True Blood!

HBO is doing a series based on Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse series. It's called True Blood and it's scheduled to debut in the fall 2007 line-up.

The only time I've ever subscribed to HBO (or any other movie channel) is when we got them all free for the first three months after we got DirecTV. But I'll be signing up in time for this show! The books are great-campy and funny, not too terribly serious. I can't wait!

Overheard

Aaron, picking up about 20 pennies I had cleaned out of my purse: Money! Me and Micah are stinkin' rich now!

Haven't done a meme in a while.......

1. What time do you get up in the morning?
5:30
2. Diamonds or Pearls?
Diamonds
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
Cars
4. What is your favorite TV show?
Anderson Cooper 360 and Larry King Live
5. What do you normally have for breakfast?
Coffee
6. What is your middle name?
Lynne
7. What is your favorite cuisine?
Sushi
8. What food do you most dislike?
Liver
9. What is your favorite chip?
Old Dutch Dill Pickle
10. What is your favorite CD at the moment?
I don't listen to CDs much. Lately I'm loving Josh Ritter and David Gray.
11. What kind of car do you drive?
Chrysler Town and Country
12. What is your favorite sandwich?
Reuben
13. Qualities I despise most in other people are…
Hypocrisy
14. What are your favorite clothes?
pajamas
15. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would it be?
Paris. Well, all of Europe, really
16. What color are your eyes?
Hazel
17. What is your favorite brand of clothing?
Don't have a favorite
18. Where would you want to retire?
San Diego or LA
19. What is your favorite time of day?
afternoon
20. Where were you born?
Litchfield, MN
21. What is your favorite sport to watch?
Baseball
22. Sock Sock, Shoe Shoe or Sock Shoe, Sock Shoe?
sock sock, shoe shoe
23. Cash, credit card or debit card?
debit card. Can't remember the last time I used a credit card.
24. Pepsi or Coke?
Pepsi
25. Cats or Dogs?
Dogs, definitely.
26. Are you a morning person or a night owl?
Night owl
27. Pedicure or manicure?
Manicure.
28. Do you prefer funny or mushy cards?
Funny
29. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with everyone?
We're moving back to San Diego!
30. What did you want to be when you were little?
A teacher.
31. What do you have in your trunk right now?
I don't have a "trunk," but in the cargo area of my van is my handy-dandy roadside assistance bag that Mike bought me. As if I'm *ever* going to change my own tire. Ha!
32. What is your best childhood memory?
Going for rides with my mom and dad.
33. What are some of the different jobs you have had in your life?
Nursing assistant, bakery cashier (I also sliced bread and cleaned cases), grocery store cashier, news monitor, library clerk.
34. What is your favorite Holiday?
Christmas
35. What is your favorite dessert?
Brownies
36. Where is your favorite get-away?
My bedroom.
37. Have you ever been to Africa?
No.
38. Glasses or Contacts?
Glasses when I bother to wear them.
39. Have you ever been toilet papering?
Nope.
40. Have you ever been in a car accident?
Once, but I wasn't driving.
41. What is your favorite day of the week?
Monday.
42. What is your favorite restaurant?
Chile Peppers in San Diego.
43. Favorite flower?
home-grown roses and lilacs.
44. Favorite movies?
Lonesome Dove, Top Gun, the Godfather, Good Will Hunting.
45. Favorite Past time?
Reading
46. Favorite ice cream?
Ben & Jerry's Peanut Butter Cup
47. Favorite fast food restaurant?
Burger King and In 'N Out Burger
48. How many times did you fail your drivers test?
Once
49. From whom did you get your last email?
Meircee
50. Sandals or tennis shoes?
Sandals
51. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card?
Barnes and Noble or Target
52. If the speed limit is 60, what is the fastest you normally drive?
70
53. What is your bedtime?
Usually in bed by 9:30 and asleep by 10:30, but sometimes earlier.
54. Whose response to this are you most curious about?
Don't know.....
55. Last person you went to dinner with?
Mike
56. What are you listening to right now?
The Oscars
57. What is your favorite color?
Purple
58. How many tattoos do you have?
None, but next time I go to Hawaii I'm getting a yellow plumeria tattooed *somewhere.
59. Smooth or crunch peanut butter?
crunchy
60. What is your favorite drink?
coffee

Why I Love Thrift Stores

Anyone who knows me knows I love shopping at thrift stores. There was a great one on the Marine Corps base in San Diego I got so many nice things at. The stuff there was extremely cheap (I'm talking yard sale prices), and Meircee and I once walked out of there with two plastic trash bags full of stuff (we bought stuff for our kids, too!).

