Life-condensed

My New ‘Do

New Haircut - April 16, 2011

This is the shortest I’ve EVER had my hair.

*commence freak out here*

I like it, but WOW, this is going to take some getting used to!! It’s actually a little too short, in fact, the gal that cut it was being conservative! She said, “Wow. I’m glad I didn’t cut it any shorter!”

You and me both, sister!

But it’s okay. It’s hair, it’ll grow out. She gave me a razor cut – I’ve always liked razor cuts, I think my hair handles those types of cuts the best. (It looks “piecey” instead of blocky, if that makes sense). I’m thinking it’s going to look pretty cool in about two weeks and I’ll just have it trimmed from that point on – so it’s all good. She also gave me a color and highlights. I sort of freaked out when she rinsed my hair out and it was ORANGE!! No joke, it was orange.

“You don’t think that’s a little orange?” I asked her.

“Oh no! I think it looks really good. It’s the fluorescent lights,” she said.

Yeah right, I thought.

“Let me blow a little of it dry and then we’ll go outside and look at it in natural light.”

So, she did. And we went outside. And I calmed down because it didn’t look NEARLY as orange away from the salon lights.

I watched her style my hair like a hawk. I have no idea if I’ll be able to get the height she got out of it, but I’m going to try. I’m going to buy some root lifter and a skinny flat iron (she used the flat iron instead of a curling iron and it really gave it some curl without going bonkers), so we’ll see how it looks tomorrow after I wash it.

But I like it. It feels so LIGHT. And I feel so COOL. As in literally – I didn’t realize how much heat my hair trapped on my neck. This is going to be so awesome for the summer months. And maybe I’ll actually be able to wear scarves in the winter time without feeling like I have a nuclear power plant inside my core.

I’ve always wanted to go this short, I’ve just never had the guts to go this short before. I think it makes my face look fat, but oh well, I’ll use the height to offset that little flaw.

If you live in the Springfield area, I went to Latter Rain Salon – HIGHLY recommend them. Sweet gals and reasonable prices.

Day-By-Day

New ‘Do, New Uniforms, New Patio, New Job?

Well I’m doing it. I’ve made an appointment to get my hair whacked off tomorrow at 10:00 a.m.

Hopefully, it’ll look something like this:

That’s my goal, at least.

I’ll post a picture of the new cut as soon as I can. (And that’s code for: if I can make it look right. If not, you’ll just have to use your imagination. ha!)

I’m looking forward to having it short again. I had it this short years ago and loved it. The only problem is, I’ll have to go to the salon more often for trims and well … yuk. But I want a STYLE. Something that looks professional and will be easy to take care of.

At any rate, I’m cutting it off … again.


Jazz’s marching band is getting new uniforms next year! YAY!!!!! I’m SO EXCITED to see what they look like. I hope they aren’t dorky looking. Their past uniforms looked pretty snazzy, if not a little space-suit-ish, but we’ll see. I really like his band director – he’s a man of taste and always comes up with really cool ideas for the performances, so it’ll be interesting to see what he comes up with this time.

The band only gets new uniforms like every ten years or so (they’re SOOO expensive), so it’s awesome that Jazz will be one of the first classes to wear the new uniforms.

They’re supposed to have a fitting next week some time, so Jazz wanted me to weigh him and chart his height.

Jazz now weighs 118 pounds and is 5’8 without shoes on. WOW! He’s only a few inches shorter than I am now. That’s so WEIRD when your baby is nearly as tall as you are.

Of course, I had to see what Dude’s weight and height were … he weighs 131 pounds and is 5’10 1/2 without shoes on.

I’m hoping the boys grow taller. Kevin said that was one of the things he liked about me, was my height. He figured if he married a tall person, then he would have tall children. Which is cool for boys, not so much for girls.

Trust me. ha!


Kevin was issued a subpoena today. He’s scheduled to testify against the woman who ran him over on his motorcycle last year. (She left the scene of the accident – which is a felony, in case you didn’t know that).

I will go with him to support him, of course.

It will be really weird for Kevin because this will be the first time that he will face the woman who nearly killed him.

It’s probably a good thing it has taken so long to bring this to court because if it had happened a few months after the accident, they would have had to restrain me from attacking this woman, I was so angry. I’m still angry, but it’s more of a simmering anger now and I just want this woman off the streets. She’s a menace to herself and to other drivers. (She’s been picked up for a DUI SINCE the accident, believe it or not). She needs to be punished and she needs to learn there are consequences for her actions because up until now, this woman has been free to drive around and resume her life as if nothing catastrophic happened.

