I guess I’m feeling the inevitable end of this trip. I leave Texas on Wednesday and just two days later on Friday/Saturday we’re getting ready to move our junk from Indiana to Ohio. We had packed up our house and moved it to the town that my in-laws lived in but now we’re moving it all back to the base. Here’s the retarded part: they HAD a storage facility ON BASE. If I’d known that, why the hell would I have moved my junk 2 and a half hours away? I wouldn’t have. I also wouldn’t be spending almost 700 dollars to get it all back to our home base. SUCK.

 The bad news is, Derek won’t be home in time to help us move like we’d initially thought. The good news is, he should be home in just 9 days.  No more deployment EVER again. *knocks on wood*

   Meanwhile, the weekend after Derek gets home, we’re trying to plan a trip to a little bed and breakfast in the woods and a visit to The Little Nashville Opry. Derek’s a huge fan of Bluegrass music and the Oakridge Boys will be performing there. Also later on in the year, George Jones, Loretta Lynn and Tanya Tucker will be there. Wether you’re a fan of their music or not, you’re probably asking yourself the same question I did…. “Aren’t they dead?” Apparently not. That would have made for an interesting show, but no, all performers are quite alive.  I remember learning to  sing a lot of the old country songs from Alvin and the Chipmunks, so to hear the original singers would be pretty cool.  (Albeit, hearing them sung by the Chipmunks was pretty darn great too.)

All time BEST Chipmunk Movie EVER:

Did anyone else ever even *see* that movie? I found myself still singing along the words.  Yep, I was that kid when I was little. I would’ve married Alvin, but God had other plans for me.

  In local news, the children who were raided from the polygamists compound are supposed to be going home today. I know the national media is saying they’re all going home today, but local lore says more than 30 will be remaining in Child Protective Services’  care. Pregnant girls under the age of 16 and children with extensive signs of abuse will be remaining under the care of the State of Texas. I think the “feel good news” that everyone’s going home is just for the sake of the liberals who threw  a fit at the sheer number of children removed from their families. Yes, it’s a darn shame,  but before you know who’s being abused, you have to seperate them and figure out where the problem lies. Yes, a lot of children were wrongfully taken from their homes, but I’m SO GLAD that Texas was thorough enough to investigate EVERY CHILD.  Because I guarandamntee you that if a child heads back home and later is found to have been abused, the flak will fall back on the state for “not doing enough”.  I guess there’s always someone else to blame. I’ve also discovered that the polygamist groups have begun  construction on a super compound in Canada. As soon as it’s completed, this Eldorado group  and the Arizona group are g-o-n-e.

 In personal news, the last day and a half of my visit have pretty well been planned out and I desperately wanted the opportunity to spend more time with my estranged sisters.  As luck would have it, they’re going out of town all day tomorrow. I’m heartbroken. I won’t get any more opportunities to bond with them for another five months.

 K will be going to college in another  city when we get back in October. J will stay in town and hopefully will manage to have some time for me. I was probably naive in believing we’d have the relationship we had as kids. Hope is my best quality and yet it’s the most dissapointing. I know it sounds silly but I was pretty crushed this afternoon when our schedules didn’t match up right for us to hang out.

A quiz my writer friend has produced regarding a book they’re writing:

http://survey.writhaus.com/limesurvey/index.php?sid=11846&newtest=Y

Also, I’ve been singing the Cheers theme song all day and now you will be too. Turn it off to listen to the Chipmunk vid.

I’ll admit, I try to stick to humor  as a defense against having to write anything with real social value. I’m not as creative as ABF or as socially intelligent as Paige so I stick with what I know the most about: being a young mom to two psycho babies. I typically avoid writing anything that could be conceived as “drama”  but today I’m going to slip a little.

