Four for the money, Five alive, and Six the hicks

4. Money - Somewhere along this journey I decided that if I WANT it I'll buy it. Arkie was talking about her books. I used to buy books and in my OCD I would actually use a sticky, clear book cover to keep them nice looking. Then I ran out of places to keep the books. Then I realized that I would never read them again. Sooooo, I turned to Longenbarger baskets. These were destroyed in my home fire (and were a good investment in that the insurance money for them financed a trip to Cancun for me and the boys). Then it was coats - I stopped after 6. Then shoes - I have 25 or so pairs. Then the sickness of gemstone jewelry. I have taken the advice of a smart poster and stopped buying from QVC. I rarely buy from Jewelry TV but can't resist seeing what is on Bidz. After I get them, I don't even like some of them!!

5. I'm so happy with the results of my surgery. Every day I smile because I can walk without pain. My thigh aches a little when it rains, but other than that I'm like new. Well, except for the heart issues. My cholesterol is high. I had a fasting blood draw yesterday and am anxiously waiting for the results.

6. I have become acquainted with people the likes of which I've never known. I think I have told you that my son's know people in prison. Not just county for drunk driving and small things. This is prison. My youngest best friend has been in prison for, I think two years. He gets out in January. I'm dreading that day. He's in for aggravated burglary, an act that my youngest was along with him to witness. My son, being a juvenile at the time, and due to my support in hiring a good lawyer didn't get a felony charge and with the exception of the time he spent in juvie, 2 weeks if I remember right, and his house arrest came out okay. He wasn't an active participant, but he was there. My oldest has a close friend in another prison for aggravated burglary. My oldest wasn't anywhere around this guy during the commission of the crime. He also gets out in January. Another x-close friend, now more an acquaintance, may be charged with manslaughter for providing drugs to his uncle. The drugs killed the uncle (not that he wasn't walking death before).

Last night my oldest and some of his friends came up to visit and get the last pieces of my sectional. These friends are polite, friendly, entertaining, and seem NORMAL. But both of them have been in jail.

In my southern Ohio upbringing I guess we would call these people white trash.

My foster-daughter went back with the x. She doesn't love him. She doesn't even like him. He pushed her into a corner and she caved. Using a child as a weapon is so cruel. And he is, as his sergeant said, "an unpaid volunteer" to a local police department. He has gone through the academy and is working special duty (read grocery store cop) at this time. He is paid through the grocery store. He is trying to become a full-time police officer. And he has no morals. He has no sense of right or wrong. He is violent. He is bi-polar. She has a plan to escape, one that I was not told exactly but I know what it is. It is something that NO ONE I've ever known would devise.

These things are always in my head and I want them out!

This was mostly a downer post. The next one will be on the amazing things in life. The things that make you smile. The things that make you jump out of bed every morning.

Oh, and I'm planning a March - April trip to Puerto Rico. Add San Juan to my list of capitals visited!!! And I hope we'll have a late summer one also, either New England or California coastal!!

ETC. (eccetra, eccentric, extra careful)

I've been neglecting blogger with all the TV I'm watching. And all the Survivor games. I've made notes of 12 things to blog about - here's 3.

TV Schedule

I was so lost with all the new TV shows debuting. And since we have shitty cable channel 6 is now 11, channel 4 is now 13, etc. I was so confused. So yesterday I opened excel and started a spreadsheet with the days of the week down the column on the left with 8,9,10. Across the top I put ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, OTHER. Then I got on all the websites and made a schedule. (How very compulsive of me right!). I've not watched survivor as a rule, but after reading over there that it is the BEST reality show I'm trying it. And, of course, I have to play every.last.game. (Those have individual spreadsheets also). It's just too time consuming.

Oh, I was talking about my TV schedule. Monday's are ok, with the Class (I loved the debut), How I Met Mother (so so), 2 1/2 Men (so so and getting old), and The Adventures of the new Christine (I love it). Then Studio 60 conflicts with What About Brian.

Tuesdays are dull but I watch Dancing with the Stars for now - also my first whole season. I watched the debut of Help Me Help You with Ted Danson last night. I think it will be a good show.

Wednesday's are totally not for me.

