This Morning

I woke up very early… even for me. Most mornings we’re up at 5:30. This isn’t by choice, but by necessity. This morning, however, I woke up, thirsty, at about 4:45.

I wandered out to the kitchen, bleary-eyed, and got a glass of cool water. I stood there and drank half of it, thought about going back to bed, but realized that I was awake. Wide awake.

My house was still around me. Everyone slept, and I could hear their deep breathing, the rustle of their blankets as they shifted, and in the case of my husband, snoring. I felt like I was in the middle of holding a very deep breath; the sun had yet to rise, and when it did, so would my household.

I came into the living room, gathering the green and white blanked I’d crocheted along the way, and curling it around me. I sank into the depths of my couch cushions, rested my head on the pillow, and opened my curtains just enough to see outside.

The sky was that deep, dark gray just before the sun brightens it; I could see stars, even. The streets were silent. For long minutes I could imagine that I was completely, utterly, and totally alone.

What was going through my head at that early hour? I’d like to say I was thinking thoughts both deep and profound, but I wasn’t. I can’t even say that I was mapping out my day, because that wouldn’t be true, either. I wasn’t thinking about my husband or my kids, my bills or my chores, my errands… nope. None of that. So what was I thinking about….?

I was thinking about Farmville.

Farmville, an application/game on Facebook. I play it. I have my own little virtual farm, with crops and animals and trees and a cottage. I have alien cows, even.

Here I was, with quiet and solitude, sitting in blessed darkness, with nothing to do and no one to interrupt me, and I was thinking about a virtual farm, and plotting out just what and how I was going to plant my virtual crops. And I was serious about it, too. I mean, I had a plan. I could see it all in my head, the layout, the plants, just what it would look like. Serious stuff, that is.

Yup. My husband thinks I’m crazy. But as usual, he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. I prefer to think “special”.

Peace :)

 

Windows

I love to look in the windows of houses. Not in a pervy-wearing-all-black-and-nite-vision-goggles kind of way; more like, if I’m walking by, and you have your curtains open, I’m gonna take a peek.

If the room is empty, I’ll check our your decor. Briefly, of course, since I don’t actually stop to look. I mean, if I saw a dead body or a vampire I might stop, but typically, no. I just glance. I’ll wonder where you got that lamp, why you chose that color combo, have you ever puked on your couch… you know, normal stuff.

If there are people in the room, even just one person, I’ll forget the decor entirely and wonder. Who are you? What’s your name? How long have you lived there do you like it? Then I’ll mosey on, and start making up stories about you and your life; at least, until I come to the next house with the next view of people.

I’m curious by nature. My husband calls it nosey, but he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. So we’ll go with, Jenna has a healthy curiosity about everything and everyone. I just really want to KNOW things.

If you’re windows are open, I figure that if you don’t want people to look in, you at least don’t care if they do. I figure, if you didn’t want anyone to see, then you would shut the curtains. So you don’t mind my passive observance, right? Brief as it is and all.

I know that I have an overactive imagination; I always have. I know that the people I see in the windows of their homes probably don’t really do any of the things I make up for them, but in that moment, it sure feels more real than reality to me.

It’s just fun, I guess. Harmless.

So if you see me passing by one day, and I’m checking you out, don’t be alarmed. Just go back to whatever it was that you were doing; it’s probably way cooler than what I imagine you to be doing!

I’m Out of Milk

My in-laws landed last Sunday nite, or reeeeally early Monday morning, depending on how you look at it. It was my husband’s mother and her sister-in-law (wife of my husband’s father’s brother) who came to visit, and visit they did. They were only here for two days, because they’re storming America by train, and couldn’t stay any longer than that.

So for the past two days we have crammed in about a week’s worth of San Diego tourism.

I am exhausted.

We did- get ready for this, now, deep breath- breakfast on Monday, then we went shopping, and more shopping, and more shopping, then to Old Town, where we did more shopping and lots of walking (I bought some delightful salt water taffy and dark chocolate) and even more sight-seeing, then the beach, all along the pier, then home again, home here to see the offspring, then straight away to dinner at Casa de Pico where we lingered over delicious Mexican food and great conversation, then we were all very tired and ready to fall onto our faces thus we deposited them to their hotel room and me and The Man made our way home.

The next day…. we made what should have been a fifteen minute drive to pick them up in over an hour due to a suicidal jumper on an overpass (she didn’t jump, by the way, but she sure FUBARed traffic), went to breakfast at a Cafe that had been in San Diego since my husband was born (it was passable, not great, Coco’s was better), then more shopping, headed over to Balboa Park where we wandered the Arboretum, ogled the koi, considered going to the museum but instead explored the museum gift shop (where we did more shopping), then off to the San Diego Zoo, arguably the BEST zoo in the world, where we had lunch then took a fantastic bus tour (that was first for me; I was glad to sit and ride and let the wind blow through my hair) where we saw all the highlights and had to deal with none of the walking, then it was off to home so Grandma and Aunt could hang with the offspring some more, then it was to dinner, just Chili’s this time but still delicious all the same, then it was time to deposit them at their hotel while The Man and I headed BACK to the shopping center to pick up a few thank you gifts for them, then it was home and falling into bed, thank the gods for bed and sleep!

I had to take the man to work today, the kids to school, and Grandma and Aunt to the train station.

All in all, a delightful visit. Too short, too short, but we did not get cheated!!

