take it from me. don't google "why is my female dog humping my leg?". the world is full of people with sexual predilications that i really don't need to know about. but i would like to know why my fixed, girl dog started humping my leg all the sudden.

Well, Kristy did it so I guess I will join the fun....

You’re stuck inside Fahrenheit 451, which book do you want to be?
(Incidentally, this has been one of my favorite books since I first read it in 7th Grade. If you haven't read it, you should. The question revolves around the fact that, in the novel, all books are banned so some rebels memorize and recite entire books so they aren't lost forever. The people become the books)

Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison. It was my favorite book way before Oprah's damned book club. If I could be two books, I would also be Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins.

Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?
Yes, River Phoenix's character Chris Chambers from Stand by Me (I was 12 though I still miss River)

The last book you bought is:
Tuesdays with Morrie. I had to buy it from my Developmental Psychology class and I was suspicious at first but it made me cry like a little girl. The main character revisits his favorite college professor who is dying from ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease). My aunt died of this same horrible, horrible disease so it hit a little close to the heart.

The last book you read:
Dress Your Family in Coruroy and Denim by David Sedaris (actually I re-read it).

What are you currently reading?
Developmental Psychology Text Book, Classroom Behavior Management Textbook, Psychology of the Exceptional Child Text Book and trying to read Iris and her Friends; A Memoir of Memory and Desire by John Bayley (author of Elegy for Iris/widower of Iris who was played by Kate Winslet in the movie Iris) but keep falling asleep and re-reading Choke by Chuck Palahnuik

What five books would you want if you were stranded on a desert island?
How about The Bible because it seems like the only time I would be able to actually get myself to read it. Confederacy of Dunces. Song of Solomon. At least one book I haven't read yet that I would pick up at the airport before my plane crashed onto a desert island. American Medical Association Complete Medical Encyclopedia

this is us. mike and i have been together for two years now and he is the love of my life, i don't know how else to put it. i never expected this- i happened upon him when i had almost given up on love. he is a total goofball yet smart as hell, funny (well, most of the time anyway), hot, kind, and great to monster and i. he is a better dad to monster than his real dad could ever hope to be and that makes me love him even more. we've been talking about getting married for quite some time and were planning on taking the plunge sometime this year.
well.... the time frame has moved up. i debated about announcing this because of psychos that stalk pregnant women and take their babies and because there is always a possibility of miscarriage but hey- this blog is mainly for the peace of mind i get from writing and right now, i could use some peace of mind. also, don't even think about stalking me and taking my baby. i have a dog, an arsenal, an alarm and a man who will kick your ass. as you probably figured out by now, we found out that we're going to have a baby. yep, i'm pregnant.
when i told mike, the first thing he said was "oh, congratulations to us! we should get married soon, huh?" he was totally kind and supportive and didn't freak out. (this is in total contrast to my late thirties cousin whose husband held his head in his hands and said "how could you do this to me?"). we've always said we wanted to have a baby in the next two years so this isn't much of a change to our plans, just sooner than expected. we've decided that we are getting married before the baby because we were going to anyway so why not. hopefully, the wedding will be in early july. we don't know when, we don't how where and we don't really know how. we don't have any money but we're working on it. he's working two jobs right now and um- i'm not spending any money while i continue going to graduate school and spending 90% of my time with monster. wanna give us some money? we'll totally take it.
we're very happy about the whole situation but i'm kind of worried about the road ahead and the idea of planning a wedding is COMPLETELY FREAKING ME OUT. i am not a good planner and this is overwhelming. the baby- i can handle. the wedding- not so much. but, it will work out and at least i don't have to freak out about it for a year- we only have a few months. plus, i have great family and friends that will help.
i'm also worried that something will go wrong and we'll lose the baby but i guess that is a completely normal concern. i know i worried about it with monster and i would guess every pregnant woman frets over the "what-if's". i still have insurance through the coffee joint and the grace of god. i think i'm going to have to pay for expensive as all hell COBRA coverage until he finds a job with benefits. that is freaking me out too but i can't get worried. can't stress.... must remain calm. you see, monster was a preemie- i went into labor at 28 weeks and i still think stress had something to do with it. so this time--- melllllow. now my only problem is i seem to have developed severe insomnia and i can't sleep. i am not even tired at night. i have been up all night for the past three nights and the circles under my eyes are getting darker and darker. maybe it is just because i have so much going on and i'm excited. maybe it is because i lay in bed thinking about how i can no longer fit into my pants ALREADY. maybe it is because there is a tiny being that is half mike inside of me and he is a spaz and his genes are keeping me awake. if that's the case, this kid is already grounded.
so that's our news. we're excited and just a little scared but we'll get through. now that i've confessed it all, maybe i'll be able to sleep. got any wisdom for us? lemme know, maybe we'll name the kid after you. especially if your name is monty.



