Standing at the precipice...

...about to dive into the new schedule. Thought I had one last day to sleep in, especially since the iPastor was already up and certainly able to herd the cats onto the bus once I got them awake. Wrong. Wound up giving rides, bitchin' and moanin' the whole way. Oh, what a happy example I set!
Today's goals include continuing to chip away at the laundry pile, and finding the new packet of checks so I can bowl this afternoon without a trip to the bank for cash. Big dreams, indeed.
I got the email that broke the camel's back today. It was the 3rd or 4th time I've gotten it in one form or another recently:

"CHEAP LABOR?
Isn't that what the whole immigration issue is about?
Business doesn't want to pay a decent wage!
Consumers don't want expensive produce!
Government will tell you, Americans don't want the jobs!
But the bottom line is cheap labor.
The phrase "cheap labor" is a myth, a farce, a lie...an oxymoron. There is no such thing as "cheap labor." Take, for example, an illegal alien with a wife and five children.
He takes a job for $5.00 or $6.00/hour.
At that wage, with six dependents, he pays no income tax, yet at the end of the year, if he files an Income Tax Return, he gets an "earned income credit" of up to $3,200 free.
He qualifies for Section 8 housing and subsidized rent!
He qualifies for food stamps!
He qualifies for free (no deductible, no co-pay) health care.
His children get free breakfasts and lunches at school.
He requires bilingual teachers and books .
He qualifies for relief from high energy bills.
If they are or become, aged, blind or disabled, they qualify for SSI.
Once qualified for SSI they can qualify for Medicare.
All of this is at the taxpayer's expense.
He doesn't worry about car insurance, life insurance, or homeowners insurance.
Taxpayers provide Spanish language signs, bulletins and printed material.
He and his family receive the equivalent of $20.00 to $30.00/hour in benefits.
Working Americans are lucky to have $5.00 or $6.00/hour left after paying their bills and his.
The American taxpayer's also pay for increased crime, graffiti and trash clean up.
Cheap labor?
YEAH RIGHT!
Wake up people!


Kind of scary, isn't it when you think about it?"


I heaved a great sigh, recklessly hit "reply all," "paste as quote," and started typing:

"I've gotten this email in several forms lately, and I think I finally need to speak up. Please take this information in the spirit which it is intended.

I can only speak for the state of Minnesota. My husband and I work anywhere between 3-5 jobs between the two of us at any given time, and still qualify for some of these programs. I have also worked as an advocate, helping people who are unable to fill out their own paperwork. I have filled out the paperwork and hauled in the required documentation many, many times over the years...
--He qualifies for Section 8 housing and subsidized rent!

Not without proof of citizenship and green card.
--He qualifies for food stamps!
Ditto
--He qualifies for free (no deductible, no co-pay) health care.
Needs SS#, proof of residency, green card



--His children get free breakfasts and lunches at school.

Need SS #s
--He requires bilingual teachers and books .

Not getting it in this district, sink or swim
--He qualifies for relief from high energy bills.

This is income-based only in MN, so probably true
--If they are or become, aged, blind or disabled, they qualify for SSI.
Once qualified for SSI they can qualify for Medicare.

Don't know about this, but "SSI" indicates they would need SS #s

--He doesn't worry about car insurance, life insurance, or homeowners insurance.

Why? If he causes uninsured auto damage, its a ticket to deportation.

--Taxpayers provide Spanish language signs, bulletins and printed material.

This is true, also braille, Swahili, and a bunch of other languages I can't read on the bottom of the form, but they sure look pretty.

Are there people who forge and fabricate these documents? Sure. But Joe illegal cannot walk into the local human services building and start accepting his dole. That's why so many illegals leave their families behind and wire their money home. Illegal immigration is a huge, expensive problem that affects everyone in the nation to some extent, especially with our crossover to a population of 300,000,000 made "official" yesterday. If we expect to motivate effective changes in the system, we need to be well-informed and work with the facts and not raw emotions. We have enough politicians trying to shove that crap down our throats this time of year! (Especially in my district, where for some reason over half of one particular candidate's advertising is being paid for by forces outside the district! WTF???) But that's a rant for another day..."

Then, I even more recklessly hit "send!"

So far I've gotten one "atta girl" and no flamers, but the day is still young.

Now that I've filled the spaces here with that drivel and nothing substantial, I'll try to work on those aforementioned goals. Gotta get that bowling average up higher than my handicap, too.

No light

With many thanks and apologies to Doug Adams:

"Whhhrrrr..." said Arthur Dent. He opened his eyes.

"It's dark," he said.

"Yes," said Ford Prefect, "it's dark."

"No light," said Arthur Dent. "Dark, no light."

One of the things Ford Prefect had always found hardest to understand about human beings was their habit of continually stating and repeating the obvious, as in It's a nice day, or You're very tall, or Oh dear you seem to have fallen down a thirty-foot well, are you alright? At first Ford had formed a theory to account for this strange behaviour. If human beings don't keep exercising their lips, he thought, their mouths probably seize up. After a few months' consideration and observation he abandoned this theory in favour of a new one. If they don't keep on exercising their lips, he thought, their brains start working. After a while he abandoned this one as well as being obstructively cynical and decided he quite liked human beings after all, but he always remained desperately worried about the terrible number of things they didn't know about.

"Yes," he agreed with Arthur, "no light."

This is what I hate about fall and winter. I can handle the cold and snow, but I hate the dark. It makes me pertpetually sleepy. It makes it seem like midnight at suppertime in January. It smothers me like a choking haze and not at all like a friendly, warm blanket. It makes the cold seem colder. Yuck. I LOVE cloudless nights with a huge moon and snow on the ground. It's like a cosmic "In your face!" to the dark of winter. I realize I've got 6 months to go, but I thought I'd get this out of my system.

***

We got the first snow yesterday. It won't be around long; it barely covers the ground and temps are heading back up to the 50s this weekend. Had some cool visuals, though. The clouds pushed through really quickly, and in multiple layers. The snow came in hard teeny tiny pellets pushed by the wind, and often would be flying around in the sunshine as the layers of clouds overlapped. We had a windy, grey, overcast, bright, sunny, snowy day. In the evening I was driving home, and you could see this activity from a distance. It was yet another "wish I had my camera" moment. You know how you can see rain falling miles off, coming down in dark streaks from the clouds? Last night, with the cloud cover, sunset and twilight in just the right combination, we had the same effect in negative, white fluffy streams down from dark clouds. It was really cool. I love weather.

***

Christmas is coming. Our first Christmas gathering comes the weekend after Thanksgiving. I guess that's become the easiest time to get together for my side of the family.


I have been sucked into a "gift ideas" thread. Jennifer over at Snapshot has started gathering ideas for awesome presents.
I have 4 kids blessed with many relatives who love to give them presents. The girls are all now old enough to really enjoy getting clothes, though they still like toys, too. Even Thing 4 likes clothes if they have Elmo or Thomas or something cool on them. Several years ago, as we were trying to fight the battle of clutter, I asked the folks to think about alternative presents for the kids: ie, things that don't wind up on the floor for Mom to step on. Grandma D took us right up on that. Every year for their birthday, each Thing gets their own weekend with Grandma. They have gone to movies, museums, circuses, ice shows, and inevitably, Chuck E. Cheese. They have even opted to go combine weekends a couple of times. They do crafts and go swimming, visit neighbor horses and puppies, and are gifted with memories that will last far longer than any Fisher Price plastic.
Auntie Tahmi (shameless plug--also full of great gift ideas!) gives each Thing a B&N gift card, complete with a "just us girls" (so far) trip to the store to use it, and have a treat in the coffee shop. They talk about it for months, seeing something they like and stating that they'll save that for the trip to B&N. The trip includes a half hour ride to the nearest mall; they draw for turns in the front seat and whoever loses out gets to sit next to Tahmi in the booth. As much as they enjoy all their gifts, these are the ones that I hear stories about months after the fact.
I tried to do the same think with my nephew, and bought us tickets to see Elmo live. A snowstorm kept me from getting there, but thank God the crew at the Target center box office was really easy to work with and held our seats for his dad to come and claim so he could still go with his family. I intend to keep trying, and hopefully will be able to have some fun with him and his sister before they graduate.

***

I am the laundry maven today. Turning the closets over from spring to summer, washing, storing, throwing and donating to Goodwill as I go. One benefit of small closets: I have to do this twice a year so I can stay on top of the laundry monster. Having three girls has made it tough, but I've finally learned that I don't have to save EVERY cute little outfit until all three girls have worn it. My laundry is in the basement, but I have a TV down there, so I hope to sort into piles to delegate the kids to put away when they get home and dad wakes up. I can see already this will be the biggest challenge for me as we roll into this night thing. I can get a lot of laundry done on my day off, but I can't be banging in and out of the closet in my room. Oh well, we'll adjust as we have to. And now, to the basement!

Insanity commences.

And now for something completely different: A title with no question mark at the end.
Hubs has been officially redubbed iPastor. It's a long story.
We're heading off into yet another real life adventure hereabouts. iPastor will be taking a full-time position working nights where he's been part-timing, apparently well enough to be asked to go full. Since he is taking most of his schooling online, the major adjustment will be making the rest of us 7-3ers vampire-friendly. As for the house, phones can be shut off and shades can be drawn. I've worked enough nights to know that it is not the immediate family that's hardest to deal with, but the outside world, so we'll just work on shutting them out completely until after 3pm, thankyouverymuch. It will be a juggle until we can get some sort of routine down. Once we get his schedule, I'll be asking for a set schedule at both of my jobs. Harder than you might think. Both jobs try to be very accomodating to everyone. It's the "everyone" part that makes it tricky.
I can't think of anything witty or amusing for you folks, so I'd best be getting back to domestic business. If anyone ELSE calls me Martha, I'll crack 'em one...

