Listening

How often do we realize that someone needs to talk, we try, we really try to be there for them. Is it enough?

I have a friend who needed me or someone to listen, I hope my presence was enough. I visited her to be a listening ear, to provide a shoulder to cry on if she needed it, but thinking back on it, I am now wondering if perhaps I was really doing it for me. I needed to be there, I needed to see that she was surviving. I needed to be with her, to find the hope that someday she will be okay again.

Even though I did listen, to whatever rambles her brain focused on, I can't seem to shake the feeling that perhaps I said too much, instead of doing enough listening, that I did not listen enough. To look into her eyes, to see her anquish, to see her strength, to know her pain, but to not even begin to grasp the depth of it. She told me things that she needed to say, will need to say over and over. I hope, oh I hope I was there for her. She has so many coming to her, to assuage their grief, that she has not focused on her own. She has always been that way, she is the rock for others, she keeps her feelings tightly held. Is encouraging her to let some of it out wrong?

I don't know what else she needs, I can't fix her problem. No one can, not even she, it will take years and years for her to adjust. She has all the knowledge, all the rational thoughts are in place. But even then, she cannot find her way right now. Is being there, to listen, to give her a hug, to cry with her enough? Why doesn't it feel like it is enough?

What I do know, is that it is times like these, when we feel wrong, when nothing feels like enough, that many people stop coming around. It makes it easier doesn't it? We feel awkward in the face of another's grief, we do not know how to deal with it, it does not have an easy fix. I am hoping that I will not become one of those friends, that disapear when it becomes to hard to bear.

Because I really believe that we have to be each other's rock, and right now, before she wears herself out being the rock for 5 children, in addition to numerous relatives and friends, that she needs a rock, many rocks. I rarely pray to ask for anything, but now I am praying that I find the strength, the knowledge, the wisdom to be a rock for her.

I guess what I am trying to say, is please, please listen, and become a rock for someone, become a sheltering arm, open your heart, hear their needs. Be a rock.

And thank you to my rock, you help me so much more than you know.

Happy Nekkid Thursday

This weeks HNT is dedicated in memory of a very dear friend who forgot life's precious gifts.

When I'm lost in the rain,
In your eyes I know I'll find the light to light my way.
And when I'm scared and losing ground;
When my world is going crazy, you can turn it all around.

And when I'm down you're there; pushing me to the top.
You're always there; giving me all you've got.

For a shield from the storm;
For a friend; for a love
To keep me safe and warm,
I turn to you.
For the strength to be strong;
For the will to carry on;
For everything you do;
For everything that's true,
I turn to you.

When I lose my will to win,
I just reach for you and I can reach the sky again.
I can do anything,
'Cause your love is so amazing; 'cause your love inspires me.

And when I need a friend, you're always on my side;
Giving me faith that gets me through the night.

For a shield from the storm;
For a friend; for a love
To keep me safe and warm,
I turn to you.
For the strength to be strong;
For the will to carry on;
For everything you do;
For everything that's true,
I turn to you.

For the arms to be my shelter through all the rain;
For truth that will never change;
For someone to lean on;
for a heart I can rely on through anything;
For that one who I can run to....
I turn to you.

For a shield from the storm;
For a friend; for a love
To keep me safe and warm,
I turn to you.
For the strength to be strong;
For the will to carry on;
For everything you do;
For everything that's true,
I turn to you.

For a shield from the storm;
For a friend; for a love
To keep me safe and warm,
I turn to you.
For the strength to be strong;
For the will to carry on;
For everything you do;
For everything that's true...

For everything you do;
For everything that's true,
I turn to you...

~Christine Aguilera~

My Easter Blessing

Ever have one of those weeks in which you felt completely worn down? Nothing seemed right? This past week was one for me, each day seemed to add to the other, not getting better, but worse.
But one small thing can make everything better, I had that today. I spent the afternoon with the most beautiful girl, she made my day, my week, my month. Holding her, playing with her, feeding her, even changing her.....it was all so good.

