Snow and ice!

God how I love winter! Especially at Christmas time. The lights glowing on the snow, the multi-colored icicles, everything! The only bad side is those stupid people who cannot drive in the stuff! Or those guys who think that just because they have four wheel drive they can fly. Other that that it is just wonderful to sit and watch it float down, all soft and fluffy. This last week has been amazing: snow, snow, and more snow! Canceled school, the puppies love the snow and it's up to their tummies, and there is more on the way. Besides that, all my allergy triggers are frozen to the ground! Whoo Hoo! Now if it just lasts until Christmas.

That one person you can't stand

Why does it always seem that no matter where you work, there is that one person you can't stand, and your always stuck with them? A friend of mine can't stand his boss (of course this guy is a real dick), another friend works with this girl that is a real piece of work. I'd like to say that I love everybody I work with, but I'd be a liar. There are a few people I can't stand, but I do my best to put up with them. In a short list of things that drive a person crazy:
1. If a person treats you very rudely the FIRST time you ever work with them, you can be sure that you're not going to get along with them.
2. If they deliberately mess with your station, especially if it involves money, you can bet you're not going to get along.
3. If they suddenly stop a conversation with another employee the minute you walk around the corner, you can be very sure you are going to hate each other.
4. If every day you don't work with this person is full of sunshine and rainbows, you can be damn sure you absolutely will hate their guts.
5. If your the subject of an unwarranted tirade, general for something you haven't done or because you didn't do something for them that instant, you might want to look for another job, because this job is toxic!

In general, if you have that one person that annoys the hell out of you, do one of two things: get another job, or go postal on their behinds. (I highly recommend the first one!)

Oh Baby, Baby, Baby, Shit, Shit, Shit!

Oh Baby, Baby, Baby! Shit, Shit, Shit! Something wonderful and crazy has happened in my family. My cousin and his wife are pregnant for the third time and they have hit the baby jackpot. Two months ago we found out she was having twins, now this week we found out that it isn't twins, but TRIPLETS!!! A set of identical girls and another girl! They already have a boy and a girl, so FIVE KIDS UNDER THE AGE OF FIVE!!! I honestly think that they are nuts. I mean they have one ready for kindergarten next fall, but that still means three cribs, four high chairs, five car seats, a rolling suitcase instead of a diaper bag, five college educations, and fifty times the headaches. I highly advice buying stock in Tylenol, Pamper, and Johnson @ Johnson. She is suppose to be due in late January/early February, but I'm taking bet on due dates. So far I have reservations on January 4th and December 20th. If you want to get in on the baby pool, email me! I will tell you that she is going on bed rest in October. Other than that make you own conclusions.

Some people

I wonder about people sometimes. Why people are like they are, stuff like that. For instance, that woman you see at the store or at a restaurant and her skin looks like a piece of jerky, wrinkled jerky at that, with unkempt, poorly dyed hair, and that set in her jaw that says, " I hate the world and everything in it." You sort of wonder if she's a bitter, carping, old bitch because she has wasted her life at a dead end job because she has way to many kids and can't seem to figure out what causes that, can't keep a man because she has too many damn kids, can't keep anything nice because of the kids, and the only pleasure she finds in life is to make everyone else around her as miserable as she is.
Or the guy you always see that never smiles, and barely speaks two words. Is he really concentrating on what he is doing next, or has he been hurt so badly be humanity that he withdraws from it. Or he is miserable because his job sucks, he can't advance, his boss is a dill weed, and the only way he can cope is to be nasty to people that have never done anything to him.
I have often wondered about this and think that there should be a national holiday where people can drive out to the middle of nowhere and scream at the top of their lungs. This might relieve the tension and the world would be a better place.

Things I wonder about, but never get any answers to.

