My Christmas Post *grin* (only 4 days later…)

Well, Christmas has been and gone. I think it was a success here in Camby, IN. The boy cleaned up on gifts, even though he wasn’t the epitome of good. Matter-of-fact, he wasn’t even really close…but such is life with a six year old :)
I love Christmas! It’s my favorite time of year. I mean c’mon, my blog has a Christmas theme all year long – when it co-operates…But it’s over too soon. Not two days after, people are taking down decorations like they can’t wait to get on to the next big thing…*sigh* such a let down. You get this three month build-up, inundated with Christmassy stuffs,  then BOOM day after,  there’s Valentine’s Day stuff in the stores. . .Hell, I saw it in some stores even before Christmas. . .

Anyways, here’s some pics of our Christmas. . .  Here’s the boy checking on the milk & cookies left for Santa

 
The mostly empty milk glass

 
The “present” Santa left on my carpet…nothing like cleaning up a dirty, ashy boot print first thing in the morning *grin*

The haul…
  

The only non-toy in the bunch

You can’t tell from the pic (my timing isn’t the best…) but he really did like this

Pokemon – Always a winner!

Apparently the hit of the day…

And let’s not forget the “Demon Digger” aka remote controlled Grave Digger monster truck…”Why do you call it “Demon Digger”? you ask. “I’m getting there!” I say. This was ostensibly the boy’s present, but (of course) Dad had to “try it out” first…and the poor cats were his unwilling victims>>

If you look really close, you’ll see Hunny at the controls – the Demon Digger is coming out from under the coffee table at this point.

Here’s Bel hiding from said Demon Digger

Follow the arrow, Bel is hiding on the bottom of the table

Jingles is actually jumping backwards in this pic

Can you see him? Hiding under the table, as the Demon Digger approaches in a full out frontal assault..?

The only black spot on an otherwise wonderful holiday was the IM I found waiting for me on my computer when I got back from the in-laws and finished getting everything ready (for the folks who ended up unable to make it). That message was from my best friend D. My younger than me, stay at home mom best friend. We had made plans for Shayne & I to go over to her house Tuesday, when I’m off. My boy LOVES her house :). The message said

We’re going to have to cancel Tuesday’s play date. I had a heart attack last night & I’m in the hospital…etc., etc., etc.”

Needless to say, at 6:30 Christmas Day night I was flying to the hospital. Turns out she actually had several heart attacks, and had a stent inserted in her heart. She’s home now, but still….

Okay, I’m pretty much outta time, gotta go get ready for work – nose to the grindstone and all :) All in all, we had a good Christmas. I have more pics – will I get them up on here..? That’s a big, definite MAYBE…I hope all of you (all three regular readers *grin* and any first time visitors as well) had as good a holiday as we did. (Minus the whole best-friend-having-a-heart-attack thing)

See ya laterzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz! ! ! !
 

Unexpected Day Off

Guess I spoke too soon about being on a roll…thanks for not pointing out my shortfall :) But here I am. I now have a clean, perfectly shiny kitchen/downstairs bathroom/laundry room/pantry! Well ok, perfectly shiny as long as you overlook the cat paw & butt prints…

What am I doing mopping my floor on a not-my-Tuesday-off you ask? Funny you should mention it. You see, it’s like this….
I got up & functional just like normal for a late Tuesday today. The boy had his breakfast, and spent a peaceful morning watching Sponge Bob. I actually had a bit of peace…got dressed, got the boy dressed, told him to gather up some toys to take out to Uncle Mike’s, and he did it the first time I told him…He asked me to make the label for his DVD, which he’s been asking me to do for several days, so I sat down to do that, just to find that apparently the part of my PictureIt! program required to make labels is yet another victim of the cable installer. And if that wasn’t bas enough, I apparently have every software disc for Works! that came with my computer, except the one that program is on. Yep, that’s right! I have 1, 2, 4 &5, but no 3. Go figger *sigh* I’ll hafta to go to the Microsoft website later to see if I can get it there, without having to pay an arm & a leg…Needless to say, the labels still haven’t gotten made :(

So, off we go, over the river & through the woods to Uncle Mike’s we go, the horse knows the way…ahem, but we do go over a river & through a woods….I dropped the boy and headed to the nail place to get my nails repolished – no I’m not that lazy, just that unskilled. Besides, in my defense, it is an unusual polish job, see..?

