Sunday, January 31, 2010

Teen Weekend-Parents, Stop Yelling!

We teens and tweens agree that yelling at us just puts more stress on us. You parents may think that is a good way to get your point across.

When you constantly scream and holler at us, it puts alot of stress on us. Parents might not think about the stress it puts on us teens and tweens. Most parents think we aren't stressed out or that we don't have anything to stress about. But we teens and tweens have tons of stress.

We have to work very hard in school. We worry about having friends, or keeping up with our chores around the house. Screaming at us isn't the way to go about communicating with us.

You could try speaking in a calm tone of voice. If that doesn't work, just ground us until we can learn.

Coming from a teen like me, I hate being grounded just like any other teen. But I mostly hate being yelled at. I'd rather be grounded.I think just grounding us is much better than yelling and putting more stress on us.


Saturday, January 30, 2010

Teen Weekend

Both my girls want to have a blog. I'm not too keen on the idea, but I did tell them that every weekend. They can write a post on here. So Saturday and Sunday will be known as Teen Weekend. They will talk about whatever teens and tweens are thinking about.

So without further ado, here are the 2 Sisters blogging......

Hi everyone! I'm Mary, the tween and I'm Katie, the teen. Today we want to talk about the stupid punishments that we still get in middle school and high school.

How do teachers expect us to act our age when we still have to do things like think sheets and going to the safe seat?

Mary: As a student in 6th grade, teachers are always pretty.... well annoying, but I'm not talking about that, I'm talking about the high expectations for grades and behavior but then they treat us like we are still in kindergarten or something. Think sheets should be for the little kids, not us in middle school and high school.

Katie: You wouldn't think that in middle school and high school we would still have to be writing out what we did wrong and our feelings on it, but we do. We still have to do this baby stuff we did way back in elementary school. Since they treat us like we are almost grown up, they should give us adult punishments.
They could send us out in the hall to calm down if that was needed. Give us detention, or give us the choice of getting a zero in the class or going to the Principal's office.

In short, we both agree, that having to do think sheets and going to the safe seats is not an effective punishment. We're really not learning anything from it. Most of us just roll our eyes when told we have to do it anyways.


Stay tuned for tomorrow's edition: "Parents: Stop yelling and telling us to do things over and over and over again. We heard you the first time.
Friday, January 29, 2010

How to make Healthy bad..

We try to eat healthy here. Try to. I bake not fry our french fries, chicken, and other things. I always make sure we have a veggie with dinner and that the girls drink plenty of milk and at least snarf down a breakfast bar before school.

But sometimes we have a way of making a healthy food very bad for you.

A couple of nights ago, we made Valentine's Day cookies. I wanted to make them sandwich cookies, so I whipped up a simple cream cheese frosting.

All it is: 4 oz of cream cheese
1/2 stick of butter
2 Cups of powdered sugar
1 tsp of vanilla
dash of milk.

We didn't use all of it on the cookies so I just put it in the fridge. Then I saw the apple slices...
Apples..... frosting.... frosting.... apples...

Soooo good. It tasted alot like that cream cheese fruit dip you get at Wal-Mart. Me and Mary, my youngest sat there just chowing down on some apples and frosting. She licked her fingers and looked at me, "only we could take what is supposed to be good for you and turn it into junk food."
Thursday, January 28, 2010

Brothers and Sisters





Yesterday was my brother's birthday. He is now 45 years old. I teased him, called him an old man and that AARP were going to be knocking on his door soon. Being the big joker and teaser that he is, he told me that after they came to visit him, they would be coming to my house.

My brother is almost 12 years older than me. He was just shy of his 12th birthday when I was born. I was a late baby. My mom always said that she wanted a little girl and prayed and prayed that God would give her a girl. And here I am.



I must say having an older brother is awesome. Especially having one that is that much older than me. For one, he could drive me places. I remember many times he could take me to play put put golf, to Chuck E Cheese, and even the water park. He claims it made it easy to pick up girls back then. The sweet older brother doing stuff for his younger sister. Now that I think about it, he did always find some girl to talk to while we were out.

