Frenemies

If, as the saying goes, you should keep your friends close and your enemies closer, where should you keep "frenemies"?

If you look at just the term "frenemy", it would make sense to keep them closer than your friends but not quite as close as your enemy, since it is kind of and in-between term.

However, if you examine the concept of a frenemy, it might be more appropriate to keep them even closer than your enemies because their thinly-veiled malice towards you could become a liability. So you would want to watch them even closer because, with an out-right enemy, you know they are going to try to harm your personage or character when ever they have a chance. But with a frenemy, they could maintain a facade of kindness and friendliness for many years until you least expect it, and then they release their full fury when your guard is down.

Chico City Council

So the Chico City Council is currently in the process of appointing a person to the council to fill a vacancy left by one member getting elected to a county position. In the November elections, the people of Chico voted to fill 3 open seats on the council while also knowing that 2 months after the elections, a 4th seat would open up. Instead of just appointing the 4th place vote getter the vacancy, the flagrantly liberal city council decided to waste tax-payer time and money and take applications from people for the seat.

I heard today that they have successfully narrowed it down to just two contenders and have until their next council meeting (next Tuesday) to decide. Brace yourselves for the descriptions of the two finalists:

Finalist #1: A minority with a sob story, but who has never voted in a single election, local, state, or national.

Finalist #2: A middle-class white business owner who knows how to create jobs and was the 4th place vote getter, mentioned above.

Who do you think should get the council seat? Unfortunately, who do you think will get it?

And that's what's wrong with America.

Thoughts from the Shower

While I was taking a shower this afternoon, I had a thought (Hey! this is my thought. Don't be thinking about me in the shower, thou shalt not lust)

It is well known that I help more around the house than many (most?) other husbands and people have been known to get jealous about it.

My thought was, why is it, when people see this, they automatically think that Corrina is a control freak and forces me to do these things. Has anyone considered that maybe I'm the control freak and won't let Corrina do it so I can make sure it is done they way I want it done?

Many will say, "that's ridiculous, we know you're not like that" and my response is: the other scenario is equally ridiculous. It's a little something called communication and division of labor. We have talked about it and have decided on how to divide the tasks how they work best for us as a couple. 

And the only reason I can see why anyone would care is because A) the wife wishes her husband could be as helpful as me, and B) the husband wishes I didn't make them look bad.

To this I say: maybe you need to talk with your spouse and make some changes. But above all, get over it and quit judging us for what works for us.

Vampires then and Now

I know this is a little late, since Halloween s over and all. but I wanted to mention something. Back in the 15th Century lived the real life Dracula, AKA Vlad Dracul, the Impaler. This was one bad mama-jama. The below image is of him feasting whilst all around him hang the bodies of his enemies he has impaled. He was a person to fer and loathe.

Nowadays, however, we are stuck with this:

A cry-baby, emo teenager that sparkles. Vlad must be turning over in his (undead) grave.

Happy Halloween!

Politics

Haven't posted in a while, especially about politics, so I felt I should make some comments that have been floating around in my brain:


First off, earlier this week, a friend of mine, who's a political consultant, informed me that the campaign he's working on still has a chunk of money and wanted to know if I wanted to work for them until the elections. I would have loved to do it, it would have been a blast, but the campaign is in Modesto and there's no way for me to get work off. Oh well.


Second off, has anyone heard about the Tea Party candidate Christine O'Donnell, running for US Senate in Delaware? Her big controversy is that a few years ago in an interview she admitted to trying out witchcraft. I don't know how far into it she got but apparently it was in High School. The liberal left is criticizing her for this, insinuating she's still a witch and probably she'll steel your babies for sacrifices. First off, as she said, it was in high school and a lot of kids do a lot of stupid things in high school. Are we supposed to hold that against them forever? Because, last I checked, Obama has admitted to doing drugs, starting in high school and ending in college, including trying cocaine. Does anyone seem to care about that? And Secondly, what ever happened to freedom of religion in this country? Don't elect her because she's Wiccan, don't elect him because he's Mormon?! I thought we, as a nation, were supposed to be beyond this immaturity.


Thirdly, anyone who knows me knows that I'm pretty conservative and don't have a lot of good things to say about Obama. If I mention his name, its usually to criticize something he's doing that I think he shouldn't or not doing something I think he should. So it pangs me to admit that he has recently done a couple things for which I have to give him mad props. The United States used to be leader in the fields of math, science, technology, and engineering. Recently, however, we have been starting to drop away, and its partially due to the decreasing numbers of students who are choosing to pursue these fields in higher education. To fight this downward trend an to try to encourage students to pursue these fields, Obama announced last November that he was going to launch what he called the STEM initiative (Science, Technology, Engineering, Match education). It is also known as his :Educate to Innovate" campaign. As part of this campaign, President Obama hosted on Monday the first annual White House Science Fair. I really love what he said about the event: "If you win the NCAA championship, you come to the White House. Well, if you’re a young person and you produce the best experiment or design, the best hardware or software, you ought to be recognized for that achievement, too.” This isn't about politics, its about education, (which I know can be a politically charged entity) but science fairs are great because these kids weren't spoon-fed information, they had to develop an experiment on their own and carry it out, teaching themselves what they needed to know to pull it off. So there you have it. I actually agree and am impressed by something Pres. Obama has done. No, the sky is not falling, nor is it the end of the world. And I can assure you this in no way is sending me down the path to liberalism. This is purely one geek putting aside political differences to admire an accomplishment to help inspire other could-be geeks to follow their dreams. Way to go Mr. President.

