Month: October 2008

Twitter Messages

Twitter-esque

Karen

A blog entry – Twitter style.

The presidential election is coming up fast and it’s more important than ever to make sure you cast your vote. (That way, you can say, “I didn’t vote for him, don’t look at me!” *grin*)

Visit this site to make sure first, you’re registered to vote, and secondly, they have your information correct.

I just checked; I’m good to go. In fact, I think I might look into voting early to avoid the HUGE crowds anticipated November 4th.

Don’t be lazy, check your voting status. This is our country we’re talking about.

Thursday Thirteen

Thursday Thirteen – What If #3

Karen

Thirteen Interesting “What If” Situations – How Would YOU Respond?

Please feel free to give your opinion on these situations even if you’re not playing Thursday Thirteen. There are no right or wrong answers here – it’s a question of scruples and what would you do?

null 1. A brown-wrapped package stamped SE XUALLY EXPLICIT MATERIAL INSIDE is delivered to your house and addressed to your spouse. Your spouse is not home. Would you open it up without your spouse’s permission?

My answer: I would hesitate … for about 30 seconds and then hell yes! I’d rip that puppy open and see what was inside. I actually asked the husband if given the same situation, if he would open a package like this addressed to me and he said no. When I asked him why, wouldn’t he be curious? He said, “What if it was a gift or something? I wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise.”

HAHAHA! As if!!

null 2. You’re seated in a non-smoking section of an airplane. Two seats away in the same non-smoking section, a passenger lights up. Do you ask the smoker to put out the cigarette?

My answer: No. But I would definitely bring it to the flight attendant’s attention. But then again, I just might confront the passenger. I think it would depend on how, uh, feisty I was feeling that day. *grin*

I’m finding my patience is wearing really thin about smokers nowadays. Especially considering our city is virtually smoke-free so any time I smell it I REALLY smell it, you know? Ex-squeeze-me, but if you want to give yourself black lung, be my guest. But I’ll be damned if you give it to me in the process. Humpf.

null 3. A friend gives you a job in his factory. You’ve been working there six months when your co-workers vote to strike. Do you join the picket line?

My answer: Oh wow, that depends on what they were striking about. For example: if the employees were making $20 an hour to push a button or stuff boxes and they were striking because they wanted more money, probably not. Personally, I think unions are part of the reason a lot of companies are seeking overseas workers – simply because we can’t afford to pay the wages factory workers demand.

However, if they were striking because of unsafe working conditions or something along those lines, then I would probably jump on the wagon. I don’t know, I have strong feelings about this sort of thing because I used to work at Wal-Mart and there would be periodic threats for unions and the issues they cited seemed so … inconsequential when compared to the overall impact forming a union would have on the company and eventually, our jobs. I would be hard pressed to ever support a union – again, it would depend on what the issues were.

null 4. You own a restaurant and serve rolls with every meal. Often the rolls are returned to the kitchen seemingly untouched. Would you serve them again?

My answer: I would be tempted – sorely tempted. Simply for the fact that it would save me in inventory and cost. But in the end? I couldn’t live with myself if I did something like that. You never know where that roll had been or what the customer had done with it (maybe they licked it? GROSS!).

However, if very many of them came back, I might make giving rolls to customers optional – give the customers an option of whether they wanted a roll or not. That would be a much better alternative than re-serving them. Don’t you ever wonder if that REALLY happens?

I bet it does. *shudder*

null 5. A co-worker confides in you and tells you he/she is having marital difficulties. Your best friend also knows your co-worker and suspects that the marriage is rocky and pumps you for information. Do you reveal anything?

My answer: My first answer is “of course not!” But realistically? Given it’s my BEST friend whom I’m assuming I tell everything to? Probably.

But then again, it might depend. If the co-worker asked me not to tell anyone, I would respect his/her wishes. When the best friend pumped me, I wouldn’t say anything due to my promise. I would hope the best friend would understand and admire my resolve not to break a promise to someone.

null 6. You and your spouse are invited to play cards at another couple’s house. After a few hands of gin rummy and a few drinks, they suggest a new game – strip poker. Do you play?