Wow! They say you can tell a person’s age by their hands…I must be about 80….

Anyways, as I was driving to the nail place, I was talking to Hunny, as usual. Mind you it’s a dreary gloomy day in Indiana today, cloudy, and it was just starting to rain – or so I thought. My first stop, as always, was Speedway, to get some iced coffee. (They have the best french vanilla iced latte! Starbucks..? What’s Starbucks..? You mean that over-priced, bitter after-taste stuff that advertises itself as coffee..? Ewww – Speedway’s is much better – and cheaper!)
***Background note – Hunny replaced my front rotors & brake pads back in July because every time I hit the breaks it was like being on one of those old exercise belt machines – are you old enough to remember these..?

My point is, the brakes were just replaced in July. By August, I had the same damn vibration when I hit them. About a week ago, they started grinding. When I told Hunny, he said there’s no way. Be that as it may, they are grinding.
So, as I’m crossing over the interstate on my way to Speedway, the light turned red. I hit the brakes. My car kept going. Oh Shit! It did finally stop 1/2 way through the intersection. Luckily there weren’t any cars coming off 70. Ok, I think, it’s a little slick. I hit the gas, I went fine. Traction control didn’t come on. But at the next light, we again barely stopped.
Me: “Oh great! I have no brakes.”
Hunny: “What..?!?”
Me: “I…have…no…brakes!”
Hunny:”Are you sure..?”
Me: “Well, since I pressed on the brake pedal and the car didn’t stop, it’s a safe bet…”
Hunny: “Are you sure it’s not the roads?”
Me: “I guess it could be, but I can take off fine, and my traction control hasn’t kicked in.”
Hinny: ”Is the button turned on?”
Me: “I don’t think it has a button, I think it’s automatic..”
Hunny: “It has a button…” *it does, he was right*
Me: “Well, it came on the other night when it was snowing, and I haven’t changed anything, so I would say it’s still activated.”

Turns out it was indeed the roads. Although my warranty expired a week ago, so….I limped on into Speedway, then on to the nail place. At about 25 mph. I still had plenty of time to get to work, as it was only about 12:45 at this point – though it is a good distance…see..?

  

I got in, got done & left. It was about 2:00 or so when I left. I was calling work to tell them I was driving on a sheet of ice and might very well be late when Hunny called to say he hadn’t heard from me & was worried. (side note – any time I am driving & on the phone, I use a bluetooth device, so I don’ wanna hear bout no “hang up the phone & drive” comments from the peanut gallery…) I got voicemail at both numbers I tried, so called Hunny back to let him know I was fine & on my way, and why I didn’t answer. At this point, traffic was moving at about – oh, I dunno, 10 mph..? He said 36 was at a crawl, too. It took me about 15 minutes to get to my turn, but I caught a break and hit it on green – although that’s not really that exciting when you’re going 5 mph…So, I barely hit the break, start to turn right, and my car turns for 1/2 second, then goes straight – straight at the median, and the mini-van just on the other side of it…Of course, I was saying “Shit, shit, shit…” the whole time, and Hunny is on the line going “What?!? What?!?!” then a big thud. I thought sure she was gonna jump the median – it’s just one of those little ones, maybe 2, possibly 3 foot across, and about 8 inches high? – and plow into the mini-van, but she was looking out for me, I guess. We hit the median and stopped. Whew. About that time Hunny’s asking “Did you wreck? You okay? Didja total it?” “Nope, just hit the median while turning at 5 mph…” “Call into work, I don’t want you driving across town on these roads.” I told him I’d be fine if I could make it to the interstate, but he said they were just as bad, apparently 74 was shut down for a 15 car pile up.

I was going to go get the boy, but he had a friend there today so wanted to stay “until Daddy comes”. SO, I am at home, no husband, no kiddo, and taking advantage of it to mop the kitchen/downstairs bathroom/laundry/room/pantry. And so we go full circle & I’m back where I started *grin* I keep telling you there is a method to my madness…LOL

Ok, gotta go, stuffs to do.
See ya laterzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

Here I am Again!