***

Kids always like to play "tent" in the blankets on the clothesline. I didn't know cats were into it so much. I looked our my kitchen window to see the neighbor cat, Cosmo, hanging out in the yard by the clothesline. No big. Shortly thereafter, the wiggling clothesline caught my attention and I saw the back half of Cosmo peeking out of his "tent." As the afternoon wore on, he stayed pretty close to his little domain. I was quite amused.

Had a Skype session with sis in IA toady. Much fun, that. Hands free chat!

Thing 1 has reached the "It is gross to think of my parents having a sex life" stage. Of course, this means her father and I get all snuggly mushy in front of her at every possible opportunity just to creep her out. The sacrifices! G'ma noticed tonite and thought it was funny, so she was mushing on G'pa to up the creepout ante. It is more fun than singing and dancing to the 60s music at our fave grocery store, which we also do just to embarrass her. Well, I guess I would do that anyway, but that's just me. Better go love on the iPastor. (Shhhh. The kid isn't even around!)

Is this the feast or the famine?

Just ending another 5-day stretch at work. I'm sure that sounds weenie to those of you who work M-F jobs, but the world of nursing means weekends, holidays, and really weird schedules. So there. Watched an episode from season 1 of "My Name is Earl" last night where he had to give an elderly woman eyedrops. That's my life every day.
We've had some lovely fall weather and been outside a bit. Hubs' dad had the whole fam damily over yesterday for a mini reunion with his sister from Nevada. It was fun to ee her, and we had a nice visit. G'pa had picked up a seconhand croquet set for the kids to play in the yard, so I wracked my brain to remember the rules for my kids. That was always my church camp sport of choice. Choose two, plus swimming. Kickball and croquet, for those of us with no stamina or hand-eye coordination!

Well, off to do some heavy-duty fridge and cupboard inventory and menu planning. I am truly amazed at how much money I save when I rememeber to do that, and that's even with buying the spendy "organic" and "all natural" stuff. Just call me Martha. On second thought, please don't.

A sign of the end times?

Phelps is at it again:

From USA Today--

Church won't picket Amish funerals in return for airtime

In return for an hour of airtime on a national radio show, members of a controversial Kansas church canceled plans to picket outside funerals for the girls who died in the shooting at an Amish schoolhouse in Pennsylvania, The Patriot-News reports.

"It's awful for me to give up an hour of my radio show ... but I think it’s worth the sacrifice to keep them away," talk show host Mike Gallagher told FOXnews.com.

The funerals begin today, USA TODAY's Rick Hampson reports.

Westboro Church, which has drawn international attention to its anti-homosexual agenda by picketing at the funerals of military personnel killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, blames Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell for the deaths because of his "blasphemous sins" against the church.

"They're insane," Rendell said, according to the Associated Press.


It's people like this who make it so much more difficult for those of us who want to spread the GOOD News. There are many things about the way people behave in this world that I am sure God hates, but the people he loves. God does not send mentally ill people with guns out into the world as divine retribution, nor does he allow soldiers to fall into harms way as petty wrath. Fred Phelps, leader of this misguided movement, needs to get back to the book and prayerfully listen to what God has to say. Sadly, his whole movement makes me wish God would retribute all over his butt.

Typing with a three-year-old on my lap earns bonus points, right?

We're having a lovely game of "kiss the bear". This is a nice change from his usual statements like "you being mean a me" and "Stop screaming." Before you call family services, "mean" and "screaming" are doing or saying anything that prevents him from getting his way at that moment. The joys!
Bro and SIL just left from a nice visit. Pie was eaten, games were played, friends were visited, and a good time was had by all, I think. I like days like that. Got enough accomplished on my day off that I didn't feel like it was wasted, and had some leisure as well!
Got some fly strips to fight the Amityville battle. They're mighty gross, but far less toxic than all the spray I've been using to little effect.
I am completely bereft of anythin interesting or amusing to post tonight, so I'll just let 'er go.
Nite all!

Strange bedfellows

So Thing 4 wanders in and crawls into mom and dad's bed last night. I am too lazy to take him back to his own bed. I suffer for it with knees and elbows in my ribs, and finally, feet in my face. Needless to say, my self-discipline will be improving, and the kid will begin being tucked back into his own bed as frequently as needs be. Yikes.

Feast or famine on the work front. I had three days off this week, now I have 5 in a row, four of them two-job days. I'll keep bright sunny pictures of the bills I want to pay firmly in my mind. Blech. Off for a little feet-up time between jobs. Honestly, that's the only real problem. I've been having a great time at both jobs lately; everyone's happy and easy to get along with and we've been having fun. But multiple shifts on concrete floors with thin industrial carpets are taking a toll on me poor old dogs. On two-job days, I try to put 'em up for a while. So that's where I'm goin'. You all have a nice day.

What? I need an interesting title, too? Sheesh...

Let's see, another day of random ideers and no connecting theme. Eat that, essay teachers everywhere!

***

Read this recently, and have blatantly stolen it to use here. Apologies for the all-caps thing. Some good points for those of us feeling less-than-worthy:

THE NEXT TIME YOU FEEL LIKE GOD CAN'T USE YOU JUST REMEMBER....

NOAH WAS A DRUNK
ABRAHAM WAS TOO OLD
ISAAC WAS A DAYDREAMER
JACOB WAS A LIAR
LEAH WAS UGLY
JOSEPH WAS ABUSED
MOSES HAD A STUTTERING PROBLEM
GIDEON WAS AFRAID
SAMSON HAD LONG HAIR AND WAS A WOMANIZER
RAHAB WAS A PROSTITUTE
JEREMIAH AND TIMOTHY WERE TOO YOUNG
DAVID HAD AN AFFAIR AND WAS A MURDERER
ELIJAH WAS SUICIDAL
ISAIAH PREACHED NAKED
JONAH RAN FROM GOD
NAOMI WAS A WIDOW
JOB WENT BANKRUPT
PETER DENIED CHRIST
THE DISCIPLES FELL ASLEEP WHILE PRAYING
MARTHA WORRIED ABOUT EVERYTHING
THE SAMARITAN WOMAN WAS DIVORCED, MORE THAN ONCE
ZACCHEUS WAS TOO SMALL
PAUL WAS TOO RELIGIOUS
TIMOTHY HAD AN ULCER.....
AND

LAZARUS WAS DEAD !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
NOW! NO MORE EXCUSES!
GOD CAN USE YOU TO YOUR FULL POTENTIAL.
BESIDES YOU AREN'T THE MESSAGE , YOU ARE JUST THE MESSENGER.


So there.

***

I have lots of stuff to get done today, but I have birthday money burning a hole in my pocket, and a strong desire to go shopping. Perhaps the Lord is calling me to shop? You never know, maybe I'll bump into someone that needs a Word, or make a connection, or find a revalation. Work with me here! Mama needs a new pair of shoes (literally.)

***

Got my birthday card from my "folks" yesterday. I lived with my best friend's family my senior year in high school. My dad was dead and my mom alrady in a nursing home. I had been living with my sister, but they were moving, coincidentally on the weekend of my 18th birthday. I wanted to finish out my senior year in place. I had a little job, but was supported by SS orphan's benefits, and had to refile after I turned 18 because I was still in high school. I had planned on staying until I got my social security straightened out, then getting my own place, but the folks said maybe I should just stay there. Probably a wise parental decision. An 18-year-old with her own apartment? Trouble on the hoof there, and their kid my best friend! So I stayed, and my card yesterday reminded me that I had joined the family 20 years ago. They even said they were glad about it. Wow. There's a special place in heaven for folks like that.

***

So far, I have kept the foreboding cold down to some manageable sniffles and aches & pains. Knock wood and all that. I have managed to do a few little things around here so far today. Hopefully I can just keep pinging at the chores to keep them at bay.

***

This in my inbox from my sis:

So, happy belated Thirty-Quitch! ( As was posted recently on a friend’s blog, “you don’t go directly from 37 to 38. First you go to thirty-quitch. And next year you’ll be thirty-wip, then thirty-tocle, and then you’ll be thirty-eight. There’s a number void there, and people keep forgetting about it.” Where those numbers came from I don’t know, but it sounds funny!)

***

Oh, and this post is now titled "Amityville Horror", because the flies around here are so (#*(!! thick! We've always had bad windows and thick flies in the fall, but I thought this year would be better because we got some new windows in and never had to open the screenless ones anymore. I thought wrong. I can live with the flies as long as we have no demons, though.

***

This also in my inbox:

Bid on the Doodlebops Live Front Row Seats Auction

Surely you must be joking. I can think of no greater torment than those seats. Buy 'em for someone you hate.

***

Off to work. Have a swell evening!

Hippo Birdies to Me!

