Call Me Cicada....(layin' a little Zodiac on ya)

I had an epiphany today. I run in seven year cycles. Right near the six or seven year mark, for the past 21 years (hey, I try to forget the first 11), I get this crazy thing going on. I don't know why...it's cyclic.

Age 11: Massive life changing year for me. My niece was born and I lost my much coveted title of 'baby of the family'. This was the year I discovered attitude and opinion...I have yet to abandon either, btw. This was the year that my buddy, Ben, and myself began to venture out into 'the woods' on our own (which may not seem big to some but to us it was). This was also the year that my first best friend ever moved away, forcing me to branch out. Boys became a whole new obsession. A big year for a little person.

Age 18: Graduation and the loss of my dear Pa (Grandpa) marked this year. Before that though I spent the early part of the year doing what 18 year old girls do best...partying, playing the field and being all around annoying (I know I was thank you very much). After graduation and the loss of Pa a week later, I came to MO to spend the summer with Grandma. I didn't want to go back to KY for college (I was in looooovvvveee), but Mom pitched a huge fit and I went against my own wishes. Less than six months later I was engaged...why? I wanted away, plain and simple. Being young and dumb (see Mrs. Hines...you were right) I thought 'consequences be damned' and married the spousal unit anyway. Can I add in here that I was healing from my first real heartbreak when I met the spousal unit? Not the most brilliant of times to start a new relationship.

Age 25: Hello US Army...military spouse time, highly educational. You should try it sometime. I had the choice this year to walk away from my marriage, almost did if you want the truth, but decided to stay and became a mom the next year.

Age 32 (present day): bad relationship juju strikes again, only now I'm older and slightly wiser. Melt down leads to frank discussion and a choice for both of us. He knows that I expect better than what he had been giving. This year is going to be harder than it started out. He hasn't laid out what he wants, other than for me to be happy (how cliche). I know he wants in...more emotion than I can show, more than I can give 'cause frankly it isn't there. I am emotionally stunted. So begins another cycle...but I've learned and I'm working through.


Have you ever read the description of an Aquarius? It's like they (whoever they are) wrote down me. There I sit on the screen or piece of paper. The passion for life but cool detachment of emotion. I know this, I've always (ALWAYS) been like this. Self-centered, eccentric...disliking being stuck in one place and senseless show of emotion.

Mom calls me her alien child. She doesn't know how right she is. My brother and sister are also the epitome of their signs (Scorpio and Virgo). Our house was one of chaos if left to deal with each other growing up...we are too different. Age has mellowed us however and though we still are what we are...we don't body slam each other in the front yard during arguments anymore (ahem...that was me getting body slammed btw). My sister worries about me, because of my flighty ways and non-emotional thinking. She, being a Virgo, is fiercely devoted to her spouse because she is irrevocably in love with him...it is her nature. My desire to run and be away from the emotional neediness of mine (who is a true Capricorn) scares her. Mom (a Cancer) is also shocked by this.

So the six/seven year cycle begins again. I look at where I am and as usual see a desire to be elsewhere. This is how it always starts. This time it is more complicated (there are little people involved now...no not leprechauns) and I'm more realistic than I've been in many years. I know that the marketable skills I have do not outmaneuver the hundreds of thousands that have the same or better skills, therefore I have no real means to support myself. Don't get me wrong, I'm not above slinging burgers (did that for years) or waiting tables...I don't mind dirty work (hey...don't let your mind wander there)...but soon enough there will be much more competition. I hold no degree, but I'm tenacious.

This puts me in that scary position of 'what do/will I do'...I look at it and say 'what you want to do'. No so much 6/7 years ago, that would have been a freak out question then. Now, I shrug and add it to the list of tasks to conquer. I'm slowly evolving, taking things a bit more lightly (not everything, just some) and learning to roll with life. I plan, I prepare...but lately, I've become more and more determined to live and enjoy this life for what it is. I have a lesson to be learned, a truth to be gained or a secret to discover in this go around. There is a knowledge out there that I am suppose to acquire for the next go around. I haven't done it yet...but I will!

