Punishments

I have entered into a new phase in my life.  This phase involves learning how to deal with life with a 12 and 13 year old after living with out kids in the house.  So far this has involved setting basic rules like cleaning your room, doing the dishes, being nice to everyone, and having a set bedtime.  But the kids have still found ways to get into trouble.  So far they've been grounded, phone taken away, video games taken away, and plans have been canceled.  It's not fun.  I never realized that when I was in trouble when I was young it meant my mom didn't get to do fun things so that I could be punished.  I've been talking to my mom a lot lately and she's been giving me all kinds of insight into these unfun preteen to teen years.  It appears that parents don't tell their kids about these things because it may keep them from having kids. 

• I found out that the next two weeks will be rocky getting the kids on a schedule and used to school.  
• I also found out that summers off from school will have a rocky two weeks of schedule adjustment.
• Also kids like to be dirty and keep trash in various yucky locations in their rooms.  Like: under the bed, in a drawer, in a corner, and in the closet.
• Giving kids their clean clothes does not mean that they will put them away.  I've found clothes piled up in the corner, under the bed, and all over the floor in the closet.

I never realized how specific you have to be about rules.  At this age they will push everything until you are firm with them and they keep getting in trouble.

Last night everyone was being good.  I finished the back to school clothes shopping.  We had pizza for supper. We played UNO spin after supper.  We let the kids stay up past their bedtime and watch Shrek in the living room.  And what happened the girl peirced the boys ear with a dirty safety pin.  So once again they're in trouble.  It's barely been a day since the last time they were in trouble.  I'm getting tired of having to get angry and have talks with them.  I hope going to school will ease this up some.  It should since it'll give them less time to fight with each other.

What punishments do you find effective?

Beth Ann

Hellooo!!!

I'm terribly sorry that it's been so long since my last post.  It has been a hectic time.  I've moved into a half a house right next to the one bedroom apartment that I lived in.  My boyfriends 12 and 13 year old kids have also moved in with us.  So  we are entering a bit of a parental area that we have not been in before.  It is involving discussions of chores, bed times, nutrition, and exercise.  There have been some heated discussions so far but no solid decisions made.

Because of this my boyfriend called today to check on the kids and it appears that Miss Pink told Mr. Blue that he was not allowed to watch the TV in the living room or even enter the living room under dad's instructions.  So Mr. Blue went downstairs to ask Doug the, keep an eye on the kids neighbor, to see if he knew that he wasn't allowed to watch the TV in the living room.  Doug had no idea.  So then he talks to his dad only to find out that he's been lied to.

So now we must decide if the kids can follow a schedule of, whose allowed to use that TV at what time, or if they can only watch the tvs in their rooms or what?  If we're not home I prefer them out in the open and not squirreled away in their rooms.  But that's just me.

I also informed my boyfriend that the kids should be taking turns doing the dishes.  At first he didn't agree with that. He listed two small chores of setting the table and sweeping the floor that he gave to Miss Pink.  Apparently Mr. Blue doesn't have to do anything.  To this I replied they are lying around watching TV, playing video games and eating food all day.  I think they could have some  real chores since their not exactly busy or anything.

We're supposed to discuss this when he gets home. 

What chores do your kids have?

Beth Ann

Moving Day

Today is the day that we move all our stuff to a half a house from our one bedroom apartment.  We are really moving into the house next door so it should be pretty easy.  There has been weeks of stress leading up to this because the half a house has needed a lot of work and my boyfriend and the owner put almost everything off until the last possible second. I don't deal well with that sort of thing so I've been pretty crabby.

I was having a particularly bad day on Thursday and started to pack the kitchen.  It was making me really sad and I was already angry so I went to the half a house next door and started cleaning.  I'm not over there five minutes before I hear this car with no muffler.  I realize that it sounds familiar.  I think I heard it when I was sleeping last night.  I look out the window and the car is parked blocking my car in.  My parking space is where apartment 3 is assigned to park because no ones been in there since March and the guy that used to live there didn't have a car.  The people started unpacking and once they left I moved my car so that they could have the space.

This parking space is right beside my bedroom.  So now a car with no muffler is pulling up to park beside my bedroom wall at all hours of the day and night.  Well I was sad and nostalgic that we were moving.  That seems to have disappeared at the thought of sleeping next to a muffler-less car.  Now I'm ready to move and happy that I only have to spend two nights sleeping beside that motorcycle sounding beast right beside my apartment.  I do feel sorry for whoever is moving into my apartment next because I doubt the lease stated that they had the opportunity to spend the next year sleeping next to a car that you can hear approaching from a mile away.  Good luck new apartment dweller.  Your gonna need it.

