Music and My Family

Yes, we're watching the Grammy's tonight. I have to admit that I don't know many of the performers. I've heard the name, or heard the song, or know the melody, but I don't KNOW much of it. However, the girls fill in the blanks for me.

I have missed my ABC shows tonight, watching this, but it's SO worth it. We're doing some serious bonding here.

It's cool to hear them rocking out to some old school Bon Jovi, and cooler yet to hear them stop sniping at each other long enough to enjoy a Green Day performance. Yeah, this has been a fun night.

The coolest thing is seeing how music moves them. This family has VERY different musical tastes. I'm hard-core country, Kevin's hard-core metal, but we both have some eclectic stuff thrown in. It's way cool to see the girls building their own repertoire of musical favorites.

I've always been moved by good music. Sometimes, I've even been moved by bad music! The thing is, music taste is something that you OWN. You are in total control of what you choose to listen to...what you enjoy. Your mother can hate it, your kids can hate it, your siblings can hate it, but it doesn't matter.

I love it when my girls sing EVERY word to a song that was popular before they were born. I love Monica's love for the Beetles, even thought I'm not a huge fan. I love that they recognize Rush, simply by the opening notes. I love that they play instruments and sing and feel something, deep inside, from the music that they hear.

Music has been around for thousands of years, and has been an important part of people's lives since it started. If you've never been moved by music, spend a Sunday morning at New Life Assembly of God in Oak Grove. I'm just sayin', all sorts of music can make you feel this way.

Grammy's? eh, whatever. Music? Oh yeah. Shout out to Stevie Nicks? LOVE HER!

Sunday Surprise

Yesterday was fun. Kevin and I ran some errands, and stopped by Olive Garden for some soup, salad and breadsticks. Yummy minestrone. Plus, I love their salad.

Later in the day, I took Natalie to get a hair cut, and then we stopped at WalMart for some girl-time items. Assorted nail polish, hair color, facial cleanser, hair clips, etc. Kevin wasn't there, so we spent a lot of time looking at girlie stuff.

Today, we cleaned house some, cooked a big lunch, and then got a visit from Brett and a certain punkin'...

She had fun in the toy box. OK, it's not really a toy box, but it's the storage container that I bought a few weeks ago to hold her toys. That counts, right? There are several babies in there, but I'm sure I know which one is the prettiest.

The picture above shows her telling the Cabbage Patch kid that she'll never measure up, especially with that weird hair pattern she has going. The monkey agreed.

Oh yeah, this kid has my heart.

Updates

In case anyone is wondering, since Mom and I share a lot of readers, I won't disappear.

Mom and I can log into each other's blogs, and will update as necessary. I'm just saying.

Hep A Sista

Come on, people.

Please.

Help a sister out!

http://tinyurl.com/hepasista

Nothin' 'n Stuff

The cold has returned. Living on a hill lets me know just how hard the cold wind can blow. Sure, we'll never flood here, but the cold wind nearly cut me in half this morning.

I found out today that, in addition to the SC convention that I'll be doing a week from Saturday, I'm also going to do the NC convention a few weeks later than that. I LOVE those two states. I'm just sayin'.

In May, we'll go to Sulfur Springs, TX again for vacation. I keep thinking about that, because last year was miserably hot. I keep thinking about sweating and jumping in a pool to cool off. It helps when it's cold outside. Southwest has very cheap flights right now, but it's still *just* out of reach. We'll see. We may ask to borrow Dad's car again.

I love the current facebook status game. Using only 4 words, what would you say to me if we woke up in jail together? It's been a hoot.

Good Weekend

Here's the short version:

Kami spent the weekend. Kevin's sister, brother-in-law, nephew, and Mom came up for the weekend. I took all kids to Pizza Street while the others went to Truman Library. Everyone had a ball.

