"Bites" is right

I'm not doing these. I thought I would, but I'm not. Bites is right.

I love Mr. Goodbar. I could eat those giant ones for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Judging by the size of my ass, it looks like I already do, but I promise I don't.

Picked these up yesterday to take to the ball game last night. Pulled them out of my desk for a PM snack and ick. They don't taste like Mr. Goodbar. Not enough chocolate or something. NO, wait, I just figured it out. On the bag it says "salty" peanuts in milk chocolate. Salty? WTF? No, not salty in chocolate. Leave that for Chef in Southpark with his chocolate salty balls.

This guy likes 'em. Not me.

I don't know who I am

Rosalind Russell You scored 19% grit, 42% wit, 23% flair, and 23% class!

You are one wise-cracking lady, always quick with a clever remark and easily able to keep up with the quips and puns that come along with the nutty situations you find yourself in. You're usually able to talk your way out of any jam, and even if you can't, you at least make it more interesting with your biting wit. You can match the smartest guy around line for line, and you've got an open mind that allows you to get what you want, even if you don't recognize it at first. Your leading men include Cary Grant and Clark Gable, men who can keep up with you. Find out what kind of classic leading man you'd make by taking the Classic Leading Man Test.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 41% on grit You scored higher than 76% on wit You scored higher than 0% on flair You scored higher than 47% on class

Classic Dames Test link stolen from LabKat and Gadfly.

Devastation

I just can't get my arms around the devastation that is just one state to my east. It is beyond comprehension what these people are going to lose. Uzz said he was at a Radio Shack shoot today and they haven't heard from about 130 of their stores! One of the local ABC TV sports guys' wife is from New Orleans and her family lost its house under about 12 feet of water and a friend of theirs (a lawyer) had to flee and is living with them. His house is under about 6 feet of water.

Just amazing. No drinking water, no sewage, no electricity to heat the water before using it. What are these people going to do? I mean, picking up the pieces and going forward is all they can do, but how? When? It just breaks my heart.

WBAP is doing a fundraiser today at Irving Mall. I'm cruising by to give what little I have to give because compared to most of these folks, I'm rich right now.

We've traveled I-10 many times to visit the Army of In-laws in Florida and this is just hard to fathom - the destruction and I-10 in shambles. But, then again, this reporter sort of flubbed up when he/she wrote that chunks of concrete are "floating" ... last time I was in science class, concrete doesn't float. AoD caught it. I've taught him to read stories literally to help me make sure I'm not messing things up. But, I digress.

So sad. Give what you can.
American Red Cross credit card donation site
List of places needing help
Carter Blood Care locations

If you are in the DFW Metroplex, you can donate blood:
Blood donors are encouraged to visit their Carter BloodCare Neighborhood Donor Center or community blood drives this weekend, including The NBC5 blood Drives at North East Mall in Hurst (between Bath & Body Works and Brookstone) at 1101 Melbourne Street and Vista Ridge Mall in Lewisville (between Sears and JC Penney) at 2401 Stemmons Freeway between the hours of 10 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. on Saturday and 12 Noon and 6 p.m. on Sunday. Donations will help ensure that Carter BloodCare meets local need and can provide any assistance in the areas hardest hit by the hurricane.

Talk about giving till it hurts, but Carter Blood Care has this popup when you go to the website:
As Hurricane Katrina hit Southern Louisiana, community blood supplies in the affected areas are expected to decline rapid due to the inability to collect and process blood donations. At this time, Carter BloodCare has been asked by The Blood Center in New Orleans and Mississippi Blood Services to provide support and thanks to a strong community blood supply locally, a shipment has already been sent to Jackson. Due to the current and lasting impact of Hurricane Katrina, these centers anticipate needing assistance for up to three weeks as the areas recover. Additionally, the blood testing for The Blood Center in New Orleans has redirected to Blood Systems Laboratory, located at Carter BloodCare's Bedford campus. As a community blood center, Carter BloodCare's primary responsibility is to ensure a strong blood supply for North Central Texas hospitals. Once local needs are met, Carter BloodCare is then able to send units to other community blood centers, like those in Louisiana, through America's Blood Centers - a national network of 75 locally-controlled, non-profit blood centers, which provide over half of the blood supply collectively. This network allows community centers to support each other to ensure blood needs are met in times of crisis or shortage.

So, what are you waiting for?

Win some, lose some

We went to the Rangers-White Sox double header tonight and watched them split the games. We even got to see five innings of no-hit baseball before Soriano broke that up with a double in the bottom of the fifth. Army of Dad met me at the airport and we were on target to arrive on time for the first game until I realized I left my purse and the tickets at my office. DOH! So, we had to turn around and go back. We made it to the third inning, so not too bad.

Walking up, we couldn't help but laugh at this sight. Let's hope that no crimes occur in the sunshine. Those are all the cops that we saw before the game.

These were the stands for the first game. This was DURING the game!

We won the first game. Hooray! Still very few people there.
The little horsey mascot. He had to be hot. Hey, there is Soriano in the background.
The White Sox centerfielder, Aaron Rowand is freaking hot. Check out that bod!

And, yet another hunky guy. AoD and me.

We had fun. We had to leave the second game in about the fifth inning because we had to get home. We made it home about 10 and watched Katrina coverage and felt awful. Of course, we felt a little awful, too, for sharing a BBQ sandwich, nachos and a pretzel. I may go find the Pepto Bismal. Ick.

Once upon a time

So sweet to see Pickle reading to his baby sister.

How may I help you?

Welcome to Cingular, please sign in and someone will help you soon.

Bull crap someone will help me. I stopped in the Cingular store in Grapevine of Hwy 114 at lunch today to try and exchange or return AoD's cell phone clip-holder thingee. This piece of fishstick thing broke about a week after he got the first one. Tried it again to see if it was any better the second time and it broke the second day he had it. This is the guy who takes really good care of his things. I asked him how he broke it and he didn't drop it or hit it with a bowling ball (he broke one like this before). It just broke when he put his phone in it.

So, I go in the store to trade it in or return it flat out and I had the most hateful manager to deal with today. Didn't have my receipt and the store manager is basically accusing me of tearing it up and then expecting to return it, their policy isn't to return broken stuff because it isn't a manufacturer defect, etc. etc. He was really being a dick. I told him, listen, if you went to Target and bought a shirt and put it on and after the first washing it got a big hole it, you'd take it back and expect them to replace it because it was poorly made and you didn't do anything to damage it. He wouldn't even respond when I said that. Just kept saying, AoD obviously was too rough with it and broke it. Finally, I said just give it back to me. This was after about five minutes of arguing with the guy. He essentially shoves it back at me. I asked for his name and he asks me why. Because I want to call and complain to your district manager, that's why. So, he gives me his card.

I go eat lunch, read the local paper (saw where Pickle's old soccer coach is being investigated by the FBI for some of the fraud stuff going on with the Dallas City Council) and calm down a bit.

