Em and the Possibilities There are no guarantees in life…only the possibilities

Update on the van – a vacuum hose had popped off, and the starter *might* be bad – which would explain why I have such a hard time starting it sometimes (as opposed to a dead battery). $40 for a tow fee, and I’m back on the road *dances*

Mom and Dad are heading to the West Coast to visit my brother and his family. I’m rather peeved at him right now- he hasn’t been home in nearly 10 years, and I can’t afford to go out there to visit. And before you say anything – he didn’t visit BEFORE he had children. And truthfully, while I can understand that travel with children is a genuine bitch ESPECIALLY cross country, he *does* have a wifey so the equation would be one adult per child, as opposed to me travelling with my 3. I’ve done all the running through airports to catch connecting flights that I want to.

My travel plans have been officially kyboshed by gas prices. As much as I’d like to travel up and down the eastern seaboard this summer, I can’t afford it. Since I’ll be home this summer, I’ll also be babysitting my cousin again. Hopefully I can line up lots of fun things for us to do and avoid boredom. Last summer I was HUGELY pregnant, so we couldn’t go to the pool or park.

I’m on a book hunt again. It’s really too hot to crochet during the day, and I’ve got to have something to do while the kids run rampant on the playground. After everyone goes to sleep, I’ll be working on my pet project: bringing Granny’s cookbook to life in the digital age. I’m in the midst of scanning it in now, and will hopefully be able to produce something similar to Turning the Pages.

A friend of mine read about me getting called a gold-digging tramp and asked “OK, so is that ALL you’re looking for? A wallet and a smile?” The short answer is no, and I’m going to make the long answer another post as I put it into a clear, concise “Help Wanted” ad. Maybe.

Interview questions? Anyone have a *burning* desire to be informed?

Leave a comment here, or email emily AT tinklebelle DOT com

Holly and her hubby Drew came up and we took our kidlets to the park. Joe took a header in the dirt, Gillian got *filthy* (according to her mom) and Alannah and Drew “captured” the top of the swingset. Oh – and we got the closest thing we have to a family picture.

You KNOW I took pictures.

Unconscious Mutterings: Week 69 (one of my favorite numbers )

1. Lover::
2. Ridiculous::amount
3. Oscar:: statuette
4. Tennis:: ball
5. Account Balance::bank
6. Hickey:: maker
7. License:: plate
8. Breathmints:: altoids
9. TexMex:: cuisine
10. Stepmother:: Labyrinth

the Dumbass of the Year Award.

Yesterday, my girlyfriend was having car issues. I drive up to the gas station where she’s stranded, and we hang out for 2 hours. The kids are in the van, getting hot so I tell Alannah to turn the engine on so the a/c will run. She turns the key to ACC and leaves it there–without starting the engine. I find this out as we’re leaving the gas station. The lights work, but there’s not enough juice to turn the engine over. Soooo…I get a jump from Holly and go home.

This morning, Dad puts the battery on the charger and sets the timer for 3 hours, and lets me know that my car should be driveable this afternoon. Wonderful, thankyou Daddy . Around 5 PM I realize I need to go to the grocery store, hop in the van, and turn the key as I look up. Then, it happened….*bzzt POP*.

As I looked up while turning the key, I realized the hood was still up. As I heard the POP I realized…the charger is still hooked to the battery. After the smoke cleared a bit, I realized that it was still plugged in. The timer was in the “off” position, so I’m not really sure what happened. I disconnected the charger, and the van will start, but won’t stay running. I think I blew the alternator *cringes*.

I do give bonus points to Dad for not going off on a tirade. And I award myself bonus points for not answering his rhetorical questions at all, much less in my usual sarcastic way. Didn’t you see the hood was up? After I turned the key, I did. So I guess you didn’t see the battery charger then. No, Daddy, I didn’t. And I guess you didn’t know it was still plugged in. (no answer)

*sigh* I’m officially vehicle-less through my own absent-minded stupidity.

Tobacco Road Fogey has an excellent guide for low end bloggers. I have a small piece of advice for you as well:

DON’T READ YOUR OWN ARCHIVES!

The urge to self-edit is overwhelming. As you read what you wrote, thoughts cross your mind like “What depressed psychotic state of mind was I in when I wrote that?”, “Did people I KNOW read that?”, or the absolute worst “I wrote, they read, and nobody said anything/commented”.

Blogging has been a wonderful exercise for me in that I alwasy got bored with keeping a diary. This is honestly the longest period of time I’ve ever journaled thoughts/feelings and it still feels fresh. But I keep fighting the urge to go back and re-write every single blasted post that *I* think makes me sound like I’m more unhinged than dotty. I have to keep reminding myself that I’m most likely over-reacting, and to just leave it. Write another post and link back to the old one if I think it’s REALLY bad, but leave it.

I’ll have to continue this later as laundry beckons.

Folks, it’s time to put that poor, tired, overused word to rest and pick up the word you’re SUPPOSED to be using instead.

Huh?

I said it, I meant it. I didn’t stutter, and I wasn’t speaking Swahili.

Tink, what the holy hell are you talking about?

It didn’t literally explode. It VIRTUALLY exploded. Or it FIGURATIVELY exploded.

Honey, I really think you should switch to decaf.

*blink* What does coffee have to do with my annoyance levels? And if they’d just USE the word the way it’s SUPPOSED to be used, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. And besides, I finally kicked caffeine.

mmhmm. riiiiiiight.

For those of you without the patience to sort through what seems like the millions of quizzes I did over the weekend, the non-fluff posts are here and here.

My old files at Mamablogs are finally gone. Annoyingly enough, the person in charge of North State Blogs hasn’t bothered to update my addy on the blogroll, so I’m hoping they find me somehow.

Today marks the second time someone has told me “You sure do have a full life!” when I was detailing part of my day for them. *shrug* Maybe it’s because these two people don’t have kids?

This weekend marks the first time I was called a “gold-digging tramp”. I was talking to a girlfriend about my “ideal” situation (having someone support me and the kids so I can continue to stay home with them). The other person in the chatroom at the time (a guy) took offense. After smacking him around with a clue-by-four, outlining (in detail) the expenses involved with private schooling my daughter since I won’t be able to homeschool, the cost of daycare for two children under five, he saw the wisdom in my words.

Good times *smirk*.

Joe just pulled himself up to a standing position. He’s only 9 months old. WHERE DID MY BABY GO!!!!!!!!