On Wings of Pigs

Tyisms: Good Answer

2012-01-18T07:42:00.001-06:00

Ty and I were play fighting this morning and in slow motion I acted like I was hitting him in the jaw.

Ty then reached over and pinched my belly and I asked him (acting like I was offended) asked him if he just pinched my fat.

He paused for a second and I could tell he was trying to figure out what to say. Finally he said, "No, I pinched your belly."

"Good answer!" I told him, proudly.

"Cause I'm not supposed to tell you you're fat, am I Mama?"

My Belated Christmas Present

2011-12-30T18:03:00.000-06:00

I got a much needed, much deserved and much fought for Christmas present yesterday that I honestly did not expect to get....now or later!

I FINALLY got AT&T to help me with my phone!!

In mid-October my Blackberry Torch just started draining in a matter of minutes. I'd have 80% battery and 20 minutes later I'd pull it out of my pocket to use it and it would be flashing a battery warning at me because it would be just about dead.

I started uninstalling apps and double-checking to make sure that I was closing out of all of the apps when I was done with them. I always keep my bluetooth and wireless off when I'm not using them, so I knew it wasn't that.

And it wasn't every day that it was happening. It was on days when I barely touched my phone and also on days when I made phone calls or sent texts. And when it started to drain, it would be dead within an hour.

The first weekend in November we went to Oklahoma with my family (about two weeks after it started) and before the Razorback game that weekend, it did that to me again and Jason said that his phone had been doing that, too. Both of ours were completely dead before the game was over that night, even though we'd fully charged them that morning. So on Sunday I called AT&T to try to get the devices swapped out under warranty. The first rep I talked to said he'd actually had several calls like that and that they had to swap the device out for them, so he sent me over to warranty to get two good devices sent out to us. When I got to warranty, I had to start all the way back at square one and tell them what was going on and do all the same troubleshooting I'd already done and they would only send us new batteries. Since I was days within being out of warranty, I asked them what if that didn't work, because it didn't seem like the battery to me (as a computer nerd, I like to think I've developed a 6th sense for these things). They said they'd notate the account and extend the warranty to give me time to see if that was it.

A week and a day later I finally got the batteries that they said I should have in two days.

And it didn't do a thing to fix the problems so I started calling AT&T again but this time I got "your phone's out of warranty and you're not eligible for an upgrade until July."

So for just short of TWO MONTHS I've talked to I don't know how many people telling them my phone was IN warranty when the problems started and that was supposed to be notated on my account and I couldn't spend (then) eight more months with a phone that may or may not work when it should have been swapped out under warranty to begin with.

And for two months I've gotten NOWHERE with anyone. And every time we go out of town for something, inevitably, the stupid thing would die with very little warning.

I went into our local AT&T store here last Wendesday, hoping some face time with a rep would get me more help than I'd gotten but that rep...we'll call her 'Sara'...was the LEAST helpful person, ever. I could tell the second she said my name that she didn't want to be there and she didn't want to have to help me.

So she didn't. She initially tried to shut me down with "You're out of warranty and ineligible for an upgrade until July" and I attempted to tell her about how this all started back when I was in warranty and told her that if I could just get someone to either help me figure out why it was doing that, or get a working device, I'd be happy. She didn't so much as look at or touch my phone. She just looked at the computer, turned around and made a comment to a coworker and proceeded to make me feel as if she thought we were just trying to cheat AT&T into new phones. She claimed she was submitting notes and sending it on up to a supervisor because she didn't have the authority to do anything. That was, supposedly, as much as she could do. But she assured us repeatedly that we'd hear something--one way or another--within 72 hours.

So yesterday, a week and a day later, I chat with online AT&T tech support. Same song and dance for the dozenth time. Starting at square one and going all the way through it. He told me that they have some upgrade options for us that should be more suitable and call this # and they can take care of us.

So I call that # and have to start all the way back at square one and at the end of it she tells me that all she can do is give us a basic Samsung phone for $50 a piece.

Which is unacceptable to me because if they'd done a warranty exchange to begin with, I'd have a like quality phone for no additional cost. She wants me to pay $100 to have two inferior phones.

So I go in the AT&T store nearby, mad enough with frustration that I was on the verge of tears, and the heavens opened and God had mercy on me and gave me a sales rep that we'll call 'Jeffrey'.

Jeffrey listened to the whole ordeal patiently. He went through the computer through every documented conversation (out of curiosity's sake I asked him what Sara's notes said from last week and what was done on that but it appears that all that shows up is my payment that I made that same evening. She did NOTHING. Well...she lied to me and antagonized me. But she didn't actually do the job that she's paid to do.) But back to Jeffrey, finally I get someone who also feels like this isn't fair, that they should honor the warranty since it was still in warranty when I came to them over this.

So he calls up warranty and he waits and he talks and he waits and he talks and he's getting upset, "You mean you sent them replacement batteries when you knew you needed to send replacement devices? That is unacceptable. We need two replacement devices sent to them under the warranty they had in effect at the time." (Here's where I almost started crying because even the reps were running into the same walls that I was)

I'm pretty sure that he actually ended up hanging up on them and went to the back and then came back to the front.

"Here's the problem...we don't have any of those particular devices to swap them out with....are you happy with that phone?"

"No. I hate it. And it may just be this whole ordeal that has me hating it so much because I used to like it...but with all this nonsense, I hate it and I won't have another Blackberry again because even they wouldn't help me out."

So he went around to his computer. "Okay then, what kind of phone do you want?"

"Well, it depends on the price. Both of our families have iphones and love and recommend those, so that's really where I lean to, but I know there are a lot of droids out there that everyone likes. But we just need something that we can afford and that will work properly. We certainly can't afford to pay $350 a phone for two phones."

"We're going to do this as if it's July. We're doing an upgrade with a 2 year contract renewal so you can get two new devices at the upgrade cost. So, which one do you want to look at?"

So we went through prices and devices and went for the iPhone 4 (not the new 4S, we just needed good phones, not the latest and greatest.)

So we have working devices and I am DONE with all of that mess. It took about 3 hours yesterday for the headache to fade and the tension to melt away. It's almost like my body couldn't accept that I was done fighting that fight. Who knows...I might have PTSD from all this. :P

But I'm going to send a letter to the manager of that store when I find out who it is. Jeffrey did everything a good employee should have done and then he did even more, whereas Sara did nothing. At all.

