Army of Mom

The Scientist

2008-05-16T16:26:00.001-05:00

I love this song. I'm on a Cold Play kind of mood today, I think. I'm starting to mellow from the stress a bit.

Come up to meet you, tell you I'm sorry
You don't know how lovely you are.
I had to find you, tell you I need you,
Tell you I set you apart.

Tell me your secrets and ask me your questions,
Oh lets go back to the start.
Running in circles, Comin' up Tails
Heads on a science apart.

Nobody said it was easy,
It's such a shame for us to part.
Nobody said it was easy,
No one ever said it would be this hard.

Oh take me back to the start.

I was just guessin' at numbers and figures,
Pulling your puzzles apart.
Questions of science, science and progress
Do not speak as loud as my heart.

And tell me you love me, come back and haunt me
Oh and I rush to the start.
Runnin' in circles, Chasin' up Tails
Comin' back as we are

Nobody said it was easy,
Oh it's such a shame for us to part.
Nobody said it was easy,
No one ever said it would be so hard.

I'm goin' back to the start.

Everybody was kung fu fighting

2008-05-16T15:59:00.004-05:00

Last night, Little Bit earned her yellow belt in American Karate. She was very proud of herself. It was really sweet. She studied pretty hard this week in preparation of knowing her terms and information about karate and knowing her techniques, too. She is the smallest kid at her classes, so she is always getting attention. It is too cute.

SPF: Lyrics

2008-05-16T07:16:00.004-05:00

So, this week the Stuff Portrait Friday assignment was to illustrate a song lyric. I had been motivated until some troll ticked me off, so I didn't do anything last night. I got on the laptop briefly and looked through old images and found something that made me think of "Slip Sliding Away" by Simon & Garfunkel:
Slip sliding away, slip sliding away
You know the nearer your destination, the more you slip sliding away

My Indiana in-laws laugh at pictures like these. We don't have a need for sleds here except maybe once or twice a year, so we make do with laundry baskets. Kids still love it. :) This was in 2007. No ice storms this year for basketing down the driveway. This year, we got real snow. :)
And, Coolio's "Sumpin New". Pretty obvious, sorry.
Slide, slide, but that's the past ...
So, did you play? Go to Random and Odd and see who played.

Say what you mean and mean what you say

2008-05-15T08:49:00.002-05:00

I really need to think about what I say before I say it.

On Sunday at the Rangers game, Little Bit finished up her popsicle and asked what to do with the stick. Throw it down, I said, meaning to drop it on the ground. Instead, she launched it about four rows down. Thankfully, she hit an empty seat.

*shaking my head*

This morning, Hot Rod was finishing up a project on Venus and needed to pull his report off the spiral notebook (which has those little perforated thingees on the side, so you can pull it out nicely. So, he asks me how to get his paper off and I reply, tear it off. Next thing I know, he is asking for scissors because he is making his paper look tacky. What? Bring it here. Sure enough, he was ripping the paper in the middle (not at the perforations.) You told me to rip it out, he says.

Gees Louise. You'd think being a writer would teach me not to speak so literally to children. As Bill Engvall would say, here's my sign.

Career Day

2008-05-14T21:20:00.002-05:00

In the morning, I go to Hot Rod's school to try and engage about two-dozen third-graders with the glamorous life of a freelance writer.

*insert the Imperial March here*

Yeah, that is sort of how I feel. Marching to my own long, slow, torturous demise. *deep sigh* Nah, it really won't be that bad. Actually, I do this each year and most of the time, the children are pretty engaging and ask a lot of questions.

Then again, I regale them with tales of stupid teenagers walking along train tracks in the rain and fog and exploding when a train hits them. Or I share the story of the bum who got hit by three different cars and my next-door neighbor, the EMT, picking up the pieces on the highway. Occasionally, I share stories of oil field explosions and bomb threats. All great fun for 9-year-old boys.