  Last night was my sisters’ graduation from high school. They’re 17-year old twins and our parents were  separated a  long time ago.  It’s been over ten years since we lived together or since I’ve really  been allowed to talk to them. We’ve been in e-mail contact now for a year and a half and it rocks. It’s been a long and slow process to rebuild ten years  of stranger-ship, but I have big hope for the future.  Just a few months after we came back in contact with each other, the factor in splitting our family up, (our biological father) came back into town again from a ten year stint in prison. I thought for sure  it would cause a rift in our growing relationship but it seems to be walking forward like I’ve been praying for.  Since I’ve been living the military lifestyle, I’ve not been able to go on many outings with them, only when I visit home.  Getting to go to their graduation was a phenomenal ordeal for me. (although graduations have to be one of the most boring functions you can attend.)
It was so nice to hug them in my arms again.

Congratulations Jessica and Kendra. You have my entire heart and I’m so thankful that I’m able to give it to you once again. I’ll love you forever.

Funny Stuff:

‘Wheel Of Fortune’ Contestants Hit Hard As Vowel Prices
Skyrocket

May 22, 2008 | Issue 44•21

LOS ANGELES—Contestants on the television game show Wheel Of Fortune
have been hit especially hard at the podiums in recent months due to
skyrocketing vowel prices, which reached a record $600 last week. “I remember a
time when you could get an ‘e’ for $250,” 46-year-old contestant Samantha Means
said after a Wednesday taping. “But as Wheel contestants, we’ve become so
dependent on vowels to solve puzzles that the producers can get away with
jacking up prices because they know we’ll pay them. We need a legitimate vowel
alternative, but I don’t think we’re ready for that. I know I’m not.” According
to Wheel Of Fortune show runner Charlie Clark, vowel prices are not
likely to come down anytime soon unless America improves its standing in the
Middle East.
By: http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/wheel_of_fortune

   My internet has been out for a few days, so forgive me for not responding to your comments and messages. I’m not really a jerk, I just play one on TV.
  Before I move onto the Xangsta party, I’ve got to speak my mind. If I hear one more two-faced reporter comment on the FLDS crew and how wrong Texas was to invade the compound when only a week prior, they were singing the praises of the law enforcement department, I’ll kill me some newscasters.
 Larry King, this means YOU. You arrogant two faced creep with cheep suspenders. Only a month ago, your show featured three FLDS women from Texas who had their children taken from them. You berated them on national television and commented on how selfish they were for not removing their children from such horrible living conditions. You stated that they clearly did not have as much common sense as was needed to see the dangers they had put their babies in and then cut them off your show while they fake cried into tissues that never became damp with tears throughout your 1-hour interview.
   So tell me… Now that the media is trying to cash in on the sensational news that not every child was being abused why do you suddenly have three different women on your screen telling them how horrible it was for Texas to even consider taking children from parents? Oh for the love of GOD tell me why you feel the need to call law enforcement officials wrong and ignorant  when they rescued more than one hundred of the four hundred  children who were being abused. I believe court documents posted in my local newspaper listed broken bones, black eyes, pregnancies under the age of fifteen, bruised bodies and vaginal areas from forcible rape and severe mental traumas from a life of brain washing….
  Why Larry King? Why? Oh that’s right. Because you’re a ratings monkey. You swing from whatever sensational branch you can find to make  your show look good and others look bad.  I’ll admit that not every child removed from their home was a victim of abuse… But aren’t you glad the State of Texas checked? Aren’t you thankful that they were thorough enough to take the heat for a few cases that were cleared to make sure that the abused children were cared for and removed from the unfit conditions? No, you’re not thankful, you’re not glad  that someone did something right. Because people doing good things doesn’t get you ratings.  So you keep on telling people that you’re a two-faced liar every night that you waffle or flip flop on a story. I’ll tell my people the same thing. Because I was the first f-ing Xangan Idol. And I’m a bad ass. EAT IT.

Now onto the Xangan Ice Cream Social.

 It was a bittersweet XICS. I’ll be heading back to Ohio next week and  several others from this part of the state are moving away as well.
Who was there? Well, we had BigDaddyJames and SleepyBadtzMaru:

BigDaddyJames’ brother Nick, random geek friend John, Circeo (and her husband OminousMan who had just walked away when I snapped the shot.)

