20 May 2008

While the Cyndy's away...

the cats will play...

Here I am in hot sweaty Nashville in a hotel bigger than Rhode Island, and Spencer gets to have all the fun. I'll find a picture soon.

MOUNTAIN LION CAPTURED

BOULDER, Colo. -- A mountain lion stirred up some excitement near Flatiron Elementary School, where it was shot and tranquilized by wildlife officers Tuesday morning.

The big cat was first spotted at 7:30 a.m. sprawled out on a hot tub near 7th and Pleasant Streets. The homeowners called the Division of Wildlife, but by the time agents arrived, the cat had walked around and started laying underneath the trees.
The 138-pound cat was shot once with a tranquilizer gun but then bolted down 8th Street. 7NEWS photojournalist Mike Flanagan stood his ground and photographed it as it ran by him to the side of a house.

At 10:30 a.m., the cat was shot with another tranquilizer dart and that finally put him out. Agents carried the cat to a cage on the back of a Colorado Division of Wildlife truck and was taken to an Open Space park in west Boulder where it was released.
"This is the first time I've seen (a mountain lion). I've never seen one before. It's exciting. They're big. It's great that they take him away. Hopefully, it will stay away. That would be a good thing," said resident Doug Pedersen.
Wildlife officers said the cat is about 2-years-old and known in the neighborhood. The same mountain lion was in the same neighborhood last week. In that incident, the mountain lion was tranquilized, tagged with a radio collar and taken several miles away.
Because of that radio collar, wildlife agents were able to track the big cat and pinpoint his exact location in the neighborhood.

15 May 2008

Flatirons Parents,

There has been a mountain lion a couple blocks from here this afternoon. We now hear it is by Grant and Euclid, has been tranquilized and will be removed shortly. We have been informed by the district and Animal Control that it is safe to dismiss the students normally. Feel free to come get your children if that makes you more comfortable.

Kim

CHECK IT OUT!

At least this time (not yet, anyway) they didn't pose the tranqed animal for pictures with the neighbors.

29 April 2008

Close to Home

Mountain lion shot with bean bags

By Vanessa Miller
Originally published 10:53 a.m., April 29, 2008
Updated 11:17 a.m., April 29, 2008

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A "persistent" mountain lion was shot three times with bean bags Monday night in the 900 block of Ninth Street after a man reported seeing it eating a raccoon in his University Hill yard, according to Boulder police.

Colorado Division of Wildlife officials were at another call and asked Boulder police officers to fire the bean bags to try and chase away the cat, which was first reported at about 8:53 p.m.

The lion left the area after the third hit, but it was spotted back in the area about three hours later at 11:50 p.m., said Boulder police spokeswoman Sarah Huntley.

"This guy is pretty persistent," Huntley said. "There were flashlights and people all around, and he didn't stop what he was doing."

Officers removed the raccoon carcass from the area to dissuade the lion from returning to collect its prey, but residents again called police about 6 this morning to report the lion was back, Huntley said.

Division of wildlife officers have been called about the sightings.

Earlier this month, neighbors of central Boulder's Casey Park — just east of Broadway and north of Mapleton Avenue — made numerous reports to wildlife officials about a mountain lion sighted in the area.

Officers didn't find that lion, but said they found a deer it killed close to a home near the intersection of High Street and Sunset Boulevard.

16 April 2008

Oh, This is Funny!

A younger female relative, on hearing that Will split and is now working at a topless bar:

“ Sorry about your ex~ he's an ass I’m sure. Hey just cuz he got hired at the titty bar don’t mean he can get any titties. That’s usually just what’s going through our heads~when in reality, the little skanks he works with probably wouldn’t even give him the time of day- so don’t feel bad~ working with them is probably as close as he’s getting to a boob right now~ and even if he is getting some p*s*y, its probably contaminated with something, or at least you can hope. Its sucks picturing your man with some bitch but if there’s nothing you can do, at least pray she’s a dirty one and his ding-a-ling will blister up and dissolve. “

15 April 2008

JEEBUS H. CHRISTO.

Is it REALLY only Tuesday? REALLY? It's warm and sunny (and dry and windy) here, and I want to be outside getting some color on my almost-greenish pasty white legs, but it's not to happen. Work to do, garden to till...

