Hot Tamale!

hey all! and what have you been up to? i know the calendar says summer just hit last week but its been too hot to sit in the house for very long. we've been playing. the pool has been calling my name most nights. i try not to think about it all day while i'm at work but the minute i start the car up i can hear the water lapping out my name. honestly, i'm pretty sure its all in my head but you just don't understand how hot its been & how good that water feels. something else that i know isn't in my head...as i get closer to home i know the temperature drops about 20 degrees. i guess its all those houses packed together in the city & all those people with their body heat that makes it soooo hot. out in my neck of the woods the breeze can actually blow between the houses & its cooler. my brain doesn't feel like its frying so bad out here. course, it could just be that i'm home & not 30 miles into purgatory.
last weekend was pretty cool with the kids. we didn't get ixxie cos she's staying with her aunt (which is jammers aunt too but they know better than to let her have him over me). honey tells me she's not sure when ix will be home cos she's having just too much fun with her cousin. thats fine with me. you wouldn't believe how the 3 i had got along without ixxie. they played & sang & entertained each other so well. they were actually a pleasure to have. isn't it amazing when the rotten apple is taken away how the smell of the remaining ones gets so much better? i did not just say that! yes, i feel bad for feeling that way but hey...if the smell fits. i've concluded that she's a trouble maker & an instigator. i've tried to ignore this for as long as i could but when you get the 3 little ones together & theres NO FIGHTS ALL WEEKEND you have to give it up. its only taken me 4 years to give up on ixxie but i've finally accepted that i can't help her. if she won't work with me theres nothing i can do to encourage her. she's happiest when she's leading the others down the road to trouble.
i broke down last weekend & bought a new air conditioner. something else i had to accept was the old one just wasn't doing the job anymore.
we got the tomatoes planted too. pretty soon i'll have fresh garden tomatoes. mmm, the best thing is eating them hot, straight off the vine. i can't wait to make some sauces & dips. chili just isn't the same when you make it with fresh tomatoes. and with my new ac it won't be too hot to have chili.
life can be good when you've got no ixxie, fresh tomatoes & a new air conditioner.
later.

My Glass IS Half Full

i don't have alot going on these days. my step moms husband was in his 3rd wreck in 2 years. i'm not sure if its his eyes or his ears, both have been going for the last few years. he's had to get hearing aids & he wears glasses but obviously he needs more. the first 2 were just minor accidents & everyone walked away without a scratch. including very little damage done to the cars involved. this time, however, he pulled out in front of a lady doing at least the speed limit which was 50 in the area & really did a number on both vehicles. moms van is totalled & i believe the other ladies van is totalled too. the one good thing is the lady went to the hospital & was released immediately. she couldn't be too hurt but you know how that has a way of coming back to bite you in the ass. on the other hand, her husband was hospitalized with broken bones all over his body & bruised from his head to his toes. mom hasn't been a happy camper lately. she has been doing all the housework, all the yardwork as well as nursing him. lets face it we all know how big a baby a hurt man is. sorry guys, but if the shoe fits...anyway, i think she needs a vacation away from everything. she's on the verge of losing her mind.
i have a question. why is it when you marry someone everything changes? i mean a perfectly matched couple that agrees on everything gets married & overnight, it seems, someone decides to change.
i know i'm sick to death of being the only one making money. do you really think i enjoy working? does anyone out there believe that i hate the fact that someday i will have to retire? in a mere 14 years i will be a prime candidate for retirement. at least by age. of course, the truth is i'll have to work till i die. i'll never be able to prepare a nest egg for retirement. i live from pay check to pay check with no leftovers. how in the hell can i ever consider retiring? at 46 hubby's ready to just sit back & take a ride. albeit a cheap ride cos i don't make that much money but still a ride. do you know how much i would love to just quit work & enjoy getting old with my grandbabies? all the things i could get done if i stayed home all day, everyday? people talk about getting bored but i don't think that would be me. i could always find something to do. i love playing on the computer & for one thing if i had the time to just hang out i would start working on computers for people. theres killer money in that. i love flowers, i could open a greenhouse & sell plants that i started from seeds. i have a story i wrote for my grandkids. and lots of poems i've written over the years. i could write if i had the time. i even thought about being an interior designer when i was younger. i love to match drapes & rugs. i love redecorating houses. there are so many things i could find to do. i even love to cook. god, what i would give.
dreams....just dreams.
later

Rhinestones & Rednecks

ok, i simply give up on writing in blogger. for some stupid reason since i added my second hard drive it never fail,. everytime i open blogger it freezes within minutes. i don't know what the problem is. i thought maybe it was getting too hot so i added a fan but that didn't fix it. now i just give up. i have every office application you can think of so the hell with blogger. i'll just write it up & then quicky copy & paste the damn thing in blogger. Hopefully, it will be patient enough to at least let me do that lightning fast like speedy gonzales. i swear i'll be quick. (sounds like something i've heard before.) besides i have to start writing ahead of myself so i don't have days that theres no post. sometimes i have 50 ideas swarming around in my head but by the time i actually get a chance to sit down & write they've all swarmed right on out. this way when i get an idea i can email it to myself & type it up while its still fresh.
i've decided theres another tool for us rednecks that i just love. you all know how i use the hell out of silver duct tape. my family dollar store sells super glue & crazy glue both for a buck a whack. man, that shit holds anything together. between duct tape & super glue i think i could build a house. i've glued all my ceramics together that has broken over the years with it but until lately i didn't fully appreciate it. my favorite sunglasses lost a nut off the nose piece. there was several other nuts so i took one off the earpiece & moved it to the nose piece. that made the earpiece less stable but i thought i could live with that. i couldn't. why not just buy another pair you ask? believe it or not i couldn't find another pair like them anywhere. i've been looking for a replacement pair for almost a year now. yes, i have other sunglasses but they just were not the cute little square framed with rhinestones that i loved. see i am a true redneck! from the tip of my light ash brown head with gray highlights clear down to my french polished toenails. redneck through & through. this particular pair of sunglasses has pink lenses & they do this amazing thing for my eyes. they kinda make my eyes look a really light purple. just really pretty, to me. anyway, back to the super glue. i dabbed a little tiny drop on the earpiece & viola', they are just perfect again. now, i have more time to search for that perfect pair while i still enjoy the ones that are so dear to my eyes. hey, don't knock it...i could've used the duct tape on them. ha!
ok, i've rambled on about nothing long enough. i've got some work to do that i brought home. i'll see ya on the flip side.
later.