What keeps you up at night?

Beth Ann

Boxes, Boxes, Boxes.......

We're moving once again.  I knew this day was coming but there were so many obstacles I thought I might have a few extra days.  Nope! My boyfriend is in a rush to move.  I've received many assurances that all the things that need to be done at the apartment next door will be done in time for us to move in on Saturday.  I find that really hard to believe since nothings gone as planned or as previously stated so why would this?  But I have no other choice but to try and believe him.  Which leaves me with a house fastly filling up with boxes.

I've lost the enthusiasm of moving a while ago since in the last five and a half years I've moved four times and this will be a fifth time.  It seems to be getting a bit excessive.  I'd like to have an address for more than a year.  But I don't know if that'll happen.  I know that after this move we want to buy a house.  But I'm not sure how long it'll take for use to:

a) Find a house that we like.

b) Save up money for a down payment.

c) Can actually afford a house.

It seems so permanent and like a huge leap to buy one.  But I am tired a renting and with my boyfriends kids coming to live with us it really seems like we are headed in our first house direction.

How ready were you when you bought your first house?   Is it possible to be ready to buy a house?

Beth Ann

Linkin Park Zoo; Chicago, IL

Last week was my vacation week.  I spent the entire week in Northern Illinois with my mom, nephew, and stepdad.  One day we spent in Chicago.  It was a marathon day visiting all kinds of touristy spots, shopping, lots of eating, and a visit to the Linkin Park Zoo.  My nephew was so excited to go (he's 10) that he wanted to ride the train in with my stepdad at 6:08 in the morning.  So we did. 

The night before getting our stuff together my mom told him to wear his orange M&M shirt so that she could easily see him.
 
To this he responded "What if its orange shirt day at the zoo?"

My mom just laughed.

Oops! See picture below:

There were a couple of different groups of kids there in specific colored t-shirts and wouldn't you know, orange was one of the colors.

What do you have kids wear to make them stand out in a crowd?

Beth Ann

Coffee Variety

This week I am on vacation.  I chose to visit my mom, step dad, and nephew in Illinois this year.  They're not coffee drinkers but I am so I've brought some instant coffee with me.  I have a full container of the Sav-A-lot brand and a variety pack of samples that I received from Taster's Choice.

I received the link for the samples from All You's sample of the day email linked here.  When I filled out the form for the sample I figure there would just be maybe two little instant coffee packs in there.  I was surprised when it came in.  It's in the size of a thick envelope and contains about 8 samples with each a different flavor that they offer.  So far I've had 100% Colombian, Breakfast Blend, Hazelnut, French Vanilla, and House Blend.  It's made for a nice variety of morning coffee drinks so far on vacation. Definitely a welcome start to the day.  I found the page where you can order the samples here.

What are you drinking first thing in the morning?

Beth Ann

I'm Grateful for Sunshine

Another Grateful post for Maxabella Loves





This week I am grateful for:

1) The sunshine that has decided to grace us with its presence after at least three days absence if not longer.  Everything seems better when the sun is shining.

2) Being able to take a break.  We don't have the kids this weekend, my family is away, and my boyfriend works till this afternoon.  I've spent a wonderfully lazy morning catching up on fellow bloggers and commenting on their wonderful posts.

3) Having only one week to go until my weeks vacation.  Everything at work has gotten super hectic, like it always does right before vacation.  It just makes me appreciate its impending approach even more.

4) Last of all I am grateful that I have the ability to ride my bike, shop, and browse all by myself for a little while today.  I do love the other people in my life but it's nice not to have to hear their insistent questions on how much longer this is going to take? Or, are we almost done yet?

Beth Ann

Oh Stress!

Let's start with an I'm sorry its been so long since my last Blog.  The last two weeks have been hectic and we had my boyfriends two kids for the weekend last weekend which is always busy times.  But it has been a bit more hectic than usual.  So much so that last week I was ready to just plain freak out.  It's just been too many things that are issues all at one time.  Basically many parts of my life are in limbo right now and it is really starting to get to me. 

