only backgroundI'm a wife, mother and grandmother. I'm opinionated. I contradict myself frequently. Most of all, I love my kids. I believe in them. I fight for them. They're weird and wonderful. If you want to know more, here's a bunch of other stuff from my old site.
Archive for the ‘Rant and Rave’ Category
Usually, the groundhog sees its shadow indicating we’ll have another 6 weeks of winter. This year Punxsutawney Phil didn’t see his shadow which meant that spring would be just around the corner. Yeah, right.
It snowed the morning we left for Hawaii. There were fender benders on local roads. Everything was icy. Spring must be hiding around that corner because it certainly isn’t here.
Have I mentioned how much I hate winter?
At least the snow storm didn’t stop us from our flight last Wednesday so I’ll keep my complaining to a minimum. By the time we get back from Hawaii, spring should be well underway. If not, Punxsutawney Phil is going to have some explaining to do.
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I don’t think I’ll ever figure out how people in power can deny the problems that are staring them in the face. It’s as though the minute we elect someone to office they lose the part of their brain that does the critical thinking. They just walk around repeating pithy phrases as though life is just one continuous sound bite.
Around here we have kids dying every week from drug overdoses. And by kids I mean teens and young adults. There have been over a dozen that I have known personally, who have walked into my home, who rode in my car. And that doesn’t even count the ones who are walking zombies. Kids who played ball with my boys, who spent the night here, jump between heroin and their methodone treatment, then back to the heroin again. The cycle never ends.
From what I’ve seen of methodone treatment, it isn’t working. What these addicts really need is a comprehensive, inpatient drug rehab center. We need this nearby, not 100 miles away, so that parents and siblings can be part of the recovery. Like it or not, the entire family is part of the addiction and the entire family needs treatment. That doesn’t happen when the addict is sent hundreds of miles away. At some point, they must return to their family and community, neither of which have changed. We need neighborhood drug rehab facilities.
Why don’t we have them? Because, according to one local mayor, our problem is no worse than anywhere else in the country. According to the people in the local towns, we need help but Not In My Backyard.
I have to wonder how many people we need to lose before something is really done about this.
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Maybe it’s because Britney Spears is about the age of one of my sons, but I’m feeling really bad for her right now. She doesn’t need someone to party with or clean up her mistakes. She needs her mom.
Hey, Britney’s mom, where are you?
I know Britney is an adult. She’s a mother as well. Nevertheless, someone needs to get that girl to see what she’s doing. Someone needs to be brutally honest with her. Someone needs to point out that her sons already have one parent who’s a waste; she can’t let them down, too.
I happen to like Britney Spears. I don’t like when people bash her. I don’t like seeing her destroy herself, either. She needs to understand that she must learn to love herself. Everything she’s doing right now reflects some real hatred for who she is.
Come on, Britney! You’re pretty, talented and have a heart of gold. Get it together for yourself and those great sons.
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I live in such a small community that almost everyone here knows me. I’d be surprised to find someone here that doesn’t at least know our last name. I guess thats’ why it never seemed important to have yard markers with our house number.
I think I’m going to invest in one, though. For the second time in as many weeks, the pizza delivery guy went to the wrong house with our pizza. This time, though, he gave up and went back to the pizza place, never delivering our stuff. Any idea how miserable 2 hungry boys can be when they’re waiting for pizza that doesn’t arrive?
So yeah, it’s time to mark our house well enough that those who don’t live around here won’t have a problem finding us. And then we’ll be able to get our pizza, on time and hot!
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We’re not getting 7″ of snow. We’re getting 1″-3″ tonight, then it’s changing to feezing rain, then it’s changing back to snow for a total accumulation of 3″-5″. Isn’t that just great?
Brit got home from work and then ran back to the store for a few things. We’re out of milk again, and cereal. I’m not sure how she’s supposed to take the baby to the doctor’s tomorrow, though. We’ll see.
And for the record, it’s bright and sunny on Kauai today. The husband who doesn’t mind the cold was complaining about it being a cool 60 this morning. He’ll pay for that.
