The Torn Pages

Archive for the ‘Wasting Time’ Category

De-Lurk?

Is there anybody out there? De-lurk, de-lurk, wherever you are…!

Crazy Eights

(Disclaimer: I've had this in my drafts folder since November of 2007. I've updated it to change some of my answers since then. I think everyone should do this every two years. You'd be surprised at how much changes…or doesn't change.)

Thanks to Lisa here's my Crazy 8's. (btw, what's up with the crazy blog name, Lisa? You certainly are not refusing to blog…)

8 Things I’m Passionate About

1. My Family. They are each individual in personality and desires and I admire and love each of them.

2. My Critters. Yeah. I know. They are "only" animals, right? Wrong. They are very much a part of my life.

3. Reading. I've mentioned before that I can usually go through a book every day or so. Hubs' teases me the library is going to run out one of these days. I've been a reader since I can remember – sneaking around at night reading by any glimmer of light I could get, be it from the streetlight outside my window or the dial of my radio or the little bulb lighting up my electric blanket.

4. Computers. They frustrate me on some levels but on others they challenge me and I like that. I enjoy a good 'fist pump' when I solve some stupid problem that I know I should be able to get but struggle with. When it all works? YES! I've never had any formal training in the things, but for the most part I have a logical enough (Spock-brain?) mind to "think" like the machine. I always thought it would be fun to take some computer courses sometime and see what it is I really don't know…

5. Writing. Along with reading, I've been writing since I can remember. I never kept any sort of a formal "journal" until the blog stuff started, and you probably think since I've been so fits-and-starts this last year that I'm petering out, but I just have this urge to get things out on paper. As an only child and one who spent loads of time alone and had lots of frustrations in my world, I used it as a great escape to vent, dream, and venture into my own head. Probably if I hadn't been writing it all out I may have ended up with way more mental problems along the way. Just a guess.

6. Crafts. Although I feel very passionate about the crafty type things I like to do, my dilemma is I have tooo many of them that I enjoy. I rubber stamp, sew, crochet, knit, cross-stitch, paint, dabble in photography… and have the supplies and attending 'crap' to prove it. As a matter of fact, Hubs calls my "craft" room my "crap" room. He's more right than I care to admit.

7. Gardening. I don't know if this is a passion or just one of those things I can't seem to stop doing to myself. Every spring I get all excited and plant stuff, then spend the summer getting sunburnt and aching muscles, and finally by the time fall gets here I am so sick of it all I can't even put the gardens "to bed" properly. (Fellow gardeners know what that means.) It is rather like my enjoyment of cross-stitch. I really don't enjoy the process, I just enjoy the end result.

8. Cooking. Passion? Not sure if that's the right term for it, but I do enjoy it. My favorite is when the wind is howling and there is snow on the ground and I have the fireplace going and am whipping up some soup or stew and bread and some yummy dessert… and the house smells so good. Excuse me, I have to go wipe the drool off now.

8 Things I Want To Do Before I Die:

1. Write a book or two.
2. Get my photographs organized
3. Go to Ireland
4. Get all the crap out of my house and have the things left well-organized so my family doesn't have a horrible job ahead of them dealing with it all once I'm gone
5. Retire and spend time using all those craft supplies
6. See all my children happy, healthy and at peace - whether it be in a relationship or not.
7. Be sure that everyone I love knows I love them.
8. I'd like to meet some bloggers…you know, in REAL LIFE.

8 Things I Say Often:

1. Shit.
2. What's up?
3. WTF!?!
4. Fuck.
5. Me too! (Hub's and my ever-so-secret code for I love you)
6. You're kidding.
7. Dumbass
8. Bullshit.

(I cuss a lot, don't I?)

8 Books I’ve read recently: (I'm not answering this because they all blur together. Go to any Amazon or Borders Bookstore website, click on the first eight books you see in either mystery, horror, or fiction categories and I will have read them.I will however, list some of my favorite authors.)

1. Stephen King
2. Dean Koontz
3. Lee Childs
4. Patricia Cornwell
5. Michael Connelly
6. David Baldacci
7. James Patterson
8. Jonathan Kellerman

8 Songs I Could Listen To Over And Over: (Again, I have music running most of the time and can't pick on song as they change. I'll just list some favorite musicians.
1. October Project
2. Sheryl Crow
3. Nickleback
4. Linkin Park
5. Five for Fighting
6. Diana Krall
7. Sarah McLachlan
8. Dave Matthews Band

8 Things That Attract Me To My Best Friends: (Friends? What are those?)

1. No bullshit.
2. No bullshit.
3. No bullshit.
4. No bullshit.
5. No bullshit.
6. No bullshit.
7. No bullshit.
8. No bullshit.

