no power on a hot day

we had a NASTY storm, and, my family had to do without power for an entire day. I know, it's only power, and we DID find ways to entertain ourselves, like taking part of a tree off of the back of my house. It just made me appreciate what I have all the more, and realize how much people take for granted.

no air

the air at work took a crap today. At least it only got up into the low 90's with a high humidity level.... Hope that gets fixed soon!

deep discussion

todays topic: are elephants REALLY scared of mice? I had a discussion on this for longer than I should have with more adults than I am going to mention, and to add detail to this high intellect moment in life, we were sitting and watching DUMBO...
So, I researched it.
No, they are NOT afraid of mice. Noone is sure where the notion even came from.

the next day comes

and the tears of yesterday washed away the anger and pain.

why do i

always feel like i have to defend myself, or cry it out, like noone REALLY wants to hear my little voice.

I ate some bush

Now that I have your attention...
I went to Grampa's house to help pick cherries, and I pulled a branch back to look behind it. Well, when I let go of the bush, I must have let go of my common sense, too, because not only did it hit me in the face, but my mouth was open and everything!

Me and JP... and fourty deer and hundreds of fish, and a snapping turtle!

It was SUCH a peaceful experience.....
We accidentally had no kids tonight, and nothing to do. We decided to just hop into the car and take off, ending up at Stone State Park.

Once we got there, we took a nice little walk under the canopy of lush, green trees down a little deer path, ending up at Turtle Lake. The lake was so still and clear, you could see the fish all the way across the lake (it's a rather small lake). We layed on the dock and watched the baby blue gills come to see what we were doing, and we were spitting into the water to watch them swim up to the surface. (There were so many, I don't think I've ever seen that many in one spot!) That was one side of the dock...

I decided to see what was on the other side of the dock, and that's when I spotted the biggest snapping turtle I've ever seen in the wild! It was swimming around so gracefully, checking us out as much as we were checking it out. It circled the dock, popping it's head out of the water every now and then and looking at us. It was a beautiful moment....

We decided to leave well enough alone, so we got up and started to head back to the car. We walked about 50 feet, and JP froze, telling me to stop moving. Of course I started to panic, until I saw 5 deer RIGHT in front of us, staring at us. At first it was breathtaking, then we realized that they weren't being very shy, so JP started clapping his hands and going HOOT HOOT!! It scared them away from the trail at least, but they still watched us walk by... and that's when we noticed that we were surrounded by deer (at LEAST 30). We left promptly, deciding that we were invading their territory.

Once we got into the car and started to drive off, we saw ANOTHER deer, and ANOTHER deer, and ANOTHER deer! The last one we saw was so close to the car we could have hand fed it, and it just stared at us. It was a spectacular thing to see....

It was a much needed moment of serenity.....

offensive

Before you read on, you must know that this is just a bitchy ventilation.....
I hate my job- scratch that- I love what I do, I can't stand the petty little bitches I work with. I wish I could bring them back down to earth, like break a nail or feed them a high calorie food. UGH!
It's 2008. Times are changing. It's very common to see things like mixed race couples and mowhawks, blue hair and tattoos. Yet they still act brand new when they see things of the like, and it's not an age thing, either. A couple are younger than me. I have went from calm to bitchy when it comes to things like this.... it's just rediculous.
Yesterday they were all having a group discussion about a server at Applebees that had a mowhawk, and how he shouldn't have been working at a place that like that. I couldn't stomach it any more, so I asked the all important question " How was the service, anyway?" All were in agreement that he did an excellent job, and the food was great, too. So, I pointed out the fact that his hair has absolutely nothing to do with who he is, and I also stated that one of the tellers at my bank has a blonde mowhawk.
This is when it got good....
The shallowest of all said to me "yeah, but you're the kind of person who would bank at a place where tellers have mowhawks. You hang out with those kind of people."
WTF.... repeat....WTF!!!
OK, first of all... she is ONCE AGAIN referencing my tattoos. GET OVER IT! Second of all, what does she mean when she says "those kind of people"??I calmly told her about my cousin. He has always had long hair, his face has more silver in it than grama's kitchen drawers, and he is head to toe tattoos. YET- He NEVER swears, he volunteers for HUDD, He is constantly donating clothing and time, and, he's drug free. He is everything I push my children to be, fuck what he looks like. AND- I bank at one of the biggest banks downtown.
I try to open their eyes and get them to see things in a different perspective. I try. And I try to do it with a smile on my face. But if I hear ONE MORE racist remark, or nasty comment about someone's pants, this bitch is gonna get ghetto.
I'm done! I'm looking for a new job.... I cannot listen to it anymore, I'll explode!

talk about a slap in the face

My workplace is small, I have about 18 co workers, and a few fill ins. ALL WOMEN... so you can just imagine how things can get, although it has never really gotten out of proportion until recently.
In this group, there is a mother and a daughter. Both are very good friends of mine. Although I have always frowned upon family working together, they really don't have much to do with each other at work, so it's ok.
My boss, with no warning, has opted to demote the mother, who refused it and gave a three week notice. The boss lady has to shift staff around a bit, and, in the end, is offering the daughter a promotion after her mother leaves.
WTF?!
Of ALL the people in our center..... her daughter? I think it's a setup..... And they are BOTH excellent workers!!!

I don't know how to take a compliment

My husband still drools over me, but he's married to me. Granted, a lot of relationships lose that spark after a few years, and gladly we have not. But still, I'm 31 (young looker for my age), I have had children, I live in the midwest where you's a cornfed woman. My body is starting to feel the effects of post party stress and childbearing, such as veins and sleep deprivated eye bags and a few stretch marks.

I just don't view myself as some mystifying woman of beauty and grace.... So why do I get so many compliments? I mean, I am not here fishing for them, nor am I pulling the whole "I'm ugly yuck" deal. I am honestly confused, and I am pouring my thoughts out for someone to see.

My theory is that my family wasn't open about their feelings and now that I am grown, I lack the ability to just take a compliment and move on. Rather, I get a wee bit wierded out when I get a random "you look nice today", be it from a person I know or a stranger.

I sometimes think that when a woman gives a compliment, she is merely trying to be nice to me to make me feel good. Like it's the fakest fake from fakey-ville.

I think that when a man gives me a compliment, he's either drunk or has a married woman fetish.

Either way, I RARELY take it normally... as if I know what normal is. So if anyone reading this has any advice on how to react to a compliment, let me hear it!