January Review

February 4, 2009 at 10:53 am (Tales, Anecdotes, and Observations)
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Why yes, I’m aware it’s February… the 4th, right?  It might even be Wednesday, but I’m too tempted to cheat andlook at my cell phone.  However, because I practically skipped the entire month of January (andDecember, but I’ll get to that in a minute), I figured I’d do a tidy little review of my take on the previous month.

Jan 1st – 15th: Eh, nothing important that I can remember.  The heating system crapped out on us, and we had to spend a night in a hotel, but it’s nothing anybody wants to read about. 

Jan16th: Beginning of the end for Battlestar Galactica.  Awesome, awesome, awesome show, Friday nights at 10pm eastern on SciFi.  Still not over Tigh and Tyrol being Cylons, but they’re my favorite characters.  Sorry Lee (you’re still HOTT!, though).  Also the day we got the new heating system. 

Jan 17th: Our 5th wedding anniversary.  Yes, we have two anniversaries and celebrate them both. 

Jan 20th: I’m still waiting for the rainbows and the unicorns and the waters to recede.  Silly them, I stopped drinking kool-aide years ago.  Played video games all day, and would have avoided the news completely if not for my mother-in-law.  Damn her.

Jan 22nd: My grandfather’s 83rd birthday.  Also my original due date – funny, because I was supposed to be a boy, and named after that grandfather. 

Jan 27th: Sophie’s 6th birthday.  Tried to take the kids out to Applebee’s sans Daddy, turned into a fiasco.  Never visiting that location again - they’ve always been a bit flaky, but that day was ridiculous.

Jan 30th – Feb 1st: Celebrated Sophie’s birthday.  Instead of spending a lot of money on throwing her a party, anddealing with a bunch of kindergartners and their parents, we opted to rent a hotel room at a resort hotel down the road at the Oceanfront.  There’s two indoor pools, including one that has a cave and lazy river.  It was just us – Mommy, Daddy, Sophie and the boys.  We spent hours at the pool, and hours sleeping off the chlorine-induced haze… and best of all, the kids at free at the hotel restaurant!  Thank you, Holiday Inn! 

So there you have it.  Oh, and about December… it sucked.  It always does, and this past one is no exception.  Also, I have all sorts of new reasons to gripe about my MiL… I mean, I love the woman, but something has changed.  And I don’t like it one bit.  So next time, be prepared for the story of the Doll, andhow I’m a bad mom because Sophie wants to be Sarah’s friend.

1 Comment

Good Gravy, Two Months?

January 28, 2009 at 8:48 pm (Uncategorized)

I have been extremely busy trying to not go postal these last few months. That doesn’t really explain the lack of posting, though, and for that I apologize. Let me take another day or two to gather my mind, and I’ll try to pop out a post by the end of this week.

Things are bad, really bad in my head right now, so I’ll work extra hard to think of something positive to blog about. Here’s a quickie – when the world ends on Dec 21, 2012, I’ll be spared the pain of suffering through my 30th birthday. How awesome is that, that the worst day for humanity is 3 days before my own personal worst day. Yay!

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Weekend Update

December 5, 2008 at 3:17 pm (Uncategorized)
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Despite the fact I can barely blink without dislodging chunks of my lungs via my new hackhackhacking way of breathing, I am driving the kids up to Delaware to visit my mom in about an hour. Fun, fun, fun. It’ll allow my mom to show off the demon monkeys to all her buddies at the Christmas party, give me a chance to do some sales tax-free shopping, and maybe I’ll even be able to make the trip between Virginia Beach and Selbyville without having to pee (I’m drowning my coughing with green tea, causing me to have to empty my bladder every 3.896 nanoseconds).

In the past couple of days, I’ve had a few relevations about both my political and my personal philosophies, and one of these days I might actually put fingertips to keyboard and share them. Not today, though. I have a car to pack and I’m on a mission to figure out just where in the Sam Hill that damn rotten milk smell is coming from.

Also, my page view stats graph would make a wicked awesome roller coaster, if only there were loops. But it’s still really up and down, in a violent “WHEEEEEE” sort of way.

4 Comments

To Theresa

December 3, 2008 at 10:45 am (Rants, Raves, and Internet Hate)
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The only reason I’m posting this is because I spent a goodly amount of time composing a reply, only to have it bounce back because of a defunct email address. 

The topic: A(nti)theists and their random campaigns against Christmas/God/etc.

