Hibernate

It is 7 degrees out right now. The furnace is working overtime, and I am bundled in layers. I should go out and brave this to deliver an AVON book, return some DVDs to the library, get some taco supplies for the big Wild Card game tomorrow (Go Pack!), and get some laundry done at Kate's. None of these errands are essential, but I'm really hungry for tacos! If it were a nicer day I'd already be sitting at Kate's playing with CC. I've been up and at em since 9. I just can't stand the thought of going outside, and my car is in a garage!

This week the kiddos learned about hibernation. Oh, wouldn't that be heaven??? Gorge yourself all during the summer and fall so you could sleep away the cold of winter? Wake up in the spring 50 pounds lighter, ready for swimsuit season! Where can I sign up?

The Box

Once upon a time in 1970 (or earlier) people had rabbit ears on their television sets. Periodically you would have to move the ears to get reception, some people even had little foil extenders to help the channels come in. I remember ears on our TV sets, but no foil was necessary. We had an absolutely HUGE antennae on the roof. That thing could have picked up messages from outer space if need be. Now I'm wondering if it is still on said house. My brother Jerry still lives there, I'll have to ask him. I don't notice that kind of thing. (I asked and apparently Dad took it down while I was still living there.....see, I'm oblivious.)

So anyway, here I am in 2011 and because I choose not to have dish or cable I have to have a converter box and antennae. Now a few years back I did just fine with the regular old rabbit ears on the TV. I found reception right out of the gate and never looked back, until the box came along. Ahhh the converter box. I hate the converter box.

It was confusing enough to set up, let alone having to deal with a dvd player in the mix, but I prevailed. So I have TV, most of the time. I also have phantom channels that I have to scroll through to get to the real ones. I've tried multiple times to remove them, but no dice. So I just scroll, scroll, scroll, my remote, gently down the stream.... sorry, I'm tired.

The best part of the converter box (sarcasm) is the nonsense I've been dealing with this week, and deal with every time the shows are new. This did not happen during the holidays one time. NOT ONCE! The minute prime time hit on Sunday night the TV started going in and out and I got the no signal message. Every night this week it's the same thing. There is no inclement weather, only new TV programming. Shows like Dancing with the Stars, and American Idol always have break up, no matter how many times I move the antennae.

Do I look like I just fell off the turnip truck??? Do "they" think I'm not onto "them"? I honestly think it's a conspiracy to get everyone to buy television. Now, I'm not normally a conspiracy theorist, but I can prove this! Come on over to watch the television when American Idol starts. You'll miss half of it, but hey, the Goovers gave me a great big popcorn popper for Christmas!

To whom it may concern. I am NOT buying television. Not now, not ev.... well, not in the near future anyway. While I enjoy the Discovery Channel, Hallmark, and catching All My Children at night, it just isn't worth the money for the amount of TV I would actually watch. So go ahead and keep messing with the signal during prime time. I have a whole pile of books sitting right over there (looks to the left) just waiting to be read. :)

P.S. While writing this the news has come on. It has been 15 minutes, and not one lost signal. Not one.

Runnin' on Empty

Wow! I am exhausted. I still haven't recovered from playing Mommy dearest for a few days to my nieces. I should have gone to bed early with the little goovers, but I couldn't resist staying up and having slumber party fun with Ashlyn! Who could turn down Rock Band 3, or Monopoly? We even watched Christmas Vacation, which she had never seen, on Saturday night. That was probably the earliest bedtime for us, somewhere around eleven. If I hadn't been visited by the sleepwalker, the lost pillow child, one cat dropping mouse toys by my head, and another cat just starting nose to nose with me, during the course of the night, perhaps I would be better rested.

My new job is kicking my butt to be sure. I'm just not used to this many kids at once anymore. It's what I used to do every day, so I'll catch up, but WOW. That was all she could say, wow. ( Kids book reference, anyone know it?) I knew all their names by 10 a.m. yesterday, but I still get them confused. I'm used to knowing the kids in my care inside out, backwards, and upside down. These guys are a mystery. One that it will take a little time to unravel, since there are so many of them!

Yesterday I came home and promptly fell asleep. I'd like to take a nap today, but I'll either stay up too late, or wake up in the night like I did last night. I am enjoying getting done at 3:30 though! I'll enjoy it even more in the warmer months.

Skating

Goovers On Ice.... the final chapter?

