Yes I'm still here.....

I know you all (or as they say down here, Y'all) have been wondering what has happened to me.

(The sounds of crickets chirping in the background.)

Really? Not one person has been wondering? Oh well, I'll tell you anyways.

1. Well, we are currently in Round 3 of the "Department of Labor won't pay back pay until you can show us you are injured" battle. You would think that after working on this problem with them for 5 years I would have gotten use to the red tape. Nope, not a bit. Oh well, hopefully after they see the Husband MRI results they will realize that he is injured. Not that the constant pain isn't a big screaming clue.

2. Bear finished Kindergarten with flying colors. Well he could have done better with the discipline, but he's a boy in the country. What I worry about is when Bug goes to school and I get the first call that he has bitten someone. That call will come. Bear made some wonderful friends and I hope that in 9 years when they are all in high school I can embarrass them with pictures from Kindergarten. Moms are allow to do things like that.

3. We're going to Walt Disney World at the end of July. The boys, my mom, my sister and I. At the "Most Magical Place on Earth." I think the boys will like it. I also think that after driving down to Orlando & back (didn't I mention that?) I will need a vacation.

Well I think that is all for now. Have a Happy Fourth of July. Don't eat too much. Don't drink too much. And don't forget which end of the sparkler to hold!

Oh, the Strangeness

I woke up this morning and had a wonderful surprise. After getting the coffee going and the dog outside, I turned on the morning news. As my wandering mind often does, I started to look through the channels. When I found one of the movies I could easily say is one of my guilty pleasures. Can't Stop the Music. Where else do you have a movie that not only has current reality stars Bruce Jenner & Steve Gutenburg, but also has the Village People. Throw in a little Valerie Perrine and Baby June Havoc (Gypsy Rose Lee's baby sister), a lot of catch songs that get stuck in your head, and New York City of late 70's and then you've got a movie. This is one of the movies that I remember vividly from my childhood. Others are Xanadu, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts' Club Band, and Popeye. I had strange tastes when I was young. Now I need to go. It's time for the "Milkshake" song.

Oink, Oink, Cough, Cough

This is getting ridiculous. This morning I found out that the school district to the east of ours was shut down due to the chance there was a student who might have the Swine Flu (sorry, pig farmers out there, H1N1). So if this child has the dreaded virus, the whole district (which probably has 3,000 students total K-12) will be shut down for the remainder of the week. Which means that the parents of the students who work must find a friend or relative to watch the children that are not sick but must stay home or take unnecessary days off from work. That's going to do wonders for the local economy. So now we wait. Maybe this will cause our district to take a few days off before the actual end of year. At least I stay home, so I won't have to take a day off. On the contrary, I will have to work harder.

That's Some Heavy Music!

I have finally been allowed to listen to my music while I drive the Bear & Bug around. For months I have been stuck in an endless cycle of The Nightmare Before Christmas and George of the Jungle soundtracks. Last night when driving to the Bear's T-ball game (his team the A's lost the Yankees 21-6, or as the Husband say, "Just like the big leagues!") I took control of the music. We listened to the Romeo + Juliet soundtrack. I actually got thee kiddos to groove to the music. We also listened to Weird Al's Running With Scissors, so the boys got a kick out the "The Saga Begins" and the Polka Song.
While I did get to listen many of my CDs last night (yes I still use CDs), I think I pulled a muscle while lifting my CD case today. I have yet to convert to the digital medium of MP3s. Although I do think it would be funny if the iTunes store saves your preferences based on the music you have loaded on your iPod. I don't think those algorithims were designed to deal with a person who like Gershwin & Meat Loaf. The thought of confounding Apple is enough incentive to get an iPod.

Now that you're here, Now that you're near....

It's Xanadu! One of my most favorite movies since I 5. Tonight as I was flipping through the channels of basic cable while the whole house slept, I saw that there was a strange confluence of Olivia Newton-John, Electric Light Orchestra, roller skating, Greek mythology and Gene Kelly. Xanadu. Ah the strange fashions of the early 80s (leg warmers, zoot suits, electric orange jumpsuits) along with a crazy soundtrack featuring OLJ & ELO. A match made in heaven, or Olympus to be more exact. Throw in a dash of Gene Kelly and we're set. I am so sure that I tortured my parents by listening to the album, trying to roller skate on the living room carpet. I remember on a trip to Seattle begging my parents to take me to Mount St. Helens because I thought that was where the muses were (I misheard the movie, but to my defense it was a BetaMax tape) and utterly disappointed when I didn't see them dancing around. I am completely certain that this movie was 100% responsible for my love of Greek Mythology. The only thing that makes tonight even better. The last 30 minutes of Hackers. Why can't we have such cool computers now?