My original comment:

Ugh. The only contempt I have is for these morons. If you don’t believe in God, leave Him and His believers alone. No harm, no foul.

Anna on December 2, 2008 at 6:57 PM

Response I find in my inbox posted to my blog this morning:

I just read your comment on HotAir regarding the sign Atheists put up next to a nativity scene and a mennorah. >>
 ”Ugh. The only contempt I have is for these morons. If you don’t believe in God, leave Him and His believers alone. No harm, no foul.”

Leave his believers alone?! Are you kidding me?! It’s not atheists who are trying to legislate so-called religious “values”. Give me a break. Notice the nativity scene was there first. Who wasn’t leaving WHO alone?

My response:

Theresa -
Sorry, I left the thread, and the computer, early last night – I’m coming down with a bad chest cold.  Anyway, I wanted to clear something up.  I am a nontheist myself, have been for a while.  But I don’t inherently have a problem with religious people – I’m surrounded by them in my daily life. 
 
I’m a military wife; we move around a lot, and each time we settle in to a new community, I seek to fit in.  I do not seek to change the community around me, which is what I feel these anti-theists are doing.  God has been on my money since before my birth, and I ignore it.  I don’t let it bother me.  Hell, I can sit through a church service with my inlaws, and the only thing that comes of it is that I’m a little bored at the end. 
 
I wonder if you read the post on my blog that you left your comment on.  I am not a fan of Christmas.  Yes, it bothers the hell out of me… but what do I do?  I rant online, to my husband, and then I get on with my life.  Because seriously, it’s just a frakking holiday.  I’ll admit it cannot be ignored as easily as a God reference on a dollar bill, but one can lessen the Christmas impact on one’s life.  The nativity doesn’t bother me, it shouldn’t bother you – any more than seeing a menorah, a crescent moon, or an 8-armed god-figure with an elephant head.  If you are secure enough in your personal philosophies, then you won’t let it get under your skin.  Let them have their holiday displays, and mock them to your heart’s content to your friends or in your head if so inclined.
 
One last thing (sorry, I tend to be a bit verbose at times) – I do think that legislating certain religious mores is a bad thing.  If you’ve followed any of my comments on any other threads, especially the gay adoption one, you’d see that I’d like the focus of the GOP to be on its roots of small government and fiscal responsibility.  I do not feel that putting up a religious display during a religious season is legislating religious values – it’s making nice with the bosses, ie the people who voted those law-makers into office.  If atheists want to be included, I’m sure they could have found a less offensive thing to include – maybe just a model of the globe, to represent our natural world.  Of course, I think that by wanting to include a sign, they wanted a) and acknowledgment of their own “religion” and b) wanted to piss religious people off. 
 
Well, I hope this cleared a few things up for you.  Feel free to carry on this conversation if you’d like, or not, the choice is yours.  I’ll publish your comment on my blog (I only delete spam).  Hope you have a good day.
 
Anna

I am deleting the comment now, because I have reposted it here.  I have a post in my head I’ve been working on about this subject, but in the meantime, I’ll field any questions anyone might have about this. 

Off to go lay back down, because ugh, my chest hurts and my head is throbbing!

6 Comments

Downhill to Christmas

December 1, 2008 at 2:53 pm (Rants, Raves, and Internet Hate)
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Thanksgiving was relaxing for us – too relaxing.  Nothing got done, and yet again, after a teary good-bye to my husband, I shut the front door and turned around to a post-apocalyptic mess on my living room/dining room floor in my house.  The same house I had stayed up until 2am Thursday morning to clean.  ^%#*%#*^%#*!!!!!!  The best part: I now also have a hacking cough complete with chest congestion that would make tar look runny (and the headache/throat ache that goes with the constant cahck of my coughing).  Picked up no doubt from Cam, who yesterday had the same nasty cough but today is blissfully hack-free.  I love children and their early Christmas gifts.

Ah, speaking of the impending holiday, I’m letting it be known I’m now entering into full-time Bah Humbug Mode.  I’m sick of the songs, my eyes are tired of the blinking lights and glittery decor, and I’m chock out of wintertime cheer.  Not that I had any to begin with, mind you.  Twenty-three days until I get to stay up past midnight playing deranged, alcohol-deprived, putting-together-and-wrapping-presents-too-late Santa.  Twenty-three days of figuring out yet another excuse for not going to Christmas Eve service (no, I’m not pregnant, dear MIL!), of bellying up to a festive, over-flowing meal with my in-laws who seriously should just put the damn fork down already (I’m obese myself, but they’re twice my size apiece).  Twenty-three days leading up to Christmas Eve, full of noise and crowds and cards I won’t write and pictures I won’t take.  Twenty-three days until I turn yet another year older, souring any joy I might squeeze out of the entire month of December. 

