Memories...

I've been thinking about upgrading my computer memory again, but I'm never really sure what I need to buy, or how much my computer can actually take, you know? Right now I have two sticks of 512, and most things run pretty well, but I still have issues sometimes. Maybe I just multi-task way too much! *L* I know that I also need to upgrade my video card or something, too, because there are things I'm not able to do on Guild Wars because of the one I currently have. I guess I'll have to do a little more research before I decide what I need to do.

Yay, Saturday!!

Oh, it was nice to sleep in this morning! We were in bed until almost 10 & it was soooooo nice - of course we didn't get home until almost 2 this morning, but still. There have been other super-late nights where I'm up at 8, so this was a nice change. I'm not sure what we have planned for the day other than needing to run to the grocery store to grab a few things we forgot & getting the dishes done again, but I don't really care, because its Saturday. Maybe we'll get some movies to watch or go over to Dawn, Jason & Ryan's house, or maybe we'll just chill out & relax, it really doesn't matter to me, because its the weekend & the weather is lovely & warm today.

Tick-Tock

I have always loved clocks, there's just something about them that fascinates me. When I was a little girl, my grandmother had a tiny, red, cuckoo clock that you rarely noticed ticking during the day, but at night, when the house was quiet, its sound would lull me to sleep. My mom had a beautiful mantle clock that my grandfather made from a ship's clock, that chimed on the hour which was also dear to me. Troy has one that his grandfather made, its just gorgeous, but we can't use it because the key broke & it can no longer be wound. My favorite type of clock has always been the grandfather clock. We look at them often, and both of us wish we had space for one, and I'm pretty sure that when we get a bigger, more permanent home, we'll look into getting one.

Fun Friday

We have what seems like a very busy Spring coming up in the next few weeks/months. Last night, we had a bachelorette for a couple of our friends who are getting married April 28. They're sisters and having a double ceremony that Troy & I are presiding over. One of them, Sarah, is marrying our friend Mark, whom we've known since he was 16 or 17. The party was one of those adult "toy" parties & we had so much fun! There were so many laughs, and things that happen only when you get a bunch of crazy women together, give them a few drinks & risque things to talk about or do.

When we were all done there (and trust me it was almost midnight at that point), we went up to Dawn's house & read the ceremony to see if there was anything we wanted to change or didn't "approve of" (in my opinion not our place, its not our wedding) and to taste the honey mead we'll have during the ceremony and visit awhile. Its a really touching ceremony & there will be places where I'm trying hard not to cry because these four "kids" each mean so much to me in their own way. I'm excited about the wedding & nervous about it, too.. because I'm so not good in front of crowds & I don't want to screw this up, but I'll have my honey at my side to give me support.

The Prom Dress

I never posted an update about our search for Rhi's prom dress, did I? I found a beautiful one on Ebay, it had been relisted a couple of times, and Rhi just loved it, so I bid on it. Some chick with a 13 feedback & several negatives outbid me at the last minute. Man, was I mad! I went to the seller's ebay store & sent the link to Rhi of everything that was available in her size & she picked something else. I used the "buy it now" option & took care of it right then. A few days later, I got a second chance offer on the dress I had been outbid on - it seems the person who outbid me didn't pay for it! That really pisses off!

The dress we got is a lovely orange-red & I can't wait for it to get here. I still need to find/make her a crinoline for it, but that's no biggie. She's really excited about prom, its pretty cute.

Erin is still here, he pretty much lives in his van. Garrett is homeless, his paternal grandma kicked him out the other day, so he's trying to figure out what to do, now. It never ends, does it?

Stupid Weather

Yeah. It started snowing yesterday & has been off & on all day today, too. Last week & the one before it was 60-80 degrees every day. The grass was getting green, trees were budding, fruits trees had bloomed. I'm really hoping this hasn't ruined all of them now.

I'm happy the week is almost over, I'm super tired & just want to rest and sleep in past 6:20. I have a bachelorette party to go to tomorrow night that should be fun. Its one of those toy parties, although I doubt I'll buy anything. The party is for a couple of my friends who are sisters & having a double wedding next month. We were supposed to go to another friend's sons honor court for Eagle Scout tomorrow night, but I really can't skip this, since I'm supposed to be helping host it.

