31...

For some reason, 31 is coming at me much harder than 30 did.  There just seem to be more changes in my life this year that are screaming at me "LIFE IS MOVING!  Jump on and start enjoying the ride!"

Miss A turned 13 and that has been tough.  In reality, she's had the teenage mindframe for about 8 months but I think that is pretty common.  I remember in the 2 months before she started 6th grade I relented and got her an American Girl doll.  I didn't really want to buy it because I knew the stage was coming to a close but it was one of those moments where I just didn't feel like telling her No...again.  One comment I made was "I better not see this doll on the floor or in the closet in 6 months!".  While its not on the floor or in the closet, I don't think I've seen it in awhile. 

I've also been staring at the Insanity DVDs for over a week now.  I had all the plans in the world to start it last Monday but for some reason God or Life or Kharma (however you wanna look at it) decided that I needed to swerve a little bit and I haven't quite straightened my wheels out.  But I WILL start the program.  I was so excited to get it and while I don't think I can get even close to their pace(like somebody else's 10 ft pole close is about where I'm at) its all moves that I loved loved loved doing last year when I was able to see a trainor at the gym.  I just haven't made the decision on whether or not to show my 31 year old body to the world.  I want that t-shirt for sure (when I've earned it!) so I'll definitely be taking pictures but I don't know.  Maybe I'll use it as incentive to keep at it?  Once I can say "Yeah, that was me then, this is me NOW!" it won't be so bad to share it with everyone. At least, that's what she said. ;~)

I am thiiiiis close to also trying to figure out where I'm going with my next 29 years.  Medical research just keeps jumping out at me and the goings on in my life right now seem to be pointing me in that direction too.  It sure is a lot of science...and by that I mean a weekly 3 hour friggin lab on top of going to lecture for 3 hours.  But if I can make the grades and discover how to help others it will be worth it in the end.  Right?

All and all, I just hope when I am sitting somewhere typing my blog next March 1, is that my life is in a better place than this.  I really really really dislike (trying to practice what I preach and not say hate) not knowing what is going on or feeling like I have no control.  Especially the no control.  The saying "Give it God" is probably the hardest for me to follow.  Because if I'm not the one getting it done, how can I be certain it gets done?  Or gets done the way I like it?  I know He has plan and I'm just too close to see it right now but still.  Why give us free will and then not be more free with the plan?!  Don't you know that us control freaks need that information?!  And that without it we go just a leeetle bit crazy?! Seriously!?!?!!  Okay...sorry...I'll go over hear and smell the rainbow poop for a minute and be better.  Cause what doesn't smell better than sparkley colorful shit?

LGFN!

Party Affiliation

So...I've never really had a party affiliation per se.  I think its pretty irrational those that vote a straight party ticket because, IMHO, you should vote for the person and what they stand for.  Not just because they are Elephant or Donkey.  One of the classes I'm taking this semester is US Gov and the lab for this week was to research both the GOP and Dem and their stance on issues (deficit spending, reproductive rights, gay rights, education, environment and health care) and also a third party.  For the third party you were to state if they were more closely related to one or the other and why they were a seperate party or were they more of an offshoot.  I went for the Libertarian as for the most part, I have liked the candidates they've put forth so far in local and state elections.

The first site I went to was for the GOP.  I have to admit, I like the way their site is set up.  They do a great job of plainly stating their party platform and they still have their 2008 edition (I'm assuming they only publish one for the presidential elections) list on their site so that is where I went.  I saw a few things that surprised me, particularly in education as they don't really publicize these opinions (at least not that I've heard a lot of).  In 2008, they were very big into choice and education being the responsibility of the parents and local legislation (both at the district and state level).  They advocated parents being able to send children where they wanted, even stating that they were for vouchers so that they could go to private school.  Which I agree with myself, as if your child is going to private you still are paying your school taxes.  They also feel that student led prayer should be allowed and student led groups should be able to use facilities.  Which I also agree with.  I wish they had made it clear that ALL student led religions could be accounted for but as they only talked about Judeo-Christian based religions it wasn't really clear.  Our Founding Father's specifically seperated church and state so that we could all have the freedom to practice (or not practice) what we want.  What I found to be completely hilarious is that while talking about fiscal and health (except for reproductive) issues, the GOP stands that the government should only do what the Constitution allowed it to and stay out of people's lives.  However, for every other issue they were all about telling people what to do.  Who they can marry, who can have children and what they can do with their bodies.  Just thought it was interesting.  I don't agree, but still interesting.

