Laid-off but thankfully not laid-up

Many of you who read this blog are my IRL friends and family, and know that on Monday evening (after a full day of work, I might add), I received word that I was being laid off. The company at which I worked (for 13 1/2 years) was being acquired -- AGAIN -- and my role "was not going to transition with the sale of the division." Evidently, my job is being absorbed into my former colleagues' roles. It was a huge, unexpected shock and it sent me reeling. My confidence was shattered, insecurities surfaced and feelings of despondence quickly took hold.

But, as quickly as they came, they went.

I want to thank my Mom and Dad, my in-laws, my SIL and brother, my dear friends Stephanie, Polly and Mags that were praying for me and encouraging me. Many of my customers called me, undoubtedly concerned about yet another (this would be the 4th) acquisition they'd endure, and when I told them the news, they were sympathetic, sad for me, and offered to write me recommendations.

But, most of all, my husband Frederer, is the person to whom a gold medal should be given. He is the most amazing person I know, and I am so thankful to be his wife. He is tender and strong. He is a provider. He is gentle, soft spoken, and has strength and confidence in his abilities as husband, father and provider. He encouraged me, held me, let me cry and offered to even spam bomb my former boss! What a guy! No, seriously, he has been a rock for me since "the news" came at 6pm on Monday night and each day has improved -- so, baby..., I publicly thank you. I'll privately thank you tonight!!! Woo Hoo!

Seriously though, I'm not crying every other hour, and I'm actually hopeful. While we are financially pretty much screwed, we'll make it work. Maybe this could be the best thing that's ever happened to our family. I'm looking to the Lord for our next steps, wisdom regarding our home, the kids' schools, and where to go from here.

So, thank you for all that have been praying for us and our time of need.

Ratted Out....by a 6 Year Old

My friend Alatar has two children, a boy and a girl: Rippi and Nubrylla. Of course, those are not their true names. Who in their right mind would name a child Rippi or Nubrylla? Oh wait..a Hobbit might!

Anyway, Alatar and her husband were each going out of town on business, and I, the great friend that I am, volunteered to watch her two children. All kids go to the same school and are virtually the same age. Rippi is in Ruby's first grade class and Nubrylla is in Kindergarten. Gorby is a wee 6 months behind Nubrylla in age, and thus has been banished to the pre-K class. 'tis all good though -- he's a boy and needs to work out his energy a bit before Miss Braelyan's Kindergarten class.

ANYWAY, so there I am with four children. I now know what my SIL goes through. :-) Except she can spank all her kids. I can only spank two of this brood. Nah, just kidding, the kids were all angels, really.

So, Rippi just loves Ruby and really can't stop pestering her. He also likes to "go all out boy" with my son Gorbulas, and the two of them run through the house, down the stairs, through the garage, weilding neon orange guns and plastic swords. The girls, meanwhile, are peacefully playing "Barbie goes to Med School" in Ruby's room. No kidding. They were. Yes, I'm encouraging doctoral level education for my kids. I pressure them all the time to achieve, Achieve, ACHIEVE! Just kidding. I'm really one of the most lax moms out there in terms of actually fulfilling all the homework requirements.

ANYWAY, Rippi and what's her name again? oh yeah, Nubrylla, are really sweet kids but they do have a WEE tendency to umm, well, NOT SHUT UP. Rippi talks CONTINUOUSLY in the car, which made me break my cardinal rule: NO DVD's ON THE RIDE TO SCHOOL UNLESS IT'S FUN FRIDAY. But, the kid just kept yacking away, that I finally just couldn't take it anymore.

We're doing really well on time, and we're out the door by 7:15am both days they're with us, and poof! we're to school 15 minutes early for them to play a bit before assembly. This morning, however, it was a bit different. I almost forgot breakfast.

I was thinking I was doing great just getting all 4 lunches in order!

Ruby, Rippi, Nubrylla (thank God for ctrl-v) and Gorby come downstairs this morning after brushing all 128 teeth. (We do have 32 teeth right? HEY! I'm gonna be a NURSE, not a DENTIST!).

"Okay gang!", I say, "Let's get in the car -- we gotta go!"

Ruby -- never one to miss a meal -- says to me, "HEYYYYYYY, what about breakfast?!)"

"Huh?" I say, "Oh....umm....let's to go McDonald's!"

A joyous, "YAAAAYYYYYYYY" explodes from the kids as I have this surprised, manufactured smile on my face.

"OK! Let's get in the car! Hup-two! Let's gooooo!"

Much cheering and joy is heard for blocks.

