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Thanksgiving 2008

Thanksgiving was a really fun event with my family this year. I, of course, tried to screw it up with my own personal issues (after the fact). However, the good thing about that was that it cleared a lot of issues up for me, such as my oldest daughters are more patient than I have ever given them credit for.

We all went to T's (and Brandon's) home. All my kids were there: T, Steph, the Student, Travis, and Tristan. Well, T and Brandon's kids were there, too. :)

I didn't think it was possible to drink and eat as much as we did. The evidence as to how much we ate was, were you feeling a twinge of hunger? Time to eat again!

There was no break between hunger and satiation. You were either completely stuffed, or possibly feeling a twinge of hunger. Mind you, a very, very slight twinge.

We went out on the Friday night after Thanksgiving to play a game at a restaurant that I have played before but had forgotten about. What a fun game! What was especially fun was beating everyone every single game. I didn't mind. I felt a little bad for my kids and their spouses that they were all so retarded that they couldn't beat me, but then, I'm an attorney, and very smart, and they are all schmoes, and probably very fortunate that they did as well as they could.

:)))))

Death Poem

I had to write a poem about death, dying, or old age for my CNA class. The idea is to help us understand what it is like for others who are grieving and when we need to step back because we are to close to the situation.

Now, in my mind, I have zero creativity. I don't have bullshit in my writing, it tends to be very blunt. So, I asked hubby to help me write it and this is what we came up with:

Rejected.
Feared.

The body decides to be done.
The brain wants to fight as the soul starts to move on.

Ultimate.
Final.

The body releases its last breath.

Death.

Like I said, I am not very creative ;). Hubby came up with a list of words that go with death, I did the rest. At least I get points for trying.

Bullying

Just a report/editorial paper I had to finish for school. I switched it up a little bit. It used to be directed towards teen audiences. Maybe you can relate to it. I'm sure everyone should be able to relate to it, unless you've never ever attended school in your life.

Have you ever seen bullying or harassment going on? Did you do anything to try and stop it? With many issues in the world today, important problems that are going on in schools are not receiving as much attention as they should be. One of these problems would be bullying. Today, more kids than ever before are getting bullied. Most of the bullying goes on at school; a place kids and teens have to attend everyday. Whether it’s going on behind the scenes or in public, it’s there, and it needs to be stopped. These days, not enough is being done to prevent bullying. With everyone so busy and caught up in their own lives, people do not realize that bullying is a more serious issue than it is taken for.

Besides being able to cause physical problems, bullying can cause long-term severe psychological and emotional problems, like anxiety, depression, withdrawal, or a need for complete control. According to ScienceDaily.com, about 9 percent of students have a video game addiction, as a result of not being able to handle real-life situations due to bullies. Mark Dombeck, a specialist in psychology who was also bullied as a kid, says “Being the repetitive target of bullying damages your ability to view yourself as a desirable, capable and effective individual.” Many long term affects of bullying are not easily identified, therefore people take the issue very lightly. If the affects of bullying were easier to see, perhaps there would be more realization of how serious the issue is.

Bullying affects the everyday lives of students. Many students are being controlled by their fear of not fitting in. In many cases, not fitting in means getting bullied. Statistics on 4TroubledTeens.com, a website that focuses on issues teens deal with, show that every seven minutes a student gets bullied. 85% of the time other students do not interfere, for fear of making themselves a target. Bullying also interferes with academics. 8% of students miss at least one day of school a month to avoid bullying. Not only are parents of bullies and peers not doing enough to prevent bullying, but schools aren’t either. Many parents have been reported to taking their children out of school for home schooling, as a result of the school board not recognizing bullying as a serious problem. Should such action have to be taken to escape this harassment? Why is this harassment going on to this extent in the first place? In order to effectively prevent this problem, more than one group of people need to make an effort. Parents, teachers, and even peers need to step up to the plate, or else we will get nowhere in stopping this.