Another thing is that we didn't have the typical brother and sister fights. There was nothing for us to fight over. He let me come in his room, play his board games, even talk to his then girlfriends on the phone. This is why now I get so flustered and have no clue how to deal with my own 2 fighting. Me and my brother never fought as kids growing up. He got married the summer before I turned 10. So it was almost like I was an only child, except he and his wife just moved a modular home on our land. I got to see him every day.

My brother taught me to play softball, to catch pop ups, he took swim lessons with me so I wouldn't be so scared. He even took me to see An American Tail when he had just gotten back from his honeymoon. He was the one who came and got me from school when our mom died. He helped me with my homework almost every night, and when my 2nd grade class needed some ornaments for the class Christmas tree. It was my brother who made 25 wooden hearts, that he cut out, painted and then stenciled the student's name on them.

My brother is the biggest joker ever. He's the brother that will hold you down and tickle you until you 1. Pee your pants or 2. Hyperventilate. He did this one time and accidently spit his gum in my then long long hair. He panicked knowing our mom would get mad at him for "hurting the baby". He thought he could just snip out the gum. He apparently forgot to use peanut butter. It didn't end so well. We had to take a couple of inches off to match up where he cut my hair.

I know lots of people think having siblings so far apart would mean they wouldn't be close. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Me and my brother are as close as any siblings can be.

I don't care if we are 70 and 82. He will always be my Bubba.

Happy Birthday Bubba.




Tuesday, January 26, 2010

I wonder....

Things have been crazy here, but not so crazy that I can't look around and wonder why....

Why does my oldest daughter decide to eat with her fingers when she has a fork? Yes, she has been taught proper etiquette and knows better. But she still decides to pick at food on her plate with her fingers. Just what is her response when I or her dad corrects her? People in other countries eat with their fingers. But we're not in other countries, we're in this country and more over, this house which is a dictatorship.. lol!

Why am I still addicted to video games at 33 years old? My husband managed to get a emulator for the Wii. We can now play all the "vintage" Nintendo games, like Super Mario Bros. Me and my husband have been acting like teenagers playing Super Mario Bros 3.

Katie, the oldest, smarted off and said that looks so easy. She hasn't been able to beat one single level. Her excuse? The game is for us old folks and that we have had more practice.

Why is there a biography for Stephenie Meyer, the author of the Twilight series? I saw this at Target a few days ago. While I commended the lady for writing a vampire series that has millions of followers. I wonder what there is to tell. She had a dream, a very vivid, somewhat sexual dream, and wrote it down. Now why couldn't I have done that? Dang it! Maybe I will start writing about my own weird dreams, and throw in sparkley vampires and hot werewolves.

Why is it taking so long for LOST to come back on? I'm ready NOW!!! I want to know things. Who is Jacob? Are they dead? Is it heaven, hell, purgatory? Will Charlie aka Dominic Monaghan make a cameo? Will Boone?

Speaking of Boone. Is anyone else watching The Vampire Diaries? I loved FLOVED the books when I was a teen. Me and my best friends must have read the books over and over again. Dreaming of our own Stephen and Damon.
There are alot of things that are different from the books, but overall they are doing a good job of keeping LJ Smith's vision in the series. I would love to see if they would either make a movie or a tv series for The Secret Circle, Dark Visions or The Forbidden Game. That would be awesome!

That is all. Right now I am jonesing for my Wii fix. If only NCIS LA would hurry up and end. I could finish kicking my husband's butt in Super Mario 3.
Monday, January 25, 2010

Button Button

Thank you Cassie for the button. I finally figured out to put it on here with the box below it. Thanks to Shabbyblogs.com.
Sunday, January 24, 2010

Catching Up

I am slowly trying to get caught back up with everything. Visiting people's blogs, catching up on my course work that I am way behind in, and housework.

I am really wanting to add my followers buttons on here. So if you have one, just comment so I can get it. I haven't gotten one yet. Does anyone know a place that makes them or the program you can use?

As far as college goes, I am going to a college online. I won't mention its name, but I am not so sure I am satisfied with it. I am going for my BS in Social Science, to teach. I really just want my degree in History, but I was having a hard time finding a college where I could go online. But anyway, this college, you don't get regular grades, you either pass or fail. You don't have instructors, you basically just do everything yourself. You either write papers that are graded by anonymous people, that you can't ask questions to. Or you go and take a proctored test or the entire subject.
The last test I took, History 1865 to present was not even really about the history, but more about the philosophy of the time. About progressives, liberal policies, etc... Hardly anything about dates, people and places.
So right now, I am looking into finding another college.

