Not a one of you who are reading this have sent any topics to discuss on my marathon writing thingy starting tomorrow. Shame on you! Now I'll just have to come up with some nonsense on my own... and I will, but I was hoping we could have all shared in the experience together. Guess not. :-) Still taking suggestions until the end, though. And beyond.

Happy Halloween to some! Happy Samhain to others! Happy Day to all the rest!

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
`'Tis some visitor,' I muttered, `tapping at my chamber door -
Only this, and nothing more.'


Be watchful this night of the little ones roaming the streets dressed not of themselves on a hunt for edible treasures, when the sun exits the sky and the nightly things come out to play. Light a candle and think of loved ones now gone from this world and remember them in peace. Be wary of the changing of the Season, for on this night we start our journey to Winter's end. Be not afraid of the spirits that may come knocking at your door... they come to celebrate life with you. But most of all... be happy, be at peace, and walk in love.

The Joke's On Me

My mom gave me a packet of seed to grow cat grass. Basically, it's oat grass but cats love it. Well... they are suppose to. My mom's cats hated it which is why it was passed on to me.

Libby and Spazz like to play a game called, "let's run out under her feet out the back door". I don't worry too much because their goal is to find a patch of grass to nibble on. Bermuda grass is like crack to my cats. They just can't get enough and will be evil and sneaky to try and get some. So if I'm having to go in and out the back door, I'll grab a handful of the stuff and throw it inside on the back porch and it satisfies their craving until they start scoping out their next fix. Libby is the sneakiest of them all. She will pretend to not be interested in shooting out when the door begins to open and then when you think it is safe, she'll fly through the air and actually morph herself into a tiny sliver to get through the door until she's outside. Spazz is fat and slow and easily maneuvered.

So I get these seeds and they germinate within 3 days and this stuff grows really fast. Or it should. The only problem is, there is no place in my house where I can set the pot for this stuff to grow out any more then about 2 inches before my cats find it and start to mutilate it. I started on the counter (silly me) and put it on top of the refrigerator only to catch two up there. Then I moved it to the top of a bookshelf where I soon found another. My only option is in a cabinet but the stuff won't grow without the sunlight. Well... it will grow, but it comes out all white and scary looking like the insects and animals you see that dwell strictly in caves... all albino like.

They LOVE the stuff... but its a joke trying to grow it.

I just got off work and I don't have to be back at work till Saturday night. Sweet heavenly vacation time...

Coffee Beans and Old Friends

I drink coffee. Not all day like some, but I have my two cups in the morning when I get home from work and when the weather is cool, like it is now, I'll have a cup up in the evening. I'm not a Starbucks person at all. I'm not all into the latte grande chi mocho espresso with extra cream. I just like a nice plain good cup of coffee, although I do use my fair share of Coffeemate and sugar. I could even go so far as to use the expression, "I like my coffee like I like my men... sweet and creamy."

At the beginning of the year, I signed up with a coffee club. Kind of like Columbia House, except I'm getting a shipment of coffee instead of CDs or movies. I am with Gevalia. A luxury I shouldn't have, but I do. About every six weeks I get a shipment of 4 boxes (they are small boxes) of coffee beans. Every shipment costs about 30 dollars. I have my little coffee bean grinder and I get fresh ground coffee every morning. Except for recently. Now I have to look at the fact that 30 dollars gets me a tank of gas to get back and forth to work and I've had to suspend my shipments to about every two months. Which is fine until I have to drink regular coffee, like this morning. I had to go buy a can of Maxwell House because I used up the last of my beans yesterday. And I'm terribly disappointed right now as I sit and drink bitterness and not very fresh. But it will do until I get my next shipment in. I doubt very seriously if I'm going to go drink that second cup. There are some days when I do get sad because I'm poor. Not many, mind you... but there are a few.

This week should be a pretty fun week for me. First off, I get a three day weekend after only getting a one day weekend last week. On Halloween I will be going to Don's Garage and hanging out with that motley crew for the first time in a long time. I'm hoping since it's not the weekend several of the regulars will still show up because of the holiday. And then Friday, I'm going to a going away party for a friend who is leaving the records department at the place I worked for a couple of years ago to pursue other things. I'm going to try and get that night off from work as well so I can indulge in a margarita/sangria swirl, which will give me FOUR days off, but I doubt I will be able to which is also fine. I haven't seen these women in years and am looking forward to it, yet I'm nervous as well. For four years I worked with some of these girls and since I've been gone, the emails have been sparse (from me as well) and when I left unexpectedly (I SO got fired), I've kind of felt "out of the click", so to speak. But I still think it will be fun to see them again, even if I have to make my excuses and slink out of there early.

So far, I have counted 4 wasps in my house. It's cold, so they are not aggressive or fast, but I think I need to figure out where the sudden house guests are coming from. I wouldn't want to accidentally step on one.

Now I'm on my way to the kitchen to indulge in some more bitterness...

