The Fam Visits Seattle

We spent this last weekend in Seattle with David and Tia. It was SO good to see them. I wish we lived closer. I wish I had a vehicle that's abilities included warp speed travel...

ANYWAYS, our time there included sushi (at Marinepolis, one of our favorite sushi joints), going to the aquarium, spending some time at Alki beach, and on Saturday the guys took the kids on a ferry ride to Friday Harbor while Tia and I stayed in Seattle and had a marathon girl-talk in which we solved all of the world's problems before going to a movie and dinner.

We ended up taking Jessy with us on our trip. I've never had the experience of traveling with a dog before this little one showed up. She is good in the car, sleeping most of the time. Whenever we would stop for her to go out and go potty, it felt like we were traveling with a rockstar. There was one instant where her rockstar status was severely compromised, but I will get to that in a minute...

I had coffee for breakfast every morning I was there and it was so stinking great. I knew I would pay for it when I got back (and I am), but it was heaven. I always feel really good in Seattle. It might be that it's closer to sea level there, or maybe the extra humidity, OR maybe the fact that it is always vacation time with no responsibilities, or the conversation with Tia (which I suspect may be the real reason- what beats a good talk with a friend in the feeling better department?), but I just felt great.

Then we come home.

Fire on the Mountain

It turned into fire season here while we were over there.

And no coffee means a big, all-day head ache.

And there is road construction on the road leading to my house again.

And I forgot my wallet at Safeway.

And I was going to drive back to Safeway to get my wallet, but then I realized I'd lost my keys, so I couldn't start my car.

I finally gave up finding my keys and borrowed Derrick's, had to reface road construction again and made it back to Safeway. The good news is that my wallet was still in the shopping cart out in the parking lot where we'd left it.

SO, I went home and took a nap.

That has been the bulk of my first day home, with a couple loads of laundry in there too.

School starts a week from today. I can not believe this summer is over. I was able to do pretty much everything I'd hoped to at the beginning of the summer, but I still need more time!!! We have one more camping trip this weekend, a final hurrah to summer. It's with good friends, it will be awesome. But then school starts. *sigh*

SO, on that sorry note, I will tell the story of what happens when you take a puppy to a beach in Seattle...

We'd been working with Jessy to go potty while on a leash the whole time we were over there. She'd stubbornly refused to go at all unless allowed off of her leash, which was only allowed while at David and Tia's place.

We went on a couple outings to Alki beach in West Seattle. It has one of the best views of Seattles skyline I've seen, AND you get to be in sand by the water while seeing that view. It is a win/win for all involved. We decided to bring little Jessy with us because she'd been inside for most of our visit over there; puppy needed to stretch her legs and run around.

We knew she wouldn't love being on a leash, but those are the breaks. As someone who has never been a dog owner as an adult, I have been very surprised by how many places flat out don't allow dogs, and the places that DO allow dogs all seem to require leashes. Seems unnatural, but I didn't make the rules. We would follow the rules at Alki beach; Jessy would wear her leash.

The guys dropped us off so they could find a parking place. We (Tia, kids and myself) made our way down to the water. Jessy was being drug along by her leash. Derrin was limping along in a dramatic fashion because he'd hurt his foot by jumping from high places earlier in the day. Tara and I were carrying our beach chairs, getting ready to do a lot of sitting, talking, and taking pictures of the kids frolicking. Kloe was already heading for the water with every intention of jumping in.

We set our chairs down and proceeded as planned. Eventually the men joined us, and we all were enjoying our time by the water. We were completely surrounded by people (that beach is crazy busy), but it felt like we were the only ones on our little spot of the beach, enjoying our time together.

Then Jessy happened. The puppy who wouldn't go potty while attached to a leash the WHOLE TIME we had been there? Well, whether it was the sand, the sound of the water hitting the shore, or just the relaxed atmosphere we'd all been enjoying, she was all of a sudden in her comfort zone. All of a sudden she was squatting and without thinking I cried out "OH NO!!!", just so if anyone else on the beach WASN'T witnessing our dog soiling the sand, they were now alerted to have the opportunity to do so.