We found a pile of garter snakes yesterday when I lifted a rock. One stuck around and lounged while we worked around him...I'm guessing he wasn't scared because he was HUGE. Yeah I know, garter snakes are little, but this guy was the biggest one I've ever seen...probably close to 2-1/2 or 3 feet!! They're usually about the size around of a magic marker, but this guy was more like the big fattiest Sharpie.

Anyhoo, we got some work done but there is much, much more to do! I just used AmEx points to get $400 in Home Depot gift cards, so new tools are a-comin', along with a new patio umbrella and maybe a couple pretty terra cotta planters for out back.

I'm determined to charge my camera battery tonight so that I can take "before" pictures this weekend!

14 April 2008

OMG

This afternoon Spencer and I went to the store to get some diet 7Up. On the way, we passed some construction. There was a truck that said, "BOB'S HAULING" in huge letters, and Spencer thought it was very funny (because 11 year old boys are kind of stupid). So I proceeded to tell him about the time my friend Rebecca and I were walking through downtown Boston and we saw a crane loader with the words "SMITH ERECTION" looming above the street, and it was to this day one of the most hilarious things I have ever seen.

About half an hour later, Spencer was holding an unopened soda bottle, and he said, in that voice where I know he's not trying to be funny (this is when he is funniest), "Rock solid. Just like Bob's erection."

12 April 2008

S-s-s-Saturday Ni-HIGHHHH-t

makes one realize how much it sucks being single. I wonder how many hits I'm going to get on this blog for using the word "sucks" on a Saturday. Sadly, nothing of that crude manner going on around here...LOL

11 April 2008

Holy Mary Mother of God

Jumpin' Jehosephat and DAMMIT ALL TO HELL.

It has happened. I have found gray hairs on my head. No pictures, as I'm too traumatized. Fuck. Yeah, I said it...FUCKAWUCKA RUBBERDUCKA. There's nothing more ego-building than finding your first fucking gray hair just a few days after becoming totally and utterly SINGLE. No more young guys for me.

What's next? I swear, if pubes turn gray, you can just shoot me now.

09 April 2008

Sadness

Bob Marley's mother dead at 81

BY MICHAEL HAMERSLY
Cedella Marley Booker, mother of late reggae icon Bob Marley, died Tuesday night at her South Florida home after a long illness. She was 81.
Booker was surrounded by loved ones inside her South Miami-Dade home and was ''very happy and very peaceful,'' said daughter-in-law Sharien Booker. ``Her vision was always to bring people together. She was a very loving person, and we know she's happy.''

Booker's grandson, Ky-Mani Marley, an accomplished musician himself, told The Miami Herald she had always been a ``caring and supporting person in my life. She was always there to help me -- even when I didn't ask for help, she knew I needed help. She had that instinct to know when things were wrong and had the courage to fix it.''

Marley said the family was fortunate to be by Booker's side.

''We all live very close by, really just blocks away, so we were all in the vicinity,'' he said.

And though Booker had been struggling recently with heart problems, her death still came as somewhat of a shock, her grandson said.

''We knew she was sick, and she'd keep fighting and pulling through,'' he said. ``So it was expected, but unexpected. It's a great loss.''

Several prominent Jamaican leaders were moved to comment on Booker's legacy.

''Mrs. Booker was the matriarch of a movement so powerful that the mystical qualities of the Marley musical legacy remain strong and potent,'' said Jamaican Information Minister Olivia Grange.

''She was a star in her own right,'' Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding said in a statement. ``Her life was one of hardship, struggle and eventual fulfillment, and through it all, she exuded hope, strength and confidence.''

Born in Jamaica in 1926, Booker was 18 when she married Norval Marley, a 50-year-old British quartermaster. After he died in 1955, she married Edward Booker, moved to Delaware, then relocated to Miami, where she lived for the past 20 years.

Booker was best-known for her famous son, but she was also an author and musician. Her two books about Bob Marley -- 1997's Bob Marley: An Intimate Portrait by His Mother and Bob Marley, My Son in 2003 -- offered glimpses into his personal life, shedding light on his relationships with his wife Rita and bandmates Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer.

Bob Marley died in Miami from a brain tumor in 1981.

Booker released two albums, Awake Zion in 1991, and in the following year a collection of Caribbean folk songs for children called Smilin' Island of Song.

