i hate...

1. working
2. being away from my family
3. the fact that my kids are so used to me being gone it doesn't really phase them anymore
4. working until 2 fucking o clock in the morning and nobody even realizes it
5. hotels with lobbies so fucking massive they give you a damn map to find your way around
6. people who think their time is more valuable than yours
7. las vegas
8. looking at crappy product and feigning excitement
9. grown men who dress in lime green, knee length suit jackets w/ matching ties (wtf?)
10. people who get on a crowded elevator to ride one floor
11. people who see that the elevator is breathing room only and insist on getting on anyway
12. hotel rooms w/out coffee pots
13. bad cell phone reception
14. eating breakfast w/ the queen of evil
15. people destined to climb the corporate ladder thus bad mouthing people behind their backs to make themselves look better
16. realizing that you are replaceable and someone can do your old job just as well, if not better, than you
17. las fucking vegas
18. people who say--yes, it's 110 but it's a dry heat. fuckers it's still HOT
19. that there's no polite way to adjust uncomfortable clothing in public
20. fucking contacts
21. people who ask me, so, what wonderful things have you seen at the show?
22. people who bring kids to vegas--uh, hello, SIN CITY it's 11 pm, put the two year olds to bed for god's sake
23. strangers who say they recognize me
24. sleeping alone
25. las vegas

live from vegas

sunday night i'm in vegas for work. i hate vegas. flying in today i had my first bad flying experience. there was a bit of turbulence, that doesn't normally bother me, flying doesn't bother me at all. but this was the first time i'd been on a plane and a bumpy ride that there was a collective gasp. that freaked me out a bit, but obviously we landed ok.

my luggage, on the other hand, had a worse trip. evidently it wanted to hang out in atlanta longer than i did. once i got here i waited at the airport for almost two hours for the next flight to finally get my bag.

came to the hotel, caesar's. it is ginormous. way too big. i don't want to stay here again. all i wanted when i got here was to get to my room and have something to eat. room service takes forever and costs an arm and a leg so i went downstairs. did i say i hate vegas? too many people, too much noise. food, that's all i wanted. mostly sit down restaurants. i just wanted to grab something to bring to the room so i could finish my work (that ended up taking about three hours).

enough bitching for now.

i'm reading the harry potter books so the girl will have someone to talk to about them. i finished the second one on the plane. she's happy but really wants me to hurry up so i'll finish the newest one.

friday night the kids spent the night with my mom. the hubs and i stayed home and had a good time. saturday was a busy busy day. donut gave us a bedroom suite for the girls room so we picked that up and moved her old stuff out (to my mom and sister's) and ran lots of errands. the girl had a birthday party sleepover so two nights before i left she was gone. sniff sniff. her cat was beside herself missing the girl. it was sweet. she meowed all weekend. the girl came home this morning before i left and the cat was all over her. hugging her, yes, hugging her, meowing at her and everything.

the hubs has been busting his butt all day on projects. the in-laws will descend on us starting friday night (i get home late, like 11 wed. night).

as much as he jokes about me being bi-polar, i had to tease him about being josh-like this weekend. this is a west wing reference but in the final six weeks of the santos campaign, josh stresses out and starts running over the same things over and over again in his head and out loud. the hubs has been doing this for a few days. running over everything that needs done in the next week, planning, etc. it's what he does. he's a planner, i'm a fly by the seat of my pants type.

i'm really tired. although it's only 10:30 here my body says it's 1:30. i didn't have an early flight today, actually left at noon, but we've been going balls to the wall since i can't remember when.

i hate vegas, i'm ready to go home.

hello sweet cyberspace

oh there is a computer god and his name is my brother : ) ok, perhaps a bit melodramatic but i'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaacccckkkk online at home. he did a bunch of stuff, hooked me up with some new stuff and basically my computer runs better now than it has in years. wow. he kicks ass.