I went out this week with my mini oxygen tank. I didn't need it that much, so I just put it in the cart and used it when I started getting winded. Funny how suddenly store associates are wanting to help you. I felt bad for my girls though, they went with me to the grocery store, and I know it had to be embarrassing.

I've been doing alot of research on natural cures for emphysema, breathing conditions, etc.. On top of using my pulomonolgist, using my inhalers. I now use Spiriva. It's a once a day medicine. I really like it. And I use my rescue inhaler when I need it. Plus I started taking more of my vitamins. C, B12, D, Iron.
Thank you for all the prayers and good thoughts sent my way. They are much appreciated and I know they are working.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010

This and That

Today is a lazy day. Hump day, almost the weekend. Not too much to report today. So it'll just be one of those random posts.

Am I the only one who thinks Heidi Montag, I'm sorry Heidi Pratt is out of her ever loving mind!! What sane rational 23 year old has 10 plastic surgeries at one time? Including having 2 cantaloupes put in her chest and then wants them bigger. And then tells a news reporter that she is telling girls that beauty comes from within!!

Her and her flesh colored beard (Thanks Joel McHale) husband creep me the heck out! I know it is all an act. It has to be. No one can be that annoying and lack common sense. Please tell me it is all an act. That somewhere someone, Ashton, is going to jump out and say "You've all just been punked!!"

I broke my glasses AGAIN!! And because our vision cards haven't come in yet, I super glued them back AGAIN. I really need to get to WalMart or somewhere and get me a new pair. Along with my contacts. You should see how bad they look. Worse than the nerd with tape around the nose piece. I spilt some of the super glue on the lens so I have little glue drops in my line of sight.
But without them I am blind as a bat.

I had to sign my oldest daughter for tutoring. I'm going to try out Kaplan online tutoring. Maybe it will help her with math and reading. Both her weakest subjects. Has anyone tried them before? If so what did you think?

Tomorrow I'm going to cut my hair, probably short. Above my shoulders. It is about midway down my back right now. I just hope that the hair dresser doesn't do that , "Are you sure you want to go that short" speech. It is my hair, I am paying you, so get to cutting. It's not like I asked you to buzz cut me. Just start snipping.

I had my oxygen delivered to me yesterday. We now have this steel tank of oxygen in the living room for me to refill my portable mini tank with. It looks like one of those cryogenic tanks too. And when I fill my mini, it scares the crap out of the cat and dogs.
Lucky for me I only have to use the mini when I am winded or going to be doing alot of walking. And then I have one to use while I sleep. I need to buy an O2 saturation monitor, so I can keep an eye on my oxygen stats.
Monday, January 18, 2010

Is this some kind of Stephen King novel or what?

We've had this thick fog hanging over our area for the past 5 days or so. It reminds me of that movie, The Mist, by Stephen King. Where the government was doing experiments and all these huge bugs came out of the mist and attacked people. It's kind of creepy actually.

I went to the new pulmonologist today. She was baffled as to how I could have emphysema and COPD at my age. She did another alpha1 antitrypsin test just to make sure it was correct. The original test said it was negative meaning my liver is making this protein to protect my lungs like it supposed to.
She sent my chest xrays off to a specialist who only looks at chest xrays. She had never seen a case like mine either. I did a a few more breathing tests, all which came back with bad results. She recommended that I begin using oxygen at bedtime and when I am out and about during the day running errands, going shopping, etc...

I almost started crying in the office when she told me if things did not improve she would suggest I have a lung transplant. I think she could see that I was scared along with my husband, as she said that she knew all of this had to be scary for me, and that she and the staff would get us through it all. And that she had seen older people with much worse cases.

She also asked if she could use me as a case study with some colleagues. I agreed because I want others to find out more about cases like mine.

I'm not sure if my dad is taking any of this too well. On Sunday his best friend died of a sudden heart attack while hunting. He wasn't found until he was already long gone. When I called my brother to tell him about my test results he said that my dad broke down yesterday upset about my condition and about his best friend.

