Gone Until October

Well I am heading out later today. We are going to the lovely hills of Southern California. I will see the pacific ocean for the first time in 2 years. I really miss that. Anyway, I will probably be even fatter by the time I return after eating In & Out Burger, Monte Cristo from Disneyland and an entire boysenberry pie from Knott's Berry Farm. Ah the comforts of home. So my dear blogger friends, I leave you with words of wisdom from Mr. Daphnewood. He said this to Little Man this week when Little Man asked "why do people cut down trees and not even use them?"

The world is full of assholes. The key is, don't be one of them.

This Is Why Statistics Suck

I read this yahoo article. It says that New York is the safest city. It ranked Los Angeles and Houston in the top ten. What a load of CR@P! So there is only one crime per every 37 people but do you know how many people live in New York? Over 9 million. That makes an outrageous number of crimes per year in my eyes. I would much rather live in a smaller city with less than a million population that has 1 crime per every 12 citizens. NY=243,243 crimes per year. A city with a population of 1,000,000 at a crime rate of 1:12 = 83,333 crime per year. I don't see how NY is safer. This is just the way I see it folks.

New Quotes & Home Life

I put up new quotes on the sidebar. Things are going better at home since the kids were in school all day yesterday and Mr. Daphnewood was on call. It is amazing what a little breathing room can do. Sometimes I think that people weren't meant to live so many to one house but when I look at other homes, ours is not all that big. Someday, I know it will be just me and the hubby. That will be good in someways but lonely in others. So for now I will choose to count my blessings instead of curses.

All On Edge

Everyone in my house has been acting weird lately. They are so short tempered. Last night my mom threw hissy fit at the dinner table and I am still not sure what for. It had something to do with the placement of an end table in the livingroom. Or maybe that the grapefruit juice is almost all gone. I'm not sure. Mr. Daphnewood has been yelling at Little Man for doing normal "boy stuff" that doesn't usually bother him. You know things like singing obnoxious songs over and over again or leaving the latest invention all over the floor. Normally, he would just say "hey Little Man, pick that stuff up, would ya?" and that would be it. Not lately though. And Mouse has been really really cranky too. M-Boy is talking back and I am just fed up with it all. So my house is not a happy place. We are going to California on friday so hopefully the break will help. My hubby will have the house all to himself for a week. The kids will get to run and play at Disneyland for a couple of days. And my mom will get to stay in California for two months away from this crazy house. I think it is perfect therapy for us all.

Just Some Things On My Mind

I have been doing a lot of piondering lately. Mostly because of things I have read on various blogs. Here is what I have been thinking. Feel free to jump in with your views at anytime!

Television
I haven't had cable or network TV since becoming a mom (1991). Well I did have AFN in Germany but then when we moved stateside in 1993 we never installed TV. I have a televsion and DVD's but I think it is nice to not schedule my life around the tv guide. I do buy CSI and Simpsons on DVD but that is it. I have never seen an entire episode of Friends. I have seen a few Seinfeld episodes at other people's homes. Those are funny. But I know so many people who cannot sleep without the tv on. That is just freaky to me. Maybe I am the freak. I did kind of wish I had ESPN earlier this year but not anymore. I just pay for my Astros games on MLB.TV.

Marriage
I am 36 years old and at one point in my life I thought that I knew what women wanted out of life. I have learned that I only know what the THIS woman (me) wants out of life and only sometimes. Women are so different nowadays. I just wanted a man that would be honest and loyal but now, I have met so many women that are the primary bread winners of the house and want a man to stay home with the kids. There is nothing wrong with that, it is just different. It's just not what I am used to. However, with 65% of all college graduates being female, the power switch was bound to happen.

Religion
Americans are religious people. No two religions are exactly the same yet none of them are that far off from each other either. I wonder why people fight about it so fervently? I learned about Mennonites this afternoon. Nice pleasant branch of Christianity but pacifism is a big part of their doctrine. Not me. Fry those suckers in Huntsville. Okay maybe I am not that wicked but I do believe there is a time for peace and a time for war. Right now, I am getting sick of war. Totally, completely and utterly sick of war.

*edit* not all branches of Mennonites are pacifists. See Tim's response. Sorry Tim!

Humor
Where would the world be without it? Why can't some people laugh? I just don't understand those people that find every joke ever told offensive. My gosh, life must really suck for those individuals.

