It’s been a long year

I’m so ready for 2016 to end.  We lost so many heroes this past year.  It seemed like every day there was news of a celebrity death.  Bowie and Prince helped shape me.  Carrie Fisher was a hero because she was so fearless, open, and badass.  Rickman’s voice was silenced.

Death hit close to home, too.  My big brother was a mystery and the reason I earned a yellow belt in karate.  My pup Freddie was my baby.  Did I mention how I held her on her first ride home?

What else?  Health took a hit, wallet took another. And don’t get me started on election season.

There was good, too.  I found some answers I needed.  Teen Boy is a college freshman.  Adult Girl earned her Associate Degree in Engineering Design Graphics. We installed a programmable thermostat and did not blow a fuse or burn the house down.

All in all, I’m just ready for the fresh start for the new year.  How about you?

Here’s to a wonderful 2017. May it be healthier, happier, and better for all of us.  Salud!

New to me – child adoption spam

It’s not often that I come across a new spam or scam message, but I was a little thrown by one I received earlier this week.  I know families who adopt and how difficult and expensive the process is.  I know that there are scammers out there looking for prospective victims and am sickened by this message.

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From: Kemi Taiwo (ms.yemit@mail.bg)

Subject:  Child for Adoption

My name is Ms Kemi Taiwo from Delta State, I gave birth to triplet, 3 baby boys at once but I can;t take care of them, am orphan so I ve’ decided to give up the babies for adoption, two has been adopted by different families through the lawyer in-charge remaining one with me. Bear this in mind am not selling my baby but you will paid for adoption fee. Can you adopt and take care of him?

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If you want to adopt, please go through legal means.  Contact a lawyer or agency in your area.  Do not fall for unsolicited messages.  I know how much love you have to give and how much you want a child.  This is not the way.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Happy birthday, guys!

Happy birthday to my daughter (20 on the 24th), husband (January 26), and baby brother (January 26)!

Photo credit: Idea go

Party on, guys!  Love you all!

Happy Halloween!

Get your trick-or-treat on!  Pass out candy!  Ooh and ahh over the parade of costumed cuties arriving at your door.

Do you celebrate?  We do.  We love everything about it.  One of these days we’ll decorate the way we want.

We love our neighborhood, but hate that so few kids come around.  It can’t be the candy – we pick up good stuff.  We even separate the nut-based candies from the rest.  No lollies or cheap stuff here.  And no judgement about trick-or-treater’s ages.  If you’re in costume,you get candy.

We hope we see a lot of traffic because we have a lot of candy.  If not, I’m sending a bunch with hubby to work.  I so don’t need it staring at or calling me name,

A day in the life

Curious about this telecommuting mom’s daily weekday schedule? It’s less exciting than you’d think.

5:15-5:30 am  crawl out of bed (yeah, right)

5:45 am  really crawl out of bed, scramble around like a crazy woman

5:50 – 6:30 am  make breakfast and lunch for man and boy, kick them out for the day

6:30 – 7:30 am shower, breakfast, coffee

7:30 am – noon work

noon- 1 pm lunch

1-2 pm exercise break

2-4 pm work

After 4, unless I’m swamped or distracted, I play around online for me. Pinterest, blogs, shopping for free e-books, finding recipes, clean, or whatever.  I start on dinner around 5-5:30 pm and from then on it’s family time.

I take stretch breaks while at my desk (because I pay dearly when I don’t) and am interrupted by dogs, the girl, package deliveries, and the occasional random visit.

On that note, don’t drop by without giving me a call first. It makes me a little cranky.

What does your day look like?

Rant – stop hating on the poor for not being ‘poor enough’

I am a liberal politically, but post this isn’t about politics.  It’s a rant about mean people, lack of compassion, and mean people.  Yes, I’m aware I mentioned mean people twice.

