Last Meal

Today I delivered a can of salmon to the vet clinic where Dave works. It is to be the last meal for RJ, a way cool cat. He is very old and unfortunately very sick, suffering from renal failure, amongst other ailments. They're going to have to put him down today. I visited him for a little while. He's a very sweet cat, but you can tell he's on his last legs. He just laid there, didn't even know I was rubbing his head. Poor little guy. I'm sure Dave will be charged with the task of euthanizing him. There's a job I could never do.

RIP, RJ.

Fake Crisis Pregnancy Centers

Doing my part to spread the word. As a Planned Parenthood alum, I still support their mission and vision, and reading stuff like this just pisses me right the hell off.

"An Indiana mother recently accompanied her daughter and her daughter's boyfriend to one of Indiana's Planned Parenthood clinics, but they unwittingly walked into a so-called "crisis pregnancy center" run by an anti-abortion group, one that shared a parking lot with the real Planned Parenthood clinic and was designed expressly to lure Planned Parenthood patients and deceive them.

The group took down the girl's confidential personal information and told her to come back for her appointment, which they said would be in their "other office" (the real Planned Parenthood office nearby). When she arrived for her appointment, not only did the Planned Parenthood staff have no record of her, but the police were there. The "crisis pregnancy center" had called them, claiming that a minor was being forced to have an abortion against her will. The "crisis pregnancy center" staff then proceeded to wage a campaign of intimidation and harassment over the following days, showing up at the girl's home and calling her father's workplace.

Our clinic director reports that the girl was "scared to death to leave her house." They even went to her school and urged classmates to pressure her not to have an abortion. The anti-choice movement is setting up these "crisis pregnancy centers" across the country. Some of them have neutral-sounding names and run ads that falsely promise the full range of reproductive health services, but they dispense anti-choice propaganda and intimidation instead. And according to a recent article in The New York Times, there are currently more of these centers in the U.S. than there are actual abortion providers. What's more, these centers have received $60 million in government grants. They're being funded by our tax dollars."

A bill has just been introduced in Congress to stop the fraudulent practices of fake clinics, but it desperately needs more support.

Tell your representative to take a stand: anti-choice extremists must not get away with this any longer!

Go to: http://www.ppaction.org/campaign/fakeclinics

Work and Play

Good news on the job front. I had an interview on Friday, went really well. And the best part - it's at the same company! Yay me. The guy absolutely loved me, and all of my references were terrbily impressive, so now I'm just waiting for them to put me back into the system. It would have been a lot less complicated if they'd just let me hang on to my credentials and parking pass. Oh well. I should be starting on Tuesday or Wednesday, which will be fantastic. And there is a possiblitily of this one going permanent, as they are currently short-handed and also have one member of the team retiring soon. 35 years, that's a damn long time to work in one place. I don't think I have the commitment nor attention span to do the same thing for 35 years in a row.

And at home, it's official - they have turned me into a geek. No longer can I claim 'geek by association'. Nope, I'm a full-fledged, card-carrying member now. I have logged on and created myself a character on World of Warcraft. Method to my madness? Yes. I'm using the 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em' philosophy. And although I do not condone the hours and hours that the boys spend playing the game, I at least understand now why it takes so long. To complete just one quest took me about 2 hours. The difference between me and the boys - I can step away from it easily. Because I'm a human priestess casting spells at Level 7, and that's what we do.

God help me.

It's kinda cool though, because Evan's character and my character can run around in the game together. He's at a much highler level than me, so he can give me cool stuff and help me kill things. And sometimes, we dance.

I used to be cool. Remember when I was cool?

Valero made me late for work.

I'm having one of those days.

I woke up late, which is never good. It's my last day at coolest temp job ever and I wanted to get here early. So much for that. I'm supposed to be here at 8:00. I managed to leave the house by 7:45 AM, thinking I would only be about 15 minutes late. Ok, I can handle that.

