AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!

YOUGUYSLLNEVERBELIEVEIT!!!IPASSEDTHETELLEREXAM THATIWASSUREIFAILED!!!WOOHOO!!YAYME!!IHAVEAGIANT BRAINANDIAMNOTAFRAIDTOUSEIT!!!BRILLIANCEPERSONIFIED, THATSME!!!!YEEHAW!!!RESPECTABLEJOBHEREICOME!!!

(That's what it originally said, but I guess it got cut off, because I didn't put any spaces in it.)

Yeesh!

Ok, so I still don't have Internet. Here's the short version:
I called AT&T to get home phone and Internet. I told the salesman that I needed their cheapest Internet service. So he put in the order and tells me it's going to be $95 a month! I freaked out and told him that's WAY more than I expected. He told me that with fees and taxes that's what it came to. I still wasn't happy, so he "throws in" a "free" DSL modem, and a $50 cash back deal, and knocks the monthly price down to $85/mo.................. yay.................. So I took it, because I knew that AT&T has the best price, I shopped around. Anyway. They told me that our phone would be hooked up on Tuesday (I ordered service on Thursday). It's starting to get late on Tue, and I still don't have phone or Internet. So I call to see if they plan on coming out, and if I have to be home. They tell me that there was no work order to have the phone hooked up that day, but they'd get the phone hooked up for us. While I was talking to the customer service girl, she wanted to confirm the work order, so she looks at her screen and says to me,"There are 4 speeds of Internet access, and I see you want the fastest speed, is that right?" Me: "WHAT?! NO! I told the guy that I needed the cheapest service!" So she was really nice and fixed the problem for me. But she had to cancel the old order and put in a new order, so I lost like 4-5 days on my Internet order! She told me that she couldn't call to see if they could rush my order, because I had to give it 24 hours, or else she would do it. I called the Internet people the next day, and explained about the scuzz-bucket that was trying to pad his commission, and that I take online classes I have to have Internet for, and the girl I spoke to couldn't expedite the order, b/c gthe computer wouldn't let her, so I asked if she had a manager I could speak to, so she schlepped me over to him, and he explained that there is a block on expediting orders in my area, and that he had tried to expedite a few orders before, and just got reamed for it. So they can't hook me up until...really....January 30. So, there will be no more crankiness for the next month. I know you're all disappointed, but I'm sure there will be lots to talk about until then! Meanwhile, I have a new home phone number. Maybe I'll call some of you with it. See ya!

Merry Christmas!

I know it's late, but Merry Christmas everyone. Hope your day was great! Love you!

Update

We got the keys to the apartment today. We can move in anytime. (YAY!) I also went over to Region's Bank to submit my resume. I talked to the manager that asked my SIL to come back. All I had to do was drop her name, and he made a way for me to apply. (They had closed the application because they had 56 applicants, but they reopened it so I could apply.) I go in for the 2 hour assessment on Tuesday at 10:00. I really think I may get it. I'm so glad someone has come before and cleared the path to employment for me! Now I have to do a better than great job so as not to sully my sister's good name!

The Details

Okay, well, for starters, there's not a scrap of carpet in the place. Which I actually think of as positive, because that means there's not a chance of there being carpet in the bathroom (I have not had a carpetless bathroom since I've been married! Can you believe that?!). The bad news is that the floor is the industrial tile they use in Walmart and every elementary school on the planet. The good news is that I know a guy that works for a carpet manufacturing plant, and there's a particular store he can get carpet at for 75% off (for those of you who missed it, that's Jeremy). When you open the front door, there's a closet right across from you, a living room to the left and the stairs to the right. The living room is about 1/2 the size as the living room I had in Wood River, which was really a decent sized living room, so it's alright that it's a small room. Okay, so if you go through the living room, the room behind it is the dining room, which has a pantry inside it, and two mysterious locked doors that I will not have a key to (I'm assuming it's the water heater.) If you make a right from the dining room, you will find a teeny-tiny kitchen with tons of cabinet space, and to the right of that, there's a utility room with a washer/dryer hook-up, and a ton of more storage space. The stairs are a split design, so there's a landing 1/2 way up. When you get to the top, the master bedroom is to the left. It's nice and big, but it's a strange shape. It's very long and shallow. The closet is a little small, and I'm not certain of the layout of the rest of the upstairs, but I think that to the right of the bedroom is the bathroom, and then to the left of that are the kids' rooms. There's also a linen closet in there somewhere. So there's a LOT of storage space, which I am enthusiastically and eternally grateful for, after the lack of storage options O had in the old apartment. The rooms are smaller, but I have places for my junk! :) There's also a clothes line in the back of the apartment, and we didn't walk over to it, but there's also a really old decrepit playground just out the back of my apartment. I don't know if it belongs to the complex or somewhere else, but we'll have to go have a look at it. So that's about all I have to tell about it for now. I hope my neighbors are nice. The apartment manager told me that we got a really good reference from our previous landlady amazingly enough. That just goes to show that you just might never know what people truly think of you. So, that's the rundown on the place. It's really clean, and we can move right in. Also my sister-in-law told me that the manager of a bank that she used to work with came in to her new job to beg her to come back to work for them. She's not going to take it, but she told me she would go with me to try to help get me on there, so that would be nice if I could get that. Pray for this. I need this job!

A Place Of My Own?!

WOOHOO!! There's an apartment available.

A Package?

Yep! And it was one of the nicest things I have ever received. I love it. Inside there was a big banner that it looks like took a few people some time to do. There's glitter, cartoons of roads and people, silly sayings. All kinds of great things, all written on a giant piece of paper and stuffed into an envelope, mailed for under $2.00! I have the best friends ever!

Suckers...

My mom and sister are reading the Twilight books now! :) My mom seems to be more into them than my sister. I'm reading the Midnight Sun draft. I sure do hope Stephenie Meyer finishes it. And then writes the other books from Edward's point of view. (Excessive maybe, but I'd love it!) I must have gotten their curiosity up over Thanksgiving, along with the movie, Liz and Mandy.

WHAT?!

Someone has to help me, I was just messing around and wanted to change my photo at the top of the page to a different one. I accidentally saved it, and now look what has happened! A similar but GIANT picture came up in my banner, and I can't shrink it! I don't want a giant picture of me up there! C'mon!

What To Call A Shiver-y Dog

My in-laws have a little tiny Chihuaua. Her name is Missy. Of course being a Chihuahua, she gets the shivers. I guess she was pretty cold or something today, and Launa came upstairs to tell me that Missy was "vibrating" so she put a blanket over her.

Thanksgiving Torticollis

So Thursday morning, Launa woke up screaming. She was complaining that her neck hurt on one side, but she didn't have a fever, or seem sick other than her sore neck. I went upstairs to lie down with her, and we both fell asleep. I woke up first and had to start working on my part of Thanksgiving dinner, so I got doing that. When Launa woke up, it was more of the same. Screaming if her neck moved, and I had to hold her for hours. Poor thing. I thought it happened because she had slept funny on it overnight, but it wouldn't get better throughout the day. I decided that if it still hurt the next day I would take her to the doctor. It still hurt the next day. :( So it was the day after a holiday, and I called everywhere to get an appointment for her. Most places were closed, but I did get in touch with one office. They wouldn't accept new patients the day after a holiday. I resigned myself to having to take her to the hospital, when my father-in-law finally got through with the urgent care center across town (the one 1/2 mileup the road was closed). So I took Launa over to the urgent care center. The doctor looked at her, and said, "Oh. She has torticollis. Basically it's a cramp in the neck muscle, the only thing you can really do about it is take Motrin and put heat on it." Man! This is what I was tring to do the night before, but Launa wouldn't take the medicine, or let me touch it, let alone put heat on it! Oh well. She's better now, and I'm glad, but the poor thing was miserable over Thanksgiving.