When Your Bored--Laugh

Want to do cool things with your microwave oven? We-Man's Funny things to do with your microwave page



A Sampling of Other's Peoples Sillies:

1. My wife and her sisters took all the kids and went camping. A group of the older kids got there first and set up the tents. Later in the day when everyone was at the lake another nephew, who came up and saw the tents set up decided he wanted his tent in the place where there was already a tent. So he moved that tent and replaced it with his. During this time his brother was at the beach and when he came back, noticed what his brother had done. He told him that the tent he moved, wasn't in our campsite. It was a stranger's tent! So then he started to frantically put the tent back with one nephew and his girlfriend saying, "here comes the people!!!!" but they were just messing with him. The funny part was when the people came back, and noticed that their tent was set up backwards and they had no tent stakes, then started giving us dirty looks! Yes, this is my family again.... Madtbone.

2. Years ago while my husband and I were making love in our bedroom, our 2 year old son can in the room without us knowing it. He proceeded to jump onto is Dad's back and started yelling get em' up pony ride em' pony!

3. This is not an excuse, but one of the funniest stories I have ever heard. A friend of mine, (who shall remain nameless for fear of retaliation) was at the gynecologist for her regular checkup. When the doctor was doing the palpation part of the exam when he puts his hand inside and presses on the abdomen, my friend let out a HUGE fart! The doc and the nurse gave a valiant effort at remaining stoic, but within a few seconds, all 3 collapsed into uncontrollable laughter and the doctor had to postpone the exam!! Needless to say, she was quite embarrassed and changed doctors immediately after this little episode.

4. This message was sent to me from a computer analyst at the college I work at: The system spotted some corrupted document in your mail database overnight and attempted to fix it. It seems fine from this end now but I would feel better if you can tell me that everything is fine from your end as well. Can you do a quick check for me? Look for messages that would have been delivered to you yesterday (March 7th) but that you haven't seen yet, i.e. messages that never showed up in your Inbox. If you find any, can you please call me a.s.a.p. If you don't find anything amiss, don't worry about it. Is it just me or would I not see these "missing" messages cause .... THERE NOT F***ING THERE??!!!!! -agf-

5. One time my mother and her twin sister and her two daughters went to a department store in a little town outside of where we live. My mother went into the store with dark glasses on and was pretending to be blind. To say the least us girls were really embarrassed. My mom was knocking things over and yelling at my aunt about the color and price of things. The sales lady in the store was walking around behind my mom picking things up off the floor while telling them it was ok.. My mom turned around and asked my aunt who said that my aunt said it was just the sales lady then my mom walked right up to her and ran her hands all over the woman's face. Finally they decided it was time to go so my mom handed my aunt her wallet and she paid for the items that my mom happened not to break. We went outside to the car and my mom went around to the drivers side and got in the car. The looks on those peoples faces in the store is one you will never forget! (I am sooo gonna try this one!)

New Sights in the Hometown

We visted a park today that I have always wanted to but never had. It is a horticultural park at the nearby university.

It was a spur of the moment thought. My spontaneous moments are most often the best I think.

Miss Daughter and I had another one of our 'discussions' on the tongue piercing! Grrrrr! She knows exactly the wrong moments to start in.....we battled, apologized, and then walked it off for an hour at a place that was able to make me forget that we really live on the prairie. Why I never took my children to this park I still do not know, probably because the other trails are a few miles closer.

Next time I will take my camera, there were no really great online photos to do it true justice. It was a beautiful spring day, lots of all those spring wildflowers in bloom, very few bugs out yet. A good day after all.

Then of course I had to go shopping for easter chocolate.
But mmmmm did buy some Harry and David's Moose Munch to eat on the way home.

After the Storm

We had some awesome storms tonight, they were wonderful!
We were in the midst of a tornado warning, I watched the clouds forming, took some great photos of them....and I made a mistake when I downloaded them, and lost them, so now I only have the after the storm photo.
I later heard that some of the storm systems that came through did actually become tornadoes, so I consider myself lucky that the worse we experienced was hail the size of quarters. Hopefully we don't have hail damage on the cars. Guess I will find out in the light of day tomorrow.

The storm system was great though, it was exhillarating to be out in it, I think I scared my family a bit, but then they know me, and know I have a hard time staying out of them.

Dancing on The Edge of Dawn

“The music drifts in on the edges of the night air, musty, wild, scented with the smell of sage from the desert. It is never loud, and surely I am the only woman in the world who hears it. I hear it and I begin to dance. I dance for five, ten, fifteen then twenty minutes. I dance until it is as dark as it will ever be and the sky is littered with stars, and when finally I stop………I am dancing naked at the edge of dawn.”

