PICTURES

It's been a busy weekend so I'll just leave you with some pictures from Karen's birthday party, plus one of Rufus doing his thing.
Karen and her husband Joe.

Karen's son Brock and me.


Me and Sweet Thang


Rufus doing his "You know you want me" kitty porn pose.

OUCH!

Dang, that's a big youngun!

Antonio Cruz, who was born January 28, 2007, weighed in 14 lbs and 21.7 inches long! He lies next to an unidentified, more averaged sized baby at a hospital in Cancun on January 31st.

I feel sorry for this kid's Mama!

BRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

When I left work at 5 AM this morning there was no doubting that the temperature had dropped drastically overnight, my ears and face immediately felt like what I can only describe as frostbitten. I stepped out of the alleyway and into the street; greeted by an icy wind that body-slammed me and caused me to stagger back several steps before regaining my feet. I ultimately had to hunch over like some wizened old crone and lean into the Arctic blast before making my way toward the clock alley and on to the parking lot. Thank Goddess that someone has scattered rock salt on all the slick patches or else I would have probably broken one of my well padded but semi-elderly hips.

By the time I reached my car all exposed skin was numb & tingly and I felt the first beginnings of that most unbecoming of winter accessories, the dreaded snotsicle, hanging off the end of my nose and my trembling hands had a hard time getting the key in the hole to unlock the car door. I cranked Ozzie up and headed out for the house (at least the wind kept the windshield clear).

About half way home the heater had kicked in and most of my body parts had thawed out except for the blocks of ice where my feet used to be, when I noticed that I had left an almost full Diet Mountain Dew sitting in the console from the day before. Hoping it wouldn’t be too flat I opened the bottle and tipped it up. Nothing came out! Dang, the sucker had frozen overnight! This is supposed to be the Sunny South, what happened to our warm winter that had blessed us so far?

After making it home and taking a long nap with Shitty Kitty snuggling on top of my head ( whither she was keeping me warm or trying to stay warm herself I haven’t a clue, who knows what cats think) I made the mistake of going by Wal-Mart to pick up the pictures from Karen’s surprise birthday party last Friday. I had forgotten that the weather man was predicting snow & ice for tonight and tomorrow.

It’s a long held Southern tradition that anytime anyone anywhere mentions the remote chance of frozen precipitation of any kind falling within a 100 mile radius of your home that one absolutely MUST rush out and buy bread and milk (don’t ask me why, I keep my pantry stocked enough to last for weeks anyway). The parking lot was packed, checkout lines snaked all the way across the store, all the bread and milk was gone and folks were scuffling to get checked out and home so they could sit in front of the Weather Channel and watch the white & pink smudges on the weather map approach Alabama. People were on their cell phones reminding others to hurry and get stocked up on provisions because “It’s gonna snow!” Heck, nothing has fallen yet and they're already either delaying school openings or canceling school altogether.

I managed to grab my pictures and get out so I could make it to work on time. I just hope my relief makes it here in the morning, I don’t feel like getting “snowed in” here at work. Alabama don’t have the equipment or the manpower to clear the roads or scatter salt like the states up North (we don't get enough of the frozen stuff to make our politicians put out that kinda money) and we usually don’t get snow, we get ice storms. I promise you that if I can get out of here, I WILL MAKE IT HOME. The only problem is that the Rednecks around here don’t know how to drive on ice, so it makes for some interesting visuals. Nothing like sitting at a stop sign and watching in the rear view mirror as a 4X4 truck slides toward you sideways with no way to get out of it’s path.......



Most of the pictures came out dark, so I'll have to do a little editing when I get home. This is Karen as the staff of the Mexican restaurant sang "Happy Birthday" to her. (As usual, click on the picture to see a larger view)

PS: MIDNIGHT AND IT'S SNOWING HERE IN NORTH ALABAMA!

AND MY FINE IS...............

I "lifted" this from the Grumpy Old Bitches blog (don't know what the fine is for bloglifting!). I thought it was just too cute to pass up! Plus it'll be interesting to see how our "fines" compare to each others.........

Below is a list of *ahem* activities, each awarded a penalty in dollars. You don't have to confess your answers, just the amount of your fine.

