This came out of nowhere

Captain Chaos sure had fun at the park this morning. I thought we would come home and have lunch, then I'd put him down for a nap. While I was fixing a sandwich, it got really quiet in the house. That's never a good sign. So I went to check out the situation.

What I saw was so cute, that I had to grab the camera. Apparently, someone was too tired to make it all the way onto the couch. This has NEVER happened. He has never fallen asleep in any odd position or location. He sleeps in his bed, or in the carseat if he's really tired. That's it.

Although it was adorable, I soon found out why he had fallen asleep so quickly, and in such a strange place. When I touched him to move him into a better position, his skin was burning up! He had a fever of 103! I had no idea he was even sick. I feel horrible, because he was obviously feeling bad, but didn't even tell me. He just asked for his blanket and crashed before he could even climb up on the couch. :(

Kids say the darndest things

It's always an experience shopping with a toddler. We went to Target today. While passing through the lingerie section, Captain Chaos pointed to the bras and yelled, "Those are BOOBIES, Mommy!"
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I'm not sure what made us start singing "Pattycake" this afternoon. We haven't done that one in several months.

The traditional version goes something like this:

Pattycake, Pattycake, baker’s man,
Bake me a cake as fast as you can;
Roll it, pat it, mark it with a B,
Put it in the oven for baby and me.

Chaos really loves to sing, and he thinks he knows the words to everything. He does ok with the first two lines of this one, but after that, he has his own version:

Roll it, pat it, mark it with the beat.

Put the baby in the oven!

Time to get up!

Sometimes, Captain Chaos refuses to take a nap. On those days, he usually talks to himself for a while, then starts yelling, "Mommy! Come and get me!" Today, I heard him playing in his crib for over an hour, and then sudden silence. I knew he wasn't asleep because he had just been talking in a very loud voice, so I headed for his room, knowing I was just going to get him up.

He must have known I was coming, because he and Elmo were standing at the end of the crib looking toward the door, waiting patiently.

Reading and writing (no arithmetic)

I went to a "Mystery Tea" today. It was a fundraiser for one of our local libraries. There were several author appearances and book signings. Of course, I couldn't leave without buying a book. Ok, I bought 5 books. But they are all signed by the authors, one of which was Dennis Lehane, who is the main reason I wanted to go to this event. He wrote one of my favorite books, Mystic River.

I also discovered an author I had never read---John Dufresne (pronounced Doo-Frayne). Despite the fact that he's a liberal (he mentioned being a fan of socialism!), he seemed very nice when I talked to him, and his books look good. I sure hope they are. I bought 3 of them.

The introduction to my column was published last week. I am now officially an alternative medicine columnist! I'll be writing about acupuncture, massage, herbs, blood analysis, and various other aspects of alternative health. Sounds kind of funny if you know me, doesn't it? I'm not exactly the most health conscious individual. In fact, we had to stop by Dunkin Donuts on the way home tonight, at the insistence of Capt. Chaos. I asked him what kind of donuts he likes. "The brown ones." Chocolate--just like his mommy!

Take your pick of the liberals

The question is, who is left worth nominating, now that Fred Thompson has withdrawn?

Mitt Romney? I will admit to not being as informed as I should be (as evidenced by my absentee vote mentioned in the last post), but doesn't Romney support some sort of socialized medicine? And the Mormon thing bothers me, for reasons that I won't get into here. Maybe he's the best out of what's left, but what good does it do me to look into it further now? I already threw my vote away.

Rudy Giuliani? Liberal, pro-choice, pro-gun control, and too pro-gay rights for me.

Mike Huckabee? I thought I liked him, but I found out that he opposes enforcing illegal immigration laws AND supports free education for illegals! He also pardoned quite a few criminals in Arkansas, as I understand it.

John McCain? Can you say "McCain-Kennedy immigration bill"? Not only is it AMNESTY, but I don't trust anyone who teams up with a Kennedy for anything. And does the fact that McCain has been endorsed by the New York Times (for the Republican side) mean anything to you?

