This is exactly why I don't talk about the sperm donor.

WARNING: This post is a HUGE rant that covers a couple of decade’s worth of shit and even then I’m barely touching on SO many things. I TOTALLY understand if you want to run screaming from it. I want to run screaming from it, and it’s my life! If you do dare to actually read it, well then, consider yourself forewarned.

*****

I have an ex-husband. I admit it.

It’s not that I hide my first marriage. Not in the least. My first marriage played a very big part in shaping the person I am today. I just usually refer to it indirectly (second marriage, second husband, etc.). If you have checked out my sidebar, you might have noticed that I acknowledge my ex-husband briefly. Very. Briefly. And then I go on to say that I don’t like to talk about him. EVER.

I hate my ex-husband. Hate him. Yes, I did just use the H word. And yes, I do know how harsh that sounds.

I met my ex when I was a senior in high school. My first job was at the local roller skating rink (remember those?) and my ex worked there too. We met and got along well enough and started dating about a month after I started working at the rink.

Our relationship…..overall…..was volatile. I can’t think of a better word to describe it. We fought A LOT. I wouldn’t say it was abusive. But it sure as hell wasn’t healthy. It took me years to figure out that I jumped from the frying pan into the fire. I used him as my excuse to get away from my family, which was dysfunctional with a capital D.

I fooled myself into thinking that I loved my ex and stayed in the relationship because the alternative to me was so much worse. It was either him or my family. And it was imperative that I stay away from my family. They were quicksand to me (but that’s a post for another day). So I stayed. Even though he treated me badly. Even through the drugs. Even through the lies.

And then we broke up for a while. Sure, I know NOW that the break up was the best thing. But then? Breaking up with my ex forced me back to my family, which by this time was totally falling apart. I didn’t want to be around that. I still felt I had to get away from them. So when my ex apologized, I took him back.

I was pregnant with my son soon after and we were married a few months later.

After my son was born (at least I think it was after), my ex started having unexplained seizures that left him on disability and without a driver’s license. We had to move in with his parents, which just added more stress and things were already bad between us. By the time he went back to work and we moved out, the relationship was in shambles. The lies started again. When I confronted him with the huge lie he had told all along about his health issues, I said it was over. I took my son and left.

I struggled on my own. And I made mistakes. HUGE mistakes. Mistakes that I still kick myself for. One of those mistakes gave my ex the foothold he needed to separate my son from me. After that, he filed for divorce. Before the divorce was final, I felt like I hadn’t given the marriage 100% effort. I know now that it really was about still staying away from my family. I just didn’t have enough faith in myself.

The lies continued. My ex said that he had a vasectomy. Can you guess what happened next? You got it. I wound up pregnant. Luckily, that pregnancy did not go to term. I can’t even begin to imagine what it would have been like if we had another child together. I don’t want to.

Sadly, I stayed with him for quite a few more months. The divorce was final, but we were still dating. At some point, I FINALLY got a clue! I realized that I had given the marriage every effort, and that I deserved so much better. I told my ex that it was over.

To say he took it badly was an understatement. And he had the upper hand. He had my son. My ex knew that I wanted nothing to do with him, but he knew I wanted my son. And he used it against me every chance he got. When I moved out of state a few years later, I tried to work with my ex on a reasonable visitation, but he would have none of it. The day I left CA was the worst day ever. I didn’t see my son after that for 7 years.

My ex wasn’t planning to make it easy for me to stay in touch. He changed his phone number and refused to let me have it to try to keep me from contacting my son. He even took my son out of town on a weekend I drove back to CA. Yes, my ex knew I was coming. I made plans with him a month in advance. He was just being vindictive. I also knew he was bad mouthing me to my son (which was confirmed in a conversation my son and I had a couple of year s ago). He even told my son that if I attended his high school graduation, he wouldn’t be there. I showed up anyway (TAKE THAT MOTHERFUCKER!).

Thankfully, my son’s (paternal) grandmother made sure I was in his life. She is the primary reason I have such a good relationship with my son today. I will never forget her for that.

*****

I told you all of that because of the phone call I received from my son today. It started off as any other normal conversation. He wanted to get a phone number from me. The more he talked, though, the more I knew something was off. So I asked what happened. He said his father kicked him out last night.

And I wanted to kill my ex. Right fucking then and there.

