Pet Peeves...

Yes, I do realize that this blog is quickly turning into a dumping ground for my complaints about society.  No, I do not care.  

Today I have had just about enough of everything.  

By 9AM I was completely emotionally exhausted.  For the first time, Oliver REALLY did not want to go with his father.  He's teething, and his father showed up with some other car, but he's been teething before and he's been in that car before.  It was really hard to see him so upset over something...especially when it's never been like this.  It took 40 minutes and both of us trying just to get him into his carseat.  As soon as I walked away, I started crying... I just can't stand to see him so upset.  I do not want this to be a new thing.  While it's never easy to let him go, it's so much easier when he wants to go.  

< rant >

I think that it was because I was already emotionally done that the rest of the day has been so frustrating.  I understand that community college is not the same as university.  Really.  I just don't feel good about my classes.  It really is the best (only) option to avoid repayment of loans.  I've been honest about my reasoning.  I knew going into this that I probably would not enjoy this semester.  Unfortunately, I didn't realize just how much I would loathe logging in and looking at posts and reading... and especially how much I would despise my classmates.  Not all...but most.  When looking through the discussions, I realize that many of these people just do not belong in college.  It isn't as if much is asked of us... How is one fragment sentence considered appropriate?  All we have to write is 100 words.  Why do I care?  Because my grade depends in part on responding to these people.  I cannot simply respond that they need to read the syllabus... or be smarter... no matter how much I'd like to do just that.  Ugh.  Anyway... It's mostly the early childhood development class that's got me down in this respect.  My literature class seems to be full of at least semi-literate individuals.  They don't make me want to gouge my eyes out...that's what the text is for!  Seriously, I KNEW I didn't like American literature...so for all my years of higher education, I've avoided it completely.  I fell asleep 3 times trying to read less than 10 pages.  It's truly awful material.  I was unable to do the homework because I have yet to feel anything for either topic.  Oh well.

I think this is where the pet peeves are going to come in.  This does not apply solely to my classes... my current tolerance level is significantly lower than usual and I am noticing 'mistakes' more often than I'd like.  The best possible remedy is for everyone to stop making mistakes.  I must stress that what follows is only the most basic introduction to all the things that drive me insane...and my list of pet peeves varies depending on where you happen to be writing.  

1.  This is THE MOST IMPORTANT thing that you will ever EVER need to know when typing anything that might ever be read by another person (especially if that person is me): A (space) LOT.  No matter how many times you've seen it, 'alot' is not a word.  It is two separate words.  Please grant them their individuality!
2.  I'd like to introduce you to a few words: there, their, and they're.  Now I'm going to use them correctly, in hopes that you will do the same!
a.  There are a lot of douchebags in here.  OR  The prison entrance is located over there.  (these should be obvious)
b.  Their child looks like a gnome.  (their, meaning it belongs to them...)
c.  They're all going to laugh at you.  (they're combines they and are)
3.  Here are some more: your and you're.  Same drill here...
a.  Is that your blood?  (in this case, your is possessive...meaning...does that blood belong to you?)
b.  You're a moron.  (combination of you and are)
4.  And here are two more: to and too.
a.  I would like to leave.  (there are a million ways to explain this tiny word, so just go here: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/to)
b.  I, too, believe that the three-toed sloth is the cutest animal in the whole world.  (also...as well...furthermore...in addition...etc...).

5.  Adding an s to the end of a word does not mean that you must also add an apostrophe.  See example: http://www.sharingmachine.com/index.php?item=33

Ok.

< /rant >

I think I feel better now...even though True Blood was pretty disappointing tonight.

I have 2 ideas that need to be made into blogs, and if I get around to creating them, I'll post links here... or on facebook.

<3

Oliver's Word List

A 17-month old Oliver can say:

