Life, Family, et al

Oink Oink (Good Bye, John)

2010-10-05T20:08:00.006-04:00

Note: this was originally written on 4 October 2010 in a blog post in a game I play and the reproduced in Facebookas a note. My apologies if you already read this.

This is for no one else. No one here would understand or care. The only person who would have cared will never read this post. Not now, not ever.

I used to blog a lot. I had a private, personal journal blog for a few years. It was small and read by a handful of people. We all blogged and got to know each other well. Dare I say, we all became very good friends.

Sadly, between CM and Facebook (and my inability to keep a blog's database from imploding ... don't ask), my blog fell to the wayside.

With that, so did the some of the friendships. Those who were on FB still remained friends to a degree.

Two blokes who became dear friends of mine were known as Tazzy and Piggy. They were sweethearts to the nth degree. They saw me through some very difficult times in my life and had me smiling and laughing through everything. I always promised myself that ONE DAY, I would go to the UK and share a pint with them.

They were both on FB so, even with the demise of my blogging, I was still able to contact them. It wasn't the same as blogging though. The banter was different and I felt more intrusive on their personal life. Still, I kept them in high regard and always said the ONE DAY, I would go to the UK and share a pint with them.

Tazzy and Piggy adored Alton Towers. They were forever going there and always posting about their ventures, especially their roller coaster ones. They loved roller coasters almost as much I do. It had literally been years since I went on a super fast Category 5 thrill ride. The last time I did was long before I started blogging and got to know them. When I was finally going to get to the UK, it was going to be a pint and a trip to Alton Towers to ride on a super fast thriller roller coaster.

About a month ago, Piggy started moaning about how he wasn't feeling well. He said it was a cold. I read his FB updates, read the comments, thought of commenting yet never did, and left it at that.

Two weeks ago, he was hospitalised. He was still updating his FB with his hatred of the hospital and all the procedures he had to endure. I finally wrote on his profile's wall and asked if he wanted me to come to the UK to do the Teddy Bear dance for him.

A few days ago, Tazzy started updating his own profile saying Piggy was too sick to even do updates. Everyone was well wishing and hoping for the best.

Yesterday, while I was at an amusement park, my cousin texted me. Since she rarely does it, I naturally blurted out loud, "I wonder who died?" Little did I know how prophetic the inside joke she and I share would be.

After weeks of battling pneumonia, Piggy passed away on 2 Oct 2010. I felt it strangely odd that, of all places to receive the news, I was at an amusement park.

About an hour after I got he text, I lowered the body harness over me as I sat in a suspended car and waited for the Great Bear, a category 5 thrill ride roller coaster, to start.

Ok, so that didn't work

2010-10-04T14:59:00.003-04:00

I deleted the new improved blog. I made one post and didn't touch it again for nearly a year. Anyone surprised at this move? I'm not.

So it's back to this blog.

Since no one follows it anymore, I find it to be more of a sanctuary than a chore. It's a place to release my inner angst. You think teenagers have a corner on the market when it comes to angst? Ha!!! Try being a mom ... or the mom of a teenager. Thank god I'm not there just yet. I have almost 5 years for that one to hit.

So that's it.

My blog for my opinion and if anyone reads it, I'll be shocked.

New Blog

2009-11-15T17:21:00.004-05:00

This blog will no longer receive postings. Yes, I finally decided to officially retire the poor thing.

There is a new blog now (cue the trumpets!). If you want/need the new url, please let me know either via e-mail or the comment section here.

Thank you

For YukiCross

2009-11-15T12:24:00.001-05:00

CANADA SUX!!!!!!

Thank you

:P

Thrash Metal

2009-04-11T22:45:00.006-04:00

Thrash metal, speed metal, black metal, death metal, etc. The genre has many names and many offshoots.

Regardless, I don't get it.

I think I am a rather open-minded person when it comes to music. Name the genre and I can pretty much find something or someone I like.

Thrash metal? Not a chance.

I've tried many times to listen to it, but it was all in vain. As per me, it all sucks. Smashing a drum at 100,000 hpm (hits per minute) and churning out multiple chords in a span of three seconds while screaming into a mic is not music. It's inaudible drek! Hip-hop has more style than this crap.

I'm sure that tiny slice of the industry will somehow survive without my contribution in purchases.

Saturday Night

2009-04-11T20:42:00.004-04:00

Saturday night in this house can be so painfully benign.

Last week, Geo and I went on a 8 hour round trip to pick up some 1940-something truck thingy for a friend of his. It wasn't all that bad. We went to Middletown NY to pick it up in a flatbed tow truck. Oh yeah, there's the epitome of our relationship. No kids for the day and we go to Inthemiddleofnowhere NY to pick up a truck. Thankfully he got paid to do this.

One good thing about last week was where we had dinner. It was at this place called the Americana Diner on NY Route 211 in Middletown. Their food was pretty damn good. There was also a couple of hot looking chicks there so that made the dining experience all the more pleasurable.

Then came Sunday and the rest of the week. It was work, come home, repeat.

Now we are up to tonight - Saturday night. It's the night before Easter Sunday and I still have to make the Easter baskets for the two urchins. I have no idea why. Gem has already informed me she doesn't believe in the Easter bunny.

"It's just a person in a rabbit suit."

That's what happens when you tell a little kid a few years ago NOT to be afraid of the giant, scary Easter bunny in the mall. Hey, if you had this to show your child, what would you do?

Exactly! You tell said child, "Oh no, sweetpea. It's just your imagination. The Easter bunny doesn't have fangs and this crazed look in his eyes. He's not even real. It's just some person in a rabbit costume."

The words now come back to haunt me.

So on that pleasant note ....

Happy Easter

Links

2009-04-04T23:13:00.000-04:00

I lost my blogroll. I used to have a rather extensive one like three years ago.

So, if you want a link back to here, let me know.

And this happened when???

2009-04-03T18:01:00.002-04:00

Geo and I are going out tomorrow to do a job. I can't say anymore than that - it's classified. >.>

Anyway, the 'rents have already put in a claim ticket for Gem for the whole day. As for Damian? Yeah ... well ... what can I say about that. They're smart. They'll watch demon boy until we get home and we get him right back.

Gah

I told Gem tonight that she would be going to Nana and Pop-Pop's house for the day along with her evil baby brother and that SHE would be sleeping overnight. I told her that her daddy and I were gonna go out drinking for the day.

She replied, "Just like the ole days."

*blinks*

NAME CHANGES

2009-04-03T17:03:00.000-04:00

Starting today, the boy known as JT in this blog will be known as Damian. In case you weren't sure, that would be my darling son. I have good reason to give him this nickname.

The job place personified

2009-04-02T01:14:00.002-04:00

We had a departmental meeting today. In the meeting, a certain project was discussed that may very well have a shortened life span. That's the way of my company though. We dump tons of cash into things that we may use briefly and then abandon. As my one co-worker put it, "Why is that I feel we're just a little bi-polar as a company?"

Do they make kryptonite underwear?

2009-03-31T01:44:00.003-04:00

see more pwn and owned pictures

I'm pretty sure the kid in this picture is hoping to hell that's what his are made out of.

Yeah, this a real comic book cover. Someone explain HOW it got passed the editors?

This is just all sorts of wrong.

Whoopsie!

2009-03-31T01:43:00.001-04:00

I missed the Sunday Ramble. Oh well. Deal with it - I am.

Was that a compliment?

2009-03-26T20:50:00.003-04:00

I was called a bizarre, off-beat version of the missing link today.

Ummmm ....

thank you?

My Job - My Life

2009-03-26T20:33:00.002-04:00

As you know, I work for a music company.

It's one of those places where you can get into a lot of trouble if you are caught NOT listening to music while working. I'm dead serious. It's even part of our annual review. That's messed up.

It's like working for McDonald's and getting in trouble for not eating their "heart attack in a bag" food.

Anyway (Pig's fave word), today was a banner day at work. I had to finish a report, which had a 5:00 PM deadline, and it was in no way, shape, or form gelling together for me. Oh yeah, I was ticked. I was cussing up a storm which prompted the ominous voice on the other side of my cube to say, "Maidy's in a good mood."

*sticks middle finger up in the air*

I was rampant. I felt the "postal" gene in my head click over to the ON side.

I

was

not

happy.

Then, like a sign from some deity, the loudspeakers kicked on and the whole company was filled with the Ramones, "I Wanna Be Sedated".

My mood completely changed as I mentally rocked out at my desk.

Music truly does have charm to soothe the savage Maidy.

Still never got the report done.

Homework

2009-03-26T19:58:00.002-04:00

This was tonight's conversation with the girl while going over her homework for kindergarten.

Me: OK, pumpkin. You color the spaces that equal one green, two red, three leave alone, four yellow, and five brown.

Gem: OK, mommy.

Me: Now, you understand what you have to do? You have to add the numbers together and the answer is the color.

Gem (with attitude): I KNOW that, Mommy.

Me: OK, OK, just checking. So, *points* this one says three plus two. What does that equal?

Gem: Brown

Me: No, honey. It's five and five is brown.

Gem: That's what I said! Brown!

Me: No, baby. It's five and five is brown.

Gem: Right. Three and two is brown.

Me: No, sweetie. It's ...

*thinks*

Me: Ummm, nevermind. You get it.

I really wanted to go into an explanation that she was using logic, but I'm just happy the kid has her colors correct.

One of the reasons why I love him

2009-03-25T23:39:00.004-04:00

This actually happened a few years ago, but it's still something he'd do today.

Me (doing something benign I assume and screwing it up): Grrrr. Fuck a duck!

Geo: Quack! Quack!

Back to work tomorrow

2009-03-16T23:54:00.002-04:00

Yeah, I didn't go in today. I had a doctor's appointment this morning which stretched into the afternoon. After that, I didn't have the mental energy to deal with data and deadlines.

*sigh*

Not much of a choice but to suck it up and jump back into everything tomorrow.

On the upside, I have to take off from work on Friday. On the downside, it's for medical reasons again.

Ah well.

Criminal in Training

2009-03-16T09:03:00.002-04:00

The other day my *ahem* adorable son got a hold of a pen. How he got it is still a mystery. I think he has a stash of them somewhere in the house. Anyway (Pig's fave word), he is not allowed to have anything that can be considered a weapon and a pen would fall under that category. So, it was my sworn duty to get the pen away from said child.

I looked at him and yelled, "JT!!"

The poor boy got startled and jumped.

The thing he did next astounded me.

He looked at the pen, threw it in one direction, and ran in the other.

*blink*

I looked at Gem who watched the whole thing from the couch and said to her, "Did you see that, pumpkin? That's what criminals do with weapons when being chased by the police."

I can already predict I'll be on speed dial at the Dean of Students for whatever school he will be in.

Maidy's Sunday Ramble 03/15/2009

2009-03-15T17:16:00.005-04:00

That's right, minions. I'm back and so is the ramble.

Let's see, it's been about seven months since I have even wrote a real ramble so I may be a bit rusty at this. Just bear with me.

****************************************************************************

My daughter talks a lot. She gets it from Geo. Majority of the time I have no idea what the hell she is saying. It all starts out the same way.

"Ummm, mom? I blah blah blah blah ... *trails off into something inaudible* ..."

I swear to God it's like she was told if she stopped talking, she'd die.

****************************************************************************

The girl has been preoccupied with death lately. I don't know what prompted it but it's getting quite ghoulish with her.

****************************************************************************

I have a new job as most of you do not know. Yeah, that other job I had for like EVER, the one that I hated but stayed with since they paid me to do nothing, laid me off last June. Pretty nice of them since they probably could have fired me for about a gazillion things.

Anyway, I work for a music company now. We are in the field of broadcast media. That, my friends, is all I will give in identifying where I work.

What about my job? I love it. It's high stress and demanding and I seriously love every second of it. I'm sure as the days trudge along, I'll have more blog fodder relating to it.

****************************************************************************

I bought a new sippy cup for JT today. It 's spill-proof, leak-proof, and break-proof. Those are three elements that are key to things we give to that boy.

There's just one slight problem ... I can't get the damn thing open. I twisted, pushed, slammed it against the counter, and the damn lid won't budge. Yeah, it's leak-proof alright ... because you can't get any liquids in the stupid thing.

****************************************************************************

JT sneezed in my face. That was pleasant.

****************************************************************************

Has anyone out there watched Foamy the Squirrel? If not, I highly recommend you watch some of his rants.

****************************************************************************

Why doesn't iTunes have AC/DC? They have freaking Led Zeppelin and The Beatles, but they don't have AC/DC.

That just seems messed up to me.

HEY APPLE!!! PAY THE DAMN LICENSING FEE AND GET ON WITH IT!!