Get in the car - the 'low fuel' light is on. (Thanks for that, honey.) Ok, no big deal, I need coffee and cigarettes too, so I'll stop on the way to the office. I pull in to the closest gas station, which was a Valero, (formerly known as Diamond Shamrock, and not the first time these people have failed me), and the place is really crowded. I get out and put my credit card in, but the pump won't turn on. Ok, that's cool, I'll just pay inside and get my other items. I walk in and find the coffee - the choices are limited to 2. I pick the non-decaf. It pours me about a half of the smallest cup they had, and then it was empty. Dammit! Go to the counter, get my cigs, tell them they're out of coffee, (and they still charge me full price for a half cup) and that I need to fill up on #8. Ok, she turns the pump on. I pay with my credit card. Meanwhile, several people walk in the store with the same complaint - the pumps aren't working. Hmm. Wonder what's up with that?

Go back to the car, attempt to pump the gas, and wouldn't you know it, that pump isn't working either. I ask the 3 people around me if theirs are working. No, they certainly are not. By now, it's 8:30 AM and I am REALLY late. The three of us march into the store, demanding to know what the problem is. The clerk's response? "We're out of gas."

You're OUT of GAS? You are a GAS STATION! I've never been to Starbuck's and heard 'we're out of coffee'. And by the way, YOU are also out of coffee, you moron. And perhaps you could have put up some signs letting people know that they will not be able to purchase fuel here! Or how about this - you could have told me that you had no gas before you took my MONEY.

Fuck!

So we're all yelling at this poor guy, and I have to wait a few minutes for him to credit back the money to my card. He tells me to have a nice day. Um, yeah, thanks for that. That's all done and I leave, but I still have to stop somewhere else to get gas. And wouldn't you know it, I have to wait in line. What? Are we having some sort of fuel crisis that I'm not aware of?

I finally got to work, an hour late, on my last day. I guess it could be worse. I could have been an hour late on my first day.

I'm boycotting Valero. I had gone there to get gas Saturday morning after taking the teen to work. As I'm pumping the gas, I feel something wet on my foot. I look down, and sure enough, the damn thing is leaking all over the place. Not because I haven't inserted it properly, not because I had overfilled the tank, but because it was apparently broken. It was a huge leak, as in probably a half gallon. I won't give them a third chance to impress me.

I have to go get more coffee now, as I spilled my sad little half-cup on my desk when I got here. Dammit!

Death, Taxes and Thai food

Happy Monday bloggers. I really wish weekends were three days. I suppose for some people this was a 3-day weekend, as Good Friday is a holiday. But not for us.

Let's see, what's been happening. Two deaths last week - Evan's great-Aunt, she was 92, (I'm sure he will blog about it), and my friend Sara's grandfather, he was 84. Everyone seems to be doing ok I guess. But deaths usually come in threes, and we're one short. Yikes. I'm just glad I could be here to offer my support to everyone. I'm extra good in that department, perhaps in hopes that the favor will be returned when I lose a family member. But all I have left is my mom, who is in questionable health, and my dad who I haven't spoken to in three years. I was never one of his favorite people, but when folks around me start dying it makes me want to call him. Maybe I will. I have some things I want to ask him about before he passes on.

And in case you missed it - April 15 just passed, so if you haven't done your taxes, they are officially late. Sorry to be the one to tell you.

Saturday I spent the day cleaning house. And if you've never been to visit, as I'm sure most people reading this have not - it's a big freaking house. I love it. Roomie Dave helped me out a little, but he was mainly focused on his room, and I was on a roll and didn't really want any help. I'm a 'do it myself' kind of person when it comes to housecleaning, although a little help now and then wouldn't kill me. Or them. I don't mind cleaning up after my man and my kids, but the other grown-ups can damn well clean up after themselves. Word.

Saturday nite we caught the midnite showing of Young Frankenstein at the Inwood. Note to patrons: They turn off the AC around 1 AM. Not pleasant. The movie was good, the sweating was not.