Though I’m not holding my breath that this hearing will actually take place (it’s been granted a continuance now every few weeks for a year), I’m really hoping it happens – mainly because we just want it to be over. We’ve already moved past this accident and to be forced to relive it again will be uncomfortable and painful for Kevin, I’m sure.

At any rate, that’s where we stand on the issue. We’ll see what happens.


Kevin has been busy digging our backyard up. He’s putting in a patio. He borrowed his sister’s Roto-Tiller and that really helped move things along. I’ll take some pictures of it this weekend.

We went to Lowe’s last weekend and picked out the pavers. We’ll likely order those sometime this weekend, (if Kevin feels up to it, he’s got a gig tonight and tomorrow night, so he’ll probably be worn out from that).

He still needs to dig the rocks out next to the house, then we’ll order some gravel, put that down, smooth it out, then top it with sand, smooth that out before putting the pavers in. We’re hoping to have the patio done before Dude’s graduation reception next month. It would be really nice to have his party outside, weather permitting.


My job situation … geez, I’m so frustrated with this whole thing. For one thing, I’m in limbo. I just don’t know which direction to take on this job thing.

First of all, I never heard back from the place I had my three interviews with. Which was very disappointing because I really thought they liked me. It was between me and one other person – I guess the other person was a better fit. I have an application in for three more positions with the same company but so far, I haven’t received a call, though all three positions are still in the “open” status on their website. However, they’ve been listed for a while, so I’m thinking they are probably interviewing and I just wasn’t picked. Maybe I’m not meant to work for this company, I don’t know. I’m not giving up, but I am a little discouraged.

Kevin suggested that I apply for a temporary employment agency. They would call me whenever someone needed someone to work in their office and I would do … whatever they needed me for. The pros of doing this would be that I would be working for several different companies and would have a chance to “try” them out, so to speak. Kevin’s company used people from this temporary employment agency quite a few times and often times, they would like the person so much they would offer him/her a full-time position.

The cons would be that I would be working for several different companies. I would be walking into a brand new situation and working with brand new people all the time. I’m sure that would be disorienting. Also, I would have to be ready to go at a moment’s notice. Which is really not that big of a deal, now that I think about it, because I’m at the office every day anyway, I would just have to make sure I’m wearing more office-appropriate attire. (Slacks as opposed to the jeans I wear every day now).

So, I don’t know. It’s definitely something to think about. I’m pretty sure I’m going to try it, just to see what happens.

Another option is to try and get a job at Missouri State University. They require all of their clerical applicants to take a test in Word, Excel, basic filing abilities and bank reconciliations. I suppose your chances of getting called back for an interview depends on how well you tested. I’d like to try this, too. Although I’ll have to work a bit more within Excel and Word 2007 as I haven’t really used those programs all that much (I have those programs, but they’re older versions and there are quite a few new features in the ’07 versions). In addition, and don’t laugh, I haven’t reconciled a bank statement in, oh gosh, YEARS. I haven’t had to, Kevin has always taken care of that stuff (there are some perks to being married to an accountant), so I’ll definitely have to brush up on that skill before I take any sort of test.

And I could always fall back on the tried and true job option – retail and/or restaurant. I have a lot of experience in both and I know those industries are ALWAYS looking for people. But the question is: do I really want to work evenings, weekends and holidays? Answer: no. I’ve had my fill of doing that (21 years worth, thanks), and I’m ready for a 9:00 to 5:00 job. I have a lot of office experience and know my way around office-related programs, SURELY someone out there wants me. Surely. 😐

So I have options, it’s just a matter of time before I get off my lazy butt and take those options. I’m nervous. That last interview process was a bit of a blow to my pride, quite frankly, and now I’m a bit more nervous about putting myself out there again. However, I’ll get over that. I’ll work myself up to it, believe me.

In the meantime, I come to the office every day and keep Kevin company. I write and work on websites and will likely continue to do those things even after I get a job. I do have one mark against me, though. We plan on going on our family vacation in July, which I have to disclose at the onslaught of an interview because I don’t want to spring anything on them at the last minute, and companies probably aren’t going to like that they will hire me, only to have to let me off for one week of unpaid vacation.

I wonder if that was one of the biggest reasons I didn’t get that last job.

*sigh*

Oh well. I just have to be patient and put myself out there. Nothing is going to happen just talking about it.

Politics

There Ain’t No Such Thing as a Free Lunch … Oh Wait …

Hey parents!