petrifying really how utterly dependent i've become on technology. i'd rather email than talk on the phone, though i do feel a little melancholy for the demise of real letter writing, you know with a good pen and paper. i google things rather than look them up in a dictionary or reference book. i mapquest instead of reading maps, though sometimes mapquest sucks. i shop online sometimes. i even look up phone numbers for work--when i absolutely have to call someone--online. this is interesting sometimes because i'm amazed by companies that do not have even a basic web site.

yes, i've done a few blogs from work to catch you up, but now you'll get back to getting the full force of my late night blogs. some of my best ideas come to me at night.

today i found out what 420 is. i never knew.

so, in case you're wondering about all this travel (referring to TS's comment) i'm doing, let me explain. i think i mentioned back about a month ago when the powers that be were unhappy with me? when my old boss told me i was in danger? one of the things they were concerned about was that i wasn't "out" there enough in the industry. (like they'd know.) i need to be the face, be out there, talking to people (something else i hate--talking to strangers, hello, first rule you learn in kindergarten!) so at least three of my trips this summer were not planned, not part of the initial scheme. my hope is that when we sit down to plan this shit out next year i can cut it back, i have to cut it back. people shouldn't travel this much.

what else? kids are staying with mom tomorrow night. the girl is going to a sleepover saturday night and i leave sunday for vegas. a person shouldn't have to go to vegas three times a year.

the hubs just walked by (he's dusting love his heart) and said, i know someone who's glad to have their computer back. omg i am so happy. it's like a new toy cos i've had to put my favorites back in, put my shortcuts on the desktop, adjust the font size cos the bro had it like at miniscule size, etc.

oh, and on the eye front? i'm now trying out my third set of contacts? did i tell you this already? i don't know. yes, third set. they're "progressive" lens--i.e. bifocal fucking contacts. can you believe that? i'm 38 (33 days until i turn 39) and need bifocal contacts and have cataracts. i've decided i'll be blind and suffering from alzheimer's (with no T) in about 10 years. please come visit me in the old folks home. i don't know if these will work though, they're much thicker (cos they're full of prescription) than my other contacts. i can feel them in my eyes. i've been walking around the last few days with red eyes i think looking suspiciously like i'm stoned. sadly that's not the case.

i think i have rambling blog syndrome and am just spouting out all kinds of things cos i'm so excited to have the computer back.

Stressing out

Still no home computer. My Bro called last night and said it might be worse than he thought--something about RAM, supposed to have two rooms of air and I have one, techno jargon, blah blah, more words I didn't understand but it boils down to I might need to shell out some dough to have a working computer. Fun.

I'm off again this Sunday for a biz trip. This summer has sucked big time for work travel and it's not over. I'm gone Sun-Wed. this coming week, home for awhile (while all but one part of The Hubs family will descend upon us) then off again for 2-3 days. In September I also have two trips back to back, one of which is Germany. Ok, this one sounds cool but I have to admit, I'm sort of scared about it. When I started this job and the traveling it didn't really scare me. Yeah, the first time or two I went out of town by myself, without any co-workers, it was a little weird and I was nervous, but I wasn't scared. International travel by myself does make me a bit nervous though. I SO wish we had the money for The Hubs to come with me on this trip--you know, back to Germany (though not the same city) where it all began and all. Sigh. I wonder what the laws are on shipping beer? Can you do that? I'm really going to have to have a talk with my boss about all this travel because I can't do this schedule again.

Granted I'm not the only one who travels in my company, but I do think I'm one of the few that travels so much. The Hubs often wonders how companies can expect employees to be out of town so often. Companies don't care. I'm pretty much the only one with younger kids who travels like I do. The others that travel as often or more often either have older kids (like teens and up) or no kids. Most are getting paid much, much more than I am too, but I think even if I were getting paid a butt load more money it wouldn't be worth it.