My youngest had a doctor appointment today(she needs glasses) and I had a lot of errands to run, and then the eldest daughter needed to come home (sick; it’s been going around) and I had more errands to run, none of which meant going to the grocery store…

…and because of all the madness of the past two days, I haven’t looked into my fridge, and I am out of milk. This went undiscovered until this evening when The Man went to pour the milk for the dinner. It’s absence was then conspicuous. And I am so tired, I’m rambling and writing in run-on sentences with little regard for coherency.

I guess the day is not yet done. It should be, but alas, it is not.

Can you put apple juice in cereal…? No…? Dang.

 

I Live In Controlled Chaos

There are eight people who live in my house. Myself, my husband, my eldest Bonus Son, my Extreme Teen from He---- I mean, my other Bonus Son, and my four biological spawn.

We have two bathrooms and three bedrooms, a living room, a dining room, a kitchen, a teeny laundry room, and a hallway.

I have managed to successfully retrieve all of my books from storage, and they happily reside here, too. I have hundreds of books, just in case you wondered.

My house is in a constant, perpetual state of unclean. Not dirty (ok, mostly not dirty, but there are days when yeah, it’s a leeeeettle dirty), but unclean. Not like the whole “this house is unholy!” unclean, but cluttered. Lots of clutter. Way too much clutter.

For one, myself, my spawn, and my Extreme Teen are all packrats. I have over the years managed to improve my packratted’ness, meaning I actually throw away receipts now instead of keeping them for months and months, for one thing.

Two, even if we didn’t have minor issues with being packrats, we have a lot of freaking crap stuff. Books aside (and even my kids have a lot of books), we have a ton of clothes, dishes, toys, notebooks, knick-knacks, utensils, DVDs, video games, shoes, D&D paraphernalia, and other… stuff… that I can’t think of right now.

Three, cleaning is done sporadically. I mean, I do all the dirty stuff, like dishes and mopping and wiping and dusting (ok, dusting is sporadic, it is, I admit it), and my spawn do their bathroom and bedrooms (um, their bedrooms are in a perpetual state of disarray), and the Extreme Teen does… nothing… and thus the clutter is never de-cluttered. And if that wasn’t a run-on sentence, I don’t know what is.

Four, I have no natural clean-gene. I have given this much thought, and I truly do believe that there are just some people who are just made that way. It’s coded into their DNA or something. They are biologically neat freaks. I just don’t have that genetic desire to make my living space spotless. As cool as that would be if I did, I don’t. That’s my theory and I’m stickin’ to it.

And five… wait. I had a five, I did, but I got distracted with all the science talk and… oh yeah. I get distracted easily. I mean, I start to clean something, and usually wind up having to into another part of my home for one reason or another, and finding something wherever I went that needs doing, and instead of finishing job one, I start another one. Before I know it, I’ve got three or five cleaning jobs happening, and then I get overwhelmed and frustrated and quit. I figure half cleaned is better than no-cleaned and call it good.

And then six, I’m kinda lazy. I would rather read or dick around on the computer or watch BSG than clean. I hate going through things with the sole purpose of “straightening it up” because that’s. so. BORING. So I find reasons NOT to do it, and that reason can be as simple as “it’s Tuesday” and voila, no cleaning for me!

So my house is in a perpetual state of chaos, but I don’t worry (and neither should you) because I know right where everything is, and if I don’t know, I will know, once I find it.

Woman Who Waits

If I could define myself in a single word, it would be, waiting.

I wait for things everyday. I wait for sunlight in the mornings when I wake up. I wait for it to be time to take my children to school. I wait for the treadmills at the gym. I wait for the water to heat up for my shower. I wait for the mail. I wait in line for gas, to pay for groceries, to buy my books. I wait for it to be time to pick my children up, and then I wait in a long line of cars that curls from the school, onto the street, and around the corner, inching my way forward. I wait for it to be time to drive to get my husband from work. I wait for dinner, the timer ticking on my oven, delicious smells filling my house. I wait until it’s time for my children to shower, to go to bed, until everyone is where they are supposed to be and then I clean my kitchen. I wait until I am certain that my house is complete before I go to bed. And then I wait to fall asleep.

My life is filled with waiting, from one thing to next, day after day. I fill my calendar with things to look forward to, good things and mundane, birthdays and anniversaries and holidays. I wait for the day when one son will finally move forward in his life, and the other son will finally be taught by life.

I wait for books that I want to read to be published, shows I want to watch to be aired, movies I want to see to come to theaters, but usually I wait until they are on Netflix. I wait for paychecks to fill my bank account so that I can empty it again paying for the necessities of life and living.

I wait for summer in the winter, and winter in the summer. I wait for nite when the sun is so glaring it hurts, and the sun when the days are cloudy and gray, again and again. I wait for rain when it’s too hot and heat when the rain is relentless.

I wait for gas to go down, and then wait because I know it’s going to go back up.

I wait for friends, for phone calls, for evenings out, for evenings in.

I wait for solitude when I am bombarded by children, chores, noise. I wait for my loved ones when the silence is too oppressive.

I wait. And wait some more. Would I change it? No. If I didn’t have all these things to wait for, my life would be very empty indeed.

 

Once Again, Start Anew

This whole bloggy thing is just… weird. I blog. Just not here. I usually do it on my other site. But I like Blogger. I like the blogs I follow. I like writing. I have things to write about, I just don’t. Do. It. Here.

And yet, I’m not willing to scrap this blog and give up. So once again, I am making a go of this whole Blogger thing. Once again, for the umpteenth time, I am going to make some kind of pact with myself, and stick to it. This time for reals. No, really. I mean it.