I've also started planning Morgan's baby shower, but I'm kind of at a loss, having never hosted one, or even had one myself.

Birthday MeMe

I got this one from PEA & thought I'd play along!

1) Go to Wikipedia
2) In the search box, type your birth month and day but not the year
3) List three events that happened on your birthday
4) List two important birthdays and one death
5) One holiday or observance (if any)

January 18

Events:
1. 1670 - Henry Morgan captures Panama.
2. 1788 - The first elements of the First Fleet carrying 736 convicts from England to Australia arrives at Botany Bay.
3. 1964 - The Beatles appear on the Billboard magazine charts for the first time.

Birthdays:
1. 1882 - A. A. Milne, English author (d. 1956)
2. 1965 - Dave Attell, American writer and comedian

Deaths:
1. 2007 - Brent Liles, American musician (Agent Orange/Social Distortion) (b. 1963)

Holidays or Observances:
1. Winnie The Pooh Day (in observance of the birthday of Alan Alexander Milne, 1882.)

Dreary Weather

Its cold, gray & raining today. At least the wind has mellowed out a little, though. It blew so loud & hard last night it kept waking me up. I'm so tired today. I don't know if its lack of sleep, if I'm coming down with something or its PMs, all I know is that I want to sleep.

Rhi & I got into a minor argument at the school this morning, she was panicking over something & asked for my help, so the minute I started helping her she acted like I touched her inappropriately & yelled at me. So. That was fun. We got it straightened out through text messages before the day was too old, though. She starts training at her new job this evening, I hope it goes well for her, but that she won't stay if she hates it.

Anyhow.. here's a Wedding/Marriage Meme & then I'm gonna nap.

1. Where/How did you meet?
At my house, in Pueblo, Colorado. A member of our gaming group invited him & some of his friends over to game. I had gotten married to the EA about a week before & knew the minute I saw Troy what a huge mistake I'd made.

2. How long have you known each other?
16 years on March 31.

3. How long after you met did you start dating?
2 months. I know that sounds weird, considering I said I'd just gotten married. The ex was cheating on me with my best friend since before we'd gotten married, I was just too stupid to see it until they came right out & admitted it to me in May. I was already in love with Troy, but I was behaving myself & not acting on my feelings. We were, however, getting to be very close friends & he was taking over the spot that my best friend had left when she started sleeping with the ex. When I kicked the ex out, I told Troy how I felt & we've been together since.

4. How long did you date before you were engaged?
We started our relationship on May 29 & were engaged on July 11.

5. How long was your engagement?
2 months. We got married right after my divorce was final.

6. How long have you been married?
15 1/2 years.

7. What is your anniversary?
September 26.

8. How many people came to your wedding reception?
About 9 or 10, we just had coffee & cake at our house that evening.

9. What kind of cake did you serve?
Chocolate.

10. Where was your wedding?
In a judge's office in Pueblo, Colorado.

11. What did you serve for your meal?
Just the coffee and cake.

12. How many people were in your wedding party
Us & our witnesses, Troy had a best man & I had a dude of honor.

13. Are you still friends with them all?
If we could ever get to see Ken again (he was the best man) we'd still be friends. We lost track of Chuck (the dude of honor) when we left Colorado.

14.Did your spouse cry during the ceremony?
Not that I recall.

15. Most special moment of your wedding day?
There was a moment that morning, when we were both feeling very nervous, when we realized that everything about us fit together perfectly.. right down to my wedding ring fitting inside of his.

16.Any funny moments?
Yeah, the judge sounded just like a Dalek.

17. Any big disasters?
Well. We were scheduled to get married the day before, but the judge forgot that they lock the courthouse at 4. We were supposed to get married at 4:30, so we had to reschedule for the next morning.

