??? - Day 2

Still thinking... maybe by lunch? we'll see...

The only thing happening that I haven't written about is that Ms.SoonToBeBlue started packing up her room yesterday wearing huge doggie slippers. ...3 1/2 more weeks and she'll be dumping the slippers for combat boots...

EDITED 12:04
There's so much going on inside of me right now, I'm not sure I want to write about it because I don't really want to deal with it and I sure as heck don't want to feel it... I am so proud of her, and this is so... well, so HER. And I'm scared (scared? beyond terrified) and excited and ...on and on and on... gosh, do I remember what it was like to just have 2 kids in the house? it's been 15 years since I got to experience THAT. Which means I'll have more money. And less to cook. Less toilet paper to buy. Heck, less maxi-pads to buy... Except after this next round of taxes I won't have her for a dependent which means more taxes, that sucks... She has ALWAYS been so helpful around the house, truly my right arm, and BabyGirlDD just hasn't got the knack of remembering not to put a white washrag in the wash with black work clothes... we'll have to do something about that really soon I guess. She is so excited she's on fire. She looks beautiful. She's dropped 2 pants sizes from the exercising and running... I know it won't be long and she'll be different, grown, what am I going to do when I can't hug her, see her, touch her, kiss her goodnight? I can't think about all of this without feeling truly sick. And I've really (or so I thought) been avoiding thinking about it, even though it is all there inside of me waiting until she gets on the plane so I can finally have a really good cry about it all... This year has gone by too fast.

???

Trying to come up with something... just can't get a grasp on words this morning. Be back.

Adventures In Redneck Land...

One of the wonderful things about living in the South is that it's still 80 degrees most days and we're still waiting for fall... weekends like this just past have the opportunity of being a real adventure...

Redneck Drunk - pops a top at 4 a.m. and never has less than a 6 pack by his/her side. Known to be reckless and dangerous...

Redneck Olympics - often include games such as the beer can crunch, bottletop twist and pitch, keg pump, and loudest/longest belch. Can be fun to observe if you are sober...

Redneck Parade - five or more ATV's going no place in particular, loaded down with people, dogs, guns, flashlights, ice chests, chainsaws, and other necessary stuff for a parade...

Redneck Superstition - "...This here's what you have to do if you want to kill a deer. You have to sleep with the dog. Homer slept with the dog last night and he got hisself one this mornin' while he was eating his breakfast out in dem dar woods..."

Redneck Football - played with a (hopefully empty) plastic whiskey bottle. Hilarious...

Redneck Sushi - eating anything that crawls (and is still alive) and is usually found under a log. Grubs. Worms. Crawly wiggly things. Not to be watched if you have a weak stomach. Live fear factor...

Redneck Nightclub Night - getting all dressed up to go and party at the bait store. If you don't have a gal bring the dog...

Redneck Target Practice - sighting in your new gun while shooting at the rats running around in the rafters...

Blogmail... Better Than Voicemail, Really!

You have reached the desk of Kimdergarten. I will be out of the office until Monday, 11/28/2005.

Bloghoppin...

Let's see... Jaye has put up her thankful list. She's really doing great not smoking and hasn't been too fussy about anything in over a week! Idgie just started a new job but that hasn't seemed to affect her funny! If you can handle reading stories online, Dottie posted a great one yesterday--really makes you think LOL. Romaini continues to amuse me with her posts about life in Hooterville. Over at The Wife I am always amazed at her grasp of politics and current events. I must be missing a gene or something because most of the time I have to ask her to explain what she's talking about because it's way over my head... Oh! Sara has been posting again the past couple of months. I started reading her right after Bennet and Jaye --I'm really glad she's around again! Lyvvie has a cold and is hatching a plan to sell it on ebay... It's been fun having Val around the blogs, her comments are wonderful... I wish she'd post more. MaryBeth is almost a neighbor of mine, she lives in the next state over... Wayyyy out in Hawaii, Linda put up her list of things she is thankful for too. I am thankful for Linda because her son is in boot camp right now and she knows, KNOWS what I am going through. Tig will probably not enjoy football on Thursday, because both of his favorite teams are playing against each other... I don't know if it's all right to link to Candi's new blog yet, but she's had one heck of a year. That's all I have time to post right now but if you are totally bored this weekend you could always stop by LawGirl Live or Anonymous Lawyer...

Hope you have a wonderful holiday!!

Oh... Human.

