Perfect Blue Buildings

What cha been doing?

2010-02-11T21:52:00.003-05:00

Lets see how long, or short, this post will be. It'll all depend on how long I can entertain my train of thought. Where have I been? What have I been up too? Whats been rambling around in my brain? This blog, which once was a fair depiction of my life has been moved to the brain dump terrain of Twitter, and the laughs of Facebook. I have found most of my blog buddies on both platforms, and this continues to make me happy. I like the challenge of off loading my brain in 140 characters, and spitting out a totally stupid comment on some random persons wall. It seems to suit my life. Obviously, not enough, or this blog would have been deleted long ago. I view this blog almost like I view permanent sterilization in concerns of not having anymore children. I know that I don't want more kids, but still won't commit to permanently enabling it. Ya know?

As I've hinted in some of my more recent blog post, I have been exploring my place in the fringe. I've always been a bit "off", not in the "crowd", a minor character you never forget, the one you can never nail down to anything. I watched others struggle with my position, almost laughing while shrugging it off. No, I wasn't bothered by it. Why should I be? I am not the way I am to be malicious to others cores, it's not intended. Those who are close to me, I suspect, know this. Still, I can be a handful. I am becoming more aware of my quirks, things that need to be done, in a certain way, for a positive outcome. It's those bits of clarity where I can see sharply the effect my movements, attitude, space issues, have on situations near me.

What got me thinking tonight was something I heard at a meeting at my sons school. The head of school, in talking about the vision of the schools teaching message said "It's not about pressure. Or what University you attend, your job. It's about whether you can look back, after a long, full filled life and say that it was worth it". I instantly recalled all the times I told my son, I helped him to find decent learning environments because I didn't want him to have to struggle like I had. He once asked me if my mom had said that to me. I didn't think long before I said that she hadn't. I then began to question myself I why I was telling him this. Was my life horrible? No. I guess, now a days, the incredibly intense moments are hiding amongst the dull, slow speed crap of everyday existence as others want us to know it. I will now admit that I wanted to be a doctor. I wanted to go to med school for oncology. At the time, I never said that was what I wanted to do. I don't know why. No one explained AP classes to me, I took what I needed too to get out. In high school, I was required to meet with my guidance counselor to discuss my profession. I told him I wanted to be a doctor. He chuckled, saying I wasn't academically smart enough. I can say now that I am smart enough. I should have been a doctor. I would have been great, though not embraced by the collective of the mainstream medical society.

With that I leave you with Dream, drawn by Yoshitaka Amano. Ah, Gaiman. I'll save him for another post.

Can we say Olympics...yet?

2010-01-08T22:58:00.003-05:00

I'm a fan of the Olympics. The 2010 Winter Games could get even cooler for me. My nephew (by marriage), Danny Davis, is in serious line for a podium spot on the U.S. Snowboard team. If he gets it, he'll be the second person in my husbands immediate family who has been an Olympian. The first being my husbands older brother. He was on the U.S Wrestling team. Check out this video of Danny, he's a great kid.

VIDEO: Danny Davis Q&A">

Merry Christmas, England!

2009-12-20T14:27:00.001-05:00

Lucky dogs! You all get a FREE show outta this!

Funny things I learned on Twitter.

2009-12-03T21:20:00.002-05:00

My life is not profound. I am sure it is. The portion of my brain that would recognize this, I'm sure, is clouded. I at least now recognize the boughts of clarity. This is a start. What rattles about in my head, is not projected out via my exterior. My wrapping is of neutral order. I awkwardly blend in, always knowing the public is denied access to my orchestral singularity. Despite several marginal similarities, I am not part of the group. I may join, sometimes reluctantly, smaller groups. A knitting group, a fund raising function, a playgroup for my youngest. Each of these is entered into on a set tolerance of the group. I take each experience for what it is, quickly identifying mundane nonsense, and come and go as I please. How this plays out keeps it interesting.

Amanda Fucking Palmer tweeted a link to a video she made for Tegan and Sara's song "Hell". I've watched it a dozen times, in awe of her expression and body language. I learned about myself. I connected to a brief moment of clarity.

Will the economy really push Mr. Vog to this?

2009-06-04T17:37:00.003-04:00

When you have no money in the bank for the mortgage that is already due, desperation sets in. When the trucking company your husband works for in the United States falls short again, and again, and again.... When all the people who have bailed your family out financially can't help anymore you start looking for cash in ways that you'd never imagine. If THIS is all there is out there to keep a family from the streets, than you KNOW the country you call home is totally fucked. I'm not sure I am strong enough to allow someone who is my world, to do THIS to make sure his family is okay in this country. It is a long clip, but please watch it to see what has been asked of me by my husband. I DON'T THINK IT IS WORTH THE RISK FOR FUCKING SURVIVAL IN A FREE WORLD! This driver was a civilian contract truck driver in Iraq. Notice the tipped over truck in front of the driver who is filming this. The driver of the fallen truck did not live.

Ah-hum.

2009-05-17T20:31:00.004-04:00

If we're taking it back a few years, allow me to refresh my memory. This is from September 2006.

Sunday: Attended a family birthday party in which no one in my family was having any fun. We all tried sticking it out, but after my crying son begged to leave 3 different times, my hubby pulled the plug on it and escorted us all to the car. This sucked. Who likes to leave a 5 year olds party on a wave of drama? Family behavior is a harsh reality, for both sides involved. Family and friends, at times, don't mix well together. Normally, I would choose blood family over friends. Lately, it seems that blood is not thicker than water, and that friends on both camps are becoming more like our family than our family is.

Unconditionally.

This blog needs a overhaul.

2009-04-14T16:09:00.003-04:00

I am tired of the look of my blog. I have been trying to find a template that expresses my inner bullshit. I need to re-do the blogroll, as it hasn't been touched in a million years. Some of the blogs listed aren't even there, or have change with the times. Plus, with the existing layout I can't seem to have a followers section, or include twitter updates.

Maybe when it is lookin' all perty I'll post more...doubt it. Oh, and I am done making excuses about why I don't blog. If I post something, read it. If I don't post quick enough for your liking and you are sick of checking on it, I suggest a RSS feed thingy. Or, you can complain in the comment field and my staff will get back with you. It is what it is.

Mobile blogging is fine, it just doesn't allow decent character length for good posts...

2009-04-12T22:00:00.000-04:00

Another holiday celebrated. Nice to see my family. I ate so much food, I feel sick. Too many sweets that my body isn't used to anymore.
For more up to date Camie fun, you can find me on FB or twitter

Ah-oh! I can blog through my phone!

2009-03-04T11:50:00.000-05:00

Maybe mobile blogging is what this blog needs. I spend more time utilizing the web wonders with my phone, it was only a matter of time before I figured out how to navigate Blogger with it.

Two words....

2009-02-19T13:36:00.000-05:00

"Fucking lazy"

What about me?

2008-12-14T16:23:00.003-05:00

Got this little meme from Truck Driver Wife. The colored ones represent what I have done. And per usual, I tag no one, but feel free to play along if you wish.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang/played a solo

11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea (from the shoreline)
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France

20. Slept on an overnight train

21. Had a pillow fight

22. Hitch hiked

23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill

24. Built a snow fort

25. Held a lamb

26. Gone skinny dipping

27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice

29. Seen a total eclipse

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset

31. Hit a home run

32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors

35. Seen an Amish community

36. Taught yourself a new language

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person

39. Gone rock climbing

40. Seen Michelangelo’s David

41. Sung karaoke

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight

46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing

49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling

52. Kissed in the rain

53. Played in the mud

54. Gone to a drive-in theater

55. Been in a movie

56. Visited the Great Wall of China

57. Started a business

58. Taken a martial arts class

59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen

61. Sold Girl Scout Cookie
62. Gone whale watching
63. Gotten flowers for no reason

64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp

67. Bounced a check (once too many times unfortunately)

68. Flown in a helicopter

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy

70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial

71. Eaten Caviar

72. Pieced a quilt

73. Stood in Times Square

74. Toured the Everglades

75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London

77. Broken a bone

78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican

82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating

88. Had chickenpox

89. Saved someone’s life

90. Sat on a jury

91. Met someone famous

92. Joined a book club

93. Lost a loved one

94. Made a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law sui

98. Owned a cell phone

99. Been stung by a bee s

Excuse me, but I've been on Tour...

2008-11-15T16:07:00.003-05:00

Guitar Hero World Tour, that is....

I had this birthday, eh, last month, and, eh turned 40. This was the gift that made me feel fine about being, eh, old. Cappy, you will get this for Christmas so I can feel even better when I kick your ass!!

Mr. Vog and Beanie take a trip!

2008-10-13T13:01:00.004-04:00

To California!!! Mr. Vog and little Beanie flew out to San Francisco three weeks ago to attend Chris' funeral. They stayed a week, and as you can tell, despite the circumstances, they had fun. It was important to us that Beanie accompany Mr. Vog. We knew that her endlessly happy spirit would help to put a smile on everyone's faces. Plus, she got to meet her paternal grandparents for the first time, as well as 3 uncles, 1 aunt and many cousins.

Here they are with Papa A. riding his horse, Romeo, for the first time.
Bareback, even!!

Auntie B, Mr. Vog's sister owns an Old Time Photo Studio! Look how cute she made them look!!

Beanie expressing to her Dada that her bedtime past many hours ago. These photos were taken after 11pm! This one makes me laugh, because she looks so pissed and beautiful at the same time. The boa is a good touch.

No matter what, she always has a glint in her eye!

Thank you so much for the great photos, Auntie B! You are amazing!
Lots of love to you, and we think of you constantly!

Vog Family Sadness...

2008-09-14T11:20:00.001-04:00

Our Family mourns the unexpected loss of a much loved family member. We received word last night that Mr. Vog's nephew, Chris, was killed in a car accident in California. There have been many tears, mixed with disbelief, shock, and confusion. We wait on pins and needles for any information. At this point, it'll be Tuesday before there is a positive identification by the police and family. We are SO SAD.

Below are pictures of Chris, which are posted with much love from all of us in Michigan.

WE LOVE YOU CHRIS!!

Chris and his girlfriend at our wedding

Chris playing with his little cousins C and Z.

Chris and Mr. Vog after our wedding

Chris holding little Beanie. This is my favorite picture of him.

Chris holding his finger up to Beanie's toe.

And finally, the most important picture... Chris with his mother (Mr. Vog's sister), celebrating her 50th birthday last month.

Chris, you grew to be a great man.
xxoo

Michael Phelps endorsing Ann Arbor and Visa.

2008-08-14T09:57:00.002-04:00

As the Olympic stud, I mean, swimmer strokes his way to as many medals as humanly possible, lets take a peek as he wanders through the streets of Ann Arbor. Obviously, that cool Visa enabled phone is burning a hole in his pocket. The area featured is State Street, between Liberty and William. You'll notice Shaman Drum bookstore, and of course Amer's Deli. Listen close as he'll say "sammitch".

Little Man- Troublemaker?!?

2008-07-27T16:25:00.005-04:00

I'm such a mystery

As anyone can see
There isn't
Anybody else
Exactly quite
Like me'

And when
It's party time
Like 1999
I party by myself
Because I'm such
A special guy

I'm a troublemaker
Never been a faker
Doing things
My own way
And never giving up
I'm a troublemaker
Not a double taker
I don't have
The patience
To keep it
On the up

"Troublemaker" by Weezer

Little Man (LM) is my son. He is 6. When he was one, his favorite toys were flash cards. Our house was littered with ABC's and 123's. He would line them up in their proper order and say the letter names phonetically. He grouped numbers to 100, then by 2's, 3's, etc. He would go insane if you messed up their "order". Puzzles were fun one time only, all done correctly no matter how many pieces there were. He loved (and still loves) television, and would watch it only if the closed caption option was set on the set. He refused to speak until he was 2 1/2 years old. He spent over a year in speech therapy, from 18 months to 2 1/2 years. It did no good. He communicated using sign language that I taught him. He taught himself how to read at the age of 2. I knew he could speak, because he would read out loud to himself if he thought no one was in the room. I mentioned this to his speech therapist, she insisted to have him tested for autism. On his 2nd birthday, he took their autism test. I told the therapists that he didn't have autism, that he was just very smart. They told me I wasn't objective enough, I was his mother...what did I know? When the results came back, the report confirmed my opinion. He did not have autism, and that he exceeded the tests scale of 48 months. Yep, he showed them he was very smart. The systems only solution was to continue speech therapy, and I was told "have fun educating him". Uh-huh. Thanks for nothing. When LM decided to speak, he was 2 1/2, and he spoke in complete paragraphs. He hasn't shut up since.

On to education. He went off to pre-school and would read to the kids in his class. He drew elaborate pictures of the solar system, he socialized and had fun. They let him rule his roost. Sadly, kindergarten came and I watched him become sullen. He was convinced he had been placed in the wrong class, telling me and his teacher that he really needed to be in at least first grade. He didn't understand that he couldn't just move up to where he "needed to be". He questioned why I wasn't helping him convince the school that he was in the wrong place. Behind the scenes, I was helping him, I thought. I was in contact with the principle, his teacher, telling them he needed harder work to do. All they would focus on was his "aloofness", his "attitude", his "disrespect for authority and his peers". He was deemed a troublemaker, and spent most of his day in "time-out", and when that didn't show any positive results he was sent to the principles office. 4 times in the head of the schools office in one year, 3 of those times were between April-June. He had had enough, as did his teacher, the principle, and finally, me. Despite trying to be proactive from the very start of the year, my communications with his school dwindled down to me getting an earful from the principle about my parenting skills. NO ONE listened to me about how perhaps he was academically gifted, and was bored with their curriculum. I was told that "every child is gifted, and that our school district is challenging enough for his needs". Uh-huh. The last week of kindergarten, I started looking for a school that he would fit into. One that would not let him waste an entire year learning things he learned when he was 2 and 3. The day after kindergarten ended, he went to the University of Michigan School of Psychology where he took an IQ test. I resisted this type of testing, and only relented when it was a requirement for admissions to a gifted school in Ann Arbor. The test was supposed to take 2 hours. He completed it in 1 hour. The results again confirmed his skills. He is eligible to join Mensa. His score is higher than George W. Bush, and that isn't saying much for GW (nah-nah GW, your were beat out by a 6 year old). GW can't join Mensa. Mensa, in my opinion is over rated anyway. Unless they help provide grants for exceptional kids who need financial assistance for private schools, they are of no use to LM. He is not concerned with status.

