Blondecisions

Search Hitsapalooza

Time for a check in on my stats for the past few hours and see what brings people here.

I kid you not - I got a search hit last night for 'where's peter hannafords cock?'. Well I dunno, but I haven't seen it and you cannot prove that I took it, (or that I play with it. Much.) so there!

In other news:
diaper freaks
Milkers r us
boobs and vaginas
housework funnies (yah, cause that's SO funny)
holy mama (thank you!)
website goodies
Angela Hilton (from a cute lil diddy I did over someone's name)
you told me I should get away, bury my head in the sand lyrics

The ones that keep coming and won't go away:
Colonoscopies humor cartoons
Obese woman stuck to couch
kissing cousins

My Little Red Sneakers

I must tell you about my new sneakers. Can you tell it's been a while since I bought something new and lucious? I have size 12 feet so buying shoes is not an easy feat (pun intended!).

I went to Zappos.com where you get free shipping and free return shipping and bought these red Reeboks I am wearing right now. The verdict isn't in yet, but I think they're keepers! They make my feet look slim, so that right there is a bonus!

Add that to two new pairs of jeans because I have gone down a pants size makes me a very happy (but till fat) mommy!

I'll try to add a picture in a bit

In honor of moving to California...

I snagged this from Marcia who snagged it from Confused and Amused who got it from an e-mail that was written by... oh forget it.

You know you're from California if:

1. Your coworker has 8 body piercings and none are visible.
2. You make over $300,000 and still can't afford a house.
3. You take a bus and are shocked at two people carrying on a conversation in English.
4. Your child's 3rd grade teacher has purple hair, a nose ring, and is named Flower.
5. You can't remember is pot illegal?
6. You've been to a baby shower that has two mothers and a sperm donor.
7. You have a very strong opinion about where your coffee beans are grown, and you can taste the difference between Sumatran and Ethiopian.
8. You can't remember .. is pot illegal?
9. A really great parking space can totally move you to tears.
10. Gas costs $1.00 per gallon more than anywhere else in the U.S.
11. Unlike back home, the guy at 8:30 am at Starbucks wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses who looks like George Clooney really IS George Clooney.
12. Your car insurance costs as much as your house payment.
13. You can't remember is pot illegal?
14. It's barely sprinkling rain and there's a report on every news station: "STORM WATCH."
15. You pass an elementary school playground and the children are all busy with their cells or pagers.
16. It's barely sprinkling rain outside, so you leave for work an hour early to avoid all the weather-related accidents.
17. HEY!!!! Is pot illegal????
18. Both you AND your dog have therapists.
19. The Terminator is your governor.
20. If you drive illegally, they take your driver's license. If you're here illegally, they want to give you one.

Dead Models and Casket Makeup

Marcia's blog mentioned this Sephora model was genuinely beautiful - and maybe it's the lips - but I thought she looked ... well yes, she's beautiful... but she looks dead. Like a photo you would see on Law & Order Special Victim's Unit. And furthermore having them all putting makeup on her makes it look like a bunch of people leaning over her casket.

Hostage Salary

I'm so ... pissed I cannot think straight. Ok, ya'll remember two weeks ago I told you my husband’s ex company is holding his paycheck hostage? He left them and they’re threatening lawsuit; and all because we want to move to where I can be surrounded by family and friends while his career has him flying all over the states and working long hours.

He was supposed to go to a meeting in person where they were supposed to do an “information transfer” with a promise he would get his paycheck. My husband’s been trying to play by their rules, though he did not complete his two weeks when they started threatening lawsuit. He left – though I think it looks bad for him – he left because the workplace was volatile and he saw what they did to the last guy who stayed his full two weeks.

He met their demands, went out of his way, and STILL no paycheck! They want him to sign a paper that states he is not going to a competitor (and maybe more) and when they receive the signed paper they will issue his paycheck. I do not see how this isn’t illegal! How they could have a lawyer draw up this paper and not blatantly tell them this isn’t allowed.

So off to the labor board in CT he goes. Except we don’t have his paycheck which we need. The millionaire company owners do not care about a dad who lives paycheck to paycheck. All they see is dollar signs and they just lost one of the guys that make them those dollar signs, even though hubby gave them ample opportunity to keep him employed. He told them it’s nothing personal – this move was a family decision – and when they didn’t follow up or make an attempt to accommodate (and it was reasonable to think they could) he moved on another job offer.

Despite the fact that it IS in his contract (the original one) that says he is not allowed to go to competition, this ex-company has denied having him in employment for the past two years when another company tried to sue them for the same thing – employing him. So the turnout might not be all happy happy. But it would be nice to at least have this paycheck! The rest will come later. If the hubster has to find another job, at least we’ll be in Cali. He’s had other interest in him out there, so it will all be ok. Breathe with me now… it will all be ok!

Now, about that paycheck….

Gina Bina
www.blamemama.com

Moving Musing

How crazy is all of this moving stuff?

First we thought we would rent a truck. Then maybe 2 pull behind trailers. Then just one. Now none! It’s going to cost us $325 plus tax, costs for the extra weight and wind resistance on the car, the slower speed of travel possibly costing us another hotel, and the trailer hitch installed onto the car. All told around $500-$700 for one 4x8 uHaul trailer. With the trailer we might take the risk of killing our transmission somewhere during the 4 day/3,000 mile travel. Yikes! $2,000. Also as it is, we might be forced to get two hotel rooms on each stop because 2 parents and 3 kids exceed hotels’ limits.

So last night we decided it wasn’t worth the money and the risk. We’re going to ship our stuff to California and go with just a packed Huyundai Elantra (very small, unfortunately) and Grand Caravan. If we spend less than $500 shipping, then we are saving money. Any suggestions as to which way to ship is cheapest and/or best, please let me know! (USPS, FedEx, Dahl, USPS?)

