Venting Session

I need to vent. From the start of my day, I have been irritable and with each new incident, my frustration is accentuated. I'm not sure if my irritability is due to Paul being away for almost a week now or not, but it certainly doesn't help.

So now, I'm asking that I'm just given a few minutes here on my blog to vent my feelings. Trust me, it will be better when I'm done.

I have bug bits all over my legs. My showerhead broke this morning. I haven't worked a shift in two weeks. I haven't heard Paul's voice in 5 days. I tried to take a shortcut through the drive of Holmes Lake and I got behind two white haired old ladies in an Oldsmobile out for their pleasure drive at 10mph. That's no exaggeration. In fact, I don't think I pressed on the gas once. I turned on "The View" this morning when I was getting ready and Bill Maher was on making absolute fun of faith and Christianity and Republicans and I about threw something at the TV. Paul sent me a gift certificate in the mail to Scooters to use while he was gone, but when I went to use it, the machine couldn't find the card. I used my iPod Touch to email and get online to see if Paul happens to be on the internet. It quite working. I called the Apple support line and talked to an automated voice trying to sound real for 15 minutes. I finally got to a representative and got far enough to tell him my serial number and problem and I got disconnected. So I called back and spent....or shall I say WASTED...15 more minutes going through the same automated process, only to have them tell me they will have to send me a box to send it in for repair, which will take 7-10 business days. I finally sat down to relax and now I have to get back up to pick up Taylyn from school.

I'm not in a state of mind to write anyway. It'll be better. It's just one of those days. I needed to vent. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Death of the Watermelon

I came upon a crime scene earlier this summer. It was a clear sign of summer. I had just bought a watermelon at the grocery store. Very proudly, I brought it home and was planning to surprise my son, TJ, with it because it's his favorite fruit.

I placed it on the kitchen counter and proceeded to put the rest of the groceries away. I went out of the kitchen for some reason, I can't quite remember the reason anymore. The fact remains, I exited the room.

Within seconds, I heard a loud BANG! and I checked my clothes all over to see if I had, indeed, been shot as my mind had immediately led me to believe. I called to TJ to see if he had been injured, and he quickly responded. But WHERE did the loud thud come from?!?

I came back into the kitchen only to find the watermelon lying on the floor. Out of fear and absolute horror, my first reaction was to piece back together the shattered melon and I put a towel over it to cover the mess (See exhibit A below, also marked as "0" in the crime scene photos). I could only imagine the long term psychological effects the sight may have had on my son.

After piecing it back together, I quickly put my Crime Scene Investigation techniques to work. I photographed each step. The physical evidence that a crime had been committed was very obvious. Though no actual DNA evidence was recovered on the murder weapon at the scene, it was obvious that the cause of the watermelon's death was caused by blunt force trauma to the melon. My fear was that, after investigation, I may actually be suspect to the charge, so I wanted to make sure I didn't tamper with any evidence so that, IF I was suspect, I would quickly be exonerated. I took photos of each step of the clean up activity, to depict the scene exactly as it had been observed before anything was handled, moved or initiated into the scene.

The below pictures are the photographs taken at the crime scene. I caution any viewers under the age of 13 to exercise extreme caution to the graphic nature of the content. The name of the victim has been changed to protect the lives of the other melon family members, as this crime remains unsolved.



Exhibit A


Exhibit B


Exhibit C



Exhibit D

Can't focus on the crazy!

I went to work early this morning. It was a crisp morning and just as I pulled out of the driveway, I looked to the sky and noticed a hint of a rainbow. There weren't many clouds in sight, nor were there any raindrops to be felt, but there was a rainbow, light enough to be there and bold enough to send me the reminder that God keeps His promises.

I continued to drive to work only to have a song come on my iPod that had me in tears by the time I reached the downtown parking garage. The words were a simple reminder in song that God is the provider, and if I had everything and never went through problems, how would I ever know my need for His provision, and the power that comes with it?

Between the smile of a rainbow and the tears of a reminder, I walked to work with an unexplainable peace and joy in my heart. I'm convinced that these two things provided me with a mindset to make me notice some of the even smaller things that made me smile.

The army man that comes in and orders a medium wet cappucino came in. I still haven't asked him his name. But I know my son thinks the world of him since he wears his army outfit. And he asked me how my son was doing and how old he was. And it warmed my heart.

I worked with my manager, Jay, all morning. He is one of the two employees that originally drew me to Scooter's because of their personality, humor and warmth. Something within me possessed me to challenge him to an arm wrestling contest. With little effort, I actually won. I got great joy in this event, enough to compel me to gloat of my victories on a yellow post-it note and secretly tell all the patrons that their GIRL barista beat their BOY barista in arm wrestling. Being able to see other people smile (and laugh...and even ridicule a little) because of it made me a very happy little lady.

Within an hour of my well-proclaimed victory, I saw Pulitzer Prize Winner, a poet, Ted Koozer, walk across the street. I respect a man who can write his mind and express it well.

Paul and T.J. came down to Scooters while I worked. That's an added bonus of my job.

I'm trying to forget about my modem problems and my internet not working and the lack of competence amongst an unsaid local cable company. I'm not going to dwell on the lack of funds, moola, benjamins, however you wanna say it. Saying it any way would mean I actually HAVE some, which we don't. I'm not going to concentrate on how I feel like John Candy on Planes, Trains and Automobiles trying to sell shower curtain rings so we can have enough money to go to my nephew's football game tonight. My hayfever making my nose itch and my eyes water, Aunt Flo came a little (a LOT) sooner than normal, my jeans are too tight while I'm craving a hazelnut smoothie, the dog chewed up a favorite pair of my flip flops, my feet smell like vinegar, I had three people stop me to ask me to do things in the 20 yards I walked from my car to Taylyn's school to pick her up and the only people I can ever find to babysit for me are the people I want to hang out with!!!!

But I'm not dwelling on that today. No way! Not after the rainbow, the song, the attentive army man, the arm wrestling victory, the visit from my boys at work and the sighting of a Pulitzer Prize winner.