Justice for PH*ELPs

Infamous purveyor of hate gets his due:

Let's hope that jury award puts a crimp in their travel budget.

Snyder's attorney told jurors to pick an amount "that says don't do this in Maryland again. Do not bring your circus of hate to Maryland again," according to The Associated Press.

S thinks she got knocked up!

I wish. She said she felt sick this morning and I teased her that we should have been more careful on our trip. Smile. She can't have any more babies anyway, and I'm too old. It's a fun thought though.

In school "A", in Motherhood, "F"

Things have been so crazy around here. I have spent most of my evenings "on the road", taking the kids to their activities, going to work and school. Most evenings we get home in time to wash up and go to bed. I have managed somehow to keep up in all my coures. I have all A's going into the final weeks of fall quarter.

I wish I could say I was doing as well in Motherhood! Today I barely escaped the shame of all shames- sending my son to school without his pumpkin! His teacher sent a note home last week that he needed a pumpkin today. I remembered yesterday while I was in a meeting with my classmates about a project, then promptly forgot until it was time to take him to school this morning. Fortunately for me, there is a house around the corner with pumpkins for sale in the front yard. I felt like such an idiot knocking on a stranger's door at 8:40 this morning to buy a pumpkin, but hey, P had his pumpkin and he even made it to school on time- disaster averted. I am looking forward to having a break between quarters so the kids and I can just chill out at home and not be going some place every night.

I miss S

S sent me this today. She hurt her back Thursday during a tennis lesson. I wish I was there. I love her smile.

Southern Travelogue

Yes, I have returned, VERY reluctantly to the cold confines of the Midwest. I much prefer the warm sunny climate of Savannah and welcoming arms of S. It was one of our best trips ever, even though it started out on a rough note.

I was scheduled to depart at 1pm local time via Sky*bus, a new low cost air carrier. They don't fly directly to Savannah, but they fly to St Augustine, Florida a short drive to the south. No problem, we thought. I was scheduled to arrive in St Augustine before 3, then we'd be home in Savannah by 6. Things didn't go exactly as planned. My flight was delayed. We were boarded, deplaned and boarded again. We didn't depart until 5:45pm, so I didn't make it to Florida until 7pm. It was 10:30 before we got to Savannah.

S greeted me at the airport with these beautiful flowers.



I had had a very trying day and she had been waiting for me for hours so she decided to pick these up for me, along with some very nice earrings. She also got a haircut, and shopped for my boys and her girls. Flight delays can be very costly, lol!

We drove back to Savannah to a very sweet place we found on Craigslist. It was a very cozy ground floor apartment in the historic district. We liked that it had a separate living area where we could study and watch TV. It also had a kitchen so we could cook for ourselves (although due to the flight delay we didn't end up using it too much)

Saturday we did a quick trip to Macy's for a couple of things we needed and then we just stayed in the apartment for the most part, napping and relaxing. I did venture out for a walk in the historic district while S did some reading. We had a wonderful lunch at The New South Cafe. Seriously people, if you go to Savannah, you must go to this place. It is AWESOME. We had the best meal of the whole trip. I had the catfish and S had salmon. Both were delicious beyond words, and our check was less than $25.00.

Saturday night we walked from our little hideaway to a restaurant in the historic district that S wanted to try. Unfortunately, we lacked the necessary reservations, so we ended up eating at the Jazz'd Tapas Bar . The food was good, but we both agreed that The New South was better. S said the best part of her meal was the she-crab stew. It would have helped if they had a band, but we were probably there too early for that. They did have the Georgia/Vanderbilt game on the tv in the bar when we came in (If you can call that a game, lol)

After we left the restaurant, we were very full and tired from all the walking earlier in the day, so we tried one of these. The driver kept saying he was having trouble because he had a "bad cab", but we thought it was more the fact that he probably weighed 100 pounds soaking wet and between S and I he was trying to move about 300 lbs. lol. After he got us a few blocks closer to our destination we gave him a reprieve and a generous tip.

After that, we walked the rest of the way home and spent the rest of our trip just having quiet time together (OK,some of it was not so quiet ; ). It's hard to be in a long distance relationship, and one of the hardest parts is not having those "regular" things to do and be if you're always in a hotel room, sight-seeing and eating out like you're on a "trip". This time we tried really hard to just have some of those everyday times that couples who actually share the same zip code probably take for granted. I have to give credit where it's due. It was all S's idea and it was a great one.