I get over-looked, used, walked-over, even ignored the entire year by my children (and sometimes my husband) – the Christmas season just makes this worse.  In all the hustle and bustle, in my trying to make sure every one else is happy, fed, content, I tend to get left by the wayside.  Tim does try to avoid this, but it happens nonetheless – I know you did not forget my birthday that year, honey, but it was very close to the line.  The one day that should be an Annapalooza isn’t, never when I was a child stuck in Mass or at Christmas parties, and now that I have kids, it never will be – never can be.   Christmas and all its revelry, its over-the-topness, its infuriating madness, drives me crazy.  If it were a simple day, limited in scope to maybe Independence Day, maybe I’d be more fond of it.  But it’s too much, for too long, and too invasive.  I see no way of celebrating it the way I’d like to without alienating our relatives or without becoming hermits for the last few months of the year.  So I’ll let it trample on my birthday, on my life this time of year, and let it into my home – I won’t be the Grinch that steals Christmas from my young children – but I won’t like it.  Not one little bit.

And yes, I’m aware that I get Mother’s Day.  And I share that, with my mother and my mother-in-law.  That holiday has a pretty iffy track record in this house too.  What can I say?  I’ve sacrificed enough for my children, I have no intention of being a martyr.  I just want my birthday back, and no holiday wrapping paper or red/green on my cake, okay?  And a present, separate from Christmas.  That’s just cheap, people.

I’d say I felt better having that off my chest, but honestly, I swear my congestion is getting worse, and my chest hurts more!  Very auspicious start to December!

2 Comments

Thanksgiving

November 27, 2008 at 9:47 am (Tales, Anecdotes, and Observations)
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Today, I am thankful for my wonderful family: the husband who loves me no matter what, and the kids that while driving me batshit crazy also make me cherish them forever.

And the cats, I am so thankful for my crazy, barely-tolerate-each-other-while-competing-for-my-attention feline companions.

I’ll be taking the next few days off from the internet, to spend some quality time with my family.  I hope everybody out there has a good Thanksgiving holiday.

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Tom Turkey

November 19, 2008 at 9:26 pm (Tales, Anecdotes, and Observations)
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We celebrate Thanksgiving, but we don’t eat turkey.  We eat fondue instead – tastes better, easier to cook.  Our daughter has trouble understanding why everyone is talking turkey this month because of this… the price to pay for being different, I suppose.

She gets these family projects once a holiday, it seems, and this month is all about disguising a turkey so he won’t be eaten on Thanksgiving.  Way to guilt all those turkey-eating children, school.  Anyway, we were suppose to do this as a family unit and be as creative as possible.  So we had our Tom Turkey join the Navy.  

Tom Turkey

Tom Turkey

Clever, eh?  So now, instead of being on some random plate next week, Tom will be out there protecting our right to eat his fellow turkeys.  What’s that you’re mumbling?  Something about sick, sad and twisted?

Since I’m posting photos, here’s one of the SpongeBob costume I made for Tom the Child, which when worn, caused the little one to cry like a beaten red-headed step-child.

Sophie, SpongeBob, and Half-Naked Tom

Sophie, SpongeBob, and Half-Naked Tom

I cried myself, after spending so much time on the damn thing, only to have him hate Halloween and the lame-ass pillowcase I safety-pinned on his shirt to be “Super Kid” while trying to scam candy trick-or-treat.

Vlad digging dust bunnies out of his ear.  I love him, but he’s an odd cat at times.

Fat Cat, tail-free model

Fat Cat, tail-free model

 

Well, that wraps up this week’s inane rantings.  Tune in next week for when I clean out the memory card from the digital camera… wanna talk about out-dated pics?  We got ones from when our twins were newborns!  Stay tuned.

