Sorry for throwing 2 posts out in one day! But I cracked myself up so bad last night that I knew if I didn't get it down here right away I would forget. And then you wouldn't be in on the hilarity that was my phone call with the RachelPie.
RachelPie has been sick, under the weather, sporting a bad winter cold, all that. So she decided to drive over to Blockbuster and rent herself a movie to watch while she is cooped up trying to feel better and stay warm. And why wouldn't she want to call me and share this lovely experience with me via telephone?
Me: "Mmmmm-yellow" (This is the way I answer the phone when I know it is her or one of my sisters)
RP: "Mmmm-Mama!" (This is the way she starts all conversations with me)
Me: "What's going on Rachel Pie?"
RP: "Not much, just driving over to Blockbuster to rent a movie"
Me: "Really? Blockbuster? Maybe you should get one of those really NEW movies like Pretty in Pink or Sixteen Candles?"
Me further: "Yeah, I bet all the cool kids will be there with scrunchies in their hair and wearing leg/ankle warmers"
Me being even more hilarious: "Don't forget about Patrick Swayze in Dirty Dancing, it's like a classic now and he has such great hair"
RP: "That's not funny! I never see anyone in Blockbuster wearing hair scrunchies!"
Me: ROTFLMAO
RP: (Didn't like any. single. movie suggestion I made. Not. One. Can you believe that?)
Guess which movie she rented to take home?
DIRTY DANCING!!!
You know that girl was dancing around in her bedroom pretending she was Baby, don't you? I bet she was wishing she had a scrunchie or at least one of those hair crimpers and some leg/ankle warmers. Ha! I love it!
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Recapping the past Blogging Year
That title made it sound like "oh yeah this year out of all the other years I have blogged", but no, it has just been this one year. Actually this is give or take a day or two about when I started last year. Happy Blogging Anniversary to me!!!
So anyhoo, I looked at my oh-so-numerous-and-oh-so-interesting labels of blog posts to see what did I talk about this past year and apparently reality t.v. and ranting and bitching about nonsense were highest on my list. See why I have no readers? See why I have a handful of followers who don't read my blog but only are followers because I forced them into it? Who on earth wants to read about reality t.v. shows and the current things that irritate me? I guess just me. I did also have a high number of posts about my tea hoarding challenge, so that was at least educational for me.
This year I would like to challenge myself to get back to my compacty ways. I didn't blog near enough about the Compact and how this is the start of my 4th year in the Compact and I have fallen off the wagon and under the wagon and been run over by said wagon back and then forth. I don't know what happened but I have been walking in to retail establishments, picking up items, carrying them around, and then all the sudden poof! Here comes my AMEX card and there I go with yet another store-boughten item. Bad behavior that needs to get under control RIGHT NOW, missy!
Maybe I wouldn't blog about reality t.v. shows so much if I didn't WATCH so flipping many of them? Hmmm??? What would I do with all those extra hours? Maybe clean house? Maybe get to organizing? Maybe force Mr. Big Ed to step away from his mistress, the love of his life, his computer and oh, I don't know, interact with me and the family? Might that be an option? Bwahahahahahhahahahah!!! Not a chance in hell! Better stick with Survivor, Amazing Race and Big Brother. : )
Here is my promise to all two of you who are reading this and care: (raising right hand) I promise to do a better job of giving you something better and more interesting to read and mull over this year. Maybe not every single post, but certainly better than this past year. I will do that and you could promise to comment now and again if the spirit moves you. Deal? Deal.
p.s. I will also figure out how to get my camera connected to my fabulicious new 24 inch iMac and make this thing more beautiful to look at.
So anyhoo, I looked at my oh-so-numerous-and-oh-so-interesting labels of blog posts to see what did I talk about this past year and apparently reality t.v. and ranting and bitching about nonsense were highest on my list. See why I have no readers? See why I have a handful of followers who don't read my blog but only are followers because I forced them into it? Who on earth wants to read about reality t.v. shows and the current things that irritate me? I guess just me. I did also have a high number of posts about my tea hoarding challenge, so that was at least educational for me.
This year I would like to challenge myself to get back to my compacty ways. I didn't blog near enough about the Compact and how this is the start of my 4th year in the Compact and I have fallen off the wagon and under the wagon and been run over by said wagon back and then forth. I don't know what happened but I have been walking in to retail establishments, picking up items, carrying them around, and then all the sudden poof! Here comes my AMEX card and there I go with yet another store-boughten item. Bad behavior that needs to get under control RIGHT NOW, missy!
Maybe I wouldn't blog about reality t.v. shows so much if I didn't WATCH so flipping many of them? Hmmm??? What would I do with all those extra hours? Maybe clean house? Maybe get to organizing? Maybe force Mr. Big Ed to step away from his mistress, the love of his life, his computer and oh, I don't know, interact with me and the family? Might that be an option? Bwahahahahahhahahahah!!! Not a chance in hell! Better stick with Survivor, Amazing Race and Big Brother. : )
Here is my promise to all two of you who are reading this and care: (raising right hand) I promise to do a better job of giving you something better and more interesting to read and mull over this year. Maybe not every single post, but certainly better than this past year. I will do that and you could promise to comment now and again if the spirit moves you. Deal? Deal.
p.s. I will also figure out how to get my camera connected to my fabulicious new 24 inch iMac and make this thing more beautiful to look at.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
No News Day
Today was supposed to be the day where I tell you all about the fabulous birth I attended. This is my client who is a repeat client. I was with her and her husband for the birth of their second daughter two years ago. And they were kind enough to want me to be there this time around. However.
You knew there would be a however, didn't you? She hasn't had the baby yet! Thursday was the official "we could really be off by 2 weeks either way" due date and since the big Full Wolf Moon was last night and since we have had a huge cold blue norther' blow in with really cold wind and freezing rain you would think it would be last night, right? But no.
I am not complaining in the least. I want that baby to come when that baby is good and ready and not one minute before. But, here is something I don't think my clients understand, I get so amped up and excited and anxious FOR them that it is hard to just relax. I do my very best to not show this to them, and just be as calm and collected as I can. But as a doula, it is damn near impossible to NOT be invested in their birth and want all the best for them. And even want them to birth on the day they really hope it will be. Does that make sense?
As a mom you always have a sense of when the baby will come and what days may be auspicious for you and your family. Even so, we all know that the baby is in charge of birth. When the baby is all done and ready for the outside world, he/she sends a hormone signal to mom's brain which kickstarts the contractions to get things rolling. But I do believe that moms have an intuition, if you will, about when their little ones will appear. So I am hoping that this mom is not disappointed that it didn't happen for her on that particular day.
I just got off the phone with her. So if you are reading this, please do send some beautiful birthing prayers, vibes, good intentions her way. My hope for her (and for all birthing moms) is that it be a peaceful, empowering, and awe-inspiring experience.
You knew there would be a however, didn't you? She hasn't had the baby yet! Thursday was the official "we could really be off by 2 weeks either way" due date and since the big Full Wolf Moon was last night and since we have had a huge cold blue norther' blow in with really cold wind and freezing rain you would think it would be last night, right? But no.
