Tar-jay fer sure

List for next Saturday at Target:

1) X-mas candy 75% off
2) Kitty litter
3) A new book
4) Knit Gloves you saw today for 75 cents on sale
5) Miracle Gro and some plants
6) A new set of sheets
7) Tomatos
8) Bagged Salad
9) Fruity pebbles
10) Yogurt
11) A Coach purse
12) Toilet Paper
13) Hairspray
14) Hello Kitty Band-Aids

That's right, you can buy a Coach purse or wallet at Target. I guess they figure that busy moms really do want a one stop shop. Or guys looking for a gift for their wife or girlfriend can pick up the Coach bag she always wanted without feeling intimidated by the designer purse counters at the local Macy's. Oh and they can pick up a tool set, some WD-40 and Cheetos while they are there.

Happy New Years 2007!

Just in case you didn't get to ring in the New Years with fireworks here are some.

Leaving The House Is Always An Adventure

You Know You Are In the South When..

I was waiting in line at a drugstore yesterday when the guy in front of me tried to purchase a small cheap cigar. The guy behind the counter asked him for id and the guy pulls out his fishing license. I kid you not, the guy bought a 75 cent cigar with change and used his fishing license. The cashier behind the counter didn't even blink. Honey and I are now debating whether or not there is a picture on the id. I say there is. He says there isn't. You have to a Florida drivers license or an id number from your local tax office. I'm pretty sure they put the same picture that is on your drivers license on your fishing license. It's all digital now, so they can print it and send it to you in the mail.

Cool Things I Want but...

I love this phone..but since it is made in precious metals and some with diamonds, it's really not a worthwhile purchase for normal consumers (read:non millionaires and celebrities)



I love these arm warmers, but Hello! I live in Florida, which would either be the perfect place for them as the temps change every week or so in the winter, or it would be something I wore once a year.

Instead of making purchases like the above my money will be going towards 3 new French Doors with the blinds between the glass. I'm getting old.

New Editions or Additions to Bumble Blog

I have my daily reads circle, I have story based blogs I enjoy as well, and a litnany of specific subject matter blogs. I'm going to start grabbing the links off my favorites, and try to catergorize them in the right column. This shoud be fitting for this weekends project..A new improved blog for the year 2007. I started blogging in June and I am about to hit 8000 visits tonight or tomorrow. So bear with me as I makechanges this weekend and next week

I'm up on 25 peeps again, it's addicting, but fun to see which pictures I have submitted do the best for clicks.
25peeps.com

I actually like 25 peeps alot, I've found good reading blogs there, I don't usually have much to say when I do visit a new blog but I save it in my favorites and watch it for awhile and if I have something to say on whatever was being blogged about, then I just kinda drop in out of nowhere, does that make me a lurker?.

Babyfred's Monkey Tail

Sometimes I Feel Like...

Whatever in Pink.

TTQ Has A Breakthrough

This Christmas I learned to share and also admitted OUTLOUD how spoiled I am to my Mom. I relinquished my prized possesion (camera) to my husband. Without any bartering, I just handed it over and told him which buttons to push to take a picture. I didn't offer any "advice" on the compostion. Okay, so the pictures are kinda sucky, but that's not the point. And I will not tell him that. I'm going to encourage him if he shows a real interest. One that doesn't involve taking pictures of people at the worst possible moment. Like our Niece bending over in a very unflattering way. I will not post that on Flickr out of respect to her, she just had a baby last year and she deserves some respect. In fact I will probably delete them as if they never exsisted. A special gift to her from me. Merry Christmas.

While at Mom's house, I was telling her everything my Husband picked out on his own and wrapped, I said I am a very spoiled girl. Her response? I have never heard you say that before. Yikes. That can't be true. But alas, the more I think about it, maybe I haven't. I've said how lucky I am, is that the same?

A Dollar A Day

If everybody was given $365 dollars on January 1st, to spend as they wish..would you spend it on one thing or maybe spend a dollar a day for the whole year?

I Went To The Grocery Store. Whatever.

