Southern Amazon

Happy New Year

2006-12-30T12:41:00.000-05:00

Last night I'd gotten home from work with some fireworks for the kids and was sitting with Don watching the news when it was announced that Saddam Hussein had been executed. I realize that the world expects us all to be thrilled, exhuberant, etc. But I can only feel sadness. I don't feel that we really have a right to kill others - isn't that the sin that we hold him most accountable for after all? And yes, I know, if it had been one of my children killed people would expect me to feel differently. I probably would. And please, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that what he did didn't deserve a fitting end. If he hadn't been executed, there would have been thousands continuously hoping for his return to power. (Sortof like Lucious Malfoy...) I do believe that his death was the best option.

But I still feel sadness. Not only for what he did, but for the world that he lived in. For what he became. The conditions that allowed his rise and indeed the many that celebrated it. It was heinous. But in the world that he lived in, could any other power prevail?

In consideration of the thousands he killed simply because he was afraid of their race, is he any different than our own President? I look at his actions and see a man clearly taking his fears and frustrations out on a race of people who had nothing to do with the bombing of buildings years ago. I see a man who is constantly changing his excuses for doing what he's doing. But in the end, I see a man who is trying to bully a world into following his edicts through fear. And perhaps most frightening, a world growing ever more tired of his bullying, who will - as he has - ignore the fact that innocents have nothing to do with the tyrant.

And I feel for those who live now in Iraq. For those who are happy to see the end, at last, the final breath of the regime of a tyrant. And I feel for those who are living in the regime of a tyrant who has, thus far, killed thousands more than the first.

It is my great hope that the New Year brings peace to Iraq. And peace to the heart of tyrants no matter what their background. It is my great hope that the death of Saddam has meaning to all.

Hairspray

2006-06-09T12:42:00.000-04:00

This past weekend my husband and I went with our kiddos to West Virginia, where my hubby is from. We stayed at a hotel there and spent a good bit of the time visiting his family and trying desperately to get three boys to behave. At the end of one long day I came back to the room and got ready for a shower. I took my hair out of it's ponytail (thank you Lord, for your bountiful scrunchies) and my hair fell into this perfect hairstyle that normally takes a long time, lots of spray, and a curling iron or three to achieve. I had on no makeup but had to snap a pic of my 'perfect hair' because looking back later I'd never have believed it :) What a stupid thing to need proof of, but hey, I'm female and as vain as any other!

The weekend went fairly well. I was enjoying our new Toyota Avalon. I'd just picked it up at 8pm the night before and drove it up there. What a NICE car! Sortof a champagne color, sun roof, power everything. I just love it. Don does too. He should, it was his father's day present :) I'll post pics of it too soon.

Lost Souls

2006-06-09T12:40:00.000-04:00

This is a story I have running through my head. I'll write it all eventually, but for now this is just a bit I wrote this morning because it wouldn't go away.

I remember you from a dream I had in another life
I know that if you kiss me now I'll burst into life
again
The way I did under the oak trees by the cemetary
When we loved before
I remember you, dying for us
Reaching to catch the falling angel from the sky
And I remember me, dying for you
My soul breaking and flying out when you fell
I pass the house where we lived and loved
and I see the window, still broken
a hundred years ago
And even now I feel my own death inside
Knowing that you look at me now
Without the memory of our lives passed
The anguish of the dream that never happened
And I know that if you kiss me now
Our souls will twine again

Hello Skags

2006-05-26T13:21:00.000-04:00

Yup, that's meant for you dahlinks. You know who you are :) That's Don's new fave word to fling about a couple of nuts. I hear it a lot in the past couple of days. I've heard every rotten teeth, pockmarked face, can't even afford a damn bath story I can stomach for now thanks much. I honestly can't remember ever stepping foot in a house without running water, so WOW, what a backwoods creepy existance THAT must be. I wonder if there are dirt floors too? Anyone else hear the strains from "Deliverance"??

The man is on a rant and rave. Which is funny to watch since normally he's so darned calm. Even funnier is when he and his mom get together to rant and rave. My normally fairly timid mother in law has also been ranting about 'damned skag' and 'stupid bitch' - you have to see this to believe it.

In the 15 years I've been a part of this family, I think I've seen her react this way to someone maybe...MAYBE... three times. Especially when my hubby mentioned to her that said skag was telling people they were all friends. That's when I got the story about the whole family - including Days of Our Lives extramarital affair storylines and parking lot showdowns. *shudders* What kind of person lives their life that way?? It's *sad* really. Pitiful.

It truly makes me grateful for my upbringing, my education, my ability to hold down a job that pays well enough that my husband can raise our three lovely children, my ability to communicate with others in a manner that can't be used against me in a sheriffs office along with a ritualistic warrant signing...

My response to another stupid email

2006-05-11T14:54:00.000-04:00

My response to the 'George Carlin' thing:

I am not a bad American. I'm a good American. Want to know why?

1 - I'm in touch with my feelings. Ask Dad next time I'm yelling at him or my kids next time I'm hugging them or my mom next time I'm calling her to cry about whatever is bugging the crap out of me that day. I'm not sure what this has to do with my American-ness, but what the hell.

2 - He's right - being a minority doesn't make you a minority of victemized. But if someone starts talking crap about you because of your color, sex, or size (and not because of the way you're acting at the moment) tell them to shut the hell up. Freedom of speech is still a freedom here. When they start laughing like the redneck hillbilly frat boys they probably are, walk away, knowing you're still smarter than they are and retarded people can't be reasoned with.

3 - If you are selling George a Big Mac, you have bigger problems than the language barrier. Big Mac can't be translated, so how hard can this be? Its the same in Spanish or English. And if the redneck in your line is laughing at your accent, tell them to shut the hell up. In the three other languages you know. Freedom of speech doesn't require you to speak in English. If you have the time, remind the redneck that Columbus sailed the ocean blue and discovered this damned land with boats funded by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella - of fricken Spain. They spoke SPANISH. When they arrived they met other brown skinned people. WHO DIDNT SPEAK ENGLISH. Deal with it.

4 - I agree - pray to your God or whoever whenever you want to. And shut the hell up when I want to pray to mine.

5 - My heroes are my mom, my grandmother, and the other long line of women who eventually caused and lived through birth so that I could get here. They worked three times as hard as any man in their life and got 1/3 of the credit and still managed to find the time to teach the most abstract concept of all - love. John Wayne was a fricken actor. He got paid to swagger. That does not make him a hero.

6 - I don't hate the rich, I want to be one. I do pity the poor. Their children especially. Because *my* God told me to. If you don't, then stop claiming to believe in Jesus. This is a stupid line in that email.

7 & 8 - Yes, wrestling is fake and slavery was a long time ago. I didn't come up with or support either concept. I'd be all too happy to afford to pay other people to cook and clean for me, why would I try to get it for free??

9 - I believe if you don't like things the way they are, bitch about it. DUH. That's why we have the bill of rights. Telling people to go back to where they came from is pretty much the same as saying 'accept your government at face value, accept crime and poverty, and be called an idiot if you don't agree with it' - that's so stupid it doesn't even need me to tell you all that, but just in case you missed my point - the world was never improved by people sitting and doing nothing in the face of injustice. One person can change the world - by affecting those around them - and no one should ever settle for or accept injustice, pain, hunger, hatred, grief, sorrow, insanity, or any other bad thing. You have an obligation as a human to leave the world a better place than the way you found it and if you don't believe this to be true then you're pretty much the waste of a good soul.

10 - Jesse Jackson is a political figure, the cops can be corrupt and people recognize that fact (and if you don't, you're blind), and how are you again proud of the word God if you don't pity the poor or think you're supposed to improve the world? Hello? Can we say 'hypocrit'??

11 - A lot of old veterens will be quite happy to shoot your ass for calling them stupid for marking a confusing ballot wrong. I'm happy to send them your way. And what does your picture on your drivers license have to do with anything? People were pissed about those pictures and their personal information being sold - not being on the license.

12 - It takes two parents to raise a child, but their grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, older siblings, and old women on the street who need grandchildren should all be respected for their input and time. Besides, who the hell else is going to step in and babysit when mom is about to pull dad's hair out? Who will teach the parents what to do AND step in to save the brat when the child has just painted the living room with peanut butter? Who will kiss boo-boos and help pass down family traditions and teach kids moral values? Who will take care of the child if the worst should happen to the parents? "it doesn't take a village" - yes, it does, and we parents are damned grateful for their input. Especially when a 18 month old wanders down a busy street because his mom had to take her eyes off of him for 3 minutes to hang up laundry on the line and part of that village comes carrying his skinny naked butt back to the very frantic new mommy.

13 - Illegal means Jose and Maria couldnt access the internet in their hut on a dirt road - can YOU tell me how to get US citizenship without having to google it first? If not, shut up and have some compassion for starving people wanting only to come here and work their butts off for less than minimum wage. They're not carrying bombs people. They'd get citizenship if they knew how. If you don't agree, go your asses back to England. The Cherokee and Aztec and Blackfoot, and Catawba, and etc never invited you and never once issued you citizenship papers. And change your 'statue of liberty' to read 'your huddled citizenship paper waving, english as a first language speaking, college educated, already got a job, masses' and THEN stop griping about Medicare and get all of the actual American citizens off of it who are having nine or ten kids, doing and selling drugs, and gathering afdc checks. Listen people, you got bigger damn problems than Jose and Maria. And hey, if you ask nicely, they might actually join the military and help you fight your other imaginary enemies.

14 - Price of gas? Supply and demand. Stop driving 12 mpg SUVs and bitching about the price of gas. If you want to suck gas up like tickle me elmos at Christmas, yes, the price will go up. Duh. It's called a capitalistic society for a reason - Exxon is capitalizing on your stupidity. Ticket scalping at the last KISS concert should have taught you this. Higher demand + limited resources = higher prices.

15 - Then take down the rebel flag at the state house. Take down the state flags for that matter. Take down the corporate flags, the McDonald's flags, the Clemson flags, the 'dont tread on me' flags. If you're going to issue stupid proclamations, at least be brave enough to live by them.

I double dare you to pass THIS ONE on.

Ya Gotta Love George

10121fd.jpg

YES, I'M A BAD AMERICAN

by: George Carlin

I Am Your Worst Nightmare. I am a BAD American. I am George Carlin.

I'm in touch with my feelings and I like it that way!

I think owning a gun doesn't make you a killer, it makes you a smart
American.

I think being a minority does not make you noble or victimized, and does
not entitle you to anything.

I believe that if you are selling me a Big Mac, try to do it in English.

I believe everyone has a right to pray to his or her God when and where
they want to.

My heroes are John Wayne, Babe Ruth, Roy Rogers, and whoever canceled
Jerry Springer.

I don't hate the rich. I don't pity the poor.

I know wrestling is fake and I don't waste my time watching or arguing
about it.

I've never owned a slave, or was a slave, I didn't wander forty years in
the desert after getting chased out of Egypt. I haven't burned any
witches or been persecuted by the Turks and neither have you! So, shut
up already.

I believe if you don't like the way things are here, go back to where
you came from and change your own country! This is AMERICA.

I want to know which church is it exactly where the Reverend Jesse
Jackson practices, where he gets his money, and why he is always part of
the problem and not the solution. Can I get an AMEN on that one?

I think the cops have every right to shoot your sorry rear if you're
running from them..

I also think they have the right to pull you over if you're breaking the
law, regardless of what color you are.

And, no, I don't mind having my face shown on my drivers license. I
think it's good..... and I'm proud that "God" is written on my money. I
think if you are too stupid to know how a ballot works, I don't want you
deciding who should be running the most powerful nation in the world for
the next four years.

I dislike those people standing in the intersections trying to sell me
stuff or trying to guilt me into making "donations" to their cause.
These people should be targets.

I believe that it doesn't take a village to raise a child, it takes two
parents.

And what is going on with gas prices... again?

I believe "illegal" is illegal no matter what the politicians think.

I believe the American flag should be the only one allowed in AMERICA!

If this makes me a BAD American, then yes, I'm a BAD American.

If you are a BAD American too, please forward this to everyone you know.

We need our country back!

You ever realize...

2006-05-04T01:03:00.000-04:00

I was looking back over my blog and showing posts to a friend and she asked me about some of the gaps of time in there and I was trying to remember some things and some parts I couldnt remember. She asked me why it took me a month after Raiden was born to post anything about it and I had to explain that I was in a coma, which was just weird. To explain I mean. How do you explain something like that. Not for a whole month, but a few weeks. So, that was fun. Its the first time I've had to go back and piece all of that together, because to be honest, most of the time people are having to tell ME what was going on then. Heck if I remember. I was in and out of the hospital a Lot with Raiden. I was on bed rest most of the time. I had blood pressure issues, bleeding, alignment problems with my pelvis, that heart thing. Looking back, nothing ever seems as bad as it probably did while it was going on, but who the hell can write about those things during the time? So, then, you realize you have whole gaps in your life like that. Times you know were hard at the time, but that you were so wrapped up in that later you dont have a clear idea of what happened. And maybe that's for the best.

Updates on Life

2006-05-03T13:18:00.000-04:00

I am calmer today. Probably the mix of meds I'm on now beginning to kick in. It's rather nice not to be irritable all the time. I can be really on edge sometimes, and while I'm almost positive there is no such thing as a 'happy pill' (though the gas at the dentist works rather nicely) it's just nice to be RELAXED rather than constantly on edge.

