4chan

I’m hearing rumors that AT&T is blocking either parts or all of 4chan.  This should get ugly.  Fun to watch, but ugly.

If you’re not familiar with 4chan, let me explain it to you this way.  Sexually frustrated geeks with a mean streak who enjoy mayhem.

I’ve lost the card

Last night Jason’s mom took Kyle over night.  We’d planned on going to see Harry Potter when he got home from work.  By the time he got home I was so tired, feeling sickish and I realized the we wouldn’t get home until after mid-night.  I asked if we could skip the movie and have dinner.  I’ve lost my cred yo.

I’ve gotten to a place in my middle aged, mommy, work-out-of-home self that I’ll pass up the chance to see Harry Potter on the big screen to go to bed at 10:30 on a Saturday night.  It’s a tough realization, even tougher than when I found the gray hair (reminder, color hair today).  I’m a soup makin’, deal lookin’, house cleaning, baking, thinking of getting out my crochet hooks, mom.

I need a new computer and a WoW LAN to make me feel better.  Or new dice.  Yeah, new dice.

He can high five

Kyle has learned the high five.  He’s happily doing it now when ever you say “Hi five!”  He loves the cheering he gets when he does it.  The boy is all about us cheering him on.

He’s also figured out how to get to daddy’s VHS tapes.  Yes, VHS tapes.  Among the last things in what is now Kyle’s room from our pre-baby days is a shelf full of tapes of Jason’s.  He thinks they are great fun, I’m just happy he didn’t destroy any of them.

I’m very tired and I’m pretty sure I have a UTI/Bladder infection.  Isn’t that just dandy?

I never, ever thought I’d get into Twitter.  It just didn’t seem like there was much point.  Now I’m following friends, family and celebrities.  And you can tell who tweets themselves and who has people do it for them.  Some fun stuff is shots from the Hero’s set, photos of CA Gov and legislators hashing out the budget and random crap from people I know.  I love the random  crap.  Just like this blog.

We choose to go to the moon because it was hard, we choose to go to Mars because we can.

I did not forget that yesterday was the 40th anniversary of man walking on the moon.  I really wanted to go out last night and look at it, really look at the moon and think about those 12 men who walked on the surface.  Neil Armstrong, Charles Peter Conrad, Alan Shepard, David Scott, John Young, Eugene Cerman, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, Charles Duke, Harrison Schmidt, Alan Bean, Edgar Mitchell and James Irwin.

Humans, across genders, across religions and across nations, explore.  It seems to be part of our DNA and we’ve only scratched the surface of exploring our universe.  Even with the disasters we choose to continue to stretch up into orbit.  It’s awe inspiring.

The technologies that NASA developed or perfected for the space program is all around us.  From the computer I sit at to the foam in my sneakers.  Gortex, better insulation, medicine.  Everyday something we touch and use has roots in our space program.

45 years ago people didn’t believe man could walk on the moon, yet they did.  It’s my hope that within my lifetime I can watch man walk on the moon again but not just on the moon, I want to see a man (or women) walk on Mars.

Are you a mom? Do you work? Do you stay at home? Either way, here are some household ideas

It doesn’t matter if you work 40 hours a week or stay at home, all mom’s are pressed for time.  Hell even if you’re not a mom you probably don’t revel in mopping and dusting.  I must admit, I am a very happy homemaker.  I love to bake, my red velvet cake was a hit at the 4th of July, I like clean and I’d love organized (but that’s not going to happen with 3 people in 1000 sq feet and one of those people having a Toy R Us).  Clean things make me happy.  Cooking makes me happy.  If I had any creative spark I’d probably try and take Martha down.  I don’t though so you’re safe there Martha.

Over time I’ve figured out some things that help me out.  Either keeping things clean or cleaning them the easiest way.  Be it making beef strogonoff that someone who hates it loves or tossing together something at a frantic pace at 5pm.