Easter Sunday - the kids spent Easter with their dad, which was ok I suppose. We try to keep the holiday schedules fair for everyone. Besides, they're getting a little too old for Easter egg hunts and the like. Aww. They're growing up. :(

Dave spent most of the day preparing dinner. He decided to do Thai food - well, ok, he didn't decide, Evan begged. He's got a thing for peanut sauce. So we had Pad Thai, Chicken Satay, spring rolls, the works, and Mike pitched in with a tasty curry and fried bananas for dessert. And, just to alleviate any questions about Dave's sexuality - he apparently got digits from the cute Vietnamese girl at the market where he purchased all the goodies. Go Dave! They're supposed to have lunch today. Cool. I just hope that if he starts getting laid, he won't turn into a complete douchebag like our other roomie.

Tomorrow is my last day at this job. I have an enormous headache and absolutely nothing to do. Since the lady came back from medical leave, she's been taking care of everything, and the other lady I was filling in for is back on Wednesday. I don't get it though - I've done this job by myself for 2 months, without any trouble at all. I don't see why it takes two people to do it. It's not that difficult.

Off to do some writing I guess, as I seem to have plenty of time. Hope you're all doing well.

Finally! I can wear white shoes again. Not that I own any.

Easter! It snuck right up on me. Planning a nice Easter dinner for all of the people who live in my house, and for anyone else who stops by. Enjoy this little Easter greeting - it's not personalized or anything, so don't get too excited. But I thought it was funny. :)
Don’t take any rotten eggs! And remember, when hunting for Easter eggs, it's perfectly fine to push the toddlers out of your way, as long as their parents aren't looking.

http://www.msn.americangreetings.com/display.pd?bfrom=1&prodnum=3092738&path=32890&source=msne127

And also - I am currently being paid nearly $16 per hour to sit here and do practically nothing.
I am so cool.

He needs killin'.

I'm trying really hard not to be a bitch. But it's getting increasingly more difficult.

I love my furniture. Earlier this year I procured a lovely sofa, love seat and all the trimmings for our home. It's the nicest furniture I've ever owned. (See above - not a great photo, but you get the idea. It wasn't cheap.). I mean really, it's just nice! I love it more than some humans and most animals I know.

I woke up very early this morning to take The Teenager to work, as she had to be there at 6 AM. On my way into the kitchen, I notice that one of roomie's buddies is sleeping on my very nice, very off-limits couch. (Yes, same roomie who let's his chick pollute the house.)

Dammit! I'm very particular about this furniture. It's in great condition, and I want it to stay that way. And I don't need some drunk-ass, Axe Body Spray wearing-doofus mucking it all up. Don't I get a say in this? If someone were to ASK me, maybe I wouldn't be so pissed off. But no, he just does whatever the fuck he wants to do without consulting anyone. There's a whole other living area, with a much bigger couch that would have been fine for him to sleep on.

God. Damn. It.

He needs Killin'. No consideration. A feel a mutiny coming on.
I'll put the stuff in storage if I have to.

Fucker.

Love at the Bagel Shop

Aww. The Teenager is dating a co-worker. I told her it was a bad idea. She responded by saying, "But I read the manual and it's not against the rules!" No, sweetie, just the rules of Common Sense. I'm just waiting for that moment when I can jump up and say "I told you so!"

Any day now. Any day.

Grrrr.

Roomie's been letting his new girlfriend SMOKE in the house.

I think I'm gonna hafta choke a bitch.

Here's my advice to him that he got this morning: I am also a smoker, and I realize what a pain in the ass it is to have to get dressed and go outside, just to have a cigarette.
So buy her a fucking robe.

Grrr.

Some pics

#1: That's my boy, Christopher, playing his PlayStation. Ain't he just the cutest thing?

#2: That's Mike. We like Mike. He's cool.

#3: The only thing I see of my boys anymore - the backs of their heads. I'm not sayin' that's a bad thing. (Actually, it is. :(

#4: That's what 'appreciation' looks like. If I had a picture of my car, I could show you what 'depreciation' looks like. Ha!

