Our Hero

Go to Lowk's site for the full story . . .

Our newest addition

Welcome Buddy!!!

After some consideration, we decided to get another kitty cat. This decision is based mainly on the fact that, because we live very close to farmland, and there's new construction going on everywhere, we're getting little critters showing up every once in awhile that are VERY unwanted.

Now, hubby-dear insisted we get a girl-kitty. He didn't want to have to deal with a boy-kitty spraying everything. Welllllll . . . things don't always work out the way you want them. Munchkin's pre-school was giving away free kittens, but by the time we decided that Yes, we would get a kitten, Buddy was the only one left.

He's such a cutie! He's part Siamese, and part fluffy alley cat. He's loud, obnoxious, and a real pain in the butt. But he's just so darned cute!!!

Now, if I could just get the girls to stop torturing the poor baby, life would be good.

20 Questions - Stolen from Just about Everyone

1. Who was your first prom date?

Well, that's sort of difficult to say. The first Prom I ever went to was when I was in 10th grade, and my boyfriend at the time, Marcos, took me. It was his prom. Had fun, but wasn't crazy about the fact that his older brother had to take us. I felt chaperoned. My own Junior prom was . . . Interesting. I knew there was no way in hell anyone at my new school would ask me (they all thought I was a bit of a freak), so I ended up taking my best male friend from my previous school, Ken, who also happened to be gay. My friend Shiela and I decided we wanted to go in 'theme' and chose the Civil War. I knew Ken loved the movie Gone with the Wind, so I was able to convince him to go as a Confederate Officer. Shiela and her date went as a Union officer and northern aristocrat. What was entirely too funny about the whole thing was how many people at my school asked us if our dates were in the military. They were too stupid to realize they were costumes. For my Senior prom, I again had to ask someone to go with me. Luckily, I actually happened to be dating someone at the time. He went to reform school, had hair as long as mine, and was totally into the heavy metal/rock scene, complete with skull rings. Needless to say, my mom was . . . thrilled.

2. Who was your first roommate?

My first and only roommate was my friend from high school, Judy. Couldn't ask for a better one. Our personalities meshed very well, and she had (still does, as a matter of fact) one of the driest senses of humor I've ever known. Love her to death.

3. What alcoholic beverage did you drink when you got drunk the first time?

That's easy - beer. I was spending the night at my friend Lisa's house when I was 12. We snuck into her grandparent's stash, and proceeded to drink a six pack each. Actually, I think Lisa drank 7 beers. Anyway, it was my first experience with lost time, and praising the porcelain goddess. Since then, haven't been too crazy about beer.

4. What was your first job?

Babysitting - I was the most trustworthy teenaged girl on my block. Even when parents moved away, they still called and asked if I would babysit for them.

5. What was your first car?

1978 Ford Pinto Coupe - white. Great car. Totaled it a year after I got it.

6. When did you go to your first funeral?

I think I was about 7 or 8, and my friend Melody's grandmother died. Don't remember too much from the funeral, other than the fact that her grandmother looked very pasty.

7. How old were you when you first moved away from your hometown?

33. And I still live only 40 minutes from my hometown.

8. Who was your first grade teacher?

Mrs Tate. Loved her and her cool blue carpet. Isn't it funny the weird things we remember from so long ago?

9. Where did you go on your first airplane ride?

I was 5, and my mom and I flew to Los Angeles to go to Disneyland. Woo hoo!

10. When you snuck out of your house for the first time, who was with you?

No one - I was usually sneaking out to go see a boy.

11. Who was your first Best Friend and are you still friends always?

Well, that's kinda tough. I've known Melody since the day she was born, and we're still good friends. But we became friends mainly because we didn't have much choice (her mom babysat me until I was about 10). We're actually more like sisters than anything else. The first best friend I made where I wasn't thrown into the situation was Lisa. She was my best friend from 1st through 8th grade. I would love to say we were still friends, but sadly we lost touch.

12. Where did you live the first time you moved out of your parents house?

With Judy - we moved into her grandparent's old house on Grattan Way, and lived there until she moved in with her boyfriend. It had to be one of the ugliest houses known to man, but there were a lot of great stories that came from that.

13. Who is the first person you call when you have a bad day?

Lowk. No questions asked. Unless he's the one pissing me off - at which point I call Dani. :-D

14. Who's wedding were you in the first time you were a bridesmaid or a groomsmen?

Melody's wedding. It was a cheap quickie wedding in Reno, Nevada, and I think the ceremony lasted longer than her actual marriage.

15. What is the first thing you do in the morning?

Jump - because the louder than heck alarm clock scares the bejesus out of me. Then I hit the snooze button, and use the next 9 minutes to wake up a little more leisurely.

16. What was the first concert you ever went to?

The first concert I ever went to was Dick Clark's 25 years of Rock 'n Roll, and Ricky Nelson was the headliner. Dick Clark hosted it, and it was at the old fairground amphetheare with lawn seating. There were a bunch of acts, but the only one I remember is Ricky Nelson. I think I was about 7 or 8 when mom took me to see it.

17. First tattoo or first piercing?

Ears pierced at 7. Had to let them close up, then re-pierced them at 12. First tattoo was when I was 30, and it was hubby's birthday present to me. It's a dragon about 1/3 of the way down my back. His name's Sparky.

18. First celebrity crush?

This is so embarrassing. Shaun Cassidy. I even have his album.

19. First crush?

Rodney Ballenger - from first through sixth grade. Never passed up an opportunity to tell him, either. Which is probably why he ignored me at all costs. Heard he became a male model. Wouldn't doubt it. He was a cutie.

