Make It or Break It 7

This is a 7 quick takes blog. As long winded as I am, though, it may not be quick. I crack myself up. And cue #1:

1. October is breast cancer awareness month. Really?!? Because we are all too stupid to know it's out there. I have not one good thing to say about this. Last year, I posted on my social media page almost every day trying to make people aware. I want them to be aware that there are alternatives. I want them to be aware that your doctors DO NOT know everything. I want them to know that you have got to take care of yourselves and realize what is going on with the food you put into your body. I want them to be proactive about their own health. I want my mom back.
2. October is also the beginning of cooler weather here. I won't say fall because we really don't have one. We do have a tree out back that changes colors and drops it leaves. We also get pumpkins! I love me some pumpkins. I like to process my own and use it for all kinds of things. I'm looking into buckwheat flour for pumpkin pancakes. I make an awesome pumpkin pie. It's always so much better when it's fresh. I would love to make homemade pumpkin spice lattes. I could drink a million of those every fall, but my body would rebel. All the junk in those things is horrible for me. I have one and that's it. Pumpkin donuts. Oh my giddy aunt, I have got to stop.
3. I was in the Young Republicans club when I was in college. For several years, I couldn't believe I had actually done that. I like to call those my liberal years. Now, I just want everyone to go away and leave us alone. I don't want to have health insurance if I don't want it, I don't want someone telling me I can't have a garden, and I don't want anyone telling me how to raise my kids or love my family. I'm not saying that cave in Tahiti is any closer, but a girl can dream right?
4. I am ready for this election to be over. OB saying what a great job he did and lying left and right. He shouldn't even be running for reelection according to his own words, but I guess that's in the eye of the incumbent. I don't understand why Mr. Hair has to be run down for making money. Isn't that what everyone else wants? To make money and be rich? That seemed to be the trend for so long. Look at reality TV. People want to be famous and make tons of money and live in big houses and have huge parties. All of a sudden it's not OK if you're running for POTUS. I'm confused. He made great investments. He made money. What do you want? Someone who will make you money or someone who will give it away? Soapbox...
5. My van is sitting in my driveway. And it shall stay there until next week, when the part comes in to fix it. Ugh! We skipped school yesterday (don't tell the teacher) and ran errands. The van broke down on Wednesday, leaving us stuck at the house all day Thursday. I took hubby to work Friday morning and we ran errands all day. ALL DAY! We left the house about 10 and didn't get home until after 3. Then there's the putting stuff away and eating lunch. It was 4 o'clock before I got a nap. What kind of junk is that? I did get everything done I needed to. Then off to pick up hubby and back home to make dinner. We have a field trip next week. We wanted to go to Disney after, but instead we'll come home and drop the gas tank and change a fuel filter. You realize that by we, I mean hubby.
6. The 300 or so acres behind us sold. Want to know what they did with it? Fuckers built a mud bog they don't really have a permit for and have concerts they weren't given permission to have without a sound wall. Cave, Tahiti.I just keep repeating that over and over. The mud bog is only permitted for BMX, not the 4 wheelers and trucks that run through it. The sound wall was supposed to go up before the concerts. Instead, our neighbors call the cops every Saturday night when the music goes past the 10 pm curfew and they have to go and shut them down. Cave, Tahiti.
7. Hopefully, in the next week or so, I'll have a new computer. I am so ready. As a loaner, this one isn't bad. As a functioning one that I need for our every day, not so much. I'm trying to hurry before all the Windows 7 computers are gone. I don't want Windows 8. All of our stuff is 7 or XP compatible. If we got 8, we'd have to start all over. I no want to. I am excited about a new computer. I've been taking pics I can't post. There's no room on this computer for it and it doesn't have everything we need to get them transferred online. 

Oh, the worries. I lead a pretty cushy freakin' life, don't I? I should just shut up and get over myself. There are such bigger things to worry about. It's the little things. Think I'll go wake my little things up so we can Saturday school. Yea for Saturday school and pajamas all day!        