"Your Mom is the coolest!" Rippi says. "We never get McDonald's!" (Yeah, that's because THEIR mother DID win Mother-of-the-Year!)

Ruby says, "I know, huh!?!?"

All I hear about for 2 miles is, "Can we get a happy meal?" "Mrs. Longbottom...can I get a toy?" "What about the Happy Meal?" Happy Meal. Happy Meal. Happy Meal. Toy. Toy. Toy. Remember when I said that Rippi was a chatterbox? Imagine hearing Happy Meal and Toy for 2 miles straight. I love my friend Alatar, but I'm about to kill her son Rippi.

"They don't have Happy Meals for breakfast buddy -- sorry, just lunch and dinner," I say.

"Yes, they do!"

Gorby starts shouting, "How come Rippi gets a toy!?!? I want a toy too!"

Ruby chimes in, "There's toys for breakfast? I didn't know that! Mom, how come WE never get toys for breakfast? we eat here so freegin' often you'd think they'd give us a toy!."

"THERE ARE NO TOYS FOR BREAKFAST -- THEY DO NOT HAVE HAPPY MEALS FOR BREAKFAST."

We arrive at the drive thru window.

"I'll take 5 Number 5's please, all with milk. OHHH! And a very large coffee with three creams and one Splenda."

"Would you like to try an apple...."

Me cutting her off while I drive ahead: "No thank youuuuuu!"

I arrive at the window with the chatterboxes (now all four of them) yacking on and on about the breakfast Happy Meal and how they DO have toys.

I roll down my window and hand the clerk my ATM card.

"Ask her if they have toys!" they cry.

"They do not have HAPPY MEALS. But, FINE, you little miscreants, I'll ask."

Me: "Ummm, Miss? Do you happen to have Happy Meals for kids on the breafast menu?"

Me: (whispering....) "Say no."

Clerk: Ummm, No.

Ruby: I heard that Mama!!! You're not a very good whisperer, ya know.

DOH!

So Decisive! What a Leader!

I am so glad this presidential nominee has answers! and can lead!

BA!

I will lick the inside sole of my husband's hunting boots before I vote for this man.



Pastor Rick Warren: "At what point does a baby get human rights, in your view?"

Barack Obama "...answering that question with specificity... uh... you know is, is... uh... above my pay grade."

~ Saddleback Forum, August 16, 2008

And the piece de resistance -- infantacide! Now THAT's a man I can get behind... (with a cattleprod that is).

Shouldda Used AquaNet #5

"My hair keeps falling!", I say. "I can't tease it high enough!"

"Well, you shouldda used Aquanet #5 honey," he says.

At various times during life's turmoil, small rays of sunshine do penetrate and for just a wee moment and one can physically and emotionally escape the busy schedules, the financial havoc one is enduring, the insomnia, the never ending laundry, the mid-life crisis, home maintenance, the shuttling of children back and forth to who knows where, and just reeeeeelax and have fun with other adults who are also -- in varying degrees -- in that same pit with you.

Case in point: my friend's 40th Birthday Bash over the weekend. As a child of the 80s, how could she NOT harken to yesteryear and celebrate the good times?

Much fun was had by all, indeed. We marveled at our outfits, laughed until our sides split at the music choices of the 80s and hung our heads in shame when we finally admitted our penchant for Bartles and Jaymes' wine coolers (ohhh the headache!).

Aside from the karaoke, the Thriller dance, skinny ties and leg warmers, the outfits were the best highlight of the evening. The REALLY scary part is that much of it was purchased from Claire's -- i.e, a retail establishment that carries the latest trends in jewlery, gloves, hair accessories, etc. YIKES. Please... I'm OK with the 80s so long as the fringe boots and the shoulder pads STAY in the 80s.

I've heard it said about fashions that repeat every 20 years or so: "If you wore it the first time, you can't wear it the second time."

80s Favorites: Back to the Future, Pretty in Pink, Family Ties, Facts of Life, Yaz, Psychedelic Furs, INXS, Depeche Mode, New Order, Guns 'n Roses, Def Leppard, AC/DC, black fishnet gloves, big hoop earrings, parachute pants, vans, teased hair, lots of beaded jewlery, blue eyeshadow, black (and lots of it) eyeliner, fringed boots, Lee Press on Nails, leg warmers, skinny ties, hair scarfs, conversation buttons on jean jackets, anything Madonna or Michael Jackson, ohhh I could go on and on!

Makes Me Smile Every Time I Hear It...

"I can see Russia from my house!"
-Tina Fey as Sarah Palin

Protect America By Disarming Her

Yeahhhhhh right.
Enjoy.