Vinegar.  I simply think this is something no household should be without. I’m not even talking fancy vinegar, I’m talking about the plain old white stuff.  You can die Easter eggs with it, make a deviled egg or help with your kids volcano school experiment.  You can also clean with it.

7 cups water and 5 cups vinegar through your coffee pot cleans it up very well.  After that’s run through just do another cycle with plain tap water.  Beware it smells like hot vinegar but it’s worth it.

2 tablespoons of baking soda and a good splash of the stuff is beyond any commercial product I’ve tried for cleaning the garbage disposal.

A quarter of a cup on the bottom of your dishwasher helps with hard water or not well rinsed dishes.  I figured this one out due to desperation.  All Kyle’s cups were coming out cloudy and yucky looking.  I tossed it in on a whim and wow, sparkle!  I use it with the commercial rinse agent.  Best. Idea. Ever.

My crockpot is also my friend, I love that I can throw stuff in there for tomorrow’s dinner while I’m warming up tonight’s dinner and leave it until the morning.   Tomorrow we’re having pork chops in a cream sauce.

3 large pork chops

2cups hot water, 3 beef bullion cubes

1/4 cup sour cream

1/2 medium onion

3 large carrots

mushrooms

pepper,garlic and salt to taste.
Dissolve bullion into hot water, pour into crock pot, stir in sour cream.  Place the  pork chops into the liquid making sure to turn any chop that isn’t submerged.  Add seasonings.  Chunk up the carrots and onion and add mushrooms.  Heat on low while at work.

My mother used to mandate cleaning days were Saturday’s.  I’m not of the opinion if I clean my glass today then the dust tomorrow the world will crash.  I’ve also been known to clean the toilet while Kyle takes a bath.  Relax, I don’t have to turn my back to him at all.  I can clearly see him at all times!

But the biggest tip I can offer?  Take time for your self.  I learned my shortcuts and how to’s because I didn’t like working until 9am then “relaxing” for an hour.

How to survive the gossipy family.

This afternoon I’m attending a graduation party for my youngest cousin on my mothers side of the family.  After telling friends my weekend plans I heard a lot of horror stories of the Gossipy Family.  So here’s a survival guild.

1) Want to or not, go to the function.

Remember, the one who isn’t there is the one who’s talked about.  The gossip doesn’t want to talk about you when you’re actually there to defend yourself or get actual facts out.  They want to rip you apart in absentia and make sure everyone else does too.  So even if you don’t want to go and save yourself the pain of dealing with the gossip, do it anyway.

2) Get an ally.

The gossip always wants something from someone.  Find out who and make nice.  This serves two purposes.  First you’ve made a good friend with someone in your family and second the gossip can’t piss you off or risk losing what they want.  If the gossip wants Aunt Mable’s stock in Coke when she passes away make nice with Aunt Mable.  Important tip though, do not want the same thing.  You really need to not care if you get what the gossip wants, money, items, stock or the house.  Aunt Mable will see through it and now you got two people to worry about.

3) Make nice.

While it’s not exactly something you relish doing, make nice with the gossip.  It won’t stop them from talking about you but it will help make sure you’re seen as the nice person in the bunch.

4) Keep your mouth shut.

You don’t want to be seen as the gossip do you?  Eye and ears open, mouth shut.  That takes us to…

5) Have something on the gossip.

Have something on the gossip.  Remember though, it cannot be anything you’ve found out through privileged channels.  So nothing from a law office, doctor’s/hospital ect.  Drop what you know on the gossip in a quiet spot.  Let them know you’re concerned that XYZ is going on and you want to be there to help.  The gossip will be worried that you’ll spill the beans, because hell that’s what they’d do, so they don’t want to rock your boat and talk about you.  This move is risky because the gossip could decide on a pre-emptive strike and out your dirty secrets, or supposed ones, before you can out them.  Use wisely.

And finally

6) Have fun with ‘em.

Feed the gossip bad info.  It’s fun to watch.

You gotta love family.