Ron Paul? Don't get me started! Blames the US for the 9/11 attacks! Need I say more?

Next time, could someone clue me in?

So I dropped my absentee ballot in the mail this morning.

Care to guess who I voted for?

Yep.

My husband told me that I need to watch the news more often. "Everyone but you knew he was dropping out."

I wanted to vote from my heart. Even though I knew Fred Thompson wasn't one of the front runners, I figured that he had no chance at all if everyone who liked him refused to vote for him for that reason.

I just wasn't aware that he was going to withdraw from the race. TODAY!

I'm pretty sure he announced it just as I was leaving the post office.

Now I wasted my vote.

Case Histories

This morning, I finished Case Histories by Kate Atkinson. I wasn't even halfway through it on Friday, but since I had a free weekend, I was able to get a lot of reading done.

This is a detective novel that's not really written like a typical detective novel, which is exactly why I liked it. It's much more than just a who-done-it. It involves three separate cases, and the P.I. hired to investigate them. Case one: two middle-aged sisters want to find out what happened to their younger sister, who went missing at age 3. Case two: A retired lawyer is desperate to solve the murder of his teenage daughter 10 years earlier. Case three: An woman is searching for her niece, who "witnessed" an ax murder as an infant.

When I say that I like this book, I mean that I was able to finish it. If I don't like a book, I usually put it down and never open it again. I admit that this one held my interest enough that I needed to know how it ended, and I wasn't tempted to just skip to the end to find out. But it was not one of the best books I've ever read.

I may or may not read Atkinson's next book, One Good Turn, which has some of the same characters.

In fact, my big problem now is deciding what to read next. So many books, so little time.

Goofing off

My son is with his grandmother (Eema) this weekend.

Ah, a full day to myself.

I've been at Starbucks for three hours. My hot chocolate (large, fat free, no whip, no foam, heated to 180 degrees) has been gone for a while.

Am I loitering?

The legal definition of loiter is: to linger in one place with no particular purpose.

I have a purpose. I am reading/surfing the web.

I think there has already been a shift change, so maybe these baristas don't realize how long I've been sitting here.

Or maybe I should move to another Starbucks location down the street.........

Attack of the killer gastropod!

Yesterday, I found a shiny trail by the front door. I thought it must be from a snail, but couldn't find it.

Last night, while reading in bed, I noticed a brown, slug-like creature by our bedroom door. My husband was already snoring, and could not be roused. I even tried telling him there was a snake in the room. That didn't work.

What good is a man if he won't rescue me from a slug?

So I covered the monster with an upside down cup, so that he couldn't attack me during the night. (The slug, not my husband.)

Now he has left for work (my husband, not the slug), so I am stuck here with this creature.

He might be dead. I can't be sure.

But I'm not removing the cup, just in case he is lying in wait, preparing to ambush me.

A blog by any other name

The name of this blog is changing. Not the domain name, so you won't have to do anything different to get here. Just the title in the header. "Random Thoughts" is really lame, don't you think? Yeah, me too.

The new name is not exactly cutting edge, but at least I could only find a couple of other blogs with similar names. On the other hand, there are scores of people who call their blog "Random Thoughts". What a bunch of losers.

You might ask when this is going to happen. The truth is, I really don't know. I'm not talented enough to do it myself, so I had to email my blog header expert at JudithShakes Designs. I'm waiting to hear back from her and find out when she can do this for me.

Gee, it seems like an hour since I sent the email. It appears that she has a life apart from the internet. Can you imagine? ;)

Atonement

Although I wanted to read the book first, a friend called last night and asked me to go with her to see this movie. I decided to take advantage of the girl's night out, and I'm glad I did.

Although it could have been shorter, and some monotonous scenes could have been cut, it's the best movie I have seen in a very long time. Despite the loss of momentum in the middle of the movie, the ending makes up for it.

GO SEE IT! I LOVED IT!