I am so terribly human I only made it until 6:30 p.m. my first day smoke free before I caved. Apparently DH had a bad day yesterday and came home yelling at everyone and by the time he and MsSoonToBeBlue had a major row I was smoking again. I learned a lot yesterday though. Instead of smoking 2 packs (like 40 cigs) I only had seven. Also, I learned that DH yelling at me or one of my kids is a MAJOR trigger and I'm going to need to figure out what to do not to use him as my crutch. SO... I'm going to work on that this weekend and set Monday as my goal and try it all over again. It's HARD to stop smoking! :)

Thanksgiving 101

DH actually said to me this morning, "It's almost over. It won't be long and we'll be dead and it will all be over..." I told him we've got a lot of living to do before that happens! Don't know about him, but I'm only 37 and definitely have a LOT of living left to do LOL

In honor of Thanksgiving week, today's class assignment is to list what you are thankful for. I, personally, am thankful for my DH's comment which got me out of yesterday's funk and feeling alive again. I am thankful for every new laugh line and grey hair that has appeared this year. A mom who raised three teenagers and didn't have a few wrinkles and some grey must not have been doing her job (or has some very strong italian genes!) I am also thankful for having gone almost totally grey this year, because at my age I can get away with changing my haircolor several times a year and try shades I might not have gotten away with had I waited until I was older to become grey! I am thankful that the "check engine" light has been glaring at me from the dashboard of my truck the past three days even though I don't have the money to take it into the shop right now, because as long as it is lit up and glaring at me it is reminding me that I am fortunate enough to have a nice vehicle to drive. I am thankful for our home near this half-a-horse town rather in a dangerous big city type of place. I am thankful for my family and friends, IRL and online both. There have been some ups and downs this year and It would have sucked going through it all alone. I am thankful for the sec because some days she is the only thing I have to write about. Other days she is the only thing I have to complain about... I am thankful that gas prices are so high right now, because it makes me want to spend the last Thanksgiving with all my children home together--at home making it special rather than on the road having another adventure. I am thankful for all we suffered after Katrina, because it really made me appreciate life as we know it. I'm thankful for Jaye and the Wife who have quit smoking in the past couple of weeks because they've given me hope. I'm thankful that I have enough life left in me to quit myself, so thankful in fact, that I quit this morning! (fingers crossed, this is going to be HARD!)

This Really Sucks!

I haven't been too out of sorts this morning, (thank you all for your well wishes in the previous post!) not so bad as to feel like I needed to go home anyway. So at lunch, I talked myself into stopping at a little shop and seeing if I could at least pick up one thing each for the kids and get my shopping officially started... I found two things the little one (HAH turned 15 yesterday) mentioned wanting and one for DS, I was doing fine without shopping for Ms.SoonToBeBlue (who I am treasuring every single minute with right now) but then all of a sudden this horrible feeling came over me and I barely made it to the checkout without crying and by the time I got into the truck I was bawling and talking to myself trying to figure out why I feel so sad... REALLY awfully sad...

Sunrise... Sunset...

Spent 8 hours in the woods Saturday, it was beautiful!

It was cloudy so it didn't feel quite 31 degrees but when it started getting lighter and the squirells started scampering and the birds started chirping and the woodpeckers were a tapping, I could hear dogs barking off in the distance and it was a perfect morning. Went in and warmed up for a couple hours when it started hailing and when it stopped went right back out and stayed to watch the sunset. A great big brown owl swooped down and landed not too far from me. It had the prettiest black eyes and was truly magnificant. I didn't see a deer but the woods were so pretty it didn't matter.

At dark I got a phone call from my mom that my grandfather had just passed away, so I spent the rest of the weekend wrapped up in a blanket on the couch at home. I did try and go grocery shopping yesterday but ended up just buying a cartload of stuff that didn't make any sense when I got home and tried to put the away...

Mommy Dearest...

Oh Jeez, I am the most horrible mother in the world. Awful. Totally crummy. I just did the most unforgivable thing!

...Part of the reason I haven't started my holiday shopping yet is because I'm just not sure what to do with Ms.SoonToBeBlue. I'm debating between a) giving her cash, 2) buying her a nice piece of jewelry, but she wouldn't be able to have it with her the first few months, or most practical, buying her 3 new outfits and the rest of the stuff she has to take w/ her to boot camp/basic training. I'm leaning towards the third choice, because she's been working out so much that she's lost 2 pants sizes and nothing fits her new skinny self from her closet. She can only take 3 outfits with her when she goes...