There is a nasty, nasty movement going on now.  Apparently, having appliances, nicer accessories, a computer, a decent car, and even an air conditioner are too good for you if you receive government assistance.  It doesn’t matter if you rent a home that came with appliances or had a loved one give you that car, phone, or accessory as a gift.  It doesn’t matter if you bought those things before your year-long layoff.  You have them, so apparently you’re cheating the system.

I ran across a post a while back on food stamps and pre-baked birthday cakes.  If you’re on assistance, you supposedly aren’t allowed to use your own cash to buy a premade cake (according to the original poster and a few of her buddies).  Your kids  get home-baked cakes only!  How dare you try to make their birthdays special?  You’re poor!

And remember Rick Snyder?  The lovely governor from Michigan proposed that foster children only use their clothing stipend at thrift stores.  He explained himself after the store went wild and backtracked.  I have no issue with thrift store shopping and do it myself, but that’s different from telling a specific group of people they have to shop there.

Poor people are supposed to sit back in rags, disheveled, wear shoes with holes, live in hovels, and make sure everyone knows without a doubt just how poor they are.  They’re not allowed to have decent lives.  They’re not supposed to have game systems or computer, televisions, DVD players, cable tv, or anything more affluent people have.   Guess what?  Cable companies run crazy cheap specials.  Electronics can be cheap, especially when picked up used.

What happened to decency?  When did people get so messed up?  People even complain about a parent trying to give their kid a nice birthday cake.

Some people just plain suck.  And if you sit around complaining about how someone isn’t acting poor enough, you’re one of them.

:deep cleansing breaths:

So, I’m a little late. I had a date with my niece.

I worked early on Thursday – between 7:30 and 10 am – so I could take the afternoon to spend with my niece.  She is a gorgeous nearly two-year old with a memory that freaks me out a little.

The Divine Miss S hasn’t spent much solo time at my house between the dogs, my health issues, and my workaholic nature, but when she’s here, she slays me.  First, when her parents leave, she doesn’t cry.  Not one tear.  She asks where they are, I tell her where and that they’ll be back soon, she says ‘ok,’ and that’s it.  My kiddos used to cry or at least pout a little.  I’m not used to such a little one going with the flow.

Second, her memory is creepily good.  Like are-her-parents-doping-her-with-Ginko Bilboa good.  I have a bell hanging in my dining room.  I let her ring it twice, with the second time happening in August.   She walked into the room, looked for it, then asked to ring it.  She also remembered that my son’s game controller is his and called it ‘R’s toy’ the second she laid eyes on it.   See, creepily good memory.

And let’s not forget playtime.  Running around the house, walking around the neighborhood, dancing, reading, and talking on the phone made up the bulk of our time together.  Miss S is quite the talker and had something to share about mailboxes, butterflies, trees, airplanes, unseen yet heard dogs, and motorcycles.  And most of it was perfectly clear.  She seems older to me, but then again, it’s been 13 years since I had one that young around on a daily basis.

She is a ball of beauty, intelligence, and wit and she’s still just a baby.  Bro and sis-in-law, I see trouble ahead.

 

Ultimate blog challenge? Bring it!

Happy October, people! Can you believe 2013 is this close to over? My kids were just babies yesterday! I heard time would start to fly once I hit 25, but wow!

October is a busy month for me and mine.  Hubby and I celebrate our wedding anniversary, his brother and his wife celebrate their anniversary, a couple of family birthdays come this month, a clean eating vegan challenge, new fitness/rehab schedule, and the holidays are coming up.  With all that’s happening, what sane person would jump into another project?  Me, of course.

Expect a few words from me every day his month.  I get the chance to share more about wahm life, scams, managing schedules, and working around the challenges of illness and injury.  And maybe something about The Walking Dead, Supernatural, and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.  My geek is strong and the 2013-14 tv season was apparently meant for me.

For now, I’m off to finish dinner.  The family is having roast chicken.  We’re all having beans, kale, and rice,

Be safe, all.  And hug the loved ones.

Happy Father’s Day!

debspoons photo

Go hang with your dad, even if it’s just a phone call.

Miss you, Daddy.  Always.