Friday!!

Terrorist in store!

Disturbing ride, huh? My kid wouldn't be riding it, I know that!!

And this cat is doing exactly what I've been doing for the last, oh well, SINCE IT'S GOTTEN COLD OUT!!! grrrrrrr!!!

I'm seriously starting to wonder if I have SAD (seasonal affective disorder!)! Now I'm sleeping about 18-20 hours a day! When I'm not sleeping, well, I'm thinking about it..A few weeks ago, I couldn't get to sleep...now I can't stay AWAKE!! When me and my friends were in our early 20's, I got maybe 5 or 6 hours of sleep a night, because of my working an hour away from home...and, trust me, in the winter it was an hour and a half drive up there!! Cuz in the winter, I'd call the Ohio State Police and ask how 23N was, and, invariably, they'd say "Snow covered and slippery". After the first time I called and got that answer, I put Tif in the car and drove out to 23, and it honestly was not bad at all! So we went back to the apartment, and I got ready for work, and got her dressed for the babysitter's (who only lived a few blocks down the street here in town), and dropped her off there! So I'd get up to work (which was actually closer to Mich than home!), but that was almost always fun!

We all used to say "Heck, no! I'm not tired! I'll sleep when I'm dead!" Didn't EVERYONE at that age say that?? Well, if that's the way it is...put me in a damn box right now. Better yet...cremate me...at least I'd be warm!

Actually, Joe & I were just talking the other night about that a long time ago, they used to attach a bell somewhere above the ground when they buried you, and they'd run a string through a hole in the coffin, just in case you were still alive when you were dead. And I made him promise to bury a cell phone with me. He said, o-kay, but, I bet the reception will be shitty down there....

Okay...I just read back over what I wrote about only sleeping 5 or 6 hours a night cuz I worked so far from home...but, no, honestly, that's not the only reason. I partied, but you all know that. But also, when I was home in the evenings, I'd put Tif to bed around 8:30, and I'd go crawl in my bed, and have a huge Stephen King book, or any other huge book with me, almost always a scary or ghost story-type book! I remember taking Tif downtown with me to the used book store (Brad''s Bookstore...it's still there!), and we both used to sit there and pick out the best books! Yeah, that was way before they started doing all this scary talk about all the germs you'd get from stuff like that.....pee-shaww! So I might've been broke, but, Tif always had fun with me, and I always read to her before she went to bed.

About the only time I remember her not having fun with me was when we were at the mall, & she wanted to go to the toy store...we were in a hurry (well, I was in a hurry!), and when I said no, she threw herself on the floor, kicking, screaming, crying. So I laid down right next to her & did the same shit, just not quite as loud. She was about 2 or 3, and she hurriedly stood right up and started pulling my arm..."Mommy, Mommy, come ON!!" HAHA! She remembers that to this day!

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

16th...

Little kids feel like this around adults a lot!!










I wish I had these!! Truman would even like them!!
Okay, another really fun display I made at that store, was, well, the produce dept is usually in charge of the popcorn, raisins, other dried fruits, etc..I was told to do an end display with boxes of plums, and make it 'interesting', garnering attention.
Now, exactly how interesting & creative can a produce manager BE with boxes?? C'mon!! Sheeshh! But, it was a challenge...to put it nicely.
So, since it was on the end of an aisle...it was like a plastic-type 4-stair display. I ribboned the red canisters of SunMaid raisins from top to bottom in the middle, 6pks of individual boxes on each side, the outer edge was white boxes of plums. Looked really nice, but the brilliant marketing ploy made it unforgettable...up & down the outer edges of the display I had 6 packs of white toilet paper. And, it actually sold well too...this was another store that had mostly older customers...
*SICK* *GAG*...I heard that!! That's ok...I'm used to it...
BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

I guess it's Wednesday already!!

WEE-HAAAWWWW!!

Wouldn't you LOVE to know how old he is today??

This cat is FAR braver than I would ever be!!

Can ya tell, I totally LOVE cats? I like them much better than dogs. Not saying I don't like dogs...it's just that compared to cats, well, they're so needy! Truman is the perfect balance between a cat & dog. He has none of the "needy", but he's 'social', he doesn't hide under the bed from someone that comes to the door, he comes out to see them, and then just lies on the floor watching them!!

Was thinking today about Tif & R's new house...It's on a street named after a melon, in a great part of town, & I just remembered the time I had to come up with a huge display for the front of the store. Which is usually the most important display area. It was one of the smaller stores up north I was at, I remember the fierce 'confrontation' I had with the store manager about what I wanted to put there. I was getting one of the local farmers to deliver me 200 Pandora melons, from the town they're grown in, about 20 miles north of there. They're awesome! They're basically a cantaloupe, but it's about the size of your head!! So, of course, I got my way, and put a big bin of those up front, with cases of beer all around it, and a sign that said something about..."where the beer & cantaloupe play...".And it sold like crazy, I might admit! Ha! I showed him! ;-D

I was just watching 'Seinfeld' and it was the one where they were each volunteering to work with old men & women. I love the one Jerry was with! He was SO crotchety!!

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

Sunday night

Hey everybody! Did you all have a great weekend? Mine was pretty good. I didn't go anywhere, it was too cold out. I did stay here and take care of the bills & everything on the computer...then I got down to the real business of the weekend...SHOPPING! with my ebay gift certificate, of course! I hafta quit buying so many books...or get some big tote things to put 'em in!
I was watching 'Jon & Kate + 8' earlier, but it just drives me crazy...how in the world could you EVER do it, with two 5 year old twin girls, & six 3 year olds (assorted flavors) boys & girls! And here I think it was tough raising Tif on my own! This week they showed them taking all the kids to Disney World...just exhausting to watch, I guess.

I could see many moms getting wedding invitatiions like this for their sons, couldn't you?











click on invitation to enlarge!

Now I've got a much better and calmer tv show on (lol)...'In Search Of The Swamp Thing', on The History Channel. I LOVE this channel! Almost as much as Nick At Nite...


