Currently: Planning

The next bit of money I get to spend on my cars will HOPEFULLY be for improvement and actual restoration instead of just keeping them running. I have to replace the battery in the Trans Am, and I am praying that’s all it will need to run again. Then I desperately need to get it to a body shop somewhere for body repair and a new paint job. I know that’s an expensive thing to start with, but it has got to be fixed first so that when I get the motors for the power windows fixed, there won’t be any way for water to possibly get down in there and ruin them. It’s kind of hard to explain, but getting the body in prime shape and doors/hinges aligned properly, and a new paint job so that nothing else rusts, has to be the first priority.

As for the Mustang, I would love to start undoing some of the damage the idiot who sideswiped me has done. Since none of that interfered with my driving, none of it has been repaired yet. And every time after that that I came into a bit of extra money, it needed to be spent on necessary repairs to keep the car running. I’d actually like to start customizing it a bit once all the damage issues are taken care of. I found a site that sells custom Ford grills, and they have some hot ones! I also snuck a peek at the rest of their Ford accessories, and they have everything I could possibly want to customize with.

Okay, I have the ideas and now know where to get some neat stuff. Now I just need the funds!

Currently: Waking up

Or is it ‘Mommyblogging’, you know, with a capital M? Is it its own entity now? While the rest of the world was off blogging about the scandalous photos of Miley Cyrus, I was sitting here pondering something that really has me scratching my head in bewilderment: the mommyblogging phenomenon. What, exactly, turns a blogger from being just a regular blogger into a mommyblogger? Don’t say the obvious, which is having children, because that is not the ONLY requirement. It can’t be, because I am a mom and I have never considered myself a mommyblogger. This is due mostly to the fact that I am a mom of children who are now teenagers. When I started blogging, that term, to my knowledge, didn’t even exist. As I was saying, simply having children does not a mommyblogger make. I had no idea how big this whole mommyblogging thing had gotten. I don’t know if this is a fairly recent thing, or if it has existed for some time and I just didn’t notice because I tend to skim over posts having to do with spit-up and baby poop. (Sorry mommybloggers! I am reading, but what can I say, really? I can’t relate to those issues at all anymore.) Until recently, there were no posts being made about things like baby camp fiascos.

But this brings me to my next point: what about the moms of older kids/tweens/teens? Where is our blogging voice? I know there are a few of you out there besides me, but that is all I know of: just a FEW of you. Surely more of us exist than that. Are we called something else? Why don’t advertisers flock to us as they do to the moms of the diapered set? Although we’re not necessarily in the same core demographic as the more traditional mommyblogger, we still are still responsible for providing for our children’s needs. We may no longer be buying diapers and bottles and formula and arranging play dates, but we do buy food, gadgets, music, and other entertainment; and, in the case of tweens/teens, we’re parenting children who are about to get into the dating ages, and driving ages. We still have to deal with medical issues and doctor visits, even as our children get older. And with older children comes an entirely new set of frustrations and a new realm of consumerism which didn’t exist, at least to me, when the children were younger. I love ALL the blogs I read, but would also really like to be able to network with moms of older kids. And it would be nice to eventually see more advertisers in the blogosphere take an interest in us as well.

Do you consider yourself a mommyblogger? Why or why not? I personally still don’t consider myself a mommyblogger, since my kids are practically grown. Not only that, but my blog has always been more like a watered-down version of a personal journal to some extent. But I have noticed that there seem to be a LOT more blogging moms of younger children than older children, and that interests me.

Thoughts?

Currently: Getting ready to weather the storms

With the weather, that is. We’re supposed to be getting some severe weather around 2-ish this afternoon. The schools have dismissed; I have picked my youngest son up, and my oldest has just gotten off the bus. My cell phone is charging, I have located our storm flashlight, and am looking for our wind-up radio. I also have water and a stash of candy bars to go to the closet with us if we need to hop in there for our safety. And in case our kitchen is blown away.

I didn’t get to start on our storm shelter this spring like I had hoped. Repairing our cars took a huge chunk out of what I had to try to divide up among home improvements. So we’ll be waiting any tornadoes out in the most central closet in the house. It could be worse, though. At least we’re not traveling the country in one a class A motorhome, stuck trying to find shelter somewhere near an RV park. Or worse yet, trying to find shelter while on the road!

