so don't ask if you don't want to know
Posts tagged kira
Mini Update
Dec 10th
Child support check is 10 days late. And I can’t find the stupid folder with my divorce papers in it to look up my number to call and find out what’s going on. I’ve torn my frakking desk apart and no sign of it. I just looked that stuff up a month ago, where could I have put it down?
Max called today. He’s in Kirkuk but his girlfriend is still in Tikrit.
Mesa’s museums are free on the first Sunday of the month now, so we took Kira out and about. We had a really good day. Casey’s growing his hair out for the first time since he was 12.
Ginnie backed into a rental car tonight. The business was closed so I made her go back up there and leave a note with her information. She says she couldn’t find a crack around the door to slide it in and didn’t want to just leave it out in the open. It’s just a mark on the fender, so I suggested she go by after school tomorrow.
Not much else going on. Biding my time.
Potty Training
Dec 8th
Huh, I need a new Kristmas Kira icon.
Over at their house, they’ve been potty training Kira. She’s still in diapers at night and when they’re out and about, but Casey can’t afford pull-ups this week (great planning dork) so she’s in panties. Last weekend it surprised me when they got here and she trucked into my bathroom (where I’ve had a potty chair for a couple of months) and did her business. Yay! No accidents that weekend, but this last weekend? Adventures. Catching her in her poop stance a little too late, and for some reason later on she waltzed out on to the front porch, squatted, and peed all over my rug.
But all in all she’s doing great. I really need to take more pictures.
Gullah Gullah Island
Nov 25th
Kira’s favorite TV show is Gullah Gullah Island. No, it’s not new. My kids watched it when they were little, along with Sharon, Lois and Bram’s Elephant Show. Anyway, I’d found it on Noggin in the middle of the night and recorded it for a nostalgic moment with Casey, and Kira LOVED IT! Enthralled. So I’ve been recording them and that’s what she watches the ENTIRE time she’s over here. I think we’ve 15 episodes clogging up my DVR.
If I could find a stuffed Binyah Binyah somewhere (and I have looked on eBay) I’d buy it in an instant.
Anyway, I’ve had this song stuck in my head for the last few days. Kira can almost sing it so we’ve been practicing. It’s so cute.
Slow and steady
easy does it
you don’t have to
run you know
to get to where
you want to go
just take it simple
take it slow
From the show where they act out the Tortoise and the Hare. Adorable! She nods her head in time with the tortoise’s beat.
I guess you have to be there. Maybe I’ll get her to do it on video.
Quick update on the camping thing
Oct 14th
Froze my ASS off. We went just north of Snottsdale by Bartlett Lake and not in a “real” campground. Which meant tree-peeing and plenty of wandering room. The guys spent most of the time taking down and breaking up dead trees for firewood and made a ginormous fire. I guess it’s the group’s favorite place to camp and they’d made a fire pit on previous trips. The kids had a blast getting dirty and I put my tent up all by myself, but ended up sleeping in the backseat of my car because it was so frakking cold. I made a bed for Kira in the hatch and had to get up 4 times during the night to startup the car and blast the heat and cover her back up. Poor baby was shivering. The other family kept themselves toasty by cuddling in their tent. S’mores on the fire and sausage/egg burritos for breakfast!
Fun but never again.
Going Camping
Oct 11th
Overnight.
In the desert.
With #1 Son, Kira, his friend Daniel, his pregnant wife, and their toddler. Maybe Mike and his toddler daughter.
As usual, I’m going into this pessimistically. And stopping for Strongbow on the way.
Seriously.
Grammi will be sleeping in the back of the SUV and wearing a can of insect repellent.
And to top it off, my phone has croaked. Went to get a new battery last night and the battery is fine. The charger port is fucked. I don’t have time this morning to get it repaired or replaced.
Oh Jebus H Criminy Shit
Oct 6th
So Friday morning Casey and I went to this used tire place to get . . . reassurance? He knows a guy who knows a guy and they cut us a break. I’d budgeted $120 for a new tire (for a car I hope to unload pretty damned soon) and ended up paying $25 on a fairly new tire. Except it wasn’t the one “damaged” in my hit-n-run, it was the one on the other side that was so bald there was no tread left. The “damaged” tire we found out was fine once he got it up on a jack. And guess what! My car doesn’t shimmy and grind anymore. For the moment anyway. Now Ginnie can stop angsting about the car.
And here I was thinking I was about $100 bucks up right? No such luck. Ginnie came home from school with a couple of envelopes: one for a class ring and one for her announcements/cap & gown. Order due TODAY. Thanks for the financial warning School people!
On the edge
Oct 1st
I’m seriously thinking about defaulting on this car. I don’t know what else to do. Casey called me today to yell at me to get a new tire. Apparently his father checked it out and there’s a big chunk missing where it was jammed into a strut underneath. Could blow any minute. Fuck.
I got my check today and after paying all my regular bills (except the fucking car payment) I’m left with less than $200. New tire means no birthday present for Kira. New tire means being stuck at home more than I am now. New tire my ass. Car payment will likely be used as a down payment on something else.