Over Stuffed

I'm talking about my brain, not my belly. I should really stop watching so much morning news. I really like GMA even if George is a biased reporter. I think Josh is just as cute as he can be. I miss Robin, and I hope she recovers soon. That isn't what this is about. It's about all the junk that they fill my head with, amongst other things. Ready? Buckled? Let's go.

• October is breast cancer awareness month. Pardon me as I scream "We're fucking aware!! Find a cure, dumb asses!!!" I have a start. Stop putting GMO grains and sugar and chemicals in every little product. Why is there sugar in garlic powder? There should be nothing but garlic in that. How about doctors finally get in touch with the fact that there are many environmental and nutritional reasons for disease? How about we become aware of our environment and our own bodies and recognize that what we put in to them will come out, and not always in good ways? How about doctors and researchers stop chasing the almighty dollar and actually pay attention to patients and what they say? I could go on and on about the FDA, the American Cancer Society (fakers!), the AMA, and big pharm, but you can go back and read all of that on my blog. 
• Mitt Romney is behind in the polls. We cannot do 4 more years of our current POTUS. He even said if he didn't fix the problems in our country he wouldn't run for another term. Lie much? Please don't think I am a Romney fan, by any means. There's that whole pot/kettle thing. He sent jobs to China. That's going to fix the economy. Please just let us get to the election with awareness of the issues and what isn't a solution to them. And please don't give me that crap about not voting. You might as well vote for Obama then, which is what a non-vote becomes. Arm yourselves with information!
• My nephew is coming over this weekend. We are having our first ever youth tailgate party and worship service. I'm hoping it goes over well. I had hubby call his brother and set it up. We skipped the SIL step. Oops! Whatever. We are excited to see A. He just turned 13. I'm not sure how and why the time went so fast. He had an ice cream sandwich cake for his birthday. I'm thinking about making sweet potato chocolate while he's here, turn him on to healthy and delicious. We'll see. 
• I miss my mom. Horribly.
• Roseanne Barr is running for President. She's on the ballot in several states. Well, there you go. That should scare the crap out of people. Can you imagine Roseanne Connor running the country? She would pay bills without signing the checks or mixing up the envelopes on purpose. On the bright side, she'd tell you exactly what she thinks. You might not like it and we may alienate the rest of the world, but really, that isn't a bad thing either.     
• My friend F posted a pic on the social media site of a "new" style of pants. They're from the '80s. The pants with the zipper at the ankle. I never had a pair of those. I was too round to wear those. I would look like an apple propped up by toothpicks. I told her as long as parachute pants didn't make a comeback. I didn't like those. 
• I watched Kid Rock the other night on PBS. They have a concert series that I cannot remember the name of. I know it's not Austin City Limits. I watch that a lot. Kid Rock put on a great show. I would really like to see him live. My tour bus driving friend has driven his bus. She said he was really sweet and very polite and respectful. That is not his public image, is it? His back up singers were amazing! They have such great, powerful voices. They were even choreographed. I'm afraid I'd be too busy rocking out to remember the moves! 
• Our new neighbors. Big sigh. They seem to be nice enough. They have over 30 chickens now. They have a couple of roosters, They have 2 goats. They have 11 dogs. And now they have a 4 wheeler. And they ride it. And it gets loud. We are building a partial fence around the garden eventually. We need a little privacy. They are going to use the entire 3 acres (and really, if we had, we would, too), but that means they encroach on us. We want a little bit of not seeing them. It was so nice not having neighbors...
• My friend Hillside Hollow loves October. I do, too. It has started with temps that are a little cooler, day and night. I can get pie pumpkins, which makes me happy. I use it for almost everything. I'm going to use some in my sweet potato biscuits and make them pumpkin. I saw a recipe yesterday for pumpkin baked oatmeal. Oh, yes, please and thank you. I'm not so sure the rest of the house enjoys it as much as I do, but they tolerate it because they love me. Yea! 

Ok, I think that's good. It wasn't that bad, now was it? It was a little all over the place, so aren't you glad you buckled up? That could have been rough since I don't have air bags. Maybe not so bad since I do have a lot of hot air.
         

