Easter weekend...Saturday...

Nothing really needs to be said here, now does it?

Cool! The movie "Cowboy Way" is on right now! I love it!! One of Kev's favorite lines is in it.."just wipe its nasty ol' ass, and put it on m'plate!" when somebody asks how do you like your steak? Puke. I want mine almost burnt!
Anyway...this morning started out with my (almost) favorite game. I woke up to really loud music, and the bedroom door was closed. I waited for the first 3 songs, then got up, and on my way to the shower, said, " Aldo Nova, Rush, and Motley Crue...". We always do this shit, and I love it! He's the only person I know that knows more artists of songs from the 80's than me!! So he always plays the songs, and I (try to) guess the artists. I'm disappointed in my talents for this morning, though. I struck out on Kansas "Carry on my Wayward Son". Shit!
Truman was crawling up on the highest part of our desk today. All I heard was "Truman get down, dammit!" I asked why he was yelling at my swe' pea...and Kev said he was trying to get to the cactus we put up there. I said, "Let him get it. He'll only do it once...". Haha!! Obviously, Kev ignored that brilliant idea, I heard him dump Tru down on the floor...which I've asked him time and time again not to do..."He'll hurt his dear wittle front paws!!" So Tiff and Zach came in a few minutes later, on their way down to a Blue Jackets hockey game. And, immediately, Tru was back up sniffing at the cactus! I heard Tiff say the same thing I did, word for word..."Let him get it, Dad...he'd only do it once...". Nope...dump, again...
Kev just came home from the drugstore. He got the Easter grass, etc.
there (you just don't do WalMart the day before a holiday...). Anyway, he picked me up a pack of Sudafed there, and it's getting even worse than I thought...not only did he have to get it from the pharmacist, they also took down his DRIVER'S LICENSE and put it in the computer! For one fucking box of Sudafed! What is the Midwest coming to?????????
I absolutely know why kids' life are like this now!! Because of the music they listen to nowadays!! Okay, I'm my mom & dad...but, seriously! No matter WHAT we listened to in the 1980's, it wasn't 'gangsta rap', all about fucking every girl, calling women 'ho's' etc! Lemme tellya, anyone that would've had the guts to call us "ho's" in the 80's would've gotten their asses kicked by us!! All those songs were about was having fun, going crazy, drinking, dancing...just FUN!! Even just listening to the music without the words, you can tell, it's just FUN MUSIC!! Not all depressing. And I still say Nirvana was the first sign of this shit! No matter what anyone says. I still think that's when all the whiney-ass music started. Okay, I shouldn't rant about them anymore...I'm just gonna quit now, and listen to the Arena Rock channel on digital cable (channel 412, but it might be different everywhere)...White Lion is on now, and I always was in love with them...not much better than a guy who can play the guitar like that...except a guy who can sing like the lead with Creed! (oops...Scott Stapp!)
BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

whatta great day outside!!

I don't really know what I want to write about today, so I think it's gonna just be random!
Kevin was telling me last night that this year, he's definitely going to make sure he mows the backyard for sure, every week this summer! No matter what! Me, being the prime smartass that I am, I had to ask "Why start this year?" (ouch) He just looked over at me & said, "Well...last October when I did it, I found a Japanese family in the grass that didn't know the war was over...". Dammit! He ALWAYS gets the better line in last!!
He's going to the Blue Jackets hockey game tonight with his brother. That's really cool...and I'm gonna stay home & order a Mexican pizza, read, & watch CSI, & Without A Trace! & oh yeah, Survivor. That sounds like more fun to me right now!!
I'm sad cuz Bucky got kicked off last night. I was kinda (no, I'll be honest here...really hoping it would be the guy with gray hair). Yeah, I guess I'm 'age prejudiced'...even though he's probably WAY younger than me!! Shit! I'm starting to feel so old that if I look, my Social Security number probly starts with three zeros!
Wow, I just realized I still have to send something to Sharon in Australia! She bought a cane at the Smithsonian when she was in, well, wherever the Smithsonian is. I was gonna send it UPS. Uh-uh! We looked on the internet, and it'd cost $141.00 to send it! Holy CRAP!! I emailed her & told her that, and she wrote back that she planned on us sending it through the post office, she doesn't care if it takes a month or so to get there! Oh. Okay. That's better. We looked that up and it's only gonna be like $25.00. Pheeww. That's a lot better!
Oh!! The 13 year old that Tiffany was told was pregnant...well, we saw her brother working at Red Lobster when we went out for lunch the weekend before Sharon left, and (I still have a hard time believing this, even though I SAW it) Tiffany went over to him when he was on break, and she frikken' asked him, "I heard your sister's pregnant. Is that really true?" Oh, God. Yeah, she's her momma's daughter...the difference is...I might wonder like crazy, but I would NEVER have the balls to ASK!! Especially since they live close by! He said no, she better not be, I'd have to do some major ass-kicking!! (he is 18).
Tiffany is still real happy at Fantastic Sam's, cutting hair, and she must be awfully good at it, too. (well, I know she does well with mine...) A lady called her phone number last week (it's different than ours, but on our regular phone). Usually I just ignore it when her number rings, cuz it's 2 short rings, and she hasn't used that number since she got a cell phone, so nobody calls it except telemarketers. Anyway, when it rang, I looked at caller id, & it was a name & a local number, so I answered, and she said "Is this Tiffany XX's number??" I wondered "my God, what has she done now?" said a silent prayer, and said yes. The woman said "Thank God! I found her!" Turns out this lady was a regular customer of Tiff's when she was at Fiesta, and, of course, they won't ever tell a customer where a stylist went (understandable), she knew Tiff's first & last name, and had been going through the phone book for her!! And that's super funny to me, cuz when I got that number for her, I just had it put in as T XX, no address, and her number!! Wow! That's almost as good as the guy that came to our door to find out where she works now!
BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

Wednesday, Apr 12

Wow, this is impressive. And tell me...why is the guy in the truck smiling??
Now this is just disturbing.

I didn't even have time yesterday to write on here, cuz I was working on a birthday card for Kat all day! It's not like it was so hard to find a card for her on our greeting card program thingy...the problem was that I decided to be creative, and delete the nicey-nice verse on the inside, and replace it with my own creative verses. It was lots of fun, and I WISH I could do THAT for a living. HowEVER...it took like 5 hours! So we all went to Kat's birthday party at her house last night, and watched American Idol. (OH! Chris is SO freakin' hot!! Tiffany thinks so too, which is just WRONG! A mom & her daughter shouldn't think the same guy is hot & sexy!).
Anyway, this feels like the first day in a long time that I've had a chance to just sit & do nothin', like the blissful sloth I secretly am! It's a beautiful day (in the neighborhood) here, the sun is out, it's warm (70's), and windy, & oh, did I mention, I'm in central Ohio, and it's SUNNY!!
I forgot to mention what happened the day after Sharon went back to Australia! I was sitting on the couch, talking on the phone with Kim, and all of a sudden someone was banging on the front door. I told Kim, "Hey, somene's at the door. You hold on, I'll go get it, but if I scream, it's a killer, so come and save me, okay?" We laughed, I dropped the cordless phone down in the chair, but must've hit a button on it accidentally. I opened the door, and it was my youngest older brother (my favorite). He came in and I got the big ol' bear hug like always, and he called me 'baby girl', like he always does (cuz he was 11 when I was born!). And we just came in here to the dining room and sat around and talked about what Sharon & I had been doing....all of a sudden we hear footsteps running up on the front porch, and the front door opened, and Kim came in! When she saw me & Doug sittin' here, she 'bout shit, cuz she hasn't seen him since, like, 4 years ago. But, shit, I've not seen him since around Christmas! He's got a construction company here in town, and he's always traveling for it. And his wife and whichever of his 4 kids want to, go too, cuz all but one is graduated from high school and are in college. We look a lot alike, so much that his oldest daughter was in a bar last year, and someone came up to her & said "you have to be related to Libby somehow, right?" And then he told me when he was here the other day, that now his youngest daughter looks exactly like me now! He said looking at me is just like looking at her! And she's only 15!! Is that good or bad? So at least I know that Kim'll come over and save me from a serial killer. Yup...still my best friend!
BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

