...an episode of thanks

This will be my last post for November, so I apologize for it's length.
I was watching Little House on the Prairie last night. NO SNICKERING.
I love this show. To quote Hyde from That 70's show, "It reminds me of simpler times". It conjures up emotions in me that I thought were long dead and buried. I usually always have a good cry. Damn you Michael Landon! Why did you have to be such a great actor!?!?!?
This particular episode Mary has some sort of accident with the horses and becomes ill with an internal infection of sorts and they have to go to the "big city" for her to get treatment beyond Dr. Baker's knowledge. This makes me thankful for local hospitals and medical professionals.
Pa goes to the bank to get a loan for the long trip but the bank is closed. This makes me grateful for checks, debit cards and ATM machines.
He then hears singing coming from the one and only local church house up the street. It's not Sunday. He goes to check it out and they are passing around the collection plate. It comes to him and he starts to put in a donation and the preacher tells him "I'm sorry Charles, but we can't accept your donation today." Laura comes up to him and says "It's for Mary, Pa." Of course tears well up in his eyes. I lose it. This makes me thankful for loving, caring, generous people in the world and churches for them to congregate to.
They take their horse driven wagon on a bumpy dirt road to the train station. Mary is lying in the back of the wagon all bundled up. It takes them over a day to get where they need to. This made me thankful for paved roads, enclosed cars with heat and a/c and airplanes.
They get to the specialty hospital and the doctor examines Mary and determines she needs an operation. The doctor sends Pa to talk to the financier before they can operate. They barely have enough cash to pay the guy (who is a total jerk). This makes me thankful for the right to medical treatment, credit and bedside mannerisms.
The operation is successful so Ma and Pa go out to dinner and celebrate. Only to come back to find out Mary has a fever and her condition has worsened. Mary needs another operation to remove the infected tissue. This makes me thankful for modern medicine.
They have no money left and the finance guy is still being a total ass. I'm guessing in the continued part of this episode he will learn a lesson in compassion. This makes me thankful for KARMA.
Pa then treks back home to sell the farm and everything they own to pay for Mary's medical bill now racking up. He barely makes the next train and sees a posting for jobs with the railroad at the train station. He takes the flier. This makes me thankful for advertisement.
Pa gets home and goes to the bank only to discover that the banker has closed up shop for good due to the economy. This makes me thankful for our mostly reliable financial institutions.
Desperate, Pa goes to the local mill and asks the owner to buy his farm. The owner can not afford to buy the farm but he does loan Pa enough money to get back on the train to go get a job with the railroad. Pa's friend decides to go with him and says "two incomes are better than one". Pa graciously accepts and they wave good-bye to their families and head off on foot. This makes me thankful for friends.
This episode is to be continued for another day. I actually had the pleasure of seeing Melissa Gilbert at a restaurant in SLC once. She is SO much prettier in person. This makes me thankful that there is hope for my kids to grow out of their goofy stage.
Happy Thanksgiving to my readers and I hope you have a lot of things to be thankful for. Even if it's the small things.

...Quizzo

Quizzo is a trivia game hosted by Harry every Wednesday night at the White Owl bar here in town. This week we played last night instead of Wednesday because of Thanksgiving. We play in teams and the prizes are dinner/food at the Owl. Most of the time we win. Last night was no exception. We have a pretty good team and everyone contributes SOMETHING. Some more than others. I love it because it's an opportunity to be social. I am thankful to get to spend time with our friends this one night a week. THANKS GUYS!!! And girls...I missed you last night!!!

...bloggers

I stole this from my BFF over at seehearspeaknoevil.com who in turn stole it from

theartofoverthinking.blogspot.com Play along if you wish. I would love to hear your names!!!

1. WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names)
Charlotte Dean (now you know how to find me in case I turn you in)

2. NASCAR NAME: (first name of your mother’s dad, father’s dad)
Ralph Paul

3. STAR WARS NAME: (the first 2 letters of your last name, first 4 letters of your first name)
Genanc (how the heck do you pronounce that?)

4. DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal)
Violet Canine (Purple puppy didn't sound professional enough)

5. SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you live)
Rochelle Providence (yes. my middle name is Rochelle. Laugh and I'll sick Ahmed the dead terrorist on your ass)

6. SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd favorite color, favorite alcoholic drink, optionally add “THE” to the beginning)
The Red MaiTai (If I used my other favorite alcoholic drink I would have to be The TOPLESS RED JAGERMEISTER-not so super)

7. FLY NAME: (first 2 letters of 1st name, last 2 letters of your last name)
Not sure what a "Fly name" is exactly..but whatever. Mine is Nard. Funny Shiz.