Vroom-Vroom

I don't know if you can see what this is…. but it is my son's new racing t-shirt for the big Supernational races next week. He has a friend who goes by the nickname "Jake the Snake" and has a logo of a snake on his shirts, so of course we had to go with "Snyder the Spider". My son's friend hates snakes, and, yes, my son hates spiders. Go figure.

Tonight is the last regular season race at the track he's been at all summer. It is a different track than he's been at the past few years, but the race track promotor for that regular track has let things slide to where attendance is paltry and there are only about five or six cars in his class racing. That's not hardly enough to make it interesting. Of course, for me it would be fine as I'd like to see him just get out in front and stay there and not have anyone touch him all night – but that's a mom speaking. From a race fan perspective, the guys like to get into a few cars and have some competition. My son hasn't had any problems with that issue this year. The track he's been at normally has at least twenty-five cars a night and for whatever reason my son ends up in the middle to end of the pack every time. He then has to fight and scratch his way to the front. He's won very few races this year, but in the track points for his class he is in second place – only a few points from the leader. Not enough that even if he won the race tonight he'd win in points, but enough that if his number one competition were to, say, blow up a motor in the main feature race – then my son would win on points. I'm fairly confident he's going to still be in second place when the night is over no matter what happens, but that's nothing to be ashamed of. He is just consistant in his finishes and is always moving forward and passing other cars, gaining him those points.

Next week is the big all-week country-wide phenomena known as Supernationals. We're just lucky it is in a nearby town. People come from all over the country and as far away as Australia! They end up having over 30 heats of races and many nights the racing is over until 3 a.m. One night last year they had a rain delay and didn't even start until midnight!  Son and his wife are taking the RV over and they and their dog will camp out for the week as Hubs and myself come and go. It is night after night of racing to qualify for the big final race on Saturday night. If you qualify on the first night out then you are done racing until the big one. However, if you don't qualify then you try again the next night and the next, etc., until you get there. Some guys never do get in, so so far (knock on wood) my son has. Keeping fingers crossed for next week. Last year it took him all week to qualify!

I've been doing better this year about going to the races and not getting as stressed out. Part of my strategy is to not watch each and every race before my son races. That way I don't see every other crash, blow up, etc., and I don't get quite so worked up beforehand. I know he thinks I'm nuts, but when he's racing my mantra is "please let him be safe"… winning to me comes in second. He's a good racer and has excellent almost uncanny reflexes and can seem to sense when a problem is coming up right in front of him, but it still makes me crazy to watch.

As far as the new t-shirt design? Can't say as I'm crazy about it as I hate spiders, too, but I guess there are worse things to be called!

Jon and Kate Plus…?

You'd have to be living under a rock right now not to have heard about the reality show “Jon and Kate Plus 8”. Even if you've never watched it, you have certainly caught news articles or magazine covers in the supermarket check-out line touting the end of their marriage and all the wailing going on about “oh-what-will-we-do-about-the-children”? I guess there is even a special episode on tonight that is supposed to answer the burning question… will they or won't they?

I would like to say I've not stooped so low as to follow this fiasco, but I would be lying. I started watching the show a few months ago and although I don't always agree with their decisions or their parenting skills, I have always maintained that children don't come with manuals and we all do the best we can… well, most of us do. I'm not talking about the crack-moms or the ones who leave their children in the car while they go into the bar. I think for the most part, main-stream moms who love their children do the best they can and they really do try to think about what is best for their children.

Do we all get it right? Hell no. I can speak from experience. I don't think most of us get it right very much of the time. I think a lot of it is luck… and angels watching out.

We've all gone crazy about Kate's bossiness and Jon's wussiness. We've all decided she's a bitch and he's a wiener. It is rumored he's playing around with young women and she's playing around with old bodyguards. Personally? Who cares. I mean, seriously. Who. Cares.

Yes, they put their children out there for the world to see. Yes, it has brought them a lot of money and fame and follows comes photographers and sleazy news articles. Are they true? Probably. Should we care? Not unless we are prepared to have to answer to our own perfection. Remember, glass houses, rocks, etc…?

I think there is probably going to be a big change in that tv show. I think there is going to be a huge change in that family dynamic. I think it should be done in private, not out where we have to live with seeing all the dirty laundry aired. Yes, it is probably there, but do we have to look at those children ten years down the road with a knowing smile and say, “yeah… I saw your parents implode on national tv”. Me? I'm going to just turn it off now and let them live their lives… hopefully, not in the public eye.

Where Have I Been?

I wish I knew. Good grief, the summer is slipping away!

