A Glass of Wine Before Bed

Memorial Day is a time to remember those that have gone before us. I've been thinking about Aunt H. lately. My great Aunt was an awesome lady. She was just pure. Real, actually a good word for her is Noble. Her hair always was neatly pulled back into a bun and she was always neatly dressed but not over accentuated. A dainty woman, but not weak in the least. A very strong woman. Strong in morals, values and her opinion. Though it was her opinion and she never forced her opinion on anyone, but there was never a question as to what she thought of a subject, because her life showed you. She was also a very proud woman, but not in the sense were she was egotistical. She was proud of who she was, of what her children had accomplished and how she lived her life. And she gave all the credit to the one she lived her life for, Jesus Christ. Yes, she was very religious, but not in a hypocritical or pushy way. She lived the way she lived for herself and for her beliefs and never tried to force it down others.

She lived a very long healthy life. I remember asking her once what she attributed to her health and longevity. "I have one glass of wine every night after prayers and before bed." was her response.

I've never tried that, so this weekend I thought, Why not. She lived a long life, over 90 years and was a very healthy lady up until she passed. So for the Memorial Day Party that Momma D had on Saturday I stopped at the local wine store and bought a gallon of white wine.

I don't think trying to make up for 44 years of a nightly glass of wine can be done in one night. I also don't think an entire gallon of wine in one night is quite as healthy as just a glass before bed. And I know that Aunt H would not have condoned my antics Saturday night at the party after consuming that much wine. I can hear her very clearly and all I hear is one word....

MODERATION.

One other thing, I don't think I can have a glass of wine before going to bed tonight.

Love Diet

Remember when you were trying to find that special someone? You wanted to look your best when you were on the prowl, and weight was something you just COULD NOT have. So you scrimped and dieted like crazy to look in top form so that some roving eye would catch your hot bod and you would make that ultimate love connection.

Well there is a new report out that states that the Love Diet works. One problem though. Just as most diets or fads, it doesn't last. Once you find that love that is missing in your life, the weight reappears. Studies show that most couples after being together after one year have kept the weight off, by year two between the two of them they have gained 12 pounds. By year five they will have gained a total of 22 pounds combined. If they are lucky and blessed and don't mind the extra weight on their beloved, they will have gained on an average of 52 pounds between the two of them!! WOW!

So I guess what they are saying is that love doesn't always mean the best for your health. At that rate after 25 years of a relationship, each person would gain over a 100 pounds each. So what do you do to combat the battle of the love bulge?

Stay Single.

Now me, I'd prefer to be fat and in love than to be skinny and unhappy. What about you?

25,000

Well I have reached the 25,000 mark. I have had 25,000 hits on my blog. Now some would feel this was a milestone in their blogging history, but I do not see it that way. Six months ago, yeah I would have been ecstatic. But that was before I posted a picture of Chris Evans (don't look, it's been removed). Since I posted that picture I have received anywhere from 300 to a 1000 hits a day. Why you ask? Well google Chris Evans and then check for his images. Low and behold guess what picture is the very first one? Yep, the one I posted on my site, sending me hits galore onto my site. I've removed that particular posting and the picture, but google still has it up. So therefore I still get hits for it.

I know that people are not coming to my blog in droves, as I am not that interesting, and my blog is even worse. I even wonder if anyone even reads it anymore. That was why a few weeks ago I was going to stop posting. Some of my avid readers who used to have me on their list of blogs have removed me, so I'm not getting those hits anymore either. But having a blog is not about how many hits I get a week, or even how many people read it, or post comments. It's about me expressing myself. So I will continue to post my lackluster entries and smile when I see that I've reached 100,000 hits, because in reality (that what this is about right, checking my reality?) I know that hit counter over on the right hand side is a farce.

Cruises Make Me Smile

Enough of the drama, murder and mayhem that have garnered my postings the last few days. We need to jump to the lighter side of things, what do you say?

Well this from defamer did it for me!!

