Random Thoughts...

I was sitting, watching that very awesome truck race yesterday, and drinking a beer or two...

That can be dangerous, but it depends on who ya are, I guess.

Just looking at some paradigms I guess. Several stuck out to me, and I suppose this is how it happens.

First of all, move over MILF's because I am creating a NEW category...GILF's (G for Grandma, baby!)

That does imply a standard, I assure you. That brings about the paradigm. It makes no sense for me to spend all this time, effort and money into good food to keep everybody healthy and then turn around and undo all that good by smoking. I just couldn't make it make sense, you know? Seems really stupid when you think about it that way, even. I mean, go to a lot of trouble to keep everybody healthy. Besides with this new tax there is no way I can afford to smoke anymore.

Then there's the whole exercise regimen that follows that routine. Hey, I don't want to be Mrs. Claus, personally.

Anyway, always on the search for hypocrisy in my life and ways to kill it.

Politically Incorrect....

Ok, I don't want any flaming for my next statements, but like a good mother, I am reading the Twilight series.

I swear I haven't read a series THIS BAD, since..."Gerald's Game" by Stephen King. I did get a giggle out of his review of the series, with that novel in mind, but honestly, he did write a lot of good stuff and his vampire stuff was WAY better, for sure.

But still, I absolutely hate the charactes. All of them. The writing..well, hell...I can write that well, let me just go and sell a book...if she can then any of us can, that's all I'm saying.

What I'm seeing in the market is that what is selling is fantasy..plain and simple..no matter how good or how bad, people want to escape into someplace that is completely different. Reality shows are on their way out. There is too much reality in everybody's life right now, that escape is going to sell.

Seriously...call me wrong, but I don't think so. So...you writers...get to writing. Gotta take someone on a real ride, though.

A Study

So, I've joined the masses, caved to peer pressure and joined one of those damn "social networks".

I was resistant for a long time. I did it for my kids. Really.

You know why? I've been on the internet since it was damn near born. Seriously. I've done the chat thing, I've just been there and done that.

I am well aware of how much just utter time it can consume...wasted time for the most part.

I was a part of the whole AOL 1.0 crowd...you had to update your browser with a 3.5 floppy disk, for crying out loud. And I loved it. I did...I loved being a part o a community..the information exchange from being part of networks like that is phenomenal. It really is.

But there is such a thing as information overload too. And people just tend to tell you stuff ...I don't know, I guess it's just me, being the eternal mom and all.

I've never been one that is just thrilled with the masses, either. I am glad that you can turn the chat function off. That makes it better.

I'm like most people, I come to the internet to find my form of escape. Mostly watching reruns of Bones on the computer, these days, and the number one social rule on the internet is that the internet is supposed to be a happy place, for crying out loud..not a big ol' confessional. But there are those....

Anyway, just sayin' It's nice to have a quiet place to retreat to.

The Correct Way To Catch A Terrorist

Saturday Afternoon Mimosas

Racing on the tee vee, cold beers in the fridge, a myriad of snacks, and momma's drinkin' mimosas. Now, that's living.

We had a mid week tornado garage party this week. Man, it is getting harder to keep up with the big dogs, for sure. But, this gal has no trouble trying!

I had the ex girlfriend, her sister and her sister's boyfriend that just showed up. I thought there was some southern rule that you were supposed to call first...

So, her sister starts in by telling me that she has had another baby since I saw her last. Understand, I was about a 6-pack in, and well, I have said before that when I drink that filter between my mouth and brain...it just disappears...

My reaction was not one of somebody leaping for joy, I assure you. I asked her if she knew they made a pill for that. Her boyfriend, who was not the 'baby daddy' laughed...until I asked him how many kids HE had.

Oh, it gets even better ....she doesn't even know who the father is.

What a complete bunch of utter and total idiots. Her boyfriend was giving her shit too..until I asked him how many baby mommas there were....one for every one of his three children. I asked him if he'd ever heard of a you know...condom?

The rest of the night was spent giving birth control lectures.

I didn't quit until the black guy blushed and the girl cried. Only then did I know I got my point across and then I jabbed a couple of more times, just because it was fun.

Geez..do these parents not teach their children ANYTHING? I mean, one kid is understandable...but more than that...they ought to be spanked or something.

