Welcome to The Attic!!

[C.S. Splitter]

THAT was purely a joke :)

Splitter

[Cambria]

BAH HA HA HA HA!!

[Amy Eye]

Man, I leave to go edit for a while, and now we have people doing some NASTY stuff on here...oh boy...LOL!!!

[Cambria]

Heheheheheehe

[J.A.]

heheheh CS has been going to those clubs again. What did we tell you about those clubs, CS?
JAC

[Cambria]

Naughty naughty........

[C.S. Splitter]

OMG, J.A., some day I will put my dating stories into a book. Under a different pen name to be sure. Life is stranger than fiction.

I did have a dog that used to relieve herself on my first wife's side of the bed. At the time, I thought there was something wrong with the dog. Eventually I realized that the dog was the smartest one in the family :).

Splitter

[Cambria]

Hahahahaha. You should definitely write a book!!

[Cassie]

Is there any way we can move our attic back down to the very bottom of the page?? I feel like things are being disorganized now that the new folders are being added...:-) It is throwing me off...LOL...

[Amy Eye]

I'm trying to consolidate and streamline things a bit more....I have gotten our attic back to the basement - where it belongs.

[Cassie]

Thanks. You know me and my OCD...lol...

[Cambria]

I told ya, should have named it the basement....LOL

[J.A.]

Nah, it's too in keeping with the madness of CR that the attic is in the basement!!
heheheh.

Right I need to go do some writing now. Honestly, Twitter / FB / Amazon Forums and all the rest of GR I can avoid no probs but I compulsively have to just check into this group and seee what's going on. Supposed to be writing Magnum Opus #2!! (Or as one guy said, Magnificent Octopus #2).

At some point I'll manage to listen to your radio thing too. Hmmm. Can I download that onto my iPod does anyone know? I am a baffled newbie in the face of Apple's systems and capabilities....
JAC

[TC]

I love the back to frontness of The Attic being at the basement level.

JAC, it's bit like the stories of painting huge bridges, by the time you have visited them all and posted etc it's time to go back to the first one again! And what's this about an octopus, is he going to befriend your jellyfish?

[Cambria]

J.A. wrote: "Nah, it's too in keeping with the madness of CR that the attic is in the basement!!
heheheh.

Right I need to go do some writing now. Honestly, Twitter / FB / Amazon Forums and all the rest of GR I..."

I think you can download it to your IPOD. I'm not 100% sure though.
And yes, networking sometimes gets in the way of writing! I have that problem too!

And it does seem that the oddity of the attic being in the basement works for this group!!

[Amy Eye]

Yes, JA, you can definitely load the podcast onto your iPod! But you may need to ask Cassie how to do it, as we all know, I am NO good at figuring them out!

[Cambria]

I have an IPOD and I don't know how to load it either!

[J.A.]

TC - nah, octopedes are warm-water creatures - Scarlock is cold. Similar to Northumbria, in fact, which is reknowned for its lack of octopus. Except in the restaurants, which is where the jellyfish are not, fortunately (can you imagine?)!

I feel the need to recite a skipping rhyme. Got your skipping ropes ready, girls? All together now:
Jelly on a plate!
Jelly on a plate!
Wibble wobble wibble wobble
Jelly on a plate!

(Verse two moves onto the subject of sausages but as that is not germane to the conversation at hand I shall draw a merciful veil over that particular recitation).

God I need coffee this morning! Can you tell?

Aha, so Cassie is our Apple fiend? CAAAAASSSSSSSSSSIIIIIIEEEEE!!!!
Cassie, can you enlighten me as to the magical purveyance of your radio show onto my iTouch?
Muchas gracias!
JAC

[Cassie]

Weeeellll... If you download the file, you can drop that in iTunes (if you use iTunes?) and sync your device from there. I just opened it in iTunes and it showed up in my main music library.

I haven't put anything on my iPod without using iTunes, so it'd take me a while to figure out a different way.

