2015-06-26

LOVE Is Legal and I Forgot Everything Else I Was Going To Say

I had planned to write something this weekend, so many ideas swirled around like fallen twigs clogging the sewer drains all over the Midwest causing all the flooding. What to write about that anyone else would care about, but my funnel of thought was BLOWN AWAY by SCOTUS' decision to lift every ban on same sex marriage across the United States. 

Way to go, USA! Finally a step in the right direction, however long overdue.

My social media feeds were more filled with rainbows than this weekend's Pride Parade. I really needed to see that, too, because Thursday we went to Brookfield Zoo's first ever Pride Day and got there late so we didn't get our rainbow fix. We saw one rainbow flag in the whole place. No signage. Nothing on their social media channels. Hmmmmmm. 

Anyway huge step for Team Human. And don't tell anyone but I cried a little. Well, YOU read this and try not to cry. 

And if that doesn't make you cry, don't tell me because that means you're dead inside. And my particular hollow insides are always attracted to those kinds of people, so let's just HIGH-FIVE finally having one damn good reason to be proud of our country.

I hate that it took this long, but I am also thankful it's done. Let's move on to the next thing. 

Like taking down the confederate flag everywhere that isn't a museum or a sad footnote in history books. Don't come at me with Southern nostalgia. We all know the creator of this flag wanted it to be the symbol of white supremacy and segregation. We all know that past and current hate groups literally use it as a symbol of hate. Racism and hate trump your nostalgia. Done. Next issue.

Oh I love when things zip along.

I'm thankful with each year of my life, along with losing muscle mass I gain the wisdom to make decisions more easily and move on. I'll take that trade. Especially since there isn't much I can do about it. Except exercise, but let's focus on GOOD things we're thankful for right now.

We're getting End of Times rain and flooding in the Midwest right now, so the Silver Linings there are:
It's not snow. 
We're not in a drought. 
We finished our basement repairs just in time. Not one drop of water got in! 
Well, except for a little condensation from leaving the windows open. Did I mention we can OPEN the windows now?! Huzzah!

So many good thankfuls I need to focus on right now. I thought we were going to be good work-wise for the summer, but decided the new family wasn't a good fit for us. It bummed me out for awhile, but it's done. It was the right decision. I need to focus on the positives and forget the rest. 

I don't want to be negative, so I'll just say I like to keep my group small so we can do a lot of things: From walks, parks, games, arts and crafts, books, all kinds of things. This isn't just a business, this is my family. I like them busy, learning, having fun, getting TIRED. Certain people/situations make those things difficult. I can handle almost any kind of kid, but there are certain kinds of parents I just can't work with. 

Kids need a little guidance, structure, to know what their boundaries are. They NEED boundaries. They will always have them, different everywhere they go, there is nothing wrong with that. Parents have to be strong, have to be in charge and make the rules. Otherwise it won't take long before kids walk all over you. Then when they get to school it takes them longer to get with the program. 

They can't learn if all the time is spent getting them to catch up with the others in terms of sitting in one place, following very simple rules, eating real food in a calm manner. If you don't even want to try that? I can't fix it in a couple hours 3 days a week. Neither can teachers. You HAVE to start, however small. If you're not even willing to try? Have a nice day, somewhere else. I don't have the patience for that. Nor should I have to. 

My kids will only be this age once. A couple dollars isn't worth making them wait around for other kids to get with the program. Parenting is hard enough. Keep your village tight with the right kinds of people. Like my sister says, get rid of the weeds before they poison the whole garden. I'm thankful for her guidance in this way, and that my husband is understanding. I'm sure he'll be bummed at the paychecks this costs us, but seeing his kids active and happy is worth it. 

I'm forever thankful I have these options. That I live in a place where we won't go hungry, however tight the budget gets. I'm also thankful I was able to get some side work from a friend of mine to get us through the summer. Work at home has unique challenges. I'm glad I can do it and be home with my kids, no matter the ups, downs and WTF's! Soon enough they'll be teenagers and off with their friends and doing their own things and I'll be forever grateful for this time.

That has to be more than 10! I have to bring my son his phone he left in my car and go enjoy our time to be together and go things before my house gets filled with kids and reasons why we can't. 
Sorry if takes me awhile to hop around and answer comments lately. SUMMER!


2015-06-22

Pleasant Leibster from A Pleasant House

And now for something completely different....
Smells like CHLOROFORM 
No, not like that. More like this.
I'm still unpopular and unread gracious and humble enough to be over the moon when someone nominates me for ... well, for anything. I'm a lot like my 3 yr old, even negative attention is better than being ignored. But this isn't negative at all. The lovely writer of A Pleasant House blog (that's a link, and it's as lovely as it sounds) was kind enough to acknowledge my existence. I know, I was pretty hard to deal with when it happened. And since my last line of posts came to a weird halt, this seems like a good time to start fresh.

This works as follows:
The nominator asks questions and tags bloggers to answer, the nominatee answers the questions and tags other bloggers, and they tell 2 friends and they tell 2 friends and we all wash our hair in a grid like the beginning of the Brady Bunch. 
It was called Faberge shampoo.
I had this hairstyle, we all did.
Wait, no, that's a shampoo commercial.

Anyway, here are the questions.

1) How did you decide on the name of your blog?

That was the easiest part. My husband's house that he lived in was one of those old, really comfy houses where you could do anything and it was okay. Like he full-on SMOKED inside the house. And you could tell he and other people had for years. You had to see the house where I grew up, but that made me feel right at home. Immediately. We had a pretty messy mashed potato fight one night and left it all there for like 3 days. But since I moved a lot for years before we met, and it was so comfy and filled with memories, it almost immediately felt like home to me. Just driving there I started to feel more calm, happier. It had good juju. 
We strive to continue that everywhere we live. Nowhere has matched the original Comfytown in terms of comfy-ness, but we try to make it a state of mind. You could drop spagetti or spill wine here, and it would be totally okay. S'aul Good, man.