Productive day? Nope. I crashed and burned, I snuggled in bed with just the dogs. All day. No TV. I read two pages of a book and closed my eyes. My wallpaper came today, the UPS man did his usual drop, knock and run. I think he's scared of my dogs. Whatever.
Informal quiz, how many days did you let yourself eat whatever you wanted and not feel guilty? How many pounds did you gain? I'll start: three days and managed to pack on about 8lbs. I normally don't eat salt or high sodium foods, so I know at least half of that is water weight gain. Whatever.
Oh wait I did do something productive..All the outside decorations and lights are put away. Oh wait we never put them up this year, umm actually we don't own anyway. Whatever.

christmas eve eve 2

After shopping all day for nothing ( Just odds and ends for food stuffs and whatever we could find. I decided the tree was cramped.
Honey had an obligation for a few hours this evening so I decided to move furniture around abit more, so the tree is easy to get at. I freshened the carpet vacumming with the real vac, not the roomba or the shop vac. I think I might hold a record for the highest number of vacums in a single family house. Then I decided that the floor was a tad dingy, so swiffer wet came out, I wasn't doing the hardcore mopping late at night, It's times like tonight that my Roomba needs a scooba...
And speaking of roombas how great would it be to have five friends who have roombas and scoobas? You could invite everybody with one over for coffee or wine..whatever. And you can just sit back and *talk* with your friends. Then the hardest part would be done, if you had planned right and brushed all the dust off everything onto the floor for roomba to slurp up. And once you friends leave you house will be immaculate and you should be well rested and squeezed in some good girl chat. Hell, maybe I should buy a fleet of each and start a business. Dress my little roombas up in whatever their hearts desire Get them off and running and I can pull the shop vac out to reach the high places that cleaning ladies always miss.........just an idea

The School Of Hardknocks

Mom: Oops.
Me: What?
Mom: Inky just bonked her head on the wall.
Me: Aww poor baby! Is that what you said to us when we were growing up? ooops?
Mom: Yes, oops, pick yourself up.
Me: oops??

My mom's new cats love the balcony, so much so that she left the slding glass door open enough for them to go out and sun themselves. She came home from work and one cat was missing, Dinky. And Inky was crying for her brother. He had jumped down, apparently not realizing there was no way back up. Mom IM's me, and told me the whole thing, she looked for him but couldn't find him. If that were me, I'd be freaking out, so I offer to come over and help her look even though it was 10 at night. She said no if he was still gone by morning then we would look more. So I go to bed and when I wake up in the morning, there was an IM waiting for me that said Dinky hadn't returned could I please call the shelter to see if he had been turned in, she had to go to work. Screw that, I look up the number ,call it they don't open till 11, so I throw clothes on grab the cell and head over. After I let myself in Inky greets me and she is not too upset, weird. I start to search first in the front, but there is a guy pressure cleaning so I'm sure Dinky is far from that noise, I loop through to the back and start calling Dinky! Dinky! I'm trying to be kinda quiet because really who wants someone roaming by their window saying dinky? I'm lucky an old man didn't pop up and say you called me? I stop every few minutes to listen, I get down the building enough to be under my mom's other balcony, the one that is screened and I hear a mew. Tiny, scared mew. Did I really hear it or was it Inky upstairs calling to me? Dinky? rustle. mew. Where is he? mew, okay big patch of staghorn fern looking bush. Dinky? Dinky? Dinky? I start parting the leaves and looking..Dinky? Dinky? rustle. mew. He's in there! I just have to find him now, I dig deeper into the plant and there he is, cowered down and scared to death. I pick the big boy up (he likes to be held like a rag doll) and start giving him some loving. I open the door and Inky saunters up to him and gives him a kiss. He heads for the food bowl and I call mom. I found your baby, I said. Oh thank goodness. I was so worried about him! She's about to cry so I get off the phone since she's at work and doesn't need to cry at work. The Happy End.

Moral of the story: Give your kids enough rope and they will hang themselves.

I would add a picture of Dinky, but Blogger isn't playing nice for me today.

Christmas in Love

My husband wrapped his own gifts for the first time ever (He's 42). I smile when I think of the phone call he made to me when I was out the other day and he said take your time, I'm wrapping presents. It was so cute, and he picked his own paper to use out of the 80 gazillion roles I got on sale last year. It's pastels and modern trees with Mickey giving Minnie presents. I really don't care what's in them. I know his heart was in it the whole time from shopping to wrapping. Even better, our six month wedding anniversary is Christmas Eve.

Goooooood Moooooornnnnning Blogland!

It's T-minus 3 days till Christmas, are you excited, stressed or calmly donning an apron to do some baking? It's not very Christmasy here in Florida. It's a balmy 78 degrees with a nice breeze. I went to Toys R' Us yesterday to see if that would put me more in a festive mood. Don't get me wrong, I'm not all Bah Humbug. I just am not feeling Christmas yet, we have a tree, presents under the tree, I took pictures of my kids (see a few posts down) in silly little outfits. My husband keeps trying to give me gifts to open, which I will not do. Remember the rings I posted? I know those I got for sure, (I have the receipts) so to me that's like opening two gifts early. Both my mom and my husband have conned me into giving them gifts early, the big one. He got his computer, my mom got her gift card towards the furniture she wanted. Which we went and paid for on Tuesday. We put her office chair together, and there is a funny story about that, but I'll write that later.

