Monday, August 31, 2009

He likes mine better

We went to Austin this past Saturday to meet up with an old dear friend of mine (I'll post the details up when my lazy butt downloads the photos...) and, of course, I brought the new to me camera. I passed on the older Canon S3 IS to the hubby since he'd figured out how to use it and could deal with whatever is on hand. He's never showed a preference to any particular camera and not much interest in it either. Other than complaining how he can't take pictures and that I take better ones. That's why we have very few pictures of me, I'm the one behind the other side of the lens. How many of you are with me on this one? You ever notice how's there's thousands of pictures of kids, sometimes with dads, but you'd think they were all motherless since there's never a mom in the pics...

I have yet to really sit down and figure out the new Rebel Xti but it has auto mode and I have 4 lenses and I know how to switch them on and off so I took that one with us. I'll never figure it out if I don't use it so there ya go. I don't know about everyone else but I still kinda feel odd sitting with friends and busting out with a camera and just shooting away with a bunch of big huge lenses. You can get away with the subtle pocket cameras but the big ones kinda look..intrusive? Kinda weird but that never stopped me before so I rolled with it. At some point my friend wanted pics with me so my camera was passed on to the hubby. I handed it to him and said 'It's on auto mode, it works just like the S3'. He got it and next thing you know he's holding that actuation button down and shooting like a gleeful maniac. Go figure. Apparently he likes the way it works like the old school manual ones. Novel! Hello, why in the world did he think I was in this mad obsession to get a new camera? Yeah I think he gets it now. I suspect once I figure out how and what settings I can adjust and not lose the picture completely he's going to be all over my camera. I see bad things acomin'....

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Averaging 300+ a day...

I told ya'll I had this reading problem right? It's at another all time high. I should probably stop cold turkey but I won't. Self control, I don't have it. I suppose it could be worse since I come from a family of mild alcoholics so I won't complain. But if you're wondering where I've been well then let me tell ya, somewhere deep in Stephanie Plum land.

When my hubby came back from San Diego he had a boatload of books that our friend Brenda gave us. Now these books are books that I would have NEVER have picked up. Ever. They are in the plain old fiction genre where I rarely ever go plus their covers are totally un-inspiring.


The first in the series, totally bland right? And they all look like this. Not something that would have caught my eye on any given day. So Brenda sent back 1-13 (excluding 6, I dunno why) and I started reading them maybe 8-10 days ago? So really I've been averaging more than 300 pages a day. Each book has about 350 pages and in this particular series there are 15 books. I bought book 6 the day I finished book 5 and the hubby bought book 14 at the same time because he knew. He knew I'd get there before we got back to Target so why not get both. See, he feeds my addiction. And this, my dear readers, is what makes a marriage work right? Plus he's reading them too, he just pays more attention to detail than I do. And he's not OCD. That probably helps too.

Regardless these books are so damn funny that we will be sitting reading and bust out laughing and read aloud the funny part that we just came across. See? True love. We read. We read A LOT. Never have we had a series we were so enamored of that struck us just this damn funny. Short synopsis, Stephanie is a NJ woman (you know big hair, obnoxious Italian family, the whole nine) that finds herself jobless and goes to work for her cousin's bail bonds company. She becomes a bounty hunter and is by far the worst bounty hunter known to God. She is sooo bad, my hubby will sit there reading and randomly, I'd say about every 30 pages or so he'll mumble "Damn she is the worst bounty hunter". He's on book 6. Can I tell you how many times he's said this? She goes through cars like candy, they get stolen (normally by the person she's trying to catch) shot up, exploded, smooshed by a garbage truck, exploded, oh and that includes any car she borrows too.

Seriously good reads people, you should try them!



I've finished the whole Stephanie series but have yet to start on her others. I'm into a Laural K. Hamilton right now but it's just a matter of time before I get back in to Evanovich. It's like...a bad addiction....

Friday, August 21, 2009

Guest post on the hubby's blog!