2) Where does your inspiration come from?

Day to day living, past memories, and years of being raised by television. I come from a big family of weirdos, so there are just so many funny stories. I wanted a place to get them down, and to share them. And to have a sense of community. Being home w/small children is where I wanted to be, but it's also very lonely. These kids do not get me. It's like Monty Python jokes go right over their heads.

3) What is it you most love about blogging?

The community. The comments are always more funny than what I've written and a lot of times whole extra conversation comes about in the comments.

4) What is your favorite food?

Tacos. Forever.
Though lately in my middle age I've broadened my horizons to include:
Chip tacos (or do you call them nachos?)
Taco Salad

5) What is your favorite drink?

Beer.
But if I'm driving:
Juice w/water added because I'm weird.

6) What item can’t you live without?

My van.
Yes, really trying not to be a suburban cliche I have a minivan, but it fits my kids and extra kids and extra stuff I find at Goodwill, furniture people give me, stuff I drive by at garage sales, stuff people throw in the garbage, or leave momentarily unattended...etc. I'm very che----FRUGAL.

7) If you could live anywhere, where would it be?

I love London and the surrounding area. Not sure if I could be that far away from our families though.
I love living near Chicago, the city, the people, so many parks and things to do. Even though the weather proves if there is a deity? He/she hates this area.
We say when we get older we'll move somewhere warmer.

8) If you could meet anyone from History (past or present) who would it be?

Frank Zappa. That guy is hilarious.
.
9) What is your favorite outdoor activity?
Floating in the lake behind my sister's lake house in Michigan. In a big tube. With a beer.
Bonfires. With beer.
Hiking, slow and easy terrain where I can bring a Capri-Sun bag spiked. Especially if we're stopping to have a picnic lunch.
Yeah, I'm all about outdoor drinking obvy.

10) Where do you see yourself in five years?

The thing is, I don't know.
Probably still living here in these boring but safe suburbs. My kids will be in school full time so I'll have more options of where I'll be job-wise. I'll have to be somewhere with a paycheck, but again I'll have more options.
Blogging? I'm not sure. There are parts I love about it, and so many parts I hate about it.
I hate having to constantly promote myself to get anyone's eyes over here, it's exhausting. I hate click-baitey writing and things like:
1. Numbered Lists in blog titles, "12 Reasons Why You Will Die Horribly If You Don't Read This, click here"
2. Open Letters to __________ people I don't care about.
3. 13,000 people's exact same thoughts on the SAME subject matter
4. Bucket Lists
BARF! If you like that kind of thing, awesome. I can't swing that way.

I think there is another part to this, I have to go back and get the rules. But in the meantime, you get the jist.

Ta da!!!


2015-06-15

Summer of Discontent. Ish.

I haven't posted in awhile and you're welcome. I probably should have changed the day I had designated for posting. Monday is usually the day I can wake up early, feeling refreshed and sit to write. For 10 weeks, thanks to the rapey weirdos at HBO, I would wake up each Monday tired and confused.

WTF HBO?

In case you don't know what I'm talkin bout Willis, Game of Thrones is on Sunday nights. For 10 weeks anyway. p.s. when did 10 hours become a SEASON? 
I guess when each episode takes $197 million dollars to film.

Don't worry anyone who hasn't watched, only vague spoilers laid down here.

George RR Martin promises on his blog, Not A Blog, that the show and the books will end up at the same place in the end. Why he keeps getting interviewed everywhere instead of FINISHING WRITING THE NEXT BOOK? Is beyond me.
"Shireen did not leave the cockadoodee castle!"

However.

What/how they the shows get to the end? Is apparently left up to a group of people including Bill Cosby and the creepy guy who sang Blurred Lines, the national anthem of rapists.
Don't get me wrong, I know the books are hella violent. I know that medieval marriage was quite different from today. I know that GRRM has a unique way of writing that rivals Waterboarding for inhumane torture. It just really seems like the writers at HBO only know ONE TRICK for getting us to hate a character.

Someone up in there REALLY needs some counseling.

Let's take one example. Ramsay Bolton. There are so many other ways to get the audience to hate Ramsay. Their HOUSE SIGIL is a person about to be flayed, in which they have their skin cut off while still alive.

Ramsay is a special brand of family insane. He likes to physically hunt people before flaying them. But that's not enough for HBO writers. Nope. What could we do to really drive home how awful he is? He needs to rape someone. WHAT THE HELL?

There is one scene in the 9th episode. I do not understand in any way. I hate to spoil it for people who have say, read the books but haven't watched the show. I'll be very vague.

There is one guy who calls himself "The One True King." And, by law, and thanks to his murder of a sibling that would inherit the throne, he actually IS supposed to be the king. Except they don't have Jerry Springer to throw down a DNA test and tell Cersei,
"He is NOT the father!"
and have everyone do that victory dance they do when they get the results.

So, he takes it upon himself to conquer the world. Then, this show would have you believe he orders the death of the only possible heir to his throne.

WHUUUUUUUT?

Why in Seven Hells would anyone do that?

Can anyone help me out here?


_________________________This post was interrupted by the person whose child(ren) I watch, who had given me a schedule showing this week and next OFF, and then inexplicably pulled into my driveway. Good thing I was awake and had some actual clothes on. Pajamas, but my all of my clothes can double as pajamas so no one noticed.
SURPRISE! I don't have this week off from them.