The Neon Nurse's Charting

San Francisco activists are asking people throughout the country (and the world, for that matter) to send e-mails of thanks to San Francisco's mayor, Gavin Newsom, for his courage in performing marriages for same-sex couples.

Apparently, the mayor's office is being flooded with hate mail. Time to counteract the messages of hate with our messages of appreciation:

gavin.newsom@sfgov.org

In March 2004, 53 nations will sit at the United Nations in Geneva to
discuss, argue, vote and then publicly declare if they believe sexual
orientation and gender identity are human rights or not.


In other words, they will say whether being Lesbian, Gay, Transgender
or Bisexual (or heterosexual for that matter) is a basic right of
human beings.


What can you do about it?
Please sign!


http://www.brazilianresolution.com



ILGA (International Lesbian & Gay Association---www.ilga.org) has set
up a web petition: http://www.brazilianresolution.com/ .
Please go to this website, sign the petition, leave your email
address if you wish to receive more information, and pass this
information on to everyone you know who would sign it.


ILGA will present the petition to the press and the United Nations.
FYI, the U.S. delegate to the the U.N. Human Rights Commission voted
against this when it was first introduced last year. Our signatures
on this petition will help send a clear message to the UN.

Ow.

I was carrying in a bit of furniture we bought at an auction which has been patiently waiting for a spot to open up for it in The Living Room of Doom since...last August? Oh dear. It's a combo footstool/storage box, very nifty 50s/60s. It's not that heavy, so I was sort of carrying it on one shoulder to negotiate the turn at the foyer and miss the coatrack--

--and I got it at the wrong angle, making the lid fall open. While trying not to drop the whole thing, my left thumbnail got caught somehow and about the top third of it got folded back. Which hurt. And almost made me drop the whole thing again. But as luck would have it, Mike was right there handy and kept it from falling. With his head....

Again with the ow, but moreso.

Why does this sort of project always look so easy on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy?

Also in the low light department, I am kind of sore from hauling a bunch of stuff, mainly Mike's toys, out to one of the sheds. This is because Mike, who has been having episodes of less than ideal behavior lately, went far above and beyond yesterday and pretty much pissed off everyone in his immediate circle of family and friendly professionals.

We aren't sure what exactly is behind this. Could be let down from all the excitement leading up to his party. Could be early onset 'end of the school year burnout'. My personal pick is that it's a little heads up of puberty looming on the horizon. But for whatever reason, we've been enjoying quite a bit of "Hello, I'm Michael, and I'll be your ghastly heathen demon child tonight--AND EVERY NIGHT! AND MORNING! AND IN BETWEEN!" It's getting a little...tedious.

Anyway, yesterday Mike went WAY WAY over the line. Badly enough that he lost EVERYTHING, temporarily. No TV, computer, toys...nada, zip, zero. He now has to earn back his privileges and material goods through good behavior.

But it's a high light that he is accepting this with pretty good grace. Today he vacuumed all the spots opened up from the Exodus of the Toys, which got him TV privileges back. We're getting Extra Sweet Attentive Mike right now, which is pretty DARN sweet.

Mini highlights: I found many long lost things today. My Valentine Pinky and the Brain figures. My chipped Swanee goldfish vase. The Commemorative Quarters book. And much more. Plus I had unusual pink turkey soup for lunch.

(Short explanation--boiled down leftover turkey breast, onion, mushrooms. Thought I still had a can of chicken broth, but no. Substituted Cream of Chicken. Worried that was too "carby" so added can of diced tomatoes to lower the average. Turned it a yummy peach color!)

OK, got to stop for now so Mike and I can look up Roger Williams. Sadly the Rhode Island guy, not the songwriter.

I started to write this yesterday, but was having a bad case of 'Monday on Wednesday', and accidentally lost the whole thing. Some actual real work was by then SHOUTING my name (and using the full proper legal version, which as a mom I know means YOU BETTER LISTEN UP!) so I back-burnered it until now.

Recent spammer names too good to just delete: Apportions M Semaphores, Acupuncturist E. Extremity

Let's see, where was I? Oh, yes....

More about the concert: An LJ friend of mine said to me, "I didn't even know the Air Force Academy had touring musical groups. ^_^ "

I didn't either! But they do, TEN of them! They really cover the waterfront (or should that be air space?) in genres, from jazz and rock to various forms of basically classical type ensembles. Plus of course the marching band.