He brought home another spelling nightmare and I didn't have the patience to wait for him to post it so I scanned the note in and wrote it up. Ya gotta love these max security prisoners for their amusement factor. Apparently even the other prisoners laugh at him. No wonder this guy couldn't hack it in real life....

Be cows nothing can stop the man...

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Stupid dog pics

Really, just look at those ears!

Why? Because I own dogs and they make for great stupid dog pictures. Oh! And I needed to figure out if I could 1) turn on my new camera 2) take a pic with it and 3) download it onto the computer. #3 being the most challenging. Don't ask me why but it didn't work the first 2 times. I left the camera in full auto mode (with a nifty fifty lens) and will venture into non-auto sometime soon. There's a new moon tomorrow night and I have a kick ass camera, some zoom lenses (no I have no idea what kind), and a tripod. Who knows I may get a shot. Maybe not. Regardless, these pics turned out fine so I am happy so far!


Friday, August 14, 2009

First it was low rise.


(Nah man, neither of those are me, I've given birth. My belly doesn't look like that, not sure it ever did actually. I stole the pic of the interwebs. Hell my feet are too fat to even fit on those pointy shoes!)

Now skinny jeans? Hell now low rise skinny jeans? WTF? We were at the mall the other week (a rarity unto itself) and I was looking at the window displays in shock and awe. It took me years to find a pair of low rise that could handle my wide hips, I don't think there's a pair of skinny jeans in this would that I could squeeze my this-is-what-real-women-look-like thighs into. Certainly no skinny low rises. Hells no, not enough money in the world thank you very much. I am actually terrified to see all the fatty teens girls hanging out in these things. Because you know they will. You know you're going to see it. Scary rolls falling out an over the rim of the waistline. EW! I really don't like that look. It's like they have no self respect.

I know, you're going to criticize me for ganging up on the fat kids but really, that's not what I'm talking about here. I'm not going to hang my fat rolls over so everyone can see them! I work in a diabetes clinic, I have to see it every day and lemme tell ya, it ain't pretty. Who in the world can fit in these jeans? I mean my kid can but she's 7 and I wouldn't let her wear the tacky things. Bad memories of the 80's right? Anyone out there fall prey to the fashion mags and buy a pair of these? Anyone out there still able to fit in the suckers? Man I swear there is not enough money in the world for me to squeeze my ass in a pair of these...

Monday, August 10, 2009

You can lead a horse to water...

But it's a real shame it's such a bitch to drown the damn thing in it if it won't drink.

We, like most parents, are in school preparation mode. First day of the kid's 2nd grade year is Aug 24th which gives us 2 weeks to prepare. She got back with her daddy on Friday and all I could think of was "Damn it's awfully loud now". I only turned the tv on once in the 10 days he had gone out to San Diego to pick her up. It had nothing of interest on it so I promptly turned it off. Until Friday night where the hubby immediately turned it back on again. You know it's funny, at his mom's house where they both stayed, she rarely has a tv on. It is housed in a cabinet in front of their bed in the bedroom so it's not terribly accessible like in most houses. The kid did just fine for 7 weeks at this house. Why do we have to have it on in our house? I'll tell you why, she doesn't shut up otherwise. She will at high outside yelling voice volume, prattle on and on about nothing, ask questions that she will not listen to the answer to, proceed to then repeatedly ask the same questions again. If you turn the tv on she'll zone out and shut up for like, a whole 3 minutes. You know it's bad when you have to crank up a tv to get the house volume to go down.

Did you know that my mother in law is a retired school teacher? It's true, that's why my hubby got a degree in teaching. May also be why he doesn't teach, who knows. Regardless she's really fabulous about getting her grandchildren to continue on with their school work over the summer. Which was done, the nephew is not doing so well in school (his home life, not so good, looong story) so he went to Sylvan Learning Center. I have no idea how well that went but we'll see. My kid was given work out of a work book (which is great) and she had to read too. Do ya'll remember how I mentioned before that the kid does not like to read? Like hates it worse than Chinese water torture? We had to fight long and hard with her last year, with threats and whatnot, because she would not pay attention and read. Just wouldn't do it. We eventually found the right bribe for her and she did much better but it was MONTHS of fighting and her tears. No, we did not feel bad for making her cry. She's smart, she can read just fine. She just doesn't want to read. That's exactly what she told her daddy last night "I don't want to read". That went over real well. Like 9/11 well.