I have the time; no school for me this semester, and maybe not again. The offspring are gone all day at their schools, leaving me home not-quite-by-my-lonesome (Stephen is couch-crashing for who knows how long), but he’s 20. I do DO things around here, but it’s not, like, a total time-suck or anything.

Sooo yeah. This is me, declaring to self, here we go again.

Um.

Oh. Okay. I guess this is the part where I write… stuff…. Wow, I hadn’t considered what to write after my declaration there. I kinda thought I’d say “yeah, trying this again” and then write something really interesting or profound but… yeah. Got nothin’.

Soooo… I guess I’ll be going now. Dishes to do, and stuff. You know. Stuff. Pret-ty busy tonite. Yeah. Me. Whirlwind of activity.

Ok, I promise, my next entry will be more interesting than this one. That’s the plan. Sooo until then….

Peace!

 

Oh, To Start Anew…

SO. Apparently I have issues with this whole blogging business. I mean, what’s the point of keeping this blog if I don’t ever write on it?

It’s not like I don’t have anything to say. Quite the opposite; I have too much to say. The words are there, choking me, and I get overwhelmed and quit before I start. There is a backlog of words, waiting to get written, and yet… write them I do not.

What’s that about?

What to write about? I’ve gotten so good at keeping secrets that  even I believe there are no secrets to keep anymore.

I wish that I could just… speak.

 

Lethargic

Once again, I’ve been ignoring my blog.

I finished school for the semester, and currently am carrying a 4.0 GPA. I was ecstatic when I found out, and a little surprised, honestly. I had a class I thought I’d be getting a B in, but apparently I was mistaken! Not that I’m complaining, not remotely :)

I’m not taking any summer classes. I’ll load back up in the fall, but for now, this is good. I like having my time to myself again. My kids are still in school, and the days are largely my own. I’m not doing anything, not really, but nothing was never so nice.

My plans for summer include reading, going to the pool, watching movies through Netflix, the park, the museum, the zoo, and going to Comic Con. I’m also taking witch lessons! (for those of you not in the know, I’m pagan) My friend is a practitioner of the craft, and she has offered to give me advanced lessons. I’m looking forward to learning :)

I’m also starting a new project, of which you can read more about here. We’ll see how that goes. Hopefully it’ll be awesome.

Shanna the Bean is responsible for the new look, by the way. I was getting really tired of the old look, and asked her to please fix it. I gave her a free reign with very little input from me, knowing that she’d make my blog look good but not overly cutesy because she knows I don’t “do” cute. I also knew I could rely on her to not add anything pink. Pink has its uses, it does, but not on my blog.

This is the part where you ignore that I make all of my hyperlinks pink, by the way.

The kids are almost done with school for the summer. They get out next week. I’m looking forward to it. Now all we need to get is a new car, and I can sleep in again. We only have the one car, and thus if I want it during the day, I need to get up to drive The Man to work. We’re supposed to be buying a new one this summer. I can’t wait.

Other than that, this promises to be a relaxing, lazy summer. Oh, I cannot wait :)

Peace.

Into the Fray

The other day my darling boy “Cappa” celebrated his ninth birthday. It was a good day.

I do things slightly different than the norm for birthdays; when the birthday child attains a certain age, they get a myriad of choices as to how they want that particular day to go down. They can either give me a list of things they would like, and I’ll go and get some of them (or all, depending on a. the length of the list and b. the budget) or they can go shopping and spend up the one hundred smackers on whatever their little heart’s desire or I can surprise them. The older they get, the more they want to go shopping. Go figure.

They get a to choose WHATEVER THEY WANT for dinner. I emphasize the whatever they want part because, if I can make it, they can have it. Their tastes range. I have made all kinds of things for bday dinners, from BBQ to spaghetti to crock pot dishes… like I said, whatever they want!

And in lieu of birthday cake, they get whatever birthday dessert they want. I have come to discover that you can stick candles in nigh near anything. Some years they want a cake, but I have made pudding, pies, cupcakes, even birthday cookies for the dessert.

This year, Cappa wanted a new Gameboy DS for his birthday. His other one was slowly but surely crapping out on him. Even though the DS is slightly more than the usual one hundred bucks I delegate for birthdays, I decided that I could go ahead and make that happen. Well. THEN The Man discovered that Nintendo was making a new DS… the DSi. Ok, this thing is really, really, reallyreallyreallyreally cool. Expensive, but cool.

Expensive.

Cool.

Expensive.

Cool.

I totally bought it for him. Yes, I know. I am a total sucker.

He requested breakfast for dinner, and so we dined on pancakes, bacon, and eggs. He wanted a chocolate cake with strawberries. So I made him one. It was DELISH.

And here he is, that gorgeous kidlet of mine :) He is getting too big too fast. Damn. But at the same time, yay! Seems like it was just a few months ago that he was my little bitty frog boy. I remember when I could carry him around in one arm. He used to be so attached to me… he loves me of course, but these days, he’s too busy to really sit and snuggle anymore. SIGH. I love it, but at the same time *sniff sniff* I miss it. Know what I mean?

And that’s that, as the saying goes…

Oh, and here’s what I’m currently grooving to these days. Well, “grooving” is really the wrong word. More like, here’s my new favorite song. Take a minute, listen to it. It’s so good, but sad, and the subject matter, unfortunately, touches too many of us these days.

I can’t help it, this song brings me to tears every time I hear it.

Books: try The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.
Or, Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons by Lorna Landvik. Can’t go wrong with either one.

