elephants, donkeys and more

She has 5 kids, one is 4 months old with special needs. I don't know but 3 kids kicked my ass and I am not sure I would have enough in me to run a country if my boss croaked. Give me your thoughts. My initial reaction was that mccai.n just handed the job to oba.ma. Then S2 reminded me that for years I have been saying that they need to get a mom in the whit.e house because everyone knows that we can multitask with the best of 'em. Budgets? (clothe and feed 3 kids on a small budget?) CHECK. Wars?(have you ever had one cookie left and two children?) CHECK. Homeland secur.ity? (we can spot the bad kid in every group) CHECK. I could go on and on but you get the point. I do think oba.ma is charming but I think he has more than just the superficial stuff. I think he can do the job. I think he will surround himself with intelligent people. The only thing I remember about bid.en is when he had his hair plugs put in he looked ridiculous. S1 and S2 are voting for the first time in their lives and they are staunchly supporting oba.ma. BigD is a diehard elephant and cringes every time the boys talk about their votes canceling out his...very funny to see the shade of purple he turns. As a rule I DO NOT BELIEVE any of the propaganda emails I get about any candidate. I actually bristle when someones goes on a rant about why my candidate is horrid when all they have to support it is a few random emails from "the other side" that may or may not have a grain of truth. I am doing my own research. I am smart. I will make up my own mind and be happy with my choice. Actually I know now how I am voting but I am curious to see if you have decided. In other sad news....my husbands girlfriend died on Thursday. She filled a void that I could not. He has been seeing her a couple of times a week for the past 6 years. Every time he would come home from her house he would be satisfied and smiling. I was never jealous as she was much better at it than I am. She was 83, her name was Margaret and she baked for my husband. (Get your dirty mind out of the gutter.) He was friendly with her husband and when he died, BigD started checking up on her. She has one child (who is a total weirdo and ignored her) but she had wonderful friends and neighbors that made sure she was doing ok. She was ready to die and had told Big D that many times. I can't imagine ever feeling that way. I really can't. When I hear older people say that I want to scream....don't you want to do this or that????? I can't comprehend that thinking and I hope it is many years before I can! Well give me your opinions on the mom for veepee, the smooth talking senator and whatever else has hit you about this election process. We should all be informed...it is our job.

Annoyed?? You betcha

I have a rant. I am really annoyed with banking protocol. Yes, I know they are a business~~but~if I were to do what they do, I would be sent to jail. Yesterday is a good example. S2 who recently opened his first checking account with a debit card was at the school bookstore, wallymart, pizza palace, and a few other places around campus getting ready for dorm life and picking up a few things we didn't think about before he left. I get a frantic call at work from him asking me why when he went to the ATM it said he had insufficient funds. I explained if you have 1 apple in your kitchen you can't eat 2. Since I had two checks here that were for him, after work I shot over to the bank to make the deposits and thinking that he probably had an overdraft fee, I was prepared to help him with that because it was his first mistake. He naively thought that if the card kept working that he must have money in the account. After all, credit cards are denied for ISF so he assumed a debit worked the same way. (Yes, when he opened the account I told him the difference but lets not forget he is an 18 year old male with independence in his eyes and most likely was far off in a distant thought when we covered this topic). So, imagine my surprise when I arrived at the bank to find that they had been shelling out money to him for OVER A WEEK at multiple locations racking up a $37.50 overdraft fee each time. No phone call to either of us to let us know this was happening. To say I was pissed doesn't even come close. YES, I KNOW THEY ARE A BUSINESS BUT THIS IS CRAZY. They have earned 19 BILLION , yes BILLION dollars last year from these fees...and it is LEGAL. When I asked the bank manager why they would not even send out a courtesy call to a new customer that was racking up fees over a period of an entire week she told me "most people would rather pay the fees than be embarrassed at the checkout with a denial". No kidding. She really told me that. To say I was furious would be putting it mildly. What ever happened to common courtesy or good business relations?? She deleted a couple of the fees and laughed that she had been through this with her own daughter and YES, banking is a business. At that moment the term loan shark came to mind. She asked me if he had been checking his balance on line and I told her the university just got him hooked up a few hours before he called so he had been without secure internet access..as he wasn't about to go to the library or some random computer station and type in all of his banking numbers! So, I had quite the talk with S2 last night and told him he has to check his balance every day on line...make it a habit and momma bear is not going to keep coming to the rescue. It is time he learns to hunt on his own. But, that doesn't make me any less furious about the way they are doing business.....how can they keep debiting an account that is out of funds?? They have instant computer access to everyones accounts~~if they can print a balance on a receipt then they know what you have or don't have RIGHT? I don't know about you but I would much rather be told at the local pizza place that my $8.00 debit was denied than have to pay $45.50 for that same pizza. GRRRRR