Tonight, we had an awesome dinner and we're watching football. The Colts game was closer than I thought for the first half. I began to wonder! LOL

We saw the SUNSHINE today! It was cold and windy, but BRIGHT out there. I even needed my shades when we took the baby home.

I got some productive things done around here today.

Look out, week, here I come!

My Mom's in the Hospital

Yeah, it was a minor procedure, and yeah, Mom will be home in the morning.

However, since she didn't make it wildly public about what was up (she's fine, folks) I starting thinking about what some people may assume is going on. And then...Well, and then my mind did what it always does: It started having fun.

What could I tell people about this situation? Here are a few things that I came up with:

• Sex Change
• Face Lift
• Child Birth
• Removal of foot from mouth
• Butt lift
• Donation of kidney to internet stealing neighbors
• 12-step program for facebook addicts

You can see how far I could take this, right? What do YOU think Mom is having done? If you know the truth, you must make something up for fun, OK?

We Talk Too Much

There are people who never seem to talk. They're shy, introverted, quiet, and you have to be REAL close to them (emotionally) in order to have a conversation. They may seem snobbish, but they're really just quiet. They just don't talk.

That's not me. That's not Natalie. We talk too much. We make jokes and comments, we have something to say about EVERYTHING, and we annoy those around us.

All through school, as far back as I can remember, I was told that I talk too much. My grades were good, but "she talks too much, and is distracting in class." Every quarter of every semester of every year. I talked too much. In high school, I had a teacher say, in front of the class, "Your voice is SO annoying." That was harsh.

Now, my little mini-me, Natalie, is facing the same thing. She talks in class enough that her teacher is now assuming it's her when it's not. If someone talks in the same corner of the room that she's in, she gets called out. Doesn't matter if it's her or not. I can't blame the guy. Heck, if he was a betting man, those would be good odds.

I need to tell her to shut her mouth a bit, but the kid's on the A Honor Roll. Consistently. How much should I "punish" her? So she has to walk a lap now and then. So what? Her grades aren't suffering. She's had her punishment. Why should I jump in?

I know that some local teachers read this. I'd LOVE their input. Should I spank her and send her to bed, because she got called out for talking?

The final word that I gave Natalie is this: I faced the same thing, and I now get paid to talk. I found an employer who agreed to pay me a salary to talk to people on the phone all day. Wait! It gets even better! I have new duties at work, and my business card says "Social Networking Coordinator!"

I wish I could upload my business card here, but it's not on this computer. I'm just saying that we're NOT bad people.

We just talk too much.

Blue Springs Wal Mart

I won't rant too much about this hell-hole, since my mother did it so well that her blog still shows up on the first page if you google it. WalMart is a necessary evil and this one is the worst. Still, it has stuff that the smaller, closer one doesn't have. Richmond is the best, but it's not on the way to anything for us, so we seldom go there.

Anyway, after we lost the last of some fish in one of the aquariums a couple of months ago, we did a complete clean-out of the tank and refilled it. You need to let a "new" setup sit for a while before adding fish, so we've been regulating the temperature and letting it sit. Kevin's mentioned it a couple of times recently, and decided that today was the day to get some fish for it.

I avoid WalMart fish due to some bad past experiences, but their tanks look healthier than they used to. He decided up on 2 Blue Gourami and 5 striped zebra danios. The danios are so small that they are easier to see with multiples, since they school so well. He told the guy he wanted 5.

Dude got 4 in the bag (finally) and was struggling to catch another. Finally, he put the net down and announced, "I can't get another." Kevin said, "But there's like 15 of them in there." Useless Jerk said, "I just can't." That was the end of it. He had no intention of trying any more.

Customer service, Wal Mart style. Jerks.

Now, I have 4 zebra danios, swimming around the tank, asking "Where's Frank? Have you seen Frank? Dude, Where Is HE???"

It's sad, really.

Changing Plans/Cancelled Plans

We wanted to go to Carthage this weekend, and take Kami with us. She's never been there, and there are many friends/relatives that have never met her. Kevin was supposed to ask Mom and Dad if we could trade cars for the weekend so we could all fit. No problem.