 

Also enjoying frozen goodness was no-post-Betok and longtime lurker/infrequent poster, Natr0n:

Two random ragamuffins who begged us all for ice cream and kinda ruined our atmosphere:

Then this silly looking chick was there too. Okay.. it’s me.
 

As I said, it was a bittersweet ordeal meeting these folks and then having to tell most of them goodbye… But the sunset was gorgeous and that always gives me hope. I’m a sap for a beautiful sunset or a sunny windy day.

 Are there any Xangstas in the Ohio/Indy area who are in the mood for ice cream? I dunno about Marble Slab, but they have F-ing RITTERS in the north. HOORAH!

 I’ve been with Caity in the hospital again. This time, they admitted her. We went in at 3am Thursday morning because Caity’s vomit fest continued. I can’t exaggerate this situation at all, it was literally every 15-30 minutes she’d heave again. So they stuck an IV in the poor kid AGAIN and pumped her full of meds for her entire stay. It’s impossible to sleep in a hospital, btw. Even at night they insist on checking in on you EVERY HOUR.

BP tests, heart rate and aspiration checks  all throughout the night.  Plus the mattress is like lying on rocks.  Meanwhile, the Peds staff we dealt with was AMAZING. They were so considerate and played games with Caity and ran with her up and down the hall once she started feeling up to it. We got out  Friday afternoon and by today, she’s doing better.

Mom had to watch Aidan while we were hospitalized. He’s going through an “I eat EVERYTHING phase. The flavor of the week is human flesh.  Anyone’s face he can get within nomming distance goes directly into his open mouth. His little mouth has the suction power of a leech.

Apparently he’s a phenomenal exfoliator, Mom’s skin has never looked so fresh. Troublesome skin, ladies? Take my son. He’s available at 6am when he gets up until 10am when I feel like crawling out of bed.

Yesterday was humid as hell and yet, that’s the only day of the week my father felt he and I could trim our  backyard tree. It was 96 degrees and dripping wet and yet we still managed to do this:

There was almost as much tree on the ground as there was still on the trunk.

I need a break from sick babies and tree trimming. Fortunately tomorrow is the Xangans and more ice cream party.

We’ve sent out invites to about 20 of you and I believe the majority of you are attending. If there are any more West Texas Xangstas who want to head to Marble Slab for dinner, contact myself or Circeo.

Amarisa, are you sure you don’t want to drive six hours here to join us? =)

ABF, if you’re on the way over, bring some WI cheese. Sorry, nobody from Nebraska is allowed to attend. I don’t want to talk about corn. I’ll have more interesting things to write later. For now, I just wanted you all to know I wasn’t dead. See you at the party. If not, you’ll see the pics after tomorrow.

Random Conversations:

James3_1: You’re getting anxious about seeing your husband again? You’re such a girl.

 Me:  Moreso lately  than usual. I’ve been getting all anxious about the reunion. I even bought a darn dress for it today. When did I become such  a chick? I started reflecting on it and realized, “I love gardening and decorating and chocolate…. I must have a vagina. Holy crap.”
It’s hard for a tomboy to admit such things. I always thought my gardening just stemmed from my love for the outdoors. Nope, turns out it makes me a chick. Damn ovaries.

  “It’s an amazing time to be alive in America. We’re in a year of firsts in
this presidential election: the first viable woman candidate; the first viable
African-American candidate; and, a candidate who is the first frontrunning
freedom fighter over 70. The next president of America will be a first.

We won’t truly be in an election of firsts, however, until we judge every
candidate by where they stand. We won’t arrive where we should be until we no
longer talk about skin color or gender.

Now that Barack Obama steps to the front of the Democratic field, we need to
stop talking about his race, and start talking about his policies and his
politics. The reality is this: Though the Democrats will not have a nominee until
August, unless Hillary Clinton drops out, Mr. Obama is now the frontrunner, and
its time America takes a closer and deeper look at him.