****************************************************************************

I bet you never knew that leaving a cup of Dunkin Donuts coffee on your car roof and then start driving away can cause a big ole messy and unfortunate accident? And that's especially so when the cup was on the driver's side and it spilled all over the roof and cascaded down the door. Made wanting to get out of the car to survey the damage a bit treacherous.

****************************************************************************

You know the mother's curse?

"Someday I hope you have kids JUST LIKE YOU"?

Yeah, it really works.

To those of you without children and heard that uttered by your mum at least once in your lifetime, you better hope to your god of choice that you were a child with a relatively good disposition or else you are so totally screwed.

****************************************************************************

Friends

2009-03-11T08:14:00.002-04:00

Amazingly enough I do have them. You know, those people who I can truly count on when life goes completely awry?

I just need to reconnect.

*checks blog's log event*

It seems I have one that remembers I existed in the blogging realm.

*huggers Eros*

Blogging? What's this blogging?

2009-03-11T00:14:00.003-04:00

Maybe I should take it back up again. Stupid RPG online games have melted my brain long enough.

*wonders if she should tell people she's back*

Maidink's Sunday Ramble

2008-05-25T08:49:00.003-04:00

*opens door to blog*

*gasps at a bunch of spiders and a couple of rats that go scurrying by her feet*

Oh man, this is scary. I haven't touched this blog in a year or something. It's dark and creepy and smells like death in here.

*feels around the walls*

Where the hell is the light switch?

*finds it and clicks it on*

Whoa. I guess I should have asked Connie or someone to remind me to cover the furniture before I left. There aren't dust bunnies in here. They're more like dust badgers.

*finds a bottle of unlabeled booze*

*opens it and takes a swig*

Pppuhhh-HOOOOOOOO!!!!! WOW! That stuff has a kick to it. I'll leave that for MJ to drink.

*plops in a chair and a cloud of dust engulfs her*

cough cough cough

O.K., since my main blog is housed on a server that presently has a fried HDD, I'm forced to do my usual ramble here at these ancient runes of Blogger.

Here we go ....

WE INTERRUPT FOR THIS SPECIAL BULLETIN:

THE SUNDAY RAMBLE HAS BEEN CANCELLED

NOW BACK TO MAIDY

Well, so there we are. No Ramble today.

*takes another swig of booze*

*shakes head*

Eeeeeeee-YOW that stuff is firewater!

O.K, well, I dusted off the bar and the serving tables. There's plenty of booze and some appetizers and hot hors d'oeuvre. Partake until the other blog comes back.

Toodle pip!

And the blog lives on

2007-08-30T10:00:00.000-04:00

No, I'm not giving up this blog.

It was my first and ones first is always special.

I do have the other blog still. It's been through a lot since the last post here in December 2006.

Like what you ask?

Well, the database went completely tits up in February 2007. Oh that was a fucking treat. EVERYTHING was gone! Fucking bit rot.

I moved to a new server at that time and everything went completely wonky. I was forced to leave them after only three months.

Now my blog is BACK with Tatty and Piggy, but I still retained my domain name. Hey, it's my name! I bought it so I get to use it, m'kay!

That's it! Now go to the new blog and, if you have to after a year, change your link!

Life, Family, et al

This blog STILL lives (but it's on lifesupport)

2006-12-04T09:29:00.000-05:00

Okay, Einsteins, if you HAVEN'T figured it by now, I do not POST on this BLOG!

I have ANOTHER blog, and it's NOT the one previously mentioned. That one in the post below is d-e-a-d GONE!

This is my new blog site: Life, Family, et al. The URL (for those who even care) is http://lifefamilyetal.com and YES it is MY site.

Now, UPDATE YOUR FUCKING LINKS YOU LAZY BASTARDS!

Thank you :)

Move along, people

2006-08-12T20:56:00.000-04:00

Seriously, I'm done with this blog.

Go here: The New and Improved Life, Family, et al

I'm not doing the auto redirect thingy yet.

Eventually, but not now

Permission

2006-07-26T10:39:00.000-04:00


Folks, I saw this on Scotty's website (and he saw it on someone else's blog). I agree with what he had to say, it should be aired on every channel until the message is understood. I'm also posting this on the other, much better blog (since this blog's days are winding down fast). That's a hint for you procrasinators to CHANGE YOUR LINK! Thank you!

My mother has her priorities

2006-07-22T18:51:00.000-04:00

Dinker and I got haircuts today. Well, I got a cut and highlighting.

I've been going to the same place for 20 years. My mother goes there, also. She is there every blessed Saturday at 8 in the morning. So yes, she was there this morning for her hair-do update.

Odd child I have ... she can't wait to get a haircut, go to the doctor, and see a dentist. She actually cries when I tell her she won't see the dentist until it's Halloween. She's a bit too well adjusted.

My mom and dad took the Dinks to their house while I got my hair done. When I left the salon, it looked right nasty up in the sky.

"Oh lovely," I thought, "a storm is heading our way."

Either getting one's hair done or washing the car can always guarantee a good rainstorm.

Just before I got to mom and dads', the skies opened up. Ya gotta love it! So I ran into my parents' home in the frellin' rain.

After a few minutes, it seemed to stop raining. I thought that was the best time to dash out with the Dinks to the car.

As we were leaving, the skies looked right unfriendly again. As tradition dictates, my mother walked out with us to my car. As we walked out she felt a raindrop.

"Okay, I'll see you two later. I'm going back in."

"Oh," I said, "keeping your hair dry is more important then seeing off your granddaughter?"

"Yep"

And she promptly abandoned the two of us, disappearing through her front door as the skies opened up again.

My brave, brave mother.

Majority of my future posts will now be on my Word Press blog

2006-07-20T22:19:00.000-04:00

This is where I highly advise everyone to update their links be it on Bloglines, BlogRoll, or your own did-it-myself blogroll.

Blogger has become too annoying to to even consider keeping.

I won't, repeat, WON'T delete this blog. It will stay up for information purposes and archives. I had the darn thing for over a year, I can't just go [DELETE]. Well, I could, but I won't.

So update those Maidink and/or Life, Family, et al links to the Word Press blog.

http://lifefamilyetal.tazzyandpiggy.com (with intro)

or

http://lifefamilyetal.tazzyandpiggy.com/wordpress (no intro)

Why?

'cause that's where I'm-a postin', that's why!

Not a good day ... already

2006-07-19T09:21:00.000-04:00

I'm not going to rant on this blog. I'm starting to dislike Blogger more and more everyday. Stupid thing already froze up at least four times trying to get this itty bitty post done.

Therefore, the rant is on my other blog.

How to (maybe) get a telephone answered in an office that could care less

2006-07-18T14:36:00.000-04:00

I just got a call on my phone here at work and the caller ID said "Answer me, please"

I didn't.

The day BEFORE the birthday

2006-07-18T07:23:00.000-04:00

Geo promised he would take me out for my birthday on Saturday. And he did! Yay me!

It was such a good day.

Well, we did argue once, but it was a minute (pronounced either way) argument. I think it was one of those "you're not wearing that?", "stop nagging", "you're a jerk", "you're a nag", blah blah blah. You get the point.

WIth the obligatory once a week arguement over, we got ready and left.

We dropped the Princess off at Mom and Dad's. She was staying the night, but she didn't know that. When I picked her up the next day (my birthday), my mom looked rather haggered. It seems the Princess didn't sleep a wink. How nice. Hey, they want to watch her, so they get no sympathy for the repercussions which occur.

Now, back to Saturday night. First stop was din-din.

We went to TGIFriday's for dinner. I know, TGI's is not the place one would think of when one's other half is treating them to a birthday dinner. I honestly couldn't think of anywhere else to go to eat. I wanted a place where I knew the food was good but not expensive. TGI's won.

It was a nice meal. I had two uber fruity drinks (so not my style). We both got shrimp dinners which was good, but not like the stuff we get down in Maryland. Of course, there were children everywhere which made me miss the rugrat. And there were the occasional twenty-somethings who painfully reminded me I was no longer twenty-something (and slowly creeping out of the thirty-something crowd). It was the typical Friday's atmosphere.

And did I say not expensive? Never order two uber fruity drinks and expect a low bar tab.

Next year, I'm choosing either the Piper Tavern or the Chart House.

After dinner, we went to this area near here known as Main Street of Manayunk. I've always wanted to go there because I've heard nothing but awesome reviews of the shops and the dining. My first choice was South Street, but our neighbor suggested we hit Manayunk instead.

Boy, Geo and I were far from impressed. Everything seemed closed up and not all of the restaurants were open. It just didn't seem like it was "all that". We stayed for all of forty-five minutes and left.

And we had to pay $8.00 in parking. What a rip-off!

I mentioned the disappointment in Main Street to my co-worker on Monday.

"It just seemed so dead. I was so unimpressed."

"You do remember," she said, "that Main Street was one of the places that was flooded out a few weeks ago? Most of those shops are probably still cleaning up from the waters. They say Main Street won't be fully recovered for a few more weeks."

We had some wicked rains a few weeks ago that caused massive flooding in tons of places here in Pennsylvania. Most of Philly county was spared, but lots of surrounding areas were evacuated. Manayunk was one of them.

Okay, so they had an excuse. Geo and I made a promise to each other to check it out again in a few weeks.

Feeling disappointed, we went to South Street anyway.

You didn't flooding in that area to know it was a dump. Then again, flooding could help it.

South Street used to be a happening place from way back when until about the 1990's. It had the funky shops, the retro clothing stores, the great eateries, antiques, etc. I have spent many a coin down there. Then it quickly turned around and went to poop.

It seems all the happening people have migrated from South Street to Main Street. Main Street might become my new hang out (when I actually find a sitter and leave my house to hang out).

Back to South Street, we had a couple of drinks in some seedy little bar. And that was that.

So ends my day before tale. I know it was a ripping read (not). What, you expected more? So did I. That goes to show, next year, I'll have an menifesto printed up before we leave.

Go to the new place to find out where we are going on holiday this year:

She's gonna get the pony, I know it

Today, I was born

2006-07-16T22:04:00.000-04:00

At least that's what my birth certificate states. Or it used to.

For years, my mother had my original birth certificate carefully wrapped in cellophane and kept in her jewelery box. She let me take charge of it when I turned 30. It promptly burned up in a house fire 3 years later.

Oops.

It was hand writen and the official crimped state seal was all crumbly. No wonder it went up in flames, it was practically kindling.

To date, I have yet to order a replacement. Eventually I will. I have to. If we're ever to go overseas for holiday, I need to get a passport. And to get one of those you need a birth certificate. So, I'll order it.

Soon.

Eventually.

someday.

maybe ...

Other site: Today was my birthday

WordPress v Blogger: Get ready to change your link

2006-07-14T11:44:00.000-04:00

Yep, this blog is going bye-bye sooner than anticipated.

It didn't take long for me to get used to WordPress. Now I look at this blog and think, "Oh, you are SO out of here."

At first, I was afraid of WordPress. It looked so ... menacing. But now I realize it's vastly easier and quite friendly. As Tazzy and Piggy said (and this is not verbatim), if you can manipulate stuff in Blogger, you'll have no problem in WordPress.

There is a slight hiccough, though. That would be there are two WordPress sites: WordPress.com and WordPress.org.

There is a HUGE difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org.

WordPress.com hosts its own WordPress blogs, just like Blogger. And, just like Blogger, it's a free service. The rub is you are limited to your creativity. Blogger pretty much let's you do whatever the heck you want to your blog. Blogger's problem is that it is unreliable. I've stopped counting how many posts, comments, and even templates I have lost due to Blogger's instability. At WordPress.com, you can get a blog, but you can't alter it. As for reliability, I haven't heard any bad things about the WordPress.com host ... um, I actually don't know anyone on the .com host. But it is free! It's just that it's also limited.

Then there is the other WordPress. WordPress.org is more of a "do-it-yourself" blogging experience. First, you need to get a web host. WordPress.org has a link on their site to "recommended" web host partners in case you have no clue where to get one. Before you ask, yes, there will probably be a fee. On the upside, you get to pick your OWN domain name. Oooooo. In my case, Taz and Pig are my host, via their host, at tazzyandpiggy.com. Once I get on my feet (who knows when that will be), I'll get my own domain and web host. Next, you need to download and install WordPress. When that's complete, install the files on your PC, and you are, for the most part, ready to go.

If you love to blog and Blogger is really getting on your nerves, I recommend doing it the WordPress.org way. Sure there is a fee, but never forget the old saying, "You get what you pay for".

Now, back to ME!

I'm thinking of moving all my posts and comments from here to the other blog. The only downside with that is I'll have hundreds of "miscellaneous" categorized posts. I don't know about you, but I'll find that very annoying.

I could just very well keep this blog up indefinitely. Nothing says it has to go away. Still fence sitting.

And I want to buy a new laptop and a voice recorder. But that's another story.