Example 1:
I'm looking for a different job.  I have been working on finding a new job in my spare time for the last year and it has been getting really frustrating.  Job searches are meant for the short term because they are stressful and are not healthy to be participating in for long periods of time.  It's gotten so hectic that yesterday I went to work, got out early to go to Gordon Food Service, stopped to make a return phone call that turned into a phone interview.  And then drove to a regular interview I had scheduled for that day.  Ended up having to put off stopping at Gordon's until after the interviews.  Also had a phone interview last week and a skills test.  I just feel like I have been talking about my work experience and waiting to have judgement issued on me a whole heck of a lot lately.

Example 2:
My boyfriend is going to be taking over custody of his two kids in about August.  He has a just turned 12 year old son and a soon to be 13 year old daughter.  Now we've been told that after you turn in the paperwork for custody it will take about two months before you can get a meeting on it because of the back log.  Well the kids grandma has not turned in the custody paperwork yet.  Now she wants us to have them as soon as possible, and the plan was the end of July, but now its almost the end of June and the paperwork hasn't been turned in yet.  So last weekend I had to put my foot down and say we can't have the kids start living with us until the paperwork is turned in and everything's cleared for my boyfriend to have full custody.  So hopefully it'll all be done by September when school starts.

Example 3:
We only had until June 23rd to enroll the kids in schools.  Since I'm quite a bit Type A I have gotten all the documents online and printed them out.  Made my boyfriend call the school to see what we'd need, had the grandma send us the kids birth certificates, and set up a time with the school to enroll the kids.  That time was last Friday. My boyfriend called on tuesday to set up the time and make sure the lady would be there.  We get to the school on Friday and guess what?  She has left for the day but we can leave the paper work and have somethings photocopied and hopefully everything will work out.  I was so mad.  My boyfriend did call on Monday and talked to the lady and she said we had all the right paperwork and that everythings set for the kids to be enrolled.  But still how frustrating is that.

Example 4:
My boyfriend and his friend/neighbor are all set on us moving into his half a house at the end of July.  They have a list of things that need to be done and continually talk about it.  But they never do anything on the lists.  And they keep coming up with excuses.  As soon as his sister moves out.  As soon as all her cats are gone.  She'll move out in the middle of June.  She'll move out at the end of June.  She'll move out the first week in July.  Are you kidding me!  The guy had the nerve to stop by the other day to tell me that he is planning on painting sometime this week and he hopes that eases my concerns.  I just gave him a look because I have nothing nice to say to that.  Oh your still talking about doing something at some point in time.  While time to do things is just getting sucked on by but why don't you just hang out and talk about it all the time and that should ease my concerns because I believe that all this talk may lead to something, someday, sometime in the future.  GRRRRR!!! 

Then the guys, being guys so they must have small brains or something, think it would be a good idea for the 12year old boy to have a bedroom in the basement.  The basement!! Our half of the house is on the second floor.  Why the heck would his room be in the basement?  I'm fighting them on this one because I don't care what he says I know he doesn't want his room in the basement.  When he asked about his room the first thing he said was he wants it by the bathroom.  There's no bathrom in the basement.  He'd be no where near a bathroom.  Poor thing.  So yeah that's not happening.  I guess their concern is where they are planning on building a room for him there is no electrical outlet.  This is the first time I'm hearing about this and it is too freaking late.  They're just going to have to figure something out.  The basement.  Are you freaking kidding me.

Well that's about it.  Sorry to rant and run but I'm sure some soon to be catastrophe must be headed my way because that's the way that things have been going lately.  If I have a chance I'm going to try and do a grateful post this weekend to make up for all my complaining.

What is currently driving you crazy?

Beth Ann

What a pain in the Butt.

Above is a picture of my Huffy Women's Adult bicycle that I love and ride all the time. It has a new bicycle seat on it that I bought yesterday.  For some reason even though this is categorized as a women's adult bike it came with a ridiculously small bike seat.

This is a picture of the seat.  The first time that I rode my bike it gave me a literal, physical pain in my butt.  I was very disappointed since it was the first time I was on a bike since I was a kid and it was a new present.  So I bought a memory foam bike seat cover that I've used for the last year.  One issue with it was that it was softer but not bigger than the original seat.  The other issue is that my bike was flipped over to work on it and the memory foam must of shifted to the contour of flat cement and has lost its ability to be comfortable.  I unfortunately found this out last weekend on a long bike ride when I realized that if I stood to ride my bike I was more comfortable.  This kept me from wanting to sit back down but I was so tired I couldn't help myself.  So yesterday I purchased a new bike seat that I will be trying out today.