I really hope this is a wake up call for him to stop smoking too.

Thanks again for all of ya'lls support. Oh and my doctor got a kick out of my accent. She said she knew I wasn't a Kansas City native and at first thought I was from Tennessee. Close enough. :)
Sunday, January 17, 2010

Answers for Questions

I just wanted to say THANK YOU SO MUCH for all of your kind thoughts and prayers. They mean so much to me. I wasn't sure whether or not I should start talking about what is going on with my health or not. I'm glad that this is helping raise awareness for others.

For those that wonder how long I smoked- I started smoking casually when I was 15 and it increased as I got older. My mom had just passed away and I started hanging out with some not so nice people who were into smoking and drinking.. so yeah. I am 33 years old and have probably smoked a little less than half my life.
I always smoked lights or ultra lights. Like that really makes any kind of difference. They all contain nicotine. I tried to quit several times and would start back up again. I really really loved imported cigarettes from India. The cloves, the vanilla flavored ones just tasted sooo good.
I finally quit for good last year in Febuary. I used the patch the whole time and found other things to do with my hands like doing embroidery or crocheting. I also keep tons of sprees (my candy of choice) and pistachios to snack on.

Is it hard to quit? Oh God yes!! For me it is like trying not to eat when you are hungry. You just crave it that bad! It can be done. It sucks at first, really really sucks. But find the way that works for you and just do it.

I never in a million years would think that I would be out of breathe at 33. I had just thought it was taking longer for my lungs to come back from smoking. Guess what, your lungs never really recover from smoking.

This past Thursday I had to go into to see my general practitioner. I couldn't get in to see this new pulmonologist until Monday and I really didn't feel like going to the ER again. She tested my O2 level after walking around the office. It was at 84!! Normal O2 levels are 98-100. This was after I had only walked, just casually walked 4 laps.
She gave me a rescue inhaler and ordered an overnight O2 test. This is where they hook you up to a O2 sat machine. They put a little clippy thing on your index finger while you sleep to see how your oxygen level are while you sleep. Lucky for me, they had a medical supply company bring out a machine to me and they picked it up in the morning.
She also ordered some blood work to see if I have a genetic disorder that would cause me to develop this lung condition at such a young age.
I won't know any of the results until I go see this new pulmonologist tomorrow. And I get to do some more tests tomorrow.

I have to say that the rescue inhaler has helped me more than the Advair. I get immediate results from it. And you have bad days and good days. Yesterday was really good. I only had to use the rescue inhaler twice. Today, my chest feels a little tighter and I'm more short of breathe. But I think that might be because I am nervous for the doctor visit tomorrow.

I know for some people quitting smoking seems completely hopeless. You can do it though. I promise as bad as it is to quit, you can do it. There is light at the end of the tunnel. You won't always have the horrible withdrawl. If you can get through the first week, you can make it a month and then after a month 6 months.
It can be done. And what does it hurt to at least try.
Thursday, January 14, 2010

Scared straight

I'm not sure how to title this post. It isn't joyful or comical or even remotely happy. I'm never sure whether or not to talk about anything medical or having to do with my health. I always think that people want to read about happy things, funny stories, not how bad someone's health is.

But since this is my blog, my little diary on the web, I wanted to get it put down in black and white. For prosperity.

I had mentioned in an earlier post that I found out I have COPD and emphysema. I had to make an appointment early this morning because I just couldn't breathe. My pulmonologist didn't have any openings until next week, so I just went to my general practitioner.

I don't think until today that it really sank in just how serious my condition is. I couldn't even walk around the office without getting out of breathe and getting shaky. I am pretty sure that my pulmonologist is going to put my on oxygen. I asked my doctor just how bad she thought my COPD was. She told me that it was severe. Meaning I have lots of wheezing even when I use my inhalers, that doing simple tasks are nearly impossible for me, and just how my quality of life is pretty bad because of it.

You know, I never thought I would be talking about quality of life at age 33. Can I just say that I'm scared? That I'm worried about what is in store for me? My family? My children? I'm just scared, worried, not sure what I should do. Never thought I would have my dad, who just turned 67 today, asking me how my health is.

