You asked for it....

So every now and then I like to have the people on my facebook page to ask me questions, and I answer them. I did that tonight and although they were being a bit goofy, I decided to go ahead and answer all of them anyway.

So there.

Bruce asked: Why is The Weather Channel reporting from VA about a minor snow storm? And...how will we survive the blizzard? 

To the first part, I can say it's because y'all are a bunch of flatlanders, much like the people in Kansas. That, or it's just a slow news night. I'm pretty sure that YOU will survive your impending blizzard with your guitar, maybe some alcohol, and your beautiful wife by your side!

Alice asked: Will you still love me tomorrow? 

Always, my dear. Always.

Melissa asked:  Why does Nicki Minaj look like a Muppet from outer space?...

Ummmmm......who? Honestly, I've heard her name, but I really have no clue who she is. Am I showing my age, or my total lack of disregard for current pop culture? Or both?

Brown, black.
Plastic, wood, paper.
Crooked, straight.
My wall, my rules. :)

Rebecca asked: Why can't brown and black frames (on a wall) coexist? Is there some sort of frame law against such tyranny?

Oh, now that's a simple one for me. They can coexist. Very nicely too. But then again, I've never been the type of person to stick to decorating (or fashion) rules. I say if you think it looks good, and you like it, then go for it. Create your own style. Do something different. Think outside of the proverbial box!!! And then show me pictures, because I want to see. Seriously.

Jenni asked: I'm loving the questions! Lol. I have 1! Are we there yet?!

You would. Brat. And the answer is no, because we haven't gotten together for our day-long Bizarre Places of Kansas Photography playdate yet. We need to do that.

Then Jennifer decided to hit me with questions......so here are all of hers:

Jennifer asked: Well, you have been smoke free for six months now. Congrats! Do you still crave them? Also, I thought you re giving up caffeine. What happened toto that.

Toto went back to Oz. ;)

Seriously though, yes, I still crave cigarettes every. single. day. Especially when I'm around people who still smoke *hint hint*. It's hard. Extremely hard. But I do feel better without them and I really want to never pick one up again. Never ever.

As for the caffeine....yeah, well, I did really well until we went on vacation, and then I had to have some to drive. And some led to more, which led to more, which led back into the full-fledged addiction again. It's next on the list of things to go. Again.

How early is too early to send your kids to bed for misbehaving?

Honestly, as far as I'm concerned, it's never too early. They get warned, sometimes too many times. And when they've reached that point, they go to bed. It's been as early as 6:00pm around here a few times - and usually that child is asleep within a few minutes. I try not to use the going-to-bed thing as punishment unless I have to do it and I know that they are truly tired. I don't want bedtime to be turned into a battle because they always look at it as punishment, so it's used very sparingly.

Would you ever consider getting your kids cell phones for emergencies?

Well.....the girls had one that they shared. Ex1 and his wife were able to get one added to their plan for nothing (or next to nothing) so they did carry it on the few times that they were alone, or to practices or other events when they would need to call for a ride home. They proved that they were responsible with that, so we actually went together and got Sarah one for her 13th birthday. Ex1 and I both pay for it, so she has to follow our rules with it at each house. She's gotten it taken away from her more than once here for having her nose glued to it, but for the most part she's been ok with it. She does have certain expectations with it, and so far it's been ok. I'm not crazy about the idea, but in this day and age I do feel a bit more comfortable knowing that she has it. Emily still uses the other one when she is at activities, but she does not carry it with her at all times.

What is the first thing you would do if you won a massive lottery?

There isn't ONE thing, but a few things that are all kind of lumped together. First off, pay off all of my bills and The Dude's bills. Get us in the clear as far as debt goes. Buy us both dependable vehicles so that we wouldn't have to worry about that anymore. Build our dream house in the town that we are trying to move to so that all of the kids could be in the same school district. At that point, we are set - we are debt-free, we have transportation, and the kids are all in the same school. Those are the major hurdles that we are facing right now and once we clear those, we can figure out the rest of it as we go.