I was talking to Joe last night, before he went to work at the bar (yes, this is what he does on weekends...you know, when he's not teaching school during the week (this is why I love him, though, he's done this for 16 or so years at the same place!). I was thinking about going out and hanging out there, but, I just could NOT make myself get warm all day!! I just sat here in front of the register (heat's always set at 74 degrees in the winter!) in my sweatshirt & sweatpants, with a little ceramic disc heater beside me!! All I can think of is how lucky I must be to have really thick hair, since the top of the head is where you're supposed to lose a lot of heat.


I was laying down, trying to sleep last night, but I couldn't...nothing! I HATE not being able to go to sleep at night! Oh. And just as soon as I get halfway asleep, here comes Truman, "STOMP, STOMP" up the bed. Well, ok, that may have been a mild exaggeration. Well, I DID try to get his picture on here, but it wouldn't go down here, it automatically went to the top!
Oh yeah...I got the best book in the mail from ebay last week! It's a James Patterson, 'You've Been Warned'. And it was just about the best book I;ve EVER read! In fact, it was 375 pages long...I started reading at 9 pm, fell asleep from midnight to 2, yadayada...off and on all night til 4 pm the next day! And I was done in 24 hrs!
All right...gotta go...
BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

Friday night!!

...Def Leppard time!! All albums & collections...in a row!!

I've seen them twice, once in 88-ish?, and once more when I was 30-something...trust me...80's was a WHOLE lot more fun!!

The Hello Kitty rifle kinda looks like something I would've ordered, doesn't it??

Tif & her fiance (that's still tough to get used to writing!) came over last night so she could give me my ms shot (avonex once-a-week, for the ms) in my arm..she must have picked the exactly perfect place on my arm, cuz I was talking to her & R about her trip to Charles Penzone to get her nails done, and I didn't even feel the needle! Or, maybe it was because she was telling me she's thinking about going down there to get a job doing nails! She's very good at it, but they don't do them where she is, but she did train for that too! Anyway, so she started telling me about the woman who came out of one of the rooms in back...she'd been there for a "Brazilian bikini wax. OW!! That is not just a run of the mill bikini wax..this goes, like, from your pubic bone, down and back up to, like the , well, uhhh, small of your back? Holy SHIT!!! I couldn't freakin' think about doing that!!! Maybe that's why I didn't feel the shot, I was too horrified to feel it! And then R & I started thinking about 'Eeeewww, what if you have to give one?' Damn! Well, better than getting one, I guess...IMHO!

Seriously, when S came here from Australia, we were comparing pros & cons of waxing your legs. I came down on the side against it...'why do I want more pain? I get a needle in my arm once a week, that's enough!' She just laughed at me, and told me 'don't be a twit!'...then she went and got her kit out of her suitcase for waxing her legs, and pushed me over to the edge of the bed..."Sit there!". She's getting all the strips of wax ready, meanwhile, I'm sitting there, mumbling under my breath, $@#$$@#%%$^... She ducked back in the room from the bathroom..."Pardon?"..."Nothing at all, S, not important..."

She did about 6 inches down the side of my leg below the knee, and it was the most unimaginably painful thing I EVER did! Having a baby was a walk in the park compared to this!! Yeah, I whined & told her to quit...my hospitality only goes so far!

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

sunny...but kinda cold...

You should ALL be ashamed of yourselves, because I know all of you laughed at this!!

I LOVE this kitten!! (probably cuz it's all gray, like Truman~!). One of these days I'll get off my butt and get some more pictures of him up!
And who hasn't thought about doing this to their kid at one time or another?

Okay, I liked that green, but it's not easy to read...

Music for today...right now it's Metallica 'Enter Sandman', next it's 'Wherever I May Roam', and 'The Unforgiven', then Queensryche, 'Silent Lucidity'...yeah, like you give a rat's ass, right? lol!

Another store I worked at an hour north (in my favorite town in Ohio!), had a bunch of people I got along well with too. Didn't know them at first, but it didn't take long to become friends. It was just like a little store, and we knew that most of our customers were older people...I loved most of them! Our store was like the only one that would deliver groceries for them if they needed it. And we knew when it was 'Golden Buckeye' day, we did most of our business on Wednesday, and deliveries! One of the older men used to be a city councilman, and was looked up to by everyone there, cuz he was retired, and did all kinds of stuff he & his wife had always wanted to...not travel, but stuff like him making salsa (good stuff...he was the best!), and flying a plane...just all kinds of neat stuff he'd never had time to do before! Once, after Thanksgiving, I was walking past the breakroom, and everyone in there was laughing about something..everyone but the store manager...he'd been a total asshole since I started working there and got along with everyone & he didn't!...He had been one of my bosses here in town, and we got along here...I dunno what happened to make him a jerk! Anyway, they called me over to the breakroom, and there were about 5 of 'em sitting there. The meat manager there said, "c'mon, it's breaktime, I'm sick of turkeys. And he patted his knee and said, "You can sit here, since there's no chairs left". I started over there, cuz he was a nice old guy (actuallly, he was probly only in his 50s!..but I was only in my late 20s!)...then I looked a little closer...and saw something sticking out under his apron...I was like, "Dave!!", and everyone laughed even louder! Dave had a freakin' turkey neck sticking out under there!! And anyone who knows what a turkey neck looks like, knows exactly what that would look like sticking out close to a guy's crotch!! I was laughing so hard at it, I had to sit on the floor, so I didn't pee my pants!

That was also the store I volunteered to wear the Easter Bunny cosume, and do 'the Easter Bunny thing' at the front of the store...you know, kids sat on my lap and got their picture taken, and a handful of Easter candy. Now THAT was a fun day!

A lot of it was fun because my mom & dad brought Tif up to the store, they said they had to get some stuff...even though it was an hour away, they almost always came to where I worked to shop at.

