Yes, I worked yesterday...

And it was somewhat uneventful - was there at 7 AM (first person there - well not only that, but my kids were the first kids at the day care!! Em only had about 8 other kids to keep her company - Katie ha about 15) Not very many folks at work, but, of course Dick and Dennis were both there! Left work about 2:00. Came home, at a bologna sandwich, waited for the rest of the family to get ready for the gym.

THEN we went to the gym. Read blogs while I road on the net bike (need a blog this button there!!) And, as always, loved what Patti had to say. And I need to add Bleu Blog to my list, and I discovered through their blogs, the blog "Fluffy Battle Kitten" with the phrase "Don't touch the pussy without permission" *g* Anyway, both Patti and the Bleu Blog lady had a good survey thing which I will add later today - or tomorrow. I'd like to see what my fellow Trixie Bloggers have to say on the survey.

And I said I wasn't going to shop, but...

After we got done at the gym, we traipsed over to a bicycle shop that promised they had biking shoes (the kind with clips that clip to the pedals) Well, they had like 4 pairs, and none of them manly enough for Mark, so I said "Well, why don't we just go back over to Grapevine Mills?" We had seen a huge selection of shoes at Sun and Ski sports, and it's what Mark is getting for Christmas from my parents.

So we arrived at Grapevine Mills around 5:45 PM. We got home at 10:00 last night!

We spent a good hour in the Sun and Ski sport place. Found Mark's shoes, found some running shirts for his brother (some long underwear, wick the sweat away kind of things), got Em a new helmet (shhh! She doesn't know) and Em climbed up this 25 foot rock wall.

We walked around the mall for a bit, and mark made a swing into the Virgin Megastore We ate dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. The food is good, but I think it's just way too expensive for a regular visit.

The final highlight of our shopping adventure was visiting the Big Dog Store. Have you ever been to one? OH MY GOSH! It is just the most fun. I got a new nightshirt that Mark bought me 'cause he is sick to death of this pink long t-shirt I got in Jamaca (sp?) about 8 years ago. I also bought matching shirts for Mark and Jeff. Mark's is for Christmas and Jeff's is for his birthday (Dec. 1). I snuck in a shirt for Mark that I can't find the link too, but it's "Bad Dogs, Bad Dogs, whaccha gonna do..." shirt. With the policeman big dog putting a criminal dog over the hood of the car (and the criminal dog's face is digitized out - LOL) Mark has THIS sweatshirt. And he WANTS this shirt as well as THIS one. And about 5 or 6 more he likes. Those will have to wait til the Texas Trixie meeting next month at Hillsboro (yes, they have a Big Dog Store there, too)

And speaking of the Texas Trixie Meeting

Oh, and Misty? Karen? Is that on Sat or Sun? The 8th or the 9th? I've slept since we last discussed - LOL. Mark knows, will keep the kids, I just can't remember which particular day. OH! And are you going to send out a final reminder? Catwymann wants to go, too (she lives in Dallas). Who else is coming?

Well, I need to hit Academy and Old Navy and Mervyns before the gym. Mark is teaching driving school again today...but will be home about 2....

Like I used to say when I was in Jr. High - LONGER LETTER LATER.

PS - Beth - give in - just do it! Blogspot can host your blog. Come on. Ya say you love to read 'em, well write one ;-p

posted by deb at 8:21:19 AM | Link Me!

And YES, we went to the gym today..

After our workouts, we headed out to lunch (yes, I said OUT to lunch) where we had Turkey and dressing and other yummy stuff.

Then a quickie stop at Walmart to get a model for my nephew. Now home, and getting ready to go BACK out for dinner (eating with mom and dad at The Black-eyed Pea) 'cause she doesn't wanna cook...

Hope you are all having a nice turkey day.
posted by deb at 4:51:16 PM | Link Me!

Shana, Shana, Shana. We have discussed this and you know how I feel, though I haven't been brave enough to put it in writing. But here goes, the thoughts of the webmistress, on this situation:

I was upset by this person's behavior in relations to that story. I mean, COME ON FOLKS. I'm VERY careful with the way I handle stories on The Other Side. I work hard to keep minors out, and my guidelines DO have some restrictions (no described sex for characters under 17, no forced sex, etc.) Everyone coming to that site KNOWS the stories are adult in nature. But everyone please remember this. This story that he said caused him to leave ALL of the Trixie sites, had an ADDITIONAL warning:

"From the Author: This story deals with a very unpleasant subject. Even though Other Side citizens are open-minded about various sexual situations, there will be those who may be offended, appalled, or even disturbed by the content of this particular story. Therefore, proceed at your own risk. "

And then there was an additional CLICK that had to be made to actually get to the story, as well as a click to return to The Other Side. He chose to click to proceed to the story. He chose to read it. THEN He chose to behave like an immature jack-ass. Yes, he posted something hateful on the message board, which I promptly deleted (some of you folks may not know this.) How the story made him literally sick. That he no longer wanted to visit The Other Side again. There was no way in HELL I was going to allow him to attack this author in such a public manner. He didn't try to e-mail me and tell me he was upset by it, or anything. He chose to take it public. (and I hear he discussed his disgust in chat that night) What a shitty thing to do. And now he has come back with this additional "posturing" about how he had written this dark chapter in his universe, and won't post it, etc. because it's not suitable for Zap's and goes against restrictions at Heather M's server.