He was accepted into a great school for gifted kids. It is a private school. The tuition is 1/3 of our household income per year. We applied for, and were granted a scholarship. We qualified for a full ride, but the schools budget only was able to give us 50%. I am now trying to find the other 50% any way I can. The school is willing to match any amount that is given to the school in my sons name. All monies collected will go to helping off set the remaining balance of his tuition. If anyone out there has any solutions for us in concerns of obtaining funding for LM's tuition, please let me know. If you, or anyone you know, is interested in helping an extremely gifted kid from a financially strapped family, reach his academic potential send me an email, or leave a comment. I am also open to any avenues of organizations who could assist. Bob C.- do you have any suggestions?? Finally, I will mention that LM has been promoted to SECOND GRADE. Yeah, the gifted school feels he's able to skip a grade! Go figure!

"A Rivers Runs Through It..."

2008-07-12T19:09:00.003-04:00

Thanks to Red wishing Mr. Cuomo a happy birthday, I now have a new band obsession. I never paid Weezer much attention. I heard their hits on the radio, read silly stories about Rivers (my favorite: he lost his wallet at a show, some fans found it and returned it to him... In appreciation, he gave them his Harvard student I.D. The fans promptly turned around and sold it on eBay for $2500.00) and that was as far as it went. After the visit to Red's blog, I began hearing some of their new songs on XM. Curious, I splurged and spent $9.99 of my iTunes gift card for the Red Album. I can't get the songs out of my head, I can't stop reading about Rivers- he is strangely fascinating, and I secretly wish I could invite him over so we could hang out... I am pathetic. Hubby rolled his eyes at me when I said, "If more people like Rivers were in my life, I might be more interested in people". It's true....

Here is my favorite song off of the Red Album. It is a fan photo compilation, since Weezer hasn't made a video for this song, yet. It's called "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived". All right then, back to my iPod.

The new computer has arrived.

2008-06-11T21:16:00.002-04:00

I am back to speed with this fantastic new computer my mom gave me for an early birthday present. It is the first NEW computer I have ever owned. I love it. I will be back fairly soon with a new post about the recent death of my first boyfriend. I am still digesting the news, and the circumstances concerning it, but will have a regurgitation of my feelings about it sometime over the weekend.

Oh, the weekend.

2008-06-01T19:09:00.002-04:00

Another week has gone by without the internet. In some ways, it is good. No pressure to visit the blogs (though I do miss my blogmates who still stay in touch with me), no time wasted looking at stupid stuff that in reality is nothing but diversions to what I really should be doing.... I did miss the ability to use it as my endless source of reference to anything I need to look up. Important information like what is the songlist for Guitar Hero On Tour for the Nintendo DS, and has Dell lowered the prices on my ultimate new desktop which now needs to be purchased since the old PC has been given the death sentence from my trusty computer guru. Yeah, poor old system has suffered hardware issues created by suspected overheating. Looks like that great computer hutch my dad gave me wasn't allowing the computer to "breathe" like it needs too. Oh well.

Luckily, I have been able to borrow a laptop to get me by until some money comes my way for the new system. I am a great hermit, who rarely socializes due to my kids, ah that's an excuse...I have trimmed the fat of friends when I admitted to myself that I can't stand to expose myself to stupidness of others for long periods of time. My stupidness, well, I can deal with it just fine. Anyways...the friends that I do have around me are great people who never hesitate to lend a helping hand when it is needed. Thanks Fluffy, and Mikey for your assistance.

In other news, I am getting over my depression caused by the Detroit Pistons elimination in the Eastern Conference Basketball playoffs.

Hope all is well with my mates who remain...

Houston, we have a problem...

2008-05-23T20:50:00.001-04:00

Hey everyone. Well, hi to those who still come around here.

My home PC is having some major problems, which need to be dealt with by someone who has greater computer experience than I am able to muster (please Mikey!! Help me soon!). I am using my hubby's laptop to write this post. Of course, this is his work laptop which leaves with him come Monday. So unless my computer guru feels really sorry for me, I'll be out of the loop here until hubby returns next week... Fuck, another week without the internet.

Epcot emailed me...

2008-04-22T08:42:00.002-04:00

These images were taken on the Spaceship Earth ride at Epcot. When you exit the ride, you see your smiling face on a huge projection screen. There are several computer kiosks that enable you to send the image to your home PC. How cool is that?

We're back!

2008-04-12T23:09:00.002-04:00

It was fun. More later, I am still recovering.

Going on vacation.

2008-04-06T16:29:00.003-04:00

Look! The entire Disney family has invited us to dinner, and we accepted! We are embarking on a 4 day 3 night adventure on Tuesday. Our first vacation since LittleMan was 10 months old. Ah, yeah, he'll be 6 on April 20, so its been a long time. I can't believe we are doing this. It'll be insane. I'll let you know how it all goes when we get back.

CamieVision has returned!

2008-03-16T10:56:00.004-04:00

In association with DrunkPunkTV,
CamieVision is pleased to present
her first video of 2008. Click and

ENJOY

(hey Dinners or Cappy...do you have a copy of my cartoon image? You know, the ones we used to use before our videos.... If so, could one of you email it to me? Thanks)

When I complete Guitar Hero 3, I'll move on to this...

2008-03-14T13:53:00.001-04:00

Thanks go out to Fluffy, who found this little gem.

My Dad.

2008-03-09T11:00:00.002-04:00

This is a great picture of my Dad. Fluffy snapped it at Beanie's birthday gig. He'll be 73 this year. He looks so sweet here. So sweet, he couldn't even harm a possum...Or could he? I'll spare you all the "possum" story, as I am sure it is bound to offend very sensitive animal lovers. Let's just say, his beloved outdoor cat can rest assured that nothing will ever mess with its food and heated living conditions on my dads watch.

Oh, yeah...the party pictures...

2008-02-22T08:21:00.007-05:00

Introducing Fairy Princess Barbie!

I honestly can't believe that I made this cake! As a child, I always hated Barbie. Now, I repent, with a Barbie cake for my girl. She LOVES dolls.

We take such great pictures, don't we? Here she is getting ready to throw the menu at her dad.

Beanie with her doll hating Mama...

The end of the party. Sadly, I have no cake smashing pictures. She wouldn't smash it! It even took forever trying to get her to pull the doll out of it. The cake footage is on the viddy camera, I'll try to lift some stills off of it. The boy on my lap is my "sister-wifes" son. We are stuffing our faces with Andes mints.

Next post: "Our first real family vacation"

Beanie is ONE today!!

2008-02-14T20:03:00.005-05:00

Crazy, beautiful girl!

Oh, so serious. Don't you love the hair doo!?! She doesn't. We can't say the word "hair" around her. If we do, she immediately takes out what ever hair accessory is in her hair. Speaking of hair, I think she needs another haircut soon.

I can't believe a whole year has passed. It doesn't seem possible. Oh, did I mention that she is walking all over the place now?? Nothing is safe.

I'll post more pictures of her party and the cake smashing business on Sunday. We are having the big event on Saturday evening.

Her birthday date is Feb.15! I started this post on the 14th, waited until after midnight to post it, and ended up with a date of Feb 14...

Happy Valentine's Day!

2008-02-14T19:58:00.003-05:00

Nothing like some Heart Grenade Mittens to deck out ones hands on a cold Valentine's Day!

Pattern was obviously inspired by Green Day.

Geez! My fingers hurt!

2008-02-08T09:11:00.000-05:00

"Mama, this sweater looks too small for me..."

"Yes, I know Beanie. I made it for your first birthday."

"Ah, mama, today is my 16th birthday/:

"I know. I just finished it. I guess I was too caught up playing Guitar Hero 3 when you were one."

Yes, my obsession with GH3 has now reached critical. I have discovered that I can connect that precious Wii to the internet via our WiFi network. That poor little girls sweater has hit the wayside.

"Okay kids, off to bed... Yeah, I know it is only 6pm, but mommy has a GH3 tournament to play..."

After I beat the game on easy, I got a little bored with it. I found medium too hard, wah-wah-wah, using four frets and all. When I realized I could hook up online and play against other people with lots of time on their hands I became an animal all over again. Medium it is. I practice and battle little dweebs all over the planet now. "Bulls on Parade"? No fucking problem, I roast you! Ooooh, slippin' in a little Killers? Take that, you 16 year old pansy! ZZ Top, you fucking fossil, I got that covered too!

Really, though. I am not that good. I routinely get my ass kicked late at night when the experts come out. Plus, it didn't help that I was stuck on battling Slash in my own game. Between a glitch in the program that locked the system up whenever I was winning, and the intense quickly developing pain in my knuckles it took me 2 days to crush him. LittleMan was actually the one who helped me by shouting out when to launch attacks on Slash. As Ron says, just a little bonding with my 5 year old over GH3 was all it took. Now, I can advance onward to the other songs in order to practice and continue my quest for greatness on the WFC circuit. So, if any of you are bored and want to battle me, email me your friend code, and I'll do the same so we can rock out. I know Cappy has a Wii, I am just waiting for him to get the game... Come on Cynnie, get your system going!!

Oh, yeah, that sweater...better get to it before my girl spawns a grandkid for me...

Attention! Blogger birthday alert!!

2008-01-31T09:39:00.000-05:00

Fluffy is 50!!!

Happy Birthday to you! Lots of love from the Vog Family!

Oh, um, ah... Now back to CNN...

2008-01-24T21:13:00.000-05:00

83% John Edwards
82% Barack Obama
81% Hillary Clinton
81% Chris Dodd
79% Bill Richardson
71% Mike Gravel
69% Joe Biden
65% Dennis Kucinich
49% Rudy Giuliani
42% John McCain
40% Tom Tancredo
39% Mike Huckabee
32% Mitt Romney
27% Fred Thompson
23% Ron Paul

2008 Presidential Candidate Matching Quiz

Click, click, click goes the sound of knitting needles

2008-01-21T09:49:00.001-05:00

Here are a couple of things that have come off the needles recently.

Target Wave mittens, from the book "Knitting Nature" by Norah Gaughan.
Interesting to knit, though the pattern had a little errata issue in the thumb gusset. Of course, I didn't catch it until the mittens were done. And, in normal Camie fashion, I was too discouraged to even rip it out and do it over. They are knit in Alpaca.
A certain, lovely blogmate received these for Christmas.

Below: A hexagon scarf, also from the "Knitting Nature" book. This is knit in Baby Alpaca. Obviously, I love Alpaca. If I had more room in my backyard, I would own a Llama!

By now, I have completed the 3rd hexagon...

Next, I will be starting Little Beanie's 1st Birthday sweater. It is also from the "Knitting Nature" book... It is called Turbulence U Neck. The yarn should be arriving this week. I chose a nice lilac color, since she looks so great in purple. The pattern, has been modified from an adult pattern. I hope I modified it correctly.... Because, as you can see from the mittens, I hate ripping things out.

Turbulence U-Neck
Photo: courtesy of Knit-picks

Camie's High School Musical...

2008-01-05T09:43:00.000-05:00

Dear Santa,
This is Camie, from Ann Arbor, Michigan. I wanted a podcast of my very own from my favorite, loverly, big-hearted softy from Middlesex...and a stick, unless you have any extra grenade launchers...but I'll take the podcast first...

I love you Santa Dinner's!

xxoo

Camie

This is the comment I left on Dinners Blog. If you ever listen to his podcasts, you'll get the joke of the comment. I have been eagerly anticipating this podcast. What a great way to start my New Year. Ever since Dinners and Cappy started doing podcasts, they have been the only musical entertainment allowed in my vehicle and Mr. Vog's BigRig.

Camie's High School Musical-the Podcast!

The content of this podcast is extensive. I give Dinners a lot of credit for taking the time to find the songs, since some are very obscure. They are songs that I listened too while attending high school in a nice upper middle class community outside of Flint, Michigan. This was during the late '80's, and Flint was plummeting into a desolate, industrial wasteland. Auto factories were closing, business around the factories closed, people were losing everything they had. Being in the suburbs, with a father whose job was safe from demise thanks to high seniority at the "plant", I was sheltered from the ugliness of job loss and despair. But living in a white bred society causes its own dissonance. I began hanging out in Flint with punks from all over the area. Mayhem was the norm. Breaking into abandoned buildings, skating parking structures used during Flints thriving times, underage drinking in bars that served us because we were the only ones in the area with money. The music I listened to, and the friendships I forged during that time have in some ways made me who I am as a person today.

I hope you all enjoy the tunes as much as I do.

Thanks again, Dinners! I love you, man!

Happy New Year!

2007-12-31T16:44:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year to all my lovely blogmates, old and new!

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-25T00:25:00.000-05:00

The Vog Family wishes each of you a very Merry Christmas!

Ahh, ahhhh, Anderson...

2007-12-19T13:06:00.001-05:00

My fascination with Anderson Cooper began more than a year ago. I get the kids to sleep, and settle myself down on the couch for the nightly fix at 10pm with a live hour of eye candy, commonly known as AC360. During that hour, I admire his smile, his perfect hair style (never mind that he is gray), his voice, and his suits. He takes me to places like Afghanistan, where he wears expensive military shirt replicas and bullet proof vests. Next, the Amazon rain forest in tight navy blue t-shirts, his skin glistening with a light sheen of sweat. Then, the streets of New York in jeans that only a former male model can wear so well. My mind squeals like a schoolgirl, drifting off to sleep (on the couch) lulled into dreamland by his steady vocal tones. I begin to dream...because situations like this only exist in dreams.

I am attending a high profile cocktail party, in Manhattan. Delegates from all over the world are here. I am dressed in five inch heels and a black cocktail gown to die for. I drain the last drops of gin from my martini glass and reach for another from the tray of a passing waiter. It is the last one on the tray, and is taken by a hand with well groomed nails. "Last one. Looks as if we'll have to share". The glass raises to perfect lips, and I watch them sip. The glass lowers to reveal the crooked smile of Anderson Cooper!!! Oh yeah! This dream is going to be good, I remember thinking to myself.

I'll spare you all the fan-girl wank fiction and just skim the highlights...

