Speaking of Hookers...

Sentient Beings vs. The Lizard People

2009-08-04T21:16:00.002-06:00

Now, my point in posting that was not to argue over Republicans and Democrats but to point out the part about the media not having the balls to call nonsense on stuff like this. On the internet broadcast I co host each week we do a lot of calling nonsense on people and we are considered bitches. Today I raised some questions about an event coming up in Enid and I get accused of just causing trouble and being negative. Why does asking questions and expecting accountability make someone the bad guy? Why doesn't the media have the balls to up and say this kind of stuff is bullshit and we will no longer entertain it? What is wrong with good old fashioned blatant honesty???

By Bill Maher, who I think makes perfect sense all the time.

Never underestimate the ability of a tiny fringe group of losers to ruin everything.

For the last couple of weeks, we've all been laughing heartily at the wacky antics of the "birthers" -- the far-right goofballs who claim Barack Obama wasn't really born in Hawaii and therefore the job of president goes to the runner-up, former Miss California Carrie Prejean.

Also, when Obama was sworn in as president, he forgot to give his answer in the form of a question.

And yet, every week, the chorus of conservatives demanding to see his birth certificate grows. It's like they're the Cambridge police, Obama's in his house -- the White House -- and they need to see some ID.

And there's nothing anyone can do to convince these folks. You could hand them, in person, the original birth certificate and have a video of Obama emerging from the womb with Don Ho singing in the background ... and they still wouldn't believe it.

Which raises the question: Why, in this country, is it always the religious right that won't take anything on faith?

So far, the reaction from Democrats is to laugh this off, and I understand why. If you seriously believe that President Obama is an African sleeper spy, get out of your chat room and have your house tested for lead.

But we live in America, and in America, if you don't immediately kill arrant nonsense, no matter how ridiculous, it can grow and thrive and eventually take over, like crab grass or reality shows about fat people.

This flap might be a deluded right-wing obsession that is a total waste of time, but so was Whitewater, and look where that ended up. A handful of Republican operatives, enraged at Bill Clinton's unprecedented economic growth and budget surpluses, found a woman named Paula Jones, which led to a woman named Monica Lewinsky, which gave me enough material to eventually be able to buy a big house in Bel-Air. Which I'm still conflicted about.

More recently we had the Swift Boat allegations against John Kerry, in which Kerry was accused of volunteering to serve in Vietnam so he could jump in front of a bullet so he could get a medal and then throw it away to satisfy his urge to insult real Americans. This was so stupid that Kerry refused to even discuss it.

And we all know how well that worked out.

And once these stories get out there, they're hard to stamp out because our media do such a lousy job of speaking truth to stupid. Vietnam, Iraq and the Spanish-American War were all sold on lies that were unchallenged or even abetted by the media. Clinton got impeached and Kerry got destroyed in large part because the media didn't have the guts to say, "This is nonsense."

Lou Dobbs has been saying recently that people are asking a lot of questions about the birth certificate. Yes, the same people who want to know where the sun goes at night.

And Lou, you're their new king.

That's why it's so important that we the few, the proud, the reality-based attack this stuff before it has a chance to fester and spread. This isn't a case of Democrats versus Republicans. It's sentient beings versus the lizard people, and it is to them I offer this deal: I'll show you Obama's birth certificate when you show me Sarah Palin's high school diploma.

-Bill Maher

The Lost Highway Tour

2009-08-04T09:43:00.002-06:00

Route 60, otherwise known as 412 to us locals, runs east and west across Oklahoma. It was originally said to be the shortest east-west route from Virginia to California. In our part of the state, it runs through Enid to Fairview and on into Canadian and Pampa, Texas.

According to the Enid's Good Roads Boosters article on Gary Brown's website:

"In the mid ‘20's, the Route 66 boosters in the state took the upper ground in the battle for an eastwest transcontinental roadway through Oklahoma. Enid did not give up the battle, however, and in the late ‘40's, local attorney Harry O. Glasser became active in the U.S. Highway 60 Association and became it’s president in 1947. In June of that year Enid hosted the national convention of the Highway 60 Association and attempted to chart a strategy that would gain prominence for this route over Route 66. The game plan was to divert westward bound truck traffic off of Route 66 at Vinita where US 60 intersected with US 66.

Truckers did not like Route 66 because it had become congested and was not well constructed for large trucks. If successful, Enid would benefit from the increased truck traffic. Geography and Oklahoma politics did not fair well for Enid and it’s Highway 60 plan. Progress west of Enid through remote western Oklahoma proved slow and the Route 66 proponents got their route paved first, thereby establishing it’s supremacy."

So, you see, the highway that runs through Enid was almost the Mother Road.

