Jen's Year In Review 2009

Starting in 2003 through 2006 I posted a year in review list on my Open Diary. Same list every year, different answers. I did not post a year in review list in 2007 or 2008.
I am pleased to present

Jenny’s Year In Review 2009


1.What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before?
Joined Courage HandiHam Systems and started studying for my amateur radio license. Installed an O/S upgrade on my Mac. Started a work out program.
 
2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next
year?

Last year, as in years past I did not make any resolutions. However, this coming year my only one is to get healthy. I don’t want to end up like my dad who is going to die early because of his bad choices in health. I must be here for Larry and my kids… There is no question about keeping this. It is a MUST.
 
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Friend from high school gave birth. She had a daughter. and that’s all I can think of. Last year was a boom year. Me and two or three of my friends gave birth in 2008.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
No.  Not that I am aware of thank God.
 
6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?

Less clutter and mess in wherever we wind up living when we move to Wichita. A cleaner house and more healthy food to eat. 
 
7. What date from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

25 June as Michale Jackson died. It was all over the news for weeks and weeks. He was a very very larger than life pop music star. 2998 was a bad year for stars and such we lost a lot of people. August 7 as that’s about the time Larry said we would move to Wichita after our lease was up. 11 September, Skye’s 3rd Birthday as that is also when I got my Snow Leopard O/S upgrade for the mac. We didn’t do a thing on Ben’s first birthday, 3 September. Still makes me sad to think about it although we did have a big party for Skye and Benny a few weeks later. 6 November as we finally got the new NLS Digital Talking Book Player. Christmas Eve as we got a huge blizzard.

 
9. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Larry and I finally got Skye mostly potty trined!

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
In March and again in October the whole family got some nasty flu thing. In October we had to take Ben to hospital and they kept him over night but he was fine...
 
11. What was the best thing you bought?
Well, Larry bought it for me, an iPod. Oh we also got a new kitchen table and chairs and one of those sky chairs at the renfest.
 
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Skye as she learned so much, namely using the potty and Larry for moving us back to my hometown so I won’t be so alone and will have family close by in case I need help.
 
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Amy, the girls’ mom for many many many reasons and Kenzie’s because she did a lot of stuff at the summer. Happy to say Kenzie is doing much much better now.
 
14. Where did most of your money go?
I wish I knew… We are trying to figure this out because we shouldn’t be having so many problems with being broke. My personal money that I get to keep and spend on what I want went to iTunes, Audible, Walmart or to get stuff for the toddlers. 


15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
1. moving to Wichita in the summer of 2010
2. getting digital talking book player
3. getting iPod
 
16. What song will always remind you of 2009?
Oh dear God. One 21 guns by greenday another one by them I think or maybe it is someone else “I’ll give you hell” and this thing by the ting tinges called “That’s Not My Name” Autumn played these so many times this past year tat they are going to be in my head forever and ever. unless I go demented and forget everything bout my life.
 
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
o       Happier or sadder?  lightly sadder but hopeful
o       Thinner or fatter? fatter but not for long.
o       Richer or poorer? Broke ass hell LOL hopefully this will change for the better too.

 
18. What do you wish you'd done more of? Enjoying the good times
 
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?  being bitchy and grumpy
 
20. How will you be spending Christmas?
We had a big blizzard. Just watched the toddlers while Larry was at work at walmart. when he got home just hung around and watched a christmas story then stayed up putting the toys santa brought together. I guess it is easier or santa to bring the toys all packed up leaving us to put them together.

21. What was the most embarrassing thing that happened to you in 2009?
When Kenzie’s now ex-boyfriend’s dad came to our house and told us she and the boyfriend got cought doing stuff they had no business doing. I didn’t know what to do. I was dying of shame and wasn’t sure what to do.
 
22. Did you fall in love in 2009? Yes. I can not get my head around how much I can love Skye and Benjie. They are so very just wow. Also, even though we sometimes don’t get on well, I love and am thankful for Larry because he works hard to take care of us and try hard to make me happy and the girls because despite the bumps in the road the pair of them are turning out to be really awesome young ladies. 
 