The dream continues with him asking me for my cell number. Hahahaha! He was pursuing me! How easy!

We go out often, always perfectly attired. Dinner, movies, drinks, CNN functions. Limo rides and paparazzi are the norm. The annoying thing was that my Blackberry (oh, yeah, this is SO a dream) was constantly ringing. I was always frowning at the ringing interruption, frequently muting the tone, deleting text messages (I hardly ever text in real life). This happened so often, Anderson began asking why I never answered it. I would just shrug it off, saying it wasn't important.

During our long, laid-back weekend in the Hampton's, the Blackberry rang NON-STOP. Finally, after an intense, ah, sexual encounter...one which was literally torn from the pages of some chic-lit clit fest anthology....Anderson grabbed my Blackberry (haha you thought I was gonna say something else, didn't you?!) and hit redial. The name on the display said "James".

"Yes, hello. No, this isn't Camie, it's Anderson Cooper. Yes, from CNN. No, she didn't change her number, maybe she should, she obviously doesn't want to talk to you. May I ask who you are? I see. Um, okay. I'll give her the message".

Anderson hung up the phone, looked into my horrified eyes and said "That was James McAvoy, you know, your BOYFRIEND. He said to tell you not to bother calling him back since after hearing my voice, he is BREAKING UP with you. Now, where were we?" He thew the Blackberry on the floor and crawled back into bead

Ahh, ahhh, Anderson....

...and last nights dream....
naked, in a pool, getting a massage by Matt Lauer!!

I must have been tense, knowing that I was cheating on Anderson with someone from another network.

For Cappy and Ron, Merry Christmas!

2007-12-18T12:23:00.000-05:00

in response to the BBC censoring such a beautiful song.

Pay it Forward! A Game!

2007-12-11T11:42:00.000-05:00

as the condition of Cynnie's blog states, here it is!

A game:
Everyone who has a blog is welcome to participate:
The first three persons who leave a comment on today's post will have a gift from me within 365 days. But there is one condition they will have to do the same on their own blog and do the same promise. It's Pay It Forward.

Just like Cynnie, the gifts will be silly, and will be sent out this month.

Look what is happening in MY backyard!

2007-12-05T09:18:00.000-05:00

Please click the link, read the story and come back here to give me your comments. I am really interested in hearing what you all think of this. Yeah, I realize it is local news in my part of the world, but it really is MY backyard.

CLICK HERE!

credit where credit is due: Story by the Ann Arbor News

Stairs+Baby= Broken Leg

2007-11-17T12:14:00.000-05:00

Little Beanie fell down a flight of stairs yesterday, resulting in a broken left tibia near her ankle but above the growth line. After spending all day in the emergency room, little Beanie left with a cast on her leg. Luckily, it is below her knee so she is able to crawl. She will be casted for up to 6 weeks. We are fortunate that that was her only injury. She had a rough night last night, but woke up her usual, happy self.

Many thanks go out to Ron, who was there to hold down the fort at the home front. He did a great job caring for LittleMan while I was at the hospital with Beanie.

Pictures of cast to come....

Beanie gets a haircut!

2007-11-11T19:19:00.000-05:00

Beanie has gotten her hairs cut! Watch the photo montage. LittleMan took the photos!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

2007-10-26T10:14:00.000-04:00

Yep, another year has come and gone. Wow! I am getting old... One year shy of 40, as my mom has reminded me. My mom was already a grandmother by this age! And I'm still on diaper duty with Beanie. I consider myself fortunate. I have a good life. Great husband, two beautiful children, friends who love me...

Here's to another 39 great years!

Cheers! The virtual round of drinks are on me!!

A day at the park.

2007-10-22T10:38:00.000-04:00

LittleMan finally got that boomerang that he has been asking for. We found it in a sale bin at the toy store. After losing it in our neighbors tree 5 times, we decided to take him to a big park so he could practice his moves.

He is getting pretty good at it. Lucky for us, he didn't nic any of us in the head (though he tried). He is now asking for a "real" wood one. Geez, kid!

Driver 8 (my hubby) took some well deserved time off from working on our house to spend some quality time with little Beanie. Beanie is now 8 months old, has two bottom teeth, is able to combat crawl and says "Mama", "Dada", "Hi", and "Cat".

It amazes me how the two of them have the same looks on their faces.

Aww.... this last one is my favorite!

A tiny bit of "sheep" in me said to take this quiz.

2007-10-06T09:28:00.000-04:00

Camie - a dash of hotness - a dash of confidence - 2 teaspoons of promiscuity Combine all stirring until smooth.
'What is your personality recipe?' at QuizGalaxy.com

Okay, so I didn't get the Prius...

2007-10-01T20:42:00.000-04:00

I got this instead.

A bit easier on my pocketbook. See this, Biddie?!? I can come and get you now!!

"When we grew up and went to school, there were certain teachers who..."

2007-09-19T10:37:00.000-04:00

We don't need no education. We don't need no thought control. No dark sarcasm in the classroom. Teachers leave them kids alone! Hey teacher leave them kids alone! All in all it's just another brick in the wall. All in all you're just another brick in the wall.

Thanks go out to Fluffy for watching the kids while I wasted a half hour of my life at my son's new school. Yep, LittleMan has started kindergarten. You'd think that little sentence would bring much pride and joy to me. Instead, I grasp my sweaty, stressed out head in my hands.

Last night was curriculum night for his class. I sat with a group of wide eyed parents, in a little chair, and listen to the excited teacher explain to us that the curriculum was "very challenging". She went on and on about learning the alphabet, studying sight words and beginning reader books with lots of pictures. All of this is to encourage our little ones to be great readers. And the math, augh! Practice shapes, groupings and penny counting to further their math skills. At home, continue to practice writing lower case letters (she looked directly at me for that one), and get out the magnetic letters to spell out 3 letter words. She included letter flash cards in the packet for us clueless parents. That fucking packet! Totally useless to me. All it did was provide what was expected out of our children by the end of the year, and outline of the curriculum... It showed me that my kid is in the wrong class academically, and that he'll waste an entire year doing things that he did when he was 2 and 3 years old. I sat in that chair, staring at the teacher, feeling that I made the wrong choice in putting LittleMan into public schools. She asked us if we had any questions or concerns. I continued to sit, and stare, not knowing where to even begin. Fuck! I am already getting the concerned phone calls and comments from the teacher, telling me my son doesn't seem interested in following her directions. Going on and on about how he "races through his class work" (and yes, he does it correctly) but then refuses to "sit down nice" while the others struggle to spell their names. He has even refused to write his name for her... the rebellion has already begun. He is going to get a label, and it won't be "he is extremely gifted". If you don't eat your meat, you can't have any pudding!

The school principle looks so much like the teacher in the video...

Can't seem to think of a title for this post. This will have to do.

2007-09-11T11:23:00.000-04:00

Found this at Fluffy's blog. The results are strangely accurate. Except for being fond of the name Celeste.

You're Babar the King!

by Jean de Brunhoff

Though your life has been filled with struggle and sadness of late,
you're personally doing quite well for yourself. All this success brings responsibility,
though, and should not be taken lightly. Life has turned from war to peace, from damage
to reconstruction, and this brings a bright new hope for everyone you know. These hopeful
people look to you for guidance, and your best advice to them is to watch out for snakes.
You're quite fond of the name "Celeste".

Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

My new favorite band

2007-09-01T13:09:00.000-04:00

I can't seem to get this song out of my head!

of course, I have been watching "The Departed" non-stop...maybe that has something to do with it.

Here is our house!

2007-08-06T09:24:00.000-04:00

Here is our house! Things are going along well, though a bit slow. LittleMan's room is done for the most part. All we need to do now is paint the star constellations on his ceiling with glow in the dark paint and install his ceiling fan. Mr. Vog painted our room yesterday. It looks so good. Very soothing. Of course, he had to leave for the road early this morning before he move our furniture back into the room. I'll have to ask his brother to help me move the bed into it. Next up will be the bathroom upstairs. Luckily, we have two bathrooms.

The road work is continuing outside my house. They paved the road early Saturday morning, but we won't be able to drive to our house until the end of the week. We have been parking a block away and walk to our place. This isn't a problem for us, but it has stopped my client from coming. I feel bad for them, since I took two weeks off to move and still can't work on them. Oh well, I kind of needed a little break. I miss the money though...

I will post more pictures of the house as we get each room done. Mr. Vog has been taking the camera with him on the road so picture taking can only happen on the weekends. I had to get a new cell phone, as mine started doing weird things. It was 3 years old, so I can't complain. It served me well. Anyway, the new phone has a camera on it so I can take some pics that way I guess.

The kids are doing well. LittleMan is finishing up his last week in summer camp, and BeanieVog is getting bigger (and funnier) each day. She fell out of my bed twice last week. Fortunately, the mattress was on the floor, so she only fell about 10 inches not 3 feet! I have moved the bed to the wall to prevent it from happening again. She has also started to eat baby food! It has been going pretty well.

I have so much to write about, and so little time! I will say that I am very glad to have moved from the ghetto that we lived in. Things had gotten really bad there over the last months time. I miss one of my neighbors, but the rest can all rot in their own crap for all I care.

More later.

I am here, and this sums it all up...

2007-07-19T21:55:00.000-04:00

What Classic Movie Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

and you wanted to see a picture of my house...

I haven't left!!! My finger is still on the pulse!!

2007-06-30T08:17:00.000-04:00

I am here! I have survived the week of hell, and am now a homeowner. Everything went well, minus the plumbing. The entire house house needs to be re-plumbed due to poor winterization when the house was vacated 2 years ago. I will do a longer post about it, and will include pictures. I was getting sad reading the comments with everyone wishing me well and saying good-bye to me, so I HAD to come back and let you know that I haven't really left, I am just moving 3 blocks away.

More soon.

Back for a moment...

2007-06-19T19:11:00.000-04:00

I guess I am taking a blog break. Things have been crazy around here, and my brain can't seem to focus on a good post topic. We close on our house this Friday, which is great and all. It is all the other things that make it kinda blah... Like calling the water department to get the water meter hooked up, calling the gas company to get the gas meter installed, getting house insurance, making sure the mortgage company and seller's agents are doing their jobs, etc. Shopping for appliances was fun until I realized how much it was going to cost. Still, the kitchen will look great and I won't have to worry about replacing what we buy for another 15 years or so... Now, if only the interior decorator would call us back. I need some help picking out paint colors so the house expresses my individuality. I have always sucked at picking colors. I need Leelee's good taste!

I have been hanging out on Facebook more, so you can find me over there. I even helped Mr. Vog set up a Facebook page. It is far less intense than a blog, so it'll work well for him while he is on the road. You can find him through my page...he is Mini Cooper. My mom got him a great laptop with WiFi capabilities so he is geeked out in the rig.

Speaking of Hubby, he has become a trainer for his company. Yeah, he is doing so well at his job they forgot the company rules of being employed for at least two years before becoming a trainer. He got the trainers position in 6 months time. He is trying it out for the next two weeks with a brand new driver. If he decides to do it full time, he will get a new rig which will have a double sleeper in it. Right now he has a single berth, so they need to stop at hotels so the trainee can sleep. That cuts in on drive time, looking for the hotel, etc. Hubby still sleeps in his rig, not the hotel, as he is too paranoid that someone will break in and steal his stuff, or mess with his load.

I have also been knitting like mad! I am making something very cool for one of you wonderful bloggers out there. Hope you like them, and that I can get them to you in time. I'll post pictures of it once I finish them and have them sent out.

Thanks for all of your readership. I promise, one day, to return to blogging as I had when I first started this space.

xxoo

Why seatbelts save lives, and I'm sure glad Mr. Vog wasn't driving the semi!!!

2007-06-09T08:33:00.000-04:00

Michigan Man in Wheelchair Pinned to Grille of Semitrailer for 4-Mile Ride

Friday , June 08, 2007
By Audrey Bright

PAW PAW, Mich. —
Why did the 21-year-old cross the road?

Benjamin Carpenter, 21, was crossing a Michigan highway in his wheelchair when he became stuck in a semitrailer's grille and pushed for miles before the unknowing driver was pulled over, police said on Thursday.

Carpenter escaped unharmed, saying, "It was quite a ride," police said.

Click here to listen to the 911 tape.

Carpenter was attempting to cross on Wednesday when the light turned green and his wheelchair became hooked onto the front grille of the truck, which reached 50 mph during the 4-mile trip down Red Arrow Highway, Michigan State Police Trooper Michael Sinke said witnesses reported.

Carpenter was taken to a hospital as a precaution. He had been secured to his wheelchair by a seat belt.

Witnesses reported that the light turned green, so the truck took off, never seeing the wheelchair in front of him or the fact that it had attached to his front grill. When officers stopped the truck at a private business, Carpenter was in a calm state.

"The man spilled his soda pop, but he wasn't upset," said Sgt. Kathy Morton of the Michigan State Police.

Sinke said when he arrived at the scene, the man told him "'Yeah, I'm fine. I just went for a little ride.'"

"He was surprisingly normal," Sinke said.

About 4 p.m. Wednesday, a caller told police dispatchers, "You are not going to believe this: There is a semi truck pushing a guy in a wheelchair on Red Arrow Highway," state police said in a release.

Authorities initially wondered whether the report was a prank call until others called with similar reports.

When the truck finally was stopped, the driver didn't believe officers until he stepped from his cab and saw for himself.

"When he saw us, he was like, 'What's going on?"' Morton said.

"The truck driver had no idea," Sinke said. "[He] was in a state of shock."

Paw Paw Police Department Office Manager Susan Millek said their department got the initial call around 3:30 p.m. and Sgt. Kirk Goodrich and officer Tim McMeekan responded to the call. McMeekan said the incident was labeled a car pedestrian accident and he was prepared for a scene much worse than what he found.

"We were obviously relieved and shocked to see what happened," McMeekan said.

He said the family was notified within a few minutes and because the man is an adult, the department called to have someone pick him up.

Officers who responded to the scene said the fact that the man was unharmed made this story that much more unbelievable.

"Just the way he was uninjured. It’s just unbelievable," Sinke said. "Obviously someone was looking over him yesterday. I could go another hundred years in law enforcement and never see that again."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Now back to regularly scheduled programming...

