I just got back from vacation on Sunday nite. Branson was FABULOUS as usual. It's everything about the Midwest that I love. Hokey shit on every corner! And all against a beautiful landscape. First we went to Laura Ingalls Wilder's last home. I never really got into those books or the show even tho the show was a big hit when I was a kid. But it was still very interesting. Her husband Almanzo built their home and we got to see the desk she wrote all those books on. Then we went to Silver Dollar City. Oh sure, I love rollercoasters and scary rides (my voice is still hoarse from all the screaming) but the unexpected surprise was the Marvel Cave. This is huge. From top to bottom it's 50 stories. They take you all the way thru it and it takes an hour. Oh man, was it absolutely GLORIOUS! I have never seen anything like it. All those stalactites and stalamites that took millions of years to form, from the constant steady stream of running water. God sure does make some very precious and special things doesn't he? Then we went to Table Rock Lake for a picnic and swim, we even took one of my dogs with us. Oh! And I can't forget the restraunt we went to! It was called Lambert's (Home Of The Throwed Rolls). Huge heaping portions of southern soul food were served, and a guy goes thru the dining room every few minutes and throws rolls to your table. Awesome.
Speaking of restraunts, I got a letter from the Child Support people saying that they my ex-husband was working again and that I will receiving 500 dollars a month. I think he may be working at an Olive Garden or Red Lobster (thank you internet... when you get some listing for a company you've never heard of, you can look it up and bingo! This place they had on the form as his place of employment said it was the parent company of these two restraunt chains.) Now I've gotten these letters in the past and I haven't gotten a fucking dime because by the time they catch up with this bastard, he's quit, been fired, or simply went back to jail. The letter says he is currently 20,000 dollars behind. So, I know I shouldn't get my hopes up, but for some reason this time I have. I swear, if I don't get that money next month, he is definetly the Dirtbag Of The Month for September. I said it before and I'll say it again, he's the Dirtbag Of Our Lives. If I actually do get the money, I will faint from shock. Does he have any idea how much that would help us? I know that 500 dollars a month sounds like a lot, and the original agreed amount was 400 dollars which I thought was fair for three kids. He is so behind on the payments, he has to pay more to make up for it. But seriously how can a person not care to help out his own kids? My oldest son does not live with me anymore, but I call several times a week. I visit every other week, I bring him clothes and whatever else he might need from time to time. I miss him terribly and he's constantly in my thoughts. My own dad never called me, wrote, or paid child support either. And I guess that makes him the Grandaddy Dirtbag Of Our Lives.
Ok. I've got to stop talking about this because I'm starting to get upset. I've already drank a pint of something called Tequila Rose today and I don't need to start feeling like I need more. Don't worry, it's not that strong, it's only 15 percent alcohol, a little stronger than wine, and it was only a pint and I wasn't even that buzzed when I finished it.
Best movie I Saw This Week: Well, I was going to rave on about how much I liked Eight Below (and it was good, honest it was, you can't go wrong with an incredibly hot guy and a bunch of dogs) until I saw Junebug last nite. Oh what an enchantingly entertaining little film! You couldn't help but fall in love with the main character Ashley played by Amy Adams, who was nominated for an Oscar by the way. Here's why I loved her: In her crying scene, as she is lying in a hospital bed after she lost her baby, she goes thru this whole speech about why me, and all this stuff we did to get ready for the baby was all for nothing, and my husband can't handle stuff like this, and she's crying her eyes out, which I was too because if you're a mother how could you not? And then she says something goofy and funny thru her tears and smiles. When I had my own moment of why me, and all this stuff we did for the baby was all for nothing, and my husband can't handle stuff like this, after my first baby was born and I was told that he would never walk, talk, or be anything close to normal, I had to learn to say something goofy and funny and smile thru my own tears REAL QUICK. It is the ONLY thing that's kept me from falling into a pit of utter despair. Example: I can say something like, "Well, it could be worse, I could be working at Target... Oops! I forgot! I DO work at Target! HAH!"
Book I'm Reading This Week: I just picked up a book entitled Dead Ends by Michael Reynolds. Here's what it says in bold print on the cover: POISONED BY TWISTED OBSESSIONS AND MOUNTING RAGE, SHE WAS DRIVEN TO KILL AND KILL AGAIN. THE PURSUIT, CONVICTION, AND EXECUTION OF FEMALE SERIAL KILLER AILEEN WUORNOS, THE DAMSEL OF DEATH. Well, I think that just says it all doesn't it?
Best Song I Heard: Don't laugh, but the song is It's A Beautiful Life by Ace Of Base. The opening line is "You can do what you want just seize the day..." and that is what makes the song fabulous. It has a great classical sounding riff, overkilled background vocals and the best part is that it HAS A GOOD BEAT AND YOU CAN DANCE TO IT! Yeah I know, it's cheesy 90's dance pop, but it's cheesy 90's dance pop at it's best, right up there with What Is Love (Lady Don't Hurt Me).
Top News Story: Well, it's still all this Middle East crap, Lebanon and Isreal at war, but here's an interesting scandal that caught my attention this week: Floyd Landis. He won the Tour De France but his piss test came up dirty with too much testosterone and his title was stripped away. He is denying that he took any steroids but when they took a second test it was dirtier than the first one. How do you deny it? His only defense was like that classic Shaggy song "It Wasn't Me".
Well, I have tommorrow off and I plan to just loll around here in the peace and quiet (the kids are away at camp this week) and revel in the silence because that's what I crave the most. Is that weird that I prefer isolation? I mean, I think I'm very social and I love going out and doing things but what I really love is to read all day on my day off, no tv no phone, etc. I guess that's just me.