People and Change

Have you ever known anyone who does not handle change of any kind well?
I live with two such people.
It is driving me bonkers!

One little hour switch in time, and they are completely discombulated, they can't seem to adjust, the hours they sleep, the times they want to eat. It is nuts!

Plus it is really cutting into my blogging time, there are times when I need hours to write, even if I don't publish it, but I have been unable to do any but the minimum for days.......and as I said........

IT IS DRIVING ME BONKERS!

Remembering to Enjoy the Little Things

A wonderful Sunday afternoon, a successful shopping trip--hate those---sigh---but I did find a great bargain---see other blog.

But most importantly we enjoyed the sun, we enjoyed the wonderful 65 degree day, and had a hike in the woods, acquiring a new goal in the process.....I have a thing.....can't go by a tree that has fallen across a creek or crevice without at least attempting to walk across, did the tree, when what did my eyes spy, but a 6 inch diameter water pipe crossing the creek, had to try it, actually tried it 4 times, no attempt got me further than halfway across before I lost my balance and had to jump off......oh my do my thighs hurt! But, I will return to attempt it until I accomplish it.

Come to think of it, my thighs probably hurt because Miss Daughter also guilted me into climbing the steep hillsides, "like we used to do when I was a kid". I was sure I wouldn't make it, but I did, worked up a nice sweat, a lot of gasping for breath, but we made it.....several times.....then of course we had to follow the dry creek bed all the way to the end of the park and back again....at least she has wonderful memories of her childhood, but oh my do I need to get my middle-aged muscles back in shape! I feel very lucky that I live near a city that set aside a wonderful hilly area in the middle of the city to be enjoyed by all. It is nice not to always have to drive an hour or two to find some good hiking. Although once my legs get their hiking muscles back, the park will seem way too tame.


It was a spur of the moment decision, I saw the the road that goes by the park, and decided to go, I am really glad I did. It made my entire weekend soo much better. The pictures posted here are actual pictures of the park, it seems you can find almost anything online if you take the time to look.

Obsession/Compulsion

I came across the description below of an addiction or compulsive disorder...... it immediately struck me that I could take away one word, and so many others could be filled in.

Of course this whole thing started when I wondered if I were a tad bit obsessive/compulsive....and I decided, Yes, I am, because I can focus so completely on something I enjoy, or want to get done that for a period of time everything else falls to the wayside, gets neglected, or just the bare minimum of attention. From reading the article...I would have at first thought that was a bad thing, and if my obsessions controlled my everyday thoughts, emotions, kept me from accomplishing certain things, then yes they are a bad thing, but I am thinking that in some things, I have to do that, I have to have a sort of tunnel vision to accomplish the task/or whatever to the best of my abilities. My greatest successes have always been achieved in just such a way.

******** is a natural part of a well-rounded life. But if you have an overwhelming need for ******** and are so intensely preoccupied with this need that it interferes with your job and your relationships, you may have a problem called compulsive ********* behavior.

You may spend inordinate amounts of time in ******** related activities and neglect important aspects of your day-to-day life in social, occupational and recreational areas. You may find yourself failing repeatedly at attempts to reduce or control your ******** activities or desires.

******** behavior becomes a problem and is considered compulsive when it's repeated often enough to interfere with your normal daily living and with your relationships.

People who are ********* obsessed can be married and appear to live otherwise normal lives, though they may have difficulty establishing and maintaining emotional intimacy.

******* obsessive behavior tends to be chronic, intense and beyond your control. Although you may seek gratification through ******** compulsive behavior, you're unlikely to achieve fulfillment over the long term. In fact, you may feel that your life is becoming increasingly empty. People with compulsive ******* behavior often use *******as an escape from other problems, such as loneliness, depression, anxiety or stress.

Jarhead

Jarhead (the self-imposed moniker of the Marines) follows "Swoff" (Gyllenhaal), a third-generation enlistee, from a sobering stint in boot camp to active duty, sporting a sniper's rifle and a hundred-pound ruck on his back through Middle East deserts with no cover from intolerable heat or from Iraqi soldiers, always potentially just over the next horizon. Swoff and his fellow Marines sustain themselves with sardonic humanity and wicked comedy on blazing desert fields in a country they don't understand against an enemy they can't see for a cause they don't fully fathom. Foxx portrays Sergeant Sykes, a Marine lifer who heads up Swofford's scout/sniper platoon, while Sarsgaard is Swoff's friend and mentor, Troy, a die-hard member of STA—their elite Marine Unit.