I finished a major project today - some census forms that were actually due Monday, but the people I work with didnt get me the data until Friday morning, then didnt show me HOW they wanted the forms completed until Monday mid-day after I'd spent all weekend working to complete them - incorrectly. I could have had a nervous breakdown and lost my cool when he started blithely erasing pages and pages of figures I'd painstakingly looked up on various accounting spreadsheets, but instead I just starting sortof laughing and gasping at the same time. Surprised but ok with it shock. Is that a term? So, I finished them today. Then I spent 20 minutes cleaning my desk. Is that OCD?? I must clean my desk after finishing a project? I'm happier with the dust bunnies gone, thats for sure. This company is big on something it calls '5s' and they actually give us containers of Lysol wipes to keep our desk area dust bunny and stain free, so it wasn't something they'd consider time wasting. I'm using part of my lunch to relax my brain by writing this blog, so I'm good there too.

I called looking for Don earlier. He wasn't home. So I tried his moms. No answer. Finally I called again (at his mom's - thats where he usually is) and his mom answered. She couldnt answer the phone earlier she explained because she was on the phone with her brother who was told this morning that only 15% of his heart was working and he didnt have very long left. She's upset, of course, more so by the fact that her other brother will have surgery soon to have his entire colon removed due to cancer. She's gone through so much in her life, and now she's going through more, and I was calling to ask where the heck her son was. I need psychic powers to know when to leave people the hell alone. She and I talked for a few minutes though - mostly about Raiden, the baby, and she laughed about his little temper tantrum meltdown he had yesterday. So maybe my calling helped.

Speaking of temper tantrums - I have NEVER (except maybe with Ashby) seen a temper tantrum like the one my 8 month old child threw yesterday after Grayson's baseball game (more on that in a minute). He was sleepy - he'd JUST fallen asleep in the stroller when I had to take him out and put him in his car seat. He woke up during that process of course. Then he started screaming. And arching his back, and throwing his little fists and dirty little feet everywhere. He ended up - a mile or so later - turned SIDEWAYS in his 5 point restraint system car seat. I'm not kidding. Head over one side, dirty feet slamming up and down in my direction over the other. Mouth twisted and wide open in cries and screams you would think you'd only hear in a horror movie. The good part. He was P I S S E D. Grayson told me that the other day. Describing Raiden I mean. He spelled it out. "Mom, Raiden was P I S S E D!!" and I laughed about the way he said that and tears came out of my eyes. But I was NOT laughing witnessing this little terror tantrum. With the belt across his neck (sideways, remember?) he didnt look as though he could breathe well, so I pulled over and took him out of his seat, then tried to gently get him back in there the way he was supposed to be.

Nothing doing. This kid was determined to throw the hissy fit of the century. So, I buckled him in and continued on home, trying to get there before my nerves wore completely out. The boys in the back were talking to me, but I'm not quite sure what they were saying, other than commenting happily about what a mean little brat their baby brother was being and asking why I didnt threaten to beat HIM to death the way I did them when they were bad. I tried to be nice. I sang songs. I pulled out my scrunchy and gave it to him. The scrunchy was flung out the DRIVERS side window. Bye bye scrunchy. How does an 8 month old baby have the aim and power to do that?? He's the one that needs to be on a baseball team.

Finally I pulled into our subdivision and pulled off the side of the road again. I pulled his little purple sweaty screaming fist clinching chunky butt out of the car seat and tossed him over my left shoulder to look out the window for a minute.

Utter and complete silence. The child had finally shut up. So, yes, bad mother that I am, I drove the rest of the way home with him over my shoulder. It was back streets dammit. I know it was unsafe, but it was quiet, and he was happy. As soon as we got home I took him to my bed, laid down, and popped the boob in his mouth. Four and a half milliseconds later, his little eyes drifted closed with his hands stroking the magic freckle juice machine. This stuff is apparently far better than cappucino for inducing euphoria. He slept for a solid hour. During this time I watered my garden (quality time with Nicholas running through the sprinkler), fussed with Grayson about a toy I ordered for him that he suddenly decided was the right brand but wrong figure (Xevoz???? "Ugh, did it *have* to be the shaman mom??" Uh, kid, I ordered the ONLY two flippen figures OFFERED on the hasbro.com site!! Shut up and be grateful for once brat.) and found the chance to sneak some potty time. Yes Lord, Amen!

Ok, back to the baseball game. My baby went up to bat two times, and both times scored a hit. He made it to second base on the first one, then the next batter brought him home. On the second hit he made it to first base, then to second base on the next hit, then the next batter brought him home again. That beautiful little freckled face looked totally proud and triumphant (Grayson does NOT smile when he's proud, he looks like a little lion, chin up, presidential I conquered your asses proud). As he ran over home plate he jerked his head back to tip the helmet off, scooped it off with his hand and ran all the way back to the dugout with that smug little look. I was, of course, screaming my fool head off. RUN GRAYSON RUN!!! The other parents have learned his name too and scream with me. YAY BABY!! GOOD JOB!!! GO BABY GO!!! He didnt like baseball at first, but as he gets better and better, he's loving it more and more. He's looking forward to games.

Nicholas, poor left handed baby that he is, can't hit to save his life. For some reason, when the ball comes towards him, he takes a BIG step backwards and chops wood (bat swings towards the ground) in almost slow motion. I need to work with him. But I'm never home. So, he loved baseball to start with, and now his little heart is just saddened and upset. He just says "I never hit a home run" and I want to crumble then and there. I bought a $40 bat for that child, it was too big, so his coach wouldnt let him use it. Grayson used it to get his two runs though. I need to go back and get the smaller one. Another $25, but if it helps, hey, I'm willing to pay 10x that much. I just need to get him actually hitting the ball so that he can get his joy back about baseball.

I also bought the family swim pass for the county pool - again this year. Last year I was heavy and pregnant and not working outside the home, so we spent lots of time there. This year Don is home and promises to take them. I want to spend weekends there :) I also rented the whole pool for 2 hours on July 29 for Grayson's 10th birthday. It's a big milestone and I want it to be special. I cant wait :)

Things that make you say "Shut the F**** Up" (Or hmmmm, depending on your generosity)

2006-04-29T16:41:00.000-04:00

Ok, I'll post the full post below about what I'm replying to here, but believe me, I posted it to this newsgroup as well. I was *HOT* and ticked. I'm so sick of hicks and their limited, judgemental, selfish views. People need to learn their own history and shut the fuck up.

Ok, here's my rebuttal, and below is the original post.

Me:

Yup, all those who came to this country illegally and didnt pay taxes should be shipped back home. And since their children shouldnt automatically be citizens, let's start way back. So, all of you who came over on some boat - be it the nina, the pinta, or the santa maria (one would think they could speak Spanish since Isabella and Ferdinand were their King and Queen, but hey, that's another bowl of fish) go your butts home. We don't want you here. You refused to pay taxes (tea floating in the bay ring a bell?) and no one invited you, and not a single one of us granted you citizenship papers. Maybe the Mexicans should simply take up arms and start blowing all of your families to kingdom come, then they could call this place home and put all of you on reservations. Yup, I'm for that.

Signed - A full blooded Cherokee. And no I'm not a freaking American Indian. There was no America when my ancestors were born and none of them were born in India. I'm Cherokee. Your illiteracy and lack of a sense of direction doesn't change my history. But hey, at least I learned English (mainly because my father was beaten if he spoke Cherokee as a child - yes, a child, the 1950's) so I could tell you. Will you learn Spanish so that you can tell them? Or maybe someone should beat you into it. Or rather, beat your children into it, after they take them away from their parents and ship them back East to learn to be "civilized" liars, cheaters, and murderers.

Want to get rid of all those non-invited, non citizenship-granted, tax avoiding mongrels? Those giving birth in a place not their home so that they can have an excuse to stay? Look in a mirror. Unless you're a full blood, which I know you're not, because then you wouldn't be spouting anything like what you are in defense of a country founded on murder and pillage that now gasps in dismay at the thought of allowing others to come (peacefully I might add) to improve their lives, often risking their own so that their children can learn to read. And hey, they do pay taxes. After all, without a social security number, they'll never be able to claim the social security money that they *are* paying into the system each and every paycheck by employers who have never verified their socials. The government receives several billion a year in taxes filed on employees using fake socials - so guess what? Free money for your government that *could* be used to pay for the expenses incurred by these people. Who *would* get citizenship if they could. Let's face facts, how many people on this board know (without having to go google it first, let's be honest) how to start applying for citizenship?? And you LIVE here. Imagine having to start that process on a dirt back road with no electricity, much less internet service. Yah, and they're supposed to do all that before they get here. And hey, at least the Aztec descendant Mexicans (most are more Aztec than Spaniards) are originally from this land. Before lines were drawn by outsiders.

So what if they earn money here then send it home? Guess what, most of what they earn, they spend here. And which one of you wants to go do the work their doing for the money they're making? Nada. That's why so many people hire them. Who wants to pay $20 an hour for a job that requires an 8th grade education?? Hello - this is what drives up inflation - overpaying for services. Which drives up the cost of those goods produced by those services. Which drives up the cost of services by those who need to purchase those goods. Etc.

And to actually complain 'Oh they need to learn to speak English' - let's go back to Ferdinand and Isabella for a moment, shall we? They 'discovered' the place for all of you other marauders to come to, and yet - they spoke Spanish. Royal Spanish at that. I don't hear a single one of you making an effort to learn to speak Cherokee. or Catawba. Or Blackfoot. Oh wait, you earned the right to have English by using superior arms against women and children and hunter/gatherers. Yup, what men. You should be so proud. That's sarcasm.

Oi. (That's Yiddish I believe). Re-read the statue of "Liberty" you're so flipping proud of. I don't believe the huddled masses were described as English speaking, college educated, official paper waving, gucci wearing masses.

Jose & Maria, meet Tsali and Mhawah. Shake hands with Joe and Martha. If the white skinned can't deal with the red skinned, go back to your white skinned lands. Where they speak English. Or at least actually read some factual numbers on taxes, money, and the economy.

Original posting that pissed me off:

I live 60 miles from the Mexican border in Tucson,AZ. Everytime I hear
"amnesty" in the papers, the Flood of Illegals goes crazy UP. As you
may have noted, the protesting groups want amnesty...total with No
retribution for having come into this country illegally. I know there
is no way to stem the tide(and believe me a WALL wont help) and no
way to round all the 12 mil illegals up but to gain citizenship here
they MUST learn English(spoken and written),They must pay any back
taxes (this includes property taxes as well).

Hello Gary and thank you for posting, I have not been online a lot
lately,(found out why one should not surf online in a severe
thunderstorm lol).
I know the numbers of illegals crossing the border goes up when
amnesty is mentioned. I do disagree that the flood cannot be stop, it
can be, and tha wall would help. American citizens must wake up and
force their officials to obey the law.

The law must be changed so that any illegal female crossing the
border and having a child, That child NOT be a US citizen
automatically (the law now states that That child is a US citizen and
that her mother or another will be allowed here to maintain the
childs upkeep).

WE must ACT now to defend the US from this swarm of uneducated
people. Yes they work harder(harder than most Americans) but it Has to be done
Legally. To give you an idea of the money exoding the USA, its estimated that
$14 BILLION dollar are earned HERE and sent Back to Mexico and Central
American EACH YEAR.

I think the figure is 16 billions and its Mexico's largest or second
largest business.

Dont let the arguement that they pay taxes sway your thoughts. Ive
worked and traveled in 14 countries and paid taxes There Too. Am I a citizen
of those countries yet? I think not. Also if we give amnesty to those 12
Mil, how many will be on Social Security in a few years? How will we pay
That(since they have NOT paid into the system)?

I live and work among the immigrats. I work In Nogales(right on the
border of Mexico) twice a week. They are fine, Family orientated people. But
Huge amounts of illegals come here and will need to be taken care of. Have
you looked at the County Hospitals in YOUR area? How many illegals are
being treated basically for free or giving birth for free (hospitals CANNOT
turn then away)?

Yes I have looked at the County Hospitals in this area as well as all
over the country. Let's take a close look at Dallas. The city of Dallas Texas is
located within Dallas County Texas, and Parkland Memorial Hospital is
the county's main hospital with many satelite clinics spread
throughout. Over fifty per cent of all babies born at Parkland are first
generation Americans whos mothers are illegals.

Its up to ALL of us to speak up NOW! Its estimated that if the influx
continues unchecked, Hispanics will be the Majority of the population
in the USA within 10-15 years. Is that the country you want YOUR kids living
in?

RawhideAZ/Gary

I gree, and we'll be speaking Spanish by then

Gene

>We're going to sort of jump topic a little on this post because I
>think its important. As most of you know our congress is working on a new
>immigration bill/law. I think it's years over due,but many disagree
>because there is much dis information out there. This country(USA) has the right to enact laws to limit >immigration,both legal and illegal. Our southern borders account for over 94 per cent of all immigration..thats combining Europe,Asia, >Australia and Africa all combined. Over the last few weeks we have seen many demonstrations against our congress even attempting to resolve the issue. We have seen so many foregn flags fly in the USA that it sickens awakened Americans. One thing many of us did not see was the violence,and the American Flag being burned at these gatherings....the media did not show this. Do we as Americans have the right to protect our borders, get a true countng of allillegal aliens here and limit immigration?
>What do you think?

Stupid People - Unite!

