Words of wisdom

Anger and jealousy can no more bear to lose sight of their objects than love.
George Eliot

My quote of the day... and it's so very true. It's why Walt won't get out of my ass, it's why his wife wants to take my kids from me... hell, it's why Tom logs into myspace every few days, I'm sure.

I really don't know what it is about me that makes people either love or hate me. There's never indifference - not since high school, anyway - maybe I used all of the indifference up then?

I know I'm not unique... but I often wonder why I inspire such strong reactions in others, when I'm so not prone to strong reactions myself.

Tonight was poker night. I was 4th, which means I didn't win any cash, but I got points - I'm in 6th place! Yeah, you have no idea how great that is, but it's awesome for someone who's prone to playing A 2 off-suit.

Had a job interview today. It's for a company that Doug actually used to be the HR manager for. It would actually be a pretty cool job that would sort of gather up all of the things I've done in other positions and roll them together nicely. And, it's 10 minutes from home... maybe 15, but still pretty cool after commuting over an hour every day for years. Benefits are good too. And the office is BEAUTIFUL. Seriously, this has never happened before, but I walked into a job interview with STRANGERS totally relaxed because it was impossible to get stressed out in their 'atrium'. ME, not puking before meeting new people. Wouldn't it be cool if I totally kicked this anxiety thing?

Stuff n junk

So, I'm supposed to wear this stupid (and by that, I mean stoopid) splint on my hand for the next month. Other than its incredible uber attractiveness, the thing is HOT and it's making my hand smell bad. I take it off a lot because it bugs the hell out of me to wear it, and it STINKS. How do people survive casts? I'd hack off my arm. So yeah, I'm not making it a whole month, I just know it.

The girls are with their father - or rather, their step-mother - for the next 2 weeks. Part of me hopes, quite sincerely, that they're having a wonderful time. But there's another part of me... a slightly evil part... that hopes they're miserable and counting the days to come home. I miss the hell out of them already.

I've been doing the organizing that never gets done when I have the kids here, and I've filled a large rubbermaid tub with baby toys that Twain has outgrown... I'm giving those to a woman I play poker with on Thursday. I also managed to file 2 tubs with clothes that don't fit the girls or that I can't stand to look at anymore. I'll send those to Jenn for her Unruly one. The sad part? Their closet is still so full that I can barely fit everything in it. They have more clothes than any 5 children need... and I don't shop. What the hell happened?

Twain is changing Every. Day. I swear, when he wakes up from naps, he's bigger and smarter. He's been talking up a storm too - only not so much in English. But man, the boy has not been silent at all the past couple days. There's a toddler bed in my living room, just waiting for me to trust the boy enough to put him in it and ditch the crib. Part of me can't wait... but I don't trust him yet... and I don't trust the girls to keep their room clean. They've been doing ok... but not good enough yet. In the mean time, it sits in the livingroom like the biggest, bluest, racer carest toy box ever. He loves it.

No news in the job market. At least, no real news. I'm not discouraged yet... but I've run out of jobs to apply for on careerbuilder, monster, flipdog, sologig and manufacturinggigs... so I'm searching craigslist. I've sent resumes to 2 postings - one for a web content editor position that pays $20/hour and is a telecommuting position which would be kick ass. The other is an Office Manager position that pays... $1500/week. I'm not likely AT. ALL. to get either one, but someday by boredom has to pay off, right?

I've been working on Doug's website www.kcclassiccars.com ... I'm pretty happy with the changes I've made to it - it looks a LOT better than it did. Tomorrow, I'm going to start work on a print ad and tri-fold brochure for him. It's fun and pays... not a bad combo.

Something weird... Asshat has paid child support EVERY. SINGLE. FRIDAY since December. It's been like clockwork - $80.72 for the longest time and then recently it's been $100 every Friday... but no payment this week. What's up with that? We're not talking dire straits or anything like that (though money for nothin would be nice)... but I don't like when things change like that. I ENJOY predictability. I really do.

Weekend fun...

Unruly not quite caught in the cargo net that was stapled to the ground.














