Z is for Zaftig

zaf·tig

/ˈzɑf tɪk, -tɪg/ Show Spelled [zahf-tik, -tig]

adjective, Slang.

1.

(of a woman) having a pleasantly plump figure.

2.

full-bodied; well-proportioned.

 

Well-proportioned?  I guess so.  I still have an hourglass figure, it just tells a LOT more time now.

 

My back and feet are in near-constant pain ALL the time.  I know it's because of this extra weight I'm hauling around.  I'm looking in to buying something called Backjoy to help with all the sitting I have to do during my week.  If anyone has one and would like to let me know what they think of it, contact me!  I'm making other changes as well...

 

I've started going back to the gym and plan on continuing that in the New Year.  I clearly can't get in shape using food techniques as I am unwilling to give up bread, milk, cheese, and sweets.  So I'll just have to work my ass off (literally) at the gym.

 

I have a plan of action for this.  I love a good list!  I've written out my schedule for next quarter and I've apportioned time four days a week to make it to the FREE rec centers where I can work out.  Yeah.  They are free.  AND I sort of have the time.  The only thing keeping me from them is sheer laziness.  This is my last week of break before the new quarter starts so I'll be going at least three days this week (errands today, recovering from the party tomorrow, gym W, Th, F).

 

I'm getting this last bit of this year's Alphabet Soup in just under the wire.  A year or two ago, I noticed that it kept taking me longer and longer to finish my Soup.  I think I mentioned that eventually it would take the whole year and then the world would end.  It occurred to me this morning that the world WAS supposed to end this year - hah!

 

Auld Lang Syne, Ruth!

Y is for Yak

I WENT TO A YAK FARM!!

 

I totally blew off the schoolwork and went to a Yak Farm!  Our friend Jen (esteemed editor of Love of Knitting magazine) got us hooked up to go to the Bijou Basin Ranch , which, happily, is only about 45 minutes from my house!

 

The owners were funny and informative and lovely!  We asked all kinds of questions and they readily anwered every one of them.  Like we asked how long they live.  Carl said, "About 25 years, we've been told.  We've had them for about 6... [Pause]  So far, so good."

 

This is how close we got to be with the giants....

 

This snow-face one was my favorite!

 

We got to feed them alfafa treats and the babies were so cute!

Here's their scratching post.  The owners said it's a brush like they use for street sweepers.

There was also an enormous barn cat.  I couldn't get a pic of him next to anything for scale, but he's a good two feet tall! (and that's not even counting the tail)

After hanging out with the Yak, we went inside to ogle (coughpurchasecough) the yarn.  A lovely skein of DK may have followed me home.

Wishing the snow-face followed me home, Ruth!

X is for Xylography

Xylography means "art of engraving wood". 

I saw a pic of this online....

I was told it's a tattoo.  If it is, it's amazing work!

But I have to admit.....

When I first saw it, I thought it was a prosthetic wooden leg that had been beautifully carved.

Totally doing this if I ever lose a limb, Ruth!

W is for Women

Years ago, I read "The Handmaid's Tale" (by Margaret Atwood).  I loved that book.  It was so scary how they took away women's rights and then their freedoms.  It was insidious.  The right to have a bank account here, a right to vote there,  and before you know it - BOOM!! Women are put into categories of Gentry, Workers, and Breeders and that's all that's available to them. 

When I read the book, I remember thinking, "Wow.  That could actually happen.  It wouldn't even be that difficult."

Then, a couple of years after that, I read "Reading Lolita in Tehran" by Nazar Afisi.  As I  read, I thought, 'Holy shit, it happened.'  They took the rights of women away nearly exactly as it happened in the Atwood book.  Out of all the things in that book, I think what broke my heart the most was when the author's daughter came home in tears, "Why CAN'T I wear rainbow laces??"  That and when one of her students went on vacation and was reveling in the wind against her skin at the beach.  Things that women in this country take for granted as normal and everyday things.  Things that shouldn't be luxuries for women in other countries.

It also fascinated me how angry the women were.  They were angry at the men, of course, for imposing these ever-more ridiculous and confining restrictions on the women.  But they were also angry at themselves for allowing these restrictions to come in to play and become de rigeur.

I talked about all this on the blog years ago when I read these books.  I bring it up now because I've seen so many things this year that remind me of the ever-more ridiculous and confining things I've been  noticing lately.

Like this...

Back in late April, I saw this article.

It's all about how the Catholic Church devalues women.  Or at least that's what I took from it.  How can you say that what the men (archbishops and such) think is correct, but what the women think (nuns) is wrong and NOT be considered to devalue women?

