I Have Succumbed...

...I am a twit.

I have joined the ranks of Twitterers...

And I already have 9 whole followers...

Who cares if they are mostly people I know whose names I clicked on and followed first...

This whole thing is strange to me...Twitter, Facebook, blogs...the fact that I can find out what Sherri Shepherd (from The View) is thinking as she sits at a party with Beyonce and Jay-Z (and what kind of name is Jay-Z anyway? Who came up with that?) is weird...

The fact that I am writing about Sherri Shepherd writing about being at a party with other celebrities is weird...

I do have bigger things on my plate right now...

Like whether we are pulling the kids out of their school to homeschool them because the school is going to switch over to a so-called "balanced day schedule"-which, for those of you who may not have heard the screams of rage coming from our house, is not something Brian and I think is a good idea (and don't any of you give me any crap about how your kids/school is following this kind of schedule and it's working just fine...the reports claiming how well the balanced day schedule works are mixed, at best, and by the way, the kids are the ones not happy with it...and frankly, that's more important to me than whether the principal and teachers are skipping through the halls because they like the bsd...on top of which, I have three of four kids with ADHD, and this kind of schedule will not work for them...so there.)...

The concerns about pulling the kids out of school to teach them here has less to do with my abilities to spend all day long every day with my children than with the fact they won't get to see their friends as often...Avery, being the school nut/fan that she is (she was upset that she had to stay home two days this week because she had a sore throat), was one I worried about...in fact, she told me yesterday when I asked her what she thought about the idea of being homeschooled that she didn't like it because she wouldn't get to see her friends...when I told her that arrangements could be made for her to see them, she still wasn't convinced, because, as she told me, she doesn't know where they all live...after being told that we could find out that information, she still wasn't sure...until I told her that being homeschooled meant that we could take a three week vacation in the middle of winter if we wanted...then she exclaimed,

"A three week vacation in the middle of winter? I'm there!"

Jamie doesn't like going to school anyway...neither does Ian (especially since he deals daily with other kids picking on him-and yes, we have gone to the teachers, resource teacher and prinicpal about it...which is fine and what we are supposed to do, because they talk to the kids in class, tell them what they can and cannot say to other students, the children politely agree and then they go out into the hallways and onto the playground and revert back to the snotty brats they were...which is what kids do, I know, but that doesn't make it any easier to keep your temper when it's your kid being picked on)...Emma, after taking nearly a year to get into school, finally decided in the last week of school last June, that she did like it and wants to keep going...unless everybody else is complaining about how much they don't want to go to school (Avery aside) and then she joins in the chorus...

So really, there is a lot more to think about other than Twitter or Facebook or...well, maybe just one more quick peek...

Noooooo!!!

I have successfully stayed away from Twitter...Brian regularly "tweets" (and I regularly ask him if that makes him a "twit"...then I laugh uproariously while my beloved husband rolls his eyes,makes derogatory comments about my family's background and hums the banjo music from "Deliverance" under his breath)...however, I will say this, it is his boss who wants him on Twitter...

But now, after a year of teasing Brian, he has suggested that I join the twits of the world and sign up for a Twitter account...why? Because it may help direct traffic to my Examiner page (and the more traffic I get, the more I get paid)...

With Facebook, this blog and now an Examiner page, how much more does anyone really want to hear from me?

And does anyone really need to know or want to know what I am doing every minute of the day?

Sometimes even I get too much information about myself...

A Rant...

When it comes to this blog, I have generally kept the topics fairly light and easy going...talking about the kids, my recent obsession with Julia Child, discussing thirty years of living with diabetes...I have kept my opinions on certain topics (read: politics) to myself, not wanting to offend anyone with what I might happen to say here...

Well today, I have reached my breaking point and I don't flipping care if I offend anyone...

Like most people I know, I am on Facebook. A social network where I routinely read the political leanings of friends (most of whom I haven't seen in years, but who I still am interested in knowing and in hearing about their lives)...

For the past year or so, I have been very aware that my views are not shared by very many people who are listed as my "friends"...most of them (not all, but a lot of them) appear to be very left leaning when it comes to anything having to do with politics...

The following revelation will no doubt shock a few people who knew me years ago, and be a no-brainer for those who know me now...

I am a Conservative. Big f'in' C.

And frankly, I'm sick and tired of listening to the garbage that spews forth from the mouths of people who are on the left.

