What the frak?

Myssi's Movie Monday

2010-06-21T17:04:00.002-05:00

The office intern, who has been in hour office for more than three years and is now a graduate student, talks in a baby voice. Yes, a baby voice. It’s annoying as hell, but because her mother is an administrator, she’s untouchable and we have to put up with her. Did I mention the baby voice?

So when I saw that “The Turning Point” featured a not so young Shirley MacLaine I decided I had to see it because I was curious about how she would sound. She had a very old woman voice in “Steel Magnolias” and a baby whisper in “The Apartment” and “The Trouble With Harry.”

Turns out she sounded normal—not to high and not too low. (A relief because I don’t want to sound like an old lady for a long time.)

I was also surprised that despite it running a little more than two hours, it was a very good movie. Shirley and hot movie husband, Tom Skerritt, run a ballet school in Oklahoma City, Okla. They are former ballet dancers who decided to get married and start a family instead of continuing with the company. Shirley’s main competition is played by Anne Bancroft who looks absolutely gorgeous in this film.

Shirley wonders what would have happened if she had stayed at the company and Anne seems to regret not having a family to work on her career.

The movie also features a young Mikhail Baryshnikov—a small but muscular Baryshnikov.

Shirley gets an opportunity to live her dream through her oldest daughter because her daughter gets invited to join the dance company. They move to New York—for the summer—and the younger dancers take over from the older dancers. The dancing is wonderful, but my favorite scene is where Anne and Shirley finally hash it out and get into a fight. It’s not your typical chick fight because they end up tangled up and spanking each other. Hilarious. Of course, they make up and all is well.

I haven’t seen any other ballet movies, but this was just the right dose of drama and dancing.

Myssi's Movie Monday

2010-04-12T15:30:00.000-05:00

“Frozen River” is a movie I really wanted to hate. Years ago I had the idea of writing about a female smuggler who got away with it because she didn’t fit the typical smuggling profile. Plus my dad knows a guy who was in prison for smuggling so I had heard lots of stories. Except that I’m lazy and never wrote anything.

Unfortunately, I liked the film. It’s about a mom whose husband steals the balloon payment for the doublewide and she’s working a part-time job without any prospects for a full-time position. She’s desperate and she and her two sons are hungry and nearly homeless.

She meets a smuggler (who stole her husband’s car) and after shooting her gun at the smuggler’s tiny trailer, they team up and start smuggling. The smuggler has the connections and the mom has the car with the pop-open trunk.

Their relationship is a bit like Walt and Jesse’s on “Breaking Bad,” but it seems that they bonded rather quickly. When they finally catch up to them, the mom asks the smuggler to take care of her kids.

It’s not a fancy shoot-‘em-up film. There aren’t sex scenes. It’s just a couple of women trying to provide for their families and that is something I can relate to, even if my desperate moments only consist of crying to my parents.

Day Three

2010-03-14T17:30:00.002-05:00

Sorry to be posting late today. I hit the snooze button way too many times and had to rush out this morning and when I got to the convention center, was way too annoyed by the escalators not working that I didn't think I could keep it clean on the blog.

Eight hours later and fueled by honeydew bubble tea, I'm feeling a little better. I had a full day of sessions, but I don't remember much of it. I haven't indulged in any beer today so it's not that I'm whizzing by this thing drunk; it's just that there's so much info, that it's going to take me a while to digest it all.

I will say this: even though I put on sunscreen and sunblock, I'm pretty sure my face is going to be sunburned tomorrow. Just time to see my pals.

I have decided that I do want to come back next year. I'm worried because my co-worker said she plans on telling our boss that she's coming next year and the boss does pretty much whatever she says. She's a graphic designer. They have their own conferences. Shoo!

Day Two

2010-03-13T08:21:00.002-06:00

It's day two (or three). So far, I've noticed that there are a lot of Europeans (seems that the group from London got a group rate at La Quinta) and even bumped into some Mexicans (real Mexicans from Mexico, unlike me).

I would understand if they were here for the film or music part of it, but they are here for the interactive. So far, all I've heard is that everyone wants cloud computing and location-based apps. I'm for community based software, but location-based apps scare me.

I guess I watch too much TV because the cops and the FBI and computer hacks seem to be able to find people by activating their smart phones. If I were ever wrongly accused of a crime, I might make a run for it. I don't know that I would last long because I don't have access to a lot of cash and it seems that they literally do run a lot. That's not for me, but I like the idea of maybe having a chance--as long as they can't find me using my phone. Yes, there are dump phones and prepay phones, but as I said earlier--not a lot of cash handy to buy so many phones.

So I'm off again to see what I'll find this time. Hopefully there will be no fire alarms and a lot less crack.

It's like so mid '90s

2010-03-12T10:03:00.000-06:00

A little more than 15 years ago, I moved to Austin, Texas. I was a big city girl living in a small town and Austin was as far as I could afford to escape. A lot of classes later, a husband, a son and a laughable career later, I moved back to Laredo, Texas, thinking we’d be there two years at the most. Five years later, we’re still there. But today I’m here.

After years of avoiding Austin during spring break, I am back. I’m here because of work and I feel like a tourist. Not only are the regular hipsters here, there are other hipsters from all over the world.

Fortunately, I drove here so I was able to get dinner without having to go to the usual tourist places. I needed to get that hometown feel after battling downtown traffic. I felt a bit overwhelmed and lost downtown when I went to register. I think it was because I used to point and laugh at the people who would drive the wrong way on one way streets.

I walked around the convention center earlier today to get to know it. I remember feeling like a loser my first week at UT because I walked around and around and around and couldn’t find the building I was looking for. I finally asked a girl who was walking by and she looked at me with disgust and pointed to the building across the street from us. Now I want to be able to look at people with disgust and point across the street.

Myssi's Movie Monday

2010-02-15T16:53:00.003-06:00

I feel that I am now back in the grove of my movie watching weekends. There are so many movies I want to watch and there’s so little time, especially on the weekends. It’s hard to make plans to watch movies when you also want to make plans to get out of town more. But we were in town this weekend and I decided to let TCM pick my movie—“Gladiator.”

I know this movie came out a while back, but not too long ago. I have no excuse for not having seen it, especially since one of the very few perks from my last job was free cable. I just never got around to it. Plus, it’s extremely long. So I settled on the couch and sent Dan’l to bed.

It took a while to get used to the idea of watching a movie where Russell Crow is a gladiator or a Roman Army general. The first time I saw him in a movie, he played a cool gay guy where he made out with a guy and felt him up. (That was when I was into Australian films at “The Village” in Austin.)

I settled into watching the movie and I must have been so comfortable that I caught myself falling asleep. I’d wake up and then go back to sleep. I couldn’t take it anymore, set the DVR to record and went to bed. So much for movie night. R stayed up and watched the whole thing. I’m such a wuss.

The next day, I almost didn’t watch it. The movie is long and I thought about how I nodded off the night before. I decided to watch it anyway and am glad I watched it. Russell has achieved a certain level of fame where I only see him, not the character he is playing, but he wasn’t that annoying. His character didn’t whine or cry about wanting to go home. He dealt with what he was given, nutted up and dealt with it.

The movie wasn’t predictable plus I was able to FF through the fighting scenes.

It’s nice to watch a movie after all the hype is gone. Maybe I’ll watch “Titanic” in 2020.

Myssi's Movie Monday

2010-02-08T20:29:00.002-06:00

I was pretty sick last week and watched a lot of TV, but I must have been really sick because I don’t remember much of what I watched. I have an idea I started getting better around Saturday because I actually remember what I watched Saturday.

The ol’ Netflix movie came in the mail, but I forgot that I had added “Ernest Saves Christmas” and wasn’t up to watching that. Fortunately, TCM saved the evening with some ‘70s flicks.

Dan’l and I saw “Bullet,” the first feature, sometime ago, but I had never seen “The French Connection.”

For a while back in my youth, I eschewed early ‘70s movies, with the exception of “The Godfather” and “The Exorcist.” It’s something about the way they’re shot—too gritty I suppose. But as I got older, my tastes changed and that ‘70s look and sound doesn’t bother me. Also, I gained an appreciation for Roy Scheider and thought I should watch it. After all, it won a bunch of awards. It should be good, right?

Eh, it was OK. Would I be lacking if I had never seen it? Did my life improve and my mind expand because I saw it? No, I liked but the shots of New York City in the 1970s. The ones I see now are generic (mostly "Fringe") to look like other cities so it's not lost on me that I liked how real it looked even though I originally didn't like it because it looked real. Oh well.

The story was interesting and hard to believe things like that happened. Who ships their car (other than the Scooby gang) to the country they're visiting and gets to drive it almost immediately? I know the po-po are still guilty of unnecessary roughness so that hasn't changed. Drugs are still a problem, but the methods of transportation are different. Who would have thought 30 years ago to smuggle it in a human body? But that's not the point.

The move was long, but it didn't drag. You know who the bad guy is all along and you think you know how they're going to grab them. Despite being nearly 40 years old, the movie holds up.

Good Things

2010-01-12T15:56:00.002-06:00

I did it!

I finally finished a crochet project that makes me proud. With the previous blankets, it was more of a try to figure stuff out project. Then I started working on a coaster and abandoned that project after starting it many times. Then there was the baby booty I started that gave me more grief than my own baby ever did. So I chucked that one too.

This is why I'm so happy to have finished this tote. It didn't take me very long to do because it's the same stitches over and over. I did have to sew a lining, but I'm comfortable with sewing so that was OK. I threw in a planner, notepad and nice pen and it was good to go.

Now I'm ready to tackle something and not be embarrassed by giving it away when I finish it.

By the way, I made the tote for a woman at church who is going to have two surgeries very soon and it actually feels good to do something for someone else.

Haunted Downtown Trolley Tour

2009-10-30T13:36:00.003-05:00

Dan'l and the llorona.

Dan'l and the chupacabra.

Dan'l is my partner in crime. The bus driver? Not so much.

Dan'l and I had the opportunity to go on a tour of haunted places around downtown Laredo. (Richard is a scaredy cat.) The tour is organized by the same people who put together the "Santo" movies.

I was really looking forward to it because the only other haunted tour (of bars in Austin) was a lot of fun. We met at a bar, had a few beers, went on the walking tour and by the time we got to the part where the guide points to the Driskill Hotel, I became the cowardly lion and started saying in my head, "I do believe in ghosts. I do believe in ghosts. I do. I do. I do. I do. I do. I do believe in ghosts."

Downtown Laredo is very scary at night. It's really dark and the smell of sulfur cuts through the air. Years and years and years ago, a friend and I saw a late showing of "Candyman" at a cinema downtown and we practically ran to my car. The movie combined with a cold and dark downtown (and the hookers in the shadows) made me wish I had stayed at home.

So I'm sad to say I was a little disappointed at yesterday's tour. The stories were scary, but when I took a look at the buildings from the comfort of the bus/trolley, well, I felt very safe. I think if they had let us get off the bus and come face to face with the buildings, that might have been scarier. Oh well. Until next year.

Myssi's Movie Mondays

2009-10-05T13:54:00.003-05:00

Dan’l and I went to see “El Santo en Anónimo Mortal” at a museum downtown Friday night. It wasn’t movies, Shakespeare or jazz on the park, but it was better because the weather was cool, they provided benches (no sitting on wet grass) and it wasn’t crowded. Plus free wine is always a bonus.

El Santo is a masked wrestler who happens to solve mysteries and fight crime during the day. He even has his own Scoobies.

I used to watch El Santo movies with my dad when I was little, but I don’t remember much about plots. (El Santo made several movies in character—sort of like James Bond.) When I tried to explain to Dan’l what we were about to watch, I said, “El Santo fights bad guys.” I was wrong. El Santo is more than a fighter, he solves mysteries.

The whole movie unfolded like a Law & Order episode. Old guys around town are dying. El Santo and his Scoobies finally connect the victims to each other—they were German immigrants and they fought the Nazis during World War II. El Santo was able to deduce this from the information his Scoobies got for him—detecting and forensic science in the ‘70s! In Mexico!

But the best thing about the movie was the soundtrack. I don’t know who put the music together, but the jazzy soundtrack classes up the movie.

Watch it with subtitles and then watch it again without sound and make up your own lines. It’s a lot of fun both ways.

How Much for the Cat in the Window?

2009-09-16T15:50:00.003-05:00

Our cat used to run away whenever I'd try to get a picture of him in the window. Not anymore. Lazy butt.

Excuse the ghetto blinds.

Movie Monday

2009-08-31T17:06:00.003-05:00

My name is Myssi and I am a dork.

Renaissance festivals. Star Wars. Star Trek. Nascar. Dallas Cowboys. These are some things which adults get crazy about. They get so crazy into some of these things that they drag their poor innocent children into their obsession.

I promised myself years ago I would not drag my son into any of my crazy obsessions. Dan’l has not dressed up as any Star Trek characters and I have not forced him to watch Trek marathons. Turns out I didn’t have to because my son seems to enjoy a lot of the same things I enjoy (especially Popeyes).

So it was with a bit of hesitation that I suggested we rent “My Name is Bruce” starring, directed by, produced by, narrated by, scored by and distributed by Bruce Campbell. I wasn’t sure if this would be too much Bruce for Dan’l to handle. He’s too young to be a die-hard fan of anything for more than two days.

Turns out, Dan’l was ready to dabble in major dorkdom. He liked the movie and we even saw almost two hours worth of DVD extras.

Dan’l became a fan of BC when we started watching “Burn Notice.” I only started watching “Burn Notice” because of BC. Dan’l wanted to watch it because he thought the show looked cool and lots of stuff blew up. But somehow Dan’l became aware of BC’s awesomeness and started noticing BC in movies and online.

