A Pantyless Preacher's Wife??

I've always called wifey the "Anti-Pastor's Wife". I never thought of giving her this nickname. :)

This is an excellent blog! It's the newest edition to the blogroll on the right.

Visit now by clicking here!

Of scars and fish......

....great post over at "A Piece of Joan's Mind".

Read how Joan got over her fear of anything medical (I do NOT recommend going down her road and I am VERY SURE she wouldn't, either!)....

....then discover some information you may not have been told about transplants.

And the days continued.....

Wednesday was Day 6 of 19.....the admission day.

Thursday was Day 7 of 19.....

Today is Day 8 of 19.....the sad, family day.

Rachel loves her teacher!!!

Merry Christmas, Mrs. Clark!!! See you in 2008!!!

School Christmas Parties (1997-2007)

Well......

.....today was my last "Elementary School Christmas Party". Hey, I could care less what the PC name is at school ("Winter Party", bah humbug!), it's Christmas for me!

Ten years ago, a ten-month old Rachel went, in her stroller, to Robbie's first-ever Christmas party, in his Kindergarten class (Go Miss McGrew!!!).

FAST forward (emphasis on FAST!!) to today; when that same Rachel, now amongst the tallest in her fifth grade class, enjoyed HER FINAL party.

The cool connection between the two? I got to be at both of them. :)

We had the best time today! Lots and lots of food, a cool craft, some cool games (including one that actually had me having to draw a picture! Yikes!!)

Like "Pictionary", or "Win, Lose, or Draw", I draw, kids try to guess for points. The funniest part was when I hadn't even put marker to whiteboard and two kids guessed what the picture was. I noted the smudge on the board, which was all that was there!

Anyway, I drew.....




...and no one got it until after I drew the rectangle, wrote Rachel's name, then did the "backward J". Then the screaming commenced. The parent-in-charge declared it a tie. Our ear doctors rejoiced at our future appointments being moved up six months due to the damage received.

Then, it was clean up and stack up chairs, and call by call, the kids began to leave. Lots of hugs and pictures...while I'm standing on a stack of chairs or a desk trying to take snowflakes down from the ceiling.....

Trust me, I needed the exercise, but my back was a' killin' me when all was said and done! But it was A GOOD TIRED. I gave Rachel's teacher a "virtual hug", since I was all sweaty and got a GREAT picture of Mrs. Clark and Rachel as we left. Oh, and to be known here in the blogosphere for all time, Mrs. Clark loved her Starbucks basket from Rachel. :)

I remember thinking back in 1997, "WOW; we'll have at least one kid in elementary school all the way through 2008!!".

Guess what? When it comes to the annual class Christmas party....time's up. :( :(

This was NOT me; so it has NOTHING to do with my current job status.....but it sure is funny!

Yesterday and Today....

Yesterday was Day 4 of 19.

Today is Day 5 of 19.

Day 3 of 19

Today is Day 3 of 19.

New Reads! Get Your New Reads Here!!

I've added several new bloglinks to the right; check out our newest members!

---A Piece of Joan's Mind

---Beth Moore

---Beth's "Right Wing Conspiracy"

---Cindy Swanson

---Contemblogging

---Darlene Schacht

---Geeky Girl

---HisAir.net

---Jaffe Juice

---Lone Prairie Art Works from Julie Neidlinger

---Ragamuffin Ramblings

---Right Voices (A Political Blog)

---Sugar and Ice

---The Dawn Patrol

---The Adventures of Dawn Lady

---The Fun Times of Matt, Jenna, Jorja and Gigi

---The Heather Show

---Victoria Jackson (yep, the SNL alum)

---Weasel Knits

---Weird Cake--Treats from a Bipolar Mind


Check 'em out and tell 'em I sent ya! :)

Day 2 of 19

Today is Day 2 of 19.

Day 1 of 19

Today is day one of 19.

Another Year, Another Travesty!!!!!

The 2008 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees were announced today.

See them here. Also read it to see this blogger's advice for the Hall when it comes to future inductees and who should be among them.

In 2004, I brought up the absolute absurdity that is "the Moody Blues" NOT being in the Hall. And now, the '08 class is announced, and guess what.....

I've heard there's some politicking "inside the Hall", with some in power simply, for whatever reason, not wanting them to be inducted. Gee, you'd think once one enters the "Hall of Fame" of whatever their profession is, they would have an easier time, oh, maybe, not being so insecure?

Madonna-----she's due; I can certainly agree with that one

Dave Clark Five-----integral part of the "non-hippie" 60s; welcome them in.

