I've been a complete lazy ass today. So there.

I know some ladies that are going to want to read these two books when I'm done with them.

"A beautifully woven tapestry of the perspectives and voices of women on the silences that women still keep, this anthology includes essays that are broad-ranging in their subject matter: vanity, power in the workplace, promiscuity, spirituality. Others are distinctly personal: family secrets, abortion, middle-age lust, the liberating powers of belly dancing."

"The book deals with such difficult topics as loss, depression, disease, widowhood, violence, and coming to terms with death. Several stories address some of the darker sides of motherhood:

A mother describes how, while sleep-deprived and in a miserable marriage, she is shocked to find infanticide crossing her mind
Another woman recounts a memory of her alcoholic mother demanding the children prove their loyalty in a terrifying way
A woman desperate for children refers to the bleak truth as: "Another Christmas of feeling barren." Narrating the fertility treatment she undergoes, the hopes dashed, she is amusing in retrospect and yet brutally honest"

It's all any of us are really ever looking for...It's so good to feel like you belong somewhere, and belong to someone. As fucked up as my life is sometimes, it's nice to know I'm finally where I'm meant to be.

I wanna heal, I wanna feel,
what I thought was never real
I wanna let go of the pain I felt so long
I wanna heal, I wanna feel,
like I’m close to something real
I wanna find something I wanted all along
Somewhere I belong, Somewhere I belong
~Linkin Park

Stop squishing up your face, go download it. Branch out, step outside of your box! Listen to some different music for once.
It's good. Haunting, really. I'm loving it. And playing it.
Repeatedly.
Loudly.

Swimming pics are up, and they're cutie patootie. Look. (Under the album called "swimming"..doh.) View it as a slideshow, it looks much better that way.

I had to take a picture of this warning at the pool:



Do we really need to be warned not to dive here?

It's been a good weekend, though a lot of it spent taking care of others.

Emma had tumbling on Saturday morning, which went very well. She still lags way behind the others on some things, namely walking backwards and hopping. But she gives it the college try, and that's all that matters. Her teacher is sweet and patient.

Saturday afternoon I met Amanda at alas, another flower shop, hoping to find the ONE that Amanda trusted, liked and that I could afford. We finally found her. She came recommended by my dad, who uses her almost exclusively in his funeral home business. 512 dollars later, we have flowers. We signed everything, I paid for half to seal the deal, and it's done. And her name is Danelle, believe it or not. Wild.

Saturday afternoon we were all bored, so we decided to go swimming up at the Rec Center's indoor pool. Daniel came too, which was nice. We left about 5pm, intended to just stay an hour or so and then go get dinner. Well, little miss Amy Van Dyken Jr. here didn't want to get out of the pool. Finally Mark had to go get some dinner and bring it in, we didn't leave until the pool closed at 8:00pm. Even then Emma was disappointed to have to leave. I took a bunch of pictures, I'll put em up tomorrow.

When we got up this morning, Emma's leg, the site of two of her injections on Friday didn't look good at all. Yesterday it was a little red and splotchy, and felt warm. This morning the rash had spread significantly, and she was feeling nauseous. We decided to call the doctor who basically said she could be having a negative reaction to probably the measle vaccine, and told us to watch it, and take her temperature regularly. Mark is so smart, he drew a circle around the rash with a marker so we could monitor if it was spreading at all. She was lethargic for part of the day but after a short nap she was back to her old self. The rash is still rather large, but seems to be fading. Mark cancelled the mommy drop today, and will be driving to Fairplay tomorrow instead.

Mark also wrenched his back somehow last night, he thinks by sleeping on it funny. So today he was miserable and in a lot of pain, barely able to move his arm and having to hold his head in a weird position. He laid on a heating pad and I rubbed him down with massage oil and IcyHot, then he slept for 3 hours or so and now seems better.

So, it's been kind of a nursemaid type weekend, as we women have sometimes. When it rains, it pours.

Daniel and I went to the gun show today, that was a lot of fun. I love gun shows, sorry but I do. I met some really nice knife sellers there, one of them gave me a VIP Pass for the Blade show in Atlanta. Did I mention we are going to Atlanta again this year? We are. Im jazzed. We'll be there June 12-16, but only going to the show one day and planning some down time for the rest of the days. Anyway, this guy gave me a VIP pass, which means we get in to the Blade Show for free, and can get in to a preview of the show on Thursday night, which we likely won't go to. Last year I also snagged two VIP passes. It's good to have knifemaker buddies. I'm so excited about the trip, it will be good to see old friends and a few new ones that couldnt make it last year. In all, there's about 150 of us that know each other from online and other shows, and we all get together after the show on Saturday night and party heartily. Mark and I talked about it for a while, trying to discern if we could afford to take a mini vacation, and we decided we could. I gave him the option of picking somewhere we'd never been before, or going back to Atlanta for Blade, and he actually choose to go back there. HotLanta!

I'm going to bed early tonight...it's been a long two days. Nite all.

Still cleaning, still laundering...

Did Emma's room today. It wasn't too bad, I just had to go through everything and see what still fits, and what doesn't. A lot doesn't. But I've been steadily picking up summer items I've seen on sale here and there, and she's more than set. About 20 pairs of shorts, too many shirts and a couple of swimsuits. I tidied her room too, and everything is wonderfully in it's place. She played in the hallway for about 90 minutes with her big dollhouse and the mounds of dollhouse furniture she got for her birthday while I cleaned. Now all that's really left to do is keep plugging away at the laundry (about 2 more loads) and then face the daunting task of matching up socks. One huge laundry basket full of just socks. I'm gonna make Emma help me.

Tomorrow is tumbling class again, should be fun. She got tuckered out about halfway through last time, yelling across the gym to us "I'm pooped!!". She carried on but had clearly lost steam. I'm glad we decided to put her in the class just below her age group, I think she would have gotten run over in the 5 year olds class. As it was, she was bringing up the rear most of the time. But she had fun, and that's all I give a damn about.

Her doctors appointment today went really well. The doctor was so thorough and good. She and her assistant spent the good part of an hour with Emma, testing her on some developmental things that Emma whizzed through, and generally just chatting, in a "I want to see how much you know" way. She weighed 29.5 pounds, and was 39.25 inches tall. I think when I was 5 years old I was at about 125 pounds already. lol

She got three shots, all in her thighs, which she was none too pleased about. But we went to McDonalds after and she only complained a little bit. She said her legs were a little sore tonight, but not too bad. While there, she absolutely positively refused to pee in a cup. She said no a few times and then loudly told the doctor "I saaaid I don't feeeeel like it today!" Okaaay then.