Yes, his story is strong, the happenings are dark. His created character of Corey has sex with a 16 year old Trixie, her parents find out and freak out, and he attempts suicide and ends up in a mental hospital. But are these events any more shocking, any more difficult to deal with then some of the other Trixie Fan Fic stories out there? I can think of stories from Shana, Diann, Dragonquirk, and Cathy off the top of my head that are just as powerful. (There are more but I can't name every author, so I'm not excluding great stories from some of you, 'kay?) Stories that have made me feel terrible for these characters we all love, sorrow at happenings in their fictional lives, stories that have made me cry.

Wheeeeeeewwwwwwww! So to borrow your phrase my dear, "That's all I have to say about that..."
posted by deb at 4:37:43 PM | Link Me!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Thanks to my youngest child (let me crawl in bed with you - s p r a w l - can i have a drink of your water - kick - snuggle ) I've been up since about 6:15. Not the way I really wanted to start the day (sleeping in a bit has its advantages, ya know?) but it DID give me the opportunity to get caught up on my blog reading! (the rest of the family is still fast asleep - well the humans are - both dogs and the guinea pig are awake)

Karen

Karen, Karen, Karen! I see NOTHING wrong with the webring code. You are NOT an idiot - there was another web ring I tried to join but could NEVER get the code to work (Southern Blogs!!) Oh, and the bulk of the cookies are gone. 3 dozen to my office - 6 dozen to Mark's. The ones sent there were gone in a matter of 30 minutes. Mark said one poor lone cookie held out being picked to death for about 15 minutes. He walked by, and there was 1/2 of it. Then 1/4 of it. Then it was gone.

And I agree with you on the spending time at the station thing. For years, I've provided food of one sort or another to be eaten during the holiday - Thanksgiving and Christmas. OK, this is a little rant of my own, but if your boyfriend or husband was a police officer or fireman when you met, what the hell do you think is going to happen when you get more serious or married? They are slaves to their jobs at time and can't just "take a day off" when they want, as they need to worry about things like shift coverage. It amazes me the women who are so attracted to a guy, love them in their uniform, love the "macho" job they have, but want the benefits of having a partner who works a 9 to 5 job. Sheesh! Get realistic! Don't get me wrong, it's not like I don't whine about Mark having to work sometimes, but it's all a part of our lives - this shift work and holiday thing. ya know?

And once your honey has heard Top Gun on surround sound, your life will never be the same. That was the very first movie Mark played, too, when we hooked up our surround sound! Another great surround sound movie is Hunt for Red October - hearing all the sub sounds,and the sea sounds and stuff. And you HAVE grown as a writer!! You aren't the only one who can look back at earlier stories and see growth. I bet if you picked any writer on The Other Side that has written more than 5 stories, you can see a great improvement of skill between the first and the most recent. WHoooooooo Hooooooooooo! Doesn't it feel good to see that kind of self progress? Another improved skill that I would bet you have? Your editing / proofing skills. Bet you pick out things now for a writer that a year ago you didn't.

And who do you think folks don't see me on line much during the weekend? Yep, me, too. When Mark is home (and awake - LOL) the computer rarely is turned on.

Tina!

Thank you, thank you for your comments on the Message Board. See, there used to be a person (YOU know who) that really pushed the active board thing, so now that she's gone, I just have to train myself to not worry about it so much :-) I did get a nice e-mail from JenC & Kyrie about it too. THANKS for the support, guys!

And I'm so sorry about the cold. They STILL haven't fixed your heater???!!! See, it's 53 here (at 6:30 am) so I'm not much help.

And glad you got some shopping done (did my suggestions help?) OH! and another suggestion: I've switched my goddaughter over to the adult line at Bath and Body Works. We got her some of the foamy bath stuff and lotion. We decided she is getting too old for the glittery, strong smelling stuff - and I think I'm going to do the same with my girls.

I'll be thinking about you today and hope you have a nice Thanksgiving. Did you get any good movies? I can recommend X-Men!

Well, Mark is up, so more later folks!

posted by deb at 8:14:25 AM | Link Me!