And here's more reading: It took me a YEAR to get it that way

Why should this come as no surprise?

2006-07-13T09:21:00.000-04:00

Well, Geo just dropped a bomb on me. In his defense, it's not like he had any control over what happened.

For next week, his company switched him out of his current department to the department he just left.

Why? Who knows. There is never a rhyme or reason in the world of steel. I would venture to guess they allowed too many "voluntary" lay-offs recently. Duh!

So, more than likely, he'll be working the midnight to eight shift next week starting Sunday night. That means he'll need to be asleep around 3:00 PM to get enough sleep to last through the night.

What's the big deal, you may ask?

Sunday is my birthday. We (meaning Geo, Dink, and myself) were going ot my brother's home to celebrate it by the poolside with BBQ. It was going to be an all-day event.

"Well," I said, "I guess this means you won't be at my brother's Sunday."

Moments silence.

"Yeah, I guess."

Now, nothing is definite. He could very well be working a different schedule, although he already expressed how he prefers the midnight shift, the dope.

I feel bad for him, but it's my birthday.

Here's to praying he can be there. And if not, well ... I'll save him some cake.

maybe

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Other blog post: Did I say thirty days?

You know you're getting old when ...

2006-07-12T19:54:00.000-04:00

I was going to write a list of clever endings to the opening title, but it looks like someone (probably a few hundred someones) already beat me to it.

Oh well, that's just as good. I doubt if my brain could have handled the stress.

It's sad when phrases from your youth are now obsolete. That's one helluva indicator that you're pushing the old dirt nap needle.

Phrases like "drop a dime on someone". Who the heck uses that now? No one I tell you. That was way back before mobile phones and when using a payphone cost ten cents.

And how about "you sound like a 33 on 45"? I got a few stares at the local Wawa with that one. Man, 33 and 45 rpms. I complain if my hard drive is slower then 7200 now.

Speaking of music phrases, I still call those music compilations that are normally released every Tuesday "albums" and the cover art "jackets". An album today is where one stores those old fashion photo prints and a jacket is what you wear.

For the love a all that is holy, I referred to the hot and humid weather today as being akin to living inside a terrarium. That was met with the ever more knowledgable reply of "huh?" I had one of those things in my bedroom as a little one. It evem had a froggy in it. It was actually a cool thing to have in the 1970's, dammit. So were pet rocks!

I guess for being an older person, I do consider myself relatively hip. But not twenty-something hip. I doubt if I could keep up withthe twenty-somethings of today.

And I bet that's what someone pushing forty thought about me back in my twenties.

Anyway, why not check more of my complaining about getting older at the new site:

Youth, How I Loathe Thee

Nope ... nothing

2006-07-12T15:00:00.000-04:00

I can't think of a darn thing to blog about.

Ten thousand things happen during the course of the day that I deem "blog worthy".

Then I get here and nothing.

*sigh*

So, go to the other blog and be bored there, too.

Still Getting Used to This

It's official, Life, Family, et al is moving

2006-07-11T16:18:00.000-04:00

Yep, I'm moving the site.

The new site will be in WordPress format and it will be hosted by none other than Taz and Pig.

This is the new site addy: http://lifefamilyetal.tazzyandpiggy.com/

Once I get that site in full swing, I'll post here with a link in each post to the new site and vicea versa on the new site. That will continue for a month. After 30 days, no more posts will be on this site. That'll give anyone more than enough time to switch blogrolls or bloglines or whtever you do.

Poor Meg Griffin

2006-07-11T09:24:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Tony, I'm now in Family Guy mode.

This randomized clip is long, but worth it.

Kutztown Festival 2006

2006-07-10T10:47:00.000-04:00

I finally did it! I went to the 2006 Kutztown Festival, one of the largest PA German fetes in the country.

It was really nice. Not mind-blowing. Not boring as watching paint dry (though I do find it fascinating when the colors go from darker wet hues to lighter dry hues). It was a pleasant time.

My only problem was that I had to pay an entry fee to get into something where I was going to spend more money. Sure there were hay rides, hay mazes, and assorted other entertainment for the kiddies. And there were folk who did presentations and played music and tried to get eveyone join in a sing-a-long. And it wasn't like the fee was obnoxiously high. So I really shouldn't complain.

Aside from that, the things that truly make the festival so popular are the various choices of food, vendors, and demonstrations.

Man oh man, was there a lot of food. There was tons and tons of food to choose from at this place. There was shoo-fly pie, pecan pie, water ice, funnel cake, sweet roasted almonds, strawberry short cake, ice cream, hot dogs, potpies, a whole roasted ox (this link is not for a vegan or animal lover to witness so you are being warned), corn dogs, meat sandwhiches, corn nuggets, raosted veggies ... good gravy! I could go on forever. I admit the prices were a bit high, but the food was great so well worth the bucks. To drink, there was the obligatory beer, sassperilla, ginger beer, birch beer, and, of course, expensive bottled water.

The demonstrations were pretty interesting. There was the hay-baling demo. That one scared me. The machine that does the baling is a steam engine and when something is about to happen (don't ask me what 'cause I don't know), this rather loud steam whistle goes TWWEEEEEEEE!! Holy chowder! Did that scare the bejesus out of me.

In other demos, the picture shows how wooden brooms are fashioned. Brooms fare heavily in PA German superstitions. Wide brooms were hung on walls to serve as a warning that witches would be swept out of a home if discovered. If one thought they were bewitched, they were to lay a broom by the entrance to the house. The first person to enter and pick up the broom was the witch. (source)

I particularly like the photo (which was taken by Geo). Check out Geo's flickr account here.

There were scads of vendors everywhere. One vendor that I liked demonstrated the PA German art of "scherenschnitte" or papercutting. Think of scherenschnitte as the grandfather of laser-cut paper art. In the same way we didn't get to taste all the different foods, we didn't get to see all the vendors there were so dang many.

In all it was a good time. It was something different for all us. As always , Dinker had a fun. She kept pointing to different items she wanted us to buy for her; however, for the first time that I can think of, she walked out a place empty-handed. The only thing she had was a full belly. Geo loved the photo ops he had which gave him a great excuse to lug around his Rebel XT. I wanted to shop, but I wasn't in a shopping mood. I instead opted for meandering and taken in all the different sites and mingling smells in the air.

I do recommend if you find yourself in the Philadelphia or Allentown area next year between the dates of June 30th and July 8th, bite the bullet, pay the entry fee, and see the Kutztown Festival. You'll be glad you went and you'll walk away with memories like this ...

A Pointless Meme

2006-07-10T10:45:00.000-04:00

Why, it's another super-duper, incredibly thought provoking, more knowledge about one person than you ever dared to know MEME!

This meme is brought to you by that fabulous guy, Mr Fabulous!

*canned audience clapping*

GRUB-OLOGY
What is your salad dressing of choice? Caesar
What is your favorite fast food restaurant? McDeath
What is your favorite sit down restaurant? Still trying to find it.
On average, what size tip do you leave at a restaurant? 20%
What food could you eat every day for two weeks and not get sick of? Pizza or peanut butter ... or both.
Name three foods you detest above all others. Lima beans, that Italian squidly stuff, and souse.
What is your favorite dish to order in a Chinese restaurant? Anything spicy
What are your pizza toppings of choice? Gimme a garbage pizza
What do you like to put on your toast? Butter
What is your favorite type of gum? Bubble

TECH-OLOGY
Number of contacts in your cell phone? 15. And most of those are realted to the Dinks (doctor, daycare, etc). I openly admit I have almost no friends.
Number of contacts in your email address book? 30
What is your wallpaper on your computer? Superman Returns
What is your screensaver on your computer? AOL Photo thingy with lots of Dinker photos
Are there naked pictures saved on your computer? nada
How many land line phones do you have in your house? 1
How many televisions are in your house? 2
What kitchen appliance do you use the least? It was the blender until we chucked it. now, I'm not so sure ...
What is the format of the radio station you listen to the most? Either hard rock 93.3 'MMR or indie music 88.5 WXPN. Depends on my mood
How many sex toys do you own that require batteries? None. Manual all the way!

BI-OLOGY
What do you consider to be your best physical attribute? Nothing.
Are you right handed or left handed? Right handed.
Do you like your smile? Nope.
Have you ever had anything removed from your body? Do splinters count?
Would you like to? Nah, I'm greedy
Do you prefer to read when you go to the bathroom? Good Heavens, YES!
Which of your five senses do you think is keenest? It's definitely touch. Hey, I'm a clairsentient, what else would I choose?
When was the last time you had a cavity? April 2006
What is the heaviest item you lift regularly? Dinker
Have you ever been knocked unconscious? Eee-yep. Both times before I was ten. That might explain a few things.

MISC-OLOGY
If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die? Tempting, but no.
If you could change your first name, what would you change it to? My name was Mary Elizabeth when I was born. I kinda like the one my parents picked better. If they didn't, I fear I would have been destined to be a nun.
How do you express your artistic side? Writing, drawing, painting, and sculpting.
What color do you think you look best in? I like orange (some of you already know that).
How long do you think you could last in a medium security prison? Two maybe three seconds. Then I'd whimper, ball up in a corner, and suck my thumb.
Have you ever swallowed a non-food item by mistake? I can't recall.
If we weren’t bound by society’s conventions, do you have a relative you would make a pass at? If you met my family, you would have never asked me this question.
How often do you go to church? Once a month.
Have you ever saved someone’s life? Nope.
Has someone ever saved yours? A few lifeguards after I drifted a wee bit too far off the shoreline while boogieboarding.

DARE-OLOGY
For this last section, if you would do it for less or more money, indicate how much
Would you walk naked for a half mile down a public street for $100,000? Not with this body. A million would be a strong maybe.
Would you kiss a member of the same sex for $100? Sure. I've done it for free, duh!
Would you have sex with a member of the same sex for $10,000? Read above answer.
Would you allow one of your little fingers to be cut off for $200,000? No. I like my body parts. Remember, I'm greedy?
Would you never blog again for $50,000? In a heartbeat.
Would you pose naked in a magazine for $250,000? What, like Playboy? Hugh hasn't lost his mind, so I doubt the offer would ever be extended.
Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1000? Depends on the doctor bill afterward.
Would you, without fear of punishment, take a human life for $1,000,000? Never. But, if that human life touched, harmed, or did something very bad to my child, it would be a freebie.
Would you shave your head and get your entire body waxed for $5,000? Sure, why not.
Would you give up watching television for a year for $25,000? Like I watch any now. That's an easy $25,000.

I'd like to tag, but I'd rather see who is brave enough to do this one on their own.

A better weekend

2006-07-09T22:12:00.000-04:00

This was one of the better weekends for me on record.

We got out and did lots of stuff on Saturday (I'll blog on it tomorrow).

Today was so ... so ... nice.

Darn but it's a pleasant change to have a cheery post rather than the usual "the weekend was horrible", "why does this stuff always happen to me?", and the ever more popular "I'm in one bad mad mood".

Not this time!

*laughs at self realizing this is a rather boring post*

Oh well ....

The "what kinda margarita are you?" test

2006-07-08T23:22:00.000-04:00

I got this at Laurie's site.

You Are an Orange Margarita

At first glance, you are very unique - but deep down you are still quite a traditionalist.
A margarita may be "too fancy" for you, but you'll never turn a free one down.

What Flavor Margarita Are You?

Actual plans have been made

2006-07-07T16:39:00.000-04:00

We (meaning Geo, Dinker, and I) are going to the Kutztown Festival tomorrow.

According to legend, I am of Pennsylvania Dutch descent. I should be able to just slide on in there and blend.

Some more pleasant conversations starring Maidink and Dinker

2006-07-07T15:59:00.000-04:00

So we're in Dunkin' Donuts bathroom.

Dinker was using the facilities when I asked her if she was okay.

"Yeah."

"Are you sure, sweetpea?"

"Whatever."

?????

I smiled, shook my head, and thought, "Ah yes, our little parrot."

"Whatever, hmm? That's what daddy says all the time."

"Yeah."

"What else does daddy say all the time?"

"Shit."

Philly politicians say the darndest things

2006-07-06T15:49:00.000-04:00

Scandals are always abundant in Philadelphia politics. I'm sure they are in other cities; however, our scandals have some comic moments.

Take today's sentencing of one Councilman Rick Mariano. He was convicted back in March 2006 of taking more then US$28,000 in bribes. In exchange, the bribee helped the bribers get city business.

The prosecution wanted to send Rick to jail for 8 to 10 years. The defense said that a sentencing like that would have been too harsh.

But Mariano gave a counteroffer for his possible jailtime.

"Just prior to sentencing, Mariano addressed the court. He admitted responsibility for his crimes but said that he didn't want to go to jail and that jail time wouldn't do him any good. He offered to go fight the war in Iraq instead." (source)

The judge sentenced him to 6 ½ years.