Peace!

 

The Nontitle Title

Seems it’s been a week since I last wrote anything. Not surprising… ah, well. Such is life.

So, I’m supposed to be taking a break from my elife. Do you have any idea how hard it is to take a break from my elife? I am hard core ejunky. I love the social networks. Some of my closest friends live inside my computer. I talk to them every single day. Tell me, how am I supposed to take a break from that?

The thing is, school is winding down, and I have several projects coming up. A ten page paper to write for history, then a debate for my final. I have my last speech to give, the longest one to date, and worth the most points. Then the final for THAT class. I have one more history exam left, then the final. And math… still slogging along with a B in that one. And the final is just around the corner.

Not to mention the things that my kids are doing in school! I swear, the projects they have to do… urg, I say (and I say “urg” is too a word, neener neener neener). The “urg” is because the projects are REALLY for the parents, you know. Because the first time I went through second, third, fourth and fifth grade was not good enough. And… wait for it… here it comes… URG I have to do this every year with a different kid. Because there are four of them. Because I just HAD to have four.

Oh, and check this out (totally changing the subject now). My oldest daughter, “Miss Alpha”, shaved. For the first time in her life. She is shaving now. That.

is.

so.

WEIRD!

I mean, I know. I’m not the first mother to trip over how big her kids are getting, and trip over the milestones, but dude. She’s shaving. HOW is it possible that I am old enough to have a child that shaves? When did this happen and why did no one tell me?

(another subject change) So the other day, my husband did THE coolest thing. Ever. No, not THAT, get your minds out of the gutters! What he did was buy me something that I reallyreallyreallyreally wanted.

He bought me this:

Is that an orange iPod nano, you ask? Why, yes, it is! And he bought me one!! Why? Because he lalalaloves me. And because, as he put it, “You deserve it, honey. And you never would have bought it for yourself. So I bought it for you,”

And the color? Yeah, well, see… several months ago when I was lusting over the iPods, I noticed that they came in cool new colors, too. And I just HAD to have the orange one. Of all of them, I liked that one the best. He remembered that was the one I wanted, and he went out and found one for me! Either it’s a popular color, or no one likes the orange, because he said he had a hard time finding a place that sold the orange ones.

Is that not the sweetest thing?

That guy is really cool.

(i’m totally listening to it right now, too)

So where was I? Oh yeah. My break from elife. Still with me? Good.

Anyway, I’m taking this break because of all the stuff going on in my life. Just for a month or so. Then I’ll be back. But I don’t think I can totally stay away. It is really hard. I have no willpower. What can I say? It is one of my weaknesses, cyberland.

Alright. I suppose that’s enough rambling from me. I should go and do some of that homework.

Oh, check it out, before I go. THIS is what I have currently been grooving on. *word to the wise, the following video is NOT kid friendly* For whatever reason, this song makes me wanna shake my groove thang.

And that’s all she wrote!

peace.

I Sip the Wine

Today was a busy day. First, I woke up. Wow, was that something. Then I got up. Yeah, had to give it a few tries. Finally got my feet on the floor. Whew. Contemplated standing, decided not to. Eventually had to. Nature calls and all that.

In case you cannot tell, I am not what they call a morning person.

But once I get underway, I usually get going with a vengeance. Ok, not really. I just like saying that.

Today was actually really a busy day. I had to run some errands this morning. Then teach my eldest son how to make eggs (next week, we’re going to go over WASHING OUT THE FRYING PAN after making said eggs instead of leaving it for me). Then I had school.

I have to leave for school an hour before my first class starts because the parking is soooo crappy, it takes ten to thirty minutes to find a spot. Today, however, I completely, completely lucked out. Princess Parking smiled ‘pon me, she did. I got a spot right by the stairs that leads to the building closest to my first class. SCORE!

But then my car alarm wouldn’t stop… alarming. It kept going off. I think it was the wind, setting it off. Today was a very, very windy day. Anyway, I wound up just locking the car but not setting the alarm.

Ok, so. I made it to class without further incident. Took a math quiz. Did well. Then I learned some more math. I think I got it. Received several new assignments. Fine with me!

I had an hour and half between classes, so I sat and did my history homework. Have I mentioned how much I LOVE history?

Made it to my English class. Turned in my paper. She released us early after a small lecture on what was to come. I stayed after to ask her a few questions on our upcoming research paper, and then took off.

Got The Man from work. Picked up Extreme Teen. Came home, made a killer dinner involving chicken, bell peppers, rice, and orange juice. It was a HUGE hit all around.

After dinner, I worked some on my speech. The speech I’m delivering to my class tomorrow evening. However, I have been sipping the vino, and yeah… think I’m going to take a wee break from the homework! It’s all good, though. I’m on top of it.

And that is my day.

Peace.

I No Do Work

It’s Spring Break, and so far today, I have done nothing. Nottadamnthing. I’m still in my pajamas and bathrobe. My socks don’t match and I don’t care. I have no makeup on and my hair is a mess and that’s ok with me. I still haven’t showered (I will, but later).

Tuesdays are generally my deep cleaning days. I have it off from school, so I do all of my sweeping and mopping and toilet scrubbing on that day. My plans were not going to alter just because I’m enjoying Spring Break, I had decided earlier, but so far today I still haven’t so much as rinsed a dish and put it in the dishwasher. Normally I’m just finishing up my cleaning right about now and getting ready to jump in the shower. Today, though… not so much.

