The water resistant watch phase began when I lifeguarded, but I have been fanatical about having to wear a watch since I was in junior high. Although I'm not always on time, I usually KNOW what time it is! The watches that I choose have both white & yellow gold (or silver & gold). Most of all, I like diving watches, with dials for dive times. I use the dials to time things like baking, lunch breaks, loads of laundry, fun things like that. 99% of the time, I buy watches with links, not leather (or other material) bands.

Digital watches are not a favorite thing of mine. I think people need to be able to tell time on a clock face. That's old fashioned, probably, much like my belief that people should be able to count back change correctly. The purchase is five dollars and twenty-three cents. From ten dollars, here's your change, twenty-four, twenty-five, fifty, seventy-five, six dollars, seven, eight, nine and ten as they count it back. Not, "here's your change, $4.77" after they've looked at the register to make sure how much change they need to give back. Sorry, totally got off topic there.

I usually get watches with hands for the kids, but this time I found digital ones that I thought were cute. They like them a lot. Do you remember when we all HAD to have a swatch? I LOVED mine. My first one was bright yellow. Another that I remember really liking had a suede type band & had olive green & gold on the face. I know that sounds really icky, but I thought it was WONDERFUL at the time. I went to the swatch site online last night & was happy to see them still going strong.

Today was HAIR DAY at our house. It's been an all day affair. Son had a haircut at noon. I started doing youngest daughter's hair at 4:30pm. When I was done with hers, I cooked dinner. Oldest daughter's hair was started at 6:45. She's just now gotten in the shower to rinse the conditioner out. Then I'll be blow-drying & straightening, which takes about an hour. I love to see how happy the girls are with their hair newly straightened. They're so cute. Maybe, hopefully, tomorrow morning will be a bit easier than Sunday mornings usually are around here.

A couple of months ago, I posted about lining up M&Ms before eating them. Last week, I mentioned this to Mom when we were driving to work. She said, Well, you come by it honestly. Your dad stacks up Cheez Its before eating them by size. She told me that I have always done things like this with chips, crackers, vegetables. I didn't realize it, but when she mentioned it, I notice that I do it with lots of things. My son eats chips in size order. I'll have to watch my daughters and see if I notice something.

I have been tired of having blonde highlights for a while now, so I decided to be brave & color my own hair instead of forking over eighty dollars at the salon. After what seemed an eternity of looking thru the different kinds of coloring kits, I picked light brown. It was a kit that had the all over color plus highlights to make it look more natural & not just one solid color. I now have brown hair with auburn highlights. I've gotten used to it and I like it, but it's not what I expected. At all.

A few days ago, my oldest daughter came through and saw my new haircolor. She said, WOW! Nice hair. It's so YOU! Son came in and said, Nice hair, Mom. It matches your eyebrows now. Is your hair supposed to match your eyebrows? Why didn't it match before? I told him it was highlighted and only some parts matched my eyebrows before. He laughed and said, That's weird. Too funny. Youngest daughter wants to know when she can color or highlight her hair. Like Hilary Duff. I told her she can color her hair when she has a job.

Youngest daughter (nine years old) came home from her friend's house the other night & was scared to take a shower or to sleep alone.

Her friend's mom told youngest daughter that if she goes in the bathroom, turns out the light, says BLOODY MARY three times, that Bloody Mary, Satan's wife, will come out into the bathroom & make it so that youngest daughter can not ever have children. And if she does that often enough, saying her name like that, Bloody Mary will take over daughter's mind & make her crazy.

I'd really like to smack that lady.

Youngest daughter's friend's mom (confusing, huh?) told my daughter that when the end of the world comes, a monster will come from the devil & cut off the bad people's heads & tattoo 666 inside their head. They good people will evidently only get 666 tattoos on the outside of their bodies. I think she's got the book of Revelations a little mixed up, don't you?

I'm not sure WHY this lady thought it was necessary to tell daughter this crap. She probably thought it was funny & didn't realize that daughter gets really frightened by these kinds of things.

Youngest daughter & her friend came home with a puppy. . I made them take it outside & walk around to find it's owners since there was no tag or collar. They did and found the owners. Youngest daughter cried & was quite dramatic about it.

