1 1/4 cups light brown sugar, firmly packed
1/4 cup water
3 teaspoons honey
1 egg
1 cup coarsely ground pecans
2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon all spice
Pre-heat oven to 375*.
In a large mixing bowl combine sugar, water, honey, and egg. Beat with mixer on high speed until well combined.
In a separate bowl, combine flour, pecans, cinnamon, baking soda, and all spice; mix well. Add to sugar mixture and mix well.
Drop by teaspoons onto greased cookie sheet 1 1/2 inches apart.
Bake about 12 minutes, until cookies are lightly browned on edges.
Remove from oven at once.
Makes about 3 dozen.
Store in an airtight container.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Texas Coleslaw
1 head of green cabbage, finely chopped
1 cup red cabbage, finely chopped
1 large carrot, shredded
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 1/2 cup whole kernel corn
1/2 cup chopped bell peppers
((OR instead of the corn & bell peppers 2 cans of Green Giant Mexican Corn, drained))
1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 Tablespoons lime or lemon juice
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
Toss cabbages, carrots, peppers, cilantro, & corn in 4 quart bowl
Place oil, lime or lemon juice, cumin, & salt in tightly covered container, shake well. Pour over coleslaw mixture & toss.
Cover & refrigerate 1 to 2 hours to blend flavors.
1 cup red cabbage, finely chopped
1 large carrot, shredded
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 1/2 cup whole kernel corn
1/2 cup chopped bell peppers
((OR instead of the corn & bell peppers 2 cans of Green Giant Mexican Corn, drained))
1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 Tablespoons lime or lemon juice
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
Toss cabbages, carrots, peppers, cilantro, & corn in 4 quart bowl
Place oil, lime or lemon juice, cumin, & salt in tightly covered container, shake well. Pour over coleslaw mixture & toss.
Cover & refrigerate 1 to 2 hours to blend flavors.
Marbled Pumpkin Cheesecake
Crust :
1 1/2 cup crushed gingersnap cookies
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
1/3 cup butter, melted
Preheat oven to 350*.
In a medium bowl, mix together the crushed gingersnap cookies, pecans, and butter. Press into the bottom and about 1" up the sides of a 9" spring form pan, that has been lined with wax paper along the bottom.
Bake crust for 10 minutes in the pre-heated oven. Set aside to cool.
Filling:
2 - 8oz packages of cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup white sugar, divided
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs
1 cup pumpkin mash (For directions on making fresh pumpkin mash look here.)
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
In a medium bowl mix together the cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar & vanilla, just until smooth.
Mix in eggs, one at a time, blending well after each addition.
Set aside one cup of the mixture.
Blend 1/4 cup of sugar, pumpkin, cinnamon, & nutmeg into the remaining mixture.
Spread the pumpkin flavored batter into the crust and drop the plain batter onto the top, by the tablespoon, sporadically over the pumpkin batter.
Swirl with a knife to create a marbled effect.
Bake 55 minutes in the pre-heated oven or until filling is set.
Run a knife around the edge of the pan.
Allow to cool before removing pan rim.
Chill for at least 4 hours before serving.
1 1/2 cup crushed gingersnap cookies
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
1/3 cup butter, melted
Preheat oven to 350*.
In a medium bowl, mix together the crushed gingersnap cookies, pecans, and butter. Press into the bottom and about 1" up the sides of a 9" spring form pan, that has been lined with wax paper along the bottom.
Bake crust for 10 minutes in the pre-heated oven. Set aside to cool.
Filling:
2 - 8oz packages of cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup white sugar, divided
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs
1 cup pumpkin mash (For directions on making fresh pumpkin mash look here.)
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
In a medium bowl mix together the cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar & vanilla, just until smooth.
Mix in eggs, one at a time, blending well after each addition.
Set aside one cup of the mixture.
Blend 1/4 cup of sugar, pumpkin, cinnamon, & nutmeg into the remaining mixture.
Spread the pumpkin flavored batter into the crust and drop the plain batter onto the top, by the tablespoon, sporadically over the pumpkin batter.
Swirl with a knife to create a marbled effect.
Bake 55 minutes in the pre-heated oven or until filling is set.
Run a knife around the edge of the pan.
Allow to cool before removing pan rim.
Chill for at least 4 hours before serving.
Pumpkin Fudge
2 cups Sugar
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
1/2 cup pumpkin mash
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1/4 cup butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
Check out this entry for making fresh pumpkin mash.
Cook sugar, pumpkin mash, cornstarch, evaporated milk, & pumpkin pie spice until it forms a soft ball when dropped in cold water or until it reaches 236*F (114*C)
Add the butter, vanilla, & nuts.
Beat until mixture is creamy
Pour into a buttered plate & allow to cool.
Cut into small chunks.
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
1/2 cup pumpkin mash
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1/4 cup butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
Check out this entry for making fresh pumpkin mash.
Cook sugar, pumpkin mash, cornstarch, evaporated milk, & pumpkin pie spice until it forms a soft ball when dropped in cold water or until it reaches 236*F (114*C)
Add the butter, vanilla, & nuts.
Beat until mixture is creamy
Pour into a buttered plate & allow to cool.
Cut into small chunks.
Apple Crisp
Butter an 8" square baking pan
Preheat oven to 350*
5 cups peeled and sliced apples
1 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 stick of butter...or 1/2 cup ...or 1/4 pound
Put apples in the baking dish.
In a medium bowl mix together the sugar, flour, & cinnamon.
Cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.
Sprinkle the topping over the apples.
Bake for 30 minutes until the topping is crisp.
Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.
Preheat oven to 350*
5 cups peeled and sliced apples
1 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 stick of butter...or 1/2 cup ...or 1/4 pound
Put apples in the baking dish.
In a medium bowl mix together the sugar, flour, & cinnamon.
Cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.
Sprinkle the topping over the apples.
Bake for 30 minutes until the topping is crisp.
Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Chiney's Homemade Dressing
3 - 9"x13" pans of cornbread
4-5 diced boiled eggs
full stalk of chopped celery
whole diced onion
4 cans of chicken broth
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
2 cans cream of chicken soup
2 cans cream of celery
2 Tablespoons of sage
1/4 of a large block of velveta cheese, in small cubes
salt & pepper to taste
After the cornbread is cooled crumble in a large dish (I used a large stock pan)
Boil onion & celery in broth & water until tender, drain, save broth & water
Mix all ingredients except broth
Add broth until stuffing is the consistency of mashed potatoes
Bake at 400* until light brown on top
Add more broth & reheat if it dries out.
My baby brother, Duke & Mikeal mixing it up, before he left for Japan with the Marines last Thanksgiving.
4-5 diced boiled eggs
full stalk of chopped celery
whole diced onion
4 cans of chicken broth
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
2 cans cream of chicken soup
2 cans cream of celery
2 Tablespoons of sage
1/4 of a large block of velveta cheese, in small cubes
salt & pepper to taste
After the cornbread is cooled crumble in a large dish (I used a large stock pan)
Boil onion & celery in broth & water until tender, drain, save broth & water
Mix all ingredients except broth
Add broth until stuffing is the consistency of mashed potatoes
Bake at 400* until light brown on top
Add more broth & reheat if it dries out.
My baby brother, Duke & Mikeal mixing it up, before he left for Japan with the Marines last Thanksgiving.
Fresh Pumpkin Spice Bread
I start off the pumpkin recipe making season with purchasing a large pumpkin.
The absolute easiest way to prepare a pumpkin for baking use is :
Cut it in half.
Lay each half on a baking sheet, cut side down so that it creates a seal.
Bake in a 350* pre-heated oven for 30 minutes, or until pulp is soft.
Take out of the oven and let cool before moving on, remember it will be HOT and can burn you.
I then scoop the steamed pumpkin meat out of the rind, putting it into my blender then puree it.
Two cups of pureed pumpkin is equal to one can of pumpkin bought at the store.
I measure it out into 2 cup increments, into labeled freezer bags, then freeze whatever I am not going to be using immediately.
--------
Pumpkin Spice Bread
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
2 cups (or 1 can) pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie mix)
1 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs
Grease & flour two 9x5x3 inch loaf pans. Pre-heat oven to 350*.
In large mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, & nutmeg.
In a separate bowl stir together the pumpkin & oil. Beat in eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add the pumpkin mixture, stirring just until the dry ingredients are moistened.
Pour batter into prepared pans.
Bake at 350* for 1 hour or until wooden pick or cake tester, inserted into the middle comes out clean.
Smoother with butter and enjoy!
The absolute easiest way to prepare a pumpkin for baking use is :
Cut it in half.
Lay each half on a baking sheet, cut side down so that it creates a seal.
Bake in a 350* pre-heated oven for 30 minutes, or until pulp is soft.
Take out of the oven and let cool before moving on, remember it will be HOT and can burn you.
I then scoop the steamed pumpkin meat out of the rind, putting it into my blender then puree it.
Two cups of pureed pumpkin is equal to one can of pumpkin bought at the store.
I measure it out into 2 cup increments, into labeled freezer bags, then freeze whatever I am not going to be using immediately.
--------
Pumpkin Spice Bread
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
2 cups (or 1 can) pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie mix)
1 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs
Grease & flour two 9x5x3 inch loaf pans. Pre-heat oven to 350*.
In large mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, & nutmeg.
In a separate bowl stir together the pumpkin & oil. Beat in eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add the pumpkin mixture, stirring just until the dry ingredients are moistened.
Pour batter into prepared pans.
Bake at 350* for 1 hour or until wooden pick or cake tester, inserted into the middle comes out clean.
Smoother with butter and enjoy!
Monday, September 28, 2009
Absolute Homemade Spaghetti Sauce!
Homegrown Ingredients :
4-5lbs pureéd tomatoes - a great variety of what I had in my garden...Roma is best, but I only had 2 this time
LARGE head of garlic - equal to about 15 cloves diced
10 small green bell peppers diced
15 small carrots chopped
handful of chopped parsley leaves
handful of chopped oregano leaves
medium red onion
two twigs of celery - yes! I FINALLY have some celery ready in my garden...its only taken 9 months since starting it from seed. :D
Ingredients I did not grow :
1/2 cup of red wine vinegar
3 T - white sugar
1 T each of - Marjoram, Thyme, Bay Leaves, Sage, Rosemary, & Basil
1 T black ground pepper
1 T salt
1/2 of a 46oz bottle of veggie juice - for thicker sauce also use some tomato paste - around 24oz
1 lb package of mushrooms sliced & chopped
Put all ingredients into a large pot. Simmer on low for 30-45 minutes, long enough for some of the liquid to cook down a little & release the flavors. After simmering separate into containers with lids...if canning you must can it in a pressure cooker, I don't have a pressure cooker, so will be freezing mine...I leave it on the counter to cool overnight before transferring it into my freezer.
Enjoy!
This made 5 jars of spaghetti sauce - I re-used the jars I'd saved from buying my spaghetti sauce in the past. It really looks YUM-TACULAR!
I'll post pictures of the finished product when I find my camera.
4-5lbs pureéd tomatoes - a great variety of what I had in my garden...Roma is best, but I only had 2 this time
LARGE head of garlic - equal to about 15 cloves diced
10 small green bell peppers diced
15 small carrots chopped
handful of chopped parsley leaves
handful of chopped oregano leaves
medium red onion
two twigs of celery - yes! I FINALLY have some celery ready in my garden...its only taken 9 months since starting it from seed. :D
Ingredients I did not grow :
1/2 cup of red wine vinegar
3 T - white sugar
1 T each of - Marjoram, Thyme, Bay Leaves, Sage, Rosemary, & Basil
1 T black ground pepper
1 T salt
1/2 of a 46oz bottle of veggie juice - for thicker sauce also use some tomato paste - around 24oz
1 lb package of mushrooms sliced & chopped
Put all ingredients into a large pot. Simmer on low for 30-45 minutes, long enough for some of the liquid to cook down a little & release the flavors. After simmering separate into containers with lids...if canning you must can it in a pressure cooker, I don't have a pressure cooker, so will be freezing mine...I leave it on the counter to cool overnight before transferring it into my freezer.
Enjoy!
This made 5 jars of spaghetti sauce - I re-used the jars I'd saved from buying my spaghetti sauce in the past. It really looks YUM-TACULAR!
