After we left the family reunion, which was in Illinois, we stopped at The Chain of Rocks Bridge. The old one. This bridge is what was used until the new highway was put in, now it's part of a park and is used only for walking and riding bicycles. However, the day we were there there was a wedding reception going on smack dab in the middle - so there were golf carts and a couple trucks driving on it. The sign says the bridge is one mile long. Because of the reception, and the fact it was rather warm, and the fact I'm old and out of shape, we only went probably between a quarter and a half mile before stopping and turning around. Bryan took some pictures, which are what you'll see below.

It's two lanes wide; part of the original Route 66.

from this angle you can see where the bridge turns to the right. Can't imagine driving on that.

The new bridge on I-270 as seen from the old bridge

Mississippi River

the tree tops

 

Going to put these and more in the photo album so you can see them better.

Argh. Stress, stress, and more stress. Got the shit going on with the kid (which seems to somehow have been swept under the rug, no more talk of being shipped out), and then the roommate decides to make living arrangement decisions without asking me or Bryan. She's got herself a boy-toy.

 

Now, that wouldn't be a problem, except that ...well, we're not talking about someone who has full functioning adult senses here. Number one rule: you don't invite some boy to live with you if you haven't been dating him for some time. 2) you certainly don't invite some boy to live with you if you already live with other people and you don't ask them if they mind. 3) you don't invite some practical stranger to move in just because he's a friend of a friend and has nowhere to live.

 

A couple weeks ago I heard her on the phone (she has an extremely loud voice) saying something like "you have nowhere to live?". My first thought was "NO! Even she isn't that stupid!". Then she went away for the weekend to dog/house sit for someone she knows. When she came back that Monday she had some kid with her, supposedly to help her move some stuff in the basement and clean. He was back again Tuesday. And Thursday. Then it seemed he was here all the damn time. This past Friday I asked her if he had moved in. She said "Uh,  yeah." She couldn't understand why I'd be upset that she just up and let someone me and Bryan know absolutely nothing about move in with us. I said "Don't you think that's a little irresponsible?" She said nothing.

 

Me, Bryan, his granddaughter (who has decided to call me Grandma Kim, which still feels odd, but I'm okay with it), and her friend (omg, don't get me started about her friend...14 year old hussy) went to a family reunion Saturday. It was a good time despite the rain, or maybe because of it. Anyway, his sister was supposed to go too, but she had a funeral that morning and I guess she can't do two things on one day. She was gone when we got back, but showed up with her boy-toy just as we were leaving to drive the girls back up to BFE.

 

Sunday early afternoon, me and Bryan are sitting in the living room watching TV when she walks in carrying a backpack and asks about the ice chest. Not a word about where she's going. She just says, as she's going out the door, "I'll be back Wednesday. At the latest." (although I think she meant at the earliest). Me and Bryan wait until her car is out of the drive-way and do a happy yell. "We get the place to ourselves! We can sit around naked if we want! (that was Bryan)"

 

Anyhow, she had gone out and bought stuff for dinner and her boy-toy cooked them a meal Thursday night. The dirty dishes were still sitting in the sink Sunday when she left. Pissed me off. Well, most everything she has done lately has pissed me off. So, I knew I was going to be stuck cleaning up her mess. Yes, I seriously had considered putting her dishes in a box and sitting them on her bed, but decided that was more immature than I felt like being. I wound up washing them when I cleaned up my mess from the day before.

 

I hate it here. I like the house, especially now that I have it cleaned. I like the yard. I want Bryan to have the garage. I like the neighborhood. But I hate living here just because she's here and she's so fucking immature. How desperate and child-like do you have to be to not know better than to bring a stranger into a house you share with your brother and his girlfriend? He can't be more than 24 tops. And let's not forget she's 37. And no, it isn't the age thing that bugs me. It's the whole maturity issues. He doesn't appear to have a job, either. Or a car. They sit around in the basement, watch TV and get high all day. More to the point: what does it say about the kind of person he is if he's willing to move in with a woman who lives in the basement of a house she shares with her brother and his girlfriend? A house the brother and girlfriend take care of? It says he's just as immature as she is... it could also say he's going to milk her inheritance dry.

