Thursday, May 31, 2012

The Thursday Vent



I’m back!

I know some of you are probably saying, “You never told me you were leaving!”  And you would be correct – so hello my Stalkees.  I tweeted the main reason for my absence a couple weeks ago on Twitter.  For those of you who don’t follow me on Twitter, my absence was due to the FLU.  I was surprised that you could get the flu so late.  So I Googled it and I found out that flu season is actually from October to May.

Go figure that I would get the flue the LAST month of flu season.  My kids kept trying to talk to me while I was half out of my mind with a fever and body aches.  Why is it that children want to be around you more when you feel like crap?  And of course they didn’t get sick.  They’re like super heroes or something.  Able to shield themselves against the common respiratory infection and Dr. FLU!

So my first weekend was filled with medicine, fever, sweating, and aches.  And being in the military, if you don’t have a fever but have flu like symptoms they just give you some Motrin and send you on your way.  And so that was what happened.  I went to work that Monday with the flu and a slight fever. 

Fun right?

So half way through last week I spent washing and packing clothes for my kids.  Because guess what all my lovely readers, I had to take them to Indiana to see their dad.  By myself.  From Colorado.

I priced plane tickets and found that it would cost me almost a thousand dollars after buying plane tickets there for three people and then back for me.  Plus the cost of a rental car and a hotel.  So instead I opted to fly.

Mapquest says that a trip to Indiana is 15 hours.  Mapquest—you lied to me! 

Driving across the great state of Kansas with a 7 year old and a 5 year old is challenging.  Especially when the 5 year old had to pee ever 50 miles or so.  Not to mention that once we got half way through Kansas to stop at a rest area they issued a tornado watch for the state of Kansas.  Not for a certain town in Kansas.  No!  It said tornado watch for Eastern Kansas!

This is when my daughter points up to the sky and says “Hey mom those clouds look weird.”

See the pictures below to see what she meant.  It was almost as if they were falling from the sky, reaching for us.  It was both amazing to see and scary knowing that one of those falling clouds could easily become a tornado before our very eyes.  And so we got back on the road.




As soon as the car was back on Interstate 70 a flash of lightning lit the quickly darkening sky.  Followed by several more and then the sky opened up and began to pelt rain onto us.  It got so bad that I eventually had to pull over at a rest area to wait it out and pray that we were not near a tornado since the weather was so bad.

Finally we got to their dad’s house and everything was going fine until I had to leave on Memorial Day to come back so I could go to work the next day.  Going through St. Louis was pure torture since the speed limit was 60 miles per hour and cops were pulling people over left and right for speeding.  And so it took me almost an hour to get out of the city.

I was making pretty good time since I didn’t have the kids with me.  I got a few hours from Colorado and had to pull over.  After a few hours of rest I was back on the road and finally in Colorado after going through construction and more 60 mile per hour traffic. 

But…

Once I got to the town I needed that would lead me to home I took the wrong road and ended up driving the wrong direction for 45 minutes.  45 minutes wasted until I realized I should be going west…not east.

And so I turned around and went back to the small town I had just left and began my travel towards the actual city I needed.  I made it by 7:20 and then realized I had to go to work and be there by 9.

So I went home to shower and change and go to work.  Where I had to stay all day.

Needless to say that I crashed as soon as I got home.  And today is the first day I’ve had to write anything at all. 

So thank you all for sticking around with me.  And I’ll try my best to keep you all better informed.

I hope to have a chapter up for you on Saturday.

*fingers crossed*

If not feel free to comment or send me emails.  Motivation is welcome all the time!

Later all!

-TheOnlineStalker

1 comments:

Thursday, May 17, 2012

The Thursday Vent






Hi my Stalkees,

This weeks Thursday Vent is a culmination of the week so far.  As you all know, I have been having issues with my daughter's school and of course my apartments ant infestation.  Well this week was no better.  My daughter has been getting bullied and I spent three days talking to principal, assistant principal, and briefly to her teacher.  Tomorrow is parent teacher conference.

I called my mom to ask if she could find out what time the conference would be.  Just in case we had certain times to come.  Do you know what she told her?

"Well, she doesn't have to come."

First of all..What?!?!?

What does she mean I don't have to come.  It's a parent/teacher conference for a reason.  Add on the fact that my daughter has been getting harassed by two of her students...why would I not come?

