I spent the weekend in San Clemente with Frinklin, as his mother was moving back to the Seattle area after living in Southern California for several years. On hand to assit with the move was Frinklin's dad, divorced from Frinklin's mom for many years. We helped the movers by sitting on the furniture they were trying to drag down a flight of stairs and by sleeping in while the in-laws dragged our vaccuum cleaner around the empty apartment. In all, a relatively normal, no frills sort of moving experience.

Except for one thing.

Five minutes after our arrival on Saturday morning, Frinklin's mother showed us a flashy diamond on her left ring finger. Frinklin and I looked at the ring, and then at eachother. My mother-in-law momentarily left the room to answer a phone call.

"Is that an engagement ring?" I whispered quickly.

"I don't know!" whispered back Frinklin.

Moments later, we were informed that after 17 years of marriage and 18 years of divorce, Frinklin's mother and father will be remarried this August on what would have been their 35th wedding anniversary.

I spend the weekend trying to help Frinklin cope with seeing something he gave up on at age 15--his parents back together. About every 2 hours he would turn to me and exclaim, "My parents are getting married again!" and then, "To eachother!"

Posted by: Ensie at 09:07 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Next time a character comes out, can we please avoid the Homer making out with Homer scene? Thanks.

PS--In the following episode, All's Fair in Oven War, I find myself jealous of a cartoon kitchen.

A cartoon kitchen.

Posted by: Ensie at 08:51 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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My Valentine's Day gift:

Because I'm nerdy like that. And now I can copy, scan, print, and fax all in one!

Wheeee! The power...I can feel it coursing through me!

Posted by: Ensie at 08:30 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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I found out this weekend that renting a 24' U-Haul to drive from Southern California to Seattle with the car tow cost $5,300!!

Five-three-zero-zero.

Dollars.

Everyone is moving out of California and this has created a shortage of moving vehicles in California.

Not that I have any idea when we might be moving because I'm STILL waiting to hear back about my third interview.

Posted by: Ensie at 06:14 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Great. Now I'm all weepy after reading this post and commenting. This is one of those awful realities that I try not to think about.

Posted by: Ensie at 09:07 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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This past two weeks has been a lesson in patience for me. Every time I feel as though I've got some sort of idea of what the next 6 months will hold for the husband and I, something new comes along and tosses that plan out the window.

We had finally settled on waiting for 6 months to a year to move to Tacoma. Then a possible job opportunity appeared for me, so I applied. IÂ’ve had two interviews and am waiting to schedule the third. I've been waiting two weeks. I've inquired with the Human Resources Department about the delay and was told that interviewing is taking longer than expected and that I will be notified of my status ASAP.

Two weeks and no idea where I stand.

We're getting pressure from our families to shit or get off the pot when it comes to making moving plans. Since we're relying on their assistance to purchase a house I can't tell my Dad to leave me alone. There is no easy way to say, "Butt out and give me $15,000!" It just doesn't come across well.

This week Frinklin and I argued over spaghetti. A good half hour fight that is too stupid to repeat here. There were tears and yelling and dogs freaking out that their parents might separate over having spaghetti for dinner or not. WeÂ’re still together, and the spaghetti issue was resolved, but I canÂ’t take much more of this.

Posted by: Ensie at 08:39 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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10,000 hits last night. I have no idea who referred that special hit, it's listed as "unknown" on SiteMeter. Oh well. 10,000 hits! Yay!

Posted by: Ensie at 07:48 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday dear Violet!
Happy birthday to youuuuuu!!!

Posted by: Ensie at 07:23 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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When barking doesn't work, The Jeffery grabs his bowl and heads to his bed, pretending to be the best dog ever.

"Look," he says, "I'm so well behaved. I'm just sitting here in my crate, waiting patiently for you to feed me. Can't you see I'm starving?" What an act.

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San Clemente Island view from Interstate 5 at the rest stop near Camp Pendleton, just north of Oceanside.