Usually I have homework to do, so I do my cleaning in the mornings, have a shower and then some lunch, go pick the kidlets up, then do some homework. However, since I don’t have anything to do but just chill, cleaning is very low on the totem pole of Things That Need to Get Done. I’m sure I’ll get to it… eventually. Just not right now.

I still have some boxes to unpack from the move, and my goal was to get all of that done by this weekend. And actually, yesterday I did four of the seven remaining boxes. I planned on doing the other three today. But now… eh. They can wait for another day. I’m just not feelin’ it.

I had planned on reading, too. I did read a lot yesterday, but not so much today. I talked to my friend Sam on the phone for a good three hours, and later my girl Shanna the Bean is going to call me up, and I may write another blog on my other site, but so far… yeah. Sittin’ here, reading random blogs and not reading the book I am determined to finish before the week is over.

I do have a little homework that needs to be seen to, but again… la-ter!

I’m going to call my friend Becky this week, too. I haven’t had a good sit down with her in far, far too long, and I misses her.

So basically, I’m blogging about what a lazy sucker I am today. Even my music is lazy. It’s this slow, rhythmic drums and wind instruments and it’s pretty low key. Love it.

Alright. Must go now.

Peace.

My A$$; Shopped it Right Off

Ok, not literally. Although I could stand to lose a bit (more than a bit) of it… and if I had a choice, I would much rather shop off my stomach rather than my ass.

But I digress.

So I have a bunch of kids. And those kids grow. And they seem to all grow at the same frickin time. Ok, such is life. That’s what happens when you have a bunch of kids, right? Right.

Anyway, they all are growing out of their clothes, and it’s time to get some new ones. Alpha is so tall, her belly is starting to show beneath the hem of her shirts and her pants are too tight. All the kids’ pants are getting a little high water. Not gonna make it til the end of the year, and every day is another day that they seem to grow more.

Fortunately we live in sunny Southern California, so I can go ahead and get their summer clothes and it’s perfect weather for it.

The thing was, I wasn’t exactly sure how I was going to swing four new wardrobes.

And then a really cool thing happened. We got some cashola from an unexpected source, and it was enough to get them a good chunk of their summer wardrobes AND The Man and I some new threads, as well!

I haven’t bought new clothes in… um. Over a year. Just seems like I always have a good reason to not. And the kids need stuff all. the. time. If it’s not new clothes it’s new shoes. Or new clothes. Or new shoes.

You get the idea.

Times that by four… and yeah. CHA-CHING! and not the cool kind of cha-ching.

So that is what we did today. Headed to this outlet center where they have all kinds of stores and shopped. It was a lot of fun, and I’ll definitely go back. It was my first visit there.

And now I am tired. It’s been a long day. A good day, but a long one!

Peace :)

Let There Be Lots To Speak About!

So I just got home from my most fun class: public speaking. Funny that I was seriously thinking of putting off this class for a semester or two… I am SO GLAD I didn’t. This class is so cool. And you know what? I’m good at it. Surprisingly. When I get up there, and have to speak? Yeah. Totally in my element.

Tonite we did an activity on eye contact. There were about 19 of us in there, I think. We had to give a little impromptu speech on what our plans were for upcoming Spring Break, but the catch was that we had to make eye contact with each person in the room for five seconds. Sounds easy, right? Well, it’s not. I mean, it is… but at the same time… not. Five seconds is a long time when you’re trying to keep speaking and look at each other.

My husband asked me if we sat and stared at each other, and the answer is, no, not exactly. Everyone had to stand up by there desks (we were in a semi-circle) and when the person speaking had their five seconds of eye contact, the other person would sit down. Each person had to speak until they went through everyone in the class.

It was interesting. And it was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed this particular class tonite… we did a lot of other fun things, too. But that class is always fun, and I really like it.

Of course my instructor makes the class. Prof G is very good at what she does, and she teaches in such an easy going manner you can’t help but REALLY like her. You can’t help but engage.

I kinda wish I could take it again…

It makes me wonder if I might like to teach communication. I mean, I want to teach, and I’ve bounced from history to English and back to history again, but now I wonder if I might be good at this, too.

Decisions, decisions…

I better not mention this to The Man. He tells me, you LOVE history (and he’s right) so stick with that. I say, yeah, I do. And when I go to my history class, I want to know MORE. I want to know EVERYTHING. I just really, really like it.

But now… hmmmm…

Of course, tomorrow I do have my history class, and once I leave there, I will be enamored once again, and certain of my course. Until I go to my English class. And then public speaking.

The only subject I am absolutely 100 PERCENT positive that I DON’T want to teach is MATH. I think one of the requirements is that you actually have to be good at it, and yeah… not so much!

Alright. To bed with me. It is late. I have a lot of stuff to do tomorrow in preparation for SPRING BREAK!!! (which is to say not really a lot to do, I just think that sounds better than saying yeah, nothing to do).

Peace.

GirlFight

Having multiple little girls is a test of patience. For the most part, they do alright. They’re good girls, really. Mostly well behaved. Polite. Sweet.

Aaaand then there are the days when…

not so much.

It seems that everything is a drama-in-the-making. They get along and then suddenly, they’re having a free-for-all whine fest where they’re swearing that if they weren’t related, they would hate each other! And maybe they already hate each other! And they’re never,ever, evereverever going to talk to or look at or even think about the other one again!

So there!

