It's a boy!

We finally found out we're having a boy! And we're just starting to feel him kick and move about. Not a lot yet, but he's doing just enough poking to cramp me up at times. Right under the ribs is one of his favorite places. The other is just left of my belly button.

And today I sang him a lullaby for the first time :o) and the moon was so full and huge, I went to the beach to take a picture of it... I call this "Lullaby Moon" for obvious reasons.

Home Farming

I've been wanting to start my own garden for a long time now. I'd started some beans and peas a while back, but it went quite wrong... not sure "what" went wrong, but it all crapped out, so... no garden, no veggies, nothing.

Soooo.... I've been wanting to try again since then (I miss the big and yummy garden that my parents used to have!) and it's spring, a great time to plant some of the veggies that I want. Then I was watching the Ellen Degeneres show and heard about Home Farming... It's a good motivating website for home gardeners... so here goes nothing!

~~K

In Memory of Davie Crocket

Well, it's been over a month and no sign of Davie, our cat. It's been hard, we've looked everywhere, but no sign of him. I'm afraid that he's met with a bad end. Daniel's been hoping that someone has taken him in, not realizing that he's ours, but I think he'd have slipped out and returned if that was true. He was such a great cat! Cuddly and so sweet! But he loved the outdoors and it wouldn't have been right to keep him inside. I feel terrible because before Daniel moved in here, he'd had Davie for years at his old place, letting him in and out, without incident. But apparently, my neighborhood is NOT cat-friendly. I'd lost my own cat years before to traffic. She'd been a terrific cat as well, named Lil' Bit. I suppose that we'll just need to wait until we move somewhere else before we get another cat. Now, we just need to figure out what to do with all these dogs! LOL (and NO, the dog's didn't do anything to Davie either... they loved playing with him and there aren't any signs in the back yard of foul play on their part.)

In loving memory of Davie, this blog will keep his picture and the title as-is.... at least for now.

~~K

Jumping through hoops in Florida....

Since when is your driver’s license NOT a proper form of identification?  Apparently. “new rules” have come out and even though you need to have one (or a state ID) for identification, it isn’t any good at the DMV itself. 

First, let me back the story up a bit... My husband needs to change the address on his license so that we can re-establish homestead.  Since we just got married, the property appraiser wants to make sure that we’re still living in the same place that I’ve had homestead at for the past few years.  Now, despite the fact that neither of us own any other homes, they still want to see proof that my husband has moved in and can’t claim homestead anywhere else.  Now, he would have to own a home himself in order to do that… and they obviously have access to who owns what, considering that they are the “property appraiser” and are the overlords of that particular database… therefore, they would have knowledge that he does not have another home in his name.  Also, both of our addresses were on the marriage license, showing where he lived before, and they obviously have a copy of that, since they found out we’re married and need to jump through these hoops.  So they see that he has been living here and they have access to the fact that he doesn’t own a home.  Yet we still have to show proof that he’s moved into my home and this is our place of residence.  Which means, showing a drivers license with this address on it (along with your voter’s registration showing the new address and two bills in his name at this address and whatever else they can come up with for us to show) which brings us back to the DMV….

So, we went to get his address changed on his license, but then found out that you need to have a ton of stuff to prove who you are.  Now, I understand that at other places, you could show a fake ID, but you would think that the DMV would be able to tell a fake ID from the real thing!  But NOOOOO, you need to bring either your birth certificate or a passport, your social security card and two bills in your name with the new address. (there are other options, but these are the most common... none of the options is showing your actual driver's license!)

Now, neither of us have a passport (it takes too long for us to go get one for this particular issue, and we're not going to spend $300+ to go get one at the moment) and how many people can produce their birth certificate on command?!?!  Well, surprisingly, my husband is one of those people!  I’m amazed!  So, now we can go and get his license and blah blah blah and take care of all of this crap before the deadline so we can get the homestead exemption for our property taxes. 

 But the really frustrating thing is the fact that we have to jump through all of these hoops if we show up in person… where they could obviously compare his driver’s license picture with his physical self and tell if it’s him and if it’s a real ID… but if we wanted to (and if we had time) we could simply fill out a form or make a call to an automated line available 24/7 and change it that way.  They would then send him a sticker to put on the back of his license showing the new address. (a sticker?  are you kidding me?!?!)  It would take 30 days (which we don’t have because we need to re-establish the homestead crap before then) but the fact that any shmuck can do this without all the hoops is ridiculous!  The form and the phone number can be found on the Florida DMV’s website… but the huge list of crap to bring for in-person service is not there.  At least, not that I could find.

