Better late than never

Things that make me happy...

• ~new shoes
• ~new purses
• ~finding the above mentioned in perfect condition at a thrift store. :)
• ~chocolate
• ~hard grapes
• ~bloggy friends
• ~mysteries
• ~travel
• ~my children
• ~my brother who just might be my (other) best friend
• ~music that moves me
• ~warm laundry
• ~the big "O" (c'mon, I used to be the "smut queen" so I think this is allowed)
• ~going to lunch with my dad
• ~unexpected time alone
• ~stargazing, especially with a friend (better seeing shooting stars with someone, than alone)
• ~going to the movies
• ~talking on the phone with a good friend

Alrighty, this was late in coming but the time was right, I think. I hope everyone has a great and safe holiday weekend. Have a good one!

rambling...

I have nothing in particular to say so I'm not sure why I am compelled to update but here goes;

One, Seana, you are one of the least whiny people I know. I miss being able to comment on your blog. That is all. :)

Two, I have some serious issues with OT right now but don't know how to express them. I *will* say (possibly to the disdain of some of my bloggy friends) that the women's worth thread is irritating the hell out of me. I'm certainly not going to argue that sexism does not exist and that some have been personally effected by it, but I will say that in that thread, some women are really looking for an argument. When someone comes in and says they haven't seen it (sexism), or that their spouse is paid equally, they are prodded to explain themselves as if they are somehow in disagreement with it. I guess that I either live in a bubble, or that some women are *looking* for the inequality. I think this spans across issues besides this one, as well. I can't say I have ever felt unfairly treated nor do I know anyone who has. *shrug* YMMV

Three, I am sick and tired of the hateful posts made on OT. I don't know if I am biased for some reason or what, but I feel that some of the more "open-minded liberals" are far more bigoted towards conservatives than the other way around. I can't tell you how often I agree with what a liberal leaning peep is saying, but am so turned off by their holier than thou tone, I end up walking away seething. /rant

Guess I did have something to say after all. I'm in a mood, so I apologize for unloading like this here, but where better to do it than your own blog?

See Seana? You? Are not whiny at all. :)

More pics??

Sorry, I couldn't help it. My aunt sent these to us tonight. We took them last weekend at the river. They look blurry to me, but apparently she is going to fix them before printing them. I might be tempted to share a couple more when we get them (these are just a preview). Thanks for indulging me, guys.





My nephew Ryan. He was the most cooperative for the pics, lol.

My DD. :)

My DS. :)

All the cousins.

Take the time....

To read the description on this item;

http://cgi.ebay.com/BigFoot-Almond-with-Cage-lots-of-pictures-Not-a-HOAX_W0QQitemZ170254326737QQihZ007QQcategoryZ1468QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I? Didn't even know about cryptozooalmondology before this but I am intrigued. I think I will need to buy this. :)

*forces self to update*

I've been meaning to update since getting back, and even started a post, but just didn't seem to want to hit that stupid post button. Anyways, as boring as it is, here's the update.

Here's a few of the things that we did over the weekend or things I thought were noteworthy:



The hike - I took (dragged) my kids up the mountain with me on Friday in the middle of the day. The temp was 99 degrees. It was miserably hot, but I was determined. We made it up one mountainside, down another and halfway up the next when my kids decided we heard a noise. Ok, I heard it too, but still. We were SO close to the lighthouse and I did *not* want to go back. They flat out refused to go any further and I reluctantly headed back down. I was nervous too, as the noise I heard sounded like a bull snort (not that I know exactly what that sounds like) and I certainly didn't want to run into any animals out there, but at the same time, this was a hike I did regularly as a kid and we never had any trouble. Next time, we'll take a few more people and go earlier in the day when it's not so hot.



Carnival rides - I did the Gravitron, the Kamikaze and the Orbiter. Not sure if you know what any of these are but suffice it to say, they make you feel queasy and dizzy. My kids would only do the orbiter with me so I was with my cousin Kelsey for the others. I felt young and silly and had a good time. Until I got OFF the ride and felt old and foolish and sick, lol.



Sleeping outside - My aunt and uncle have a balcony/deck built off their second floor master bedroom. They recently replaced their mattresses, so they have real mattresses out there this summer (as opposed to air mattresses). It was so nice to sleep comfortably outside, under the stars. It wasn't even cold (which was a first for me) when I woke up in the middle of the night.



The coffee - I don't make coffee at home, but I *love* having it every morning at my aunt's house. She drinks it all day (she pretty has to to keep her energy up; I've never seen anyone work as hard as her. Seriously.) and she had cinnamon bun creamer. Oh. my. god, was it good! It makes me want to start brewing coffee at home every morning, but I'm the only one who would drink it, so I probably won't bother.