One With Nature

A long time ago... well... about a hundred years ago, the area in which I reside now was called Smithfield. Before that, they called it Zion. Although this small city was annexed by North Richland Hills in 1958, my grandmother still calls this area Smithfield, as do any of the residents who lived here before 1958 and a little beyond. My children will always be able to claim they went to Smithfield Elementary school which is rich in history of this area. When someone asks me what part of North Richland Hills do I live in, I always say, the Smithfield area.

As a young child, my family would get in the car and travel to "the country" to see my grandmother. When I was 17 years old, we moved to "the country" which is about a quarter mile from where I am now.

In 20 years time, "the country" has been replaced by houses, apartments, WalMarts and Walgreens and every time I see a patch of land out here that is in the process of being modernized, it makes me sad. Little by little, the trees are being bulldozed, the ground dug up and replaced by concrete and nature is being extinguished. I always have to ask myself, when will it ever be enough? When will they stop? And the answer is simple... they will stop when there is nothing left to bulldoze.

I have quite a variety of wildlife still roaming around my house, despite the destruction of men. What prompted this blog was me seeing a raccoon under my window. Since I've been here, I've also seen skunks, possums, coyotes and I have a rabbit or two that hangs around. Seeing these things always makes me smile. Yes, even the skunks.

I've been pondering since my move here in June of 2006 on how long I will be staying. My love of nature and all of its inhabitants is a very big part of who I am. Seeing what this city is doing to itself saddens me in a way where I don't want to live in this area the rest of my life. I need trees and wildlife and waterways built by storms and time, not men. I crave these things very much. A good friend asked me not too long ago where I would like to see myself and it was a very simple answer. The small modest home I would live in is set atop a hillside and would have views of pastures and forests. Kind of like what it once looked like about a hundred years ago where my house now sits.

This is an arial view of what Grapevine Hwy and Davis Blvd USE to look like:

This is what it looked like in 1998. I wish I had a view of it now, because now there's a big highway that comes down in the middle of all of this:


I found this picture which is pretty cool. This is what Davis Blvd. use to look like. This farm is still there. For those that know the area, Sonic Drive-In is now located across the street from here. When I moved to NRH in 1984, Davis Blvd was still this two lane road. Now it's 5.

This area is about halfway between where we moved to when I was 17 and where I live now. Kind of gives you an idea of how spacious this area use to be.

And to think... all of this history stuff because I saw a raccoon earlier...

My First Marathon

As you may have seen, I am a member of NaBloPoMo. Which means I am suppose to post a blog every day for the month of November. Now... I don't have a problem with doing this and tend to come up with some kind of idea during the course of my day and then tend to forget what I was thinking about the next morning which is when I have found I do my best writing. But I don't think a lack of content will be a problem. Granted, I'm sure I don't have but a few people reading these things anyway, but you never know who will come across your blog and end up staying, day after day. I know there are several blogs that I read on a daily basis for whatever reason and those people haven't a clue that I read them. And the one's that are doing the NoBloPoMo have been talking a while about how they are already making a list of things to write about, with some of them going for themes and such. I don't think I'm going to limit myself to a theme, only because if I do, I know by day three I'll wish I would have picked a different one. And I have nothing planned or written down because I tend to just write about whatever comes up. So... I kind of had an idea, and it's probably not original by any means and the fact there are probably only two people that read me with any consistency since I started still leaves me enough room for my own topics, but if you, dear reader, could send me an email... my email address is located over there on the side -------> and let me know something that you would like me to blog about during this daily event, please feel free. And if you have more than one idea, then that's great as well. And as MY theme, I will use whatever suggestions come in, no matter what the subject matter is. Of course, if I get more than 30 or 31 suggestions (I can't remember how many days are in November) then I will get to pick and choose, but I doubt very seriously I will get that many. I have about a week before I start, so that gives you plenty of time to think of SOMETHING. So get to it! And with that... I leave you with this masterpiece:

Texas Kitty Speedway

Cats love routine and their internal clocks are very accurate. Here is a summery of what my cats expect on a daily basis and what happens if MY timing is off.
1. Get home from work
2. Walk in and get attacked and tripped and climbed on. Everybody gets a pet when I first walk in. They make sure of it.
3. Refill cat's water and dry food dishes and open can of cat food and hope it is a kind at least one of them will like, while trying not to step on any tails.
4. Put on coffee.
5. Clean cat box.
6. After breakfast, major poop fest in the clean cat box.
7. The races begin. Full tummies and empty bowels equals at least an hour of running as fast as they can, chasing one another, jumping up on EVERYTHING and general misconduct all around.
8. Nap time. For me AND the monsters. This means everyone is on the bed in their designated places. Libby on my chest for extra pets and then between my legs when she's had enough. Spazz on my left side. Jynx under my right arm. Cricket is still trying out different places, but tends to lay on the pillow by my head.
9. At 3:30pm, it is time for me to get up. Doesn't matter that I spent all morning playing on the computer and have only been asleep for 3 hours... I WILL be up by 3:30 or the monsters will make sure you are. I think they all go in the other room and pow-wow about who will do what to get me out of bed. One will come in and poke me until I'm awake. If I don't get up right away, the poking will continue and no amount of covering my head with the blanket helps. If he takes too long, the girls will come in and start jumping into the blinds. A LOT! And if all else fails, they pick the heaviest to come sit on my bladder until I have no choice but to get up.
9. More playtime, but nothing compared to morning playtime.
10. Around 5pm it's time for another can of cat food.
11. General laziness for us all. Some of us will get to take a nap.
12. Shower time and everyone piles into the bathroom to watch me get nekkid. Libby doesn't like me to take showers, I think. She will cry the whole time I am in there. Cricket doesn't like me to wrap my hair in a towel and she puffs up her tail and arches her back when I step from the shower.
13. Libby helps me brush my teeth. There is something about that process that she finds fascinating. She will smell my foamy mouth and reach up and try and take my toothbrush to her mouth. One day I plan on getting a picture of this because it makes me laugh and spew toothpaste foam on my mirror.
14. Getting dressed for work is a chore unto itself. They ALL know I'm about to leave them for the night so I am physically restrained as I try to dress myself.
15. Walking to the back door to leave for work creates a stampede. The door is blocked and if I open the door while they are close, everyone decides it's time to be on the back porch and as I pick one up and put them inside, two more escape and try to hide out there. When I get another one picked up and put inside, the previous one runs out again.
16. Grab laser pointer and get everyone to run inside to the opposite end of the house so I can make my escape.
17. Repeat. Every. Single. Day.

Brothahs and Sistahs Listen Up!

It's officially in the 40's outside. I've officially used my heater for the first time.

For those that may come across this blog and actually read it... I live in Texas. We have a saying here that most Texans are familiar with. "If you don't like the weather in Texas, just wait a few minutes and it will change." There was a perfect example of this the night before last.

Sunday night: I get into work and it's sweltering. It was 90 degrees on Sunday and it was still about 80 when I got into work. Mostly clear skies throughout the day. I did job stuff for a couple of hours and decided to take a break and walked outside and it was lightly raining and the wind was blowing about 50 mph and the temperature had dropped down to 53. Of course, I was dressed for sweltering with no jacket. Brrrrr... I think it's suppose to be in the mid 70's by the weekend. Silly Texas weather.

****
Wurk stoof:

Last night was a sloooooow night at work. Not one single phone call. And on top of that, our internet was down. And tonight, which is usually my Friday, won't be special because I swapped a day with a fellow employee and I will be working Wednesday for him and will only get one day off this week. But next week will be nice because I'll have 3 days off. As slow as last night was, this week has gone by pretty fast and that will help with that extra day in there.

You probably won't read me writing about my job very often. I am exceptional about not bringing my work home with me. When I walk out of work, I don't think about it any more. Plus there's that whole I'm not suppose to talk about what goes on because of people's civil rights and all and I totally respect that. But the last couple of weeks my work place has been on the news and last night before leaving for work, I watched a news story that is still irking me quite a bit. Let me explain...

I work for a fairly small city. Our ethnicity is comprised of predominately African Americans, then Hispanics (most of which don't speak English), elderly Caucasians and a few younger white folks thrown in and I believe we have some from the Asian and Indian continents as well. The majority are of a lower class. I'm talking monetarily, not personality here. For the most part, we have some very supportive citizens, very nice citizens and even though I'm in the line of work that I'm in, I am still able to see that this little city is not such a bad place at all. Our police officers have an advantage that bigger cities don't have. Our officers are able to stop and talk to people and make every effort to get to know the citizens that we are working for and most of them actually take the time to do that. And like all other incorporated cities, we have our undesirables that live there as well. The dopers, the thieves, the general thugs. And also like all other cities we have those people that we have to deal with screaming "racial discrimination". Now... because we are a predominately African American city, statistically those that are doing most of the screaming are of African American decent. Not all of them, mind you. We have our African American officers getting it from the Caucasians as well. Our Hispanic officers getting it from both of those and our male officers getting it from females and our female officers getting it from males and so on and so on. So here's the deal. We don't CARE what color you are. If you are breaking the law or acting like a fool and get caught doing it, you are going to have to deal with the police. If you are fighting with the police and get a taser to your ass, be thankful you didn't get shot. No matter what color you are, if you are doing something you are not suppose to be doing, get caught, and start yelling racial discrimination because you can't own up to the fact you were being stupid, you are demeaning your race. Again, this goes for ALL cultures. Without going into detail, I'm sure you are getting the gist of what one of the news stories was about.

Now about the second one...

