old stuff...

I know this happens to everybody, right? You smell a certain cologne you recognize, or you hear a song that used to be a BIG part of your life, and you close your eyes & you're right back there. When I listen to a song by 'Foreigner', I'm automatically 21 years old (ok...stop the smartass remarks!), and working at a grocery store again. And, I know almost nobody will get this, but I've got some Foreigner music blasting here (thank God nobody's home!), and I just went out to the kitchen to load up a bowl of ice cream, and opened the freezer...had my head stuck in it, and all of a sudden I smelled "freezer air"! No, not stinky, just...frozen air! I opened my eyes, and it was really like I WAS in the old freezer, in the first store we worked at, behind the meat department, unloading gallons of ice cream and stacking them on a cart so I could take them out for sale. And I was thinking about the really hot guy with the cute little ass working on the other side of the wall. That was (oh, I forgot...that's Kevin!) before I knew Kevin's name! I knew Ken then (Kev's little brother...the #2 son...'the shitty one', as he, & I'm sure, Jill refer to him...;-) . I helped out with stocking the frozen food for a year or so...fun...sometimes!
I still have dreams that I'm working there or shopping there about every month. Even though that store isn't there anymore.
We all used to have fun there, like on breaks & lunches! I'll never forget the meat managers that used to work at the store sometimes, when one of us would walk past, they'd yell "Go get lunch! I'll buy if you fly!". HA! What girl with no money would say no? One day, a bunch of us were sitting back there on lunches, and we were all picking on Phil, a stockboy, (Tiffany was only about 1 and 1/2...she always called him Pickle. He was the hairiest little troll I have ever seen in my life!! But he was a nice high school kid). We were laughing at Phil cuz he had a reputation for the fact that he never had money on him, but, he would eat anything for a dollar! I had just taken over the produce dept, and had gotten finished unloading my produce truck, and flopped down on a seat back there. Then Ken (or somebody) dared Phil to eat one of the jalapenos I'd just unloaded a case of. After some heavy-duty negotiations, Phil said "I'll do it for $5.00!". And, of course, we each chipped in a dollar...especially me, because I KNEW exactly what just touching the outside skin to a cut on my hand did! He picked up the biggest, ugliest pepper out of the case, and, after making a big show, held it up & bit into it! Just imagine a guy's hair & face catching on fire, and his eyeballs burning & running down his face. Yup, that was Phil. Then he jumped up and ran over to my big produce sink, where I had a case of trimmed celery soaking, and plunged his whole head into it!! That was just the beginninng of the fun I had there!! Nobody has EVER laughed that hard or loudly!! Poor Phil...although we DID pay him...
BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

kim & i

Okay. Before I start on the shoe story, I need to get the picture of Jesus' birthday cake, & the Dora the Explorer tent on here! (and, yeah, those are my smokes...).

Before Kim & I were driving, we walked EVERYWHERE, just miles, all over town. One day we walked over to the north end, which we really hadn't been that way before. We were almost out of town, right by the railroad tracks, when all of a sudden, Kim grabbed my arm, and said "What the HELL is THAT??" We both stopped, and looked up to the top of a telephone pole out by a field, and, of course, almost got turned into strawberry jam in the middle of the road by the semi we had neglected to look for before we walked out in the middle of the street. (remember the song...'stop, look, and listen before you cross the street'? we didn't...). We walked across the street/road (it's kinda both), and tried to look closer, but the pole was out by a barn in the middle of a field. So we stood there and looked & looked...finally figured out it was a pair of plain brown or black men's workshoes, nailed sideways up there about 4 feet from the top of it! Now THAT was weird! We talked about that forever after that, trying to figure out what the hell was up with that. Finally, one day at school (I was a freshman), I was telling my friends there about it, and one girl started dying laughing. No kidding, she actually DID fall down on the floor in the middle of the hall, and people had to step over her, go around...she said she knew exactly where that was and why they were there! And she would tell us at lunch...

At lunch, she said her brother had told her a few years ago the story behind them. It seems that someone in their family had known the guy whose shoes those were a generation back. They had worked on that farm together for a long time, picking crops, taking care of the animals, all that 'farm stuff'. But one day, 'shoe guy' wasn't working there anymore, and nobody knew why. Until they found out a few days later...the farmer had come outside one night cuz he heard his dogs barking, and found 'shoe guy', ummmm, violating a sheep in the middle of the barnyard!! The farmer kicked 'shoe guy's' ass, and took his shoes, made him leave, fired him, then the next day took the shoes up to the top of the pole beside the barnyard, and nailed them up there, swearing that they would be there forever, as a warning to any other asshole that thought they'd get away with ANY of that shit at HIS farm!! There it is. I know it sounds like an urban legend or something, but, honestly, it's TRUE!!

A couple other monetary thingys to say...

I've been on SS disability since 1999, and usually don't see any kind of check or anything, it's always direct deposited. But I just got a statement last week that I actually looked at! And, lo and behold, they're holding back $84 a month for Medicare! Turns out it's been held out every month since 2001! Cuz I called there last week, and talked to a guy about it. I've NEVER used Medicare, always have had Kevin's good insurance from his job! You're just automatically put on Medicare after you've been on disability for 2 years! So we got it straightened out, he said he'd take the charge off. Then I kinda laughed and said "I s'poze there's no way to get a refund for that, is there?" Nope, there isn't...sure wish there was, though...can you imagine how much that would be? 5 yrs at $84 a month....Arrrrrrrggggghhhh!!

Also...I never bitch about gas prices...why should I give a shit? I can't drive anymore!! But....our gas heating budget went up a couple months ago....from $145/month to...$259/month! Yes, you heard me! That's the budget, which means we pay that every month, all f'n year!! Then we have to add the electric, cable, phones, etc...!! Damn, where's a good cave we could move into?

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

Christmas day....

Christmas morning was funny this year! From the time Tiff was little, she used to yell down the stairs for us to get up, so she could go in the living room and see if Santa showed up last night. Of course, that was always at 5:30 am, and we were tired, cuz we had been up all night doing the stockings, arranging her presents, etc. But she's ALWAYS come downstairs before 6 am on Christmas. But this year, we got to sleep til 9:30! Then Tiff came downstairs, and laid across our bed (on top of our legs! Smoosh!!). Then Truman came in & jumped up & laid down on my legs too. That was it, no more 'family bed' for me! We got up, exchanged presents with each other (we ALL got really cool presents!). I got Kevin a ton of gift cards to Best Buy, we got Tiff clothes, cell phone gift certificate, etc...they gave me clothes, tons of stuff!
We went to Kev's mom & dad's about 11:30, and got ready to eat breakfast (they always make a huge breakfast for everybody, cuz we need to keep our strength up to open all the presents!). Then Ken walked in from the back porch with a little round birthday cake, so we all sang our happy birthday dear Jesus! That's become a tradition in the last few years! And, no, we aren't doing it 'disrespectfully' or anything. As a matter of fact, I'd bet Jesus is laughing, too! Then we go in the living room, and it's so full of presents, you can hardly walk! It takes us about 4 or 5 hours to open everything, cuz we take turns, and go one present at a time, and this year, the twins are 4, so they are REALLY fun! They got to pick who opens a present next. And everybody absolutely LOVES to buy presents for them! HowEVer...by the time anybody else gets to, Kat & Benji already have bought them everything in the world!! But...Tiffany is really good at picking stuff out for them, especially for the 'girl twin'! Actually, I think she just picks what SHE wants to play with ;-) .They're looking forward to their next 'slumber party', because Kev & I gave M a Dora The Explorer tent..and that thing is SO huge! It said it fits 4 people in there, but, honestly, we had the twins & about 4 adults in there! We actually took a good 4 hours to open presents, and Kev's mom & dad made dinner after that! His mom & dad are both great cooks, and his dad really likes to cook, he does that just for fun!! He's always bringing over food! Which is good, cuz I don't cook!!
Tiffany got a game for Christmas that I haven't gotten to play yet. We'll probably have to all get together and do that soon..it's called 'Apples To Apples' , and Tiff says 'it's the funnest game ever!!' Of course, she was real excited about the 'Newlyweds-Final Season' dvds I gave her too...

