Castle in the Clouds

Ok. Weird blog morning. The first two sites I visit today have links to some pretty alarming stories. The first I found on PBW 's blog. It seems another crazy piece of legislature has made headlines, this time in Alabama. Luckily, it died rather quickly. In State Representative Gerald Allen's narrow, little mind banning books is not about censorship if they deal with immoral issues such as homosexuality. You can read a little more about his homosexual paranoia here . I want to know how somone like this gets to keep his job. He's messing with the Bill of Rights, people. Perhaps a little recap of the First Amendment is in order. Amendment I Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. See that little line in there about "shall make no l...

Now that classes are done and I don't have to worry about feeling guilty for ignoring my schoolwork, I'm back to writing. Because it had been so long since I'd been able to focus on the writing, I felt the need to rekindle my passion for the story. This meant printing off the story--the idea was to force myself to read and not edit. The bad news is I can't stop myself from editing. The good news is I discovered a handy little feature for printing. Not exactly a moment of ephinany but something worth sharing for those of you who may not have discovered it for yourselves. When you need to print a rough draft and want to save on ink and paper...look at the zoom feature on your print tab. You can print two pages per sheet ! Totally readable, lots of white space for chicken-scratch, and totally cost effective. Of course, I believe you can elect to print up to 4 pages per sheet but I don't think my eyes could handle it. And where would you write comments and how ...

My husband put this yard stick into the snow accumulated on the back porch. 13 and a half inches! Unbelievable. 

Another picture of the winter wonderland I thought we wouldn't be experiencing again until next winter.  

Can you believe we had 80 degree weather less than a week ago? Yeah...me, either. But I swear it's true! 

I need to write my final paper. The toss up is between Dead Man in Deptford and Bridget Jone's Diary. I'm leaning toward Bridget Jones. While I can't find any literary sources to help support my opinions, I know I could tie in some principles of interpersonal communication. That's really tempting because I love the field of communication and tying it into a literary analysis sounds like fun. But what kind of grade would I get? Is this too far from the beaten path? I also need to do laundry and clean my house. Not your average house-cleaning, either. We have family coming over tonight to celebrate my hubby's birthday. Pride won't allow either of us to let them come through the door if the house looks as bad as it does. Of course, there's a complication. My sister thinks she's about to go into labor. I might not be here to clean the house or participate in the party! If she does call, I'm tempted to postpone the party until tomorrow or late...

I have several blogs I visit daily. My addiction is a sad, sad fact. When I first sit down at my computer I wonder how Michelle is doing, how her stories are coming, how the battle with infertility is faring. I love reading PBW 's blunt, unapologetic posts and appreciate her wit and willingness to share what others are afraid to admit about the publishing industry. Reading about Tam 's rising star and looking at pictures of her lovely quilts. Laughing at Martha 's series of unfortunate events and tongue-in-cheek observations. Keeping tabs on Wen 's progress as her deadline for Tinker2 approaches. Reading about Lola 's struggles with her writing, what mischeif her little ones have gotten into-- Lola is perhaps the first writer I ever really connected with online; we met in one writing group and managed to keep in touch after we both left the group. Tonight I had to get my daily dose of Holly before logging off--I'm always curious about her progress. You see, H...

Just got off the phone with the doctor's office. I had taken my youngest in on Monday because his lymph nodes have been swollen for three weeks. Now before you call Social Services on me, you should know I had called the doctor when I first noticed them and was told to wait a couple weeks to see if they went down. I'm not neglecting the welfare of my chidren--I'm much too paranoid to do that! Anyhoo...the doctor did a physical exam. Of course, he couldn't miss the bulging glands...they pop out when the little guy turns his head. The doctor palpitated his liver and spleen to make sure they weren't enlarged and then had me take him to Quest Diagnostics a couple towns over for bloodwork. He ordered tests for Epstein Bar, Mono, and a full blood count. He even mentioned the L word (Luekemia) in passing. Talk about giving a paranoid mom something to stress over. Well, the test results came in yesterday. The little guy is fine now but had mono. Now I have to call ...

I have a paper to write and some discussions to finish up. Then it's all over but the grading! Wahoo! I'm not taking a Spring or Summer class. I'm so excited I could sing! I won't. It would hurt your ears and then I'd feel bad. But, boy, oh boy, is it tempting!

These were the best drinks. Fireballs rock. In fact...looking at this picture makes me crave one! 

Ug. Need I say more?

We had just walked onto the bar...within seconds there were several more ladies and I was lost on the backside of the crowd. This is as clear a shot as we have of me up there.  

A shot directly from the bottle. After a couple of these and a lemon drop or two, I was ready.... 

Terri, Me & Jessica--On our way to Coyote Ugly after eating at the 9 Fine Irishmen inside the New York New York hotel. 

Yes, I most certainly did! After a couple of drinks and a few shots, my cousin, best friend, and I were feeling brave enough to do what we had said we were going to do: dance on the bar at Coyote Ugly. The first time was so fun, we ended up going up there twice more before finally leaving the bar to traipse across the street to the Tropicana where our husband's had decided to go gamble. I'll post a few pictures later. They're not very good...but they're the only evidence I'm able to provide! My only disappointment was I didn't stop to buy the t-shirt I could now rightly wear. You guessed it: I danced on the bar at Coyote Ugly. Plain black t-shirt with red and white lettering. I had purchased a cutesy little pink shirt earlier in the day because I wasn't sure if I'd really get up the nerve to get on the bar. I should have known better....

I have a feeling this post isn't actually going to post. Blogger is acting all weird on me. In any event....I'm counting down the hours, people! 8 hours until vacation. Can I get a "whooo-whoooo"? LOL

Hm. I've always wondered....according to this test , I'm: Economic Left/Right: -3.38Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -2.67 (A.K.A. Libertarian Left) What does that mean? I have no flipping idea....anyone care to explain? If it helps any, it appears I'm more inclined to agree with Gandhi and the Dalai Lama. Oh, and Nelson Mandela, too. Hmmm...

I may or may not agree with Holly's stance but I certainly admire her honesty and daring. Maybe I'm a wuss. I don't want to deal with a backlash in my comments because I stand on one side of this fence or other so I'm not going to enlighten you with my beliefs. Arguing with people about this is not something I care to expend energy on. However, I do believe in informed opinions. If you're easily grossed out, please don't click on the following link. These pictures are very graphic. I thought I would post them here because I've never bothered looking for pictures of aborted babies. It's not exactly something I want to view. However, I can see the benefits in showing people exactly what is at stake. It certainly makes the topic real and not just about idealogies. Galleries .

Friday: Did the work thing. Picked kids up from daycare. Fixed dinner, did some laundry. Hubby was gone to a Piston's game so it was just me and the munchkins. After dinner we scrapbooked for about an hour. All in all a nice, relaxing night. Saturday: Laxy morning (watched tv and did very little in the house). Hubby had to drive his dad down to the airport to pick up my mother-in-law. Meanwhile, the boys and I had a birthday party to attend. My niece and nephew turned 2 and 4, respectively. However, we had to go empty-handed because the gifts were locked in the trunk of my car. How, you ask? My oldest had popped the trunk for me. After I closed the trunk, I see the driver's door closed and my son trying to open the passenger side door in vain. Yes, the child had locked us out. Do you think I could find my spare key? Oh, no. It's still MIA. Luckily, my husband and his dad had taken my in-law's truck and left the hubby's at home. The boys and I were ...