Smoked pot -- $10
Did acid -- $5
Ever had sex at church-- $25
Woke up in the morning and did not know the person who was next to you -- $40
Had sex with someone on MySpace -- $25
Had sex for money -- $100
Vandalized something -- $20
Had sex on your parents' bed -- $10
Beat up someone -- $20
Been jumped -- $10
Crossed dressed -- $10
Given money to stripper -- $25
Been in love with a stripper -- $20
Kissed some one who's name you didn't know -- $0.10
Hit on some one of the same sex while at work -- $15
Ever drive drunk -- $20
Ever got drunk at work, or went to work while still drunk -- $50
Used toys while having sex -- $30
Got drunk, passed out and don't remember the night before -- $20
Went skinny dipping -- $5
Had sex in a pool -- $20
Kissed someone of the same sex -- $10
Had sex with someone of the same sex -- $20
Cheated on your significant other -- $10
Masturbated -- $10
Cheated on your significant other with their relative or close friend -- $20
Done oral -- $5
Got oral -- $5
Done / got oral in a car while it was moving -- $25
Stole something -- $10
Had sex with someone in jail -- $25
Made a nasty home video -- $15
Had a threesome -- $50
Had sex in the wild -- $20
Been in the same room while someone was having sex -- $25
Stole something worth over more than a hundred dollars -- $20
Had sex with someone 10 years older -- $20
Had sex with someone under 21 and you are over 27 -- $25
Been in love with two people or more at the same time -- $50
Said you love someone but didn't mean it -- $25
Went streaking -- $5
Went streaking in broad daylight -- $15
Been arrested -- $5
Spent time in jail -- $15
Peed in the pool -- $0.50
Played spin the bottle -- $5
Done something you regret -- $20
Had sex with your best friend -- $20
Had sex with someone you work with at work -- $25
Had anal sex -- $80
Lied to your mate -- $5
Lied to your mate about the sex being good -- $25

My fine is: $730.60. Dang, reckon I may have to find a bail bondsman if I don't straighten out my evil ways!

How much is your fine? I tag all of you, of course. Answer in the comment section and no cheating!

BURPPPPPPPPPP

The guys at work have ruined me! They ordered 10 whole chickens from one of the local hole-in-the-wall Bar-B-Que joints nearby and we've all just about eaten ourselves into a coma. In case you didn't know, some of the very best bar-b-que comes from the most disreputable looking establishments. Never judge the quality of the food by the shape of the building or the appearance of the people doing the cooking!

You haven't lived until you've had chicken slow cooked over a hickory fire with home-made Southern style white sauce (sorry to you Yankees, but y'all can't make white sauce for flip). The birds came with potato salad and baked beans, a full course of fine Southern cuisine.

Damn, I think I just popped the button off my jeans!

So much for my so-called diet. But it ain't my fault! These guys twisted my arm and made me eat! Oh Hell Yeah, that's exactly what happened!

Hey, it sounds like a good excuse so "THAT'S MY STORY AND I'M STICKING TO IT!" I'll start a diet tomorrow........... since today's already gone on the wings of a hickory smoked chicken and I've got a surprise birthday party to go to tonight......... and it's being held in a Mexican restaurant. You know I gotta eat again! It's a party and she's my very bestest friend and it would be rude to not go and I can't go and not eat and..... and....... and...............

Fuck it, I'm weak, so sue me. I'll probably drink a picture of margaritas to drown my shame.

SWEET HOME ALABAMA

It seems that Hollywood has taken a liking to my little part of Northern Alabama. First they made the movie "The Adventures of Huck Finn" in historic Mooresville right down the road from me and now I find out that the new release "Constellation" was filmed in Huntsville aka "The Rocket City".

I googled "movies made in Alabama" and was shocked at how long the list was! (the list is not complete, I couldn't find a complete list) Alabama is considered one of the most backward states in the country, who would have thunk that the movie industry loved us that much! I knew we had lots of stars born here: Kate Jackson (Charlie's Angels), Courteney Cox (Friends, Dirt), George Lindsey & George Lindsey (both from Gomer Pyle), Paula Poundstone (comedian) and Lucas Black to name just a few.

We've always been know for our music industry (Alabama Music Hall of Fame) and the huge number of our native musicians but many famous people were born and raised in Alabama and many famous people call Alabama their home today. This includes actors, athletes, authors, politicians and entertainers. These include the great boxer, Joe Louis who was born in Lexington and the infamous singer Nat King Cole, a native of Montgomery. Carl Lewis and Jesse Owens, both famous athletes were also born in Alabama.

After playing with Google for a bit I'm more proud of my home state than I've ever been! Too bad I wasn't one of her rich & famous daughters ..............

NEW LOOK

Well, I broke down and got my hair whacked off the other day, picture to be posted whenever I get someone else to take one. My new cut doesn’t look exactly like the photograph (for some reason a new hair cut never looks like the picture your stylist is going by, or is it just MY hair cuts?) but the “do” did turn out well. I’ve only washed it once and my hair usually takes about a week to train after it’s been reshaped so we’ll see what happens.

I walked into work this morning and got tons of compliments after only sticking my head under the shower and walking out the door with a wet head, finger-combing my newly short tresses in the car on the way to work. Remember, I’m the only female in my department and usually I have to shave my head before anyone notices around here so this is a big change.

Thanks for all the comments and support, I was truly and pleasantly surprised at all the male commentary. Who would have thought that men cared or noticed a woman’s crowning glory? Maybe it’s just that I’ve worked in a male dominated industry for so long that I’m considered “one of the guys” but even they noticed and had nice things to say!

I’m hoping this cut is the start of several changes. I went with Karen (today’s her birthday!) after getting my curls clipped and shopped for a new outfit to wear to Wendi’s (Donna’s only daughter) upcoming wedding. I knew that I need to lose some weight, but when I posed in front of those dressing room triple mirrors (you women know the ones!),
I swear I looked like a female sausage! Damn, do I really look like that or were those mirrors designed by the Devil himself! When the hell did I turn into Miss Piggy?

