Divine Secrets of the Blog-Blog Sisterhood

the not-very-official blog of the sisters formerly known as rosche

Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Nail Clipper Gnomes and Sock Faeries

I have Nail Clipper Gnomes in my house. I swear it's true. It's the only explanation for the mass disappearance of every freaking finger nail or toe nail clipper in the house. I buy, buy, buy and they just keep vanishing in the middle of the night before I can even get my toe nails clipped. I had to wear a double pair of panyhose to work today just to camouflage my hideous toes. Am I the only one with this problem?!

I have a theory where these evil gnomes originate from. They are the demon spawn of the Sock Faeries (not to be confused with the Underwear Gremlins). You know, the ones who hide out under the dryer snatching one of each pair of white socks only to turn around and sell them back to unsuspecting victims at three pairs for a dollar on Dickerson Road. Arrrrgh!

Tuesday, August 30, 2005

"Little Brother"

Oh, yeah...Adrian is doing good and has grown to a whopping 6ft. 5 in...making him TALLER THAN DAD...

Image hosted by Photobucket.com

Hello Family!!!

I'm doing good...I'm actually kinda planning on moving out in about a month. I'm waiting for dad to get me a new birth certificate so I can update my ID (It's been sayeng Tennessee FOREVER!). I'm still job hunting...the Taco Bell down the street from me said I was hired and could start as soon as the new uniforms came in...THAT WAS OVER A MONTH AGO!!! Now I'm back to square one and doing odd-jobs...

DUDE! My school (Crenshaw HS) lost its accreditation! .......That means all diplomas from year 2006 and beyond will be worthless! I'm gonna move in with grandma said I could stay with them if I want to go to North High (which I do, but Job Corp is tempting because they pay you...).

On a more entertaining note, I got to see Rocky Horror performed by a LIVE theater group...TWO WEEKS IN A ROW! It was awesome! The theater group that performs is called Sins O' The Flesh and they're in Beverly Hills. I got de-virginized (IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK, MOM!!!) by one of the chics in the Tranny Corp. my first night there. My friend, Emerald, went with me both times, but didn't want to admit to be part of the virgin sacrifice, so she lied about it being her first time [to Rocky].

If dad (and Emerald's dad) say it's ok, we're gonna go again this Saturday for Emerald's birthday, so she can be part of their birthday ritual...it's SO FUNNY! They make the cast and the regulares (people who go EVERY week) line up behind each other with their legs spread and the birthday person has to crawl under their legs... As they go through each pair of legs they get spanked.

My fav part is when the birthday person first goes in, then comes out...before you go through the first pair of legs, the wack you in the but with one of those big water containers (that...like...get delivered to your doorstep), then when you crawl through the last pair of legs another person spanks you with a cat 'o' nine tails... (ALL the security guards at Sins O' The Flesh carry them).

The first time we went was so much fun! My favorite part was when Riff Raff sang his verse from "There's A Light." The actor playing him stood on the chairs in the row in the row in front of us (he was DIRECTLY in front of us) and at the end of his verse he pulled a can of sill string out of the crotch of his pants and sprayed people with it.He actually AIMED at Emerald (looked her in the eye and everything!) because during that song your supposed to take your prop newspaper and cover your head with it (you know...like Brad and Janet do in the movie), but she was the ONLY one in theater who did it...so Riff Raff came over (HA! HA! ...CAME OVER!), ripped the paper from her hands, and sprayed silly string on her head...he got me and a few other audience members too though... (I saved some of the silly string...memories...)

Well, that's all I can think of too say right now...I know my first blog entry's like...6 pages long...

TaTa!
Jazzy

Monday, August 29, 2005

Doing better

Luis worked this weekend so we have more money. Yeah! He is talking about working weekends so I don't have to work. School started today. I am trying to add a class, and if I am successful I will let y'all know which classes that I am taking.

Love everybody,
Jonna

Sunday, August 28, 2005

Nice to See You

I would like everyone to get their photo in their profile. I am going to try to figure out a way to make each person's photo appear by their name in the "About Us" section on the home page. For now they just appear next to any comments you leave, which is better than nothing.

For the sake of good design they should all be the same size (75 pixels square) and format (black & white). Also, making them all black and white has the benefits of 1) making them all have a uniform appearance despite being shot in a variety of settings, and 2) making us all appear much better looking than we really are! I went through photos I have and created some for a few of our profiles. I should be able to do some for David and Ryan since I have photos for both, but it might be another week before I can get to it. If you don't like your photo, feel free to use a different one that is 75 x 75 and black & white, or send me another to edit down and convert.