What parent knowing all of this would say.."You know what.  I don't need to ask the teacher about my child's behavior and get her input."  Or try to get their input.

So first thing tomorrow morning I will be going to my daughter's school.

As far as the ant issue goes.  The Code Enforcement officer came out yesterday and saw all of the items NOT fixed.  He went back to the office and talked to them again.  And will be calling me tomorrow.

But now I have to add broken air conditioner to the list.  My AC hasn't worked in 3 days.  I went to the office today and they told me maybe it's a tripped switch.  And to try looking in the breaker box to figure it out.

I opened the breaker box and then closed it.  I'm not messing up anything for them to tell me I broke it.

And to make things even better, my mom came in to ask for the code enforcement officers number.  Apparently our neighbors are having some of the same issues.  So cross your fingers that we finally get this fixed.  If not I'll be back next week with more to say.

But until then.  Stalk ya later.  *wink*

0 comments:

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Bullying - What's Your School's Policy?







Does your child's school have a policy on bullying?  And if so do you know what it is?

I ask these two very important questions because my child is on the receiving end of bullying.  Two weeks ago it was brought to my attention by my daughter that she was being picked on by two little boys in her class.  She is in the first grade and both students are in her classroom.  My daughter is mild mannered in nature and doesn't like to get anyone in trouble, but in turn she felt as if her telling would get her in trouble as well.

The only reason we found out was because after school I told her to change out of her school uniform and she hesitated.  When I asked her why, she said that she had bruises.  I lifted her shirt and sure enough she had scratches and bruises on her back and shoulder.  Once I got her to calm down she told me that there were two boys who had been bothering her at school.  And when she told them she didn't want to play anymore they drug her by the legs across a graveled playground.

So as any concerned parent would do, I went to her school.  As I walked to the front desk to explain the situation, the women at the front desk told me that I would have to talk to the Guidance Counselor.  After being given directions I took my daughter to bring the matter up.  It felt as if I was giving a police report.

She asked the children's names, class room, and about the incident in question.  My daughter told her what she had told me and we were informed that it would be brought up to the principal.

"What's the policy for bullying?" I asked.

To which I got the response, "There is no tolerance for bullying."

I asked what was the policy for teachers when a child mentioned such a thing and was told that the teacher should have mentioned it to the front office.  This was never done.

And then today as I was getting ready for work my mom came home after taking my daughter to school for me.  Her first words were, "You need to go to the school and talk to them.  Alex told one of the boys head butt her."

And so once again I made the trek back to my daughter's school.  This time I spoke to the principal and explained what had been told to me.  And once again I asked, "What's the policy for bullying in the school?"

And once again I was told that they had a no tolerance policy.

Hours passed as the day went by and I decided to pick my daughter up from school.  I normally don't since I'm at work when she gets out, but I of course felt that this was too important for me to have my mom pick her up.

As I walked to my daughter's class, I was asked by the Assistant Principal to talk along with my daughter's teacher.  There they asked my daughter to explain what she had told them.  The headbutting incident may or may not have been an accident.  But the dragging across the playground had happened and there was no denying that.

Apparently what had happened was that my daughter did in fact tell a teacher.  One of the recess ones they have monitoring the playground.  The boy in question was given a consequence which was being put on the wall.  According to the teacher she felt that was adequate punishment and did not inform any of the other teachers or the front office.

When asked how many times she had told the teacher my daughter replied, "3 or more times."

And still no one was told of these incidents.  So again I asked, "What is the policy for bullying?"

And again I was given the generic answer of there was a no tolerance policy for bullying.

In all the time that I have asked, I have not yet been told what that policy is.  They have mentioned talking to the boy and calling his parents now.  So I asked and what about notifying the parents that this is going on.  What is your policy on this.  To which she asked, "So no one from the school notified you?"

The answer to that is no.  This Sunday was Mother's Day and my daughter pretended to be sick so she didn't have to go to school this week.  No child should ever have to be afraid to attend school.  And if anyone knew my daughter they would see how unlike her it is.  She would rather go to school with the flu than miss a day.

And so parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles--I ask what is the policy for bullying at your child's school.

Don't let the ones who proclaim to make this a safe environment for your most precious gift stonewall you on the issue.

I can firmly tell you that my child will not be attending this school next year.  And for any parents who may stumble upon this issue make sure your answers are satisfactory and not just smoke and mirror to satisfy you temporarily.