My answer: Newp. Absolutely not. Oh sure, it would be fun to act “naughty,” but I’ve seen too many friends succumb to this sort of temptation and then their life/marriage crumble as a result of giving into temptation.

So no. I’d high-tail me and the husband out of there and race home and have our own game of strip poker. *wink*

null 7. Your spouse has died within the year and you are a single parent. You have just begun to date, but every time you go out, your child throws a temper tantrum. Do you curtail dating for a while?

My answer: A lot of my answer depends on how old the child is in this scenario. I really think getting involved in another relationship while the child is young (baby to teenager) is a bad idea anyway you look at it. It would be an unfortunate and sad situation to find myself, and my family in, but I really think I would just concentrate on surviving and making our lives as comfortable and secure as possible given our loss. I think getting involved with someone during that time period is just asking for more trouble.

Now once the kids have graduated from high school, that’s a different situation and my answer would be different. At that time, my life is my own once again and if my (grown-up) children had a problem with my dating, then they would just have to get over it.

null 8. You were in Vietnam and could have come in contact with the defoliant Agent Orange. You and your wife want to have a baby. Would you risk having children even though the defoliant has been traced to birth defects?

My answer: Wow. This is a really tough scenario. If there was any way I could be tested to find out for sure, then I would subject myself to any and all tests to find out. If it was determined that I didn’t appear to have absorbed the agent, then I would probably risk it.

But if there was even a SLIGHT chance I might be infected and it would infect my child, I probably would not. I just don’t think I could live with myself if I knowingly went into a situation where I was gambling with my child’s life. My gamble could affect my child’s quality of life – why would that be fair to my child? I would most likely not have children and adopt instead.

null 9. Your ex, who lives out of town, is coming to visit the children for a weekend. The kids want him/her to stay at the house. You have the room. Do you agree?

My answer: Depends. What sort of relationship do we have? Is it friendly? Is it hostile? Is he a jerk? A bad influence on the kids (hence the reason we split up?). If the split was amicable (as amicable as it can be given the circumstances) and we seemed to have reached an understanding both in our relationship and in his relationship with the kids … maybe. If our split was hostile and we couldn’t stand the sight of each other, probably not.

Here’s money for a hotel room, buddy.

null 10. Your 8-year-old hears the words “sexual intercourse” on television and asks you what it means. Do you given an explanation?

My answer: Of course. I don’t believe in keeping things like that from children. If you make a mystery out of something, then the child’s natural inclination is to want to find out more about it. And if that’s the case, then I would rather give him/her the correct information. However, I would water it down to an 8-year-old’s understanding and not get too technical. Kids deserve to know what is going on, they’re not stupid, but keep it age appropriate.

null 11. At your company, you have been accused of discriminating against women in your hiring practices. A new position opens up. Would you hire the female over the male candidate, even though the man has slightly better qualifications?

My answer: If the male had better qualifications, than I think it’s my duty to both my company and my employees to hire the best person for the job. However, I would document the holy heck out of the entire procedure and most likely discuss it with my boss/associates beforehand so that there’s a paper trail and witnesses in case it became an issue later.

null 12. You’re on a jury, but are not sequestered. The judge has warned you not to discuss the case with anyone and to stay away from news coverage of it. You hear that the case is on TV tonight with a special story on the jurors. Do you tune in?

My answer: Okay, this is going to sound weird, but yes, probably. Simply because I would be curious to see what the public conception about the case was. Not to mention, what if there was a case conflict of interest concerning one of the jurors? I would want to know so we could assess that particular’s juror’s possible persuasions.

However, I only say that because I’m a pretty fair person and really don’t allow myself to be swayed into the masses. If I honestly thought someone was being treated unfairly and the evidence backed that opinion up, then I would be the annoying 12th juror who wouldn’t go along with the plan. I would have to live with my decision for the rest of my life. That’s a long time to feel guilty about something.

null 13. Your new employee is the nephew of the company president. He’s lazy, incompetent and antagonistic to his co-workers. Do you fire him?