Why does our weather always have to be all or nothing? We might get rains from time to time, but it seems like we never get any thunderstorms unless they are of the severe, tornado-producing variety. It would be so nice to just get some plain ol’ thunderstorms from time to time. You know….rain, slight wind, lightning, thunder. No supercells, no rotation, no tornadoes or high straight-line winds. Don’t get me wrong, I am definitely a storm chaser at heart! But severe weather worries me now because of the kids, even though they inherited my love of it and are never scared.

Currently: About to get ready for bed

The list of things which need to be replaced around here just keeps growing and growing. I’ve mentioned before that my oven isn’t working properly and that it needs to be replaced. I have found the perfect, cheap range with the smooth cooktop that I’ve been dying to have ever since they were made. But those Electrolux appliance commercials featuring the annoyingly perky Satan Kelly Ripa have me really wishing I could afford to gut the kitchen and just start over. One of their cooktops boils water in just 90 seconds! When did Electrolux start making appliances? I always knew about Electrolux vacuums, but I had no idea they made other household appliances, too.

Even the cheap stove I have planned will have to wait, as my phone is also on its last legs and needs to be replaced. I am taking care of that ASAP, since my cell is the only phone I use, and I can not be without a way to be contacted should anyone need me. I decided to go ahead and upgrade to a music player phone, which is free with my contract renewal. I don’t know how that is going to work out because I haven’t heard anyone talk about a music player phone. If it’s a dream-come-true, multi-functional piece of electronic equipment, great. If not, I’ll be happy if it just performs the phone and text functions I’ll need it to. After all, it’s free.

Currently: Detoxing

If I ever wondered whether or not I am where I am supposed to be, I need wonder no more. In the past I have complained a lot about hating it here and have seriously contemplated moving back home a time or two. However, Myspace has helped me see the error of my ways.

As I’ve gotten a bit more active on Myspace in the past year or so, I’ve learned a bit more about how to use the ‘features’ there. I began searching for people I knew from back home. Some have been found, and most have responded to my messages. Those would be the people I used to work with and knew from my and their college days, which means they’ve all moved onto other places. We are all different people now, but I am more than happy to become reacquainted with them and hope to do so over time.

But the people I knew in high school are different. Out of the six that I have contacted, only three bothered to respond. Of those three, two have been my good friends since school. They’ve both moved on from ‘home’, too. The funniest thing is the people I tried getting in touch with who still live there did not bother to respond at all. One I even considered a good friend back in school. I am not really sure what’s up with these people because they read the messages. And if they don’t want to be in contact with me, then that is fine.

And that is what got me thinking. Growing up, I really, truly hated living where I did and that particular school and most of the people in it. Not all, but most. It was torture to have to show up there every day. Most of my classmates either ignored me at best, or made my life a living hell at worst. Often, the latter. My mother never could understand why I was so upset most of the time. It really seemed impossible to make friends, and I know that I should have been happy with the few I had. And I was. But even that couldn’t stop me from being upset over the blatant stupidity of the kids who all acted like they thought they were better than everyone else. I mean, my mom and I would go shopping on weekends and she’d see people she knew, whose kids I knew, and their kids wouldn’t even speak to me (and vice versa). It was really hurtful, and went on for years. It eventually did pass, and I was able to enjoy probably the last two years of high school.

Anyway, the point I was getting around to with all of that is that over the years since leaving, I often wondered if, like my family suggested, maybe I just didn’t put forth enough effort. Maybe I wasn’t approachable (even though most of the time it was me making attempts at friendship and not the other way around). In other words, maybe it was all my fault. I see now that it wasn’t. I did try. These kids and I? We just didn’t mesh. Even as adults, some have no interest in catching up with me. This really kind of stung at first, but has made me realize how happy I am to have the few friends there that I did have. The two I mentioned are friends with me even now. I wish I had spent more time enjoying my very best friend, and our adventures back then, instead of constantly worrying why I didn’t measure up in anyone else’s eyes. But…I was young and dumb and overly sensitive, and everything hurt. And having seen that not much has changed in twenty years makes me feel somewhat vindicated. My misery wasn’t entirely in my imagination.