P.S. I drowned a spider the size of a mouse today in soapy dish water. Damn thing came out of nowhere, jumping on my arm when I stuck my hand in the sink. Under normal circumstances I would have allowed the poor eight legged freak to live, putting him outside. BUT the massive idiot jumped on my f'ing arm while I was sticking my hands into water and scared the bejesus out of me...it had to die. Of course, I then had to fish the soggy freak out of the water and start all over with the dishes. Friggin' thing was HUGE, all spread out in it's dead wet state it covered my palm. Just thought I'd share.

Can this be an "I told you so"?

Not in so many words, as I really didn't do a direct say of "He will take over the auto industry", but well....I told you so. Call it what you want: socialism, facism, corporatism, communism, etc. It's here.

Please tell me you've read some of these today, at least the headlines.

From the WSJ...'Detroit's Fate Sealed': "They also set a deadline -- one month for Chrysler, two months for GM -- after which the government might force a bankruptcy restructuring of both companies and break up two of America's business icons."


An excellent entry over at Powerline: "Unfortunately, however, today's power grab is only one of several fronts on which President Obama appears determined to extend the long arm of government into American business, and American life generally. How far he will succeed in doing so, and at what point the American people will rebel, are shaping up as the key questions to be answered over the coming months and years."

And the coups de gras for me (Dad is a GM retiree, btw) also from th WSJ: "But the union leader who represents GM workers warned if the auto makers step back from their obligations to retired workers, the remaining cost of their health care will not simply go away. "Someone is going to have to pay for health care," Mr. Jordan said. "If it's not the companies, it's going to be the taxpayers in some way, shape or form." (probably the most honest quote I've heard from a Union guy in a long time)

I really don't have much else to say on this other than: If you've hanging out on the fence trying to decide whether or not this nutty chick has a point behind all of the "stock up and be ready" talk, this should really honestly be the tiny push you need to fall on over to the darkside with me. The banks are falling in line somewhat quietly, the veterans are looking at being screwed even harder, the economy is slowly (not as slowly as before though) folding like an origami swan and now...now the most public move at control has been made. Come on over, there is a whole network of us ready to hold your hand and show you the way...plus, we have cookies.

House Keeping and a Confession

Cleaned up the blog a little bit. Got rid of the Ping (it was eating up bandwidth and slowing down the blog...for me at least) but added a Twitter thingie. Which leads to the confession.

I am a tech junkie. I am utterly, unabashedly addicted to cool techno gadgets. This could be a problem. Probably is a problem. It's moot to say that I don't spend money on them, ya'll know I don't have a ton of cash floating around, but I have to say I'd love to. I'd love to have a rockin' cell that I could access the net from with all the cool little apps to connect me to my favorite online spots. Alas, it is definitely not in the budget.

So I suffer with my little online based fun and my pre-paid cell that lets me text updates to Twitter. This is a good thing really. Especially for May. 'Cause then you can go on my trekking trip with me if you want. Yes, my friends, I will Tweet all the fun I'm having (or not having) while I'm away. Short little updates like "I'm still alive" or "help, bear attack"...you know, the little things that make a solo trip fun.

There you have it...a confessed obsession with everything wrong with the world. I should feel dirty, but I don't! ;P

A Little Help?

After days of isolation (okay, one day) due to a slight modem malfunction (I fried it, alright), I am happily back online using a piece of ancient technology. It works...I won't bitch too much.

Anyway, the help part. I need guinea pigs...a few of you new, old and in between preppers...to help me out with some research for an article. No real names will be used, unless you want the to be used. I'll tack a list of questions below, you answer and EMAIL them to me HERE.

You'll get the gist of the article when you see the questions...trying to shed a better light on 'our sort' for those that don't really know what it's really about. I can do it as is, but I'd love to have some points from folks other than me ('specially since I'm way to opinionated and fairly new at this prepping in the bigger sense of the word).

Wanna help?

Questions:

1. What drew you to this lifestyle?
2. How did you start?
3. What is the number one piece of advice you would give a new 'prepper'?
4. Name three websites that you would recommend for those truly interested in learning about prepping.

Thanks to any and all that do this...oh and don't forget to let me know if you want to be quoted with your name or what! Feel free to throw in anything that you think is relevant too.

Feeling Contraversial Today

so I'm going get opinionated on ya! Likely you won't like some of it, but tough...it's my blog after all (seems I've said that before). I'll link ya to the article, you go look at it if you want, then I'll drop my bomb of an opinion on ya.