The story is based on one 13 year old girl's misconception of something she witnesses, and a decision she makes that alters the lives of several people. I won't reveal anything more, especially about how it ends--except to say that I didn't see it coming.

The young girl is a writer, and as the movie opens in 1935, she uses one of those loud, clickity-clack typewriters similar to this one. The noise of the typewriter is used to create some of the "music" throughout the movie. For some strange reason, that's one of my favorite things about the film.

Sometimes seeing a movie first makes me not want to read the book. That's not the case this time. I can't wait to finish what I'm reading now so I can start reading Atonement.

Take the poll!

Now that I have a few readers, I think it's important that I don't annoy them, thereby driving them away!

If you read this blog regularly, you've probably noticed that I recently added a music playlist. Initially, it was only jazz, but I've now also included some other things that I like, as well. The songs play at random, so you won't hear the same one every time you visit. It's very easy to make changes to it, so I had planned to do that frequently.

I've started to wonder if the playlist is a bad idea. Maybe it's distracting. Maybe you can't concentrate on all of the compelling things I have to say while the music is playing. ;)

Well, you could just turn down your volume. :)

Still, I want to know what you think. So please take the poll on the left, whether you are a regular reader or just a drive-by!

Curling up with a good book

When I want to read for a long period of time, it's always better if I leave the house and read in a coffee shop or bookstore. Reading at home often turns into a nap. I just get so relaxed and content that I can't keep my eyes open anymore.

Apparently my son has the same problem.

I put him down for his nap, and he talked and played for the longest time. I was pretty sure that he wasn't going to sleep and that I'd have to go in and get him after a little while. When he suddenly got quiet, I went in to check on him, and here is what I found.


My husband went in to look at him, too. The first thing he asked me when we left the room was, "Are you sure it's ok for him to sleep with that book over his face?"

It was just a Thomas the Tank Engine catalog, and it's not very big or heavy. There's no chance of him smothering. I assured my husband that it was nothing to worry about. Coming from me, that's saying a lot, because I worry about darn near everything.

He went back to watching football. I went back to web surfing.

About 5 minutes later, he quietly got up and went to our son's room again. I knew immediately what he was doing, and I was right. He came back and told me that he had moved the book from Captain Chaos's face.

There's something really endearing about the fact that my husband, macho (and insensitive) guy that he can be, can't even concentrate on his football game until he makes sure his son hasn't been suffocated in his sleep by a flimsy, paperback book. :)

I guess I'll save my bitchy rant about his messy office for tomorrow.

Bookaholic

Despite the fact that I already have way too many books that I haven't read yet, I bought more today.

An Inconvenient Book by Glenn Beck, and Ann Coulter's latest, If Democrats Had Any Brains, They'd Be Republicans.

Is it weird that I own every single book Coulter has ever written, but haven't read any of them? I don't really know why. I enjoy her column, I love it when she's on Hannity and Colmes, and I agree with (almost) everything she says. I've just never sat down and read any of her books.

Beck's book looks really good.

And it has pictures, so my husband might even like it. :)

Now if I could just finish the two books I am currently reading.............

Victory for the GOP

According to Newsmax magazine, the best hope for Republicans in the upcoming election might be the Democratic Party. An article in the January issue lists 10 ways the Democrats can lose in '08. Number one is: Nominate Hillary Clinton!

As stated by GOP media consultant Tom Edmonds, "she is the perfect candidate to unite the Republican Party and elect Republicans".

I have to admit that I am terrified at the idea of another President Clinton. And I do fear Hillary worse than Bill. But maybe I should take back what I said the other day about not wanting the libs to vote for Hillary. If the strategists know what they are talking about, maybe she can't win in the general election.

Edmonds also says that one of the ways Republicans can win is to run a center-right campaign. I don't really like that idea. It sounds like selling out on values just to get votes. The main reason that I don't like Giuliani is because of his more liberal views on abortion and gay marriage. I think it's important to have a president with morals.

But that doesn't mean that I won't vote for him in the general election if necessary. Anything is better than a full-fledged liberal in the White House.