2007-06-04T18:42:00.000-04:00

Hadn't meant to go this long between posts. Things have been a little hectic over here. I have spent a lot of time gathering paperwork, filling out forms and meeting with the mortgage company. The paperwork has been locked in finally. Now we just wait for the 20% down to make its way to me. That alone has sent me into a minor frenzy. I have spent most of my life financially irresponsible so my broker wasn't calling me back. Yeah, I have a broker. I had to go so far as to have my mother call the broker and rattle her chain for me. My parents use the same firm, and are much more responsible than me. My mom got through to the broker in one phone call. Me, I never got past the secretary. Anyway, the broker called me within two minutes of hanging up with my mother. Things are fine. The way they should be. The money will be wired to the mortgage company when the time comes, saving me an hour trip to pick up a check.

More paperwork and research...

House insurance. Wow, people would love to take the skin off your back don't they? Insurance salesmen are creepy, and love to massively up sell and scare the crap out of you... Luckily, I have a great agent who I have been with for 10 years. He gave us the best rate and the best coverage, beating out two swarmey guys who only had dollar signs in their eyes.

Yipee! I have health insurance! More paperwork, money coming out of hubby's check, but I have full benefits. I can now get my teeth cleaned and get some updated glasses frames. What a relief.

Kids are fine. Little Man is finishing up his last year of preschool, and is getting ready to be officially enrolled in kindergarten. I can't wait for the first month of school for him. He will be so excited, hopefully not to bored, and I can begin anticipating lots of calls from the school telling me he is beyond the curriculum...and they want to promote him to first grade, the grade he should be in...yeah, right.

BeanieVog rolled over for the first time on Sunday. All of us missed the big event. We of course made her do it again for us and the video camera. The baby book says she is supposed to roll from belly to back first. Well, she went from back to belly, which is a five month old move. My kids are so weird. Now she wants to be on the floor all the time so she can roll and scoot.

Thats about it on my end. I look forward to posting pics of the new house, and detailing the nightmare of the move. For now, I will rack my brain deciding what colors to paint the walls.

Birthed by average, everyday, non-famous people....

2007-05-20T21:48:00.000-04:00

I was reading some silly article about Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes in US magazine...Blah, blah, blah, who cares and all... Then I saw a recent picture of their kid, Suri. I know that I am very biased towards my own offspring, but I think that BeanieVog, gives that Suri girl a run for her parents money.

Plus, BeanieVog has cooler, more RockStar hair!

Look who came to visit us this morning!

2007-05-17T12:51:00.000-04:00

Hubby had a load that was just north of Ann Arbor. Lucky for us, he ran out of regulation driving hours just as he reached Ann Arbor. He parked his truck about a mile from our flat. He spent the night in his truck because he was nervous leaving it unattended. Yeah, like someone would steal a 45 thousand pound steel coil overnite... Really, he was concerned someone might loosen the straps holding the coil down, or even try stealing the entire rig. We picked him up early this morning and had a great breakfast. He was also able to take a shower in his own bathroom. It was a great morning. We'll see him again late Friday night, or early Saturday morning.

This picture has been altered to remove all distinquishing markings of the company he works for.

Not that long ago...

2007-05-10T09:54:00.000-04:00

A year ago this month my mental state was summed up in this post. Things were unstable for my family money wise, which cause an unstable effect in my brain chemistry. We were just able to cover our living expenses, I teetered with insanity. A few months later, I found out I was pregnant with Beanie Vog. I can't even express to you the amount of fear that took hold of me. I fought it back, determined not to let the emotion affect my pregnancy, or my son. I turned to my husband, the primary bread winner of the family, with a look that can only be compared to the last look Private Pyle gave Sgt. Hartman before he shot himself in Full Metal Jacket. I said, "Something has to be done. We are poor. I was raised middle class, this is unacceptable for me to continue to live like this. Either you change careers, or...." My sentence trailed off. I wasn't sure what I meant to say, or what I was afraid to say to him, but Hubby took it. I watched the same look of fear that I had cross his face. I had never spoke to him with such finality before.

The following summer lingered on, as did our finacial issues. Actually, things got even worse. The Union my husband was in, the one he put so much faith into failed to get him work. When they did, it was short lived. They refused to support him. Ultimately, he was ejected from this Union. He spoke his mind one too many times for them. As the season changed into autumn and onto winter, the painting jobs Hubby had finished up. We had no more to go on. We thought of moving to Wyoming, far from the only state I lived in full time. Hubby resisted this. I went to him again. This time I said, "you have two weeks to figure out your next move to bring money in". Again, that strange look of fear crossed his face. At the end of two weeks, he began semi-truck driving school. Two weeks later, 4 hours after the last day of class, he had a job. Life began to change. I have waited 5 years for this.

This is where we are today:
Baby Vog is here, my son is happy, my husband works five days straight away from the home. I care for the family on my own, money is in the bank, food is on the table, and the bill collectors have stopped bothering me. I can honestly say, that despite how rotten the past five years have been, it has made me a much stronger person. I appreciate so much more, and like to think that I live life less superficially. I continue to look forward, and this is what forward is bringing me....

We bid on a house, and the offer was accepted. It is a new home, which due to the shitty economy, was forclosed on by the previous owner. Yes, we have reaped the awards of someone elses financial doom. Just last year, that could have been me... We hope to close on the house by June 20th. It has four bedrooms, two full baths, a full basement, garage and a yard. This is the first home that Hubby and I have ever purchased. I said to my mom yesterday " Wow, I am married, have two kids, a career and am a homeowner. I'm a real grown up now". Yes, I am the typical Milf (even though I'm not as hot as Mary-Louise Parker. And the Milf reference...It's a joke, people!!).

Since we got such a good deal on the house, I have decided to also buy a new car. After much thought, and a wonderful test drive, I have picked the Toyota Prius. I am now looking for a bumpersticker that says "WWAGD?" (What Would Al Gore Do?). Hubby is okay with this choice of car, but he really wants the Toyota FJ Cruiser. Maybe that'll be our next car...Hmmm...

My family is SO HOT!!!

2007-04-26T13:19:00.000-04:00

Here is a photo of us taken at the thermal imagining display at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. Hubby is the one with the camera (obviously), Little Man is next to him (with his mouth open), next is CousinVog#1, then me holding BabyVog Beanie (her face is leaning back, looking at you).

The Chicago trip went very well. I'll write more about that later, and will include more photos. Hey, I also got some wedding photos! Those will be up soon, too.

I am starting the Body For Life program on Monday. Some of you may remember that our long lost dear blogger mate, RantingDullard raved about it. It is time for me to transform back into my old self, pre-children. I'm tired of people telling me I carry my weight well because I am tall. Whatever. All I know, is that I am tired of being a Fatty McFat-Fat. If your curious, you can track the weight loss via the footer of the blog. I will not bore you with the gorry details of how I reach my goal. No pooey comments about my starting weight either! I will also NOT post the horrific "before" picture, only the "after" photo.

The boy is hungry, and the girl is now waking from her 2 hour nap. Let the fun begin!
Over and out.

LittleMan is 5 today!!

2007-04-20T08:39:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday to my LittleMan!

He picked this picture, as it shows his renditions of the PacMan World Rally racetracks in the background. This weekend, shrouded in Birthday Flare, LittleMan will be wisked off to Chicago for fun and adventure with his cousin. They will rock the Science and Industry Museum, Shedd's Aquarium... Blend with the posh on The Golden Mile (Michigan Ave.). Eat "Fastbreak Fingers" (chicken fingers)and "Center Court Cheese" (grilled cheese sandwiches) at Michael Jordan's Restaurant, and live the life at the Embassy Suite hotel (which features in-room Nintendo)!! Turning 5 is very special, indeed!

Official Wedding Picture...

2007-04-13T21:08:00.000-04:00

I know I have kept all of you waiting so long for the viewing of even one wedding photo. Hopefully this will suffice. I am the one on the right, by the way.

(as soon as I get a single photo, I promise to share with you...)

;)

It's our WEDDING DAY!!

2007-04-04T08:37:00.000-04:00

The cake has been made, 75 people will be entertained, and a whole lot of fun will be had!

details will follow...

perhaps even a little YouTube action for all of those who couldn't make it...

These shoes rule, these shoes suck...

2007-03-29T10:01:00.000-04:00

I shout this little ditty out to Noah. After you watch this hillarious video, click Noah's name and scroll down to see his cool shoe collection.

This is why Fluffy needs his cable turned back on...

2007-03-27T10:53:00.000-04:00

so he can see things like this, 'cause Fluffy loves his Detroit Pistons HOOP!!

Rasheed Wallace 3/4 court game saving shot at the last second of the game.

Um...No, I haven't been busy...

2007-03-20T11:39:00.000-04:00

As I have mentioned before, Hubby and I are getting married on April 4th. We bought our rings this weekend. Mine is the the first one shown. Hubby's is the second one. Special thanks go out to Hubby's cousins boyfriend. He is a jeweler, and really helped us out.

We have also decided to wear traditional Mexican Wedding shirts, called Guayabera's. Here are pictures of what they will look like. Mine, of course, will be white. The website only had a picture of the black version. Little man, our son, will also be wearing one that will match his dad's. Our pants will be gray. Yes, pants. I hate dresses, and have opted for pants. It's my wedding...I'll wear whatever I choose. I may even wear my Doc Martins, highly polished.

Plans for the wedding have gone well. Last thing I need to do is make the wedding cake. I have called on the assistance of my pal, Zeneric, who is a chef at a place here in Ann Arbor. He is going to sneak me in to the kitchen so I can used their industrial mixer to make up the cake batter. Big thanks go out to him too, as this will cut the mix time down to nothing. If I mix it at my house, I'll need to do it in 3 batches which could mess up the consistancy. Oh, yeah, the cake will be a three tiered strawberry swirl cheesecake.

That's why the blog has sat idle for the past two weeks. Hope you all understand, and look for me in your comment fields because I am still lurking out there.

p.s. BabyVog is a wopping 9 1/2 pounds now!

Research, after the fact.

2007-03-02T17:11:00.000-05:00

gardenia said: "Angel wing tattoo? Oh, that is tempting! I bet it was awesome. I can now see it - CEO of company - always wears long sleeves - why? She has angel wings!"

Well, she wasn't too far off with her comment. I had remembered seeing a picture of Elayne's Angel Wings in a tattoo book many years ago. I figured she had to be on the internet somewhere. Here they are.

Elayne indeed became a CEO of her own company. The wearing of long sleeves wasn't necessary, since it was a piercing studio called Rings of Desire (nice play on Wim Wenders movie "Wings of Desire"). The studio was located in New Orleans, but unfortunately, it has been closed post Katrina. She has since moved on to Merida, Mexico, where she owns a Bed and Breakfast and Piercing establishment. There is a nice professional BIO about Elayne, which you can read here. Nice to see that my memory has held out over these years, and that Google allows access to long lost memories. As for the tattooed wings, she has them registered as a trademark. I had no idea that a person could do that.

*Asterisk had requested that I change the wording in the last post from "childless ladies" to "child-free ladies". This I have done. As for his wondering if tattoos cause havoc on ones body... Well, from a Lymphatic perspective, yes. The ink which is used for tattoos is viewed as a toxin by the body. It is the lymphatic system which rids the body of toxins, so for about 4-7 days of recieving a tattoo, your body is working overtime to get the free floating ink from the system. Since there is no set standard in the inks that are used by tattooists, there are many significant toxins which the body does not expel. Lead is one of them. Heavy metals are near impossible for the body to rid. Hate to say it, but lead likes to hang out in brain tissue once it is in the body. I did hear a piece about how scientists at Harvard are in the process of developing a less toxic form of tattoo ink. It is supposed to be much easier to remove a tattoo which uses this new ink. I did find this chart which tells what types of metals and oxides are used in the most common forms of tattoo ink. So *A, maybe you shouldn't read the links until after you get your birthday art.

AlternaGirls guide to Lactation: Why Breast Feeding and Pierced Nipples Don't Mix.

2007-02-28T10:54:00.000-05:00

Seventeen years ago, at the urging of a boyfriend, I got my left nipple pierced. He also had his pierced. Being that no one was doing piercings in Ann Arbor at the time, we flew to San Francisco to have this done. With address in hand, we found ourselves in the Castro District. We had no idea what to really expect. In the back of my mind, I imagined a back alley establishment, slightly seedy and well hidden from the public. Boy, was I wrong. When we entered the Gauntlet, I was shock to see the layout of a high end jewelry store. The only difference, was that the jewelry in the cases was meant specifically for any type of body piercing you can imagine, and the sales help were adorned in elaborate piercings and tattoos.

I chose a 16 guage ring which had a malachite ball on it. I stepped into the back, where the piercing rooms were. Elaine, the master piercer, was a cheerful woman. Petite in stature, she wore a halter top which revealed the most beautiful tattoo of elaborate angel wings stretching down her back and the backs of her arms. She chatted non-stop, telling me that she had been piercing for over 10 years, and the most famous person she stuck a needle into was Axel Rose. He had each of his nipples double pierced. Me, I went for the straight forward single horizontal variety. I am honest when I say that getting the piercing was fine. Very little pain, no blood, healing went well. In the 12 years I had it in, it became infected twice. Antibiotic were needed to clear it up. The best thing I did, was to change the original ring in for a curved dumbell. It was far more ergonomically designed for its usage.

I took the dumbell out 5 years ago in order to breast feed my son. It was too much of a pain taking it out and putting it back in after each feeding, so I made the decision to leave it out for good. Since it was in for 12 years, it never really sealed up, but I have stuck to my decision and have never tried to put the dumbell back into it. My first go at breast feeding was a disaster. There were many reasons. My inexperience in infant rearing, stress that I brought onto myself, the fact that my son wasn't into it, and, well, the remnants of the piercing. The milk flow had issues due to the unsealed holes and the damage to the milk ducts. I knew when I got the piercing that I would someday be a mother, but I hadn't even thought about breastfeeding. By 2 months of age, my son was consuming only formula and I will admit that it bummed me out. I was AlternaMom, I wanted the BEST for my son. My inability to provide human milk due to a stupid compulsive action bothered me for a long time.