On a lighter note, I had a really weird dream last night. This group I was in for some reason invited Tom Cruise to speak to us. He came, and we paid him in a Walmart card. Then we went to Walmart so he could spend it. They let Tom talk over the loud speaker. When we tried to buy fruit, the produce men told us that if we wanted to buy apples, we had to buy at least one piece of rotten fruit so that no one took all of the good fruit, leaving only bad fruit for the latecomers. We were really upset about that (obviously) so we didn't buy any apples like we had planned to. I remember looking at the animals in the fish section, but they had all kinds of weird sea-life like eels, and such. We told everyone how incensed we were that they tried to make us buy rotten fruit, and talked about how they are supposed to take a loss on rotten fruit, not try to force their customers to buy it...I'm not sure how it ended, I can't remember.

Coming Home

Woohoo! I'm coming home for a visit starting tomorrow (Friday)!

A Reminder

They had a meeting at Jeremy's work today, and I thought this news was worth sharing since many of you have husbands/ brothers/ parents that work in an industrial environment. Last week a maintenance man that worked in the Mohawk (carpet) plant died in a terrible but very preventable accident. He must have been working his job for quite a bit of time, and thought "This job won't take me very long, I'll be in and out before anyone will need this machine." So he climbed into the machine without tagging it out first. Well, a machinist came by and needed the machine while he was in there, and fired it up, since there was no tag telling him not to turn it on. I cannot imagine the horror of what must have happened next. Please just remind those people you love that work in such an environment that the safety rules are there for a reason, and to never ever ignore them, even if they'll just be doing a job for a moment. It is never worth the risk, no matter how many times they have done a job without having anything happen. You never know when it will be "that one time" that something does go wrong. Love you guys.

Newly Discovered Cure

Last night, Launa was doing her very best not to fall asleep. She got up for water. She got up to go to the bathroom...y'all know the routine. Anyway, finally she got up and came downstairs and told her daddy, "My bottom hurts, I think candy will make it feel better." I can't believe he gave it to her! Sucker.

And So It Begins

Today I dressed Daniel in a plain gray long sleeved shirt and a pair of jeans, with a zip up hoodie over it. When I went to pick him up from school today, Daniel asked me, "Mom, do you know why I wore my hoodie all day?" "No," I replied, "Why did you wear your hoodie all day?" "Because," he said, "I was embarrassed about the shirt you made me wear. I was afraid that all the kids would laugh at me."

Why does my six-year-old son have a fashion sense? What's wrong with a gray long-sleeved shirt? Is it possible that I am embarrassing him already? I didn't think that was supposed to start for at lest 3 more years! Now we're losing teeth and getting a fashion sense all in 2 weeks' time! What misery is going to be left for me by the time he's 14?

Oh yeah - if he wants new/more stylish clothes, he's going to need a job, 'cuz I just bought him all he's getting for a LONG time!

This Video Makes Me Laugh

Take On Me - Literal Version

Oh Rapture!

Today was friends and family day at Kmart, and I've been putting off a shopping trip to buy Daniel jeans (he only had one pair) and Launa tennis shoes (she wears a 9, her old ones were a 7) because we have been on a tight budget lately, but with Jeremy's sister starting at Kmart I decided to head over there today for the extra percentage off. Anyway, I was walking toward the shoes, and I passed the book aisle. Just out of curiosity, I stuck my head in. There, in the very front, big and beautiful with a black cover and a red ribbon cascading down the front, was a copy of the next book in the series: Eclipse! I took the book off the shelf, and there was something different behind it. I looked all over the aisle, and there were no other Stephenie Meyer books anywhere. The price was $14.99 - list price $19.99, plus I had the friends and family discount. I decided it was a sign that God wanted me to have this book. So I picked it up! YAY! Now, as soon as I'm done with New Moon, I can read the next one without having to wait for 3 weeks! And, it's hefty, so it must be the longest book in the series.

A Brand New Day

And I'm feeling slightly bored over the topics on my blog at the moment. Any suggestions for something interesting to talk about? While I would like to discuss a certain book, I'm afraid that it will seem slightly...oh, I dunno...obsessive of me, so I think I'll leave that topic alone for a bit. Hmmm...I'll think of something. This would be a good time to embed my video, but that will have to wait until I have a little more time.

How I Really Feel About "Losing"

Yes, the man I voted for lost the election. I didn't really like him anyway. I think that's why he lost. Very few people were actually happy to vote for him, they mostly voted against the other guy. Meanwhile, the people who voted for BO were excited to vote for him. Big difference. I am not shocked about the loss. I'm surprisingly sanguine about the whole thing. My guy lost. I have concerns about the President Elect, but I'm not too worried. We survived Carter - arguably the worst President ever, and we will get through an Obama Presidency as well. I do not believe that Obama will magically and single-handedly overturn the system of government we have had over the last 232 years. It won't happen like that. When Obama is gone, this will still be the great country it was before he took office, just like it's the same great country is was before GWB took office. Yes we want "our guy" in the office, but he's not. "Our guy" wasn't even on the ballot this year. What did we really expect?

Two Days Ago

I got a call from the library. I had forgotten that I requested a hold on the book Twilight since I had heard so much about it. So I went to pick it up. That book is monstrous, by the way - 500 pages! I started to read it thinking it would probably take me 3 weeks to do it since I have school work and I'm job hunting and everything. Yeah, so instead, I read half of it on Monday, and half of it yesterday. I had two big assignments due last night, and I put them off til I finished the book. I don't think I got to bed until 2:30 this morning. So, yeah, thanks for the recommendation. Now I have to wait 3 weeks for the next book to come in, I'm desperately tired, I almost forgot to get up this morning to send Daniel to school, and I forgot to vote, because I was too enthralled, and now Obama is my President! You guys are great. (Just kidding, I did vote, I even took the book with me in case I had to stand in line for an hour. Unfortunately they got us right in.) So, the movie's coming out in a couple of weeks, huh? I have fabulous timing! I think I might just buy the next two books so I can read them next week while I have a little bit of time off school. Man am I a loser! ;)

President, "O" My President

Great news! Obama just won the presidency! That means that I will no longer have to continue looking for a job! He promised me that when he won, he would take money from all the evil rich people making more that $250,000 a year, and give their money to me. Glorious day!

The Day We Have Been Anticipating For Weeks

Has finally arrived! Tonight is a night that changes me from a mom of small little children, to a mom with kids old enough to have lost teeth! I hope our tooth fairy is much less retarded than Renae's kids' tooth fairy. Although I already know that the tooth fairy for this area wanted to leave gold dollar coins for her toothless children, but forgot to go to the bank...even though she had something like three weeks to make the trip. So I don't hold out much hope for her.

New Favorite Band

So I was playing around on the playlist website wanting to add a couple of new songs to my list, and I came across this band that does punk/ska covers of old songs. Not only does the band have the greatest band name ever - Me First And The Gimme Gimmes, but the covers aren't bad! I listened to the first few, and then I started just slapping songs that I knew up on the playlist, so I can't guarantee the language will be pure on every selection, but it's totally worth a listen. Good tunes, man.

Happy Birthday Stacey!

Here's your birthday song! I hope you enjoy it!

Maybe You Already Know About This

But I just saw that a movie is coming out based on the book Twilight that all of you guys are so in love with. Comes out November 21.