Really? Really? I can support this to a point...make the 17 year olds (and under) get a prescription. Seriously. Make them HAVE to go to their parents/doctors/guardians that way the 'adults' have to pay attention to the situation. Will it stop teen pregnancy? Uh, no...have you MET a teenager? Massive bundles of hormones, if you can't remember what it was like. Sex on the brain, hormones rushing through the body, mind unaccustomed to rational thought, no concept of consequences...remember? Now, I'm not saying that bringing in the 'adults' will stop them from having sex, but if the 'adults' would actually pay attention (not likely) to what is going on and the fact that the 'child' is asking for the morning after pill...well, maybe a bell will go off somewhere with a few 'adults' and they will have a real conversation with their 'child' about sex, responsibility and repercussions. I know, wishful thinking.

(Oh, let's not get into the 'moral' discussion on the whole plan B thing...your morals and mine are likely to be at massive odds and I must limit my logical arguments to Thursdays only...we can pick it up then if you REALLY want to.)


And now on to this...Scary. Simply scary...not really much else to say since we all know that I'm not a fan of total government control. And this is control in the most public sense of the word...yeah, glad the actual bank account is sitting at nada right now.

Finally, this...not that I'm a big fan of spending money you don't have, but really...with ALL the technology we have and ALL the volcanoes/fault lines/general earth science coolness out there to be studied...why did this moron even gripe? Oh, I see...it's Bobby Jindal.

Comment away...I'll be here all day...may not answer ya, but I'll be here for the laughs all the same!!

A Little Linkage for You

Just in case there are those that have not seen it (I was one until just a short while ago), a ghostly reader ( ;P ) pointed me in the direction of THIS SITE. I thank you very much my friend, a thousand times over. I will be passing it on to the spouse in the morning.

I didn't make it all the way through Basic (hello torn meniscus), but I swore the same oath to defend the Constitution that every other soldier swore. I endured the same training, until my injury, that every other soldier endured. Had I not been female, I would have probably been entered into the sniper training program (as told to me by a Drill that was one for ten years). My skills and training have not been dulled by time, neither has my memory of the oath I swore and the pride I felt while taking that oath. It is loyalty to the Constitution that I pass on to my children, not politicians or government. It is the ideology of our forefathers that I teach my boys, the belief that WE THE PEOPLE are the backbone of this country...even if we don't act like it at times.

I will still defend the Constitution, I will still defend the rights of every American. I took an oath, I will keep it.


P.S. Never taken the soldier's oath or anything similar but want to do so as a regular ol' Patriot...GO HERE.

Sunday Ramblings

Afternoon all...yeah, afternoon. Morning for me apparently. My sleep mechanism is going through a messed up phase...again. Happens every once in a while to me, my days and nights reverse. No matter how tired I am, I can't sleep and I end up staying up until the sun rises. I'll do this for a few days, then no sleep for 48hrs before a crash that readjusts me to normal sleep times. Weird, eh? Done it for years...still haven't figured out how to remedy it. I figure my body is doing it for a reason, I've yet to figure that out too.

For what it's worth, the lack of night sleep offers me a measure of quiet. Perfect time to reflect, take stock and make plans without interruption from the screamers or spousal unit. 'Course, my plans are flexible (as always) which means taking in an obscene amount of information to cover possibilities. Locations, travel time via car/foot, pros/cons...my poor brain is packed with information that many would find useless. Heaven help the soul that tries to disentangle it all.

Another peek into my twisted storage system called my mind. I'm gathering topos/info on not only trails for my impending flight to sanity but also info on local trails and backwoods that would make for decent 'get outta here' spots. I honestly don't foresee our 'lovely' landlord being a good guy in a SHTF situation, therefore I have to plan accordingly. Could do the whole parental unit thing and go to them, but really we lived with them for 3 months while getting back on our feet in '07/08...love them, but realized that there was a reason I got the heck outta there as soon as I could.

Sigh...life. One funky bad choice after another. It sucks to always have to choose the lesser of two evils. Why not one good, one evil...life in black and white so to speak. Well, that would just be downright boring, I think. It's the gray area that makes for challenges, learning opportunities and even fun. And what are we if we stop learning and living?