Now I can tell all of my friends with young children, it’s OK to share with your child, but don’t push it too much. Eventually, we all become our parents. I hated Tejano music because my parents played it all the time when I was growing up and now I sing along to Selena.

I’m so proud.

Myssi's Movie Mondays

2009-06-29T16:34:00.004-05:00

This weekend was about mindless TV (OK, when is it not?).

Dan’l (my TV partner) and I have avoided the TV room these past few days because it gets really hot. So we’ve been busy doing other things—such as crocheting, eating, thumb wrestling. When we finally got around to watching something on TV, we needed something that wasn’t too long or complicated and we settled on “Killer Hair” (recorded last week) and “Hostile Makeover” on Lifetime Movie Network.

Now before anyone tells me I’m one step from dressing Dan’l in a dress, he was interested in watching these two movies because the lead actress appears in “Psych,” one of D’s favorite shows. Also, he somehow happened to be touched with the Battlestar stick because he’s a fan of Mary McDonell, even though he says he’s never seen BSG or "Dances With Wolves" (but he did see her on “The Closer”).

OK, back to the movies. The two are based on the “Crimes of Fashion” book series. I’ve never read any of the books and probably won’t, but the stories and the movie were fun in a Scooby Doo way. A fashion columnist, who insists she has training as a serious journalist (don’t we all?), happens to stumble upon murders and cover-ups in the fashion world of Washington, D.C.

The killer in the first one was unexpected, and given that, we were able to figure out who the killer was in “Hostile Makeover.” As I said, pure mind candy.

My only regret was that we saw “Killer Hair” on Saturday and we missed “Doctor Who.”

For Your Amusement

2009-06-17T13:48:00.001-05:00

I saw a ladybug one morning. I guess it's better than seeing a cockroach.

Myssi's Movie Mondays

2009-06-15T14:30:00.003-05:00

I expected to be a bit productive this weekend and not spend so much time in front of the TV. I had decided that if I was going to spend my time in front of the TV, I was going to watch shows/movies on the DVR or Netflix DVDs. Well I did and I didn’t.

I spent most of yesterday watching TCM. It started with “His Girl Friday,” my favorite movie. Rosalind Russell plays a reporter who is about to quit her job because she’s going to leave the business to marry an insurance salesman. Her editor, played by Cary Grant, doesn’t want her to leave because he loves her. So he happens to mention the hot story for the evening because he knows she won’t be able to resist. She can’t, breaks things off with her fiancé and ends up with Cary Grant, covering a strike during their honeymoon.

After it was over, I thought about doing some laundry, but I made myself more comfortable on the couch and watched “Ball of Fire.” The channel guide summary made it sound boring, but I thought I’d give it a chance anyway. It turned out to be a nice movie. I didn’t buy Gary Cooper as an English professor, but I do have a soft spot for guys who know their English. OK, so Gary Cooper and seven other professors/doctors are writing an encyclopedia. GC is in charge of the entry on slang and decides to do field research. He meets with Barbara Stanwyck who plays a nightclub singer. She teaches him about slang and he teaches her about falling in love with an egghead.

The opposite of that couple followed with “To Have and Have Not,” Bogey and Bacall’s first film together. I don’t understand the politics going on in the background, but I still enjoyed the movie. It’s a love story; everyone can relate to that.

“Some Like it Hot,” another of my favorite movies, was also on TCM. Men in drag. How can it not be hilarious? Plus Jack Lemmon was a great actor. He looks like he’s having fun even though he’s in high heels and a girdle.

Despite spending about eight hours on TCM, I did manage to squeeze in some DVR time. I saw a very strange movie, “House” or “Hausu.” It’s a very strange movie; it’s supposed to be scary, but it’s also funny. It reminded me of the “It's a Good Life” episode of the “Twilight Zone” movie—the one where the little boy has powers to get and do whatever he wants—because it’s a bit cartoonish in the way it’s shot.

Not so funny was “Raising Arizona.” It seems that every list of top movies raves about this movie, but I didn’t think it was that great. It was entertaining, but after watching a few Coen brothers movies, it was pretty easy to predict what was going to happen. John Goodman is bad news, the lone scary guy is really really bad news and bad stuff happens to the main character no matter how much he tries to redeem himself.

I only now realized that three of the movies that I watched this weekend are on Hulu. So much for DVR progress.

Movie Monday

2009-06-08T17:06:00.002-05:00

I’ve been trying to clear all the crap I’ve recorded on my DVR so I can cancel my cable and switch to satellite. That means I get to watch some a lot of movies, some good, and some bad.

So this weekend I watched a lot of TV.

First up, “Wide Sargasso Sea,” is a movie that the interactive guide promised would deliver a story about an arranged marriage in the Caribbean with voodoo and lust. I thought, “Hmm, lust?” Turns out that this movie is based on a novel that tells the story of the first Mrs. Rochester from “Jane Eyre.” Yes, I know Jensational hates Jane Eyre, but it’s part of the review. Anyway, it’s not a very good movie and it didn’t make me interested in the book. As far as I’m concerned, Mr. Rochester deserved everything he got.

The lust was on Mr. Rochester’s part toward a servant. Boring.

The next movie is a pretty big deal. There are a lot of movies I’ve never seen—“E.T.,” “Titanic,” “Gone With the Wind,” “Notorious B.I.G.” Another movie I had never seen was “Alien.” What a movie. I kept expecting the cat to turn into an alien or to get eaten by the alien, but it never happened.

It’s interesting to watch 30-year-old movies and sort of recognize actors. For example, one of the guys in the movie was the uncle in “Lord of the Rings.” He wasn’t really young, but 30 years is a long time. Tom Skerritt looked a little younger, but he’s always looked kinda old—sexy old. Another actor I recognized immediately was Harry Dean Stanton. Has that guy ever been young? He’s old in every movie.

Other recently seen movies: “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” (wow, Robert Redford and Paul Newman were really handsome) and “Mambo Kings” (meh).

Last night, because there’s nothing on TV, I saw “Russian Ark.” This is a movie R wanted to see and highly recommended. I don’t know how I stayed awake the first 20 minutes. I kept waiting for a break in the movie so I could splash some water on my face, but after a while, I wondered, “Is this movie done in one take?” Turns out it was and for some reason, that made it more interesting. After that, it started to make sense and I enjoyed it.

The movie/documentary is a tour of the Russian State Hermitage Museum as seen through the eyes of a French aristocrat. I had no idea the museum was so big. I’ll probably never go to Russia, but I have a pretty good idea about the scope of the museum and its art and ballrooms, etc.

Cuchi Chuchi

2009-06-05T09:13:00.003-05:00

Last night Richard, Dan'l and I went to a fundraiser/concert featuring Charo. We had a good time. Charo is funny. And a talented guitar player.

The event benefited the local philharmonic orchestra. We usually don't pay for tickets when we go to concerts, but we enthusiastically support them by taking along Dan'l (one year he made the front page of the newspaper when his picture was taken during a concert--very intense look on his face--good PR) and I do my share by writing/editing releases. Anyway, we didn't have any expectations about going to the "gala," but a very nice lady at church is one of the founding members of the philharmonic and gave church members tickets to the five tables she bought. As luck would have it, Charo paid a little more attention to the Methodists than the rest of the crowd. Pretty funny.

So that's my six degrees to NKOTB and Loveboat.

Sorry for the poor quality. I sat next to the woman who gave us the tickets and I took only one picture because I didn't want to embarrass her so she could invite us again next year. Plus she's nice.

At Last!

2009-05-28T14:14:00.003-05:00

I threatened before, but I finally did it--a picture of D's scarf.

This was his first project and we shed many tears. But Dan'l ended up with a pretty good scarf. He decided that he would crochet a scarf for his math teacher for his first project. He gave it to her yesterday because he wasn't going to see her today--the last day of school.

Good thing he's not camera shy.

He did a little more than five feet of single crochet and double crochet on the border. (I did the fringe.) The colors match his school colors.

Feeling Nostalgic

2009-05-26T13:51:00.003-05:00

I usually visit my parents once a week, but sometimes I get busy (or lazy) and let our visits slide. Other times, not so often, I decide to punish my mom (even though by then both of us have forgotten whatever she said to set me off) and let her wonder Sunday afternoons if we're going to visit (actually, she naps when we're not there so no skin off her back). Now that I think about it, neither of those explains why I had not visited for more than two weeks. I know we went to a concert one Sunday and my parents were out of town another weekend. Regardless, last Sunday's visit was a long one, but it was made longer when my mom took out her new toy--a digital picture frame.

When she took it out, she said it was pictures of her and my grandparents that my sister scanned for her. It turned out to be a 30 minute presentation of more than 200 pictures of which maybe 60 were scanned. Among those scanned is a memory of matching sailor blouses past and bowl haircuts.

I'm pretty sure that's the last time my mom got a say in my haircuts and the last time my sister and I had matching tops.

Oh, and the baby is my brother who returned from Afghanistan earlier this month.

My brother, sister and me, circa 1982.

Movie Monday

2009-05-18T15:02:00.003-05:00

It's been a while since I've been able to sit down and watch a movie over the weekend. This weekend, I saw more than two, but I'll spare you all the details.

Saturday, Dan'l and I saw "Fast and the Furious IV" at the discount theater. I think if he had been a couple of years older, he might have been embarrassed to be there with his mother. I know I was embarrassed to be there among a sea of really young couples and their infant children. Now I know why the volume is so loud in the theater--to drown out the sound of screaming kids and soda cans being opened.

What can I say about this movie? I liked most of the soundtrack and when I left for a bathroom break (which I rarely do at the movie theater), I didn't miss any crucial plot points. Do I recommend this movie? Only if it's playing on cable. Do not pay extra money for it.

One of the other movies I saw was "Black Caesar." Not a movie I'd admit to watching, but it was a part of a series of movies I saw, "Little Caesar," "Public Enemy," and a couple of others that I've forgotten. Fred Williamson plays Tony, a man who spent time in prison after getting beaten up by a policeman. After he gets out of jail, Tony become a hit man for the mafia, which to him is a great idea because no one would suspect that he would work for the mob. (This is a '70s movie, after all.) I found myself rooting for him a third of the time and was really surprised by the movie ending. He had all this power, but nobody really cared.

The most interesting thing about the movie though, was the lead female's arms. Beautiful toned arms. I didn't know women were pumping iron back then, but her arms are really toned, but not ugly (like Madonna's) muscular.

Recommend? Yes. If only to see her arms and hear her sing and play the piano.

As you can see, I slummed a bit this weekend and that includes watching a Canadian show. I'm too embarrassed to mention the title (I'm saving you from my mistakes), but it came out in 2003. From the looks of it though, it looked like it was made in the '80s with people wearing early '90s clothes and makeup. Plus it was weird because the actors sounded American, except they weren't attractive or familiar. Too weird. I'll stick to BBC America. At least they have cool accents.

12 Years and Counting

2009-04-28T16:23:00.003-05:00

Happy birthday to my baby boy!

As good looking as his mother.

Begginer's Efforts

2009-04-01T13:31:00.004-05:00

I finally finished another crochet project--a baby blanket for a girl.

I started this project because I messed up on the previous blanket. While the previous blanket is OK, I wanted to make up for not following the instructions and started this pink one.

Note the amazing craftsmanship.

It didn't take me long to get through the body. I worked on it during winter break, but I hit a wall and couldn't finish it. Not only that, it started to get really warm and the blanket on my stomach and thighs wasn't any fun.

It was just as hard for me to start the edging, which I started to mess up, but fixed along the way. See, I was working it in the round instead of turning over my work. Oops.

Don't mind the wonky edging.

The hard work paid off and my crochet teacher delivered the blanket to the expectant mom last Saturday. It's not my best work, but if it can keep someone warm at least temporarily, well, then my work is done.

It's almost a perfect rectangle.

Before anyone mentions it, yes, I agree it's old lady pink and not the fun cotton candy pink used in children's stuff, but I was drawn to this yarn because it's made from recycled plastic bottles and really soft. Also, I like old lady pink and the only other colors available were off white (edging), black, white, green and dark blue.

Livin' in the Wild Wild West

2009-03-11T13:38:00.002-05:00

We recently went to the Laredo International Fair and Exposition.

Howdy, pardner.

For those of you who may not know, this is where the 4H kids and Future Farmers of America kids show the animals they've been raising all year, hoping to sell them for a lot of money.

Would he be as excited if he knew he was dinner?

Like other fairs and expositions, there's also a crafts and food part. When I was in high school, my home economics teacher encouraged me to enter the cake decorating contest. I baked a bundt cake and decorated it like a clown. It was quite a piece of work and very heavy. The cake was the clown’s ruffle and I added a Styrofoam ball for a head and cone for hat. I came in second place. I was beat out by something that looked like this, except whoever did it didn't use any color or cupcakes and was ugly and totally unoriginal.

The next year, I thought I would do something with an Easter theme since that’s what they liked the previous year. I baked a rectangular cake and drew a bunny on the cake, colored it, etc. and added grass and a border. It was pretty. I do have a picture of that, but I’m too lazy to scan it. Anyway, I didn’t even place that time.

Because I was blinded by my bitterness, I had no idea they had an actual rodeo during LIFE. When I saw that the list of events during this year's LIFE included mutton bustin’, I decided to set aside my ill feelings towards them and go. Dan’l was excited about it too because he wanted to sign up to ride some muttons. I told him it was too late to sign up, but he still wanted to go. Turns out, it was canceled because nobody donated muttons. We stayed anyway and got to see a pig race, a sad little animal show and Dan’l bungee bounced.

