On the lighter side

Okay so my last couple blogs were a bit........heavy. Sometimes I just need to purge a little. So, this time Im going to talk about my favorite obsession...er.....hobby, Disney. I freggin LOVE IT! Most people like to go to beaches, or the woods or somewhere quiet to truely relax and get away. Me? I like to go to the crowded, noisy, looooooooong lines Disneyland. It is my place to relax. Weird huh? Most people say its the most exhausting vacation ever. I always hear "I need a vacation from my vacation!" when someone goes to Disneyland. Not me, it is my relaxation spot! I think its because I can scream and act like a kid and, just like the plaque at Disneylands entrance tunnel says "Here you leave today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow and fantasy". Who doesnt like to forget the world and be a kid! The first picture is called the Partners statue. This particualr one is at Disneyland and it is directly in front of Sleeping Beauty castle Walt Disney is waving at you "welcoming" you into his creation. The second picture is K's favorite Elliot! Actually, she took that picture (thanks K!) I tried to find a cartoon drawing of Elliot that was NOT a shot of the VHS cover. I could not. Hopefully soon. These things make me smile just looking at them! I can be in the WORST mood, and looking at Disney stuff, listening or watching it, puts me ina good mood. What makes you smile? What can bring you out of the funkies or the grumpies just by glancing at it? 

Heros

There are things that irritate me about 9/11 aside from the obvious. I do not like seeing the constant replaying of the planes flying into the buildings. I cognitively understand why they do it, but I just dont like it. I dont like that they say the people on the planes that hit the buildings are heros. They are victims, not heros. The heros are the ones on flight 93. The heros are the firemen and policemen who were running into the buildings and up the stairs, as everyone else was running down the stairs and out the buildings. They gave absolutly no thought to their own safety. Their first thought was "Get the people out!" They all had families, wives, children, mothers, fathers, and yet still thought only of the other people. We absolutly cannot forget what happened this day 5 years ago. We cannot forget Pearl Harbor & WWII. We have to keep telling it and reliving it. If we forget, then it will happen again. We need to build memorials and tell the facts and personal stories all the time. What happens to events if they do not get retold over and over again? They start to get patchy and incomplete and assumptions get plugged in. Please say thank you to your firemen, policemen (even when they give you a speeding ticket) and especially your soldiers. They signed up to defend our country and have to go where their boss tells them to. Its their job, its not their fault. DO NOT take out your political frustrations on your soldiers. ITS THEIR JOB, NOT THEIR FAULT!! My Uncle is a Vietnam Vet. He is still recovering from that aftermath. When he came home, he was treated like a disease. He did not recieve the heros welcome that he deserved. He was shot 7 times in Vietnam and still has 2 bullets lodged in him. He suffers from PTSD constantly. He did his job job. He followed his bosses orders. We follow our bosses orders all the time. We may not like it but it is our job and we do it. PLEASE give your respect to your soldiers, OUR soldiers. ITS THEIR JOB, NOT THEIR FAULT. Please make sure you never forget 9/11. Remember the tragic event, and the heros that came out of it, and the ones who didnt. 

Back from Tahoe :)

Tahoe was FANTASTIC! It was soooooo relaxing! We didnt do a whole lot. We took a drive all the way around Lake Tahoe. It was really beautiful! The weather was sunny, totally clear, not too hot. I took a few pictures which are being developed. I will post them as soon as I get them back. I didnt take too many because I did the driving and my companion was not too camera savvy. We did exactly as we intended, NOTHING and talked about Disney World. We ploted our visit. There was a small shopping strip next to our hotel that we stroled through. We were actually right on the state line, right next to Harrah's or Harveys. THey are right across the street from each other so needless to say, we were close to fun. I had my first Carmel Apple Martini.......YYYYUUUUUMMMM!!!!!! AND my first Mojito, pretty good. It was a well needed restfull weekend. I dont have to work until Tuesday so I have one more day. Good. I did not want to work tomorrow anyway. Its a heavy day for me personally. More on that tomorrow.