Katie is looking for another job, she's so tired of all the folks at Fuzzoli's that don't do anything. She's a very hard worker, I know because she's a hard worker at home, and she doesn't do anything half-assed. Plus, when she applied and accepted the job she said no Friday's or Sundays and they've scheduled for both for the past few weeks. So she went to Village Inn today and applied, and they've already called for an interview! Cross your fingers, She'd be waitressing and making a lot more money. She needs a car! I need my car back!

Amanda and I are hooking up with another flower shop tomorrow to do more deciding for the wedding. That should be fun. This is a person that my dad uses in his funeral home business, so maybe they'll cut her some $lack.

Lots of other fun things coming up, Daniel and I are going to a gun show on Sunday, and Katie and Charlie are taking me to a concert for my birthday! I'm so excited, I love these two bands, and I absolutely love Red Rocks.

There, I'm updated. And so are you. But have you updated? Hmm?

I thought I would post my Survivor comments that I regularly post at fortysomething. That way you all can join in.

So, Alex is gone. Rob was the swing vote, and I was glad he voted Alex off. He's in trouble jury-wise, but I think he knows he's not going to win anyway.

Besides the fact that I can't *stand* her, Heidi needs to be voted off next if only so she can go get a burger. God, is she wasting away or what?! Those implants are looking more and more ridiculous with every pound she loses. I'm hoping they're going to give those jokers a mirror like last season so Heidi can see how horrible she's looking.

Butch has certainly flown under the radar for the entire series, and I think he knows it. I don't see him sinning. He's expendable. I would love to see Christy win, just because she'd be so freaking happy. Her smile does certainly light a room.

I am loving Rob. He's so crafty, and yet he's really juvenile in an endearing way. The look on his face when Alex left was priceless. He's happy, but he knows he's in trouble with the twiglets. I hope hope hope the 4 stay strong for a few more days and oust Heidi and Jenna. After that, I'd be happy if any of the remaining folks win.

This particular Survivor season started out a little dull and a bit of a yawn...but it has gotten very very interesting.

Groooan..I am so pooped. I cleaned my bedroom!

I started around 6:30 and stopped only to watch Vivor (Alex, you are the weakest link..goodbye) and I am just now done. The only thing left is laundry. When I started I had about 4 baskets of clean clothes to put away, plus I re-did my whole desk, went through every single dresser drawer and organized them (14 drawers in all), I arranged my clothes in my closet, and straightened everything in storage on the top shelf of said closet. I've been doing laundry steadily all day, and putting it away as it comes out. I have a huge baset of unmatched socks..I'll tackle that tomorrow.

Tomorrow Emma has a doctors appointment to get caught up on her immunizations for Kindergarten. She doesn't seem too bothered about it, with promises of MickeyD's right after.

I've been promised a backrub tonight..I can't wait.

All of my toliet paper is missing.

I'm serious, when Emma was here last weekend she ran out of toilet paper, and had to fill the roll. (She does it all by herself, and follows the rule of whoever uses the last bit, refills..she's so good!)

Anyway, I had to open the linen closet for her and there was easily 7 rolls in there. And now they are just all gone. No one knows what happened to them. We've looked everywhere.

Now years ago, when Katie and Amanda were younger, toilet paper would go missing on a regular basis. Then we'd drive down the street the next day and some kids' houses were sporting my toilet paper hanging from their trees. No mystery there.

But this is weird. Im beginning to wonder if the drunk guy took it.

Tomorrow is Take Your Children To Work Day.
Please don't.

Besides being wildly disruptive, I can assure you - no one thinks they're as cute as you think they are, and they really don't get anything out of it. Unless your child is 14 or so and seriously considering doing exactly what you do for a living, (highly unlikely, most kids want to do anything but what their parents do) there is really no place for them there. This day has turned into a free-for-all, with people bringing their ill-behaved, loud, and eventually bored-out-of-their-mind children to create havoc to those actually trying to work. I've experienced people bring children as young as 18 months old to the office on TYCTWD. Ridiculous! What are you thinking?!

Guaranteed, the childless people at your work do not love you on this day. And they really do not love your children.

And the poor teachers, they end up with half a classroom, most likely absent of the children that most need to be there. What can you teach when half your class is missing? Mercifully, some schools have adopted TYCTWD as a school holiday. Sad, but true.

I would love to see this holdiay/tradition wiped from the calendar.

Found first at escribitionist...

I hope you've all been avoiding carbs and fat, cause this is what we all need to be wearing to the beach this summer..


Only $40!


And...



This one piece jobbie will only set you back $19. Wow, a bargain for a swimsuit, wouldn't you say?

Playa hatas...

From the wacky world of the Presurfer, I found Wiggaz, the site to learn everything you need to know about the mysterious phenomenon known as white gangtaz, or wiggaz. God, I laughed.

Omg, Amanda made the best pie on Easter! It's one of those pies that aren't very pretty to look at but taste terrific. It's an apple pie with a graham crust and it is gooey and sooo yummy. I'm having a warm piece right now!

For those of you following along..

She never showed up. Total weirdness. I bet he's getting his ass chewed.

This shit only happens to me....

So we're sitting down to dinner, American Idol has just started. The doorbell rings. There's this guy standing there, swaying..and says "Do you remember me?!"

Oh, lordy. I have no idea who this person is. Is it someone I've dated? Did Daniel get in trouble and this is the kids dad? I say "Umm..no.." and he says "It's me, Dan! I used to live here!"

Ok, so when you rent a house you normally don't get to know the people that lived here before you too well. He may have been here when we traipsed through the house the first time but I really don't remember.

So he goes on.."Hey listen, I've had too much to drink and I need my wife to come and get me." Groan...

So I offer to let him used the phone..outside. He calls her and opens the door and steps in.."She says she's really wiped out herself and it's gonna be an hour and a half." And he plops himself down on a living room chair. We all look at each other like "wtf?" So he sits there saying virtually nothing while we go on about our business, which is really hard to do with this stranger sitting in your living room.

Mark does the dishes and disappears downstairs. Daniel takes a phone call and I don't see him again either. Now it's me alone with American Idol and this guy. And he's moaning..continually...like you do when you're drunk.

I'm thinking he's gonna puke. Then wondering if I would leave it and make his wife clean it up when she got here. Deciding I probably would, but he never did. He just kept saying "I'm so tired. I'm really really tired."

Finally, it gets to be about 8:20. An hour and 10 minutes after he called her, and he stands up and announces that he's just gonna go drive himself, cause he doesn't think she's coming. I engage him a little bit and determine that he probably has sobered up enough to drive, although knowing full well she's gonna show up here and be incredibly pissed. She hasn't shown up yet though, so now I'm wondering if she would be so rude as to just leave him here.

Would you do that to your husband? I mean yea, I'd be pissed that he got himself so drunk he had to impose on other people and then impose on me to come and get him, but I'd be glad he had the sense not to drive. But she knows he's at our house, totally inconveniencing us, and she never shows. He said she was "wiped out" too, which I don't know if that means fucked up, or tired, or what.