Monday, April 10th

This is our 'pretty boy' Truman. Kevin took this picture the day after I brought him home from the animal shelter (Apr 2001)...and just look at him! He ALREADY knows he owns the place (& us!)!!
And the sign at the bottom is only funny because...well...do you really NEED a sign to tell you all that? If we do, well, the human race is in trouble, aren't we?
Well, life is pretty much back to normal around here. Kevin & Tiffany & I are misbehaving again...and all is right
with the world. Kevin's mom has been in a musical/play all weekend at her church, & everybody in the family (ours & his!) went to it on Friday night. But we couldn't, cuz Kev worked till 7 pm, and it started at 7! So Tiff & Zach went Friday, and everyone else did too....we were the only ones that hadn't gone yet. And, no, we weren't 'shunning' going to church!! So we went last night, and it was good...long, but good...anyway, Kevin & I 'misbehaved', like always. There was an intermission in the middle, and Kev stretched out his legs and asked if he could take a nap, cuz the minister told everybody to stretch & get comfortable. I told him I don't think so...but you could probably light a cigarette...? Then, at the end, there was a plastic(?) Jesus at the top of the thing over the stage. Kev said something to his dad, who was sitting on his other side, but I didn't catch it. So I was just nice & clapped, & talked to people (Jesus even waved to me as he walked by!). When it was all over (we didn't stay for the fellowship & refreshments...I asked Kev's dad if he thought I could get pie to go), in the car with Kevin on the way home. I asked Kev "What were you saying to your dad at the end?". He told me that all he could think of was how would the Burger King mask look on Jesus up there? He is SO wacky!! A polite way of putting it...
So...I'm kinda nervous about church on Easter Sunday...ya know what it's like when you just have to laugh, even though nothing funny was even said? That's how I am 100 % of the time! Most of the time, it's not a problem, but...
A couple years ago, we were all at church together on Easter Sunday, & I was sitting next to Tiffany, who was sitting next to 'Aunt Kathy' (she sounds dignified, doesn't she?). The minister was asking "What do you think of when you think of Easter?". I was thinking all the stuff you're s'pozed to think...hope, peace, love, forgiveness...when I hear Kathy whisper to Tiffany "Eggs", and Tiff whispered back "Candy". Whattaya think happened? Oh, I was so embarrassed. Well, not really, but I had to act like it!!
See how I am? Kevin & Tiff and his family encourage me!! Yeah, that's it! It's all their fault!
BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

the other Sharon (my friend & nurse)

God bless you, Sharon, for all that you've done for everybody you've touched in your life...

I'm just pretty sad today...my nurse was told about her cancer Mar 21. The doctors said she had 3 to 6 months to live..She died Monday at home with her sister. It's really bad for her sister, because their mom died about a week ago too...that leaves Bonnie on her own, in the house all three shared after their husbands passed away long ago. At the funeral home last night, I started crying when I saw Sharon in her casket. She actually looked very good & peaceful, like she was sleeping...but that isn't the Sharon I knew. She was never still. I got to hug Bonnie & hold her for a few minutes, we made plans for Tiff & me to go out to their house as much as we can, we've been friends since Sharon & I were.

Rest in peace, Sharon...I'll always remember your love.

Libby

Wednesday night..

I challenge you to not laugh your friggin' ass off at this!!

Man, I really wish Sharon didn't have to leave! We are having all kinds of fun...like with Kim, but I guess we've grown out of the "trouble factor". I HATE being a 'grown-up'!!

Okay, lemme try to run down the list of what we've done so far. Saturday, Tiffany & Zach & Jenga (the papillon!) took us to Polaris Mall down by Columbus. Of course, Tiffany acts like Jessica Simpson (her idol!...sad, isn't it?), and carries Jenga around in her leopardskin purse that I got her on eBay a while ago (yes, I'm an enabler!). And we went in and walked around (okay...they walked...I rode). Do you believe that they actually let dogs in there?? Not just seeing-eye dogs, but it seemed like all dogs! There was a big one that looked like a Labrador Retriever, & a teeny little 'teacup' poodle! Wonder how long that's gonna keep up? Then we went to the food court and got stuff to eat...Tiff got an ice cream cone for dessert and shared it with Jenga, and almost made Sharon & Zach puke...cuz Jenga would take a lick, then Tiff would take a lick! Zach watched that a few minutes, then said 'Nice. She was makin' out with her butthole a minute ago.' She just shrugged, and said 'I don't CARE! She's my baby!' Aaaaahhhh, youth, when you're dumb like that, and you DON'T care!

Okay, it's Wednesday night, and we had to take Sharon to Port Columbus today...sucked!! We ALL miss her! She is an amazingly good cook, and probably the biggest thing that makes her a good cook is that she really loves to cook! Huh...those people seem to be few & far between. In my opinion, anyway...

Sharon & I had Kev drop us off at WalMart Sunday, so we could just roam around & buy all kinds of stuff. The only thing different about a store in Canberra from here, is that she said a lot of our prices are lower. But she said they do have stores like that there, though. But our town only has about 45,000 people, and I guess Canberra has a population of about 350,000 , so, yeah they're not as hick town as us. Oh, and, that is the country's capital. That might maybe make a difference. Sharon does work in their gov't, and she told me the other day that President Bush came there once to visit their Prime Minister, John Howard, and she was just in her office working, and she looked out the window as she walked to her desk, and was just looking at the normal (for her!) trees with kangaroos hopping around them and all of a sudden, a big black helicopter flew up there and landed with President Bush!

So, her plane left today at 3:45 pm, and goes to Chicago, then back to Australia. So she's looking at sitting on an airplane until Friday! I was trying to get her to at least pack some boxes of raisins & stuff to eat on the way, but she said she can't, because they won't even let fruit from someone else's country into Australia, their customs is enforced so tight! And we spent all last evening laughing at the questionnaire she had to answer at the airport. The question we liked was "Have you ever engaged in moral turpitude?" She read that to me, then looked up at me, and said, "Hmmmm...no...but it sounds interesting..." Okay, see why we get along?? ;-D

Okay, I hafta go, been a big week, gonna try to go to bed at a decent hour.

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

Friday night...

Now THIS is his dream...

We are having a BLAST!! Talking nonstop, & everything! And I was right, she really does have a lot of the same sense of humor I do.

Tiffany & I picked Sharon up at the airport yesterday at 9:31 am (yes, we were on time, & so was her plane!), we drove Tiff's new car (well, new to her, anyway...it's a 2002, got 66,000 miles on it...good car!! + good color...navy blue!)

So Tiff and I were standing where the passengers get off her plane (she came from Baltimore), and looking for her. Tiff says 'Are you SURE the picture you showed me was her?' I said 'Yes, I'm sure!', then turned around and saw her standing right behind me, with a luggage cart full!! OMG!! That was SO neat! She had already gone downstairs and picked up her luggage first, while we were standing there wishing we'd made a sign with her name on it. Like the little kid & his parents next to us holding a sign that said "Nana & Pappy" That was cute, the sign was almost twice as big as the kid!! Sharon has lots of luggage, but, considering that she's been out of her country since Mar 21...not even half as much as Tiff or I would've had!! We all got along so great driving home, too, Tiff gets along with her great too! We pointed out everything all the way home. Sharon mentioned the houses that are, like in, subdivision-type groups along rt 23 from Columbus north, getting close to Delaware. She remarked the same thing I always think..."Everybody's houses look exactly the same!" We laughed and said wait til you get to our house...they're ALL different...ours is a 2-story, next door is a 1-story, & they're ALL different colors.

We get home, and we're coming in the house, cuz Zach had promised to come over & bring in the suitcases. The weather Thursday here was just perfect, and as we're going to the house, a squirrel bounced across the yard in front of us, and Sharon said that was only the second squirrel she'd ever seen. The first was in Baltimore. Cuz they don't have squirrels in Australia. Well, they have flying squirrels, but you hardly see them, they're nocturnal.

It's been so neat to be sitting here bullshitting with her, instead of typing it! Oh, but she brought me a copy of the Dragon voice-recognition software! Actually, she brought us all kindsa stuff...I HAVE A REAL AUSTRALIAN BOOMERANG NOW!! I asked if she could throw it and make it come back, and she said she wasn't the expert on it, but they actually have some great big ones, like 3 or 4 feet, and hunters use them to kill kangaroos!!~ Also, I'd like to announce...I ATE VEGEMITE!! It really wasn't that bad, but Sharon told me the reason people don't like it is they try to put it on a piece of bread (or toast, or cracker) thick. You only use a thin scraping of it, like butter or margarine, but people here put it on like I do peanut butter, thick.

Okay, bedtime...big day tomorrow at a bunch of malls...

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

Truman & Tiffany...my two kids!!