Kevin went out there, dropped off a coffee can for Dad and a light for him to hold until Jim comes up...they weren't home, so he didn't ask for the car. Meanwhile, Kami's mom sends me a message that Kami is sick. She's not REAL sick, but she's off-and-on sick. I don't want to take her down there when she's not 100%. She's so fun and funny, I hate to have her away from home when she's feeling bad.

I've had her when she's sick before: She wants her Momma when she's sick. I said that we should call it off and try again another weekend. No need to ask Dad to trade cars. Maybe we'll pick her up Saturday night and keep her until Sunday night, but we're not taking her out of town. No problem, change of plans. Plan B is now in place.

NOT!

We've all been fighting off colds a bit, but nothing serious. Mine's gone, Monica's is almost gone, and Kevin's is staying the same. Until today. He started feeling worse, and then hot/cold, and then achy. Uh Oh. He now has a temp of over 101.

I'm glad Kami's cold made us postpone our trip. He does NOT need to be infecting our friends and family. He's going to get rest and get over it. We won't go get Kami unless he's FAR better by tomorrow evening. I guess that means I have a weekend at home. I can live with that.

Brett will come over late morning tomorrow, to change his oil. He isn't working, so we bought the oil change stuff for him and will help him do it tomorrow. Thank God that used to be my car, since I'll be doing the work, if Kevin's still sick. I've changed that oil before. LOL It probably still has the same oil it had in it when I sold it to him 10 months ago. (Lord, I hope not.)

Tomorrow afternoon, I'm going to Grandview to see a customer/friend's new studio. I'm excited. I'm so happy that she has a new place, and can't wait to see the progress.

OK, back to TV. What a boring blog entry. I'll do better tomorrow.

Mystery Solved!

So, I figured it out. Actually, the sock sender confessed. A distant friend mentioned on facebook that she was going shopping. I teasingly said that I hoped she got me something good. She teasingly said "How about some thermal socks?" I laughed, and it was over.

It wasn't until after she confessed tonight on facebook that I actually recalled the conversation. I had to dig DEEP to find it. I hit "older posts" about 10 times before I got back that far. Funny stuff. Here it is:

Joanna Miller With the Fed Govt closed tomorrow I get to sleep in. Maybe I can get to Target around noon and get some odds and ends. :o)

December 20, 2009 at 5:25pm

Susan Swackhamer Kisseberth likes this.

Rachel Wood Fierro

Buy me something nice! LOL

December 20, 2009 at 5:29pm ·

Donna Allen Wood

Why is the Fed. Govt closed?

December 20, 2009 at 5:41pm

Joanna Miller

Because we are still digging out from the storm.

December 20, 2009 at 5:44pm

Joanna Miller

Rachel, how's about some thermal sox? LOL

December 20, 2009 at 5:44pm

Joanna, you crack me up. I never, in a million years, thought you were really going to buy me socks. What a silly notion. Yeah, I'm wearing a pair now. And they're WARM!

A Mystery

Kevin called me at work today and told me that I had received a package. He said it felt like a T-shirt or something. I have participated in My Coke Rewards for a while, and ordered things with those. I have KC Rewards, but have never redeemed any. I do Swagbucks, and thought maybe I redeemed some points a while back, and it just took a while to get here.

I told him to open it. He did, and it was socks. Thermal, warm socks. WTH? I didn't order socks from anyone. I'm quite sure. Oh well, I'll figure it out when I get home. However, I'm home, and I haven't figured it out.

They came to me, at this address. There is no invoice or information at all. There is a form inclosed for returns, and a catalog for future orders. That's it. I went to their web site and tried to log in, but it didn't recognize my email address, so I did NOT order these.

Finally, I called. After being on hold for 5 minutes or so, I started explaining the situation to the lady on the other end of the line, and have her the order number on the shipping label. She explained that I had ordered them. I asked if she had an email address on file, and she said that she didn't, since "I" ordered them via phone.