Call the store to get the regional manager's name and number. Guess who answers the phone? Yep, the asshole. I'm thinking great. Ask for the name and number and he asks me why I need it and I told him that I was just in there and wanted to complain about the quality of service I received. He said "are you the lady who tried to return the phone holster?" Yep, I tell him. He gives me the guy's name and number and says "I already told him about the event." I'm thinking great, the regional manager is going to think I'm some stealing bitch and be a dick to me, too. Well, much to my surprise, he wasn't. He listened to me, never interrupted and said I"m so glad you called and told me about this because the store manager handled the situation inappropriately and this gives me the opportunity to coach him on how he should have handled this. He got all lawyery on you and was someone hoping you'd admit that, yeah, you did break it by handling it roughly and, he said, that is not the way to maintain a faithful customer and I explained that to him. He shouldn't have been argumentative and treated you that way. He said, he explained it to me exactly as you have, so I know what he did and explained to him why he handled it in the wrong fashion.

Now, I didn't get the thing exchanged, which was my goal, but I did get some satisfaction that the asshole was told he was wrong. Would have been better had he apologized to me when I called, but I've talked to HR people who said that it is worse to admit it when you do something wrong. Better to just leave it alone, so maybe that is what he was told to do. Don't know. Don't care. Dude was a dick and hopefully he got his ass chewed for being a dick.

Needless to say, I get to go back and try to exchange the stupid holster again. I may make AoD do it this time. This stuff gets old. Tartar saucing piece of fishstick holster.

Major distractions

Not to be confused with being a major blogger. *wink to Cashin* I will never let that one go. ;)

But, I am excited right now. This afternoon, AoD and I are heading to a Rangers double header. Not that my fishsticking Rangers are worth watching, but it is a chance to bond with AoD some over a brewski, sunflower seeds and baseball. No kids in tow either. Yippee! Now, of course, I'm seeing some no-name never-will-be-anything pitcher for the second game, but that is par for the course with the Rangers and I'd be shocked if they actually had any decent pitching. *sigh*

Anyway. If AoD leaves work when he is supposed to, we'll be at the ballpark by 5 and able to hit the third or fourth inning of the first game. Can't beat that.

Soldier's point of view

This is sort of interesting. Yes, I know, I should be writing about the construction project right now and I am in between surfing the net. I often write better when I clear my brain for a bit here and there.

But, I digress.

Interesting blog I stumbled upon today. From my position is pretty gritty and he doesn't beat around the bush. I like that. He is recovering from injuries he sustained in Iraq and he even has a pretty gross pic of himself up on the blog. So, if for nothing else than to see what a blown up leg looks like in a hospital bed, go have a look-see. He talks about the jerks protesting outside Walter Reed Army Hospital, too.

I lifted this from his blog, I love it:

And finally, she mentioned Cindy in Texas. I figured it was about time I weighed in on that for the loyal readers of this blog...
Nobody held a gun to my head 13 years ago when I signed the papers to join the Army. It's an all volunteer force, and I reckon her son forgot to mention that he volunteered to join the Army. He wasn't a conscientious objector when he went, more than likely he was excited to go, and he was going with his buddies... buddies who would soon become like brothers.
I doubt that he would be proud of what his mother was doing right now.
I know that my mom respects my choice to be a soldier; I know that my wife understands why I do what I do. As much as it hurts them to see me lying in bed in pieces, literally blown apart, they also understand why when I wake up in that condition, my first thoughts and my first questions are about my men, my concern for them, and my desire to return to them as soon as possible.
Mrs. Sheehan and has my deepest sympathies. She's lost a son. Her son died on the altar of freedom. The medal that they pinned on my chest and they gave her when her son was put in the ground is the same, and did little to ease my pain, and I'm sure it did little to ease hers. I always looked at my command as the care of 63 sons. There were 126 mothers and fathers out there, who had loaned their boys to me. I would take care of them as best I could, and I would hope that I can return them back when it was all over. But the first sad fact of war is that young men die-- and the second sad fact of war is that nobody can do anything to change fact number one.
People call her "crazy cindy”, people make fun of her, people say mean things about her and people generally try to drag her through the mud for trying to understand, trying to ease her pain, trying to scream out into the void because nothing seems to help... she lost her son. How many people can say that they understand what she must be going through? You can sympathize, you can empathize, but how many people can say that they understand? That they know how she feels?
----

I like the way this guy thinks. Here's hoping you have a speedy recovery dude!

Ever wonder?

I don't EVER want to know what it feels like to get the phone call that something has happened to someone you love. I blogged a while back about Noah, the soldier injured in an IED explosion in Iraq. Here are the details from his mom about what it was like to get the phone call.

God bless him and his family, please.

Now, I'm sitting at work trying to look professional despite blubbering quietly. PMS came at a really bad time, not that there is ever a good time.

I was crying on the way to work listening to stories of the horror of Katrina. I heard of one guy who was holding his wife until the water washed her away from his grasp. This made me sob. Listening to a couple on the news this morning while getting ready talking about losing all their family antiques and possessions. I just always put myself in other people's places. It is a terrible weakness, I think. I believe it comes from my experiences as a childhood cancer survivor. I always knew how horrible my life was, but there was always someone worse off and it made me feel guilty for not having it THAT bad. Why them? Life seems so unfair. *see life lesson* Then, I knew it was more than sympathy when I cried at Girl Scout commercial on the radio. Ahhh, PMS has come to pay me a visit. *deep sigh*

Anyway, say some prayers for people today. I will be.

Going where no man has gone before

Army Wife suggested I totally get my dork on and dress up in a Starfleet uniform to go to the comic con in October. I thought about it and did some web searches for costumes. Because, seriously, I can use it for costume parties, Halloween (I am such a dork, I always dress up when I take the kids trick or treating and they always say: Let me guess mom, you're going to be an M&M again!) So, I did some looking and found some good ones, but this one is making me giggle my evil laugh. Can you see all the dorks popping boners if I wore this one to the comic con:


Of course I won't look like that in it, but AoD and I could play "away mission" a few times while I wear it.

Hmm. I'll keep looking, but this is on the short list. *giggling* Get it? Short list. Oh ok, so it wasn't that funny.

Warp Factor 9: engage

Dork status is elevated because I would totally wear this:


Want one?

Setting up shop

Ok, I'm just thinking that I ought to get in on this frenzy of all the bloggers having their own "gear" through CafePress. I bought Army of Dad a coff-ay mug from Odd Todd and I have the "canned person" baseball jersey. I even have a Baby Blues Motherhood is Not for Wimps shirt I got on CafePress.

But, the idea of women in tight shirts wearing AoM shirts or babies wearing AoM bibs is just rich.

What would be my slogans? Ideas:
Army of Mom
Not that I'm bitter or anything.
WTF?
Where you going? Nowhere! That's right. Nowhere.
I do more before 8 a.m. than most people do all day
Screw you
Because I'm the mom - that's why!
Eat your hot dog or you get nothing!
Fishsticking moonbats
Don't use your hair for a napkin
Don't put your hands in it!
Did you brush your teeth?
Why are your shoes not on yet?
Lay down and go to sleep!
You're going to drive me to drink
So, THAT is where the grey hairs come from
Mom of three, keeper of all things

I'm sure there are MANY more things I say regularly ... but these hopped out at me. Who's buying my stuff if I start a store?