I survived the busy busy weekend relatively unscathed. While I did the two-job thing, Hubs cracked the whip on the Things and the house was pretty well picked up. We had a quick red alert on the floors Sunday after church, because Hubs invited his folks over. I couldn't complain because they were coming to give me presents. So all I've had to do this past couple of days is patrol the house to keep it from backsliding.
After presents, and watching the Vikings snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, I wandered outside and got the firepit going, and we didn't put it out until after 10. Got a little bit of my brushpile cleaned out, but more of the chunk of neighbor's tree that fell Saturday. It was really old and dry, so it got good and hot and we could feed in the wet stuff of mine that sat in the rain all week. We chatted with neighbors and friends and ate junk food, and had a lovely time.
Yesterday was a big fat day of nothing, but it was kind of nice. Aside from the aforementioned upkeep, Hubs and I got a little time to just knock back and chat. Later, we took Thing 4 for a drive around the lake, let him throw rocks in the water and play at the rec area playground. It was a lovely lazy day. I could use more of those. Unfortunately, I could feel a cold coming on all day as well. So far it is not as bad as I feared it would get, knock wood and all that. I just keep pounding fluids, blowing my nose and washing my hands. I'll save meds for when I have to go back out in public.
I have vowed not to spend my birthday with my butt glued to the chair in front of the Mac, so I am off to do something productive. What I haven't quite figured out yet, but Thing 4 wants some watermelon, so I guess we'll start there.

Weekend on the horizon...

We're getting ready to head into fall, which steps things up around here a bit. When the neighborhood crops start to come out, Hubs will head back into the field to do soil sampling. It is an annual gig for him, that he mostly likes. The days are long and tiresome from bumping around muddy fields in a pickup with a hydraulic soil probe, but he can pack up whatever books on tape or other iPod treats he likes for his own entertainment. Hours will pick up at Job 2, as the locals will start staying home and our tourists will start coming for hunting. Today and tomorrow are two-job days, but I switched and got Sunday off completely, so it all comes out in the wash.
The sugarbowl has caused some buzz offsite as well. Just to prove he does pay attention to what I have to say (!), Hubs asked if I wanted one for myself. I said no, but he started wondering where the one wound up that they had when he was a kid. In the process, we found out his mother doesn't have it, but would like one, so it's of to eBay!
The kids have the day off school here, so all are sleeping in except the one I packed off to feed the wolves at Yellowstone. I wish we could take more spur-of-the-moment trips like that. Our Black Hills foray was great, but it seemed like i spent longer planning and organizing the dang thing than we did on the trip. Don't tell anyone, but I kinda groove on the planning stuff, but not so much that I wouldn't like to just jump in the car and take off once in a while. Now I must do just that, but I'm only going as far as work, so no adventure there.

Hold on, we're swerving all over the place today...

Since I haven't written in a couple of days, I have all sorts of little, mostly insignificant, sometimes noteworthy thoughts, feelings and impressions floating around in me noggin. One may think I have no other outlet than to spew these things all over you, my loyal audience (I hear you rustlin' around out there behind the crickets); however, Hubs and I have managed to get in some quality conversing lately, about stuff other than (as well as, this is real life, you know) kids' schedules, bill paying and the like. Often, though, stuff just flits through my mind that I would like to explore, when there isn't someone to talk to older than three who is not affected by geriatric dementia or occupied by work matters. So that's when you get treated to my blather, dear interweb, or sometimes even after, when I thought the conversation yielded blogworthy tidbits of it's own. Some of these are related, others completely random, and maybe someone other than me out there will find them interesting (show me the comment love, if so. Amen!)

***

Had a couple of completely nostalgic moments this week. The warm fuzzy kind, for me, and one for Hubs.

I was fixing a cup of coffee for a resident who takes hers with sugar. I cannot put sugar in coffee without a visual impression of this sugar holder: and a really warm feeling about the place I used it.

I was a tail-end baby; I am separated by my blood siblings by 16 years. My folks were older, and so were their friends. Such folks were Hank and Hannah. They were a lovely NW Iowa Dutch couple, married nearly 40 years at that time. Hannah was the eptiome of a Grandma, although I never made the connection until years later, because my Grandma was plenty different than most. Hannah was pleasantly plump, had an easy laugh, and a houseful of crocheted items to dress it up. Her home was always neat and pretty, but I never felt scared to mess it up by playing. Hank had an infectious chuckle and wire-rimmed glasses that fascinated me. He could also wiggle his ears. It was the. coolest. thing. EVER! As I got older, my mom's unknown-at-the-time neuroligical disorder made her isolate herself, and my dad by proxy, from their friends. While they still were getting out and about, however, we would sometimes go to Hank and Hannah's for coffee. Sometimes my mom and I even walked down there ourselves (small town, and stay-at-home moms and grammas. Wow.) Hannah always had good toys (including the Tupperware lock blocks--I'm seeing a definite pattern here) and would tell me and Mom about her grandkids, especially KayLynn, and Loren and Leroy, who were close to my age. I wouldn't set eyes on them until years later, but I always felt like I knew those kids. Inevitably, we would sit at the kitchen table for coffee, and I was always offered some, just like a grownup, and they would pass the Tupperware sugar bowl. There was always laughter, and easy chatter, and those brief, too-few moments of my childhood are treasures. I take cream these days, but if I even think of sugar in coffee, I feel the warmth around that table, and I smile.

***

Hubs' nostalgic foray has been humming around the back of his head for quite a while. His paternal grandma died the week after we married, and since then, her farm has been sitting empty. He has frequently wondered about the apples on the backyard tree there, as he can never get an apple pie like hers. Tuesday evening, we drove out the the farm, scavanged some apples and a branch, and had them identified at the local orchard as Red Barons. After sampling some the grower had on hand, Hubs concurred, and we have a bagful atop the fridge for pie making. I should do that later...

***

My brother and his wife dropped in for a visit Tuesday night, too. I felt a little guilty were so busy, but they stayed over and we got to spend some time together yesterday. I love to hear my brother's voice from another room. After an overseas stint (which we will revisit shortly) my brother and his wife were stationed in Omaha, and visits home got much more frequent. I would wake on a long weekend or holiday, and hear he and my folks visiting in the kitchen. It was always a sound I associated with vacations and fun.

While overseas, stationed in the Netherlands, my brother and his wife would send home packages with interesting, supersized comics in English with a little hero named Asterix. The whole family was immediately hooked. Years later, Asterix would show up in American video games and a cartoon, but folks in the US just don't get it, for some reason. When Bro returned to the area a few years ago, he camee to housesit for us, and we found him some Asterix books as a Thank you, since his and mine had been scattered away over the years. He now has collected most of them again, and has loaned them to my kids, who eat them up. Hubs recently found a copy of the 2002 movie, and we watched it on our big screen yesterday with the whole fam damily, and had a great time.

***

Hubs has cobbled together a home theater over the years that is starting to be company-worthy. We have all sorts of old sound equipment to rig together surround-sound, he painted out one side of a chalk board for screen, he uses the digital projector to show movies from DVD or VHS, and we have some old dual seats from the church basement for theatre seating. It's tucked into what used to be a tiny room with tinier windows, now a lovely little, easily-darkened alcove for comfy movie viewing.

***

I really like the word "dustbin" today, and I have no idea why it is bouncing around my subconscious. Speculation?

***

Need to go tote Thing 1's clothes to town for her. She is going with friends on a long weekend trip to Yellowstone. Cool. Have a great Thursday!

Arrrrrrrrrrr!

It's Talk Like A Pirate Day!!!!!

I am so gonna drive people nuts.

We do more before 9am...

Today could have gotten off to a very bad start, but I made some conscious decisions not to let it. I did get some snarking in on my kids, but that was quickly forgiven by a ride to school.
I thought I had set the alarm last night, but it's one of those dual jobbies and I set the wrong one. I rolled over and looked at the clock about 15 minutes after the kids should have been at the bus stop. I got 'em up, told 'em I'd give 'em a ride, and rode herd as they got themselves and Thing 4 ready. Luckily, I had set the church alarm, so dad was up and ready to take charge of Thing 4 while I went to town.
Our itty bitty town is about 6 miles from the town with school, work, etc. Even though gas prices are calming down a wee bit, we try to be conscientious about trips to town, so after I got the kids a breakfast treat at BK, I dropped 'em of and ran my errands. Having to tote them got me out of the house a lot sooner than if I had gone on my own. I will have to return, as paychecks weren't ready yet, but that means I can treat the kids to a ride home and the library after school while I get the oil changed, which is all good. One nice thing about small-town living: the qwikky-lube of choice is half a block from the library. For now, my groceries are bought and put away, I got errands run, and I've had a few minutes to nip around the web with a cuppa joe and a stanky candle burning. I should get up and moving before I lose momentum. In a minute...
I've signed up for a "pastor's wife" ring. I have been pleasantly surprised to find that next to women of great grace and inspiration, I find others with the same sorts of struggles, quirky sense of humor, and potty mouths as me. I'll do a linky thing when I get that kind of info and motivation. Until then, I'll just keep polishin' that halo...

My thoughts on Vikings 16, Panthers 13

Love that "edit" widget. I was unable to view the end of the football game today, so I went to minnesotavikings.com. An hour and a half after the game, and they still had 13-13 posted. I thought we had tied during NFL regular season play, and I was absolutely perplexed. I was set straight at the church coffee hour tonite, and athough a bit chagrined, I feel much better about today's game. Way to go for the first Vikings kicker EVAH to throw a TD pass. Yay Childress for taking some risks. Time for the happy butt dance! (|) (/) (|) (\) (|) (/) (|)

In other news, with enough lighter fluid you can get soggy stuff to burn. Firepit should be nicely primed for further use next week. Seem to have developed a knack for writing sentences without subjects. Bad English teacher! Bad! (Those were interjections.)

