Things I Could Write Long Blogs About, But Decided Not To...

So, I could write long blogs about each of the following things, but decided not to....they're various things I've noticed, things I'm hacked off about, etc lately....

1. The health care system in this country. Let's face it, folks, it sucks. It's a really sad state of affairs when middle-class children are UNINSURED because their parents jobs offer unaffordable insurance or even no insurance at all....and when those same children are turned down for the program designed to "help" them : CHIPS because they "make too much money." Seriously??

2. The man at Albertson's who could evidently afford an entire bottle of cologne to dump on himself (enough so that with his windows rolled down in this early-September Texas heat it made me nauseous), but this same man apparently cannot afford carseats (there were NO carseats in the car, and the children weren't even restrained with shoulder belts) with which to restrain his obviously toddler-age children so that they may live to see adulthood. You're a scumbag.

3. The big truck afficionados in Texas who believe that due to the oversize nature of their driving machines they are entitled to as many parking spaces as they care to partake of....IN THE FRONT ROW OF TARGET'S PARKING LOT. I can understand parking your doolie at the back of the parking lot and taking up 6 spaces by parking catty corner across both lanes of spaces so that you are taking 3 on each side, but doing in in the front row of Target? How did you even find that many open spaces in the first place??? You're a jerk.

4. The drop-off system at my son's school. Actually, the drop-off and pick-up system is really efficient. Kudos to you. HOWEVER a big, fat JEERS to all you entitled parents who think that waiting patiently in the traffic ready to turn right or left into the school's ONE WAY ENTRANCE is an inconvenience to you so you zip around all those that ARE waiting patiently, and then cut off the person who has probably been waiting patiently to turn left for a long five minutes, and whose time is JUST AS VALUABLE AS YOURS. Way to model Christ for your kiddos. You know who you are. You're the one we all point out to our kids and say "don't be like that guy/gal."

5. Zoe's got 2 new friends at school. Claire and Elizabeth. She also has a little boy friend named Joey. Great. Joey's a cute kid, Claire's adorable, and I've actually never met Elizabeth but I'm sure she's a peach. However, SOMEONE at my darling daughter's school has taught her a new thing I shall entitle the "Diva Screech." This is a hideously high-pitched noise that is a cross between a fire engine siren and a cat stuck in a blender. Seriously y'all it's horrendous. Probably a great work out for her lungs, but it's going to make her Mommy deaf. And it does not awaken that warm, loving, "mommy feeling...." instead, it awakens that cold, sinister feeling of anger. And it drives anyone who hears it insane. It is NOT an endearing sound.

6. Daniel's a tape recorder. He listens. He repeats. Constantly. Gone are the days when I could spell the "taboo words" that I didn't want him repeating....now he just asks his Memaw, "Hey Memaw, what does s-h-i-t spell?" Yep. So now I gotta find new words to say/spell that he can repeat and nobody will think twice about it. Oh Pickles.

7. The cost of pet ownership. Why do they think we're all gullible folks who transfer our maternal/paternal instincts to our animals? I mean, I LOVE my pets (well....MOST of them that is....) but in order for them to get the care they "deserve" we've got to shell completely out of pocket for their care. Traditional vets charge more than say, Banfield Pet Hospital.....in fact, for our 6 year old dog Lucy to get checked out last week when we noticed that she was not doing so well, our old faithful vet wanted to charge me over $200.....yeah right. So I called Banfield inside PetSmart.....they've got this great Wellness Plan thing that the Dr wanted me to get for her. It covers your pet for a whole year and has various levels to it, all of which are incrementally more expensive monthly. HOWEVER, if you've got a pet....I highly recommend it. It costs roughly $300 a year paid out monthly, and covers your pet's vaccinations, vet visits, and 2 comprehensive physicals including urinalysis and blood work (there's even a level that included an EKG....) which they recommend each dog have in a year. So, rather than over $200 just for the vet visit #1, I got out of there over a 1 week time frame for right at $200 which paid for all her vaccines, deworming (she was negative but they still did it as a precaution), heartworm testing and preventive, antibiotics, 1 tooth pulled + dental care, the anesthesia, and all of her care for the next year....and a bath, and grooming. Awesome job, Banfield.

8. My kids start dance class this week! WHOOPEE!!!! I'm so excited for them both! (Zoe wants to be a "ball-ween-a" and Daniel wants to be a "tap dancer.") And we're going to work on getting a t-ball league with all the interested kids at Daniel's school too!