You'll have to edit your own profile to add the photo since each user can access only their profile. If you look about a third of the way down the page on the "Edit Profile" form you'll see a heading that says "Photograph" and a box labeled "Photo URL." Paste the link to your photo into that box and click the "Save Profile" button at the bottom of the page and it will be added.

Here are links to what I have:

Jonna
http://photos17.flickr.com/21435042_c21cd17e5c_s.jpg

Suzanne
http://photos21.flickr.com/34526059_3fa4274b93_s.jpg

Janet
http://photos22.flickr.com/34528403_ce2dcf1a3f_s.jpg

Amanda
http://photos23.flickr.com/34529336_5d36ffbe13_s.jpg

Saturday, August 27, 2005

Mom Stuff

I took a vacation day Tuesday and took Lea Anna out for some good old fashion spoiling. I asked her that morning where she wanted to go today and of course she said "Chattanooga and go up and down and up and down on the carousel!" Well, Rivergate Mall is 10 minutes away and has a carousel so you can guess where we ended up. Besides the carousel rides and the obligatory Chick-fil-A happy meal, strawberry frappacinno and window shopping, She got a manicure. Oh, the child thinks she is THE BOMB now. It was so cute, her showing anybody and every body her pink nails. We had a ton of fun. I had to pick her up and march her out of the Disney store though. She had a screaming fit because I made her put back a pair of Cinderella panties. All I can say is "naptime !" She screamed bloody murder all the way to the parking lot and half way back home. She has been bugging me all week to go back and get her nails painted again, but I don't want to 10 dollar myself to death.
Daniel was a little jealous when he found out we went to the mall, but I told him that I would have a Daniel day soon. If I can get some stuff done around the house today I might take him to the Adventure Science Museum tomorrow. We would both love that.

Friday, August 26, 2005

Divine Secrets of the Blog-Blog Sisterhood

I am writing on a Spanish keyboard and can't find the punctuation so I am sorry I am writing this sloppy. I just wanted to let everyone know I am okay. I have 24 minutes until my favorite show, Stargate SG1, and I have no kids with me. Ruben And Hector left for the weekend with Marissa, their half sister, and Chela and Luis are at my sister-in-law's house to eat. Dad cooked today. Anyway what's new is I am not homeschooling Hector despite Luis' wishes. I am not telling Hector until next week in order to surprise him. He wants to go back real bad and he is missing out socially. About his grades I don't know what to do. His Star test came back and show he is advanced in all subjects but since he doesn't turn in his homework his grades are poor, no matter what I do. What's new with me is that we are broke. They cut our welfare check down to $530 a month, since I have been on the system for five years. Luis is adamant about going to school but we are very poor. We are talking about me working. I can't afford my books. Oh well, today was actually happy. I spent my day at the beach, meditating and reading the Bible. For me, it's been a long time since I have read it. I feel happy knowing that God is going to take care of me. Today felt good. I feel excited wondering what the week will bring. I will let everyone know how it goes.

Wednesday, August 24, 2005

Stuck At Ft. Lost-In-The-Woods

We move at two speeds here in the Army... hurry up and wait. I've had the invitation to this thing sitting in my mailbox for the past few months, but due to the limited amount of personal time and freedom, this went on my "wait" list. Not too much has happened in my life the past five and a half (give or take) months, but I'll catch y'all up anyway.

I joined the United States Army (officially) on 17 March 2005. There's a song we sing that goes, "I don't know why I left, but I must have been stoned," and that's about as much explanation I can come up with for signing up. Of course, you can't be under the influence to join, but I don't really have a good reason for signing on that dotted line. I just called up my recruiter and told him to pick me up, feed me lunch, and put me in the army. Two weeks later I was on a bus to Ft. Jackson, SC, for Basic Combat Training.

For 10 weeks I was told on a daily basis how easy we had it, and that the only reason the Army accepts pieces-of-shit privates like us is to fill body bags. I don't care what the drill sergeants say--BCT broke my weak little body off. Before enlisting, all I could do was wait tables and play with computers. About a million push-ups and a thousand miles later, I could march, kill, and talk like a soldier. Yay for me. I graduated 26 May (my mommy has the _terrible_ pictures to prove it), then got on a bus to Ft. Lee, VA, for Advanced Individual Training, where I would learn how to be a Petroleum Supply Specialist (gas pumper). There's a lot more to pumping fuel than you might think, and because we had to move at a half-step so the "special" soldiers could keep up, it took 10 weeks to become qualified for my Military Occupational Specialty. Then Uncle Sam decided it isn't enough for me to know how to operate the pumps and fuel filters on the tankers we use, but that I should also learn to drive them big sumbitches. So they shipped me to Ft. Leonard Wood, MO, for Petroleum Vehicle Operator Course.