I just put a picture of a game I forgot to ask for up there...

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

Okay...I'll get to 'The Shoes At The Top Of The Telephone Pole' tomorrow...

Christmas hangover...

...and I only drank, like, a half a glass of wine on Christmas eve at my mom & dad's house!! And I need to make sure I call my dad tonight, cuz, guess what...he's 88 today! Quite amazing! It's kinda funny, when we get talking, he rambles on about 'the good old days' when he was a big-shot at a big company, did a lot of traveling, etc (he really mustve been awful to work for, though, cuz NOBODY he used to work with for the company he retired from has EVER called him, they never get together, nothin'!)...hopefully, that gene skipped me...Naw, he's the only person who can remember as much stuff from his "ago " as I can! Down to names, dates, who he met when he went to Pittsburgh in 1974 and he took me to the Pirates baseball game...
So Tiffany & Zach & I went to my mom & dad's Christmas eve (that's when my family gets together for Christmas), and, surprisingly, it was fun. Usually, there's dirty looks between my oldest brother & everyone else (except Mom!)...he's just a whole 'nother story all by himself. I hope nothing with him ever gets as bad as I'm afraid it will someday, so I don't hafta blog about him! Kevin stayed home Sat evening to wrap my presents, and get the house cleaned up (anal!!). I DID offer to stay & help wrap, but, well, that went over like a lead balloon...When Tiff, Zach & I walked in through Mom & Dad's garage, Zach looked over & saw Dad's big old Buick sitting there (Dad doesn't drive anymore...he can't friggin see!), Zach kinda started giggling and said in a low voice "Whoa! What a pimp-mobile!" My dad bought the car new, it's a 1984! And...it has over 200,000 miles on it!! When Dad came out & opened the door to let us in, Tiffany (she inherited the smartassness from me, remember?) said "Zach likes your car, Grandpa." OMG!! For the next 3 hours we were there, along with the other 20+ people, Dad kept seeking Zach out, asking him if he wanted to buy the car, extolling its virtues to him, etc. Dad was telling him he'd let him buy it for only $1,200! I can't even imagine how that poor guy had to feel by the time we left! Naahh, he handled it well. But I made him drive home, cuz Tiff & I both had some wine. My niece absolutely LOVES wine (she just turned 28), and she was carrying the bottles around, encouraging everyone 'drink, drink!' She is almost an identical twin to me! (except WAY younger!) Seriously, people have come up to her at work & asked her if she knows me, if she's related to me. Now THAT'S funny! Even Tiffany said how she looks more like me than Tiff does! We were talking about how Kim & I used to pick on C when she was little. One time when she was about 1 1/2, I taught her what to say when Kim said "What's in your diaper?" "Turdballs!" with a big happy, proud smile. Unfortunately, my parents did NOT see the humor in it. :-( So Dad taught her to say "Sunshine" instead of turdballs. Boooo!
So that was Christmas eve, and it was fun. Mom & Dad got Kevin a Columbus Blue Jackets sweatshirt & hat. Yup...we're hockey fans too. We did like the Detroit RedWings, but figured we should like a local team if they ever got one. Now, if they'll just get their shit together & WIN!! But I have faith in Sergei Federov, he'll kick their asses into shape! (plus, he's so damn cute! shhhhh!). I'll write about Christmas day tomorrow...ya know, over at Kevin's mom & dad's, where we all joined hands around the table before breakfast and sang 'Happy Birthday, dear Jesus...' before breakfast....
BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

it's all coming together...

This is really starting to get exciting! I feel like I'm one of the little kids before Christmas! I can never sleep the night before Christmas, it's almost as hard as it used to be when Mom & Dad used to take me and a friend to Cedar Point, and we never could go to sleep the night before...

Today went SO freakin' awesome! Someone's knocking on the door every day 2 or 3 times a day to deliver boxes (Fed-Ex, UPS...), and I usually have seen that driver, so they know my balance is too bad to carry the box, so they bring it in for me. I know this isn't the thing to do, but, this house is, like, the poster-child of conspicuous consumption-ism this year. This has almost never happened, we're usually just not like this...but, I hafta admit, it's fun. Okay, okay, trust me, if the choice was mine, I'd be the one that went to work at a retail store (I am the merchandising/buying queen for the produce department, and Kevin used to be the king of it all in the meat departments) [ergo....we got married]. But, hey, you hafta play the cards you were dealt, huh? So, for the most part this year, I take care of whatever needs done around here, on the phone, etc. However...Kevin pulled off the biggest thing he could this morning! Every morning, he always checks certain stores' websites, to see if they have the x-box 360 in. Usually it never is. But today, I'm layin' in the bed watching 'Sylvia Browne Wednesday' on Montel, & I hear Kev say "woohoo! It'll be here tomorrow!!" He just happened to check the Circuit City website, and they had them!! So, for sure he'll have plenty to do this weekend! Especially cuz he's off Monday! Yes, everybody, he's been planning for this since early summer, so this is one of those 'plus' presents...And, while I was in the shower this morning, the girl Tiff used to work with at Maurice's called, and said the coat we ordered for Tiff was in, she was unloading it then! So Kev's gonna go pick that up in a couple hours. It's, just, everything's going almost TOO good. Kinda like when you're holding a rubber band, stretching it back, back, back, it's working, ya know? And all of a sudden, it snaps & hits you right in the eyeball! I'm just waiting for the 'eyeball hit', if you will. I hate pessimism....

Okay...done for today...remind me later, the next 'Kim story' has to be done. It's called "The Shoes At The Top Of The Telephone Pole".

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

C'mon, Christmas!!

Here are the rules The first player of this game starts with the topic "five weird habits of yourself" and people who get tagged need to write an entry about their five weird habits as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose the next people to be tagged and link to their web journals. Don't forget to leave a comment in their blog or journal that says "You are tagged" (assuming they take comments) and tell them to read yours.

Okay...I'll play...but first, some Calvins....
Well, okay, they're up there....which is not exactly what I had planned, but...
My kinda weird habits...in no particular order..
5. Open the window blinds in the morning to get some light in here..this house is so dark sometimes, you think you're in a cave.
4. I hafta agree with Kimmyk on this one...when getting dressed, socks go on before the jeans! It's just wrong the other way...
3. I have probably hundreds of books around here, good hardcovers to ratty old paperbacks I bought off eBay, and I will NEVER EVER let any of them go!! They're my 'old friends'. If I feel like reading (always!), I'll reread them over & over, even if I almost have it memorized!!
2. In my opinion, 'grunge rock garage bands' became the downfall of the rock that made this country great! Think about it...from Elvis, & the Beatles, and on...they were the happy songs we all rocked out to!! In the eighties, most songs, if not all, were about sex, drugs, partying....FUN STUFF!! Fast forward to late 90's...Nirvana, etc...in other words, the impression I get is there's a lot more whining than enjoying of how great life can be if they shut up & do something worthwhile!
1. Holy shit. Where did THAT rant come from?? Well, I guess losing track of everything CAN BE a bad habit...oh, I remember where I was going with that...Other than a whole lot of 80's music, I have maybe one other one..."Hollaback Girls....bananas!"
BoUnCeS!! LibbY!
...and, please, anyone who hasn't done this yet, please, please do!!

birthday/Christmas week

some birthday pictures...
First, I have to say that I have truthfully never, ever had a better birthday in my LIFE!! Kat made me the big thick fleece blanket with the lighthouse, Kev gave me the black jacket with the green lining (it kinda matches my eyes)
..+ all kinds of other stuff! The whole party makes me wanna bawl thinking about it, so I think I better stop here...

