my phone go boom

Today I was meeting some old friends for lunch and in my haste to get a quarter in the meter I dropped my iPhone on the sidewalk, and BOOM, it was all over for the iPhone 3. White screen of iPhone death.

I came home and Googled and YouTubed solutions and I must have broken the LED screen...I decided I would go on Tuesday to get the iPhone 4.

Two hours later, I got the iPhone 4. I couldn't STAND not being connected to the world every second.

How sad is that?

Now, Mr. P and I canceled our plans for tonight (meet up with friends for beers and trivia) and are settled in with pizza and Hell's Kitchen on DVR and talking to each other using FaceTime while we sit next to each other in the living room.

That is even sadder!

CHAMPS!!!

Ten weeks ago, Mr. P and I joined a bowling league kind of on a whim. We used to bowl quite a bit when we were first married because bowling is cheap on military bases. I think at one time we were on 3 different leagues...plus the kids liked going to the bowling alley, they brought toys and played and there was music and french fries, and don't even get me started on the phenomenon that is a bowling alley grilled cheese sandwich.

Last night, we bowled for the league championship and we WON! It was very exciting and I even had the league high score, 221!! Now I feel like if I ever get tired of my job that pro-bowling may be a way to go.

Less words Wednesday: Gardening woes

I have some weirdness happening in my garden party.

First, I have a mad digger who is digging holes in all my potted plants, spilling my expensive dirt, having no regards for plant babies or flower pots that I have had for 20 years. Bastards.

AND, I think Bonnie's Plant Farms sold me a WEED with my lettuce....the pink is the WEED, and the blue is what the rest of the plants look like...I planted them right out of the flat I bought of Buttercrunch (or is it Buttercrisp) lettuce...maybe it isn't a weed, but I got an awesome bonus plant, but I think I am purposefully and carefully growing an expensive weed.

I flew to Kansas City

and in the process changed time zones, so I really didn't miss blogging today...

NOT.

FAIL.

damn it.

(the title is what excuse Mr. P thought I should give. Not really sure why we would have gone to KC....)

UNLESS, this can still count as Tuesday's blog since I have not gone to bed on Tuesday yet...is it once every 24 hours bound by time, or once per day that you are awake?????

Thoughts? Did I just lose NaBloPoMo 2010???

Sometimes mail is not for reading

So, the bug guy left me a letter today:

Dear HotchPotchery,

Today I put a giant vat of bug killer all around the outside of your house. It is not organic, and is actually the most opposite of organic that is possible...it is man-made horrible poison made with extra cancer and if you accidentally lick it you will get tongue tumors within 5 minutes. However, this toxic substance will kill the following critters:

American Roaches, Ants, Ants, Species Unknown, Argentine Ants, Big Headed Ants, Ghost Ants, House Ants, Outdoor roaches, Pavement Ants, Pharoah Ants, Roach Species Unknown, Roaches, Scorpions, Silverfish, Smoky Brown Roaches, Spiders.

Yours Truly,

The Bug Guy



UMMMMMM....Roach Species Unknown?

SOLD.

I threw the letter away.

(I ad libbed the orange italics...but surely that is what the bug guy meant by "I treated the exterior and pest entry points.")

We return to our regular angsty programming

We did a few things really right with our kids when they were growing up, but we have also done a few things really, really wrong.

We never taught our elder child how to deal with failure or criticisim, constructive or otherwise. As a result, when she gets any type of negative feedback she reacts so strongly that she turns little issues into huge issues, and huge issues into NON-issues because she retreats and doesn't deal with them at all.

There are a couple of instances that should have clued me in, there was this time she obviously had something in her mouth (which turned out to be a butterscotch) and she denied it to the point of hysterics. Another time, she had a cold Mountain Dew in her room, but denied taking it, to the point of slamming doors and more hystrionics. There are other instances, but honestly, reprimanding her wasn't something that had to happen much, as she really is a great kid...she did well in school, she was respectful to her teachers and coaches, and she was a good athlete. She excelled at most things, so there wasn't much room for "instruction" so to speak, but I should have realized earlier and worked on that with her, but I was lazy and just ignored it for the most part.