I thought it was a cute puppy. I generally like dogs. But, we have a VERY small back yard, the fence is not in good shape & I don't want to potty train or care for something else right now. I have enough on my hands with the kids, the bird & the fish.

Youngest daughter and I just got back from visiting with the dog's owners. The guy who "gave" it to her didn't come to the door, his wife did. She said the puppy is home safe & that all is well. I told her that someone from their family had "given" daughter the dog but that we just cannot keep it. She smiled & said OK. Thanks a lot for checking on the puppy. And that was that. Daughter is ok now knowing that the puppy is safe & sound. I'm happy that we don't have to find it a home.

I'm getting a sinus infection. I must have spoken too soon when I said I'd not gotten this allergy turned sinus infection thing that I usually get each year. I'm going to the doctor tomorrow morning in hopes of getting rid of it before it gets any worse. Since yesterday I've had a fever, stuffy nose, aches, itchy throat & ears. My normal behavior is to wait it out, thinking it will get better & then takes longer to get rid of. This year, I'm going against my stubborn wish to get rid of it with vitamin C & Sudafed.

On the mend is a common theme for my family, it seems. I went to the doc.. it was a sinus infection. Antibiotics to the rescue. Luckily I don't take them often, so the basic one, Amoxicillin, still works for me.

Remember that Dad had surgery on his lower back (lumbar laminectomy) in December? Today he was out feeding the horse & mules & got kicked in the chest by one of the mules. Went to the hospital in an ambulance. He has two broken ribs, but it doesn‘t look like there is any injury to his back, thank goodness.

Since last night, my right ring finger has been feeling funny. A little tingly & sort of numb. Almost like a hair is wrapped around it at the place where the bottom knuckle bends and a little above that spot. I keep trying to wipe it off.

When I mentioned it at work today, as I stood rubbing my finger against my pants leg, my supervisor said,

"It's a string that an alien tied on your finger last night when you were sleeping. Now whenever they want to contact you, they pull on the invisible string."

So... now I know.

Tonight as I was watching the Olympics, the local news station cut in with "breaking news" from the basketball coach at Oklahoma State University.

I hadn't realized before tonight that I went to school with the assistant coach at OSU. I'm not sure why I had not made the connection. I knew when he was a player there. But didn't realize he's now an assistant coach. Obviously, I'm not a die hard fan. I'm sure my son knows this bit of trivia and that he'd roll his eyes if I asked him about it.

What a small world it is.

When I was pregnant with my son, ex husband played a pre-season of basketball with the Chicago Bulls. MJ was not playing that year, but he came to the gym sometimes.

When some of the guys told MJ that we naming our son Jordan, he said something about another little Jordan being named after him. Ex told him that since oldest daughter's name starts with B that we were naming son Jordan because then we'd have BJ, after BJ Armstrong. (not true, but a good comeback, right?)

I've told son that story several times over the years. He loves it.

When we drove home from Mom & Dad's house tonight it was around 8:00. My windshield was icy and the road was slick in a few spots. Not many spots, but enough for me to take my time & drive carefully. People here in Oklahoma are not used to any sort of inclement weather and tend to freak out in rain, snow, and fog. When we have ice, it's even worse. They drive like maniacs. If the roads are very bad, I just stay home if I can. It's better to be home instead of worrying about the crazy drivers.

It's sleeting. I'm in the living room and can hear the sleet pelting against the sliding glass door. It sounds a bit like rain on a tin or aluminum roof.. but more plinky. Is that a word? I'm not sure how to describe it precisely. It's a sharper sound, I guess.

I love this sound. It reminds me of being at my grandparents' house. They had an aluminum roof on the back bedroom. During my childhood, whenever I spent the night with Meema and Grandad, I often slept in the "way back"bedroom. When it rained, I slept so well.

I had an email today that states, "You've signed it a million times. Now find out what your name says about you. Explore the calculations of your numerology portrait." So I clicked the link. Silly me. I got a long generic response after putting in my full name and birth date. It sounds a little like me.

Deep, serious, introspective, and analytical, you accept nothing at face value, and you are always probing into the hidden side or deeper meaning of situations and people. You are fascinated by the mysterious and unknown.

Sounds like a lot of people, I think.