MIXED EMOTIONS

When your children are very little your world is consumed with milestones. The first REAL smile that isn’t immediately followed by a full diaper, the giggle you hear coming from their room when they wake up and see their favorite stuffed bear in their crib with them. The milestones don’t stop as they grow. The first day of school, first love and subsequent broken heart, being accepted or rejected by the “it” kids, driving and first fender benders and on and on. Life is a series of events that hopefully lead you to become a fulfilled adult. One of those milestones is beginning your life away from home. Last year S1 started college and along with my broken heart was a proud heart. I had no concerns that he would not do well scholastically (he made the Dean’s list) but I worried about his social life. He is different than many of his peers. We have always said he had an old soul, even as a child he had visions and understanding that most people three times his age don’t have. This year, he has moved to an apartment and his room here at home is empty. Completely empty. I find that I want to close the door because it kicks me in the gut every time I walk by and see another reminder that he has truly begun his adult life and I can only hope that we have given him enough love and lessons that he can be happy and grab every morsel of life that comes his way. Today S2 leaves. Once again I have mixed emotions. He is my social butterfly. As I type this, he and two of his buddies are sleeping on my family room floor, having spent the night after a farewell bonfire we had last night (I say WE loosely, I was not invited but did provide chocolate and marshmallows). When I looked out back last night the roaring bonfire lit up the shadows of so many of the kids that I have watched grow up. Some of these kids started out together in preschool. They were all laughing and I could tell by the sounds that it was a mix of excitement and maybe a little worry about what lies ahead. It is going to be so quiet here. For all the times that I have bitched that these kids have eaten everything in my fridge, kept me awake at night with laughter while playing video games or watching movies….I am really going to miss that. I know I still have S3 and believe me it will help. He is active in sports and loves to be surrounded by friends so I know he will pick up where S2 leaves off….but…one child does not replace another. They each have their own niche in the world. I am off to load up the car and fully expect to leave the university today through tear filled eyes, and will most definitely consume large amount of chocolate today.

I am wowed

A great blogger has awarded me with, well... an award. Her name is Rebel and you can read her at http://greentshirt.blogspot.com/. She is a lady with common sense and great love for her family and obviously has great taste in blogs that she reads..HA!

The award is called Arte y pico and here's how this works:

"This award was created to be given to bloggers who inspire others with their creativity and their talents, and for contributing to the blogging world in whatever medium. When you receive this award it is considered a “special honor”. Once you have received this award, you are to pass it on to 5 others. What a wonderful way to show some love and appreciation to your fellow bloggers!

The rules for passing this honor on are:

Pick 5 blogs that you would like to award this honor to.Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.Award-winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of “Arte y Pico” blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award from Arte Y Pico.

I have so many wonderful reads that it is actually difficult to narrow it down but the ones I am picking are for different reasons in that they have made me think or laugh or left me wanting more.

First I will pick Beagle. She and her husband went through hell and high water to become parents. When it looked grim they persevered and now have a wonderful son. The first time I read her blog (a long time ago) she was in a very dark place and to read her now is a delight.

http://www.cats-in-the-cradle.blogspot.com. She had to go PWP so you may not be able to read her but I will tell you that her world is so much different now.

Next would have to be Rosie. http://www.rosie.com. She is on a blogging break right now but whether you agree with her or not, her blog is always thought provoking. She is the kind of charitable that doesn't talk about how much or where she gives, but she gives a lot.