But it's over and it's done with and I'm happy and thankful and relieved. It's just so frustrating having to fight for service that--to be honest--as a customer, you're owed to begin with.

Okay. And that's enough of that soapbox. It's my Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and Happy Birthday all in one.

Hope the holidays were wonderful for each of you, too!

Merry Christhanukkanadan

2011-12-22T18:29:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! And a Joyous Whatever-it-is-you-Celebrate!

But don't expect a "Happy Holidays" around here.

I don't do "Happy Holidays".

I default to Merry Christmas because that is what I celebrate and that is what I believe and that is the reason for my Holiday season. But if it's not what you celebrate, that's fine, tell me what you celebrate and I'll wish you a Happy Whatever-Holiday-That-May-Be.

Because it's not about insulting anyone by not being able to guess the correct holiday, it's about wishing them well and celebrating what each of us celebrates in our heart. Which is why if you tell me Happy Hanukkah (even though I celebrate Christmas), it's cool. I'll wish you a Happy Hanukkah as well and just be glad that you were kind enough to wish me well.

So, whatever holiday you're celebrating this year, I hope it's a great one. And if you don't celebrate a holiday...then I hope you have a great non-holiday all the same.

Merry Christmas to you all!

Tyisms: Thank God

2011-12-13T19:48:00.001-06:00

Ty: I sure do got some great parents.

Me: You do! You should remember and tell God thank you for your good parents.

Ty: God and Jesus, thank you for my new parents!

Me: I'm not sure how I feel about that.....

On Fire!

2011-12-11T08:57:00.001-06:00

Okay...so this is a week overdue since I kinda promised it last weekend....

My bad!

But to be honest, I've not been on the computer that much!

Who needs to when you can check everything from across the room on the couch right on your very own lovely little Kindle Fire.

Have I mentioned I am in love?

And I've only explored the free apps and free books and free software for this thing because do you know how much I might spend when I'll eventually wander into the realm of the paid stuff? I'm going to have to start squirreling away Amazon gift cards to feed my addiction!

Okay, so let's start at the top.

Concerns that I had going into this thing:

For a Techie like me 8GB is kinda a laughing matter....I dream my dream DVR Receiver has a 1TB HD on it. I stopped using 8GB flash drives 2 years ago and moved to a 250GB external hard drive because 8GB was just too insubstantial. So this whole 8GB of storage space was a pretty big concern for me.

It's WiFi only. Which is like putting me on life support only if I stay close enough to the machine. But who likes to be that limited?

Will I really use it that much? I mean, $199 is a GREAT price for an e-reader slash tablet computer, but it's just wasted money if you don't use it.

Will it be fast enough for me? The display at BestBuy was painfully slow and I made excuses for it that it was because their WiFi network had so many devices leeching off of it, but it was a concern because I just can't stand lag time. I have my cell phone set to reboot itself every night at 2AM just to avoid pauses or delays on it.

And the heart of the matter...I like a paper book. I love books. What will reading a whole book be like on a screen instead of paper?

Okay, so let's take them from the top.

#1--8GB of storage space
Doesn't seem to be a problem and I'm not really anticipating it either. I keep pictures on my computer and backed up on my external HD. I put music on my cell phone's removable micro SD card and bluetooth it to my stereo in my car. So really, I'll be using this for reading, checking Facebook, maybe playing a few games and Ty and Jason have enjoyed watching some Amazon Prime videos on it like some old school Legends of Zelda.

The books and applications take up minimal space so I'm figuring that if I remove the books when I'm done with them (or move them to my computer for later use) then I don't see it becoming an issue later. I'm kind of a nerd about organizing and archiving unused files, anyway, so this just fits right into my typical behavior.

Plus I'll have access to store files on Amazon's Cloud storage. I haven't explored that just yet though so I really can't tell you more about it other than I understand I can store books, music, files, etc. on there and access it from anywhere that I have a WiFi connection.

#2--It's WiFi only

Again...so far, not an issue. When I'm away from the house, I'm typically just using it to read my book anyway. When I'm sitting at home is typically when I have time to browse and do more with it. Plus, there are quite a few WiFi hot-spots, if I just absolutely had to have WiFi during the workday I could run up the road to SamsClub on my lunch break.

But since I have a data plan on my Blackberry, I'm not expecting this to be much of an issue because I can check Facebook on it just as easily as I can on the Kindle Fire (though I like the Kindle Fire's Facebook App infinitely better!)

The only drawback I've found yet is that the WiFi range on it is not what I hoped, but I can work around that. Our wireless router is at the opposite end of the house from our bedroom and bathroom and there are quite a few walls in-between. In the bedroom, it's still fine but if nature calls and I take her to the loo with me, a wireless connection is weak and sometimes it won't connect. I've been contemplating moving the router to a more central area anyway because I no longer have a way to hide the router and modem in that room anyway, so it'll be a non-issue in the end.

#3--Will I really use it that much?

Yes, yes, a hundred times yes! It's just so convenient! I downloaded the Holman Christian Bible, quite a few books (there are websites where you can get some (not all) books for free, Amazon has quite a few free books, plus my library is a member of Overdrive.com where I can "check out" ebooks and audio books, too! I've blazed through two books in a week where the previous books in this series took me a week and some change just to read one.

And it's pretty convenient for entertaining my boys, too. If we get into too long of a wait at a restaurant or somewhere and he's met his sit still limit, I can pull it out and bring up a game for him instead of breaking out the Mama tone instead. Win/win!

#4--Will it be fast enough for me?

I feel correct in thinking that it's as slow or fast as the network. Here at home where it's just our computer and maybe a cell phone or two pulling off the WiFi there's no lag-time at all in loading pages and data off the WiFi and apps stored on the device run just as smoothly as they would on the computer.

I have yet to use the WiFi outside of the home because the need just hasn't presented itself, but I expect it to be the same as any other device in this aspect, if you have a lot of usage on a network, it's not going to run as good as it would on a more private network.

#5--Will I like reading books on a screen?

So far, yes! My new cover helps that matter even more, though because it feels in my hands like it's a book and since I can adjust the brightness of the screen, it visually reads more like a book than I expected it to. (And the Italian Leather makes me swoon as if I'm reading some rare first edition!)