I have a friend that lives in Pampa, Texas who happens to be an Enid native and we are trying to put together a weekend caravan trip down the Lost Highway. We want to encourage people to load up their families and take a bit of a road trip on their portion of Route 60 between Enid and Pampa, with events being planned at the two major towns in between - Fairview & Canadian - and both Enid & Pampa. Maybe some ice cream socials in the towns in between with some folk music or some such entertainment on each end.

It's not all prganized yet, but we're working on it. This is something fun you can do with your family on a weekend that won't cost you a lot. There's a lot of beautiful scenery along the way and some interesting history, too.

Did I tell you I wrote a book???

2009-08-04T09:29:00.004-06:00

I'm pretty sure I've plastered this all over the place, but just in case you needed to be reminded to pick one up:

With over 100 years under its belt, Oklahoma has not only a very colorful, but also a very haunted history. Ghostlahoma is the only book solely dedicated to Oklahoma ghost stories and it will take you from the very first published ghost story in Oklahoma to spectres of the present day, chilling you with tales of phantom hitch hikers and warming you with stories of "visiting" loved ones. Everyone has a ghost story - even people that "don't believe in that stuff" and the stories that comprise Ghostlahoma were submitted and in many instances, told by, the people that experienced them. So we invite you to join us as we travel through the haunted history of Ghostahoma and we hope you will enjoy the journey.

Do you have a story about a haunted Oklahoma location? Tell us about it!

The NEXT book, Ghostlahoma, Too! will be covering places where you can eat, drink, and sleep ghosts - Restaurants, Bars & Hotels/B&B's.

Paranormal Pajama Party

2009-08-04T09:01:00.006-06:00

Join us for the first Ghost Divas Paranormal Pajama Party August 15th at the Old Johnson House Inn Bed & Breakfast in Hugo, OK. Ghost stories in your jammies, a little Light as a Feather, a little Bloody Mary - good ol' old fashioned slumber party! Girls only! BYOB. $60 includes snacks, lodging, breakfast and a great time! Get your ticket quickly!

Judge Not...

2009-07-31T21:35:00.003-06:00

My eyes are still stinging from the tears and my heart is still heavy as I write this. I just finished watching "The Diary of Anne Frank." There those people were, hiding in a cramped attic for two years, waiting, hoping, never giving up. Anne wrote in her diary that she hoped her words would continue even after she was gone and that she hoped to one day make it to Hollywood. Those things came true, though not quite the way she hoped, and her optimism has inspired countless people.

As I sat here with the tears streaming down my face and thinking about the horrid things people have done to other people throughout history, it struck me that even though people aren't being sent to concentration camps in trainloads and gassed to death, people are still being treated horribly for their differences. It may be something as blatant as a KKK rally or something as subtle as the local newspaper completely ignoring the first Pride event in a small Bible Belt town, but it's STILL happening every day.

What the hell is wrong with people??? How hard is it really just to love and honor each other for being a fellow human being? Why does it matter what color someone's skin is? Why does it matter what God someone serves? Or doesn't serve, for that matter? What difference does it make who touches someone's heart? Seriously? What DIFFERENCE does it PERSONALLY make to YOU? Does it affect your ability to feed your family? Does it affect your ability to sleep at night? Does it affect your ability to pay your bills? Does it affect your ability to serve the God of your choice?

I challenge each and every person that reads this to search your soul and ask yourself these questions. Ask yourself how that person you hate just because they're a different religion than you affects YOU? Why does it bother you that they don't have the same beliefs as you? Why does it bother you that a woman can fall in love with another woman or a man with another man? How does it personally affect YOUR life?

I think if you really, really get honest with yourself, you will find that none of it has a damn thing to do with you and the only reason people pass judgment is because there is something about themselves missing. My guess is it's simple compassion and understanding. I don't want to hear any bullshit "The Bible says" either. The Bible says to love one another. I promise for every verse you can find damning someone for their lifestyle, I can find two telling you not to judge and it's not even my choice for spiritual guidance.

Some people in our community have been discussing how disgusted they were that the newspaper slighted the Pride event and we have been accused of simply wanting drama. The people that say that couldn't be further from the truth. Those people have no idea the very real hurt in our hearts that this kind of ignorance and hate is being practiced in our community. It's not about homosexuality, it's about being humans on the same planet. Plain and simple. It physically turns my stomach that people can stick their heads in the proverbial sand and pretend it's nothing to hate another person. It physcially turns my stomach to hear people say their child can't play with another child because their family is a different religion or because so and so has two moms.

STOP teaching your children to be ignorant and intolerant. Teach them love and compassion for all human beings, not just other humans of the same denomination.

