they're gone
Karma is an absolute bitch sometimes. There was once a woman on another board who hated my politics with a passion. Somehow she found out my daughter's real name and posted it on a couple of message boards. She took her hate of me and directed it unfairly at my daughter. Something I strive to keep private is her real name. I do it for my own reasons.
I found out today that she died a few weeks back and my first thought was good riddance. I know it is probably awful to feel this way about another human being, but when it comes to my daughter there is no fucking around.
Karma is a bitch and I am not sorry to read she is gone. |
posted Saturday October 27th, @12:31PM
Tuesday October 16th
(jump earlier later)
Listening to you I get the music
As I age, I find my hearing is not what it used to be. I find myself turning on Closed Captions on the tv more and more. If I turn the tube up louder, it becomes unbearable noise.
Sadly though not all shows are captioned equally. |
posted Tuesday October 16th, @01:44PM
Monday October 1st
(jump earlier later)
The kids are alright
I take my daughter once a week to a gymnastics class. It is an hour long. The place I take her has put in WiFi which allows me to work surf during that hour. I used to watch her doing routines, but right now she pays more attention to me when I am there than the instructor. Not a good thing.
Other parents stay with their children (usually siblings of the ones in class) either watching their kids or in the room where I sit on the computer. What drives me and the owner nuts are the parents that are completely oblivious to what their children are doing. I have seen food and chalk ground into the floor. I watched kids picking at the drywall to make little holes. I had two boys throwing cars across the floor which hit me a couple of times last week as well as one boy trying to crawl under the chair in which I was sitting. I finally said something when they took chalk and drew on the chairs of the tables inside.
What is it with these parents? Sorry but it does NOT take a fucking village. If you are going to have them, then watch them! Have them treat other places just like you would want them treating your own home. Say something when they are being distructive little heathens! |
posted Monday October 1st, @03:53PM
Tuesday September 25th
(jump earlier later)
Yatta!!!
Yes I admit it, I am an escapist idiot box junkie. Give me mindless entertainment that allows me not to have to think.
Here is our TIVO list for the new season:
Heroes
Prison Break
Reaper
Cane
Bionic Woman
Kid Nation
Private Practice - Ms. Flagger
CSI - LV
Ugly Betty - Ms. Flagger
Grey's - Ms. Flagger
ER - Ms. Flagger
Desp Housewives - Ms. Flagger
Brothers and Sisters - Ms. Flagger
Lost
Medium
I am also watching Ken Burns' The War as my Dad was a WWII vet.
What's on your list? |
posted Tuesday September 25th, @08:42AM
Saturday September 1st
(jump earlier later)
A wiggle in her walk
Those who know me, know I am pretty strongly conservative. I am even moreso when it comes to the outfits that I allow my four year old to wear. It makes me cringe when parents let their children dress in highly suggestive clothing. So much of the outfits these days just seem so over the top in what I think a child should be wearing.
I am also torn about this point because my daughter wanted a pair of boots. The were at Target and we stopped there last night. I saw her wearing them and saw they came up to almost her knee. She was probably 50 feet from me and when I shook my head NO, her face just dropped into this cesspool of disappointment. There is nothing my daughter wants than to make her daddy happy and not disappoint me. She put them back and I realised there are just some battles I should not fight. So there I was this morning and buying the boots and surprised her with them when I came home. They do not have stilleto heels and they are not that bad. I still have to draw the line somewhere, but today I was her hero. |
posted Saturday September 1st, @02:18PM
Sunday August 26th
(jump earlier later)
Breathe deep the gathering gloom
It is been nine days...(Ferris has missed NINE DAYS...GRACE!!!) since my last entry. I sure have been lax about this after starting it up so gung ho. What has been happening you ask? Well grab a chair and sit down!
I have been struggling with this new medical device I brought home. I still have not been able to use it throughout the night but it is getting better. The brain is just not used to being hooked up to a foreign device. The goal is to make it through the night, yet I keep taking it off. I also have tried sleeping with it on the couch which seems to work a bit better. Though I give up and finally go to bed in the middle of the night.
I am concerned about some good friends of mine in Athens. The fires in Greece are getting dangerously close to their home and I worry for them. I dropped them an email today and hopefully I will hear back soon.
The 100+ degree days hopefully have finally broken and now we are going to see a slow progression towards fall. We actually have managed to get over 2 inches of rain in the past couple of days and my grass which has become almost all brown is very happy. I managed to shanghai the lawn service the builder uses while they were mowing the lot next door into mowing my lawn on Friday for $35. It had been three weeks and frankly it was worth a one time deal. They did it the next day when there was only two of them instead of the jefe having to share the money with a crew of seven. It only took them 30 minutes where it would have taken me over 90.