At least Mariano didn't say he was too pretty to go to jail.

How bored do you want to be?

2006-07-05T19:00:00.000-04:00

Here was my benign weekend rundown:

Friday night: bored. Really really bored. Frighteningly bored. Bored enough to put stuff on Ebay. So far, two things are selling. Ooo, eee, ooo, ahh.

Saturday: Check this post.

Sunday: Completely non-eventful. Just drove around Philly, went to Oxford Valley Mall, got caught in a nasty thunderstorm, and had ice cream at the local Dairy Queen.

Monday: Car in the shop, food shopping, went to Barnes and Noble, and then the Willow Grove Mall. All with the Dinkmeister. She is the one who must be obeyed.

Tuesday: Independence Day! Fourth of July! Whoopdee-friggin-doo. I could care less why I'm not working just so as long I'm not at work. They can give me off for Groundhog's Day for all I care. Wait. I might actually like celebrating that one. Anyway, Independence Day was never a big deal to me. A family or friend BBQ and the occasional fireworks display. Whatever. No fireworks this year unless you want to count the fight I had with Geo (don't worry, we made up an hour later). So I went to a friend's house and ate and drank and I came home. Yep, that was it.

And today, it was life as usual.

Life, family et al.

Kenneth Lay - Dead at 64

2006-07-05T12:58:00.001-04:00

Kenneth Lay, convicted on 05/25/2006 for his out and out involvement in the ruining of Enron and thousands of lives, is dead.

He had a heart attack Wednesday morning.

I thought I heard a collective "NO!" this morning screamed by millions. I guess those were the ones who wanted to see him spend forever in jail.

See? I told everyone he would manage to escape jailtime. However, I didn't think of THIS extreme.

Enron Founder Kenneth Lay Dies at 64

Thanks to IKEA, Dinker now has a big girl's room

2006-07-05T09:55:00.000-04:00

First, a big thanks to everyone who tried to cheer me up over my predicted weekend from Hades. You really did help me get through it. Seriously.

Though I did miss out on an "awesome" time Friday night, the entire weekend was not a complete washout. More about that on the next post.

This post is dedicated to she who must be obeyed. Yep, that would be Princess Dinker.

Geo took me and the Dinks out to breakfast Saturday morning while my car was getting it's maintainence done. After the car was done, we surprised Dinker by taking her to IKEA in Conshohocken PA to get her a big girl bed.

We could have gone to the IKEA in Philadelphia, which is closer to our home; however, I hate the location and Geo refuses to pay the extra 1% tax Philly demands on purchases within the city's limits.

So there we are. Folks, you would have thought this girl just won the lottery.

She kept putting her hands up to her mouth and saying things like "Oh my, I can't believe it", "This is the best place ever", and "I don't know what to pick".

And the Oscar for Lead Actress goes to ...

She went nuts! She hopped on every bed she saw with the exclamation of, "I love this one." Geo and I were trying to maintain our composure as she jumped from bed to bed in giddy excitement.

Though I like shopping there, there is one thing about IKEA that I do find ... unsettling. During a visit there, I feel like a lab rat in a giant maze. I always expect a hunk of cheese to be at the check-out register as my reward for making it to the end. But that' my hang-up.

Finally, the Princess declared what bed she really, really, REALY wanted. She settled on this one:
It's a junior bed and that was a good thing. Geo's truck has a short bed meaning we couldn't have taken home a conventional size bed even if we wanted, too. I mean, we could have, but the tailgate would have been down, and, knowing us, we would have ended up on some traffic report about a bed in the middle of the road with a short redneck screaming and jumping up and down in anger.

Thankfully, that never happened.

Of course, I had to get all accessorized on the Dinks and I picked out this for her room, also.
Add some new bed linens and a new pillow and voila!

We paid for everything (Geo and I picked up some little items along the route), I got my hunk of cheese, and we were homeward bound. Then the fun part came after we got home.

No, not putting the stuff together. That's cakewalk. I've been putting IKEA stuff together since IKEA first opened it's doors here in the US near me. My apartment (back in the day) could have been an IKEA photo shoot.

Okay, okay, I'm an IKEA junkie, I admit it. I don't care that Generation X defines IKEA as "Swedish for semi-disposable furniture". I like it!

After it is built, our new home will have scads of IKEA stuff. So there!

Okay, I'm back.

No, the fun part was cleaning all the stuff out of Dinker's room that was considered "baby" or "toddler". We also had to dismantle her crib. And then there was the cradle (yes, her cradle was still in her room) that was home to at least a dozen dust mite breeding zone stuffed animals. Out went all of it, stuffed animals and all.

Now her room has her new bed, new storage unit, a few (meaning about ten) stuffies on her bed and on a shelf, her bureau that was her changing table (sorry, we spent too much to get rid of that and besides, it's a nice friggin piece of furniture), a bookcase chock full of books (and she reads all of them), and a shoe holder. Yes, she needs one those, trust me.

And the Princess couldn't be happier.

Happy Birthday, America!

2006-07-04T11:37:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday, USA!

Today, we're headin' to my buddy's abode for food, drink, more food, and fireworks!

And besides a flag, what else should you expect to find on my blog in honor of America's birthday?

Captain America so kicks butt!

Stick to the Status Quo

2006-07-04T08:35:00.000-04:00

Yep, I LOVE this song.

And I love this video.

And the movie!

HELP ME!

Next she'll want to start reading Tiger Beat

2006-07-02T21:07:00.000-04:00

This CD is what Dinker DEMANDS to have played in my car every single day.

To make matters worse, it's really not a CD but on my iPod.

Yes, I have High School Musical on my iPod.

I have found myself actually liking, nay, loving it. I even sing some of the songs in work.

My favorite is Status Quo. It's a great song! Heck, it's a great soundtrack!

Today, I bought Dinker the DVD. But, honestly, I want to see it.

Someone please help me.

My newest acquistion

2006-06-30T19:00:00.000-04:00

Meet Kon-El, otherwise known as Conner Kent. He's a clone out of Superman and Lex Luthor. And in the world of DC Comics, he's dead. But who knows for how long.

There is your comic lesson for today.

He joins my other Superboys (1st and 2nd versions). This one is the only 3rd version I have.

I so need help.

Some holiday weekend

2006-06-30T14:24:00.000-04:00

Here in the states, almost everyone is gearing up for a long holiday weekend. My apologies for those that work for evil establishments that are making you work on Monday. My sympathies to those who must work on Tuesday.

Anyway, everyone, at least in my company, is all abuzz about their "holiday" plans. Some are going to Baltimore while others are going to the mountains and a few are heading for the Jersey Shore.

And almost everyone will kick off the weekend by going to Happy Hour at a local hotspot called Kildare's. They claim they are the area's ONLY authentic Irish pub and that they "are an authentic Irish experience". SID, I'll need you to fly straight away here to the states to prove that claim.

Yep, everyone is all light and giddy and happy. There are even people that USED to work here who are going to be in attendence tonight. And these are people I actually liked. It should be a goodtime for all.

Except me.

For the record, I haven't smiled once today since I got in the office. And I know my weekend will suck so bad I could probably market it as a vacuum cleaner.

Why the all out bitchiness? Let's rundown the list, shall we?

I have no sitter for tonight so I can NOT go to the soiree after work. In the past ten years, I have not ONCE gone out after work with my coworkers. In the past decade, I have been prevented to go to these events by either my late psycho abusive bastard husband or my child. She's not abusive but I do question the psycho part. I'm not blaming Dinks at all. I am her Mommy and I should be there for her. But DAMMIT, I want to have fun, too!
I'll have my car in the shop AGAIN on Saturday. It's nothing major, just maintenance. But I still lose a good portion of my day. Why not just reschedule, you may ask? I have. This is reschedule number 4. And believe me, the car needs it.
Sunday will either be boring as hell or boring as hell without my car. I have no concrete plans, nor can I ever make any. And thanks to my social absence for the past decade, all my friends have written me off as "consistently unavailable" spare one, bless her soul.
Monday is back to the shop for more major work. The last time I had three of my four locks replaced due to some malfunction or another. Guess what? The fourth lock now doesn't work. If those bastards make me pay a deductible for warranty work ten days after I had the car in the shop for the SAME problem, I'll go ballistic.
This is the legal holiday, Independence Day, or the Fourth of July. Seriously, we Yanks actually call the day by it's name. I don't think any uses Independence Day anymore. It's always, "So, whatcha doin' on the Fourth?" I'm going to my friend's house, with Dink in tow, to her annual Fourth Bash. I've known Donna (that's her name) for over 23 years. And everyone in Donna's family as well as her hubby's family (his name is Paul) know me. Between the two families, there will be over forty people there. And these people love nothing better than to rib and poke fun at me (all with love, mind you).

It'll be Tuesday, the Fourth ... that day will be my only saving grace from a weekend of beyond benign boredom. I have no clue if Geo can make it to the Bash. He might have to work. Oh well. Work or not, I'm going.

Land barrons no more

2006-06-29T10:12:00.000-04:00

We found out yesterday that the lot we were purchasing in Albrightsville PA failed the perk test back in 1989.

"And if nothing has been done to the lot since then," warned the county worker via the telephone, "it won't pass now."

Peachy.

We'll be getting a refund for our downpayment less the doc fees we had to pay.

We're not giving up. Geo and I are making an appintment to talk to our H & S Homes rep, Jackie, this weekend to discuss other options (i.e., they supply the lot and build the house).

This is why Cranky Prof is my heroine

2006-06-28T20:36:00.000-04:00

When I read this on Overheard in Philly, I darn near piddled in my shorts. And what makes it even more special is that my educator buddy, Cranky Prof, submitted it.

OIP Proudly Supports the Entire 5-County Region

Me and my girl

2006-06-28T15:42:00.000-04:00

Me and my girl
Originally uploaded by maidink.

The picture says it all.

Up to the Poconos and back

2006-06-28T08:39:00.000-04:00

NOTE: This post was originally meant for 28 May 2006. I noticed it said draft next to it on my posting list. Ooops. So, here is boring old stuff.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At her school on Friday, my loving daughter told the school's owner that she (meaning the Dinks) was going to the mountains this weekend. The owner, of course, tried to confirm that with me.

I thought, "You listened to a three year old and you run this place?"

"No," I replied, "we're probably gonna do a whole lot of nuttin'."

I was hearing it everywhere. The owner was going to the shore. Another kid was going to the shore. One was going out of state, but not to the shore.

Poor unfortunate Dinks. Her daft parents made no concrete plans. And she wanted to go to the shore to see the beach.

Aces.

Yesterday was a day for Geo and I, what with the food and movie (I'm still not giving away any spoilers).

Today, all three of us ... were gypsies.

"Let's go up around where we bought the land tomorrow", says Geo last night.

"Okay", I said and called my rents with our morning plans.

We picked up the little sprog around 9:00AM from Nana and PopPop's. After a little deprogramming, we headed north to our soon-to-be home near the Poconos.

Did we have an itinerary? Nope. Do we ever? Nope. Did we have a clue? Well, Geo did. I never do. Dinks? She was happy in her own little world filled with Ratty, Lambie, crocodiles, and butterflies.

I won't bore you with all the details considering 75% of what we did was drive around in the truck. We were mapping and scoping. Checking out doctors, pediatricians, vets (if we ever get a pet), post offices, groceries, pizza joints, blah blah blah. You understand.

When we did stop the truck, we either ate, drank, used a potty, stretched out legs, or a combo of any of the afore mentioned.

We checked out the property lot again. It looked drier than the last time I saw it. That makes me worry about drainage. Anyway, we decided to drive around the development to get a better feel for our way around the place.

We got lost.

Boy, did we get lost.

It's kinda difficult to get your bearings when all you're looking at is friggin trees and deer.

We eventually figured out where we were (at least we were still in Pennsylvania). That's when Geo found "the lake".

Lake Placid to be exact.

What a letdown. This puddle will seriously never be confused with the former Olympic site of Lake Placid, NY.

Dinker didn't care, though. The lake had a sandy surrounding that vaguely resembled a beach. Dinker thought that was the coolest thing. She kept saying, "Oooo, thank you Mommy and Daddy for taking me to the beach. I love the beach."

So the kid not only went to the mountains, but she did, to all intents and purposes, get to the beach.

Next year, it's the Joisey shore for her. I'll show her a real beach.

If you build it, you will move

2006-06-27T12:21:00.000-04:00

Geo and I met with a new home salesperson at H & S Homes up where we bought our property in Albrightsville PA. After speaking with her, we are definitely going full steam with our plans on moving.

I'm sorry, but if you can build a new home for under $170,000 in an area you want to live in, wouldn't you seriously, seriously think about it?

I know we are.

