What are they thinking?! Canadians are NOT Irish!

Well, this one would not load right side up! Tilt your head a little to the right, a little more, a little more, yea. Thats it. You are looking at it right now. This is the leprecaun (sp?) water running into the ground.

"Did you see that s&%^?!?! It was green! Creepy stuff, let me tell ya!"

What a thing of beauty. and Green to top it off! Lovely downtown ____________ area.

Recently, someone drove into the rather large fountain in the "heart" of downtown (yet again!) and destroyed it. It is a beautiful fountain and very different in that it overflows out of the big basin and the water recycles from the drains in the ground around it. The city always decorates it at Christmas time and what not. The repairs have been made and they announced that it would be up and running on St. Patricks day. It was complete with GREEN water! Not just green but G R E E N water! I forgot that they were doing that and on this lovely day, I had my children in the car and we rode by it. Of course they noticed it instantly. Also because I am sometimes a cool mom (or try to be) we stopped and took a peek. We even got Shoobie-like and took a couple of pics like we have never seen such a thing before.

I beleive that the City Council votes to do some retarded stuff sometimes but this just takes the malt out of my beverage. Granted I know that it did not cost an arm and three toes to color that water but what are our tax dollars hard at work on here? I wonder how many meetings the council had to have to simply agree to have that water green. It is a large fountain and it is not exactly a small amount of water. That was a deep green too. How much coloring did it really take? It could not have been too much or too toxic because as we were leaving, a small bird came and began to bathe himself! I looked up at the sky and told the man upstairs that I was glad that was a brown bird. I could only imagine if that bird was red, yellow or even white! What a site that would have been.

As we were walking away, I even took a photo of myself with one of those bewildered looks so that I could have a laugh at myself later.

On another note, while we were there taking pictures and looking like a bunch of Shoobies (FYI: Shoobie is a newly arrived local resident or a visitor to our lovely resort area here at the beach. Reference the Rocket Power cartoon for a complete education on what it is to be Shoobie-like.) some man on a bike offered to take a picture of the lot of us. I guess he fully believed I was a dumb out of towner. There was no way he was going to get his mitts on my camera and run off with it. Why then I would have to discontinue my plog and my loyal readers would be so down with grief that I would have to start a counseling group! Let me tell you, counseling and advise is not my forte nor will it ever be any specialty of mine. I am a pro at only a few things and they are screechin, free stuff, and talking on the phone. I got no time for anything else on my agenda. But I digress. So here is the green water and I hope you all had a St. Patty's day to remember. I know the Canadians sure did! It was a nice day and they had the warmth they came here for! Not pots of gold but warm golden sunshine is just as good when you know your permenant home is sitting at twenty below!!!!

I know I am loved. All it takes is a BIG boo boo!

Yesterday was a beautiful pre-spring day. After dropping the dadmeister off at work, I decided that me and the kids (and the dog) were going to play outside in the back yard. My boys were riding their pedal/push cars around, the dog was playing fetch with the baby and my daughter and I were playing volley ball. In all, it was the perfect afternoon (with the exception of missing my hunnie!)

I try to play hard because that is the only way to make the fat go away. Yes, I have a serious problem with the way I look but that is another story for another day. When my daughter served the ball, it went way high and to the right. To the right of me, the grass gently slopes up to the edge of the driveway. My leg chose to step on that the wrong way. Essentially, my knee attempted to bend the other way and my knee said "Not today!" and the most awful pain shot up from behind my kneecap. Now I am normally a tough cookie, but I instantly went down and was rolling around in the grass holding my leg. " Oh OW! Oh OW!" was all I could muster loudly. Now here is where my epiphany occured

