Doo Doo Jeans, parenting, and good cyber friends.

I have to give credit for this blog where credit is due. I visit the public forum at Ivillage.com regarding 'Parents of Teens'. It's a great area for people with teens and pre-teens and post teens to bond and get information and ideas on how to deal with the teens. WOOT WOOT to the folks I talk to there. You all know who you are............ :)

A topic today reminded me of how far we've come since being teenagers, yet sometimes, not so much.........when do you stop being a child to someone and a parent to another?

What happens when we punish our teens/kids for things that we find EGREGIOUS, but then turn around the next week and DO THE EXACT SAME THING? Can we laugh with them or do we have a double standard?

The topic was cell phones. Our teens can be SOOO irresponsible with them. They lose them, they wash them, the leave them at the gym and drop them in the loo........they can't seem to RESPECT the fact we have to PAY those bills and replace those phones, right?

What happens when the PARENT runs the phone through the wash? Of course the suggestion was made that of course as adults, when we run our BRAND NEW phone through the wash, the natural consequences are the fact we have to buy a new one or go without.....but if it was your teen, would you do the same thing? Would you make them pay for a new one and let it go? Probably not............maybe we ALL should be intropective and have the same expectations for ourselves as we do our teens. And vice versa

What happens when we become adults and our parents are not incapacitated? Am I the only 41 yr old (nearly 42) that still feels like a kid around her dad? And whose dad tends to treat her like a kid? Yes, I allow it.........

Perfectly's dad is an awesome guy---we have a great relationship. So good that people used to make FUN of Perfectly because I hung out w/ my dad so much. I dare say, if I shopped, vacationed and ran with my MOM on a daily basis, nobody would think it odd......but somehow people think I'm weird for hanging w/ my daddy.

My mom lives 300+ miles away and we are close too, but she's not around here--so I can't run with her. So, I have an extrordinary relationship w/ my dad. He's close w/my husband and boys, too. Which is a great segue into how the post regarding adults washing their cell phones is so funny and hits home.

Perfectly's dad has cattle. He'd been out dealing with them and was knee deep in mud and (as I said on ivillage) in.....um...........'doo' and undressed in his garage so as not to get the 'doo' in the house. After he had put different clothes on, he threw the doo doo jeans in the washer..........with the cell phone in his pocket. Of course, even though I'm 41, I found hilarity in the situation, because had that been ME or one of my boys, I'd have gotten the 'lecture' about checking pockets BEFORE inserting clothes in the washer.............It doesn't get much better............ As it turns out, one of the few male members of this parenting board did the same thing. He said that his daughter is jokingly using the situation as a 'get out of jail free' card so when SHE does something stupid, she can hold it over her dad's head to get out of trouble!

I agree......we all should let up a little on ourselves and our kids.......none of us are perfect parents, employees, spouses or even children.......

Perfectly's dad ended up buying a phone, which is his TRUE punishment. He' has to figure out how to USE it......man......just when he was getting used to his 1 1/2 yr old one!!!

Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore.

Well, Missouri..........it's NEXT to Kansas, right?

There are TORNADO WARNINGS in adjoining counties to mine. TORNADO. WARNINGS. IN JANUARY. JANUARY, people!

This is just crazy weather. Our temperatures were in the high 60's and in some places in the low 70's this past weekend. It's in the low 70's where I live right now, and there are storms coming this way. Tornadic Storms.

In May of this year when I write about snow and ice, I'll know that Missouri is officially BASSACKWARDS.

It's a cold, cold world

I have a cold. I don't ENJOY having a cold. Some may even go so far as to say, I'm not very pleasant to be around when I have a cold (If I catch anyone saying that, I'll be pissed). I'm not even relly THAT sick......I suffer from allergies in a major way, so you'd think I'd be used to the symptoms, but guess what? I'M NOT.

I wish I were as eleqoquent as some of the bloggers I read. I want to have a 'following'. People who can't WAIT to hear what I've got to say. Alas, it doesn't seem to be happening. My husband and friends (maybe) are the only ones who read this. I've not given the parents the address, because, you know, I may say something that I dont' want them to know! Also, I haven't been a very good blogger--mainly by not blogging more regularly......and being sort of, well you know, BORING.