SO... sitting here at work watching the clock and I said what the heck, it is totally dead so I might as well do some online shopping and at least make a small dent in the dreaded task. I pikced one thing out for DH, one thing for DS, one thing for BabyGirlDD, and went to the checkout window. I whipped out my visa card and something just didn't seem right. I sat there and looked at what I was going to order, ticked each family member off my list, and started entering the numbers off my card when it hit me. I didn't even THINK to order anything for my firstborn, which hit me so hard it is really upsetting. I know I'm totally numb where she's concerned right now because it's the only way I can deal with it all but to forget her entirely has never happened since the day she was born. This sucks. I ended up deleting my order and getting totally mad at myself. I know life is about to change but not like this.

TGIF!

Last night at 10:30 I was jumping up and down with my water bottle near a group of girlfriends who had started the party early. Starting to get excited...

This morning (after having falling back asleep and waking up 30 minutes before I needed to leave) I was running through the house with a towell on my head trying to remember what "safe place" I put my pocket and skinning knives in when I cleaned out my purse before we went to the airport last summer...

Driving to work this morning I tried to come up with my best excuse to call in sick today -- I have so much to do to get the camper ready for the season but decided to wait until one day next week because if I can figure out to be that irresponsible, I just might do it...

All this rush and work just to get up in the middle of the night, put on three layers of clothes, ride out to the woods in the middle of nowhere before the sun comes up, climb up into a tree, freeze your hiney off for hours, and try not to shiver because if you do it will scare away what you are hoping to see... Well heck, it doesn't sound like so much fun when you put it that way, but I can't wait!

Enjoy your weekend, see you Monday!

Walmart - Christmas Boycott

It's official. I am seriously considering boycotting both Wal-mart and Christmas this year.

I've been to that filthy, dirty place five times in the past five days, dropped over a thousand bucks and while they had a parking place that wasn't too awfully far out from the door, they did not remember to greet me with a gold-plated shopping cart or take me to the high limit spender checkout. I had to wait in line behind three other gals with full baskets...

SO. Since I've had to buy this and that to fix up more stuff katrina ruined, get some hunting stuff and birthday presents and the first couple of things towards thanksgiving dinner, I'm fed up with Walmart and don't want to shop for Christmas at all this year.

This is a very dangerous position for me to be in. Some of you may remember last year when I decided to boycott Thanksgiving. I took a week off and a year ago tomorrow packed up the family and headed up into the foothills to "see fall" ...it was the first time in my life I didn't eat thanksgiving dinner on thanksgiving day, and it was quite liberating! We were very thankful, however, to actually find a diner open at 11a.m. along the interstate so we could eat breakfast... (I caved and cooked a turkey dinner the day we got home from our trip, but hey, it wasn't thanksgiving! LOL)

This year I'm cooking dinner with the other wives out in the woods. I'm cheating though, ordered the turkey-- all that basting would cut into my hunting time!

I think it would be a really great idea to boycott Christmas this year instead. Because I REALLY don't want to go to walmart again any time in the near future. The comps aren't very good there...

Too Sexy For The Cold...

Can you believe it was 80+ degrees and I was running around in shorts just a bit over 36 hours ago and this morning I'm sitting there on the couch huddled up under a blanket watching the weatherman's wind gauge showing 20, then 15, then 13 degrees!? What the heck happened to fall? That's why the leaves don't change colors here in the deep south. They go from bright green to the ground in 0.15 seconds...

DS is big #17 today. There might be a story there, of sorts. DS was born on the day BabyGirlDD was due, and vice versa. Except she was born 2 years later. She'll be 15 in 3 days. Since she was old enough to walk, everybody has thought they were twins, they've been the same size & stature their whole lives. Even still, I keep waiting for one of them to outgrow the other, but they won't. Hmmm... that wasn't much of a story, was it.

Guess I better wake up a bit before I try and write any more. After yesterday I decided to try and cut back on the coffee just a bit, but an hour ago I tried to call my DH on the copier...

Today's Lessons...

Things I learned between 9:30 and Noon today:

1. Ms.SoonToBeBlue is very good at finding shortcuts for someone who doesn't yet have a driver's license. I can now get to either a) wal-mart or b) the high school in 5 minutes rather than the 20 it always took me before.

2. My DS is a member of every honor society known to man.

3. Never ever EVER drink four cups of coffee before any awards assembly at the high school.

4. 11th graders sit still a whole lot longer than 10th or 9th graders can. Especially when they are holding a lit candle in front of them.

5. Never ever EVER drink four cups of coffee before any awards assembly at the high school.

6. If an invitation to a reception says... two (2) guests only please... ignore it. Everybody in the south will bring the whole family from Great Uncle Homer to Cousin Lucy's baby that was born this morning.