Geez...none of the Calvins are going where I want them to! Waaaahhhhh! And I set them on large, but I know they're kinda hard to read.
What I miss a whole lot from being a produce manager in grocery stores is all the holidays...Christmas being one of the best! I was always the person who made the fruit baskets for people. They would come and find me, talk to me about what they wanted, who it was for...everything! But now, if you want to order a fruit basket, you go to the store, and look at their brochure that shows all the kinds and prices...THIS is progress?? Okay, I'll admit it right here and now...I LIKED the way stuff used to be done when I worked at stores in the 80's...(the good old days!) You know, politically incorrect and all! Get a backbone!! (more on this later)!!! No, one of the most fun baskets I made was when I was in northern OH. The woman who wanted it was a delivery driver, so I saw her a few times a week. And we have the same sense of humor...+she has a sister named Libby, but she said I was so much cooler...;-). So she told me it was gonna be for one of her neighbors out by her farm, who have big dogs, horses, etc! And she'd pay whatever, as long as I made it look good! So...I put all kinds of grapefruits, oranges, tangelos, apples, pecans, walnuts, bananas....and then topped it all off with bags of baby carrots for the horses, and big dog bones!! FUN to make!!
BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

no time for an old story today..,.

above...this is why you should never, never, fart in a wetsuit...


Just doing this out of habit today, got lots to do today..I'll be 41 tomorrow, but Kev's whole family + my mom are all coming over tonite for...pizza, party, double chocolate torte, peppermint stick ice cream, and....PRESENTS, PRESENTS, PRESENTS!!! *LOUD HAND CLAPPING & YELLING!* I've NEVER seen a family so close & loving, & I am so blessed to be loved by them...
Okay. All I have time for is the daily "Calvin"
Well, that hardly worked out...gotta do something else too...
Enjoy! BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

BTW...Kevin is still 39 for another month!! Boy, do I hear about that...

Another BTW...if I got it in here right, please click on the JibJab video...Republican or Democrat, you WILL LAUGH YOUR ASS OFF!!

another vacation with kim...

...and my parents & me...

Mom & Dad decided we should all go to Seven Springs ski resort & lodge one time, in Pennsylvania, but nobody was even interested in skiing, had never done it, never wanted to do it, nothing! Oh. Which is probably the reason we went in the autumn, when the trees were so beautiful, that even as smartass, bitchy 14 or 15 year olds, we were amazed, and spent all kinds of time walking through the woods together, pointing out the best trees, etc. Then we'd go in to the restaurant and meet mom & dad for dinner, then we'd all go out to the huge lobby area in the middle, and sit in front of the huge fire in the stone fireplace in the middle of the room, and drink hot chocolate for a couple of hours. That was some good times. We even all got along, just talked about what we'd all done that day, and we weren't even bitchy!! (way out of character for Kim & I!)

So, after that, Kim & I would go back to our (separate, again!) room, and get our bathing suits on and go downstairs to the big indoor pool, and swim til it closed around midnight...and, of course, flirt with every even kinda cute guy that was down there too. One night late in the week, the night before we were going home, we met a couple of really cute guys (18 year old guys, of course...or so they said, anyway), and when the pool closed, they walked us back to our room (how gentlemanly, huh?), so we asked them in and we all still sat around bullshitting for another few hours...and nobody even had beer! We finally decided it was geting really late, and it was time for them to go, but they gave us their addresses (fake, I'm sure!) and told us to write them (ya, right!). Then after we each had our kiss-fest with our guy, they told us their room number and left. And we sat on our beds and swooned over those dreamy older guys who really, really liked us, and were interested in us!! OMG!! How stupid and lucky can 2 young girls get?? They may have been 30 year old rapists who planned to axe-murder us after the rape festivities were done...

The next day, while Mom & Dad were checking out, Kim remembered that she'd forgotten to give her address to 'her guy' . So, while they were busy checking out, we ran to the other side and found their room. Knocked, nobody answered, so....Kim dug a key or a pen or something out of her purse, and, in all her infinite wisdom, actually carved her first and last name and address on the big, heavy, beautiful door!! We totally died laughing, and I even took a picture of it! (which, sadly, has been lost...)

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

what'll it be, what'll it be??

I think I need to put these on here, one a day...actually, maybe more, cuz I just counted, and I have 13 more, so I'll hafta do 2 one or two days.

My parents let me have Kim go with us on lots of short vacations, mostly because they felt pretty bad, cuz by then I was the only kid that went with them, my brothers were both older, moved out, had their own lives...
So, once, my parents took me & Kim to Gatlinburg for about a week. And Kim & I had a room by ourselves, totally separate from Mom & Dad's! And we were 15! Does anyone smell trouble here? There was a balcony overlooking a river right off our room, it was really neat! Then, if you turned around and walked through the room out our front door of the room, and (we were on the second floor) went down a flight of stairs, and you ended up looking right at a big outside pool! So one time when we were on the balcony looking at the river, we were also checking out the guys who were in the hotel across the river. There were about 4 of them and they were playing ZZTop really loud (the song 'Party On The Patio' & the rest of that tape). All of a sudden, one of the guys lifted up his beer, and yelled "Come on over!" So, of course, Kim & I looked at each other, whispered 'beer', and shrugged our shoulders, and yelled "Give us a minute!" (you know, fix our hair, makeup, change our clothes....). Then we knocked on Mom & Dad's door and told them we were going to go walk around downtown, we'd be back for dinner...and they said ok!! Just the perfunctory "Be careful, girls, and stay together so nothing happens." Oh my God, how lucky have we been all our lives? "Stay together" was what always got us INTO trouble!!
We ran down the stairs, looked at the pool and decided we had to use it later, then took off to try to find the bridge over the river. We found it, went over, and found the hotel and the room # they'd told us. We got there and it WAS a party on the patio! Walked in, first thing they shoved a beer in each of our hands! THEN we all exchanged names, ages, and where we were from. They were all down from Cincinnati, cuz they had just graduated (that was way before people's parents would pay for a trip for their kids to go to Cancun, Florida, Aruba...). We sat there and bullshitted, and drank for a few hours, then we had to get back to meet in the restaurant for dinner. One of the guys was really cute (yes, I remember his name...but it goes to the grave with me!). Anyway, we made plans for him to come over to our room at midnight, and maybe bring this other guy, whose name was JuneBug (huh??), at least that's what they called him...(remember, they WERE 18, and that was cool.). Okay, gonna try to make this long story short(er)...after we went to dinner with my parents, and told them how much FUN it was walking around all of downtown Gatlinburg (heh heh), we said we were going back to our room to just lay around and watch tv, we were tired from all the walking around we'd done that day *with appropriate yawning and stretching*. The guys came over and knocked on the door (quietly!) at midnight....with more beer! We all took a beer, then sneaked down to the pool outside. There was a sign that said no swimming after 11 pm...but, #1, there was just a puny little waist-high metal gate, and it just had a lock that slid back & forth...not really a lock, just a latch. and #2, well, we weren't really planning on swimming per se, just getting in the water and, well, acting like, ummm, dumbass teenagers, skinny-dipping & stuff! Just quietly! After we got done messing around in there and we got away with it, JuneBug said he was going back to his room, and left. Kim & **** & I went back to our room, and went in quietly, cuz mom & dad's room was right next door (no connecting door, thank goodness). We all just sat there watching tv and Kim & I still had our same beers drinking them (ya, we were lightweights...then!). Eventually, **** and I ended up over on my bed making out...all very well and good til Kim walked up behind *** and stood there making faces and waving at me over his shoulder. Hint...to absolutely kill any romantic mood on the guy's part, start laughing in his mouth while he's kissing you, finishing off with a good strong bite of his tongue. Especially when he pulls away and asks, angrily, 'what's so funny!!?', and you two try to tell him 'we're not laughing at you, but...hohohahaha...well, she hohohohohohahahahaha!' For sure, he'll get really pissed, and get up and say 'gotta go, bye'. And my mom & dad thought I didn't know how to stay safe on my own! Pee-shaw!! Anyway, it was a great week! Mom just said something about Gatlinburg a few years ago, and she said "I listened all night because I thought you two'd sneak out or something." I didn't tell her 'we didn't HAVE TO sneak out...we snuck somebody IN!!'
BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

Here Are Your Results:
Life:
7.4
Mind:
7.8
Body:
7.3
Spirit:
6.8
Friends/Family:
6.9
Love:
9.1
Finance:
6

Well, this is pretty good, right??
http://www.monkeyquiz.com/life/rate_my_life.html
LibbY!

snow...