(this isn't the best view of the crosses that indicate pregnancy but let me explain that the vertical line means preggers. if i wasn't, there would only be a horizontal line in the big window. that bright blue vertical line means break out the maternity pants.)

the dog won't leave me alone. she keeps doing her growl thing that sounds like "harrumpf" which means "let me out. i want to go out but only in the front yard and i don't care that i just went out and it is almost 3 in the morning". i tell you to shut it but she won't listen. and no, she doesn't really have to go because she won't go out in the back. she's being oppositionally defiant and may need adderall.

I get quotes of the day in my inbox. Here was today's pearl of wisdom:

Great fleas have little fleas upon their backs to bite 'em,
And little fleas have lesser fleas, and so ad infinitum.
And the great fleas themselves, in turn, have greater fleas to go on;
While these again have greater still, and greater still, and so on.
Augustus de Morgan

Well, the zoo was a success. It warmed up a bit and didn't rain until we were leaving. The kids minded for the most part and no one was hit by the zoo train or was eaten by a bear (though they tried). Here are some pics from today:


I've been told these bears are named Burt and Ernie. They are a little insane and walk in circles over and over agan. In the wild, bears cover hundreds of miles and here they have limited space. Poor bored bears.



Monster and his best friend on the animal carousel. Monster named his Hippo "Hoggie" and his friend named his Tiger "Frank". My Warthog didn't have a name.

The capybaras were in the same enclosure as the Ant Eaters and one of the Ant Eaters was chasing them around. I wish I could have gotten a shot with all of them in it but they were surprisingly fast.

Well, there are the highlights . We saw some other funny things (zebras mating) and not so funny things (maggots in the insectarium. i hate bugs and especially maggots). But the best part was wearing the kiddo out and him taking a nap on the way home.

Ring, Ring, Ring

Me: Hello?
T: It is 38 degrees out.
Me: Yep. That's okay though.
T: You still want to go to the zoo?!?!
Me: Oh yeah, there's no backing down now. I've been holding this zoo trip over his head for days. He even cleaned his room up last night to make sure he could go. There is no way we can back out now. Anytime he acted up, all I had to do was say "Zoo!", hell we may have to go to the zoo weekly it works so well.
T: I woke up with a sinus and ear infection and it is cold out and no, it's okay, we'll go. We'll go, it will be okay. It is just cold out but we'll go.
(Kiddo in the background "WE ARE GOING TO THE ZOOOOOOOOOOO. I'M GONNA RIDE THE RIDES AND SEE ELEPHANTS. ZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO)
Me: See you in a few!

On that note, we're bundling up (hello, spring? where did you go) and heading to the world famous St. Louis Zoo. Happy Self-Portrait Day to me, I'm very excited to be included. I don't love my self-portrait but it will do. I was trying to make a kissy/skinny face but I looked like I'm shocked and amazed (and maybe a little evil). Rock on. Enjoy the many interesting blogs on the site while I freeze my butt off looking at the animals. Pics to come...

5 things you may or may not know about me:

I often walk into walls
I prefer not to wear shoes
I was born without wisdom teeth
I was the kid mascot for the St. Louis Football Cardinals in 1981
I am hooked on some stupid reality TV shows

That last one brings me to me saying that I want the following people to win:

Amazing Race- I was rooting for Lynn and Alex because they are sassy but damn, Rob and Amber are good. I didn't want to like them but I do. Too soon to say but I think Rob and Amber are going to win.

Survivor: Okay, I don't really care. I do watch it sometimes but they all kind of suck. I really only watch it because I Tivo it and can skip the commercials and stupid B.S.

American Idol: I am embarassed that I've been sucked in but all I can say is: Bo Bice.

