I wonder if I need Anger Management. I am not postal or anything. Things just annoy me and they don't seem to be getting any better!
I will begin with a couple tips to avoid road rage from somebody, unlike myself, who is sick and tired of a few things and they are so damn simple to fix. But, people need to play by the rules!
Number 1. When you are turning, please signal! How hard is that, put the lever up or down. Can't remember? POINT! I am not talking about a four way stop out in the middle of the desert where no other cars are. I am talking about being on, for instance, a street that turns onto another without a stop or signal for turning traffic. If say, I, were waiting at a stop sign and say, you, were turning onto my little road, you would be kind enough to signal, so I could then turn safely, knowing you are not going straight. This is sooo simple, yet, people refuse to turn on their dang signals. I know in some cases, it is space cadettes, in others, it is because they are on the PHONE!!!!!!
Number 2. Hang up and drive! I know I have said this before, but it is worse than ever now. Here is a simple hint to avoid being rammed by another vehicle by a person who will later have no recall of the event. Be it Ambien or short term memory loss! Oh, not me....Seriously. Tip. If you are at a four way stop and you are chatting with your bud about your new breasts or Botox injections and it occurs to you that you really should go because the person behind you honked, WAIT! Look around to see who is new at the intersection since you have been there and let them go first unless they let you! Just cuz you have been there for three or four minutes does not give you the right to just go! Pay attention.
Can you tell Summer is here? Traffic is a nightmare again. Tourist season has begun. As long as the side streets are still available, all will be fine. Now, if people would remember driver training and apply lessons learned, it would just be a little simpler!
On to the creepy neighbor guy. (CNG) It may not be capitalized if I don't feel like hitting shift! Anyhow, my daughter says that I am obsessed with talking about him. I just wanted acknowledgement that I am right about him. I got it too! HA
David and the CNG talked about getting our shared trees trimmed. Huge Eucalyptus trees. He found a guy who was going to trim the one going thru our back eave for $450 each. David agreed to this. I called my guy, cuz I figured I could get a couple hundred off that price. I did. CNG told David he was okay with our guy, but he wanted him to come next weekend so he could supervise! After a day of Euc branches falling and being put into a truck, the front yard tree looked great. CNG told Bruno (Trimmer) that was exactly how he wanted his trees too. Bruno left and came back yesterday. One of his guys got here first and started on our side of the shared tree. CNG was watching. He then began yelling at the guy in the tree. One of his plants had been damaged. I believe it was a horse tail plant? Green, like bamboo, about the circumference of a straw and can be a kid's best friend when they pull them apart every four inches or so. Anyhow, the guy in the tree had not been in his yard, nor had he dropped any branches over there.
Bruno shows up and after verbally sparring with CNG, he tells me he is not trimming his side of the tree or the other trees that he wanted him to cut! CNG is outside picking up leaves one by one in his yard. Picking them out of the dirt from in between plants. My cuzbro was here and he said CNG was about to explode over a mere 25 or so leaves. Bruno and his guys finished and were going to do one more tree in the front that the nice neighbor on the other side was paying for. When he began to pull away from the curb, after they had cleaned the yard, the CNG said to Bruno, "That is all you are going to do? You are not going to do my trees?" Bruno told him he didn't want to damage his plants! CNG said all Bruno had to do was have two guys holding a tarp and a guy in the tree cutting. Bruno told him no. CNG told him his guy was better anyway and to get out of his face!!! Bruno has more that enough work and doesn't need to work for people who treats him like that.
So, David who told me he thought I was just nagging about the neighbor has decided that the guy is a genuine ass. Also, Bruno and his guys concurred with me as well. All I had to do was sit back and watch!
Monday, June 26, 2006
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Three More Days
Three more days of school! Half days as well. Finals this week too. Doesn't that just suck? Last week of school and three days of finals. Last year they had three days of finals and the last day was basically for yearbook signing. This time, they will be busy for the final three days. It lessens the excitement of the end of the school year for the kids. Zoe isn't feeling the excitement and when I picked up Katharine and a friend yesterday, they concurred.