Allow me to introduce you to Truman! This is what he does all day, so this is why Kevin says he wants to come back as a cat in his next life. humph! I told him he'll be lucky if he's not a stray!! Plus, if he was my cat, he'd hafta, ahem, give up his nuts!
All right, enough of Tru...Tiffany did something I'm SO proud of her for yesterday. She actually mixed up my shot (it comes in a syringe, filled with sterile water, and a separate thing of avonex powder!). So it needs mixed before injection. They actually offer pre-mixed shots, but I got those one month, tried them two weeks in a row, and couldn't walk after them!! So, I called the insurance co, and they told me if I couldn't use 'em, get rid of 'em (16 shots!! at $412.00 each!!), and they'd send me the regular ones at no extra charge!! After Tiffany mixed it...she actually shot it in my arm!! At least I don't cry or anything! Actually, I started laughing when she asked Kevin, "can I just make a mark on her arm where I hafta do it??", and then she said, "Ooops! I guess it really wouldn't be a good thing if I shut my eyes so I don't see the needle go in!" But she did it! Remarkably well!! I didn't feel it, or bleed at all! I shouldn't by now...I've been getting these once a week for 11 years!! Grrrrrr!! I really wish I knew the shot once a week is why I'm still walking!! But...whatever....
I just get that stupid laugh reaction with ANY needles!! Tiff decided she wanted her bellybutton pierced when she was 16, so I went up there with her. And she talked me into doing it first!! So I went in the 'piercing room' with her, and laid down on my back on the table when the guy told me to...and started dying laughing when he pulled out this 4 inch needle!! He said 'quit laughing, or it'll be crooked!' I looked at him and stopped, cuz his name was Fester, he was dressed like a monk, with a big black floor-length gown on, and he had so many piercings all over his face, it was unreal! Actually, maybe I should've had the guy that did HIS!! Ya know, like you always have the girl who does the hair of the best-looking hairstyle in the salon do yours, don't have the one that looks best...SHE doesn't cut her own hair!
Okay, we hafta pick Sharon up at Port Columbus tomorrow at 9:30 am, so we'll be leaving this town about 7 am (traffic down there!!). And Tiff's supposed to trade in her black Mustang 5-speed convertible in today for a leased Honda Civic, 2006! That's really cool!! Her uncle already talked to the guy she'll be dealing with (her uncle's kinda his boss), and her pmt will be under 250.00 a month, no $ down, and 3,000.00 for her car! Woohoo!! Okay...be back whenever!!
BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

Tuesday already...

Talk about kids being mean to each other!! Personally, looking back, I admire the kid that did this!! We had a "Donald" that had a MAJOR farting problem in 2nd & 3rd grades. I remember that we all used to fight about who had to sit by him cuz he stunk so bad!! Amazing that I remember that so good, isn't it? But...keep in mind, we live in a house we bought a half block down from where my elementary school used to be! And it's about 8 blocks east of my old house I grew up in, and about 8 blocks west of Kev's mom&dad's house, that he grew up in!!
And, this freaked me out when it happened....lemme have some opinions, okay?
When it was 1976, we (all of us in the elementary school down the street) got to get together to paint the stuff on the playground of the school red, white, & blue. I guess I was in 5th grade then. And all the stuff on the playground was metal, ya know? And all the swings with their slides, & monkeybars & tether balls were on the part of the playground that was concrete!! Holy crap! Did our parents HATE us, and want us to die?? haha!
So after we got all the metal & concrete stuff on the playground painted, we were all so proud of it! And my cool 5th grade teacher (I even remember HER name!) called the local newspaper and they came out and took a picture of all of us 'big kids', who were in charge of the painting, all posed on the playground. This picture was printed in the newspaper in 1976, when I was 11. Many years later, after I had had Tiffany and was in my first horrible marriage, in about 1983 or -84, I was going in the trailer (yeah, we were trailer park trash then! I admit it...but I was only 19 or 20!!) we lived in, and there was something in the door. I pulled it out & looked at it...it was the picture that had been in the paper in 1976, with me and everybody on that playground!! I called my mom and asked her if she did it, and she said no. I knew she didn't, she had never, ever been out there to see me or Tiff in the whole year & a half we'd been there, why would she go there when I wasn't there? yeah, they lived in the same town too... Yup...bitter...anyway, I have NO CLUE who could've or would've done that! Odd, huh?
I'm just sittin' here, hoping my stupid headache will go away! It's totally different than any I've ever had before! It's behind my right ear, feels like somebody kicked me there!! Ow!!
BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

Monday...

All right, which of you has done this?? You're corrupting future generations!!

They're bitching now about cyber-bullying. Personally, I thought 3-way calling was one of the worst things EVER for kids! Do ya have any clue how that was used by girls?? One would get a girl that she got along with & everybody hated cuz she was a snob on the phone, and call another close friend that she got along with too, but was a geek, and then the one that initiated the 3-way call would lead the geeky girl into talking shit about the snob. Leads to trouble times 3!! Luckily, we never got anything like that, but I have heard of it! Girls are really mental torturers!! Okay, if ya don't believe that, here's another story of how young the shit starts!!
One of the twins (remember, one is a girl, the other's a boy)...when they were about 3, they were getting ready to go to Wal-Mart with their grandma, and the boy was acting up. The girl twin told him they were gonna leave him at the store! OMG, he was SO scared!! That was just not nice! (even though I laughed about it later). However, that's only cuz I'm a female, and I understand this shit!!
On a serious note...a girl that Tiff babysat for once in a while, who is 13...well, Tiff was told by a customer at her job, that the girl's pregnant! Holy shit! I canNOT believe this shit!! I am so blessed that Tiff's still smarter than that!!
Another serious note...and I can hardly believe this one...a ten-year old boy in this town killed himself a few weeks ago! How could shit get THAT bad for him without anyone noticing?? I think he even left a note about how bad stuff was!
Okay...I have to get going, to do some stuff before Thursday.
BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

friday!!

Hmmm...

Okay...I thought of a really funny thing that anyone can do if you're having a party, and, well, you know, people are NOSEY, after all, and don't most people, while they're in the bathroom, look in your medicine cabinet? Well...a few days before the party, take your medicine cabinet off the wall, and empty it of your stuff. Then, while you have it laying flat on the floor, fill it up with marbles and close the door. Then put it back on the wall, and it'll be all ready for the festivities and people at your house!! Voila! You will be remembered for years for this one!! I can almost guarantee it! But, prankster, be very careful. Do not open it before the party!! Or AT the party. You know, some things are only for the guests..like the fancy soaps, fancy towels, etc.

All right...enough of that...

My Australian friend, Sharon, called me on the phone this afternoon. I actually was quite rude at first, because to me, after I said "hello" (and it's VERY odd that I even answered the phone, cuz clr id said out of area, and I usually just reach over and knock the phone off the hook for a sec, and then hang back up), I have a lady saying "Can I please talk to Libby ----?" with a pretty heavy accent. I said "Who is this" (rudely!), she said "Sharon", I asked what company she was calling for!! Then, I thought for a sec when she said "What?", and, OMG, I couldn't believe it! I'm STILL apologizing!! Jeez-O!! How much more embarrassed could a person be?? Anyway...she still is speaking to me...'course...I'm the person that she's staying here with for a week...(if it was me, in a far away country, I'd be getting a flight home if someone talked to me like that!). So, Tiff & I are picking her up at the Columbus airport next Thurs, and I'm excited! And, oh yeah, she actually did get an international driver's license! But I asked her if she had practiced, and she hasn't yet...eeeeek!! Cuz, of course, they drive on the opposite side of the road there!! I don't know if I could! She was in a cab, riding from Baltimore to Wash DC. I guess it's about an hour and a half trip! I'm actually so impresssed! Mostly cuz I've never been to anywhere to the east in the US, only to the west (not much), to the south, and the north (the best! I love Michigan!!). The only times I remember going east are the 2 times Mom & Dad took me to London on vacation. And that's when I was 5 & 12! Long time ago!! So, we talked for a while, about what we're gonna do when she gets here (talking, movie watching, eating, etc!). Then I asked her if she actually saw kangaroos every day, and she said yes, because her town is partly in the 'bush' (Canberra, the capital of Australia). She works at a government building in the city, and there are always kangaroos in the city! She even told me that sometimes when you look out the window at work, you'll see a kangaroo curiously looking in at you, and she said it's almost like an inside-out zoo!!

So, after Wed. next week, I might not be on here at all till the following Wed...and, hell no! I'm not gonna do the ol' medicine cabinet trick, either!!

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

seeing stuff...

I guess there's nothing else that needs said here, is there...