Songs sang (badly) while bowling:

• Summer of 69 by Bryan Adams
• Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley
• Feel for You by Chaka Khan
• Tom's Diner by Suzanne Vega
• 1-2-3-4 Come on Baby Say You Love Me and Come on Shake Your Body Baby Do the Conga by Gloria Estefan

Went bowling last night at the weekly girls allowed Tuesday bowling night (as oppposed to the Thursday boys only drink so much Crown Royale that you knock your sleeping girlfriend out of bed when you stumble back at 2 am bowling night that Mike attends). I bowled very poorly and at one point, the ball slipped off my fingers as I drew my arm back to throw. The best part of that was after Anna yelled "Go get it!", it slowly rolled down the lane and knocked down seven pins. Later, I semi-redeemed myself with a strike but honestly, I still suck. I even took bowling lessons as a kid but I'm just not blessed with stellar bowling abilities.
Pics from last night:


In this pic, Anna resembles a Bharatanatyam dancer with her big brown crazy eyes. April and Brian compensate by closing their eyes in reverance. I don't know the guy with the hat.

Ah, the beauty of the bowling alley.

I'm sorry that all I can talk about lately is the kiddo but I spend more time with him than any other person and he's pretty amusing.

Today's anecdote is about things that start with the letter K. He has to pick out three things to put in the alphabet can for preschool tomorrow on K-Day. The other kids have to guess what is in the can and it is all very exciting. For some reason, I could NOT think of things starting with K that were small enough to fit into a Foldger's Coffee Can wrapped in yellow construction paper marked "Alphabet Can". All I could think of was Kumquats, Kim-Chi, Kale, and Koalas. (Then Quetzecoatal popped into my head and while it is a K sound, it starts with a Q. 10 points if you can tell me who Quetzecoatal is).

Then, Monster kept suggesting objects that started with C because it is the same sound. I tried to explain that K and C are two letters that make the exact same sound but are different and that cat and cookie didn't work. He wanted to know why and got really frustrated when I didn't know why. I told him I'd just have to ask someone smarter. I thought about explaining how C can also make different sounds and K can't and BLOW HIS MIND but didn't. Oh, the power of linguistics.

Finally, after much thought and many suggestions, my brother-in-law said Key and the floodgates opened. We have settled on

• Kangaroo (a pendant on elastic from a bottle of Australian Shiraz)
• Key (don't know what lock it is for)
• Kitten (Butter is shoved in there and struggling to get out right now. No, no don't call the Humane Society- it is a stuffed kitten).
• Koala. We don't have a stuffed one, thought that would be nice, so we printed a picture. I think these kids from Missouri need to recognize Koalas. We don't have any at our zoo.
• Kit-Kat. Because they are good and have a catchy jingle (gimme a break, gimme a break, break me off a piece of that Kit-Kat bar. c'mon sing along).

Tomorrow, I'll probably think of a million K things that could have gone into the can- I don't know why it was so hard today. Hmmm... what would you have put in there?

Monster: "Mommy, why does the oven make the cookie dough into cookies?"
Me: "Umm.. heat. It, uh, expands molecules and other things."
Monster: "Huh?"
Me: "Well, it is magic. Cookies are made by magic. I don't really know."
Monster : "Well, I guess you'll have to book it up!"
Me: "What?"
Monster: "Book it up! When you don't know what something is and you look in a book or on the computer. Book it up!"
Me: "I think you mean look it up."
Monster: "How did you know that? Did you learn that at school? You are so smart" (runs away to his room with a stuffed snake on his shoulders)

The other morning, Monster Boy woke up at the crack of dawn. He opened our bedroom door, went to the computer down the hall and turned the volume up full blast while he played Dora the Explorer on Nick Jr. We listened to Boots the monkey gripe about losing his stupid red boots AGAIN for a few minutes before Mike finally yelled "Turn it doooown!". Monster ran to our door, closed it and kept playing. About a half an hour later, he must have gotten bored because he ran back down the hall and slipped this picture under the door. It is supposed to be me. I've never seen him draw teeth before but honestly, I don't think it is a good likeness. I told him it rocked though. He later asked me "Mommy, do you know what it is called when you draw? It is called ART (emphasis on the T). I made ART. Five year olds are good at making ART"

My (sob) camera (gasp) broke (shudder). The lens won't retract and there is an odd whirring noise inside. I believe it is still under warranty from Sony- I certainly hope so. We went to the park today (took Caleb to play frisbee golf for the first time) and I kept looking around wanting to take pictures and I couldn't. If I would have had my camera, I would show you this Mastiff named Samson we met and a Huskie named Smokie with two different colored eyes. We took Scout with us and these giant dogs wanted to play with her but she just squeaked and protected my shins. She's a chicken dog.