Now most of the time he's not the hard ass with her, I am. This particular point though, it's killing him. She found daddy's breaking point Sunday night. He had a discussion with her as to how it's not her choice whether or not she wants to read, she has to read. She started out the summer at a high reader level 2. She's barely at low reader level 1 right now. I am really surprised it's like this, if she read at all over the 7 weeks she's been gone I would think that she would have improved or at least not back slid so far. I am totally confounded. We are now practically back at square one. We had a talk with her about how embarrassing it would be to have to go back and repeat 1st grade while all her friends would go on without her. Her daddy was totally serious too, he refuses to have the long drawn out battles of will we did last year. If she doesn't want to move on then we won't force her, we'll stick her stubborn ass in with the little kids and see how she likes it. Not exactly what we were going for, to be sure, but if that's what we have to work with well then, there ya go. Hard asses much? Why yes, yes we are.

On prep note though we got a list of what we need to get her in school supplies. The list looks like:
1 5" pointed Fiskars scissors
1 12" ring bound shatter-resistant plastic ruler
1 12ct box sharpened #2 yellow pencils
2 Sanford pink pearl erasers
2 4 oz Elmers washable school glue, white
2 24ct Crayola Crayons
1 1" assorted durable 3 ring binder
2 200ct wide rule filler paper
1 4-pack spiral notebook 1 subject wide rule 70ct (rd,bl,yl,gr)
2 3-pack 2-pocket paper folders w/o clasps (rd,bl,yl)
2 yellow highlighter chisel tip
1 8ct conical tip Crayola washable markers classic color (thick)
1 8 ct Crayola washable watercolor paints w/brush
1 pencil box 8.5L x 5.75W x 2.5H
2 200 ct Kleenex tissues
1 gallon size storage freezer bags
1 quart size storage freezer bags


Does this list seem a bit, ocd to ya'll? It specifies the brand and color of erasers to buy. We were given the option of purchasing them all in a kit for $40 at the end of last school year. Then we wouldn't have to worry about it. Really though, $40? Do you think you could buy all that for less than $40? And you know we pay taxes here, higher than most states, specifically for our school districts. Our property taxes are 2%, that's a lot. And yet we still don't have enough for a our kids to not have to buy these in class supplies. No these aren't the things we have at home to do school work, these are for classroom use only. We give them to the teacher the week before school starts so she can do what she needs to do with them. Really though, erasers and pencils? With all that tax money they don't even have enough for erasers and pencils? What the hell do the poorer schools do? We opted to buy the stuff ourselves this year. Managed to get even more than the list had on it for around $30. We're in a recession here peeps, look for the sales!

Plus you know at this rate we may have to do it all over again for first grade if the kid doesn't decide to shape up. Her daddy is waking her up an hour early (when he gets up) and going over her sight words and doing flash cards. In the evening she gets to read with me. It's odd really, I'm normally a lot harder on her than daddy is but not with reading. I think she finds it less stressful to read with me. I, on the other hand, find it just as frustrating as her daddy does. I still correct her on every little thing she does wrong (at this stage it's important) but I don't add in a lecture. He tends to start in on a lecture in the middle of every sentence she reads. It doesn't work as well that way, she just ignores him and stares off into space. Yeah, we aren't playing this game again this year, we're too old. Last night I couldn't take it, he took over after about 3 pages. We're in the uphill climb folks and school hasn't even started yet. How in the world do people with more than one child survive?

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Look my honey took a picture for me!

OK so it was only one and no, it doesn't have any living objects in it but that's ok. He's been making fun of the new obsession for at least a month now. Sadly, when I obsess I don't even care what kind of fun is made of me.