I will tell them about fun stuff I've gotten to do like hang out with penguins at SeaWorld or ride in a pace car at 120 mph on Texas Motor Speedway. Then, of course, I tell them about the importance of meeting deadlines, spelling, fact checking. But, that is the boring part. :)

I was looking around for a tip sheet on ways to engage children with a career day presentation as a writer - last year I followed an electrician who showed kids exploding stuff and a fire truck was coming up after me - gees. Anyway. I found a column by a St. Louis Post Dispatch columnist about his experiences with career day. Good stuff. I think he nailed how I feel right on the head!

Wish me luck. This is going to be like herding cats, I think.

Hurt

2008-05-14T12:10:00.001-05:00

Army of Dad and I love this version of Hurt. We like NIN, too, but Johnny Cash does it so well. It is sort of appropriate for us right now. Brave faces or not. I know I'm hurting. I know he has to be, too. Yeah, things could be worse, we know. But, they really do suck. *sigh*

Baseball Tonight

2008-05-12T23:02:00.002-05:00

Sunday I celebrated Mother's Day at the Rangers game. It couldn't be a better way for me to mark the occasion. We even got rhinestone-studded Rangers caps for me and Little Bit at the game. I'll post those pics later, but there are two plays from tonight's baseball games that were great. If you missed Sports Center, you have to go see the unassisted triple play and Cuddyer's crazy catch.

Fat or Phat?

2008-05-12T22:11:00.003-05:00

Of course, leave it to Army of Dad to find a blog with a gun-totin' conservative hot chick. That is pretty much right up his alley. He even told me about the nasty comments that were directed at her where she got into a political debate with some folks and instead of arguing points, they sank to the "you're fat" level of playground politics.

*sigh*

It might be different if she were, oh, let's say, fat. But, she's not. I think most guys would think she's pretty hot unless they're those guys who think Kate Moss is hot. This gal might be phat (pretty hot and tempting - see, I'm on the low down with some stuff, *snort*) but not fat. Anyway. She's cute and I don't see my honey kicking her out of bed if given the shot.

A rose by any other name ...

2008-05-12T22:02:00.002-05:00

This is what I call a Mother's Day gift. Little Bit, Hot Rod and Pickle helped Army of Dad select some flowers and a caladium for my back garden (which has been sorely neglected by me) for my gift. On Sunday morning, the two little ones helped dad fix the garden. Army of Dad thought this picture was funny because I'm on the phone (my FIL called to wish me Happy Mother's Day) and Hot Rod is being a clown. Little Bit is cute always.

These roses are in my back yard. They have a special place in my heart because they came from a cutting from my mother's rosebush, which came from a cutting from the rosebush in my late Granny's yard. I was telling the kids this story and they decided that they want rosebushes from this, too, when they have homes. I think we can arrange that.

Sic 'em, Bears!

2008-05-12T21:53:00.002-05:00

Yep, only missing two other gals to have completed the Baylor roomie reunion on Saturday. One gal is MIA somewhere on the Left Coast. I think I last heard she was in Oregon, but she sort of intentionally lost touch with us after she got divorced, went into treatment for bulemia (and got help for being molested as a child by her uncle and then getting blamed for it as an adult by her grandmother when she told). *sigh* But, that is a whole other story. We missed her and wish we could find her. Then, another roomie didn't really want to participate, but that is sort of expected. She was always a bit fickle. Regardless. We had a great time. In addition to the tasty food of Chuy's and tres leches cake that made me almost orgasmic, the company and conversation were good. It was really fun to see them again. We all sort of fell back into our roles. The smart gal (the blonde) was a Tri-Delt. She is now a high school math teacher. The black gal was always resourceful and now she's a business owner (with two businesses). And, then, there's me - in the middle - which is pretty typical. I was always in the middle of everything - the boisterous joker who was never afraid of laughing loudly and cracking a joke. Good stuff. We have to do this more often than once every 17 years.