Some pundits are calling him the next John F. Kennedy. He’s not. He’s the
next George McGovern. And it’s time people learned the facts.

Because the truth is that Mr. Obama is the single most liberal senator in the
entire U.S. Senate. He is more liberal than Ted Kennedy, Bernie Sanders, or Mrs.
Clinton.

Never in my life have I seen a presidential front runner whose rhetoric is so
far removed from his record. Walter Mondale promised to raise our taxes, and he
lost. George McGovern promised military weakness, and he lost. Michael Dukakis
promised a liberal domestic agenda, and he lost.

Yet Mr. Obama is promising all those things, and he’s not behind in the
polls. Why? Because the press has dealt with him as if he were in a beauty
pageant.

Mr. Obama talks about getting past party, getting past red and blue, to lead
the United States of America. But let’s look at the more defined strokes of who
he is underneath this superficial “beauty.”

Start with national security, since the president’s most important duties are
as commander-in-chief. Over the summer, Mr. Obama talked about invading
Pakistan, a nation armed with nuclear weapons; meeting without preconditions
with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who vows to destroy Israel and create another
Holocaust; and Kim Jong Il, who is murdering and starving his people, but
emphasized that the nuclear option was off the table against terrorists —
something no president has ever taken off the table since we created nuclear
weapons in the 1940s. Even Democrats who have worked in national security
condemned all of those remarks. Mr. Obama is a foreign-policy novice who would
put our national security at risk.

Next, consider economic policy. For all its faults, our health care system is
the strongest in the world. And free trade agreements, created by Bill Clinton
as well as President Bush, have made more goods more affordable so that even
people of modest means can live a life that no one imagined a generation ago.
Yet Mr. Obama promises to raise taxes on “the rich.”

How to fix Social Security? Raise taxes. How to fix Medicare? Raise taxes.
Prescription drugs? Raise taxes. Free college? Raise taxes. Socialize medicine?
Raise taxes. His solution to everything is to have government take it over. Big
Brother on steroids, funded by your paycheck.

Finally, look at the social issues. Mr. Obama had the audacity to open a
stadium rally by saying, “All praise and glory to God!” but says that Christian
leaders speaking for life and marriage have “hijacked” — hijacked —
Christianity. He is pro-partial birth abortion, and promises to appoint Supreme
Court justices who will rule any restriction on it unconstitutional. He espouses
the abortion views of Margaret Sanger, one of the early advocates of racial
cleansing. His spiritual leaders endorse homosexual marriage, and he is moving
in that direction. In Illinois, he refused to vote against a statewide ban — ban
— on all handguns in the state. These are radical left, Hollywood, and San
Francisco values, not Middle America values.

The real Mr. Obama is an easy target for the general election. Mrs. Clinton
is a far tougher opponent. But Mr. Obama could win if people don’t start looking
behind his veneer and flowery speeches. His vision of “bringing America
together” means saying that those who disagree with his agenda for America are
hijackers or warmongers. Uniting the country means adopting his liberal agenda
and abandoning any conflicting beliefs.

But right now everyone is talking about how eloquent of a speaker he is and —
yes — they’re talking about his race. Those should never be the factors on which
we base our choice for president. Mr. Obama’s radical agenda sets him far
outside the American mainstream, to the left of Mrs. Clinton.

It’s time to talk about the real Barack Obama. In an election of firsts,
let’s first make sure we elect the person who is qualified to be our president
in a nuclear age during a global civilizational war.” – K. Blackwell

Don’t be so impressed, these aren’t my words. I couldn’t have said them so well.  I took these words from Mr. Ken Blackwell at the NY Times. Well said friend. Well said.

 I officially hate puke. I didn’t like it before hand, but now I’ve used the word “officially” thus making it official. I OFFICIALLY hate puke.
My Caity had a stomache virus of some sort and woke up at two am losing anything she had eaten within the last year all over her bed, the carpet, my feet, etc. The whole time she’s losing it, she’s crying and scared (she’s never really had a vomit fest before) and she’s trying her darndest to cling to me.