John Mellencamp-----eh....not yet. Before Chicago? Compare his musical career to Neil Diamond and it's at best a wash, at worst a victory for Neil. Oh, that's right, Mellencamp espouses political causes at the heart of the left's agenda. Okay, now I've got it.

Little Walter-----I am a big supporter of remembering those who lay the foundation of any genre of music, medicine, philosophy, etc, EVEN when those who don't understand the generation from which one is from balks, saying, "How many hits did they have? Did they sellout concerts? Hey, dude, what about a website?" Welcome, Little Walter!

Leonard Cohen-----The "insiders cool" inductee. I don't see a rush on Leonard Cohen coming to a Target music department any time soon, but it is the Hall's right to do this if it so feels.

BUT THE VENTURES???? The guys who did the theme to "Hawaii Five-O"???? They had a great instrumental sound for the surfers of the 60s, but I must be amiss if somehow I never heard of the great "Ventures" reunion tours of the 1990's.

Now-----WHO SHOULD ALREADY BE IN THE HALL--------

1) The Moody Blues (duh....big duh)

2) Chicago

3) Boston

4) Linda Ronstadt

5) Yes

Put these guys in, then we'll talk about the integrity of the Hall.

Word of the Year is......

...according to Merriam-Webster, "w00t".

What? Never heard of it. The definition?

"expressing joy (it could be after a triumph, or for no reason at all); similar in use to the word "yay."

Example: w00t! I won the contest!


Well, I guess "w00t for w00t". What a stupid word of the year.

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Back on December 5, I gave you a link to the contest and to the definitions of the ten finalists, and said I'd tell you who I voted for after the Word of the Year was announced.

Well, here goes.


BLAMESTORM


---blamestorming

(verb) : Sitting around in a group, discussing why a deadline was missed or a project failed, and who was responsible.


(verb) : Gathering around in a group to discuss why a deadline was missed or a project failed and who is to blame or responsible.
"All the managers were locked up in a meeting for the all day blamestorming about the lost contract."

(other) : A meeting held in order to come up with a name of a person to assign guilt to a certain incident.
"The board of directors where exhausted after a four hour blamestorming session which finally resulted in two names for the chopping block."


And if, by the power of reason and deduction, you can't figure out why this was a no-brainer choice for me for Word of the Year, leave me a comment. I'll school ya on it. :)

Tonight, on the CBS Late Movie!!!

NASA faces a new kind of technical "bug"! Don't miss "The Spider That Ate The Space Shuttle!"

(and tomorrow night, it's "Killdozer", only on the CBS Late Movie!)

Hannah Storm---God Bless You, You Are So Right!!

WOW.

I doubt Ms. Storm will ever come across this blog or this posting, but she will never know how applicable the prayer she carries in her wallet, and posted 12/4 on her blog as she left "The Early Show" on CBS, is to my life right now.

I feel so much in a desert. Friends I can see and touch are almost nil; those I can call and email thankfully quite a few. All I see right now in the desert is sand, a size two pissed-off Jennifer Love Hewitt, and a "lemonade-type stand" that says "Apply Here".

And I keep going there, and going there, and going there, leaving my calling card. I'm beginning to think no one is scheduled to work that kiosk.

Then, at night, what happens? I dream of my old job; once so vividly when I woke up I swore this whole firing/layoff/budget cut (whatever) was a dream and I was supposed to go to work that day.

I spent too much time in bed Wednesday thru Friday....I could have gone to a great luncheon one day to meet up with old friends and colleagues, but I didn't. I realized this whole ordeal is still "raw", and I wasn't ready to answer the same question over and over. And I know I would have had a FANTASTIC time had I gone, but I just didn't want to go under these circumstances.

Let it be known far and wide this was because of MY WEAKNESS, and not of the people who were there. I love them all and know that all would have been wonderful.

But you see, I'm still traveling in this desert. Where are the paved lines? I can't tell when I can pass the slow mirage on a two-way road. They're like the old country roads I drove as a teenager in my hometown. Only they're not made of asphalt or dirt/mud.....

And, as you know, anything heat-related goes totally against my very nature. So, let's face it, I really need to get to some air conditioning soon. But I suffer from the "Charlie Brown Mirage": when I get within touching range of the AC blowing its cool air at full blast, it turns into a rock. I got a rock. Another flippin' rock.

So, tonight, on this the 23rd anniversary of Rupert, the Railroad Track, and the Ring, I look back at what was, what might have been, what should have been, what has been great, what has been disappointing.....