2006-04-29T13:14:00.000-04:00

Ok, is it just me, or has the entire world lost it's everlovin' mind? I know, it's probably just me, but as I read the articles in the news, I'm realizing - more and more - that people are just plain stupid.

This is an actual quote from an article I just read: "Nate Bouknight, a real estate developer from East Norriton, Pa., said it now costs him about $60 to fill his Ford Explorer SUV, up about $17 from last month. The vehicle gets about 12 miles to the gallon.

Bouknight said President Bush should do more to ease the high prices, adding he thought the call for an investigation into price gouging was just a sham."

Nate Bouknight is representative of what I'm talking about. Has he taken even ONE economics class? Hell - even elementary math?? If you're out driving a vehicle that gets 12 miles to the gallon, you need to be the first one to shut the hell up about the price of gas. It's a little law called supply and demand people. If you're going to demand a lot of it, Exxon is going to sell it to you, and they're going to demand a higher price. Because they know they'll get it. That's why it's called a capitalistic society that we live in. They are capitalizing on your stupidity.

Now, as Americans, we all love our freedom. Exxon knows you have the freedom to drive one of the most inefficient expensive fuel sucking vehicles out there, so they're going to oblige you. But when you start complaining about them making a profit off of you, and demanding that the government jump in to save you, you are flouting your stupidity. Next thing you'll wonder is why you're paying high taxes. Probably because you want the government to be your bitch and bully. And as well all know from life - bitches and bullies both want to be paid.

Spare us your whining while driving that piece of ego-mobile around and start turning the supply and demand curve around by trading it in for a vehicle that gets better gas mileage. Believe it or not, you don't need the government to solve this particular problem for you. Solve it yourself by acting like a responsible adult.

So for the rest of you - here's how supply and demand works. The higher the demand, the higher the cost to be supplied. Thats why better wines cost more. DUH. The lower the demand, the lower the cost to be supplied. When Tickle Me Elmo sold off of store shelves in 3 seconds flat, guess how much he was going for on Ebay? Right - high demand = high prices. Ticket scalping should have taught you this.

So, lower the demand, you'll lower prices. Because inventories will begin to increase and they'll want to unload the product so that they can store product they're producing every day. Until you reach that comfortable crosshair in the curve. Then, as demand continues to decrease, the cost of supply will begin to increase again - because it costs more to supply for fewer people. That's why one of a kind haute couture clothing pieces cost more. You can't mass produce it, so fewer people have to pay the hourly wages of the extremely skilled seamstresses that make a shirt.

As this increase in costs continues to drive demand (of fuel) down, Exxon will start losing some of those kajillion dollar profits they're currently lording over you, and, in the end, the customers win.

So, shut up bitching about prices and actually DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. Customers drive the market, not sellers. Sellers wouldnt even exist without customers.

So - stupid people of the world unite - you can accomplish far more than government by simply taking smart steps and stop thinking as individuals with a hard on to show off your big honkin SUV.

Here, let me show you how -

1 - If you commute, find someone to ride with. There, demand automatically decreases - possibly enough to shift some prices!!

2 - If you drive a car that gets less than 19 mpg, trade the damn thing in for a more efficient vehicle. The money you save on gas could probably put you in a nice cushy hybrid. Believe it or not, they have those now. And you'd get a tax break. Tadahhh - demand goes down some more. Exxon starts to sweat.

3 - If you live close enough to a mass transit system, use the damn thing. Taxis are not considered mass transit. It reduces traffic (and environmental torture) and reduces demand some more. Exxon now has a "WTF???" exxpression.

4 - Going grocery shopping? Ask a neighbor if she'd like to ride. Got kids in college? Ask them to check the ride boards to find a ride buddy (stay safe though). Kids in school? Get some moms to form a carpool. Jeez people, this is not fricken rocket science. It all adds up to less spewing from the pumps, more money back in your pockets, less demand, supplies that begin to build up or back up, and prices beginning to decrease. Cause hey, Exxon can't gripe about having to raise production.

5 - Think up another way on your own. Ride a bike to the store for little things. Take your kids on bike rides for fun to get into shape for longer trips. If you live close enough, bike to work. Get a moped for short hopper trips. But come up with something. And, in the meantime, tell a stupid neighbor and

UNITE

Updates from SC

2006-04-27T18:32:00.000-04:00

Raiden is now 8 months old - yeah! He's healthy and happy, he laughs all the time and/or coos, jabbers, makes cute noises. He's getting more personality every day and I eat it up. Previously I reported that he had started crawling backwards - he's found forward! But he's not actually crawling. He lies on his belly and 'swims' across the floor - quickly!! I need to rename him Shark because he can FLY across a few rooms at a time doing this. It's hilarious.

He still tries to chomp whatever food I'm putting into my mouth and he's lost all interest in the bottle (though he's still a ravenous nurser) and is starting to enjoy a sippy cup. He's also started enjoying cheerios. He pinches them in his chunky little fingers and pops them into his mouth and gums quite happily. He has 2 upper teeth and 2 lower, so maybe he's using those too.

We've also just transitioned him into a walker - which scared him to death the first time, he couldn't figure out why he was moving. Apparently it didn't dawn on him that his little feet could propel him. Also, today we bought a bath seat to sit him in rather than the small tub we were using in the sink. He's pulling himself into a sitting position from lying down and the small blue tub simply won't hold him any more. He's outgrown so many clothes that this morning we gave away about 10 kitchen trash bags full.

Grayson and Nicholas have begun their baseball games. Grayson lost his first game against another team - and wow were those boys (other team) focused! I was amazed at how serious they were about it. Cracking balls all the way to the fence and catching pop flies like little pros. Our team was more typical in the 9 year old behavior - bad news bears typical. It was fun to watch :) Grayson got a hit on his very first pitch, but the other team caught it near 2nd base and pitched it to first and tagged him out. I was still so proud that he HIT the thing that I was hollering like a lunatic. Nicholas' first game was rained out, so this Saturday we'll finally get to see how HE does. I can't wait!

I have been invited to interview for a position in Pennsylvania. I am from South Carolina, so I'm a little afraid of the weather difference. But the salary is double what I'm making now, so I'm more than happy to at least go for the interview.

I have also opened an account at http://www.myspace.com/chayton6 - I'm researching a book that I'm writing. If you'd like, please feel free to add me as a friend. I think I'm going to tie all of my little update accounts together somehow, but I'm not sure how yet. I've considered buying my name as a URL and linking them that way.

Have fun all :)

2006-04-12T16:06:00.000-04:00

This is a picture of me. I apparently need to upload it for it to show on my profile. Hi y'all :)

I am bipolar, I have ADD, tough

2006-04-12T15:56:00.000-04:00

Today I went to see Dr. Igama, who works with the person I've been seeing for therapy, and she prescribed 30mg of Adderall XR and 100 mg of Lamictal. I took both on my way to work and I'm already feeling the affects of the Adderall. The Lamictal is for my bipolar issues, so until I drive home today, I won't really know if I feel it yet or not. I have a tendancy to cry most of the way home.

If you think you may have ADD or ADHD, see a doctor, and see if meds (or Omega 3 fatty acids, I've started taking those too) can help. I have to say, just being on the Adderall one day, the affect is amazing.

I had a meeting to discuss new software being put to use here and my ability to follow the conversations, to pay attention, to participate, to think creatively and point out flaws and actions required just blew me away. I know that I'm intelligent, but this is the first time I've been able to actually exhibit it. I normally can only organize my thoughts that well when writing. Which explains why I hate to talk on the phone or in person.

I don't know how things will end, and this dose is probably a tad too high, but wow - if I can perform that way, every day, in my job, I can see myself actually achieving some positive measure of success that's consistent with the 'potential' everyone always says they see in me.

Wow.

Immigration Discussion

2006-03-27T19:08:00.000-05:00

I am not, by nature, a political person. I try to avoid unpleasantness when I can, though I have my beliefs and hold firmly to them, I am not the type of person to argue openly. I believe it's impossible to change a firmly held opinion rooted in emotion. The discussion of immigration that is going on currently is highly emotional - ever more so since 9/11/2001.

People around the country see outsiders as far more sinister now than ever before. Though, let's face facts, it wasn't orange pickers flying jets into our countries trophy buildings. Please don't get me wrong, I'm emotional about 9/11 as much as anyone. I just don't think Jose and Maria should be held responsible for it.

Let's look at a few facts - most of these folks are here because they'd like a better life. For whatever reason, minimum wage working the hardest and most menial jobs sounds like heaven to them. They are, for the most part, less educated than those who call themselves American and who look at the same jobs with a shudder of outright fear and disgust. So, they haven't spent a lot of time before hand looking for a legal entry to this country. Many probably aren't even aware of where to start. I can't say I blame them. I'm not either, and I live here.

Now, let's look at this economically - people are griping and bitching about companies sending work to other countries - outsourcing if you will - because of the economic impact. But yet they refuse to see that these companies are doing this because people here want far more than it's worth to pick oranges. Or dress meat. Or put plastic thingies on shoestrings. Whatever.

Wouldn't it be best, I wonder, to let these folks come here, work at their dream job for pay that we of the spoiled middle class blanche at, and then spend their hard earned dollars here on US soil at McDonald's or RayRay's Realty? C'mon people, if you want, we can pay people twice what we're paying them to pick oranges, but then you're going to be paying quadruple the current going rate for oranges, leaving you less money for McDonald's, and slowing down the sluggish economy even more. Every company in America right now is trying to figure out how to make a profit paying $6 or $10 an hour to people who do no more than push buttons or count hanging nads and don't have to actually think. They're thinking 'hey, if I can do this for cheaper, I can sell my stuff for cheaper, more people can have it, I can sell more, so we can spend more... ' so they can further oil the sluggish and rusted cogs of this economy.

Get a grip. Let them have their dream. It's not like any of you are jumping for these jobs at those rates. Let them have their chance to be 'legal' - let's use this opportunity to continue to build our economy, and stop spending millions or billions or whatever trying (and failing) to push them back over the border. These people have given their lives in some cases to improve life for their families. Damn - if anyone can understand that - can't WE?? This country was built on that ideal.

A comedien - I'm sorry, I can't remember who - once commented on a joke about seeing 10 mexicans in a corolla. His punchline was 'hey, at least they're going to work!' And he was right - they're a hard working, saving, building, goal achieving bunch of people. They've seen the other side and they don't wanna go back. Maybe more of us should see their other side - maybe it would motivate us more to be thankful for what we have and achieve more.

And don't give me that bull crap about how my kids won't have jobs because of them. If we keep off-shoring jobs to keep costs down, my kids won't have jobs anyway. So shut up, let them work, let them become citizens, and let them contribute. I'm sure they'd be thrilled for the chance to pay taxes and fight against your other imagined enemies and vote and get off food stamps and maybe even go to college and come up with new ideas to keep America great.

The rest of you can get out there and compete with them on your own intelligence and will power and work ethic. If you think you can.

Hello again

2006-03-15T11:53:00.000-05:00

Wow - it's been a while since I've posted. Not on purpose mind you. My life is just... odd. I'm still working at Solectron. I've been offered other projects here and I like it, so I'll be here for a while longer. I have to say, I love this job. The drive is ridiculous - an hour every morning, an hour ever night, but it's a good job. I mean, I rarely see my boss, which is a good and bad thing, but overall, I'm confident in what I'm doing, I'm getting my job done, and I'm making friends. So, we're good.

I don't have medical insurance yet, which is a little stressful, but I'm trying to decide whether I should wait for open enrollment or sign up for a personal blue plan or something. I have to make the decision soon. Either way, the options are so expensive it's almost better to invest in a medical savings plan. If I weren't worried about some major expensive catastrophe in the coming year (not likely, but I'm a worrywart) that's what I'd do.

My hubby is so darned smart. He really is. I thought our truck was dying. It spluttered, it popped, it was sluggish. I was rubbing my temples and praying and all that. He said "It's that cheap gas you use." What?? I use regular unleaded like the rest of the world. "The rest of the world doesn't put over 100 miles a day on their car." Um, ok, you have a point. So, per his instructions, I ran the tank down to fumes and a prayer and filled up with unleaded plus (at $2.32 a freaking gallon mind you) and voila - the truck can now pass cars in the fast lane again. It was darned near immediate - the improvement I mean. Plus, my gas mileage is now better. I was using about a quarter of a tank every day, now it's using about half that. So, while it's more expensive per gallon, I'm now saving money on overall gas mileage and the truck doesn't feel liek a dying cow. I might have to keep my hubby around. He's got some fairly decent ideas up there in that hot little noggin of his.

My two eldest boys have started baseball practice. Sortof. Nicholas played his first practice with a glove meant for right handers. He's left handed. So, he'd catch the ball, take off the glove, and throw the ball. It went slow for a while. Then he complained that no one was throwing to him. So the coach, obviously a very bright man with kids of his own, made Nicholas the catcher. He had to stand behind the little kids who were just learning to bat (just like he himself) and catch all the balls that didnt get hit. Which were probably 99.9% of them. So now *everybody* was throwing to Nicholas. And he was chasing a heck of a lot of balls. Smart coach :) Careful what ya wish for kid. Nick's grandmother promptly went out and bought him a glove for left handed little kids. Big basket :)

Grayson had his first practice last night. He grabbed Nick's glove. Grayson is *right* handed. So, he drove his coach nuts because he couldn't throw very well. Mainly because he was trying to throw with his left hand. At the end of the practice the very sweet man (who apparently didnt want to hurt my feelings and thought I was a clueless momma) walked up to me and said "Mizz Bailey? Grayson's glove is a little small for his hand..." He probably would have continued on, but I couldn't help it. I started to laugh, turned around to Grayson and Nicholas and said "Grayson, please tell Coach Brent why your glove is too small?" At this point, Nicholas piped up indignantly "He was wearing MY glove!!" I smiled at poor coach Brent and explained "And Grayson is right handed, he was wearing Nick's glove, and Nick is left handed."

