I Saw You Just The Other Day, My, How You Have Grown

I had to wait to get on the computer, because the girls were doing their homework after all of their other things. So, I won't have the time to do this justice, but I'll still give it the old college try. It's Coadster's 17th birthday, so here's my letter to her:

Dear Coadster the Roadster, Mijita, Changita,

As you begin your final year as a minor, there are so many things I want to tell you. I wish you could learn from all of my mistakes, but I know that's not how it works. You have to make your own and get hurt and be sad, no matter how much it kills me to see it. I'm worried that I haven't prepared you for forging your way into your journey as an adult. But I also know that you've had more common sense than I have since you were born. A wonderful side effect of your control issues, is that you have to thoroughly research any new situation or experience before you begin it. I've learned so much from you because of that.

I know we've talked about this several times throughout your life, but you don't have to be super woman. It isn't your job to fix the world by yourself. Most of the problems were here before you were born and they'll most likely be here after we're all gone. It's okay to leave some of the work for someone else now and again. Sure, they probably won't do it right, as far as you're concerned, but it will be just fine.


You've been so lucky to find most of your passions at such an early age. You were singing before you could talk, and as far as I remember, you were crazy about politics and sports since you were in 2nd grade or so. Your stubbornness and love of the underdog, makes you the perfect Cubs fan. I hope you figure out a way to make your living teaching music and coaching soccer. If anyone can, you will.

Remember to take the time to rest and relax. When you were little and you got too overwhelmed, we would work on your breathing, and as you got into junior high, you learned to give yourself a time-out and listen to music to calm down. Don't forget that little trick. If I know you, it's something that will come in handy when you're in college and after.

You've always been a "grass is greener" girl. Wherever you were, somewhere else looked better. In grade school, you wanted to be in high school and all throughout high school, you've been dreaming of going away (as far as you can get) to college. If there is one thing you really need to work on, I'd say it was to learn to be happy where you are. You'll miss some of the best parts of your experiences, by looking over them to the next one.

This last year with you, I promise to appreciate the hell out of you and work on making you an independent woman. All those years of going through stages, butting heads, struggling with all the practical matters of parenting and laughing at and loving all of the wonderfully quirky parts of you, have led us to this point. The point where I finally look at you as not just my daughter, but as an amazing person completely separate from me. I feel like the luckiest mom in the world to get to go through all of this with you.

Happy Birthday!

Love,

Churlita

They're Looking to the Sky, Daddy-O

So, today was much better. I thought I'd put up some beach photos in keeping with yesterday's theme. The first two are from Coadster's camera when we were at Carmel. The top one doesn't even look real, does it? The bottom two were taken at Half Moon Bay with my camera. The last one is a little more eye candy. I can't remember if I posted it last Summer or not. If I did, I'm posting it again. Sue me.

After such a hectic week so far, I'm feeling a little random. I still haven't had time to process things, so it's all coming out in little digestible bits...For the most part.

Well, here's a little more information than anyone really wants or needs, but I'm a giver that way. Also, if anyone reading this has teenage girls I hope they can get a little chuckle or a good cry in recognition. Anyway, I found out what was up with the girls the last few days. Turns out they were both PMS'ing at the same time. Jaysus, Mary and Joseph, it's lucky any of us are still alive. I was a little concerned about my girls' overreacting, spazzing and disrespect, but now that I know, I'm just relieved I didn't end up like the mom in the movie Carrie - staked to the wall with knives.

Coadster's soccer game got rescheduled to tonight, after Tuesday's lightning storms that began precisely two seconds before her game was supposed to start. Tonight, they were actually able to finish their game precisely two seconds before the storms broke. When I was hurrying to my car with ominous clouds and thunder raging just behind me, I heard a cheery little exchange yelled at each other by two men, above the parental mass exodus. the first guy said, "Hey, Jim. How ya doin'? I hear you were really down for a while there..."

"Yeah, things are a lot better now. Thank god for drugs." Then myself and most of the people around me, smiled and nodded knowingly. I'm glad people are so much better about admitting they need help and then going and getting it, than they used to be. Personally, it took me almost thirty years to finally go get my ass some migraine meds, and they have changed my life.