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I do this every winter. I do it several time each winter, in fact. As the weather gets more and more bitter, I spend even more time online, looking at other places to live.
Since I still have kids in school, I always check out the school systems. And since Brian works construction, I make a mental note about the real estate markets. And naturally, I look at yearly weather since I detest cold and snow.
Today I was looking into Raleigh North Carolina Real Estate. I’ve always been attracted to the Carolinas. I remember traveling through North Carolina when we went to Florida by car 20 years ago. It was so beautiful we decided to stay there overnight rather than waiting til we got to Georgia.
I really have to discuss this with Brian. I don’t want to put up with this weather much longer. Apparently, he doesn’t either. Afterall, he’s not here working in this sub-zero weather, is he?
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When I check my website stats, I’m always a little surprised to see the phrase “spank my son” somewhere near the top. Those are very short visits because Spank is the nickname of my second son. I guess that isn’t the info people are searching.
So, let’s talk about spanking. It seems to be a hot topic in California right now. A California state legislator is moving to making spanking children under the age of 4 illegal. The thought of this law sends shivers up my spine.
I must mention, first, that I do not advocate spanking. Yes, I spanked my two older sons a few times. No, I don’t think it helped their behavior nor do I believe I damaged them emotionally, psychologically or physically. When I ask them about it now, they laugh at me. They’re 27 and 25 and doing well.
However, the few times I spanked my older boys, I felt awful. In fact, my decision to not spank had more to do with how it made me feel than how it made them feel. The key phrase here is “my decision” because that’s what makes all the difference.
No local, state or federal government ought to be making laws in regard to family matters unless it’s absolutely imperative. The parenting decision to administer a quick, controlled swat to a butt does not rise to the level of abuse and is of no concern to the state. We have given away too many rights; this is just another that the state is attempting to take from us.
There are much better ways to discipline a child than spanking. That doesn’t make spanking a crime. And it certainly doesn’t make parents who spank criminals.
And people wonder why I’m a Libertarian!
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I won’t be around much today. I have about a million errands to run. The only problem with that is the weather. Still snow on the ground and it’s so cold out there! I hate cold.
I need to get Brian a few things for his trip to Hawaii. Brit needs to get Nick some stuff, too. I have to pick up my prescription. I also have to trade in my cell phone because it’s acting stupid. I hate that. I love my LG phone. It’s old but I understand it. I don’t need a camera or mp3 player or whatever else they’re adding to phones these days. I need a phone that works. Period.
I’m checking out all the online sites I’ve found so I can compare what’s there and what’s here at the alltel store. We’ll see what happens.
In the meantime, I sure hope I’m home at a reasonable hour. I do NOT like to run around all day in the snow.
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I can hardly believe that it’s been over 15 years since I watched a Soap Opera. Since I was a very little girl until my thrid son was born, CBS soaps were a part of my daily life. I don’t even remember why I stopped watching.
It was good to check in on my old favorites although I was saddened to read that Darlene Conley, aka Sally Spectra, had died of stomach cancer. She was a one-of-a-kind actress.
I also enjoyed seeing that Reva and Josh on the Guiding Light are still driving each other crazy. Looking over the Soaps.com site was kind of like visiting old friends and catching up.
The only thing I really missed there was a section on the history of each soap. For instance, the site says that Guiding Light is about the Spaulding, Cooper and Lewis families. But that isn’t how it started. I’d love to see a history page about the Bauers, the original GL family. Or the Stewarts on As The World Turns or the Brooks sisters from the Young and The Restless.
Soaps.com could become a great resource with all the up to date information there. All they need to do now is fill in the gaps of the past with some good historical research and the site will be indispensible to all soap fans.
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And it was snowing today. Right now it’s just cold enough to keep the roads slick. Why can’t I livein Hawaii? Why am I stuck in these cold mountains? Where is my ocean?
Maybe if I talk the husband or one of the sons into starting a fire in the fireplace, it’ll make me feel better. Maybe. At least it would save on the propane for the heat. Right?
On a happier note, I have lost 7 lbs since December 27. That’s way better than I did on the low-fat debacle during the month prior to that. Atkins is the man. Even if he is dead.
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