 

Argh! Things have got to change.

 

On the upside... I have managed to get a lot done with them gone. Six loads of laundry yesterday (the laundry room is in the basement and I hate going down there when she's home, hate it even more now that she has her boy toy here as well); cleaned the living room, the kitchen, scrubbed the bathroom, and changed and washed the bedding in our room and the curtains. Today I've changed curtains in the living room and mopped all the floors. I'd have mowed the grass but the handle broke on our lawnmower, and it's 90 degrees anyway.

 

Hope y'all are having a good day and don't have to deal with any stress beyond which you can handle. I'm nearing my breaking point.

 

1. There will be NO special bilingual programs in  the schools, NO special ballots for elections, and all government business will  be conducted in our language

2. Foreigners will NOT have the right to vote, no matter how long they are here. 

3. Foreigners will NEVER be able to hold political office. 

4. Foreigners will NOT be a burden to the taxpayers.  No welfare, NO food stamps, NO health care, nor any other government assistance programs. 

5. Foreigners can invest in this country, but it must be an amount equal to 40,000 times the daily minimum wage.  

6. If foreigners do come and want to buy land that will be okay, BUT options will be restricted. You are NOT allowed to own waterfront property. That property is reserved for citizens naturally born into this country. 

7. Foreigners may NOT protest; NO demonstrations, NO waving a foreign flag, NO political organizing, NO 'bad-mouthing' our president or his policies. If you do you will be sent home. 

8. If you do come to this country illegally, you will be hunted down and sent straight to jail. 

Harsh, you say ? 
The above laws happen to be the immigration laws of, MEXICO ! 
PASS THIS ON!!!

 

I have a feeling this is going to be a long drawn out entry. And possibly boring. Consider yourselves warned.

 

Have you ever heard the theory that we tend to dislike in other people what we dislike the most in ourselves? Mr. Wonderful was the poster child for that.  You should have heard the litany of things he doesn't like about other people and in me! Hoo Doggy! It was quite the list. He was also a big user of the "You make/made me____" as if another person could actually get in his head and control his feelings. Whatever. His goal in life is to make everyone he meets feel as miserable as he is. But I've gone down this road before when talking about him, so I won't elaborate further.

He said I didn't communicate. I've written about this before: it's impossible to even attempt to communicate with someone who twists every word you say and gives lies to every question, no matter how trivial.  Most of the time I didn't give a rats ass what he thought about me when I was living with him; I sure as hell don't care now. I would like nothing more than to never have anything to do with him as long as we live. I might be getting my wish.

You see, even before I left him I knew he was seeing someone. I had concrete proof. I just didn't care.He's still seeing this woman. It turns out she's perfect for him. She's just as ignorant stupid as he is... and she thinks he's funny and smart (which means her IQ must be around 90 at tops). She's also just as insecure as he is. She's so insecure that even though I knew about her when I was up there last fall, she wouldn't come around, wouldn't meet me. Hell, at the time I would have given her my congrats and blessings. At that time.

Totally different story now. She's causing havoc in my sons life now. This does not make me a happy woman. And if she thinks I'm a force to be reckoned with... she needs to remember my parents are only 2 hours away at present. My mother is more upset than I am with the shit she's stirred up. If you think it's stupid to mess with Mama Bears cubs... try messing with Grandmama Bears grandbabies! Not a pleasant spectator sport for sure.

As my son tells it, she's trying to act like she's his mother, telling him what to do. She doesn't live there. And he can't stand her. She also made the mistake of saying something stupid about me to him... something to the effect that I have no say over what goes on his life. God love my boy. He told her she was crazy if she thought that, because no matter where I live I'm still his mother and I have every right to know and have a say over what happens to him.