You have NO IDEA what’s good for your children.

WE know what’s best!

And packing lunch for your little ones?

Ain’t gonna happen in OUR school district. WE will provide your children with healthy food – don’t you DARE make nutritional choices for YOUR children. WE know best. Don’t fight us.

Where’s the money coming from to feed all of the extra mouths, you ask?

Don’t you concern yourselves with that little nuisance, money is no object – we’ve got it covered. All you need to concern yourself with is to make sure little Johnny/Jane shows up to school on time and hungry! Cause we’re gonna feed them the food of OUR choice. And you’re gonna LIKE it! Cause what choice do you have? We’re in control, you’re not speaking up, YOUR children are ours to do with as we please. Now stop your whining and drink more Kool-aid.

*insert evil laugh here*

Of course, I’m being melodramatic, but get this – this is NOT a hypothetical situation. It’s happening, right now.

(Did you hear about this news story? If not, my question is why not? Are you paying attention? Is the news outlet you’re listening to or watching not reporting it? Why not? Stay informed people, these are our RIGHTS we’re talking about here).

Crazy, right?

Not to sound all bad ass on you people, but if anyone dared to tell me that I had no control over what my children ate, at any time of the day or at any point in their lives, or who dared to take my parental responsibility away from me, no matter the issue or how “small” the choice in regards to MY OWN CHILDREN, I’d go all Rambo Mom on their controlling bleepity-bleep-bleep-bleeps.

But let’s bring this tirade down a notch or two (or ten) and look at the issue here.

To encourage healthful eating, Chicago school doesn’t allow kids to bring lunches or certain snacks from home — and some parents, and many students, aren’t fans of the policy.

Principal Elsa Carmona said her intention is to protect students from their own unhealthful food choices.

“Nutrition wise, it is better for the children to eat at the school,” Carmona said. “It’s about the nutrition and the excellent quality food that they are able to serve (in the lunchroom). It’s milk versus a Coke. But with allergies and any medical issue, of course, we would make an exception.”

Carmona said she created the policy six years ago after watching students bring “bottles of soda and flaming hot chips” on field trips for their lunch. Although she would not name any other schools that employ such practices, she said it was fairly common.

And yet, we haven’t heard of any other school doing this – I wonder how “common” it really is?

Now this paragraph disturbs me:

Any school that bans homemade lunches also puts more money in the pockets of the district’s food provider, (emphasis added) Chartwells-Thompson. The federal government pays the district for each free or reduced-price lunch taken, and the caterer receives a set fee from the district per lunch.

Wait. So forcing children to eat at school and forgo homemade lunches “puts more money in the pockets of the district’s food provider?” It always comes back to money, doesn’t it. Even though it’s nearly always disguised as the “better option for the people.”

Also, look at that last sentence: “The federal government pays the district for each free or reduced-price lunch taken, and the caterer receives a set fee from the district per lunch.” Just WHO do you think the federal government gets the money from??

THE TAXPAYERS! AARGH – money doesn’t just magically appear, people!!!!

And then the crème de la crème:

At Little Village, most students must take the meals served in the cafeteria or go hungry or both. During a recent visit to the school, dozens of students took the lunch but threw most of it in the garbage uneaten. Though CPS has improved the nutritional quality of its meals this year, it also has seen a drop-off in meal participation among students, many of whom say the food tastes bad.

Sooooo … not only are the kids now NOT eating at all, they’re wasting tons of food that could be served to people who could REALLY benefit from it – like the homeless or the hungry.

Another brilliant call Mr. Government. Truly.

And let’s not forget that MOST parents can’t AFFORD to pay for lunches every day – they have to PAY for idiot programs like these.

“This is the perfect illustration of how the government’s one-size-fits-all mandate on nutrition fails time and time again. Some parents may want to pack a gluten-free meal for a child, and others may have no problem with a child enjoying soda.”

AGREED! The CHOICE of what to feed our children should be up to the PARENTS – not a “one-size-fits-all” government bureaucracy.

“But Karen, what about the children who come to school every day with chips, cupcakes and soda in their lunch? Don’t they deserve to eat healthy foods?”

How do you know they’re not eating healthy? How do you know they eat like that every day? What business is it of ours what the parents pack for their children? Unless that child is having food-related health issues and intervention is required for the sake of the child’s health, the public has no right what to tell the parents how to feed their children.

