Not a meme

Tish made me curious. I used to be a Girl Scout. Up until high school I sold cookies outside my mom's store every year with my troop. The were called different things back then, and the names of the cookies the girls around here are selling aren't familiar to me. Being the neurotic person I am, I had to find out what happened to my favorites. There used to be just one bakery that supplied the cookies. ABC Bakers. Now Little Brownie Bakers also supplies cookies. Here's a breakdown for you cookie fans. Carmel DeLites/Samoas are the same. Peanut Butter Patties/Tagalongs are the same as well. Shortbreads are also called Trefoils, we all know Thin Mints, Peanut Butter Sandwiches are also called Do-Si-Dos, Lemon Cremes are not the same as Lemon Coolers, and I've never had or seen the other cookies. There you go folks, a GS cookie education. And seriously, I know it's like 5 bucks for a dozen cookies, but this is a great cause. These girls learn a lot, and experience great things with the money raised from selling cookies. Buy a box or two, it won't kill you! Give up your latte one day, and enjoy some cookies instead!

10 things I've done that you probably haven't

Per Christine's request, here it is...

1. Had 12 teeth pulled (not all of them were adult teeth)
2. Had 6 addresses in 5 years
3. Witnessed the Columbia tragedy in person, standing on my back porch
4. Broken a pencil point off in my face (it's still there 18 years later)
5. Said "I'm pregnant" to my (now ex)husband while he was holding a loaded M16
6. Attended my parents beach wedding in Key West, all in swimsuits
7. Had sex while driving (well *I* wasn't driving, you get the point)
8. Fished in the "Bermuda Triangle"
9. Stopped breathing for nearly 10 minutes
10. Sorry folks, I can't come up with a tenth one, I've just not done that many interesting things!

Sunday is now Meme day

It's the attack of the memes! I'm going to do some memes today, because Sunday is a lazy day.

bold the states you've been to, underline the states you've lived in and italicize the state you're in now...

Alabama / Alaska / Arizona / Arkansas / California / Colorado / Connecticut / Delaware / Florida / Georgia / Hawaii / Idaho / Illinois / Indiana / Iowa / Kansas / Kentucky / Louisiana / Maine / Maryland / Massachusetts / Michigan / Minnesota / Mississippi / Missouri / Montana / Nebraska / Nevada / New Hampshire / New Jersey / New Mexico / New York / North Carolina / North Dakota / Ohio / Oklahoma / Oregon / Pennsylvania / Rhode Island / South Carolina / South Dakota / Tennessee / Texas / Utah / Vermont / Virginia / Washington / West Virginia / Wisconsin / Wyoming / Washington D.C /

Go HERE to have a form generate the HTML for you.

Another Q&A

Daxahol asked me what the craziest thing I ever did was. That's easy... marry my ex-husband. Not only was it stupid, but it came with a long punishment and cost a lot of money. Ask my lawyer, it was by far my most insane moment. Honest. Ok, that doesn't count? How about got my nipples pierced on my 21st birthday. I took the rings out 18 months ago and they still haven't fully healed. I don't suggest anyone try that!

Answers

I only had 7 takers for the Questions and Answers post, so let me answer those now. Christine passed on a meme of sorts, so I'll answer that in my next post. It's hard coming up with 10 things I've done that you probably haven't.

Cori asked what I would be if I had another set of twins, would I be SeeingDouble squared? Yep, sounds about right. Honestly, I think it'd be way cool to have another set, even if my little moniker would need an update.

ShaLovee asked if I could do anything without the fear of failure, what would I do? Hmmm... maybe go to Law School. I need to get my undergrad first though.
AND
Do I keep my peanut butter in the fridge or cabinet? Cabinet of course, who puts it in the fridge?

Cyli asked what color I would be. Well, normally purple, but in honor of being certified, I'd be RED!

The Webwench herself asked what is the first thing I see when I open my fridge? Milk, and lots of it. Most of the top shelf has milk, 2% for us, whole for the kids.

Tish has passed the witness at this time, but reserved the right to question me later. Bring it on counselor!

And last but not least, Puglet asked me what I would name my pug, if I had one. Smooshy? I love pugs, their smooshy little faces are too cute.

Questions anyone?

In honor of my Redhead status (see previous post), I figured I'd open up the comments to questions. Want to know something about me? Just ask. I'm pretty much an open book here anyway, but I figure I'll give any readers who stumble upon my site something entertaining to do. I'll post the questions and answers in my next post. Come on, take your best shot!

Like you didn't know I was Certifiable!!