Watched the DVD Jarhead tonight.
I think it is one of the best war movies I have ever watched, in the sense that it made me think, made me realize the realities of modern warfare perhaps more than any news program, any history channel documentary.
The movie is an adaptation of Anthony Swofford's novel Jarhead: A Marine's Chronicle of the Gulf War.

What I saw, what I felt from viewing was that the modern day ground soldier, or at least the ones from The Gulf War, were on the sidelines, their training seemed almost like the brainwashing you imagine when hearing about religious cults, having the soldiers watch old vietnam movies before they leave for the combat zone, like Apocalypse Now and Full Metal Jacket, getting them prepared to become killing machines. Thus they arrive in the desert, prepared for war.

Yet, for months they sit on the sidelines, practicing maneuvers until they can do them in their sleep. Dealing with, but totally unprepared for the utter boredom, unprepared for the intense heat and the sand, one segment of the movie details in a repetetive format the basic humdrum activities of their daily lives......we see the boredom, the days and days of boredom, we see what that can do a man's mind. Being in a place of having to be on constant alert, but nothing happens, 6 months of nothing happening.

When we do see images of the war, it felt very real, it brought back the news footage I watched during Desert Storm, seeing the bodies of Iraqi soldiers, or Kuwaities (sp?) lying burned, dead on the roads.

For some reason, watching this DVD made me think of my 11th grade english/social studies teacher, this is a movie she would have taken our class to, or shown to us.....she felt that history was learned better if you could visualize it.....she would have assigned Swofford's book for us to read, to discuss, and then had us watch the DVD.....that is how she brought the understanding of Watergate into our minds, we read, then watched All the President's Men.

If you haven't seen it, rent it or buy it, it is well worth your time.



An excerpt from Swofford's book:

We march 20 miles, and the only enemy we see are those who surrendered, and their dead friends in trenches and burnt vehicles. I've never seen such destruction. The scene is too real not to be real. Every 50 to 100 feet, a burnt-out and bombed-out enemy vehicle lies disabled on the road. Dozens, hundreds, of them. Perhaps those two burnt men, one missing both arms, perhaps they were thinking they might make it back to Baghdad and their families for a picnic; and that man crushed under the T62 turret, he was running from God knows what to God knows what, and of all the godfuckingunlucky space in the desert, he stopped and paused right where the turret landed.

This is war, I think - the epic results of American bombing, American might. The filth is on my boots. I am one of a few thousand people who will walk this valley today. Whether I live or die, the US will win this war. If colonialism weren't out of style, I'm sure we'd take over the entire Middle East, not only safeguard the oil reserves, but take them: We're here to announce that you no longer own your country, thank you for your cooperation, more details will follow.

The sky is a dead grey from the oil fires billowing to the north. We hump and hump, and look at one another with blank, amazed faces. Is this what we've done? What will I tell my mother?

Case Study

21 year old caucasian female, very bright, talented, high school drop-out, unemployed, addicted to xanax, other drugs, with daily heavy marijuana use. Mother of two children, ages 4 years, and 4 months.
Currently being evicted from section 8 housing for having too many police calls to place of residence in the past 30 days.
In the past 120 days, she has spent 22 incarcerated.
Spends every spare minute with 30 year old drug dealing boyfriend, most of the time the 4 month old baby is with her. Boyfriend has beaten her almost everyday for the past three weeks, except for the week she recently spent in jail.

4 year old son, throws temper tantrums until she takes him to his great-grandmother's, or to his grandfather.

Father of Subject, has reached a point where he is actively seeking custodial guardianship of his two grandchilren.

How did an upper-middle class young woman reach such a point?

Family History--
At the time of her birth her mother was 18, father 28. The marriage seemed like a good one, the two were married due to the pregancy, but had planned on marrying eventually.
They did devote all of their attention to each other, when the baby was at home with them, it was as if she was a toy to play with, until they tired of her, she spent the majority of the first 4 years of her life in the care of her paternal grandparents. At the age of two a sister was born, again both children spent the majority of the next few years in the care of grandparents.
The lifestyle of the family was very upper middle class--to the point that possessions became the most important factor of their lives. If the daughters were not in the care of the paternal granparents, the parents took the daughters everywhere with them, including the girls being taken to rated R horror movies. Both girls became too frightened to sleep in a darkened room, and a television had to be on at all times. The parents could not understand the fear of the children to be alone at night. (go figure)

At age 11 our Subject's parents went through a violent, bitter, divorce. The mother became the custodial parent, with father recieving bi-monthly visitation rights. He remarried within the year, to a much younger woman, who was also pregnant.