Now it's Ozzy Osbourne...'Crazy Train, 'I Don't Know', Goodbye To Romance' (how approriate). & 'Mr Crowley'

So when they walked in the door of the store (Tif was 9 at the time), of course she wanted to sit on the EB's lap first...and she had no clue I was going to do that! Surpeised the hell out of her while she was sitting there, and I said, "Tiffany!! How ARE you??? And what do you want in your Easter basket this year besides fruit-flavored candy????" Cuz she HATED to get chocolate candy..(yeah, she didn't take after me, that's for sure!)...anyway, I almost thought she was gonna be the first kid to pee on MY LAP!! Naahhh, she was fine when I told her it was just me!! lol!!

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

THE FRONT PORCH: Roads#links#links

THE FRONT PORCH: Roads#links#links

....

Mmmm...please don't try this toothpaste thing at home...

I am SO loving this weather, in north central Ohio, on January 7!! It's 64 degrees out right now, cloudy with a little sun! I even heard a couple motorcycles go down the street a while ago! I know it's a 'false spring'...sure as hell doesn't make me enjoy it any less, though! I'm even feeling good enough to play Bon Jovi's 'Slippery When Wet'! And I finally figured out why it was playin' songs in the wrong order, or on different albums...I finally was really looking at the Windows Media Player...DOH!! The shuffle was on!! I am such a dolt!! If there's anything in the world that I'm truly an anal beast about, it's the songs not being in the 'right' order, as in, the way they were on the first album I ever heard them on!! Is anyone else like that, is it just me being weird? Probably me being weird, cuz I'm not, nor will I ever be, the kind of person who keeps their house perfect, dvds alphabetized, cds categorized in order of genre (no, windows media player does that for me, as long as i put it in the right place)! I remember the album when I first got frustrated about the songs 'weren't in the right order'! It was when I heard 'Run Through The Jungle' by Creedence. A different song came on after it than I'd been expecting, because when Joe & his brother and I went to Myrtle Beach on vacation for a week once in, like, 1988, we drove there in Joe's car, and I totally remember we listened to Creedence Clearwater Chronicle all the way pretty much! lol!! Good time, right, Wolf?

Okay, now I'm just opening the library and being all random...now it's Bruce Hornsby, 'Mandolin Rain & The Way It Is'...then it's gonna be Joe Jackson, 'Is She Really Goin Out With Him? and Steppin Out'...How pathetic...

I'm just missing the good times I had at the store up north...you know, the place where the girl working in the meat department told the woman who came back to visit after she'd gone to New England, that I'd had a car accident on the way to work a month ago & got killed. Laugh my ass off?? You bet, cuz I was hidden 5 feet away around the corner, and she didn't even know I was alive, fakkrissakes!! And, no, we never saw her again, ergo, she'll never know that I didn't die!! Now that's some funny shit, I don't care WHO you are!!

Now it's Phil Collins..."I Don't Care Anymore'! Good time for it! Now it's all cloudy out!! It just fits!

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

Jan 6

No, I didn't train HIM!




Oh...what a wonderful grandma I'll make, huh?






I've trained him well, huh?













Today's kinda a 'blahhh' day. Just how weird is this? It's 51 degrees out right now, and it's 4 days after we had 4 inches of snow!! Ugly! It wouldn't be all that bad, but I know this isn't 'spring' yet...I think this is what old people call "strawberry spring". And that's anything but good!
I'm so convinced that it's gonna be winter forever, that the only album to listen to is "Long Cold Winter" by Cinderella! Yup, it's an 80's album, the best songs are, of course, Long Cold Winter, and 'If You Don't Like It, I Don't Care". The rest of it's good, though, too!
"Gypsy Road" is playing now....boy, does that bring back a whole TON of good (drunk) memories! When I worked in the store an hour north of here, we'd all go out and get drunk as hell on Saturday night and Tuesday night, (department managers had Sundays and Wednesdays off for the most part...except for inventory time, which was a whole 'nother story!).
So a bunch of us used to go hit all the bars up there in the 3 towns that were fairly close to each other...15 miles or so...and yes, I admit it, I drove kinda drunk, but, thank God, I never had an accident. And, no, if I...

Oh my God!! This is so fuckin' freaky! My computer just switched over and the next song that's playing is "One Lonely Night" by REO Speedwagon!! And now it's "Tearin' Down The Walls" by Poison!! All of these songs are downloaded on my hard drive, but, still!! All right...I think I've got it now...just playin AC/DC album "High Voltage"! That was the VERY FIRST album I EVER bought, when I was in 8th grade (how ancient do I sound now? and it was a real "ALBUM", vinyl and all!! No cd's back then, you had a choice of cassettes, or albums, and I still had some 8-tracks from Bro!).
Anyway, we'd all go out and get drunk, then end up at my (well, mine & Mouse's boyfriend's house...really, his mom & dad's house where he lived with his brothers & sisters! and his mom & dad!). And we'd sit in the kitchen and watch that show on MTV where there was a hot guy that played rock videos late on weekends, I forget what it was!
If it was a Tuesday night, we'd just be out partying all night and sleep at one of the person's houses up there..(it's amazing that all of us were in our 20's and, up there, most people still lived with their mom & dads, who never cared that we came rolling in drunk & noisy!). And I'd be driving home the next morning, and I'd pass one of the supervisors from my town, going to work in one of the towns north, with his big ol' cup of coffee...it was a divided highway, but we kinda got in the habit of raising our drinks to each other, me, my can of Coke, him, his huge coffee! haha!
BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

January 4, already!!!

Holy Mother-of-God, it's January 4th already!! Heheheh...

After that 'light dusting' of snow I woke up to Jan 1st, we got more the last few days, and now have about 4 inches on the ground! Woohoo!! Tif came over yesterday around noon, and was getting all bundled up in all the warm stuff we have here at my house, sweatshirts, extra socks, etc....and she and Aunt Kat & the 6-year old twins went sledding!! How cool!! (no...cold!). Tif came back here a few hours later, and took off the big old snow pants and the extra 4 pair of socks and all, and said they had fun!