So he leaves. And she's not here yet.

Why wouldn't he call her from the bar? When you get that drunk are you like one of those dogs that gets left accidentally and crosses the country to find your old house?

Weird man, people are freaking weird.

Just finished The Nanny Diaries, the 13th book I have read so far in 2003. I read it in 2 days. Left me feeling really bummed. Thanks for the loan tho, Dy.

I haven't done the Monday Mission from Promo Guy in a while..

1. Now that the weather (in America, that is) is getting nice and warm, what have you been looking forward to doing the most?
**Sitting in the sun and reading. I love to just sit outside (when it's not blazing hot) and put my feet up and read.

2. On Easter, I had to run around all day visiting family. It turned what was supposed to be a special day and turned me into one big stress-ball. Do you enjoy spending time with your family (parents, siblings, etc.) or do you prefer to see them now and then?
**My day was one big giant stressball too. I've heard heaven is like a family reunion every day. I'm scared.

3. Did your parents play along with the whole "Easter Bunny" legend? Did you eventually figure it out or did someone tell you? How did that make you feel?
**We always got Easter Baskets, but I don't remember there being any big secret that it was actually mom and dad.

4. This isn't necessarily a religious question (although it certainly can be if you'd like), but what does "Easter" mean to you personally?
The current commercial celebration of Easter is about plying the kids with candy and baskets of schtuff. But my faith proclaims it as the celebration of the Risen Jesus. Amen.

5. When I was a kid, we didn't have plastic Easter Eggs (except for those that came with Mom's L'eggs pantyhose), so we always hid real eggs. One Easter I remember I threw away a broken egg in my bedroom trash can and it took me weeks before I realized why my room smelled like something died in there. Do you have any funny or memorable Easter stories?
**Well, yesterday when my mom spilled the gravy boat full of gravy all over herself. Also, I was baptised on Easter, 1979.

6. I currently watch way, way too many TV shows. In fact, I feel some relief that some are being cancelled or are ending because I just can't give any of them up. Is there anything you do too much of and just can't stop?
**I don't watch too much tv, though I do have a few shows I like. I feel like Im on the pc too much, but it's where I work so I have no choice. I guess I just eat too much.

7. Long ago, I took a leadership seminar. At one point the leader gave his philosphy on life: the three things that matter most in life are "your family, your religion and your job, and what they mean to you." Would you agree? What are the three things that matter most in life?
**Hey, I think I went to that too, who was that? I remember using it on my boss at Mountain Bell. (1981). 3 things that matter most - My faith, my family, my hard drive.

Today I am thankful -
1. That I found a dryer, and it is so quiet. The old one we couldnt run past 10pm because it rattled the entire house. Im not kidding.
2. That book business is so good.
3. That Emma had a great 5th birthday today.
4. That I'm exempt from giving her a party.

Hey. Don't get me wrong. I love Emma like she was my own. Like. like. like. Not same. same. same. But I figured that from the time my kids were 1 to 15 years old (typical age for no longer having home birthday parties), that I have hosted 30-40 birthday parties. That is taking into account that not every child had a party every year. Although some parties should account for two parties, they were so horrendous. Maybe Amanda and Katie can tell you how many times I had to call them upstairs and say "You are never having a party, ever ever again".

It's so nice to be not-the-mom.

We found a dryer today! Yay! At Northglenn Salvation Army, where we were anyway. They had several today, sometimes they don't have any. We got a really nice and big big big one for $70. Not the best price we've seen, but definately worth it for the size and quality we got. Daniel and Mark got it all in and situamagated and it's ready to go!

I'm hanging my head in shame and watching Mr. Personality. Suffice to say the men ooze a lot more personality than this woman on here. Someone please peel her lips away from her gums. Doesn't her face hurt from smiling like that all the time?

And you know damn well I don't care who knows that I like Monica Lewisnky.

FUnny about yesterday, AManda was worried because it was Justin's first time having a holiday meal with us. She said before hand, "I don't want ayone to fight, I don't want any problems or anything to happen that will make Justin think we are weird." And then my mom goes and dump the entire gravy boat in her lap, and some on Justin. lolol! He's initiated.

Monday, errand day. Bank, post office, book buying, and dryer shopping. Ive got to find a dryer.

It's been a hectic, crazy, watch your mother spill the entire gravy boat day. Mark is on his way to drop of the midget, and I think there will finally be peace and quiet again. For a few days, anyway. It really has been a frantic day, and I'll be sooo glad when it's over.

Just a couple of notes, and a few pics...busy day. I had to make devil'd eggs, more people chow, ran to the store 3 times for things I forgot or needed for easter baskets, I put together said baskets, drove daniel to conifer, took Emma to tumbling.....! gah! See?!?

Here's the baskets, they came out really cute:




They're all full of really fun stuff; gourmet coffee, little make-up stuff, candy (cept for Katie's), fancy ink pens, hair goop, candles, etc. The kids are gonna love em.

And just in case anyone is wondering if it is springtime in the Rockies yet, here's what it looked like in Conifer today:





Last but not least, finally here's a couple of haircut pictures. Ta da. It really doesn't look this pompador-ian all the time, I had just brushed it, and well..

. . . . . . .



Hope everyone is having a nice Easter weekend!

You tagboard people are so silly! Stacy is having dreams about my creepy eyeball picture! Oh wow, that's crazy! And Laura, a thrift store mini vacation sounds so fun!

And for all you poor folks that need to make your own, here it is:

Nell's People Chow
1 12 oz bag of choc chips. (Semi sweet is easier to work with, milk chocolate may take a smidge more margarine, and it sets up faster so you'll have to work even quicker)
1 stick of margarine
1 12 oz box of chex (I use generic corn chex)
1 16 oz bag of powdered sugar

Make sure you have the following things ready before you melt the chocolate, once it melts you have to move fast:
2 very large bowls
A grocery bag with no holes
Pour half the box of chex in one of the big bowls.

Melt the choc and margarine in the microwave, (in a different bowl, don't use one of the 2 above) stirring every 2 mins or so.

When it's completely melted and creamy, pour about a third of it over the chex in the bowl. Add more chex, repeat till they're both gone. Work quickly, if the choc starts to set up..it won't coat the chex well. Use a spatula to fold the chex over and over on itself in the bowl. Keep doing this for about 4 or 5 minutes till it looks like every piece of chex has some chocolate on it. Dump the whole bowlful in the grocery bag and quickly add half of the powdered sugar...give it a good shake and add the rest of the powdered sugar. Shake it around some more and dump the whole concoction into the last big bowl. There will be a lot of powdered sugar left, you can try to leave it in the bag, or just shake it to the bottom of the bowl.