A big interweb welcome to my newest Blogger buddy, the Cosmic Junkie over at the Cosmic Junk Drawer go over and leave him a warm fuzzy comment. He's single, girls!

With that, I'm off to herd the cats to bed. Night all!

Dang wormholes...

So after Job #2 the other night, I could not find my car keys. I have a very bad habit (though usually not at work) of tossing them on the floor of my car. Maybe TMI, but if you want a GEO with no bluebook value because its been totalled once already, has no exhaust system, and your need is that great, I'll even post directions to the blessed thing. Anyhoo, I thought that must be the case, as I could not find them inside, and I did not carry a purse that night. I looked thru the car. I went back and looked again. My boss offered me a ride home and while I waited for him I took a garbage bag and went through the car a third time on my hands and knees and gutted it. Yes, I know, if there is that much garbage in my car there is a problem; however, I have been doing this more often, and trying to police myself and the Things about packing out our junk (Hubs is on his own...) so it really isn't as bad as it has been. Anyway, again with the digression, I was on the flippin' floorboards of the car and no keys anywhere. So Hubs brought me to work with the spare keys yesterday, and lo and behold, when I walked by to check, there they were on the floor of the drivers' side, fully visible from the passenger side window. There.is.no.WAY. I could have missed them. Either someone is messing with me, or there is a wormhole under the seat of my GEO. I wonder where it opens out?
Thinking of wandering outside and lighting up the firepit. We've had thundershowers the past couple days, and while the sun is out and pretty today, it is decidedly cooler outside. I have a brushpile to pare down where the tree service dropped our tree earlier this year. Those aforementioned showers may make burning a bit of a challenge, but heck, I have a Sunday off and nothing better to do. Sounds like a lovely way to rest on the Sabbath.

A present for you, my best buddy ever

I tend to sit here and space off while watching my blue lava lamp, so I though you would enjoy it, too. Since I don't have a webcam (8 digital video cameras in the house, and no webcam...I can hook 'em up but they have power save and shut off after a few minutes if not recording) to point at my lovel lamp, I went and found you this, dear internet. It's not as realistic as a couple VR lamps I found, but it requires no download and is Mac-friendly. Enjoy!

A typical Thursday

Some non-sequitr-as-usual observations from around the Casa del Goose:

*Nothing funnier than a three-year-old boy belting our the lyrics ro Barlow Girl's "Never Alone" over milk and cereal at the breakfast table.

*Someone always has it worse than you, and can put your day in perspective in a real quick hurry. Wow.

*I have never lived in Texas, but I will still miss Ann Richards.

*Laundry sucks.


With that, dear interweb, I leave you to go organize my day, and get ready for the final performance of Much Ado, which happens to be a local road show, so I don't even have to haul my butt to Marshall.

See ya after strike.

Photobucket

This is a test post from Photobucket.com

What have we done to these kids?

I told Thing 1 (13) to go grab some movies to keep herself and the other Things (12, 8, 3)occupied during tonight's line-thru. She said, "Here's 3 we all like." She had The Breakfast Club, Dogma, and Braveheart. More frightening still, she's probably right, 'tho Thing 4 still likes cartoons. My poor, poor kids...

You may want to scroll down a few posts and work your way up...

castingcrowns
Originally uploaded by Gette.

...if you really care, that is. I am using flickr to post because Blogger is being a crabby pants. I have got to be missing something about posting more than one photo to a post, or something, but bear with me...


Casting Crowns were the Saturday night headliners that brought us out into the damp and the mud, and they were the highlight for the kids and grownups both. If it hadn't been for them, though, we would have missed the other completely cool bands we saw there. For little miss "I don't listen to Christian rock" (and you know who you are...;)) there's some really edgy, hardcore, awesome music in the current batch of CC bands. Besides, anyone who listens to Def Leppard had to also have listened to "Honestly" by Stryper about a gazillion times.
Digression aside, these guys not only rocked off many faces, the lead singer is a great communicator as well. Told fun stories and made an impact, I think. Ok, off to haul all the little dancing girls.

But seriously

minijer
Originally uploaded by Gette.

This is how close we really were to Jeremy Camp.

Jeremy Camp...

jumbojer
Originally uploaded by Gette.

...is really big on the Jumbotron.

From these cool seats

woohoo
Originally uploaded by Gette.

Oh yeah...

Stellarkart

stellarkart
Originally uploaded by Gette.

Why can't I do more than one pic in a post? Hmmm. I'll dig deeper some day when I have more time. I should be doing this in reverse order... Anyway, this was our view of Stellar Kart

Superchic[k]

superchick
Originally uploaded by Gette.

After the kids' stuff, we went to see Superchic[k]. Good view of our view, and some mud.

Lifelight Pics via Flickr

viking
Originally uploaded by Gette.

This is new, and seems kinda backwards to me, but here goes. Thing 2 got a balloon hat at the kids' activity booth/balloon haberdashery.
(I can already tell this blogging method is gonna be clunky but Blogger will.not.let.me. post photos... I may go beta.

Another op'ning, another show...

Much Ado is off the ground and flapping. The weather is agin' us, as this is Shakespeare in the Park after all, and it's been overcast and cool. People that will freeze their heinies at a HS footbal game won't do the same to watch Shakespeare for some reason. I am wearing my longjohns under my costume tonite, even if it does make me look fat. Sounds like a cast excursion to Applebees after the show tonite too. Yay! I have a gift card to use up.

I attempted the lifelight picture post, but Blogger is being a crank again. Hmph.

Off for a little tubby time before the show.

Picture Time!!

Yesterday when I went for coffee with Bossy, I noticed while I was taking pictures that my screen read "full memory" so I thought I was using too much resolution and had filled 'er up. I did not realize my kids had filled my camera with a bunch of schlock pictures of things like toast, table legs and the cat. So, none of my coffee pics turned out, so I stole these brazenly from Bossy's site for those of you who don't go there. But you should. She's a hoot.
She snuck this one in while I was cleaning grunge of Thing 4. It's my new desktop.

















Thing 4 and Boo Bee driving somewhere. Dunno where they're goin', but they're cute as heck getting there.

Blogger is bein' poopy about pics, so I'll start a new post with the rest.

Wheeee!

Hubs had a night shift, so I cleared myself and Thing 4 out of the house and took a little drive to have "beverage of choice" (soft, it was before noon...) with Bossy, and share some idle chitchat while our two adorable children played in the Burger King habitrail. Yes I got pictures, but my dang camera is wonky so they'll be posted when I get all the rest of 'em ready. Then neighbor Al and I made a speed run thru thrift stores for last minute (oy!) Shakespeare stuff.
Now its off to dress rehearsal!

A day off...mostly.

Wow. Got to sleep in this morning. Had nowhere to rush off to work, visit or do something pressing. Took a leisurely trip to the Evil*Empire for school supplies (must visit the Death Star outlet in Marshall this evening, as ours was out of a couple things. Waited too long, I did...) On the way home we treated the Things to McDonalds and took them to the monstro playground to run a bit. The only "must do" event on today's agenda was a rehearsal we added in on Thursday. We bumped up the time, so I should be home relatively early. I'll be able to get my ducks in a row and get ready to roll into those two dreaded words in any theatre geek's vocabulary...
...Production Week.
I may be a bit scarce around here due to that, but bear with me. I'll put some pics up when they're ready.

I'm too young to be this old

It's the morning after an all-day, outdoor, alcohol-free concert, and I feel like I've been on a three-day bender. Here and here are a couple of stories that describe the conditions as well as I can. All the walking, fresh air, and requisite jumping around has left me feeling like whipped puppy. By the time we got there, the clouds had broken up, and it was partly cloudy and pleasant, if you could deal with mud, and lots of it. You could tell we were in farm country; there were plenty of folks of all ages wearing barnyard work boots. No dummies there. There were also plenty of bare feet. It's an impressive setup. We got up close and friendly for Jeremy Camp and Casting Crowns. We had to haul the Things up onto our backs from time to time so they could see, but we were also strategically placded under the jumbotron so they could see when we were tired. An exta 65 pounds of kid will sink you about half an inch deeper into the mud, by the way. The concert was over at approximately 11:15-11:30. We didn't get out of the parking lot until 12:50am. The park is out in farm country that is rolling over to urban sprawl. Parking wound through recently devloped neighborhoods, but there was a pasture full of cows directly to the west of the main stage. I wonder what they thought of all the commotion. The parking lot was obviously in corn relatively recently, telling from the ruts and field stubble under the grass. Bits of shattered sporting clays and rubber shell wadding made me wonder exacly how recently the gun club gave up use of the property, as well.
We're going to enjoy a leisurely dinner with grandparents, then make our way home via Sprawl Mart for school supplies. I'll see how my pictures turned out when I get to my home computer. Have a great Sunday!

Off to the races...