Yee haw!

Dan’l said he wants to sign up for the greased pig competition next year. Let’s hope that’s not canceled too.

My Peeps

2009-02-11T11:47:00.003-06:00

I'm not overzealous when it comes to religion, but what's the point of this?

I wonder if it keeps people from rear ending other vehicles because God's mother is watching.

Tomato Reign

2009-01-14T13:39:00.004-06:00

One of the benefits of living in South Texas: home grown garden tomatoes.

I had ham with my juicy and just picked tomato.

Yes, I complain about living here most of the time and I bitch about how hot it gets, but it’s the perfect place to grow tomatoes in the middle of winter. This was our first tomato of this season and five more popped up this week.

It was too hot during the summer to grow anything decent, let along harvest anything. But mother nature made it up to me because I think the last time it was 32 degrees was 11 months ago.

Myssi's Movie Mondays

2009-01-12T14:21:00.002-06:00

Welcome back to another installment of Myssi’s Movie Monday. While we were on winter break, I took Dan’l to the library. His library card expired and I had to sign for him to renew it. After I filled out the form, the clerk asked me if I wanted to allow Dan’l to check out movies and CDs. I was surprised that they would allow an 11-year-old boy to check out movies, but I remember checking out albums when I was little, so it makes some sense. (What doesn’t make sense is why they didn’t mention it when he got his first card, but anyway.)

Dan’l was excited about being able to check out movies so we went to the movie section and he picked “Hoosiers.” I thought, “Hoosiers? Snore. Why would anyone want to watch yet another sports movie?”

On the other hand, Dan’l didn’t show any interest in the movie I picked: “Auntie Mame.”

A week passed before we finally got around to watching the movies. I was put off by Auntie Mame’s length—143 minutes—and I asked Dan’l if he wanted to watch Hoosiers. He said he had watched some of it cable with R and wasn’t that interested anymore. Then I started feeling bad for this DVD that nobody wanted to watch anymore and decided to watch it. Imagine how surprised I was when a little more than 15 minutes in, I was hooked and I ended up liking the movie. Dan’l sat to watch it 30 minutes after it started and lied about the ending after I nagged him to tell me.

Yes, it’s a typical redemption/Cinderella (another thing, why do they call it a Cinderella story in basketball? I don't see the connection.) story, but it didn’t feel tired and old. Gene and Barbara kissing was gross; Dan’l and I laughed and cringed when they kissed, but it was nice to be able to watch a movie without having to worry about what was next—nudity or violence—because of Dan’l. He might smoke, have tattoos all over his body and be part of some fight club, but I’ll be damned if he sees any boobs.

I learned quite a few things from this movie. Dan’l explained what full-court advantage means, basketball is big in Indiana and the B’s face has changed a lot since this movie came out. I didn’t recognize her.

Dan’l went to bed when that movie was over and I stayed up to watch “Auntie Mame.” Maybe the camp fan in me is dying because I am not crazy about this movie. Rosalind Russell was great, but annoying when she was overacting. I know the character called for melodrama, but she showed she was capable of tender moments too. I wanted more tender moments. Everyone has a crazy aunt so she’s already a familiar character. Show us something new. My crazy aunt is eccentric, cheap and likes to travel a lot too. She has flowery penmanship and can drink anyone under the table. Were it not for the “crazy” part, I wouldn’t mind being the title. Fortunately, I’m not the only female in my family.

Meow

2009-01-06T16:00:00.003-06:00

I couldn't help myself and took this from another Web site. The other pictures are OK, but this hilarious.

Myssi's Movie Mondays

2009-01-05T16:25:00.003-06:00

Happy new year!

Over my break I saw way too many movies. I can’t even remember all the movies we watched. I seem to remember more of the bad movies than the good ones. It’s a random list, so be patient.

One of the ones I saw was “Gym Teacher.” I recorded it months ago and was waiting for a chance to see it with Dan’l. It is one of those Nick movies and whenever I watch anything on a kids’ channel alone, I feel like a perv. Well, he had already seen it so I decided to watch it anyway. I was interested in it because Christopher Meloni from Law & Order: SVU was in it. So I saw it, but I don’t remember much about the plot. All I remember is Meloni’s butt sticking out of his shorts like two medium-sized melons kissing and a scene at the very end that the censors missed. I never saw him in Oz, but I saw what all the fuss was about. And yes, I did feel pervy after it was over.

I also saw “The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit.” I thought it was about PR and advertising in the ‘60s and thought it sounded interesting, despite Gregory Peck being the lead. It was not what I thought it was going to be about. It was long and annoying. Gregory Peck’s wife is a nag who wants a bigger house and nice things and tells him she’s ashamed of him. He ends up getting a job in PR, except his title is assistant to the CEO, and ends up doing research for suggestions or outlines for the CEO’s speeches. I tried to like this movie, but I cannot recommend it.

Another movie which was in high rotation in the past three weeks was “Die Hard.” Believe it or not, this is one of my favorite movies, but I started hating it about the fourth time I saw it. There are some parts that bug me, but it’s all worth it to hear Alan Rickman say, “Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker.” Yes, I prefer his version to BW.

“Born Yesterday” is one of those movies I thought I wasn’t going to like, but I ended up liking it. It’s supposed to be funny and we’re supposed to laugh at the dumb blonde. Her boyfriend hires a journalist (ha) to teach her about stuff and he ends up teaching her “too good.” The saddest part of the movie is when the gangster boyfriend starts slapping the blonde around. She leaves him for the reporter and ends up very wealthy. It’s a fun quick paced movie; I recommend it.

I made Dan’l watch “Soylent Green” with me and I think that was a bad idea. I had a good time watching it because I knew what it was about. Dan’l didn’t know and was bored, but he sat through it. Except for the part where Moses gets naked and goes to bed with the “furniture.” That was too much, even for me. At least I thought that until the shower scene. Gross. Even with those two scenes, it’s not a bad movie. Not a great movie, but it’s fun.

Speaking of fun, I also saw “Them.” Giant ants are attacking people and are set to take over the world. Fortunately a sexy female scientist and hunky FBI guy kill the queens and all is good with the world.

I also saw “Eagle Eye,” “High School Musical 3” and “Body of Lies.” I can’t remember any other movies. It’s all a big blur now. Oh I almost forgot about “It’s a Wonderful Life.” It’s R’s favorite movie so we watch it every year and I cry every time. Plus no matter how much I hope for it, the old mean banker does not give George Bailey the money.

Another Year

2008-11-18T11:22:00.003-06:00

Yes, folks! I've managed to add a notch to the years I've been around. I'm halfway to 70; I hear the next 35 years will go by faster than the previous.

Kimmie sent me flowers. Love 'em.

I don't have a window in my suite; I had to borrow a window.

Ooh!

Ah!

Self Control

2008-11-13T15:25:00.002-06:00

If I could control myself from taking this kitten (sunbathing at the local McDonald's--love that coffee), I might be able to stand firm on saying no to the new puppy.

It sure is cute.

Hair of the Dog

2008-11-12T14:53:00.004-06:00

When we stopped to pick up my grandparents Saturday, Dan'l ran out of the car and started chasing a cute black puppy. My mom said, "Ew, wash your hands," but like the rest of us, he ignored my mom. What he did hear was my uncle telling him that he could have the puppy if his parents said it was OK.

Um, no.

Bringing another dog home was and is the last thing on my mind. Mr. Scampers figured out how to squeeze through underneath the fence into the neighbor's yard and then under his gate to freedom. Every night. On the plus side, he's pooping in other people's yards. On the negative side, I've dealt with the police because of the dog.

But I'm a sucker for animals and want to bring them all home. Never mind that Mr. S. had tick fever recently and had more doctor's bills than Dan'l and me combined. Never mind that my neighbors hate me because of that dog. Forget bout being able to plan a decent trip because we have to take the dog with us and stop every few hours so he can do his business. Like I said, I'm a sucker.

Dan'l mentioned the puppy on our way home and a couple of times on Sunday. He hasn't mentioned anything since. It might be from the silent treatment he's giving me for grounding him (hey, the teacher called ME at work to tell me he's disruptive). If he doesn't mention it again in a week, my conscience will be clear. I may be a sucker, but I'm also a flake.

2008-11-11T11:26:00.005-06:00

Down here in South Texas, we’ve got summer temps almost all year except for three days in February when it dips to the 50s. It doesn't rain much down here either, so there is a lot of brown down here. Brown dirt. Dirty homes. Dirty cars. Dirt everywhere. So when I see a little bit of greenery, I get excited because it's as if I’m in a different place.

So when I read about Lost Maples, I was really excited. There was a place in Texas where the leaves didn’t just turn from green to brown when I wasn’t looking. I've been wanting to go for years, but I never got around to going until this past weekend.

Lost Maples State Natural Area entrance hosts trees of all colors.

My mom heard about Lost Maples through a friend. Her friend’s (perfect and always engaged but never married) daughter took her. They had a picnic and wine. So for nearly a year, I had to hear about it from my mom. Last month, the temperatures dropped and the Lost Maples Web site started their foliage report. I called my mom and told her it was now or next year.

As is in my mother's nature, she invited everyone under the sun. Fortunately, only my grandparents accepted her invitation.

Dad, Abuelita, Mom and Dan'l pose outside the restrooms.

Even though I thought I would be able to sleep the whole way, I ended up driving my car while my grandparents rode with my parents. Dan’l rode with me (and he wouldn’t shut up for 204 miles!). Richard stayed home to deal with the dog and the fence (a bitch is in heat two houses down). Doesn't make sense to be invited to go out of town and then have to drive myself, but you can't argue with my mom.

The scenic drive to the park was full of hills and twists and turns. I felt like throwing up a couple of times so I stopped looking down. That’s not as much fun.

We waited an hour to travel approximately 1.5 miles to enter the park and then waited 30 or 40 minutes to pay the entrance fee.

This is what a state highway looks like when you're not moving.

If you squint, you can see that the line goes on forever.

We were there about an hour and left.

I wanted to stay behind while my parents drove back to La Pryor (my grandparents can’t really walk around on rough trails), but my mom said, “We’ll wait.” That didn’t leave us with much time for exploring; it was just enough time for my parents and grandparents to get a snack. Dan’l was upset, but he got over it. Just like I got over not being able to drive to Medina for apples.

Dan'l climbs as the leaves fall.

Yes, we traveled far to see trees.

Anyway, I think next year I’ll make plans to visit during the week when everyone else is at work.

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T08:53:00.005-05:00

Sorry for the poor quality, but I was so excited about D's costume that I had to post a picture. It looked fine in the camera. Oh well. I'll replace with a better photo later.

Anyway, when Dan'l was little, I dressed him in cute costumes. As he got older, he started asking for darker costumes--ninja, ghoul, Grim Reaper. I finally gave in and made him a reaper costume. This required no makeup--just a hood over the face.

For your enjoyment.

The Easter Bunny went thataway.

His Niche

2008-10-14T15:34:00.005-05:00

My co-worker showed me a video of his son improvising on an acoustic guitar. He was pretty good for having only taken lessons for three months. My co-worker said the teacher told him DJ had real talent. I replied, "That's great. I always found it hard to improvise when I was playing. Dan'l is better at improvising on the piano, not so much the cello and unlikely on the tuba. But now that he's in the choir, who knows."

I should try to be more encouraging of this kid who is only one year younger than Dan'l. But I am a little jealous that kid has found his thing. He's DJ, the one who plays guitar. Dan'l is the big kid.

It probably wouldn't bother me as much except R recently asked me out of the blue, "What exactly is Dan'l good at?" I started a list of things he can do, but then R asked, "What's his thing?" Then I thought (because ultimately, it's all about me), what's my thing?

R's thing is editing. My dad's is carpentry and general handyman stuff. My mom's thing is nursing/care giver. My sister's is that she's persistent. My brother is the soldier and my other brother's is being the nice husband of a psycho wife.

Me? There are some things I can do, but nothing that I'm really good at except for one thing: I'm great at identifying voices. I can hear a commercial on TV and tell you that it's John Boy, Keifer or the woman from "Jack & Bobby" doing the voice-over. But these three people have very distinct voices, so maybe everyone can tell the difference. Anyway, these are the first three that came to my mind, but there are others I can ID so I'm sticking to it.

This is something not everybody knows about me, though. For now I guess I can be the one who makes good pumpkin cheesecake.

What's your thing?

Makeover Myssi

2008-10-10T15:57:00.005-05:00

Jensational sent me a picture of what I'd look like in 1966 if I were around back then.

She sent me the link and here's what I came up with:

Doesn't look very natural.

I think I need to blend my makeup better into my jawline and neck.

I always wanted curly hair.

Again, I need to do a better job blending my makeup.

I look like my mom in this picture.

Band Geek

2008-10-09T11:33:00.008-05:00

I was a teenage band geek. I thought I could be cool by signing up to play drums, but it didn't turn out as I expected. First of all, my band director said they needed a girl to play bells, not drums .
I was the only girl who signed up for drums, but nobody knew my name. They, including the band director, called me bells. There was no way I could be popular or cool if nobody knew my name!

Second, the guys (the drummers) tortured me. It was the worse six year hazing of my life. It only stopped once I became section leader and an officer in the band. That's when I started making freshmen girls cry and treating the boys like my servants.

My reign didn't last long. I quit at the start of my senior year, but years of crude comments, second class treatment and sexual harassment turned me into the person I am today.

You can imagine my surprise when my son wanted to sign up for band. He originally wanted to play trombone. His other choices were trumpet and tuba. I tried to be encouraging after nagging him that with his personality and talents, he wasn't going to be satisfied playing second fiddle or whole or half notes when other people would play the melody. I realized I was channeling my inner stage mother and told him to play whatever he wanted to play.