It's done! Yum!

Now look at the mess you've made!

I just don't feel like writing, I don't know why. Everything is annoying and all I want to do is sit around and read. I have a cup of coffee (still warm) and a diet pepsi (just opened) on my desk. I guess caffeine is the order of the hour.

Tomorrow I have to go to the laundromat because I still don't have a dryer. Won't that be fun?! We're also going to dye eggs in the afternoon. I still need to wrap Emma's birthday presents and get stuff to fill easter baskets. I'm totally unmotivated to do any of it.

I didn't take a picture today, sorry. Soon.

I forgot to mention, Kimberly Caldwell was voted off of American Idol. Praise ye voters.

Dy's making me post even tho I don't wanna.

The haircut is great, although I feel a little mournful. There was a lot...LOT of hair on the floor. I've gone from waist length hair to shoulder length. It's layered beautifully, though. The woman was very good, taking her time (and hour and 15 minutes) and even re-wetting it and re-cutting a few spots after she blow dried and noticed something or other. The salon I went to was also a Day Spa, so I suppose they are used to pampering folks. I brought my pictures, but didnt need to after all, cause the stylist had her hair exactly like I wanted it. Funny! Katie hovered nearby the whole time, explaining what I (she) wanted in great detail. Then when I was paying Katie whispers to me "you know you have to tip her, right?" WHAT?! Really? You're kidding. I live under a rock, I didn't know." duhhhh. lol. I gave her $7 on a $33 haircut, I think that was sufficient. Katie's so funny.

That's about it for now. Maybe a picture tomorrow. I've had a long day doing other things and I'm beat.

Katie is going with me to the salon tomorrow. She said "Mom, you don't know how salon people are, they make you wait even if you have an appointment, and then they don't do it right anyway unless you watch them every second!"

Agh! I'm so nervous! Im such a wuss!

Evening. Still no sleep. I will sleep tonight. I almost fell asleep during American Idol, (bye Carmen) but got up instead and started doing something else. I don't want to nap, I want to go to bed at a decent hour (what is that, 1am, 2am?) and sleep well. I'm also restless because Katie and Daniel went to have dinner with Dan and his wife (blech) for his birthday. They met about 25 miles away from here, which is about halfway between our house and Dan's house. I'm just worried about Katie driving on C470 and traveling so far. She's only tooled around Arvada, never going more than a couple of miles. And the exit that she needs to take from 470 to I-70 is very tricky. I warned her about it and she called before she left the restaurant to make sure she understood.

I've been so irritated at people today. Not people in this house, thank goodness. (for them). But I went to the grocery store (for Denny's people chow supplies, among other things) and I swear to God I was completely on edge and I had no patience for anyone or anything. I should have had a clue when I got to the store and there were two-count-em-two Retirement home vans parked outside. Empty. So you know where all those folks were dontcha? In the damn store, of course. There were old ladies talking to themselves, old ladies with humps leaning so heavily on their carts I was tempted to push it out from under their grip just to see their reaction. Then there was the old man talking quite animatedly to himself, loudly...something regarding the strawberries in the sale ad. I swear, these people stand smack dab in the middle of the aisle like they're the only ones there. I also witnessed this gem:

Old guy: I'm gonna get some o' this sloppy joe mix
Wife: You don't like that.
Old guy: I don't?
Wife: No. Put it back.

To boot, they've moved the pop tarts. For the last three times Emma has been here, I haven't had any pop tarts. I kept forgetting every time I went to the store. Well today I put it on the list. Finally at the end of shopping, I still had no pop tarts. I went back to the cereal aisle. Up..down...turn around..no pop tarts. They've moved the pop tarts. After all these ridiculous geriatric escapades and pop tart searching I finally ask a worker where they are.

"We moved them to aisle 4"
Aisle 4? There isn't shit on aisle 4. I get over there and realize why I've forgotten pop tarts for the last three shopping trips. It's the canned veggie/canned fruit aisle. I don't go down that aisle. gah....

Then... (I know you're just riveted to your screens) I got home and Katie was in a panic about some picture she needed copied to put in a frame for Dan. I offered to shit in a paper bag for his gift, but she declined politely. She wanted to go by Walgreens and use the Kodak machine before they went up for dinner, but she didn't have time to do everything else plus that, so I offered to go do the picture.

I don't know if you've ever used one of these machines but they harbor Satan inside, I'm certain. I was there for an hour! Finally we got it to work, no thanks to "Chris" the film counter attendant, who would be better suited wearing a paper hat somewhere.

gah.........

What else. I've listed about 750 books in the past three days. I'm a listing fool. (Oh, I hear you..."well, you're a fool anyway, Danelle...") But business is really really good, and I want to keep up the momentum. More books listed is more books sold.

Well, Katie and Daniel are home safe and sound and the coffee is brewing.

Oh, guess what. I have an appointment tomorrow. To get my haircut! aaaggghhh!

I just updated the Books For Sale Excel link. We're now listing 7596 items! We've trimmed some of the information so hopefully the page will load a little faster. It's still around 5meg. Eeek, I know.

Go look at some books you need. Come on, you can't afford $1.60 for a book called '50 Ways With Vegetables?' Email me first and we'll give you a break on shipping.

Today is Dan's birthday. And Tax Day. And if you're WIllie Nelson, Tuesday.

Yes, it's 7:45 am. No, I'm not up early. I'm still up. I think I slept for an hour or two, but not really. wired.

Anyone need a new roof put on, or your sidewalks vacuumed?

I went over to my moms today, that was pretty fun. Amanda was there, she goes over there a lot on Sundays. We talked a lot about the house her and Justin just bought, my mom kept teasing her about how small it was. I'm proud as hell of her, buying a house at 21. Sheesh. I can't wait for the wedding, it's gonna be buttloads of fun.

It looks like we have quite a troupe going camping with us on July 25. We've booked and paid for a spot at a campground, even though I've never camped that way before. I'm used to burying my waste in the woods...but since we're taking Emma we wanted to go to a campground. We choose the Estes Park Campground. I really like Estes Park, plus it's close and I liked what they had there. So now not only are me, Mark and Emma going but it looks like Daniel, Katie, Charlie and Vanessa will be coming along too. Whee! Gonna be some fun. It won't be anything like the camping trips Daniel and I are used to, when we used to go with Dan. Lots of manly stuff going on then, including shooting an assortment of weapons all weekend long. This is really bad, but I remember when things were *not good* between Dan and I, and I would be shooting a gun or two into a target and I'd be thinking "I literally could shoot him right in the head right now." Heh. I didn't tho. Obviously.

