I am scared of this child

After introducing my ratchild to the wonders of quad-google the other day (and having him freak the computer teacher out at school with it), he asked me today is there quad-mysterygoogle. Um, can you say somebody seriously needs to put an internet filter on a child's computer?

Conversation between me and my son

I could not find any socks this morning and my feet were cold, so I though, "Hmm, ratchild and I wear almost the same size. I'll borrow a pair of his."

Ratchild: Mom, are those my socks on your feet?

Ratmom: Yep.

Ratchild: Why are you wearing my socks?

Ratmom: Because I need socks.

Ratchild: But they are MINE!

Ratmom: Who bought them?

Ratchild: You.

Ratmom: Doesn't that make them mine too?

Ratchild: No!

Gotta love 11 year old logic.

First Post In Forever

Okay, I have given up on Project 365. It was nice while it lasted, and I may try again, but circumstances have conspired against me and I am so far behind I will never catch up.

For some reason, the school decided that my severely ADHD child needed to be in advanced math and science this year. Uh, hello? It is not that he is not intelligent enought to do the work, it's just...wow, butterfly...and kitty...oooh, shiny. So this puts extra stress on the homework wrangler (i.e., me). So now I have to come home from work, cook dinner, wash clothes, clean, and oversee more homework that I have ever seen in my life! No, I am not smarter than a 5th grader. Can you say mom needs a happy pill? Please?

I am going to at least try to get back into blogging. Who knows, I may actually have some interesting stuff coming up soon. Munchkin child and I are supposed to go camping with Cub Scouts soon. The first time I have been camping in, oh, 25 years? Tent? Sleeping Bag? I can't bring my parents' RV?

Happy Friday!

Project 365 Day 42

Dell Me

The innards of a Dell Dimension 8200 that I am upgrading. I had to take this pic because I have never worked on this particular model and spent 10 minutes trying to figure out how to get the case open. No screws, no bolts. It ends up it opens like a clam shell. Buttons on the bottom and top and slide open. The people at Dell must spend nights at bars going, hmm, how can we design this next case? Oh, yeah, let's put a button on the bottom of the case. Yeah, good idea!

Don't get me wrong, Dells are my favorite brand of PCs. I just wish that the designers would at least try to make the case styles uniform. I have 3 Dells; they all open differently.

Smile!

Project 365 Day 41

9/11

Not a very good shot, but hopefully you can make out the flag. I was very proud and a little choked up to see these flags in front of businesses all around town today in memory of 9/11/01. God bless America, and the soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen here and overseas.

Project 365 Day 40

Hammer's Drive Thru

Louisiana...gotta love a state that has drive-through liquor stores! Can you buy lottery tickets in there as well? Hmm.....

Project 365 Day 39

Racer

This is Chris' snake preparing his Friday meal. He gets 2 mice every Friday. Let the complaining begin.

Project 365 Day 38

Please, Rain, HOLD OFF!

This was about 3:00 p.m. Hoping the rain would hold off, since I had two whole spatchcocked chickens and 8 leg quarters on the smoker! And BTW, the chicken was YUMMY! With todays brisket, I shouldn't have to cook any meat for the rest of the week.

Project 365 Day 37

Fatties

A fatty is a whole pack of ground sausage, rubbed and smoked. I did two, since Chris and I like mild and Darrell likes hot. OMG! I had ended up having to cut the mild one up and hide the slices, since Darrell kept telling people who came to the house "here, try this". I want some for sausage biscuits next week!

Project 365 Day 36

Locker Madness

Ah, middle school. Schedules, lockers, changing classes...Do you see how neat this locker is? Those of you who know me and my son probably cannot believe this locker belongs to him...aka the boy who still had homework from August in his desk last year when we cleaned it out in May. I have taken a proactive approach this year. Twice a week, after school, I stop in and we have a locker cleaning. Pull all books out, set the shelf back up (I hate these folding metal shelves) and put all homework that has not been turned in in the "turn in" section of his binder, and all notes in the "notes" section of his binder. Homework may be a little late, but not 9 months late now!

Project 365 Day 35

Wantin' a bike!

Why is it, when you finally decide give in to middle age craziness and you want to go ahead and buy a bike like you have wanted forever, you see them all over the place? I swear, I have seen more bikes in the last month than I have seen in the entire 10 years I have been living in Natchez.

Project 365 Day 34

"George"

Anyone who has viewed my pictures knows that at one time or another, I have had quite a menagerie living around or under my house. Wild kitties, skunks, armadillos, possums, squirrels, chipmunks...One of the wild kittens even walked into my house a little while back; I caught it and took it to the vet, but it died. Well, a couple of weeks ago, this guy showed up. He has a collar, so I figured he was out for an evening stroll and smelled momma cat. Genetic duty done, I figured he'd leaveand go home. Nope. He seems to have taken up permanent residence. Every time I go outside, he comes to greet me...rather loudly. I've taken to calling him "George" when I go outside and he is sitting on the steps. Now, as the husband is very strongly against having a cat, I'm wondering what to do.