Welcome! If you got here from Resplendently Pedestrian, you already know... I'm a "Certified Redhead"! Oh, that's not what they meant by "certifiable"? Damn! Well, I'm still proud of my new title and barcode. If you aren't reading the Webwench's site (I just found her a couple days ago, how did I miss this?) Go. NOW! Don't worry, I'll wait... **files nails, checks email, waits for you** She's wonderfully real and just adorable, isn't she?

On to other news, I watched some good movies this week. I love Blockbuster.com, if you haven't tried this, or are a current Netflix user, you've GOT to try it. Oh, yeah... the movies.
Cellular: Very good movie, but I'm so not a Kim Basinger fan. I can't think of a single role I've liked her in. Definitely worth renting anyway.
The Forgotten: Julianne Moore? Love her! She plays an awesome role in this movie, with a hell of a twist. Even N was impressed with this choice, he hadn't heard of the movie before it came in the mail. Creepy plotline, keeps you guessing, good movie. I loved Anthony Edwards in ER, and he's got a short role in this.
(For the family) Shark Tale: Listen folks, I haven't been to a theater since my 20th birthday. My kids were newborns, I was still married to Jackass. You do the math. I hate going to the theater, I'd rather rent the DVD, so I hadn't seen this wildly popular kids movie. It was fun for the whole family, definitely one I might consider buying, if only because it's easier on the brain than endless Dora DVDs.

Reasons being a mom can suck: I've noticed I ALWAYS have an abundance of posts on Friday night. N works nights, and his days off are during the week, which means my Friday nights are lame. My only entertainment? Blogs and Yahoo Messenger. My brother-in-law (an almost 20y/o college kid) signed on, and I sent him an IM which he ignored. He's probably partying with his friends, so I can't blame him. Ah the childless days of partying all weekend are a distant memory now. :)

WTF is this stupid TX weather. 2 days ago it was in the high 70s, we all wore shorts and tees to Mads' final Xray appt on Wednesday. (The leg looks AWESOME! She's healing beautifully) Yesterday and today? Bitter fucking cold. WET and bitter fucking cold. Only in TX, I'm telling you! Ok, Ok... I'll shut up now. Have a great Saturday!

Song of the moment

I'm currently addicted to "Gone" by Montgomery Gentry. I think I need to start a little thing in my sidebar like Christine, it's just such a cute idea.

(Sidenote: While typing this post I hit the lever that moves my chair up and down, and quickly lowered mid-sentence. Only I could manage to do that, I swear I'm retarded.)

Furious

Something was charged to my credit card in error, and I called to have it refunded. I did my part, and expected the company to actually refund the money to my card as they promised. I got my bill in and low and behold it was not refunded. So, I replied to the email they sent me to confirm the refund, adn asked WTF was the problem. (I was nicer than that, have some faith in me people!) The lady responded back with (paraphrased) "We did an internal investigation and pulled up the timeline of events. **insert list of events ending in cust refunded $56.90 on 2/10/2005** (this part is verbatim) Due to a glitch in the payment processing system, we cannot refund the money directly back to your card, you need to call your credit card company to get your money back." WTF?? I've worked for my credit card company, I know there is no reason I should have to involve them at this point. I email back asking where the money was refunded to if not my card, since in the list of events it OBVIOUSLY says refunded. She tells me it was not, in fact, refunded, I need to request a chargebacl through my CC company. Now I'm boiling mad, I've already told her I will contact the BBB if this is not handled immediately, since I incurred charges from them charging my card by mistake, and this was just unacceptable that they would not put the money back as promised. The customer service rep's emails were poorly written, with horrible punctuation (this coming from someone who is not the best writer to begin with) and this is probably the shittiest business practice ever. So, tomorrow I will call my CC company, and file a report with the BBB. What a wonderful hassle for a mistake that was not even my fault. Shitheads!

Such a whore!!!

I'm going to bump this post so anyone who is interested can get in before the rates go up. Come on, you know you wanna!
Helping me keep my sanity is one of the many reasons I blog. Since starting my blog, and reading many others, I've found wonderful people to talk and email with. People who have been through similar experiences, people who share my beliefs and opinions, people who disagree with me, aspiring writers, stressed out parents, city dwellers, country folk, and people from other nations. When writing your blog you can speak your mind, regardless of what anyone else thinks of it, because it's so simple to just move on to the next if you don't like what you see. This is unique compared to other online adventures because it filters through the masses of surfers, and helps you connect to individuals you want to connect with. The one thing we all have in common is blogging, and it's become an important part of many of our lives. Well now there is a web mag for us, something that celebrates, informs, promotes, and connects bloggers and blog related topics. In honor of it's debut, Blogging! Magazine is offering 2 free issues, so you can give it a try. Looking to promote your blog and increase your traffic? You can advertise in Blogging! Looking for a new host, a better template, or sites to help you make the most of your blog? Blogging! promises to deliver! Articles written by bloggers, reviews of blog-related services, interviews, and more will all be sent to you in a digital PDF magazine using Adobe Acrobat Reader. So, why not give it a try? If you don't enjoy it, there's no harm, no foul... but if you do, you can subscribe at a great price. Let me say this again... 2 FREE issues, and if you don't like FREE STUFF, you're crazier than I am. Just give it a shot... come on, all the cool kids are doing it!!