Round and Round and Some New Things for Me

There really isn't much going on here. There are times I like it boring, but I like a little action every now and then. It seemed for awhile there I couldn't make the drama go away. Now, it's almost like I can't coax it over with the offer of a steak dinner, some wine, and maybe a little action. Wait, that was hubby. He's always interested in a steak dinner. Anyway...

• I had to buy new underwear. I've lost about 45 pounds and nothing really fits. I think I'm finally in the next smaller size. We'll see when I go to buy new jeans next week. I cleaned out my closet and I have almost nothing left. I cleaned out my drawers in the dresser. Yeah, I don't have a lot left in there, either. I kept some shorts because I have a belt. It's time for those to go as well. The two things I couldn't get rid of are bras and panties. Bras will have to wait until hubby and I can get to the mall and Victoria's Secret. Although I have dropped two band sizes, I have gone up a cup size. I don't understand it, but I'm not the one making special size bras. It was time to toss the undies and get some that fit. I'm tired of tugging everything up with my pants. I'm tired of my pants slipping, but the undies falling if you know what I mean. Wearing a skirt is OUT. OF. THE. QUESTION. I'd end up just stepping out of them when they hit the floor and keep on walking. I actually bought the right size. I like one pair so much, I may go back and buy every color they have. 
• I had the kids with me when I went shopping. The poor boy. There is a pajama section right next to the delicate's section. That's where the boy hangs out so he doesn't have to look at all the lacy things.  I got what I needed, and off we go to the register. Only there wasn't anyone at the register, so we go searching for another one. And who do we see coming the other way? My MIL and my nephew. They were birthday shopping for my nephew. I don't know if they saw us or not. I moved pretty quick to head the other way. Right back into the delicate section. My poor boy. We had to go round and round to keep from being seen. I had panties in my hand. I didn't want to see anyone I knew, but specially them. Now I'm all tied in knots. Ack!
• Seeing them threw me so off my game I forgot to go to the grocery store. That wouldn't have been such a big deal except I forgot to get milk and some things I needed to make dinner. Well, shit! Of course, I didn't realize that until I was home trying to make dinner. I was making stuffed bell peppers with peppers from our garden. Oh, yummy! Well, it would have been anyway. Off to the grocery store we go at 7 and pick up something for dinner while we're out. I was not looking forward to that. Hubby, either, truth be told. When you have hungry kids and a hungry hubby, you do what you have to and that was what I had to do. We'll have peppers tomorrow, by gosh, by golly. 
• At 9 pm,. my mama meter expires. I am no longer on duty. Tonight, it also means I'm going to bed. I'm going to try and not let the fun of my day get me down. I feel better already.

 Signing off for now. Thanks for letting me vent.
  

Stuffed

Oh my giddy aunt. You bunch of chickens!! I see nobody commented on my 50 Shades blog. Really? Y'all make me laugh. Now that I'm done laughing, here's what we've been doing.

