Get a grip, people.

It's  getting to be that time of the year again.

Fall is coming and people are anticipating cooler weather, and for whatever reason it seems that people just have to equate that with one thing.

Pumpkin.

Pumpkin everything.

Pumpkin all the things.

Personally, I despise the stuff. I think that the taste and texture of pumpkin is nasty, and yes, I've tried to eat it numerous times, and no, I don't give a crap how YOU make it - I don't like it.

Pumpkins are good for 3 things: jack-o-lanterns, roasting the seeds after making said jack-o-lanterns, and then smashing the aforementioned pumpkin after Halloween is over. That's it. Nothing else.

But yet, there are people who worship the almighty pumpkin. As soon as there is a hint of fall weather (or even before), their eyes glaze over, drool runs down their chins, and all they can think about is adding pumpkin to everything edible and/or drinkable.

They act as though they can only get their beloved squash for a limited time each year - which for the most part is true - if they're going to wait for one to ripen on a vine in their garden. However, with the dozens of people I know who are afflicted with pumpkinitis every year, not a single one of them stands in their garden, guarding the plant, watering it, weeding it, talking to it, waiting patiently for it to ripen so that it can be harvested and cut open and gutted for its (supposedly) delicious flesh. Instead, they do what most people do.

They go to the store and they buy a can of it.

See that? I bought that can of pumpkin last year specifically to make a point. It's been sitting on the shelf in my pantry for close to a year so that on the off chance I decided that I wanted a pumpkin pie in June, I could make it.

Want a pumpkin roll in February? Well, by golly, whip that can of pumpkin off of the shelf and make it!

You want pumpkin cupcakes in May? Crack that can open.

Got a hankerin' for some pumpkin pancakes for a delicious brunch in December? Guess what? YOU CAN MAKE THEM ANY TIME YOU WANT THEM.

You don't know how to cook/bake, or you don't want to? I bet you can find another pumpkinitis victim who would gladly do it.

Oh, but then there are the people who think that their coffee needs to be laced with the crap too. Pumpkin spiced lattes and cappucinos and whatever - well guess what? Some of them DON'T EVEN CONTAIN PUMPKIN!!! They contain "pumpkin spice" which is usually a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and allspice (all of which are available at any grocery store *GASP* year round). If you don't want to make your own "pumpkin spice" mixture - you can buy it already made and sprinkle it in your drinks until your little heart is content.

Now from what I understand, some of these places that sell these grossly overpriced fluffy coffee drinks are now adding 'real' pumpkin to them - but a quick google search brought up about eleventy bajillion recipes for drinks with pumpkin in them - so if I had the desire to ruin a perfectly good drink, I could do it myself for a lot less money. And you can too!

Of course it doesn't stop there. Corporations feed into the pumpkinitis epidemic by adding the crap (or some imitation of it) to everything that is prepackaged whether we want it or not - Oreos and M&Ms and peeps and salsa and candles and soap and pudding and bagels and marshmallows and air freshener and cookies and soda and toothpaste and ice cream and it just. keeps. going. on.

I even found an image for pumpkin spice flavored condoms - which I found are NOT a real product. But I wouldn't be surprised to see them on the shelf at the local drugstore any time now because people will somehow feel that they just can't live without them.

How long until we have pumpkin scented toilet paper?

Seriously people. You can buy pumpkin year round. If you love the food that much, make it whenever you want to make it. SEIZE THE FREAKING DAY and make a pumpkin pie in March if it will make you happy. If you love the candles so much and they're not available at your favorite candle store year round, then stock up on them in October when they are on the shelves. Burn them whenever you want to BECAUSE YOU CAN. All of this prepackaged food has the shelf life of Twinkies anyway, so if you love the Oreos that much, buy a case of them and stash them in the cupboard to enjoy year round.

Stop acting like you can only get the crap for 2.5 seconds out of the year.

Oh look - I still have over
15 months to use it.

Perspective. It's a beautiful thing.

I don't even know where to start on this one. Seriously. It's been bouncing around in my head since about 7:30 this morning when some idiot in the drive-thru at work really pushed my buttons - and not in a good way.

Let me explain what happened.

We all know that I work in fast food, and most of the time I work in the drive-thru. There are things that people do that thoroughly annoy me, and I wrote about some of them a few days ago. This guy...... yeah. He was right up there with some of the worst offenders.

We were out of large coffee cups today. They had been ordered, but they didn't come on the previous truck. It happens sometimes - we can't control it. So this guy came to the drive-thru and he ordered a large coffee. Our conversation went something like this:

Mr. Grouch: Gimme a (whatever food he ordered) and a large coffee.
Me: I'm very sorry, sir, but we are out of large coffee cups today. Can I get you a medium coffee instead?
Mr. Grouch: (snaps) Well I guess I don't have much of a choice, do I?
Me: I apologize, and.....
Mr. Grouch: (interrupts) Well, I just can't believe this. I mean, really? No cups? I should just go to (insert name of other restaurant). Fine, whatever.
Me: Again, I'm very sorry sir. Can I get you anything else today?
Mr. Grouch: No. I just want my damned large coffee.
Me: Is everything on your screen correct?
Mr. Grouch: Except for the coffee, yes.
Me: Your total is (whatever it was) at the first window, please. Thank you.