Actually, Katharine, who is in middle school has two days of finals and one day of yearbook signing. She will have fun on Thursday afterall. They will get their yearbooks and spend the half day signing each other's books. The way I think it should be.
These kids work very hard. Much harder than I did when I was in high school. The amount of homework is insane. I realize that the teachers don't have time to go over everything in the curriculum, but to send it home every night is rough on the kids. As in years past, the teachers have spent the past couple of weeks cramming in the remaining work that was not done thru the year. This is very hard on everybody. The teachers also have to keep the grades up to date on the computer for students and parents to get with a click of a key. You can bet there are parents who call the school if the teacher has not updated the site in a day or two! While handy to have all this information, it is more work for already overworked, underpaid teachers.
Had this technology existed when I was in school, I probably would have been a better student. Well, that would also have depended on whether my parents would have used the technology. We got cut notices in the mail every Saturday like clock work. I got them before my parents did and destroyed them every week. The school did not call either. It was pretty lame. We had minimal homework given. Nothing like today. And we had a blast the last week of school. Ditch day, off to the beach daily after school. No finals the last week! We got to be kids and I wish my kids could be feel the excitement of how the last week is supposed to feel. I know they have in the past, maybe as they get older, things are just different!
In other news....31 years ago today I was having a baby. 6:51 AM, June 20, 1975. He is 31 today. If he is still alive. I hope he is and that he is having a wonderful birthday celebration with his family!
Actually, Katharine, who is in middle school has two days of finals and one day of yearbook signing. She will have fun on Thursday afterall. They will get their yearbooks and spend the half day signing each other's books. The way I think it should be.
These kids work very hard. Much harder than I did when I was in high school. The amount of homework is insane. I realize that the teachers don't have time to go over everything in the curriculum, but to send it home every night is rough on the kids. As in years past, the teachers have spent the past couple of weeks cramming in the remaining work that was not done thru the year. This is very hard on everybody. The teachers also have to keep the grades up to date on the computer for students and parents to get with a click of a key. You can bet there are parents who call the school if the teacher has not updated the site in a day or two! While handy to have all this information, it is more work for already overworked, underpaid teachers.
Had this technology existed when I was in school, I probably would have been a better student. Well, that would also have depended on whether my parents would have used the technology. We got cut notices in the mail every Saturday like clock work. I got them before my parents did and destroyed them every week. The school did not call either. It was pretty lame. We had minimal homework given. Nothing like today. And we had a blast the last week of school. Ditch day, off to the beach daily after school. No finals the last week! We got to be kids and I wish my kids could be feel the excitement of how the last week is supposed to feel. I know they have in the past, maybe as they get older, things are just different!
In other news....31 years ago today I was having a baby. 6:51 AM, June 20, 1975. He is 31 today. If he is still alive. I hope he is and that he is having a wonderful birthday celebration with his family!
Friday, June 16, 2006
Another Eight Days
It has been eight days since my last post. Doesn't that sound like I am making a confession to a Priest? It does feel that way, the guilt is real!
I know we are all busy right now. Beginning of summer. Kids finishing school. Finishing up work that must be taught by the end of the year, which is next week, being crammed into their already full schedules. And all the shows for elective classes and after school activities!
Last night we went to Zoe's Chorus Concert. It was AWESOME. They sang all eras of Broadway show tunes. Most poignant was their singing For Good to the outgoing Principal. The songs lyrics say, "Because I knew you, I have been changed for good. It was so very touching. The one thing that hasn't happened to me in a long time happened though. I got a tall guy in the seat in front of me who seemed to move his head to the left or right simultaneously with mine! Not to mention, I was first in line at the door, got a good seat and at the very last minute, Mr. Six Foot Five sits his ass right in view of my daughter singing! UGH
Spring Registration for Girl Scouts just ended. This is important to me because I am the GS Registrar for Laguna Beach. We are just going online so I am now a glorified data entry person as well. It will take a lot of time to input all the registrations, but it will be worth it and it is fun. I just flashed on writing this or a portion of this before. Oh well.