 The germaphobe in me was trying to push her towards the big rubber bucket I had laid out. The mom in me gave up trying and just hugged the poor, scared, shaking little girl while she hurled everywhere. THIRTEEN TIMES she lost her stomache. We ended up taking her to the ER where the world’s rudest nursing staff pretended I was an idiot and they were the only ones in the room aware of it.  I realize that moms probably come in all the time, overreacting at the tiniest coughing and sniffling their baby makes. But when my girl is hurling on my feet and your lobby floor because you won’t let me have treatment until I sign the “I-have-insurance-to-pay-for-your-bad-attitude” paperwork, it’s a big friggin deal.There was no overreacting, she needed something to make the v omit stop.  We’d run out of clean towels at the house to wipe up her messes. That’s usually the first sign that you should see a doctor.

Meanwhile, she’s currently sleeping peacefully on a stomache full of Sprite and strawberry jello. My heart just cries every time her little voice squeaks, “Mommy….. My bewwy(belly) yucky.”

A mother’s lesson in humility: You want so badly to take the pain from this child and yet you stand there helpless with nothing to do, except hold her.

Parenting sucks sometimes.

I messaged everyone I could think of tonight. I’m antsy and nothing seems to calm me. It’s a whopping two weeks until I’m back in Indiana and I’m NERVOUS about seeing my husband again. High expectations? No. There’s no explanation.  I’ve lost weight, whitened my teeth, cut my own hair,  etc. It doesn’t have to do with looks. We’ve saved a ton of money in the bank. Not worried about monetary troubles.My spiritual life is healthy.  WHY CAN’T I CALM DOWN?  Why am I so nervous about seeing him again? It’s absolutely ridiculous and I get frustrated with myself  at my own anticipation. I feel like I’m twelve again. I’ve been wanting him home for months now and here he comes. Why do I feel nauseous?
  This is the very reason I can’t sleep at night: nerves. In 8 hours my babies will wake up and I’ll have just drifted off to sleep.  I’m unable to sleep because of the most random thought trails running through my head. As I begin to drift, I jerk awake with the most obscure thoughts. I’ve played my DS and the Proffessor Layton game until I want to scream. Note to self, the Proffessor and his obnoxious riddles do not help one to settle down.

Any suggestions?

more cat pictures

  It was like Girls Gone Wild, except everyone kept their shirts on. And none of us are terribly attractive. (We’re computer nerds, so don’t have high expectations.) 

My daughter’s 2nd birthday party was this afternoon and half of Xanga was there, give or take 80,000.

^Life_By_Us^

For starters, it’s  West Texas in the “spring”. However, there is no “spring” in Texas. There is HOT summer and a slightly cooler set of two months that qualify as “winter”. Therefore it was 95 degrees today without a single breeze blowing. We blew bubbles on the back porch and tried to sit in the shade, but  it was still 90 degrees under the canopy. So we decided to piss off Old_and_Cranky (in the pink shirt)by writing obnoxious things all over the concrete in chalk.

She never updates her page but frequently puts her two cents of advice on EVERYONE ELSE’S PAGE.

Later, when we opened presents, Circeo :

was forced to entertain Caitlyn, via orders by Caitlyn. She would open a present and leave the garbage remains on Circeo’s unwilling lap.

Circeo felt obligated  to “like” this inhumane treatment since she’d just eaten our cake and goodies. Her Xanga hubby, Ominous_Man was unable to attend due to work obligations at the last minute. We missed you, man.

^Jadelbugg^ was there with her kids, (the only other children at the party) and made it feel a little more like a party for my daughter, and less like *MY* party with my big kid friends. We hosed each other down with silly string.

My casualties:

Maturity is so overrated.

 We also had a visit from ^MommaQuack^ who did not put my son Aidan down the whole time she was there but managed to leave before cleanup. (convenient!)