That aside, the shit she's stirring up is: trying to get Alex out of Stupid's life (aka Mr Wonderful).  A few weeks ago Stupid sent Alex a message on MySpace telling him he needed to pack his stuff and call me to come get him. There hadn't been a fight or anything. Alex hadn't done anything wrong. It was just some bug up Mr Wonderful's butt for whatever reason (probably Ms PFH telling him he was stupid for taking care of "someone else's kid", despite the fact he's insisted all along that he thinks of Alex as his own son). That was resolved within a day. Because Alex chose to be a man and talk face to face with him. Then I call my son yesterday just to check on him, see what's going on in his life... because I don't care how old he gets or where he lives, it's something I'm going to do until the day I die. Everything was okay. Well, except for the fact that Stupid had left him a note that morning stating that "he was stressed and upset, he was going away for a couple days, don't call him. If he wasn't so upset he'd be back, if he was he'd be back to pack his stuff up and leave."

Alex: "This is something new. Usually he's telling me to pack and leave. This time he says he's the one leaving."

Okay, let it slide. It's just Stupid doing what he does best. Being a melodramatic drama queen. Oh woe is me, no one understands...I do so much for so many and I'm always unappreciated!

Alex had asked, and received permission, to have a party last night. Then Stupid decides to leave. Hmm, smart move dick breath... let a teenager have a party and then cut off communication with him the night of the party. So, knowing this, and being over 600 miles away, I make Alex promise that no one leaves the apartment during the party (thankfully only 8 kids) and absolutely NO ONE drives anywhere for any reason. I make his girlfriend promise, too, since she's the only one going to be there who has a license and a car.

Bryan and I went to The Comedy Forum last night. Bryan performed (check out his comedy site for details). Alex calls me just as the show is ending and the music has begun, so I can barely hear him. Hell, I only knew he was calling because I had picked up my purse and saw the light flashing. He's just checking in, letting me know that everything is okay, no one is or has gone anywhere. Good kid.

A couple minutes after we get home, he calls me again. Ms. PFH had just called him and informed him that she'd just heard from Stupid, who wanted her to pass a message on to him: pack your shit and call your mom to come get you. Her parting words were "enjoy your last night with your friends!". He says that just before she disconnected he heard a voice that sounded like Stupid's saying "I'm here. I heard."

Then, in a turn that surprised the crap out of me, because he's never said a bad word about Stupid and has always hated whenever I would, he started in on a tirade about "how childish Dad is". For several minutes he alternated between what a child his dad is, how he feels like he's the only man in the house, how his dad pretty much ignores him, and that he's willing to talk Man To Man, but his dad won't...  and then going on about Ms PFH, and how ugly and stupid she is, what a bitch she is, how things were great between him and his dad until she entered the picture, that she's on the very short list of people he hates (which includes her and his principal from fourth grade who told him he'd never amount to anything)... The whole time he was talking, my heart was breaking. Not because it could ultimately mean he moves in with me; but because a man he looked up to hurt him so much. A man who doesn't deserve his love or his respect.

As I wrote, my parents are in Michigan this month. They're coming down here next month, on their way home. When they come, Alex will be with them. I don't know for how long. But he'll be here. Then again, he might be here before them. For good.

As much as I would like Alex to be able to finish school there, to have a senior year with his friends, to graduate with them, if that isn't possible it's something I can live with. And I know he'd rather be somewhere he feels secure than to always wonder if today is the day his dad really kicks him out.

He's an ignorant ass and I can't wait until Alex is out of there so I can tell him.