*** And for the record, I'm not being paid for this, nor do I benefit from you signing up. A blogger many of us know and love has asked some of his blog friends to pass it on, and because I think this will be a great project, I'm happy to do so. Enjoy!

Huh?

Someone out there found my site from searching "Poke her" on Google UK. Personally, I suggest not poking her with a sharp object, it's mean.

Bad Boys, Bad Boys...

We were watching Cops earlier while making dinner, and when the theme song came on Shane said "Fire, Daddy! Fire!!" because to him anything with a siren is firetrucks. We told him no, this was police officers, like Pop Pop (he's only met my dad once, my parents live on the East Coast), and he ran into his bedroom. He came out with a toy cowboy gun, went right up to the screen of the TV, and pointed. Now this isn't meant to start a debate on toy guns, but if you read my blog before you know my policy on hate mail. :) We just cracked up laughing, because he was so serious, pointing his little weapon at the bad guys on TV. My sister was obsessed with Cops from about 18 months old, she would run around the house singing the theme song. I can't wait to tell my dad his grandson is another little devotee to his favorite TV show.

Reasons I'm so glad TX has express lane death penalty

TX is known for carrying out death sentences quickly , and people like this guy make me happy about that. This won't make as big a story as Laci Peterson, but the murdered woman was 7 months pregnant, and her 7 year old son was killed as well. I can't even express the hatred I feel for this guy and others like him.

They said it was advanced!

I've come to a realization in my adult life, and I think I'll have to do something about it. If I don't I'll be completely useless when helping my children with homework, let alone if I decide to homeschool. I never learned the real "basics" of English, the stuff you need to know to write a sentence. Honestly, I shouldn't be allowed to have a blog, but dammit, this is America, and free blogging is an American right! Or not, whatever. Oh, yeah... my point. In 5th grade I was put in a creative writing class instead of English class with my peers. It was an "advanced class" by invitation only, and I was so proud to be in it. We wrote poetry, short stories, and other "creative" projects, while our classmates learned to do frivilous things like use punctuation! Bah! Who needs to know how to conjugate a verb, or the what a participle is. (Is that even right or am I making stuff up? See? I seriously lack in this department!) Though I've known for a while that I really have no clue what I'm doing in this department, the recent chatter about the self-esteem article brought this to the surface. I didn't really belong in the creative class, I'm smart but not altogether creative. They put me there because I got high scores on standardized tests. Granted I have always been ahead of my peers on the learning curve, but did that mean the school decided they didn't need to teach me certain things? In 8th grade our district decided it was a good idea to mix the advanced English/reading classes with the remidial. It was bad for the remedial kids' self-esteem to be in a separate class. I spent that year HATING a couple of kids who could barely read, while they stuttered through simple paragraphs. THAT'S bad for self-esteem, those poor kids were made fun of relentlessly, because that's how 8th graders work. It was also horrible for the rest of us because we were bored, and unchallenged. Let's talk about high school. I doubled up math classes Freshman year so I wouldn't have to take one Senior year. This meant that Junior year I had the option of Calculus or AP Statistics. I still have my AP statistics workbook as a reminder, I damn near failed that class. That was a rough year for me, and I was WAY out of my league in AP Stat. Even Freshman year Geometry, I just do not get geometry. I had the same teacher for Alg and Geometry that year, and he knew I was just barely gonna make it through the Geo 1 class, no matter how well I understood algebra. Why am I rambling on about high school? Oh, I remember. (see what I mean about the attention span?) The end result of my schooling is I can write a haiku and solve X, but somewhere along the line I managed to skate through never knowing how to properly use my native tongue. The saddest part is I'm better off than some.

The stages of return, start at the bottom!

under the table, and pissed off

drying off

Bathtime

They're baaaaaack!