My son was out here in Utah for a visit just a week ago. We talked about how things were at home. I was concerned at how my son described his father’s recent actions. They didn’t make sense to me. I wondered if his actions had anything to do with my son coming out to visit me. I kept it to myself, though, for my son’s sake. I only said here and there that I didn’t agree with certain things and that I didn’t understand why his father was being that way.

When my son went back home it seemed like things were going to be okay. He told his father he was going to move up to Sacramento because the city college there had space available in his degree (the junior college in Stockton where he currently lives is full). I supported his decision and it sounded like his father did too.

I don’t know what changed. And neither does my son. An argument yesterday culminated in my ex telling my son to get out and leave his keys. He also told my son that he is not allowed to call the house or his father’s cell phone. My son is not allowed to go to the house to get his things. Until this Thursday. For 3 hours. Seriously?!?!

I am at a loss. I don’t understand this at all. My son doesn’t do drugs. He doesn’t drink. He doesn’t smoke. He goes to his classes. He EXCELS in his classes. He is responsible. I DO NOT understand what could have happened that would justify this kind of reaction from my ex.

And it makes me wonder if it has to do with me. Is this my ex’s final vengeful act? He can’t use custody against me anymore, since my son is an adult. So is this his one last ditch effort to try to hurt me? I don’t know.

What does hurt me is that I’m not close enough to help my son. I want so badly to be there for him. But I can’t. And it kills me right now. I’ve been crying on and off since I got his call today. I know my son is strong and he will get through this, but I feel like he needs me. And dammit I’M HIS MOTHER! I should be there, right?

Good job, sperm donor. You get an A+ for acting like an ass and driving your son away. I hope you’re proud of yourself. Because in the end, YOU’RE the one who has truly lost.

I don't understand.

He was pissed off. At me. I didn’t understand why. So I asked.

Instead of getting an answer, I was insulted. I was called a whore.

I didn’t understand why.

The insults continued.

I explained that I didn’t deserve to be treated that way. I didn’t do anything wrong.

I was told that I was not trusted. That I was in danger of crossing a line.

I wasn’t. I was falsely accused.

I never did anything remotely close to what I was being accused of. I know I didn’t. I explained that and the insults stopped. I thought things would calm down.

I was wrong.

Somewhere in the middle of the conversation, I was the bad person again. The insults resumed.

And then it was quiet. He left.

Hours later, I received an apology, but I was still upset. I wasn’t being unreasonable. An apology just didn’t sweep it all away and make it not have happened. And when I explained that?

I was told to bury it.

Not asked.

Told.

Demanded actually.

I was supposed to bury the fact that I had been treated badly. I was supposed to act as if nothing ever happened.

How could I do that? WHY would I do that?

And because I wouldn’t ‘bury it’, I was the bad person all over again. The cycle repeated. The insults resumed.

Except that I still had not done anything wrong.

And I still didn’t understand why.

The next morning, I received another apology. I was told he was wrong. I was told he overreacted. I was told he acted immaturely. But he still didn't acknowledge that I didn't do anything wrong.

I explained that I can't let this keep happening. I can't continue to be a verbal punching bag. He agreed.

So now I try to get past it. But it's hard. It gets harder each time. And when I think about what happened...

...I still don't understand why.

*sigh*

I've made my bed, but there are some days I really don't want to lie in it.

Have you ever had days where you were upset, really upset, about something but you don't feel like you can talk to anyone about it cuz everyone knows that you made a decision and that your reasons behind that decision were logical and if you complain about having a bad time you will hear them say just suck it up or move on and you desire neither being unfair to them for having to hear about your situation YET AGAIN nor hearing someone else say what you have already said to yourself repeatedly, leaving you feel completely alone?

Yeah, me neither.

Except today.....aaaaannnd maybe yesterday too.....and maybe the day before that. So pretty much every damn day.

Ok.....so maybe not every day.

There are days when the logic prevails and I'm reminded that this was a GREAT decision. It's been going well. Everything has been moving forward. The light at the end of the tunnel is getting a little closer.

Then there are the days when I repeatedly kick myself at the stupidity of this self-torture I've subjected myself to on a freaking near-daily basis. The days when I wonder just how small I will be made to feel. The days when I think I would be so much better off on my own as a single parent. The days when I think of possible reasons for hiring a hit man drinking myself into oblivion running off with a sugar daddy avoiding going home.

