Things that make you thankful to be alive
There is a fire, a very bad fire, four houses down from us and they just pulled a body out and took it away. Please pray for our neighbors.

UPDATE: I was right there when they pulled the guy's body out (thankfully covered). I had went down to see if there were any small kids that needed to go indoors with me or if anyone needed anything. It turns out ~~the guy's throat had been slit~~ (it now appears he died of self-inflicted gunshot wounds) and the fire was set ~~after~~ before that. Swarms of investigators are still around, fire marshalls, crime scene tape...lights flashing everywhere. Right now no one knows if it was a murder or suicide (the guy's wife died of cancer a year ago and he was in his mid 50s), ~~but most suicides don't slit their own throat~~.

We finally met our sheriff neighbor 2 doors down and he kept promising over and over that he's been here for 14 years since this neighborhood first started going up (our house is 9 years old) and nothing like this has ever happened before. He was as completely shocked as the rest of us. Hopefully that means we'll get better inside information soon...but who knows if we want to hear it...

I'm just very thankful and happy my husband and I are safe and our house is ok. What a way to start your anniversary! We had to wet down the roof for the first 30 minutes because embers were flying all over our heads. My house burned to the ground when I was in the third grade, so I was terrified of losing another one. I took a few far-away photos because that's what I do to cope through things, so if any turned out, I'll post them soon. Just wanted to let everyone know we're ok. At least physically.

NEXT UPDATE: Here are the photos I took. Please excuse the bad photography. The "perfect shot" was the last thing on my mind tonight... The very last photo was shot across the street from our house, with the fire truck in front of it.

For photos shot around our neighborhood in the past, click here.
posted at 02:09 AM | link-

-it | mail it | (42) shout it

Don't run with scissors
A lot of my friends are new parents, so if you've missed today's Oprah, it's definitely worth a stop by the website. I rarely watch the show anymore, but just happened to land there today for some reason. The topic is "Child Dangers Every Parent Should Know About". For example, I had no idea that baby oil can be lethal. There are other warnings from gel candy to exercize equipment, so take a few and look them all over when you can.
posted at 04:36 PM | link-

-it | mail it | (5) shout it

Let "the seven year itch" begin!
And since I won't be posting on Saturday, this goes in today... Happy sixth anniversary, babe! I'll tell you the rest when you get home tonight. I love you!
posted at 04:01 AM | link-

-it | mail it | (38) shout it

Gee, I really love you and we're goin' to get married
I'm taking this Saturday off, so the "Dress of the Month" and the "Destination Wedding of the Month" are up a day early. Enjoy!
posted at 01:10 AM | link-

-it | mail it | (0) shout it

Money for nuthin' and your chicks for free
I just want to take a second to thank Stacy for helping me out on my quest of total blog domination by welcoming me into the fold over at Sekimori Design. I'm very excited about this -- and it might help make sense why all of my posts are between the hours of 2 p.m. and 4 a.m. these days since I'm working 14-16 hour shifts right now. And they said being a housewife was "easy"...

I'm still doing freelance with Blogomania as well, and there really hasn't been a better time to be a blogger as far as I'm concerned with Blogomania and Sekimori Design around. Between the two companies you can find just about every design package and hosting package to fit your needs. So if you're sick and tired of relying on free servers that go up and down faster than a hooker on the corner of Sunset Boulevard, check them both out! I promise you will not be disappointed. (And that really isn't because you can request me as your designer. Oh no...)
posted at 12:29 AM | link-

-it | mail it | (1) shout it

Pass the crack please
You mean there are blogging performance enhancing drugs and no one told me about them yet?!
posted at 08:46 PM | link-

-it | mail it | (1) shout it

Don't piss off the postal employees
Look -- let me just state something up here at the top right quick. My blog is not a platform for slighted postal workers who don't happen to like that MSNBC.com article and my linking to it. If you have responses, please list them in your own blog and give me the link in my comments. Please do not put full-length articles in my comments. Comment links are there just for that...comments. Not for full-length newspaper editorials and/or sermons.

I never meant to tick postal workers off or imply that your service is not valuable to me in my daily life. I will quote my position so it is crystal clear. Beyond that, please write your own editorials in your own blogs in the future. Thank you!

As stated in the comments of this entry: My problem is not the fact they are making the increase -- but rather, why they need it this time again so soon? I have never been to a post office in the entire Tampa Bay area (and Philadelphia before that and Mobile before that and Norman, Oklahoma before that) where I was not in a long line with several customers carrying several packages each. By comparison, the local UPS and FedEx offices are always dead. They have to be making money somehow. But where is it going is the question?