The cats are back in the house. I was standing at the back door smoking a cigarette, and the door was open so I could talk to N. All of a sudden he yells "Callie just ran back in!!" and sure enough the muddy little furball had returned. We gave her a bath, risking life and limb, and about half an hour later Squeaker appeared. I've got pictures of her bath, she has fluffy hair, it made for an interesting sight. Wow... my life is so boring, I'm reduced to talking about my cats. I feel sad, I'm going to go eat some ice cream now!!

The latest from Miss Obnoxious

Miss O lives in CA, has one child, and doesn't want to work outside of the home. She's actually been talking about selling Avon or something, just to make some money to buy another vehicle. She is constantly telling us what new expensive thing she has bought, or how her hubby is working extra jobs besides the military.These are 2 recent (untouched by me) threads she started.

"He had a meeting today with the boss of his home exteriors job this morning because he's bascially sick of how unorganized they are. From everything including payroll, phone etiquette, basic respect, and everything in between, that company is lacking. So today he went in and gave them an ultimatum and they were being wishy-washy with that so he said it's yes or no...Still no answer so he quit. Simple as that. Only the funny part is that he walked next door to the vanishing screens company that just bought the building next door, said that he wanted a job doing outside sales and was hired on the spot. He has to train for the next few days but the pay is pretty much the same which is great. It just cracks me up how easily he can get a job while other people I/we know have been searching for a while. But I guess that's the perk of loving sales... there's always a demand for salesmen!"

"DH and I went to look today and get price quotes so we know how much to save and what we need to do to get the monthly payments we want. I love the Tahoe, love the look. But the bad thing I saw today was that the third row had literally no feet room. It didn't drop down like regular feet room does. I think the floor started like 6 inches below the seat. I think I've read that car seats aren't a great idea for 3rd row seating (I wouldn't prefer that anyway) so what good does a #rd row seat do if there's no feet room? So the Suburban has the feet row I like, and need for the 3rd row. But it feels too long for me. If I could have an SUV between the length of the Tahoe and the Suburban i'd have the perfect vehicle. But I don't want to feel like I'm driving a bus. I like Chevy so I want to stick with them. They have great resale value if I ever need to resale it later in life and DH and I will get the 3k GM loyalty rebate since we already own a Chevy. So, once again for those who have experience or know of someone with experience of either of these vehicles, let me know what you think. Gas prices are not an issue as I already know i'll be paying a pretty penny for that but everything else is what i'm oncerned about."

Now there are people on this board who are struggling pretty bad, job loss, downsizing, illnesses, whatever you can imagine, and I thought it was tacky of her to rub it everyone's face that her husband just waltzed from one company to another. Whatever, we already knew she was a tacky bitch. Then, the whole SUV thing came up because they have 3 cars already, and one baby, but are trying for another. She wanted to buy a big SUV when they get pregnant again. She's been trying since July, and is whining about it. There are moms miscarrying, moms on Clomid and doing IVF, and she's all "Oh my GOD! I'm not pregnant after 6 months of trying!! It only took 2 weeks last time!! WAHHHHHH!" Um, can we all say insensitive? So next was the Kirby incident, how she was going to write it off, but she has this wonderful expensive vacuum, isn't it great? Now back to the SUV, and how she NEEDS a third row, but it doesn't matter if it's a gas guzzler, even if she lives in California. Because ultimately, having a 3rd row SUV is a dire need!! She's WAY too cool for a minivan, and she needs all that leg room for her imaginary friends to sit in the back!! Look, I'm all for people spending their money however they want. You want to drive a Hummer? Whatever! I just cannot fathom having so little class that you need to flaunt it in a community of women you don't really know, where many members struggling in this economy. The pregnancy thing? If she gets pregnant that's wonderful, one more spoiled child for the USA. The rest of us used tact and gentleness while other moms were having trouble conceiving, or were losing pregnancies. She is just a crude, insecure person, one I'd avoid like the plague if I could, but I value the other members I've come to know in my 2+ years on this board. Don't you wish some people could be banned from the internet?

I think I'll buy a boat!!

You know part in Corky Romano where he's trying to talk to the kids all jacked up on coke? What?! You didn't see Corky Romano? Ah, forget it! Anyway, that's what my attention span is feeling like today. I tried to sit down and read some of the blogs on my blogroll, but I can't seem to concentrate. My apologies if I haven't left a comment on your blog, it's not that I'm not reading them (well, besides today), it's just that I haven't got anything useful to say. I promise to lay off the caffeine (ok that's a lie, I just checked my Coke can for the spelling of "caffeine") and catch up with everyone soon. Oh, and for those who are concerned, we're a couple of softies in The Nuthouse, we've decided to let the cats back in, even if it means kittens. Unfortunately, they are no where to be found right now. They'll come back, right?