I won't go into detail as to why I feel like screaming at the top of my lungs today (many days actually). The details aren't important. And I know that when my best friend in the whole wide world reads this, she'll be saying, "I'll take Dumbasses whose names begin with the letter 'R' for $200 Alex." Cuz even though I won't tell her what's going on, she KNOWS. And I love her for that.

And I know I will get past this. I will get to one of those days when logic will win out. Hopefully I will start to see more of those.

My mood at the beginning of the evening would have fit in better at a 2 Live Crew show instead of a Rick Springfield show.

Well, I just finished my homework, so let's see if I can downshift and talk about this weekend. I know there are some curious minds out there. Now, it's entirely possible that this will make sense to no one else but me. And I will not be in the least offended if you run screaming from this post. LOL

Last Friday is the Rick Springfield concert in Wendover. The show starts at 8pm and the trip takes 2 hrs from our house(especially going down Bangerter). I plan to leave home around 5 pm to allow time for motel check-in and maybe food (big maybe). The husband leaves work at Noon to take our daughter to stay with his mother. Even with travel time, he has plenty of time to get ready. I leave work at 4pm, like I planned, cuz I can't take the day off or leave much earlier than that. I plan to dress casual, cuz it's not Vegas people. It's just Wendover. But I want to fix my hair and makeup a little, though. Anyone who really knows me knows that I didn't already have my hair and makeup done for work. And I still need to pack a few things. I get home to find the husband dressing up. And I'm all, "You don't need to dress up. I'm not." He says he wants to dress a little nicer. Fine. Whatever. I pack my stuff in the suitcase and all that's left is to change my top and fix my hair/makeup. Husband says he thought about going to the bank, but didn't actually do it cuz we can stop by on the way out of town. That makes no sense to me since he left work more than 4 hours ago, but fine. Whatever. He then remarks that he didn't realize this was a dress rehearsal. And I'm all, "Dress rehearsal? WTH is that supposed to mean?" And he says nevermind, which of course pisses me off. So when he does finally answer me, it's a derogatory remark about me wanting to make myself look a little nicer. And I'm all, WTF? You're dressing up and you can't understand why I wanna do my hair and put on some makeup? You left work when? And you couldn't bother to stop by the bank to save us some time? Seriously? Ok, so that was all in my head, but still. I was pissed. So I go into the bathroom (slamming the door for the desired effect) and realize that there's no time to do my hair or makeup. That's just great. Thankyouverymuch. I throw my hair up in a ponytail and come out of the bathroom to start throwing my last few things together. Maybe I'll have some time once we get there to put some makeup on. I tell the husband that I'm upset about not doing anything wrong, but yet being made to feel really small for needing to do a few things. The husband then decides to tell me to go by myself and to have a good time. I NEED to have a good time by myself, he says. And I'm all, "Absolutely not! I'm not going to give you an opportunity to throw it back in my face later that I was a bitch who kept you from going to this concert! You're going!" I may not speak to you for the entire trip, but you are FUCKING GOING! Ok, so that last part was an exaggeration. I grab everything except his CPAP and stomp down the stairs. The husband is behind me mumbling how I'm stubborn for not letting him carry anything. And I'm thinking, Dood, you just need to shut the hell up and get in the damn car before I change my mind! I throw everything in the car. And realize I'm starving. I know I won't be eating before the show and I WILL be drinking. A LOT. That's a given at this point. So I search the pantry for something to eat and the husband asks if I want yogurt. And I'm all, "Yogurt? And exactly how am I supposed to eat that?" He says with a spoon. And I'm all, "Seriously? While I'm driving?" Cuz I'll be damned if I'm gonna let YOU drive! We get on the road and he doesn't say a word. Not one. For like 30 minutes. And I'm thinking, Dood, you are SO not helping your case. He finally apologizes, and for once it actually sounded sincere (Long story. Really REALLY long story.). And he offers to drive so I can get ready. No way I'm letting him drive when we're in a time crunch. HELL no. So we settle into a slightly less awkward silence for a while, which is just fine by me.

The rest of the drive was uneventful until the last 30 miles or so, which is where we encounter a bunch of drivers that are freakin' STOOPID. They have no idea of how to drive on a two-lane highway (hint: YOU DON'T CAMP YOUR ASS IN THE LEFT LANE! I'm just sayin.). My tolerance on the road is...oohh...zero. Zilch. Nada. Especially now. So, to get away from them, I end up doing 100 the rest of the way to Wendover. The husband looks over at one point, and I'm all, "Yes, I AM doing a hundred!" Just stay on your side of the car. You're still on my shitlist! Ok, so I only really said that first part. But the rest was on the tip of my tongue, I promise you.

