These things are never right for me. This one ,however, is pretty damn accurate.

What Rebecca Means

You are wild, crazy, and a huge rebel. You’re always up to something. You have a ton of energy, and most people can’t handle you. You’re very intense. You definitely are a handful, and you’re likely to get in trouble. But your kind of trouble is a lot of fun. You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone. You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together. At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together. You are full of energy. You are spirited and boisterous. You are bold and daring. You are willing to do some pretty outrageous things. Your high energy sometimes gets you in trouble. You can have a pretty bad temper at times. You are very open. You communicate well, and you connect with other people easily. You are a naturally creative person. Ideas just flow from your mind. A true chameleon, you are many things at different points in your life. You are very adaptable. You are usually the best at everything … you strive for perfection. You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic “Type A” personality.

It’s SNOWING.

To anyone I know from “Real Life”, I’ll see you in the Spring.I do not plan to leave home until the snow melts ,unless there is a plane ticket involved with a flight to someplace very warm.You are ,of course ,welcome to stop by any time.

I’m not feeling so wonderful today. On top of the whole seasonal affective disorder thing and now the SNOW,I have a sore throat and just feel achey. I’ve spent WAAAAY too much time on the computer today, more than I have in a long time but the nice thing is that I have now cleared my inbox of the 681 emails, caught up on all my RSS feeds and blog subscriptions (including comments), updated my Myspace and Facebook,adding about 80 things to my Netflix queue and a bunch of other menial things that really weren’t too terribly exciting.

Meh.

At each end of my town, there should be a sign. It should have my picture on it and say,”If you are lost, do not ask this woman for directions.”

I am terrible at giving directions. A few weeks ago, a couple stopped me and asked how to get to the Village Greenhouse and I gave them directions that went like: “Go straight.No,wait…don’t go straight.Turn left.No,not left…RIGHT!. And then drive until you come to such and such a Rd and DON’T turn there. Turn into the next driveway.Well, wait…not the very next driveway…but the next one after that.On the left.Wait, no..I mean right”.

I went home and hours later wondered if those poor people were still driving around lost.

Probably those poor people are STILL driving around wondering where the hell they are,cursing themselves for asking a diminutive red head with no sense of directions-given whatsoever.

This evening I was raiding a Free Box (I scored some gorgeous table linens, small canning jars and a silver bell), when a car pulls up. A man steps out of the car,looking all Amish. It was more likely he was Mennonite since in our area,the Mennonites drive cars occasionally and have things that the Amish aren’t supposed to have like electrical appliances and such.

But I digress (as usual). The point is,he looked like a typical Amish man, with the beard,hat,white shirt,suspenders…yadayada.

He says,”Excuse me,Miss…..can you tell me how to get to the American Legion?”

I chased the “WTF?” out of my head (because why does an Amish man..er…Mennonite…want to go hang out with sorry-ass drunks?) and said,”Yes,I can!”

Afterall, it’s next door practically to the Village Greenhouse and I did splendidly with those directions.

In actuality, I did not botch the directions this time but I think I did confuse him at points along the way. He thanked me and shook my hand .As he was leaving,I was a little baffled to see that he was staring at my chest. Blatantly,staring at my chest.

He says,”You have a lovely evening,Blondie.”

I look down at my shirt….which has a silk screened image of Blondie…as in, Debbie Harry…with the word “Blondie” emblazoned across it in silvery sequins,across my boobs.

I just smiled and said,”Thank you and you too,sir”

I suppose I could have gone into some long explanation about who Blondie is . At least it would have given him something to think about while he was driving around hopelessly lost.

:: The Current Stuff::
Reading:::Same as before
Listening: ::I stumbled on Michael Buble yesterday. I couldn’t listen to him all the time but it was moodlifting and a diversion
Watching(ed):::I watched the most recent episode of Survivor last night.I’m a dork
Projects:::
Paper making.Would have started yesterday but I seem to have lost my papermaking screens so I had to dig out picture frames that had glass missing and ….then I realized the staple gun is missing, so I had to use duct tape to attach the screen. I’m skeptical about this workign but we’ll see.

Also, I’m pretty sure I can make a reusable grocery bag like this one using recycled jeans and charge a hell of a lot less than $25 for it. It’s hard to encourage people to use reusable bags when they have to pay $25 a piece for one.

Websites::: Squalor Survivor Stories and Pictures - I’m a little speechless, truthfully. I can’t stop reading and find it fascinating in an odd way and then I feel guilty because this is someone’s life I’m reading about and they’ve been incredibly brave to share it.
(And the really sad thing? There’s elements of what goes on in theses people’s brains that I can totally identify with….)

We have Bob’s surgery date.May 15th.Can everyone cross their fingers,pray,send blessings or whatever hoodoovoodoo you prefer that he has a quick recovery? thank you.

My little guy is potty training. He made it most of the day yesterday without incidence. We put a diaper on him when he went to the park and ballgame with Bob but he did not like that one bit.There really isn’t any bathrooms there,though so it’s tough. I’d rather we not have to do that.It feels a bit like stepping backwards.