We are living in a time that presents us with so many chances to learn from challenges and yes, even have fun with them. My personal challenge is to see if I can get us (ie the family) ready enough to be able to throw what we need on our backs and BO to the backwoods...live that way for a two week minimum. Will I meet it? Doubt it (the spouse is a creature of comfort) but it's a fun challenge none the less. 'Specially since the budget doesn't allow for big time purchases (like a decent 3 season tent for 4). So I did some digging and found THIS.

Downright useful site if I say so myself. Gonna try my hand at a few of the smaller projects before my trip in May. Care to join me?


P.S. The title did warn that this would be rambly!

LINK FIXED!!

Visions...

of the future...just a short post for now, with linkage. Read it, mull it over...for many this could be the future...for many it is now.

Gives a whole new meaning to my favorite phrase of 'have tent, will travel'...doesn't it?

Go read it. Now.

Then go double check the preps, finances and your BO plans and gear.

Cool...Technology Fun

See that...right there, on the right. That new little gadget hanging out over there with the mushrooms on it. That is called a pingbox. From that pingbox, you can chat with me any old time you want (if it says you can that is). Now ain't that just spiffy!?!

Of course, I would add it to the blog on a day that I'm going to be out and about. You'll have to catch me later on...after I've had my brain mushified by chatting with one who has no real opinions of their own (you got it...sewing day). Sigh.

Guess I better get...gotta shower AND get the screamers ready...may hang around for a minute or two and read the headlines...yeah, that's it. It's not procrastination if I'm doing something semi-productive to waste time, right?

Good Morning!

Happy Saint Paddy's Day to all that celebrate it...have a green beer for me if you'd like (I can't get past the color...couldn't stand green kool aid as a kid either)!

The time is 1:23 a.m. in the foothills. I'm up and moving for the day...I fell asleep at 8 last night, got in my five hours and now am doomed to spend the early morning hours in peace and quiet (did I mention the screamers are back at Mawmaw and Pawpaw's...this is becoming a pattern). Kinda nice to not be asleep at sunrise, to actually be awake and not tired...no ya goofs, the sun doesn't rise earlier in MO...just sayin'.

Weather is shaping up to be nice, real nice, for the next couple of days. Warm, sunny...all kinds of perfect for a traipse through the woods. Sucks that I can't go traipsing until the weekend though. Alas, such is the life of one trapped in the system still. Maybe it'll hang around for the weekend...doubt it.

Oh, oh...a few early morning headlines for ya!

Another first...this man is just full of them, or desperate for the sheeple to take everything he says/does as perfection...you pick.

Look for this to happen A LOT...seriously. Better for them to go this way than go for good will be the train of thought.

Now, ya'll go visit Hermit for some coffee...take along a slice of warm homemade coffee cake from me to go with it, would ya?

24 hour Free For All....

Yeah, yeah, yeah....I couldn't stay away. To be fair, the screamers are back from their weekend with Mawmaw and Pawpaw and I NEED some sort of sanity. No, I haven't looked at the 'real' news but I've been trolling (not as in nasty comment trolls) the net and looking at gossip rags and other mindless entertainment.

Hey, did you know that if you sign up on a singles site just for kicks you can get like 20 messages in 5 minutes? Don't worry, I 'resigned' after 10 minutes of messages assaulting my inbox. It was bad, but fun...you should try it sometime.

Anyway, the Free For All...is there something you've always wanted to know about me? Ask...I'll be as blatantly honest as humanly possible. Understand, there are some things I won't be completely straight forward with (ie...don't ask about Dad and the ball bat) but for the most part I'll answer ya!

Flip a comment/question anytime in the next 24 hours (that'd be 8pm CST) and I'll give you an answer...you may not like it but I'll give you one!

This Weekend....

I am being a sheeple....well, at least for the rest of the weekend that is. I'm not looking at the news until Monday morning (provided the world doesn't end by then)...I am going to spend my time tonight and tomorrow with my head stuck in the proverbial sand.

Why? 'Cause my brain needs an analytic break so I don't have a psychotic one. The 'news' of AIG, Obama's economic saving bill (please note that all this is typed with fantastic sarcasm) and any number of other wonderful things happening right now will have to wait while I spend a blissful day of ignorance pampering myself. My sore muscles and tired brain demand it.

