*Foot Stamping Temper Tantrum Continues*

Yep.  Last day.  God I hate this.  I just want to scream.  I want to throw a big-ass temper tantrum.  I don't know how I am supposed to 'finish up my tasks' when all I want to do is yell and stamp my feet.

We are in a worse place financially than when we came here.  Now, in addition to a completely More Than We Can Afford On Unemployment Mortgage, we have a Rent That Is More Than We Can Afford On Unemployment.

I have been blaming the democrats but I don't know if a Republican administration would have been any better.  We were told at our meeting today that this is probably only temporary; that they will probably be spinning up again.  My manager (a generally nice guy) said he couldn't promise anything though nor do they know how long the hiatus may be.  My (somewhat limited) understanding of this is that this is a gap in funding.  FCS is cancelled.  Period.  As of this week.  They just haven't determined the follow-on yet so for now there is nothing to charge to.  That seems pretty stupid to me.  Why didn't they get the follow-on at the same time as the termination so there would be no LOSS OF JOBS.

So much for creating jobs.  Thanks, Mr. President.

I'm just sayin'.

For once I had hoped I was wrong...

Yep, today's my last day.

THANKS, DEMOCRATS!!!!

Random thoughts

When I came in to work this morning my coffee cup was gone.  My first thought was, 'Who would steal a coffee cup?  It's not like it was lined in gold or had diamonds and jewels encrusting it.  It is a goddamned freaking COFFEE CUP!!"

Okay...that's not really the first thought I had.  My first thought was, "Was I such a lame-o dumbass ignoramus that I left my stupid dumb coffee cup in the bathroom?"

Which, of course, I had.

***

Boy-boy had t-ball last night.  What's cuter than watching a bunch of 5 & 6-year olds play baseball?  Twirling around in the outfield; digging in the infield dirt; looking for worms; watching the planes fly overhead...

How cute...swinging a bat at every pitch no matter how badly thrown; dropping easy fly balls; balls thrown way off the mark; crappy fielding. 

Wait.  That last bit was how I play baseball.

***

Okay, now the DoD (Department of Defense) has cancelled FCS (Future Combat Systems).  This burns my ass.  I have to have the worst freaking timing of ANYONE in the entire WORLD!!!!  I get back into defense work when we elect a freaking Democrat for president.  Great.

They have an All-Hands-Meeting today.  Which we (contractors) weren't invited to.  They have a special 'contractors' meeting tomorrow.  This is Not.  Good.

I hope I still have a job next week.

Bed Wars

One of the best perks of going away on business trips and/or interview trips is that I get a big bed to sleep in ALL BY MYSELF.  I just love to lay crosswise on the bed or to sleep right in the middle.  If it is a hotel with room service?  I am in heaven.  I order dinner, get into my comfy jammies and happily pig out on the big big bed watching crappy TV with my laptop on the bed next to me (yay for WiFi!!!) dribbling crumbs on the bedspread.  And no one tries to steal the remote from me.  Ahhhh…

I remember when I was young(er) and stupid(er) and used to lay in my love’s arms all curled up, our bodies intertwined like vines.  Now?  Yeah, not so much.  My dear B, we have been together for nearly 25 years and if you would kindly sleep in the next room please.  Yeah, you.  First of all you snore, you really do.  You rattle roofs and set off car alarms.  I have seen the cat jump six feet on hearing one of your MMFT ROAHHR FFTMMMPPP.  The dog growls and Boy-boy whimpers.  You also steal the covers and roll yourself up in them leaving me shivering in the dark vainly trying to pull the covers from under your body.

And, you, my sweet darling son, you know I love you more than my luggage, but we are so going to get you your own bed as soon as humanly possible.  You are all knees, elbows and sharp corners.  You steal the blankets worse than your father and though you are less than one third my weight you shove me to the edge of the bed so I cower on the edge of the bed teetering on a precipice (okay, so it is only six inches)..

So now we have a ‘family bed’.  Do I like this arrangement?  Ummm, no.  Why are we doing this, you ask.  Well, we had to leave E’s bed back in Idaho as we didn’t have room in the trailer.  He hated the mattress anyway and I promised I would buy him a new bed.  We also left the box spring to my & B’s bed (in Idaho, that is).  So what are we sleeping on:  one queen size mattress and an air mattress that is invariably deflated just enough so that my fat ass rests on the floor the next morning.  We usually try to con Boy-boy into sleeping on that but he has gotten wise to us and even if he gets put down on the air mattress he usually moves over to the other by the time I get into bed and  B & I race each other to try to claim the mattress.