1.        Mama
   2.       Grandma
   3.       (I assume he says dad, but don’t actually know…)
   4.       Kitty
   5.       Cat
   6.       Puppy
   7.       Dog
   8.       Bird
   9.       Duck
   10.   Boob
   11.   Mud
   12.   Mess
   13.   Dirt
   14.   Pee pee
   15.   Poop
   16.   Bath
   17.   Toothpaste
   18.   Toothbrush
   19.   Towel
   20.   Plug
   21.   Color
   22.   Red
   23.   Green
   24.   Blue
   25.   White
   26.   Black
   27.   Yellow
   28.   Purple
   29.   Pink
   30.   Car
   31.   Truck
   32.   Bike
   33.   Trash truck
   34.   Fire truck
   35.   Swiffer
   36.   Ball
   37.   Giraffe
   38.   Monkey
   39.   Tail
   40.   Pillow
   41.   No
   42.   Up
   43.   Down
   44.   On
   45.   Off
   46.   Light
   47.   Coffee
   48.   Tea
   49.   Water
   50.   Juice
   51.   Milk
   52.   Cookie
   53.   Cake
   54.   Apple
   55.   Banana
   56.   Peach
   57.   Cracker
   58.   Fishies
   59.   Cup
   60.   Laptop
   61.   Ipod
   62.   Phone
   63.   Ice cream cone
   64.   Tomato
   65.   Bread
   66.   Block
   67.   Train
   68.   Book
   69.   My book
   70.   Keys
   71.   Baby
   72.   Pumpkin
   73.   Bug
   74.   Leaf
   75.   Flower
   76.   Rose
   77.   Lily
   78.   Bee
   79.   Moon
   80.   Sun
   81.   Sheep
   82.   Bunny
   83.   Owl
   84.   Star
   85.   Hat
   86.   Money
   87.   Ghost
   88.   Pizza
   89.   Peas
   90.   Frog
   91.   Doughnut
   92.   Shoes
   93.   Eye
   94.   Ear
   95.   Nose
   96.   Mouth
   97.   Hair
   98.   Forehead
   99.   Chin
   100.                        Mole
   101.                        Arm
   102.                        Knee
   103.                        Eyebrow
   104.                        Glasses
   105.                        Face
   106.                        Foot
   107.                        Toes
   108.                        Belly
   109.                        Cheek
   110.                        Boots
   111.                        Vacuum
   112.                        Broom
   113.                        Boom
   114.                        Highchair
   115.                        Blanket
   116.                        Berries
   117.                        Toast
   118.                        Potty
   119.                        Soap
   120.                        Bye
   121.                        Knife
   122.                        Fork
   123.                        Spoon
   124.                        Mush
   125.                        Plant
   126.                        Drill
   127.                        Hammer
   128.                        Camel
   129.                        Lion
   130.                        Bear
   131.                        Horse
   132.                        Grape
   133.                        Cheese
   134.                        Potato
   135.                        Green bean
   136.                        Airplane
   137.                        Chicken
   138.                        Pig
   139.                        Goat
   140.                        Cow
   141.                        Tractor
   142.                        Boat
   143.                        Rock
   144.                        Doll
   145.                        Robot
   146.                        Man
   147.                        Chip
   148.                        Broccoli
   149.                        Tree
   150.                        Pretty
   151.                        Bead
   152.                        Goose
   153.                        Lizard
   154.                        Tiger
   155.                        River
   156.                        Sky
   157.                        Rain
   158.                        Thunder
   159.                        House
   160.                        Park
   161.                        Powder
   162.                        Diaper
   163.                        Wipe
   164.                        Door
   165.                        Gate
   166.                        Grass
   167.                        Hot
   168.                        Bubble
   169.                        Pool
   170.                        Gun
   171.                        Balloon
   172.                        Hey/hi
   173.                        Meow
   174.                        Wall
   175.                        Stick
   176.                        Fan
   177.                        Bracelet
   178.                        Owe
   179.                        Mop
   180.                        Clean
   181.                        Dance
   182.                        Stinky
   183.                        Ruff ruff ruff
   184.                        Neck
   185.                        Elbow
   186.                        Armpit
   187.                        Girls
   188.                        Nice
   189.                        Pet
   190.                        Cat fur
   191.                        Pen
   192.                        Wolf
   193.                        Egg
   194.                        Meat
   195.                        Box
   196.                        Straw
   197.                        Tv
   198.                        Bib
   199.                        Dip
   200.                        Ketchup
   201.                        Open
   202.                        Shoes
   203.                        Out                    
   
   
   Spanish words –
   1.       Pez (fish)
   2.       Agua (water)
   
   
   Names –
   1.       Veronica (caca)
   2.       Bettye
   3.       Taylor (tay)

Bleh. I have dislikes.

Wanna know how to make me really upset??  Turn off my AC, drop me from my classes because I haven't paid (when I would have...had I not been charged out of state tuition), fail to return phone calls, claim my paperwork never arrived, force me to RE-SEND paperwork, and don't answer the phone when I call to confirm receipt...And be sure to do this on what will at some point be day 1 of my period.