Sorry, please ignore the giddy nerd talk.

It's actually more convenient to me to have the Kindle because now I can read in the car or in bed at night without having to bother Jason with a light. And judging by how quickly I was able to devour my last two books, I feel like it's definitely not slowing me down.

So would I recommend the Kindle Fire to anyone looking for an eBook reader? Absolutely! Without hesitation! But if you're only looking for an eBook reader with no other frills, you can save some money and just go with the regular Kindle or Kindle Touch. There's no sense in paying for more than you'll ever use. But if you're wanting a lite version of a tablet that doubles as an eBook reader, this is definitely my top choice.

Is it the best device on the market? Who knows. I'm Amazon brand loyal so that made my decision. They had a device that was in the range of what I wanted and a price that was 75-80% cheaper than the ones I was previously dreaming of and it's backed by Amazon, so for me, yes it's the best device on the market.

Is it worth every penny spent? And then some. But be prepared to spend a little more than just the $199 price tag because I would not recommend investing $200 in something and not properly protecting it so I bought a 2 year warranty plan ($45), a good cover ($40), and some military grade screen protectors ($15) to go along with it.

When your money's (temporarily) not yours.

2011-11-25T11:41:00.001-06:00

It's that time again!

You guessed it!

I'm on my soap box!

"What's the deal this time?" you ask?

Someone borrowed money from me without asking if they could borrow money from me and they're not giving it back in a timely manner.

Yes, some people would call this theft. But the credit card companies who back our debit cards call it an "authorization hold".

Which is fine and reasonable in theory and well-executed practice.

But this is one of those instances where I think we fell through the cracks and are left holding the yucky end of the stick.

You see, husband needed gas on Tuesday, and since we had the means to buy gas, Husband went to SamsClub to get gas. This is part of our normal routine. There is no problem here.

When Husband puts his card in the gas pump, Visa checks to see if we have $125 in our account and they place a hold on it so that they can verify that we have the funds to pay for the fuel we pump into our car. Though I feel $125 is a bit excessive, I'm okay with this because I'm a logical person who can understand that businesses have to cover themselves. (By the way, different cards have different hold amounts, it's not up to the gas stations how much is held, it's up to your card company.)

This also isn't typically a problem because at the end of the say SamsClub submits their charges to our bank, which they did, and then Visa releases the $125 hold on our account...which they didn't.

They didn't do it on Wednesday either. So four days later, we've not only paid $46.14 for the gas we purchased, but Visa is still holding $125 from our account and not allowing us to spend that either.

Which is making me a bit irritable because it's Black Friday and...well, I had other plans for my money today. So thank you Visa (and I mean that as sarcastically as possible), the icing on the cake is that if it was your money I was borrowing, you'd charge me 13.5% interest plus any applicable fees.

Pay it Forward Friday | November 3

2011-11-04T18:00:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was a less-than-stellar day.

Everyone in my household woke up with a rain-cloud over their head and--I don't know about them--when I left house, it was still there.

And it got darker and began to lightning and thunder as I drove Ty to school and idiot after imbecile after downright stupid drivers got in my way, slowed me down, or pulled out in front of me.

And then I sat at the exit of the school drive for five minutes waiting to turn left.

But apparently all the other drivers saw the storm cloud over my head and decided they didn't want to take any chances in stopping their cars long enough to let me and the very long line of traffic behind me continue on our way. So after five full minutes of sitting and fuming and inwardly screaming inside my head, I whipped to the right onto the road, zipped a short distance down to a parking lot on the left, cut my tires to the left, and pulled out going the direction I needed to go but certainly not in a better mood for the delay.

I came to work and the cloud persisted, even though it was time to put on my smile and my Good Neighbor attitude. But my morning set the tone for my day and it took all day to recover from those first few hours of frustration and irritation.

So when this morning, the attitudes of my family started to get too hurried (and worried that we were going to work pants-less because the dryer wasn't drying fast enough), I called a time-out in my own head and suggested a do-over.

Because life isn't perfect. But it is what I allow it to be. And since yesterday I allowed it to be pretty rotten, I wanted to change things up and go a different route today.

And even though I had to lecture the kiddo about not doing what he was asked to do and instead doing what he chose to do...and even though I had to tell him four times to do something and would have seriously swatted his butt for his back-talk if he hadn't been sitting on it (and I driving) at the time I was--the whole time--trying to remind myself to make today a good day.

Because it really is my choice.

And it came easier when I pulled up to the stop sign at the end of the school drive to make my left turn around (instead of through) the campus and less than 30 seconds later, a woman in a van stopped just so I could turn and continue on with my day.

And I said a quick prayer of thanks and asked God to bless that woman and help her through her day today because she had both blessed and helped me with just a few seconds of her time and a very courteous gesture.

And, as I like to do, I looked for an opportunity to pay it forward. And I was disappointed when I pulled into work and no such opportunity had presented itself. And I sat through work hoping for a customer that I could give a little extra to and bless just because I'd been blessed. And tonight I drove home through bumper-to-bumper traffic looking for anyone to help (more than just slowing down and allowing them to change lanes in front of me instead of just speeding up and letting them fall into line behind me). But no big opportunity presented itself.

But I'll keep looking because it's my turn to pay it forward.

One for the Money | My Way

2011-10-09T17:48:00.000-05:00

So I'm 16 books into The Stephanie Plum series and I can't help but notice how disappointed I am in the casting for the upcoming movie, One for the Movie.

I mean, did they even read the books or were they just given general ideas of what the characters should be? Because, so far, no one on the cast emulates what I envision in my head. Though, thankfully, they at least cast a Ranger sans the ponytail.

So if I were making the casting calls....this is who I would be looking at for some of the characters:

Stephanie Plum
First Choice:

Amy Adams
Yes, I know she's not brunette. Neither is Katherine Heigle,
but Adams has the personality and acting ability to pull off
Stephanie's quirks and she makes a better brunette than Heigle.