And I feel stupid. Stupid for smoking all those years and having that typical young person attitude. "Oh it will never happen to me!" But it did. Now I am paying the piper. Paying the piper dearly.

I'm probably annoying to our friends who smoke now. I tell them, beg them to please quit. And they do the same thing I probably did, grin sheepishly and say how hard it is to quit.

Is it hard to quit, heck yeah. But it is so much harder to be dealing with this.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Mom VS. Dad

Do any of you have those moments with your significant other when you just look at each other and wonder how you could have such different stances on child rearing.Raising your children.(I hate that word, rearing, it sounds so just... well it sounds like you're talking about butts. You know your rear end.)

Now that the girls are getting older, it seems like my idea of parenting and his idea are on completely different ends of the spectrum. I'm on the end of being more understanding because I'm a girl and remember what it is like to be a tween/teen girl. He's on the end of being not a teen girl.

He was raised a lot differently than me. While my parents let me be more of a kid, he was working and constantly doing chores around the house. So he thinks the girls should be doing all these chores all the time. One time he and his younger brother decided to play ninjas and kicked a hole in their closet. Well, instead of telling what they did they hid it with their coveralls. This was in the spring mind you. Later come winter, their mom found the hole in the closet. They had to move all of their stuff to the barn. All of it... clothes, dresser, beds, everything. And sleep on the floor in the living room. Until their dad felt like fixing the hole.

Now, maybe this was a deserved punishment, but I think it was extreme. And since my husband was raised with this kind of parenting, he sometimes wants to use the same on the girls.

I just had to keep my room clean and occasionally unload the dishwasher. And the one time I put a hole in the wall behind my door, I didn't have to move all my stuff to the barn. I just told my dad and he fixed it.

Before the girls reached these tween/teen years, we just wanted our girls to be polite, use please and thank you, call adults by Mr/Mrs/Miss so and so. And all those other things. I think weekends are for the girls to have fun and relax. He thinks they should be filled with doing chores around the house and doing homework.

Do any of you out there have a different parenting style from your spouse? Is one of you strict and the other more relaxed? Do you fight over whose style is better?
Sunday, January 10, 2010

The Wii!

My husband brought it home Friday night. A guy at work was selling his entire Wii system and all his games. So we have spent the last day and night playing Rock Band, butchering various hits from The Police, Black Sabbath and Jet. Plus getting a work out playing various games.

I loved my Nintendo back in the day, but I LOVE the Wii. At least it is giving the girls and myself some physical activity since we can't go outside.

Besides the Wii, we have been watching movies. GI Joe was a disappointment for my husband. He was expecting it to be more like what he grew up watching. The characters are the same, but it is no longer GI Joe, real American hero.


Oh by the way, I loved hearing about everyone's weird dreams. At least I'm not the only one who dreams some really out there stuff.

I hope everyone is staying nice and warm this weekend. And that no one has any broken pipes.
Thursday, January 7, 2010

It's sooo cold even the ice is complaining

I guess this will go down in the history books. The coldest winter in 20 something years. Now I have something to tell my grandkids. And talk about when I get old.

We had to go to the grocery store tonight or the one stop called WalMart. I hadn't done a good grocery run since Christmas.So we were out of everything, dog food, bread, eggs, and all the good food. You know, the frozen pizza, yummy snack cakes, and chips. My girls are eating me out of house and home. I swear teen boys have nothing teen girls. They can eat!!

WalMart was dead. I have never seen a WalMart quiet. Hardly anyone was there. Just a few people here and there. And dumb teenager running around the place like it was Worlds of Fun. It was actually kind of nice. No having to maneuver around tons of people. You could tell there had been a run on some staples but they still had plenty of stuff.

Does the weather make anyone else get sensitive? I have just been such a crybaby the past couple of weeks. Everything just makes me tear up, get upset.
I'm thinking it is the cabin fever and all the bad weather. How do the people up north do it?