Today I am going with a friend to a women's halfway house to volunteer. I'm nervous as I don't like crowds too much, and I hate meeting new people. The last time I tried to this, I got an anxiety attack and hightailed it out of the parking lot without going in. Yep, I'm a coward. This time, my friend is meeting me at a local shopping center and he is going to drive, I should be okay as I trust him to take good care of me and be my backbone. He was a member of our wedding and is truly a great friend, he was very excited to hear that I was ready to try and volunteer there again. Apparently they are always in need of women role-models (yikes!) that can serve as a bridge to the outside world. That's alot of responsibility. I am scared, but I'm sure it will be okay. Everybody deserves a little help and support. There are established procedures and rules for volunteers so I won't be in over my head.

Do You Want To Be a Millionare?

Or just look like one...

Real Millionaires Rarely Look Like One

Most Americans must choose between appearing rich and actually being rich, says author Thomas Stanley.

Gregory Karp
The (Allentown) Morning Call

Cheating

Posting song lyrics is boring for readers, I know that. But sometimes, I just got to do it so I don't forget what song struck me on a particular day. So I do it for me. Not for you. I'm very selfish that way, it's MY blog and I can blog whatever I want to so there. Plus blogger wouldn't let me make the pictorial post I so wanted to do. Sometimes, blogger is not my friend like that. I did add a small spot on the side bar of what Cd I have playing in my car currently, I thought that might curb my lyric posting. But I was wrong.

Rightous Babe

Ani Difranco Rocks!

I Love To Throw Fuel On The Fire

FUEL-Ani Difranco


they were digging a new foundation in manhattan
and they discovered a slave cemetary there
may their souls rest easy
may their souls rest easy
now that lynching is frowned upon
and we've moved on to the electric chairand
i wonder who's gonna be president, tweedle dum or tweedle dummer?
and who's gonna have the big blockbuster box office this summer?
how about we put up a wall between houses and the highway
and you can go your way, and i can go my way
except all the radios agree with all the tv
sand all the magazines agree with all the radios
and i keep hearing that same damn song everywhere i go
maybe i should put a bucket over my head
and a marshmellow in each ear
and stumble around for
another dumb-numb week for another hum drum hit song to appear

people used to make records
as in a record of an event
the event of people playing music in a room
now everything is cross-marketingits about sunglasses and shoes
or guns and drugs
you choose
we got it rehashed
we got it half-assed
we're digging up all the graves
and we're spitting on the past
and you can choose between the colors
of the lipstick on the whores
cause we know the difference between
the font of 20% more
and the font of teriyaki
you tell me
how does it make you feel?

you tell me
what's real?
and they say that alcoholics are always alcoholics
even when they're as dry as my lips for years even when they're stranded on a small desert island
with no place in 2,000 miles to buy beer
and i wonder
is he different?
is he different?
has he changed what's he about?
...or is he just a liar with nothing to lie about?

am i headed for the same brick wall
is there anything i can do about
anything at all?
except go back to that corner in manhattan
and dig deeper, dig deeper this time
down beneath the impossible pain of our history
beneath unknown bones
beneath the bedrock of the mystery
beneath the sewage systems and the path train
beneath the cobblestones and the water mains
beneath the traffic of friendships and street deals
beneath the screeching of kamikaze cab wheels
beneath everything i can think of to think about
beneath it all, beneath all get out
beneath the good and the kind and the stupid and the cruel
there's a fire just waiting for fuel