And how does promoting charity and helping the poor make the nuns pro-choice?  Just because they are not touting that philosophy doesn't mean they don't believe it or care about it, and it most definitely does NOT mean they are promoting pro-choice!

Then there was this...
Terrorized on the commute - here
Basically, it's about a woman who commutes on a train and is constantly harassed when she just wants to be left alone to her reading.  She even encountered an obviously mentally ill man who harangued her to the point where she was forced to flee.

Mainly she has to deal with men sitting next to her, hitting on her using the pretense of asking about her book (when there's plenty of empty seats available).  If I knew her, I'd suggest she hand the book to some nearby, random guy and ask the guy hitting on her to do the SAME exact thing to that guy that he just did to her.  No?  You don't want to?  Why not?  Is it because if you did it to a guy it would be weird and creepy?  Well, guess fucking what.... doing it to me is JUST as weird, JUST as creepy, and JUST as unwanted.  Move along, dumbass.

Then there's the whole "legitimate rape" and various other dumbassery that went on during the campaigns.  What. the. Fuck.  The scary thing about that is that so many of the stupids that said that stuff actually BELIEVE it.  (Which, on a related note, also speaks to term limits.  When you have these ancient, pre-Civil War Rights movement people in office, there views aren't necessarily in step with modern times.  But that's a whole 'nother argument.)

In my own life, I can't stand it when customers call me Honey, or Baby, or Hon, or anything like that.  It's belittling and irritating.  I don't like it whether it's a man or a woman calling me that. 

Dave doesn't get it.  He thinks I take it too personally, and it's no big deal.  I tell him he doesn't get it because, as a man, it's something he NEVER has to encounter.  Sometimes when I want to push his buttons, I call him Sparky.  He hates that.  (FYI - we tease each other mercilessly, so when I do it, it's one of our gotcha things.)  I try to liken some total douchebag stranger calling me Hon to when I call him Sparky, but  he still doesn't get it.

On FB, there's so many women that let people walk all over them and all they do is whine about it.  Get a fucking backbone and DO something about it!  You have options.  And anyway, most of the slights they speak of don't even come close to the issues the nuns or even that commuter deal with on a daily basis. 

In this country, we, as women, are lucky enough to still have most of our rights.  For now.  We need to push to get them all (equal pay, etc.).  We also need to make strides to help women in other countries get theirs.  There are many charities that can foster education and independence among our sisters abroad.  Let's make 2013 a time when women of all types can have the same rights we do.  Let's make an effort.

Sisters all, Ruth!

V is for Vegas

Earlier this year, we had an opportunity to go to Vegas without the kids!

My mom was RVing through town with her husband, and she wanted to pick up the kids and RV them to CA.  It coincided beautifully with my best-friend-since-jr-high (N) going to Vegas with her husband and 4 or 5 other couples they are friends with.  I haven't been able to see N since my wedding in 2000!

Mom picked up the kids and they left the same day.  I didn't realize how unready I was to be without them for 5 days!  I almost started crying when they drove off!

After Vegas, Dave was flying home and I was flying to CA to stay with my mom for a few days and then fly home with the boys.  I was getting to CA at a time when mom didn't know if they were going to be there yet or not.  As we were saying goodbye in CO, she said, "Now there's a frozen dinner in the freezer.  You put it in the microwave for..."
Me: Mom.  I'm 42.
Mom:  You aaaaaAAARRREE?  [see where I get my sarcasm?]

So, Vegas....
Dave and I spent the first 2 nights in a boutique hotel that was far too cool for us.  Nearly everyone else we saw there.... all under 30 years old.  But we got it for free because we agreed to sit through one of those stupid timeshare talks.  The last 2 nights we stayed at New York, New York, which was where N and all her friends were staying. 

The first night there, we all met up at the Coyote Ugly bar and got completely smashed.  I think that Vegas trip was one long, tall drink.  I haven't stayed that consistently buzzed since my first weekend stationed in Germany.

The next day N had reserved a cabana at the NY, NY pool.  I showed up about 4p hung out for a few hours, and we all scheduled our evening.  N had also reserved a table at a nightclub (the one under the "Eiffel Tower" at the Paris.  Some of them were going to a show beforehand, and we were all going to eat together. 

I got my stuff and had dinner with them.  Then I took a nap in N's room and met them at the front door, dressed to the nines and ready to hit the club with them.  The ones not going to the show were going to go check in to get our table at the club.  It had to be claimed by 11:30p or they'd give it away and the show ended at 11p.