I am not complaining in the least. I want that baby to come when that baby is good and ready and not one minute before. But, here is something I don't think my clients understand, I get so amped up and excited and anxious FOR them that it is hard to just relax. I do my very best to not show this to them, and just be as calm and collected as I can. But as a doula, it is damn near impossible to NOT be invested in their birth and want all the best for them. And even want them to birth on the day they really hope it will be. Does that make sense?
As a mom you always have a sense of when the baby will come and what days may be auspicious for you and your family. Even so, we all know that the baby is in charge of birth. When the baby is all done and ready for the outside world, he/she sends a hormone signal to mom's brain which kickstarts the contractions to get things rolling. But I do believe that moms have an intuition, if you will, about when their little ones will appear. So I am hoping that this mom is not disappointed that it didn't happen for her on that particular day.
I just got off the phone with her. So if you are reading this, please do send some beautiful birthing prayers, vibes, good intentions her way. My hope for her (and for all birthing moms) is that it be a peaceful, empowering, and awe-inspiring experience.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
My Savings Account is made of quicksand
or something like that. I set myself a goal of saving $20,000 this year. So far this month I have added 1350.00 and taken out 200.00. This is not good. The debit was a transfer to the RachelPie's account that was "slightly" overdrafted and I was trying to stop the hemorrhaging of 35.00 fees. Those things add up in a heartbeat!
I have a box of stuff to take to Half Price Books and hope there will be cash for some of it rather than just store credit. I hope to get that done by tomorrow for the end of the month tally.
One thing I have been thinking of doing is taking the total amount deducted off my grocery purchases for coupons and adding that amount to savings. It will mean a payment out for the net amount of the groceries and another smaller payment to savings for the coupon savings. So I will be paying "full price" out of my checking. Is this worth it or is it just confusing? I want the whole total over a month or over the whole year of coupon savings to be tangible, and if I get $10.00 off and don't do anything with that $10.00 it just gets lost in the checking account and isn't really meaningful. Am I figuring this right or am I confusing myself?
The other thing I am doing is each week I withdraw money to be my spending money for the week. At the end of the month if I have any of that left over I am going to put it in the savings. I hope this will help me want to NOT spend it all each week.
Do any of you have any other things you do to add to your savings? Helpful tricks, hints and such?
I have a box of stuff to take to Half Price Books and hope there will be cash for some of it rather than just store credit. I hope to get that done by tomorrow for the end of the month tally.
One thing I have been thinking of doing is taking the total amount deducted off my grocery purchases for coupons and adding that amount to savings. It will mean a payment out for the net amount of the groceries and another smaller payment to savings for the coupon savings. So I will be paying "full price" out of my checking. Is this worth it or is it just confusing? I want the whole total over a month or over the whole year of coupon savings to be tangible, and if I get $10.00 off and don't do anything with that $10.00 it just gets lost in the checking account and isn't really meaningful. Am I figuring this right or am I confusing myself?
The other thing I am doing is each week I withdraw money to be my spending money for the week. At the end of the month if I have any of that left over I am going to put it in the savings. I hope this will help me want to NOT spend it all each week.
Do any of you have any other things you do to add to your savings? Helpful tricks, hints and such?
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
t.V. shows 2010 Part 2
What is up with that Melissa on Biggest Loser? Hmmm? Here's what I know about her: she is from San Antonio originally. she is a lawyer. which means she is not to be trusted. and we all know who wears the pants in their house, don't we?
And I was so happy at the beginning of this season that another Tracey was not there. She was really manipulative. And Melissa? Well, wouldn't it have been even funnier if there were 2 of them on together? Maybe next season they will cast more than one evil conniver at a time.
Next week Lost!! And then Survivor, Heroes vs Villains. Too much fun. And QueenB tells me the Tool Academy is starting back up on Valentine's Day! Woot!! Gotta love those Tools.
And I was so happy at the beginning of this season that another Tracey was not there. She was really manipulative. And Melissa? Well, wouldn't it have been even funnier if there were 2 of them on together? Maybe next season they will cast more than one evil conniver at a time.
Next week Lost!! And then Survivor, Heroes vs Villains. Too much fun. And QueenB tells me the Tool Academy is starting back up on Valentine's Day! Woot!! Gotta love those Tools.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Can't decide
I can't decide if I am more excited about upcoming Lost or Survivor. Woot!!!
Also, are you watching the new Celebrity Rehab? OMG!! This cast needs rehab more than almost all the others put together. It is pretty intense watching it. And I am sorry to be so pathetically visual in everything, but wth happened to Heidi Fleiss' face? Is this all from bad plastic surgery? Is something else wrong? She used to be really pretty. I can't tell which one of these people is going to be the biggest train wreck, it's certainly a toss-up. Who would ever think in a room of 12 people containing Mackenzie Phillips that she would be the one most likely to have her shit together?
All new Intervention and Hoarders are showing on A&E. Is there any word on Glee? Are they coming back? If so, when?
One more thing. Grey's Anatomy. What are they doing to the poor chief? I do not like how this is shaping up. I haven't liked what they have done with Izzie for the last year. And worst of all? McSteamy! How in the world did he have the NERVE to get on his high horse about ANYONE else and their extra-curriculars? That was just bad writing right there. The character they have built over the last few years would never have reacted like that. Bad writing over on Grey's Anatomy. Tsk Tsk Tsk.
Also, are you watching the new Celebrity Rehab? OMG!! This cast needs rehab more than almost all the others put together. It is pretty intense watching it. And I am sorry to be so pathetically visual in everything, but wth happened to Heidi Fleiss' face? Is this all from bad plastic surgery? Is something else wrong? She used to be really pretty. I can't tell which one of these people is going to be the biggest train wreck, it's certainly a toss-up. Who would ever think in a room of 12 people containing Mackenzie Phillips that she would be the one most likely to have her shit together?
All new Intervention and Hoarders are showing on A&E. Is there any word on Glee? Are they coming back? If so, when?
One more thing. Grey's Anatomy. What are they doing to the poor chief? I do not like how this is shaping up. I haven't liked what they have done with Izzie for the last year. And worst of all? McSteamy! How in the world did he have the NERVE to get on his high horse about ANYONE else and their extra-curriculars? That was just bad writing right there. The character they have built over the last few years would never have reacted like that. Bad writing over on Grey's Anatomy. Tsk Tsk Tsk.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Yes, I am quirky. Thank you for asking.
Do you admit to your quirks? Do you go beyond admitting to them and embrace them? Are your quirks part of what makes you you???
I have quite a few quirks. My quirks are many. They are legion. There is a plethora, a host, a herd of quirks in my make-up. : ) Yes indeedy. Quirks abound in LisaPie-Land.