My kids have done something to my iPod too...grrrr... It is acting all nuts, shutting down on its own and stuff. I don't know what they've done!!!

[J.A.]

No, I use itunes. Will go have a look.
Thanks Cassie!
JAC

[TC]

J.A. wrote: "TC - nah, octopedes are warm-water creatures - Scarlock is cold. Similar to Northumbria, in fact, which is reknowned for its lack of octopus. Except in the restaurants, which is where the jellyfish..."

Ah, didn't think of that. Cuttlefish manage ok, octopus must be soft. Are they all warm water, aren't there some that live pretty deep and cold? Mmm, you've got me think about calamari and related deliciousness now.

My poor little girl was subjected to my rendition of Jelly on a plate earlier, poor child. She should be pleased that was the only verse I knew.

[Phil]

Hi, Amy, Cassie, Cambria. Your show on werewolves was just as crazy as I've come to expect: mean-eared werewolves with fuchsia nail polish fighting in jello???

Can't agree that werewolves must be male: have you read "Silver Wolf" by Alice Borchardt? She was one mean wolf.

On the other hand, in that old Lon Chaney movie, "The Wolf Man" there's a poem that sums up the genre --
Even a man who is pure in heart
And says his prayers at night
May become a wolf
When the wolfbane blooms
And the autumn moon is bright.

[Phil]

Suz wrote: "What does a person have to do to get recognized or talked to around here?"

Just say "Hi". Welcome to crazyville. You'll enjoy it here.

[Cambria]

Phil wrote: "Hi, Amy, Cassie, Cambria. Your show on werewolves was just as crazy as I've come to expect: mean-eared werewolves with fuchsia nail polish fighting in jello???

Can't agree that werewolves must be ..."

i love this poem! I might steal it for my blog!! Thank you Phil and so glad you enjoy the show. "Mean-eared" werewolves are most definitely something to talk about!!
see you next week!

[J.A.]

It's very quiet in here. Where is everyone??
JAC

[Jenn]

So I was on Facebook today and I have a private account there for the family I feel obligated to keep in touch with and my cousin was complaining about people running their mouth about her and thinking they know her when they really don't. And her foster sister who I've never actually like because I remember when we were all teenagers she used to hit on my Dad who was in his 50s or 60s at the time which completely grossed me out and always made me think of her in derogatory terms best not mentioned in polite company. So I asked my cousin if it really mattered what other people thought of her or said about her. If everyone lived their lives to please everyone else we'd all be pretty miserable. I said find people to surround yourself with that love you regardless and screw what everyone else thinks. Now the foster sister who had a crush on my father and used to think playing with his ears was the most adorable thing (another really gross thing in my opinion) comes back and says that I'm giving advice that only Casey Anthony would follow and then goes on to basically compare me to a woman who murdered their child. And because they're on my facebook I can't vent there without family drama. Now honestly I don't really care what she thinks of me because there's a reason the only time I've seen her since high school was at my cousin's wedding. But seriously I'd have to say it takes some nerve to compare a person to a child murderer because they're choosing to live their lives to please no one other than themselves. And I'm doing my best not to say something incredibly nasty back to her because there's a difference between having no morals and living your life without caring about the opinions of others. But wow does it make me remember why in general I really don't like people.

[Cassie]

Jenn wrote: "So I was on Facebook today and I have a private account there for the family I feel obligated to keep in touch with and my cousin was complaining about people running their mouth about her and thin..."

That is nuts... I think we all have some of those type people in our lives at some point. I know I've had my share!

[Phil]

Jenn wrote: "So I was on Facebook today and I have a private account there for the family I feel obligated to keep in touch with and my cousin was complaining about people running their mouth about her and thin..."

Jenn, you have my sympathy. No one, no matter how strained the relationship, should compare another to a well-known child murderer. That's just gross.