Food wars

Hot Rod doesn't realize the opponent he faces with Army of Dad. While the stubborn six-year-old has been winning some battles, the war is FAR from over.

AoD defeated Pickle in Food Wars 1. Hot Rod has yet to be defeated. He has lost battles, but not the war yet.

He is standing against a formidable foe. I pity the child. Really, I do. He is so stubborn though. I anticipate this war dragging on. I hope we don't lose public support either. The media will rally to the cause of the child who is forced to eat hot dogs or go hungry.

Saturday and Sunday, both days, we were eating hot dogs for lunch. First off, it is what we had that was simple and quick and we were hot and tired from soccer. Well, Hot Rod doesn't do hot dogs. You would have thought we were making the child eat spinach, broccoli and liver all rolled into one big casserole (or hot dish to you yankees). So, the child, gagged, spit, cried, etc. at the thought of eating one small bite of hot dog. Both days, sent to his room crying with nothing to eat.

I foresee the protests to AoD's dictatorship that the child must eat what he is fed. I see the media rallying to the poor child's protestations that he doesn't want to eat a bite of hot dog.

It will be called Hot Rod's hunger strike support group ... they'll plop down on our front yard with protest songs. Cookie Monster will come and strum his guitar singing "C is for cookie, it's good enough for me."

AoD - you food terrorist. Making your child try bites of food and then letting him go hungry when he refuses.

*I'm just glad AoD hasn't tried this on me.*

Conservative match

Nothing like writing on deadline at 11 p.m. on a Sunday night when all I want to do is sleep to make me surf the net.

*rolling my eyes*

But, I found this and couldn't resist.

Conservative Match's little catch phrase is "Sweethearts, not bleeding hearts"

I cracked up. The add showed a woman saying something about not wanting to date another liberal guy.

Too funny.

Third place finish

Last year, we "earned" a third place tournament win in the spring, but this time, we WON our third place finish in the DSA fall kick-off tournament. We won our third place game this afternoon 5-0. We had a couple more points, but bad officiating cost us one or two goals. It was awesome. We're so proud of these boys. We have seven boys from our team last season and got eight new players. About four of them played together on a team last year with a couple of new kids tossed in there, too. But, they did such a good job.

Here is a team picture from yesterday.

Pickle and Coach with the trophy.

And the team celebrating their third place win.

Good job boys. Well done.

Gettin' my dork on

Jonathan Frakes is going to be at the Dallas Comic Con in October!!!! I'm so excited.

One of my other geeky friends who is into anime called me today and called me a dork. Whenever he needs a dork fix, he calls me.

*sigh*

But, I'm going to start saving my money for my autograph and pic of Commander Riker.

Soccer tournament

*sigh*

As much as Army of Dad LOVES soccer tournaments, I hate them. Shh. Don't tell him that.

It is a pain in the ass for me. I have to coordinate everything, make sure we're not missing anything and corral my kids and combat the heat, etc. etc. Just a lot of work and our teams always get whooped at tournaments and that isn't fun either. AoD gets crabby at the mistakes, crappy reffing, you name it ... just is NOT fun for me.

Hopefully, it won't be as bad I'm imagining.

ADDENDUM: Soccer game was friggin hot and we lost. Kids showed that they can play pretty well overall, though. So, that is good. Just tired of all the parents trying to tell me how to coach the game. I finally told one dad that he should sign up to coach since he has so many ideas about how to run the team. He finally shut up. This will be our last season coaching Pickle. He is tired of it and wants to try something new and I'm tired of all the headaches of tracking down and coordinating 15 families, coughing up tourney entry money till the parents pay us back, not having time for my family ... anyway. So, we're doing with this after this season. Pickle wants to take up tennis.

Our game tonight was cancelled because the other team was a no-show. So, no game tonight. Thankfully. I have work to do. We play for third place tomorrow.

Prickly heat

There are some casulaties here to the 100+ degree heat here. My thighs and those of my poor eldest boy who inherited my tendency for my thighs to rub together. Even when I was a skinny high school gal I had this problem.

Hasn't been a problem for either of us till we hit triple digits. So, the heat rash sucks and makes life miserable. But, it also makes me laugh when I think of the MASH episode where Hot Lips got prickly heat on her "cute little caboose" as Col. Potter called it.

Wish someone would call me Hot Lips.

;)

Now playing

Ok, had to pull out the Steely Dan Greatest Hits and replace it with The Refreshments because "everybody knows the world is full of stupid people" and they mention Jean Luc Picard in the lyrics.

Can't go wrong with a song that references Star Trek: TNG.

And, you know, there is the line to meet me at midnight at the mission and we'll divvy up there ... because THAT seems fair.

See, there is a whole THEME to today's blog:
stupid people
fairness
Star Trek - ok, not today, but often enough

A philosophy I need to adapt

It's called the Fuck It philosophy. Thanks to Random and Odd for outlining it for me.

Why can't I do this? I, too, suffer from the "talking it to death" disease. Why can't I just throw my arms up in the air and say Who Cares? Fuck it.

But.I.just.can't.do.it.

Army of Dad sees me crying because of whatever (I don't need good reasons to cry) and after he laughs when he figures out it is because the baby is pretty much potty trained or Hot Rod has finally learned to tie his shoes and I'm just crying because they don't need me anymore *taking a deep breath as I try to continue this run-on sentence verbally* then he just shrugs, mentally says Fuck It and goes on. Nothing he can do to make me feel better because probably whatever he says is only going to make me cry more or, even worse, get mad at HIM instead.

So, I need to learn to do this. Are there support group meetings for this?

No? Well, fuck it.

Step one accomplished. Acknowledging I have a problem is the first step in recovery.

It's just not fair

My soon-to-be 11-year-old utters these words all the time. I can recall getting in trouble MANY times in high school for saying the same thing. The school's counselor claimed that she had no way to know how to advise most of us on career choices (like it was a problem for me, I was going to Baylor and that was that), but she made all of us take the ASVAB (not sure what the acronym is for or even if it is right, I'm sure its close). It is the Air Force's way of seeing where to place new recruits if I understand correctly. Well, effit, was my philosophy. I knew I was going to college, didn't need the recruiter's office calling me all the time and didn't want to take it. I had other things I could be doing. I told this to the counselor. She told me I had to take it. I told her it wasn't fair. Too bad.

Well, I'm sitting in there taking the stupid test when I see five of my friends walk by the cafeteria, look in the window, point at me and laugh. I fumed. I got up, picked up my stuff and went to my journalism classroom to work on the school paper.

The principal, herself, came down and got me and lectured me on responsibility and who knows what else. I told her that it wasn't fair that they didn't have to take it and her response:
LIFE ISN'T FAIR. THE SOONER YOU LEARN THIS, THE SOONER YOU'LL BE AN ADULT.

Those words have been etched on my brain by Leslie Horton. I still subscribe to them and use them as my mantra when shit happens.

Today, shit happened.

