Ways to relieve boredom

As most of you know, I've taken the last year off to be with Andrew. Then some other things came up and well, I'm still sitting on my hiney. Being house bound at times can be extremely boring. I suppose I could go out, but with the chemo, I can't stand the heat, am not allowed to be in the sun, etc., etc. So, I am limited to be a homebody. With Andrew now in 4th grade (hard to believe!!), I usually get my housework done and then get on the computer and putter around there. Having just broke my arm, however, does limit my time on here. Kinda hard to type when you have a monstrosity wrapped around your wrist and you have to "hunt and peck" to be able to type. I'm a home row kinda typer. (yes, hard to believe I failed high school typing)

I love to learn about new stuff and read. I found a website a few months ago and now I'm addicted to it. It's called Stumble Upon. To get the most out of it, you can install a toolbar and every time you hit "Stumble", it takes you to a new site. It's pretty cool and you can set your preferences to tailor it to your interests. So far, I have not found any spyware, adware or gotten anything strange from installing the toolbar. I haven't even gotten spam from joining. That is a huge plus for me.

The next one I discovered is called Video Jug. As the website says, it's "Life Explained. On film." It's got some really cool videos, some funny ones and most are educational. Today, I learned how to put a condom on a banana and how to look good naked. Hmm, things I probably will never use but are fun to watch anyway.

If you are a news freak like I am, there is always Fark. And if you like to read about the world of entertainment, there is always WWTDD. Also known as "What Would Tyler Durden Do". It's a satirical look at things in the entertainment world.

I know most of you have jobs (I envy you) , kids (I don't envy you, I have one for sale now), husbands (trying to get rid of one of those too) and wives (don't need one, thank you anyway) etc. so you don't have a lot of time for just wandering around the net. But for those of you who do like to wander, just thought I'd share some of my bookmarks.

Pardon Me? Are you speaking to me?

So, I'm sitting there in my counselor's office, discussing how to get around missing my last class before my surgery without getting an incomplete and not graduating (aagghhhh). It can be done.

Now, when I say my counselor, I mean a young, fresh faced recent college graduate. Let me emphasize that again, YOUNG. I'm thinking 23-24 at the most.
As I walk out the door, I hear "Umm, Ms. R******?, May I ask you a question?" I turn and say "sure, whatcha need?" and this is what I got:

"At YOUR AGE, how do you do it?"

I was taken aback, truly I was. I actually looked around me, looked behind me and was thinking "is she talking to me? my age? Huh?"
I had no reply for her that could be taken in any other way than a sarcastic shitty ass remark, so I went for it. Needless to say, I'm glad I asked for her help before I replied:

"If I take my Geritol everyday, I get along pretty good, some days are harder than others, but I'm lucky, I have a great family who put me in a assisted living nursing home" and I walked out, slamming the door behind me. I think my blood pressure actually went up to 120/80.

Ya know, I thought over the weekend I found my first wrinkle. Thank God, it was my paranoid self. No wrinkles. Now I have some young chickie thinking I'm ready for retirement. I'm not sure which is worse.

My kid beat up your honor roll student.

Today was the first day of practice. My son is now officially in the minor league. Woo Hoo. I'm very proud of him, he remembered almost everything from the last 4 years, with one exception: pointing the ball. I have tried and tried to teach this kid to aim for someone's chest. Honestly, I don't think he hit the broad side of a barn. Needless to say, I don't think he'll be the pitcher. Which is cool by me, I like watching him chase after some of those foul balls. He likes being hind catcher, it keeps his attention. Which is a good thing because it wasn't until last year that I convinced him to stand up during the game and not sit and pick the dandelions.

My SIL, Stacey, is finding out what life is like here in our quaint town. In other words, she's realizing that if your child doesn't play a sport or isn't cheering for the team, then your child is pretty much neglected in school. It's the popularity contest that we have all went through. It seems even now, at (almost) 33 years old, I'm still playing the popularity game.

I got to thinking about this popularity contest called LIFE. It seems everyone is always competing in some fashion or another. We all want to be the prettiest, the thinnest, the smartest or the most liked. And we pass that down to our kids. I didn't realize how much every one craves acceptance from other people until my son went to school. Every parent there was encouraging their child to "go make friends" or "be the smartest".