My goal is to get us down to practically nothing! I have done a ton already. We’ve Freecycled (http://www.freecycle.org) hundreds of items and have little left. We have sold or are selling a few items. Some things like all of our kitchenware is going to an adolescent home before we leave.

I’ve taken down all of my picture frames and given them away. The photos are going to be safely tucked in a box for the trip along with a few other special items I do not want to chance losing in the mail. The rest of our stuff will be shipped – what there is of it! We are lucky Media Mail by USPS is cheap compared to what it weighs so we’ll send our must have CDs, DVDs, and books that way.

I thought I would be at least somewhat heartbroken to give away so much, but I am ecstatic! It’s like a whole renovation inside and out. Freedom! I’m practically giddy. We’re just watching everything sort of take flight and we feel good about it. As a second agenda, we need to get rid of anything that leaves clutter out to collect dust. I’m allergic, 1-2 of my kids are, and we found out last fall my husband is REALLY allergic to dust and dust mites. So our new goal is to have everything in it’s place inside closed drawers and shelves. So all of my office paper stackers, living room shelves, etc are all gone.

What’s more, the house looks fabulous aside from the hot spots of piled boxes and stuff. It’s never been so decluttered. I love all the space and being able to see where floors connect to walls because furniture and STUFF are gone. I want to keep it simple in the new place too.

Interestingly we were also in the paper today. My kids got two photos in the paper, so they’re in heaven. The guy writing a story on Freecycle thought ours was a good one, so he used us as the main family in the story. Were I not a writer, I would find that more amazing, but instead it just seems like another day like any other – but hey, the kids are SO happy, it was worth it.

So after 3.5 hours of work on the house this morning, and then a 2-hour-break, I am looking around at what we still have, ready to dig in and get more done. Every time I go through a box I went through before I find more that I can part with. Christmas went from 6 huge totes down to one box. Halloween is completely gone except for a couple of particular items. The bathroom closet has never been so empty. The boys are down to essential toys only. Office supplies went from 2 medium sized boxes down to one small box. Anything that can be replaced is on its way out the door.

In all this fervor I am going to go get my hair cut again, get a new pair of sneakers, get back to Curves, and enjoy my 25 pound weight loss. I even ditched a thumb ring I’d had for something like 8 years! My husband noticed and I told him, “It’s all a part of the ongoing revitalization of Gina project.”

Gina Bina

More on yesterday's post...

I was in that dining room for at least another 5-6 hours yesterday! Pulled stuff down from my writing desk upstairs so it all gets sorted together as well as sorting through a stack of Writer’s Digest magazines to pull out markets or articles I cannot toss out. In the end, 20 magazines later, I had saved only 5 articles and a bunch of markets, so that's good! Now how to go through about 70 Entreprenuer, Inc and more???

I AM A PACK RAT! It’s literally in my genes. My grandparents and my dad are pack rats. As an example, my dad kept every electric razor he killed on a shelf. Yes, he did! He has one of those black haired, sharp beards that could rub your flesh off, so he goes through a couple of razors a year sometimes.

He must have had 20 or so when they sold the farm and packed up the house. You know I am sad I never took photos of his office space. If I could get back there soon, I will. His office is still intact for a little while and photos would be priceless!

I am hell bent on not being a pack rat anymore. I LOVE this clearing out stuff. It has really let me know what’s important and it’s SO GOOD for my mental health, space, organization and our general health. I am allergic to dust, and so is hubby, and I assume 2 of my 3 kids are. So we’re on a mission not only to move but to make life altering choices on how we keep our stuff. We won’t have anything that just sits out in the open anymore. I gave away all my office paper shelves yesterday and anything that allows stuff to stack up must go. It’s all got to go into closed cabinets that keep the dust out and are themselves easy to dust with a damp cloth.... unless it’s something I use every day. Otherwise all space must be uncluttered.

I am SO good at hoeing out other people’s stuff too. I always have been. My room as a kid was a disaster, but I would clean all my friends’ rooms. I am going to do it for my MIL in

Cali

and take photos before and after and maybe, just maybe, I will have to try to get a few local jobs doing that for others. BUT will have to get a particle mask and get used to it first because I get VERY sick if snarfing dust too much. I proved that here at home L

I need some way to pay for a housekeeper. How twisted is that??? I would be willing to clean someone else’s dust riddled home/garage to get money for someone to clean mine. That's somehow just so... wrong!

How to Move When You're a Book Junkie....

I spent 3 hours going through all the papers in my dining room today. Whew… Papers, manuals, bills, junk mail, things to file, etc etc etc ad infinitum. They’re all in piles on the table. Now I have to go through everything to file them away.....somewhere! I gave away my file cabinet.

I have 2 huge stacks of business magazines that I do not want to get rid of but must. So I am going to go thru them to find only the articles I need. Some are a few years old so I should just toss them altogether.

I also have to finish going through my writing stuff upstairs. I need to box up the books I decided to keep (we’ve sold about 400 and have at least 300 left to sell) so I can stare at the boxes for a month and then sigh and go through them again to get rid of more. It worked when I boxed up my fiction and biz books! LOL

I have so many books. I am down to only a few non-fiction and fiction books that I am trying to read before June (fat chance) but I have turned over a new leaf and am reading in bed before lights out. The rest are business, computer stuff, and writing books.

The biz books have got to go. Most of them have. I am holding onto a few. The writing books are PAINFUL to get rid of! I have some novels I am attached to because I like the writer, I have some I haven’t read about the craft of writing, some I have read and others I am using as reference.

By the time you add it all up, I must still have 100 books or more. What’s a girl to do?! I don’t want to ship them all media mail to CA, but I may have to if we run out of room in the move. My husband has the same thing happening too. Lots of books, even though he pared down.