A Day in the Life

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

I even wrote the times down people!

2:00 am - wake up to dog pawing me in the face to go outside. Bring said dog out and stumble back to bed.
2:34 am - Said dog pawing at bedroom window to be let back in because it was cold and raining. Get out of bed yet again while throwing disgusted look at husband wondering if he's pretending he doesn't hear her or if he's really that oblivious. Stumble out of bed to open the bedroom window (i.e. white trash doggy door because the dog decided it would be easier to go in and out via window and ate the screen) and let dog back in. Brings in other dog with her.
2:36 am - race back into bed before dogs steal my warm spot. Too late. Move over to edge of bed and go back to sleep, shivering.
4:00 am - wake up to husband pouring cold water in my face because I lost a bet and promised I would cook him breakfast. (Note to self: waking up at 4:00 am is no longer an item to bet with--sleep is too valuable to part with)
4:05 am - fix a cup of coffee.
4:06 am - spill said cup of coffee all over the living room carpet. Look at it and ultimately refuse to scrub it clean. Said carpet will be replaced in 2 weeks anyway.
4:07 - get more coffee
4:10 - go into kitchen to cook breakfast, only to realize we are out of milk and eggs (Note to self: lecture kids on not writing down when they take the last of something)
4:15 - go to room and throw on some jogging pants and a sweatshirt
4:20 - head out the door to store to buy breakfast
4:35 - realize that it's the middle of the night and no stores are open. Head back home.
4:45 - give husband disgusted look, tell him to take his bet and shove it up his butt and crawl back into bed. Go to sleep.
6:05 - wake up to alarm going off
6:10 - jump in shower, get dressed, do daily morning stuff
6:20 - wake up kids, put youngest ones clothes out on bed, make sure they are up and getting dressed before I leave room.
6:25 - go into kitchen and pack up lunch, bills, book, cell phone and other personal items I need to take care of while I'm at work (Note to self: NEVER tell boss about this blog)
6:30 - load up into car and head to babysitters
6:33 - get to babysitters, realize little one has left his shoes at home. Drive back home
6:45 - get back to babysitters with kids shoes. Realize he has a pair on the floor in the back seat. Cuss.
6:47 - head into work. fight traffic. Cuss more. This day is NOT starting off good.
7:29 - get to work (on time--miraculously!)
7:35 - 4:00 - getting paid. my work stuff is pretty boring...requested some medical records, answered some discovery, drafted some pleadings, answered some phone calls, bitched about pro-bono social security disability cases my boss has agreed to take--then letting me know that I'll be doing all the work. Read over said cases. Realize that 4 out of 5 are bogus. Cuss more.
4:01 - head home. Fight traffic again. Realize I'm almost out of gas. Decide not to stop.
4:45 - arrive at home to pick up the oldest child.
4:50 - arrive at babysitter to pick up the 2 younger ones. Head to religion class.
5:15 - arrive at religion class and drop daughter off. Head to Mo-Mo's house
5:17 - arrive at Mo-Mo's house and sit with her for 1.5 hours until mom returns from religion with daughter in tow. While at Mo-Mo's we empty out her change container (HUGE CONTAINER) and my dad asks us to pull out $15 in pennies so he can put them in his penny jar and he will replace with quarters. Me and oldest son count them out. Youngest son on the computer in spare bedroom. Finish counting pennies, marvel over how big of a mound only $15 in pennies is, and put rest of change back in container. Realize that 3/4 full container is now only 1/2 full. That was alot of pennies! (Side note: my dad has been collecting pennies in a 5 gallon Kentwood water container for as long as I can remember...at least 15 years. He still hasn't gotten it completely filled up yet)
7:05--leave Mo-Mo's house and head back home.
7:20 - arrive home and start cooking supper. Realize kitchen is filthy and refuse to cook in there until it's clean. Oldest son sheepishly looks at me because he know's that it is his job to make sure the kitchen is clean everyday before I get home. He does dishes and wipes off counters.
7:35 - I head back into the kitchen to make supper. Hamburger steaks, Baked Beans, Some herb noodles and rice and gravy.
8:05 - fix everyone's plate and gathers everyone for supper
8:08 - return to table to catch dog standing in chair eating son's supper. Refrain from beating dog and open back door instead, look at dog and say "Out. Now" Dog puts head down and goes outside....just like a kid b/c as soon as she gets near me she speeds up to make sure she doesn't get a whipping). fix kid another plate of food.
8:30 - head to kitchen to clean up supper dishes and make my lunch for the next day.
8:45 - jump in shower to relax
9:00 - get in bed and watch American Idol (DVR'd)
Fall asleep sometime during AI.