Today's been, like, really weird. I'm not sure exactly what's up. Actually, ummmm, I don't know...I'm listening to the Arena Rock channel again, they have the best music!! Where else can you hear L A Guns, Damn Yankees, and Whitesnake all within a half hour?? And Autograph? Has anyone else heard of them?? Ummmm...what's that say about my age that I remember dancing to this song with a beer in my hand?? and what's it say about mine & Kevin's taste that every song played on the Arena Rock channel is on our computer?? We have over 7,000 songs on a separate hard drive that Kevin keeps for all our music. Ours & Tiff's...big variety of music here, may I say? :-D
So, I'm sitting here listening, and White Lion's song, "When The Children Cry" played, and I stopped typing & listened to it again, and it actually seems like ya can see that being true in the future. God!! How depressing can I be, huh?? I'm just weirded out, I guess, cuz I'm kinda getting a 'reputation' for being able to tell people what sex their baby's gonna be..either by seeing them, or, one of my friends sent me a file with the sound of her baby's heartbeat after her doctor listened to it, was too early for an ultrasound! The only person I was wrong with was Kat, with the twins, and I think it was cuz there were 2 in there,!! Mostly it's been people Tiff knows. I saw a girl at her salon last week (she works there), and as Kevin & I were paying and leaving, she gave us our change, and I looked back at her as we went out the door "Oh, by the way...it's a girl.." And they talked about it later & were all saying I must've been high (yeah, I wish!), cuz everybody thought it'd be a boy...Tiff called today and said that girl told her to call me & tell me they had an ultrasound today...it's a girl...
Maybe I feel weird today cuz I went to sleep at 1 am, and woke up today at 1:20 pm!! That just can't be good for ya! I know Kim tried to call today, and I didn't hear the phone, she was here bangin' on the front door about 11 am (that I heard, but didn't get up, just rolled over & thought "if it's an axe murderer, he can come back later when I'm up", and promptly conked again...the only thing that woke me up was when I heard Kev's voice on the voice mail telling me that it was after 1, and he's worried. Okay...done..(no, I'm NOT going back to bed!! not til 1 anyway...)
BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

tag from momthatsnuts....or i like to call her 'nuttymom'

Okay. I thought this was fitting for today's post. A lot of the post is gonna be nuttymom's tag...I'll do that first, but, you'll be able to see my mood when you see the songs!

Questions from mom, 3/21/06

List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they're any good, but they must be songs you're really enjoying now. Post these instructions in your blog along with your seven songs. Then tag seven other people to see what they're listening to.

1. Sin City - AC/DC
2. Ride On - AC/DC
3. The Sad Cafe - The Eagles
4. You Learn - Alanis Morrisette
5. The Flame - Cheap Trick
6. The Sky Is Crying & I Drink Alone - George Thorogood & The Destroyers
7. Blue On Black - Kenny Wayne Shepherd

Need I go on?? Oh, and I'm tagging anyone that hasn't done this yet!!
I do have a question for all you thinking people out there, though...I was hearing all kinds of shit on the news this morning about people being fat, and the gov't wants to do something about it...cuz they said 'look how good everything else worked, like the anti-smoking stuff, etc.' Well...in your opinions, if cigarettes weren't so expensive, would all those people have quit? Just want opinions...
Also, the business here in Ohio that won't have anyone working for them that smokes, because they say that makes their insurance premiums higher if they do. I understand that the health care costs are lots higher for smokers...but...in the interest of being a little bit fair, I've read that "fat" is catching up with smoking, as far as health problems that it causes. Just a thought...
Uhhh....yeah, I'm done for now...
BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

ugly Tuesday..

Okay...I just decided to write today cuz I feel like shit, and, of course, I'll share...what kind of a friend would I be if I was selfish and didn't share??
Well...I haven't gotten an Avonex ms shot for over a month now, but I'm supposed to get one every week (they're intramuscular shots, not like diabetic shots). And I have 6 months worth of the shots out sittin' in the refrigerator. So what's my problem? My friend that comes to my house every week to give me one (she's also a home health care nurse), well, she's been in the hospital for a month. She thought something was wrong with her gall bladder, so her dr wanted to operate on it. Okay...then, what he does turrned into exploratory surgery. Sharon's sister called a couple days later, and it turns out it's not pea-sized, it's softball-sized, and inoperable, and it is cancer. Does anything bad EVER happen to BAD people?? Geesh!! I have such a really bad fuckin' attitude today!! No, sorry, she is WORTH tears, even though I know it doesn't help...
bullshit! I don't feel like writing now.
LibbY!

random things...that's what Mondays are all about....

Alright...does this look painful, or what? heeeheehee! Sorry....obviously, I'm female...
I did tell Kev last night, "I can't figure out how you guys walk around with all that hangin' down there!"

I had the news on at 7 am today when Kevin got up. They were talking about the fact that Donald Trump's wife just gave birth to a new son. One of them mentioned the fact that this is Donald's 5th baby, and he has never, ever changed a diaper! One of the guys said, hmmmm, the butler probably does it.I looked at Kevin, and he's laughing his ass off. "If I can ever afford a butler, I'll be DAMNED if I'd EVER change a diaper!!" Good thing there are no more babies coming!!! Hey!! That just brought the realization he has NEVER, EVER had to change a diaper!! Because I had all the 'dirty work' done with Tiffany....she was 6 when we started dating and got married!! He never had to change a poopy diaper! Or get her to eat while she was in a high chair. Or clean her front off when she spit up. Or potty train her...but that ended up being fairly easy, right after she turned 2...took about a week! But the other stuff?! Once when she was about 9 or ten, I stopped with her at the store I was working at, so I could get my order ready for the warehouse the next day. And we had to walk around the deli dept's big salad bar thingy. Tiff, of course, was practically salivating down the front of her shirt, looking at all the good stuff up there. On the way out, I felt bad when I got the 'puppy-eyed' look, so I loaded up a to-go container with cherry cheesecake for her, & told her she could have it for dessert. We got home, did the usual evening stuff, she brushed her teeth, and I walked her upstairs to bed...about an hour or two later, I hear "Mommy! I threw up!!" Kevin & I sat there pointing at each other for a second, until he said "I can't. The smell would make me puke too." So I gave him a big ol' "sigh", and went up myself with everything to clean her up with. I walk around the corner at the top of the stairs, and, lo & behold, there on the blue wall right beside Tiffany's bed, was all the cherry cheesecake, stuck to the wall, cherries & all!! Kinda like some kind of Andy Warhol painting or something!! Ahhh....so THAT'S what the baby books were talking about when they referred to "projectile vomiting"! Trouble was...her stomach at that age held much more than a baby's...
Then after I left that store when it closed, and left my other part-time jobs & went to Findlay to work in the store up there, it got to be close to Easter, and the store manager said that the owner had a big Easter bunny suit, and I was all jumping up & down, "Get it!! I wanna be a bunny!!". So we set up a chair & an area at the front of the store , got a camera, and my mom & dad had gone over & picked Tiff up from Kevin, and brought her up to the store on that Saturday before Easter. Mom & Dad knew I was the EB, nobody told Tiff! When they walked in & Tiff got in line, it was SO cute!! They even took our picture a few times, after I finally told her who I was!! Actually, after all day with kids on my lap, I'm just thankful nobody peed on me!!
BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

tagged by a peach!! (GOTTA be good luck!!)

This picture just BEGGED to be posted right after yesterday's....and it is kinda fitting, right?
Before I start doing the questions from Peach, I have to bitch & whine, piss & moan about something that is so trivial I can't even BELIEVE I'm mentioning it! But, here goes...@Q#%$&&^(O^@RW$ our fucking digital cable has been out since sometime between 4 & 8 last night!! Therefore, this is my first time online all DAY!! Because, of course, the cable modem for the computer won't connect us to the internet! Ya know, though, our neighbors are quite lucky we're so honest, because Kevin, (the total computer expert!), got on here last night, and somehow pulled up local neighbors wireless networks, and got on through one that didn't have any firewall. He got on, basically to prove he could, then got off, don't worry, didn't touch anything!! So, of course, we had NO tv last night, I did NOT get to watch American Idol!! I haven't even looked to see who got kicked off yet!! But I did read one Robin Cook book last night, and another book today about a haunted house in Canada. So I guess I did something worthwhile...
Oh, Kimmy.....is that Dan up there? You need to teach him how to RUN!!

Peach's questions!

If I was only allowed to keep one plant in my garden which would it be?
I'd keep rosebushes all over the place!!

If there was only one thing invented in the past 100 years that I was permitted to keep, what would it be?
It would HAVE to be my washer & dryer (yeah, that's 2, but they go together, don't they?

Name 3 animals you saw yesterday (excluding cats and dogs).

I only saw Truman, my gray cat, unless I can count people that had the behavior of a beast!

Which season do you like the most?

I love autumn!! Changing leaves, Halloween, Tiff's birthday, crunchy leaves on the sidewalk, and FOOTBALL!!!

Name the person who imparted the most wisdom into your life?’

