Spam?

Friday, February 22, 2008

Should I be offended that Yahoo thinks that e-mails to myself are spam? Do they think I'm trying to bilk myself out of all my hard earned money?

Maybe I should have someone review e-mails before I send them. Maybe my typed word sounds Nigerian.

I'm really beginning to develop a complex over it.

My take

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Here's my take on the 7 random things. Except I give you 4 things I have too little of followed by 3 things I have way too much of.

• I have no dancing skills. When it comes to dancing I have absolutely no rhythm. Think Elaine Benes dancing.

• I have no sense of direction. I've lived in my current area for 6 years now and I only recently learned which direction is which on two of our interstates. I knew that one went North & South but I never knew which way I was actually going. R actually clued me in on the secret to this one. "If you're heading towards North Town (not the actual name but it is called North ____) you're heading North. If you're heading away from North Town, you're heading South." Yes, you can call me a moron now.

• I have no sense of measurement. To illustrate this once to R I explained to her that I thought the ceilings in the house I grew up in were 40 feet. I didn't think she was ever going to stop laughing over that one. She still tells people about it. Just in case you're wondering the ceilings are about 12 feet.

• I have no grace. Seriously. I'm a lummox. I can trip over nothing. I can fall walking up stairs.

• I have way too much road rage. I would love nothing more than to drive an actual tank during my commute to and from work.

• I have way too much snark. When I feel less than at my best I proceed to be the snarkiest person ever. I really try to limit what comes out of my mouth but sometimes it's like watching a speeding train knowing you can do nothing to stop the total devastation it's about to cause.

• I have way too much heart. I get weepy over fucking commercials. I can't watch anything that depicts cruelty to animals even if it has a happy ending. I'm still trying to watch last season's Meerkat Manor but I'm having a hard time over the devastating loss that occurred. And the previews for the next episode waiting on the DVR has even more heartbreak. It's only been sitting there since November or so.

So there you have it. The bizarreness that is me.

Bitch, bitch, bitch

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Do you know how hard it is to sleep when you have a 70 lb dog kicking you in the ribs/back?

It's very rough. Just so you know.

Anyone know a good way to rid a dog of their fear of thunder storms?

We're trying to ignore the behavior as the vet suggested but it is very difficult to ignore a 70 lb chocolate lab who takes up residence on your chest when she hears thunder.

We can usually calm her down enough to sleep in between us but then she starts with the rib/back kicking and it pretty much ensures that neither R not myself will get any sleep.

So now I'm working on my second day of no sleep. Add to that I'm getting sick again. And I've had an almost constant headache since last Wednesday.

Misery thy name is Jennifer.

Lucky

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

We made it through the bad weather unscathed.

Unfortunately many of our fellow Arkansans and Mid-Southerners did not.

The last count I heard was 24 dead across Arkansas, Tennessee & Kentucky.

Updated: According to this story there are 48 dead throughout Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky & Alabama.

We truly were lucky in this.

We watched the squall line get closer & closer until it was on top of us and our satellite signal went out. Even though it looked big and massive the worst part was way North of us and our portion of the storm lasted a mere five minutes and we escaped with no damage at all.

Many people were not as lucky.

Many thoughts and prayers for those around us who weren't as lucky as we were.

The craze

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

I swear the older I get the more I examine myself and wonder who the hell this stranger is that is occupying my body.

This whole health/environment conscious thing has grabbed hold of me. I think I've even begun scaring R in my quest to eat/be more organic/eco-friendly.

Our tap water sucks. So when I refused to purchase individual bottles of plastic water R's eyes got big.

When I told her we were staying away from red meat as much as possible I think she twitched a little.

When I bought soy "ground beef" and soy "chorizo" I think a little part of her died when she realized I was serious.

I even made her take a vitamin Saturday. Which I swore we would take everyday (and then I promptly forgot about until just now).

I also said we were going to set a timer for 15 minutes every day. During that 15 minutes we would each clean the house.

I've also become fanatical about money. This from the person who was once so bad with money she tried to sell her plasma during her early days of college.

I also told R that we were going to get moving. Starting this week we will, at least once a week, go for a walk or do some sort of strenuous exercise.

When I think about all these things that I am very serious about implementing I can't help but wonder who I've become. A lot of these things are things I never, ever cared about. Or I said I would worry about them some other day.

I feel 30 breathing down my neck each and every day. I know that I want to be healthy and in a healthy routine by the time it gets here. I also want R and to have a long healthy life together.

But, even knowing all that the part of me that is holding on to the reckless, carefree days of my teens/early twenties keeps asking, "who the fuck is this woman and why should I listen to her?"

A good one

Friday, February 01, 2008

Yesterday was a pretty damn good. Which we've needed around our house due to some crummy occurrences which include the sleet last Friday which caused a horrendous commute home and the wind Tuesday that shattered our brand new patio table.

So what's so good?

I got a bonus. Which in and of itself is awesome. But. The bonus? It's about three times bigger than I anticipated. Which is even better. Combined with the raise I got a few weeks ago? So fucking awesome I'm dancing.

Now I just have to convince R that we are not under any circumstances spending the money on an alpaca or a fainting goat.

Fostering love

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

This story makes me ill.

Arkansas' foster care system is seriously broken. There is a desperate need for good (major emphasis on the good) foster parents. There are way too many kids in facilities and group homes because placement can't be found in the foster homes we have now.

Kids are being shipped all over the state to foster homes or facilities in far away counties because it's very, very hard to find placement for kids especially in the larger counties.

And yet this group wants to deny unmarried couples living together (read: gays & lesbians) the right to foster/adopt children.

Forget that there is a major need.

Forget what's in the best interest of the children.

Forget that a lot of us are more than capable of providing care for these children.

According to this group you should ignore all these things and focus solely on "a 'homosexual agenda' in Arkansas."

The article states, "there is an agenda at work in other states that's being driven by the homosexual community, an agenda that uses children in foster care or waiting to be adopted. He said his group doesn't believe children should ever be used by a particular group to advance an agenda."

First, what the fuck is a homosexual agenda?

Seriously. I'm not being purposely obtuse; I just don't fucking understand what a homosexual agenda is.

Second, isn't this group doing exactly what it is accusing this homosexual agenda of?

Aren't they just throwing around a bunch of vague accusations against some alleged group in hopes that the people of Arkansas will vote to deny gays and lesbians yet another right in this state?

By doing this aren't they using the children in foster care to further their own goals?

The news this morning said that this initiative would ban over half the people in Arkansas from fostering/adopting.

Wow.

What a great way to ensure there is a permanent foster home shortage.

What a great way to keep this system utterly and hopelessly broken.