The coach looked *very* relieved and said "Oh, so you can throw better than that?" and Grayson blushed about 10 shades of red. I said "I think he probably can. We'll work on it." So, all in all, I like both coaches. They seem really nice - I can't help but think good things about large grown men who are afraid to hurt my feelings or that of a little 6 year old kid. And both seem to really want to help my kids learn baseball and team values. I'm happy I got them on the teams.

I'm learning some new things too. I've faced the fact that I have ADD, that it's a real thing, and that I don't have to be a constant failure. For those of you out there pshawing me, I have to tell you - ADD is not something I want to have. And no matter how things look on the outside, I do feel like a constant failure. I think people who really have ADD don't want to talk about it - I know that I hate to do it - because other people are constantly saying "Oh, that's just an excuse, ADD is boredom." Ok, whatever makes you feel good, feel free. But I'm telling you that I don't want excuses. I just want to be able to set goals and finish the damn things.

I have lost 25 pounds thus far on my weight loss goal. That's good, but I had thought I'd be further along by now. I'm trying still. I fall off the wagon. I had a donut yesterday afternoon. I've found it's a lot easier to stay on the wagon if I simply am more careful when I shop. If it's not in the house, I can't do the impulse eating thing and devour it. I must have OCD too - because I feel like I have to be a human vacuum cleaner and clean the kids plates. I'm learning to overcome that particular vice. I eat what's on my plate. If they don't finish theirs, it goes in the trash. OUCH I hate wasting food. I abhor it. But it's not like I'm saving the world by eating it myself. So, trash.

I'm working on a manuscript I've called "Grayson's Web" - it's hard to stay focused on it, but I love the story, so I'm doing bits at a time and hoping to finish. I'll let you guys know how it goes.

Best wishes,
Danielle

Well, whoo hoo

2006-01-24T12:26:00.000-05:00

Hi all -

I joined biggestloserclub.com a little over a week ago and wanted to report that I lost 6 pounds. I'm not really following the diet they have - well, I am, but I swap a lot (they have that option) and have ended up learning some new things that appear to be working.

1 - Never underestimate the power of water. It makes your skin clearer, makes you feel more 'energized' and makes you get your exercise whether you like it or not by running hell bent for leather to the potty.

2 - Eat more, weigh less. Maybe it's the calories from all that chewing, but the diet plan they have is absolutely fixated on making you eat every 3 hours. And you know what? My need to binge after 5pm is slowly but surely waning as my body gets used to it. I eat apples, bannannas and carrots for my snack times. They're pretty good. I'm getting more in control of my eating - and my budget. I bring my food to work now and leave credit cards and cash at home. I'm saving about $35 a week this way.

3 - Depression is a pain in the butt. For those of you who don't know, I'm bipolar. This attributes to my need to feed my guilt I guess by hiding and indulging. They have great message boards that will let you get on and rant to others, form bonds, come out of your shell, be accountable. I like it, I'm making friends, I can be totally honest about my eating habits and people understand, and its generally a great rally feel good session. You may scoff, hell, I did, but it works to know other people care.

4 - You don't have to start off with rockets firing - you'll lose anyway. I've walked one day in the last week. It nearly killed me. It's rained almost every other day and I don't own a treadmill, so I've been stretching. I know the people on the show lost 20 pounds or whatever a week, but I'm happy with 6 and I'm building up my muscles with the stretches. I *will* walk again and when I do I'm hoping I won't collapse. Starting slowly is better than not starting at all.

5 - I have people rooting for me - on the boards and off. My friend Leslie is sending me recipes that are making my mouth water, my friend Becky asked me over the weekend if I was losing weight (I hadn't mentioned my new diet, so this felt fantastic), my parents made turkey bacon for breakfast when I was over there and my hubby was happily frisky.

6 - I'm learning that I'm important enough to pay attention to. I don't have to devote 100% of my time to my kids - I can give 5% to myself (packing meals, stretching, taking bubble baths to reward myself) and though I may feel a tinge of guilt, everything else overrides that.

So, there you are. I've lost 6 pounds. And I'm still going :)

Laughing At Myself

2006-01-18T11:11:00.000-05:00

My weight loss adventure has been a little dull - until today. But first, let me catch you up.
First - you'd be amazed at how much money you can save by buying those Lean Cuisine meals in the grocery store over the weekend rather than eating cafeteria, or worse, fast food, fare. I didn't realize I was spending so much on FOOD until I sat down and did my budgeting. I had spent, on one weekend, well over $150 at Burger King and McDonalds and Sonic and Hardees. Don't get me wrong, I had kids along for most of those trips, but even alone I was spending an average of $8 a pop for meals.

So, when I went shopping, I did something my mother had always frowned upon - I loaded up my grocery cart with frozen entrees. Your mom probably frowned on them too - which is why so many of us either have a NEED to cook a real meal from scratch or say oh screw it and stop by somewhere. Frozen entrees are a good compromise - they're cheaper and healthier than fast food. 400 calories as opposed to 1500 - Im not kidding. Look it up.

I also snagged some bannanas and apples and grapes for snacks. Ok, and some peanut butter crackers.

I'm also saving money by using the water fountain instead of the soda machine. I have a Dasani bottle I've been using over and over again (recycling people) and it's a full liter. I go through 3 or 4 of these a day. I've never figured out how much water I'm supposed to have so I pretty much just keep drinking it until I'm sick to death of it. Speaking of water - that run to the bathroom every 2 hours or so is added exercise, right? (Remember the commercial - gotta go gotta go gotta go right NOW???) I'm not sure bursting bladder is healthy.

Now, today I screwed up. I forgot to toss my frozen box in my bag for lunch and I stopped by Hardees for breakfast. Oi. I did however manage to remember to wear sneakers so that I could walk on the lunch break I'm vowing NOT to work through. My friend in the cube next door now has me bleeping (think Road Runner) at everything so the bleeps and laughing should help keep me motivated. Add to that calf stretches and you've got a day full of laugher.

Let me explain the calf stretches. I've been trying to stretch because my sedentary lifestyle has led to muscles like jello. So, when I'm nursing Raiden or waking up or whatever, I stretch. And today, when I stood up from my desk to go to the water fountain, I put my hands on the top of my cube walls (probably 6 feet tall) and did a calf stretch - raising my head enough to see over the cube walls. (I'm 5'10") And wow what a site. A total maze of cubes from one end of this huge long open building to the other. I had the sudden feeling of being a mouse in a maze and had a bad case of the giggles creep up on me.

Regina asked me what was so funny so I had her stand up and do a stretch too and see the view - so she started laughing. And then she had to say 'On your mark, get set....' and I said 'Go! - Run run run!!!' and we both pretty much collapsed laughing. Now, mind you, I said this at a whisper because my throat hurts so much I can't really talk, but still - it was funny. I don't know if I burned more calories laughing or stretching :)

New Year's Resolution Hell

2006-01-04T10:42:00.000-05:00

Well, I hope your diet is going better than mine. I think I have a mental disability when it comes to food.

I woke up this morning - exhausted (Raiden has been sick) and ate some raisen bran with milk and drank my water. So I was thinking - ok, Im on a good start. Then I pumped milk and got the kids off to school. After I dropped them off, I'm NOT lying, I went to McDonalds and got a mcgriddle combo thinking - I need to eat breakfast or I'll be starving by lunch. I'd *completely* forgotten I'd already had breakfast in the span of an hour. So I ate that and *after* I ate the McGriddle I realized - hey, wait, I had raisen bran. What the heck is wrong with me??

I'm supposed to have a snack about now, but I'm out of my slim fast snack bar things and I don't want a candy bar and I don't have any fruit. Besides, I ate breakfast twice. So I guess I'm skipping that. I did park on the far end of the parking lot and walked (*huff puff*) the rest of the way so maybe that will help a little bit. I can't believe walking across a parking lot leaves me out of breath.

I'm not sure what I'm doing for lunch yet. There's a little cafeteria here with a tiny (and terrible) salad bar so I'll probably do that with diet coke or water. Probably the diet coke. I need some darned flavor. It would be cool to find some good, easy recipes to fix that had a lot of zippy flavor. I'm never satisfied with bland foods. I haven't weighed myself yet. I know I was at 370 last week. Yup, cry now.

How Stupid Are We? Really?

2005-12-10T00:20:00.000-05:00

This morning on the way to work I noticed I needed to stop and get gas. I was getting pretty low and I knew I wouldn't want to battle traffic to turn left across the highway to get to my favorite el cheapo station. How did I realize this? Well, my needle pointed to E. Duh.

I was chatting with a friend the other night and mid conversation she says "Oh no, my light came on, I need gas." Light? What light? Does she have a bulb over her head that blings on like a bright idea? Well, no, some genius actually installed a light in her dash (and millions of others apparently - does this tell you how old my car is??) that lets her know when she needs gas.

Amazing enough, she's bright enough to drive, but not bright enough to realize that a needle pointing to E means - hey, get some gas stupid. Duh. Now, I know some cars come not with needles but with bars that indicate fuel level, but those little bars disappear - indicating fuel level. Right? So why the light?

Did someone actually get pissed at the car makers because they never figured out how to read the E and F indicators? Did they sue? I *need* to know the reason behind the light! Ok, so then I thought - well, maybe the light draws their attention to the dashboard. Um, so normally they ignore the dashboard? It's only what...a foot from their hands? a foot and a half from their face? It includes other vital info like... speed? And they can't be bothered to glance down every so often? What the heck is with this light thing?? Why are people considered so stupid that we need a light in addition to the very simple (I thought??) to understand E and F? You know. E... Empty - get some gas stupid.

Maybe we should forgo the light and just install a little voice that says that. "Get some gas stupid!"

Men - another mystery

2005-12-07T12:18:00.000-05:00

I’ll never fully understand the mentality of (some) men. My husband being the prime mental mystery. My dad and sons and brother come in close seconds, but to be honest, that’s probably because they’re the only males I really pay attention to anyway.

The story I’m about to tell is true, believe it or not. To give you a little background, two years ago I agreed to design and host a website for the tae kwon do academy my eldest son attended (and that I paid for) in lieu of membership fees for my husband to start. He’d always wanted to take martial arts and I figured the tiny bit of work that it entailed would be a small enough sacrifice to make the man I love happy. Right?

Several years later – the website grew to three websites, my husband’s tae kwon do ‘thing’ has turned into an outright obsession and a whole other business (he took over the trophy business for this guy in lieu of fees too – with no pay mind you) and this whole thing has pretty much destroyed my marriage. All because I was stupid enough to do something nice for the man. This is why – men – your wives are reluctant to give an inch. You take ten miles. And totally piss us off.

My husband has actually walked out on me and the kids (Raiden was about a month old) and stayed gone for a week because I asked him to give us some of the time he was giving to TKD. Ok – pay attention – the man would go to work, get off at 5, be at the school at 5:30, get out of class at 8, stay to do a few hundred pushups (no one is complaining about the body improvements here) and bring his butt home – every flippin day of the week – at around 8:30 or 9. Then, he’d find some excuse or other to go to his friend’s house, brother’s house, the store, whatever. Then on the weekends he’d either build trophies, work on cars for his friend, play pool with his brother, whatever. While I was home with the baby. Through all this we were losing our home and my sanity. Some people deal with stress well. I do not.

First I asked nicely. I just wanted two nights a week and Sundays. He could go to TKD 3 nights a week and whatever he wanted on Saturdays. You’d think I’d asked for both his legs to be cut off with a chain saw the way he freaked out. Hell no. He couldn’t possibly have worked so hard for two years to back down to just three nights a week now! Ok – new baby, recent serious illness, losing my house, having to move for a while, and a husband who flippin refuses to come his butt home and when asked simply packs his bags and leaves all together rather than back down? Oh, yeah, I was upset.

Now, fast forward two months. Don has lost his job (the store is closing, I don’t fault him for that) and I have gone back to work. We’re back in our house and Raiden is now 3.5 months old. My job is a good solid hour drive from our home – in heavy traffic or bad weather (usually both) it stretches to an hour and a half of hair pulling madness. I usually try to get to work by 8:30 and take a half hour lunch so that I can get out of here by 5 and be home by 6 or 6:30. His TKD classes start at 5:30, then there’s a second class two or three nights a week (I don’t remember) that starts at 7pm. On Saturdays there is a 10 am class. So, Don stays home with the kids while I work (he refuses the thought of daycare but I think it’s more due to the fact that he’s afraid he might not get off in time for TKD classes – this was his major argument against jobs previously). When I get off, I rush home so that he can make his 7 pm classes when they’re being held. Many nights he still goes to his friend’s home (usually Fridays or Saturdays) and I’m – yet again – left alone. Is it any wonder that I wonder why we’re still married? We’re never together. Except when he crawls in bed horny and wants some. And because of all this junk he’s only gotten it once since Raiden was born. I honestly can’t stand for him to touch me anymore because of all the hurt. And he has the gall – the absolute gall – to ask ‘Don’t you want me anymore?’ – Uh, yeah. I want you to stay your ass home sometimes and show that you care about me more than Dean, your brother, tae kwon dodo’s, trophies, tree bark, whatever.