One argument I often hear when talking about intolerance is "You're just being intolerant of my beliefs because I don't agree with you." BULLSHIT. What a fucking cop out. Or people will simply act like they have no idea what the big deal is. Avoidance and apathy are just as wrong as blatant actions. Intolerance is intolerance even if you dress it up with the Bible. It sickens me that something that was meant to teach people values and morals is being used as an excuse for ignorance, intolerance, and stupidity. What Would Jesus Do? He'd be sickened at the perversion his teachings have become.

Again, I ask you to dig deep. Put what you've been "taught" aside and think about how anyone else's life personally affects YOUR life and think twice the next time you come across someone you want to judge. You don't know what their lives have been like, you don't know their story, and you damn sure don't have the right to judge them.

An opportunity and a challenge

2009-04-15T00:40:00.000-06:00

When I was little we used to write letters to people. On paper. With pens. In our own handwriting. There was nothing like the excitement of opening the mail box to find a letter addressed to you or the sadness of not finding the one you were expecting. When we're gone from this world, our children will not have an old sweet smelling hat box to sift through as they sit on the floor with a glass of wine, careful not to tear the aged papers that hold our memories and cry soft, quiet tears over the things that remind them of us. They will not have the experience of wandering through the letters from friends and old lovers and wondering about our lives before they knew us. What will they have? A computer full of emails and photos they can't access without our passwords.

So I challenge you.

Find an old friend and write them a letter and ask them to participate in this with you. Let's leave something for our children to hold onto one day. If you don't know someone you want to send a letter to, email me at oldtimeletters@gmail.com and I will give you an address of someone else that wants to write and receive letters.

Come on - it'll be fun! We've also created a site at myspace - www.myspace.com/oldtimeletters. You can see other people that want to do this and exchange addresses there, too.

Do you relish and long for the days of old when people used to drop in with their calling cards, sipped juleps on the patio together in their finest attire, and exchanged hand written letters? Emails and technology are convenient and wondrous but we can't hold them in our hands and clutch them to our hearts on a warm summer night. Let's revive the art and the excitement of letters.

25 Random Things About Me

2009-04-15T00:38:00.003-06:00

1. I was really, really bitter about my Phillips University experience but miss a lot of the friends I made there and am glad to have reunited with them on Facebook :)

2. I will drive for hours to see something weird or interesting.

3. I love scary movies. I can't find anyone to watch them with me, though. I also love going to the theater alone because then I don't miss anything - I get REALLY irritated when I miss things in movies.

4. I love the Frisco bar, too. Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name... LOL My husband has tended bar there for nearly 12 years now. We exchange gifts, go to kids' birthday parties, and go on vacations with the friends we've made at the bar. And it's perfectly normal to us.

5. It does not scare me to spend the night in scary places - in fact, I love it.

6. I was on The Learning Channel once with my friend, Tonya, for a ghost hunting show.

7. My favorite thing to do growing up was to get $2 and go off on my bike. I could eat lunch at Pak-a-Sak and go to the library and spend the entire day finding things to do and it made me perfectly happy. I still like to take a book and go to Pak-a-Sak for lunch.

8. I get really irritated when other people ask me what my plan is. I don't have a damn plan. I'll get there when I get there. That way people can't complain because I'm late :).

9. I love light beer. My current favorite is Moldelo Especial and Landshark - which is getting harder to find.

10. I have tons of books. I have them in nearly every room of my house. I bought books for my kids before I had kids.

11. I am addicted to Real Housewives of Orange County. I love to watch how other people live. I think they're ridiculous, yet I am mesmerized.

12. I want to go back to school but I'm not sure what I want to be when I grow up. I think I've decided to get my degree in history and then I can still go to law school if I decide to later.

13. I am a practicing witch. (that is absolutely a coincidence that is #13, LOL)

14. I have a passion for Volswagen bugs. I have a 1965 one and I love it. Besides my wedding ring, it is my most prized possession.

15. My wedding ring was my mother in law's wedding ring and it meant the world to me when my husband gave it to me for Christmas a couple of years ago.

16. I would honestly like to build relationships with people I didn't know very well in school now that we're adults and highschool bs doesn't matter.

17. I don't have A best friend, I have several. And they are all truly the best friends.

18. I love to camp and go on adventures.

19. I have co-authored a book am really excited about it. It's called Ghostlahoma and it just came out.

20. I felt like less of a person because I didn't finish college. But then I realized that raising productive, responsible, intelligent citizens was really just as important. Being a mom is not less than being a college graduate.

21. I wish I knew how to play the guitar. I have one, but I don't know how to play it. I also have a mandolin but I don't know to play it, either.

22. My biological father was the president of the Heathens Motorcycle Family in Santa Maria, California. He was shot defending someone and was buried on his Harley - no shit.

23. I love the theater and really miss being involved in it.

24. I have a life sized leg lamp in my living room window - like the one from A Christmas Story.

25. My friend and I have made plans that if I am ever widowed, we will find a big scary house and become crazy cat ladies together and scare all the people in the neighborhood on purpose. We want to have that house the kids dare each other to run up and touch.