....and what is, well, "is". As in this moment.

And I just ask God to help me follow the wonderful prayer linked to above, and prepare me as well for the next great friend of my lifetime. Come to think of it, the next great group of friends!

But please understand....there is good news! The great friends of one's lifetime are a collection. You never have to trade them in or lose one to have another. They are with me forever, whether I see them every day or once in a blue moon. It's just that right now the deepest pain is losing time spent with my friends, and one friend who's been and is so special and so dependable. But, praise God, the friendship NEVER ends, but is always in my life, just now in the way God wants that person to be during this, a new season for me.

And all the more reason I pray for them, because I don't want to be in Heaven without them. :)

Choose the word of the year!!!

Click here to vote for the 2007 Merriam-Webster Dictionary Word of the Year.

FIRST, click here to see the definitions of the words as well.

What did I vote for? For me to know, you to discover......after the Word of the Year is announced.

You go, Jennifer Love Hewitt!!!

It is SO REFRESHING to see a glamorous Hollywood star not be vain about having just a bit of that career-ruining body accessory.

To all the idiots making fun of her; SHUT UP!

I wholeheartedly agree with Jennifer's statement at the end of this article! One victory for reality!! :)

Chuck is her Life Heroes!??

Charlie Brown lost out to another Chuck (on NBC).

Heroes is a given on the TV Monday nights (I have NEVER understood that show)

CSI: Miami a repeat? No problem! NBC gives you a bonus episode of "Life"!

All this while there is a special two-hour all-new "The Closer" on TNT.

Wifey will be up 'til 1am; just watching TV.

Me? I took my meds, so my body is looking forward to the new pillowcase I used today while putting away clothes.

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I've discovered there are a BILLION job search websites. Jobster.com is a most interesting site. It asks alot of questions, but it ends up giving you the opportunity to present a great profile of yourself for potential employers to see.

I'm looking at my aquarium right now, asking myself if there are any fish openings.

Oh, well. :)

Welcome to week five.....

....with week four being classified in several ways.

FAST! Easily the quickest of the four weeks since "the day".

FRUSTRATING! You get tired of signing up with job search engines, one, then another, then another.....

FRAGILE.....but only to a point. Wednesday was the first day I gave myself the day off and just slept.

Today (Sunday) though, I just couldn't pull myself out of bed (except to eat) until 9pm tonight. So I missed church and a chance to do something fun. :(

I guess this was the first of "those days", which I've had for years.

"Those days" mean spending all day in bed. Sometimes it's physical, sometimes it's because of depression, some days, it's both. Today was pretty much physical. If these days could limit themselves to only one per month, that would be a HUGE improvement over what life has been like. :)

I couldn't bring myself to read today's Classified ads in the paper; so I'll do that Monday and resume the search then, as well.

I do have a unique opportunity this year to do what I've wanted to do for years, and that is send out Christmas/Holiday cards to everyone I want to. At least I can't blame "lack of time" this season! I look forward to connecting, if only via card or letter, with either those I haven't seen for awhile, or those I no longer can see.

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I haven't mentioned my first trip back to the stations....it was Friday PM (pick up the check time!), and since Bonnie worked all day long and couldn't go, it was left to me. So, Rachel was wonderful enough to go in the building and ask for the person who had the goodies (I emailed her to say we were coming by), and out comes Rachel with the former co-worker and an envelope. I talked with her, waved at another co-worker, and shook the hand of a third, never having to leave the van.

I'm thankful wifey has been kind and dealt with everything so far that has required someone to go to the building, so I haven't had to.

Rachel was so cute Friday. On the way to the stations, she looked up at the towers and said, "Daddy, even though you don't work there anymore, they're still your towers."

I smiled. She's right. Rachel will have some really fond memories of being there with me, and that is not just a source of solace, it's a source of great joy for me, both now and the final day I live.

It's December......

....we officially have no health insurance (on earth, that is; reliance on God is a VERY good source of calming the frayed nerves....)

....it is "put up the Christmas tree" weekend. I stopped enjoying that years ago, I'm afraid. I don't get into Christmas until almost the last minute. But that's for another post.

....I just dreamed Tina Fey came in to use the bathroom just as I was finishing and I told her just to hang on a second without sending her out of the room. I hope there's nothing to this other than my subconscious playing out that American Express commercial where she's running around like crazy because the world is exploding around her....

AND....

....I'm dreading Christmas Eve like you wouldn't believe. 20 years ago, I would have never dreamed I would be in the position I'm currently in.

And that's for another post, too. :)