I'll be back, hopefully rested and feeling fine (I do feel fine, just brain dead)...ready to roll with the punches and add my own dose of reality to a world gone mad. Ya'll enjoy what remains of the day and tomorrow...if it all goes to hell in a handbasket, won't be much we can do but ride the waves anyway...right?

Psst...there's a little music down below...a glimpse of my own playlist (not all of it by far)...Enjoy!

If you didn't see it....

here's a bit o' linkage to the Stewart vs Cramer that gave me a good chuckle. Jon Stewart, a pillar of controlled rage, gave it to CNBC's Jim Cramer pretty damn good...loved it. Video embedded in linked page, be sure to watch 'cause Cramer just can't make a defense...seriously. A wake up for the sheeple as to how much they rely on 'news' channels...mayhap, mayhap not. Probably just another pissing point to them. I'm too tired to be properly outraged over the stupidity, I'll leave that to others.

I'm worn the f**k out...sore, beat down, exhausted...add in any number of adjectives here. Why, you ask (or maybe you don't...I don't care, my blog)? Well, 'cause part of the getting back into shape is naturally working out. Don't have a farm or land to work, don't have livestock to chase after (the screamers, I am told, do not count as livestock) or any other number of things that some get to do daily that help them stay in shape...I'm one of those poor, dumb saps that works out with 'exercise'. I know what you're thinking, Ozark Momma jumping around the townhouse with some perky bleach blonde preaching the miracles of aerobic exercise from the boob tube...while that perky blonde is planning her next plastic surgery...well, nope...not really. Ozark Momma don't roll that way.

Instead, I voluntarily get my ass kicked on a daily basis...hard. I sat down and had me a nice think about the time in my life when I was at the peak of physical fitness. Not high school (track and soccer)...nope, it was fresh from my knee injuring stint in Basic Training. Even with that career ending injury, I was in fantastic shape. Why? 'Cause I got my ass kicked on a daily basis...crutches or no. I had to find something that would keep me motivated to get that kickin' here in the civilian world.

I did...it hurts...I cry when it's time for the ab workout but I push through...I spend the day agonizing over the workout for that night, but I anticipate it with a mix of perverse curiosity and joy. I am apparently a masochist. I am an X'er...as in P90X...you've seen the infomercials, I'm sure...if not, google it. I love it, even if I have to roll (literally) out of bed in the morning...seem to remember that first couple of weeks in Basic being the same way too. Only thing I don't have is a Drill (Benovitz, Vinson, Davis, Kummer...all of the wonderful men and women I despised for weeks) to keep my ass moving all day long. That is why I know I'm sore and tired...no one keeping me on my toes and moving so I don't have time to think about it...sigh, those were the days folks. 'Course nostalgia does color things a different shade a bit, but I don't forget the physical stuff.

That peak condition is what I'm striving for...unfortunately I'm not running everywhere, dropping and doing push ups when someone else screws up, kicking flutter kicks 'cause the platoon leader made a misstep...I'm restricted to playing mommy during the day and getting my ass kicked by Tony Horton at night. I'll deal with it, eventually the sore will fade and the exhaustion will dissipate...but more importantly, the fat will be going and the abs will be back (wow...real abs...I know they're there under the fat...I can f'ing feel them hurting right now!) and the stamina will be knocked up enough that I might just be able to run 5k easily...and being able to do that is the goal for July. Then I'll work on RUNNING that 5k with a fully loaded pack....baby steps...baby steps.

Been Thinking...

which is dangerous...I know, I know. What with the massive expression of opinion yesterday and all, it occurred to me that I may just have come across as an unfeeling, emotionally stunted bitch. Well, one word in that description is right, I admit. I make no quibbles about being a bitch...since it is a label that is often applied to someone like me. A woman who really isn't afraid to express her opinions (no matter how unliked they are). I am at least fourth generation bitch.