Another Product

Another product that I'm surprised I like is something I bought because I was out of face lotion, and I needed to buy something cheap. Anyway, I was looking, looking, looking, and not finding anything that made my socks roll up and down. Finally, I decided just to go with whatever looked like the best value. So I got a giant tub of (and I even laughed at myself for this) Jergens All Purpose Face Cream. Old lady stuff. I was a little bit embarrassed to be seen with it, to be honest. I took the stuff home not realizing that you have to wipe it off with a tissue after you put it on. When I saw that, I really thought I'd done something dumb. Anyway, I decided to give it a try. MAN! It's like a miracle cream! It leaves my skin soft, takes ALL of my eye makeup off (which I can NEVER do, even though I don't wear a lot of eye makeup), and my makeup looks SO GOOD when I put it on over this stuff! I'm with the old ladies on this, Jergens All Purpose Face Cream. The package hasn't been redesigned since 1972, but man is it good stuff.

I Got a Haircut!

And I like it too. It is the middle of the night, so it looks bad right now. Tonight I'm just happy to have my work done, and that tomorrow is Saturday. I turned one of my assignments in an hour late, so I hope that it won't be counted off. I'll try to make the blogging rounds in the am. We'll see.

Visitation

We went to the visitation for Jo-jo tonight. The last visitation we went to we told the kids beforehand how we expected them to behave and we told them that if they wanted to see the body they could. Neither of them were interested last time. This time however, Daniel wanted to look. I was surprised, but I had told him beforehand that we didn't know if they would be showing the body because the man had died in an accident, so it may not be in good enough condition to show. I think that got his curiosity up, so he wanted to see him. Well, the funeral home did a pretty good job considering what they had to work with, but Jo-jo still didn't look very good. And he was my son's first body.

I was surprised by the questions he had for me though. They were thoughtful. He wanted to know why our bodies were left behind when we died. Good question. I couldn't say for sure. Maybe it's so that when we die, our families don't have to wonder what happened to us. After some thought, I guess it's because the truth is, if you believe the Bible, that we were made to always be in our bodies, but when Adam and Eve sinned, it brought death into the world. Death is therefore unnatural and so it is not really natural for us to be separated from our bodies. That is, it was not God's original plan for us. I guess what I'm saying is that it is part of the curse from the fall of man. Maybe that's why I feel so ill every time I see a body without a person inside. It's just so wrong. Daniel took it pretty well, he had several questions throughout the evening, but I can't think about what they were now. Daniel said more than once after the visitation how sad he was for Jo-jo, and he didn't seem to grasp that Jo-jo is fine now. He's with Jesus, it's his family that he left behind that we are sad for, because they will miss him terribly. Daniel's six. That's just not how he sees it. I'd better leave my bedroom door open tonight, in case he needs me.

Very Sad News

Corrections made:

Our church has made it a priority to find the un-churched and bring them to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Today a young man from our church who just got serious about the Lord had a motorcycle accident and passed away. He has a young son and a 9 month old son. He and his wife just married two weeks ago, and they were learning what it means to be followers of Christ (they had made their decision to follow Him about a year and a half ago). We have the confidence that we will see him again in Heaven, but we are very sad for his wife and children. Anyway, his wife needs your prayers as she is now the mother of a newborn with no daddy to help raise him. His children need your prayers too. Everyone needs their daddy.

Why Am I So Excited?!

Because my boy just discovered that he has his first loose tooth! WOOHOO for the big boy! (Waaaaaah! for me) The next 2 younger than him cousins have already lost a couple of teeth, and while it didn't seem to bother Daniel, I was starting to wonder if it would ever happen for him. I have heard of people that never lost their baby teeth and so are walking around as adults with little tiny baby teeth in their mouths. I was afraid Daniel would be one of those flukie things, but mostly I was concerned about it because he has a couple of teeth that grew in pitted, and I am anxious to find out if his adult teeth are going to be weird like mine. I hope it's just all the antibiotics I was on for ear infections that caused my lack of enamel and not genetics, but when his baby teeth grew in like that it scared me.

So...Wyoming?

Have we settled on a place for our new commune with earthship housing and people we'll all like? I really liked DC's Wyoming idea. We could stake our claims. We could have our own vegetable gardens and we can raise cattle and chickens together. We could harvest our own power and collect our own drinking water. The government couldn't interfere in our lives because we wouldn't need them! (Of course, they might mistake us for a cult and take our children from us, or storm our compound - think FLDS or Waco/Ruby Ridge.) But if we pay our taxes, maybe they'd leave us alone. Then when the Apocolypse hits, we'll all be safe and secure in our obscure little commune in the vast Wyoming wilderness. No one would even have to know we were there. Also, if we lived that far out of civilization, it's likely that when the next (inevitable) plague hits we won't be affected by it. We'll have to have fashion mags though, because I do not want to be stormed by the feds while I'm wearing my prairie dress because my one fashionable outfit is hanging on the line. Can anyone here sew, BTW?

The Answer to Many of Our Problems

I just saw these houses discussed on tv tonight, and I think it's a great idea! I am not an environmentalist, but these houses make a ton of sense! They don't cost much to build, there are zero utility bills... Guys. Really. We need to start our own little commune/neighborhood where we live in houses like this. We can help each other build them, and maintain them, and add on to them. They can make 8 inches of rainwater a year last all year. They have atriums where they grow their own food. Another added benefit is that we would get to stretch our artistic muscles while we did it. Very good idea. Plus, if we didn't have utility bills out the wazoo, it would make gas hikes less of an issue until they find a way to power our cars using human breath. So what if the name of the type of house is stupid, we could rename ours "Pretty Inexpensive to Build and Run, Which Makes Us Smarter And Wealthier Than You houses"! I wanted to embed a YouTube video, but I couldn't figure out how to do it. Maybe someone who knows how can tell me.

School And A Possible House?

School has started. I got my grades back from my first assignments. I definitely got better grades than I deserved on both. I even got a perfect score on one of them! Anyway, I'm glad it went better than I thought it would.

I talked to a couple of mortgage people. The good news: we qualify for any loan we want. The bad news: we still need more money than we currently have. I don't think it will take too long once I get going at a new job.

I applied at Office Depot today. I had my first job there, and I really liked it. Hopefully I answered all their weird hypothetical questions to their satisfaction. (Things like "Have you ever done anything you aren't proud of?" "Have you ever in your life lied to anyone? Ever?") They didn't have us answer those things the first time I applied there. I answered honestly but I don't really know how to answer those things the way they want, and I'm afraid that not answering "correctly" will cost me the chance to work there. Hopefully I'll get a call back. Otherwise it's to the internet to apply for ::shudder:: McDonald's.

Anywho, just an update. See y'all later.

Oh yeah...

See my new mouse pad? Got it for a dollar at Target! Love it!

Okay, here's a photo of it in front of my hand-held mirror because the computer only takes mirror image photos. Not sure why...anyway, the mirror was Jeremy's idea. He's extra clever.

A Source Of Encouragement

I have to admit. I thought when we moved things would be different. We were going to live with Jeremy's parents long enough to get a house and we were going to be out in 2 months. Tops. I like to think of what Mark Hall (lead for the Christian band Casting Crowns) says: "When you're doing what God asks you to do, aren't baby angels supposed to appear from the sky and give you stuff?" Well, why not? I deserve baby angels! I'm doing what I know God wants me to do! Where are they?