So the in-laws. Honestly, I think this could be a good visit if everyone behaves themselves. Things would be so much better if I weren't traveling right before they all come and right after. Too much activity in a short amount of time. I'm happy for The Hubs, even though he says he's pissed that his brother and sister invited themselves. Aside from his sister and Bubba Ass none of his family has seen the house. In the OMG 16 years (the longest time either of us has lived in one place) we've lived here none of them have visited much at all. The only two I'm worried about really are his brother and Bubba Ass. They are the wild cards that could fuck up the whole visit with their mouths and attitudes.

Harry Potter update: I've finished the first book and now The Boy is starting to read it. I hope he really does. It might be a bit too much for him, too overwhelming, but I hope he finishes it.

For all my friends and family who've been neglected this summer--few lunches, emails, phone calls, visits etc. please know it's not because I don't want to, it's just because things are hella crazy in my world at the moment.

love connection, kids, etc.

still no computer at home so this will be a disjointed post to catch up.

last week, not the best. i was in a pissy mood a few days--perhaps due to the hubs and i traveling back to back or maybe it's just that time. anyway, he described it pretty well friday after we'd been bickering for two days. (he still thinks i'm bi-polar, i just think it depends on the time of the month.)

anyway, he described these days when we don't connect on any level the change over time--when one of my personalities is wrestling control away from the other. during that transition time we lose our connection. makes sense to me. these are usually the days i just don't like him and it's usually for no particular reason. i think, for the most part, other people don't really notice the change over; a few might, but in general i don't think so. but things are back to normal, i'm in a better mood although dreading all of the work/travel/chaos that is going to be our lives for the next few weeks.

the FIL and his wife are coming in a few weeks and now the FL Bro and his kids (possibly his wife Jay Leno--no shit, she has Jay's chin) and the hub's sister and Bubba Ass have invited themselves to come too. this should be interesting indeed.

friday the kids had a talent show at daycare. the girl sang--still blows my mind that she has the courage and confidence to do this. she can sing actually and despite the fact that she hasn't won anything she doesn't get discouraged. she was a little sad and mad about not winning, but i'm just extremely proud she even does it. she is in the shadow of the boy in this regard though--he did a hip hop dance move to a disney song call the naked mole rap and got two encores. he won first place for his age group : ) those that saw him dance at donut and ninja's wedding will understand why he won. the girl was proud of him and excited for him--so mature. i've got awesome kids.

we got her the 7th harry potter book saturday evening. it's huge, as big as the last two. she finished it last night! she's dying to discuss the books and the whole thing so i guess i really do have to start reading the series.

what else? we did the usual weekend chores, swam some (christened the pool : ) ) and had my mom and sister/kids over yesterday for dinner. the hubs sort of guilted me into this saying that my sis is making an effort and yada yada so i did it. it wasn't that bad honestly. this, however, does not mean i want to spend all my time with her, but i guess i can grow up and include her in my life a little more often. i am holding my breath though because she's started going to church and has "found" religion. she seems quite committed and there's nothing wrong with that, but the hubs reminded me that the last time she got religion it was a short time later that she went off on one of her bi-polar benders and all hell broke loose.

Pandora

I've mentioned this online radio thing before, www.pandora.com, but I can't stress enough how cool it is. You pick an artist and they play that artist and ones in their genre. So I'm listening to my Carly Simon station (commercial free) and a Joni Mitchell song comes on. Yes, I've heard of her but never really listened to her.

She has a haunting voice and it's like she put poetry to music.

Lyrics from Cactus Tree

There's a man who's been out sailing
In a decade full of dreams
And he takes her to a schooner
And he treats her like a queen
Bearing beads from California
With their amber stones and green
He has called her from the harbor
He has kissed her with his freedom
He has heard her off to starboard
In the breaking and the breathing
Of the water weeds
While she was busy being free

There's a man who's climbed a mountain
And hes calling out her name
And he hopes her heart can hear three thousand miles
He calls again
He can think her there beside him
He can miss her just the same
He has missed her in the forest
While he showed her all the flowers
And the branches sang the chorus
As he climbed the scaley towers
Of a forest tree
While she was somewhere being free