Too Funny!! What is so funny is that is probably what was really being said!!

But regardless of who he dates, He still looks good, don't you agree?


And not that I laughed at Jamie, but he does bring a smile to my face. If you have not checked out his blog "Trick a Kiss in Time" YOU HAVE TO!! He is so real and totally out there. I swear if I was single and DJ was not in my life I would so cruise up to Washington and marry this guy! Who cares that he is obsessive about toothpaste stains in his sink and that he is very communicative with his hands. Come on tell the truth, we are all like that now aren't we? I bet Tom is.

Some other good news made me smile today too. It seems due to the negotiations with DJ's employer and the Union, he will not have to go part-time. He will keep his full-time status, continue with the raise increases, and keep his free insurance coverage, at least for a year. Now that should make anyone smile. It did me. That means we may still get to go to Hawaii and possibly a Disney Cruise next year. Yes, I said Disney Cruise. Not that I am a freak about Disney like some one else I know, but it's a cruise (not a tom cruise, but a ship cruise) that not only DJ and I would enjoy, but my two younger sons can also go with us (at a very high price I may add, but hey it's Disney). So things are looking up. We are just crusing along...

I know, the whole cruise thing is a little lame. Forgive me this one time, okay?

Not Enough Heroes

Not more than 12 hours ago my post was of a young high school student that saved a 4 year old girl from abduction here in the city. Proud parents, school officials, the police and citizens all over the tri-state were applauding this young man for possibly saving a little girl's life.

This afternoon another event began to hit the local news. Another teenager, but this time there was no hero there to save the day. A young 17 year old boy was found beat to death in his own home. Weapon? A baseball bat. Witnesses said they saw another young man running two blocks away from the house where he got into a fountain at the square and washed blood from his clothing and then went to the firehouse to report someone beaten at his home.

Tonight the second young man was arrested. He was the victims 16 year old brother. So far police are not reporting a motive for this crime. Unfortunately two lives were destroyed today.

Andy Theis was a hero this week, and I hope that the tragedy today does not overshadow his valor. We need more kids like Andy.

Yet at the same time our hearts go out to the family that lost not one son today, but two. Again, parents, school officials, the police and citizens all over the tri-state are talking, but no applause today. Gasps are going out and just one word... Why?

High School Heroics

After all the killings and shootings in the Cincinnati Tri-State area over the past several months, good news stories are refreshing. Especially when heroics are involved, and even more so when the hero happens to be a High School student.

While working with a mentoring program, a local high school boy, Andy Theis saved one of his mentees, a four year old girl, from being abducted. A man came up to them and snatched the girl from the High School student, during a play session at the school, and the boy fought back, taking a punch in the face to save the little girl. Read about it here. One of the comments afterwards from one of the teachers was,-- "I think those who saw it, the little preschoolers, in their mind he's like a Spiderman. He can move mountains." --

It's good to know that even in these times, young people still value life and the saftey of others, sometimes over their own. He may not be Spiderman, but a hero doesn't always need a costume and special abilities. Hats Off to Andy, our local hero.

By the Light of the Silvery Moon.

Nothing went my way today. I got up in time for work, but once I got there, I couldn't do anything until the computers came up. Apparently there was a power outage on Sunday and was still out this morning.

Had a little stomach problem so I decided that Pepto-Bismal was my cure. They now make Pepto in caplet form. One thing about them though. They are to be swallowed, not chewed.

Came home and did my usual routine, E-mail, SIMS2 and of course the bathroom (by the way, the pepto doesn't work as well if you chew it. ) DJ was to get off work early so I could pick him up when he called. We have a headlight out, so I didn't want to drive in the dark, hence the reason for him to get out early. Silver Fox called and after his call apparently I didn't turn the phone off, went to take the garbage out and the wind blew the door shut on me. Locked. The key inside. I didn't realize until 45 minutes later when I managed to get back into the house that the phone had not been turned on, and DJ had tried to call. He got off early. But I was locked out of the house and the phone was turned off, so I never got the messages. He was just a little upset.

