10 Lessons You Want to Teach Your Kids

1) You're only a "kid" for 18 years. You'll be an adult for the other 80 years. Be a kid & enjoy it!
2) Be choosy when dating someone! #1. People will judge you based on who you hang with and you might ruin future prospects, and #2. This person could end up being the mother of your child (whether you plan that or not)!
3) Money isn't everything & don't compete with the Joneses, but it's sure important when you don't have it! Work hard & be responsible with the money you earn.
4) Be kind & forgiving of others & don't expect the same from them, because you will almost always be disappointed...just be the better man.
5) Be crazy - it's more fun & it gets a reaction out of people. Dance! People will usually follow suit or be jealous that you have the guts to let go like that. And even if they don't get it, you're still having a good time, so who really cares?!
6) Never burn a bridge - even when you think you don't need it. It not only leaves you more opportunities, it's the respectful way to end things.
7) Use manners & treat a lady like a lady. Some day you'll be the unique, sweet guy who makes her swoon & feel special. (And yes, for goodness sakes, put the seat down!)
8) Be original! Be a leader - or just be yourself; either way, don't follow someone else's path - it may not be the best path for you, and people will respect your originality even if they don't agree with you.
9) Stand up for what you believe in - whether it's your Christianity, your friends, your morals or yourself! Stick to your guns!
10) Travel far away...this world is so much bigger than your hometown, state, or even your country; explore it! You'll come to learn that this world is about so much more than yourself.

Gosh, I had a hard time limiting this one to 10!

Happy Tuesday!

I had the laziest day that I can remember having in years!!!!!

I slept in until 10 am, went to work for a couple of hours (my only concession to un-lazy behavior), stopped by the library & picked up a Jude Deveraux & two Johnathan Kellerman novels, came home & put on my swimsuit, made myself a banana julius, grabbed a blanket & suntan oil & laid out in my back yard for an hour or two, then I came in & laid on the futon & read for another hour or two, until I decided that I needed a nap. I woke up some time later - at this point, I didn't know what time it was when I fell asleep or when I woke up, and frankly, loved not knowing or caring!

I just finished my Jude Devereaux book & only had one interruption: a quick phone call from Tyson at 8:00. He wanted to tell me something, but couldn't, I'm thinking, because someone was nearby, so I asked him if he could tell me later & he said he would...hmm....

Anyway, I felt compelled to share my sinfully lazy day & am now off to watch another chick flick. I finally rented Serendipity last night! What a great movie...if only life were such a fairy tale...

Friday 5
Wedding Crashers (copying my sister yet again!)

1. How many weddings have you attended? Let's see, actually not very many: My mom's, my brother Joe's (where I sang), my sister Kathy's (where I showed up at the tail end - I'll never forgive myself for that!), my friend Shannon's (where I sang), my friend Krista's (where I sang), my own (where I didn't sing, but sure cried a lot!) and most recently, an old friend from High school, Clifton's. I think that's it...

2. Wedding registries: buy from the list or freestyle it? Freestyle, but most likely wait until the very last minute to do so.

3. Are you more likely to slow dance or participate in the chicken dance? Chicken dance! Definitely! Although I might do both, depending on who's there to slow dance with...

4. The garter find/toss experience: cute or tacky? Sexy!

5. If you could marry someone famous, who would it be? Adam Sandler - I know, it sounds weird, but he could always make me laugh & seems like someone I could be comfortable around. Not to mention that Tyson loves his humor, too!

I figured I'd better post something to keep everyone (yup - all three of you!) reading my blog.

I tried renting Serendipity last night, but it was out, so I ended up with Boat Trip instead - I knew it would be totally cheesy, but it was pretty comical & had Horatio Sanz in it, as well as a cameo by Will Ferrel. My favorite part is probably when Horatio's character has finally figured out that they are on a gay cruise by accident & decided to check out the breakfast buffet, because, after all, "How gay can a buffet be?" Well, as it turns out, pretty gay!

