Rocket J. Squirrel lives up to his name

This is our new friend. He decided to take us for a run today and take Duffy with him. He can run like the wind. I opened the garage door and he and Duffy went after the cats. Big Mistake. He'll be 3 on Valentines day. He wants to be inside and cries alot. What he really wants is to check out the cat. the cat wants nothing to do with him. I hope to God I have the energy for this. We will be making trips to the Dog Park quite often with this one to let him run and get his yayas out. Have to have 2 people since one dog goes to big dog park and other one goes to little dog park.

Kid #2 has finals this week. She is off to library with her study group so she can do well on her gubmint final. I hope she does well. She is really turning out to be quite the student. No AP classes for her. And no extra college classes.

I don't understand these kids who graduate with their high school diploma as well as their AA from a community college. I think kids need a transistion from high school to college. I know I wasn't ready to go to a 4 year school when I was 18. I loved school no matter what.

You have no idea what a disappoint it was for me when I actually started to teach and most of the kids I taught could have cared less. It was an example of apathy at the highest level. Of course these kids had been told they were crap since they were little so why would one teacher make a difference? i had kids who were had such severe mental illness that they belonged in hospitals and not in classrooms. Kids whose parents thought that to solve the ADD all their kids had , was to give them sugar. Yep, good old sugar. And when their kid punched through a window in a door because he was late to class, that it was the teachers fault for obeying the instructions of the principal to shut the door when the last bell rang. Oh the stories I could tell. The kid who slugged me in the abdomen when I was trying to get kids out to lunch. I should have filed a police report on that. Oh the things I know now that I didn't know then.

Well tonight is meat loaf, mashed potatoes and gravy and veges. Need to go defrost the meat. Sounds good to me.

Ciao.

-30-

What is this falling from the sky???

Yes!!! It's raining. We need it. There may even be thunder lately. I don't know when or where, but it's raining.

We are thinking about adopting another GSP. He's nearly 3 and he looks pretty sweet. The kids and I are supposed to go and meet him today. of course it all comes down to the big guy. We shall see.

Life goes on. High school has finals this week. 1/2 days and then Friday off.

DHS says no work till after 6-30-07. Tenative date of return. I can't lift 70 lbs so I won't be going back to doing any thing like that. I hurt too much to even think about it. Hell I can't even lift a gallon of milk, how in the hell am I supposed to think about a suitcase. And waving a wand is a joke.

Not much else exciting. I am jazzed about the rain though.

Ciao.

-30-

Still coughing like the energizer bunny

This is getting really old. I think I may have to break down and see the doc and ask for some codeine and something to stop this damn hacking. And it's time to refill the BP meds too. Must make appointment.

Life is generally going on okay. I made lasagna from scratch for dinner. It's in the oven now. I couldn't mix the cheeses up though, had to ask for help. My arm just screamed when I did that. Hope it tastes good. Lots of cheese in it and I added extra sauce.

Dog got groomed. Cutie patootie. Tried to hump an elderly English setter who wanted nothing to do with him. Dumb dog but cute.

Kids are fine. Husband worked 6 days this week. He's still tired and Lord almighty he snored like a chainsaw last night. I didn't sleep well at all. Tonight I will take the sleeping pill and hope that it works.

Supposed to rain. I see clouds but no rain. House is even cold upstairs.

Ciao babies!

-30-

A Dry Unproductive Cough

Well....that is what I have had for the last couple of weeks. It's just really irritating but it's like a choo choo train that just needs to keep chugging along. Cough, cough, deep cough....

Nothing terribly exciting has been going on. Kids to school, running errands and just finishing up a couple of books that I had started. I am waiting on the delivery of the new Kris Radish book, Sunday List of Dreams. That should be fun to read.

American Idol === God the losers are just that. I can't wait till next week when House and Bones come back with new episodes. I can't take all this crap. Yesterday I watched my very first episode of 24. That is kind of a scary show. I am not too thrilled with the a bomb going off in Valencia. No more Magic Mountain in that show's time line. Oh well.

Sometimes there's just not a lot to write about. Normal things going on, being a mom and being sore.