Subject's mother was diagnosed with bi-polar disorder during this time period. Case Study suffered from verbal and physical abuse from the mother, while younger sister was favored, although witness to sister's abuse. The weekends they spent with their father, were often spent in the company of many other children who the step-mother volunteered to care for, but the girls were always the ones to do the babysitting, while the father and step-mother spent most of their time secluded in the master suite.

The younger sister took on the care of the infant half-sister during the entirety of her visits. Case Study spent the majority of her time with her father manipulating the situation, playing the ex-wife against her mother, and constantly asking her father to purchase anything her heart desired--which he gladly fulfilled.

When our subject reached the age of 12 her father and step-mother were questioned by the FBI in a mail fraud situation, the step-mother then committed suicide, rather than face the loss of her current lifestyle--or so the story goes--the suicide was attempted while all 4 children of both parents were downstairs watching television.

One month after the suicide, the subject's mother gave up custody of her two daughters to the father and moved 1200 miles away. One month later the father was convicted of mail fraud, and served 10 months in a white collar prison work release program. The subject's paternal grandparents moved into the 400,000.00 home of their son to care for his children until his return home. By the time the subject was 13 she had become heavily involved in the use of alchohol, drugs, and had lost her virginity to the neighbors 18 year old son. She soon began using sex as a way to pay for her drugs.

Her dealings with the law, and the court system soon followed, with her father always being able to somehow get her out of each situation with an occasional community service probationary term, which she never completed. So goes the story of her life.

How do you fix that?

What's Important?

Is it really important that Katie Couric is moving to CBS, do you care?
I know that I don't.

The illegal immigrant bill? Yes, that is important, it could get so many that are hiding, into much needed health care, get the children in school, they would be able to collect unemployment benefits when they lost their jobs, in addition to a myriad of other benefits to both the immigrants and the nation. There are many things wrong with the bill, but it is a start.

Do I care that a congresswoman hit a security guard, yes, what a way to get your way! I care that officials cannot decide whether to press assault charges or not...wtf? She assaulted him! She lied all during the first week, she made several mistakes...admit them...she is a public figure, one who is a role model.

Does the fact that Uranus has a blue ring seem important, no not really, but because of the fact that it has to do with space, and research, it's cool to know that those very same type of particles that make our sky blue, create the ring around Uranus.

Do I care that Eminem is getting a divorce? No, but why is it, that the celebities are the ones that get the most talked about, the most 30 second sound bites?

There is so much of interest going on in our world, but it seems to be the entertainment side that captures everyones attention, the things that are easy to talk about around the table during a coffee break. Are we so afraid of voicing our opinions, of possibly offending someone?
Or, do we just take the easy, social small talk as a given? I only discuss the important things with those people that are close to me. I sometimes wonder, why?

Late Night Baking

Well, Sonny boy enjoyed his birthday, finally picked up the corned beef in a small town north of home, on the way home from work.

I baked that cake during the wee hours of this morning, and when making the glaze, I didn't exactly follow the recipe, in addition, I also did not use a flat serving platter, resulting in a pool of glaze in the center. The cake is delicious, or was, sonny boy took it home with him. Although the center of each slice, is .....well.....rather intoxicating.

He and miss daughter helped me solve the green wall on level 12 of MOTAS ( an online game I am addicted too), but after another hour of play, I am still stuck on level 12---even my brilliant son couldn't find the clues...he said he was sleepy, and if he couldn't sleep, all he would have to do was eat a slice of cake with a large center section, and he would then fall fast asleep, so you know how strong the glaze is......you could actually taste the rum in the air when the cover was removed......everyone went to bed soon after eating cake.....a new sleeping aid?

Birthday Menu

My darling son's birthday is tomorrow. I asked him what he wanted for his special dinner. His request seemed so simple, Reuben sandwiches, tomato soup, and a rum cake. I thought wow, that will be easy. Hardest part will be finding the time to bake the cake.