Oh Lordy. There was a lot of illegal puppy poo there, and as new puppy owners, we have NOT developed a good checklist of puppy related things to take on all outings, the first of which would be a plastic baggie for such an occasion. I stood up and started fumbling for my shoes, only thinking "MUST FIND BAGGY". In my shoe finding haze, I missed the heckling calls from the group of people closest to us, but I heard later it was to the effect of "Get that dog off the beach!!" And when I heard them shouting to pick up the poo, I shouted back,"Well yeah, of course we will" because I am a QUICK thinker like that. Did they want me to pick it up with my bare hands and carry it away as penance? Maybe they did, because I felt their eyes on us until we had the situation resolved. David was the one who ran up and found a bag, and then I scooped up the shameful deposit, problem solved. SOOO dramatic. *sigh*

In looking for the baggy, a sign was discovered by David and Derrick that while dogs were allowed on the sidewalk above the beach, they were not allowed in the sand. This was a huge surprised to us, because we had seen literally dozens of dogs down there. If you can't take your dogs to the beach, where CAN you take them? Not only were they not allowed, however, but there was a five hundred dollar fine for having a dog down there. Derrick and David took off with Jessy, intending on going for a walk and avoiding a fine.

As for Tia, myself and the kids, we stayed. We couldn't let the hecklers think they'd driven us off, so we hunkered down and enjoyed the rest of our time there, every extra minute a triumph.

Eventually we had to pack up all of our stuff and go out to find the men and the cars.

We were a pitiful looking crew. Derrin hobbled along like he'd actually LOST his foot at some point, so I carried a chair and my big camera with one arm, and held on to him with the other. Kloe was completely soaked from jumping in the ocean, AND she had about four cups of sand in her underwear from scooting along the beach on her behind while playing. She walked bowleggedly along behind us, tears in her eyes, every inch screaming pitiful, miserable girl. Tia finally took pity and started carrying that 8 year old girl on one hip while carrying one of the chairs in her other. We should have been carrying tin cans so West Seattle could at least throw dollars in there to help relieve our suffering.

Eventually, we found the guys, the puppy and the cars, loaded the broken children in them, and back home we went.

Monday Rocks and How They Hit You

What a DAY.  Craziness, all 'small business trying to make it in this big bad world' inspired.  I always knew I had the better end of the deal NOT being one of the pilots of this company.  At least I am in very good company, and I'm glad to be there with him.

Between managing bank accounts, trying to figure out what needs to be paid (and what to pay it with?), connecting with a new accountant who actually has our best interests at heart (and cursing the old one who didn't), the IRS and it's "friendly" reminders, and meeting with our insurance agent and renewing our plan which of course will cost more this year, we are DONE. 

DONE I SAY!!! 

Until tomorrow, we are done with that "money stuff".
~.~
We drove by our old purple car today.  I haven't seen it in five years, and I have to say it was still looking pretty cute. 

Derrick pointed it out to me and I had to squeal and say,"Awww!  It's still so pretty!  Why did we ever get rid of it?" 

He glanced over at me like I was crazy.  "It caught on fire.  For no reason.  Remember?" 

Oh yeah, that's what happened to that car. That's why we sold it.

Still a cute car though.

Randomosity

1.  I've rediscovered Kate Bush.  I'd forgotten I had even ever known about her, for crying out loud, and her music exemplifies my favorite style of music; haunting, storytelling lyrics and wistful female lead vocals.  My point is, happy rediscovery!!!

2.  I've started running with pepper spray in hand.  HA!  Take that mountain lions, giant Runner-Devouring-German-Shepards,  and wanna be kidnappers.  Not that I've ever seen any of you (except for rogue dogs), but I know you've been hiding behind trees, just waiting to chew on my legs.  Hope you remember to stand still enough for me to squirt my spray in your eyeball.

