Goodbye 2008!

I'm really not one for big New Year's shindigs. I'm a total homebody and too old to be very social past ten anyway. The past few years I've spent the evening at my parents' house with some cousins, my aunt and my kids. It's a nice excuse to hang out and eat really good food.

2008 has been sort of a meh year for me. No real highlights, no real lowlights. Very even keel. I'm not in so much of a hurry to see it go as I am to move on and get a so-called fresh start on stuff. My friend Michelle and I have declared that 2009 will be OUR year because we both deserve it for no better reason than we said so. I'm going to be 40 in March, so that alone is reason to direct everything toward me.

Now for a quick NYE poll post:

1. Do you go out on NYE?
2. Do you drink champagne on NYE?
3. Do you kiss someone at midnight?
4. What's your most memorable NYE?
5. Did you watch Dick Clark every NYE growing up?

I'm off to appear helpful and/or maternal for a bit. I'm sure I'll end up trolling on facebook and blogs later tonight. If you're around and bored, email me at kimmmah at gmail dot com (that's THREE m's in kimmmah for the email; the normal spelling will direct you to a kimmah that is not me. bitch took my gmail name) and perhaps we can chit chat.

Go enjoy what is left of 2008--the year that we did NOT elect Sarah Palin to national office, thankyoujesus.

Enough with the Serious!

The important issues: what do I really need to add to my clothing and shoe wardrobe for fall? The only purchases I've made thus far are cardis in navy and cream and a really long ameythst sweater tunic that is supposed to be a dress on a 20-something, but I plan to wear with a knee length black skirt and boots.

I'm thinking:

Boots--I have black, but I'm not wild about them. Brown is good, but not exactly sure how to wear them.

Heeled Mary Janes--should have gotten some last year, but I couldn't find any at a decent price. I need something closed-toe that is not too dressy.

Coat--I do not own a winter coat. I did snag a gorgeous black rain trench last May (it was in the lost and found at school and no one claimed it. London Fog, fully lined, classic shape w/ belt. LOVE!). I think I want a 'car coat', but no idea after that.

Black trousers--I only have a couple of pair right now. One is high-waisted/full leg that I adore, but may be a bit snug w/ a tucked in blouse right now (must.do.cardio.tomorrow!) and the other is just a regular ol' pair of black trousers in a lyrca/polyester/non-organic fabric. I love these because they are uber-forgiving and super comfy while not looking like I'm schlepping. Are there any 'must-have' styles this fall?

Trouser jeans--I finally found a pair at Sears of all places, but sadly, they are a wee bit snug. I do intend to be able to wear them by T-giving. I don't want to be a one-trick pony with them, though. Mine are a very dark blue--almost black in some light. Can I get away with a more denim shade?

Flowy blouses--I'm torn on these because I fear I look preggo. I wore a very sack-like dress to work last week--it's adorable: pucci-esque (only in the fact that it is multi-colored blocks not in the actual look of the print, but you get the idea) tunic that has no waist at all. It came with a tie belt, but the loops are low on my hips, so tying the belt made a very unfortunate silhouette. I think if I was about thirty pounds lighter I could wear the belt, but as for now--no belt I bought it at Primark in London on Oxford street--my mecca for cheap, trendy clothes. What the hell was I talking about? Oh yeah, blouses. The dress definitely pushed the maternity edge from some angles, so I'm not sure about the blouses. Is that a style one should avoid if not flat-chested? Or super size 4 thin?

Hats--I love hats. I have a hat haircut again. What style? I have a few newsboy style and a couple of what I can only classify as Fidel Castro style caps, but what else? Casual--not dressy. I don't dress up.

I'm off to haunt some blogs--I feel as if I've been away for a year. I have a lot of catching up to do!

Just Wondering....

