Is there a name for this?

I’m sure I’ve mentioned it before, but I’m just not a kid person.  With the exception of a handful of kids (my nephews and kids of my friends), I don’t particularly care for children and, frankly, they don’t care for me.  I am convinced that I give off a I-Don’t-Like-You vibe to children… similar to how dogs supposedly smell fear, kids smell that I don’t like them.

That being said, I cannot see myself ever having kids.  I cannot tell you how many times I’ve said that and I get the response of, “Oh, you just wait…” or “You say that now, but…” or “What does Wade think of that??”

To respond the latter first (not that it’s anyone’s business) – We’ve discussed this and we’re on the same page.  Our marriage is not going to be put in jeopardy due to some resentful feelings that arise over children.  Put that one to bed now.

The other statements…  I realize that this is a biological thing and if one day I am awoken by the loud ticking of a biological clock, I’m not going to hit the snooze button because I am convinced I don’t want children.  I’m just saying NOW that I don’t ever see it happening.

With that, I’m 31 and my husband is 37 and we are surrounded by friends in the 25-45 age range.  Prime kid-having ages.  And a majority of those friends are having or have had kids.  Great for them!  (And I swear I am NOT being sarcastic)  But we are lately finding ourselves in the minority.

Big time.

We find ourselves in one of following scenarios more often than not:

a.) We are invited to [insert party/dinner date/etc.] and we are the only couple there who has not brought their children.
b.) We are not invited at all.

The above scenarios refer to those friends who still want something to do with us.  Some friends have dropped us all together because of the lack of children.  No, they haven’t said that’s why…it’s just a hunch.  What other explanation is there?  We’re awesome!

At this point in time, I can easily count on one hand the childless friends I have… and I think we need to for a support group.

** I would just like to reiterate: I have NOTHING against other people having kids.  I think it is fantastic. For them.

Silly things that make me laugh

Mabel and Alex were curled up on the couch together keeping my feet warm.  Alex is very particular when she gets in her position and she does not want to be touched by her little sister at all.  If Mabel accidently moves or bumps in anyway, Alex lets out a tiny “grrrr”. 

Mabel got the hiccups.  First, what is funnier than a beagle with hiccups?  I’m not sure. 

With each hiccup she bumped Alex.

Alex “grrrrrr”ed.

Making Mabel “grrrrrr”. 

This went on for about 10 rounds of hiccups. 

Then Mabel got so worked up with grrrrring back at Alex that she forgot to have the hiccups. 

The both gave up and went back to sleep.  And I just kept giggling. 

I love my dogs.

A Christmas Poll

Borrowing from CodyBear…a good way to answer all those pressing questions this holiday season.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
Both, but mainly paper & ribbons! (but not sticky bows)

2. Real tree or Artificial?
Real

3. When do you put up the tree?
Um, never… we cut down the tree and then usually it never makes it inside.

4. When do you take the tree down?
It’s already down, so that’s one thing off the list!

5. Do you like eggnog?
I do.  I’m lactose intolerant, so I don’t drink much.  But egg nog and ginger ale is gooo-oood!

6. Favorite (or most memorable) gift received as a child?
Beary, my teddy bear that Santa left at the foot of my bed.

7. Hardest person to buy for?
My dad

8. Easiest person/s to buy for?
Me!

9. Do you have a nativity scene?
No

10. Mail or email Christmas cards?
Used to do cards, but gave up…

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
Plastic zip-lock bags

12. Favorite Christmas Movie?
Christmas Vacation

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
After Thanksgiving while I’m bored at work.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
Oh, yes.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
Kahlua cake

16. What do you want for Christmas?
Some books…a stock pot….some other stuff…

17. Favorite Christmas song?
Charlie Brown tunes

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?
Traveling to my parents

19. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer’s?
Yes. But I have to sing the song to do so

20. Angel on the tree top or a star?
There’s probably a bird chillin’ on it… ’cause it’s still outside!!

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?
Morning

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year?
Not being able to say “MERRY CHRISTMAS” and having to use “holiday” for everyone even when you KNOW they celebrate Christmas. Geez!!!!!