It’s also made me very thankful for the friends I’ve made since coming to the Huntsville area. For the longest time, I felt totally alone here and hated it as badly as I did the place I grew up. Many of the people here were the same way. I could make acquaintances, but no one who remembered me or was interested in getting to know me outside work. I don’t know how my luck changed, but I am so glad it finally did. I don’t think I could continue living here if I didn’t have friends of my own like I do now. Being ignored and unwanted was really starting to tear me down. I am glad that has changed. It’s a good thing, because going home would obviously not have been a better solution.

So yeah. If I ever wondered whether I am where I am supposed to be in life (at least geographically speaking), then I know now that I am.

Currently: Getting ready for work

Who watched AI last night? I can’t believe I’ve become a semi-regular viewer of this show. But? A chance to watch Jason Castro in all his dreadlocked glory, and David Cook, who reminds me of Jimmy Fallon, can not be missed.

Last night’s episode was a real treat, though, with Paula critiquing ‘both’ of Jason’s performances when he’d only been onstage once at that point. You could see some of the audience behind her turning to one another with “WTF?” looks on their faces. I only wish the cameras had panned to the contestants. I would love to have seen their reactions. I seriously need a shot of whatever she’s on. It’s probably exactly what I need to pull me out of these funks I seem to spiral into on such a frequent basis these days.

Currently: About to get ready for bed

I made a huge mistake today. Really huge. My son had an orthodontist appointment, which I scheduled at least two months ago. It has been on my mind since I made the appointment, and even yesterday I gathered the forms I’d filled out, which I would need to take with us. The office even called yesterday morning to remind me of it. So what happened? Today rolled around, and that appointment NEVER even crossed my mind. At least not until about fifteen minutes before the appointment time. There was no way I could get my son from school and get him out there in time to be seen. Sigh. So now, because of my sucky memory, I’ve had to reschedule. The earliest they can see him is in July. He won’t be here in July, so I had to schedule an August appointment instead.

I seriously don’t know what is wrong with me! How did I forget something like this? It is on my calendar and everything. I am losing my mind. At least I have been good at getting him to his many chiropractor appointments. And I didn’t forget his dermatologist appointment, which is good. I’m not so sure having to go the route of natural acne treatments, which we would be exploring right now had I forgotten THAT appointment, would have helped at all. He’s had to be put on a pretty strong medication for it, but it is clearing his skin up better and faster than anything else we’ve tried.

Currently: Doing laundry

I mentioned in my Nashville post that many of the concert attendees belonged on What Not to Wear (quite possibly me included! My empire-waisted shirt with asymmetrical hemline was so two years ago!), and I wasn’t lying. We saw chicks with white stacked flip-flops from the 90s. Pants which looked like pajama bottoms. And….are you ready? One chick had her denim jacket, which she had to have had back in the 80s, emblazoned with Richie Sambora’s face airbrushed across the back. Those of you who were around and attending shows back in the 80s will know exactly what I am talking about, I’m sure!

I am just thankful that we didn’t see any Banger Sister-style, middle-aged groupies in body stockings.

Currently: Relieved

First off, I just upgraded to WP 2.5.1 (due to that security fix and all), and it went smoothly. I had to re-do my smilies, which took most of the morning. But they are done! And as far as I can tell, my dofollow still works for links. Whew!

As I was saying with my title, I had some amazing fun in Nashville this weekend! And by weekend, I mean the weekend started on Thursday this time.

For once in my life, I was already packed for my trip - mostly - just had to drop the boys off at school, go by the bank, come home to touch up my nails, and throw my stuff in the suitcase (see, by ‘packed’ I meant that I had all my stuff folded and laid out in an orderly fashion so that I could tell I had everything I would need), and make a quick run to the bank. Then it was off to Tiffani’s to meet up with Amber and Stacey. We also got to hang out with Tiffani’s very awesome mom while there, which is always a treat

The ride to Nashville was adventure-less, although my amazing co-piloting skillz somehow got us a wee bit lost (shhh). But we found the hotel easily enough after that mishap.

