I have decided to become a Guardian Ad Litem! Aint that great! I have printed the application and will fill it out promptly. I will share with you the process in case you're wondering (as I go along). This is thanks to Lisa that I've decided this. Hopefully I will be able to make a difference in the lives of children. BE PROUD OF ME! I AM IN DIRE NEED OF PATS IN THE BACK!

ciao!

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Now that it's buy everything time for most of you, it's time to look closely and buy only those toys that are appropriate and safe for little kids. This choosing baby toys website has a very easy to use guide to help choose age appropriate toys. Toy safety is of the utmost importance today what with all the hand me down unsafe toys of yesteryear (yes, that is a real word...I heard it on the radio.) As long as you remember to not buy anything with magnets for small children, you should be okay. Even then, this book is next on my reading list. I definitely don't want to be the cause of any harm to come to The Kid because of ignorance in the safety of the toys out there. Face it, if we were to protect our children from everything out there, we would still have them attached to the umbilical cord and living in a bubble until they're 25. On the other hand, I played with plastic bags and broken glass all the time as a child and look how I turned out.....hm, that may not be the best example. I think that we can all agree that The Kid and YOUR kid need to be kept as safe as possible. And if that means not letting them out of your sight until their honeymoon, so be it.

(paid post....waaaah!)

I got this emailed to me at work and thought it'd be easier to just post it here for all of ya'll.

You know you are living in 2006 when......

1. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell
phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the
groceries.

2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in
years.

3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your
family of three.

4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to
you.

5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and
family is that they don't have e-mail addresses.

6. You accidentally enter your password on the
microwave.

7. Every commercial on television has a web site at the
bottom of the screen.

8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you
didn't have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your
life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go
and get it.

10. You get up in the morning and go on line before
getting your coffee.

11. You're reading this and nodding and laughing.

12. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going
to forward this message.

13. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this
list.

14. You actually scrolled back up to check that there
wasn't a #9 on this list.

AND NOW U R LAUGHING at yourself.

Go on, forward this to your friends. You know you want
to!! And Yes, I was laughing and I did scroll back to
see that there wasn't a #9

~Katie, you are more than welcome to STEAL this one. You CAN have your cake and eat it too! Go! I don't want it, you touched it already!

Thanks to Diana, I have this meme to kill time.

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said “I love you” and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb (does a baby goat count?)
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had/Have amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach (does making out under the pier count?)
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your cds
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days ( I can’t go without food for 5 seconds!)
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo (almost..)
81. Rafted the snake river
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
83. Gotten flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark...
88. Kissed on the first date (see number 49)
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in a Rocky Horror Picture Show
96. Raised children
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Passed out cold
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds.
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth (I stared and my sister touched it, does that count?)
112. Won money on a TV game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach (more like it touched me…)
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read “The Iliad”
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions (more like skipped all of skool)
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life

If you have any questions, leave them in the comments and I’ll answer them.

So, yesterday the sitter calls. The Kid has thrown up twice. I try calling The Hubby to see if he can take The Kid but, no he says that he's too sick to drive. I left work early to pick him up. The poor The Kid was all flaccid. Yes, that's the word that came to my mind. The Poor child was just sitting there, not doing anything. Obviously the disease has affected him greatly. The Hubby was shivering and trembling in the couch, could barely speak. Great, I now had two sick guys to tend to. Not a pretty sight. Then came the diarrhea. Oh sweet monkey jesus! The diarrhea! Lets just say that I had to change my underwear. It was that bad. He got everything, blankets, clothes, me. Then he got a fever. I barely slept last night. Everytime that I managed to doze off, I heard the underwater fart noise that alerted me to yet another poopy mess. And of course, The Kid was all about playing at three freaking oclock in the morning. Who the heck is awake and lucid at that unholy hour? Not me, that's for sure. Took him to the doctor this morning where he was diagnosed with an ear infection. Surely not the cause for his exorcist-like projectile vomiting/diarrhea? I also found out that ALL the kids from church are sick with the same disease. Some of the adults have it too. I kept hearing my own stomach gurgle and bubble and praying that maybe just maybe I can hold off on getting all diseased until both guys are better. There's just no way that I can take care of two sick men while being sick myself. Of course, this morning I just HAD to get all jealous of the attention they were getting and go and start vomiting too.

Anyways, change of subject. I am so sleep deprived it's not even funny. I'm going to take a class every morning until the end of the year so I won't be online until after 1pm. Once I pass this one class, all I'll need is one math class and then I can leave this godforsaken skool and go on to the next one. Only five more years to go, is my daily chant. Remember, the peepee in the potty.

I love duplexes (is that even a real word?). If I could, I would marry them. Why? Because, that's why. See, a duplex is two houses side by side. No more different than an apartment, even the mortgage might be the same as a quality apartment. The only difference is that you can rent out the second unit and have that unit pay for the mortgage of the property. This way you could live rent free. Although, once you've been living like that for a bit you can always buy a regular house. You could then move into the house and rent out the unit that you were living in. This way you could still live rent free and have both mortgages being paid. All the money you save by not having to pay your mortgage can go into paying off the principal of the houses. There's an affordable housing, duplex, SW Florida, Equity Company south from where we live that they are selling really cute duplexes.

If it weren't for the fact that The Hubby and I already have a strip of land close by that we will turn into a duplex, we would most definitely go for this deal. We hope to have the building started sometime next year. It will be a double income and since there are always people on Section 8 looking to move out of an apartment into a duplex or house, we will be able to rent it out soon after it's done. This is going to help out since I have to leave my job when skool starts in the fall.