Next up was the Dems.  Their site was irritating.  Mostly built on platitudes and not everything was plainly stated.  It was also interesting to see that of the platitudes given, they both have basically the same stance on education and what the Dems state on their site is very similiar in nature to what the GOP states on fiscal matters.  Which basically tells me they are all full of it. =D  I agree with a lot of what they say but I haven't been super impressed with what they've been doing in the last few years so I'm very disillusioned with them.  With politics in general.  Which brings me to....

The Libertarians!  How I wish we could govern with their beliefs!  Government should be there to keep us from harming others and their property.  Government should not tell us who should be in our beds, what we can do with our bodies or our money.  I didn't have to answer as much about them in my paper so I'm still in the process of the deeper dive but I think I may have found my affiliation.  Feel free to go check them out, www.lp.org

LGFN!

Happy Anniversary!

Wow!  I can't believe that tomorrow will have been exactly one year for this blog.  Granted, it hasn't been the busiest year ever for blogs but hey!  It's been 364 days! 

One thing I've noticed as we've moved further and further into the Information Age is how many more explanation points there are!  I think that because we have less and less actual conversations where people can see or hear if you are excited that we over using this lovely punctuation mark.  Seriously!  And how funny is it that when you are so super excited or something is very serious or important, that it must NOW be followed by not ! not !! but !!!...!!!  Yes three exclamations seems to be the standard (for those of you who were wondering).  I've been trying to break the habit myself but it is a hard one to break.

Speaking of habits though, I am so proud of myself for my work on breaking the OMG habit.  It is now fully in my speaking lexicon to say Oh. My. Word.  And you have just got to hear me say it in person.  Because there is just this inflection on the phrase that I picked up from my SIL that is slightly entertaining.  Those of you who get to hear my voice on regular occasions know of what inflection I speak.  My next phrase that I'm adding to my repertoire (my my what $5 words I have today!) is Oh My Adidas.  I just like the way Run DMC said it in the song and it works.  One of my softball girls would say "Oh My Jesus" to which dear Lee would say "Um he's not just yours he's everybody's".  I said it for awhile but then realized (why it took me so long IDK but it did) that it was the same as OMG.  So I had to come up with something that was similar.  And then the lyrics popped in my brain.  And Oh My Adidas was born.  I wonder if I could put that on a t-shirt?  Or would they sue me for copyright infringement or something similar?  Hmm...something to think about

Another thing that I was thinking about the other day was why skinny girls dress badly.  Because, um, the fashion world caters to your little skinny butts. And you can look super cute on the super cheap.  I mean, yes occassionally you can walk out in a slouchy t-shirt and your Nike shorts (which I think just might become my goal to get into.  Its weird the things that I miss wearing.  Umbros were the shorts when I was young, now everyone wears the cute bi-color running shorts.  Anyways).  But why are you wearing jeans that don't fit properly?!  You have no excuse missy!  There are a ton of fits out there.  Go try some on.  If you can schlepp around with a Starbucks cup in your hand, you can schlepp into a resale shop and find you some dang jeans that fit right.  I'm not saying just because you're a size 2-10 that you need to be a fashionista.  But make sure you're clothes fit!  However, notice how I left off the sizes less than 2.  Those of you who are grown (and some of you teenagers) if you are smaller than a size 2, then hell yes you need to be a damn fashionista.  God gave you a manequins body now dress it in the latest styles.  And if you are over 5' 6''....well you're just asking for some dirty whispers.  Now all women can dress well.  Plus size has shops and there are interent sites abound with clothes.  And yes, I am totally the kettle calling the pot black.  But you forget that you wandered into Jessica World and here, my kettles are purple.  So I can totally call the dang pot black.  But anyway.  My point was...um...I did have one.  Oh yeah.  We should all strive to make sure that our clothes fit us as best as we can.  Especially you skinny girls.

Ok...one more thought.  Which one is just dying to leap out of my brain, down to my fingers and out onto the keyboard??? Hmm....well.  Let me see.  Well.  Gee.  Hunh.  I really can't think of anything.  And I know that I could just stop and save this blog.  Come back later and spew something out.  But isn't more interesting to see how my brain works?  How my inner thoughts interconnect?  I think so.  Well, of course I think so, they're my thoughts.  I just assume that because you came over here that you did too.  Maybe I'll just randomize for a bit. 