So – here’s what happened to spark off this rant. Last night I didn’t get to leave work till later than usual. So – I called him (thoughtful person that I am I didn’t wait for him to call me and ask where he was like I usually have to do with him because he doesn’t call –he just doesn’t bother to show up when he’s supposed to). I said “I’m getting out of here a little late, I wanted to let you know and I’ll be home in an hour to an hour and a half.” Most husbands would say something like ‘ok, drive carefully’ or something. Mine? He goes off into a fit because he won’t get to go to Tae Kwon Do. I’m not home on time from WORK, so I’ve ruined his day because he now can’t go to Tae Kwon Do. Oh, and we’re out of cornbread mix, can I stop by the store and get some.

When I pointed out all the nights I sat at home and couldn’t do anything while he went along his merry little way his response was, I’m NOT joking “I never stopped you from doing anything you wanted to do.” Nope, never stopped me. Just never showed his butt up to watch the kids so I could. And oh – apparently I’m not now stopping him from going to Tae Kwon Do using that logic, right? “This is different” – um, please tell me how? Then I get “You don’t appreciate what you have” – um, what the hell do I have? A husband who never brings his butt home but then when I’m late coming home – an hour late – he has a hissy fit? A husband who puts a flippin hobby ahead of his family every day of his life? You’re right. I’m a little on the unappreciative side for that.

Apparently he doesn’t appreciate what he has either. How many wives do you know would work all day, let their hubbys stay home and not work, then rush home so they can make it to their hobby while she stays home to cook and care for the kids? Then, on the weekends, when she wants him to do something for or with their family – he refuses? I just want to scream.

Then he has the gall to say that I don’t want him around. Um, isn’t the argument that I’m trying to have that I want him around MORE? I’m just still confused about how when he didn’t bother to come home he wasn’t stopping me from doing what I wanted but when I come home late – I’m apparently stopping him from doing what he wants to do. Oh, but then he backtracks – “I thought you’d be pissed about me taking the baby up there.” He’s taken the baby up there several times. Why should I now get upset? Hey – it’s Raiden that’s gonna be screaming for 3 hours in a car seat, not me bud.

Ok, rant over.

Cube Mentality (Another Workplace Mystery)

2005-12-06T14:19:00.000-05:00

I realized after writing the previous post that I had titled it 'Other Mysteries' without really giving you any other mysteries. Just those weird copier people. So, here, I'll give you another mystery.

I think that when you have worked in the corporate world all of your working life, things that would bother sane people tend to just roll off your back. It's only after taking my WAHM hiatus and coming back that I see - for me anyway - just how kooky cubicles can make people.

Take for example - the cube mentality that apparently follows people from their desk cube to the bathroom stall cube. I kid you not, as God as my witness, people will carry on meetings in the bathroom.

Why they do this is beyond me. They've lost all sense of privacy (and sanity) and seem to think that a bathroom stall is yet another cube. Are there desks in there??

When I worked for Blue Cross years back, one of my coworkers would see me in the hallway and begin a conversation -usually just asking for help or tips on some database or other that I'd built and she was having to learn how to use. I'm a busy gal at work (or try to convey that to my bosses anyway) so if I was in the hallway, it was generally on my way to accomplish a purpose. In this case (and many like it) my purpose was to pee.

But hey - that just didn't seem to phase this otherwise normal ladylike creature. 'While she had me...' she just had to bounce some info off me. No kidding. I'd go into the stall - close and lock the door - drop trou - and still be answering questions. While peeing. Apparently this wasn't at all weird to her. It was *really* weird to me.

After taking a break from work and coming back - I've come to realize that I'm the oddball on that point.

So today, I went to go do my little business, and while in the stall I hear two ladies come in in deep discussion. I could hear them go into the stalls, unzip, whiz away for a while (free coffee around here) and the whole time never once stop discussing the merits of business travel and their relative experiences. I sat in my little cube in awe. I also needed to pass gas and didnt want to interrupt their conversation.

How the heck do people do this? Has the cube mentality just taken over even the most private functions of our lives? Have we become so busy - so bogged down with things to get done and communicate to each other - that we even have to multi-task in the potty? Are we coming to a point where the ladies and gents bathrooms will either become one and the same (some have) or install speakerphones so that we can chat without gender bias?

I don't know why this is such a big thing to me - as the mother of three kids its not as though I get to have private or conversation free potty time at home. It's just that at home I'm still teaching my children boundaries - I would have thought we'd have learned them by the time we got here.

The cube mentality lacks walls and privacy. Icky.

Copier People and other Mysteries of the Workplace

2005-11-30T15:10:00.000-05:00

Ok, we all know the copier people. Well, we all know them if we work in a sortof coporate workplace anyway. Those of you lucky enough (insert maniacal laughter here) to work from home may not be as familiar. Copier people are people who are constantly copying *something* - it doesn't really matter what. They're addicted to warm paper and the smell of toner. Who knows. But they're driving me crazy.

Those of you who know me know I've recently gone back to a sortof corporate job. Well, I no longer work from home anyway. I sold my company after the birth of my son to go back to work and spend more time with my son. Don't quite understand how that works? The short story is I'd rather get paid to work 8 hours than not get paid to work 23.5. So, here I am, in a cubicle again.

Anyway, to drag my ADD mind back to the topic at hand - which is actually a distraction from the work I *should* be doing - I hate copier people.

Why? Because after they've been to the copier - pushing all the little buttons and changing the paper feeder width thingys - it's darned near impossible to make a good copy the first time around.

You have to adjust the paper width thingies for one thing. And heaven forbid they forget to hit 'clear all' when they're done with their little totally customized copies. You just plain aint gonna win.

I waited 10 minutes to use the lovely copier they have here. It has a blue glowing backlit screen. Ahhhh, yummy. It makes a lovely soft whirring noise when it scans. Boy it's been too long since I've worked around one of these.

So, anyhoo, I finally get my turn and I walk up, press 2 (I needed two copies), put the paper into the little paper feeder thingies (also referred to above as the paper feeder width thingies), and click start. Weird things start to happen. And from 8 sheets of letter sized paper I get a half inch stack of legal sized paper with weird shapes of something that may or may not be copies of my originals. I'd tell you but the images are super small and I just can't see them.

So, I scoop up my half inch worth of wasted rainforest and try again. This time, I click the 'clear all' button and change the paper width thingies to feed my paper in the other way (portrait versus landscape here). And try again. I confidently press 2 (for two copies, keep up) and press start. Blue lights glow, soft whirring noises resume, the tangy aroma of toner fills the air. Four minutes later my 8 sheets of letter sized paper have yet again produced a half inch of wasted rain forest. This time letter sized though. And you can tell that the images are indeed mine. Only they're turned the wrong way.

At this point, and feeling a little like Charlie Brown screaming after chunking the ground and staring dazed up at the football, and having 3 people now standing in a line behind me (Huh???) I give up to come back to my desk. I want to await some private time to get to know the copier - you know, without the shame of being a computer geek who can't make two flippin copies.

Now, having fed my ADD monster need for distraction, I'm going to try to get some work done.

Chayton Group

2005-11-29T14:24:00.000-05:00

Ok guys - here's the news announcement (though it was made in a private email to all clients) ChaytonGroup.com was sold as of November 1, 2005. If you're having issues, please use the helpdesk or visit tscinternet.com. There's an icon for their site and a link on the main page of chaytongroup.com.

I sold the company for various reasons - my health and a new baby have become priorities in my life. I'm not able to provide 24/7 support to clients and it's always been my goal to provide the best possible customer service. The folks at TSCInternet are great - I met them at Ryze.com. They're real people, very professional, and provide wonderful service. Please take a few moments to introduce yourselves to them.

I've also sold my other businesses for the same reasons. If you need to know who the new owners are for any of them, please feel free to contact me. Please understand that I no longer use or monitor domain based emails for chaytongroup.com or the other sites.

Techie Upgrades

2005-11-29T14:13:00.000-05:00

Raiden was weighed today - on Nov 18 he was 3 mos so I guess he's about 3.5 mos old and he weighs 17 chunky chubby pounds. He was 7lbs 13 oz at birth so boy is momma's milk doing his lil body good. Ya'd think I'd be *losing* that weight but apparently it doesnt work that way.

I bought an mp3 player - finally. Its a 'zen nano plus' - in my experience thus far better than an ipod hands down. At just $20 more than the comparable iPod it holds a full G of music as opposed to the half gig in the iPod. It also has a built in fm tuner - not an add-on - and you can record directly from the radio. And it sounds fantabulous. I haven't had a chance to add my own music to it yet, I've been listening to the FM radio. I can't believe I've let myself go so many years without one of these cool beanio things. I love it. My hubby looked at it and said 'won't you have to hook it up into a player?' (yes, it's super tiny - about the size of a small pack of gum) and I grinned and said 'this *is* the player!' just add ear buds. Which I hate. They won't stay in. I've *never* liked ear buds. All in all, a great Christmas present to myself.

Anyhoo - just wanted to let you know I've finally taken a step up in technology :) I can't wait to download my iTunes stash to it :)

Updates...something

2005-11-29T14:12:00.000-05:00

Ok, I know it's been forever since I've posted. But rather than drive you nuts catching up, I'm just going to post. You'll eventually catch up.

Raiden Bailey

2005-09-10T20:01:00.000-04:00

Here's the post I didn't get to post :)

Raiden Bailey (Donald Ray Bailey, junior) was born on August 18, 2005 at 12:06 pm. He weighed 7 lbs 13 ounces and was 20.5" long.

I'd post more, but he just woke up :)

What maternity leave means to me...

2005-09-10T19:49:00.000-04:00

Ok, guys, for those of you having problems understanding what maternity leave means...here's what it means to me.

Today is the first day I've been online in well over a week. So all those urgent emails? I haven't been getting them. That's right. I haven't been online. I thought I explained all this? :) I'm on maternity leave.

Ok, maternity leave isn't a mini-vacation. It really isn't. It's me getting used to taking care of a brand new baby - all over again. Cause my youngest (before this one) is almost 6. So nope, I can't get online and chat, play, and take care of everybody. I *really* wish I could, but I can't. That's why I have a help desk and 2 folks taking care of incoming tickets. So if you're emailing me directly it could be - literally - a week or more before you hear from me. I'm not ignoring you. Ok, I am. But not on purpose. I'm nursing a new baby (breastfeeding) who is hungry all the time. Which means he poops a lot - which means I'm also changing diapers a lot. Which means he doesn't sleep much. Cause nursing babies want to eat more often. We've all also got doctor's appointments and appointments with the health folks who come to check out our home and appointments with the folks who want to make sure I'm not abusing my kids because I'm bipolar.

His dad works, full time, and his brothers still need care too (laundry, cooking, breaking up fights, homework, doctor's appointments.)

It all makes for one exhausted momma. So when he *is* napping, and his dad is at work, and his brothers are at school - I'm most likely napping with him. Or catching up on dishes, laundry, or whatever. Or someone is visiting. You'd think they'd handle some of the laundry while they're here but they don't. Which is why I'm so frantic about the dishes. People are always dropping by and calling (which wakes up the baby that I *just* got to sleep).

So for all those who think maternity leave means I should still answer their emails within an hour - I got news for ya honey - ya need to be thrilled if I get to it this month. Seriously.

I just thought about it and this blog post sounds sortof...well... upset. I'm not really upset, just exhausted and surprised out my skin that women - who have children so must sortof remember this time period - can honestly be so downright nasty and rude and completely not comprehend the concept that I've already explained. I'm on maternity leave. He's 3 weeks old for heaven's sake. Most women take at *least* 6 weeks. I'd sortof like to do that myself.

Ok, I'm stepping off the soap box - his nap will probably end in about 30 seconds anyway :)

I'll be happier soon, I hope :) I really do miss my online friends with all my heart and plan to be online more as soon as possible. But for right now, I'm being a mom. On maternity leave.

First day of school...

2005-08-08T21:14:00.000-04:00

Have you ever heard the phrase that having children is like having your heart walk around in someone else's body? Well - I truly felt what that meant today. My youngest (for another few days anyway) started 5 year old kindegarden today. My 9 year old started 4th grade.

We woke early - 6am - and I dressed them in matching shirts. Their dad made breakfast of grits and eggs with juice and then we headed out to first drop dad off at work then head to the school. I packed Grayson an apple to take to his teacher and Nicholas two apples to take to his two teachers. Nicholas was jumping with excitement. He's never even (other than a handfull of months when he was barely 1 year old) attended daycare or preschool - what an adventure this would be.

We dropped their dad off then got to the school around 7:40 am. I had Nicholas's snack - they have one day or so per month when they bring snack for the whole class. With our last name, Nicholas's day comes early. With the uncertainty about the baby's arrival, I brought it in today. It will keep till Thursday (chocolate little debbie cakes and hi-c juice). Nicholas also had in his brand new Spiderman backpack a change of clothes in a zip-loc bag - in case of spilled milk or other accidents - his two apples, school supplies carefully labelled in Sharpie with his name, and a note explaining that today he would be a car rider. He'll be a bus rider every other day. We all walked (well, I waddled) to his classroom first - where Grayson immediately began asking to be allowed to go on to his class alone. I told him to go on, but would be there shortly since I had not attended Welcome Back night and knew there would be forms to complete and some things to speak to his teacher about. Mrs Keith, Nicholas' assistant teacher, met us at the door to empty Nicholas' backpack and show him to his cubby where he'd store his things during the day. After that I showed him to his desk where he carefully put his school supplies in a labelled glad-loc plastic box with his name on top, then immediately took out his crayons and began to color the large bumble bee in front of him a lovely shade of green.