Now this actually looks like a bike seat that can fit an adult women's butt on it.  Unlike the other seat that had to have been made for a child, stick figure, or super skinny supermodel.  All of which I and most adult women are not. 

What have you purchased or seen for an adult women that did not seem right for an adult women?

Beth Ann

Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot!!!

My goodness.  Today is the first day this week that I am not hiding out in my incredibly hot apartment trying to not move around for fear of getting any hotter.  It has been in the high 90s with a heat index of 101 this week and this morning I woke up to the 60s and rain.  WooHoo.  I do like warm weather and I'm even okay with hot weather some of the time but we have to call the landlord to put the air conditioner in and he can't be hear until Friday and the heat was sucking the life out of me. 

I was warmly falling into a hazy sleep at 9pm all week.  Everything I thought of doing at home after work was completed very slowly if at all.  For some reason when I get into heat and humidity that high my whole body and thought process slows down.  I thought of blogging but I'm sure my sentences would have been ridiculous and I would have zoned out halfway through. I even caught myself staring in the direction of an attendant at the laundry mat the other day and that was in air conditioning. I'm just slow and sleepy this week.

I've been trying not to use the oven for fear of making my hot apartment even hotter.  But Ho-ray the heat has cleared out for a bit so I'm cooking supper and hanging out like it's the best weather ever today.  I'm doing all the things that I wanted to do this week but couldn't because I was slowly having my life force sucked out of me.  One of the guys I work with said that the factory his wife works at does not have air conditioning.  I wouldn't make it.  Eventually I'd just curl up on the floor and fall a sleep.

Sorry to anyone not having the hottest days ever and missing heat.  I don't mean to offend or upset you.

What weather throws your ability to function through a loop?

Beth Ann

A day with the Moms

Saturday was day two of the Kalamazoo, MI KIA Art Fair  found here.  My mom just happened to be coming, for a last minute decided visit, and I made plans with her and my boyfriends mom to go to the art fair and it was a wonderful time.  You never know what's going to happen when you get two moms together that haven't really spent time together before.  It went wonderfully.  It was one of those days were you spent the entire time talking, laughing, and exclaiming over things.

We started by meeting at my apartment and walking downtown from there.  Then we hit up the huge array of booths in Bronson Park (which we never saw all of).  Then we went to the Park Club for lunch to get out of the close to 90 F degree heat and sit in air conditioning for a bit.  We decided since no one was driving anytime soon and it was 1pm we could have drinks with lunch and take our women of leisurely time.  Then we stopped at one of my favorite little coffee shops Somethings Brewing.  We bought frozen icy eye opening beverages and started strolling down the Kalamazoo Mall shopping area where there was more art exhibits and all the stores were open for the fair. 

We continued to shop and sweat and have an all over wonderful time until 4:30pm when my mom had to head back to try and shower before a dinner reservation and Mike's mom remembered she had to be somewhere to pick something up by 5pm.  All over it was a wonderful day and I'm so glad that these two wonderful ladies have finally had a chance to spend time together. 

I feel lucky to have them both in my life and to have them get a long so well.

What wonderful thing have you done lately or in the not so distant past?

Beth Ann

I'm Grateful for Memorial Day Weekend

This is my first post to contribute to Maxabella loves weekly grateful posts.  Follow the link in her name to read other grateful posts or to post your own.

It is the last Saturday of the month and also happens to be Memorial day weekend.  Woohoo a three day weekend.  This weekend I have a lot to be Grateful for.

1) I'm grateful for 50% Goodwill saturdays.  Every last saturday of the month is a 50% off sale at Goodwill where I live.

2) I'm grateful that Foster the People's first CD came out this week called Torches.

3) I'm grateful that I have three days off this week.

4) I'm grateful to see my family from out of town this weekend.

5) I'm also grateful for having more time to ride my bike this weekend.

Beth Ann

Waiting

This week has required a lot of waiting.  I've been looking for a different job for the last year.  Every once and a while I'll get an interview but not too often. Well this week I had an interview and then an email from a different place asking about a phone interview.  So I gave them my availability and my contact information and they never called.  It's been four days.  The first two days I went straight home after work and waited in case they called.  Then yesterday I had to go to the laundry mat so I just went. Now today and Tuesday are the days I'll hear back about the regular interview for a second interview from the other place.  So I'm back at home waiting by the phone. 