18. Where did you go on your honeymoon?
6 years later we went on a Caribbean cruise to the Bahamas.

19. How long were you gone?
About 9 days total.

20. If you were to do your wedding over, what would you change?
Probably nothing.

21. What side of the bed do you sleep on?
Lying on my back its the right side.

22. What size is your bed?
Full

23. Greatest strength as a couple?
We're best friends.

24. Greatest challenge as a couple?
Raising kids.

25. Who literally pays the bills?
I do. All of them. Troy earns most of the money, but I take care of the finances.

26. What is your song?
Everything I Do (I Do it For You) by Bryan Adams.

27. What did you dance your first dance to?
We didn't have one.

28. Describe your wedding dress:
It was a knee-length purple shirt with a sheer white blouse.

29. What kind of flowers did you have at your wedding?
My bouquet was my 1 year old daughter :)

30. Are your wedding bands engraved?
No.

31. How old were you when you got married?
I was 25, and Troy was 26.

States I've Visited

create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.

Now, granted, a lot of those states were from a trip we took from Utah to Maryland when I was 3 or 4, and the trip back & I don't remember a lot about it. Then there was the trip to Taos, and the one to Yellowstone, and to Texas to see my dad at Thanksgiving and many trips back & forth to California to see grandparents & aunts & uncles. And a few trips I've taken as an adult, too. Ah. Good times.

Claiming my Blog

Just claiming my blog at Technorati, check out my Technorati Profile.

Argggh.

Screw trying to survive Rhi's teenage years, I'm not sure I'm going to survive Erin's adult years. He's apparently going to move to Salt Lake City and become an "anarchist." Basically, he's going to live out of dumpsters, shoplift & do whatever he has to to not have to be "a wage slave for the man." He's been hanging around with a bunch of druggies that like to sit around & talk about how wonderful life would be if they didn't have to work, and could subsist on the excess of others, and so on. What he doesn't seem to get is that these people all have jobs & apartments & that one of them is psychologically disabled & on medication for his paranoia. Poor, lazy, gullible young man. He's in for a long, hard road, I'm afraid.

Its so frustrating to watch your child do something this stupid and not be able to do anything about it. I guess this is where being a parent *really* gets hard, isn't it?

Power Place

Where is your place of power? (pics, 7 possible answers)

Desert.Your place of power is the desert. You are likely attracted to those from far away places, and objects made of stone, wood, and shell. "Desert people" tend to be very quiet and introspective types, but very wise and intuitive. They are hard to get to know and open up to very few. But the people they do open up to are very blessed, for they are filled with knowledge and insight beyond their imagination.Power Colors: Orange, Tan, MaroonPower Animals: Camel, Hyena, CoyotePower Stones: Sandstone, Sunstone, SoapstonePower Scent: CloveMusic to Meditate to: Middle Eastern Trance MusicNever Leave Home Without: A bag for treasures you find while you're out.
Take this quiz!

Blah.

I'm starting to wonder if I'm going to survive Rhi's teen years. I swear, nothing I do or say is right anymore. She's always angry with me. Today, she called me & was all excited about the '54 Chevy she'd seen that had been restored & was for sale for 5k. She wanted to sell her scooter (its not worth 5k) and start saving to buy this car. She didn't understand that no one is going to wait for her to save up enough money to buy a car, that she needs to have the money first. She was really pissed when I told her how it actually works.

A Not-so-typical Wednesday

Troy had to go into work today. Not at his usual 7:00am, and not wearing his uniform (his new mantra, when called into work on his days off is "I'll come in, but I'm not wearing my uniform."). He went in at 9, and hopefully he'll be home before 1. He got handed a new responsibility this week and has been trying to get the program up & running ever since. I'm hoping he does, because he's been really frustrated with it.

------------------------------------------

Well. Its after 2. Still no Troy. So much for anything I may have wanted to do today. Stupid access system anyway.

Books.. I Love Books!

Hardback or trade paperback or mass market paperback? Mass-market paperback is fine with me.

Amazon or brick and mortar? Amazon. We only have one bookstore here that doesn't specialize in LDS books.

Barnes & Noble or Borders? I guess Barnes & Noble, its the only one I've ever been to.

Bookmark or dogear? Depends on whether the book is mine or borrowed.

Alphabetize by author or alphabetize by title or random? They're on the shelf by author, but not alphabetized. In some cases, they're on the shelf in the order of the series.

Keep, throw away, or sell? Depends on the book. If its from an author or series I collect, I keep them.

Keep dustjacket or toss it? I keep them.

Read with dustjacket or remove it? I usually tape the dustjacket in the book, so on.