I will admit, I too am guilty of this. I want my son to be accepted and well liked. He has enough problems to overcome in school anyway. For example, he is already 5 ft 3 in. at 9 years old. He weighs approximately 165 lbs. That is off the charts for a 9 year old boy. I honestly believe the only thing that keeps him from being teased about it, is the other kids are afraid of him. (I did teach him not to take shit from anyone) Yet another example, he is in Special Education. He does not read well, nor does he comprehend what little he can read. Bam! 2 strikes against him already.

It's sad to think that I have pushed my son into thinking social acceptance is something he should strive for. I learned about 10 years ago, from my Mom, Lisa, not to give two shits about what people think about you. Who are they to you? Will what I'm doing right now make a difference in a week? A year? She taught me to stand up for myself and not to take any shit off of anyone. For the most part, I live by those standards. I am who I am. You either love me or you hate me, and I personally could give a rat's ass about either one.

How hypocritical is that? Somehow, I need to stress the value of liking yourself and who you are to my son. I have unintentionally diverted his attention away from himself to the popularity game. I need to rectify this and I need to do it quickly. However, I am at a complete and total loss as to go about correcting my mistake. I'm clueless on this one. I have a feeling that no matter what I say, he will always strive to please someone other than himself. And that, is a sad situation.

Random Updates

Just a quick update for everyone who has been sending me emails and such. I want to thank everyone. I'm doing really good (well, for me, lol).
Andrew stayed with us on Friday. Whew. I think he did surprisingly well. We were actually all in bed asleep before 10:30. And the two loves of my life slept like babies all night and of course, I was up and down, wondering if both of them were ok. (I think the snoring gave me an indication they were). We took Andrew to Texas Steakhouse on Friday, I think because he wanted the singing and brownie. I don't know who jumped higher, Steve or Andrew. So, my baby is now 9. I'm still wondering where the time went. Tammy keeps telling me it only gets "better" from here. Woo Hoo. And Mama says raising boys are easier. Yeahh, right. I'm still wondering about that one.

Friday I got some news that knocked me on my ass. A close friend of mine who I'm not ready to reveal yet, has lymphoma. This completely took me by surprise and has me scared, upset and pondering on my own life. I have always said when you think things are bad in your own life, look around, there is always someone who has it worse. Yes, our cancers are completely different, but it is still cancer no matter which way you look at it. Statistically, I'm in good shape. Depending on the type, Hodkin's or Non, she may or may not be. She was there for me when I went through this the first time. She was the first person I saw when I woke up from surgery, she held my hands and hair as I got sick from all the chemicals. Now it's my turn to help her. I can only hope and pray that I can be as good a friend to her as she is to me. So if you are a spiritual, religious person, please say a prayer, light a candle, whatever it is you do, that she will get through this.

We had an "ice storm". So, of course, Steve and I had to make the required trip to the store to get bread. A quarter of an inch of ice here in Virginia completely stops everything. But I think the roads are going to be ok this morning, I hope so anyway. Those damn snow plows went by often enough last night. I just can't wait to see my Miata ice skate into my parking lot. Weeeeeee.

School started again last week. Blech. But the way I see it, it's two easy classes and I'm done. One of my instructors reminds me of the guy from Fast Times at Ridgemont High. He has selected his victim to pick at and this poor kid is clueless. At least it's not me. And, there are quite a few students older than me. At least there wasn't any students who asked me for the syllabus this time (thinking I'm the professor), so it's all good. I don't feel so ancient this go round. Even though Andrew asked me if dinosaurs were around when I was little (grrrr).

I think that is all from here, those horrible, get louder as you try to ignore them alarm clocks are going off, so I'm gonna go poke Steve.