I go to this place called the Can Shed to exchange my bottles and cans for cash. I hate using the machines at the store, so every few weeks I drive down to the Can Shed and someone sorts, counts and gives me money for recyclables. The people there love to see me coming, and they all exclaim about how I have the cleanest and dryest cans and bottles they've ever laid hands on. When I went there last Saturday, I said, "I can only imagine, how dirty some of them come in..."

"Oh, yeah, " the woman with about five teeth still in her head said, as she batted cans into a box. "Most of them are real bad. I got my first rodent in a bag yesterday." Ew. I was so grossed-out, I didn't think to ask her if it had been alive or dead, or what kind of rodent it was. Remind me never to bitch about my job again.

Along With the Sunshine, There's Gotta be a Little Rain Sometime

Here is another flowering tree. I feel like it' s the least I can do for you after writing this whiny post.

Well, kids. I finally did it. I reached my saturation point and quickly turned into a whiny, self-indulgent, poor me'er and wah fuckin' wah'er. My head was full of I'm tired and how great would it be to have help or have my ex contribute anything, financially or time wise just to give me some kind of break, and I need a day off, and wah and wah and woe is me and bullshit, bullshit, bullshit...I do get that most people in the world have it way worse and for the largest chunk of my life, things have been so much harder than they are right now. I know that. In terms of the rest of my life, I'm living on easy street. It's just that some days I can live my life with much more grace than others, and today I seemed to have misplaced my grace.

More lilacs, because I can't get enough, and I suspect, neither can you.

Because I am one of those annoying fix-it people, (my friends have to tell me when they just want to vent, or I try to find books or ideas to help them) I asked myself what would help me right now. You know, if I could have anything in the whole world that I wanted. I decided that a couple of days off, by myself on a beach somewhere warm might do the trick. I wouldn't even need the internet or movies. I could get by just fine with music, books, food and beer and/or wine. My days and nights would be spent running, walking, swimming, reading, eating, and drinking. There would be no one around to ask me questions like, "have you seen my shin guards?" or "Can I have $10?" or "Can you come and pick me and three of my friends up and drop them off at separate destinations all across town?" or the most hated, "What's for dinner?" and when I tell them they say, "Oh, I guess I can just have some cereal..."

Yeah, I wouldn't have any of that for at least two days. In my fantasy, my girls would be well taken care of and out of any kind of trouble. Oh, and while I was at it, I invented a tribe of elves (do elves hang in tribes?) to clean my house from top to bottom too. There. That would probably do it.

After I finished conjuring up my pathetic single mom fantasy, I actually felt a hundred million times better. I had a little talk with the girls about how it would be great if they tried a little harder to show me some respect and not take all the shit I've been doing for granted. I said I knew we were all busy and stressed-out, but I'm not their maid or chauffeur or chef or waiter and I'm also not made out of money. So, maybe if we all pitched in, I wouldn't be so frazzled and all of our lives would be better. They apologized and agreed they'd try harder. We'll see how it goes...

After working on getting my daughters' respect, I also cleaned my kitchen and made some banana bread. It's nothing like a beach getaway, but it's what's here right now, and it did make me feel better. Hey, I'll take what I can get.

I Might Be Great Tomorrow, But Hopeless Yesterday

Here is Coadster doing more gabbing than stretching before her run today.

Don't worry. I know you're just as sick as I am of listening to me whine about how busy I am, and how I just need a day to rest, or a good swift kick in the ass, or whatever the hell else I'm always yammering about. The good news is that this should be my last REALLY busy week for a while. Hopefully, after that I'll have a little more time to try to process things and maybe actually write a halfway thought out blog post that's more than just me listing off all the bullshit I've been doing. The bad news is that you'll have to wait about a week for that.

Stinky wouldn't let me take a photo of her throwing shot, as it's not the most flattering looking activity ever. I totally understand, so I took some pics of her playing with an adorable puppy instead. What could be more flattering than that?