The airport employee newsletter comes out and highlights the airport's public affairs department. Let me back up and say I work on the communications team for the capital development program - which is all the new shit that opened this year. The regular airport PR folks didn't have time to deal with that and their regular stuff, so we came on board to handle it. Well, almost the entire story is about what a great job that department did on the opening of the new facilities and the channel 5 documentary on the new terminal and train. WTF????? I never ONCE saw any of them around when I was driving execs to and from interviews, sweating my ass off on the construction site, etc. for that show.

I'm so mad. I just want to scream IT ISN'T FAIR! WE DID ALL THE WORK AND GET NONE OF THE CREDIT!

But, life isn't fair.

*sigh* Where is my Dr Pepper and a brownie? This requires something sweet.

Heartfelt thank you

I was working at Terminal D and waiting to escort some photographers into the secured side when I saw an email printed out for the volunteers to read. It is so awesome that I had to share it. You may recall that I took some pics of the terminal's opening day, which included a big welcome home to the states to the troops who were coming in that day. Well, the text below came from a soldier who flew in (don't know when) and was "blown away" by the wonderful welcome he received. The water salute he mentions is our "shower of affection" which includes the fire trucks shooting water from each side of the plane as a special welcome. I thought it would be nice to share:

I just returned from a glorious two week leave in the great state of Texas. I expected to arrive in Dallas, wander to my connecting flight to Houston and get home without any real memory of DFW. Instead, I was blown away by the whole experience. I was surprised by the water salute, but when I found the reception at the gate it was all I could do to choke back the tears. I sit here day after day in the dining facility and hear CNN report how everyone hates what we do and it makes it so hard to stay motivated. I wasn't born until 1968 but I have heard stories my whole life about Viet Nam vets getting spit upon in the San Francisco Airport as they arrived home. Of course, I always knew that there were huge differences between Dallas and San Francisco, but as a Houstonian I have also always had little love for Dallas. That will certainly change now.
Thank you so much for the completely unexpected and wonderful welcome. I really don't know how I can ever express the gratitude I feel for the homecoming you gave us. It makes me prouder than ever to be a Texan, to be an American and to be a soldier. God bless you all.

*name withheld*
111th Area Support Group
Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan

-----
How cool is that? I emailed this guy today as I was posting this to let him know about it. I'm so glad it meant something to him. After I'm done working here, maybe the kids and I will go to the weekday welcomes when not as many people can come as those who came on July 23 when the photo below was taken. Check that out. Amazing how many people come out. Many are family, but a large percentage is volunteer-driven by the USO, VFW, etc.



God bless YOU guys for all you do. Your families, too, because they sacrifice so much, as well.

Friday's hunk of the week

Of course, I think he's hot, but women tell me all the time what a hot husband I have, so I thought, why not?

This week's hunk of the week: Army of Dad

He looks good in sunglasses.

He looks good shooting, too.

Oh yeah, and then there is this.

He's a good dad on top of it all, too. And a coach. Here he is before a game warming up the kids. Warms ME up, too!

So, there you have it ladies. Drool, but don't touch without permission first. ;)

I couldn't say it better myself

So, I won't even try.


Here is a soldier's mom who isn't a warmonger, but also doesn't agree with Cindy Sheehan.

Her son was injured Monday or Tuesday in Iraq. She has some sketchy details. She did get to talk to him, thankfully, and in typical soldier fashion - he got some chick's phone number while he was being treated. Hua! I love soldiers!

Thanks to ArmyWifeToddlerMom for the info. Say some prayers for SPC Noah P.

Another poor excuse for a mother

This bitch was convicted of prostituting her 14-year-old daughter.

The story from the Dallas Morning News:
An Irving woman turned her 14-year-old daughter into a sex slave who was raped by 100 to 150 men over several months, Dallas County prosecutors say.
Athena Stoddard was convicted Wednesday on charges of compelling prostitution and enabling sexual assault after her traumatized daughter testified against her. A judge also saw evidence that the child had suffered internal injuries and sexually transmitted diseases.
"She would drive her to these apartment complexes and round up men and tell them, 'Sex for money,' " prosecutor Michelle Willbanks said. "She was doing it for drug money."
Ms. Stoddard, 44, generally stayed nearby during the abuse, according to testimony, sometimes turning tricks with other men in the same room. Other times she simply waited for the strangers to finish with her daughter and then collected her fees.
The price of her only child's body: $20 to $50, depending on the type of sex.
"The girl said some days there were 15 or more men," Ms. Willbanks said, calling the case one of the most horrific she has seen in nearly a decade as a prosecutor. Many of the men became repeat customers, she said.
The girl ran away from home last fall, flagged down a police officer with the help of a passer-by and eventually was able to identify two of the rapists. Their cooperation helped the district attorney's office bring charges against Ms. Stoddard, who pleaded guilty to two charges of compelling prostitution and was found guilty by state District Judge Mark Nancarrow on two sexual assault charges.
Ms. Stoddard was sentenced to 20 years in prison on each of the pimping charges and 35 years on each of the assault charges.

Ok, there are just so many sick things here, I don't know where to start. First off, this bitch would take the child out of school and let men use her IN FRONT OF HER. I can't imagine what I would do if some man laid a hand on my child. Wait, yeah I can imagine what I'd do and it wouldn't be collecting money. I was date-raped in college and I guess it is called rape (no vaginal penetration, but forced oral) twice in high school. I know what it is like. I can't imagine what this child was going through to know that her mom cared so little for her that she would degrade her like this and damn, for $20 to $50. No wonder she had repeat customers. What sick bastards they are to violate a little girl. They had to know she wasn't of age and they did it anyway. Makes me sick to my stomach to think these assholes are walking the street. Story goes on to say that two of the guys were caught. One is being prosecuted, the other bailed out of jail and disappeared. Just sick. I hope this woman gets what is coming to her in jail.

Rock your body

I'm so cheesey today. Listening to my Justin Timberlake CD at work. It is perfect music for sitting in the cubicle and writing about the upgrades to the central utility plant.

Pinball thinking

Funny how one thing triggers a random string of thoughts for me. I call it pinball thinking because one thought bounces off another and then another and bounces all around.

I was shaving my legs tonight and my toes. Yes, I shave my toes. Then, it reminded me of how my landlord in Killeen surprised Army of Dad when he asked him if he thought I shaved my toes. AoD looked disgusted and said, of course she doesn't shave her toes. To which, I nodded, yes I do. Means I have good circulation. ;)

Anyway. Then, it made me think of my mom's intuition about my landlord. First day she met him, she said he was a slimeball. She was right. But, I didn't learn that until after AoD were married. Landlord and I went on one date right before I met AoD. He told me how he would love to have a ready-made family because he was in his 40s and really too late to start a family. I was single mom with a 2-year-old. I didn't put it together immediately though. The date we went on was to a big shindig for his fire department. He was always razzed for not having a date and I was available, so he asked me to go. In the months after AoD and I started dating, AoD started sensing the landlord's hostility toward him. As the months went by, he got more and more hostile. When AoD and I married, he started getting downright rude. It was sad. But, made me think tonight (while shaving my toes) how even my certifiably crazy mom had that mother's intuition that we all have from time to time.