Fat Tuesday is February 28 this year.

When the ex and I lived in Louisiana, I experienced the wonders of Mardi Gras for the first time. Never before had I seen parades for a month, celebrations with bright colors, beads, masks, feathers, candy, and music. The kids even had parades in the grade schools. It was a blast. Each year, it was fun to have that to look forward to in the midst of the dull, cold winter.

Now, we have King Cake and I give the kids beads of gold, green and purple each year. It's not the same.

3A
Titanium's freezing point
/postsecret.b -
bon jovi smirk tattoo
titanium's family name(element)
"core foods plan" AND review
spelling of bona fide
hooters calendar sara
messy bedrooms
horses hooves glue envelopes
"DUCT TAPE IS SILVER" STICKER
who sang
BONA
"crazy crust pizza" "la leche"
GREW FIDE
pomeranian collapsed trachea need hernia surgery
"titanium"
travel the path on integrity
bona fide
Dr.Jonathan Waitman

I can see how the phrases would have brought my blog up in a keyword search. It is just funny to see the search phrases listed. I wonder what they thought when they clicked & saw my blog.

Backpacking thru Europe for a few months is a dream of mine. I think I could spend days on end at the Louvre Museum. I'd also like to see the Paris Opera House (after reading Phantom of the Opera.. and then seeing a performance). I want to see the floor raised & lowered by the water level beneath. In Finland, I'd go visit the girl who was an exchange student with my family when I was in college. She's married with 2 sons now. Do you think I'd see Victor Krum in Bulgaria? I'd visit my penpal in Istanbul, Turkey

Dragon Fire hot imperial cinnamon gum is my favorite kind of gum. It's very hot at first and then it is absolutely perfect. It comes in a little red tin. I used to buy it at a little gas station close to my parents' house. Then the owners stopped stocking it. I found it online at a candy website, but it has to be ordered by the case. It costs almost twenty five dollars for a case of twelve tins plus shipping. I try hard to live frugally, to make each penny count. This is one thing I splurge on.

I've begun a quest to lower my utility bills. The amount of my bill, for the small amount of time that we're actually home (since I am at work & the kiddos are at school all day) is ridiculous. I know this place is not insulated well and it's drafty around windows & doors. Since I do not own this place, I cannot make major permanent changes. I can, however, make a few small changes to make it more energy efficient. I can also change a few things that I have been doing to see if it makes a difference.

This morning, I took the youngest to the dentist. Four cavities. Between the teeth. On baby teeth, thankfully. But cavities, nonetheless. Obviously, I should not have believed her innocent looking doe-eyed professions of, "Yes, I flossed my teeth yesterday. Really, I did!" Later on today, while taking oldest for her yearly asthma/allergy check up at the air force base, I hit a snag. I had no idea that visitors to the base now require a pass (since 01 January 2006, I learned)... always before I have been able to go on base with a valid drivers license & military ID.

Usually I do not feel lonely, at all. A combination of staying busy, work, and the kids keep feelings like that at bay most of the time. Sometimes I think it would be really nice to be in a relationship. At other times, I think I'd be horrible in a relationship because I am so used to it just being me, my two daughters and son. I mean, here I'm the boss. I'm the final word. Lucky for me, I don't have to make any decisions on the "relationship front" at this time, since nothing is looming on the horizon.

I called the cable company about reducing my monthly bill. Of course, they tried to talk me into more services. Those people are GOOD! She didn't want to tell me about the lowest, plainest plan. At first, she'd only tell me about the medium plan.. which is about 75% of what I've been paying. Finally when she saw I wasn't going for it, she told me about the lowest priced plan for three bundled services.

My bill for basic cable, internet and phone service without all the bells & whistles will be half of what I have been paying.

HALF!

I went at lunch today & got my hair trimmed. I was in, washed, cut, dried & out the door in 35 minutes. Amazing, isn't it?

Everyone at work made a big deal about me having shorter (more styled) hair when I got back to work. One guy said, "You have the CHICKEN BUTT hairstyle. That is what I call it. My wife has her hair like that."

Nice, huh? Just what a girl wants to hear after getting her hair chopped, gelled, straightened & sprayed.

Chicken butt? I think I must have looked at him like he was crazy.