About a year ago, our department had the misfortune to hire a couple of individuals that we shouldn't have. It happens. And of course it wasn't until after the fact we learned why these individuals were looking for jobs in the first place. Being a small department, we have the advantage of getting to know our co-workers very well. They become family. They ARE family. And on occasion a bad apple or two finds it's way into the mix, but usually don't stick around very long for one reason or another. I will mainly be talking about one of the two because I believe the second one was highly influenced by the first one. This is because they had worked together previously and came in pretty close to the same time. But anyway... this one employee, let's call him JS for short, had a not very good reputation that was not discovered until after he was hired. (Word of mouth gets around in area departments)

The general public has no understanding of the mentality of this job. They may have an idea, but to work in this environment on a daily basis, we sometimes joke about the reason we are given psychological tests is because you have to be at least a little crazy to want to do this job in the first place. I, personally, think the only worse job for a person's sanity would be a telemarketer. Add to the fact we are a very small department so the "shit", so to speak, doesn't get diluted between a whole lot of officers... just a few. There are officers who would never be able to work for a small department and most who have started at the smaller departments have a hard time adjusting to the bigger departments. I've worked for both and I MUCH prefer the smaller. I think JS had a hard time with the small department thing. That and the fact he's just not a nice person.

I had the opportunity to speak with JS on several occasions and tried to explain to him the differences between the smaller and the larger departments and how it takes some getting use to when he voiced his concerns about different things. And unfortunately he couldn't get past the "well where I use to work we would NEVER do things THIS way" phase. Me, who just wants everyone to get along in the world, told him to just give it time and he would understand why we do things the way we do. What he saw as civil rights violations and discrimination and inmate mistreatment and so on and so on were not even close to what he was making them out to be. I tried to explain this to him on several occasions. Let me add here, he had not been a police officer for very long. A year or two at the most. Let me also add here, he was in an interracial marriage... and extremely over sensitive about the fact. Let me add even more here before any judgment is made on me, that I was ALSO at one time in an interracial marriage. So... after listening to his complaints and him not listening to my reason, he often spent time inside the police department instead of outside patrolling the city sitting back in the patrol room gathering documents because "this department just shouldn't be run this way". We found out later on that ours was not the first department he did this with. Our Chief, who lives in his city that he works for and who has been the Chief for almost 20 years now is VERY involved in his department and VERY well respected by the peons that work for him. His door is always open and those of us that work for him, LIKE working for him. If he feels something is amiss in the department, you will often times find him patrolling the city in his personal vehicle at all hours fo the night "just because". The word had gotten around that officer JS had been spending most of his nights NOT out doing his job and in the end, was ultimately terminated because of that fact. In the amount of time JS was working for us, he was able to stir up quite a big pile of b.s. between members of our department and for our Chief, this is intolerable. He takes stuff like that personally because you are not just messing with other employees, you are messing with his family.

Unfortunately, there are people out there who's only satisfaction in life is stirring up trouble. JS is one of those people. After the Chief called out JS for not doing his job and for stirring up so much trouble, the only thing out of JS's mouth was lawsuit this, and lawsuit that and how he was going to call up all the news stations and so on and so on. And unfortunately for the other guy, he got all caught up in it as well and was on JS's bandwagon and ended up being terminated for the same reasons as JS.

About 9 months have passed since the JS BS took place. When the first news story aired that I mentioned above, JS took that opportunity to not leave well enough alone and jumped right in and ended up on the news as well, spouting off about things he just doesn't understand and when I saw that, I was just infuriated. Did the journalist do any background work into this guys history with ALL of the other departments he has been terminated from? No. Did the journalist make mention that this guy can't find a job as a police officer because of his history with other departments? No. Will the general public see both of these news stories and think all of us are a bunch of discriminating, taser happy employees? Unfortunately, yes. Because good news rarely gets aired and people take what they are given to see and read as the whole story and don't understand that even in the news, you can't always rely on the one side to understand the whole story.

There are bad seeds in every culture, in every job market and in all religions and those bad seeds are what society bases their opinions on. Discrimination is born from not opening our minds to both sides of the story. If you read this, I beg of you to remember this next time you want to judge the person next to you, or next time you watch the news.

Words

Sometimes, no words are even needed when looking at a picture:

Suffice it to say... this is Libby's new thing to do now. Cricket, who is sitting on top of the couch, made a feeble attempt at this stunt and failed miserably. My older kitties are a very bad influence on the kitten.

In other news...

Last night I went to another Sinclaire concert. This time at a place in Arlington called Dreamworks Music Complex. For any who do not know that are reading this, I am a rock star's mommy and very proud of that fact. When my son calls me to ask, "If I buy you a ticket, will you come to my show?", how can a mom refuse that? Granted, he's past that age of being embarrassed by his mom's presence (he's almost 22) and will hug me in public and in front of all of his friends (actually, he's always done that), but I can't help but be extremely flattered that he's always wanted me to go to all of his music events... from middle school, through high school, when he marched in college and even now. There are not enough words in me to tell you how talented this kid is. In middle school when he was first introduced to band (he plays the Euphonium) he was required to practice so many hours a week and I had a parent sign off sheet that was suppose to verify the amount of time he practiced. He and I would spend about 5 minutes a week making up times that he practiced on that sheet and I would sign off on it. Now... you may frown upon that little deceit, but the kid never practiced and he was always first chair (that is the number one spot in each musical section) and was an honor student on top of that. He never NEEDED to practice. Now when he got into high school and then college, it was a bit more challenging, and there were nights that he did practice... some. And again he excelled at music. He is a self taught electric and acoustic guitar player and he practiced a LOT with the guitar and again... excelled. He composes music as well and, you guessed it... excels at that.