I was talking to my sister-in-law Stacey the other day about it. They had the same problems (sort of). They ended up moving in with their parents when they moved to town because they needed to sell their own house before they could buy a new one. Well, they were here for more than 3 months when they got an offer on their house. By the time they had been here that long, they were starting to wonder if they had made the right decision. She told me that she had been talking to God one night and finally said to Him that unless He found a buyer for their house, they were going to have to move back. The next morning their realtor called and told them there was an offer on the house. They were in their new house within a month. They had lived with her parents for 4 months. Jeremy's parents have been great, but you know it's not easy to live with people (or have people living with you). Everyone wants their own space, and I'm starting to wonder, are we ever going to be able to get our own place? Instead of money showering down on me, it seems like there's a giant money magnet sucking it away, and while I am being very conscientious with our money, it's always gone after I pay bills and buy food every payday. We can't save anything - there's nothing to save. In any event...

...In that same conversation I had with Stacey, I was telling her that since I got here, it is very clear that any talents I used to have, have somehow seeped from me. I am unable to do the few things I used to be good at, and the things I used to be bad at, I'm even worse at! She reminded me that Satan doesn't like when we get serious and start working hard for the Lord. He's going to fight us as hard as he can on this, and that adversity is often a sign that you're doing something right. Ahh how I needed to hear that. What she said to me really meant a lot, especially since I bombed a skit we did in church last week. I have never done badly in a skit or play. I am a natural ham, and appearing before people doesn't bother me at all. I spazzed! Flat out went blank, and had to stand there in front of my new church family for a good 30 seconds trying to think of my part. It was gone. Usually, I can fake it, but not this time. Bye-bye brain. Anyway, Stacey is the person who organizes the drama at our church and she's very good at it. She's always had a good memory and can memorize her lines in no time at all. She is also a perfectionist, and she doesn't like it when people don't take their roles seriously. It's understandable, if you want to do something that puts you in front of the whole church, you need to be prepared. And this particular skit was about throwing yourself into everything you do like it's all for God. And I didn't even know my lines! Ouch. Anyway, this week has been pretty unpleasant for me. I feel so useless, talentless, and rotten right now. I have really needed to recieve grace and understanding from the people around me. Thanks Stacey.

My Silly Girl

I was just putting a movie into the computer for Launa to watch while I grab a quick shower. She noticed that I slipped the disc in upside-down and said something to me about it. I told her that that didn't really matter because as long as the label is facing toward us, the computer can read it. With fake sincerity Launa replies, "Oh - interesting!"

School's In Session

I'm starting a new class. The teacher wants us to tell the class something that makes us unique either to our class or the general population. I HATE these kinds of questions! They cause me to have to bee a little more introspective than I like to be. So I need help! What makes me unique? (Besides my freaky teeth, cuz that's all I can think of, and I don't want to talk about that.)

New Blogger In Town

Yay! My veterinarian brother-in-law that I've mentioned and even shown (think Wesley from Princess Bride) on this site now has his own blog related to veterinarian stuff. Really guys. Dr. Bern is VERY good at his job, and is in my opinion world class. If you have any questions regarding your pets, he's doing Q&As, and I'm sure he would love the opportunity to answer any questions you have. Here's the address: http://avetsguidetolife.blogspot.com/. Now go visit him!

I'm A Dork

I put my good playlist back up. (And added to it!) I love the songs I put on it so much, that even though I have things to do, every time a song comes on I think, "Ooh! I love this song! I'll just stay til it's over, then I'll get to work!" And then another good song comes on, and I go, "AHWHWHW! This song is great too! Ok, I'll stay til this song is over, then it's back to busy for me!" But darnnit! Awesome songs keep coming on, and I can't tear myself away! Well, now it's quiet 'cuz I'm posting, so I'd better post and hurry and leave before something else great comes on! I'd better mute my computer before I publish!

How to Count to Eight in Spanish

Financial Aid

Jeremy went to school today for orientation. He stopped by to finish up all of his financial aid stuff. They told him that he hadn't registered for Selective Services, so he wasn't eligible for any financial aid.

I would like to say something right now. I married the most straight as an arrow man ever to walk the face of this earth. He has always complied with every aspect of US law that he is aware of. He knew about Selective Services (how could he not?) and he registered for Selective Services.

But now he's 31. He is no longer in the Selective Services, so he doesn't have his card anymore. So he gets home at 11:35, after he had been working through the night and then gone up to the school for orientation and dealt with Financial Aid. He calls the number the FA lady gave him, and the automated menu looks him up, but doesn't recognize him. The poor man is dead tired. Now he's trying to remember...did he really sign up for Selective Services? He MUST have, he knew it was the law, and he loves his country. There's no reason why he wouldn't. So he calls back. Goes through all the menus again. Finally, he gets an option to speak to someone. The estimated wait time is 38 minutes! All he wants to do is go to bed, but he has to get this cleared up today or pay for his classes all by himself. So I stayed on hold while Jeremy had something to eat. I finally talked to a lady, and she looked him up. It turns out, one of the digits for his Social Security number was off by a digit in their records. Oops. So she's going to send us verification of his enrollment, but FA wants proof today. I hope they can get it all cleared up. Poor Jeremy keeps running into new obstacles.

I told him we may end up having to wait until next quarter. But he doesn't want to hear that of course. I think he wants to get doing it before he has the chance to think about it hard enough to chicken out. I understand, but now I don't know what to do to encourage him. Why do these things seem to happen to us more often than others? Does it seem to you like we have an inordinately large amount of bureaucratic hang-ups? And now for the most important question: "Why me?" ;)

Eagle Eye

Jeremy and I went to see the movie Eagle Eye last night. It was a pretty good movie, some of the camera work in the action sequences was a little too jumpy which made them hard to follow, but mostly the movie was good. The thing is, if you have seen 2001: A Space Odyssey, you'll find this movie predictable. Eagle Eye borrowed extensively from that movie. The story was still pretty good, the overall message was that overreaching technology is bad. I'd have to say I agree with that sentiment, but the real question is where do we draw the line between safety and invasion of privacy? What do you think?

Fun Times

Here's a photo of my kids with the cake they decorated. See how proud they are! I, on the other hand, was so embarrassed by the way mine turned out, that I have decided not to include any photos of it.

*SIGH*

Some days there's a ton of stuff to write about, and you get some great posts (sometimes 3 in one day!), and sometimes there's nothing good going on, and you're stuck with a less-than-stimulating post for several days headlining the blog. What's a clever blogger to do?

Polling Is Now Closed

Out of our 5 voters, 2 voted for boxers, 1 voted for briefs, and 2 voted for Depends. I see only two of you got the joke. You see, Depends are a brand of underwear made for people with incontinence. It was a play on words. Do you all get it now? You didn't think I'd put up a vulgar poll like that without having a good reason behind it, did you? Well anyway, even though very few people seemed to get the joke, I'm going to send all voters in this weeks' poll a 200 oz. water jug with my face on it. Good times.

How Old Am I?

I was sitting here playing around on my blog, and Daniel was in the room. The Fraggle Rock theme came on, and Daniel knew what it was because I showed the kids a clip from a show that was on YouTube the other night. He asked me if I had seen the whole movie before. I told him that it was a tv show from when I was a kid. Daniel answers with, "Oh! So it was a black and white show?"

The funny thing is, I remember thinking that my parents had been around in covered wagon days, so I guess I can't be too upset with him for thinking I'm a really old lady, it's just funny when it's your kid that thinks that way about you! (Not to mention it used to blow my mind that my parents were born in the 1950s! At least I was born in the same century as my folks! My kids were born in a completely different millenium than I was! Now that's crazy!)

