there are other things going on in the world. MSM would have you believe that the universe is coming to a crashing end because of the death of one man...um, no sorry.
Yep, you got it...this is a rant. A rant about how I've not seen a decent news story about anything since Thursday. Okay...he died, it was sudden, it was tragic...and the Earth still went on turning and things continued on. Now can you, MSM, please continue on as well.
I would most sincerely like to be able to see what is going on in other places in the world and get my local news/weather without hearing about Michael Jackson. Don't get me wrong, I do occassionally break out into a rousing rendention of "Thriller" complete with dance moves...but seriously now.
A family friend put it this way..."You'd think Jesus had died all over again." I had to laugh and agree...it sure seems that way with all the coverage. MJ was no Jesus though, let's face it.
I'm just flat out tired of not getting to watch the news...I can't possibly be alone in this...can I?
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
Aaaahhhh....
we're experience a slight cool down in these parts...ie it's not a hundred million degrees with a heat index of two hundred million. Won't last long, but we're enjoying it whilst we can.
The screamers are well recovered from the scorching they received earlier this month, for the most part, and are loving the time in the kiddie pool, sandbox and when Mommy has the time, the creek.
We're set for a blackberry quest down the road a piece from the townhouse a little later this week...don't know what I'll do with them as it is fairly certain that the littlest screamer will eat more than he should...maybe a small (VERY small) cobbler.
Other than the laid back goings on of summer here, not much else to report. Hoping for a little income boost (hardy har har) in the next month or so...oh yeah, we kilt our van and are now driving a zippy little '89 Honda Civic. She gets killer gas mileage that's for dang sure! Trying to convince the male parental figure he needs to let me keep her, apparently he's gone deaf on that topic...sigh. Anyway, would love (like so many others) the income boost for purely selfish reasons...I want to take the screamers out to Branson for a weekend. A little camping, a little Silver Dollar City and a little down time together as a family before we go through the overhaul of moving and such later this year. The spousal unit has plateau'd with actual weight loss but is putting on muscle now so it won't be long 'til the day of contract signing. Woot!
School is school...good days and bad...but I still have a decent enough GPA to brag about, especially since I've been out of school for over a decade. Just three weeks left in the semester, then we start all over again.
The garden at the parental figures house is growing good, lots of tomatoes (again) this year. Beans are hanging in there and we're getting overrun by butternut squash and pumpkins. Mom will be starting on pickles next week...unreal!
Gotta get for a bit...the screamers want to crawdad hunt!
The screamers are well recovered from the scorching they received earlier this month, for the most part, and are loving the time in the kiddie pool, sandbox and when Mommy has the time, the creek.
We're set for a blackberry quest down the road a piece from the townhouse a little later this week...don't know what I'll do with them as it is fairly certain that the littlest screamer will eat more than he should...maybe a small (VERY small) cobbler.
Other than the laid back goings on of summer here, not much else to report. Hoping for a little income boost (hardy har har) in the next month or so...oh yeah, we kilt our van and are now driving a zippy little '89 Honda Civic. She gets killer gas mileage that's for dang sure! Trying to convince the male parental figure he needs to let me keep her, apparently he's gone deaf on that topic...sigh. Anyway, would love (like so many others) the income boost for purely selfish reasons...I want to take the screamers out to Branson for a weekend. A little camping, a little Silver Dollar City and a little down time together as a family before we go through the overhaul of moving and such later this year. The spousal unit has plateau'd with actual weight loss but is putting on muscle now so it won't be long 'til the day of contract signing. Woot!
School is school...good days and bad...but I still have a decent enough GPA to brag about, especially since I've been out of school for over a decade. Just three weeks left in the semester, then we start all over again.
The garden at the parental figures house is growing good, lots of tomatoes (again) this year. Beans are hanging in there and we're getting overrun by butternut squash and pumpkins. Mom will be starting on pickles next week...unreal!
Gotta get for a bit...the screamers want to crawdad hunt!
Friday, June 19, 2009
Alas...
Time to be the DT again (see lovely bannerish thingie to the right, just below the blogroll sections) or if you rather “political dissident”.
Like a lot of you, I’ve been following the goings on overseas. Kind of frightening if you sit and think on these things a little too long. Iran, North Korea, Israel…it’s ugly and things haven’t even hit the boiling point yet. There is a part of me that says “step away from the arena and don’t get involved” but we all know that won’t happen. Noses will be poked in and likely put out of joint. Then something will be said/done that will cause a massive brouhaha up on the Hill and once again we (US) will be trying to play savior or referee in a pissing match.
All of this will of course set off the rest of the world. With the “where do they get off” and the “can’t just tend to their own business” lines being thrown around (sometimes I do agree, btw). But you know as well as I do that IF the US did not poke a nose in or make an effort that there would be the “how could they not” and “self-center, self-absorbed” crap being said. It’s a damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation. These things just piss me off.