I also discovered something else about me...I probably have something missing from my genetic makeup. I actually discovered this while the oldest screamer was away in KY for a week. You remember me posting that I missed him, for a couple of days? Yeah, that's where the wiring is funky. After the first couple of days...I didn't miss him anymore. I actually cringed at the thought of him coming back home. See...told you...genetic mistake. Let me elaborate further. The littlest screamer took off with his Mawmaw for a day or two, leaving me all alone in a nice quiet house...I loved it! I discovered then that though I would miss them for a while, I could get along quite nicely without them. Now this doesn't go to say that I don't want them or love them...or that I wouldn't be devastated should something happen to them. It does go to say that for even a short time, I can and do get by without someone underfoot (kids, husband, family in general) fairly well. This may not come as a shock to some, but I've never been apart from either screamer for longer than a couple of days (the oldest at least, the youngest only ever stayed away overnight and was home bright and early the next morning) and it was a bit of a shock to my system...that quiet and me time after five LONG years.

I didn't like my peace being disturbed by homecomings, but I dealt with it. I even long for a day that is similar to those precious few I just experienced. Life without intruders. Sad that I think of them that way, especially since I'm not a particularly anti-social person.

I think I am genetically screwed in the mothering department. I love them, I enjoy them...but even now I am ready for them to be out of my space. They are five and three, still a lot of years of teaching, nurturing and mothering ahead of me that I don't really relish. I expect you to be shocked/appalled/amused...my sister was when I told her. I think of myself lately as a sort of wet-nurse...here temporarily to rear these creatures to the point that they are no longer dependent then off to the next adventure.

I don't dislike them or begrudge their existence, after all...I did the crime have to do the time, right? I knew what I was getting into when I chose to have children, but I also knew when to stop. I don't hate them, I love them something fierce. I have the mama bear thing, the protective instincts et al. I just have little patience for the encroachment on my personal space (words that do NOT exist with little people). I'm weird...I know. I am my grandmother. I kinda like that.

Post #100 and Abusive Opinions

Wow...100! I imagine if I was a reliable, consistent poster I would have hit this milestone months ago...sorry, lol! At least I hit it, right?

Alas, nothing newsworthy from me today...just an opinion on a celebubrat issue that's been popping up in my news reading for a month. You got it...the beat down of Rhianna by her man CB. I see it this way (I say as I don my flameproof undies for the impending broiling I'll get...especially since this is a sensitive issue and I'm not particularly sensitive) it is getting press.

He got a booty call text (or something that ticked her off)...she got pissy and laid down an ultimatum that she didn't really mean along with a smack of her own....he hit back and because he is a man it was harder and caused way more damage (oh and it was several times more than her one because he just had to do better being a man and all)...things got ugly, he got charged, she went back after a couple of weeks of recovering so that she wouldn't be without the one she loved. Sounds very, very non-celebrity to me...sounds rather a lot like what happens every single freakin' day somewhere in the world.

Now the part that will get me roasted....she went back which I find incredibly STUPID. Love or not, you get no sympathy from me if you go back OVER AND OVER again just to get beat down one more time. I will help you once...if you choose to return, I will keep you in my prayers. But then again, I was raised a bit differently I guess. My dad hit my mother ONCE...note that ONCE...she hit him back, knocking his skinny ass into the hot water heater and knocking him out briefly. This happened before I was even a glimmer in Daddy's eye, but nearly 38yrs later he still hasn't raised a hand to her again.

Momma didn't raise an idiot...NO man/boy/whatever has ever hit me without repercussion (Dad included in this btw...the ONE time he raised a hand to me after I turned 16, he got a face full of wooden bat...flame away, you don't know the situation and I don't care to elaborate). Needless to say, it never ever happened again.

Women, do NOT be the victim over and over then expect other women like me to offer sympathy. Leave...NOW. Don't wait for the next fist to fly. If you can't or won't make a stand on your own, get yourself help. NOW. There are a gazillion support groups/homes/safehouses out there, use them for pete's sake. If you stay, you know what you are staying in. If you have children and choose to stay, hand them over to CPS now...it'll save them time, they won't have to do all that emergency paperwork when you're in the ICU or the morgue.

You can't change him. Sorry, you can't. He has to want to change and if he keeps hitting you and you keep taking it then he has no reason to change. But then again, you have to want to change yourself...don't be a doormat, punching bag, idiot...he doesn't love you if he beats you to a bloody pulp...sorry, he doesn't.