Plus my kids are driving me INSANE. It's like they are possessed little heathens running around in my kids bodies. Have they been taken over by the pod people.
Don't they know I need peace and quiet to watch all the new reality shows? The Real Housewives of OC came back tonight, Celeb Rehab, One Big Family... too many shows, too little time, and 2 girls that won't stop fighting for me to hear what nasty thing Tamra is saying about Gretchen or is she fighting with Vicki now? See... I missed it all while trying to get my daughters to stop arguing.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Was It Something I Ate

The past few nights I have had the weirdest dreams. Freud would have a field day with me if he was alive today. Incidentally he died on my birthday. The man also liked cocaine, both as a pain reliever and for rec use. Or at least that is what wikipedia is telling me. :P

The first dream I had a few nights ago had me at the doctor's office, being weighed (a nightmare for any woman!) But then she told me my weight- 396 pounds. And she said it so chipper and nonchalant. Like it was no big deal. But me, I had thought I was at 115, I look down and suddenly my ass and stomach start growing and blowing up right before my eyes! Like I'm one of those bouncy houses!
I swear I woke up from that dream grabbing my own butt and stomach!

The next night I dreamed we baptized the cat. Yes, you read that right. We baptized the cat. But not the dunky dunk baptizing, the Presbyterian sprinkle baptizing. But it wasn't just us doing this at home, all these people were at this church to have their cats baptized. So this church was filled with all these cats. Yellow ones, white ones, black ones, Siamese ones, and so on.

So it is our turn, and we bring Pretty Girl up to the pastor who is wearing this fuzzy looking suit. This blue and white checkered, fuzzy suit. So he tries to take Pretty Girl from me and she starts batting at the fuzzies on his jacket and gets her claws stuck in it. So my daughter comes up, the only one who can even hold the cat for more than a minute, she puts the cat on her head and starts dancing around.
Finally she will let the pastor guy hold her, instead of doing the sprinkling thing, which they think will freak the cats out, they are using a pastry brush and brushing the water on their heads.
I woke up after fuzzy suit pastor said all our cats were saved now.

I have no clue where in the heck these dreams came from. Was it the chocolate donut from Quik Trip I ate the night before? Do I have some issues with cats, pastors or my weight?

If I went by the dream interpreter it says cats bring bad luck, but does having the cat baptized trump that. Are they now good cats? Dreaming of a church means good luck. Have the cats been saved from a life of crime? Saved from a life of bird and mouse killing and waiting to throw up in the dead of night?

I couldn't find anything on what a dream means when you blow up like a huge balloon gorilla outside a car dealership. Is it a secret way of telling me to stop eating Quik Trip Donuts and watching Food Network before bed?

What am I going to dream next? That we take the dogs to be exorcised? Why can't I dream something awesome and write a book about it? Just no sparkly vampires please.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010

The Weather Outside is Frightful.....

You know how the song goes....Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow....

Here's my version. The kids are acting frightful, Kahlua in my coffee is delightful, please stop snowing so my kids can go back to school, before I go insane, go insane, go insane!!!

Okay, so it doesn't really rhyme and the other is so much better. But not we are having a blizzard at Christmas (Thanks Santa!-NOT!), below zero actual temperatures, and then more snow just when they are supposed to go back to school! And now they don't think because of the snow we are getting tomorrow, that the kids will have school for the rest of the week. That means my 2 girls will be stuck in this house with me for another week.

I was all set to do my joyful "you have to go back to school dance" and now this. I had my week all planned out and you nasty snow had to go and mess it all up! I was going to get a haircut, actually go to Borders and enjoy looking through all the books and see what bargains I could find, send off some gifts to people, just a whole day for me. Yes ME!

Now, yes I love my girls, love hanging out with them and having girl time. We usually go to lunch and do a movie every other week. But because of the snow and bone chilling temps, they haven't been able to go out. And because of my COPD, I can't be out in the extreme cold. But you need that time apart. I need it to keep my sanity. Because I can only talk about Justin Beiber and break up fights for so long before the rest of my hair turns gray!

And yes, I'm whining! And last night I burst into tears when my husband just told me to go outside if I had cabin fever.

"You just want to take me (SOB) to the emergency room (CRY) for my lungs, let me sit on your chest (SOB) and you tell me how it feels...... and then I run off and cry.

Now he didn't mean for me to actually go outside. This he tells me after he comes in the bedroom.

"I was just playing and then you flip out." He tried to explain.