Definitely my mom, when I was young...now, at this moment when I'm an adult, it's probably my dad, because of his attitude of hard work, & the fact that he had steady jobs from the age 13, when he started working at Ford, for Henry Ford II in Detroit!

I'm tagging...KimmyK, TLP, Mary!!

Thinking back to the times & places I've worked in my life, the question of 'who imparted the most wisdom'...wow. That's actually a very deep question (ya,ya, I know...for such a shallow mind!). NO!! Be serious for a minute, can't you?? But if everybody thinks about it...didn't you, like me, probably learn how to do something right by watching somebody do it the wrong way for a long time?? So, I guess if you learn to look at it like that, bad bosses are a blessing in disguise, right? HA!!

It's just been a weird couple days here...certain people aren't getting along with other people (no, Kev & I aren't arguing), and really, that's as far as I wanna go with it right now...

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

american idol tonite 8 - 10!!

That chihuahua has the same look on his face the guys all used to have when we got together to go drinking & dancing on Saturday nights...we'd all be out on the dance floor in miniskirts, high heels...and the guys used to just hang around at the sides of the floor...watching (dreaming!). Well...at least the dog has the guts to try!!

My last post was kind of a bummer...I just need to tack something on. I'm honestly surprised I was diagnosed so quickly, without even having to have a spinal tap. Oh...I guess that would be like a left-handed compliment, huh? The reason it only took 2 or 3 months, was #1..I had really GREAT doctors...especially my primary care dr that sent me for all those tests. When I went back to him after I found out it was ms, he just sat down in the chair in the room, and buried his head in his hands, & just shook his head for a few..&, #2...from everything I've heard & read about diagnoses, the average time takes approx 3 YEARS!! So here's the left-handed compliment...it was diagnosed so quick, because my mri was COVERED with 'brain scabs'! Well...that's what they are...let's call a spade a spade! My second neurologist told me from the way the mri looks, I've had this since I was a teenager!! Thank God I never had ANY symptoms til I was 29 & 11/12!! (happy 30th birthday, Libby!!). And, even though I trusted the first neuro, I did go to 3 other ones for more opinions, here in town, OSU hospital, and I finally found a dr I like .a lot at the Cleveland Clinic. And I get up there for my checkups, 2 or 3 times a yr. They originally tried to schedule them 4 a yr, but it's a 3 hr drive, & Kev has to take off work to take me...he gets FMLA for that, but I told Dr Stone, "Tellya what...if they find a cure, just call me and tell me. Otherwise, I think a couple times a year is enough, okay?"
I'm going to go to the place Tiff works tomorrow (Kev's dad'll probly take me), and she's gonna give me a haircut again, and it really needs thinned!! And then she's gonna color it back blonde. I've heard that as you get older, your hair tends to get darker...at least there's no gray (yet)! The big thing I miss this time of year is tanning beds! I used to go 3 or 4 times a week, but, heat makes you feel like SHIT with ms. And, hey, here's a stupid liittle fact,,,like, a hundred years ago, if ms was suspected by your dr, they would have you sit in a hot bath, & then see how your disabilities were affected...that's how they diagnosed it then! Oh...I mean, see how crippled you were when you got out (you know it's so funny to see the reaction you get when you say 'I'm crippled' :-D ). Okay...Everybody Loves Raymond is on...gotta go watch...
BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

more about old job, & the best prank i ever saw at work

Does anyone know this person?? If so, please call 1-800-DUMBASS immediately!! Seriously! Would you feel safe riding in a car with your kids next to him??

This is how I amuse myself all day...look for the stupidest pictures on the internet...I'm acquiring quite a collection...
Holy Crap!! I'm listening to Arena Rock on the Digital Cable channel, and I just heard the 'Damn Yankees'!! Now it's 'Quiet Riot', Bang Your Head!! I have a feeling there'll be beer in my future tonight...

Yeah, okay. I quit my last produce manager job in August of 1994. That was the one up in Findlay, that had the great boss, the one that I cried to when I told him I was going to take the office job in my town, and blubbered "Vic, I don't WANT to take this job, but I feel like I have no choice!" So, I only had time to give a week's notice, because they had me scheduled for training (which would be 6 weeks!). I started the new job here in town, which was better on the daily finances, since it only took 20 minutes to get to, as opposed to the hour it took to get to Findlay...but, at that time, gas was only about $1.30 (& we bitched about that!).
I went through the class, it was all computers & how to help customers with stuff when they called in with questions (remember, we were still GTE, that knew about good customer service! & realized it counted!!). Once, a couple weeks later, I was home after work doing the 'Buns Of Steel' workout tape, and one of the things you had to do was this thing where you were on your hands and knees and all you were doing was bending one knee at a time...all very well and good with my left leg, but when it came time for the right leg, I tried, and it bent up by jerks. I couldn't make it move smooth no matter how hard I tried! Kevin was in the other room, and I called him to come in & LOOK AT THIS BULLSHIT!! Seriously, it looked like I was doing it on purpose or something (heh... wish...)I We figured I should call the dr and at least go in, cuz I'd been having some dizziness (no comments here) and losing my balance sometimes a little. I thought maybe "ear infection", but...This was after I'd 'graduated' from the training class, & my class was the first class in years that had to be started at part-time. Boy, did I bitch (here, not at work), because not only did I take a huge pay cut and have to join a union (bleeaahhh...they can't do anything for me that I can't do for myself!....personal opinion, ya understand), now I was gonna get 20 hours at work a week, AND, with having a late birthday, which was how they split us up, as to when you'd work.....I got the 2pm to 7pm hours!! However, I had no idea at that time what a Godsend that was for me. My dr made a whole shitload of appts for me at every other dr you could imagine, from ear, nose,throat, all the heart tests, even a stress test, echocardiogram (or whatever). The only thing he didn't have checked was my prostrate!! And when he handed me the paper with all the drs & appt times, they were all in the morning, and there was no problem making them! The last on the list was a neurologist. I looked at that, and said to Kevin, "I'm scared. That's the one that'll find something, I bet." By the middle of October I'd gone to all the other drs, and everytime they said "Nope, nuthin', you're fine", all I could think of was the neuro in November. Went to him the week before Thanksgiving, he did an mri on Friday...went in to get the results Monday, and, well, here I am. But I did still go to work that day. I think a lot of the reason was so I'd solve other people's problems, not have to think about mine! Hmmmm...maybe that's why I'm still so fuckin' bitter about it...

Anyway, I kept working there until Sept, '98...I may touch on some of the people later....however, I saw the VERY BEST practical joke EVER played on a woman out at GTE! (you know who this is for, right doc??). An older woman sat at a computer in my row, and she was very crabby, very bitchy, I think she's the kinda person unions are meant for. She pissed off the guy that sat next to me, then when she go up and went to the bathroom, he....took the ball out of her computer mouse!!!! Oh, I rolled around laughing while she called systems, and bitched them out!!

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

funny shit (to me, anyway!) that was Kim's week so far!!

Hahaha! I think if I drove a truck, I'd want it to be this one!!
Kim's last couple days have been 'hell days'!! She called me last night and told me that she had to tell me about this stuff, and she wanted me to blog about it!! So, everybody, yes, I have total permission from Kim to blog anything (except the stuff we've agreed goes to the grave with us!).
Kim's grandma (her mom's mom) livess with her mom & dad. Gotta be an uneasy situation for her dad, cuz he's the one retired and home all day, also because he's had a kidney transplant. Meanwhile, Kim's mom still works as a realtor in this town, and I guess she's pretty good at it. And, right now, Kim's mom & dad are in Las Vegas for a realtor's meeting, and the grandma is home at their house...also with their dog, which is supposed to be a purebred black poodle, and if you ask me....that would be a big pain in the ass! I'd just want to sit there and read books all the time!! But, that's me...
Anyway, the last few days, Kim's days have been full of taking Grandma to all kinds of doctors, because, of course, Kim's mom made all dr appointments for the time she & J would be in Vegas! So they went to all the drs. and Kim had to be home in time to take her youngest boy to his own dr appt, cuz he has some bone issues to get taken care of.(long story.....may do somethling on that later). When Kim took her grandma back to her mom & dad's to drop her off and take her son out to the dr, Kim said she walked Grandma to the front door, and up the steps. She opened the front door, and like, almost had a fucking heart attack!! (Kim, not Grandma!). She told me the dog must've eaten something it shouldn't have, because there was shit all over the house! And we're not talking regular dogshit, Kim said it was ALL black and runny, there was nothing solid in it at all! She said it looked like sewer sludge or something!! And it was EVERYWHERE IN THE HOUSE!! So, she actually cleaned it up, while Grandma sat on the steps!! She said she used a lot of newspapers, all the paper towels, (which Grandma bitched at her for not leaving some for her, in case she wants some later!), and a lot of water and cleaner, every kind of cleaner they could find in the house, and a big brush...holy shit (oh, I guess that's an appropriate response...,). And, trust me, the house still stinks to high heaven!! I told her if it was me I would've chickened out the minute I opened the door, and called ServPro to take care of it!! She said I'm not putting any money into their house! Kim even left the bucket with the gross water & gross brush in it in the garage!! Then she took Grandma in the house, and called her mom & dad in Vegas & bitched them out for the dog! Because they won't let anyone keep the dog outside, cuz it's a 'purebred'! I started laughing..."So, all the shit you cleaned up was purebred shit, anyway..." Then I tried to make her laugh too, and told her that her mom's buttcrack is famous now, anyway...she did laugh then...of course, maybe that was because she was home, and clean, and on her third beer! And, no, AJ never got to the dr that day...
BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

stuff i can't believe we did...