Losing my Religion

2008-05-12T21:48:00.003-05:00

Yeah, this was the view as I drove by the AAC on the way home from Houston on Mother's Day. Despite being down two games to the *shuddering violently* Red Wings, I was going to keep on singing my Journey song (psst, Army of Dad, it is an old 80s band and the song is Don't Stop Believin'). But, alas, I'm not thinking I have that much faith left these days. *sigh* Yeah, Subby, Bite me.

Burning Up for Your Love

2008-05-12T21:12:00.004-05:00

Looking at these pictures is kind of grim. My honey's favorite car in shambles. *sigh* His favorite CD, given to him for our 10th anniversary, forever lodged into the gnarled up dashboard.
Nothing will make you forget aches and pains more than seeing your honey sitting behind the wheel as the car begins to burn. I was about 200-300 yards away (it is a sort of blur now) when Army of Dad got behind the wheel of the car to try and move it off the roadway (the stupid, but nice, lady he hit had initially refused to move her car off the road, so about 30 minutes later, we got her to agree to move after the 911 operator and insurance folks on the phone told her to move). Anyway, I'm across a field when I see flames under the car. I try to dial AoD and he keeps rejecting the call because he's busy. So, I know he doesn't know its on fire. So, then, I just start running like Forrest Gump. Now, not normally a big deal, unless you have a burning, searing bone spur in your left foot that is scheduled for surgery on May 28. But, I didn't even think about my foot hurting. I just took off like a bat out of hell to get my honey out of the car. About the time I'm in shouting range of him, the flames are now popping out of the top of the car and he realizes that the damn thing is on fire and gets out.

The kids thought it was great fun to see the fire truck come and put out dad's car. I have never actually seen a car melt before. Literally melt. That is messed up. All this from a fender bender. The Dodge Dakota that AoD hit was barely damaged. This car wasn't so bad till the fire. I mean, it was going to need some serious work, but damn. So, we spent much of today car shopping. *sigh* I hate buying a car almost as much as I hate going to the dentist and that is a lot.

Muffins with Mom

2008-05-12T21:09:00.003-05:00

Mom and Little Bit self-portrait at Muffins with Mom at Little Bit's school on Friday morning. Of course, she didn't eat too many muffins, but it was great fun. She delighted in mom getting all choked up when the teacher read I Love You Forever for circle time. Pickle has this book and when he was little, he would pull it out and giggle because he knew I could never make it all the way through the book without crying. Of course, when the mom turned into a stalker, it was sort of creepy, but still brings tears every time I hear it.

Leapin' lizards

2008-05-12T21:07:00.001-05:00

This little fella and a buddy were hanging out in our back yard last week. Little Bit had a giant fit of excitement at watching them run and scamper in the yard. These were some pretty big ones, too. Not used to seeing these in our yard. This one was hiding in the wood pile.

Happy Mother's Day

2008-05-11T22:52:00.003-05:00

Ok, I'm late ... been one of those weekend. What can I say?

This is from Mother's Day 2007. My hometown paper ran this picture in the last issue along with a little write-up I did on the fly about my mom. That was sort of a nice surprise.

But, anyway. I had a good Mother's Day. I'll have pictures later. Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there. :)

Can't win for losing

2008-05-10T01:03:00.002-05:00

I think Army of Dad may be one of the unluckiest people in the world right now. Bless his heart. Tonight, on his way to reffing soccer games, he had a little fender bender. Only it was more than his fender that was bent. He hit a truck from behind and his car when under it and totally screwed it up.

But, it gets worse. Yeah, it does.

When he was starting the car to move it out of the roadway, the damn thing caught on fire. Not just a little spark, but flames coming out the bottom and through the top. At first, he didn't see the flames on the bottom and I was trying to call him, but he wasn't answering. So, I took off running across several hundred yards, because I was afraid he wouldn't see the flames and the damn car would explode on him. He assured me that the car wouldn't have exploded, but I didn't care.