I'm still rooting for Thompson, though. :)

Let's potty!

I have been sitting here for 20 minutes trying to think of something to write about. I try to make an entry at least every other day, but it's not looking good right now.

The only thing on my mind is potty training. I don't suppose that's a subject that many people want to read about. I don't really want to write about it, either. I also don't want to participate in it. Is there some secret? Because so far, Captain Chaos has no desire to sit on the potty. He's done it before, but the novelty has worn off. Now he is much too busy for such things.

So I was looking online for somewhere that I could send him away to be trained (I'm kidding, ok?), and I found this blog. It's written by the author of The Potty Boot Camp. This could be the same method my friend used on her son, and he was trained in 3 days.

How bad is it that I feel the need for written instructions on how to potty train my kid?

Thompson 08

Since Ann Coulter isn't running, I think I have decided to vote for Fred Thompson in the primary. I've liked him for a while, but was still undecided until this week. I'm not really sure how much of a chance he has, but I want to vote for who I think is best, not just for someone who is more likely to win.

Last week, this article was posted on a conservative forum that I moderate. My favorite part is this quote from Fred:

"I like to say that I'm only consumed by very, very few things and politics is not one of them. The welfare of my country and my kids and grandkids are one of them," he said. "But if people really want in their president a super type-A personality, someone who has gotten up every morning and gone to bed every night thinking about for years how they could achieve presidency of the United States, someone who could look you straight in the eye and say they enjoy every minute of campaigning -- I ain't that guy."

I guess some people don't like Fred because he doesn't seem as enthusiastic about running for president as they feel he should be, and they attribute that to laziness. But I kind of like the reluctant candidate. He doesn't appear to be out for power, but is more concerned about the welfare of the U.S.

On another note, I am concerned about Barack Obama and his possible victory in the Democratic primary. It's a shame that some people will vote for someone solely based on their color, but I believe that is the case with many who plan to vote for Obama. He is certainly not qualified to be President of the United States. And, should you be a registered Democrat, here are a few more reasons to cast your vote elsewhere.

Um, and please don't vote for Chillary, either. (Ha. That was actually a typo, but I think I'll leave it because it fits. She does give me chills.)

Oddly enough, I can't think of any Democrat worth voting for.

It may not be too late to change your party affiliation. :)

Poor little guy :(

I try to avoid watching the news. I really do. But my husband always has the TV on, so sometimes I have to see things I don't want to see.

A couple of nights ago, I saw this on the news. There's a video there, but it's very disturbing. After watching it, I was really upset, thinking about this poor kid who likely had to go home with that horrible man. I was sure it wasn't the first time he had been beaten, and probably wouldn't be the last. I could tell he was probably not even 2. How pathetic to be that little and defenseless and wonder why you are being hurt so badly.

For some reason, the part that bothers me the most is when the poor kid gets up off of the floor at the end of the video and follows the asshat out, because he has no other choice.

Thankfully, this story has a happy ending. Or at least, I hope it's a happy ending. I found out today that they arrested the loser in the video. He was the boyfriend of the kid's mom, and the child was only 19 months old.

I hope they check out the mom, as well. I have to wonder if she knew that her child was being mistreated. Even if he didn't kick and step on the kid in front of her, something tells me that this guy probably wasn't very nice to him when she was around, either. :(

I hope someone is loving that little boy a little extra today.

Bless this mess

My husband is a slob. That's the nicest way I can think of to say that. I love him, but he has cleanliness issues.

That's not to say that he doesn't shower or brush his teeth. It's not a personal hygiene problem (otherwise we would not be married). He just doesn't care if his clothes are ripped and/or splattered with ketchup stains, and he has never learned how to clean up after himself. I do not exaggerate when I say that there is not one shirt in his closet without some type of stain on it somewhere.

There are 3 pairs of neatly folded shorts on the floor of our bedroom. After 2 days went by and they still did not disappear, I decided to ask my husband why they are there, rather than in the drawer where I originally put them.

