Totally Domesticated

I don't even know if I spelled that right.

I made vegetable beef soup/stew and peach pie. Well, the pie is still in the oven, so I am assuming it will be a success. How can peaches, sugar, butter, and flower not taste good.

Proof:

Change is in the air . . .

My mom left about an hour ago. I finally cried. I am very happy for her but I am a big baby, so goodbyes make me cry. She is moving in with her cousin in Pennsylvania. She is never going to have to work as hard as she has had to for her entire life. She is going to learn how to sleep through the night and spend her days doing things she enjoys. She will be able to reconnect with her family, make new friends, take a job that she will enjoy, actually sell Mary Kay and maybe make some money off of it. I don't think the next 18 months can go fast enough.

I feel like we have missed so much of our family there. My mom's family. I can't wait to be there too so that I can be closer to all of them. I want to be able to do all the things we have given up on over the last 5 years.

Company's Here

Let me preface this post by saying that my mother, her dog, and many of her belongings are staying with my sister, myself, and our 4 cats for the next 10 days before she moves to Pennsylvania.

Night One:

Woke up 4 times in the middle of the night. Once because the cats broke into the dog food bag to have a midnight snack. Next, after being denied the bag, said cats found the dog food bowl. Mom cleverly hid that in my underwear drawer. Third, woke up to a soft rustling noise to find the fattest cat chewing on possibly poisonous hibiscus plant. Lastly, cat/dog stand off at the foot of the bed, more then likely the result of some confusion over who gets to sleep on the feet.

Night Two: (The first night when everyone has to work in the morning.)

I don't think I ever really fell asleep. The dog had a meltdown about once every hour. Likely causes: upstairs neighbor and his girlfriend (who wears high heels 24 hours a day on wood floors) pace their apartment multiple times throughout the night. Drunk other neighbor and his best friend decide 2 am is the best time to welcome my mom to the building by singing opera outside my bedroom window and yelling for one of my cats to come say hi. After tripping all over mom's stuff to get to the window and scolding the boys outside the window, the dog is uncomfortable with the state of the blinds and barks at every leaf that blows by. Half hour later, drunk other neighbor's best friends girlfriend stops by to join the party. Seeing her through a crack in the blinds, hearing her open the outside door, walk up the steps, knock and say "hello" is more then the dog can handle. Growls for 15 minutes straight. Grab leash and slippers and let the dog poop and cool off outside. Return to bed and sleep for another hour and a half before mom gets up to get ready for work. Dog paces the bed, afraid to get off because at least one angry cat is lurking under the bed. Paces and whimpers until mom leaves. Almost. Asleep. then mom comes back because she forgot her hairpiece, dog freaks out again. She leaves, talk dog off the edge of hysteria. Deep slumber is approaching, but then . . . drunk neighbor and friends leave at 5:30 A.M.!!!! Dropping what sounds like a large metal filing cabinet down stairwell. More Barking!!!! Sister returns from overnight at 7:15 a.m. Time to get up and get ready for work.

And I am not even going to get into how my actual day went.

Things that make me go . . .

Things I like:
Black cats name TeeTee
Diet Coke
Cleaning
Hair Mousse
Scary Movies
Waking up and realizing I can go back to sleep
Cool Weather
Reading
Crocheting
Taking Pictures


Things I dislike:
Moving Furniture/Boxes
Underwear that wedge up or roll down
People using my computer
Dirty dishes
Doing laundry
Oversleeping
Socks in bed
Organizing

Summer in Nebraska

I'm MUTE!

Not talking, at all, until my voice comes back. I talk for a living, so this is very, very important. Doctor's orders. I must say, this is not an easy thing for me, but I am working very hard at it. I should get a paycheck for not talking, thats how hard it is. Unfortunately, my work doesn't agree.

Turns out I get a little depressed when I can't talk. I think I process things by talking them out, and I don't have the ability to that. Sucks there is so much going on right now. I'll talk about all that a bit later.

Eyeball

I love this picture. I have several others like it. It makes me think of an eyeball, but it is a very edited picture of a mirror at my friends house. Taken at a New Year's day Party.

New Pictures

Semi new pictures.

Heat Lamp

I officially know what it is like to live in a toaster oven. Thanks to the movie theather at Westroads Mall. The bathroom in that joint has orange-red tiled walls,counters, lights, bathroom doors, floors, and ceiling. Add in a few mirrors, and everything glows like you are inside your toaster. I actually started to freak out a little bit in the toilet stall. I don't know if this was the feeling they were going for. Once I left I was eager to find out that the men's restroom looked like. It might have been cool if it was blue or green.

