Looking back............

Sitting here reminiscing over 2006. No huge changes here in the past year, thank goodness. I reconnected with 2 old friends, Margie, whom I've known since we were in diapers, and Cindy. Cindy and I met in junior high and became fast friends. We grew apart in high school but she found me on myspace a few weeks ago. I'm so grateful to have both ladies in my life once again.

Not near as many road trips this year but Chrissy and I did see the Leps 3 times. We were supposed to see Rick Springfield together but she had to work :(. I went by myself and had a great time but I really did miss my concert buddy!

We lost our precious little Penny. I still miss her so much. We added Misty Blue to our family and she's a sweet little budgie.

We didn't get nearly as much done to the house as we had planned but it looks like we will in 2007. We have a few little things to do in the 2 bedrooms that we started, David's room needs some trim painted and new windows and the spare room needs an acoustic ceiling and new windows and then they're both done.

I guess we had a pretty uneventful year but I'm glad. The past few years were pretty hectic and it was nice to just cruise through this year!

Oh and one other thing....

I've been thinking about starting a new blog, all about favorite recipes. I'd like to get a team together for it instead of trying to do it all my self. If anyone is interested in reading or in being a part of the team email me. If there's enough interest I'll do it.

Post holiday sales

I love 'em! I didn't do a lot of shopping today but I did hit Wally world. I came home with 7 bags of stuff plus a gift set that wouldn't fit in a bag, all for under $60! I got 7 or 8 gift sets, candles, a dog toy, a holiday themed throw, a frame,holiday themed pajama bottoms, bows and napkins. I was shocked that the store wasn't more packed. Last year you could barely get down the aisles and everything was pretty picked over by the time we got there. Not this year. The store was reasonably busy but not crowded and the foot traffic in the aisles was manageable.

There were about 10 aisles of stuff that was 50% off and they were literally overflowing with stuff. I'm hoping that by this weekend it will be marked down even more. They also had about half of their registers roped off for returns and there weren't more than a dozen people in line. I love clearance sales!

What not to eat during the holidays

1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday
buffet table knows nothing of the Christmas spirit. In fact,
if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where
they're serving rum balls.

2. Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. Like fine
single-malt scotch, it's rare. In fact, it's even rarer than
single-malt scotch. You can't find it any other time of year
but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories
in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an
eggnog-aholic or something. It's a treat. Enjoy it. Have one
for me. Have two. It's later than you think. It's Christmas!

3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole
point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make
a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy.
Eat the volcano. Repeat.

4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with
skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother?
It's like buying a sports car with an automatic
transmission.

5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort
to control your eating. The whole point of going to a
Christmas party is to eat other people's food for free. Lots
of it. Hello?

6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now
and New Year's. You can do that in January when you have
nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which
you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a
10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.

7. If you come across something really good at a buffet
table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size
of Santa, position yourself near them and don't budge. Have
as many as you can before becoming the center of attention.
They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them
behind, you're never going to see them again.

8. Same for pies. Apple. Pumpkin. Mincemeat. Have a slice of
each. Or, if you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and
one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have
more than one dessert? Labor Day?

9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with
the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all
cost. I mean, have SOME standards.

10. One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave
the party or get up from the table, you haven't been paying
attention. Reread tips; start over, but hurry, January is
just around the corner.

Remember this motto to live by:

"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the
intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well
preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in
one hand, martini in the other, totally worn out and
screaming,

"WOO HOO what a ride!"

Thank you!

I just wanted to thank my friends for all the support. I was really afraid that maybe I was being way too sensitive and I'm glad to see that I'm not and that what I see as bigotry is indeed bigotry.

There were numerous more messages back and forth on the OF after I posted and it still hasn't been resolved. The mod involved tells me that he has forwarded all messages to the other mods and the administration to get their input. We'll just have to wait and see I guess.

Okay

I talked to David (the person who's confidence I was afraid I'd be breaking) and he says go for it so here it is.

There's a thread on the DL forum about "What grosses you out". Some of the posts hit home because a few months ago I found out that my son is gay. I love and support him no matter what. To me his sexuality is not an issue. However I guess I've become hyper sensitive to any type of homophobia or gay-bashing.

In this particular thread, someone posted that gay displays of public affection grossed them out, then stated they hoped there weren't any gay rights activists on the board. I stated I was and was offended by his attitude. We were told to take it to PM, which I didn't do, since I'm not really interested in his/her point of view.