23. How many one-night stands? None,
 
24. What was your favorite TV program? Intervention, Supernanny, Bridezilla
 
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Not so much hate but strongly dislike some of the things the girls’ mom has or is doing like ringing my phone and sounding like a mega super bitch on my VM and Larry not doing anything about it.
 
26. What was the best book you read?
“Jesus land” but I forget who wrote it. or “Stickfigure: A Diary of my former self”
 
27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Och paella music. Okay I’ve always liked it, loved singing it when I was involved with vocal music but after buying Ben Folds’s album with university groups I think it is super cool
 
28. What did you want and get?
Speaking iPod and external T drive
 
29. What did you want and not get?
Speaking iPhone, home loan.
 
30. What was your favorite film of this year?
Don’t remember seeing any films that came out this year but I watched Sesson 9 and oh that reminds me about the books another one I read that was good was “Project 17”
 
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were You?
I turned 32. Spent the day watching the toddlers and the girls, watched old tav adverts on youtube and had turkey dinner for dinner.
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Having less clutter in the house. Having a social, hell a life outside the hose haven’t been out sense the end of November…

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?
What? Personal Fassion Consept? PJ pants and T-shirts for the most part or t-shirt and jeans.  Oh I can dress up but am most comfortable in PJ pants and T-shirts.
 
34. What kept you sane?
FaceBook because I made new friends and am in touch with old ones and in touch with family. iTunes and audiobooks.
 
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Ben Folds and Sufjan Stevens.
36. What political issue stirred you the most?
Was busy bringing up the kids so didn’t really pay much mind... 
37. Who did you miss?.
My sister Katie who;s been dead for two going on three years now and my friends eva Janae, billy chelle and brina and anyone else I forgot LOL
 
38. Who was the best new person you met?
I’ve made many new friends and found old friends via facebook they are all very wonderful :-)

 39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009.
I should be more like Skye and Benjie. For the most part they are happy, everything is interesting and sometimes it is okay to cry and have a fit, as lon as you go to your room to do it and come out in a better mood.

Cravings...

We are broke.
Beings we had only 3 dollars the other day and Larry's been to work I'm guessing we are now beyond broke.
We have all of today and all of tomorrow to slog through. Then on Friday, beings the first is on Saturday, I'm supposed to get my SSI payment in the bank. Unless they are bastards and deposit it in on Friday night. I hope this is not the case though...

We have very little food. All I've had to eat for the past day is egg drop soup. Nothing more than lightly seasoned chicken broth, a egg and some chopped up green onion.

I'm sort of really hungry!

The kids are all fine for food though. Tis is why I'm eating broth sos they can have the food we do have in the house.

However.

I am suffering a powerful craving for KFC's grilled chicken. Oh! I am so hungry right now for it I think I may go crazy!

Gaw this is awful! Just awful! well the babies are up so I gotta run. I just thought I'd share this.

On Friday I am, among paying bills and ordering uselessness from the internet I've been meaning to order for months but now it is going on clearence so I'm sure I best act now or else... am going to buy some KFC grilled chicken.

And Larry told me depending of if we have the girls or not we might... gasp! go out to a place to eat. Ryon's steakhouse/buffette! Woo! I don't remember the last time we went out to eat at a place. Oh when my folks were up in April. :-) But that doesn't count really. Oh God steak. Buffette. drewls... :-)

Randomness. Thought ala carte .

I'm up early.
My head ache had been gone but I can feel tendrells of it sneaking back in... Ug.

Ooh! KFC's grilled chicken was just on TV I want some. It is so yummy! I very well may get some on Friday.

T-mobile is on crack. They shut off my 710 number as I went over the 150 limit of money. They want 119 to cut it back on. :-( That is a lot of money. Well I'll pay them. Still.

As you can tell this is quite random. I really don't have any one thing to say.

I learned more about that birth orgnisem in Texas that slottered her three and a half week old baby son. It just keeps getting worse and this is just what the police can say. I get the impression there is more but honestly?
The B.O. stabed the baby boy in the chest, cut off his head, sliced off part of his face, ate some of his brains and chewed off three of the poor little baby's toes!

