http://www.pleonast.com/user/boomom recent pleonast.com entries by user boomom en-us http://www.pleonast.com/user/boomom?l=5&entryID=598833 I'm home with a sick child, so here's my much more pleasant follow-up to yesterday's blog. 1. I love my family. I know, I said it yesterday, but it bears repeating. I have a truly wonderful family. Greatest parents in the world, hands down. Don't even try to tell me yours are better. :) I also love my siblings, their spouses and their children. Oh, and for the old one, I love his children's children. I love having so many great memories...walking to the "little store" during the summer, building rickety go-carts in the back yard (they usually fell apart on the first run -- and no brakes! brakes are for sissies!). Snow ice cream on those rare occasions we had snow. Watching "The Fugitive" when we were all supposed to be asleep. Pets with weird names...Friskie, Periwinkle, Inky, Tiny Gray, Fleetwood...the list goes on. Lots of great adult memories, too...nachos and marathon Risk games with Rusty, Melinda and Billy and Nancy Adams. Road trips. Singing ... 2008-11-13 http://www.pleonast.com/user/boomom?l=5&entryID=598434 OK, it's not about you...any of you. And it may or may not add up to 10 things. And my husband always says, "Hate's an awfully strong word. Maybe you should say you dislike it, or you dislike their ways." So here are a few things: 1. I truly dislike liver's ways. It is smelly, nasty, disgusting. Liver, outside of its proper job as innards, has no redeeming value, and it has absolutely no business sitting on a plate, calling itself food. 2. 8th grade math. Hated it in the 70's, hate it in the 21st century. 3. The Christmas Shoes. What a sappy song! As if it's not bad enough the kid's mom is dying, let's make it into a Christmas song and play it over and over and over during the holidays. Yeah, Merry Christmas to you, too. 4. Any song by Celine Dion. EEEEEEW. (I was on a roll with the music thing.) 5. Stress. My boss always says man creates stress, but God takes it away. Does that mean He will take away the people who cause me stress? (kidding, kidding)... 2008-11-12 http://www.pleonast.com/user/boomom?l=5&entryID=596313 Today I celebrate 15 years of marriage to my best friend. When we first met, I had no interest in dating. You see, I had finally determined that I had incredibly bad judgment when it came to men. I figured I'd be better off as a crazy old cat lady than married to anybody I would date. Yes, my previous two boyfriends were bad enough that even Rusty and Mark would have to agree that cats were the lesser of two evils. (Even Cliff, at the tender age of two or three, called one of them a "big, dumb jerk!") So when I met Charles at work, I just smiled and said thank you every day when he told me I looked nice, or I smelled nice, or my hair was pretty or he liked my new truck. But I did NOT encourage him. Not a bit. Then Charles left the company. My boss, the Sr. VP of Operations was fired for, among other things, embezzlement, not to put too fine a point on it, and I transferred to another office. EIGHT MONTHS later, I get a phone call from, as the receptionist put it, &... 2008-11-06 http://www.pleonast.com/user/boomom?l=5&entryID=590686 I love holidays. I also love holiday traditions. Hey, my family loves traditions so much, we make up our own sometimes! So is anyone else bugged by "funivals" and "harvest fests"? If you think Halloween is bad, I can help you out with three simple words: DON'T CELEBRATE IT! Don't turn it into a "funival", which is just plain stupid. Don't call it "trunk or treat" -- does that mean the choices are a) give the kiddies a treat, or b) shove them in your trunk? It's trick OR treat. So "trunk or treat"...again, just stupid. Then there's the harvest fest. Seriously? I live in Euless. Not a lot of harvesting going on here. When we first moved here, and I was pretty involved with the PTA, we were planning for the "Harvest Fest". Silly me, I made the mistake of saying the word "carnival". One mom looked at me as if I had sprouted horns and a pointy tail and said in a reverent whispery voice, "It's the Harv... 2008-10-23 http://www.pleonast.com/user/boomom?l=5&entryID=581088 Eight random things about me: 1. My parents saved the best for last; I am the youngest of four children. 2. I was dressed as a gypsy when I applied for my marriage license. 3. With the exception of one 3-month stint when my husband was working earthquake claims in California, I have only lived in the state of Texas -- have, in fact, only lived in three houses my whole life (I don't count the couple of times in apartments while we were moving or "de-molding"). 