"I know." I replied. I'm just sick of being in a place where it snows every winter. Give me the south where it only snows once in a blue moon, or like it has been this season.

It's been so cold here, the cat stands at the back door and does her little "cat laugh" at the dogs when they have to go outside to do their business.

I swear she is! Looking at them and laughing, saying "I can use the potty indoors! Silly stupid dogs! Who's more evolved now!"

I don't blame you, Miss Kitty!
Sunday, January 3, 2010

Baby Goes Boom Boom

No, I'm not talking about sex or something taking a number 2. I'm talking about Baby Boomers. More specifically my father, or Daddy. Every southern girl calls her father daddy, usually like this, "Daaaadddyyyy!" Even southern men will still call their father daddy. Don't ask me, we just do.

But anyway, my dad is part of the generation known as the Baby Boomers. He was a WW2 baby. He was born in January of 1943. He just now decided to retire and start collecting his check for all his hard work. He was self employed from 1963 until 2009. Now that he is retired he has more time to do those other things, like wander around in the front yard, picking up pecans and bringing them in the house to use as decorations or add more stuff to his already overfilled barn. I swear with his barn he could be a contender to be on the show "Hoarders." He just has that much stuff. Carpet remnants, papers from the Reagan administration, even my old saddle from my rodeo days. Lucky for all of us, it is in the barn and not the house.

You have to be careful when visiting my dad. The last time we were there, he had stated buying large amounts of mayo and coffee. Not just any kind of mayo or coffee. Blue Plate Mayo and Folgers coffee. You see awhile back the little grocery store that has been there forever ran out of Blue Plate and had no clue when they would get some more. And then that thing happened with a coffee shortage and price jacking. So now whenever my dad sees a jar of Blue Plate or jug of Folgers, he has to buy it. Never mind that he could open his own coffee shop or sandwich shop with the amounts he has. He MUST buy more!! And if you go to the store for him, he will tell you to buy more.
Along with Lays Wavy Chips, Bounty towels, and Sunbeam bread. And don't try to fool him and buy one of those other brands or God forbid, generic! I did that one time, he griped like an old lady at Bingo, who missed the big jackpot by 1.

My dad has also gotten into conspiracy theories. Remember back when all the e-coli was turning up in lettuce, spinach and in your Taco Bell orders? My dad thinks he knows just exactly how it is getting there.... The Mexicans picking the produce are crapping in the fields. He says this while... wait for it.... we are eating at a Mexican restaurant. And just keeps right on eating his chimichanga.
He also thinks the government is always thinking of ways to screw you. He would be just the person those campaign people would love to talk to. They would just start telling him that the opponent was going to steal his social security check, go to the boat and spend it all on nickel slots and hookers. And my dad would call everyone. That is if he even hears the phone ring. With his hearing aids that start ringing and even then he can't hear that. He is deaf as a post.

So if you ever met my dad, be sure to speak up, just smile and say yes sir when he starts mumbling, don't eat anything in the fridge( God only knows how long it has been in there) and he keeps the moonshine in the cabinet by the fridge.
Saturday, January 2, 2010

12 years.. One of Us Must Be Certifiable

12 years ago in a galaxy far far way called Witchita Falls, Texas I married my geeky husband. We got married at the justice of the peace there. It was right over the Oklahoma border and where every service member went to get married.

Why??
Because they had no waiting period and required no blood test. Just show the clerk your military ID a birth certificate and BOOM you know have a nifty caligraphied piece of paper that says you're married. If only everything in life could be so easy.

For all of you who like to read love stories, here is ours. I wouldn't call it a love story. It's nothing like Ice Castles, or some sappy Nicholas Sparks novel, which incidentally I love his books. :) We just happened to be two people who met each other at the right time and the right place.

So hop in the time machine with me if you will to June 1997, Lawton/Fort Sill. I am 20 years old, living with a guy out of convenience, and have my oldest daughter. I was working that night at a bar on the strip right outside the Army post.

In walks my soon to be husband with an Army buddy of his. He was down from Kansas with his National Guard unit for their 2 week training. Que Dolly Parton song that talks about a guy coming in with tight blue jeans. Yep, he had on some tight blue jeans that night along with some cowboy boots too and a western shirt.