Over the years I have wondered about many things, not grand mysteries of the world, just things I wanted the answers to by the time I reached this stage of my life. Among them are the simple things, like why can't they make heated roads so the snow won't stick in the winter? Or, why does money turn people into such jack-asses? I understand the seniority system in a place of business (some what), but why do the people get so pissy and grabby when things change? It's not like your going to make any more money, you're just going to get more headaches. Some people manage to show their true colors: as in an "all for me the hell with you" pain in the ass! I wonder why. Friends stab each other in the back in order to make it to the next rung, but it never seems to be enough. Why can't people decide they would rather work together and share? I've been crapped on enough lately and I have a feeling that it's not over yet. By the time everything is settled I may be on my own.
Another thing that I have wondered about isn't really all that complicated, just a thought. It should be a law that all businesses in an area that can experience 90+ temperatures should be required to provide their employees with the following: Water to stay hydrated, ice in case of injuries, air conditioning, and light weight uniforms without screen printing on the back. If these businesses are also located in a area that experiences 32 degrees or below they should be required to provide hot drinks, heat that fills the whole building, and warm weather gear. Why can't employers provide for their employee's creature comforts, they might find that they have better, happier employees.
This last one is heat related, but might be offensive to conservative people. Why is it perfectly acceptable for a man to go without a shirt no matter how offensive his body looks, but a woman must suffer under at least two layers of clothing. Society frowns on women not wearing a bra, but a man with the same size chest can gross everyone out. I just don't get it.
These are just a few of the things that make me wonder.

Top Ten Signs that you need Psychiatric Help

Ever wonder about people in your family or where you work? Have you always wondered if there was something wrong with them? You know, like if they were going to go postal one day. Here are my top signs that you or your co-worker/family member need the aid of a mental health professional.
1. You are thrilled by blood and extreme violence.
2. You have ever tortured innocent animals, mainly frog, cats/kittens, small dogs, ants, etc: either by accident or on purpose.
3. Every single "innocent looking" stick or writing utensil becomes a sword by which you will save the world from all evil.
4. You honestly believe in Zombies, Aliens, and that they will invade earth.
5. You over indulge in alcohol or drugs in order to numb your mind and stop "the voices and urges".
6. You treat women like they are second class citizens and merely receptacles for your lust.
7. The destructive power of nature makes you horny. Lightning and tornadoes especially.
8. You think you were hatched from an egg in the back yard.
9. You are constantly boxing with imaginary foes to prepare for the "Zombie Apocalypse"
10. Your mother has named you after one of the following: a car brand, a snack cracker, a piece of fruit, a celestial body, or a defunct rock band.

If you meet some or all of these requirements, please proceed to the nearest mental hospital and CHECK YOURSELF IN! Those of us in the real world would really appreciate it.

The good old days

Ever wish that you could go back in time and relive the good ole days? I did just that today. I had the privilege of spending three hours with three of the best people I have ever known. It is wonderful to talk with people who have the same history as you, remember the same things, old inside jokes, even if they are at your own expense! I love our plan to retire to the same home when we get old. I can so see use driving the staff crazy, racing our wheelchairs down the halls, and simply causing chaos. In the meantime, I hope we can have so much more fun. God bless old friends, they truly are golden.

The evil government is at it again!

Sometimes I really hate our government. I'm not talking about the national government, lest they decide to swoop down and cart me off to some "undisclosed internment camp". I am talking about our dear sweet lawmakers in Columbus. These money grubbing, money mishandleing morons in cheap looking tailor made suits have decided that anyone who wishes to sell ANYTHING in the state of Ohio must now purchase a vendors license! The damn thing costs $25 and you have to report MONTHLY and pay the taxes on what you sold! You have to report even if you didn't sell a frickin' thing. You have to have a vendor's license to sell your used car, or for anything you sell at your garage sales. Even those cute little kids selling lemonade in the front yard are in violation of the law if they haven't purchases a "transient vendors license". WTF! I get taxed when I purchase the materials to make my products, NOW they want to double dip when I go to get rid of the item! The only exception to this law is a "casual sale". If you bought something (say a table or a couch, etc.) and you used it in your family home for at least five years then sell it, it counts as a casual sale and you do not need a license. My advice to everyone: Keep whatever it is for five years, then sell it. You won't be in violation of the law and you won't owe those bastards anything. I wouldn't mind paying this if I knew those idiots in Columbus could be responsible for the money they already have, but their track record with money is horrible and their streak of honesty is about as big as a hummingbird's pecker.