I took a couple of photos - 2 to be exact, all that he'd allow - of him, then hugged and kissed him goodbye. He didn't even watch me walk out the door. I was *crushed* I have to tell you and almost started bawling right then.

I then waddled along the seemingly 2 miles to Grayson's 4th grade classroom. When I entered I looked around the classroom and blinked. I *had* to be in the wrong classroom - these children were so BIG!! I didn't spot Grayson at first - he was seated facing away from me. I smiled and shook hands with Mrs. Keith (yes, teachers of the same name) and apologized for having missed Welcome Back night. I explained the things that needed to be explained - Grayson needs to be in the front of the room because of his vision and ADD issues, that she'd be given a form to observe him on the ADD issues next week, that he was not being medicated at the moment because we had taken him off the Adderall and her form would help with his medication choice next (Strattera I believe). I explained that I was expecting at any time (she could tell I'm sure) and she gave me some forms to fill out with emergency contact info etc. I sat down at a table and filled those out - that's about when Grayson finally noticed I was there :)

I discovered that his box (I prepaid at registration) of school supplies was there and waiting for him but not yet labelled - the teacher promised she would see to that for me. She really is a sweet seeming woman. I took a photo of Grayson standing with her before taking my leave of them.

I went to the library where the PTO was having a breakfast - my body was about to give out from lack of food as well as emotional and physical stress. I *still* couldn't get over Nicholas ignoring my exit. I watched the early morning principal announcements on their internal cable tv and laughed at how badly the camera person was paying attention to cues to zoom in on forms etc that the principal was trying to explain and then got a small plate of bannana nut bread and chocolate chip muffin. I spoke to someone and volunteered for the PTO (since I'm at home now) and then waddled my way to the lunch room to fill out lunch forms for the boys.

The lunch lady - Mrs. Watkins I believe - recognized me (the waddle I'm sure) immediately and asked how Nicholas had done this morning. Even with my plate of sweets I was ready to cry again and just said "Far better than I did." She laughed and gave me the forms to fill out. She knows Nicholas so well and he's only starting school TODAY - but it's through Grayson who is her 'honey bear' and told her about me, Nicholas, and Raiden a lot over his tenure there. She says Nicholas and Grayson look so much alike :) They do! After filling out the forms I was about to choke on the dry bread and muffins. The PTO only had orange juice, to which I'm allergic, so I bought a carton of milk and waddled painfully out to my truck. By now my pelvic area was on fire from the walking and standing with the misalignment.

I headed on home where I promptly cried myself to sleep.

I woke up just at 11. I had a doctor's appt at 11:15 so I painfully rolled my huge self out of bed, put on my shoes (ya know how hard that is when you can't bend over?) and waddled out to the truck. I'm driving Don's truck because my small red car borrowed from Mom won't crank. Joy. The truck is higher and more difficult for me to get into with the pelvic problems, a stick shift - which normally I love but is hard to drive with the clutch manipulation when your belly is this big and your pelvis burns like crazy when your legs are anything but totally parallel. Also, even with the seat all the way back, the steering wheel digs into my belly - making turns a nightmare.

I got to the doctor's office at 11:30 but they didn't say anything. I immediately had to go do their little urine sample then got ushered into a room where I had to remove my pants and undies (may I again say how darned impossible this is?) and got up on the table and covered my lower half with a sheet. Why they make you do that when they're going to see all the important stuff I'll never understand. It's a waste of a sheet. What am I covering modestly? My belly button? You can no longer see it anyway since it's stretched flat.

She listened to the baby's heart rate - 140's - and felt around for him. He's measuring big and is high and stuck on the right side. With the pelvic injury he's not going to be able to get down in there where he belongs. But he is bottom's up - which I sortof knew since he's been tap dancing on my lungs for the past couple of days. Then she did an internal exam and the bacteria check thing where they swab your inside with what is apparently the sharpest q-tips available. UGH I hate those. The pressing on my pubic bone hurt like the dickens as well. She said we can't do much about it at this point but after the baby comes I can go to a chiropractor. With the baby not able to come down or out she stated that she'd most likely be doing another c-section next Thursday unless I've gone into full on labor before then. I *really* wanted to avoid a c because they're impossible to get over :(

I left there with another appt for next Monday, barring anything happening, and went to Don's work where we left and went to lunch at Chili's. I drank about a ton of tea and we had nachos and mushroom/chicken fajitas. Divine food but even though we shared the entree and nachos we still had to carry out a large bag of food. I am always shocked at how much they give you! I drove Don back to work and by that time it was 2pm, so I went on to Ashby's school to pick him up since he was supposed to get out at 2:20.

After sitting there in the heat for forever (no a/c in the truck) the teacher announced that they school actually gets out at 2:40. oh oh - same time as Grayson's school! I'll be late to get him! But, knowing Grayson's school, the circle will take forever to get through. I was the 3rd car in line at Ashby's school and the first to depart promptly at 2:42. We made it to LES - then sat in line for a solid hour - I kid you NOT. In the heat, then rainstorm. I couldn't roll up the windows for the heat so got soaked by the time Grayson and Nicholas happily climbed in at 3:45 - begging to be bus riders tomorrow because of the ridiculous wait time. I happily said OK.

Nicholas was thrilled with his day and went on and on about everything that thrilled him - playing in the new sand, coloring, his lunch of chicken rings, mac n cheese, and chocolate milk. Grayson was heartbroken to find that 2 of the girls who tortured him last year were again in his class. I resolved to call the school as soon as possible and request that he be moved to another class. No way in heck do I want to deal with the daily tears again because of those viscious rotten little girls.

We went directly to my dad's house to drop off Ashby. The boys all ate some stew beef and rice and I got to potty and chat with dad about what's going on with Raiden. Grayson got his report card from last year - all a's except a b (would have been an a except for 1 point) in reading. Dad said Ashby got straight a's too, but that wasn't true and it hurt me that he'd lie to compete with Grayson. Ashby had all b's and one a. I don't begrudge him his good grades, but for Dad to lie to make Ashby look better and Grayson's accomplishment to be nothing special really hurt. I should be over all that, but whatever.

We left at 10 minutes till 5 in order to pick up Don from work then came on home. Grayson had a small brown bag that he was to gather 3 things that told about him (a legos star wars figure, a small paper light saber paper yoyo, and a sucker to show his love of legos, star wars, and candy). After doing that bit of homework the boys played a video game and I napped in the recliner until Don came home at 7pm. Believe it or not, I forgot Grayson's SEAGUL orientation. SEAGUL is his gifted and talented program here. I do, happily, get another chance tomorrow evening, but I was upset to have missed it tonight when it would be held here. Tomorrow I'll have to drive to Camden. *sigh*

After Don got home he cleaned the house and I helped him rinse dishes then gave Nicholas a bath (Grayson has to take one in the morning to wash the ointment from the skin thing in his scalp - which looks tons better already). They brushed their teeth - then announced they were HUNGRY. I made them turkey and cheese on toast and they ate that then got into bed. While I sat here on the computer to work then started this blog entry they went to bed - Grayson listening to Harry Potter's Half Blood Prince on audiocassette.

I'm exhausted, so now going to bed :)

No baby :(

2005-08-07T11:02:00.000-04:00

Well, still no baby, but he's in there rolling around. I had fallen in my kitchen a few weeks ago and injured my pelvis. I hadn't realized how bad it was until this past week. UGH. Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction. Basically, when I fell, my pelvic bones were already stretching apart due to hormones and things and I knocked everything out of alignment and tore some sort of ligament holding things together. So, walking is excrutiating, rolling over is excrutiating, sitting is excrutiating, lying is excrutiating - it's gotten ridiculous. Add to all this my desperate need to clean my house and you've got a pretty good picture of why I haven't been online. But this house WILL be clean and my bag WILL be packed by the end of the day.

I've given Raiden his eviction notice but I think he's just laughing at me over it. Well, he's rolling over and kicking a lot like a cartoon character laughing like crazy so that's what I imagine he's doing.

I've just gotten home from my parents where I've been the last few days and got a ton of mail. In there was a package from my friend Sharon who knitted for me this absolutely divine baby blanket. It's fairy soft - I'm not lying - and so light and airy - and just gorgeous. I cried it was so beautiful. She has a website at http://www.loveknits.com for anyone who wants to check it out. The blanket is *really big* In the recliner it covers most of my lower body chest to feet and I'm 5'11" - tall! It has a really beautiful almost ruffled border. I love it :) My mother even exclaimed over it. She doesn't knit, she crochets, but she's really good so this was a huge compliment to Sharon. I love this blanket!!

My dad is doing better as well. He's still at home on IV's that my mom has to change out a few times a day as well as having to repack his wound (still not closed) but his appetite is coming back. Yesterday he asked for a snack. He's lost over 50 pounds since Father's Day. That's just wild. But its because he wasn't able to eat or anything. Oh, he also asked for a steak yesterday. So hopefully he'll be able to start actually eating something more than a few bites of yogurt here and there.

School starts here on Monday (tomorrow) so I'm spending today doing tons of laundry for school clothes, cleaning rooms, getting backpacks ready and supplies labelled and forms filled out and all that jazz. Don took the boys to his moms (it's Sunday) so I've got the house to myself. I'll probably use that lovely recliner (freecycle.org) a lot too!

Today's updates

2005-08-04T20:04:00.000-04:00

My father came home from the hospital yesterday after spending a week in the hospital. His surgery to remove the staph infection from his leg appears to have been successful since the nurses say things look good. They have still never closed the wound and he has packing changed a couple of times each day I believe. He also had a stint (?) inserted into one of the veins of his arm so that he could have continuous IV antibiotics for the next 2 weeks at home. A home health nurse came out and taught my mother to change the packings and the IV. He seems to be in far less pain without the infection and is getting out of bed and into his wheelchair more often. I'm still spending most of my time there helping care for my nephew, cooking, and cleaning.

I'm also still having contractions - I'm positive now they're braxton hicks because they haven't gotten any harder or more frequent. I'm having a hard time walking though and am pretty dehydrated all the time. Which is probably what's causing the contractions. I'm drinking lots, but with the heat I'm also perspiring lots as well. Raiden seems to be happy still - I feel him kicking and moving and stretching in there. I think he's turned over though, these are definitely little feet I feel in my ribs whereas before I felt little feet kicking my pelvic bones.

Today I took Grayson to the doctor because of a patch of something gross on his scalp. It looks like cradle cap, only the skin is pretty black underneath. The dermatologist at the Children's Hospital at Richland (now Palmetto?) looked at it and asked me if we had cats. Well, yes, we have 5. Not anymore. She said it was an infection (some sort of yeast) and that it likely came from the cats. As soon as I came home the cats found a new home. No way do I want this stuff spreading on Grayson, Nicholas, or Raiden.

She prescribed a shampoo and hydrocortisone ointment and he gets to go back in October for her to look at it again.

School here starts on Monday. I'm spending as much time as possible doing laundry (we have tons), cleaning, taking care of dad etc. I started my official maternity leave from Chayton yesterday so that I could have time for all this and to get ready for Raiden. I go see Dr. McLeod on Monday. Anyway, I'm spending time with the boys too before school starts. When I'm working steadily I know the boys wonder if they even *have* a mother. So I needed the maternity leave to start now so that I could have time to get things ready.

Oh jeez! I just realized that tonight was welcome back night and we missed it!!! Grayson and Nicholas didn't get to meet their teacher as we'd planned! OI! how could I have been so darned stupid!! I'll try to take them up there tomorrow maybe?

What a day! I'm the dumbest mom ever I think. I can't believe I forgot welcome back night. Nicholas is going to be so broken hearted when he realizes (though the little stinkers obviously didnt think about it either or they'd have been in here reminding me!)

*sigh* I'm going to go get a bath, then give them baths, then I think we'll all go pass out.

Contractions

2005-08-03T23:37:00.000-04:00

I'm currently having contractions 8 minutes apart. They started around 15 minutes apart today around noonish. I'm not sure yet if they're real or braxton hicks contractions. They *are* getting stronger, but still don't feel as painful as I'd imagined. I've never been in labor before (2 prior c-sections) but I'm not due for another couple of weeks, so heck if I know what's going on. I'll keep y'all posted :)

Maternity Leave

2005-08-03T10:47:00.000-04:00

I am officially on maternity leave. Please be aware that any communications sent to me may take days to receive a response. This is because I'm going to be spending time packing for the hospital, doing the nursery with my hubby, folding a ton of tiny nothing clothes, spending time in baby showers and with friends, cleaning my house top to bottom (nesting) and basically spending an amazing amount of time preparing for a new baby and relaxing with my other two kiddos before school starts next week. I am officially due to deliver August 18th. I will post here when the baby is born :)

If you need help with hosting or design, please remember to use the help desk and DO NOT EMAIL ME DIRECTLY. I don't want you waiting days for a response and wondering "Why the heck won't Danielle email me??" The url is http://www.mtechsupport.com/helpdesk/tt - there is also a link on the home page at http://www.chaytongroup.com - be sure to include your URL and cPanel login name. This is because Travis and Doris will be handling tech support and they may not be as familiar with you as me :) Don't worry, they'll call me if there's anything they can't handle.