Looks like I’ve got to get off my abundant arse and motivate myself to sweat off a few pounds plus lay off the pasta and bread. Damn, I hate dieting but it seems that I have no other choice. I’ve got about 6 weeks to get in better shape before the event so I have a deadline to shoot for. Wish me luck.

PS: How'd ya like the new tag thingie that I snatched from apositivepessimist? If you didn't notice it, roll your mouse over one of the words underlined with dots and see what happens. Took me a bit to figure out the coding but by Goddess I did it all by myself! I'd stick out my chest in pride but it sticks out too far alreadyl

OLD GRAY MARE

Oh the old gray mare, she ain't what she used to be
Ain't what she used to be, ain't what she used to be.
The old gray mare, she ain't what she used to be
Many long years ago.

I've been dying my hair off & on since I was a teenager, hitting every color in Mother Nature's palette and few she never heard of; going from platinum to red to my natural reddish brown. Today I redid my roots and noticed that the gray has gone from a few strands sprinkled here and there to being about 50/50 and my lovely natural color has gone to a dull dark brown. Damn, when did that happen?

I don't usually go in for primping and such; I almost never wear makeup and I'm strictly a wash and go kinda gal, the only time I doll up is the few times I actually go out and even then I usually dress in my bestest jeans and a nice top with a minimum of paint & powder.

I hate doing my roots (it seems as if they grow out in like 2 days) and I'm seriously considering letting my natural hair color grow out and see how I look as "An Old Gray Mare". It wouldn't be such a hard decision if I was one of those people who have a lovely solid white hairdo instead of the salt and pepper thang going on, but I'm 51 and it's time that I quit fighting Mother Nature and see how badly she's treated me. I've found a short hair cut (on the right) that I love and I think that might be the best way to go about it. Cut off most of the dyed stuff and maybe start adding a few streaks as the gray grows out. Hey, if it gets too bad I can always go back on the "bottle"!

What do y'all think? Go "au natural" or dye until I die?

BEST OF BLOGS {BOB} AWARDS

Y'all be thinking of your favorite bloggers because it's time for the BOB Awards! Nominations for the BOB Awards will begin on Friday, February 2, 2007, and will run through midnight EST on February 16, 2007. Following the nomination period, voting begin on March 2, 2007 and the voting will end march 16, 2007 again at midnight EST. Winners in each category will be announced on March 19, 2007. blog winners will be presented their awards at The Blog World Expo is taking place at the Las Vegas Convention Center on November 8-9 2007, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

So be thinking of your favorite blogs in each of many different categories and on February 2 go and nominate them, then let everyone know to go and vote. They'll get to place a snazzy logo on their website and maybe even win.

HOROSCOPE

Saturday, January 20, 2007 ~Scorpio
Junebugg,
An unrealized well of knowledge is finally put to use. A breakthrough concerning your appearance is arriving. Focus on the way you present yourself; it should be open to inspection. Wait to take action, but begin your makeover preparations.

OK, what in hell does this mean? A new hair cut and/or color? Laser surgery to get rid of the specs? Boob reduction?

Heck, I want a full body lift, lipo, my sagging jowls lifted & my cheek bones rediscovered and maybe even a week or two in some trendy spa with a young virile Adonis serving me ice cold drinks while another worthy lad rubs sweet smelling oils on my newly defined body.

If I'm gonna dream, I'm gonna dream BIG!

BIG CRY BABY

“It’ll hurt”.
“Are you hurting now?”
“Noooooo....... but I’m not trying to do anything either. I feel just fine as long as I stay in this recliner”.
“Come on, you’ve got to walk sooner or later”
“It’ll hurt”.
“I know Darlin’, but the doctor said you have to get up and walk the soreness out or you’ll never get to feeling better”.
“But it’ll hurt, I know it’ll hurt. It hurts just thinking about it”.
“Now you know that you’ve got to go back to work in ONE WEEK! It’s gonna hurt a lot more when you have to climb ladders and turn wrenches.”
“I’ll move when I have to, and I don’t have to right now. Please go and get me something to snack on. Where’s the remote?”
“WALK! You’re not crippled, you’ve just gotten spoiled!”
“Yeah, I know but it’s different when you’re a man. Women don’t understand, men are sensitive down there. Just the idea makes ya hurt. I’ll get up and move around when I have to. Where did you say the remote was? Hey, you know maybe if we fooled around a little, I might not hurt as much....... You could always kiss it and make it better”.

"Oh Hell No! You're not blaming me for making you hurt. When you can walk farther than the bed then I'll think about some extra-curricular activities".

I've come to the conclusion that if men had to go through the pain of childbirth, the human race would have become extinct a long, long time ago.

I'm back at work and Sweet Thang is back at his place ALONE, so I guess he'll have to do a little walking since there's no one there to wait on him. Amazing that he can't walk to the 'fridge but he can drive his 5 speed truck.......