Went shopping for the ingredients for the sandwiches and the cake. Went to supermarket number one, had everthing except for the corned beef, they had about 10 different kinds of turkey, and chicken, even plain roast beef, but no corned beef. Okay, drive to supermarket number two. On the way I asked Miss Daughter, "why is it that everytime I shop for your brother I have to go to at least two stores to get what he wants?" She laughed, I go through it whether it be a christmas gift, request of school supplies, whatever it doesn't seem to matter, it is never done in one shop. But food, come on!

Anyway, go directly to the deli at supermarket number two, scan the display case for corned beef, don't see any already sliced, so I asked the clerk to slice me a pound. She says she can't, their slicers are broken. I just started laughing, said thank you through the chuckles and walked away. Giving me a giant hug, Miss D just said, "where to now Mom?". "Home darlin', I will try again tomorrow." Crikey, how hard can it be to find corned beef?

If you like rum cake, I have this great recipe, the longer it sits, the better it is. Although it won't get the chance to sit long around here, I use walnuts, they just seem to go better with rum.

RUM CAKE

1 cup chopped and toasted pecans or walnuts
1 18-1/2 ounce box yellow cake mix
1-3/4 ounce instant vanilla pudding mix
4 eggs
1/2 cup cold milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup dark rum

Glaze
1 stick butter
1/4 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup dark rum

Cake: preheat overn to 325 degrees F. Grease and flou 12-cup bundt pan. Sprinkle the nuts on the bottom of the pan. Combine all the cake ingredients. Beat for 2 minutes on high with an electric mixer. Pour into the prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool in the pan, then invert onto serving plate. Prick the top with a fork. Drizzle the glaze over the top of the cake.
Glaze: Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in the water and sugar. Boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and stir in the rum. The rum will cause steam, so be careful. Pour over cake. Enjoy.

Nostalgic Flashbacks

The wind was really sweeping off the plains today, as the 30mph rain-filled gusts blew my hair sometimes straight up, it made me think of the head scarves my mom, aunts and grandmother's used to wear. I wonder, what made those become so outre? So many things seem to have become that way. I did a lot of things I now miss when my children were young, but even then I seemed to be out of the ordinary. Hmmmm, maybe just feeling nostalgic.

Sunday Dinner at Granma's House

Easter Bonnets

Reading Aloud to My Kids

Sunday Afternoon Drives

Coffee and a Thunderstorm

Miss Daughter made me coffee this morning, it was quite good, as I mentioned this, she said “I hate weak coffee, so I doubled how Dad makes it.” Smart girl, just like Mom.

But then I wondered, why do I dislike the coffee here at home, even the convenience store coffee is better. Is it the coffee maker, the Maxwell House coffee, the filters, the water, a combination? Decided to do a google on the perfect cup of coffee.

I found the best webpage, so funny, and right! Of course if I took the authors advice, I would have way to many appliances on my counter top, have enough junk there already, and it isn’t my coffee maker, it is a Bunn so the extraction is really fast (this I learned today), I am going to blame it on the water. I have decided that is why the coffee I make while camping is so good, we use bottled water, it is pure, no chemicals, no minerals, so tomorrow when I do the shopping for Son’s birthday dinner, I am gonna buy me a few gallons of coffee water.

I have linked the website for the coffee page, it is a great read.

For instance this is his take on the age of coffee beans:

Age

Coffee releases six times its volume in carbon dioxide within the first 48 hours of roasting. Think about this before you try cramming your freshly burnt beans into a tupperware container and chucking it into the back of your 4x4.

Green coffee is almost impervious to aging and can be stored in your cellar for years. But once it's roasted the flavor degrades immediately and gets worse over time. Yet despite this dire warning, never attempt to roast coffee yourself. As an amateur you will ruin your beans with your cockamamie, half-assed attempt. No yuppie-toy flower-faggot kitchentop roaster will ever match the precision built, multi-thousand-dollar batch roasters used by professionals who know what the fuck they are doing. That you're already insisting on brewing coffee at home instead of going to an experienced barista is bad enough, do not make it worse than it already is. The roasted coffee you buy is the last outpost of expertise before a barren wasteland of idiots wielding cheap-ass equipment sloshed with harsh detergents and banged around with simian clumsiness in bacteria infested kitchens that no coffee bean should ever be punished by inhabiting. If you really like the taste of your coffee, know that it all comes from the skill of the roaster and all you had to do is follow some simple fucking instructions.