Don't believe me...watch Oprah on Thursday. Seems she's decided that she needs to do a full episode on the whole RiRi/CB situation in order to bring attention to something that has been making headlines for years...but the sheeple will watch and be properly outraged for a short time. Ratings will rise and not much more will be done. All the proper outrage for the rich, all the proper blissful ignorance of your neighbor.

Catching Up

Right now, I'm catching up on today's news and the such...after being out and about in the woods all day! You can check out our little adventure over at the hiking blog (link on the left under the profile thingy)...ya'll enjoy!

Oh and p.s. any and all pictures of me over there should be considered either before or during...I sure ain't where I want to be yet!

Don't forget to set your clocks up!

Yeah and this...if you are in MO and have a teenager that could/would do it!

And Tomorrow....

will be spent in much the same manner as today...only tomorrow I'm dragging the screamers and the spouse off to hit one of the local trails. Since I'm not totally ignorant I'm saying all day because there are things to be picked up, rocks to be climbed and a myriad of other things the screamers can AND will do to dally their way along the path.

Momma doesn't mind. Matter of fact, I would like to stay out overnight (as was the original plan) but let's just say the tent needed some serious waterproofing for my trip this May...I got my priorities folks! Anyway, it'll be ready by the next time we see a pretty enough weekend to be pulling the screamers out. I 'could' take them out cold rain and all, but really...I dislike hearing the hacking coughs that generally follow. Never fails.

I digress...the hike 'should' only be about a two hour one. It will be much more because I won't hurry the screamers along. The point is for them to enjoy the trip as much as I do, right? So it will be an education in extreme early spring plants and wildlife...when I can get them to stop picking up every rock, acorn or interesting leaf they see. Don't worry, I won't let them play with anything dangerous (much).

Won't be as warm (only mid-70's with cloudy skies) but still extremely nice. It's really the only way to get the spouse to go out and do something like that with me...sad, no?

Good thing my trip is to a temperate rainforest, eh?

Do you see what I see?

The sun...uncovered, fully shining...no clouds, little wind...temps in the upper 70's/80's.

I am gone...outta here...running off to the lake with the screamers (no, not to drown them)...sorry if you have cold/rain/snow...had my fill already, thanks. See ya tonight, after a unhealthy dose of sun provided Vitamin D!

Someday...

I will share with you all the BEFORE pictures of this 'get in shape' adventure I'm on. Not until I'm happy with the AFTER pictures though...gimme until just before the May hike, k?

Let's just say...they ain't purty and I can't believe that my used to be a hot mama self got into this kinda shape. Ugh!

But I'm doing things the right way folks, I love food too much to starve myself with one of those crazy fad diet thingies. It's all about portion control and sayin' bye-bye (for the most part) to all those fried things I was living off of. Don't get me wrong...I still love me some fried chicken (really, who doesn't?) but now it's not every week.

Instead, I've been chowing down on Cajun chicken dippers and experimenting with less butter (except on the baked potato...drown it please) and fats. Let's just say that the stores will stretch even longer on this type of eating routine than they would if I hadn't had a mental/physical breakdown and decided it was 'time for a change'...bwahahahaha!

So what was once a six month store of goodies is now well over ten, if my figuring is right. Not to shabby, I didn't spend any more precious paper on expanding it...just changed the way I looked at food in general. The change does leave me at a bit of a loss in the fresh veggie department though. Having no real place of our own to grow them has set me to looking at container gardening on the upper deck.

Problem there is no sun except in the afternoon, then it's just a few hours. I'll have to put tomatoes on the lower porch, where the creatures can get to them...ugh. Then again, if Mom plants a gajillion of them again this year, I won't have to worry about tomatoes. She will, so I'll skip that. Guess I'll drive the landlord batty with cukes, eggplants and spinach in window boxes then! 'Course, this is all moot if the spouse re-enlists before June...now isn't it.

See, can't win for nothing. Guess I'll spend tonight rethinking the veggies and checking out my new Baker Creek catalog for something quick growing that doesn't ask for much.

Tonight's Thoughts

Nothing profound, nothing that will be entertaining (maybe, I really tend to not think these posts through to the end...call it a character flaw).