My Brilliant Hubby

Jeremy has decided to start taking horticulture classes with a specialization in golf course design and upkeep. We went up to the college yesterday to get him registered and have him take his placement test. He was really nervous about going because he never did very well in school, and he was sure he would bomb on the placement test. Well, I drop Jeremy off with $15 and his high school transcript (from a Christian school that burned to the ground the summer he graduated, so he had incomplete records...that's a whole other story) and left to troll the mall for a couple of hours while he took the dreaded test. I got back about 5-10 minutes before he finished (great timing, eh?) and Launa and I waited while he got his results. Guess what? He passed with flying colors! He surprised himself (he later confessed to me that he guessed a lot), and is feeling very encouraged about school. He pretty much feels like Superman! He can do this school thing! He has a motivation and a confidence that he didn't have in high school, and I'm so proud and excited for him! The bad news is, that while they accepted his fragmented transcript, they didn't accept his high school's accreditation, and are making him get his GED. So much for toughing it out and finishing school, huh? He still has to get a GED. I'm a little irked about that, but Jeremy is confident that he won't have any trouble taking the test. What a guy!

My Grampa - or - How I Almost Became An Actress And A Scientologist

I was just thinking about my grampa today, and I was thinking about a particularly silly story.

When I was 18, I made a trip to visit the elderly people in my life in Southern California. It was my first trip back since we had moved from there when I was 12. While I was in town they were shooting the movie Swordfish with John Travolta and Halle Berry there. My grampa wanted me to go see where they were shooting, so he took me up there so we could watch. We found the place, and there were all these people milling about. My grampa started walking up to where they were filming, and we got to a place where there were all these extras dressed in SWAT uniforms, and I started thinking, I don't think we're supposed to be walking around back here. Well, my grampa is way ahead of me, and he's just walking around on their set! I start to whisper, "Grampa, I don't think we're supposed to be back here..." When the director starts shouting, "ANYONE WHO IS NOT IN THE FILM, GET ON THAT SIDE OF THE STREET!!!" I think he was talking to us...we were the only ones messing up his shot! I was pretty embarrassed. But my grampa wasn't bothered in the least. He just walked over to where the crowds were assembled to watch while I tried to melt down the drainage ditch.

The Sunday after that, he decided to take me to church. We drove up to this big old Lutheran church, but the parking lot was full, so my grampa parked out on the street. I get out of the car, and I start heading up toward the Lutheran church, when my grampa points to the door right next to me and says, "Okay Mary, there's our door!" I look over, and it's the Ventura branch of the Church of Scientology! "Grampa! We can't go in there!" I say in alarm. My grampa just laughs and says,"I'm just kidding, we're going to the Lutheran Church." HA! It still makes me laugh when I think about it. (Though I probably could have met John Travolta had I gone in there! If they meet on Sundays.)

More Photos Than You Can Shake A Stick At!

So I finally got some photos developed, and I am thrilled with what I got back! Haven't you all been asking about what our dog Superman looks like? Well, wonder no more! Have you ever wondered how close we got to Adam West at Dragon Con? You're about to find out! Do you want to know how great my kids look with Liz's kids? Gaze away my friends, because I have pictures of all of these things and much, much more! Get ready for a virtual smorgasbord for your eyeballs! You lucky dogs!



Here's a great photo of our new giant family member, Superman.




Erik and Launa just before the big move. In the bottom picture, Erik is kissing Launa and she's trying to push him off! Love it! Also, those are Liz's pink toes in the photo, and those ugly man feet must be John's.




Daniel and Jonni. He's 6 months older than that girl, and look how much height she has on him! Long tall Jonni. Look how dirty my lens is in that first photo of them! Wonder why? It's clean on the next one, taken directly after. Weird.



Adam West actually posed for Jeremy to take his photo, but later when we wanted his autograph he wanted $50. We walked away from that particular "opportunity".



This guy's costume was SO cool! He could make the dragon's head move and roar and all kinds of cool stuff. His kids also had small little dragon costumes (without all the bells and whistles) I'm sorry the camera man didn't get pictures of them too, they were cute!





Some of the more interesting things from the Dragon Con parade. Wesley and Buttercup in this photo are Jeremy's sister Stacey and her husband Chris. (He's Superman's veterinarian.)



We saw this Ferrari at Underground Atlanta. Jeremy HAD to take a picture of it.




I took this photo because it was posted and all official looking in Underground Atlanta. Can you spot the silly mistake?



Atlanta, Georgia, home of Coca-Cola. Very cool neon sign I had to get a photo of.



This is a giant spider that made its' home between the house and the porch steps at Jeremy's parents' house. Somehow it's less impressive in the photo - really, it was HUGE!



Launa and her cousin Jocelyn playing the organ at my mom's house.



Launa and her cousin Evelyn eating blocks at my mom's house.



My children holding hands in their sleep. (So sweet!)

There were so many good photos, but I'm afraid I'm going to bog down your computers enough as it is, so I'd better stop here. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed them.

A Novel Idea

Okay, it's confession time.

I HATE to cook. Or maybe it's not that I hate cooking as much as I hate cleaning up after cooking. Whatever it is, I cook as little as possible.

In any event, with Jeremy's massive pay cut, the inevitable has happened. We just can't afford to eat out like we used to.

Confession number two:

The very worst day to cook in my opinion, is Sunday afternoon right after church. If we could eat out one day during the week, the day I would like to eat out is Sunday. We do this pretty often. (I know, that causes others to break the Sabbath, I'm really bad.)

Well, they were having one of those school fundraisers where you eat out one day at a certain restaurant and a portion of your sale goes to the school. That was this Thursday, so we ate at Fuddrucker's. There was no money left to eat out anywhere else this week, and I had originally planned on making ravioli for dinner Thursday, so I decided to make it on Sunday after church.

Let me tell you something. Twice this week, I have not wanted to cook, but I did because I had to. Let me tell you something else. After I had made dinner, I was so glad that I did! My family loved the two meals I made, and I did too. And the fixing and clean-up were not bad at all! I had gotten into the habit of eating out because it was convenient and I didn't want to cook. But cooking isn't so bad, and I feel so much better about myself as a wife and mother. I know I'm doing the best thing for my family, we'll probably lose a ton of weight, and I'm finding out that I'm a pretty good cook too! Yay me!

Fing-a-ma-what?!

I was in the bathroom getting ready for church when my little 3-year-old comes in and asks me (in her tiny voice), "Mom, where is my fing-a-ma-jiggy?" Say what? She's three. She says thing-a-ma-jiggy? She's so funny!

Have You Been Cranky Lately? -

Come for tons of photos of me, stay for the great tunes!

Have You Ever Wondered...?

...what would happen if I went to bed with wet hair?

Now you know.

Fall

We have had the best weather for the last 2 days. It's been a little overcast, but the temperature is perfect outside with a nice breeze blowing. Ahhhh! The house has been opened up, and it feels great. I hope it sticks for a little while.

Polling Is Now Closed

For the first time ever, we have a 100% vote. This is a poll that is sure to go down as one of the most humiliating defeats in the history of the "Have You Been Cranky Lately" polls! A 6 - 0 vote for Drown over Burned to Death! I always knew my readers were smart, but now it has been confirmed to me. You are all right - drowning would probably be rather unpleasant, but burning to death has got to be one of the worst ways to die ever! At least when you drown it's over pretty quickly. Not so much with burning death. (I also heard that you have a feeling of euphoria just before the end with drowning. I wonder how "they" would know?) Anyway, for their participation in this poll, all voters will receive a "Have You Been Cranky Lately" asbestos suit with my face on it. To keep you all safe in case you're ever in a fire. That's right, I'm always thinking about you my friends and faithful viewers.

Where Is That Blasted Light Switch?!