The fire truck came and put it out and then a wrecker hauled it off. We're assuming it is a total loss. Crappy thing is I put the car payment in the mail today. To-frigging-day. We also filled it up this afternoon, too. New windshield wipers a week or so ago. New brakes and tires a few months ago. *sigh* And, hubby really liked it. We always get basic cars, but this one had a really cool rally package - or whatever they call it - with the speaker boosters and cool racing stripes and fin on the back. Neat little car.

*sigh*

I really hope my sweetie's luck changes. He does have a job interview on Wednesday. Say a prayer, cross your fingers, do a dance. I don't care; we just need some good luck our way.

SPF: How I get my music

2008-05-08T22:49:00.001-05:00

Yep. I get it from YouTube most of the time. I have no Ipod or MP3 player. I'm so mistreated. *sigh* So, no clever picture or anything good. Just Kanye West and Daft Punk to entertain you musically. Ironically, my daughter is doing a "robot" dance in tap to the Daft Punk song. LOL

So, did you play?

Excitement in suburbia

2008-05-08T21:09:00.002-05:00

Nothing gets a neighborhood excited like a good scandal. Driving Little Bit home from karate tonight when I'm passed by a cop running with his lights going. He beeped his siren at me to warn me he was coming around.

He turned on the next street over from mine. We're just a two street neighborhood and most of us know each other by car or looks if nothing else. So, I see the cop car driving down by where some friends of ours live. So, I drove on down. I'll be damned if there isn't three cop cars, a fire truck and an ambulance all in front of a house. Fortunately it wasn't either of my friends over there.

I stop and talk to some neighbors in their driveway watching the scene. We exchange what we know about the neighbors in that area. I was concerned in might have been the next house down where several toddlers and pre-schoolers live. I feared a kid being hit by a car. Then, I thought about the cop who lives in that area, too. Wasn't him, cuz I saw him out in the street a bit later.

Then, as I'm leaving to go back to wait for Pickle's karate to end when I see the cops blocking off both ends of the street out of my neighborhood. Then, the ambulance comes down. Next thing I know, CareFlite is landing in the field across the street from our neighborhood. They learned the hard way not to land in the street - last time they did that, they blew down a fence.

So, I couldn't see who was being loaded up in the helicopter and I needed to leave. Stopped and chatted with a few more sets of neighbors who were terribly disappointed that I didn't have the scoop on what happened.

Came home about two hours after the helicopter departed and there were still three cop cars at the house in question. So, I'm guessing there is some sort of crime scene there. Whether it was a violent domestic or what, I dunno. But, I'll be scouring the newspaper in the morning for something besides Dear Abby, the comics and the box scores.

Reasons No. 254 and 255 Why Life is Good

2008-05-08T14:18:00.002-05:00

You know, about the time I think my life is pretty crappy, there are things that pop up to remind me that it isn't that bad.

The other night, a friend called to warn us that her husband was suicidal and talked about ending his own life and, apparently, taking others down with him. She wanted us to know for our own safety.

Then, this morning, another friend (who is pregnant) emails me to let me know that she discovered her husband has been doing meth and he is starting an out-patient rehab program.

Suddenly, my husband looking for a job doesn't seem so bad. He isn't on a killing spree or doing drugs. *sigh* So, add Reason No. 256 why life is good and that is a job interview next Wednesday. Woo hoo. Say prayers, do a dance, light a candle. We'll take whatever you send.

Hot Rod in Goal

2008-05-08T13:53:00.001-05:00

There he is, my studly little keeper kiddo standing out as he likes to do. No soccer for a few weeks, which has been nice for all of us. We can save that gas and time, for one thing. But, it is good to have a break, too.

Poor Andy Morris

2008-05-08T11:51:00.002-05:00

Poor Londoner appeals to me for assistance and I turn my back. *sigh* What will the fella do now?