Many do not realize that the outcomes of bullying can be very severe. Edartical.com states that between 1994 and 1999, over 128 students committed homicide or suicide relating to school events. 28 of these students committed suicide. When bullying takes place, not only is the victim harmed, but in some cases the bully is put in danger as well. There has been many incidents where a victim of bullying has gone out seeking revenge towards their aggressor, and sometimes the revenge they choose to use is very dangerous. Many people do, in fact, know that bullying is going on. It does not affect their own lives though, so therefore the do not recognize it as a problem. If bullying continues to go on like this, we will just see worse results.

More of a stand needs to be taken against bullying, before the situation intensifies. With students having withdrawals, missed school days, and suicide attempts, this problem needs to stop. The chances are very high that you know someone that is getting bullied. Students should be able to go to school without fear, and receive their education in peace. If you see a bullying going on, please step up and help. We need to do more to fix this issue. By ignoring and avoiding this problem, it only gets worse.

Gas Prices...

...are definitely coming down!

For the first time in about 4 weeks, I filled up my Excursion with gas. I always take it to Costco to fill it up because they are the cheapest. The last time I filled it up, it cost me $160 to put almost 40 gallons in. I usually have to swipe the card twice because it will max out at $100.

Today, it cost me $94.58! I didn't have to swipe the card twice.... Wooo Hoooo!!

I was so excited, I called Hubby immediately and told him. Silly, I know. But, the way I look at it, I am that much closer to being able to afford to drive it again.

Obama's Acceptance Speech

Well, it is over. We have a new President of the United States of America.


Here is a link to his acceptance speech:



I will admit, it was a good speech. He is a good speaker, which is why he ultimately won. I think that if people were really hearing/understanding what he has been saying, they wouldn't have voted for him. (Although, I have to admit, I felt the same way about Mc Cain). He worries me and I do hope that Obama turns out to be a better President than I think he will.

Election Day

Go Vote!!!
It is your RIGHT!

More scary stuff.....

It's always about oil. Watch.

From Hubby...

Hubby saw this and thought it was really funny and begged me to post it...

Just to add fuel to the fire....

Reasonable? I Think Not!

A few weeks ago at school my cell phone was taken away. The bell rang, signalling the end of lunch, and I started walking to 3rd. Without really thinking, I took my cell out of my pocket and called my dad to ask him if he was picking me up from school.

I was still outside, and I wasn't really paying attention until I heard someone call "Hey!" ...Who was she talking to? "HEY!! HEY YOU!" she practically screamed. I turned around and this 50-year-old looking teacher was practically screaming at me from across the campus.

When we made eye contact she beckoned for me to come over to her. I quickly hung up on my dad, which I apologized for later, and walked up to her. Before I could say anything, she held out her hand to me, signaling for me to give up my phone. I wasn't going to give up my baby that easily.

"I was only talking to my dad," I tried.

"Doesn't matter," she answered in a very mean way that almost hurt my feelings. I still didn't want to give her my phone. She still had her hand held out towards me.

"Are you serious? Even if it was my dad?" I wanted to argue with her but I restrained myself. Barely. I thought about running away, but she had a golf cart.

"It doesn't matter, it's the rules." The rule was that cellphones had to be off and out of sight during school hours. Whatever. I wasn't ticked off. Not yet.

Not until I gave her the my name and the phone, and then she just WALKED AWAY. She didn't say something like "Come get this after school" or anything, she just TOOK it and walked away. She didn't say anything! I just stood there, this poor little freshman, dumbfounded and clueless. I felt as if someone had just robbed me.

I eventually found out that I had to have my dad go in and get it, our I wouldn't be able to get it until the next school day (just my luck, it was a Friday. I would have to get it on Monday). So my dad went in and retrieved it, and I was assigned my very first Saturday school. Saturday school is a four hour detention that you have to attend from 7:55a.m. on Saturday until 12 noon. And that really made me mad. I wasn't even in class yet. I mean, I could understand an hour after school, but four hours on a Saturday for being caught talking to my dad while walking to class?