Assorted colors

This week is Red Ribbon Week at my son's school. For those who don't know what that is, it is a week to educate kids on how to stay away from drugs and pretty much what drugs are all about. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm all for drug education, especially considering what I have went through and what my ex put me through. However, I think they take things too far at times.
I smoke. Yes, it is one of my very few vices. I have never tried to quit. Other than the 4 pregnancies and when I was in the hospital, I have smoked for about 10 years. Sure, I smoked in intermediate school and high school, but I didn't really "smoke" I have no doubt I am addicted; however, I smoke because I like it. I even don't mind paying the taxes on the things. But, I digress.
All week, I have been told that I am doing drugs. That's right; they are teaching our children that nicotine is a bad drug. Yes, it is. However, I don't think the schools have the right to tell MY child to tell me in every other sentence to quit using drugs. It's about to drive me insane. Ok, off my soap box to another subject, this one much more lighthearted.
Each day during Red Ribbon Week, the kids do something different. For example, today is "Crazy Hair Day" and "Wear Something Orange". So, I get Andrew an orange t-shirt. My sister calls last night, she is on her way to my house, with the spray in hair color. You see this a lot around Halloween. I didn't think much about it at the time, believing it was for Andrew next week. Oh No. That is what I get for thinking. My dear sister had the brilliant idea to spray the dye in Andrew's hair. The dye just so happens to be orange. What she failed to tell us is it also has glitter in it. Being the "good mother" that I am, I become the guinea pig. In other words, let's see what it does to Mama's hair before we put it in Andrew's, just in case.
Now, I will admit, I dye my hair. Most of the time, just a basic flat black. Due to the lovely genes inherited by my father, I started getting grey at 24. The last time I dyed it, Gary and his daughter Ashley helped. We dyed it black, and then put the bold red highlights in it. The bold red didn't take anywhere but in the back of my head. That was over a month ago, so it is in need of having the roots done.
My child takes this orange spray dye and coats my hair with it. Right down to the roots. First it was in streaks. I could handle that. It even showed up. Kinda cute, funky look for me. Then, he decides let's put a little more in there. He ends up putting it on the un-dyed roots of my hair.
So, guess what folks? This spray on dye which is supposed to wash out with warm water DOES NOT wash out with warm water. I have 3 colors, orange, red and black. I look like the poster child for fruit loops. I have washed my hair 5 times in less than 12 hours. Not only that, but I also have a beautiful glitter all over. Literally, all over. Not only my hair, but my neck, my back, my face and on my arms.
Oh, the things we will do for our children. Know what? I think I'll go have a cigarette.

Hot damn, I'm finished....

Ok, down to 3 classes left. I think I'll end up taking psychology, abnormal of course. That will be my last class, and I'll be done with my brilliant idea of going back to college at the ripe old age of 31, now being 32, thank God I'm almost done. I have to say the last 18 months have been very hard, but well worth it.

I had 3 different friends, including a former English professor, proof my paper, give me some feedback, I just finished it and sent the damn thing in. Woo Hoo, I'm done with it.

So, I can concentrate on other things until class starts. Chess? Mmm, not what I had in mind, but that will do for now.

Learning to play chess

Strategy. Not one of my strong points. Maybe chess should not be the easiest way to practice this? Especially with someone with a military background.

I have always wanted to play chess. The brothers would never teach me. Honestly, I never had the attention span to learn. Now, I'm wondering if I have the brain capacity to retain what I did learn. I have found out now that chess is a game of scenarios. What if, what might and how do I?... These methods, I have only applied to life, not small pieces with strange names that have rules on which way they can move. But, I am up for the challenge, if Steve has patience.

The weekend went well, no drunken nights to speak of, which is fine. Maybe I just needed a weekend of peace and quiet. Last night however was a different story, get my family together and you can't get a word in edgewise. Talk about sensory overload. I can't blame someone for bolting. LOL. And with the holidays coming up, I may end up doing the same. Wonder when I became such an anti-social person? Maybe it's just with my family. Lord knows I love them all, but they are becoming a handful.

Friday is my last day of class. I only have 9 credits left. One paper due before then, and all I really need to do on that is proof it. Sure don't want to be polically incorrect :grrr: All I need is to lose points and lower my GPA. Bad enough it's at a 3.97. Then it's off to Algebra and another admin class. Who knew they would have classes on how to be bossy, I thought I had that covered years ago? Ought to ace that class....