I would just go and do stuff and say they have me cell phone number, which they do.  But what if they just call the home phone and not my cell phone and then I don't get home until after they are gone for the day.  That's it there goes my chance.  So I've been being extra careful by waiting at home.

Everything else has been going pretty good.  The interview stuff kept me busier during the week so I'm a little tired today.  It's also been gloomy outside for the last three days so I think that makes me sleepy too.

What are you waiting for?

Beth Ann

Foster the People-Torches

It finally happened.  After weeks of waiting Foster the People's first album is available at the itunes store.  It hit itunes on Monday but I was swamped and wasn't able to buy it until yesterday.  On first listen I was uncertain how I felt about it until I came to the last four songs.  That pulled it all together for me so if you do buy it and have already listened to the three songs that were available before I would recommend listening to the last two songs first and then starting the album from the begining.  It just is more fluid that way.  I don't know if it's because they released three really awesome songs before the full album or what.  I just really liked it better that way.

iTunes also offers a free song from the album on their main new music page.  I have been anticipating this album for atleast two months now and am so happy that its finally out.  There are a couple of songs on the album that are super happy and make me think of maybe a happy song you'd hear on Sesame Street, like puppets should be singing the songs.  There is also a lot of love and feelings in the words to the songs which I find really sweet and kind of romantic. 

The last song on the CD is my absolute favorite.  It's called Broken Jaw and it is a long epic song with high and low parts and then a little bit of a dance and drum beat in the middle.  It perfectly demonstrates their abilities as a band.  I've uploaded the Youtube video of the song to the left of this paragraph.  The picture it sits on is the cover of the album which is a super cute band of misfits with their torches.

 There are also other ways to get the album besides iTune which can be found on this page of their Web site.

I highly recommend this album to anyone who's listening.

What music has blown you away lately?

Beth Ann

Renewed Interest in GLEE

So I started watching Glee when it first came out but I drifted off for a while.  There were other shows on and I just completely lost interest.  Then one night, a couple of months ago, there was nothing else on so I ended up watching the first episode that had Gwenyth Paltrow and I was hooked.  Man she was hilarious on the show and I loved the songs that they chose for that episode.  I just think Holly Holiday was such a cool character.

I also was drawn in to the story line of Kurt switching schools because of being bullied.  I thought it was really interesting seeing him at more of an all boys prep school while secretly hoping he'd go back to the old glee club.  I also loved when the girls left the Cheerios.  I love all different kinds of clothes so it was really cool for me to see them reflect their personalities in their clothes instead of the constant cheer leading outfits. 

To top it all off they've incorporated some awesome dancing in the episodes which I can't quite seem to get enough of.  And they've made Britany's character so quirky and funny that I watch half the time just to see her incredible dance moves, what clothes she'll wear, and what her wild story line will be this week. I've got a You Tube clip below of her Fondue for Two show.

So if you haven't watched it or you used to watch it and stopped maybe you should give it a second chance.  I know I'm happy that I did. 

What show did you leave and then come back to?

Beth Ann

Sorry

I'm so sorry it's been so land since my last post.  I've been super busy lately.  I did laundry on Monday and then had a cleaning frenzy on Tuesday and now I'm just sleepy. Allergies are starting to wear me down this spring.

You all are in my thoughts and I will post an appropriately longer post super soon.

Beth Ann

I love a good story

I've been all about the good stories lately.  I've really gotten into reading other people's blogs.  I've read the Rob Lowe autobiography, finished a Dresden files book, and have moved on to Fleetwood, My life and Adventures in Fleetwood Mac.

I've been circling around this story for a long time and forgetting about it.  I've always had a bit of a soft spot for Fleetwood Mac.  I'd also always heard that there was difficulties in the band because of relationships between the male and female band members. To the point that partners were exchanged a bit and that there might be some scandal and hurt feelings there.

I haven't gotten far enough into it yet to find out about all that.  I probably wouldn't have even been interested in reading about them except they were the band featured for the songs on Glee a couple of weeks ago.  I've always wanted to read about them but at the same time had a tendency to forget that I wanted to read about them right after.

Yesterday I caught myself finishing a book and thinking it may be time for Fleetwood Mac's story.  So I rode my bicycle to the library to see if there were any Fleetwood Mac biographies there.  What do yo know there was and now I'm happily immersing myself in a book about the band that's story I've always wanted to read about.  It's funny how that happens.