Moms rock.

Bork Bork Bork

I got an email asking me to promote the release of The Muppet Show Season One. If you go to the link, you get a pop-up with some of the scenes off the DVD. I died when I saw the Swedish Chef preparing his "hotsie totsie" with all kinds of Tabasco, chili powder, etc.

My love for the Swedish Chef lies in my childhood. My dad used to cook and he'd toss his wooden spoons and sing Bork Bork Bork much to my delight. I usually rolled in the floor with laughter. A couple of weeks ago, we went to visit my folks and he did it again. Still, to this day, I laugh so hard my sides ache. My kids laughed, too. Not because they got the joke, but because it is just funny to see Papa do that.

I got a little email (because I am a major blogger, after all - thanks Cashin) asking me to plug the DVD release. In great American style, I asked what I get out of it. I got a promise of a really cool Kermit the Frog shirt. So, I am holding out for my shirt. Will model it for a picture when I get it.

But, I digress. I love The Muppets and faithfully watched the half-hour show every Sunday night at 6 p.m. For a while (if my old memory serves me correctly) they were on opposite the Disney Sunday movie on ABC. But, I watched the Muppets and then flipped over to the Disney show late.

There is a good Muppets official site and if you go to the little compass on the far left corner of the main page and go the Swedish Chef's Kitchen, you can smack de snackees. Pretty fun.

Suddenly, I have a taste for Chocolate Moose.

Updated weather forecast

I was wrong on Monday, here is the update:

Today: Tartar-saucing hot
Thursday: Hotter than a feverish Jessica Simpson
Friday: frying an egg on the pavement hot
Saturday: effing hot (yet again)

Was 102 officially yesterday, supposed to be close to that today. Was 85 at 9 a.m. this morning.

Where is Nelly to sing the hot in herre song when I need him?

What's missing?

Flipping channels today and heard an old 70s rock song.

Made me think of something rock songs today are missing: more cowbell.

Not a lot of cowbell in Papa Roach and Chevelle. No sirree.

More cowbell, I say.

Soccer mom stuff

I just wanted to find one of those "I love soccer moms" t-shirts for Army of Dad. I never found it on my web search, but I did find one that says "I bang soccer moms". I guess that is close. I guess AoD could wear one of the "soccer moms are easy" shirts, too. I find it funny.



Then I found the Soccer Moms for Peace and thought I was going to retch up my supper.

To quote the website: "Now, with conflicts all over the world, it is more crucial than ever to let our leaders know that most mainstream Americans, regardless of political affiliation, prefer peaceable solutions to world conflicts. We need to reaffirm our commitment to peace, and we need to do it publicly so that our leaders are not emboldened to engage in ever-expanding military confrontations throughout the world."

Yeah, I think it will be really successful if we sit down with Yassar Arafat and talk. You can see how far that has gotten the Israelis. Yeah, and maybe we should sit down with North Korea's Kim Jong-il and tell him that we don't want him playing with nukes. Yeah, that will bring the peace.

I'm sorry. I just threw up a little in my mouth.

It is like so many things. Violence is sometimes the only way to get these goatfuckers to listen up and change their ways. Having Joan Baez strumming the guitar only makes Osama Bin Laden laugh hysterically that we let these smelly hippie women out to speak their minds. It does little to influence whether they want to blow me up or not. However, if there is a boot standing on their throats, guess what? They may take their finger off the trigger so they don't get killed. It is just like raising kids. Growing up, I was WAY more likely to obey my folks' wishes if I thought I might get a whooping if I didn't. Talking to me was REAL successful. *rolling my eyes*

I REALLY went off on a tangent here.

Daily affirmation

Apparently I'm having a Stuart Smalley kind of day:
I'm Good Enough, I'm Smart Enough, and Doggone It, People LikeMe!

I was so happy when I woke up and put on my best outfit. I say best because it makes me look great. If I could buy every pair of pants Old Navy made in this style, I would. They make my butt look so great. They're comfortable, too, which is an added plus. (I even bought them on th sale rack for $7.50, which makes them even greater!) I have on a top I got at Foley's for $8 on sale, too. It is a scoop neck poly/spandex blend. Kind of a wild 70s print, but it fits really nicely. Accentuates my boobs, too.

I just feel good about myself. So, I'm not sure ... do I look that good or is the confidence just alluring to people?

I had two different coworkers come by to look at me. One guy says, I heard your butt looks good today, can I see? Then another one comes over and asks me Were you born beautiful or do you have to work at it?

*I'm all verklempt*

Now if the cowboy said something to me, I'd probably wet myself. Think I'm searching ebay for replicas of this shirt and these pants in every color.

Gratuitous cute bunnies

I can't believe I forgot to post this. After we left the duToit home Saturday evening, I look down the road and see three things running frantically and quickly from one side of the street to the other, in and out of parked cars and into shrubs. I look at AoD and ask him if those are rabbits. He looked at me like I had bugs crawling out of my eyes and said "I don't see anything." So, the reporter in me (which is just a nice way to say that I'm nosey as hell) got the best of me and I drove down the road. Sure enough, there are three little jackrabbits playing a rousing game of tag. We just sat in the street and watched for a good 10 minutes, much to the children's delight. I'm sure AoD was wondering which caliber of ammo would be perfect to explode these cute bunnies or take them down for a rabbit quesadilla. Regardless they were cute as all get out.

Funny part? The duToit household is smack dab in the middle of the burbs, not out in the boonies. That was what made this scene so absolutely peculiar. These bunnies were in the middle of the burbs.

Anyway. Enjoy the cute bunnies. We did.

Is it Friday yet?

Tea at the duToit's

Of course, we were running late on Saturday afternoon. We were waiting for Stinkerbelle to wake up from her nap because we didn't want an unhappy toddler at a friend's home. No sirree. Then, we catch EVERY light between our hours and theirs. Oddly enough, Kim and Connie duToit only live about 30 to 40 minutes away from us. So, we arrive about a half-hour late. Thankfully, Army of Dad hasn't gone completely ape-shit because he HATES to be late. So, we arrive, chit chat a bit and then sit down to tea. It was quite nice. I have never really drank hot tea since I grew up here in Texas where everything is iced orange pekoe tea. Occasionally someone gets fancy and puts some peach, mint or raspberry in their tea. So, I had my first hot tea with milk. If you didn't know, Kim is from South Africa. So, we also had these fabulous little tea cookie-cracker things. Yummy. The Mrs. made tasty little sandwiches and some cakes the the children LOVED. It was quite nice. We talked about a variety of things from how AoD and I met to what happens when all the cycles of all the women in a household get synchronized to how nice boobs can be except when they are on your daughter. In that case, they should be covered up.

Hot Rod discovered a coffee table with money inside of it and asked Kim and Connie if he could see it. Connie was lovely with him and explained all of it to him. It consisted, essentially, of souvenirs from their world travels. There were all kinds of currency from Iraq to Germany and many others, too. Here is Connie explaining the money to Hot Rod while Kim and AoD fondle Kim's wide variety of ammo. He apparently collects a variety of interesting cartridges for comparison purposes. AoD was enjoying handling all of them.