• We slaughtered chickens on Saturday. Not our sweet, egg-laying ladies. These were our fat, meat chickens. It was time. I guess I should say we processed them. Slaughter is such an ugly word. We went in on chickens with three other families. There were 20 to start with, but 2 didn't make the trip. The chickens stayed at one house and the other two families took turns feeding and taking care of them. We live about 30 minutes away, so that was a little much for us. Our part of the deal was come process day, we help. It may sound morbid or gross or whatever, but I had the best time. Hubby helped with the bloody stuff and the main defeathering process. My friend S and I would fetch the freshly cleaned chickens and pull all the pin feathers. That was harder than you might think. The big girl would get them when we were done. She would wash them, bag them, and weigh them. If you know my big girl, and some of you do, you would think she would run screaming in the other direction. She did an awesome job. Because we were short 2 chickens, we divided them up by weight. We all got around 33 pounds of chicken. I made one Sunday night, then used what was left to make chicken enchiladas tonight. They were super good, I must say. I still have 4 chickens in my freezer just waiting. 
• I am ready for this election to be over. I am ready for politicians to actually start telling the truth. Romney said people are dependent on the government and feel entitled. He's right. Obama said he believed in a redistribution of wealth. He's an idiot. They both lie to get what they want. I'm a Ron Paul kind of gal. I think we need to stop supporting foreign countries until we can get our shit straight. I think Medicare, and Medicaid, for that matter need to be overhauled. I think all entitlement programs need to be shut down for a year. Sorry, stand on your own two feet. Tough love, baby.  I think education needs to be about education not test scores. And if a child needs to be left behind, then a child needs to be left behind. I think teachers should be able to find a way to teach where no child is ever left behind, instead of being beholden to politics and unions. I think lobbyists need to be banned from access to all politicians. I think we need to bring all of our troops home and hunker down until our country can stand on it's own. I think we need to work on our infrastructure and our outer structure. I think the two yahoos running for POTUS need to kiss my ass and apologize to all of us. That should get me on the watch list.
• I am down 2 extra activities. We no longer have bible study and I quit science co-op today. The kids and I cannot stand the curriculum. To see my kids physically cringe when it was time to do science just broke my heart. We are changing curriculum and are pretty excited about it. Moving on. I have no idea what we're going to do with our time. 
• We are reading Missing May as our after dinner book. It is about a man who lost his wife. They had adopted a little girl who's mom had died and was a distant family member. It's the story of how the two of them are coping after her death and how they aren't. The big girl had received it as a Christmas present in 3rd grade from her teacher. We had never read it. I felt like now was a good time. We are still having some grieving issues. I'm hoping this will help us cope. Good grief something needs to. I read one part tonight and almost lost it. The kids asked me if I was alright. Some days I am, some days not so much. 
• Speaking of reading, I'm hoping to get to a stack of books I have in the kitchen. We have a little corner table and that's where all the books go. I was looking at my request list from the library and I need to order more books. I did check out some e-books. I'm hoping since they downloaded through my cloud that I get to keep them. The problem is reading on my Kindle. I have no problem reading it, it's when I stop reading I have issues. I guess because I've focused so close for an extended period of time I have a hard time focusing far away for a little while. Naps help. I can shut my eyes and I can see just fine when I wake up. Of course, I don't always get a nap after I read on my Kindle. I just don't read for long if I can avoid it. But I got some really good books. 
• I read an article the other day on the debate between spanking and not spanking. One woman went so far as to say that if you spank your kids, she doesn't want to be your friend. To quote Johnny Ringo from Tombstone, "Bye."  We have always been spankers and we will continue to be. Does that mean I beat my kids all the time? No, it means I discipline my kids the way that works for them. Spanking does nothing for the big girl, but you take her phone and iPod away, and good grief, it's like she was dying. Time out works best for the boy. He would rather have a spanking and get it over with. The baby does not like to be spanked. She would rather do time out or have her video games taken away. Sometimes, though, the wooden spoon comes out and everyone gets a couple swats. Those are rough days, let me tell you what. 

That's all I have for now. I have emptied my brain and crossed stuff off my list. I'm gonna watch a movie with hubby. I like these nights.

50 Shades of Bullshit

I hate the media. It doesn't matter what network you listen to. They are all trying to get you to "look at me, listen to what I say, don't look over there." Have you seen the way people handle themselves lately? I blame believing the hype. Look at what we find acceptable. More people know who the Kardashians are than who's running for President. I cannot believe I put that name on my blog. You get my point? Along with all that came a trilogy.

50 Shades of Grey was supposed to be "the" summer book. Then it became the "summer trilogy". Some libraries were banning it. Some stores pulled it off their shelves. Meanwhile, some libraries were buying as many copies as they could. It supposedly saved Amazon and a couple of big bookstore chains. Really? It was supposed to be the BDSM manual. It was a marriage saver. "We've never had better sex!" someone said on national TV. Wait, what? You haven't had great sex? It took these books? You know what all this hype meant? It meant I had to read the books. So I did.

Our little library that we go to had a temporary librarian. She was about my age and pretty hip. She also liked to wear these low cut tops that just screamed for people to look at her boobs. So I did. They were nice. But I digress and lose 10 readers all at the same time. Our library system had not one copy. She ordered 3 of each book. Then the library suddenly had several copies. Nothing like a good bandwagon to jump on. I was the first to get the book from our library. She automatically signed me up for the other two so I would be the first to get those, too. Told you I liked her. They were good books, too.