If I were to be driving along a fairly busy four-lane road and say, accidentally nearly hit a couple of Amish guys standing on the yellow line trying to cross traffic because I wasn't as alert as I should have been...well, nearly hit is such a strong phrase...more like, swerved and potentially startled a couple of Amish men..okay, scared them a bit...not like 'peeing in their pants' scared, but 'OMFG get out of the way' scared...well, without the F and G part of that acronym since I guess they wouldn't say "fucking" or take God's name in vain in a moment of life-or-death fear... although I've seen a couple of those Dateline specials about how wild and crazy some Amish guys can be in their youth and once you've experienced the effectiveness of expressing anger, fear, confusion, disgust and the like by the use of gratuitous swear word, it might be that you can't put that Genie/genie back in the proverbial bottle (slightly OT...would an Amish person get that Genie/genie reference reference?), so who knows what they might say....aw, fuck, I've totally lost my train of thought now....oh, yeah. Would God hold me to a stiffer penalty if I caused life-altering fear/pain/death to the Amish or are they worth the same hellfire as regular people. By regular people I mean you and me, not, say a crackhead or a Ted-Bundy-in-training or a politician or whack job like ol' Rev. Phelps.

Thus endeth my philosophical rambling for today.

Do You Ever.......

~~wonder what the turning point in your life really was? What was the moment that changed your path and took you to the place you are now?

~~talk to yourself in public places?

~~use medications in methods other than those they were intended for?

~~just break into dance randomly?

~~fear farting in public?

~~sit and mindlessly watch television that you don't pay attention to?

~~wonder if you would find Gordon Ramsey hot IRL or just incredibly pompous and annoying?

~~speaking of Gordon, do you ever want to tell him to shut the fuck up about rustic, honest, authentic food?

~~fight the urge to cut your own hair?

~~wonder if you spend too much time at work?

~~think you could totally pull off being famous better than the nitwits who are?

~~avoid answering the phone because you just don't want to talk to someone?

~~curse when you shouldn't?

~~wonder how the hell people can believe junk science about things such as autism being linked to vaccinations just because they read it on the internet?

~~wish you could fast forward your life?

random

1. i have one of THOSE zits that hurts like a mofo and is just sitting there, taunting me as it causes most of the left side of my face to throb. i'm 38. i should not be having zits still. it's not fair, dammit.

2. i've started running on the treadmill at the Y. i am so NOT graceful that it is ridiculous. these wee, lithe women sprint effortlessly and silently along on their treadmills while i give the impression that a herd of small african animals are charging toward the watering hole. maybe i need new shoes??? yes, that must be it.

3. my kids have a puking virus. sam started it and passed it to jay and then five. and of the three kids--sam is the super puker. he woke from a dead sleep and went straight to the bathroom, puked, got a drink, and went back to sleep. no huge drama, no vomit onthe floor. just did his thing. he's 6. jay? puked all over the sunroom carpet, which required us to rent a carpet cleaner. he's 8. five? he threw up in a bucket and then proceeded to bring the bucket outside to show me and w. while we were at the neighbors. and then, later, after he'd thrown up again and made such a ruckus i was sure an internal organ had been regurgitated, begged me to take him to the doctor because he 'obviously' had a life-threatening illness. yeah, whatever buddy. he's 14.

4. if i get the puke virus, i'm going to be pissed off if for no other reason because i ate a protein bar today (EAS Advant Edge carb control chocolate creme) which was 1.79 and i'll be pissed off if i throw it up without getting the 21g of protein.

5. today is five's birthday. i am simply not old enough to have a 14-year-old child. i have acne, for god's sake. where did the time go?

6. i wanted some sugar-free ice cream last night and my kroger didn't have any. wtf? i can get edy's sf butter pecan at walgreen's--everyone's source for ice cream products-- but KROGER doesn't carry it? so now i get to pay walgreen's prices if i want to eat it.

7. my classroom is the biggest wreck you can imagine. it is going to take days to straighten thanks to blind, illiterate prisoners who put our stuff back in our rooms after the floors were cleaned.

8. where are all of my socks? where, where, where.

9. i have yet another skort with hidden, mystery shorts. it's very comfy--goodwill, thank you, a liz claiborne. this one has a much more complicated entry, but it looks like a cute wrap around skirt when on. i need a tan t-shirt. i've been wearing white, but tan would look better.