Stop Bullying now...before it's too late.

-TheOnlineStalker

2 comments:

Monday, May 14, 2012

Manic Monday






Hi my Stalkees,

Today's Monday wasn't as Manic as the ones before.  In fact It was the perfect picture of semi calm.  I started the day off by taking pictures of the work that my apartment complex never fixed.  And on Wednesday I'll be giving the Code Enforcement officer a call.  I gave them more than the allotted time to get in here and fix it all but they sent in a maintenance man who for all I know only had half information or instructions to only fix one problem.

I then went to work where I did nothing.  Literally. 

I'll be getting out of the military in a very short time.  I have completed one term and even reenlisted so I feel it is time for me to get out and stay home with my family.  The girls are getting older and need a stable presence in their life.  It's a decision that didn't come lightly or easily.

However, a lot of the people I work for still treat individuals getting out of the military as if we are the gum on the bottom of their shoe.

"You could just finish the rest of your time."

"What are you going to do when you get out?  Work at McDonald's?"

These are actual questions that have been asked by higher ranked individuals.  First of all "finish the rest of my time?"

It sounds like a prison sentence when put that way.  And when working under individuals who make your life miserable it feels like prison too.

As for the work at McDonald's comment a female at work got from her boss all I could say was "Wow!"

He thinks so little of her that he believes she'll get out the military and what?  Become one of those women who uses the system instead of getting her education and a better job.

The only good thing that came out of today was that my daughter got her new glasses and then we went to the park to play.

But what can you expect on a Manic Monday?

0 comments:

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Christians Say Bad Words






This was too awesome for me not to post tonight. 

I normally take my mom to work at night.  So I loaded the kids in the car and off we went.  My mom works at a Wal-mart that isn't that far from us.  a good 10 to 15 minute drive through downtown.  As we're on our way I tell my mom how I talked to my friend about how the lady sideswiped us in her car.  And my mom asks me what did she say.

So I try to whisper as low as I can.  "Stupid Bitch."

But seeing as my daughter has bionic hearing, she says, "Oooo.  That's a bad word mom."

"You weren't supposed to hear that."

And afterwords I start to mess with her about who said a bad word to which she says "You" and I say "You who?"

To say this is fun entertainment for me is an understatement.  But as so many say..It's the little things in life.

After about five minutes of going back and forward with her she says, "Oh my God."

"Oooo...you blasphemed," I tell her.

"No I didn't.  I'm not a Christian."

"What?"

"I didn't say a bad word."

I laugh and take the bait.  "What do bad words have to do with Christians?"

And without missing a beat she says, "Because, Christians say bad words."

I can't make this kind of stuff up. 

So I tell her, "But I'm not a Christian.  I'm Wiccan."

Tell me ladies and gents why my daughter starts to argue with me and tells me I have to be a Christian because I said  bad word earlier.

And my mom doesn't make it any better because she says a curse word right after that to which my daughter says, "Grandma you're really a Christian.  Mom you're sorta a Christian but Grandma is really one."

"You're other Grandma's a Christian," my mom says.

"No she's not.  She doesn't say bad words."

So now my daughter thinks that all Christians say bad words and no matter how much I tried to convince her that they don't--she's just not believing it.

0 comments:

Happy Mother's Day Daddy/ Mommy What's that Word Mean?




Not exactly the titles you were expecting to see today right? 

Last year on Mother's Day my Daughters gave me a ceramic picture that was drawn in class.  This mornings gift was just as special.

At 7:30--a full hour more of sleep than usual I must add--my kids woke me up to say Happy Mother's Day.  And then they told me to close my eyes.

When I was finally told it was okay to open them I couldn't help but smile as I saw two teddy bears holding a heart that said "I Love You Mom"

I smiled the biggest smile ever because they had put all this effort into getting me a gift even after I told them that I didn't really need one.  At seven and five it was important for them to know that they apprecieated me.

And then my youngest daughter looked at me and said, "Can we call Dadddy and tell him Happy Mother's Day?"

With a request like that how could I refuse right?  And so I called their dad which went to voicemail.  This is the exact message that was left:

"Hi.  I want--what did I say?  Oh yeah.  Happy Mother's Day Daddy!  Call us back so we can tell you Happy Mother's Day."

Can't make stuff like this up if I tried lol.

Fast forward 5 hours

My youngest daughter went to church with my mom.  Me and my oldest daughter stayed home due to her being a little under the weather.  So I decided we could watch Glee.