Second Choice:

Marisa Tomei

Joseph Morelli

Gerard Butler

Joe Manganellio
ONLY if he cuts all that hair from True Blood

Runners-up

Josh Duhamel (too pretty though)

Ranger

Jesse Williams
Ranger was the hardest for me because the books
have him at such a level of perfection and sexiness
and all the men that truly epitomized the characters
in the books were absolutely no one I would actually
want to see portraying the character. Jesse Williams
is as close as it gets for me.

Lula

Rutina Wesley
Thinking outside the box for a second...
when I read Lula's lines in the books I
hear it in my head in Rutina Wesley's voice
a la Tara Thornton. She's obviously not a
large sized woman, but with makeup and some
body enhancers, she has the attitude and
personality for the part!

Grandma Mazur
My first choice would be:

Estelle Getty
(Sophia from The Golden Girls)

But since she's obviously not available for the role, second runner up would go to the obvious best choice:

Betty White

Benito Ramirez

Mehcad Brooks

Oh the Possibilities

2011-09-17T10:00:00.000-05:00

Since Halloween's coming up next month, I decided to explore CostumeExpress.com and see what kind of costume ideas Ty would be interested in.

Of the 600+ boys costumes, we have it narrowed down to a little more than fifty individually random possibilities.

{{headdesk}}

The nominees are:
(in no particular order)

Ninja

Red Power Ranger

Sonic the Hedgehog

Blue Power Ranger Samurai

Star Wars | Luke Skywalker

Star Wars | Anakin Skywalker

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle | Leonardo

Where the Wild Things Are | Max

Evil Warlock

Box of Crayons

Toy Story Alien

Hamburger Helper Hand

Heinz Ketchup Squeeze Bottle

Hows that for randomness?

This is going to be interesting....

Encore | Journey Part 5 (Final)

2011-09-16T20:18:00.000-05:00

After the concert, Jason and I had a rather animated (and loud) conversation about how great the band was and about how we'd have to pay attention not to yell at work the next day because our ears were ringing so badly!

We got back to the car and headed out of Memphis and back towards Hot Springs.

The first half of the trip wasn't so bad...it was right around the half-way mark that Jason lost consciousness and my eyes switched over to squinty-mode. Fortunately, Jason's not a quiet sleeper so he helped me in my fight against the sleepies.

One absolutely horrible cappuccino, some white cheddar popcorn, a bottle of water, and three bags of sunflower seeds later we made it home.

We drug ourselves inside, changed our clothes, emptied our bladders and lost consciousness for the next four hours.

It was a heck of a drive home, but it was worth every second of it.

a w o r d o f t h a n k s

Our whole adventure was made possible, thanks to my parents, who actually bought Jason the tickets to see Journey for his birthday. Though the surprise was initiated and orchestrated by me, obviously without the tickets, it wouldn't have been anything but a dream. Thank you both--from Jason and I--for the experience and the opportunity to see Journey! I knew it would be a great experience for him, but I think I enjoyed it just as much!

Another thanks to my sister and brother-in-law who bought our supper at Hard Rock Cafe for a birthday present for Jason as well! I had the biggest, greasiest burger and some amazing onion rings and I loved every bite of it! Obviously Jason could say the same for his pepper-loaded burger, too! He cleared his plate before I was 2/3 done with mine!

And thank you to the coworkers at both Jason's bank and my office! His manager, Linda, helped me start planning this before Jason even started his first day at that bank! My coworkers endured my giddiness and my excitement over it for four months and put up with me both the day of the concert and the day after, which I'm certain was no small feat!

Any Way You Want It | Journey Part 4

2011-09-16T19:50:00.000-05:00

I wish I memorized the set list.

That's the kind of detail I typically go into and that's the kind of detail I'd like to be able to go into.

I do know that they opened with Separate Ways (Worlds Apart).

From the moment that Arnel Pineda opened his mouth I was astonished by how much he sounds like Steve Perry. His energy and excitement made the performance all the more fun and enjoyable. And knowing how he came to be in the band endeared me to him because it would be such a dream-come-true for anyone!

{ Lights | Journey -- September 14, 2011 }

I've always loved Journey's use of instruments, especially Jonathan Cain's (keyboards) intro into Open Arms.

About half-way through the set list when they still hadn't performed Don't Stop Believing I decided that it would be their Encore. What a perfect encore it would be, too, because I'm pretty certain that it's my husband's very favorite Journey song. And the only song he's ever sang in public (though I'll let him tell you about that Karaoke adventure himself).

Thought I realized it would be the encore, I didn't realize the moment it would be for me when they started playing it.

The band had left the stage and the lights instantly started fanning around the stage and crowd sporadically. The crowd started cheering and parts of it even faded into chanting for a moment or two.

The cheers built and some of the bandmates trickled back out onto the stage bringing a roar through the whole arena.

And then the moment happened.

I have no way to explain it, really. It was just one of those moments when a feeling or emotion starts in your toes and explodes up through your body and out your ears.

Like the cartoon characters when they eat something too hot and the steam blows out their ears to the sound of an old fashioned "aoooga" horn.

This surge of excitement roared through me like that. Except without the sound effects.

Because no other sound was worth listening to at that moment.

When The Lights Go Down in the City | Journey Part 3

2011-09-16T13:30:00.000-05:00

I gotta admit I was pretty nervous when the lights went down.

We drove all the way from Hot Springs to Memphis and what if they weren't everything we (and especially he) would hope they would be? A good night could quickly turn bad if the main purpose of the trip was a disappointing fail. Not to mention the three hour drive home in the middle of the night.

Night Ranger didn't do anything to soothe my fears.

Of their entire set, I recognized two songs. One was a cover for another band that one of the band members had previously been in.

When they left the stage, Foreigner came on and my fears were reduced.

They were great!

I knew more songs than I didn't know and we found entertainment in watching those around us (I have a suspicion that the two of us, the nine-year-old girl in front of us, and another woman my age with a cute little baby bump were the only sober ones in our section).

For a band that, initially, I wasn't sure if I'd heard of or not (you can't shoot me over that statement, men are expected to know 70s-80s bands, not women!) they did a great job and put on a performance that was a lot more entertaining (to myself at least, since I grade bands on how many songs of theirs that I know and how much fun they have on the stage) than the previous act.

But soon enough, it was time.

Foreigner left the stage...and then quickly returned for an encore...and then left again.

The lights came up, the stage crew came out and it was closing in on time for Journey to begin.