I finally realized the reason for all my misadventures today.

Full Moon.
Good thing I'm not a werewolf.

UPDATE

After numerous e-mails, comments and a few phone calls I have decided to keep blogging. However I am sure that my posts will not be as frequent and probably just as boring as always.

I guess it worked for Arrested Development, so why not here. Thanks to everyone who has sent e-mails and for the comments. I will continue to bore you with my everyday life, at least for a while.

So for those of you that couldn't bear to see me leave, here it goes...

Why is it when things are going so well that everything seems to crash? What am I talking about? Let me share, will you?
For five years DJ and I have been struggling financially. Not to the extent that we are starving, but we just have enough to pay the bills and occasionally go out or take a trip. Two years into our relationship I lost my job at a local law firm. One of the best jobs, and best paying jobs I ever had. Needless to say that put us in a crunch. So now almost three years later I'm finally back at the rate of pay I was then, and he has a good job, great benefits, lalalalala...Then comes the crash.
His company and the union decide it's time to strike. So for three days they were in negotiations to stop the strike. They came to an agreement. But this really is not going to help DJ, because he will have to go to 20 hours the end of the month. So he is out looking for work, again.

I say why don't we sell everything we have, leave this city and start over fresh. But I hate to loose my job right now.
So we stay.
We pinch pennies yet again longer, and we survive.
We always do. Maybe not in the way we want, but we will get by.

My oldest son J1 has come back into my life recently. We did not see one another very often in the last few years, but now he seems to have adjusted to my lifestyle and he is coming around more often. He and his fiance were here Saturday for dinner, and shared with me they put a bid in on a house. It sounds like he is doing fine, and both he and the fiance look great. When I asked when was the wedding she says..."Soon" he just smiles and shakes his head.

Well that's it for today. Not much else going on. Will post again in a few, and thanks again to everyone that let me know they want me to continue. I really felt that no one was reading and I was just spinning my wheels here. I may be, but at least I now know that I have a few that are spinning with me.

GOODBYE

After much consideration, I have decided to no longer keep my blog going. I started this journal to try and push me to get my book finished. I haven't finished my book, but I have had a great time sharing my reality with all of you.

I may reopen my life to you again in the future, but for now I'll say goodbye.

Thanks for tuning in.

Just Another Reason

There are several reasons that DJ and I are wanting to look for another place to live. One is the neighborhood. Not necessarily where we actually live but the surrounding area. The crime rate has increased dramatically over the past several months, including a shooting of a clerk at the AUTO ZONE just up the road from us. The price is also ridiculous as we are now finding homes for rent at the price we are paying for an apartment. One of the big reasons is that we both want to move closer to our parents. Our parents live within 10 minutes of one another, so ideally it would be great to find somewhere between the two. My parents are getting older and it would be nice to live closer. He is very close to his family and we do a lot of things with them, so living closer to them would be beneficial. But after tonight we have one more reason.

I was sitting in the study, playing SIMS2 of course and DJ was fixing dinner when we heard police sirens that sounded like they were in our front yard. We both ran to the front, and low and behold it was police cars in our front lawn. They were in pursuit of the man driving a small Toyota pickup truck that left his car running, in our yard, jumped our fence and was heading off to who knows where. Fortunately the police apprehended the guy and I got to hear the Miranda rights given to him. (I'd only heard them on TV prior to this). Our front yard will probably be on the 11:00 o'clock new tonight. So of course we had to call both our mothers to alert them that even though our house was on TV we were fine.

After everything was cleared out of our yard, DJ and I began to think about the situation. If the guy didn't throw his car into park when he jumped out of it, very likely his Toyota would have been in our living room. Also where he jumped the fence was less than 4 feet from our side porch. What if he decided to come into our house, and had a gun? A possible hostage situation?

Yeah, we need to move.