If you weren't with Dude, what celeb would you date if the oppotunity arose?

Do I have to pick just one?

Sheesh.....there is always my first love - Jon Bon Jovi. First celebrity crush, and yeah, still crazy about the man. Have you seen the picture of him in the Versace ad? Oh, hello........

There's also Denzel Washington. I don't know what it is about that man..... The Dude actually humors me and occasionally brings over a movie with Denzel in it for us to watch. He's so good to me.

Dierks Bentley. Love his curly hair. And his voice.

I think those are my top 3. For today.

Would you ever consider getting lasik (spelling?) surgery?

In. a. heartbeat.

I've been asked a lot recently if I would consider getting ads or sponsors on my blog in order to make money and I keep telling people that I'm really not interested. I'm not looking to make money or get freebies from doing my blog. However, if a sponsor were to come to me and say "hey, we'll do lasik on your eyes for free if you'll let us advertise on your blog" I'd be all over that. No questions asked. My vision has gotten so much worse over the years, I hate wearing glasses with a passion, I don't want to deal with the hassle of contacts (been there done that) and I just want to be able to see. Not to mention that I want to wear really cute sunglasses. Not dorky clip-ons.

Have you ever thought about making a daily chore list for the kids?

All. the. time. But have I done it yet? Nope. Why? Too many distractions. Life keeps getting in the way. However, it's something that I've been thinking about more and more and it's something that I want to do, but I'm going to have to do it slowly because otherwise they're just going to rebel against it. I need to figure out a time that I can sit down with all of them - possibly individually - and talk to them about it and my expectations of them. Things have gotten out of hand around the house, and they need to do more to help me. I know that.

What some people don't realize though is that as a single parent, it's hard. I can't be in two places in the house at one time. I can't be making sure that the boys are doing one thing and making sure that the girls are doing their thing at the same time. I can be watching over the boys while they do their thing, and the girls are getting into a fistfight behind my back, or vice versa. It's hard and it's stressful. Lists need to be made, but at the same time the kids need to have some input into them or it's never going to work.

Questions and Answers

So every now and then, I get bored lazy inspired and I ask the people on my facebook page to ask me questions, and I'll answer them in the blog. It's a fun way for people to get to know me better and it gives me something to write about when I really can't think of anything interesting.

This is what was asked tonight:

Jennifer asked: If there were only two football teams in the entire world, The Cowboys and The Bears.. Which would you choose?
This one is totally a no-brainer for me. I will always choose whoever is playing against the Cryboys Cowgirls Cowboys. Always. Without a doubt. Well, unless it's Pissburgh Pittsburgh - then I have a really hard time deciding who I hate more, but at that point, I might not complain too much if the Cryboys Cowgirls Cowboys didn't lose.

And yes, I know that The Dude is a diehard fan of that team that I despise - but he has to have a fault. If rooting for the wrong team is the worst one that he has, I'm ok with it. Plus, it gives us something to bicker about from time to time.

Mike asked: I am a stay at home dad and I play dolls with my daughter is it wrong for me to see the cute little dolls naked. Lol
I wouldn't necessarily say that it's wrong, as long as you are not thinking inappropriate thoughts about said dolls. Then you could be considered a freak.

Next!!!

Kristine asked: what chores do your kids do? My two are 9 and almost 11, and I need some ideas!!
You know, this question actually got me to thinking (I hate when that happens). My kids don't really have 'chores'. They have things that I expect them to do, like picking up their toys and keeping their rooms cleaned and basic things like that. But they don't really have a chore list. I just expect them to do what I tell them to do - sometimes that works, and sometimes that doesn't. For instance, I will wash and dry and fold their laundry - but I refuse to put the girls' stuff away. I make them do that, and then when they can't find something, it's their fault and not mine. (I learned that one a long time ago!) Jared and Alex will put their laundry away as well, but I still have to help Daniel because he's too short to reach his top drawers.