The Fox - ::controversy alert:: So, I woke up one morning from my uncle calling my name. I stand up and look over the railing of the balcony and see my son holding a dead fox and a gun. Apparently, my uncle had set traps the night before and took DS with him to check them. There was a fox in one and it needed to be shot. My son did it with a pistol. *sigh* My aunt took pics of him with the fox. Not sure how I feel about this. I grew up with this sort of thing from my grandfather because he had a farm and he set traps to keep coyotes and whatever else from getting his animals. My uncle does it for the same reason. Not sure if it's even legal, now that I think about it. Your thoughts? Is it barbaric? Wrong?

Anyways, that is a partial update on my weekend.

Since then, I've been working and today I was off but let the kids have a swim party since school starts on Monday. Friday will be school shopping. I cannot wait for a day off where I can actually be home, kwim?

*knock knock*

Is everyone gone for the week? I think we've lost a couple of our girls to Bahston, and I am also leaving today for the weekend. Perhaps while I'm gone, you can answer me this;

Is it wrong or right to look at your spouse's text messages without asking permission?
Perhaps there is no "right" or "wrong" but I'd like to know your opinions, anyways.

Anyways, that's it for me. I'm packing, looking for my camera (what the hell will I do if I can't find it!??!) and figuring out HTF I'm going to eat healthy this weekend while I'm surrounded by carnival/fair food and family reunion-ish type foods. *sigh* Wish me luck!

And for those of you who are peep meeting, pics please!!!

What's almost as bad as turning 30?

Your children becoming teenagers. *sob*

Happy 13th M & J!
I remember the day fondly, as I had some wonderful drugs in my system. :P



(I'm actually ok with this. Now that they tower over me, people are telling me I don't look old enough to have kids this big/old, and that's kinda nice, lol)



Added this pic from yesterday. Before they were teenagers. Back when they were still my babies, lol.

*yawn*

Yay, it's my weekend! I am planning on laying out in the sun today and talking on the phone, and doing *something* with the kids, though I don't know what yet.

Thursday at work was as busy as ever but the stress level has gone down since I've become more competent with the tasks I am given. I also got to see Brad, my client crush, yesterday. *grin & swoon* The other one I like is coming in today so I won't see him. But Brad said I was awesome! *hop* And all because I gave him the paper he asked for, lol. Whatever, I think he meant it. :P

That thread on OT was really frustrating to read. I get frustrated when I *know* something will never sink in with someone. It's one of my biggest flaws, actually. I *hate* it when people are wrong, or silly, or hypocritical, etc., and they just. won't. see. it. And not only that, but they genuinely believe it's everyone else. *boggle* I call it a flaw because I want to learn to not care as much. Moving on...

Question: If you see someone out and about in public and their zipper is down, what do you do? Would you tell them? Does it depend on their gender, or looks? Do you think it's rude? What would *you* want someone to do for you, if you were the one with the fallen zipper? Just curious. And FTR, it was not *me* with my zipper down, it was a random stranger.

And finally, with a couple days separating me from the drama of Tuesday, I am feeling much calmer and *knock on wood*, as though I over-reacted. I hope it's over and have no reason to think otherwise.

Crap! <---edited

Alright, I am editing this now because I am tired of hiding the screen when my kids walk into the room, lol. That title just seemed to stand out a lot more with that other word. Also, everything went alright at the office. Louise was called regarding picking up her file and she said that her and Clint would be coming by to get her stuff, but in the end, she did not understand what "will call" was, so they just mailed it to her instead. I'm hoping the guy was all talk and that this will all be a distant memory at some point. Thanks for your comments, guys. /update



Crap. This is a long story. Sorry. I have to get it out.

Right now, I am a mess. It all started at work today when a woman came in to see my boss. She reminded me of my ex-nightmare-SIL. She was beautiful. She reeked of money and everything on her was "just right". Fake blonde hair, fake nails, fake boobs, fake teeth, and gaudy jewelry. She was wearing jeans with stilettos and a sleeveless, tight black shirt. Anyways, I was intrigued by her because frankly, she's not the kind of girl I'm used to seeing (same as my ex-SIL).

Oh, and I'll call her Louise because that is her middle name and she is deeply ashamed of it, and only goes by "L" as a middle initial. *rolls eyes* Moving on...

My boss asked me to sit in on the appointment, which he's never done before. I was unsure as to why he needed me but I grabbed a legal pad and a pen so I at least looked like I had a purpose. As I passed my dad's office, I inquired as to why Boss might need me and he said something about it being wise to have a third party present.

The appointment begins and she starts in with her sob story. Her multi-millionaire husband has hidden all his assets and drove her to a suicide attempt. She mumbled something about sleeping pills when Boss pressed her for details. I guess the attempt is how her husband managed to get custody of the 4 kids. FOUR kids!! She looked like a 25 year old movie star. Amazing. But I digress - her story was sad and she was *clearly* the victim in all this and was just now finally starting to realize she needed an attorney.