Thursday Rant ( You've been warned)

Well, it's been quite a day.
I should be excited and happy about seeing S tomorrow.
Instead, I'm frustrated and upset.
My ex refuses to acknowledge that he is not in charge any more.
His attorney sent a letter to my attorney about a child's basketball league.
Hello? We are already divorced, remember? What are the attorneys going to do about it other than charge us $200 an hour to write letters back and forth?
I asked him if he had money just laying around to throw away on that bs and he just mumbled something about his parental "rights" and how I'm severing the kids ties with the community becuase I don't want them to play in a basketball league this winter.
I forgot to pick up DD #1 at band practice. Completely. forgot. I don't see her very much at all (her choice) and I have been running like crazy all week trying to get caught up on school work and take care of projects and midterms. She called me as I was on the way home from my test, after a friend's Mom brought her to my apartment. She was not very happy. I took dinner home, then had to run another errand before I had to take her back to her Dads. She was in trouble with him, and usually when she's in trouble, she'll start on the "Mom doesn't love me" kick to divert attention from her own misbehavior. So after she "vented" to Dad, she called me to tell me that I treated her like dirt under my feet. I spent the next half hour on the phone setting her straight. The fact is, I have been giving her what she says she wants. I have allowed her to have her way, I haven't compelled her to spend time with the boys and I. So before, when I was making her go with us, she was mistreated, and now that I don't make her she's mistreated. I can't win.

I paid off all the attorneys this week- finally. I had hoped that would be the end of it, but since the ex still feels the need to write to his attorney about every little thing, I guess I may have to keep mine around. I told my attorney and the GAL that my ex would not "settle down" after the divorce was over, he would only get worse w/o the court looking over his shoulder. He is such a jerk.

I'm leaving town tomorrow. S and I are taking a weekend trip. Any more days like today and I might not come back!

I got hurt playing Wii

That's what I get for laughing at Zoe. She was lamenting the fact that the last time she played Wii, she messed up her back. I managed to mess up my neck and I wasn't even playing! I got this game system for the boys for Christmas, but ended up caving and giving it to them last night. They were playing with it, I was standing in the kitchen facing the counter, talking on the phone. DS #2 comes up behind me puts a hand on each shoulder and jumps on my back saying "Thank you, thank you , thank you!" He is normally pretty rambunctious but this was a little much even for him. It made me drop the phone and everything. I wasn't thanking him this morning when the pain in my neck woke me up before the alarm clock did. I don't think the chiropractor's office is even open today. Muscle relaxers, anyone?

"... it is easier to overcome people's judgments than to overcome our own self-judgment, the fear we internalize." -- Arianna Huffington in Newsweek.

She said this in an article about women and power. She said something else that struck a chord with me as well. She said that it was so important to her that her Mom believed in her and made her think anything was possible. She made her believe that she could shoot for the stars and that if she failed, her Mom would still love her and accept her for who she is/was. This strong influence of her Mother and encouragement even when others discouraged or disbelieved helped Ms. Huffington get where she is today. I don't know that much about her, but I think these sentiments are profound. I know the first quote is so true in my life. S has helped me to see that in a lot of circumstances in the past, the biggest obstacle to my success was me. I'm trying really hard to change that mindset in my life and make sure that ds#1 & 2 never have that damn doubting voice in their heads.

I'm so ashamed....

I would never pass for a computer nerd or a sci-fi or comic book nerd.
Awkward has always been my strong suit.

Pink ribbons, etc.

A post over at Sassy's, the Sunday paper, and events of the day have all combined to bring you this post.

No one ever likes to lose a parent, no disease is a "good" disease, we hate them all, most especially the ones that take our loved ones from us.

I found out after my Mother died of lung cancer, that it is the # 1 cancer killer of women. It far outpaces, breast, ovarian, colorectal combined. We fund research for breast cancer at the rate of around $22,000.00 per cancer death. That number for lung cancer is only $1700.00. $1700.00!!! What is worse is that the differences in how this disease affects men vs women are not understood or really even being studied. So many women who are stricken with lung cancer, like Dana Reeve, NEVER smoked.

According to Sunday's Parade magazine the five year survival rate for breast cancer victims is 89%. The five year survival rate for women with lung cancer is 16% . By the time we knew Mom was sick, it had already invaded her brain. I'm so glad that breast cancer has gotten so much attention and funding that they've been able to make such great strides. I hope that lung cancer will get the same treatment soon.

If you still have your parents, be glad, call them and tell them you love them.

Rest in Peace, GH

My day started this morning when my boss called and said not to come into work because a semi had knocked down the power lines around the office and they weren't letting anyone in. Cool! extra time to catch up on school work, or so I thought.

I had just hung up with my boss when my cousin's girlfriend called informing me that my cousin was near death. He had been in the hospital for a few weeks and in very poor health for some time. I had been to see him on Friday afternoon and actually spoke to him then. He wasn't awake/alert/aware too much after that day. He was extremely overweight and his body just gave out. He was a sweet, sweet man who had a lot of talent that I am sorry to say never got used to it's full potential.

If dealing with a death isn't enough, family things mean dealing with "family", who seemed to have a distinct preference for my ex over me. My Aunt ( the uber christian) who when told her son was dying and to call me and my sister to see about staying with one of us, called my sister and my ex instead. and MY sister, who invites MY children and my EX to family functions. (and doesn't invite me) I just went down there today for my cousin and my brother. My brother will probably tell them all where to go before it's all said and done.

On days like this, I wonder what I am doing here, 700 miles from S. I never ever want to wake up in a hospital bed looking at my "family". They are only there for you as long as you agree with them.