I'm not allergic to *YOU*

Happy Monday all. I arrived at work this morning to find a lovely potted plant and ‘thank you’ card atop my desk. How sweet! And then one of our engineers offered to go and get me coffee, as I was able to round up just the right hotel for him. My temp assignment here comes to an end soon. I really, really liked it here. I’m applying for the perm openings that they have, but since they usually fill those internally, I’m not holding my breath. But who knows? A couple of people have approached me with other opportunities as well. I seem to have made quite an impression.

The writing is going well. Sent a couple of pages to coolest chick ever Beth and she gave me some valuable feedback. Hoping not to lose my momentum. I have a friend who had a book published, but it was done by one of those “we’ll publish your book when no one else will” kind of places. He’s a great guy, but a terrible writer. I’m using his book as a reference for how not to write.

On the homefront…geez. We’ve got plumbing issues. I actually had to go to the laundromat last nite to wash the clothes because the washer is down until the plumber comes. It’s been YEARS since I’ve had to drag my laundry out of the house, and I realized that I don’t ever want to have to do that again. Not a big fan of the coin operated laundry facilities.

I have sneezed about a thousand times in the last four days. Allergy season has arrived. This will sound very strange, but every time I sneeze, I think of my old boss in Houston. Let me explain. I can’t just sneeze once or twice like a normal person. When it hits me, it’s a sneezefest, and usually the count goes over 20. When I first started working for Anita, I had one of my ‘fits’ one morning at my desk. She kept saying ‘bless you’, but it’s really futile to bless me until I’m done. I kept sneezing, and she came out of her office to look at me. She just stared in disbelief, and then laughed. A lot. It’s hard to defend yourself when you have a tissue on your face. She found it utterly hilarious.

So now, when I sneeze, I think of you Anita. I hope that makes you giggle as much as my sneezing.

Moving Day

Well, it's official. After a hunt for a moving truck, several days of rearranging and organizing, and many hours of hard labor, Evan is finally moved in. Thankfully he had much help from the boys with the big heavy stuff. I stuck to the girlie tasks of cleaning and straightening and deciding where all the new stuff will go. The place looks great, I'm quite pleased. Much to my surprise, everything he had kinda blends in with my stuff, and I haven't found anything that I'd want to throw out. Of course, this is coming from a woman who lived with Star Wars posters and a life-size cardboard cut-out of Captain Kirk for years.

Tolerance? Yeah, I have a little.

I've never lived with a man who I wasn't married to. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, it's just different. He thinks I'm freaking out. I'm fine, really. I'm glad to have him, and all of his stuff here, with me. Shacking up. Right on.

Had fun with the kids this weekend. We took them to see The Benchwarmers. Hilarious. It's late. Here I sit. I'm having a glass of wine. The cat is sitting on the back of my chair, purring like craazy. The boys are playing WoW at their respective computer desks. And my man looks so...at home.

Happy chick, that's me. I think I'm gonna like this. :-)

What I've learned from the news

If you want to kill your children and get away with it, move to Texas.

Dena Schlosser: (this woman lived just a couple of miles from me!)
http://wcbstv.com/topstories/topstories_story_097104643.html

Andrea Yates:
http://www.courttv.com/trials/yates/

Deanna Laney:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/03/29/children.slain/

What do all of these women have in common?
Fanatical religious beliefs.
And people wonder why I don't go to church.

The state's only saving grace: Darlie Routier is currently sitting on death row for the murder of her two sons. I guess one out of four ain't bad. Wait, yes it is.
http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/women/routier/1.html
But she didn't fall back on any religious excuses, she blamed an intruder who was never found. And even she may get a new trial.

Sometimes I wonder why I live in this state.

Don't date dumb.

I just wanted to share this because I thought it was funny.

My daughter has a new boyfriend. Seems like a nice boy and all, I don't know. But the guys she has dated in the past tended towards the less than intelligent breed. I'm guessing that's so she can tell them what to do and boss them a bit. But I could be wrong.