He pulled up to the window and started on his tirade again, but to my face this time. I kept apologizing and explained that the cups had been ordered, but they simply were not on the truck and it was out of our control. He just kept at it and muttered under his breath as he paid for his stuff, then pulled to the second window where he continued his tirade until he left.

At first, I was really mad at the guy. I mean seriously, who gets that bent out of shape about a cup of coffee?

There are so many more important things in this world today. So many more. But yet, this guy.... this nicely dressed, handsome man driving a shiny new SUV, was totally losing his cool over something as simple as a cup of coffee.

So many people today have such an entitlement attitude, and it drives me insane. Yes, we're a business and yes, we're supposed to have large cups - but you know what? Sometimes we don't. We aren't required to have them, and even if we did have them, we're not required to serve you. If you want to make sure that you get the cup of coffee that you want - then get it yourself. Buy a coffee pot and make it yourself at home. It's that simple.

And if you make the choice to depend on someone else to provide it for you, then you need to understand that you might not always get what you want. 

Throwing a temper tantrum isn't going to help.

Hosting your own pity party isn't going to help.

If you want something to happen, then make it happen. Don't waste your energy blaming others when you have the power to do it yourself.

I really wanted to tell this guy that if getting a different sized cup of coffee was the worst thing that was going to happen to him today, he should feel lucky. At least he had the ability to get up, get dressed, get in his fancy SUV, and drive somewhere to pay someone to make him a cup of coffee. So many people today don't have that.

I honestly want to thank this jerk. He made me look at some of the things that have been weighing on my mind lately and realize that they really aren't that big of a deal, and they're not worth a temper tantrum or a pity party. Instead, I will make my own cup of coffee and handle them like an adult.

Thank you, Mr. Grouch. I needed that reality check.

Now what?

It seems that I've done it again. Unintentionally.

Back in November, I got a wild hair and went off on a rant about judgmental people and food stamps and that post went INSANE. I'm still getting comments on that.

Then came the silly Tooth Fairy letter, which just caused everyone to go nuts (myself included).

Last night's post went kind of crazy. I kind of figured that it would, but I wasn't sure to what extent - and it really bypassed my expectations.

Those three things have caused the traffic on both this blog and my facebook page to grow exponentially. Fast. It took something like 20 months to get up to 3000 people on my facebook page, which averages out to about 150 people per month. In the past month or so alone, over 1200 people have 'liked' it.

What I'm getting at is that I'm not used to this. I've been a little bitty baby blog for a long time and I'm ok with that. I don't blog for numbers or money or fame and fortune. I started it on a whim and it's kind of taken off a bit more than I expected. So when things like this happen, I get a little bit overwhelmed. I like to compare it to the guitar player who loves playing little gigs at the local bar for a small group of people - and then is suddenly thrust into the spotlight center-stage at Madison Square Garden in front of a sold-out crowd. It's a little nerve-wracking.

It's fun, yes. But it's also scary. I know that people are going back and reading old posts to get to 'know' me. Some of my past posts were not taken so well, or were about very dark times in my life - and they sort of 'reappear' on my radar when people start reading them again. I've put so much of my life 'out there' and sometimes it's a little unnerving to have it examined by total strangers.

So why do I do it? I get that question a lot.

Like I've said before, it started on a whim. I never expected anyone to pay any attention. But the more time I put into it, the more people started to read it. I started connecting with people that I wouldn't have know otherwise, and people who were reading were connecting with each other. A nifty little group of people has come together because I started writing a blog.

And that's really pretty cool.

I never claimed to be an artist.

At the same time, it also leads to me wandering around the house looking a lot like this.

Ratty t-shirt, gigantic cup of coffee, and the purple bandana - check.

Deer In The Headlights look - check.

Questions flying through my mind at warp speed - check.

I'm always left thinking "Well, crap. Now what? What can I write about now that people will find interesting after I did THAT?"

So yeah. That's where I am right about now. Blogging about the fact that I have no idea what I should be blogging about today.

One thing that I can promise is this - it has been suggested numerous times that I start putting ads on my page because of the increased traffic. At this point in time, I have no desire to do that. None. I don't want sponsors. I don't want to follow someone else's rules and write about what THEY want. I'm going to continue doing things the way that I always  have, which means you'll get lots of random ramblings.

Because that's what I do.

An off kind of day...

So the other day I admitted that I've been having kind of a hard time. And it hasn't really let up much. But at the same time, it's manageable for the most part.

I started out today with the lovely chore of paying bills. I got that done fairly quickly, did some stuff around the house and made a grocery list before I took off to get the shopping done. I went to the first store (the one I refer to as my "scratch & dent" grocery store) and got a few things, and when I went to write out my check, I discovered that my driver's license is missing.