Capping off the night? The motel. I have a reservation, but there's a delay checking in. The desk clerk goes to get someone's help. Oh shit. This other person comes out and says that the reservation was cancelled. Ummmmm, I didn't cancel my reservation. The new clerk says they have one room available (a suite) that's $129.95. Ummmm, I STILL didn't cancel my reservation that was booked at $60. She says they'll get it fixed. She calls customer service who tells her they cancelled the reservation per a phone call on 9/6/09. Ummmm, oooook. I supposedly called to cancel my reservation that I made ONLINE and no one thought to send me a confirmation ONLINE that it was cancelled? Sure, I totally get that. I do it all the time. Amazingly, I stay calm (I have NO idea how at this point). The clerk says they'll fix it and gets us a room. I'm all, Didn't you just say that you only had one room? Sweet, we're gettin the suite? Niiiice! Oh, we're getting a regular room? Fine. I'll take it. We're running out of time before the show starts, so I don't fucking care anymore. I just want a place to sleep tonight. Wait! Didn't you just say that you only had one room left?

We head straight to the concert hall after that and I'm so close to spewing forth the slew of 4-letter words I've been bottling up for the past 2 hours. Ask Twitter. I've got just enough time to throw on some mascara before the concert. And with a wave of that magic wand, I'm transformed into Princess Cinderella who gets swept off her feet by Prince Charming. Ok, so maybe it wasn't quite that magical. Rick never got anywhere near me. But I got to see a great show.

And I can't believe it just took me 3 hours to write this. I was reliving it.....in real-time. Great.

Some days I just don't know how I'm going to do this.

Having this time to myself just wasn't what I thought it would be.

When the husband said he was finally being sent out of town for work, I dropped to my knees and cried, "My prayers have been answered, thank you LORD!" But then I remembered that I'm agnostic, so that didn't really help. I thought that the time apart would be a good break from the tension in the house. And it has been. But along with that, came something I wasn't expecting. Something that I am having a difficult time explaining (even to myself). I found that I focused on how much I wanted to be free of this 'arrangement' and to move on with my life. To hopefully find love again. And I realized how scared I am that I won't be able to find it. That I won't be able to have a lasting, loving relationship (that is after the prince charges up on his white steed and sweeps me off my feet - good dream!). It keeps me up at night and helps me plot how I'm going to stab the husband as he sleeps cuz I can he snores.

I recently bought the eternity necklace above. I'm not superstitious. I just liked the idea of wearing these rings near my heart reminding me of things I need to hold onto through this tough time (cuz I couldn't find faith, trust, and pixie dust). If they don't work I can always start rubbing my rabbit's foot, knocking on wood, and spinning around clockwise 7 times.

P.S. I'm watching An Officer and a Gentleman on cable and they dubbed over & bleeped out the word wop. This country's going to hell. I should probably try to get some sleep, but the odds of success are not in my favor. Good thing the husband is not here or he would be in serious danger if he eyeballed me.

P.P.S. Oh, I need a drink.

*updated* You shouldn't piss me off in a room full of knives.

Sadly, the husband & I are sitting at the kitchen table.....playing on our respective laptops. Yes, this is our Saturday night entertainment. I have yet to decide if we have no lives, are getting old, or are just too fucking lazy to do something decent on a Saturday nite. It seriously went downhill when the husband opened his mouth & inserted both feet (as he usually does). After a lull in the conversation, he says, "I'm looking on Travis' page right now." I asked, "His Facebook page? Are you still on Facebook?" He replied, "Yeah. His oldest daughter? Is really freakin' cute." And I'm all, "Dood! I'm sitting right FUCKING here!!!!!!!!!!"

Now I realize that this is pretty much a marriage of convenience (& certainly not the good kind of convenience), but I now keep looking over at the knife block, trying to decide if it's worth going to jail to make my point. Hmmm...decisions, decisions.

Update - The husband tried to get out of he hole he had dug himself into by saying, "If she were mine, she would be locked up."

So not helping your case dood.

I never thought I'd see the day when a layoff meeting would be a good thing.