23. Favorite ornament, theme, or color?
Don’t have one.

24. Favorite for Christmas Dinner?
Whatever Mum makes

25. What do you want to do for Christmas this year?
The same thing I always do.  Wake up at my parents to the smell of coffee and spend the day opening presents.  It’s an all day affair.

Merry Christmas!

Dogs and birds…they’re almost the same

I don’t know much about birds.  With the exception of the fact that they fly and have feathers, I’m not even sure that there is much more to know.  I’ve seen on those Animal Planet-type shoes that with falcons - and perhaps all birds - if caged one can cover their cage with a blanket they’ll go to sleep almost instantly.  True?  Bird people, feel free to correct me.

Anyway, I do know dogs.  And I know you can train dogs.  My Alex has got the basic commands down and being a not-real-active dog, there aren’t a whole lot more that we’re working on with her.

Mabel is a stubborn little one, so training her was more difficult.  Although extremely smart, she is apparently too smart for her own good.  But she’s master: Sit, Stay, Down (as in lie down), and Come. 

She’s also mastered Falcon. 

What is Falcon?  Well it’s a command personalized specifically for Mabel.  It’s similar to giving a child a time out and/or bedtime.  We stumbled upon this command by accident, but it has since come in handy.

We simply command, “Mabel, Falcon!” while holding a blanket up in a manner in which she can just go under the covers.  Once there (usually within 1 second) we cover her and she out like a light. 

At 2 am, however, sometimes these epiphanies don’t come so quickly.  Mabel has made a habit of needing to go outside for no particular reason anytime in the 2am-4am timeframe.  The other night after reaching my breaking point with the after midnight whining, I picked her up, dropped her on the bed, lifted the blanket and commanded “Falcon!” 

Almost immediately there were the soft sounds of a Beagle snoring… followed by my own slumber.

Who is irdansoni4?

Pop quiz! Who is irdansoni4?

There is a great prize in store for whomever tells me. 

My identity was stolen.  That may be a bit harsh, because I’m not 100% sure what it means to have ones identity stolen.  I don’t think that this person is walking around the streets pretending to be me.  (If they are, I have a significant to-do list that the can take care of while being me)

I check my bank account regularly.  I’m a huge fan of the online banking.  But Sunday morning there were three “pending” charges for $1.00.  I didn’t recognize any of them so I checked with Wade and he didn’t know either. 

Sunday morning…hmmm…WHO is going to answer a phone at the bank?  Oddly, someone did and put my mind at ease.  He was able to trace all the charges to my credit card (versus Wade’s) and promptly canceled the card with a note on the account of suspected fraud. 

I did my research.  I called all three numbers listed next to the pending charges. All three apologized (which means nothing!) and told me they received my information from www.gofreecredit.com.  I wrote a scathing email to them because, as I’m sure you’ll be shocked to learn, they don’t have a phone number. 

I felt a little better.  I had caught it quickly and did what I could at that point.  Then I got home last night and I had two form letters in the mail from two membership driven companies.  In the teeeeeny tiny fine print they said they were programs through Adaptive Marking, LLC.  A company who’s phone number I tracked down through google (thank you to all the people who have been cheated as well who shared the info).  I called them in their cushy offices in Nebraska and ripped into the guy.  Chad.  Or Jason?  I couldn’t understand, but I got his ID#. 

“WHY did you give out my information?”
“I didn’t.”
“Oh, but ya did.  Says so right here.”
“Oh, well maybe to those couple companies, but not all of them.”
“WHY?”
“You said we could.”
“No, Chad, I didn’t.  FIX IT!!!!!” 

And now a brief break for some comic relief:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRu5ojRDNqA&feature=related

Chad gave me the most helpful information… he shared with me all of my personal information: name, address, phone number, credit card number, security code, expiration date, and ….  e-mail address. 