Hmm.

She told me that she would send a return label for me, but I wasn't satisfied with that. I asked if there was an amount due, and she explained that "I" had paid for them upon ordering. LOL OK? Whatever. I told her that I didn't want to return them, if they were paid for. They're thermal socks, I'll wear them!

She seemed confused, so I explained that most of my friends have as warped a sense of humor as I do, and we were having an extreme cold spell when these were ordered. Now, out of the 4000 weird friends that I have (and that I love, more now than ever) I have to figure out who did this.

At least my feet will be warm while I do my detective work. LOL

The Next Thing

This entry is about my daughter, Monica. She is 14 now, but she was a newborn yesterday.

Monica cried. Monica screamed. Monica was NEVER silent, unless she was sleeping. She cried between feedings, and she cried during feedings. She cried during her bath and cried after her bath. We walked the floors with her every night.

Except Wednesday nights. She went home with Mom on Wednesday nights, and Mom gave us a chance to sleep. That kid cried all the time. But, we figured out WHY she was crying. She wanted The Next Thing. She always wanted to do more.

She stopped screaming when she learned to sit up on her own. Yup, she was happy. For about a week. Then, the screaming returned. She never crawled, but we had hard wood floors and she learned to scoot, pulling herself along with her heels. She was happy. Yup, she was happy. For about a week.

Finally, that screaming child learned to walk. This opened a new world to her, in which she could do The Next Thing forever, and she was happy. And then she stayed happy. Still, she's lived her life looking for The Next Thing.

What brought this to mind was her actions tonight. She walked in and announced that she's learned a new song on the guitar. She pulled the song up on YouTube and played along. That's what she does: She finds a song that moves her and plays the guitar until she learns it. It's cool. I get this treat several times per week.

I love watching her, set upon learning The Next Thing. She stubborn, and it's working for her. It makes me look back fondly at that screaming baby. She was born wanting more. That could mean big things for her future. Never satisfied is a good way to move forward, don't you think?

Running Interference

Running interference is something that my Dad taught me as soon as I could drive. If you don't know how to do it properly, keep reading. If you think you know how to do it properly, keep reading, since you're probably wrong.

Maybe you're following someone because you don't know how to get there. Maybe they're following you for that same reason. Maybe one is hauling an oversized load, or driving a questionable vehicle, or having mechanical problems. Any of these will require "running interference."

Say you're the lead car, for whatever reason. Maintain a speed that will insure your wing man stays on your bumper. Don't get so far ahead that you encounter a yellow light, leaving your buddy stuck, wondering where you went. If you make this rookie mistake, pull over and wait. They'll get there, and they'll thank you.

If you're the tail car, don't get so far behind that the lead car has to read that previous paragraph. Stay on their ass. Get right up there, knowing that you need them. You DO need them. They're going to help you. They won't be so stupid as to stomp the brakes and cause issues. If they do, just punch them in the mouth.

Now, if you're on the interstate, the car in back can do a LOT to help run interference. If you need to change lanes, it is the responsibility of the tail car to change lanes first, and then go at a speed that allows the lead car to move over in front of you. This is important. It's even MORE important, however, that the lead car TAKES this cue, and moves over in front of you.

If you plan this in advance, there are things that need to be decided before you head out. You have to know what signals to use if trouble arises. If your wing man starts flashing his headlights, and you didn't discuss signals, you may think that he means "Hey, you're fabulous" while he really means "slow down, jerk."

Finally, we come to my point. Yeah, I have one. Honest! I had the opportunity tonight to run interference for a stranger. Oh, I've tried before, but most folks are too thick in the head to realize that they have this opportunity. If you've got the smokin' hot Neon for a wing-man, you got it made, baby. Most never realize this.