It was his 21st birthday and even though he had wanted to stay back at the barracks and sleep, his buddy would not let him.

Back then I had dyed my hair a bright red. Not just red, but bright bright red. I think it was a mistake, hopefully. Who knows what I was thinking back then.

We met by me breaking up an argument with him and his buddy. His buddy, who had a little too much to drink, spilled beer on my "soon to be" husband's boots. Now, if you know cowboys, you know they value two things, you don't mess with these things.
1. Their hat- you don't touch it, don't grab it, Just keep your grubby mitts off it. And number 2. Their boots- They may be scruffy, unpolished, and have holes in them, but you don't mess with them.

In all honesty, it was a play argument. My honey wasn't going to drag him out to the parking lot. In his own words, "I just wanted to get your attention."

Get my attention?! Have you ever heard of just saying, "Hi there, You look like a nice person. Want to talk?" Noooooo.. Let me pretend to get in a fist fight to get you to notice me. That works soooo much better.

But in fact it did work. I started talking with him. Finding out he was from Missouri . Just finishing out his National Guard duty with the Kansas guard. He was going to college, working full time. All of that fun stuff you learn about someone.

As the 2 weeks started coming to an end, he asked me if I had ever been to Missouri. Not since I once went to camp back when I was 12.

"Want to come there again?" He asked.

"You do know that I have a 1 year old daughter, right?" I asked. This usually makes most guys turn in the other direction.

"Of course, do both of you want to come to Missouri? With me?" He asked.

And I couldn't resist those baby blue eyes of his. And I did something that if either one of my girls ever ever EVER did what I did, I would kick their asses all the way to kingdom come. I went off with a guy I had known for 2 weeks.

I packed mine and my daughter's bags and told my boyfriend of convenience that I was done with him. And set off on an adventure with a Yankee turned Mid West cowboy/geek.

*My husband wants me to tell all of you that he is NOT a geek. He may like Stargate and work in IT but he is not a geek.*

(Yes he is people. No he doesn't read IT manuals for fun or have a pocket protector, but ask him about the IT field and the truth comes out)


We may not have the perfect marriage. We fight, ignore each other, sometimes even tell each other that we really don't like the other one, sometimes one of us will even sleep on the couch because we're so mad, and we most definitely drive each other crazy.

But in the end, we both know the other is the only one we want to live out our sunset years with. He may never read our life story to me when I'm old and senile, but he definitely would buy me enough books to read for an eternity.

So it is today, that I say: I'm glad I took that trip to Missouri with you, glad we stuck it out all those times we wanted to walk away and glad that we mark 12 years together.

LOVE YOU MOSTEST!!
Friday, January 1, 2010

Resolutions For 2010 Or Things I Can Obsess About

Someone tell me who started this thing called making New Years Resolutions? Was it some Tony Robinson freak? Someone who just wanted to look all cool and be able to thumb their nose at all of us who by February have long forgotten what in the heck they even said they were going to do? Who am I kidding by January 2nd I will probably break one or two of mine.

But in keeping with tradition, here are some of mine.

1. I will try to be a better wife. Meaning, instead of leaving the clothes folded on the dryer or hung up in the laundry room, I will actually put it away where it belongs.

2. I'll try not to spend too much money. Stop going to sales and then trying to do the woman justify thing of saying how it was 75% off so I really didn't spend that much.... Men don't get that. They only see it as spending money. No matter how much percent it was off.

3. I will cook more. I actually like to cook, not that I am a Julia Child, Paula Deen or Rachael Ray. But no one has ever gotten food poisoning... yet...

4. I won't nag my husband about stopping smoking. I will offer my kind and gentle support to him. Unless he becomes too much of a jackass and then I may have to smother him with a pillow.
5. I will listen more and talk less. Or I'll just blog.

6. I'll talk to my kids and play games with them more <<<<< This one is actually a serious one. I can't make fun of this one.

7. I'll watch less junk TV. Only after the new season of Big Love, LOST, The Tudors, and a few others are done with. In fact I'll have my girls join me watching and it can double as family time. (I'm kidding) Maybe

So there's a few of mine. I'm off now to finish cooking some black eyed peas and a roast chicken for dinner. (See... I'm keeping resolution number 3)