There's a man who's sent a letter
And hes waiting for reply
He has asked her of her travels
Since the day they said goodbye
He writes wish you were beside me
We can make it if we try
He has seen her at the office
With her name on all his papers
Thru the sharing of the profits
He will find it hard to shake her
From his memory
And shes so busy being free

There's a lady in the city
And she thinks she loves them all
There's the one who's thinking of her
There's the one who sometimes calls
There's the one who writes her letters
With his facts and figures scrawl
She has brought them to her senses
They have laughed inside her laughter
Now she rallies her defenses
For she fears that one will ask her
For eternity
And shes so busy being free

There's a man who sends her medals
He is bleeding from the war
There's a jouster and a jester and a man who owns a store
There's a drummer and a dreamer
And you know there may be more
She will love them when she sees them
They will lose her if they follow
And she only means to please them
And her heart is full and hollow
Like a cactus tree

While shes so busy being free

....yawn...again

mornings suck. coffee grinders suck. i'm ready for a day off. i'd also like to be able to see.

i went back to the eye doctor. at my visit last week he gave me new contacts and as i've already posted, they don't work. can't see close up.

yesterday he says we're going to try to "trick" my eyes/brain so he made one lens a weaker prescription--mono vision he calls it. he said it would take a few days to get adjusted to it. so far, i'm not adjusting. the next step will be "progressive" contacts (aka bi-focals)

now i'm beginning to think that when i've lost my mind to alzheimer's i'll also be blind. nice thought so fucking early in the morning. (i just did spell check and apparently alzheimer's does not have a T in it : ) who knew?)

the bro has the computer until sun/mon. i will go through withdrawals again. i can't believe how dependent i've become on technology.

the hubs made it home last night. i was a bit concerned because the mapquest directions i printed for him were screwy and several times yesterday he called and i was certain he was lost. of course driving almost 300 miles in a day isn't fun i'm sure.

i need coffee, lots of coffee. sorry there are no caps--too tired. : )

so proud

quickie post--i think my bro is coming today to get my computer and the hubs should be home any minute--back from his trip to the coast.

the boy went on a field trip today (see earlier when i was up too early) to a museum.

me: so, how was the field trip.
the boy: it was good but we didn't get to see the grown up art.
me: what do you mean?
the boy: we made some stuff but didn't actually go to the part of the museum to see grown up art. i mean i didn't think we would see the mona lisa or the scream (YES he knows these works of art!!! omg i'm so proud) but i didn't want to see kid's art. i can do that myself.
me: well, we'll have to find an art museum to visit. but, you won't see the mona lisa, that's in france.
the boy: that's ok, but i'd like to see some grown up art, like something famous. they did have this one cool thing there it was like a head, like lincoln or something.
me: like a sculpture?
the boy: yes! and it was marvelous! (yes, he said marvelous and you could hear the passion and appreciation in his voice. i just might pee my pants i'm so excited.) it was made out of stone and bronze.
the boy: i really want to go to a museum if it doesn't cost like $63 to get in. (where the hell did that random price come from??)

so that's it, my proud mommy moment for the day. my boy rocks.

i think it's time for a dip in the pool.

....yawn....wake up

the boy has a field trip today. he had to be to daycare by 8 a.m. i am not a morning person. i dropped them off and was in the office by 8:20 a.m. i have to do this again tomorrow morning because the girl goes on the same trip. it's to a museum and some art something. the boy, my budding artist, said 'now they're speaking my language.' he's excited. i'm barely awake.

i'm not a coffee snob by any means but i do have a coffee grinder. for the last two days it has decided not to grind. i am not a happy camper.

my bro is coming to rescue my computer tonight. hopefully to restore it to it's once fast, working self. if not i might have to consider alternatives like buying a cheap one from the evil empire. i really don't want to do that though.

i am contemplating inviting another friend to read my blog. i met her through work a few years ago. she's since left the industry to be a stay at home mom (i got to visit with her and her baby a little at my conference---what a cutie he is!) but we keep in touch. she has a great sense of humor and she's one of those people i've clicked with. i always struggle with telling people about the blog, especially people who might not know the 'whole' me. i think she'd be amused, but would she also be shocked and appalled? i'll have to mull this one over.

it's wednesday--hump day--the hubs comes home from his trip tonight : ) hooray! he'll have another overnighter next week i think. then i travel for work again, then his dad is coming, then i travel again and then before you know it school will start. summers are not the carefree times they used to be.

i think i need a coffee refill.