Reflections

Today, I reflect. I had one of the longest phone conversations EVER! It was a great phone conversation with my bestest friend in the entire universe! We talked about nothing and everything. For someone who doesnt like to talk on the phone, I seem to have perfected it with K. Its weird though, when we are in the same room, we dont feel the need to keep the convo going, it just happens. Before I call her though, I feel like Im supposed to have topics lines up. Not that she expects it, I put that on myself. Today I had nothing of any importance to tell her, but I called her anyway. I have just REALLLLLY missed her lately, more than normal. I have been thinking about the 14 years that we have been friends and how much we have learned from each other, and how much we still have to learn.

On her wedding day, the happiest day of her life (and mine!) I think I did okay. Im not really sure what a Maid of Honor is 'supposed" to do on the day of the wedding. I thought, okay, nothing at all is going right today and I just want to hug her and cry with her then go and punch someone AND something! No, Susan NO! She needs you to be strong for her. Was that the right thing to do? I dont know, the day seems like a blur to me, I was just trying to make it through moment by moment, still standing. Im not perfect (I know your shocked....NOT) I did drop the ball in the planning, K knows where and I have appologised. I look at the wedding pictures all the time, remembering eachmoment that picture was snapped. I was sooooooooo proud and honored to be the person standing next to her (sort of) peeking at her through Brad's parents heads and crying the ENTIRE TIME!

She told me today that there was a couple celebrating their 80th wedding anniversary! I cant imagine knowing someone for 80 years!!! Do you think we will know each other for 80 years K? Sure she says! I dont smoke, you dont smoke, we have a good shot! You make me smile, laugh at myself (and people who fall!). Do you know that in the 14 years we have been friends, that this picture is the best we've taken together? We dont have many pics of us together, and the ones we do have, we are making screwy faces! Another thing we have in common, we like taking the picture, not being in it!

I have some work to do. Im not a good communicator. I know its a problem for a blogger eh? No really, I mean if I have an issue with a close friend or say, a Best friend (I dont at the current time this is just an example) I tend to just stuff it down. I dont act like an adult and discuss it rationally. Here is the weird part, at work, if I have a problem with you, I will ABSOLUTLY tell you so. My former boss is LUCKY she is not there right now, or OOOOOOH MAAAAAN would she get an ear full, BUT that is another blog. When it comes to people I love, I have trouble bringing up issues that bother or concern me. I guess I kind of think that if I tell them, they wont like it or me and just be done with me. I have that happen before many many times and I dont like it. I know your different K, but you know, old habbits and all.

Remember puddle whomping? 4th of July bon fire at the beach? Deuteronomy? Clam chowder? Marshmellow feast? Well actually? Inflatable cock roach repellent? My Life and an ENTIRE BOX of tissue? Date night? New years at TGIFridays? Here is to another 14 years of fun memories! LOVE YOU! 

ONE more funny pet pic!

This happens to be a picture of the greatest dog that ever lived! Jake! My niece K took this pic when she was about 9 years old. Its one of my favorite pictures of Jake. I got him for my 15th birthday. He was half springer spaniel half lab. He had a nubby tail and the best personality ever! He used to open and close the back door to let himself in and out, turn on the outside sink faucet to get himself a drink, and help himself to 24 boxes (toy surprises and all) of Cracker Jacks caramel popcorn snacks! He LOVED chasing rabbits. He only caught one. One night he went into everyones closet, took out one shoe of each pair and played with it in the hall. When I woke up the next morning, the hall way and living room were littered with chewed shoes! That day, we went out and got him is own pair of steel toed boots. He stopped chewing all of our shoes, and stuck with his own pair. That pair lasted him quite a while, he chewed them down to the steel plate! Whats your funny or favorite pet story? 

A salute to funny pets!