I went in to bed after I ate tonight, just to lie down under the covers to get warm and watch the Iowa caucus coverage, and I fell asleep immediately!! Woke up at midnight, and saw that I had missed all the minute-by-minute crap, and all of a sudden, found out that Huckabee had won the Iowa race *big*, and Obama for the Democrats! Those had been the ones I had kinda thought were going to, but the big thing is that Hillary got her ass handed to her on a platter! Hahaha! Not only was she not number one choice, she came in third! after John Edwards! Whom I dislike almost as much as Hillary. I'd be very worried for our country if either of those two EVER make it as far as the general election!! Barack Obama, well, I'd really rather not see him as president, but, he's much better than either Hillary or John Edwards! Both of them just come across to me as a couple of pissed off people...John Edwards is an angry little man, who is trying to get the people pissed off...I just don't know why everybody is trying to get people pissed off at business owners. Who the f*** does everyone think provides jobs for them to work at?? And, by the way, the money for the employees?? If John Edwards sues the shit out of every business he can, are the employees of that business any better off because the company has to close? No, they're out of jobs and income, and how is that going to make people feel better about themselves? You can equate it to killing the goose that laid the golden eggs, if you will. Obama actually has a much better message for the Democrats, he talks about we need to bring America back together, we're WAY too polarized! As opposed to John Edwards, who describes "two Americas". Equating it to 'us & them'! He's SO not a politician...he's a lawyer...and don't ever forget that!

All right...enough about the Democrats...Republicans, well, I do like Huckabee, AND Romney. I also like McCain...I don't think he'll end up going all the way, but, ya know what? I'd like to see him as the Secretary of Defense, no matter who's president! Huckabee seems like a very nice, regular, good guy...they don't come along very often, especially in politicians! But I guess, as far as running the country day to day, I think Romney could do it, mostly because he's a good businessman. You gotta figure, he's run a company, ran the Olympics one year, ran a state and was re-elected by a state full of the loosest Democrats in the country. Not just elected once by them...elected twice!! If that's not someone who can bring two sides together, I don't have a clue who could.

All right...enough politics.

Has anyone ever tried that new V8, V-fusion? It's like a fruit-flavored V-8...I had some this morning & it's really good. They advertise it has the three servings of vegetables that regular V-8 has, but tastes like fruit juice. Which is why I like it...I'm scared of real V-8, it just looks gross! I bought a bottle of it last year, determined to stick it out, and drink it, but every time I opened the refrigerator & looked at it, I just wanted to retch...Tif ended up drinking it on Christmas morning...she's always liked that and tomato juice. EEeeeeeeewwwww! But I'm awful glad she does!

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE!! out with the old, in with the new...

Okay, who's hung over today??? HAH Nyaahh, nyahh, nyahh, nyaah!! Sorry...it had to be said, I'd lose my 'smartass license' if I didn't, you know that!

Now, just look at that bottom picture! Talk about an 'AWWWWW' moment!!

Not so much for the middle one...

I may not drink anymore, but I do know what always worked for my hangovers in the 80's when I had to get to work in the morning, and I lived an hour away. Chew 3 Extra-Strength Excedrins, drink a can of Coke, and eat a handful of white grapes. Bingo!! Not only is your badass headache gone, you have vitamins in your system, and you're wide awake!! That's okay, you don't need to pay me...I'm a giver.

Geez, I'm in an amazingly good mood for "international hangover day"!! Obnoxious, too...

Well, I was up all night watching the "Twilight Zone" marathon on the Sci-Fi Channel! That was FUN! All kinds of the old black and white shows, some I've seen, a bunch I haven't. As a matter of fact, I just looked, and it's on until 10 tonight! Cool!

Truman woke me up today at 9 with a "Happy New Year" lick on the nose. What a 'swe' pea' he is! There's even about an inch of snow on the ground, so the gray and brown stuff is hidden...for a week or so. Better than nothin', I guess. So that's my yearly allotment of snow enjoyment. It's now 2008, and I'm ready for spring and scooter-riding around and taking pictures now.

So, what did everyone else do last night? Something fun...and exciting, I hope. You all know I live my life vicariously through you, so you have a big responsibility!!

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

OH, NO....I almost forgot!!

RABBIT RABBIT!!!

Dec 27

Cheating relly sucks, when it's thrown in your face, doesn't it??

...proof of global warming...

Okay, is everyone recovered from Christmas? I am...it was a better one than I'd expected. Actually, today was the end of mine, cuz Bro came over while he was on the way to the hospital to see one of the guys that works for him. That guy has been Bro's friend forever. Actually, his wife was Tif's very first babysitter when she was only 2 mnths old! I'll always remember her, cuz one time when I went to her house to pick Tif up, J was in the rocking chair, rocking Tif. I said 'What's the matter? Is my baby crabby??'. J just smiled up at me, and 'shushed' me, and whispered "No, she's sweet...I just woke her up so I could rock her back to sleep." Awwww...now tell me...was that not an "awwww" moment, or what???

So I was sleeping, well, lazing on & off all morning today, and Bro called & said he was gonna stop by for a while. So, yes, I did drag my lazy ass outta bed (it WAS noon, after all!), and I was out here when he got here! He was bringing my presents over from his house, cuz we forgot them. One of mine is a super-cool hand held toy called 20 Q. I love it! I've been sitting here playing it all day!! It's like a thing that asks you 20 questions while you're trying to 'stump' it...and this damn thing wins so much it's almost spooky!!

And he & his family gave me a gift cert for ebay that'll definitely last all year! I just totally love them, did I ever say that? Everybody must, he's got so many friends that were his friends in high school even! Even out in Scottsdale when he called on my b'day (& his anniversary), he was out riding dirt bikes with one of his friends that lives here and out there! And it's someone he graduated with too! ...so much for all the screaming of the parents about the world going to hell in a handbasket because of 'rock & roll'! Yeah, I guess he was kinda a 'hippie' cuz he always kept his hair longer than Mom & Dad wanted...but "tough cookies", which Bro always said when I was around...I was sure even then that it was a euphemism...