Labor Day hijinks ensue! We had been planning to go to Sioux Falls for the Lifelight festival this weekend, but Thing 1's win at the fair altered that a bit. After discussion and negotiation, the Thing insisted that the rest of the family should not miss because of her, so she is going to the fair with G'ma. The rest of us are soon out the door to the other G'ma who lives closer to Sioux Falls, where we will enjoy an abbreviated version of the festival. The abbreviation is more due to the crappy weather than anything. We'll hang with G'ma if its soggy, then venture out into the rain for the headliners. Meanwhile, should Thing 1 win, we'll rocket back across the state to see her in the State Fair grandstand Sunday night. We'll amble back home sometime Sunday or Monday and gear up for the first day of school. I know, dear internet, that you have nothing better to do than wait here for updates, so I will keep posted on developments as I am able.

Video at last

Done and done.

I was freezing by the time Thing 4 performed so its shaky as heck. The quality ain't so great either, but whatta ya want for nuttin?

More Fair

Ok, so how do you make a killing at the fair? On a rainy day, you sell these buggers for $2 when the radio stations are hawking their logo-fied ones for $5:


So, where were we? Oh yeah, we split up for a bit, and the Things went on their rides while mama the pack mule dumped a load back at the car and picked up their stuff for the show. We saw some more sights, and did some more fair things.


All vendors at the fair are private contractors. This particular carousel sits in front of the grandstand in what is called "Carousel Park," oddly enough. It's been there for years and has nothing to do with the rest of the midway. There's one on the Kidway, too. There used to be a really old one in a permanent building, which you can read about here. It was very cool, and almost got the 86 due to the almighty dollar. Now it is fun to go visit at Como Park, another Saint Paul landmark.
We finaly got to our pre-show meeting. The first thing the stage manager told us was that the weather policy was to go on, rain or shine, unless there was lightning or severe weather, in which case we would break, wait it out, and come back after 15 minutes of all-clear. Almost as soon as he got this said, we were moved to the Eco Challenge building to wait out an incoming storm. It was just then that I realized I had forgotten Thing 1's CD. I knew I could walk to the car and get it if I had enough time, but the graciously sent me a golf cart to speed things up a bit, so Albert took control of the Things and off we went. Unfortunately, that's exactly when the weather hit the fan. We were forced to seek shelter in the main entertainment offices for about 20 minutes. I fretted about the Things, but they were busy checking out all the interactive exhibits in the Eco Challenge building and didn't even miss me. The sun broke back through, we got a rainbow for good measure, and on our golf-cart journey I got a mini-tour and some behind the scenes stories of the aforementioned storm of Skynrd legend. Nate, my golf-cart knight, treated me more like a minor dignitary than the PITA stage mom I felt like. Everyone at the entertainment office and Baldwin stage was pleasant and helpful, despite fielding phone calls and watching weather reports and dealing with all the different stages at the fair. They all get really big kudos from me.

We got back in plenty of time to watch the crew dry off the stage. We waited for the official all clear, and started up about 40 minutes late. Thing 3 performed in the middle of her division and was cute as a bug, but there was some really stiff competition. She had a blast on the big stage. Thing 1 was the very last act of the evening. There were two girls who sang and played piano, two boys who sanga nd played guitar, and an excellent dancer, who took second. Thig 1 waited for them to announce 2nd place and said, "I'm ready to go now." The look on her face was priceless when they announced her name. I wish I'd left the camera on, but I was shivering so hard the video is shaky as heck the way it is. Now to get it compressed and posted...

Argh! State Fair part 1

Yet another twit at work quit with no notice or call, and left a schedule full of hours to fill, so here I am working nights again. At least I get call-in pay. I hope it comes out of her check. I actually really like the night shift at my job. It's peaceful, the pace is easy, I do quiet things like cook and bake. I just hate doin' it in the middle of the night.
The state fair trip was soggy indeed. For most of the day we simply ducked into a building when it looked like rain was coming, and it worked pretty well. The kids got on their rides, they saw the sights and did the activities that really mattered to them. We had our neighbor's Hungarian exchange student, Albert, along for good measure. My neighbor works for the state Extension service, so "fair" and "fun" do not go together in her vocabulary. We would not want a foreign visitor to miss out on such an integral part of the Minnesota experience, however, so we have taken their students along on more than one occasion.
When we first entered the fairgrounds, we found the new Miracle of Birth Barn, around the corner from its old location and bigger than before. We strolled in to check it out, and were greeted by a laboring cow with protruding calf bits on the big screen. That was more of a cow than I cared to know, so we moved hastily on. I think the concept is awesome, especially for city dwellers who have no concept of the livestock life cycle, but I hung around enough friends' farms when I was younger to get a good feel for animal husbandry. No need to view it for recreational purposes. Thing 2 wanted to make a beeline for Little Farm Hands, but we had to make a couple dry building detours en route. Once we took care of that, it was time to check out rides until we got a rain squall, so we ducked into the Home Depot tent and built things. We took a couple laps in the trolley and checked out the Mutual of Omaha Wild Kingdom trailer. Animatronic Marlin Perkins, but no Jim Fowler. He was out wrestling hippos while Marlin was safe in the trailer, I guess, as always. No respect.
I have now lost the last half of this post TWICE, and am about to scream in frustration. **(&&*(&!!! Blogger!
To Be Continued when I am calm...

Learning Curve

I have spent most of the afternoon learning video encoding by trial and error, mostly error. I have to go to work soon, so I won't spend any more time on it today, but I should be able to get the kids' clips up relatively soon. I'll be posting a link where you can go download the movie to watch on your computer, so we don't have to fiddle with streaming video and other such technobabble.
I must go outside for some fresh air and sunshine before I hide out in the bar all night, so I shall post for you later, dear internet.

We have a winner

We are back from our foray to the State Fair, a bit damp around the edges but Thing 1 is victorious. I'll say only that I think I jinxed myself blogging about that storm, but I found out from one of the entertainment crew that it is the stuff of SF legend. Details and pictures later, I am shot, and a bit soggy, still.

Crash Boom Crash

4:24 this a.m. brought a very loud thunder crash and rumble. I expected the little whimpers that soon followed, but not the second crash, which was William knocking over his dresser on his way to find me. The sisters that help put his clothes away and get him dressed had left enough drawers open to tip it off balance enough to let it go crashing over with a nudge. After dealing with all that commotion, and dealing with the kids who came out to see exactly what it all was, it took me about an hour to get back to sleep. I should've just gotten up to do something productive, but bed was too comfy.
There's a forescast of scattered t-storms for our fair trip tomorrow, but unless we get something really violent, it doesn't bother me a bit. There are plenty of buildings to stroll through, and the morning should provide plenty of partly-cloudy/overcast weather for rides and outdoor fun. Hopefully the storms will hold off for the girls' show, though. The stage is covered, but not the audience.
The best time I ever had at the state fair was in a raging downpour. We had swapped the 2 elder Things off with rellies while Hubs and I went to see Kansas kick Lynrd Skynrd all over the old grandstand stage. It had been misty and cloudy for the whole show, and I had 2-year-old Thing 3 crashed in my lap. We watched the nightly fireworks for awhile, then left to get the Things back. As we came out of the grandstand tunnel, the fireworks ended with a crashing finale, combined/confused with a huge crash of thunder, and the rain came down in an instantaneous sheet that stopped the throng of people dead in the tunnel and caused a comical backlog of humanity. We waited a minute, said the heck with it and made a dash for it. The rain was warm, the kids were giggling, and we splashed through the eight blocks of state fairgrounds to get to the bus to our park&ride. The rain came so fast that the intersections were flooded because the storm sewers were unable to keep up. Aside for those of you unfamiliar with the Minnesota state fairgrounds: unlike our more rural neighbors, the state fairgrounds site is in the middle of the metro, and has full curb and gutter utilities and paved streets. Had this happened elsewhere, we'd have been slogging thru mud and considerably less merry. As it was, I had one Thing tossed over my shoulder, covered with a rather useless blanket, singing "it's raining, it's pouring..." in my ear and making me laugh. Kyle pulled the other two in the wagon. We dripped along with the rest of the bus riders, and dashed back to our van, which was by now standing dead center in the middle of an empty university parking lot. As we ventured out into the streets, the water was up to the doors. In all the times we've been to the fair, I don't remember having so much fun as that night.
I am assuming we will not see such rain tomorrow, but I suppose I'll pack along some extra clothes, just to be safe.

Remodel

Dudes, go check out the overhaul at the homestead. Comment! (Please.)

More big wieners

Thing 1 is now officially representing Swift county at the Minnesota State Fair. I managed to get her in on the same day as her little sister-Rock! The Thing that didn't place in Chippewa County earned 2nd in her division, and the mom who placed 2nd in Chippewa got squat. Good competition, however, but I'm cranky that they placed entrants with backing vocals on their music (a big state fair no-no) even though they did not win. I'm mostly just jealous because there are a bunch of other songs I would have done if I had not stuck to the rules myself. Heck, I'll take a little cash and a pass on the State Fair trip. I'll post a little blog-alogue of our Fair trip.
Now, to do some directing of the Things in the Sunday-evening-before-garbage-pickup Opera. A typical scene:

Me: "Start collecting the garbage cans to go out."
Things: Silence
sound fx: Crickets chirping

Repeat at increased volume until I am screaming and the Things are wailing in misery.
Such fun.