Today has been positively blissful.

There's one day each month when I seriously wonder why I need/want more kids...because I really don't want my uterus.  It's this painful sack of uselessness, hanging out in my guts, completely unoccupied.  It angrily sheds its lining...and as a result, I get to spend a day curled up in a ball wishing for menopause.  Then I remember my reasoning...I'm too smart to have just one kid.  Those who should not be breeding are those who do it most (crackheads...teenagers...morons...super-religious-freaks)...which means there are far too many unwanted, uncared-for, little zealots with limited potential running around.  There is no nature vs. nurture...it takes both.  My children are genetically predisposed to be intelligent and healthy.  Due to my parenting style and personal belief system, my kids will be open-minded, genuine, loving, and independent.  People like me (and I don't mean to sound like a narcissist, but what I really mean is intelligent people with more than a high school education...particularly those who have a graduate degree or beyond) typically do not procreate.  We wait.  We wait until the timing is right...we try to find the perfect genetic match...we want to have a certain amount of investment property or just the right SUV.  Or we have one trophy child who grows up to be completely neurotic.  I know I'm over-thinking it...I really am just trying to justify my love of new baby scent.  AND at the same time, I'm gonna do my part to ensure Idiocracy doesn't become a reality.

But... the AC is fixed...my kid is adorable...and we're going for a walk in a bit.  I guess things aren't THAT bad.

Or not...Oliver just learned how to open his crayons...or, well...MY crayons.  I anticipate a mess in the next few minutes.  :)

Sitting here with a Pepsi and not much else.

Life is incredibly boring when my Oliver isn't here.  My mom's turning into a hoarder and I can't stand it...BUT at least True Blood was great tonight.  I'm really starting to like Eric.  I almost find him attractive...which is weird, because blondes just don't do it for me.  I also watched Confessions of a Shopaholic this morning...and it was mediocre, but the leading man may well be the most attractive guy I've seen in a movie in a very long time.  I believe I said that the first time I saw the movie, too :)

I am in the worst mood today, though... not quite sure what it is, but I'm just venomous.  I want to break something...it's tiring...might be why I wanna go to bed at 7:40.  This is probably because Oliver isn't here to make the day happy.  How did I ever exist without my kid!?

And why am I blogging? I have nothing to say...I said everything on facebook today.  :)

a review....of sorts. ****spoiler alert****

Maybe I'm a very callus person.  I dunno...it's possible.  9-11 never had any emotional impact on me.  I always figured that it was because I'm simply not capable of comprehending something on that scale....and it's quite possible that's the case.  Today's the first time I actually cried over something '9-11-related'...and oddly, it was a movie that had only had something to do with it for a moment.

I just finished watching Remember Me.  The funny thing...I *knew* how the movie ended before watching it...which is probably why it took a good 10 attempts to finally get through the whole thing - it's tough to get in the mood for a sad movie.  I just thought it was going to end with a different kind of death entirely.  I was betting on something tragic, yet more self-serving.  The movie wasn't amazing... and the very last scene totally should have been cut... but there were some beautiful moments throughout...particularly near the end.  The 9-11 bit...seriously just a few minutes of the movie...caught me totally off-guard but was just so perfect an end.

I really want to write more right now... but because Oliver ate a graham cracker over the keyboard at some point today, half of my keys aren't working right.  I sorta want to vacuum the laptop.

Something I read a little bit ago...and some other stuff.

I became a 'fan' of the Coffee Party Movement on Facebook a while back...and have been pleasantly surprised by the content of the posts.  While I fully admit to being a bleeding-heart liberal, I often become a little nauseated by the incessant bitching of my contemporaries.  I'm more of a "Freedom and equality for all, peace, love, happiness, etc...but please leave me the hell alone" kinda liberal, I guess.  Anyway, a post came up a little bit ago that I really liked.

"Imagine if we had policies and laws that prioritized happiness and well-being over productivity and profit. Consider that the Declaration of Independence mentions the right to the pursuit of happiness, not the pursuit of profit."