 3.  There have been some "driving issues", of a demoralizing nature.  I started Monday off with a "BANG".  One minute I was just driving along, enjoying the morning sun which was almost blindingly bright light, and the next thing I know I'm flying full speed up over a curb that I didn't even see.  The road out there is pretty wide except for one spot that gets very narrow with a curb that juts out into the road as a defining feature of a crosswalk.  I've always hated that spot.  Shaken up, I got out to see the damage.  A guy stopped from his morning walk just to shout "TWO FLATS!!!"  Well, thank you for your caring observation, Mr. Walking Man.  So thankful for that useful information.  But really, I am okay. I can tell you are so worried as you scurry away with your good samaritan observation of the day checked off of your list. Glad I could help with that.

So, two flat tires.  Turns out my insurance covers towing.  The tow truck driver was very fun to talk to on the way to Les Schwab.  Hanging out with him, hearing his story of what it's like to be a tow truck driver, was the best part of the experience. 

Derrick was in a meeting seeing if he would be chosen for jury duty, so getting a hold of him was impossible until much later.  He was eventually dismissed just in time to decide that instead of two new snow tires, we'd go ahead and put regular tires on for Spring.  Then he took me out to breakfast/lunch, since this whole thing had started at 8:30 in the morning and I hadn't even had breakfast yet (noon and I was still wearing my pajamas, although they passed for regular clothes pretty well).  Between the new Spring tires and an eventual wheel replacement as well as two new winter tires, my little mistake turned costly.

4.  Add me to the list of people that the IRS likes to stress out.  That's all I'm gonna say about that one.

5.  Went to Thompson Falls last weekend and got to see my family and friends there.  Talked to Dad about eventually growing a lot of potatoes and organic food on his land.  This seems like a good idea because...

6.  ...we now are proud receivers of Netflicks, which includes a lot of instant movies and shows we can get off of our wii console, and this means a whole new world of DOCUMENTARY access has opened up to us.  I am GEEKING out.  Friday night (the night before the discussion with my dad about growing potatoes and organic food) I had the house to myself, so first I watched a documentary about "The Moment of Death", and then I watched one about the Solitary Confinement and the psychological consequences it induces, and continuing onward with my dark theme, we (Derrick was home for the last one) watched one called "Collapse" about the co-relation between oil and the world's economy, and how worldwide famine will soon be a reality (no problem believing that).  Needless to say, I started the weekend off with a macabre frame of mind. The weekend with my family, the Watchtower lesson at meeting on Sunday about the power Jehovah supplies through holy spirit (SUCH a good article!) and then the car issues on Monday helped bring me back to the present.  Still want to plant the potatoes and organic vegetables though, but more for the love of gardening and healthy food than for mass food storage.

7.  My kids would rather be inside, than out in the sun.  What's up with THAT?  I almost feel like re-messing up their rooms so I could tell them the choice is either clean their room or go outside.  Spring Break starts tomorrow.  I see I will need to come up with a threatening list of chores to point to any time they start giving me a hard time about going outside.

~Creative Negativity~

• I hate snow. Anomosity between myself and snow is not unusual.
• I hate rain. There is no love lost between myself and rain.
• I hate winter. I find winter to be an abomination.
• I hate being cold. I loathe being cold.
• I hate gray skies.  I find gray skies to be repulsive.
• I hate that it's only half way through December.  I deplore that it's only half way through December.
• I hate my inability to hibernate. I object to my inabilty to hibernate.
• I hate the wet, slushy/slippery roads outside that make my treadmill a necessity.  I'm disgusted by the wet, slushy/slippery roads that make my treadmill a necessity.
• I hate my treadmill.  I harbor wicked thoughts toward my treadmill.
• I (still) hate sharing the road (especially in winter) with other drivers. It grieves me to share winter roads with other drivers.
• I hate that last weekend is over.  I'm bitter that last weekend is over.

Of Icy Roads and Dragons

It is cold and icy out there this morning! Cars were sliding off of their driveways, and the rest of us still on the road were scooting along cautiously. I sort of enjoy icy roads- any late arriving on my part can by due to "good winter driving" instead of "no concept of time" (in my own defense, I DID leave in plenty of time this morning- it actually WAS good winter driving! Yay me!!).
It was fun watching the kids teeter out of down our entrance way to the sidewalk on their way to the bus. Kloe had it down pretty good, not too much sliding and big careful steps. Derrin fell on his behind immediately and scooted/rolled 'til he got to the road. Maybe some sand or salt would be a good idea...