Expounding

Well, I am home doin' the Day Off Dance (tm). Last week, I had several days off from work, but I spent most of my time working on stuff for church. The company was good, got lots of "feel good" stuff done, but not much around the house. I am off both jobs today (and on both tomorrow and Sat.) and rehearsal has been cancelled, so I am busy doing little jobbies around the house, grocery shopping, and takin' a few minutes to spend some time with you, my close personal friends on the internet.
Some comments and common themes on other blogs have led me to think of some further discussion on earlier posts...
Yes, the bus comes at 6:55 (officially-sometimes he's even earlier...). Our little town comes close to the beginning of our bus route. There are some busses that start picking up at 6:45. Schools start at 8:15 or 8:20 depending on the building. Love those rural routes. Not. I usually have to be at work by 7:00, so I just start rousting the kids after I have gotten myself upright and (relatively) sane. They hate it, but realize it needs to be done. They have friends on the bus, or books, so all is well.
I am guilty of doing some county fair jumping this year for talent show purposes. Part of it is sheer vindictiveness from placing behind entrants from Buffalo Lake or South Dakota in my own county. However, I have tried to stick to counties where grandmas live or the very next one to the north. It has allowed me to hone up my comparative county fair theology. My hometown fair was painfully small. They seemed to have a good slate of entertainment and activities, but I had that twinge of nostalgia, looking at the event and the place from grownup eyes. We ran wild at the fair in those junior-senior high years. New friendships formed with people you never spoke to at school, romances blossomed, glamorous hair bands swept away the hearts of adolescent girls on their whirlwind tri-state tours. The memories won't fit properly in that very small fairground.
I have no real personal ties to the Lyon County fair, except for friends and family that reside there. It seems to be a pretty good fair, though, hosting a variety of events, a well-stuffed 4-H exhibit hall, and full commercial buildings. The local fair, however, is struggling. The fair board has been trying some new things with varying success, but I feel they have been hamstrung by locking in to a M-W schedule every year. The commercial buildings are uncomfortably vacant. The next county to the north has similar population and size, but just seems to be more vibrant. I couldn't say if it's better placement, presentation, or what, but it just seems more lively. So there's more than you wanted to know about county fairs. Now on to state... Thing 3's win at the county level has moved her on to a performance slot at The Great Minnesota Get Together on opening day (mom's favorite!). The rest of us losers will try again Sunday at Swift County. The kids get a bang out of it, and frequently earn a little spending $, even if they don't win. Thing 1 has been reading original poetry with some success. She has great stage presence, which has been the aspect that puts her in the winner's circle, I think. The rest of us keep on singin'. I'll try to take some pictures, If I can get the Mac to recognize my camera. Might finally be time for a new one. Seems to work fine if I use the memory card, so I guess I'll just have to stick to that.
Y'all have a great day.

Media overload

So I'm sitting here with internet radio on iTunes, local broadcast radio on the daily "freebie" show, surfin' the net, Kyle watching History channel on the other side of the room. My head assplode. Now the freebie show is over, so I can take one stimulus out of the mix. No wonder our stress level is so high.
Well, the church block party went off despite the weather, but we were rather disappointed with how much of the community did NOT bother to come out and support us, despite the weather. We are thankful for all who did come, but have decided not to do it again next year. We'll put our efforts elsewhere.
Now I suppose I should write thank you notes...
We're winding summer down hereabouts. Trying to get schedules set so we don't panic when the bus starts coming at 6:55 in the blessed a.m. I've been doing laundry nonstop, trying to catch up on backlog, as well as examine who needs what and what doesn't fit anymore. My children are blessed with loads of family that loves to buy them clothes. Gotta learn to let go of some of it, even if it does fit, just to make room in the closet. Someone else can enjoy it. Well, better get back at it.

Book meme!

Call me a geek, but I think these meme thingies rock:


1. One book that changed your life: The Holy Bible

2. One book that you’ve read more than once: The entire Belgariad/Mallorean series by David and Leigh Eddings

3. One book you’d want on a desert island: Any/all of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

4. One book that made you laugh: How to Talk Minnesotan

5. One book that made you cry: While the Locust Slept

6. One book that you wish had been written: How to Find a Job that Pays $20/hr. to Sit on a Beach and Sip Little Umbrella Drinks. Written by me.

7. One book that you wish had never been written: quite a few forgettable Star Trek novels. Frequent response to the end of the book: "I wasted four hours on that?"

8. The book you are currently reading: The Power of a Praying Wife, Lucky

9. One book you’ve been meaning to read: God's Politics: Why the Right Gets it Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It

10. Now tag five people: Gosh, I can think of a few, but who'll actually play with me? Carter, Ann?, Bossy,
Cliff,and Britmum
That should actually be a well rounded list of things that I will want to go read for myself after I see their ideas.

Here's a couple honkers for you

Meet the neighbors. Kinda noisy, and they bring about 100,000 of their friends by for a big party every fall.

Been busy here at the Casa del Goose. Getting ready for church block party, including rummage sale, so that's led to closet cleaning and other fun stuff. Nice to get done, tho. I've been avoiding the Mac and its time sink in order to keep making progress. More posting when the weekend is done. Whew.

Home again...

The Things and I went back to my home town yesterday to perform in the county Talent Show. Had a respectable turnout, and two of us placed in the money. Grandma videotaped and a good time was had by all. Got back around nooon today, did a speed thru at the grocery store, and am now kickin' back a little until Job 2.

The ladies at Crazy Hip Blog Mamas have decided its warm fuzzy time. You are hereby requested to leave a positive, warm fuzzy comment at any blog you visit this week, including this one (so get crackin'). Hopefully the warm fuzziness will spread like wildfire and flow out into real life. Couldn't hurt...

An oldie but a goodie

No, not me (well...)

Got this in my mail today. I have seen it before, but I still like it:
(parenthetical comments mine)

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE KIDS WHO WERE BORN IN THE 1930's 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's !!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us.
(My SIL told me once she was worried because after she concieved but before she knew, she had tied one on. She talked to her mom about it, who told her, "Don't worry, honey, for the first three months you were swimming in gin.")

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.
Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paints.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.
(Man, it was a different world back then...)
As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.
We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.
(still do on a hot day, but don't let the hose run over an electric fence)
We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.
We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because...WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!
We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.
(at my house I had to check in be home for supper or there was hell to pay, but then it was back outside)
We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.
(Sprained ankle)
We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all,
(PONG!)
no 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms..........WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!
We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no
lawsuits from these accidents.
We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.
We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.
We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them !
Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!
This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!
The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.
(Some of which caused the problems that we're bitching about here...)
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned
HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!
(liquor, drugs, prozac...)
And YOU are one of them!
CONGRATULATIONS!

(Maybe this explains a lot...)

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!

***

So, the Twins did not disappoint last night. William came down and flopped on me flopped on the couch, and we had a lovely ballgame coma. Train them up young...

Gonna go and work on a few bags and boxes before rehearsal. I'll let you know if I unearth any treaures.

A break in the weather

Amazing when the temp can drop 10 degrees in half an hour and it's STILL hot. Taking a cue from Miss Bossy I decided to be entirely too productive on such a hot day, and moved furniture around. Since our Little Dutch Girl went home, the kids have wanted to swap up rooms, but never clean them. I hovered over them to get the job done today, while gleaning toys and clothes for the church rummage sale in the process. I simply bagged up everything in one bedroom, and shoved it into the extra room, where I will (make the kid) deal with it one bag at a time, at my leisure. Then I moved William into the room, which is primary colors, so all his toddler toys and Superman stuff fits right in. Nothing gets taken into the room without immediately finding a home. The excess will either go in the dumpster or on the rummage sale. I got most of the big work done today, now I can do the rest in little bites.
I moved things downstairs, but never poked my head outside until about 20 minutes ago, when I took the poor old crib out to the junk trailer. The breeze has kicked up, and there are stormd rolling in from the Dakotas. I am now ready to flop upon the couch with a water bottle and watch the Twins. Hope your night is as pleasant (unless they piss this eight-run lead down their collective leg, in which case I hope your night is better).

It's not the heat, it's the humanity...

Enough to make a good German girl like me say "Uffda!"

Statement as of 4:40 AM CDT on July 30, 2006

***
... Heat advisory in effect from noon today to 8 PM CDT Monday...

The National Weather Service in Twin Cities/Chanhassen has issued
a heat advisory... which is in effect from noon today to 8 PM CDT
Monday.

.Hot... Humid weather is expecte to continue into Monday evening
with day time heat indices between 105 and 108 both this afternoon
and again on Monday afternoon across a broad stretch of central
and southern Minnesota along with part of western Wisconsin. The
comination of these two very warm days... along with expected low
temperatures on Monday morning around 77 to 78 will make this a
very dangerous period for those unprepared for the heat.
***

Really isn't so bad for me, but to listen to everyone moan about it. The extreme heat in this part of the country usually doesn't last more than a few days at a stretch, and usually nor more than a total of a couple weeks. Same with the really bitter cold, but you inevitably get choruses of "Cold enough for ya?" that last longer than the cold does.

I managed to weasel an extra half-day off for some family TLC time. Multiple project deadlines and hectic work schedules are making for a bit of stress hereabouts. Hopefully we can just stay out of the studio altogether today and just chill the heck out (literally as well as figuratively). I think we'll sit inside and watch movies and pray the heat doesn't knock out a power station somewhere. Got fridge, got AC, got fans, need power!

I'm off now to wait for the rest of the family to get home from church (I am Not Skipping; I just got off work!) Enjoy your weather wherever you are.

It's Friday already?