The plan is now a three year plan. We have to payoff our lot, get it perk tested, and then finance the new building. It'll be in enough time for when Dinker starts going to regular school. And she loves it up there so that's a plus on our side.

And in case you have no clue what a perk test is ('cause I didn't at first), a percolation test is required before any septic permit is issued. Basically, it is a soil test to determine how fast water will soak. This determines the amount of drain field needed. It can be done by the homeowner or a licensed engineer.

Upside: new home, no more Philly, I get to quit work (yay me!), no more Philly (that's worth saying twice).

Downside: living on a shoe string budget for the next thirty-six months.

UPDATE: I just got off the phone with the salesperson. She just gave me a bit of bad news. Her boss lives in the development where we purchased the lot. Almost all the lots in the general area where we purchased our lot FAILED perk testing. And if you fail, you can not build.

So, we might be getting a refund on our lot.

I'm still happy because the H & S can also sell you a lot/house package deal. So, if our property fails, we can still move. It just won't be where we originally chose to lay the bricks.

Illness and hiking: Perfect together

2006-06-27T09:55:00.000-04:00

The Main Falls at Bushkill Falls PA
Originally uploaded by maidink.

Not like anyone gives a rip, but I've been sick as a frelling dog. Lung hacking. Head throbbing. Voice rasping. Nose running. Oh yeah, I've been a real treasure to deal with lately. And least we forget the blood I've been hacking up.

I was sent home from work Thursday morning because I was coughing so hard. I was borderline bronchitis into pneumonia. I was a mess.

So what does any logical person such as myself do at times like this?

Go on holiday and go hiking, of course.

We left last Thursday and didn't come home until Saturday night ... late. Not a big vacation but a get-away none the less.

The hotel we stayed at, the Shannon Inn and Pub in the Poconos, was a dive in the making. You could tell that, at one point in it's existence, it was nice. It was average to me. Geo hated it. Then again, Geo hates everything. Dinker was indifferent, but what else would you expect from a three year old?

We travelled to Scranton to check out Steamtown. That was cool. All these old trains and cars everywhere. Geo nicked some lumps of coal for me (isn't he sweet?) The Dinker got a wooden train whistle and a railroad crossing lollipop sign for her bedroom. We got there too late to take the full blown tour, so we'll probably go back again.

And of course, do you think anyone rememebered to bring a camera to Steamtown? Stupid family.

We also went to Stroudsburg. Not a damn thing exciting there.

The hit of the trip was Bushkill Falls. It is beautiful there. It was the perfect day to hike, too - cool air amplified by nature and no rain. I want to go back again and hike the full trail. We would have this time but none of us were properly dressed to do a 2.5 mile hike (Dink and I in terrain sandals and Geo in his flip flops). Guaranteed, we will go back there.

The Dinker held her own trudging up and down the mountainside. Geo took a lot of really nice shots with his new Rebel XT. I was making sure I didn't fall over and pass out from coughing. That moist air from the falls did wonders for my lungs. Seriously. I think that's how I coughed the infection staright out of me.

If you like nature, hiking, or just looking at pretty flowing water, I strongly recommend Bushkill Falls.

So there you have it. Our Family Vacation by Maidink.

You can stop yawning now.

Father's Day 2006

2006-06-21T13:02:00.000-04:00

My brother piloting Dinker around the pool
Originally uploaded by maidink.

What's wrong with this picture?

Nothing! That's what's wrong!

We had an awesome Father's Day.

I gave Geo a Canon Rebel XT Digital camera. He's so spoiled.

Speaking of spoiled, we gave my dad a Canon PowerShot A530. Hey, i jip my poor dad every year so it felt good giving him something I KNEW he'd like.

Anyway (Pig's fave word ...),

The weather rocked!

We got invited up to my brother's house to his backyard resort complete with pool and hot tub. There was booze, soda, and bottled water. We were fed hors d'oeuvres and cute little sandwhiches.

It was relaxing and the Dinker loved being piloted around the pool via my brother.

It was great!

I still felt miserable as hell because of my allergies.

But, allergies be damned! Where there is free food, a pool, booze, and someone to entertain my kid, I don't care if I'm hooked up to a respirator, I'M GOING!

So, the man who doesn't wash dishes unless he can't find a mug, doesn't do laundry because he can't fold anything to save his life, doesn't clean or dust and would let the dust bunnies grow to the size of hedgehogs, doesn't even know the location of half the things in our house ... this man gets an awesome Father's Day.

*shuffling feet with hands in pocket and kicking imaginary pebbles on the ground*

And as CeCe gently reminded me via the comments, just because he doesn't do all that much around the abode doesn't him a bad dad.

Au contraire! Geo is the best Daddy in the whole world (as per Dinker) and that's all that matters.

Tis the season for mold allergies

2006-06-17T22:20:00.000-04:00

Okay, now, don't fall over from complete shock, but ... I'm sick again.

As, too, is the Dinkerdooes.

It all started last week. As usual, Dinker started her coughing. It was a normal cough for her. I asked her the barrage of questions everyday:

"Does your head hurt?"

"Does your throat hurt?"

"Does your ears hurt?"

She promptly (and quite angrily and loudly) answered "NO" to all queries.

Then, in the beginning of the week, I started with the runny nose.

Damn.

It progressed; I denied.

Dink got worse.

I knew it was all allergy related. Nevermind that both Dink and I are on Zyrtec (me with a decongestant) and separate decongestants, we were getting hammered with an allergy attack. I decided to look up the pollen and allergen reports on weather.com to see which was the culprit.

I looked up weeds, grass, trees, and mold.

Well, well ... surprise, sur-friggin-prise.

The mold was off the chart for my area.

Have I ever mentioned how deathly allergic Dinkerdoodle and I are to mold?

As I type, I can not swallow because I have been coughing so hard, my throat is raw. Dink can't breathe through her little nose. We both feel completely crappy. And we're cranky.

And Geo has to put up with both of us.

All the makings of a great Father's Day, don'tcha think?

Advocating Inventor

2006-06-17T21:04:00.000-04:00

My Personal Dna Report

I did this test via April's site. It's interesting. I mean the test is interesting. And so is April's site, too, if you don't mind reading about a Canuck's bizarre dreams, snake encounters, and rabid raccoons.

Why me?

2006-06-16T11:44:00.000-04:00

I had a great rant post, and, somehow, it has been swallowed.

Gone!

crap

I posted and went to make an update and *PHWING* ... gone

sigh ...

Zudapro

2006-06-15T20:46:00.000-04:00

That was my recent Blogger comment word verifier.

I like that word.

Someone help me to think of a good definition.

Or should I just use that as my D and D character's name. For those who are gaming geeks, my character to be will be an Elf Ranger. No, I don't know what kind of elf.

Maidink looking quite evil

2006-06-15T11:33:00.000-04:00

Maidink looking quite evil
Originally uploaded by maidink.

No words necessary for this one. Just click on the photo for the explantion of why I look this way.

And this photo was pre-haircut.

Maidink's newest haircut

2006-06-15T11:31:00.000-04:00

maidink's newest haircut
Originally uploaded by maidink. Here! Are y'all happy now? I know I am.

Less hair to take care of and my highlights do show more (though you really can't tell from this shot).

Put us both in a locked room and only one will emerge

2006-06-13T14:51:00.000-04:00

I do believe my daughter and I are getting ready to step into the square circle. Now before you pick sides, let me assure you, though she is smaller and a bit more wirey, I'm bigger and she can't outrun me.

This kid is going down!

I was going to kill her this morning with her uncontrollable whining. She wanted her daddy. Geo was in work. I called him and handed her the phone. All she did was cry into the phone. I heard him say "I gotta go, baby. Tell mommy to call me later." Do you blame the man? I'd hang up, too, if I had a three year old crying and screaming into my mobile.

Did I mention this whole episode occured while we were in transit this morning?

I screamed at her at the top of my lungs. She finally calmed down and proceded to be the spaced out child I know. I asked her if she liked it when I got so mad I yell.

"No."

"Then why do you do it, sweetie?"

"I don't know."

Lord, she's practicing to be a teenager.

Yesterday was golden. Oh yeah, she showed her true spirit in school. I dropped her off and she didn't stop crying for a second. Now, in her defense, they are doing the transition thingy this week into her new class. Her new teacher, Lori, said it's not uncommon for kids to be be crying and clingy. But this kid wouldn't stop at all.

This was our conversation after school yesterday.

Me: So how was school, honey?

Dink: I cried.

Me: I know, but when I left Miss Lori was giving you a snack.

Not a dumb teacher. Give the kid food to keep her mind off of her problems.

Dink: Yah.

Me: What did you have?

Dink: Fishies.

Me: Did you eat'em?

Dink: Yah.

Me: Then what did you do?

Dink: I cried.

Me (rolling my eyes): Ohhh-kay. Then what?

Dink: I had water.

Me: And then?

Dink: I cried.

Lori confirmed the whole thing. I told her she (meaning Dink) wasn't feeling well. Lori is convinced it's the trasition. Dink must be going through Miss Lauren withdrawl.

Oh, I so need an aspirin the size of a hockey puck.

I did forget something this morning

2006-06-13T10:01:00.000-04:00

Oops.

I left my USB jump drive at home. It has the photos. Sorry.

I will download tonight and put them on Blogger providing Blogger isn't being temperamental.

Chopped more hair off my skull

2006-06-10T22:37:00.000-04:00

This haircut actually brings out the highlights better.

Yay me!

Wow, could these posts get a bit more boring?

Of course, the Dinker got her hair cut again. She loves getting her hair cut, shopping for shoes and clothes, wearing fashion sunglasses, and dancing to techno.

They say character traits skip a generation.

Yet another prompt for me to find out who my birth parents really were.

All work and no play royally sucks

2006-06-10T22:23:00.000-04:00

I just haven't had time to blog or comment or comment on comments.

Those bastards I work for are actually making me work. The nerve of some employers.

Ergo, I haven't been able to do much.

All of this damned inconvenience is due to one thing ... my boss resigned.

For those keeping score, this makes boss number three to leave in less than nine months.

Oh wait, I never told you about boss number two quitting back in February.

The CEO wants to know what the heck I'm doing to these guys to make them quit.

I'm just being my pleasant self

*flashes cheesy smile*

D-Day - 62 years later

2006-06-06T11:05:00.000-04:00

This post is for Geo.

When I turned on the radio this morning, the top story on the news channel was today's date. i instantly thought, "Oh yeah, the invasion of Normandy."

No. It's because today is 06/06/06 (i.e, 666 - the Devil's Mark).

That ... was top news. Not one of the bloodiest battles in warfare history.

No wonder this country is bassackwards at times.

Let's try to remember this day for the real reason it should be remembered.

On this day 62 years ago, operation Overlord was put into play after years of planning. It included over 5,000 ships, 11,000 planes, and over 150,000 service men. These brave men were breathing targets for the German forces that guarded the French beaches. When the sand settled, the Allied Forces suffered nearly 10,000 casualties and more than 4,000 troops killed. (Source)

But they persevered and succeded. It was the beginning of the end of Hitler's domination of Europe.

For the love of all that is holy, who cares about the secret Devil mark.

If you really want to remember today, say a silent prayer for those soldiers who fought and died in the name of liberation and freedom 62 years ago today.

It must be tough being popular

2006-06-05T16:03:00.000-04:00

Not that I'll ever know about it.

I'm referring to my sprog, Dinkerdoodle.

When I dropped her off at school this morning, there was her new teacher, Ms Lori. Her former teacher, Miss Lauren, was there in the playground also.

Dink didn't know what to do. She looked at Lori and looked at Lauren as if to say, "Holy crap, who do I go to?!"

Lori said, "I'll take her" and picked her up.

Then Lauren walked over (uh-oh). She said, "Dinky, do you want me to hold you after Tammara's mom drives by?"

I'll explain that one.

The playground is next to the parking lot which is a big ole circle. Usually, at drop-off, the children will either dart off to play or hang with a teacher. Lauren, the world's favorite teacher, normally has a line of kids around her. Today, little Tammara wanted to have Lauren hold her while Tammara's mommy drove by the playground to wave good-bye. This is actually a normal thing.

Then along comes Dinker.

Lori held Dink for a few minutes while I hung back to tell Dinker I'll see her later. When Tammara's mommy drove by, Tammara took off. I then talked to Lauren for a few while she held Dinker. She told me about her weekend and how, as she watched the movie "Ice Age", she noticed a "Star Trek" reference in it (she knows I'm a Trekkie). She said she'll help Dinker learn to do the Vulcan peace sign.

Dinker just ate up the attention.

As I drove by, I saw Lauren try to get Dinker do the Vulcan peace sign. She almost got it. They both waived good-bye as I drove by the playground.

I'll bet you by tonight, Dinker will have the Vulcan thing mastered.