I get the impression from your post that this conversation was carried on through blog pages. People never seem able to stop and think before posting, as they usually would if they were face to face and making themselves liable to a bloody nose or a torrent of well-earned abuse for such thoughtless behaviour.

Just don't make the mistake of responding in kind -- cutting her off from your circle of friends will hurt more and longer. If enough people do that, she'll suddenly find herself with no one to abuse.

Be strong -- we love you and all the other Jenn's of the world!

[Jenn]

Jenn wrote: "So I was on Facebook today and I have a private account there for the family I feel obligated to keep in touch with and my cousin was complaining about people running their mouth about her and thin..."

First I generally distance myself from others esp females cause not only do they annoy me, they tend to disappoint as well. That being said, your depraved cousins foster sister is a prime example. For her to say such an outrageous thing in response is proof positive that she is the unhinged one with an most likely jealousy issue with you. So that being said, be the bigger person. God it's so hard I know! You just want to claw her eyes out. But then she will get the upper hand. Don't give her the satisfaction to know she has that power over you. If anything be SICKENING sweet just to piss her off. That's how I handle my soon to be ex. He's a real piece of work but with people like that, it bothers them more to do that. And FINALLY, we will put her on our list of deportation when our world dominance is complete. ;)

[Jenn]

Phil wrote: "Jenn wrote: "So I was on Facebook today and I have a private account there for the family I feel obligated to keep in touch with and my cousin was complaining about people running their mouth about..."

Muah! Thanks Phil!

[Cambria]

J.A. wrote: "It's very quiet in here. Where is everyone??
JAC"

I have been soo busy with the family this weekend. It is my daughters birthday and we have family visiting and we have a new puppy coming tomorrow morning...I will be back shortly. The only thing I have been keeping up with is my blog. :)
But never fear...I will return.
LOL
Anywhoo, what's everyone else up too?
Any exciting plans fpr summer?

[Phil]

Cambria wrote: "J.A. wrote: "It's very quiet in here. Where is everyone??
JAC"

I have been soo busy with the family this weekend. It is my daughters birthday and we have family visiting and we have a new puppy..."

Is it a werepuppy? I think a werechihuaha would be neat.

[Cassie]

I think it is a yorkie/chi... :-)

Cambria! Guess what I dreamed about last night???? LOL Now, I can barely remember the dream, but I woke up and immediately thought of you b/c it was...WEREWOLVES!!! I really wish I could remember it. I was going to text you, but I figured you were super busy and all...

Happy Birthday to your daughter! Hope y'all partied hard! ;-)


We had my son's baseball awards party this evening. They made out like it was going to be this big ordeal with big inflatables (bounce houses, huge slides, etc.). Phbtttthh... They gave us free hamburgers, hot dogs, and drinks...and handed out the trophies. And it was a million degrees--I think I might have sweated off ten pounds, which would be nice.

Then we went to see the Green Lantern (review will go up on my blog tomorrow) at the drive in. Tomorrow we do nursery duty at church (woo...hoo...), and then I am determined to go see Harry Potter if I have to go alone (which actually wouldn't be bad AT ALL! ;-))...

Summer plans... Trying not to have a heat stroke is pretty far up on my list. Uh, radio show, blog, read, review, proof, write, clean, radio show, blog, read, review, proof, write...you get the idea.

When my son's day treatment program is over (end of July), we'll probably try to go spend some time with the grandparents before school starts back (Aug 15). We're going to try to take him to see Skillet in concert the weekend before, so we'll have to do something with the 2 littlest ones...and visiting grandparents will be a good way to get rid of them...LOL...

We usually wait until the fall to take a little vacation b/c I hate traveling in the hot summer.

Have I mentioned I hate the summer??? ;-)

[Cassie]

Uhhhh... So, I was just catching up on everything, and saw the little "views" thingy at the top of a post, so I thought I'd click on it. I figured it would show who viewed it or whatever. It says "This topic has been viewed by 64 unique people." Unique? Huh? LOLOL Am I the only person that finds that funny/weird? lol

Anyway...I should go to bed... :-)

[Phil]

Cassie wrote: "Uhhhh... So, I was just catching up on everything, and saw the little "views" thingy at the top of a post, so I thought I'd click on it. I figured it would show who viewed it or whatever. It say..."