Short story or novel? Either.

Collection (short stories by same author) or anthology (short stories by different authors)? Either.

Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket? Harry Potter.

Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks? When I'm tired.

"It was a dark and stormy night" or "Once upon a time"? Both, but usually "It was a dark & stormy night."

Buy or Borrow? Both.

New or used? Both.

Buying choice: book reviews, recommendation or browse? Recommendations & browsing.

Tidy ending or cliffhanger? Depends on whether its a stand-alone or a series.

Morning reading, afternoon reading or nighttime reading? Night-time usually.

Stand-alone or series? Both.

Favorite series? Discworld by Terry Pratchett

Favorite children's book? Charlotte's Web

Favorite book of which nobody else has heard? I don't know of one.

Favorite books read last year? Hogfather, Soul Music, Thief of Time, Witches Abroad, Wyrd Sisters

Favorite books of all time? Discworld series, Harry Potter series, a lot of Stephen King's books.

Least favorite book you finished last year? If it was a least favorite, I didn't bother finishing it.

What are you reading right now? Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire

What are you reading next? Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix

Baby Shower

So, I offered to give Morgan her baby shower next month (and in the process pissed off her 2nd cousin) along with Dawn & Vicki. Dawn's terrible at planning anything, and Vicki is gone right now & when she gets back, she'll be tied up with work & school again. So. It appears to be up to me. I have no clue. I never had one, I've only been to two in my life. (and they sucked) Any ideas? Dawn, who's Morgan's mother, hates shower games, so I don't know whether we should skip them or find out if Morgan hates them too, or what. All I know is that I'm running out of time.

Visual DNA

Blech.

I've had a headache for at least 2 days, and its still hurting today, as a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure it hurt all night. That usually means I'm coming down with something, and since my throat hurts & I'm slightly queasy, I guess I'm sick. Again. Sadly, Rhi is coming down with it, too. Her head was hurting so badly this morning she was walking around holding it. She wouldn't stay home, of course, but I imagine I'll have to go & get her before the day is over.

At least its quiet in the house right now & that helps.

If my head stays at the dull throb it is right, I'd like to get the living room cleaned up, but I'm not holding my breath or anything. It'll get done Wednesday when Troy's home if nothing else.

Just Hoping its Settled

I'm hoping that Rhi has it through her head now, I really am. I'm so tired of the arguments. I'm happy she has a boyfriend that cares for her & likes to be around her. I'm happy that his mom & step-dad like her, too. These things make her life so much easier. Now all she needs to realize is that she won't die if she doesn't get to see him every day. She WILL have to accept it tomorrow, because she has to stay home & work on her English paper, if she wants to pass the quarter.

Ya Know..

I'd have thought that after the huge argument Rhi & I got into the other day about my car that it wouldn't have happened again. At least not very soon. Yeah, I was wrong. I just wish she'd remember that she's 16 years old & has to ask permission to go places. That she doesn't just get to tell me that she's going. Or that she doesn't get to make plans for my car without discussing it with me first. Or leave garbage in my car. She went through almost a half tank of gas just yesterday & last night. My gas. Not gas she put in the car, because she isn't putting any in now.

Anyhow. Just angry & frustrated. Gonna go clean some more now.

Prom

The search for Rhi's prom dress continues. She's given me style she's interested in, and some colors she likes & so I'm looking on eBay everyday. I find a lot of dresses that, to me, aren't really "prom" dresses, they'd be great for clubbing - if Rhi was 23 - or a party dress, but not really in the "formal" category. I imagine there are places where prom isn't a formal occasion, but none that I've lived in. At any rate, I'm not having a lot of luck & I'm too cheap to go to the local stores & shell out 2-300 for a dress she'll wear once, you know?

I remember when my mom bought my prom dress for *my* Junior prom (I went to prom my freshman & sophomore years, as a date), she was stressing out over having spent $80 and made me lie to my dad about how much it was. Shoot, I spent $89 on Rhi's homecoming dress & she didn't even get to wear it until this past weekend. My mom would've had a come-apart if she had spent that much on a dress for a dance I didn't go to. And yeah. I was mad. But not about the money. Anyhow, gotta go wash some dishes, start dinner & watch AI, I'm running out of time.....