A copy of the book can be found at Amazon.com

What have you always wanted to read but kept forgetting about?

Beth Ann

Florence and the Machine-Dog Days Are Over

The world has been greatly lacking happy get up and dance music.  You'll find a song here and there that really makes you want to dance around the house but they seem to be few and far between.  One of those songs for me is Florence and the Machines- Dog Days.

This song made me run out and watch Eat, Pray, Love the movie because the song was used in the movies trailer.  It is the ultimate girl dance around the house song.  I can't sit still if I hear it come over the radio.  It's not even just a sway about and enjoy the song type or a nod your head to the music type.  This is the kind of song that you should be jumping around the room to.  It has the ability to fill you with energy that you didn't even think that you had.

It can work as a motivational work out song or a happily cleaning the house song.  Either way it is awesome and I think the world is a better place for having songs like these in it.

What's your favorite dance around the room song?

Beth Ann

Rob Lowe- Stories I Only Tell My Friends

It's Mother's Day weekend and my boyfriends mother wants Rob Lowe's autobiography, that just came out, for her mothers day present.  I pick it up for my boyfriend and have already read a good review of it in Entertainment Weekly.  I have a couple of hours before he gets off work and figure it wouldn't hurt to read a little bit of the book before he gets home. 

Well now it is Mother's Day and I am halfway through the book and am pretty certain that I'll have to buy myself a copy.  I only have three hours before we see his mom and am doubtful that it'll be enough time to enjoy it without rushing through it. 

I'm totally surprised by this book.  I thought it would be interesting and have some great stories but it's more than that.  I've been watching him weekly on Parks and Recreation and I can hear his voice in my head as I'm reading the words.  He is a wonderfully descriptive writer and can easily convey his thoughts and feelings about situations in a way that you can see what he's saying.  He's very self aware.  I don't know if he's always been that way or if it comes with age. 

I would highly recommend this book.  At numerous times I've laughed out loud at it and his description of situations.  I'm also in awe of the stories of famous people that he has met and his tenacity to try and become an actor at such a young age.  He has great drive and determination.  He's also gotten lucky by different life situations such as his mom moving them to Malibu where he lived a couple houses down from Charlie Sheen, Martin Sheen, Emilio Eseves, and Chris and Sean Penn.  It seems odd hearing him talk of famous people that he went to middle school with that weren't famous at the time.  It makes you think that location has a lot to do with your opportunities and successes in life.

I'm really enjoying the book and will continue to purchase a copy for myself to read and then offer up to my family to read. I definetly recommend it.

You can find the book at the following Amazon.com link.

What wonderful books have you read lately?

Beth Ann

Adele-Rolling in the Deep

I read rave reviews of Adele's singing ability in Entertainment Weekly for months before I actually heard her sing something.  I didn't even realize that I was listening to her sing the first time I heard one of her songs.  It's used in the Trailer for a movie and the next day the song was stuck in my head most of the day.  Then a couple of weeks later I heard the song on the radio and they said it's by Adele.  I did not imagine that.  Her voice is just so full and rich.  It makes me think of an older black soul singer. 

I was really surprised when I found out that it was her.  Entertainment Weekly was right she just has an incredible voice.  There's no manipulation or over the topness to it.  The pure and untainted sound of her singing is just so full and alive.  I love it.  I have not bought her CD yet but definitely have it on my imaginary wish list. 

I do feel a bit guilty though.  I read an article about her saying that the songs on her albums are based on relationship break ups.  I hate to think that she has to go through emotional pain to produce new albums.  I'll still enjoy her music though.

What lady singer's voice can you not go with out hearing?

Beth Ann

Community Garden

The neighborhood that I live in is starting a community garden.  This is the first year which I'm sure will be quit a learning experience.  So far the garden has gotten a grant and there is money for the plants a sign and probably some benches.  But as usual the people may be the problem.  It appears there have been individuals that believe that they should have their own spot in the garden that belongs only to them.  I could be wrong but I am pretty sure that this defeats the purpose of just about anything with "community"  in the title.

These pictures are of the garden so far.

Why is there always someone out there that believes they deserve more then everyone else?

Beth Ann

P.S. A garden usually has an abundance of veggies.  I really don't think that anyone will be going with out any at harvest time.  What's the issue with sharing?