As I am laying there rolling around, you know I still have my super power mother sense on and I am mentally noting that all of my children are still in the yard. I also sense them coming nearer. I also sense the dog. I know she wont go anywhere but I feel her presence too! Then she pounces on my side and begins frantically licking my face as if to say: " Are you OK? I saw that! It will be ok! I love you! KISS KISS..." Within seconds, I attempt to roll over, still writhing in pain, and my two year old jumps on my chest kissing my face too. "Ow! Ow!" he says and is giggling. So I continue to roll to my right trying to rid my face of dog licks and baby drool and all of a sudden, my five year old is shaking my left side and screaming "Mommy! Mommy! Are you OK! Where is your boo boo! I wanna kiss it! Get up! You will get all dirty! Are you OK?!!!!" Now I am not done here. My right leg is the one hurt and very sharply I might add. My left leg is extended trying to help me maneuver all this chaos on top of me. Well, not chaos, unadulterated concern and LOVE! My daughter comes up and begins slapping my left leg " Mom! Mom! Hey! I saw that! What happened!?..." Now all of this is still going on and I realize that I am so loved and that love reverberated through my heart and shone so brightly that the pain subsided and I sat up. My knee was still throbbing but I felt special and oh so loved. I told them what happened and how it felt, I got a kiss for my boo boo and my boys (2 and 5) tried to help me to my feet and were brushing the grass off my clothes.

I had a flashback of how wonderful it was when I was a kid when one of my parents would help me up after I fell down and made things all better. Only, this was going the other way! I fuss so much and expect soo much out of my kids and I often feel that they resent me. But I was and have been so wrong for soo long. I adore each and everyone of my children and I now know without a doubt they feel the same about me! It feels good to be loved!!!!!!! =0)

City Council, still sucks, but this rally was peaceful.

http://www.thesunnews.com/724/gallery/802254.html#http://media.myrtlebeachonline.com/smedia/2009/02/28/19/91-helmet01jbm.standalone.prod_affiliate.78.JPG

Click on the link above to view photos from the Myrtle Beach Helmet Freedom Ride. These and more galleries about the swirling pit of irony that is Myrtle Beach at www.thesunnews.com.

I have always wondered what it would be like to be alive in a turbulent time. While this turbulent time is quarantined to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, it is only a matter of time before it explodes into something extremely ugly. The waves of change have hit America and they have wiped out everything that Myrtle Beach was or signified. Now it is becoming like any other playground for the rich. A wide and vast wasteland that will crumble under the very cornerstones that the Rich have laid over the past four years. The trouble has arrived and it is not labeled black, hispanic, poor, or uneducated. It is labaled for the very people who have pursued the ones that they fear the most. The ones who know how to survive will win and those with the most toys will die with just that: misery and the most toys. No love there.

Yesterday, there was an event that I am sorry that I missed. It was the Helmet Freedom Ride through Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Effective yesterday, everyone who rides motorcycles within the city limits of Myrtle Beach MUST wear a helmet even though the state law is that those over the age of majority may choose to go without. While I am aware that city law will trump state law if it is more restrictive, I find this one of those nit picky things that should never have been considered in the first place. Yes, I am aware that the city no longer wants the rallies to come. But, they are a foundation of any events that happen in May. Also, the people who are making these nit picky decisions are the ones who have the money and do not think about the very foundations of this city. The bike rallies have been around for many years and I honestly do not believe the new ordinaces found at www.cityofmyrtlebeach.com were aggregately aimed at the collective celebrations referred to as the bike rallies. I believe they were aimed more specifically at the Atlantic Beach Bike Festival. While this does not originate in Myrtle Beach, it has become a huge event and it overflows into Myrtle Beach. Unfortunately, the ABF is generally different in its racial makeup than the Harley Davidson Bike Rally, it would be unfair to apply ordinaces to one rally over another. This is why this has become the creature it has.

Many of the so-called locals despise the month of May. These are the ones who are well to do and can hold thier own during the terrible off season that befalls this area each year. For those of us who happen to live paycheck to paycheck and harshly depend on the business that anything brings during the "on-season," this is part of our income that we need to survive. For my family, it is only a minor headache and we dont mind it each year. It is not like we have to deal with it longer than a month. So why try to do things to ensure that it will die out like all the great things have? Because the rich have made their money off of it and are ready to move on to their next victims.

Rich people and their snotty ways. Gosh forbid I ever become rich. I will keep reminders all about me about where I came from. It is rediculous to put on airs and believe that everyone can live like that. While that would be nice, it is an impossibility. Why be so vitriolick all your life and assume that you are better than everyone when everyone in this country was born equally. Butt naked and possessing nothing but your own soul. Souls are not what these rich people have. They have sold them to dance a dance that they will definitely wish they would not have to when Karma catches up to them.