Yesterday, he took his tuba home.
Yes, a tuba. I knew he changed his mind over the summer, but I wasn't sure he would go for it. I needed convincing to be OK with it and talked to a friend who played tuba with either DCI or a DCI-type group. He kept stressing how skinny tuba players get laid.

Guy: "He's going to get laid."
Me: "My son is in sixth grade and 11."
Guy: "Skinny tuba players have a better chance of getting laid. I got on Accutane, got skinny and got a lot of ass."
Me: "He's 11. And my son."
Guy: "He's going to get laid."
Me: "He's in sixth grade."
Guy: "Yeah, tell him he'll get laid."
Me: Grr.

My son is not skinny, so I found a little bit of comfort in our conversation.

Over the weekend, we went to a birthday party for a friend's baby. My friend's husband was in band with me. Dan'l mentioned he was playing tuba and the husband was much more encouraging about other aspects of playing tuba. He said that band directors love kids who play instruments which aren't very popular and would do anything to keep them.

Dan'l felt special.

I'm not sure if Dan'l will stay in band though. Richard wants Dan'l to play baseball in school. I want Dan'l to play golf. (Little-known secret: there are tons of full scholarships, especially at smaller schools, for golf players that go to mediocre players because there aren't enough kids, especially girls, who golf.)

Graduation is still six years away, but I guess it's not too early to start thinking about stuff. Of course, I took a bunch of sciences and maths that ended up being a waste of my time in high school. I think I use my home ec skills more than I do calculating mass or acceleration. I should have signed up for cosmetology classes instead. Oh well. Anyway, it's not about me; it's about Dan'l and his future. Because in the future, he will end up supporting me.

Famous Birthdays

2008-10-08T15:51:00.003-05:00

Because I don't have enough to do already, I bought a desk calendar that features a daily Web site for my amusement. Some of the sites have really long addresses and some of the subjects are pretty lame so I don't get amused very often. However, today's site , www.famousbirthdays.com, is pretty amusing--if you happen to not share your birthday with Lina Evans, Sinbad and Owen Wilson.

Fun facts: my junior high school best friend shares birthdays (11/08) with Parker Posey, Bonnie Raitt, Patti Page, Esther Roll, Margaret Mitchell and my husband's ex-wife. My brother shares his birthday (1/08) with R. Kelly, David Bowie, Stephen Hawking, Shirley Bassey, Elvis Presley, and a bunch of people I've never heard of. OK, enough playing around. I have to get back to work.

Movie Mondays

2008-08-25T16:20:00.002-05:00

I finally caught up on a bunch of movies this weekend after Dan’l told me I needed to give up some space on the DVR. I saw some good movies and some so bad they’re funny movies.

I’ll start with the good… “Marty.” Marty is a butcher who lives with is Ma. All his brothers and sisters are married and people keep asking him, “When are you going to get married Marty?” I’m not sure people are asking because they’re curious. I think they ask him because they like to rub in the fact that he’s not married. Anyway, Marty goes to a dance and meets a fellow “dog” (that’s what you called ugly people back then). They go for a walk and end up talking; well, he does most of the talking, but they talk, go to his place to pick up some money and ciggies and then he escorts her home. While they’re at his house though, he tries to kiss her and she freaks out. Eventually, they do kiss and Marty practically floats all the way home after he sees her home. The next day, Marty is clearly in a good mood. Not that he was brooding before—pre-girl from the dance he was content. But soon his friends and his mother start making fun of the girl and he doesn’t call her. At the end, he finally realizes that his friends are losers and calls her.

I liked this movie because I was glad to see Ernest Borgnine gets the girl in the end, at least, that’s what I think happens. I couldn’t help but root for him because he was such a nice guy. Plus, he has giant hands. I like big hands.

Dan’l and I saw “Iron Man” at the discount theater. That’s another good movie (like you need me to tell you that). I was afraid it would be too violent for D, but it wasn’t. It was a fun movie and I’ll see it again when it comes out on DVD. I didn’t get a good look at RD Jr.’s hands, but they looked big when he was Iron Man. Also, who knew Jeff Bridges could be a bad guy?

One of the movies that was sitting in my DVR was “Valdez is Coming.” The description said it was about a Mexican American lawman that seeks revenge on the rancher who left him for dead in the desert. I thought it sounded interesting, but sometime between March and this weekend, I thought it sounded boring. I couldn’t erase it though because it had been on my DVR for so long. So I saw it. It wasn’t that great, but it wasn’t that bad either. What was great about it? Webster’s mom was in it. That was pretty cool. Also, the bad guy flashed his cheeks. And just when I thought it was going to suck, Hector Elizondo appeared on screen and showed me that he’s been bald for almost half a century. The bad? All the Mexicans (OK, Mexican Americans) had beautiful blue eyes. But before I could roll my eyes, I realized Burt Lancaster was playing this roll with quiet grace and integrity and I approved.

The bad guy has all the lawmen available and his own hired guns shooting at this shack where the bad guy said he saw a guy who killed some Army general. Valdez walks to the shack to talk to the guy and the guy says he’s innocent. While they’re talking, one of the hired guns shoots at the holed up guy and the HUG thinks it’s a trick. He shoots at Valdez and Valdez kills HUG. Turns out he was innocent. Valdez buries DHUG and packs the widow to take her back to the reservation. He goes to the bar where all the other men are and passes a hat saying that they owe the widow a pension. He collects $4 and tells them he had something like $200 in mind. They said if bad guys gives $100, they’ll kick in the rest. Valdez asks bad guy for the money and the bad guy tells his men to kill him. Valdez doesn’t die and goes back because “fair is fair.”

Would I recommend this movie? It’s not for everyone. It’s one part “Silverado” and another part “Legend of Billie Jean” and based on a book by Elmore Leonard. So, if you ‘re like me and like those three in a blender, then I recommend this movie.

“Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me” is one of my all time favorites movies, but after watching it 1.5 times this weekend, I started to wonder why. I think I thought (ha) I loved this movie because I had to see it so many times before I could understand it. Why else would I see the same movie so many times in a row? The movies starts great, but then it goes on and on about Laura and what a bad girl she is. OK, we get it. I don’t want to say that I don’t like the movie because I don’t hate it. But it’s not my favorite movie either. I love that the movie reminds me of the cool indie movies of the early ‘90s that I used to watch at the Village. Although I think that if I go back and watch those movies, I’d get frustrated at everyone’s whining and yell at them to grow up. I think the only movies that still play well today are “The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Dessert” and “Murial’s Wedding” except they’re not indies, they’re foreign films. Oh well.

Would I recommend this movie? Ugh, I don’t know and I’m torn up about not knowing and admitting that I’m not a big a fan of this movie as I thought I was.

Finally, the movie that was so bad it was funny, “Infected.” It starts Gill Bellows with special guest performances by Isabella Rossellini and Judd Nelson (you can’t have a SciFi movie without Judd, can we?). This is another movie that sat in my DVR for months. Every time I started watching it, something distracted me. Well, it turns out I didn’t need to give this movie my full attention because like all other bug SciFi movies, the hero kills the bugs and gets the girl. The end. But Isabella Rossellini (who appears in two David Lynch movies that I do like) is in this movie, so I couldn’t erase it without watching it. So I watched it and it was funny.

Would I recommend it? It’s on again on SciFi Sept. 7.

Late Vacation Photos

2008-08-22T15:46:00.004-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, I told R that our summer schedule was over; therefore, I would be working all day Fridays until next summer. So what was R's response? "We should take a drive somewhere."

I have no idea why it made sense to Richard for me to have to request Friday and use up eight hours when we could have gone somewhere earlier and it only cost me four hours or leave in the afternoon and not cost me any extra hours. But I digress. Long story short, we went to Corpus Christi because that's where people who aren't rich and live in my town go. Still, it was OK because there were a lot of tourists and I had not been to the U.S.S. Lexington, Texas State Aquarium or the Art Museum of South Texas. I think I've been to Port Aransas, but if I can't remember, then it's been too long since I've been there.

Our first stop was the hotel. While R supervised Dan'l in the pool, I went to the flagship Whataburger to pick up dinner. The next day we went to the skate park because some of D's friends were going to compete in a skate competition. We were there about an hour and didn't see his friends. We left quickly because it was very hot and humid. Very. So my first thought after begging R to get us the heck out of there, was to find the Selena statue so I could take a picture for Jensational. Last year it was Permian; this year it was Selena.

You can see where people pose like her because the paint is dirty. Before you ask about the clog, I have no idea why it is there, but it was a complete pair.

Doesn't he look happy?

I think D perfers statues of animals.

The Aquarium was actually fun. That's the Lexington in the background.

I'm so proud of him.

We rode the ferry more times than I care to admit. All the hotels/motels/motor inns were booked and there were no vacancies on the island. Fortunately, we found a hotel two towns later.

This is how I like the beach--not crowded and cloudy.

We finally made it to the Lexington and Dan'l sat in the
captain's quarters.

Big Baby

2008-08-14T09:22:00.003-05:00

I ask Dan'l on a daily basis, "Who's my best baby?"

He used to respond, "Me!"

But he recently told me, "Mom, I'm too old for you to call me your baby." Sad, but true. True that he said that--not that I think he's too old to be my baby.

However, I recently saw something on Amazon (I clicked on Today's Deals) and saw this:

I don't know about anyone else, but I think this kid is too big for one of these carriers. Heck, I think these are best only for newborns, but that's just me.

The product features says: "8 comfortable positions to conveniently carry your baby in style; strong enough to carry children from preemie to 42 lb (4 yrs)."

Four years? That's no baby.

So Dan'l, I concede: "Who is my best son?"

Family addition

2008-08-13T16:27:00.005-05:00

A couple of months ago, my boss asked me if I was interested in adopting a kitten. A stray that likes to hang out in his backyard was going to have kittens. R had already asked me to keep an eye out for kittens because said he was ready for a cat (whatever). Because I'm a bleeding heart deep down, I told my boss we'd take it.

A few weeks later, he said the kitten was ready for his new home. I arranged for R to pick him up, but then my neighbors freaked and accused my Golden Retriever of attacking them and nearly eating their yappy dog. They also threatened to kill our dog so I became worried about bringing a kitten home. My boss finally got tired of waiting for me and delivered the kitty to our house July 4. His coat reminded me of pepper, so we named him Pepper. It's not a boy cat name, but it's not like I'll call it anything but kitty. Anyway, I promised Jensational some pictures and I better post them before Pepper graduates from kitten to cat.

Sort of hiding from us after being home for four days.

I read that cats will lie on a sheet of paper (blanket, towel, etc.) even if it's on the floor because they think the difference in color means there is a height difference. Weird.

Something only spry young'uns can do.

R won't let me or Dan'l nap on the sofa, but the kitten
is special, I guess.

This is a more recent photo. I thought the different prints might confuse him, but it just made him sleepy.

Movie Monday

2008-08-11T16:55:00.003-05:00

This was quite the weekend for movies; I made up for lost time. I almost wish I hadn’t though because a couple of the movies were really bad—one was intentional and the other wasn’t.

To cool off from yelling at an 11-year-old boy, I went to the discount theater and saw “Midnight Meat Train.” I saw it in the newspaper and it caught my attention because I hadn’t heard of it before and it sounded kinda dirty. Turns out it’s based on a short story by Clive Barker. I used to read Barker’s stuff when I was in high school and I will not even think the word “Candyman” three times in a row, much less say it in the middle of the day with the lights on while my image reflects on glossy paper. Anyway, most of the movies based on Barker’s books or stories have been pretty bad. “Hellraiser” was great, until they started with all the sequels—but I digress. “Midnight Meat Train” turned out to be pretty good, but that’s probably because I think Bradley Cooper is such a cutie. Heck, I even watched “Kitchen Confidential” because he was in it.

MMT is a horror movie, but it’s not gory. Yes, there’s a decapitation and lots and lots of blood, but I thought the scariest parts were when I was wondering, “Is he/she going to get caught?” Then there was a little “Rosemary’s Baby” thing going on with BC when he started eating his friend’s steak (and licking the juice) even though BC’s a vegetarian. That was very creepy. OK, so BC is a photographer and takes his stuff to Brooke Shields who thinks his work is good, but not edgy enough. He starts shooting at a subway and takes pictures of a woman. She disappears and he goes to the police. The police think he’s a stalker so he decides he’s going to find out what happened and get the police some evidence. He finds out that a butcher’s been killing people in the subway and becomes obsessed with the butcher. Hilarity ensues. No, I’m kidding.

Would I recommend this movie? Yes, if you like Clive Barker’s work and Asian horror flicks.

The other movies were movies I recorded on my DVR way back and finally had a chance to watch.

The first featured Markie Post and Candace Cameron--"Visitors of the Night." I should have changed the channel then, but the summary said that a mom becomes concerned when her daughter starts acting strange and the mom has weird dreams. What looked like a scary movie ended up being a crap fest of crap. Aliens kidnapped Markie and tagged her when she was a child. Years later, aliens kidnap and tag DJ and make her really smart, if being smart meant caring about the earth and its natural resources. Not only that, I think the aliens took their eggs because they had all these alien babies on their spaceship. Only you don’t know for sure that they’re aliens until much later in the movie, even though the crop circles should have been a big hint.

Would I recommend this movie? Only if you like crap on crap toast.