NIP & TUCK

I've been out of pocket for the last few days because Sweet Thang had to have out-patient surgery to remove several cysts from his balls nuts testicles. He got sliced and diced on Friday and is still moving slowly and can't ride in a car yet. No nookie is a given, it'll be a while before we can do the nasty but hey, some things are worth waiting for.

I can see all the guys grabbing their crotches and cringing as they read this, I know all the guys at work did when they heard why I'd be playing nurse this week. Actually, the poor feller was in so much pain before he went under the knife that the surgery has been a relief. The Doctor said he'll be as good as new in a couple of weeks. Until then both his parents and I are spoiling him rotten. By the time he gets healed up he won't be worth shooting!

What gets me is several of the men at work claim that they would rather stay in pain instead of getting cut in such a delicate area, and when I mentioned that it wasn't as serious as a woman having a hysterectomy they all got all ill tempered and loud. It seems that they think that because a female's sex organs are all on the inside that it doesn't count and as much as said so. Just goes to show what they know.

Sorry I haven't been visiting my regular blogs, but I promise I'll get around to you as soon as I can.

LIVING TOO LONG?

In other news, Yvonne De Carlo, who played Lily in the hit television comedy The Munsters, died Monday at age 84. I don't know about y'all, but I grew up watching the folks at 1313 Mockingbird Lane, Mockingbird Heights every week.

There goes another one of the icons of my long lost youth {{{sigh}}}.

Damn, I'm getting old!

BOOK MOOCH

I've found the most wonderful site! It's BOOK MOOCH, where you give away and recieve books from all over the world.

It costs nothing to join and the only out of pocket expense is shipping, but there's a 5:1 ratio: you have to send out at least 1 book for every 5 you receive. The system works off of a point system:

Action ~ Points
Add a book to inventory ~ + 1/10th
Remove a book from your inventory ~ - 1/10th
Give away book (within your country) ~ + 1
Give away book (to another country) ~ + 3
Mooch a book (within your country) ~ - 1
Mooch a book (from another country) ~ - 2
Acknowledge receiving a book you mooched ~ + 1/10th

You search for a book you want by title or topic, and if it's not available you can make a wish list and the site will you know when your requested books become available. You can also donate your points to a charity so that someone needy can recieve a book.

If you love to read the way I do this can save some money, plus maybe introduce us to new authors.

It's Time to Bust the Union Busters

We need this done before January 18th 2007.

Most of us never had to build our union. Others who came before us organized it. Today, workers trying to organize are often subjected to illegal activities by the boss to stop them from forming a union.

Most companies today whose workers want to exercise their right to form a union hire "union busters." These high priced lawyers are specialists at intimidation of workers. They routinely advise their clients to break the law by terminating union leaders, knowing they may never even be punished. Then, even if workers overcome all of the scare tactics and illegal firings, chances are the boss will never negotiate a contract with the workers.

The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) will give workers the ability to form a union in the workplace freely. This bill that was nearly passed in the House last session will:

1) Guarantee that if a majority of workers in a workplace sign a union card they have their union;
2) Provide stiff penalties for employers who break the law during organizing campaigns by their workers, and
3) Mandate that any first contracts not approved in a reasonable amount of time go to an arbitrator for final decision.

Take action today to pass the EFCA.

1. Check the attached list to see if your Representative is already a co-sponsor.
2. If not, call your Representative and tell them to co-sponsor the EFCA by calling Rep. George Miller's office and adding their name.
3. If / When your Representative has co-sponsored, call your U.S. Senators and tell them to do the same by calling Sen. Kennedy's office.
4. Report to your Rapid Response District Coordinator on new co-sponsors. (number & email at bottom)

When you call, tell your Representatives and Senators:

*1 in 5 leaders of union organizing campaigns are illegally fired.
*The EFCA will level playing field for workers to organize.
*This is America and no one should fear for their job just for trying to form a union!