Ciao.

-30-

Listening, an art to Master

I am listening to A Young Lutheran's Guide to the Orchestra. It is so wonderful. Garrison Keillor has such a way with words. I've met him and seen APHC in person a couple of times here on the West Coast. It is neat to listen to him describe the different parts of an orchestra to a bunch of people, a goodly number of them who are midwestern Lutherans.

Warmer today but still pretty cool at night. The dog curled up so close to me last night. He wanted to get up at 0300 to go outside so I threw him out there and he did what he had to do and came back and curled up. After I got up he trotted down the hall and went to see the boychild and slept with him.

I wrote to my case worker a while ago and I still haven't heard anything. In the meantime I suffer. Wonder if they ever got hurt and had to wonder what was going on? A nice cushy government job. Oh to wish?

Still no news on the inlaws. Sent an email and not one answer. Guess they are either too busy to answer or we are still SOL with them. Not that I care.

Now we've switched to Asleep at the Wheel. I love Texas Boogie. Makes me wanna dance which I cannot do.

So, have a nice day out in the ether.

Ciao.

-30-

I want orange chicken....

I tried to do this on Safari but it didn't seem to like me so I am back to Mozilla. Works well, so why change?

Rain and cold off and on with sun peaking through. Grapevine is closed. WhooHoo.

Am having Panda Express tonight for dinner. Already decided. I smelled some orange chicken last night and it was so tempting. Will send the kid out tonight to get some for all of us.

I don't even know what day it is. That's how confused I am. I think I am going to take a nap this afternoon and try to catch up on the sleep that I miss at night. Just a bit of stress. No that's not true, a whole freaking truckload of stress and I am not dealing with it well at all.

Well it's time to turn the computer to sleep for a while and do something good for me.

Ciao.

-30-

Damn Dog

Oh I am pissed off. The dog chewed through my ear bud wires. Now I can't listen to my Ipod. I am not a happy camper. He's in his crate now and every so often there's a bark. Tough shit. He gets to stay there for a while. I can't replace them till Friday, but I will and they will stay in their little case. How come he doesn't chose to chew the ones my kids leave all over everywhere. And don't get me started on shoe laces. Yes he's not 2 yet, yes he's in need of training. He chewed the handle on his leash for cripes sake. I need some quiet time in a nice room with a view and a spa tub and a bottle of a nice Chardonnay cooled very cold.

I didn't need that today. Kid #1 got po'ed at the father after the father yelled at him last night, went out with his friends to another friends house and watched Firefly DVD's and came home at 4AM without a key. Had to call his sister to unlock the door so he could get in. Am I happy? Well i was pissed off at his father too and had to stay in the same room with him.

You gotta wonder sometimes dont' you?

Ciao.

-30-

¿ Que Pasa?

YES, I should be paying lots and lots of money for all the whining I've done in the last 4 years. Today the pain level was maybe 7-8 and I finally sucked it up and went out. I have not left the house in 3 days. But we went to Costco, big friggin mistake. Left the basket, did get gas though, cheaper than anywhere else. Then to Vons and found something my mom was looking for. Made her happy.

Kids are making noise. Glad they are down stairs. I have turned the heater off, but will turn it on to 58º tonight. It was a sauna in here last night. Not so cold outside today. But chilly.

I miss my big brown dog. the little black dog is okay but I truly miss my big brown dog.

Nothing else new. We had mail today, WTF was that???? I thought postal offices were closed. Oh well. Not that anything exciting except the cable bill came. Whew. I wonder if we need all those channels?

Aliens is on the tv behind me droning on. I am not terribly thrilled but there is no football and I like this one and Alien Resurrection of all of them. It's like I really enjoy watching Terminator 2, but could care less about the other 2.

No pain pills tonight. 3 glasses of white zin rule that out. I will put on a lidoderm patch and see if that helps. Not that I expect it to. It hasn't yet.

Well not much else to update. Little black dog is gnawing on a crust of pizza. He doesn't like the good stuff, he only likes the crust. Smart dog. I don't like crust.

Time to end and to prepare for the week.
Ciao.