She also frequently performed with Bob Marley's sons Ky-Mani, Ziggy, Stephen, Damian and Julian. Although she didn't perform at the family's annual Caribbean Fest concert in Miami in early March, Ky-Mani Marley said she was still performing as recently as ''about a year ago'' in Jamaica.

Booker is survived by two children, Claudette Livingston and Richard Booker, and 52 grandchildren.

Services will be held between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday at the Range Funeral Home, 3384 Grand Ave., Coconut Grove.

This report was supplemented by Miami Herald wire services.

01 April 2008

Niceness

"I never got to know you... it seems like I lost out. "

What a very nice thing to hear. Or read, as the case may be (which it is) . And, PS, has nothing to do with post below - quite the opposite.

30 March 2008

Pity party

Yeah, I'm right in the middle of a big festive gala that I threw for myself. You should see all the presents I've gotten so far - a haggard face, wine wine and more wine, headaches, fitfulness and insomnia. How on earth do I refuse to recognize that the party is over? It's beyond me. I'm usually the one saying, "you deserve better, get off your ass and the dump this MF'in loser"! WTF? Ouch.

To prove that I'm not completely suicidal or otherwise mentally ill, here are some cheery photos of my visit to Oxford, Ohio, land of the Circle Bar and very dirty alleyways.

We saw this note on a car at Kroger's. The best thing about it was the two hot blondes who got out of the next car and said, "what are you DOing??" when I was taking the picture. They then proceeded to discuss for 10 minutes why we thought it was funny. Welcome to the Valley, girls.



The bar at Mac & Joe's.



Erika and me (why do I look so fat??)



"Darryl is my ghetto pirate" - photo of Daryl to follow sometime soon! (he is indeed the main ghetto pirate)



Random people in the bar at the Minneapolis airport Chili's. Hold for another post with a very bizarre story that happened in that same bar. It deserves its own post.

28 March 2008

Yeah, so...

I still have this MFSoabAHole of a boyfriend..and tonight he informed me that - wow! - he has a "second job"at a titty bar. OMG, this is a man who is BRILLIANT. WTF?? Why all the acronyms? Anyhoo, I threw the phone across the room and I am so proud of myself. (LOL)

And now I'm going to see a reggae band and I'm going to try to dance with someone fun who is not a complete asshole. AND, YES, I am completely DONE with Mister GROWTHEFUCKUPALREADY. Yay me.

P.S. Big shout out to my O-town pals!!!

18 March 2008

Typical Conversation

Spencer: "My stomach feels weird."

Me: "Do you have to poop?"

Spencer: "No. My bowels are still."

17 March 2008

Madmen and Snowstorms and Memes - LONG POST

1. Last night we were "supposed" to get a major snowstorm. One that would paralyze the universe and force us to beckon the Martians to come dig us out. Okay, not that big, but still significant. It was a fizzler on the Boulder end...we got about 5 inches but nothing stuck to the streets, which is usually just how I like it but I was a little pissed this time because I'm raring to try out my new snow tires. It will be a true miracle of God if I can just ONCE pull out of our alley onto the 9th Street hill (don't go look at a map, you'll never find me!) without causing a major traffic jam. What always happens is that I can get no traction and then 8000 cars come speeding up behind me at 90 mph hoping to grab the momentum that will let them get uphill in their $70K SUVs. What they don't understand is that the $70K they spent entitles them to get up snowy hills without going 40 miles over the speed limit in the process. If this isn't happening, they need to re-think their investments. Anyhoo, what transpires is that everyone gets mad at me and I have to either back up into the alley or turn left and go downhill. Either way they all hate me because I don't have a $70K SUV, and they can all suck it.

2. This morning, right down the street at Boulder Community Hospital, a man showed up in a wheelchair (he is not disabled) and said that he had a bomb strapped to his oxygen tank. There was a standoff, etc etc, and he ended up taking a metal plug to the chest, compliments of Boulder's overworked and underpaid SWAT team (yeah, that was sarcastic). So they had to block off the streets and traffic is all wonky and the 'hood was in a uproar with all the media. I wasn't there (I was actually at the other hospital getting Spencer's cough checked out - he's fine), but it seems to me that it could have been handled differently. As in, the guy DIDN'T HAVE A GUN, and the "bomb" is questionable. Go to THE DENVER CHANNELfor updates.

Here is a really long meme (I still don't know what that means):

1. Where is the person who owns your heart now?
I have no idea. The one who owns my heart in a different way is down the street playing Wii.