I have gone 'special notice' on my yahoo groups, changed my Ryze settings so that I don't receive emails, and unsubbed from every newsletter that isn't vital (for me to read later!) because I usually receive a few hundred emails per day and I want to be able to login in a few days to check emails and not have to spend 4 hours going through them :)

At any rate, everyone have a great August. I'll be back full steam in mid to late September.

Best wishes,
Danielle Bailey

It's August!

2005-08-01T17:15:00.000-04:00

Ok, it's finally August - and Raiden should be making is appearance sometime this month. Woohoo! OK, I still have 3 weeks or so, but darnit I'm really hoping it's sooner rather than later. I'm huge and I'm ready to pop!

Grayson's birthday party on July 30th (his birthday was the 29th) went very well. We had Darth Vader all over the place and the kids had a water balloon fight. I took advantage of Domino's 5-5-5 deal so at least the food was relatively cheap. We also got sodas and Don made his cheese dip :)

Dad is still in the hospital, but doing better. The nurse who changed the packing in his wound said that it looked pinker (healthier) and they're starting to teach Mom how to change out his IVs and packing etc while he's at home so hopefully it won't be too much longer before he can actually go home. We're thrilled. Yesterday Nicholas and I took his wheelchair and walker up to his hospital room. Dad got in the chair and he and Nicholas zoomed up and down the halls for a while. I sat my pregnant butt down in a chair and just waited them out. No way was I going to try to keep up. They had an absolute ball :)

We got our new insurance cards through Don's work and ya know what? I wish we hadn't!! There's a $25 copay every flippin time we go to the doctor and if we go to the emergency room it's $150!! I count up the times I've had to go to the ER with this baby thus far and ya know what?? There's no way! I'd be broke!

Our servers with Chayton had downtime again this morning. I was so pissed. Clients are thinking about leaving again and I truly can't blame them. It seems like no matter what I do as far as trying to find stability I keep getting rotten service. Its FRUSTRATING - how can I provide good service to my clients if I'm not getting it myself?? Im getting every thing - DOS attacks, RAM failures, router failures, whatever they can come up with and damn I'm just sick of it. Hormones don't help but I'm really really sick of it!

*sigh* I'm going on leave officially sometime this week. I need the off time!

The hottest day in hell...

2005-07-27T18:16:00.000-04:00

If I were to own hell and South Carolina - I'd rent out SC and live in hell. (I borrowed that line from an awesome book whose name I can't recall - but I LOVE it because its soo darned true). It was around 110 degrees F today, then add the heat index and it came to around 121. I spent the day in a tiny Ford Fiesta (courtesy of my parents) with no real air conditioning (until you got to around 55 mph), my father, and extremely heavy wheelchair, and 3 hot and miserable little boys.

Oi. My parents do so so so much for me, but today I think I earned a heros rewards. This tiny car had a tiny hatchback which barely would hold (sometimes I couldn't get it to close) this huge and heavy wheel chair that I had to keep lifting - it definitely weighs more than the 10 pounds I'm sposed to lift - in order for my dad to go in and out of the bank, doctor's office, where ever. I feel so sorry for him though - it's the longest he's been outside since getting out of the hospital last month. And we were *all* sweating to death.

After running errands until around 2pm, we finally made it back home, where my darling wonderful big strong brother pushed my dad up a makeshift (and extremely difficult incline) ramp. At that moment he was definitely MY hero. After getting in the house we all just about passed out - but the air conditioning felt great. I put the boys into the tub and ran lukewarm water because they all looked ready to pass straight out. They even refused ice cream.

The upshot is - my dad has to go back for more surgery tomorrow morning because of the drain thing - they have to re-open this poor man's leg and he'll be there for a few more days. I really really hope my parents sue the everlovin bejeezus out of these quacks. If they'd put a drain shunt in it to begin with he wouldn't still be having these issues. I got to see his x-rays today. I felt like I was in an episode of Fear Factor - my WORD - there is this long ladder looking thing that puts a bolt through his bone every inch or so, then what appears to be two 4 inch long threaded woodscrews from Home Depot in his knee along with these things that look like cages around his bone and knee. Forget Napa - someone blew a LOT of money at Home Depot. They had to have some Tim the Toolman Taylor MORE POWER power drills to create this concoction that is now my father's leg. UGH.

Oh - guess who gets to drive him to the hospital??

Updates to keep you posted...

2005-07-27T00:21:00.000-04:00

Someone emailed me that they were reading my blog and I realized - oh my word - I need to update this place! So here I am.

My 33rd birthday (jeez I'm old) was July 22. My eldest son's 9th birthday is this Friday, July 29th. His birthday party (Star Wars of course) will be on Saturday, July 30th.

School starts on August 8 - my youngest (well, youngest for the next 3 weeks or so) will start 5K on that day and the eldest will start the 4th grade. I'm almost happy for a new baby in the house to keep me company (I'm lying, I was *really* looking forward to some alone time!!). I'm 36 weeks preggers this week - so not much longer!

I've spent so much time in the hospital the past few months I'm darned good and ready to have this child and get it over with. From high blood pressure, blood sugar, heart condition, bleeding, falling, stress, lack of fetal movement, whatever - I've probably spent 3 solid months in the flipping hospital or on bedrest!

Because of the above, my company has taken a beating because my customer service has been completely NIL - so I've given tons of hosting credits and had to stop taking on design clients all together as of early this month. I have a few projects to wrap up, then I'm officially on design leave until mid September. I have folks who will manage the hosting for me thank heavens :) I just need to remind people to actually use the help desk and not email me directly when they have issues.

Wow - what else. Oh, dad is still immobile - he has a hospital bed smack in the middle of their living room along with a handicapped potty (yes, in the living room), a trapeze thing to pull himself up, a wheelchair, and a walker. All apparently to get him around the living room because neither will fit through bedroom doors in their home and he's homebound. He has a home health nurse, occupational therapist, and physical therapist all come visit HIM. Tomorrow I get to figure out how to get his immobile (still quite big) bottom out his door, off a deck (wheelchair ramp to be built Thursday) into my car and to his doctor - where he'll have to get out of the car, into a wheelchair and into a doctors office all without putting an ounce of his considerable weight on that jigsaw puzzle he calls a left leg. I love my dad but wow I can't wait for him to drive again. I have to drive over there every flippin day (another reason my company is suffering!) to cook, clean, change dressings, help babysit my nephew (who lives with him), run errands, do laundry and try to keep him occupied. (The dvd player lost it's remote, so I get to change those - boy is my life in a downswing).

I'm hoping Raiden puts in an appearance soon - not only will I be able to simply look at him to know he's ok (I feel totally helpless with him in my belly - who can perform mouth to mouth with their bellybutton if there's a problem??) but I'll have a reason to stay home for a couple of weeks since I won't be able to drive either. Of course, by then, he'll probably be mobile or determined enough to come HERE and I won't be able to escape. Save me!!! (Yes, I love my dad, but I love teasing him too - don't worry, it's entirely mutual).

Oh - if you haven't had the chance, please check out http://www.lettersbycee.com - I always have her send my kids birthday or holiday letters and for the money its the absolute best money spent. She sends a letter but also lots of stickers, toys, fun stuff. I love them :) I'm thinking of starting a database of my friends kids and grandkids and using her for all of their gifts too. She's wonderful :)

Danielle

The love, drama, and tragedy of expecting...

2005-06-28T23:58:00.000-04:00

I am getting closer and closer to the birth of my third child - another boy - Donald Ray Bailey, junior (collective ughs in my honor happily acknowledged with smug looks directed to my hubby). I love my hubby - I do not love his name. He doesn't either - he's always signed it Don R. Bailey. But hey, we found out we were preggers - he found a sudden NEED to have his name carried on. Ugh.

At first, I planned to call the baby Drake - it would give me a full daytime drama cast - Grayson, Nicholas, and Drake - the Bad Bailey Boys who grow up to be heartbreaking world conglomerate billionaires. Yup, that was the plan. My sister one-upped me and renamed my child Raiden. A name my sons and hubby promptly fell in love with (enough for a nickname only I'm afraid - Don junior will still be on the birth certificate.) For those of you without sons in the birth to 25 age bracket, Raiden is the name of a character from Mortal Kombat. It also mimics my husband's name - backwards - Ray Don. I knew she was listening to too many Alice Cooper vinyls backwards when she suggested this and immediately brought up the hubby name thing.

But - beyond the name drama - and the drama of finding out that I'm going to have YET another boy - the biggest drama in our household (at this moment - they change frequently) is the two older siblings learning to make space for the new baby. Literally. We are a three bedroom house. Who is giving up their privacy to the new sleepless poop machine? The fight is on to decide.

Then there is space in their hearts and tender egos. Oh my. I thought it was bad when Grayson, my oldest, was 3. I now learn that almost 9 year olds and 5 year olds have far more reasoning - and therefore anxiety inducing - skills than 3 year olds can ever hope to claim.

My eldest never wanted the 2nd one. News of an impending third literally sent him into tears. For hours. Then he figured that the new baby will probably annoy #2 as much as #2 annoys him - so he now sees this as his opportunity for vicarious revenge. So, he's neutral.

My 5 year old is worse. Oi. For the first...um... 30 weeks of this pregnancy he showed nothing but absolute thrilldom with the pending baby. Someone to play with, to hug, to kiss, to shower his otherwise (from his older brother) spurned affections on. Yes!! This can only be a good thing!

Suddenly - last night - for no apparent reason I can find other than a Rugrats episode - sorta kinda maybe - he's scared to death. He swears the baby will be cuter than him, that I will forget him, that I will give him away. (Did I mention we have 6 week old kittens??? Anyone???)

The more I attempted to reassure him, the more - and louder- he proclaimed he knew, just knew, I would forget him. As if I could forget his big doe brown eyes, tiny little boy voice, skinny but pinchable butt, dirty feet, and earnest expressions. Never! Finally, in exasperation, at around 1 in the morning, I told him it was absolutely impossible for me to ever forget him because he wouldn't shut up. Yeah, that helped.

The next thing I know, his older brother - either suffering from acute lack of sleep or a sudden affection and love for his little brother - brought in one of the kittens. My 5 year old took the kitten, started petting it, and eventually the tears subsided. It was one of the sweetest moments of my life - to witness this kind and caring change in both brothers.

Heck, I may keep that kitten after all.

Grant Seeker Guidelines

2005-06-28T23:54:00.000-04:00

This will be the world's fastest and dirtiest grant advice column ever - and I mean EVER :) Usually these things are packed with ads asking you to send in $29.95 a month for six months.

Looking for a grant? But not quite sure where to start? Well - where you start depends really on where you intend to end up. Why do you want the money? Um, hey - 'because I'm broke and want to pay my mortgage' isn't a good response. Great motivator - but poor response.

There are other questions to consider of course, but basically here's some hard and sure advice - have a solid business plan FIRST - work on that like a college thesis!

Visit http://grants.gov/ and then http://www.fordfound.org/about/guideline.cfm - why? Because both are excellent sources of information.

Also consider: http://fedmoney.com/grants/f0010000.htm and
http://www.sba.gov/expanding/grants.html

Go. Now. Invest a few hours. Or, hire a grant researcher and writer to do it for you. But if you're like most people - time is definitely cheaper than money.

Oh, and never give up. It takes time and effort to earn that $5000.00 or $50000.00 you're looking for - no one is going to hand it to you cause your kids are cute :)

Thanks to my online friends!

2005-06-27T20:59:00.000-04:00

Hi all - I just wanted to post a HUGE thank you for those of you who sent my dad those cards. They are printed cards - no computers in the room to check ecards I'm afraid :) But the hospital staff prints them on card stock and delivers them to their room. This morning he called, laughing, and asked me to please thank all of my online friends - he got over 100 of them! He'll be there until this coming Thursday at least (blood sugar problems) so I went up there today and spent some time putting them up around his room - taping them to the walls, the door, the window frame - his room is SO festive and bright now with well wishes. Everyone who came in was simply stunned and had to spend time reading the cards. I just wanted to let you all know what a wonderful thing you did for my dad and how much I really appreciate all of my online friends for helping :)

Hospital almost killed my dad :(

2005-06-27T10:52:00.000-04:00

For those of you wondering where the heck I disappeared to after Friday, let me catch you all up. My dad, as you'll know if you read this blog, has been in the hospital since Father's Day because he fell and broke his leg. Here, the saga continues.

My father's regular doctor is in Columbia - some 30 minutes from here, and does not practice in our local hospital. Ok, normally this wouldn't be a big deal, but for some reason the doctors here from Sentinel Health Partners are apparently suffering from God complexes and/or went to medical school via the internet for 3 months before printing out their license.

Without conferring with my dad's doctor (Dr. Smith in Columbia), doctors here from Sentinel Health (not the hospital - that's Kershaw County Medical Center) decided to change his insulin. The man has a broken leg, they decide to screw around with his diabetes. He's normally on 45 units in the morning and 35 in the afternoon of a certain brand (Humulus? or something 70/30)

They not only changed the brand - they decided - with zero knowledge of his medical history - and without conferring with his regular doctor - to change him to a 'sliding scale' which put him at around 8 units a day. HELLO???