The other awful movie starred one of my favorite actors, Bruce Campbell, so naturally, I was going to watch it, no matter how bad it got. In “Alien Apocalypse” Bruce is a doctor/astronaut who was cryogenically frozen for 40 years along with three other people, one of whom is Gabrielle from "Xena." The other two astronauts die and Bruce leads a rebellion to free the humans from the giant termites that invaded the earth 20 years after the astronauts left on their mission. The acting is bad, but not as bad as the fake beards and hair they have to wear. Still, if you see a movie starring BC as the lead character, you have to expect low quality. And it lived up to my expectations.

Would I recommend this movie? Try getting me to admit I actually watched it or wrote this entry.

Baby Fever

2008-07-02T16:06:00.003-05:00

With my friends either posting pictures of their babies or talking about having a baby, I've got babies on the brain.

Here's a picture of my babe four years ago when he was about to turn seven. Doesn't sound very young, but he looks so young.

Boy yonder

The Urban Juror

2008-07-01T13:35:00.002-05:00

Last month I received a certified letter from the local sheriff telling me that I was selected as a potential juror for a grand jury. The letter also stated that if selected, I would serving for three months, days and times to be determined. Joy.

I thought about challenging my qualifications to be a juror after the judge said that jurors had to be good upstanding moral citizens. I wanted to say that I wasn't a moral person, but I didn't want to attract attention so I didn't say anything. Instead I crossed my fingers hoping that they wouldn't pick me. So what happened? I was selected to serve. Normally I wouldn't mind, but this interferes with my vacation plans. Yes I can take a day and they'll call in an alternate, but this also means that on Tuesdays that I have to serve, I'll feel rushed because I'll be at the courthouse in the morning and then back to work in the afternoon.

Let's hope it's as exciting as it is on Law & Order.

Myssi's Movie Mondays

2008-06-30T17:52:00.003-05:00

I didn’t see that many movies this weekend, but the ones I did see were not bad.

First up is Dead Alive. In this Australian movie, people turn into zombies after a rat monkey bites an old woman in a zoo as she spies on her son and his date. The old woman bites her nurse and some gang members and then they bite others and that’s how they turn into zombies until Lionel, the old woman’s son, kills them all with a lawnmower. His mom dies too in a really gross way.

Recommendations? Even though it looks like a pretty cheap movie, it’s a pretty entertaining movie. It’s not the best, but parts of it are really funny, which is what makes it worth watching.

Next is “Love with a Proper Stranger” with Steve McQueen and Natalie Wood. The poster makes it look like a delightful romcom, but it’s anything but a comedy. Steve McQueen plays Rocky, a sax player and Natalie was his one-night-stand who happens to be a good girl with three brothers. Natalie tells Steve that she’s preggers and asks him to find her a doctor. Instead of a doctor, they find some hack with a suitcase and Rocky threatens to beat everybody up. Rocky comes clean with N’s family and after getting his ass kicked, asks N to marry him. She decides she doesn’t want to marry someone who is being forced to marry her, moves out of her family’s apartment and starts dating Tom Bosley’s character, Columbo. (Part of me was hoping it was Columbo from TV, but this character is a cook.) After a few weeks (there’s no baby bump on her), Rocky decides to propose again and N kicks him out. Finally, Rocky serenades her outside where she works, she smiles and they embrace. The End.

Recommendations? Since you know how it ends, there’s no point in watching it unless you really like Natalie Wood and Steve McQueen.

Updates

2008-06-25T16:18:00.007-05:00

A few weeks ago, our intern invited us to her family's ranch for some R&R. We were allowed to take guests. Richard wasn't feeling well so only Dan'l went with me.

We saw lots of different birds, horny toads, a coyote and turtles. By the way, my boy scout was the only one who could correctly identify the birds.

Red-winged blackbird enjoys the view.

Later that evening we drove around the ranch to feed the cows. Some had their own source of food.One of the many calves on the ranch. The coyotes like to eat them.

Most people know I am not the type of person who enjoys spending time outside so I missed Dan'l getting on the horse. I was inside the AC-cooled house when D rode the former race horse. Thank goodness for cameras.

And thanks to our hosts. We had a good time and even though there were lots of Angus cows, I had no problem eating a Cheesy Angus combo from my grocery store the next week.

My Purse

2008-06-24T16:44:00.003-05:00

It's been longer than I care to admit, but a while back, I finished crocheting my tote. It was long and tedious at first and it didn't get any easier, especially when the base didn't fit the purse. Three bases later, I didn't want to see the tote again.

Fortunately, my son is proud of my bag and offered to do his best catalog pose.

This is going to cost us a lot in therapy.

Myssi's Movie Mondays

2008-06-23T16:13:00.003-05:00

Welcome back to Movie Mondays.

This weekend I saw lots of movies. I think I was making up for not watching movies or watching movies that were not memorable.

First up, is one that I had already seen before, except I didn’t remember until it was nearly over. Then I couldn’t remember if I had seen it from the start or if I had just caught the ending. Regardless, Stefanie Powers and Margot Kidder star in this 1999 movie, Someone is Watching. I think I was interested in watching this movie just because of Margot Kidder. This was a few years after her breakdown, so it was nice to see that she was still working, even if it was a made for TV movie.

OK, now on to the movie. SP and her son move into a house where a murder took place a year before. Immediately, someone is stalking SP. SP is already edgy because she had confronted a thief in their old house a few months before. Her son starts hearing noises in his closet, but she doesn’t believe him. The weird noises around the house freak him out, but pretty soon he’s made friends with “B.J.” Lois Lane is the eccentric neighbor who doesn’t know the house’s history. She is also freaked by the noises, but nobody sees anything. Now the part of the mysterious friend in the closet and weird noises in the attic scared me a bit because it reminded me of The Exorcist. Which isn’t fair, but I was spooked, especially because I was home alone.

Recommendations? Despite watching it twice and not remembering about it, I think I would. It’s fun and creepy and it’s nice to see mature women working, even if they play the victims.

The Other Woman seemed interesting because the TV description said that a young woman tells another woman that she’s going to marry her husband. I thought, “OK. That takes balls.” Turns out the married woman used to also be the other woman who stole her husband from another woman. They should have called it The Other Woman: When You Owe Karma. Oops, that might have given away the big twist.

Recommendations? To my friends who don’t mind Jason Priestly—another actor I’m glad to seems to find work.

One group of actors who I hope find work in other fields is the group from Dr. Chopper. I read the summary on the TV grid and thought it sounded like one of those classic silly horror movies about taking body parts to build or sustain bodies. (One of the movies I remember watching over and over again with delight on Saturday afternoon TV is The Brain That Wouldn’t Die. Sense a trend?) I started watching it and immediately there were fake boobies on the screen. This is when I got up to put a load of laundry in the washer and a load in the dryer. Then I threw out the kitchen trash and sorted newspapers and magazines for recycling. I was going to turn it off, but I got distracted. When I remembered the TV was on, the movie was over (not very long).

Recommendations? I couldn’t recommend this movie to my biggest enemy. It’s awful.

Dan’l and I saw Get Smart this weekend. Bad guys want to bomb L.A. where President James Caan will be listening to “Ode to Joy,” surprisingly not around Christmas. Full disclosure: Get Smart was one of my favorite shows when I was little latchkey child so I was going to force myself to like the movie, regardless. The one thing I remember from the show was that Max wasn't really smart. This Max is pretty smart and moves like Benny Ninja. It helps that Alan Arkin plays the Chief with the same easy-going attitude that he displayed when he played the captain in So I Married an Axe Murderer. Except in this movie AA kicks the VP’s ass. Go AA! General Zod (another actor from Superman), Terence Stamp, was also in this movie. He wasn’t in that much, but he has a pleasant voice and I can’t help but picture him as Bernadette in every movie he’s done since Priscilla. That always makes me laugh.

Recommendations? If you’re a fan of Steve Carrell, then yes, I recommend it. If you want to protest against the Love Guru, then yes, go see Get Smart. Otherwise, it’s OK to wait for the DVD.

Quinceañera, not the movie

2008-05-14T11:44:00.004-05:00

My cousin and his wife celebrated their daughter's 15th birthday with a quinceañera last Saturday. I'm not very close to my extended family, so I was really excited when I received my invitation. If all my cousins (on my mom's side) showed up with their spouses or girlfriend or boyfriend and kids, we'd easily pack a hall.

But I was mostly excited because neither Richard nor Dan'l had attended a quinceañera. Being that it was my family, I figured it would not be exciting--kegs, people smoking in the hall in front of children, live band, grandmas and old aunts dancing and drinking, fights with my sister. I thought this would be a real treat because R's family is so quiet and only the daughters-in-law drink. His small and quiet family were a shock to me when I met them. I wanted to return the favor.

Turns out, my sister did not pick any fights, not even with me. Only six cousins were present, including the dad of the birthday girl. My widowed aunt was pretty depressed and was drinking, but she was still on good behavior when we left. There were no kegs. My brother-in-law was the only one drinking at our table. My parents didn't dance and my grandparents stayed home. My sleazy uncle (through marriage, natch) danced with one of my cousins, but she's a bit skanky, so it wasn't a big deal. Overall, it was not what I was expecting.

There were a few surprises. I didn't expect the damas' dresses to be neon green. I didn't expect my sister to be MC. I didn't expect my parents to sit out the dance. I also didn't expect the birthday girl to be so annoyed with me (then again I was taking a bunch of pictures of her).

So here are the highlights:

My cousin's daughter, before they gave her the tiara. I didn't crop the picture because I wanted you to get the full hall effect. Oh yeah, most girls wear pink dresses, but I guess white goes better with green.

In my dama career, I wore a green dress, two blue dresses and a bright pink dress, but never anything in neon. (I don't know this girl or if we're related, sorry.)

Before the quinceañera is presented, the court is presented and they dance a waltz as the girl of honor makes her way to the floor. My favorite part was the damas' clear flashing heels.

My aunt's sister made the cake with the doll in it. I didn't have any doll cake, but the other cake was pretty good.

And here are my cousins Mandy, Patsy, Prissy (his name is Prisciliano), Sandra (yes, Sandy), me and my sister (doesn't she look more than three years older then me?).

Things That Haunt

2008-04-15T15:04:00.004-05:00

Our lovely intern handed me a story to revise this morning and tucked between the pages were three pages from my 9th, 11th and 12th grade yearbooks. She giggled with delight.

That's me on the upper left corner and my friend Gabby second from the right on the bottom row.

I posted the least embarrassing picture not because I'm ashamed of my pictures, but because I have to load the whole yearbook and it takes forever, even on my government Internets and a girl does have to work too.

So (jensational) it looks like I can even toss my old yearbooks because they are archived online for everyone to see.

Rebecca, the intern, said her dad spent most of the evening looking up people and she searched for hours last night. It is addictive though--like myspace or linkedin.

Before I find more pictures of myself to post, I'm going to look for my boss, who claims he's destroyed all pictures of himself. We'll see.

UPDATE: I couldn't help it. See if you can find the fresh faced freshman who was growing her hair out after shaving part of her head to spite her mom.

Movie Mondays

2008-04-14T15:43:00.003-05:00

This was a good week for movies. I saw one that I had never heard of, "He Ran All the Way." It stars Shelley Winters and John Garfield. I was tempted to change the channel because even though I like Winters (her part in A Place in the Sun breaks my heart), the movie description made the movie seem boring: "Thief holes up with family." Just as I was about to change the channel, my mother called. I caught the movie again about 30 minutes in and I was hooked. Garfield's character steals the payroll (in the time before checks) and kills a cop. He stole the money to spite his mother because she keeps emasculating him. He hides out at a public pool and meets Winters. He offers to escort her home and ends up in the apartment she shares with her parents and little brother. He takes the family hostage, but he's in over his head and needs "time to think." Winters is in love with him and she offers to leave with him. He sends her to buy a car, but when she gets back, she says the car needed work and won't be delivered until later that afternoon. He starts to get paranoid, thinking that she's betrayed him. I started to wonder too and thought she went to the police and set up a trap, but I was wrong. She was really in love with him and willing to leave with him. She ends up killing him. I guess she really didn't love him that much.

Recommendations? Yes. Watch with someone who likes character-based movies.

Earlier last week, I saw "The Wild Bunch." I didn't understand why it was rated R when I read the description. After all, William Holden and Ernest Borgnine are in this movie. I later found out that some violent scenes were cut from the original release. As a child of '80s Stephen J. Cannell shows, the violence didn't seem like much to me, but I was surprised at the amount of boobies that were flying all over scene.

The plot? Again, bad guys that you can't help but root for.

Recommendations? If you have a three hours to spare, watch it. It's also a good movie to watch when you're in the mood for something different. People have gone on and on about how it was a ground breaking movie, etc. As I said, I have a different perspective and unfortunately, all that violence is old hat.

Movie Mondays

2008-04-07T13:33:00.003-05:00

This was not a good weekend for watching movies, but I did manage to see one movie--"Foxy Brown."

IFC had a bunch of blaxploitation movies on Friday night and while I'll gladly admit to watching "Blacula" on Saturday afternoon TV, those kinds of movies aren't my first pick. '70s grainy movies aren't on the top of my list. I'm a child of digitally restored movies and that's how I prefer to see them.

But I decided to give this movie a chance and I'm glad I did. Pam Grier kicks ass and takes down "the man," only this time "the man" is a woman. She cuts off the woman's lover's penis and hands it to her in a jar. At least I think that's what it is. They never show what it is, but they do show plenty of boobs and chick fights.

Recommendation: make this a double feature with "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls."

Movie Mondays

2008-03-31T13:32:00.003-05:00

Whoa. It's been a while since I posted on movie Mondays. Rather than mention every movie I saw, I'll only mention the ones I can remember. Obviously, the ones I can't remember aren't worth mentioning.

