The Strength in Meekness

We are currently on the road on the way from Seattle to Florida. Somewhere in the middle of mountains of eastern Oregon, I had the choice of about 2 radio stations; one real twangy country station and a religious station featuring an Hispanic preacher.

I will pause for a moment to inform any readers of my opinion on religion. Well...actually I think that Karl Marx got it right when he called it 'opium for the masses.' Okay, I am not religious; I am an atheist. For myself I see no evidence to support the existence of a 'higher power.' I like the idea of a 'community' and certainly like the feeling of 'belonging', but just can't buy all of the dogma.

That being said, on this occasion I opted to listen to the preacher. He was talking about forgiveness and meekness. I wish I could remember how he said it but the way he phrased it really opened my mind. I had always thought that a 'meek' person was a weak person. Listening to him (I didn't even catch the guy's name), he was saying that meekness = strength.

And now, thinking it over, he is right. At least in my case it would be. It is much easier for me to attack back when someone is mean or cross to me. The preacher's opinion was that if you are able to maintain your 'cool' (he didn't say that...I just can't remember the way he put it) and show the other person that you accept their opinion and ask for their forgiveness for whatever wrong they think you did to them that in the end, your are the person who has shown true strength.

This reminded me of a couple that I used to know. She was very meek, yet her opinion carried the most weight in their household. She might not have prevailed initially, but in the long run she was the winner.

I wonder if I have the strength to be meek?==============================================

Cute baby picture:

Idiot behavior

What a moron!

Another birthday

Happy Birthday to me.

Big deal.

Still Alive

I am STILL ALIVE. I just do not have a reliable, steady access to internet. I will post more later.

It looks like I will be moving again.

Not happy about that.

What I Want for You

To my son on his 3rd birthday

I never believed I could love someone as much as I do you, my little boy. When I see you, my heart swells and tears well up in my eyes.

I want you to be a kind gentle boy who befriends the handicapped child or who picks up the child the bully kicked down. I want you to be strong enough to find your own way. I hope I can give you direction and guidance to do the right thing even if it is not popular.

As you lay there sleeping, your face so gentle and sweet, I am wishing a happy life for you. I want good friends fun times and lots of laughs. I want a nice girl who realizes how wonderful you are.

I want you to be happy.

I love you so much.

Right

Yeah. I'm gonna watch this. If I don't mind having a TV with a shoe protruding from it.

Bitch.

The ABC's of Me

Got this from Sarah. This was a pretty fun exercise.

• A is for age: old enough to know better
• B is for booze of choice: A good cabernet
• C is for career: Software Engineer
• D is for your dad's name: Virgil
• E is for essential items to bring to a party: Cheese...mmmm...love cheese...
• F is for favorite song at the moment: Beautiful Boy by John Lennon (tho' it's the Celine Dion version that I am wearing out)
• G is for favorite game: To play...probably Scrabble; to watch football or basketball
• H is for hometown: Seattle
• I is for instruments you play: Piano and guitar
• J is for jam or jelly you like: Blackberry or orange marmalade (reminds me of my grandmother)
• K is for kids: 1 son (turns 3 in December)
• L is for living arrangements: Husband Brian, Son, 1 small dog, 1 tiny cat in an apartment.
• M is for mom's name: Donna
• N is for name of your crush: Don't really have one...if I had to say either Mel Gibson or Harrison Ford or Tom Selleck
• O is for overnight hospital stays: When my son was born; when I had an ovary removed; a couple times when I was a kid.
• P is for phobias: none.
• Q is for quotes you like: "The poor man is not he who is without a cent but he who is without a dream" - have loved that since I was a kid
• R is for relationship that lasted the longest: Brian
• S is for sexual preference: hetero.
• T is for time you wake up: 6 am, usually, tho' not by choice (son gets up WAYYY too early). If I had a choice it would probably be 8 or 9 (one of my other favorite quotes is "I would like mornings better if they started later")
• U is for underwear: Hanes cotton thigh cut
• V is for vegetable you love: Garden-fresh tomatoes
• W is for weekend plans: Moving and maybe going to the children's museum in Olympia
• X is for x-rays you've had: Oooo...lots; most recent was my left kneecap...not broken but it still hurts even after more than a month...
• Y is for yummy food you make: lots...am a reasonable cook, but I make a real mean pumpkin pie...
• Z is for zodiac sign: Aquarius

Potty Training

In the middle of the aforementioned (is that really a word?) marital troubles, E is in the middle of potty training. Now why this is such a production, I don't know. He knows what he has to do. He even glories in every poopy he deposits into the toilet (Look, mommy! Poopy!!). We haven't had to change a poopy diaper in almost a week. Then why does he have so many accidents?

Thank god for pull-ups.

Anniversaries, and Thanksgiving, and lost jobs, oh my...