Tonight I did some transcription & was supposed to go salsa dancing, but it turned out the dancing didn't even start until 9:45, so that was totally out of the question on a work night! So, we ended up getting ice cream at the Fudge Factory & wandering around the plaza window shopping & talking girl talk. It was nice, because I don't get to hang out with Denise much - she's married, has a daughter in the house still & works 40+ hours a week, so she doesn't have a lot of spare time, and it made me feel special that she'd choose to spend some of it with li'l ol' me! I sure do have some good friends!

Anyway, I should probably turn in for the night - I've been really bad this week about hitting snooze until absolutely the last minute! School starts soon & I'll have to get up even earlier....GROOOOOOOOOOOAAAN!

10 Things You Love About Your City
10 things I love about Ashland

1) I'm from the Rogue Valley & it feels like home.
2) The seasons!
3) The culture of a bigger city, with a small town feel.
4) It's artsy! Music, theater, writers, you name it!
5) The beautiful park, complete with Japanese garden & duck ponds.
6) The plaza & all the unique stores.
7) Great restaurants with good food & creekside seating.
8) Its location is great - it's not far to Reno, Portland, San Francisco, etc.
9) Summer nights.
10) The hills and all the beautiful houses.

Even though my closest family is roughly 4 1/2 hours away, I plan to stay here for at least the next 9 years until Tyson graduates, then we'll see...there sure is a whole lot more I'd like to see of the world, but if I could have a home here & travel everywhere else, that might not be so bad...we'll just have to see what happens!

Strange weekend (yeah, I know - "big surprise!") -
Friday night: went shopping at the mall & dropped off onesies at Arty T'shirts to have custom onesies made for my friends, Gary & Twyla's baby boy, Kyle. One says "Boob Man!" and the other says "They Shake Me!" & has a picture of a really pathetic baby crying on it.
Saturday: back to the mall (under the guise of picking up the onesies, but I did manage to make it before the big sale ended at JC Penney's). I happened to run into my very good friends, Krista & Dustin (with their three kids), so we all shopped & had lunch together. I tell ya, those are some good people - we always have a great time & I just love both of them & feel so comfortable with them. (We've all known eachother since 7th grade.) After that, I decided I'd go test drive some Jeeps - I totally would've bought one, but I don't really have enough equity in my car yet to make it worth my while - it's alright, I like my car just fine, but it's so boring to have a car when I could be driving a Jeep with the top off! After I got home, the salesman called & asked me out. This guy is old & icky, of course, so I said yes. Just kiddin'! Gotcha! No, but I did have a weak moment & told him to call me back another time, instead of firmly telling him no like I should have. I have got to quit feeling guilty about turning people down! My problem is that I don't like to hurt people's feelings! Anyway, I did go to my office administrator's house-warming party & had a relatively good time. I convinced three of the "girls" (aged 31 - 50+) from our Yreka office to go into Medford & do karoake with me, but the first place we went had technical difficulties & had nothing planned as backup, so we walked around & went to a couple of other places, and by the time we finally found a place that had good live music, these guys were ready to go home...oh, well, I figured I had a designated driver & I should make good use of her, so I slammed some drinks down & we left. Turned out maybe that wasn't such a good idea...but, as always, I felt much better after puking!
Sunday: got up this morning & drove out to Eagle Point to go to church with Dustin & Krista & fam. Had a good time - the church has a really great band, but is a small church, not like Applegate. The message I took away from church was to quit living my own agenda & have faith in God & let Him guide my life...not like I didn't know this, but I always need reminding! After lunch, I took a drive through Sams Valley & came home, where I planted more flowers in planter boxes (my back yard is really coming along!) & watched a movie, then danced really badly by myself for a while, without the influence of alcohol, but just for the fun of it. I also got a call from Tyson today & it sounds like he's having a good visit. They went to the beach & built a driftwood fort & played horseshoes & had a BBQ today. Seth was kinda weird when I talked with him...he kept saying how it's been so long & this was taking a lot of getting used to, and I replied that I had been worried about that myself & I hoped that he'd get his license soon so it won't have to be so long between visits. Then he said that he'd have to get a motel to come see him since I won't let Ty stay at Seth's dad's or brother's. (I have good reasons for this, trust me!) I said that he could always stay at his sister's or here & he was getting argumentative, so instead of falling for all the guilt he was trying to put on me (some things never change, I guess!), I told him that it sounded like he wanted to argue & it made no sense. I can't wait to have my boy back!