Thursdays - Thursdays - WTF. At 8: Survivor (see above), Earl (I love that show), and Ugly Betty (I'm looking forward to seeing if the hype is better than the show). What will I do? Then my 'Can't Miss TV' with Grey's at 9. Why or why do the networks put all the best shows against each other. Can't they share, say CBS get's Monday's, ABC get's Tuesdays, etc. My head will explode on Thursday's.

Friday - I like Ghost Whiperer but it's getting old. Men in Trees have been pretty good so far.

Saturday - I'm not sure there's anything worth watching which is good because Dbf will be home starting next week. Overtime at work will be ending until later in the year.

Sunday - 8 TAR, 9 Desperate Housewives, 10 Brothers and Sisters. I think Brothers and Sisters will be a great show. But why did they kill off one of my fav tv stars in the first episode. Sunday is my perfect night, with only one show per hour!

Remember the day when a movie star wouldn't evah, evah be on a TV series. That has changed. Let's name the times: Martin Sheen, Charlie Sheen, Keifer Sutherland, Sally Field.

Banned OTers

Do people who are banned from OT just get a new name? Has it happened often that they come back? How many do you know of? Who are they? Would you come back?

Quarters

Anyone else start the insanity of collecting the state quarters? When I start collecting something I can't stop. If any of you need any, let us know here. Puffy and I are doing an exchange and I've started saving some others just in case. If Nutz can keep one car running she will get us her list also. I was in Canada the year they released their new quarters. I bought them ALL at the same time, in a pretty collector thingy. I don't know why I bought them but it was great to get them all at once instead of over 10 years.

What else have you collected? Silly stuff like: McDonald toys? My neighbor used to make fun of me because if I got one toy in a collection I had to go back and get the rest. You can't have only one transformer in a series, you need all 6. I have two year's of Teeny Beenie baby's in a drawer. Why do I have them? What will I do with them? Will anyone want to buy them? Will I be able to part with these if someone would buy them?

Topics 4 thru 6 soon.

And suddenly it's fall

Yesterday, the day after Labor Day I wore WHITE shoes and shorts. The fashion police can KMA. While I'm loving the cool evenings I'm beginning to dread the next 6 months. It snows in Ohio folks and I have little patience with snow these days.

What else is happening?

My foster daughter and her 2 yr old spent the weekend at my house. Two year olds can be quite irritating. He's into the whine for what I want. And mom gives in to him and wonders why he whines. We did get him to ask for what he wanted at times but mostly he let out a blood curling screech. And she lets him walk around with food and drink constantly. My coffee table was smeared with food stuff. My cats hid under the bed all weekend.

I bought my Dbf a digital camera as a very, very late father's day present (I was in the hospital on father's day). The camera is much better than mine in that it has a higher resolution, is smaller, and is easier to use. I like that it is small and can be carried around easily. We'll probably use it on vacations.

My laptop is so messed up. The screen stopped working a month ago and we have to hook it up to a monitor. My CD/DVD burner doesn't work either. So we bought an external 60Gig drive to put all my pictures and music on. And suddenly I only have 3% available memory. We are going to reformat the original hard drive. We are hoping that the CD/DVD will work. The monitor probably won't. An estimate on fixing the monitor is in the 300.00 range. Yikes. And it could take up to 3 weeks.

My children continue to stress and frustrate me.

My two bestest friends (one in Florida and one in Virginia) are so depressed. I hate talking to them some days because they bring me down. And I'm not the most giggle-ish person either. Both want to die, both hate their lives, both are homeless to an extent and without money. *sigh* I can offer bedrooms in both of my houses but I'm financially unable to help. Neither want to relocate to my house(s). Oh well, you do what you can.

At breakfast Monday I asked Dbf when does he wants to go to the Caribbean. I get points from my time share in January. Then I don't get any more until 2009. I hope to dump it by then. Anyway, we are talking about March/April. When is spring break next year? I want to avoid spring break! Also, I'm hoping that we can do a California/Oregon coast vacation. If we can, I'll get to meet some awesome peeps!!!

That's about all I have today. Oh yes, do you West coast peeps have any of the new quarters. We aren't getting the 2006 ones here. I'm collecting the Denver mint and so far have 0. If you can help, let me know!