I hope the roads are better tomorrow!!! We have some driving to do and places to go!
"Snow accumulations could reach 10 inches by late Friday, with up to 15 inches over the mountain passes and higher terrain.  A winter storm warning means significant amounts of snow, blowing snow or ice accumulations are expected. Strong winds are also possible.  Travel will be hazardous or impossible, the Weather Service says, so prepare accordingly."- So says the Missoulian... but they've been wrong before.


I am tired this morning. Kloe had a long night, and therefore so did I. She came into my room after a bad dream and laid down with me for awhile. I had her go back to her room eventually, but after about ten minutes I heard her crying so I went in there and laid down with her for awhile. She was glassy eyed and sounded stuffed up and her teeth were hurting and she kept talking about a nightmare of a dragon (it's always dragons and dinosaurs in her nightmares). It was literally an hour of this- usually I can talk her through bad dreams; they can't hurt you, have you tried praying... you know, regular nightmare talk therapy. Normally she snuggles up and is fine, but last night she was frozen in some unhappy place. I finally gave her some tylenol to help with her teeth, and then some of the ignatia that I bought for myself the other day.  It was the most awesome thing!  She was asleep within minutes of giving her the ignatia.  I sat there stroking her forehead and could see the tension in her face just go away.  Good stuff!  She woke up in a pretty good mood this morning considering the rough night that she'd had.  I do feel bad about her teeth hurting.  I think she must have a lot of her permanent teeth pushing up.  It hurts to be a growing kid!  I remember my teeth hurting, my legs hurting, and now both of the kids are going through it.  Poor bebes.

SO, back to tomorrow... I get off of work early today, have to go to the bank get a living will notarized.  After all of the craziness this year, it seems like a good time to get things arranged( like real grown ups) i.e. doing wills, getting better health and life insurance...  Boy, will we feel safe to have all of our affairs in order:/

And then back to home to finish Derricks anniversary present (hehe), clean the house and start to pack:)

Driving With Kids

I just got back from Spokane from driving the kids to meet their aunt Tia. They get to go hang out in Seattle for the rest of the week with her and Uncle David. Needless to say, the kids were pleased with this situation.

On the drive to Spokane,it was just the kids and I. I began feel a bit irritated that a seemingly obvious features have not been offered to the general car-buying public.

Of course, what I'm talking about, is a sound proof window between the front seat and the back (with the option of either being opened or closed). Included with this, a speaker system so you could still hear your children in the back seat, but have VOLUME CONTROL.

I'd also submit as options, that a second window (and a third, depending on how many children you have) divide the back seat so that each child has their own private section of seat where no one can ever touch them (and when I say "no one", I of course mean the sibling who is has acquired the impressive skill of making his sister react mightily with the mere SUGGESTION that he COULD put a toe or finger on her side of the car, if he so chooses this dark path). When needed, the windows between children will have the option of becoming non-transparent, so no one will ever be able to exclaim "He's looking at me again MOMMMMM!!! (The volume control will also be beneficial in this situation).

I submit that some of the benefits to including this option to any car package would be:

- Fewer wrecks from parents checking in their rear view mirror covertly to see who really IS the kid who crossed the invisible line into the other kid's section first.

- Fewer wrecks from parents daring a quick, but deadly, glance into the back seat as a warning that your mother looking at you with that twitching eyeball is a lot more disturbing than your sibling looking at you.

-A bonus plus to the sectioned off back seat is that anyone choosing to emit noxious fumes would be the only one to suffer from that particular choice. Fumes= watery eyes and gagging, which produce an unsafe driving environment.

One more suggestion for this back seat: They will be made out of rubber, with no seams where food, crayons, or any other kid goo can get lodged. At the end of a trip a car can simply be hosed down and wiped off.

Now I know these are not new ideas. In fact, they are probably part of a collective dream of parents everywhere. The thing about this dream, is that it's the DREAM ITSELF that causes me to smile a little more easily as I drive down the road with kid chaos in the backseat. I know someday the real memories will be the conversations, and the times we've spent together as we've driven down the road. The chaos and my reaction to it will be the stuff of our family stories. So, I guess in reality, all I need for now is just the dream to get me through the louder moments in the car with my kids:) Time will take care of the rest.

