Things that I hate

Here is a short list of some things that I hate:

1. Dental work.

2. Uncomfortable shoes.

3. Parents who don't make their kids behave.

4. Bad drivers in rush-hour traffic.

5. Snacks that warn of "anal leakage."

6. Icicles driven slowly into my eyeball with the heel of a shoe.

7. My earlobes being stretched over my head and tied together.

8. Warm beer.

9. Liars.

10. Going to the pharmacy.

Tonight, let's take a look at number 10.

Monica had a prescription that needed filled, for the eczema on the back of her thigh.  This week has been nutty, so it's not been filled.  Tonight, I was given the job of picking it up.

I stopped at Crappy Version of Stupidity, and handed over the script.  The bored, gum-chewing dim wit told me that it would be 15-20 minutes.  I wandered the store, making my own fun.  I like to stand in the condom isle, examining boxes carefully and reading every word.  People avoid you like the plague if you do this.  Trust me.

When they called my name (along with 3 other names) I stepped toward the counter.  The lady in front of me had a few items to ring up with her script, one of which was a gallon of milk.  Here is the conversation that I witnessed:

Pharmacy lady: "Would you like your milk in a sack?"
Sick lady: "No, thank you."
Pharmacy lady: "Are you sure?"
Rachel's thoughts: "SHUT UP LADY!  SHE SAID SHE DOESN'T WANT A BAG!"
Sick lady: "Yes, I'm sure. It's fine."
Rachel's thoughts: "I told you so!"
Pharmacy lady: "I just want to make sure, because I usually want a sack, to keep my milk from getting all dirty."
Sick lady: "Well, I guess it would help.  It might make it easier to carry."
Pharmacy lady, as she bags the milk: "Well, I wouldn't carry it with the handles.  These bags are kind of weak."
ARRRGGGGG!!!!!!

When it was my turn, Pharmacy lady says, "Monica?"  "No," says I, "I'm her mother."  "Oh!  heh heh I'm sorry.  Do you have any questions for the Pharmacist?" "Nope (just let me the hell out of here, OK?)" OK, "Nope" is the only thing I said out loud, but I thought the other part REAL loudly.

She told me that the copay was $10, and I handed her my flex spending card.  She looked at it and said, "I'm sorry, the name on this card is RACHEL."  "Ummm, yeah, that's me."  "But, this prescription is for Monica," says the idiot/moron/freak-of-nature.  "Yes.  As I told you: I'm her MOTHER," says the stunned/bored/freaked out me.

I barely got out of there without having to take a body count.  People are so stupid.  I typically love people.  Honestly!  I joke about hating people, but I really don't.  It's just that, when I run into stupid people, I can barely stand it.  Seriously.  I wanted to run out of there in tears.

I didn't, though.  I made it out alive. 

Now, I'm going to put on some uncomfortable shoes and eat O'Lean chips on the way to the dentist.  I'll enjoy a warm beer while someone ties my earlobes over my head.  The dentist office will have out-of-control kids running around, I hope.  Maybe the icicle in my eye ball will distract me from the crappy drivers and liars.

It would HAVE to be better than the pharmacy.

Weird weather, wonderful weekend, Life 'N Stuff

It's warm, it's cold.  It's dry, it's wet.  It's sort of warm, then very cold again.  *sigh*  I am ready for Spring to stay for a while.  It will freeze tonight, and then be over 70 on Wednesday.  Then, later on, it will freeze again.

It was so nice for Brett, son-of-mine, to spend the weekend with us.  We had a great visit, and he got to see Mom and Dad for a while, too.  It had been too long since he saw them last.

Today is Jonathan's birthday.  It's hard to believe that I'm a step-mom to a 22 year old man.  Wow.  He's had some VERY rough times lately, but today he was happy.  Truly happy.  We chatted and he laughed.  He just sounded great.

I've got computer frustration.  Parallels (the software that runs Windows on my Mac) is not working correctly.  Well, technically, it is running correctly, but if I run Boot Camp (starting the Mac as if it IS a PC) it won't work.  I've been working with it since 2 this afternoon, and I REFUSE to be beaten by it.