I had to share some funny pet pictures with you all. This first picture (sorry its so bad! Im getting used to my scanner!) I find interesting for many reasons. #1, my cat thinks his water bowl is the toilet bowl. He doesnt jump up on hte rim like most cats. He stands on the floor and stretches up and over the rim, like a dog. What makes it funny is his feet constantly slip on the tile floor so hes always readjusting his stance. The second reason (or #2 if you prefer! LOL) is that the toilet he is drinking out of is the middle of the bedroom floor, instead of in the bathroom. My Dad was repairing the tiles in the bathroom around the bathtub so the toilet had to come out. It had a little water in the bottom when we stuck it in the bedroom to get it out of the way and naturally, Rajah found it, and drank it! He is a silly willy!

The second picture is K's cat Zacchieus Wee One Nyland Herman! This is Zac in her younger, pre-pooch days! You see after Zac got "fixed" she has a little tummy pooch that never went away. Its really cute! You really want to grab it, but thats not gonna happen! She was quite the athlete! She loved catching a jungle ball! You can kinda see how puffy her tail got!

I can not imagine my life without a pet! They bring sooooo much joy to my life! To those people who abuse defenseless animals, I hope you step on rusty nails and suffer terribly! I think as well as millions of dollars in fines they should be FORCED to clean the elephant poop at the zoo! And the Rhino poop, and the giraffe poop and especially the Lion poop! Lets see you abuse an animal that can take your head off with one swipe of a paw you jerk face doody head! Anyway, I am greatfull for everyday that I have my pets! Kiss yours today. IF you cant kiss it, blow it a kiss! 

Pack Rat Exposed!

There are some people in this world who keep things because "Someday I MIGHT need it". My Father is one of those people. After going to my Great Uncle's house this weekend to help my brother prepair his room for moving in, I see where he gets it from. The cool thing about my Uncle's house is that is is the one he grew up in. That means there is stuff in there from the very early 1920's and on. While cleaning out the room my brother will be living in we found over $20,000 in savings bonds that my other Great Uncle Bill had stashed away. The funny part is my Great Uncle Bill passed away nearly 2 years ago and these were not known to be in existance when his estate was settled. Apparently G. Uncle Bill was a bit paranoid and my G.Uncle Jack keeps finding money, pictures, and other small items in strange places, like the top of a basement closet, or a sock stuffed away with over $200 in SILVER dollars in it, pictures in a cigar box behind a dresser (no they werent indecent ones, just random family pics), bank statements from 20 years ago!

That being said, onto my Dad. We found his secret box collection while looking for something for one of my nieces. I had to shimmy up to our "attic" space above the garage. In order to get there, I have to climb onto whats left of the hood of my Dad's prize, broken, 1932 Ford Model A (its the last pic), and hoist my huge butt up! No easy task I tell you! While up there, I found boxes to a computer that we threw away over 8 years ago! I should also tell you that my Dad hopes to ge the car running again in his retirement days. He used to drag race it in Beat the Heat races. He even won a few of them! The last time this car was running was 1984 (No Im not kidding!). You can see evidence of that in the cob webs on whats left of the engine up therein pic #2. I dont think there is supposed to be that huge gap there, but Im no mechanic. He also finds it necessary to keep broken radios to cars we dont own anymore, and light fixtures that dont fit or work (1st pic). Dont even ask me where we got a horse blanket. We dont live on a farm & we've never owned horses. I have been accused of being a pack rat by many people. Here is evidence that I am NOT!


 

Falling apart @ 29!

I am only in the midst of celebrating the 5th anniversary of my 29th B-day (Its a year long thing!) and I am already falling apart! This here is my collection. From left to right we have, a muscle relaxer for my back that I just strained this week, next to him we have anitbiotics for my tooth followed by pain killer also for my tooth. And bringing up the rear we have 800mg Ibuprofin for my plantar fasciitis (thats in my foot tendon in case your wondering) AND carpal tunnel! THIS is nuts! I need a vacation! Oh wait, Im going on a mini one in like 2-3 weeks! What I really need is a HOT TUB! Man those hot jets would feel FANTABULOUSIO right about now! SOrrty for the short post, it hurts my back to sit here too long! 

Goin to Tahoe!