I meant to take my camera last night, but I forgot. But here is one of my favorite pictures of him in action:

Granted, the music his band plays is not a genre I prefer, but they are awesome non the less and if it is at all possible, I will always be there in the audience... at a loss for words to describe his talent... and usually all motherly teary eyed... but I never let him see that!

Which Way Is She Spinning?

I find optical illusions fascinating. With the internet has come monumental amounts of information on IQ tests, optical illusions, personality tests and the like. I LOVE these things! This test that I found today is suppose to tell you which side of your brain is dominant. Some see her spinning counter-clockwise, or to the left, which indicates a dominant left brainer. Clockwise, or to the right, a right-brainer.

I've taken numerous online tests for these and I am always a right side of the brain person, but only by a couple of points each time. With personality tests, I usually end up right in the middle of them, unless they are the more complicated tests where they have 150 different personality types you could fall into. I'm not sure which one of those I am. Maybe I will go spend the evening discovering what my personality type is this evening.

Anyway... just for fun, look at this thing and comment and let me know which way she is spinning for you. And for the record... I saw her spinning to the right when I first looked upon her, but then I saw her spinning to the left. And because these kinds of things fascinate me like sparkley, shiny things do, I sat here and made her spin one way and then the next until I gave myself a headache.

CLICK HERE TO SEE HER GO!

The Smoking Needle

I smoke cigarettes. Not something in this day and age to brag about. Where once it was cool, now it is just plain stupid... not only for its known health risks, but because I'm flushing money down the toilet every time I buy a pack. The main reason I have never quit is simply because I really, really like to smoke. I take that back... I had two very good reasons to quit and I did both times without any problems. Each time I was pregnant. But that was soooooo long ago and the addiction is far more set in then it was when I was younger. I've had 20 some odd years to make sure of that.

December 30th of this year marks a rather painful reminder that time keeps jugging on whether we want it to or not. I will be turning 40. 30 was hard. It was real hard. When I turned 30, I became very conscious of my mortality and the fact I was no longer "20 something". 30 was the point where I stood back and looked at my life and all that I had accomplished, and not accomplished, and realized how fast time really goes. I think I really didn't start to live my life until I turned 30. So now I'm looking back over the last 10 years and comparing now to then and thinking about the journey and all the roadblocks and all of the celebrations and how I came to be 39 and sitting on top of 40. It is nothing less then amazing to realize that I am happier at the turn of this decade then I was at the last decade. I've done some amazing growing up in the last 10 years. The roller coaster of life has given me quite the ride. I've been through some horrific times, some unbelievably happy times, I've been in love, I've experienced numerous changes, some voluntary, some not so much. I've learned how strong I can be even when I don't want to be. I've been blessed to experience the joys of seeing my children grow into beautiful, loving adults. Yes, life has taught me much these last 10 years and I am oh so grateful for the lessons learned.

Although December 30th will be just another day to most, for me, I needed to do something to "celebrate" my officially turning old... something to take my mind off of the fact that now I'm no longer even "30 something". I thought about the old trick of smashing my thumb to get rid of a headache, but I'm not that into pain... I could have a baby... no, I don't EVEN want to go there. Buy a new car... nope, don't want the car payment. And then I got an idea This will be painful... so I've heard. And I will also be giving myself the best present I could give myself on such an occasion. The option for the possibility of a longer life. It will definitely get my mind off of being 40! I think I'll quit smoking.

And so I'm counting down the days. Each cigarette I have now, I'm saying good-bye little by little. I've been asked if I'm going to cut down first before completely stopping on my birthday and the answer is no. I can't cut down. I'm either going to be a smoker, or I'm not. One of the few things about me that is actually a black and white issue. I have the "want to". The "need to" has always been there.

So... consider this an early apology to any who know me and will have to interact with me during the early days of my adventure. I've heard some pretty bad horror stories of some who have quit.

Ride of My Life

I got off work this morning and I checked the radar before I left and I knew I would be driving home in some pretty hard rain. It had just passed the sprinkle stage when I pulled out of the parking lot.

I don't mind driving in the rain. And I actually kind of like it. Makes for an interesting commute home, to say the least. BUT, when you add rain and heavy rush hour traffic... I don't like doing that at all.

So I'm heading towards the highway and it's already raining so hard I can barely see the road. Plus it's that time of year when my drive home from work is now in the dark. But I push forward and on the highway I go. It was easy as pie getting on. I'm thinking most everyone must have sat out the storm instead of driving in it because I was expecting stop and go traffic all the way home and it was running very smooth. I was thankful for that, because going over 30 mph was next to impossible because of the torrent.