Speaking of their father, Ginnie keeps dropping comments that I don’t really want to hear. Only to hope that as long as he’s happier maybe he’ll hate me less and someday we can be in the same room – for the kid’s sakes. She says she wants to ask him for either help getting a car or a new laptop for Christmas. And that he should be able to help her seeing as how his new live-in girlfriend makes big bucks and where could his money possibly be going, etc. I DON’T FRICKING CARE! I don’t ask. It’s none of my business and I don’t want the kids reporting back to him either.
Other than the car, I’ve been having a pretty lucky day. Slept good, great bagel for breakfast, decent sales at the grocery stores, good parking . . . knocking on my wood desk now.
Going to Gangplank tonight to record the Gangplank Podcast and Evo @ 11. I’ve been working on a new intro so we’ll see if Evo likes it. If so, it’ll be on this week’s show. And I’m going hunting for a better word processing/desktop publishing program than MSWorks. Works sucks ass. I’m managing, but I’ve volunteered to do the program for PodcampAZ and I’d like a little more flexibility.
S’all. Mebbe mo laterz.
Weekend Update
Sep 28th
Had Casey and The Screech here most of the weekend, until I had a hissy fit early this afternoon and he took his kid and slagged off somewhere. I’m just so tired of being trod upon. You know how they say the best thing about being a grandparent is you get to hand them back when you’re done? Yeah, I can’t seem to hand her back. Even when he’s HERE he expects me to supervise her the entire time. He stays around long enough to put her in bed (though doesn’t wait ’til she’s actually asleep) then goes out with his buddies until 3-4 in the morning. Then gets irritated with her when she gets up at the normal time in the morning and wants his attention. You’re her father for christ’s sake, play with the kid. She’s sick of Grammi already. And he knows that and gets all apologetic after. She’s two tomorrow and isn’t old enough to get that Daddy A) isn’t a morning person even on his best day and B) still wants to be young and stay out all night. So I alternate snark with blunt-ass comments about what he needs to do.
Her Birthday party is next weekend. Mr. Nice Guy lent quite a bit of cash to an old friend weeks ago and hasn’t seen a return on that since. His next week’s check is clear so he can throw her party then. And Buck is planning on going so I won’t. Let him have the day.
I’m forcing myself to read The Catcher in the Rye because apparently you’re supposed to have read this in school. I didn’t. Please tell me there’s a payoff in the end? This is on my top 10 most boringly pointless books of all time. If this whiny, hateful crap is all there is, how on earth did this crap get published in the first place? I don’t get it. Unless there’s something interesting in the end. I’m about halfway and I’ll really be pissed if nothing happens.
Max called with the latest deployment information. He’s being sent to Camp Speicher in Tikrit, leaving October 17th, spending a week in Kuwait again and then onto the base. Another month maybe until he gets a phone that works there. We’ve been through this before.
Other than this night, I tried really hard not to think about where he was and the increased danger. He didn’t tell me about getting hit by shrapnel and all that until he came home on leave. I don’t dwell on it. There’s nothing I can actively DO so there’s no point in worrying, right?
Except for some reason this time when I DO think about it I’m covered in this HUGE dread cloud. I don’t know why. I totally believe in the power of positive thinking which is probably why I don’t think about Iraq. This time is harder. I didn’t say anything to him, but this time is 10 times worse.
Think POSITIVE thoughts Debbie.
I’ve been wracking my brain about this fucking car. I’m so screwed. It Blue Books at around $4k and I owe over $16k. My credit is already shit, so I’m seriously thinking about defaulting and dumping the damned thing. Someone suggested bankruptcy. Never EVER get a Land Rover. This fucking car has caused me nothing but hassle and angst since I drove it off the lot. It’s been doing that shimmying grinding thing it was doing last year. Yes the parts were warrantied, but I can guarantee you that dealership will fuck me over as much as they can if I take it back. Plus the cheap Tire Pros tires I bought are already getting thin. I’m not picky anymore. I just want a dependable car with A/C (and maybe a decent stereo) that can move Ginnie and I and everyone else who depends on us for transportation. I have to have A/C. I spend way too much time sitting in this car waiting for other people and half that time with a baby in the back.
Can’t think of anything else. Catch y’all later.
Alright fine! I'll update already.
Sep 19th
Geeze you people are nosy.
This week was mostly spent at home doing absolutely nothing but catching up on all the podcasts I missed the weeks before. Tuesday’s helping with Tyson was canceled*, but Wednesday I managed to get to Gangplank for his lunchtime talk regarding “What is Art?” After that I hung out with Sheila and we watched a couple of movies and headed back to Gangplank for our recordings. I got both episodes edited and loaded online by midnight and then crashed for the night.
The mail was slightly interesting today. I’m for jury duty on Monday, October 27th, which is going to be logistically difficult with the Girlchild’s school schedule. Oh well, plenty of time to figure it out. Also got a short survey from Nielsen and they pre-paid me two whole dollars! Whoopie-shit.
What else? Need a man. Need a sexual partner in the worst way. Don’t want a re-la-tion-ship, just someone to come over on a quasi-regular basis and have some fun. Know anybody?