there's a fire just waiting for fuel

The Story of Babyfred

Back in my youthful days before I became a sedate full time housewife, I had a job and lots of responsibility. The job responsibilities were not as amusing as the day to day antics and shenigans. One of my break time hobbies was capturing the kittens from the feral cat community that lived in and among the compound. They lived in drainage pipes, which we discovered you could upend and the kitties would slide mewing into an awaiting box, they lived under sheds, much protected and watched by the mommy and much harder to capture. The various older cats were impossible to catch, so we named them and fed them winning their trust enough to begin capturing the supply of kittens at an alarming rate of 30 kittens per summer. About 150 guys worked in this compound, and being a rare female amongst them, they would pretty much do anything for me. So once I had enlisted help, the kittens would be washed in the bathroom to get the oil and grease off their coats. Pictures were taken and e-mails sent around the whole company. They lived in the boxes that reams of paper came in and shredders were emptied into the boxes to make nice little nests for them. We took them at such a young age we could tame them, if you waited too long they became fiesty as hell, and nobody wanted the little spitting, hissing, clawing 7 week old monsters. We bought formula for them and fed them with droppers, we petted them, carrying around our favorite ones showing them off.
One particular litter was extremely hard to get to, but we kept trying, one day hung over as hell (ok still drunk) I had some extra bravery and managed to catch one in each hand, when momma kitty showed up and began to wail loudly, it was heard in the back offices through a few sets of doors. I'm in a dress and heels (Clack, clack, clack, clack) and I hightail it back to the first door to the building pulling the door shut behind me so momma doesn't come in and beat the living crud out of me. These little guys were pissed, pretty soon everyone is rolling at the whole thing. These little fuckers were spitting, hissing and clawing. Shit, they were ruined, too old. I grabbed a set of leather gloves from one of the landscape guys to hold them. They never did get baths that day, and they didn't like their new home. Nobody wanted these guys, they were going to ruin my success rate of placing the kittens in loving homes. Take them to a shelter , oh no, not happening. Release them to were they came from, uh uh. I finally get them cleaned up and take them home after a week of people going oh kitties again! My daughter wants one! Hiss, spit growl! Hands snatched backed by the owners that wanted to keep their digits intact. So, I'm thinking okay, I'll take this batch home and try to, oh hell I don't know what I was trying to do. I take them home in a box with a lid, I put a book on the lid, air holes are there, they chewed there way out! So now I have these mean creatures in my house hiding for sure, not using a litter box like any other of the 18 million kitties just do. I have had it, I 'm going to take them to the no kill shelter after two days. I get them out from under the bed using a curtain rod. I grab them quick throw them into a box, place a Webster's Unabridged dictionary on the lid to keep them in there while I find my keys .Meanwhile back at the ranch called work, I come in, put all my stuff away, fire up the puter. I hear a mew. An effen mew. This is so not funny. I have those monsters at home at this point and there are more kittens. I look around everwhere, no box..Ok. I'm hearing things. Mew. My officemate and bestest work buddy ever, is trying not to laugh, his shoulders are shuddering. I sigh, plop back into my chair, roll up to my desk and start reading e-mails. Mew. Ok, John is about to lose it laughing. WTF?!! Where is it coming from? I look under my desk, shoved all the way to back corner is a very small box. Not like a jewelry box small, but smaller than a box you put reams of paper or in my case, kittens in. So at first glance, I just skip right over it. Mew. You have got to be kidding me right? No way is there a kitten or kittens in there. I pull it out unfold the flaps and in the box is the prettiest kitty I ever saw. Tiny, with huge ears and white whiskers longer than she is. Blue, Blue eyes. A perfect white star on her throat. Tiny black limbs dipped daintly in white. I gasp, like she is a 3 carat diamond engagement ring. Mew. Mew it is my new little friend. Off to the sink to wash her. I wrap her like a baby and keep her inside my shirt to keep her warm. I walk down to the guys responsible for putting her there. Her mother (not one of the ferals, but an unfixed housecat) had died tragically by being hit by a car. She was the only kitty that lived, she was also the runt. They thought she would be the kitty to steal my heart and replace my own cat that had died of old age earlier that year.I couldn't take her home right away because those bastards were still there, and there was no way I was mixing those cats with her. So I got those kittens corraled by the curtain rod, managed to give one away while I was in the shelter and only had to surrender the other two to the no kill shelter.She was so tiny , that we kept her as an office pet for awhile anyways, that way we could feed her and keep her from being alone. She would sleep in my shirt while I sat at my computer, she slept on John's shoulder. Everybody loved her, but she was mine. So it came to the name, Whiskers, Boots, Socks, Mittens. Boring, I said boring. This is "My Dog Fred" was my standard response. Because she's a cat and because she's a girl and because "I am not going to give hera name like every other cat". And so it was. She has many other names as well, like babyfred (most common), baby, frederique (when she's in trouble), babywaby, sugarwooger, pumkinlumkin...well you get the idea.
The end.

Deep Thought of The Day

I'm emotionally retarded.

And Last But Not Least..

Of course I couldn't forget Roomba..Roomba is like a playmate to the animals too..

Do you think I could get a hat for my fish? I was thinking today that they should make Christmas villages for fish tanks. How cool would that be? Especially if it lit up.

Caught Another Christmas Elf

This was too easy. She's just laying in her chair bored. Obviously the hat didn't fir her too well.

Note to self: Buy Babyfred her own hat.

Note to readers: No animals were harmed during these photo shoots. My husband is amazed at what the animals will let me do. He also said something about me being sick...

Fletch was not sharing Zeus's Eggnog

Since Fletche was not drunk getting him in his "Christmas Hat" was hard..very hard

It wasn't easy but I managed to catch this picture of Fletch... 2 down 2 to go.....

Here Kitty Kitty....kitty kitty... YOUR TURN!

Still on 25 Peeps!Check out the 25 Peeps!