For example: I have a ton of socks. I have lots, and lots of socks. I have socks from high school. But keeping my socks is not my quirky behavior. Keeping my socks orderly and in their proper compartments in the socks bank-of-drawers is a little quirky. Requiring that my socks are ALWAYS placed on the left or right foot is downright quirky. And I am proudly admitting to the fact that before I put on a new pair of socks I look at them and find a distinguishing mark that always lets me know which will be Lefty and which will be the Righty. And never do I switch that around. My feet would never be comfortable with socks on the wrong feet any more than if I were to wear my shoes on the wrong feet.
I am one of those people that do sock, sock, shoe, shoe. Some people are sock, shoe, sock, shoe. Which I think is weird as batshit. I don't like that at all!
I like to keep things in its original packaging as long as possible. I like to keep the little plastic thingy that is on the glass of a watch face to prevent scratches, and the same goes for the screen on my cel phone. Keep the little protective plastic thingy as long as possible to ward off scratches.
I take all my Mah Jongg tiles out and clean them carefully with a soft damp cloth so that they aren't filthy and germ-ridden. Maybe that's really not a quirk?
Oh! Here's another: it irritates the beejeebers out of me when I see toilet paper hung so that it rolls back and under rather than forward and over. If I come across one wrong, I will change it. No matter whose house I am at!
I like to label things. With my handy-dandy Dymo label gun. I do love that label gun!
And I will sign off now before I scare off the 10 readers I have. Consider this a safe place to announce your quirks and revel in them!
I have quite a few quirks. My quirks are many. They are legion. There is a plethora, a host, a herd of quirks in my make-up. : ) Yes indeedy. Quirks abound in LisaPie-Land.
For example: I have a ton of socks. I have lots, and lots of socks. I have socks from high school. But keeping my socks is not my quirky behavior. Keeping my socks orderly and in their proper compartments in the socks bank-of-drawers is a little quirky. Requiring that my socks are ALWAYS placed on the left or right foot is downright quirky. And I am proudly admitting to the fact that before I put on a new pair of socks I look at them and find a distinguishing mark that always lets me know which will be Lefty and which will be the Righty. And never do I switch that around. My feet would never be comfortable with socks on the wrong feet any more than if I were to wear my shoes on the wrong feet.
I am one of those people that do sock, sock, shoe, shoe. Some people are sock, shoe, sock, shoe. Which I think is weird as batshit. I don't like that at all!
I like to keep things in its original packaging as long as possible. I like to keep the little plastic thingy that is on the glass of a watch face to prevent scratches, and the same goes for the screen on my cel phone. Keep the little protective plastic thingy as long as possible to ward off scratches.
I take all my Mah Jongg tiles out and clean them carefully with a soft damp cloth so that they aren't filthy and germ-ridden. Maybe that's really not a quirk?
Oh! Here's another: it irritates the beejeebers out of me when I see toilet paper hung so that it rolls back and under rather than forward and over. If I come across one wrong, I will change it. No matter whose house I am at!
I like to label things. With my handy-dandy Dymo label gun. I do love that label gun!
And I will sign off now before I scare off the 10 readers I have. Consider this a safe place to announce your quirks and revel in them!
Friday, January 22, 2010
Making something out of nothing
I am trying to hurry and get all the office cleaning and organizing done that I can in the month of Jan. So I brought in the step ladder that lives in my pantry and got up eye-level with the top shelves and started working my way down.
Oh, sorry about the before pics! I had already cleared 65 cookbooks off the shelves BEFORE I got the great idea to continue with the office for the last 12 days of Jan. So I felt like any pics I took would not truly be "before" photos but more like "in the midst" pics. I swear I will do good pictorials of the next month's room.
Back to the shelves and what I found on them. Mr. Big Ed keeps saying that all that stuff on the shelves is mine. Mine. In his office. But they are all mine. Mr. Big Ed is a big fat liar, is what he is. This office has one wall that is all built-ins. Cabinets below and shelves above. 4 shelves wide with 5 shelves high on each. They are about a yard each so that makes it about 4 yards across in total. That's pretty frigging wide.
The far right ones are the ones that contain cookbooks. They were completely jam-packed and now there is breathing space. I am happy with them. If you were keeping count at all that leaves 15 more shelves and I just counted 10 books that are mine. 10 books out of 15 YARDS of shelf space. I rest my case, gentlemen of the jury. Is Mr. Big Ed a big fat liar or what?
Oh, and back to the reason for this post. I found a thin paperback journal that was from when I was pregnant with Jonathon. Which I had done a piss-poor job of filling in. It's one of those pre-printed "I felt this way, and the person I admire most is _____" kind of things. And first I put it in the throw away pile, but then after I got down off the ladder I decided to look at it and see what my 25 year old self had filled in. Not much, that's what. But I did find some great fill-in-the-blank pages towards the back for moms and dads to use to think about the birth and how things went. So instead of trashcanning this book I am going to scan and print up copies of these pages for my clients. Instead of rubbish it is now a resource!! I am loving this!
Oh, sorry about the before pics! I had already cleared 65 cookbooks off the shelves BEFORE I got the great idea to continue with the office for the last 12 days of Jan. So I felt like any pics I took would not truly be "before" photos but more like "in the midst" pics. I swear I will do good pictorials of the next month's room.
Back to the shelves and what I found on them. Mr. Big Ed keeps saying that all that stuff on the shelves is mine. Mine. In his office. But they are all mine. Mr. Big Ed is a big fat liar, is what he is. This office has one wall that is all built-ins. Cabinets below and shelves above. 4 shelves wide with 5 shelves high on each. They are about a yard each so that makes it about 4 yards across in total. That's pretty frigging wide.
The far right ones are the ones that contain cookbooks. They were completely jam-packed and now there is breathing space. I am happy with them. If you were keeping count at all that leaves 15 more shelves and I just counted 10 books that are mine. 10 books out of 15 YARDS of shelf space. I rest my case, gentlemen of the jury. Is Mr. Big Ed a big fat liar or what?
Oh, and back to the reason for this post. I found a thin paperback journal that was from when I was pregnant with Jonathon. Which I had done a piss-poor job of filling in. It's one of those pre-printed "I felt this way, and the person I admire most is _____" kind of things. And first I put it in the throw away pile, but then after I got down off the ladder I decided to look at it and see what my 25 year old self had filled in. Not much, that's what. But I did find some great fill-in-the-blank pages towards the back for moms and dads to use to think about the birth and how things went. So instead of trashcanning this book I am going to scan and print up copies of these pages for my clients. Instead of rubbish it is now a resource!! I am loving this!
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Cleaning, Anti-Hoarding & General Stuff
I have been bitten by the "get rid of excess crap" bug. Call it Spring Cleaning or what-have-you, I am ready to pitch stuff. There have been times when I have worried about stuff going to a good home, whatever that means, but now? Not so much.
Here is the plan: With many apologies ahead of time to whoever I stole this idea from, because I don't remember where I got it! I will concentrate on one area each month. I have written up a list of each room/area and assigned it a month. During that month this area will get cleaned up, cleaned out, paint touched up, anything that needs fixing will get fixed, anything that needs replacing will be replaced. I think this is very do-able.