The one that I clearly remember watching is "Bunny Lake is Missing." (I probably have an easy time remembering this because jensational said it sounded like it should be remade and guess what, it's set for a remake.) Bunny Lake and her mom moved from America to England to be with the mom's brother. Mom takes Bunny to daycare and leaves her in the first day room. She can't find who is in charge and tells the cook about her daughter. Mom is running late to meet the movers and needs to leave. When Mom goes to pick up Bunny, she finds out that Bunny never made it to class and they call the police. Sir Laurence Olivier plays the part of the inspector who starts to wonder if Bunny exists and whether or not Mom is all there.

It's a pretty good movie. I thought I knew what was going on and started to wonder whether it was all in Mom's head. I recommend you watch this with someone who doesn't like to chat while the movie is on.

Last night I saw "Rebound." It was one that Dan'l picked and even though I usually cringe at the thought of watching one of those pro players coaches kids losing team and gets the hot mom (oops, did I spoil the ending?), this movie wasn't so bad. There were a few funny parts here and there and the movie moves fairly quickly. I didn't have to sit through the losing team losing five games before the coach started caring.

Watch with kiddos.

During spring break, I saw "Walk the Line." I had no idea it was such a long movie. It's a love story. Everyone knows how it ends.

Watch on a TV with good audio.

I also saw "Joan Crawford: The Ultimate Movie Star." Unlike "Mommie Dearest," this documentary doesn't present Joan like the camp character she became. She started her career as a dancer. She was the ultimate flapper who enjoyed dancing the Charleston and acted in some very memorable movies. "The Women" and "Grand Hotel" are some of my favorites, but this movie pointed out some other Joan movies that I might want to watch. Heck, I even want to see her bad movies. And who doesn't like acting out scenes from "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?"

I liked this documentary, but mostly because I'm a big fan of Joan Crawford.

I'm not sure if this counts as movie that I saw (because I FF through about 90 minutes of this movie), but I saw "Fanny and Alexander." I think I was distracted by one of the actors who resembled my pastor. That actor has an affair early on in the movie and I couldn't watch any more.

While I'm not eager to put this movie on the top of my movie queue, if it's on TV, I might watch it.

The only other movie that I remember watching is "Picnic at Hanging Rock." Four girls and a teacher disappear after climbing a big rock in Australia on Valentine's Day 1900. It was Australia's first big international hit. I didn't not like this movie, but I don't think I'd watch it again. It was OK but there are parts that want to make it seem like the girls are in a trance and it just seems forced. Especially since the movie doesn't tell you what happened to them or why three seemed to be in trances, but the fourth was not affected, yet she still went missing.

Watch if there's nothing else to watch on cable.

More Spring Madness

2008-03-27T10:49:00.003-05:00

After we rested a day from our trip to Brownsville, Dan'l started his horse riding lessons, which were really more like rodeo camp. He went for three days and on Saturday, he participated in the rodeo.

He didn't ride a horse for the rodeo, but he did ride a steer. He won a buckle for coming in second place.

That's D on the left with the black vest and helmet.

That's D again on the far left in action.

Spring Break

2008-03-26T09:13:00.008-05:00

Kimmie made me feel bad about not posting daily pictures of the babe. (He'll always be my baby.)

Dan'l rassled an alligator at the zoo.

So I thought I'd combine a picture of Dan'l and some spring break pictures. I'm happy to report that no limbs were broken this time and we had a lovely time exploring the Valley. We stopped at Roma (or was it Rio Grande City?) because R saw a sign that said something like bird sanctuary or "Come see bird here. Turn right."

We saw no birds, but we had a nice view of the Rio Grande.

The Mexican side has a nice clean park.

The U.S. side has trash.

After we explored, I told Richard to punch it because our main reason for going, the Gladys Porter Zoo, closed at 5 p.m. and it thanks to R, we were running late. We finally made it to the zoo just to see that the sign outside said it closed an hour before dusk.

My travel companions

It's a very nice zoo and we missed the initial rush because after a while, we thought we were the only ones in the zoo. I started to panic, but there were still a few college students laughing at the chimps. Hopefully next time we go, it won't be so windy.

One of these days

2008-03-25T14:25:00.004-05:00

One of these days I'm going to get punched or slapped. That's what a lot of my co-workers (current and former, who by the way suck) say.

I went to H-E-B after work yesterday and as I walked to my car, I noticed a man and a woman leaving business cards on windshields. The guy was getting ready to put a card on my car and I said, "Please don't put a card on my windshield."

He said, "Which one's your car?"

I said, "That one. Please take that card with you."

He threw his card on the hood of the car and I said, "Take it with you. That's littering."

He picked it up and said, "Your car is littering."

So I, being the clever knickers (and apparently 10 years old) said, "No, your face is littering."

They kept walking away and put my groceries in my car and started laughing. Fortunately, they didn't see me laughing. Then I saw an H-E-B employee and kindly told him to tell someone that those two people were soliciting. Whether or not they were shooed away, I left feeling pretty good because I knew Dan'l would be proud of me. After all, he's the one who taught me to say that when he replied, "Your face," when I asked him, "What stinks?"

To All My Friends

2008-03-14T16:42:00.002-05:00

Welcome to hell.

Mr. Scampers Makes a Friend

2008-03-14T13:31:00.003-05:00

Mr. Scampers had a visitor last night. A puppy wandered into our back yard and wouldn't leave. Richard walked to several houses last night trying to find its home, but he didn't find the dog's owner. After spending an evening rolling around in the mud with Mr. Scampers, the pup was not ready to leave our house. We left the gate open overnight so it could leave, but like a loyal dog, it spent the night outside our back door. Fortunately, a neighbor claimed him this morning.

And in the words of the wise Jensational, who by the way had already given the pup a name: "Fare thee well, Pookey. May you have many other backyard adventures."

It's a good thing our dog is already brown; otherwise we'd have to give him daily baths.

Friends 4-evah!

That '70s Party

2008-03-12T13:35:00.003-05:00

Dan'l went to a party last weekend that had a '70s/retro theme. Our local Goodwill doesn't have a lot of stuff. They have a lot of T-shirts, but not '70s Ts.

I was lucky enough to find a pair of green polyester pants that still had the original tags on them. They were too big for Dan'l and they didn't flare at the bottom so I had to improvise.

Unfortunately, some kid told my son he looked gay and I don't think Dan'l will ever let me dress him again.

And yes, my house is ghetto, but that's the price I'll pay to send my son to a mediocre school district instead of a crappy school district.

Myssi's Movie Mondays

2008-03-10T14:31:00.004-05:00

This was not a very good weekend for movies. I spent most of Saturday waiting for my crochet teacher and fixing Daniel's '70s pants. I can't even remember what, if anything, I saw yesterday, with the exception of "Burning Bad." But that's TV, so it doesn't count.

The only movie I saw this weekend was "Shut Up & Sing," a documentary about the Dixie Chicks made over the course of three years while they were on tour and while they were making their last CD.

This movie did three things: 1) it helped me remember how much I like the Dixie Chicks' music; 2) showed me that not all music studios are fancy and glossy like they show on regular TV and 3) it made me regret not being able to play an instrument with a lot of passion--passion that's expressed through something that looks like an artistic stare or the pensive look (get that look by closing your eyes and looking like you're in slight pain). I played percussion in high school and a little bit of cello later, but all I ever did was tap my foot and bob my head a little--no artistic stares or blinding pains. That's why I have a regular job.

In Honor of the Former Boss of Me

2008-03-04T16:44:00.002-06:00

Chas called me this morning to remind me to vote, but because I voted last week all he did was remind me that I can't claim to have worked an important election when I was in news like every reporter, producer and photog who was in Austin in 2000. Thanks C!

Movie Mondays

2008-03-03T14:23:00.004-06:00

When co-workers ask me about my weekend on Mondays, I usually respond, "It was OK," or "I didn't do anything special." Other than doing laundry and some light cleaning, I watch TV.

When I got married, R and I didn't have a TV, so we listened to KUT's Twine Time and played cards or we would drive somewhere out of town for dinner.

After R's mom gave us a TV, we would rent a couple of movies and watch one Saturday evening and the other Sunday afternoon. Then I started working for the devil and got free cable that included all the channels (plus pay-per-view--accidentally). We stopped renting movies and because we didn't yet have the technology to stop whatever we were watching for a bathroom/snack/smoking break, we didn't watch movies. Instead, I'd watch whatever was on, constantly flipping the channel.

When I changed jobs, I lost my free cable. I downgraded and subscribed to Netflix and Dan'l and I picked up the old Saturday evening movie tradition. Sometimes we watch those so bad they're kinda funny and good movies on SciFi. Other times, we'll watch recorded shows we both watch like "NCIS," "Monk," "Psych," "Dancing With the Stars" or "Good Eats."

Last week, Dan'l and I watched "It! The Terror from Beyond Space" and I kept asking Dan'l if he was scared. He wasn't and instead became very annoyed with me. But we usually have a good time.

This weekend I saw "Steel Magnolias." I wouldn't say this is a favorite movie. I don't really love it, but I'll watch it whenever it's on TV. (Even though the DVD is probably $4.99, I won't buy it because it's not the same as watching it on TNT.) I think I like watching it because it's a bit of a memory exercise for me. I've memorized so many lines from that movie, I'm sure I can put on a one-woman show playing all the parts.

I also saw about an hour of "Tombstone." This was the other movie about Wyatt Earp from the early '90s. I was duped into watching "Wyatt Earp" in the cinema--all three hours of it. I left the theater confused. "Tombstone" is a bit more straightforward, although I get a lot of the characters confused because 1) they're too many to keep track and 2) they all look alike because of their mustaches. This is another movie with an all star cast. Locke from "Lost" and Lowell from "Wings" are in it too. They weren't big stars then, but it's fun to see then in '90s movies. Among the stars though is Val Kilmer, playing a really creepy Doc Holliday. I always thought there was something odd about the way he played Doc and I think it's because he plays him as the kind of guy who would have sex with a man, woman and sheep. That's not the impression I got from Dennis Quaid in "Wyatt Earp."

Unfortunately, we didn't get to Daniel's movie, "The Shaggy Dog." I'm hoping he'll watch that sometime this week after school, but I won't be that lucky. Fortunately, Robert Downey Jr. is in it. Maybe his performance wasn't good enough to get nominated for any awards, but I'll sacrifice an hour and a half of my life watching Tim Allen just for Robert. And Dan'l.

Other movies that I watched for more than 10 minutes, but didn't pay full attention:

"The French Lieutenant's Woman"--huh?!
"The Watch"--I didn't have to pay the slightest bit of attention or even be in the same room to know that this movie is boring. What's worse is that I'll probably end up watching "Wisegal."

I can't remember if I saw any other movies. I watched "Torchwood," but that doesn't count as a movie. Maybe I can mention it on TV Tuesdays. Nah. I'll spare us all.

My Scarf

2008-02-29T15:51:00.003-06:00

My co-worker was kind enough to volunteer to model my scarf.

My first project

I would have posted sooner, but I had a hard time taking a picture of it without a lot of glare. I also didn't have a good background.

I'm now working on a tote. I've started and reworked it about five times in the past eight days. Wish me luck.

Hot, hot, hot

2008-02-25T15:26:00.004-06:00

Jensational said it is snowing in Chicago. I haven't seen snow since 2004. We do have plenty of sunshine though. This is today's widget report:

Don't take my word for it, see for yourself.

Plenty of trees provide shade for the deer

The trees seem to provide shelter for another animal

Hello Kitty.

Although it wasn't as hot, it was just as sunny last Friday and my co-workers and I took the opportunity to fly kites. Of course, just as we were ready to get back to work, I lost my grip on the string and off it went. I asked the groundskeepers (they were watching and laughing at us, well, me running) if they had a tool long enough to take it down. They said they might and if they got it, they'd leave it at the business office. Sadly, they weren't able to get it down and now HK will forever remain grounded. Pretty sad. It was a cute kite.

Happy Valentine's Day

2008-02-14T11:30:00.003-06:00

I'm not sure I'm that comfortable with Batman inviting me to "swing" with him. Would he bring Robin or Catwoman? Or Alfred?

Are you really?

2008-02-13T13:15:00.003-06:00

This is a sign I saw while I was in Odessa.

Campaign sign in Odessa

I'm not familiar with the candidate. Maybe it works for her.

If I were running, I might want a name like "Les Eville."

I Know

2008-02-04T16:42:00.000-06:00

Writing about the weather is about as productive as writing about dieting, but I had to share this with my readers and friends. It's hot here today. This isn't even spring weather.

What is Wrong With Me?

2008-01-22T13:53:00.000-06:00

I saw this picture on iTunes and think he looks really sexy.

What's wrong with me?

A Valentine

2008-01-16T08:59:00.000-06:00

The things that helped me fall for my husband somehow became the things that annoyed me after a while. His deep West Texas baritone became a loud nasal whine. His stylish fedora became a source of frustration every time I replaced a hat he lost. The lovely music he played on the piano stopped. The poems he wrote and recited didn't pay the bills. But this morning, as I commented on how this morning's fog hid the city's ugliness, Richard recited part of a poem:

"The fog comes
on little cat feet.

"It sits looking
over harbor and city"

It's part of a Carl Sandburg poem, "Fog." I vaguely remember Sandburg from high school American literature, but fortunately for us, Google has made it easy for those of us who only read about 10 percent of what was assigned.

Fog

The fog comes
on little cat feet.

It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.

Maybe it's because I was never good at poetry, but I'm impressed with people who can recite poetry, especially when it's about whatever situation we're in. Richard does that, not too often that it became a cheap trick, but enough that it feels special every time, even if it's not a romantic poem. This morning, I felt like the luckiest woman in town.