Well., it seems I’m on a roll here! I am actually posting AGAIN! What’s up with that..? LOL

We officially have snow…well okay not snow, ice. On everything…The school bus is running on a two hour delay – one hour for me, since the boy goes to afternoon class – and I get to be late for work. Aren’t I lucky..? I hate, hate, hate being late! It’s one of my things. But, what can I do, I’m at the mercy of the school system. Again. I already had to make my schedule even screwier than it already was to accommodate the whole school thing…Oh well, such is life :)
On another note, I’m not sure what to do about my boy & sleep. Yes, yes, I know all children fight bedtime. But this goes a bit beyond fighting bed. You can put him in bed. He still stays awake. Until ungodly hours. He usually falls out about midnightish, and he’s back up at six. Every day. I wish I could function on six hours of sleep, regularly. I’d get a helluva lot more done! But I can’t. As a matter-of-fact, me & only six hours of sleep is a dangerous combination for those around me….one which unfortunately will be experienced by many tomorrow…
You see, today is my “niece’s” birthday party. So after school, my boy is going over there for the party & staying until I get off of work. After work I get to drive down there (it’s only about 20 miles outta the way…) and pick him up, which is going to put me late getting home & to bed, obviously. ‘Cuz I’ll hafta fight him for an hour, before I can even consider going to sleep myself.
“What..?” you say, “that’s not so bad!”
”Yeah” I say, “not in and of itself…”
But you didn’t let me finish! Tomorrow is the day Jingles & Bel get to go “see the vet” if you know what I mean. (Yes, I believe firmly in neutering and spaying. I have nothing against cute little kittens – I LOVE cute little kittens –but there are way too many that no one loves that end up as not so cute, dead little kittens.) We have a clinic here in Indy  called FACE. This is a low-cost spay & neuter clinic – as well as doing general veterinarian type stuff. It is also located very close to where I work – woohoo, I caught a break! Oh yeah, did I mention that I have to have them there at 6:30 am..? And that I live waaaaayyyy far from where I work…?
”So they hafta be there early” you say, “what’s the big deal..? And you’re wandering again…”
Well, you didn’t let me finish…When you add in the information above – that I have to go to my sister’s to pick up my boy. That isn’t simply a run-in-and-grab-the-boy-and-go trip. It will entail visiting. Did I mention she has a good friend of ours staying with her..? Tattoo Billy is renting her garage apartment currently. Yeah you read that right…TATTOO Billy. Who does tattoos. To which I am addicted…did you know that about me..? Have I ever mentioned the 40+tattoos I sport in this venue..? I can’t remember if I have or not, but there it is. I am not only a witch, I am a heavily tattooed witch *grin*

This is my right arm

My left arm…

My lower right leg…

The rest of my right leg, and a peek at my left, along with my pregnant belly….

The back of my neck (obviously…)

The rest of my back (twenty-five pounds heavier…)

So there you have a partial view of my tattoos….my, I DO wander, don’t I..? What in the world was I talking about, hmmmm, lemme go back up and see…..oh yeah! Picking the boy up from my sister’s house where her roommate is Tattoo Billy…well, I guess that wasn’t TOO big of a stretch…Anywho, the point I was getting to was I have a fairly recent tattoo, done in all red, that has hollidays (bare spots) that need filled in. And Billy will be there, so I may be tempted….the problem is, I have to get up at oh, I dunno, 4:30, to have the boy out to Uncle Mike’s and make it to FACE by 6:30…so I won’t get much sleep today, erm, tonight. And tomorrow is going to suck for whoever has to deal with me.