Jason and his mother are going out of town for a wedding on the 29th and coming home on the 3rd.  J’s mom is very excited to spend some time alone with her adult son.  Jason and I have been together a decade now and out of our parents home to what now adds up to the majority of our adult lives.  Because she was finishing school my sister in law lived at home longer and let’s face it, mom’s and daughters tend to be closer.  J’s also really looking forward to the trip, it’s been almost 6 years since we went anywhere fun and he really needs the break.

But with him being gone there is a small problem.  I work 8 to 4 every weekday and my mom watches Kyle.  Because of his schedule J takes Kyle to my mom’s at either 9am or noon and he also has Friday’s off.  Him being gone will mean my mom has to watch Kyle from 7:30 until 4:30ish and this is going to be hard on her.  So I asked one of my nieces, Nichole, to stay with me that week and watch Kyle in the morning then take him to grandma’s in the afternoon so she could hang out.  She’s all for it, I start planning in my head, I took the Friday J will be gone off so we’ll make home-made-from-scrach cinnomon rolls.  I’ll let her play in my cloest and even try on my wedding dress.

That was until I sent a txt message to my sister.  Her response was very much a meh.  She pointed out it was the day after the twins birthday, I have no earthly idea what that has to do with the price of tea in China but ok.  Nicky might want to stay home.  No, she wants to stay with me.  Most likely because we give her the freedom to be 15 while my sister is like a prison warden.  Hell she barley let’s the kids walk across the street to the school playground.

So my dad calls my sister to find out when they are swapping kids, mom and dad take one of the three on a rotating basis over the summer.  He also mentions the week Jason will be gone because if she won’t let one of the kids stay mom will have to work something out.  My sister blows a gasket.  She’s yelling at my dad that they are her kids  and she might want them to be home and Nichole has work to do.  Tell me, how much work can a girl who’s spent the better part of three weeks gone from home have to do?  What mess has she created at her home?

My dad is having none of it.  He tells her that they don’t need the kids and that she can keep ‘em all.  Of course my brother in law later called to talk about dropping off Lexi and picking up Nichole.

The most amusing part of all this to me is this.  If we offered to take all three of her kids she wouldn’t bat an eye.  You see it’s all about control with her.  We want the kids, she’s in control.  She’s asked to take Kyle over night on several occasions.  It’s a no go.  She doesn’t respect my no smoking around him rule, she had a Pit Bull.  Now, it’s not the breed I object too in this case.  It’s that Kon is very, very hyper.  Loving as all get out but cannot bowl people over.  He’ll she’s put my ass on the floor a time or two.  And because I feel like if I say sure she’ll twist it and figure she’s doing me some huge favor and I’ll ‘owe’ her.

I was only trying to help my mom because having Kyle that long over that many days will be very hard on her but I’ll figure something else out.  The only person my sister is hurting is her daughter in this.  But she’ll never, ever realize that.

*poof* It’s gone

Why is it when I’m chasing Kyle around, driving somewhere or at work I have a great sketch for a post all written up in my head yet the moment I can sit down it goes *poof*?  Today, while playing, cleaning, cooking and doing a mountian of laundry I had a whole post about crap I find online all written up in my head yet as I sit here there I can remember nothing at all.

Well some of it, something about how the stories I see posted online from actual news people are so poorly written that I wonder if the writer actually went to college or just knew someone who knew someone.  Aside from the poor spelling or grammer, the stories lack any real information and are confusing as hell.

Like using a persons last name.  “Paul Smith of Jonesville won an award for the largest cabbage.  Smith’s mother, Susan Miller said ‘I’m not surprised, my boy sure does love growin’ stuff.’  Miller went on to explain Smith also enjoyed barn dances.”  It gets confusing when your dealing with, oh real news and with names that are unfamiliar to us.  I get why it’s done but when it’s done 38 times during one story you sometimes have to go back to the start to remember who the hell the writer is talking about.