We are have such a deficit in our water levels that it will take nothing less than a tropical system to get our state in better shape. We just don't need the destruction that comes with a tropical system. Speaking of which, I found an interesting report about Dean as it crossed the Yucatan at the following site: »www.portillas.com/
One thing that strikes me is the can do spirit of the Mexican people. The contrast between how they have spurred forward after being struck by two Category 5 hurricanes in five years and that of the people of New Orleans just cannot be denied. |
posted Sunday August 26th, @07:32PM
Friday August 17th
(jump earlier later)
It's a wonder I can think at all
Well we have survived our first week of Pre-K. We adjusted the wakeup time a bit because not only is my child grumpy when she wake up but she does not like to wait at all. The mean daddy that I am forbids television in the morning because she would never get up to leave. We have worked out the perfect time to leave the house to not have to wait too long in the "car line" to drop off and to pick up. The four year olds get escorted to and from class by one of the teachers.
I picked up a medical device yesterday to help me sleep. I didn't have the best luck with it being I went to bed with a stuffed up nose. People who use the same device say that it takes a while to get use to, but their lives have changed 180 degrees and for the better. I might ask in one of the open forums about it just for more encouragement. |
posted Friday August 17th, @09:54AM
Monday August 13th
(jump earlier later)
Turn around and say good morning to the night
I mad a decision last night to have Ms. Flagger drop Cocoa off at Pre-K this morning. Because I am home with her every day, and I have been witness to so many milestones, I figured Ms. Flagger was due.
It all went well and I am not quite bored yet. I will admit to getting a little teary eyed listening to the song I used to play for Cocoa from the time she was a newborn. Oh I guess I skipped forward a little bit. I finally moved my music over to the laptop. I have always written a bit better when music is playing and I have really missed it.
Anyway, our song came up in the playlist and I got a little misty about my girl growing up! |
posted Monday August 13th, @10:52AM
Sunday August 12th
(jump earlier later)
T-23:14 and counting
By this time tomorrow, Cocoa will have been dropped off at Pre-Kindergarten and I should be on a treadmill starting back on a decent exercise program. I am determined to get healthy again which will probably mean less time at the computer. I have a problem when I am bored and sedentary...I snack and snack and snack again.
Oh sure it might be better if I would snack on healthy things, but even healthy things in excess can be bad for you. It just makes it worse that I choose to snack on unhealthy things. The thing is that I did it once before and documented it in my journal. I KNOW I can do it, I just need the kick in the ass to get jump started. I can think of nothing better than dropping my daughter off at school and a full gym at my neighborhood clubhouse. I figure I am paying for it with my dues, I might sure as shit take advantage of it.
I am off for now to pressure wash the patio before we do a pergola raising. The box had been sitting on our patio since early July when we brought it home. It managed through all the rain (which we are now missing) to stain said patio. Hopefully though, we should be finished with the installation today. Hopefully I can get a picture. |
posted Sunday August 12th, @07:56AM
Thursday August 9th
(jump earlier later)
Its burning through to my soul
Someone in my hometown left their oven on and the door open because it is HOT, triple digit hot this week. It was pretty much a non-productive day. We did manage to do the pool again today as we have each day this week.
I made up our menu for next week and made a grocery list. It is how we shop in this family. Sure we get things off the list, and we go off menu frequently, but it helps control our spending.
That being said, we should charge nothing else between now and when the card closes. There are some big medical expenses on this month's bill as well as my dental work. I try to make a budget and keep our spending to it, but we always seem to manage to spend more and more. I go back through old records and see how as our income increased, we have managed to increase our spending as well. Too bad we have not managed to save commiserate with our spending. It looks like one of us will be working until the day we day though we do have a bit socked away. Because of this, we have been giving our DD a start on her savings path. |
posted Thursday August 9th, @10:17PM
Wednesday August 8th
(jump earlier later)
There's no need to fear
I was right. I was silly and pointless, but it made Cocoa laugh out loud several times. It was a good day. Live every day to the fullest even when you feel lazy. |
posted Wednesday August 8th, @11:10PM
(jump earlier later)
Ground control to Major Tom
The space shuttle Endeavour is scheduled to lift off today from Cape Canaveral. On board this mission will be Barbara Morgan. For those who do not know, she was the back-up for Christa Mcauliffe. She left teaching after the Challenger explosion and became a full time astronaut. She plans on answering questions from students in Idaho and in other states if the mission gets extended.
In other news, the heat continues baking the grass, the plants and making life just miserable here in the SE US. The pool continues to get be just a warm bath, and I can't stop bitching about something. 
I have decided to spend an afternoon taking my daughter to see Underdog. I was a huge fan of the cartoon growing up and there is not much in terms of movies you can let a four year old watch...Saw, Bourne Ultimatum, Mr. Brooks anyone? I am sure it will be silly and a terrible life action movie. But if it makes Cocoa laugh, that will make my afternoon. |
posted Wednesday August 8th, @11:08AM
Tuesday August 7th
(jump earlier later)
When I think of all the crap I learned in high school
Ms. Flagger and I head over to Cocoa's new pre-K school to meet the teacher and check out the facilities this morning. Our daughter is all but pissed she doesn't get to go with us.
In other news, the neighborhood pools have become the temperature of bathwater now. Not exactly refreshing after a 97 degree day. Do they make pool chillers like they do heaters? |
posted Tuesday August 7th, @08:56AM
Monday August 6th
(jump earlier later)
The internet can be a source of filth, porn and pedophiles. It can also be a huge receptacle of useless bits of trivia that someone like myself adds to their brain.