My love for thrift stores remains and today was a banner day! I got the entire Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris. Only one of these was not a signed copy. I also got all but one of the Lily Bard series by the same author and both of the books in her Harper Connelly series (only one signed).

I also snagged myself a cute little pair of It's Happy Bunny pajama bottoms. But my favorite purchase of the day was a Kate Spade handbag. I'd never be able to afford one of these new, but I can have a slightly used one for $10 from the Goodwill! :O) It was a little dirty, but it cleaned right up and it's gorgeous! I'm in love.....

Random Thoughts at the End of a Long Day

Finished a great book by a favorite writer today. The Dead Place is the sixth in the Ben Cooper/Diane Fry series set in the Peak District in England. This series is so incredibly good. If you want the list of titles, check out the author's website Stephen Booth.

The book made me curious enough to do some web searching on green burials. Needless to say, I'm intrigued. Very interesting!

We're spending part of our tax return on a new computer for the kids. I'm thoroughly sick and tired of sharing mine with them. The new computer will reside upstairs in the computer room, while my computer resides here in the living room. Ah, peace and quiet.

The weather has finally warmed up here. We actually hit 60 degrees today! Woo hoo! To celebrate I grilled steaks for dinner. Yum! It's supposed to be nearly 70 tomorrow, but it's also going to rain.

At dinner, Marissah reported that her brothers messed up her room after she cleaned it today. The boys denied it, claiming "the aliens" did it. As I pointed out to Marissah, her brothers look enough like aliens for that to be possible. They didn't deny that!

Tomorrow the big kids go back to school and I can regain some sanity and get my house clean. Happy day!

Back to San Diego

Well, as my little "Where Do You Belong?" link on the right says, I belong in San Diego. Funny thing, when Mike did that quiz he got San Diego, too. So is it any wonder he's taken orders to a ship there?

The USS Makin Island will be Mike's next ship. It's not commissioned yet-still being finished in Pascagoula, Mississippi.

You all know how happy I am to be going back to San Diego. I have missed it so much. No more rednecks, no more extreme heat, no more worthless schools for my poor kids. I can't wait. Still no real idea as to when we'll be leaving, but probably in December.

I smell goooood!

I just got out of the tub, and I smell fantastic thanks to Bathed and Infused. If you've never heard of them, check 'em out. Great smelling products for the bath (body wash, lotion, perfume) at great prices. Who can resist a perfume called Bad Puppy (smells like green grass, dirt and iris petals-much better than it sounds) or Grapenuts (a blend of grapefruit and coconut)? They have hundreds of scents, including designer dupes (the big names like Britney Spears and Prada and places like Bath and Body Works). If you can imagine the scent, they have it. Honest!

I just received my second order since my dear sister got me hooked and I am still impressed. I've loved every scent I've tried, so far. If you're a little more worried there's a discussion forum where users post reviews of the scents they've tried.

If you email me I can refer you and you'll get 10% off your first order (and I'll get some points so I can continue to feed my new addiction).

No Longer Anonymous

I've always been secretly proud of the fact that the staff of my local Starbucks doesn't know me. See, if they don't recognize me when I come in, or have my order already started before I place it, that means I'm not the Starbucks equivalent of a crack ho. Right?

Well, that changed today. Aaron and I were standing in line and the place was packed, plus the drive-thru line was eight cars long (which is why we went inside). I was minding my own business, helping Aaron pick which cookie he wanted, when the barrista came by and said: "Grande Peppermint Mocha, right?" I was stunned, but not so stunned that I couldn't tell her to make it a venti instead (it's cold and sleeting outside).

So that's it. She may have had to ask for my name, but she knew my drink. I'm no longer a nameless, faceless coffee drinker. I'm a regular. An addict. A Starbucks ho. I'm not ashamed, though. I haven't yet started selling my body for a fix so it's all good.

Snip, snip!

Tomorrow Doc is going to the vet to be neutered. Pray for me that this will cure him of his little humping addiction. ;) Marissah's friend, who is an 11-year-old girl, tells me this will rob Doc of his dignity. Bahahahahaha! I don't know which is funnier, the thought of Doc having any dignity (see humping addiction) or the sound of this little 11-year-old lecturing me.