Im excited! In a mere 20 days I will be going to Tahoe for a weekend of fun! Originally, I was going with 3 other people. Then, of them backed out! So now, its just myself and one other girl. ITs cool though, its the same girl that Im going to Disney World with. She decided that she wanted to stay at a super nice hotel and booked Embassy Suites! I told her that there was NO WAY I can afford that! She says "well hey thats how much I was planning on spending anyway, so just pay me what you originally were, and I'll cover the difference. NO ARGUING, subject closed" I was like, uhm okay. So the first picture you see, is the hotel we will be staying at. Apparently, we get a cooked to order breakfast included in our room price every morning we are there! Ive never stayed in a suite before, this outta be fun! Picture number 2 is Lake Tahoe, CA itself. Pertty isnt it! It will be a nice weekend getaway. There is not a lot to do in Tahoe, so Im looking foreword to doing a TON of nothing! Take in some scenery, snap a few pics (K, I will TRY to do you proud!) maybe look for some interesting locals to make fun of, I mean meet. And probably being the TOTAL and complete Disney nerd I am, plan some details of my Up & comming Disney trip!
 

The D word!

Yes folks, today I went to the dentist. While my teeth are in slightly better condition than my friends here <--- I had to have an emergency temporary crown put in. Keep in mind that I have not beet to the dentist in oh, 10 yrs at least. I didnt have any insurance for at least 10 yrs. I never went unless I was in pain, which is exactly what prompted this trip. I knew I was gonna have to have some type of drill or extraction done. Now my jaw is sore, my face is numb, and my bank account is empty! Even with insurance (HA!) I still had to pay $468! I HATE THE DENTIST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Had to share this one!

CIGARETTES AND TAMPONS

A man walks into a pharmacy and wanders up & down the aisles.The sales girl notices him and asks him if she can help him.He answers that he is looking for a box of tampons for his wife.She directs him down the correct aisle.A few minutes later, he deposits a huge bag of cotton balls and a ball of string on the counter.She says, confused, "Sir, I thought you were looking for some tampons for your wife?"He answers, "You see, it's like this, yesterday, I sent my wife to the store to get me a carton of cigarettes, and she came back with a tin of tobacco and some rolling papers; cause it's sooo-ooo--oo-ooo much cheaper. So, I figure if I have to roll my own .......... so does she."(I figure this guy is the one on the milk carton!)

Broken Heart

Sometimes I wonder why and how I get myself so deep. I thought I was doing good by putting my trust in my own niece. Boy, was I wrong. I have defended her, covered for her, been there for her, only to get stepped on, talked nasty about and too, snubbed, lied to, and stolen from. I have given her everything and more and shes not even my daughter. The thanks I get? I get my credit cards stolen and used. I get what little money I have stolen so she can buy a baby gift her white trash friend who was stupid and got knocked up. I get her a job at my Best friends wedding as a server which she was WAAAAAAAAY over paid for (Love you for it Sh), she takes my car and disappears for 3 hours and rumor tells me that she lifted 2-3 bottles of wine. That is unconfirmed because I didnt get a chance to talk to the bar tender, and I dont know for sure. At this point, it wouldnt surprise me. She has stolen from my mother, her grandmother, as well. Do I plan to tell my sister, no. My sister did the same things, where do you think my niece learned it from. Everytime she does something wrong like this, she gets caught, we confront her, she appoligises and life goes on. I cant trust her! That breaks my heart. I dont want her here if Im not here. My mothers hearing is not that great and she could easily lift things without her knowledge. It pisses me off that she knows better, and has constantly chosen not to do better. I know that when I confront her she will do 1 of 2 things. COMPLETELY deny it and shut down like her mother, or put on the oh Im so sorry it will never happen again face. She is in for a surprise though, I will be in on this talk with my mother. She knows that I dont buy her crap and I dont fall for her puppy eyes like my mom. My days as a door mat are long over. I will NOT let her get away with this. I WILL force her to pay me back every penny she stole from me. I didnt deserve this, I didnt ask for this, and I dont want it. I wish I could just leave here, go into a bubble and disappear where this kind of pain cannot reach me. Its not fair.