Next is a blogger that I am not sure how to describe. She travels in the society circle in NYC, is married to a very successful businessman, has a couple of amazing homes and a sweet dog that always seems to be breaking his leg! I enjoy reading her posts because I like to live vicariously through other peoples lives since I really don't have one. http://melissacmorris.blogspot.com

http://awomanmyage.blogspot.com is a woman that is trying to do many things with her life. She writes that she is an actress but since she is "anonymous" I have no idea if she is anyone that I might recognize. I like her blog because it is real. She doesn't hold back and over time I feel like I have gotten to know her through her writing. I am always waiting for the next chapter so to speak.

http://dailycoyote.blogspot.com This is one you have to check out if you are an animal lover. This woman found an orphaned coyote and brought him home and has raised him from the time he was 10 days old. She lives in the middle of nowhere with her coyote and her cat. Her photos are awesome(make sure you go back into the archives and see all of them, if you don't leave smiling you probably have a heart of stone).There are countless days that I would love to be her, live in her cabin, and have the kind of peace she seems to have.

This is especially true after this week. We moved S1 into his first apartment, S2 and BigD had a rousing argument that drove me into the shower to cry (this is 5 days before he leaves for college) and I just got my last paycheck from my main client so some life changing decisions need to be made. Also my marriage is feeling crappy right now so escaping to blogs is my way of handling stress. I don't drink so indulging in a little reading is therapy for me.

By rights they should let me give this award to at least 30 people since there are so many blogs I read that make my day, but there you have it, a few new ones for you to check out.

tidbits of nothing cause I need to get back to posting because nobody is reading any more

Yesterday we had a brief torrent of rain fall from the sky. S2 asked S1 to run out to the driveway and put up the windows in his car. S1 promptly ran out and did the nice task for his brother. A few minutes later I asked S1 if he had taken care of my car too….THE ONE THAT WAS PARKED RIGHT NEXT TO HIS BROTHERS CAR. He gave me a blank look. The look of a person that was just told that Santa Claus at M.acy’s was really a big old fat pervert. How could a 13 year old close a sunroof and windows on a car and completely ignore the car RIGHT NEXT TO IT? I asked him if it truly didn’t even occur to him to take care of my car too. He said he never even gave it a thought. I am hoping he doesn’t have brain rot. Also on the work front…I made a mistake today and nice doctor was not pleased with me. Without giving a lot of identifying detail, I inadvertently made a patient wait 45 minutes for his appointment while 2 other patients went ahead of him. It was completely my fault and I didn’t even know I did it till the patient came up to the desk and started bitching. (I will tell you that he wasn’t that nice even before he waited…he showed up with a stick up his ass-well, not a real stick but you know what I mean). Anyway, when he came out, I copped to what I did and apologized to him so he wouldn’t blame the doctor on being a tardy butt. This patient was absolutely stunned that I apologized. He thanked me three times before he left for being up front with him. As for the doctor, well he didn’t give me a sunny buh-bye before I left today but I know he will get over it. I have been there 4 months now and this is my first goof and even though I am this close to perfect, I am allowed an error once in awhile. Besides, I have been paying attention and doc doesn’t wash his hands after using the potty. It is right beside where I sit at work and he goes, flushes, zips and is out the door...ewwwwww.

THURSDAY THOUGHTS

Since my last post was such a downer I thought I should post about something ridiculous or stupid so I thought I would throw out a challenge for any of you reading this to come up with one tip or hint that you can share that would make some annoying task easier or at least less gross or disgusting. I will start with a couple of little tricks that I use that actually work. Have you ever had a problem with ants? This morning I came down to the kitchen to find the pups bowl surrounded with 458,376 ants…teeeeeennnny ones, microscopic even but they were there and I saw them. After hitting them with a squirt of this wonderful natural cleaner that smells like grapefruit (it didn’t kill them but slowed them down so I could come in for the kill with a wad of paper towels), I got out the baby powder. Yep, you sprinkle a little but along the baseboards (or even outside the foundation of the house) and the ants won’t cross it to come in. Nifty little Thursday thought for you. If you like to watch hummingbirds, don’t waste your money buying the special food for the feeders. The flatter the feeder the better by the way. The directions for home made nectar call for 4 parts water to 1 part sugar but since I insist on being the favorite feeder in the neighborhood, I do 3 cups of boiling water to 1 cup of sugar. Fill the feeder (yes, of course I let it cool first, I am not wicked) and stick the rest in the fridge. I have 3 or 4 birds there at a time most of the time. (the baby powder trick works to keep ants away from the feeder too…just sprinkle around the ground under the feeder (if you have it on a pole et cetera) and repeat after a rain. Now it is your turn….give me 1 or 2 tips that you have either learned or come up with on your own.