Cassie, on behalf of all the unique people in the world (there are so many of us) I'm offended you think we're funny/weird. I bet on this site we outnumber the "normals". Mwaahahaha

[Amy Eye]

I feel like a slacker in here too. I have been sooo busy and I have neglected all of my wonderful friends in here! SO HELLO TO YOU ALL!! :)

I hate missing a day or two, I feel like I miss so much!!

[Amy Eye]

Phil wrote: "Hi, Amy, Cassie, Cambria. Your show on werewolves was just as crazy as I've come to expect: mean-eared werewolves with fuchsia nail polish fighting in jello???

Can't agree that werewolves must be ..."

We can not let things get boring around JJ - We ladies can not just stand there and not let men wearing fuschia nail polish and using kaboodles go unnoticed!! We must let theses people shine on the show!! BRING THEM ON!! :)

[Cassie]

Phil wrote: "Cassie wrote: "Uhhhh... So, I was just catching up on everything, and saw the little "views" thingy at the top of a post, so I thought I'd click on it. I figured it would show who viewed it or wh..."

No offense intended...lol... I am one of the weirdos...I mean unique individuals as well ;-)...

[Jenn]

Sorry it took so long to get back on here, I had to just take some time away from the PC to be angry. I didn't really respond. All I said was what I told you on here that there was a giant difference between living to make yourself happy and having no morals whatsoever.

I actually got to thinking that I was being contradictory in my own advice. For the most part I do live to make myself happy but I was raised to keep in touch with all members of the family and make an effort to hold past connections. But I don't actually like most of my family and I'm pretty sure the feeling is mutual though we're all too polite to say so, the whole being raised with manners thing is such a bother at times. Also I don't really have anything in common with all those people from high school or past jobs. If I did they'd be communicating with me in a lot more personal method than Facebook. I've been Facebooking because I feel obligated to because my Dad always figured I'd take his place as the head of family when he passed on so he made sure I knew all the people in the over-sized family. And in a way I'm kind of thankful for Pam's awful comment because it pissed me off enough to make me realize I'm not my Dad, I don't like my family and I don't want to be responsible for fixing all their messes like he was. I don't even really want to keep in touch with them even if it's in a vague non-personal way like Facebook. The only people I care about on my Facebook page I keep in touch with outside of Facebook and we barely even read each other's facebook posts because we've already heard about what happened on the phone or in person. So I posted a status that said if you wanted to know me you'd do so otherwise and as of now this account is only here because I need it for my networked blogs. Please don't attempt to communicate with me via Facebook because I've got no intentions of checking this wall ever again. And you know what, it made me feel really happy. And I know that the people I do keep in touch with will happily jump into defend me if snippy little Pam makes nasty little comments on my wall in response. I didn't say anything that wasn't true and I feel a lot better now that I've followed my own advice. My family isn't like normal families where they're all about caring and supporting and we're about as far from an ABC happy family as you can get(I actually had two family members who liked Pam's nasty comment). It's a cesspit of drama and kicking each other while they're down and I don't want any part of it. This week with just my fiance and me at home because he's on vacation has been awesome, the only thing missing is my kids. He and my children are the only family I need or want. And if my family thinks that me deciding that I didn't even want to be on Facebook with them because I don't like them and they don't make me happy makes me similar to a child murder they can go drown in their cesspit of drama while they spread multiple ludicrous rumors about me. Point is I don't have to hear them and I really don't care what they think. Thanks so much for listening to me vent.

[Phil]

Cassie wrote: "Phil wrote: "Cassie wrote: "Uhhhh... So, I was just catching up on everything, and saw the little "views" thingy at the top of a post, so I thought I'd click on it. I figured it would show who vi..."