Oh yeah, did I mention at any point that we’ve been having behavior issues on the bus..? I don’t think I did. We’ve been having behavior issues at home, too, both of which started about the time of this last move. He received a “red light” for not listening about a month ago. They have a system that uses yellow & red lights – the yellow is a warning, and when the warning isn’t heeded enough times, then a red light is sent home to be signed by the parents and returned. Then about a week ago, I got a letter from the aide on the bus, and the boy had to write “I will do what I am told when on the bus” three times and return it. She also made it a point to call me and tell me that he’s a sweet, loving boy who is essentially very good, he just won’t listen – yeah, I’m aware, and we’re working on it.
I truly believe it is stemming from the move & upheaval recently, but still haven’t figgered out how to counter-act it…
The reason I find this blog-worthy is the incident that happened last night, and the following disagreement/discussion between Hunny & I. You see, my boy hit another kid on the bus last night. Actually, he elbowed him. In the face. Hunny was very upset about this. I am not.
”What?!?!?” you say, “how can you NOT be upset about your child elbowing another child in the face?” you ask…
Well, you need some background to get to that answer. (Yes, I’ll probably wander a bit, but I’m sure it’ll all tie in – it usually does…) Going waaaaaayyy back to before our boy was born (Please step into the Wayback Machine…)
I was working at an Osco’s downtown. Across the square was an O’Mallia’s (kind of a high-end grocery market). One day on my lunch, Hunny had come to visit. We were sitting outside, when a dirty, disheveled, scrawny (read: crackhead) man came running out of the store, followed by a young girl who indicated he had stolen some stuff and run. Hunny being the man he is went after him. He caught him – for a minute, until the guy sliced his arm open. But Hunny wrapped it up in a towel and continued after him…it eventually took six cops tackling him to bring him down.It also took 17 staples to close up Hunny’s arm.
“Wandering” you say “How is this even remotely relevant..?”
”I’m getting there” I say ”have patience”  
I relate this story to emphasize Hunny’s character, and to demonstrate how he responds to certain situations. If it isn’t “right” he will attempt to do something about it, rather just stand on the sidelines and watch. I am the same way. Neither of us is going to allow ourselves – or anyone within our scope – to be bullied or abused. We are teaching our children those values, which I firmly believe to be the right ones. I also think that so far, we’re doing ok.
Another anecdote: When my older boy was in high school, a kid that was a very good friend of his – one of the few he actually brought to the house – slapped a girl, within his sight. My son stopped him the best way he knew. The school then proceeded to try to punish him for his actions. Needless to say, I didn’t support such punishment. I’ll not support punishing my child for doing the “right” thing. He saw a “man” abusing a “woman” and stopped it, because that isn’t acceptable in our world.
These are two of the people my boy idolizes above all others. He follows their example. I have no problem with that, as those are examples of how a person should be.
One more side-note, then I’ll get to the meat of the matter, I promise. Hunny is very big on not tattling, but rather trying to handle the situation yourself. During the party, I know I heard him say at least ten different times “Stop tattling” when the boy – or one of the other kids - would come to say someone had done something (as kids are wont to do).

Now, back to the bus…
While coming home last night, I called Hunny, as I always do. The relevant part of the conversation went something like this…
Hunny: “Your boy got in trouble on the bus again tonight.”
Me: *sigh* “What’d he do now..?”
Hunny: “He hit a kid on the bus.”
Me: “He what?!?! Why would he do that?”
Hunny: “Apparently the kid took his candy cane…”
Me: “So he hit him with reason..?”
Hunny: “They aren’t supposed to have any candy out on the bus.”
Me: “OK, but that’s beside the point. Did he hit the kid with reason?”
Hunny: “If he hadn’t had the candy cane out, the kid couldn’t have taken it and broke it.”
Me: “So he not only took it, he broke it too?”
Hunny:”Yeah. But if he hadn’t had…”
Me: “Is he in trouble for having candy out on the bus?”
Hunny: “No. He elbowed a kid.”
Me: “If he’s not in trouble for having the candy out, then it’s irrelevant. He’s in trouble for hitting a kid that took his candy cane and broke it..? And you agree with that?” (said with great incredulity. 
Hunny: “He hit a kid!”
Me: “Apparently a kid that was bullying him…”
Hunny:”They aren’t supposed to have candy of any kind on the bus.”
Me: “???" We’re back to the candy. He’s not in trouble for the candy, he’s in trouble for defending himself…”
Hunny: “But if he hadn’t had the candy out the kid couldn’t have taken it.”
Me: “Agreed. But that’s not what he’s in trouble for, right..? So it’s a moot point. If he were in trouble for having candy on the bus, which is against the rules, I’d be all good with that. But he’s in trouble for doing what we’ve taught him to do..?”
Hunny: *silence*
Me: “Does that about sum it up..?”
Hunny: “But they aren’t allowed..”
Me: “Yes. yes, I fully understand! No candy on the bus. He’s not in trouble for having candy. Leave the damn candy out of it. Until he’s being punished for having candy on the bus it doesn’t f*&king matter if he is or isn’t supposed to have candy on the bus.”

***side note – none of this is screaming or hollering, we are lucky to be able to discuss differences in a normal tone of voice, even if we do occasionally use inappropriate language….

