Nose against the wall!

Remember this story a while back? I would like a follow-up on the story. Five years later, did that girl learn her lesson? Is she a better person because of the punishment? My humble opinion: I think that there were alternative ways to punish this girl before it got to the point where the mother publicly humiliated her in this fashion. Certainly there was some way to get through to the teenager before resorting to this. Wow, it may have even taken a little bit of work or follow-through for the Mother. Of course I don't know the entire story, but usually there is something "amiss" behind the scenes. What did the girl enjoy doing? Take it away.

Now that my daughter is fourteen, I can tell you this much. It hurts to punish your child. Sometimes (only sometimes, not all the time) you second guess yourself. 'Am I being too harsh? Am I being unfair?' Then one day (and it takes a while, I want to tell you) you turn around and she is fine. You took away her boyfriend for the week and we all survived. She even mentioned to you that they have more fun together after they have been apart for a while. Imagine that!

She screams at you that you are ruining her life. She tells the entire world in her Xanga (teenager blogs) that you are ruining her life and you are the biggest beyotch on the entire planet. Her friends tell her that you are "anal". You survive. Things don't always turn out rosy. You win some, you lose some. My daughter dropped a College Prep class. I could die inside. But, I let her drop it. I let go. Does she go to her boyfriend's house when his Mother is not home? No. I follow up. I do the pop-in. If things don't feel or look right, she comes home with me. Fuming all the way, but it passes. I've done it. I told her I was going to be all over her like stink on stank. She rolls her eyes. But dammit, I will never humiliate her in public. I sure as hell wouldn't like somebody doing that to me and I would never respect them if they did.

Hell is for children.

Wow, sometimes I just get carried away. I was supposed to leave for the grocery store an hour ago. Because my daughter's boyfriend cannot come over until I return. They are waiting for me. My daughter sighs into the phone. "You can't come over until my Mom comes back from the grocery store and she is blogging, AGAIN! At this rate I may not see you until tomorrow."

Okay, darlin'. I get the hint. I'm going. I'm Going!

You wanna piece of me?

Does this picture scare the bejesus out of anybody else besides me? I tell you what. I wouldn't want to mess with this girl. Not now, and not when she gets older. She looks like she could easily open up a can of whoop-ass on you with some left over.

On a much brighter note, is anybody else having as much fun as I am shoveling all of this sunshine?

Regal Kitty

Here is my big baby (Casper) sitting on the basement steps a day after his bath. I did bathe him, but none of the others. We think that he was possibly hit by a car at one time, because he will sit with his back leg at an awkward angle from time to time. He seems very sensitive to his back legs, too. He doesn't get to wash the hair on the tail end of his back often. It was sticking up in tufts, so that is why I gave him a bath. Along with that and he takes to sleeping on my bed when I am working at my desk.

He has a front fang missing, and his brother (Jasper) has a piece of his tongue missing. They must have had a rough life in the beginning. Jasper has a hard time drinking water. He is very finicky about the bowl and it has taken almost four years, but he is finally getting over being so nervous.

So, I consider it my job to make life a dream for them now. By the way, I did not name any of our pets, except for the bird. When my daughter suggested Perry, I said Peru. That is also where I get my nickname for this blog. We used to call her Peruby.

This family tree stuff has me addicted. Except almost all of my searches in Google end up being inserted by my brother. I will get a hit on a family name and when I connect there from Google it was written by my brother. He has spent years on this and his research on the Internet has been excessive also. The only chance I have is possibly stumbling upon a new post or actually physically going to Virginia or Maryland or England, Scotland, Wales or Austria. He has some lines back to 1500's in England. It is fascinating, but at the same time so confusing.

I cannot believe that one family with a father's name of Jonas named their sons Jonas, Jonathan, James, Jesse, John and Jacob. And, they in turn after having children repeated the names. And the women did it too.

The really bizarre discovery (my brother found this years ago) was my paternal grandmother was born in the town that my immediate family ended up living in. We had no idea when we moved there in the sixties that was where she was born and lived until she was seven. That is probably why she never mentioned that town, because she probably didn't remember much of it. And since there was a Family, Ohio and an East Family, Ohio we were confused for a couple of years until we narrowed it down to the county and township.

To complicate matters, documents were recorded on paper in the early days and many times fire damaged records with no hope of recovery or duplicate copies. Sometimes the trail ends cold at what was once a hot, raging fire. This is probably why we record birth dates, death dates and names by chisling them in stone.