Speaking of Hookers...

2009-04-15T00:37:00.001-06:00

I haven't been motivated to blog in a long time, but today I have been a little bit inspired. If you haven't heard, Oklahoma's in the midst of some chaos at the moment. Rather than trying to explain it, I would invite you to look at this blog (http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=30129611&blogId=482361436) - it's a beautifully written account of what's going on here.

Secondly, I heard a story today that made me want to tell everyone that makes excuses all the time to stop! On the island of Kauai Hawaii there was a flood that did a massive amount of damage to the access road that leads to their livelihood - Polihale State Park. Being a tourist driven community, they would have been in dire straits with the loss of income from the park. The government assessed the damages at $4 MILLION dollars and that it would take up to two years to repair. Rather than sitting around waiting on the government to do it, IF the money was available, the community pulled together and did all the work in EIGHT days for FREE. So really, next time you think "oh, we can't do that, that's too hard" or "i just can't" - YES YOU CAN. You can do ANYTHING. You just have to have the gumption to do it.

The City of Enid just settled a lawsuit wherein they are required to spend a LOT of money on making the City ADA compliant and to all the people bitching about it - may you never lose your ability to function normally because you have no idea what it's like and the least the City can do is accommodate people with disabilities, not to mention, it's the goddamned LAW, Assholes!

Now, on with the current events - I have been seeing a doctor in Oklahoma City to try to determine if in fact I have Lupus. I have had the symptoms for several years but until lately it had not really flared up. The last year or so I've had several flares and they are becoming more and more common. Right now they are calling it "connective tissue disease" but I am taking medication that treats only three things: rheumatoid arthritis, malaria, or lupus. I don't have malaria, so... Anyway - there's no definitive test for it, but it's pretty apparent that I do have the Lupus and I'm just trying to get enough rest and take the medicine. I'm looking at seeing a naturopathic doctor as well because I've heard she's had success with other Lupus patients.

I still have two extra kids at my house and that situation is a little chaotic and stressful, but we're managing.

We released the book. I think it's going to do well and we're already starting on the next book or even the third book in the series.

I have some other community things in the works - a couple of fundraisers for Scare on the Square that I've mentioned before, the dodgeball tournament and a pop culture quiz bowl and am trying to put Dillinger Day together. If anyone wants to get involved, let me know.

I think that's about all for now. Carry on.

On a More Serious Note

2009-04-15T00:35:00.000-06:00

I stumbled upon this blog (http://www.racialicious.com/2008/12/21/original-essay-the-not-rape-epidemic/) and it struck a chord with me. Please take the time to read it. It's about "not rape." There are almost 200 comments, nearly all of them relating similar stories. One commenter stated that nearly every woman they know has a "not rape" story. Think about it - it's likely that most of the women you know have one, too. I do. As the mother of young girls, I can only hope to protect my girls from having one of these stories. I would encourage you to read it whether you are a woman or a man and talk to your children - whether they are girls or boys - and make a difference in their lives. If they're girls, let them know it's OK to tell if someone treats them inappropriately and if they're boys, teach them to respect personal space and that when a girl says no, she really means no, even if she's wearing a short skirt. It's absolutely sickening to me that so many women can relate to this story and it's sickening to me how many men laugh off their antics as some normal manly thing to do. As parents and responsible humans, we need to change that with the younger generation.

Important Message Brought to you by Jesus/Jack Black

2008-12-08T13:06:00.001-06:00

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

What the hell???

2008-10-23T13:25:00.000-06:00

What the hell??? This is what's happening here, in ENID. It's absolutely revolting. A woman was seriously asked to leave an Enid establishment because she was wearing an Obama shirt and had some Obama campaign items with her.
It's one thing to be a republican and totally another to be a repulsive, redneck, piece of shit pig that is too stupid to understand that other people are afforded a difference of opinion and the freedom of speech granted to them by the United States Constitution. Last I checked, the Constitution was not only for white, Christian, male Republicans.
Ignorance is forgivable - it means to not have knowledge about something. Stupidity is not forgivable - stupidity is a conscious choice to be ignorant and that is just wrong.

Revolution afoot??

2008-04-17T08:15:00.000-06:00

If you have ever wanted to do something good for your community but haven't known how you could help, now's a good time to get involved.

About a month ago, the citizens of Enid voted to pass a bond issue that would be paid off in 20 years. The money comes from our property taxes and was going to add about $15 a month to the property taxes to get this thing paid off. We all pretty much felt like that was a doable thing. THEN this week, the City Commissioners passed a decision to pay it off in 5 years instead - that means a LOT more than $15 a month now. They say it will save a lot in interest in the long run. You know, that's great, but that's NOT WHAT WE VOTED ON. We voted on paying it out over 20 years.

