I may like diet soda, but I do NOT like xp. Ok.. so its different, and getting used to different things takes some work. Already I see very good aspects and very bad aspects about this stupid machine. I ended up spending almost two hours trying to get the right mail folders in my OE so all my mail on my old machine would be on my new machine. Why on earth is the application data in a folder labled temp? *swats at who's ever nose belongs to that idea* I also am not too keen on that start up menu.. but then again.. its probably just cause its different... although I didn't have this problem going from 95 to 98.. yes yes yes.. those are too similar, but I had NO problem going from 3.1 to 95.. so there!

this keyboard is kinda cool though. No hot keys so its smaller, and its technically called a "quiet" keyboard.. and surprisingly it kinda is... well its quieter anyway. Just nee to transfer over the warentee.. waruntee? man I need to learn how to spell that word. sigh.

I spent four hours this morning writing thank you notes to people who stopped by the open house the shelter had. four hours. ugh. I don't think my back will ever straighten out.... cause I foolishly wrote them while in bed.. I do everything on my bed :).. well except surf.. but I used to.

I need to run some errands today. I can put them off till this evening though, so I think I'll work out and take a shower and see how Im doing.

on a side note.. to top off the frustration of dealing with this system, my cable company decided to rearrange a bunch of the stations last night... so half of them were out when I went to bed.. (I watch tv to fall asleep) and that annoyed me so much I couldn't get to sleep. I came out and was going to watch tv on the cable box, and neither that, nor tivo knew that time warner changed the channels. The cable box found out about that some time this morning, but my tivo still doesn't know. Time Warner SUCKS!

I can't believe I actually like diet soda now. A while back I went on a calorie counting diet, and using so many calories for something to drink was pointless to me, so I started drinking a lot of water, but as you know after a while water gets very bland and tasteless, and you just cant handle any more of it, no matter how thirsty you are. I started with diet dew, cause I LOVE dew, and the diet version wasn't so bad. But on a calorie restrictive diet the caffiene really gives you - well me anyway - the shakes. Which was really strange as I used to drink TONS of dew and I never had a problem with it. So I searched for caffiene free diet dew (Ive seen it, I know I have) but I couldn't find it (probably cause I used to joke about it, wondering what the point was) I decided to try diet pepsi with lemon.. it wasn't great, but it was drinkable. I tried a diet coke with lemon, and EEEWW.. the lemon in that is more like a scent, and it reminded me of lemon dish soap. *shiver* I was out with a friend, and we stopped to get sodas. The only diet they had was pepsi, so I got one of those, and it was actually tasty. I was shocked. So Ive started drinking regular diet pepsi (has caffiene but way less).. so now Im drinking a ton of it, which isn't the best thing, cause I think its actually dehydrating me.. :)

Unfortunately they put way WAY too much carbonation in it.. I spent a good 10 minutes getting it out.. and surprisingly its still not flat.

Im taking a break from cleaning. Ok, I haven't officially started cleaning, I was exercising first. I just finished lunch.. and NOW its cleaning time (or is it exercise time again since Im a few days behind) Ive been doing very well on my exercising. I record a soap opera, and exercise to that cause when you forward over the commercials there is 40 minutes of show five days a week that you never have to worry about being a repeat, and you always know how up to date or behind you are on your exercise. Only thing is when the story lines get thin, that 40 minutes seems to take FOREVER.. Im currently three days behind, but I have saturday and sunday to catch up, as long as I do two episodes on one day I'll be caught up by monday. Hum.. exercise, or clean.. hum.. well.. I really want this christmas tree out of here as its turning brown... so I should probably clean to clear a path to the door. Im really surprised this tree turned so fast. the place we got it from we have gotten our trees there for years, and they have always survived wonderfully.. two years ago it actually started growing.

but then again, the kitties are telling me I should take a nap. Those kitties are evil ;)

let it snow let it snow let it snow.

actually, the snow is finally over. It started snowing christmas day around 11am, and stopped sometime this morning. we now have about two feet of snow. Fun fun. I need to get up off my butt and get out and do some shopping, but for some reason Im a little dizzy this morning. *sigh*

So.. lets see.. where did I leave off.. on the 23rd, baking hun? well Not much exciting happened that night. The 24th we traveled up to see my sister. She's doing fine. We had pork pie for dinner. we gave our gifties to the boy, who LOVED the screaming squishy monkey I gave him, hated the books (I so knew he would) and thought the bath goodies were cool, but LOVED the hot wheels he got. I found a gift bucket of hot wheels. the boy kept asking if it was for him (cause I don't use gift tags - and besides he can't read anyway) cause it should be for him cause he likes hot wheels :) I had rewrapped the gift bucket cause I had put a hotwheels set in it.. crash canyon. That went over VERY well. He eventually went to bed, and then we got to play santa.. wrapping gifts, putting together a rescue heros set. He left cookies for santa by the fireplace, and put carrots out for the raindeer out by the front door (THE FRONT DOOR!?!?! aren't the raindeer on the roof??- oh well) Santa left his presents by the fire place, while mom and dad's presents went by the tree. I didn't grow up with a fire place, santa always left our gifts under the tree... but then again when we were little all gifts came from santa.

We came home kinda late. went to bed. Got up later. unwrapped gifts, played with the kitties, watched some movies (which I rented to use on the new dvd player) two of the movies worked fine, two of them made everything show up in black and white. Its frustrating cause we aren't 100% sure if it is the disk or player. Im thinking its the disks, but that doesn't make much sence at all.

Had a nice roast beef dinner. Tried to have it on the porch to watch the snow fall, but even with the door wide open and a heater on full blast, the room was freezing, and the food was getting cold before you could eat it.

Im going out today. Going to return a few small things the hubby got me. Im not telling him though. I probably should, since he might find out about it.. but Im thinking he wont, and I really don't want to tell him he didn't do a good job buying me gifts. I usually do, under the premise that he would want to know so he would know for next time. But he did really well this year, there is just a few things that are really redundant, and it seems like a waste of money to keep them. So Im going out, and Im going to take advantage of the sales.. *makes big note on self - do not buy any more christmas cards!!!*

Its here!! Its here!! Its here!!!

I ordered a computer off ebay last week, and it arrived today!! 2.4 256.. im going to be screaming on the net come christmas (yes.. I can't open it till then.. but at least its here!!) I was going to go to the shelter today to get some food and meds for the kittens but the tracking number said it was due to arrive today and I didn't know when, so I decided to hang out. I kept panicing that he wouldn't find the place, or something was going to go wrong. :)

I got it in the house, and after the UPS guy left, jack was sitting next to the box, so I did the happy dance and asked jack if he was happy, he looked at me and said "its a box! and I can't even get inside it! you silly woman". He then went into the livingroom. I called the hubby to let him know it arrived, and them proceeded to come on line to blog, and I saw my mouse was on the floor. I actually have a wireless trackball (which I SOOOO totally love) I picked it up and the ball was missing. I looked up and jack was attacking something on the other side of the room. I asked him if he was playing with my ball, and he just looked at me as if to say "well that's all computers are good for you know" and proceeded to continue to attack the ball. I had to throw him to the side to get it.

Oven is beeping.. brb

I tell you this only as a segue.. cause I was trying to get a few things off my todo list as I waited. I made cashew brittle.. and a very large gingerbread man. I took a whole roll of refrigerated gingerbread cookie dough and put it in a cookie pan in the shape of a ginerbread man I got last year for christmas. The lable was still on it, and put on it with regular ol white tape.... which was a pain in the tushie to get off till I remembered the miracle of baking soda. man that stuff is amazing. poof.. off it came.

Apparently my family is NOT going on a trip now. *rolls eyes*. Now I admit, that is a good idea with what just happened to my sister, but all this hastle and frustration and now they aren't even going. I say apparently cause they haven't actually told me directly.. but her hubby called to invite us to christmas dinner. Um.. HELLO.. do ya think I might have made plans! So we are still just going to go up on christmas eve. He said my parents were still planning on going on christmas eve. He again mentioned we could spend the night. again.. hello.. *points to cat who needs us twice a day* *takes deep breath and reminds self he's probably in a very very stressful place right now - but then that little voice in the back of my head says but he is- and they are- always like this* Oh well. Its family.. got to give them a nice wide bearth. *big fake grin*

ho ho ho.. who wouldn't go up on the roof top with good saint nick.. *puts on santa's hat and runs to the shelter*

I had a good trip to NYC. a friend and I drove to Medford CT, stayed the night at a comfort in, had dinner at a cracker barrel, had beef stew that was tomato based, which was interesting and not how I normally prepair it. In the morning we took the train in. Ended up at grand central station. Went out on to 42nd street. Walked south instead of north cause there seemed to be more light that way, after a few blocks I asked someone who was fixing an awning and he said it was the other way, so we turned around. Walked past lord and taylor where they had wonderful window displays, and somewhere else that also had nice window displays.. L&T had the nutcracker story, the other had what I think was the princess and the pea. Saw cartier all decked out in the bow again. Got to FAO, saw lots of people in neopet jackets, saw a person in a kougra outfit (VERY nice outfit) and got pictures taken with him, saw some neopet items. Found someone handing out rare item code cards. I said "Hi! We are big Neopet fans, we drove all the way down from Maine. Who are you?". The first one was the head of the legal department. We talked to her a little, then went outside, and introduced ourselves to a few other people. I was a little disappointed in the attitudes of the employees. They seemed happy that fans came out, but not one of them seemed the least bit interested in our opinion of the site or our feedback on it. I kept waiting for an opening, but it seemed pretty obvious they didn't want it... which I can understand on some level since they would probably feel overwhelmed, but on another level it just enforces my opinion that neopets needs a major customer service attitude adjustment. In my opinion of a user of the site for three years that they totally no longer care about their users. They continue to make the site interesting for users, so there for they keep getting new ones, but they keep pissing off their long time users. They have rules they have never advertised, then freeze people for breaking them, and wont respond to most email inquiries asking for clarification to make sure you don't, nor do they respond to anyone having issues with the site. Again, I understand they get thousands of emails from people, but they really do need to respond to some of them. Met the dohring dude. Don? anyway.. we told him we came down from maine JUST to go to this event. I said we were probably the ones who came the farthest. He said he talked to someone who came from Portland OR. I doubted that she came just for the event. she was probably intending to be in the area anyway (cause he said she had family in NJ) for the holidays. He offered us a rare item code card, and we said yes, and when he gave it to us, he saw that we had some already, and you could tell he was annoyed we got more than one. We stood around a bit. Introduced outself to someone else. Was a neopet artist. I asked him what he drew, he said everything, so I asked him to draw a picture of my pet, which is a halloween jubjub (named keeely for those of you reading this who have no idea what Im talking about, click here) which he did, and its really cute, and I love it. Again we stood around for a bit, then I asked the dohring dude if he had seen joe. joe is a guy who is on the same yahoo chat board i am, and he said he was going. I explained that it was probably a stupid question, but joe said he was going to be there, and he was going to be obvious, and the dohring dude remembered him, and actually offered to help us find him. We didn't. We waited a few more minutes, then left.

