The Conflict over bin Laden

If it's on Drudge, it's gotta be true

I went to bed last night without a clue what was happening in the world.

I woke up to two text messages of Facebook status updates.  One from my sister that said “47,000 killed and wounded. Let it end now.” and one from my cousin’s wife that said simply “God Bless Our Troops.” and I knew something had happened overnight.

When I heard it on the news this morning, I sat there listening, not believing.

Osama was killed last night by a team of Navy SEALS. (sure he was)

It’s been confirmed by DNA testing (Really? They have kits they can use on site and get results?)

He was buried at sea (of course he was.. now? no body to prove yes he was or no he wasn’t)

What? Sue me I’m from Missouri, the Show Me State.

After getting to work and getting on line and seeing the news confirmed over and over and over again by news agencies around the world, it’s easier to accept.

Now, though, I’m left with an overwhelming feeling of “What now?”

I remember where I was when the Towers were hit. I was working at Scholastic, calling school districts for payments.  One of our girls stood up and cried “OMG the Twin Towers have been hit!”  Instantly we all hung up the phones and turned on the news and listened in horror and disbelief.

I went home that night and sat my children down in front of the television and watched what I had been listening to all day.  I hated that my kids had to see that, but I wanted them to see, to know, to remember.

Here we are, 10 years later, and the man they claim is/was responsible for the attack on the World Trade Center, is dead.

And? I feel….

Nothing.

No real relief, no need to celebration, no vindication.

Except maybe for guilt for not feeling celebratory, or happiness, or relief, or joy.

In the past 10 years, Osama became just a name, an idea, the enemy, the reason we were at war, but not a person.

There is real concern that in killing that person, we have put ourselves in the crosshairs of terrorists around the world.  In claiming a victory we very well may have endangered our own people.  Was his death necessary?  Was it worth it?  My question is, what have we gained by killing him?

I know, that’s the ‘wrong attitude to have’ and yet?  I have to wonder, what has been gained?  We’ve still lost thousands of troops.  There are children without parents, wives without husbands, husbands without wives, and parents without children.

My brother is one of those troops who have been sent overseas repeatedly in the past 10 years.  My family knows the uncertainty that comes with having a family member in the military.  We know that every day the phone doesn’t ring is a good day because nobody will call us to tell us he’s ok.

But does this mean I no longer have to worry?  Is the world, our world, a safer place today because Osama is dead?  Today, the sun still rose in the east and I have it on good authority it will set in the west.

And yet? The world seems different somehow…

Jumping on another bandwagon, because other people have douchenozzles in their life too.

Because I can’t help but jump on every passing bandwagon, I’m jumping on another one. Shocking, I know.  Also? I’m going to jump on said bandwagon with only some of the facts, but with a full blown, probably completely inappropriate opinion, and I’m going to run with it.  Because? Integrity? Not my middle name.

Also? Writing about the douchenozzle-ness of other people keeps me from dwelling on the douchenozzles in my own life.  It’s a nice little vacation for them.

So, I’m sitting in my living room reading blog posts, trying to clear out my Read-it-later list when I come across this little gem by John at John’s Intellectual Gobbledygook. And yes, you’re going to have to go read John’s post because I am lazy and I’m not going to rehash it all here.  Why re-write what is already written, when I can just send y’all over there and wait for you to come back?  AND YOU BETTER COME BACK! Yes, I’m talking to you.

Again.  I don’t know all the facts.  I don’t have any more information that John has provided in his blog post.  Frankly I don’t need all the facts to form an opinion.  Facts? Just get in the way.  So does logic. This has nothing to do with either.  This? Is all about opinion Baby.  And I’ve got plenty of that.

It appears that there was at the very least a reception booked at a fancy schmacy resort. (no I won’t link to it. There are plenty of links in John’s post.  I’m just spouting off opinions. This is not a call to arms. Yet.)  The bride and groom are both military.  He’s stationed in California, she’s in Virginia. (that has nothing to do with the issue at hand. I just can’t imagine being married to someone who is stationed clear across the country.  I mean, sure, I understand separate closets, bathrooms, and possibly separate bedrooms.  But separate states?  That’s, just, wow.  Oh, I get that it’s the military, and that separate states isn’t as bad as separate countries, which could very well happen.  But OMG.  Maybe my relationships would have lasted longer had we tried that.  No, that’s not true. Brian and I lived in separate houses all four years. It didn’t work out.)