The strep that never was

2006-06-05T15:55:00.000-04:00

First off, thank you for all the "get well" wishes. I even thank you all for the nagging (you know who I am talking to).

Well, it wasn't strep. I flunked the strep test.

I did have a virus that knocked me out of commission for three days. But it wasn't strep.

I had a fever, but no strep.

I had white marks in the back of my throat. My doctor told me they were mouth ulcers. How nice. Nothing a little salt water gargling didn't eliminate.

Now I'm back. I have a sinus headache, but, heck, that's a walk in the park for me.

And the Dinkerbug is fine. Her Lauren Becall voice? The little imp was mimicking me. Sweet child.

Strep Update

2006-06-02T11:37:00.000-04:00

Yes, Jade, I am going to the doctor's this afternoon.

My throat is on fire. I can barely talk or swallow. My ears hurt. My head hurts. I feel awful.

I want me mum. But I don't want everyone sick, so I did the alternative.

Dinker is at my parents' home so she is far away from me.

But I'm not even sure that will help. This morning, she was coughing up a storm and her voice is starting to resemble Lauren Becall's.

Nuts.

Strep throat

2006-06-01T18:19:00.000-04:00

Awwwww, nuts.

I think I have strep throat.

I'm pretty sure I have strep throat.

red and white patches in the throat - check
difficulty swallowing - check
tender or swollen glands (lymph nodes) in the neck - check
red and enlarged tonsils - check
headache - not unusual with me
lower stomach pain - I always have that
fever - check
general discomfort, uneasiness, or ill feeling - another everyday occurance
loss of appetite and nausea - check

Yep, I have strep.

Dinker's Exodus

2006-06-01T10:21:00.000-04:00

Dinks her friends and teacher 04/06
Originally uploaded by maidink.

My baby is not a baby anymore. She is a pre-schooler.

Dinker will be going to the "big kids" floor in two weeks at school.

Okay, maybe I should clarify a bit.

Her school is actually a converted house. The basement holds the infants and pre-toddlers. The ground floor houses the toddlers and the "not quite pre-schoolers but almost there so we'll dub them get-sets". The top floor houses the pre-schoolers and kindergarteners. Those are the big kids.

And she gets a new teacher, Ms Lori.

All I can say is thank goodness. I was starting to think she'll never escape the clutches of Miss Lauren (whom my child worships).

Yeah, that's the perky blonde haired nymph in the flickr photos. I shouldn't be so mean, but I can't help it. She's probably a nice person and kind to animals and all that other happy stuff. But she looks like she is working there as part of a high school program; ergo, I can't take her seriously.

Don't get me wrong, though. I really like Lauren a lot.

Yeah, she used to remind me of a blonde snob that looks more like she should be shopping 24/7 and driving a convertable white Mercedes and married to someone who makes enough to keep her in the lifestyle she demands. That used to be my impression of her, but I was wrong.

She's actually pretty cute and she's awesome with the kids. And she's single which shocked me. Whether or not she is spoken for is unknown. It's a shame I never got to really know her. Oh well. I guess I could buy her a "thanks for everything" gift (Lauren, not Dinker).

I know this will probably be a "big deal" for at least two or three days. I am praying really hard this won't become grounds for sending my kid right into therapy in the future.

Dinker has been in that school for almost two years and she has had Lauren as a teacher for a total of 17 months. My kid needs variety, dammit!

I should buy stock in Oakley

2006-05-31T09:37:00.000-04:00

Am I a sad case or what? No, don't answer that.

Approximately four months ago, I lost my Oakley Minute sunglasses. I say approximately because I really don't know when I lost them. I really like those glasses.

On Mother's Day weekend, I got a new pair of sunglasses. They were Ray Bans. I'm not going to bother you with boring details about them because I returned them two days later to Sunglass Hut.

I got a new pair of Oakleys. Oakley Half Jackets ... black ... with polarized grey lenses.

I know ... "Maidink, who gives a crap?"

I do!

Now my oakley sunglass obsession is back.

I bought a pair of Oakley Minutes off of Ebay just because they had ruby iridium lenses which are the same type of lenses Cyclops wore in all the X-Men movies.

Yeah, Cyclops, my other obsession.

Now, here's the insanity (not like I'm mad enough as is).

Oakley is selling their X-Metal "Juliet" (which Cyclops wore in the first X-Men movie) and their X-Metal "Penny" (which Cyclops wore in II and III) style sunglasses with the ruby iridium lenses at their on-line store for $425. They are being offered for a limited time. Once that time ends, they'll show up on Ebay for some exorbitant amount of cash, I'm sure.

No, I'm not that crazy and I am not buying them.

The sad part is I actually know about it.

At least I don't download kitchen appliance playing music videos.

X-Men III - A Review

2006-05-28T23:02:00.000-04:00

Okay, Jade, here's the review.

First, if you never saw X-Men or X2, please do so before seeing this movie. It makes following some of the plot a bit easier.

Now then, the movie was definitely a good movie. Not great. Nor was it awesome. And it wasn't horrible or lame.

It was ... good.

I refuse to give away anything, but I'll say this much:

Certain actors and actresses who look like they play a big role, don't. And a couple of them who were barely mentioned at all in the days before the movie really played big parts.

There are a few surprises which go against the comic genre unless there is an X-Men IV in the distant future.

Halle Berry kicks ass!

The directing could have been better. Seeing how great of an influence Bryan Singer had on the first two X-Men movies, that makes me really want to see the film for which he abandoned X3 - Superman Returns.

There was a lot of action sequences which were pretty good. The visual effects were not the best. The make-up was great. Kelsey Grammer did a fab job as the Beast. If awards were given based on make-up and the ability to really bring a super hero character to life, Kelsey gets it hands down.

So, there you have it without having it.

If I were to give it stars, I give it 2.5 out of 5. Like I said, it was good. Not great and not horrid. Just good.

My future movie itinerary

2006-05-28T22:38:00.000-04:00

Superman Returns

Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest

Ghost Rider

They will either be watched in the theater, or we'll buy a large screen plasma TV and buy the DVD's.

I, personally, like the latter of the two. It serves a dual purpose - makes for playing video games much better.

I have a date tonight

2006-05-27T14:11:00.000-04:00

Yes, my Geo and I are going on a date! A really, honest-to-goodness, dinner first and then a movie to follow DATE!!! And my rents are watching the Dinks!! Woo-hoo!

First, we will dine at this nice Italian restaurant near us, Moonstruck. Rumor has it it's really good. A good Italian restaurant in NE Philly? It could happen. We shall see.

After food comes ... oh my gosh, do I even have to say what movie we are going to see tonight?

Okay, I will ... X-Men III - The Last Stand!

I want my eye candy, dammit!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

UPDATE: Mom and Dad are keeping the Dinks overnight. Boo-ya!

Dinner was ex-cell-ent! *burp* Ooooo, it was good.

We saw the movie. I really liked it a lot (but don't look for any spoilers here). Geo liked it, too.

See y'all later (or type to you later or talk ... um ... comment ... uh ....... oh crumbs. You know what I mean).

X-Men III - It's finally here

2006-05-26T10:06:00.000-04:00

I really hope I'm not disappointed. It is possible to kill a movie based on a cartoon. Take for example Daredevil and Elektra and The Punisher and Spawn ...

Great, now I'm depressed. I know, I'll think nice thoughts ...

James Marsden ...James Marsden ...James Marsden ...James Marsden ...

Couples STILL waiting for Wedding Photos almost two years later

2006-05-26T09:38:00.000-04:00

I just saw this story on the net and I truly feel for these people.

Newlyweds Still Waiting For Wedding Photos

You spend goo-gobs of money on a gown (ladies, isn't it the truth? Gown = $220; Alterations = $1,800), tuxedo rentals, the place where you have the ceremony (i.e., church, synagogue, local park, pizza joint, etc.), the reception (that one's a killer), and a photographer. We are talking "second mortgage" here! This is a big friggin' deal, folks.

For the woman, YOU are Princess for the day. You are marrying the love of your life. This is YOUR moment. The world is looking at you! For the guys, well, I'm sure it's special for them, too. You obviously want photos professionally done to encapsule all those moments forever.

You trust people to be professional in their chosen profession. Professionalism not only means your talent, but common courtesy. It also means good customer service. It also means being a real person and owing up when there is a problem.

But I don't know the whole story.

Bob Morrill, the photographer in question, really didn't elaborate much when he hid behind a couch during his meda confrontation through a screen door to his home. Of course, that goes back to the "owing up when there is a problem" thing. Maybe there has been almost two years of legitimate excuses. One excuse was "the binding company moved to Mexico". Sounds like "the dog ate my homework". So, aren't there other binders somewhere else in the US, or all photographers now doomed because the ONLY binder in the country left? Sorry, I digress. I'm sure there is a legitimate, legal excuse for Bob not following through on his contractual agreement with these folks. I hope there is ... for Bob's sake.

photographer, west chester, news, wedding

X-Men III - Cinematic Eye Candy

2006-05-24T12:41:00.000-04:00

Who can argue with me on this one? No one, I tell you, no one, dammit!

Seriously, this is not going to be a movie that's gonna "WOW" the world with sensitive acting. This is not a chick flick! If you want one of those, go rent one and leave the seat in the theater to me! We are talking mega-hot people in leather for heaven sake. Throw in some awesome visual effects and great action/fight scenes, and that's what X-Men III - The Last Stand will give us.

Just click on the name to get the promo photo. I would have put the photos on the post: however, that would have made for one huge post. Not only that, all those photos in one itty-bitty space would definitely send someone into sugar shock.

First, you have James "Cyclops" Marsden. He is MY man (the character, not the actor). I have loved this man since the original X-Men movie. And his Oakley X-Metal "Penny" style glasses with type A+ ruby iridium lenses only make him look sexier.

Then we have Hugh "Wolverine" Jackman. I can live without his pointy-hair boss like hairdo and his overgrown facial hair. But I'll take the rest of him anytime, anyday. If you want to see him in all his good looking glory, rent "Kate and Leopold".

Then there is Halle "Storm" Berry. Nothing says "sexy" better than her body in either a leather-clad suit or spandex. Heck, she could wear a friggin burlap sack an make it look like something that would go for $2,500 on Rodeo Drive. Halle was ranked #15 in Stuff Magazine's "102 Sexiest Women in the World" [2002].

For those of a more mature taste, you have Patrick "Prof Xavier" Stewart. For an older guy, he definitely has some serious mojo going there. Him and Sean Connery. Purrrr.

Though she is one scary looking freak in her make-up, take it all off, and you have Rebecca "Mystique" Romijn. No words needed for this hottie. When she walks, she leaves a sizzling footprint behind her. She was ranked #82 in Stuff Magazine's "102 Sexiest Women in the World" [2002]. And as for her last name, as quoted by her, "it's pronounced Romaine, like the lettuce".

For the true Marvel fan, you knew Dr. Jean "Marvel Girl" Grey would be back. Thank goodness for Famke "Phoenix" Janssen's sake. The women's measurements are 36-24-36. Nice combo! Just for the record, she was ranked #69 (nice number) in Stuff Magazine's "102 Sexiest Women in the World" [2002].

One hottie that will be playing a bigger role in III than he did in II is Daniel "Colossus" Cudmore. Something about a guy being able to change his body into metal sends a bizarre chill up and down my spine.

For you Tony, my sweet, I will now talk about Ben "Angel" Foster. This guy is nibble-icious. I can't help but stare at the scene in the film's trailer where Angel spreads those huge white wings. It makes me wish I was a feather.

For those of you who like your men big, bald, and bad-ass, then you should have no prob falling for Vinnie "Juggernaut" Jones. Though he's not MY type, I'm sure there are those out there that have a thing for those hard-type football (soccer to us Yanks) players.

I would like to take note on Sir Ian "Magneto" McKellan. Though not exactly "eye candy", he does have that certain "je ne sais quoi" about him. In much the same manner that I will always refer to Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard, I will always see Ian as Magneto.

Aaron "Pyro" Stanford. I love his promo photo for X3. How he's looking back with that "I'm gonna light your ass up" stare. Ooooo, is it getting hot in here. Off the stage, he's got that whole unshaven grungy look going for him. Just looking at him reminds me of that Doors' song .... what is it again ... oh yeah, "Light My Fire".

Not that this guy is eye candy, but what a make-up job! Hands down, Kelsey "The Beast" Grammer was the best pick for the role. Though I don't know how well Dr. Frasier Crane will do in fight scenes, Kelsey definitely has the perfect voice to play Dr. Hank McCoy.