Headed back, missed that train (they ran on the hour) so we decided to see if there was a krispy kreme shop in the station. We had found one in medford (which is why we chose to stay the night there) and may I tell you that I am glad I bought stock in the company. I bought it with out even tasting a KK donut... and they are SO worth it. When one opens up in MA I will be traveling down to it. So we wanted to find one in the station because I was pretty sure there was one, and we didn't want to have to try to find the one in medford again, cause we had gotten a little turned around trying to find the train station. after asking about 10 people we found some place that sold them. It wasn't a KK.. but just some place that had them. I got some anyway. I also found a juniors cheesecake retailer. I had heard a LOT about juniors on QVC (or was it HSN?).. so I bought a small one to bring home. We then found the right train, took it back to medford and went home. On the way there was the weirdest storm in front of us. It looked like someone dropped a wad of cotton in front of us... or maybe a really really wide tornado. I took some pictures of it. It got out of our way though. We know cause the roads were all wet. Got back to NH where onegoldtaz (my traveling compainion) lives, and she and her hubby invited me out to dinner at fridays. I had just spent 24 hours with this woman, and then we went to dinner, and not once (well except for the train which was loud) we did not run out of something to talk about. :) her kids are really cool too. towards the end of dinner we actually started quoting monty python. :)

I drove home, got home and found out that my sister who is quite pregnant had fallen and was having contractions. Not sure what fell means. I got the sketchiest of details. One phone call that said she was fine. and a few emails that said she was in the hospital, she wasn't in the hospital, then that she was in the hospital again and would be for 72 hours - which would put her in there for christmas. Got a phone call today saying they were moving her from the hospital she was in to another one. Then got another phone call saying she was fine and was going to leave the hospital tomorrow. I was going to go see her today, but I could barely get out of bed, Im really not feeling very well at all. I think its just exhaustion. I really need to make a point to go see her though.. although I was going to go up tuesday anyway.. and tomorrow my computer is coming in, and I so don't want them to not leave it :) well that and Im sure she'd just rather be able to rest. I'll give her a call and see what's up.

Im also having issues with that board I was talking about. I don't really want to get into it cause I don't want my words thrown back at me and I know they will be cause they usually are. It would be downright laffable if it wasn't such a soar spot. Oh well. I'll just take a break and rest up, and Im sure I'll find it a minor trival thing.

All I Need to Know about Life
I Learned From a Snowman.... "

It's okay if you're a little bottom heavy.

Hold your ground, even when the heat is on.

Wearing white is always appropriate.

Winter is the best of the four seasons.

It takes a few extra rolls to make a good midsection.

There's nothing better than a foul weather friend.

The key to life is to be a jolly, happy soul.

It's not the size of the carrot, but the placement
that counts.

We're all made up of mostly water.

You know you've made it when they write a
song about you.

Accessorize! Accessorize! Accessorize!

Avoid yellow snow. Don't get too much sun.

It's embarrassing when you can't look down
and see your feet.

It's fun to hang out in your front yard.

Always put your best foot forward.

There's no stopping you once you're on a roll

well Im home. Had a great time. Very tiring though.
Got home though and found out my sister fell and went into labor. She's not due till april. They had stopped the contractions, but then they started up again. She's in the hopsital for the next 72 hours.

I'll tell you about the trip later. Soon as I get these bricks off my head.

I went out yesterday.. Tried to get a bunch of last minute things done so I wouldn't be so rushed today.. but did I remember to return my college books? noooooo... is today the last day to return them. Yup. *rolls eyes* So I have to go out yet again. Told hubby I would try to meet him for lunch as I am leaving town today.. but that so just ruins everything else on my todo list. sigh. oh well. Wrapping can wait. Cooking can wait.. *big cheezy grin* Im going to NYC! :)

*makes note to pick up some real live cash type stuff.. oh and I should probably find my licence too hun?*

on an off note. Someone has given my website out to spammers. Every night I get 5-10 entries promoting sex websites. Sigh. Thank goodness for dreambook so I can just remove them... and ban the ip's from signing again - not that that helps because they just get new ones, but its getting to the point where Im considering taking down my guestbook. - some people really do need to get a life.

I had some freaky dreams last night. two were disaster type dreams where I turned out to be the hero, the other was just mean and nasty. I had gotten my period. I haven't had one of those in years and years thanks to depo provera. The four time a year shot. I personally get down on my knees and thank the person who invented that. I hate the whole womanly thing. Never did buy into the claptrap that some how romantisizes having a period. To me its just messy, painful, a total inconvenience, and well, frankly I dreaded it each and every month. I started mine the day before sixth grade (which was in a new school building) First day of class I blead right through my nice new skirt. Fortunately my mother works there, and soon life was saved. Although it then proceeded to last for another seven days. Yup.. I had some of the longest periods when I first started. I fell in love with the pill when I went on it. Cut those things down from 8-9 days and on the worlds most irratic schedual to 2-3 days and I always knew when they were going to be. But.. the problem with the pill is if perchance you forget it for a couple of days you get some mighty nasty cramps. (I wasn't much good at remmebering it in my younger days).

I love depo. I know its not for everyone. It can have some physical and emotional consequences. Also if you are ever going to try to get pregnant you have to wait a while after your last shot to try to be safe, and if perchance your pregnant when you get a shot it pretty much puts an end to that, but if your considering it, you should ask your doctor! :)

This has been my anual - thank God I don't have periods any more soap box moment. We now return you to your regularly schedualed blog moment.

ok.. one more day of shopping and I'll be done with christmas... then I just have to wrap, and cook, and clean.. man its no wonder Im starting not to like this holiday very much. well then there's the whole ... well we're not going to get into that. Why on earth does it have to be so stressful?

Looks like Im still going to NYC on friday/saturday. Jealous? Im a little overwhelmed by it all, but I think it should be quite the adventure. *makes note to get actual cash* Yup.. Im coming home on saturday.. Im going to be exhaused..

The turkey soup I made is almost gone. Probably a good thing since that turkey is getting kinda old. Its good when you add some salt, pepper and garlic powder.

Bought a computer on ebay last night. 2.4ghz 256ram winxp home.. dell.. 700$ shipped. there was one for 749 that was 1.8 128 but it came with an LCD monitor. Here's hoping that it makes it here by christmas!

btw.. can someone explain to me how iraq can prove the don't have weapons in a report?

aaaarrrggghhh!! I just spent three hours watching the movie the lord of the rings.. and MAN what friggen ending that was!! I am SO glad I didn't go see that in the theatre. I was wondering why it hadn't been released out on the movie channels before the second one came out (like harry potter was) and now I know why.

The whole situation with the cookies was worked out. After just about 12 years he still hasn't figured out when I over react he needs to take a step back and realize my feelings are hurt. He just sees me over reacting and gets all upset himself, thinking that I am just over reacting and I shouldn't be. *rolls eyes*

I am finally finished with classes and stuff for the year. Now.. the major decision.. do I take another one or two? Part of me really wants to cause I so enjoyed my spreadsheet class. Part of me really really does not as I hated my speaking class. I got a course schedual, Im going to look. I'll need to make the decision soon, and decide if I want to go full tilt next fall, and apply for financial aid.

I need to come up with a christmas gift for my dad. He mentioned he's going to get one for me. On the whole my family isn't doing gifts as everyone but me is going on a nice little trip. Im thinking of making cashew brittle. He liked that when I made it a couple of years ago.

Which Peanuts Character Are You Quiz

Sigh. I went through all the trouble and hastle of making dinner and cookies for the hubby, and not only does he only eat half his bowl of soup, he totally ruined a bunch of the cookies. The timer went off a few moments after he walked in the door so I asked him to take them out of the oven. He proceeded to take them off the cookie sheet and layed them over other cookies..

I just want to cry..

goodness.. I really love jack.. *scratches under his chin as he's sitting here purring and waiting for a bite of my breakfast*

Yesterday was a clean the house day. I wasn't on line very much. I started with my underware draw cause all of my bras were a mess. I couldn't find anything, and the hooks from one were stuck to another.. So I went through it and threw out some old ones, and actuall organized the rest by putting them in sealable sandwich baggies. Looks a little anal, but at least I can easily get what I want and they wont damage each other. Threw out a bunch of perfectly good underwear that I never wear any more too. Moved it all into my old sock draw (aren't you totally thrilled?) and then put my jeans in my old underware draw so that I could have more room for my sweaters on the shelf the sweaters and jeans were on. I then organized my silk pj's.. put them in gallon sized resealable bags. then I organized my regular pjs. Then.. I went downstairs.

I reorganized the kitten room. THAT was a bit of work. I want to put my beanies down there. They are currently all in boxes on my halfwall in the livingroom. I want to put them downstairs.... mostly for a change, but also cause I think it will be good insulation for that room that is always at least 10 degrees colder than the rest of the house.