This is Wild Blue Country, the band we heard. I was impressed by the quality of musical ability--there's no doubt any of these guys could get at LEAST back-up work in Nashville any time they wanted--and maybe an actual contract. You can judge for yourself if you click on the Multi Media tab to the right--free downloads! (Your tax dollars at work....) I recommend "Air Force Blue(grass), and not just because I like the name.

You may be wondering WHY the AFA has all these musical ensembles. One reason is recruitment--they do concerts at schools a lot, looks like. I guess another reason might be public morale building, pep up people's patriotism and all that. Which I'm okay with, actually, so long as they are singing things like "I Am An American Soldier" and not "God Bless Good Ol' Dubya" or some such.

It seems to me patriotism and Christianity have something in common. They take a terrible beating in general public goodwill because of the behavior and attitude of the extremists who insist that ONLY their extreme version of these beliefs is the right one.

Which brings me around to something that happened Tuesday. I got a call from a lady who identified herself as D's grandmother. D (initialized for privacy purposes) is a classmate of Mike's. He's been mentioned here before--the instigator of the little food fight last Friday at the school cafeteria. He's the class clown type, often in minor trouble, but a nice kid, and he quite likes Mike, which makes him aces with me.

He hadn't been able to come to Mike's party, but he'd gotten him a present anyway, The grandmother and I worked out logistics, and so Mike and I drove to their house while I was in town running my errands. As we approached, I gasped, because people were hanging yellow plastic tape at the address we were looking for, and for a second I thought it was yellow crime scene tape.

But no, when we got out I saw it was just yellow plastic ribbon going on around the trees. D gave Mike his present and we chatted a bit. Thrashing around for a good general conversation topic with the grandmother, I said, "I like your ribbons."

Her lip started to tremble. "I just found out my solider-boy is coming home," she said, and started to tear up as she added, "I haven't seen him in over a year."

If you know me at all, you know I am sappier than Vermont in early spring, so you won't be surprised this made ME get all teary-eyed. So I gave this woman I never even met a big long hug, and babbled something that probably made no sense. Then I drove away, thinking some very complicated thoughts as I tried to give Mike a simple explanation about it all....

We had a glorious romp of a weekend, which explains me draggling in here three days later to post about it. Probably best if I just do the short form.

Saturday: 18 kids at a birthday party. At a busy bowling alley. With loud music. YIKES. Everyone had fun, and Damaris and I had much recuperative wine later that night.

Sunday: Damaris promised her three we would go back for more bowling later when the grown-ups weren't going insane when it was quieter. Since I didn't need to be the Party Mom, I decided to bowl too.

That's because I forgot why I don't bowl. Not only am I still way way way beyond the boundaries of anything remotely resembling "in shape", I have hyperextensive joints--double-jointed, in the common vernaq. This is a plus in situations requiring flexibility, but when you are 50 and have the muscle tone of a dying squid and you nevertheless decide to grab hold of a very heavy dense resin ball and attempt to fling it about multiple times...not so good.

Plus Mike beat me both games. He beat everyone both games except Damaris, who is actually pretty good. AND flexible, so NO FAIR!!

Monday: On top of everything else, I picked up a bug somewhere. Just a teeny one, but it made me sleep poorly and feel crummy most of the day. So I was just a gigantic heaping helping of Not Much Fun for most of yesterday.

Except we had a concert to look forward to. The best kind, a free one! One of the Air Force Academy's touring musical groups (Hi, !), called Wild Blue Country.

Here's what's funny. Caro says she didn't really look at the full page ads that ran in the Lamar Daily Snooze all last week, whooping up the general wonderfulness of the concert (and themselves for sponsoring same) and offering the free tickets. And she says she doesn't think I was clear about the name of the band. She was thinking Wild and Blue, yeah, but more LOVE of country, as in patriotism. Marches and such.

So when a bunch of guys in cowboy hats grabbed their amped up, steel guitar enhanced, non-marching band instruments and launched into the first of many Alan Jackson songs...she smiled at me in one of those ways not labeled genuine on the Smile Test and indicated politely I would hear about this later.

Mike wasn't pleased either. He likes country music okay, but he thought it was too loud. (Which it was, actually, my only real complaint.) So Caro and Mike went outside in the hall of the LCC Wellness Center and pottered around walking on the track and stuff until the concert was over.