I didn't know it was the first day of Spring until the middle of the day. It was a perfect early spring day and we celebrated its arrival. Not only did we go to the park, we did some spring cleaning and fixing. I'd show you a picture of the rearranged bedroom but alas, I can't. What good is seeing things I can't photograph?! Arrrggghhh, tis drivin' me nuts.

The Celts and other early European groups celebrated the festival of Eastre, a goddess of the dawn associated with springtime. Her symbol was the rabbit, the most fertile animal and a symbol of new life. Many people think that the modern feast of Easter developed from springtime feasts to honor Eastre.

Monster in the Hat
Originally uploaded by Kimba No Limba.

We went to an Easter Eggstravaganza today. Monster made a hat out of a paper back. Ooh, and he won a pie in a cake walk. He said it was the most amazing day ever. Right now, he is playing with the kids next door by setting up shop in the front yard. They are selling soap and individual girl scout cookies but we live on a court so they have had no customers. I'm glad he is having such a good time because I'm feeling a little down. I'm having a bit of a rough patch, still figuring out why. I think I'll go watch VH1's 50 Greatest Teen Idols- Johnny Depp is coming up and I love him.

I'm stunned. I can't believe this is Rudy Huxtable. Last I saw her, she was a chubby pre-teen with bad hair. What would Bill Cosby say? First Denise in Angel Heart and now this.

Morning After
Originally uploaded by Kimba No Limba.

I'm all a-twitter because I just got the email that I get to be featured on self portrait day next week. how very exciting. Now, I just have to figure out if I should use the one I thought I would use or if I should perfect the no double chin manuver and take another one. I thought of using one of my many feet pictures but then I thought, "Hey self, you are an attractive broad, why only show your feet?"
Then again, the one I was going to use only showed one eyeball. Maybe I should just scrap my self-consciousness, come out of hiding and show my whole self. I don't have the world's highest self-esteem and still cling to some of the teenage bullshit of not liking my appearance. Once, my high school "friend" told me a mutual acquaintence told her I was the ugliest girl he had ever seen. I've since decided she made that up to be cruel and hateful (She did things like that sometimes. With friends like these...) And come on, I may not be gorgeous but I can say that I'm more attractive than 95% of the people I've seen at Walmart. Plus, I think my boyfriend is hot as hell and he tells me I'm beautiful so I'll just trust in that. Beauty is skin deep after all and at least I can say that I may not be the hottest girl on the planet but this 30 year old still gets carded for beer and no one believes my age. So, at least I got that goin on. Okay, enough self centered bullshit.

Today is St. Patrick's Day and I had a fun filled adventure. After class, I went to the remnants St. Patrick's Day Parade of the Ancient Order of Hiberians in Dogtown. They were having a kids' parade and there were plenty o' drunks stumbling through the kids in strollers and wagons. There were also plenty of Irish themed dogs. Dogs are more fun than people so here are some pics of festive dogs.

i'd like to propose a toast to St. Patrick's Day. i am quite a bit Irish (grandma was a fully Irish fitzgerald. well, she still is but she got married and changed her name.). i love Guinness and irish accents. oh, and the color green. i hope i can go out on st. patrick's day. alright internet, who wants to babysit?

speaking of the one who needs babysitting- Dawn & Anna- thank you for his excellent christmas (and 1 birthday) presents. He loves all of them. The Godzilla monsters are now on my computer desk, ready to battle. Anna, we have a Mothra- how cool is that?
He has also been crashing his cars into the Matchbox icy avalanche of death play set. Car crashes are so entertaining and instructional too! It is like the movie Misery but a toy.

i'm kneep (i meant to write knee deep and that's how it turned out. let's integrate into our language, shall we?) in homework. this is the reason i used to think "i'm so glad i'm not in school anymore. no matter how bad the job sucks, at least i don't have to take it home with me." now, i'm going into a field where i'll always have to take it home with me. i'm going to school to get certified in special education (k-12) concurrently trying to get my master's degree and eventually my literacy specialist certification. i'm going to be going to school until i'm 82. no, actually i should finish up in a year. until then, i'm trudging through hours and hours of observations and papers about my observations. the most interesting thing that happened in my most recent observation was the little boy who kept pretending to cock a gun and shoot his classmate under his desk. i was behind him so i could see it but his teacher couldn't and he did it about five times. he's kind of small and looks like he could be a future serial killer. or lawyer.

okay, back to the homework. rock on.