When that room was mostly put back together (I didn't vaccuum cause it seemed pointless) I then went and put the downstairs back together. Hubby tore apart the storage area looking for christmas decorations. I went through the boxes and pulled out those I wanted up here as well, and put the rest back in organized fashion, leaving the box of boxes out front along with the bag of bows and the box of wrap. Once that was done I then had a pile of stuff in the hallway waiting to come upstairs. I dragged it all up, and did my best to put it all away. A lot of it went out into the sun room to decorate the fake tree we have out there... looks kinda nice now.. pumpkins, polar bears, and gingerbread men.. lol. Got to love my eclectic style.

my next project was the livingroom, but my sinuses and my total lack of sleep the night before (I didn't get to bed till about 2) made me give up. I went to take a nap, layed down at around 2:30, didn't wake up till almost five. So much for cooking and baking. I was also a mess when I woke up. Seemed to have a fever, and had absolutely no energy.

Today Im torn between baking, cleaning, and making some returns.. what I really want to do is just be a bump on a log all day. But I know there isn't enough on tv today to enjoy it.

I went out shopping yesterday. Ended up buying more stuff for myself than christmas presents. What is it with this time of year and all the really cute stuff? I bought lots of polar bear stuff, including a cute pair of undies. You wouldn't believe the number of polar bear jammies out there now.. were they there before? NOooo.. I think this is the year of the polar bear, which is annoying cause Im going to go broke!! *rolls eyes*

Im just about done shopping. Will have to go out one more time.

I went out today as well though. Went looking for a new dress for the annual christmas party for the hubby's work. Its always really nice and the one time you get to get all dressed up. For a number of years I created my own dresses out of christmas fabric. They were always a big hit, but someone *stares at the kitties* distroyed my favorite pattern, and I haven't found a good one to replace it. for the past couple of years Ive work 'recycled' dresses. I wanted something new and fancy. I saw one at filenes... it was incredible.. black, and floor length, with a slight train with beading on the train part, and it was backless, with beading around the back.. I almost bought it but I totally don't like my back, so I didn't. I actually found one at an odd lot outlet store. Very sexy.. very nice. only $47. I found a blue beaded skirt too.. was only 9$ Found a couple of good cheep sweaters too. They were having an incredible sale. Went to aj moore, found some other really cute shirts.

Went to the movies last night. Went to see treasure planet. Was very good. We got free passes when we went to the disney store a while ago. I looked at them and realized they expired on the 9th. We called one local theatre and asked if they would take them anyway, they said no. So we decided just to go to the other one, and not mention they were expired. The guy took them. Although he also let like six of his buddies in to the show as well, and they would not shut up.

Tomorrow is a day of cleaning and putting the house back in order. Its also supposed to snow... so it might be a cooking day too .. hum.. recover and distroy all in one day. should be fun!

yea! The plant that I thought I had killed.. the one I bought while my dad was in the hospital.. the one I overwatered and over 50% of it died, and only 25% of the remaining was unaffected.. that plant BLOOMED!! yea!!

My spreadsheet project is done.. yea! my speech is done.. yea! the tree is decorated.. yea!! a couple of things Im selling on ebay have sold.. yea!.. :)

and since Ive been so consumed with the above stuff I really haven't been paying attention to life, so Im going to take the rest of this blog and tell you about a few products in my life that I really like.

• 
  Puffs plus. Nuff said.
  
• Sarah Lee Cranberry honey mustard. YUM!!
  
• Mentadent whiting tooth brush. This is one really weird toothbrush... but I do recommend it.
  
• Easy mac.. instant mac and cheese.. how can you possibly go wrong. and considering it is cheezy and mac... mac-y.. its pretty low in calories
  
• diet pepsi twist. Way too much fizz.. but once you defizz it, its pretty good, and zero calories.
  
• cheez-it cheddar jack. Do not bring this into my house and expect to leave with them. :)
  
• Home made peanut butter fudge found at christmas fairs, that is slightly grainy, and very yummy. Um.. see puffs pluss
  
• Ben and Jerrys ... I was going to go into specific flavors.. but you know.. as long as it doesn't have nuts in it, its yummy.
  
• Cadbury Wunderbars. avalible only in Canada. which is totally unfair
  
• After Eight mints.. Surprisingly since I hate mint in general.
  
• Shaw's (a local grocery store) brand flavored water in strawberry mist. really pretty good considering there are no calories.
  
• Dr. Soy Iced Oatmeal soy protein bar. Dr. Soy makes some incredible soy products.. but I recommend staying away from the chocolate covered soy beans. They are NOT like chocolate covered peanuts. The soy chocolate chip cookies they make though, again, quite good. And ya know, soy is good for you.
  
• My multivitamin and fiber supplements. Yea.. store brand.. but both are important. Most people don't get enough of both.
  
• Physique moisturizing shampoo. I have a hard time keeping my hands out of my hair when using this.
  

*looks over list. LOL.. most of it is food. I really haven't done much else but study and eat and sleep lately. The speech was this afternoon.. went fairly well.. except I generated enough static eletricity that I shut the vcr off in the middle of my presentation. *rolls eyes* but I went after the worst girl in the class.. which made it a little easier on my nerves. The guy who was normally one of the worst gave a really good speech. One woman gave her's on why you should shop on line for christmas. She recommended using your debit card when shopping on line. I had to restrain myself from jumping up and telling her NOOOOOOOOO.. for those of you who do not know, using your debit credit card (the ones that come out of your checking account) are NOT protected from on line fraud. Credit cards are. If perchance your card number is stolen you are responsible for all charges on your debit card, and since debit cards aren't processed right away, don't let your lack of funds in your account give you a false sence of security. All major credit card have fraud protection and you wont have to pay a penny.

*sucks the scraps of peanut butter fudge out of the wrapper* Jack was waiting for me by the door when I got home from class tonight. Man I love that cat. *puts sticky note on computer to make jack a webpage*

Id also like to appologise to my friends who I have been kinda "ignoring". Not intentionally.. Im just really overwhelmed with school and still with the not feeling well. Im still sitting in this chair but Im feeling like I should go to bed. But I have a speech I need to work on and a spreadsheeting project that is coming along nicely cause Im blowing off my speech. Except for one chatboard, Im being pretty unobservant of other things. Forgive me?

I am so sick. sick sick sick sick sick. blech. I woke up this morning with my right gland (in my neck) swollen to the size of a super ball. I couldn't swallow anything with out a great deal of pain. I figured Id go to the doctors instead of the shelter this morning, then promptly fell back asleep. When I woke up it wasn't nearly as bad. Still hurt, but I could swallow. weird thing was, my left nostril was running like a leaky faucet. Just the left one. Go figure. Anyway. after taking some cold pills and sleeping some more I woke up feeling half human so I decided to go to the shelter instead.

I processed a number of letters and a number of donations/pledges. Was quite busy. Got some more food for the kittens, and came home two and a half hours later. as I was driving home I tried to merge on to the highway. Ended up cutting off some guy. I didn't feel so bad though since there was no one anywhere near him in the next lane. There was no reason why he didn't pull over and let me on, except when he passed me I saw he was from NJ and was on the phone. I didn't feel so bad any more.

Yesterday was class. I had a test. Public speaking. I was planning on writing a scathing review for the professor when it came to be review time, and that happened yesterday. It wasn't as clear as I would have liked it to be, but I still wrote from my heart and exactly what I felt. He surprisingly called on me to deliver the reviews to the office. I wonder if he has a clue that I hate him. The whole time he was talking about the reviews I was thinking what I was going to say, and a few lines from the muppet christmas carol came to mind. When Ms. Piggy is explaining to Kermit and the clan why scrooge should not be blessed at thanksgiving. "he's odious, and stingy, and badly dressed" (that last big elicits a huge reaction from the family). Cause the outfit for the evening was a pair of black pants from the 80's (had white flecks in it, and looked like a pair I bought the hubby when we started dating) and a nice muted purple shirt (the only decent piece of clothing) a weird dark purple black and tan striped tie, and a neon purple cardigan. It was horrid. but whatever.

anyway.. if you don't sign the review it doesn't go in their file. So not only did I sign it, I printed my name out underneith. (I have a pretty unlegible signature) I have a feeling this is going to end up coming back and biting me since my mother and he have worked together on a number of occasions and she's had classes with him too.

On the way into class yesterday I was cut off by yet another driver. Im telling you, plrbear must mean cut in front of me. Anyway.. this guy's licence plate had a cover that said "I just whooped your ass" Im thinking 'oh how intelligent' and other thoughts. Then I saw small heads in the back seat. Im telling you, people like that should NOT be allowed to procreate... cause they can't help but pass their ignorance on to their young. Yes. Im generalizing. They might be perfectly good parents, but I get to do it since Im not hurting anyone thinking it or posting it here.

So.. now I have one more speech to come up with by monday. quite a bit of homework to do in spreadsheets, and two more weeks of this.. I can't wait for it to be over. And yet, Im seriously considering taking a couple of more classes. Im insane.

well then. I should know better to put my plans in writing.. lol Soon after the post, we got a phone call from a high school friend of mine. He was in town for thanksgiving, and wanted to get together. We don't see him nearly enough any more, so we dropped our plans and agreed. We went out to dinner (cause he's allergic to cats). We went to on the boarder, I had a beef burrito which was yummy. He paid. He also told us the story of why he broke up with his latest girlfriend. And I have to tell you it was darn hard to not tell him I was ever so glad he wasn't with her any more. that's never good dinner conversation.. lol. we told him about the furnace.. he told us that his dad had a bladder break on his heater, and he had just patched it up with out seeming to give any thought to it. My friend's dad lives in a 100 yr old house that has been replumbing it a number of times. we laughed and joked that dad's just seem to know this stuff, and we (well more the friend and the hubby as I don't expect myself to know anything about plumming) wouldn't have a clue how to fix it if we didn't have them as back ups.

afterwards we went to sears to return the tv we bought a few weeks ago, and to get a filter. I got to tell him the story of my mom and the trip. everyone who hears it rolls their eyes. my mother is insane. We then left and went to pick out a tree. We have a christmas tree now. and a wreath. Almost got one with a purple bow, but it was too small. came home, had pumpkin pie, eggnog, chatted, watched the star trek weakest link I recorded a while back, then played a few games of pool. he said he hadn't played in years, but he was very good. the only games he lost was because he called the wrong pocket for the 8 ball, or he scratched on the 8 ball. I wish he'd come over today and help us rig up the lights on the tree, but he's got other friends to visit and needs to get home.