“Your info is blah, blah, blah and your email is irdansoni4@yahoo.com.”
“Say what? That’s is NOT my email.”
“That’s the emai you gave us.”

Clearly Chad is not getting it.  I didn’t give him any such information.  But Chad is trained in lying and deceiving, what more can I do?

My account is closed, Mr(s). irdansoni4. 

In conclusion:
1.  I want to find this person.
2.  Please make note of the above info and don’t let it happen to you.
3.  How funny is that Keenan Thompson video??  I just love that guy….

It’s all the rage!

I’m having some mixed feelings about this whole Facebook rage. 

I’ve had my account for about a year and a half. I think.  It was really fun at first… looking up those from my past.  High school & college friends, ex-boyfriends, people I hoped would not age well, people I hoped would, clients, and other fun stuff.  The invited voyeurism of it all had its entertaining moments.

Then we moved onto the next step which was short-lived.  The applications.  Holy crap, who has time for all of that?  I would like to take this opportunity to thank the creators for the “Hide” option.

Then we moved into FB a daily/hourly “must do!”  Get to work, check work e-mail, check personal e-mail, check FB.  Repeat many times over the next nine hours.  Go home, check personal e-mail, check FB.  All of this, just so I can know how an acquaintance from 14 years ago feels about that day’s episode of Judge Judy?  Seems dumb when I put it that way.

However, it’s sort of a must. There are those handful of people who I enjoy seeing there and may otherwise not remain in contact.  That’s the positive.

Then a couple days ago, I hit a wall with FB.  That was when I received news about a friend (not on FB – Oh! The humanity!) from a friend (FB & otherwise) via a status update.  I have yet to receive the news from the friend to which the news belongs.  Getting the news from the other friend is fine, but I was bothered by the impersonalness (According to spellcheck this is a word I invented. Thank you.) of how it was communicated.  I mean no offense to either of them. 

My issue is more in general.  For example, if I receive a promotion at work, I would tell my family &  friends via the old-fashioned methods of a phone call or a face-to-face conversation (*gasp*).  It doesn’t seem necessary or right for FB friend “Suzy’s” sophomore year, drunken hook-up also receive that news via  a status update.  Am I wrong?

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go check my live news feed.

What’s goin’ on?

I’ve been gone for awhile and resting my writer’s brain.  Maybe a vacation did me some good.  I’m starting to feel the writing bug again, so who knows?  Perhaps I’ll be spending more time here again. 

So much has happened… I had back surgery again.  That was unexpected and not at all fun, but I’m feeling better now.  I’m told (as of 7am this morning) that my ‘range of motion’ is good and I’m progressing well.  I’ll keep up the good work!  What else?  I have a new boss.  I went to Louisville.  Wade got in a car accident (he is fine, but the truck… not so much).  I’m beginning to feel like the world is having babies and I didn’t receive that memo (which is a good thing!). There appears to be a squirrel living behind my stove.  I started a book league (it’s a club with a fancier name).

Lots of stuff. Lots to discuss.  Not tonight though, because I”m pretty tired.  But I made the first step by returning to write something. 

See ya soon.

Minor Changes

It’s been awhile since I’ve written here.  Some have noticed and I’ve been asked when I was going to come back.  I was feeling like I had nothing to write.  Not that my life is so boring I have nothing to share, but I was starting to experience what other fellow bloggers have written about: How much is too much?  I’m not one to get real personal and I try my best to be vague so no one is real sure who I am or where I am. 

I guess after two years of writing and sharing it is bound to become difficult to hide those things.  It was floating about in my head and then it was brought to my attention today.  Now my colleagues at work know about the blog.  Which, really, is FINE, but it was addressed that I need to be aware that with the powers of Google and a bit of common sense it wouldn’t take much for one to figure out where I work.  That has always been something that I was conscience of, so I think that it is safe to say I’ve been careful.  But I don’t want there to be any concerns about it.

So I’ve changed some things. Some of my posts are now private. No biggie.  I have them and I know they are there.  I want this blog to continue…at least when I feel like I have more to share.  And in the meantime, I’m starting another blog… in another style.  When it get that established, I’ll let you know!