10. jay is the whiniest child in the western hemisphere--8-year-olds annoy me.

sleeeve wins

I posted myself on OT today for the first time ever. I had to sit and think about it for a long time before I did it because once upon a time, sleeeve and I had a bet (if you don't know sleeeve then this will be pointless--sorry). It came about in the bar one night when we were discussing age. His age was one of several deep dark secrets that he guarded fairly closely--such as his name, where he worked, etc. Anyway, somehow we came up with this bet where I told him that I could find out his full name and age before he could find a picture of me online. It sort of grew from there.

I took all pictures of me down everywhere that was even remotely public. He would try to trick me or other people into letting him win. He actually almost DID win one night when he hacked into my yahoo mail totally on accident while we were IM'ing. Because he has ethics and the like, he automatically signed out (I wish I still had the archive of that chat. It was hysterical when he realized that he had figured out my insanely easy password). If he'd just looked, there were a couple of emails sitting right there in the inbox from sheila labeled PICTURES or something like that. They were from a concert in Memphis we'd been to.

I never posted a picture of myself anywhere he could get it and all my friends who might have one were sworn to uphold the agreement. His solicitations on my blog requesting photos were never successful and I was equally unlucky in my quest, although I did get fairly close on some stuff thanks to my super-sleuthing skills, lmao.

And then he just disappeared on me. Gone. I'm not sure what happened--life, I'm sure. He had a girlfriend and there was a lot going on at work. We went from emailing frequently and chatting every weekend to once every couple of weeks to nothing. No idea what's going on with him or anything.

So, feeling very nostalgic and being absolutely immersed in photos from the past few days of school-related things with my seniors, I decided to just give him the win and post a picture. It was harder than I thought it would be, oddly enough. I'd put pics on my myspace for a few months, but that was pretty private. Putting one on OT just sort of sealed the deal. I guess I can post one here now, too. No sense in "hiding" anymore.



On the Tube in London with a student. Excuse the dire need for powder.

Request

If you have any fucking idea where the fucking remote to my ficking DVR/cable is, could you please fucking tell me where the fuck I might look because I've fucking turned the fucking sunroom the fuck upside down and I can't fucking find the fucker anyfuckingwhere. Needless to say, I'm fucking pissed because I just had it in my own fucking hand last night when I fucking recorded Mean Girls to fucking watch tofuckingday and now I can't because the fucker has disappeared into the fucking black hole that is our fucking mess of a fucking house.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Why Do Stupid People Always Become Teachers?

They just HAVE to go and make the rest of us look bad and I'm getting tired of it...

Teacher Causes Furor With Sex Ed Lessons

Basically, this guy was teaching MIDDLE SCHOOL and thought it was a good idea to have the STUDENTS read graphic details about oral sex and masturbation. In class. With girls. And then he tried to claim it was part of the human sexuality curriculum. Nice try, moron.

I'm all for sex ed--honestly? I like the idea of a neutral third party giving my boys the basics because then I don't have to--I'm a a pretty typical parent in that regard. But I think we can all agree that there is a fine, fine line in teaching that subject matter and while one would expect the teacher to address all forms of sex and inform students of the basics, I don't think anyone in their right mind would think it was a good idea to have 13-year-old girls read aloud about such matters with a male teacher in class in public school. *boggle*

Yet another looney teacher that brings more unwanted attention to the profession. Wonder if he's too old for Pamela Rogers Turner? Maybe they could hook up and open up a charter school together somewhere.

Y, Y, Y!

Why do people not control their wild-ass children in the pool at the Y?

Why do people let their children roam free around said Y pool?

Why do people let their children scream incessantly in the same pool?

Why did a young, unattended child feel the need to sit on the edge of the hot tub and talk to me non-stop for five minutes?

Why did a man choose a swimsuit that looks like boxershorts minus the fly?

Why did the previously mentioned man kneel on the bench in the hot tub suspiciously close to one of the jets and remain there for several minutes?

Why can I not manage to put my hair up in a manner that will keep it from getting soaked in overly-chlorinated water?

Why did I think it was a good idea to try to run with my knees coming up out of 3.5 foot water for several minutes?

Why can't the yucky arm-flappy stuff under arms disappear when one diets?

Why am I freakishly obsessed with water aerobics all of a sudden?

WH

Yaaawwwwwwnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

I bore me today. Is there anything interesting that I should be watching or reading or doing right now?