Also, he doesn’t like the little potty chair,he prefers the toilet. However,our only toilet is upstairs. I was keeping the potty chair downstairs so we don’t have to mad scramble upstairs but he won’t go on it. Figures.

Life isn’t too terribly exciting beyond that. We’re going Letterboxing today,I think. *note to self:remember camera*

I was tagged by Debi.
To name 7 random things about myself. And then to tag 7 others.

1. I have severe wanderlust. I really want to travel…EVERYWHERE. I have a section in my binder labeled “Wanderlust” that I collect magazine articles and such of places I want to go to.

2. Oh…my binders. I love my binders. I have my main BIG 3 ring binder that has sections for each month that I organize homeschool activities in, a section for my Lists (to-dos,movies to watch,books to read,etc), a section for household finances and things like that and other miscellaneous sections. I have a separate binder for arts and crafts, divided into sewing,quilting,knitting,crochet,kid’s crafts,recycle crafts,etc. My journal is also bindered. (yes,I just made up that word…bindered.It works for me)

3. I don’t believe in credit cards.My feeling is that if I don’t have the money,then I shouldn’t be spending it.

4.I have a collection of maps. My favorite is of the Caribbean Islands w/ sites of supposed sunken ships that may have treasure

5. On the wall, I have this Mary Engelbreit print that has a little girl with a stack of books and an ostrich with it’s head buried in the sand and it says,”Not to know is bad, but not to WISH to know is worse”. I love this little motto and it really reflects one of my greatest annoyances about some people. I get really perturbed by people who CHOOSE to remain ignorant or in the dark.

6. I HATE cold weather. The weather here the past few days has been sunny and in the 60’s,low 70’s.Everyone I see is like,”Beautiful weather we’re having,isn’t it?” and I’m like, “no,it needs to be warmer”. This is my ideal temps for WINTER. I could tolerate winter if it was like this.

7. There really isn’t a genre of music I won’t listen except stuff that’s really cheesy and bubblegummy pop…and stupid hip-hop and rap that glorifies violence and misogynist bullshit…as opposed to incredibly thoughtful,insightful and intelligent hiphop,which I love.I’m also not really into Industrial Rock,like NIN. It just feels too aggressive and grates on my nerves.But other than that? I listen to everything.

I’m not tagging anyone because 8.I make up my own rules

I don’t know if anyone else knew this but…
When you make coffee, you have to add water to the coffee maker.

urgh.

I’ve been waiting for my first cup of coffee for 20 minutes now. You’d think I would have figured out that something was up before just now.

I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed sometimes.

I think I’m going to try to make this a productive day.

At 10:00 a.m. tickets go on sale for Rage Against the Machine.The pre-sale tickets sold out in 20 minutes.Think I can score one for Dylan?(on his behalf,thankfully….using his credit card, not ours)

The whole Rage Against the Machine concert is another issue in itself I don’t feel like delving into right now. Let’s see if I get Dylan a ticket first and then I’ll talk about it.

We had this for dinner last night:L

Grilled Salsa Burger with Avocado
Serves: 4 Active Time: 25 min

1 lb Wegmans 90% Lean Irradiated Ground Beef, formed into 1/2-inch-thick patties
3 Tbsp Wegmans Basting Oil, divided
4 Tbsp Food You Feel Good About Hot Salsa
4 Kaiser rolls, sliced
1 avocado, peeled, pitted, sliced (drizzle with lemon juice to prevent darkening)
1 small (about 3/4 lb) sweet onion, peeled, sliced into rings
1/4 lb Manchego cheese, thinly sliced

Preheat grill on HIGH 10 min.

1. Clean grill with wire brush. Using soft cloth, coat grill grate lightly with vegetable oil.

2. Drizzle each burger lightly with basting oil.

3. Sear burgers on grill 2 min, until they have changed color about one-quarter way up from bottom. Turn over; baste (brush seared side with basting oil). Sear 1-3 min.

4. Turn over, baste. Brush seared burger with basting oil. Reduce heat to MEDIUM or LOW. Reduce heat to MEDIUM (for most burgers) or LOW (for burgers thicker than 1 inch); close lid.

5. Cook burgers to desired doneness.*

6. Spread salsa on roll. Top with burger, avocado, onion, and cheese.

Nutrition Info: Each serving (1 sandwich) contains 630 calories, 43g carbohydrate (5g fiber), 36g protein, 37g fat (14g saturated fat), 75mg cholesterol and 670mg sodium.

(that recipe was copy & pasted from Wegman’s (Bob’s work) website. The recipe was also in their flyer and when I was looking at it last night, it kept bothering me that the recipe says doneness. I don’t think that’s a word….and my spell check agrees so as I’m typing this, doneness has a red line underneath it.

Of course, we didn’t have Manchego Cheese.The only store likely to have that here is where Bob works and since he’s not working,there’s no point to go there just to buy some Spanish sheep cheese.

I substituted some Mexican cheese blend,pre-shredded.