Oh joy. I have no idea when I had it out the last time, other than photocopying it (here at home) for some paperwork that I had to send out - and that's been well over a month ago. I just don't whip out my license very much any more. So I have to search for it - I already know that it's not in my wallet or my purse, but I haven't thoroughly checked my desk around my printer/copier yet. I'll find it eventually - or pay to get it replaced.

I'm seriously not going to stress about it right now.

Anyway, I left that store and was getting ready to head to the "real" store to do the bulk of my shopping, but I was hungry. I thought that I would play it safe and get something to eat first, but couldn't figure out where to go. Finally I decided to stop back in at the coffee shop that I had gone to way back before The Dude and I started dating.

Oh my wow. You see that sandwich? That is grilled chicken, bacon, cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, and mayo on a (get this) soft pretzel roll. And then it's grilled just a bit.

A big chunk of heaven in a little red plastic basket. Right there. It was amazing.

I just sat there, and I ate my sandwich, and I drank my vanilla cappuccino, and I took in my surroundings, and just enjoyed the peace and quiet.


I have to admit that the salt and pepper shakers that were on my table almost came home with me. Not that I'm that crazy about pineapples (ok, I'm crazy about real pineapples, but not so much as home decor) but they were just so stinkin' cute. Every table had a different set of salt and pepper shakers. Just one of those silly observations that I made while I was enjoying my alone time.


Anyway,  I hung out there too long to do my "real" shopping, so I just buzzed into the store long enough to get the stuff that I absolutely needed and then got the boys and came home. I tossed supper in the oven so that it was ready for when the older 3 got home from school (2 hours late because of basketball practice) but of course there was drama.

Between the tween-hormone-ridden angst, the tired and cranky attitudes, and my own body and hormones being out of whack, the 30 minutes that the older 3 were home between basketball and church were not pretty. There was fighting and stomping and crying and tantrums - some from the kids, and some from me.

Luckily The Dude had come over for a little bit, and we were able to sit down and talk a bit - and once again, he amazed me with his understanding and his willingness to put up with so much crap. I seriously dumped a lot of stuff on him tonight, and for whatever reason he's still willing to stick around. There were some things that came up in our conversations tonight that would have sent most men running for the hills - but he swears he's not going anywhere.

Seriously. I don't know how I got so lucky. I really don't. And I know that I shouldn't question it, but I still do. All I can say is that I am extremely grateful and lucky and happy that he picked me.

Stepping out of the box.

Or in this case, the house.

I was with some of my mom-friends last week, and the couple of us who are single were talking about how hard it can be to "get out there" and meet guys. Decent guys. Nice guys. I keep being told that they exist, but I have yet to discover one...not that I'm ready to jump into a relationship or anything, but a date once in a while would be nice.

One of my friends pointed out to me that I have to actually get out of my house in order to meet someone. I laughed, but realized just how true it really was - other than taking kids to and from school and running errands, I really never *go* anywhere.

So today I decided to do something about it. No, I didn't go out with the intention of finding Mr. Right, but I went out. Just me. No kids.

It was odd. But it was a good odd.

I went to a local coffee shop with a couple of books, ordered some extremely overpriced food and a vanilla cappucino and just sat and enjoyed. The place was packed when I got there (thanks to dropping Daniel off at school at 12:30 and then heading right over) but I sat there and I ate and I watched people and I read my books, and enjoyed that I was (a) not in the house, (b) not running errands, (c) kid-free, and (d) not cleaning. I have enjoyed my kid-free time since the kids have been in school, but I don't know that I've done anything just for myself with the free time.

It was nice. The coffee shop was nice. After the lunch rush, it emptied out. Like, totally emptied out. And was quiet. I was the only person there. So yeah, it's not like it was a meeting ground for singles, but still - I got myself out of the house. And I did something totally for me.

I love this lamp. Not enough that I would want it in my house, but I love it anyway.

I sat there for about an hour and a half, and just absorbed everything around me. And I enjoyed myself so much that I might just have to make it at least a weekly outing. The nice thing with it being right here in town is that it only takes a few minutes to get there so I don't have to rush like I do when I go to Wichita to do stuff.

I don't know why I've never done this before. Fear, maybe? Regardless, I did it. I can't just hide away in my house forever.

And after I got done there, I took a stroll through a used bookstore nearby - all of the books (thousands upon thousands of them) are donated, and the money that they make goes to charity. They had books in literally every category that I could think of, and I could have spent hours in there - but instead, I'm going to go back next week and pick up some books for the kids for Christmas - inexpensive gifts and helping charities at the same time. Bonus!

All in all, I'd say that it was an ok day. It started out rough with some major attitude issues - and a few more this evening - but nothing that we can't work around and get past (I hope). Tomorrow morning we have to be up early to get the girls to basketball practice, and then the older 3 are with their father for the rest of the weekend. I have no idea if Alex's father is planning on seeing him or not (go figure) so it'll just be me and Alex and Daniel for the weekend. We have nothing planned, and I like it that way!