I'll post pictures of the finished product when I find my camera.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Why Parents Drink...
The boss wondered why one of his most valued employees was absent but had not phoned in sick. So he dialed the employee's home phone number and was greeted with a child's whisper.
' Hello ? '
'Is your daddy home?'
' Yes, he's out in the garden ,' whispered the small voice.
'May I talk with him?'
The child whispered, ' No .'
So the boss asked, 'Well, is your Mommy there?'
' Yes, she's out in the garden too '
'May I talk with her?' Again the small voice whispered,
' No .'
Hoping there was somebody with whom he could leave a message, the boss asked, 'Is anybody else there?'
' Yes , whispered the child, ' a policeman. '
Wondering what a cop would be doing at his employee's home, the boss asked, 'May I speak with the policeman?'
' No, he's busy , ' whispered the child.
'Busy doing what?'
' Talking to Daddy and Mommy and the police dog men. '
Growing more worried as he heard a loud noise in the background, the boss asked, 'What is that noise?'
' It's a helicopter ' answered the whispering voice.
'What is going on there?' demanded the boss, now truly apprehensive.
' T he search team just landed a helicopter '
'A search team?' said the boss. 'What are they searching for?'
Still whispering, the young voice replied with a muffled giggle.... ' ME '
' Hello ? '
'Is your daddy home?'
' Yes, he's out in the garden ,' whispered the small voice.
'May I talk with him?'
The child whispered, ' No .'
So the boss asked, 'Well, is your Mommy there?'
' Yes, she's out in the garden too '
'May I talk with her?' Again the small voice whispered,
' No .'
Hoping there was somebody with whom he could leave a message, the boss asked, 'Is anybody else there?'
' Yes , whispered the child, ' a policeman. '
Wondering what a cop would be doing at his employee's home, the boss asked, 'May I speak with the policeman?'
' No, he's busy , ' whispered the child.
'Busy doing what?'
' Talking to Daddy and Mommy and the police dog men. '
Growing more worried as he heard a loud noise in the background, the boss asked, 'What is that noise?'
' It's a helicopter ' answered the whispering voice.
'What is going on there?' demanded the boss, now truly apprehensive.
' T he search team just landed a helicopter '
'A search team?' said the boss. 'What are they searching for?'
Still whispering, the young voice replied with a muffled giggle.... ' ME '
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Super Stephi - To the RESCUE!
If only it was that simple. - Yes, Mikaila is currently watching Super Readers. 
My mom called me a bit ago, which is a bit odd, generally at this time of day she's at work, but because of the yearly BS that goes on with her job its their slow period, actually has been all year, and only getting worse. They didn't even put in 20 hours this week. So that was her first complaint. They're not able to pay their bills. My stepdad has a job, but he works for a single guy doing landscaping work - turns out that guy has spent all the money he's supposed to be paying the employees on drinking on the jobs - buying beer for everyone, and a lot of it, as well as paying for a whore every couple of days. So he has nothing left over to pay my step-dad with, and he's screwed up quite a few jobs, so has to go back in and redo these jobs.
My brother, who's the father of my two nephews we had for a bit almost 2 years ago, finally got to talk to his oldest son.
Turns out their mother has custody of all 3 of them again (2 nephews & their little sister), she had her case transferred to another county because "there's a conflict of interest here" - many in this county are related to her and "keep causing problems for her" - from my experience this generally works in favor of honest parents who are actually taking care of their kids, but we've all grown VERY tired of trying to help her out and after so long had to bring in higher authority to get the kids help they really need. T is supposedly doing great in school and B has started school - but according to T they're living in another state, which is against the court orders, but their mom started screaming at him and took the phone away from him when my brother asked about where they were living. My brother is also supposed to have his boys every weekend as per a court order, but hasn't seen them since right before Mikaila was born, when Brian and I had them for a weekend and took them to visit him. Also somehow my brother was charged with having to pay their insurance - at about an extra $100 a week, on top of the child support he pays. Only thing about that is both the boys are Cherokee descendants so get free health care through the Cherokee Nation, and their mother wouldn't make enough money to not qualify for free health care through the state - if they were living in the state like they're supposed to. So now my brother is only bringing home about $100 a week of his $800 a week salary...but the company he works for is doing lay-off left and right so he's not even sure if he'll have a job when he goes into work. To top that off his stripper wife lost her job because she was fighting with another chick, now all she does is sit at home, watch TV, and eats all the food my brother buys. She's supposed to be doing some Anger Management courses in order to get custody of her own kids back, but isn't even doing that. She also takes whatever money she does make and spends it on clothes, she supposedly spent $150 on a skirt, that she hasn't even worn, as the tags are still on it. So my brother is considering leaving her and going to go live with a high school friend who'd set him up with his babies momma - her (now) ex husband is the babies' momma oldest brother, he left her because he caught her going at it with one of their female roommates. 
So my mom gets done telling me about all that, only to dive into telling me that my sister's husband is facing being laid off - or did get laid off - so they're having problems paying their bills and such too.
Seriously! I can only be sympathetic for so long.
My mom and step-dad are both persons in their 40s, in relatively good health, no children at home. Their rent alone is 1/2 what ours is, and their renting from one of my step-dad's relatives, he hasn't really cared if they've gotten 1 or 6 months behind on rent, gave them an eviction notice once, but they were able to work out a deal on that. My mom makes $2 more an hour than Brian does, they have satellite, they go out to the casino every payday, they smoke anywhere from 3-6 cartons of cigarettes a week - I just don't know what to tell them.
I'm her daughter, not her mother.
My brother has horrible taste in women, but he also makes as much in a week as my husband makes in 3 weeks, their rent is the same as ours, and where yes my brother is paying child support I know it's not $2500 a month, give me a break, he's not even behind on his child support anymore. His wife's profession involves her taking off her clothes and spreading her legs, they live in the city where there is more than one strip joint, I'm sure she could get a job.
My sister - they can afford a new gas guzzling Montero, a 61" TV, brand new computer set-ups every year, satellite, custom motorcycles, trips to the bars, golfing every week, and only have one child that spends most of his time with her in-laws that takes any opportunity they can to rub it in everyone else's nose how they can drop $100 bill somewhere and not even notice it until who knows when. Not to fail to mention my sister takes every opportunity she can to rub it in my nose that she has all these fancy things - fancy things that are all bought on credit cards nonetheless, when neither of them were working. Their rent is $100 cheaper than ours...blah blah blah...
I'm so tired of hearing about it! And its not that I'm apathetic or don't care about their hardships, I do care and wish I could help them - but I can't. I have two children IN my home, my husband works full time, plus overtime, plus side jobs. I take advantage of different programs, work groups, etc to stretch our budget, we don't go out and do "fun things", our bills consist of internet, phone, electric, insurance, and rent - that is IT, and those are all at a minimum. - Seriously, a $50 electric bill, spiking to a whole $121, during a month of 100* temps daily. I go through ONE tank of gas every two weeks, and I don't live in town, out of all of us I live the furthest out from even the closest gas station, my brother and sister both live in a big city. We don't drink, we do smoke, but that's at 2.5 cartons every 2 weeks, for both of us together.
They actually make me feel guilty for us having our bills paid, having food in my freezer & cupboards, being able to be a SAHM. The thing they fail to realize is because we're smart with what little money we get - we don't go out, we don't party, we don't buy excesses, we keep it at a minimum, I shop around, clip coupons, print coupons (well did before my printer crapped on me
) the works. My kids have never gone without - yea I might have to get creative with dinner once in a while right before payday, but they ALWAYS have a complete meal - veggies, meat, starch, and a grain, every day. Diapers might get a bit tight, so Mikaila gets wear just underwear so I can save as many diapers as possible for nighttime, sometimes she makes it to the toilet, other times I've had to clean up a mess in the floor - everyday its hit and miss. - Under my carpet I have a concrete slab, there is no padding to the carpet and it's that thin, industrial office carpet, its insane how easily things clean up out of this carpet, plus its dark purple, the only thing that shows up is the light colored dirt, grass, etc that shows that I need to vacuum about 6 times a day. Quite a few pieces of furniture in our house are hand-me downs, we're slowing working on changing that, but only as we're able to afford it and as it's practical.
My point is I'm a grown adult, a mother and a wife to boot, therefore I ACT like one! Yes, there are a LOT of things I WANT to do, but its not budget friendly so I just don't do it, no big deal, when I'm no longer responsible for making sure my children are completely taken care of - meaning that I've taught them, both in word, and by example - to be personally responsible adults - then I am sure I will have the funds and time to do what I want to go do. In the meantime I'm not going to stress myself out over not being able to take care of this or that responsibility because there was something else that I wanted to do extra, that extra thing that I want to do is never worth my security or sanity. Since the 1st of January my husband has brought home a total of almost $13,000 on his pay checks - our bills have not been late, we've not run out of food, the kids both have shoes and clothes that fit & are clean, the works. I just get so pissed off hearing about how hard they all have it because they can't pay their bills, yet I see all the "extras" with my own eyes.
I completely blame them for their cumulative jealousy of myself and Brian, we have both our kids in our house that we're taking care of, make 1/3 less - at LEAST - and I feel very secure in maintaining our lifestyle, if that makes me a bitch, then so be it.
My mom called me a bit ago, which is a bit odd, generally at this time of day she's at work, but because of the yearly BS that goes on with her job its their slow period, actually has been all year, and only getting worse. They didn't even put in 20 hours this week. So that was her first complaint. They're not able to pay their bills. My stepdad has a job, but he works for a single guy doing landscaping work - turns out that guy has spent all the money he's supposed to be paying the employees on drinking on the jobs - buying beer for everyone, and a lot of it, as well as paying for a whore every couple of days. So he has nothing left over to pay my step-dad with, and he's screwed up quite a few jobs, so has to go back in and redo these jobs.
My brother, who's the father of my two nephews we had for a bit almost 2 years ago, finally got to talk to his oldest son.
Turns out their mother has custody of all 3 of them again (2 nephews & their little sister), she had her case transferred to another county because "there's a conflict of interest here" - many in this county are related to her and "keep causing problems for her" - from my experience this generally works in favor of honest parents who are actually taking care of their kids, but we've all grown VERY tired of trying to help her out and after so long had to bring in higher authority to get the kids help they really need. T is supposedly doing great in school and B has started school - but according to T they're living in another state, which is against the court orders, but their mom started screaming at him and took the phone away from him when my brother asked about where they were living. My brother is also supposed to have his boys every weekend as per a court order, but hasn't seen them since right before Mikaila was born, when Brian and I had them for a weekend and took them to visit him. Also somehow my brother was charged with having to pay their insurance - at about an extra $100 a week, on top of the child support he pays. Only thing about that is both the boys are Cherokee descendants so get free health care through the Cherokee Nation, and their mother wouldn't make enough money to not qualify for free health care through the state - if they were living in the state like they're supposed to. So now my brother is only bringing home about $100 a week of his $800 a week salary...but the company he works for is doing lay-off left and right so he's not even sure if he'll have a job when he goes into work. To top that off his stripper wife lost her job because she was fighting with another chick, now all she does is sit at home, watch TV, and eats all the food my brother buys. She's supposed to be doing some Anger Management courses in order to get custody of her own kids back, but isn't even doing that. She also takes whatever money she does make and spends it on clothes, she supposedly spent $150 on a skirt, that she hasn't even worn, as the tags are still on it. So my brother is considering leaving her and going to go live with a high school friend who'd set him up with his babies momma - her (now) ex husband is the babies' momma oldest brother, he left her because he caught her going at it with one of their female roommates. So my mom gets done telling me about all that, only to dive into telling me that my sister's husband is facing being laid off - or did get laid off - so they're having problems paying their bills and such too.
Seriously! I can only be sympathetic for so long.
My mom and step-dad are both persons in their 40s, in relatively good health, no children at home. Their rent alone is 1/2 what ours is, and their renting from one of my step-dad's relatives, he hasn't really cared if they've gotten 1 or 6 months behind on rent, gave them an eviction notice once, but they were able to work out a deal on that. My mom makes $2 more an hour than Brian does, they have satellite, they go out to the casino every payday, they smoke anywhere from 3-6 cartons of cigarettes a week - I just don't know what to tell them.