Boorah boorah!
When was the last time you walked in a thunderstorm?

We did tonight, it was fun, exhilarating, and a little cold.

It wasn’t planned, we thought we had an hour before they were to be upon us. Even checked the radar map before we left. What was kind of freaky was that quite recently I was talking with a friend about how great storms are, how fun it is to be in a downpour.

It made our Sunday walk all the better, because of course Miss Daughter had to jump in the puddles, had to splash me, what she didn’t expect was my return fire…..oh she was drenched! But then again, we were both were.
On our drive home in the storm the perfect song came on the radio...it fit the mood exactly.

Miss New Booty by Bubba Sparxxx Feat. Ying Yang Twins

Booty, booty, booty, booty, rockin' everywhere
Booty, booty, booty, booty, rockin' everywhere
Booty, booty, booty, booty, rockin' everywhere
Rockin' everywhere
Rockin' everywhere

Failure To Launch

We went to the movies....big night out for me, don't think we have been to see a movie in the theatre since Rent was released.

It was a tough decision, should we see a horror flick, The Hills Have Eyes? Nope not in the mood, nor was I in the mood for the teen flick Miss Daughter wanted to see, She's the Man, gotta admit I enjoy most made-for-teen movies, but most of those are just fine on DVD.


So we decided to check out one of our favorite hotties Mmmmm.........Matthew McConaughey.......he will be in my dreams tonight.


I hadn't watched any of the previews for Failure to Launch, so I had no idea what to expect.
It was pretty good, some great slap-stick comedy, okay--not great--but still made me laugh out loud. The story line wasn't that bad either. A thirtysomething man who still lives with his parents falls in love with the woman of his dreams and then finds out she has been hired by his parents as a way to get him out of the house.


We go to the movies to escape, to not think for a while, and this movie accomplishes that. It doesn't raise a lot of questions in the mind, cause a lot of thought, but it did do exactly what it was intended to do, divert us, allow us to laugh.

The weird thing, that I noticed, and Miss Daughter also noticed, is that almost all the actors/actresses had blue eyes, the main 7 characters, all blue eyes. Don't know why we noticed this, or if others viewing noticed it, but we did. I think my favorite character was the female roommate of the main ingenue, Kit, she was wacky, mean, feisty, and the scenes of her trying to deal with a nocturnal mockingbird were the least predictable, things I could see myself doing or at least imagining, after many sleepless nights in a row. So, if you are looking for a comedic diversion, it was well worth the $17.00 I paid out in tickets.

Then on the way home, I got last nights synopsis of South Park from Miss D... she didn't even realize she was using the South Park accent during the entire recitation....which is what made it so funny to hear....she had no idea that is why I found her synopsis so funny, she now thinks I am as big a South Park fan as she is.

My main reason to go to the movies tonight was to divert my teen from her latest obsession, she wants her tongue pierced. Approximately every two hours, I get a new version of her logic on why this should happen. The funny thing is, I really don't care that much whether she gets it pierced or not......the tongue is the one place that will show no scar, when she is tired of that piercing. But my initial reaction to her request was a resounding NO, so I have to stick to my guns......gotta be sorta consistant as a parent.
Her logic never ceases to amaze me, the best one so far....is that she can't wait until she is 18, because by then she won't want it, a pierced tongue won't be cool then, it is cool now. Why is it cool now, because she is 16 of course. At least this is one thing I don't have to worry about her attempting on her own. She has gauged 2 of her ear piercing, 6 weeks ago she and a friend gave themselves small tattoos, luckily a small one, in a very discreet place....and she stills feels guilty over that one because she did it without my permission, her guilt has been more than enough punishment. This week while she was visiting another friend, she died her blond highlights blue, luckily with a few tweaks from me tomorrow, they will look better. Which she knew I would do.

My logic of the day for saying no to the tongue piercing was to use the old marijuana argument....you know the one our parents used .....you smoke that pot, and the next thing you will be doing heroin!
My argument being that she went from one set of piercings in her ears to four, and then had to gauge some of those, then she did the tatt thing, so I said what next? You get started and you can't stop, soon she will be covered in piercings...... she didn't really fall for it...her argument back to me was that she learned her lesson from the tattoo, she doesn't like doing things without my permission.

Thinking..........so does this mean she won't have sex until I tell her it is okay?