Then the wind started to blow... and blew and blew and the rain started to come down sideways and although I didn't think it could, it rained even harder. My wipers were full speed ahead and still I could barely see where I was going. The traffic wasn't bad at all which meant I had no one to follow for point of reference. My poor little car was being blown back and forth and I just knew I was about to get thrown over a bridge because of phantom tornadoes. And in the midst of my anxiety, the gale force winds and the waterfall that was coming down on my car... my driver's side windshield wiper got blown askew, off of my windshield and into an upright position. I would add here that it was sticking up and still trying to turn in rhythm with the passenger side wiper, but I won't because I COULDN'T SEE!!! So I slammed on my emergency lights, slowed down as much as possible without stopping completely, rolled down my window (yes, the rain WAS blowing in from that direction) and flipped my wiper back down onto the window. And I guess during the ordeal, the wiper got unaligned because although I could see, I had about half the space I did before the tornado hit my windshield.

After I could somewhat see again, the traffic congested and we drove real slow and by the time I got out of the pack, the rain had slowed to a reasonable amount and I finally made it home.

My back porch is flooded because I forgot to shut the windows last night.

I do love a rainy day...

Sunday Blog Lesson

My house sits pretty close to a fairly new church. It's so new, if you go to Google Earth to look up my house, the only thing that's there is a big area that was dug prior to putting the church up. Seems my neighborhood church had some type of "function" yesterday. Not really sure what kind of function, but the parking lot was full and that parking lot is huge and is never full.

The last two days have been moderately windy. With the cooler temps, I've had my windows open to not only enjoy these wonderful mornings, but to let in the nice cooling breeze and air out my stuffy summer closed up house. I have this little stand next to my computer desk and I have my printer sitting on top and my collection of varying styles of computer paper neatly squared off right underneath the printer in a handy little nook. It sits right in front of a window (that up until a few days ago had been painted shut. Don't tell ME it won't open!). When I woke up yesterday afternoon, this is what I found:

AND JUST FOR GOOD MEASURE

Yes, he IS being quite smug here. He seems to get much pleasure from smugness, sneaking around and being naughty. Every time I get home from work, I have to go and close doors and cabinets that he's pried open and on occasion, pick up a knick-knack that has been oh-so-gently knocked from its perch. He THINKS I don't know it's him. And, no, your eyes aren't playing tricks on you... my carpet IS that color.

So anyway... I pull into my driveway early this morning, and it seems as if a good portion of my neighborly church function's trash blew into my yard. Now, I am very well aware that for some odd reason, my yard seems to have some type of special jet stream unto itself because trash seems to blow in, but never blows back out. I know this because I'm lazy. I've waited numerous very windy days before going out and finally picking up the plastic grocery bag that just keeps blowing in circles and NEVER leaves! So I'm walking my yard and picking up trash and my first instinct is to be pissed off at the church and I'm thinking as soon as I get inside, I'm going to write an email to the church emphasizing on WWJD? in a case like this and have it dripping in sarcasm and damnation... and then I realized it's not the church's fault. It's the church PEOPLE'S fault. And see? THIS is why I don't hang around people who go to church! Those CHURCH people! And THEN I remembered how windy it was yesterday... and as I picked up a homemade coloring book (the kind our teachers use to make us by copying off from a real coloring book and then stapling the pages together so its really kind of like a coloring book) and on the pages there were scribbles as if a small child was just starting to learn to color... and then I realized that aside from a few napkins, a few Styrofoam cups, a church bulletin and that homemade coloring book there really wasn't THAT much trash to pick up after all...

It's THAT Time of Year!

It's 62 degrees at my house this morning. The grass is wet with dew and as the morning sun rises, it turns the dew drops into a million sparkling diamonds across my yard. The air is still lacking that crispness that will mark the season, but it is getting there.

My windows have been opened to the morning freshness and I slept last night without the air conditioner for the first time in months. My cats are in love with the open windows. They have been quite frisky the last couple of days as well. Everyone in my house loves the changing of the seasons.

The leaves are starting to turn.

My thoughts are now turned towards the upcoming holidays, more spices, family, snuggling more with my kitties when it officially turns cold and getting prepared to settle in for when Winter decides to grace us with it's presence.

What I do for money

This month marks the 13th year that I've worked where I work. And here's some reason's why:

I actually LIKE going to work. (most of the time)
I like the people I work with. (most of them)
I like my boss.
I like my boss' boss.
I get to sit down the whole time I'm there.
Most of the time I am there I spend watching movies or playing on the internet.
The hours that I work, the stupid people ratio is at it's lowest.
I always know what to do and I've become quite efficient in making stuff up if I don't.
My job is important.
Every once in a while, a stranger will actually tell me, thank you, and sincerely mean it.
My bills get paid.
I never have to drive in 5 o'clock traffic.
Each time I go into work I never know what will happen.
I know the answer to, "Where's a cop when you need one?"

My Office

S/W/F searching for...

I don't believe you can officially be a crazy cat lady unless you are single... and are happy about it. I'm official. I have a certificate and everything!

When it first happened, it wasn't by my choice. It was not some grand scheme to "find myself" or needing more time to myself. No... it was just a simple breaking of my heart that led me to where I am sitting at this moment. It's been almost 4 years now. I tell myself and others that I am over it... and I truly think I am! But in my deep dark psychoanalytical mind, there's the teeniest wee voice asking me... are you REALLY? There are things in my daily life that are questioned by friends... things that they tell me aren't normal.