Well, I suppose today was technically the last day to see Tyson for 2 weeks...he called as promised, and all sounded just groovy - I sent him with some little "extras" for the trip: a cammo mini etch-a-sketch, some bubble-gum & a disposable camera to take pics while he's at the coast...I also found the perfect card to slip in his suitcase so he'd see it tonight when he goes to put on his jammies: on the outside, it says, "Just remember, when you go to bed tonight" - then you open it up & it says, "I love you and miss you!" Could it be any more perfect?

I went shopping at the mall tonight to have something to do - if I'm not careful, I could be in the poor-house by the time the kid gets back...

Today is the last day I'll see my boy for two whole weeks!!! I'm trying to look at the bright side & consider all the things I can do in his absense to get some "me-time", instead of wallowing in sorrow & freaking out a little that he'll be far away & unsupervised with his dad...God will be watching out for him, I know.

So far, I plan to attend a house-warming party for my boss (margaritas are on the menu!) on Saturday, go salsa dancing with my friend, Denise, on both of the Thursdays, and attend a party for another eye specialist's office on the 1st (free catered food & live music - what the hell?). I also plan to rent Under the Tuscan Sun, Diary of a Mad Black Woman & Serendipity, as well as going to see Duece Bigelow II at the theater. Other than that, I'm hoping to get some transcription to do & will put in a few extra hours at Lithia Women's Care so I can make some extra money.

That still leaves me with entirely too much time to miss my boy, though...

It's been a few days since my last blog entry, but I haven't been slacking - quite the opposite, in fact!

On Saturday I'd hoped to go film an interview with mystery writer, Kit Sloan, for Ashland's Mystery Writers' "RVTV Noir" on Southern Oregon Public Television (I've done it a couple of times before; Phillip Margolin is tentatively down for Sept. or October!). Instead I dealt with getting stuff worked on with my car & Tyson & I hung out at Honda because they were doing a drawing for 3 different cars and $500 cash - nope, didn't win, but managed to kill some time before hitting the 11-12 year old All-Star's car wash fundraiser & the ice cream social in Ashland. The latter turned out pretty lame, we both agreed, so we came home & vegged out with some movies.

Yesterday, I got a weed-eater & spent the whole day outside wacking my "lawn", which was basically a jungle, but looks almost decent now, and picking blackberries & planting mums. After all this, we BBQ'd & I made my new favorite side dish, mostaccioli pasta/zucchini salad. To end the very productive day, we picked up some plywood, hinges, handles & a lock to build Tyson's fort.

This morning I woke up completely immobile & called in sick! (I did have a killer headache that I think was caused by all day in the sun the day before.) By the afternoon, after much lazing around, a long soak in the tub & a nap, I was feeling fairly decent, so Tyson & I went to the movies and watched "Sky High", which was fairly entertaining & I figured beat our other choice "Dukes of Hazzard"! (Besides which, I didn't want to incur the wrath of my sister, Kathy!) Then we went out to ice cream & came home to fix dinner (pot roast) & get Tyson ready for football practice.

So there you have it: my (extended) weekend in a nutshell (sorry, Jenn, totally a "this-is-what-I-did" boring blog entry!).