"They don't fit me anymore. You can throw them away."

If I leave this up to him, they'll still be on the floor a year from now.

He doesn't understand that it would help me SO MUCH if he would just clean up after himself. When I bring up the subject of how messy he is, he always claims to have no idea what I am talking about. We just had this discussion yesterday. I kid you not, right in the middle of the conversation, he wiped our son's mouth (after I asked him to, of course) and then threw the paper towel on the counter!

The garbage can is literally 2 feet from where he was standing.

He did suggest that maybe I could give the old, stained and torn shorts to Johnny T. That's the nickname he has given to a homeless man that he sees almost daily. He's called Johnny T because he frequently pauses during his walking to "bust a move", Travolta style. I've never been fortunate enough to witness it, but I assume it's pretty amusing.

I informed my husband that Johnny T dresses much nicer than he does. And the shame in that is that it's the truth. Amazingly enough, Johnny has quite the wardrobe. He must have a stash somewhere because he dresses nicer than I've ever seen my husband, except for maybe on our wedding day. I'd be embarrassed to offer these shorts to him.

I guess I shouldn't complain. My messy man has a couple of friends who will go fishing with him all day, and then go home to bed without showering--sweaty and smelling of bait. Now that is a hygiene problem I can't live with.

Non-smokers UNITE! (Smokers, beware. This is a rant. You have been warned!)

Why is it that smokers can't understand that I don't want to breathe their cigarette smoke? Why do they think that it's ok to sit down next to me and light up? Even if we are sitting outside, I STILL don't want to inhale that stuff! Go smoke somewhere FAR, FAR AWAY from everyone else!

This morning, when I dropped my son off at school, there were painters right outside the door. One of them was kind enough to open the door for me. Thank you very much. I'm sure you are a very nice guy. But it wasn't nice that you BLEW YOUR CIGARETTE SMOKE IN MY FACE! Not to mention blowing it into my child's classroom!

As I type this, I am sitting in Starbucks. No one is smoking in here because it's not allowed. But I can still smell cigarette smoke, thanks to the people right outside the door who are puffing away! It is overpowering, and it STINKS!

I recall another time at Starbucks. The weather was really nice, and I decided to sit outside. No one was there but me. Not long after I sat down, a girl sat at the table next to me and lit up a cigarette. I guess it never occurred to her that I might be enjoying the fresh air, which is exactly why I was sitting outside! HOW IS THAT NOT RUDE?!?!

And why is it that when smokers can't smoke in a restaurant, they congregate right at the front door and indulge in their addiction? Everyone coming and going has to walk right through that toxic haze! That includes my kid! GO SMOKE IN YOUR VEHICLE WITH YOUR WINDOWS ROLLED UP SO THE ONLY ONE WHO HAS TO BREATHE IT IS YOU!

Another thing I have noticed about smokers: They take more breaks at work than anyone else. When I worked as a nurse, I got a 30 minute lunch and two 15 minute breaks. That was it. The smokers? They took their half hour lunch, but also left the floor for a solid 10-15 minutes EVERY HOUR!

And WHAT is UP with throwing your butts on the ground? If I throw my candy wrapper out the window of my car, isn’t that littering? So why are cigarette butts any different???

For those who smoke, yet think that no one can smell it on you.........YES I CAN!! Your hair stinks! Your clothes stink! Your house stinks!

YES, IT DOES!

I am a Republican. If I took the typical conservative stance on this issue, I would be against smoking bans. Our government should stay out of private business, right? Yes, for the most part. But I have to admit that I LOVE smoking bans! Before the ban in Florida, every restaurant had a “smoking section”. As if confining the smokers to one section kept the smoke out of the building! You could smell it all over! Do YOU want to eat dinner while smelling something that repulses you?

So, should we pass laws against everything that annoys me? As much as I would enjoy that, probably not. But I believe that it’s more than just an annoyance. No one can convince me that breathing your smoke isn't bad for my health. If it isn't, why am I still coughing the day after I have been around a group of smokers?