Anywho, when I told Aaron that Doc was going to the vet tomorrow he asked why. I told him the vet was going to cut off Doc's testicles. (Why yes, I am an evil, sick, deranged mother). He asked what testicles were and I told him. And then he said: "I don't wanna go with you then." LMAO! This child always wants to go everywhere with me. Guess not if it involves testicles and scalpels, though.

I was sleeping blissfully this morning when I woke up. I had heard something. And there it was again. My baby, screaming "Mom! Mom!" I jumped out of bed and ran into the boys' room. Aaron was sitting up in bed. I asked him what was wrong.

"Marissah is in our room!" he said.

I looked around, doubtfully. There was no one but Micah in the room with him and he was dead asleep.

"Marissah's not here, honey. Go back to sleep," I told him.

"Will you get me some water?" he whined.

I got him some water. When I brought it back to him he told me Marissah was in Micah's bed, under the covers. This led me to remove all of the blankets (and there were several) covering Micah and showing Aaron that Marissah was not, in fact, in his bed. He seemed satisfied and went back to sleep. I, on the other hand, was up for a good half hour after that, trying to get my heart to beat normally again. Nothing like being woke from a dead sleep by your child screaming to get the blood flowing, huh?

I'm still trying to figure out why on earth he thought Marissah was in their bedroom, much less in Micah's bed. And why would that be so earth-shattering as to wake me at 3:30 a.m.? Did I mention that I was the only one who woke up when he screamed? Everyone else continued to sleep like the dead, including Micah, who was a whole three feet from Aaron.

And as further punishment, Aaron is wide awake as I write this.....at 6:35 a.m. It's going to be a long day.......

Overheard......

Aaron, standing on the couch: Micah! I'm the king of the world! (loses his balance and sits down, hard) Well, I'm almost the king of the world.

January Book Review

Disco for the Departed
by Colin Cotterill
©2006 247 p.
Soho Press

Dr. Siri Paiboun is the reluctant national coroner for the People's Democratic Republic of Laos. Set in 1977, while the country is still acclimating itself to the new communist government, Dr. Siri and his morgue employees attempt to solve the mysteries that come their way. Disco for the Departed is the third book in this wonderful series. Dr. Siri and Nurse Dtui are summoned to the province of Huaphan to investigate a body found buried under concrete. Meanwhile, Mr. Geung, the morgue attendant, has an adventure of his own.

Disco is witty and sly, with a nice dose of mysticism to tantalize and entertain. The characters are wonderfully drawn and readers get a real sense of Laos. Fans of slightly out of the ordinary mysteries should not miss this series, which includes The Coroner's Lunch and Thirty Three Teeth. As always, I recommend reading the series in order.

My weird dog

OK, it's official. My puppy, Doc, is weird. A couple weeks ago, Doc was just acting strange toward me. He was growling at me and backing away whenever he got close to me. I called for Mike and he thought I had something on my hands that Doc didn't like the smell of, so I washed them. No improvement-he was still growling and backing away like he was terrified. The only thing I could think of was my sweater. It was new, never worn before. I hadn't washed it because it's cashmere. I took it off and Doc still growled at my arms, but nothing like what he did when Mike held the sweater for Doc to smell. He was scared of my sweater. I'm thinking he can smell those goats or something and he (obviously) doesn't like it. LOL

This morning I put on an angora blend sweater because it's freezing here. Well, reverse the reaction to the cashmere sweater. I thought the puppy was going to eat me right along with my sweater. He was just nuts over it! So, for future reference: goats=bad, rabbits=good.

Winter Weather Whine

Micah finished his science fair project last night (which snack is more nutritious-PopTarts, granola bars or popcorn) and had to take it to school this morning. Instead of making him lug the big half-moving box I decided I'd drive him.

I went out to start the car about 15 minutes before we had to leave and when we got out there the windows still weren't clear. ACK! For the first time in six years (since we lived in Great Lakes), I had to scrape my windows. Do I even own a scraper??? Nooooooo, of course not! I remember scraping my windshield with my driver's license back in the days when I was young and too dumb to think I needed a scraper. It somehow didn't seem right to desecrate my California drivers license with frost, though, so an old, used up Starbucks card had to suffice. I certainly wasn't going to risk my debit card or either of my library cards, was I?????? Besides, I'm sure Starbucks has new designs on their cards for Valentine's Day, right?