Got the filter set up. The first half hour of trying to go to sleep last night was tough. I got stuffy. But once I fell asleep I stayed asleep till the phone rang this morning. I hate the phone. If Im asleep and it rings Im immediately awake, and my heart is pounding. sigh

Both Em and Ollie are on my chair trying to get my attention. its sweet. I never noticed before that Em matches my chair, and that they have the same color eyes. Jack is sleeping on the couch waaaay over there..

well the furnace was finally fixed, but by the time I went to bed the bedroom was like a sauna, so I shut off the heat and went to bed. Ive been having trouble sleeping in the bedroom lately and lo and behold a few hours later I was all stuffed up and sporting one horribly soar throat, so I came out and slept on the couch for a while... till jack and ollie decided to play chase, which always involves going over the couch. I smacked jack a few times, but they kept doing it, Then I got a hold of ollie. that put a stop to it. I decided to go back to bed anyway.. and surprisingly fell asleep. But the hubby got up and realized the heat wasn't on and thought it was the furnace acting up again so he called my dad to come over. I woke up and heard noise downstairs so I turned the heat back on (via the thermostat an easy thing to over look if someone turns it off that way and doesn't say anything) I called to him to come upstairs cause I was still half asleep, hair standing up on end, and in my jammies. I thought he was alone, but when I got instant that he come up NOW, I heard my dad's voice saying not to be so demanding.. so I explained what I did, and it took him 10 minutes to comprehend what I was saying. he went back down stairs and I threw some clothes on and went to say hi. Turns out there was a lot of air in the line anyway, and the valve that shuts off half the house was off, so it was a good thing he came over anyway, and even better since I got him out of going shopping.. lol.. and now its working.. :)

So then dad left and we decided to have lunch. Hubby was going to have left over pizza, and he heats it up in the toaster oven. And doing so caught the toaster oven on fire. yes.. fire. he was out in the kitchen making oh-no noises. We had just had an oh no discussion saying that saying oh no was never good, that time he had popped open a container of food in the freezer, no big deal, this time he said, "the toaster is on fire" I said "WhAT???" he replied "the toaster is on fire" he just stood there looking at it, unsure what to do. I got up and walked out into the kitchen and reminded him we had just bought a fire extinquisher. A lightbulb seemed to go off over his head and he reached for it. Kinda glad it wasn't a major fire. He didn't think to move ANYTHING out of the way when the fire started, the knives that are right under it in a wooden block, or the beans in a plastic bag.. *rolls eyes* mr eletrical dude himself didn't even unplug the stupid thing. Turns out that the toaster particals at the bottom of the oven caught fire. He never cleaned them out. (he does the cleaning) Its understandable as it isn't something you think of a whole heck of a lot.. but come on.. *rolls eyes again*. I asked if the extinquisher should be thrown out, and he started reading it, and they recommend you do and empty it before you do. He asked if we should throw it out. My reply.. "do you really want to risk it?" Then a few minutes later he asked "Do you think we should buy a new toaster oven" .. yup.. you guessed it.. my reply was "do you really want to risk it?!" He such a.... well anyway.. no serious damage.. we could PROBABLY re use the toaster, but it now has extinquisher chemicals all over it, and you never know what a fire will do to components.

We needed to go out and get a few things anyway, now we just need to get a few more.

We also have plans to get the christmas tree today too. His idea. Seems a little early for me, but then for the last couple of years I have been fighting myself to get into the christmas sprirt anyway, so I figured what the heck. We still have those tickets for treasure planet too. Maybe tomorrow.. *shrugs*

happy linda?

that's it. I am NEVER leaving this chair again. Well maybe to go to bed.. but THATS IT... well.. and to go pee.. cause if I don't it could get messy. And well maybe to get something to eat.. but THAT IS IT!!..

yup.. rough day. Started out at 5am. Stupidly I decided to go sale-ing. I didn't get a wal-mart flyer so I decided to get there at 6am and go see what they had for sale. There was a line from the door out to the main road. I kid you not. This asinine thing they are doing the 6-11am deals with limited stock and no rain checks. BAD IDEA! and just totally wrong. By the time we got up to the door though they were letting people in, so we snuck in. I was just getting a flyer and not getting in anyones way so I figured I wasn't being that bad. (although the shoppers who snuck in before those who had been waiting in line since 5am pissed off the people who had been waiting there since 5am and they weren't afraid to say how pissed off they were.) I grabbed a flyer, and wasn't impressed with the deals, so I left. Walked right out the out door with nothing in my hands. Totally shocked the clerk standing there.. lol. We went to circut city and stood in line for an hour. yes. an hour. Yes.. 30 degrees out. Yes.. im insane. But It saved me big $ and I was already awake, so it wasn't THAT big a deal.. well I did loose feeling in my feet. the woman behind me was from away. She was staying with her sister in law, and decided to come to the store to get the playstation that her son wanted. As we all stood in line we got to talking, cause if you didn't your lips would freeze together. the people behind her were trying to tell her what a deal she wasn't getting. I wanted to tell them to hush up. They tried to tell us that the $50 13-inch tv we were getting wasn't that big of a deal either.. that she had seen them for that price all the time. I don't know where she was shopping to find them, but I have been looking for weeks, and the best I saw before that was 64$.. even the clearance ones at Ames when they were going out of business were 70-80$. I don't think she was trying to get us out of line.. I just think she was baked.

So we got in there, got what we wanted. was second in line, when the clerk started waiting on someone else after they delt with the person in front of us. I wasn't there when he started, or he would have gotten a piece of my mind. We got one 13-in tv, two DVD players, a zoom 35 mm camera and a dvd (monsters inc) for $222. not to bad. and all of our christmas shopping except for each other.. well and one of my friends.. is done. You know.. this not having to buy presents for my family is working out to be a good thing. *grumble grumble grumble*

anyway. went to IHOP afterwards. I must say this went really rather well. Got in there, sat right down, had a very friendly waitress, got pumpkin pancakes.. YUM.. and a greek omelette (feta, onions, spinach, tomatos, and black olives) which was also a yum! but they didn't put enough feta in it, and there were too many black olives. the waitress was attentive, friendly, came at the right times. I gave her a nice hefty tip. Good help is so hard to get these days. I pay dearly when I find it and do so happily. Im not keen on the whole tipping process as a whole, very few people have the nerve to leave no tip, and so crummy help gets by. There have been a number of times I have told my husband to leave no tip because the waiter/waitress was horrid, and he refuses not to. My thought is, how will these people learn if not by the honest feedback of the tipping system??

Anyway. Got home, THEN I was cold. VERY VERY cold. warm jammies, and cuddled into bed I was freezing. I tried to sleep, not sure if I did or not. it wasn't fun. Sooner or later though time pasted and the cable guy showed up. We forgot all about him and almost didn't open the door.. lol. The same guy who was out here before was out here again. I don't like him. He is totally anti boosting the signal, and totally well its your wiring job ma'am. although.. they replaced the cable that went from the line to the house (and I got connected after that and had a nice speedy connection, so it wasn't the house wiring, it was their sucky wiring to the house.. so there :P) anyway.. they rewired in the house too, and finally I have a connection worthy of being called cable!.

I went out, had to bring a kitten to the vet. On the way down there some van from NH with the license plate mission or something to that effect CUT ME OFF. hello! my plate says PLRBEAR, that in no way says "cut in front of me, I don't mind". *rolls eyes* I saw him coming and had to back up to let him in .. I was beeping and flashing him the entire time. He totally didn't care. so I continued to flash him for a few more miles. When he had the opportunity to pull over and get out of my way he didn't, so I pulled into the right lane, went around him, cut in front of him and slammed on my breaks. probably not the smartest thing to do, but it felt good. I hope he doesn't do it again, but I have the feeling he totally doesn't care. Did the vet thing (see the kitten blog) drove home, and SOMEONE ELSE CUT IN FRONT OF ME. a ME license plate this time of write. *rolls eyes* HELLO PEOPLE! holiday weekend. there ain't no where you have to be that bad that you have to drive that badly!! there was a bad accident near by over the holiday, an entire family lost their lives driving home because they hit a tree. Man.. fill some people up with turkey and they just stop caring about the rules of society.

Got home. Hubby and doug came back from moving a big piece of furniture sarah had bought, and went down to play pool. I went down a little while after and was watching. I noticed the furnace was dripping. I asked the hubby about it, and he said "it does that".. well that's not a good answer for me, and he knew it, so he went to tighten up the valve, which only made it worse, now doug and I and he are all trying to keep the water up off the floor, and stop the leak. Must have been water from the furnace cause it was HORRIBLY musty and was slightly off color. Still not sure what is wrong with it, and it is currently leaking, but doug had to go, and so the hubby called my dad, who fortunately has the part they think they need to fix it, so off he went to the 'rents house to get the part and its still dripping down there. He better hurry up.

sigh. I am full of turkey. no no no.. the bird kind that you stuff and eat on thanksgiving you silly.. :) It came out pretty good. If you haven't heard me ranting lately, we had thanksgiving dinner HERE. no small little thing for us.. nope. 14 people. although by the inlaw standards that is an intimate occasion.
ugh. i have to take my contacts out.. brb.
aaah.. much better. contacts out, dress off, jammies on, socks on.. much more my style at the moment.. lol

anyway. Having company is nice cause you get motivated to clean the house, only problem is this time instead of cleaning 100%, we cleaned 80% and please don't look in the back room or at the bedroom too closely.. lol. Gonna have to put all that stuff back at some point.

oops just remembered we'll probably have more company tonight. Oh well.. no biggie to get out of the jammies.