Our Prime Minister did a very cool thing on Saturday (October 3, 2009) and I have heard more shit about Stephen Harper playing the piano than even I thought possible. Are you jealous that you can't do it? Or are you so blinded by hatred for someone who hasn't done a thing to deserve the absolute venom spewed at him that you can't just say, hey, good one?

People on the left accuse people like me of being small minded, mean spirited, homophobic, anti-women, anti-immigrant...you name it, I'm it...because I happen to be a social and fiscal Conservative. Oh, I'm probably also against gun control and likely don't like apple pie or hummus...

Bullshit. All of it.

What I am, is fed up with this attitude that I am not entitled to hold the opinions I do because they disagree with yours. What I am, is fed up with a media that falls all over itself if Barack Obama smiles at a small child, continues to vilify George Bush, and yet somehow manages to fail to grasp the fact that Obama has left many of Bush's policies intact. (See the video below if you don't believe me)

I am fed up with the disrespect given to Canada's leader, because even if you didn't vote for Stephen Harper or his party, even if you can't stand the fact that the Conservatives are in power, you should damn well have respect for the fact that the man is leading your country.

And mostly, I am sick and tired of rude, obnoxious behaviour masquerading as political comment.

To quote Bon Jovi..."Have a nice day."

But Wait...There's More...

I forgot to add to my list of things that have happened since Brian left for Scotland were a major, computer destroying virus (panicked texting to Scotland ensued - Brian's sister helped me fix it - thank you Karen!) and plugged to nearly overflowing toilets (how does one 5 year old boy manage to do that so many times? Seriously?)...

Two more days. Just two more days...

Calgon, Take Me Away...

Since Brian left for Scotland a week ago, this is what I have had to deal with:

- painters, hired by the condo board, destroyed my vegetable garden
- the kitchen was flooded by the children seeking to fill water guns
- Jamie woke up at 1am Sunday morning, only to stay awake until 9 pm that night
- the following night, both girls were up in shifts for the entire night
- in the pouring rain, standing in Costco's parking lot, the children and I found the keys to the van - locked inside
- there is a dent in the dining room wall - from where it was kicked
- the same children who desperately needed to play with water guns in the hour and a half of sunshine we've had in the last two weeks, and who got so wet with said guns their clothes had to be wrung out before going in the laundry hamper, played outside under a cloudy sky for 20 minutes and then began yelling at the top of their lungs that it was raining and they were getting wet
- I have seriously considered changing the front door to a revolving one so I don't have to listen to it slam shut one more time
- and finally, the near constant to-the-death-I-hate-you-I'm-going-to-kill-you!- fighting amongst the children...Ian vs Jamie, Jamie vs Avery, Avery vs Emma, Emma vs Jamie, Ian vs Avery, etc...

All I'm gonna say is, there had better be a damned good gift coming back from Scotland...

Stop complaining, just do it!

I was watching tv yesterday morning for a few minutes (yes, only a few minutes, because most shows just annoy the crap out of me and I want to throw the remote at the television, which would just upset Brian to no end, what with it being a new set and all)...anyhow, the show I turned on was called, "The Doctors".

Now maybe you've heard of this show, maybe not. For those of you who haven't, it is produced by Dr. Phil's son, Jay (at least I think it's Jay; he's the only one I ever hear anyone talk about). The premise is that five real doctors deal with every day health issues and answer questions from viewers and audience members.

Yesterday's show was about being a "better you" in 2009. While I am all for learning about new ways to work out so I don't get bored, there is one topic that drives me insane every time I hear it. And that is the cry of "I-don't-have-enough-time-to-work-out-so-I-will-stay-fat-forever-and-just-learn-to-live-with-it". The doctors received a video from one of their viewers claiming she didn't have enough time to work out because she was too busy looking after her ONE child.

One! They showed the woman getting out of bed and complaining about changing diapers five times a day, having to do laundry, vacuuming and making dinner. Now, maybe I'm just jealous, because I had FOUR freaking babies whose diapers needed changing; two of them at the same time (twins'll do that to ya). But how freakin' long does it take that woman to change the kid's diaper?

And let's not forget that the kid takes a nap at least once a day...so why on earth is she complaining about not having any time to herself? Maybe she'd like to switch places with me, and then she can see what not having time to look after herself really feels like? Maybe she'd like to see what sort of mountain of laundry four small children can make, and then compare it to her one kid?

Yes, yes, I realize that I sound a wee bit harsh here, but give me a break. If I, with four children, a dog, a cat, a husband, ususally two neighborhood kids and a house to run can manage to get in a workout, so could this woman.

And she at least gets a full night's sleep.