That's right, boys and girls - Kim has been watching MOVIES. And I'm going to share my reviews with y'all. Because I can.
Spiderman:  yep, it's the original and even the second time watching it,it's still pretty good. I don't like comic books (oops... they're now called "graphic novels"), but this is a fun movie.
Spiderman 2: slightly better than the original, I think. I like that the bad guy isn't really bad, but is. Confusing? Well, wait until you see the sequel!
Spiderman 3: Didn't really care for it. Too much going on, the bad guys are kind of good guys in denial or whatever. Lots of flying around, cool black suit, but.... nope. Not impressed with it.
The Queen: if you're not real sure what it's about, I'll tell ya. It's about Tony Blair's first days in office and the conflict with the Queen over how to handle Diana's death. Is it accurate? I don't know, I wasn't there. But it's still a good movie. Did it go over well in England? I don't know, but I'm sure the Brits look at it a whole lot different than we do.
Because I Said So: Diane Keaton and Mandy Moore. Nice movie, pure entertainment value only. No life lessons to be learned or anything, just fun to watch. Unless you don't like Diane Keaton, because as my best friend put it, this is just another movie where she plays a quirky mom. *for the guys... there's a nice "butt shot" at the beginning and I've been informed that as long as there's a butt shot or a bare boob, a 'chick flick' is do-able.*
Boogie Nights: It's an old movie, but better than I remembered it being from the first time I watched it. It's a movie about the porn industry, so of course there's nudity and sex scenes, but it's more than that. I guess you could say it's about a boy who finds his place, gains fame, loses it, and gets himself back together. It's actually a pretty intense movie.
Running With Scissors: the thing to remember while watching this movie is that it's based on an actual memoir. Which makes it even more unbelievable, lol. People actually lived like this??? It's a good movie. Watch it. But be forewarned, there are some scenes that are just really hard to watch because these people are so totally insane! Anyhow, it makes the most dysfunctional family you might know or be part of, not seem so.
The Departed: Yes, it's been on DVD awhile, but I finally got to watch it. OMG! It is one of the best movies I have ever seen! It's a mob movie, so yes, there's lots of blood and killing, but it's all integral to the story. The thing is, you watch this and you really care about what happens to Leonardo's character. It's that good!

State And Main: a movie about making a movie in a small town. Pretty good. Yes, another older movie, but it was the first time I’ve seen it. Watching the movie, you get the feeling that that’s probably what it’s really like when Hollywood comes to Smalltown.

And that's it for this edition of Kim's Movie Reviews.

Cruisin' along in my automobile
I take a look, the temps uphill
pull off to the side of the road
let it set, the car won't go

And so it was last night. See, Bryan sold one of his dad's old cars to his oldest son, used the money to buy a car for the younger son. Younger son calls one day last week and says "Dad, I've found a car! I want it!" So, Bryan takes the drive up to BFE and the boy insists he has to have it NOW. Despite the fact we wanted to check into the make and model before actually trading money, money was exchanged first. Uh Oh. Oh No.

Bryan does some research on the internet. It's not looking good. Starting to have buyers remorse, but what can ya do? The weasel who sold it has the money.

Here in Missouri, you have to have an inspection before your car can be licensed. Bryan arranges to have that done. We go up Tuesday evening, get the car, leave the truck for his son to use. Everything seems to be fine. Until we get to town. Then steam starts sprouting from beneath the hood. Uh Oh. Oh No. We take off, no more steam. Good. Stop for the next red light. Some steam. Uh Oh. Get it to the house, just a little steam. Okay.

The mechanic who was going to look at it had something unexpected happen, can't look at it until next week now. So we take the car back up to BFE. Sort of. Kind of. Tried to, anyway. About twenty minutes from the house (roughly a little less than half way there) I hear Bryan say "Oh shit!" and he starts maneuvering from the far left lane to the far right. I look behind us for flashing lights (there's no tags on the car yet). No lights. I ask him what's wrong and he says "The temp gauge just flew straight up". This is not good.