Growing Pains

for those of you taking my bet...jammer still has poison ivy. its not as bad on his belly & back but thats only due to the sun he's gotten not wearing a shirt. his legs are still covered & he's digging on it. which doesn't help but without medicine what are you gonna do? i can laugh now but when this happened it wasn't so funny. don't get me wrong i don't think its funny that i hurt him but his reaction was hilarious. i have betadine. its the stuff surgeons use to scrub up for before surgery on both themselves & you. by its name you can surmise its an iodine derivative. its not supposed to burn but thats not on open wounds & i didn't know this until i poured it on jammers active poison ivy. it was fine while it ran down his belly & back but when it hit his legs where the poison is still very active he went nuts. he shook like a cartoon cat trying to dry itself after a dip in the pool. he screamed at the top of his lungs then plopped in the tub like he was doing some kind of major cannon ball. all of a sudden betadine & water shot all over me & my bathroom & he's screaming like a banshee. i tried not to laugh but it was a scene i don't think i'll ever forget. poor kid will never believe me again when i tell him it won't hurt.
they were all so bad this weekend that i didn't take them to the pool. instead we visited my aunt. the only aunt i have on my dads side. i love to visit with her. she's one person that can tell me about when i was little & mom & dad were together. like me, or i guess i'm like her, she likes to take alot of pictures & she's a pack rat. she keeps everything. she has a house full of memories for me so, i went through album after album & remembered things i hadn't thought about for years. she got to meet all 4 grandkids & loved every minute of it. she feed us & we visited for about 3 hours all together. the kids were crazy about her & when we got ready to leave they were all hanging on her & giving her kisses goodbye. being my dads older sister he talks to her about a lot of things that he doesn't really discuss with too many other people. she made me feel better about my relationship with my dad. which is kinda void but she put a new perspective on it that hadn't occured to me. it doesn't make me want to run out & hug his neck but at least i don't feel so alone after some of what she told me. i know my dad would shit a brick if he knew she had broken his confidence but i think she felt like i needed a verbal hug even if it wasn't from dad.
i've always believed my dad never really learned how to love anyone but himself. especially us kids. he's always been pretty self-centered & conceited. i think i understand why just a little better after talking to her. you know when you're a kid you don't really understand the hurt that parents dish out. now i'm older i get it alittle better. she did tell me that dad confessed to her that my mom was the love of his life. mom would have loved to know that when she was alive. my knowing it makes me feel a little softer towards him.
well, i wanted to get this posted before bed. its been a long day & i'm beat.
later.

Can They Help Me? For Sure!

wanna hear something sad? my poor jammer has poison ivy all over his little body. even sadder? how can a mother sit & fish, not watching her child, till he's totally rolling in poison ivy? how could a mother see said poison ivy in advance & still not keep her child away from the shit? my answer...piss poor mothering! of course, thats been my opinion from day one of meeting her when she suggested hubby & i take her little girl off her hands. i kept him doused in calomine lotion all weekend & he wasn't itching so bad when he left but my bet is she won't keep the lotion on him & when he gets back this weekend he'll still have it. any takers?
i wanted to tell you about the treasures i've recently found. for starters in my yard sale finds i've bought a brand new canon printer...with brand new ink cartridges...for? you're gonna shit yourself when you see this price, a big whopping $2.50 for all! i also found a scanner that i know works with my system cos i've had one before but the plug in finally worked itself into 2 pieces so i threw it out. this one came with the drivers & i should have it up & running by this weekend. and again, you're gonna shit...another $2.50. hahahaha, i feel like the cat that ate the canary. amazingly enough i also found something to exercise my big fat lazy ass on while i enjoy watching a movie. i've seen this advertised on tv for $100.00 while i was just sitting my fat ass around. the nordic fast track exercise unit. now i can giggle at the advertisement when it comes on cos i'll be walking on my own fast track that i only paid (drum roll please) another $2.50 for. seriously, i hit a yard sale at the right time. a truck had just pulled into the lot before me & began emptying its contents when the yard sale attendee started yelling 'everything is half off. we want to move as much of this stuff as possible. we don't want to pack it back up'. i started running around that yard sale like a mad woman putting little post-it notes on the things i wanted. hubbys head was spinning around like he was on a demonic, linda blair, i'm gonna spit some pea soup up real soon, frenzy. 'how are we gonna get all this stuff home in our little le baron car'? 'don't worry, people that want to get rid of stuff this bad are always willing to haul it for you, too'. i told him & sure enough i was right. a nice little guy in a ford pickup helped us load everything into his bed & ran it home for us. that was free of charge i might add. i don't think i've ever made out this good even when i jewed my way through sales of any sort. and it was all handed to me on a silver platter cos when i went to pay for it, the lady didn't have any change left so she knocked off an extra 50 cents.
now, i need to feed hubby his meds & get ready for bed. which includes my exercise time on my new nordic fast track that i'm just loving. maybe by the end of the summer between walking, working & swimming i'll have lost the weight i've gained sitting behind a desk for the last 9 years.
later taters.