It's official.....I'm losing my job. There I've said it. I knew it was coming, so I wasn't surprised.

The merger closed June 11th pretty much right on schedule. From the day the merger was announced I knew Payroll would be absorbed. There were lots of rumors and speculation (what a bunch of gossipmongers!), but I tried to take them all with a grain of salt. I would not falter in my resolve that I was going to lose my job. It was easier that way.....no surprises. Well, no bad surprises anyway. If somehow I managed to survive this merger with my job intact, it would be a pleasant surprise. Much better, I think, than to hold out hope that I would be safe only to get the horrible shock that a significant part of my world was gonna come crashing down. That wasn't a risk I was willing to take, especially since the husband has been laid off twice in the past 6 years.

However, to say that I was okay with losing with losing my job depended on which day you caught me. I've been on a pretty interesting emotional roller coaster since the merger was announced. It's safe to say that I've been through all the phases of grief at least 5 times and not in any real particular order. I always came back to "what's next for me?" In some ways this could be the best way to move forward with the divorce. And then, there's the inevitable (& frequent) "WTF am I gonna do now?" I think out loud a lot, but have to be careful who I do that around, cuz if they don't know how I deal, I could inadvertantly burn a lot of bridges. Not good. The stress of all of it felt like a brick sitting on my chest, but it was manageable so I didn't worry about it much.

Until this week. We were told a rep from corp HR was coming cuz those who were losing their jobs had to be notified within 30 days of the close of the merger. Yesterday morning, I woke up and the brick had morphed into a 2-ton boulder on my chest. It was all I could do to get ready and actually come to work. I didn't really need to worry, though. My meeting was in the afternoon & I was ready to get it over with when my time came. They confirmed that my layoff date is 2/28/10 (still somewhat tentative) and that I will get a severance, which will be paid out in bi-weekly installments (the only thing I wasn't expecting). I got the feeling that the people in the meeting thought I would have some sort of breakdown. Hello? You're not really telling me anything I didn't already know. Besides, have you WORKED with the Main Sales Floor? They DRIVE you to want to quit drink excessively. My brain liver needs a break. Anyway, I walked out of that meeting with more options than I thought I had going in. I now know that I don't have to hurry to find a job. I've got time to check out ALL my options. I'm doing a lot of thinking outside of the box on this one, which is probably what I'm doing if you catch me muttering to myself.

Life goes on and as long as I stop finding gray eyebrow hairs, it will all be good.

Not all flashbacks are good.

Disclaimer: This is a slightly to moderately gross post. Also, being a former Navy wife, I don't really think that people in the Navy who are on aircraft carriers are cowards or pussies. I have a great respect for all past/present/future members of our military. While parts of this post are totally accurate, my husband knows I'm kidding and so should you.

Every once in a while, the husband has navy flashbacks. Not combat flashbacks, cuz he was cowardly stationed on an aircraft carrier providing air support from a distance with all the other pussies. The flashbacks he has are of the serious hygiene issues that he developed during his time in the service, like many navy men (I SO hope this phenomenae does NOT happen to navy women) seem to notoriously develop. I'm talking about the fact that they lose the ability to keep their asses clean. That is, if they ever had the ability to begin with, in which case, the problem is seriously magnified. Along with this, they adapt an I don't give a shit (pun absolutely intended) attitude towards these issues. In fact, it becomes fodder for jokes. I spent enough time in the house the husband shared with some of them to see these issues firsthand. Hello? Four sailors sharing a house with as many others that could fit passed out (comfortably or not) on the available floor space with no care in the world except how drunk they could get? If there was a line for the only bathroom in the house? No worries, there's always the backyard.

Where was I? Oh yeah. These flashbacks are not pleasant for me. I mean, can I help it if I have a very good sense of smell? I realize that he would rather not be told that he fucking smells like shit (literally). I get that. I actually agree with him; I don't want to have to tell him that either. However, I would rather not be subjected to the reminders of the days when he wore his underwear for 5 days straight. In my mind, not too much to ask for.