Just For Fun – The Name Meme

Stole this from Dave. It has been awhile since I just did something 'fun' on here… 

1. YOUR REAL NAME
Sue

2. WITNESS PROTECTION NAME (mother and father’s middle names)
Ruth Ray (hrm…)

3. NASCAR NAME (first name of your mother’s dad; father’s dad)
Walter John (ha… I could win races with that name!)

4. STAR WARS NAME (the first three letters of your last name, first two letters of your first name)
Snysu (sounds like a disease)

5. DETECTIVE NAME (favorite color, favorite animal)
Red Cat (sounds more like an energy drink…)

6. SOAP OPERA NAME (middle name, town where you were born)
Elaine Keokuk  (oh, now, that's just awful)

7. SUPERHERO NAME (second fav color, fav drink, add ‘the’ to the beginning)
The Green Pepsi (bah)

8. FLY NAME (first two letters of your first name, last two letters of your last name)
Suer (….?)

9. ROCK STAR NAME (current pet’s name, current street name)
Benny X  (that would work!… oh, wait… I need some "Jets"…)

10. PORN NAME (first pet, street you grew up on)
Toby Marion (I see no sex appeal in that name at ALL)

11. GANGSTA NAME (first three letters of your real name, plus izzle)
Susizzle (…sounds like a popcycle flavor)

12. IRAQI NAME (second letter of your first name, 3rd letter of your last name, first two letters of your middle name, last two letters of your first name, then last three letters of your last name)
Uyelander (…a planet in outer space, more likely)

13. GOTH NAME (black, and the name of one of your pets)
Black Benny (…makes me think I'm a 300lb black man)

14. STRIPPER NAME (favorite perfume, favorite candy)
Sensual Chocolate (somehow "Hershey" just didn't sound as good…)

Your turn!

Keeping Current

Wow. I was just flipping through my blogroll to try and do some long-overdue catching up and was amazed – and dismayed – to see how many blogs have either totally disappeared or gone private. I am tempted to throw away all the links and start from scratch. Would that be cruel? Would that be upsetting? Hrm. I may need to think about this. Do me a favor. If you've gone private and would like to let me see your blog, please send me an email and give me the link and whatever I need to know to get in, mkay? My email is sesnyde at gmail dot com. Thanks! Oh, and if I do decide to clean 'em all off and your disappears, feel free to contact me to put it back. I'd love to keep in touch.

Not Exactly What I Had In Mind

Jammie day / weekend didn't turn out exactly how I planned. My daughter pointed out that I have been so long without a jammie day I may have forgotten the rules!!

Jammie Day Rules

1. Stay in jammies or comfortable clothing, preferably clothing you wouldn't be caught dead on the street in.
2. Don't shower or bathe unless it is a relaxing bubble bath or sauna.
3. Don't wash your hair. Combing or brushing is allowed if it makes you feel better.
4. Brushing teeth is allowed, flossing is not
5. Junk food aka comfort food is required (jammie day calories are always zero – the happiness cancels them out)
6. Activities must be something stress-free
7. You do not leave the house. The exception is if you are in your own yard. You must not leave the property, however.

What did I do? I not only showered, I actually did "stuff". I cleaned out a linen / junk closet in my bathroom. I organized my makeup drawer. I did some laundry. I cleaned a bit.

On Sunday I not even showered, but dressed and put on makeup as we met the kids at a local restaurant for lunch. I can't really even consider Sunday as being a jammie day because of that. It definately broke several rules, especially number 7.

I am so ashamed. I promise the next jammie day I get I will do better. I realize I have many blogs to catch up on. Maybe that's what I'll do next jammie day. In my bed. In my jammies. Unshowered. Catch you then.

Drama

Several months ago when my daughters and I decided we would make our own private group on World of Warcraft (called a guild) no one dreamed the drama we would encounter. I ended up being the guild manager (the GM)… only in our guild I'm called the Guild Mother. Plenty of days I feel just like that. The mom. After a few bad experiences with kids (12, 13 yr olds) in the guild, we decided to make it adults only. That has worked out pretty well. Except when the adults don't act like adults.

We've had some personality clashes which have ended up in hurt feelings and people leaving the guild. That was upsetting because we try and stress that unlike some guilds which are very goal-oriented and make work out of it, we want it to be what it is. A Game. We also don't devote 24/7 to it as some people do. Our motto is, "We have a LIFE". We try to maintain perspective.

Sometimes you just can't seem to avoid the drama no matter what you do. Case in point: We have a young married couple who joined soon after we formed the guild. They are both very out-going and were very chatty… basically telling us everything about themselves, how they met (on the i-net), their family (4 boys under the age of 4), and even went so far as to post pictures of the whole family on our guild website. At various times they've popped in with news of a new job… then another new job… then, oh, wait… her hubby got a new job now so she's staying home with the kids. All in the space of a month? That's a lot of job-hopping. They both seemed very open about themselves… volunteering way more info than was necessary much of the time.