Hunny: “It does matter. If he didn’t have it…”
Me : “Ok. He had candy. He’s not supposed to have candy. Got it. But even so, that doesn’t make it okay for another kid to take it & break it. Even if he was trying to “enforce the rules” the proper way to do that would be to alert an adult that a rule is being broken, not by taking it into his own hands. Was it a bigger kid?”
Hunny: “I dunno, I didn’t ask.”
Me: “It sounds to me like a kid was trying to bully him & Shayne took it upon himself to not allow that to happen. On the night bus there are bigger kids…”
Hunny: “If that were the case, he should have told someone, not hit the kid.”
Me: “Really..? *note the sarcasm in this statement* How many times did you tell him – just on Saturday – not to tattle..?”
Hunny: *silence, again*
Me: “I’m fairly certain I heard it come out of your mouth at least 10 times just on Saturday…”
Hunny: *more silence*
Me: *waiting*
Hunny: “So you mean to tell me that if someone snatched your purse, you’re not going to tell the police, you’re going to chase ‘em down and stomp their ass..?
Me: “ What did you do when you saw a shoplifter running out of a store..?” (see there is a method to my madness…lol)
Hunny: *silence* (are you beginning to see a pattern here..?)
Me: “What would Tony have done? What would Mike have done? What would CW have done? What would you have done? For that matter what would I have done..? You can’t be mad at him for doing what we’ve taught him to do and being what we’ve taught him to be.”
Hunny: *muttering* “So we’re raising a little thug.”
Me: “NO! If he had hit the kid to take away the kid’s candy..? Then you could say we’re raising a thug. Then we WOULD have issues, ‘cuz I’ll be damned if I’m raising a bully! But he didn’t, he defended himself. I’d just about bet a paycheck the kid is bigger, and Shayne isn’t the first littler kid he’s done something like this to. And I’ll bet he thinks twice before taking something from some other little kid.”
Hunny: “Maybe. But what would you have done if he had broken his nose or something..?”
Me: “The exact same thing I’m doing now! If he deserved it, he deserved it! If it was a bigger kid, I hope he did hurt him, and not only that I hope he embarrassed him! Maybe he’ll think twice next time!”
Hunny: “He still shouldn’t have hit him with an elbow…”
Me: “What should he have done? Sissy slapped him like a little girl? Have you taught your son to fight like a girl? Is that what you want?”
Hunny: “No. I taught him to fight like a boy. Karate has taught him to fight like a boy.”
Me: “Then why would you think he would do anything else..?”
Hunny: “He still shouldn’t have had the candy out, then none of this would have happened…”
Me: “Grrrrrrr….You’re right, he shouldn’t have. But he did. And a kid took it and broke it. And he hit him. And as far as I am concerned he was justified. And I have absolutely no problem going to the school, the transportation department head, the bus driver or the kids parents, and making it clear that I will not punish my child for doing what he did. You want to punish him for having the candy out? Fine, I’m all good with that. But for defending himself against what is probably a bully..? No way. Not happening!”

Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t think so. I talked to my boy when I got home and asked him if it was a kid in his class. No. Was it a kid in Alec’s class (the other kindergarten class). No. So it was a bigger kid. I told him it really isn’t ok to hit someone in most situations, like if you’re just mad, or don’t like them, but it is ok to defend yourself. We also talked about the candy. He said he was really hungry. I can see that, he hadn’t eaten since 11ish, and doesn’t get off the bus til almost 4. I’m not sure where this will go, but I stand by what I said, and I will defend him – and his actions - if necessary.

Okeedokeee…now that I’ve rambled away atcha, I need to go get ready for work. I always appreciate input…..

See ya laterzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!!

The Birthday

The party is over & the mess is cleaned up…and as you can see, the comment left by the wonderful person on my last post lead me to what was necessary to fix my font issue in Live Writer! What a man (or woman…you can never tell…) Either way, wlwbrandon is my hero of the day!

Ok, on to the party. I actually have pics on the puter & am going to post them. That’s gotta be some kind of record….

Here are some of the guests. No, none of them are in-laws…these are family members by choice. Don’t get me wrong, I like my in-laws, they’re good people, and some of the horror stories I have heard about in-laws…I’m thankful for the ones I have. There are just underlying issues, and I don’t always agree with their actions – which is okay, because they probably don’t always agree with mine. But they know I’m and ex-titty dancer & are good with it. They know I am a practicing witch & seem to be good with that, too. That’s more than a lot of people get.