Reindeer Games Played Here

Yep, Zeus got sloshed and is playing Twister on the rug with his tree hat on.


Shameless plug:

TTQ On 25 Peeps, Vote Now

I LOVE 25 PEEPS!

Vote for me on 25 Peeps!

Hush

SHHHHHHHHH....The hamsters are sleeping. I don't want to wake them, the wheel doesn't stop squeaking when they are awake

Did Anyone Find My Impulse Control Button?

I know my blog has been a bit more random than usual, probably a bit boring, mixed with sad, and with some "what the hell is she thinking, she scares me!' posts. I have visited all your blogs and left really really long comments, if you want me to stop you can e-mail me, as I seem to have lost control of my mind, fingers and keyboard. They are doing what they please. You know some days it's hard to write 10 words, and other days I can just about keep typing forever...
Impulse control is gone, out the door. bye-bye. See ya later. Adios. It's a good thing I have removed myself from the public, except for a quick trip to CVS and they know everything about me from my myriad of prescriptions. A virtual cornucopia, a plethora if you will.
The truth is, I'm just not wrapped too tightly, or maybe I'm wrapped too tight. Good season for me to be comparing my mental health to wrapping, seeing how I was in wrapping HELL, yesterday. I have pictures to prove it, but I'm being pretty anal today about judging my pictures. This one has too much light, this one is at funky angle, and the aww shit I left the ironing board on the coach. Yes, the ironing board is on the coach. Why? Well, when my husband isn't home, I like to pretend I'm on the beach and it wobbles nicely like small waves when you stand on it while it's folded in the down position on the couch, so I give a new meaning to channel surfing, arms out for balance, remote in one hand. Really try it! Ok, so I really don't do that, the ironing board is there to keep the dogs off the couch. Again it's an anal thing.

I could watch this for hours...

In A Nutshell Called My Brain

*****WARNING! THIS POST IS WHINEY AND SELF ABSORBED******


So I'm home again today. I'm starting to wonder if I will ever escape this prison. Yesterday, I managed to work myself out of the blahs into a state of frenzy, too bad it was like 8pm. Honey goes to bed around 9 so it's hard to be manic and productive while being quiet. I did get most of my wrapping done while watching old movies like Mommie Dearest. Now that's a fun, uplifting Holiday movie, just what I needed.

So I wake up this morning with searing pain in my back, I mean listing to one side even laying still hurts. I had back surgery about 5 years ago, and it had seemed to be a miracle until this year when I started to get episodes. Nice real nice, why the hell does everything have to hit at once?? Doesn't my body know I got things to do??? It's freaking Christmas time! So I call Honey to whine:

Me: My back is killing me!
Honey: I'm sorry baby, it was probably all that wrapping or the laundry
Me: it hurrrrrrrrrtttttttttsssss
Honey: Take it easy today , stay at home and rest it.
Me: But it hurrrrrrrrrrttttttssssss, and I don't want to stay home.
Honey: Well, what do you have to do today? Anything that can't wait or HAS to be done today?
Me: Well, no.
Honey: Then stay home and take it easy. RELAX. It's going to be ok.
Me: Fine
Honey: I love you

Lovely huh? Poor Honey, he has to put up with my blahs, manic modes, and anxiety attacks, and just when I seem to be pulling through to a smooth sail,
something happens with me physically.

My kitty looks likes she is passed out drunk, falling off her little sofa on my desk. That girl is in no pain. I want to be her.

The dogs are also conked out. Zeus is talking in his sleep as normal, errrererrr, mmmmmm, arrrrrrr, mmmmmm. Fletch's eyes are rolling back into his head. His little paw is twitching. I could deal with being them too.

Shuttle Pics

This is the best of all my pictures, it's something you really just have to be here for . Everyone goes outside to watch, you can't see them because we all keep all lights off when there is going to be a launch. At least on my street anyway. But you know everyone's out there , you here the "Is it still Green?" or "Is it going to be another Scrub?" from all the neighbors dark yards. Then it's like a sunrise through the trees but silent, and then it makes it way off the launch pad and it's still silent, when it hits the horizon and she's going strong, everyone starts cheering from their yards. That's when you actually hear the boom, it really is quite amazing. We are very proud to be a part of the Space Coast and we will be attending a retirement party this Friday out on the Cape for a friend of my husbands, that should be fun! Oh and note the electrical lines coming from the pole to the house..now you know why so many people loose power in hurricanes, though the past three years we have only had surges and no outages, unlike my mom who has underground electrical but her power went out for about a week not too far back!

Pardon Me...