So she was born in 1876 in East Family, Ohio. She moved with her family to Extended, West Virginia sometime before she turned seven. It is believed that she and her Mother were living with my great great grandparents at the time. There is a record of her uncle being born when she was seven years old in Extended, West Virginia (this makes me assume that the family had moved there).

She married in 1898 in Extended WV and my father was born in Extended, WV. My father married and moved with my Mom to Ohio in 1940 (looking for work) and after twenty-three years ended up in East Family, Ohio. I find that remarkable. So my Mom is buried in the same cemetery as my great great great (paternal) grandfather. Whew. And his last name is on the gravestone as Ryan. He came from Maryland. We don't know why he moved from Maryland to Ohio sometime between 1800 and 1826. And, in Maryland it is possible that his name was spelled Ryan, Ryon, Rine, or Rhine. Go figure.

Out on a limb

I am way out on a limb in the middle of my family tree maker program. I found this picture of my great, great aunt Rebecca on the web tonight. At least I think she is my ggaunt.

You know. Just for the record. I think they should make it a law that you cannot repeat any first or middle names for at least four generations. Good Gawd. This can be a major nightmare.

Photo Fun

Not that I am bored or anything...

Just having a little fun...

With my camera....

And with MS PowerPoint...

and Paint Shop.

My blue lights, my ginger ale again, my daughter's green yo-yo, my cellophane lamp, and some yummy left-over raspberry hard candy.

Moon madness

Maybe the moon has affected Sable. She seems to be possessed.

Same moon as yesterday. Taken from my backyard overlooking my neighbor's house.

Close Up

The January full moon is a chilly one tonight.

Ginger ale in a cobalt blue glass. Up close. Mmmm.

Ordered and almost ready

The program has been ordered. I guess I have to stick with my plan, now. I stated a while back that my winter project would be my family's genealogy. I am trying to pick up where my elder brother left off or work with him on the project. He has done a lot of work, I am not sure if he is ready to let it go. He seemed to be happy that I wanted to tackle the project. So, it is ordered and will arrive within the next couple of weeks. If the weather turns bad then I have a nice inside project to keep myself occupied.

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Well, I had to jinx it. No, not Friday the 13th. The bit about my sweeper picking up pine needles. For about five years my daughter and I lived in a small apartment. Because of limited space we had a four-foot tall artificial tree. Since I purchased this house (in 2002) I have chosen a live tree every Christmas. Just like the ones I used to know. I have not had any problems with needles until this year. My sweeper just picked them right up, not much of a hassle. But this year, I waited too long. The tree was much drier than before. Oh - my - God!

I think I may need to purchase a new sweeper. I have even tried the attachments to pick them up. I think it just went into the hose and out the bottom of the sweeper. Humph! I am down to my last bag, and I am trying. What a mess. Yep, right before taking the tree down I had to go and say it. What did I say? "I don't know why people put a tree bag over their tree when taking it down. I only get a few needles and my sweeper picks them right up." Well, the gods are laughing at me, now. That will show me.

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I was viewing some movie trailer on QuickTime yesterday. I was nervous about the remake of The Pink Panther. But the trailer makes me really want to see it. Although not a big fan of Steve Martin, I agree that he is very funny and there are a couple of movies that I like him in. I was excited to see that Jason Statham is in it, along with Kevin Kline and Jean Reno. A couple of scary ones are Wolfcreek and The Hills have Eyes. I think I will pass on both of them. Ugh.

Curiosity

Jasper wants somebody to turn the water on. He always was curious about this. He does not like baths, but it has been a while since I gave him one, so he tends to forget what this tub is for.

Of course you can't turn the stream on too strong or he will run away. He also likes to watch the toilet flush. Casper will jump in the tub from time to time, but Precious - never.

What a wet, dreary day. During work hours it was nice and warm, but cloudy. Almost as soon as I get out of work it begins to pour the rain down and has not stopped. It is supposed to turn to snow overnight. Should make for a lovely week-end.

I have been trying to upgrade my daughter's anti-virus. Tomorrow was the last day. I am cutting it close. It was a bit of a hassle. If only I had remembered to uninstall the 2005 version before installing the 2006 one, I may have been okay. But no, I just jump right in. Two hours later I am finally on the full system scan with the new version. What a hassle this is.