8. GANGSTA NAME: (favorite ice cream flavor, favorite cookie):
Cherry Chocolate Chip Oreo. But I prefer 3CO please.

9. ROCK STAR NAME: (current pet’s name, current street name)
Milo North

10. PORN NAME: (1st pet, street you grew up on)
This one is hilarious. Who thinks up this crap anyway???

Sassy Oak Park

get it? Park your Oak here baby. I'm SASSY! LMAO

...FRIDAYS!!!

TGIF Y'all!

...Mark

...the photo expert at my work. See photo at right. Don't I look thrilled? Apparently this is my "serious" look. I remember vaguely Mark saying "OK, look serious" cause I could not manage to stop smiling. And those are rubber snakes in my wig/hair by the way.

...Milo

Dave and I aren't having any more kids together. Mostly because he's been neutered (Dave not Milo) and I can't find anyone to naturally donate to my cause.
So the next best thing came along. I think he has my cuteness factor but extremely hairy like Dave. And he came house trained! How can you resist unconditional love like this??? He's the little brother Dawson always wanted.

...My mother-in-law

I know this comes as a shock. Granted my mother-in-law can make me crazy. She makes all who know her crazy. But all and all I could have it a lot worse. She means well. She loves her boys. She loves her grandkids and great grandkids. She would give you the shirt off her back. She has ALWAYS been there for us when we needed her, and I love her for that. She has had a pretty damn rough life. It's amazing she has survived unscathed. Somewhat anyway.

...MACEYS FOOD AND DRUG

It's clean. It's convenient. And their deli food is AWESOME! and don't forget their kick ass mini shopping carts. Makes Dave feel like Mario Andrade to zoom around the MAC's. (Mormon Assault Carts). You know. The ones that look like cars.

...Alcohol

More specifically, the drinking kind. I need some. and I'm not talking mere beer either. I'm talking the hard stuff. Today has been one of THOSE days...

...Laughter

It makes the day go by faster at work! http://roflrazzi.com

...The interwebz

I get to keep in touch with family without having to actually talk to them or run up a phone bill.
It makes me smarter. I learn something new every day.
I get to surf when I'm bored.
I get to shop when I'm bored.
I get to blog when I'm bored.
I get to read other blogs when...well you get the picture.

...TEACHERS

These poor underpaid and under-appreciated souls. I got this voice mail message the other day. Here it is word for word. Names have been withheld to protect the innocent. Notice I didn't withhold my son's name. (These are my personal comments)
"Hello. This is Mrs. ___ from __ elementary and I'm calling regarding Dawson..."
(My first thought was: Oh boy. he's sick and I have to go get him from school )
"...He was involved in a big pine cone fight this morning with a whole bunch of other 5th graders."
(I couldn't help but roll my eyes and chuckle a bit. BOYS. He's 10 by the way. )
"...And It started out as this kind of a fun thing, but it turned dangerous and students were getting hit in the head and in the eyes and it's definitely against our school rules to behave and be responsible."
(I assume she meant the opposite ?!)
"...So he and the other students all came down to the refocus room and I talked to them about being safe and following the rules and they will be spending their lunch recess in the refocus."
(For those of you who don't know WTF refocus is, it's the PC version of detention.)
"...It's our policy to notify the parents any time the kids are sent to refocus, and I hope Dawson doesn't have to come to refocus again. He's a good kid. If you have any questions feel free to call me at ___."
So Dawson's version of this story went something like this:
"I got off the bus and ___ pegged me right in the face with a pine cone. So I just started throwing them back and then a bunch of kids started a pine cone war."
It will forever be referenced as "The great pine cone war of 2008" now.

...Thrift Stores

I was never much of a thrift store shopper prior to living in Utah and discovering D.I. (aka Deseret Industries, aka the mormon thrift store). Of course I have also discovered other thrift stores to shop and find treasures at. I also love the fact I can donate/recycle stuff. The reason I am so thankful is they save me money. I'll bet most of my closet is supplied by second hand clothing. I get more compliments on these pieces than my new stuff. Of course there are things I would never buy second hand...but I have found numerous items with the store tags still attached. I even found $10/plate Dillard's china for 75 cents a plate. BARGAIN!