N and her husband (D) and I got to the club at about midnight.  When we were trying to find out where the table was, her friends texted her that we were "the table next to the terrorists".  Nice.  (N lives in Georgia, and most of her friends grew up there.)

What they were referring to was a table full of Sikhs.  Probably the second or third most peaceful religion in history. 

When we arrived, another of our crowd said, "If they leave all of a sudden, we're going too - before the bomb goes off."

Wow.

Except for N and D, I avoided them for the rest of the evening.  I headed to the dance floor where I spent most of the night!

I met my next husband there.

It was one of those dance floors where no one really dances with anyone in particular but dances with everyone around them. 

This beautiful, young Middle Eastern man starting dancing with me.  I was game so I started dancing with him.  He got closer and closer and then we started talking.  He's from Canada, he's there with a bunch of his friends, first time in Vegas, he's 24.  He says, "I'm hoping to make this trip really memorable."  Then he stops dancing, takes me in his arms, and says, "I got it!  Let's get married!!"

I said, "Oh.  Baby.  I am NOT the memory you're looking for."

He was so pretty, though.... very tempting....

I was floating between the dance floor and our table.  We had table service with about 4 bottles of vodka and a variety of juices.  We were also close to the bathroom, so we got to see all of humanity (and all their shenanigans) coming and going there. 

Beautiful Man ended up being one of the Sikh boys (although he was the only one beardless and not wearing a turban).  Later in the evening, I was dancing with all the other Sikh guys.  They were all huge!  Tall and husky everyone (except Beautiful Man who was just tall.  And beautiful.)

There were go-go dancers on platforms at this club.  When I was dancing with the Sikh guys, the go-go dancer nearest us left, and a skinny, male go-go dancer took her place.  He was dressed in a full-length wide skirt that would make Marie Antoinette jealous.  He was shirtless but had a series of stretchy straps going around his bony chest.  His knee-high, patent-leather, platform boots matched the white-with-tiny-black-polka-dots arm warmers, which also matched the fabric covering his face.

One of the Sikhs asked me what was up with that.  His English wasn't as perfect as his beardless friend.  He said, "Is that.... girl?  Boy?"
I said, "Oh, that's a boy.  We sometimes call them "Queens" when they dress so flashy."
You should have seen Sikh's face!  It was like a light bulb went on, and he said, "That explains so much!!"

I had a blast that night! 

The next day, N, D, and I walked to the Caeser's pool to check it out.  It was SO hot that I nearly started a fire with my thighs when we were walking.  I was wearing a long, thin skirt and a tank top.  I had a rub mark on my thigh by the time we got to the pool.  Nice.

Once there, we bought drinks, and for mine I chose a cranberry mojito.  Wow.  What a fabulous beverage for a hot day!!  When the liquid was gone, I went to have the bartender fill it with water.  Water, fresh-crushed cranberries and mint over ice.  Equally fabulous!  The bartender was very sweet.  He filled my cup many times for me.  I went back SO many times and he was very patient and refilled without complaint.  He also started giving me cranberry juice along with the water,  refusing any kind of payment I was trying to give him!  I tipped him a $20 when I left (the original alcoholic one was $26). 

Dave wasn't there for that either, as he was sitting at Poker tables most of the time.

Dave was nervous that I'd be mad he wasn't going to these N-planned activities (she actually sent us all an hour-by-hour spreadsheet with her planned things prior to our trip - love that girl!).  He said, "They're going to think I'm an asshole!" I told him, "This is your vacation, too.  They're going to think I'm an asshole if I make you go to this or that and you sit there bored and miserable the whole night! Go play Poker!!"

He had a good vacation, too!

Our last night, we played Poker together.  We were in a tournament with about twenty people.  N's husband and a guy she works with were also in the tournament. 

I took second place in that tournament and won $250 - Splee!!

All that time in Vegas and here's the only pic I took the whole time...

Do you see it?  It's a Gargoyle's profile in the shower...

I suck at Paint, but how about now?  Do you see it now?

My trip to CA was a good time, too.

My dear friend (also since jr. high), Peeps picked me up from the airport.  She and her wife took me to an amazing dive to have tacos ($1.25 each and the best I've had in years), then we went to her favorite dive bar and had a couple of beers. 

Her wife went home and her.... cousin? showed up.  He drove us to Hanford to drop me off at my mom's.  It's nearly an hour drive, and we were laughing our asses off the entire way.  Love those people!