HTH did that happen? The weeks fly by. Workin', rehearsin', nothin' much new happening aside from Thing 4 deciding to throw himself from a bunk bed and get a head wound. After the initial screaming and bleeding it turned out to be superficial and he is busy causing mayhem as per usual.
It's hot, I'm lazy, this post is lame, but here it is. I'll post again if anything intersting happens.

Some days you're the hamster, some days you're the wheel

In the "WTF was I thinking?" department, I am having a BLAST doing the Shakespeare thing, but I am already sick of the driving. Side note: for those of you readers who are LHS alum, if you checked out the MND pics in the previous Shakespeare post, you may recognize one or both of the Dan Smiths in the photos.
Word on the street is that the Battle of the Bands fell far short of breaking even. Sad to say, the fine townfolk where I work are not known for supporting community events. Not that the Goose Capitol of the USA is so much better, but when we did try to put together a 125th celebration a couple years back, people at least supported us by showing up.
guess this one is short and pithy, but its back to Job 1 in the morning, and more bard by night. Hey, that'd make a good band name: Bard by Night. I'll jot that one down with Skeeter Freak and Ethereal Teeth for consideration when I decide to go big time. Maybe I'll just stick with the All-Jones We're Better Than You Band.

Crickets?

It has been unusually quiet hereabouts. I packed Things 1 and 2 off to church camp on Monday. Things 3 and 4, while remaining busy, have been surprisingly well-behaved. They do frequently drag neighborhood children through the house while Hubs and I are in various stages of consciousness and undress (unfortunately never at the same time, as tasty as that fodder would be for juicy blogging {how far can I carry this metaphor, anyway?}). The poor neighbor kids must think this is the naked grouchy parents' house.
I have started to hear cicadas on a regular basis. It always makes me slightly sad. I associate that noise with the end of summer, yet it feels like summer's barely begun.
We're gearing up for a fairly unremarkable weekend here as well. I'll be working downtown. We may be in for a busy weekend at the bar, as the now-annual "Battle of the Bands" is Saturday, and they managed to book Little River Band for the finale act. LRB songs really make me feel my age. I remember most of them from K-Tel compilation album commercials. We'll probably see more than our fair share of Lonesome Losers in the Bar after the concert. Sunday after church will be a quick drive to the lake to fetch the absent Things home, perhaps with a drive through Willmar to visit Target boutique. Now, in the remaining time I have before I head for the den of not-quite-so-much-iniquity I call Job 1 (for real iniquity, head to the other end of main street, we're pretty tame on the north side) I need to get something accomplished around the house to bolster my own feelings of self-worth. Or something.

Shake a spear

I've gone and done it again. I dragged my neighbor into another Shakespeare in the Park production in Marshall. The last one was Midsummer Night's Dream. It was a great time. I just wish we didn't have to commute 40 miles to take part. We're playing Beatrice and Benedick, respectively, in Much Ado About Nothing. Great to see old friends, meet new people, and just keep the creative juices flowing. It's mommy's little sanity break. This will be fun, and we're carpooling to save gas, as well as hitting the casino on Mondays to get our free $5, which goes right into the tank. All in all, it should prove worthwhile, suffering for the art.

Wool in July

After spending the first half of the week living like a vampire, I tagged off on swing shift with Hubs. After I got back onto a daylight schedule, I had my mother-in-law hack most of my hair off. It is far cooler, and I'm fairly pleased with it, although I plan to have her tweak it when I bring the next kid in. Paige had grandma shave hers quite short, and she's absolutely adorable. I'll get pics up as soon as hubs turns over the camera. I've told the kids they will have no tattoos nor pierce anything other than ears under my roof, but their hair is fair game. It will always grow back.
Friday we farmed out all the kids and cruised into the big City. Hubs had a free ticket to the Twins game with the boys. I tried to organize a reciprocal girls' night, but found only one taker. I met my dear friend, and Thing 1's godmama, Joyce, out in front of the Metrodome, and we wandered aimlessly around downtown Minneapolis and played catch-up. We gave ourselves a tour of the new Guthrie Theater, hopped the lightrail down to the Aquatennial block party, then just walked around downtown before returning to the dome at the presumed end of the ballgame. Turns out they were tied in the bottom of the ninth, so we took the ninth inning discount, found the boys' section, and sat behind them for the remainder of the game, where we apparently became foul ball magnets, ducking at leat three in one inning. (Twins over Indians 3-2 in the 10th). We took Joyce home, went to Kyle's aunt's in a NW 'burb, then rose far too early and went to the Minnesota Scottish Fair and Highland Games in a far southern exburb. To say it was miserably hot would be an understatement, but the men in kilts were doing so poorly wearing wool, I can hardly imagine what it must have been like to be a sheep. The three hours I served as a volunteer in the ticket booth were actually the most comfortable. There was shade and a breeze. We had a lovely time with people we are coming to know as friends over the years, but the heat and blessed/cursed wind (kept us cool, beat us down and tipped things over) were very draining. Also, Farmington is so far south of the metro that it took us an hour just to go back in and then head out of the cities in a different direction. The river and other highways made it impossible to simply head west. It's a great event, but I am hoping TPTB will find an affordable venue that is available earlier or later in the summer. There will always be weather or scheduling issues, but the three years that the Scottish community has been locked into mid-July have been opressively hot without exception, and twice the wind has been a detrement as well.
Today it was almost a relief to work an eight hour shift in an air conditioned building. My legs ache, probably from walking around Minneapolis in bad shoes. I think I shall find some tylenol and a cold beverage and put my feet up. Hope your evening is as pleasant.

Rock Lobster

As long as I can remember I have lived a hop, skip or jump away from a state park. Through high school, I climbed all over Blue Mound and hopped the border to Palisades, where we carried on in such a manner as I would never allow my children. In college, we snuck into Brawner Lake for swimming before it was annexed to Camden, where we also hiked and rode horseback with some townies. After college, we met family there as a central point, and discovered its a sweet little panfish spot. Today, when the kids were nagging to go swimming, I tossed 'em in the car and we lit out for the beach at Lac qui Parle. There was a beautiful breeze, and a few other families had the same idea. There were some other kids to play with but no crowd. I specifically went to get some sun on my legs, which resemble the underside of a bullhead in color, but instead found my shoulders and back another seafood color: lobster red. Forgot I was wearing a sport-back tank and missed a bit with the sunscreen. My legs are still pasty white, though. The upshot of all this is that it's nice to be able to just grab the swim bag and hit the door without packing for a 3-day excursion. William fell asleep at church tonight in the high chair, he was so wrung out from swiming an playing hard. I need to go sleep hard now in preparation for a graveyard shift. The rest of you enjoy this beautiful evening. No, go on. Don't mind me. Really. I'll be fine.

Small miracles

So I do all this bitching about working so much (poor me, poor me) and out of the blue, someone from Job 1 calls to see if I want this morning off, 'cuz she needs some extra cash for car repairs. Jumped all over that! Especially since I picked up a night shift on Sunday. So it's two nights at the bar (sounds like a fun weekend for someone else...) then three overnights at Job 1. Hubs and his partner are DJing tonight, so I sorta get a night out with the man. I'll bring him cokes and make "nudge-nudge-wink-wink" comments. Heh.
I went to a daycare auction yesterday. You wanna talk about venomous women shoppers? Boy howdy, they think an auctioneer hit the bidder twice, or wants to bundle two really good items, and you should hear the outraged shrieks go up from the crowd. Got some stuff for the church kids' group, a wagon for Thing 4, and a climber for the neighbor. I kinda like auctions. They're a lesson in irony. People won't pay $2 for a box of childrn's books or toys unles you bundle some together, but they'll pay more for an Evil*Empire cd player or turkey roaster than you pay for it new at the store. Duh. Almost got caught on that with my wagon, but its a Radio Flyer and not a Taiwan special, so I did OK. There are lots of 'em around here in the summer, and if I have time to kill and an itch for junk, I'll dig through the boxes on a hayrack to find a swell stainless electric frying pan (I HATE teflon) or some such. Last year I spent $2 on a stack of slide projecor items, since Hubs has been doing lots of slide to DVD work lately, but in the stack was an old Smith Corona portable that Thing 2 has adopted and had more fun with than most of her toys. Got a great vanity for Thing 1 for $10, too. I've been trying to be careful to clean out old junk before dragging home new.
Well, I do want to make some progress around the house before I go to work, so I gotta pry my ass off this chair.

Brats

After a night of bickering, blathering kids, this is how I feel:

They were fine for William's birthday party. We called all the closest relatives and headed for the new playground with some pizzas and cake.
Birthday boy made out like a bandit. Lots of Superman stuff for his new-to-him red and blue room, and a pirate ship (Arrr!) and a little bassetball game.

It was after they got home, all sugared up, overtired and punch drunk that I was ready to kill them (I can make more that look just like 'em). Somewhere between tired and overtired, their ears quit working. My head assplode.
He was really enjoying his pirate ship, but after he bashed his sister on the head with a little buccaneer the night began to unravel. In the ensuing mayhem, I couldn't get anyone to shut up, listen, stay on task or obey. Maybe I'm just cranky and need to go to bed, too. Think I'll try it.

What holiday?