Here is a photo of the puppy getting so excited, he's biting the fence. Awwww.

Today was the girls last track meet. Tomorrow will be the cross town rivalry soccer match. Girls varsity match starts a little later, so I get the luxury of running before I drive over there. Coadster will miss her last select women's choir concert in order to attend the game. Her choir director is apparently not amused. Oops.

I seem to have taken a lot of chain link fence photos today.

This Is one of those weeks where I get to take a half day off on Friday. Of course, it's all eaten up. The second I get off work, I'm supposed to meet my friend Chris and his boyfriend who are in town from New Mexico to get married. Then I'll try to go running before I take Coadster and Stinky out to dinner for Coadster's 17th birthday. Yeah, 17th. How the hell did that happen? It still sounds weird to me.

Okay, I suppose that's enough rambling about all the crap I did and will do in the next couple of days. But you know as soon as things slow down, I'll have all kinds of time to process all the nothing I'll be doing. Sweet.

Life is Funny, Skies are Sunny

So, kids. It was another insanely busy weekend, made a little more difficult by my relentless migraine that hung around on and off for most of the weekend. It was so bad today, that my meds didn't really work on it. Mother's Day was a bust for the most part, but I'm not a big Hallmark holiday kind of girl, so I didn't feel any worse by not being able to do something special. Of course, it would have been really nice if the girls had washed the dishes and cleaned up a little while I was lying down trying to deal with my brain pain...

With all this prom business on Saturday, I just had to suck it up and deal or drive or whatever else was required of me for the occasion. In the morning I drove kids to soccer and track practice, and in the afternoon we ran a bunch of errands to be ready for the big dance.

By three, I took some time out for myself and ran and took a long hot bath, while the girls' friends came over and helped Coadster get ready.

I went to a prom once in high school, but it was just with two of my friends who had to go because we were juniors and they were in student council, so it wasn't a big deal like this. Luckily, Coadster's good friend goes to the other high school in town and just went to prom the week before. She also has an arsenal of make-up and hair care products that almost made my head hurt even more.

Here is Coadster getting her hair did by her friend. There was enough hair spray to kill our ozone and maybe a few other planets' too.

Here is Coadster's friend who did such an amazing job. She's pretty interesting. Her mom was raised Amish, but left the community before she was officially baptized. I was asking her a bunch of questions about it and what it's like to go back and visit the community. That poor girl had to do double duty between Coadster and me.

At 5:30 we went to Coadster's friend's house for pictures. Since the ex doesn't have a car, I offered him a ride. I knew it was important to Coadster, so I had to suck it up again. I took a ridiculous amount of photos. As you can see, they had some amazing lilac bushes as a backdrop.

There was some clumsy corsage exchanges that made for adorable photos.

Here's the whole gang. Can you tell they're all in show choir?

I tried to get a few photos with more natural expressions, but those were hard to come by.


Here is Coadster and her date. he's a really nice kid. She said he was a little awkward at first about dancing, but I told her a lot of high school guys were like that. Since she asked him, we just assumed they were going Dutch and she had money to pay for her meal, but he insisted on paying for hers. He later admitted that his mom gave him the money, but I still thought it was a sweet gesture.

Here is Coadster and her dance partner for show choir. They found that hat in the backyard and thought it would be funny to do a couple of gangsta type poses. Whatever. I guess it's sometimes fun to pretend that you don't live in an overeducated college town in Iowa.

Later that night, I met a few friends for a drink. One of my friends was in town from Seattle and I hadn't seen her in a year. We started off at the Dublin, but it was insanely busy there and then all of the sudden a bunch of guys in suit jackets and shorts, all somersalted down the stairs (some of them hitting their heads on the wall). It meant that the rugby team had arrived. They were all insanely drunk and I stupidly got into a discussion with one of them, who tried to tell me that guys were smarter than girls. Really? Were you one of the guys who just sommesalted down the stairs practically killing yourself? I'm pretty glad I'm not that "smart" then.