So today I was in advisement and someone passed me this sheet with a list of people who already had four or more hours of detention (we're not even two months into school). There was only three people on that list, myself included. Besides being mad about having to eventually serve the detention, I felt this weird thrill. Now I know why bad kids are bad. That's besides the point, though.

Anyways, is it really reasonable for me to get a FOUR hour detention for being caught using my cellphone while walking to class talking to my DAD? Remember, I wasn't in class or talking to a friend. I was talking to my dad. Just sounds ridiculous to me. I'd serve a one hour detention for this, but four?

Sitting in my underwear. Nothing, nothing...

I was in my office today, working on documents. No court, no clients, front door locked.

Good time to sit in just my nylons and a t-shirt. Don't ask.

I look up and see a client staring in through my front window. Mind you, my big huge window faces the street. There is no walk-way in front of it. The front door is on the side of the building. Because it was locked, he decided to come peer into my front window to see if I was here.

I could tell that he realized I was in nothing but nylons and a t-shirt because he peered in close to the window, started to wave, and then suddenly stopped waving and left the window. He obviously realized that I was not appropriately dressed for a client/attorney meeting at that very moment.

I have learned a huge lesson today. If I'm going to sit in my nylons and t-shirt, close my drapes.

Somewhere over the rainbow...

Love this song:

I could cry...

I just got my new schedule. It turns out that I get to work Halloween night from 5pm-9pm.

Remember, I haven't worked in thirteen years. This means I haven't missed one holiday with my kids, EVER!

Maybe someone will want to work for me. Or, maybe they will let me go early.

Now, I want to quit and I was just starting to like my job.

My New Car

With gas prices where they are, it has become more and more difficult for us to drive. You see, I drive this:


Isn't it lovely? I love my car. Because of this, I am having really hard time wanting to be seen in my new car, a 1999 Dodge Ram Van:




Now, trust me. These pictures make it look better than it really does. The pictures are leaving out the dents that are all over it and the faded paint spots. Oh, and lets not forget the rust at the top of the sliding door that's eroding the metal.

I know that I am acting like a spoiled brat (at least I can admit it.) You see, I was the kid that was dropped off at school, in the wealthiest city, in the UGLIEST BEATER cars EVER! (Mom, remember the shit brown chevy nova?) I mean, at least we had a car, but still.

I am trying really hard not to be this way. I will get over it, but we just got this thing and all the feelings are still fresh.

Oh yeah, I should tell you why we got this thing. It cost $11.00 to fill it up at $0.83 per gallon and it gets about 15 miles per gallon. This van is CNG or Certified Natural Gas. We will be saving $500 each month because we won't be paying the high gas prices.

Let me not forget to also mention that Hubby sold his beautiful truck in order to afford this van that I am being such a bitch about. Sigh.

Here is his beautiful truck that he sold:

Goal for the rest of my life? Be less ungrateful and remember that Hubby is trying his damnedest to give us what he can.

I don't know if I'm going to vote

And let me tell you why.

First, I will have to figure out where I am registered to vote. I think it's too late to register in time to vote, so I have to figure out where I last registered to vote.

Second, I am somewhat overwhelmed by the stupidity and avarice of the current politicians currently in office, both republicans and democrats. The state of our economy is a result of politics, various activities I won't go into right now (such as the democrats wanting all underprivileged people to have houses, just like the rich people).

I don't think it matters any more who we vote for. The people who run the government are supposed to be our "servants", and I think they are all just a bunch of self-interested political hacks trying to have power so that they can get rich and do what they want for the people who donate to them.

So what's the point?

Except that I have always felt that if I don't vote, I have no right to complain.

The problem with the current candidates is that no one says specifically what they will do to fix the current problems, especially so that they will never happen again. They each speak in generalities, and then the other side tries so scare us by telling us what specifically the other side will to to achieve their agenda, and we can't tell if they're lying or not.

Going crazy political.

