Mama Needs A Snuggle

Hello. Am tired. Beyond. Belief.

Had a L-O-N-G day and then when I got home, late, things kinda went downhill from there- with the excecption of Z holding Connor at the front gate waiting for me to come from parking my car. (with my horny cat half-draped off the upstairs balcony yowling for someone to come make her day and be quick about it!) That's some welcome home, I tell you.

Z's friends came over for a bit while I was making dinner (and burning onions on low instead of sauteeing them.) How I managed to burn them on low temp I'll never know. Aidan had fallen asleep in my arms, so Z put him on his mom's bed in her downstairs bedroom and I thought he took him upstairs to his own bed with the others with nannies watching over them while I cook.

I heard crying but thought it was upstairs, so I didn't go running. Turns out Z's mom had gone in her room, and then come back out again shutting the damn door- Aidan woke up, cried a bit, then freaked the hell out at being alone and went into total meltdown. When I realized, I ran to him, and it took a good 45 min to get him calmed down. So I guess that means i'm pissed and tired. my poor guy. You wouldn't believe that about an hour after his freak out he was sitting on my lap rocking himself back and forth like he's in a rocking chair laughing uncontrollably at his daddy telling him "I LOVE YOU!" over and over again.

Party at my place!

Okay, so most weekends I might leave the house once and thats to raid the nearest drive-thru and run back home faster than you can blink. Well, that and to get formula. (because seriously, I have TWO breasts, not FOUR Of course I have to supplement with formula.) But more often than not, there is a baby hanging from my boob- or more accurately, wrapped around one.

Due to other varied circumstances beyond my/our control, my bestest girlfriends and I don't get to see each other as much as we'd like. We're closer than close, and really, both of them were really there -specially N- when I was pregnant and in ICU, hospital, and hell, prior to my quad pregnancy even through my miscarriages. I miss my girls, ya know?

Well totally unplanned, they both, plus 1.5 (another friend who's hugely pregnant from work) all showed up at my house today. Well SURPRISE! YAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay. My afternoon turned into "musical laps" for the babies and it was great. Made my whole month, I swear.

Kisses

Thanks ladies, it was great to see you.

Ugh, back to work tomorrow...I wonder who's not going to show up this week?

Scarlett Cyn is BACK from hiatus!

I've been awfully quiet for a year now. I was without inet service since we moved into our new place last fall for 6 months. Then my laptop died. Hubby's laptop also bit the dust. My WP blog is down for whatever reason and I am back to my original blog here- at least for now- indefinetly.

I have been busy and rather... occupied. Pun entirely intended.

I became mother to quadruplets on February 1st of this year. I had my 3 boys and another girl who was the surprise of my life- we didn't know she was in there. I thought I was having triplets all along -and so did my doctors. Imagine our collective surprise there in the operating room? Boy, Girl, Boy..BOY! I thought we were having triplet boys. So much for that. Fortunately, I got to use all the names we had picked out. Aidan, Anya, Connor, and Rory - in order of birth, respectively. Big sister Arianna is so happy and so proud. She's absolutely wonderful with them.

I went back to work on May 11th. Things have been a little, well, busy, ever since.

I find myself missing my blog. Blogging in general. And, I want to document all that I've gone through not only for myself to look back on, not only to share with others, but so that my children will have something to look back on, so that everything is documented- my mommy memories and experiences. I've already waited too long, and I don't want to miss anything else.

So I invite you to join me in my daiy shennagans and new multiple mommyhood to the Fantastic Four stories!

I didn't realize it was THAT BIG!

I'm talking about my archives. What did you think I was talking about?

........


.......................

*gasps!!!* Y'all are SO DIRTY MINDED! What AM I going to do with ya?

Anyhoooo, I just realized that I have a gizillion posts in my archives that need transferring to my new blog over at Scarlett's Haven. And I think I will wait for my laptop to do that.

Yeah, my laptop should be out of the shop very soon. My MOTHERBOARD crashed. ugh.

Bear with me.

DOES THIS EVEN WORK ANYMORE?

Ugh!!

Blogger.com has totally betrayed my loyalty and perserverance.

Fuckers.

No wonder I finally got my own domain name....you know... this one: www.scarlettcyn.com

SO FED UP!!!!!!!!!

To all my loyal and faithful readers, aka "my posse":

I think you will all agree with me that it is waaaay past time for me to kiss blogger.com adieu. Right?