Representatives Already Co-sponsoring EFCA ~ Representative/District /State

Ross/AR-04
Clay /MO-01
Grijalva/AZ-07
Butterfield/NC-01
Matsui/CA-05
Price/NC-04
Woolsey/CA-06
Miller/NC-13
Miller/CA-07
Pomeroy/ND
Lee/CA-09
Shea-Porter/NH-01
Tauscher/CA-10
Hodes/NH-02
Stark/CA-13
Andrews/NJ-01
Honda/CA-15
Rothman/NJ-09
Farr/CA-17
Payne/NJ-10
Sherman/CA-27
Holt/NJ-12
Berman/CA-28
Udall/NM-03
Schiff/CA-29
Berkley/NV-01
Waters/CA-35
Bishop/NY-01
Millender-McDonald/CA-37
McCarthy/NY-04
Baca/CA-43
Nadler/NY-08
Filner/CA-51
Velazquez /NY-12
Davis/CA-53
Maloney/NY-14
Salazar /CO-03
Engel/NY-17
Larson /CT-01
Hinchey /NY-22
Courtney/CT-02
Higgins/NY-27
DeLauro/CT-03
Kucinich/OH-10
Wexler/FL-19
Sutton/OH-13
Bishop/GA-02
Ryan/OH-17
Johnson/GA-04
Space /OH-18
Lewis/GA-05
Wu/OR-01
Abercrombie/HI-01
DeFazio/OR-04
Boswell/IA-03
Hooley/OR-05
Gutierrez/IL-04
Brady/PA-01
Davis/IL-07
Altmire/PA-04
Bean /IL-08
Murtha /PA-12
Schakowsky/IL-09
Schwartz/PA-13
Hare/IL-17
Doyle /PA-14
Donnelly/IN-02
Holden/PA-17
Carson/IN-07
Cooper/TN-05
Yarmuth/KY-03
Green/TX-09
Chandler /KY-06
Hinojosa/TX-15
Olver /MA-01
Green /TX-29
Capuano /MA-08
Moran /VA-08
Ruppersberger/MD-02
Welch /VT
Wynn/MD-04
Inslee /WA-01
Hoyer /MD-05
Baird /WA-03
Van Hollen/MD-08
McDermott/WA-07
Allen/ME-01
Baldwin /WI-02
Kildee/MI-05
Kind/WI-03
Kilpatrick /MI-13
Moore/WI-04
Conyers, Jr. /MI-14
Obey/WI-07
Dingell/MI-15
Kagen /WI-08
McCollum /MN-04
Mollohan /WV-01
Peterson /MN-07
Rahall /WV-03
Oberstar /MN-08


USW Rapid Response (412) 562-2291
http://www.uswrr.org
It's Time to Bust the Union Busters!

HOW DODGY ARE YOU?

Found this quiz at Carina's. Here's my results, it seems that I've been a bad, bad girl!

Scoundrel
More than a bit naughty - you're heading for a spot of bother at this rate - that is if you're not already inside. You don't have to be perfect, but if no one says you're a bad person, they're wrong. You are. Based on your answers, we have calculated the maximum penalty for your crimes*:
Years in prison: 111 - Potential fine: £7000

I don't think I'll live that long..........

NOW I LAY ME DOWN TO SLEEP

The feather touched lightly just below my elbow; slowly sensually stroking down and around my arm, a spiral trail crossing pallid blue traced skin. The shocking part is the moist crimson line marking the feather’s path, drops of blood welling up and gently rolling down my forearm like glistening red tears. But there’s no pain, no sensation of any kind. Only numbness and a solitary body part weeping bloody tears in silence.

I jerk straight up in bed....... panting for breath, my heart pounding in my chest. Only a dream, it was only a dream.......

AS THE COOKIE CRUMBLES

Tonight's Chinese take-out fortune cookie said:

Be prepared for extra energy.

Does that mean I'm gonna have some or that I'm gonna need some? I'm soooooooo confused..................

NEVER LET 'EM SEE YA SWEAT.......

I hope everyone had a Happy New year, I know I did! The place was packed, the band was rocking and for once there wasn't any bloodshed or mayhem. Sweet Thang and I both indulged in copious amounts of alcohol, partied until the band quit around 3:30 AM, staggered upstairs and passed out on what had to be the most comfortable bed I've ever lain on; Marriott has it going on I'm here to tell ya!

The next morning we checked out and hit IHOP where the waitress surprised us both by commenting that it was nice to see a couple who wasn't fighting after celebration New Year's together. I was amazed, she was serious and swore that almost every couple who has come in were feuding and fighting. WTF: why would we be fighting? Unless maybe someone kissed the wrong someone at midnight? Maybe it was just the hangovers talking ( I didn't have one, Yeah!) If I thought it would have caused a fight I wouldn't have gone. Then again, if 2 people can't enjoy a night out together without fighting maybe they shouldn't be together.................

In other news, some folks are getting a little carried away and personal with the New Year's resolution shit. I was standing in the check-out line at Hell-Mart while 2 strangers behind me discussed diets and how much weight they planed to lose when this one woman (who I had never seen before) turned to me and asked "How many pounds are you going to lose?"

What I wanted to say was "Bitch, it ain't none of your business!" but what I did was lock eyes with the nosey hussy (the way you would to show dominance to an over-aggressive dog) and state in a very condescending tone of voice "Haven't you heard all the medical reviews in the news that state dieting is unhealthy and leads to all kinds of eating disorders? I just plan to be healthy and happy and let the uneducated masses worry about a number on the scale" before checking out and walking away, leaving her & her friend in my dust with their mouths hanging open while she searched in vain for a suitable come-back.

I told the truth; All I want is to be healthy. To be able to spend an entire afternoon playing with my grandson, go for a long walk in the mountains or make love all night without getting out of breath and worrying about a heart attack. I don't care if I'm a size 2 or a 12 (although I would love to lose a pound or two), I just want to feel good in my own skin and be healthy and happy.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Sweet Thang just called me here at work and told me to pack a bag when I get home because he has made reservations for us both at the Marriott in Huntsville for the New Year's Eve bash and that one of my favorite local bands, Microwave Dave & the Nukes will be playing. See why I call him Sweet Thang!

Looks like I'll be out of pocket for a while so:

MAY EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU HAVE A YEAR

FILLED WITH LOVE AND HAPPINESS.