Yes.  I love Glee.

We're on season 1 at the moment and we got to the episode where Kurt wants to sing Defying Gravity from the play Wicked.  But of course Mr. Shue won't let him which causes Kurt's father to go the school and raise some hell.

But what I forgot was in the episode an anonymous man calls Kurt's dad at his shop and says, "Your sons a "f*g"

And we all know that word isn't fig. 

As soon as the words left the television my seven year old turns to me and says, "Mom...what's that word mean?"

So I paused the show and had to explain to her that not all boys like girls and that many people say that word to be mean and hurtful to people who aren't like them.  Which led to me explaining that some boys like boys and some girls like girls.  And want to marry them.

"How do they get married?"

"Um...In some states they can get married just like Mommy and Daddy did."

"That's wrong," she says.

"No no.  It's different.  There's nothing wrong with it.  You can't help who you love.  Just like Mommy and Daddy can't help that they love each other.  Never say something is wrong because you don't understand it."

"Okay.  So boys and boys can get married.  Weird."

She doesn't really understand it, but I stressed that you can't help who you love and it's never wrong.  People just don't always understand it.  And as a daughter of a Black mom and a White dad, she'll have some people who don't understand that, but time changes lots of things.

And so that was my Mother's Day. 

Dad got a shout out and my daughter learned that boys don't always want to marry girls.

All in all a really great day.

Happy Mother's Day everyone from your friendly onlinestalker.

0 comments:

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Technical Difficulties



It seems as if my computer rebelled against me today.  Well technically it's my mom's computer but I digress.  It ate my story and so tonight I will be awake to retype it.  Maybe a new version of it will be better than what I actually had written.  But I am determined to get this chapter out this time.  No excuses.  Thanks to anyone who has been so patient with me.  At least I got one of my two chapters out on time.  That's progress I guess. 

Thanks again for your understanding guys.  And you'll have a new story first thing in the morning for mother's day.  If I have to stay up late to do it.  With brief naps in between to refresh myself of course.

*wink*

-TheOnlineStalker

0 comments:

Breathing Ch. 03



Hi my Stalkees,

Here is one of your double feature Saturday Short Stories.  Chapter 3 of Breathing!  I hope you enjoy and Beautiful Stranger will be up later. 

0 comments:

Friday, May 11, 2012

Beautiful Stranger Ch. 07

Hi my Stalkees!
Are you excited about tomorrow?  You get not one..but TWO chapters!!!  But in order for you to follow along I think I should post the last chapter of Beautiful Stranger I finished.  So here is chapter 7.  I hope you enjoy it!

Beautiful Stranger Ch. 07

0 comments:

Thursday, May 10, 2012

The Thursday Vent



Yesterday the Code Enforcement officer finally came out to look at our ant issue.  He was inside less than 5 minutes before he started commenting and shivering as his skin crawled.  We explained the issue and after checking out the multiple places they were he moved to out bathroom where he discovered our upstairs neighbor's toilet was leaking down on our toilet and bathroom floor. 

Yuck!

He went to the front office to ask them what the exterminator had said about sealing up the hole they left.  Apparently he had told them it was okay to seal it up three days ago.  But they didn't inform us of that.  Nor did they try to seal it.  So the Code Enforcement officer gave them a week to fix everything. 

Which includes:

1) Sealing the holes
2) Caulking the windows so that the ants can't come in through there either
3) Taking up the neighbors toilet to make sure nothing is growing there and fixing our ceiling.

So far they did a horrible job of fixing our hole and they only resealed the neighbors toilet, but they didn't pull up the toilet to see where the leak was actually coming from. 

Now I have to vacuum the dead ants up and see if they actually fixed the problem.  More than likely no since they didn't do everything they were supposed to do.  So now all I have to do is wait and see what happens.

Here are the before..middle..and after pictures.  Tell me...what do you think?

Before - When we discovered there were ants

Middle- The so called fix after we told them they were still coming in the apartment

After - Their method of sealing off the hole


And that ladies and gents is what I have been dealing with for the past month.  Hopefully it's enough and if not I'll be giving my Code Enforcement Officer back out here.

Thanks for reading my vent.  See ya next week.

-TheOnlineStalker

0 comments:

Beautiful Stranger Ch. 06

Hi my lovely Stalkees!