The fact that they can make these kind of decisions without bringing it to the people is just wrong. That's called a DICTATORSHIP. They claim that they talked to a vast number of people - bullshit, they did not. They claim they surveyed people. Really? No one seems to have gotten this survey...

People say "well, you should go to the meetings if you don't like it". BS again - in a normal city , maybe. But I've watched those meetings. I've seen people get up and give very impassioned speeches and then the mayor will cut in and say, "You have three minutes". Then when they are done, he grunts and says "Next!". He could give a shit less about anything anyone has to say.

There is a small faction of people that are doing the research necessary to recall the mayor and the city commissioners. I don't know that this has ever happened in Enid and I imagine that's why they get away with it. We have to show them they cannot be shady and lie like that. We cannot back down from their Nazi antics. So if you are presented with an opportunity to sign a petition to recall the mayor or the commissioners, I hope you will take it.

As I mentioned, the research is being done and there have to be a certain number of signatures and then they get presented to the city clerk for authentication and then there has to be an election within like a month. What sucks is that they way I understand it, the mayor's name goes right back on the ballot, so we have to have someone willing to run against him. If no one will run, we get the same crappy treatment we've been getting.

I realize these people volunteer to do this and they may have had good intentions when they went in, but you CANNOT go against the wishes of the people like thay have done - they are why people hate politicians. They are why the city council in Enid is likely to never be trusted again. So please, exercise your civic responsibilities and get these people OUT.

Laundry is the Devil and Other Random Issues

2008-03-11T23:36:00.005-06:00

What the hell happened??? Who came into my house and threw up dirty clothes every where I look? Jeez. Every time I get all excited about having the laundry caught up, I find a pile of sweaty soccer clothes or an errant sock somewhere. I go to take them to the laundry room and discover the hampers full again. I freakin' hate laundry. A lot. Like I would rather shoot myself in the face.

I swore that I would quit telling people my ideas because every time I do, someone steals them and makes money and I just get cranky. But I was just thinking, why don't they make beer in 2 liter bottles? Do you know how cool that would be? I mean, you can get pitchers of beer - a 2 liter would just be like a pitcher to go. That would kick ass. You could put it in the fridge and get as little or as much as you wanted. If you just wanted a few sips, you wouldn't have to open a whole can and then be forced to drink it so as not to waste it. Ima suggest it to someone...

I'm also trying to figure out what maggot crawls into my kids' brains JUST at the time the judges on American Idol start to talk that makes them all four ramble about asenine shit and ask me absolutely pointless questions at the same time. I know they do it on purpose. I think it's a team effort to see if my head will explode. Speaking of AI - DUDE - David Archuleta did not do well and that country version of Eight Days a Week was just creepy.

Which brings me to another thought. People always get mad at Simon. I mean, I get that people don't always like to hear what he has to say, however, he's almost always right. Seriously. if you remove all emotion from the situation (i.e. you got sucked into the contestant's story about her mama died and her baby has penumonia and she's on welfare so you feel bad for them) and look at the facts of the performance, he has an alarming accuracy rate. But people just hate him. I don't get why people are so adverse to hearing the damn truth. I guess the world has become too politically correct and people have just lost all sense of dealing with reality - it has to be all covered up with fluffy bunnies and they have to glitter blown up their ass all day or something. I say this because over at our Ghost Diva blog we get called mean all the time and accused of attacking people. Well, that's just stupid. We tell the truth about things or we call people out for being stupid. My theory is if you don't want to get called an asshat, don't be an asshat. To me, that's really not that hard. It's like people that bitch about going to jail. P.S. - don't buy crack. It's not that hard.

I guess some people are kind of freaked out or maybe even put off at my bluntness sometimes, but for one thing, I really don't know how to bullshit well enough to express it any other way than the way it is and I'm OK with that. I don't mind not knowing how to kiss ass and be fake. I take that back, I know how to kiss ass if I have to, but it's REALLY, like physically painful, hard for me. Sometimes if you mean what the fuck, you have to just say what the fuck, you know? What's the point in saying "oh my gracious" other than to simply not offend someone else? It's not like I say it at church or something. Sheesh. My point is I wish people would a) lighten up and b) deal with the truth in real words sans glitter up the ass.

Carry on.

(I'm serious about that 2 liter beer bottle thing...)

Speaking of Hookers...