I am proud of myself about one thing, though. While uninstalling the old Norton, it asked for the installation CD. I went straight to it. I have never been that organized with my disks before. I have them all in a binder, now. I did that this year. All my computer disks in one binder that holds like over 100 or something like that. I was amazed at myself. I used to spend hours looking for the installation disk.

I was considering dropping Norton and going with something else. I am partial because when I first began working with PC's I used Norton Disk Utilities. They worked really well. I understood them and they helped me to learn so much about the PC and Windows/DOS environment. I used to do so much with that package. So, Norton has been my choice for years. I understand that there have been some problems with the program recently. But, I stayed the course. I stayed with Norton.

I remember when Norton merged with Symantec. I also used a product called Fastback by Symantec. It was a backup program for the PC and Macintosh. Fifteen years ago or so. I guess we tend to stick with what we know or are used to. But working with computers, if you don't like change you should at least accept it. It is inevitable.

I like how Spell check keeps wanting to change my cat's name Casper to Gasper. I think I will just change it to that. He is the one that has hairball trouble a lot. He is very rarely allowed in my bedroom because of this. I have white carpet in there. He begins his hacking and I clap my hands together and he runs, hacking all the way. Well, they all run when I clap my hands.

The other day, I had yelled at him (remember the day without caffeine and I was super grouchy) and I saw him peeking around my bedroom door while I was on the computer and he hesitated for a second. Then he ran straight to my feet and rubbed up against them as if saying, "Let me stay. I'll be good!" I didn't have the heart to kick him out. Most of the time he curls up on his back with his paws twisted up in the air and lays at my feet. I have to sweep my bedroom carpet a lot. Why didn't I get a cream colored cat? Well, I do - Precious. But she isn't my big baby. I would let him sleep on the bed, but it never fails. He begins his hacking and I have to chase him out, so I just gently push him out every night.

Maybe I'll give them all a bath this week-end. Yikes, what am I saying? That is a lot of work. Maybe just two of them. I'll have my daughter take pictures. This should be fun.

Paraskevidekatriaphobia

Paraskevi...what? What a mouth full. It means a phobia or fear of Friday the 13th. I don't suffer from it. I love Friday's and I love the number 13.

There are many stories about how the omen of this day came about. Mostly the sixth day of the week and the number 13. Over thousands of years the two were bound to get together. Religion dwells on the twelve at the last supper and the 13th one betrayed Jesus. Mythology has the story of 12 gods dining and the 13th crashed the party. The list goes on.

I don't have a fear of black cats, either. As my big black baby Casper can tell you, I dote on him.

Reading up on this day and the omen, I found it quite amusing that so many people don't leave the house on that day. They skip work, they don't drive. The don't plan weddings, dinners or dates. Well, in Spain and Spanish speaking countries, I read where Tuesday the 13th is bad luck. So there you have it. If you're close to a Spanish border, go spend the day there - you should be safe. Just make sure you are back before any Tuesday that falls on the 13th.

java, jo, mud, ink, perk, dishwater

I am addicted to coffee. So, when I am sick and am resigned to a diet of jell-o, rice, dry toast, broth, applesauce and bananas - I tend to get real grouchy without my caffeine. My head feels as though somebody is chipping away at it with a hammer and chisel.

And, who in the HELL brought those danish pastries into the house? Huh? Taunting me. Sitting right beside the freaking coffee pot! I tried weak hot tea. It just doesn't do it for me.

Are the animals still alive? Yes, but they have run to their respective corners. I busted my knuckle wide open just cleaning out the sink. Why does the dish rag keep getting caught on everything? I kept spraying water all over the place as if I had never used my faucet before. Why was the water pressure so damn strong?! Why are dishes and silverware so loud when you drop them?! Is the world going insane? I threw a dish towel at Casper. "Stop looking at me!" Good Lord, I sounded like a toddler.

I slept most of my morning away, and napped this afternoon. So, who is going to be tossing and turning tonight? My skin is dry and itching. Where is the lotion that does NOT have perfume scent added to it? Perfumes kill me when I have a headache.

If I have to look at another serving of lime green jell-o I am going to scream! And, the rain just keeps pouring down. At least I don't have to shovel rain. But it is gray and depressing. I still have my tree and lights. Soft lights in the evening to push away the dull and dreary weather.