So Mike had fun, and as usual Caro forgave me right away. :) I'm lucky like that.

This is getting too long. More later, perhaps....

# posted by Susan : 2:49 PM

If at least a couple of these don't make you smile, you are BUMMED.

http://www.annthenwhat.com/photoshopped.html

I can't decide on my favorite--the cow, the pandas, the cat or the snail....

Just for the record, I WILL be scowling but voting for whoever the Dem nominee turns out to be. Lesser evils and all that.

I ran into a series of faux-posters that make me smile, though. Here's one:



The rest can be found here:

http://www.allahpundit.com/archives/000306.html

OK, no more politics tonight, I promise!

Here's an interesting one, which I sadly did not note who I gacked it from:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/mind/surveys/smiles/

You go through twenty mini film clips, and note whether you think the person is showing a genuine or a false smile.

I got 15 out of 20 right, FWIW.

...and I feel...okay. :)

As you may recall, I was not in the best of moods Monday. Tuesday was much better. It was a gorgeous day, sunny and almost actually warm. Mike and I had a nice drive, two hours each way, to visit his orthodonist and finally begin the process of installing "bracelets" on the boy's teeth.

Mike is always curious about signage, and on the way To asked about the brown one that read Camp Amache. It's not easy to explain to any kid what a WWII Japanese Relocation Center was, much less a boy like Mike. Although, on the other hand, he does think calling someone "not fair!" is a blistering denunciation of their character. (The only worse accusation he knows is LIAR!)

On the way home it was still bright and warm, so we drove in to explore. I hadn't been to the site in about 15 years, and since then steps have been taken to improve it, and there are even plans for a museum someday. It's still very desolate and sad. But quite the tonic for someone who'd been feeling way too sorry for herself the day before!

Here are just a couple pics I took, if you want to see them.

http://www.neonnurse.net/amache.htm

Just busy, working on those little pesty problems I mentioned the other day, plus trying to catch up a LITTLE on comments before going after new ones. :/

I did work on and finish one new little project. This is sort of therapy, and sort of me just being me. It's a family joke that my mom once told me, "Susan, you don't know when to quit!" and I said, "Sure I do. When you win, or when you die."

Right then. Bloody but unbowed, and like that. I started one of those CafePress.com shops. Here's the link:

http://www.cafeshops.com/neonnurse

I may add actual commercial stuff some time, you never know. But for now I am offering these, at no mark-up to me:



The back says "Still want my country back" Right now I only have three of the t-shirt designs, but if anyone wants one of the other variations, just tell me and I'll set it up.

Never give up, never surrender! :)

I usually only post when I have something I think is fun and/or interesting. Usually in real life I am pretty chipper most of the time, so I'm seldom at a loss for things to post. But I've been kind of annoyed and grouchy the past few days, so I thought I'd throw a venty bitch-fest, just for a change.

Something bit me, maybe a baby spider. I have three itchy weals only indifferently responding to Benadryl gel.

Mike was a butthead this morning.

Stupid cats keep fighting.

I can't find two little parts to a $38 ceiling fixture I sold.

Mike is to have a birthday party this weekend. I have done almost nothing in preparation for it.

I have had the tax stuff 3 weeks and haven't touched it, even though we should get a refund. There are also half a dozen piddly things I should do, mostly on the phone, I haven't done.

Looming plumbing projects: There's a water line leak somewhere outside--cost right now, $30 a month in wasted water, cost to repair--probably a bundle. Also the hot water heater should be replaced. Little projects--replace toilet flapper module, small leak in toilet water inlet, replace water filter filters. Plumbing sucks and I hate it like poison.

The travesty of the campaign for Democratic nominee.

That's all I can think of right now....

Check out the photo of Mike's heart!

No, not his actual heart, of course! This is his last year at elementary school, and as everyone knows, Big Middle School Kids do not do room parties and pass around valentines. So we went hog wild for his final festive holiday heart-catcher. I added the green foil to a paper maiche box from Hobby Lobby, but all the rest is Mike's work:



As my Valentine, rest assured you are one or more of the following: Adorable, Brave, Cool, Delightful, Exciting, Funny, Geographically Gifted, Hi-larious, Incredible, Juicy, Kissable, Loving, Magical, Naughty, Open-minded, Piratical, Quick-witted, RotKingly, So Seriously Sassy, Tick-ilish, Understanding, Vampy, X-traordinary, Y Because I Like You, or Zebra-striped.