This is the same island that you can see 5 minutes from my house (which is 45 minutes from the beach). San Clemente Island is 68 miles off the coast of San Diego.

Posted by: Ensie at 07:07 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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A true life adventure from a friend of mine:

Once upon a time Bob and his partner, Chris, had a wonderful home in the hills of San Diego. Bob was a classically trained pianist, and Chris was a nudist. Chris enjoyed entertaining his naked friends in their home in the nude, while Bob played piano fully clothed.

One afternoon during a naked party the phone rang. Bob answered and was greeted by a California Relay Operator (for the deaf). Relay operators are not allowed to involve themselves in any way in their phone conversation, and must relay (hence the name) the information from one party to the other with no editing.

Bob accepted the call and was greeted with the following, "I need a ride to the party. I am deaf and in a wheelchair and I need a ride." Bob tried to explain that there was no one available to drive the deaf, wheelchair bound person to the naked party.

The operatorator suddenly interupted and began screaming, "I WANT TO PARTY NAKED! I WANT TO PARTY NAKED! I WANT TO PARTY NAKED!"

Unfortunately, this only freaked Bob out, and they never met the deaf parapalegic who wanted to party naked.

100%, honest to God, true.

Posted by: Ensie at 09:31 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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1 hello. you don't know me, but I am your co-worker L.J.'s mom. I enjoy your blog. Anyways, I am deaf myself and use the relay. My funny story involves calling my sister (via the relay) to arrange a massage for the 2 of us at an upscale spa on the central CA coast. I never bother to see who my relay person is, 'cause what do I care! I can't hear them. But my sister said later--- the incoming call was from JESUS, with a very heavy accent, and a deep bass voice. I kept trying to ask her if she wanted to share MY little hot tub with me for a naked soak before our massage,but she wouldn't answer. All I kept getting on my end of the relay was "OMG", "((gasp))" and "(sounds like choking)". As you might know... the relay is quite faithful about transcribing every single sound coming over the line, so we deaffies don't feel left out and all. After next trying to ask if my sister might desire a MALE or a FEMALE (technician!!--for her massage..) I gave up. I was a bit concerned for her health, but assumed the relay operator--whoever he or she might be-- would let me know if it sounded like an emergency. I later found out my sister was laid out on the floor, laughing so hard she peed her pants. true story. carry on.

Posted by: denise jones at February 04, 2005 12:10 PM (zkXb/)

2 Denise, Thanks so much for sharing your story--my husband and I were laughing out loud. L.J. has told me that you read my blog and I'm very flattered. I love hearing relay stories, as I took ASL and interpreting classing in college, although I had to stop due to repetative motion injury problems. I hope you continue to read and comment.

Posted by: ensie at February 04, 2005 06:48 PM (4k5pf)

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After the worst halftime show ever (and that is seriously saying something), Ashlee Simpson must be stopped.

Join me.

Posted by: Ensie at 09:03 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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1 You've got my support. Something must be done.

Posted by: Mediocre Fred at February 02, 2005 09:07 PM (e8ST6)

2 Thank you Fred. Glad to see that you approve.

Posted by: ensie at February 02, 2005 09:15 PM (4k5pf)

3 They probably picked her because she's essentially boobless, so no risk of mishaps.

Posted by: Charone at February 02, 2005 10:04 PM (7zrgD)

4 Her singing is a travesty... I signed.

Posted by: Dawn (webmiztris) at February 03, 2005 03:12 PM (b+zoX)

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How genius! An area within a site dedicated to finding out what the hell the name of that damn song is. Y'know-- that one that catches your ear while playing during any movie trailer.

Click here to check it out, or to post if you have some mystery song stuck in your brain.

This could have made my life a lot easier when I was searching out The Blower's Daughter.

Last night I finally found what I was currently looking for; Franz Ferdinand's 40 ft.

Posted by: Ensie at 06:22 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Head on over to Joe.My.God. to read Flaming Son of "Gay, Gayer, Gayest", in which my very own comment made the list of gayest moments.