To that end, I've moved on to greener pastures and decided to get my own private digs where I will (hopefully) not have to deal with crazy-ass shit like my blog freezing up for over a week and NO ONE AT BLOGGER HELPING (OTHER THAN A LAME ASS COMPUTER GENERATED EMAIL that was good for NOTHING WHATSOEVER) REGARDLESS OF HOW MANY DAMN HELP MEEEEEEEE PLEEEASE???!!! EMAILS I SEND! (hint, hint!!)

Say it with me now, "Blogger.com!?! It's been great, but, KISS MY GRITS!"

Yes! That's RIGHT! I've got my own brand-spankin new HAVEN! WHOOOOOOOOO!!!!! Check it out: For a good time, click this link!

Let me know what you think! Until then,

"Why don't you come up and see me sometime?"

Hello?

I think my blog went on vacation and didn't bother to take me along. Damn traitor.

Will anyone even SEE this post?

Blogger helpdesk is SO NOT HELPFUL. So thanks for nothing guys.

*crickets chirping.....louder and louder* (or is that locusts?)

sigh.

Oh What The Hell!???

Hello. Is this thing on??? *taps screen* Can't seem to get my posts to display on my blog lately. Hell if I know why.

I, my dears, feel like absolute shit right now.

My day was ok until my daughter asked me at lunch (in a restaurant) "Mom, what is a hooker?" After I picked up my dropped jaw from the tabletop, I replied "well...... um, a hooker is a woman who expects and gets money from a man in return for affection, to put it simply."

How'd I do y'all?? Well, it shut HER up, at least.

so far, so good.

Mama 1, Arianna 0

Then came Z a little while later interjecting a very odd question into the silence at the table. Curious? Who's curious?

He asked Ari, "So, do you think Mom and Dad still love each other and will stay together or do you think that they will separate like sometimes happens to families and maybe some of your friends parents too, when the parents change and don't feel the same way and don't love each other the same anymore? You know, like your Aunties (his sisters) and uncles. Your uncles aren't bad people, they and your aunties just didn't feel the same way anymore as they initally did, is all." (these divorces he is referring to happened six and ten years ago respectively.)

I don't know who was more shocked, me or Ari. We stared at him, then each other, then....

Well, it was a weird-ass question, I tell you.

She just stared at him with big eyes and said "what brought that on?" and I just looked down at my plate. He just shrugged and said "I dunno, answer me."

Dad 2 billion, Mama 1 and confused and feeling slightly nauseous, Ari ......confused.

He sort of dropped it, sort of. But then, later tonight, Ari was freaking out on me, and when I asked her what was wrong, she wailed (and she is not a wailer) "I don't want to be an only child! Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"

Great. Now I feel like shit. A useless, reproductively-challenged, confused woman. The worst thing is that I'm letting her down, not just myself.

I just found myself apologizing to her, and we both ended up crying. God knows I've tried so hard for another child. God knows I want another one. FOR ME. For her, and to hell with everyone else. To fail in this most simplest of things for most women is so damn frustrating.

Ugh. Somebody get me an Amaretto drip, STAT!!

Geee, and how was YOUR day?

Testing, TESTING!!!

Hey, I've been trying to post something all day long and both from work and home, it is just NOT showing.

So, I am asking for a little help, from you, my beloved readers.

1) If you see this post, please let me know.

2) Could you be a sweetheart (as I know you ALL are already!) and tell me the title of the last post YOU see? (cause frankly? I'm getting irritated as hell.) And it's getting on my last damn nerve that it isn't showing up. And due to the occurances in London today, my neves are already pretty much shot to hell anyway as horrified and disgusted as I am!

And in case what I wanted to show ISN"T showing, I simply wanted to say this: My prayers and thoughts go out to all of those affected by todays terrible events. God Bless you all.

Horrifying Deja Vu

I was just wrapping up a meeting I was attending away from my office when I saw the news starting to trickle in on Sky News (the UK version of CNN) on the wall of plasma screen tv's of the explosions in London today.

I had the same sick feeling that I did back on September 11 when I first heard about the attacks on the WTC buildings. I thought to myself "power surge, my ass, this is an attack of some kind. I hope it isn't only the beginning."

Never have I wished I was more wrong.

In the past hours, I have been glued to my cnn.com homepage, watching the unfolding scenes and news with complete horror.