I was listening to Bill Gates yesterday. He still sounds like a very young man. Nerdy guys really come into their own in their fifties! They finally look better than the rest of the boys they went to school with. They look younger, their wives have updated their clothes, their glasses and tossed the pocket protectors as well. Good for them! Good for us that Mr. Gates and his wife will work to help the world. We need it. So, thank you to them!
School gets out on Thursday. I am stoked about that. There will be plenty of things going on this summer, but the schedule will be more laxed. Katharine has rehearsals for Narnia, lots of them! Hopefully, more auditions in LA during the day. I do hope she spends time playing at the beach too, just to relax.
Zoe will be helping David at his office this summer. She will be running the place by the end of summer, I have no doubt. She is going to an Anime (Japanese cartoons) Convention soon with her cousin. Her cousin is dying her hair and dressing up. She is also coming to stay with us for a week, right after school gets out. Again later in the summer as well. Zoe and David are going to DC and NYC in July. Seeing family in NYC and being tourists in DC. It's gonna be hot!
That's about it. I hope everybody is well and I will be blog surfing very soon, I hope! Unless of course I run off to Tahiti for a few weeks! Don't laugh, it could happen!
I know we are all busy right now. Beginning of summer. Kids finishing school. Finishing up work that must be taught by the end of the year, which is next week, being crammed into their already full schedules. And all the shows for elective classes and after school activities!
Last night we went to Zoe's Chorus Concert. It was AWESOME. They sang all eras of Broadway show tunes. Most poignant was their singing For Good to the outgoing Principal. The songs lyrics say, "Because I knew you, I have been changed for good. It was so very touching. The one thing that hasn't happened to me in a long time happened though. I got a tall guy in the seat in front of me who seemed to move his head to the left or right simultaneously with mine! Not to mention, I was first in line at the door, got a good seat and at the very last minute, Mr. Six Foot Five sits his ass right in view of my daughter singing! UGH
Spring Registration for Girl Scouts just ended. This is important to me because I am the GS Registrar for Laguna Beach. We are just going online so I am now a glorified data entry person as well. It will take a lot of time to input all the registrations, but it will be worth it and it is fun. I just flashed on writing this or a portion of this before. Oh well.
I was listening to Bill Gates yesterday. He still sounds like a very young man. Nerdy guys really come into their own in their fifties! They finally look better than the rest of the boys they went to school with. They look younger, their wives have updated their clothes, their glasses and tossed the pocket protectors as well. Good for them! Good for us that Mr. Gates and his wife will work to help the world. We need it. So, thank you to them!
School gets out on Thursday. I am stoked about that. There will be plenty of things going on this summer, but the schedule will be more laxed. Katharine has rehearsals for Narnia, lots of them! Hopefully, more auditions in LA during the day. I do hope she spends time playing at the beach too, just to relax.
Zoe will be helping David at his office this summer. She will be running the place by the end of summer, I have no doubt. She is going to an Anime (Japanese cartoons) Convention soon with her cousin. Her cousin is dying her hair and dressing up. She is also coming to stay with us for a week, right after school gets out. Again later in the summer as well. Zoe and David are going to DC and NYC in July. Seeing family in NYC and being tourists in DC. It's gonna be hot!
That's about it. I hope everybody is well and I will be blog surfing very soon, I hope! Unless of course I run off to Tahiti for a few weeks! Don't laugh, it could happen!