Gone North

Hey Y'all! I've gone north for the day. Mark's family is going to the Henry Ford Museum and I'm going with them. It should be fun, but I hope Mark doesn't get beat up for wearing his stupid Penguins gear. Anyway I'll see you later.

The Happy Day is almost here!

Hard to believe that my birthday is on Thursday. I don't think I want to reveal how old I am; Let's just say that "I'm as old as me nose and a little bit older than me teeth." Birthdays seem to have less meaning than they did before. I never really have a party (I haven't had a formal birthday party since I turned eleven), but it would be nice if someone special remembered me. HE made the comment that he was just going to go golfing on my birthday! I can only hope to God that he was joking. I mean a customer where I work that I'm friends with remembered and wished me happy birthday earlier so he wouldn't forget. That was very nice of him. I sort of planned to spend my birthday at the fairgrounds again, but I wouldn't mind if HE actually decided to take me somewhere nice for dinner. It's not like I'm looking for a proposal or something (I'm not, that can come in due time), but a little bit of a romantic evening would be nice. Sometimes I worry that he doesn't have a romantic bone in his body. I think mine is located in the same place as my funny bone. For those of you who do not get the joke: There is no Funny Bone! I mean: I am allergic to most flowers, I hardly ever wear jewelry, I laugh at movies like the notebook, and I hate sappy, wishy washy, air-headed females that wait for a prince to sweep them off their dainty size three feet. Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty were never my heroes. I preferred girls that kicked butt. At any rate, he could at least try and maybe convert me a little. Anyway, Happy Birthday to me and don't forget to send me a gift!

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

This should serve as a warning to all those who are contemplating doing a good deed for someone. DON'T. IT WILL COME BACK TO BITE YOU IN THE ASS! I had the misfortune of doing a good deed for a customer and it's going to cost me, big time. I mixed paint for a customer, I showed him he damn label and he agreed it was the paint he was after. Now, one week later, he's saying it was the wrong paint and that he had to hire a professional to scrape it off his intricate kitchen walls. THE BILL IS OVER $350! And he expects my work to pay for it, which in turn means ME! It wasn't so much that the boss stated that the head honchos expect me to pay up, just it was implied that if I don't: I WON'T HAVE A JOB! I don't think it's right; in fact it stinks the high heaven, but I can't pay my bills without a job. I will tell you this: I am done helping customers. Other than pointing, I will never go out of my way to help a customer again! If you are wise you will heed my advice and never extend yourself to help anyone! It will wind up costing you more in the end that you ever bargained for.

Check out my other blog!

Hi again! I'm not here to rant and rave this time, but to ask all my loyal readers to check out my other blog: http://www.barbieandamericangirlclothesbybobijo.blogspot.com . It is a showcase for my doll clothing creations. I welcome comments on the clothes, but please keep them clean and constructive. Little girls and their moms will be looking at these clothes. I appreciate you comments and how you can help me become a better designer. Make sure you take the polls I will have on the blog; they will help me decide what new colors and trends there are, so I can make current fashions. Thanks and I'll see you later.

The end has come.

Two weeks ago my dreams of the Redwings redeeming the cup were dashed in overtime. All because a rookie goaltender could keep the puck out of the net! Granted Jimmy Howard did manage to make it to the second round, he just wasn't confident enough to go all the way. May be next season. Let's face it, we were lucky to make the playoffs at all. My only consolation is that those rotten Penguins lost to Montreal! Anyway more complaining later.

The Playoffs are here again!

God bless hockey! My nutty season has arrived ladies and gentlemen. The Redwings have made the Stanley Cup Playoffs (barely). They take on Phoenix starting Wednesday and I will be a nervous wreck until they either lose or until they have wrestled Lord Stanley's Cup from the slimy hands of Squid the Kid and those lousy, thieving, cheating, stinking bastards, the Pittsburgh Penguins. If you happen to see me in the next month and a half and I have dark circles under my eyes, you will know that I have been up late praying they win while watching the game. As long as Jimmy Howard can keep his head on straight, we won't have to use the un-confident Osgood and barring catastrophic injury, that cup should be ours in a about six weeks.

