Your Thermostat and You

It is a well known fact I hate my gas company. It should also be common knowledge that I am attempting to hold out for November 1st before I turn on our [gas] heat in our home.

I do get awfully cold in the kitchen and family room, but have plenty of blankets and quilts on my bed for the nighttime and I layer. Whooboy do I layer. I even type with gloves on.

I do. Seriously.

My kids both have goose down duvets, cotton blankets and quilts on their bed, plus warm pajamas and also can layer during the morning/evening hours. They don't quite suffer the cold the way I do, but....I have to ask.

At what point do you turn on your heater? Do you set it on auto and set the at 62 or above? It is going to be in the 40's tonight - but I think with all the layering, pajamas and covers we are good.

Still, should I turn it on? I think the girls are saying what I want to hear because I have been pretty adament about the Nov. 1st deadline. I just didn't think it was going to get this cold this fast. [And yes, I do appreciate some of you out there have snow/colder weather than us] This is just odd for so early in October.

I want to wait - but I don't want to chill the girls out. So, what do you all do? Majority rules.

If You Need Me Before April 2010

I will be in the bathroom - Remember? The most important room to keep warm?

I will be reading, blogging and probably sleeping in there 'cause Tadpoles? It has gotten cold very, very early here. It is in the low 40's at night and doesn't hit 55 degrees during the day.

What happened to Fall? The sweater weather? No coats? Just heavy sweaters and jeans? Yeah, well...gone. I think we had one day to dress like that, now we are moving into almost frost - that will be sometime in late October - but the next week looks poor too. Nothing above 55 degrees. Sigh.

I have been warm two times this year - while we were on Hatteras Island for our vacation and whenever I step into our itty bitty powder room with the heater on.

So, if you need me - I will be perched with a cup of hot tea, my laptop and a good biography in the bathroom. I will be out for noshing and if the phone rings.

[And before anyone says ewww...I am just kidding. Sarcasm folks, pure sarcasm]

Feisty Foodie Free Foodie Fun! It's a Contest!

Get yourself over to my pal's Yvo's blog - Feisty Foodie- and leave a comment to win a fun, foodie type gift! It's super easy and she has A LOT of great stuff to give away. Just click the link. Go! It is awesome.

Greyhound: When Your Life Just Wasn't Interesting Enough

This is Wallene's work of art. Spot wanted to "take the bus"

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I have several stories of riding the Greyhound bus to visit my Mother in SC. For the uninitiated I do not like flying and my husband/Mother don't like me driving the long distance alone. Somehow they both decided that the Greyhound was a safer option.

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They won't let me on the bus anymore. That should tell you something.

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My favorite story is the criminal. Well, the first real, true criminal. Cops and handcuffs kind of criminal. This was the incident that started the mumblings that "uh...perhaps we should let Skippy drive...um...yeah, well....]

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The great thing about Greyhound is they stop in ALL the small out of the way small towns that you and I have never heard of. The type of town where public urination is probably legal and marrying your first cousin is [the only] an option. [I am Southern. I get to say this.]

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Tadpoles? I have seen more of small town South then I ever imagined or needed to.

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Okay, back to the criminal. I was on the bus riding from SC to VA. I had some fun seat mates around me [Marines home on leave - very nice men - Thanks guys!] and we were hanging out, chatting. When the bus stopped at the next pick up stop [a convenience store, no less - who buys a bus ticket at a Stop-and-Go?] we all rambled out to have a smoke break and a drink. The Marines were catching a different bus, but were watching out for me and mentioned that one of our new passengers looked a little shady. I didn't notice until they pointed him out.

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Yep. Middle of November and this guy was wearing khaki pants, a t-shirt and carrying his coat over his arm [the coat matched his pants in color/fabric] I shushed them and said "Oh, he is probably a landscaper or something." No, they insisted that I keep an eye on him and not sit by him.

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We all piled back on the bus - underdressed landscaper included, but the bus wasn't moving. No driver. Okay. I cracked open my book and started to read. What is a busline without delays, right?

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Oh, no, no, no...what I need to ask is what is a bus trip without the men in blue boarding the bus with our bus driver. One policeman was holding an honest-to-God "Wanted" poster and he scanned the bus and picked [ding!ding!ding!] landscaper dude.

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They handcuffed him and removed him from the bus. And we were on our way.

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Turns out he wasn't wearing his coat because the back had the initials "NCDC" [North Carolina Department of Corrections] stenciled on it and he had walked off of work duty and into a bus station, bought a ticket and had decided he was leaving via Greyhound.

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Sweet, eh?

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You would think THAT would've ended my bus riding career, but no...my Mom and husband allowed me a few more rides before I was finally stopped. Hee.

Yes, Yes, No, Maybe and Yes

Haven't done one of these posts in a while. I have been out of the loop, not caring and basically being blaise about life. I figure what's the point when you look at the same four walls for 24/7? Not much I suppose. But this week brought me some relief and some heartache. [Anytime you guys are tired of the heartache just click over to Just Humor Me and laugh. Leave me alone. I am cranky. She isn't. Go. There.]

But LOOK! Y'all stayed [or came back - she's funny isn't she?]and now you are along for the ride. So, without further ado here is my 3 Yes[es], 1 No and a Maybe. hee.