The news presenters on our local Fox station couldn't get it all out in one go. You could tell the man, Mark Alfard was just gobbsmacked. I don't think I could be depened upon to report that story. I'd puke or cry or say a whole bunch of naughty words and get a giant fine from the FCC. If I were the doctors or nurses needed to care for this thing in hospital I'm not sure I could. I would not be able to keep a civil toung in my head or be detached. Why should this thing be allowed one more day at life after what it did?

And look it is going to claim it was suffering PPD Or post Partum psychosis or Disassotive Identiy Disorder or PTSD or whatever. I ligit deal with this stuff daily pretty good now but now things like this bitch will just make the world look at those of us who are mental ill even worse.

I just. I don't even know what to say. Really I don't...

Moving on then. Ate his brains? WTF? Okay really going to move on.

The Mermaids book is done. shshsh I've captured it on the HD so it can live on my iPod. You know and I know there are people out there that do this and as long as they don't make money off it who is it killing? I mean really?

Going to rip "That Night" if I start it now it might make it back in the post before the postman gets here... Or I may just send it back tomorrow.

The Mermaids book is really sort of strange and I sware I must of read it before. It doesn't suck. It is just weird but kind of good.

The fix it man is due round in a while. Our sinkpig is leaking. That's garbage disposal for you alll who may not call it the sink pig... It is leaking and we can not use a whole side of our sink.

Uuh I have to run as the dishwasher just cut off. I'm finishing up the kitchen and finishing up the dishes.

Okay back.

Yesterday I got a podcast DONE on using the normal full facebook site with voiceover. I tried it and wound up crashing facebook. :-(

Alright well I'm out of stuff for now. Having mint chocolate chip icecream and sweet tea. breakfast of champs. :-)

Finally!

Finally!
Our questionibly unstable postman came through! 3 of the now 5 books are here.
Mermaids, which is what I'm reading now.
That Night
Taxi from Hell.

These are the ones that have come in. I'm still waiting on a really old ham radio book and now one that was sent out today about that disorder where people think they have whatever illnesses that are talked about on TV.

I so totally can not wait 'til we get the digital talking books and players. I might be able to download directly from the internet. I say might as I'm on a mac and this may only work with windows.... If it only works through windows. I guess I'll pester Larry to hook up my old windows box to the giant screen TV. Can think of other useful reasons to have it up and going again.

Well. This is happy news. Very more happy than the horror I posted earlier.

Mother says devil made her stab and decapitate her baby - Americas, World - The Independent

Mother says devil made her stab and decapitate her baby -
Americas, World - The Independent: ""

(Via .)

***WARNING!!!***

What follows is very very disturbing. Actually, if you want to know the God's honest. And forgive the crude language. What follows is very fucking disturbing. Just O my God... Comments after the story are my own... I'm reposting the story in the event the link doesn't work. First heard it on the news this morning and just couldn't take it all in... Here it comes. If you are sensitive, beware...

Mother says devil made her stab and decapitate her baby
Monday, 27 July 2009
Police found a three-week-old baby boy decapitated and stabbed in a Texas home and his mother "screaming that she killed her baby" after the devil told her to do it.

The mother, Otty Sanchez, 33, of San Antonio, was taken to hospital in a critical condition with self-inflicted stab wounds to her chest and stomach, said San Antonio police spokesman Joe Rios.

Investigators took a sword, a machete and a kitchen knife from the home.

Officers also found two children unharmed at the home, though it wasn't immediately clear where they were taken.

Sanchez would be charged with capital murder, Rios said.

Rios said police were called around 5am yesterday and found Otty on the couch "screaming that she killed her baby," whom police identified as Scott Wesley Buchholtz-Sanchez.

Rios said she told police that she was hearing voices.

The baby was also missing body parts. Police are investigating claims that the mother made about eating those parts, sources said.

Rios said initial information showed the dead baby was Sanchez’s only child.

From The Belfast Telegraph

###

Comments by me...

WHAT THE FUCK! AHHH! Just AHHH!