On a lighter note, DJ's employer has stalled a strike, by agreeing to terms that the Union has offered. The contract was up at 11:59 Saturday night, but they and the union continued negotiations until yesterday. An agreement was met at 3:00 a.m. yesterday morning. What does that mean to DJ? Well he will still have to go on part-time, but there is a small chance that he may miss the cut. So we are keeping our fingers crossed on that one.

Planning a big dinner on Saturday evening with my boys, some friends, and DJ's mother and step-father. DJ is cooking a turkey and having all the "thanksgiving" entrees along with it. Then afterwards we plan to get into a long D&D game.

So until the next time, keep your doors locked. You just never know who might decide to drop by.

Blog of the Month

Here it is the 6th of the month and I haven't even posted my BLOG OF THE MONTH. So here it is;

I love this guy! Maybe it's beacuse we both were married to women (He for 18 years, I was married 14) before coming out. Or it may be the hot guys he posts in his Daily Dose catagory. Actually I like everything about Proceed at Your Own Risk. He is smart, witty, keeps my attention and even keeps up on current events. Thanks for your blog, and I will continue to Proceed...

Check him out!!

And while we are talking about blogs, check out my cousin in LA. His third try at blogging.
CRUMBS

Jingle Me This

Jingles are catchy. That's why they make them. Advertisers started this ions ago. One I remember real well as a kid was...
"Winstons taste good like a cigarette should"

That was before they banned cigarette commercials. Now you know how old I really am. The funny thing about jingles is the just pop up in your head. Like this morning. I woke up with the old McDonald's jingle in my head; "McDonald's is your kinda place"
But for the life of me I can not remember how it went other than that first line. I remember the jingle the kids made up from it...

McDonald's is your kinda place
Hamburgers in your face
French Fries between your toes
Pickles up your nose
Milkshakes down your back, I want my money back
McDonald's is your kinda place.

But the real jingle has been erased from my mind. Anyone remember it?

One more thing about jingles. You know your old when your favorite songs in high school now sound like car commercials. Then you realize they are the same songs.

Okay, back to work, enough of this. But I do think I'm going to have McDonald's for lunch today.

Dreams

Some dreams I like.
When I win the lottery.
But then I wake up and I am pissed off because it's a dream.

Other dreams I don't like at all. I don't want to sound all "Shirley Mcclaine" here, but my dreams sometimes come true. Well somewhat.
I've had dreams my entire life that have been what I call premonitions. Like the one when I was 12, I had a dream about finding one of the girls in my neighborhood dead. On my 13th birthday she was killed in an automobile accident. Or dreams like I had three days before my uncle died, this just a few weeks ago. I dreamed I was talking to his two brothers (who by the way passed on some years ago) and the conversation was about Uncle Chet. Two days later I got the call that he had passed.

Those kind of dreams I don't like.

I had another strange dream Sunday evening. It was a dream in which I was at my grandparents home (both who are now deceased) and I was helping my grandmother with the dishes and my grandfather was watching TV. My grandmother looked at me and said. "My son is coming home." The son she was referring to was my mother's only brother that we have not seen or heard from in over 18 years. I woke up feeling a little freaked after that dream. I went to dinner last night with my mother. As we were eating our dinner she says...
"We heard from my brother." I about choked.
"Please tell me, he is not dead."
"No, but apparently the doctors found a brain tumor and removed it Saturday. He has fully recovered, but seems to have lost his long term memory."
"But he is alive, right?"
"Yeah, his wife said he was doing fine. It was touch and go and he did almost die on the operating table, but he is fine."

Yeah, I need to stop having those kind of dreams. DJ said that if I have any dreams with me talking to his dead relatives, to just keep it to myself.

I prefer the dreams where I win the lottery.

