Raising Mom & Dad
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Goodbye Jesus
My dad turned 78 yesterday. I bought him a pair of good quality, name-brand tennis shoes. I've had shoes of the same brand before and I really liked them, so I had a happy little feeling in getting my dad a good, sturdy pair of shoes to replace the discount-store junk he usually wears.
I and my siblings have purchased tons of toys and accessories for Mom and Dad: A self-propelled lawnmower, a kayak, a gym membership, trendy clothes & jewelry, etc. I don't resent it; in fact I enjoy
*Sigh*
People drive me nuts. I know I'm not the smartest person around, but why is it that the people around me are idiots? Why don't they care to do their jobs the way they are supposed to? Frankly, I'd be embarrassed to go about my day the way some of these folks do.
I have my own job to do, and yet I'm constantly interrupted so I can help someone use their out of office reply or find Microsoft Word in their computer. How can anyone be that dense? They work here right along side
Hope is intoxicating.
It has passed the 90 degree mark at every horse show I've competed in this summer. Riding around in tall boots, breeches, long sleeved shirt with a collar appropriately dubbed a "choker", wool-blend coat, and black hunt helmet in 96 degrees is pure foolishness to most people. When I go to take the clothes off, they are sopping wet. I convinced a friend to bring her horse along a few weeks ago, and she looked as though she was melting before she even got on her horse
I have been invited to 3 baby showers this month. While I like these women and wish them the best, I can't help but feel used. As an intentionally unmarried, childless person, I do not put the strain on other people in the way of gifts for various milestones. The feeling I get is kind of like when you go to Pampered Chef or Partylite parties, but never hold one yourself. The host racks up extra goodies, depending on how much her guests spend on their overpriced items, and the only way to eve
One of my best friends lives in a run-down part of town with an alcoholic husband, in a house they most times don't bother to pay for. Nearly every choice they've made in the 7 years I've known them has been wrong. They are in debt up to their ears and do not seem to understand the concept of paying it back. Stolen cable fires up their rented big-screen TV. 20% of the natural cedar siding shows through the red barn paint on their dilapidated home.
My friend seldom leaves the yard. She'
One Hundred Years of Solitude sat atop my bookpile for 10 months before I picked it up to read the final 30 pages last week. I grew both interested and irritable at the way the author wove fantastic, supernatural events as part of a family's history.
I knew perfectly well that there were no flying carpet rides, that the most beautiful and perfect member of the family did not rise up into heaven body and soul, and that none of them lived to be 145 years old. But the author presented thes
It's all in how you look at things.
I had 2 horse shows this weekend. The discipline I competed in is the one which fascinates me the most, and mastery of it seems out of most people's grasp. It requires a super-sharp, well-trained, and obedient horse and a savvy rider to execute the pattern. I don't really have either. My horse is young and I've been training him myself, and I'm still new enough at this that I still consider the fact that I might not remember what the pattern is.
My latest boyfriend has been informed that he is catch-and-release only, and has been returned to the pond. I hate making that phone call, but "do unto others, etc" is always in my mind when I think about chickening out and just letting things slide instead of breaking up formally. I actually think it would be best to do it face to face, but when do you do that-- when he comes to pick you up or after he pays for dinner?
I pulled the it's-not-you-it's-me thing and told him that I'm not ge
There are 3 women in my section of offices (read:cubicles) and I am the only one without children/grandchildren. Every freaking morning, I have to listen to their inane kid-talk spoken in the voice of Stuart's mother on Mad TV. My ears are unusually sensitive in the morning, so all this nonsense is amplified until they finish about an hour into the day. Good thing I'm always a little late.
So last week, I got a paper shredder. It's just a little one, but it's really loud. Drowns out al
There is a 5 mile run nearby at the end of July, and I think I'm going to try to do it. It's hard to even type the words because running is difficult for me to do and I'm half afraid to commit to it. I love to work out, but it's the weights that keep me going, not the cardio.
A big part of the reason why I want to do it is because the boss I had a few years ago told me that if I didn't like to run I would never do it. It irked me a bit that he thought he could tell me how I am.
Th
One of my big brothers is into videography in Chicago. Each time I see him or talk to him lately, he's all about using my animals in his videos. He did it once before, for the movie he makes for his annual 3-day party in Mom & Dad's back yard. Wonder how he can be so enthusiastic after that experience.
My brother and his best friend were making a movie, most of their friends and family were in it, but no one was to know what it was about until they showed the movie at the party. But
I'm going to have to eat crow tonight, among other things.
My man-friend and I went out for wings last night, and he was telling me that the little drumstick-looking things were part of the chicken wing. I said not so, that it was the leg. He even asked the waitress, and she agreed with me and we poked fun at him together. I was thinking that I had met yet another "winner", a clueless idiot. I even went so far as to tell him that if he was right, I would do anything he wanted.