It's happening all over again, and I'm willing to put my money on the brain behind it, too. It has all the earmarks of The mad genius, for that is what you-know-who is, perverting and distorting the tennants of a religion for his own purposes. The timeline, the synchronization was too disgustingly, sickeningly perfect. One hell of a trademark.

My heart, prayers, and sympathy goes out to the people of London.

What is interesting is my theory about the whole horrific happenings today. The day after it was announced that London had won the Olympics bid and the G8 Summit. Coincidence? I doubt it. I wouldn't be surprised if there were 'sleepers' waiting for news of which city won the bid to make their move today. Sick bastards.

If you will excuse me, I need to go email a few friends that live in the London area. To say I'm concerned would be an understatement.

The world is a frightening place my friends. Truly.

Horrifying Deja Vu

I was just wrapping up a meeting I was attending away from my office when I saw the news starting to trickle in on Sky News (the UK version of CNN) on the wall of plasma screen tv's of the explosions in London today.

I had the same sick feeling that I did back on September 11 when I first heard about the attacks on the WTC buildings. I thought to myself "power surge, my ass, this is an attack of some kind. I hope it isn't only the beginning."

Never have I wished I was more wrong.

In the past hours, I have been glued to my cnn.com homepage, watching the unfolding scenes and news with complete horror.

It's happening all over again, and I'm willing to put my money on the brain behind it, too. It has all the earmarks of The mad genius, for that is what you-know-who is, perverting and distorting the tennants of a religion for his own purposes. The timeline, the synchronization was too disgustingly, sickeningly perfect. One hell of a trademark.

My heart, prayers, and sympathy goes out to the people of London.

What is interesting is my theory about the whole horrific happenings today. The day after it was announced that London had won the Olympics bid and the G8 Summit. Coincidence? I doubt it. I wouldn't be surprised if there were 'sleepers' waiting for news of which city won the bid to make their move today. Sick bastards.

If you will excuse me, I need to go email a few friends that live in the London area. To say I'm concerned would be an understatement.

The world is a frightening place my friends. Truly.

What day (week) is it again?

Well! I must say that my Amaretto stupor induced by my dear friend Bre was a doozy, apparently. Since I JUST realized that I never posted any answers to last week's Inquisition questions. Yup, definetly going to hell for that!

My most sincere apologies, since I'm sure you were all salivating into buckets waiting in anticipation for my answers! (Yeah, RIGHT!)

Let's cut to the chase, shall we?

Cheryl b asked me:

Aside from having Ari and not murdering Monster what is the thing you have done in your life that you are the most proud of?

That I have survived this situation I've gotten myself into (where, exactly to begin?)with my dignity and self respect pretty much intact, all things considered. Although I 'm pretty sure that I will at least be beatified for the letting Monster continue to walk the Earth, or I got a "Go Straight To Heaven for all the Hell in your Earthly endeavours" card.

I'm proud of the fact that I've survived this long after so much hardship. God knows it has NOT been easy. I've always believed in doing my very best and giving my all in everything I do. That way, in case things don't work out the way I hoped/planned/dreamed, I know that I did everything I could possibly do, and this applies to all aspects of my life. I hope that at the end of my life, whenever that may be, that I don't have many more regrets than I already do.

When I was so sick, back in 99, dying actually, and all of the hell I was going through, I had severe insomnia on top of everyting else, and I kept wondering why was he letting me live? What was his reasoning? I figured that he must mean for me to do something that I hadn't gotten around to yet.

Perhaps He just didn't want Arianna to be raised by the crazy old bat from such a young age as 4 or 5. I was terrified I wouldn't survive any of it at the same time, afraid, knowing there were problems and complications and risk each time they put me under anesthesia that I could never wake up and that Ari, my beautiful angel that I wanted so badly, that I went through so much to have with a relentless determination, I knew that if I died with her so young, that Monster would so completely spoil and ruin any good memories of me and poison her memory of me, if not erease me altogether. This thought kept me fighting and determined to overcome it all.

As is, it's bad enough the damage done with me around. *shudder, gag*

Mare asked me something that had me hunting back in the foggy recesses of my childhood.

Question, question...okay, since I just got done throwing my son his first real birthday party (he turned two, but he didn't have a party last year, oh and I'm exhausted by the way), what was your favorite childhood birthday party?