The boys were mesmerized by the frost everywhere. Micah is sure this means it's going to snow today (hate to disappoint him, but only COLD is in the forecast) and Aaron mistakenly thought I said "frosting," which I guess is pretty appropriate.

After we dropped Micah off, there was only one thing to do. It was time for a Starbucks run. After all, I was cold and I needed to replace that card. Right?

I'm not safely ensconced in my nice warm house (well, relatively speaking) with a grande Peppermint Mocha and the half of Aaron's cranberry orange muffin he didn't eat and a brand spankin' new Starbucks card with a Valentine's motif. Life is good, but it would be better if it wasn't so damn cold!

Help Me Out!

Mike and I (okay, I mostly) want to take a vacation in April. No kids, nothing too terribly touristy. Mostly, I want to sit on a beach somewhere and vegetate. I suggested Florida's Gulf Coast. Mike has no desire to go there. But then he says he doesn't care where we go. So, anyone have any suggestions? (Thanks for suggesting Sacramento, Meircee, but you have no beach!!!! Love you!)

I'm sad.....

Yesterday I learned that one of my favorite authors passed away. This wasn't just any old author to me-this was Barbara Seranella, author of the Munch Mancini mysteries. I knew Barbara from an online mystery group I participate in and I can tell you that she was a wonderful, genuine human being. I never got to meet her in person, but I will miss her anyway.

Barbara's books feature Miranda "Munch" Mancini, a mechanic who is also a recovering drug addict. In the beginning of the first book in the series, Munch is trying to start over-off the booze and drugs and away from her wild life-when her father is murdered and she is considered a prime suspect. Barbara's writing got better as she went-and it was excellent from the beginning. Do me a favor and look for at least one of them. You won't regret it.

Sickies-Part Deux

Today is the first day I haven't had everyone home sick since the weekend. Do I have to tell you I was losing my ever-lovin' mind???

Micah is still home. He finally isn't running a temp, but he's still exhausted. He slept over 13 hours last night-and that's the fifth night in a row for that!

And me? I still haven't gotten sick. I felt crappy on Tuesday, but it never amounted to anything. Must be my exceptional physical condition and the attention I pay to my all-around well-being. Bahahahahahahahahahahahah!

Sickies

I've got two sick kids this weekend. Micah started complaining of a cough on Thursday, but it really hit him hard on Friday night. I gave him some Children's Tylenol Flu and he puked it right back up. Nice. Saturday morning I got up to find him sleeping on the couch at 9 am. Remember, this is the child who has to be medicated to sleep at night. Oh yeah, he's sick.

Micah took some Tylenol (but not the pukey stuff) and felt better shortly after. But by 4 pm Aaron was down and out. He napped on the couch for about 3 hours and when he woke up I tried to convince him to take some medicine. He wasn't biting, though. Aaron puked, no medication involved.

Today has been a battle. Aaron still won't take anything, so he's just staying on the couch and whimpering every once in a while. Micah feels better, but still has a fever. Mike has this crap, too, but I don't have to take care of him, thank God!

So far, Marissah and I have been lucky, but you know what's going to happen. Everyone is going to get well and then Mom will get sick. And who is going to take care of Mom?????? Hahahahahahahaha.......that's right! NO ONE!!!!!!

Lucky me. Being a mom is highly over-rated.......

Justifiable Homicide

I'm contemplating homicide tonight. Or maybe just assault. Whatever it is, you can be sure it will be felonious and it will hurt. A lot.

I left the house at 3:30 this afternoon to pick up a few things from Wal-Mart. Marissah came with me because she needed some stuff for a school project. I should preface all of this by saying I am extremely tired today. I haven't slept well in a few days and it's catching up with me.

On our way to Wal-Mart Marissah explained to me that she can't just bring two things on her list to school, because then she'll only get two extra points. You see, they are making an edible cell model and the teacher gave them a list of supplies she needs. I told Marissah I was sure she didn't need ALL of that stuff, but she insisted she did. And those extra points are why. For each item on the list that the kids bring in they get an extra point on their grade. 15 items total on the list and you get 15 extra points. That's a HUGE difference when it comes to a project or test. My beef is that I'm essentially *buying* her grade. There is NO WAY the teacher needs all 24 kids to bring a package of paper plates. Or a pack of Dixie cups. Or a freaking package of gumballs. Gimme a freaking break.