And someone else gave me a carton of cigarettes. Which is nice...(not thinking about quitting right at the moment...I wish I was, but...life's sucky enough now, so why aggravate it??) ...I just looked up after I opened it, and said "He's trying to kill me, isn't he?". Nahhh, I don't think so. I actually got a gift card to Certified from a friend who knows just how much I go there and 'candy shop'!

And, now I've got a real 'grand-dog'! She's 7 weeks old today, and she's teeny! And clumsy! She tries to run across the floor, and trips over her feet, and does somersaults! She's half Jack Russell, and half some other little dog......I'll put pictures on in the next day or so! Tif named her 'Lily'...it fits her perfectly!

And Santa loaded me up with Twizzlers (a HUGE box of 'em!!), and hot chocolate flavored Hershey kisses!

I got Tif the pink tool set she's wanted for years...she sat here holding it, and said, "Now I wanna go fix something!" lol!

So, what did everyone else get?

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

no name....

I swear if I ever see this look on Truman's face, I'll know it's my last 30 seconds on earth, cuz the scary guy behind me with my ginsu knife is gonna filet my throat! I'm not even going to have time to tell him to do it in the bathtub so he doesn't get blood all over the carpet! sheesh!

And, hey, correct me if I'm wrong, but this looks an awful lot like JimmyB's (conservative uaw guy) dog...hmmmmm...wonder what he's having for Christmas dinner?
And this one, well, I'm not even worthy of putting words together to make a caption...












Well, this Christmas season is now looking up. *teehee*.
It's all because I had a Festivus miracle tonight!! You know a big part of the Festivus celebration is 'the airing of the grievances' of the year, right? Well, all kinds of 'em got aired tonight during wrapping of Tif's gifts (tifs gifs...haha)...but, it's gonna be a long year til next Festivus...'nuff said...
So...I'm totally done with getting everything ready and organized, as far as who's going where, and when...
The Midget football cheerleaders came over this afternoon, and they each gave me a little poinsettia, which was so sweet! I felt bad cuz I didn't have anything for them. Then they were out in the kitchen looking out the back window at something, and coming back in, I heard Aub open the freezer....so I yelled, "You can eat everything in there except my peppermint stick ice cream!" All I heard was giggles...
They did come in here & say they were kinda bored (teenagers are ALWAYS bored on Sundays...I was too! Til I got old enough to go get drunk on Sat night and had to stay in bed & recover the next day.). So Aub said she wanted to do my laundry (!), and maybe run the dishwasher. I told her no thanks to both, cuz neither one needed done, and then I told her to sit down, I was afraid she had a fever or bumped her head or something. She said no she didn't, she just wanted to do something. Then she got up and starting running my 'Swivel Sweeper'! I looked at the other one and said 'I should take a picture of her & send it to her mom, huh?' Because I totally remember those days of being a young teenager too....it was nothing but fun to clean...someone else's house, never your mom & dad's!
It was SO windy here today! It sounded like there were people upstairs walking around, banging on the walls! The girls were saying 'someone's up there!' I said no, that's just the wind, don't worry about it. Then there was a big gust of wind, and Aub said, 'I'll go check for ya, I think there is someone there'. I said, "Okay, if you insist. I'll be down here, ready to call 911 if you start screaming." Ha....she came back & said well, you're probably right...
BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

Huckabee's chances in Iowa...

All right, I KNOW that tongue is so disturbing & wrong...but he could always ask Santa for a needle & thread, so his Mommy can sew his tongue back together!!

Okay, I've been meaning to get to Huckabee for days, and I haven't, just because I've had ZERO energy for the last few days...suffice it to say, it's the worst Christmas I've ever been through...thank God for good friends, you all know who you are!!

I do have an opinion question for everyone here, though...Do you make new year's resolutions? If so...has ANYONE ever kept one longer than a few months at the most?? I resolved a few years ago to NEVER make another resolution...voila! Haven't broken THAT one yet!!

Maybe the damn weather's a big part of my attitude...we HAD a few inches of snow...(that still makes me snicker...a few inches)...and it's gone now (even funnier!). And, yes, of course I still laugh at fart jokes, okay??? Doesn't everybody?? I guess that's what made me a good mom. Well...I guess that'll make me even a better grandma! And, no, not happening!

Has anyone seen 'Final Destination 1 & 2'? I love these movies! They're just creepy!! Or 'Jeepers Creepers'? Now THAT was a creepy movie!! If you've seen it, you'll know what I'm talking about here...At the time Tif & I rented it to watch, she was working at a video rental store towards the outside edge of town..these 2 or 3 little boys came running in the store, and screamed "WE JUST FOUND A DEAD BODY!!!" True...there was a dead man in the culvert beside the road, and the news from Columbus was up here with their microphones in her face, etc till she called 911! He turned out to be a homeless man who had most likely crawled in there to get warm, which is the saddest thing of all. Then we watched that movie, which would've been bad enough, but then she was driving somewhere a day later, & a truck came up behind her, honking its horn, steadily! Not a beep-beep, but a HOOONNNKKKK-HOOONNNNNKKKK!!

Okay...back to Huckabee...

"Our nation was birthed in a spirit of faith - not a prescriptive one telling us whether to believe, but one acknowledging that a providence pervades our world."

He has some really good stuff like this on his page. Well, I'm not totally sure that link worked, but I think it did.

" In this age of terror, immigration is not only an economic issue, but also a national security issue. Those caught trying to enter illegally must be detained, processed, and deported. As Governor, I ordered my state troopers to work with the Department of Homeland Security to arrest illegals and enforce federal immigration law. "

That's one of my biggest problems here in America...illegal immigration!! Why the HELL doesn't it matter to the people in charge of this country?? LEGAL immigration is great, wonderful, I'm flattered that I live in this great country that so many are fighting to get into, not out of!!

"Second Amendment rights belong to individuals, not cities or states. I oppose gun control based on geography."