Well, I've gone and done it. I've gone and gotten all tangled up in politics and the election and Joe Biden's teeth and you know what this means?

I'M OLD.

This is the first year, since I turned eighteen and was officially able to vote, that I've been interested in the election. (Confession: I didn't vote in 2004.) I've been watching debates, doing a little research, reading a million personal opinions... and I can sum up everything I've learned into three little words. I'm still stupid.

However, I'm also uncontrollably angry and have had to cut off all communication with the people around me to avoid kicking someone in the balls teeth.

And I know what you're thinking... What's got Stephanie all hot and bothered???

It's proposition eight and everyone who thinks it's OKAY TO TAKE AWAY A PERSON'S RIGHT TO MAKE THEIR OWN DECISIONS! (Insert loud, frustrated scream here.)

I've always had a terrible way with words and getting my thoughts out in a coherent manner has never been easy, so I'm resorting to my thieving roots. The following are a list of comments that I've stolen from random people who commented on one of my favorite blogs.

"...That's what the whole separation of church and state thing is about. Taking religion out of our laws. No law can make you recognize a homosexual marriage as "right", only legal. Christ said "give to Caesar what is Caesar's". This wasn't just referring to taxes, but to the laws that the government imposes. Your beliefs are inherent to your life, just as mine are to my life. I would never try to make a law that forbade you from worshipping in the way you believe, so why would you want to make a law that keeps me from expressing my beliefs in the way i see fit?" -InfamousQBert

"...I wish more people would just see how ridiculous it is to deny equal rights to people based only on their sexual preferences." -Casey

"Our country was born on the premise of religious freedom; separation of church and state. You have your religious freedom and faith but that should not be imposed on anyone else. If I chose one rule from each religion in the United States, we could be a country with a ban on coffee, no electricity or cars, women without voting rights and children running helter skelter because use of birth control sends you straight to hell. Where should we draw the line?"

"Thing I really don't get about Prop 8 is... why do you care (those that support it)? I understand opposition or support for propositions that affect how much you'll pay in taxes, etc. But this one? No affect on you. Your perfect little marriage will still be there, just the same. There was an article in the Sacramento Bee the other day and they were talking about the Mormons around here that are giving up their life savings in support. I am sure they will still make it to the space ship behind the comet regardless of people they don't know who get to enjoy the benefits of legal marriage. As Heather said, it's a civil rights issue. So while we're at it, should we also make their votes only count 3/5ths? Make them ride in the front of the bus? Squirt them with fire hoses?"

"...Separation of church & state is precisely what allows you to embrace your religion so completely. If government were given the right to impose laws based solely on religious precepts or given the right to mandate a national religion - this would infringe upon your religious rights, as there is no guarantee that the government's religion would match your faith. You, as a result of free will, choose to believe in your faith, just as everyone else has been given that same choice to make - and it is not one that the government can or should make for you."

"...If someone's against gay marriage, I suggest not marrying someone of the same gender. That's really the only possible way it's ever going to affect one directly. Any other complaints towards it (even those religiously based) are bigotry, plain and simple. When Canada legalized it, they didn't devolve into into a hedonistic state of polygamy or bestiality, they didn't fight a civil war or religious revolution, and the role of religion did not diminish within people's individual lives. What do people really think is going to happen if gay people have the right to marry other gay people? I'm genuinely curious."

"...You both have the right to vote the way you want to. What you do NOT have the right to do, according to the Constitution of this country, is vote to restrict certain civil rights. I fully believe that even if Prop 8 passes, this will soon come in front of the US Supreme Court, and your vote will be determined unconstitutional."

I could keep going, but I suppose you catch my drift and probably have a fairly decent understanding of my feelings on the subject.

Now don't even get me started on abortion...

Please, please, please vote no on proposition 8.

My Day

Today the kids and I all the piled up laundry down to the laundromat to get it done all at once.