Anyway, we ended up at the beer garden at the Picador had a great time. It was a good way to wash off all of the prom business.

I hope your weekend was headache free and that you all had nice Mother's Days.

See These Eyes So Green, I Can Stare for a Thousand Years

Here is a photo of a guy walking in front of me collecting cans.

Sooooo, I guess all the build-up this week only means one thing. Coadster is going to prom this Saturday night. I hope she has fun. She is going with a boy who lives one block over from us and who is in show choir with her. He is a really good guy and I think they'll have a great time with the 7 other couples they're doing things with. She asked me if I'd go with her to her friend's house to take photos. Duh. Of course. I wouldn't miss it for the world.

Here is a flower.

Tomorrow night Coadster will babysit for my friend K.'s boyfriend's son, so they can go to a show at the Mill. Stinky will have a trackmeet until 10'ish, so I might even have an hour in there somewhere to myself.

Coadster was at a soccer game in a town about an hour and a half away. Their game went into double overtime and so she should be home pretty close to midnight tonight and she still has to finish her math homework. So, I'm trying to blog quickly and finishing paying my bills on-line to leave the computer open when she gets home. This one computer and one bathroom for three girls can be kind of tricky sometimes.

David Bowie's "Cat People" just came on my iTunes. I love that song so much, but when Stinky heard it, she said, "So, you like this song?" and made that face. You know the one. It's the same one I make when some of her favorite songs come on. I guess we're even then.

Okay, that's all I have time for. Let me know what you're up to and if I don't get on here this weekend, Happy Mother's Day! to all you muthah's...You know who you are.

I've Been Waiting for This Silence All Night Long

Here are some benches with caution tape across them. I guess sitting can be very dangerous.

A lot of stuff went down today:

1.) I got up and went to work. I had a little bit of a migraine hang-over so it took more energy than usual.

2.) After work I picked up Coadster from track practice and we went to Hy-Vee to pick out a boutonniere for her prom date. Neither one of us had ever done anything like that before, so we were happy that two of her friends worked there and could help us. Her friend M. thinks I'm great (probably because I'm not her mom) and loves giving me tons of shit. Her friend H. worked in the flower area and was very helpful.

M: I just ordered a flower for my date. I got him a gerber daisy (she meant gerbera) with a ribbon and some glitter.

Me: And you know how much high school boys love glitter...

M: What? Oh, I don't care if he likes it. I love glitter. Coadster, who are you taking to prom? (without waiting for an answer) Whoever it is, tell him if he hurts you, I'll kill him.

Coadster: I'm pretty sure we're just friends. And I'm also pretty sure he's gay, so you don't have to worry about him hurting me at all.

H: I love him. He's so much fun.

M: (after Coadster picked a white orchid with a silver ribbon for her date). You should also get glitter for his flower too. (Insert HUGE eye roll from Coadster here and finally directed at someone other than me) What?! You said you thought he was gay....

3.) After recovering from my high school girl conversation about prom dates and boutonnieres, I dropped Coadster at my house so she could do her homework, and I headed to the Hilltop for Supper Club and cheese fries dipped in Ranch dressing. Although I thought after the above exchange I really deserved a beer, I was migraine shy and went for a soda instead. Supper club was hilarious as usual, and I was actually able to speak to adults I had something in common with. That doesn't always happen during the week.

4.) At 7:30 I got home in time to take Coadster to fake bake. I have real issues with fake tans, but I do understand it's kind of important for her to try and even-out her ridiculous soccer tan made by wearing long socks and shin guards right before prom. Plus, she got a free introductory week.

5.) Stinky finally got home before I had to pick Coadster back up. She had track practice and then open gym for basketball, even though the season doesn't start until next Winter. By the time I got the girls to their dad's house, it was almost nine and I was pretty much brain dead. The crazy thing about it all, is that this was their dad's night to have them. I better rest up for tomorrow. There's no telling how busy I'll be when I don't have "time off".

I am Tired, I am Weary, I Could Sleep for a Thousand Years

I'll just be posting some more flowery photos. I have a ton of them and I like them. So there.