Feeling Blessed

I have not blogged on here in a while. I guess I should give an update.

Dave did not get into Pharmacy School this year =(  We realize that this is probably the best. We should hopefully have our car paid off by next summer, which would be a BIG relief to not have to worry about a car payment once Dave is in graduate school. We should be in a better financial position then we are now, and that is truly a blessing in disguise. Dave is working on getting his Pharmacy Technician license so that he can do that until he gets into Pharmacy School too. He's passed his exam, now he needs to submit his certificate to the State Board and get it approved so he can work.

Lara will be 22 months on Saturday. I can't believe she will be 2 years old in just over 2 months. Where did the time go! She is growing like a weed. She is probably 3 feet tall (was only 2 inches shy at her 18 month appointment). But of course height is something that is not lacking in her genes. She talks all of the time, developing her vocabulary everyday. She loves babies, and torturing her brother.

Jaron will be 3 1/2 years old later this month. What happened to my baby boy? I see pictures of him from when he was smaller, and I can't believe how much he has grown. It seems like yesterday he was a baby. It's harder to give milestones for him, he's getting to the age where those a few and far between. Still not potty trained, but I know he has his own time table and there is no pushing our little "perfectionist." He likes to help out with cleaning and cooking and thinks he can tell Lara what to do. He also enjoys torturing his little sister.

I've been stressed out lately. With losing financial aid from Dave graduating in May and not moving on to grad school, things are extremely tight. No wiggle room makes Mommy want to pull out her hair, lol. I've been so stressed with recently learning Jaron needs a bunch of cavities filled that require him to be put under general anesthesia because he's too apprehensive. That equals $ we don't have. Fortunately our insurance covers almost 100% of everything, except the Dentist's fee to go to the hospital and sealants. When I talked with the office manager about getting the fees reduced, she told me the sealants were already reduced by 50%, but she went ahead and gave me another 10% off. I could say no to the sealants, but then I'll probably have to go through all of this again if I don't get them, and the sealants are less than the Dentist's fee, so we are going ahead and doing it.

Still stressing about where we were going to come up with the money (charging to credit card, but how to pay it off), and a sleepless night where neither child wanted to sleep at the same time for most of the night with my 3 year old waking up before 7am bright eyed and bushy tailed, I was frustrated. I called Dave at work, while he was on his break, to help me relax and gain my perspective. Dave let me that he was offered to work double shifts for 3 days this week. Blessing in disguise! If I had not called him, he would have waited till he got home to tell me and could have missed this opportunity. I said, "Dave, we need the money bad, take those shifts!" So he worked double shifts this week, three days in a row. It's been crazy! But the take home pay for those 3 shifts should cover just over half of Jaron's dental bill. Then (after tonight's shift), Dave was told to call on Monday because they may need the help again. I'll be praying between now and then that he gets it!

So, I've been worrying most the summer about what we're going to do. I know Heavenly Father knows what He's doing, I just stress when I don't know what that plan is. I'm a planner, I don't like not having a plan. We're already seeing the blessings, with Jaron waking me up early so I'd call Dave and he would get the extra shifts. Hopefully the Board Certification goes through fast and Dave is able to find a Pharm Tech job soon! I know if we're faithful and do everything Heavenly Father asks of us, we'll be taken care off. I'm so grateful for the blessing we received this week. It could not have come at a better time.

My Cooking Adventure III

What I Made (Friday):
"Simply Amazing Meatloaf"

I followed the recipe straight thru and was really interested to see how using the Rice-A-Roni instead of bread crumbs or crackers would work. The rice was still crunchy and I don't know if that is intentional, but it was unexpected. One change I made was instead of using a loaf pan, I just formed it into a loaf and placed it in a 8x8 Pyrex dish. I had done this before with another meatloaf, but here it is explained why its better than using a loaf pan. Per the hints and tips on this page, I wanted to lay strips of bacon across the top before cooking because, as they say, everything tastes better with bacon. But my wife vetoed that idea because she was already planning on cooking the squash we got at the farmer's market for our vegetable. She was trying her mother's recipe of cooking onion an bacon in a skillet and then adding the squash, with a little seasoning, until done. It was yummy.

What I Learned:
making meatloaf in a roasting pan is better than using a loaf pan.

This might be it for a while because there is still quite a bit of meatloaf left over, but one of the links above also mentioned that it makes a good sandwich, so I will have to try that for lunch tomorrow. :-)