Whoa to American Girl

Normally I would not bash the American Girl company, but I have to make and exception in this case. Every year American Girl introduces a limited edition "Girl of the Year", this year is no exception. What I take exception to is the outrageous price for one of the items in the collection. American Girl is trying to sell a travel trailer for dolls. This set comes with a camper, camping gear, stickers to decorate the outside, and a message board on the inside drops down to make a bed. All this for the tidy sum of $295 plus additional state taxes and $25.95 shipping! This amounts to $340.42 if you live in the state of Ohio! And this doesn't even the bloody doll that is $95 more! Granted American girl products are of good quality, (I own 5 American Girls and will soon own a Bitty Baby)but $295.00 is a bit much. To an extent even the clothes are overpriced. I can make almost exactly the same thing and sell it for half the price. I'm not begrudging American Girl there business, but I am saying that in this economy it is ridiculous to try and sell something at an outrageous price.

Cabin Fever has arrived

What makes people go all gaga when the weather get even a fraction warmer in the month of March? I know adults suffer from it, but the kids are even worse. I had the misfortune of subbing for a sixth grade class on Friday and boy was it bad. On a normal day these students are quiet, orderly, and respectful, but let the temperature climb to near seventy degrees, and they turn into hideous little monsters who cannot sit still or keep their mouths shut. I never have to yell at these kids, but I had to scream at them that day. Why does the weather and the cycles of the moon have such an affect on kids? This whole cabin fever thing is enough to make a person long for Antarctica, where there is no such thing as a spring day. It really makes me long for snow! At least when it snows it tames the beast that is an eleven year old child.

Who wants to go back to high school?

How many people actually enjoyed high school? I mean seriously: Acne, mind numbing assignments, that 100 year old teacher that smelled like she had already been embalmed, and don't get me started on cheerleaders. Last Sunday I met a former classmate while out for lunch with my family. She proceeded to tell me, in her still bubbly and annoying voice, that May 27 th of this year is the tenth anniversary of our high school graduation and apparently they are planning a reunion. WHY? I have spent the last ten years trying to forget these people, why would I want to spent an evening trapped in a room with them? High school was not fun for me no matter how you slice it. I was short,(that hasn't changed) wore glasses, (at least now they're smaller), and everyone picked on me. I spent most of my time hiding behind a book or in the library. I figured it was better to avoid any social situations in order to avoid getting picked on. I had a small group of friends, fellow outcasts, with whom to commiserate, but other than that I was alone. Yes, I had a steady boyfriend my junior year and after my senior year, but the bastard made me cry at my senior prom, and was most likely cheating on me at the time, since by my nineteenth birthday he was engaged to another girl but still seeing me! So that part really sucked. I spent my teenage years as the victim of rude comments, vicious rumors, and being the object of the cheerleaders "makeover" obsession. For those of you who don't know what this is, it's when the cheerleaders decide to make you their pet project and try to change your physical appearance and tell how to act. Like these plastic, bubble headed, clones know what is going on.
I realize that I've come pretty far in the last ten years, but only in some areas. Yes, I have gotten a tiny bit taller (I can now reach the top shelf in the kitchen cabinet), I finished college with not one, but two degrees: with my eyes on a third, I've been in a stable relationship for nearly seven years, but I've fallen short of other things. I still live a home, I don't own my own car, and I work at a dead end job. (I just realized that my life is pathetic, please observe a moment of silence)
I just am not sure if I could do this, if I can face these people and stand up to the mental criticism. I barely have enough hutzpah to stand up for myself against my family, let alone one hundred and one other people. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