Innocence is Priceless

I'm taking a break of the politically charged posts. For today, I'd like to just smile.

One Sunday morning, the pastor noticed little Alex standing in the foyerof the church staring up at a large plaque. It was covered with namesand small American flags mounted on either side of it. The six-year oldhad been staring at the plaque for some time, so the pastor walked up,stood beside the little boy, and said quietly, 'Good morning Alex.''Good morning Pastor,' he replied, still focused on the plaque. 'Pastor,what is this?'The pastor said, 'Well son, it's a memorial to all theyoung men and women who died in the service.' Soberly, they just stoodtogether, staring at the large plaque. Finally, little Alex's voice, barely audible and trembling with fearasked, 'Which service, the 8:30 or the 10:45?'

Better Attitude Today...sort of

So, I'm in a much less heated mood than I was a couple of days ago when I wrote my post. I really am. I've just come to realize that I can't hold back the tide and people will reap what they sow. I'm not going to try and be the moral police because all it does is raise my blood pressure, which just recently got into check.

However, my jovial persona is starting to slip away as I prepare for my Chemistry quiz tomorrow. Keep in mind I am not a "math person." I like to think I am, and the ability to quickly calculate percentages (usually in reference to COMMISSIONS) is fairly exceptional, but really...I'm not a math person. I am a completely at a loss when it comes to this:

"The density of a solution of sulfuric acid is 1.29 g/cc (cubic cm), and it is 38.1% acid by mass. What volume, in milliliters, of the sulfuric acid solution is needed to supply 325 g of sulfuric acid?"

Ummmm, yeaaaahhhhhhh.

*scratches head*

Hmm, from the bowels of my memory comes something like Density=Mass/Volume, so I guess I'll start there. But, the curveball in this equation is converting grams to mL? Huh? WTF?

Anyone? Anyone?

Obama and Matthew 25 - What a JOKE!

That's it! I'm linking to MileHiMama.

Doth mine ears deceive me? Did Obama actually, seriously and conscientuously use a reference to Matthew 25 in his political platform? Bahahaha! Like that man knows ANYTHING about caring for the smallest, weakest and most vulnerable of our society.

From his own mouth:
"I am a Christian, and I am a devout Christian [sic: "BULLSH!T"]. I believe in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe that faith gives me a path to be cleansed of sin and have eternal life. But most importantly, I believe in the example that Jesus set by feeding the hungry and healing the sick and always prioritizing the least of these over the powerful."
- Christianity Today interview, January 2008

And yet...he's been prochoice for his entire political career and has voted as such. He even voted to oppose the ban on partial birth abortion. What a scumbag.

I'm always baffled at the phase "a woman's right to choose." Choose...what, exactly? The penetration, slicing and dicing, sucking out and expulsion of her unborn child? Ohhhhh, THAT choice. The MURDER choice. People, let's just call it what it is and leave the fragmented sentences for 7th grade English, shall we?. Don't tell me you can't look at the 20 week old fetus above and tell me that's not a human being.

If it looks like a duck, heart beats like a duck, sucks his fingers like a duck, blinks his eyelids like a duck....then, guess what boys and girls?

It's a duck. It's not NOT a duck until it breathes air.

First Grader

Today, Ruby starts First Grade. She was a bit nervous, but since the class is predominately return students, she will relax in no time. She says to me this morning, "I'm a bit nervous...because...you know this is REAL school. I'm not a Kindergartner anymore!"

Gorby and his new Pre-K class

Who is Sarah Palin?

I am a faithful reader of Joel Rosenberg's blog and books and he said it better than I could EVER say. I am SO thankful that McCain made such an excellent selection in his running mate.

I have to say that I am very impressed with Governor Palin and moved by her story. I love her family, love the fact her son signed up for the Army last 9/11 and is headed for Iraq this fall, love that she's a pro-life conservative, love the major reforms she has already accomplished in Alaska, love that she took on and defeated corrupt Republicans, love that she cancelled the "bridge to nowhere," love that she's given huge oil revenue rebates to the working families of Alaska, love her expertise on oil and gas issues and her ability to get passed a $40 billion pipeline to bring Alaskan natural gas through Canada to the lower 48. Wow. This is good stuff. The media is loathe to say it, but the truth is she has done more in her 13 years in elected office than Obama has with his 100-plus "present" votes in the Illinois Legislature and his paper-thin record in the Senate.

This woman should do amazing things in Washington! She is VERY well qualified. Young, yes, but nonetheless a whole lot more qualified than Barack Obama!!!

Vote McCain/Palin!!!!