With this out of the way. Wait no? AHHH! Sweet Jesus what? I don't even know what to say?
What?
A Three week old baby?
Stabbed?
The head cut off?
Kitchen kinfe, Sord, Meshetti?
What the fuck?
and. Oh God. missing body parts? Mother claims she ATE? them?
Oh God.
I. Don't. Even. Know.

I bet she's going to claim post partum depression or psychosis or something.

I know it can mess you up and she's not the first mother, come to think of it the first mother in Texas to murder her child(ren) and claim PPD.

I had PPD really bad after having Skye and Benjamin. I have suffered with many aspects of mental illness over the past several years. I know it can get very bad. I know this. Maybe that is what happened here. It seems lots of parents are flipping out on their poor little kids but is that an excuse?

I think in the UK, if I remember correctly, if a mother harms and kills her child in the first year of life they go into hospital and get help but don't get done up on murder.

I can see this as being helpful but being a mother myself. The thought of hurtting my babies? Oh God. Yes they can drive me mad to the point I feel like I'm loosing my rag. but this is when I pull my frayed nerves around me and put them in their room where they are safe and I take some time out and listen to the iPod or blunder around playing the SIMS or do something 'til I calm down.

How horrible.

That poor little love. He probily woke up or wasn't sleeping and was crying because he was wet or cold or hot or felt yucky or was hungry or who knows?
I bet this mom was all stressed out or whatever, I remember the weeks and months after bringing home Skye were just awful Awful Awful I don't know how I got through it and I had Larry here. I couldn't picture being on my own. I would of gone crazy...
Well I don't know if she heard voices or not or is just saying this... But what makes my stomach drop is. This poor little baby is crying. and sees his mommy and then gets stabbed! Now if I accidently cut my finger it hurts. One time I stabbed through my fingernail and into the finger on accident and it fucking hurt. That poor little baby. Jesus God above... Oh.
And then... Oh God she cut the poor baby's head off? Really? Oh God. I just don't know. I'm sorry WTF?
Oh God... And then this woman must be barking mad as she. Did I read this right? Claimed to eat EAT some of the baby's bodyparts that are now missing?

O my God.

Those poor police that had to see this. The poor M.E. or whoever looks into deaths in Tx. And how in the world do the nurses and doctors like come in to care for this woman? Do they know what she did? Well surely they must as her name is all out there in print and in media and all. Oooh I am going to have to ask my mom who is a nurse. I don't think I could take care of her if I did my toung would have to be reattached as I'd of bitten it right off.

Well. Back to the mothers in the UK. I wonder if they fix them so they can't have any other kids or do they provide supports or are they not allowed near kids like sex offenders here in the states? I could only think living with having killed your baby would be worst than any term in the pinn.... Or anything the law of man could do. I just don't know.

E. Lynn Harris dies at 54. 23 July 2009

E. Lynn Harris - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: ""

(Via .)

Just went to Audible.com to poke around for books for want of something to do. I was stopped cold when I saw a little section on their site called "Remembering E. Lynn Harris".

Oh no! I thought. No way. Can't be...
E. Lynn Harris, is a writer whom I've read for years and like quite a lot.

Our worlds are miles and miles apart. I'm a white straight stay at home mom from the middle of America and he was a black gay business man from down south.

A lot of his books delt with young black men who were trying to come to terms with being gay. And I found that very interesting. I like stories wherein the people the story is about come to acceptence, or sometimes not, with something about themselves or their life. A disability, drug use and recovery, being gay, or whatever. Oddly though a lot of my favorite writers are gay.

Mr. Harris wrote an autobiography called What Becomes of the Broken Hearted. I've got it on Audible along with several of his other books. I think I am going to download it on the iPod and listen to it again as it is quite good. And as our sour old postman failed to ever show up yesterday I'm at a lack of items to read. Oh I've reading things alright but the ones I do wish to read are not here... Maybe tomorrow...

Side note. This blogging on the fly is rather addictive. I wish I could post to Open Diary this easy... Ooh I gotta go poke Larry. He's played snooz alarm tag for the better part of an hour and I haven't heard any noise for a while now. Gotta go roost him out of bed. He hates that I do this but it is better than him being late and even more cross... I sware it would be sensible if you've got work at seven in the morning to come to bed before two...