I'm her daughter, not her mother.My brother has horrible taste in women, but he also makes as much in a week as my husband makes in 3 weeks, their rent is the same as ours, and where yes my brother is paying child support I know it's not $2500 a month, give me a break, he's not even behind on his child support anymore. His wife's profession involves her taking off her clothes and spreading her legs, they live in the city where there is more than one strip joint, I'm sure she could get a job.
My sister - they can afford a new gas guzzling Montero, a 61" TV, brand new computer set-ups every year, satellite, custom motorcycles, trips to the bars, golfing every week, and only have one child that spends most of his time with her in-laws that takes any opportunity they can to rub it in everyone else's nose how they can drop $100 bill somewhere and not even notice it until who knows when. Not to fail to mention my sister takes every opportunity she can to rub it in my nose that she has all these fancy things - fancy things that are all bought on credit cards nonetheless, when neither of them were working. Their rent is $100 cheaper than ours...blah blah blah...
I'm so tired of hearing about it! And its not that I'm apathetic or don't care about their hardships, I do care and wish I could help them - but I can't. I have two children IN my home, my husband works full time, plus overtime, plus side jobs. I take advantage of different programs, work groups, etc to stretch our budget, we don't go out and do "fun things", our bills consist of internet, phone, electric, insurance, and rent - that is IT, and those are all at a minimum. - Seriously, a $50 electric bill, spiking to a whole $121, during a month of 100* temps daily. I go through ONE tank of gas every two weeks, and I don't live in town, out of all of us I live the furthest out from even the closest gas station, my brother and sister both live in a big city. We don't drink, we do smoke, but that's at 2.5 cartons every 2 weeks, for both of us together.They actually make me feel guilty for us having our bills paid, having food in my freezer & cupboards, being able to be a SAHM. The thing they fail to realize is because we're smart with what little money we get - we don't go out, we don't party, we don't buy excesses, we keep it at a minimum, I shop around, clip coupons, print coupons (well did before my printer crapped on me
) the works. My kids have never gone without - yea I might have to get creative with dinner once in a while right before payday, but they ALWAYS have a complete meal - veggies, meat, starch, and a grain, every day. Diapers might get a bit tight, so Mikaila gets wear just underwear so I can save as many diapers as possible for nighttime, sometimes she makes it to the toilet, other times I've had to clean up a mess in the floor - everyday its hit and miss. - Under my carpet I have a concrete slab, there is no padding to the carpet and it's that thin, industrial office carpet, its insane how easily things clean up out of this carpet, plus its dark purple, the only thing that shows up is the light colored dirt, grass, etc that shows that I need to vacuum about 6 times a day. Quite a few pieces of furniture in our house are hand-me downs, we're slowing working on changing that, but only as we're able to afford it and as it's practical.My point is I'm a grown adult, a mother and a wife to boot, therefore I ACT like one! Yes, there are a LOT of things I WANT to do, but its not budget friendly so I just don't do it, no big deal, when I'm no longer responsible for making sure my children are completely taken care of - meaning that I've taught them, both in word, and by example - to be personally responsible adults - then I am sure I will have the funds and time to do what I want to go do. In the meantime I'm not going to stress myself out over not being able to take care of this or that responsibility because there was something else that I wanted to do extra, that extra thing that I want to do is never worth my security or sanity. Since the 1st of January my husband has brought home a total of almost $13,000 on his pay checks - our bills have not been late, we've not run out of food, the kids both have shoes and clothes that fit & are clean, the works. I just get so pissed off hearing about how hard they all have it because they can't pay their bills, yet I see all the "extras" with my own eyes.
I completely blame them for their cumulative jealousy of myself and Brian, we have both our kids in our house that we're taking care of, make 1/3 less - at LEAST - and I feel very secure in maintaining our lifestyle, if that makes me a bitch, then so be it.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Parent Teacher Conference
Yes, ALREADY. It seems like he just started school, but I just got back home from the first parent teacher conference of this year.His teachers in the past both said the same thing each time I went to visit with them..
Kindergarten : He does awesome, off the charts on his testing, gets done with his work way ahead of the class...and therefore has a lot of "free time" to ....talk to his classmates.
First Grade : He does awesome, off the charts on his testing, gets done with his work way ahead of the class...and therefore has a lot of "free time" to ....talk to his classmates.
Last year his 1st grade teacher and I came up with a deal for him to read a chapter book, from home, to help cut down on the talking. It kinda worked, he isn't sitting with his nose in the book all the time, but he's been reading Treasure Island since April of last year, and is on chapter 14....not bad for it to be something he just does when he's grounded to his room, or trying to stay up just a little later at night, and when he has free time in class...I don't think he touched it much at all over the summer, but he's read quite a few other books in between.
I THOUGHT he had taken up reading it again this year, I have told him to make sure to take it with him and read it when he's done with his work so as to cut down on his getting into trouble for talking. It is quite obvious by the conference that he has NOT been doing so.
So his Second Grade teacher had this to say at the conference today : He does awesome, off the charts on his testing, gets done with his work way ahead of the class...and therefore has a lot of "free time" to ....talk to his classmates.
They do what's called Dibels testing at the beginning, middle, and end of the year to mark their progress in reading site words and reading words in a story. At this point - end of 1st grade/beginning of 2nd grade he should be reading 50 words a minute - he's reading 142. In reading words in stories, easily, quickly, and correctly he should be reading 44 words a minute - he's at 125.
He has a high A in all of his classes except for Math - which is an 89.75% - the reason his math teacher gave me as the reason he has a lower score is because instead of reading the directions on his daily work he rushes through it and does what he THINKS he's supposed to be doing, he knows the stuff, does well if she gives the directions orally, but doesn't read/pay attention to the written directions. But I'm proud of him, just have to figure out how to tone down his social bug side....I'm still VERY confused where he got that from...I was the shy quiet girl who did her work and then did "extra credit" work, I was happy sitting there, being overlooked, so long as I had a book to read or work to do.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
I've not really been a
Country & Western music listener for quite a few years. The other day my regular radio station (a mix of classic and modern rock & metal) wouldn't come in clearly. It does that time to time, depending on how the wind is blowing - go figure, living this far out - and I was only able to pick up a country station, I also haven't changed it since then, but I can't say that I regret it. There have been quite a few good songs come out in the last few years. At least I liked the message of them...
Sadly I know one of them is a new song, by a new artist, so I have had absolutely NO luck in finding it online. I can't even tell you for sure who sings it or what the name of it is, but I actually was glad I was parked in the school parking lot, as I BALLED....
This isn't that song, but its one that I thought was quite fitting for many persons, and I'd heard it as I was driving home this evening, so it was fresh on my mind.
There is a great number of songs that touch me, which I think is the reason I quit listening to country in the first place - I'm a HUGE emotional, crying sap, period. - so rather than add fuel to that fire I just avoid it... I'm not kidding, I cry because I'm sad, happy, excited, angry, upset, anxious, you name it, I cry. I've cried at my baby brother's high school graduation, and he's only 5 years younger than me, but it felt like such a great accomplishment and I was so proud of him, even though I knew he'd do it and do it well. I still get teary eyed thinking about it, and especially when thinking about the fact he's currently serving in Japan with the United States Marines.
But I digress...
Sadly I know one of them is a new song, by a new artist, so I have had absolutely NO luck in finding it online. I can't even tell you for sure who sings it or what the name of it is, but I actually was glad I was parked in the school parking lot, as I BALLED....
This isn't that song, but its one that I thought was quite fitting for many persons, and I'd heard it as I was driving home this evening, so it was fresh on my mind.
There is a great number of songs that touch me, which I think is the reason I quit listening to country in the first place - I'm a HUGE emotional, crying sap, period. - so rather than add fuel to that fire I just avoid it... I'm not kidding, I cry because I'm sad, happy, excited, angry, upset, anxious, you name it, I cry. I've cried at my baby brother's high school graduation, and he's only 5 years younger than me, but it felt like such a great accomplishment and I was so proud of him, even though I knew he'd do it and do it well. I still get teary eyed thinking about it, and especially when thinking about the fact he's currently serving in Japan with the United States Marines.
But I digress...
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Circus! Circus!
Actually it wasn't Circus Circus, but a circus of sorts nonetheless. Culpepper & Merriweather Circus to be exact. The important thing is the kids enjoyed themselves - I believe Mikaila was the loudest of the crowd, but when the crowd is only *maybe* 150 people and you're sitting not 30 feet from the middle of the ring itself, its not too difficult to feel like she's the only one enjoying the show, during the middle of the show. Seriously, the crowd SUCKED! It almost seemed like the performers had to cue the audience when to clap, laugh, the works. ugh. I understand it wasn't something terribly spectacular, we didn't all drive out to the county fair grounds to see the Ringling Brothers under a tattered tent, but the performers did a great job and deserved to be congratulated!
...The quality of the photos suck for two reasons : 1. Its a cheap camera that's acting like crap these days. 2. I had to hold Mikaila on my lap the entire time to keep her from trying to go play with the kitties or just join the show! LOL...
The show started off with a display of some mighty kitties and their talents.
The cat show was followed by a talented trapeze artist...at one point she hung by just a strap around her head and spun quite rapidly while swinging....There is NO net for any of the "high" actsm just a couple of pieces of ply board and the ground to land on, in case of any mistakes - fortunately there were none! Mikaila really enjoyed this bit of the act, squealing and screeching in utter delight and from the look on the artist's face she seemed to enjoy Mikaila's enthusiasm for her show!
This gal was quite talented as well - balancing back and forth on just a board and bowling ball, then adding steps to it, while inbetween adding steps would slip a hoop around her body, starting with one foot, going over her body, then slipping out and stepping off from the other foot. Yikes!
The clown, Miss Jessie, gave quite the show with her "How to Find a Man" act, where she pulled a poor unsuspecting guy out of the audience to point out her ideal. ;) Poor guy, kept checking back in with his wife, who was sitting behind us, to double check with her if whether or not he was stepping "out of line", just judging by his expressions and her encouragement. LMAO
The unicyclists were quite entertaining...even though by this point Mikeal obviously became bored and resorted to asking me 900 questions about everything...ugh...
At intermission they brought out a 20ft Albino python that you could take pictures with...we passed. But Mikeal did get close enough to touch it and took pictures of it. ...I don't care for snakes...
There was a fairly tame act where a gal showed off her trained pigeons...It was made even more evident at this point that even with the intermission and the chance to stretch his legs did not deter Mikeal from trying to ask another 900 questions about everything from here on out...ugh. I understand questions are a wonderful thing, asking questions is the only way a person is ever going to learn something and understand it, but GEESH I have taught him there is a proper time for questions, that this was not one of those times...not something he cares to comprehend at this time.
The final act on the high wire left me fairly well sitting there with my gut in my throat. I am not one for heights and like I said there was no net. The dude stood on his head, sat on a chair, jumped rope, and then carried the gal across the tight rope on his shoulders. I think I held my breath.
All in all it was pretty good and worth the money ($25, total) we spent to go see it and do a few extra things. :)
...The quality of the photos suck for two reasons : 1. Its a cheap camera that's acting like crap these days. 2. I had to hold Mikaila on my lap the entire time to keep her from trying to go play with the kitties or just join the show! LOL...
The show started off with a display of some mighty kitties and their talents.
The cat show was followed by a talented trapeze artist...at one point she hung by just a strap around her head and spun quite rapidly while swinging....There is NO net for any of the "high" actsm just a couple of pieces of ply board and the ground to land on, in case of any mistakes - fortunately there were none! Mikaila really enjoyed this bit of the act, squealing and screeching in utter delight and from the look on the artist's face she seemed to enjoy Mikaila's enthusiasm for her show!
This gal was quite talented as well - balancing back and forth on just a board and bowling ball, then adding steps to it, while inbetween adding steps would slip a hoop around her body, starting with one foot, going over her body, then slipping out and stepping off from the other foot. Yikes!