My answer: No. But I would try my best to make sure my boss realized what a loser his nephew was. In addition, I would work to document his behaviors and build a case against him so when/if it came time to fire his butt, I’d have documentation to back it up. (I’m all about the paper trail, people. *grin*)

General

NASCAR Coaching Tips

Karen

I’ve become a NASCAR fan. There is something sexy about the whole concept of getting behind the wheel of a fast car and driving in circles. 😉

My husband tapes the races and then fast forwards through the boring parts – i.e. the regular non-crash laps, you know, the actual racing part. He prefers to watch the crashes.

I’m married to a brute. *grin*

But there’s one part I rarely allow him to fast forward through – the interviews after the race is over when they talk about their “strategy.”

This amuses me to no end.

I’m of course being sarcastic when I call it strategy because come on, you press the accelerator and drive – what exactly IS the strategy? And if you listen, really listen, you’ll notice that nearly all of the drivers say the same thing – “we need to push harder,” “we need to win races,” “our car was fast, but not fast enough,” “we should have pit here,” or “our pit times were too slow” and so on and so on.

The only thing that’s different are the sponsors they thank.

Now I realize, there probably IS a strategy to racing (?), but to hear the drivers talk, it’s not a very complicated strategy. *grin*

So, when I saw this video on “The Onion’s” Youtube channel this morning, I laughed until my makeup smeared.

(Don’t miss the scrolling headlines – they’re pretty funny, too!)

Parenting

Parenting Polar Opposites

Karen

My boys.

Boys - Oct 08

They make me smile. I know it sounds corny, and even cliché, but my boys, they are indeed one half of my heart. They are part of who I am. I couldn’t even begin to define who I am to you without bringing their names up. They are the life blood that pumps through my body every single day.

Parenting is tough to begin with – parenting my boys, who are polar opposites, is especially tough.

Look at this picture, do you notice anything funny? The only thing remotely similar about my boys are the fact that they are, well, boys.

Other than that? Total and complete opposites.

First, they look nothing alike. I envy people who have children who look alike. Or their children have one dominant feature they all share so that when you see them, together, or separate, you know they’re related.

My boys? No. They look nothing alike.

And yes, they have the same father. (Because I know someone out there is dying to ask that question).

GD has brown hair and eyes so brown, they look nearly black (like my sister’s eyes). He has my nose, which is large and crooked and though it takes some getting used to, we’re okay with it. Why? Because it’s a Cherokee Indian nose and we’re proud of that heritage. GD is tall and will likely continue to grow another few inches. I predict the boy will reach 6 feet. His spine is slightly curved – like mine. His sinuses are narrow and he has trouble breathing from his nose – like me. He is impatient and loves all things geeky – like me. GD went through puberty early and with a determined vengeance – if you click on the picture above and look closely, you will see GD is growing a mustache.

MK has dark blond hair and blue-gray eyes. They are blue when he’s alert and feisty, they turn a dull gray when he’s tired or upset. His nose is straight, his cheeks are slightly pudgy, his smile is infectious and he looked just like my husband did when he was a toddler. He has an easy-going personality – like his father. He is smart as a whip – like his father. He forgets many things – like his father. He is a natural musician – like his father. MK is a late bloomer and is still one of the shortest, and scrawniest, boys in his class. His father was a late bloomer, too, and I’m confident he will catch up to his peers when he hits his high school years.

GD drives me crazy because he’s just like me. MK drives the husband crazy because he’s just like him. All together, our family perfectly complements one another. I couldn’t have asked for better balance.

Our children are blurry caricatures of me and my husband.

GD is gentle, kind, timid, shy and worries about everything. He doesn’t talk very much because he doesn’t have much to say. He’s an observer – he looks before he leaps. He’s cautious about life and about people and getting to know GD is not easy – you have to find a common ground with GD; small talk makes him very uncomfortable. He’s insecure and self-conscious. He’s unsure, about himself and the world around him. GD likes to disappear into his surroundings and is content to peacefully co-exist with people. Though he has an opinion, he doesn’t express it very often and I worry that he will be a follower, not a leader. He appears unmotivated, but in fact, I think he’s a quiet achiever. He tends to exert only the minimum amount of energy required to see him through something – he does what is expected of him and nothing more. Though there have been times, especially lately, that he has surprised me. He has a quiet sense of humor and consistently catches me off guard by saying off-the-wall things with a completely serious face. You have to pay attention to GD to “get” GD