2. What did you do last night?
WTF do I do EVERY night?? I built a fire, drank some wine, watched stupid TV and went to sleep far too late.

3. What does your myspace name mean?
It’s just my ol’ boring first name.

4. Last person you text messaged?
Doug.

5. Who was the last person to call you?
Erika.

6. What are you doing right now?
Listening to my washer squeak and dreading the fact that I have to go to the laundromat to dry everything because my dryer broke last Friday.

7. What is your current problem?
Work, relationship, messy house, cold weather, bored (I could go on and on, but then you'd accuse me of being a whiner..LOL).

8. What color are your eyes?
Depends on what I'm wearing. Grayish, greenish, bluish.

9. What is your myspace song?
I don't have one, but I should shuffle through some friends' music.

11. Last place you ordered food from?
The deli at SuperTarget

12. Who was the last person you shared a bed with?
Will

13. What color is your hair?
Dark blonde.

14. Last song you sang?
"It's Five O'Clock Somewhere" because now it's stuck in my head, thank you very much.

15. Would you ever get back with your ex?
Loaded question...the one I currently still see? Yes. The one before that? Yes. The one before that? NO. {shudder}

16. Who knows a secret or two about you?
Everyone. I have a blog and I'm a blabbermouth.

17. Last time you did something you shouldn’t have done?
Last night.

18. Who do you miss?
Erika, Tara, my family, Rob, grandmas

19. Next movie you will see in theaters?
Not sure, but we saw Horton Hears a Who yesterday. It was okay.

20. What is your favorite drink?
Ice-cold water

21. What do you wear more, jeans or sweats?
Jeans during the day, sweats at night (yoga pants, really).

25. Where are most of your clothes from?
Everywhere . . .

28. Is anyone jealous of you?
I doubt it.

30. Have any regrets?
Plenty. No elaboration, sorry, it's too depressing.

31. Who would you go to for sports trivia answers?
www.si.com

32. Where were you 8 hours ago?
In the shower (I didn't go to work today).

35. Has anyone ever told you that they like you more than as a friend?
Yes

37. What did you do last weekend?
Friday went to happy hour, Saturday a birthday party (Johnny turned 50), Sunday brunch at the St. Julien with Will, then drove to Denver and back, and finally saw Horton Hears a Who with Spencer.

38.What Football team do you favor?
I'm a Broncos fan because the two Ohio teams suck. College, I'll watch anything but Ohio State is #1.

47. What were you doing 12 AM last night?
Staring at the TV wondering why the hell I was still awake.

48. What was the first thing you did when you woke up?
Called school and work to tell them that I have a sick kid and we wouldn't be going anywhere but the doctor's office.

49. Who will you be with this Sunday night?
Erika and the Oxford crowd!! Probably a tad hungover after going to see BRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCE on Saturday night in Cincinnati.

50. Who was the last person you hugged?
Spencer.

51. If you took a drug test would you pass it?
Yes

52. Is tomorrow going to be good?
I hope so.

53. Do you know anyone named Dan?
Yes, quite a few people, all of whom have nothing in common besides the name DAN.

54. How many myspace friends do you have?
97

55. Do or did you like school?
Not after 8th grade. I look back and wish that I had kept going to a private school, where I might have had more guidance.

56. Would you take a bullet for anyone?
A select few.

57. Where would you like to live?
Anywhere warm and sunny. In luxury.

58. Are you a good gf/bf?
No. I'm wishy-washy, and I can't bring myself to gush lovingly about my partner in public. Also, I'm not jealous or demanding where my man is concerned (I don't let it show outwardly, I mean), and I think this often comes off as disinterested. I am way too willing to do all the work, too, which then turns into resentment on my part. Oy, I SUCK as a gf!

60. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Same shit, different day, is the pessimistic version. On a good day, I hope that in 5 years I will be the proud parent of a successful teenager with a new driver's license, a better job, and a loving partner by my side. And OLD. No matter how it turns out, I will be OLD.

10 March 2008

Here it is - the SHIZ!!

Random trip to Marshall's on Friday...
Lovely pink wool designer sweater/jacket...
Afraid to look at price tag...
HOLY MOLY SON OF A FRUGAL FASHION MAVEN!!!
(click on the price tag and look closely)

There isn't one single flaw on this piece of clothing...I checked every inch. Also got a pair of bronzy suede gaucho-type pants ($3, originally $150) and a lovely black shirt ($35 from $282). What a bargain.