Just after we got there, a found a black widow right at the bottom of the washer I had just half filled with clothes. There was no way I was going to spend time there with that thing, so I piled all the kids back into the car and ran home and got the bug spray. After killing the widow, I saw another web and decided to spray it too. I don't know what the web belonged to but a wolf spider got hit with the spray and started running towards us! EWWW!!! About an hour later, another wolf spider started walking out of hiding. At this point, I was so stressed out by the bugs that I was starting to get really cranky.

A little while later Corey, aka #1 or my oldest, got mad at me and started with the smart mouth attitude that 13 year olds are so good at. I started talking to him VERY stern. I wasn't yelling, but I was VERY stern. Well, I guess this bothered an older lady that was there. She walks over to me, taps me on the shoulder (while I am sternly talking) and says excuse me. I turned on her with daggers in my eyes. She then proceeds to hand me $8.00 and tells me to take my kids out to pizza because she doesn't get to take her grandkids out to pizza. I wanted to tell her to back off, instead I just said "Thank You." I was so dumbfounded. I couldn't believe she just did that. It was weird.

And speaking of weird, about half an hour before we left, an older man (probably about 60) walks in. He was wearing really big, thick glasses, jean shorts, and a t-shirt. As he was putting his laundry in the dryer, he bends over and you can see his ENTIRE HAIRY BUTT CRACK! Not just the top. Oh no. The ENTIRE ASS! Well, of course the kids and I are all cracking (pun intended) up. OMG. Someone, not me, should tell him to pull his pants up.

We were there for 4 hours, thank God it is all done now, and I get clean sheet day.

Better Say Thanks

"Thank y-" "YOU'RE WELCOME."

If there's one thing that I've grown to hate oh so much as I've been growing up and developing my own views on things, it's when you hold a door open for someone and they don't say "thank you". I HATE it. I mean, I'm a nice kid. Kids, especially teenagers, don't hold the door open for people unless they parents tell them to, or something like that. I always do it. And today, I think I figured out the main reason why I always hold the door open for people.

I'd like to say I'm usually a polite person, but that's not why I hold the door open for people. It's almost like I hold the door open for people just to see if they actually do say thank you. And if they don't, I can get all ticked off and go bitch about it to my friends.

So that's why I hold the door open for people, I figured out. It's not because I'm polite, but it's because I want to see if someone has the guts to be so rude. It's almost like my own test on people. If they don't say "thank you", I say "you're welcome" anyways. And I make sure they hear it, and make my voice sound extremely annoyed. Which I am.

So this is what happened today that helped lead me to this whole conclusion. I was walking out of the student center at my high school, and saw some young women who looked like a teacher walking towards the door. I held it open for her. She said "Thank you" very politely and walked through. There was someone coming in a few seconds after her, and they didn't look like they knew each other. I figured it'd be rude of me to hold the door open for one person and not the other, so I waited an extra three seconds for this guy who looked like he was in his mid fifties maybe. He walked through the door and DIDN'T SAY THANKS. Can you believe it? I couldn't. Every time someone doesn't say thank you I can't believe it.

So I said "You're welcome" letting the annoyance in my voice show. I just can not believe people. They're so rude. Anyways, I was walking back to class all pissed off now. And that's when I realized, I just hold the door open for people so they can not say thank you, and I can have something to think about. It's kind of weird, and might not make sense.

One time though, I held the door open for some woman, and she walked through. Her thank you came late, and I didn't think she was going to say it at the time, so I said "You're welcome" at the same time she said thank you. I really sounded like a jerk. It was kind of weird. It just proved to me that I'm waiting for people to be rude to me, so I can somehow set them straight, even if it's something like this. I think it's because I've never gotten in a physical fight with anyone but my little brother, so I have this thing for wanting to make people act the way they should. It's hard to explain, and now it just looks like I want to get in a fight.

So, yeah. If you're one of these people that don't say thank you, watch out for me. I'll kill you.

WOOOOOOOOOO!



Yes we can!!

GO OBAMA! (Ha. Hahaha.)