We got all our stuff at Wal-Mart and went to check out. I went to swipe my debit card only to find it wasn't there. In fact, my entire wallet seemed to be missing. #%(*#Q&%*(#Q)*^$ And that is exactly what I said! The cashier at Wal-Mart was kind enough to say she'd hold my stuff, but I was pretty sure she wouldn't. This is Wal-Mart. In Tennessee. Need I say more? Besides, I had bigger things to worry about. Namely how I was going to get onto the secured base without my military ID.

I don't know any of the sentries on base, but there are some who are more friendly than others. You know I didn't get one of the friendly ones, right? Oh no, never happen. I got this runty little guy who apparently thought I was scamming him. I explained my predicament and he asked all kinds of questions (including where my husband works and if I have stickers on my van---as if he couldn't see the stickers right in front of his beady little eyes). Finally he told me to wait a minute, but not before he asked to see my driver's license (it's in the wallet with my freaking ID you moron!). I thought he was going to get something or someone to sign me in, but he just went to wave a car from the adjacent parking lot through. Then he came back to my side of the road and waved me through. As I was driving past I said "Thank you!" and he yelled for me to stop. I kid you not, he said: "Whoa, where are you going in such a hurry?" I was just about ready to strangle him, but I kept my cool. He finally let me go, but gave me a lecture about how important it is to keep my information on me. @@ <-eye roll. When I finally got back to Wal-Mart I was just tickled to see that not only had my cashier kept my stuff out, but she had just suspended the transaction so it was super-fast. I've never received such good service in Wal-Mart before-in Tennessee or elsewhere-and I made sure she knew that.

Now I had just one last obstacle. I had to pass the Moronic Sentry before I could get home. I seriously considered going all the way around to the other gate, but it was already 5:00 and I had no desire to prolong this excursion any more than I already had.

By the time we hit the gate I already had my ID out of my wallet and my window down. I was hoping I could just slide on through, but of course he remembered me.

"Well," he said. "I see you found it."

"Actually, it was never lost," I told him. "I just forgot it."

"Aw, you were just playin' tricks on me, weren't you?" he said in a smarmy voice. I swear, he was flirting with me.

I didn't stick around for anything else. He could have called Shore Patrol on me and I wouldn't have cared. Talk about an asshole. Did I mention how short he was? Napoleon complex, for sure. Short people should never be given power positions.

I'm glad I made his day, glad he got a laugh and some entertainment at my expense. I'll be thinking of him tonight when it drops down below thirty degrees and he's still standing outside at that gate. And I'll be laughing, too.

I can guarantee you that is one sentry I'll never forget and he'll never get so much as a "have a nice day" from me again.

Just Call Him "Striking Catfish"

Mike has been researching his genealogy since Marissah was a baby. We got this little family tree from the hospital where she was born and it got both of us more curious about our ancestors. He's made contact with many different relatives and traced his grandmother's family line (Paulson) back quite far (the 1600s or so). Last night he stumbled on some really cool connections.

To make a long story short, he was able to connect his grandmother's line to all kinds of royalty. If that's not cool enough, this line, being that it's royal and they tended to inter-marry, ties into other royal lines. He's descended from (among others) Marcus Aurelius, Constantine and King Herod. Cleopatra is part of his line, but he's not directly descended from her, along with Alexander the Great. Mike's line goes to Alexander the Great's lesser known brother (I am not joking here) The Rabbit. I forget his first name, but it's one of those impossible to pronounce Greek-sounding names.

And then, just to put the icing on the cake, his line ties into the ancient Egyptian line. So my husband is descended from the ancient Egyptian rulers, the first was named......"Striking Catfish." Less well known that King Tut, for sure, but isn't it much more fun to call Mike "Striking Catfish"? I know I'm enjoying it. OK, Mike claims "Striking Catfish" was the wife's name and the husband was The Scorpion King. I'm sticking with Striking Catfish. ;)

To sum things up, we now know my husband, and in turn my kids, are Swedish, German, Norwegian, Danish, Bohemian (hahahaha), and Austrian. Then we can add the places that no longer exist like Macedonia, Persia, and ancient Egypt. Plus a lot of Jews from Judea. Oh my......talk about a mutt.