I've seen too many national news "exposés" now to where I truly believe that a great deal of it is being mismanaged -- and rather than constant rate increases, budgetary house-cleaning might be in better order instead. It's about more than just 3¢.

I don't even mind paying the upcoming 37¢ rate. Truth be told, I'd rather pay 40¢, end up with an even number, and have the USPS use the extra 3¢ to bail them out of "whatever" once and for all. The current system of management obviously isn't working somewhere down the line... It has nothing to do with postal workers to me -- but poor use of funds.

You want to raise the cost of a stamp by 25¢ even -- fine. Hell, I wouldn't mind paying 75¢ to mail a letter, truth be told. It is not just about an extra 3¢ to me. But how can you expect me - or anyone - to not demand you be accountable for the money, and also for you to make it known just exactly what these "improvements" are that the extra money will be spent on? I had a postal worker reply in my comments that the rate increase wasn't being requested due to anthrax, yet the MSNBC.com article clearly stated it was. After all, you are a government agency and it is my money (even if it's not my tax money just to make it clear, and that's why I didn't state it as such originally) keeping you going.
posted at 07:14 PM | link-

-it | mail it | (6) shout it

Name that blog!
A blogger in need is a blogger indeed... Mike is trying to not be so much of a bastard anymore, and needs your help picking the domain name. So go help the poor guy out, won't ya'? Scoot...
posted at 06:22 PM | link-

-it | mail it | (0) shout it

Leavin' on a jet plane
Got an extra $109,000 burning a hole in your pocket and the urge to travel? Visit marquisjet.com and purchase 25 hours of on-call private jet use. I wonder if they have cookies up there?
posted at 04:05 PM | link-

-it | mail it | (5) shout it

I don't have to put on the red light

posted at 10:54 PM | link-

-it | mail it | (11) shout it

Excuse me while I burst out into fits of laughter
The title of a new book by Katherine Harris regarding the Florida vote recounts: "Center of the Storm - Practicing Principled Leadership in a Time of Crisis" That woman truly is a legend in her own mind, isn't she? I suggest spending a lot less time at the Clinique counter, and a little more time in a little thing called reality, lady! (Article from CNN.com.)
posted at 06:09 PM | link-

-it | mail it | (1) shout it

Dead Letter Office
Todd just sent me this link about USPS Priority Mail being anything but. How much more are they going to blame on the 'thrax, yo', while justifying rate increase after rate increase without offering better service? Have you stood in line at the post office lately... How on earth could they be truly be losing money?! (Article from MSNBC.com.)

UPDATE: Please read this entry before replying!
posted at 03:48 PM | link-

-it | mail it | (16) shout it

Just because I color-coordinate my bat and tennis shoes...
This has to be one of the funniest Smoking Gun reports I've ever seen:

"No gay sex occurs in this Manhattan duplex apartment. Repeat, only hot heterosexual action takes place in this $1.975 million Gramercy Park penthouse purchased last year by Mike Piazza, the straight New York Mets star. In the face of rumors about his sexual preference, Piazza, who loves women, announced yesterday (5/22) that, 'I'm not gay.' So only lucky ladies will be romanced in Piazza's 2345 square foot penthouse, which features two balconies, a roof terrace with a built-in barbecue, and two large walk-in closets. Piazza can easily afford such ritzy digs because he gets to cash checks like this every two weeks during the baseball season."

Which leads me to... Why did they have to take the word gay? I'm all in favor of certain people having their own, you know, lifestyle, but...why did they have to take the word "gay"? It's such a lovely word! They've...they've robbed the English language of a beautiful word. I...they have. I mean, now if I say to one of my friends, or one of my friends asks me, "How is your son or daughter feeling?", and I say "Oh, they're feeling gay"...it's a scandal. I've had to stop using the word altogether. Oh. So they've taken "gay" away from us. What was wrong with "pervert"?

And you can't use the word "faggot" anymore either, you...it used to be a lovely bundle of sticks. On cold winters' nights you'd throw another faggot on the fire. But now they work in restaurants, making your salads, being snotty and still expecting fifteen percent.

"Cunnilingus"? My grandfather drove one across America. With pride. He bought the first one off the lot in 1923. Oh, but now they're all gone, forgotten - the Cunnilingus, the Rambler. Oh. I suppose "Rambler" means something filthy now too, does it, does it mean something...?

Can't use the word "fisting" anymore either. Oh no. No, no. But back in the forties the girls and I used to fist every Sunday afternoon. It was a knitting stitch, and a very difficult one. I made a lovely yellow afghan full of tiny, intricate fistings, that won a, that won a grand prize at a, at a jamboree. Yeah. Gave up knitting altogether, though, in 1979, finally found out what the word meant. Oh no. No, no. I took that afghan with all that lovely fisting and put it up the "poop-hole". Oh, that's, that's what we used to call attic. Now they're all gone, locked away, like those beautiful words.