All in all, though, it was a fulfilling and empowering weekend, and, at the risk of sounding more than a little bipolar, one that has made me reconsider my previous longing for the companionship of the opposite sex. At least for now, I do appreciate the fact that by being a single adult, I can't be dependent on others to do certain things for me because they're outside my experience or realm of comfort - instead, I simply learn to do them myself, and that feels really good! Besides, with being single comes a whole lot of freedom that one tends to take for granted (unless they're in a relationship & don't have the luxury of these freedoms!): I can buy something I can't afford & don't have to put up with anyone making me feel even crappier about it! I can change my mind whenever I want! I can clean house on my own schedule (thank goodness I'm a bit of a neat freak, but it's still nice to know, anyway)! I can watch chick flicks, totally cheesy comedies, or movies that make me cry again! I can sing really badly to songs way out of my range & not have to worry if anyone likes it and I can stay up really late blogging when I should be in bed without anyone telling me what to do! Aaahh...the beauty of it all!

I took this test from my (sniper) nephew, John's blog & here are my results:

What Type of Killer Are You? [cool pictures]



You are a Samurai.
You are full of honour and value respect. You are not really the stereotypical hero, but you do fight for good. Just in your own way. For you, it is most certainly okay to kill an evil person, if it is for justice and peace. You also don't belive in mourning all the time and think that once you've hit a bad stage in life you just have to get up again. It's pointless to concentrate on emotional pain and better to just get on with everything. You also are a down to earth type of person and think before you act. Impulsive people may annoy you somewhat.

Main weapon: Sword
Quote: "Always do the right thing. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest" -Mark Twain
Facial expression: Small smile

10 Best Current Actors/Actresses
There are a lot of beautiful actors/actresses out there that provide a lot of eye candy, but who do you think are at the top of their art? Who are the best ones out there?

1) Johnny Depp (and not just 'cause he's hot - he takes some really strange roles & delves himself completely into the character.)
2) Tim Robbins (haven't seen much of him lately, but love his comedy especially.)
3) Vince Vaughn (hope to see lots more of him - love his quick, snappy humor.)
4) Orlando Bloom is in the same boat with Johnny Depp - recreates himself with each role.

The following are actors I like in almost anything, but unfortunately because they tend to play the same type of characters over and over again, but I like them enough to mention:

5) Jennifer Aniston
6) Adam Sandler
7) Denzel Washington
8) Ben Affleck
9) Matthew McCaughnehey (or however the hell you spell it!)
10) James Caan & Robert Duvall tie.

And a tie for the most disgusting actresses: Brittney Murphy & Kirsten Dunst! Blech!

Pissy, pissy, pissy! That was me today, and I mean in a big way!

It started with having to do payroll at work & nobody had their time cards added up or time off requests turned in, and one person even left without giving me her time card & it was eventually found underneath a box at one of the tech stations! My dear friend & co-worker, Susan, said to me, "Okay, now you're just being pissy; let me come down there & help you!" in response to my statement that obviously people didn't want to get paid...Now, usually I'm a pretty nice (sometimes too nice!) person who goes out of my way to be helpful to others, but guess what? Not today!! Then I get interrupted in the middle of payroll by a snotty patient who wants me to change the diagnosis on her husband's bill so that her insurance will pay out of their vision benefits instead of applying it to their medical deductible - uh, hello, do I look like a doctor? Do I look like I want to be audited by Medicare & fined up the hiney, lose my job & end up in federal prison?!? (Ok, I might be going a tad overboard here, but bear with me for the sake of my ranting!) Well, it went on from there...to top things off, I forgot Tyson's mouthpiece for football practice & had to stop by the apt. to pick it up & pull in to find my door wide open! AAaaaaaaaaaarrrghhh!!! I asked Tyson to close the door behind him this morning, since he was the last one out (although, should I really have to say this? Wouldn't this be just common sense??). The worst part about that, besides the fact that if I did have anything of value, someone could've totally emptied out my apt., is that it's been 97-100+ degrees here, so of course my a/c was on! So I paid all day to cool down the outside!