I was about to write about the heat and humidity we are experiencing as of late (we really have had a mild summer) and started to wonder why we call them the "dog days of summer". Off to google I went and learned something new.
They turned the water off around 9:45 this morning to my development. Something about tying in the new over-55 community into the water supply. It is like I am back in hurricane country as I filled the bathtub to be able to flush the toilets.
I am at T-7 for Cocoa's first day of Pre-school. Honestly I am looking forward to the quiet that will accompany an empty house. I plan for myself to really get after it as far as a diet and exercise program. |
posted Monday August 6th, @10:19AM
Sunday August 5th
(jump earlier later)
I swear I didn't look
But I brought up what is coming up next on HBOSG and lo and behold, but I am about to watch Shawshank Redemption. |
posted Sunday August 5th, @01:59PM
(jump earlier later)
Maybe you'll think of me and smile
One thing I forgot to mention when I rebooted this journal was that my mother had passed away since my last entry. It was one year and one week ago from today as a matter of fact.
We had just returned from Las Vegas on a trip knowing it was close to the end for my mom. I called my sister as we headed for an early dinner and knew it was even getting closer. Just as we were pulling on the highway after having dinner, it was over.
I am so thankful that earler in that month that I could sense in my sister's voice the urgency in which her siblings were needed to visit. Cocoa and I made the drive and were able to surprise my mother who just lit up seeing her sixth grandchild again. It was a short visit, but an important one. My mother would go downhill from the day after we left as various organs would start to shut down.
The process of probate took about six months or so which had so much to do with the four of her children being pretty established in our lives. You really realise that it is all just STUFF one leaves behind. We had an estate sale where we literally opened her house and sold many of her belongings. There was also a bit of money divided up amongst the four of us after the sale of the house was completed and all debts were settled.
I tell people again and again though that I would give it all up just to be able to call my mom again and tell her the latest happening, or a new joke I wrote, or just to hear her voice. I know of course it won't happen, but I feel for those families where all they do is fight about what their supposed loved one has left behind. |
posted Sunday August 5th, @12:37PM
Saturday August 4th
(jump earlier later)
Yeah, we're all with ya on that one, Dwayne.
I can watch some movies again and again. Even though I may own a them on DVD, I will still watch them EVEN on basic cable...commercials and all.
I just added Little Miss Sunshine to that list. It is a dark comedy that frankly is just up my alley.
A few of the others and in no way a complete list:
Shawshank Redemption
Misery
Jaws
Star Wars
Full Metal Jacket(until they get in country)
I also really like the first ten minutes of Glengarry Glen Ross
quote:
These are the new leads. These are the Glengarry leads. And to you they're gold, and you don't get them. Why? Because to give them to you would be throwing them away. They're for closers.
|
posted Saturday August 4th, @09:38PM
Friday August 3rd
(jump earlier later)
What's fifty cents among friends?
I was at Costco yesterday and bought some pre-marinated chicken breasts. It was 50 cents more per pound, but such is the price of convenience. There are a total of twelve breasts, four in garlic and herb, four in a lemony marinade, four in teriyaki.
The plan is to buy salad fixings for lunch and have the chicken pre-cooked. I am determined to eat better and I think salads will be good for lunches. I might get bored, but at least I will be eating more healthy. I need to remember to drink lots of water as well. The last time I started on this weight loss journey, I drank a lot of water. Having that fill my belly, kept the hunger pains down. I eat when I am bored, and frankly I am bored a lot.
I am sure you are asking, how can ANYONE with a four year old possibly be bored. I guess I am just not as creative as a mom might be. Or my daughter prefers to play alone or with mom than her father. Either way, I am going to be even more bored once pre-k starts. I am determined to be much less sluglike. |
posted Friday August 3rd, @05:12PM
Thursday August 2nd
(jump earlier later)
Suffer a little and get your ass out of debt
About the only debt problems that I have sympathy for is when people get themselves into medical related debt. Healthcare is VERY expensive and I can understand people having money issues because of healthcare. What I am about to say is coming from someone who once had to rob Peter to pay Paul, who didn't have two nickels to rub together, who had to borrow from family to pay down their debt.
YOU SHOULDN'T BE TAKING AN EXPENSIVE VACATION IF YOUR CREDIT CARDS ARE MAXED OUT. You can try to justify it all you want how life is short, and you need the break, but you are just fooling yourself. Should your plans change you are basicallyt gonna be screwed if you need to put extra charges on a card.
I just have no sympathy for people in situations like that. |
posted Thursday August 2nd, @02:00PM
Wednesday August 1st
(jump earlier later)
Maybe one more
Trader Joe's chocolate covered peanut butter filled pretzels. I could die right now.
YUMMY
Switching gears. I am a planner. Much more so than my wife. Sure I can be spontaneous, but I also like to be prepared. At least when it comes to vacations.
I have the whole year mapped out plus plans are in place for October of 2008 and the fall of 2009.
Now I just made plans for Easter week of 2008. I guess I ought to find a job to help pay for these plans. |
posted Wednesday August 1st, @04:57PM
|
Flagger