Vacation

Long time, no blog. Sorry. I have been very busy. I went to CT for a family vacation. My dad has been in the hospital and unconscious for a month. A lots been going on. I can't zero in on one particular story right now, but I do have PICTURES! Yes, pictures. I know you might not like them that much but I do, and this is my blog, so I am gonna post them.

New Pictures

Here's some new pictures I took on Halloween whilst being bored on the front porch. I joke, I had fun with friends on the porch. We even had a few trick or treaters. Fun times.

Mom's Stuff

My mom was on vacation from her grueling job last week. Because of this I got to spend a couple evening with her making pizza and chatting. Actually, she pretty much made the pizza while we chatted. Cooking is her thing. I only help when asked. I did however start snooping around the house while playing with my craptastic digital camera. I took some pictures for fun, and after messing around with them, I loved the way they turned out.

This picture, and the last are the same picture with different effects. It has been a long time since I looked at my mom's china. I don't remember what the pattern is, but I used to love looking at this when I was younger. I still do. I even love the way the china cabinet smells on the inside.



This is the back of a dining room chair. Most of my mothers funiture has been worn to death overtime. This hole could very well have been started with me. I can remember trying to jam my fingures, and all sorts of things, in the circular holes made by the weave. I am not taking responsibilty for this hole, because they are way too many other things that I broke on the way out of childhood that I have had to take blame for.




This is a close up of a giant desk that is actually mine. I got it for hardly anything, and I left it at home when I left because it was so big and my first apartment was so small. Also, my youngest sister needed something for her computer. So it stayed. I hope to get it back someday when they are done with it. I'd like to use it for my sewing machine. No rush though, I still don't know how to sew.

This is a picture of my mom's detached garaged. I inverted the colors in the picture for fun and ended up liking the result. The picture looks so cold and lonely, which is the exact opposite feeling that I get at my mothers. I have spend quite a few evenings on the back deck staring at this. I also loved the combo of colors.

Up close and personal with my upstairs neighbors.

Why the hell are people so inconsiderate? I know this is a stupid question. It's kind of like asking why the sky is blue . . .it just is, and people just are. But lately it has been increasingly difficult to resist the urge to demand a change in behavior from the people that are on the outskirts of my life. They are not friends, family, co-workers, or clients. They are somewhat anonymous faces that live on my block or in my building.

#1 Upstairs Douchebag (UD) and his Squealing/Sobbing Girlfriend (SSG).

We have wood floors in our building, so at first, it was difficult for everyone to get used to UD clomping around. In the beginning it sounded like an elephant lived up there. The sound coming from his apartment was so loud, it scared the cats. It took Frankie 3 days to work his way from my bedroom to the living room. Everytime he heard UD get up to go to the bathroom, Frankie freaked, and scurried into the back of my closet. Time has taken care of that problem, because none of us seem to notice his regular movement anymore.

Then all of a sudden my sister heard them doing the nasty in the living room in the middle of the night. When she told me about it, I sort of didn't believe her. I guess I had to hear it myself, and boy did I. During a power outage in the middle of the summer, I was sitting on my bed trying to figure out what to do with all the boredom when, suddenly, my virgin ears were tainted. I had no escape from the sounds of sweet, sweet, (and a little over acted) lovin' coming from UD's apartment. As unpleasant as it was, I was a bit jealous that they at least had something to do when there was no tv or internet.

Just the other night UD and his SSD officially stepped out of bounds in my mind. They got in a HUGE fight in the MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT!!!! I'm talking, game on at like 1:30am. They threw all sorts of things at each other, there was crying, screaming, name calling, and the stomping. Someone was wearing some heals, and someone was also pouting. And they went from one end of the apartment to the other. Over and over and over and over. The whole time I was witness to how much UD wanted SSD out of his house because she is a psycho bitch. The only problem here is that UD kept saying it, but nothing was happening. He was like a broken record. My sister and I listened, laughed, teased, and laughed some more. Then around 2:30am it stopped being funny. The realization that I had to be at work in the morning was setting in. After several dares to knock on UD's door and ask SSD to actually leave, I chose the chicken shit choice of pounding on the ceiling with a broom. I had to do this 2 or 3 times before the lovers were hushed.

I went to bed pissed and woke up even more pissed when I saw that SSD's car was still parked out back. She never left. What a pussy!!!! UD yelled for 2 hours about how he wanted her out, in fact, that was the only line he used the whole time, and she was still there. And worse, it is now 8 am and I am up guzzling coffee, staring down a full day, and there is nothing but sleepy silence comeing from UD's pad. Yeah, thats right, I'm up late while they work out their problems, and they are snuggled in bed while I am struggling to get the show on the road. While I begrudgingly got ready for work, I contemplated ways to exact revenge on these idiots. The next opportuntiy I get, I am going to blare some classic Cher into their early morning hours, so they can maybe feel just a little bit like me.