Road Rage; The Reasons

On the way to work this morning I met up with my biggest pet peeve. The car in front of me, driven by a 30ish aged female, talking on her cell phone. Now not only was she driving and holding her cell phone in one hand, she was also applying lipstick. How she was steering the car, I have no idea. She went to the left, then to the right, weaving in the lane, most of the time not even in the lane. She would slow down to about 10 mph then speed up to the limit of 35. While driving through a school zone (which is 20 mph) she sped up to 40??? Driving in a residential area on a two lane avenue, I was unable to go around her. So I was destined to arrive at work this morning totally frustrated. At one point she went right through a red light, and was totally oblivious to the traffic signal, and just kept right on talking to that other person on the other end of the cell phone, that was probably also driving.

When I did finally arrive at work, guess who pulled in five minutes later. Yeah you guessed it. She was an employee of the local phone company. A field representative. She was to meet the owners of my place of employment. She "missed" her turn, she said. When she walked in (still talking on the cell phone by the way) I just had to ask...
So if you have an accident while talking on that cell phone and driving, does the company reimburse you?

Three Square Meals

I'm hungry this morning. No, really I'm starving. It's 10:30 and I haven't eaten yet. Not that, that is something normal, I mean eating breakfast. I do not normally eat breakfast. I know, I know, it's the most important meal of the day, but I have never been a morning person, and the last thing I want to do is fix something to eat before noon. I can not understand why I'm so hungry. Then it dawned on me...

Yesterday; My day off. I woke about 10:20 (thanks to Xander laying on my kidney) and actually fixed me a bowl of Frosted Flakes. I would say they are my favorite cereal. Theeerrre Great!! So after I had Tony's favorite I sat at the computer and played Sims2.

Silver called and we had made plans on Friday to get together and play some D&D on Sunday. (See his post) So he stopped at KFC for some good Colonel Sander's chicken. It had been awhile since I had eaten there, and it actually was pretty good. After the demise of Silver's D&D character, he and his son left and I went back to Sims2. (I really need to get out more often) About 5:00 DJ began our dinner. Fresh Lemon Peppered Perch, with green beans and scalloped potatoes.
So that's the reason I'm hungry at 10:30 today. I had three square meals yesterday. If you count Frosted Flakes as a meal, square or otherwise. It's been ages since I've done that.

On another note, I talked to my son J1 last night. He called about 11:00. He is having some serious financial problems due to being out of work for almost three weeks due to a back injury. We talked for about an hour and I left the conversation feeling badly. I couldn't help him with his money woes. He has been on his own, more or less since he was 17 and very rarely does he ask me for money. I think in the past 6 years I've given him money maybe twice. He didn't ask last night, but I know he was hoping I could help. Our finances right now are not the best either, and I just didn't have it. He asked me if his grandparents could help out and I told him it wouldn't hurt to ask. He is a very proud person, and to ask for money really bothers him. He should be back on his feet financially in a few weeks, but I know how overwhelming it can be in those situations. I just wish I could have been able to assist. I also hope he understands.

Speaking of money and the lack thereof, DJ and I have to find suitable living accommodations that fit our budget. We looked into buying, but that is not an option at this point, so we will have to continue to throw our money away in rent payments. Not knowing what his job situation is going to be at the end of the month does not help. But as I told my son, all things seem to work out, and I know that will be the case in our situation as well.

I blame it all on GWB. It's his fault. Too much more of him and we won't be able to afford three square meals.

How far away is 2008?

May Day

Today Veruca turns 31. We had a little dinner party for him last night at BAR LOUIE, here in Cincinnati, and then some of them went to the FUNNY BONE. I had to pass on the comedy club, due to funds and prior commitments, but the time I spent at Bar Louie was fun. Not to mention the food was incredible. The service at first I thought was going to be poor, but when we explained to Alicia our server that they had a show to go to, the food came out almost immediately. She was a jewel of a server. Pleasant, funny, and cute to boot. The male servers there are also incredible, but that is for other reasons.

Got to visit with some old friends that I had not seen in a while. They were all doing well, just a year older, like we all are. Happy Birthday Veruca, hope you had a good time.