It's a little harder for me because the older 3 are only here half of the time - and really less than that now with the sports schedule. So to be completely honest, I try to do as much as I can so that they can focus on family and homework while they're here. As they get older, I do have them do more around the house - when they're here.

Mike asked: I will let my dog or cat play with the naked Barbies on the floor if and only IF they are missing limbs. But if the have all four limbs they get in trouble. Should I let the Barbies become dog toys? I'm afraid dfs is gonna walk in and find a dead Barbie in the dogs mouth.
Oh, Mike, Mike, Mike....first of all, kudos for only allowing the pets to mangle the already-dismembered Barbies. I would hate to think of your kids' reactions should Fluffy get a hold of an intact one. Personally, I despise Barbies so I'm all for allowing them to be chewed up and digested by the 4-legged members of the family, and if any social service agency has a problem with that, then they need to go back and look at their job descriptions again.

Heather asked: What's your favorite thing about Kerry?
Oh boy....how much time do you have? Seriously, there is so much about this guy - but I'll try to keep it short. Probably the best thing about him is that he gets me. I don't know how he does it, but he just knows what makes me tick. He and I were just chatting back and forth on facebook and he said something that made me smile - and I told him that I thought that it was cool "that even after this long, you can send me a message like that, and I sit here with this dumbass smile on my face" - and it's true. No matter what is going on in our lives, he can always make me smile. Our relationship is special in that we don't have to do anything amazing and exciting and exhilarating and whatever in order to enjoy the time that we have together - we are content to hang out with the kids, watch movies, chat on facebook if we're not together, run errands - it doesn't matter what we do, as long as we are together. It sounds cliche, but it's true.

Heather asked: If, given the chance, you had ONE WHOLE WEEK kid free, what would you do?
Oh boy. A week? Really?

I'd probably sleep for the first day. And if I wasn't sleeping, I'd be wandering around the house, eating random junk food and watching movies in my raunchy slept-in clothes and unbrushed teeth - just because I could.

That would only last about a day, because I'd get bored. Then I'd probably start cleaning the house. Like, really cleaning. Tearing stuff apart and organizing because I could do it without being interrupted or without having to stop to feed kids or break up fights or whatever.

And then I would sew. I would pull out all of my unfinished projects, spread them out all over the house to figure out what needed to be done, and then I'd sew and sew and sew until I got them all done.

Of course, spending as much time as possible with The Dude would also be worked in there too. Maybe we could arrange for him to have a week off from work at the same time - and we could win the lottery - and then he and I could go away for a few days, alone. Or skip the lottery part and we could just go pitch the tent out at the lake and hide away from humanity for a few days.

Heather asked: Do you still wear those boots?
(3 questions in a row, Heather? Really?)
Yes. I do.

The story of my boots...... Picture it. Sicily Pennsylvania, December 1993. I was preparing to start my final semester at Penn State, which consisted of my student teaching outside of Philadelphia (Norristown, to be exact). I had gone Christmas/school shopping with my mother, and I needed some new winter boots and a winter coat. Now, we've already established many times throughout this blog that I am not a girly-girl by any stretch of the imagination, so finding winter boots became a challenge. We finally went over to the men's department in some store and I found this pair. Yes, they are men's boots. I don't remember how much we paid for them or anything, but it wasn't an outrageous amount - because you know, men don't have to pay as much for functional boots as women do. Anyway, we bought them and a full length winter coat (that's actually a women's one though) and we left.

I have worn these boots every winter since then - and if my math is right, that means that this winter will be my 19th one with them. I love my big old ugly boots, and when they finally die I will be very sad, and I will never find a pair that is as wonderful as they are.

You can't see it in this picture, but the profile picture on facebook and on the one at the top of the blog itself - if you look at the right boot, there's black goo on them. That is tar from when I wore them to help build a Habitat for Humanity house when I worked in Wichita. I've worn them to do yardwork and to garden. I've trudged through snow and mud and all sorts of crap in them. And they are worn, and they are ugly, but I love them.

