Hate
Half of you hate me because I read Vlad’s book early and another quarter are upset about Toby Keith. I’ll give you the Vlad envy, but you leave me and Toby alone. I don’t care if you like him, but I hate him and you will let me have my hate.
Family
Kid 2 and her glasses, mainly the absence of them, is a never ending saga.
Kid 1: Why won’t you wear the glasses? Don’t you understand that you need them to see? You’re so ignorant.
Kid 2, proudly: I am not ignorant. I’m vain!
Chronicle
Go. Go, go, go, go.
Don’t take small kids, take teenagers. The movie tackles some serious themes.
House
Want this
Want this too
Okay so that one wasn’t in the title of the post, but there is only so much you can fit in there. I’m obsessively thinking up ways to improve the house. Mostly cosmetic. The office is kind of a mess and I want to rearrange it. I want planters for my orchids. I want new patio in the backyard. The old one is rather terrible looking. 
I want to sit on my patio, drink my ice tea, and kill people in horrible ways on my laptop. It’s like I woke up and realized that after moving in, we just sort of rolled with it. Everything is functional, but for example, right now there is a big mess of wires by my feet.
It doesn’t help that we get pretty home improvement flyers in the mail. We can take your old concrete and make it pretty. Sigh.
Sadly there are more urgent projects and expenses than getting a pretty backyard. IRS will slap us with a big bill – I have no doubt of that. There are kid and dog medical expenses (Angus has hip dysplasia. So far they’re not recommending surgery.) We need to get medical insurance. We need to rip out carpet from upstairs bathrooms in the worst way. And we had agreed that we would take it easy. One expensive project every few months. That way we won’t get in over our heads.
I just wish they would stop sending me the fliers. 
I don’t know who Vlad is, but hey, I can be reasonable. You keep Vlad and I’ll take that back patio of yours!!!!
Did you read You Know When the Men Are Gone?
I started wearing glasses at 3 years old. I stopped at 12 and had a few “blind” decades. I understand vanity. However at 40 I had to give in. I was a menace to society.
If they quit sending you the fliers, you’d have no pretty pictures of Expansive Stone Work to dream about and then post in your blog… Further, they’re empowering your dreams and giving you an incentive to make Andrew work harder. Lol !!!
P.S. We love you… We’re just not happy that you abandoned us to move to Texas !!!! Toby and Vlad can Fight for the title of ” He Whom Is Most Responsible For Causing Narrow Minds To Take Umbrage At MY FAVORITE AUTHORS”… HaHaHaHa !!!!!
I found that I hated my glasses till I (at one point) finally was able to afford a really nice frame with spring loaded hinges and featherweight lenses. The cheap frames I had before never fit right and between the pressure and the weight they were a quick trip to a headache. I’m pretty fortunate that my strong eye is extremely good and I focus with it for distance so I mostly just wear my glasses when my eyes are tired or I am driving, but now that I like my frames and they fit and aren’t too heavy I don’t mind reaching for them at the first sign of strain.
I absolutely loathe Toby Keith. Smug. Pompous. Pretentious and a boor. Not to mention completely over-rated and over-exposed. I refer to him as “the sleaze-weasel”… and I want the patio, too.
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I LOVE the name “sleaze weasel!” Can I borrow it???
Yep…I love the share. And it works for so, so many things. Have fun!
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I resisted getting glasses until the last possible moment – then got used to them. There came a point, however, where I decided to have contacts and I’m back to being vain and only ever wear my contacts. Solution for the vain! Also, I have orchid pots/supplies that I need to get rid of – for some reason I can’t keep orchids alive. I’ve tried several times. They are too pretty to throw away, but are just sitting and collecting dust. If you want them, let me know.
Oh, yes, the dog/kid/house bills. Alas, I know them well. The dog with hip Dysplasia had two separate surgeries, and the dog who just tore a ligament (the same as a human ACL) just had surgery. And oh, boy just joined band and there’s the clarinet cost. And and and. And I want one of those back yards tool. Please. Now. WAnt want want.
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Ah glasses. Started in 4th grade with cat’s eyes blue (yes, it was the 60′s) was astonished that trees had leaves. Contacts never took, left me with halos around lights. Sister had lasik, I’m too skeered. If Kid can find things without her glasses, much less not walk into walls or doors, she is probably not as bad off as most. Without mine, by jr high, I couldn’t get across the room safely.
As to Toby Keith, takes all kinds. Just depends on whose ox is gored, as my old man used to say. I’m a fan, but I like you more. You bring more lightness and joy into my life. He’s an act.