Ok, enough wandering….

 

We got him Ben10 for the DS, and a DS kit – which the guy at the store assured me would work with his DS even though it said it was for DS Lite. He was very adamant that the only difference between the two was the size. My boy needed a car charger, which said kit included. Which (of course) didn’t work with the DS. You know, that’s twice we’ve been misled by store employees, who ought to know what they’re talking about, and bought the wrong thing for that stupid game. Last year one of the demon store’s (Best Buy – but that’s a post for another day…) employees was absolutely positive that DS games played in the Advance, which was what he had at the time. They don’t. Not even close. So on Christmas morning, much like Saturday, my poor boy got something he really wanted, but couldn’t use…GRRRRR

Ahem…

 

As you can see, Pokémon is also a big hit. Anything Pokémon. That’s the little boy from down the street, from the First Day of School in the pic with him. I wasn’t about to have a house full of kids – never a good idea – but I did want him to have a buddy over. There were other kids, but older. Who he considers older siblings.

Hulk boxing gloves…as you can see, another big hit with my boy. Not so much with me… All in all, a good time was had by everyone. We decided to watch a movie after the gifts were opened. Of course, Hunny couldn’t stand it that the surround was not yet connected to the DVD player – sound through the TV..? No way! – so spent a goodly amount of time messing with that…you can see him in the background of a few of the pics, but here’s one just for him…

“It’s only two cables – just the RC jacks” he said, and realistically, it should have only taken about 2 minutes – that’s how long it would have taken me. But with my darling, it has to be a production. I think he was trying to use my psychology on me (any time I want him to do something, and he puts it off, and puts it off, I have found that if I start doing it, he’ll come do it, because I couldn’t possibly do it properly. That would be because I am not quite as ANAL as he is….but whatever! It works, and as long as it works, I’ll continue to foster that opinion…) by starting to do it, hoping I’d come hook it up real quick-like. Which I didn’t. LOL

And finally, since we are indeed rednecks, and our friends are rednecks, and we live amongst rednecks, here is the first picture in what will probably become an ongoing theme…How Many Rednecks Does It Take To..?

In this, the first installment, the operative question is “How many rednecks does it take to get the cat out from under the dishwasher..?”

Apparently more than we had (there were three more “coaching” & giving advice that aren’t in the pics…) They never did get him….As a matter-of-fact, I had a freak-out moment about an hour later, five minutes after I started the dishwasher & realized I still hadn’t seen Jingles, and that they had said he was “up inside it.” He’s fine, stretched out on the floor behind me as I type.

Ok, time to get ready for work. Gotta go!

See ya laterzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz! ! ! ! !

 

Birthday’s Over

Alrighty then…after all the restoring, unrestoring, re-restoring, unre-restoring, running my Adaware program – one of the BEST free adware programs available, in my opinion – get yours here – running a McAfee scan, I seem to have things pretty well in order *said while gently pounding every piece of wood within reach* or not….who knows. For some reason, when I am typing my post in Live Writer, the font appears tiny unless I set it to some ridiculous size like 24 (see last post) then is huge when it goes on the blog….there’s no option I can find to change it, either. I tried the “CTRL/scroll” trick – nuttin. It did this once before, then just all of a sudden it was all good, no idea what I did change it. Figgers…

So, the birthday is over. I find it so hard to believe he’s 6. I also find it hard to believe Hunny & I have been together 10 ys! Many shared events seem to have happened just a few months ago – yet others seem much longer ago. I’m sure you’ve read this on every other blog written by a parent, but just yesterday, seemingly, we were bringing him home for the first time. Or planning his first birthday party. Or any number of other firsts….I know there are still many more ahead, but many will never come again. *Sigh*

Ok, gonna go for now. I really need to get some stuff up on the other blog. It’s been more sorely neglected than this one. I will get pics up when I get them to the puter….

See ya laterzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz! ! ! !

 

More Stufffs

OMG! ! ! I finally have Live Writer back, kinda. I have a Beta version, that looks very different, but still has all my info, so we’ll see if it works. What a royal pain in the ass this has been…First the installer jacked my computer up, then Hunny got it to load, but my dvd drive wouldn’t work, and Live Writer was gone (who knows what else I haven’t found yet is going to turn up…)

Ok, DVD doesn’t work, I’ll get a new one. And I did. And I installed it. It didn’t work either….They were both in my device manager, with exclamation points next to them. When I tried to install, they told me the drivers were corrupt…So Matt, a guy I work with came by and looked at the puter. He got the drives working WOOOHOOO ! ! ! ! He got Live Writer back on the puter. WOOOHOOO! ! ! ! GO MATT! ! ! !