PS: Jan. 1 is Bab's birthday. Go by and say Hi!

SNAKE FARM

TURN YOUR SPEAKERS UP! & check out the video. I just got this album "Snake Farm" by Ray Wylie Hubbard (I'd never heard of Hubbard who's from Texas, but the album was recommended by a friend). The more I listen to this gritty blues/rock tour-d-force, the better I like it. Click on the Amazon link to the left if you wanta order it.

Snake Farm Video - Ray Wylie Hubbard lyrics

Ray Wylie Hubbard Music Videos

Music Video Codes by VideoCure

HO HO HO

I recieved a late Christmas present today. Ain't they cute? I think I'll just keep the whole litter, I don't think there's a runt in the bunch!

BELATED HO HO HO YA'LL.

SUNSHINE ON MY SHOULDERS

One of the things about living in the South is the never-what-you -expect weather. Last Tuesday it was in the 20s with the weatherman erroneously predicting snow flurries and now:

BUTTERCUPS! It's in the high 60s outside and after taking a small nap I spent the afternoon raking the yard wearing a tank top. My place is covered with fallen leaves, but that's not why I was sweating & raking. It was because when you have young.......

They tend to go out and find stuff to strew all over the place, like whatever it was in the back yard.......

Bad Dogs, Bad Bad Dogs! I just hope it wasn't some kid's Christmas present, because it sure didn't come from my house!

Now if ya'll will excuse me, I've got a pot of white chili (made from the last of the bird) simmering on the stove; the aromas of cumin and peppers wafting through the house, and I need to put a pan of cornbread in the oven. Not that sweet shit either. REAL CORNBREAD, made with buttermilk and baked in a time-seasoned cast iron skillet that is reserved for cornbread cooking alone (I'll get ill in a hurry if you try to fry something in my cornbread pan! It takes years to get one seasoned just right, and I've had the thing since 1974.)

Damn, I love living in the South.

I'M AN INTERNATIONAL PORN STAR!

I was tweaking both Donna and my blog templates last night, adding some of the new (at least to me) Technorati widgets like the link count doo-hickey shown at the right. The thing actually counts links to a post even if the linker didn't bother to do a trackback. It's wonderful to be able to see who thinks you're witty enough to link to, don't ya think!

Any who, the entry where Donna posted a picture of me had a "reaction". When we clicked on it we were carried to this Technorati page. When we checked the links to it from there here's what we found:

4 links to this URL sorted by freshness authority
Film porno gratis 43 days ago in Film porno gratis · 4 blogs link here
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Yep, I guess I'm famous as an international Porn Star now (fluffs hair, attempts to hold in gut and strike a semi-sexy pose without falling on my ample ass). How about Bogue de Juin (Junebugg in French) as a stage name? Hell, it sounds better than Insecto de Junio (Junebugg in Spanish), that sounds like a character out of the old SiFi movie "The Wasp Woman".

I'll be signing autographs at $5 a pop just as soon as I get a day off if any of ya'll are interested.

I guess I'll have to let Donna be my manager since she's the one who started me on the road to my new found life of sin (choke, gasp, sputter ....... erm .......... I'm OK now). Hey! I was Sweet and Innocent before she did this to me (ducks and looks around for a lightning bolt to strike her for lying!).

I recommend you check out the Technorati link count widget. It's easy to add to your template, if I can do it anybody can. Besides........you never know who or what is hooked linked to your stuff, now DO YOU?

St. Redneckerless

I'm still getting email Christmas Cards, and this animated Story of St. Redneckerless from Dee is a doozie! (Make sure the sound is turned on so you can hear the story, no music I promise!)

And why in the hell is Blogrolling still not updating? I thought they fixed the darn thing, I miss knowing when my favorite blogs have new entries.

BTW: The Ping-O-Matic link really works; I love being to update my blog on lots of search engines with one click! Until someone fixes all the glitches with Blogrolling and New Blogger it's the best way I know to have people know you've posted recently.

CASA JUNEBUGG CHRISTMAS

We had a good Christmas here at Casa Junebugg. Sweet Thang gave me a beautiful cherry wood jewelry chest that stands 4' high and has dozens of drawers and hidey holes to store my shiny baubles and doodads. Son Chane gave me a combo DVD/VCR player to drag me kicking and screaming into the modern video age without losing the ability to watch my vast collection of old VCR movies. My bestest friend Karen gave me a Celtic knot necklace, telling me that the Celtic knot stood for eternal life and she also meant it to represent eternal friendship! All this and we haven't even had our extended family Christmas yet. {{{sigh}}} I'm blessed with people who care about me.

Here are just a few pictures of the day. Chane is camera shy, so I don't have many of him but Drennon is a ham who loves to get his picture taken.

When I was sending a gift to Hawaii, Stinky jumped into the box and refused to get out! Do you think she wanted to go on vacation?

I believe Rufus is trying to figure out which package is his!

This is the only time I got Chane on camera and I thought he was gonna have a fit when he found out I got a picture of him.

Drennon in the paper ripping mode.