Beware the Ides of March!

So, here are the last few days. I just got back from a journey across the state. We went to visit my grandma in the hospital, swam in the hotel pool and later, looked at a very large dam. Now, however, I should be studying for a test. More later.

10:15, JaMexican Party

This is Monster's Angry Face

Is it a God dam?

Tuttle
Originally uploaded by Kimba No Limba.

More pics from my turtle park adventure. This particular turtle makes me happy and I love him too. Turtle park wouldn't be a bad place to have a wedding. How could you not smile?

This has been a very laid back Friday. I only left the house once, to go to Walgreens, and cleaned/lounged for the rest of the day. Friday fun day was low key today. Maybe because I stayed up too late blah blah blahing with Roberta and Anna (see- real names! i'm honoring Anna's request. I'll even call Gnu Mike from now on. Happy? No more secrecy, it's all hangin' out).

Tomorrow is the 2nd Annual JaMexican Night at The Kirkwood Manor. Jah Man, it is going to be a party. I'm making dip. I think all goes down around 8 o'clock and Dave says to bring your quarters (not for the drinking game, for tossin') and tequila. We are also partaking in some Aussie Port and Shiraz. I may need some of this.

A Picture Share!
Originally uploaded by Kimba No Limba.

I love my friends. My girl friends are all attractive-- guess that means I am a hottie too. Robi 1's boyfriend is in the land down under and he better be true against the face of the easy Aussie Girls. No problems, Mate.

Grin
Originally uploaded by Kimba No Limba.

The snake at Turtle Park. I love him.

Girlz Night Feets
Originally uploaded by Kimba No Limba.

From a few years ago. A racous girls' night that included Shawna trying to teach us how to shake that ass like a ghetto princess and lots of alcohol.Oh yeah, and Abba.

i am so excited.

Update on the employment situation:

the district manager called my house a week ago. gnu answered the phone and almost told her where to go but didn't (good restraint, honey) but I wasn't home at the time so I called her back later that night. I spoke to her for a good hour about how the asshat I was working with was a total sexist prick and how I'm not usually the whiney girl calling no fair to my manager. This guy was a jerk- the kind of guy who makes your stomach flip when you see him walk in through the door. The kind of guy who smiles and jokes to the guy on the shift and scowls at the women. The kind of guy who screams at you for no reason and is consumed with power to be a shift supervisor at a place with a drive through. So, i walked out after he publicly admonished me for the umpteenth time and made a high level complaint after nothing changed with my previous complaints. I said i wouldn't return if I had to work with him. They let him keep working and had him tell me when I called in that my shifts had been covered.

When I spoke to my district manager, she was very accommodating and said she would talk to other managers in our area about transferring me to a different location. She said I was a good employee and met expectations, was second to none in customer service, blah blah blah. Doesn't that tell you I have a legitimate complaint? If they thought it was all B.S. they would have just fired me and never talked to me again. They still haven't cut me off- I have my benefits and employee discount at other stores. This tells me they know I have a legit. complaint and they are trying to avoid legal action.

The District Manager was supposed to call me three days later to give me an update and I haven't heard from her. It has been seven days. so now what? See if i can sue? Say screw it? Call her? I don't even have time for a job right now with the fulltime school and monster watch. Of course, I need money too, but I think I can get by on financial aid, tax returns and child support. The child support goes to pay for the monster's pre-school, home and food so it isn't like I'm wasting the money on pedicures and bon-bon's. I would like to get into tutoring and free-lance editing/proofing/typing/light composition. I'm workin' on that little idear right now. Any tips for me?

I have to finish this up because Monster just got out of the bathtub and is hiding behind the bookshelf sticking his legs out saying "this is a naked leg!" and then running away.
Plus- the dog is at my feet barking. Scout never barks unless she wants to go outside and when she does, it is a high pitched barkish growl which sounds like a canine attempt at speech. She wants to take herself for a little walk. I just let her out in the backyard for the second time in an hour but she refuses to shit back there. She must go for a walk to shit. I tried to take her for a walk earlier but she seemed a bit wobbly from dental surgery yesterday so I just put her in our enormous fenced-in dog heaven of a back yard. She did not shit, she took a nap. Now, she wants out in the front yard to sniff around and presumably release her bowels.