Entitlement?

Apparently, Rhi believes that she has a right to drive my car any time she wants to. She got really mad at me this morning because she couldn't drive to school today. Troy worked today, so that would have left me with no transportation, which would have meant that Erin had no way to work. I'm also a tad bit paranoid, because I've been called one too many times, by people Troy works with, telling me he's in the ER & have had no way to get there. She apologized later, but then, a little while ago, when she wanted to go to Will's house, she didn't even ASK if she could go, let alone if she could use my car. THEN she got pissed at me again because the time she wanted to come home was unacceptable, due to it being too late for me to give Erin a ride. I'm done. I'm seriously considering dropping her from the insurance & making her take her scooter.

Music MeMe

1. Go to popculturemadness.com and select the year (in the left sidebar) you turned 18.

2. Paste the list of the top 75 songs.

3. Bold the ones you liked; strike the ones you disliked; and italicize the ones you knew but didn't exactly like or dislike. The ones you don’t know will stay plain text.

Originally swiped from Poppy, and I'm only doing this to prove what a suck-ass year 1984 was for music. Particularly if you weren't into pop, which apparently I wasn't. (Except for Prince. Looks like I LOVED his ass.)

I am trying REALLY REALLY hard to be true to what I liked/didn't like/hadn't heard of AT THE TIME, without letting my current feelings lo these many years later affect my answers. But keep in mind, I was drinking a WHOLE hell of a lot in 1984. Like, more than now. That was the year I both graduated high school AND started college, yo. So. My memory may be a bit faulty, is what I'm saying.

1. Thriller - Michael Jackson
2. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun - Cyndi Lauper
3. Footloose - Kenny Loggins
4. Like A Virgin - Madonna
5. Holiday - Madonna
6. Pride (In The Name Of Love) - U2
7. Wake Me Up Before You Go Go - Wham!
8. Dancing In The Dark - Bruce Springsteen
9. Jam On It - Newcleus
10. Legs - ZZ Top
11. I Can't Drive 55 - Sammy Hagar
12. Time After Time - Cyndi Lauper
13. Lucky Star - Madonna
14. What's Love Got To Do With It - Tina Turner
15. Karma Chameleon - Culture Club
16. She Bop - Cyndi Lauper
17. Let's Hear It For The Boy - Denise Williams
18. Against All Odds - Phil Collins
19. Stay With Me Tonight - Jeffrey Osborne
20. Purple Rain - Prince
21. I Will Follow - U2
22. Miss Me Blind - Culture Club
23. I Feel For You - Chaka Kahn
24. Heart Of Rock and Roll - Huey Lewis and the News
25. Let's Stay Together - Tina Turner
26. I Just Called To Say I Love You - Stevie Wonder
27. Borderline - Madonna
28. We're Not Gonna Take It - Twisted Sister
29. Let's Go Crazy - Prince
30. Let The Music Play - Shannon
31. Cover Me - Bruce Springsteen
32. Holding Out For A Hero - Bonnie Tyler
33. Runaway - Bon Jovi
34. Rock You Like A Hurricane - Scorpions
35. Jump - Van Halen
36. 99 Luftballons - Nena
37. Eat It - Wierd Al Yankovic
38. Teacher Teacher - 38 Special
39. Cruel Summer - Bananarama
40. Somebody's Watching Me - Rockwell
41. I Want A New Drug - Huey Lewis and the News
42. Bang Your Head (Mental Health) - Quiet Riot
43. White Horse - Laid Back
44. Mama We're All Crazee Now - Quiet Riot
45. Remember The Nights - The Motels
46. Caribbean Queen - Billy Ocean
47. I Wanna Rock - Twisted Sister
48. Jump (For My Love) - Pointer Sisters
49. Ya Mo Be There - James Ingram
50. Rebel Yell - Billy Idol
51. Better Be Good To Me - Tina Turner
52. Sister Christian - Night Ranger
53. Illegal Alien - Genesis
54. It's My Life - Talk Talk
55. Look At That Cadillac - Stray Cats
56. Hard Habit To Break - Chicago
57. When Doves Cry - Prince
58. High Energy - Evelyn Thomas
59. On The Dark Side - John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band
60. Missing You - John Waite
61. Taking It All Too Hard - Genesis
62. No Parking (On The Dance Floor) - Midnight Star
63. Hot For Teacher - Van Halen
64. Superstar/Until You Come Back To Me - Luthor Vandross
65. The Longest Time - Billy Joel
66. Midnight Maniac - Krokus
67. A Girl In Trouble (Is A Temporary Thing) - Romeo Void
68. You're The Best Thing - The Style Council
69. 10-9-8 - Face to Face
70. To All The Girls I've Loved Before - Julio Iglesias and Willie Nelson
71. State of Shock - Jacksons and Mick Jagger
72. Blue Light - David Gilmour
73. Freakshow On The Dancefloor - Bar-Kays
74. Love Kills - Freddie Mercury
75. Sex Shooter - Apollonia 6