Flatulence forces plane to land
Associated PressDecember 6, 2006, 11:00 AM EST
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- An American Airlines flight bound for Texas was forced to make an emergency landing Monday morning after a passenger lit a match to disguise the scent of flatulence, authorities said.The Dallas-bound flight was diverted to Nashville after several passengers reported smelling burning sulfur from the matches, said Lynne Lowrance, spokeswoman for the Nashville International Airport Authority.All 99 passengers and five crew members were taken off and screened while the plane was searched and luggage was screened.The FBI questioned a passenger who admitted she struck the matches in an attempt to conceal a "body odor," Lowrance said. She had an unspecified medical condition, authorities said."It's humorous in a way but you feel sorry for the individual, as well," she said. "It's unusual that someone would go to those measures to cover it up."The flight took off again, but the woman was not allowed back on the plane. The woman, who was not identified, was not charged in the incident.
Copyright © 2006, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

blah

So, I've spent two out of the past three days in bed. As case of the blahs, so many things to do, no inclination to do ANY of them. Zip, zero, nada damn thing. Bags full of presents to wrap, wallpaper border to be ordered, grocery shopping. Laundry in the dryer to be put away. Well, you get the idea. I keep waiting for the excitement of the holiday's to set in, nothin. My desk is a shambles, which really drives me nuts. We did venture to the grocery store after honey wouldn't give in to my pleading of going out for Mexican food. I always get sick when I eat certain foods and Mexican is one of them, though that doesn't stop the craving for it, or pasta with red sauce. Okay, so I guess hearing my projectile vomit in the middle of the night isn't one of his favorite things. I can understand that. Consultation prize? Lucky Charms. Which is a cereal I usually only eat when visiting Cyd. I can tolerate that, my body doesn't revolt.
I can't remember if I took all my medicine this morning and then went back to bed. OOPS. I did take my afternoon meds, and half of those are ones I take in the morning too. I'll take my night time meds too.
I know this blah time will pass, it always does. I know pushing myself only makes it worse, so I'll ride it out.
On a happy note, the Space Shuttle Discovery made it up tonight. I took pictures, though I doubt any of them come out too well, we were in the backyard watching it and didn't want any lights on, so I couldn't see any of the buttons on the camera.

Stalking the Street Urchin

A few posts down I wrote about the Street Urchin in Cocoa Village. She's not really an urchin as she isn't really a child, physically. She surfaced again today in her downward spiral growing deeper and faster. After lunch in the Village my friend Lala had gone out side to smoke, I was on my way out to say goodbye to her and head over to the island for some shopping. Lala was trying to convince the Urchin that she needed to go to Circles of Care (a nearby psych unit). The Urchin was talking a mile a minute, LaLa just kept telling her that she needed to get on the bus and go now, she gave her the 65 cents for the bus and the rest of her cigarettes.

We knew the chances were slim that she would make it there, she had no idea where she was , she was in a psychosis that entailed her being back 10 years ago. There is nothing we can do, like I said the cops don't know what to do with her, she's not a danger to her herself or others so she can't be Baker acted. The problem is the scum of the hoods that prey on her when she is down and confused and lost. They pick her up and take advantage of her, leaving her in bad parts of town.

I left a few minutes after that, I was getting crazy thoughts that maybe together we could drive her to get help, but more than likely she would freak out along the way. It makes me so sad, it breaks my heart. After doing some shopping on the Island I drove through the village on the lookout for her. I didn't have a plan, didn't know what I would have done if I did find her. I saw her stuff behind a building in a parking lot corner shielded from the wind. I never did see her, the temps are cold this weekend. I'm going to put some of my older/or unworn warm clothes in my trunk and if I see her, I'll bring her food.

Maybe if this were a big town, she would blend in and I wouldn't even have noticed her. in Ft. Lauderdale they had a lot called Tent City, homeless people were allowed to "camp" there and would congregate at the nearby main bus terminal. The police (or some local agency) would buy them one-way tickets back to wherever their homes were. The homeless advocates would bring them food, disturbances were keep low. It wasn't perfect but it was something.

Green Means Go!

The Shuttle will be going up at about 9:35. I'm going to go find batteries for my camera.

Santa's Grotto

Santa's Grotto My gift to you!

No place to go and nothing to do

Actually, I have things to do, I just don't have to go anywhere to do it. I can sleep in if the phone doesn't ring. It's like a planned sick day from school, you know when you've been to the Dr and he says you can't go back to school for at least another day? Maybe I'll call it a snow day, if anyone calls, I'll just say I'm sorry but I can't go out on a snowy day like this, this being a snow day and all. If anyone calls and asks for us to donate money to one of the many lists we are on, I'll just say, I'm sorry but I wasn't expecting to have to buy snow tires this year. I wonder if we will get mail tomorrow, it being a snow day and all.