The clown, Miss Jessie, gave quite the show with her "How to Find a Man" act, where she pulled a poor unsuspecting guy out of the audience to point out her ideal. ;) Poor guy, kept checking back in with his wife, who was sitting behind us, to double check with her if whether or not he was stepping "out of line", just judging by his expressions and her encouragement. LMAO
The unicyclists were quite entertaining...even though by this point Mikeal obviously became bored and resorted to asking me 900 questions about everything...
At intermission they brought out a 20ft Albino python that you could take pictures with...we passed. But Mikeal did get close enough to touch it and took pictures of it. ...
There was a fairly tame act where a gal showed off her trained pigeons...It was made even more evident at this point that even with the intermission and the chance to stretch his legs did not deter Mikeal from trying to ask another 900 questions about everything from here on out...ugh. I understand questions are a wonderful thing, asking questions is the only way a person is ever going to learn something and understand it, but GEESH I have taught him there is a proper time for questions, that this was not one of those times...not something he cares to comprehend at this time.
The final act on the high wire left me fairly well sitting there with my gut in my throat. I am not one for heights and like I said there was no net. The dude stood on his head, sat on a chair, jumped rope, and then carried the gal across the tight rope on his shoulders. I think I held my breath.
All in all it was pretty good and worth the money ($25, total) we spent to go see it and do a few extra things. :)
Friday, September 18, 2009
I'm Not the Only One
who apparently LOVES the nectarines. I cut up half of one for her this morning to go with her Cherrios, that was not enough I suppose. She found the stash and obtained one for herself.
Not even time to obtain a face cloth to wipe off the yummy juiciness!
VERY intense - between Word World and a nectarine life doesn't get much more intense!
But soon the nectarine will be gone - must get the others up higher before she gives herself a belly ache!
Not even time to obtain a face cloth to wipe off the yummy juiciness!
VERY intense - between Word World and a nectarine life doesn't get much more intense!
But soon the nectarine will be gone - must get the others up higher before she gives herself a belly ache! 
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Silly things
I've noticed a great number of things that have struck me as funny, odd, and peculiar in the last couple of days. I've been just browsing blogs, seeing what there is around the blog world, admiring pictures, drooling over new recipes to try, picking up new crafting ideas, the works, its really been awesome for me...that in addition to my children both doing really well about going to bed at a decent hour actually allowing me some decompression time in the evening. I've also ran across a great number of things that have given me quite a few giggles.
Most of the inspirations to my giggling over blogs has come from blogs that are in a language other than English and packed with pictures. Now I'm quite familiar with a great number of languages, not enough to count myself as fluent in any of them, but just enough that I can generally get a good idea of what's being talked about, ESPECIALLY if there are pictures or gestures (if in person). Spanish, Italian, German, Portugese, Gaelic, French and of course English being the ones I'm most familiar with.
There was one I came across yesterday that was labeled as having adult content, you had to confirm that you were over 18 to view...out of mere curiosity I entered the site... It was written in Italian, Portuguese, and Dutch German, okay, so I wouldn't be able to read it fluently...but it was LACED in pictures. Pictures everywhere! LMAO I came across maybe 3 "erotic" in nature pictures, most of them were of children's crafts, cupcakes, very delicious looking cupcakes I might add, children's toys, wedding tips, pretzels in the shape of penises in the windows of a small shop - in addition to a picture of a guy taking a big bite out of one - from what I gathered of the profile picture it was the husband of the lady taking the picture. It also had an article on the history of vibrators. The blog itself was QUITE extensive and obviously covered a great number of different topics, the pish posh of such was quite entertaining for me. I was one of those kids that completely enjoyed watching silent films - or even modern films on mute - and making up my own lines with friends of mine. :D Flipping through that blog was much like that all over again.
Another VERY amusing thing for me to see throughout MANY a blogs is self portraits - the ones they've taken of themselves, while standing in a dirty bathroom, with the camera over their faces and a bright flash. There is never just one of these types of pictures for their blogs, there are MULTITUDES of such pictures all on just one blog, it almost makes me think she's trying to show you how good she looks with a camera and a bright light over her face while the mirror she's taking the picture in is covered in dirt, hairspray, and toothpaste splatters.
Then of course there are the pictures that girls take of themselves making kissy faces, as if contorting their face to resemble a fish is supposed to be attractive or display that there is more to them than the fish face. I feel it makes them look immature and just stupid.
One of my favorite entries though was an English one, so I was able to read it quite well. Now, with saying that I was an honor student in school and have a tendency to find errors with grammar, punctuation, and spelling. I'm not a perfectionist at it, by any stretch, at least not in my own writing as I write as I think, sometimes it comes out very well articulated, while other times it comes out a jumbled mess, for me its important just to get it out. Now, having said that this particular entry that I found to be most amusing was written by someone who tried to believe themselves to be extremely superb in vocabulary, punctuation, and proper use of each, by complaining about persons not well schooled. Such was absolutely not the case, the dude misused "they're/there/their" a number of times by only using there. The entire entry was nothing but one big paragraph, at least as long as my current entry. He'd use a person's singular name at the beginning of a sentence to turn around and use "they" later in the same run-on sentence to refer back to the subjected person. It was an all around fail.
I also have to state that in my humble opinion many of these fashion blogs have some VERY ugly clothing lines that they're trying to promote. I'm not a prude by any stretch of the imagination but come on! A sheer dress that leaves NOTHING but the wearer's legs to the imagination, that's just yuck and pointless, especially when the model is wearing no under garments, at all, and the skirt of the dress flows ten feet behind her on the ground.
That's it for the time being. LOL Other than the fact I just finished eating one of the MOST delicious nectarines I think I've ever had, it was big, juicy, just the right balance of sweet and tart - I picked up 7 pounds of them today at a roadside stand for $5. I may have to drive all the way out there again for more very soon!
Most of the inspirations to my giggling over blogs has come from blogs that are in a language other than English and packed with pictures. Now I'm quite familiar with a great number of languages, not enough to count myself as fluent in any of them, but just enough that I can generally get a good idea of what's being talked about, ESPECIALLY if there are pictures or gestures (if in person). Spanish, Italian, German, Portugese, Gaelic, French and of course English being the ones I'm most familiar with.
There was one I came across yesterday that was labeled as having adult content, you had to confirm that you were over 18 to view...out of mere curiosity I entered the site... It was written in Italian, Portuguese, and Dutch German, okay, so I wouldn't be able to read it fluently...but it was LACED in pictures. Pictures everywhere! LMAO I came across maybe 3 "erotic" in nature pictures, most of them were of children's crafts, cupcakes, very delicious looking cupcakes I might add, children's toys, wedding tips, pretzels in the shape of penises in the windows of a small shop - in addition to a picture of a guy taking a big bite out of one - from what I gathered of the profile picture it was the husband of the lady taking the picture. It also had an article on the history of vibrators. The blog itself was QUITE extensive and obviously covered a great number of different topics, the pish posh of such was quite entertaining for me. I was one of those kids that completely enjoyed watching silent films - or even modern films on mute - and making up my own lines with friends of mine. :D Flipping through that blog was much like that all over again.
Another VERY amusing thing for me to see throughout MANY a blogs is self portraits - the ones they've taken of themselves, while standing in a dirty bathroom, with the camera over their faces and a bright flash. There is never just one of these types of pictures for their blogs, there are MULTITUDES of such pictures all on just one blog, it almost makes me think she's trying to show you how good she looks with a camera and a bright light over her face while the mirror she's taking the picture in is covered in dirt, hairspray, and toothpaste splatters.
Then of course there are the pictures that girls take of themselves making kissy faces, as if contorting their face to resemble a fish is supposed to be attractive or display that there is more to them than the fish face. I feel it makes them look immature and just stupid.
One of my favorite entries though was an English one, so I was able to read it quite well. Now, with saying that I was an honor student in school and have a tendency to find errors with grammar, punctuation, and spelling. I'm not a perfectionist at it, by any stretch, at least not in my own writing as I write as I think, sometimes it comes out very well articulated, while other times it comes out a jumbled mess, for me its important just to get it out. Now, having said that this particular entry that I found to be most amusing was written by someone who tried to believe themselves to be extremely superb in vocabulary, punctuation, and proper use of each, by complaining about persons not well schooled. Such was absolutely not the case, the dude misused "they're/there/their" a number of times by only using there. The entire entry was nothing but one big paragraph, at least as long as my current entry. He'd use a person's singular name at the beginning of a sentence to turn around and use "they" later in the same run-on sentence to refer back to the subjected person. It was an all around fail.
I also have to state that in my humble opinion many of these fashion blogs have some VERY ugly clothing lines that they're trying to promote. I'm not a prude by any stretch of the imagination but come on! A sheer dress that leaves NOTHING but the wearer's legs to the imagination, that's just yuck and pointless, especially when the model is wearing no under garments, at all, and the skirt of the dress flows ten feet behind her on the ground.
That's it for the time being. LOL Other than the fact I just finished eating one of the MOST delicious nectarines I think I've ever had, it was big, juicy, just the right balance of sweet and tart - I picked up 7 pounds of them today at a roadside stand for $5. I may have to drive all the way out there again for more very soon!
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Update
On the whole house buying fiasco attempt ...
We're going to put it off while we build what's considered "credit" ...otherwise known as putting ourselves into debt to prove that we're responsible enough to pay off debt, because obviously if we own two vehicles free and clear, have not been late on a single utility bill in over two years, solid, have less than a COMBINED total of $10,000 medical debt (Brian has most of that from 4 surgeries in a short span of time followed by a LONG span of time of no employment) and have a record of buying nothing on credit really then we are not eligible for a bank to give us a loan for a house, whether that loan is $50,000 or $10,000.
Sounds stupid if you ask me, but whatever, that's what we're going to do, so must let time pass as we go through these redundancy procedures so that we can buy a house in the future. I repeat my previous statement of "stupid, irresponsible, lying people" and the banks that encourage it all so that everyone can "make the bigger buck" or live the "better lifestyle". Bigger buck and better lifestyle on someone else's buck, because credit isn't money you've EARNED, its money you HOPE to earn, people just can't seem to get THAT point through their heads, at least not where it applies to them. Many of the folks that I know who live their lives with a credit card are the same ones who whine and complain when the government does basically the same thing - spend money that hasn't been earned, in hopes that it'll produce more money in the future.
Its just not a concept that I personally can understand. I understand it takes money to make money. Someone wanting to start up a business they spend money with the hopes that in the future their overhead will be significantly less than their income, thus producing a profit. I can't see where owning 15 pairs of $200 shoes works in a person's favor - they buy the shoes on credit, before long they have more shoes (anything non-essential & excessive really, shoes is just my current example) than they have credit, then when they go to balance it all out between the credit and debits (debits being the money they have to pay for the credits) credit ends up WAY ahead of the debits. They then file bankruptcy, they no longer have to pay off the credits, get to keep the shoes, and now have freed up some of that debit money to go get more credit.
See that plays into the economy. Not just a person's personal economy, but the bigger economy as a whole. The shoes were made, persons were paid for making those shoes, utilities and materials were consumed to produce those shoes, the shoes were then "sold" on credit - basically handed over for free in the hopes of revenue in the future. Then because these shoes are such hot credit sellers it inflates the price, because they're not all actually being paid for in the end. You do this long enough and at a great pace its bound to become a burden on those who are actually paying the real price...When so much of this goes on in every field of purchase everything is suddenly on credit and nothing is paid for, once one needs the money the next person needs their money, and it just continues to inflate the prices. Eventually these prices all reach a consumer cap and the consumer heads off to a cheaper version because so much is over inflated they can't afford anything, but must cut back to what they MUST spend money on. Eventually all the credit money is just a bunch of IOUs that aren't getting paid. The economy IS going to crash.
Its basic, simple, elementary economics & accounting.
But because everyone has a habit now of spending out of their actual spending range because they've been fragrantly allowed to spend credit when they really weren't good for it, persons like myself, who have lived a lifetime of spending comparably NOTHING on credit ...I did have a loan on a car and a new computer when I was 18, since then I've saved up and paid for everything I own/have owned when I went to buy it....are unable to buy something like a house. Honestly I don't think they'd allow me a credit limit to buy a stick of gum even, its comparably "that bad" for me to of lived my life like I have.
It just sucks. Seems the morals and lessons taught and handed down to me by my grandparents are not the ones to live your life by these days...