The mom in me wants to dig a hole to hide the screamers in, but we all know that it’s pretty much useless to try to do that. The dissident in me is screaming at the top of her lungs to let them burn, also useless. The realist in me sees that history is about to repeat itself yet again. We now have my generation’s Vietnam with Iraq, we’ll soon be witnessing a new style French revolution in Iran if things keep going the way they are and as for the US…hello, you know this man…once he was called Hitler and made lots of changes to the German government “for the good of the people”.
I was watching one of my favorite movies last night, The Fifth Element, and I have to agree with Leelu…there isn’t much, on the surface, about mankind that is worth saving. It is unfortunate that after all these millennia, we have still failed to learn to live with one another without constantly trying to tear one another apart over things like skin pigmentation, belief or disbelief in a certain religious entity, land…the list goes on and on and everyday gets longer. I’m not saying life on Earth should be living in one giant utopia, just that perhaps the governments of the world should take this dissident mother’s mantra in parenting to heart….Pick Your Battles.
Like a lot of you, I’ve been following the goings on overseas. Kind of frightening if you sit and think on these things a little too long. Iran, North Korea, Israel…it’s ugly and things haven’t even hit the boiling point yet. There is a part of me that says “step away from the arena and don’t get involved” but we all know that won’t happen. Noses will be poked in and likely put out of joint. Then something will be said/done that will cause a massive brouhaha up on the Hill and once again we (US) will be trying to play savior or referee in a pissing match.
All of this will of course set off the rest of the world. With the “where do they get off” and the “can’t just tend to their own business” lines being thrown around (sometimes I do agree, btw). But you know as well as I do that IF the US did not poke a nose in or make an effort that there would be the “how could they not” and “self-center, self-absorbed” crap being said. It’s a damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation. These things just piss me off.
The mom in me wants to dig a hole to hide the screamers in, but we all know that it’s pretty much useless to try to do that. The dissident in me is screaming at the top of her lungs to let them burn, also useless. The realist in me sees that history is about to repeat itself yet again. We now have my generation’s Vietnam with Iraq, we’ll soon be witnessing a new style French revolution in Iran if things keep going the way they are and as for the US…hello, you know this man…once he was called Hitler and made lots of changes to the German government “for the good of the people”.
I was watching one of my favorite movies last night, The Fifth Element, and I have to agree with Leelu…there isn’t much, on the surface, about mankind that is worth saving. It is unfortunate that after all these millennia, we have still failed to learn to live with one another without constantly trying to tear one another apart over things like skin pigmentation, belief or disbelief in a certain religious entity, land…the list goes on and on and everyday gets longer. I’m not saying life on Earth should be living in one giant utopia, just that perhaps the governments of the world should take this dissident mother’s mantra in parenting to heart….Pick Your Battles.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Little Lobsters...
that's what the screamers are right now. Been out splashing around in a wading pool at the parental figures' place. Naturally, since I was absent for the biggest part of the day the male parental figure didn't think on his own to grease up the monkeys before setting them loose in the sun.
Oh well, at least I have a nice mix of witch hazel and herbs awaiting in the fridge at home.
I meandered a bit around the garden a little bit ago, seems that since I encouraged the planting of peas that they are now my responsibility. The tending, picking and shelling. Male parental figure blames me, lol. Fortunately there aren't enough to do much damage. Matter of fact, the only thing that will be overly plentiful this year seems to be butternut squash and pumpkins. It's early though, so we shall see.
Hope all are loving the rain/sun/whatever that Ma Nature is throwing at you and hope it isn't making your gardens not do their thing!
Oh well, at least I have a nice mix of witch hazel and herbs awaiting in the fridge at home.
I meandered a bit around the garden a little bit ago, seems that since I encouraged the planting of peas that they are now my responsibility. The tending, picking and shelling. Male parental figure blames me, lol. Fortunately there aren't enough to do much damage. Matter of fact, the only thing that will be overly plentiful this year seems to be butternut squash and pumpkins. It's early though, so we shall see.
Hope all are loving the rain/sun/whatever that Ma Nature is throwing at you and hope it isn't making your gardens not do their thing!
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Been thinking (oy the heat!).....
Busy chic…that’s me! I love it though. Between the screamers, school and all the running about that we’ve done in the past month I’ve had very little time to actually sit and think on the blog…my apologies. The good news is that with a little wandering about in the area around the apartment, the screamers and I have found a little spring to play in on super hot days, a massive blackberry bramble to pick at in a few weeks, a huge wild strawberry patch just begging to be relieved of some of its bounty and a fishing spot in said stream that the screamers can’t wait to “pish” in.
Amazing what a little wandering in your neighborhood will yield. I know this, of course, and know that I should have taken these wanderings last year…I certainly didn’t expect to be here still, stuck in this little place with no yard. Since I am, and don’t know for how much longer, I figured that with all the happy joy in the world (knyuck, knyuck) I might as well make the most of the area I have to work with. I have heirloom seeds hidden away for a small garden (do it now folks), mapped the area immediately around the apartment with emphasis on natural food sources (morels, persimmon and nut trees, etc) and have been taking the screamers on progressively longer treks into the woods. It keeps the skills sharp, right?