Due to twits no-showing at work, my scheduled holiday to work lining up directly behind my scheduled weekend to work, and a pregnant co-worker being ordered onto bedrest, I am in for a stretch of days. I am not expecting a day off until Sunday, and have not had one off since last Sunday. Fortunately, several of them have been short-shift days, so I don't get too spaced out. Still got time to drive the kids to the pool or up to the lake to play in the sand, or just to laze around a bit between chores. Not a bad life.
Tomorrow evening we'll head for a little town across the county known for its July 4 doings to view some fireworks.
Wednesday, we will celebrate the third anniversary of the arrival of Thing 4. Three years of this has been alot of fun.

I added a pic of MamaBob in her natural habitat to her post, too. *Sniff*
Off to herd the kids.

Tagging guilt

Whoa! Major guilt. Thinking so hard to come up with "C" words and I didn't get Christ or church. Hmmm. I'm going to chalk it up to overthinking the letter and not let it cause a major crisis of faith. Maybe.

Bitchslap from out of the blue

One of our assisted living residents celebrated her 92nd birthday today with cake and a smattering of family and friends. As her daughter snapped a picture and said "Smile, Mom," I immediately had the image of a photo of my mother pop into my brain. In this photo, my mother sits in an ill-fitting horrid green dress, holding a birthday cake all alone. It would have been about the time I was 15. My mother was made a ward of the state after my father died, leaving little, which was quickly eaten by her medical expenses. The nuances of long term care, state medical assistance, and neurological disorders were beyond my scope of knowledge at that time, but where the hell was I, or anyone, on her birthday? Funny how one little trigger can wreck your day.

Tagged, and a rant.

1. Crap! I've been tagged by Kelly. I have to come up with ten things about myself, starting with the letter "C", so I burned one by using Crap!
2. Committed. Either should be or am, married 15 years to Captain Video, and lovin' (mostly) every minute of it. (Two Loverboy references in one week? Isn't that one of the signs of the Apocalypse?)
3. Children. Things 1-4, Three daughters, one spoiled son. All those little mamas. Poor kid.
4. Countrified. Live in this part of the world for this long, and that's what you become.
5. Character. As in "Lack of..." or "She's quite a..."
6. Creative. At least I hope so. I teach community ed workshops in the performing arts, hopefully I bring something to the table.
7. Chanteuse. A hifalutin' word that means I am a singer, and I've been told I don't suck at it, either. It does make me think I need to find a slinky dress and a smoky piano bar to sing in, though.
8. Contests. Of the talent sort, where I do the aforementioned singing, and usually pay a few bills with the returns. Alas, my kids are learning this bad habit from me.
9. Cold. Hate it. That's why I live in Minnesota. Go figure.
10. Crazed. Obvious: school's out, kids are home all day, so are the neighbors' kids.

Yay, I made it! In celebration, I will tag John over at Daynotes on a Budget. I will refrain from sticking him with "Q" or "X" (I had a hard enough time with "C") and assign him the letter R. Go, man, go.

Today's rant is brought to you by our fine creditors who outsource phonebank jobs to people in India who cannot speak English. I'm sure they are fine, intelligent people, and some of them even have a relatively firm grasp of the language; however, when their speech is so heavily accented that I cannot even discern that they are horribly mispronouncing my (or my husband's) name, it is obvious to me that an English-speaking switchboard is not in their skill set. Now couple this with a computer dialing system that leaves me shouting "Hello!" into the phone multiple times before it even recognizes that I have answered the phone, and you get one irate mama when rung at 8:30 in the morning. At least those poor people on the other end of the phone are learning some more creative language to add to their vocabulary. I'll now hop off my soapbox, and go take a nap.

Lovin'it

After being interviewed by the school administration, the eager teaching prospect said:

Let me see if I've got this right. You want me to go into that room with all those kids, and fill their every waking moment with a love for learning, and I'm supposed to instill a sense of pride in their ethnicity, modify their disruptive behavior, observe them for signs of abuse and even censor their T-shirt messages and dress habits. You want me to wage a war on drugs and sexually transmitted diseases, check their backpacks for weapons of mass destruction, and raise their self esteem. You want me to teach them patriotism, good citizenship, sportsmanship, fair play, how to register to vote, how to balance a checkbook, and how to apply for a job. I am to check their heads for lice, maintain a safe environment, recognize signs of anti-social behavior, make sure all students pass the state exams, even those who don't come to school regularly or complete any of their assignments.

Plus, I am to make sure that all of the students with handicaps get an equal education regardless of the extent of their mental or physical handicap. I am to communicate regularly with the parents by letter, telephone, newsletter and report card?

All of this I am to do with just a piece of chalk, a computer, a few books, a bulletin board, a big smile AND on a starting salary that qualifies my family for food stamps! You want me to do all of this and then you tell me . . . I CAN'T PRAY ???? YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING.

Bye bye MamaBob

We had a lovely afternoon of nothing in particular around here. Picked up yard debris, moved a big tractor tire to make a sandbox for Thing 4, pulled some weeds, sat in the sun, got the neighbor kid to do some bike fixing, helped Thing 4 work on the fine art of tricycling, lit a fire in the pit, and just generally took it easy. Not a bad day at all.
Sadly, I believe we are now a one cat family. Thing 1 came in just devastated that one of the neighborhood kids said they thought Mama Bob was laying on the side of the road. Our cats tend to go walkabout now and then if they are let out, and we were just starting to wonder about her whereabouts. I went over to see for myself, and the poor kitty looked as if it had been there much longer than our cat has been gone, but I don't know what a few days in the summer sun does to the decomposition process. I couldn't really tell. The color was off, but that may be sun-induced. Hubs checked, too, and he thinks he saw some familiar markings on the nose. The kid who reported it had seen it a few days earlier, and specifically mentioned the bob tail (which I could not discern), so I fear the worst. All Things old enough to realize were very sad, but Thing 1 took it especially hard. Poor baby. We have only ever buried one kitty and our old wheezy cocker, Bandit. Several kitties have gone walkabout and not returned, but one can hold romantic fantasies of their better life with a new family they adopted (usually due to overcrowding at our house.) One kitty is plenty, but we are sucker parents and someone will come home toting a stray eventually. Those who read the old blog may remember the tale of how we rescued this poor, soaking wet kitten from the cinema parking lot, and brought it home, and christened it very unoriginally "Bob" because of its stub tail. We tacked "Mama" onto Bob's name after the first of three litters of kittens. She will be missed, if she does not prove us all wrong and come moseying home, wondering what all the fuss was about. One can still hope for miracles. Failing that, hubs assures the kids that she is now in the land of Eternal Mouse.
***
A mouse went to heaven. After a few days he bumped into Saint Peter, who asked how he was enjoying it.
"It's great," said the mouse, "but its so big! Could I have a pair of roller skates to get around better?"
Later, a cat went to heaven. After a few days Saint Peter checked with him.
"It's great here!" said the cat. "I especially love the meals on wheels!"
***
Tomorrow is another two-job day, so I'd better go get my things, and Things, in order. Good news is, I'm getting hours; not so good is the fact that I won't have another full day off until next Thursday. Be careful what you ask for...

Oh what a beautiful day

It is more spring than summer out. It is 72, sunny, with a light breeze. What the hell am I doing sitting here?

Insert clever title here

The weekend that was, hmmm, let's see. Car got vandalized with black spray paint Friday night while I worked at the bar, but hubby got it cleaned up with goof off today, and we had a lovely visit with the chatty deputy who came to take pictures. Saturday I slept in a bit, then was awakened by Thing 2 bearing breakfast in bed. Too cool. Shortly thereafter, we met up with Grandparents from my side for early birthday lunch at the coffeehouse for William, as they will be out of town for the big day. Which leads me to planning what we actually will do for his birthday. He's still little enough that I don't have to do much besides find a cake and invite relatives. Worked last night, then helped Hubs tear down from a DJ gig. Had the day off today, and pretty much lounged and lazed it away after church. I suppose that means I should get my butt up and get something done.

Workin' for the weekend...

Ahhh, a bit of Loverboy for nostalgia lane. How totally 9th grade. Sad but true, worked this morning, and will work and likely close the bar tonight. Tomorrow, Job #1 from 3-11, then, amazingly, Sunday off!! Whatever shall I do with myself? (answer: not answer the phone when they call to see if I'll work!) A two-job Monday to start off next week, nursing in the morning and bartending a retirement party later.
In the "Why the hell did I rack up more student loans for this unfinished teaching degree?" department, I did not get a form rejection letter, but rather a form "continue the application process" letter from the local Technical College, for a library tech/tutor position that sounds right up my alley. Requesting lots of prayer from y'all in the job department. Hopefully, I'll be able to cut back to one job before too long!
Thing 1 enlisted the help of Thing 3, and I came home to a nice and tidy main floor today. Hooray! Brownie points for the Things! Thing 2 ran off for a sleepover, so she has custody of Thing 4 while I goof off and hopefully catch a nap before becoming a barfly. Speaking of which, I hear some ZZZZZZs calling to me. Ta!

Moving again (!@#$%^&**!)

Well, many thanks to eDataRack for booting us, due to too much traffic?? Maybe if they could secure out the spambots, we wouldn't have this issue. Argh. Anyway, firestormfilms.com is moving back to Network Solutions, and the ol' Saucy Goose is returning to blogger for simplicity's sake. We will return to regular programming as soon as I have anything interesting to blog about.

Sauce for the Goose

Sauce for the Goose


Hmm. Lovely little splat of html at the top of this. Anyway, my friggin' domain host is tits up at the moment, so watch this space for any further developments.