Connie and Kim were WAY patient with my kids in ways I am not. Hot Rod even spilled a 7-Up on the money and they didn't freak. I did.

Stinkerbelle and Hot Rod enjoyed making music. Here's the I Did It move. She looks like she may have the long fingers for the piano. Hmm.

Here is the testosterone-filled shot. Look at the lusty way AoD is looking at that cartridge.
We wound up staying till about 7:30 or later. We got there about 4:30. We knew it was time to go when Stinkerbelle came up to me and said "Mama, I ti-uhed." She crawled up in my lap and then she was getting really crabby when we didn't leave immediately.

All in all, it was very nice. They're good folks. I'm sure AoD will have somethings to add in the comments that I left out.

AoM addendum: Here is Kim's post about the 25-06 AoD brought him (it actually came from a gun AoD's grandfather gave him.)

Talk about a shitty restaurant

Not sure where this is or what it is, a friend sent these pics to me. But, this has to be a shitty restaurant. I wouldn't be eating there.

I can see the menu now:
my dad's favorite entree to annoy me as a child: shit on a shingle

used in a sentence:
Dad, what are we having for dinner tonight?
Shit on a shingle.
Thanks dad.

Gives a whole new meaning to the poo poo platter at the Chinese restaurant.

Local weather forecast

Monday - effing hot
Tuesday - hot
Wednesday - still hot
Thursday - even hotter
Friday - hot as Hades

Get the idea?

More on the furry front

I haven't blogged about Furries in a while, so when a comment on a previous furry post, I felt inclined to talk more about Furries. I am fascinated. I may make Army of Dad raise an eyebrow at the fascination, but it is interesting to me.

Ekiofox had this to say:
As a furry my self and a sex fiend, i personally love yiff. the stories are not really much different than say penthouse and the art is always fun. I am not a fursuiter and though i have at times worn a pair of ears and a tail, I don't think I could handle bieng in a mascots uniform. If they make them more form fitting like clothes then mabye I could but to yiff in them would be gross to me. think of all the time you'd have to spend cleaning that thing. And as far as them bieng anatomically correct i can see that since Zeta creations makes anatomically correct animal parts. well just thought i'd put in my two cents. thanks for listening.

So, I found this Furry 101 for everybody. What is going to be amusing is if I find myself taking on some animal personality and get into the Furry scene. Hee hee. Any local Furry clubs out there? There has to be one or two in the greater Metroplex. There is a fetish for everything, I think.

Hmm, Hobbit love club, anyone? I will be the president.

Being a woman

My mosaic artist friend shared this with me and I really like it. It reminds me that I need to write more. When I was a young woman in my 20s, I wrote lots of poetry. Much of it was about my longing to have more intimacy and be desirable. I wrote some about loneliness, depression, etc. after my divorce, but I really haven't written any since then. Maybe in my plethora of free time I'll give it another shot. But, for now, I'll enjoy other's work. This one is byJayne Relaford Brown.

I Am Becoming The Woman I've Wanted

I AM BECOMING
the woman I've wanted,
grey at the temples,
soft body, delighted,
cracked up by life
with a laugh that's
known bitter
but, past it, got better,
knows she's a survivor
that whatever comes,
she can outlast it.
I am becoming a deep
weathered basket.
I am becoming the woman
I've longed for,
the motherly lover
with arms strong and tender,
the growing up daughter
who blushes surprises.
I am becoming full moons
and sunrises.
I find her becoming,
this woman I've wanted,
who knows she'll encompass,
who knows she's sufficient,
knows where she's going
and travels with passion.
Who remembers she's precious,
but knows she's not scarce
who knows she is plenty,
plenty to share.

Like fine wine

There are some people who are blessed with talent, others with good looks, some with pleasant personalities. Then, occasionally, you run across someone who is all of the above and you wonder how you were so fortunate to get to know that person. What wondrous thing did I do to deserve the privilege of knowing this person?

I have met one such person. We stumbled upon each other actually. Between work and my blog. It is sort of funny how I have become acquainted with this incredible lady that I hope to one day really call a friend.

Sisterhood is what she says has made us have a bond.

I'm talking about Julie Richey, the wonderful artist who installed the Judy Hearst medallion at the airport. Today, she came by for another media spot and brought me a thank you gift. She gave me a nice bottle of wine with the artwork on the label. That was really cool, but the coolest part ... she burned me three CDs: one for me, one for my kids and one for my mom. She heard about mom's stroke and put together some various styles of music for her including some Gregorian chants that she had read are good for helping keep stroke patients sharp. This morning, my daughter danced to the CD Julie made for the kids. I haven't listened to mine yet, but I have a feeling I'm in for a treat.

Wow. Talk about an overachiever. Thanks for being such a great person. I look forward to getting to know you better.

Funeral march

I can't believe I didn't blog about this immediately when I read it. I think it was because my computer locked up. But, I read the funniest damn thing that made me feel like I'm not necessarily the only mom in the world whose children do things to embarrass us. Unfortunately for ArmyWife ToddlerMom, it happened at grandma's funeral and sharing it with others was almost as funny. If you need a laugh today, go read it.

The first time

No, not THAT first time. That was more anti-climatic (and I TRULY mean that, but that is another blog post entirely).

No, the first time this morning .... *drum roll please* For Hot Rod to take a toy gun and shoot Stinkerbelle's baby doll. Of course, this led to another first, banshee screams as she was running to cream him for shooting her baby.

Ahh, another milestone in my motherhood.

Major Blogger

I often giggle and joke that I'm a "major blogger." God love Cashin for it. He made the comment that he was honored to be blogrolled by me since I'm a major blogger. Uh, no, I'm not. I only get about 550 hits a day, which isn't too shabby. But, today, I'm going to meet a Major Blogger. *yes, I capitalized the words on purpose*

Army of Dad has been there before to swap some kind of weapon accessories and visited for a while, but today, me, AoD and the kids are going to have tea and hang out with Kim duToit. It is sort of like being a big baseball fan and you get to go have a beer with Ken Griffey Jr., Nolan Ryan or Travis Fryman (Ok, so the last one isn't that big of a name, but I'd pee my pants to have lunch - or anything else *wink* - with Travis Fryman).

Kim IS a Major Blogger. He gets more than 8,000 hits a day. 8,000. Just about any conservative blog-reader and pretty much any Second Amendement advocate who is blog savvy knows who Kim du Toit is. Wow. I'm in awe. He blogrolled me recently, too, upon my request. That was pretty cool.

After a morning of soccer practices, grocery shopping, hopefully napping from a long night out with AoD last night *hubba hubba* we'll go and I'll be cool as a cucumber while I mentally note everything that I see and hear. Oh yeah, I'll take my camera, too, for posterity. Kim may be big on shooting with ammo, but I'm big on shooting with my Fujifilm 3800. And, if AoD and I get to fondle some guns while we're there, that's cool, too.

I just hope I don't do the Wayne and Garth "we're not worthy" move on him. Gotta be cool. Composed.

Happy Anniversary

Today is the 16th anniversary of my bestest friend and her hubby (also the godparents of Hot Rod).