But, hey...I'm not scared of a bunch of idiot teenagers. And, for some reason...they like it when I make them cry. Probably because nobody ever gave a shit enough about them to say it, maybe. I do not know. I do know that if I were their ages, I wouldn't go back to a house where someone made me cry..but these idiots keep coming back for more. That's the part that baffles me, I suppose.

Thursday Blogging..

I know, my blogging has been..well, light lately. I've honestly been kicking around the idea of even having a blog anymore.

I'm not tired of blogging...per se...but the reality of it is, is that I started this blog for a very specific reason.

I want to write. I have established the discipline, and I've come to understand the process, and I know what I like to read.

This blog was created for..practice of my craft. In order to understand the process of anything, you must first...do it and do it some more. You have to put the worst of yourself and your talent out there in order to learn from it.

Now, I am not done blogging, but I think it's time to take my 1500 words a day and put them toward a more ...focused subject...in other words, the novel that has been lurking in me all along.

I'll be around, but I think the purpose of this blog is mostly served. It's sad...I kinda miss it...but at the same time....KWIM?

At the same time...I'm glad I've recorded a lot of happy memories here, and I think I'll continue to do that...

So, keep checking, but the daily or often blog posts you've come to expect, I don't know...during party season..yes, I want to continue to record those memories.

However, bottom line is that I really really really, have always wanted to be a novelist...and so I shall be.

Sigh. This post is typical of my non-posts lately, and that is what I don't want to do....and the whole exact point.

Large Families

I love having a large family. I can't say I'd like to have as many as the octuplet mom, for sure, but I do love the ones I've got.

You'd think that having more would tend to make a body more high strung at times, but I'd have to say the complete opposite is true. Having that many people around, you do get a chance to recognize and separate normal behavior from abnormal behavior...and once you've been through a particular phase couple of times, it really becomes no big deal. You've memorized the lines, the establishment of the discipline becomes more a matter of routine.

Yes, you can go play with your friends after you put your stuff away and clean ..whatever... room.

The 'big' issues don't seem so big when you have to deal with a bunch of different ones. They all go through some wierd moods at virtually the same ages. How they choose to expess themselves is dependent upon their personalities.

The thing that will drive every single person nuts in a large family is the little things. Like, putting stuff back where it goes. I swear to you we have been looking for the rake for a week. I know we have one, but somebody used it to do a chore, probably in the fall...left it where it was and we cannot find that sucker anywhere.

And, it's not like it's right to get all mad at them because they lost it doing a chore for us...

The same thing happens to the brooms, oddly enough. Ane my people are some towel hoarding folks, too.

Even then, you just tend to get mellower about stuff like that. They help out in other ways that totally balances out the little stuff. Like, one of them, always remembers to bring Dr. Pepper home if we are out. One of them always makes sure the dishes get done, one of them always makes sure that the animals are fed..one of them makes sure the senior chief has a cold beer if we're out. They all do the grass..

Sometimes it's hard to spot when you live with people and all family members take each other or granted at times, but when you stop and think...the thing that people miss about people when they are gone is the little things.

The little things count when they're good. They only don't count when they aren't.

Having a large family just kinds to accelerate your learning curve in a way on a lot of issues.

Bark At The Moon

Spring is springing and with it comes a real uplift in mood. Having the Army boy home from the theater helps considerably as well. It will be even better when he gets to come to Georgia...

Which means me and the senior chief had to spend the other night barking at the moon. When it's full like that and warm outside, how can you not stay up and play? It sucked the next morning when 5am rolled around, but not as bad as you might have thought.

Back are the days where I find myself bounding out of bed like a little kid, eager to have adventures and see what the day has in store.

I mean, I know that you're supposed to do certain things at certain times and blah blah blah..but that gets sooo boring..and you miss all kinds of cool stuff. All the fun stuff.

We went to the truck race this weekend, too. It was AWESOME! The kids were glad to see us go, too. They actually cleaned stuff while we were gone.

So, the other night, the moon was out pretty big and I saw fit to take a picture of it. Pretty cool, huh?

Did I Mention???

My boy earned his spurs while in Iraq. I know it's a big deal, but it's one of those things..finding the truth is hard...

Could someone clue me in...enough so I can have an appropriate party? KWIM? Please.