After dropping Tyson off at practice, I came back home & had a glass of wine & watched Friends & mellowed out a little. By the time I went to pick him up (2 hours later), I was feeling a little better & rented a movie & had a great rest of the night with my boy.

Now I'm going to bed & gladly putting this day behind me!

I know I'm supposed to live by my previous vow, but if you know me, you also know how unrealistic this is for me on a daily basis! I've surprised myself by how well I've done, but I just went & did something to break it...

I took Tyson & his friends, Daniel & Kyle (who are brothers), to the free kids' day in Hawthorne Park today for something to do. We went around to all the booths scooping up all the freebies & playing all the contests & entering drawings. One of the stops was at the booth of one of my favorite radio stations, where I talked with one of the DJ's & 2 of his 3 daughters. I listen to this guy all the time & he cracks me up! I called in one time before my divorce to tell him how much I loved his Howard Cosell impression & asked if he'd ever seen the movie "Better Off Dead", with John Cusack, so on-air, we were laughing about it & relating, and his DJ partner, Shelly, asked if I was married. I told her that, yes, I was, but if I wasn't, I'd totally go after this guy! He was like, "Yeah, they always say that when they're safely married!" So today, I told Tyson that this guy did great impressions & to ask him to do one, so he went up & asked him to do Sylvester Stallone, and the DJ asked how he knew that he could do impressions (then proceeded to do a dead-on Rocky), so Tyson told him that his mom told him & pointed to me. Of course, I was coyly standing aside letting Tyson do the talking, but he did look over & smile really big.

Anyway, to make a short story long, I just emailed him to remind him of my promise that I'd look him up if I were single & said that I haven't done the whole dating thing, but would really just like to hang out with someone who I know could make me laugh & to let me know if he'd like to get together sometime. For once, I'm not really obsessing over this; I just really would like to have fun with somebody & not necessarily worry about romance right now, other than maybe a little flirting.

Egads! I've done a terrible thing & missed a day of posting an entry into my new blog! I knew the day would come...

Day 1 of "The Vow" went pretty well; it's very liberating to go through life living for yourself, your way, rather than worrying about what people will think (in this case, men)!

Last Saturday I took myself out to see Wedding Crashers with Vince Vaughn (hot, hot hot!!)& Owen Wilson. This was the best comedy I've seen in a loooooooonng time! (Warning: this movie may not appeal to everyone. It does involve some very crude humor, which I happen to love!) I will definitely buy this when it comes out on DVD. Besides being completely entertaining & starring Vincey-Baby, I've always wanted to be a wedding crasher! Next movie I'll probably go see: The Dukes of Hazard. I know that this will be a big disappointment to all the die-hard Hazard fans of old, but I plan to enjoy it with no expectations, and I love Johnny Knoxville & Sean (Astin?) Scott. Yeeeeeeeeee-haaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!! I must confess that I'm a bit dubious about Burt Reynolds being cast as Boss Hog, though...

I've recently received some feed-back regarding my earlier post, "Weird Guy Magnet" & have spent entirely too much time pondering this, but hopefully I'll use that constructively...

The irony here seems to be that I'm my usual charming, outgoing, endearing (well, you get the point) self with guys I'd never consider dating material, therefore, these guys -the "weird guys" - see me as fun & interesting. On the flip side, I see a nice, cute guy I'd like to get to know better & say stupid things & throw myself at him, which doesn't seem to work, for some reason! (As a side note, the man I truly believe to be my soul-mate happens to be married & my sisters won't allow me to pursue my evil plan to destroy his marriage & lure him into my comforting arms, dangit!)

So today, I, Amanda Morris, do solemnly vow to combat my instinctive nature to be the aggresor & move on with life regardless of my romantic status as if it didn't matter - since, really, it doesn't!