I know many disagree with me on this...so what...you don't need to have a gun to agree with this...I just want to be able to get one if I so decide!

"Our massive deficit is not due to Americans' being under-taxed, but to the government's over-spending."

Hear, hear, MIKE!!

BoUnCeS!! LibbY

Thursday the 20th...countdown!

...politics...

HAHAHAHA!!

...Oh, if it was only THAT EASY this year?? I kinda wish I could photoshop the Hitler pic into a Hitlery pic!! Honestly, the major Democrats are sounding more like the socialist party now....they seem to feel that they know how to spend your money better than you, and that is SO WRONG on SO MANY LEVELS!! You can't have a gun (for God's sake, you'll shoot your eye out!)...you can't smoke, you might get lung cancer....you can't sell transfat foods, someone might eat them and get fat...you have to post the calorie contents of each food in a fast food place right in front of the customers' faces, so that even if they don't want to see it, "I'll tell them!!". What is it about Democrats that makes them think people need to be 'taken care of' from cradle to grave? Some people think that's fair....WHAT?? What gives them the right to just coast along in life, not working or anything, just 'being taken care of'? Okay, I know that at the minute, I have not much friggin' right to say anything, I'm on disability for life for ms...but before that, I worked my ASS off, even if it was for minimum wage...I had a one-year old daughter to raise and take care of! So when I could tell that minimum wouldn't be enough, what did I do? Not quit and get welfare so I could stay home with my girl (and have more babies?). No...I took over another department and took a transfer so I would make more money. So I'd NEVER have to be sitting at home on welfare while I was healthy enough to work!

People say now "You can't raise a family on minimum wage now!" Excuse me! That is NOT what minimum wage jobs are FOR!! First of all, you should have a better job than that before you have a family to raise! Of course, there are unforeseen circumstances (like divorce...), but..and a lot of times you can work your way up into a good promotion...with hard WORK!

Second...you never COULD raise a family on minimum wage!! It was never supposed to be there for that! Isn't it supposed to be for teenagers who work part-time after school? Or anybody that works part-time?

I'll get to McCain, Huckabee, & Romney tomorrow...this was just a rant!

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

Monday night/Tues morning

Ever look back on your life and know that you zigged when you shoulda zagged? *sigh*

So...now I'm 43...so old that my social security number begins with a zero..and all that crap...is it mandatory to feel like shit for a couple hours on every birthday past 40??

And that's really wrong to feel like that, cuz I really had a good birthday! Joe brought me the coolest lighthouse picture today, & made me a cool card from Wolf to Jacky, Tif knitted me a scarf that's gorgeous! And an ebay gift certificate, a Hello Kitty pajama set, a tv, other stuff that''s cool...and the very coolest thing....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tif's bf took her to the winter wonderland at the Col zoo tonight (they had 3 million lights all over...very cool!), and he proposed to her there!! And, of course she said YES!! They came back here afterwards, and I don't think I've ever seen a bigger, happier, goofier smile on any guy's face in my life!! And his sister was there, hiding in the bushes videotaping the whole proposal!! She's gonna make dvd's for all of us for Christmas!

Maybe that's why I felt so crappy for a while...now I know the big "G-word" (as in grandma) is one step closer...I'm so scared of that!

"...I wanna go back. Back to the rocking horse...back to where it all began...T-t-t-take me back to the rocking horse. Back to the rocking horse...and start all over again..."

Hell, that song used to make me cry when I was 22...precognition, perhaps?

Anyway...Bro called me from Arizona tonight to tell me happy birthday. And I got to tell him and his wife happy 31st anniversary! They got married on my 12th birthday! That was SO cool! I remember Bro asking me before they scheduled it if I minded that, and I said, "NO~!! That'd be neat!!" I never understood why it would bother me!? And...Tif's bf...ok, fiance!...his mom & dad's anniversary is today, too!

Do you ever hear your grandma's voice in your head, saying a favorite quote? I do..."Too soon old, too late smart."

All right, gotta go...

Droops.....LibbY!

...politics...

Okay...now I'm really, totally done shopping! I swear! hehehe...Tif came over and took me to WalMart yesterday. I wanted to get something else for Mom. So I got her a really warm, like down-filled throw, since she always talks about being cold there. And then we went past an end display of stuffed reindeer(s) in rocking chairs with big goofy grins, and you squeezed their hands, and they'd rock and the song...you guessed it...'Grandma Got Run Over...' played! We were like two little teeny kids, squeezing each one's hand til we had all of 'em rocking & singing. Fun! So then we had to buy one, of course! Then we came back here, had McDonalds, and Tif went out to the nursing home cuz she had painted Mom's fingernails last week and all the other women wanted her to do theirs too...and Tif took the reindeer, so Mom'll have it for awhile before Christmas.

I've been watching the presidential debates the last couple days on tv, and, the first one on Wednesday, was the Republicans, and it was, well, the most boring thing since 'un-sliced bread'! The moderator was this woman who acted like a strict, uptight librarian or first-grade teacher! She absolutely held them strictly to the time limit they'd been given...so much so that I almost expected to see her pull out a ruler & smack the person on the hand if they went over it! And I guess there were rules for stuff she wouldn't ask about (Iraq, etc)! WTF?? And...Alan Keyes was in it! Comic relief, I guess...Seriously, I didn't even know he was running! Did anyone else? I thought the best part was when she asked them to raise their hand if they thought there was global warming happening, and Fred Thompson said 'I'm not doing any hand-raising...will you give me the time to talk about this?' And she said no, and he said, well, I'm not doing it. hahaha! Unruly child! (I bet that's what she was thinking anyway! She looked disapproving...). But, anyway...

In my opinion, Mitt won the debate, with Mike Huckabee coming in a close second. Maybe I'm biased cuz I like both of them, but...McCain did do good at pointing out that he had the most experience (?...yes...and that sucks, poor guy) dealing with enemies...but, in my opinion...these enemies aren't even close to the ones he had to deal with, one-on-one! Most don't even have a country, they have a religion, they don't care where they practice it!