Anyway, the trip should be a lot of fun. I like having something a few weeks away to look forward to, I've always been like that. I need something big down the road to keep me plugging away day after day. Mentally checking off days on the calendar as it were. We're going to try to do a trip before this one, probably early June to Kenosha. Two camping trips in one summer?! Holy cow, we're camping fools.

People chow is evil. It's evil incarnate I tell you!

You don't know what it is? Oh my, it's only the best snack in the whole damn world. So good that you can never stop eating it. Katie and I have been yelling at each other all night. "Get this away from me!" "Don't let me near this!" "I can't eat anymore - stop me!"

It's Chex cereal dredged in melted chocolate then covered in powdered sugar. It's a delicate process that you have to do quickly, and then it makes your clean kitchen look like a tornado came through. I made some tonight and I was getting berated even while making it. "Why are you making that?" "We'll eat it all in one night!" "Oh no! People chow!"

I gotta go get just one more tiny small bowl of it.

I've been so groggy today. Lots of stressful kid shit going on and that takes it out of me. I'm hoping things are on the upswing.

From Jennifer - I thought this was fun, those of you on other areas of the map should do it too:

How Much? (from Denver, CO USA)
Gas/petrol per gallon/liter-Around $1.58 per gallon right now.
Fast food hamburger-Big Mac $2.99
Adult ticket to a movie-$8.50
Hair cut-$22 (with blow dry etc.)
Dry cleaning one dress shirt-$1-2.
Gallon of milk - $2.50
6-pack of beer-$9.
Manicure and/or pedicure - about $12
Daycare for a week- i have no idea
Car detailing and/or car wash by automation-I usually spend about $5 in quarters
Service charge for using an ATM that's not your banks-$1.50
King size Snicker bar-$1.29
Eyebrow waxing- $15
Tattoo (small)- $50 minimum
Pack of cigarettes-$2.40-3.30
Ear cartilage piercing-$15
The new Harry Potter movie - $20? I dont know, I never buy movies
Mid-size car rental-$19 online
1/2 gallon of your favorite ice cream-$6
Pint of strawberries- about $2 or so

FOR SALE
One (1) 15 year old boy. Needs work. Cheap.

How funny that at 1:30am on a Sunday morning we just sold the book "How to Stop Looking for Someone Perfect and Find Someone to Love".

I think someone just had a shitty Saturday night...lol

Movin and shakin in the blogroll. Had to take some off, they weren't posting regular and well others...well. Ahem. Anyway, there's a couple of new reads over there. check em out, you'll like em.

Teen troubles. Headache.

I've been listing books for a while tonight. Some gems, some junk. I found a picture of someone's child in a book called "How to Build your Child's Self-Esteem." I'm guessing rule #1 should be don't throw away pictures of your children.

Tomorrow is mommy day for Emma, and for me. I'm gonna go over to my moms for a bit and give her some tapes of shows I've been taping off of HBO that I think she would like.

Amanda and Justin are holding vigil at his uncle's bed. I understand he's not expected to last the night. They're both upset, although given their staunch beliefs I know that they are comforted by their faith. Send a thought their way anyway, if you think about it before you close your eyes. Amanda feels things very deeply, and I'm sure she's very upset, if nothing else, for Justin.

Katie was really happy about her pass. She felt a little bad..guilty..actually, but she was really thrilled too. She knows that we scrimp and save and frugalize to the nth degree, so she really truly appreciated it. I know she'll use it a bunch. Her and Charlie went to a concert tonight, and then she's staying over at Amanda's to go to church with her tomorrow.

I guess that's about it. I gotta get some Tylenol in me so I can ditch this headache.

This is for PN, really. So she can truly see how dull things are around here. This is what my day was filled with today. Hope this page doesn't take too long to load.

This is what time I got up. I stay up till around 3am every night, so I sleep late.




The first stop of the day is always the post office. Always. Every day.



And these are the silly people that hang out around there.



We decided to hit some yard sales.



We bought too many fun things. Including a huge bag of socks, Emma size. I mean huge. Like a bag that a comforter would come in. For $2. I'm in heaven.

Still yard saling, we had to wait for a train. Emma thought it was terrific.





Finished yard saling, we were going to the thrift store, when we saw this..on the side of the road.

Of course we had to stop. I don't know what was going on, but there were some kids across the school yard saluting as it took off.



It was very cool. Emma was amazed. And it was sooo loud.






Finally.



More fun stuff bought. A snow shovel, ( we didnt have one!) an apple corer and a really nice frying pan. Wow, this is so interesting I know.


By then we were starving. Taking a clue from my sister we went to Cici's all you can eat pizza place. $3.99 per!



Can't beat that. We sat there for about 30 minutes after we ate, digesting. We couldn't move.

We get home and I decide to do something nice for Katie. She's worked so hard in school this year. Plus she has a job, and works out religiously, every day. She's been going up to the Rec Center, but was becoming discouraged at paying $3.25 every time she went. So I headed up to the Apex Center



and got her a pass that is good for a year!



Don't ask me how I paid for it, I will probably throw up just thinking about how much it costs. But it was totally worth it, she soo deserves it. She isn't home yet, so she doesn't know. She's gonna freak!

So, that done...we decide to sit and watch a little news, and boom..Mark sits down in the recliner and a spring breaks. Bleh.


He fixed it though.

We chill and veg like heathens and finally it's Emma's bedtime. Time for a story.



Now, it's time to get to work..



And guess what. We'll do the exact same thing almost every other day of the week. Riveting. Exciting! Action packed. Umm...not.

PN, tomorrow can I come over to your house and drive around in your show car and pick up boys instead?

A day in the life. That was kinda fun. What did you do today, anyway?

Food for thought, for all of us bloggers. 10 Tips On Writing The Living Web.

I'm really really not liking some people today. I'm going to place the comments I would have liked to place elsewhere..here.

Heellloo? Wake up! He's a bully. And it's gonna get worse. And thanks for the howdy do that never came..'preciate that. bitch.
And you, you're a bitch and 'so sorry me' for stepping into your fantastic little fucked up blog world and trying to be nice. You don't have to worry about me reading anymore, I took you off the list.
And you, grr...get off your ass and do something nice for him for once. Selfish brat.
And lastly, judas priest in a bunkbed!...PLEASE stop talking about that! We really really don't care and we're not listening.

Wow, that feels better.

I'm working on a breath stopping photo montage, called "A day in my life". (today)

You'll pay for a whole seat, but you'll only use the edge...

Mark: wanna hook up for a cuddle on the couch later ?
Danelle: sure..best invite i've had all day.
Danelle: i love you, you know.
Mark: ditto u know
Danelle: don't ever stop. I won't if you won't.
Mark: its a deal

No you can't have this one. Go find your own. lol

This is straight from my local news, I swear.

"Police are hard at work looking for a purse snatcher that has acted 4 times in the past 2 days. They're considering the purse snatcher especially dangerous because he's targeting women."