Understand about the glasses. Had an 8th grade math teacher who set up his class with double rows of desks. You sat in either row A or B. He would then write quiz questions on the board accordingly. Obviously, there was no talking. Except for me…psst, Matt, what’s #1 say? How about #2? I sat in the last row & loved it, but the board was blurry. To my dismay & chagrin, he got tired of me asking Matt what the problems were & during class moved me forward while asking when the board was clear. Amid laughter I went from row 5 to 2. Hated it. Got glasses soon thereafter but he wouldn’t let me move back.
Got my revenge,though…back then my mind was like a steel trap with history & English; Algebra, not so much. I had no recall beyond 2 weeks worth of work. Midterm & finals he had to review the ENTIRE year just for me! (Seriously.) He nearly wept when I walked into his class for Algebra 2 the next year. I had the distinction of being the only student he had that actually reduced him to thunking his head on the blackboard. Sadly, math is still not my subject.
Began wearing contacts @ 16, never looked back. Now that Lasik has improved enough to really make me want it, it no longer matters. I now need bifocals to read. Sigh.
I’m thinking, whatever you do, don’t look at the flyers. Maybe get someone else to go through the mail and dump them before you even know they are there, or put them in a file for “later.”
You know they claim you can do about anything with duck tape….but keep in mind that they don’t warn you to be prepared to live many years with any “temporary” fix you do with tape.
Aren’t we all so helpful? Mwahahahaha.
how old is angus now? a few months ago, the dog of my parents was diagnosed with hip dysplasia, too. But the vet said to wait and see, because he is a slow-growing breed and it might just straighen itself out some, at least so far that it’s not a problem for him if you don’t do agility or something where he has to jump too much.
that was about 4 or 5 months ago and everything looks good now. the vet said that the dysplasia is still visible on the x-rays but looks a lot better than it did earlier. So if Angus is still growing, things might get better on their own, as long as you make sure he doesn’t jump too much. Apparently running down stairs is also bad for hip dysplasia – or that’s what our vet said.
I have serious Vlad-envy, too *lol* But good things come to those who wait,…. right? right????
Those flyers and any Pottery Barn/Restoration Hardware catalogs are from hell. Instant recycle or I wind up feeling bad that my home is not fabulous and spotless and airy and neutral based with just a pop of color and…
The office is kind of a mess and I want to rearrange it. I want planters for my orchids. Thanks a lot for sharing this..
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I can’t stand Toby Keith either. He is all hat and no cattle. Plus, I am a big Dixie Chicks fan.
As for glasses, Kid 2 needs to learn all the ways you can use your glasses as an accessory and/or weapon depending on what you are doing. Glasses can be more useful than a fan at a Regency tea party.
You can peep over the top of them to indicate interest, polish them slowly to show you are thinking, take them off dramatically,throw them passionately, flirt through them and best of all look mistily at the object of your affection long enough to lure them close to you. Okay, how old is Kid 2? Maybe not the last one yet but honey, glasses are the bomb if you play them right. And you don’t run over the chickens if you wearing them when you drive.
“I’ve worn (or not) glasses since I was two years old. I have had red ones, brown ones, black ones, wire frames and tortoise shell, big lens, small lens, square lens and cat’s eye, My next pair needs to be mother of pearl with rhinestones in corner!
LOL @ Kid 2. I don’t really know anything about Toby Keith so can’t really comment on that other than to say everything you said about it made sense to me.
Patio looks pretty! I’m the same way about those evil flyers, they make me long for what I don’t have and can’t afford.
Hang in there with the house. It only took me 11 (yes that’s 11 years) to finally get my desparately needed upstairs bath remodel. I too have backyard fantasies. Oh well, 11 years went by pretty fast so here’s hoping.
Daughter needs $3000 in dental work. Dentist told her she can make payments of $1000 for 3 months cause she is a student, My plan only covers about $500 of it in total. GRRR
Kid 2 at age where glasses may not be cool but she regret not using them later. She’s probably holding out for contacts.
Just need to find the right frame… I actually like how I look better in glasses. I’m having to retrain myself that it’s okay to be seen without glasses. Some women feel naked without makeup…
Carpet in bathrooms seems like a recipe for disaster. A little rug, which can be taken out to be washed or aired out, sure… But carpet, that sits there and hoards moisture?
I wish Angus well with his hips!
My sister came back from living abroad, went to the dentist, and discovered she had developed eleven cavities in the past year (in spite of brushing and all that). $5000 worth of dental work. Really glad my parents have good health insurance, and it’s still a lot of money.
I like the ambiance of your house..It looks very clean and the space is so big love it..
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