Actually, in retrospect this was a pretty atypical day for me. I mean, there were no practices and I actually cooked supper.

Heath Ledger (and others)

I must confess. One of my guilty pleasures is celebrity gossip. I frequently visit many different websites throughout the day to keep abreast of the daily going ons of hollywood people. Anyway, on one of these websites, , there was THIS post:



Taking a moment from their grieving, Heather Ledger's family addressed Australian television on Wednesday.

His dad, Kim, said:

"We, Heath's family, confirm, the very tragic, untimely and accidental passing of our dearly loved son, brother and doting father of Matilda. He was found peacefully asleep in his New York apartment by his housekeeper at 3:30 p.m. U.S. time.

We would like to thank our friends and everyone around the world for their well wishes and kind thoughts at this time. Heath has touched so many people on so many different levels during his short life but few had the pleasure of truly knowing him.

He was a down to earth, generous, kind-hearted, life-loving and selfless individual who was extremely inspirational to many. Please now respect our family's need to grieve and come to terms with our loss privately."

[Image via WENN.]

Posted: January 23, 2008 at 4:59 am

Can I tell you how appalled I am?? No matter what choices someone makes in life, no matter if we consider them right or wrong or later in life wish to change those choices, a funeral is a time to grieve. I've done bad things in my life that I sometimes wish I could go back and change, but if one of those things ever led to someone picketing my funeral while my family and children were trying to grieve, I think that I would have to come back and personally haunt those people. I just can't get over the amount of gumption a person has to have to infringe on such a personal and reverent event.

However appalled I am, you better believe that I'm going to continue to follow this story.

Brendan and his (non) athleticism

Brendan is playing basketball this year. For the first time ever. Up until Christmas we never even had a goal in our driveway. I am not impressed by the sport and no very limited information about it. Anyway, I am enjoying the crap out of watching Brendan play. And that's not necessarily a good thing. We are 2 weeks in and he's busted his nose, tripped over his own two feet, made a basket for THE OTHER TEAM, and fouled out within the first five minutes of a game (can't seem to get him to realize that basketball is NOT football).

The Confederate Flag

Let me just say that I like the flag. I think it's pretty. I've even been known to dress my children in clothing that was made of the same material. Let me also say that my high school mascot was the Rebel man and our flag was the Rebel flag (see post below about Al Sharpton). Granted, the school does not use the flag anymore, but I digress. I like to think that I like the flag b/c I am proud to be from the South. I am proud of what my heritage is, even though it may not all be good. I believe (now) that the flag stands for the South, not for white supremacy.

We were watching the news last night about the marches in Jena on MLK day. When they showed the "Nationalists" marching they were proudly waving and carrying their rebel flags. I turned to Keith and told him that seeing that was the reason that everyone identifies the flag with negative connotations (and rightfully so). In this situation the flag does not stand for the South, but for the right to own slaves and to show that white people are better than anyone else. He agreed. That, in fact, is amazing in itself.

Al Sharpton

Yes, this a controversial post that I hope one day inspires many comments.