I'm a complete hermit. I don't go out. I don't do things that would be fun and that I would like to do. Live concerts, movies, hanging out with friends, long walks on the beach at sunset... Nope. None of that. When I get in my car, I'm going to work. And I admit, it sounds rather pathetic. But is it MORE sad the fact that I LIKE it this way? I hear my friends talking about going out and doing this or meeting up with friends and doing that... and I'm always fascinated with these stories and thinking how much fun that would be to do some of that stuff... but then I worry that I'm not going to have that extra 17 hours to sit in front of the computer, or make my cats exhausted with the laser pointer or some other anti-social activity. If it were someone else, I'd immediately think they were depressed and needed to get out of the house and do something. But I'm NOT depressed. I'm very happy with my life at this moment. I enjoy my solitude. I'm just not sure, though, if I'm enjoying it because of some subconscious result of "the breakup". (And yes, actually, I COULD self analyze myself to death)

I put up profiles on dating internet sites just to laugh and make fun of the guys that are interested in me. I think I'm serious when I'm filling them out... but then I start getting responses... and you have to at least give me some credit in the fact that most of the guys that ARE on internet dating sites probably deserve my jesting and pointing. Sometimes I'll get a catchy little email and I think that this guy seems pretty cool... only to be fooled in the end. (this actually gives me an idea of some blogging material later on. It could be my EMAIL OF THE WEEK section where I post a new ridiculous attempt at finding his "soul mate")

That's pretty much my life. But it's quiet and it's calming and I'm only crying during episodes of EXTREME HOME MAKEOVER or THE BACHELOR. But I'm a girl so I'm allowed.

Band Nerds Unite!

In high school, I was a band nerd... although we were actually a pretty hip bunch. Or I was just delusional... or am now. Either way, nothing is a more pleasing sound then to hear the beat of the drums of the marching band and where my little old house sits, you can often times clearly hear the bands at the High School Stadium playing... or the cheers from the crowds... or during a hosting of a marching contest, I get to listen to LOTS of bands warming up before performance. But I don't live so close that it bothers me. I work nights and attempt to sleep during the day.

Much to my ex-husband's chagrin, my son inherited my passion for music. I say chagrin here, because my ex-husband was all for my son playing sports and doing manly-man things like grunting and carrying his women off by the hair, expressing his feelings through flatulence and not being coddled by his mother. His dad pushed (guilt-ed) him into the pee-wee sports. He hated football, tolerated baseball, actually loved Ti kwon do and soccer. I still coddled him when I could get away with it and as far as the flatulence... his dad would be proud. And then my son discovered music. He did the band thing all through middle school and when high school came around, he made his momma proud by being in marching band. When high school was over, he actually played in the University of Texas at Arlington's Marching Band for two years and going from high school marching band, to college marching band was like night and day. Not only was it an experience for him, it was definitely an experience for this ex-band nerd. I was quite literally, blown away. For any other band nerd parents out there, I highly recommend attending a college marching competition. The power of those kids will just simply amaze you.

Anyway... I get nostalgic this time of year when I hear the first stirrings of the bands start to play. And I'm not so sure if it's from the memories of my youth, or that of enjoying with my kids, the memories of their youth. I think it's a little of both. I might have to take in a show this year.

Marching season is also a sure sign that colder temps are on the way. And on days like today, 90 degrees with about 200 percent humidity, a reminder of this is important. I am SO ready for summer to be over.

To some it's a chore

It's been a summer of me breaking anything and everything mechanical. My riding lawnmower, my car, my vacuum... and with the expense of my daughter's apartment, I've just not had a lot of money to spend on repairs and/or new stuff. Because of this, I've had to use my push-mower, pray every time I get in my car, and go without vacuuming my carpet, which is never good when you have 4 cats.

Today I splurged because, damn it, I just couldn't stand my carpet any more. I have been spending my days hoping no one would decide to pick the last couple of weeks to give me a surprise visit and thankfully, I've only had to say, "sorry about the carpet... the vacuum's broke" to a couple of people. It helped leaving all the lights off in the house so no one could really take a GOOD look at what they were walking on. I wish I were exaggerating even the tiniest bit here. But alas... being at home during the day does nothing to hide the fact that I had to do something, and quick! So I did a little research online, got in my car and off I went.

I brought home no less than a miracle. Granted, my ultimate vacuum cleaner would be called a maid, but since I can't afford that, I opted for a Dirt Devil Reaction Fresh Upright.
All I can say is WOW. The ultimate test will be if it holds up to the cat hair, to my long hair and to this end of summer dust bowl that has enveloped my living room. But for a first time use, it worked most wonderfully, better than I expected, and at this point I would recommended it for an affordable yet hard working vacuum.

Does this blog post sound almost like a commercial? Maybe I should ask for royalties...

The one with...