Kevin is sick again.  He got over it and was fine for a couple of weeks, but folks at work kept coming in sick, so he's down again.  I sent him to bed at 7:15, and he was out by 7:30.  That sounds really early, but he's up by 3:30 each day, so it's only 8 hours.  He needs sleep.

Mom and Dad should get their new home on Wednesday.  I can't wait.  I'm so excited about it.  I'm excited for them.  They need/deserve a/c and a dishwasher and soft water and a laundry room and and and...well, they deserve more than they have.

We watched Juno this weekend.  We all liked it quite well.  I'm glad Mom got it, even though they didn't care for it.  LOL  At least SOMEONE liked it, right?  I thought it was a great story (although weird) and I couldn't predict the ending.  That's always a plus.

Kevin and I have a favorite forum (message board) site.  It was hacked on Sunday.  It's been around for over 10 years, and this is a first.  I happened upon it during this, and it was the most disturbing thing ever.  Pictures of skinned cats and I won't tell you about the picture of the baby.

The message on every topic was "We won't forget, we won't forgive."  It listed a website, which I did NOT go to.  I hear that it's an anti-scientology sect.  Whatever.  Don't speak out against something in the name of Christ by posting satanic images and ideas.

Freaks.

OK, I gotta go.  Laundry was done yesterday, so it was easy for me to get it caught up again today.  The dryer just buzzed, so it's time to take out the last load.  Have a wonderful night, and live in peace.  Real, honest-to-goodness peace.

Saturday at the Race Track, with my kids

Brett came to spend the weekend, and we have greatly enjoyed his company.  Yesterday, thanks to the generosity of my BWF Michelle and her husband, we had 4 tickets to the Truck Series race at Kansas Speedway.  I hit the road shortly after noon with my offspring.

We got to the track in time to watch the Indy cars qualify for the Sunday race.  I don't care for open-wheel racing, but it was interesting to watch (and hear) them.  Very loud.  Even with ear plugs, it was VERY loud.

The race was fun to watch, even though I don't follow the truck series.  I didn't have any favorites, so I decided to cheer Hornaday on, since he's doing well this year and was sitting in first to start the race.  He had no competition, really.  There were many (a record for this track) cautions, and several wrecks.

After the race, we grabbed a quick burger and drove our exhausted behinds home.  We crashed shortly after coming in the door.  Brett was out BEFORE we got here, but he works nights, and was going on only a few hours of sleep.

Today, we hung out around here.  I made chili and we watched the beginning of the Sprint cup race.  Carl Edwards was having troubles, so he was pretty much out of it, so I lost interest.  We went to Mom's to return Juno and a bottle of BBQ sauce and her Dyson.  I know, we borrow a weird combo of stuff.

They hadn't seen Brett in a long time, so we stayed out there and visited quite a bit.  When we got back, Brett BBQ'd hot dogs, and I made beans, corn, etc.  It was great dinner, and now the dishes are done, as well as all of the laundry in the house.  It's a good feeling to sit and watch my shows with things done.

OK, time for Desperate Housewives.  Ciao!

Science fair

OK, last night was the school science fair.  It was combined with "reading night" which they do every couple of months.  The reading night part was about a trip around the world.  Our first stop was Russia, or room 108.  LOL

The teacher in Russia (room 108) has a daughter in law who is from Russia.  They set up a web cam and Anna talked quite a bit.  She taught them words in Russian, read "The Three Bears" in Russian (also translating) and revealed that in Russian, Goldilocks has no name....it's just "The Girl."

It was way cool, even though the school blew a fuse twice.  Sheesh, only in this tiny town.

From there, we headed to the cafegymatorium to enjoy the science fair.  Monica's project was the first one inside the door.  Coolness.  She was an obnoxious, giggling, bubbly freak around her friends, but the minute someone was interested in her project, she was all business.  Coolness, part deaux.

I got some new geek tools.  I'll explain later.  One of my favorites is a 1 gig flash drive.  I needed that REAL badly.  Yeah, I'm a geek, I guess.  Anyway, back to redneck:

Tomorrow, I'll head to Kansas Motor Speedway with my children.  Yup, Brett, Monica, Natalie and I will brave the threats of rain to watch the truck series drivers.  It'll be a blast.  I have tons of drinks and snacks to take along.  I'll take tons of pictures, so Russ may want to avoid my journal tomorrow.