But yesterday she was telling me about the new one. She said he was nice and smart. Smart? Really? How smart could he be? And this is what she said to me:

"Yeah, he's really smart. He actually used the word 'cliche' correctly in a sentence!"

Be still my heart. We've got a Rhodes Scholar on our hands.

Write here, write now

Ok, I have been slacking off on my creativity for quite some time. I have kept my promise to blog at least once a week, and that's all well and good. But now I'm finally starting to put together a story that I've wanted to write for some time. It will be fiction, based loosely on real events, and those really are the best kind because I can make the characters do whatever I want them to. And since I'm working temp and my comedy club is closed, I really do have the time to do it now.

My promise to myself: Write one page per day, at the very least. More is fine, less is unacceptable. The only days that are exceptions are the weekends, because those are family days, and my kids have very little patience for my need to create.

Two days, 5 pages. A good start.

Write on.

Roomie's got a Girlfriend

Eww.

As if there weren’t enough people in my house already, one of our single guy roomies is now dating this girl. Hmm. I’ve seen her only twice over the past couple of weeks. She went to the movies with us all on Friday. I didn’t mention her, well, because I didn’t find her that interesting. Then she came over for Sunday dinner. Again, not terribly impressed. I mean, she seems nice enough I suppose, but she’s too quiet for me, and for some reason we find her a little creepy. Roomie has been adamant that they are ‘just friends’, because apparently she is married, (idiot), although going thru a nasty divorce. Yay! Red flag number one. He insisted that he wouldn’t date her because she has some health issues that he wasn’t prepared to deal with. Yay! Red flag number 2. But when I got up early this morning at 5:30 AM to get something to drink, her purse and shoes were left in the living room and I could hear mattress noises from his room down the hall.

Eww.
Eww.
Eww.

I’ve know him for 16 years, he’s kinda like my brother. And you don’t want to know anything about your brother’s sex life.

Eww.

Yes, I complain that there aren’t enough women around. And indeed, she is female. But he could have at least prepared us for this. Evan’s been around so long that he’s just become a part of our very odd family. But I introduced him to the boys slowly and over a period of several months, so they would get used to the idea of him being around all the time. But this chick, she’s just popped in suddenly and I find it disrupting.

Just one more thing for Evan and I to make fun of. I know roomie very well, and it will be fun to see what kinds of stupid things he does and says in order to impress this girl. I’ll be calling ‘bullshit’. I know it will be amusing. Evan has already witnessed a few things and we laughed hysterically about them. Mattress noises from one room, laughter from another. Thank goodness our house is large.

I just hope she doesn’t move in. Dammit. I am the queen of the house, and there’s no room for a princess. Why couldn't he date someone cool?

Girl talk

I just had the longest and most awesome phone conversation with my friend Beth.

Note to readers: If you call me up and ask me, "So, how ya doing, Jenn?" Beware. I just might answer that question.

Actually, probably not. I don't really like talking on the phone, and there are only a few people with whom I can carry on hours long conversations. Beth is one of those people. Two and a half hours of girl talk. Thanks, chick. I needed that. Badly. You rock.

Bye-bye, Tom. We won't miss you at all.

Tom DeLay has officially resigned from the House of Representatives. I feel a giggle coming on.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060404/ap_on_go_co/delay;_ylt=AuxNaCw0lFc5RKvN9WakZEeGbToC;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

"He has served our nation with integrity and honor," said Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, who succeeded DeLay in his leadership post earlier this year.

Excuse me? Integrity? Honor? Where has this guy been?

DeLay blamed "liberal Democrats" for making his re-election campaign largely a negative one that threatened the Republican hold on the seat.

Of course, blame those evil, nasty Democrats. It couldn't possibly have anything to do with the fact that you're a lying snake who thinks he's above the law? Nah.

He portrayed his decision to resign as a fatal blow for the fortunes of his opponent, Democrat Nick Lampson, who has garnered national attention — and financial support.