But let's leave politics out of it. Isn’t it just plain uncouth to force others to breathe your second-hand cancer cloud? Don’t smokers realize how bothersome the smell of cigarette smoke is to someone who does not choose to smoke? Don't they care that my eyes water and I cough for hours after being around it?

To those who don't think there is anything wrong with smoking in the presence of people who do not smoke, I want to know if it's ok if I sit down next to you and fart incessantly? What? You don't like how it smells? Well, move then. Go sit somewhere else. Congress has passed no law against farting. It's perfectly legal, and there's nothing you can do about it. I have gas, and I declare this outside area the Farting Section. I’d like to invite everyone else with bowel problems to come on out here and fart along with me. Never mind that it's the only place to sit outside. We are going to sit here and fart, and you can't stop us.

END OF RANT!!! Have a nice day! :)

**If you are a friend or family member reading this, and you smoke, I still like you! I just abhor your filthy little habit!

Every little bit helps

After watching a horrible story on Nancy Grace, I wanted to post another blog entry tonight. I'm too tired to write much about it, not to mention it's too sad and I don't want to think about it anymore.

Long story short: A 24 year old man was driving drunk in Ohio. He was traveling the wrong direction on the interstate, and ended up crashing head-on into a mini-van. Five people in the mini-van were killed, including 4 children. Another child is in critical condition.

CLICK HERE for a link to the story.

But the main reason I posted this is so that you can CLICK HERE make a donation, if you can. It's a MySpace page made by a friend of the family. There's a link that allows you to donate via PayPal, or you can just use a credit card.

When I hear about something like this, it reminds me that I need to work on not getting stressed about the little things. And just about everything I ever stress about is one of those little things that doesn't really matter.

Now I have to go kiss my baby as he sleeps.

Keep out!

This might sound really weird, but I've been craving a place in the house that is just mine. Somewhere that I can write or work on my computer, in peace.

Our bedroom is very isolated. It used to be a garage, and the way it was converted into a bedroom makes it seem almost like it's detached from the rest of the house. It's something about the acoustics (maybe because of the drop ceiling), but when you are in our room, you can't hear much that's going on in any other part of the house. It's also very dark. There's only one small window, and it has a shade on it that doesn't let much light in.

The room is decorated in black, for the most part. Black furniture, black comforter, black curtains, black decor on the walls.

I recently moved a black card table and chair into the room.

Today my new stereo arrived, and I set it up on the dresser. It has a 5 CD changer and is perfect for randomly shuffling jazz music from my CDs.

So now my cave is ready. Now all I have to do is figure out how to keep my husband out. ;)

Book-a-rama

I have a bit of an obsession with books. It doesn't matter that I have at least 100 of them that I haven't read yet. I can't stop buying them.

About 2 years ago, I cleaned out my book stash and gave away several boxes, because I just didn't have the space to keep them all. Sadly, they were mostly books I hadn't read yet. But on top of being a book nerd, I'm also a neat freak, and neatness won out that time.

Now I've managed to accumulate quite a collection again. After giving up on Beach Music the other day, I felt the need to go book shopping. Never mind the stacks I already have. I needed more.

So I have 5 books on my nightstand right now.

One is 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America by Bernard Goldberg. I've been reading it a little at a time for quite a while. It's not one of those kinds of books that's impossible to put down. Just something I pick up when I want to relax at night before bedtime. The chapters are really short.

I also have The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. I think it's the only novel she ever wrote, right before she stuck her head in a gas oven and ended her life.

Writers are often unstable people. There's some kind of connection between creativity and mental illness, I think.

Yes, I am officially a writer now. What are you suggesting?

Two more books: Atonement by Ian McEwan and The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards. I can't remember what either is about and I'm too lazy to look.

The book I just started reading is Case Histories by Kate Atkinson. I've only read 4 or 5 chapters so far, but it's holding my interest, which says a lot considering my short attention span of late.

So what am I doing online when I have all of this reading to do?