This time death didn't surprise me

For most people death comes as a complete surprise. That guy that is walking alone along the train tracks and suddenly finds himself facing St. Peter at the pearly gates is surprised as hell to find out he got hit by the 7:15 to Oklahoma City. For others death is well planned. The cancer patients who know they cannot be cured have an acceptance that death will visit them. They arrange to meet death in a manner of their own choosing. Some have a "bucket list" to complete before they go the the hereafter. In the strange quirk that is life, death visited my family again this year. My father's mother passed away Tuesday after years of declining health. What is surprising is that I feel absolutely nothing. I'm not surprised, I knew it was coming, but I'm not really sad about it either. I'm sad for my father and all the trouble he went through in the last few months, but I'm not really broken up about it. This might be because for the vast majority of my life this woman wanted nothing to do with me. She consistently forgot birthdays, school functions, sometimes even Christmas! She would have skipped my high school graduation if my aunt and uncle hadn't picked her up. She only want something to do with my brother and me when she felt like "playing grandma". Sure she took me to a few movies and when I was sixteen she bought me a large collection of Beatles albums, but other than that she ignored me unless it was to her advantage. She knew absolutely nothing about me. She would buy me pink hideous sweaters for Christmas (two sizes too small no less) or those really ugly button up old lady blouses that should be used as rags in a auto shop. She had no idea that I loved to sew, read, watch hockey, or that I managed to earn two college degrees and become the first grandchild in my family to graduate from college. I'm damn sure that she didn't even love me, or any of her grandchildren. It really irked me one Christmas when she lavished attention on my then 2 year old cousin and only after she became bored with his antics (about five minutes after he finished opening the thirty or so presents he received) did she toss my brother and I cheesy cards with ten dollars inside. WTF!! I'm not jealous of my cousin, (how can you be jealous of a little baby who has know idea what is going on), I was pissed that she came to my house, used my Christmas tree, completely ignored me and my brother, then tossed us cards as if she were throwing scraps to a begging dog. We didn't want her money or a ton of presents at Christmas, we wanted her to pay attention to us and love us! But that was too much for her selfish ass to manage. So five years ago I replaced her. My boyfriends grandmother is everything she could never be. She is interested in what I am doing, and loves me. I don't call her my grandmother in deference to my mother's mother, she is simply Nannie. I can go talk to her when I have a problem, something she wouldn't have paid attention to (after all it wasn't about her). In my opinion, you have to earn the title of Grandma, and she never even made it out of the starting gate. I'm sorry she's dead, I'm sorry for all the pain she caused my father and the rest of the family, but you can't miss someone who was never there for you.

That date is close at hand again.

Yes folks it's that time of year again, Valentines Day is upon us and and the world has exploded in tiny paper hearts and ghastly looking paper roses. For the totally un-romantics out there, the season of vomiting has begun. Why this one day a year to show some one you love them? Shouldn't you do that every day? Tell someone you love them or show that some one that you love them more than one day a year? I will tell you what I will get this Valentines Day: I will get a box of candy, a stuffed something or other, or nothing at all. The love of my life thinks Valentine's Day is the cheesiest of all holidays and only celebrates it begrudgingly. I can barely get him to say those three little words on a normal day, why should Valentine's Day be so stinking special? Besides that, the romantic simpletons of the world can lament the fact the this year Valentine's Day fall on the same day as the Daytona 500. Simply put, I will be abandoned in order for a bunch of men to gather around a television, swill beer, and watch a bunch of cars make only left turns for five and a half hours. How exciting! I'll be perfectly happy with Feb. 15th rolls around and all the little paper cupids have gotten hypothermia and died and the candy goes to 75% off. If you enjoy this holiday, fine, but remember, it's just an excuse to jack up the prices of jewelry, candy, roses, dinner specials, and the rest of the "romantic" claptrap.

Sorry if I startled you.