There are three florescent lights in the drop ceiling of my in-laws' family room. Since I have been living at their house, I have been looking for a particular light switch. It belongs to one of those florescent lights. I know where the switches are for every other light in the house. There was a light there, so I knew there must be a switch, even though I had never actually seen the light on. (Maybe it was just for decoration, I wondered occasionally, but that just seemed strange, even to me.)

Last night I was the last one up since the children and in-laws had gone to bed, and Jeremy was taking his pre-work siesta. (I like to stay up until he leaves.) I headed downstairs to watch a little tv and veg for a bit before Jeremy had to get up. The room looked kind of different, and I was trying to figure out why. Then it dawned on me! The mysterious switchless light was on! I got to thinking, "Now I know this light has a switch somewhere, and I'm going to have to find it before I can go to bed, because I don't want to leave this light on all night! And I don't want to wake Jeremy's parents to ask them where the switch is."

Two hours later, Jeremy is off to work and I can go to bed.

The search is on.

I check all the obvious places. Even though I know what all the switches go to, I try them out anyway - just to be sure.

No luck.

I look over every wall in the family room. I check behind the tv. I check behind the couch. I check behind the book cases. I check in the storage closet.

No luck.

Well, I knew they weren't there anyway because I had done a preliminary search of the house for it before out of curiosity, but I was just rechecking. I decide to look in the next closest room - the upstairs kitchen. I try all the switches by the door. It's not there. By now I'm starting to get a little desperate. I just know there's a switch to this light somewhere in this house! There's gotta be! The light is on for goodness sake!

I have a seat at the kitchen table to regroup.

I start thinking.

I layout the downstairs in my mind: Stairs: to the left the laundry room: the lightswitch to it is just outside the door. On the right: the pantry - no light switch to the pantry....

THE PANTRY!!

I head downstairs and look at the pantry. I knew there was no light switch on the outside of it, but I checked anyway. Nope. No light switch. I open the doors. I look on the walls. None on the opposite and side walls. Then, in a flash of brilliance, I check the wall immediately to my left on the backside of the wall the doors to the pantry are on.

The clouds parted, angels were singing, and a heavenly light shone down upon: The Switch!

I found it! I really found it! It took me 15 - 20 minutes, but I found it! I am proud of my clever self for actually being able to find the thing! It was like a real live actual puzzle, and I was able to figure out the secret of the puzzle!

Now before you start wondering why someone would put a light switch there, let me explain. The family room used to be the garage, but they wanted a little more livable space, so they closed in and finished their 2-car garage in the "basement." When they did this, they had two new florescent lights put in, and they extended the wires from the already existing one with the string hanging from the ceiling to about "switch" height so that they could just flip the third lamp on and off when they wanted it. The thing is, the wires were already put in at that particular spot, so because my father-in-law is not an electrician, and didn't want to pay one a gazillion dollars to run the wire, he just did it himself, and put the switch where the extended wire naturally ran. Now I wonder if they ever sell this house if they will let the new owners know where the switch is, or if they will just let them figure it out on their own? Personally, I'd like to buy a house with a little mystery. On the other hand, a hidden light switch might be more irritating than intriguing.



PS - I'm sure I'm only showing you all how dumb I am for not being able to find a light switch for 20 minutes, but I thought the story would be entertaining anyway, so I set aside my pride to entertain you. You're welcome.

Ehh -

Ok, I was having a bit of a time with the long bangs, so I cut them so that they are only moderately long. At least now they cover up my partially bald eyebrow that's on the same side as my natural part! ;)

Oh - found this, and thought the curly-headed ones among us might find it entertaining.

Bangs!

I just cut myself some bangs. I don't know why I ever let them grow out. I have the jaggediest hairline ever (see "Kablooey!"), and I just look better with bangs. So I cut myself some kinda long side-swept bangs, and I may cut them shorter after I've had a couple of days to play with the long ones and know if they're going to work. Really, I need a new haircut altogether because my last one is all grown out and shapeless now. Also it was cut for straight hair, and I've since decided to quit fighting nature and just let my hair do what it wants. I need a curly-friendly haircut. :)

Kablooey!

I think my head might pop.

Happy Birthday Kate!

My sweet and funny niece Kate is 3 today! Happy birthday Kate! Here's a song for you.

Happy Birthday Chris!

Happy birthday to my brother-in-law who takes care of my dag, and who I love to pieces: Chris! It is now the 10th anniversary of his 29th birthday. Love you!


And now for some sad news: I saw a great "I'm With Illogical --->" shirt at Dragon Con, and I wanted to get one for myself. I tracked them down online, and found out that they quit selling that shirt on September 5! That was 4 days ago! I could have gotten one if I'd looked just 4 days ago! And I didn't do it! I missed out! And now, I can't get one of these most awesome of shirts.

Ode To My Friends

That's right. I went and got myself a playlist last night. I made sure to include a song for each of my faithful visitors. See if you can figure out which one is for you. Some are obvious, and some are not as obvious. Here are the people I have songs for: Liz, John, Dana, Renae, Mom, Sarah, Rob, Kathy, Daddy-in-law, Mom-in-law, Stacey, Chris, Timpani, Erik, and of course, myself. Enjoy being my inspiration. Love you guys!

******************************************************************

Oh yeah, and somebody hurry and comment on something before I die. Please.

Bread, Laundromat, Dead Bird, Ichthyologist

BORING! So, nothing's been going on the last couple of days which is why I have not posted anything. I'm just tired of looking at the last post I put up. Hmmm...Oh! One of Daniel's challenge words last week was "Ichthyologist". For those of you who do not know Latin, that is a person who studies fish. Daniel would have gotten 5 points for spelling that one right, and 5 points for the correct definition. I think I'll find out after school if he got them right on his spelling test. I helped my mother-in-law make her famous bread tonight for the first time. She made it for a special occasion, so I don't get any of it. :( But she did make some earlier this week and I got the first piece, so I guess it's fair...er. Also, Superman had an accident in his kennel, so I took his rug to the laundromat to clean it. Guess how much a load of laundry costs to wash in the small washer? 9 quarters! The triple loader was 18 quarters! They didn't even have valet parking or air conditioning in the laundromat! 9 quarters! But what could I do? I had to wash his nasty rug, so I did. (It still smells a little bad - the smell is really in there!) Fortunately, I just happened to have $2.25. I was sure I wouldn't need that much, but I took it anyway, and I'm sure glad I did! At least I was prepared enough for the laundromat that I didn't have to make a second or third trip back! Oh and I also ran over a bird today. You know how they like to fly right out in front of your car? Well, I actually hit one! I didn't see it come out the other side, and when I checked my rearview mirror, there were feathers everywhere! Poor guy. I hope it was quick. :( Whaddaya know? There really was something to write about after all!

The Dark Knight

Well, I finally got to see The Dark Knight last night. I'm pretty sure I was the only person in the theater besides the employees. Really - there were maybe 10 cars out in the parking lot, and I was the only person in the theater that saw Dark Knight. I started to get a little bit freaked thinking "If some sicko were to go on a rampage through here, I'd have nowhere to hide!" (I was sitting right down where the walkway between the front seats and the stadium seats is - right in the first row of stadium seats. I should have sat somewhere that I could duck down if someone came in, so that they would have just looked in and thought that no one was there. It would have cut down on some anxiety. Then I realized, if someone wanted to go on a rampage, they would wait until the movie theater was full not empty so that they could do maximum damage. It didn't help much. I was alone in a dark movie theater with a very frightening Joker (and Maggie Gyllenhaal).