St. Elmo's Fire

I've seen this movie a million times I'm sure, but hadn't watched it in quite awhile. It was on TV last night.

When I was in love with this movie (along with Judd Nelson, Andrew McCarthy and Rob Lowe) I didn't really analyze it. It was 1985 I was still in high school.

However, I was startled by something last night. Each of the male characters--Billy (Rob Lowe) was the bad boy, not REALLY bad, just sorta bad, Kevin (Andrew McCarthy) was the writer, sensitive one and Alec (Judd) was the political, savvy one. I had crushes on each of these characters and actually ended up marrying someone who is a blend of them all.

Yes, I left out Kirby/Emelio--I've never been a fan of his.

"It's St. Elmo's Fire. Electric flashes of light that appear in dark skies out of nowhere. Sailors would guide entire journeys by it, but the joke was on them... there was no fire. There wasn't even a St. Elmo. They made it up. They made it up because they thought they needed it to keep them going when times got tough, just like you're making up all of this. We're all going through this. It's our time at the edge."

And, coincidentally, I'm a blend of all the female characters to some degree.

The soundtrack to this movie is good too as I remember. It was that whole 80s Rat Pack genre, Class, Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, etc. Breakfast Club and St. Elmo's were the best though in my opinion. I loved Say Anything too.

Back to the grind

Monday morning...yawn. Need more java. We just got a new coffee pot a month or so ago, the last one died. I'm less than pleased with the new one. The only feature I demand on a coffee pot is that I can get my first cup while it's still brewing--the pause feature or something. This Mr. Coffee said it had such. It lied; well, sometimes. I hate it. I didn't buy anything extravagant, actually bought the cheapest one I could find with the pause feature. Lesson learned, even a name brand like Mr. Coffee can suck.

I'm omnipotent, well, at least in my house. Apparently I am the only person who knows where the fingernail clippers are (all 20 sets of them we have scattered throughout the house). I also am the only one who's able to discern the date and time on a regular basis. I know where the fifth Harry Potter book is hiding; I know where every one's shoes are since the last time they took them off. I also know where every last flashlight, lighter, piece of paper, pair of shorts, bathing suit and keys are living. I'm master of the refrigerator and cabinets. Not only do I know precisely which shelf something lives on I can tell you if it's still there or not, even if I don't normally eat whatever it is. I am the house Goddess!

It's weird, as much as I love flowers and gardening I hate floral prints. I don't own many articles of clothing with flowers on them and I hate floral patterns on furniture/drapes, etc. Is that odd? Maybe it's because I grew up surrounded by that stuff. Vomit.

I guess I'm going to have to read all of the Harry Potter books. We saw the latest movie last night. I was less than thrilled with it frankly. I think JK Rowling spins incredible tales but these last few are just too much to translate to the big screen, or else the producers/directors don't get it. Way too much left unexplained or the plot wasn't fleshed out enough or something.

The Hubs is out of town until Wednesday. ho hum. His Dad is talking about coming to visit again, this time around the first of August. I don't know how I feel about that. Happy for The Hubs but nervous/anxious about the visit, if it actually happens. Then one of his brothers, the one that I've never really gotten along with (probably because when The Hubs and I were dating he said The Hubs LET me talk too much. This man has always been threatened by my brain.) has hinted that he might come to visit during that same time. If indeed the FIL and wife do come I don't want the visit to be overshadowed by a visit from the brother.

Just some stuff

Got back from Atlanta last night; work trip. I am so over trade shows. Not just the traveling but sadly I'm over seeing what seems to be the same old same old product all the time. Once in awhile there's something exciting, but not really.