So anyways, I was trying to pay attention to her words and not just comparing her to my evil-ex-SIL, Cheryl. At one point, she said her husband is keeping her children away from her because he is Mormon and she no longer is, and that she now has a boyfriend and the husband is *completely* against the BF and wants his children away from him. Boss asks her is there is *any* reason her husband feels this way and she assures him that no, her BF is a "great guy". He asked about a background check and she dismissed it saying only that "he was married once and his crazy ex tried to throw accusations at him but none of them stuck and he fought it all in court".

At this point, Boss asks the guys name. When she said it, I about peed myself. Her boyfriend? Is Cheryl's (my ex-SIL) ex-husband and Cheryl is the one who "falsely accused him". Umm, My parents did her divorce with her first husband and there are police reports, pictures and even an arrest that would support the fact that her wonderful boyfriend is not so wonderful. As much as I hate Cheryl, this guy (I'll call him Clint) was really actually proven to be an asshole.

So, I wait until Louise goes to her car to get something and I verify Clint's name with my father, and then I tell Boss. I assumed we'd talk more when Louise left but my boss decided we should tell her, right then and there. I was caught off guard by this but assumed he knew what he was doing. We go into the conference room and he asks me to tell her what I know about Clint. I really didn't say much so he asked me to get my father. My dad reluctantly comes in and with Boss pressing him for info, he opens up little by little, revealing what he knows about Clint. Louise then reveals that Clint is now an "Extreme Cage Fighter" and that he also has a "bad temper". She seemed disbelieving at first but also seemed to genuinely want to know the truth. Boss encouraged her to look into the public records for more information. He let her know that all of this would be coming out in court when the opposing counsel did their homework. Boss and my dad also alluded to the fact that maybe she was in a pattern with men, going from one abuser to another. She thanked us all, assured Boss that she was not upset or offended and that all she cared about was her children and getting them back (did I say that her husband has custody?).

Fast forward about 2 hours. My mom, at home, receives a call from a young man asking for my dad. He identifies himself as "Jeff", says he's an "old friend" of my dads and will call again later. My mom realized after hanging up that is was likely Clint. So my dad calls Clint from the office and Clint immediately begins screaming at my dad and threatening to hurt him. Louise told him things that were completely exaggerated and somewhat untruthful (like she said that my *dad* told *her* that he was a cage fighter, when in fact, SHE revealed that herself). Boss had left the office but felt so heart-sick about everything he came back to be there as support for my dad. Boss eventually got Louise on the phone and she was a wretched bitch to him. Boss told her (in his mean voice) that she is to return tomorrow to sign the Sub of Atty and that he would not tolerate her or represent her. What's so funny is that my boss is a sucker for a pretty woman and he had even taken her case without charging her, on the premise he could somehow get the husband to pay atty fees.

*deep breath*

So, where this has left me is in fear for my father. He's nearly 60 years old and he has this 26 year old punk threatening to "kick his ass", and laughably, also threatened to get an attorney and sue for Defamation of Character. Good luck on that buddy. We have three witnesses who can verify what was said in that room. Sometimes the truth hurts. Still, my father's phone number and address are easily available in the phone book (I checked online), and these people are on a mission (it seems).

I'm sick to my stomach. I don't work tomorrow because I have a doctor's appointment (that I can't miss) and I'm devastated to know that he'll be sitting there by the lobby without warning as to who is coming in.

What do you think? Am I overreacting? The guy (and psychotic Louise) seem to be quite riled up over this. What's so sad is if she looked for herself, she'd see it was all true. Guess her kids' safety wasn't her biggest concern after all.

In the end, the most ironic part is that she is leaving an abuser and going straight to another and Clint is leaving a Cheryl and going straight to another.

I feel sick. I don't mention him here often, but I'll make it clear to anyone that when it comes to my dad, I'm as fiercely protective of him as I am my children. I could see myself killing for him. God help anyone who tries to hurt him.

Maybe blogging my most dramatic fears will lessen the likeliness that anything will come of this? *sigh*

All I can think is FUCK! This fucker better not lay a hand on my dad. Seriously.

Movie Talk

Ick. Leaving Las Vegas is a heavy, dark movie. When it was over, I had to wonder what I had taken from it and so far, I can't think of anything.

Speaking of movies, raise your hand if you've seen or heard of Real Women Have Curves. I have a friend who not only hadn't heard of it, but accused me of watching Latina Lesbian Porn when I tried to explain what it was. For the sake of not embarrassing anyone *coughbraviecough* I won't say who it was. And I'm not bringing this up in an attempt to pay anyone back for starting false rumors about me, either.

I've been told by a few people that Mama Mia was really good. I'm going to try to take DD to that sometime this week.

What movies have you seen lately? Anything worthwhile? What about the Batman movie? I have not seen it yet because I need to see the one that comes before it, first.