Digital Talking Books and Player Some Thoughts and useful links

Back in the day I can remember TalkingBooks coming in largeish black boxes with buckles and straps. Inside were large blue books and upon opening the book you found several sleeves holding large black record disks.

To play these I had a brown record player with a built in speaker in the lid. The lid could detach or could snap on and you coul d take the recordplayer along with you, given that the place you were headed had electric power.

I used to sit for hours and hours on end listening to these records. I can remember falling asleep to them, then when the side of the record was over I'd be woken up by a loud gravely sound. This was the player arm of the player going round and round and round accross the braille lable that was on the first side of every record. I'd have to get my mom, often times out of bed to fix it. The last record I remember getting was "NightMares and Dream Scapes" by Stephen King. This book was on flexible record disk and didn't play very well on my then older than dirt record player.

Some of the books I remember listening to are Pinoacho, the call of the wild, all the wizard of oz books, Tom Soyar and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Oh how I wanted suc h a car! Along with these one books about a cat who went into space... I wish I could remember what they were called. And The Pippi Long Stocking Book Oh and Black Beauty which I listened to so much my mother was totally sick to death of it.

For the past 25 or so years the TalkingBook program have used tapes and a big giant clunkey talkingbook player (tape player). Tapes had the advantage over records in that they didn't get scratched up and they played longer per side. A record I think had maybe 45 minutes to maybe an hour. The tapes have about 85 minutes per side. 1 4 track tape has about six hours of play time... So you got longer play times and you could get more book on less physical media. The tape containers AKA little green boxes of joy, took up less room than all the records and so it has been for almost as long as I can remember.

Tapes have several drawbacks.
They are not toddler or kitten proof. If you leave a tape out and have a toddler and or kitten, the next time you see your tape it will have all it's innerds pulled out into a shiny slithery brown rats nest of tape. Pitty if it is the first or last or only tape to a book.

Also the toddler and or kitten aren't the only threts to the ongoing workings of a given tape. Sometimes for some reason your tape player will just pick a tape and eat it. The tape ribben will become hopelessly emeshed in the player and you quite honestly have to cut your losses.

Or.

The tape will be so old and clapped out that just at the most interesting bit, or half way through the first side a ear splitting squigy little screetch will take up rendering the tape useless! Completely useless.

Or the stupid things's sound is so bad you can't hear it.

Well take heart! There is hope!

For the past several years the NLS has been moving ever so slowly twords "The Next Big Thing"!

Skipping totally over CDs which other TalkingBook like services world wide have been using, the NLS is going digital!

First there was the RD (recorded disk) and then the FD (flexible disk( and the TB (TalkingBook format unknown)
and then RC (Recorded Cassette) Now just in time for the second decade of the 21st centuary, several years behind Audible and Overdrive we have...
Drumb roll please...

DTB! or just DB for *fan fair here* Digital talking Book!

Which is a talkingbook who is digitally recorded.

These books will be on little cartrages, glorified memory cards and plug in, I'm thinking like the old school Nintendo/Sega/Vic 20 cartrages plugged into their respective players... A whole book can fit onto one cartrage for most titles. The annoying falts of the tapes are gone. Even the digital talkingbooks players are solid state. NO MOVING PARTS INSIDE! Which is grand because no moving parts means less stuff to conk out.

And.

If you have an exturnal hd you can download and play the books directly from the internet thus giving you straight away access to a book. Cutting out the postman!!!

I am very pleased about this.

I learned yesterday that they will start handing out the players within one to three months, laborday has been touted as a possible starting date. I am excited... All the digital yummyness of "Audible" without the price. All the instent gradification of overdrive books without the frustration of A. being wait listed for a book and B. finding the book you want only to find it doesn't work on Mac for some stupid DRM reason... For more information and pictures. Visit the links provided in the end of this post.

I've waited for years to get my grubby little mits on these tap er digital books... and it is almost here! Yaahoooo!

NLS/BPH: Player Description: ""

(Via .)