Anyway, *ahem* reception (at the very least) booked at resort.  Bride/groom both military. (Yay Military!  Thanks for your service! You guys rock!) *ahem* there is a deployment (leave it to our government and military to screw up a good wedding reception.  Always getting in the way of true love and happiness, but that’s another post altogether. Oh look…a quarter…) there are emails exchanged regarding the cancellation/rescheduling of awesome reception for when the the groom returns from deployment. Provided the bride isn’t at that time deployed herself, which is entirely possible, but that’s not the issue at hand either.

I am not even going to comment on C’s email to Tina.  Again, not the issue.  Also? States facts that have not been entered into evidence yet.  My issue with this?  Tina’s condescending holier-than-thou, shove-it-up-your-ass-sideways attitude.  Way to be professional Tina, you wedding/reception coordinating douchenozzlette.  You need a major mushroom print.  Seriously.

Dear Tina,

I read the email that you sent to C regarding her request to not cancel but reschedule her event with your company.  Kudos to her for at least trying to keep her business with you, and allow you the opportunity to make a profit off of her event even when there was a major upset due to circumstances beyond her control.  The fact that she was considering keeping the reception at your resort regardless of the date, speaks volumes about how much she really liked the venue you offered.  Uh, guess you missed that point.  Yeah.  Might want to keep that in mind next time someone asks to reschedule, vs. just up and cancelling the event.  It’s all about the bottom line sistah, and you? Missed it.

From what I’ve read on John’s blog, and in the comments (and maybe there’s more out there on the internet and I have missed it…which is possible. I can’t keep my thumb on the pulse of every breaking drama in the world.  I’ve got a life too ya know.) nobody is arguing your right to refuse the refund, to uphold your cancellation policy, or refuse to reschedule the event.  What has them (OK most definitely ME) up in arms is your piss poor shoot your mouth off, thinking your are better than everyone else stick it to the bride attitude. Just sayin.

First of all? That first paragraph? That is one long ass run on sentence.  But I’m no English/grammar teacher so what do I know.  So, you’ve worked with soldiers in the past.  Goodie for you.  Then you should be aware of how the military works.  It doesn’t.  Oh and let me state my military credentials for you. I have the same military cred as you.  You’re nephew is shipping out for his 3rd time?  Great. My brother?  18 years in.  I know how the military works.  That is to say… it doesn’t.  They can change plans at the last minute.  They can revoke leave for no reason.  They can put your ass on a plane in 15 minutes and not tell you where you’re going until you are somewhere over Poughkeepsie.  They can tell you to pack for Hawaii, and send you? To Iowa. In December. Not exactly umbrella drinks and sandy beaches kinda weather.

Again.  That? Not the point.  The reception isn’t being held on the scheduled day due to the fact that the groom is unable to attend because oh, I don’t know, his COUNTRY NEEDS HIM?!  Yeah, trumps your little business thing you got going on there.

Back to your email.  You’re pissed off that C booked the date too close to his date of deployment for your comfort and now? It’s being cancelled and you’re losing money and boo fucking hoo.  Whether this deployment was scheduled in August, or January, or even March is unimportant.  Due to your vast work with military soldiers, and a nephew who is serving, you should know that deployments? Are not always scheduled in advance, don’t always stay on schedule, and making plans for anything beyond tomorrow? Could be pointless because the military doesn’t care about your schedule.  Wars? Don’t run around schedules. His deployment could have been schedule in JUNE and *still* have been moved up to March.  Or Schedule in May and his leave cancelled for whatever reason.  THIS? Is not her fault.

All of this “you are using his deployment as a way to take advantage of the vendors” and blah blah blah blah is bullshit.  Guess what? Life fucking happens.  Guess what else?  Your emails? Completely unprofessional.  Way the fuck out of line. The way I see it?  She was explaining a situation to you, and asking you for the opportunity to reschedule the event, AND continue to make a profit on her event.  Baring the ability to reschedule, she was asking if it were possible for a partial refund. Knowing full well, you were within your rights to say NO due to the contract.  But you don’t know if you don’t ask.  And it never hurts to ask.  You? Got up on a high horse and spouted off and insulted her calling her a liar, and called into question her character.  (and also? threatened to tell on her to her commanding officer. What are we 5? Tattle tale) When in fact, your character is now being called into question. No, I take that back. There’s no question about your character.  You have none.