Analyze This.

Codybear was talking about dreams yesterday and that brings to mind two that I had while I was vacation.  The two are unrelated – at least on the surface.  I’ve looked it up in my handy-dandy dream book & fortune telling through dream book and I’m not getting  much help.  So my lovely readers, analyze me!

DREAM #1:

I am sitting in our breakroom at work with many co-workers.  We are all at one table, sitting very close together.  I have grapes as part of my lunch, but the grapes are “past their prime” and I have to cull out the ones that have the soggy-on-my-way-to-being-a-raisin parts.  My co-worker sitting right next to me also has grapes and hers are the large, crisp ones.  For some reason she is eating my culled grapes, however. 

She gets very upset with me because my grapes are bad.  In retaliation, she grabs me and flings me over the table and into the corner by the garbage can.  I lie on the floor (’cause it hurt!!) and while there I am visited by a porcupine.  The porcupine is brown and waddles over to me.  I’m told that if I pet it, it will be soft and won’t poke me with quills.  I do so and it is soft.  The porcupine arranges himself under my head as a pillow.  He smells like coffee.

DREAM #2:

I am at a carwash.  It is the type of carwash where you pay at a pay-station, put your car in neutral and then glide through the carwash.  Before I approach, Wade gets out of the car and stands off to the side and watches.  I cannot, for the life of me, find the right button to pay, but there are HUNDREDS of buttons and games to play. 

My car continues to roll through the carwash but remains unwashed because I cannot find the right button to pay.  I look back around and can see that Wade is getting incredibly frustrated with me for not getting the car washed.  This repeats several times. 

Then I see a game where you are given a baseball.  You through the baseball into the carwash in some convaluted pattern and based on your percentage of accuracy you get a credit towards your carwash.  I got 4%.  Not good.  As I am pulling back around to try again, I see an ambulance going through the wash and they too have not figured out how to pay.

I wake before getting the car washed.

I cannot find the logic behind this

One of the jaunts we took on our mini-vaca was to the big LLBean in Freeport, ME. This was on Tuesday and the weather was HOT.  We’re talking 90+ degrees.  In April. In Maine.  We are good parents so we explored the many options on how to keep Mabel & Alex comfortable while on our journeys.

We have found that Mabel frowns upon being left alone – all the treats, fresh air, water and promises of a quick and speedy return will not appease our little pup.  I’m talking about leaving her in the car.  Alex is fine with this (although probably less so when her little sister won’t stop yapping).  But, again, we are good parents and we would NEVER leave the pups hanging in the car when it is hot out.

But Wade got a brilliant idea!  Leave the car running with the A/C on high, remove the remote from the key ring and head off to adventure. 

But the smart car people evidently don’t design it so you can leave your dogs with A/C.  It is not possible to lock the car with the remote when the car is running. 

You can, however, manually lock the doors behind you and they’ll stay locked. 

Yup.  They stay locked.  Even when you use the remote.  Still locked.  It doesn’t make sense… if we have the wherewithal to figure out away around your don’t-leave-your-car-running-and-walk-away loop hole, you shouldn’t punish us by making it impossible to get back in the car! 

Some positive factors to consider…I have AAA & I had the card readily available; Ben & Jerry’s was across the parking lot (note milkshakes); my cell phone was on me!; I just purchased some super cute LLBean flip-flops (not related, but a positive)
Some negative factors to consider… my cell phone had  ONE bar remaining; it is Maine and cell service is touchy; Wade was not amused

Oh, and there was a big ol’ storm rolling in.

But AAA arrived within 30 minutes and opened the door in seconds.  And now we have a moderately amusing story to share at cocktail parties.

*** A NOTE TO THOSE WHO ARE ABOUT TO REPORT ME FOR ABUSE ***

- When we got in the car it was about 40 degrees
- When we leave the pups, we check on them regularly – we don’t close the doors and wander for the day
- We both felt sufficiently guilty and horrible