Wild negotiating the rope version of the obstacle course...














Friends and neighbors... when you fall of this and land on your hand, it will most likely break. At least, mine did.













My team (the bastages) losing at tug-o-war after they voted my injured self off.
















In other news, my ex called child services on me. Apparently I am an internet porn addict who leaves her kids alone all night long while she goes out drinking with her boyfriend. Like THAT's believable.

Family Fun...

Amy's pics of the family picnic this summer...

My little man is a rockstar!













My Sweet Babboo...













My cousin Jesus...





























Jones girls at play...

Stolen Quizzes...

From Jenn's blog...

I am also Bert. Yay me.

You Are Bert

Extremely serious and a little eccentric, people find you loveable - even if you don't love them! You are usually feeling: Logical - you rarely let your emotions rule you You are famous for: Being smart, a total neat freak, and maybe just a little evil How you life your life: With passion, even if your odd passions (like bottle caps and pigeons) are baffling to others

The Sesame Street Personality Quiz

Turning tides and blessings in disguise...

So, I lost my job on Friday. "Unsatisfactory work performance" ... uh-huh. Totally not true, as far as I know, but since it's an 'at will' state, it's not like they have to give me a reason at all, right? I cried for awhile, and woe-is-me'd for awhile, and then got down to the business of revamping my resume and sending it out. By close of business on Friday, I had emailed or faxed 8 resumes. Not too bad for a day's work, huh?

Saturday, Doug and Sammy and I drove out to Doug's mom's house for a family shin-dig. I love his family... all of 'em. They're funny and smart and decent parents and caring and not afraid to be affectionate with each other... it's a good family.

Monday, while driving back, I got a phone call from a recruiter who found my resume on careerbuilder and wanted to set up an interview for Tuesday. Within a few hours, I'd gotten another call from a different recruiter who also wanted to set up an interview. Went to both of those today, and they both went really well. The bonus is that both jobs pay about $15,000 more per year than I'm making now. Wouldn't that be awesome? It would seriously change my life.

My hopes aren't really UP, but they're not down either. I'm trying to be supremely confident that I will be employed again before my straits become dire.

Recycling is good...

We had the family thing at mom's this weekend. We pulled it off (YAY) with nary a hitch... except the people who showed up 2 hours late - weirdos

The food was great, the company was great, it was all ... great :-p.

Mom walked in on Doug and I... ya know... I wonder if she was as embarrassed as we were.

Here's the recycling part... copied from my myspace...

Beef Jerky and Cotton Candy

No, this is not a blog about a day at the county fair... though it would have been less disturbing if it was.

I was out and about the other day, location unimportant... and I saw this magnificent spectacle. I saw a woman who appeared to be made ENTIRELY of beef jerky and cotton candy. It was simply amazing... so, let me splain.

This woman must have been 70 years old. She had that deep dark tan that you usually only see in ... well... nowhere except embedded in the flesh of George Hamilton, really. And her skin was the texture of old, unoiled leather - in appearance anyway, I did NOT touch. Add to that the fact that she has hair so white blonde that Warhol would have traded his wig in for it, and that said hair was ENORMOUS and barely contained by the day-glo green scrunchie that was holding it up off her neck, and you can begin to see what I'm talking about here. But that, folks, was not all - though it's certainly enough...

She was skinny. And I don't mean thin or even waifish. I mean knobby knees, pointy elbows, Auschwitz skinny. Her ensemble consisted of black high heeled strappy sandals, day-glo green bobby socks (though, sans poofball, which was a little disappointing), a miniskirt, the hem of which could not have been more than 4 inches below her cooter, and a day-glo green tank top with little ... wings ... on it that moved every time she did. A tantalizing package, to be sure. Especially when you remember that she was old... with the elasticity of flesh of a 70 year old. Crepey (not creepy, though it was that too). And then... she turned so she was profile to me, and I noticed the piece de resistance... the fake eyelashes that strongly resembled trantulas precariously dangling from her lids.

Work of art people, seriously.