This is them at TS's 35th birthday party last November.

Happy Anniversary guys. I love you. You're the only woman I'd put baby's breath in my hair for! Ok, I would have done it for LabKat, but I wouldn't have been any happier about it. (Thanks for the Vegas nuptials, Kat!)

Tell me I'm wrong

Engineers are hard people to interview. A bubbly talkative personality is not a strong point in being a good engineer.

Discuss.

Panty patrol

I blame Army of Dad for this. Because I never would have noticed these things otherwise. But, as a lover of female butts, he notices what kinds of panties women are wearing. He can spot a thong or a G-string from 20 paces easily.

And, he informed me that most men do this. A chick walks by, the notice if she has panty lines, none, a thong, etc.

So, now he has me doing it. Between him and the British gals from What Not to Wear, I am in full fledge critique mode of women's undergarment selections. I notice if the bra doesn't fit right and it squishes her boobs in the middle like a little booby fat roll. I notice when women have granny panties on and leave giant panty lines and my least favorite are the gals who wear the low-rise jeans and regular briefs. They might be pretty satin Victoria's Secret briefs, but they look bad when you see two inches of panties out the top of your pants when you sit down.

It makes me self-conscious when I'm getting dressed in the morning. I have to look at my backside in the mirror to see if I'm sporting panty lines or what.

So, what made me go off on this tirade? Well, I caught the hot cowboy here checking out my ass when I was walking in the back door a few minutes ago after turning in my time card. I made a good choice today of my T-back Victoria's Secret panties. *whew* Really glad for that. Cute cowboy almost ran over me in the parking lot ... thought about jumping out in front of the truck with hopes that he'd give me mouth to mouth.

But, alas. I'm too chicken to get hit by a truck. Even for that guy.

Save a horse, ride a cowboy. Oops, where did that come from?

All-American girl

Sweet little Stinkerbelle, who has hit her terrible twos in full recently, was very excited this morning to get her new sneakers. They're red and white striped with a blue field on the toe sporting white stars. Paired with her Old Navy romper featuring a flag on the chest, she proclaimed:

Wook! Two wags!
Wag on my shoot and wag on my woos!

Wook Mama, wags on my woos!

He really loves me

There are times when I doubt Army of Dad's love for me. He isn't one to bombard me with compliments. He doesn't always say what he feels. He isn't that kind of guy. He's big, hairy, scratches ... you get the idea ... a man's man. And, for that, I love him. He's tender at the right moments: helping me maintain my dignity when he has to clean my post-op wounds, holding my hand through painful medical procedures, teasing me when I am anxious and cry to try and get me to smile, brushing back my hair and holding my hand when I give birth to his children.

And, then, there are times when he conveys just how much he loves me without ever having to say it. It may be mentioning a song that makes him think of me or maybe it is a blog post.

This is one of those. Just a quick email with a link. Nothing more. But, it speaks volumes. As I sit here with tears in my eyes wondering why we were arguing for three days. Wondering why I let my pride interfere with my love for this man. I'm reading my Wil Wheaton book and he recalls the losses of people he loves in it and he encourages others to let go of petty things and play catch with your kids instead of watching the news, hug your spouse instead of playing poker online ... he's right.

Thanks to Mrs. DuToit for this lovely post about a husband's love and welcome to my blogroll.

Friday's hunk of the week

I love baseball. The way the uniforms fit those dudes' bodies only helps me love this sport even more. No pads to get in the way of showing off those muscular legs and hot butts ... what a great sport!

When I lived in Midland for a few years, I got to know some of the minor league baseball players by going out to all the games. One young man - Mark Sweeney - was extremely hot, very sweet and I got to know his parents. They even sent me some gifts after they came out to Midland to see him play for a homestand. I made brownies for the players and embroidered some pillow cases with the Midland Angels logo on them for some of the guys that I liked best. I thought that was a good memento of their time in Midland. Useful, too, since a lot of these guys were worse than college guys about having linens, dishes, etc. I think that is where many of my forks went, now that I think about it.

But, I digress. Sweeney is now playing for the Padres and he is still hot.

And, see what I mean about the pants on his butt?
Found a nice picture of him on this lady's fansite. I have a similar picture of me with half of the Midland Angels, including Sweeney somewhere in one of my photo albums. Maybe I'll find it and scan it in later this weekend in my plethora of free time. Anyway, this lady has glowing things to say about Mark and I agree. He is sweet and really tartar saucing hot. Not a bad ball player either. Ok, I stole the gal's pic and edited Mark out of it to show how handsome he is.


See, ladies - you should be paying attention when your men are watching sports. If nothing else, there is lots of testosterone and eye candy!!!

*whew*

5:53 p.m. As I'm turning off the loop and onto the road where the soccer fields are, Hot Rod says:
Mom, where are my shin guards and soccer shoes?

Christ, almighty.

Turn around, cursing up a storm of eff bombs that is still lingering over North Denton.

Army of Dad met up with a friend briefly after work and got stuck in traffic. I was going to have to do practice and here I am turning around to go back for the child's soccer gear. I remembered every thing else:
AoD's coach's badge and whistle
coach's bag
soccer balls
cooler with water
my coach's badge

But, not the child's shoes and shin guards.

*punching steering wheel*

Oh yeah, I forgot my phone, too, so I couldn't even call another mom to tell her to warn the parents that, I am, indeed, on my way.

Run in grab shoes, shin guards and phone. Frantically call the one mom whose cell phone number I remember. She is the only one there. *whew*

Everyone was five to 10 minutes late. Normally, that would tick me off. Today, I was grateful. Talked to the boys briefly and then played a rousing game of Cowboys and Indians until AoD showed up.

Thank God HE coaches the team and not me.

Infections, strokes and books: Oh my!

Just got back from the plastic surgeon. He checked out my incision and said it is FINALLY appearing to heal and to go ahead and start using the Mederma scar cream (to help the scar fade). He said the culture results from my abcess did show staph infection and it looks like I probably have staph bacteria that just live inside me and attack me at weak points. Lovely, huh? Anyway. He told me to keep that in the back of my mind all the time. He also wants me to come back in a month and he'll take some post-surgery pics of my tummy and he is going to give me my before and after pics. Told him I wasn't sure I wanted the before pics and he laughed. So, that will be totally weird to see. It is also weird that my stomach had feeling in it when my staples were removed back in June, but now it is pretty numb. He actually poked me with a sharp instrument and it just felt like he was pushing on it with his finger. He said that was really weird. But, that's me. Really weird.

Good news about my mom. Her doctor and physical therapist both released her from her rehab. It was a month ago today that she had her stroke. I can't believe they released her. But, I guess they know what they're doing. Overall, she is doing really well. Just weak. But, I guess that will just take time.

And lastly, I got my copy of Just a Geek in the mail today. I may start reading it today. I love the art on the back slip cover. It has a pic of Wil wearing a shirt that says "I'm blogging this." Totally incredible. I NEED THAT SHIRT!!

New ways to kill one's self

Gees. It never ends, does it? New ways for teens to try and get high and wind up killing themselves instead.