This time around, with BabyVog, I told myself that I would once again try to breastfeed. I came to terms with the fact that I may fail again. I even bought a container of formula to have on hand. Within moments of her birth, I was breastfeeding her. It seemed to be working, even the damaged side. She ate often, she ate well. She still is. She has already met her original birth weight before the required two week time. I know that the pierced breast still has issues, that BabyVog has to linger a bit longer to get her fill. But this time, I don't have the inexperience, the added stress, and she is so much different in personality than her older brother in terms of feeding. I don't mind being the only one who can feed her. I mean, she has been exposed to a bottle, but clearly prefers hanging with mom. She doesn't even like pacifiers.

I don't totally regret getting the piercing. It served its purpose well for the time. I only wish that I would have truely thought things thru in regards to the true function of a female breast. I am glad that I only had one done, and not both. Speaking of feeding, sounds like BabyVog is in need of a refill. Gotta go. Oh, and child-free ladies who may be considering piercing those nipples outta fashion... get your tongue done instead!

Anna Nicole, Britt Spears...they don't even hold a torch to the beauty of Little Ms. Vog!

2007-02-22T09:30:00.000-05:00

The Vog family would like to say thank you to all you great bloggers out there who have wished us well! As requested, here are some more photos of Ms.VogSprog. I would of had them up here yesterday, but, eh, we forgot to pay the cable bill on time and had our service interupted. Go figure.

(photo #1) This is the picture we are using for her birth announcements. Check out that cool sweater! The hat that goes with it... is too big! Plus, I wanted everyone to see all of her hair. Oh, and Pup, you are right. She does look a lot like me.

(photo #2) This is her first bath at home. She was not happy. But she smelled good afterwards.
(photo#3) Much happier, getting dried off.

(photo#4) Little Man, showing off the look that has been gracing his face for the past week. BabyVog is not allowed to get any closer to him than what you see here. He seemed much happier when I was pregnant. Now, he has immersed himself in video games in an attempt to ignore her as much as possible. Occassionally, he will lighten up when we aren't looking and teach her things like addition and subtraction, the names of the planets, and various colors. We were lucky enough to get some of this on video.

My brain is slowly coming back. All of these late night feedings are giving me lots of time to think of different post topics. I now need to look for the time to actually write the ideas down.

Dinners! The package has arrived! More on that later....

She's here!

2007-02-16T17:51:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone! BabyVog was born February 15, 2007 at 12:13 a.m. This is one of the first pictures taken. I had 3 others I wanted to upload, but per usual, Blogger isn't allowing them to.

Delivery went extreamly well. Labor lasted a total of 3 hours, with only the last 5 minutes being the most intense. No pain meds were used. The best part was walking into the delivery room, turning towards the nurse who was coming at me with the monitors, and saying "No need, I am pushing now!" BabyVog's head was out before they could even find the doctors. I broke the record for fastest delivery that week, eh, month... I was in the hospital less than an hour, from check in to BabyVog showing up! I hear that I was the hottest topic of conversation at the nurses station. The attending resident came in this morning to discharge me, and said "I hope that my future pregnancy and delivery goes as well as yours did. You make it look easy".

More pictures and such later. I just wanted to check in and let you see our newest love.

It's official!

2007-02-11T09:07:00.000-05:00

Hubby has returned from 7 weeks of training! He has now officially become a first seat driver. He ranked in the 96th percentile of his group. Okay, I admit... I do understand why our son is such an over achiever. I mean, why do anything unless it's close to perfect? His company plans to keep him close to home as possible, until BabyVog makes her appearance. He will then get a week off, before he begins the farther regional routes. He wants to continue to stay as close as possible, but I have dollar signs in my eyes and am encouraging him to take longer routes which will fatten his paycheck. The family has proven to be strong over these 7 weeks so I know we can survive having him home on the weekends. After almost 4 years of struggling with the Union bullshit he was involved in, it is nice to see him happy in this profession.

As for me, the countdown is well on the way. The little ticker above says 17 days. It can happen anytime, as far as I am concerned. The flat has been reorganized to accomadate baby, the crib is set up, the clothes are in the proper drawers, the knitting for her has just about been completed. The christening dress is beautiful, and I'll have some photos up of it once I finish the collar. I also have to take some pictures of my Green Day Heart Grenade mittens which I have been proudly wearing. They are so cool, I bet Billy Joe will ask me to knit up some special addition ones for him to add to his clothes line.... yeah, right! Oh, and the best thing is this scarf/hood thing I began knitting 12 years ago! I only have a 1/2 inch to go and I'll be wearing that too. It is knit in pure, handspun alpaca and knit on 0 needles (hence the 12 years in the making).

One of the things I am looking forward to after having BabyVog is getting my former brain back. I complained to my doctor recently, that my brain function has been held hostage since becoming pregnant. He verified that I am accurate, that the extra fluid and hormones racing thru my body cause my brain to take a vacation. If you look back 9 months to a year in my archives on this blog, it is quite evident that I had much better postings. Trust me, I have some good ideas for future post... I just haven't been able to format and complete the writing process.

All righty then. Time to start my day with the family. I will let you all know when the girl arrives.

Hummer!

2007-02-05T09:39:00.000-05:00

You all know how fussy I am about putting pictures of myself on this blog. Get a look now, because it'll most likely be removed before you know it. I do apologize for how dark it is.

I read a funny post about Hummers over at Pickled Olives blog, so I send this picture out to her. Before you jump all over me about me standing next to such a gas hogging vehicle, read my comment at Pickled Olives, and take a look at the photo. I am at a dealership, I DO NOT own one

I will make mention that my 4 1/2 year old son would LOVE to own one. An H3, to be exact. I don't know why. We took this photo last summer to tease him. He hears his dad and I talk about getting a new car and always brings up the Hummer, or a Lexus. He also wants to learn how to play golf. I often ask myself who this childs real parents are. Yes, he looks like us, but everything else about him is SO not like us.

Argggg!

2007-01-31T16:59:00.000-05:00

Yeah, new blogger format! Fuck this shit. One mistake of a button click and all is gone and for some reason can't be brought back. Where is my blogroll?!?!?! Where is my pregnancy ticker?!?!?!? Sure, yeah, go into the HTML and put the code back in.... Okay, press save template and NOTHING is saved, or an error page comes up. Should have just stayed with the old until they pitched me off of it!!!

Hide your eyes, here is another MEME!

2007-01-31T09:16:00.000-05:00

first off....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RON!!!

Okay, back to that Meme. I found this over at Red's page. It looks like she got it from Pickled Olives.

If you could have any piece of art what would it be?

I would choose the sculpture "Cacountala" by Camille Claudel. Since there is no way that I'll ever truely "own" this, I had it tattooed onto my left arm.

Name two of your guilty pleasures.

Hmmm, Guilt is not something I associate with...
On the T.V. I love the shows Veronica Mars and No Reservations.
I also like yarn. I like looking at it, touching it, buying it for some "future" project. Oh, and books. Yeah, that is over two, but so what?

If you were an actor/actress who would it be and what movie would you choose to take the lead role in?

Let's see.... The first that comes to mind would be Uma Thurman's character in both volumes of Kill Bill. A touch of evil, while looking cute. The next would be Lee Marvin's character (ah, I can switch gender, right) in the movie "The Big Red One".

What's the most romantic gesture someone's made to you?

Hubby met me at the airport with a dozen roses and a ring and asked me to marry him. That was several years ago. As most of you know, I refer to Hubby as my husband, but we are not legally married. We decided that this year, on April 4th we will officially tie the knot. That day will be our 10 year anniversary together.

Who's your favorite superhero / villain?

Ah, SpaceGhost?

What's your favorite leftover food?

Pulled pork and white rice with plantains from Sabor Latino.

Describe in five words how you saw yourself in high school.

Self aware, distant, angry, happy, punk.

If you could live anywhere in the world were would it be and why?

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. It is the Ann Arbor of Mexico. Cultural, pretty, but warm with an ocean.

Name five good gifts you would like to receive (within reason - no sports cars etc)

Is a house too much to ask for? Housekeeping services for life, Unlimited paid vacations to the destinations of my choice, Tattoo gift certificates, Tuition waivers to a really good school for my son.

If you could live one week in a cartoon what would it be and why?

Well, it's not really a cartoon, but I would live in the kids program "The Upside Down Show". I don't know why... The guys just seem funny.

Dinner for five - who would you invite (the world is your oyster)?

Camille Claudel, my maternal grandfather, my husband (boy, I really miss him), Joe Strummer, and Rodin.

Because I don't seem to have any original thoughts at the moment...

2007-01-23T10:37:00.000-05:00

1. How old will you be in five years? 43

2. Who did you spend at least two hours with today?: My son

3. How tall are you? 5'9"

4. What do you look forward to most in the next six weeks?:Having a baby

5. What's the last movie you saw? Laurel Canyon

6. Who was the last person you called?: Ron

7. Who was the last person to call you?: My mom

8. What was the last text message you received?: Birthay party invite, last year

9. Who was the last person to leave you a voice mail?: My mom

10. Do you prefer to call or text?: call

11. What were you doing at 12am last night?: sleeping

12. Are your parents married/separated/divorced? Married

13. When is the last time you saw your mom?: Last Saturday

14. What color are your eyes?: greenish/blue

15. What time did you wake up today? 7:30am

16. What are you wearing right now?: Pajama bottoms, tshirt

17. What is your favorite Christmas song?: I don't really like Christmas music

18. Where is your favorite place to be?: I am here...

19. Where is your least favorite place to be?: at times, here.

20. Where would you go if you could go anywhere?: Thailand

21. Where do you think you'll be in 10 years? Most likely here.

22. Do you tan or burn?: neither

23. What did you fear was going to get you at night as a child?:Death. I got over it.

24. What was the last thing that really made you laugh?: I can't even remember.

25. How many TV's do you have in your house?: three

26. How big is your bed?: Queen

27. Do you have a laptop or desktop computer?: Desktop

29. What color are your sheets? Teal

30. How many pillows do you sleep with?: one

31. What is your favorite season?: spring/fall

32. What do you like about fall?: The weather, and the leaves changing colors
33. What do you like about winter?: Winter is just a bridge between fall and spring.
34. What do you like about the summer?: How green everything becomes.

35. What do you like about spring?: How the air smells.

36. How many states have you lived in?: 1, full time. 2 part time.

37. What cities/towns have you lived in?: Swartz Creek, Ann Arbor, Bethesda MD, Fairplay CO.

38. Do you prefer shoes, socks, or bare feet?: socks and shoes.

39. Are you a social person?: Not really.

40. What was the last thing you ate?: Banana crunch cereal.

41. What is your favorite restaurant?: Sabor Latino

42. What is your favorite ice cream? any flavor
43. What is your favorite dessert?: fresh baked cookies or cheesecake.

44. What is your favorite kind of soup?: Butternut

45. What kind of jelly do you like on your PB & J sandwich?: Raspberry

46. Do you like Chinese food? yes

47. Do you like coffee?: Ah, yeah.

48. How many glasses of water, a day, do you drink on average?: 6-8

49. What do you drink in the morning?: Ah, coffee.

51. Do you sleep on a certain side of the bed?: no, unless hubby is in town, then right.

52. Do you know how to play poker?: Not really.

53. Do you like to cuddle?: Cuddling is okay, glomming is not.

54. Have you ever been to Canada?: yes

56. Do you eat out or at home more often?: home

58. Do you know anyone with the same birthday as you?: only famous people

59. Do you want kids?: Have 1 son, daughter is on the way.

60. Do you speak any other languages? None fluently.

62. Have you ever ridden in an ambulance? yes

63. Do you prefer an ocean or a pool?: ocean

64. Do you prefer a window seat or an aisle seats?:Don't care. Just get me there!

65. Do you know how to drive a stick?: yes

66. What is your favorite thing to spend money on?: I forgot what is was like to spend extra money on.

67. Do you wear any jewelry 24/7? no

68. What is your favorite TV show?: No Reservations
69. Can you roll your tongue?: yes

70. Who is the funniest person you know?: People are funny? Haven't noticed...
71. Do you sleep with stuffed animals?:Yeah, this yellow dog my kid gave me.

72. What is the main ringtone on your phone?:American Idiot by Green Day

73. Do you still have clothes from when you were little?: a few

74. What red object is closest to you right now? a bucket

75. Do you turn off the water while you brush your teeth?: Yes

76. Do you sleep with your closet doors open or closed?: Closed

77. Would you rather be attacked by a big bear or a swarm of bees? neither
78. Do you flirt a lot?: Me? Pahleese... You'll be lucky if I even notice you...

79.what do you dip a chicken nugget in? My kid likes ranch dressing.

80. What is your favorite food?: Mexican

81. Can you change the oil on a car?: yes

82. Have you ever gotten a speeding ticket?:NO

83. Have you ever run out of gas?: no

84. What is your usual bedtime?: Whenever I happen to fall asleep.

85. What was the last book you read?: The Nasty Bits, by Anthony Bourdaine

86. Do you read the newspaper?: Yes

87. Do you have any magazine subscriptions?: Yes

89. Do you watch soap operas?: No

90. Do you dance in the car?: Only if I feel like bothering my kid.

91. What radio station did you last listen to?: 91.7 WUOM (public radio)

92. Who is in the picture frame closest to you?: Collage of photos of my dad when he was young.

93. What was the last note you scribbled on a piece of paper? Name of Ann Arbor Schools Superintendant

94. What is your favorite candle scent?: Pumpkin Spice

95. What is your favorite board game?: Candyland, Chutes and Latters..(with my kid)

96. When was the last time you fondled a cow?: I have never touched a cow.

97. When was the last time you attended church?: I can't remember

98. Who is/was your favorite teacher in high school?: I had no favorite teachers.

99. What is the longest you have ever camped out in a tent? 14 days

100. Who was the last person to do something extra special for you?: I guess I would have to say my Hubby

Dangerous Icing!

2007-01-15T16:54:00.000-05:00

Cappy asked in the comment field of the last post, "What is dangerous icing"? Here is a photo of what the trees look like around my flat.

Looks pretty, doesn't it? Unfortunately, ice like this can be quite damaging to the trees. The weight of the ice causes the limbs to bend and break off, which can damage houses and cars.