P.S. I'm going to go dig out my winter coat, leather gloves and boots. I still want to look my best, because snow days don't come around to often here in Florida.

My Ten Mile Radius

Everybody has routines and places they go. When I lived in Ft. Lauderdale I had about a three mile radius where I could shop, dine, party, swim in the ocean, see a theater performance, catch an Imax and everything else I needed, even the Art Museum. My office was a 1 mile commute and that's pushing it. I loved it, but life happens.

So now I live in a sleepy bedroom community (pop 25,000) with not too many of the above amenities, I have about a ten mile radius now. I still can't do all the things I could in Ft. Lauderdale, but I'm adjusting. One thing that is the same is that you get to know people, your favorite clerk at CVS, the nice lady at the bank who loves Hello Kitty as much as you do, and a street urchin who is always in Cocoa Village

The Street Urchin fascinates me, I spot her everywhere. She is clearly not well mentally. I have seen her on meds, I have seen her off meds. When she is on them, she can read eloquently, hold a conversation, eat and dress in only a single layer of clothes. The cops don't know what to do with her anymore, she won't stay for too long at any safe haven or state run facility after she has been on meds for awhile. So, it's back out to the streets, bumming a smoke, looking for a free cup of coffee and a place to rest her head. I'm pretty sure she is a drug addict as she works the streets for money, but that's not the point. The point is what happened to her? Is she so broken that she can't be fixed with some care and attention? Sometimes, when I see her I want to pull over, buy her lunch and let her talk, maybe there is help for her if she would accept it. I don't do this because she is very volatile, sometimes she is wailing like a banshhee and crying and talking to herself, other times she is laughing and talking to herself and as I've said sometimes, though rarely she can hold a normal conversation. I don't have what it takes to make her better, and you can't give away what you don't have. So basically, I just keep an eye on her in case it's one of those days where she's lucid and wants help. Chance are not only has she had a rough life, but she is probably suffering from severe mental disease, and an addict. A dual diagnosis on
the DSM-IV. If not a triple whammy.

THERE BUT FOR THE GRACE OF GOD GO I

Fantine As Innocent
Desperate, passionate, innocent: the Fantine pictured above seems to be all of those things. The picture does not depict Fantine as a prostitute who "has become marble in becoming corrupted" (Hugo, 163). It illustrates the scene in Les Miserables which Fantine "had again become beautiful," as she begs Javert for her freedom (Hugo, 167). In other novels of nineteenth-century France, the prostitute would not be depicted as a fallen saint, but as a lowly criminal. Victor Hugo, however, belonged to the Romantic school-of-thought, which was rapid in France in the mid-1800s. He believed in the instinctive good of the common man, a theme that is prevalent in Les Miserables.
Since the picture is an illustration of Hugo's words, it is an illustration of the Romantic view of the urban poor. Although we do not know whom the actual author of these sketches is, we can view them as the work of a Romantic Hugo. At first glance, Fantine appears to be a virtuous lady, her dress seeming of high quality, not worn from wear and tear. The candlelight illuminates our heroine: it's as if she glows with innocence, while the harsh government (Javert) and cruel society look down on her.
Before her fall into prostitution, Fantine was the ideal Romantic woman: virtuous and uneducated in life. Even after she falls into poverty and is forced to prostitute herself, Hugo continues this romantic depiction of Fantine as a woman of virtue, which can be seen in the illustration. Hugo used his novels to challenge the traditional perceptions of an honorable woman, and the urban class in general.
The Romantic period in literature, politics, and society viewed the French classe populaire as the heroes, not as the criminals. As a Romantic, Hugo used Les Miserables to show that the destitute in France are not impoverished because they are evil, but because society has forgotten them. With his depiction of Fantine, and other low-class characters in his novels, Hugo shows that the dangerous classes are not so corrupt.

Yeah, So I'm basically stoned.

You ever have those days where they all run together? You can't remember what you ate for breakfast let alone what you did yesterday? So I had to go buy more yellow paint for Honey after lunch with friends, plus to pick the other border out then go grocery shopping. By the time all of that was done, I walk in the door at home and get an anxiety attack. Cold sweat, fast heartbeat, white as ghost, feeling like I have vertigo. Honey immediately sits me in my chair and says where is you purse? You need to take a xanax, now. So I did, an hour later I'm still pretty edgy so he he says take another. So now I am relaxed and stoned (chewing on gobstoppers, the baby jaw breakers). This post is taking forever to write as I have to keep correcting typos.

My kitchen is yellow! Pretty! I can't wait till the border goes up and I can start decorating..

And another thing..

All my TV shows are reruns. *sigh* And of course I have some Netflix but I haven't been able to get into them. Somebody please be my Netflix Buddy and share what you have liked! Please??