Wow, I'm really sad about Heath Ledger's death. He was totally different as the Joker, and that high-pitched voice he put on was perfect - very creepy. He was a very good actor. I wonder if they will bring the Joker back in any of the sequels? Anyone brave enough to try to fill his shoes, is probably going to have a hard time of it - either they'll be "trying o be Ledger" or they'll be blasted for just plain stinking.

I had read that some people thought the Batman voice was a bit overdone in this version of the movie. I see their point of view, but I don't think I necessarily agree with them only because when he's Batman and has to talk, he has to disguise his voice to a certain degree, and I think that was the point of the Batman voice being used so much. I'd think that after a while his throat would hurt though! Also, I was way proud of myself, because in th initial fight scene, I thought "That's a ridiculous cowl, he can't move his head!" Turns out, that was the point, and was pointed out and fixed later in the movie. Okay, maybe I shouldn't be too proud, I'm pretty sure they made a point of displaying how cumbersome the cowl was, and usually stuff like that has to be spelled out before I get it (I just don't pick up on subtleties I'm afraid).

Anyway, I really liked the movie. I don't like Maggie Gyllenhaal. I have a very hard time believing two very rich and powerful men would be interested in her. Call me shallow, I just don't get it, and I'm somewhat glad they killed her so I don't have to look at her (and all the men mooning over her) in another Batman movie. Here's the odd thing, she and her brother look just alike! And he's cute! (Relatively cute anyway - he gets less cute as he ages, but he's still pretty cute.) The good news is, if she can make it in Hollywood, I totally can! Of course, I don't have the family connections that she does. Ah well. Good movie. I'm sure within a couple of weeks of its' release, it will have magically appeared on my movie shelf with the other Batman movies, Superman, Fantastic 4, Spiderman - you catch my drift.

Another Pair of Jeans - Gone

Would you believe it? I lost another pair of jeans today. Actually, I think I can squeeze a couple of more weeks out of them. The hole is very little, but it's in one of those places where it won't be little for long. I'm down to one pair of jeans...why did all my jeans choose now to wear out on me? I didn't buy them at the same time. They probably know I can't replace them right now. Maybe I can piece new jeans out of my old ones. Sounds like it will take some thought. I have a serious aversion to thought.

I think I should make something very clear about my blog. I will not and do not write ugly things about my family on this blog. I have many reasons for this, but high on my list are these two reasons. First: It's just not classy. After all of the things my family has done for me, how dare I get on the internet and write hateful things about them for the world to see? Second: I know my family reads my blog. Why would I want to hurt them by writing mean things about them? Which brings me to the offending post. I wrote that post because I was frustrated at not being able to get anything done in this state without having to make multiple trips. Yes, I probably need to be a bit better prepared, but really, 3 trips and a possible 4th? By then, it's no longer my fault for being unprepared. Also, I really thought that post was funny. I was kind of proud of it, because I thought I was sure to get a couple of chuckles from it. Boy was I wrong. So here I am, proverbial hat in hand, telling those of you that I love and never meant to hurt, I'm sorry I hurt your feelings. Do you think I would have moved so far away from my side of the family, and Jeremy's $21.00 an hour job if there weren't people and places and things I love here too? No. Blogs are made in part to be an outlet - that's why they are so famous for their rants. Part of the purpose of my blog is to be an outlet, but not to the detriment of my relationship with the people I love.

Polling Is Now Closed

Well, results are in from our latest poll. It turns out that y'all are a bunch of rubbernecking, train wreck watching, injury lovers. 4 out of 6 voters would like to be the guy who cleans up eyeballs, lungs and intestines from a crime scene. (Oh yeah, and also blood and teeth.) I could also see how it would be interesting and would satiate any curiosity you have about what sickos will do to other people. We also had one aspiring sewer inspector, smelly, and rather icky I would think, not to mention the bugs and rodents that must be lurking around down there. Still, that's nothing compared to one that I was really surprised got a vote, and that is a highschool janitor! Really? I'm shocked that someone actually chose that occupation, since I've seen what highschoolers will do to their schools (bathrooms especially), let me just say this: Yuck. Fortunately, I see that everyone was clever enough to stay away from porta-potty cleaning. The good thing about that is that it only takes about 3 minutes to clean one of those things out, since they have it down to a science. The bad thing about it is that a person might clean up to 60 a day. Oh yeah, and a tipped porta-potty would be a nightmare! Anyway, interesting choices. Those who participated in this poll will receive their "Have You Been Cranky Lately?" junior detective kit with a picture of me looking through a magnifying glass on the front. Don't forget to vote in my next poll, you will want our next prize!

The 7 Year Itch

Is actually not so bad. That's right. Today is my 7th anniversary. I was going to find a few snapshots from the time we were dating and now, but they're all in boxes in Shelley's shed, so maybe next year. Anyway, I have been married for seven years, and I have decided that I'm not at all sorry for the best decision I have ever made in my life. Not only am I married to a major hottie, but he is also the only man I want to share my life with. He is strong, hard-working, generous, faithful, dependable, and a great dad. He doesn't leave me alone for long periods of time while he's off having a great time without me. He lets me have my own time if I need it. He is an all around great guy, and a perfect fit for me. Love ya, Jer!

New License Plates

I forgot to tell you guys about this when it happened, so I'll post it now. I had to get new plates for the car this week, so Jeremy's dad took us over to the place we needed to go to get them. It was pouring down rain. Jeremy and his dad came out of the building and told us, oops, we need both our licenses to get the plates. I didn't happen to have mine with me because I didn't think I'd need it. We go home. A little later in the day, I take Jeremy's license along with my own and head up to get the new plates. The lady tells me she needs both Jeremy's and my signature. I take the paper home to have him sign. Jeremy was asleep by then (working midnights will do that to a man), so I didn't go back that day.

The next day, I get Launa and we head back up to the tax collector.

We wait in line for 30 minutes.

I get to the window.

The lady looks over the papers, the signatures, and our licenses. She notices that my name on the title is Mary Gross-Crank. I explain to her that when we bought the car, I hadn't yet changed my name with the Social Security Administration, so to avoid confusion on my credit report, I just hyphenated my name. She tells me that to finish the paperwork and get my shiny new Georgia license plate, I'll need to get a copy of my marriage license and bring it in to prove that I am me.

In a slightly (okay, maybe very) irritated voice I ask her if she will look over the paperwork and let me know what else I need to bring in, because this is my third trip over here for this exact purpose. She tells me she'll check and heads over to another lady for a consultation. She comes back in a few minutes and tells me that since I've been here so many times, they'll just go ahead and do it for me.

Alright guys. I'm serious. Georgia is a beautiful state. But moving here is the biggest pain in the rear! I cannot believe how many hoops there are to jump here! This is crazy! It's amazing there's not a mass exodus from this insane place! And I guess I'm living by the rule of threes when it comes to trying to become a legal citizen of Georgia: 3 times to the DMV, 3 times to the property tax office. 3 more times till I run, screaming and tearing my hair out, over the edge of a cliff!

Our New Library

Our new library is super cool! First of all, it is enormous! Every different style of book has its own wing (ie: children's books, adult non-fiction, adult fiction, reference) They also have tutoring rooms and a media room, and classrooms. They have self checkout, and you scan your library card and stack your books on a special plate, and it magically knows which books you're getting! It's probably a sign of "The Beast" (all the fun new doodads are) but I don't care. It's cool! I'm sure "they" (whoever "they" are) already can track me using my magical new library card, not to mention my cell phone, car, credit cards, and the secret chip "they" implant into us in the hospital without our parent's knowledge or consent...am I getting a little paranoid? When will they be able to do this with our groceries I want to know? Just stack your groceries on the conveyor belt, and they are all rung up at one time! They can do it with library books, they should be able to do it with groceries! I'll have to check the technology out and start my own grocery store. Everyone would come! I'd be so rich, I'd make Sam Walton proud!