As I was waking from a nap a few minutes ago, there was a LOUD sound. Son ran to the window and said "Ah, I think someone is dropping a bomb outside". I jumped to the couch and joined him at the window. "Is our truck okay?" I asked him before I got to the window. "Yes, ours is fine, but the bomb got a few of the neighbors cars"! Sure enough, a small lowrider style truck had rounded the corner at our complex and smashed into 3 other cars. This kid must have been traveling fast, as one of the vehicles, a large SUV had been turned sideways. The kids car sustained the most damage, fluids every where, the horn stuck on...Blaring. I stepped outside to listen in. He claims his truck slipped on ice then "Everything went black"! Uh-huh.... His two teenage passangers left the scene, hmm... I wonder how high/drunk they were...

This is private property, so the cops won't come to file a report. It is all between the insurance companies at this point. When the crowds clear, I'll be moving my rusty but trusty truck to the SIDE lot, where it should be a bit more safe in the event someone else "slips on the ice" doing 50 MPH through the parking lot.

(photo credit: BrevardNC I would have taken a photo of the actual trees outside my house and of the accident scene, but hubby has the camera with him)

It was a great surprise, but was it really worth it?

2007-01-14T10:37:00.000-05:00

Son and I had a big surprise for Saturday. Hubby, who was supposed to be gone for 2 weeks returned to visit us for about 36 hours. We had lots of fun, ate good homemade food, baked cookies and brownies for him to take one the road, and did his laundry. Yeah, most of you would be like, "ho-hum...sounds like a blast", but for us it was heaven. He left this morning at 3:45 am to hook up with the driver and the rig. At 5:30 am, my phone rang. Not a good sign. Sure enough, his car died 10 miles away from his meeting point. I hazily wrote down the info of where I could find the car so I could some how have it towed back to the flat. I told him to get to the rig, that his job was more important than him worrying about the stupid car. An hour later my phone rings again. Hubby explains that he got a jump-start and made it to the yard and rig. He was on the road as he spoke to me. Luckily, the trainer likes him, so he waited for him despite the bad weather that they were going to be up against.

Speaking of weather, here is an image of the weather patterns currently happening in the US.
See all that light pink, dark pink, and green? Yeah, that is what hubby gets to drive through. Should be lots of fun for him, being a new rig driver, who is hauling 45 thousand pounds behind him. My fingers are majorly crossed for him. Hopefully, he will make his destination unharmed and within his required time. This is where the "was it really worth" having him home comes in. Had he kept to his schedule, he would have avoided most of this crappy weather. But they took a chance so he could relax a bit.

UPDATE: 7:45 pm
Just heard from Hubby. They made it safely to Memphis. The trainer did most of the driving through the ice and snow. Their plans are to take a 4 hour nap before heading out to finish the route. They should reach Louisiana by 2am. All is well.

Knit Pics!

2007-01-11T11:31:00.000-05:00

Okay! Here are a few pictures of some of the things that I've been knitting over the past few months. This is proof that I really do knit, not just talk about it. The first image you see includes: A really cute hat and jacket for BabyVogSprog. The jacket is double breasted, and knit in Brown Sheep Worsted Weight Mohair/Wool blend. The hat is a luxurious Angora by Anny Blatt. Many thanks go to my son's bear Buzz, who looks so stylish.

The next image is of the scarf that I knit for my sister for Christman. It is a Feather and Fan pattern, and is knit with Mountain Colors Bearfoot Yarn, in the color Larkspur. It is a washable Wool/Mohair/Nylon yarn which is handpainted. This photo hardly does justice to how beautiful the colors are.

Finally, this is the scarf that I knit for my Mom for Christmas. Sorry for the quality of the photo. I forgot to take a pic of it before giving it to Mom, and this is what she ended up taking for me. It is done in Andean Silk (Super Fine Alpaca/Silk/Merino Wool) by KnitPics. The color is Cranberry. This is the first lace pattern I have ever done.
There you have it. I am now working on a christening dress for BabyVogSprog, as well as a garter stich cabled sweater for her. Those projects are still on the needles, and I don't expect to have them done until March. I am also planning a sweater for myself. It'll be the first thing I have knitted for myself in a year. I just hope I can ditch the baby weight I have gained, so I don't have to knit it extra huge.

Oh, I have also taken the plunge, and switched to the new Blogger version. All went well, and all posts are still within the blog!

New Year, new job starts...

2007-01-03T10:10:00.000-05:00

Hubby's new job has started off in full swing this new year. Son and I dropped him off last night at the companys new terminal. He met his trainer, who looks far younger than his actual age. When I first saw the trainer, I gasped and said "He is a kid"! Hubby has since assured me that said trainer has been in this profession for 13 years, is quite capable, and only looks like a child. Hub's will return Saturday evening.

Son is handling the "dad not home" thing fairly well. He is looking forward to getting back on his usual schedule of going to school. Winter break ends this week and he will return to class this Friday (yipee, whoo-hoo, a few hours to myself). Today he has a playdate with a Dutch/Austrian kid from playgroup. The kids mother is strangely fond of me (side note: When she found out I was once married to a German, but am now with a Mexican, she said "How is it that you changed cultures so easily? Germany and Mexico are so opposite". "Ah, exactly!", I replied. "I guess I didn't want the world to be so white bread".). She desperately desires my son to teach her son English. My son takes this all with a grain of salt. Something tells me that it'll be her son teaching my son German.

I have been doing tons of boring finishing work on all those knitted pieces I have promised pictures of. Really, I'll get those pictures up soon.

I have also been flirting with the idea of switching the blog to the new Blogger format. I am nervous that I'll lose all of my archives. Has that happened to anyone? I found that I need to switch, since I have been invited to some private blogs who use the new format and I can't access them using the old version.

Oh, and RD...I know that you are out there. Can you at least send an email and let me know what is going on with you??

"the feeling that its all a lot of oysters, but no pearls. (Last Post of 2006)

2006-12-31T18:28:00.000-05:00

".....talked a little while about the year.
I guess the winter makes you laugh a little slower,
makes you talk a little lower about the things you could not show her.
And its been a long December and there's reason to believe.
Maybe this year will be better than the last.
I can't remember all the times I tried to tell my myself
to hold on to these moments as they pass...."

Credit: "A Long December" by the Counting Crows.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!! I TOAST TO EACH AND EVERYONE OF YOU.

Rest in peace...

2006-12-26T18:17:00.000-05:00

Phill Hines

While most people out there will be mourning the death of James Brown, who died on Christmas, I will be mourning the unexpected passing of one of the best punk rock drummers known to man. Phill Hines, drummer for the punk band Dissonance (from Flint, Michigan) died of a massive stroke and heart attack on Christmas. The photo above was taken at the 20th reunion show last year (I also downloaded the image from their website, thanks Andy). He will be sadly missed. I encourage you to click the Dissonance link to hear some fantastic American Hardcore tunes. This band was of great influence to me in my formative years.

Exit real life, enter blogger plane... (or, Yes, I still live)

2006-12-22T09:32:00.000-05:00

Just a quick note to let you know that all is well with me. My son and I have survived our first week without Hubby. He has just returned home, and will be here for the next 4 days. Of course our days will be filled with many holiday obligations, amplified by the fact that Hubby's father has flown in from California. It has been over 3 years since he was here last. My son had no idea who he was when he saw him last night. The only saving grace was that Hubby remarkable resembles his father, not only in looks but in many mannerisms. Son was quick to notice this, so eventually they got along fine.

It is good to have the Hubby back. This is the longest we have been apart from each other in almost 8 years. It's not like we are doing the Paul and Linda thing, really. The flat has been cleaned from top to bottom. For those of you who are familiar with this blog and my life, I am not a domestic queen by any stretch. I even folded the laundry and put it all away in the closets and drawers. Can't even remember the last time I did that.

I am still trying to finish up this great scarf for my sister. The days are ticking away fast, and I fear that I won't have it done in time for Christmas. I have also been reading a book called "Heat" by Bill Buford (thanks for the recommendation, Bob). It chronicals a writer/editor who leaves his field in order to become a professional cook/chef. It is a great read, and has brought up many thoughts from my time (12 years) spent in numerous bakeshops. I plan on having a post about my own stint as a professional baker in January. I can safely devulge secrets since it has been years since I have been in the field. I also will finally utilize my team membership over at Beggar's Banquet by including some recipes for you all to make.

I would like to wish all of you a great holiday season, and a very happy New Year. I will try to post again before 2007, but just in case...

I am NOT moving to Wyoming!

2006-12-12T09:22:00.000-05:00

That Union shit is SO far behind us now. Hubby completed a two week program at a school so he could begin a new profession. He ranked in the 95th percentile, and was excused from the testing since he had completed most of the requirements for the course while working within the Union. This course was essentially a formality so he could get placed in a job.

And Job it is. He had an interview yesterday and was hired on. He leaves Sunday night and will be gone until Friday night. As a pre-hire he must do an additional 5 days of hands on work. After the week is over he will be gone a total of 6-8 weeks for additional PAID training. He will be home at least once a week over the 6-8 weeks. The company has also assured him that they will give him up to two weeks off after BabyVog is born. This is great news. Of course, he will most likely still be on the road when I go into labor. Yippy! I get to give birth alone, well, minus the help of the hospital staff. I am okay with this. I just need to make sure that my son is cared for, and that I can get to the hospital on time. I am not a needy individual, I don't need friends and family to hold my hand while birthing. I approach it as I would a job, and jobs don't need personal cheering sections. I'm not into the "hey, lets have a labor party" space. Don't get me wrong, I am really looking forward to seeing this little girl. The fun will start once she is in the light of day. Then we can hug her, and love her, dress her cute and call her Vog.

On another note, I have been knitting up a storm. I plan to have some pictures up in a week or so, of all that I have completed. Aaarggg! Gotta go. The cat is attacking the christmas tree again!

The stylish Baby Vog.

2006-12-07T09:37:00.000-05:00

Morning started as usual. Coffee and a bowl of cereal in front of the computer as I begin my blog rounds. However, this morning I was side tracked. 9 times out of 10, I check *Asterisk's blog first. He is my personal bloggin' superstar. The time zone difference most always assures to have a fresh post for me to read each morning. He is getting ready to post his 500th entry since starting his blog in March. Anyhoo, as always, he has a great post up. This time, the side track occurred because of a comment by Tanya. She mentioned that she had used the internet to buy Goth baby clothes. Huh?!? I got to see this. Of to Google I go. Holy Crap! And I thought I lived in a fairly progressive town, but NO ONE sells stuff like this for baby in this city!
Check out these two links. I have only listed two, since I didn't want to overwhelm or bore you. And for you non-baby lovers, go anyway. If more kids were dressed like this, there may be a slim chance you could be a tiny bit more tolerent of the little shits, well, maybe not. But you'll get a laugh anyway.

My mom is so going to kill me when she sees BabyGirl Vog sporting a Ramones onesie, and a Che Guevara t-shirt paired with skull print pants.

Stardust Kids Clothes
Lucky lil' Devil

Exhaling a sigh of relief.

2006-12-03T09:35:00.000-05:00

I will start out by saying that everything is now okay with my mom.

They transfered my mom to a far better hospital on Friday afternoon. She was in surgery by 7:30 pm. The surgeon gave the procedure a 50/50 chance of being successful. 3 hours later he emerged from the operating theater with a smile on his face. He said my mom was doing great and that even though it was a tough job, everything had worked out better than expected. Next thing I know, they are wheeling my mom into the recovery room. She had the biggest smile on her face. When I saw her smile, days of heavy stress was lifted off my head.

She gets to go home this afternoon, and will return in a few weeks to have the coratid arteries cleaned out. Once she gets through that, she will be completely back to normal. She has suffered a series of heart attacks, but the doctors feel they were minor and that she will be fine. They even told her she can drive on Wednesday, which to me is mind blowing, since it is only one week since she was near death.

Thanks to everyone for all of your support, it meant so much to me, and helped to keep me sane. And a HUGE shout out goes to Fluffy Stuffin' for watching my son on Friday so we could be present for the surgery. Thanks again, my friends!

The room smelled like mortality.

2006-11-30T16:16:00.000-05:00

I spent all day yesterday at the hospital with my sister and father, to support my mother in what should have been a routine procedure. My mom failed a stress test, and was having slight chest pains two weeks ago. It was recommended by her doctor that she go in for an exploratory procedure to see if all was okay with her heart. Worst case scenario would involve the insertion of a stent into one of the arteries. I should also mention that during the stress test, it was found that her carotid artery, the main blood supply to the brain was blocked. The doctors felt that it would be best to deal with the heart issues first, then go back and clear the coradid artery in 3 months.

She went into surgery at 1pm. The doctor came out at 2:45 pm, to say that the artery on the lower left side of her heart was 95% blocked, and that they were unsuccessful in getting both stents into place. The wanted to wait until the morning to finish the surgery, as they had used the maximum amount of radioactive dye needed to view the procedure and didn't want her to go into kidney failure. The three of us were allowed to go back to see her one at a time. My sister was the last one to go in, and while she was there, my mother began having intense chest pains. They immediately took her back into the operating room to finish the surgery, fearing a massive heart attack. Once again, they were unable to get into the vein. It was too blocked. The surgeon again came into the waiting room, this time asking us to come into a consultation room where we could talk in private. This time he said that he was unable to get in, and that the only option was to perform open heart surgery, a bypass. He wanted to consult another surgeon before beginning the proceedure, and he would be back in a few minutes to talk with us more. Those few minutes seemed like an eternity. Now two doctors are coming towards us, the looks on their faces didn't look good. The second doctor then said " This situation isn't looking good. We don't feel that your wife/mother is able to withstand open heart surgery, due to the clogged carotid artery and her weight. We fear that if we go thru with it, she will either not make it through the surgery, or will have a stroke during recovery. There is also a high chance of infection, pneumonia, and blood clots. We recommend that she be taken to the Cardiac Intensive Care unit and have a controlled heart attack. Since we can not repair the vein, a heart attack is going to happen. We will control it with nitroglycerin, and morphine for the pain. If it ends up being more of a heart attack then we think, we will then take her into surgery for a by-pass".

The three of us sat their with stunned looks on our faces. I saw my father cry for the first time in my life. I told the doctors I wanted to see her, immediately. They agreed and took my father and me back to see her. I thought she would be in the recovery area, but I was wrong. My father and I were escorted into the actual operating room, where my mother was on a stretcher waiting to hear what was to happen to her. At that point she had no idea. My dad and I waited at my mothers feet, as the doctor explained to her what was happening telling her all that was told to us. All she said was "Okay, I'll do whatever needs to happen. I have two grandchildren that I would like to see before I die". The doctor excused himself and my father and I approached. She had no idea that we had been standing there while the doctor gave her the news. She smiled a weak smile and said everything was going to be okay.