I just LOVE the confused look on this kitten's face...human babies get that look too, when they're, like a month old, and people come over to see 'the baby!', and they pass it around the room, and the baby smiles (gas pains), and everybody screams "Oh, look! She smiled at me!"...and then the baby lets a big one rip...and all of a sudden, the smile isn't all that cute any more, and the baby gets passed all the way straight back to the mother, & the 'not-so-new' mom that thinks she knows everything about babies, says, "Oh, I think you better change her" with a cute little 'if you know how yet' giggle. Sidetracked...
Have you ever done something really stupid, and, as an adult, looked back and thought "Holy SHIT!! How did I EVER get out of that one??" No, don't lie, I KNOW EVERYBODY'S done that!! I'm gonna have to humble myself here & say again that, yes, I did get fucked around on when I was 15...didn't everybody? Once, when Kim & I had been out all night, running around, drinking & partying (oh, no, I forgot! We were at Kris's house! Yeah, that's it!!)...we met in front of my boyfriend's house at about 5 in the morning, and walked back to the back of his house to his window. We stood on each other's backs to reach his window (this was the first kevin...the dirtbag), and banged on it, to see if he'd answer. Knock 4 or 5 times, finally the window opened, and his best friend Terry, looked out to say he stayed overnight, and kevin was still asleep. Then he must've laid back down & fell asleep, and left the window open. Kim & I were kinda at a loss as to what to do, because, obviously, it was way too early to go back to my house! We were just standing there looking at each other, kicking the dirt/grass/mud which was their yard, and all of a sudden, I kicked something that was half buried in the mud. It was a fucking used rubber!!! We just looked down at it, and looked at each other, me thinking 'kevin, you really ARE a fucker!' and I'm sure Kim was thinking the same, if not with a little 'haha, toldja so!' added! Well. what would YOU do????
I had to pick the damn thing up...and say 'eeeeewwww!', and throw it at Kim, of course! She batted it down to the ground, and we stared at each other for a second. Then looked up at the open window. It was one of those windows that's high up in the house, and opened outward, and there was no screen on it (now we know WHY!!). So, without even thinking about it, I picked the thing up, and tossed it in the window, in the direction of kevin's bed. Then we took off running and laughing!
One more story for the ages...

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

destruction...

Kim & I always had fun, even if it was stupid destructive shit! This is another picture of my room in the attic of our house that was built in the late 1800's. This is the kind of craftsmanship that's just not seen in houses now!!
Okay, back to destruction. When Kim & I were at her house, they had that big outdoor pool with a big separate bathhouse, that we always hung out in, and had parties where people brought beer over. And they got it in, because the bathhouse was about 500 yards away from the house. There was a great big living room with 2 or 3 couches in it, a kitchen, and a few closets, a bathroom. Thinking about it, why the hell didn't Kim LIVE out there?? Oh...no tv...well, once when a bunch of people came out to party and brought beer, I drank WAY too much, and vaguely remember trying to get in the bathroom to puke...howEVER, there was a guy in there peeing! How fucking inconsiderate of him!! He's a GUY for heaven's sake, and we were in the country...he coulda gone outside and peed his name in the snow, for heaven's sake!! (Kevin brags about being able to do that...he says ALL guys do it!!! But I'm sure it's a lot easier for Ken than Kevin! Length...of name, dummy!). So I crawled out the front door (GRRRRRR), and puked in the snow, right off the porch (cement slab....not real high). The next day, Kim's dad came out there and stormed in,..."Who threw up in front of the door??" Ewwww...I bet that looked bad. I don't know...I went out the other door by the pool!
A few months later, it got to be swimming weather, and we had a BLAST!! A diving board, everything!! One day we were out swimming, went inside cuz her mom made us sandwiches for lunch before she left for work (we were totally spoiled!). Came back out, bringing the sandwiches, then sat down on the couches & ate. Well, when we finished them, I looked around, and saw that there were a lot of flies buzzing around inside! I pointed them out to Kim, and we decided that they had to die!! Man, we were bad. Kim grabbed a croquet mallet, and started chasing them around while I pointed them out. So, you understand, I had NOTHING to do with it! I NEVER touched the croquet mallet AT ALL!! And, no, she didn't hit flies on the sliding glass doors that faced the pool!! But, she did get the flies that were on the ceiling, that's for sure!! She looked up and saw a lot of them up there, and pounded them one at a time, until she got them all, while I just rolled around laughing at her!! Unfortunately, we didn't think ahead at all, and when she was done, we looked up, and #1, there were flyguts all over the ceiling...#2, every time she had hit the flies, there was a dent on the ceiling tile! And you also have to realize, Kim missed many times! We left that day before her mom & dad got home from work, and I don't think I've been out there since!! (I've talked to them since, but...)
BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

hmmmm....Mar 6? oh...Monday!

Damn, I don't even feel awake today. well, I guess it IS only....5pm...grrrrr....
Maybe it's cuz I was on the phone with Kim for at least an hour or hour and a half when she called around 2pm. I actually think that woke me up more than anything else! (but I have been up & around since 9 am!). We were discussing our parents. (yes...the dysfunctions of our childhoods!). After I had called my dad the day he was home, and talked to him (errrr....listened to him) for fifteen minutes, I went to the back of the house to do laundry, scoop poop outta Tru's box, etc...then the phone rang, so I came back to the dining room to get it. I looked down at the caller id on the phone...it said "Lewis Funeral Home". Holy friggin' shit!! My first thought was that it would be my mom calling from there...then I didn't know what to think! Picked it up, said hello, then the guy said "Oh. I guess I have the wrong number." I hung up, and just sat here for a second. Wow...blew my mind. And no, I've never told anyone in my family about that. But I just had an evil thought....wouldn't it be fun to have that show from your phone when you made a, oh, say, prank phone call! hahahahaha!! Naaahhh...with my luck, the person I called would have a fuckin' heart attack and sue me or something!
Then Kim said something about her mom, and it all of a sudden made me remember the time I stayed with her, and we were sitting in her kitchen, after we ate our cereal for breakfast. Her mom got up & came out in the kitchen, said Good Morning to us, and we grunted back (as ANY self-respecting teenager knows, that IS the appropriate response to a parent in the morning). Kim's mom turned around and bent over the oven and opened it. Then Kim grinned at me, and reached over & gave her mom a shove in the butt, and said "Push the wicked witch in the oven", kinda singing it. Of course, I laughed, but all of a sudden Kim grabbed her hand up and ran to the sink, screaming, "Eeeeeeewww, eeeeeewww, gross, gross!! You don't have any underwear on!!!" cuz she had a nightgown on. And I looked over & Kim was pointing at her mom's butt, and the nightgown was stuck up the crack of her ass! Oh, crap! I'm laughing too fuckin' hard at that now to type anymore!
BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

wonderful telemarketing tactics..

