Mother Earth

Remember those old 70's Parkay Margarine commercials that ended with the quote "It's not nice to fool Mother Nature" ? Well, looking back at this past season of unusual weather I think we have pissed Mother Nature off.

Our weather here has been quite unusual. We had a very wet winter last year, a wet spring, a rainy summer, a damp fall and our winter season blasted in on December 18th. It's been a helluva ride this year. Saturday was a beautiful 'first day of spring' and yesterday was gray and cold again. Today we've got spotty showers, a chill in the air and some stray snowflakes that melt as soon as they land. Sheesh!

But the weather all across the globe has been unusual. There have been numerous mudslides, many rockslides in our area, a lot of rain followed by flooding & loads of snow. (and I do mean loads!) I think the first snowstorm hit the midwest states before the holidays which shut down many an airport all across the states, stranding many peeps in an airport for days as they were trying to make their holiday mecca. And then the blizzards kept coming. Snow drifts higher than a grown man, numerous power outages, stranded folks and travelers alike and many school days cancelled. And now that winter is slowly leaving the jet streams, the midwest is now battling flood waters again, the northeast got hammered with a pre-spring storm toppling trees and power lines in a 3 state area a couple of weeks ago and my hometown area got slapped with a little more snow just this past couple of days. There have been earth quakes in Hati, Chile, Taiwan, Turkey and a small shaker in LA just last week. (or at least I think it was last week.)

Wow! That's a lot in a year's time. So my question is what did we do to piss off Mother Nature so bad? She must be really mad. Maybe she's going through menopause. Geeze I hope she gets happy again. elizinashe

Time Off

I took some time off from work this week mostly so I can use some of my PTO and go to a concert without the worry of having to get up at the crack of dawn and work sluggishly for 12 hours. My working environment had been getting on my very last nerve so last month when schedule requests came in for this month I just went ahead and marked this week off so I wouldn't have to worry about it. Although I did not go out of town as most people do when they take PTO I have enjoyed my unplanned week.
It's been a rather productively lazy week. I've met some girlfriends for chicken wings, stayed in my pjs until noon, went to a meeting for a work related school thing, met my mother for lunch, started a Goodwill box, went to see a concert with a girlfriend who treated me to a ticket, started on some paperwork for scholarships just in case I make it to nursing school, spent the first day of spring downtown with another friend and have stayed up late watching tv. All in all it's been a good week. I didn't start everything that I had planned like I wanted but I really can't complain. Tomorrow is another day. I can finish up school stuff and begin that exercise program that I keep promising to start as well as posting more blogs that I have dancing in my head in the wee hours of the night. I have one more night of freedom before I have to get back into the work mode and wake up at the crack of dawn. I can't wait until my next PTO. I have loved this week of random nothingness. It was good for my soul. elizinashe

The Point is Moot

So I had a nice little post earlier today along with what would be considered a poem to go along with my post. Just some random stuff I had running through my head as the Benadryl was wearing off. But alas, after many attempts for some reason I kept getting some 'unable to post' dialog box saying that something was not readable or something along that lines. I tried many different ways, even starting from scratch and starting all over again but still, it would not allow me to post. Maybe I'm just not supposed to post that particular blog for public viewing. I'm over it now. The feeling is gone. It's a moot point now. Maybe next time. elizinashe.

Fashion Week

It's Fashion Week Ya'll!! One of my favorite topics to blog. Oh my, isn't this a doozie? Um...what can one say about these two? Apparently a wrap of dead rats around the shoulders and a cube over the head with tattered sleeves is high fashion this year. I may be in luck. I have a lot of clothes with tatters and holes in them. I wonder if pen ink stains is trendy this year. I have those too.

But wait! There's more! Here we have a few other hot items to admire. I spy a Batman fan, I spy a fan of healthy red blood cells, I spy Humpty Dumpty's widow, I spy a terrible drag queen paying homage to Carmen Miranda, I spy a really bad German art flick actor, I spy a sad art house Mickey Mouse Club kid.