Open Arms | Journey Part Two

2011-09-16T06:22:00.002-05:00

Giddy is probably not the right word to explain my husband when he's excited about something, especially considering he even has his own little happy/giddy dance that he does.

But being a man, you know how their image has to be maintained. So Jason attempted to be the image of composure and cool, collected excitement.

This is what he was going for when he told me that this whole surprise made me a good enough wife, he'd renew me for another year next month at our anniversary.

He's sweet like that. ;)

But when we made it to Memphis, his facade slipped a bit. As we got out of the car and he stood up, I caught a glimpse of what I know (from frequent experience) to be his Happy/Giddy Dance.

We made our way out of the parking deck and down to Beale Street where we window shopped and wound up at Hard Rock Cafe for supper.

Afterwards we meandered back down Beale Street and then headed to the FedEx Forum where the concert would be.

After getting into the venue, we had a brief issue with security as to whether or not I could use my Canon Rebel.

Future reference for all security personnell at that venue:

While they might could be considered small and/or difficult to notice, there are just a few difference between the professional grade camera on the left and my sweet little Rebel on the right which I would consider an amateur or hobbyist type of camera.

They are by no means one-in-the-same.

If you could take the same picture out of each of these cameras I'm sure you could see immediately that there is a difference.

But that's a rabbit to chase another time.

In the end I got to take my non-professional camera into the arena and sit down to kick off my foot-eating-shoes and get ready for the show.

Don't Stop Believing | Journey Part 1

2011-09-15T17:20:00.000-05:00

I kidnapped my husband yesterday.

Four months ago I began this elaborate plan to get him from work one day and sweep him off on an adventure that he would never suspect.

And yesterday was the day.

It all started out just like normal with the get-up-and-go-to-work-and-school routine.

But later that morning he emailed me to let me know he was going home to work early. He has to work on Saturday and they're cutting back on overtime so they were letting him have an early afternoon to adjust for the difference.

So like a good wife I suggested he use the afternoon off to mow the yard since it's getting on the long-ish side.

And since my ramen noodles weren't sounding appealing I suggested he fix up some chicken and bacon and we'd make some salads for lunch and I'd just drive home and eat with him before he mowed the yard.

Except, unbeknownst to him, I was actually leaving at noon to go on home and meet him there, instead of the 1:00 lunchtime that I usually have, but had supposedly traded for a 12:30 lunchtime.

So when he got home, I already had the chicken cooked, the bacon fried and cut up and the salads all but topped with dressing.

"I got away a few minutes early", I explained, since we supposedly were both leaving work at 12:30.

So we ate our salads and I'm trying to figure out how to get him into the car and down the road without having to completely spoil the surprise so I decide that when he goes to change into his work clothes (for mowing the yard) I'll tag him in a Facebook post letting him know he's being kidnapped for the day. (He knew that I'd been planning a surprise scheduled for some time between May and the end of the year, but had no idea what, when or where).

So I dashed to the computer when he went to change and typed it in.

I heard his phone go off and a moment later I heard the phone being sat down on the night-stand, but nothing else.

After realizing that he hadn't read his message, I walked into the bathroom off our room (where he was) and casually mentioned that it sounded like his phone went off.

After he checked it he comes in, cheesing, "Are you serious?"

Ever the Innocent, "What?" I asked him.

"It's today? Are you serious?"

"Well, yeah, how do you think you got off work at 12:30?"

He looked momentarily confused, "But that made too much sense..."

Silly boy, he should know that I know what I'm doing! If I'm going to surprise him it's going to have to be because everything leading up to it makes sense!

Giving as few details as possible (and the impression that we were just going to hang out in Little Rock for the evening, we loaded into the car and he started trying to decide on where to go and what to do and where to eat.

With a general plan of eating somewhere and going by Toys-R-Us, Game XChange, and possibly watching Planet of the Apes, I goofed his plans up by 'accidentally' taking the exit for the Little Rock Airport...and then again when I headed towards Memphis instead of back towards Little Rock.

It was when the GPS said "Continue on for 117 miles" that he realized Little Rock was never the plan.

So he started peppering me with questions. Where were we going? What were we doing? What was the plan? Where were we eating (food is a priority in our family)?

And I smiled like the cat that ate the canary and just kept driving.

After a while he dug his phone out and was playing around on it. When I saw him quickly put his phone in his lap and then hide it in the handle of the door (while wearing a cheesy grin) I asked him what was up.

After a moment's hesitation he finally handed over his phone showing where he went to Memphis's website and scrolled down their events and found that Journey & Foreigner were going to be in concert that evening.

Instead of being mean (so very tempting if you know me!) I pulled his tickets out and handed them to him.

The cat was out of the bag.

Where were you

2011-09-11T08:46:00.000-05:00

We're all reminiscing today about where we were ten years ago this morning.

Without going into great detail, I'll tell you that as the first plane hit the first tower in New York, at 7:46 a.m. my time, I was in in a classroom before my Chem II class would begin showing classmates some pictures from a trip I went on over the summer with a Criminology group from our university (see below for pictures).

After weeks of forgetting to bring my little album, I woke up from a stress-mare that involved the city in the pictures and finally remembered to put the album in my bookbag.

After my Chem II exam that morning, class dismissed as we finished our exams. I went out of the classroom into an outside open area and another student told me that a professor had been watching a TV in his office and that a plane had flown into one of the World Trade Center towers.

My professor was late getting into my next class that day.

When he made it, he reported that another plane had struck the second tower.

My classes were a blur that day. I drove home after my classes listening to the news the entire way. I have no way to explain the rush of emotions as I heard the shock and horror in the voices of the radio announcers as they talked of people jumping out of the towers and the terror and surprise when one and later the other tower crumbled.

I came home and found my dad sitting on the arm of the couch. We both sat there in silence as they replayed the towers falling over and over again.

We both watched as they showed footage of the Pentagon.

Time, work, or responsibility couldn't seem to drag me away from the horror in front of my eyes.

It was one of those days and one of those moments that forever changes you. It was one of those days where we'll always remember where we were and what we were doing when we learned the devastating news.

They're memories we will never forget.

But so are these...

GOD bless America.

And GOD be with us as we remember this day.

Going Crazy

2011-09-10T20:25:00.000-05:00

Okay...who gave my kid crack?