There are 2 weeks left in January and since I have already removed 65 cookbooks from the shelves here in the office, I will continue in the office for the rest of the month. We have a HUGE box we are filling up with cds, books, and movies to go to the Half-Price Book Store. It will be nice to have money coming IN from that place instead of always going OUT! : )
January - Office
Feb. - Living/Dining Rooms
Mar. - Family Room/Bar/ Closet
That's the order for this quarter. The garage will be done in the month we have our semi-annual brush and large item pick-up. The city has twice a year large items and brush pick-up where you leave all that stuff out at the curb and they come take it all. Dead appliances? Yes! All the brush and limbs you can trim? Why, yes of course! Boxes of old garage crap like paint cans and such? Certainly!
You can't ask for a better deal than this. So, to the person who told me about using the room a month system, THANK YOU SO MUCH!! This fits my personality to a tee.
Here is the plan: With many apologies ahead of time to whoever I stole this idea from, because I don't remember where I got it! I will concentrate on one area each month. I have written up a list of each room/area and assigned it a month. During that month this area will get cleaned up, cleaned out, paint touched up, anything that needs fixing will get fixed, anything that needs replacing will be replaced. I think this is very do-able.
There are 2 weeks left in January and since I have already removed 65 cookbooks from the shelves here in the office, I will continue in the office for the rest of the month. We have a HUGE box we are filling up with cds, books, and movies to go to the Half-Price Book Store. It will be nice to have money coming IN from that place instead of always going OUT! : )
January - Office
Feb. - Living/Dining Rooms
Mar. - Family Room/Bar/ Closet
That's the order for this quarter. The garage will be done in the month we have our semi-annual brush and large item pick-up. The city has twice a year large items and brush pick-up where you leave all that stuff out at the curb and they come take it all. Dead appliances? Yes! All the brush and limbs you can trim? Why, yes of course! Boxes of old garage crap like paint cans and such? Certainly!
You can't ask for a better deal than this. So, to the person who told me about using the room a month system, THANK YOU SO MUCH!! This fits my personality to a tee.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
My Dad
If I start this out saying my Dad was the nicest person I will ever know, you might not believe me. If I took a poll of everyone who knew him and asked them I would bet dollars to donuts they would all agree with me.
It's January so I always start out the year thinking of him more than usual. Today would have been his and my step-mother's wedding anniversary. Friday will be his birthday and 3 weeks later will be the anniversary of his death. My Dad died young, he had just past his 57th birthday. How sad is that? To die that young and in the prime of your life.
I am not here to get all sad, maudlin, and depressing. It is more my intention to celebrate his life and share some random memories. So here goes!
~ Animals adored my Dad. It didn't matter dog, cat, bird, hamster, whatever. They all loved him. It didn't matter whose pet it was supposed to be, they all ended up attached to him anyway. Animals have good instincts about people.
~ My Dad was a kind person. Anyone who came to him in need was given a job. He felt it helped their spirit to work as much as the money helped their physical needs.
~ From him I learned to work for what I wanted. I learned to give an honest day's work for a day's pay. Don't cheat the boss. I learned to be proud of what I had. If your clothes were clean and ironed, that meant more than if they were new. It showed you had pride in your belongings and your appearance.
~ His philosophy was to save up, pay cash and ask for a discount. Always ask for a discount. Or ask to barter if you don't have the cash.
~ He would always try to fix or repair anything with what he had on hand with advice from people he trusted before he would spend money on repairs. When we were young we would laugh about how Papa tried to fix things. But as I grew up and had my own home, he is the one I called to ask how to fix the hot water heater or the disposal. If he didn't know, he always knew someone who did.
~ Every payday he was there with his hand out insisting that half went into a savings account (which was really a pocket calendar) Then when that rainy day came and the car needed repairs, the money was already available. He was saying "Pay yourself first" long before it was popular.
~My Dad sang all the time. Not real songs. Just singing along with whatever he was doing. I do this all the time.
~My Dad was adventurous. He liked to hunt, go fishing, travel, camp, he learned to scuba dive. When we moved to Guadalajara, he came to visit. But he wanted to drive down and follow the route we took so he would see all the sites along the way. He didn't ask us for directions, he would stop and just ask people where he needed to go next.
~Papa was a talker. Oh. My. God. He was a talker. He could talk to anyone and I mean ANYONE. He always found commonalities. A trip to a convenience store to buy one item would take most people 10 minutes top. When we would sit in the car and wait when he went in to get one item it could easily be half an hour. And we would tease him when he got back "What was the cashier's name? Social security number? Which of her relatives or neighbors do you know?" This was one of his gifts and why he was such a successful businessman; he could relate to anyone. And this was not a cheesy learned thing to try and win people over, this was his nature.
~ Slow and patient are two words that describe him well. He drove slow and that is putting it mildly. One day he was taking me and my cousin some place and I swear we were going 10 or 15 miles per hour. So I said to her "why don't you hop out and run ahead and tell them we will be there soon?" Ha! Oh, we laughed and teased him about how slow he drove! He really had to be patient to put up with us, that's for sure!
~ My Dad was a hard worker. I don't remember him ever NOT working. He worked full time and sometimes had a weekend job to help make ends meet. He would take on extra work at night (moonlighting they called it) when he could. He never complained about this in front of us kids. We never did without. When my Grandpa developed heart problems and needed to retire, my Dad quit his job, moved 600 miles, took all their money and bought Grandpa's business and kept it running. Because it was important to his father. When he became sick years later my husband and I tried to do the same for him and he wouldn't hear of it. One of his friends bought the business in my Dad's last months and 15 years later it is still doing well.
This coming Friday would have been his 72nd birthday, and it is almost 15 years since he died. And I still think of him almost every day. It doesn't seem right to me that he is really gone. I will raise a glass and raise a prayer to my Papa and hope that I am somehow doing him proud. He was a good man. And what better thing can people say about you at the end of your life?
It's January so I always start out the year thinking of him more than usual. Today would have been his and my step-mother's wedding anniversary. Friday will be his birthday and 3 weeks later will be the anniversary of his death. My Dad died young, he had just past his 57th birthday. How sad is that? To die that young and in the prime of your life.
I am not here to get all sad, maudlin, and depressing. It is more my intention to celebrate his life and share some random memories. So here goes!
~ Animals adored my Dad. It didn't matter dog, cat, bird, hamster, whatever. They all loved him. It didn't matter whose pet it was supposed to be, they all ended up attached to him anyway. Animals have good instincts about people.
~ My Dad was a kind person. Anyone who came to him in need was given a job. He felt it helped their spirit to work as much as the money helped their physical needs.
~ From him I learned to work for what I wanted. I learned to give an honest day's work for a day's pay. Don't cheat the boss. I learned to be proud of what I had. If your clothes were clean and ironed, that meant more than if they were new. It showed you had pride in your belongings and your appearance.
~ His philosophy was to save up, pay cash and ask for a discount. Always ask for a discount. Or ask to barter if you don't have the cash.