Kindest Attention:
My name is Mr.Andy Morris, I am from London . I have been diagnosed with Esophageal cancer. It has defiled all forms of medical treatment, and right now I have only about a few months to live, according to medical experts. I have not particularly lived my life so well, as I never really cared for anyone (not even myself)but my business. Though I am very rich, I was never generous, I was always hostile to people and only focused on my business as that was the only thing I cared for. But now I regret all this as I now know that there is more to life than just wantingto have or make all the money in the world. I believe when God gives me a second chance to come to this world I would live my life a different way from how I have lived it. Now that God has called me, I have willed and given most of my property and assets to my immediate and extended family members as well as few close friends .I want God to be merciful to me and accept my soul so, I have decided to give alms to charity organizations, as I want this to be one of the last good deeds Ido on earth. So far, I have Distributed money to some charity organizations in the U.A.E, Somalia and Malaysia.Now that my health has deteriorated so badly, I cannot do this myself anymore. I once asked members of my family to close one of my accounts and distribute the money which I have there to charity organization in Bulgaria and Pakistan, they refused and kept the money to themselves. Hence, I do not trust them anymore, as they seem not to be contended with what I have left for them. The last of my money which no one knows of is the huge cash deposit of Ten Million United States Dollars($10,000,000,00) that I have with a Finance Vaulting Unit Abroad. I will want you to help me collect this deposit and dispatch it to charity organizations.
N/B:Kindly note that 35% of this funds must go to the tsunami victims, 55% to other Charity Organization and 10% for your effort and time. Icannot talk with you on the phone due to my health situation, as I am using my Lap Top Computer to communicate with you. You should respond to this e-mail{andy_morris_79@hotmail.com} if you are interested in carrying out this assignment on my behalf.
God be with you.Mr. Andy Morris
Email:andy_morris_79@hotmail.com

I didn't edit any of this because that is part of what makes it so amusing. I can't quite select a favorite line of the email, but possibly one of the best was how the disease "defiled all forms of medical treatment." Yep, that may be it. *shaking my head* I just don't see how people fall for this shit.

On a lighter note

2008-05-07T22:38:00.002-05:00

I think a box of rocks may have a higher IQ than the combined three women pictured. Is it just me? Also, I think Gwyneth is cute in a knock-kneed girl kind of way. Liv is cute in that stupid girl kind of way and Maggie ... well, Maggie isn't very pretty to me. She looks like she should be sucking on a cig and tossing back beers at the honky tonk and hooking up with whatever guy bought her the last round. *shrug* Not that I have a lot of room to talk about women, but ... just saying is all.

You know you wanted it

2008-05-07T21:42:00.003-05:00

Occasionally, I am truly moved by writing. Sometimes, it is just compelling and you don't want to stop reading, even when the subject matter may be disturbing. You want to see how the story ends.

That was the case with the package of stories by Cleveland Plain Dealer reporter Joanna Connors. She wrote, in detail, about her rape and the aftermath in a five-part series. I can't begin to give this woman enough props for what she's done. First off, she prosecuted the SOB and sent him to prison. For that alone, I applaud her.

But, she has done more. She put it out there for everyone to see. Everyone, like me, who has been through it and been ashamed. Not really ashamed because it happened to me, but more ashamed because I truly feel like it was my fault because I was stupid.

Thinking about it today - while reading Ms. Connors' articles - it dawned on me that it was 20 years ago this spring when I was raped. And, I'll be damned if I don't still struggle with it - maybe more now than I did then.

I can still feel his breath in my ear and his hand on my throat. Relax. Relax, he said. You know you want it. Yeah, he actually said that, too. You know you do. Relax.

Oddly enough, it is a little hard to relax with your hand on my throat. Relax. I still hate it when people say that to me. Typing this right now, I feel like I'm going to throw up. Joanna Connors not only wrote down the small details, she wrote down almost all of the details. About what it feels like to wonder if you didn't fight enough. About feeling stupid. Embarrassed. Worried about disease.