2008-03-11T01:32:00.003-06:00

OK, OK, so I have been AWOL for a while. I apologize. I say that like I have readers, lol...
Anyway, things have changed a lot over the last few months. I left my job in November for financial reasons that caused a lot of stress and I got in a huge funk for a while and didn't want to talk to anyone or write, but I'm over it now. If you recall, I left my job that I dug back in March of last year to go to this other job and well, it wasn't the best decision I ever made. However, I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason, so I know things will work out OK. There is actually a chance that I may be going back to aforementioned job that I liked in the near future and that would be great, even if it's just doing some contract type projects for a while. I loved that office and I truly enjoyed my boss and thankfully, he was very gracious when I met with him to tell him he told me so. Instead of saying, "yeah, I told you so," he told me a story about something similar that happened to him, so he understood my situation and he was like I said, very gracious and kind.
As always, I have too many ideas sometimes and one of the latest ones has lead to another little business venture. I am a "red dirt" fan and it relates directly to that lifestyle of music. I say lifestyle because it's not so much a genre as it is an attitude. It's about not selling out and being true to yourself and being real. Generally the kind of music that falls into that category is a cross between country, rock, folk and blues. It's hard to put a label exactly on the kind of music it is because one song might sound like an old Hank Williams tune and the next one might rock your socks off. Anyway - I became friends with one of the guys that plays at a local bar here and his girlfriend and I had this idea that I pitched to her and she liked it, so we're starting a line of tshirts and other various apparel items geared toward female red dirt fans. I'm not going too public with it yet until I actually have a product in my hands, but it's in the works and I'm getting excited about it.
It feels good to be hopeful and excited again.
My husband won a trip to Cancun in April and THAT is also extremely exciting. We're talking about doing the zip line through the jungle thing. I figure after living through that whole ropes course thing, I can hack it.
It also seems that there are some folks that want my friend and I to speak at some up coming conferences in the fall. One is in Las Vegas and one is in Philadelphia and is directly linked to a TV show on A&E, that ought to be fun. Some crazy people also saw fit to give us a radio show on Para X radio, so that will be interesting and maybe even somewhat entertaining. We start that this Wednesday evening.
So, life seems to be getting back to normal after a very long time of sucking and I am so thankful for that. I was beginning to wonder...
P.S. - I hope David Archuleta wins American Idol this season.

Dance, Monkeys! Dance!

2008-03-11T00:49:00.000-06:00

So, I lived

2007-09-16T18:23:00.000-06:00

I know at some point I posted that I was applying for the Leadership Greater Enid thing, but I don't remember if I ever said anything else about it. My application was accepted and the first big thing was this weekend. We left yesterday morning and headed to Camp Redlands by Stillwater to participate in some team building stuff and a ropes course. The morning was the typical warm fuzzy getting to know you stuff and it was fun. But there was one exercise that made me want to shoot people. We already knew about my lack of patience, so that wasn't a big surprise, lol.
The afternoon brought the ropes course. I was fine on the ground but when I got up there - yeah, not so much. I had to climb up a pole which wasn't as easy as it looked, then had to walk across a log (way up in the air, by the way). Then I had to climb up to a small platform and walk across a cable while holding on to cables on either side of me. Um, that sucked. A lot. They were flippin' wobbly and I was thinking I would never make a good Indiana Jones at this point. So here's where I became terrified. I was shaky which just made the cables shaky. I made it across that and then the next one was even worse. It was loops made of cables that we had to step across, so you get one foot out there on one and one foot behind you on the other and let's just say, I didn't think my legs would split that much. Jeez. That one was the worst and about half way through it I was ready to bail. But I was thinking to myself, "I cannot quit. I have had 4 babies. I have spent the night in haunted prisons and tuberculosis sanitariums. I can do this. Plus, I can't tell Marty I quit." So I caught my breath and went to the end. It was freakin' MISERABLE. The instructor asked if I wanted to come down. Fuck yes, I wanted to come down. But I said not yet. So the next thing was another log, but it was on an incline, so you had to walk up this log and at the end, jump across NOTHING to another platform. Did that. Then the last thing was a cable that you had to go across sideways while holding on to some flimsy ass ropes. I just closed my eyes and went. I opened my eyes and thought, wow, I am as high as the trees. It was pretty cool, but I was still dying. I got a few feet from the end and my guiderope felt like it was stuck and I was like, crap, I'm at the end and can't go anywere, but I made it to the last platform where they unhooked me and hooked me up to a zipline. He said, "OK, just push off whenever you're ready." HA. I wasn't ever going to be ready to bail off of a platforrm 30 feet in the air. Was this guy new??? So I sat there for a minute, glad I hadn't once uttered the F word or wet myself, closed my eyes, and bailed off and went zooming off into the trees. WHEW. I shook for like an hour after that and was seriously fighting the tears because it was THE most horriffic thing I have ever done. But I was glad that I did it. I would have been so mad at myself if I hadn't. Plus Marty would have given me shit, and that was a big motivation :).
So for the warm fuzzy what I learned from this - that no matter how much I think I just cannot go one one more inch, I can manage to eke out more. Hell, now I've had babies AND completed a ropes course. I'll take having babies over the ropes any day. Without drugs even.
It was nice to have some of my friends and my dad there encouraging me. I made the comment that had it not been for them I wasn't sure I would have made it. I guess that's the whole point - to trust people you don't know, but I don't know that I could have done it. A lot of the people there didn't know anyone else, so I felt incredibly lucky to have people that loved me there, let alone people that I knew. Everyone was like "you did great" and all that and I was thinking yeah, if you call shaking like a leaf and wanting to cry like a little girl great, OK. Someone made a comment to me about me having a lot of self confidence and I can tell you that up there I was feeling about as unconfident as I ever have. I wish I hadn't freaked out, but it did refresh that mind over matter is what it's all about. That's something I preach and try to live by, but that stuff more or less goes out the window when you're 30 feet in the air hanging on to wiggly cables.
After all that, we had dinner together and then several of us went out for drinks and to watch our Pokes get their asses kicked. Suffice it to say it was a long night and way too much fun. And way too many drinks.
We had a speaker this morning and it was good, but I was SO tired and sore. I have sore muscles in places I didn't know I used. Plus, after staying up so late, I couldn't sleep, thus I was exhausted today. We got home and I crashed for about 6 hours.
I had a good time, met new people, made some new friends, and challenged myself to do something I didn't think I could do. The whole thing was a challenge on a lot of levels - you have no idea what you will do in that kind of situation until you are smack in the middle of it. I'm glad I did it.
We were encouraged to journal about it, so there ya go.