I hope everyone had a nice Cinco de Mayo. I spent most of Monday evening cooking tons of Mexican food. I made frijoles, fresh de gallo salsa, chicken enchiladas and fried up some tostada shells. It was good I got it all done then, because I got a migraine that kicked my ass for most of the day today.

It had been a while since I've had a bad one, so I guess it was just a matter of time. It's the second time I've taken my new generic migraine meds. The first time they worked really well, but today they took a lot longer and wiped me out while they were doing their thing. Which isn't much different than my old meds. Some migraines are worse than others, and my old meds would have to work really long and hard sometimes too. Right now, the jury is still out on them.

Coadster and Stinky have been trying to think of something to do with me on Mother's Day. Coadster proposed that we ride bikes around town and take goofy photos. She sure knows me well, because that sounds like an awesome idea. We could even pick-up sandwiches somewhere and eat them at Hickory Hill Park. I told Coadster that we should tentatively schedule that. Saturday night is her prom and I have a feeling she'll be sleeping in, or most of the day, or all of the day on Sunday. So, our bike ride most likely will take place much later in the afternoon. Whenever it happens, I'm sure it will be a great time.

Nibblin' On Bacon, Chewin' On Cheese

Hey, I thought I'd do the Saturday Scavenger Hunt tonight...Since it's Monday already and everything. K-Sra chose the word up. It just so happens that I've been looking up at all the flowering trees lately. If I'm not careful, I might need a neck brace.

Stinky just got first place in the shot-put at the JV track meet tonight. She threw at least 3 feet over her personal best. She's a beast. (the kids assure me this is a good thing)

So, yeah. Remember how two years ago, I got that bad stomach flu and lost 7 lbs in 3 days? Then throughout the Spring and Summer, I just kept losing more and more weight until my doctor freaked-out and told me I should eat as much butter wrapped in bacon as I needed to in order to gain the weight back? Yeah, that was a wonderful time in my life, but those days are over. Last Summer through this Winter, I've gained all that weight back and then some.

The hard part at gawking at the flowering trees, is remembering to see past them, even further up to the cool clouds.

Now, I'm not one of those women who has to be super tiny, or she freaks-out. If anything, I'd rather be a little overweight, than under. I can't help it. I like my junk. I just don't want to get too carried away with all of this weight gain, and I also like being in decent shape, no matter what I weigh.

So, I'm trying to eat better and do a little more comprehensive exercise. (besides running and dancing around like a dork) I've decided to start to train for a triathalon without actually competing in one. I don't race anymore, since I've been running for 33 years now, and I'd like to continue to run for another 33, thank you very much. Racing is too much wear and tear on my legs. Anyway, I added bike riding a couple of times a week onto my running, and then in June, I'll start swimming laps another couple of days too.

I mentioned my new work-out strategy to Stinky and she told me she'd actually like to do a triathalon. I promised to pay the entry fee if she can prove to me she's serious, by doing regular work-outs for the next month or so. My brother has done one before and so has my friend Poptart. I'll probably bug them both for pointers. My boss also does some and he's on a mailing list of triathalons and mini-triathalons (which is what I'm sure we'd start Stinky on if she actually does one). I think it would be great for her to develop some kind (any kind, really) of self-discipline.

It's also not a bad idea to look down from time to time. You might find a delicious surprise.

As far as eating better is concerned, I love food, so I'm not going to do anything totally crazy like give up cookies or cheese fries or anything. I'm just going to try to eat a lot more fruits and veggies (which, I should be doing no matter how much I weigh). The problem with fruits and veggies, is that they take some prep time and with chips, all you have to do is open a bag. I decided to fix that by cutting-up a bunch of veggies and putting them in their individual bags. Now, all we have to do is open them up too. It seems to be working so far. It just sucks that the days of having a free license to eat as much butter wrapped in bacon are over. Wah!

There Has to Be an Invisible Sun, That Gives Us Hope When the Whole Day's Done

The graffiti on this wall says, "misbehave", I took it as my weekend theme.