Yes! - I am sitting here in a very pretty tye dyed t-shirt my Wallene made me at Amy's Memorial. I don't know if it is because my baby made it or I am thinking about Rich and Amy that it comforts me, but it is nice. Very nice. It is an incredibly ugly choice of colors [no offense Wallene, but it looks like Spot ate a frog and barfed. Seriously. Ever seen a dacshund digest a frog and have it come back? That. Puke green and yellow.] but I have to say it is nice to have. I pray for Rich.

Yes! - It is WARM here today. You tadpoles know the beauty in this for me. OMG. I have the back door open at 12 am and I get to tell the kidlets "HA! It is October and no A/C for YOU." [I feel like the A/C Nazi, but hey...I love warm] heeheee....I am so happy with this one fluke of weather in October. I am not going to bed until the temp goes down. I don't have to freeze my butt off with fake cold air [A/C] and they can't make me turn on the unit because it is October. Bwahahahaha. Okay. I am mean. But I am warm! bonus!

No! When I mentioned earlier that our divorce was a "paper" divorce I hoped y'all understood. It hurt to file it, hurt to know on "paper" we weren't married, but it hasn't gone through yet [Jan 10'] Well, since it didn't go through soon enough the reprecussions that I was trying to avoid are now here. Hear that thud? That is my life, pretty much crashing down around me and my daughters. But what are you going to do? The sun comes up tomorrow and life is to be lived another day. Even if I don't want to or don't have the means.

Maybe? Never had a maybe category before, but I added it because Wallene made me laugh today. She brought her interim home and handed it to me. Before I could open it she started to stutter, hem, haw [what is haw btw? Do you haw?] anyway I opened it. It looks lovely, but her best subject isn't looking ...well, like her best subject. I placed my finger on it and raised an eyebrow. [You Moms KNOW you have done this, shut up] and she simply said "Yes Mom. I didn't do my best and I know that if I try harder it won't be that on my report card." Hardass aren't I? Honestly and I get tired of saying it - we ask them to do their best - we don't care the grade as long as they DO.THEIR.BEST. Well she knew the question was coming and she knew she had been goofing off in this class. So, yeah - I gave birth to trained seals. Hand clap for me. She knows the drill. [And if you don't get the sarcasm, get off my blog.]

Yes! This is a little bittersweet. I don't talk about my side of the family much. In fact not at all. But today I talked to my sister and my Mom finally removed my brother from her home [with the help of my sis'] so she can spend her final days in peace. I heard my Mom's voice for the first time in quite a few months and cried. She was so sure back when that my brother was going to take care of her - and she threw sis' and I to the wayside, allowing him to abuse us and ultimately her too. When she discovered what a XXXXXXXXXX he was she finally allowed my sister to remove him. Thank goodness. I am so glad that she can die in peace.

I should probably add a No! to the last one - because it looks like I am going to be on a Greyhound to visit my Mom. Ever been on a Greyhound Bus for 9 hours? Those stories are too much. I swore I would never do it again, but since I can no longer drive those distances I will now have to suck it up and go ...on the bus...oh, you have no idea what travels the roadways between VA and SC on the Greyhound. Their slogan shouldn't be "Leave the driving to us" it is more apt to read "Leave the criminals to us."

I could curl your hair with those stories. hee.

A Little Christian Education at the Post Office?

Pooldad, Wallene and I went to the U.S. Post Office the other day. While waiting in line there was the cutest lil' baby in line behind us. He was about six months old and his Daddy was making him giggle. It was so cute. He and his Daddy were adorable.

Wallene: I wish I was that cute.
SkippyM: You were honey. [I meant when she was six months old]
Pooldad: [teasing]Yeah, but not now. You grew out of it.
Wallene: [giggle] Y'all...stop it!

If any of you know anything about us we adore our children. And we are sarcastic AND sound sarcastic when we say stuff like this. Well.....

Seems one of the Postal Ladies thought that she should call Wallene over and educate her that GOD loves her, no matter what her evil Mom and Dad say.

Poor Wallene. The self restraint this child showed was amazing. The fact that her eyes didn't explode from her head while she kept from rolling them at this woman was really a feat to behold. She was polite - yes ma'am, thank you. Etc.

Pooldad and I were attempting to finish our transaction and I caught the snippets of "Listen to XXX song honey, it tells how God loves you for who you are. You are lovely." and "Do you have a radio? Oh good. Well a good station is XXXX FM. You go home and find that and listen to the shows and God's Word. You'll see. God loves everyone." The implication was even if her nasty, mean parents didn't.

HELLO!!

I want to buy stamps and mail a package. I was joking around with my kid. Which, we weren't loud. No one else heard us - but this postal worker took it upon herself to school my kid that even if we [implied] she was not cute anymore GOD still loved her.

I won't kid you - and y'all know - we are basic white bread. But suppose we had been Muslim or Jewish or Buddist - I don't know? How rude. Even with our belief in God her behavior was really too much.

I found the whole thing incredibly intrusive as the woman is an employee, not assisting us, doesn't know us or our religious affiliation and really? Simply wrong.

I don't need religion in my U.S. Post Office thank you.

Eye Candy

Although the television show "Las Vegas" is no longer on regular TV - thank goodness for syndication because everyday I get a little bit of yumminess to watch [TWICE!] between Noon and 2 pm.

Not only do I enjoy the plot lines, setting, humor and music [the music rocks!] I get to watch these three men for two whole hours.

Sigh.

Josh Duhamel

James Lesure

Tom Selleck

James Caan used to be the lead actor and he was [also] easy on the eyes, but currently Mr. Selleck has his role. And that is just fine by me.

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And this concludes the "How shallow IS Skippy" post for October. hee