4. I love to read. Anything. I'm one of those people who will read a cereal box at breakfast, including the ingredients, if there's nothing else to read. 5. I hate math, yet I do payroll for 250 employees, and accounts payable, to the tune of about $100K/weekly. 6. The two things I truly dislike in people are cruelty and stupidity. 7. I love kid's soccer, little league baseball and high school football. 8. On February 12, 1993, a guy looked at me across a table at Spring Creek Barbecue and asked, "... 2008-09-28 http://www.pleonast.com/user/boomom?l=5&entryID=577752 I think even Mark Roberts will like this cat video...if only 'cause the dumb cat bashes his face on the gate. 2008-09-20 http://www.pleonast.com/user/boomom?l=5&entryID=572525 Well, the Horace Mann people haven't made a decision yet, so in the meantime, my hunny bunny is in Lafayette, LA -- well, technically, he's in Alexandria, which is about 80 miles from Lafayette. It's also the closest place he could find an empty room. Another adjuster he talked with was already headed to Louisiana when Gustav blew in; he asked the lady at the La Quinta if she'd work with him on the room rate, since he'd be there a while. Her answer? "I don't have to work with you. I can get $500 a night for that room if I want to." Sadly, she's right. At any rate, he's hanging out in a ValuePlace room, waiting for his claims. And yes, Mark, those would be insurance claims filed by cats whose homes were damaged by the hurricane. :) Lots of prayers for Charles, please. And me, too. I hate being a single mom. What makes it all the more trying, as if being without your other half isn't trying enough, is that both kids have things going on. All the time. In differen... 2008-09-07 http://www.pleonast.com/user/boomom?l=5&entryID=572195 Just got home from Chloe's first soccer game of the season....where it was at least 150 degrees. OK, I might be exaggerating a teeny bit. But it was pretty miserable for a bunch of kids running around out there in that hot Texas sun. The game ended in a 3-3 tie, but I can live with that since Chloe blocked THREE goals, and had some pretty awesome kicks and passes. If I can just convince her that nobody will get their feelings hurt if she takes the ball, scores a goal or blocks their kick. If we can get that into her head, she'll be an amazing player. On the other hand, having a kid who is always concerned with the feelings of others isn't all bad, is it? 2008-09-06 http://www.pleonast.com/user/boomom?l=5&entryID=567820 I have just finished filling out the plethora of absurd forms sent home by my daughter's elementary school. I filled Harley's out yesterday. For those of you who don't have a junior high school student, let me enlighten you. In addition to the district code of conduct, which must be signed by every student and their parent/guardian (yes, even those who can't write, yet), EACH INDIVIDUAL TEACHER, has their own set of class rules, which -- you guessed it -- must be signed by the student and their parent/guardian. They also each have their own list of supplies each class is supposed to bring. (I think we're up to four boxes of tissues now.) Then there are the forms about, basically, whether or not your child(ren) lives in a house, a shelter, a car, etc. If they live in a house with their parent/guardian, you can sign the form and go on, without filling everything else out. The same goes for the form about migrant workers. Finally is the form about electronic communication; you ha... 2008-08-27 http://www.pleonast.com/user/boomom?l=5&entryID=565730 I was driving to work this morning, flipping up and down the radio stations. Blah, blah, blah, blah. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, it's a long way from Euless to Alvarado during morning drivetime. I finally settled on a CD by one of my favorite artists. Maybe you've heard of him: Jeff Miller. But I digress. I'm sure you've noticed by now I digress a lot. Anyway, my mind sort of wandered, and I thought of my drive home yesterday afternoon. I drove home in a sunny rainstorm. You know, where the rain is pouring down so hard you can't hear yourself think, you can't change lanes because you can't see anything...and yet, the sun is blindingly bright in spots. In other words, perfect conditions for a rainbow. Or two. Or three. Which is how many I saw yesterday. Not just those little pale ones, either. These were big, bold ROY G. BIV rainbows. And with each rainbow, my mental comment was the same: "That is so awesome!" Not only does a rainbow remind u... 2008-08-22