I thought that I would leave drill sergeants behind once I graduated from AIT, but oh boy was I mistaken. My class has the toughest DS in the company. The fact that she's a female is just icing on the cake. The females always have something to prove... I've been here for about two weeks now, and I've got to admit the treatment is a lot better than I grew accustomed to in AIT. We get released every day around 1730, and we don't have to be anywhere until our Physical Training formation (Mon. through Fri.) at 0440. We're also allowed to enjoy the full weekend... until accountability formation on Sunday at 1600. This would be more of a luxury if there was anything around post to do, but since the Army decided to put Fort Lost-In-The-Woods in the BFE, where land is cheap, everyone just sits around with our thumbs up our asses. The only things off post is a Wal-Mart, a Ruby Tuesday (blech), and a titty bar. I get everything I need at the Post Exchange and Commissary, and I eat at the Dining Facility, so you can guess where I end up on the weekends. Three more weeks of this garbage and I'll be off to Ft. Benning, GA.

I've been telling my buddies for months now that I wanted to go to airborne school and learn how to jump out of airplanes, but when I missed the opportunity to sign-up the second time, I started to change my mind. For the past week, I've been telling people I'd be heading to my duty station after I graduate here, but something happened today. My drill sergeant had some information to put out after school today, and the last thing on her list was to find airborne volunteers. She told me it would likely be my last chance to sign up, and also that I wouldn't be allowed to back out, so I raised my hand before I could start to think about the consequences. So it's a done deal. After I get awarded my little certificate that says I know how to drive big-ass trucks, I'll be getting on a plane bound for Fort Benning, GA. Then, instead of being bossed around by Noncommisioned Officers in funny brown hats, I'll be bossed around by NCOs in black baseball caps. I don't know what's worse, but I'll finish up there after only three weeks. If my commander at jump school approves it, I'll be taking 10-14 days leave after I get my jump wings.

As of right now, my final destination is the 1st Cavalry Division, which is at Fort Hood, TX. However, since that isn't an airborne unit, I will most likely get new orders for a unit that jumps out of planes. The Airborne Recruiter told me I'll most likely end up in Fort Bragg, NC, with the 82nd Airborne Division... that's the one you want. When it comes to esprit de corps, the 82nd takes the cake.

For now, though, I'm focused on what's right in front of me, and I've got a long day tomorrow, so it's time to hit the rack. Hope everyone's doing well. Talk to y'all some more later. (Oh and I promise I'm getting my phone turned on payday, mommy.)

-Dave

Monday, August 22, 2005

Here, Kitty Kitty!

Our greyhound adoption group came by two dogs from what one member called "the greyhound breeder from hell." They were left outside all of the time, which for greyhounds is a big deal because they're not outside dogs any more than a toy poodle would be. They're big enough, but they don't have the body fat to insulate them from heat or cold, or protect their bony bodies when they lie down. They're scruffy, dirty and malnourished. The female, "Kitty Kitty," had a broken tail which had to be partially amputated. Anyway, Kitty Kitty in particular is going to need some special attention in order to get adopted. The group's foster chairperson called Kitty Kitty "by far, the homliest 9 year old girl I have ever seen."

Ironically, Kitty Kitty is not cat safe so they were having trouble getting someone to take care of her. Seems a lot of the greyhound club members have cats. Sara likes kitties alright, but she would probably like them for breakfast so this is a problem we're familiar with. We're going to take Kitty Kitty in for a little while, feed her, brush her, and teach her what it's like to live in a home instead of tied to a tree. I hear she's already a sweet girl, so hopefully once her appearance matches her personality she'll find what they call her "forever home."

If you want to see what Kitty Kitty looks like you can go to the adoptables page on our group's Web site. There's no direct link to her picture, but if you'll scroll most of the way down the page you'll see her. It'd be hard for any of you to adopt her, but I figured I'd just tell you about our new "foster child" and you could send happy thoughts her way so her boo-boo tail and scruffy coat would get better soon : )

Saturday, August 20, 2005

Forget your login info?