~ He would always try to fix or repair anything with what he had on hand with advice from people he trusted before he would spend money on repairs. When we were young we would laugh about how Papa tried to fix things. But as I grew up and had my own home, he is the one I called to ask how to fix the hot water heater or the disposal. If he didn't know, he always knew someone who did.
~ Every payday he was there with his hand out insisting that half went into a savings account (which was really a pocket calendar) Then when that rainy day came and the car needed repairs, the money was already available. He was saying "Pay yourself first" long before it was popular.
~My Dad sang all the time. Not real songs. Just singing along with whatever he was doing. I do this all the time.
~My Dad was adventurous. He liked to hunt, go fishing, travel, camp, he learned to scuba dive. When we moved to Guadalajara, he came to visit. But he wanted to drive down and follow the route we took so he would see all the sites along the way. He didn't ask us for directions, he would stop and just ask people where he needed to go next.
~Papa was a talker. Oh. My. God. He was a talker. He could talk to anyone and I mean ANYONE. He always found commonalities. A trip to a convenience store to buy one item would take most people 10 minutes top. When we would sit in the car and wait when he went in to get one item it could easily be half an hour. And we would tease him when he got back "What was the cashier's name? Social security number? Which of her relatives or neighbors do you know?" This was one of his gifts and why he was such a successful businessman; he could relate to anyone. And this was not a cheesy learned thing to try and win people over, this was his nature.
~ Slow and patient are two words that describe him well. He drove slow and that is putting it mildly. One day he was taking me and my cousin some place and I swear we were going 10 or 15 miles per hour. So I said to her "why don't you hop out and run ahead and tell them we will be there soon?" Ha! Oh, we laughed and teased him about how slow he drove! He really had to be patient to put up with us, that's for sure!
~ My Dad was a hard worker. I don't remember him ever NOT working. He worked full time and sometimes had a weekend job to help make ends meet. He would take on extra work at night (moonlighting they called it) when he could. He never complained about this in front of us kids. We never did without. When my Grandpa developed heart problems and needed to retire, my Dad quit his job, moved 600 miles, took all their money and bought Grandpa's business and kept it running. Because it was important to his father. When he became sick years later my husband and I tried to do the same for him and he wouldn't hear of it. One of his friends bought the business in my Dad's last months and 15 years later it is still doing well.
This coming Friday would have been his 72nd birthday, and it is almost 15 years since he died. And I still think of him almost every day. It doesn't seem right to me that he is really gone. I will raise a glass and raise a prayer to my Papa and hope that I am somehow doing him proud. He was a good man. And what better thing can people say about you at the end of your life?
Monday, January 11, 2010
January and that means . . .
It's birthday season around here! The first 3 months of the year are Birthday Central in our family. It is insane the number of birthdays to be celebrated! I hate to keep using those darn excitement points!!!! but I can't be emphatic enough about the plethora of birthdays that are about to commence. Here's a little preview:
Jan 11 - Good friend and should be a blood relation Connye
Jan 13 - Best friend all through my childhood Robin
Jan 15 - My Papa r.i.p. (more about this in a separate post)
Jan 21 - Anniversary of the first date with Mr. Big Ed
Jan 22 - Rachel Pie's birthday
Then we have my nephew, my sister r.i.p., my step-dad r.i.p., my 2 nieces, my aunt, my father-in-law, my 2 brothers-in-law, 2 sisters-in-law, etc. You get the idea. It's HUGE list. And we haven't gotten to April yet.
Unfortunately, we don't live near all of these people so we don't get to celebrate with all of them. And that's sad because I do love a birthday party. I love birthday cake. I love to watch people open their presents. Birthday parties rock!
So my participation in a lot these long-distance festivities is limited to a phone call, a card or a gift in the mail. Sometimes when we get a big group together we do a Mass Birthday Celebration. Whomever has a birthday in that season gets gifts and a cake and gets to be with the family even though it might not be their real birthday, it's a real celebration and there's real intention behind it.
How do you celebrate birthdays? Do you acknowledge with gifts, parties, cakes or a card? It was really interesting when we lived in Mexico to see the different kids' parties my kids were invited to. In Mexico it is customary to do a HUGE and I mean HUGE blow-out party for the 3rd birthday. Not much for the first or second, but come the 3rd. Well, pull out all the stops! Huge, like you would think it was a wedding, huge. Interesting, right? So at the parties we went to of my kids' classmates, most everything is the same; kids running around, organized chaos, except the food. The kids in Guadalajara had cake and jell-o as opposed to ice cream. Now jell-o down there is like the most elaborate layered up stuff you have ever seen. Absolutely gorgeous. Very impressive stuff. When we were in Monterrey every party included corn. All over Mexico you can buy roasted ears of corn and when you buy it they slather it in mayonnaise, lime juice and powdered chile. Believe it or don't, this stuff is good. At the kids' parties the moms all had crock pots full of corn kernels (like frozen corn) with the mayo, lime and chile and served it in cute little paper dixie cups.
I miss doing fun parties. As we grow up we don't play as much, we don't have theme parties, we get kind of boring and dull, don't we? I threw a surprise party for my husband when we were living in Guadalajara and we did a big pinata. It was so much fun. I am sure our friends who hosted were thrilled to have their shrubs beaten to death by those of us who missed hitting the actual pinata!
Now I am in the mood for cake. With pretty frosting. and big pink roses. and maybe raspberry filling. Mmmmmm. You can invite me to anyone's birthday and I will celebrate and be happy even if I don't know the honoree!
Jan 11 - Good friend and should be a blood relation Connye
Jan 13 - Best friend all through my childhood Robin
Jan 15 - My Papa r.i.p. (more about this in a separate post)
Jan 21 - Anniversary of the first date with Mr. Big Ed
Jan 22 - Rachel Pie's birthday
Then we have my nephew, my sister r.i.p., my step-dad r.i.p., my 2 nieces, my aunt, my father-in-law, my 2 brothers-in-law, 2 sisters-in-law, etc. You get the idea. It's HUGE list. And we haven't gotten to April yet.
Unfortunately, we don't live near all of these people so we don't get to celebrate with all of them. And that's sad because I do love a birthday party. I love birthday cake. I love to watch people open their presents. Birthday parties rock!
So my participation in a lot these long-distance festivities is limited to a phone call, a card or a gift in the mail. Sometimes when we get a big group together we do a Mass Birthday Celebration. Whomever has a birthday in that season gets gifts and a cake and gets to be with the family even though it might not be their real birthday, it's a real celebration and there's real intention behind it.