It's funny, whereas some things are so crystal clear, others I have to really concentrate on. I think its fascinating how our memory works. So mare, here's what I came up with.:

Probably when I turned 7. It was my first birthday in Los Angeles. I had a Wonder Woman cake, a bunch of girls from school over, and I got a portable record player and the soundtracks for Grease and Saturday Night Fever. (Quiet, wiseasses!) Oh, and a really cute basset hound stuffed animal. These are the things that stick out in my mind.

Man, but that cake was bad-ass.

Either this b-day or a couple of years later…. Farell's Ice Cream Parlour. (a very close call indeed) It was very old fashioned, like from the Victorian era, and they had massive sundaes. I chose the 'Pike's Peak' for my party. They were named after various mountains because, well, that's what they looked like. Mountains of icecream! They would put about 40 scoops of ice cream or so – I'm serious!- in what looked like an old silver washtub, with toppings, like hot fudge, pineapple sauce, caramel, strawberries, etc… whipped cream, nuts, sprinkles… etc! After we ate proper food, they brought this sucker out on a STRETCHER! Then we all attacked it like little heathens!

Afterwards we went to the local roller rink and ice skated for hours. That was fun too!

Oh, and happy belated birthday to your little man!


The remainder of my answers will follow in a while........ (that will keep y'all on your toes, now won't it?????) Now if you will excuse me, I need to go have a nice allergy-triggered sneezing fit. (Damn sandstorms all day have screwed with my allergies and sinuses. AAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Kisses,

Scarlett Cyn

PROOF

Because I wasn't really sure that you'd believe me if I just wrote about it.

See, on a little trip to my local 7-11 type store nearby, I went to buy some soap and while browsing, I happened to look up and THIS (naturally!) caught my eye.

See? This is why there is such a thing as CAMERA PHONES, people!

And it says "For external use only".

Number one... WHY?

Number two..... Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy?????

This is a hoot, is it not??

It's really just so that you don't have that "not so fresh" feeling, but if so, then what the HELL with the name? Jeez.

Some pervert with a fantastic sense of humor, no doubt.

What do YOU all think?

Good Lord Above!

Michael Jackson.

Is here.

Where I live.

I dare you to find where I live on ANY map without using your internet. Go on. I dare ya!

Have you heard that he had left the country about 3 days ago for some 'rest and relaxation'? The tiny-ass little island -smaller than Washington DC -I live on is presently hosting MICHAEL JACKSON as a guest ofone of the King's adult sons! They flew him- in with them- in on the private jet.

Of course, the private jet is a 747 last I heard and cost a few hundered milion bucks after fitting it out with God knows what.

And I swear, if I hear ANY MORE MJ songs, which are not played normally all that often, on the local radio station and the Brit DJ's begging (read WHINING. Krazy Kevin in particular was overdoing it this morning) over the air for an interview, and the local DJ's not much better, I just might scream loud enough for y'all to hear me back home in the US.

In case you're wondering "WHAT THE FUCK IS MJ DOING THERE?" well...

He isn't visiting with me, that's for damn sure.

See, MJ's big brother Jermaine (remember "Do What You Do (when you did what you did)" back in the early 80's? THAT Jermaine. Well, he converted to Islam ages back and practically lives here. Apparently he loves it. Well, it is charming here where I live. Definetly. (excecpt for the god-awful heat, but otherwise, ok.) He wears the full Arab kit - out (clothes) and blends right in. Loads of people have seen him hanging out in Starbucks in the mall having a coffee with friends. No paparazzi, nothin.Once in a blue moon you see in the paper that Jermaine was here at all.

I'll bet you MJ would kill for that kind of life. Although,poor thing, you can't exactly compare the two brother's careers. It would be like comparing LaToya and Janet. Apples. Oranges. But still and all.

I seriously never, ever would have thought that of all the places in the world MJ would go to after that trial would be here. Amazing. Seems he's been friends with this ADULT son of the King for many years.

Well, that's nice. I hope MJ gets the rest and relaxation he obviously needs here. Heaven knows he'll never find anywhere as perfect as here to hide out and be on the down -lo. Who knows? Maybe he'll find some inspiration in the region and make a new album, with a whole Arabic music flavor and have a huge hit. I'd honestly like to see his kids have something in the end, not see it all squandered away.

Today? Today I feel super sorry for Michael Jackson. Because I guarantee he is EXHAUSTED and jet-lagged out of his mind. The Jet lag to get here from Los Angeles is hell on earth.

Been there, done that Michael. BBLEAAAH.

Now for a quickie Movie review.