Something to think about while road ragin'...

If a small thing has the power to make you angry, does that not indicate something about your size?
Sydney J. Harris

Summer ROCKS

July 3rd we (Renae, Steph and I) went to Lilith Fair over at the Gorge in Washington. It was AWESOME!!!! The line up was fantastic! I FINALLY got to see my favorite musical artist EVER (Sarah McLachlan) live! Wow, I was excited. I finally understand why all of those silly little girls at Beatles concerts screamed like... silly little girls:) There was also Sheryl Crow, Sugarland, Erykah Badu, Cobly Coley, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals (awesome new band!), and A Fine Frenzy (LOVED LOVED LOVED HER!!! Check her out!!) The crowd was interesting to watch (ah hem), but peaceful and just there to have a good time. Definitely want to do it again! I would be a Lilith Fair Follower if it didn't put me so far in the Out Of Touch With Reality category! :) I'll post some pics later when I get a chance.

Besides that, life is pretty much back to normal. The kiddies are back home with us, and it is nice! I missed them so much! We are going to have Kobe come stay with us this weekend, and I am looking forward to seeing him too:)

Add to those details of life :

~A lot of gardening.

~Also replacing dead goldfish in the front pond (Benny and Joon did not make it- Johnny and June in the little back pot pond are holding strong. Yesterday we put Zavidy (Derrin's fish), Zena (Kloe's fish) and JoonTU (MY fish) in the front pond- here's to hoping they LIVE).

~Also, Lizzy (Kloe's girl gecko), laid her first two eggs last week- they are in a little dish on the warm side of their aquarium. I will rejoice if they hatch.

~There was also quite a bit of road rage on my part I had planned on sharing, but I'm thinking the only thing that needs to be said is: I need to quit yelling at bonehead drivers in front of my kids. Derrin thinks I don't like elderly drivers because the last three people to cut me off in traffic have been little old ladies. I seriously am trying to chill out!!

I have to say, this summer so far has been pretty incredible, and it's not even half way over yet! We still have our assembly in Kennewick in a couple of weeks, our motorcycle trip with Doug and Renae, some photography stuff lined up, and our trip to SEATTLE (yay!). May this summer never end.

Summer Vacation has Officially Begun

I am working SO hard to be a punctual person. I don't know WHY being on time has always been an issue for me, but I can go back to childhood and remember being late to everything. I have no concept of time. BUT, just because it has always been a problem, it doesn't mean it will ALWAYS have to be a problem, right? Right.

I left a full half-hour early this morning to get to work on time. I still had to drive the kids to Gramma's first, but I should have had no problem rolling in a couple minutes early. Instead I managed to get there by the skin of my teeth. WHY?

Sometimes it feels like I'm in my own personal Truman Show life. As soon as I dropped off the kids, it felt like the creators of my personal show were trying to keep me in my old role. All of a sudden there was road construction where there had never been road construction before, huge trucks that couldn't go over 15 miles and hour, all red lights, and I kid you not, a TRAFFIC JAM in the middle of a residential area that normally has nothing there but old ladies walking their dogs and people riding their bikes. It was the weirdest thing! And I was in the middle of it, unable to go forward or backward, trying to breath deeply and think calm thoughts. Despite all obstacles, I made it exactly on time:)

Besides my drama of untimeliness, we have been working in the yard a lot lately. We are almost done with all of the projects we deemed necessary to make it pretty again. We stained the fence and the lattice around the back porch, I planted more vines to creep up the lattice, we put in a new flower garden where the hot tub used to be, we planted a crab apple tree, I bought a planter for the pond and a new little fishy spout for it as well, and I bought a giant planter and a pump and some water plants to add a water element to the back porch. My little vege garden is also all planted, although I wouldn't say it is thriving. Both Derrick and Derrin were giving me a hard time about my black thumb yesterday. It doesn't seem like it should be so hard to make things grow, but my plants generally look beragled and suffering, like they wish they could be growing anywhere else but in my yard. My gardening self-esteem is low, but my hopes are still high that this might be the year I figure it out. Perhaps this year my thumb is actually dark green instead of black. Anyways, I have to say that I am finding my yard a very pleasant place to wander about in, postage stamp size though it may be.