Grea
My brother and his wife are expecting their first kids, a set of twins, in a few months. The girl is to be named Summer Joy.
Summer Joy?
Sounds like a feminine hygeine product. Spray-on. The commercial for it will have a woman in a flowing cotton dress twirling on the beach on a misty morning. Ahhh, the freshness!
Hmf. I think it's a little weird. Bro & sis are upscale, trendy people, but isn't Summer a redneck name? I met a girl named Summer at a barn I kept my horse a
There will always be a few things you aren't good at, or wouldn't voluntarily choose to do. Some things fall into both of those categories. Learning to drive stick was something I didn't choose to do for a long time and chose not to do when I found myself living in Florida with no choice of vehicle other than a huge F350 diesel with 4 on the floor. I eventually did it, begrudgingly, and found that I liked it and was good at it. That was a rare occasion, because I'm usually right about whethe
I've been thinking lately about other ex-Christians and the spiritual paths they have chosen. It occurred to me that it is a bit unusual that I left all of my supernatural belief behind in one fell swoop. A glimpse through the forums will offer deists, agnostics, Wiccans, etc. The only thought that crosses my mind when I see that is, "Why?" I respect them just the same, just as I respect when my parents say "God bless you", because, in my opinion, belief is not entirely voluntary.
My pa
I had to go to an open house for a local non-profit which provides interview gear for women re-entering the workplace. Several months ago, I was asked to submit some logo ideas & they wound up choosing one of mine. I thought it was kinda neat, plus I enjoyed doing something on my computer other than reading & typing. As with any artistic endeavor of mine, once I was finished and handed it over, I no longer liked it very much. Ah well, I suppose the enjoyment of the creation process b
The International High IQ Society does not want me.
I took their verbal IQ test and scored 123-- 3 points shy of the 126 needed to join the ranks of geekdom. I could probably take it again and pay attention (who really concentrates on the web, anyway? I've been conditioned to skim and scan, especially while on break at work.) But then again, some of the questions would never have come to me. I know when I don't know something.
I wonder how they decide how to figure out how smart
I cancelled my "date" tonight. We were supposed to watch a movie at my place, but I got to feeling exhausted and spread too thin and felt like I needed a little alone time.
I've been going out to dinner, drinking, and watching movies with him a lot since we first went out. I felt a wee bit guilty for wanting a break, but there really isn't anybody I want to see every day. I don't even want to see myself every day. There is probably something wrong with me. I'll attribute it to being ig
The fat kid bully on the schoolbus was the only one to ever taunt me. I don't know when it started, and it didn't last very long, but he called me "Mole Monster". When nothing else was going on in the bus, he would simply chant in a low & drawn out fashion, "Mooooooole Moooooooonnnnssssssstttttteeerrrrrrrrrrr...."
I was born with a birthmark on my left cheek; all that's left now is narrow vertical scar. They removed it in the doctor's office when I was 14 while I held a towel to the
The young horse's training usually involves a desensitization process. The cowboys of yesteryear (and some still today) would take a feed sack and introduce it to the animal. There are a lot of scary things about a feed sack. It rustles, it flops, it can cover a horses eyes or get wrapped around a leg. So, the cowboy begins rubbing the sack gently on a safe area, typically the shoulder or neck, and systematically moves around with it until he covers all areas of the body, saving the scariest
At 3:30 this morning, I woke up running. My cozy apartment is situated above some of the finest neighbors a girl could hope to have-- horses. Metal shod hooves thrashing against the wooden walls below can wake the dead, and it usually means something is very wrong. A horse can lay down, roll over, and find itself unable to get up because its legs are firmly folded between it's massive body and the wall. The less intelligent among horses can panic and injure themselves, either by breaking thr
It's a gorgeous day outside: clear, sunny, and the warmest it's been this year.
I'm freezing my ass off.
There are only 4 of us in this section of offices (cubicles) and one of us likes it cold. Us freeze babies are too nice to tell her to suck it up, so we sit in the air conditioning, not feeling a bit of that beautiful day outside our windows. I turned the thermostat up a bit, but if I do it any more the hot lady will whine. I don't know why it is that she has never said a thing
Had a second date last night. It was getting late, since he had a long day at work and I had gone to visit my dad in the hospital, and I was exhausted. I would rather have slept instead of gone out, but I didn't want to ditch the guy. So we met up at a decent bar for a few beers and conversation. I turned down his offer to pick me up since the bar is between our homes and I'm a big girl who can drive herself.
It was so much more interesting and relaxed this time. I crossed a few items
One of my best friends moved, all by herself, to Columbus last month. Her mother died a year ago, and her boyfriend had recently finalized their breakup and decided to get engaged to another girl. I thought she moved because she was tired of the bad memories. That was only part of the reason. It was mainly because of what I said.
Oh, great, what did I say now? Things that I said always come back to me, after I have forgotten all about them. This time it wasn't anything bad (phew!), it
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