What I did like about this trip is that Donut and I roomed together. We've done this before in Atlanta, the only place we both travel to at the same time. We are so compatible. After a day at the show, talking, smiling, being "on," we were both perfectly fine with coming back to our room and not feeling like we had to make small talk. We just sort of fell into a groove, one of those you get when you've known someone forever. Even though we haven't known each other forever, it has been awhile and she really is more like family than anything else.

A few times when we were out with our other co-workers at dinner I felt like she and I were the grown ups sitting at the kids' table : ) Two of our co-workers in particular, bless their hearts, are perfectly nice but despite their age could easily pass for two teenage girls on the maturity level. These are the two I was with during the conference as well--that made me feel old. Things were not helped this time around because I'd just visited the eye doctor and am getting my contact prescription changed. The ones he's given me to try out are great for distance, I can see things really well far away, but I can't read anything close up. So one night at dinner I had to have Donut read the menu to me. God, I am getting old!

(Also, the eye doc told me I have cataracts! Can you believe that shit? They aren't the type that need surgery--yet--and maybe never will. He was concerned/surprised because I had no signs of them last year and because I'm so young (at least by cataract standards). Causes? Could be genetic (nope), womb trauma (not), smoking (ok--but then you'd think a lot more people my age had them), diabetes (nope) or thyroid issues (not, at least I don't think so). I have to go back in six months. He did say they are not affecting my vision though.

As we know, in my head I'm 26, but in reality I'll be 40 next year. I don't like to think about that. Not because I'm vain or really care, it just sounds like my life is half over and I know I'm not half done with the things I want out of life. It's more about facing mortality than being 40 I guess.

I had a total West Wing moment at the hotel. This won't mean a thing to most of you but there's an episode when they're on the campaign trail for Santos and Vinnick and they show three of the characters at 5:30 in the morning. First is Josh, road warrior that he is, not being able to use the key card in the door--he does it too fast. I think of this every time I open a hotel door. Then it's how they go about their morning. Josh fumbles with the coffee maker, Donna set her's up the night before; they both turn on the TV to find out what's going on in the world, etc. I had to call The Hubs to share the moment.

Speaking of--he took the kids to see Transformers Friday night and we're going to see Harry Potter today sometime. He goes out of town tomorrow for two days. Talk about poor timing.

My escalator fear/paranoia was in full force in Atlanta. The Marta, airport, trade show buildings, fucking escalators everywhere. Oddly, I do not have a fear of heights. Love the window seat on planes, love being on top of high buildings (Eiffel Tower, Empire State) seeing the view. But riding down on high/long escalators, especially ones in an open atrium area, freak me out. Several times during the show my heart jumped into my throat with panic.

Degrees of nature

Last night The Hubs said Keely smelled like a skunk. I ran with this thought and came up with this post about the degrees of nature.

I like nature, love animals, etc. but let's consider:

If you live in a big city your degree of nature is most likely pigeons and rats.

Move to a smaller city/apartment/condo you might see some squirrels and rabbits, they're fairly common.

Smaller town, further outside the city limits--like us--rabbits, squirrels, opossum and the occasional raccoon.

Move to the country---add deer, skunks, other things I don't know of.

Then you have the woods---bear, mountain lions, etc. I don't need that level of nature.

When you think about it though, outside of a zoo, what animals have you actually seen relatively closely?

Aside from pets and zoo animals this is the list of animals I've seen:

armadillo
tarantula
scorpion
(these are all courtesy of my summer as a girl scout camp counselor in fucking hot Texas)

deer
opossum
rabbit
squirrel
snake (don't know what kind don't care)
buffalo
prairie dogs
voles
turtles

What animals have you seen face to face?

The animal I'd love to see in its natural environment----penguins.

Catching up

Haven't posted in awhile, computer at home had decided to randomly reboot. It is possessed. I started writing a post this weekend and poof--black screen, reboot, everything lost. Nice.