Call me a terrible pet owner but I don't mind if she runs around our little residential court for ten minutes. I was raised in a house where we let our dogs run around the neighborhood sometimes and they were never hurt or stolen (okay, once Perry, the Tibetan Spaniel, laid down in the middle of the street, refused to move and blocked traffic but he wasn't hurt). I'm sure certain dog owners would freak the out if the dog was unattended in the front yard and think I should be reported to the ASPCA. Well, here's a little history- Scout was a farm dog. She likes to run around, she loves to sniff. She likes to shit in new and exciting places. We live on a court and it is usually very quiet at night. Scout goes outside and wanders into the neighboring yards and common ground behind our house, takes a shit and comes back.

So, what is the problem and why don't I just let the howling, barking dog out the front door? It is because of the lady down the street and her two bitchy little dogs. They are tiny dogs- I don't know what kind- and they are the yappiest, meanest little buggers. She takes them out to walk every two hours or so with her last walk around 9:00. I can't let Scout out until she's in for the night or I'll get a knock on my door and there she is with her yappy dogs saying "Oh, you must not have known Scout was out! My dogs are so mean, they scare her and she wants to come inside". No, the dog does not want to come inside and she didn't come anywhere near your evil rat-dogs but they started yapping and you just couldn't handle them barking.

Lady, I'm sorry you don't have real dogs that are self-walking and gentle but please, just leave my dog be. But, I don't tell her that. Instead, I go down to the front door and let Scout out and then realize she's still out with the furballs and put on a show like the dog accidentally got out and rush her back into the house. Scout then looks at me like I'm insane for letting her out the door and shoving her back in. Ten minutes later, I peer out the door to make sure the coast is clear and then sneak my dog out for her walk about and hope dragon lady doesn't come back out. So, that is why the dog is howling at my feet- we have to wait for clearance from the shit dogs. Ahh yes, suburban bliss.

scout
Originally uploaded by Kimba No Limba.

i'm totally going to be late but must post this...no, nothing important.
scout had to get a tooth pulled today. she also had to get many shots and was put under for a bit. right now, she is being so completely pathetic and all she wants is to rest her head on my lap. her eyes aren't open all the way and she runs into the walls when she walks. i can't let her eat or drink until tomorrow. i feel so bad for her i almost want to skip class to hang out with her. but i won't. okay, now i'm oficially late in leaving the house.
spades zombie night! w00t! welcome back anna and dizzawn.

I'm so excited to find out that Barry White's "Can't Get Enough of Your Love Babe" was the number one song the day I was born. That is so great! Yipppeee!

80's Family Portrait
Originally uploaded by Kimba No Limba.

I'm the angry looking one with the hideous dress and bad hair. I blame the hair on my mother. When I was four, she had my aunt cut my bangs so they started in the middle of my head. Not a good look. And what was up with the dress? It looks like a high necked drapery with a doilie in the middle. At least I seemed to have realized I looked ridiculous- or at least that's what my facial expression said. What makes this picture priceless is the contrast between my expression and my siblings' happy smiles. Clearly, I was not amused (though my bow-tied little brother certainly was).

Nature Boy
Originally uploaded by Kimba No Limba.

Random Thoughts

We took Monster to the park today to celebrate a gorgeous spring Friday family fun day (no school, no daytime work, less crowds at the kid-friendly places). We were exploring the creek and going on a creek crossing adventure when monster reached under a log and pulled his hand out in horror. He screamed and shook his hand violently and the tears started flowing. Usually, he's pretty tough when he gets hurt but he freaked out big time. He screamed "A BEEEE!" and panicked. We got him to calm down a little and he said he was stung by a bee but we never saw it.

We thought he may have gotten a splinter or thorn in the finger but later it turned whitish/red and swelled so it probably was some kind of bug. Grandpa, the consummate conservationist, said hornets and wasps and some bees live in the ground and it isn't too early for them to be around and stinging some giant hand that visits their hive.

Grandpa said I would have freaked out even more and that is probably true. but, as it was, I had to spell out "o-v-e-r-d-r-a-m-a-t-i-c" to Gnu at one point because monster sobbed and carried on like he was losing his hand. Then, I realized why he was so upset. Thirty seconds earlier, Gnu had told him "I just want to make sure your hand doesn't get swollen and blow up".
In Monster's five year old mind, he thought his hand was going to explode because he heard the words "hand blow up". We assured him he wouldn't lose his hand, gave him some tlc and chocolate and now he's back to being obnoxious so all is good.