As for the Democrats' debate Thursday...to me, that was even more boring! Some had some good stuff to say, but, mostly, you could tell it's down to Hillary vs Obama...Obama has Oprah on his side...Hillary has her mom & daughter. And, you hafta be realistic...if it gets any tougher for her, we'll see a commercial on tv for her with Bill Clinton.

So...we're supposed to get a whole bunch of snow tomorrow...our area is supposed to get 5 to 8 inches of snow...hehehehe...don't guys always promise 8 inches? (promises, promises...)...sorry...I have a gutter mind...

I just can't wait for real snow!! That's always my best birthday present!!

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

2nd post today...

Rickshaws against global warming!

Did I not have a blog about how good this would be for the weight problem a long time ago??? Put "rickshaw in the 'search blog' space! Here's the link to the news story!
http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/12/10/508015.aspx

Monday the 10th...

...and the countdown goes on...

Let this be a lesson...karma kills!

Okay, well, it's really shitty outside today...foggy, icy rain, just a total yuk day! I just checked...it's 33 degrees out. It's days like this that make me glad I'm not a mail delivery person! lolol!

Speaking of mail, I got 2 of the things I ordered today...they're really great! Don't you love it when something you ordered gets to you on time, if not earlier than expected, and it's absolutely perfect for the people you got it for? I also got a special announcement of the Barry Manilow concert coming up in Cleveland. But, dammit, I'm not gonna make it...I honestly DO wish I could...I still like him! *shrug*.

Does anyone ever wish there were still the old Bugs Bunny cartoons on every Saturday morning? I even used to rent those instead of movies at the video store, cuz I laughed harder at those than anything!

I called Mom this afternoon. She's doing well, still hates doing physical therapy, but does it every day, which is great. And I had to giggle, cuz a nurse came in and gave her a menu for the next 3 weeks, and she was looking at it to see what looked good. Kinda reminded me of, like, when you're a little kid in school, and the lunch menu gets passed out for the next week, and everybody looks it over to see when they want to buy, and when they're having something gross and you know you're gonna bring a peanut butter sandwich instead!

She said some of the stuff looked good...and then said she's eating more..."that either means they're cooking better, or I'm hungrier, I guess" hahahaha!! I think she's getting much better at 'smart-assness', don't you? Yeah, I'm taking the credit for that!

But she is still a "high-maintenance" woman, which I'm definitely not! She was telling me that she always sits with 2 or 3 other women at lunch & dinner, and one or the other of them is always sending something back to the kitchen. What?? I can see doing that at a restaurant, but I think I'd be a little bit 'wary' of sending food back cuz I want it done different if the people doing the cooking worked side-by-side with the people that were in charge of taking care of my health day in and day out!! And, no, I didn't mention that...I'm not gonna 'upset the apple cart' here! :-\

But, yes, she's doing well, and we're all looking forward to Christmas at Bro's!

Hey, I don't think I ever said anything more about the SMC stuff that I got suckered into signing up for. Well, I sent the whole thing of stuff back UPS within 10 days (I had 30 days to change my mind about it!). And I did everything the recording said I had to, sent the box to this address, wrote a letter and sent it to that address...then I got a letter in the mail that said I needed to send my return ship # and all that stuff, they would keep billing $40 a month until they got it! That pissed me off! Like they hadn't already made it hard enough to get out of it already! So I called Visa, and told the cust svc rep I talked to about it, and he said 'let me try to call them for you'. I gave him the "returns" phone number, and told him good luck trying to get someone to talk to. I sat there on hold with him for about ten or fifteen minutes while he tried, and he came back on, and was pretty jerked at them himself by then! So he said he was taking all the charges off my bill, starting back in August when they started, and that would take care of it, I shouldn't hear from them again, and if I did, call him back! That's all it took...no more snail mail, no more email...take THAT Tom Bosley!!

Geez, I had something last night that I was gonna write about, but I have absolutely no idea what it was. I was up most of the night reading the MSN Money webpage that had a message board about the worst Christmas presents people ever got...there were 3,xxx messages there!! Most were funny, some were sad...

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

Dec 6...

How gross is this?? Pardon me while I retch...

...anyway...how's everybody doing with their Christmas shopping? At the risk of feeling waves of hatred radiating worldwide over my computer...I'm pretty much done! Well...at least I got one box of stuff from drugstore.com today. Pretty good...ordered Dec 3, here Dec 6! Can't ask for any more, well, yeah, free shipping...oh, yeah, I got that too! You can usually find something to help out somehow here...free shipping, % off, lots of stuff, lots of stores!

Has anyone out there ever been a big loser on an investment or anything? Not a bet, or a gamble (well, I guess the stock market is one way to gamble...), but, like, say you've been investing in this one stock faithfully for years and years, and you thought you knew the product better than almost anyone on earth...then all of a sudden one evening, you open your eyes and find out it's tanked. Gone, finished, completely closed down, liquidated. Huh...now isn't that a pisser? Been investing the better years of your life in this stock, and now it is no more? And here you thought your future was safe & secure, and now you're on your ass and have to figure out what else to do now.

Okay...just thinking...also decided tonight with Joe that we belong on the island of misfit toys...he's a 'Joe-in-the-Box'...I'm the little red wagon with square wheels...I guess we're making progress..remember when we were 'Jaded & Bitter'? But it was a whole helluva lot more fun as Jacky & Wolf!...

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

TOTAL FLUFF!!!

How freakin' flattering is this to read when you're getting old, and all??

Okay...my Christmas shopping is, for the most part, finished!! It was different...I had to 'budget' a lot this year, which, well, hasn't been done much in the last 20 years, but, I really don't think the people I'm getting gifts for give much of a shit how much anybody spends on them...no, I know they don't, that's the blessing of being able to choose the people in your life!! Except for your family, but I've, for the most part, been very lucky in that regard...I hafta remember that every family in the world has a psycho in somebody's opinion, and, who knows, the rest of my family just might regard me as the psychotic one!!