Here's Peeps wearing the Thank You hat I made her.

 

Here's the two of us together (with a little monkey running up behind us to greet me!)...

CA was a great time, too!  I took the kids (and my mom) to Wild Water Adventures (which used to be Clovis Lakes when I was a kid) - it's a water slide funpark.

I took the kids to Yosemite, and to meet my dad (this was months before the disaster trip in October).  The last time my dad and his wife saw my boys, D2 was a babybaby, we're talking when he was roughly about 3 months old (so T would've been about 2 years old).

That Yosemite trip ended up being nightmare trip for us!  We were in the car for literally TEN hours.  Four hours to Yosemite. 

Great place that.  LOVE Yosemite.  The kids got to do a Junior Ranger thing...

They also got to climb rocks and trees and everything else that crossed their path....

We saw this really cool cabin....

 

Just kidding, it's a miniature vignette someone had made...

 



After Yosemite, we tried to find my dad's place.  I asked a Ranger the quickest way to get to Groveland.  He told me to go out the South gate.

 

WRONG. 

 

We should've gone out the North gate.

 

We ended up driving for TWO hours what should've taken about 30 minutes.  AND we ended up on a switchback highway for nearly all of that two hours. 

 

We got to see my dad and his wife for about 45 minutes.  We had pizza together, took some pics, then hit the road again to avoid having to drive home in full dark.

 

 

  Which we ended up doing anyway because it was already so late. 

 

Four hour drive home.  We got home around midnight. 

 

The boys were troopers.  They didn't complain and didn't ask me, "Are we there yet?"  Not once.

 

They did say that they never wanted to go back there again. hah!



On my last night in CA, I bought Me-n-Ed's Pizza for all of us.  I tipped the delivery driver $5, explaining that delivering pizzas for Me-n-Ed's was one of my first jobs ever.  Love that pizza!  Canned mushrooms and all!

I also met up with my high school sweetheart for a beer.

My high school sweetheart is roughly the same height as I am - 5'2".  He's always been an aficionado of classic cars.  He's got a '55 Chevy Bel Air wagon, a '57 Chevy truck he borrowed from his dad and just never gave back.  He used to have a '67 Chevy Impala (my personal favorite), but it got wrecked a few years back.

Anyway!  He shows up in a HUGE, modern truck.  Like obnoxious huge.  Like so big that when you opened the doors, it actually had little mechanical sidestep things that came out to help you get in to the cab of the truck. 

I was laughing my ass off!

We went for a beer, but had a hell of a time finding a bar.  Which is weird because small valley towns like Hanford are usually filthy with them!  We ended up at Chili's.  We had a beer, reminisced for awhile, and generally caught up. 

Both trips were a much-needed respite from the stress of our daily lives.

I miss my CA friends and family so much, and it's so nice to be able to finally see them all!  My mom wants to have the kids coming out in the summer become a yearly thing.  I'm fine with that! 

We used to go with my mom to see her sister (and family) in AZ every summer.  Not always the best time (AZ in the summer??) but it was time spent with family and that's a good thing.  If she wants them for awhile in the summer then Dave and I can have a vacation on our own (sweet!) and/or I can hang in CA for awhile with them (also sweet!).

Looking forward to the next summer's adventures, Ruth!

U is for Ulcer

Dave and I were up late last night.  We had all the gifts bought and wrapped for a few days already, but we were just hanging out together, basking in the glow of a Christmas we were both excited for.  First time in years that things were not stressful at this time of year.

Sure,  he would have to go work EARLY xmas morning (4a-ish) because it was supposed to snow (he does snow removal in the off-season of his landscaping business), but we'd already told the kids they could open one gift each, and then when he came home, they could open the rest.  They were fine with that!  We planned to let them open the video games we got them since we knew that would occupy them until he could get home.

Then the phone rang....

Dave's right-hand guy is a twat.  He goes by W, and he's about as useless as a fish on a bike.  Don't get me wrong, he does his job and he's good at that part (irrigation mostly, but he does all sorts of other stuff for Dave, too), but the man cannot make a command decision to save his life.  He calls Dave at least 4 or 5 times a day when he's working, and what takes most people 30 seconds to say, W takes 5-10 minutes to say.  One time he actually called Dave to tell him the address he was going to was Street instead of Drive.  Seriously??? Write that shit down!  Text if if you have to!  Don't waste Dave's time and stress levels by calling to have a ten-minute conversation about it!!

I keep asking Dave why he doesn't just fire W and get someone else.  Dave says he would never be able to hire someone who can do all the things W does at the salary W has.