7. Never ever EVER drink four cups of coffee before any awards assembly at the high school.

8. When you drop your plate in the buffet line, someone just might unknowingly walk past and kick your finger-sandwich out of view before you can bend over to pick it up.

9. See Number 3, 5, and 7 above.

I've Gone And Done It!

I've started a second blog, going to try and keep stuff about the office over there. I started this blog for reasons other than complaining about work all the time, and I am never going to start laughing again if I keep putting it here.

If you're keeping a scorecard on the sec's antics, try LawGirl Live

Hold 'em Honey!

It was the best dream I've had in a long time. We were back at the WSOP, but instead of watching, I was playing! This was one cool dream... I was sitting at one of the outer tables and it was a few days into the main event. Playing at the same table were two professional poker players, four who'd qualified over the internet and were playing pretty damn good, my hero--Annie Duke, myself, and three others who I can't remember. I'm not sure if the best part of the dream was actually playing at the same table as Annie, or if it was because in the dream, Jennifer Harmon (the absolute best!) was my coach. I woke up thinking of strategy before the tournament was over... right now I wish I was at a table with a stack of chips in front of me.

It's 80 degrees and November 15th. Tomorrow morning it's supposed to be 25 degrees! That right there tells me I should be sitting on a beach somewhere in the carribean sipping a peach daquari with a slice of lime, getting ready to play in a big tourney! (Most days I don't need an excuse to do any of those three things...)

We found out about a week and a half ago that the WPT tourney north of here that I'd planned on playing in is being run really cruddy. The information on the official web site says that there will be 200 seats. It also says you can qualify for a seat by being one of the 175 top points players at this particular casino between now and the tourney. (you get one point per hour of regular play). It also says that there will be 25 names drawn randomly out of the remaining regular players. Then it says you can pay 250.00 entrance fee and play. So... although I do play in the poker room at this particular casino, hunting season starts saturday and with Ms.SoonToBeBlue leaving two weeks before the tourney, there is no way I have time right now to go play every single night and be one of their top points players. To get 100 or more points, I would have to sit down there 100 or more hours, win or lose. I'm tempted. But hell, I have two full time jobs, my volunteer work, a husband and three teenagers before you even get to anything else I want to do, if I gave up sleep entirely for the next 8 weeks and went down there every night for 6 hours, then I could draw a seat as one of the top points players, but unfortunately I like my sleep too much. I actually got into an argument with a lady who works at the casino. I argued that if they're supposed to allow someone a $250.00 buy in if they want it, I can walk in, pay my $250.00 and play. The casino's stand on this issue is no, they want to send one of their players who come in every day to the WPT. I got in her face and said, well what if I want to pay $250.00 and BEAT the guy who comes in there to play ever day. So far, it's all contradictory and I may just drive up to tunica and play up there. It's a cheaper buy in and less policital crap.

Sec was only 25 minutes late this morning but I heard a rumor she's taking the whole afternoon off...

Live... from the office!

Since I quit speaking to the sec my job has been much more enjoyable (1.5 hour lunch today...). I actually heard an educated law man say today, "If you can bring me the description, I can describe it to you mo betta..."

When I pulled into the parking lot this morning, the same car was parked there that I blogged about a few months ago, with the same man in it who had been peeing in the parking lot. Today fortunately, he was sitting in the car. I did not stop, however, to see if he had his pants on this time!

I guess I'm getting just as bad as she is (the sec). I'm taking off a couple of hours one morning this week because DS is getting inducted into another honor society thingy. Pretty cool, especially since his birthday is the next day (17). Babygirl DD has one this week too, (b-day that is) she'll be 15. I am trying to figure out how to take off at least half a day Friday... I usually take the whole week off at Thanksgiving to hunt but I don't think it's going to happen this year.

Still haven't found that lost sense of humor but I'm working on it...

Monday... Monday...

Plans always seem to have a way of changing! Got called back home for an unexpected meeting mid-day Saturday and didn't get to play. All in all it turned out to be a pretty good weekend though.

Have to get some work finished and maybe I can come up with something.

Sec was only 20 minutes late this morning, not bad after a 3 day weekend I guess HAH.

Later.

Blogmail... Better Than Voicemail (Really)!

You have reached the desk of Kimdergarten.

I will be out of the office until Monday Nov 14. ...searching for the perfect poker hand, some stolen moments with Ms.SoonToBeBlue, and my lost sense of humor!