WTF?

What in the world is wrong with people? I just cannot even fathom what would possess a parent to do something like this. Ok, yeah, people kidnap their kids all the time, sometimes with very bad intent. But to kidnap your daughter, put her in an airplane & then crash that plane into a house? The house of your ex in-laws? Just to spite the ex wife? So basically, he was trying to rob her of everyone that was dear to her, her daughter and her parents. I just don't get it.. I guess I'll never understand that mindset. Never.

Wow!

Its an unbelievable 61 degrees outside! Its so warm & nice I can hardly believe it. Rhi took her scooter out for a little ride when I brought her home from school. I'm really hoping that spring is on the way & this isn't just another lull before the storm. Its been so cold & snowy here this winter, way worse than usual. I'm sick of being cold is all, I just want to smell the warm air, and things growing.

On the other hand, I could do without the headaches caused by my allergies. I have a feeling its going to be a high pollen spring, because I'm already waking up feeling bad. I guess I'd better stock up on medicine before its too late, because I intend to spend some time outside this spring & summer.

When Did She Grow Up?

Rhi had her Girls' Preference Ball on Saturday night & quite frankly, she looked gorgeous. Her boyfriend, Will, looked handsome & happy to be with her & she just sparkled. This was the first time she went to a real dance (formal-type) with a boy she really cares for. She was really excited to go & super nervous, too. She came home at about 12:30am, still looking beautiful & told me that it was "probably the best night in her life." I'm so happy that she's able to smile again, those months that she doubted & hated herself were so hard on her.

This week is SEOP week, so she gets out of school early every day. Thursday we have our conference, which at this time of year, is to schedule the next year. I can't believe this is the last time we'll do this & that this time next year, we'll be planning for graduation. Where did all of the time go? When she she get to be so.. grown?

Weekend Again

We had a typically busy Friday. We got up, took Rhi to school, came home, I took care of the bills and such & then drove Erin to work & we went grocery shopping. After we were done with that & had just finished putting them away, Dawn called & said Jason wanted to go to lunch, so we went & picked her & Morgan up & met Jason at Wingers. We had lunch, visited, took our time and enjoyed each others' company and then went & paid our rent. I picked Rhi up after school, dropped her friend Ryan off at his house, took her to get her final paycheck, we cashed it & payed off 2/3 of her fine. Then it was Walm@rt time, because Rhi has a formal dance tonight & had no shoes. She also needed other things. So we looked at shoes, she didn't find any she liked, so we went to P@yless & there were even fewer there, so we got into an argument & came home.

She took off to go to some stuff with William & her friends, we took off to our friends' and played Dead Lands. I took her again this morning to look at shoes & she found some she liked, and we grabbed the other stuff she needed too. She's really excited about the dance tonight, and I can't wait to see them all dressed up :)

So Tired

I can usually tell what day of the week it is by my level of fatigue every day. It must be Thursday, because I sure didn't want to get out of that bed this morning. But get out, I did. I got up, got dressed, had breakfast and went to a Faire meeting. After that, we came home & I fixed my lunch, which I promptly spilled all over my desk & chair. So, I gave up on that, because I'm a quitter like that. We went to Dawn's to help her get some patches for Ryan's uniform lined up where they were supposed to be, went & grabbed some lunch, ate too much & now I want a nap. All before 2pm.