I just took a smoke break from my rant and I am now too tired to work on #2. So maybe another time. I want to upload some pictures that I took because it will be more fun.

War Crimes

We have some cat issues around these parts. The littlest one likes to fuck with the big ones. This usually happens in the middle of the living room, or worst case, at the end of my bed. Well, Pootie, the oldest and least tolerant of meddlesome kittens, sleeps on a pillow above and to the left of my head at night. It's a great spot for her because she likes to have at least one paw touching me through out most of the night, and it is cat arm's length away from my forehead. This is kind of "her spot," the others don't usually take it when she hasn't climed into bed yet, and I am very mindful not to roll over onto it. But that is usually because it has a pretty thick layer of fur on it.

I awoke from my slumber early, early this morning to some pretty heated growling. (When Pootie growls, you would think there is a giant alligator in the room. It is the most God awful noise.) Max (the kitty) was getting all up in Pootie's space at the head of the bed. She was none too happy about it and was letting him know. A small scuffle broke out and Max shot off the bed in excitement. I say excitement because he rarely backs down from a fight. He has brass balls and loves to fight. I think he just gets so worked up he has to run it off. He certainly isn't learning anything from these fights. He keeps coming back for more. Anyways, when he tore off the bed, he used my head to push off of. He scratched the side of my nose and under my eye. I look like I got bitch - slapped, by someone with a ring on or something.

At the end of the day today, I went in the restroom at work, when I looked in the mirror I realized that after my make up wore off a little bit and my dark circles were more pronounced, it kind of looked like I was involved in a minor domestic squabble. And I guess I sort of was.

On High Alert

It is cold and rainy this morning. I would be fine with it if I didn't have to go to work. I didn't sleep for shit last night. There have been a series of rapes and home invasions over the past couple months in my neighborhood. The most recent of which occurred at my old apartment building just a couple of blocks away. The news article from that incident gave a brief description of Mr. Rapist. Toltally matches the discription of the guy I found lingering outside my bedroom window late at night a couple of months ago. Spooky. Anyway, my sister worked the overnight, like she does every Sunday, and last night I just got the heebie jeebies when I was trying to fall asleep. So, I am a bit off kilter today because I slept, but kind of with one eye open. So I guess I got a half a nights sleep. Either way, I would really like to spend the whole day in bed watching movies, napping intermittently.

Used Underpants

I am going to CT for Thanksgiving with my mom and my sisters. We will be having what is basically a family reunion with my mom's side of the family. The week will go by so quickly. My mom's family wants her to move back there. I think she really wants to but she is scared of how she will afford it and being away from my sisters and I. If she moved there I would probably be close behind for two reasons. One : I loves my mamma! Two: Omaha is kind of like a big old pair of used underwear to me. I am craving some change.


Also, I've been getting into some picture stuff. I will be posting that stuff here because it has gotta go somewhere. Let me know what you think. My opinion is somewhat skewed since I think everything I make is fantastic, so your input will be oh so helpful.


Thanks!

Thanks!

I took the best nap today. I rarely am able to nap, but I fell asleep wonderfully. The fan was lightly blowing, the covers up to my chin, just perfect. Then I woke up to this, meowing in my face. Kitty girl was hungry!
I also woke up with a numb hand because I rolled over on it. That is surely a sign of a good afternoons rest!

The sons of Jesus Christ

The crackheads and the drunks in my neighborhood are getting so bold. First, the other night my sister and I got home kind of late. We were sitting in my car talking for a minute after we pulled up and some crazy guy, walking down the center of the street walked right up to my window. I rolled it down a smidge so he could ask me for some change, and I could politely tell him I had none (which was the truth, I rarely have cash or change on me), but he asked me for 4 dollars and continued questioning me about quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies. Once he realized that he wouldn't get any money from us, he decided to tell us why someone would be inclined to give some to him. Namely, he is the son of Jesus Christ, a black leprechaun, and that he could speak in tongues. He proceeded to bless us in tongues. This went on for 15 minutes before he finally headed down the road.

Just now I stepped out onto the front porch of my building to smoke a cigarette, and a man that was about a half a block down the street did a u-turn when he heard my door open and asked me if I could read. When I said yes, he asked what kinds of things I like to read. Before I could answer fully he asked where I work. Once I admitted that I work at a college he asked me if I liked poetry. I don't know if he was trying to hit on me or what, but he had a brown bag bottle in one hand, a smoke in the other, and looked like he hadn't showered in days. What the F! Are you serious?