I think you cut off your nose to spite your face there Missy.  You had the opportunity to reschedule the event, and make money from it.  But after the scathing emails you’ve sent? Yeah, I’m willing to bet she doesn’t reschedule her event with your venue, and as you can see? This is getting around the internet.  It’s hard telling how much possible revue you have lost because of it.  Was it really worth it?

Nobody is questioning your right to stand on policy.  Nobody is suggesting you refund any or all of her money. Nobody is suggesting you change your policy for her.  A contract is a contract and in a court of law, that is what is binding. The contract.  The emails, the insults, the insinuations that you fired off? Yeah, that just makes you and your company look bad.  Very bad.

Never miss an important holiday like National Margarita Day again. You’re Welcome

Yesterday, it turns out, was National Margarita Day.  You would think that I, Queen of all things tequila, would have known this important bit of information and planned my day accordingly.

My minions? Failed me.

I didn’t find out about this National Holiday until I saw it in my Google Reader.  (Thank you Kelley and The Bitchy Waiter)

Finding out in Google Reader? That is a travesty.  Seriously.  How could I not know about this?  So I did what any self-respecting Queen of all things tequila would do. I sent out a text message to my besties “Holy Fuck Batman! Today is National Margarita Day! Why the hell are we not celebrating?”  (The best response to that text? “You are so fucking awesome!”) Of course, it being a Tuesday night, and us having jobs and shit and having to work today, kinda but the kibosh on the celebrations.

In the interest of never missing another important national holiday like this again, I went in search of all the most important, little known, shouldn’t be over looked holidays.  And let me tell you?  There is a fuckton of them.

February 26th is For Pete’s Sake Day *and* Levi Strauss Day.
February 28th? National Tooth Fairy day.
March 1st? Pig Day and Plan a Solo Vacation Day
April 15th is Income Tax Day, but did you know it is also McDonald’s Day and Take a Wild Guess Day?  Pretty sure that last one? Is not the best way to file your taxes.  It is also? That Sucks Day, which makes sense.  Clearly.
May 6th? No Homework Day *and* No Diet Day.  Awesome!

I could go on and on, there are hundreds of observations.  Now?  Not only am I fucking awesome, I am a wealth of important trivial holidays.

How I am celebrating February 14th

Today is the day.  The one day I was determined to stay the hell off the internet because frankly, I didn’t want to see all the Tweets, posts, and Facebook status about how wonderful today is.  The problem?  I have reviews and guest posts popping up all over the place so I HAVE to be online pimping myself out.  What better way to celebrate Valentine’s Day than to announce to the entire internet “I can’t keep a boyfriend, I don’t have a date, but I can write a review about K-Y Personal Lubricant.  I mean who has more experience than me????”

Since I am forced to be online today, I can at least write about how I am celebrating Valentine’s day.  Which is to say?  I’m not.

The Law of Physics states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.  The Principal of The Charmed Ones, says that for all the good in the world, there is an equal amount of Evil.  The theory of meeting Prince Charming says you have to kiss a lot of toads.  Ok, not quite the same, but you get my drift.

Mademoiselle Hautemess has come up with a great Holiday for all of us who have been unceremoniously dumped on our ass with a 7 word text the day after Christmas. No I’m not bitter are a bit jaded by the whole idea of love, to celebrate that offsets the hearts and rainbows and unicorns and love and kisses and moopy schmoopy bullshit that all you love invested people are trying to spread around the place.

Her Holiday?

Suck IT!

With this holiday you round up all your friends who are just as jaded, or who like to drink, and have them bring all their emails, cards, love letters, shirts, symbolic trinkets of past loves, people/places/memories/traditions from love gone wrong and offer it all up as a sacrifice by throwing it into a fire.  Sort of like Monica, Phoebe, and Rachel celebrated Valentine’s Day in Season One. Then you stand around singing Kum-Bye-Ya.  Or Leave! Get Out! by JoJo.  Whatever works for you.

So, after reading about this awesome celebration I gathered up all photos, printed all emails, gathered all cards, notes, tickets, memories, hopes, dreams and plans for the future and set out to the field behind my house.

Yeah, I feel much better now.  Happy Suck It! to all my single/jaded/drunk friends.  Happy Valentine’s Day to the rest of you.

Just a sneak peek at the place I call Home.

I don’t have any pictures of the house I moved out of.  For a whole lot of reasons. Chief among them? I *hated* that house.

But it was what I could afford at the time.

It was a roof over our heads, a place to sleep.