Umm..err...

I drove all night to get to you
Is that alright
I drove all night
Crept in your room
Woke you from your sleep
To make love to you
Is that alright
I drove all night

Oohh, I've been there. I love this song. I'm home alone and it's blasting through the house right now. The remix is great too. I'm singing at the top of my lungs. I'm insane.

I dont know why I'm blogging. My life is so damn dull and boring it's unbelievable.

We picked up 8 more bags of books today. See, isn't that just the most exciting thing you've ever heard?

Tomorrow is emma day, where has the week gone? Seems we just dropped her off. It'll be a good weekend though, we're doing some yard sales and stuff, and maybe swimming at the Rec Center. Katies been up there working out regularly and she's loving it. She wants an annual pass, I'm trying to figure out how to swing that moneywise.

We're amassing a collection of camping equipment, and are planning two trips this summer. One in June and one the weekend of July 25. The one in July will be nice, it'll be just after Amanda's wedding and just before school starts on Aug 13. So far we've bought a camp stove, are bidding on some tents on ebay, and today I picked up a great camping coffee pot at Salvation Army. Rare to find those big blue ones with all the parts still in em. I really miss camping, and it irritates me to no end that Dan has all the camping equipment. Gees, we had like 5 tents, 4 season bags, Thermarest thingies to sleep on, everything! And now he lives in the mountains so it's like he's camping every day anyway. Maybe he'll get eaten by a big bear.

Oooh, Kimberly Caldwell was >thisclose< to getting her butt booted on American Idol tonight. Poor Ricky, I really liked him a lot. But someone had to go. I'm rooting for Ruben, lemme tell you. 205! 205! 205! And what, are Carmen and Clay together?!

Tomorrow (Thursday) I will be sitting at the pc all day listing books. Someone IM me, wouldja?

It's almost time to make a new guestmap, which is a GOOD thing! It only holds 100 signer-inners and then it will start deleting people from the bottom up. Eek! I will make a new one before that happens. Anyway, I have to say howdy ho to a whole mess of signers. Namely, Amy in Pa, Lee in Hollywood (dahling), Stuart in Hawaii (jealous!!!), David, Shelly, Dominic in England, and last but the farthest from the leastest, my buddy old pal Mike (CODE3) from another haunt of mine in cyberspace. That's 93 entries! Isn't that FUN?!

Hmm...what's going on tonight. Not a lot, watched something disturbing on tv that I will probably write about another time. It's too....I dunno, familiar I guess.

Have spent most of the day listing books and hanging out being lazy. I'm allowed. The ribs came out sooo good. Dy, what the hell are you doing to my rib recipe? lol.

Ooh, I'm listing books and coming across so many that you all would love! Most of them are huge 8x10 type hardbacks with 500 pages plus! Not that I'm pimping or anything....

Natural Medicines and Cures Your Doctor Never Tells You About
The Healing Power of Vitamins, Minerals and Herbs
Crafts & Hobbies, Step-by-Step to Creative Skills
Guide to Alternative Medicine
Natural Prozac

We're having some fun!

Yesterday started out nice enough...



We got some breakfast on the run and headed to Northglenn for our Monday ritual of buying books. We did well there, came away with 7 bags. Then we were driving home and decided we would stop at this other Salvation Army store, that doesn't do books by the bag, or so we were told. But we're still looking for a dryer, and we'd never been to this store. Lo and behold....books by the bag. We were a little frantic because we had to be home at a certain time for Katie to take the Elantra to the Rec Center and elswhere, and I had promised her we'd be back on time. We did a great job, and managed to cram 9 more bags of books into the car.


Right after we got home it started snowing really hard..big scary screensaver flakes. I let Katie go out anyway, she's got to start driving in the stuff sooner or later. She said later she was afraid I was going to call and make her come home.

Then later there was some misunderstandings and discussions (the loud kind) but it eventually got worked out. Everything is pretty much peachy again.

Today has been glorious and sunny, all the snow (and there was a lot of it) was gone by noon. I love Colorado for that. Tonight we are having barbeque ribs (yum, Dy!) for dinner and I'm really looking forward to it, Im starving. (Well one look at me and you'd know I wasn't starving, but to me, it feels like my stomach is eating itself.)

American Idol is on tonight. Please please please Make Kimberly Caldwell fall and break her neck.

Cruddy day. See ya tomorrow.

Ahem...err..cough. Am answering an email I got earlier today here...just in case anyone else..cough Cindi..cough cough Amanda.....happens to be wondering about selecting items from my wish list for my lovely and dreaded 41st birthday. Yes, of course...used books and movies are fine..

As you were.

Now I know why Di doesn't fix her comments. We'd be all over her ass. 7 words is not blogging. And where's my book. Waaahhh...

As promised, here is the link to the gallery of comic books for sale. I will put it up permanently on the side over there too. I don't know anyone who reads here that collects comics, but you never know.

Oh man! Go look at Denny's hair!

Funny tho how things work out sometimes. Mark and I went a couple of yard sales on Friday, and didn't find much. Then on Saturday Daniel announced that his waterbed heater wasn't working. We checked it out and sure enough it wasn't working. We looked online for heaters on ebay, etc but they were 20 bucks or so..plus we'd have to wait for a week or so to get it. We really didn't want to have to buy one brand new. Then I remembered that at one of the yard sales, a lady had a waterbed mattress and heater for $5. We got up this morning and headed straight over there. She still had it...and had marked it down to $3!!! Wowee! We got that, then stopped at Arc just for fun and found a camp stove, we've been trying to piece together enough camping equipment to make at least a couple of trips this year. So now tonight or tomorrow we'll have to partially drain Daniel's bed and put in the new heater. The new three dollar heater, that is.

Mark's doing a late drop with Emma, the weather was a little iffy this morning and everyone wanted to wait and make sure it wasn't gonna go nuts. We'll have to watch the late edition of SFU, but that will be fun anyway.

Book sales are busy today, trying to keep up with the pulling and labeling while Mark is gone. Lots of pricey books selling today too, that's always nice. We've also been comissioned to sell some old comic books for a friend, I am going to put up a link to those soon if anyone is interested. Make an offer. Really.

Time to eat something.

And now Good Charlotte was just on Saturday Night Live. That's all I was listening to 2 years ago, I loved them. Saw them in concert when no one knew who they were. Fun.

My mood has lifted some, but I am really really achy and lethargic. Foggy.

This morning I had shorts on. This afternoon it sprinkled, then rained. Around 9 pm it started hailing, and now it's snowing. I'm expecting a tornado to blow through any minute.