If you go see War of the Worlds? Don't forget to breathe. There were parts that had me..... gasping for breath and jumping in my seat.

Spielberg is a freaking genius. As if THAT is a newsflash. Tom was "eh" in the film, but considering the character, he did well, I think. The story line was a bit predictable after the first 30 min, and I admittedly wanted to smack Dakota Fanning once or 10 times,perhaps even 20 times, but other than that, generally a good movie (even tho I predicted the ending, as usual)

This movie MUST be seen in a cinema. Not on DVD for the first time. Even if you have a big screen TV and surround sound. I have these and I'm telling you... go to the cinema. Buy some over priced popcorn (don't get me started. I was brushing my teeth for 30 minutes) and raisinetts (buy two and eat one for me. I love those and can't get em here!) and an even more overpriced ticket and sit back and enjoy Spielberg's genius. Because really, no one does alien life forms quite like him!

Ta ta for now. Inquisition answers coming in a bit.

Who Else But ME?

Who else, I ask you, could attend a farewell party where there were Secret Service agents to be found (who for obvious reasons shouldn't be found)?

Yes, yours truly!

Z and I went to a farewell dinner party at this GORGEOUS restaurant/contemporary art gallery set in a huge old... traditionally styled estate property in the heart of the city with huge courtyards. It was just like something out of an old movie like Ali Baba and the 40 thieves or Aladdin or something. Absolutely gorgeous. In the middle of one of them was one of the largest single centerpiece fountains I've ever seen. I could have stayed at this place forever. I could not help but wonder where the 'harem' or ladies quarters used to be!

But, as usual, I digress.

So, Z and I walk in, greet our darling hosts, and they direct us to the bar. Yaaay. (Pay attention Wenchie!) I sashay up to the bar, I notice everyone else is having wine, but I'm just not in the mood for wine... and then I spy rum! La la... I order some grog... erm, I mean a rum drink, and then I scan around to see if there is anyone I know.

Well, there isn't anyone, but I noticed a guy off in the corner near a window overlooking the other room where the guests are.... so he smiles at me,I smile in greeting (I always get a little nervous initially when I dont know anyone at a party.. then I make the rounds) and he smiles back, then gets a "Oh shit!" look on his face and ducks his head down.....

and that's when I realize I was making nice and friendly to the Secret Service agent assigned to watch over the Admiral of the 5th Fleet who was in attendance and who probably wasn't supposed to be making friendly with the other guests, I presume. I turned back to face Z and muttered "Shit, shit, secret service, shit!" to which he replied "huh??". I whispered very quietly making motions behind me with my eyes to indicate the guy at my back.

But I couldn't help thinking to myself... I'm at a party and there's Secret Service agents! Cool!

Ok, the party was crawling with Americans and boy was I loving it! I went around introducing myself, rum in hand, and, as it was 'open seating', picked a table with Z in tow, made friendly with the other people at the table, Z realized the lovely lady from South Carolina was a former client of his, and we had a nice time.

Dinner was served, made more acquaintences in the buffet line, mostly Navy personnell, and later, after a few more rum drinks when dessert was served and I had just placed a particulary luscious sliver of dark chocolate cake on my plate was I yanked over by an acquaintance of Z's ,Cleo, a lady from the US Base, to meet the Admiral. Literally dragged by the arm (she is a lovely funny lady and the Admirals secretary) by this petite 4' 11 lady with a 6'5 personality.

And honeys? He is the youngest Admiral I've ever seen. Early 40's would be my guess and such a lovely, funny gentleman. So, somehow, cake abandoned, the Admiral of the Largest fleet in the US Navy and I had a lovely chat with Cleo about oh so many things for a good 45 minutes. And all the time, I could feel the eyes of the S. S. boring into my back. Well, with him and the head of PR for the base, who, ladies? Was freaking GORGEOUS.

I mean, that was a yummy piece of man. Did I get a good pre-Independence Day gift of what? Maybe I didn't get fireworks, but I got SAILORS and senior officers with impeccable manners! If there is one thing I really love, it's great conversation. It was a nice bit of home, and it never fails to make me homesick. I was in my element and extremely comfortable. I come from a family of military men. My father and brother were both in the Navy. As was one of my maternal uncles, who was, at the time, the youngest EVER Lt. Cmdr in the US Navy. Others in my family were in the Air Force or Army. Dad tried to get me to join the Navy in fact. (If that isn't hilarious, I don't know what is! Me? In the navy? Uh, no.)