The thing they weren't was what the media had hyped them to be. They were a great read. They were a quick read, too, which is what I like. It flowed well. The story was decently strong. But it wasn't a BDSM manual. It wasn't even that great for sex. When you listen to all the interviews and discussions, you expect erotic fiction. Did they have lots of sex? Well, hell yeah. But so did I when hubby and I first got together. If we had 10 seconds alone, some body's pants were down within 1 and we were pulling up and zipping by 10. DO NOT tell me you weren't the same way when you first met your partner. I had a friend tell me that when hubby and I got married, every time we had sex the first year, put a quarter in a jar. Your jar will overflow. The second year,  you're to take a quarter out every time you had sex. You would still have quarters in your jar. We wouldn't know because my BIL stole the quarters while we were on vacation. (See, that shit goes way back. Do you still wonder why I have issues with the family?)

I expected EROTIC FICTION!!!!!!!! Yeah, that isn't what I got. If you want EROTIC FICTION, you need to read Lora Leigh or Jami Alden or Selena Kitt. Now, those ladies will make you wet and squishy in places that you didn't know could get wet and squishy. Every time I see a new Lora Leigh book is coming out, I am on the library website, marking my place in line. She has stories with a plot (shocking), relationships with alpha males (lots of telling what to do, but with vulnerability), and action (as in fighting, not sex) in her stories. They are mostly about military type men. If you like a sexy spy novel, read her. Jami Alden has several series, but she also does stand alone books as well. And Selena Kitt has a Baumgartner series that is just sex on a page. It will work you up good and proper for sure. You can only get her books on Amazon, if you're interested. Now, those ladies know how to write erotic fiction.

50 Shades was a really good relationship novel with lots of sex. It was about a man and woman who needed to find what was working and what was definitely not working. It was about a virgin who had to catch up and quick. There was a learning curve and she decided that she didn't need an A. B or C was fine. It was about changing and finding that place inside that allows you to be comfortable with who and what you are. It's about deciding what is a deal breaker and what is a deal maker. There were a couple times in the book, I could have smacked them both. Do not let that man intimidate you!! Who the hell do you think you are to talk to her that way?!? Fuck you!! Wait, that's what he wants. Well, her, too, and now that I've read it, maybe I do, too. Digressing...

If you want a good book with quite a bit of good sex, go for it. If you are looking for erotic fiction, it's ok. It's not the best, but it'll do. Don't believe the hype. I did what I encourage all my readers to do. I did my own research. I liked the book. As we speak, I'm waiting for my email for my links to the digital version of the trilogy from our library so I can reread them. They were good books, but they weren't worthy of twitchy palms. Maybe a little spasm.

Laters, baby.  

 

    

7 Quick Takes

There are so many ways to blog. I like to surf for different blogs sometimes. People will put some stuff in a blog. I am one of those. I've read about people who thought they had conceived after being told for years that she could not have children. She thought God had given her a child. That was a strange blog. I like the photography and art blogs. Those are fun. When I get to a recipe blog, I sit up an pay attention. One format I like is 7 Quick Takes. It goes something like this.