All right.  So he calls at 11:20p on Christmas Eve, and Dave thinks he's calling to ask his usual inane questions about the plan of action for snow removal the next day (same questions EVERY time it snows).  He never calls this late, though.

Dave didn't get to his phone fast enough, so it goes to voicemail.  He comes back from our home office red-faced mad. 

W picked up the smaller truck with the snowplow on it (we have a bigger truck, too) to take it home so he'd have it super-early when the snow gets to the right depth.  Nothing unusual there. 

That idiot rear-ended a City plow truck!!  How the FUCK do you not see a giant City of Denver plow truck?? 

So great.  Not only will that cost Dave about $5,000 just to fix the plow (not to mention what it's going to do to his insurance), not only that, but now they have only ONE plow truck for xmas day's work instead of the two they will need.

Dave didn't sleep at all last night.

On a brighter note....

We did have a lovely xmas day!  Dave was home about 9a so we had the kids and all three of us adults (gma, too!) open our presents and hang out for awhile before he has to go back out.

I love our family so much! 

I love that Dave has started a tradition where he doesn't know what to get me so he goes to a department store to buy the ugliest thing he can find, forcing me to return it and get what I really want.  Cracks me up!  Last year it was a hideous holiday sweater, this year it's a giant purse (he knows I hate big purses).  He's the best!

And our boys!  We get them each a book every year and also an assortment of things they asked for.  I love that no matter how many things we get that they actually asked for, they always (without being asked/told) sit and read their books first!

Even the MIL was in a great mood this morning!

I feel awful for Dave having to work today (I also have to work today, but not until 4p), and I'm terrified for how much W's accident is going to cost Dave, but for now, this moment....

it's Christmas!

Merry All to All, Ruth!

T is for Tree



We got a free tree this year! 

 

Dave has a landscaping business.  On the off season he does things like snow removal and also puts up/takes down xmas lights for people.  The million dollar homes where he has a contract with the HOA....  he does lots of lights there. 

 

When he was putting up lights at one of those houses two weeks ago, he saw a tree across the street with a sign taped to it, "Free, in good condition".  So he loaded it up on his truck and brought it home!  I asked why they would throw out such a good (and obviously expensive) tree.  He said that house does at least six trees in their house every xmas!

 

We had to buy a new tree stand this year (ours broke last year), and when he tried to put it up he said, "I think I know why they gave it away."  First off, this thing is a beast!  It's easily 15' around the bottom.  He couldn't get it to stand straight.  We had to keep maneuvering it because it kept trying to lift the tree stand feet off the ground!

 

He finally got it straight and he put on the lights and tinsel, then T and D2 and I decorated it with all our ornaments.  I love decorating the tree!  I love going through all the ornaments and telling the kids what each one means or where it came from.  I keep all the ones they made in a separate box and we always put those up last!

 

Well this year we got to decorate the tree twice!  Just as we put the last ornaments on and stepped away, the whole damn thing tipped over!  Every single one of the ornaments popped right off!  Luckily, none were broken.

 

Dave came in and was very frustrated, "Well I don't know what to do!!"  he practically shouted.  I said, "I know what you can do.... you can take a breath and realize it's fine."  And he did!

 

He righted the tree and then he figured out that if he bolstered a couple of the tree stand legs with folded-up newspaper, it was much more stable.  He put the lights back the way he had them the first time, then the boys and I put the ornaments back on!

 

The tree is so big that the star isn't actually on top, it's sort of in front of the top branches.



 



 Those big white papers on the tree?  The kids decided to hang their xmas list on the tree this year.  Funny!

Another bonus of this new place is that we got to decorate the outside.  At our old place, the only thing that faced the street was the garage door, so we never decorated it.

Dave was actually excited about decorating the outside of the house!  I had no idea he missed it so much.  He did such a good job!  Simple but beautiful!

(That last pic is blurry, but our camera is crap and that's the best I could get.)

And now for a much-requested dead fish....

Knitting like mad to be done by tomorrow evening, Ruth!

S is for Starfleet

I joined the Starfleet group on Ravelry in January, 2011.  It's been such a boon for getting me to finish projects!  I had no idea I was so competitive!  I was all, whatever - it's fun but no big deal.  Then my friend Donna got ahead of me on points (and rank) and I was all, Hell no!  I'm such a dork!