It is getting close to crunch time.  Two more days until the new chapter of Beautiful Stranger is revealed.  And I don't know about you, but I'm excited!  But instead of letting you suffer with what ifs and what will happen, I am gifting you with the 6th chapter of Beautiful Stranger to keep you company.  And to refresh your memories. 

The Thursday Vent will be up later in the day.  I'm sure by then I'll have plenty to vent about. 

Beautiful Stranger Ch. 06

0 comments:

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Beautiful Stranger Ch. 05

How is everyone this wonderful Hump Day. Half the week is almost gone which means that you have two chapters from two separate stories coming your way. But to tide you over..as promised, I have added Chapter 5 of Beautiful Stranger for your reading pleasure.

Beautiful Stranger Ch. 05

0 comments:

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Beautiful Stranger Ch. 04

Hi my Stalkees,

As promised here is the next chapter of Beautiful Stranger.  There will be a bit of drama and quite a twist.  Hope you enjoy it. 

Beautiful Stranger Ch. 04

3 comments:

Monday, May 7, 2012

Manic Monday/Beautiful Stranger Ch. 03



As the song says, "It's just another Manic Monday." 

And this Monday is no exception.  As you may have read a previous post, I have ants.  And not just any type of ants...Carpenter Ants.  These little buggers have wings!  To remedy this we had an exterminator come in to spray.  He found the source which is a huge hole under my sink.  The apartment complex was supposed to cover it and the sent someone out who covered half of it, but said he ran out of dry wall and would be back to fix it.

The sent someone else out to look at it, but then he said he'd come back the next day to fix it.  The next day...no maintenance man.  So I went to the office and was told the exterminator told them not to cover it.  Keep in mind this entire time, ants are continuously coming out of the hole.  And they are more active at night.  And have been biting my kids and I in our sleep.  Because of that my kids sleep in my room not where the ants don't seem to be for the most part.

I talked to the front office again and was informed that if I wanted to move I would have to sign another lease.  I have four months on this lease and will be moving to Texas soon.  Add to that the fact that we have ants in our apartment and they don't seem to want to help us and you want me to stay here!  I don't think so.

And if I didn't think it could get worse.  I was wrong. 

The apartment above us had some work done and now everytime the tenants above us run water our ceiling leaks in our bathroom. 

But wait...

There's more!

Friday my daughter came home to tell me that she was being bullied.  Not by one kid but by two little boys.  So today I went to the school to talk to the teacher.  But the teacher wasn't in.  So the substitute said I should go to the office.  I get to the office and mention that my daughter says she's being bullied and the lady at the office says, "Well first you need to go the guidance counselor and talk to her."

I go to the guidance counselor and talk to the lady there and she takes down my information.  Almost felt like giving a report to the police.  I gave the teacher's name, the kids names, and a location where they would be.  Sigh.

Now after all of this, I just want to sit down and read a good book to get my mind off the choas even if it is temporary.  But first..as promised, I am giving you chapter 3 of Beautiful Stranger.  I hope you enjoy!

Beautiful Stranger Ch. 03

-TheOnlineStalker

0 comments:

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Beautiful Stranger Ch. 02

Hello all,

As promised here is Chapter 2 of my story Beautiful Stranger.  I hope like it.  And if you haven't read Chapter 1, you should.  It'll explain what's happening in this chapter.  Enjoy!

-TheOnlineStalker

Beautiful Stranger Ch. 02

1 comments:

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Beautiful Stranger Ch. 01

Hi my Stalkees,

For any of you who have followed me on Lit, you know that I have a story called Beautiful Stranger.  Due to the increase of plagiarism and the number of authors getting their stories stolen, I have decided to continue my story here on my blog.

And for those of you who have never read it, I have decided to post a chapter every day starting with today and ending Saturday with a brand new chapter.

So without further adieu here is the first chapter of Beautiful Stranger.

Beautiful Stranger Ch. 01

0 comments:

Breathing Ch. 02



Hi my Stalkees!

I finally finished Chapter 2 for Breathing.  It was a difficult chapter to say the least.  There is a lot of emotion going through the main character.  And also the introduction of a new character who will be an important part of the story.  Keep an open mind when you are reading it.  And I hope to have the next chapter up quickly so that I can catch up and post weekly.  Thanks to everyone who takes the time to read my stories.  You are all amazing.

So without further delay.  I give you Breathing Ch. 02

2 comments:

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