20. First love?

Has to be Lowk. No one else ever lasted long enough to be love. He's the only one who was able to hold my interest past the first few months. I'm telling you guys - the ability to hold an intelligent conversation and the ability to make a person laugh are probably the two best traits a man can have. Not to mention the fact that he's sexy as all hell. :-D

I hate it when I do that . . .

I was at work this afternoon, getting ready to shut down, when I received an e-mail from one of my contract managers asking me to forward an addendum to a contractor.

Oh. shit.

I forgot to do it. I talked to him about it last Thursday, and he e-mailed me what he needed to go into the addendum. But I received it right before it was time to go home, and Friday was a State holiday. Monday I had an interview first thing in the morning, and by the time I got into work . . . well, let's just say that the addendum was one of the last things on my mind.

No problem, I thought - I can send the addendum out tomorrow, and cover my butt. One problem I didn't realize until I was leaving -- the contract due date is tomorrow.

So, I'm going to have to call the contract manager (who is one of my least favorite people in the world, by the way) first thing tomorrow morning and eat crow.

I HATE it when that happens!!!!


ETA - I didn't actually fess up to it. I called early this morning and left a message on his voicemail saying that I was going to delay the bid opening for a week, due to the fact that "I forgot the bid opening was this week, and I didn't send the original addendum out overnight."

Yeah, I'm a complete wuss.

My 'Ex' Story for Dawn

I've just been wandering around the blogverse, and I went to Lawbrat's site. For those of you who haven't - go check her out (link's on my sidebar - I'm entirely too lazy to put them in posts). She's wonderful and fantastic and smart.

Anyway - she had asked for "ex" stories. This one is way too long to put in a comment, so I decided I'd blog about it.

When I was close to 20, I started dating Dan. He was fairly nice looking - not gorgeous, but not bad. Longish light brown hair, decent build, older than me by 7 years. The older thing is almost always a pre-requisite for me. I've never really gotten on well with guys my age. Anyway, we started dating. He was my first long-term relationship. Why - I'll never know. When I look back now, I think I just wanted a long term relationship with someone who I considered halfway responsible. I was getting tired of the two-week or month long "friendships" I always seemed to be getting myself into. So I decided to commit myself to this one.

Dan lived in a trailer on his uncle's property. He was a flower delivery man. Yeah - real nice job, huh? Anyway, if there was one thing Dan NEVER was, it was on time. We'd make plans, he'd show up two hours late. See - he always said he hated schedules because he had to work by one day in and day out. Should have been my first clue there - I get a little irked when people are THAT late. I can handle a few minutes (shoot, I'm habitually about 15 minutes late to everything). But, I figured - it's just one quirk. No biggie.

I was still living at home, going to college, and trying desperately to make enough money to move out. I had a full time job, went to school part time in the evenings, and a couple of nights a week, I'd hostess at a local restaurant. That lasted about 6 months. See, Dan got all upset that he never saw me. Even though I spent every free moment with him, he'd get huffy when I told him I had to work my second job. I hinted that we might spend more time together if we moved into our own place, but he quckly (and I mean speed of light quick) put that idea to rest. He'd already been married once, and had lived with his last long-term girlfriend. He swore he'd never ever do that again. So, I quit my job.

Yeah - I was THAT stupid.

On my 21st birthday, some work friends decided to take me out. Now, Dan was very against drinking. His father was an alcoholic, and Dan decided he would never let himself become like that. So he looked down on drinking. I told him the girls were taking me to a nightclub, and would he please come along? Nope. Didn't want to even entertain the idea. Didn't want to be around a bunch of drunks. I even told him I was going to be driving, and wouldn't be drinking (I'm almost ALWAYS the designated driver when I go out with friends). Still - no go. So, I went without him. Had a miserable time. The girls I worked with were all really really pretty. I didn't get asked to dance once. I even called Dan from the club, and asked again for him to come, and tried to explain that I felt really out of place. Again - he refused. Essentially said I had made my decision for the night - live with it.

After we'd been together for about a year and a half, I finally moved out of my house and in with a friend. I got to spend much more time with Dan. One night, a friend of his came over. They were shooting the breeze, and I was just watching TV, when all of a sudden, Dan asks his friend if he wants some. I looked up, wondering if maybe he was offering soda, or something. Nope. He had a plate out, and was crushing up some white powder. He offered the plate to his friend, who snorted some, then took it back, and snorted some himself.

I was shocked, to say the least. I had no idea. After his friend left, I asked Dan what had just happened. He told me blithely that it was crank. I got up to leave, and he told me it wasn't a big deal, he did it all the time. Every day. Every day he'd ever gone out with me, he had crank. So it wasn't a big deal, and if I cared about him, that was part of his life.

I stayed. I don't know why, but I did. However, I didn't spend as much time with him after that.

In November of that year, Dan started getting very distant. I knew something was up, but just didn't dwell on it very much. The day before Thanksgiving, he dumped me. I took it hard, mainly because I didn't want to be the dumpee. I was looking forward to being the dumper. You see, I had met and gotten to know Lowk by that time, and was much more interested in him than Dan any day of the week. But still, I was angry about the whole dumping thing. A week later, I started dating Lowk, and haven't looked back since.

About two years later, I was visiting Dan's uncle. I adored the old man, and had known him years before Dan and I even met. I was showing him pictures of my new hobby - sidecar racing, when Dan came home. I was nice - cordial even. No hard feelings, right? Dan looked at the pictures, and listened to me rave on and on about the sport. All of a sudden, he comes out with, "If you were my girlfriend, I wouldn't let you do that." I looked right at him, and replied, "See, that's exactly why I'm not your girlfriend anymore."

Some guys just don't get it.