So, within a few days the man's sugar spiked up to 296 from his normal 110-140 levels. They were baffled by this. DUH.

Ok, so finally, on Friday, when I went to see him I learned about all this and found out that he'd stopped eating all together and felt terrible. He was also a bit clammy and had developed a large sore on his shoulder. He was also NOT on a diabetic diet through the hospital cafeteria. They said he was - but folks, since when do you serve a meal to a diabetic that consists of ham, rice, stuffing, jello, and mixed fruit??? How many starches is that??

Not only that - but they were using glucose - a sugar - in his IV bag to help with the antibiotics. Uh - this could have been done with saline solution people.

The man was in the hospital for a broken LEG - and they were trying to kill him! So, on Saturday morning when I saw his nurse - I asked her about this. All of this. She responded that he was on a diabetic diet (sorry, I still disagree with that) and that if my dad wanted he could refuse the treatment for his diabetes. So, I went to his house, got his kit, and brought it back. My mom gave him his late afternoon dose of 35 units of his brand of insulin and 45 minutes later his sugar started falling. It was 245 when we left. The next morning it was 183 and this morning (Monday) it was 117.

His Sentinel Health doctors were a tad put out that he'd chosen to ignore his orders and said they were 'relieving themselves of his case' - thank God! I can't imagine he would have survived much longer with sugar levels that high thanks to their 'medical expertise' - even one of his male nurses had the GALL to say my dad's meds wouldn't be as good as those he was instructed to give my dad. When he checked my dad's sugar he was really arrogant about saying 'It's 183' and my dad said "Well, thats far and away better than 296 that it's been all week - get out of my room."

I have to laugh at my dad sometimes. Anyway, so that's why I disappeared this weekend :(

Father's Day - the never ending story

2005-06-24T12:50:00.000-04:00

Ok, my dad, who is really quite a mess sometimes, was working on his fifth wheel camper on Father's Day trying to get it ready for a 2 week camping trip. My sister was telling him - in her daughterly fashion 'don't do it that way, do it this way' - and in the end, she was right - because in doing what he was doing (balancing his large behind on the top of a precarious step to reach an awning) he fell, into my poor mother - causing several bruises to her chest area, and shattered his left leg.

Now, this man has already had both his knees replaced, is diabetic, and has a heart condition - so you'd THINK he'd be careful. But no, hard headedness must win out in the end, so he wound up on the ground. My mother and sister couldn't lift his clumsy behind, so they called an ambulance to come the 2 whole miles to their house and take him to the hospital where they confirmed - yes, it's broken.

But because not only was it broken but shattered just above that very expensive knee replacement, he couldn't balance his previously described large butt on crutches, so got to stay in the hospital until they could do surgery. Which, for our podunk hospital, apparently takes a while - today in fact - Friday - almost a week later.

A friend of mine said they probably had to order the parts from Napa. *eyeroll* You know Advanced Auto can overnight those suckers. But then, they'd probably be for the wrong model.

Anyway - so today my dad went in first thing this morning to have his reconstructive surgery. I'm hoping he doesn't come out with a Cindy Crawford-esque left leg, but who knows. It can only be an improvement over those wobbly scarred clumsy things he has now.

My mom called my sister - the one who is so happy she was right that she's ignoring the fact that the man is in pain - to tell her that he came through surgery ok. So my sister called me to relay the news and let me know, again, that she was right. It fell to me to then call some of his relatives to let them know. But heck, I don't know all their phone numbers and one brother hasn't been home in over a week from camping on the river so....

Lord this is a Southern family. Anyway, Father's Day here is still ongoing cause Father is still in the hospital from his Fathers Day Fiasco :) You can send him a get well soon card here: http://www.kcmc.org/cards/ - his name is Frank Tidwell.

Crazy ebay mom

2005-06-20T11:25:00.000-04:00

Ok, a friend sent this to some lists we're both on and I spent a half hour (when I should have been working) in morbid fascination. You probably would too.

http://www.auctions-registration.com/ebay/

This woman needs serious help and a yard sale :)

Raiden

2005-06-20T11:19:00.000-04:00

I'm not exactly sure why or how, but my sister has renamed my baby. Oh, he'll still be Donald Ray Bailey, junior - but whereas I had planned the name Drake, my sister came up with Raiden (Ray Don - backwards, but pronounced Rayden). Raiden was also a character in Mortal Kombat - a film both my sons and my husband LOVE so Raiden he has become. Now spelling wise I'm not sure if we're going with Rayden to keep more with the actual name, or Raiden to keep with the actual character. Probably Rayden - I just like the way it looks. The boys actually whooped with glee when they heard the name so it's all voted. They couldn't agree between Drake and Dj, so Rayden is a happy compromise. I sortof like it too - it's a good name to go with Grayson & Nicholas - so now we'll have Grayson, Nicholas, and Rayden. I'm a little afraid people will call him Ray (a name I was trying to avoid) but all in all, I like the name. I think I've decided to spell it Rayden too - seeing it written, I like it better.

It's a boy!

2005-06-18T21:09:00.000-04:00

Yup - it's a boy. Donald Ray Bailey, junior, will make his appearance sometime in mid-August. Anyone wishing to donate to the diaper fund can click here for our registry or donate via paypal by clicking here.

He's a very active baby already - I don't even have to worry about kick counts because he let's me know in no uncertain terms that he's there. He'll go by the name Drake (D for Donald, Ray for Ray, Drake cause I liked it better than Dray!)

My sister is having a shower for me in late July - close to my own birthday actually - which falls on July 22. My eldest son's birthday is July 29 - so this is going to be a major party household come late summer!

This will give me 3 boys - and my parents 5 grandsons - nary a girl in the bunch :) I've threatened to dress him in pink for the first few years anyway but my hubby won't hear of it. This is the same man afraid to be in the delivery room with me. *eyeroll*

I'll be having another C-section - my third. Odd to know I'll have delivered 3 children and never have been in labor. Weirder still to know that at 33 I'm having my 3rd baby boy :) Right after seeing Star Wars III. This must be the year of the 3.

I'll post pics as I get them ;)

Danielle

Star Wars and such

2005-06-18T20:45:00.000-04:00

Well, I saw SWIII when it first came out and have been waiting to find the dvd's of the old ones - you know, 4, 5, & 6. I finally got them through my netflix membership (love that place by the way) and have been watching them over the past few nights.

If you've seen SWIII - or want to - then I really recommend that you go back and watch those older episodes - you're going to be amazed at how much detail comes through in SWIII.

These are the things normal movie reviewers don't mention. Why the heck I notice them I dont know except hey, Im a pregnant mom of 2 avid star wars fans and the details are important. I cried through SWIII and after waiting 20 or so years to watch the others - again - I cried again. Watching Darth Vader struggle with the choice of saving his son's life versus turning against Darth Sid is way more potent when you've seen Darth as a 9 year old slave turned Jedi who marries a queen and 'dies' to save her. He lost Padme because of the dark side - would he lose his only link to her? Luke? Well, as we all know - nope, he chose his son and redeemed himself for both Luke, Leia, and ultimately Padme. Wow - how cool is that? Ya just didnt see all that the first time around 20 years ago.

At the very end of Return of the Jedi (now known as part VI) there's a touching scene where Obi Wan, Yoda, and Anakin are all standing and beaming proudly at Luke. That's where I *really* cried. Because folks, somebody did their homework - this guy from 20 years ago looks *exactly* like Anakin does just before his fall in part III. Same golden curls, blue eyes, and wicked grin. The makeup artist must have studied this 5 nanosecond scene for months. Kudos to whoever they were.

That's not the only homework that was done - Bobba Fett has apparently kept his daddy's old ship from Part II because it's the same ship that carts Han Solo off to Jabba the Hut. In the scenes of celebration (when the Emperor is killed and the Republic is apparently born again) many planet cities are shown celebrating with fireworks - I'd swear Naboo and Coruscant were all taken directly from these celebration scenes. Wow. Pardon my spelling on planet names btw.

Now, don't get me wrong - there are a few spots where things just don't quite make sense. For example between episode 2 and 3, Luke has apparently done some mega Jedi learning - yet it hasn't been that long (they're still trying to rescue Han after all) and apparently he didn't get this knowledge from Yoda cause when he finally does keep his promise and return to Yoda, Yoda dies. Or morphs. Whatever 900 year old green Jedi's do. So where did he learn all this amazing kick butt stuff in what is apparently a matter of weeks?

We know now - after seeing episode III, that C3PO's memory was wiped - but what the heck happened to everyone else? Luke asks Leia if she remembers her mother - um, she shouldn't - but says she does. And how is she a Princess? I thought the man who adopted her was a senate member of some sort - was he royalty and I missed it? I'm so confused :) Their real mother was a Queen, but it seemed she was an elected Queen - so ya wouldn't think the title of Princess would carry over. Odd things :)

Oh well, this has gone on long enough. See episode III, then immediately see 4, 5, and 6 - cry. Its a perfect Father's Day occupation. Hey - if you see III this weekend, you can get a free poster - http://www.starwars.com/episode-iii/release/theater/news20050615.html

Danielle

Today - monster day

2005-06-08T16:51:00.000-04:00

You ever have one of those days when you'd just LOVE to crawl back into bed? Well, I'd love to have a day thats NOT one of those. Every day has been that way!

Im having loads of trouble sleeping now with the baby and all (30 weeks along!) so in the mornings I have the worst time trying to force my aching bod out of bed. My pelvis is out of alignment so it's painful too :( and walking?? Oi.

Anyhoo, today I finally got out of bed around 10 am or so and then my dad comes over, bringing my nephews, who - by the way - destroy my house. Like it's not bad enough. They also fight, run around, get into trouble, drive me nuts, and ya know - my own kids do that enough. So, I'm *tired*

Dad wants us to go to lunch so I said ok, but I don't want burgers so I said he had to go to a place I wanted. He let me drive his massive brand new Ford 350 Lariat (oh cool) and we had souvlaki chicken and rice at the Lugoff House of Pizza. Yummers - we split the plate cause it was SO much food.

After that, we went to the car wash (got to drive again!!) where I spent $10 in quarters washing this massive truck. Oi, the exercise I didnt really need. Or maybe I did. Other than being extremely hot, I actually feel looser now than before.

We came back here and I printed out some photos for him of the motorhome in the river and then they left an hour or so later. I'm totally worn out now but my house is a wreck and I've gotten NOTHING done work wise. UGH!!!!! I've got to figure out how to do this better!!

My week

2005-06-08T00:19:00.000-04:00

Well, what a chaotic week. I've been busy with preparing for the baby, running to doctor's appointments, and doing presentations hoping to gain a new contract.

You know how some people 'nest' when preggers? I'm apparently going through that now. Tons of laundry and I actually have found satisfaction in doing dishes. Have I *lost* my mind?? I must have!! My house is slowly but surely getting spring cleaned and I'm trying to figure out where in this tiny house I'm going to put a whole new baby wardrobe. No clue :)

I have another doctor's appointment on Friday the 10th - I get to see another ultrasound and hopefully this time we'll know if it's a boy or girl. We're rooting for a girl here since Don is still stuck on Donald Ray Bailey, jr. Ok, YIKES. But if it's a boy I suppose I'll go through with that name. He is a great dad and deserves it. Though I'm not sure the poor kid does.

I've been working very hard on a proposal the last two weeks hoping to gain the contract to build the website for Kershaw County Chamber of Commerce. Wish me luck! My business has been very successful nationally, but I really want more local exposure and this would do it. I also agreed to sponsor their next business after hours event - do they even know how shy I am?? I'll let you know how both go soon :)

Today we went on a picnic with my dad - we ate in the truck cause there was a thunderstorm. Anyway, the interesting part was at the river a huge motorhome had backed into the river down a boat ramp trying to pull a boat up the ramp. This was hilarious in a way and scary in another. I was so afraid the men trying to swim under the motor home to attach cables to pull it out were going to get trapped! I took pics with a disposable camera that we purchased there and will show those off soon too :)

I have tons of work to get done and its already past midnight, so goodnight :) Ill post more soon!

Danielle

Welcome

2005-05-30T17:08:00.000-04:00

My name is Danielle Bailey and this blog is for those who had asked me to start some sort of journal to keep up with me. So here I am :) A personal blog :)

I am 32 years old and live in Lugoff, SC with my husband - Don Bailey - and our 2 sons. Grayson is 8 and Nicholas is 5. I am pregnant with our third and last child due in late August.

I own a company called The Chayton Group which offers web hosting and design services nationwide. I also founded ICanCraft.com with my friend, Sharon Baker.

I will be homeschooling Grayson this coming fall and will have him post to this blog as well as part of his writing lessons, so you'll be hearing from him a bit later on. There is so much to post but I don't want to bore you, so this will be brief :)

I recently attended a chat offered by life coach Aurelia Williams or RealLifeSolutions.net who has inspired me to try to better organize my life and work. My desk is clean today at last and my to-do list is actually showing signs of life. Other than having things added I mean. *chuckles* She's a fantastic coach and I highly recommend her to anyone who wants new motivation.

So, I am off to feed the family and start laundry as well as prepare for a presentation for a new website or 3 (Kershaw County Chamber of Commerce - wish me luck! and NO, their current site is NOT my design.) I'll let you know how that goes later in the week.

Happy Memorial Day :)

Danielle