So...Imagine that.  Imagine 1 year paid maternity (and paternity) leave!  Forced vacations.  Less talk in the media about The War On....something... and more talk positive things happening to people.  Less focus on dollar signs and more and passions.  How many people would REALLY be doing what they're currently doing if money weren't a consideration?  I know that since having my kid, I've been more inclined to look for and apply to jobs at soulless corporations that pay well but would leave me emotionally crippled.  Wouldn't it be nice if the focus was on real, individual people instead of assets and earnings?  


In other news, I FINALLY have a job interview!  :)  I am very VERY excited!!!  It isn't at one of those soulless companies, either.  It's at the local behavioral health facility... even though I don't believe I'd be doing much direct interaction with clients, at least at the end of the day I'll still feel like I was a part of something worthwhile.  The pay is about half of what I'm worth, but right now I'm focusing on what'll be close to home and give me the most possible time with my kid.  Childcare will still be a bit complicated, as will transportation...but I'm sure that everything will come together when it's right.


The most difficult thing about potentially rejoining the workforce actually has nothing at all to do with working.  I quite like having a job and interacting with people.  I'm just not looking forward to spending any amount of time away from my son.  It isn't that I don't trust the people who'll be watching him... it's just that I've been here every single day for nearly 16 months...watching every bit of development as it happens... I am going to miss so much.  I just have to remind myself that by going to work, I'll be putting him in a position to develop further providing him the means to do so....it just breaks my heart knowing I won't be there for everything anymore :(  Where oh where is my winning lottery ticket?!  


Back to the first point... if money weren't a consideration, I'd be an artist and a writer...and I'd have a few more kids... and I'd just stay home all day completely indulging my kids.  It'd be awesome.  


Oliver is a pretty loquacious little thing lately.  He's learned to say 'butt'...and does so while smacking people in the butt.  It seems that he's trying to form sentences, and come up with the proper names for things.  He saw a trash truck the other morning and said 'trash truck car' (tra tru cah).  


He's still using food to lubricate his fingers so that he can stick them farther up his nose.


He's also a total little lover.  I worried what he'd be like with little babies because...they're little...and he's not exactly gentle with the cat.  I found out over the weekend, though.  One day we went to visit a little boy who is 8 months old, and Oliver was a big helper baby.  He tried to pick the younger boy up and tried to help him walk.  His efforts usually ended with both babies falling over, but it was pretty cute.  It was also a nice realization that my kid likes littler kids.  The next day we went to visit an old friend from high school who recently had a baby girl.  Oliver was smitten.  I held the 1-month old beautiful baby girl...and Oliver kissed her over and over and over.  It was absolutely precious.


Anyway.... this is taking a very long time... and I'd rather be watching Oliver eat a plout.  

Decaf Thoughts...

Today I've rescued a bunny and realized that my breasts make me feel like a liar.  What a way to start a day, right?

The bunny was being tortured by my cat... it was a tiny little bunny, probably just a couple weeks old.  I got the cat away, and threw her into the house.  Then I trapped the bunny and carried it off into the desert.  I checked it out as well as I could, and it wasn't too broken up on the outside.  There was on little (looking) gash on its neck, but I don't know how deep it went.  The poor thing was shaking and terrified, though...and I don't know the extent of the internal damage.  It hopped off into the mesquite just fine, but that means very little.  I'm fairly sure that it won't survive... but its chances out there are far better than any chance it'd have in the house, despite any injuries.  Ugh.  I'm so mad at that cat... and I know it's instinct making her go after fuzzy cute things... but still.  Both neighbors have chihuahuas and I'd be fine with those being brunch.

And now, to lighten the mood...I'll talk about my boobs.  The other day I mentioned to a friend that the guys who shop at Safeway are much better looking than those who shop at Walmart.  Just a few minutes ago I was trying to decide on a movie, but figured that I'd just watch Eclipse again because it's full of pretty guys...at least that won't disappoint me.  So, that same friend said I should just go hang out at Safeway.  I don't think that's too bad of an idea.  I haven't pumped yet, so I'm very full of milk...making me deceptively well-endowed.  I wouldn't have to bother with a shower or anything else if I wore something low-cut...because no one would notice anything else.  But, then I realize how much of a liar that makes me.  Technically, these are my boobs.  They're not fake...but they are loaners.  Once Oliver is done with them, they'll probably go back to what they were before...which really wasn't much.  :|  Or perhaps I should feel less like a liar and instead use it because I know I WILL lose it.

I had so much to talk about a couple hours ago when I started writing this, and now I lack the motivation to write anything.  <3