i guess the simple questions can be the biggest stumpers

during the past month, i sent 2 requests to the customer service deparments of 2 different websites. i filled out the required fields of their forms and clearly explained my questions in the comments fields. BOTH of them sent me an automated response expressing their sympathy over my difficulties with their sites and gave me the generic instructions on how to use their site and where to find help on the sites. um.......HELLO? IS ANYBODY IN THERE? would i be ASKING for help if the answer to my questions were not found already on the site? are you KIDDING ME? i do not understand why is it so difficult to get a customer service department to answer a simple f'n question. perhaps my 1st mistake was asking them via their website (or email) instead of calling someone directly. one of the reasons i don't do this is b cuz i will no doubtedly encounter a rep who will say something utterly stupid causing me to unleash a stream of 4-letter words that would probably make even ron jeremy the diceman blush (being married to an ex-sailor comes in handy sometimes).

i received the 2nd reply this morning, and already being in a monday mood, i immediately start drafting my response:

you are the 2nd customer service person in the past month to not even
BEGIN to answer the question that I ACTUALLY ASKED!!!!! is there some
incompetance virus that is being passed around companies? or perhaps it's
just that you are all too lazy to do your freakin job! what is the
point of having a comments section if you don't even BOTHER to read the
comments?

i did manage to do this w/o any 4-letter words, amazingly. then i had a moment of pause & decided i'm not quite ready to send this reply. i did save it though, while i try another option. but if i get anything similar to what i received this morning, it will be the 3rd strike in my book & i'll declare open season on customer service reps. and before anyone starts in on me about how hard that type of job is, don't even go there. i've had that job & i'm well aware that it doesn't take much to show the customer that you are listening to what they have to say. trust me, that small effort goes a LONG way.

at least i won't have to resort to turning tricks on the street in the immediate future

after 3 months, i finally got some more definitive news on the merger and my job. only a slight delay, since we were told that we should hear something within 30 days of the initial announcement in jan. since payroll is considered a key position, the tentative plan is to keep both my boss & i around until feb 2010. if i stay until then, i will receive approx 5 months severance. uncle sam will take a hefty chunk of it (motherfucker), but it will still give me a few months buffer if i need it (which i hope won't be the case). i'm glad to have some idea of what to expect. i always knew that i was going to lose my job, but not knowing when was driving me insane. think this may explain my recent increase in alcohol consumption? hmmm.....perhaps. i told my boss that one day soon i may start grieving for my job loss, so if i come in to work bawling, she'll know why. or at least one reason why. lol

i haven't written in a while & i think i see a trend with my blog posts. they seem to stop a little before that "time" of the month and don't pick up again until after it is well over. coincidence? i'm thinking no. lol i'm grateful twitter has been my blog stand-in, cuz i can write little bits during this angsty time instead of a long bitchy post where it seems like i could use a couple of stiff ones. i'm also reading like crazy these days as another diversion, but it totally could have something to do with the books i'm reading. steamy vampire romance novels..........VERY nice!

the green-eyed monster came to visit this weekend, cuz one of my best friends is relaxing in hawaii while i'm stuck in freakin' utah. so not fair. hawaii is on my list of places to visit, so i am very VERY jealous that she is there without me. so what if she has her husband with her? i should be there! (i know you know i'm kidding tanya cuz i can hear "you're a dork!" all the way over here on the mainland. ROFL)

this weekend was fairly uneventful. i got some alone time when the husband took ashley out on some errands. i had some errands to do myself on saturday, but decided to take advantage of the empty house. but then of course, the errands still needed to be done.....today. afterwards, i treated myself to some retail therapy. nothing that would get me into too much hot water, but just enough to make it a good day.....for me. but i think someone had a problem with my shopping spree, cuz the skies opened up and hailed on me! wtf? i didn't spend THAT much! and no i'm not taking it back, so there! lol

i have no intention of growing old gracefully...i plan on fighting it kicking & screaming the WHOLE way

i'm not old. i may be nearing 40 & blind as a bat without my contacts/glasses, but i am NOT old. & i'm sure i will continue to say that even on the day i get put in a home. i've been lucky in that i don't look my age (at least that's what other people tell me & it's managing to make it past the short-term memory dump i seem to have each night, so who am i to argue?). i don't even have a problem with my age, usually. i'm not sure, but the day my son graduated from high school & the day he turned 18 might have been exceptions to that. i really don't remember much of those days. anyway, i always say, "you're only as old as you feel", which helps me forget at least for a little while. tequila & beer helps too. the bottom line is that i don't actually feel like i'm finishing up my 4th decade on this earth.

that was until..........