Wow, kids. It's been a crazy weekend. I did have some time on Friday to hang out and watch movies because Coadster was sick, but that was it.

On Saturday, I took Stinky to track practice and back and then I ran and then took the girls downtown to get our free comic books on "Free Comic Book Day" and to the mall where we got some stuff we needed. Then we went to the grocery store. Somewhere from the time I paid for my food with my debit/credit card and walked to my car, my magic money card disappeared. I checked all my pockets and the bags, then I retraced my steps and went to the customer service area to see if anyone had returned it, and had Coadster go do it all over again to see if she had would have better luck, but it was gone.

I had to run home and call the bank to have them cancel it. Of course, because it was me, I got the New Agey guy who worked there. He went on this long spiel about sun flashes and how they affected everything. He himself had just got his card stolen, and these sun flashes that guided all of our lives and experiences, can also mess with the magnetic strips on the cards and give erroneous information. "See, most people think astronomy is just a boring school subject, but it affects us all..." While he was going on and on, I was pantomiming for Coadster, banging my head against the wall, while making the "too much talkie talkie" signs with my hands and as he kept on, I grabbed a spoon out of the drawer and pretended to pop my eyeballs out with it. He finally stopped talking and canceled my old card and then ordered me a new card. He made it special and made sure it had flowers on it and then gave me some preferred customer status, before he hung-up. So, I almost felt a little teensy bit bad about making fun of him...But just a teensy bit.

This is the happy new baby couple. They don't look too sleep-deprived, do they?

Unfortunately, all that drama made me miss most of my friend's baby shower. I did get there for the end and went out with all the kids afterward. I was just a bit stressed-out, is all.

The girl crush was back, biting people's boobs and creating all kinds of other adorable mayhem. At one point we were joking about the bank card guy's talk about the bad juju caused by sun flares. Me, G., and my girl crush were feeling like we were in the mood to kick someone's ass. We decided that guy might be onto something.

Here's our hot friend doing a shotski. A shotski is great marketing idea. They velcro shot glasses to a ski and people all have to drink the shots at the same time. It brings in every bar crawl, bachelor and bachelorette party in town.

Our other hot friend who used to tend bar at the Dublin was back too. I hadn't seen her for almost a year, so it was a wonderful reunion.

Here's my girlcrush showing us all what the bartender's vag-ina must look like. He had been a surly little bitch all night, so he definitely had it coming.... Reason # 4,587 why my girl crush is my girl crush.

Over Futile Odds and Laughed At By the Gods

I took a bunch of photos on my way to work this morning. It had just rained so everything was still dripping.

Tonight I think I'm gonna write a poem. Don't worry, I may never write another. As I've said before, I don't really understand poetry, (which I'm sure I won't have to tell you after you read this) but I was walking home from work and sick the other day and overwhelmed by Spring and it just came to me. It's all very tongue-in-cheek. The idea cracked me up and so you all have to be exposed to it too...Or not. Ready? No? Yeah, I'm not really sure I am either. I think I'm going to call it:

Iowa Seasons Can Just Blow Me

Damn it!
You've suddenly come a-courtin' again
Looking all sweet and calling out to me
Everywhere

Wasn't it just a couple of months ago
When you were so cold and unfeeling?
Slapping me in the face with your ice pellets and frozen winds?
No matter how much I complained
(And you know I did) You were
unrelenting

But now you're overwhelming me with flowers
I can feel the difference in your touch on my skin
And your smell
Your smell drives me crazy
All dirty and warm and loamy
Distracting me and making me
Feel like maybe I can start turning my porch light on again.
(Although my friends like to remind me that there is a huge difference
Between turning my porch light on and getting drunk and
Accidentally leaving my back door
Unlocked)*


At first you make me hopeful
I'm reminded of how sweet you can be
And I start shedding layers
Exposing myself

But then I start to feel it
Something happens to piss you off
And you're suddenly on a tear
You thunder, you rage and you throw things around
You are a destroyer

Then when you calm down
You make up for it
You didn't mean it, you just care about me so much
It makes you do things you're not always proud of
You will try harder
You say and you show me your blindingly white smile
I do know better
We've done all of this many times before
I'm sure it's just a matter of time until you stifle me with your
Hot fetid breath constantly on my neck
And later, when you suddenly turn cold again

Yet I stay every year
Waiting for that first show of sweetness and
Warmth

*I got the "porch light and backdoor" imagery from my friend Sara, who got it from another friend of hers. So, I'm not sure who gets the attribution, I just know it isn't me.