We went out for New Year's Eve. We NEVER go out. If Mr. Perfectly had his 'druthers' we'd never leave home. But, we had a really, REALLY nice evening. We played board games and ate. It was all very relaxing and easy--a bunch of people that we know and truly LIKE. We didnt' stay til midnight, since we had a kid that can't drive yet at his GIRLFRIEND'S house....Mr. Perfectly picked him up and we all settled in for the night. Whooee. Aren't we an adventurous crew?

Well, I'm not a resolution person, but let's see if I can keep the blog thing going, and post more often. I'll commit to putting comments on others blogs in hopes that the interest will grow here as well. I've really gotten a kick from linking to different blogs from my standard favorites. I've read some REALLY funny, and cool people!

Hope to see you here or on YOUR blog!!

Livin' in a Small Town

(You are supposed to be hearing strains of John Mellencamp in your head.....)

Tonight is the 'Living Windows' display in our community. What a fabulous thing to be able to walk throughout the downtown area and see the storefronts and store windows come alive with dancers, singers and actors. There apparently will be carriage rides and hot cider. And of course, Santa will be there. The high school choir will perform, and the Christmas lights will be on.

It sort of stinks living in a smaller community when you need a good girls night out spot, or someplace exclusive to pick up that one of a kind item--we are full of Wal mart, Kmart, Target and Kohls..........we don't have many restaurants except the chains--applebees, bandanas, etc.......but there is something special about being able to spend the evening mingling with the community as your nose gets cold....Kids are excited, and even teenagers go strolling with their circle of friends or hand in hand with their girl/boyfriend............

Our state capitol is accessible by car, and there is parking within a few hundred feet of it. There is little snarled traffic, and although tonight, parking will be difficult, it will be NOTHING compared to the celebrations in large cities.

So, think about my town tonight while you may be fighting shopping or traffic.........there will be lots of strolling about and visiting in MY town..........and it is a very quaint way to spend an evening.

Stalkers and Pirates, Oh MY!!

I'm the 'stalker'. Oh, and we'll get to the pirate later...


I am one of those people who just doesn't UNDERSTAND how anyone can IGNORE their cell phone ringing.......I love the phone. I love talking and keeping in TOUCH with people. I've somehow chosen a circle of friends who don't ADORE the phone as I do. They sometimes don't even carry their cell phone with them......wow. I tend to keep calling people at various numbers I have for them when I want to REACH them. I was trying to reach Teenie last night for plans, and she doesn't like to answer her phones......so I always feel like such a STALKER when I want people to TALK TO ME. But this was trying to co-ordinate times and places, and she wasn't answering....so I left her umpteen messages trying to fill her in on plans........sorry, Teenie....I'm aware it can be really obnoxious.


Last night, my family and Teenie were trying to make impromptu dinner plans. Yes that all sounds very 'hoity-toity', but in my community, we have very little choice of eating establishments that everyone enjoys. We have things like Applebees and pizza, but Perfectly's dad refuses to eat at most 'chain' places. UMMMMM...that doesn't leave much to choose from around here. Teenie had a tough week and no lunch yesterday, and she requested something heavy and satisfying to eat, as well as being able to have a BEVERAGE. I wanted inexpensive......Teenie suggested chinese food, but there's only one Chinese place that serves alcohol that Perfectly's dad will eat at--so we went there.


It was an enjoyable dinner, with lots of laughter and talking--Mr. Perfectly, son #2, me, Perfectly's dad, niecey, great niecey and Teenie all went.

Afterwards, Teenie and I decided to 'hit the town' for a while. We went to Kohl's first--we are such party girls!


I bought blankets at Kohls. I don't know what the problem is in our family, but we LOVE blankets. And CHEAP blankets, well.......it's nearly irresistable!!


After Kohl's we decided to go have another drink---but my community has no bars. Oh, I mean there are bars---mostly where people get shot, or beat up by people in pointy cowboy boots (no, we don't live in an inner city---think rural surrounding areas meet small....very small city). So we went in search of an appropriate place for two girls to have a drink. We were just going to go to Applebees, but their drinks are watery at times....so we hit a 'new' spot in town....it's about the size of a closet.....and it looked like there were 5 or 6 people already in there, so we decided to go the the 'Library'. A local bar in a hotel that's been here FOREVER. It was loud and smoky and apppeared to cater to the upper middle age group, so we left THERE....we went to another hotel, that is supposed to be sort of Trendy (ha...), and needless to say it was empty but for the two really rough looking dudes.