Well, just like I thought. We got maybe 3 or 4 inches last night (of snow!) So, I'm picking up on the bad Christmas presents..okay, that's the book &, ummmm...paperweight, and t-shirt that I don't want...as a matter of fact, I honestly don't know anyone that would want ANY of these things! I can think of LOTS of people I'd love to give them to (you know who, Jill??), but I really don't have any extra to spend on this stuff...
Anyway, as soon as the first snow hits every year, I always remember the years I worked an hour north of here, and drove it every day (nope, Kim's not in this one...she's never worked after she got married). Before Kev & I got married, or even thought about dating, I used to get up every morning at 5:30 am, and look out the window to see how much it had snowed the night before. If it looked deep, I'd call the State Highway Patrol, and ask how rt 23N was...however, soon I learned...no matter how much snow there was, they'd always say "snow covered and slippery". Actually, I learned that the first time I tried it. I went anyway, after I dropped Tiffany off at her babysitter's here in town. I got out to 23 N, and it was totally clear! All it had was some snow blowing across the road, but that was nothing! The only time I really remember it being bad was in January/February 1994. I've almost always had a job that was at least an hour away from where I've lived, cuz I always LOVED to drive! (see the irony here, anybody?). In early 1994, when I started a job as produce manager in Findlay (the BEST town in Ohio!), the first week I was driving up there, it was so snowy & windy (yes, State Hwy patrol had said "snow covered and slippery" when I called that morning too...obviously I gave them just as much regard as I had 10 years before :-)
As I was leaving the next county, I actually saw a semi-truck, on its side on the edge of the road!! I've seen shit-tons of things when I was driving, but...I'dve never thought that would happen!! In that January/February, I saw 4 trucks like that on 23! Musta been awful for those drivers!
BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

winter, 2005

our empty stockings!!

Mine, Kevin's, & Tiffany's!

and here's more...one's Jenga, the spoiled-ass dog in the leopard-skin carrier, one's out the window, waiting for the 'white death' (snow, grocery store lingo cuz everyone wants white stuff...bread, milk, etc)...our tree that Tiff & Zach put up & decorated the other day...no, seriously, I guess Jenga's cute...I'm just not a 'dog fan'...

I told Kevin last night that they're promising 5 to 8 inches of snow tonight...and 'Honey, isn't that just like a guy? They promise you 8 inches, and then you get 2...' All that got me was a dirty look...I guess guys DO stick together...

Okay...I get my intravenous steroids starting next Monday, for 3 days. Yuck, that's gonna hurt...but I know I'll feel better for a few months when it's done...

I'm STILL waiting for the snow...it was supposed to start at about 3pm here, but....

So....I've started Christmas shopping for Kevin, but we're supposed to start thinking about Tiff & everyone else tonight...errrggghhh! The only thing Tiff's asked for is a new cell...the only problem is, the one she wants is $400.00!! Oh well...'it's only money, we get more next week' as I was told by someone years ago. Good thing she's an only child! She asked Santa for a baby brother or sister when she was sitting on his lap when she was 7 or 8! He looked at us and HO-HO-HO'd once or twice, and told her she'd probably have to talk to 'Mommie & Daddie' about that!! Holy crap!! Boy, did we hear about that for awhile! But when she realized where babies came from, she asked me, when she was about 12 or 13 (lovely ages, huh?), "So..when are you gonna shoot out another baby, Mom?"

Anyway...nothing else up here...I'll continue the list of stuff I don't want tomorrow...

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

Kim and I...Dec 6, 2005

Okay, first of all I HAVE to put this on here...

If you look really close, you can see Jenga sitting on Santa's lap...however, don't tell anyone I put this picture on here (she's rather shy, you know?).

All right...back to the original programming...

Last night I called Kim, and she immediately said she was just thinking about calling me, because my birthday's pretty soon. We do live in the same town still, so we talk on the phone almost every day...except around Christmas, when we're both busy. So...she was telling me that she had gone to visit someone at the nursing home yesterday, and she was kinda upset about it. Not because the woman wasn't being treated right, at all, but because Kim walked in at the wrong time and saw the old lady naked & trying to get herself dressed after her bath, cuz she had told the nurse to 'leave me alone! i can do it!' I guess this woman is starting to show early signs of Alzheimer's, which Kim and everybody else know that I'm deathly scared of having myself someday! So, Kim told me about a few things that the lady said, and I told her 'shut up! i don't wanna hear about it! that'll be me someday!' She fuckin' laughed and said, "I'd just slap you in the head, and tell you to straighten the fuck up!!" Gee...what are best friends for, anyway? ;-) Well, I have to forgive her, she said she'd wipe my ass if I ever needed her to...

And she also was telling me that she was scared of being that flabby & out-of-shape...this is after she used to dog on me 20 years ago for having such a muscular, 'manly' body! Well, now I'm glad I did, cuz it's far easier to keep than it is to get! She also told me, that this woman's boobs were so saggy & floppy they moved like Slinkys when she bent over to pull up her pants! I just kinda snorted & said 'well, i hardly hafta worry about that...i'm streamlined, remember?' Okay, quit laughing & snorting pop out your nose!

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

stuff i DON'T want for my birthday & Christmas...

Here it is! The long anticipated beginning of my un-gift list!!

This is only a partial list, remember!

So, I was thinking last night about how most single (or looking-to-be-single) women say they want a man who is a REAL man, you know, just a strong, manly guy, who doesn't show his feelings ALL the time, but has no problem sharing them with you. So, here goes my opinion...I genuinely think we've seen the last of the strong men like that. And that is really sad. These new guys are being raised by moms. Not just regular moms, like we were, but moms! The ones who make a career of raising boys that are 'soft' & 'gentle'. It's almost like they think the world would be better off without any men who actually enjoy real "guy things"! Like, ummm, football? No, you can't play THAT, it's far too dangerous! Or elementary school...no, no, you shouldn't play tag or hide and seek, because it makes the ones who are "it" feel picked on. No WAY can you play dodgeball! Holy shit, that'll KILL someone someday!! Well, okay, I guess you can play soccer...what? NObody's gonna keep score, we only play for fun, not to see who does something better. That's the quickest way to hurt somebody's self-esteem! Now quit your crying, and we'll go inside and take your ritalin. No wonder guys learn to cry a lot...wouldn't YOU? Then when guys grow up and they're in middle school, look who the guys are that get the girls. Ya, that's right...those big BRUTES, the football players that did all the stuff they were told not to! haha...and it's that way till graduation, you know, you've seen it/lived it. So, maybe this might be part of the reason online porn gets used so much by guys...who else doesn't try to boss him around, and tell him what he's doing wrong all the time? And now, women want to know where the REAL GUYS have gone? An emasculated little boy will never grow up to be the strong, self-assured man women really want...

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

lazy day...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8236595474&ru=http://search.ebay.com:80/8236595474_W0QQfkrZ1QQfromZR8QQfviZ1

Hey everybody!! Click on the link above and scroll down and read the contents of this VERY CAREFULLY!! I seriously thought I was going to choke to death laughing last night when Kevin showed me this!! I LOVE this!! No, maybe I'm just jealous, cuz I didn't think of it first!!