Before I knew it, the party wound down, and people began saying their goodbyes. The Admiral was bundled out from some alternate secret exit just like in the movies by his 'keepers'.

All in all, a very lovely evening that I hated to see end.

Two Questions

Hi everyone!

Monster in Law is gone. Whooooooooooooooooooo hoooooooooooooooooo!!!I have a question or two for you....

1) WHERE'S MY DRINK?? I thought it was a party!

2) Has anyone got any more questions for me this week?

3) I saw the movie Monster In Law last night. Anyone curious as to my reaction? (ok, so asked 3. It IS MY blog, after all!)

Bre?? Pirate Wench? Cheryl?

Man I hate drinking alone!

Oh wait a tic! I'm not alone! Garfield, say hello to the nice people! Good BOY!

I Just Wanted To Say

Daddy, I TOLD YOU SO! (how many times in my life have I ever been able to say that?)

Further proof that my reasoning as a child under the age of 8 was flawless and frighteningly accurate found on CNN.com today:

There were 12 shark attacks on Florida beaches in 2004, down sharply from 30 in 2003. Experts credit the busy hurricane season in 2004 for the lower numbers.

Hah! "Sharks don't come this close to shore", my ass!

You know that you’re tired when…

As you may have probably guessed….I overslept this morning. Then, thanks to the Ministry of Works (whom I assume are responsible for the morass that are the Kingdom’s crap infrastructure) and the Ministry of Transportation (read: police) I was even later to work, along with half the country who encountered more than one closed or heavily under construction (read: torn up less than single lane-yes, it’s possible) road on a main artery into town from the ‘suburbs’. For those that would say it’s just ‘Growing Pains’ of a country that is ever increasing and growing, I say bullshit and it shows a complete lack of forethought.

But that is neither here, nor there… much like me in the car this morning! Back to the oversleeping part.

Because, well, advances in technology continue to amaze me. At the rate we’re going, I wouldn’t be surprised if there are robots and civilization much like in the movie I Robot within my lifetime.

Why, you may ask?

Because this morning I hit the snooze button on my mobile phone (cell) so many times that finally, I got a note pop up on the screen that said: “CHECK ALARM TIME”.

Heh. That’s funny. Wise-ass Nokia. I, even in my comatose-like sleep was amused by that message.

But you know what is even funnier?

I shut the damn thing OFF after that. I was having such a good, deep sleep… and SUCH wonderful dreams – no, I’m NOT gonna tell you!- that I just didn’t want to get out of bed.

Guess what woke me up, finally?

My husband? Nope.

Arianna? Nope.

Siony pounding on my door? Nuh-uh.

It was Angel. ONE of my cats. (Homeland Security, remember?) The one that usually wakes me up if Garfield doesn’t. But I guess she was as frustrated as the damn phone alarm was… she tried nudging my shoulder with her head. I pushed her away sleepily. She nudged my cheek with hers, (and she has the longest, thickest whiskers I’ve ever seen on any cat ever so you can imagine the tickling sensation!) She then tried meooowing loudly in my face as I vaguely recall. NOPE. Nada.

Next thing I know, she is standing with her front paws on my cheek, claws carefully in (I was sleeping curled up on my side), and pushing down with all her strength.

She is a goddamn huge animal, people! She is a supermodel of cats, big, long legged and strong and beautiful.

Did you catch that ‘strong’ part?

Needless to say, I’m awake now. She bitched at me, following me around the house as I got ready in a constant stream of chatter until I walked out the door.

Great. One of my damn cats is lecturing me. How do I know she was lecturing me? Because of the looks of pity on the faces of the other cats that could understand her, sitting there looking from her to me, that’s why!

Sheesh! Hope you guys had a better start to your day than I did!

So Close....

And yet, so far! I am sadly excited that today I went to the local telephone bastar...erm phone company to sign up for wireless broadband internet!

Yaaaaayyyy!

Not that this was entirely without incident. Oh NOOOOO. My buddy H and I decided to go into debt... uhhhh.... I mean sign up for this wi-fi (oooh, I sound like I know what I'm talking about, and I so... DON'T!Ha haaaa!) (Ok, I know more now then I did this morning when I woke up. I'm a quick learner, what can I say?) broadband/get a laptop too dealie bob that the bastar... phone company MONOPOLY have on offer.