Behold...The Golden Egg, The Grail, the Alpha and the Omega

So do you think the title is a wee bit sarcastic?
He is posting pics of the trip now, and who knows there may be more pics on the memory card when he comes home.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

I sent my camera to San Diego with the hubby


And wouldn't you know it, he has sent me NOTHING. Not one single picture. Why do I even bother? I do, however, have other friends in San Diego that love me. Obviously more than the hubby but we'll have a discussion on that later I'm sure. This lovely picture of my daughter is the only one I've seen of her since she left me 2 months ago. Not like my hubby cares, he's out partying in his home town. Next time I'm buying a ticket for myself and leaving his ungrateful ass here to do the dishes, laundry, and pick up the dog poo.

My friend who took the pic is also getting into photography. We are making a trade, he has a spare Canon xsi and I have that lovely paintball marker (you remember Valerian right). He was using his friend's 50d and got the xsi. He then decided that her really preferred the 50D so was then the owner of 2 Canon's. Since he's such a rockin kinda guy and has need of a paintball marker we're doing a trade, my marker his xsi. I am so very pleased that my Valerian is staying in the family I just can not begin to tell you. It's an awesome marker and it's good to know it's not going to some punk ass kid. Yes, this is actually important to me, I put a lot of thought, money, research, and energy into her and I love the fact that it's not going to waste.

Plus, you know, I finally get that camera I've been longing for so I can use the lens I got for my birthday. FINALLY. I have such great friends.

What did, and did not, get done this weekend.

Yeah so I never go around to going to the movies. Just couldn't bother to drag myself out in this heat even if there was a cool theater at the end. Lisa (Trailboss) suggested My Sister's Keeper but I read the book (and even reviewed it here). I am confused as to why someone would make a movie of such a depressing book. A good read but really, not something I would read again. Too sad. On that note if anyone would like the book please email me and I'll send it out to you. Seriously, good book, well written, I'm not going to read it again.

Speaking of re-reading something I spent the last week re-reading the Twilight saga. For the record the saga is a much better read the second time around. I have a girlfriend I was chatting with and she agrees with me. I have no explanation for it. It isn't as if the writing would get better or worse so I have not a clue. Regardless, my need for read was satiated. Did I mention that Meyer is now writing the saga again but this time from Edward's point of view? She put the first 6 chapters on the net and I'm going to read them tonight. I am very interested to see how it goes. I read The Host and I think her writing has improved since I liked it right off the bat.

My mom found out that I was alone this weekend so she used the opportunity to 'spend time' with me. As you know we try and keep it neutral since we piss each other off so easily. We went to lunch, I suggested La Madeline, she agreed, then proceeded to drive us to Mimi's Cafe. Which was like a 45 minute wait (it always is on weekends) which is why I didn't suggest going there. Ya see why I can't stand going out with this woman? People who have rocks for brains try my patience. I was nice though, I just suggested we go have a look at La Madeline to see if there was a wait there. Of course there wasn't so it was all good, I didn't have to kill her. This time. We ate then she dropped me off at home. I now don't have to talk to her for at least a week. Maybe longer if I'm lucky.

I have discovered, much to my surprise, that my dogs actually can get more lazy then they already were. Boxers are supposed to be active hyper dogs. Mine seem to be defective. I'd return them for a refund but they are rescues. No one else wanted them so they must have been defective from the get go I suppose. They have all become one with the couch in such a permanent manner I don't know how I'm going to get the fur off. The only way I can get them to move is during meal times and then they just come right back in and re-disperse themselves on it. I have my one little corner of the couch and Jaynie tried taking it this morning. Got himself all nice and curled up on it and I showed up and had a 'discussion' with him. Pointed out the other end of the couch and told him where he was being extradited. Forcibly in this case. Good news is he's not in the mood to be snuggly so all I had to do is get lovey with him and off he went. Girl cooties you know, they can be toxic.