B wins.  My ass cries for a new bed.

Boys

What is it with little boys and holes in the knees of their pants?  I swear my boy just has to <i>look</i> at a new pair of pants and there will be a gaping hole in the knee before the week is out.  Does he have laser beams in his knees or something?

We have only been in Minnesota a little over a month and the jeans I bought the week after we got here have a hole in the knee.

Maybe if I bought them with holes they would grow closed in a month. 

Would that work? 

What...no?

Amalah (www.amalah.com) is so funny today I thought I was gonna pee my pants! This is so something that B would do. And naturally I would be the moron who forgot the appointment.

Back again

Oh. Yeah. We moved in to our new townhouse last week and got cable/internet yesterday. Yay!! I can finally post here and access my email without having to go to the library.

I thank B's sister. She put up with us for almost three (3!!) months. She is almost a saint. But she doesn't have internet access at her house!!! My god! How very 20th century!!

Well, we are still in Minnesota. It isn't snowing. And I am still employed. I yam a happy woman.

And now, since anyone who may have actually been reading this has moved on, I am really looking forward to posting regularly again. Tomorrow. For it is late. And I want a bath. And some wine.

Is the new Star Trek movie okay for a six year old to see. I want to get him indoctrinated as soon as possible.

Over the Rainbow

Yesterday on our long, long, LOOOONG drive home we passed through patches of sun intermingled with rain showers. When we exited the freeway and started the drive to my SIL's place I saw the arc of a rainbow in the distance.

"Look, E, a rainbow!"

"I don't see it..."

"Right over there, between the..."

"Oh! There is is...do you see the end of it?"

"It's over there behind those trees."

"Can we drive to the end of the rainbow?"

I paused for a few moments. Do I talk about optics and prisms and that from a different angle it will disappear? Do I tell him that there is no 'end' of the rainbow, no pot of gold, no dream to reach for?

"We don't have enough gas, sweetie."

"Oh."

It made me a bit sad though. I am sad that I no longer believe in searching for the end of the rainbow, tilting at windmills or chasing unicorns. Santa is just a guy in a red costume, after all.

When is it that we lose the whimsy and playfullness of children? I don't know. I do know that I wish we had had enough gas to go chasing that rainbow.

Damn you cookies...

Mmmmm...you had me at 'Hello'... (gratuitous movie reference...)

I just can't quit you...(even more obvious movie reference...)

Just piling on...

Everyone else is doing it so I will too...



Susan Boyle on Britain's Got Talent
Uploaded by dwarthy

Rock on, sister...

So much for Spring

This is what we woke up to this morning. This is Spring?!!

(sent from my mobile device)

Still Alive, Still in MN, Very Thankful

Well...I am still in Minnesota. I have to give thanks to some great people:

First of all to Don & Sandy who wired me some money to get me through probably one of the darkest times of my life. Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou...

To my SIL who gave us a place to stay. We are an awful handful to take in (two adults, one child, a dog and a cat) and it has been well over three days. It is an awfully long commute but until we get our feet more underneath us (i.e. I get a few more paychecks and can pay off some big-ass bills), it is great.

To anyone who reads this thank you for thinking of me. I only have spotty access to the internet so posting will be very lax until we can get our own place, but know I will be back.

...and, Marie? I think I love you...

Someone Lost a Tooth

Sad...and Broke...but Employed, Sort Of...

I am so broke right now that I don't know what to do. I am almost at the point of deciding between food and shelter.

The good new is I was offered employment. It is contract not permanent, but employment nonetheless. And after almost six months of not-a-lot-of-anything, I accepted. The bad news is it is 1500 miles from Idaho...in Minnesota. So we packed up the house and set off East, young woman. B had to stay behind, so it is me, E, our dog Ellie and our cat, Freckles. We are now in Minnesota.

The bad news is that this position requires that I have a birth certificate or passport as proof of citizenship. I was told that this was necessary today when I showed up for my first day of work (rather than before I left Idaho when I could have ordered the damn thing and had it waiting for me here in MN). My passport and my birth certificate are in a box that inadvertently got left in Florida. They sent me home.

Even if I could have started today I won't get a paycheck for two weeks.

We have enough money in the bank for 3 more days in a hotel. I can't get hold of any money in my 401ks or my remaining IRA for 15 calendar days.

We may wind up living in the car.

This is not good.