Project 365 Day 33

Yes, I am running behind!

The object of this little project was to take a picture with my BlackBerry and post it every day. Kind of like a mini-blog. I have missed quite a few days. Let me 'splain, Ricky, said Lucy.

I live way out in the country. I mean way, way out. No cable, only satellite. We just recently got DSL. And definately no cellular coverage. So that means I have to either take the pictures and upload them while I'm in town, or take the pictures and upload them when I go to town. And I prefer not to go to town if I can help it. So this limits me. I try to take a bunch of pics and upload them, so they are ready, but on days when all I do is school drop off, work, and home, well...you can see the problem. But I'll try to do better! Now, on to todays pic. The squeamish may want to discontinue reading...

Why, when I go to the pet store for mice for the snake, does the lady always seem to make an effort to pick out the cutest mice in the tank? Ah, I know. Because I have taken Chris in there with me before, and she has seen him looking at the hamsters and drooling...She's thinking, "cage, 2 cute little mice, ball, wheel, water bottle, bedding, food..." What ever happened to those ugly little white things with the pink eyes? And yes, Chris did sit there and look at them and sigh before he dropped them in the snake cage. I seriously need to get that child another pet. And no, Jess, the pet store does not sell dumbo rats or I would consider it!

More to come....

Project 365 Day 32

Best View In The World

This view means I am about two miles from home. I love living in Kingston, but WOW, the drive is killer sometimes.

Project 365 Day 31

The color did not turn out right

This kind of aggravates me. This car was not this color in real life. It was lavender. Yes, lavender, with matching hubcaps. Sigh...I really need a new BB with a better camera, but don't have $500 for the new one. What to do, what to do...

Project 365 Day 29

Gonna be a new sheriff in town

No, I am not endorsing Cliff Cox for sheriff; I just wanted to use this as an example to describe the politics behind the sheriff's race in a small, Southern town.

Sheriff Ronnie Brown passed away March 11, 2009. His wife, Angie, was appointed to complete his term, with a special election to be held in November. So far, Cliff Cox, former narcotics division commander, Randy Freeman, constable, and Chuck Mayfield, former narcotics officer and now youth court administrator, are all running, as evidenced by their signs. I'm sure there are others, but those are just the signs I have noticed. At least 10 have picked up the paperwork to run.

Natchez has had only 3 sheriffs in almost 50 years. A father and son for most of the time from the mid 60's until 2003, and then Brown from then until his death. Now it is a wide open field, and I expect it to get pretty dirty. Friendships are already being tested, and the official qualifying date isn't even until September 3.

There has already been accusation of canditates acting outside the campaign law. I certainly expect more mud-slinging to follow.

Project 365 Day 30

Pull up your freakin' pants!

(Not my pic, I borrowed it)

Okay, how many of you does this "fashion statement" annoy? I have no desire to know what kind of underwear the guy I just passed in the Wal-Mart parking lot is wearing. Um..."under-wear"? As in, UNDER your clothing?

What is up with this? There are actually places that are making this illegal. I hope Natchez hurries up. Of course, there is a good side to this. I don't imagine they can run from the police very fast with their pants around their ankles!

Project 365 Day 28

St. Catherine Creek

I promise, I am going to go somewhere tomorrow where I can get some good pictures! This one is actually kind of cool, though, because it was taken from the car window as I was going over the bridge. Notice the ghostly image of the shopping bags on the front seat?

Am I caught up? I'll have to go back and count days.

Project 365 Day 27

TWINS!

Okay, this amused me to no end. (And yes, I am easily amused!) Stopped at the local Walgreens, (which is quickly becoming my favorite store), and what did I find? My car's identical twin! I've had this car for 4 years and I have never seen another one exactly like it! So I just had to take a pic.

So the work week is done and we are on to the weekend. I hope everybody has fun plans. Me, thinking about taking Chris bowling, TRY to get some housecleaning done, and I have three new books from the library. Plus I seriously need to catch up on Project 365. I'm 3 days behind. I feel your pain, Jessica. It's hard!

Project 365 Day 26

Yes, I know I am behind. I am working to catch up. This week has not been great. ADHD, tests, etc., etc. Trying to pound knowledge into my little one's head.

This is the front door to my office. Natchez is an interesting town. To do ANYTHING to a building downtown, you have to get permission from the preservation committee. All my boss wanted to do was paint the durn door the same color white. But NO! You have to fill out a 15 page form. Submit a paint chip. Have the paint chip approved. Pay a fee. Get a permit. All to paint your door! The door is just going to sit there and turn black.