-30-

Clavicle Shmalivical

Okay, so what gives? Why does the shoulder ache so bad and have pain across the top and bottom of the right clavicle? Where are the muscles that really hurt and why does the pain keep on coming.

Like last week, I missed the 2nd half of the afternoon football game. I just couldn't keep my eyes open. Not to mention that it is colder than cold down there, even with the fire going. It's just not fun. Slept for a couple of hours and feel a little better. Tomorrow will be a so/so day, have the whole crew again thanks to the MLK holiday.

Damn cold last night and early this morning. i got up to let the pooch out at 0651 and it said 28º on the thermometer on the patio. That is cold. But I have my Hudson Bay Blanket on the bed so it was nice and warm when I crawled back in. The pooch decided to favor the 2nd kid with his presence so that was okay with me.

Older kid went to the Queen Mary to see RHPS last night. He had fun. He's got some good friends. I did tell him that the weeknight curfew is now midnight. His sister has to go to school and she needs sleep too. She won't sleep with me because she says I snore. Oh the horror...me snoring? No. Can't. Be. True.

The Patriots versus the Colts. Go Colts.
The Bears versus the Saints. Go Bears.

These are just what I want. Would be a lot of fun.

Not much else tonight. at 2045 it's 46º outside. Brrrrr.

Ciao. Babies.

-30-

Tell me whacha want what ya really really want

The weather is changing. My hands are cold today and my shoulder hurts like a sunnaofabitch. It hurt most of the night too. Could't get a comfy position to stay in. Such fun, and then the dog decided that sometime after 3AM he was the most important being in the room and he had to get me awake to let me know that. I said sorry pooch, I am staying in my semi warm bed and going to sleep. I am tired of being cold.
But I did get up and out of bed to take my kid to school since her brother has a headache and considering the hours he's been keeping he gets to sleep in today. She didn't make the play but that's no great loss. Unless you were one of the drama teachers favorite little twinkies you didn't have much of a chance. I told her to excel in her singing class and forget about the play. She's got much more important things coming up for her than that.

I hope this year is better than last. Scraping by is not the way I envisioned my life.

And oh yeah, David Beckham is joining the LA Galaxy. Does that mean the hallowed environs of Beverly Hills will meet and greet his oh so anoxeric wife and they will be BFF with da stahsssss???? I don' give a flying f**k. So there.
Ciao.

-30-

From Hot and Windy to Cold and Wet and a Shuffle or something like it

That's what the weather guys are saying. From beach weather to light a fire and curl up.
The fires last night really were scary, especially since they were on the ocean side and not in the hills. I am sure the people are insured and they will rebuild.

So far so good in the new year. Just staying ahead of the pain.

Here's the Shuffle for a Tuesday night:

1. The Young Lutheran's Guide to the Orchestra ////////Garrison Keillor
2. The Devil Went Down to Jamaica ///////Weird Al
3. This Old House ///////Bette Midler
4. Act 2- Finale ///////Spamalot
5. Lord, I Want To Be A Christian ///////Chanticleer
6. He Shall Purify Them ///////Handel's Messiah
7. In The Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening ///////Bette Midler
8. Diva's Lament ( What Happened to my Part?)/////// Spamalot
9. The Thrill is Gone ///////B B King & Eric Clapton
10. Louie Louie ///////The Kinks

And that is all she wrote.......

Ciao

-30-

4 days into the new year

So far 2007 isn't much different than 2006.
I spent most of the 1st of the year sitting in an ER with my Mom. I had the good sense to call 911 to get her transported so she would get a room. The ER was jammed and we were there 6 hours. She waited 3 hours to be seen. People were getting nasty and rude and it was not a pleasant thing. She will be seen by a pain mgmt specialist next week and hopefully that will be the start of something good. I pray that it is.

Got some interesting books to read. A Kathy Reich' novel and a non fiction book written by a female neurosurgeon. Then I have 3 Nora Roberts to read. Slowly but surely.

The clouds are here. It wasn't cloudy earlier. I guess we are getting some rain perhaps.

Shoulder hurts. Nothing new there.

Ciao, babies.

-30-