Different topic- back to the eternal subject of running. The kids are out of school now, so my long runs down the magic dirt road are probably not going to be as frequent as before. Back to the tread mill for me. I did my first 5 miles of the summer vacation treadmill style this morning. Started watching "Lost" again- hopefully it will get me through at least a month or so of inside running. Since it is my second time though the series, I know which parts to fast forward through (Derrin is freaked out by the show, but somehow can't stop watching it), and what parts to tell him exactly whats going on to take the mystery out of it, and thereby make it unscary. I need a new series REALLY bad- something that would be okay for kids to watch too.

And... well, that's about it for the moment!

Bumper Stickers

Especially in Missoula, you will find that a lot of people make statements with the bumper stickers they choose to put on the back of their cars. Usually if you follow closely enough, you will know whether the person is Republican (and bitter, with anti-Obama stickers), or liberal. You will know whether they are a cat or dog lover. NRA supporters. Pro-lifers. Man Haters. Hawaii lovers. Honor roll kid parents. Jesus lovers who like to prove it with a bumper sticker. Little stickers of stick figures representing each member of the family. Calvin peeing on random things. People who know that well behaved women rarely make history. LOTS of cars with little pink and yellow ribbon stickers, supporting their causes.

Every day, I manage to peel out from my house exactly 15 minutes before my shift starts at work. Why not 20 or 25 minutes? Because I am a very busy lady, that's why! Trust me, I have good reasons! SO, I have 15 minutes to make it to work which is PERFECT as long as I hit all green lights (there are five lights between my house and work- even if I hit three greens, I am still doing good), and I can go the speed limit.

Some days I get behind people who actually seem to want to make it through the green lights. Some people even seem to care enough to speed up so that one or two cars behind them can make it too. But then there are the OTHER drivers, the ones who drive as if it would be impolite to try to push their way through the green lights. It's like they think they are being greedy to want to make it through their journey without pausing. Some people actually slow down BEFORE the light turns yellow, as if they feel bad for rushing the lights. They drive with a great big "Please pardon me, and everyone I have trapped behind me. Of course, please DO go first. We don't mind stopping at ALL. It's not like ANY of us have anywhere we are in a HUGE hurry to get to!"

While fuming about the drivers in front of me, I read their bumper stickers, because I'd say roughly 80 percent of these slow drivers are also into preaching the way they see the world to everyone behind them. It's like a big game of follow the leader, and when it's THEIR turn to be the leader, you'll have the pleasure of driving a polite ten miles under the speed limit (as EVERYONE should be doing! Safety first guys!), and any driver behind them who dares to drive too close in a threatening manner (that would be me) will get to be indoctrinated into the proper view of the world (theirs).

I'd like to take this opportunity to tell the bumper-sticker-lovin'-slow-drivers a thing or two. Let's see... thanks for helping accentuate my propensity for being late. Just know that you only made me stronger. Every time I have resisted the urge to ram into you from behind, I have flexed a muscle of self-restraint. You should be glad that I am such a well behaved woman, because I have wanted to make history by shoving you off of the road into the green light pole that you are gently encouraging to turn red before we make it through. And I hate your dog/cat/honor roll student. I also think Calvin peeing on things is degrading to such an awesome comic strip, and you should be smacked for having bought that particular sticker. Hawaii lovers, I also love Hawaii, and I think you should MOVE there- ALL the islands drive as slow as you do: they are YOUR PEOPLE! Please move there, where people won't want to ram you from behind with their Wranglers/Mustangs. And to all other causes you slow drivers are promoting from the back of your cars... you have a new nemesis to your cause. Just hope you are Batman in slow motion.