Anyway. there has been a few days of cleaning, or should I say staying out of the way of his cleaning. This was 100% his show..

lol.. sorry.. we interupt this post to tell you a really cute cat story. There is cat food up off the floor so jack and ollie can get to it, but emmy who is on a restricted diet can not. There is a table in front of where this food is right now, so she's jumping up on the coffee table, reaching up into the bowl, taking a mouth full of kibble, and then jumping down, throwing it on the floor and then eating it. Its just too cute to stop her.. lol. Currently Jack has found a belled ball and has shoved it under the radiator and is trying desprately to get it out. he's making quite a racket.

Ok. so.. where was I? oh yea.. cleaning. 100% his show. which was nice, I got a clean house and turkey left overs with out any of the hastle. Well that's not completely true. but Im going to tell myself that... lets see.. what else is new. I gave my speech on monday.. there were people missing from the class who hadn't given their speech.. so didn't that just piss me off cause i know he's not going to fail them. he so better. *grumble grumble grumble* *looks back to see if this needs explaining - nope. blogged about it on the 21st* I think it went over well. I missed one line.. I have no idea, it was one of my favorite lines.. but it wasn't a big deal. If you want to read it, Click Here the class really liked it. When he asked me if I had any questions about the class feedback, I said no, because the class really liked it, he had the nerve to reply something to the effect of he "didn't hate it" <- those were exact words. I so wanted to go up and smack him. He didn't think I emphisized my thesis statement enough, that my unrelated intro was distracting. Yea.. well ya *bleep bleep* ya got to explain your life before you can talk about your life.. and I ... you know what. I don't care. I'll probably get a b on it, and a b is a decent enough grade. Not one I deserve mind you.. but I'll accept it over going and ranting to him about what a jerk he is. But trust me, come review time, he is getting one highly negitive review, with details, and probably a nice thesis statement too. *considers printing out reply email from him and submitting that as well... talk about my dead kittens as a speech to entertain my.. grumble grumble grumble*

I have the week off in spreadsheets. Next week is chapter 8, then my final assignment is due where i have to come up with my own problem, my own set of conditions, then my own solution... SAY WHAT!?!? Im not too happy about this one Jim.. but Im hoping we get a bit more direction on it. *considers rescuing the ball for Jack*

Well the neighbors put up their christmas lights. There are seven houses on this street besides mine, and three of them have them up and light them at night. the fourth already have them up, but have the decency to not turn them on... and they are the drug dealers.. go figure.

Hey.. I don't think Ive told you about the house up the street. They built this nice house up the street from me.two story, very pretty. Then they went and put this cement slab standing upright in front of it. We couldn't figure out for the life of us what they were going to do with the slab. It almost seemed like a mote or protection wall. It was very strange. About six months later they put a deck up on it... attached from the house to this upright slab. In the mean time, the owners demonstrated they are kinda weird in a funky sort of way. They parked a beat up old car next to their house. Then they proceeded to beat it up even more. they drove it around the field, and I don't know if they brought in another car to smash it, or if they did it with hammers, but for the next few weeks the car got worse and worse looking. Then the car disappeared, and they built huge dirt piles in their yard and proceeded to use them to go dirt biking... or atv-ing. lol. I couldn't help but wonder if they had some sort of connection with the drugdealer neighbors... who moved in next door to us a while ago, a little bitty thing of a house, then put up a huge pool, a HUGE shed, and parked a jag in front of it. They also have people coming and going all hours of the day, most just stop by for a second or two, then leave again. Anyway.. the other day we are driving behind this beat up ol truck carrying a couple of atvs. I thought they were going to turn into the new house, and poof they did.. i couldn't help but laugh.

man this is going to be one long post. My applogies.

I was watching animal planet the other night, they have this new show animal cops. the camera drives around with animal rescue workers. This episode they went to a house of an "animal collector". the neighbors complained that he had a lot of cats. they found the guy living in the garage. He was aware of the problem, but obviously not fully aware cause when the ACO told him that there was a dead cat in his yard he was surprised. The guy agreed after a while to let them trap and take the cats out of his house. He took home one unneutered cat, and poof. When the first day was done they weren't even half way through capturing all the cats. They had to come back a second day. They also had to wear protective clothing not only from the cats, but from the fleas, and from the stench of urine and feces. When all was said and done, they had captured over 250 cats. 250. I can't even fathom that. I see the number, but man.. I even saw the truck loads of carriers of cats and I still don't get it. sadly they all had to be put down because he had lost control and all of the cats were feral. My heart goes out to those workers. I currently own three cats. One of the fosters that I currently have my husband wants to keep, a second one I really want to keep, but I really am in a tizzy about it, the logistics and all... sadly though since they could be ill and might need to be put to sleep I really don't want to start loving them yet... Im keeping a part of my heart closed off. Its hard, and Im sure its hard on them. Sigh. Although I did give them some turkey.. more info will be in the kitten blog.. :)

a calm has come over the house. Jack and ollie are grooming, Em is looking regal, hubby is sleeping, Im typing - and making the most noise.. lol. Man.. having large gatherings like that really makes you appreciate the quite all that much more. Although I still want to watch the parade.. and read the paper.. and plan for tomorrows day of shopping :)

Happy Thanksgiving! May you find a quite moment to reflect and savor all that you have to be thankful for. (and you know.. even the negitive stuff is stuff to be thankful for, cause it helps you cherrish the stuff that is good. or something like that)

surprisingly, there are no Ninja Hamsters on ebay. What's up with that??

well.. this was one heck of a day, that's for certian. Jack woke me up way before I had to get up, then slightly before I had to get up, then right before I had to get up. Wasn't that nice of him to make sure I made it to my test on time. and I did. I fed the kitties and got there with time to spare. In fact the door was still locked to the room. We filled out our course evaluations, and did a little discussion, then proceeded to take the test. I was about 3/8ths of the way through when the power went out. The teacher had incouraged us save all of our work to the desktop on the school computer, which clears all saved stuff when the power goes out. we tried to log back in, and we were going to start over, but the server apparently went down and we were stuck on the blue screen of death. So we got to take the test home and we have till tuesday to finish it up and get it back in. She gave us our final project too, which has me at a complete loss, since I have to come up with my own problem to solve. So now I have to call the hubby and have him come get me even earlier.. which I don't mind, but it left me waiting a bit. We made it to a few fairs. Bought some home made beans, and a purse made out of kitty fabric, and a strawberry shortcake friend pin. Ran into my parents too.

Got to the shower a little late. it was interesting. Have I mentioned that my in-laws are generally very rude people? After 15 years Ive gotten kinda used to it, but it still is not my favorite activity to spend time with them. the hubby's older brother's wife (the mother of the woman for who the shower was being thrown) is kinda nice... actually in direct comparison she's a down right saint.

We had plans to go out with the future mom and dad. Was talked about since thursday I think. I was actually looking forward to it. Were going to see the movie "the santa clause 2".. at 7pm they called, sarah went out with her friends instead. This is like the 7th time out of 10 they have made plans with us and ditched at the very last moment. Guess sarah has gotten the rude genes from her dad's side of the family.

So now its practice the hell out of my speech, and do my quiz, and pray for some guidence in my final project.

sigh. Im coping.. I think. It would be a heck of a lot easier if I didn't have all of my social and school obligations this week. its like they were all waiting and BOOM!.. I was looking forward to this weekend because of a number of large christmas fairs are on saturday. Then I realized I had a baby shower. I figured that was ok, cause I could do the fairs in the morning and get to the shower later. THEN I remembered I have a major spreadsheeting test in the morning. so now the fairs are out.. sigh. I LOVE the fairs. then I remembered that I wanted to make a baby quilt for the baby shower.. ok so I knew that before, but it slipped out of my brain.. must remember to get that fixed... but now I have 24 hours till the shower, that's just not going to get done. *considers giving them an IOU*

I haven't even looked at my spreadsheeting homework.. and my speech really bites, and all I really want to do is go to sleep.

sigh

Mike needs to be famous... and fast.

have I mentioned what an ass my speech teacher is? Why yes.. I have... well this time I really want to strangle him. I wrote to him yesterday and explained what happened and asked if I could possibly do my speech the week after cause this upcoming speech is supposed to be "to entertain". and he wrote back saying no. I couldn't. because HE has to video tape it and play the tape back to give me feedback and that just wouldn't work the next week.. (yea.. right.. you lazy fuck).. yup.. Im mad.. how freakin insensitve, he even suggests I give my speech about the cats.. HELLO! they just DIED!! He and my mother are so cut from the same mold.

I got a phone call when I was out buying more colored pencils cause I was just too frustrated to keep looking for the ones I had. I decided to make christmas cards for the card swap Im taking part in with an online group I belong to. I figured today was a very good day to do this as its a great way to keep my mind busy. I spent about an hour trying to find all the things I knew I had and needed. See the kitten room used to be the craft room, so when I rearranged it to be the kitten room, my craft stuff ended up either in that room, in the downstairs bedroom (where the remaining kittens are now) or who knows where. One piece at a time I found the stamp, the stamp pad, the paints, the card stock, the other stamp, etc. By the time I realized I hadn't run into the pencils I gave up and decided I was going to go out and buy new ones. Figured it would do me good to get out of the house, and buying things was always good for the economy (btw.. who the heck says we are in a recession?? every time I go to the store the parking lot is PACKED!) and frankly I couldn't face going back into the kitten rooms. So I figured since I was out I was going to get the biggest pack of pencils avalible. Not sure why, I only used six of them. To boot I bought an additional set of metalics. Well anyway... It was a good thing I went out cause while I was gone we got a phone call.