I *LOVED* our hotel room…..it was sooo nice! I didn’t think to get pictures of it, but here is a view from the room, six stories up:

After getting ready, we headed out for a bite to eat before the show. Here are a few of me from before the show:

I bet if you look really hard, you can see your reflection in my glassy-looking eyes! Here are two more, just for the hell of it:

Here’s me and Tiffani at the Bon Jovi/Daughtry show:

(photo by Tiffani)

I have to admit, I had my doubts about going to this show. I mean, I wanted to go because I wanted to hang out with my best buds and I always have such a great time with them. There was no way I was going to pass up an opportunity to go to a major show with them! But Bon Jovi? Like just about every other woman my age that I know of, I was really into them back in the day. I even met the guys back in ‘89 in Memphis. But that was the last time I saw them, and I had not kept up with their music since then, either. I do like Daughtry (they’re one of my many pop-rock guilty pleasures), but I truly wasn’t expecting to enjoy Bon Jovi.

I was pleasantly surprised! My only complaint about the evening was that Daughtry didn’t play nearly long enough. They did some neat things during their performance, like dimming the lights and having everyone take a picture at the same time, so the arena literally lit up from all the flashes going off (and I think it stayed that way for close to a minute). And they also performed what I thought was a great cover of Filter’s “Hey Man Nice Shot”.

(photo by Tiffani)

I still can’t believe I enjoyed the Bon Jovi show as much as I did. They were energetic, and you can tell they really love performing. Their set lasted about two hours, maybe more. Longer than I had expected. And there were only one or two songs that I didn’t recognize. They were also joined onstage at different times by Big & Rich and LeAnn Rimes. Their fan base has changed over the last twenty years to include not just hair metal fans from the 80s, but ranging in ages from the very young to elderly. The arena was about 90% full of people who truly belong on What Not to Wear.

(photo by Tiffani

Here’s the rest of the girls after the show:

(photo courtesy of Stacey)

We had decided to cab it to and from the show since our hotel was a bit out of walking distance. The way to the show was fine, but we got into a totally crazy cabbie’s taxi on the way back! It was one of those van taxis with a half seat in the middle, which Amber and I grabbed. Tiffani hopped in the back, and brave Stacey rode shotgun. Queen Latifah’s character in Taxi had nothing on this man! He did it all. He peeled out. He slammed on the brakes multiple times at traffic lights. He cut through parking lots and sped over speed bumps, and may have even flown down an alley. I swear people were looking and moving out of the way! Once, he made a sharp left turn. I grabbed for the bar thing to hold onto, but I misssed grabbing it. I got slung over, and my arm hit the back of Stacey’s seat instead, and I nearly ended up in Amber’s lap. I love roller coasters, and this was kind of like being on a completely out of control roller coaster. Some of us were trying not to giggle, while others were trying not to get sick. I won’t soon forget it!

The next day we headed out to do some shopping & sightseeing.

(photo courtesy of Amber)

(photo by Stacey)

Taken @ Rippy’s Smokin’ Bar & Grill:

Ryman Auditorium:

And I couldn’t leave the city without some souvenir tees:

(yes, I know Sun Records is in Memphis. But who knows when I will get to go back there?)

Passed on the streets of Nashville: JP of Daughtry. And Sammy Kershaw.

I had such a great time, and can’t wait to go do it all over again someday!

Currently: Trying to manipulate my Myspace default photo!

I keep researching job opportunities because I keep thinking that I need to try to find something full time. I don’t know how in the world I’d ever pull it off, because it doesn’t seem like I actually have any free time now, and I only work part time! But it’s a shame I didn’t have the know-how to start my own business. I keep thinking it would be so lucrative to own an IT service company. I’m not talking about your run-of-the-mill technical support, I’m talking about a company that does it all: tech support, refurbished equipment such as used cisco, etc. You know, hardware, software, the whole deal. Seems like that would have all the bases covered. People can’t live without their computers these days, so it seems like there will always be a strong demand for such services. At least for the foreseeable future, anyway!