I remember the death of a classmate's girlfriend when I was just in the seventh grade. This boy was in the eighth grade and had moved to the Metroplex from Houston. His girlfriend was back in Houston and one night she was going to get high by putting liquid paper in a paper sack and inhaling the fumes from it. Well, she got high, passed out and the liquid paper got in her nasal passage and she died. I was a kid and don't remember why, but that freaked my shit as a kid. Made me NEVER want to do something stupid like that.

Today, I got an email from a friend about huffing the canned air stuff that you use to clean off your keyboard. I took notice because we actually have a can of that crap sitting on my desk at home. Not wanting to believe a kid could die from it, I snopesed it and sure enough, it is true and a real danger. Apparently, it is most common among kids about 14 to 19 who want the thrill.

Crazy the things we have to educate our children about ... I always worry that by giving them the idea they didn't have before, I may plant the seed to try it. I certainly hope not because the goal is to educate them of the potential danger and convey that the 10-second high is not worth dying or being brain damaged.

Girls' night out

Friday night before I hit the gay bars with one group of friends, I went out to happy hour with the girls from work to celebrate one of the ladies' birthdays.

Here is the whole group:

Birthday girl is the girl on the far right.

Mmm, Texas toast with cream gravy. Why the birthday girl took this picture, I'm not sure. Funny thing is that she took a picture of everyone's cleavage that night. So, our CD of pics has everyone's boobs. Sort of amusing in a weird kind of way.

But, she said they looked like they need to be touched. So, she sort of did. Looks like the way my kids took naps as babies.

We were buying her drinks ... this was just the beginning.

Good night. I need more of these ladies' nights out!

First day of school

Sister was giving her brothers hugs this morning as she told them good bye. It was really very sweet. Both boys told me they had a great day. Hot Rod told me "I love the first grade!" I hope that enthusiasm sticks around. Pickle's class was pretty much him. He is in specialized classes for kids who need help with peer relationships, so he was loving having it solely to himself!


*sigh* My boys are so big now.

The Bush loyalty quiz

Wow. Not quite sure I agree with this finding:

Your score is 10 on a scale of 1 to 10. You are a True Believer in President Bush. Your loyalty and devotion to him is matched only by your desire to see his liberal detractors locked away and declared enemy combatants. If all Americans thought as you did, and were it constitutionally viable, George W. Bush would be president for life.

I don't think I want him to be president for life. He still has a few things that I disagree with.
Take the Bush loyalty quiz. I'm scared to see what LabKat would get. I wonder if you can get negative numbers for your score?

An arm and a leg

It wasn't that long ago that Army of Dad could fill up his little economy car for about $12. Last week, it was $26. Today, I was happy to find gas that was only $2.50 per gallon. How ironic is that?

What price is freedom worth?

I don't know that I'd want to sacrifice my children in the name of a free country. But, what if my child was an adult who willingly went to serve his country? What if he volunteered to preserve our way of life? What if he wanted to see that others in the world had a chance to taste freedom? What if he were willing to lay down his life, if necessary, to protect others and ensure that our country would be free from terrorist attacks?

I couldn't tell him not to go - especially if he were an adult - because I have taught my children than our way of life has not come without high prices to pay. Many men and women have given their lives to allow us to be free. In the past, we drafted military men. Today, men and women freely give their lives over to the service of our country. Some have died for us. Some have been maimed for us. Willingly, and most often, enthusiastically they signed up to join.

I have stayed away from blogging on this subject, but I ran across a great editorial in the Christian Science Monitor about Cindy Sheehan. It compares her to Akbar Ganji. He is an Iranian journalist who wants to see his country have freedom. He has been jailed on a charge of being "un-Islamic" because he demands democratic reform in Iran.

Sheehan, on the other hand, "doesn't think the US should be in Iraq, helping the Iraqis build a democracy as a model for other Middle East nations and, as Mr. Bush would argue, help the region stop being a breeding ground for terrorists,"according to the editorial.

Wow. I am so glad to live in a country where people like Ms. Sheehan has the right to disagree with the president, be a pain in the ass at his home and she even has her own hippie following of lefties who like to skip baths and scream Bush lied, people died and no blood for oil. This guy is willing to rot in jail for the chance to simply disagree with his government and to have the right to free speech.

Hmm. Imagine that? Wonder why we are in the Middle East fighting these terrorist fishsticking buttwipes ... hmm. Let's ask Akbar what he thinks. Oh wait, we can't. He is in jail for being un-Islamic and speaking his mind. Hmm. What other reasons could we be in Iraq? Oh yeah, to steal their oil. Oh wait, my gas prices are $2.59 a gallon. Nope, that can't be it.

Hmm ....

Can't make this shit up

Driving back to work from running to Target during lunch and hear a radio spot for Benjamin Moore paints. Their toll-free telephone line is 1-800-BMcolor. Swear to God. The marketing team apparently has no new moms, daycare providers or pediatric nurses on their staff of they'd know that we immediately hear BM and think of poop and the color part of it just makes it all the richer! I can't tell you how many times I'd call the pediatrician when Pickle was a baby and they'd ask about his BMs or I'd call and tell them he had an orange BM, what does that mean? (by the way, baby poop can change colors based on what they eat). But, I digress.

I really thought about calling and asking whoever answers how many poop jokes they get each day. I bet they get a few crank calls every now and then.

1-800-BMcolor

*chuckling*

Meet the teacher night

Tomorrow is the first day of school for the boys and we had meet the teacher tonight. Looks pretty good. Hot Rod's class only has 12 kids in it right now. Teacher said she doesn't anticipate more than 16!! Rock on.

Pickle will have the same teacher, so he is in good shape there.
Uzz came by to greet the teacher, too, and bring the rest of the boy's school supplies.
Little girl was a big helper, too. I rolled the boys' school supplies up in boxes and she insisted on pulling the box with the supplies we didn't need back out to the car.
So, now all we have to do is have our shit together and be there on time in the morning. Another morning of mom crying as she entrusts her children's education to someone else. Guess I should be praying for those teachers!!!

Ego girl returns

There are moments when I truly doubt myself and other times when I feel pretty pumped up about what a good job I must be doing to get where I'm going. Today, I went to meet with a couple of folks about writing some of the marketing materials for the $565 million Gaylord Texan. I suppose if people think I'm good enough to do that and be one of a four-person team working on communications for a $2.1 billion capital development project ... maybe I'm not doing too badly.

Now, if only my pocketbook could reflect my success, then we'd be doing well.

*shrug*

Here are some pictures of this place. It is incredible. The resort is like its own city and is really pretty. It has its own riverwalk and several restaurants and stores.

This flower is a bromeliad.

These are rose begonias. I had never seen anything like them. The foliage and flowers in this place were incredible and worthy of a look on their own.

The waterfall is realy pretty. Apparently, at night, they light up and do a water and light show. All of this is in an atrium.

This is inside the Lone Star atrium and shows hotel rooms.

Outside the convention center part of the resort is this sclupture.

Pretty interesting stuff. Worst part, though, is a deadline of WEDNESDAY!!! I should have put in a bigger bid!