You pick and choose whichever laptop of 5 major brands your little heart desires and then, they let you pay for it as part of your inet bill till it's paid off. Yes I did my due dilligence (as if I wouldn't ! PLEASE!!!! Give me a LITTLE credit! Jeez!)! It is actually a good deal. Better than having to shell out up front and you (read: ME! I GET! I GET!) a nifty kick ass laptop, and not some toy looking one either! But a bad ass one with lots of STUFF and goodies and- aw HELL YEAH! - surround sound speakers built in! *shakes butt, Shakira style* ( cause you know I can and DO!) And my laptop is so PURTY TOO!!!

Only I don't have it in my clutches... yet.

H and I went to one of the distributors she knows of who is participating in this scheme. They had tons of laptops and so we made like little girls in Toys R Us! Giggling and tapping and playing with each and every one, verbally dissecting whatever dork designed some of them making them look like something you buy for a child in Toys R Us. We both drooled over the RED Ferrari Accer laptop, and she's saying to me "I think Scarlett should SO have this! Scarlett. Red laptop. Scarlett. Haaaaaaa." While looking at each other, then to the laptop wistfully, back. forth. back. stroking the damn thing... petting it nicely... playing with the keys...then I looked at the price and we both backed the hell up likity-spllit.

No babies, Scarlett is not going to have the pretty, pretty Ferrari Red laptop. (It was designed for the Ferrari F1 team) Somebody pass me a tissue. It was like freshly lacqured red nails. It ws the same color as the Maranello I was drooling over on the road the other day and I don't even drive stick shift, officially. *sigh* Lets be realistic here.

Ok, I was NOT being cheap. It just wasn't part of the 'package dealie bob" thinkg from the tel company is all!

In the end, H and I decide to go for the same one and do a few extras while we are at it. I love her to pieces, this woman. I'm so glad I've stolen her away from the evil bastards we both worked for and she will be working with me again in my current job in a few weeks. Yaaay! but I digress.

Because then, once we decided, we had to go to the phone co office down the street and apply for the special offer thingie. And that is where our fun began.

Nobody knew diddly squat. We stood in line, got out, then went to butt in line and got help, if you want to call it that. Turns out the guy we were dealing with was SO DAMN CLUELESS. He ended up making some lame ass excuse and sending us to another branch... in a mall on the other side of town. I thought "Cool, cause Z's cousin works there, she is very sweet and helpful. Maybe she can help us.".

Excecpt she'd already gone home for the day. GREAT! Then? H and I managed to find an absolute tortoise to help us do everything. Touche the Turtle took, I swear to you, a minimum of 20 minutes to imput 5 lines of information,(ie: address for installation, name, user Id name, and what type of inet service. which laptop make I wanted. Yes, that's it.) get a printout, and hand it to me. Another 15 min for H's application. He moved so damn slow, and looked, well, asleep, and we were SO THIRSTY DAMMIT and the lights were cooking our brains they were so hot and we were both exhausted and dizzy by the time he finished with us.

At the end of it all... H said "Maybe their computer system is just old and slow" to which I replied "if THEIR computer system is slow, what the hell are WE GONNA GET? We're screwed."

Now we are just waiting for the approval message to go pick up our shiny silver and black new laptops.

I hope it's faster than Touche was! Jeez.


PS:

a) Monster's flight is confirmed for Monday, ie: day after tomorrow. Party is at my blog on Tuesday if you're interested! Please RSVP if you are WoooohooOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooo (Cat, thank you for your prayers. Since you're on a roll with the big guy upstairs, wanna buy a lotto ticket and we split it 60/40? (me 40) ) Just a suggestion.

b) I.... shit. I forgot what I was gonna say...... oh yeah! Questions for this week's Inquisiton please darlings.

c) I'm in the market for a digital camera. I don't suppose anyone is going to give any suggestions or props for a good one that you might have and just love to pieces. I want minimum 5.1 megapixels and must have digital zoom of 3 or 4. Preferably one of these Cram It In The Purse sizes, not the big clunky ones. Thanks in advance.

That is all.

Dude Looks Like A Lady!

The little while back I was IM'ing with a friend and she said something to me that took me by surprise.