Love ya, buddy!

OK, time to shove the kids down the stairs...errr, I mean...Kiss them goodnight.  Tomorrow will be a big day.  'Night, my friends!

Wednesday 'N Stuff

My employer does things that most employers don't do.  We have an enclosed break room for smokers, so we don't freeze in the winter.  There's even a heater in there.

We have "Dog in the Lot" days, several times per year, when they cook dogs and burgers, with all the sides, for free. 

We have employee appreciation day, in which we win cool stuff, and have a ton of fun.

We have a garden.

Yeah, a garden.  It's behind a house owned by the company, and they keep it groomed to the hilt, and have tables and chairs for folks to enjoy lunch, breaks, or just down-time.  I love it there.

Once every 2 months or so, the customer service reps decide to have "beer in the garden" night.  We head over there and spend an hour drinking the beverage of choice, and just visiting.  We haven't had one in 6 months (long winter.) 

It lasts only an hour, so nobody has to be too late to their families, or drink more than a couple, wondering if they can safely drive home.  The latest that anyone has EVER stayed was 1 1/2 hours.  2 beers.  All good.

Monday, I said, "Hey guys, time for 'beer in the garden, right?'"  They all agreed.  Everyone always agrees, but most can't make it.  It has varied between 3 and 10 people.  Tonight, we had 8, which is pretty amazing for this little group.

Mike brought his guitar, and he is REAL good!  He is left handed, and plays upside down.  That means that he doesn't restring the guitar for a left handed player.  The biggest string is on top.  That's funny to see, but he's SO good!

In the one hour that we were there, it dropped 10 degrees.  We all scooted out of there, and headed home.  I beat the storm home, but barely.  It's raining like crazy now, and there is thunder, but no hail or tornado.  Damn.

OK, I'm done.  Time to watch Super Nanny, and laugh at the bad kids that other folks have, and put up with.  Oh HELL no!  I would NEVER put up with this crap.  In fact, for the first time in almost a year, one of mine got a spanking today.  I hate it, but it's better than national TV showing that you have no control.

Remind me to tell you about the boy drama.  Both boys have drama.  *sigh*

Monday, and beautiful weather!

OK, here's a quick catch-up:

Sunday, we went to the biker church with Mom and Dad.  It was fun, but we knew we had to get home quickly to get busy.  Unfortunately, they double (triple, in some spots) parked folks, so we were locked in.  Natalie got to jump in the moon bounce, so it was worth it.

After we got home, I set out to do my homework, and Kevin did some fix-it stuff.  Our hot water heater is fixed, and my old, ugly light fixture is GONE from the dining room.  Dang cobwebs, anyway!

Anyway, Mr. Fixit did us up good!  I spent 6 1/2 hours on my web classes, so I missed the best day so far, but the classes went GREAT today, so it was worth it, I guess.  Anyway, I got it done in time, and that's all that matters.

Today was crazy busy, but the classes went well.  Tonight, despite a couple of construction backups, I got home by 6.  I enjoyed the deck for a while, making up for yesterday.  I love my deck.  Mr. Fixit did THAT for me, too.  Anyway, it was nice.

Brett's having some issues in his relationship, but I hope they work them out.  If not, we're here for him.  I feel bad for him, and the lack of support that he's getting.  I'm here, waiting to be needed.

OK, it's time to get to my normal life.  That would be TV, then bed.  LOL  I hope your night is wonderful!  Amy?  No more cobwebs on the light.  What are YOU going to do now?  Wanna talk dog hair?

Angry Dad's day out

OK, here it is.  My Saturday.  I didn't do my homework yet, but I will do it.  I promise!  I have some plans for the morning, but then I have to write the classes.  I will!  Dang, quit pressuring me!

I hope you had a Saturday that was half as fun as mine.  $600 later, we find that Natalie doesn't need glasses, but the rest of us got glasses AND contacts ordered/paid for.  Thank goodness for the flex spending thing at work.  Thank goodness for a good job.

Angry Dad came out of this just fine.  He's snoring now.  He didn't kill anyone, or even threaten it this time.  Wow.  He's getting mellow.