Whew.....
Sasha and Dixie both have had baths, I've had a bologna sandwich, and we watched X-Men. Yes, Shana, I agree - W O L V E R I N E. yummy!
posted by deb at 9:20:10 PM | Link Me!

Did I tell you we were dog sitting?

It was supposed to be one of those deals where the dog was going to stay down at my neighbors, and we were going to feed her, go play with her a little, etc.

Well, it started raining, so I thought, well, I'll just go get Sasha and let her come down to the house for the evening, and then go back home to sleep. Guess what? She dug out! When we drove by, there she was, sitting on my neighbor's front porch. When I first went to approach her, she snapped and growled at me! I had to talk really stern to her, grab her by the collar, and then pull her down here.

But now she STINKS and is all muddy! So I put her inthe garage while we eat, I get my dog fed, etc. In a bit, I'm going to go let her out, give her a bath, and THEN she can be in the house with us. She'll just have to sleep in our garage, 'cause I'm not going to spend the weekend chasing her down, THAT'S for sure!

She's a white german shephard, and is really a nice dog. Just didn't want to be running around dealing with her. but what can ya do? So, I'll give MY dog a bath first, then Sasha a bath...Then maybe we will watch X-Men on video or something. Yeah! That sounds like a good idea!!

posted by deb at 6:31:47 PM | Link Me!

Does anyone else have to work on Friday?

yuck, yuck, yuck!

But being the trooper that I can be, I thought, hey, well, I'll make the most of it! I'll put in a full day and get some stuff done (I'm re-doing our procedures manual). BUT, when I picked up the girls, I found out that they day care closes at 2:30 on Friday. Well, shit! Can you believe that? Mark is having to work during the day, too, 'cause he is teaching a driving school. Guess they can go to the day care in the morning, and then come to the office in the afternoon. Either that, or I will have to go into the office early, and leave at 2:00. I'll e-mail DJ at home right now while I'm thinking about it.

:::::sigh::::
posted by deb at 6:19:51 PM | Link Me!

oh! and we all get odd little quotes from the kiddos.

Me to Katie this morning. "Why did you even bother to sit on the toilet for just two seconds?"

"Well, I needed to poop, but it was too scared to come out....so I'll just come back later..."
posted by deb at 11:27:46 PM | Link Me!

Oh! And someone told me they were interested in more about Yin and Yang - does anyone else want to know more about it? What about Chi? Anyone interested? I'm hoping to get back into that book soon (but it takes concentration to read it)

Right now, though, I started re-reading the book "Go Ask Alice" Anyone else read that? I haven't read it since junior high, and I want Em to read it, but couldn't remember if there was too much sex in it or not. I just know I want her to get the anti-drug message of it, though.

Let me know (either in your blog, on the message boards or via e-mail) that you want to learn along with me on Yin and Yang / Chi / etc....though DO know that you are still likely to hear something about it if you read here regularly...

And an odd referall....
posted by deb at 11:25:43 PM | Link Me!

Are you as tired as me?

Gee, I'm tired. Bone tired. Achy tired. it was a busy day at work today, then I decided (like an idiot) to run by Walmart before I picked up the girls. I got to the daycare with 6 minutes to spare before they would have charged me a late fee! Rush, rush rush.

And for some strange reason today, I got this wild hair up my ass that I NEEDED to bake tonight. So the girls and I baked cookies. Chocolate Chip. Peanut Butter (some of them ended up with chocolate chips in them) and Oatmeal. I have to confess taht by the time I got to getting ready to put the oatmeal ones in the oven, I just mushed the entire bowl of dough into a pan and made bar cookies :-)

The Message Board...

I created a freevote booth as well as received several e-mails about The Other Side Message Board. It was but a short time ago when I went off on the deep end about it, among other things. I'm still a bit confused about it, but here are some thoughts:

1. I know folks are busy, and it takes effort to post - and time.
2. I know we all reach points when we simply don't have ANYTHING to say about a story we read.
3. I certainly don't lead by example on posting about stories. In fact, since the "Hurt Author" thing on Zap's Debate board, I decided I would no longer post to ANYONE's fan fic, as I was told my comments could be construed in a variety of ways. Sometimes, okls think I'm trying to push them to post - and others say it looked as if I was playing favorites. AND since I was chastised by someone that doesn't really know me, or know the situation, I pulled into my shell, and never really came out. No excuse, I know, but I just don't know WHERE to start. I do try to send the authors some thoughts via e-mail, but I know myself that it just isn't the *same* as a public acknowldegment of work.
4. When that *someone* who was so pushy about people posting, keeping things "active", etc. left The Other Side, there was no longer a sense of pushing, of posting up a question of the day, or anything like that. I had facilitated things or the past year, and just couldn't do it anymore.
5. There is no sense of community anymore. Well, keeping a sense of community takes a lot of effort, and I think I've been pretty fucking lax on it. I kind of "gave up" in a way on keeping things "interesting". Got into my blog as a place to let my mind wander.