Today, I was behind a car who was OBVIOUSLY hating morons as much as I was. I almost ditched him, but decided to give it a whirl. I changed lanes and slowed, ever so slightly, to see what would happen. Dude was ALL OVER IT! For the rest of the 30 minutes that I spend on I-70, we could have been on Dancing With the Stars.

Beautiful. I hope I get to run with him again some day. If not, I'll just find a time to run interference for Dad or Kevin. They're the only other ones that get it. If there are others, I haven't had the opportunity. Most others are idiots.

I'm just sayin'.

Nashville, and the Gaylord Opryland Hotel

I went. I walked more than my fat behind usually walks in a week. It was beautiful, and confusing, and massive, and crazy.

The braille room number didn't happen, but the ugly carpet shot made it:

Would you put this in YOUR home? Me neither. I guess it's supposed to be posh or something, but it's gawdy and hideous, if you try to picture it in your home.

I got to see a LOT of awesome customers. That's my favorite part of going to a convention. I didn't help with the booth, and that caused MUCH guilt. Nobody else put the guilt on me...I did that on my own. They had plenty of people, but I've never gone without helping, so I felt bad.

I'm home, and the next trip for me is South Carolina, the first weekend in February. I'll take more annoying pictures then.

Here we go again! (or) Nashville Bound!

So, I leave in the morning. I'm packing, watching TV, checking in online, and having a cold adult beverage. Too much multi-tasking, I'm sure. I'm only going to be in Nashville for one night, but I have travel clothes, dinner-with-customer clothes, trade show clothes, and sleeping clothes. Sheesh. It's like I'm a girl or something.

Yeah, I'm doing a convention (sort of) this weekend. It's the big one. It's nationals. The thing is, I'm only flying in for 1 1/2 days. I get to see some amazing people, see the new booth, help get things going, and go to NASHVILLE!

It's cold there, but not as cold as here. I'm cool with the weather. There aren't three foot drifts, there isn't a -30 wind chill, and there are cool people there. I get to room with my favorite convention roomie (Michelle) and I get to fly Southwest (my favorite airline.)

Sure, I have a lot to do, but please don't worry. I WILL have photos of crappy hotel carpet, weird sights from the hotel, and Michelle giving me "the look." It WILL happen.

Sorry in advance.

Yes, Michelle Brown, there IS a Santa Claus

So, what have we learned today?

• We've learned that, even with 4 drafts, the newsletter can still have a mistake.
• We've learned that it's cool when customers want to see you in person.
• We've learned that if they make enough noise, they get their way.
• We've learned that, because of that noise, I'm going to Nashville this weekend.
• We've learned that Rachel has some WAY cool customers.
• We've learned that me, in third person, is annoying.
• We've learned that Southwest Airlines still rocks.
• We've learned that the roads are still bad.
• We've learned that -2 is miserable.
• We've learned that a -15 wind chill is worse.

See? We learned something today!

Stuck in Second Gear

Yeah, Snowapalooza is here. It's snowing, and it's pretty, and it's cold. Cold as a well diggers butt. Miserable cold. The snow started around 2 this afternoon. Beautiful, fluffy, gently-falling snow. Gorgeous.

I was told, at 4:40, to start home, since I have the farthest drive in customer service. I headed out and brushed the snow off the car. It was easy, since it's very cold, and it's a dry snow. After heading out, the fun began.

I saw the following: A truck, pointing the wrong way, against the guard cable. An SUV, on it's top, on the side of county road FF. A car weaving onto the left shoulder to see JUST WHAT WAS HOLDING UP TRAFFIC and nearly getting smashed by the fire truck heading to an accident. A snowplow in front of me with the flashing warning lights, causing me to have 12-14 seizures before I passed him. And I seldom got out of second gear.

I'm home. I now return you to your regularly scheduled snow storm.

ARGH!

Have I mentioned, lately, how much I hate other drivers?

Well, I do.

I can't wait to drive with them in the snow tomorrow night.

Ass hats.