But when I went to get online last night, my browser wouldn’t open. Neither one. Huh???? Ok, I did a system restore, back to Dec 2nd, before all this crap started. WOOHOOO! ! ! My browsers work again ! ! ! ! Uhhhhh….my drives are gone, again, as is the Live Writer….So in disgust I undid the restore and went to bed, hoping the fix-the-computer fairies would com visit in the night. No such luck. I got up this morning, still no browser. And a birthday party to prepare for – Oh yeah, on a side note, not that I ever diverge from my topic, or anything, the in-laws did come by. At noon. The party’s at 2ish…

Anyways, back to the puter. So for lack of anything better to do, I did a restore back to Dec 2nd again. Same result – I have a browser but no drives. I undid it. Then I had a flash of genius! I re-re-restored it back to Dec 2nd, downloaded  the Firefox Setup program to a jump drive, re-undid the restore, and re-installed it from the jump drive. It worked. But there are still issues, not the least of which is this window that keeps popping up

Now in and of itself, this window wouldn’t really be a big issue, unless you know that I have Windows Firewall turned off. Oh yeah, it’s off. If I click on Enable Protection it takes me to HERE apparently a site to buy security software.

Now how do I know for sure the Windows Firewall is turned off? you ask.
There have been people jacking with your computer! you say.
You’re exactly right! I respond, but I’m not a complete idiot, I’m not even blonde anymore….When I go into Windows Security Center, I see this: 

Well, that shows the firewall is on! you say.
Yes, yes it does make one believe that, doesn’t it? I respond….the thing is, when I go into “Manage Security Settings”  for Windows Firewall, I see this:

CLicking “yes”  leads to this:

CLosing that one, and again clicking on security settings for Windows Firewall, gives me this nifty little screen…

Which clearly shows Windows Firewall turned OFF.

I’m so confused….and really need to go get stuffs ready, people will be showing up anytime now, and I have way too much blood in my alcohol system to deal with a house full of people…..

I welcome – Hell, I’m begging for! – any suggestions as to how to remedy this…..

Gotta go for now, back soon, I hope.

Seee ya laterzzzzzzzzzzzzz! ! ! !

There's Birthdays A'Comin' - And A Bitch Session - LOL

Ok, I finally have a couple of unoccupied minutes, where do I start..? We’re in the new house, but I think you all know that already. We’ve added a new family member to our growing menagerie – ok, I admit, 2 cats really isn’t a menagerie, I just like the word J The tree is up, and many of the decorations have made it out of their boxes, but many more sit amongst the unopened boxes filling my garage, just hoping they will be found and allowed to bring us happiness. Whether this happens or not, I dunno, I kinda doubt it.

Saturday is the boy’s sixth birthday. Did I mention he has lost another tooth..? Hunny was all worried because one of his bottom front teeth was growing in behind the baby tooth, which was loose but didn’t seem to have any intention of coming out anytime soon. But out it did come, and the other has moved forward right where it’s supposed to be. Back to the birthday...We actually have 2 December birthdays, Shayne’s is the 13^th and Tony’s is the 27^th. Makes for a busy December, lemme tell ya. And, If I count in “honorary” family members, we have Stacey’s on the 29^th (I think…), my best friend D’s on the 19^th, and her daughter’s on the 17^th…whew.

Last year during “open enrollment” I asked for Saturday off, and got it. So Saturday is his party. I think this is the first time in quite a while that it’ll actually be on his birthday. My little Friday the 13^th baby. We planned it that way ! No really, we did – I was induced and got to pick the date J He’s also my snowbaby. The day he was born it was miserable outside, cold, windy & gloomy. They had called for snow, but none had been forthcoming. At the very moment my boy decided to join the world, the snow began to fall. And it has snowed on his birthday every year. Yes, I know, I wander a lot in my writing. Sorry, that’s just me. I sometimes wonder if I don’t have adult ADD – but that’s a whole nother post *grin*

Back to the party (again). We aren’t doing anything spectacular, just some friends & a cake, but what’s a party without drama? The drama this year is coming from the in-laws (go figger). Apparently since Shayne is now in school (what this has to do with it I have no clue…) they prefer having a “private” celebration to coming to the house for the party. Why is this drama? you ask …welllllll it starts all the way back to when I found out I was pregnant. Well, even before then, really.