The community with the lunch ban has a median income of around $32,000 a year. What does that buy you in the city? Think about it. Raising a family that includes school-aged children on a budget that would squeeze a single person in an urban area does not leave much room for expensive, healthy, delicious foods. It’s the American poverty crisis – the poor get poorer.

With the other basics of survival (housing, for one) taking up most of an income like that, there simply isn’t room in the family budget for the luxury of nourishing, delicious food. The default food group becomes junk.

Source

This is a Red Herring argument. If families are in the low-income bracket, they automatically qualify for free or reduced-fee lunches. So, these children that are eating lunches at school are doing so BECAUSE their parents are low income.

People who do NOT qualify for free or reduced-fee lunches have to PAY for their children’s lunches every day and those people CAN’T afford to do so every day. It would be MUCH cheaper to buy a family pack of deli meat and a loaf of bread (ever heard of day old bread? CHEAP), and get several days worth of lunches from that food than to pay for one lunch their child may, or may not, eat.

What a waste and an incredible violation of our parental rights.

No, sorry. No matter how you slice this issue, government intervention is NOT THE ANSWER.

As always.

Politics

Making Sure “In God We Trust” Stays ON Our Currency

I don’t get a lot of emails forwarded to me, but when I do, I am immediately cynical. Just as with anything, one needs to take the time to look at the entire subject matter and not just take a snippet of something and go off the handle about it.

I recently received an email about how the new dollar coins (they’re bringing those things back again?? Didn’t the first dollar coin experiment FAIL? That’s the government for you – keep throwing money WE DON’T have on programs that have FAILED. Where was I …) don’t have “In God We Trust on Them.”

Hhmm…

I looked up the email on Snopes.com and here is what it said:

In 2007, the U.S. Mint began the release of a series of coins similar in concept to the 50 State Quarters Program launched in 1999. This new series, the Presidential $1 Coin Program, features dollar coins identical in size, color, and composition to the earlier Sacagawea dollar, each one bearing the likeness of a former U.S. President on the front and a representations of the Statue of Liberty on the back. The Presidential $1 coins will be released in series of four per year (in order corresponding to the presidents’ terms of office) beginning in February 2007.

Just as the first Presidential $1 coins rolling out of the Mint in early 2007, emails began to circulate spreading the erroneous assertion that the new dollar coins did not include the phrase “In God We Trust” in their design. In fact, the Presidential dollars neither omitted the phrase “In God We Trust” nor demonstrated a plot to “phase God out of America.” As specified by Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005, in order to allow for “larger and more dramatic artwork” on the coins’ faces, the new Presidential $1 coins incorporated a few design features not found on other current U.S. coinage, one of which is that elements typically displayed on either the front or back of U.S. coins – the year of minting, the mint mark, the motto from the Great Seal of the United States (“E Pluribus Unum”), the current national motto of the United States (“In God We Trust”) – were instead included as edge-incursed inscriptions. That is, all of these elements appeared on the edges of the new dollar coins rather than on their fronts or backs.

Source

The article goes on to say that there were small quantities of coins released at the beginning of the program that did NOT have the “In God We Trust” on them, but that it was a “mistake”.

Yeah right. I’m betting they omitted it on purpose to see if they could get away with it and people threw such a fit that they “fixed” the problem.

And the whole trying to phase God out of America thing? I totally buy that. I’m convinced that our government is trying to do that very thing but they would never come right out and admit that. I’m sure it would be chocked up to a “mistake,” if called out later.

*snicker*

Congress later reversed it’s specifications of printing “In God We Trust” on the side of the coin with the 2008 Consolidated Appropriations Act and instructed the mints to put it back ON the coin.

Again, most likely because people threw a fit about it.

Even though this email being circulated is wrong in stating that the new dollar coins don’t have the national motto “In God We Trust” printed on them (earlier versions didn’t due to a “mistake”, later versions have it on the side, and even later versions now have it printed on the coin), I think it’s still important to point out that once again, our government TRIED to get away with something and yet again the PEOPLE put their foot down and said no.

It just goes to show that, once again, it’s important to pay attention to what our government is up to. There’s no telling what “MISTAKES” might be made when we’re not looking.

Politics

Political Correctness is Out – It’s Time to Tell it Like It Is

Just saw this on Another Black Conservative.

This is Ann Barnhardt and she takes Lindsey Graham and the Quran to task quite passionately, and effectively, in the following video.

Ladies and gentlemen, THIS is the type of citizen this country needs more of. People who aren’t afraid to call these corrupt politicians out and to logically and systematically dispute their insane political spin and out-of-control political correctness.