I have poor man's TV. For those that don't know, this means I don't have cable, satellite or any other device made to enhance my viewing pleasure with a million different channels that I'll never even THINK of watching. And for those who can not even comprehend why I would do such a thing, well... I just don't watch that much TV. Maybe if I made ungodly amounts of money that I could throw out the window for trivial things that I have, and don't really need, I'd sign up. But since my kiddos no longer live with me, there is just really no need for such an expense.

Way back in the day, before my move, I DID have cable and had my favorite shows which included Sex In The City, Six Feet Under, Soproano's, Big Love, and TLC's Trading Spaces. HBO was my favorite out of the 100+ channels that I was blessed with. TLC came in a close second. But then Sex In The City ended... as did Six Feet Under... and it just wasn't the same. So I opted for the 3 or 4 channels that I have now AND I do subscribe to NetFlix which satisfies my movie buff interests. I'm also an avid Friends watcher. I don't care how many times I see a Friends episode, if it's on, I'm watching it. But since WB decided to put cartoons on (Family Guy and The Simpsons I like the Simpsons okay, but don't watch it regularly and Family Guy just bores me) in the place of my Friends (that's right, I did say MY Friends) that I watched every evening, I rarely even turn on the tube any more except to watch the depressing news on occasion, or on my days off from work I'll stay up late enough to watch Friends at 11pm. My other favs have been House (which rocks beyond belief) and the few reality shows I have become addicted to, which include American Idol, Dancing With The Stars and this year's The Bachelor (but only because the guy's from Austin, Texas).

So the new Fall Line-up is here and there are a few other shows which have peaked my interest along with some regulars. House is well on it's way with it's 2nd show come and gone. The Bachelor is nice and cut throat so far, which is always fun to watch. I gave Bionic Woman a try, but I don't think I'm going to be into that one. Dancing With the Stars is always fun. And then last night... the premier of Pushing Daisies. This is going to be a good one folks. Weird and with that dark humor about death and the twist of the guys gift... right up my alley!

Seems my TV watching this year is going to get crowded so I'm off to make a TV watching schedule so I won't miss my favorites. Who needs cable? Not me!

It's the Real Thing

Cricket, my kitten, is fascinated with Pepsi. I can have a cup of ice water and she's no more interested in it, then anything else. But when I have a cup of Pepsi going, she's all into that! She doesn't drink it. She just likes staring at it. I tried staring at it as well, but it just didn't hold my attention like it does for her.

She spots her vice and approaches:

She checks to make sure this is indeed what it appears to be:

She looks around to make sure no is watching:

She goes in... knowing there is no stopping now:


Ahhh... sweet wonderfulness is MINE:

NOTE:IF YOU CLICK ON THE IMAGES THEY GET REAL BIG AND YOU CAN SEE MORE DETAIL.

This house, it smells of home

My grandmother is 103 years old as of this posting. She's full of life, she's still got that spark and I keep telling her she's going to live to be 120. Her response is always the same: "Oh, no, honey... I don't want to live to be THAT old!"

I spent a lot of time with my Nanny growing up. I love her dearly, as do most people when they meet her. I live in her house now. Moved in June of 2006. This house is old, but it holds so many dear memories. The house is the same as when I was younger, yet the surrounding landscape, where once it held fields and horses and fishing ponds, now holds houses all around. But there is a sense of peace when I walk in from work, or when I tend the flowerbeds that hold bulbs that are ancestors of bulbs from my grandmother's grandmother. The red spider lillies are just about done now, but they are beautiful while they last. Next Spring I will delve more in depth on what treasures lie beneath the soil here at my home.

All houses have their own smell. I'm talking good smells here, not cat piss smells or dog shit smells... the kind that remind you of family and days long gone. You don't notice this smell while you're inside... but if you leave for any amount of time and return, you will walk in and be greeted by your house through smell. I walked in from work this morning and there it was... my home telling me, "good morning", and asking, "how was your night?" And always... "welcome home". But most of all it smells like my grandma. No, not dusty old lady smell. But a distinct smell all the same. A smell I will forever associate with my Nanny.

The story of how I came to live here is an in depth one... another blog for another day. But I don't own this house, my dad does now. In a few years I'll have to make a very hard decision. Do I stay and decide to buy this home, which needs a lot of work... a place that means so much more then just a roof over my head... or do I go and leave behind yet another part of myself for a different house, without a welcoming smell? The one part of my life that causes me any kind of stress is not knowing where I'll be planting my roots. I need that kind of security in my life, and I often times feel very much in limbo. I'm thankful, though, that I have a couple of years to decide either way. Because either way, it's going to be a hard decision.

A Small Blip in the Giant World of Blogs

I've recently been introduced to "blogs". I mean, I have a MySpace page and all of that, and I've found a few friends there, but I needed a place of my own. There's mounds of stuff inside my brain that itches to be released and since the age of computers has come, writing stuff down by hand has just become too much work. Plus, there's no backspace key or spell check in hand written diaries and I've come to depend on those two things like the air I breathe.

So I commence this blog and all that it has to offer for my insomnia laced brain... enter the world of me... prepare to be amazed... Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!... and a bunch of other profound announcement type things that I can't think of right now.