 The last person who came was SleepybadtzMaru:

 This was the only picture I could catch him in (the red and blue shirt on the end.) Bright flashes from camera lights scare him.  He HONESTLY finished a sentence with “EPIC FAIL”. I loved it.

As it turns out, there’s quite a few other Xangstas in my hometown and several of them I’ve met already. But these guys were the only ones who were able to come today. So the next time YOU feel like meeting new people who will eat all of your food, put up a sign on your xanga site. You’d be suprised how far some folks would drive because of the phrase, “Free food and beer!”

In all seriousness guys, thanks for coming. Caity had a blast and I did too. I loved hanging out with you all. Dinner some night at Marble Slab Creamery?

Any other Xangsters in the West Texas area?

For those interested, there’s more pics at my photobucket: http://s77.photobucket.com/albums/j48/Life_by_us/2008/

  Yup, I’ve been offline alot lately and I’m bad for it. Sorry, I temporarily had a life. It’s a fleeting thing though, so here I am again. My little girl turned two yesterday and I spent all day doting over her and giving her cookies at every opportunity I could shove them in her little mouth. 

We’ll be having a big party for her on Sunday and I know a good percentage of you guys are coming.  (it’s great to know a million Xangstas in real life.) So I’ll see you all tomorrow, bring your appetites. Those of you who are NOT residing in Texas, I’ll post pictures soon. I’ve been scanning my list of xanga friends who are attending…. man we’re a big group of nerds. I was a step away from writing  a nerd’s favorite four letter word on the invitations. “WIFI available”

 But then I realized that would make me an uber nerd. I feel bad for my kids. Someday, they’ll be old enough to realize what dorks their father and I are.  Were you embarrassed by your parents? Mine will be. Just because I’m who I am. I play an audacious genius by day. But behind the dark of night fall, the glasses come on and the computer games come out.  Pop culture? I’m there. Internet memes? Oh yeah.

 Speaking of hip, I’ve found a bit of nostalgia in the cabinets  of my mom’s kitchen. Remember the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? Do you remember they had a cereal? Do you remember that one of the prizes they offered was turtle cereal bowls? 

Cuz I’m old skool just like an old fool.

And now a suprise for you, Xanga.

I drove by this house today with my camera in hand just to get YOUR input. Fake flowers anyone? This house is in a relatively nice area in a very established part of town. I suppose every block has a little white trash… and a thousand lawn gnomes…. and a MILLION fake flowers in plastic pots.

I wondered  who would be crazy enough to  pull a yard stunt like this. Then I saw their cat staring at me from the front window.

I left right after that.

NIGHT YA’LL!

First and foremost is the sad remembrance of a great crooner, Frank Sinatra. It’s actually the tenth anniversary of his death.

*sighs* Oh Frankie. When I’m feeling blue or mushy over my deployed husband, I lock the kids in a closet and kick back to some Frankie. Hands down, he’s my favorite male Standards singer. Ella Fitzgerald is my very first fave, Frankie coming in second and Dean Martin in third. Any of you who are too young to know these singers, you must immediately go away. You make me feel old.  I remember wanting to grow up to be just like Ella when I was first really learning how to sing and to this day, I still croon her songs in the shower.

Now onto the coolness.

 Indiana Jones is ALMOST as cool as Chuck Norris. I might get my ass kicked for saying so, but sometimes you have to take that chance. If I’m dead in the morning, Norris has extracted his revenge for my irreverance.

Henceforth, www.thinkgeek.com has now produced:

THE HAT! Yes, fellow Indy geeks, this is your destiny available here. If I could own everything imaginable from that website, I would. My last order was an insanely high dollar amount that showered my husband and I in geeky goodies and gave my inlaws enough material to tease me about for weeks. But I don’t care. I geek out so badly over their site so much that it hurts. I enjoy being a n3rd and I don’t care who knows it. I’m sorry, did you mistake my “nerdy and awkward” for genuine humor? I regret to inform you, you were mistaken.

Aw come on, who wouldn’t love a website that has actual caffienated soap?

Goodnight gang!