For me, trust has been a huge issue. I was dating this man. We had gone out and had a great date, came back to my apartment, smooched a bit on my roommate's bed and then I fell asleep in his arms. I've always loved to sleep next to someone. It has been a comfort thing for me. Even my friends growing up, I loved to cuddle up next to them when I slept. Totally creeped out my best friend. :) But, she learned to live with me like that. It was something that made me feel safe, loved and relaxed (oddly enough). So, to fall asleep in his arms was something that made me feel protected.

He was tall and blond. Pretty cute in a dorky sort of way - I always had a thing for different kinds of guys. He was athletic without being a jock. I liked that about him. He reminded me of the elf who wanted to be a dentist on Rudolph. He wasn't threatening at all and I trusted him. He lived in the same apartment complex as me. Waking up with him on top of me, hand on my throat - I thrashed my body, tried to push him off with my arms, but he was stronger and clearly determined to get what he felt he was entitled to.

I don't remember much of what happened after he was done. I think he kissed me on the forehead. Whether he left then or the next morning, I don't remember. I do know he sent me a dozen red roses the next day. I gave them to a neighbor and didn't talk to him again.

I vaguely contemplated telling the police, but I knew what would be said. He's in bed with you, what did you think was going to happen? Earlier that year, a Baylor student visited some politico at his hotel room and she claimed to be raped. She was crucified by our peers and the media. What kind of harlot goes to a man's hotel room and doesn't expect to be sexually assaulted? If they did that to her, I'm certainly getting labeled a whore. So, I never reported it.

Anyway. I didn't intend to bring this up, but reading Connors' stories just brought it all the forefront. She wrote so incredibly about her experience. It was actually reassuring. I knew how she felt - how she feels. It made me feel better to see an educated woman who totally understands how I feel.

Give me a break

2008-05-06T22:28:00.002-05:00

Apaprently, there is some talk about banning girly mags on military bases.

There are all the moral arguments, one idiot's allegations that checking out an airbrushed naked chick in Playboy is somehow going to cause sexual assaults to rise. *rolling my eyes*

Personally, if my hubby were on some military base in Germany, I would prefer he take a Playboy into the latrine with him than to take his leave in town and pick up a cute little fraulein at the biergarten for a roll in the hay. *shrug* Silly ol' me.

I don't think checking out the unrealistic little gals in the magazines is going to cause the downfall of my marriage or family. Come on people.

Give the soldiers and military fellas a little sumpin from home to distract them while they're gone from their families for all that time. Gees.

Too late for apologies

2008-05-05T20:19:00.002-05:00

Sometimes, it is too late to say 'I'm sorry.' That is just all there is to it.

Apparently, this gal cried rape when her old man busted her boinking her boyfriend. Doing what most men would want to do if they thought someone was raping their wife, her husband shot and killed the man. Only, oops, it wasn't a rapist, but her boyfriend of two months.

Yeah, she must have missed the memo that reminds you NOT to have a boyfriend WHILE you're still married.

Anyway. Her husband was no-billed in the case, but she was convicted of manslaughter and is now in the sentencing phase of the trial. Damn. Women who cry rape sicken me. For those of us who have endured rape, it is insulting and it makes people doubt our accusations. Somewhere in the back of everyone's minds when they hear about a rape - in some teeny tiny part of their brain - they wonder if she's making it up. And, I blame women like Tracy Roberson. She didn't want to get busted by her husband. So, instead of fessing up and dealing with it (or having just left if things were that bad) she throws her lover under the bus and he dies as a result of his bad judgment of sleeping with a married woman (hello, dude, you live in Texas, what did you think was going to happen if you were caught?)

*shaking my head*

Nothing good will come from this. It is horribly tragic for all involved. But, maybe, some woman will think twice before crying rape falsely.