The Official End to the 2009 Holiday Season - And a Snow Turtle!

Well, friends, it's over. No more short work weeks. No more abundant snacks. No more lazy, long weekends. It's back to normal.

Thank goodness.

Seriously! I love time off, just like anyone else, but there is something to be said for routine. It's not good for me to be lazy for more than two days at a time. It tends to put me into a rut. How much Dirty Jobs and Mythbusters can one person watch? I've seen every episode now, so I'm all caught up.

We had Kami for 3 days, and it was great. I'm ready to go back to uninterrupted sleep, but it was SO worth it. Last night, Monica and Kevin informed me that they wanted to go to church at New Life in Oak Grove. Due to the late warning, I wasn't as prepared as I should have been. I'm in details, Kevin is transportation only.

Scrambling to find decent clothes, while preparing to take a baby to church for the first time in 11 years (I guess, since Natalie is 12 now,) was a bit unnerving. We managed it, and even with a messy backup on the exit ramp, we got there. The service was great (as always,) and the girls enjoyed themselves. Kami was a little angel.

Natalie informed me, after church, that she had gotten a call during church. Her phone was on silent, and she ignored it, but after church she checked. I thought, "Oh boy, I hope it's not Lacie (Kami's mom,)" and checked my phone. 4 missed calls and voicemail. Ooops.

She had called to check on Kami, and none of us answered our phones. We ALWAYS answer our phones. Also, I hadn't updated facebook. I ALWAYS update facebook. She got worried and headed out here. Poor thing. In a snow storm and driving 30 miles round trip because she was worried about her baby.

I know the feeling. I remember worrying every second that my babies were gone. I felt like a total heel for the situation. She was very sweet about it, though, and her precious cargo has been returned to her. Next time, we'll communicate better.

Well, my shows are new tonight! WooHoo! Work tomorrow. I think it's done snowing, for a couple of days anyway. It is truly beautiful, but so bitter cold. A guy in Oak Grove made a huge turtle in the snow. Wanna see? Click Here. It's so cool! See Ya!

01-01-10

So, it's a brand new year. I always think about losing weight, but even more so on New Year's. I have no self control, but I wonder if I could do it. While thinking about it this morning, my cell phone rang. Mom was on the other end with, "I'm making Pioneer Woman's Chicken Spaghetti if you guys want to come over." I'M THERE!

Why does it have to start on the first, right? Yeah, I'm weak like that.

Anyway, we headed over there, ate a FABULOUS dinner (including hot rolls and pumpkin bread) and played the Wii with my niece, Amber. It was such a great time. Kameron showed off, flirted, ate, and showed off some more. I think she's convinced that my Mom belongs in the kitchen, and is named "banana" since she ate 3/4 of a banana in my Mom's care. Each time Mom picked her up after that, she'd point at the kitchen and chant "Nana, nana!"

She is such a good baby. Even when she's frustrated because I want her to eat dinner before desert, she doesn't cry. She just complains. You can even make her laugh while she's mid-gripe. Then, she crinkles up her nose and looks at someone else as if to say, "Hey, she's not paying attention, will you tell her I'm unhappy?"

Wii bowling was fun, but I stink. My score was on par with what I get when bowling in real life. Barely broke 100. Dad picked it up after NEVER playing Wii before, and bowled 177. *sigh* He even throws with some spin on the ball.

Brett came over to spend the night and hang out. Meanwhile, Kameron's Mom called and told us that her sister was in town...a sister that has only met Kami once, and could they come get her to hang out for a few hours. Of course! She's so sweet to ask. Anyway, baby girl is gone for a few hours, and we're chillin' out being lazy.

Here are my resolutions for tomorrow (not for the new year, just for tomorrow.)

• I will add water to the aquarium so the fish don't have to walk.
• I will clean up the back porch.
• I will vacuum my bedroom.
• I will enjoy Kami some more.

Baby steps, people. BABY STEPS!