Disgruntled on a Wednesday

On the way to work today, I realized I was in a far worse mood than usual. So, as I crept along on 39th Street traffic, I jotted down the top three things that had managed to aggravate me this morning the most:

1. The magazines displayed for everyone to see as they walk through the line at Safeway (or any other food store). Especially the ones shouting out "THE BEST AND WORST BODIES OF THE SUMMER", in which they show a perky, tanned and toned 16 year old girl in a bikini right next to a much older woman who may or may not have the best body ever. It makes me SO angry that they display this trash right where everyone in the world passes by (assuming you need to buy food to eat), trying to brainwash us all about what feminine beauty should look like. I don't need that!!! I don't think ANY woman needs to be force fed this absolute garbage. Most of us struggle with some level of body image as it is. It especially hurts me when I have my children in line with me. I don't want my daughter OR son to look at these magazines. My beautiful little daughter is only 6 years old, and already she has expressed worry over whether a certain pair of pants makes her look "fat". She already feels the pressure of this world's commercial monster, trying to make girls and women feel like we have to be perfect to be acceptable. And why do they want to make us feel that way? The next natural step is to spend money on the products that will make us feel pretty. *sigh*

2. The media in general. I hate how they make gods out of regular people. I hate how they set people up high and then gather around to feast on the very same people during hard times. I hate their "hard hitting reports" where they expose whatever and demonize people to the public, only to make the same people seem like absolute angels when they die.

We haven't had satellite for almost two months now- we pretty much only watch PBS- and STILL we had to hear about Michael Jackson every time we turned on the television. He was a great musician and artist and it is sad that he died, but I DON'T KNOW HIM or any other celebrity who dies. Why should his death receive so much more attention from all of us than any other mortal? *sigh*

3. Traffic on 39th Street. I have to drive this road every day to work, and inevitably I get stuck behind someone who wants to play it "safe" by driving 15 miles per hour in a 35 per hour speed limit. Last week it was this guy on a cute little motorcycle. I really had to resist the urge to push him along faster with my car. *sigh*

Anyways, thanks for reading my list. I feel a little better now.

Proof of Insurance

Last year, the tags on the purple bomb expired, and I did nothing to accomidate the issue. Month after month, we drove around with expired tags. I felt a guilty twinge almost daily, but never enough to actually drive myself to the court house and buy new tags. Honestly, it was pure laziness on my part. I had the money set aside to do it, but the drive clear across town to go stand in a line for an undisclosed amount of time was the real mental roadblock. So, we committed to driving extra carefully, and let the months roll by. Eventually we realized that if we could make it to the first of January before buying the tags, that we wouldn't have to pay the previous year's taxes. Now, that is just economical.

The second of January, Kloe and I went down to the courthouse and paid for the new tags. I proudly put the new sticker on the front of my car. We'd been meaning to eventually put it on the back where it was supposed to go, but as you see, the tags have never had an appropriate amount of importance attatched to them for us to remody THAT situation either. We drove on our merry way, guilty twinges gone.

Enter yesterday, at the intersection of Reserve and Brooks where the train tracks run through. Since I have lived here I have only had to stop for a train there maybe four times. Yesterday I had to stop for a train. A police car pulled in right behind me. Now, because I was raised in Plains Montana, where I have been pulled over numerous occasions on a local officers whim (and the fact I have a #4 county plate on my car), I always expect to be randomly pulled over and this causes me to get twitchy. Sometimes I even start to quietly start to reassure myself,"You are OKAY, you have done nothing wrong, there is NO reason to be pulled over". When the train had gone by, and I started moving again, the blue and red lights behind me started to flash.

Did you know it is a fifty dollar fine to have the stickered tag on the front of the car? I didn't either. Also, did you know that your proof of insurance has to have the effective dates on it? Once again, me neither. I have to admit, it was somewhat satisfying to say, "I DO have a current tag, it is just on the front", and equally deflating to hear that it is still a fifty dollar penalty for not switching it to the back. But the officer was nice, and let me off the hook. He said it is the highway police officers that will really fine you for that (in town officers are the nice guys), but I still have to go to the courthouse with proof of insurance. Ironic huh? A whole year of procastinating the tag thing to avoid the courthouse, and now I have a week to reappear to another line there with proof of insurance. Poetic justice? Maybe.