I saw her online and so I IM'ed her to see how she was feeling and how the recovery was. You see, my friend Sheena used to be my friend Robie. Yeah, as in used to be a man. Sheena and Nikki (my New SIL, former BIL) are very good friends and it seems that although Sheena was taking the meds and in transition to become a woman for much longer Nikki was, and it appears that Nikki's gender reassignment surgery was just the kick in the ass that Sheena needed, so to speak because a couple of months she did the first part of it, and when we talked, she was still high on morphiene from the second "beautificaiton" part of it. (Nikki did it all one shot! And she told me the breast implants she had done at the same time was MORE PAINFUL than the whole 'make a kitty' surgery! Of course, that also could have been her residual morphiene talking.. I must ask again!)

So..... Sheena said "I'm doing ok. It's painful, but I'm glad it's all finally done now! Cyn I only wish I could have: your skin, your hairline, and your ovaries."

Well slap me with a silly stick! My first response was "Thanks for the compliment. My ovaries aren't good for anything, why the hell would you want em?" Poor Sheena didn't know about my infertility problems - I thought Nikki had told her ages ago- so it was a totally innocent comment. She simply said after I explained that 'just look at your gorgeous daughter! I'd love to get my hands on some of your dna, is all honey!".

Aw, that was sweet. Sheena is pretty damn gorgeous herself. When she was living in NYC before she went home to Sweden to do her surgery, modeling scouts used to approach her on the street (from BIG AGENCIES, TOO!) to some in. About 6 feet tall, long viking golden blond hair and big blue eyes, killer bone structure. Absolutely gorgeous. I haven't seen her after all the hormones and now that the surgery is done, but she must be even more beautiful now with all that estrogen softening up the hard edges.

As a side note to all the ladies out there: But you know what I 've noticed? That both Sheena and Nikki have hormonal mood swings just like PMS. Isn't that fascinating?

There is a huge difference between Nikki's situation and Sheena's. While Sheena's family welcomed her with open arms and have gotten past her life-changing decision, I can truthfully say that Nikki's haven't.

It is as if, to the majority of them, that she is dead. In the seven months since I told them, one SIL refused to accept it, (well, both did actually and the third one was just floored because she didn't even know that he had been living as a gay man for years in the first place!) But the eldest SIL, she said for no one to ever mention HIM to her again, that as far as she is concerned HE is dead. I replied, "well, HE is dead, but SHE lives." Whatever. No. They are all, and I quote "humilated and embarassed" about 'his' "selfish choice and didn't he think?? WHat will people say?" I was , frankly, appalled by their reactions. What will people say? Who gives a shit? Nothing if you don't tell them! DOH! The one in the US says that she is too ashamed and embarassed and will not tell her husband (who is the biggest pervert you never would want to meet) nor her 30-something kids.

Give me a damn break.

It is odd though, Nikki is the baby of the family and whereas previously, 'his' name was constantly mentioned at least once whenever we were all together, now? Nothin. Zero. Zip. Zilch. No one mentions him now, and when friends or people here ask how "he is" I sit silent and watch Z and his mother trip over each other to lie about where 'he' is and what 'he' is doing because in this society, it's not actually something you can talk about, so they maintain that Nikki is still a 'he'.

Sigh. At least there are a few that have hung in there.

There is the gay older brother, who is the most EVIL Queen I have ever met in my life. Friends, that appple did not fall far from the tree, let me tell you! He is over the moon about the whole thing, which also strikes me as false because he has loathed and despised Nikki her whole life. Then there is monster, who can't stop calling her by her male name, and boy is she gonna be in trouble when she's with Nikki in Iran and she calls her by the old male name!! Gah!!

Then there is Z. I guess he has accepted it, he had to. He and Nikki were always inseperable. Z is 3 years older than Nikki, and they grew up thick as thieves. But I can tell it makes him awkward. But I can tell you that Nikki is his favorite sister! So that is something. Ari and I remain.

Ari and I are of the same mindset, which makes me very happy. Nikki is the same person on the inside, just the outside is a bit different. Ari agrees with this. As Arianna says: "I don't get it, the how part of it, but I understand that for 'her' it makes sense. I've always told him he was girly! Whatever makes her happy is ok by me! I still love her."

She asks to IM with Auntie Nikki whenever she gets a chance! Arianna and Nikki have always been close since she was only a few weeks old and I'm glad they are continuing that way.

The same goes for me and my Mama. Nikki is the same exact person on the inside... only the packaging is different.

And that is pretty much what it boils down to: It's what's on the inside of a person that counts. Do what you can and be happy. No one is promised tomorrow.

So Nikki and Sheena, this one's for you! I love ya girlies from the bottom of my heart!