142 days, 7 hours, 50 minutes

Yes, that is the exact countdown until I leave on the best vacation I have had in my life thus far! Thats right folks, Im goin to DISNEYWORLD!! I booked my trip yesterday at AAA. I will be staying at Disneys Beach Club Resort! Here are a couple pic I "found" online. One is of the inside of a standard room, another is of the outside of the hotel. The last is of course, the best mouse in the entire world! Im going to see him at his winter home! I cannot WAIT!!!!!!! 

HUGE HUGE HUGE THANK you!

A HUGE thank you to Emma Sometimes! If it werent for her, I would not have gotten my picture onto my blog! So you have her to blame, er thank for now seeing my picture EVERYTIME you visit me! I dont know how to link, so Im copying her blog address into here, so visit her! http://gingerbeethebusybee.blogspot.com/

A gripe for us BEAUTIFUL fat chicks!

I NEED to give props to fat chicks EVERYWHERE! We are amazing strong beautiful women. We are, in fact, a majority holder in the population of America. ou hear reports & read stories of how being fat is okay now. Its being skinny that is the taboo now right? You see it on tabloids "Nicole Richie at 85 pounds! Stars wasting away! So thin you can see her ribs!" Here is the flip side. I have to drive 15 miles to the nearest mall. In that mall is about 100 stores give or take. Out of 100 stores only 2, yes 2, have fat chick clothes. A neighboring city to me has a population that is prodominately African American. The African American woman is known to not always be built like a sting bean. They have meat on their bones. In this city of oh about 200,000 there is ONE fat chick clothing store. So, if our nation is "getting bigger" and its "okay to be fat", why is everyone on TV, in movies, and EVERYWHERE YOU LOOK, still so thin you can see through them? And of the 3 fat chick clothing stores in a 20 miles radius, only one of them actually carries cute trendy clothes. At one of the stores, everything in it is either a solid color or stripes, THATS IT. AND, they charge you like $60 for a cotton tank top! At the skinny chick clothes stores, they can get a tank top for $5. This is NOT OKAY with me. In fact, it pisses me off! The illusive THEY, are trying to tell us one thing, but are really saying another. Its like telling someone that their kid is cute while your gaging from the mere sight of them. Yeah they are gonna know your not super sincere. We fat chicks are fun! We are smart, confident, we can wrestle and you wont break us. We will NOT order a tiny salad and pretend we arent hungry on a date just to impress a guy. We are honest , fun & strong, but we crack too. We are aware of the snears and snide comments from small minded people. We get embarrased silently when the chair looks a little wobbly, and we opt to stand in discomfort rather than chance the humiliation of busting it. You thin people have NO CLUE what its like to have to not be too picky about your clothes because you happy to find a few shirts that fit you in an okay way. It pisses me off when tiny little people wont buy a tshirt because it doesnt cling to their body enough. Im happy when a shirt buttons across my chest properly. We have the upper hand in some areas. Yes I am talking about boobs! We fat chicks have them ALL, and we didnt have pay thousands of dollars and go under a knife and risk our lives to get them! I LOVE it when someone comes in to my store and askes me if we sell 34 A's. Yes in the KIDS departemnt!!! I laugh when I see a bra size that says NEARLY A. Im sorry if your that tiny, here is a band aid! Make way for those of us who God blessed with boobs for men to gawk at. Yes, I relish in that secretly. They may not like the rest of my body but by gosh they LOVE the boobs that giggle!

Welcome little Logan James!

Okay, I may be a tad bit late on this one, but better late than never! This is Logan James! He is the son of one my girls! One of my employees that is. He was born on July 1 and weighed in at a hearty 8 Lbs and some odd oz's. He is SOOOOOOO adorable, he snorts when he is hungry its the cutest thing! I just had to share his cute lil mug with you all. I hope everyone had a good weekend, I worked :( 

AAAARRRRRRGGGGHHH!!!