Thursday, June 08, 2006
Just Another Crazy Week
We finally got the new TV put up last Friday. It works, even in HD, but the Tivo and DVD players and speakers are not hooked up yet. Mark, who put up the TV, is going to rewire all the other stuff. I had to purchase a TV stand for the living room that is no wider than 18 inches. We have decided, while nice, the entertainment cabinet is impossible to work with. It is low to the ground and all the wires are in the back and it is dusty and dark. Now they will be easily accessible and easy to dust, plus they will stay cooler. We can take all the DVDs and CDs that are on top of the entertainment cabinet and actually put them inside and shut the doors. Right now, we have to keep at least one door open to use the remote controls. It will look much nicer when it is all closed up. The cabinet would not have been my choice if I were out purchasing one for the living room. The fireplace mantle and the cabinet are made of Koa wood from Hawaii. It is very beautiful wood and I am not sure they can still cut down Koa trees. The cabinet is L shaped and takes up a whole wall. Limits rearranging furniture in that room! Anyhow, it is nice to have a TV upstairs again.
Zoe had her award ceremony at school last week. She got most outstanding in Biology and Geometry. A couple of nights ago was Katharine's award show. She got an award for most outstanding in Social Studies. She seemed surprised by this. I was happy in was an academic award. She would have been happier if it were for Drama! She and Zoe are both straight A and A+ students, any award is icing on the cake to me! I am very proud of the girls and how well they do in school. I am a lucky mother.
Katharine had her first two auditions for commercials on Monday. She was only supposed to do a Bratz Doll audition, but we got a call before we left home to do another one while we were in LA. She did a cell phone audition at another location. The first one was rather silly, but she can play younger. The second one, she had a blast doing.
The building we needed to be in for the second audition was above a Petco store. We parked in the parking lot and a security dude told us we could not park there. He saw Katharine had her head shot in her hand, so he knew we were going upstairs. Anyhow, I asked the guy if he meant we could not go into Petco. "We cannot go into Petco?" I asked a couple of times. He told us we could, but we had to come right back out and move our car. He told us to park down by Ralphs. Apparently, he didn't care what that security guard had to deal with. We went into Petco and bought a toy for Charlie. When we came out, I pointed out that the sign said "ONE HOUR" parking. He said it was only for those still in the store! Finally we left after I gave him sufficient shit! We went around the block and parked on a busy street, right in front of the store. We went inside, up the stairs. Katharine finally did her audition and we headed back down to the car. Wait, there is something on my windshield, I thought. Shit! A freaking ticket. I looked and I was one inch into the red zone. ONE INCH and I got a ticket for $65.
I asked David if he would fight it for me. He told me he would if I came with him to court in LA. Plus it will be 120 miles round trip and he would miss a morning at the office. Overall, it is better to just pay the damn thing. It really burns me up that I have to pay that ticket. I imagined the way it would play out in front of a judge.
Me: I was only and inch into the red.
Judge: What does red mean?
Me: No parking.
Judge: And you were in the no parking area, yes?
Me: Yes, but only an inch.
Judge: Pay the $65!
Me: #$%# $% running!
Zoe had her award ceremony at school last week. She got most outstanding in Biology and Geometry. A couple of nights ago was Katharine's award show. She got an award for most outstanding in Social Studies. She seemed surprised by this. I was happy in was an academic award. She would have been happier if it were for Drama! She and Zoe are both straight A and A+ students, any award is icing on the cake to me! I am very proud of the girls and how well they do in school. I am a lucky mother.
Katharine had her first two auditions for commercials on Monday. She was only supposed to do a Bratz Doll audition, but we got a call before we left home to do another one while we were in LA. She did a cell phone audition at another location. The first one was rather silly, but she can play younger. The second one, she had a blast doing.
The building we needed to be in for the second audition was above a Petco store. We parked in the parking lot and a security dude told us we could not park there. He saw Katharine had her head shot in her hand, so he knew we were going upstairs. Anyhow, I asked the guy if he meant we could not go into Petco. "We cannot go into Petco?" I asked a couple of times. He told us we could, but we had to come right back out and move our car. He told us to park down by Ralphs. Apparently, he didn't care what that security guard had to deal with. We went into Petco and bought a toy for Charlie. When we came out, I pointed out that the sign said "ONE HOUR" parking. He said it was only for those still in the store! Finally we left after I gave him sufficient shit! We went around the block and parked on a busy street, right in front of the store. We went inside, up the stairs. Katharine finally did her audition and we headed back down to the car. Wait, there is something on my windshield, I thought. Shit! A freaking ticket. I looked and I was one inch into the red zone. ONE INCH and I got a ticket for $65.