Got to get in on the solidarity!

Marriage--if you can't bring enough for everyone, don't expect to have any yourself.

Here is a link to another customized Barbie. This one is NOT WORK SAFE, but again, pretty darn funny.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2985614754

Sorry, I had to share this. Yes, I know I am 12. :)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2985352239

Something silly I bought on eBay. Lime sold separately.

No, not you. And not that kind of pig:



(That's Mike's guinea pig Lamar.)

I've getting a backlog of good stuff building up to critical mass again.

From a site that randomizes your posts into bizarre, near-poetic...bizarre things?

Dinner, was for the stove top;
Whoops; panicked yesterday, somehow. OK

Today we got sleepy sitting In the third shop by clicking Here. Got kind of the nearby associate shows and I was even better, and two outside; hour drive to get be kind of Junque Trasheau; floofy, fun, things I does make a Beatles medley

So true, so true.

It's been driving me crazy for weeks.

What the heck is this "electibility" power that Kerry supposedly has? Is the voting population really this gullible?

Maybe yeah. Ted Rall seems to have a good grasp of the concept:

The other night I was playing with my camera, and then tonight, after I got done editing the pics I took for eBay purposes, I goofed around with the PaintShop settings. Came out with some rather startling things!

Has anyone else noticed how many of my posts begin with some variation of "...so then I went insane..."?

I only mention it because I did it again. The insane deal. I had slept in till about 10am yesterday, so at midnight I was still chirpy and alert. Ditto 1 am, and 2. Since I was in the middle of a project, I decided to run with it and get it done before I went to bed. Which turned out to be at 6am. (Yet I unaccountably popped back out of bed at 10 again this morning. Yep, insane.)

The project? I sorted through a towering 3 foot tall stack of books (4 towers worth) that has been growing at the left side of my work desk since...a long time back. I listed some, culled a few, sorted others--but the main thing is, I emptied the space so I could put our small TV and VCR there instead.

I have somewhere between 700 and 800 videos I've bought in bulk deals that have been seriously cluttering up important parts of our living area. They needed to be tested before I listed them for sale, and it wasn't a smooth easy task because of the lack of access space, so I've been avoiding it. But now it will be easy!

This just in via the New York Times online, quoting Dr. Dean:

"If I'm so big on ordinary people, how am I going to resist all the people who are tugging at my sleeve or doing it electronically, saying, Don't quit?" he asked, noting that he had raised more than $1.1 million over the Internet since his do-or-die e-mail message. "We can't let those people go, and we're not going to let those people go. They don't want to quit, and I'm not going to quit on them."

Here I am, coping despite a great deal of dust trying to make a permanent home in my sinuses, taking up where I left off last night....

Our main mission for this trip was for Caro to aquirre some beads for her various necklace projects. Pueblo has a Hobby Lobby, but it also listed three bead vendors in the phone book.

The first one we located was upstairs from the guy's main business, which is a photography studio. I was impressed by the range of his imaginative, creative shots, and I am rather fussy about photos in general. The jewelry the guy had made was even better. He and Caro hit it off as beady soul mates right away, so Mike and I left to let them have some privacy.

We looked at all the pictures and jewelry, and then went out to walk around, "'sploring like cats." When that got old, we came back and sat down to wait on a charming old settee. Mike started telling me a story set in his Train-verse.

This is an ongoing collaboration, in which Mike has provided most of the characters and train details, and I throw in little things like plot. There's his best friend Big Mike the Train Engineer (based on a real guy Mike met last year for his train ride birthday present), his nephew Zach (also as a TE), plus TEs Shawna, Pete, some I am blanking on now, and Joe. Joe is a doofus who is always doing something foolish or annoying, like leaving gum on the dashboard when he borrows Mike's favorite engine Fast Track....

So Mike told me a story for a while, until we both got sleepy sitting in the sun and drifted off for a quick nap. Caro and Bead Guy woke us with their merry beadaholic laughter, and soon we were off in search of the next shop.