1 Comment

Service

November 11, 2008 at 1:43 pm (Uncategorized)
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This is my third Veterans Day since I became one myself.  It’s really the only day that I feel I deserve a ‘thanks for your service,’ and to be honest, I don’t really feel I deserve a thanks at all.  I was in for 4 years, 5 months and 15 days – fourmonths into a two-year extension, my CO felt it necessary to end my obligation on the basis that I couldn’t run without damaging my knee.  Three weeks later, I was a Navy dependant, not even obliged to serve out anytime in the Fleet Reserve.  I was 5 months pregnant with the twins, my husband was stationed on a ship in San Diego, Sophie and I were at Ft. Meade, and I was still decompressing from the awesome sub conference that I had just attended – why yes, I’m still bitter.  Bitter as a rotting lemon, I am.

I can’t go back into the Navy, even if I were so inclined, unless I received a new left knee, got a waiver, oh, and lost about a 100 pounds.  The first and last things won’t happen without each other (need a new knee to really exercise, need to lose weight to earn new knee), so I’m pretty much SOL on that front.  And yet, I still want to serve my country, specifically, to work where I used to work and continue to fight the good fight from there.  I miss the nature of the job itself, the intellectual challenge that it is, the people I worked with – and honestly, I miss being apart of something great.  I am a very patriotic person, aided by my own service and that of my husband’s, and I fear I see troubled times ahead for our great nation.  I want to help, I want to protect my family and my country again, but the most obvious way (military service) is out.  Therefore, I’ve decided to go back into government work, this time as a civilian.  This is really important to me, and by putting my intentions on the Internet, it makes it more concrete.  It might take a really long time, but damn it, I’m getting back in.

And I feel a huge small load lifting off my chest.  Deep breath in, long breath out. 

A big thank you goes out to all the vets out there – our nation is all the greater for your service.

2 Comments

Random Observation

October 21, 2008 at 12:08 pm (Tales, Anecdotes, and Observations)

Bumpersticker seen on car: Voldemort Votes Republican.

Good thing the Dems have Mickey Mouse to cancel out He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named’s vote, eh?

2 Comments

Mental Vacation

October 7, 2008 at 7:40 pm (Tales, Anecdotes, and Observations)
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I have to admit, I’ve been suffering from a bit of writer’s block recently.  It’s not that I haven’t had anything to say, just not the patience or the ability really to express it.  I would compose rants against the bailout, snippets of the intolerance shown by my neighbors and random strangers to my pro-McCain bumper stickers, quaint anecdotes about the progress the kids have been making in life – all in my head – and when I sat down at the computer, it would all dissolve away, a pile of sugar on the ground, eaten away by the rain.  In fact, I’m almost forcing myself to write this, not because I don’t want to, but I’m afraid that I won’t any sense.  Or that I’ll type something I shouldn’t, and forget to delete it before publishing (I’m not one to ret-con my own posts).

I have this fear because I know my writer’s block is self-imposed – I dare not dwell to long with a keyboard and empty screen because I have too much in my head which should not be revealed.  The funny thing about that, is I really do have things in my head that I can’t talk about, as I signed a non-disclosure agreement when I left the Navy.  So if I told you, I’d have to go away to Federal Prison, also known “as pound me in the ass” prison.  Although I’m a girl, so I guess that’s not really a problem.  Ahem.  No, I’m really referring to feelings and thoughts I’ve had, mostly about my current situation, and how unhappy I am.  As long as I keep them inside, everybody’s safe.  But see, I babble when I’m emotional, and I’m always emotional, and I feel the urge to type without constraint coming on.  So I’m going to change the subject – like I said before, I’m not going to erase what I’ve already typed… I wonder if I’m the only blogger like that.

Here’s a spot of good news:  So, the Navy Day Ball is this Saturday, and I’ve got my dress and my shoes, Tim’s got the tickets and the hotel room, and the grandparents will have the kids.  You have no idea how excited I am about this – the only other time I’ve been to the Ball is when I was enlisted myself, a few days before my year anniversary in the Navy.  I was 18, single, wore my senior prom dress, and I have mixed feelings about that night…  Now, seven years later, I get to go as the wife of a wonderful First Class Petty Officer, in a red halter dress and heeled Crocs (because I like to be comfy, and no one will see), and I know I’ll have a wonderful time.  And on Sunday night, we’re going to the Melting Pot, just like we did 5 years ago… the night before we eloped at the Pensacola Justice of the Peace office.  And Monday, October 13th is our actual, legal marriage date – we had a planned church wedding that took place the following January, but we got married to speed along some military things.  So, here we are, 5 years later, which I consider to be quite the accomplishment in our day and age.  It’s going to be a wonderful weekend.  : )

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