I don't even want to know what is happening (or not happening) at work. I felt so darn good yesterday evening. I was in some pain, but today I feel like I am totally washed out. Blah. No energy. I did get outside and chased my empty garbage cans. The wind had picked up and was rolling them around the street. I was hoping that nobody saw me. I looked like death warmed over. My retrieval finished uneventful.

There is one plus to being sick. I got the softest, warmest robe for Christmas that I have ever had. It is like luxury when you put it on. I have been able to cuddle up in it all day long. (Except when I chased the garbage cans. I did dress for that. Sheesh. I'm not that bad!)

Cat Scan

I had my first CT scan today. Interesting. The lady taking care of it was very nervous, though. It carried over to me. I think it was her first one. She had just moved back into the area from New England and she was not at all familiar with the equipment. She kept talking about how she wasn't familiar with this or that, which arm was my "good" arm for an IV? Uh, I haven't had an IV in about five years, so I am not really sure which one is my "good" vein. You know? And, she kept leaving the room mumbling something about she didn't know which to use... or what. I gathered everything I had inside of me (I was half sick from not eating food and drinking that wonderful barium stuff) and just went to a quiet place inside my head.

She got the IV going, the CT scan finished and I was out of there. Nothing hurt. She did fine. Perhaps my calmness carried over to her. She just seemed relieved that I didn't pass out. The CT machine had two capsules of smelling salts taped to it. She was the only one besides the receptionist that I ever saw. I wonder if it came down to it, if I would be able to administer the smelling salts to her. (Oh, it was for me? In case I passed out. Oh, I see.)

I have actually had a few procedures done. I've drank the barium stuff before. But, usually the night before and the tests were done in a hospital. State of the art, professional employees. I was just a bit suspect about this one. It wasn't dirty but it just wasn't up to snuff. I guess they needed to do it on short notice, I don't know. Anyway, I am getting some energy back. I am beginning to feel like my old ornery self again. Can't jump up and down on a pogo stick, but I can ....oh, wait. I never could jump up and down on a pogo stick! Drat! Oh, well. I'm getting back to the old routine.

Let me set the record straight...

Um...for the most part, we Ohioans bury our dead. Honest, we do.

Not like this story.

Still not up to par. Or, not running on all cylinders. However you want to phrase it, I am reserving my energy for work. Especially where the eyes are concerned.

Intense

Not much done this week-end. The migraine monkey has taken ahold of my eyeballs and is having his way with them. They are weak, exhausted and in such great pain. As soon as I find them and get them rested and well taken care of, I will post again.

Undecorating the tree

Tomorrow the lights come off of the tree and the tree goes out to the curb. I guess. If I have to. The cats say they want to help. Hmmm. Maybe. My dog doesn't want anything to do with it. (No food involved).

Well, it was fun while it lasted.

All smiles

Here is a photo of me when I was about eight years old. I am sitting behind my older sister. She was sixteen when I was born, so if I was eight - she would be 24 or so in this photo.

We were sitting on top of her car hood before the Memorial Day parade. I'm sure a lot of my smile was in anticipation of the candy that was going to be thrown our way.

I always thought my sister looked like Jacqueline Kennedy.




Jackie, sister, sister, Jackie

Get out, get air, get shots

I took Laura's advice today and went outside after work and took some pictures. I was trying to beat the sunset. I never did see the sun, but I did get some shots of a streetlight. War of the World's style. I always thought the creatures in the original version looked like street lights.

I got one shot of this horse before he became spooked by the click of my camera and ran away. Taking the miniature ponies with him.

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I didn't study economics in school, but the next few sentences just astound me.

"If someone has a $1,000 balance and pays $15 a month, it would take 17 years and cost about $3,000 in principal and interest, he said. Paying $20 a month would take seven years and cost $1,750 in interest. "

"The average household carries about $9,000 in debt, excluding mortgages."

I guess I am not average.

"There's no shame in getting into trouble like this. We've all done it."

No, we haven't.

In the late 80's I was doing my bills one day and became discouraged thinking that for the rest of my life I will have credit card debt. That was just the way it was. I was wrong. I just needed to get out of a dead-end relationship.

Rain o'er me

Looks as if my patio gutter is in need of some repair. I neglected to clean the leaves out from underneath the extension of the drain and here is the result.

It is wet in Ohio. From what I am seeing (reading) on the news it looks as it if is damn near wet everywhere.