Ok, coffee done…kids all up and squabbling about the evolution of children’s art and whining about wanting to be fed.Sillies.

:: The Current Stuff::
Reading::: Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, That same Hitler Youth book & Warrior Politics
Listening: ::Amy Winehouse…and Rage aginst the Machine
Watching(ed):::Nothing,really
Project:::cleaning out my front porch/foyer/mudroom, sorting through boxes of clothing

Well, it looks like I’m going to be blessed with hubby’s presence at home for awhile. He saw the doctor today and the verdict is that he has to have surgery on his wrist. There’s only 2 openings for surgery this month so hopefully Worker’s Comp will get on the ball quickly and approve the surgery before the open slots are scheduled. If that happens ,he’ll have to wait until June.

So, this month is going to be skinny,financially and I really have to pick up the slack and be entrepreneurial. No more squandering the spare time him being home affords me.

Which is fine. I need to anyway. I just need motivation. And I suppose this would be the motivation,eh?

Dylan went today to getr his tux for the Prom. *sniffles* Muh baby boy,going to the Prom. Eep.

We still need to get a corsage for his date. I don’t know what her dress looks like so I don’t know if a pin-on kind will be best or just to stick with a wrist corsage. Also, he dress is this odd turquoise color. So, I’m thinking white ribbons will be the best bet so it’ll match her dress.

I really don’t know though. I’m pretty clueless about this sort of thing. The whole Prom thing wasn’t my “thing”. I decided the day before my Junior Prom that I was even going to go.I went and bought a $27 dress at a vintage clothing shop and went with a gay guy.I can’t tell you how many times I rolled my eyes at the girls I went to school with that started planning for Prom in September and competed with each other for Mr. Popularity as their date/

Just…not my thing.

It’s really not Dylan’s,either but he’s going anyway.

Not much else going on in our house.Tomorrow is yoga class. This weekend is busy,with building still going on for the “Children’s Village” and a rally for the skatepark…and The Berettas have a show this Saturday night at The Rongo…which I won’t be able to go to because Dylan is usually our babysitter and of course, he wants to go ,too. Maybe on Friday evening, Bob and I will go to the Back to Democracy meeting and Movie Night.I can’t remember what movie they’re showing this week. Oh…and also this weekend is the big Impeachment Rally.

Hopefully it’ll stay nice and sunny. I had enough rain this week

Things I Want To Write About But Can’t Seem To Find The Time

- McCain and his whole “Bomb Iran” thing

- my fat ass

- Christian Environmentalists

- book reviews (both for big people and little people)

- my Grandma

- dumbass hunters who shot one of the last Amur leopards

- homeschool stuff

- my bike

- the lady that planted trees and won a Nobel Peace Prize a couple of years ago (dude, did you know she was beaten and imprisoned for her planting tree movement? And I thought Bush was an Environmental-Nazi!)

- my Mission Organization progress

Last summer with all the construction going on outside my front door, all I did was complain about how much I hate living in town and how much I missed my rural setting -listening to frogs sing at the pond and red-winged blackbirds in the fields…..deer frolicking in the field (and raiding my garden),the mama and papa geese and ducks herding their young ones from pond to pond….the obnoxious owl in the tree outside my window at night…..being able to watch fireflies twinkle in the sky and seeing a sky full of stars…all that good stuff.

Construction is over yet I’m still wishing I had our Hypothetic Homestead in the country. Yesterday I cleaned up our backyard and filled a garbage bag full of stuff that was not our trash. I realize how fortunate we are to have found the place we did in town because even though the backyard just outside the back door is as big as a postage stamp, the previous owner of the house built stairs leading down to a level area on the bank of the creek…yet it’s far enough from the creek that I feel comfortable about the kids playing down there. If we lived next door for example, we’d only have concrete and pavement for the kids to play on.At least here we have some green spaces and there is wildlife if you look and watch for it. The problem is that no one else but me seems to like green spaces and likes to decorate them with shiny candy wrappers,beer bottles(broken),milk jugs and other trash.

The neighboring apartment building actually has tenants that throw crap on purpose down the embankment…into where my kids play.Yesterday I found a Gatorade bottle down there filled with a yellowish liquid.The Gatorade flavor was something BERRY, not lemon,if you catch my drift.

So disgusting.

At least having Dmitri around is almost like living on a farm. This morning he sat up in bed at 6:30 a.m. and said,”Cock a doodle doo”. Who needs a rooster when you have a 2 year old who wakes up early and can imitate a rooster to boot?

One night last week (Tuesday, it must have been because it was the day Maia had her fiesta), I heard Dmitri over the baby monitor and I thought he was awake so I went upstairs to check on him but when I got to the bedroom, I found that he wasn’t awake at all but singing “Pio,pio,pio” in his sleep.

“Pio,pio,pio” is what “Los Pollitos Dicen” (the chicks say). It’s “peep,peep,peep” in Spanish.

My 2 year old thinks he’s a chicken. Funny stuff.

Photo Friday- The Country