We found the phone message at 9:30 this evening. Had the hubby listen to it, and it was a woman from his past. She started out with I don't know if your the right person, but Im so and so and we knew each other in Saugus. Im starting to think its an old girlfriend, or maybe someone who had a crush on him looking to get lucky till she said something to the effect that my maiden name is so and so, and Im Tony's cousin. I just KNEW.. Tony is a old friend of my hubsband. They grew up together and he was a part of our wedding. He was a ... well Im digressing here.. I told my hubby to call her back now. He was recluctant as it was late, but again I knew, and pressed him to call her. As I feared, Tony had died a few weeks earlier. No one was sure how to reach him, and had just now found some information to reach him. (Tony had an unknown
heart condition and sleep apnia, he died in his sleep. he was 33yrs old). The service was a few weeks ago, so there isn't a funeral to go to, but there is still all the emotions... which is even harder on him because frankly he's not a very emotional guy... yes yes.. he's the polar opposite of me in that department (:P@those. of you who
thought that). Tony was a great guy. Lots of fun. I first met him right before the wedding, and I invited him up here for the hubby's birthday once, and we went down to see him another time... no wait.. We went down and saw him before the wedding.. Probably to ask him to be in the wedding.. I don't really remember, and it really isn't important. What is important is he made me laugh. I liked him. The world is.. well I want to say not the same with out him in it, but that seems kinda hypocritical seeing as I haven't seen him in 8 years.. Of course, when my husband confirmed the fact that he was dead, I couldn't help but think how much can I handle. First the kittens and now this.. I hate to say this, but Im glad there isn't a funeral to go to... That might sound mean, but it isn't intended that way.

*seriously considers standing up on monday and giving a speech on death, and how you should take a moment to appreciate those around you.*

Kinda important.. Read the kitten blog

I heard about this a while back on the today show. I ment to comment on it then, but forgot all about it. I want to promote A.C. Green Jr. He is a basketball player who holds the title of the most consective games played. He also was a virgin when he got married at age 38

SEE!! it can be done.

*looks at the date* well.. at least its November this time. We've got snow, we've got ice, we have one wintery day out there. they were talking nor-easter, but I don't think that happened.. at least not here. I forgot all about the fact that it was going to get icky last night, and the plow truck woke me up at 3am. He wasn't making the annoying beeping noise they usually make by my house.. I thought someone was moving out in the middle of the night, or someone was moving them out.. so I got up to peek. Was kinda relieved when I found out it was only a plow truck.

I have quite a headache this morning, so I think Im going to go lay back down for a while, then maybe read the paper.

it is not wise for me to watch the news.. it gives me such things to rant about.
first there is this. A preacher wanted to hold a book burning of the harry potter books. a book burning!! can you believe it? the town wouldn't give him a perment, so they had a book "cutting" instead. You know.. the only thing they are succeeding at is looking silly. Come on.. someone had to pay for those books. I don't thinkJ.K. Rowling cares if you cut them up after you buy them..

Then there was this Can we just say ..... you know. I don't have anything.. a total blank. No words to discribe the moronic morons in this instance.

Then there was the high school team that offered to let its arch rivals score a touch down. Why? because there was a boy on the team that was mentally challenged. He suited up for every practice and every game. The only thing he ever got to do was do a knee down to end the play. His team was loosing badly, so the winning team's coach went to the other coach and offered to let him score. I can't tell you how much this warms my heart. The boy was a little confused.. the guys were all cheering him on, so then he started running. A few guys ran after him to make it look good, and to congratulate him when he made it. Those guys will have that memory for the rest of their lives. It is a life lesson that will effect hopefully everything they do.

lastly I just took a phone call from the Press Herald trying to sell me more news papers. I have told them and told them not to call me any more. The last time they called to offer to give me the thursday paper free (cause I get the sunday paper). They have done this before.. its free for a month, then they charge you for it. Well this time I said NO!. but they sent it anyway. When we called and complained they said they immediately subscribe everyone the call is just a curtisy. SAY WHAT!?! *rolls eyes* so they just called me again. And according to dateline, once you ask to be put on the do not call list and they call you can sue them for thousands of dollars. So my new stratigy is to ask them once, then next time tell them they owe me $1000. This time it scared the guy who originally called me. he passed me on to his manager. I told her that they broke the law and they can just cut me a check now for $1000. she passed me on to Vicky. Vicky tried to tell me I couldn't. Yea.. Right. Ive got the law on my side woman. Now its on the web. If these morons call me again, Im so suing them.

The heaviest element known to science is Managerium.

This element has no protons or electrons, but has a nucleus
made up of 1 neutron, 2 vice-neutrons, 5 junior vice-neutrons,
25 assistant vice-neutrons, and 125 junior assistant vice-
neutrons all going round in circles.

Managerium has a half-life of three years, at which time it
does not decay but institutes a series of reviews leading to
reorganization.

Its molecules are held together by means of the exchange of
tiny particles known as morons.

How cool is this? I just won a poetry award!!

ugh.. I have so much I want to do, and no motivation to do it. I need to do my homework before thursday night. I need to restore my house to some semblance of order. rearranging furniture to address the new room and the kittens wreaking havoc with my school papers and a couple of days worth of dishes really makes this house look like a bomb hit it. sigh. I also have shopping I need to do to get a few things mailed out.. and for some reason that's further down on my todo list than homework, so I feel I can't do that till I do that, and I don't wanna.. (am I making sence?) So im trying to play on line and watch alias, and Im not succeeding in either. Guess I'll go give my attention to the TV.

yesterday.... Slow start to the morning. I had plans to go out and visit the fairs in the area.. they start the Christmas fairs early. Hubby went to help a friend move a fish tank, and by the time I was ready to leave the house he was almost home, so I finished up a few things around the house, and waited for him. But then by the time we got out of the house most of them were mostly over. We went to one, and the crafter's fair at the middle school, and decided to just go home. Got home, had lunch, then went out and planted tulips. Wasn't sure where to plant them, and decided at the end of the driveway (the place where I planted my tomato plants when we first moved in here). It was warm all day, but half way through the wind started picking up. The ground was cold too, and the worms weren't all too happy about us ripping up their dirt. We gave up before they were all in. Might try to put some more in today. I was covered in dirt so i went in through the basement. I saw Tobin, and though I would check him out. (tobin is my bunny incase you didn't know) He had some problems with poop caking on his behind, and YEA! there was none!! But his nails needed to be clipped. So I took him upstairs and cuddled up with him on the bed. he did really well, except jack kept getting in the way. I don't think he has found the rabbit yet. Tobin is sheding, so there was a small pile of white fur on the bed by the time jack got up there. first thing he did was get in it, I told him to stop, and he just looked at me with a pile of fur hanging out of his mouth like a little white beard. I called him santa jack and took it away. He then decided the bunny was more interesting anyway, so he started getting in the way of my seeing where I was clipping on tobin's claw... So I stopped, and let jack sniff the bunny, but then jack decided to taste the bunny. Not to hurt him, just a little taste. I put a stop to it, but he just came back and tried again. I shooed jack away and finished clipping, and then checked tobin's teeth (yea! no problem there either) and put him down, and jack was back at that time. I tried to explain to jack that he shouldn't attack anything with a head bigger than his, but he wasn't convinced... but he wasn't going to do it while I was watching. But he thought about smacking him with his paw. He slowly lifted it up and headed tward the rabbit, and I called out jack's name in a way to convince him not to do that, and he looked at me with a nice innocent look as if to say "What?!" a moment later he tried with his paw again. again I said "JACK!", and again he looked at me as if to say "WHAT!?!" I shooed him away again and returned the rabbit to his little corner of the world, and the rabbit was oh so happy.

went out to the store afterwards. Sears had a 13 inch tv on sale for 65$... the cheepest I saw. I was planning on waiting to see what went on sale the day after thanksgiving, so I bought it and its sitting in the basement till then. Every year Wal-mart has a tv on major sale the day after thanksgiving. the last two years I was there, and I felt an almost overwhelming urge to get a tv since EVERYONE had one.. and i didn't. Its always a great deal.. but Ive never needed one. I still don't REALLY need one, but Im sick of the tv in the kitten room. Ive had it since I was in highschool.. it only has 36 channels and the remote doesn't work thanks to a kitten throwing up on it... and a number of channels come in fuzzy. Then went to Shaw's and got a few pints of Ben and Jerry's. They are on sale for 1.99.. and are normally 2.99. I also had a 50 cent coupon, and shaws doubles coupons... so I was happy to get a pint for a buck. but when I got in the store, I couldn't find the coupon. I assumed it fell out of my coupon holder, and just gave up on it. assumed Id find it and Id probably send the hubby back to get another pint at some point. as we left, I found the coupon on the ground next to the car... so I ran back in the store and redeamed it then. :)

Came home. and watched jurassic park and cuddled with kittens. Went to bed with the boy and bugsy. The boy didn't want to sit still, so he went back rather quickly, but we left bugsy out all night.. and at 5am he decided he needed me to pat him NOW. NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW.. darn it.. purrrrr purrrr purrr.. nudge nudge nudge.. I threw him on the floor twice, and on to the hubby a couple of times, but nooooo it had to be me.. and he sneezed in my face.. I put him back on my husband again, and he started laughing.... So I got up and threw bugsy back in the kitten room. It was awful cute, and if I didn't have such a hard time falling asleep I wouldn't have minded in the least. well ok.. the 5am bit wasn't too kosher.. but hey.. at least it wasn't 4am. So I fell asleep for a couple more hours, then got up and sat down at the computer and the sun was shinning right through the window into my eye

and worst of all, I found out that time warner is now blocking bigfoot.com as well. I HATE spam filters!! they do not block spam. they do not block spam... do you get this? they do NOT block spam. they find a way. They only really proceed in blocking emails you want, and ticking you off. and for the life of me I can't get a real live person to do anything for me on this one. But I am so going to fight this. If nothing else Im going to get a reduction in my bill since I can't use the email they provide any more. not to mention that they are so not providing the service they promise. Email doesn't work, speed isn't there.. Time warner SUCKS!! (I don't care what their stupid JD Power's commercial says!!)