Wanna be a pin up girl?

2007-08-24T22:14:00.000-06:00

So, it's not enough that I already have too many ideas and projects, I had to add a new one. I want to take pin up girl photographs! They're smart and sexy and every size woman can be a pin up girl. I believe it would be very liberating and a great boost to the self esteem of a woman to see herself as a beautiful pin up girl!

Super Nanny can suck it.

2007-08-20T21:59:00.000-06:00

I came home tonight to a kid throwing a fit and acting ridiculous. I sent her to her room and she finally went after SEVERAL times of telling her. Then a second one started. She was telling me no and being a general smart ass and when I told her to clear off the dining room table, she threw it all on the floor and said, "There, it's clear." I sent her to her room, too, and she ignored me. I threatened to get the paddle. She said, "Well, can you just spank me and not make me go to my room? Because I'm not going to learn anything by going to my room, so just spank me." I said absolutely not. I made them eat dinner in their room and they spent the entire evening in there. At one point one of them was telling me that being in their room was fun because they had videos and could color and play. So I decided I had to do something to make my point. So this is what happened:
There were only two cars that drove by but she was HORRIFIED and telling me how mean I was. We went in and she apologized and told me she loved me so much and was sorry so much and said she wouldn't do it again. I told her she says that every time and she swore THIS time she really wouldn't. So we'll see. The other one was the one that really deserved it, but she had fallen asleep. She woke up for a minute and this one told what she had to do and she got all crappy and said well, SHE wasn't going to do it. If it hadn't already been dark, I would have taken her sleepy butt out there, too. I'm telling you, I DO AND DO AND DO cool things for my kids and these two have absolutely no concept of appreciation or gratitude at all. They're both very selfish and it's just odd to me because the oldest one is not at all like that. I'm just at the point where nothing I do matters to them, but this seemed to, so we'll see. The one in the picture called me "ma'am" even, lol. I'm NOT a mean mom at all, I'm just at my end with them talking to me the way they do.

Survivor - Aw, man....

2007-07-13T09:08:00.000-06:00

So I got the boot. My watermelon was the least great of all the great entries. I'm OK with that. It was fun while it lasted.

Survivor - Task Three

2007-07-10T10:04:00.000-06:00

So it was really hard finding a watermelon on this god forsaken island, but I did it. It had to represent what we've been going through here on the island and since all I really have is this stash of rum, I thought this was appropriate.

Shitty Blog Survivor - In Pictures

2007-06-27T09:51:00.001-06:00

Enjoy...