...if you are totally bored and want some hilarious reading this weekend, might I suggest clicking over to Anonymous Lawyer and browsing around over there. Some of his old posts are hilarious (I'm SO glad I dont' work for that guy!)... I wish I could figure out how to arrange for he and our sec to have a battle of wits one afternoon, it would be priceless!

Starting The Day Off Right!

This has been the longest 4-day work week since, well... since the last one!

She was only 40 minutes late today, for anyone who's keeping score.

Hope to post more in a bit...

More On (moron?) ...Yawn!

Make that 30 minutes late this morning AND took an hour + 45 minute lunch.

Yeah Baby!

The ever-dreaded jury summons came in the mail the other day. I'm already on the list for u.s. district court (which would mean an hours drive out of town and would REALLY be fun but do they call for me, NOOOOO). I get the cheap little carbon sheet put out by circuit court across the street from the office. I got one two and a half years ago. Ah, small town life is great. Our office represented one of the parties in the trial I was called for, so two phone calls from my boss and SLAM! Ex-Cused. SOoooo... I waived the paper in front of my boss who said again??. This time it only involved one phone call. (Please note on your scorecard for anyone keeping track that this service was NOT offered to the sec when she was called two years ago. SHE had to go and spend the day sitting over there HAH). I thought long and hard about saying I wanted to go, heck, that would give me a 4 day weekend because of the holiday Friday. But after thinking about it, nah. I'd rather come to work. I just couldn't figure out how to blog from the courthouse!

Yawn...

Here. Working. She was only 30 min late today. Will be back.

Live! From The Office...

I'm still humming that little ditty from this morning!

Deck the halls with files & clients
fa-la-la-la-la la-la-la-la
The sec didn't show up to annoy us
fa-la-la-la-la la-la-la-la

It's been a joyously beautiful day, the doors and windows all open, having the opportunity to stress to those who have called and inquired that alas, No, She did not show up for work again today... I was cheery to the office supply guy who dropped off the letterhead. I was not nice to the new guy from another office supply company who waited patiently as I took four phone calls, spoke to a client who came in and an atty who needed something. Poor guy. I took his card and told him I would make sure everyone in the office knew what they had available. When he continued to stand at my desk and stammer and riffle through his folder to haul out a brochure, I stood up (with my menacing glare) and told him as he could see I was quite busy and did not have any more time to spend with him today. Oh, yes, I have so much fun on days like this.

I apologized for the sec's great incompetence to two clients who came in for this or that when I either could not find their needed item or it was clear that she just hadn't done it.

Then, I had one of the worst moments of my entire life. In fact, I'm fighting a migraine the past 3 1/2 hours because of it. See, the boss asked me if a particular client knew if he had court coming up. Yes, I had spoke to him a few weeks ago and in fact had also sent a fax reminder that day as well. So I made a courtesy call since I had nothing better to do right then. The wife answered the phone and after I identified myself and reminded her of the court date, she screamed, shrieked and burst into tears somehow getting across that he had just passed away. I felt like shit, let me tell you, even though since he hadn't made the obits yet there was no way I could have known... I just feel terrible about getting the woman THAT upset when she was already probably lost in space over it all. It really sucked.

Holiday Carols...

About: Poker. I blogged a couple of days ago about needing to get into another game. That day, the weekly mailers started showing up from the casinos. I hadn't played online in a quite a while, (been having some psychological issues with the "randomness" of cards flopped out by a computer compared to shuffle up and deal done live by a real person!) so I got all my sickies (who are now all well and healthy, by the way) into bed and plopped down on the couch for a few hours of play. No matter how you look at it, playing on line IS different than playing live, face to face. But it's good experience. Look at Chris Moneymaker and Fossilman, who played online before winning the big one. Anyway, I didn't have anything else to do, so I played. When playing online, I usually play in 2 tourneys at a time. Without being able to watch the players for physical "tells", it gets a bit boring. I didn't do too great in the first one, came in 82 out of 2000. The other one, I stayed within the top 4 chip count the entire game, sat there for three and a half hours... and finished 12 out of 2000. When I finished I was so mad at myself, I do it every time I play online. When I cannot see/hear/touch/smell the stack of chips in front of me, and in front of the other players, I bet differently when it comes down to the crunch. I can't seem to get past it, and in the large tournaments online it happens again and again. I can win money in a ring game or at a regular online table, but the big tourneys that count, I suck. Not sure if I want to get any better at playing online even though there's money to be won there. I kinda like them putting the cash right into my hand when I win (live games) rather than having to wait for them to mail me a check when I take some money from an online account after winning.