Steve Irwin and his death video
on youtube.com people put up bits of video footage of stingrays and claim it is the Steve Irwin death video. Then they rip people apart for wanting to see something like that. They call people sick and horrible for wanting to see him die. I don't look at it that way at all. I know when I saw all of those people die WHILE NEWS CAMERAS FILMED them jumping out of the twin towers I cried like a baby yet I couldn't look away. It seemed to me that if I looked away then I wasn't bonding with the person. Like they weren't alone in their final moments. Oh I am sure there are some sick people who just like to watch people die but for me, it isn't that at all.

enough pondering for today.

Roadkill Or Grocery Dumping?

I was at Union Station this week and saw a raw, smashed featherless chicken just laying in the parking lot. It had no head, no feathers but no packaging either. There was no paper around or near it. It looked like it had been run over a few times as well. So my question is, who cleans this up? Does animal control come out to collect a carcass or is it just mere trash that the janitor can throw away? Who would you call? I just left it.

Just A Quick Pic

Mr. Daphnewood bought the kids a cheap fishing reel from Wal-Mart. Here in Kansas, the state stocks the local ponds every two weeks to encourage fishing. Our neighborhood has tons of ponds. It looks like they had fun, huh?

Not Having Much Fun

My teeth are getting worse and worse as I age. It doesn't help that I HATE going to the dentist. Well this week I was forced into such torture because frankly, I was in severe pain. I always wait until the last minute. I had a tooth on the bottom right with an exposed nerve killing me. The filling fell out weeks ago and I just thought I could pretend everything was fine. When I couldn't eat bread and saw an infection oozing out is when I decided to go in. Then on the upper left I had a broken tooth that needed to be pulled. So that meant numbing on bottom left and numbing on top right. It turned me into a drooling fool. Then they found a cavity next to the broken tooth. First the dentist filled the cavity. But when he got to the broken tooth he pulled and poked and cut until he finally threw up his arms. He said "I am so sorry but I cannot pull this tooth. I am embarrassed and feel horrible but I do not want to hurt you. I will call an oral surgeon and send you there. This is just beyond my skill level." At least he was honest. So the drool queen (me) was driven to an oral surgeon by my mother (Moms rule!) There I was given my 50th numbing shot for the day. By this time I had been at the "dentist" for 5 hours. He worked quickly and got the two teeth pulled but today I am MISERABLE. I am sick of the taste of blood. I am not sure what "Lortab" is but I know when I take those pills, things seem pretty happy. Speak of the devil, it's time for some happy pills right now! Have a great weekend everyone.

Obesity

I read an article on yahoo today about obesity that basically said that obese women get a double whammy for being fat and for being female. Yeah yeah yeah, we have all heard that one before and I know it is true. Women get more strife for being fat than a man does. It is because women are valued for their looks. Times are achangin' tho and soon women will be valued for their brains and work ethic like men are. ANYWAY, I got seriously sidetracked. The point I was going to make was that the article stated that poverty was an indicator in obesity risk. Poor people are fatter people. Isn't that a total switch from history? Fat meant wealthy. Opulent went hand in hand with corpulent. Now it has reversed. It is a strange world.

What Does It Mean When One Loves The Simpsons?

I love watching The Simpsons. Not many TV shows can get me to laugh out loud but that show always does. I have started buying up all the seasons that have been released on DVD and I am very worried for my sanity. Does it mean I am stupid? Does it mean I am sick and twisted ( I hope I hope I hope )? Does it mean that I do not care for family values? Does anyone else like The Simpsons? Last night Little Man begged me to watch an episode with him. He said "Roger Clemens is in it. Will you watch with me?" So of course coming off of a fresh Astros loss with The Rocket leaving the game injured I said "Sure Little Man, I'll watch with you." And I laughed. And laughed and laughed. My favorite part was either when Mr. Burns bunts the ball or when Homer's 'Wonder Bat' gets broken and burned when Clemens throws a heater right down the middle. I know people should get out and experience the world instead of watching it on television but seriously folks, that show is funny. However, I am fully aware of what a bad influence it can be seeing how I ran out and bought donuts last night from Krispy Kreme. Dang you Homer Simpson and your addictions!

Nice Way To Start

This is a three day weekend in our house. I am so excited. At least I was excited. Last night the festivities began with Little Man barfing all over the house. M-Boy is coughing and sneezing and popping claritin like candy. Mouse says her head hurts and her nose is runny. It's has been 15 days since school first started for them. I would say this wave of bioterrorism is right on time. Bring it on!