Besides, I've come to the realization that folks are mostly interested in the fan fiction, and most of them could care less about me as a person. THIS allows me to separate the person from the webmistress - and doesn't force my personality on those that simply visit.

So, I will leave the Message Board up, but will try not to worry about the fact of people participating or not participating. And I'll try very had not to take it personally *g*

God, have I ALWAYS rambled like this?
posted by deb at 11:19:38 PM | Link Me!

Nestlé Very Best Baking - The Nestlé Baking Family Did you know that chocolate morsels are made from only four ingredients? They are: chocolate liquor, sugar, cocoa butter and vanilla.
posted by deb at 3:41:02 PM | Link Me!

Oh! But I DID make Jeff blush! It was great.

We were talking about Katie (who has the BIGGEST crush on Jeff) and telling him how she will sneak into our room in the middle of the night - and he comes off with the "hope she doesn't do that when you get all hot and heavy" and he about died when I said "well she DID walk in on us a few weeks ago, and now knows that when the door is closed she is supposed to knock"

His face matched his hair for just a few short moments....
posted by deb at 9:37:34 PM | Link Me!

oh, and about the workout, I can hardly walk. Yep, knocked me on my ass. yep, here I am - big fat puss!
posted by deb at 9:27:23 PM | Link Me!

did I confess to anyone that I worked out with Jeff on Sunday? It was awful. Literally awful.

I had one of those rough nights on Saturday, hot flashes and stuff. Was FREEZING cold when I went to bed, and woke up about 3 am all hot, and ripped off all my clothes to cool off.
But I didn't feel too terribly bad when Jeff and I started out. Shit, then it hit me! 2 things into our workout - less than 15 minutes, and I started flashing. Started pouring sweat. And then the exhaustion hit me.

So, I started telling him about my week abit - about the no hormones for a few more weeks. Jeff about what was going on, and I could see it in his eyes - pity. so he starts backing off on me. - brings my reps down from 15 to 10. Takes me from 3 sets to 2 sets.

Felt like such a shitty client. all whiney. all needy. I really hated myself and what I have become during those moments. I felt like a real failure. Like one of those folks he has to "babysit" to get to work out.

And it wasn't HIM. He didn't make me feel that way - it's me. I used to be one of the few female clients he could really push, and now I've turned into a big fat puss.

:::sigh:::::

posted by deb at 9:24:38 PM | Link Me!

oh, hip hip hooray! They did a server upgrade!!! Does this mean my little blogger will finaly publish??!!

please? Please?
posted by deb at 9:06:44 PM | Link Me!

dear lord, please help me respond nicely to people who complain about not being able to get to the message board, yet never post there.
posted by deb at 3:50:08 PM | Link Me!

Top 100 (pop) Songs of All Time what do YOU think?

And Cathy P uses this site a lot to find song lyrics, and told me about THIS cool site to ask a DJ a question...
posted by deb at 1:55:38 PM | Link Me!

About me...

Last week I *did* kind of go off into the deep end.

I've battled through this endometriosis treatment, looking forward to getting my very last shot. Looking forward to getting back to "normal". I never dreamed that this final month, when I thought I'd be getting hormones, that my stupid body would simply give me another bout of torture. I never, never expected to go back to the way things were in May.

Wednesday, I literally thought I was losing my mind. Everything was either making me FURIOUS or making me CRY.

I have always been and always will be opinionated. I've always been somewhat intellectual, and want to know WHY things are they way they are - hey, I'm an ENTJ - I see things as black and white. And that quality tends to label women as "BITCH". My temperment is NOT to stand idly by while my body does what the hell it wants. But I've had no choice in the matter. It's done it 'without my permission".

Basically, guys, I kinda snapped. I had looked forward to this point, only to discover that I still have another month to go. I'm having folks tell me "It's just another month". Yes, but I've spent the last 6 waiting for NOW and I just don't wanna wait another month.

But it's not like I have a choice *g*

I may be 15 pounds heavier, have no clothing that fits, but hopefully my sense of humor will come back to me, and I won't have lost my entire mind....

Patience, folks. Patience. Eventuall I will get back to the real me, the kick ass me, the woman who can do more than one thing at a time...
posted by deb at 11:58:23 AM | Link Me!

Stupid fucking blogger is not working right again. Damnit!
posted by deb at 11:38:49 AM | Link Me!

Oh, gee. I feel like it's been AGES and ages since I blogged!

Yes, I took the weekend off from my on-line stuff. Hardly checked e-mail, didn't reply to any of it (damn, I'm wayyyy behind)

Misty! Cool graphical change!
posted by deb at 11:36:09 AM | Link Me!