Sister Teresa gave Drennon this 'boggin. 'Bama fans start young here.

Boxes get ripped too. Drennon doesn't have the patience to open stuff neatly.

This RoboReptile surprised us with what all it could do! It runs, jumps, bites, hunts, feeds, roars and snarls. It also has sensors that let it "see" and "hear". If it hears a sound, it stops and turns it's head from side to side until it locates the source, then gives chase. The same goes for it's sight, if a moving object crosses it's path it attacks. In free-roam mode it actually saw and gave chase to the kitten. I think the darn thing is smarter than the cats! I tried to get a picture of the cat/robot battle but the action was too fast. Maybe another time.......

We burned all the boxes and wrapping paper because there was too much to wait for garbage day.



Drennon as one of the Three Wise Men in the Christmas play.

I hope all of my blogbuddies have as good a Christmas as I did. Merry Christmas and best wishes to all of you.

CHRISTMAS FLU BUG

Our family Christmas has been postponed due to several of my siblings/nieces coming down with the flu. I've been doing mercy runs with chicken soup, crackers, Gatorade and anti-nausea medicine. It feels like I should be doing more than brewing tea, heating soup and offering words of comfort; for all the good they do it's not making life any easier for the sick folks.

Baby sister Lana is so weak she's passed out a time or two (nearly giving me a heart attack in the process, I thought she was having a seizure!) and is under a doctor's care. She lives alone and we sisters are the only ones around to check and make sure she's OK. Brittany, Tina's 11 year old daughter, is down with the nasty virus as well.

So far we've been lucky and the bug hasn't hit my house yet. I've been careful not to stay long, washing my hands often and as much as I would like to not giving her a hug of sisterly affection and comfort.

Chane, Drennon and I will have our own little Christmas party today; Drennon has to go home to celebrate with his Mom and see what Santa brought. His cousin Quin has been trying his best to convince Drennon that there's no such thing as Santa, but so far Drennon is rock steady in his faith in the Fat Man In The Red Suite. Drennon's the ripe old age of 7, I hope he can hold on to his innocence and childhood just a little longer. Life goes fast enough without someone busting the Saint Nick bubble for ya.


Here's wishing ya'll a
MERRY CHRISTMAS
from the Heart of Dixie
and hope that the flu bug
stays away from your door.

BONUS: Donna has posted a picture of me at the Christmas parade. I cropped out a lot of the sky and such to make a close-up. Volia!! Junebugg in the flesh.

CHRITSMAS TAG

I was tagged by Carina at DogMuse.

The Rules:The player of this game starts with "3 things he/she would love to get for Christmas" and also has to list "3 things he/she definitely does not want to get for Christmas". Then he/she tags 5 friends and list their names. The ones who get tagged need to write on their blogs about their Christmas wishes, as well as state this rule clearly, then tag 5 more victims. And the one who tags need to leave a comment that says "you've been Christmas tagged!" in their comments and tell them to read your blog.

WANTS:
1. I would love for all my sisters to get along and for us to continue being a loving family even though our parents are gone.
2. This awful war to be resolved and all our service people to come home to their loved ones.
3. For my son to get his life straight and start acting like a responsible adult instead of a 32 year old child. I'm tired of picking up after him and bailing him out of trouble.

DON'T WANTS:
1. Useless dust catching knick-knacks
2. Any more critters, I'm going broke buying feed for the ones that I've got now
3. Any more overtime for a long, long time!

TAGGED: Tina, Donna, Brenda, Becky, & Lady K.

FOR JACKIE SUE

This post is for Jackie Sue. When I called her from work the other day and attempted to explain to her what it was like here in the big wide wonderful world of paper mills (yeah right) I don't think I got the idea across. So, as in the old saying "a picture is worth a thousand words", I thought I'd provide a few visual aids. (as always, click on the picture for a larger view)

I work as a control room operator in the boiler house/power plant/water & waste treatment part of one of the largest mills in the USA (the mill covers more than 60 acres, none of it forestland). We provide all the electricity, steam, water and sewage treatment for the entire place.

Yeah, that's me with my feet propped up, talking on the phone. But I'm working, really truly cross my heart I am. See all those monitors? I'm constantly scanning and watching for problems, tweaking set points and making adjustments so the damn place don't go "BOOM" (high pressure boilers tend to do that sometimes). It's like an air traffic controller, the job is more about preventing problems than manual labor. Believe me, I felt better when I went home back in the day when I was shoveling bark and handling heavy equipment. We don't have scheduled breaks or lunch periods. Someone has to be here all the time, you eat at your station and if you have to go to first aid or whatever someone has to cover for you. A little stressful, bad on your back but hey, I'm told I'm fairly good at it. Nice to know I'm good for something!

This is our mill on the Tennessee River.The steam you see going up from those stacks in the middle is where I'm at most of the time. If I'm not there, I'm where the stacks closest to the river are. The two tallest buildings are our 2 boiler houses.