i saw a piece of lint in my eyebrow recently. i started pulling on it & i became like the mother in the movie bachelor party where she's trying to take the 'footlong' off the tray from nick the dick. it wouldn't come off! so i was all, "the hell? the HELL? OH NO! A GREY HAIR! in my EYEBROW? guess i can't complain too much. at least it's not a pubic hair!"

it's the 1st one i have ever found, but that doesn't say much. the past 10 years i've been dying my hair to destroy any evidence of ...... (if you've known me longer than that, you know, but plz don't tell) i could have a shit load of them and just not know it. why couldn't the grey hair be there? then i could gladly live in blissful ignorance.

now begins the debate: to pluck or not to pluck? you hear a lot these days how it's bad to pluck your eyebrows. natural is better. fuck you. if we were all natural, we'd all have bushy cavewomen unibrows. that's attractive. i leave mine alone for the most part, except for the strays that must have come from my monkey ancestors that SO need to just stay buried in the past. and this stupid grey hair is right in the middle of my eyebrow. so what to do - leave it alone or pull that mf'r out as fast as i can? it could leave a gaping hole in my eyebrow. how would i explain that? "um, we had a little laser pointer mishap at our last staff meeting. that's actually fucking awesome.

i haven't actually decided yet what to do with it, even though each time i see it i lean more towards plucking. i should just do it & get it over with. then i can go back to my mantra, even if i'm the only one who believes it. i still don't feel old. i just hope it doesn't multiply & spread. the day i find a grey pubic hair will be a sad day indeed.

update - i guess there will come a day when even i won't believe the bullshit that comes out of my mouth. i fell asleep during the digital scrapbooking webinar i took last nite. i'm screwed.

snow snow go away, come again .......... NEVER!!!!!

mother nature needs to stop screwing with us. last week was gorgeous - by friday, we were in the 70's. a little soon to be that warm, but we weren't complaining. sunday came and all bets were off. the temp started to drop, it was really windy & we got a little rain. no biggie. i can handle that. by monday am, it was snowing AGAIN!!!!! i mean, come on! no more f'n snow! i'm DONE!!!!!

goodbye jim.....

my son's grandfather (the sperm donor's dad) passed away on monday. my son is taking this really hard and i feel for him. they had the wonderful opportunity to really get to know each other. i'm so glad for that. i don't have many details, but my understanding is that it was cardiac failure of some sort. it is sad that he is gone, but i was told he didn't suffer, which is good.

i can't say that he & i had the best relationship. for a long time, the man thought i was the anti-christ, the devil incarnate or something inherently evil. however, he did come to realize at some point that it totally takes two to tango & that i wasn't the worst parent in the world. once he did that, things changed between us. i know that he was only looking out for his family and after all that, i can honestly say that he was a good man.

rest in peace jim. you will be missed.

i'm looking for someone with a position available on his penis.....

so i'm watching a house re-run where house is at the cia. he says to another dr, "you know, i have a position available on my penis.", and i was all ready to strip off my clothes and jump into the tv screaming, "i'll accept that position, hell yeah! i've got an 'ache' that only you can cure." then i ride him right there on the hospital bed, restarting his heart a couple of times until we're both screaming in ecstasy cuz i'm just that fucking good. hoo-ah!

can i really be that fucking hard up? i must be cuz my fav vibrator and dildo are getting more frequest secret visits from me after dumb ass (a.k.a. the husband) has gone to sleep. granted, that's not the most preferred option, but the member i would love to have a position on is not an option right now. the owner is not talking to me for some reason, and even if he was, the 1700 miles that separates us still poses a pretty significant problem.

looks like i'm still not gettin' laid. crap.

no one would blame me, right?

if i just smothered my husband with a pillow? i'm not really serious, but this morning, it was dicey there for a bit. i've pretty much been up since @ 3 am this morning. and it's all bcuz of him & his freakin' sleep apnea! crap! he's had it for years, but was diagnosed and started treatment only in the last year or so. now.....let me paint a good & clear pic for you. his snoring is HORRIBLE!!!!! it's progressively gotten worse over the years to the point where it started either keeping me from falling asleep or waking me up in the middle of night. and many times both! i told him to go get it checked out, but did he? OF COURSE NOT!!!!! why should he listen to me? i don't know anything. when he was injured a couple of years ago, the hospital staff told him the exact same thing i had been saying. he still didn't get it checked out. freak! meanwhile, he complained that he wasn't getting decent rest (DUH!!!!!) and that would just set me off. OF COURSE he wasn't getting decent rest, cuz he'd stop breathing a million times during the night. HELLO??????? finally he got into a sleep study and was diagnosed with (.....wait for it.....wait for it.....TA DA!) sleep apnea. HOLY FREAKIN SHIT! what a breakthrough! he was placed on a cpap immediately and the pressure is set very high. the mask he has to wear shifts during the night and makes anywhere from a low whistle to a high howling noise. this is helpful? then of course during the night, he takes it off. what happens then? he snores! can't i get a break here?