*
my sister just called and said "i don't have any greens". we are making dinner and she meant she didn't have green vegetables. mom always had greens. had to have a green even if you had a different vegetable, like a potato or sliced tomatoes because they aren't enough. i suppose it is a sound dietary convention and one we were wise to learn. so, i am going to antony's (said like tony soprano) to get some greens. i'm thinking asparagus- that sneaky olfactory veggie that reminds you of its presence an hour later.

*
who are the killers and why do i keep hearing about them?

*

gnu is out delivering pizza. he hung up before he ran to deliver a salad to the ferry on the missouri river. when he was hanging up he said" i love you" and i said "i love you more" and he said "i believe you" and i went "eeeehhhh" in a whiny voice and he said "goodbye". one minute later the phone rang again and i heard "i love you more". awwwwwwww.

this clip is f'in great. i love stewie. it is him mocking william shatner's version of "Rocket Man" i never knew david bowie was singing "burning out my fuse here alone" in the refrain, it sounded like "burning out sands of abalone" or something. now i know, all thanks to bill shatner and stewie.

p.s.
check this out too, a family guy Rufus toy

Mug O Rabbits
by Kimba No Limba.

This is my favorite mug and I've had it for years. I think it came from a thrift store in Kirksville. My dad tried to steal it from me once and my mom said we were both sick. I don't know why but it cracks me up. Maybe because the bunnies all have the same facial expressions and seem completely benign in their bunny humping.
I got a new mug today- scrounged from the computer lab at school. Someone left it and it was sitting there- all lonely and wanting a new home. It has the name of the school on it and I figured it was part of my gazillion dollar tuition since I don't have any other shit with the school on it. I can justify anything. I also took some blank printer paper because I was going to use it there but decided to go home and use the printer there. So, that's totally justified. I just took the paper without using their ink for the same print.

Michael: I don't know anyone who could get through the day without two or three juicy rationalizations. They're more important than sex.
Sam Weber: Ah, come on. Nothing's more important than sex.
Michael: Oh yeah? Ever gone a week without a rationalization?

Hi Anna and Dawn- Glad you are enjoying Australia. Way to represent and display public acts of hungoverness. Sorry I didn't get to join you but there is always next time.

Hello Michelle. I'm glad we got to reconnect through this here blog. You rock, now go to the beach for me since I'm thousands of miles away from the nearest ocean.

Yo Kip! If you check this, don't worry, you aren't the only person wondering what's up with these kids in our classes. And why do they all look like they are about to go running? What is up with that? Most of the girls where running pants, crazy tennis shoes, and sweatshirts. It is as if they are all going to jump up at a certain time and go running about the room like some sort of fitness crazed flashmob.

Hey Karrie- Way to quit your job. It is the newest craze, everyone is doing it. I'm proud of you. Authority sucks and you may as well do what makes you happy or die trying. Now, you go to the beach too.

Hah. The "most popular dead person" montage at the Oscars, from TVgasm. Funny stuff.

7:51pm:
It's that time again! Who's the most popular dead person!?! We start off strongly with Ronald Reagan. Oooh, hard to beat that: he was an actor AND a president. Carrie Snodgrass gets a major snub with barely any applause whatsoever—a major blow to the Snodgrass lobby. Phil Gersh gets a round of applause, but mostly from the agents at Gersh. Too "inside." Jerry Orbach, late of Dirty Dancing and cancer, surprises everyone by stealing the lead. Baby's been put in the corner, and her name is Ronald Reagan! Oh but wait! Janet Leigh bitchslaps Jerry Orbach back into the grave as she snags the popularity vote for herself. We like Janet, but she can't hold onto this title for very long. She's like the Riddick Bowe of dead people. Janet makes short work of a few film composers, but you can't beat a man in a wheelchair. That's right, Christopher Reeve comes rolling right out of heaven to lay claim to most popular dead person. Not even Ossie Davis or Rodney Dangerfield can top him. It looks like he's got this one in the can, ladies and gentlemen. But wait, what's that sound? It's a thunderous ovation. AWWW SHIT! Marlon Brando in the HIZZOUSE! Christopher Reeve throws in the towel. It's over! Brando takes it! The curse is over! Boston wins!