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From the looks I'm getting, it appears that excitedly offering to do your sister and her boyfriend's taxes isn't normal.

Posted by: Ensie at 05:08 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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1 No Honey... No it really isn't.

Posted by: frinklin at January 30, 2005 05:12 PM (4k5pf)

2 OMG, me too!! Not that I'm any good at doing my taxes, but I have fun! Last year the IRS sent me a "Dear Sweetie, where did you learn to do math?" letter, but it's all good. : )

Posted by: violet at January 31, 2005 08:15 AM (HhDyc)

3 Hey, you can come over and do our taxes anytime. H&R Block apparently doesn't enjoy doing taxes because they always charge us about $200. Jerks.

Posted by: Dawn (webmiztris) at January 31, 2005 11:35 AM (b+zoX)

4 I think once I get to the point where we own a house I'll be making that trip to H&R Block. The most complicated thing I've ever done is to figure out my capital losses on a stock sale, and filing a correction that got me an additional $7.35 back.

Posted by: ensie at January 31, 2005 09:39 PM (4k5pf)

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I've just finished reading Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress by Susan Jane Gilman and I loved it. Aside from being a great writer, Gilman's life feel so familiar to anyone who ever, well, grew up. Although the experiences are unique (who else dances naked in a hippie movie at age four or gets to meet the object of their awkward teenage desire?), the feelings that accompany them are universal.

I found my favorite passage in the first chapter:

Better yet was the four o'clock arrival of the ice cream man. I suspect the London Blitz generated less hysteria and mayhem. As soon as we heard the bells on the Good Humor truck jiggling up the road, every single kid under the age of twelve went insane. "Ice cream!" we shrieked. Dashing out of the water, we raced over to our parents, snatched money out of their hands before they could finish saying and get a Creamsicle for your father, please, then zoomed up the hill barefoot and screaming. It wasn't so much the ice cream man arriving as the ice cream messiah.

Excuse me, I now must drive to my work on my day off to pick up Kiss My Tiara.

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I had to leave Bob's Hogs yesterday for an offsite sale. An offsite sale involves loading up my car with books, taking them, um, offsite, and selling them. It's a nice way to spend time out of the store.

Being the safe driver that I am, when I merged onto the freeway I noticed that there was a fire engine with light blazing just a few hundred yards behind me. I couldn't pull over to the right, as no one else was stopping and the right lane was an "exit only" lane. I decided to take the next exit, then get back on the freeway immediately, allowing the fire engine to pull ahead of me.

Red light at the cross street intersection.

As I waited to travel from the exit ramp to the on-ramp, I fiddled with my cell phone. I had good news about Frinklin's new job and needed to tell someone.

Mom's phone...no answer.

Sister's phone...no answer.

Dad's phone...doh! The light has been green all this time!

I barely touched my toes to the gas pedal when, from the left, a small greenish sedan ran the red light crossing the intersection. The driver slammed on his brakes after realizing what he had done. I took a moment more to recover, sitting through another round of yellow-red-green before feeling comfortable enough to continue on. All I could think was, my cell phone just saved me!

Posted by: Ensie at 06:38 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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According to a recent study, today, January 24th, is the most depressing day of the year. There's a complicated formula used to establish today as the worst day in which debt peaks, the weather sucks, the holiday excitement wears off, and New Years resolutions fail.

Posted by: Ensie at 07:58 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Go over to Finslippy and declare your support in her comments! She's been harrassed and mocked by idiots and removed a post that another blogger distorted on his site. The great thing about blogging is that you can simply write about whatever you like--your kids included. It is truly unfortunate that other bloggers, unhappy with the fact that a "mommy blogger" was recognized for being funny, have bullied her into censoring her work.

Posted by: Ensie at 10:59 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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1 i'm on my way....

Posted by: letti at January 23, 2005 10:20 AM (JPgTL)

2 Unbelievable how some people just can't keep their venom to themselves. I put in my $.02.

Posted by: Linda at January 24, 2005 06:03 AM (9Pzdi)

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