Or maybe I'm just a sucker for lines.

Worst Advertising Ever

2008-01-14T10:28:00.001-06:00

Normally, I'm not one for political correctness and I'll admit that am grateful for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. day because we get a day off. But I think this ad is in very poor taste.

Late Entry

2008-01-11T23:18:00.000-06:00

Yay. The weekend is here!

First Crochet Lesson

2008-01-10T22:18:00.001-06:00

Dan'l and I had our first crochet lesson with a real pro. She's been crocheting since she was in sixth grade and she's a great teacher. She's really patient and loves what she does. That really makes a difference.

I'm working on a scarf and Dan'l is still working chains. Our next lesson is on Tuesday. Stay tuned for an update.

Project Runway

2008-01-09T22:24:00.000-06:00

Today's challenge had the designers design and make prom dresses. They also showed some of the designer's prom pictures and that made me wish I could do prom all over again.

I loved and hated my dress (don't get me started on my date). It was a halter top dress, but my mom didn't want anyone to notice I was a woman, so she had the seamstress make the halter higher. All it did was make my boobs look bigger which was really funny because the guys in my group (who have known me since elementary) hadn't realized I developed C cups.

But that's the story of my life. My mom would always agree for me to stand in girls' quinceñeras, except she'd always make the seamstresses cover my entire chest. Except for one time when she didn't go to any of the fittings. Is it a surprise that Gracie's green quinceñera dress was my favorite? It was an off the shoulder green emerald dress and I would wear it while watching TV in my room on Saturday nights.

My second favorite was a beautiful two piece outfit. The skirt was a gray-blue floor length jobbie (I ended up using that fabric to make my brother an Aladdin costume) and the top was the same color, except it had a white, gray and silver lace combination. It was more like a jacket than a top though so I didn't wear it often because it was hot. Now that I think about it, that outfit covered me from head to toe, but I still liked it. I guess I liked dressing up more than anything else which is strange because I'm not a dressing up kind of gal.

I don't think I have a favorite from tonight's show. Everyone was talking about draping and I don't see how girls at the prom could dance comfortably with all that fabric. Or in those high heels.

I'm glad I have a son. I'll only have to worry about renting or buying a tux.

UPDATE: I think like Ricky's, the one that was voted off. It closely resembles what I wore, except it wasn't red (I'm in Joan Crawford's camp). Those judges are full of crap.

"The Medicated Child"

2008-01-08T22:14:00.000-06:00

Tonight's Frontline, "The Medicated Child," focused on kids who have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and are taking prescription drugs to control their condition.

As some of you may know, I've had some teachers sort of suggest I put Dan'l on drugs to get him to calm down. The problem is that he he finishes his assignments before the other kids and he gets excited and tries to encourage the other kids so he can have someone to talk to. He's also fearless and because he's an only child, he's used to talking to adults and unfortunately, sometimes tries to get away with talking to use like equals.

I resisted medicating him and instead tried my mom's remedy: hysterics (on my part). It seems to have worked so far. I tell him that his behavior is a reflection on me and I am an upstanding member of the community. I may have also told him that they'd throw me in jail for neglect regardless of what happened. I know I was terrified of the shame I'd bring on my family if anyone saw me throwing a tantrum at a store or church. My mom always said it would kill her and I didn't want everyone to know that I drove my mother her death.

So watching parents give their five-, 15- and 16-year-olds drugs to keep them stable, awake, less anxious and whatever else children with bipolar disorders do scares me. One kid, who is now 16, has a tick as a result of the meds he's been on that makes him roll his head every few seconds.

I hate to sound mean, but what is it about these children? Do they lack discipline? Are the parents too lenient or lazy? Is it something in the water or food? Soap? Lotion? I wonder if my parents medicated my sister, perhaps she may not have been as evil? She's still evil, though. Oh, that's another thing. Seeing how she embarrassed my parents kept me in check.

Raising children is scary. Things are about to get harder with Dan'l, but depending on how hard it gets, I might end up being the one on medication.

Is it Winter?

2008-01-07T22:55:00.000-06:00

It seems we have a heat wave in South Texas. Normally, spring brings temps in the high 80s and low 90s, but it's still the first week of January and it was 89 yesterday.

This is what my widget showed today:

It looks promising at the end of the week, but I won't hold my breath. It'll probably be in the low 70s. You still miss Texas, Jenny?

Why I Can't Wake Up

2008-01-06T23:40:00.000-06:00

Ugh, I need to start going to bed earlier. I showed up late to work all three work days last week and it looks like I'm going to be late again? How do I know? It's past 11 and I'm still up. Why do I have to work?

Shopping Trip

2008-01-05T23:50:00.000-06:00

I only have eight minutes before my deadline, so I need to write this quickly.

Today we went to San Antonio to do a little shopping. We don't have a real bookstore in Laredo and our grocery stores are crappy. I think it might be nice to go one day and do touristy things.

Another Reason to Have a Child

2008-01-04T23:28:00.000-06:00

For some reason, Dan'l was feeling generous and made mac and cheese for dinner tonight. D made dinner. This kid barely events like for me to tell him to take a shower. Whatever the reason, I am glad he did it. He hustled around the kitchen and made sure everything tasted well and looked great. It did. He was pretty proud of himself; he earned it.

I'm proud of him too.

Thank You

2008-01-03T23:22:00.000-06:00

My son got a lot of Christmas presents this year. He ripped the wrapping paper to see what he received and gave his parents, nana and aunt and uncle big hugs for his presents.

That's the fun part. The not so fun part is getting Dan'l to write thank you cards. I tried to get him to write cards to his aunt and uncle and nana as soon as possible, but when we came back home and the rest of the gifts starting trickling in, well, it got harder and harder to encourage him to write those cards.

I don't blame him though. How can you be thankful for something you don't like? "Thank you for the sweater. I'll think of you when I wear it. Love, me." "Thank you mom and dad for the socks, board game, CDs and book. It was very thoughtful."

I'm content with a hug, but my husband and his family don't think anyone is grateful until they see it in writing. Do people care about receiving thank you cards? I know my boss still has the card I sent him after my interview, but I think it's because the card is a copy of the cover of the book, "Oh the Places You'll Go." I thought the cards were cool and he has pretty good taste, although he still has the complete card so maybe he just wanted to refer to my ass-kissing and groveling for later when I started acting up.

I don't remember people's names and forget birthdays, but I say "Thank you." My son remembers people and their names, so maybe he's not a complete savage.

Lifetime

2008-01-02T22:59:00.000-06:00

I know I've written about this before, but since the networks have been airing crap, I started watching a lot of Lifetime. I've lost track of the movies I've seen because I've seen some of them more than once. That's not the problem though. My problem is that I've started recording movies when I'm not here. Stupid movies like one with Lara Flynn Boyle where she plans to take over Faye Dunaway's company. I also recorded one with Gabriel Anwar and Bill Pullman. Fortunately, that one ended before it was over because I ran out of recording space.

I have a problem.

Judith Light and Ricky Schroeder are on the TV next to me, but this movie runs past midnight. I can't stay up that long. I need to get up early and go to work. The story is good and as someone who is close to her son, well, it's pretty scary. But even though it's airing again, I'm not going to record it, not just because I'm running out of DVR memory either. I need to limit my Lifetime intake, especially with all the political ads running.

Like Judy, the state senator, says, "Children are our most precious resources" and so is my sleep.

Happy New Year

2008-01-01T22:05:00.000-06:00

OK, so I might be 22 hours late, but it's still New Year's Day.

Despite being MIA during December, I decided to blog 365 days this year. I'm going to try my best to write daily entries on my blog and keep it interesting. I know my readers are busy so I'll try not to whine. I might bitch a little, but that's like venting, so that's allowed.

Is anyone else taking the challenge?

Power Walk

2007-12-01T20:00:00.000-06:00

I went for a walk this evening and I usually have the neighborhood to myself. The other walkers walk in the morning because they don't work and have all the time in the world. I like having my little route to myself. I turn on my iPod and strut, prance or cha cha part of the way.

That's what normally happens.

Today my neighbor, who is really cute and petite and chatty and remembers me from middle school (I vaguely remember her from the buss), waved to me from across the street and I waved back, not knowing who it was, but wanting to be polite.

She met me half way as I was crossing the street and said, "Let's walk together."

I said, "I don't want to slow you down."

She replied, "No way. I am recovering from surgery and taking it slow."

I said, "OK," but groaned on the inside.

Turns out it wasn't so bad, and she talked the whole time and we were finished with our walk before I got to get a word in edgewise.

But I can't do it again. I missed listening to my music and dancing down the street. Yes, I probably look like a freak when I do that, but no one is really around to see me. Plus that has always been my time. My time to act silly and my time to walk off any huffiness I might be feeling.

This is terrible. I'm going to have to either buy a treadmill or start walking at 5 a.m.

You Can Still Be With the Wizard

2007-11-30T21:07:00.001-06:00

Woo hoo! It's finally Nov. 30. Even though I didn't post every day, I feel pretty good about posting more than once a week.

They say that if you write daily, writing should come easier to you. Eh, I could go either way.

I don't think I'll blog every day, but I will do my best to write as much as possible.

Earlier today I went to happy hour with a friend, a co-worker and they guy we were trying to set up with my friend. I'm not sure it's going to work out though. The guy is a total nerd. Big time. Not that I have anything against nerds, but how can a girl relate to that? When I was getting to know Richard, I pretended to know all the words he'd say and said I agreed with his metaphors, but I didn't get any of it. He pretended to like popular music and my friends. I'm not sure at what point I was finally able to say, "Huh?" or didn't change the channel on the car radio, but as different as Richard and I are, we do have a lot of things in common, too.

So how does a girl get a nerd to look past his computer game? I'm certainly not the person to answer this, but I will gladly engage in a short tutorial about the evils of the Prime Directive or how Battlestar Galactica kicks ass to any woman (L) who might be interested in dating this guy. Maybe that might help a little? Maybe?

What Would You Do?

2007-11-29T16:50:00.001-06:00

A recent discussion at work revealed that our lovely bubbly intern loved rubbing her ex-boyfriend's feet and as a treat would occasionally rub lotion on them too. She also admitted to popping his pimples.

I was floored when I heard this. The intern is a very nice girly 22-year-old young woman who likes shiny pink things. I would have expected her ex to rub her feet, carry her purse and buy tampons for her. Apparently not. She was smitten and in love and rubbed his feet.

This reminds me of an old friend from high school. After five marriages, her dad finally realized that dumping his wife for a maid was a better deal than any of the local gold diggers. I guess he thought the maid would be grateful for him. Anyway, she would do everything for her husband. She really spoiled him. How spoiled was he? She'd put his socks on his feet for him. There was nothing wrong with his back. He could still bend over or lift his leg, but she'd still do it.

While that's not gross, it turned me off to doing any servant-like duties for anyone ever. R irons his own shirts most of the time; he serves himself food and puts away his own plate; he takes his own dirty clothes to the laundry room. When he was sick I'd change his dressing, but that's completely different. I never rubbed his feet once. He clipped his own nails and put on his own socks.

Despite bearing his child, I refuse to even share soap or a toothbrush with my husband, so you can be sure that I won't be popping any zits on him anytime.

Am I being selfish? What's something you've done for someone else that might be considered gross?

Free evening

2007-11-28T22:33:00.000-06:00

Richard and I assigned Dan'l more chores; he has to Swiffer the hall and living room twice a week, wash dishes one night, clean his bathroom and pick up trash around our house outside.

He's been acting too much like a spoiled kid, forgetting to do his chores. He washes dishes on Tuesday so we try to keep dinner simple and the dishes to a minimum. However, he forgot to sweep today, but Richard swept for him. That meant Dan'l still had to do a chore so he washed dishes. So today I felt like a princess because R fixed dinner and Dan'l cleaned up. Nice.

Everyone should get their own maid, er, child. That or a seeing eye miniature horse or both.

I Don't Litter

2007-11-27T22:13:00.000-06:00

Last week, I got a call from a woman who said she was conducting a survey wanting to know why people litter. I told her neither I nor my family litter and she said, "OK. Thanks," and hung up.

Today I got a call about a "very important marketing survey." Normally I like to talk to these people and give them strange answers, but today I wasn't in the mood because "Peter" called at 9:31 p.m.

I said, "Peter, I told your colleague last week that I don't litter and my husband and son pick up trash--they're Boy Scouts. Not only that, it's past 9 p.m."

He responded, "Yes, we're running late, but it's a very important survey."

Me: "I told you we don't litter. Good-bye."

I'm not a freak about people calling me past 9, but I have a problem with marketing people calling so late. I also have a problem with my son's dentist's office person who called on Sunday to remind us about his appointment scheduled for Monday. Again, I'm not a blue law freak, I like having the option to go shopping on Sundays, but if I give up my nights and Sundays to these callers, what will be left for me?

By the way, I do like to taunt the guys who call from the paper trying to sell me a subscription. I tell them I think their reporters are lazy and stupid and wouldn't waste my money on them. Plus I get tired of my husband pointing out all the typos.

They never know what to say after hearing that.

Movie night

2007-11-26T22:30:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite movies, "The Women," is currently playing on TCM. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. It's long and it's about a bunch of socialites trying to hold on to their husbands, but there's a fashion show, a confrontation between the mistress and the misses, a cat fight, Rosalind Russel and Joan Crawford.

I read that they're remaking the movie (groan) so make sure you see this one. I'm not a movie snob, but most of the remakes of originally good movies stink.

The goody goody main character is annoying, but it's fun to watch her frenemies gossip about her.

By the way, I'm blogging on fumes. Although I didn't blog every single day in November so far, I can't wait for the month to end.