From afar, I see one of my favorite newspapers fly away in the wind.....(tears and ANGER!)

Far removed from my part of the world is the home to one of the best newspapers in the country. Another thing that made it unique was that it is printed magazine style. At least until today. Today, I received word that the beloved Rocky Mountain News of Colorado will have printed its last issue and close its doors for eternity. This comes days away from its 150th anniversary. Please read the eulogy below that came from its front page. Very touching. Coming from a newspaper that is struggling as well, it is sad to see such a solid soldier laid to rest when it could have been some other nobody paper. (Well, not all newspapers are nobody papers but Scripps could have chosen another paper besides RMN!!!!

"...with great sadness that we say goodbye to you today. Our time chronicling the life of Denver and Colorado, the nation and the world, is over. Thousands of men and women have worked at this newspaper since William Byers produced its first edition on the banks of Cherry Creek on April 23, 1859. We speak, we believe, for all of them, when we say that it has been an honor to serve you. To have reached this day, the final edition of the Rocky Mountain News, just 55 days shy of its 150th birthday is painful. We will scatter. And all that will be left are the stories we have told, captured on microfilm or in digital archives, devices unimaginable in those first days. But what was present in the paper then and has remained to this day is a belief in this community and the people who make it what it has become and what it will be. We part in sorrow because we know so much lies ahead that will be worth telling, and we will not be there to do so. We have celebrated life in Colorado, praising its ways, but we have warned, too, against steps we thought were mistaken. We have always been a part of this special place, striving to reflect it accurately and with compassion. We hope Coloradans will remember this newspaper fondly from generation to generation, a reminder of Denver’s history – the ambitions, foibles and virtues of its settlers and those who followed. We are confident that you will build on their dreams and find new ways to tell your story. Farewell – and thank you for so many memorable years together."
Subscribe to the Rocky Mountain News

My new hobby.

Back in January, I decided I was going to try something new. I had found out last year about this free program at the local recreation center. It was free so, what did I have to lose? Some poundage of course!!!! Yes, you heard me all of you new year's resolution defecters! It is called choose to lose and I chose it because it meant free use of the recreation center. Exercise classes, the pool, cardio machines and the weight room. Oh joy! It actually was a lot less of a chore than I thought it would be. I have always been OCD about following through with stuff and so far, I have toughed it out. We are past the halfway point with this thing but I am dismayed at my progress. I have always been a major fan of changing things a little at a time and making those changes a habit. That is the only way to make things stick. Once they become a habit, then you change things a little more. The older you get, the harder it is to change stuff. So, I bite the bullet and I do that. Well, I am guilty about not changing my desctructive junk food addiction but I HAVE cut it down from 3 cups of coffee a day to one and a half and I have reduced my soda intake. I try more for real juice and milk and that wonderful water. I am getting better but that will take some time. Caffine has a hold on me that is more like a bear trap on the ankle of a raccoon! However, I have done the exercize three times a week. One of those times includes a visit to the weight room. I am constantly reminded at the weigh ins that weight training is great at improving balance. We all know I need more of that! It also makes me feel better about how I look.

I have major self esteem issues and the putting on the pounds was not fashionably sensible for a girl like me. Then I discovered what has become like an old friend: the treadmill. It is not a class where someone is barking orders at me for an hour and I have no control. I dont have to worry about being grossed out about slimy showers and gooey hairballs in the locker rooms after a swim. I also dont have to worry about sweaty germs on all of the machines and I can just...go. I can read a book when I am not over 3.2 miles per hour and I can control how long and how fast I go. Also, it makes me feel good. I sweat out all the impurities and it is a great stress reliever. AND, to YKW's delight, it has made me more....you know.

I thought for quite a few years that I would never see my legs back to the way I had always been so proud and my butt is beginning to rise off the floor. I like the weight room too cuz it is making me feel better about my upper body as well.

The people at the recreation center that I have my weigh ins at have given me the name "The Treadmill Lady." I love it. I will most definitely live up to that as my hunny got me one for Return Day! (Yes, it is against our religion to celebrate Valentines day, so we celebreate Return Day--The day the tax returns come back!!!!! Hehehehehehe.) I was absolutely thrilled! I am so on it!