I am so miffed at my computer! So I got a new anti-virus program, Norton. Here is the problem; I cannot connect to the internet unless I totally disable the new security program that is supposed to protect me while I am online. THIS IS SOOOOOOOOOOOOO FRUSTRATING!!!!!! I spent 4 hours on it today when I got home from working 8 hours at work. And of course, nobody else in the house makes an effort to fix the problem, they just bitch to me about it. GRRRRRRRRRR! I need my own personal coputer geek to be available at my beck and call to fix my stupid computer when it goes all cookey! (Hush up K) I am soooooooooo ready to just delete the program and surf w/o protection!

Mini Confession

Okay, I have to confess, the picture on my last post was not of the car actually going 328 MPH. You see, by the time my camera snapped the pic, all I had was smoke and the strip. The pic was actually of the very same car, later that day, backing up! That was the only way I could snap the shot! Before the cars race, they do a burn out to warm up their tires and other such stuff that is too technicall or boring for me to go into at this moment. Anyway, I just had to get that off my chest. PHEW! I feel better now!

Sears Point!

Friday, I got to go see Drag Races at Sears Point Raceway! Okay, technically, its called Infineon Raceway, but even 511 Traffic Info called it Sears Point when I said Infineon, so there! Anyway, it was SOOOO AWESOME! This car went a mere 328 MPH! It was funny to see cars hitting 5th gear in under 50 feet! We were in the 44th row! The VERY TIPPY TOP! You'd think that would be a bad seat. In fact, they were the best seats because you can see the entire strip and still feel the rumble in your seat when the Funny Cars and these guys Burn Out! My favorite part is the Beat the Heat. They have kids in high school, race Cops in their own cars. Anybody can sign up for it. I like this for two reasons. (#1)Its fun to see average kids, run red lights, and not get busted for it! (#2) My Daddy used to do Beat the Heat races in a 1953 (or 54) Blue Hudson Hornet. (Yes, just like the one in the movie Cars!) They ALWAYS give the cops a HUGE head start, and the kids still beat them! One was a k-9 unit, with the dog! Apparently at a heat before we arrived, the K-9 stuck his head out the window, and barked all the way down the 1/4 mile strip during the race! The down side of being in the 44th row, the climb! There are no elli-laters at Sears Point! ITs a huff-huff-huff-huff climb ALL THE WAY up! Needless to say, you definately determine how badly you have to pee, or how thirsty you REALLY are. Smart people bring a cooler of supplies. We were a part of the smart group. Next time I go, Id like to go for the finals! We were there for the frist night, so it was mostly qualifying runs, but still a blast! If you have NEVER gone to drag races, GO! 

HOTTER than anything I can remember!

Okay I feel like I am going to literally MELT in my shoes! It is so flippin hot here! This is where Id rather be! But Im stuck in a house with no a/c in 100f heat! This is why I hate summer. I am sooooo uncomfortable in the heat, I cant sleep. I try but I wake up in a pool of sweat! Gee now why is it that Im still single? LOL!

I got irritated at work today. I am now a key carrin, alarm code totin big wig. No, I dont get more $$$ (unfortunately). You see I am one of those rare people who actually uses my brain for thinking and problem solving. I know, I know, Im progressive. Everything I know about my job, I learned on my own. I am constantly the person who they throw into the fire to learn something nobody else knows how to do. Then, I get to train everyone else. yeah me (NOT!) I dont really like having to do that ALL THE TIME. I dont like flying blind. So, when they decided to bring me into the ranks of key carrier, alarm code toter, they decided that since I was "SOOO Smart" (yes, that is a direct quote from the BIG BIG boss) I can figure it all out on my own. WRONG! I was not about to let them do this to me yet again! So, I left a stern voice mail to my fellow toters and carriers that I was not about to be thrown into something blind yet again. I told them that someone needs to actually show me what to do correctly the first time, then I got it. Surprisengly enough, I recieved not only appologies all around, I got 2, yes 2, volunteers to train me on the necessary steps I need. Naturally, I chose the one who I dont want to strangle everytime she speaks. Wish me luck!