A couple of days ago she was online and was talking all about wanting to be pregnant again. She wanted a girl and wouldn't mind trying a few times to get one. A few times? She's already got four boys, under four, and two of them have some medical issues. I am pretty sure they aren't rich as according to her the husband is a disabled vet and the jobs she keeps getting that she thinks are soooo great are at a 1.) truck stop 2.) convenience store and 3.) serving at Cracker Barrell (where they went for their wedding reception dinner – hoo boy). Don't get me wrong. I admire people who do those jobs because someone has to do it and it is a good, honest job. I'm just saying, they are not the types of jobs that will support  how many children? Which brings me to the big question of the day. My daughter asked her how many children she and her husband wanted to have. The answer?

12.

You heard me.

After we finished picking our jaws up off the floor, we listened to her talk about them both wanting to have a big family, all the love, yadda yadda yadda. Keep in mind, this conversation just took place about three days ago.

The kicker?

Yesterday she told me they were getting a divorce.

WTF?

She "just can't handle it any longer". She's "lonely". (Is because her husband has finally gone out and gotten a job?) She thinks they've grown apart. Um… okay. I didn't ask about the 12 kids. She said her husband thinks the kids should stay with her (of course he does…) and he's going to move out. Her sister is moving in to help her until she gets (another) job and gets on her feet. Oh. My.

Later I was talking to some of the other guild members and it came out that she has been secretly talking to several of the men from the beginning! She's been saying she's lonely and don't they think she's pretty and why don't they come see her in her hometown. YIKES. The ones I've spoken with so far are married and made no secret of that and she still went after them! I'm really stunned. First her and her hubs come on all mushy and stuff… and now I find out she's been doing all this shit on the down low? I mean, good grief.

I can hardly wait to see what happens next…

Tipped Over

Hey, look, Ma! I learned a new phrase this weekend! "Tipped over"… as in you've had a bit too much to drink. One of my daughter-in-laws (the racer's wife) and her friends were using this over the past week and, on Saturday night, it described me. Why? Because my son (the racer) did awesome in the Supernationals!

I've spoken before about this race, and he's not raced in it for a few years. This year he and his dad (Hubs) decided to go for it and it was a week to remember.

First, some background. The Supernationals are a huge deal. It truly is national. Cars come from all over – including some international ones, Australia usually has a car or two there. I don't know how many cars were there, but over 400 in my sons' class alone (modified stock car). The way it works, is, everyone is trying to get in the big race on Saturday night. All the races leading up to it are to qualify for that race. You start every night being in a heat race (of which there were 40-some). You must win your heat race to qualify for that nights' A-main, which, if you get in the top two of that will be qualified for the Big Race. If you are second place in your heat race, then you qualify to run in that nights' B-main. The way you do in the B-main figures into a points system that determines how you will finally place in what they call the "Last Chance" race on Saturday night – a last chance to get into the Big Race.

Last Sunday Hubs and son took the RV and the car trailer over to the track and got a good spot. Son and dil were staying there through the week. Monday and Tuesday nights were qualifying for the stock car class, so just watching – no racing. Wednesday night was the first qualifying night. I didn't go, but luckily my son drew a pretty early heat race so Hubs was home before midnight. Son won the heat race that night and went into the A-main, where he got spun out so didn't qualify. Son was fine, car was fine. All was good.

Thursday night I went. Son got second in the heat race, so went into that nights' B-main where he also got second place. Again, we lucked out and he had a fairly early heat race so again home fairly early.

Friday I didn't go and it was late. Son drew the 39th heat so didn't even race until about 1 o'clock a.m. It didn't help that we'd had some showers in the evening and the races got pushed back about four hours…  Son won his heat race again and qualified for that nights A-main. He got 10th place that night after starting 17th. Arrggghhh. Hubs got home about 4 a.m.

Saturday night. The Big Race night. I went. By now, things have been weeded down quite a bit and not so many cars are left. He ran in the third heat race and won. Then he ran in the "last chance" race where he got to start on the pole and also won! Now I was stressing… out came the beer. By the time he ran in the Big Race I'd had a few but I wasn't "tipped over" yet. He started 27th and after 40 laps ended up 10th. Not too bad a finish out of 400-some cars that started the week!

I'm so proud of him. We all had fun, he had fun, he was safe, the car ran good, and we came home with a car, a motor, and a driver. (The first four cars that win get their motors auctioned off, and lots of people sell their cars at the Supernationals). Normally, by this time of year we've sold the car so this is a different year. There are some more races that have some good payoffs yet to come this fall, and with harvest being about a month behind there are still some good racing days ahead.

Tipped over? Hell yes, I got tipped over. It was called for!