No offence taken. I'll have to learn to put those meaningless acronyms in when I'm joking, LOL etc.

[Jenn]

Jenn wrote: "Sorry it took so long to get back on here, I had to just take some time away from the PC to be angry. I didn't really respond. All I said was what I told you on here that there was a giant differe..."

I kinda feel your pain. My family is the same way and some may find it sad but I wrote them all off but my mom dad. Life is too short for all the drama. I only surround myself with people that actually care.

[Cassie]

Jenn wrote: "Sorry it took so long to get back on here, I had to just take some time away from the PC to be angry. I didn't really respond. All I said was what I told you on here that there was a giant differe..."

I had something similar happen to me last year with a cousin of mine (on Facebook). I love a lot of my family, but there are more of them that I really don't need/want in my life. After the big incident with her (which was AWFUL for me b/c I am so sensitive sometimes), I had to step back and take another look at my priorities.
Sounds like you are figuring things out, and I'm sure things will all smooth out with time.

[Cassie]

Phil wrote: "Cassie wrote: "Phil wrote: "Cassie wrote: "Uhhhh... So, I was just catching up on everything, and saw the little "views" thingy at the top of a post, so I thought I'd click on it. I figured it wo..."

I knew you were joking without the acronyms :-).

[Phil]

Jenn wrote: "Sorry it took so long to get back on here, I had to just take some time away from the PC to be angry. I didn't really respond. All I said was what I told you on here that there was a giant differe..."

Sounds to me, Jenn, that you've learned something out of all this that too many people never learn. As Shakespeare once said, "This above all, to thine own self be true, and it must follow as night the day thou canst not then be false to any man." In more modern language, live by your own ideals and don't let others tell you what to do. Or in pig-Latin, "Nil bastardorum carborundum" -- don't let the bastards grind you down.

You can't choose your family, but you can choose your friends, Jenn. You have a lot of them here -- most of them you may never meet except in cyberspace, but they're friends no less.

[J.A.]

The social media are very canny in making us feel like we should stay in touch with everyone we ever met, and because some people value themselves by how many virtual "friends" they have we end up feeling that we should be friendly with all of them; but in human terms, that's just not right. If we hadn't drifted from them, we would have stayed in touch by email or phone or in person.

So let go of it and allow yourself to fall out of touch with anyone who you don't actively want to stay in touch with. That's growth, not stagnation; we grow, we change, we move on, we make new friends; eventually we'll probably move on from most of the new ones too, but we'll stay in touch with the ones we really get on with and have stuff in common with.

You can't make yourself responsible for a family that doesn't appear to want you to be responsible for them; if they're adults and showing no sign of needing that support, then trying to offer it and getting slapped down is not helping anyone and probably hurting yourself. We get so conditioned about this sort of thing and quite often, in useful practical terms it's nonsense.

Be there for the ones that want it and appreciate it, and fade away from the rest; and just relax into your own priorities. It'll do you a world of good, I'd guess.

Not that I think you need our advice to do so, mind...!
JAC

[Jenn]

J.A. wrote: "The social media are very canny in making us feel like we should stay in touch with everyone we ever met, and because some people value themselves by how many virtual "friends" they have we end up ..."

Well put!

[Cambria]

Jenn wrote: "Jenn wrote: "Sorry it took so long to get back on here, I had to just take some time away from the PC to be angry. I didn't really respond. All I said was what I told you on here that there was a ..."

Here Here on that! I don't have time for that kind of drama!! I want to enjoy my life.

[Jenn]

Thanks guys :) It is awesome to be among such good company.