only a little while longer till mid-term and i'm not pleased with how this semester is going thus far. things are harder, more involved and require much more "face time". i am in class more than my previous semesters in grad. school and i am doing observing/mentoring in a fifth grade class. i have so much on my plate, it is hard to keep straight what is due when. i turned in an assignment for one class that was intended for a different class. oops. but, no harm, no foul and it will probably all work out in the end. i may not keep my 4.0 GPA and i think i've accepted it. but, i have been known to pull extraordinary things out of my ass towards the end of the semester so there is always hope. i'm just a little stressed and feel a little crazy but that's normal for me. crazy is normal. sigh.

today, as i was mentoring a fifth grader on Medgar Evers. she was reading about him as part of her work during black history month (which has spread into march for this assignment) and i was helping her write a review of a book on mr. evers. i quickly realized that i had never heard of him. medgar grew up in mississippi and was so determined to be educated that he walked 12 miles each way to high school. he fought for america during world war two and survived to come home to an unappreciative, segregated south. he became a fundamental part of the civil rights movement in mississippi and fought for simple things like having the right to vote without harassment and fear of lynching. in 1963, when he was 37 years old, medgar was walking into his house when he was believed to have been shot in the back by Byron de la Beckwith, a white man who was against segregation. his wife and young children found him bleeding on the front porch and he died a short time later.

after the second trial where his accused murderer was found innocent, mrs. evers moved with her kids to california. however, her conviction that justice was never served in her husband's case kept mrs. evers involved in the search for new evidence. in1991, Byron de la Beckwith was arrested a third time on charges of murdering medgar evers. beckwith was extradited to mississippi to await trial again, still maintaining his innocence and still committed to the platform of white supremacy. he was finally convicted the third time and died while serving life in prison. i hope that he realized that he only fueled the fight for equality that, in his hatred and ignorance, he tried to destroy with a gun. think this struggle is all over and a left over from earlier, more hate-fueled times? these fuckers are trying to get Beckwith a posthumous pardon.

i guess i shouldn't have been that surprised that i didn't know who he was. i went to an all white, catholic school my entire life. there may have been two asians or an adopted mixed race child in the school and that was it- very homogenus. i guess we didn't get that into black history month. at my high school, a history teacher bragged to us how he marched in the sixties to keep negroes out of the school. i wonder how much history i'm really missing? what else was left out of my textbooks? i don't know but today, i was glad to learn about medgar evers with a fifth grader and am humbled by his story.

appletoad2
Originally uploaded by Kimba No Limba.

apple is elusive

toad
Originally uploaded by Kimba No Limba.

oh captain my captain

detail
Originally uploaded by Kimba No Limba.

I like little details on buildings. These are on the archway above the entrance to one of my school buildings. I don't know why, but these small accents make me happy.

So, Saturday it was around 65 degrees here in the St. Louis metropolitan area. Today, it snowed. We have the most schizo weather ever. If St. Louis went to the doctor, it would be prescribed mood altering drugs.

Today, my maybe-ex workplace called me. To recap- Mr. Ferdinand, this guy I work(ed) with, was a complete jackass to me for about the tenth time, I called him on it and he made me leave. The next day, I called to speak to my manager and was told that she went out of town for a week. She just called me today. While the manager was gone, I called to check in and Mr. Ferdinand (the jerk face) answered the phone. He told me that he was told to tell me my shifts for the week were covered and the manager would call me when she returned. So, they allowed him to keep working and suspended me for all intents and purposes.

My manager came back, called today and left a message on my cell phone (I was half asleep when I heard "Paint it Black" which is what my cell phone plays when work calls). I forgot to check it until 4 and her message said she wanted to meet with me and the district manager tomorrow at 10:30 am. Well, I have class at 11 and I'm sure as hell not going to miss it. So, I called tonight and spoke with a different supervisor who would not give me either manager's cell phone number (they don't have office numbers) but she would give her the message to call me on my phone tomorrow.

I don't know for sure what to do here. I honestly don't want to talk to these people ever again and don't like the way this situation has been handled. I feel like I'm going to go in there and they're going to tell me what I did wrong in the situation. But, I think they know they are at a legal risk here because this guy was completely inappropriate and not to mention that he has told multiple workers that he hates working with women. I called the corporate line last week and gave them the whole damn story. So, now I go in there and listen like a mature adult and don't lose my cool? Do I just say fuck you, I quit since I don't have appropriate babysitting anymore and have to devote all of my time to school anyway? The only thing I'll be losing is my insurance. The money wasn't shit to begin with. Dammit- this was a part time job and it has turned into a nightmare and I really don't feel like devoting anymore time to this bullshit. Well, stay tuned, I'll tell ya more later.