After driving in circles a while, we found it. Sadly, it wasn't a tenth as cool as the Bead Guy's. Since the afternoon was waning and we hadn't been able to reach the third shop by phone, we hit Hobby Lobby instead. There we put the final touches on "honoring our inner magpies" (as calls it), snagging up glittery, floofy, fun things as they caught our fancy, which usually meant being on sale. :)

Dinner was at the Golden Corral. Caro and I both noticed that months of being on the South Beach diet seems to have changed our taste in food. Dessert type things seem TOO sweet, for instance. Odd.

The 2 hour drive home passed amazingly quickly. I can't describe it so that it makes sense to anyone else, but we were all laughing into fits over taking standard train songs and changing them to be songs about the Hogwarts Express. Stuff like that. Just a perfect warm family end to a great day.

# posted by Susan : 12:37 AM

My Sunday so far is very dusty and gross.

I need to go back a short ways here to explain today's madness. Until recently we had four cats, two inside and two outside. The two outside cats were mother and son, and the son, Julian was banned to the outside because he had developed the unpleasant habit of peeing on inappropriate spots, such as the stove top. (I am a semi-indulgent petmom, but I have my limits.)

Jenny had joined him back when my sister foisted her ill-tempered geriatric cat Fluffy upon us when she moved out of state. She had objected violently and often to this interloper, who was not all that grateful to have a new home anyway. Fluffy took to peeing where she shouldn't in protest. So we chopped the baby in half, as it were, and sent Jen out to live with the other Outsiders (who did have their own cozy wellhouse area to live in). Oddly, after Fluffy became ill a few years later and had to be put down, Jenny did not WANT to come back in the house. In fact, if we brought her in she fussed until we released her!

This fall, Julian developed some strange malady, possibly cancer, and before we knew it, he was gone. Without her son for company, Jenny decided to move back in with us, and has made it plain she's staying this time. Mainly by getting into some knock-down drag-outs with the other two girls, despite being as old as them both together.

You can probably guess what came next. Yes, it involves cats saying, "Fine, if I can't even walk through MY HOUSE to go to the litter box, I'll just go HERE instead."

Thus, today we are exploring the Under the Bed World of Junque Trasheau. Many items which have not seen the light of day in a LONG time have been grabbed up with cries, both glad and not-so-. The plan is to get it clean, then block it off completely with boxes.

Caro's is done. My turn now. *sigh*

I've been looking forward to being able to write this post all day! Things are finally winding down around here...and so am I, but I'll get some of it done!

Despite predictions earlier in the week for continued snow and cold, it was the nicest day we've had in some time, with clear high blue skies and some actual warmth from the sunshine. We headed Into the West (without the benefit of Annie Lennox singing backdrop, but then, we WERE planning to come back) in search of Good Times and Good Stuff.

Our first stop was the library at Las Animas. We were a bit iffy about doing so, but the day was young so we went for it. They always have a bookshelf with a few of the donated items on it, but sometimes when we ask, they let us rummage through the donations that have come in recently. So we asked, and they said, sure!

It's kind of hard, explaining the feeling of coming upon a bookseller's treasure trove to someone not in the biz. Best I could think of was...picture yourself going to your doorstep and finding a big box (with air holes of course). You open it and out steps Orlando Bloom (feel free to substitute fantasy lover of choice), wearing nothing but a big red bow and a smile. The invoice suggests you just pay whatever you feel like....

Yeah. Like that. Gasps and more gasps and trembling fingers and knees and the dread you are going to wake up before you get to the good part.

But in our case we were wide awake! We hauled off about four boxes of prime stuff. When we meticulously gave them a check for what we would have paid at OUR library sale (about $1 a book), the library rep was so happily shocked that she pressed upon Caro two BIG boxes of empty video cases as a bonus!

We were so delighted we actually considered just going back home to start looking the books up RIGHT THEN. But we didn't, and that was a good thing!

Another hour down the road, in Fowler, is a good little rummage shop. Didn't find too many books, but I got a stack of 1970s Tiger Beats (hey, look, Michael Jackson looking normal!) and Caro scored some beads, including this SUPER vintage necklace for ONLY $15!



The shop owner said she got it at an estate sale, and the former owner had once worked for a president, though she couldn't remember which one. Those faceted yellow glass beads are about 2 inches long, and the string is knotted between each bead, a sign of quality workmanship. Not something you find every day, and definitely not for that price!