Now get back on to YOUR side of the room! Because this is MY side! And that is MY thing that you’re holding/playing with/looking at and give it back! Right now! Well, I maybe gave it to you but not to KEEP! And now I want it back because I know that you’re going to freak out and throw it at me and then I can go and whine tattle tell to Mom about how you stole it from me, ripped it right from my hands and then threw it at me when I calmly asserted myself and told you to return the item!

And your still on MY side of the room!

And the other one in this equation invariable breaks down into pitiful tears and cries out how miserably her sister treats her and all she wants to do is GET ALONG and how MEAN she is FOR NO REASON. All the time. Everyday. And how UNFAIR it all is, that she is straddled with such a mean sister who HATES her and all she ever wants to do is be friends and share and just… get along. Why can’t we get along, why are you so unjust, why must you treat me so terribly? I’m telling MOO-OOOOOM!

Yeah. Some days are like that. Today is such a one.

I am seriously considering adding something more than just creamer to my coffee in the mornings.

 

I Might Throw Things At You… Then Again, I Might Not.

That is how bad my aim is. When I throw something at something, I invariably do not hit whatever I was aiming for. But when I don’t try and hit something with something, yeah. That’s when I connect.

Take a hypothetical loaf of bread, for example. And take a hypothetical teenager. Pretend that this hypothetical teenager is really, really, really, really, really, really annoying and totally does the opposite of everything you say. Like, don’t make a sandwich, hypothetical teenager, because our hypothetical dinner is almost ready. And then you leave the hypothetical kitchen, and twenty minutes later, when you come back, not only has this hypothetical teenager made a HUGE hypothetical sandwich, he has also gotten mass amounts of hypothetical jam all over the counters, floor, and sink. AND he left the lid off of the hypothetical peanut butter jar.

You angrily start cleaning up this hypothetical mess, and just as your twisting the plastic opening around the hypothetical loaf of bread (of which there were several pieces of bread all over the counter that you had to pick up) when the hypothetical teenager saunters back into the hypothetical kitchen with jam on his face and giving you a smug, sated smile.

Hypothetical teenager, you say (NOT yelling, not that) I thought I told you NOT to make a sandwich?!?!

Hypothetical teenager shrugs unconcernedly. I was hungry, says he, and rolls his hypothetical eyes at you.

UGH! You are thinking, and before you know it, you have swung that hypothetical loaf of bread in a circle and whip it overhand in a fit of pure frustration and let it fly!

Of course your intention is not to actually hit the hypothetical (obnoxious) teenager with the hypothetical bread, but hey… your aim is… um… skewed.

SMACK right in the hypothetical forehead of hypothetical teenager. Bread goes flying everywhere. Hypothetical teenager staggers back, and looks at you like you have gone insane. Of which you kind of have. Because what sort of sane person throws an entire loaf of hypothetical bread at a hypothetical teenager? Know what I mean?

Not that, you know, this is something that I have any real knowledge about or anything, this hypothesis. I cannot confirm or deny the alleged incident. It was just an example of…

um…

yeah.

What was I talking about again?

Fanny, You Trollope!

No, you read that right.

Fanny Trollope was a 19th century English woman who wrote The Domestic Manners of Americans. She also wrote several other books, but I’m not overly interested in those ones. I’m only interested in this one. And only because I have to read it and write a paper on it for my history class.

I’ve known about this paper for several weeks now… one could say “months”, but one would rather say “weeks” so’s not to sound like such a slacker. And instead of going ahead and reading the damn book, and getting started on the paper, I sorta put it off.

I say sorta because it sounds better than saying I totally didn’t read the book and am only now getting around to it and the paper is due next week.

Not that I haven’t had good reasons. But the foremost reason is hey, let’s face it. I read fast. I mean, faster than most everyone I know (with the exception of my English prof, who reads faster than anyone I have ever met). So there was some arrogance in that I knew I could read the whole book in about a day, given that I had a day to sit and read it. Which these days… yeah. Not so much. Only I wasn’t thinking about that little factoid; instead, I was thinking… I could totally read that in a day, no worries! I’ll read it when I read it; no worries!

And this is the part where I yell, WHEN WILL I LEARN?

Ok, I’m not completely freaking out about this (yet), as I still have a week to read it and write the paper. The good news is that I did in fact start the book and have made excellent headway. I’m more than halfway through. I will finish it tomorrow. And start on the paper this weekend.

The bad news; I have another paper to write, due this Wednesday. I also have two math assignments waiting in the wings for me to finish, as well as studying for the test, also this Wednesday. And I have to get ready for the next speech in my public speaking class, but I still have a few weeks to prep for that.

AND I need to get started on my ten page research paper that is my final for my English class. There can be no slacking on that one. Huge portion of my grade and all that. No pressure, right? Nope. None.

Plus all the regular history stuff I have to do for that class. Of which I have not done yet. Which needs to be done by tomorrow.

Yeah. And I here I am, doing what? Ha! Guess I haven’t learned yet.

Peace, yo.

 

Whoa! Could It BE? Is She… Blogging?

Yeah, yeah… I know. It’s been what… ten years? a hundred? I get it. Neglect of said blog for months and months and now suddenly, she’s got something to say.

Not that I have any readers left to read it, right? Well, I know I have at least ONE… *coughBeancough* and she BETTER be reading.

Ok, so. I have been on Blogger hiatus after swearing that I would blog daily because I am complicated like that. And lazy. But more complicated than lazy.

Ok, not really. About half and half.

See, it’s been so long since I last sat here that I have no idea where I even left off. So I will do a recap. If you have already read some of this stuff, bear with me. I have issues with consistency.