I was so happy to see my grass growing back in the backyard.  The summer sun and drought was brutal on it this year.  Brutal on my budget too as we had more than a few months of $120+ water bills. 

I tried a new K-Cup, Chocolate Raspberry Truffle.  It was no bueno.  Speaking of, I need to send it across the street to my awesome neighbors.  They have a Keurig too and might enjoy the taste of raspberry in their coffee.  Which I do not.

My house is a disaster right now.  Even more so than it usually is.  We are in the middle of trying to redo Ms A's room and a bunch of her stuff is in my office.  Including her bed.  Which makes it a tad difficult to get around.  Plus all the painting stuff is in the front hallway by the garage.  Hoping that we can finish the painting (at least the major painting part) tonight so we can start moving her stuff back in there.  Minus a few things because being the only child of an only child...she's a tad bit well loved.  And has accumlinated a butt load of treasures.  I try not to call it crap because its not crap to her.  Just trying to be nice ;)

Ok...enough randomizing.  Plus my break is over and work is calling me back. 

LGFN!!!

Awkward

Feeling very Rev Run typing this blog on my phone...although this also means that its a pretty good bet this will be a short blog. This sucker feels heavy holding it sideways like this but I feel pretty slick typing this fast with my thumbs.

I've become slightly addicted to the new MTV show Awkward.
It's well written, well acted and just well, good. Reminds me a little of My So Called Life but more funniness. Maybe in 20 years A and I can watch it together. You know, when she's old enough to be able to know that boys exist? That's after 30 right?

And as predicted in the beginning, its a short one!

LGFN ;~)

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Hmmmm....

She's alive....she's aliiiiive.....I thought I'd drop by and unload a little bit from the cranium.  Just cause its getting to be a little full with the whole "Jessica goes to college" thing I've got going.  College is really cool...if you're 19.  If you are above 19, sometimes it just seems like college is just one more damn thing on my list of things to do.  And sadly, sometimes it is waaaay down on the list.  Now don't get me wrong, I know that it is serving a very good purpose and I am enjoying myself.  But there are definitely moments (like the teacher who got her history facts wrong which just drove me nuts) that I just sit back and think "Do I really need this?  Is it worth it?"  So far I've always answered Yes to those question so I'm still plugging away.  I keep trying to talk MLP into moving to Lubbock so I can really have a college experience but, well, it's not going too well.  Something about his job and am I crazy and Aleisa and being a Mom/grownup keeps coming up.  Whatevs...totes unreas.  See?  I can already talk like them, so why can't I go party, I mean matriculate with them?

I thought I was going to write a really long great blog to welcome you all back to Jessica World but its 11:30....and I'm a grown up.  A really boring one.  And I'm already yawning as I type.  So maybe I'll save the rest of my cranium download for another day.  Which I promise won't be months into the future...maybe.

LGFN!

Warning....Political thoughts ahead!

Did you hear that?  That long lonely lull across Jessica World?  The sparkly purple dust devils as the bounce merrily along the desert landscape that is my blog?  Life (aka Softball) has been our focus since March and frankly, I've done good to get my house clean on a regular basis with everything going on.  But there is no more softball (at least until July 23rd) and as I sat reading the paper this evening two articles just...well to put it frankly...they pissed me off.  Those of you under the age of 15 who may read my blog, I apologize.  And I'll try to keep it to a minimum through out the rest of it.  But there is no other word that can strongly evoke the feeling that these two articles gave me.  I'm pretty sure the next few words are all I have to say to let you know that this blog will probably be a hotbed of feelings for others.  But, you chose to come to Jessica World and the rainbows, they are more smelly than pretty today.  Those words are: Toll Road and Abortion.