Lastly we set our sights on Dominico's. It's one of the 3 nicer places to eat in town. Mr. Perfectly's dad knows the owner, and we like the food, so it's a frequent standby since our family all likes the place. They have a small bar area, so at 10 o'clock--we head over--Now, I realize that most of the world that lives in places with CULTURE, evenings don't even start til 10, but it looked like this place was winding down for the night. WE asked the host if there was time to order a drink and he said "SURE"--so we went on in and ordered our 'usual' there--a Cosmo--they make a good one (comparatively--like to Applebees). I look around and lo and behold.....who do I see? It's Ph.Ds boyfriend from High School--Stevie. Stevie was three sheets to the wind--I went over to say hello, and he asks with his hang dog look...."how IS Ph.D?" I told him she was fabulous--as a matter of fact I'd just spoken with her earlier in the evening (at Kohl's). I knew I was egging it on, but I couldn't resist. I told Stevie that she would be here on Sunday for a visit---he said he'd emailed her recently--I explained that Ph.D doesn't have TIME to respond to emails---even mine, and I'm her oldest, closest friend......so he asked me for her phone number----oh lord....I just told him 'NO' , I wasn't giving him a random number for someone without their permission......

I went back to Teenie and we were laughing and talking.....no we hadn't had too much to drink, but Teenie and I ALWAYS have a blast, no matter what we do.......pretty soon drunk Stevie pipes up that Perfectly's mom 'got him into college'. Well I've heard this story many times over the years---Stevie likes to re-tell it every time I see him, and ususally it changes in some form, so we got to hear from across the bar how my mom saw 'talent' in him and got him into school (She was a clerk or secretary or analyst or something in the Financial aid office, so I"m pretty sure she didn't have a say to whether or not he was admitted). He said that she took his letter kicking him out of another University for bad grades and 'turned it into a YES'. BLAH, BLAH BLAH....He said "she was a good woman". I responded 'yes' that she's lovely and doing quite well these days......Stevie" she was a good woman--God bless her soul"...so Teenie, who doesn't know this guy pipes up and says "YES...she IS a great woman...I love her"....Stevie kept talking as if she was long gone......so I need to call mom today to make sure she's still alive and kicking....

Soon Stevie an his buddies were being obnoxious, and talking like pirates--now, kids, we aren't talking about just out of college boys or something......we are in our 40's!! They were getting a little loud, but, Stevie put our cosmo's on his tab, so we decided listening to Pirates was a small price to pay for free drinks......Teenie said she didn't even have to show cleavage.....hahahahahah.


I called Ph.D as soon as my rear hit the seat in the car, and we had a good laugh over poor Stevie's apparent inability to get over her.......the hang dog, woe is me look has been going on since they broke up 20 some yrs ago. He's married w/ kids, but somehow can't quite let her go.


Teenie and I decided we may go back to hear the Pirates in the near future......I mean hey......free drinks and a few laughs.......On Stevie.

Bathroom Antics

So, upon entering a stall in a public restroom do you back in, and close/lock the door, or do you walk in normally, then turn and close/lock?

I realized today that I am a 'backer-upper'....how weird...I don't back up into other spaces, but I suppose there aren't many places as small as a toilet stall.

What do YOU do?

Scroogaween

Yes, I'm a Halloween scrooge.

In reading my 'inspire-to-be-blog', Mamalogues, she brought up a very interesting topic of Halloween, and the neighbors who chose to keep their homes dark and not participate.

Although, in a different town ALTOGETHER, I chose and have for many years to NOT do the Halloween thing. I don't feel like I ripped off my neighbors--I don't feel like I deprived anyone of a fabulous time. Instead, I feel like I saved my own sanity.

My dogs, for one thing, would not have dealt well with Halloween. It wouldn' t help to crate them, they'd still bark and try to kill themselves to escape. But mostly, it's a matter of principal. I think it's a horrifying tradition to take vans of kids to neighborhoods, and let them 'have at it'. They are unsupervised, as the parents drop them off at one end of a street and just drive to the end of the block to pick them up. It's a free for all and everyone just wants CANDY. It's not a tradition, or a neighborhood fun time......It's 'let's see how much candy we can gather in a couple of hours' and go home and devour it, then sue someone if I get sick!!! Oh, the fun.

If my family and friends want to come by, I do keep candy on hand, and would welcome them to show off their kids......I certainly did my own, but I don't want to participate in what seems like glorified looting---It's a disgusting display of excess, and poor manners.

I'd LOVE to hear your stories.............agree or not----what do YOU think?