We're going to put it off while we build what's considered "credit" ...otherwise known as putting ourselves into debt to prove that we're responsible enough to pay off debt, because obviously if we own two vehicles free and clear, have not been late on a single utility bill in over two years, solid, have less than a COMBINED total of $10,000 medical debt (Brian has most of that from 4 surgeries in a short span of time followed by a LONG span of time of no employment) and have a record of buying nothing on credit really then we are not eligible for a bank to give us a loan for a house, whether that loan is $50,000 or $10,000.
Sounds stupid if you ask me, but whatever, that's what we're going to do, so must let time pass as we go through these redundancy procedures so that we can buy a house in the future. I repeat my previous statement of "stupid, irresponsible, lying people" and the banks that encourage it all so that everyone can "make the bigger buck" or live the "better lifestyle". Bigger buck and better lifestyle on someone else's buck, because credit isn't money you've EARNED, its money you HOPE to earn, people just can't seem to get THAT point through their heads, at least not where it applies to them. Many of the folks that I know who live their lives with a credit card are the same ones who whine and complain when the government does basically the same thing - spend money that hasn't been earned, in hopes that it'll produce more money in the future.
Its just not a concept that I personally can understand. I understand it takes money to make money. Someone wanting to start up a business they spend money with the hopes that in the future their overhead will be significantly less than their income, thus producing a profit. I can't see where owning 15 pairs of $200 shoes works in a person's favor - they buy the shoes on credit, before long they have more shoes (anything non-essential & excessive really, shoes is just my current example) than they have credit, then when they go to balance it all out between the credit and debits (debits being the money they have to pay for the credits) credit ends up WAY ahead of the debits. They then file bankruptcy, they no longer have to pay off the credits, get to keep the shoes, and now have freed up some of that debit money to go get more credit.
See that plays into the economy. Not just a person's personal economy, but the bigger economy as a whole. The shoes were made, persons were paid for making those shoes, utilities and materials were consumed to produce those shoes, the shoes were then "sold" on credit - basically handed over for free in the hopes of revenue in the future. Then because these shoes are such hot credit sellers it inflates the price, because they're not all actually being paid for in the end. You do this long enough and at a great pace its bound to become a burden on those who are actually paying the real price...When so much of this goes on in every field of purchase everything is suddenly on credit and nothing is paid for, once one needs the money the next person needs their money, and it just continues to inflate the prices. Eventually these prices all reach a consumer cap and the consumer heads off to a cheaper version because so much is over inflated they can't afford anything, but must cut back to what they MUST spend money on. Eventually all the credit money is just a bunch of IOUs that aren't getting paid. The economy IS going to crash.
Its basic, simple, elementary economics & accounting.
But because everyone has a habit now of spending out of their actual spending range because they've been fragrantly allowed to spend credit when they really weren't good for it, persons like myself, who have lived a lifetime of spending comparably NOTHING on credit ...I did have a loan on a car and a new computer when I was 18, since then I've saved up and paid for everything I own/have owned when I went to buy it....are unable to buy something like a house. Honestly I don't think they'd allow me a credit limit to buy a stick of gum even, its comparably "that bad" for me to of lived my life like I have.
It just sucks. Seems the morals and lessons taught and handed down to me by my grandparents are not the ones to live your life by these days...
By the Way
In case it wasn't too obvious I updated my colors and such to reflect Autumn being right upon us. !!! I love Autumn. The colors, the cooler weather, the fresh fruits and veggies, the endless cooking and baking opportunities. The overall togetherness feeling of the season! I LOVE Autumn!
Its not the greatest picture, but its the view from my front porch, mainly a picture of the sunset over my landlord's property, taken late last November, but its an AWESOME view!
Its not the greatest picture, but its the view from my front porch, mainly a picture of the sunset over my landlord's property, taken late last November, but its an AWESOME view!
Bedtime Stories
with DADDY! Yes, Daddy is off work today so gets to be home for the new bedtime routine.. ONLY bad thing is for the last 4 nights she's been in bed and asleep at the lastest 8:30pm but Tonight - it is now currently 9:37pm - there are no concrete signs that she's even close to settling. She was even up at 7 this morning and only had a 1.5 hour early nap today...But the Daddy & Boo time is precious!
I also think she might have a slight ear infection, been tugging at her ears, begged for her bottle, and is absolutely refusing to lay down in the bed, despite wanting to go to sleep. Poor baby girl.
Monday, September 14, 2009
OH Muddy Days
are here again.
So its been rainy, cold-ish (in otherwords, not 110*, actually just hovering around 70) and really looking like Fall is here!!! WOOT! Generally we don't start getting Fall until November, if we get Fall. Summer and Winter like to switch off this time of year here. *eyeroll* Who knows by Halloween it might actually be cool enough for parents to actually put clothes on their pre-teens instead of letting them dress up like 8 year old street hookers, likely not, but its nice to dream...
But back to the original thoughts at hand. I seem to have gotten my camera acting correctly - at least allowing my computer to extract the pictures from it, for now. The kids and I got home from going to the store...and since I was busy getting the groceries into the house and answering the phone, Mikaila took the perfect opportunity to embark on a mud puddle adventure.
The two of them had a blast! Mikaila thought it was just the greatest thing ever, but she would, she is quite the water bug. It was rather a bit upsetting for me to have to drag her back inside after half an hour in the mud, but I did have things to get done in the house though. Seeing how its only maybe 70* outside and the kids were wet, they were also cold. But only after getting her wet clothes off of her and she wrapped up in a towel she was much happier to hang out watching Curious George.
And it would appear to be that at some point in time Mikeal was so worried about getting one shirt dirty that he went and got a different shirt... UGH!
So its been rainy, cold-ish (in otherwords, not 110*, actually just hovering around 70) and really looking like Fall is here!!! WOOT! Generally we don't start getting Fall until November, if we get Fall. Summer and Winter like to switch off this time of year here. *eyeroll* Who knows by Halloween it might actually be cool enough for parents to actually put clothes on their pre-teens instead of letting them dress up like 8 year old street hookers, likely not, but its nice to dream...
But back to the original thoughts at hand. I seem to have gotten my camera acting correctly - at least allowing my computer to extract the pictures from it, for now. The kids and I got home from going to the store...and since I was busy getting the groceries into the house and answering the phone, Mikaila took the perfect opportunity to embark on a mud puddle adventure.
The two of them had a blast! Mikaila thought it was just the greatest thing ever, but she would, she is quite the water bug. It was rather a bit upsetting for me to have to drag her back inside after half an hour in the mud, but I did have things to get done in the house though. Seeing how its only maybe 70* outside and the kids were wet, they were also cold. But only after getting her wet clothes off of her and she wrapped up in a towel she was much happier to hang out watching Curious George.
And it would appear to be that at some point in time Mikeal was so worried about getting one shirt dirty that he went and got a different shirt... UGH!
My baby brother
Poor kid. I feel bad for him. He was running and 6 miles into his run his knee popped on him, causing his knee to bend backwards and the kneecap slid between his leg bones, locking it in place there. It was too swollen immediately for there to be a good diagnosis on it when he did it late last week, Friday or Saturday, he's in Japan, so it makes it annoying for me to keep the whole date/time correlation straight. Anyways, they were able to get an x-ray today and according to my sister the drs were able to get it popped into place and are going to let it heal on its own. Originally they were thinking he was going to be doing complete reconstructive surgery, which meant he'd have an honorable medical discharge from the Marines and be able to come home, he'd also go on disability.
I don't know what it means now that they aren't pursuing the surgery, but I can't imagine his knee not giving him continual problems, even if it does "heal on its own".
I have mixed feelings about the whole thing, I'm slightly embarrassed to say. I was kinda looking forward to the idea of him being back home and not in the military, but at the same time I know going into the Marines is something he'd worked REALLY hard to be able to do. I'm very proud of him either way, just always worried about him.
I don't know what it means now that they aren't pursuing the surgery, but I can't imagine his knee not giving him continual problems, even if it does "heal on its own".
I have mixed feelings about the whole thing, I'm slightly embarrassed to say. I was kinda looking forward to the idea of him being back home and not in the military, but at the same time I know going into the Marines is something he'd worked REALLY hard to be able to do. I'm very proud of him either way, just always worried about him.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Today I Have :
Cleaned the Litter Box
Sorted Toys...gobs and gobs of toys. Toys that need to go to the garbage, toys that are "outgrown", toys that need to be cleaned, toys that need to be fixed, toys that need new batteries. All sorted in appropriate boxes/totes/etc so that they can be taken care of. Legos with Legos, Play-doh stuff all together, Army men all together, Dinosaurs together, baby doll stuff all together. Everything collected from every room, closet, nook, and cranny. I am so tired of looking at toys....and I've only gotten the sorting bit done, much work still to be done.
Cleaned dishes from yesterday - water issues prevented much of this.
Cleaned the bathroom and hallway, including scrubbing the floors & walls.
Still need to :
Finish the Toy "project"
Clean the kids' room
Rearrange some furniture
Fix a dresser drawer
Get Laundry room organized (I swear this only stays done for an hour or so)
Shed cleaned up/out (maybe, after yesterday's snake bit, kinda leery about this one)
Totes put away, either into the cleaned out shed, or in the house somewhere...they're currently on the porch, just 2, but still.
Of course this doesn't mention the normal mom things that go on - breakfast, lunch, snacks, dinner, clean-up, baths, bedtime...and maybe sometime around then my husband will be home from work...he has to work "late again"...the store closes at 8pm, he used to be able to be home well before 9pm...but it could be midnight before he gets home.
Sorted Toys...gobs and gobs of toys. Toys that need to go to the garbage, toys that are "outgrown", toys that need to be cleaned, toys that need to be fixed, toys that need new batteries. All sorted in appropriate boxes/totes/etc so that they can be taken care of. Legos with Legos, Play-doh stuff all together, Army men all together, Dinosaurs together, baby doll stuff all together. Everything collected from every room, closet, nook, and cranny. I am so tired of looking at toys....and I've only gotten the sorting bit done, much work still to be done.
Cleaned dishes from yesterday - water issues prevented much of this.
Cleaned the bathroom and hallway, including scrubbing the floors & walls.
Still need to :
Finish the Toy "project"
Clean the kids' room
Rearrange some furniture
Fix a dresser drawer
Get Laundry room organized (I swear this only stays done for an hour or so)
Shed cleaned up/out (maybe, after yesterday's snake bit, kinda leery about this one)
Totes put away, either into the cleaned out shed, or in the house somewhere...they're currently on the porch, just 2, but still.
Of course this doesn't mention the normal mom things that go on - breakfast, lunch, snacks, dinner, clean-up, baths, bedtime...and maybe sometime around then my husband will be home from work...he has to work "late again"...the store closes at 8pm, he used to be able to be home well before 9pm...but it could be midnight before he gets home.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
I have a LOATHING dislike of Snakes!
My morning started off as lovely as I'm sure only it could.
Mikeal couldn't find his shoes...they happened to of been under the edge of MY bed...how they got there, I have no idea, but at least they were found.
The nausea from yesterday does not seem to be letting up much, but it has at least stayed at just nausea...of course keeping an empty stomach seems to work well in that department.
And Brian's bad mood from yesterday doesn't seem to be letting up, of course I'm just faking the puking and such to mask my lazy incompetency of being a SAHM.
I went to make myself a pot of coffee and not one drop of water falls from the faucet. So to the pump house I must go. Of course Brian has to leave out for work at this time with barely even so much as a "see you later".
So I go out to the pump house to mess with getting the well going. No luck on the first go around. Of course I can't dedicate much time to messing with it out there because Mikaila is loose in the house, on her own. I go back in to check on her, give the well a little bit of cool off time. Prepare a pot of coffee from the water I have stored back for just such instances, and serve breakfast to Mikaila.
I make another trip out to the shed, pour water into the pump to get it primed up, turn it back on. Then from the corner of my eye I see it. Not 12 inches from my head, the flick of a reptile tongue. Now I've grown quite accustomed to seeing quite a few lizards in and around my shed, house, yard, so I didn't think much of it for about 20 seconds. I think see part of its body, that compared with its movements, is COMPLETELY wrong for a lizard. Its a snake. A very small snake. Okay, no big deal, I can deal with this, its a small snake, a small baby snake. Then upon a more detailed look at it I noticed the gorgeous copper tone to its scales and hourglass-type markings along its head and back. Its a copperhead.