...for seehearspeaknoevil.com

They inspired me to create my own blog. Of course I don't have nearly as many readers as they do, but it's still a great creative outlet for me. Today's post was this cool, scarily accurate quiz. Here's my results and at the bottom is the website if you want to take it too.

Your result for Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz...

You Are a Katharine! (I'd like to think I'm as beautiful as her too)

You are a Katharine -- "I am happy and open to new things"

Katharines are energetic, lively, and optimistic. They want to contribute to the world.

How to Get Along with Me

• * Engage with me in stimulating conversation and laughter.


• * Appreciate my grand visions and listen to my stories.


• * Don't try to change my style. Accept me the way I am.


• * Be responsible for youself. I dislike clingy or needy people.


• * Don't tell me what to do.

What I Like About Being a Katharine

• * being optimistic and not letting life's troubles get me down


• * being spontaneous and free-spirited


• * being outspoken and outrageous. It's part of the fun.


• * being generous and trying to make the world a better place


• * having the guts to take risks and to try exciting adventures


• * having such varied interests and abilities

What's Hard About Being a Katharine

• * not having enough time to do all the things I want


• * not completing things I start


• * not being able to profit from the benefits that come from specializing; not making a commitment to a career


• * having a tendency to be ungrounded; getting lost in plans or fantasies


• * feeling confined when I'm in a one-to-one relationship

Katharines as Children Often

• * are action oriented and adventuresome


• * drum up excitement


• * prefer being with other children to being alone


• * finesse their way around adults


• * dream of the freedom they'll have when they grow up

Katharines as Parents

• * are often enthusiastic and generous


• * want their children to be exposed to many adventures in life


• * may be too busy with their own activities to be attentive

Take Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz at HelloQuizzy

...for the weekends

I am thankful to have a break every once in a while. I think we take advantage of this small luxury. A lot of cultures work 7 days a week. All work and no play makes Nan a dull bitch.

..for paydays

my mantra is "happiness is just a paycheck away". I may put it on a sign and sell it someday. Please don't take my idea. I need the money.

...my husband

He drives me crazy. Good and bad crazy. He lets me tease him endlessly. Ok. Maybe not endlessly. He puts up with me. He does laundry. Most importantly, he makes me laugh. And I think he loves me almost as much as I love him. Most days that is.

...My job

I work for a company that is very profitable, is growing and has great opportunity. I am grateful for a decent income that allows us to live comfortably. I am thankful for the fun people I get to work with everyday that do not make it dreadful to go to work every day. I am very fortunate to have a rockin' boss who is kind, understanding, flexible, patient and grateful. I pity the fool that has to work outside in the severe cold or heat. I am thankful that it is low stress. I am pretty spoiled.

I AM THANKFUL TO BE AN AMERICAN

I am thankful there are people willing to to fight and give their lives for our continued freedom.
I am thankful that we have freedom of speech.
I am thankful that we have rights.
I am thankful that we have laws and order and justice.
I am mostly thankful that I have the option to vote.
I HAVE NEVER VOTED.
Why? you wonder. Because ignorant people should not be allowed to vote. I think to vote you should have to take a pretest of sorts that questions your knowledge of the items you are voting on. If you do not score 100% then you don't get to vote. A lot of people vote because it's their right but have NO idea what they are voting for. How many of you go to vote and just pick whatever because you did not know about the issue at hand? Just because you can doesn't mean you should. And if your going to do it, educate yourself!
I have never been very political. And if I don't understand it, I do not feel I can make an educated decision. I'm all about fairness. It wouldn't be fair to this great country we live in if I went in to vote all willy nilly and screwed up the whole damn thing.
Surely I could do more research and educate myself on the issues. However. A lot of things just piss me off. Like the fact that neither presidential candidate is appealing to me to be able to run this country. Like the fact that we have to even consider whether or not to leave undeveloped land. Like the fact that people feel they have the right to dictate whether homosexuals have the right to get married or not. These issues piss me off. Therefore, I chose to exercise my right NOT to vote.
It's my right. If you don't like it. Too bad. Next election proposition for mandatory voting. While your at it put a microchip in me and a barcode on the back of my right hand.

I AM THANKFUL FOR...

This month I am going to try and post every day about something I am thankful for. Today I am thankful that Daylight Saving time changed over the weekend so I don't have to get up in the dark to go to work. YAY!