And now, I just received an email from RAUL! (No one knows who i am talking about except maybe Dy. She's gasping at this very moment. lol.) I loved Raul, I really could have wanted a lot more with Raul. And he knows that. And Mark knows that. But it just wasn't meant to be on so many levels. I told him I'd love to see him if he came to town, blah blah blah.

It's just funny that I'm all on this melancholy trip today...and reading old entries...and then I get an email from Raul. One time, we realized we were both listening to the same obscure song (Matchbox 20 - You Wont Be Mine..oddly enough..I swear) while reading emails from each other at the same time. And then I even mentioned that song in my blog today as something reminding me of the past. Wow.

Anyway, here's a picture of Raul for old times' sake. He's very shy and hates having his picture taken, but I don't think he'll mind 15 seconds of fame here. He's so sweet, and he was so incredibly nice to me...and he's so cute.



It's like here was a perfectly good relationship that I could barely fathom, because of what was going on around me. I went out to dull the pain now and then, but my heart was really somewhere else..which is horribly unfair. I probably should apologize to Dave for that. And Brock for the same reason. Ahhh, Brock. Boy I fucked that up big time, didn't I? Someday, we'll talk about that. Anyway. It's like that song by Fran Lucci.."Mistakes I Made.."

But for Mistakes I Made
Who knows who I would be
Some other heart some other soul
Some other destiny
But for the times I took a wrong turn unafraid
I might have missed it all
But for Mistakes I Made

Was just reading back through old entries of mine, and needing to listen to the music that comforted me then. I say it comforted me, but in actuality it was so painful to listen to, so accurate that sometimes I couldn't listen at all. Specifically, Matchbox 20 - You Won't Be Mine.

May of 2001 was probably some of the hardest weeks I've ever had in my life. I felt like my dignity had been shattered, that I had no hope left in this world at all, and spent most days and nights too stoned to deal with it properly. It started with May 1 2001 when Mark told me that he and his old girlfriend were getting back together. Not just any girlfriend..the one that he thought was the one. I was so depressed and uncontrollably sad for so many days, I even went through this weird psychic stream of episodes where I could "smell" him in the air. I wrote about it several times, but could never really put the words together to describe it properly. I was blogging in a lot of code words then...in case Mark was reading. I had to be on such a strict guard all the time then.

He'd warned me over and over that if he thought I was straying into "more than friends" territory, that he would end the friendship. I was so head over heels in love with him but I put on a very convincing act that being platonic was fine with me, so as not to lose the bones he was throwing, which were meager at best. Living that lie, that dichotomy, put my emotions in a very unhealthy tailspin and I was writing a lot about it. My writing is so different now, compared to then. Everything was a tragedy, each day was worse than the one before it, and sometimes I didn't know how I was breathing from one minute to the next. I was a horrible mother, a bad employee, and a worthless friend.

God, it seems like a lifetime ago.

Mark just came up to see what I was doing and I showed him some old entries. He was a little sad, but reassuring. Apologized that he didn't see the forest for the trees, and took so long to come to his senses about things. He squatted down on the floor in front of me and told me I should be glad now, cause we're here together, and I won't ever have to feel like that again. That kinda makes me sad too. But in a good way.

Just when I get my ducks in a row for school, the Cattlemen's Assoc calls me for an interview for the 38K a-year-with-travel job. Unfortunately we don't check our messages like we should, and they called on Tuesday, wanting to interview on Thursday. Of last week. I left a voicemail anyway, but probably have screwed this one up. Maybe I wanted to screw this one up anyway. I really want to go to school. Blah.

Maybe I'm just whining and feeling sorry for myself. I'm feeling put-upon and needy, hopeless and weepy. Thanks for the notes though, I appreciate it.

I'm looking for that memo. The one that says folks (women?) in dusty southern Colorado towns don't have to blog anymore.

I actually am thinking about not blogging anymore myself. I've thought about tapering off, blogging once every 4 or 5 days or so...till I get completely out of the habit and abandon this rhetoric infested website completely. Why am I doing this anyway? Who cares? I used to think it was cathartic, but I don't even post anything gut wrenching anymore anyway. It's all fluff and filler. My life is pretty good...I don't have to sit and wallow in self pity and loathing on my blog, which is actually why it was created, hence the name. I needed a place to "get it all out" and spew venom if necessary, the kind I couldn't spew in public. I needed a place I could spill my anger out onto, and maybe learn from it. I think I did that.

I'm not funny, this space isn't thoughtful, I leave nothing here that is interesting or enchanting enough to keep up with...even for me. Much less for some poor sap who happens upon this nonsense. I feel ridiculously offended when no one comments, and then in the next breath I wish no one was reading this at all anyway. It started out as something I needed to do to feel better, and now it feels guarded and incredibly unnecessary.

Carnival pictures here. 24 pics in all, select "slideshow", it's the best way to see them. Some of them are still quite large, I had a hard time compressing this batch for some reason. If you have trouble getting them to open, I can't help you except to say get a better processor and get your ass off of dial up. Come join us, we're over here in the 21st century!

PS, we watched a good movie on HBO last night, called "Bully." It's a true story about some high school kids that decide to murder the school bully, and it turns into a huge mess, ala "A Simple Plan"... Mark and I decided it was like Daniel trying to plan and execute a homicide. lol. Catch it if you get the chance.

Zzzz...we're already ready for bed.

Between running all over the Rec Center today, then this crazy carnival tonight..we're pooped. Emma is asleep on the sofa, we were home all of about 5 minutes before she was 'lights out'. Man, she had a great time. Pictures are ready to upload, but yahoo has it's thumb in its ass, as usual. I'll post the link later tonight or tomorrow.

The carnival was really crowded, and we had a pretty fun time, but we were irritated at how rude most of the kids were. They have no manners when it comes to waiting in line, or mowing people over without saying a word. I don't even know how many times kids butted in line around us, and the girls working the game booths had the worst sailor-mouths I've ever heard. But..what do you expect, anyway.

Emma came home with tons of little prizes, including 6 new goldfish from a "Scoop the Goldfish" game, which daddy commandeered, and competitve man that he is, had to scoop more than anyone else. lol. Good thing we had all the necessary provisions at home. Emma asked "how long will they live?" We both laughed and said "About a day or so.."

Cindi just called and wanted to know if we'd like to go to a carnival/sock hop that a school nearby is having tonight..so we're gonna. Why not? Pictures to follow, I'm sure!

Mary asked if Front Range made you get your EMT Certificate before you go on to Paramedic training, and the answer is yes, you have to be "basic" EMT certified before entering the Paramedic program. There are two other levels of EMT training however, which I will probably go ahead and do....on my way to..something else. I would just stay at that point and work as a paramedic, but the pay is not up in the numbers I'm looking for. The notices I saw in the job book at Front Range were around 28K for paramedics, but Kaiser had a job posting board for Nursing grads there, and they were starting at 24.50 an hour, plus differential and sign on bonuses. Yes, please!