MK is a loud talker. He still doesn’t quite understand the whole “inside” voice concept. He is a heavy walker and I can tell when MK is moving around the house because the floorboards quiver with his determination to conquer the day. MK is overly confident and that has gotten him into trouble recently (thinking he “gets” the whole algebra thing when in fact, he does not, and resenting the fact that his dad has to help him over the humps). MK is highly intelligent, but absent-minded. He consistently forgets to do things – everyday things, like pick up the towels in the bathroom after his showers even after we’ve told him one billion gazillion times to do so. MK leaps before he looks and though it works out the majority of the time, it does get him into trouble sometimes. MK is very friendly and prefers social situations. He is relaxed with people and is not afraid to put his feelings out there – even going so far as to give the girl he’s liked for the past FOUR years a note explaining his feelings for her, which she promptly passed around to her friends. MK was teased, but he handled it with surprising maturity. He has firm resolve and is often quite stubborn. He used to hold baby food veggies in his mouth for HOURS until I finally told him he could spit it out. The boy doesn’t give up easily.

My boys not only look completely different, they have completely different personalities.

At first, this used to bother me. But over the years, I’ve learned this has been a blessing because the boys, are the best of friends. They are already talking about being roommates when they go to college.

It warms a mother’s heart to know her children will always be there for each other long after she’s gone.

But parenting these boys has been hard on me. I have to constantly do about-faces and switch gears when dealing with them. GD is not naturally motivated, so we have to do his motivation for him by taking his video games away from him if his grades drop. It works every time.

Though losing play time upsets MK, he adapts. He simply conforms to the new set of rules and moves on. Thank God he has a natural desire to want to succeed in everything he does or we’d be in serious trouble.

I have to use humor with GD a little more than MK. I have to be a little more sympathetic when I deal with MK. GD shuts down if I yell at him, sometimes it takes yelling at MK to get his attention.

Parenting my boys is like trying to walk on board a ship during a violent storm. There are dips, bobs, pitches, tilts and all sorts of emotional turmoil, but it’s never boring and being the mother of these boys has never been a mundane task.

They both challenge me in deep and unexpected ways and I can say, with absolute certainty, that I am a better person because of them.

I love, and cherish, you boys. More than you’ll ever know.

Twitter Messages

Twitter-esque

Karen

A blog entry – Twitter style.

I went to the library book sale today and bought 13 books.

And that was just in the older section; I still need to go back tomorrow and browse the “better” book section. There is NOTHING quite like running your hand across stacks of smooth spines and smelling musty books.

I’m also thinking about buying Twilight by Stephenie Meyer even though I’ve never had any desire to read about vampires – let alone pubescent vampires.

Am I caving to blog-o-sphere peer pressure?

General

Hot for Words, or Desperate for Attention?

Karen

You decide.

Is this woman for real?

Seriously?!

My husband watches her because she’s “educational.” *snort* Whatever.


(Geez, I feel like I need to apologize for even posting this. *shudder* So I will – I’m sorry I posted this and subjected you to this trash).

Look, I’m not a prude. This woman is pretty. She has a nice body. And I’m sure she works very hard to maintain that body, but if she chooses to use her body for attention (which I’m assuming her intellect is NOT giving her), so be it. But don’t try and tell me that watching her, and trying to decipher her thick accent (albeit pretty accent) to understand a word she’s saying about the “lesson” she’s giving, is educational.

That’s BS, and you know it. That’s like trying to tell me you eat at Hooter’s because the ribs are good. Pfft.

I haven’t been able to stomach this woman long enough to even fact check her – so what she’s saying may, or may not, be correct.

Either way, I don’t care.

This woman makes my ears bleed. And that little giggle she gives at the beginning … *just shakes head* There’s cute and charming and then there’s desperate and needy – I’ll let you decide which one this woman is.

Seriously?!

Get a self-respecting job, yo.