We continued our streak by having lunch at Red Lobster--for free! I am signed up with several groups to do surveys, and the HP one (Harris Poll, though I always call it Hewlitt Packard first and Harry Potter second, before my stubborn memory gets with the program) gives you points which can be redeemed for prizes. Like gift cards for the Red Lobster chain!

Mike had been a pretty good boy thus far, so he was allowed to dine on cheese sticks and a lobster tail. (Yeah, I know, spoiled much? :) ) Caro ate a Fisherman's Platter and I tried something new for a change, the Rosemary Chicken.

That's because we like one of the South Beach Diet recipes so much, Rosemary Salmon. But I have to say, the chicken didn't stand up to the test, although it wasn't BAD. As Baxter Black the cowboy poet says, chicken is kind of anonymous flavor. So the entree was more like a rosemary flavored textured protein chunk. Oh well...IT WAS FREE! :)

I've decided to break off, since it IS getting late. I'll leave you with the recipe of how *I* make the Rosemary Salmon.

Start a few hours before dinner (the more the better, within reason, of course). Get a zip lock bag or something like it. Put in 2 tsps olive oil and 2 tsps lemon juice, and some garlic if you like it, plus 1 tsp dry or 2 tsps fresh rosemary, chopped or crushed to make the aroma come out. Put in 1 pound of salmon filets. Wal-mart sells 1 pound of frozen ones for about $4. Put them in the bag and shake it around to coat 'em good, then let them sit in the fridge until almost dinner.

Broil, bake or grill them--only takes about 10-15 max. You will be amazed at how good this it!

The concert was great. This was an event put on by the local Community Concert group. You buy a season pass (Family is $70) but you get three local shows and as many of the nearby associate shows as you want to drive to. Here in Lamar, we've seen the a capella quartet Marcoux Corner, the Golden Dragon Chinese Acrobats, and tonight "Smith and Adams" a husband and wife team playing guitar and cello. They did everything from Souza marches to ragtime to a Beatles medley, and were amazing at it all!

I'm going to throw in a few random databits, just because.

1. My student loans are officially paid off. YAY!

2. Here's a quote I've been saving. Elaine Kamarck writes in Newsday, "How can Democrats object to a combative person running against an incumbent president who tells the world: "Bring 'em on!" Do they think they can beat Bush with a wimp? With some guy who says, "On the one hand this, and on the other hand that?" I, for one, relish the sight of Howard Dean - his wrestler's neck bulging - taking on the president after Bush tries to tell us that record deficits don't matter, that Saddam Hussein bombed the World Trade Center or that a time of constant terror alerts is a safer world."

3. Got this from Maystone. Way too true.

What Is Your Battle Cry?

Zang! Who is that, striding over the plains! It is Neonnurse, hands clutching a piece of chainlink fence! And with a bloodthirsty scream, her voice cometh: "For the love of carnage and discord, I pillage like a mad dog who can only get madder!!"

Find out! Enter username: Are you a girl, or a guy ?

created by beatings : powered by monkeys

Arf-arf, she said madly!

Main Street, Lamar, Colorado!

Here we are in all our glory, Standing Up for Dean:



Mike told me what his sign should say and colored it himself.



It was fun having Mike there with me, even when I thought for awhile he had locked our keys in the car. He was really getting into keeping "score". We got 11 "honks", which I interpret as agreement/support. :) We also got two waves, and three shouts. The shouts were 1 for Bush (teens in a pickup), 1 very excited pro-Dean (they drove around the block and did it twice, actually) and 1 I couldn't make out. For a small town Saturday afternoon, not bad. :)

Mike took advantage of having the camera in hand to take a few extra shots. He's got an eye for framing up a shot, I think. This one of the courthouse is strange but cool....



Now we are off to the Community Concert! More later!

Here I am, all bright-eyed (red is bright, eh?) and bushy tailed (*insert bad and/or vulgar Bush joke of your choice*) and ready for a big day!

There is a nation-wide event today, where at 2 pm local time, hordes of Dean supporters are going to head to visible locations to wave signs with variations on the theme "I Am Howard Dean's Special Interest".

(Did you know John Kerry has sucked up more special interest money in the past 15 years than ANY other Senator? Tsk!)

Our Boy Mike, not being a teen-ager yet, DOES pay attention to the conversations of the adults in the household, and is fairly interested in the upcoming US Presidential election. His basic understanding at this point in time is that I "do not like that bad president" and Dean would do a good job.