All right...guess I'm done with laughing at someone else's stupidity...errrr...misfortune.
So, some of the Christmases Kim & I had when we were teenagers were really stupid, too. I know, when I was a teenager and Mom & Dad never pushed me to get a job, my parents gave me money to go Christmas shopping for everyone (for presents from me!). That really sounds terrible, & now I'm ashamed...but, when I was that age, I didn't care. Anyway, I was always totally jealous of all my friends, cuz they could always buy their dads stuff like jeans, hobby stuff, everything, but my dad has never ever worn jeans in his life! And his only 'hobby' was golfing (and picking on me, of course, cuz I was pretty ugly at that age, as most 13 year old girls were then...not now!! What the hell happened?). Seriously, Ken was here one day when Tiff was about 14 or 15 and had a bunch of friends here. They were all playing in the backyard, and Ken looked at Kevin, and said, "None of the girls I went to school with looked like that, ya know?" Anyway, back to the shit going on...when I was getting my dad a present, I had a choice of belts, socks for work, & ties, or a shaving cream dispenser. Well, my mom always wanted to buy me stuff like 'old lady' looking clothes from Sutton & Lightner's (remember them?) like dresses (bleahhh!), and jeans from there. Which, the jeans were not only ugly, but she always told me I should wear size 5 or even 7! Mind you, still, to this day, I WEAR SIZE 3!! So I always was one of the girls that got made fun of...my clothes might've been expensive, but they were always baggy!! So, one Christmas, Kim had asked for some sweaters...she looked under their tree about a week before Christmas, and of course she was always poking, shaking her presents, etc. But the year we were 15, she waited til we were out of school on Christmas break and her mom & dad were at work, she actually picked a present out from under the tree in a box that looked like it had clothes in it. She opened it (her little brother was over at a friend's), but only one end, and slid the box out, opened it, & it was a sweater she'd wanted. So...(classic Kim!), she took the damn sweater out of the box, put it in her room, taped the present (empty!) back up, and put it back under the tree! Then when her mom brought her over to my house so we could go to the teen dance they had every week, she brought the sweater and wore it! Then the next day, she took it home, and wrapped it back up in the box, and it went back under the tree!! OMG!! I'dve NEVER had the guts to do that! Usually I was the "idea person"...she was just dumb enough to DO IT!! Another time she did something that was her own idea was way before we knew each other...she held her little brother down when they were fighting (he was about 9, she was 11 or 12) and she gave him the world's biggest hickey on his neck!! HAHA!!
BoUnCeS!! LibbY!
also funny! http://members.cox.net/transam57/lights.wmv

GRRRR! I'm pissed! I actually have to LEARN how to do something!

Holy CRAP!! I was getting ready to put my list of stuff I don't want for Christmas on here, but I can't figure it out...well, maybe that's a lie...I don't FEEL like reading all up on it & everything! I was just having so much fun picking out all this stuff on the web that I almost peed my pants laughing at, but then I realized...somewhere out there are people that are ASKING for one of those!! It's a sad world we live in, isn't it...

So, I gotta tell some stuff that happened at Thanksgiving. We were sitting at Kat's huuuuuggggggeeeeee dining room table (seriously, it's so long that last year after dinner we were all sitting there talking, and Ken got up to get a Pepsi, and as he was walking down the table behind people, he started smacking each person on the head, saying "duck, duck, duck, duck, duck, GOOSE!" Now THAT was some funny shit!). So, we're all sitting there talking during dinner this year (usually with our mouths full...see why I fit right in with this wonderful family?), and someone said somebody they knew was going to Taiwan, they'd left the night before, and it was a 28-hour trip. Everybody was remarking about that, and my daughter Tiffany says loudly..."28 hours! Are they driving?" No, that was a serious question, too.We're ALL still laughing about that one!

Okay, you are warned....the following message contains political opinions. You may not agree with them, but, feel free to flip the remote if you want...

If I were a Democrat (is hell frozen yet? that's just a joke, don't scream at me!), I'd be so embarrassed that John Kerry & Senator Reid had to grab microphones & give a rebuttal of the president's speech today...well, I have no friggin' idea what I'd do. A rebuttal?? For cripe's sake, can anybody see ANY sense in that? It wasn't like it was a primetime speech to the nation, on the dreaded MSM or anything! It was him talking to people from a naval academy at 9:45 am! OMG!! I smell desperation here...

Man, was Christmas a whole helluva lot more fun when your kids were, like 6, 7, 8, 9...not only was it a lot more fun, it was a lot CHEAPER, too! I loved the Christmas that we got Tiff a whole bunch of Lil' Tykes toys. A great big tree that opened, and had bedrooms in it, a set of a family+dog, big plastic cars, and all kindsa stuff! Oh, and it was, mmmm, a total of....$200.00 tops! When she was 17 or 18, I think her Christmas presents from us totaled, like 5 times that!! And it keeps going up incrementally every year!! But, in my humble, lowly opinion, the toys are getting a lot less fun! (the toys for young kids). Kids don't have to do anything with their imaginationsl...competition is frowned upon...holy crap...here I go again...must be cuz I just watched Rudolph, The Red Nosed Reindeer...

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

thinking about everything today...

Okay...I hafta start out with some politics, ya know?
First thing is...everybody's screaming to bring the troops in Iraq home. Kinda leads me to wonder....well, then, what the FUCK are there troops still doing in Japan, Germany, Bosnia...did everybody FORGET about them, huh??
All right, I'm done with that political stuff for now, anyway.
So, how cool, Tiff and Zach put up all the lights on the house over the weekend! And it looks great!They even hung up my lighted 6-foot tall carousel horse, and it's been years since we dug that outta the basement!!
And I've had fun today! I made out a Christmas list (no, not a "holiday list"!) of stuff I want! Really, there's not much I want or need, except gift cards that I can use on the internet after Christmas. So that's mostly what I asked for...cards from Victoria's Secret, Amazon, eBay, Wal-Mart, all kindsa stuff. Cuz Kev's family is all HUGE on Christmas, they all wanted everyone's lists ready by this weekend to pass around! And I actually did put some real presents on there too, cuz everybody wants real stuff to wrap up (or, put in a gift bag). So there's books, sweaters, a jacket, that kinda stuff. So, I made out a list of stuff I don't want, that I'll put on here tomorrow!
Tiff started at a new job today, it's a hair salon in town that's been here a while, and I know the woman that owns it. She's been calling Tiff since Tiff graduated & got her license, but Tiff always told her no, but thanks. Then she called Tiff Saturday, asked her again, & Tiff jumped on it! She's getting tired of working 60+ hours a week...only because they won't hire a couple (or, 3 or 4!!) more stylists! So, Tiff & someone else quit Saturday...which leaves, mmm, ' bout 2...including the manager!
Last nights football game REALLY sucked ass!! I was really hoping Pittsburgh Steelers would win, cuz Ben Roethlisberger was back after weeks off for his knee and knee surgery. But, nooooooo, the Colts were running roughshod over the top of 'em!! I almost waws ready to go to bed afterwards, and cry myself to sleep. But I didn't...My cousin that lives in Findlay knows him & his family...Ben's sister watched their house while they were away, even!! Sheesh...EVerybody except me knows someone famous! EVERYbody!! Okay, y'all can stop feeling bad for me now ;-D , I knew you were, after all.
BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

??