So I got my GED. Did I mention that? Yeah, totally enrolled in college too. Now I spend most of my days either at school, or studying. Or… doing other things when I should BE studying. Right now I’m taking a math class… the PRE-algebra, thankyouverymuch. I am not so good at the mathematics, so I decided to give myself the best fighting chance at getting… well, not good, but maybe not sucking as much. So far, so good. B in that class.

I am taking English. A given. I really rather enjoy my English class. It’s a lot of essay reading and class discussion, and we have written a total of two papers thus far. My third paper is due in two weeks. I have no idea what my grade is in that class, as we have yet to be updated. My hope is that she updates us before Spring Break…

I am taking a public speaking class. In which I speak. Publicly. You could also call it speech class. Thus far I have given two speeches, and done well on both. I am not doing very well grade-wise in that class as I bombed my exam (yeah, not my most shining moment) BUT my instructor said that my grade would most definitely improve with the speeches and homework to come. I had better bring that grade up. I WILL have that A at the end of this semester. No more bombing exams for me… On a positive note, I scored really well on both of my speeches; my grade should, in fact, go up as soon as she enters the scores for my last speech. That class is a lot of fun. I didn’t think I would like it… but I LOVE it.

And I am taking history, and this is where my true love lies. I LOVE my history class, and I am doing really well in there, too. I am, in fact, seriously, seriously considering majoring in history. As in, teaching it. My original major was going to be teaching English as a single subject, but as the year progresses… yeah, I’m thinking I might be angling more for that degree in history. I want to teach either way, and would be happiest if I could teach both, but I don’t know how that would work, could work, might work…

So that’s what’s going on right now.

On another note, we finally moved from craptastic too small house to a larger, prettier, nicer one. With a pool. Um. Community pool, but STILL. A pool within a short distance from my front door is da BOM, says I. And says the kidlets, too.

Speaking of the kidlets, they seem to be adjusting really well to the move and their new schools. Yes, schools, as in plural. The youngest offspring had to be sent to a different school than her siblings because there was no room for second graders in the other one, the one she should be doing. The entire thing is a huge pain in my beeehind, because they start at such different times and get out an hour apart and not to mention, the drive is a bit much. BUT, such is life. And next year, she will be attending the school she should be, so that’s good.

Other than that, though, everything is going really well.

Their father is not and has not been involved with them for some time now. We did have court a few weeks ago; he was taking me, AGAIN, to get out of his support order, AGAIN, but that was met with a massive FAIL on his part. AND I got to finally say some things that I needed to say to him. I doubt he heard me, or cared, but dammit, I have been bottled up about how his actions (or lack thereof) effect our children, and he needed to HEAR it. Or I needed to say it. Thus far I have been as civil as they come, friendly, even, but not on that day and not in that moment. Whatever. If he had any goodwill towards me, I’m sure it’s since evaporated.

Now here’s the part where you ask me if I care…

The Man and I are doing really well. Having all that space and privacy has done wonders for our… um. Well. Let’s just say. We are very content and sated.

Moving on.

I have unpacked our massive amounts of books and loaded them up on the bookshelves. It took four five-shelf bookcases to house all of our books, and that was doubling up the paperbacks. We are going to buy another bookcase, though, because I am certain that we will find enough books to fill that one, too. AND the girls are ready for a bigger bookcase in their room, also. The three shelf job they have in there is really not big enough anymore.

It has been rumored that I may have a book addiction. A serious one. It’s all speculation, though… nothing has been proven. Nothing at all.

Alright, this has been good times, and I am glad I came. But now I must go and collect The Man from work. I will be back, however, and to prove it, I leave you with this:

I know what you’re thinking. How does this “prove” that she will come back?

Well. The truth is… it doesn’t. I just really really love this song and must rock out to it as often as possible.

And that is, as they say, that!

Peace.

 

Gah! I Got Nuthin'

Yeah, that's right. Notta damn thing. I have tried writing a journal today, but... coming up blank.

I tried writing about the weather (which is GAWGEOUS today) but it was rather boring.

I tried writing about teenagers and the youth of America, but even I got annoyed with it.

I tried writing about cookies, but I got hungry, went and got a snack and when I came back, my computer had involuntarily shut down and I lost my cookie post.

I tried writing about my kids but I always write about my kids.

So what does that leave me with? I'm sure I could come up with something... given enough time. However, I kinda want to go and read my book right now. Outside. In the GAWGEOUS weather.

So I will leave you with this little tidbit; when discussing potentially moving to Oregon with the children (we're not moving, it was just a conversation), my youngest daughter says, "We can't move there! We don't speak Oregon!"

Peace.

So Much For That!

Today was supposed to be a day spent in relative peace and quiet. I was supposed to think deep thoughts, read for hours uninterrupted, write words of brilliance and inspiration... you know, the usual.

Instead, my youngest decided that today was going to be her day to stay home from school. And then my Extreme Teen rolls in at about nine, wanting to just "chill", I guess, here at home.

Yay.

To explain the stay at home thing... see, I give my kids one free day a school year (no, they do not "roll over" year to year). They get to choose a day and stay home for school, "just because". The only rules are that two (or more) of them can't choose it on the same day, they can't choose it just coming off of a school break, and that I can override it if it's necessary. So far, the three older kids have all taken their days, and "Delta" decided that today would be her day.

Right now she is sitting behind me, chatting away. She wants me to make a list of things that we can do. Which would be cool if she had things in mind like, baking cookies. Or watching a movie and making popcorn. Instead, she wants to "throw a party for when the kids get home". And that entails us "making signs" and "decorating".