So the next morning I get up and go through the mailers from the casinos. What a waste of paper and ink. Do those silly coupons really get people in the door? Free room ever week in November. Free slot play. Now, the invite to a WPT satellite game, I can understand, I'll probably play in that, but good grief! Free buffet every week for the next six weeks? And not just from one casino. From any and every one I've ever sat down and played poker at! I kept the ones to match a $50.00 bet on a table game. Those can be useful. Look at it this way. If I walk into a casino to play, I'm either going to A) be playing in a tournament, not getting up to run to eat a free buffet, B) playing in the poker room, which means, PLAYING, not getting up to run to eat a free buffet, or C) playing hold em in the pit against the house, where I'm betting a minimum of $125-500.00 a hand (where those coupons are useful!), and when playing that, the house is going to comp me just about anything I ask for, so why on earth would I need a free cruddy old buffet when I can eat in the nice restaurant on the house? Makes no sense...

At least there's a tourney this weekend. I really need a fix.

Well... I really need to get myself to work so let me leave you with this little tune I've been humming all morning:

Deck the halls with files and clients
fa-la-la-la-la la-la-la-la
The sec didn't show up to annoy us
fa-la-la-la-la la-la-la-la.

SCORECARD UPDATE AT LAST! (Sec Rant!)

Well, we knew it wasn't going to last. Check your bets, it's official. She was late today. AND came back from lunch late. AND she's not coming in to work tomorrow. AND she put in for Friday off too. And I guess her karma is starting to bite her in the butt because she lost her cell phone over the weekend (yes, I was eavesdropping! LOL)and when she called it some guy answered and wouldn't give it back, HAH. So, tomorrow I can do without her just fine, it's not like we're speaking or anything anyway. And as for Friday, well, heck. If she was paying attention to the red x on the square she was signing out for, she might have noticed that it's a court holiday and NOBODY is going to work. DUH.

EDITED Monday p.m. ...AND (are you ready for some more ands?) she left an hour and a half early today... AND she has already put up for two days off in December (one of which is the day I need off to go to the airport because my baby is flying away!) Anybody wanna put bets on her trying to mess up my vacation days in Feb. when we go to see Ms.SoonToBeBlue cross over into the Blue at graduation? (Only have tenative dates right now, but believe me, I'm taking off, no matter what!)

Things are SOOOOOOOO back to normal HAHAHAHAHA

EDITED AGAIN Monday p.m.p.m. ...AND the powers tht be are arguing, with the door closed, but so loudly that I can hear (without eavesdropping!) She's in some hot water, but we all know that they aren't going to do anything... anything at all.

More On (moron?) Nightmares...

The fog this morning locked me away from the rest of the world. Driving to and from work now really sucks. Between the road construction and all the people who are living here AK (after Katrina), my 7 mile commute is taking 45-50 minutes each way. So much for small town life.

This morning, I was thinking about driving to work the morning of August 29th. It is still as clear as if it was yesterday morning. It was such a werid morning, that day, that I had actually planned on coming in and blogging about it first thing. But I got busy and didn't. I remember thinking, good grief, all this darn traffic. Happens every time a storm comes to the coast and all the people come here. Our hick town and narrow roads just can't handle it. I remember reminding myself that I needed to make sure I locked the truck and didn't leave my purse on the seat or keys in the ignition, something hick town life has allowed me to do, all of the time except when a storm blows in and the people come here. It was a feeling of interruption, of things being different than how they were supposed to be. I only worked a few hours that day and just didn't get around to blogging about it. It's been 10 weeks since that morning. Things are getting back to normal here, the streets are clear, but crowded. There are still huge piles of debris but I'm sure in time those too will fade away. Still damaged homes with tarps, and of course not too far from here the fema trailers are replacing tents for those lucky enough to be high up on the list of the 500 trailers a day that are being planted. But some things just won't go back to normal. The people. They didn't go away after the storm this time. They stayed. And more came. The stores are crowded and the streets are crowded and the people just aren't as nice as they used to be. Nobody smiles, nobody laughs. People hurry more, and even worse, there hasn't been a day since August 29 that I could leave my purse on the seat and my keys in the ignition and just pop into the store real quick... Now, you have to lock everything up and carry the darn thing in with you, even if you are just running in for a pack of gum... Small town life just isn't supposed to be like that. Not here. The C-R-I-M-E thing is happening now too. We make the big news over in the city every day now. You wouldn't hear about us for months but now according to the big city news people, we are having murders. rapes. robberies. burglaries. kidnappings. jail breaks and escapes. All the big city type of things we liked to brag that didn't happen here. We don't like it.