First...the dang Toll Road.  The Dallas Morning News placed it on the front page but first tried to lull me into a haze of happiness and satisfaction by placing a big lovely picture of Dirk at his hometown being greeted by the throng of German fans.  But....right below that...was THE article.  NTTA tolls to rise 6 PERCENT Friday.  Did anyone ask you?  I know I wasn't asked.  Nor did I get the chance to shrug off my civic duty and not vote.  OH NO.  They don't have to ask.  Let me repeat that.  THEY DON'T HAVE TO ASK.  They can raise rates as they please.  And in 2009 they elected to do it EVERY TWO YEARS.  FOREVER.  Or until they decide not to.  Which why would they?  They're reasoning is that they have to do this because they can't depend on traffic increasing to sustain their finances.  Um...do you know why?  Because it costs too damn much to drive on your stupid toll roads!  I know I know.  If I don't want to pay it, I don't have to ride on it.  And I don't.  But lets see how much business sense this makes:  You have less and less customers, so raise the price so you still make the same amount.  Which means you have less customers.  So you raise it again.  And you'll go on and on.  Their reason behind is because it costs too much to keep building the roads.  Um...so stop?  Why not, when you're building the dang thing (see, I caught myself that time) build with the future in mind?  You can't tell me that all of the brilliant mathematicians out there don't have some handy formula or algorithm that can project the population 50 years from now and what type of infrastructure would be needed to support that population.  The 121 toll road is a key thing.  You would have thought that COMMON FRIGGIN SENSE would have told the engineers "Hmm...maybe, just MAYBE, people might want to enter and exit from the Dallas North Tollway so we should add that to it while we're building".  Nooooooo.  Let's just make it more difficult, for even longer. 

But, we should all take heart.  Because the increase is only going to be 15.3 cents a mile and will only be $40 more a year for toll-paying commuters who drive 10 miles each day back and forth.  Did you know that you were only charged by the mile?  Because last I checked, I paid that damn $1.24 whether I drove all the way to I-35 or if I exited at 544 because I just wanted to skip the traffic at the lights at Josey in the morning.  And I promise you, that is not an 8 mile drive.  Maybe if they actually charged us by the mile, they'd have more people using it.  Because I'd pay 15.3 cents per mile, that's not that bad. 

Oh.. and did I mention that just below this article was the article stating the toll roads were rising was an article stating that they were cutting NINE BILLION dollars from our state education system?  Has anyone heard if they are cutting funds from our prison system?  Because that's who needs all the money, our felons.

Well...I think that's a great segway

So...here's some food for thought.  I understand pro-life philosophy and thoughts.  What I don't understand is why you would take funding away from women who need it!  Not just women who are choosing abortion.  But women who go out and bust their ass working a job that doesn't pay crap, much less offer any kind of health plan.  Those women who serve you your food when you go out to eat.  Or clean the toilet in the building where you work.  Or even clean the toilet in the home where you live.  How many of those women take advantage of free and reduced price health care at places like Parkland, Planned Parenthood and your local county medical offices?  And we choose to take it away.  Why not just make the way the money goes out more clear so that we can see where the tax payer money goes and that its not going to abortions?  Because abortions aren't going to stop.  Its not just some new thing that happened because of Roe Vs Wade.  That bit of law just helped the back alley clinics and women shoving a hanger into their cervix or pumping themselves full of lye in the hopes of terminating their pregnancy.   If, as a society, we were truly pro-life, there would be no children outside of a loving home.  No children that have to float through the system just praying that someone will take the chance to love them.  No children with medical issues that are just out there.  These are the children who are left behind.

Readers in Random Countries

I like to go back and check out the stats from my posts.  They are extremely modest when compared to other blogs but still kinda cool when you look at all the info behind whose reading (without actually knowing who's reading).  And there are some random countries that people read my blog in.  And I have no idea how they found my blog.  Although, I am hoping that its my cousing (Holla DJ!  You should get the wifey to read so I can be read in the Phillipines, lol ;~D) but if not, it will be left to my imagination....

Imagine thats its JK Rowling!  She saw on my FB page that she's one of my heroes and that HP has been read so many times in my house by the two of us that one of our books is falling apart and we have to replace it because the pages are falling out.  She saw one of my links and decided "Hey, I'm bored today.  What is one of my fans thinking?"  and found her way to my slice of unicorn butterfly pooping sparkley raindow universe.  And found that she liked it here!  And made the ulitmate decision to marry Albus Severus off to a beautiful American born witch named Jessica.  And they went on to have children, one of which was actually a Dark wizard, lured over to the Dark Arts by tales of what happens in the Department of Mysteries...and whose cousins have to hunt him down and convince him to repent!  Their story is told in a three book arc that sells millions and millions of books.  And a percentage is given to me (small, small but still) as the inspiration!!!

OR...well I have to go to class and frankly I can't imagine anything more awesome than that.  So I'm going to leave it at that.  And maybe jump in again tomorrow.  Cause I remembered that I like writing down whats in my head. ;~)

LFGN