I’ve been thinking lately on skills that I acquired in the service, however brief the time I was there. A lot of these beauties are forgotten art forms in truth, the rarest being map reading. It’s not a lost art form, but is definitely not as well used as it was once upon a time.
Very few folks use maps, not the atlas kind…real maps, with elevation and such. The exceptions are serious hunters, soldiers and the majority of hikers. Now everyone (well, not everyone but you get the point) depends on GPS. Nice to have to a point, not that I have any, but one little zap and the GPS is shot all to hell with no chance of getting it back.
I am curious as to the company I keep here online…anyone else practice the fine art of real map reading? Anyone else love to pull out their topos and a compass just because?
All this pondering has left me with a desire for some really good topo maps. I mean countrywide style. So today I begin my search for some decent topographical maps that are fairly comprehensive of the North American continent…dreaming? Perhaps, but I don’t mind piecing it together…or the challenge of trying to find it for free, lol.
Amazing what a little wandering in your neighborhood will yield. I know this, of course, and know that I should have taken these wanderings last year…I certainly didn’t expect to be here still, stuck in this little place with no yard. Since I am, and don’t know for how much longer, I figured that with all the happy joy in the world (knyuck, knyuck) I might as well make the most of the area I have to work with. I have heirloom seeds hidden away for a small garden (do it now folks), mapped the area immediately around the apartment with emphasis on natural food sources (morels, persimmon and nut trees, etc) and have been taking the screamers on progressively longer treks into the woods. It keeps the skills sharp, right?
I’ve been thinking lately on skills that I acquired in the service, however brief the time I was there. A lot of these beauties are forgotten art forms in truth, the rarest being map reading. It’s not a lost art form, but is definitely not as well used as it was once upon a time.
Very few folks use maps, not the atlas kind…real maps, with elevation and such. The exceptions are serious hunters, soldiers and the majority of hikers. Now everyone (well, not everyone but you get the point) depends on GPS. Nice to have to a point, not that I have any, but one little zap and the GPS is shot all to hell with no chance of getting it back.
I am curious as to the company I keep here online…anyone else practice the fine art of real map reading? Anyone else love to pull out their topos and a compass just because?
All this pondering has left me with a desire for some really good topo maps. I mean countrywide style. So today I begin my search for some decent topographical maps that are fairly comprehensive of the North American continent…dreaming? Perhaps, but I don’t mind piecing it together…or the challenge of trying to find it for free, lol.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Sun shining, breeze blowing...
and I'm stuck in the freakin' house. Not really, I did spend the morning putting together a free swing set that my folks picked up for the boys (can't argue with free). But I'm chafing under the bit here, I could have been out on a nice hike with my men except the biggest one (ie the spousal unit) didn't want to hike in the rain. Lo and behold...no rain, it isn't scheduled to be here until Monday now.
Hope he enjoys working in it...hope it comes a flood on his candy ass.
Speaking of the spousal unit, as of last Tuesday the man only has 9 1/2 pounds left to be dumped (on me apparently since I've lost no more weight) before he can officially fanangle his contract. Not a good idea, I hear some shout (ahem, my mom, his mom...the entire population of folks we know with the exception of my sister)...perhaps but unless he does it we won't ever be able to stand on our own...not now. There just aren't too many folks hiring, let alone hiring a job jumper like the spouse. Military is his best bet (and ours as a family) and he likes it best anyway...may as well do a job you love, right?
Hope he enjoys working in it...hope it comes a flood on his candy ass.
Speaking of the spousal unit, as of last Tuesday the man only has 9 1/2 pounds left to be dumped (on me apparently since I've lost no more weight) before he can officially fanangle his contract. Not a good idea, I hear some shout (ahem, my mom, his mom...the entire population of folks we know with the exception of my sister)...perhaps but unless he does it we won't ever be able to stand on our own...not now. There just aren't too many folks hiring, let alone hiring a job jumper like the spouse. Military is his best bet (and ours as a family) and he likes it best anyway...may as well do a job you love, right?
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Heatwave....
not really, just couldn't think of another title...lmbo.
I've been thinking on heating alternatives...rephrase...cooking on the go alternatives. The spousal unit favors Coleman related stuff (ie the stoves and canisters) for B.O.B.s....I prefer (dun dun dun dun) Sterno. Weight makes a difference ya know.
Then again, the spouse prefers wood cooking over it all but I have issues with smoke signals when you are trying to fly under the radar...we agree to disagree but go with the Sterno since I pack the bags, lol.
So tell me...what do you prefer? Linkage is always good, because I like to look at what is recommended (ahem...Show Me State native).
I've been thinking on heating alternatives...rephrase...cooking on the go alternatives. The spousal unit favors Coleman related stuff (ie the stoves and canisters) for B.O.B.s....I prefer (dun dun dun dun) Sterno. Weight makes a difference ya know.
Then again, the spouse prefers wood cooking over it all but I have issues with smoke signals when you are trying to fly under the radar...we agree to disagree but go with the Sterno since I pack the bags, lol.
So tell me...what do you prefer? Linkage is always good, because I like to look at what is recommended (ahem...Show Me State native).
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