Monday Blues...

According to that great site tracker thingy, some strange searches pulled up my blog last week, including: (on MSN) Chineese ATV's, (on Google) Boss Hate, and (on blogsearch beta) Girls. Maybe I need to start coming up with some R to X-rated titles for my silly posts and see what happens?

Some Girls Do!

After reading Jes' adorable post yesterday about her hubby's lunch, I knew my mission today would be to find a sweet potato, bring it back to the office, and nothing else would work. SO... we only have two choices at buying groceries besides the gas station way out on the edge of town where we live. There's wal-mart, which would take up my whole lunch to drive over there and back, or there's another market very close to the office. I only go in there once a year because, well, every time I do go in there I find that I am the only white person on the premises. SO... I bravely park and lock my truck in the parking lot of said market. Hold my head up high and march inside, and with one glance it's easy to see that just like last year when I had some strange craving that couldnt' wait until I got home, today I was again indeed the only white person in the supermarket. But that's ok. I accomplished my mission. Somehow I came back with two sweet potatos and some pnut brittle, which are now nuking and just about ready to be eaten (the potatos, duh!). ...so, Thanks JES for a great change of lunch today!! :)

More On (moron?) Friday...

Ok. 2.5 hours and I'm finished (hooray!)... work has been so nice this week I just don't know what to do with myself. Really!

TGIF!

Friday! Hooray!

Yesterday I plotted and schemed and hatched up a plan. I tried my darndest to be sick. I was sure I needed to take a sick day today, knowing the boss was going to be gone... I imagined the tickel in my throat and pain behind my eyes... went to bed at 9:00 (everybody else went before 8 'cuz most of them are already down with it), sure as can be that I was going to wake up totally miserable this morning. HAH. I woke up with the alarm clock rip roaring ready to tackle a friday without a hint of it. Oh well, I tried. So here I am, buried in law books and trying to make sense of how I'm supposed to put this supreme court brief together that has to go out on Monday. (See, I really do work when there's something to do around here! LOL)

If I don't come up for air before the end of the day, have a fabulous weekend!

I Found My Post!

(in my quietest whispering voice...)

This feeling behind my eyes and in the back of my throat is reminding me that I have only taken one sick day this year... The oldest has had it for a week. She's toughed it out and not taken anything. I stocked up last night and again at lunch today on all the necessities for those with the crud. Daytime. Nightime. Throat drops. Tylenol. Stuff to shorten the length of it. Stuff to keep the rest of us from catching it. And the lysol spray for germs... I don't know why in the heck we pay our health insurance premium each month. Thousands of dollars a year and we haven't been to the doctor one time. Then everybody catches the change of season cold and in the past 15 hours I have spent over a hundred bucks at the drugstore on over the counter medicine. Still have to go stock up on some more orange juice after work. I would have saved ninety three dollars if I had just stopped by the liquor store, grabbed a gallon of whiskey, mixed in a couple tablespoons of listerine. It would have done the same thing and who would have noticed?

Eight Glorious Days...

I sat here yesterday afternoon, with all my work finished... emailing Jaye and having absolutely nothing in the world to blog about. The sec and I haven't spoken in eight days other than if we absolutely have to tell the other one there is a phone call. It has been so peaceful without her ranting, cussing, and games. I'm such a moron, why didn't I discover this a year or two ago? My life would have been so much easier. Work, in itself, has been absolutely functional! For the past three days (and for the first time ever since I started working here) it has been three days of everyone coming to work on time. Everyone coming back from lunch on time. No yelling, cussing slamming doors being rude to clients or each other, everyone has been cordial and this includes the attys too, who usually dont' give each other the time of day other than to complain about someone or something. I know it won't last long and I am savoring every second of it because it really reminds me of a real job for a change.

So, nothing at work to write about. In the rest of the world, well, I hit every single stoplight in town on my way to drive DD somewhere yesterday, but heck, that's nothing I can get creative with... MsSoonToBeBlue is still leaving and got her orders with the date on them, but we already knew when that would be, so nothing there either. DH and the baby (Baby? HAH. she'll be 15 in 2 weeks...) are both down with really bad colds, but I am avoiding them both in hopes that it doesn't come my way. DS isn't quite as dreamy this week, a bit moody in fact, so I imagine even though he hasn't said too much about it, the little girl he's been chasing is giving him the cold shoulder or something... nothing there either.