Mike has a passion for signs. He makes them and posts them around the house for fun. So he was delighted when I offered him a chance to have his own signs today. When we came home from the store Thursday with our poster board, he ran in to tell Caro, "We are going to make a sign for Power Dean!"

Happy Power Dean day to all!

Whew, it's 2am and I'm caught up (at least with reading) my email. So I am going to bed. But I wanted to note we had SUCH a super day out! Which climaxed in a foment of offended hilarity when I was stopped by a Highway Patrol guy and given a warning for...look out, this is SHOCKING!....

Having a light lavender neon license plate border around my back plate on Dreamcloud. It should be white.

I mean, WHO WILL SAVE THE CHILDREN?? My GOD!!!!!!!!!!! Is there no end to my evil??????

But really...white? WHITE does not match the special done in 1997 only lavender blue paint job on my sweet baby. What kind of special Highway Patrol crack was that guy smoking?? Plus I BOUGHT it at a franchised car parts store in Denver. Surely they would not have sold me something ILLEGAL!

Oh, except wait, I didn't. I bought the purple one on eBay, and the white one in Denver.... Never mind.

But still...WHITE? Does the legislature have NOTHING more important to carve into legalistic stone than the color of people's car art? What's next, actually turning that urban legend about it being illegal to drive barefoot into a law?!?!?

OK, I admit it, I'm obsessive sometimes. And this past few days has been one of the times.

(Wait, I think I lost my grip on the tenses there....)

Forget that. Onward. *clears throat and starts again* For some oddball quirky reason, just because I couldn't make the post I had in mind, I didn't make ANY posts the past few days. Weird? Yes, I think so.

I'd gotten all ambitious and done a THOROUGH inventory of my sales books and fixed all the little niggly problems at various sites and gotten down to a good clean inventory database. That was Stage 1, prepping for my new idea.

NEW IDEA: I have a personal online bookstore
called Neon Hearts, which you can see by clicking here. The new bit is that I've added a Penny Bonus Bin. For every $10 in purchases, you can pick one of the Penny Bonus goodies. (And they are actually good, fun, useful, and/or readable things!)

You'd think this would be pretty simple, but I have been through three days of madness trying to come up with a method that lets my software, databases, and work methods function across all four sites I list on!

Long story short, I got books, I got CDs, videos, games and Stuff, starting at $1.99 (my best prices are on the Neon Hearts site.) Now with Penny Bonus Stuff! Woo hoo!

I got kind of pressure-panicked yesterday, somehow, and it was no fun. Today was much better, even though I got off to a little later start than I meant to. Luckily Mike came in at 9:30 to whisper that Damaris had called and needed me to call her back.

So I did. Turned out she was having friends over for a Chinese dinner, and wanted to double check that chicken stock and chicken BROTH were the same thing. Plus what went into cream cheese crab wontons.

Maternal and gustatorial duty done, I got myself to work and discovered I had much less to pack and mail than I thought. So I whipped that chore out and got to the PO in time to mail them, then went to Wal-mart, where I bought, among other necessities, a large pearly exercise ball.

I had one just like it until last week, when it developed a split near the valve and sighed into a sad little plastic heap. I wish I could pretend it was due to excessive exercise on my part, but the truth is that I use it for a chair, here in front of my computer. It doesn't make my legs go to sleep like hard angly chairs do.

Luckily I still had one fresh in the box so I could switch without delay. That one lasted nearly a week until Jenny, who is an unregenerate heathen sometimes, put a delicate claw into it while trying to get attention....

So the capper of the crummy day was my OTHER ball-chair hissing out from under me, leaving me nothing but a *shudder* FOLDING CHAIR to sit on. Harsh, dude, I'm telling ya!

Here's Jenny with HER boy Mike:



One of the perils of me getting a new camera is that I am no good at avoiding the temptation of showing my friends my bizarre ideas of suitable photographic subjects. Here is something that I just HAD to buy (two of). It lights up and flashes when you drink out of it!!

What, you thought that neon thing was just something I adopted at random? Ha, not so much! Check out this FABULOUS cloth I just bought!

This is what I am going to make with it--the beach dress and skirts for my three grand-girls.

OK, that's enough for one post. :)