Fair warning: This post is going to be sad and depressing...

I'll start out with anniversaries. This month (November) is the anniversary of when I first started my blog. It was November 23, 2004 that I started flinging my tiny thoughts out into the internet ether. Now I never thought I would become Dooce, or Tertia or grrl, but I thought I might have a few people who tuned in on my less-than-regularly scheduled brain farts. I just wish someone would leave a comment or two. *sigh* I feel as though I am talking to myself. I will keep plugging away because I am just foolish that way. But, hey! If you're out there, gimme some feedback already!!

Geez, what a whiner I am. There are starving people in the world without internet access at all!! There are even poor people who must use dial-up. DIAL-UP!

Poor buggers...

Okay, on to Thanksgiving. This must rank as one of the crappiest Thanksgiving holidays I have ever had the misfortune to experience. My marriage has passed from merely being unpleasant to being depressing and horrible. We need some serious marriage counselling and B seriously needs a class in anger management.

Which brings me to lost jobs. B has cost me yet another job. He sent an email to my last employer which cost me my job and I had an excellent interview on Tuesday before the holiday and was basically told that I had the job. They just wanted me to meet the big boss today before I got the big okay and could start. B sent an email (representing himself as me as he often does) and the agency called early this morning and cancelled the interview and the job opportunity. Lovely.

I am seriously depressed and sad. Marriage ending (possibly), jobless, Christmas approaching...

Crying now...god could it get any worse...??

Stupid criminals

I have been reading a lot recently about stupid criminals. First there was the murderer in Texas who walked out of jail using a fake ID. I know, I know, you are saying to yourself, 'What's stupid about that?' Well at first glance this seems pretty clever. All the guy did to disguise his ID was to put a piece of tape over the word 'Inmate' on his own badge, change into some clothes a friend had hidden in the john and waltz out of jail. He even had the audacity to tell a guard that he was "conducting an inspection with the Attorney General's office." HAHAHA, what idiots! This guy is a genius!

But wait a second, Rocco. He only had to be smarter than prison guards. Not exactly rocket scientists. Just to prove to everyone that he was Not So Smart he was caught a few days later, drunk, outside the liquor store doing nothing to hide his identity.

"Hey, Officer! I'm on Death Row! I just wanted some Jack Daniels. Aren't I entitled to a last drink? Or are you afraid alcohol would shorten my lifespan? BWAHAHAHAH!!"

Idiot.

Then there was the woman who stole a $2000 bird by hiding said bird in her bra and then tried to buy a car using the bird. That was dumb enough, but then she told the used car dealer that she was buying a car with a stolen bird.

This whole scenario raises a few questions in my mind. First of all, when she put the bird in her bra, did the little guy make no sound? And where did she place the object for which the bra was made? I took physics. I know you can't have two things in the same place at the same time. WHERE WAS HER BOOB?

And secondly...okay, I know that used car dealers are not exactly the most scrupulous of people but you've gotta be a special kind of stupid to tell someone you are buying something using stolen merchandise.

Idiot.

HAHAHAHAHA!

My sides are aching now.

At Long Last...a Dilbert Blog

Yay! A reason to get out of bed. I have already learned a new phrase, "Christ on a crutch", gotten a new mascot, a decoy puppy and have decided to rename my blog a PUB (Personal Unedited Bitching).

The new Dilbert Blog!!

Breathe deeply

This just in...the bum-breathing turtle.

Truth is stranger than fiction...

When do you know it's time?

My wonderful, sweet little cat is getting so frail and old (she is 15 years old). Her movements are very slow and calculating. Every step is carefully calculated and placed just so. I suspect her arthritis is making her so careful in her movements. Her previous vet said she had 'some' arthritis in her back. That was two years ago. I think it has gotten much worse.

She has become a very messy eater, sometimes getting food all over her little face. Once a week or so she messes on the floor in the bathroom near her box.

B says we should just have her put down (he is not a 'cat person' nor a very sympathetic or compassionate person - he never really loved an animal).

I don't mind cleaning up after her. If she were in obvious pain or could no longer control her bowels then the decision would be easier.

But for now, she is just old and slow. She still purrs as loud as ever. She still loves to be held and will sleep all night in my arms. In my eyes I see the young Gemma. I love my little cat and will miss her when she is gone.

But I don't want her to be in pain.

So, really, how do you know when it's time?

Flickr thing

Why does that 'Flickr' thing cut off all the heads in my pictures?? Well, okay, not all of them, but some of them. They are not that way in the pictures I uploaded. I am not THAT crappy a photographer.

So why does that thing cut off heads?

Something new

Here's something you don't see everyday:

They really don't like each other very much and for them to be sleeping so close together is pretty unusual. Gemma had just gotten a haircut. As much as I love my cat I will not get another persian. They are just too much work.