Tears...

Tears of joy are streaming down my face. My boy is home. God Bless Texas!!!

I am the most blessed gal of all times. Though I cannot be there myself, I know that he's in good hands, with good women. I know he's gonna be spoiled good...and for that I am thankful.

Playing

My natural resting state is happy. It just is. I have to believe that for most people, this is true, as well. When left alone to just be...most people's natural resting state is happy. The unhappy only comes along when there is an outside influence to change that. Now, you have a reaction.

Watching the news for hours at a time, and then reading about it. Well, no wonder people are depressed.

Too much negative input is simply that. Even I don't have enough natural happiness to save the world, and neither do you.

Even someone who is optimistic most of the time, and generally happy most of the time..even they need to reload every now and then. Recharge is another word for it.

It doesn't take much, either. Sunshine does great wonders for cabin fever. It's the vitamin D...it's a fairly important vitamin. Recreation...pure fun.

That's why I enjoy having kids around so much. It's important for us to keep in touch with that side of us.

You talk to any little kid and their first and foremost priority is to ..play. You got it. If you're talking about a schedule of chores or whatever you want them to do, you better have a play period scheduled all up in there and it better be nice and long.

I'm a big believer in free play. Kids remind you that you have to take some time to just play.

Every single day, even.

Truck Racing..

There's a truck race today and I'm going. Never mind that I've caught all this crud going around. It's going to be a beautiful day and I do not want to miss it.

Can you hear the defiance in my tone?

Carpe Diem, is what I say.

Or..Damn the torpedos, full speed ahead...

Whatever. I'm going and consequences be damned.

Army boy comes home to the States tomorrow! Woo HOO!!!!

Boogity, boogity, boogity!

Night Court...

I've been to court so many times with so many different kids in so many different damn counties, I have a whole routine.

1. Chew kid out all the way to the courthouse so they're good and nervous.

2. And if they were stupid enough to get caught "in town", then you tell a few scary stories and whatnot, too...since you can't go in with them. You get to sit outside in the car...inevitably in the cold... and wait.

3. Make sure you have your book, handheld game, crosstitch, and mp3 player just in case it takes forever.

4. Laugh at them on the way home, because now that it's over, it isn't nearly as bad as they thought it would be.

Have beer. And one more for good measure. If it's a weekend and you have no obligations, a shot of tequila or two is fine too. Unfortunately, tonight is a school night.

Writer's Block...

Staring at the blank screen, her fingers are flying across the keyboard, she feels passionate and enthusiastic about her subject for the day.

She looks away to pause in thought and find the right words..

She notices the fly buzzing nearby, allows her eyes to wander out the window. The dogs are barking furiously at the cat...

She notes that the trees are dangerously close to blooming and this makes her happy...

She wonders what kind of cool stuff her husband is working on today...

The cat comes up and meows. The woman cannot resist petting her kitty...

And so it goes on..once again, there's another half finished post sitting in the draft pool.

I Don't Even Know Her Name...

I know it seems sometimes when it comes to the parenting stuff that I'm sitting here on my high horse. I'm pretty hard on other parents....as I am hard on myself ...I'm much, much harder on myself, I assure you.

The point being, that when I do happen to have to deal with other people's kids, those kids usually tell me what their parents want and whenever I have to deal with them, I do deal within the framework of what the parents have laid out.

This is evident in a friendship I have with a lady whom I don't speak to. You form bonds with people by just being there, in a way.

There came a time when her son, who is manic-depressive and a bit of a handful, I'm sure...came to my house after having been in the woods all night long. He was suicidal and his mother had called the ambulance. Along with the ambulance, comes the cops, though...and the kid, in his state of mind...thought his mother called the cops on him.

So, I did what needed to be done. I took him to the nearest mental health facility and checked his ass in. That's what was going to happen anyway...that's what his mother had decided that he needed. So, I enforced it for her.

She had no idea where he was for 3 days..that was a different part of the story..

Anyway, kids learn things a lot easier if all the adults in their life are pretty much on the same page. He got the help he needed, and she wasn't the bad guy.

Their relationship healed a LOT...

And, like things that come around and go around, she's been very instrumental to me in helping my eldest son ..see the light... on a few issues.

I consider her a friend..but I don't even know her name.