If you ever forget your user name or password to log in and post, just go to the Blogger start page. Look for the little boxes where you enter your user name and password, and above the password you'll see a question mark. Click it.

You'll then see a page where you can enter your user name and get help with your password, and also one where, if you've completely forgotten everything, you can enter your e-mail address and they'll send you an e-mail with your user name that'll get you started. I don't have access to anyone's login information - that's private - so this is the way to get it if you've forgotten.

Friday, August 19, 2005

The Blog-Blog Sisterhood It Is!

Did ya notice our new blog name at the top of the page? Congratulations to Amanda who came up with it while drinking Bad Ass Coffee in Chattanooga, TN. Another of her suggestions, "Hermanas Locas," was also a favorite, despite the fact that es un insulto a su madre y a sus tías.

Welcome to The Blog-Blog Sisterhood, everyone! Boys, too!

Thursday, August 18, 2005

My Neck of the Woods

Nothing much is happening here other than the usual work and Mom stuff. Traffic sucks in the morning once again thanks to the school buses once again on the road. At least I leave early enough to avoid the psychotic moms barreling down the roads in their SUV's at the last minute to drop their kids off. Now they, with out a doubt are the scariest creatures around.

It has been a record two weeks since anyone from Tennessee made the "News of the Weird". Starting with the law passed five or six years ago legalizing road kill dining, through the ongoing (ex) Senator John Ford's antics, and drunk driving arrests of guys on lawnmowers they probably got tired of writing about us. And they think California has some strange residents!

Lea Anna is still talking about Chattanooga. She just don't understand that Mom can not drop everything at once and take a 3 1/2 hour ride for her to ride the horses and play in the water. We have a carousel here, but it involves a trip to the mall. Uh uh, no way! I'd rather take the long car ride. As a side note, she named her favorite teddy bear "Aunty Susie". Awwww!

My work had a brief blurb yesterday on CNN.com's home page. The virus that has been going around got us too. Besides all the behind the scene work that our IT crew had done, yesterday morning they stopped everyone at the door with a laptop and scanned it before letting it upstairs. I've only heard one person complain, but to her I say suck it up and get over it. It just takes one yayhoo not following standard security procedures to screw things up. Most of us understand this.

Does anyone watch Rock Start INXS? They need to let me pick out their songs that they perform. I mean, I've seen a lot of good performances but I was inspired by one of their contestants last night mangling (in a surprisingly good way) a Brittney Spears song. Of course anything that mangles a Brittney Spears song is good, but I digress. My choices would be:

1. Anything recorded by Abba or Captain and Tenille

2. Cows in the Kitchen

3. Afternoon Delight

4. Donkashein (sp?)

5. I've Got you Babe

6. Supercalifragilisticexbealidocious

7. Billy Don't be a Hero

That would be a real test of star power if anyone could make any of these sound cool.


Wednesday, August 17, 2005

Staccia Buratta

Lisa got me thinking the other day with her post about "Sana que sana colita de rana..." and Staccia Buratta.

For those who don't know these two rhymes (I guess that's what you'd call them), they're things we grew up with courtesy of two grandmas that were in our lives. I think the first one Mom picked up from Susanna Salazar, a Colombian woman who spoke no English whatsoever. Or if she did, she never let on. Anyway, it's a much more fun way of trying to make a child feel better about a boo-boo, as long as you don't try to use it once the child attains the age that he or she expects you to actually DO something to treat the hurt (MOM!). You say it while either rubbing the afflicted area or doing sort of a circular "hocus pocus" motion. I Googled this little rhyme and it's common in many Latin American countries.

Staccia Buratta, on the other hand, was a difficult one to track down. Lisa came up empty, as did I on many searches. I finally searched pages in Italian, and while I don't exactly speak or read the language I finally found numerous versions of "Staccia Buratta" after figuring out how to correctly spell some of the words I was searching for.

It seems that while "Staccia Buratta" is common throughout Italy, each area says it a little differently. Libby taught it to us, and when we were little she held our arms and rocked us on her lap as she sang. As she said the last word, "Mare," (rhymes with "hooray" and means the sea or ocean) she would let the child rock all the way back until upside down. Being upside down when you're a little kid is just some kind of special thrill, and as Lisa can attest, kids would make her do "Staccia Buratta" over and over and over.

I have pieced together lyrics based on my memory and the Italian versions I have found on the Web. If you can fill in the blanks (even if you're not sure how to spell it), leave a comment with what you remember. I can't find any pages in English with Staccia Buratta, maybe because this came straight from Italy with Libby and Nonna.