Actually it's the beginning. The other side bar to the goover on ice story is the fact that their Great Grandfather was the first ever attendant at the rink in Alloueze! My Grandpa Meys lost part of his leg in a train hopping gone wrong when he was in his teens. It was hard to find a job back in those days if you were disabled, but he was eventually able to get on with the City of Superior, and worked as a janitor I believe (?) and also as the Ice Rink Attendant at the Franklin (Alloueze) rink.

My Dad taught me how to skate at that rink when I was just two years old. (on single blades, I told you I'm talented) He also taught my brother Jerry, and my sister Kate, and I taught my youngest brother David. I also have taken Ashlyn there since she was about four, and taught her to skate.

New Years day was always a skating day for us. Dad would line us, and assorted friends, up on the couch, put on our skates, pack us into the Volare wagon like sardines, and head on down to the rink for the afternoon. He didn't just sit there, he skated with us. Then he would make home made hot chocolate upon our return. Some other Sat afternoons he would take us to Wessman for indoor skating, but going in the circle has never appealed to me. I had actually forgotten about that until I started writing this.

Mom was not an outdoors woman, of any way, shape, or form. She did take her turn bringing us to skating lessons though, but that was always indoors. One time she got up on my roller skates though. I have some fabulous pictures somewhere of that! There aren't any of Dad skating though. He never brought the camera, and that was a few years before the invention of the cell phone. :)

Creeper

Goovers on Ice part deux!

Once upon a time, three years ago this coming May, I thought Internet dating would be a fine way to torture myself...... again. I met Aaron, who had no photo online, so I broke whatever rule that is. :) I'm too lazy to go back in the early blogs and look. Take it from me, you don't want to break that rule.

I don't have the energy this evening to get into the whole story. There was just the one outing for ice cream. My sister in law, Elise and my niece Ashlyn happened to be in the mall where we were and got a nice view of the red suspenders. As Ash would say, "DUDE!" It wasn't good.

Of course, the creepers always try and get into my space, and I have real issues with people in my personal area. I do not like to be touched by people I don't know. If you come up, start a conversation, and put a hand on my shoulder, you are likely to lose the hand. For whatever reason, kids never set that radar off in me, they are always all over my space, and that's fine. Aaron tried to put his arm around me when we were leaving and I thought "If I am sending any kind of a signal that touching me is OK, there is something seriously WRONG with me!"

So I gave him whatever spiel I did at the time, the friends speech, whatever. I'm always polite, and according to Leon that was my problem. When I finally threatened Aaron a few weeks later, after numerous phone calls, with reporting him to the website, the police, etc, if he didn't leave me alone his comment was "Well, you weren't mean to me." Uh, ok. Why did I have to be? He did, after that email, leave me be. I have to say though, he creeped the hell out of me. The bells were ringing loud and clear in my head, and they did just as loudly a year later when I ran into him.

Ashlyn and I had gone ice skating at the East End rink. I knew he worked a few of the rinks, so we looked out for his car, but didn't see it. We didn't even think the shack was open so we got our skates on in the car. Ash realized it was, so we brought our boots inside and guess who was sitting there? I got out of there as fast as I could, as there were no other adults or kids. We went and skated for a bit, it was a warm Sat afternoon, someone would come and join us at some point. Wouldn't they? As soon as other adults came around we were getting our boots and getting the heck out of there. We skated for an hour and not a single soul showed up. Aaron kept coming out and walking around the outer part of the rink, but Ash and I stayed on the far side. I felt awful inside, totally creeped out, and responsible for a teenager on top of it. At least I was wearing a weapon. :)

For whatever reason I could not face walking into that shack again and spending the time to take off our skates and get our boots on. I figure that I have these warning bells for a reason, so I ended up calling my brother in law Tom, who came and saved my bacon. He went in and got our boots and waited while we changed into them outside.

I knew that taking the goovers skating at Alloueze there was a good chance I was going to run into him again. It's funny how you perceive things as time goes by. My whole attitude is different these days. We ran smack into him in the warming shack. I rolled my eyes at Ash and we got our skates on. Oh, you KNOW he came over to me. "Don't you skate out in South End?" He received the green eyes of steel. If you've pissed me off you know the look. "NO.", was my only reply. Then I promptly ignored him and finished my skates.

As I said to Ash, he either knows that he knows me, but can't remember where from, or he wants to know if I remember him. OH I remember YOU alright, but you don't need to know it. When we got our boots back on he didn't come into the shack, and hopefully that is the end of the creeper story for good.