Of course, we do have the students that play an even larger role in III. There is the likes of Ellen "Kitty Pride" Page, Anna "Rogue" Paquin, Shawn "Iceman" Ashmore, and Dania "Callisto" Ramirez. Definitely a great way to round out such a knock-out gorgeous cast. I always thought Shawn and Anna were two cuties in the making. As for Dania and Ellen, too young for me to make an "eye candy" comment. Let's just say these two young actresses look like they are well on their way to being the next wave of Hollywood hotties.

Cinematic eye candy, folks!

xmen, movies, entertainment

The Mother's Day Finale

2006-05-23T15:31:00.000-04:00

Leave me alone, I've been busy. And my memory is starting to slip so I better post now before I forget completely.

So far, it has been Geo's family came up in a putt-putt mobile on Saturday, putt-putt died, family stranded, stayed overnight, and now it's Mother's Day and we're driving them halfway home.

That's way it should be, right folks? That's only fair. If you are purportedly "meeting" someone half-way, that means half-way through the journey. A journey, in this case, takes two hours; ergo, you drive approximately one hour and meet.

Someone has to explain that math to Geo's sister and brother-in-law.

Geo's sister tells her husband to meet at a rest stop in Maryland. What?!?!? That was a "were you even thinking?" moment. Of course, SIL and BIL were fine with that arrangement. Honest to gosh, if I knew we were going to drive that far, I would have said, "Oh friggin well, might as well drive the whole way now!"

Common sense, people! Halfway would have been a rest stop in Delaware. Oh no, we are going to Maryland instead.

Brilliant.

We leave out around 10:30ish, maybe closer to 11:00AM. I told you my memory is fadin'. Around noon, the SIL calls the hubby. The BIL is already at the rest area. Geo and I are both thinking the same thing. "Oh goody, he can drive a little further so we don't have to drive as far."

Ha-ha-ha! That's funny. Ain't happenin'!

No, the SIL suggested to either get some food or rest up a bit. She must have forgot about option number three which would have been "drive a bit further so my brother doesn't have to drive practically to Baltimore".

And here's the funny part (not like the whole weekend wasn't one big barrel of laughs).

We were at a rest area that doesn't allow cross-overs. If you enter northbound, you stay northbound. And what does that mean exactly? It means the BIL would have to continue north anyway just to turn around.

The next rest stop further north allows cross-overs. That would have been a win-win situation all the way around. Completely ideal.

But not happenin'.

We get to the rest stop. Dinks is hungry and so is Geo. I had to admit I was a bit peckish myself. So the entire family sat at a rest area off of I-95 in Maryland and ate fast food. Now that's togetherness. I was a bit PO'ed but I wasn't going to say a word. I just wanted to go home to enjoy what was left of Mother's Day.

We didn't leave the damn rest area until 2-ish. First, mall torture. Then, rest area Hell. Was there no end to this insanity?

We, meaning Geo, Dinks, and me, got back in the truck and headed south to the next exit. I wanted to just go home so bad. Unfortunately, the Dinks was a bit rammy.

"I want to walk outside! I want to walk outside!"

Great.

So, where do you think I got to go on Mother's Day so my child could walk around in the fresh air? Go on guess. I'll give you a hint. We were close to Aberdeen MD and Geo is a militaria freak.

That's right! Aberdeen Proving Grounds. Home of a ballistics museum, lots of tanks, and Anzio Annie (aka Leopold), one of two surviving German railway guns from WWII. All of which we saw.

I admit I did always want to visit APG, but not on Mother's Day for crying out loud!

When the skies got a little unfriendly looking, we decided to head home. On the back roads. The entire way. And it took forever.

We didn't get home until close to 7:00PM.

It was Mother's Day. I never saw MY mother, I was starving, and I was pissed because another Mother's Day was shot to hell.

We quickly dashed to my rent's home so I can give my mum her gift. They weren't even there. They were at my brother's house having a relaxing time by the poolside while my brother BBQ'ed. Good for my mom.

My Mother's Day dinner was a chili-cheese burger at Nifty Fifties at 8:00PM. Yippie-ki-friggin-ay.

And that was my Mother's Day weekend. It sucked. I had a headache. I fought with my husband and my child. If I heard one more friggin time the phrase "we hate to impose" or "we hope this doesn't mess things up for you", I was going to scream.

I never want to live that weekend again.

mothers day, in laws, family

Meet the Asses - A Modern Family

2006-05-23T14:16:00.000-04:00

humor, funny, sticker

What does "et al" mean?

2006-05-23T09:58:00.000-04:00

I think I'm Googled, Yahooed, and Blogger searched on this question at least four times a day. Yeah, I get boring searches on my blog. Nothing nifty like "corks for cramps" or "I want to pinch crab". What exactly that says about me, I don't care to guess. It's great for the hit count, though.

But I feel I'm letting these searchers down. So, here it is, straight from the Merriam-Webster Dictionary website.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

et al

One entry found for et al. Main Entry: et al
Function: abbreviation
Etymology: Latin et alii (masc.), et aliae (fem.), or et alia (neut.)

and others

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

See, no need to do something silly like look it up yourself at Merriam-Webster or even something really daft like grabbing a dictionary. All done for you.

So, my site title literally means "life, family, and others".

Cheers!

definition, et al

It is now T minus 4 days until X-Men III - The Last Stand

2006-05-22T14:29:00.000-04:00

That's right.

Never have I been so psyched over a movie. I even more psyched over X3 than I was over HP and TGOF.

Okay, I'll confess it here for everyone. I am a HUGE DC Comics and Marvel Comics fan.

I used to collect the non-sports cards, collectible figures, action figures, movie memorabilia, comic books, etc. I had a monsterous collection. I also collected certain 12" dolls. i had the entire 90210 cast. I had the "gay" Ken doll ( I had two of those). I love toys and comics!

Then I met husband one. I've talked about him before - the emotionally and mentally abusive jerk? He didn't share my enthusiasm. As he put it, "Aren't you a little old to have toys?" I GAVE away the majority of my collection (the dolls all went to his niece). Of course, he had me convinced I was "growing up". Manipulative bastard.

A house fire took the rest of my collection.

Now, I am starting all over again. Man, this stuff got more expensive.

Anyway, .... X-Men III in t - 4

xmen, movies, entertainment

Mother's Day debacle continued

2006-05-21T18:40:00.000-04:00

You know how hard it is to blog with a three year old crawling under your feet (and I mean a three year old child)?

Anyway ...

So, the scene so far is the MIL, SIL, and niece drove up from Baltimore MD in a car that was not meant to go further than ten miles, the car dies jsut a mile from my home, and now the decision has been made that they are to spend the night and go home on Mother's Day a la Geo's truck.

I continue.

Since the decision of spending the night was cemented, the newest dilemma arose - they had no clean clothes. So it was to the mall we went.

For almost 5 hours. Five long boring excruciating hours.

I can tolerate a mall for up to approxiamtely 2 hours max, then I have to leave.

Folks, we didn't leave the mall until darn near 8:00PM. We had no dinner other than mall food snacking. The Dinks needed to get home and get her bath and bed. Everything was coming slowly undone.

And I was getting one of my infamous headaches.

Then came Geo and his bright idea of "Hey, let's go out to our fave Italian restaurant and get a bite to eat." I argued that it was late and we shouldn't go to a restaurant. He didn't acknowledge the fault in his plan until about twenty minutes later (the mall was over thirty minutes away from our home). He calls me via mobile (he took his truck and I drove my car due to the number of people in the group) to say we'll just get cheesesteaks at a local sub shop. "Okay", I say. "We'll order and take them home, right?" He replies, "Nah, I thought we'd eat there." I argued but again, he just didn't see the pending disaster.

He was tired. He had no sleep all day and was going on being awake for over 24 hours. Dinks was also tired. And she was rammy as hell.

Do you see where this is going?

The scene was in the sub shop. We had his niece with, "I hate subs. I'm not hungry. I want mashed potatoes." Dinks was being cranky 'cause she was exhausted. Geo was getting bitchier and bitchier from lack of sleep. My tolerance level was bottoming out. His sister was fretting over the possibility of having to buy a new car after 13 years. And his mom was ... well, she was fine.

The second storm hit.

The two opposing forces that created the storm were Geo and Dinks.

Dinks was running hither and yon, not listening to the barking commands of "sit down" from her daddy. Regular readers know the child never listens. With the swiftness of a ninja, Geo swatted the Dinks butt. Then, in the booth that we were in, where she was being extra rammy, he got right in her face and scared the daylights out of her with his low growl screaming and grabbing of her shoulders. Dinks was now tired and terrified. I was pissed off. Geo had blown his gasket. He left with the Dinks to head back to his truck. The SIL saw my concern and asked if she should go out there. Figuring either Dinks or Geo was going to kill the other, I said "yes". Five minutes late, Geo comes in with SIL and Dinks. All seemed okay until I aksed him to sit down. "NO! I might hurt someone if I do!" he yells and storms out.

Needless to say, my food and Geo's food were both wrapped to go. His family seemed okay with everything and kept eating. I guess they didn't want to interfere.

We get home. Geo never apologises and neither did I. We just acted like nothing happened. I think we both needed to let off steam.

We also kicked a bottle of wine.

All this with the MIL, SIL, niece, and Dinks getting ready for sleep.

Before I went to bed, I thought, "Well, at least we'll just be dropping off his family at a Delaware rest area along I-95. I'm sure that's where SIL will tell her husband to get us. Tops on the road one hour and we'll be home in another hour. Two and half hours max. Not so bad."

Stupid Maidink.

Final chapter tomorrow. If I don't get this kid in the Barbie Princess outfit out from underneath my feet, I'm-a gonna keelhaul her.

mothers day, in laws, family

My doctor is branching out

2006-05-19T19:58:00.000-04:00

Yet another "they said what?" post. This time, the major doofus is none other than your loveable hostess, me!

This was the conversation between my mother and I as I drove home from work tonight. Did I say drive? It was rush hour. Silly me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mom: I have an appointment next Tuesday with Dr DeFillip.

Me: Hey, I have an appointment this Thursday with him, too.

Mom: Really? You never mentioned it.

Me: That's cause I just made it last week. It's at 1:00PM.

Mom (sounding confused): You did? What are you going to do with Dinker?

Me (thinking she lost her mind): Umm, she's going to school. What else would I do with her?

Mom (now sounding concerned): So you're going to the doctor in the afternoon and then picking the baby up from school?

Me: Well, yeah! I'm only going for a fitting?

Mom (shocked): A fitting?

Now I think the old woman's senility is kicking into high gear.

Me: Yes, Mom. A fitting ... for my nightguard?! The insurance company just approved it.

Mom: You're going ... to Dr DeFillip ... for a nightguard fitting?

Me (rolling my eyes): Yes, mom! For my ...

Then I stopped.

Me (sounding pretty sheepish): Oh, your going to see ... Dr DeFillip, our OB/GYN. I was thinking you meant Dr Sax, the dentist.

Mom: *she's laughing too hard to even say anything*

I don't know about you folks, but I'd be leary of an OB/GYN that moonlighted as a dentist.

obgyn, dentist,humor, misunderstood,phone call

Oh yeah, the Mother's Day debacle

2006-05-19T16:21:00.000-04:00

As I said before, I can't blame my "shot in the backside once again" Mother's Day on Geo.

I can, however, blame his kin on this one.

It was all quite accidental. His sister and his mother along with his niece had planned on a visit on Saturday. It was only to be a short visit with the prospect of taking MIL out to dinner. Fine and dandy. They asked over and over, "Are you sure we are not imposing?" I clearly answered no since they were coming up on a Saturday and Mother's Day is on Sunday. I had no plans for Sunday which was my Mother's Day plan - to do nothing.

A phone call at 1:00PM on Saturday changed all that.

I heard cars honking in the background and his sister saying, "We're stuck. We're at the blah blah corner we have to turn to get to your house."

Great.

I tell Geo, who was in the middle of getting ready to get a shower. The man had just worked 8 eight hours, came home, and started getting the house tidy. It takes a family visit for him to accomplish such a feat. Anyway (Pig's fave word), he got dressed as I called our mechanic to ask for a tow. Geo dashed out the door and I was left at home with the Dinks and an approaching storm (literally and figuratively).

Let me just give you, right now, a bit of background on my SIL's car. It was (yes, past tense) a 1993 Geo Prism with darn near 200K miles on it. This is a car that barely gets used during the week and it was being driven to Philly from Baltimore. To make matters more interesting, a couple of years ago, SIL was in a fender bender. She was ass-ended. Her insurance company wrote hte car off as a loss. She bought back the title.

So, we are talking a 13 year old 200K salvaged car. On a road trip.

One fast moving storm later, the real storm began. Geo came home with the MIL, the SIL, and the niece. It's now 2:30PM. The preliminary diagnosis for the car is a dead transmission. They aren't going anywhere.