Someone?

Anyone?

Please step up and take responsibility for your actions.

You can bring him back in the morning if the annoying has worn off.

Sincerely,

Can't take another moment of incessant talking, fidgeting, questioning, jumping and all-around-wallering.

Heartache

2011-09-08T17:27:00.002-05:00

I've written, spoken and emphasized many times over the closeness I've developed between people I've met over the internet. People who I'm closer to than most of my "real life" friends. We've shared as much as 5 years of ups and downs, joys and sorrows, challenges and victories.

Each and every one of them has a place in my heart for a reason.

There's the girlfriend that I bonded with through a shared experience of broken engagement in what would have each eventually proven to be unhealthy had they not failed. Hers preceded mine by only weeks. And somehow she found me and she reached out to me and she connected with me in a way that only she who'd just experienced this could.

Through her I met another friend that gave me no choice but to love her completely! She supported me and encouraged me just as she'd done for our other friend. I was blessed to be allowed the opportunity to watch her fall in love with a man and his daughter. I also got the opportunity to watch our other friend as she adventured back out into the dating world and experienced some of the entertaining horrors that go with it. And when she met her Jason, I became hopeful that someday I might, too, meet a Jason of my own.

Words on a screen became lifelines that connected our hearts and our lives.

When we finally met in person, it was something akin to coming home. It was right and it was one of those things that marks you deep down into your soul, forever.

The three of us got married in Octobers of successive years. And though I've only actually seen them in person two times in my life (so far, at least...first at the second one's wedding and then at my own), they're among the first people I want to tell about anything big that happens in my life, good or bad.

Through the same website the three of us have met, I've met other friends as well. To specify only a few, there's one adorable girl in Canada (who's now also fallen in love), a gentleman in Florida who's unfortunately learning just how much difficulty he can endure before the silver lining will reveal itself, and another guy who's from the U.K. whose style of writing about his life drew me into his world.

He's the reason why I'm writing today, actually.

Because my heart hurts for him so badly right now.

His story starts more than 10 years ago when he met a girl.

The best stories typically start with 'when boy meets girl', but so do some of the saddest ones as well. And though his story isn't over, it's at a very low and sad point.

You see, Boy met Girl and Boy and Girl had a baby. A little girl.

Boy and Girl were going to get married and were going to live happily ever after until Boy and Girl were in a wreck that claimed Girl's life.

Which just left Boy and Baby Girl.

Boy struggled to deal with things, but eventually he started putting his life together. Baby Girl's aunt, Girl's Sister, remained in Baby Girl's life, which meant she remained in Boy's life as well, after the loss of her sister.

As time went by, Boy and Girl's Sister started seeing each other. They hit a few rough patches and parted ways but over time wound up back together. However, while they were apart, Girl's Sister became pregnant. Despite it all, Boy and Girl worked through it and welcomed another Baby Girl into their now joint family.

And after that, another Baby Girl followed, bringing their family to Boy, Girl, and three Baby Girls.

This time last year, Baby Girl #2 became sick.

She was hospitalized and later diagnosed with leukemia.

Boy updated those of us in his virutal life as best as he could but over the past year has been able to post less than a dozen updates.

It's been a difficult year, you see.

Baby Girl #2 was getting worse and worse and they were seeking out donors who might be able to help with her condition.

But in the end, Baby Girl #2 lost her battle with this disease.

Which, as any parent can imagine, would be more than unbearable.

As a result, four weeks after Baby Girl's death, Girl ended her own life to be with her Little Girl.

So Boy is left with two out of his five girls.

And he's hurting.

And he's blaming himself.

And he's no doubt struggling.

As am I. Because even if I've never met him in person, I've bonded with him through the almost 4 years that I've known him. From the first time I read him and spent two days reading through his entire history on down through each bump in the road that he's hit along the way since then.

He's offered both encouragement and excitement for me through the ups and downs of the past 4 years of my life.

Though I don't know him well enough to count him among my best friends, as I can say of some of the others, I know him well enough to consider him a friend, plain and simple.

And my friend is hurting.

And there's nothing I can do to make it better. I guess that's the downfall of this internet thing. When you only know someone in the virutal world, there's only a limited amount of things you can do to console them in the real world.

Book Love | The Boleyn Inheritance

2011-09-02T19:09:00.000-05:00

The Boleyn Inhertiance
By Philippa Gregory

(From the Book Jacket)

Three women who share one fate:
The Boleyn Inheritance

Anne of Cleves
She runs from her tiny country, her hateful mother, and her abusive brother to a throne whose last three occupants are dead. King Henry VII, her new husband, instantly dislikes her. Without friends, family or even an understanding of the language being spoken around her, she must literally save her neck in a court ruled by a deadly game of politics and the terror of an unpredictable and vengeful king. Her Boleyn Inheritance: accusations and false witnesses.

Katherine Howard
She catches the king's eye within moments of arriving at court, setting in motion the dreadful machine of politics, intrigue, and treason that she does not understand. She only knows that she is beautiful, that men desire her, that she is young and in love--but not with the diseased old man who made her queen, beds her night after night, and killed her cousin Anne. Her Boleyn Inheritance: the threat of the axe.

Jane Rochford
She is the Boleyn girl whose testimonies sent her husband and sister-in-law to their deaths. She is the trusted friend of two threatened queens, the perfectly loyal spy for her uncle, the Duke of Norfolk, and a canny survivor in the murderous court of a most dangerous king. Throughout Europe, her name is a byword for malice, jealousy, and twisted lust. Her Boleyn Inheritance: a fortune and a title, in exchange for her soul.

The Boleyn Inheritance is a novel drawn tight as a lute string about a court ruled by the gallows and three women whose positions brought them wealth, admiration, and power as well as deceit, betrayal and terror. Once again, Philippa Gregory has brought a varnished world to life--the whisper of a silk skirt on a stone stair, the yellow glow of candlelight illuminating a hastily written note, the murmurs of the crowd gathering on the Tower Green below the newly built scaffold. In The Boleyn Inheritance Gregory is at her intelligent and page-turning best.

My Rating: ★★★★★

A few quick thoughts

Having read several other books by Philippa Gregory and about King Henry VIII and his court, I loved immersing myself back into this era and the historical characters that I've loved and enjoyed.