Okay, lemme ask everyone.......have you ever been really fuckin' busy (even laying around sleeping or watching tv constitutes as 'busy', you know?), and the phone rings, and it's a telemarketer, trying to get you to get another credit card, or invest, or buy something? I got that today, and when they asked for Kev, I said he's not here, who is this? (even though I knew damn well what the call was for...). She gave me her first & last name, but didn't tell me what company she was calling for. Then she said, "This is a courtesy call for XXXX Company." I interrupted with, "Hmmmm...if you were really interested in being courteous....you REALLY wouldn't be calling me right now, wouldja?" Then SHE hung up on ME!! Problem solved...
Okay, I talked to Sharon in Australia last night for an hour...it turns out...she can stay till Apr 6!! How cool, and she's gonna stay here! But, she said only if she gets to cook dinner for us a few times. Hmmm...I'll hafta mull that over for a while. NOT!!!! I didn't even like to cook before I got ms, now, Kev doesn't WANT me to, cuz he's afraid I'll fall into the stove or something! Shut UP!! You never know, I just might...anyway, she is a VERY good cook, always wanting recipes and stuff. I just told her there are 2 things I don't want...vegemite-she TOLD me what's in that!!...and, kangaroo. [no, they don't eat that]). However, did you know that there are more kangaroos in Australia than people? True! Sharon said they're all over there, almost like squirrels here!
My next-to-last job I had...very small grocery store in Findlay, OH. Also closed now, boo!! That was a cool store. We had mostly older people that shopped there, and they were so nice! Very different from anyone I'd ever dealt with. Either they were too poor to be nice (like the first store), or they were too rich to be nice to us paeans (like the store in Delaware!). These people were great! I was always getting customers that made stuff, like bread, salsa, etc. and brought it in to give me!
I got along really well with everyone there.The girl that ran the office up front went with me to the Barry Manilow concert (I know, I know!). I got along well with the guys in the meat dept too. The meat mgr used to be a nut! Once when he had turkeys on sale, I went back to the breakroom for a smoke, and all the seats were taken. Dave looked at me, and patted his leg, "Here, babe, sit here!" So I started to walk over there to sit on his leg, and all of a sudden, looked twice at his red apron...I swear, that coulda been his dick hanging out from under it!! I just looked at his face, and EVERYBODY started dying laughing!! It was a fucking turkey neck!!
The store manager that had asked me to come up there to work all of a sudden got a real attitude against all the employees. We all got together to figure out who oughtta go talk to him about it. Of course, it was me, cuz I had known him longer. Grrrrr! I asked what was up, he said nothing (you know...he IS a guy). The rest of us talked about it for a few months, then decided to call the big guy at the main office, we did, he came down, talked to all of us, talked to J, and...a few days later, J was somewhere else, and the mgr I like the best of ANY boss I've ever had was there! (He used to be here at the 'Indian store' too.). And the day I had to give my week's notice to him, I bawled like a baby, cuz I sobbed "Vic, I don't know why, I just have to take this job, even though I know I'm gonna hate it!! It's a desk job, for God's sake! Making LESS money!!" So, I was gone to GTE, now Verizon, a week later...
BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

better day...Mar 2

Well, yesterday was the twins' 5th birthday, and everybody went over there for a party last night about 8! Those kids got EVERYTHING!! And they each had their own cake! A (the boy) had a little Superman cake, & M (the girl) had a little pink & purple Dora cake!!
And, when we got home, there was a message for me on the computer from my friend in Australia, and she's coming here after she has to be in DC!! I don't know how long she can stay yet, but still!! That is SO cool!! This'll be the first time she's ever been to America. Most of the reason is for her government, but...she's also gonna see Ohio. Woohoo *heavy sarcasm here*. Kevin's already volunteered to take the day off work so we can pick her up at the Col airport. This'll be great! We've been emailing & instant messaging for 5 years now! We met on an ms site, and she's about as smartass as me!!
Well, back to the work stuff. In 1993, the store actually had to close, because it ran out of money...actually, the assistant store manager embezzled it all (little gay fuckhead! who used to come in to work with hickeys on his neck!! eeww!). When they closed, I went job hunting. And the first place I went (don't know why!) was the lumber store across the road/street. Believe it or not, they hired me!! It was a really good store, and a fun job, but...I missed working produce, something I KNEW! Then I applied at a Kroger store about half hour south of here, and got that too. So I worked part-time at both places for a while, then ran into another manager from the store I worked at here (the new grocery store that had to close), and he called me a couple nights later and asked me to work for him at the store he was at then, up in Findlay. I was kinda big on doing that, cuz it sounded like a neat store, small, a little bit like the first store I worked at. And I went there, and worked, & got to quit both part-time jobs! I loved that job in Findlay too! But...con't tomorrow...boring, I know...
BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

last day of February!!!

Man, I sure hope that means it's gonna get warmer, I'd even be happy with the high 50's!! At least it's SUNNY today!!
Kat & Benji's kids, the twins I always write about (not identical though...one has a penis & the other doesn't!) are gonna be 5 tomorrow!! I just cannot believe that! Already?? Kevin & Tiff went out last night and got presents for them.
And...my dad was taken Sunday afternoon, and admitted to the hospital...and, did ANYONE call me & tell me? Uhhhh, no. No, I can't drive out there, but he's my dad!! Sorry...I know some families have a 'black sheep'? Well, I've progressed beyond that. To the GRAY SHEEP!! My mom never calls me, anyway...she calls Tiff on her cell phone...sorry, I'm just a little bitter. Why?? Well, they only live about, well, I don't know, but it's way less than maybe 1/4 of a mile across town. In the same town! Yes, I know all the stuff I wrote before about when I was in school & older...but, as far as I knew, we made our peace with that, and we still talked...before I got ms. Now, it's WAY different. Mom or Dad will call Tiff (on her cell) and ask her & Zach over for Sunday dinner. Which is great, I love it that Tiff's still close to my mom, she's not really with my dad. Anyway, my mom finally called here Sunday a little before noon, & Kevin got the phone (I wasn't up yet!). She told Kevin about my dad, but mostly she told him about my uncle & his wife that came down for dinner Saturday night with her after Dad was in the hospital, and what a good time they had..To me, & Kevin, that's just plain weird! I know my dad's 88 years old, and of course, Mom's going to expect health problems. But I don't think one oughtta become quite so 'blase' about it! Dad's blood pressure was over 200 Saturday when he went to the hospital! I called Mom Saturday after Kev woke me up, talked to her for a little bit (again, mostly about her brother & his wife!), then I called Dad at the hospital & talked to him, then he said someone would call me Monday, after someone looked at the cat scan. No, nobody ever called. So I called their house today, Dad answered the phone...yadayadayada...what else is there to say? Hmmmmm...
All right. At least I got that shit off my chest. Usually I'm writing stuff that's funny on here...not today...
Droops... Libby

continued...feb 27

After I quit the job with the asshole manager (remember? UFW!!), well, actually, I interviewed for my new job before I quit. It was an interview like none I'd ever seen before! It was in a hotel room here in town..I thought that was almost too weird, cuz it seemed almost like a telemarketing interview being in a hotel room! But it was the normal questions/answers for the departments. When I was called up to talk to the produce supv from Lima, he acted like we were old buddies or something! Then he asked if I recognized him. Because he had been in my department in Bucyrus checking it out a couple days before! So I got hired...but the produce supv had really fucked up before he interviewed me. He had already promised the produce mgr job to the produce mgr at another one of the company's stores! But that was okay, he told me that, and I said ok, then he told me I'd be making a lot more than the mgr of the dept, and he wanted me to do most of the ordering, paperwork, etc..that was gonna take some tact on my part (& all the supvs!) to deal with the guy who thought he was gonna be the boss. Oh well, it was ok till a few weeks later when he found out I made more than him...
So I gave a week's notice at my job with shithead boss, (and, yes, I did get my week vacation pay mailed to me before I left!), and my last day there was 1 year & 1 day after I'd started there! And the new store here had a store meeting the night before I quit my old job, but I went to it too. The new store wouldn't open for a week or two, but they wanted us to meet each other, and get the store set up! The meeting ended, I went over to the stairs, to clock out and go home, I heard somebody call my name. Turned around and looked, and it was the 'ex-girlfriend from hell'! She'd be working there too, but, luckily, she wasn't in my dept!! But, she did tell me she'd do anything she could to get me fired...haha, like I was worried! We co-existed in that store till it closed in 1993...and avoided each other like the plague!
This was the Indian ghost store....
Lots of fun stuff happened there, but right now, I remember one of the first hilarious things that happened, and made me really good friends with the customer svc girl at the front. She was in charge of renting the videos out and taking care of everything up front. One time, this really pretty woman came in and was looking at the movies, and M (my friend) was putting returned movies back. The woman looked over at M, and held a popular movie up, and asked if she knew if it was good. M looked at it, and said "My kids just got that the other night & watched it. They liked it, but there was a white woman with a black man in it, & I don't like that too much." (BTW, M's kids were 13 & 15).The woman said "Mmmm...", looked at some other movies, got the first one, and left. About an hour later, the manager came downstairs & told M that woman had called back & wasn't happy, cuz she is married to a black man! I laughed my ASS off at M for that!! So, see? My big mouth isn't the worst one in the world!! Even the store manager made fun of M for that!~! Nobody was making fun of the woman & her husband, just of M's customer svc skills!! But we were great friends after that (I wonder why..). She & I even took Tiff and her kids to Cedar Point the next summer. And after we got home we read a story in the paper the next day that explained why the big roller coaster was closed while we were there...a guy had been fucking around on it, and lost his arm...
BoUnCeS!! LibbY!
BTW....>>> a great website!!! http://www.dontdatehimgirl.com/home/

Friday!!