Now, they all originally planned to come up, visit, go to a local mall to shop (that's MIL's thing - mall shopping), eat food, and leave. Dead car changed that. Now, there WAS a choice of either going home to Baltimore via Geo and I, or staying the night and going home the next day. It is 2:30PM almost 3:00PM so it's not like it was late at night. The choice was stay and leave Sunday - Mother's Day.

I didn't forsee this as that big of a problem. I was wrong.

Wow, this post will be longer than I thought. I'll continue later.

mothers day, in laws, family

Today's post is being brought to you by the letter "D"

2006-05-19T11:25:00.000-04:00

This is a meme post that could be cleverly disguised as a normal post. But it is a meme.

Anyway ...

You get assigned a letter under voluntary conditions. I was assigned "D" by the CrankyProf herself (she's so merciful). You must write ten words using your assigned letter in your blog post including an explanation of why you chose that word. No, there is no rhyme or reason. It's just a meme for crying out loud. There is no tagging (what a refreshing change). The trick is, if you want to do it, you have to tell me in the comments.

I love the letter "D", not as a grade but as a letter. It starts some great words like drama. I have a three year old who is a drama queen in training. There is drama in my workplace. Oh, it's a soap here. He's hitched to her, they're unhitched, she's with him again, he's banging another, she's pissed, legal papers, federal lawsuits, evictions, retaliations ... yikeys! I don't need Desperate Housewives to get my fill of insane life (though I do love the show).

Speaking of desperate, there is a word that drives me nuts. First, I can never spell it correctly. I use too many a's. Desperate goes together with drama so well. It means having lost hope or moved by despair. This word should only be used in dire situations. To drive to the mall in pouring rain so as to buy that certain shade foundation is not desperate. Asinine, yes; desperate, no.

Today's weather totally blows and I feel a migraine coming on; hence, my inevitable headache is dormant.

Domicile. I actually use this word quite often in my daily spoken language (not to be confused with blogging). I constantly refer to my home as the Maidink Domicile. The scary part is not that many people know what a domicile is. sad.

Another fave word that I use in daily speech is denizen. I usually reserve it for bar patrons, mall rats or mall models, or any other human that insists on visiting the same place over and over. I mean, don't these people have domiciles?

Derriere. The buttocks. Brings to mind "Baby Got Back". I don't like big butts personally, but I have been known to admire a few aesthetically pleasing backsides.

Thinking of Geo a word that pops up often is daft. I swear, I love my husband. But there are times I just want to take the proverbial frypan and crack him upside the head. He can be so dense at times. Sweetie, if I am folding laundry so I can clear the bed to get the Dinks ready for her bath so I can put her to sleep, don't ask if I am busy. Duh. Such a typical guy.

How about a snobby pretenious word like duvet? It's a comforter for crying out loud! Never have I agreed with a scene from a movie so much as I did with Brad Pitt's character in Fight Club when he mentioned this.

Lastly, I mention diversity. We are all different. We're of mixed colors and mixed religions. There are different ethnicities. Not everyone has the same sexual preferences. It would be BORING if we were all the same. So, to those who can't handle it, deal with it. As one person once said, "America is not a melting pot, it's a mixed salad. Though we are all different, we can all work well together." No, I can't remember who said it, but I love it.

Oh yeah, ... Dinks!

meme, d

Mother's Day weekend 2006

2006-05-17T15:25:00.000-04:00

Quick post. I'll give the Reader's Digest version then I'll elaborate later.

Mother's Day weekend was shot in the ass. This time, I can not blame Geo, though it's my natural tendency to do so.

Yesterday, I skived off from work. I needed a "me" day since I never got it Sunday. Thankfully, my wise hubby realized that and treated me like a spoiled brat yesterday. Even the Dinks was merciful to me. Such a sweet like cherub.

That's it for right now.

I promise I'll update more later.

Seriously ...

mothers day, skiving

He swore to us he has a college degree

2006-05-12T11:36:00.000-04:00

Another "Maidink and co-worker" post. Today's co-worker in the spotlight is Jim.

The scene is I am talking to Jim about when the Dinks goes to kindergarten in two years. Holy crap! Two years! *sniffle* My baby's a big girl.

Okay, mommy hysterics over.

Me: Yep, two more years and Dinks heads to grammar school.

Jim: It's not that far off.

Me: Tell me about it. I feel old. in two years, my baby will be in the Anne Frank Little School house.

Jim: Oh, is that a Catholic school?

Me: Ummm, Anne Frank was Jewish.

Jim: Oh yeah. That's right.

Oy vay!

Go on and shake that money maker, girlfriend!

2006-05-11T10:14:00.000-04:00

All was quiet and serene in the Maidink household last night.

I gave the Dinks her bath. The little dirt merchant needed it, bless her heart.

What is it with kids and dirt? She gets filthy everyday. It's not worth buying her decent clothes. I should just pull them out of the local clothes drop-off dumpster. Last summer, at her school, I witnessed her taking a plastic cup filled with loose powdery dirt and dumping it on her head so it cascaded down her itty-bitty self. She looked like a Tide commercial. With the warm weather here again, she is back to the dirtlot at school. Thank goodness she just plays in it now and doesn't give herself a dirt shower anymore.

Back to last night.

I always dry her off on our bedroom on our bed. It's a bigger space than her crib and makes it easier to get her jim-jams on. Once she gets her "big girl' bed, that ends.

As I was getting her PJs ready, she hops onto her feet and starts jumping up and down on my bed rather frantically. It wasn't that she was in pain 'cause she was laughing. She then starts to chant.

"I like to move it move it, I like to move it move it, I like to move it move it, I like to MOVE IT"

Holy chowder! My kid's dancing to techno!

She's having a good ole time jumping everywhere, giggling and singing.

I smile, rather uneasily, and cleared my throat.

"Sweetie, where did you hear that song?"

"SCHOOL!" she shouts out.

Head hurting, I ask, "Honey, when do they play that song?"

"DANCE TIME!" she shouts even louder. She's still singing and jumping and I believe she hears the music being played rather loud in her head.

"Sweetpea, who plays that music?"

"Miss LAUR-EN!"

Her teacher. Now, I'm thinking her under 25 years of age blond-haired teacher is playing a 90's techno-rave CD in the classroom and the kids are just going nuts. Just great.

All night, Dinks kept singing "I like to move it move it ..." and jumping everywhere. Thank goodness she settled down at bedtime.

Today, I Googled "I like to move it move it" and found out it's on the Madagascar Movie Soundtrack. Ah-HA! That explains everything.

Clever teacher. She get the kids together and gets their energy out via dancing (which is akin to exercising). Pretty smart for a blonde-haired kid. Well, in my eyes, she's a kid. Hell, she's a short kid, too. Wouldn't take much for her class to gang up and over take the room.

This may explain why last week, Dinks kept jumping up and down saying "jump, jump, jump, jump ..."

With a name like that, she'd make nothing

2006-05-10T10:38:00.000-04:00

This is the conversation between Streats and me in work this morning.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Streats: Have you heard of the new stripper?

Me (looking slightly confused): What?

Streats (not realizing I'm giving her a confused look): The new stripper for NY?

Me (more confused): What??

Streats (now realizing I am confused): For NY? The new stripper, InfoLab?

Me (more puzzled than ever): We hired a stripper in NY named InfoLab?

Streats (rolling her eyes): Dis-trib-u-tor, you nitwit. Get your hearing aid already!

How do my parents REALLY feel about the Dinks?

2006-05-09T14:08:00.000-04:00

Mum and Dad were watching the baby this morning while I took care of some ... uh ... personal business. I then picked her up and took her to school.

This was the phone conversation later in the afternoon.

Mom: You made it into work okay?

Me: Yep, all in one piece.

Mom: And the baby?

Me: Yep, she's in one piece, too.

Mom: Well, we feel bad we couldn't keep the baby today.

Me: Don't. She loves going to school.

Mom: No, we feel bad for ourselves.

Me (while nodding head): Ahhh. Gotcha.

The new blog title

2006-05-08T13:22:00.000-04:00

The bass blog is here. I'm copying the bass and music oriented posts from this blog into it.

It'll be simply called "Maidink's Bass".

Now, if someone can help me ... I want to put a picture of my MK bass in the title. Help

Maidink's World Update Weekend of 05/05 to 05/07

2006-05-08T10:39:00.000-04:00

Let's see, let's see.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Geo went to a cigar convention Saturday. More precisely, he went to "Cigar International's CigarFest 2006". It was deemed a mega-herf. For those not in the know, or for those wondering what the hell I am talking about, a "herf" is a cigar convention. See? You actually learn things reading this blog. I'm sure you're just thrilled.

The man came home smelling like a cigar. I warned him to enter through the back door, strip, and shower before he attempted to encounter anyone in the house. He obidiently walked through the front door, wrestled with the Dinks (who was suffering from Daddy withdrawl), looked at his cigar stash, filled his humidor, read a catalog, then took a shower. Damn glad he listened to me.

He bought a $75 ticket to gain entrance to this thing, and came home with a free humidor filled with cigars, all inside a small gymbag. Estimated retail value of his haul was $225.

Cigars are now in the Maidink household; however, they are smoked outside.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dinks and I had a Dinky/Mommy day Saturday since Geo was at his herf. It went relatively well. We did some errands, bought video games, and went food shopping. But Dinks still doesn't feel well, so we didn't go all day long. All in all, it was a nice day for her and I.

Though, I'm quite sure she wished her Daddy was with with us. Better yet, I went to the herf and Daddy stayed home with her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I had a wicked sinus headache / migraine yesterday. It hurt like hell. If yesterady were actually a weekday, I would have stayed home. Figures I feel great today.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Still haven't figured a new blog title for the Bass Blog. But I did create a MySpace account. Hey, I don't want anyone taking my online moniker. To avoid identity theft, I signed up. To say MySpace is confusing is an understatement. I'll figure it out later.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dinker got three pairs of shoes yesterday. She needed sport sandals, dress sandals, and water shoes for her water play at school this summer. Yes, my little Imelda marcos got all three pair. And insisted on wearing the the sport sandals home.

Bless her little consumer heart.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At the Cigar herf, there was a Playboy playmate, Stephanie Heinrich. From her promo photo, she looks like a serious hottie. Geo said he and his buddy, Blade (who got Geo the ticket - thanks, Blade), upon seeing her in person, looked at her and thought, "Ummm, she was a playmate?" He said she posedwith guys with a look on her face that screamed "Oh, Christ, not another one of these dumbass things. I hate these shows." As Geo was standing there looking at her, he had his camera ready. He had all intentions of taking her photo until he realized not only was she a bitch, but she didn't have a "brickhouse" body like one would imagine a Playmate would sport. She saw Geo with his camera and struck her best fake pose. Geo looked at her, looked at his camera, shook his head, and walked away.

Instead, he got some great shots of the other pieces of eye candy that trapsed through the convention. I'd post pics but they are still in his camera.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Got me mum her Mommy Day's (US version) gift. She loves Romance by Ralph Lauren. So I bought her a lorryload of it. She deserves more; however, with finances being limited, this is it for now.

I'll probably get the same thing this year as last year. And that, my friend's, was zilch.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And I did nothing for Cinco de Mayo. So my Friday was borrrrrring with six r's.

The 1970/1971 Starfire III Special guitar I'm selling

2006-05-04T11:49:00.000-04:00

Thought I'd show you a picture of it.

It plays well; alas, it's finish is cracking. A skilled Guild repair person should be able to fix it. Also, it is suffering from mild buckle rash. Add on top of that a few marks on the neck and a repair spot at the joint where the neck connects to the body, and you have a well-used guitar.

The other buyer fell through. Why me?

So this baby is E-bay bound. I get what I can get and that's it.

How to tell that spring has truly sprung

2006-05-02T10:15:00.000-04:00

Driving home yesterday. Dinks is in the backseat eating her obligatory bag of cheese puffs. Todays puff of choice is Cheetos Crunchy.

Dinks: *cough* *cough*

Me (looking back in the safety mirror): You okay there, Dinks?

Dinks (looking at me with a smile): I okay, mommy. I just need my medicine.

Uh-oh.

Me: Medicine, sweetpea? You mean breathing machine?

Dinks (with a big ole grin): Yeeaaaaaaahhhhh.

More coughing. It sounds gurgley and raspy. Great.

Dinks (in a non-panicy sing-song voice): Mommy! I need my breathing machine. I need the green medicine and the oval*.

Me: Okay, Dinkerdooes. We'll do that tonight.

Needless to say, I have been heavily reliant on my Zyrtec-D and Nasonex. Geo is Claritin-D bound. And Dinks is Zyrtec, Sudafed, Just Cough, and her breathing machine.

I hate allergies.

* - Breathing machine is her nebulizer. Green medicine is her Pulmacort .25 strength. Green is the color of the font on the box. And the oval is a reference to the mouthpiece to her nebulizer.