Hunny’s sister had made it abundantly plain, in ways I won’t go into here, (but use your imagination), that she was never, EVER going to have kids. Then Shayne came along, and suddenly she was no longer the baby of the family (mind you she was in her 30’s at this time) and center of the universe. Shayne was born in December of 2002. Abby, her daughter, was born in June (or July, I can’t remember exactly) of 2004. All of a sudden, the woman who went to a lot of trouble to NOT have kids has a kid…. I don’t know what all has occurred in this dynamic before I joined it, but I can tell you what I’ve seen since….Hunny’s parents have kept our boy over night 4 times. In 6 YEARS. Never more than two nights in a row. The last time, we found we were going to be about two hours later than originally planned (original plan was to pick him up late afternoon, it turned out it would be early evening), and his parents flipped. The reason for the delay was that we were going to have dinner with our daughter-in-law. When Hunny called to say we’d be a bit later, all Hell broke loose. He left to go get our boy, and from what I later heard, angry words were exchanged between him and his father – well, an attempt at angry words was made. Hunny shut him down, telling him it wasn’t an appropriate discussion to have with a 3 year old present.

Now, while just the fact that they’ve only kept him four times is in itself a bit odd for Grandparents, in my opinion, but they rarely keep him at ALL, even for a few hours during the day. He’s been at their house, without us probably a total of 10 times in his life, including the four mentioned above. Abby, on the other hand, is there constantly. Abby is Hunny’s sister’s daughter – now there’s a mouthful LOL! Really. Anytime I have taken Shayne to visit in the last 3 years, she was there. They have made one of their spare rooms “her room” They kept her for 2 weeks while her parents went on a cruise or something. They also go to Hunny’s sister’s house a couple of times a week. She lives about the same distance from them as we do – probably 25 miles one way. You know how often they come to our house..? They haven’t even seen any of the last three houses we’ve lived in. And apparently they aren’t going to see this one now, either….’cuz he’s in school now (?)

Understand, these are the only biological grandparents my child has – both of my parents are dead and have been for years. But like I told Hunny, it’s really okay – there are a whole bunch of people in his life, that know him well, that call themselves his grandparents and fill the bill very well. (I can think of three families who’s “patriarch” and/or “matriarch” consider him their grandchild – and they have chosen to be in his life, not been thrust there by fate)

Ok, now that I’ve turned this into a bitch session *grin* it’s time to get ready for work. I will try to update more regularly. My computer still isn’t working properly – I have missing programs, what I have tends to freeze up, and it just isn’t right. But one of the guys from work is going to come look at it in the next few days, so hopefully all will be well again !

Gotta go, see ya laterzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz! ! ! !

Updating

Okeedokee, I am back up, kinda sorta, I hope...have had computer issues since the dude who installed the HSD back active downloaded some crap on to it...but I'll get to that later. RIght now I want to update you real quick like.
We're in the new house - I don't have pics yet, but we did add another new family member...you remember, Jingles joined us a couple of months ago..?

Well, we got moved, and found another wandering around our yard. I stooped down to pet him, and he just curled up under my coat and around my feet like he belonged there. But I didn't take him in right away. I put out food & water, and told Hunny about him. He said he'd take him in when he got home (what a wonderful Hunny I have...) but he wasn't around when Hunny got home. I figgered someone else beat us to it. I saw the neighbors next morning, turns out her sister had brought him to her as a "gift" and they already had 2 big dogs....they were going to take him to a farm and drop him off, but I offered to take him so...meet Bel
I have some more pics I wanna share, like the one showing how a redneck fixes his car door handle - aww shit - I better just put it up while I'm here...
Or maybe they're just trying to keep the cold air out..? Hey VV - this was in a Wal_mart parking lot, I think that makes me the winner of the Wal-mart Bingo...
Ok, gotta go, the boy is hollering he wants a jelly sammich, and we gotta get ready to head out.
See ya laterzzzzzzzzzz!

Computer back soon!

Cable scheduled to be connected tomorrow, so I will have my computer back - WOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOO! ! ! ! Hopefully an update will be shortly forthcoming!