It's not just the money, although that's a big part of it. If money were no object, I think I would stick with the paramedic certificate, because that holds the most attraction for me..and it's what I've really always wanted to do. But I think physically that would be a lot more demanding, which would be ok for a while, like while I'm waiting to be called up for the nursing program, but not forever. A lot of people have asked me if I wanted to "nurse" anywhere in particular, and truthfully I really have no preference. I like babies, I like old people, cranky people don't get to me much, and ER nursing would be good too. I dunno, maybe my "calling" will hit me in the face during some clinical somewhere along the line.

I've got my schedule all figured out, 10 semester hours for the summer. A bio class and a nursing class at the school, a composition class online, and a math modules class that is self paced, you do it at school at a math lab for an average of 2 hours per week. Fun in a big fat whole wheat bun!

___________
We went up and got our ID Cards for the APEX Center, and Emma fell in love with the place. We could hardly get her out of the play room, which Mark described as a McDonalds Playplace on steroids. Truly. The swimming pool was magnificent also, with lots of slides and ropes, a big circle pool where water propels you around the circle, lap lanes, tube slides and lots of squirty things. Emma was squealing while we were watching the kids in the pool from up above, at an observation deck type thing. We walked all over the place, and Emma was especially enamored at the ice skating rink, tho no one was skating at the time. We signed her up for her Toddler Tumbling class, which starts 2 weeks from tomorrow. She keeps asking us... "what am I going to do at germ-nastics again?"

Katie really liked it too, and I'd like to get her a yearly pass, so she doesn't have to pay every time she goes. Her comment was "So, how much is it to get in with an ID card..and what if I want to come every day?" All in all, I think this idea was a hit with everyone.

I have a turkey in the oven believe it or not, King Soopers had Butterballs on sale not too long ago and I bought..a few. Hey, I gotta keep my freezer in the garage full! This turkey is just shy of 16 pounds and it was about $3.30. Can't beat that with a stick, you know?

Time for the couch. For just a little bit.

We're off to the Apex Center to get our fabulous ID cards (will they give us a little black comb like the picture lady used to?) and sign Emma up for Tumbling. It's every Saturday morning at 9:30, and it looks like it will be fabulous giggly fun. Her response when we told her of this new development and the bodacious fun she'll be having every weekend: "whatever, dudes."

Dear Person Who Applied For Scholastic Financial Aid:
Congratulations, your application has been processed and your aid award is forthcoming, however....
we've noticed that your income you reported on forms ABC and XYZ is extremely low. Please explain your circumstances in the forms attached...

Groan..I can't even be poor without explaining it to someone.

Emma's here, we're queer! Err, uhh...wait a minute...

Anyway, daddy is taking a nap, he didn't go to bed until 6 am this morning. Sometimes he just can't let his mind rest, and sometimes he starts going over something in his head and he just can't sleep till he goes down to his desk and works it out on "paper". I'm cooking some yumms for dinner, and waiting 58 more minutes til Survivor time.

We went to the post office earlier and a woman appoximately in her 70's was talking to Emma about her glasses. Emma put her hand up to her mouth (like whispering) and loudly said to me..."She sounds like she's really OLD!" Gah... We had a quiet conversation later about saying things "about" people when you're standing right next to them. Tact, baby...tact. It comes later.

What else. Tomorrow we are going up to the Apex Center, which is very close to our house to get ID cards and hopefully register Emma for toddler tumbling. Mark thinks it's too much money, but I think it's money well spent. The Center has tons of cool stuff including a wicked swimming pool and a whole play/climbing area for kids. I want to spend a lot of time up there this summer when its roasting in this non-A/C house.
Katie fell in love of the pictures of the cardio areas and rock wall. Fun, fun.

Time to check the chicken. Bwahhauuack.

And to answer the question I've had about 50 times today. Yes of course they're mine. Who else would let me take a picture 2 inches from their face?

At least they don't follow you around the room.

Fun night.

We just got in from having a few beers with my friend Joyce, who I used to work with at Spyderco, and her husband Karl. How fun they are. Mark really liked them, he said because they have something between their ears. lol We went to the Cheshire Cat and hopefully will get together again with them soon. I hadn't seen Joyce but twice since leaving Spyderco, once right after and then last year at the Blade Show in Atlanta. Of course there was one point in the evening where we all had to give up what knives we were carrying so they could be passed around the table. Inevitably that's when the waiter always walks up. Giggle.

Going to do some tv and coffee, and maybe an early Zzzz...I feel wiped. Tomorrow is Emma day! Wheee!

I am so sick and tired of hearing and reading uninformed rhetoric about the war on internet sites. I really don't even want to hear the informed opinions, because it all just comes out sounding bitchy, pissy and really really boring. But what I'm really tired of is folks supporting the troops being called war mongers, and anti-peaceful..and on the other hand, people against the war are being called UnAmerican.

Because of my hobbies, a lot of my dear friends are gun-toting, "Semper Fi!" screaming Republicans. I respect what they have to say when it's informed and thoughtful. I also respect all my other friends, whether left wing, right wing, liberal, conservative, tofu-eating, Bush-hating,etc.etc.... Personally, I don't post my opinions because it's really none of your business.

But the spewing of judgements of others has got to stop. I've seen many sites this evening where folks have sincerely stated their thoughtful opinion, and someone else has come along after them and called them an idiot. (Actually most of the comments were of a more derogatory racial nature, which I refuse to print).


I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
~Voltaire

I went to my appointment at Front Range, and I'm bouyed again. This counselor was really helpful and encouraging. So, the basic plan is to get all my pre-reqs out of the way during the 10 week summer session, then do a lot of Bio and other classes to work towards a paramedic certificate while I'm waiting to be called up for the nursing program. Great idea.

She said recruiters from hospitals are begging nursing students who are still a semester and a half away from graduating to "sign on" with them, at about 52K a year. I came home and sat down with Mark and talked about it, and he's really encouraging me to go, laying out financial plans that prove it's feasible. So now I sit back and wait for my financial aid award. Should be about another 3 weeks before I hear about that. The counselor today said it should be no question that I will get a full ride, plus books. I register April 17, and I have to test out of the Pre Algebra pre-req before then, or that puts me back a whole semester. Classes begin this here at home this evening...naked. Hee. Away we go........

Daniel is at a Sneak Preview of "Holes" with Cindi, and Katie is at work. It's quiet around here. Maybe I'll wrap Emma's birthday presents.

(PS to Dy...I couldnt live without my Swiffer) and (PPS - Fix your tagboard...please?)

Congrats to all the 2003 Anti-Bloggies Award winners, especially Uncle Bob. I'm the proud sponsor of the category that he won, (most dead links) and his prize is on the way!