Shitty Blog Survivor - Week 2

2007-06-25T16:20:00.000-06:00

Well, dropping coconuts is only amusing for so long. Sooner or later people quit walking under you, so I built myself a nice little tree house. Of course, Nat's is made of bricks and Utopia has rabid sea turtles guarding hers, but mine is cozy nonetheless. Utopia made a mango radio so we could listen to Shitty Blog Radio. It sucked ass. They didn't like our slogans so much. Stupid? Stupid?? This smacks of the Pot calling the Kettle black, but I'm not bitter... This is SHITTY Blogs Club, not Brilliant Blogs Club, what'd they expect?
I'm glad I'm still here instead of being sent away in the dark on some shitty raft though. I've really grown accustomed to the people here even though a couple of them seem to have flat lost their minds.
I traded Chad some rum and a flash of the boobies for some beef jerky he found. That and Rose's cookies have left me peaceful warm and tired. Sometimes all I need is the air that I breathe and to... oh wait, sorry. I saw Mike writing thos lyrics in the sand and that song's been stuck in my head ever since.
Everyone finally got over being so paranoid and we have begun actually talking to one another and trying to figure out how to do things while we're here. Rose and I are planning a burger dance at the next full moon because Yummy refuses to eat, claiming she's saving her appetite for when she finds that McBurger tree, but you know, I have my doubts that one's gonna work. I may ask some of the girls if they want to be roomies with me in the tree house because I don't think they have much shelter yet, but Monty kind of scares me. She screams a lot. Chad just sits in that trench all day long. Watching. Waiting. I hear noises coming from it late at night. What's he building in there?
Mango is hanging out with Utopia some now and then but spends most of his time chained to that tree. I think she has designs to turn him into her house bitch now that hers was voted off the island. He carries a purse, though, so who knows how that will work out.
Our next task is to tell our story only using pictures. Let's hope we fare better this time around.

Shitty Blog Survivor - Task 1

2007-06-11T13:20:00.000-06:00

That damned Jeckles - He asked if we wanted to take a little boat trip and we blindly jumped right in for a little afternoon jaunt. I should have known we were doomed when he kept singing that damned Gilligan's Island song. What's more, it's stuck in my head now and I can't quit thinking about it. Professor and Mary Ann...Here on Gilligan's Isle....
So we're here on this island now and frankly, I'm a little nervous. Monty was looking at me like a juicy steak and a big baked potato with butter dripping down the sides so I had to hide. We haven't even been here that long - sheesh, you'd think she wouldn't be starving quite yet.
I already know I'm gonna have to make friends with Mike because he knows how to fish and stuff.
We haven't seen Jeckles since we got here. I'm pretty certain he's found my trunk full of candy bars and Dr. Peppers and is hiding somewhere, giggling like a little girl.
Anyhoo - the first task is to come up with a new Shitty Blog slogan. I have until Tuesday. I'm sitting up in a coconut tree so these rat bastards can't cheat off me.
That cunt, Professor Utopia, is down there building some kind of hot tub. I may have to kiss her ass some, too. But I think she may have used her mind reading thing she built from some sticks and palm fronds because she used "Shitty Blogs Club: Fuck off, we don't like you." I was going to use Shitty Blog Club: Fuck you. But now I'll have to come up with something better. Dammit.
I'm not so good at all this ass kissing, so I maybe I should figure out what I could trade. I managed to retrieve several bottles of rum and hid them last night when everyone went to sleep.
I don't even know all these people. There's some dude with a murse (a man purse for you lay people). He seems OK so far. But you know what they say about dudes with murses - there might be a head in there.
There's this one chic, Nat, I think I might like - she's got great taste in music and wears flowers in her hair. I hope she stays away from that funny plant I saw in the jungle earlier...
Sparky just mills about all the time, sometimes stopping to pick his toes. Not sure what's up with him.
Chad - pretty sure I could win him with some rum. He seems a little cocky, but likes to get his drink on, so we'll see.
I met a girl named Rose and I really like her - we um, have a lot in common. Gotta be careful though. Sometimes the nice ones are the meanest.
Then there's Yummy. She seems sweet, too, but I heard she likes to get naked and sing, so we'll see how this plays out.
I think my slogan will be:

Shitty Blogs Club: We think we're hot shit on a silver platter, but we're really cold boogers on a paper plate.

I know. I know. But don't vote me off just yet...

Chocolate Jesus

2007-05-22T09:24:00.000-06:00

Inspired by Demon.

My anger management class pisses me off

2007-05-17T10:33:00.001-06:00

I've been a little inspired by the Sheeple in Enid that are meeting under the big tent at 7 for their kool-aid.
****************************
You might be a member of the Uptight Citizens Brigade if:

You can't have an adult conversation without getting offended every thirty seconds.

You don't know the difference between someone stating an opinion and someone being angry - just because I have an opinion doesn't mean I'm angry - jackass.

Your whole world comes completely undone if someone utters a remotely profane word and you immediately have to seek religious counsel about it.

Nothing bad ever, ever happens in your world because you are a Shiny Happy Person with blinders on that follows the crowd and you would gladly take a cup of the kool-aid if it meant maintaining the peace and anyone that dare comment on the state of the world is just a big meany head.

You think Harry Potter is the work of Satan.

You think Jerry Falwell was a stand-up guy. Those tellytubies are queers, by golly, and it's about time someone said so.

You will gladly allow the government to walk all over you because you have no voice at all to tell them to get the fuck off.

You would rather sit back and call people names for standing up for what they believe in than get off your ass and actually have a cause.