As far as the poundage goes, due to the fact that I am a junkaholic, I am sad to say that in week 7, I am only at 3.25 pounds lost. Not to worry! My hunny has contributed to the cause and I will soon be reaching my next goal of a total of 6 pounds! All without leaving my home!!!! My ultimate goal will be at least 15 pounds if not more by the end of the 12 weeks. I dont want to push it ya know. Below is a picture of my new hobby! See, I am even getting some serious reading time in. Thank you Calvin, you are the BEST!!!!

Ms. Wrenegade

Here is a little aside. I have a coworker that I absolutely love chatting with. She is an amazing woman and full of with and charm. She dresses like a diva but can get down like any tomboy I know. She is the wife of a Wrenegade! (Yes, that is how it is spelled! I am not typoing on this one!) At any rate. I feel so sad that she has been slighted so much over the past few months and I believe that something great will come out of it all in the long run. She is a wonderful mother, wife, grandmother and puppy owner! She has class and great taste.

I am not fluffing her up as she can do that pretty well on her own. It just seems to me that above it all, I wonder if anyone ever asks how is SHE doing? I mean it BW, are you REALLY ok? You know, if you put that cigarette down for 20 minutes, you may come up with some more wit so we can all get a little thinner from laughing at your funnies. I love your style of writing (gee, is that an influence from your YKW???) and I wait with baited breath for the next one.

I can only hope that we keep in touch after all this WARN Act stuff and crap going on. I would hate to lose you as not only a co worker but a friend. While I may not know Heff personally, I would be happy to be on your friends list any day! YOU GO GURL! You will find your niche again. And when you do, everyone better watch out! Even the meanies who stepped on you along the way.
Love ya!

Here it is, my thoughts on Hard Rock Park

Last year, we had this wonderful idea tha was to be planted in our midst. It was supposed to generate more business for the area and it was the first of its kind. It was promoted around the world and fluffed up to be the greatest thing to hit this country since six flags. It was gonna be great!

Less than a year from its initial opening, a couple of the major investors backed out leaving it crippled and heading in a quickening southern spiral. OUCH! Lets review why, shall we? The first mistake was all the fluff. The park was promoted to be something that it obviously was not. Ok, it is a great place for concerts but that one fact was pushed under the rug. What an idiot thing to do with that avenue! Along the same vein, parking cost $20.00, to get into the park cost $48.00, then you had to pay for absolutely every thing when you got inside. What a rip that was! No wonder people did not want to go! They were broke before they got in there! Then, once you got in, there was nothing to do but shop and if you were lucky to come on a concert day, that was included in your admission price but sheesh! Why do that when you can wait another day and go to the House of Blues and see the same concert for a third of that price!

Add to the that the fact that these investors (who must be smart, they have all that money!) decided to drop a large mostly puffed up theme park in the middle of one of the biggest down turns in the American economy since the Great Depression of the 1930's and then wonder why they are losing on their investment. Now, my background in business is only about ten years but from a small business stand point, one of the factors that you look at when looking to open any type of business is that of the local economy. I do have to cut these investors some slack as they are not of this country but they should have half a brain about them! Sheesh! Another thing is that Hard Rock international should have said something to someone as well. They do their business, it seems, the right way. They are a avery successful group.

Now, the only smart thing that these foreigners did was to back out before it fell on its face. When they did, the park crashed and crashed hard. The park had all intentions to reopen for the 2009 season but was unable to recover from that devastating blow. They tried to sell the park to no avail because the asking price was too high.

Now we have a buyer and things are supposed to be looking up. But guess what? Part of the group that opened this thing is in this new group of buyers. Hello? Do we see another disaster looming? Lets hope that our "new" owners have learned their lessons and will be more cautious with their willy nilly spending and take a closer look at the whole picture. It would be a big break for the local economy if they did it right and kept those jobs going for the locals like they say they are going to. I believe that everyone that lives in our county and local areas will still approach this thing with caution. It has been a thorn in our sides for a while now. I am just grateful that they are attempting to save face with the locals because this whole fiasco has hurt Myrtle Beach in a big way on top of what the City Council has already done to hurt the common man.

All eyes are on Myrtle Beach and Hard Rock Park.....For now, that is all I have to say about that.