Last Night

I was in the lowest level of the house and I heard a loud thud, so I hurried up to the top floor to check on the kids, since I was sure they'd be crying.

It was all quiet.

I stick my head in the children's room to check on them, and Launa is on the floor next to the bed wrapped in bedsheets. She fell out of bed and it didn't even wake her up! She did have a big ugly scrape on her elbow when she got up in the morning though. Kids.

Are Any of You Geeks...

...into Firefly? My sister-in-law is WAY into it, and has let me borrow the boxed set. I have only watched the first episode, but it's interesting. The Atlanta Dragon Con is this weekend and they really want us to come down and watch the parade, they will be in it dressed up as fantasy characters with their children. (FYI, they DO read my blog, I only wish they would leave me some comments, they must think they're not invited to chime in.) We're thinking we may go ahead and watch them, then head over to Underground Atlanta, which should be really cool. Did you know that the current Atlanta is not the original? The original is now underground beneath the new city. Cool, huh? We're gonna check it out. Should be really fun!

Question DC...

What was the name of the author who wrote those dog training books you like? I went back and tried to find what you said, but couldn't find the right post.

All Creatures Great and Small

The funniest story in this book so far is the one where James Herriot has to go to a different vet's office with a dog that used to be his (the vet's) patient, so that he doesn't get offended to have an intruder doing surgery on his patient. While they are waiting for the dog to come out of anesthesia, the vet needs to make a call, so he invites James to go with him. It's a one-man job, so James thinks he'll just wait in the car. The other vet is incredulous that James didn't intend to go in with him, and offers him a suit to cover his nice clothes. Not wishing to insult this man further, James accepts. It turns out to be this big ungainly rubber suit that makes him look like an "automaton"! It is so stiff that his arms are stuck straight out from his sides, and he can barely walk in it. It is so bizarre looking, that as they approach the barn, the farmer's young daughter gets scared and runs to the house crying. All the men in the barn have never seen anything like this before, and they think "Wow, this guy must be getting ready to do something really important and spectacular!" The vet finishes delivering the afterbirth, and tells Jim it's time to do his job. ***SPOILER ALERT*** Jim makes his way, with much difficulty, to the doctor's bag, pulls out a tool, takes the paper off with one hand since he can't bring his hands together, and hands to tool to the vet! That was his whole job! I was dying laughing reading this chapter, I laughed through the whole thing! My husband was standing over me asking, "What? What's so funny?" Oh man! You guys should get this book, if for no other part than that one! Of course it was written much better than my summary, but seriously, even though I spoiled it, it will still be funny when you read it!

Glabberfloobensteen

Which is exactly how I'm feeling today.

Eek!

I put my resume out today. I'm really nervous! I feel a little silly about being so nervous, but I really need a job, and I want them to like me! Of course, people would be crazy not to like me, so if they don't hire me, they're a little scary and I don't want them to hire me anyway! :P

My 6 Year Old

Yesterday was Daniel's 6th birthday. I didn't have time to blog yesterday, so I hope my belated tribute to him will be sufficient. First, 3 birthday stories. 1) Daniel and Launa were having trouble settling down for the night, and they needed to get a good night's rest because it was the night before Daniel's birthday, and he had school in the morning. Jeremy went into their room to tell them to go to sleep. Daniel said he couldn't sleep, you know how all that goes. Jeremy told him that if he didn't lie down and be quiet, he would cancel Daniel's birthday. Daniel said,"You can't do that!" Jeremy told him that he could do anything, he's the dad. To which Daniel replied, "Well, I'll just reset it then!" Story 2) Daniel was headed up to bed (before the previous story took place), and as he was going up there he called over his shoulder, "Goodnight, Mom! See ya when I'm 6!" Story 3) When Daniel got up on his birthday, he went downstairs and walked outside where my in-laws like to sit and enjoy the mornings. Daniel asked them what they were doing, and his papaw said, "I'm sitting in the swing." Daniel told him, "Well, it's my birthday, you should be celebrating!"

That's Daniel in a nutshell, and for your viewing pleasure, photos of my 6-year-old.

Polling Is Now Closed

Polling is once again closed for the day. It looks like "Barbara" tied for first place with "Willow" and honorable mention goes to "Oak" and "Maple." Embarrassingly, the only answer that got 0 votes with "Birch." I like Birch trees, though, and hope one day to own some. I guess they are pretty, but no one wants to be one. Voters in my poll may want to check their mail this time around for a "Have You Been Cranky Lately" shot glass with a photo of my torn jeans on it. You're welcome. Be sure to vote in my next poll, so you don't miss out on any of the fun and exciting prizes in store for you!

Just To Make Life Interesting...

My favorite and newest pants decided to split while I was out today. I don't even know what caused it or how long I'd been walking around that way! They must have just had all the strain they could take trying to keep my fat rear inside.

More House News

So we got a counter offer on the house today. It's not a bad offer, but it will extend the amount of money we have to come up with out of pocket to $4,000. We just can't swing that much. :( So we're going to have to look for something else. Too bad, I had serious plans for the trey ceilings in the master bedroom. I guess God has other plans for my family. Maybe he has a 5 bedroom house in great condition in a fantastic neighborhood out there for $80,000 just waiting for us! :)

Bad House News

It's not what you think. I had been waiting for 3 days to hear whether or not our offer had been accepted. My realtor calls the representing realtor and asks what's up. The other realtor says "We never got an offer." So my realtor says "I faxed it on Tuesday and I got confirmation." Their realtor said "You sent it to the wrong number." (great) My realtor said "I sent it to the number you had on the paper!" So she had to re-fax it to the right number. That was yesterday. I guess that means the earliest we'll hear back will be on Monday. *sigh* The waiting is KILLING me!

Finally!

Some real clothes! All I've had these last 5 weeks are some jeans and ratty t-shirts! It's been driving me crazy! I look like a slob everywhere I go, Jeremy only had one pair of jeans, it's been a nightmare! So today, Jeremy and I went to his sister's shed determined not to leave until we had some decent looking clothes. We looked EVERYWHERE! Finally, at the very bottom in the back of the shed we found a bag of clothes labeled: "CLOTHES I WILL NEED"

See what happens when you let boys unload your moving van? (Really, I'm glad they helped, it would have taken much longer without them.) They also stacked my bedroom furniture in there without wrapping it. It should be nice and scratched up when we get them out. Yay for moving! I'm just glad I have some shirts with shape to them now!

Great Story Courtesy My Mother-In-Law

My mom-in-law works at the Dollar General Store. They are starting to get their Christmas gear in. She was in the back room carrying a large and cumbersome, but not very heavy box which she accidentally dropped. As soon as she dropped it someone said, "You know that makes me mad!!" Well, it kinda freaked her out since she thought she was alone. She looked around and there was no one there. She opened the box and looked inside. It was a box of those large foamy Hulk hands that shout phrases when you hit stuff with them! I thought that was a great story.

Polling Is Now Closed

Our poll is now closed. I'm afraid there may have been some confusion about our last poll, since basement torture chamber is the clear winner this time around. The discipline question was regarding how you handle your children not the way you like to be disciplined! Oh well, thanks to everyone who voted, you may expect your "Have You Been Cranky Lately?" handkerchief with Jeremy's face on it, very soon.

More Houses!

I'm gonna look at another house in the same neighborhood as the other house we're looking at. It's just been listed, and if we can buy it quickly, we may be able to get the seller to make some big concessions for us, just to get it off their hands! Can't wait to see it!