And, they are actually what started this blog.

Jennifer came back and asked: What's your favorite scary Halloween movie?
First off, I don't really "do" Halloween. I mean, I take the kids trick or treating and stuff, but I don't really like the "holiday" or "season" or whatever you want to call it.

But, give me a good horror movie any day of the week and I am happy. Seriously. I love a good horror movie. And I am just weird enough that I will sit here alone and watch them late at night. I love them all. Horror, blood and guts, you name it - I'll watch it.

Funny story - right after I moved into this house, I was watching "Pet Sematary" late one night. I had gotten it from Redbox and had forgotten just how scary it was. So I was a little edgy (best part of watching a scary movie) and all of a sudden, the front door of the house blew open with a bang, complete with leaves blowing in and swirling around on the floor. After I peeled myself off of the ceiling, I closed the door, and remembered to deadbolt it against the powerful Kansas wind - apparently I had gone out to smoke earlier that evening and didn't close the door tightly. Oops.

Angela asked: What are your favorite and most disliked parts of blogging?
That's a good one!

My favorite would just be 'doing it'. Whether it's getting something off my mind, keeping track of what the kids and I do on a daily basis, venting about something idiotic, or working through some issue that I didn't really realize that I had, I love being able to just sit here and type it out. I have no idea where I want to go with it - I don't think that I'm the type of person to turn it into a book or anything, but maybe someday I'll get it all printed up and save it for the kids or something. What I put out here is really ME - I don't sugarcoat, I don't make things up, I don't lie - it's totally a snippet of my life. I'm just amazed that people actually read it.

Oh, and the people! I love the people who I have "met" by doing this - both online and in real life. It's an amazing community and I am thrilled to be a part of it.

My most disliked parts....... There have been times when I've taken some pretty harsh criticism of something that I've done or said - and that's never fun. But at the same time, it's what I get for putting myself out there for the world to see so I can't really complain about it too much. There will always be haters and there will always be people who don't approve of what I do - but I'm really ok with that.

Honestly, my least favorite part at this point is Blogger's "new and improved" interface. You readers don't see it, but those of us who use it for our blogs do, and quite frankly, it sucks. It's another example of a company thinking that they need to improve upon something that is perfectly fine to start with - and in the process of "improving" it, they screw it up instead.

Laura asked: Can you keep what happend. On American Horror Story a secret for another hour or so????? I just started it!
Sure, I can do that. Mainly because I have no idea what you're talking about..... LOL

Pam asked: Why did you decide to keep secret what happened a couple weeks ago?
Ah yes, the incident. There are a number of reasons why I won't go into specifics about that one.

I do put a lot of us out there for the world to see. Had I known when I started this blog that so many people were going to read it, I never would have used our names or our pictures - but I did and I can't take it back now. So all I can do is try to protect ourselves from the scariness that is the real world.

I won't use our specific location. I won't use our last names. I do my best to blur out identifying details in pictures that I post. I have filters in place on my facebook page so that comments that contain certain words are automatically hidden. I do what I can to protect myself and my family online.

However, what happened a couple of weeks ago was not something that I could control. I was not able to be the protector in that situation, and to put it bluntly it scared the hell out of me. It was not a "blog thing" - it was a "real world thing". Luckily, everyone is fine. Given the situation, it could have been ugly and horrible and awful. But it wasn't. It's ok.

At the same time, there is a police investigation that is still continuing - and that is a big factor as to why I won't say anything about it just yet. Once I know that everything is resolved and that all of the loose ends are tied, I may divulge some of it - but I might not. I just have to wait and see how it plays out in the end.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
So there you have it - the answers to your questions (for tonight). I always tell people - if you have a question for me, just ask. You can comment here or on facebook, or you can send me a message on facebook or an email. I'll answer it - or if it's something that I can't answer, I'll tell you that too.