Oh, But They're Weird and They're Wonderful

Here is the fence separating me from the beer garden at Joe's Place.

For those of you who are new here, my taste in viewing things, is much the same as it is for hearing things and eating things. I like everything, both good and bad. I will watch any hard hitting documentary, but all kinds of cheese too. I think I may have already mentioned the fact that when I was pregnant with Stinky, my friend Anne and I would try to catch every Sunday night made-for-TV movie and saw all three Joey Buttafuoco/Amy Fisher ones. Man, that was a banner year for television.

Anyway, I just wanted to clear that up before you try to start judging me on my viewing preferences. Don't bother. I get it. I have no filter and we can start right there. So, after that preface, I will now list some of the things I've watched recently:

Here is a funny thing that reminded me just a little bit of the robot from Lost in Space.

1.) The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency - I'm kind of digging this HBO series that takes place in Botswana. The music is great and Jill Scott does a really good job. Sure, it's quirky, and a little corny, and the mysteries all seem to be too tidily solved, but I like that about it. I also love that Jill Scott's character makes no excuses for her "traditional African form". She is big and smart and sexy and doesn't take shit from anyone. A girl after my own heart.

2.) Tough Love - This is total trash on VH1, but I watch it all the time anyway. At first, I thought it would be interesting to see what guys wanted in women, because lord knows, I have never been able to figure it out on my own. But, it hasn't revealed much except the usual: sexy vs. whorish and be honest, but say things in such a way that you put a positive spin on shit and don't be a drunken slut if you want a relationship and not just a hook-up. Now, I just watch it to feel better about myself. Most of the women on the show are shallow drama queens. If I've said it once, I've said it a million times; it's all about who you compare yourself to.

3.) Rescue Dawn - This is a Werner Herzog film with Christian Bale. I didn't know much about it before I watched it, except that it was a Vietnam flick. The first thing I noticed was that my college friend Toby is in it. He plays the funny guy, which is his normal gig, but he does it really well. The second thing was that it seemed really familiar, and then I realized it was the same story as a documentary, also by Herzog, called Little Dieter Needs to Fly that I saw several years ago. The movie was very slow moving, but the scenery and the character studies were pretty interesting.

4.) Rachel Getting Married - Many of you have already seen this Jonathan Demme movie. I know a lot of people had issues with it, but I really liked it. It's filmed in such a way that you feel like you just got dropped off at a wedding where you don't really know anyone and you have to figure out all the family dynamics on your own. Of course, the people were completely foreign to me. I've never come close to living in that kind of privilege, but again, I liked that escapism about it. Oh, and there was tons of great and varied music too.

I watched this with Coadster and it brought on some interesting conversations. The most obvious being the subject of addiction. I try to impress moderation and balance upon my girls. Most people are told not to drink, but most people end up drinking at some point in their lives. I talk to the girls about how to drink responsibly. As I've said many times before, I have to be very careful about how much I drink, because I have almost no tolerance for alcohol. They don't call me two beer Churlita for nothin'. I tell the girls that when they get to a point in their lives to drink, not to play drinking games or do a bunch of shots or share a pitcher. If you drink cans or bottles, it's a lot harder to get roofied and you can keep better track of how much you've had. I've also said, it's one thing to have a drink here and there but if you have to take drugs or alcohol just to get through the day, you need to look closely at what your real problem is.

The other subject we talked about was the family dynamic in the film. Debra Winger (I also made Coadster watch some YouTube clips from Urban Cowboy after she said she'd never heard of Debra Winger before. Some people may consider that child abuse) played the emotionally distant mother. Having me for a mom, Coadster thought she was really weird. She didn't understand why she couldn't just have a real conversation about things or want to share in her daughters' lives.