Never in my life have I so thoroughly hated a person's viewpoint. I can't say that I hate him b/c I've never met him, but I hate everything that he stands for. Let's take the most recent event that has provoked him to think that he needs to be in the spotlight...the Tiger Woods comment that the Golf Channel news anchor made about "lynch him in a back alley." Taken out of context, that's a bad thing. Seeing it actually unfold and seeing how she and another anchor were joking about how the upcoming crop of golfers could take the top spot from Tiger, any human being with half a brain would know that it was a joke and bad choice of words or not, but it was all in jest. But then again, it is Al Sharpton that we are talking about.

Let me take you back a little bit and explain that I was brought up in a racist household. I went to an all white school and was taught throughout my life that black people = bad people. It was until I started working at McDonald's at the age of 16 and going to LSU at the age of 18 that I was finally able to form my own opinions of people. I used to use the "N" word, and I must be honest and in bouts of anger it slips out occasionally. But let me also say that the "N" word, to me, does not identify a specific color of people, but rather a lifestyle choice. When I was younger I knew without a doubt that I could never have any black friends or invite black kids to my house b/c that was a sure way to get disowned. Fast forward to now, and I LAUGH at how I was brought up and could not even imagine teaching those things to MY kids. Some of my oldest son's best friends are black, or a mix of races, and I don't see them or their parents as anything but friends. Now, if he ever brought a black kid home that was a drug dealer we would have problems. Alternatively, the same thing would happen if it was a white kid, or a Hispanic kid.

ANYWAY, I think Al Sharpton is a jerk. Tiger Woods had no problems with the anchor that said this and knew that it was only in jest. Sharpton immediately took offense with the word "lynch". Let me tell you what dictionary.com says about "lynch":

lynch

verb
kill without legal sanction; "The blood-thirsty mob lynched the alleged killer of the child"

Now. Where in that definition does one determine that the word "lynch" is a strictly racial term that inspires the white man to do great harm to the black man? (That's not a rhetorical question...someone needs to answer me!) Furthermore, does Sharpton really need to make the rounds on CNN, MSNBC, FoxNews and everywhere else to call for this lady's firing from the network. No. But he has, and here I am blogging about him, so maybe he has served his purpose.

And, for the record, I think that Al Sharpton is one of the BIGGEST racist people I have ever known. Let that marinate on your brain and stew awhile.....

Presidential match

I just took this quiz that I found online. As I predicted, my views are a mix of democrat/republican. I don't lean strong on either side.....here are my results. Interestingly enough, my top "match" is a man that I have never heard of :/


65% Tom Tancredo
63% Hillary Clinton
62% Rudy Giuliani
62% John Edwards
61% Mitt Romney
60% Barack Obama
60% Bill Richardson
59% John McCain
58% Joe Biden
57% Chris Dodd
57% Fred Thompson
52% Mike Huckabee
42% Mike Gravel
41% Ron Paul
35% Dennis Kucinich

http://www.gotoquiz.com/candidates/2008-quiz.html">2008 Presidential Candidate Matching Quiz

Are our Parents REALLY good examples????

Rewind about a week ago....

So this is what went down in my house. Keith and I were laying down playing Grand Theft Auto (yes, we are juvenile) when we kept failing one particular mission and I threw the controller across the room (hopefully my 11 year old was not peeking in) and turned the XBox off. There was a commercial on for Taco Bell...the one where wife is pregnant and wants something crunchy....and chewy....and cheesy....

At this point I looked over at Keith and asked him why he never went get me stuff I was craving. He advised that my daddy never went get my mom anything when she was pregnant and they are still married 32 years later so he figured that it works. I looked him increduously wondering how he knew what my parental units did when they were young and having babies....

Fast Forward a couple weeks later....