Just to give you an idea of how big we are: your light bill is measured in watts. A kilowatt is a thousand watts. A megawatt is a million watts. We have the capacity to make 60 megawatts an hour here, more than the city of Huntsville, AL uses. We also process more than 55 million gallons of river water a day; cleaning it up to drinking standards, then take the resulting waste and clean it up enough to win environmental awards before returning it to the Tennessee river.

So there you have it. Not very interesting but now you know what I do for a living.

YEAH!

PUBLISHED!!!!

I'm in the local paper! Although right now I'm stuck here at work, the inner mini-me is doing a tail-shaking happy dance of "OH YEAH BABY" joy. What can I say, it doesn't take much to make me happy.

Well....... I didn't physically get in the paper (damn I bet getting shoved through the printing press would have hurt!) but something I wrote did. Actually, I didn't even get all my writing published, they paraphrased it....... deleted and edited and changed it around....... But still....... it's in print!

I submitted an earlier post for the Decatur Daily's Christmas Memories section at the urging of my Aunt Pat (BTW: Thank You for the support and encouragement, Aunt Pat) . They shortened it up and published it as HANDMADE DECORATIONS.

I didn't get paid this time (I made $50 the last time I got something published in several national papers. If you want to submit a story of your own and see if they'll pay you, go check out The Front Porch) but it's still nice to see your name in print!

FOGGY

I’ve tried several times to write about my drive into work this morning. I played around with poetic metaphors of cotton wool and The Twilight Zone but it never came out right, so I’m just gonna tell it like it was.

I walked out the door and couldn’t see past the edges of my carport. When I backed onto the road and started forward, tendrils of fog swirled around and over the hood as if I was driving under water. Signs and intersections appeared and disappeared like ghosts in a bad dream.

Hunched over the steering wheel, peering ahead like a female version of Mr. Magoo, I drove right past the same turnoff that I’ve been taking for almost 30 years and had to turn around in a parking lot. The visibility was almost zero and I felt as if I was lost driving in the same area where I’ve lived my whole life.

I got behind a log truck driving 30 MPH down twisty highway 33 and all I could think about was getting rear-ended by another car. Visions of logs punching through my windshield and into my body (me getting squished like a bug with blood and gore all over the place) kept flickering through my mind, so I turned on my hazard flashers. You know, just in case.

On the way, I witnessed several almost-wrecks. Cars slammed on their brakes to avoid hitting other drivers who suddenly appeared out of the gloom, spinning around in the center of the highway while horns blared and other vehicles dodged around them, hoping all the while that someone else wasn’t approaching unseen in the fog.

It was bad, people! You couldn’t see red lights or the glow of vapor lights until you were right under them. There was no way to know if anyone else was on the road until their headlights jumped out of the murkiness right in front of you. Even through you were on familiar roads, you couldn't tell where you were and just had to guess when a stop sign or intersection was coming up. What made it so bad was the idiots who still drove 70 and 80 MPH; you never knew they were around until you saw blur of head-lights as they sped by.

I made it in with a 45 minute drive instead of my usual 20. The fog has burned off, but I bet it’ll be the same white-out tomorrow morning. I think I’ll just leave early and hope the fast-driving morons oversleep..................

EXTRA: Ya'll go visit Donna, she needs cheering up after she HOOVERED A POT-BELLIED PIG TO DEATH!

STAR LIGHT, STAR BRIGHT

Tonight you ought to bundle up and spend some time with a hot-blooded someone out under the stars. That's right, I said under the stars!

It's time for the annual Geminid meteor shower (the biggest meteor shower of the year!)which scientists claim should produce up to 120 meteors per hour, and believe me it's usually worth braving the cold! If you haven't watched this spectacular display of Mother Nature's fireworks before, check out this article, Year's Best Meteor Shower Peaks Tonight , at Space.com.

I missed the show last year because of rain and this year I'll have to get some sleep, but hopefully I'll catch a few shooting stars on the way to work at 4 AM in the morning. If I'm awake enough I might even try to take the camera with me in case I find a good place to attempt to take a picture (I'm not in the camera-phone league yet).

Don't forget to take the libation of your choice to fight off the chill. Hot cocoa, coffee, or maybe something a little stronger. Just don't make yourself sick and have a good time.

"diet soda may make you gain weight"

Stop where you are. Stay calm and, very slowly now, put down the can of diet soda. A study at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio has reached a stunning conclusion: Diet soft drinks don't help you lose weight — they may actually promote weight gain. Researchers analyzed 8 years of data on 1,550 people. Participants who drank one diet soda per day were 65 percent more likely to become overweight during the next 7 to 8 years and 41 percent more likely to become obese than non-diet-soda drinkers. "Some studies suggest that diet drinks stimulate appetite," says study coauthor SharonP. Fowler. One theory is that diet sodas tease taste buds with the promise of sugar but then don't deliver real sweetness, causing drinkers to look for the missed calories elsewhere. For a low-calorie alternative, brew some iced tea and add a spoonful of honey (about 25 calories). From Women's Health Magazine

Damn, there go my Diet Mountain Dews, right to my hips! It seems that I can't win for losing gaining. Wish they had tea in the vending machines at work........