This year I have finished:
Cowls - 2
Hats - 7
Ami - 2
Tiny things cranked out for points - 10
Slippers - 2 pair
Fingerless Mitts - 2 pair
Socks - 1 pair
Dishcloths - 31
Felted coaster - 4 (fail - but gonna fix them later)
Miscellaneous - 3
Cat Bed - 1
Ornaments - 3
Crocheted wire earrings - 1 pair
Shawls - 2 (although I guess, technically, they are mini-shawls)
Dyed skeins - 8 different colorways (2 each)
Blankets - sewed together 16 blocks for a baby that was born 2 years ago, and knit one block for my kids' blankets
Sweaters - 3

Phew! 

I'm only going to post the pics of the sweaters I finished...

This is what I made for the knittingi olympics this year:



I cranked this bitch out in ELEVEN DAYS!!!  I adore it and because of the speed, I am now in love with chunky yarn.

Here's the Pioneer I finished (although I need to make the edging on the sleeves match better):

 

 

Here's my favorite of the year:

I have a favorite yarn.  It's Cascade Waterlily.  I had about 850 yards of black and wanted to make this sweater.  I started the sweater knowing full well I didn't have enough black to finish it.  I figured I'd buy more.  

It's discontinued.  Awesome.

I went to Ravelry.  I found a person willing to sell me 10 skeins of it at about half price!!  So I was able to finish my sweater and am in the same boat I started with concerning the yarn - I have about 850 yards of black left!  hah!

As I was trying to figure out if I'd have enough, I worked the sweater (it's top-down) to the arms, did both arms, did the hood (which took nearly THREE skeins!) and then kept going down the sweater until I ran out.  That Raveler saved the day, and I adore this sweater!

Here's my favorite hat for the year:

T kept saying he wanted an 8-ball hat.  Don't know why it had to be that, but he was all, "Is it done?  Is it done?  Is it done?"  Every day.  I finally finished it in October so he could take it on his 6th grade trip. 

Why is it my favorite?  Was it especially easy or especially challenging?  No.  Was it so cool I couldn't stand it?  No. 

It's my favorite because he's worn it EVERY day since I handed it to him.  I finally got him to let me wash it last weekend. 

I've still got missions to finish before the year ends.  I'm going to dye more yarn for most of this month's missions.  I've got a hat (almost done with that), an edging on a towel (sounds simple but takes forever), a tiny zombie (#3 of a set of 3 I've made this month), and, if I'm feeling really brave, I  may attempt to sew something.

Planning my knit-list for next year, Ruth!

R is for Rampage

I got another "raise your hand poll"...

Raise your hand if you are ready for this year to just be OVER.

 Two shooting rampages in one year? 

Dave and I were coming back from a really nice time of xmas shopping, we'd had a nice lunch together and the moment we walked in the door to our house, there's the MIL watching the breaking news.

The Aurora Theater shooting was not 10 miles from our home.  This latest madness involves killing an entire classworth of kindergartners.

Then the Facebook bullshit starts flying. 

I own guns.  I'm not against background checks and waiting periods (although I DO think they are just a salve for the masses.  If someone wants a gun, it's easy enough to get one illegally.).  I also think it should be illegal for citizens to have assault weaponry.  That being said, I ALSO believe that placing blame anywhere but squarely on the shoulders of the killer is ludicrous. 

Dave brought up the point that if that man walked into the classroom with a tray of arsenic-laced cupcakes, we wouldn't ban KitchenAid.

And all those people that jumped on the "You're not taking MY guns away"... calm the fuck down.  And hey, as long as it's all about you, right?

Then there's the winners who were posting a t-shirt that said:
Dear God, why did you let this happen at my school? Signed, Concerned Student
Dear Concerned Student, I'm not allowed in schools.  Signed, God.

Which is essentially blaming the victims, so that's nice.  (Dave also pointed out that God is the CORNERSTONE of the Church and is also a large part of Boy Scouts, so what happened there?)  (Love that guy!)

And the media.  Shut the fuck up!  They were talking to profilers before they had ANY information other than there was a school shooting.  What are they profiling??  And everyone's begging for a motive. 

Does a motive matter?  Will it bring anyone back or assuage any of the pain for those left behind?  As if knowing this mentally ill person's motive will stop the next mentally ill person.

Bottom line, it is a horrible, horrible day in our history.  I wish I could bring all those people back and give them a do-over.  I wish that boy got the mental health help he needed. 

I wish this year was over, Ruth!

Q is for Quirks

Speed limit at my local Target....

This is the wild side of the street.

Across the street it's only 12 1/2.

Wondering how one clocks this, Ruth!