Also caught up on some DVR’d stuff. Guessed correctly who the last 5 were going to be on America’s Got Talent. Watched How to Look Good Naked, Jon and Kate Plus 8, Project Runway, and the last of the Jeremiahs. I really liked that show. I’ve checked out the new 90210 (blech) and the following show Priveledged, which isn’t bad. Netflix has provided me with a couple DVDs of Planet Earth so I’ll have something to watch this weekend. I’m pretty sure I have my DVR set for all the returning shows and I don’t think I’ve seen anything new advertised that I want to see. Maybe this podcast I’m listening to now will have some suggestions.
Oh yeah, I’ve decided to be nice and told Casey that if he wanted to invite his father to Kira’s birthday party next weekend, I’d stay away. My choice. Buck’s still apparently got issues being around me and I’m with Kira all the time so let him have that day. If he decides not to attend (which I secretly expect) I’ll go after all.
Okay, that’s all I can think of. I get paid tomorrow so I expect to click someone’s paypal button first thing in the morning. I wish I could do more.
Ketchup/Catsup time
Sep 12th
Man this has been a busy and stressful week. I’m sitting on my ASS this morning and not doing SHIT.
Monday Casey called and said he had no money for mPower and could they stay with me until he got paid. Sure, and as soon as Ginnie got home from school with my car, I drive out to south Phoenix and picked up Kira and came home. Then went back out to Tempe to pick up Casey from work at 8. I told him then that I need someone else to take Kira Wednesday. Period. I have stuff to do.
Tuesday morning took Ginnie to school (7:45) and then Casey back to work (10:00), and then picked Ginnie UP from school (12:15) and she watched Kira nap while I ran out to Chandler to Gangplank (2:30) to work on Tyson’s podcast and then ran back home (4:00) so Ginnie could do what she had to do and then back to pick up Casey from (8:00) work.
Wednesday was worse. The same school and work driving and dumping but throw in a visit to twinklergirl‘s music for toddlers class thing. Which kind of freaked poor Kira out, but now that she knows it’s okay this time to run and play and have fun – as opposed to being shushed and calmed down every time she gets rowdy – she’ll have more fun next time. Casey on Monday had arranged for his friend/my neighbor to take Kira from 4 – 9 and reminded them on Tuesday and yet . . . nobody home. I texted a bitch-note to Casey and he tracked them down. They’d forgot. Pissed me off. Finally connected at 4:30 and I sped over to machinegirl‘s new place in Tempe to take her to Gangplank with me. We got there just before 5:30 but they’d started the Gangplank recording without me. Relaxed for a bit, then recorded Evo’s podcast. machinegirl decided I needed to unstress by having ice cream! That worked for a few minutes but after picking Casey up from work and dropping her off at home we hit WEATHER.
So much for unstressing. It poured buckets! Hydroplaning down the US60 alternated between fun and terrifying. We got ahead of it and got home just before it hit here. Hail, sideways rain by the buckets and flooding in the parking lot.
I tried to edit the Gangplank podcast but I was just too tired to make sense of unfamiliar material. It’s tough to shave out stuff and make a shorter coherent cast when you have no idea what they are talking about. Yesterday morning I bitched at Casey and told him I needed at least 2 hours without Kira and he needed to step up and keep her out of my room, which he did. At least I got one job done. Then he decided to send her to another friend’s for the rest of the day. I was too stressed.
On the way some Fucktard just about took off my bumper sliding in behind me and as I turned into the gas station I flipped him off. Then he drove around the building and as he passed me walking into the station he yelled Asshole at me! Then I (using all my pent-up frustration and stress) screamed FUCK YOU at the back of his truck. Casey jumped out of my car ready to kick ass. I took off around the other side of the station to see if he was still around. You seriously didn’t want to fuck with me at that moment! But alas, the pussy was gone, and I was left with a half-dozen very surprised gas station patrons staring at me.
Got Casey to work (11:30) on time, dropped Kira off at Chad’s (I can’t say Chad without a snarl. I used to hate him and his family but he’s much better now) and managed to only be a couple minutes late picking Ginnie up from school. She and I came home to a quiet apartment and I talked her into watching Fame with me. One of my all-time favorite movies, and she really liked it. She and I had been like ships passing in the night with no chance to talk for days! Then she took off and I finished my editing and watched another movie – something with Morgan Freeman as a bad guy and John Cusak – and just chilled out.
Today I’m not answering my phone. Don’t get me wrong, I love Kira and spending time with her, but I need time in there for me and my commitments. Too much time in the car, too much stress of getting everybody where they need to be at certain times, IN the heat with the poor kid strapped in the back seat. She was whiny and sometimes rightly so. Kids need stability and there was nothing stable about this week. And to top it off, Wednesday morning she stepped on an ant hill and had 7 bites on and between her little toes, which she whined and complained about for two days but would go absolutely ape-shit if you tried to put any kind of medicine on them. Even in her sleep. Poor baby.
What a week. Somebody somewhere has GOT to want to get their drink on tonight. Please?