Philippa Gregory wrote this book almost as if it was a continuation of The Other Boleyn Girl, but included the perspective of the famed sister-in-law to Queen Anne Boleyn whose testimony sent her to the scaffold. It was interesting to see Jane Boleyn's character from a different side of speculation, as a wife who testified against her husband in hopes that--if he plead guilty--he might be spared.

While I enjoyed the book and loved the aspect from all three of the characters views, it was almost too much a few times to switch back and forth between the three of them, particularly at the beginning of the book when you're first discovering each of them.

Having also read The Constant Princess as well as The Other Boleyn Girl, it's very interesting to see Gregory's take on the changes of Henry VII as he grows older and evolves from the famed charming and handsome Prince to an obese, disgusting and spoiled madman.

A completely different side was displayed in the personality of the king that helps to give an idea as to why he may have felt justified for the high mortality rate among his wives.

Would I read it again? Definitely....in a few years.

Would I recommend it to others? Absolutely.

...a little more every day

2011-08-24T17:29:00.006-05:00

Birthdays are something we take for granted.

There's always another one next year.

We also take for granted other people's birthdays. We're reminded of the days because they come up in conversation or there are events planned around them.

Not a day goes by that I don't think of you

After all this time, you're still with me it's true.

Somehow you remain, locked so deep inside.

Not a day goes by.

{Not A Day Goes By | Lonestar}

But we never actually remember their birth date until they're not around to celebrate them anymore.

Then it's a day we can never again forget.

It ain't fair you died too young

like a story that had just begun

but death tore the pages all away.

God knows how I miss you,

All the hell that I've been through

just knowing, no one could take your place.

Sometimes I wonder who you'd be today.

{Who You'd Be Today | Kenny Chesney}

For the first 21 birthdays of my life I never considered the fact that I had a cousin 3 weeks and 3 days younger than me, or another one 7 months and 16 days after mine.

For the first 21 birthdays of my life my birthdays were about me.

And only me.

I miss you a little since you've been gone.

A few little memories keep hanging on.

I miss you a little, I guess you could say

A little too much, a little too often,

a little more every day.

{I Miss You A Little | John Michael Montgomery}

Now they're reminders.

One more age he'll never reach.

Because, even though he would have been 29 today.

He's forever 21.

And I think of you, whenever life gets me down

I think of you whenever you're not around

And you rest your bones somewhere far from my own

But you still pull me home

{Think of You | A Fine Frenzy}

Opinions: Parenting

2011-07-29T10:06:00.002-05:00

"Look at you! You have a baby....in a bar!"

My heart hurts for the generations of kids who are, essentially, growing up without parents.

The kids whose parents dream of and envision a future where they can party and get drunk with their friends.

Where they can be "The Cool Parents".

The problem with this is that many times the kids with "The Cool Parents" end up being the parents that they deserved to have in the first place.

It's time to grow up parents! You had your childhood, now let the kids have theirs!

Tyisms | Carrots

2011-07-22T13:00:00.002-05:00

After playing the Wii for almost two hours, I told him it was time to turn it off and find something else to do.

He obliged and disappeared into his room for a minute, only to re-appear and plant himself on the couch with his new 3DS.

I sighed and told him, "No, you're not trading video games for video games, too much of them aren't good for your eyes! Find something else to do!"

"But Mama, I eat carrots all the time!"

Creatively brilliant argument for a 6 year old.

The Rest of the Story {Staycation | Day Three Part Deux }

2011-07-20T21:38:00.000-05:00

What an adventure we had today!!

We at lunch with Jason (aka Daddy) at Sams Club (hey, we're a young family on a budget AND they have some pretty good pizza!).

Afterwards we walked around and looked at all the grills and ice chests and iPads that we would buy if we weren't a young family on a budget. No wonder they call our older years the Glory Days. Or I will at least, "Glory Hallelujah! We're not broke!"

Ahhh, happy thoughts.

But in the meantime, we're having fun on the cheap. We spent all of $9 on lunch, $3.74 on a treat for Ty and a total of $8.50 at Magic Springs for some nasty ice-tea and a locker rental.

That's the only expense we've incurred all week on our three-day adventure of Staycation.

Back to Sams. We ate, we wandered and we daydreamed. And then Jason had to go back to work and Ty and I had to go catch crawdads, but not before I got scolded and fussed at for *gasp* bringing a library book into Sams with me to enjoy over lunch. The old geezer kept wanting a receipt for the book and I kept showing him the bold red "Garland County Library" stamped on the binding.

Punk wouldn't draw a smiley face on my kid's hand either. Talk about ticking a Mama off, not only is he lecturing me in front of my kid for something I didn't do wrong, he shoves the marker at me and refuses to draw a smiley face on my kiddo's hand.

Gramps better be careful. Kids these days don't know nothing 'bout 'specting their elders.

Okay. Snapping out of the street-talk, now. Although I'm sure I could pull it off.

{sticks tongue out at you who don't believe me}

Anyway. I'm so exhausted I'm delirious, bear with me.

After Sams was Entergy Park where I had planned to sit on a rock and read a book while the kiddo caught crawfish. But it's never as fun as getting your feet wet and getting in the middle of it. So we double-teamed the crawfish. Which is what it took because they are FAST! They remind me of when I was learning to drive my little blue S10 and I stalled out everytime I tried to go into 1st gear, but never when I was in reverse, so I'd back up all over the place. They reminded me of that because they swim backwards, which I don't guess I ever realized until today.

Anyway, so Ty was about to give up when I took over the net from him. Three crawfish later he's telling me, "Mama, you're GOOD at this!"

You can't be raised by my Daddy and not be...well....nevermind. I forgot there's one of us who's allergic to getting dirty. :P

So we gathered 3 crawfish and four snails and were on our way to another small pool of water where I expected more crawfish to be...and found a snake instead.

Smile for the camera!

So we decided we were done there after Mr. Snake crashed the party.

Off to the Library from there to return some books and check out a few more. Have I mentioned lately how much I love our library?

And from there it was off to Magic Springs...but first...let's stop at the "Rocks-R-Gems" shop and check out their "crystals". We couldn't leave until we had a "crystal" and a baggie of polished rocks to go with us.