I really need to find a poker game, bad. I'm not playing as much as I should be to stay on top of my game, but honestly, since Katrina, I'm just flat out scared to spend any money. On anything. Like not spending money is going to keep a hurricane from coming, right? Like not spending money is going to keep the power from going off for days or make the gasoline all go away again and the food all spoil and anyway, I said earlier I can be a real moron sometimes. DH isn't cringing quite as much these days when I talk about quitting my job and playing poker for a living. I think he's starting to do the math and well, who knows what next year will bring, right? So, without any great games to play in, I don't have anything to write about there either.

Have to get to work. Maybe SOMETHING will happen worth writing about... maybe?

Wednesday...

I'm here. Actually working for a change. Will try and have a post of some sort or other this afternoon...

Check This Out

(No, not that I'm posting for the 4th time today because the office is totally dead and all my work is caught up which really sucks, but this:)

Hey... Sara has revived her post on the Redneck Thanksgiving which is hilarious. You definitely want to check it out when you have time...

I Really Hate To Write This...

I do. I really do. Hate to write this, that is. Yesterday. She was two minutes early for work. Better than on time. But that's not all. She was also four minutes EARLY coming back from lunch. Like a real employee. She did her job. She WORKED (and only cussed a short portion of the day rather than the entire time she was here...and she only told off two clients!) My boss and I sort of looked at each other in shock the whole day. She actually worked 7.5 hours, leaving only 30 minutes early! My boss came in and talked to me as I was double checking the phone messages at the end of the day and we laughed how that's the first time she's been here on time and almost all day, in over TWO YEARS!! So since there were no clients in the office at that time, I went through the messages on the speaker phone, knowing, just knowing that what was waiting there would be enough to get the boss mad at her all over again (giggle). Seven messages. All from yesterday. All from the hour I was gone to lunch. The boss noticed the large number. And of course asked when all those people called. "They were all from when I was gone to lunch..." I told him. It was then that he started the growl and the sneer and the head shake with the twitch that seems to appear whenever he thinks about our most prestigeous employee here. He even asked me, "What? Doesn't she answer the phone if you aren't here??" I answered, "No. She usually doesn't." But other than that and leaving 30 minutes early, she was on her bestest behavior all day yesterday. She used the sugary sweet fake syrupy voice when informing any of us we had a phone call. It was as scarey as all the horror of Halloween combined.

And it has continued over into November. This morning she was only six minutes late. Put that with yesterday and Friday and that makes THREE DAYS IN A ROW she has been on time or almost. My boss said that has never happened before, never. ever. And at lunchtime today she was only gone 40 minutes. She's totally freaking me out now. Maybe the other guy put her on her best behavior or something. It's something I've never seen before and I'd bet my best poker hand that this drastic makeover she's taken on herself will not last two full weeks. We will see...

The Keys To My Heart...

The Keys to Your Heart

You are attracted to good manners and elegance. In love, you feel the most alive when your partner is patient and never willing to give up on you. You'd like to your lover to think you are stylish and alluring. You would be forced to break up with someone who was emotional, moody, and difficult to please. Your ideal relationship is lasting. You want a relationship that looks to the future... one you can grow with. Your risk of cheating is zero. You care about society and morality. You would never break a commitment. You think of marriage as something that will confine you. You are afraid of marriage. In this moment, you think of love as commitment. Love only works when both people are totally devoted.

What Are The Keys To Your Heart?

Rabbits! Rabbits!

Remember, if Rabbits! Rabbits! are the first words you say on the first day of the month, it is supposed to bring you good luck ;)

Last night I was standing there, and I heard a noise. I looked at DH, he didn't hear it yet. I glanced down the hall and over my shoulder to make sure none of my children had given birth to a 2-year old while I was gone at work, because it sure sounded like the pitter-patter-pitter-patter of little feet. The noise didn't stop. I walked to the window. Rain?! Wow. NOW I remember that sound! In the past two full months, the only rain we have had since Katrina, was... well, Rita. This was RAIN! No hurricane attached! It wasn't enough to lift the burn ban or even make a mud puddle in the garden, but it sure was nice to see the sprinkles coming down...

Unfortunately along with the new month and the rain, comes another day ticked off the calendar. As of right this very minute, Ms.SoonToBeBlue has exactly as much time left at home as she will spend in basic training/boot camp. I've gone into denial and since she turned 18 last week she's just gone... well, plain stupid. Thank goodness the other two haven't been up to anything out of line because I probably would scream like a banshee at the whole lot of them. It's really helped since I quit school though, the stress level has changed dramatically.

Well, guess I better go and see what I can get myself into... Happy November!