But now, she is at a point in her life where she is not handling herself or her responsibilities very well, and I feel helpless. Trying to talk to her is very difficult because she is so very defensive and quickly blames me or her brain chemistry for her decisions or lack there of.

I now am forced to wait and see what she does with herself. It makes me sad that she is sad, but it makes me annoyed that in order for her to do the things that she is supposed to do needs to be happy. We all have crappy stuff, and we have to work through it. From what I know, she is not in school. She is not working. I am not sure how she is spending her days. In response, I turned off her cell phone and the car insurance. I am still paying her rent because I am the guarantor.

It sucks.

I really have no good topics

yeah, I don't really have much to say, but we are watching the Aggie-OU game...hold on....

WHOOP.

We just scored. Aggies just scored on OU. again.

Gig 'Em.

Reveille is awesome, and according to Mr. P, she is the prettiest mascot ever.

(FYI, Auburn already won today. 10-0.)

I will be deep and thoughtful and wonderful tomorrow. All I got today is football. WHOOP.

Why I shouldn't work in the mornings.

I am NOT a morning person. Luckily, I have a job where most of the time I do not have to be. I do teach in the morning twice a week during the Fall semester, but that leaves 5 days that I can get up at will. mostly.

Now that I have tenure I have been put on 5 committees, and wouldn't you know it...the committees are full of the morning people. One such committee met last Thursday morning, bright and early. This particular committee is very serious, it is the student discipline committee, and recommends sanctions with regards to students who have behaved in such ways as to violate the student conduct code of our school. (I guess I could have skipped the description, you probably get it.)

Anyways, I got up, showered and picked out my clothes. Khaki shorts (I call them shorts, but they fall below my knees, but not quite capris), a white shirt, and navy 'boyfriend' sweater. I got dressed, took the dog out, and headed to the meeting, stopping for a gallon of Diet Coke on the way.

I got into the meeting and we were going through some stuff, and I looked down at my lap and my shorts were pooching out in such a way that it may have sort of, kind of , well looked like I was a guy and was REALLY happy to be in this meeting. At this point I reach to smooth it out, and I realized that my zipper was down. AWESOME. Very classy, very dignified.


I tried to pull my zipper up and it was all wonky and caught up in the fabric and I was really confused by it all and trying not to get weird about it while the people in the meeting were discussing some very serious subjects. I finally scootch my chair back a little and fuck me.

My shorts were on INSIDE OUT.

yeah. I don't even know.

Where do you put your ketchup?

I decided to go two days in a row without being all dark and angsty, because the rain and drizzle and chilliness actually has me feeling pretty good contrary to all expectations, especially since my dog kept me up until 3am and I drug myself out of bed at 8:30am feeling slightly nauseous from lack of sleep. (Does that happen to anyone else?)

So I was making myself a delightful breakfast scramble (peppers, onions, mushrooms, 2 eggs, a slice of cheddar on a whole grain English muffin) when I noticed that after I got the whole thing situated (egg/veggie mixture with melted cheese on top) that I flipped it upside down to put the ketchup that I love with scrambled egg next to the egg mixture...NOT next to the cheese.

Then I thought back to the last burger I had, and I did the same thing. Ketchup next to the meat on the bottom bun, then meat, cheese, lettuce, tomato, etc.

After more thought I realize I have "placement" issues with most condiments. If I am having a ham/cheese/lettuce/tomato sandwich...the condiment placement is contingent on the condiment. Mayo? Next to the tomato. Honey mustard? Next to the ham. Smooshed avocado? Next to the cheese.

Now, for hotdogs I like the ketchup directly on the hotdog, then relish, then chopped onions and jalapenos. I do NOT want the ketchup on the top of the onions and jalapenos, must be next to the dog. If that step is accidentally omitted (MR. P), then I would rather go without the ketchup than have it on the onions/jalapenos.