I have absolutely NO idea what to write about today...it IS a Monday, ya know?
Here are a couple of cool pictures...the first is a catbird (photoshop)...second is a real picture of the Ugliest Dog In The World that actually won that prize a few years in a row (I guess California [of course] has that contest. Anyway, I feel bad today, cuz this dog died a few days ago. Even though it was really old (I think 17?), still, would you like your lasting legacy to be 'The Ugliest Person In The World'? Hmmmm...something to ponder...
Okay...XBox360 was released last week. I really think Microsoft has looked like a monkey fucking a football with this 'release', as they call it. Here in Ohio, the Wal-Marts got, like, 20 of them! Best Buy down by Columbus had 40 of them! (woohoo). Benji went to a Best Buy down by Coumbus, He got there at about 2 am, and had to stand outside in the rain, sleet, snow, etc...until Best Buy opened at 8 am! Cuz he tried to wait in the car for a while, but, he saw a lot of people driving by checking out how long the line was, so he decided to go up and stand in line. There was one guy up way ahead of him in line that got sick of standing there waiting, and said he was gonna leave, but he'd sell his place in the line to anybody for $50.00...and somebody took it! Benji said if he'dve had cash on him, he'dve bought it, cuz the people up that far in line could get the XBox Deluxe (?) which included the hard drive, but if you were farther back, you had to buy the wireless controller, the hard drive, etc! Kevin couldn't do the standing in line thing, because of his back, and everything...+ he did have to show up at his job the next day at 9:45 am. But Benji works from home, for the most part (when he's not traveling to California, NYC, etc...). Kevin looked everywhere online to see if he could find one anywhere the next day, but, you know the only place that had them was...eBay! And the price was $1,000.00 + shipping!! Yeah...the price at a store was supposed to be, ummmm, $400.00! But, Benji had to pay a lot more. You know, the controller, the hard drive etc. Holy Crap! Microsoft, of all companies, should fucking know that they're only screwing their hardcore players that looked forward to this for months, not the little kids, whose mommy & daddy buy it for them for Christmas. In my opinion, they may have created a whole lot of Play Station fans. But, like I said..MY opinion. I know Kev loves the XBox, he'll buy it as soon as he can...but will EVERYBODY??
BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

other old shit...(Kim & I, of course)

Okay, Shannon, I apologize profusely for stealing this, but I just HAD to!! It's just TOO cute!!

The first picture up there on the left is the sign on the wall in my old house I grew up in. When Kim & I got to be around 14 or 15, we just took over the attic (yes, the 3rd floor where Kim peed out the damn window!). There were tons of rooms & closets up there, but no bathroom, ya know? ;-) There's a ghost story coming soon about the attic, but this is about us! So pay attention!

No, Kim & I painted 2 signs that said "Party" on them, & hung them on the wall going into that room...and when my family & Kevin's mom went over there in 2003, the signs were still hanging there!! That totally freaked me out! I said something to the wife about how long ago we'd made them, and she said she was gonna take them down a long time ago, but it just seemed wrong, and they didn't want to go!! Holy crap!

We used that room for when we had people over for 'parties'...yeah...14 & 15 year olds' parties: nothing but Coca-Cola & pizzas...yawn...then when we got older & better at lying (!), we used to go out running around after dark, cuz, of course, nothing exciting ever happened during the day. We went past one of those big lighted signs in front of a carryout, and swooped our hands over the great big plastic letters on it. They all came out at the end of the sign (well, okay, I lied again...only 1 fell out...but you could see the lightbulbs over our heads going on.). Then we waited til there were no cars coming, and we just 'swooped' our hands across the letters again, and picked them up & ran home! And when we got back to my house, we thundered up the stairs, and into our room in the attic, and spread all the letters out on the floor, and figured out what we could spell with them, also to be hung on the walls! We figured out we could spell 'Ladies Night' and we hung that across one of the walls. Cuz, of course, the song was HUGE back then! (late 70's?). Around that time, we actually got a taste for beer...mostly cuz it was totally cheap. I remember one time Kim had this brilliant idea, & had somebody buy us a six-pack...of Bavarian beer, cuz it was the cheapest ($1.59 for a six-pack! You'dve thought we figured out WHY it was so cheap, huh?). Well, suffice it to say, we did figure out why it was cheap! We took the beer across town with us, and found some convenient bushes to hide in & drink it. And after about 1/2 of one, I got pukey-feeling (Kim hadn't even opened one yet!), so we decided to throw the one I had away, then we carried the other ones under our coats, back to my house. We went in the back door, and up the back stairs straight to my room on the second floor, then hurried up and shoved the rest of the unopened 6-pk in the bottom drawer of my desk because it had a lock on it! And, believe it or not, the shit was STILL there 10 years later! If I'd been smart, I'dve wrapped it up like a Christmas present & gave it to Kim that year!

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

Dr Stone....

I really want the kitten at the top! And, as for the picture at the bottom...well, truthfully, where's the jest in that??
As far as funny pets go...I REALLY wish I would've gotten off my lazy ass last night when Tiff & her current boyfriend, Zach were here last night (Zach's, like, the polar opposite of Ricky! Put it this way...ANY parent would pick him for their daughter!! They were together for about a year in high school, yadayada...). Anyway, they were here with the dog! he got a few months ago, really for her, but he keeps it at his college dorm room when he's up there, brings it home to his parents when he's here for the weekends. It's a white with brown spots Papillon, and I even like it! And, odder still, Truman likes her!! (her name's Jenga...Zach named her).Truman, I think, thought that Tiffany brought home a toy for him to play with!! Every time she came over to the corner of my LaZBoy, and put her paws up on the corner to be petted and wagged her short little fluffy tail, Truman would come over and smack it around!! And she would get down and run back to Tiffany to be babied! HA!!
So, yeah, I went to Cleveland Thursday and saw Dr Stone. Yeah, I still have ms , but my strength is still really good. However, some of the worst parts of my ms are my balance and my tremors. I did ask Dr Stone if they had ever tried l-dopa for ms people. She said she didn't think that would work for me, because my tremors are all from my cerebellum, which l-dopa is more for Parkinson's, which is very different. Mine totally affects my hands, voice, swallowing, and now she said it sounds like it's starting to affect my hearing too, according to what Kevin said. Of course, Kevin said my short-term memory is bad too, but I told her I think it's his short-term memory. As in, he THINKS he's told me something, but I KNOW he didn't, dammit!! Did I mention that I LOVE this Dr?? She asked last time "how much do you smoke?" I pointed at Kev, and said "less than HIM!!" and she laughed and let that question go. She's even called me at home a couple times! And I can NOT believe that, NO doctors ever call you at home, unless you're dying! oops, maybe she was giving me a hint? So, anyway...I said the very worst symptom I had was my 'lack of' balance. She propped her chin on her hand for a second, then said the only thing she's heard of for that is DBS. NO!!!! DBS, let me enlighten you. It's where they give you anesthetic, you're asleep, they drill a hole in your skull down to your brain. Then they wake you up while the hole is open, so they can stick a wire directly into your brain (you can't feel that, you don't have pain centers in the part they put the wire in), then you move your hand so that they can see which part they've got, if it's in the right place, yadayada, etc. Then they put you back to sleep to close up your skull. The long name is deep brain stimulation. Dr Stone said there's one dr up there that she respects that does that, so I said "you don't respect any others? That's scary..." So, now that I've bored everybody to sleep...wake the fuck up!!! Yup...bored myself to sleep too, gotta go find something to eat!
BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

when we were 16...