They moved her into the Cardiac ward, pumped her full of nitroglycerin and morphine. I spoke to her at 10am this morning. She said she had chest pains all night long, but they stopped by morning. I have no idea at this point if the controlled heart attack is over, or still ongoing. I'll have more news later tonight. As for the carotid artery, they intend on cleaning that out in about 4-6 weeks. In a way, I am glad they can do it sooner than they originally thought. However, if that surgery goes the direction of this last one, well...

Dec. 12, 2006 UPDATE

Spoke to my mom this morning. She had a very bad night last evening, with pain levels at 10. They gave her 3 consecutive morphine shots, but the pain still cut through. Her doctor isn't happy with what is going on with her. He wants to transfer her to another hospital, one that is better able to handle her condition. The hospital is an hour away from my parents house, about and hour and a half form my house, and my sisters. I can tell by my mom's voice, that she isn't doing well. She is saying things like "this is going from bad to worse" and " if something happens, I am still going to be watching you all". This is very disturbing to me. She won't let me come to see her, telling me that I have my own things I need to take care of (my son, the baby) and that the weather is too bad for me to travel. I am not allowed to call her friends or business people to tell them anything about this. I can't understand why she feels she has to do this all by herself. This is the worst feeling I have ever felt in my life.

Wow! An online quiz that actually matches me.

2006-11-27T11:43:00.000-05:00

I stole this from Laura, over at In Pursuit of Perfection.

You are The Wheel of Fortune

Good fortune and happiness but sometimes a species of
intoxication with success

The Wheel of Fortune is all about big things, luck, change, fortune. Almost always good fortune. You are lucky in all things that you do and happy with the things that come to you. Be careful that success does not go to your head however. Sometimes luck can change.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Even better: *A has a great thing going at his blog today. He and Red found a bunch of fortune cookies over the weekend. He is giving fortunes out to those who request them. This was mine:

"Real friendship is shown in times of trouble; prosperity is full of friends."

What we did last night...

2006-11-23T11:11:00.000-05:00

The Vog family are members of the Toledo Zoo. Each year the zoo staff decorate the entire zoo with the most amazing light display. These are just a couple of the photos from last night. I encourage you to click here to see a great video of the lights in action. The video was captured by our friend Fluffy Stuffin' on his itty bitty Sony camera. Dispite the cameras small size, it came through for us with some fairly good graphics and incredible sound.

Another great blog down for the count!

2006-11-17T11:43:00.000-05:00

It saddens me to see yet another great blog deleted due to an employer. Apparently, there is no safe way to express ones self in this world. The business fucktards of this world would truely like to see a homoginized population. One that is void of true personal expression and fact. We all know that this idealized perception is false. That is why we have readership.

There are ways around this in regards to our blogs.

Don't use your real name, ever.
Stop telling your co-workers about your blogs. Even if you think they are your friend.
Get rid of personal pictures of yourself and your family members on your blog.
Change names and situations that you want to write about. You can still bitch about your issues without being overtly obvious.

I know we are all making friends through our blogs. Save your personal info for the email. Make sure that your blog buddy understands that they are never to devulge your name, status, and whatever else you want to stay hidden via their blogs. Always ask permission before forwarding another bloggers info to others.

You will notice that I have very few pictures of myself on this blog...One, I think. No one knows my husbands name, or his profession. My real name isn't anywhere on a post. I have one pic of my kid, which I most likely will remove, and his name is never mentioned.

Please be safe. I like you all and hate to have to see you go.

This ones for you Dullard! I will miss you very much! Please stay in contact.

"I had too much to dream last night..."

2006-11-15T09:22:00.000-05:00

I rarely, if ever, talk about my sex life on this blog. Don't get all happy, thinking that I am going to start now, because I'm not. I will, however, devulge a little of what has been happening in my dream state.

I have noticed an increase of really strange dreams since finding out that I am pregnant. It has to be the abundance of hormones racing through my cells which is causing this. Normally, the dreams take on an "action/adventure" theme. Now they are taking on a whole new James Bond-esque quality, complete with bizarre sexual sub-themes. (Don't worry, my special blog friend. I am not going to mention the ones about you. I will maintain that only you hear about those.)

All righty... last nights dream horror:

I had sex with Oliver North! I seduced him! To top it all off, he started out in full Military dress. Oh, you don't think that is bad? I ended up with Ollie after Bill O'Reilly turned me down! I woke up thinking EEEWWWW! Double EEEEWWWW! Why, oh why, does my brain do this to me. I can't stand Bill O'Reilly, so much so that I am not putting a linky thing in for him. I never watch his show on FoxNews. I don't find him sexy, that is for sure. I also think his voice is nasty. And Ollie, though he looks a little better than Bill, he still isn't a fantasy man. I don't watch his show either, and haven't paid much attention to him since the Iran/Contra affair. I think I may have fallen asleep watching FoxNews late at night, too many times. Yeah, that's it! Totally subliminal. I'm sure of it. Because I'll be damned if I admit that my brain has betrayed me.

Geez, and I thought last weeks sex dream staring the Naked Chef, Jamie Oliver was bad. Least with him I walked out once I realized who he was. Wait! Jamie Oliver...Oliver North...hmmm. Maybe my brain is telling me I need to eat more olives. Yeah. Bill O'Reilly's head is kind of shaped like an olive. Must add olives to shopping list...

title credit: "Too Much To Dream (last night)" by the Electric Prunes.

"Been caught stealin'..."

2006-11-14T22:40:00.000-05:00

Okay, I stole this from Cynnie, who stole it from Cappy, who stole it from someone else.

"Should I Stay, Or Should I Go?"

2006-11-08T16:38:00.000-05:00

As I have mentioned before, my family is broke. We have lived in poverty for almost 5 years. There are many reasons for this.

1. We live in one of the most expensive areas of Michigan.
2. The economy of Michigan is the worst it has been, since the 1980's.
3. A career change (we thought for the better) 4 years ago involving a shitty Union, which resulted in providing nothing to us (well, it brought a lot of grief).
4. The birth of a child, soon to be children.

I have reached my breaking point concerning our financial status, and things must change. I am 38, my husband is 44. We have no savings, no retirement plans. In Feb. 2007 another child will be joining our household. I have watched my clients dwindle, my husband apply for jobs in this state and never getting a call back. He is repeatedly told that he is over qualified, or under qualified. I am tired of always wondering where the rent money is coming from.

As much as I don't want to leave this state, I am beginning to realize it may be our only option. As I read my internet news page last week, I came across an article about how the state of Wyoming has been sending people to Michigan to recruit for skilled workers. I contacted the work force board in Wyoming and asked what the qualifications where. I was amazed to hear that my husband fits all there requirements, and then some. They recently sent out this huge package touting how great Wyoming is. I have spent hours on the internent looking at the area of interest, wondering if I could blend well within the community and still stay as sane as possible, and picking Diana's brain about the in's and outs of living in the state. Most of you bloggers know Diana. Her emails to me have been cause of great discusions and debate in my house of late. I am greatful for her input.

If we are to move there, our income will increase 4 times the amount it currently is. The cost of housing is the same as in Ann Arbor. Shopping will be at a Walmart, which makes me a little creeped out. They seem to have most of the same chain restaurants, lots of coffee shops, new schools, libraries, and recreational facilities. The weather is similar to Michigan, except for the snow and rain amounts. Double the snow, and the rain is 3/4ths less than Michigan's annual amount. The sun is out way more in Wyoming than in Michigan. Diana has pointed out that everything is spread out, and it is not uncommon to drive two hundred miles to get to anywhere. Yep, the nearest Target to the area I am looking at is 200 miles away, and in a different state (S. Dakota). They have no Old Navy's and bookstores are limited to christian type books. I tell myself that I can always shop via the internet for the things I want and need. Geez, just the thought of being able to have the extra cash for a luxury such as a book makes me giddy. Ah, and music...I'd like to buy some music! If we do go, our goal is to be back to Ann Arbor within 5 years. Perhaps by then, the economy will get better in the area.

There you have it. I have had a lot on my mind, and the computer has been used for research, not blog writing. Let me know what your opinion is on moving 1,000 miles away from my home state. Thanks again Diana for all your help. I will be in contact. And Biddie, I know it is the U.S., but do you want to come with us? It would be nice to have someone like me to hang out with. And Fluffy, I really don't mean to depress you.

(I'm) Almost Famous (yeah, right!)

2006-10-27T09:43:00.000-04:00

*Asterisk had a post recently about dead iconic rockstars. I was reminded via the comment field that I had once met G.G. Allin. I got to thinking about all the famous and semi-famous people I have met or walked by in my life, and started compiling a list. They are not in order of importance and I have designated those who simply walked by me. Feel free to mention who you may have met in the comment field.

1. Red Hot Chili Peppers- The original (and now current line-up). Met them in Maryland backstage after a show. Only Anthony, Chad, and John talked to me, and each signed my shirt. Flea just stood there looking cool in a green shark skin suit.

2. Husker Du- At Schoolkids Records in Ann Arbor. They each signed my shirt.

3. Bob Mould- (guitarist/singer from Husker Du) At a show in Detroit, as mentioned here.

4. Suicidal Tendencies- Punk band from California. Drank beer with them in their tour bus after a show in Flint, MI. I was 16.

5. Kevin Seconds- (from the band 7 Seconds) Met him at least 4 times. Saw 7 Seconds play 10 times. He let me into my 10th show for free.

6. Les Claypool- (from the band Primus) He was walking alone on a street in Flint, MI, wearing a black sweatshirt with the hood over his head tight (like Kenny from South Park). I asked him to sign my CD. He said he would sign it if I gave him a blow-job. I told him it wasn't worth it.

7. Screeching Weasel- (punk band from Chicago) Met them after a show in Flint, MI. Ben Weasel's blog is here.

8. Billy Corigan- (from the Smashing Pumpkins) Met him after a show in Detroit (Gish tour). I shook his hand and told him he was very talented and that he shouldn't get so fucked before shows. I guess he may have listened to me.

9. Sinead O'Connor- (singer) in Detroit, after a show.

10. Oasis- (original line-up) In New York City. They walked by Ron and I after a show, thinking they were too famous to sign anything.

11. Blur- After a show in Detroit. I kissed Damon Albarn. He is very short, and pigeon-toed.

12. Cheap Trick- (band) Walked by me on Main Street, in Ann Arbor.

13. Luciano Pavarati- (opera singer) Walked in front of me in New York City.

14. Jeff Daniels- (actor) Lives 15 minutes away from me. I used to wait on him while working at a bookstore in Ann Arbor.

15. Jim Harrison- (author) Met him twice. Waited on him while working at a bookstore in Flint, MI. He embarassed the crap out of me when I asked him if I I.D'd him correctly. Met him again at a book signing in Ann Arbor. I told him about the first time I met him, and he signed my book "So you think I am a drunk". He WAS drunk at the signing. I also "forgot" to pay for the book before I left the store.

16. Adam Ant- (pop God) After a show in Ann Arbor, MI. I was 14.

17. Ted Nugent- (guitarist/singer) Met him twice. Once at a mall in Ann Arbor, the last time at a bagel shop in Ann Arbor. I also drove by him once.

18.The Pixies- (band) Met once in Detroit (Black Francis is an ass), and once in Ann Arbor. I played pool with Kim Deal (bassist) and lost.

19. Ethan Hawke- (actor/writer??) At a book signing in Ann Arbor. Tried to get him to sign my bra, but his publisist wouldn't let him.

20. Grand Funk Railroad- (legendary 70's rock band). Don Brewer (drummer) is my second cousin. I also used to play with Mark Farner's (singer) daughter when I was a kid.

21. New Bomb Turks- (punk band from Columbus, OH) At a show in Ann Arbor.

22. Henry Rollins- (when he was singing for Black Flag) eh, at a show in Flint, MI. You can read about it here.

23. Jerry Garcia- (guitarist/singer from the Grateful Dead). He waved at me and said hi, while I was in a taxi going to a club in Chicago.

24. Ian McKay- (from Minor Threat, and Fugazi) Met after a show in Flint, MI.

25. Nicolas Cage- (actor) He walked by me and Ron in New York City. Ron and I sat for two hours watching him film a scene for the movie "Bringing Out the Dead". He had on lots of make-up, and looked really old.

26. Denis Leary- (actor) Watched him film a scene for the movie "Do Not Disturb", in Amsterdam. He walked by me, said hi and asked the people around him if anyone wanted to go have a beer. Funny thing was, nobody took him up on the offer, and it looked like no one even knew who he was. Hubby and I had dinner reservations so we didn't go either.

27. Mark "The Bird" Fidrych- (Detroit Tigers Pitcher) Met him at a bowling alley in Flint, MI when I was 10 years old.

28. Lance Parrish- (Detroit Tigers Catcher) Met him after a Tigers game at the original stadium. He also played in the '84 World Series.

29. Gary Moeller- (ex- Football coach for University of Michigan) Met him at a hardware store in Ann Arbor, shortly after he was fired.

30. G.G. Allin- (punk rocker) He liked smearing his own shit on himself and the crowd. Met him while he was staying at the YMCA in Ann Arbor. He had to stay in the state of Michigan until his probation ended. He had spent time in Jackson (MI) Prison for assault and rape of a woman. I didn't know this until after I met him.

31. Lemmi- From the band Motorhead. We had a beer together at a show, while watching the Dead Kennedy's play.

32. Chow Yun-Fat- (actor) Was about 10 feet away from him, while attending an opening for "The Replacement Killers" in Chicago, IL. I went with Ron.

That is all that I can think of at the moment. I look forward to hearing all the people you have come across.

1968 Revisited!

2006-10-20T08:57:00.000-04:00

It's official! As of 12 a.m. eastern standard time the match-up between the Cardinals and the Tigers has begun. The first game of the World Series begins this Saturday, in Detroit. The last time these two teams were together was in 1968 (before I was born), and the Tiger's won at the end of the 7th game. They also met once before that, in 1934. Since the Cardinal's won in 1934, I'm not going to bore you with those details.

