This. That. The Other

I am on a quest for cookie nirvana. I'm not sure if this is a good or bad thing, but I'm tired of preservative-laden, high-fructose corn syrup crap that my kids have been eating, so I've been on a baking kick. Tonight I made oatmeal chocolate chip . . . without a recipe. They are in the oven, I'll let you know how they turn out.

So far the oatmeal raisin cookies I have made have been ok, but I haven't quite hit the right mark yet.

Now for my rant. Last week returning from a trip to Virginia, I was on a very packed flight. I was lucky enough to be seated near the front of the economy section - one row back from the bulkhead. I boarded early, thanks to my "status" with Delta. (Along with the 176 other people with "status.") As I was settled and doing my normal people watching as everyone boarded. I made note of a gentleman seated across the aisle in the bulkhead. He was bumbling around trying to get settled, dropping things, bumping into people, horribly disorganized. I chuckled to myself and noted, "Hey, he kinda looks like George Allen."

As I was disembarking, he was bumbling around to gather his things and although the bulkhead had already emptied, he wasn't quite together, but had readied himself by the time I reached his row, so I kindly allowed him out. As he turned, I saw his ticket stub and whaddya know. It was George Allen.

Now I had met Mr. Allen many years ago when I was in the Charlottesville - Albemarle Jaycees and he was also a member, because it looked good on a political resume. He came to one meeting, where I did engage in some conversation with him. I formed an opinion of him at that time that was something to this effect:
- Completely centered on his own agenda for attending the meeting: to be seen.
- Didn't have many firm opinions of his own, was wishy washy.
- Bumbling idiot.

When he ran for governor, my opinion was signed, sealed and delivered. He was ineffective and completely a puppet of the party. Biggest mistake: supporting Disney to bring a "history" park to an already historical area, waaaaayyy too close to one of them the most congested and growing metropolitan areas, where I happened to be living. What on earth was he thinking? (And shame on you Disney.)

Seeing him on the flight, once again confirmed my opinion. He was very nice, but he's still an idiot. I know there are family members of mine that like him - but have you ever talked to the man? Seriously.

The cookies are ok. Of course, they might be better if I didn't try to eat them straight out of the oven. (Which sent me running for water since I burned my tongue.) I still prefer raisin over chocolate chip.

Boo-yah

Oh well, it's back to the fields in the summer for my kids. Cobb County School Board approved changing the calendar back to a mid-August start date.

While I appreciate that there are many people upset by this reversion because they had already planned vacations during the breaks for 2011 - 2012 school year, I would like to kindly remind them that there were those of us that got screwed when they changed the calendar in the first place. There are claims that they weren't heard - but once again I remind them that the prior school board had overwhelming public support to KEEP the existing calendar and voted to change it anyway.

It doesn't matter what calendar is decided upon, there will always be a group of grumblers not happy with it. The public survey was to allow residents to have input on the decision, but it was not a "vote." Over 82,000 responses were collected, but when the duplications and district (school employee etc) votes were stripped out, there were in reality only 15,712 respondents. Clearly there are some district employees with a vested interest in keeping the balanced calendar and they tried to stack the survey results.

The bottom line is that the new School Board representatives were elected based on their campaigns to revert the calendar and this is how the public had their voice heard -- electing representatives that will support their views. I campaigned strongly to replace the School Board, as did many other Cobb County residents. At least these representatives stood by their word and their campaign promises, which I consider honorable.

Baggage

We all have baggage.
I just chose to check mine to my final destination instead of carrying it with me.

I've been too busy to post - something about taking on new job responsibilities and I haven't passed on any of the old ones. What is that saying about what doesn't kill you makes you stronger? I don't really care about being stronger right now, but having more money would sweeten the deal.

November 30, 2010

We went to see "The Nutcracker" this past weekend and once again I have incredible fodder for a good rant.

Going to see any performing arts used to be something special that people would get dressed up for. I don't get dressed to the nines, but I still make an effort. I wouldn't consider wearing jeans to a performance. So my first rant is about how sloppy people will dress in public. Do they not care about how they look? Make an effort to look a little nice people. If you don't want to dress up, then stick to watching your ballet/opera/theater/etc. on television, because I don't want to look at your sloppiness. On some level, I think it's rude to the musician/performers/dancers, because it means that you are simply there to entertain yourself and not appreciate them. You should have an outwardly appearance that shows that the event is something special - worth putting effort into looking nice to see.

Now about your behavior while you're there . . .

First rule - people going out have the right of way over people coming in. This applies to exterior doors and when you are entering the theater itself. So if you are going in and people are coming out, let them pass, step aside, hold the door, whatever but don't push past them, bump into them or worse - treat them like they're being rude! It's you.

Second rule - if the people in front of you are stopped to allow someone to leave, get past, etc. DON'T BE AN ASSHOLE AND PUSH PAST ME. Can you tell someone struck a nerve here? I was waiting for an elderly woman to come out of the theater and some snotty and sloppily dressed young woman pushed past me to go in and nearly knocked the other woman down.

If you are in a small space waiting, make sure you're not blocking exits or routes of egress. Good grief, find another space to stand instead of in front of the door/bathroom/exit/etc.

What ever happened to basic good manners?

November 17, 2010

I absolutely, positively despise cleaning up vomit. It's all I can do to not add to it.

The stomach virus has hit our house.

November 10, 2010

I am a very lucky person, in very many ways. When I randomly pick up lottery scratch tickets, I'll generally win back my money. I rarely have an occasion that I don't win a little something. (I'm still waiting on the big win.)

It astonishes me that my husband can buy a handful of lottery scratch tickets and not win a single thing. Not even a free ticket. He likes to say that he used up all of his good luck when he married me. (Collective "awwww.")

November 9, 2010 - Birthday Musing

So if you dream about eating a huge Costco cake directly from the box, is that a bad way to start your Birthday?

Happy Birthday to meeeeeeeeeeee.

Bonus Birthday musings . . .

It's amazing to me how much more productive I feel when my office is clean.

Bonus Birthday rant . . .

Someone has slipped up in the yard maintenance arena. I had the pleasure of picking up a weeks worth of dog poo today. Thanks honey!