Feel Like Complaining

Don't you love it when you're just researching something online and all of a sudden you discover something that leaves you totally Gobsmacked? I was on Costco's website researching digital cameras. I just found out that the camera my daughter took swimming in the Pacific ocean suffered too much damage and is unrepairable. I'm looking at all the different departments and see one for funerals. Huh? Funerals? So I click on caskets and find some beauties for sale. Personally I like this little pink one. It's called Kentucky Rose. Who would not want to spend eternity packed inside this? It's only $1499.99 and includes shipping and handling. This cute little thing can even be delivered to your home in three business days. And if you're not satisfied you can return it to any Costco warehouse. You know, this could be a lot of fun. Order casket, lie in it for awhile, and then drive it up to your nearest store. Tell them that you found it too confining and a bit uncom...

Yesterday my daughter started her first day of high school. The school is still under renovation and won't be totally finished until next year. On her way to a class she got lost so she stopped a teacher to ask for directions. He pointed down the long hall and said "See that danger sign way down there? Walk all the way down and take a right at DANGER , then take lefts at the next two halls and you'll find it." So the next time you are lost or confused, just take a right at DANGER and then take two left hand turns; works every time.

I got hooked while watching The Great American Road Trip this summer. Seven families traveled the famous Route 66 from Chicago to California enduring challenges and vying for prizes and the coveted King of the Road crown. One family who lost the challenge had to leave each week. The redneck Pollards and ever-fighting-Italian DiSalvitores were probably my least favorite from the beginning. There were some families that I felt bad for when they had to leave. But as the trip rolled on I began to switch alliances and I started disliking the i'm-in-for-the-win-no-matter-what Cootes. Their competitiveness was ugly and I really felt sorry for their kids. Their mom said that before a competition she wouldn't let them finish their meal. I'm not sure why. Do you get stomach cramps if you compete 30 minutes after eating? Did it make them lighter and run faster? No, she's just weird. The show prior to the last one had the Pollards, Cootes, and DiSalvatores up against each other to ...

Sigh.....we're home . We are tired, sunburned (well, me anyway) and not ready to get back to the real world. But alas we must. So I started with laundry last night, shopping this morning so we could eat and cleaning the bathroom today, so it feels like we never left. This is my shot of Manzanita taken from approximately the same spot on Hwy 101. The motel was very accommodating to families and had everything we needed. The view was great, right across the street from the beach and would have been absolutely perfect if not for the young child upstairs who didn't really know how to walk anywhere. He seemed to have to run back and forth in the room and on the deck clear up until 10:00 pm. It took us awhile to find a nice place to eat for our anniversary so we eventually drove back into Cannon Beach and spent way too much money and ate way too much food. But that's what vacations are for, right? We walked on a total of 5 different beaches and saw things that we'd never seen...

Our vacation is finally here and not a moment too soon. Last year we only got a few weekends to work with and this year we get 5 whole days; away from work, neighbors, and little old ladies I love but need to get away from for awhile. We're heading to the Oregon Coast, but more specifically Cannon Beach and Manzanita. The picture is from Manzanita and that's where we will be staying right across the street from the beach. Cannon Beach is great but it seems like big corporations are taking over the mom and pop motels and prices are getting higher and higher. Our last few visits we have been staying in a cabin there but wanted something different this year. So Manzanita here we come! The weather looks like it will be around 70 and rainy but it will be a welcome relief to the high 90's we've had. I hope I will have nothing to complain about regarding the trip; but then you wouldn't have anything fun to read so I will try and accommodate you when I get back.

I'm sure you're as tired of reading about my neighborhood woes as I am writing about them. So this is the last entry for a good long time I hope. I was in my backyard last night talking to my mom on the phone. I could see my neighbor pacing around his backyard, cussing, hitting the fence and just in general being an ass. I got off the phone but didn't want to just get up and run in the house like the little scaredy cat that I am. So I did what any normal person would do; pretend that I was still on the phone in hopes that he would go away. But noooooo, that wouldn't happen. He started yelling at me, calling me a bitch and told me to 'bring it'. He said he had a lawyer and was going to file a suit against me for harassment. He listed every grievance I had ever done towards him, including a phone call about 3 years ago asking him nicely if he could change his porchlight because it was going out and flickering right outside our bedroom window. It looked like lightn...

Remember the pictures I took of my neighbors' dogs for evidence? Well, Saturday morning I received a call from an animal control officer and he told me the pictures were good and that he could use them to order a fine for the dogs running at large. "BUT", he said, "if he asks who took them we have to tell him and if he contests it in court then you will have to go as a witness" Gulp. I stuttered and stammered but eventually said to go ahead with the issuing of the fine. As soon as I hung up my gut started knotting up and I started pacing. I had no idea when this would happen but I was getting more scared by the minute. I went outside to hang clothes up on the line. I heard him outside his gate telling another neighbor that his dogs got out again but it would be the last time. He was putting cement where they have been digging out. What have I done? Finally I told my husband that I didn't think I could do it, I just felt so sick. He suggested to try and reach...

After dinner last night I told my daughter she had to post THIS picture on her blog so she can show everyone what they did to her. But instead she posted a nice one of her and her friends. So I'm taking the liberty of posting it. If you buy the birthday package (yes, it's extra, unbeknownst to me), they make you put this fake rubber wig on and a Japanese shawl. Then they sing and take a picture and put it in a frame. Isn't she lovely? This was taken at home outside after dinner. I wish I was this beautiful when I was her age. She's just as beautiful on the inside too. It was a very nice evening and I enjoyed spending time with three mature young ladies. As we were leaving, I saw a toddler in a total meltdown at another table and thanked God those days were over ;-)

My daughter just turned 14 today. My gosh, 14 already? So much has changed since then. And considering that I wasn't sure I wanted kids anyway, things have turned out pretty well. As I've written before I cried for two days when I found out I was pregnant. Not that I didn't want her, but I was scared. Here I was 35 years old and my husband was 48. We just didn't figure that we'd have kids, mainly for financial reasons. We were living in a tiny basement apartment, and it seemed like we were always struggling. But after I went to the doctor and the test confirmed that I was indeed pregnant and not going through early menopause (which I foolishly thought), I started getting excited. The pregnancy was easy and I felt great up until the last month. A c-section was planned due to prior surgeries so we arrived at the hospital as instructed before 7:00 am. Due to other c-section emergencies I didn't actually have her until 2:43 in the afternoon. I was hungry but they wo...