My family actually started after me more when I was contacted about taking in the youngest child of a sister I've never met. My Dad was biologically my grandfather, he adopted me at 14 and had custody of me from three weeks on. So I have a lot of younger siblings I don't really know that only find me when they need something. I was actually going to do it, because it was expected of me. I was remodeling our house to make it baby safe because while it's 8-10 year old safe it's a 100 year old house and isn't exactly baby proof, I didn't have babies when that happened. I was completely rearranging my life to take on this baby who due to abuse has tons of medical issues. And then my boys started having a lot problems in school because my oldest son does have anger management issue due to his Dad being casual about parenting, when he takes them it's all fun and games with no rules, then he'll go months without a phone call. Trysten will then act out with violent behaviors, not toward people because with people, babies and animals he's the sweetest kid you'll ever meet but toward things lets just say present money gets wasted a lot when he gets in a mood and we make a lot of repairs to his bedroom. I get the why of it, but it doesn't make in any easier to deal with. And it was like a wake up call, I have three of my own that need me because they need one stable parent who can give them attention anytime they need it, taking on a special needs kid I've never met, family or not isn't the best idea for my family no matter how big my house is. I already took on my elderly mother and revolve our lives around her. Taking on that baby would add 10 years to being a parent of a child in school. And taking on a baby with that many issues will actually hurt my own kids because of the attention she'll need. So I'd been slowly backtracking on it because while family wise this may be the best location for that baby, it's not the best decision for my family. And of course my exterior family went nuts. And then things like this started worse than before. But when you think logically about it, I know quite a few really awesome couples who can't have children and would do anything and I mean anything for a baby. They're people that adore children and would love nothing more than to devote their life to a child special needs or not. That's the type of home a baby requiring that much one on one attention needs. Not the home of a family member, aunt or not, that she's never met who already has three kids and an ailing mother to take care of. I may have the most space and already be a stay at home mom as far as family members go, but after what she's been through she shouldn't be just shoved into a large family. She needs to be the only because she needs more attention than the average baby. It wasn't an easy decision for me to make, but I think it was the best one for my family and in the long run for the baby. My family went nuts because it was my job to clean up problems like that, and I was refusing.

The last time they sent me a problem to clean up it was in the form of a younger brother I'd never met who was a complete waste of space who dropped out of high school, never wanted to work and at 21 expected me to support and take care of him for the rest of his life. He would argue with my children and steal, omg did he steal. He'd lie, he brought partners into my home, which was completely unacceptable because my kids still believe in the stork and I'm not about to start explaining the birds and the bees with their first encounter with sex being a same sex couple as I can't say they're trying to make a baby because well that's anatomically impossible. I didn't have an issue with his orientation I had an issue with his partners in my home for reasons other than a social call. I would have had an issue with that even if he was straight because it's an old house and he's not considerate enough to know when stuff like that it appropriate in a home with small children in it. The last straw was when he grabbed my daughter's arm hard enough to put a hand-print on it. The hand print was there for about a week, he was gone the day it occurred with instructions I'd have him arrested if he ever set foot on my property again. My family went haywire about that because again I was supposed to fix it.

You know what, I don't want to fix it. I didn't create these problems. I already took in my mom, gave up my really well paying job to take care of her and be here for my kids since she used to be my babysitter. I totally overhauled my life because she couldn't be alone anymore. Somebody else can step up and fix the rest of the problems because I think my family has sacrificed enough. And because I didn't step up and fix the last two even though I did attempt with the first one, it opened me up to all sorts of nasty comments from people and this is just one in a line of many.

Oh and they weren't even happy with the mom thing because even though she wasn't an issue anymore, without us both having good jobs, we didn't have the money to stop other family members electricity from being shut off, or pay the late rent before they were evicted or being chaperon for a graduation in Texas because the abusive ex would be there too.

Ed's mom can't seem to figure out why I think she's so awesome and I'm always trying to include her in activities, she is the one person related to any of us that never asks anything of us. She just wants to be around us, more specifically him. The only thing she's ever asked of him in the three years we've been together was to take her car shopping when he car died, not because she wanted him to buy the car, she just needed a ride and someone who knew something about cars to go. If it was one of my family members they'd be expecting me to figure out how to get them a car where they didn't have to pay for it. Or expect me to give them mine.