My Guide to Life

2007-11-24T22:11:00.000-06:00

Oprah's got her favorite things. The nanny in "The Sound of Music" sings about a few of her favorite things when the dog bites, when the bee stings, or when she's feeling sad.

Me? I think it's hard to think about brown paper packages wrapped up in string when the car breaks down. Although I must admit, that I, as does everyone else, like receiving packages in the mail. Except I usually pay for the packages. I don't get to try them for free like O most likely does.

Anyway, so Oprah's got her faves. She lists soap, a skin care system, some singer I've never heard of, kitchen appliances (like she cooks), some book, Scrabble, a bunch of movies and fancy ice cream.

What are my favorite things? Believe it or not, and I think Oprah would disapprove because I can't go to her site and click a link to buy it, my absolute favorite thing is getting in the car and going on a road trip. Yes, it's annoying as hell to be with the same two people for two days straight in a car, but there's just something that is so appealing about wide open spaces. Maybe it's stopping at a road side diner where the waitress calls everyone hon and nobody will blink if you order chicken fried steak, driving through a beautiful valley or finding out that there are still places where you can see millions of stars even close to the horizon.

I don't think I have a second favorite thing. They pretty much just are favorite things. So in no particular order, a few of my favorite things:

Singing karaoke (or in the car) and putting on a show
Wearing a fancy dress (or costume) around the house
Catching up with friends online or on the phone
Listening to Christmas music
Dancing
Watching my favorite TV shows
Making people uncomfortable because they're too uptight
Making people laugh
Baking and eating crispy oatmeal raisin cookies
Drinking Spanish sparking white wine
Eating food from a street vendor in Nuevo Laredo and drinking apple Joyas or Mexican Coke
Making costumes for my son and playing dress up with him
Letting my husband take care of me
Dark chocolate
Dr Pepper and Cheetos
Spending a little time away from R and D so I can get stuff done so I can spend time with them and not having to run errands and do stuff when they are around.

Obviously those aren't my only favorite things, but those are the ones that just popped in my head. Plus I self edited. Not everyone needs to know how cleaning helps me relax or that whenever someone order tacos, I order bacon and egg because R doesn't like the smell of bacon so we never buy it. OK, so now you know, but it's not really a favorite thing.

And my guide to life? Well I don't have one. I wasted too much time putting things off and now I'm trying to actually get those things done so I can enjoy my favorite things without feeling guilty. So go out and enjoy yourself. Do something silly and show O that we don't need her stinkin' "Guide to Life" to make ourselves feel better.

Peer Pressure

2007-11-23T23:13:00.000-06:00

After missing hundreds of scheduled airings of "High School Musical" and "HMS2," I finally saw both movies and I can see why they are so popular. I wouldn't want to sit through them again, but FF to the tunes and dancing, and I could sit through another evening of 'em.

I really didn't want to like the movies, but since I had never seen them, I was curious. Plus there was nothing else on TV. I felt as if I had no other choice but to watch it.

It was a bit like this morning when Dan'l and I braved the crowds at Target and Wal-Mart for dog food and laundry detergent. It seemed like every fourth or fifth person in the stores had a gigantic TV in their carts. After a while, I felt like I should have one in my cart so I wouldn't feel left out. I resisted, but I felt a bit of regret walking out of the store without a new plasma TV. There was also a very long line at the camera department and part of me wanted to hang out and watch what people were getting. There weren't many people shopping for Christmas lights, Gain or Puppy Chow so I couldn't watch people in those departments.

The people who weren't buying gigantic TVs were stalking up with the latest toys to resell in Mexico. I'm pretty sure they resell that stuff. There's no need for someone to buy 15 Bratz dolls and thingees or 20 remote control cars and trucks. It's interesting to see those people push their way to the front of the line in the same entitled fashion that they litter the streets and parking lots and take advantage of their employees. Compare that to the couples with their small children who don't pile electronics into their carts, but instead buy some clothes, shoes and toys for their kids.

Listen to me, I'm starting to sound like BB going on and on about the noble savages. I'm not saying that. What I mean is that I have more in common with the low paid uneducated family who finally had a chance to go "up north" to do some shopping than with the middle class shoppers. For that I guess I'm grateful because once I start acting like I'm entitled, well, one of you gentle readers (or two) will have to slap me.

Why am I thankful?

2007-11-22T12:05:00.000-06:00

I give thanks because:

Richard is finally able to enjoy a turkey dinner after three years
Dan'l helped prepare dishes and with clean up without complaining
I have friends who look out for me, miss me and don't think I'm a turkey
I have friends whom I choose to have relationships with because they rock
My dog finally stopped licking me
I can still enjoy dairy products
I have good taste
I've never been arrested
I don't have to warm up the bed at night
And I was able to sleep in this morning and not have to rush anywhere.

Lite Blogging

2007-11-20T22:26:00.000-06:00

Sorry about yesterday. I meant to blog when I got home, in fact, I even had a topic, but I forgot all about posting after I found out that my son has had four write ups in school. The last one was for not getting parent signatures on the previous three write ups. Great.

So I spent an hour with my husband and son, nodding and supporting my husband and trying not to get hysterical at the thought of my son acting up in class and bringing shame to the family. In fact, I learned how to act hysterical from one of the best hysterical people ever -- my mom.

Now I know we complain about how we end up becoming just like our moms, but try to understand how hard it was for me not to say, "How could you do this to us? You lied to us because I ask you daily how it went at school and if I have to sign anything. All my friends think you're a great kid, but you're getting written up. Now the teacher wants a conference and I have to take time off work and tell my boss that I need to meet with my son's teacher for a conference. Everyone's going to think you're doing poorly in your work or misbehaving. I can't afford to lose work. I need to be there. I seem to be asking for time off all the time. I need to save that time for emergencies. What's next? Are you going to call me from jail? Because I'm not going to bail you out so don't even bother calling me."

That's basically what my mom told my sister like once a month. I was the good middle child. I would get in trouble, but because I was such a good student, nobody ever told my parents. Weird. I got in fights with boys when we had substitute teachers. I was a bully. I talked back to teachers. I talked too much in class. I was a smart alec. I used to get Cs in conduct all the time. (Thanks for reminding me Jensational!)

I was finally able to control my temper, but not my mouth. That's probably why I've never been promoted. (OK, I did get promoted at the pharmacy, but that's just because I took a test.) Can you understand why I'm unsure of how to handle my son? The neurotic bit worked on me via my sister, but as I said, I still can't keep my mouth shut.

What to do? What to do? What to do? For now I'll just nod and agree with whatever R says. That way when Dan'l starts therapy, he can blame R.

Birthdays

2007-11-18T20:11:00.000-06:00

They sort of just happen. I never really got very excited about them because when I was younger, my mom worked evenings and my dad worked out of town, so I couldn't invite my friends for a party. When I moved away, my 21st birthday coincided with a party/fund raiser for one of the groups I joined. Plus a dear friend was in from out of town, so we lived it up. that weekend. Then I went back to school for a couple of days and then back home for Thanksgiving break and more celebrating.

I liked the idea of a week-long celebration, but that's something that only 21 year old can do.

Years later, my boss and the boss decided to throw me a party at work that included a Dear Daniel piñata (Hello Kitty was sold out). So there I was, 29 years old and swinging a stick at an unbreakable piñata. (I think the people who made it missed the part where it's supposed to be easy to break.)

Today I turned 34. I'm still on this side of 35, which is on that side of 40. I'll never be ask old as my older sister and I will never look as haggard as she. However, one thing that does give me chills is something a former co-worker (whose birthday was on the 17th and he also had bad BO) said.

MR said, "You know we're Valentine's Day babies."
Me: "Hmm?"
MR: "We're Valentine's Day babies."
Me: "What?" (I thin I was in a stupor caused by his stinkiness)
MR: "If you did the math, you'd see that we were likely conceived on Valentine's Day."
Me: "Eww."

So thank you MR, for the most memorable birthday. For more than 20 year, I was content with to think that I was just born. No thoughts about conception or anything. Thank you.

Hello Again

2007-11-16T22:59:00.000-06:00

Did you know "Beastmaster," the movie and TV show, were both based on a book? Yes, there is a book called "Beast Master." Who knew? Not only that, the only thing they have in common is the title and then not even because the book is two words.

That's the movie Beastmaster on the right. I liked him on "V."

Before you start rolling your eyes, I remember when I saw "Beastmaster" at the cinema. It was one of a double feature. I think we walked in late, so we missed the part where the cow is carrying the baby. Funny thing, it was the B movie and I can't remember the name of the A movie we went to see. But ever since then, it's been on rotation in cable and I admit to watching it, although not as often as "Selena" or "Steel Magnolias."

The Canadian series "Beastmaster" was on SciFi practically all day yesterday. I could only sit through half of one episode. The cheese on that show was unintentional. Plus it looked like they were trying to be a little more like "Hercules" or "Xena," but they didn't come close.

Why do I mention this? Because I know deep down, we are all secret "Beastmaster" fans and I know you'd appreciate the trivia.

I'm Old

2007-11-15T22:30:00.000-06:00

I just finished watching "Without a Trace." Nancy McKeon from "The Facts of Life" played the missing character's mother. The dad was played by Worf from "Star Trek the Next Generation."

Despite watching a Trekker's treat, I couldn't stop thinking that Jo had a college-aged son. Worf had a little bit of gray, but it's not like I can tell he's aged since he wore prosthetics that covered his face. But Jo had a son who was supposed to be a college sophomore. I remember the first time I saw her on "The Facts of Life." I thought she was old then (not like Mrs. Garret old, but like my sister old), but her fake son is only about 10 years older than my son, which isn't that much.

Sigh.

Where did the time go?

Have You Ever?

2007-11-13T22:06:00.000-06:00

I toiled most of the day working on a press release that gave me a lot of trouble. First of all, it's about a study/research, so I have to understand it so I can explain it and make sense in the release. That wasn't too hard.

My second problem though, was writing about something that I don't agree with. Yes, I know I don't know all the answers, but it's as if a big lifer person had to write a release saying euthanasia, although not moral, has positive outcomes. Or a vegan writing about the benefits of eating liver.

I think there are gray areas we visit all the time, writing about mindless things, but sometimes, it's just black and white.

My husband says that if I can sell something I don't agree about or believe, then I'm good at my job. Now if I could only sell myself (in a non-sexual way, of course).

Slacker

2007-11-12T19:35:00.000-06:00

I'm such the slacker. I didn't post yesterday and I didn't post anything earlier today.

I can sit here and make excuses all evening, but you know what it's like, having to post daily. It's like the high school journal my English teacher made us keep.

Journal:

Nothing happened yesterday and nothing happened today. I'm writing because I have to and not because I have some great insight into nothing. I didn't read the assignment and can't even comment on that. How many times can I write my name over and over again without my teacher noticing?

Blog version:

Nothing happened yesterday and nothing happened today. I'm writing because I slacked off yesterday and didn't post anything. I made a commitment and I didn't follow through. It's a slippery slope to spending my money on booze and women instead of paying the light bill or buying groceries.

OK, so maybe it's not as bleak, but I'm trying to keep my word. Too many times I tell my son, "Tomorrow," expecting him to forget. He's at an age where he remembers now. I told him I'd get him a Runescape book and I got it for him. That should hold him off for a while.

That way, when I ground him or say no to something, he'll know I mean it and know I won't forget.

Whoa

2007-11-10T23:54:00.000-06:00

Sorry for the following lame entry, but I just noticed the time and if I don't do some sort of entry, I'll be easier for me to skip other entries.

Nothing funny, witty or cute today (or most days, anyway). I am peeved though because I finished watching "Torchwood" and it was boring. Last week was boring too.

Maybe something fun will happen tomorrow.

I'm Your Boogie (Wo)Man

2007-11-09T14:15:00.000-06:00

I am currently recovering from staying up late and overindulging last night at a K.C. and the Sunshine Band concert.

This is how I remembered him.

The lovely intern at our office called my co-worker at 7 p.m. to tell her she had two extra tickets to the concert--floor seats. With a few minutes notice, I was ready to go.

Even though heat rises, I could feel the cold from the floor that doubles as an ice hockey rink. The large cold beer can in my hand wasn't helping either, but I chugged it and warmed up shortly after that. After dancing and drinking another beer, I was sweating.

The concert was fun. K.C. has obviously been performing a long time and knows what the crowed likes. He played his big disco hits, two dance covers and a couple of ballads. It must be a sign of aging, but I know he played a couple of his hits at least twice. I didn't mind. I was glad he didn't play any serious-songwriter crap. As I said, K.C. knows what his audiences want.

K.C. is quite the low-impact performer, but that didn't keep us from leaving our seats and pushing our way to the front. I didn't get to shake his hand, but I touched his pant leg and one of the guitarist's dread lock. But the best part was when one of the guitarists or the bassist, I'm not sure which one, gave me his towel. It wasn't sweaty or stinky, but only two of us got something from the band and that was enough to make me feel special. Plus I didn't even have to take my top off or make out with my co-worker.

All that and the concert ended before 10 p.m. What more can you ask for?

Cutting It Close

2007-11-08T22:52:00.000-06:00

With a few hours to spare, I'd like to wish my elementary and junior high school best friend, Annette, a happy birthday. I am so grateful you are older than me, even if its just a few days.

Another Day, Another Post

2007-11-07T20:09:00.000-06:00

I feel like my former news director--he liked doing live shots just because we had the equipment to do it. Now I'm blogging because I can, not because I have anything to say.

I'm not even a poet, so I can't wax poetic.

Thank you for your visit. Maybe tomorrow will be more exciting.