California Cuts

The budget here is such a mess every time the year ends and it goes on for almost the duration of the time in between. I'm always disgusted to hear about all of the cuts to education and health that it makes me wonder why we even have these people in office. Of course we use public schools and health care at the moment so this has a big impact on what happens to us and the kids. Needless to say taht we need to at least get off the health care and get something else soon. They have cut back so many things that it makes me nervous to need to go to a doctor at all.

I've been pouring over some of the cheap insurance websites because at this point there can't be any plan worse than what we've got now. There are some promising ones that I have found but right now money is still an issue so it makes it hard to switch. Hopefully really soon we'll be able to get the care that we need and not have to worry about some $10,000 bill coming in the mail that we end up having to fight over or something like that.

Did I Really Want to Know?

In June of 1997 my dad was murdered in Thailand. I was a young teen at the time and didn't handle it very well, some of which still sits with me now. Back then I didn't have internet access since it was still pretty young too and it wasn't until years later that I was able to start trying to find out what happened. I had heard that the guys that plotted and executed his death had been caught but I was never really sure what happened to them until recently.

Last week I had the urge to put out the effort into finding out what really happened to him and those people. There are so many suspicious deaths in that country that it's almost the norm which is pretty sick. I read through one of their local papers and found numerous articles on the trial (thank God for that at least) of the five or so people and was pretty disappointed in what I saw. I knew that corruption was just as big a part of everything and many time the trial was postponed because witnesses didn't show up and you could only assume that they were paid off, threatened, or killed themselves. As it turned out, in 2004 all charges were dropped and the men got off. That's just typical.

This was all a hard thing for me to swallow even after all these years and though I had suspected this was the outcome. I know that the reason it had taken me this long to find out is because I knew that I would have a difficult time with it and didn't want to go back to such an ugly place in my life. Luckily it has been so long that I am able to put it out of my mind because it has past and that's the end of it. Still though, no matter what he did or why he was killed, my dad deserves some sort of justice...doesn't he?

Losin It

I have a friend that is edging towards becoming morbidly obese. She's starting to get really scared (but she's also VERY lazy) and swears she's going to do something about it really soon. She doesn't want to have to go through surgery and wants to know that she's done it herself. I'm not sure how that can happen without moving as much as she needs to but she needs to start with getting her energy level up. I know that I have a really hard time with my energy level and if it wasn't for a jump start when I wake up, I would be mush all day long. My friend has been reading about different diet pills and found a few good ones including a phenphedrine review that sounded really good. Before she does anything with pills (and waste tons of money) I really want to make sure she gets herself to the doctor to be sure that whatever she chooses to do is safe for her. Hopefully she can finally stick with something and get healthy again.

Everything but the Kitchen Sink...

We are in dire need of a new kitchen sink but aren't sure exactly what to look at. We have this funny corner angled placed sink and as much as we'd like to remodel the kitchen, we only can start with the sink.

One thing I've always liked is the type of sink Martha Stewart tends to have. I think it's one of those types of zero radius sinks but I really don't know a whole lot about those. It's a fantastically deep one basin sink (like the one above but her's are normally stone). I love anything like that since we have this divided thing with a side that's raised and is way too shallow. The slope is funny and it's not wide enough so when we drain food into a colander, the colander goes sliding into the drain and we're lucky if nothing ends up down there. It's a really big pain...and waste of money if we aren't careful.

Nordstrom Anniversary Sale

It's that time of year again...Nordstrom's sale season. Just like last year I won't be working and it's rather bittersweet. I really miss getting my discount. LOL

It has been that each year they have strayed away from basic necessity and gone more towards picking trendy items that aren't all that permanent in your closet. This year seems that they've gone back slightly and have incorporated things that are more basic. Sadly for me there is lots of leather going on sale this time around. I've always wanted a basic black leather jacket but haven't found the right one at the right time. The shoe selection could be a little better though.

The one thing that I always pick up are socks. We love Nordstrom socks and since there are a bunch of us that wear kids socks it's mandatory to grab a ton of them. If you don't know the sale starts on Friday July 17th and goes until August 2nd. Here's a link to the preview catalog of what will be on sale as well. Happy shopping!

Design Ideas(?)

Since we have gotten cable, I've been glued to all the shows on decorating and room makeovers. I guess it's pretty obvious why. LOL I've been wanting to redo our bedroom for the longest time but have frozen because I'm not sure I know what it is I'm doing. I can't figure out what colors to paint and what to do with the crummy furniture we have. Ironically, the one thing that really bugs me is the TV. It's huge and we can't hide it so it jut stands out and takes up way too much room. I've never seen a cabinet that I've loved and have thought about a tv mount but I think this TV might be too big and heavy for our sad plaster walls. Deep down I know that I won't be able to tackle this one until we can afford a sleek new TV but it still eats at me all the same. Ideally I'd like to get the TV off of the furniture altogether and put it on the wall so I have room for other things. That would be fantastic! *sigh* And the wait continues...lol

WOW...

I saw this picture the other day and was pretty sad for the girl that doesn't fit in...literally. I've never been that heavy but do know what it feels like to look nothing like all the other girls you know or hang out with.

I used to do everything from look for the best diet pills to try to make myself taller (like that would help). Of course it wasn't until I was older when I realized that 1. Duh, I'd never be them and 2. I accepted (to the best of my ability) that I am okay with who I am and how I look.

I think every girl ends up going through a period where they are cosmetically comparing themselves to every one and everything no matter how much you try to avoid it. It is a really sad thing for people to have to go through but it's all part of being self conscious and ultimately self accepting.

Loud 'n Clear

Have you seen the commercials for this thing? It is designed to look just like any regular bluetooth earpiece but it's really a hearing enhancer. There are so many different things that I don't like about this product and marketing I don't even know where to begin. Not only is it deceiving to the naked eye, this company actually states in their commercials that you can listen in on people's conversations! How outrageous is that?!

I remember when these things first came out for TVs and my grandpa was given one as a gift. They were SO bulky and retarded that he rarely ever used it. I think they've taken this WAY too far now though. The ads were so shocking to me that you almost feel like complaining to some kind of government agency. LOL People went so up in arms about the government "spying" on citizens but no one seems to have problems with "spy gear" going main stream? Something is wrong with this picture.

Vegas Lights

I've been dying to go to Las Vegas for years. As close as I am, I've never gone which is kind of embarrassing when I say that to my friends that have been there from across the country. Having kids early kind of set me back...including the money factor of late.

I've heard a lot about the Sahara hotel and all the neat shopping and things that they have there. It's incredible how many parts of the world are replicated there, I'd never have to travel internationally! Well, you know. LOL There's even a roller coaster in there...boy would Yes-Yes love that. Maybe when the kids are older we'll take the trip over. I'd really hate to leave them at home.

I Want Purple Hair!

I have been wanting to do something fun with my hair for years but since I was working in an area that wouldn't really work with it I had to forget about it for a while. Now that I's been home for a while it will be a lot more easy.

So since it was that time to dye my hair anyway, I went out and got myself some purple dye and off we went. I dyed the base, bleached in some highlights and streaks, put on my disposable gloves, and in went the purple...or so I thought. It didn't come out at all purple and I was SO disappointed! I now have a bunch of redish streaks through out. I'm being told it's not all that bad at all but it's not what I wanted. I had a feeling that I wasn't spending the time I needed to wait for each step but I didn't have the time anyway so I kinda figured it wouldn't come out...but man is this far from it. Oh well, next month we can try all over again because I'm so not wasting the money that I spent.