I asked David if he would fight it for me. He told me he would if I came with him to court in LA. Plus it will be 120 miles round trip and he would miss a morning at the office. Overall, it is better to just pay the damn thing. It really burns me up that I have to pay that ticket. I imagined the way it would play out in front of a judge.
Me: I was only and inch into the red.
Judge: What does red mean?
Me: No parking.
Judge: And you were in the no parking area, yes?
Me: Yes, but only an inch.
Judge: Pay the $65!
Me: #$%# $% running!
Thursday, June 01, 2006
Nancy Drew
No really, Nancy Drew the sleuth.
Years ago Zoe finished the whole collection of Nancy Drew books. I think there are sixty five books in all. A while back she brought them all upstairs and boxed them up. She needed the space on her wall to wall, ceiling to floor bookshelves. The space was filled up quickly enough. Anyhow, normally I take the books up to the elementary school library. Last haul I took, I was told to take them in to the library. I took them in and thought it would at least warrant a "thank you!" Not.
I was happy about giving books to the school over the years, but with no appreciation, I was pretty done! We gave them several hundred books over the years. I should have been giving them to a needy school instead. This time with a full set of books in hand, I thought why not put these on eBay? They have been sitting in the garage and need a home. I thought maybe we could make a couple of bucks on eBay. Apparently, that is about all they are worth!
I went to Amazon.com to see what they were going for. Little did I know the books go up to more than 175 currently! I thought the writer Carolyn Keene was real too. Apparently that was a pen name and there have been and continue to be several writers for the Nancy Drew Series. So, we no longer have a full set of books. Neither does my friend Jana. She has 56 books that she read when she was a girl. I called her and she is now giving away her books as well. Used books are going for up to about two buck each. New books cost about eleven bucks these days. By the way, all the new books, which come out every other month or so, are in paperback. We have hardcovers. The books looks are updated, but that is to be expected for something that has been ongoing since 1930!
Here is a link if you want to read all about it. Nancy Drew
The first book shown is number 2 of at least 175. Then it shows a Gameboy game of Nancy Drew. Also shown, the newer look, is book number 134.
Years ago Zoe finished the whole collection of Nancy Drew books. I think there are sixty five books in all. A while back she brought them all upstairs and boxed them up. She needed the space on her wall to wall, ceiling to floor bookshelves. The space was filled up quickly enough. Anyhow, normally I take the books up to the elementary school library. Last haul I took, I was told to take them in to the library. I took them in and thought it would at least warrant a "thank you!" Not.
I was happy about giving books to the school over the years, but with no appreciation, I was pretty done! We gave them several hundred books over the years. I should have been giving them to a needy school instead. This time with a full set of books in hand, I thought why not put these on eBay? They have been sitting in the garage and need a home. I thought maybe we could make a couple of bucks on eBay. Apparently, that is about all they are worth!
I went to Amazon.com to see what they were going for. Little did I know the books go up to more than 175 currently! I thought the writer Carolyn Keene was real too. Apparently that was a pen name and there have been and continue to be several writers for the Nancy Drew Series. So, we no longer have a full set of books. Neither does my friend Jana. She has 56 books that she read when she was a girl. I called her and she is now giving away her books as well. Used books are going for up to about two buck each. New books cost about eleven bucks these days. By the way, all the new books, which come out every other month or so, are in paperback. We have hardcovers. The books looks are updated, but that is to be expected for something that has been ongoing since 1930!
Here is a link if you want to read all about it. Nancy Drew
The first book shown is number 2 of at least 175. Then it shows a Gameboy game of Nancy Drew. Also shown, the newer look, is book number 134.
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