Driving...okay, you thought Kim & I were little shits when we were walking...then we got our driver's licenses! Good thing they didn't let you have 'em til we were 16 at that time!! But, my mom swears, to this day, that I took to driving "like a duck to water"! And, actually, she was very right on that....I passed my driving test the first time I took it, in 1981, (my birthday's in December). I'd had to take the driving class in the summer of 1980, and that in itself was hilarious, because one of the girls in the class drove herself to the school every day, and after class went out & got in her car & drove home! Tiffany was one of the last to be able to take her class at school, cuz the schools stopped doing that, because of insurance! Kim was livid, cuz her daughter had to go to a driving school for classes! (didn't do much good for A, she's had at least 2 wrecks [bad ones, with charges filed against her!]) But Tiff was like me....also took to it 'like a duck to water'! Actually, Kevin wanted to do all the driving stuff with her, because he said "You got to see her first steps...I get to see her first driving!!" Okay, good point. So she passed the test the first time, too. And I knew she would.
But, anyway, back to me & Kim. Or, 'Kim & I'. It was always a really funny thing for me to put the brakes on (kinda hard), while Kim had her can of pop up to her mouth, taking a drink, and say, "Everybody bow!" I ruined SO many of her shirts! Then there was the time that Kim was driving down to the corner at the end of my street in her parents' blue Hornet, I was in the front passenger seat, and she turned right at the corner. At that time, of course, seat belts were optional (NOBODY wore them til it was law!). And, of course, the car doors weren't shut right, and my damn door flew open! I came real close to flying out the side! Man, did I bitch her out! (even though I was the one who had shut the door!). And, of course, Kim was the one that was famous for never covering her mouth & nose when she sneezed (aahh-CHOO!! snot-rockets straight out on the windshield!) and then she would never wipe it off if it was her parents' car before she took it home! Gross!! The absolute ONLY time I ever had a scratch on my car, was when the dumpster rolled over and hit US!! And, try explaining THAT to your mom! (the dumpster hit ME, I didn't hit IT!!) Well, there was also the time that I was by myself, on the 'wrong side' of town anyway, (according to Mom & Dad), and I was driving my car home (the V8 Comet). I was coming over the railroad tracks, and my muffler fell off! Wouldn't have been a problem if the back or the whole thing fell off. Nahhh, I'm Libby, remember? The FRONT of my muffler dropped off, and I was ON the railroad tracks! I couldn't go forward at all, cuz the muffler was hanging, and it caught on the rail every time I tried to go forward. Tried to go backward too, and by then, it wouldn't do that either. And this was the one set of tracks in town that had another set running parallel, about 10 feet behind it! So there was a pizza shop between the tracks, and there were a bunch of guys working in there, and I ran in & told them what happened, and they dropped what they were doing (ah-hah! a blonde damsel in distress!!), and came running out to (brilliant guys!) lift my car & get it over the tracks! But, keep in mind...this was a really solid 1972 Comet, 8-cylinder car...nobody short of 4 Andre the Giant's could lift it! Of course, 4 big solidly built high-school guys had absolutely NO LUCK! So they were, of course, embarrassed and pissed, & cussed my car out and turned around and stomped back in the pizza place, saying "We've got work to do!". One of the guys did shrug his shoulders sheepishly, and say "Sorry", but that was it!! Then I had to call my trusty (if crabby!) Dad, and he actually hit the phones right away & called whoever was in charge of the trains! and told them they absolutely HAD to reroute the next train coming through, so he had time to get a tow truck to get the car off the tracks! And he did it! Got the tow truck there, and got my car off the tracks, and in to be fixed the next day! OMG, he was awesome, cuz this was 10:30 pm! I did pay for it, emotionally, not monetarily, by hearing about the whole 'debacle' until I was 18! (and then I got pregnant & had to get married, so he had something new!).
All right...I had an appointment with my ms dr at the Cleveland Clinic Thursday afternoon, (3 hours away!), and Dr Stone (a woman dr, who knows SO much more than ANY other dr I've seen in the last 11 years for this...way better than Ohio State!). Anyway, that's my next post...this afternoon is the Ohio State/Michigan football game, so I'll be watchin'!!
BoUnCeS!!! GO OSU!! KICK SOME ASS!! BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

stuff...

Okay...I command everybody laugh!!

This story is rather sad now...
A few years ago, there was something big happening in this town. A little 9 year old girl was taken from her bed and found murdered a few days later, out beside a road in the country, wrapped up in a sleeping bag, that had initials on it. The guy whose initials those were, was a close friend of the parents, had been for a long time. The little girl even called him 'Uncle ----'. Unfortunately, a big part of his 'relationship' with both parents was drugs. So he was tracked down by his relationship with the parents, and his initials. There was a trial, and he was convicted of killing the little girl. And, still, to this day, I have a hard time believing it. He's never had any kind of violence in his background, never had ANYTHING to do with kids, the only things on his record is things to do with drugs, I think it's all pot-related. Yeah, I know that's not 'just pot', according to the powers-that-be, but still. Well, after he'd been convicted, and sent to prison for the rest of his life (he's only a couple years older than me), it was rumored around that the little girl was taken & murdered by the parents' drug dealers, (which is NOT the guy sitting in prison!) because they owed a LOT of money. But, I've really never heard any more about it...and it's actually been about 10 years, I think? This whole thing upsets me because, well, I remember him from when I was about 15. He was actually a good friend of my then 18-year old boyfriend, and he was always at his apartment with us all...drinking and getting high. For heaven's sake, I used to sit on the couch and pass a joint from him to me, to the person on my other side! I still to this day, do not believe he did it! And everybody here KNOWS that I don't give criminals the benefit of the doubt!
LibbY!

kim n me...forever ago...

Damn, I don't believe this shit!! I didn't go to bed last night til 3 am and I got up at 9 am this morning, and I've aleady got 3 loads of laundry done, took a shower, etc, made the bed, of course (remember, that's my obsession! I can't do ANYTHING if that's not done!), scooped poop outta Truman's box, got my summer clothes ready to go upstairs, shit! I think my work here is done for the week!!
Anyway, I was remembering some more of the shit that Kim & I did. I'm sure that most of everything I put on here that we did was when we were 15, before we could drive...
We met up with one of the guys who was at the 'tent party' a few weeks later, and decided to go out & ride around town with him. Oh, and of couse, he was over 18, so he could buy beer! Of course also, that was only 'low beer', only, I forget how much less the alcohol content in it was. Back in those days, in Ohio, at least, you could buy 'low beer' at 18, real beer at, I think, 19...I could be wrong...so, he bought beer, we went riding around town, met up with his & our friends, and, since Kim & I had already told Mom we'd be staying with Kris, it got to be, like, 2 or 3 am. I asked Randy to run us over to Kris's house. Obviously, it was late enough that the whole family was asleep, so we were shit outta luck! Randy said it'd be okay, he had an idea. He drove us down to a place, well, it was in our town, but we hadn't been down that way much. He parked the car in a parking lot, and we all got out and locked it. Then we walked down to where there were a lot of big old houses, until he pointed at one, and said 'That's it.' Turns out, his sister had been renting an apartment in that house, and she had moved out the day before. (I bet ya know what's comin', right?). We climbed the stairs outside up to the apartment (Randy too!), and somehow he got the damn kitchen window open, and we climbed in! Now, how ILLEGAL could that be? But, remember, we WERE only 15, and all...but, we just laid down on the living room floor and fell asleep. As soon as it started to get light outside, we woke up & woke Randy up "We hafta get out of here!!". And we got up, and Randy dropped us off a few blocks from my house, so we had to walk & talk, & get our stories straight on why we were coming home so early. We were such lying little shits!!
BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

something different...

Okay. I've pretty much kept my political rants quiet, but it's really burnin' my ass, what I'm seeing & hearing around the news, tv, blogs, everywhere, so I'm finally gonna let loose, and say what I think...
First of all, a neat website... http://www.abovetopsecret.com/

Well...I'm not a "warmonger", I don't like us being in a war any more than other people do. But, let me say, it honestly was NOT America's choice to do this, was it? I've heard it said that the reason for all the increasing terrorism in the world is because we're in Iraq. Hmmmm. So THAT'S why the world trade center was attacked on 9/11/01, huh. I always wondered. Even though the war didn't start til 2003, I guess the terrorists must've read our minds, huh. And I do NOT think there's any question that Saddam was all for the 'jihadists' having training camps in his country. Yes, a lot of it was in Afghanistan, and we did take care of that area first. And, yes, democracy IS hard for ANY country to build. But think of this...the last time Afghanistan had a free vote was, like, oh, 5000 years ago. So...does anyone think that part of the war should not have been taken care of? Yep, cuz that's where we thought Osama was...we didn't find him...but, maybe that opened some eyes to how BAD things were in that part of the world. And, this is a bunch of BULLSHIT when people say "Bush lied! There were no 'WMD' there!" Holy shit!! If this war was wrong, then why did 100 congresspeople vote for it?? They ALL saw the very same information that the president did! The wimpy UN voted for this to be done too. Even though Saddam had broken 12 previous resolutions. Took them long enough, didn't it? Here's something I wrote a long time ago, before there were blogs...
What the hell is up with our so-called allies?? France has absolutely refused to back up the resolution (1441)…as have Russia, Germany, China, etc! Okay…well, France, if we would’ve done the same to you some decades ago, you wouldn’t be sitting around at your fancy cafes, drinking champagne, & eating your truffles. You’d be drinking beer, and eating wienerschnitzel…and, oh yeah, don’t forget…you’d be speaking GERMAN too!! You were kind enough to give us the Statue of Liberty long ago, which had an inscription on it saying “Give us your tired, your hungry, etc…” Well…even though we’ve been attacked since then, we’ve tightened our borders up, but we still live by that! We have a smart president who sees a threat across the world, and wants to take care of it right now, for not only our safety, but also the safety of the world! Well, France, let me ask your so-called leader Jacques Chirac…if you had a chance to take Hitler out so many years ago…wouldn’t you have? Or, well, maybe not. But you would have come to the USA for help, wouldn’t you?