Went to the shelter this morning. Pretty uneventful. They are working on putting binders together with shelter policies and what not for the board members. for some reason they have been working on this for quite a while. but its finally finished. Saw a pair of dogs there. little ones. they look like cat sized dobermans. Someone gave them up because they are going through a divorse. I so want to smack people like that. but at least I know they will find good homes, we are constantly getting people looking for little dogs.

I headed home and on the way I saw a guy standing beside his VW bus on the side of the highway... he was making prayer then phone gestures. I pulled over then started backing up to him , I started honking my horn to get him to come to me, but apparently he's slightly deaf or something. I was out of my car and practically on top of him before he realized I was there. He wanted me to call AAA.. but I don't know the number, so I let him use my phone to call. He got inside his van, and was trying to hold back his very large dog and call, so I offered to hold his dog. Im standing on the side of the highway, next to a van, with the door open, and I started thinking this probably wasn't the best idea in the world. the dog decided to stop trying to get out of the van and went to the back to sit down. It was a male dog. I know cause he sat there with his penis out and showing very predominately. again the thought went through my head that this probably wasn't the best idea till I heard the guy tell the AAA agent that a really nice woman let him use a phone... and he'd already give them his name. He thanked me, and said no one ever stops. I wished him well and left. that's rescue #7.. (or is it #8?) :)

Recently my hubby got a new truck from work. He gets a company car, and he decided he wanted a truck. a big freakin truck.. three door, silverado. so we took said truck to the mall tonight. He drives cause its his truck, the gas is paid for, and I don't like to drive at night due to my sensitive eyes. Anyway. we have to drive down a tree lined street, through the woods, there are a number of houses on the street, but it is still quite dark, and you still have the feeling of driving through the woods.

I should stop here and tell you that for years I have been telling the hubster to turn his high beams on when there is no one coming. He laughed at me for a couple of years. I would tell him to turn his high beams on so he'd see any deer in the road. Well one time I told him to put them on and poof, there was a deer, he stopped laughing then. If it weren't for the high beams we would have hit it.

so again with the truck, I have to tell him to put the high beams on. Mostly cause its new and he's not used to it. We laughed about the deer reason, and he had just turned his high beams off because a car was coming at him, and at the very last second we both realized there was a deer in the road. Fortunately it wasn't in any postion to be hit by us, but if he had turned and bolted we would have. Got to love deer season. scare those deer right into the road to be smacked by cars and trucks..

btw.. I voted.. so now I have every right to complain about the goverment. Come.. join me in that right :)

Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in
his way, Because of the man who brings wicked
schemes to pass.

Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; Do not
fret--it only causes harm.

Psalms 37:7-8

man oh man my sinuses are going haywire. I wish I knew if it was allergies or a cold. I think its a cold. but hey.. at least that annoying eye twitch is gone for now. I need to get up off this chair and call the shelter and bring in my elder set. will be so nice to be down to one set of kittens, even if that set includes numb as a hake goldie. man I hope she learns to eat soon. although I think I will need to continue to supplement them for a while longer. I don't think there is enough nutrition in the canned cat food they are getting. but this is the wrong blog for this topic :) I'll be back after lunch time, and I have some homework to do (why on earth did I want to go back to school?? all this freakin homework is annoying!) so I'll be on line most of the afternoon.

pretty uneventful weekend. I was still feeling under the weather. I wish this eye twitch would go away. I had to run errands this morning, but I stupidly put some covers over me to warm up a little and ended up falling asleep till just before I had to leave. Im sitting here avoiding doing something that should have been done this morning, cause when ever I start concentrating on reading, my eye twitches more.

but.. I have to do this.. I have to feed and medicate the kitties and ... and... why do I think there is something else I have to do tonight? arrgh.. If I forgot something important and it involves you, My appologies.

btw.. if your a woman reading this... don't forget to do your monthly self examination of your breasts. If your a man who loves a woman.. don't forget to examine hers ;)

lets see.. what's new? hum. goodness.. not a lot. Went to the parents house for halloween. They had WAY too many kids, and some came back for seconds. They live in a development, so a lot of the town drive out of their way to bring their kids there. That's just wrong. My parents spent way too much on candy. WAY too much.

I haven't been sleeping well lately. Well that's not completely true. Im sleeping just fine when Im asleep, its getting there that's the battle. 1, 2, and even 3 o clock in the morning.. and you know.. there just ain't nuffin on tv at that time. I actually woke up this morning (thanks to miss emmy stepping through my hair) to a dream where I was very late for a test or homework or something. This getting my work done early in the week is apparently having an effect on me :)

had a power glitch this morning. its why the kitty cam is out at the moment. and Im afraid to go in there and turn it back on. Those kittens.. Im telling you.. adorably evil!

Arise, O Lord, Confront him, cast him down;
Deliver my life from the wicked with Your sword,
With Your hand from men, O Lord, From men of the
world who have their portion in this life.

Psalms 17:13-15

oh what a long morning this morning.. I had an appointment with a lawyer.. we are only at the evidence gathering phaze, but its shaping up to be a nice little thing :)

Yes.. you have to suffer through yet another mother post..

aren't you so glad.

I don't answer my phone. In fact i rarely if ever talk on the phone but that's a whole different story.. My mother just called. Remember the post where I said she backed out of the family christmas? well she just called and left a message saying that she had our "names for christmas". WTF?!!? If she's not doing the family christmas what is she doing with names?? and since I told my aunt we were abstaining too, what on earth does she have OUR names for???

Is it too late to pack up and move some where remote?

sometimes I really love my bible verse of the day email..

My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in
the name of the Lord, as an example of
suffering and patience.

Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You
have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen
the end intended by the Lord--that the Lord is
very compassionate and merciful.

James 5:10-11

yea! this week's homework is done!! whoo hoo!! maybe this week I can actually get around to finishing up my scrapbooking of the photos I took of my foster kittens.

Its 5:30 and I still haven't had anything to eat today. Im really not all that hungry either. which is VERY strange. My stomach growled a little bit, but I don't have that empty pit feeling. I had a little water, and it quieted down.

I just had a couple of bible thumpers (not a derogitory term in my book just so you know) come to my door. They were older, say 50's.. slightly younger than my mom I would say.. nice looking women.. Two of them. Im still in my jammies and not feeling all that well.. they were really nice about the whole thing saying they didn't want to bother me if I was sick, and actually offered if there was anything they could do for me. I thought that was sweet, but refused.. but sitting down here, listening to the kittens make a mess of the kitten room, I really should have asked if they wouldn't mind cleaning up after them for me.. lol.. I wouldn't.. but I wish someone other than me would do that right now..

I am beyond grumpy at the moment.. grrrrrrrrr grump grump grump. Don't really know why. Im a little annoyed at the kittens, but I don't think that's it. The speech went mostly ok.. so that's not really it I don't think. I think its cheese withdrawals..

well faced with day #7 of scrambled egg whites for breakfast, I decided to weigh myself a day early to see if I lost any weight, figuring if I didn't I was going to have something yummy.. but .. tada.. I lost 13 lbs.. go figure.. I am REALLY hating this diet though.. but as someone I once knew used to say.. nothing tastes as good as thin feels. (how many times do I have to say that before I believe it??)

my website is archived, the business website is updated, the speech has been reworked.. hey.. its been a pretty productive evening so far

well then.. My kittenblog is back up.. might have been a glitch in the move to the new hosting company.. it happens... But I am still ticked that I had no notification. I doubt they will ever notify me of anything as I don't believe my domain mail is working either.. cause my old hosting company email is now toast (along with their website) I should probably archive the site somewhere incase the decide to rip it down.. oh that's not going to be fun. I also need to update my official business website thingie.. and memorize my speech, and do my spreadsheet homework, and eat more food, and feed the kittens and eat more food, and feed the kittens, :)

well this is not good. I just went to update my kittenblog, and my hosting company has been changed with out notification!! not only that, but its not working.. Im ticked! Im probably going to have to start paying for it.. which means I will need to find a new hosting company

the weirdest thing happened this morning. I was dreaming I was on the beach, and there were massive waves that came higher and higher up on the beach and it washed away a number of balls, including my exercise ball.. when my husband woke me up offering me some water, cause apparently at some point I said very clearly, "no, I'll just have some water - with a straw" four o clock in the morning, he actually got me some water..

Im currently 'covered' in kittens.. jack is behind me, scooter is on the arm chair, and bugsy is cuddled in half on me half in the arm of the chair.. looks quite uncomfortable.. but he's a kitten. Looks like bugsy is going to come live with us.. hubby keeps saying he can't let him go. Im seriously considering scooter too.. shes soft, she's sweet, and she's bunny girl.. :) feels like a bunny, runs like a bunny..

I made salsa today with a red and yellow pepper, a hot pepper, half of a spanish onion, and a tomato. Its not my first choice of taste, but its not bad.and salt and oil free so its a great chicken topping. Since I am eating a lot of chicken right now.. its a good thing ;)

was supposed to go out with doug and sara tonight, but sara decided she was going to visit her aunt (hubby's sister) in MA so she couldn't make it.. We had these plans for a week or more.. Im not very happy with this.. Personally, I couldn't imagine anything that had to be done that couldn't have been put off for a day or so since I had plans with friends that were made a week ago. and since everyone involved was family, I wouldn't imagine the aunt would say it HAS to be done today.. grrr.. there might have been a valid reason.. but frankly this isn't the first time they have canceled on us so instead, we are having a lazy kitten type evening movies, blankes, kittens.. :)

me? on a diet? how could you tell??