They've just been expecting me to fix everything since I was 21 and my Dad died because he raised me to be like him. The thing is as much as I adored my Dad I wasn't ready to be him and the more I've tried the less I want to. And while I'm fixing everything I'm also supposed to be their verbal punching bag for constant criticism. Comparatively with everything else that's been said to or expected of me, the Facebook comment was actually a small thing, but it was the small thing that broke the camels back.

I'm not religious and Mother Theresa has never been my idol, though she was a great figure that did a lot of great things. I never grew up wanting to be her. I'm only 31 and I think I've sacrificed enough for them, I don't run an orphanage, a bank or a half way house for misguided adults or a charity. I'm not a shrink or a financial adviser. I have my own problems and those problems are only made worse by dealing with my extended family.

If nothing else if you're looking to write a dysfunctional family novel there's a ton of ideas for you there lol. Though I think they'd be harder to make believable in fiction than occurring in real life because if it wasn't my life I sure wouldn't believe it. Ok shutting up now about the screwy family life.

By the way I loved all your comments, especially yours JA. I think what makes your cyber friends so awesome is you don't meet them in person therefore they judge you completely on your mind because they don't have your home, your car and your appearance to judge you on. No one is going post a profile photo that isn't them at their best. I'm certainly not going to put up a photo of me with bedhead and no one else is either. So in some way because they're only faced with what you post and what you'd say your cyber friends know you better than real life friends because of where they have no choice but to focus.

So how old is your daughter now Cambria? My son had a birthday last week too, he just turned 9, but he was at his Dads. It's his Dad's year. Even though when he was born my ex called him my birthday present that year since he came two days before my birthday. (and the ex didn't even bother to say happy birthday to me that year because he was just that kind of guy) We swap years of when we get Trysten on his birthday. I think he likes our birthdays better though, we took him to Darien Lake last year to celebrate his birthday, Mike gave him cookies and milk. Even with money being tight I think he could have come up with something better than that. In other words Trysten was pretty disappointed with his birthday this year though he'd already celebrated it with us in June. This year we did a movie and a mall and book store trip plus cake with the family. It was small but he had fun seeing the Green Lantern in 3d and oddly even though he doesn't read he likes Barnes and Noble, at least if the other choice is watching Judy Moody with his sister. We owed her a movie too. So we saw the Green Lantern with everyone, then the boys and I went to Barnes and Noble and Ed and Kennedy went to Judy Moody. But we did all our celebrating before they left in June so it wasn't the same as doing something for his birthday on his birthday. Mike was supposed to cover that this year and he did cookies and milk. Oh well, he keeps this up and I'll be the favorite parent soon even if I am the disciplinarian and it's not like Trysten didn't get gifts and attention here. I can't fix Mike and it's not my job to try. I felt bad for Trysten, but there's nothing I can do about it.

So what did everyone read this week? Anything cool going on on everyone's blogs? In other words after my long ranting posts I am doing my best to turn the conversation back to happier topics we actually like talking about. :)

[TC]

My husband's family is a complete nightmare (we're talking Jeremy Kyle territory here - sort of like Jerry Springer for our US friends) and I've come to the conclusion that relationship titles don't mean anything, family is what you make of it. Just because you happen to have the same blood in you somewhere shouldn't presuppose you'll be close. I also hate the idea that you should keep in touch with everyone you ever met, and there's a reason I haven't kept in touch with certain people so why would I befriend them on FB?

I've had another crazy weekend, 3 nights camping to go to an airshow. I managed to come home with a book for the TBR list, various oddments and 700 odd photos to work through.

On the blog, I think I have something cool going on. To celebrate the fast approaching 200 followers I'm running my first giveaway - http://tc-bookedup.blogspot.com/2011/... - I'd love it if some of you would take part, I'll be mortified if I don't have any entrants!

[Cambria]

TC- I entered!! great giveaway!