Hi everyone! I have a small correction to my last entry. I was in an absolutely foul mood when I wrote that. I was lonely, tired as all get out, frustrated that I couldn't get in contact with that one person, and to top it all off: I was out of chocolate! I do appreciate me for me, and on most days I am perfectly content with being alone, but sometimes I get down on myself about myself, and it gets ugly. I do have a tendency to speak without thinking, and I am working on it, but it drives me crazy when some one gets mad and I can remember what I might have said in order to apologize for it. Trust me folks, I'm perfectly fine now, I don't have any thoughts of "harming myself", I had a good cry, raided the fridge, and fell asleep watching "The Golden Girls". I'm fine and I have started a diet to change somethings about myself that I have a problem with. Anyone know of a "diet chocolate"?

Problem One: me

I have a problem. ME. There is just something going on around me lately that worries me. I try my hardest to be likable to other people, but I wind up with more people hating me. I just don't realize that I've said something stupid until it's too late. And I wonder why I spend so much of my time alone. Even the people who love me seemed to have backed away or have abandoned me all together. I'm depressed because I have no one to lean on, and I'm too depressed to attempt to find some one to lean on. I miss the one person I have always been able to count on for the past six years. Right now he has been busy with work and I have only talked to him once in the last two weeks. I miss him like crazy and I think I'm cracking up without him. I'm so lonely and miserable, it feels like the whole world is crashing down around me.

New Year, New Complaints

Happy New Year folks! In honor of the new year, but not really a New Year's resolution, here is a list of things I am just not going to put up with anymore.
1. My family calling me stupid. As my two college degrees and my substitute teaching license proves, I am not stupid. I will no longer put up with the "dip" joke ( a long running gag in my family). This is where some one in the house ask where the dip is (the food item) and some one replies "she's right there". I am sick of this joke: it's not so much a joke as it is pure ignorance. When the dog was the only person in the house who seemed to care, things have got to change. From now on, if you can't find a pleasant thing to talk to me about: Don't talk to me!
2. Height jokes. Yes, I am not tall (5' 31/2"), but does every person on the planet have to mention this fact. I don't so much mind the little old ladies that say "Oh she's so tiny and cute!" or the little old man that called me "A cute little elf" this past Christmas. These people don't mean anything by it. I am talking about the self absorbed assholes who continually point out that the world was built for a much taller person. I hate the people who look a me like I have an arm growing out of the top of my head when I have to climb a shelf at the store or work to reach something. I hate people asking me "How's the weather down there?" I don't call tall people "Stretch", or "Gargantua", why should I have to put up with being called "shorty", "tetchy", "midget", "shrimp", "pee wee", "munchkin", and "rug rat". I feel like renting a billboard, putting my picture on it and writing "I AM NOT SHORT: I AM VERTICALLY CHALLENGED!"
3. Weight jokes. Now I am not a morbidly obese person, but I am not exactly a twig. I was thoroughly pissed when my mother purchased X-large pajamas for me this Christmas. The top simply does not fit at all ( I literally swim in it). It seems like every time I put something in my mouth, I get the evil eye from some one. I am tired of people staring at my ass. Not the good kind of stares either. They are most definitely the kind that scream "OH my GOD! Look how big that thing is!". Half of my problem is genetics. My mother has a really fat ass, so does the rest of my mom's side of the family (you should see my aunt and cousin). People don't realize how much that hurts a person and I just am not going to put up with anymore.
4. People putting me down because of the things I like. Let's face it: I like things that not too many other people like. I love the Three Stooges, Bing Crosby, Old Movies, reading, writing, sewing, the first snow of the season, Christmas music, John Wayne, Ernest movies, even just sitting quietly and listening to the rain, or my choice in clothing or hats. I see things differently than other people, but that is no reason to knock my point of view or to say it's stupid.
I had a gentleman tell me the other day that he absolutely loved my unique point of view of the world. Why can't more people be like that?
5. Myself. I know I often say something and simply don't realize I'm offending someone. I hate myself for it and I swear I'm going to work on it. I try so hard sometimes to be funnier than I actually am, or smarter than I actually am, and I wind up with everyone I love mad at me.

To sum it up dear reader, I am tired of feeling like crap because I happen to be a little different. I'm tired of crying myself to sleep because I feel that I've hurt the person I love more than anything in the world. I'm tired on crying because I'm different. Aw Hell! Let's face it: I'M TIRED!