"How To Recondition Your Body For a Toxic Diet"

1. Slowly begin to reintroduce harmful foods.
Suggestions are potato chips, pizza with extra
cheese, white bread, milk, coffee or coke, milk
shakes from edible oil products, fried chicken,
french fries deep fried in beef fat, eggs from
chemically-raised chickens, steak with barbecue
sauce and a small portion of overcooked vegetables.
Throw in a couple of chocolate bars to insure an
optimum toxin level.

2. Eat very few raw fruits and vegetables. If you
must eat vegetables, make sure the life has been
cooked out of them. The best fruits are canned
and preserved in sugar syrup.

3. Give your juice machine away. Drink bottled or
canned juices with brominated vegetable oils.
Canned vegetable juice is fine because all the
enzymes have been destroyed through pasteurization.

4. Swallow food whole. Use butter as a lubricant.
Deep fried foods will require less chewing.

5. Eat as much as you possibly can at one sitting.
This conditions the muscles that support the
stomach to expand, accommodating an increased
volume of food.

6. Avoid fiber at all cost. If forced to eat whole
wheat flour, pick the bits of bran from the bread.
This will allow the food to pass more slowly
through the intestine so the body may absorb
optimal toxic chemicals.

7. Do not exercise. Exercise oxygenates the cells
and triggers the lymphatic system that cleans the
body. Try to remain in an inactive horizontal position.

8. Snack regularly during the night so as to curb
the body's natural tendencies to detoxify during
sleep.

the sunroom is done.. but we want to do a little before we move in there so right now its just a big empty room. the sun warmed it right up today, so I opened the door to it..I couldn't get any of the cats in there.. not even offering turkey.. I left the door open.. and eventually they found their way into the room.. but if you make the slightest noise out they run..

I just finished taking an aptituted test for one of the jobs I applied for (yes.. the insurance one) and I have to say it was really kind of offensive.. three of the questions..

• most of our social problems would be solved if we could somehow get rid of the immoral crooked and feeble minded people.
• most people don't realize how much our lives are controlled by plots hatched in secrete places
  
• most people really don't give a "damn" for other people
  

Ok.. that second one is just funny.. but still..

ugh.. I am so sick this morning.. Im also sick and tired of making scrabbled eggs for breakfast.. but that's really all Im allowed unless I want chicken, turkey or fish.. this (*&(^^%& diet.. It better be working is all I have to say about it. Although eating a lot of chicken and green veggies isn't so much the problem as prepairing it all. Im a grab and go kinda girl.. all this food prep is wearing me right out.

My interviews went ok. Both jobs actually sound kinda interesting. Id probably rather have the receptionist job due to the more varied tasks, but that one might get old after a while. The other was for my insurance agency. They are going paperless, so they need someone to enter in old records into the system and hopefully train as an insurance agent.. hum.. me.. an insurance agent.. I still can't really see that.. plus I wouldn't be able to wear jeans (ok, neither one of these is a jeans and tshirt kind of job major minus.. Its been YEARS since Ive had to dress up for work.. but as I remember I didn't much like it.

Happy Birthday MJ!!

as many of you know.. I consider myself to be retired from the working world.. I am currently sending out resumes to keep an eye on the job market for a job that i would love and other reasons. Im doing my best to make myself quite unappealing to those jobs I feel i have to send a resume out to... using cheep paper, writing the address in sloppy, sending them out late in the week..

and yet.. they are still calling me to set up interviews!! why is that?? oh yea.. cause I'm awesome :)

"I have a new philosophy. I am only going to dread one day at
a time." - Charlie Brown

arrrgh.. more fall out from the infamous christmas trip! I just got an email from my aunt. Every year my father's immediate family (aka my extended family on his side) gets together for christmas and does a gift swap. We pick names out of a hat and each person gets a present for the name they got. This started many years ago and had a price limit of ~5$. Well some people stick to that limit so some people get really crappy gifts. My father has been on the short end of that for a while now. Not to mention that one summer everyone agreed to go up to my sister's place (a two hour drive) but a few weeks before the party one family said they didn't want to go so instead of saying have a nice day they moved the party locally (which is quite a long drive for some of us anyway) So this whole party thing has been kinda out of favor by my immediate family.

My mother.. in her infamous way... told my aunt that she wasn't going to be in town for the party and to not put their names in the hat. My aunt offered to post pone the party but (see above) my mom declined. NOW my aunt is writing to me to see if my hubby and I want to be in the hat.. I want to say no (see above) but I don't really know how. *grumble grumble grumble*



On another note.. the sun room is going up.. the men are making loud obnoxious noises that are freaking out the cats. Not badly.. just occasionally. I just realized a few moments ago that Em's litterbox is right near where the men are working There is another one down stairs in the cellar.. but I doubt she'll use it.. so now the question becomes.. do I move the litter and risk freaking out her 'routine'.. or do I leave it and make her "hold it"..

ugh.. so much to do.. so little motivation to do any of it.. well.. I at least have to go feed the kittens.. and take a shower.. Im quite "goo-ie"

my life has been full of feeding kittens and cleaning sick kittens and kitten stuff.. its been a little overwhelming the past few days.. so I haven't done much of anything else. Got some plans for next weekend though.. a local pumpkin festivel with my parents and sister's family (why am I dreading this? oh yea.. that infamous christmas trip) and plans to go see ghost ship with doug and sarah..

Im starting a new diet tomorrow.. Im not looking forward to it as there isn't a whole lot of variety in it, and there is no bread or pasta and no cheese.. eeeek.. what am I thinking?? no cheese?!?! and for some reason pumpkin is a carbohydrate.. so very limited pumpkin.. but I can have all the asparagus and broccoli I want ..

I tried to take a shower this afternoon to get the kitten goop off me... but the minute I got in the shower the hot water ran out.. so I didn't get to wash my hair.. will have to save that for after the morning feeding tomorrow. Got a class tomorrow too.. should probably read the assigned chapters.. and work on my spreadsheet homework too.. and do some scrapbooking and some other things.. hopefully all this will keep my mind off the lack of cheese in my diet *grin*

I watched the news last night.. a dangerous past time I know.. but there usually is something comment worth on, even if I dont remember it by the time I get to my computer.. but not last night. I was watching the boston station and there was a woman who was at her wits end when it came to her son not doing his homework. she created a cardboard sign that said "I don't do my homework - honk if you think this is an appropriate punishment" and told him if he didn't do his homework she would have him hold the sign outside for 30 minutes.. well guess what.. he didn't do his homework.. so she made him stand outside with the sign. a woman in a mini van with three kids stopped and told the mother that this - the sign thing - was child abuse and called the police.. SAY WHAT!!! making your child stand on the side of the road is child abuse? yea.. right.. ok.. and the fact that the woman who called the police was smoking.. that's not a problem? *rolls eyes* I have to applaud the woman for coming up with a creative way to get her son to tow the line, and to sticking to her guns when he didn't. 30 minutes outside isn't going to kill the kid.. - unlike the smoking which will probably give her kids asthma.. the parents of the boy wouldn't go on camera.. which is too bad.. cause I would so applaud them in person.. I suppose I can understand why they wouldn't.. there are obviously a LOT of crack pots out there..

like.. the moron who told the police he saw the sniper in washington.. and it turned out he was lying.. MAN I hope they arrest his butt and throw him in jail.. People are dying dude... the LAST thing you want to do is to waste the police's time on false leads.. and your petty need to be 'famous' is just so not worth it!!

btw.. the kid with the sign said he learned his lesson and is going to do his homework now..

have I mentioned lately what a frickin pain in my @$$ my mother is?? no.. well let me rant on cause its what I do best..

I stopped by the house this afternoon to see my dad. I haven't seem my parents since.. um.. probably when they gave me the quilt.. anyway.. I stayed too long visiting my dad, and my mom walked in the door.. we talked about what a crappy day she had handing out the laptops to the seventh grade students (we're in Maine and she works at a middle school) and my father brought up the fact that I have kittens again.. we talked about fostering. My mom suggested that the foster families should have get togethers to get to know each other and what not.. then she suggested that doing so would introduce me to someone who could take care of Emerald while "we go to montreal".. have I told you this story? Im sure I have.. Mom wants to go away for christmas, but the people we had to take care of em got pregnant and is due around the same time. she suggested we have them do it anyway.. suggested we leave em with food and with out insulin, or with out food and insulin.. (she's diabetic, almost 12 yrs old and has a heart murmur) .. anyway.. I told her we couldn't go. She suggested we make the reservation anyway cause we could cancel later on. I told her that was pointless cause we couldn't go.. but she refuses to accept that. Anyway.. I point blank told her I wasn't going.. and I thought that was that.. until today. She said that my sister still wants to go.. so she wants to go.. so they made reservations and told me I could cancel them .. yup.. you guessed it up to two days before hand "with out having to pay".. she is still suggesting I leave emmy with out supervision, and drive up to montreal (a five hour drive minimum) for the day then turn around and go home.. She obviously doesn't care about my feelings on the matter one iota - even at one point suggested she might be lucky enough to have em die before we go.. . So again and again this afternoon I told her I would NOT risk my cats life for a trip to montreal.. it was not worth it to me. she refused to hear it and suggested I contact the vet to see if it was ok to leave her.. GIVE ME A FRIGGEN BREAK WOMAN!! she knows what diabetics are.. she knows the risks.. she is so freakin self absorbed it isn't funny. Finally my father jumped in and told her to drop it.

So I left, and came home.. called the hubster to rant to let go so I didn't kavetch about it all night.. and what did I do.. Locked myself out of the house.. how lame am i?? first time ive ever done that .. well.. since Ive had my own place anyway.. happened a couple of times when I was in school.. but I was young.. so it doesn't count. so I called him back (cause I took the phone outside to get the mail while I was ranting) and had him come rescue me. *seriously considers putting a house key in my car*