Staccia Buratta
Martin è della gatta
la gatta va mulino
per fare focaccino,
con l’olio, col sale,
Buttalo Do [?word?] [?word?]
Ve
Mare!

Translation (from what I understand):

Staccia Buratta (have no idea & no language translator I have is deciphering this)
Martin leaves the cat
The cat goes to the flour mill so that it can make bread
With oil, with salt
It throws it in the sea

Sunday, August 14, 2005

Resorting to Bribery - UPDATE!!!!!



Tomorrow's the day we'll give away the T-shirt for the best name for our blog. Share your idea by clicking the comments link at the bottom of this post. Amanda (a.k.a. YoSoyAsquel) came up with one yesterday at our Chattanooga rendezvous that we all liked. She promised to post it here. So have a look through the suggestions and post yours, then come back tomorrow and tell everyone which one you like best. (The original post follows this one.)

--

C'mon - you guys really like this name? Surely you can do better than "bloggeRosche." In an effort to encourage you to offer your suggestions, the person submitting the winning name (as selected by the registered participants in this blog) will receive the groovy T-shirt from ThinkGeek pictured here. If the winner is a guy we'll give you the guy's version instead of the babydoll tee...that is, unless you want the babydoll tee!

To submit, just use the Comments link below this post to add your suggestion. Make sure we know how to get in touch with you. Anyone can submit, even if they're not a registered participant in this blog. If you post obscene or rude stuff we will remove it and you will have to deal with the bad karma you've generated! Submissions must be received no later than midnight PDT 15 August 2005.

Coolidge Park - Chattanooga TN


View of Coolidge Park from the pedestrian bridge. The park is situated on the banks of the Tennessee River and is part of several miles of parks running along the river.



Daniel really liked the fountains. The elephant he is sitting on is part of a circle of animals that ring the fountains and spit water toward the center.



We rode the carousel, which in its previous life was located at Grant Park in Atlanta. I think students carved new animals for the carousel - they are really imaginative works of art.



Yep, we ALL rode the carousel!



Look in the leftmost mirror and you'll see Daniel.



Daniel on the bridge over the Tennessee River.



Lea Anna playing peek-a-boo with the camera.



Amanda, Caitlin (yacking on a cell phone!), Daniel & Suzanne stop for a rest. We did lots of walking yesterday!



Thursday, August 11, 2005

On to Fort Leonard Wood

Heard from David this morning. It was a quick call on a borrowed cell phone. He graduated from AIT yesterday and was about to get on a plane to go to driving school at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri.

I asked if he'd received the package I sent him. It had a bundle of his mail, a letter from me and a package of beef jerky. He said, "I told you I couldn't have food." I reminded him that shortly after he'd arrived at Fort Lee he told me they could, but that it would be held in the drill seargent's office until the weekend. Apparently he was misled. The drill seargents apparently enjoyed the beef jerky, along with the gummi worms his Auntie Sherri sent and whatever else they get from these poor soldiers' families.

Things are supposed to be a lot different at Fort Leonard Wood. We'll see. I think I'm going to do a small test package before I invest much time or money in putting together something intended for David.

On a more serious note, he talked again about how soon he is likely to be deployed to Iraq. Ryan is in the vicinity, I know, though exactly where I'm not sure. Maybe Chelle can post and fill us in. Anyway, it's driving school now, followed (hopefully) by jump school at Fort Benning, near Columbus, Georgia (about 2.5 hours from Atlanta). After that...I don't know.

Care Packages

I found a link to this USPS offering on the Gators In Iraq blog. It's a free bundle of Priority Mail supplies for sending care packages to military service members. Suzanne has more details about things Ryan wanted but I did hear that they were burning through DVDs and video games at a pretty high rate. Anyway, call 'em up and get your free stuff so you can send packages to the boys.

Friday, August 05, 2005

Does anyone remember this?

Sana que sana
colita de rana
si no sanas
hoy sanarás mañana
(Loosley translated as: Heal, healfrogs tail if doesn't heal today tomorrow it will)

Does anyone remember the poem Libby used to say to us (staccia borracia?) when she rocked us? I tried getting the words and a translation on the 'net, but since I don't know any Italian - particularly the spelling, I didn't come up with anything.I still say it to Daniel and Lea Anna. They both practically pull my arms out of my sockets when I rock them, but their smiles are worth it. Just think about Libby, how she was so tiny and she had two house holds of little rug rats tugging at her arms all the time. The woman had the patience and the beauty of a saint.