Okay...that was written in about 2003, but it's still true.
And as for the 'Islamic extremists', being terrorists, and America being the 'bad guys' to all Muslims? Well...which country opened its pockets wide to the Muslim county of Indonesia after the terrible tsunami after Christmas last year? And who was right there helping the Muslim country of Pakistan after that HUGE earthquake, with money, people, supplies? Uh-huh. America the Beautiful. And that was after an awful summer of hurricanes that took out thousands of people's homes, lives, pets, everything! In our own country. And, so, who did the 'jihadists' kill the other day (which was, if you write the date in the European way, 9/11/05!)? They did at least 3 suicide bombs, to kill Muslims in Amman, Jordan. Hmmmm....who did the killing of the Muslims? Not the Americans, unless they happen to be part of 'Al Qaeda in Iraq'. Sure, it was American hotels. But, at least one of the homicide bombers made it a fuckin' point to go into a hall where a Muslim wedding is going on, and sit in the middle of the family, so he could kill the largest number of Muslims that he could! The bride's father and the groom's father were killed. Can you even imagine what it would be like to not go on your honeymoon because your dad & your future step-dad were killed at your wedding and you had to go to their funerals instead?? That's not a real common occurance here, is it? Maybe that's because of tiny little things like The Patriot Act, and the other laws our country has enacted, did anyone think of THAT SHIT?? It's not the same world it was back in the 1950's, 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's...AND it's not the President's fault! The economy goes up & down, if you look back you'll see it. And I would really be interested if ANYONE could tell me how we could have actually avoided war on terrorists. Do you actually think they would have sat down at a table and just talked with us? How stupid would that have been to expect? Someone who already blew up the World Trade Center....twice! And then blew up embassies in Kenya & Tanzania? And then, well, that didn't scare 'em off, let's try flying their airplanes into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the Capital building, or the White House! Yeah, that's it! And in the process, they succeeded in killing about 3,000 people...and we're supposed to...GIVE THEM A CHANCE, AND TALK?? God help America...
BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

illegal...maybe?

First of all, I have some 'randomness' I need to get off my brain.
If you owned a company that manufactured and sold an absolutely legal product, do you think that the public is right to expect & demand that you run advertisements telling you how to quit using it? I don't care if you like or hate tobacco companies, that is over the top!! And, as a side question...what in the hell would the United States do for money if everybody all of a sudden stopped buying cigarettes? Just think about how much money is paid to the governments in taxes! I guess I'm not sure if all the money goes to states or federal, but, whichever. All the states are broke now, all that would do is make them lose more money. Do people really want that??
All right, I feel a little better. (not much...but...a little).
One of the very first times that Kim and I decided to test the freedoms that we figured we could get away with, was when we were 15, and really tired of all the "No, no, no, you're too young" bullshit! *Side note to all parents...* always say "aren't you a little OLD to act like this?"
We used the excuse that we began to use forever after it worked that first time..."We're gonna stay overnight with Kris" (or Denise. or Lisa. or Sue. or oh, anybody, as long as they'd 'run interference' for us if my mom called...which she never did). Kris & Denise & Kim & I were invited by some guys at school to go to a big 'tent party' one Friday night, with tons of beer & cigarettes, and everything you never, ever, ever want your 15 yr olds to think about...and, yeah...older guys, too! Even some seniors in high school! Woohoo! (sorry...got carried away). So Kim was staying overnight in town with me (she and her family moved right outside town early in the 9th grade), and we asked my mom or dad if one of them would take us over to Kris's to stay overnight. They just said that's ok, you can stay there, but you can walk. (it WAS only about 9 or 10 blocks...nothin'). When we got to Kris's, she told us that Denise got in trouble and couldn't stay with her, and when Kris had gotten off the phone with her, she was so pissed that she threw her shoe at one of her little sisters & hit her, so she was grounded, and couldn't go either! Kim and I just looked at each other, said "well, that sucks. Bye" And we took off walking towards the west end (past the famous game room!). By then it was dark, and, of course there were guys driving by & honking (great ego boost for 2 stupid-ass 15 yr olds). One car pulled up beside us, and the guys said they were headed to that party too, they were bringing the keg of beer, it was in the trunk (it was, we could see it). We hopped in with 'em, and took off down the street, behind the park (I think). It was louder and more people were there than we'd ever seen at a party! There were tents set up all over the place...actually, I kinda think it was like a big field or something. Then one of the guys we got the ride there with put big plastic cups of beer in our hands, and, well, that was the end of our 'not drinking' life!! We ended up staying there all night in a big tent with the guys that brought us (no, get your minds out of the gutter! We were virgins!), and I don't remember a lot of the next day, except that Kim & I walked home, probly 4 or 5 miles, into town, and then across town. And I have a feeling that we both walked up to bushes every so often and puked, although I don't remember for sure..
BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

stormy Tuesday....

Had to do this! Okay....the picture on the top is next door to my old house, it is always thought of with good memories. When my mom & dad moved in next door with me, Helen & Lorene thought I was like a Christmas present for them, too, after all, I was only 2 when we moved there. So, here's 2 widowed friends living in the downstairs part of the house, and their third friend lived in the upstairs half...and, well I had never heard of the term 'elegant' at that age, but the whole house was, inside & out! I was close to all, but Helen used to take me Christmas shopping for my mom & dad & 2 brothers every year starting when I was about 5 or 6....and we'd always finish up with going to McDonald's by the mall, and I had a whole Big Mac! (was a big deal then...look at what you thought was heaven at 5 or 6!) Oh, and remember...Big Macs came in a big styrofoam box, and everything! Then we'd go home, and I'd stay at Helen's and wrap all the presents...and I used to hide them in Helen's house, so nobody'd find them! ...unfortunately, sometimes I hid them TOO well...
The other two pictures I took last week at the cemetary when Kim & I went out last week. I'm really glad I took the picture of the burning bush (is that what it is?), cuz Kevin told me yesterday that they have them all around the Verizon building he works at, and by yesterday...there were no leaves left on them! And the other picture is obviously in the cemetary. It's of that gravestone with the great big ball on top (the Merchants' memorial), surrounded by a circle of bowling ball sized ones. I wanted that picture because the ball is a big mystery to everyone (I even bought a little paperback book from eBay once [yes, for a penny + shipping], and it was a collection of short scary stories, and it had a whole story about it! even told what town, what graveyard, on the east end of it. Anyway, the ball turns slowly. You can even see the dark part of the ball that used to be on the bottom. We always used to go out to the cemetary at night when I was in high school, and look at it, try to see it moving. We always gave up on that, it was much more fun to just hide behind big gravestones, and jump out & scare each other! Anyway, I just thought it was cool...another Kim & Libby story tomorrow (I know, you're all waiting with bated breath...).
BoUnCeS!! LibbY!