How do you celebrate birthdays? Do you acknowledge with gifts, parties, cakes or a card? It was really interesting when we lived in Mexico to see the different kids' parties my kids were invited to. In Mexico it is customary to do a HUGE and I mean HUGE blow-out party for the 3rd birthday. Not much for the first or second, but come the 3rd. Well, pull out all the stops! Huge, like you would think it was a wedding, huge. Interesting, right? So at the parties we went to of my kids' classmates, most everything is the same; kids running around, organized chaos, except the food. The kids in Guadalajara had cake and jell-o as opposed to ice cream. Now jell-o down there is like the most elaborate layered up stuff you have ever seen. Absolutely gorgeous. Very impressive stuff. When we were in Monterrey every party included corn. All over Mexico you can buy roasted ears of corn and when you buy it they slather it in mayonnaise, lime juice and powdered chile. Believe it or don't, this stuff is good. At the kids' parties the moms all had crock pots full of corn kernels (like frozen corn) with the mayo, lime and chile and served it in cute little paper dixie cups.
I miss doing fun parties. As we grow up we don't play as much, we don't have theme parties, we get kind of boring and dull, don't we? I threw a surprise party for my husband when we were living in Guadalajara and we did a big pinata. It was so much fun. I am sure our friends who hosted were thrilled to have their shrubs beaten to death by those of us who missed hitting the actual pinata!
Now I am in the mood for cake. With pretty frosting. and big pink roses. and maybe raspberry filling. Mmmmmm. You can invite me to anyone's birthday and I will celebrate and be happy even if I don't know the honoree!
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Don't Cry For Me, Argentina
Last year I did a post of some of my favorite things about Argentina. And it is high time I did it again! If you have never been to Argentina, I have to ask "why not?" And if you have not read my post from last year, go and read it and then come back to this one. I'll wait.
Argentina heads up the short list of Places We Would Love to Retire and Live Forever. The only debate would be that while I want to live on a vineyard/orchard over in Mendoza and be rural, Mr. Big Ed thinks there is nothing better than a downtown apartment in Buenos Aires right in the hustle and bustle, the hub and the bub of it all. Maybe we could win the lottery and do both?
Argentina is the home to fabulous wine. Drink an Argentine Malbec and then talk to me about 9/10ths of the Californian wines. Granted there are some good wines from CA. But I would rather drink Argentine and Chilean wines any day of the week. For a minimum of the price, too.
I am picturing my little granja (that's an Argentine word for farm) over in Mendoza with grapevines, olive trees, apricot, peach and plum trees. There is a river that runs through the property with abundant fish. On the land itself are plenty of deer and other wildlife. I know what you are thinking: "Lisa Pie, how do you know such a place exists?" And to that I would say, "Because I have been looking online at many such places and as soon as we are done getting the offspring through college, that's the kind of place my money will be going towards!"
Recently I had the privilege to be the doula for a couple who are Argentine/Uruguayan. She is Argentine and he is from Uruguay. They are so nice and it really just reminded me that if this is a possibility for us down the road that we should be more pro-active and working towards that goal.
Clean air, clean water, beautiful soil, home-grown fruit, grass-fed free-range beef, freshly-caught fish, some of the world's most fun and interesting people to share it with; what more could you ask for?
Argentina heads up the short list of Places We Would Love to Retire and Live Forever. The only debate would be that while I want to live on a vineyard/orchard over in Mendoza and be rural, Mr. Big Ed thinks there is nothing better than a downtown apartment in Buenos Aires right in the hustle and bustle, the hub and the bub of it all. Maybe we could win the lottery and do both?
Argentina is the home to fabulous wine. Drink an Argentine Malbec and then talk to me about 9/10ths of the Californian wines. Granted there are some good wines from CA. But I would rather drink Argentine and Chilean wines any day of the week. For a minimum of the price, too.
I am picturing my little granja (that's an Argentine word for farm) over in Mendoza with grapevines, olive trees, apricot, peach and plum trees. There is a river that runs through the property with abundant fish. On the land itself are plenty of deer and other wildlife. I know what you are thinking: "Lisa Pie, how do you know such a place exists?" And to that I would say, "Because I have been looking online at many such places and as soon as we are done getting the offspring through college, that's the kind of place my money will be going towards!"
Recently I had the privilege to be the doula for a couple who are Argentine/Uruguayan. She is Argentine and he is from Uruguay. They are so nice and it really just reminded me that if this is a possibility for us down the road that we should be more pro-active and working towards that goal.
Clean air, clean water, beautiful soil, home-grown fruit, grass-fed free-range beef, freshly-caught fish, some of the world's most fun and interesting people to share it with; what more could you ask for?
Thursday, January 7, 2010
T.V. shows 2010
It's been a while since I talked about t.v. shows. More accurately, it's been a while since anything has been ON the t.v.! But The Biggest Loser has started back up with some really large contestants. This group seems like really nice people. No Traceys in this bunch!
Survivor will be coming soon and it's another All-Stars game. Woot Woot! All players we know and some of them we love. It's going to be Heroes and Villians. And you should already that big wiener Evil Russell is in the Villians group! Along with Coach from last year. Remember Coach? The big fat liar Coach. That's the one!
Oh! And I am so thrilled that we get to see Rupert and Boston Rob again. It should be a really good season of Survivor.
I am not positive, but I believe in the next 3 or 4 weeks the final season of Lost is starting up. I planned ahead and saved the season finale on my dvr so that we could re-watch it ahead of time and not be confused 9 months after the last show. Good planning on my part. (Patting myself on the back)
The new Real World D.C. started up. There have been two episodes so far and I have to say after 20 seasons, I am finally getting bored and don't really care. But Mtv has a series out that I do like about Teenaged Moms. These are follow-ups with the 16 and Pregnant cast from last year. It's pretty much like you would expect. Mostly the couples don't get along, conflict with the grandparents, wishing they could be in school and hang out with their friends instead of being responsible parents. But it is good, and I am glad they are showing the reality of being a teen parent.
Modern Family with old Al Bundy is such a hoot! I crack up at that show. Really cute.
I think that's it for what's back on the air for spring. Let me know if you have seen something good that I am missing.
Survivor will be coming soon and it's another All-Stars game. Woot Woot! All players we know and some of them we love. It's going to be Heroes and Villians. And you should already that big wiener Evil Russell is in the Villians group! Along with Coach from last year. Remember Coach? The big fat liar Coach. That's the one!
Oh! And I am so thrilled that we get to see Rupert and Boston Rob again. It should be a really good season of Survivor.
I am not positive, but I believe in the next 3 or 4 weeks the final season of Lost is starting up. I planned ahead and saved the season finale on my dvr so that we could re-watch it ahead of time and not be confused 9 months after the last show. Good planning on my part. (Patting myself on the back)
The new Real World D.C. started up. There have been two episodes so far and I have to say after 20 seasons, I am finally getting bored and don't really care. But Mtv has a series out that I do like about Teenaged Moms. These are follow-ups with the 16 and Pregnant cast from last year. It's pretty much like you would expect. Mostly the couples don't get along, conflict with the grandparents, wishing they could be in school and hang out with their friends instead of being responsible parents. But it is good, and I am glad they are showing the reality of being a teen parent.
Modern Family with old Al Bundy is such a hoot! I crack up at that show. Really cute.