Tonight will be a long night. I got a good 5 hour sleep last night and a three hour nap with the screamers today...my body is running on a full night's sleep and is totally keyed up. Brain is always that way...nothing new there. So tonight I am entertaining myself with watching 'The Stand' while working on some writing and reading 'Twilight' for the third (or more...lost count) time. Yes, pretty much all at the same time.

Movie running in the background. Essay and book pulled up on the computer screen, research windows running right along with them. Book in my lap, glass of wine sitting on the table and the last of the smokes lined up.

The last of the smokes...that's a phrase I just didn't think I'd be saying or writing anytime soon. But that lovely new tax is scheduled to take effect on the first of April, so now seems to be as good a time as any to give quitting for good a go. It's possible...I've seen it done, heard rumors of it, even experienced a minor quitting session while in Basic. This time has got to be permanent though. Can't afford them especially when they will be jumping from $1.29 (plus tax) to over $3 (plus more tax). Seems to be the time, I say, so why not.

Besides, it'll help with that running thing I've been doing. I figure it can't hurt to be able to do a nice steady run for 3+ miles with a loaded pack on...don't ask...I'm nowhere near that yet. Knocking off the smokes should help with that, 'course temps that don't ride a roller coaster through the week would help too. I'm pert near tired of nice and warm mid-week with frigid weekends. It's getting entirely to predictable and I am not a predictable kinda girl. Gimme something better, surprise me with a warm streak that lasts more than a day...huh, can ya, please?

At least the minor peeks at spring have bolstered me a bit. All the more resolved to drop the extra pounds and spend hours in the tent this year...with or without the spouse. Which seems to be a sticky point with my lady friends. They seem to think that me, goin' on a walkabout all by my lonesome is not a good idea. Now, I'm not afraid/worried/scared of it...I look forward to it. I hold the philosophy (and I'm sure that it'll be called 'stupid') that I'm going to die someday...it can't be stopped or prevented...I've done a lot of dumb things in my life (car surfing, playing with baby copperheads, getting married...no, not all at once though that would have been a rocking wedding), just chalk this one up as one more. I highly doubt that my hiking a well traveled trail in the middle of tourist season and sleeping out ONE freakin' night is going to be the death of me. However, if it is...then so be it. I'm more concerned about the plane crashing or being hit head on by another driver while I'm cruising to Canada.

Alas, I am the freak of nature around here for many reasons. My insistence at a vacation by myself just amplifies it. Oh well...the freak of nature thinks it's time to get busy doing nothing...ya'll have a good night...ya hear?

Thank You Ma Nature...

for my little friend Valerian. You are the bestest thing that ever grew...seriously.

I'm a bit of an insomniac. I usually get by on roughly 3-4 hours of sleep, AFTER I've popped a couple of Valerian capsules. I learned a few months ago that a couple is all my body can handle...the bottle says three, I say HA! Only if I want some seriously twisted and vivid dreams (which isn't always a bad thing, it's fun to try to decode them).

Anyway, tonight seems to be a Valerian night. Gonna go pop two and see what the rest of the short night will bring. Then again, maybe I'll just sit up and read all night...nah, better herbalize myself. Perhaps I'll get a full on 5 hour sleep session...whoa!

Oh and for some seriously funny fun...go read the Urban Dictionary. It's entertaining especially when you are suffering from lack of sleep but just can't sleep. I discovered last night that I also suffer from Destinesia and Kitchenhiemers.

Headlines...

just a few that grabbed my attention this am...along with some sarcastic commentary, if you don't mind (not that it matters, it is MY blog after all).

Really...another round of 'mine is bigger' in the ME...I wait with baited breath to see how this will turn out. Wait...no I don't...I know how it will end, much like it did the last time!

Next...what the hell am I supposed to wrap my breakables in now? Don't suppose this will roll up nicely for spider and child smacking do ya?

Straight talk from a politician...I doubt it. But it was sorta nice that he was at least somewhat forthright and didn't exactly treat all Americans like total morons. Now to figure out how to get the printing presses pushing out all that green toilet paper.

Freaky and fascinating at the same time...nothing more to add to this, the story speaks for itself.


If you need something to look at with your coffee...this seems to be the place for a little extra!

Although I didn't always agree with his stance or ideas, I mourn the loss of the legend that kept me entertained and informed at the same time. Now the 'rest of the story' is known to him. RIP Mr. Harvey.