I'm already in the shed, barefoot, I might add, wearing a pair of shorts and t-shirt. See copperhead snakes are quite poisonous, baby ones are even more toxic, I'm home alone, with a 21 month old, no calling card, no way to call my husband, no guarantee that I'd be able to get a hold of someone that would be able to get a hold of him. But even that's fine, it takes the ambulance an average of 45 minutes to show up out here, cops an average of 3 hrs to get here...and well, that yard fire I had in October last year, I still haven't heard anything from the fire dept on that. So I'm sure I'll be fine waiting on them. To add to my confidence that I'll be just fine we have no health insurance, and if my memory serves me well, a few years ago I suffered a very nasty Brown Recluse spider bite, went to the local hospital to be treated, and was basically given a band-aid to cover the wound, after it'd swollen to the size of a large grapefruit. I survived, ended up with a lovely half-dollar sized scar...from what was a hole the size of a baseball, so I guess it could of been worse.
I grab my hedge clippers. The handles are roughly 2 ft long, so even if I were to only manage to grab the tail of it I should be far enough away from the danger end, at least long enough to get another tool at assist me in killing the thing. That's when I see it. One of the original target's siblings. So now I have one hiding behind the back of the door/side of the shed, since the door was open and another one hiding in the boards that make up the door itself, one close to my ankles, the other close to my head.
Neither one easy to just grab, and I risk getting bitten by one by trying to get the other.
I carefully check the ground, to be sure I can't see any slithering where I'd be standing, slowly push the door forward, having my first target in sight, the one that's moving back into the hole in the bricks, where it'd apparently first emerged from. I get it by the mid-section on my third try. But the clippers do not cut it in half. I get it over to the burn pile and commence my efforts to kill the thing. It doesn't die, but I handicap it enough that he's not able to move too terribly far. I then turn my attention back to snake # 2. Its still in the crevice between the board and door.
This one proves to be quite a bit trickier. I try spraying some cleaning stuff at it, hoping to coerce it out of hiding, but it doesn't seem phased. So I start beating the door with my clippers, using the sharp, cutting end, as I would a hammer, to squish the snake or convince it to come out. After about 10 hits it works, kinda. He sticks the end of his tail out, shaking it much in the way a rattlesnake shakes its tail to warn off threats. I grab him by the tail with the clippers, again, it doesn't do more than just break the vertebrates and grab the snake. I take it to join its still twitching sibling. It takes several strikes at the twitching sibling, its response was a bit of swelling followed by no more twitching. I proceed to go to town on both of them with the clippers until both are too broken to fix themselves, and the one is split in three pieces.
By this time the well has gotten itself back where it's supposed to be, and I head inside...only to realize that I forgot to turn the water on back to the house....I was a little distracted afterall.
That was a few hours ago...and I'm still a bit jumpy at anything that even thinks about brushing up against me.
But I'm sure, when I go to relay this to my husband, with the added urgency for him to get the metal, etc hauled off that's sitting behind the shed, metal that back in January his friend was going to use to patch his barn roof with, but its still sitting behind my shed, that I'm just making this up, just had to make up some sort of drama because I just can't go a single day without creating/making up some sort of drama. And if I'm not able to make some up on my own then I create some with him and his friends or what he does, just anything to draw attention to myself and to minimize him and his day. The two mangled snakes in the fire pit won't count as proof either, because I probably just found them lying around.
Mikeal couldn't find his shoes...they happened to of been under the edge of MY bed...how they got there, I have no idea, but at least they were found.
The nausea from yesterday does not seem to be letting up much, but it has at least stayed at just nausea...of course keeping an empty stomach seems to work well in that department.
And Brian's bad mood from yesterday doesn't seem to be letting up, of course I'm just faking the puking and such to mask my lazy incompetency of being a SAHM.
I went to make myself a pot of coffee and not one drop of water falls from the faucet. So to the pump house I must go. Of course Brian has to leave out for work at this time with barely even so much as a "see you later".
So I go out to the pump house to mess with getting the well going. No luck on the first go around. Of course I can't dedicate much time to messing with it out there because Mikaila is loose in the house, on her own. I go back in to check on her, give the well a little bit of cool off time. Prepare a pot of coffee from the water I have stored back for just such instances, and serve breakfast to Mikaila.
I make another trip out to the shed, pour water into the pump to get it primed up, turn it back on. Then from the corner of my eye I see it. Not 12 inches from my head, the flick of a reptile tongue. Now I've grown quite accustomed to seeing quite a few lizards in and around my shed, house, yard, so I didn't think much of it for about 20 seconds. I think see part of its body, that compared with its movements, is COMPLETELY wrong for a lizard. Its a snake. A very small snake. Okay, no big deal, I can deal with this, its a small snake, a small baby snake. Then upon a more detailed look at it I noticed the gorgeous copper tone to its scales and hourglass-type markings along its head and back. Its a copperhead.
I'm already in the shed, barefoot, I might add, wearing a pair of shorts and t-shirt. See copperhead snakes are quite poisonous, baby ones are even more toxic, I'm home alone, with a 21 month old, no calling card, no way to call my husband, no guarantee that I'd be able to get a hold of someone that would be able to get a hold of him. But even that's fine, it takes the ambulance an average of 45 minutes to show up out here, cops an average of 3 hrs to get here...and well, that yard fire I had in October last year, I still haven't heard anything from the fire dept on that. So I'm sure I'll be fine waiting on them. To add to my confidence that I'll be just fine we have no health insurance, and if my memory serves me well, a few years ago I suffered a very nasty Brown Recluse spider bite, went to the local hospital to be treated, and was basically given a band-aid to cover the wound, after it'd swollen to the size of a large grapefruit. I survived, ended up with a lovely half-dollar sized scar...from what was a hole the size of a baseball, so I guess it could of been worse.
I grab my hedge clippers. The handles are roughly 2 ft long, so even if I were to only manage to grab the tail of it I should be far enough away from the danger end, at least long enough to get another tool at assist me in killing the thing. That's when I see it. One of the original target's siblings. So now I have one hiding behind the back of the door/side of the shed, since the door was open and another one hiding in the boards that make up the door itself, one close to my ankles, the other close to my head.
Neither one easy to just grab, and I risk getting bitten by one by trying to get the other.
I carefully check the ground, to be sure I can't see any slithering where I'd be standing, slowly push the door forward, having my first target in sight, the one that's moving back into the hole in the bricks, where it'd apparently first emerged from. I get it by the mid-section on my third try. But the clippers do not cut it in half. I get it over to the burn pile and commence my efforts to kill the thing. It doesn't die, but I handicap it enough that he's not able to move too terribly far. I then turn my attention back to snake # 2. Its still in the crevice between the board and door.
This one proves to be quite a bit trickier. I try spraying some cleaning stuff at it, hoping to coerce it out of hiding, but it doesn't seem phased. So I start beating the door with my clippers, using the sharp, cutting end, as I would a hammer, to squish the snake or convince it to come out. After about 10 hits it works, kinda. He sticks the end of his tail out, shaking it much in the way a rattlesnake shakes its tail to warn off threats. I grab him by the tail with the clippers, again, it doesn't do more than just break the vertebrates and grab the snake. I take it to join its still twitching sibling. It takes several strikes at the twitching sibling, its response was a bit of swelling followed by no more twitching. I proceed to go to town on both of them with the clippers until both are too broken to fix themselves, and the one is split in three pieces.
By this time the well has gotten itself back where it's supposed to be, and I head inside...only to realize that I forgot to turn the water on back to the house....I was a little distracted afterall.
That was a few hours ago...and I'm still a bit jumpy at anything that even thinks about brushing up against me.
But I'm sure, when I go to relay this to my husband, with the added urgency for him to get the metal, etc hauled off that's sitting behind the shed, metal that back in January his friend was going to use to patch his barn roof with, but its still sitting behind my shed, that I'm just making this up, just had to make up some sort of drama because I just can't go a single day without creating/making up some sort of drama. And if I'm not able to make some up on my own then I create some with him and his friends or what he does, just anything to draw attention to myself and to minimize him and his day. The two mangled snakes in the fire pit won't count as proof either, because I probably just found them lying around.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
One of the Many Gripes about my Neighbors
Ok, so I have a LOT of issues with my neighbors that live right next to us, but this is one that takes the lead.
Its the "mother" screaming at the 4 year old, like the 4 year old is some sort of degenerate adult. I know its a bit hard to hear over their dog barking incessantly ...and then Mikeal talking right next to me. But I'm needing to know if anyone else is able to hear & understand what is being said and who its being said to and who's saying it. I know I can hear it because I hear it every flipping day! But I need to make sure someone else can hear it before I email it to one of the caseworkers at child services...because well, they can't prove that she's doing this unless they catch her, and if they're there the "mother" is on best type of behavior.
I feel very bad for this little girl and everything she's put thru by her "mother"...technically grandma as her bio mother was a teenager who didn't want to take care of her....I digress though.
Yes, I also know Mikaila is in a diaper and shirt, playing in my garden, with no shoes on, but she'd made her escape from the house. My yard also is in DESPERATE need of being mowed, but its been raining on and off for a week...but you can see the distinct line between my yard and the neighbor's yard...theirs is the tall grass on the other side of the propane tank.
Its the "mother" screaming at the 4 year old, like the 4 year old is some sort of degenerate adult. I know its a bit hard to hear over their dog barking incessantly ...and then Mikeal talking right next to me. But I'm needing to know if anyone else is able to hear & understand what is being said and who its being said to and who's saying it. I know I can hear it because I hear it every flipping day! But I need to make sure someone else can hear it before I email it to one of the caseworkers at child services...because well, they can't prove that she's doing this unless they catch her, and if they're there the "mother" is on best type of behavior.
I feel very bad for this little girl and everything she's put thru by her "mother"...technically grandma as her bio mother was a teenager who didn't want to take care of her....I digress though.
Yes, I also know Mikaila is in a diaper and shirt, playing in my garden, with no shoes on, but she'd made her escape from the house. My yard also is in DESPERATE need of being mowed, but its been raining on and off for a week...but you can see the distinct line between my yard and the neighbor's yard...theirs is the tall grass on the other side of the propane tank.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Well, I was going to do daily ToDo lists
but its just one of those things that keeps me at the computer for extra minutes during the day. LOL
But I am going to start working on a better schedule of some sort to help me get back on track, then stay on track.
My chores for tomorrow include :
Scrubbing the kitchen floor - I've been putting it off or just getting by with it the WetJet for much too long
Laundry to get put away - another thing that's been put off and put off
Winter clothes to go thru and get out, either put to wash or hung
"junk" cupboards to get cleaned out and organized - two of them have been used to just stash things in behind child proof latches
Two shelves to get hung back up in the living room - took them down the other day, didn't get a chance to get them back up.
Put up some other shelving up on the walls in the kids' room & living room - nixed this idea
Find the stupid cricket that is in the house and get rid of it...its DRIVING ME NUTS! Brian took care of this last night for me.
And last, but not least, actually the only thing I've been stressing about not being able to get done -is mow the lawn. It keeps raining every morning, and not drying out by the time Mikaila goes down for a nap, so I've been unable to get it done, my mom is going to be here tomorrow, JIC so I can just get it done. - nearly all done, one small section, the last section, still not done as we were ran out by Yellow Jackets, going to get rid of them later with boiling water and dish soap, once they think the coast is clear. :D
I also got the bedroom vacuumed and looking pretty again - YAY!
But I am going to start working on a better schedule of some sort to help me get back on track, then stay on track.
My chores for tomorrow include :
Winter clothes to go thru and get out, either put to wash or hung
"junk" cupboards to get cleaned out and organized - two of them have been used to just stash things in behind child proof latches
And last, but not least, actually the only thing I've been stressing about not being able to get done -
I also got the bedroom vacuumed and looking pretty again - YAY!
Some people
just can't seem to see past themselves. They're the only one who is right, everyone else is wrong, even when the rest of everyone else has the same problem...them and their attitude.