Nachos? I like the cheese directly touching the chips, with all the accessories (black beans, lettuce, tomato, jalapenos, etc.) on the top.

It's feeling a little weird now, so I think I better take a quick rest then go to work.

Wordless Wednesday, but with words

I am going to try the every other day approach so I don't completely scare everyone off. Yesterday I shared with how I am kind of dead inside, SO today I will share some pictures I have taken with my phone over the last couple of weeks.

First, the Poltergeist doppelganger lady that was spotted at our favorite pizza place.

Next, a claw game where you can pay $2.00 to grab a lobster that you can then have cooked for free. Penny was not amused by this.

We went to Orange Beach, Alabama and this was the view I had on my morning walk. It really helped get me centered so I could get to dead inside as opposed to raging to the point of boiling my innards. (oh, is that still a bit dark?....okay, I will try to lighten up.)

Ahh, pretty....

Mr. P thought this guy was SO cool, so we had to have his picture taken with this guy. (9-0, baby. Football has been FUN this year.)

At the same restaurant with the claw game, this tiny guy was hiding out by the trash can. (It is a tiny crab.) In deference to the bizarre issues with shellfish, we stuck to burgers and fries.

Since our move, we walk downtown for pizza/beers, work, yogurt, what have you a couple nights a week. We pass this tree everytime and we always wonder...."What the...."

Have you seen anything interesting lately?

OH, and Sabra Supremely Spicy Hummus and pretzels? ADDICTING....so I call bullshit on TEN servings in the container. I think it is more like 2.

Well, we gotta start somewhere

so I will start with how I am taking my MOTHER on a 5 day cruise in a month. Well, a month and two days. So in a month and four days, will somebody please come get me out of the Mexican prison where I most certainly will be residing?

Here is how it happened. A friend of ours wanted a bunch of people to go on a cruise for his birthday, but Mr. P can't go because of his new job...we will be going on a longer (better) cruise the following week. But I could go, because I will be done with the semester by then. Then Mr. P told me he would likely be out of town working those days, so I should think about going. I first considered taking my elder child as one of her good friends is going, but she SHOULD have finals (note how I said SHOULD---we will get back to that later), and I am not taking someone on a cruise during finals when the reason they do not have finals is not cruise reward appropriate (in my opinion).

It was the day before my mother's birthday, and I am not sure if I told you guys this, but my mom was kind of annoyed that we went on a cruise on Mother's Day and didn't invite her to come with Mr. P and I to the Bahamas....because she so wants to go on a cruise.

SO, back to the day before her birthday, I texted Penny and few times, and we decided we would give her the cruise for birthday/Christmas. So we did at her birthday dinner. She was extremely excited and very grateful, and that makes me feel good. But I am not sure good enough because I am sort of dreading it. I kind of feel like like I shouldn't have to see or talk to her in the mean time since I will have 5 solid days of all mom, all the time.

I think right now I wish that Mr. P and I lived far away and we could have Facebook and text relationships with everyone. I suck at family and friends normally, but lately? I am completely checking out. It is almost like I don't have the piece of my brain that "misses" people or feels sad when I don't see them all the time.

Well, I guess that is a start.

From once a month, to once a day? Really?

Today is the start of NaBloPoMo or some such combination of letters, and I have done this once a day posting for November quite successfully the last two years. Then, I decided about a week ago that I wanted to do it again this year, to reconnect with some people that I have missed and to reconnect with myself in my own mind.

---I am struggling with a few things.



Then stuff blew up and while I want to write it out, I have to decide if it is something I am comfortable sharing...I probably should wait until I am less upset, because right now the title of my blog post is, "Raising Asshats For Dummies" and I am pretty sure that is not the sentiment I want lingering on the Interwebs for all eternity because while I feel like there is some asshatty behavior going on right now, they are no actual asshats, per se.



And then finally, to maybe start being accountable again to myself about my healthy (or lack thereof) habits.



So here it is...I am throwing my hat into the ring for November 2010...we will see how it goes.