When I left that new produce market, I got the new job in a town about 1/2 hour north of here. It was a pretty nice store that was in a rich area of town (I think...they acted like it, anyway!).The other department mgrs were pretty nice, and the cashiers were too. In a very short time, I realized why the place seemed like a prison on 24-hour lockdown!!
It was pretty much a store where the manager was, well, a little fucking prick to all his employees! He wanted all of his department managers to always act professional, and walk around like they have a stick up their ass or something! Which, because of the money, we did...however, I think that's probably the reason we all got along so well. Example: he was a short little fat Italian guy that thought he was the best manager in the world. He always parked his car right outside my produce door, which had a window in it, so we were always checking to see for sure if he was there. The girl/lady in charge of receiving looked out one day, noticed his license plate, and it started out with UFW... she looked over at me, and said, "I always remember that by...you fuckin' wop." ROTFLMAO!! He had the habit of always taking a cart around the 'perimeter' of the store (a manager's job/habit,whatever), and I had to be there at 7 am every day, (well, Mon, Tue, Wed, Fri, Sat.). And I'd try to get my dept looking good enough that he didn't stop and say shit!! Because he WAS very picky, and if he thought something was in the wrong place, he had no problem telling you you should come in on your day off (w/out pay!!) and fix it!
All that shit went on, month after month, and I was going nuts, checking the want ads every day, whining to Kevin, blah blah blah! I did have some fun at that job, mostly because we had a few times we had to go to the warehouse in Fort Wayne, and I liked that, because I drove by myself. I even took Tiff once and we went to the mall over there, and spent a couple hours watching the people at the ice skating rink in the middle. And I got to introduce Tiff to the people that I talked to every day to give my order to. Now that was fun!
A few weeks later, the store mgr was walking down the produce aisle one morning, and looked at me and said, "Hi Blondie.", but in a totally shitty, snotty way, just trying to piss me off. I got totally pissed, but just grinned at him and said hi. Yes, I held my attitude in check (for once), and thought about what to do. When I saw him go up to his office, I followed him in, and told him I had to talk to him for a minute. He said sure, and shut the door, and I just said, "Don't call me Blondie anymore...I don't call you 'short, fat, Italian', do I?" So that talk only took like 2 minutes...but it was truly the best 2 minutes of my life (well, almost...).
After that is when I read about the store that was going to open here in my town, you know, the one with the Indian ghost...so, I waited to quit so that my last day was the day after I'd been there 1 year exactly, so I'd get my week paid vacation, which I had called the woman at their main office and told her I'd be leaving in a couple weeks, would she mail the check for that to my house, cuz I didn't want the manager to do anything with it, like, it might get 'lost', or something.
I was SO friggin' happy to get the hell outta there!!
BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

Thursday Feb 23

I really miss some of the people I used to work with, when I worked in produce...I know, you're tired of hearing about it...so what? Quit reading then.
After Kevin and I got married, the people up in the main office didn't seem to like it...we think maybe a lot of it was because our jobs weren't all-consuming to us anymore (you all KNOW WTF was!!), and we had stuff to do after work, instead of stay at work & try to figure out ways to make our sales numbers better...sales per customer, % of the store's business that was our department, shit like that...so, about a month after we got married, Kevin took a job at a different store as meat manager, with more money than our store paid him. He liked it, but it wasn't the best store to work at. The owner was, like, one of the biggest crooks this town's ever seen! But, no, he didn't rip off Kev, he was paid well...
After Kevin was outta there, all of a sudden...it was boring to show up at work, cuz I wasn't seeing Kevin be-boppin' around the corner through my department to say hi on his way to his department. :-( . Even though the store here in town had moved to a different location, & I loved my new produce dept, the fun wore off, ya know?
So, my brother, who has a construction company, was remodeling a building on the other side of town for a man from Lima, Ohio, who wanted to open an all produce market, cuz that's the kind of warehouse he owned in Lima. When my brother told me about it, I thought "Well, shit, I'll try!" And, keep in mind, the absolute only company I had EVER worked at in my life was the one I worked at then...starting as cashier! My next day off I told Kevin I was gonna go try to get hired there, and he said 'Good luck!'
I drove to that building, and it was deserted looking except for a big 'old man looking' car in the parking lot. I parked my car & walked around the building, looking in the windows, and then,* 'bingo! there's the old man that belongs to the car!'* I went up to the front door, which was glass, took a deep breath, and opened the door. Walked toward him with my right hand out to shake his hand, and said 'Hi, are you JD? I'm Libby X, and my brother is XXXX, he's been telling me about this place! It looks like it's going to be great!" He's all smiley and friendly, and telling me what he wants to do with this room, that room, etc. And I stood there smiling & nodding, then said, "Wow! It sounds like you're in need of a produce manager, aren't you!?" And he said, "Well, matter of fact I am!" And he said come on in the office, we'll talk about money." Then he asked where I worked now, why I'm leaving, etc...then asked how much I made an hour..I told him, he said okay, he'd give me xx more, I said ok, we agreed I'd start next week, cuz I wanted to give a week's notice. And, bam, I had a new job! How easy was that shit?? That place wasn't open yet, but it only took about a month to open it...unfortunately, it only took about 8 months to go out of business...(which was NOTHING to do with me!! I wasn't there anymore! Had been called by a 'headhunter' to interview for another job in a different town, which I took, cuz I saw how business was going). But, man, do I miss working there! J was a big old gruff, scary guy to most people. But, really, he was nice...as long as you stood up to him.
BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

closing the store in town at night before i transferred up north...

I know I'm bouncing around on subjects lately, but...I get distracted, for heaven's sake!! And I always think of the most brilliant, heart-wrenching, thought-provoking thing to write right before I fall asleep every night. And it's gone when I wake up...just think of all the pearls of wisdom you've missed!
I must have been trustworthy to the store back when I was still just a cashier (not that I'm NOT trustworthy, you understand!). Actually, think about it...it's kind of amazing that MORE employees of that store weren't thieves (we had some)...a lot were single, trying to raise their kid or kids, and we were paid $3.35/hour, until minimum was raised to $3.50/hour! Okay at the time for an after-school job, but, for raising even ONE kid, + renting an apartment!! Lots of people asked me, "Couldn't you get more if you stayed home and got on welfare?" Like that is something to aspire to?? Jesu*!! What an example that would have set for Tiffany!! Kevin and I even told Tiff when she was looking for a job, we dont care if you're a stripper, as long as you don't grow up to be a welfare bum!! ('bum' is the operative word here, some people are on welfare without wanting to be!). I told Mom that...she didn't find any humor in it...
So after I had worked at that store for about 6 or 8 months, I started working with the head cashier between customers, learning how to do the books, and once I knew that, and they knew they could trust me (BTW..the manager used to put $50.00 extra in the safe once in a while, just to make sure we were honest enough to say that the safe had too much money!), I got to be in charge of the store here from 3 or 4 to 9 pm.Now THAT was fun!! We always (well, okay, usually...) had to make sure the whole store was cleaned up & the trash was taken out (hey Jill! ask Ken about the time he DIDN'T!!). And then, of course, had to do the turning off of the lights & everything. One night, one of the high school stockboys (Phil...I talked about him before), went back to get the lights turned off. Well, okay, a cashier & I were standing there waiting for him to do it, & come back up front, so we could lock up & go home. Hmmm....tap, tap, tap, call him on the intercom "PHIL!! UP FRONT!!" Nuthin'! So, I went huffing & stomping back to that back room to look for him...and he was in it, all right...swinging around on the big pipes up by the ceiling, going, "Oooooh-Oooooh, Eeeee-Eeeeee, look at me, I'm Curious George!" Oh my God, that was hilarious!! Too funny to yell at him for fucking around!
After I got the deposit ready to go, it was pretty much like it would be at the other store, the cashier went home, and I took the deposit to the bank and dropped it off. One night when we were closing, Phil asked if I could take him home. Turned out, he lived with his mom & dad in a great big house right across the street from mine & Tiff's apt. So that was really good, that way I had a great big "bodyguard" when I took the money to the bank at night (it was DARK, ya know?) After we dropped the deposit off, we'd go pick up Tiff at her babysitter's, about 3 blocks away, and go home. Oh, and that was also the bank that Kev & Ken's mom worked at, a couple blocks from ny apt!
After we got Tiff & we all got out of the car to go in our houses, Phil would walk across the street, singing real loud, "weeeyeeeeheeeheee..." blah, blah,blah, 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight...". I will NEVER, EVER, hear that song without thinking of Phil...
BoUnCeS!! LibbY!