They ask for advice, only give one side of the oh so horrible situation, and when the other's side is mentioned its all lies and blasphemy.
I think proper advice can only be given when the whole situation is able to be examined. And quite frankly, bitching about your husband having relationship issues, because he's been married nearly half a dozen times, but failing to mention that you too have had just as many relationships, and more, to produce children, is not too fair to your husband to blame all the relationship problems on him. And going to countless counselors and quitting going to them because they tell you YOU have some issues that you need to address still does nothing to fix the problem. You both have problems, so you can either carry on as is, continue with having the problems until you call this relationship quits, and carry the issues onto your next relationships, or you can get over your issues with serious help, help that you actually take seriously, and build from that, react out of knowledge and logic as opposed to just throwing a tantrum.
OK, that is all.
They ask for advice, only give one side of the oh so horrible situation, and when the other's side is mentioned its all lies and blasphemy.
I think proper advice can only be given when the whole situation is able to be examined. And quite frankly, bitching about your husband having relationship issues, because he's been married nearly half a dozen times, but failing to mention that you too have had just as many relationships, and more, to produce children, is not too fair to your husband to blame all the relationship problems on him. And going to countless counselors and quitting going to them because they tell you YOU have some issues that you need to address still does nothing to fix the problem. You both have problems, so you can either carry on as is, continue with having the problems until you call this relationship quits, and carry the issues onto your next relationships, or you can get over your issues with serious help, help that you actually take seriously, and build from that, react out of knowledge and logic as opposed to just throwing a tantrum.
OK, that is all.
The Screeching
You'll want to turn your volume up...
as in way up...
that doesn't quite cut it..
Alright, fine, be that way, you're the one missing out on the full effect.
Now I hear this (at very top volume) on a VERY regular basis....
I just happened to of been able to be running the camera at this particular time, my mom is the one egging her on...
I'm warning you
Your Volume setting is not up high enough.
Now, you must realize this is not an isolated case of her screeching. This occurs for just about everything, at ALL hours of the day.
As I'm fumbling my way thru making her breakfast first thing in the morning I hear this, its generally associated with a little dance and squeals laughter.
During her morning shows...Word World especially...more squeals and shrieks of excitement.
While waiting for her lunch to be prepared, shrieks of irritation and annoyance, that I put whatever I'm fixing her, into the microwave, followed closely with tears and wailing, at this same level and volume, while tugging at my legs if I dare move away from the microwave...almost immediately followed, once again, by the shrieks of delight and excitement once the microwave has dinged.
This interchange of irritation/excitement shrieking starts right back up once we go outside to play for a bit after lunch.
After coming inside all excitement is gone and its all out shrieking until laid down for her nap...then there is peace.
It starts back up again when she awakens and finds out that her Bubba has returned from school, more excitement, then double excitement, mixed with a dance that it is then snack time.
If that's not enough, not her brother is home to share in the excessive noise making....games of chase and hide-n-seek around the furniture is a great favorite it seems. BOY! It gets LOUD.
The meltdowns and all out fits start as I'm getting dinner started. This behavior does not cease until dinner is served, then she's back to being happy shrieky giggles.
More happy shrieks are to come as bath time encroaches upon her....but MAN! They can sure make a mess of that tiny bathroom, I generally wind up soaked during her bath time.
Then she gets the sleepy sillies and her way of "recharging" herself is with more laughing giggly shrieking...
Eventually, roughly 5 hours later she will actually settle long enough to sleep...then its blessed peace for the next 8-10 hrs...
Ahhh
as in way up...
that doesn't quite cut it..
Alright, fine, be that way, you're the one missing out on the full effect.
Now I hear this (at very top volume) on a VERY regular basis....
I just happened to of been able to be running the camera at this particular time, my mom is the one egging her on...
I'm warning you
Your Volume setting is not up high enough.
Now, you must realize this is not an isolated case of her screeching. This occurs for just about everything, at ALL hours of the day.
As I'm fumbling my way thru making her breakfast first thing in the morning I hear this, its generally associated with a little dance and squeals laughter.
During her morning shows...Word World especially...more squeals and shrieks of excitement.
While waiting for her lunch to be prepared, shrieks of irritation and annoyance, that I put whatever I'm fixing her, into the microwave, followed closely with tears and wailing, at this same level and volume, while tugging at my legs if I dare move away from the microwave...almost immediately followed, once again, by the shrieks of delight and excitement once the microwave has dinged.
This interchange of irritation/excitement shrieking starts right back up once we go outside to play for a bit after lunch.
After coming inside all excitement is gone and its all out shrieking until laid down for her nap...then there is peace.
It starts back up again when she awakens and finds out that her Bubba has returned from school, more excitement, then double excitement, mixed with a dance that it is then snack time.
If that's not enough, not her brother is home to share in the excessive noise making....games of chase and hide-n-seek around the furniture is a great favorite it seems. BOY! It gets LOUD.
The meltdowns and all out fits start as I'm getting dinner started. This behavior does not cease until dinner is served, then she's back to being happy shrieky giggles.
More happy shrieks are to come as bath time encroaches upon her....but MAN! They can sure make a mess of that tiny bathroom, I generally wind up soaked during her bath time.
Then she gets the sleepy sillies and her way of "recharging" herself is with more laughing giggly shrieking...
Eventually, roughly 5 hours later she will actually settle long enough to sleep...then its blessed peace for the next 8-10 hrs...
Ahhh
Thursday, September 3, 2009
What the politicians all need...
is a Mommy figure!
Someone to step in, take away all their toys and privileges until they can all learn to get along and actually do their job!
A mommy who isn't afraid to smack their hands, put them in time-out, and can delegate who's in charge of what to get the most done in the shortest amount of time, and if they're unable to do so, steps in and shows them how to do it.
A mommy who knows how to budget on an low income and who doesn't give out "equal" privileges to everyone, just privileges to those who have earned it.
We've evolved into a country that everyone does what they want, when they want to, without consequence, and those who screw up the worse are the ones rewarded the best.
Mommies are given the lowest pay of all, yet have the "burden" of the most responsibilities. And most of them do it happily, not wishing to trade it for anything because they know they have an important job and take PRIDE in a job well done!
We're missing pride in a job well done here! They all want more money, and don't care who they squash in their efforts to get more.
Success is no longer measured in a job well done, only measured in the almighty dollar sign. Compassion has gone by the wayside, greed has taken over.
Take just the issue of health insurance -
All the insurance agencies stress how you need this insurance at (for my family) $1000 a month...."in case of something major". Because my husband and I don't have insurance we're given less than par medical help, doesn't matter our ability to pay the bills or not, we don't have insurance, so they're not going to actually do anything for us...tell us these things are in our head. My PCP has a cash price and a price for insurance. The cash price to see him is $70 a visit, the insurance price is a $30 co-pay from us, PLUS a bill of $150 to the insurance company. If we're to use the local hospital emergency room we're billed $1000 (average) for just the visit (with them willing to take at least 45% off that cost if we pay it off in 90 days)...that same bill, sent to an insurance agency, is upwards of $5000, with us having to pay a $2500 deductible (again, average). The higher insurance rates go up, the higher this difference is.
So is we had insurance for the family we'd pay roughly $12,000 a year just for the insurance. Based on our last year of ER visits and regular office visits our total of co-pays and deductibles would of been at least another $4000, not to neglect to mention prescriptions at about $1500 out of pocket expenses over the last year. So that's a grand total of $17,500 for just one year of "medical" expenses, with insurance. Instead, going with the cash option, settling out the bills at 45%, we spent a WHOLE grand total (after we finish paying off the bills) of ...are you sure you want to even know? Now remember, we would of paid out $17,500 if we had insurance, included in that total is the cost of the insurance... We paid, over the last 12 months, in medical expenses, this includes 2 ambulance assisted rides to the ER, just right at $10,000. That's a $7,500 SAVINGS over having insurance. Of course since we don't have insurance, Brian's trip to the ER, the one where his heart quit beating on the way to the hospital, where they tried to tell him it "just" was a kidney stone, until that test came back clean, but couldn't figure out why his body went BEET red, with 106* temp, sweating profusely, then completely dehydrated, they did a few x-rays, gave him lots of pain meds, for the cramping - cramping caused by the dehydration - did a CAT scan...after 8 hrs couldn't "find anything wrong with him", so sent him home, no reason for his symptons, maybe just an outcry for attention, a form of self-Munchhausen...Yea, because my husband knows how to, in the middle of the night, while sleeping, knows how to raise his body temp to 106*, knows how to turn his body beet red, and stop his heart....Yes, he'd been asleep for about 3-4 hrs before waking up in SEVERE pain. But there's "nothing wrong with him". I can almost guarantee you, with a 99% confidence that had he had insurance they would of found something wrong with him, even if it meant he had to see a ton of specialists.
I also feel that insurance should ONLY cover severe medical issues such as cancer, heart problems, and the like. Necessary meds should not cost a month's salary, in fact I don't feel that necessary meds should cost anything. Anything else should be an out of pocket charge, folks should be allowed to shop around for the best prices in their care and compare that cost with the care they receive, thus having the ultimate freedom to choose their own health care. I don't feel that charging someone a higher price or telling them they're not able to be covered because of "pre-existing" conditions is legitimate in any way.
So yes, we need a competent mommy to take a hold of things and get some sense knocked into these folks who are all about themselves and their bottom dollar.
The whole gas/oil fiasco, nothing more than a way to expand their own pockets. Only problem with that is that as they got greedier they sped up the process, knowing that everyone was at their mercy. They didn't care about the long term effects of this greed though...only cared about their own pockets, didn't take into consideration that everything would have to go up in price, that the economy that was already tottering on a bunch of maxed out credit cards, not to fail to mention the whole Madoff thing with mortgages and the like, it all needed a catalyst to blow up...and so it did. These things by themselves wouldn't of caused the blow-up, it was the combination of all of it.
I stand by it. There needs to be a mommy in charge of all of it, one who takes away everyone's toys until they can be fair and get along and do the right thing.
Someone to step in, take away all their toys and privileges until they can all learn to get along and actually do their job!
A mommy who isn't afraid to smack their hands, put them in time-out, and can delegate who's in charge of what to get the most done in the shortest amount of time, and if they're unable to do so, steps in and shows them how to do it.
A mommy who knows how to budget on an low income and who doesn't give out "equal" privileges to everyone, just privileges to those who have earned it.
We've evolved into a country that everyone does what they want, when they want to, without consequence, and those who screw up the worse are the ones rewarded the best.
Mommies are given the lowest pay of all, yet have the "burden" of the most responsibilities. And most of them do it happily, not wishing to trade it for anything because they know they have an important job and take PRIDE in a job well done!
We're missing pride in a job well done here! They all want more money, and don't care who they squash in their efforts to get more.
Success is no longer measured in a job well done, only measured in the almighty dollar sign. Compassion has gone by the wayside, greed has taken over.
Take just the issue of health insurance -
All the insurance agencies stress how you need this insurance at (for my family) $1000 a month...."in case of something major". Because my husband and I don't have insurance we're given less than par medical help, doesn't matter our ability to pay the bills or not, we don't have insurance, so they're not going to actually do anything for us...tell us these things are in our head. My PCP has a cash price and a price for insurance. The cash price to see him is $70 a visit, the insurance price is a $30 co-pay from us, PLUS a bill of $150 to the insurance company. If we're to use the local hospital emergency room we're billed $1000 (average) for just the visit (with them willing to take at least 45% off that cost if we pay it off in 90 days)...that same bill, sent to an insurance agency, is upwards of $5000, with us having to pay a $2500 deductible (again, average). The higher insurance rates go up, the higher this difference is.