Or how about time lines.  Those seem to be lost too.  There is no flow to the stories anymore.

What drives me up a wall the most is an article that has no information.  It’s a paragraph or two and then, well, nothing.  There was a whole lot more and it made a lot more sense when I wrote it in my head.

I was a happy girl last night as Eureka is back with new shows.  Man I love that show.  Super geeky toys, fairly adorable geeky guys and a pretty hot sheriff.  I also enjoy Estate of Panic.  Who doesn’t enjoy watching people scared out of their minds do stupid stuff for money.  Oh and Steve Valentine is hot too.

No catchy title

I really haven’t much I want to post and share with the world at large.  Not to say there aren’t things going on but I know that what I say here could potentially come back in and bite me hard in the ass.  So I tend not to vent about somethings or discuss somethings because I read all the stories about people who do.  In fact when I read them I yell at the story, as if the idiots involved can hear me, “what did you not understand about world WIDE web?!”.

It never ceases to amaze me that people forget that others can read or see, what they put out there on line.  Don’t like your co-workers?  Get a book and hide it in your laundry basket.  Don’t post it in your blog.  Even if you post it so no one can read it but you.

Mad at your MIL?  Well, live by the rule of “if you can’t say it to their face”.  I mean that.  I try and live my life by that rule why would I think it dosen’t apply to my online life as well?

Mad at the husband?  Well, he’ll read it so if you don’t want to discuss it then don’t post it.  It really is a simple concept.

And you know, to take it a step further, don’t have an affair.  And if you insist on having an affair don’t email or txt your lover ok?  It blows plausible deniability out of the water.

The internet, it’s foreverz for real.

P.S. David H. Lawrence XVII is on my twitter feed, he plays the Puppet Master on Hero’s.  Anyway, after I added him he sent me a message just asking why I’d add him in general.  Which, they way he did it, really seemed nice and curious.  So I emailed him back and he actually answered.  Not a bot answer, not a “thanks for your intrest” answer but an actual answer that responded to what I’d told him.  I actually started following his tweets because his are somewhat intreasting.

I was also following Brent Spiner, of Data fame.  You know, he’s sorta a jackass.

Greg Grundburg, Alias and Hero’s, is also a fun twetter.

To those about to rock

I’m thinking we need to do a Rock Band weekend.  J and I started a tour but we’ve sorta lost some interest and my band is lonely.  I think part of my problem is that I like to do vocals and Rock Band II, well the songs are just meh when it comes to me wanting to sing them.  I sort of wish we had a second guitar so I could do base and yeah, I realize I could be the drummer but it’s hard and it hard to look cute in the game doing it

Preparations for tomorrows party at Kat and Paul’s are well underway.  The red velvet cake is made and awaiting frosting, the dip is chilling in the freezer.  I’m debating making deviled eggs too but I think someone else might bring those.  My laundry is humming and the kitchen is sorta picked up from the cooking bonanza, I’m waiting to mop the floor until I’m done frosting.

The dip, BTW, is goooood.  It’s a spinach and feta cheese veggi dip.  I hope it sets up well.

Jason and I, for once, are actually home together with our son.  Maybe tonight we’ll play some Mario Party together.  Nothing says quality time like trying to steal loot out from under your loved one huh?

Smile and the whole world smiles with you

I was actually able to get a photo of The Boy smiling.  Usually he sees a camera and he stares at it but I was playing one of his bestest favorite games.  Run down the hall and jump into mommy’s lap.  When he came around the corner I was waiting for him and caught this.

He’s saying daddy now and my mom and Nichole swear he responded to a question with a “yeah”.  I do worry that at almost 16 months he’s not really talking much, but he’s listening.  My mom tells me the other day he hummed part of the Spongbob theme song.

Oh and Nichole dissapointed me greatly the other day.  Kyle was throwing a fit because he couldn’t go outside to play and I started singing “You can’t always get what you want”.  She looked at me and asked if that was a Backyardagains song.   I have much work to do.