We're at my grandma's house for her birthday supper and the commercial comes on again. My parents are there this time, so Keith brings up our conversation and his thought processes. My mom said that my dad actually did go get her something one time when she was pregnant for DJ...she was craving a crab burger and banana shake from Betta Burger in Lutcher (aside: Yuck!!) and he went pick it up for her. Keith then looks at me and says, "If you had asked for the same thing from the same place then I would have gone for you." I promptly reminded him that my dad also hands over his paycheck to my mom....so when was he going to start that practice???? I'm still awaiting his response....

2007 Pulitzer Prize Winner

I saw this today and it is amazing

http://www.sacbee.com/static/newsroom/swf/april07/mother/?=

Click Autoshow on the righthand corner. This is simply 21 pictures one photographer took. Look at what an amazing (yet very sad) story it tells.

Watch it the first time on Autoshow. Then turn the captions on and look at each one individually. Things like this make our own problems seem trivial.

Resolutions

I'm trying a new approach. Instead of picking a specific goal for this year, I am broadening my scope. Maybe this year I will be successful. For instance, here is my list...which I reserve the right to add, delete and change throughout the year :)

1. Work towards becoming financially independant.
2. Keep up with monthly budget.
3. Plan meals out for the week and decrease the amount of times that we eat out.
4. Spend more quality time with the kids...more park dates, movies, etc.
5. Make a chore chart for everyone in the house and STICK TO IT.
6. Exercise more.
7. Eat right and make more conscious decisions of what I eat.
8. Bring more leftovers for lunch and limit my lunch spendings to $20/week.
9. Make time to read more.

This is just a start. Hopefully, with a little practice and determination I could maintain most of these goals throughout the year.

Christmasings

Christmas was wild. Crazy. Just the way I like it. We had Santa, we had eggnog, we had present debates, we had dogs sitting back just waiting to tear after the leftover wrapping paper on the floor. It was just what I have always imagined Christmas morning to be like in my own home.

We went to church on Christmas Eve, before heading out to the bonfires. That was the smartest thing we've done in a long time. My mom likes us to go as a family. Which is fine. Not a problem at all for me. UNLESS IT'S AT 9:00 AM ON CHRISTMAS MORNING. So I put my foot down this year (I seem to be doing more of that, but that's another post all together) and insisted that if she wanted us and her grandkids to be at church at the same time then we had to go on Christmas Eve. There's nothing worse than waking up on Christmas morning hungover from the night before, cursing Santa for bringing the loudest most obnoxious toys he could find (haha), and having to tell the kids to put down the gifts because it's time to get ready for church. This year, they blissfully played with all the gifts and Santa was a HUGE hit.

Which brings me to the Santa debate. I wrapped all the Santa presents on Christmas Eve. Keith and I discussed why I was wrapping the presents. Well, because it extends the surprise. And the thrill of being able to tear open into beautifully wrapped presents is part of the whole Christmas event. He said that Santa should unbox, unwrap and assemble every gift there is and put them under the tree. Now, we've never had the Santa debate. We both grew up with Santa, we both found out that he wasn't "real", but neither of us came away from that experience any worse off or liking our parents any less. Now, the Tooth Fairy...well, that was a different story for me :) So we play Santa. And we pretend that he's a real person. And we elaborately answer the questions of how a fat man can come down the chimney and why the fire doesn't burn him, and how can he make it all over the world in one night. And how come they never get to see him? To me, it's like Harry Potter and that whole magical world. Even as an adult, I know that's not real but it's fun. It's fun to believe that really happens and it's fun to be taken away into that magical world. For a kid, it's fun to believe that there really is such a thing as Santa, and Rudolph, and Frosty the Snowman. And when you find out that he's not "real", it becomes fun to help lay out the presents, and even as an adult I still get that tingling when I wake up, wondering what Santa put under the tree for me.

Anyway, so we wrapped the presents and tortuously made the kids go around the room opening one gift at a time. Nic thought that he was always the next person in line though. So he was done considerably sooner than Bren and Des.

And the best gift of the day? The hand thingys that stick to the wall when you throw them. $1 for a pack of 2 at the Dollar Store. Who knew?