So is we had insurance for the family we'd pay roughly $12,000 a year just for the insurance. Based on our last year of ER visits and regular office visits our total of co-pays and deductibles would of been at least another $4000, not to neglect to mention prescriptions at about $1500 out of pocket expenses over the last year. So that's a grand total of $17,500 for just one year of "medical" expenses, with insurance. Instead, going with the cash option, settling out the bills at 45%, we spent a WHOLE grand total (after we finish paying off the bills) of ...are you sure you want to even know? Now remember, we would of paid out $17,500 if we had insurance, included in that total is the cost of the insurance... We paid, over the last 12 months, in medical expenses, this includes 2 ambulance assisted rides to the ER, just right at $10,000. That's a $7,500 SAVINGS over having insurance. Of course since we don't have insurance, Brian's trip to the ER, the one where his heart quit beating on the way to the hospital, where they tried to tell him it "just" was a kidney stone, until that test came back clean, but couldn't figure out why his body went BEET red, with 106* temp, sweating profusely, then completely dehydrated, they did a few x-rays, gave him lots of pain meds, for the cramping - cramping caused by the dehydration - did a CAT scan...after 8 hrs couldn't "find anything wrong with him", so sent him home, no reason for his symptons, maybe just an outcry for attention, a form of self-Munchhausen...Yea, because my husband knows how to, in the middle of the night, while sleeping, knows how to raise his body temp to 106*, knows how to turn his body beet red, and stop his heart....Yes, he'd been asleep for about 3-4 hrs before waking up in SEVERE pain. But there's "nothing wrong with him". I can almost guarantee you, with a 99% confidence that had he had insurance they would of found something wrong with him, even if it meant he had to see a ton of specialists.
I also feel that insurance should ONLY cover severe medical issues such as cancer, heart problems, and the like. Necessary meds should not cost a month's salary, in fact I don't feel that necessary meds should cost anything. Anything else should be an out of pocket charge, folks should be allowed to shop around for the best prices in their care and compare that cost with the care they receive, thus having the ultimate freedom to choose their own health care. I don't feel that charging someone a higher price or telling them they're not able to be covered because of "pre-existing" conditions is legitimate in any way.
So yes, we need a competent mommy to take a hold of things and get some sense knocked into these folks who are all about themselves and their bottom dollar.
The whole gas/oil fiasco, nothing more than a way to expand their own pockets. Only problem with that is that as they got greedier they sped up the process, knowing that everyone was at their mercy. They didn't care about the long term effects of this greed though...only cared about their own pockets, didn't take into consideration that everything would have to go up in price, that the economy that was already tottering on a bunch of maxed out credit cards, not to fail to mention the whole Madoff thing with mortgages and the like, it all needed a catalyst to blow up...and so it did. These things by themselves wouldn't of caused the blow-up, it was the combination of all of it.
I stand by it. There needs to be a mommy in charge of all of it, one who takes away everyone's toys until they can be fair and get along and do the right thing.
Really Nice!
While double checking the bills I was surprised by two things : First, the electric bill...a staggering $121 this month...last month it was $64...BUT there's a $230 credit on my bill, so I have $110 left over for next month/the following month, especially since I'm not running the ACs much, if at all the last few weeks, my bill should be dropping back into the $45-75 range (depending on the bill date, compared with when I quit running the AC). If this weather pattern holds up until the 20th I'm going to be taking the window units out of the house, and putting them into the shed until next May/June...
The other surprise came on the phone bill...a $15 extra charge from one of those internet company things, where you put in your phone number for whatever. Fortunately my phone company doesn't make me pay that, but still, I have to deal with calling the company and making them give me back a credit...at least that's how its worked in the past....my phone company doesn't make me pay it, just write it off, and then the company charging me gives me a 2-3 month credit back on my bill...my bill is normally $17 a month, so a 2-3 month credit of $15 each month means a $30-45 credit...I might not have to pay an electric or phone bill for a month or two. Cha-CHING!
In other news, I'm trying to get Mikaila into a better sleeping pattern so am going to start waking her earlier and earlier over this coming week in hopes that she'll go to sleep earlier. I got her up roughly 1.5 hrs "early" ...at 9am...and she is not grouchy and woke up easy, I'm counting this as a good sign.
The other surprise came on the phone bill...a $15 extra charge from one of those internet company things, where you put in your phone number for whatever. Fortunately my phone company doesn't make me pay that, but still, I have to deal with calling the company and making them give me back a credit...at least that's how its worked in the past....my phone company doesn't make me pay it, just write it off, and then the company charging me gives me a 2-3 month credit back on my bill...my bill is normally $17 a month, so a 2-3 month credit of $15 each month means a $30-45 credit...I might not have to pay an electric or phone bill for a month or two. Cha-CHING!
In other news, I'm trying to get Mikaila into a better sleeping pattern so am going to start waking her earlier and earlier over this coming week in hopes that she'll go to sleep earlier. I got her up roughly 1.5 hrs "early" ...at 9am...and she is not grouchy and woke up easy, I'm counting this as a good sign.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
To Do List Sept 03
7:00am Get up, get Mikeal up, ready for school
7:30amMikeal off to school onto the bus
8:00amStraighten kitchen & laundry room
8:30amStart getting Mikaila out of bed.
9:00amBreakfast
9:30amFeed & water pets, clean litter box
10:00am Make some breakfast burritos for the freezer
10:30am
11:00am
11:30amLunch
12:00pmGo to Grove, pay bills, do light shopping
12:30pm --
1:00pm --
1:30pm --
2:00pmMikaila down for a nap
2:30pm dusting to get done
3:00pm Clean kitchen, scrub floors
3:30pm
4:00pmMikeal home from school, snacks, homework
4:30pmDinner prep
5:00pmStart dinner
5:30pm
6:00pm
6:30pmClean-up from dinner
7:00pm
7:30pm baths
8:00pm Mikeal bed
8:30pm Living room cleaned up
9:00pm
9:30pm
10:00pm Feed & water pets, pick-up obstacles, clean bathroom, double check Brian's lunch is ready
7:30am
8:00am
8:30am
9:00am
9:30am
10:00am Make some breakfast burritos for the freezer
10:30am
11:00am
11:30am
12:00pm
12:30pm --
1:00pm --
1:30pm --
2:00pm
2:30pm dusting to get done
3:00pm Clean kitchen, scrub floors
3:30pm
4:00pm
4:30pm
5:00pm
5:30pm
6:00pm
6:30pm
7:00pm
7:30pm baths
8:00pm Mikeal bed
8:30pm Living room cleaned up
9:00pm
9:30pm
10:00pm Feed & water pets, pick-up obstacles, clean bathroom, double check Brian's lunch is ready
Today's Goals.
I REALLY need to get back on track with my regular to-do lists. Somewhere in the last few weeks/months I've lost track...completely...and it SHOWS, horridly.
I know its fairly late in the afternoon, so I'm going to just start with my evening to-do list.
4:00pm -Mikeal is home from school, snacks, homework, day's dishes
4:30pm -start dinner prep, wipe out fridge
5:00pm -start dinner
6:30pm -dinner clean-up
7:00pm - sweep & mop kitchen
7:30pm -baths
8:00pm -Mikeal to bed
8:30pm -living room pick-up
9:00pm - laundry put away
9:30pm -set-out dinner for tomorrow
10:00pm -make sure Brian has lunch for tomorrow, pets fed and watered, bathroom wiped down, obstacles removed from floors
The times are to just give me a frame to work with of when I need to start something, or I hope to have something done by that time.
Dishes done : 4:04pm
Fridge cleaned out & those dishes done : 4:45pm
Living room picked up and vacuumed : 4:55pm
Dinner prepped and going : 5:30pm, will be done soon
Dinner done and cleaned up from...minus the kids' plates that they're still eating on : 6:00pm
I know its fairly late in the afternoon, so I'm going to just start with my evening to-do list.
4:00pm -
4:30pm -
5:00pm -
6:30pm -
7:00pm - sweep & mop kitchen
7:30pm -
8:00pm -
8:30pm -
9:00pm - laundry put away
9:30pm -
10:00pm -
The times are to just give me a frame to work with of when I need to start something, or I hope to have something done by that time.
Dishes done : 4:04pm
Fridge cleaned out & those dishes done : 4:45pm
Living room picked up and vacuumed : 4:55pm
Dinner prepped and going : 5:30pm, will be done soon
Dinner done and cleaned up from...minus the kids' plates that they're still eating on : 6:00pm
Butter - the New Cleaning Product
It seems to work quite PERFECTLY, if I must admit to it.
Seems in my pre-coffee stupor while making some breakfast I left the butter out on the counter...
Wanna see where this is going?
She was PISSED that I found out what she was up to, while I was in the bathroom...I swear she's on a mission to completely prove that I absolutely cannot even take a potty break...
The reason I say it works perfectly as a cleaning product - I had to scrub all of it with HOT soapy water - three times now, to get all the residue cleaned up....
Seems in my pre-coffee stupor while making some breakfast I left the butter out on the counter...
Wanna see where this is going?
She was PISSED that I found out what she was up to, while I was in the bathroom...I swear she's on a mission to completely prove that I absolutely cannot even take a potty break...
The reason I say it works perfectly as a cleaning product - I had to scrub all of it with HOT soapy water - three times now, to get all the residue cleaned up....
Breakfast
A couple of months ago my mom taught Mikaila how to eat cereal with milk, and how to drink the milk out of the bowl. It became one of her favorite breakfasts to have...then she realized the mess potential...so I had to lay off the milk.
But it works out fairly well. Instead of milk I've put in yogurt or applesauce. I also cut up a variety of other fruits to put in it ...she LOVES it!
I absolutely love the little dances she does when she realizes what she's getting, she gets super excited over bananas, its adorable.
On the bright side we've been subbing the milk for yogurt or applesauce for a while now and those are the least messy breakfasts, with the exception being scrambled eggs, toast, and fruit, she does well with eating that as well.
I'm so thankful she's not a picky eater! Mikeal was one VERY picky eater..and still is to a point..and it was a constant headache. With Mikaila I've been able to expand our cuisine to involve a great number of exotic things, LOVING it! I haven't found anything that she just doesn't seem to like.
But it works out fairly well. Instead of milk I've put in yogurt or applesauce. I also cut up a variety of other fruits to put in it ...she LOVES it!
I absolutely love the little dances she does when she realizes what she's getting, she gets super excited over bananas, its adorable.
On the bright side we've been subbing the milk for yogurt or applesauce for a while now and those are the least messy breakfasts, with the exception being scrambled eggs, toast, and fruit, she does well with eating that as well.
I'm so thankful she's not a picky eater! Mikeal was one VERY picky eater..and still is to a point..and it was a constant headache. With Mikaila I've been able to expand our cuisine to involve a great number of exotic things, LOVING it! I haven't found anything that she just doesn't seem to like.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
State the Obvious?
He's on his 5th marriage.
She has 5 kids with 4 different men.
They married after just knowing each other 3 months, while she was pg with some other dude's kid.
They've cut both their extended families out of their lives, so its just them and the 5 kids.
She can't stand doing anything church related, he's bordering OCD about it.
Neither of them work, living off child support payments of the older 2 kids, welfare, and charity.
Yea...I can see this lasting for the long haul.
She has 5 kids with 4 different men.
They married after just knowing each other 3 months, while she was pg with some other dude's kid.
They've cut both their extended families out of their lives, so its just them and the 5 kids.
She can't stand doing anything church related, he's bordering OCD about it.
Neither of them work, living off child support payments of the older 2 kids, welfare, and charity.
Yea...I can see this lasting for the long haul.
UGH! Digi camera Woes.
I bought a (cheap) Kodak Easy Share 6.2 megapixel digi camera last year. The first one I got I dropped it in a few days and broke the flash bulb, no biggie, took it back to exchange it, after a little bit of hassle walked out of there with a new camera. This new one has done well for me, I just have a 1G SD card for it, but that was never a problem until recently. Since my camera to computer connection decided just to not work.
OK...so its proven me a liar. For the last month + I have not been able to get anything off of my camera, period, onto my computer...as I'm typing this, trying it yet again, it worked like there's never been anything wrong with it. Most annoying for it to "call me a liar"...but I'm VERY happy that it's working now. Hopefully it doesn't crap out on my part way thru and I'm able to get some new pictures up and some videos up as well. YAYAYAYAYAY!!!
OK...so its proven me a liar. For the last month + I have not been able to get anything off of my camera, period, onto my computer...as I'm typing this, trying it yet again, it worked like there's never been anything wrong with it. Most annoying for it to "call me a liar"...but I'm VERY happy that it's working now. Hopefully it doesn't crap out on my part way thru and I'm able to get some new pictures up and some videos up as well. YAYAYAYAYAY!!!
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