"It will no longer be a national race like it was ... His money will dry up," DeLay said. "This is probably the worst day of his campaign because he knows that any Republican who replaces me on the ballot will win this seat."

Sorry, Tommy. I don't think Mr. Lampson is worried. The worst day of his campaign? Try the best! He will easily win that seat. And he'll do it without dirty politics.

"The Abramoff affair has nothing to do with me," DeLay said on Fox.

Way to go to bat for your own lobbyist there, Tom. Kudos!

What's that I hear? It's a sigh of relief throughout the 22nd Congressional District!!!

One down. But how many more to go?

It will cost HOW MUCH?????

Well, it's official. My car is dead. Gone. Deceased. No more. Unless I come up with $2500 to have it repaired, and I really don't think it's worth it at this point. Not that I could blink up that much cash anyway.

So let's recap what I've spent on this car:

Vehicle Purchased: March 31, 2005.
Electrical problems in June: $200.00
Brake job in August: $250.00
Fuel pump replacement in November: $753.00
Water pump and intake gasket in February: $400.00
Head gasket that I'm not going to pay for: $2500.00

Taking a shot gun and putting it out of its misery: Priceless.

Time for a new vehicle. Dammit. I really liked that car.

Lazy Sunday

Good morning bloggers. I hate Daylight Savings. It's already 2 in the afternoon and I haven't even finished my coffee yet.

We went to see "The Hills Have Eyes" on Friday. It was bad. Really bad. Not even funny bad, just bad without the charm of a bad movie that knows it's bad. We laughed pretty much all the way through it. Luckily it was a matinee, so there were very few people in the theater.

My daughter is officially part of the work force. She's working at a bagel shop, I don't think I mentioned that part. I stopped in this morning to get some bagels for the boys, some coffee for moi, and to watch her work. I've never seen anything quite like it. I thought I might cry. One of those 'my baby's growing up' moments. But I didn't want to embarrass her too much, so I just sniffled a bit. But the bagels were delicious.

I managed to get our new bed into my room yesterday, with (very little) help from The Teenager. You'd think with a house full of men I wouldn't have to perform such laborious tasks. Sadly, they weren't available to assist. I was quite proud of myself for getting it in there. Look at me, moving furniture. And it's so comfy. I'm looking forward to many good nites of sleep.

In the process of moving the mattresses, I found a magazine that I thought I had lost. It's a Texas Monthly from 2003, and it has a great article about the Planned Parenthood clinic in Bryan-College Station. I was working for PP at the time, and I remember how much trouble we went through to get that place open. Contractors were backing out because of threats from the pro-life folks. The lifers staged protests daily, even when the building was under construction. They over ran the city council with letters and phone calls, trying to get our permits pulled on technicalities. Landlords didn't want to rent us any space, so we ended up purchasing the land and building the clinic from the ground up. But before that could happen, we had to raise the money for such an endeavor. I'm happy to say that my name is among those on the wall who made a donation. It was a long and arduous process, but one that I feel was worth it. It was a necessary addition to a college town.

Once the place was finally open, part of my job was to go out and videotape the big protests - and they were usually big, but especially large on Saturdays. Clinic workers were getting hate mail, patients were being harassed, it was all so...unnecessary. I volunteered as an escort a few times at our Houston office, but I was a little too intimidated to do that in Bryan. I was happy to remain safely behind the fence, with my coffee and video camera, watching these 'religious' people force their children to hold up signs that they couldn't even comprehend. Have a cause, fine people, but don't bring your kids into it until they know what the hell they're doing. Maybe they won't agree with your views when they're old enough to form their own opinions. The clinic manager received nasty notes, indicating that they knew where her son went to school. They even sent postcards to neighbors of staff, saying things like, "Did you know that your neighbor kills babies every day?" Yeah, that's real fucking 'Christian' of you.

Pro-choice forever, that's me. I don't need to be hit over the head with someone else's bible. Fuck that.

Off my soap box. I miss you PP folks.

Have a great Sunday, in spite of the hour we lost. I think I'm gonna go jump on my bed.