She also wants us to "do art projects". Whatever that means... she is making a list as we speak. A list! Doesn't she know that I'm not that kind of mom? Haha

And as for the Extreme Teen... yeah. Let's not even go there.

I do have some things to get done today... errands and such. In about ten minutes, I'm going to get off the computer and into the shower and get ready for the day.

Maybe in twenty. Or thirty.

Let's be realistic.

Ok, so I've been stressing this whole college thing. It's new, it's different, I've never gone... that kinda freaks me out a bit. I've been really excited, but now I'm starting to get more than a little nervous.

I'm taking four classes... English 120, Math 88, History and a Public Speaking class. The English and history classes are the ones that I'm mostly stoked about, math and public speaking... eh, not so much! But I have to take them because to do what I want to do, well, you know... kinda has to be done.

Oh, what do I want to do, you ask (or not lol)? Well, teach. History or English. Could I do both? At the university I want to attend, English and history have a lot of the same requirements for what classes you have to take, so that makes it easier. I don't know for sure what I want to major in yet... it will probably wind up being English, since that's my "thing"... but then again, I do love me some history. At least I have an entire year to decide. Whatever it is, I hope I just stick with it. I know a lot of people who switch it up more than a few times, and me being me, I don't really want to do that!

Ok, so that's that. Guess I'll be going now... life beckons and all that rot.

Peace.

Ok. Let's Try This Again.

The thing is, I have been very uninspired for weeks on end. I have thoughts (who doesn't?) but none of those thoughts have been very interesting as of late. Also, I have no motivation for writing.

I blame my children. They have sucked all cognizant thought right from my brain. This past Winter Break has been particularly exhausting. You know, there was Xmas and then New Years and all the hype therein associated with these events. And the build up... the build up! A lot of time, energy, planning, plotting, and budgeting went into the holiday shopping. Which is fine, yeah, and in these most uncertain times I am profoundly grateful that I'm in a position to be able to do that for my family, but it has led to a most notable decrease in my higher brain function. Having them home for two weeks was fun, but damn. I'm tired.

They're back in school now, and life as I know it is getting back to routine... for now. But that is soon to change. I've got Big Doins on the horizon there...

See here's the dealio. A few months ago, I wrote THIS BLOG about how I never graduated from high school and never went back and never got the GED. Well, that changed. I did go in to The Adult Education Center, went to GED Orientation thing, scheduled my tests, and took four of five. Theeeeeen I put off the fifth test, math, for a long time. Like, six months. Why? Eh... I was a chicken, I guess. Math is NOT my forte', and I had more or less convinced myself that myself would not pass that test.

Ok, so fast forward to beginning part of December of '08. I just... got tired of NOT doing it, I guess. I called, scheduled yonder test, went in and took it. I also had been toying with the idea of (gulp) college.

And I kinda need a GED or hs diploma to get a degree. Thus, my putting off of the GED thing was not conducive to me achieving that. So... yeah. Time to quit being a chicken...

Long story short, I finished all the tests, passed all the tests, and got the freaking GED. I've also enrolled in our local community college, and classes start on January 26th. Yup. Higher education called. I answered.

'Bout time.

Alright, moving on, shall we?

So I have toyed with the idea of just not continuing this blog. I kinda had decided to shut it down, but dude. I think the narcissist in me won't let me just fold like that. So I decided instead to make a goal that for a solid month, I will write here everyday. I mean, I enjoy writing. It makes me happy. And not that I have a ton of interesting things to say, but hey, sometimes I knock one out that even I'm like, damn, good stuff. Bottom line, I like it. I like doing it. I think I'm decent at it. So why not do it? *hence, the title*

Also, I think it's time for a new look. I'm kinda bored of this one.

Let's see, what else? Nothing else too exciting is happening in my corner of the world. I've been reading a lot, and that's fun stuff. I like to read more than anything. Right now I'm reading Karavans by Jennifer Roberson. So far, so good. I'm about half way through, but dude... yesterday I misplaced my book and I cannot find it. I hate that. It's around here... somewhere. The great mystery is, where? I may have to wrangle the kidlets into looking for it for me.

I have been indulging my Battlestar Galactica obsession by engorging myself on all the seasons from one through four. My eldest daughter has officially been corrupted and she is right there with me, watching them. She's as hooked as I am. We have one disk of season four to go, and we will have watched them all! Now the new season just needs to start... seriously. January sixteenth, people! On the Scifi channel. 10 pm. Make a note! Set your DVRs!

So say we all!

Ok, so there's stuff that I need to get to right now... mainly, the laundry. Did you know that I do laundry for seven people? Do you know how much laundry that is? Well, it's a lot, if you must know. And did you know that I am seriously procrastinating right now? That I just have no desire to get up, get dressed, and go to the laundry mat and do the dang laundry? Yeah. I'm in my bathrobe and Bearpaw boots (which are like Uggs) and totally. Not. Wanting. To. Move. From. This. Spot.

WHY does the laundry not do itself?

And in that vein... why do the dishes not do themselves? Seems that if there was ever something that should just, you know, do itself, it should be the dishes. Dishes for seven people is a lot, too. If ever I needed a little Mrs. Weasley magic, it would be now. Wave a wand and housework done!

Sometimes life is just so unfair.

SIGH.

Aaaand I'm still procrastinating.

Guess I'll go and be all responsible-like now. I do that from time to time. Just don't tell anyone. Ruin my rep, yo.

Later.