Well, I guess I'm just supposed to fade away, in silence...or be modern and accept it. Fine. I guess I'll just have a "Fuck Off". Oh, that used to be a summer drink, you know..... (Credit: Kids in the Hall)
posted at 03:17 AM | link-

-it | mail it | (14) shout it

Like sands through the hourglass
Just in under the wire...the new "This or That Tuesday".

Charcoal or gas BBQ grill? I prefer our George Foreman grill.
Beach or pool? Beach!
Sneakers or sandals? Well I think I've answered that with graphical illustration this week. Sandals.
Sunblock or suntan lotion? Suntan lotion.
Iced tea or iced coffee? I can't stand coffee in any form. Definitely (sweetened) iced tea.
Touristy beach town or quiet camping trip? Touristy beach town. I don't believe in camping trips.
Theme park or baseball game? In Oklahoma, OU baseball games. Down here, with the games being inside a stupid dome, theme parks.
One or two piece swimsuit? Two piece.
Bicycling or rollerblading? Haven't in years, but bicycling. I still haven't recovered over the fact that rollerblades have replaced white leather "disco" roller skates.
It's 95 degrees outside. Do you prefer to go outside in the heat, or stay in and hide behind the air-conditioner? I reside in Florida. We live and die by the AC.

posted at 11:32 PM | link-

-it | mail it | (3) shout it

Girls who are boys who like boys to be girls
Two new skins are up -- one for the girls -- and one for the boys (PG-13 so use caution if opening at work). Or vice-versa, depending on your sexual coin-flip... And for all of the skin options available, just check here. Enjoy!
posted at 08:50 PM | link-

-it | mail it | (16) shout it

Born with a silver mouse in their hand
I had to giggle while checking out the new arrivals at my online wedding store... New for hard-to-shop-for attendants: an engravable, silver-plated computer mouse. It comes in a velvet gift-box lined with satin. What will they think of next?!
posted at 04:03 PM | link-

-it | mail it | (7) shout it

Deliver the letter, the sooner the better
I found a great link in Annessa's blog -- an online version of "Operation Dear Abby" where you can instantly e-mail a service member by the branch of your choice via an online form. Memorial Day may be almost over, but the job of protecting and defending our freedoms never will be. Make someone's day, regardless of what the calendar says.
posted at 11:35 PM | link-

-it | mail it | (1) shout it

This one is for Susan and Sean

[Let me see that thong]

You both would never make it in Florida!

This is my flip-flop collection from this year. And that doesn't even include my Tevas, Birks, sandals, and slides. I...have a problem... But at $4.99 - $10.99 a pair, at least it's a cheap "habit". And I don't even hear the "flip-flop" sound. Guess that means we really are Floridians now.
posted at 08:59 PM | link-

-it | mail it | (14) shout it

I love to feel the rain on my face, taste the rain on my lips
Photos like this are why I love my digital camera so much! We had a rainy afternoon here in central Florida, and I stepped outside and snapped this just now.
posted at 07:36 PM | link-

-it | mail it | (6) shout it

The other monuments so white and clean

All come to live a dream,
to join the slowest parade they'll ever see.
Their weight of sorrows carried long and carried far,
taken to The Wall.

It's 40 paces to the year that he was slain.
His hand's slipping down The Wall for it's slick with rain.

How would life have ever been the same
if this wall had carved in it one less name?
- The Big Parade, by 10,000 Maniacs

Thank you to all of those who are serving, have served, and have stood by their family members while serving -- and dying for -- our country. You are remembered in our hearts more than just one day out of the year.
posted at 07:04 PM | link-

-it | mail it | (1) shout it

The six year itch
I decided to spoil my husband (with ulterior motives) and snag him a new GameCube today for our anniversary next week. He's wanted another gaming system forever (a Dreamcast was his last one), and once everyone started dropping prices this month it was hard to say no. We've debated which system to buy forever now, but after watching the latest "Extended Play" from E3 2002, the deal was sealed. I am salivating at the thought of playing "Super Mario Sunshine" (and the rest of the Mario games) soon! Then this summer Madden 2003 and NCAA Football 2003 will be released for the GameCube as well. And that's just the ones that I want to play (since I'm not really of the gamer mindset)...Todd's list is already a mile long. We rented Madden 2002, Spider-Man, and Luigi's Mansion for this weekend. Right now we're tied 1-1 for Madden victories.

And while we were down in Tampa, I finally found these flip-flops in my size at Targhét. I've been on a mission since I first spotted them. I enjoy being a girl!
posted at 01:15 AM | link-

-it | mail it | (29) shout it