• We are three weeks in to school. Some days are better than others. We are trying to find a groove. We need to find it quick because things really pick up in September. Tomorrow we go to find the boy some ballet shoes and a white shirt. You would not believe how hard it is to find a white shirt. We try one more time. I hope we find one. 
• I have lost my kitchen mojo. What the hell is that? It's actually pretty normal for me. I've been in a rut for a while with everything. I have a touch of depression since my mom died. Well, duh. I had hubby and the kids each pick some new recipes. Now I get to plan a menu. I need to clean off my desk and gather the recipes and get to it. Tomorrow. Did I also mention I have a touch of procrastination happening? Pissing me off is what it's doing. That is my other goal tomorrow. I need to do that before we go get shoes so I can coupon. I have a stack of those on my desk, too. See, there's that procrastination/depression thing again. If any of the recipes are good, you know I'll post them. 
• Wow, that last bullet point went all over the place, didn't it? Was that about the cooking or the emotional wreck I am? Good grief, it was about both. It's like my Gemini twins were fighting to be heard. That was weird. 
• So much going on with my park mamas. We all have our issues, but some of them are going through some pretty heavy things. Makes my heart hurt to have my friends hurt. It feels good to know you have a group of friends that will always be there for you. Much love and many prayers for my mamas. 
• The divorce is getting ugly. So much to say. And I did. And I took it down. My nephew blocked me. I could see his posts, but I wasn't allowed to comment or like his statuses. I blocked him back. I knew it was his mother. Then I didn't want to be that childish. If she wanted to creep, she could creep away. Then I got unfriended. All because I don't agree with his mother. See, now that's not right. So I put that as my status. And I called her out. I also said may she rot for the damage she is doing to her children. And that was wrong and I know it. But I have to say my friends are the freakin' best ever because they played right along. I love them. Doesn't make what I said right, though, so I took it down. It was the right thing to do, but that didn't make it any easier. 
•  As much of a hard ass as I am, I promise I can be really sweet. Really, ask hubby. Maybe not him. Ask my kids. Wait, maybe not. Just kidding. They all think I'm a sweetheart. And a bad ass. 
• See this seven takes thing is pretty easy. Technically, two of these probably don't count, but they got a bullet point. 

I like it because I get to use bullet points and it's a random blog. I told hubby I was in the mood for a political blog. He started looking for snipers and black SUVs. He's so cute.              

Birthdays

Ooooh, Pitbull is a dirty, dirty, dirty dog! I asked my friend N to translate part of  a song. He is a bad, bad boy. I like his voice and the beat of his songs. Shake Senora makes me want to shake my senora. That's not what this blog is about, that's just what's blasting through my ear buds. But I digress again. Duh.

Today was my big girl's birthday. She is 14. What the hell?!?!?! You should see her. She's freaking gorgeous. Little boys pant when she walks by. Mama glares at the little boys and they run away. It was a rough day. Not for the big girl, but for me. This was the first birthday for one of my kids that Mermie wasn't here to make her phone call. I've felt like I was on the edge of a cliff all day. Just one miniscule breeze could make me fall off.

We don't answer our home phone. If you don't have my cell, I don't want to talk to you. That's just the way it is. Well, the phone seemed to ring off the hook today. One was from the church. They called to wish the big girl happy birthday. I had played the message already and hit replay when the big girl came to my room. I expected it to play the message from the church, not thinking it was in the "you already played that message" cue. With the message from my mom from my last birthday I have saved. I fast forwarded as quickly as I could and played the message from the church. By this time all the kids were gathered around the answering machine. When the message from the church was over, they asked if they could hear the one from Mermie. So I played it.

I miss her so much. My heart aches and aches some days. I see something on TV or hear something on the radio and I want to call her. I make a new dish or an old one and I want to call her. The kids do something great or even not so great and I want to call her. But I can't. And that sucks.

The boy was feeling extra sensitive today anyway for some reason. I don't know if he was getting his emotional cues from me or what, but he couldn't take it. He just burst into tears and fell into my arms. Deep, sorrowful sobs poured from my boy as I held him and cried with him. We held each other and talked about how much we miss her. We talked about wanting to see her again. We talked about last summer and how much fun we had. And we cried and we cried and we cried. What a big, strong young man he is.

I had to go to the garden. I needed a little quiet to process. And cry a little more. It was a rough day, for sure. I called hubby after a minute or so and talked to him about it. And cried some more. Grieving sucks, by the way. The smallest thing will set me off. I have two friends that don't have Facebook and have been out of town for several weeks. They both happened to come to the park. One of them asked about my mom. Well, shit, where did the tears come from? It took me a while to compose myself. Lots of deep breathing going on there.

The big girl seemed to have a good day. She even got her room cleaned for her sleepover. Yea for a houseful of teenage girls. It could be worse. It could be a houseful of teenage boys. That day will come, I'm sure. Sooner than I want it to. We went to dinner and had a wonderful time. There will be an ice cream cake and presents and friends tomorrow. And Mermie will always be with us in our hearts.