It was an embarrassment.

Or a stepping stone on my way to where I am now.

I only have pictures of the new place taken with my cell phone.  Taken the day I signed the lease and got the keys.

My kitchen with the rockin' cabinets that everyone loves.

This is my kitchen with the cabinets that everyone loves.  It has a double sink, which may not seem like a big deal but it makes doing dishes more likely to happen.  Don’t ask.

To the left of the green door (which goes out to a really cute deck, big enough for a bbq grill) is washer/drier hook ups.  So I will be looking for inexpensive bare bone washer/dryer to put there after the first of the year.

The bathroom with awesome checkerboard tile flooring

The bathroom is seriously twice the size of the one we left behind. It has a sink with a vanity and a shower.  Yes, that is a big deal because the previous bathroom? No shower. Seriously.  Told you it was a shit-hole, embarrassment.  This one?  10 times better than where we left.  The shelves over the toilet? Came with.  Just outside the bathroom is a hall closet, that with a set of shelves put in there will work as a towel closet.

My bedroom the first night, bed ready

This is my bedroom the first night.  The bed is there and set up.  The dresser was there, but no drawers yet.  The next day?  All moved in. Not settled. Not anywhere near settled.  But everything we own is there.  Most of it in my living room right now.

So, this is just a sneak peek at the new homestead.  I am so freakin’ proud of this one.  Once I get settled, and find my living room, the floor, the furniture, I will get new pictures put up.

Happy Birthday Newt!

I have sat here staring at a blank screen all weekend waiting for my muse to show up and grace me with a fantabulous topic to blog about, but the bitch never showed up.  So, my blog sat ignored all weekend long.  Which isn’t such a bad thing, after all, the internet is closed on weekends. Right?

So then we come to Monday.  Today. Columbus Day in the States and Thanksgiving for our neighbors to the North.  Either way, it’s a holiday and that bitch muse of mine? Still MIA.

That’s ok.  I’ll just take this time and space to say that 11 years ago today I got the best surprise of my life.  11 years ago today, my youngest, Newt was born.  She was a surprise, as in I was done having kids but some higher power had other plans for my uterus for 9 months.

She has always marched to the beat of her own damn drum, bending rules, doing things her way on her schedule and making me proud.  She has guts and gumption and a fearlessness I never possessed at her age or even at twice her age.  She knows what she wants and what she doesn’t.  She is sure of herself and I am jealous.

She is brilliant and witty, hilarious, and helpful, she’s beautiful in her own way and while she doesn’t appreciate it yet, those of us who know and love her do and trust that she will too in time.  She shares my early mornings with me, often sitting in the bathroom with me while I get ready for work.  Early mornings have always been our time, and even now, 11 years later, they still are.

Happy Birthday Newt.  You have brought much laughter, love, sunshine, smiles and fun into the past 11 years, I can only imagine what wild ride the next 11 years will be.

A Happy New Year indeed

As 2008 draws to a close, I sit here remembering what a roller coaster ride it’s been.  But here I am, survived this year.  With one last thing hanging out there… The girls’ custody.

That is until I went by the house and checked the mail.  There it was.  The letter from the court.  I was sure that when it came I would want Batman by my side when I opened it.  I was convinced I would need him to read it so sure was I that I wouldn’t be able to deal with the news it held.

Standing there tonight, holding that letter, I knew.  I opened the door, I sat on the edge of my bed, and opened the letter.  I scanned the letter, looking for signs of what it held.  When no deamons jumped out at me, I read it slowly, carefully.

After due consideration, Court finds insufficient evidence to conclude that there has been a substantial change in circumstances such as to support a modification of the prior decree.  The Motion to Modify has been denied.”

That means that tomorrow when the girls come home, they will be coming home.  This means that I still have sole custody of the girls, and that he still owes me child support.  Owes me as far back as June.  And he’s unemployed.  I’ll get it somehow. I always do.  That means that I stood before that judge with nothing but the truth, and stood against Slug and his Cunt of a Lawyer, and I won.  Much like David slayed Goliath, I slayed this dragon.

So, I will celebrate tonight, the end of a very long hard year, full of hard to learn lessons, but I’m getting better.  I’m getting it together and now, I can continue to get it together.  There was insufficient evidence to conclude there has been a substantial change in circumstances such as to support a modification.

Batman told me two years ago… When have you ever gone into court against him, and not come out of there with every thing you want?  The answer to that is..never.

Happy New Years!