A few pages later someone posted that fags and lesbians grossed them out. I PM'd the playground mods with this

"I know that a warning was already posted but the gay bashing is still going on. As the mother of a gay son I find it highly offensive and I would appreciate it if you'd take a look and delete the offensive posts.
Thanks"

This is the reply " All posts after the warning message that were commenting on lesbians and / or gays have been removed. The post that flared it up again has been edited, with the word "fags" being replaced with "gays". Why it has been allowed to remain, for now, will be explained below.

There have been no attacks on people of any sexual orientation because for a member to let it be known that public acts of homosexual affection gross them out (which is the topic of the thread) is simply a statement of their opinion. It's no different than a member saying that public acts of hetrosexual affection gross them out. The aforementioned problematic post, by ******, does not clarify this though as it simply states "Lesbians and Gays", and as a result we will be asking this member to either modify their post so to make this clear, or to simply remove their comments altogether, or we will.

The first post, by ******, that stirred up bickering between members was quite clear in that there was no malice towards gays, and that rather it was simply a dislike of homosexual acts of affection. It seemed the problem there was said members attempt at humor in his ending sentence, which didn't go down too well. That should have been addressed via private message, and not on the board."


By now I was pretty upset so I replied with this: "I see, so it would be okay if I posted that seeing a multi-racial couple showing affection in public grossed me out?"


The mod's reply "No, it would not be okay. If you said it grossed you out because it was a multi-racial relationship, that would be racist. It would not matter if it was a hetrosexual relationship, or a homosexual relationship, any comments about multi-racial couples would be removed. They would be removed because it would be focusing on the colour of peoples skin, rather than the actual public showing of affection. The core of the dislike towards seeing couples showing affection in public is that people do not wish to see it, the act itself, which should go on behind closed doors. And, we're not talking about little things like holding hands, or hugging, or a peck on the cheek. What people are referring to is full on kisses with the tongue, and feeling each other up in public, etc.

Seeing a homosexual couple showing affection for one another bothers people more so than a hetrosexual couple because they cannot understand the previous, they do not find their own sex attractive, and do not think such thoughts about their own sex, and as such do not wish to see it in public. Many of whom dislike seeing shows of affection from both homosexual, and hetrosexual couples, it's just the latter can override the previous for the above reasons. There are those who dislike it for lesser thought of reasons such as their children seeing it, and then they (the parent) would have to attempt to explain to their child what was happening, and why, when the child may be too young to understand, or comprehend, and then again the parent may struggle to understand and comprehend it themselves.

Members saying that they dislike seeing couples (hetrosexual or homosexual) showing affection in public is not to be confused with them having a problem with said individuals on any other scale. "

My most recent reply "Gotcha, on the DL forum it's okay to be a bigot about homosexuality but not about race.
I'll keep that in mind."

Am I overreacting? I don't feel like I am but I admit I'm not very objective on this subject.

I have an issue

and I'm not sure what to do about it. I can't go into a lot of detail since that would require breaking a confidence but here's the gist of it. There's a forum that I frequent that has recently allowed some very offensive (to me anyway) posts. I'm sure a lot of you know what forum and maybe even what posts I'm referring to.

I've discussed these posts with a mod and was told they'd be allowed to stand because it was merely "someone's opinion". I understand freedom of speech but these are bigoted, ignorant remarks that really bug the hell out of me. I was told to simply bypass the particular thread that the comments were in, but the problem is they've actually popped up in a couple of threads.

I'm seriously considering leaving that forum and never going back but I don't want to just slink away either. I feel like I need to make a stand of some sort. I'm really just heartsick because I've spent a lot of time at that forum over the years.

BTW I even gave the mods a hypothetical post, privately, using the "someone's opinion" train of thought, and asked if it would be allowed to stand. I knew it wouldn't because it was racist (I'm not) but I wanted to see what they'd say. My message was read but not replied to.

Attention Sludgers!

I see I've been getting a bunch of hits from Metal Sludge. Please feel free to leave a comment, I don't bite (unless you want me to :) ) and I'm always interested in meeting new people.

I have a new obsession I think

Happy Birthday to the Guitar God!

Merry Christmas a little early!

Happy Birthday to the Savage One!