Now I know these get-ups are merely just a way of making an over exaggerated statement on how creative each designer can be, however these designers are supposed to be stylists which no matter how over-the-top all this may be, I see no style whatsoever. It just looks stupid and impractical and yet somehow all these get-ups influence the trend on what really will hit the streets for us normal peeps. For those of you who have seen 'The Devil Wears Prada' will remember Meryl Streep explaining to her homely secretary on how one little belt influences on what we buy at Sears. (whatever.) So I'm guessing that the trend will be lots of dark colors, slim fits and strange hats. I guess I better start throwing out all my cheery colors out of the closet. I wouldn't want to be out of style. ;) elizinashe

TMI

There are some products out on the market that I just refuse to buy. You can find a carrying case for just about anything you want. Money, makeup, lipstick, credit cards, cigars, cigarettes and yes tampons. Give me a break!

Now the last thing I want to 'show' the world as I make my way to the ladies room is that I'm in that 'special place', although there ain't nothing special about it. I don't care how stylish the carrying case might be ( such as sparkles ) or what the creator deems as clever (such as 'Go with the Flow', or the 'PMS Queen') crammed full of tampons as I make my way to do my business. And I am almost certain that my peers and strangers in a restaurant or any other public place would not want to know what I'm doing in the ladies room even if I do have a trendy & stylish carrying case for my personal business. Being in that 'special place' is not pleasant. You're tired, cranky, bloated and it is usually followed by a few hours of cramps. Why would I want to brag about that by carrying a freakin' tampon case? I'm just saying. That's just too much information. elizinashe

Life

Ever have days when you feel like this? Barely hanging on, trying to get back on top with all your might? Yet it just does not seem to work. You just can't reach your goal. Perhaps you shouldn't be on that particular branch at all. Maybe you're at the wrong tree.

So what would happen if you just let go? Would you spread your wings and let the winds guide you to safety? Or would you flap your wings in a panic to keep yourself from falling to an inevitable crash? Would you just let go and plop to the ground without even flapping those wings at all and just give up? Or would you keep trying to get back on top of that branch?

There are many metaphors that I could elaborate on but I won't go that far. I think you get the picture. As much as I would like to just 'give up' and crash into oblivion b/c it would be so much easier, in all honesty I think I would let the winds guide me to where I am supposed to be. I think the adventure would be a lot more fun than just crashing to the ground. Sometime spreading your wings to take flight on a different path is exactly where you are supposed to be. elizinashe

Frustrations

It's been on helluva winter. We had a pretty good dump of snow on December 18th 2009 and it's been cold ever since. There have been two days since then that the temperature has reached the mid 30s. One day it got up to nearly 40 but that was shortly after our snow. It has been below freezing since Christmas and this past week our nighttime lows have been in the single digits. My heater won't cycle off b/c my house stays chilly. (Thank God for flannel sheets, I say!). I'm really tired of the extreme cold, however I am thankful that I'm not living in North Dakota where they have had wind chills of -52 degrees. Sheesh!
My mother has had a terribly shitty time with her furnace and has been costing her out the ass in bills & repair. She hit yet another bump in the road today and is now looking to replace the failing oil tank and going for an above ground propane tank that shouldn't have any problems like she's been having with her current heating situation. Her money is tight but I know she will manage somehow by some miracle. I hate that my mom has had such a fucked up time with her heat, or lack of, and I wish I had more money to help her out with this dilemma. Hell, I wish I had more money so I could help myself out. Geeze...does it ever end?
I really don't have much hope for getting into the RN program here. My mom is trying to stay positive about it and gives me alot of praise & support but I don't think she truly 'gets' as to how hard it is to be one of the select few to be chosen out of the 300 some odd people that apply every year. I can't do this much longer. Reality is a factor for me and I need to make more money and need to make it soon. I can't survive on my meager paycheck much longer. Which brings a hairbrained idea to my mind but then it involves more money to relocate and start all over. Do I really want to do that? I dunno. Yes if I have some guarantees but no b/c I don't want to leave Asheville. It's such a groovy place and I've been really happy here. Replanting roots is always tough, especially for someone such as myself.
So what needs to happen here? The weather needs to perk up, the bitter cold has got to go. The money fairy needs to pay a visit to my mom so she has heat and I need to get a letter in the mail telling me what the hell to do with my schooling attempts b/c this shit is getting old. elizinashe.