So, correct me if I’m wrong, but if we were actually trying to get away with something less than legal, wouldn’t we just make the phone call or mail in the ridiculously simple form?  Why would we show up in person in a place swarming with police?!?!  This homeland security baloney has made it harder for the honest people to get anything done and easier for the bad guys to get around the system, in my humble opinion, anyway.  I mean, I just don't get it... maybe I'm too honest to understand why all the hub-bub.

So, is there any sane explanation for jumping through all these hoops when there are easier (and seemingly less secure) ways to take care of this stuff?  If so, I'd love to hear the "why's and wherefore's" for all this. 

What’s your story?  Do you have a frustrating story to share?  Do you have an opinion about mine?  Agree or disagree with my opinion?  I’d like to hear that we’re not the only ones who have to put up with this crap!

~~K

TROJAN **Antivirus Live** is FAKE! Beware!

Start of a new class.... SS has been in classes for a week now, mine start today... Tried to get onto the laptop, but low and behold.... VIRUS!!!

If you get something on your computer telling you that you've got a virus and it's from Antivirus Live, DON'T CLICK ANYTHING!  Just close that window and go to geekpolice.net - they have a great way of getting rid of this very invasive program.

I ended up closing out of everything, rebooting into SAFEMODE WITH NETWORKING (you definitely need to be able to get online and download the Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware (<--- in fact, just click here if you want and click on "Download Free Version" - blue button on the left side of your screen) and then I ran the Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware program, scanned my system (a full scan took about 1.5 hours) and then had the program delete the infected areas.

Seems to have worked (knock on wood) thanks to the GeekPolice.net and Malwarebytes.org!!

Has anyone else had any issues and/or solutions to mention?

Breaking Down....

Monday December 14th, 2009

Daniel & I went to a friend's house to finish fixing their car, but the part that her son told us we needed was NOT what was wrong with the vehicle.  So, the car still didn't turn over.

While there, we noticed that one of my tires was going flat... so... off to Walmart we went.  Then he called about the part needed for his truck (that has been broken down since Saturday!)  and that part was going to come in at 3pm that afternoon.

At 4:23pm, I was still sitting around the shop, waiting....

Got tired of waiting, so I dug in and got greasy myself, helping with his truck and had fun helping.

Turned out that they sold him the wrong part, which, with everything going on, we didn't notice until the part was installed and most everything was put back together.

Tuesday December 15th, 2009

Well, we got home around 9-9:30pm that night... had to have the truck towed home...

Went back to the garage to put a new tire on my van while we waited for the correct part for his truck to be delivered at noon.

HIGH NOON

The infamous "Show-Down" time

I was afraid of it ending up being just that... if the part didn't work out this time!

Meanwhile....

I walked around taking pictures of spiders and plants and whatever else I could find that was interesting... and write about this mess.

Why does this crap always happen all at once and right before the holidays?!  Anyone else out there have any "Car/Holiday Issues" they'd like to share? 

Words....

Muddle
Bamboozle
Jumble
Chaos
Disarray
Discombobulated
Befuddled
Haphazard
Distracted
Absent-Minded
Esoteric
Obscure
Enigmatic
Moony
Dreamy
Distracted
Consumed
Overwhelmed
Enthralled
Enrapt
Immersed
Sidetracked
Visionary

I wanted to have a different word other than "pack-rat" but got so distracted as I was trying to look it up, I almost forgot that I wanted to write on my blog.  Of course, that's what this blog is about.... me and my family and our totally discombobulated lives.

I'm really not sure how other people do it... the whole "organized" thing... they always accomplish everything on their task lists, get everyone to where they're going.... ON TIME too!  And they don't complain, never seem tired and they don't have any aches or pains.  Their house is always clean, despite numerous animals, toddlers, teens, etc who are lurking around the house.  (never running amok, of course) They can do it all in no time flat!  And they work and go to school with a brand new baby!

How?!?!

How is that possible?!

What secrets do these people have that are unknown to me?!?!

I'm asking you, my dear readers, are you in my club?  The club of the Oblivious?  Or are you one of "those" people who can manage it all and then take on more?

OBLIVIONS... UNITE!

ORGANIZERS.... HELP!

I'd like to hear from both sides.... what are you lacking in and need help with?  Or what advice can you give the rest of us who are lost in chaos?

I look forward to your comments!

~~K