Jury Duty

I ended up having Jury Duty for the first time a couple of weeks ago.  It was weird I've never had to do it before so I wasn't certain what to expect.  It all started the night before my first day of jury duty.  You have to either call a phone number or check a Web site the day before you have jury duty to make sure that you have to show up.  My paper said that I was in Group 6 and they were on the list of people that had to report for duty. So I get there on Tuesday and have to go up to the fourth floor.  It's just a big room full of people and chairs.  There are two TV's both turned to HGTV some sort of home channel.  And there are vending machines, one had free coffee in it.  Other than that you just in a room waiting to be called.


Here's a picture of the courthouse:

It took an hour and a half to be called.  Then we were taken down to the court room and people were called up to sit in the jury box.  I was called as number 6 in the first round.  They asked a bunch of questions and removed people from the box to replace them with other people for hours with small breaks in between.  

We did get a lunch break that was an hour to and hour and a half long. At this time I got a sandwich from Irving Market and read a book in the park across the street from the courthouse.

Then the trial started.  We continued with close to that same schedule for two days.  Then on the third day we all showed up and were sent home because the prosecutor was in the hospital.  So the next day we showed up and were called back into the court room only to reschedule the trial and go home. Then a week later we were back in the courtroom for a day with really long breaks and finally we made it to the end of the trial and it was time to and discuss the case and decide if the guy was guitly or not. Which we were not allowed to talk about the trial with anyone up until that point.  But we had two extra jurors for alternates and they drew random numbers for two jurors to send home. 

I ended up being one of the two sent home.  I never got to discuss the case with the other jurors.  I wasn't able to find out what the verdict was.  I can't even find any information in the papers or online about whether or not the guy got a guilty verdict.

It was a really disappointing and frustrating experience after missing work and putting all that time into being a juror for nothing.

Does anyone else have any jury duty stories?

Beth Ann

The Rain

So we've had days upon days upon days of rain.  I know it's April and this is spring but come on.  Once all you hear is rain and flood warnings it gets a bit depressing.  Plus it's been so gray outside and it's hard not to be sad when everything seems so dreary.

But I think were getting close to the end of all this.  Halfway through the days of rain there was great sparks of vibrant green colors from the grass, trees, and flowers growing abundantly from all that rain.  It reminds me of how dreary and colorless things have a tendency to be in the winter.  To the point that little flashes of color make you happy. 

We are beyond the flashes of color now and hopefully embarking on the first day without rain in forever.  It is gorgeous outside and all the spring flowers are hitting a glorious bloom.  I can go for a walk and not worry about getting cold and wet just in time to smell the flowers.

What is your favorite thing about spring?

Mine is the beauty and excitement of all the things that looked sad and dead coming back to live in incredibly vivid colors and the promise of warm weather with lots of sunlight.

Beth Ann

I Love Free Stuff!

I like most people love to get things for free.  I also love to get things in the mail.  A couple weeks ago there was an article on Yahoo about free things that you could get online.  One of the options was signing up with this Web site that has a different free item every day at All You

Everyday I get a new email from them with a picture and link to the free sample of the day.  There's also coupons and give-a-ways.  So far it's been kind of exciting to see a new item in my email that I have the option to get a free sample of.

Some of the items so far have been samples of:

             -Arm & Hammer Tooth Paste
             -Nescafe Tasters Choice individual coffee packs
            -Seattles Best Coffee
            -Emergen C

And a variety of other things.  So now I get a chance at some free new item each day and something cool to appear in the mail at some unknown time in the future.  I've already gotten an Orville Redenbacher microwave popcorn pack in a bowl shaped popcorn bag so it can stand up and hold the popcorn for you.

So no matter what I have something to look forward to each day.  It's still exciting even I don't want to order the free sample.  Having the option seems to make it really fun.

What fun thing do you get for free or in the mail lately?

Beth Ann

Foster the People-Helena Beat

Today's the day that I go back to a music post.  Out of the three songs that Foster the People have out so far my favorite is Helena Beat.  It makes me think of some crazy meld between disco 70's and electronic music.  It is a really happy song that makes you want to dance around the house.  Here's a link to just the song over their EP picture:

I'm really impressed by this band because each song they have has a different style to it.  This songs more dance music, where as Pumped up Kicks was more of an EMO style.  Then their third song Houdini is closer in style to this song with a bit more electronic bits of sound set in it.