I think that's it for what's back on the air for spring. Let me know if you have seen something good that I am missing.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Follow up
Believe it or don't but I have already emptied my shelves of over 60 cookbooks. Half are going to the used book store for credit and half are going to my brother the Chef.
One New Year's Resolution down and $20,000 more to go!
One New Year's Resolution down and $20,000 more to go!
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
I am such a player
Who loves games more than I do? Since there is no real way to quantify this, I will just go ahead and pick up the crown and wear it! Queen of Gaming!
I love games. Not mind games, not relationship games, no, not any of those things. Board games, card games, all sorts of domino type games, dice games and the Big Top of the Heap game . . . . .
I love Mah Jongg. This is a great game. People who know how to play will always want to get a game going. I have never met a single person who learned to play Mah Jongg and then said "Nah, never mind, not so much". Of course, I wouldn't hang out with people like that and maybe that's why I have never met them. But anyhoo, I will repeat myself. This is a great game.
With this in mind, you might be surprised, even bumfuzzled to learn that my family will begrudgingly play with me about once every blue moon. What!? you say? How can that be? (all aghast and taken aback) And that is exactly what I say! What? What do you MEAN you don't want to play Mah Jongg with me?
What gives with relatives doing this? What gives with Evil Husbands and Ungrateful Children not wanting to play my favorite game with me? That is what I want to know. I think I should make a rule. A proclamation, if you will. "If you expect to enjoy my home, my largesse; you might want to brush up on your Mah Jongg skills". Ha!
Ok, now back to other board games. Rachel Pie got us a new board game for Christmas called Wise and Otherwise. It is similar , no it is exactly the same as Balderdash but with really cool sayings from all over the world. We played this many times over the holidays and had such fun with it.
We also played Jonathon's new Grateful Dead-opoly. That was a fun game too. I love all the Monopoly games and different versions of it. I own about 6 or 7 different Monopoly games. One from my childhood, one anniversary edition, one Texas version, another newer anniversary edition, I would have to go look at them to tell you the rest. I love to play Skip-bo, Uno, Trivial Pursuit, Spades, Gin Rummy, heck, I will even play Solitaire for hours. Oh, and games from my childhood; not only do I have my old Monopoly, but also my Life and my Twister. The game of Life has changed over the years. I don't care for the newer, up-dated, PC version. My old one where you either choose well or end up in the poorhouse is much better!
Long ago in a smaller city, not so far away, Mr. Big Ed and I had some really good friends who had kids of similar ages to our own small fries. Every Friday night we would get together and cook, eat, drink beer, play with the kids, then get them jammied-up and parked in front of a movie to fall asleep and then we would play games. 99.9% of the time it was Trivial Pursuit. Oh, what fun that was! With Mr. Big Ed trying to sneak off to find a dictionary or encyclopedia to look up answers while pretending to be going to the bathroom! And our good friend, let's call her "Hot Check Lil" saying "I'll be right back" and then sneaking off and going to bed. That left me and Mr. Hot Check Lil to battle it out for the weekly crown and the bragging rights. Then we would scoop up our sleeping babes and take them home and get ready for next week.
I love Bunco and Farkle. And that comes from playing Yahtzee as a kid, I guess. There are these new "gaming" stores that have all sorts of D&D games and such. Anyhoo, these stores sell the coolest dice you can imagine. Not just six-sided white with black dots. Oh no, these aren't your Great Aunt Tilly's dice! You should check them out. (If I would sit and spend a couple hours on my new and fancier-than-fancy computer and learn how, I would post some photos of all these cool dice. But since I haven't you will have to look for them your own selves.)
Staying at home (or going to a friend's) and playing games is such a great way to spend a day, or an evening. It's interactive (as opposed to watching a movie), it's inexpensive, it exercises your brain, it works on your team-building skills, strategizing and even evil manipulations.
Do you play games? Any favorites? Any that you recommend?
I love games. Not mind games, not relationship games, no, not any of those things. Board games, card games, all sorts of domino type games, dice games and the Big Top of the Heap game . . . . .
MAH JONGG!!
I love Mah Jongg. This is a great game. People who know how to play will always want to get a game going. I have never met a single person who learned to play Mah Jongg and then said "Nah, never mind, not so much". Of course, I wouldn't hang out with people like that and maybe that's why I have never met them. But anyhoo, I will repeat myself. This is a great game.
With this in mind, you might be surprised, even bumfuzzled to learn that my family will begrudgingly play with me about once every blue moon. What!? you say? How can that be? (all aghast and taken aback) And that is exactly what I say! What? What do you MEAN you don't want to play Mah Jongg with me?
What gives with relatives doing this? What gives with Evil Husbands and Ungrateful Children not wanting to play my favorite game with me? That is what I want to know. I think I should make a rule. A proclamation, if you will. "If you expect to enjoy my home, my largesse; you might want to brush up on your Mah Jongg skills". Ha!
Ok, now back to other board games. Rachel Pie got us a new board game for Christmas called Wise and Otherwise. It is similar , no it is exactly the same as Balderdash but with really cool sayings from all over the world. We played this many times over the holidays and had such fun with it.
We also played Jonathon's new Grateful Dead-opoly. That was a fun game too. I love all the Monopoly games and different versions of it. I own about 6 or 7 different Monopoly games. One from my childhood, one anniversary edition, one Texas version, another newer anniversary edition, I would have to go look at them to tell you the rest. I love to play Skip-bo, Uno, Trivial Pursuit, Spades, Gin Rummy, heck, I will even play Solitaire for hours. Oh, and games from my childhood; not only do I have my old Monopoly, but also my Life and my Twister. The game of Life has changed over the years. I don't care for the newer, up-dated, PC version. My old one where you either choose well or end up in the poorhouse is much better!
Long ago in a smaller city, not so far away, Mr. Big Ed and I had some really good friends who had kids of similar ages to our own small fries. Every Friday night we would get together and cook, eat, drink beer, play with the kids, then get them jammied-up and parked in front of a movie to fall asleep and then we would play games. 99.9% of the time it was Trivial Pursuit. Oh, what fun that was! With Mr. Big Ed trying to sneak off to find a dictionary or encyclopedia to look up answers while pretending to be going to the bathroom! And our good friend, let's call her "Hot Check Lil" saying "I'll be right back" and then sneaking off and going to bed. That left me and Mr. Hot Check Lil to battle it out for the weekly crown and the bragging rights. Then we would scoop up our sleeping babes and take them home and get ready for next week.
I love Bunco and Farkle. And that comes from playing Yahtzee as a kid, I guess. There are these new "gaming" stores that have all sorts of D&D games and such. Anyhoo, these stores sell the coolest dice you can imagine. Not just six-sided white with black dots. Oh no, these aren't your Great Aunt Tilly's dice! You should check them out. (If I would sit and spend a couple hours on my new and fancier-than-fancy computer and learn how, I would post some photos of all these cool dice. But since I haven't you will have to look for them your own selves.)