What is the old saying? Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink. Actually, I think that was said by somebody out at sea.Sigh. Anyway. It is ugly out there. My backyard is a small pool of water. My dog, she doesn't want to go out. I can't blame her.

I had a long talk with my daughter's boyfriend's Mom last night. Sixty minutes. Possibly four minutes of that was about our children's relationship and how we can maintain it.

January is going to be a lo-o-o-ng month. Probably February, too. I must keep myself from hiding my head under the blankets and blocking life out. SAD sets in.

Kick myself in the butt. Kick myself again. Go get some coffee. Go to work. Shalom.

Edit: My apologies to those in Texas and Oklahoma. Yes, some of us are soaked with rain, but some of us are in the midst of a dry spell with fires raging all around uncontrollably. It is just one big mess out there.

Give me a call sometime.

I was intrigued by the news today:

Touching cat story about dialing 9-1-1 to help his owner.

The owner said he had trained the cat to dial 9-1-1- but didn't know if it stuck or not. Supposedly, it did.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1462424

How do you train a cat to dial 9-1-1? Every time he is successful do you tell the 9-1-1- operator, "Sorry. No emergency. Just training my cat!"

Huh?

Or, do you use a dead phone? One that isn't hooked up?

So when do you hook it up and how can you keep the animal from dialing it like say -- when you're in the bathroom? Or, when you are sleeping? How does the cat know when to dial it?

I mean, do they write manuals on how to do this?

Telemarketing firms pay attention! Cheap labor!

But you wonder. Did the owner dial it and not remember?

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Who's loading your airplane?

Jobs are hard to come by these days. Have you ever been afraid of losing your job? How about being so afraid to the point of endangering lives?

A guy loading an airplane, had punctured the fuselage and just kind of pushed it back together. He didn't tell anyone, because he was afraid of losing his job.

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Travel/story?id=1448260

So, when the plane took off the hole widened causing depressurization, making a hole in the compartment forcing an emergency landing.

Could have been MUCH worse!

"Yeah, I punctured the plane, but maybe nobody will notice!"

I wonder what he did after he loaded the plane.

Go on about his job?

Sit nervously by the television watching the news?

Go to confession?

How about "leave the country!?"

The Magic (school) bus

I started this yearly portrait school bus years before my daughter started school. She had two years of pre-school and one of kindergarten. This bus only starts the portraits with 1st grade.

I don't have it updated with her 9th grade photo, yet. It looks pretty much the same as the 8th grade one.

There was plenty of drama yesterday. So much in fact, it all made my stomach hurt. That could have been the rich foods I was eating, though. I have kraut and a pork roast in the slow cooker. I had a taste of it last night. I wonder if my dog would eat kraut if I offered it to her. No doubt. She eats almost anything. I did see her spit out a radish, though. That is one of my "silent" resolutions. To stop feeding her and my cats people food. I have already started that, about two months ago. I know! I know! I'm not proud of it. But, I am going to try to be a better person to my pets.

Sigh. Sunday. New Year's day. I didn't promise anybody any visits this year. That makes me feel better. I can sit around in my robe all day if I want to. Work tomorrow. My daughter doesn't have school until Tuesday. We are going to have to get serious about her grades. Slipping a bit. I was an A/B student. I always thought I wouldn't ride her about grades, but I can't let it go. She doesn't even try (in my eyes). She said she works hard for them. I don't see it. She rarely brings any books home.

Coffee doesn't seem to be working today. It is just kind of sitting in my stomach. My daughter woke me up at 5:30 a.m. saying her boyfriend was upset and wanted to come over. "I don't think so." I was half asleep and mumbled something about a more decent hour. I got up at nine and I guess he arrived at 8:30. To her that was a decent hour. They are having problems. There are going to be some more changes in that area, too.

My poor daughter thinks I am jealous. She thinks that her boyfriend takes her away from me and that makes me jealous. She also keeps throwing up the fact that just because I didn't have a boyfriend at fourteen, I don't understand how she feels. Our therapist says she would make a great defense attorney. And, she tries to marry me off. Each time I happen to mention a man, as an example somebody I work with, she retorts "You should marry him!" She is so desperate to get me involved so that I can back off of her activities. Ain't gonna happen. She is a full time job. I told her I am going to be all over her like stink on stank. Who knows where that expression came from!