Bargain of the YEAR

It figures that I'm FINALLY posting and the stupid Google server is down so that I can't add pictures. Dang. Anyhoo, I have something wonderful to share as soon as Blogger.com gets their shit together.

Any suggestions about how to kill a sinus infection FAST? I have one that's so painful I literally grab my face every time something in my head starts throbbing. It's giving me a fever, too. Don't suggest antibiotics because they don't work. I may resort to sitting at my desk with an ice pack taped to my forehead, which I'm sure will amuse my co-workers to no end.

On a completely unrelated note: have you ever made a noise in the bathroom at work that you are certain has echoed like a foghorn throughout the entire office, deafening everyone in the process? And, worse, have you ever made one of those noises but it WASN'T actually the result of a foul bodily function, yet you just *know* that all of your co-workers heard it, mistook it as being caused by a genetic physiological defect passed down by your mutant great-aunt Mildred, and henceforth the office talks about you behind your back as "you know, THAT one"?? Oy.

26 February 2008

Where Can I Find Reliable??

WARNING: Self pity and sadness ahead.

Tonight, when I got home to find that the carpet was ruined (mud EVERYWHERE), and there was cat poop to clean up, and something (elk blood) had spilled in the fridge, and my son's science project is due tomorrow but the printer is out of ink ($89 to replace), and the sidewalks needed to be shoveled, and I still have work to do tonight, and there were three loads of laundry waiting, and I needed to make dinner, and I needed to wash the dishes from breakfast, and discovered that I can't pay all my bills this month...and all this happened within an hour of getting home (and yes, I took care of anything I could)...I realized that I am overwhelmed. I do everything by myself but nothing for myself. I self-medicate with wine because I can't calm my nerves any other way. I joined the gym but don't have any time to go there because I am so busy with life. I haven't had a vacation - the kind where there is no phone or computer or work-related anything - for 10 years...and when that one was over, I came home to a relationship separation, move to a new town, a new job, and a miscarriage. Oh, right, and an intro to life as a single mom. Yeah, all within a couple weeks of each other. Since then, life has pretty much sucked a lot and I am constantly panicky and scared. I lost a big chunk of self-esteem during that time period, and it's obvious to me that it hasn't come back. See below.

Once, just once, in my life, I would like to have something that's reliable, to the point that I can depend upon without stressing over it.

A reliable:
*partner
*car
*job
*income
*plastic bag
*shovel
*cheese grater
*coffeemaker
*hell, even a reliable child. Harsh, but true. The lack of respect is sometimes frightening. The ruination of the new carpet is devastating.

My life is the epitome of Murphy's Law...anything that can go wrong, does. I spend a lot of time trying to correct this -- I stash extra car keys under the bumper for when I lock my keychain in the car; I stash extra keys in the yard so that I don't have t o break a window when I lock the keys in the house; I make lists all over the place so that I don't forget things -- but everything still goes wrong. Really. Ask anyone who has known me for a long time. It's uncanny. And the constant itching feeling of I'M NOT SECURE IN ANY WAY is so awful. Especially when it comes to money...getting older alone fucking sucks.

The only thing that didn't go wrong is that my son is beautiful -- I was concerned about having one of those mutant boys with bright orange hair and pasty white freckly skin and a high-pitched voice. But he doesn't respect me, regardless of therapy and behavior changes and all of that shiz. He sees me working my ass off to support him and keep a somewhat nice home, but I think that maybe my failures are more apparent to him and that's what he bases his judgement upon. He sure doesn't behave the same way with his father. Then again, there are reasons that I still like him:

14 February 2008

Hoodies OUTLAWED in Bowling Green, Ohio

Wednesday

2:26 a.m.
A male subject in a black hoodie was seen inside a vehicle on South Grove Street. Police said the subject was not located and no items were found missing.

12 February 2008

Courtesy of the BG News

" Sunday 3:04 a.m.
Two men reported to be peeing on cars on East Merry Street. They were nowhere to be found when police arrived."

Peeing. That's a silly word. But of course they were gone when cops arrived....how long does it take to pee?? (If you're me, this morning, it takes like 5 minutes....but perhaps that's TMI.)