And then we were off to Magic Springs to splash in the Wave Pool, float the Lazy River, get flushed down The Bowls and survive the Arkansas Twister. But not before our "water resistant" SPF 30 sunscreen washed off within the first 2 minutes of being in the water. Oh, and we got to witness two separate and blatant incidents of guests stealing from the park and the teenage staff members not really caring and also not really being someone who needed to step up and stop it. However, adult staff-members seemed to be on the endangered species list at that point in the day.

But anyway, our sunscreen issue cut our first trip short because we had to run back by Walmart and swap out the sorry sunscreen for some SPF 50 Sport sunscreen that actually lived up to "water resistant". We also dropped by the house, ate some supper and brought Jason back with us for more rides and water-fun since he finally decided to come home from work and enjoy some time with us. (Kidding, I seriously wish he could have been off this week to enjoy it with us!)

Just when we thought we'd escaped one trip to Magic Springs without the kiddo suffering an injury, the last ride of the night down the tubes he somehow fell out of his tube right at the bottom. Knotted up his head and busted his lip. Poor kid, it's a wonder he keeps wanting to go back!

But now we're home and I'm exhausted and possibly a smidge dehydrated and my book is calling my name.

Stay tuned...tomorrow's another promising day!

Ty's self-portrait

Staycation | Days 2 & 3

2011-07-20T09:38:00.002-05:00

Ahhh, one of my favorite things about my boy is how he'll sit quietly in his room or the living room and play with his toys or quietly watch a video or play some of his games while I sleep in. It's positively wonderful.

{{happy rested sigh}}

Anyway, on to Staycation, Day 2.

If you asked Ty what all we did yesterday, he'd say "Nothing."

And then he'd look at me and see me giving him a "You did more than that look" and he'd say, "We went shopping."

And then he'd look back at me and then add "And painted".

And he'd check my face again and say "And played the Wii"

And he'd look back at me with a look like, "That's all I can remember!!"

So I'd prompt him and remind him about what we learned about on the computer that morning, and he'd say "Presidents! All Forty-four presidents!" (He's good, I know.)

And then I'd remind him about his curiosity-induced lesson on September Eleventh (which, thankfully, he didn't fully comprehend).

And then I'd remind him about the State Capitol Buildings. Of which, the Old Louisiana Capitol is our favorite. And he'd add, "It looks like a palace!!"

So even though he thinks the day was wasted on shopping...I still think it rocked.

And he just popped over my shoulder to remind me that today, Stacation Day 3, is Crawdads and Magic Springs.

Meaning that we're headed to Entergy Park this morning to catch crawdads (fun, right?) and then afterwards we're heading across town to spend the afternoon at Magic Springs. Somewhere before or after Magic Springs we've got to drop by the library. Hopefully after I finish my last book that's due back today. I've got 8 books to return and one on hold to pick up and the boy wants to get some books, videos and probably games (likely none of which he'll actually read, watch or play...but I let him anyway)

Anyway. So today our adventures are in the great outdoors. Under the heavy and hot July sun.

Which is why we should probably get the party started before the sun gets too high in the sky.

Until next time...

Tyisms | Bad Choices

2011-07-20T08:50:00.002-05:00

After a talk on history and explaning September Eleventh to Ty yesterday he tells me today, "Mama, you remember those guys that flew the planes into those buildings yesterday? They were making bad choices."

I love that it's that simple to him.

Staycation | Day 1

2011-07-18T15:56:00.000-05:00

The (little) Boy and I are home for the week.

Before Husband switched banks we had this week scheduled off for all three of us to take off and Staycate together.

But a fantastic job came open at a small-town bank (here in Hot Springs) and he jumped at the chance. Given the way his first few weeks have gone at that job, a week off was a small price to pay. It makes me so happy to see him SO much happier (and less unnecessarily stressed!). And he'll get a vacation this year, he just has to wait out his first 90 days.

(By the way...on an unrelated note, I have a crazy fantastic surprise lined up for him in the relatively near future and I'm busting at the seams because he's going to LOVE it. And it will probably be a picture overload when it happens, so you'll all feel like you were right there with us....wherever "there" is.)

Anyway, back to the point of the blog.

Today is Day #1 of mine and Ty's Staycation (my first ever...I'm not one to take off and just stay home, but it fits in our budget and as pretty darn relaxing, too!).

We've been making a surprisingly short list of things we want to do together this week. So far Ty had that he wants to go to Entergy Park and catch crawdads and he also wants to paint something sometime this week.

Easy enough.

My main hope for the week is to clean my car, inside and out.

Last night, before bed, Ty told me he wants to do science experiments today though. We've previously done the baking soda and vinegar makes lava and the tornado in the bottle as well as a rainbow in a bottle.

So after tucking him in bed I set out to explore some science experiments for us to do.

One was cleaning pennies with vinegar and salt, which Ty thought was pretty cool. I think he could have cleaned every penny in the house but the solution seemed to weaken after a bit (thankfully!)

Next up we started what will be a week-long process of making our own rock candy suckers.

I make a super-saturated sugar solution, dyed it blue and suspended some wooden skewers in some lager glasses. (Glad to know we finally have a use for those things!) That was a little less Ty-involved than I'd hoped because of the boiling liquid factor. But he'll be excited to watch the sugar crystals materialize throughout the week. And even more so to give them a taste and see how we did.

And then we threw together a green tornado in a jar and the kid was happy.

After that, science got interrupted by crafts when Ty went and got paper and crayons to make his own Dragon Radar like one his Daddy has (they're Dragonball Z nerds).

But Mama brought out the big guns. (Namely the jigsaw and dremel) and cut out a disc of wood and we painted it up for him.

And then, since Ty abandoned me for Zelda on the Wii, I got a little craft-time in for myself.

With a charm bracelet.

Doesn't look like much, necessarily, but it's got pennies on it for 1982, 1985, 2005 and 2010.

My birth year.

Jason's birth year.

Ty's birth year.

And the year Jason & I got married and we became a family.

Plus it makes use of an old silver charm bracelet that hasn't been worn in 10 years.

So that's Staycation Day 1.

I think we'll spend the rest of the afternoon being less productive. Maybe army men, play doh or a movie together.

Finally, a vacation that I won't need to take another vacation to recover from!