Anyway, I'm going to put links to some of the places you can buy almost anything funny at...and, what's better at Christmastime than laughing? Or anytime, for that matter...

http://www.collectionsetc.com/ This place has a lot of neat stuff, their big selling point is "nothin' over $20!" This is where I got my upside down Christmas tree!

http://www.thingsyouneverknew.com/website/store/promotion.asp?source_code=qj&entry=cj&AID=10274748&PID=457732&SID=cc

This is a great place to get the "things you never knew existed"! I am so hooked on catalogs I get in the mail, from these to Victoria's Secret! Because, no matter how much they have in the book, there's five times as much on their websites, and there's usually a lot of stuff that's not in the book! Plus special web deals!

http://www.whatonearthcatalog.com/

And this is my very FAVORITE!! They have the very best sweatshirts in the world, tlp, you agree, don't you? Cuz I happen to know that last year she bought everybody shirts, even herself...hers was the one that said "I'm not bossy, I just know what you should be doing". I just double-checked...at the moment, they have 873 different designs that you can buy, most of them you can choose as a t-shirt or a sweatshirt, which is the BEST!! Some of the best are "Yet despite the look on my face, you're still talking"...I see that on Christine...and, "Heavily medicated for your protection"...me..."Forget the therapist...you need an exorcist!"...I don't know anyone who couldn't use that one! And, for heaven's sake, where else can you find a Hillary Clinton nutcracker that cracks nuts between her legs?? I bet someone'll be selling those on ebay in the future!

http://www.harrietcarter.com/ This place has a lot of stuff, not usually fun, goofy stuff, but every once in a while, there's something around the house in there that's neat, like the Vidalia Onion Slicer!

http://www.carolwrightgifts.com/cwg_v2/cwg_layout_base2.cfm?mid_sec_page=cwg_mid_sec&key=55119201&CFID=11142393&CFTOKEN=ff98d97f60aa37fb-ABF84A52-1372-67B9-48FE640D8FE5DAD5&jsessionid=2a30bf5a9021166a5a7a

This has more stuff for around your house, too, but it's fun to browse around in! I think it has the Vidalia Onion Chopper too. By far, What On Earth is the best!! Oh, I forgot...there's always

http://www.drugstore.com/

I always buy "Burt's Bees" brand stuff from here, that stuff is really good! And one of the funniest things they have is in the 'lip gloss' category...Chicken Poop lip gloss!

Okay, I guess I hafta go do something around here...oh! We got snow last night...maybe an inch or so.

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

Sunday night/Monday morning...first one in December!

YAY!!! We're on the way to being #1 again!!! It's been an awesome football weekend!! Not only are the Buckeyes going to the national championship game, the Pittsburgh Steelers kicked the shit out of the Cincy Bengals...sorry, x! *teehee*! And last night the Blue Jackets beat the Calgary Flames 4 - 3...does it get any better than this?? Yay for winter sports!! Nascar just doesn't do it for me...

I got a case of those Clementines today (tangerines)...I love those! I wait all year for those!! They're so easy to peel...they were called 'zipperskins' when I was a produce manager, in another life...

And almost no seeds! I've already eaten 3, but only 1 had seeds in it...

I'm watching the TLC tv show, 'Jon & Kate + 8'. Holy crap, I'm SO glad I never saw anything like this before I had Tif when I was 18! For those who've never seen this, it's about a couple that has 6-year old twins, and 3-year old sextuplets!! All it does is make me thank God I stopped with one!! I remember Mom following me down the hallway at the hospital from the delivery room to the recovery room, and her saying "It's a girl!! I bet she treats you like you treated me!!" (of course, my mom wouldn't say anything 'bitey' like that under normal circumstances, but...). And I told her right that minute "She's gonna be an only child!!" She just kinda said, 'Oh, Libby, everyone says that at this point!' Ha! Let me ask you...is Tif an only child?? Come on! It's not bad enough that it was more physical pain than I had ever felt in my life, but, ya still hafta raise the baby!!?? Geez...I still, to this day, 24 years later, well, my ribs ache when it's cold & rainy, cuz her feet were tucked up under them! Actually...they feel like that now, cuz it's been nothing but raining today, and it's in the upper 40's/lower 50's now! And it thundered earlier, which is so much crap! I WANT SNOW!!

I'm not in the mood to write about much serious stuff today...I think that qualifies me as a "fluff blog" This has actually been a "fluff weekend" here at home too! I meant to make egg salad today, cuz I love that stuff...did I make it? Hell no! All I've been doing is eating junk food, & reading, and watching tv. I seriously ate a whole f*n bag of Bugles overnight last night! Also, 1/2 pint of 'Moose Tracks' ice cream!! I really need to eat a lot of the pints of ice cream in the freezer, cuz...I need to make room for the peppermint stick ice cream that I always have on my birthday this month! Gahhhh...oink, oink!

Bro called me this afternoon to tell me that they're going to make sure they get me out to his house on Christmas Day, any time of the day I want out there, he's having Christmas dinner, and he said I should come out as early as possible for the whole Christmas morning stuff! He is SUCH an awesome brother/dad/husband/uncle! And he said he wanted to tell me not to get them anything...I said "Not even towels or something?", and he's like "NOTHING! I mean it! All we want is for you to be here!" Oh...what in the world have I done to deserve him? I know his kids have always felt like this about him too....he's just fun to be around! All four of his kids stay at his house on Christmas eve, isn't that cool? They're 30 down to 16. The 16-year old still lives at home, but the others all have their own houses in town. Last year Christmas eve, they were getting ready to sack out, and even though there's like 5 or 6 bedrooms, they're laying in the back half of the living room under the pool table!! (which is ENORMOUS!). Oh, and Bro & wife's 32nd anniversary is on my birthday, the 17th. And, you know what? I'll put money on it that Bro's wearing a pair of Teva sandals, the tire tread kind, on Christmas, because he was wearing a pair on Thanksgiving!

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!