I am looking forward to this series, not only because it is a local team, but because I can't wait to witness the showdown between my buddy Ron (diehard Tiger's fan) and our friend Lucy (equally diehard Cardinal's fan). Lucy is currently living in Washington State. Sadly, she had no one there to share here penant winning joy with. I am encouraging her to get to Michigan, to at least be amongst friends during the series. I phoned her last night to wish her congratulations, but I have a feeling she thought I was calling only to rub her nose into Tiger poop. I really was being sincere, but deep down, we all know that the Tiger's are going to stomp her loved Cardinals. If she does make it to Michigan, I promise to get some "Cat eats Bird" action on video to post onto YouTube for you all to enjoy.

I realize that most of you out there could care less about this series. Just remember, I live in Michigan and there isn't much more to get this excited about.

More useless information about me...

2006-10-19T10:21:00.000-04:00

I found this questionaire over at Melanie's blog. Since all it involved was cutting, paste-up, and answers I could come up without thinking to much, I decided to steal it. I DO have a new post written up, but I am too lazy to type it into Blogger right now. As they say in Jamaica, Soon-Come.

Also, thanks for all the comments of support about my last post. It meant a lot, and confirmed that I am not crazy in how I think about that moronic union.

1. What time did you get up this morning? 7:45 a.m.
2. Diamonds or pearls? Eh, both.
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Black Dahlia. It really sucked.
4. What is your favorite TV show? Veronica Mars
5. What do you usually have for breakfast? Coffee with lots of cream.
6. Favorite cuisine? Sushi, if money is no option. Baked Salmon and vegetables.
7. What is your middle name? Marie. So, so, boring.
8. What food do you dislike? Turkey burgers. Too dry.
9. What are your fave colors? Blue, gray, and black.
10. What kind of car do you drive? A very late model Chevy S-10 Blazer.
11. Favorite sandwich? Turkey ruben with honey-cup mustard on the side.
12. What characteristic do you despise? Stupidity.
13. Favorite item of clothing? Jeans
14. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation? Vietnam
15. What color is your bathroom? White walls, sage green towels, bamboo patterned shower curtain, white shower mat.
16. Favorite brand of clothing? Whatever. I haven't bought clothes in a very long time. I would love about 5 different pairs of John Fleuvog shoes, though.
17. Where would you retire to? Mexico.
18. What was your most memorable birthday? 30th. Went to NYC for the first time with my buddy Ron.
19. Favorite sports to watch? Piston's Basketball.
20. Furthest place you are sending this? Ah, to my blog...
21. Who do you least expect to send this back to you? My mom. Ha, she doesn't know my blog addy!
22. Person you expect to send it back first? Haven't a clue.
23. Favorite saying? Uh-huh, right.
24. When is your birthday? End of October, near Halloween.
25. Are you a morning person or a night person? Normally a night person. Been forced into a morning person upon the arrival of children.
26. What is your shoe size? Woman's size 12 AAA!!!
27. Pet: Large gray cat named Sully.
28. What did you want to be when you were little? A doctor.
29. How are you today? My usual self.
30. What is your favorite Candy? Currently- Peanutbutter cups. My dad just got back from Hershey, PA....the home of US chocolate.
31. What is your favorite flower? Jasmine
32. What is a day on the calendar you are looking
forward to? Feb. 28, 2007, when this little baby inside of me is due to come out.

Another reason Union membership is approx. 12% in the United States

2006-10-17T09:57:00.000-04:00

"And I am calling to you, throughout the world. Well, I can hear the bells are ringing, joyful and triumphant..." -Mike Dougherty

That is what I hear on my iPod as I sit down to write to you about something that has been difficult for me for far too long.

Some of the long term readers of this blog know that my husband was an Apprentice in a Union for 3 1/2 years and was terminated from them last July. As much as he desired to be a part of this Union, a personality conflict with the program's director turned out to be the sole reason for this termination. Throughout the past 3 1/2 years, my family has struggled financially and emotionally as my husband attempted to reach his goal in becoming a Journeyman in this Union. Despite unobtainable ideals impossed on him by this Union.

My husband chose to appeal his termination and has waited 3 months to hear back from them in order to do so. We consulted two different high profile lawyers concerning this appeal. Both, independantly, agreed that they would be of no help to him in regards to this Union. They said this Union was too powerful and closed minded to listen to them. The second lawyer suggested that I attend the meeting with my husband. Seeing that I am his strongest supporter, I have agreed, though I doubt the board will allow me to enter the room with them. I am very nervous about this.

In preparation, my husband has bought new "business" clothes to wear, and has cut his waist length hair for the first time in 7 years to a normal "man's" haircut. I, too, have cut 5 inches from my hair and evened out the color to my natural brown. I refused to buy new clothes and have decided to squeeze my very pregnant body into my "smart suit". I will show my baby belly proudly.... I can't wait until this day is over.

-Following day... The meeting is over...

"I got a real live horseshoe,and I hung it upside-down above my door. But it don't do nothing to impress you, so I don't know what the hell it's for..." - Old 97's

Those Union bastards didn't allow me in to the meeting with my husband. As my buddy Ron has said, "It was a Stalinistic trial". A fourty minute bitch session of hell. My favorite quote by them, as relayed by my husband, was "This Union ISN'T here to look out for you! Our job is to negotiate contracts". After hearing this, I could feel my grandfather, a United Auto Worker member who was part of the sit down strike in Flint, Michigan, rolling over in his grave. The Union co-ordinater, who's job was to find my husband work, lied repeatedly in front of the board whenever my husband attempted to defend his work history. If my husband is indeed thrown out of this Union permanently, the Union will pay via a lawsuit I'll start because of this mans lies.

I know that many of my reader's are members of Unions. They have shared stories with me on several occassions about how their Unions have assisted them on a variety of issues. Forgive me when I say, I think that Unions are a waste of time, at least in America.

-Several days after the meeting...

"You snooze, you lose. Well I have snozed and lost. I am pushing through, I'll disregard the lose. I hear the bells, so facinating and I'll slug it out, I'm sick of waiting. And I can hear the bells ringing joyful and triumphant........" -Mike Dougherty

The letter came. He has been released from the Union.

Time to get on with our lives.

It's a SWEEP!!!

2006-10-15T09:44:00.000-04:00

The Detroit Tigers' Magglio Ordonez hits a three-run, walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth innning of Game 4 of the American League Championship Series in Detroit on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2006. They swept the Oakland A's outta the stadium, and launched themselves into the World Series.

Last time the Tiger's were in the World Series was 22 years ago.

This time around, the Tigers will play either the New York Mets, or the St. Louis Cardinals. Based on the playoff between these two teams, it looks like it'll be the Cardinals. They are leading 2-1.

Update: As of the fourth game last night the series between the Mets and the Cardinals is tied two games each.

I've been gone from the blog for over a week and all I give you is this??

2006-10-10T09:14:00.000-04:00

Really, I know it isn't much... I have a post almost finished detailing my most recent "trauma", but for now you can read what goes on in the high school I graduated from. I know, boring....

Bomb threat interrupts school
SWARTZ CREEK
THE SWARTZ CREEK NEWS
Sunday, October 08, 2006
By Robyn Rosenthal
COMMUNITY STAFF WRITER

The high school went into lock-down briefly Wednesday after receiving a bomb threat.

Superintendent Jeff Pratt said a student told an assistant principal that another student dressed in black gave him a note containing a bomb threat and then ran off. Officials were able to review surveillance video of the first student from the time he arrived at school. The video did not show another student dressed in black giving him the note, Pratt said. Police searched the school before classes resumed.

The student has been suspended for 10 days and can be expelled under state law.

I like the fact that the little shit hand delivered the bomb threat to the principle. That was class.

My week, in review.

2006-09-29T10:56:00.000-04:00

Hi all! This week has been jam packed for me. I have a bit of time, finally, so I thought I would bring you all up to speed.

Sunday: Attended a family birthday party in which no one in my family was having any fun. We all tried sticking it out, but after my crying son begged to leave 3 different times, my hubby pulled the plug on it and escorted us all to the car. This sucked. Who likes to leave a 5 year olds party on a wave of drama? Family behavior is a harsh reality, for both sides involved. Family and friends, at times, don't mix well together. Normally, I would choose blood family over friends. Lately, it seems that blood is not thicker than water, and that friends on both camps are becoming more like our family than our family is.

Monday: In past posts I have refered to my intuitive side. It runs in my family (mother, sister, nephew, son) and I use it extensively within my profession. Because of this ability, I tend to become overwhelmed and retreat into myself. Thankfully, a dear client told me about another of her practitioners who is very similar to me. I had the opportunity to meet him. What was to be an hour meeting ended up being 3 hours in which I allowed myself to be myself. I learned some very important things about myself which I had no clue of, or was ignoring. With this knowledge, I learned how to stop a person who has been psychically attacking me for over 5 years, and have begun the process of reclaiming my life from this vicious loser. This person really fucking sucks and needs to get on with his own life and stay the fuck out of mine. I left him for many reasons and HE needs to deal with it on other levels than fucking with me. For a taste of how he affected me in the past I refer you to this post.

Tuesday: Some of you may have noticed in the last posts comment field that Ms. BabyVog mysteriously left a comment announcing HER gender. Yes, the baby temporarily residing within me is a GIRL. She is doing very well, has ten fingers and toes and all her internal organs are functioning as they are supposed to be. Truthfully, her gender was no surprise to me.
Hubby has ramped up the cleaning and organizing to make way for baby Vog. The flat is looking the best it ever has.

Wednesday: Went for a much needed Rolfing session to unpinch a nerve in my back. This nerve was and still is, sort of, causing my right hand to cramp to the point I can't close it into a fist. I was glad that it is only a nerve and not MS or Parkinson's. I tend to work on a lot of clients with brain issues, which then causes me to freak out if something weird like this happens to me.

We also attended a school function for my son at his favorite place in the world, the Hands on Museum. There was lots of good food, and meeting more of the parents was fun. Watching the kids tear it up at this private party was a blast.

The State of Michigan decided that my 4 year old could get health insurance, so he went to his doctors for a much needed exam and shots. He flunked his eye test and now has to go to the eye doctor in December. That was the soonest they could get him in. Go figure. I was hoping he would have perfect vision like his dad. Oh well. I have been wearing glasses since I was 5 and am used to it. If he needs glasses, he needs them and that is something he can deal with. He is so cute, and I admit that that it kind of saddens me to have to accessorize him with specks.

Thursday: Went to the 12 Oaks Mall in Novi, MI so my kid could redeam a gift card at Build A Bear. The store was a nice experience, and son chose a nice snow leopard to stuff. He named it Cat 2, and he got a birth certificate for it. You can even dress your animal if you want. Lucky for me, my kid said no way to this since cats don't wear clothes. Geez, the clothes for these things cost more than clothes that I would buy for myself. As for the mall... ick. I suffered culture shock and had to leave as soon as the cat was completed.

I attended a great knitters group in the evening. I had bought this beautiful yarn awhile ago and attempted to make a lace scarf for my mom. I had never knit something this complicated and was pissed when I couldn't figure it out. I took it to this group, and a very nice lady showed me how to do it once. By the time I left, I had knit about 4 inches and made no mistakes. I am confident it'll be done before Christmas.

Today: Easy laid back morning. Spend time at a Myspace Group that was started for the punk community of my hometown of Flint, MI. I have reconnected with many people, and unfortunately have learned that a lot of my old friends have since died often horrific deaths. Thanks to Zeneric for connecting me with this group.
Hubby has just returned from the knee specialist wearing a brace. The doctor has told him there is nothing he can really do for his worn out knee. Now he must wait at least 25 years before he will be allowed to get a knee replacement. Poor guy. Living with him dealing with this pain is going to be a challenge.

That's about it. I will try to be a better poster, or at least, let you all know that I am alive and will post more when I have time. Have a good weekend, everyone. I plan on catching up on everyones blogs this weekend.

ps. Pie, I had a dream about you last night. You were the fire chief in my hometown. It was odd.

"I'm the patron saint of denial..."

2006-09-21T17:10:00.000-04:00

Ugg! Boredom. From a hermit who is sick of being in the house. I'm a Gen-Xer in search of reform. Fuck off Douglas Coupland. Your last book sucked. You even wrote yourself in it as a character, showing me you've become a Reagan-era prick. What is it like to buy your own health insurance and not beg it off the Fed's like I have too?

Fuck off to the rental ghetto I live in, where the offspring of miss spent youth create their own Fight Club in the courtyard for the under ten set. Fuck off to the welfare mothers who live here, who think their kids are too good to play with my kid. Despite the fact that my kid is far more intellegent than theirs, and that he could actually teach their kids more than a few things of importance. Fuck off to the rich bastards of this city who don't hesitate to drop hundreds of dollars on useless shit to attempt to make them feel anything. Fuck off to people who don't return a real smile because they are afraid the first smile hides an agenda that might make them feel uncomfortable. Fuck off to the uneducated teenage youth who troll the rental ghetto, ready to drop a race card at you if you even look in their direction. Jesus, I left the ghetto of Flint, Michigan for this mask of a community in search of tolerance. What a joke this economy has made of this city. It really is turning into an area of rats looking for a piece of the pie. I am not a rat, but where do I go now? Do I continue to look within for the real change?

Over and over.... You can reminisce over the past. When does it rectify? Things can set it off. Movies, "Before Sunset" "After Sunset" "Eyes Wide Shut", "Trainspotting", "Platoon". Music, the entire Grunge era, the Stooges, old Red Hot Chili Peppers, Oasis. Scents, cigarette smoke in cold December air, the smell of the interior of any Volkswagon before 1994.... Even heart shaped tattoos.

What is the one time in your life that you could comfortabley revisit if you could? You're only allowed one time. If only conscience alternative existance were permited...

title credit: "St. Jimmy" by Green Day

excuse me while I vent my spleen...

Parents of boys, listen up!

2006-09-16T16:02:00.000-04:00

Warning: May offend some viewers. Don't like it? Stop watching.

This is a clip from my new favorite show, Weeds. Since only the first season is available on DVD, I was trolling YouTube for season two episodes and found this. Being a woman, I never had to deal with this. Since I am a mom to a boy (far too young for this talk, thank god) I found this funny.