We pull off, the gauge goes back to normal, so he pulls ahead again. Almost back on the road, it shoots up again. Uh Oh. Oh No. It gets better. Trust me. We're back on the shoulder one more time. This is around 7:30-ish. Bryan turns the car off. Because it isn't in his nature, he's not sitting there cursing the car out or whining (which is what a certain Mr Wonderful I know would have done), he's thinking. That's what Bryan does. He turns problems around in his head until he can find some kind of solution. Because he's calm, and there really isn't anything anyone can do at that point, I'm calm too. He tries to start the car after a few minutes and it won't turn over. Uh Oh. Oh No. So he lights a cigar and says he'll try again after he smokes it. In the mean time, we're just sitting in the car with most of the windows down, sometimes talking, sometimes not, but it's all cool. After the cigar was smoked, he tries the engine again and naturally, no go. Yep. Uh Oh. So, he calls his sister and she says she'll come get us.

After he called his sister, he called a towing service. They made him leave a message. We wait twenty minutes for his sister, and talk. He leans the seat back and says "If cars have a name, I know exactly what this one's name is." I said "Linda." He smiled. (That's the Storms real name). "I think this car is gonna need a lot, and no matter how much we put into it, we're not getting anything out of it". I think he's right.

The towing service he called never called back, so after we got home he called a different company. We wound up having to drive back out to where the car was because the key was needed. And guess what? The bitch started! Bryan told the driver to load her up anyhow, knowing that if he didn't we'd wind up on the other side of the highway stranded. And it was midnight by then already.

So.. don't buy a Dodge Intrepid with a 2.7 liter engine. They're crap. The engines have to be replaced. The window motors go out. Among other things.And they'll more than likely leave you stranded on the side of the road. YeeHaw.

"They" say that smiling can make you feel better. That just by the simple act of upturning the corners of your lips you can change your mood. That forcing yourself to laugh can produce endorphins that elevate your state of mind. Okay. I'm willing to try it. Hence the funky ass background going on here. Hey, if I have to smile, so does everyone else! I truly believe in sharing the pain.

It hasn't been unbearably hot here, but the humidity makes it a bit uncomfortable.  And I'm perimenapausal (getting hot flashes, among other things). So we've been leaving the air on 24/7. Bryan is always hot, too, which helps my case.  Anyway,  yesterday we were in the den (me, Bryan, his cousin) and all of us were smoking so I cracked the window to let it out. His sister got up, saw the window was cracked and took it upon herself to turn off the air! She didn't tell anyone what she was doing, just did it. So an hour later we're all in the kitchen and I started to feel suffocated. That's when she 'fessed up to turning the air off. She wants to kill me, I swear.  We all tried to explain to her that having a window cracked open for circulation does not require that the air be turned off.  So, she turns the air off when the window is cracked open but thinks it's appropriate to leave the door open allowing the sunshine  to heat up the house. Go figure. Some people just don't get it.

We're actually getting along pretty good now.  It's still rocky and has it's moments. She still pisses me off, I still piss her off, but it's not as bad as it was. At least I can joke with her now (she has a skewed sense of humor that is not in sync with me and Bryan's). In truth, I would honestly like to not live with her, but since we do, it is what it is. I just really wish she'd grow up. That's all.

What else is going on? Just found out that my sociopathic son is staying with Mr Wonderful. I have no idea how he wrangled that, but my guess is that because Mr Wonderful knows my parents are going to be up in Michigan next weekend he wants to appear to be "the good guy". You know, so he can tell my mom "Kim won't let him stay with her and I couldn't let him just live on the streets." Whatever, dude. He kicks him out every other day and threatens to kick him out on the days he doesn't.  All I know is I don't want to hear him bitch and whine if he's going to play enabler.

Other things? I have roses! Yay! Only one bush is blooming, but I've got some flowers and am totally excited. Yellow ones. I guess the other bush is pink or peach, but no buds yet. I just can't believe how much they've grown.  Seriously, I chopped them down to almost nothing back in - April? Or was it just last month? Anyhow, in a few days I'll be able to go cut me some fresh roses for the house.  I really don't like the smell of roses, but the flowers are just so pretty.

 

So, I imagine the big question is: How long are the smiley faces going to grace my page? Who knows? I might just fall in love with them, lol.