Red Honda Road Rage

I am a pretty responsible driver. At least now I am. I toodle along on my way to work, usually staying at the speed limit. I don't cut people off, in fact, I am kind of a sissy when it comes to changing lanes on the interstate. I see people who are way more inconsiderate then me. But apparently I am the worst driver to some guy in Omaha today.


I changed lanes on the interstate this morning well before my exit ( I like to be prepared). It was right near the on ramp. There is this guy, this asshole, is getting on the interstate as I am changing into the lane that he will need to move into shortly. Not right that second. But apparently it was VERY bad for me to change lanes at the time because he FREAKED the "f" out on me, and that is the only reason I could tell why. The man literally had his head out the window while he screamed at me. His face contorted, teeth baring, face bright red, and his head completely out the window looking directly at me. Clearly it was easier for him to merge onto the interstate with his eyes off the road and the upper half of his body hanging out the window like fucking golden retriever! I would have screamed that at him if I hadn't been in noon traffic going 60 mph. But I did give him a hearty middle finger and a "we appreciate your business" smile. Yeah Take that!


So anyways, I continued on my way, a little sorry that I flipped someone the bird, but not too bad since he was way meaner. But he totally wasn't done with me. He whipped around to the other side of my car after I passed him, sped up past me, the whole time glaring into my car. As soon as he a mildly safe opportunity to get in front of me he did. Then he started to slow down so I would get even closer to him then I already was. When he he got in front of me I could see him staring at me in his rear view mirror. Then all of a sudden he hit his breaks, hard. But thanks to my cat-like reflexes I was able to slow down without hitting him, like he clearly intended. He proceeded to continue at like 35 or 40 mph. Clearly he was trying to teach me a lesson. But I am not taking shit from some pissed off bank teller in a beat up Honda, no sir. I changed lanes to rise above this nonsense, but he quickly darts over to cut me off again. Oh no he didn't! The whole time I can see him glaring at me. Dude needs to get a M***F***ing life! My God! He hung onto this longer then I did my last break up. Not to mention, as far as I can tell, he was pissed for me being careless in the first place, and to prove a point he is putting my life, his life, and countless other drivers lives in danger. The interstate is not the place to try to get someone to rear end you.

So, once I realize that he is not letting this go, I pull out my cell phone dial 911 and put it up to my ear. He got a good glimpse of that and sped off. He wasn't trying to be in my way anymore! Dumb ass should have probably thought about how easy it would be for me to get his make, model and plate number while he was pulling all this shit. I hope they scare the piss out of him if and when they find him. Hah!

Big Bean.

I'd like to introduce someone to you . . . .Frankie.

Frankie is one of my 3 cats. He is the largest of all 3 and also requires the most attention. I just got home from work and I have some time to kill so I pulled out the computer, content to read some junk, and he saddled up next to me on the bed. While petting him in the only acceptable zone (his head) I starting thinking about him and how this blog is sort of named after him.

When I first took in this little hellcat (he was small for a minute) I was talking to my dad on a daily basis for reasons I might get into later. He was the absolute worst kitten EVER! Everything annoying a cat can do, Frankie has done. He also has some kind of borderline personality disorder that makes him very nasty sometimes. He also a big tub of love. I take a lot of bad from this cat because his good is SO GOOD!

Anyway, for the first year of his life I was assaulted on an almost daily basis by vicious attacks, usually around my ankle area. He chewed almost every cord in my apartment, along with the antenna of my cell phone. He is a climber, but very clumsy and fat, so he knocks things off of every surface he meets. I could go on forever about all the things this cat has done. So during that time I was talking to my hearing challenged father everyday, I would vent about how Frankie was driving me CRAZY! Every time my dad would ask how the cat was and I would tell him the new behavior, my dad would respond, "Frankie did What?!?" Partly because some of the stuff was so shocking and frustrating, and partly because my dad is old and his hearing sucks - especially over the phone. I also have elicited that same kind of reaction by my own behavior in the past. Sometimes I feel like that cat is a lot like me . . .frustrating, stubborn, temperamental, impulsive, and a little mean. But also, adventurous, playful, attached, beautiful, and really enjoys a good meal! :)

Frankie is known by many names around this house . . . Frankenstein, Beans, Mean Bean, Beaner, Big Pappa, Asshole. But my favorite, Mr. Franklin "Poopie Pants" Dombrowski, surely the adored grandson of my hard of hearing father.