Staying at home (or going to a friend's) and playing games is such a great way to spend a day, or an evening. It's interactive (as opposed to watching a movie), it's inexpensive, it exercises your brain, it works on your team-building skills, strategizing and even evil manipulations.
Do you play games? Any favorites? Any that you recommend?
Monday, January 4, 2010
Ranting about songs, in general, not just annoying Christmas songs
I wasn't going to start out the new year with a rant. But then I thought why not? Why not get it over with and out of the way? And since I was just recently complaining about the horrible Christmas songs that never need to be played again. Ever. I further thought I would go ahead a rant a bit more about other songs I just don't like. And people? There are a TON, a shitload even, of crappy songs out there!
No, don't worry, I will not try to list ALL the really bad songs. Just a few of the worst and then I will graciously let you have the floor to throw in your really bad songs, just in case you happen to have a few that didn't make my list. Last year I was reading this great blog called Test Pattern which is now shut down, but anyhoo the reason I bring it up is that she did a post about what she called "The Rod Stewart Rule". Apparently, there is a well-known, but little-talked-about rule in which you can have 3 songs/singer/musical groups that you hate and anytime you are around you have complete authority to change the music. So if you are riding around in the car with your friend and in said friend's car, and a song/singer/musical group comes on that is on your list, you have grounds for changing the station and it's all okay and legal and such. Did the rest of you know about this rule? I thought it was hysterical that she called it the Rod Stewart Rule! You know where he ranked on her list. : )
I am reaching waaaaaaaay back in the past for a few of these gems, so here goes!
Horrible Bad Songs that should Go Away
1. I'm the happiest girl in the whole U.S.A. (AAAAARRRGGHH, Kill me now! Luckily, you can go years without ever having to hear this atrocious thing again?
2. Swingin' - I have NO idea what this song is about or why anyone let this moron record this crap.
3. Leo Sayer - remember this twit from the late 70's? Wish you could forget him?
4. Janet Jackson - I know I am going to get flack for this one. But really, who can even hear or understand any of her lyrics? She is beautiful. She is a helluva dancer. But I can't hear her! She always seems to be whispering and on top of that I can't understand half of what she sings. Belt it out, sister!
5. Prince and the Artist formerly known as Prince - whatever you are calling yourself, I am not impressed. Sorry, but he is a nut and and over-rated nut at that. His father used to shop at the Walgreen's where my RachelPie worked during high school. Nut doesn't fall far from the tree, is what I am saying.
6. Scar Tissue by the RHCP - Can anyone understand any of these lyrics? I have NO IDEA what half the words are. I like the Chile Peppers, I really do. Even though all their songs sound the same now. Is every song since Californication a new version of that same song?
There are plenty of really bad songs out there. And there are probably songs that I hate way worse than these, but I am luckily having amnesia regarding them because otherwise they would be stuck in my head and I would have to sing them for days. So, do your best. Throw some bad songs at me and let's what other people hate!
No, don't worry, I will not try to list ALL the really bad songs. Just a few of the worst and then I will graciously let you have the floor to throw in your really bad songs, just in case you happen to have a few that didn't make my list. Last year I was reading this great blog called Test Pattern which is now shut down, but anyhoo the reason I bring it up is that she did a post about what she called "The Rod Stewart Rule". Apparently, there is a well-known, but little-talked-about rule in which you can have 3 songs/singer/musical groups that you hate and anytime you are around you have complete authority to change the music. So if you are riding around in the car with your friend and in said friend's car, and a song/singer/musical group comes on that is on your list, you have grounds for changing the station and it's all okay and legal and such. Did the rest of you know about this rule? I thought it was hysterical that she called it the Rod Stewart Rule! You know where he ranked on her list. : )
I am reaching waaaaaaaay back in the past for a few of these gems, so here goes!
Horrible Bad Songs that should Go Away
1. I'm the happiest girl in the whole U.S.A. (AAAAARRRGGHH, Kill me now! Luckily, you can go years without ever having to hear this atrocious thing again?
2. Swingin' - I have NO idea what this song is about or why anyone let this moron record this crap.
3. Leo Sayer - remember this twit from the late 70's? Wish you could forget him?
4. Janet Jackson - I know I am going to get flack for this one. But really, who can even hear or understand any of her lyrics? She is beautiful. She is a helluva dancer. But I can't hear her! She always seems to be whispering and on top of that I can't understand half of what she sings. Belt it out, sister!
5. Prince and the Artist formerly known as Prince - whatever you are calling yourself, I am not impressed. Sorry, but he is a nut and and over-rated nut at that. His father used to shop at the Walgreen's where my RachelPie worked during high school. Nut doesn't fall far from the tree, is what I am saying.
6. Scar Tissue by the RHCP - Can anyone understand any of these lyrics? I have NO IDEA what half the words are. I like the Chile Peppers, I really do. Even though all their songs sound the same now. Is every song since Californication a new version of that same song?
There are plenty of really bad songs out there. And there are probably songs that I hate way worse than these, but I am luckily having amnesia regarding them because otherwise they would be stuck in my head and I would have to sing them for days. So, do your best. Throw some bad songs at me and let's what other people hate!
Saturday, January 2, 2010
New Year's Resolutions or Goals
I am considering this my first entry for the new year. So I will take this opportunity to put down in print what my goals or resolutions are for the coming 12 months. And of course I will do as that totally superfluous Samantha Harris always says "in no particular order".
1. My savings account will increase by $20,000. I don't know how do-able this really is, but I am using Sluggy as my motivator. She shot for 60K last year and landed in the 20's, which I think is great work. Now last year I moaned and ranted and bitched about how every time I save $250 for example, I then get a bill for $250, so I am REALLY hoping this is not going to be the case with my $20,000 goal. Please wish me luck and cross something for me.
2. Continue on my Compact goals of lightening my footprint on the Mother Earth. I am going to step up all of my activities to another level and see how that goes. You know the drill, less packaging in the house, less things in the garbage, more in the compost, more things gone to Goodwill, less things brought in to the house in the first place.
3. Get started WAAAAAAYY earlier on Christmas and birthday gifts. I did not allow near enough time this year and Harry and David came to the rescue for several gifts. Not good planning on my part. I think lots of gifts this year will be through Heifer and Kiva. But the homemade gifts will be started on in April, I think.
4. Start walking and find a way to get in much better health and better shape this year. 2 of my high school friends dropped dead this year unexpectedly and I am not only deeply saddened by this, but shocked that 50 year old people who should be in their prime are not. I would really like to be around for a little longer. I have more to accomplish, more to see, and I am not even remotely ready to kick said bucket.
5. Toward the end of better health, I will be doing more of my meal planning and shopping through Greenling our local online green grocer and at the farmers markets. Keeping it local and organic can only be good for all of us.
6. Remove 1 full shelf of cookbooks from my collection. There are plenty of them that I have never used. There are plenty more that I only have made 1 single item from. These books need to be set free.
I think that's where I will leave this. Six is plenty. Six is also a nice even number and it is half a dozen. Six is good.
As always, feel free to post some of your goals and comment on mine. I always learn something!
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