so this morning, the mask starts making the howling noise @ 3 am. what does he do? takes it off and immediately starts snoring. i'm awake by now so once the snoring commences, it's nearly impossible for me to go back to sleep. i finally get up & get ready for work @ 6, and i doubt that i will make it through the day today. but, i will try. and, i will try not to smother him with a pillow tonight. however, if i am unable to resist the urge to have a relatively decent night's sleep myself, no one would really blame me, right? LOL

& the career rug is pulled out from under me.....

i get into work this morning and find two emails. one states that our company is being purchased by another larger one. the next is that there are meetings this morning to discuss the first email. while in the process of reading these emails, a group from my department came back from one of the meetings and says that i really need to go to the next meeting. the ceo was running the meeting and said that the merger was a really positive thing. of course it is......for him. i'm sure he stands to get a nice chunk of change from all of this. there's not much that can be said at this point bcuz the deal is not closed yet. what information was available said that they were excited to be able to bring "most" of the existing employees over, but that duplicate positions would be eliminated. i work in payroll - that is definitely a redundant position. any person considering this merger logically would recognize that hr, payroll, and accounting would be at the top of the list of positions to be eliminated. so while it's business as usual until the deal is closed, i may only have a job for the next 6-8 months. ugh!

the removal of talon

life isn’t fair. no, this is not news to me. i’ve been well aware of this for quite some time now. sometimes, though, life is just more unfair than it should be.

last night, my friend had to surrender her adopted 6-month old son, talon. a large group of family, friends, and neighbors gathered to support my friend and her family at this difficult time. originally, the family was told the baby would be taken at 6 pm. i arrived at their house at about 5:40 pm. around five minutes later, someone came outside and announced that the baby wouldn’t be taken until 7 pm and that everyone could go either come back closer to then or go inside the house. many wondered, including me, if the delay was a ploy to have fewer people at the house. i decided to stay and went inside to see my friend. she was standing inside the door with talon sleeping in her arms. i hugged her and couldn’t hold back my tears. i whispered how sorry i was, knowing that my words would do little to ease her suffering. i stayed in the house for a while, amazed at all the love and support inside and outside of the house. i really had no idea what to do and felt somewhat helpless, but i heard someone say that it was enough to just be there. two local news crews were there interviewing my friend and others in the house. a police car arrived at 7:15 pm with a car seat then left. the supporters outside, who were talking amongst each other, became quiet. after a while (not sure what time it was), more police cars arrived escorting another car. the people outside were asked to clear the walkways. the supporters began to sing a hymn. my friend and her family brought out talon, placed him in the car, said their final goodbyes, and watched as their son was taken away. i didn’t see anyone there that wasn’t emotional at this point.

my friend has been in a legal battle practically since birth to keep talon. the birth mother, an admitted heroin addict, chose my friend’s family as the adoptive parents. after giving birth and signing over talon, she changed her mind and wanted him back. the birth mother is part native american and got the tribe involved to help get the baby back. the day that talon turned 6 months old, my friend was told that they would have to surrender him to the tribe. both of the birth parents have been deemed unfit due to their drug use, however, so talon will be placed in foster care. this just doesn’t make sense to me! how is it right to take talon from a loving, stable home and place him in foster care just because he is part native american? he doesn’t even have enough blood to be considered for admittance into the tribe, and yet they have fought tooth and nail to make sure that my friend’s family can’t have him. it’s just so wrong! i had the wonderful opportunity to meet talon on friday. i was able to hold him and feed him. he was such a joy to be around. even when he was hungry and tired, he was always happy. the love in the house was so apparent from the moment you walked in, even with all that they’ve been through. so, for me, it is hard to grasp how the tribe can take him from that loving home and place him with strangers.

you can read talon’s adoption story by clicking here. you can also click on the links to see the news stories for ksl channel 5 and kutv channel 2.