Coadster wondered if Anne Hathaway's character was the middle child and if that was why she needed so much attention. I said I thought so. Then Coadster made some comment about how everyone knows that the youngest kid always gets all the attention. Just like how Stinky is so much more spoiled than she was. I told her that I thought that was an interesting perception, since Stinky said almost the same thing about her just the other day. Coadster seemed shocked and wanted to know how anyone could think she was spoiled. I gave her several examples, and she said, "Oh. I guess I never thought about it that way."

Okay. That's probably enough of my pseudo movie/show reviews. Come back tomorrow and I'm sure I'll prattle on and on about nothing again.

Can You Really Cough It Up Loud and Strong?

What a friend calls her "wailing wall". She's in the process of tuck-pointing it.

So, I woke up today feeling like my throat was being ripped from the inside by razor blades. Since I knew strep was going around and I didn't think my co-workers would appreciate me spreading it to them, I decided to stay home today and get tested for it and sleep most of the day...Oh, and drink as much Chai tea as I can stand, and I can stand a lot, believe me. It doesn't look like I have strep, so I'm going to try really hard to go to work tomorrow.

I think I'll make this super, duper short tonight, so I can sleep even more. I was going to blog about some stuff I watched lately, but I'll have to save that for tomorrow.

I just noticed on my site meter that someone googled: "fort madison library caught with someone looking at porno."


I wish I did have a blog post about that, but from the guys I know from Ft. Madison, and I seem to know an inordinate amount, that someone could be anyone and everyone. I may have to google that same thing and see what the real story is. FMDM's folks are always listening to the police scanner down there, maybe he could find out for me...

Okay, I'll take my leave now and try not dream about people getting caught looking at porn in the Ft Madison library.

How Many Lives Are Living Strange?

Here is a picture of a lovely bird bath.

Tonight I'm still sick, so this post will be pretty short and random. Ready?

1.) With my illness and my tendency to create bizarre scenarios in my head, I decided to do some reading up on the swine flu that's been going around. One of the things they suggested in order to protect yourself against it, was to stay away from people who are coughing or sneezing. If I did that, I'd never go into work. It's like the TB ward in my office all year long.

2.) On Sunday the girls and I went grocery shopping. We only had about $50 to spend until I get paid on the first, so we tried to be careful about what all we got. Sure, I had a credit card to use if we went over, but I really didn't want to have to use it. When the guy rang up all of our groceries, it came to $49.18. The girls and I all cheered and the cashier looked very confused, but laughed just the same. Poor guy.

Here are some pretty little daffodils. Happy Spring!

3.) So, this month two of my gay friends are coming back to Iowa to get married. My woman friend and her girlfriend will be here this Friday and my male friend and his boyfriend are coming on the 15th. They are both double professional incomes with no kids and have been waiting many, many years to legally wed. The way I see it, if California doesn't feel like it needs those kinds of dollars, Iowa will happily grab them up, thank you very much. Plus, now I get to see my wonderful friends again. Double bonus.

4.) On Saturday night, some young boy was talking to me at the bar. After he left, one of the women I was sitting with leaned over and said, "You do know that that guy was totally hitting on you, don't you?" Then jokingly finished, "And he was wearing a crochet headband. How could you say no to that?" I think the more appropriate question is, who would say yes to a guy wearing a crochet headband?

5.) You know how I'm always talking about the fact that my girls have almost totally opposite personalities? Well, here's just another illustration:

Stinky: I can't wait until you leave next year and I can have the room to myself.

Coadster: You'll miss me. You already said you'd miss me...

Stinky: Maybe, but it will be nice not to have you bossing me around all the time.

Coadster: You'll miss me doing all the laundry and folding all of your clothes for you.

Stinky: No I won't. I could care less about that kind of stuff. Normally, I just pick something up off of the floor, shake it, smell it and put it on.

Apparently, Stinky is in dire need of a finishing school.