I admire this woman. She’s got balls.

She also goes through the Quran and quotes specific passages, pointing out how evil the message behind the Quran is and how the Quran has no place in a civilized country. She even goes so far as to burn it. I haven’t embedded it here because it’s quite long, and a bit tedious, but you get the point.

ADDED: By the way, I’m not a big proponent of burning anything and I think she might have gone too far in this case, but I think her bigger point, at least, it’s what I took away from her stunt, is that we need to start standing up for our beliefs and freedoms and have the courage to fight anything that threatens those freedoms.

And we have politicians, an entire party, who want to defend this religion and persuade our country to be tolerant of this evil doctrine.

Wow.


Numbers don’t lie, folks, politicians do. It’s time to pull our heads from the sand and be prepared for tough decisions – we can’t sugar coat our dire situation anymore – we need to get this debt under control and the people in power now? Have NO INTEREST in seeing that happen. They want people to be dependent on the government for every essential aspect of our lives.

NO THANKS.

If you haven’t been paying attention, then shame on you. Our country is at a crossroads and we need the ADULTS to step up and do something about it. If not for you, then for your children and future grandchildren. Look at your kids, they’re counting on you to make the right decision. Let’s get this mess under control, people. NOW.

The president’s recent budget proposal would accelerate America’s descent into a debt crisis. It doubles debt held by the public by the end of his first term and triples it by 2021. It imposes $1.5 trillion in new taxes, with spending that never falls below 23% of the economy. His budget permanently enlarges the size of government. It offers no reforms to save government health and retirement programs, and no leadership.

Our budget, which we call The Path to Prosperity, is very different. For starters, it cuts $6.2 trillion in spending from the president’s budget over the next 10 years, reduces the debt as a percentage of the economy, and puts the nation on a path to actually pay off our national debt. Our proposal brings federal spending to below 20% of gross domestic product (GDP), consistent with the postwar average, and reduces deficits by $4.4 trillion.

A study just released by the Heritage Center for Data Analysis projects that The Path to Prosperity will help create nearly one million new private-sector jobs next year, bring the unemployment rate down to 4% by 2015, and result in 2.5 million additional private-sector jobs in the last year of the decade. It spurs economic growth, with $1.5 trillion in additional real GDP over the decade. According to Heritage’s analysis, it would result in $1.1 trillion in higher wages and an average of $1,000 in additional family income each year.

Source: Wall Street Journal

You can find a lot more no-nonsense information about our debt fiasco here.

Life-condensed

Shame on Me

I did something really stupid yesterday.

I went and voted.

No. That wasn’t the stupid part. The stupid part was when I sat down to vote and realized I had NO IDEA who the people on the ballot even were.

I had never heard of them. But here I was, getting ready to vote them into office.

Shame on me!

I think I was so focused on voting for the stupid smoking ban – ON PRIVATE PROPERTY – that I failed to pay attention to the rest of the ballot.

After I voted, I went to my office. When I walked in and told Kevin that I had voted, he was surprised.

“What?? I had planned on talking to you about the people running for office. Have you looked at their websites? Do you even know where they stand on these issues?”

I blushed and shook my head.

And then I felt like a slug.

He had spent an hour looking at the candidates’ websites and when he told me that one dude explicitly claimed that he had “nothing to do with the Tea Party,” and that he was the one I voted for (because I liked his name – I KNOW, I’M SO PATHETIC!!!), I died a little inside.

Shame on me!

To me, when people distance themselves from the Tea Party, that means that they’re for more government and more spending. (Because the Tea Party is for less government and less spending, in case you didn’t know that).

And just so we’re clear? I am NOT FOR BIGGER GOVERNMENT ON ANY LEVEL.

Sorry to shout, but I feel strongly about this.

So yeah, I voted for the dude. *SIGH* Bad Karen.

Then Kevin pointed out another candidate who wouldn’t commit to any sort of opinion, in essence he said he would vote for whatever was popular. Which to ME says, “I’ll do whatever it takes to stay in office.”

My point is … I should have taken the time to look these candidates up before voting for them. I wonder how many people do the same thing? Go in to vote and have no idea who the people are? Who just pick a name out of the hat and vote for him/her.

I know better. I was ill-informed and lazy. If we ALL don’t take the time to research the people we’re voting into office and then things go to crap, we have no one to blame but ourselves because we put them there.

I’m lumping myself into this chastisement.

I’m embarrassed to admit that I voted people into office that if I had done my homework on, would NOT have gotten my vote.

Lesson learned.