July 4th went well. We had the family over, sans Dad who had worked. My aunt, uncle and cousin also came. We don't see them much and when we do I often wonder why we don't spend more time together. I really like them now. Growing up I didn't so much for a variety of reasons, but as they've gotten older they've settled down and become cool.

I am getting the distinct impression that my sister is trying to become my new best friend and it's irritating me. I don't hate her anymore and I don't mind when we have family events that she's there, but she is not a person I want to hang out with on a regular basis and I think she's trying to worm her way into that.

Pool party Saturday went well. Oddly enough I wasn't stressing about it for some reason. When I get these ideas in my head I try to include all my friends and in actuality it's hard to entertain a big group only because I feel like I don't get to spend time with anyone. This time it was smaller cos a lot of people had other plans. It actually worked out well. The Bro and his family were there and Donut and Ninja. We had fun, swam, played some games, hung out.

Sunday we finally got up and went to church. It has been since before Mother's Day since we'd been. Afterwards the boys got haircuts, we wrapped up a few chores and then chilled the rest of the day. It was awesome.

Aside from the fact that I have to go out of town this week for work, life is really good right now and I feel like we're in a good place.

Dinner at our house

We're sitting around eating dinner---homemade chicken noodle yummy soup (The Hubs made it, NOT me)---and the kids start talking about the movie Grease.

They watched it for the first time the other night and were fascinated. Of course The Hubs and I know the words to most all of the songs and I've probably seen it a million times, but it was new for the kids.

Here's our dinner convo:

The Boy: Why at the end did Sandy change for Danny?
The Girl: Yeah, she looked good once she got a makeover.
Me: Well, sometimes people think they need to change themselves to please other people. (Dang, I hadn't realized what a bad message that was, her changing for him.)
The Girl: Well, if someone doesn't like you for who you are then you shouldn't be with them.
(Of course I'm thinking in my head---way to go Girl!)
The Hubs: Well, yes that's true but sometimes people do need to change.

Some other talk happens then The Boy asks what your pelvis is. (Because in Look at Me I'm Sandra Dee, Rizo sings Elvis, Elvis, let me be! Keep that pelvis far from me.)

The Boy: Is that your privates?
The Girl: No, your pelvis is a bone around your privates shaped like this. (And she makes the shape. CSI has paid off for her.)

Then she goes on to tell him about cartilage and where it is in your body.

The Boy: So do you have cartilage in your penis?
The Girl: No.
The Boy: Why is it so wobbly?
The Girl: If you had cartilage or a bone it would hurt when someone kicked you in the privates. (Uh, hello, it does hurt.)
The Boy: Then what's in there?
The Girl: Skin, pee and meat.

I almost spewed milk out of my nose.

Links for you...no, not sausage silly!

TS shared this link with me. It's pretty moving and inspiring about an artist who paints portraits of soldiers killed in Iraq. Regardless of your political bent, watch it. There are good people left in the world, this is proof.

TL shared this one, Dead Celebrity Soul mate. My mate is Vincent Van Gogh, which is cool in one way because I totally dig his paintings, but bad in another cos I think my bi-polar and his depression wouldn't really mesh. I tried to do it again and was rejected by Rudolph Valentino.

A couple of people sent me this link on penguins. Apparently they used to be ginormous.

A fun word site.

Cool streaming online radio site.

Swimming, swimming in the swimming pool

...when days are hot when days are cool, in the swimming pool. Back stroke, side stroke, fancy diving too. Oh wouldn't it be wonderful if we had nothing else to do but swimming, swimming in a swimming pool.

: ) Yes, that was a song I learned at camp in 3rd grade.

We got in the pool today! : ) Hooray! It was great. The Bro, SIL and The Nephew came over and joined in the fun and we had dinner. I think we're going to get a lot of use out of it this summer. Plus it's good exercise : )

The house is clean, yard's pretty much done and all is right with the world. We even got to watch some West Wing last night.

July 4th is coming up, probably my second favorite holiday (Halloween being first). I LOVE fireworks.