The company is selling at pre-construction prices. If you're going to buy new, that's the way to go. Why? because houses go up in value at different times. Lowest price is pre-construction, then comes brand new (that's the most expensive one), and then the house will appreciate in value relative to the area surrounding it at a steady rate yearly. It helps that The Hubby is an appraiser and I can learn these kinds of things. Of course, if you get a really good deal on a foreclosed home or a house that needs lotza love, you should go for it. But only if you can do the repairs yourself, otherwise you may end up paying more than if you had bought the house brand new. What I like the most about these particular houses is that everything is included in the cost and you don't have to make any payments while it's being constructed. Of course, you would have an ETA of when the house will be done and will be able to arrange Section 8 people to move into it the very first month guaranteeing that you won't have to put up any money for the house.
Since the house is one price before construction and another after, that's all equity that you have built into the house without lifting a finger. Equity that you can have in case of an emergency or for paying off credit cards. The equity that builds up is quite high. The houses that I'm looking at in the site cost around 285k before construction and have an average value of 325k right after construction's done. That's a gain of 40k without doing anything but look cute. That's money you can tap into to buy your own house. You can't make easier money legally. Shoop! I have a Gordon Rule paper due tomorrow that I've barely started! Rats!

“ I'm going to bury that guy. I have done it before, and- AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! THE KIDNEY GOES INSIDE MY RIB CAGE!”

~ Steve Ballmer on Mr. T

Yeah, well. I do believe that Jesus came as a baby and that he died in the cross for me. I do believe that Christ came back on the third day but I don't believe in this "christmas" thing that is celebrated at this time of year. Why? Well, first of all I believe in logic and reason and things just don't add up.

Don't be offended, please. God forbid I lose my 3.5 commenters. The thing is that there are so many things that don't add up regarding this holiday that I can't follow. No where in The Bible does it say that Jesus was born on December 25, yet people act as if it's his actual birthday. If you read The Bible closely, logic and reason show that he was actually born in the fall. Why? Because the angels announced it to the shepherds tending the sheep. It gets cold in Israel during wintertime so it rules that season out. There was a census going on at that time. In those times, eveverything rose and fell according to the harvest. That means that until all the crops were harvested no farmer wanting to live through the winter would've left his field. Yet there were so many people in Bethlehem that there was no available room. This leaves out summer and early fall. It couldn't have happened in the springtime because it's planting season, and once again the farmers wouldn't have been able to leave their land. People really lived off the land during that time for sustenance and profit. It wouldn't have been economically motivating for the Roman rulers to order something that would eventually affect the amount of money they received from the Jews.

This leaves mid to late fall as the only possible time. Now, the wise men. The Bible doesn't say how many there were nor how long it took them to get to Jesus and his mother. The Bible does say that they were come into the house. If they had found Jesus right where he was born, it would've said barn. It also says that right after they left Joseph was told to leave Israel. This is when Herod killed all young children less than two years old. "according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men." He wouldn't have had a need to kill all two year olds if there had been no time passed between the birth of Jesus and the time the wise men showed up in front of Jesus. Also I know that the Catholic church first had about 20, then 2 then 3 wise men. They even named them. There are no names in The Bible for them.

I have to go back to work, but this is my little rant of the day. Don't get me wrong, I just have a problem with something that maybe started out as a good thing but has now become completely commercialized. Christmas is about satisfiying the ego. How many presents did I get? How good were they? How many did I give? Give me, give me, gimme. That's all there is to it nowadays. It's nothing more than a marketing scheme. I choose to get presents and give them if there's a secret angel thing going on at my job. I choose to pick a card off the angel tree and give presents to a needy child. I don't ban christmas music. I don't go to the company christmas party. But who wants to spend more time than necessary with the crazies at my job? I hope that you're not offended by my not wanting to celebrate this time of the year just as I'm not offended by your wanting to celebrate it.

Friday I had a Katie moment*. It was the birthday celebration of one of my coworkers and she had a huge cookie cake. Those are delicious. Of course, my office mate had to take a piece for one of the secretaries, and OF COURSE she had to LEAVE me ALONE with the cake. I tell you, I literally caught myself a couple of times with my hand just inches from the cake ready to take a bite. It was TORTURE, internet. I could hear the cookie calling my name. My belly was trying to take over..I couldn't resist. I had im'd the girl and told her to come get it fast...She was taking her time. I had to bring it to her to stop me from taking the cake. The funny thing was, after I brought it to her I got another piece for myself and didn't eat it. It went to waste. Bad, bad me.

**by Katie moment I don't mean something she would do, I mean something that would probly happen to me anytime that I'm in Katie's presence. She definitely brought my cavewoman-ish instincts out. Memories of us grunting while eating chinese in the living room are still fresh. I will never look at a pupu plater the same way again.

***Oh yeah, we've all been able to tell that Katie is Morgana and that she is a dork. A cute, lovable dork; but a dork nonetheless. Also, she smells like peas.

Yay! I got in touch with someone very special. I shall name her Morgana (she would like that). Morgana and I used to be very bestest best friends in the whole wide world. I left the place that we called home and never went back, and for that I am truly sorry because I lost contact with someone that was very special to me. Morgana and I went through a lot together, from boy band crushes to gang beatings (not us, the guy that was driving the car {it was a reeely nice car, too}). I think that I will do a series of posts regarding how I came to leave that place and ended up where I am. There might be monkeys involved. Or poop. Or both, I am a mom after all.