I'm also surprised by this band because they've been traveling all over for performances and playing at a lot of early festivals with out an album out yet. I feel like once they get a full album out they'll just blow up and everyone will know about them but right now there a bit of a secret.

Foster the People

I hope you enjoy the song as much as I do.  Tomorrow's post probably won't be about music, but we'll see.

Later,
Beth Ann

Laundry Day

I know I was going to talk about music in this on but I think I'll break it up a bit.  So today is laundry day and that isn't usually a big deal but I've put my boyfriend in charge of the laundry today.  He owes me I did a bunch of stuff for him last weekend, but he tends to turn it into an extravaganza.  The issues have already started to creep up.

First he suspiciously agreed to do the laundry with no argument.  That left me pleased but weary.  Then he casually mentions last night that he's going to do the laundry at the neighbor's house instead of at the laundry mat.  This is a giant no no.  The neighbor's house has a funky cat smell.  My house does not. So this gives the laundry a chance to take on a smell that it didn't have even when it was dirty.  I don't think so.

I'm going to be having Easter dinner a day early with my family while he does laundry after work.  So I have no way of making sure that he does not take the laundry to the smelly cat house.  But he did take the laundry with him to work which he wouldn't do if he was just taking it next door.  So that should have been the end of it but no when he chooses to do laundry he takes all the towels before I've had a shower and shoves them into one of the laundry bags.  Seriously?  I'm supposed to go with out a shower because your gracing me with your ability to do the laundry on a day that I'm visiting my family.  There was a bit of an argument and that situation was solved.

I don't get it. When I do laundry I have to notify him a head of time to get his laundry together.  When he does laundry I have to have my laundry together right now. Hurry Hurry Hurry.  When he wants to do something he takes his dear sweet time. When I want to do something he takes his time until I get him out of the house and then he's in a rush to complete everything as quickly as possible and get back to the house.

Do you think it's the difference between men and women that causes these situations or it's dependent on the type of person that you're in a relationship with?

Beth Ann

Foster the People-Pumped up Kicks

     I was driving down the road on sleepy morning in a crabby mood and Foster the People's song Pumped up Kicks started playing on 94.1 The Edge (http://www.941theedge.com/ ).  The second I heard the song I fell in love with it.  The main lyrics spilled through the speakers as if the singer was singing into a scratchy microphone from far away.  It was a strong voice the leads to a sleepy drifting chorus.  I found myself singing along to it the first time I heard it.  Normally after a song the station says the band and song name.  I was impatiently waiting to hear who it was and really wanted to by the album right then but they didn't announce the band or song name.

     A week later after jury duty on my way to the grocery store I hear the song again on the same radio station and this time they say that the band is Foster the People and that the song is Pumped up Kicks. The first chance I get I write it down so that I can look it up as soon as I get home. Once I got home I found out that they don't have a full album out yet and there won't be one out until May.

     They do have an EP available on iTunes so I downloaded that.  It's also available on Amazon.com at:
 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004ISMR6A?ie=UTF8&tag=columbia_records-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B004ISMR6A%3Cbr%20/%3E 
It has three songs.The other two I'll blog about next. I am completely blown away by this band and their music. Their songs make me feel happy and can turn around a crabby mood or a bad day and just make you want to dance. I've also be watching videos of their live performances and their as good live as they are on CD. It's awesome. An example is:

You can find more information about them on their Web site at  http://www.fosterthepeople.com/home/

     They make me want to share my interest in music with random strangers around the world. Maybe they'll do the same for you.  My next post will be about another Foster the People song called Helena Beat.

Beth Ann

Life with Music

     Ever since I got my first walkman I've been very into music. The walkman was a birthday present and I used it to listen to my first tape which happened to be Def Leppard. Since then I've listened to various radio stations, CD's, and went to whatever concerts I had time for.  Then I got sucked into working and going to college and had a giant lack of time for music.  So I've neglected my passion a bit and need get to back to my roots with it.

     I plan on doing that through the writing of this blog.  I'm going to write about music, songs, and bands that draw me in at the moment.  Because music has the ability to change your life and the way that you think about things.  It can create memories that you think of every time you listen to that one song and it can see you through good times and bad.  It never goes away or gets mad at you when you neglect and it has the ability to bring all different types of people together.

   So I'm going to share my thoughts, feelings, and emotions, about songs, bands, and such and it will be my contribution or way of giving back to all the wonderful experiences that have have arisen.

Talk to you later.
Beth Ann