Blogland is Having a Slow Weekend and Monday

Most of my daily bumbles don't have any new posts, so I'll just keep blogging my own entries to keep me occupied. It appears everyone must be out getting ready for the holidays.

Hissy Kitty Update: In 24 hours bloggers untited and donated enough money to pay for her surgery. That update is the feel good blog of the week!

For celebrity news check The Superficial not too much new there either, more about Britney's naked hoo-ha and subsequent panty shopping spree (yawn) followed by Paris teaching her how to pole dance like a stripper, Divorces: Pam and Kid Rock, Trying to conceive: Keith Urban straight out of rehab and Nicole Kidman , Lindsay Lohan going to AA meetings and still drinking...

Home remodeling update: I have yet to pick up a paint brush... things are going well!

Moving right along!

Help me choose a border from the last choice...I can't decide if I want to use the border that I'm using in the bathroom in the kitchen as well... Which is the last one with the pinks, greens and blues..or just go French Provencial in the kitchen..

Choices

ugghhhhh!!!!!!!!!

We even taped this time..we didn't when we painted our office..(oops, our bad!)
Update: The primer is on the walls! Trim and door are next..
Then the wallpaper when it comes in!

Phase 1 of Wallpaper Madness

So far, so good. I explained what needed to be done to Honey, and he started right away. Mom had been here earlier to measure and bring some supplies that I may not have. She gave me the instructions and I figured I would start today. Honey however, removed the big mirror last night from the wall, which luckily was not glued on, BUT the previous mirror had been...so we found an ugly patch. We decided to keep the mirror we have and just replace the wall mount clips. When I got up this morning, I had a coffee on my desk and a can of soda. Honey had already washed the old wallpaper with TSP and was getting ready to wash again with plain water. Phase I complete.

Wallpaper is on order and should be here in a week or so from Monday

Phase II will entail painting a proper primer over the exisiting wallpaper that will allow the new wallpaper to be hung over it, also we have to paint the trim and door in yellow. If things keep up the way they have been, this project is going to be whole lot easier than I had thought. I was fully prepared to do all the grunt work, but Honey is just busting right along. He likes honey do lists and being given projects, left to his own devices he would spend all day in the garden or bed and let everything else go...

Me? I fixed his computer while he was doing that. He gets into his computer and clicks around and next thing you know, it takes me an hour to get it back to its original settings. I'm not complaining about this today, because I didn't have to get all grungy.

The Lady Sovereign

I'm fascinated by this 18 year old girl from England...not sure if I like her, love her or hate her. You gotta give her some credit though, she's cheeky. This is one of the cleanest videos I found on YouTube.

A-Z Tagged

Katie-Q surfaced on her strangely silent blog to complete a meme she was tagged for and to pass it on. So here it is:

• A - Available/Single? I'm spoken for *blush*
• B - Best Friend? My husband *aww shucks*
• C- Cake or Pie? Cake! Marie A. really knew what she was talking it about back in the day.
• D - Drink Of Choice? Diet Rockstar
• E - Essential Item You Use Everyday? My computer and soap, soap is a good thing.
• F - Favorite Color? Pink and Black, but black is really not a color..
• G - Gummy Bears Or Worms? Bears, by Haribo
• H- Hometown? Most people in traveling circuses don't have a hometown
• I- Indulgence? Bubble Baths Daily!!! Yummy long hot scented bubble baths!
• J - January Or February? January (It's my Birthday!, It's my Birthday!)
• K - Kids & Their Names? Babyfred, female cat. Zeus, male doberman, Fletch, male beagle, Fish #1, Fish #2, Fish #3, Fish #5, Fish #6, Fish #7, Fish #8.
• L - Life Is Incomplete Without? Love
• M - Marriage Date? June 24th 2006
• N- Number Of Siblings? 3
• O - Oranges Or Apples? Oranges
• P - Phobias/Fears? Way to many to list..kinda like books and music
• Q - Favorite Quote? I'm not obsessing. I'm just curious
• R - Reason to Smile? Anti-deppressants
• S - Season? Winter (In Florida!)
• T - Tag Three or Four People? Sarah (Corker), Andie (Sweet, Southern Spirited) and Frannie Farmer.
• U - Unknown Fact About Me? That I'm an elite member of a traveling circus family.
• V - Vegetable you don't like? Okra and basically anything not deep fried.
• W - Worst Habit? Tattooing people when they go to sleep. Oh and guessing their weight without them asking me too.
• X - X-rays You've Had? Just about every inch of my body, Circuses are dangerous.
• Y - Your Favorite Food? Corn Dogs, Funnel Cakes, Cotton Candy, Italian Sausages, and Carmel Apples.
• Z-Zodiac Sign? Capricorn