Off to Russia

John is leaving tomorrow for Russia. He works for Fluor Corporation which is the project management contractor for TANECO, a huge oil refiner in Nizhnekamsk, Russia. He will be gone for 63 days before I get to see him again. That part of it really stinks, but when he does come home, he gets to stay for 3 weeks.

So you won't see my smilin' face around here tomorrow. I have to take him to the airport. He is taking his camera with him so, hopefully, we will have some good pics to post next week.

A Money Saving Tip

I am sure most of you already knew about this, so this post if for the one person out there who didn't. I've known about it for awhile because my daughter is so abusive to her cell phones, I just kept forgetting to post about it.

I do not like cell phone contracts. I think they are awful. I don't like the fact that they can pretty much do whatever they want for two years. The beauty of the American free market is, that if someone pisses you off, you simply go somewhere else. With cell phone contracts, you have completely lost that power.

The way they get you is that when your kid breaks their phone, or drops it in the bathtub, or the school parking lot, etc., the only way you can get an affordable replacement, is to sign a new contract.

"Hey lady, you wanna pay $300 or $50?"

"Gee whiz, Mister, I don't know."

So if you have 4 cell phones with a family plan, 2 years equates to a lot of money.

So next time your kid drops that expensive cell phone into a puddle on the way into school, just go into the store of your choice and purchase one of those over-the-counter, pay-as-you-go phones. Take the SIM card out of the wet or broken phone and pop it into the cheap one.

It does have to be the same carrier, though. For example, if you use AT&T, it has to be an AT&T pay-as-you-go-phone. The last time Emily dropped hers in the rain, I paid $69 for the replacement at that one store that gets all the bad press (you know the one). Then she took her wet, non-working phone and laid it out with the back off, hoping it would dry out. The next day, she transferred her SIM card back to the "wet" phone and VOILA! it worked! Now she keeps the cheap one as a spare.

Here is a picture of my "tricked out" cell phone cover John got me for Christmas. You can't really tell it from the pic, but it really sparkles. It looks like it is covered in diamond dust. I really like it. I like sparkly things. Sometimes I hold it up to my mouth and say, "Let me see your grill. Uh huh, your grill."

One more little rant: Any time you sign a contract, you have lost your ability to exercise your power of the free market. There is a particular pet clinic (I'll let you figure it out) inside of a particular, extremely large, pet market chain, that is trying to do this to people. They try to high pressure you into signing up for their "wellness plan" by showing you all the money you will save. I don't like it because if they don't treat you or your pet well, you can't switch to another vet. So, we decided to go somewhere else...but that's just us.

Thrift Store Thursday and a Friendaversary

I am so happy that the weather has gotten good enough for thrift shop hopping again. Here are my finds from yesterday. I got some good stuff for my "white" cabinet (the contents, not the exterior).

My favorite thing is this Joshua Crabtree china coffeepot. It is in perfect condition...whoo hoo!

My second favorite thing are these Mikasa candlestick holders, made even lovelier by the $2 price tag.

A Friendaversary

I was late getting my post online today because I spent the day with my favorite gal pal, Sarah. We were celebrating our 20 year friendaversary. We went shopping and out to lunch, our very favorite things to do. How could anyone possibly put up with me for 20 years?

This might explain it. Here is a picture of Sarah:

Love ya, Girlfriend!

How to Get Even with your Kids

I warned you that this blog included poor parenting, so here is an example. Did you ever want to get even with your teen for playing that awful music that you hate? Then you yell upstairs for them to turn it down, they do, then somehow the volume mysteriously creeps back up on it's own?

Here is an idea for you to try. One Saturday morning, after your kid finds his or her way to the couch and you are tinkering around close by, sing two lines of one of those catchy "old people" songs. Don't let them know you are doing it on purpose. Continue with what you were doing, then absentmindedly (or so it would seem), sing those same two lines.

You don't sing enough of the song to get them to say, "Mom, I can't hear the tv," and you leave enough time in between choruses that they don't realize what you are up to.

I did this with my daughter the other day.

Imagine my immense satisfaction when I heard from the recliner, "I got spurs that jingle, jangle, jingle...THANKS A LOT, MOM!"


Isn't parenting fun?!

Remember this tidbit of advice when they are about 16, 17, and they are driving you crazy: God makes them obnoxious on purpose. That way, you will: 1. kick them out of the nest and 2. not be in too much pain when they leave.

Ode to the Cold

O, freezing winds from the north, you have the power to change our lives and transform our environment, both indoors and out. You are feared and hated, but you must be respected for the power you wield over us. Who among you would have the ability to transform one of these

Into one of these?

And I implore, how is it that you can make us speak these words to our beloved, "Come on, Baby, light my fire",

And they not provide us with much needed affection, but do this?

Finally, after we have triumphantly embattled you and retreated to the sanctity of our lair, we have the glorious reward that is the bath,

But you have pierced us to the bone and now we hear popping and cracking when we submerge.

You have the power to force us into the market to make purchases and spend our hard-earned money on this

When we don't even have one of these.

O wicked, wicked winter release us from thy grasp and let us live again. We desire to be free, to playest in the fields among the lillies. Permit thy brother, glorious spring, keeper of all things beautiful, to be released from your bonds. Doest this with haste, lest we call upon Beowulf to slay thee, for we are tired of you kicking our arse.

Fish Dreams

At the risk of making everyone think I am completely certifiable, I am going to share. I guess the easiest thing to do is just come right out with it. Whenever I have a dream about fish, someone close to me is pregnant.

It started back in 1991. I had the craziest dream that I went into a pet store and, instead of the fish being in fish tanks, they were just flying around the room. I didn't put two and two together until I found out that the person who was pregnant was me. This pregnancy was not a surprise, it was a complete shock.

This kicked off a series of fish dreams and, sure enough, someone was always pregnant. My cousins were having babies, my brother was having babies and it seemed to go on frequently. I don't have fish dreams very often anymore, but I do still have them.

The person does not have to be related to me, they just have to be someone close, like a good friend's daughter, or a close friend.
Whenever I have a fish dream, I get on the phone and start calling all of the people I know who are still capable. Needless to say, when they find out mom has had a fish dream, everyone gets nervous. They all know that I will probably know before they do.

Does anyone else know of anyone who does this? Or is it just me?

Thank goodness this is my only strange "gift".