It only took 12 years:

Powell in Sudan for crisis talks

Dubya wants to send even more soldiers to Iraq, and one million Sudanese have fled their homes in the past 15 months. One million. That's half of London, that's Four Baton Rouges, that's 999,999 too many. Dubya wants to make sure that the press sees his handwriting on a note that was written after the fact, "Let Freedom Reign," while women are being kidnapped from long lines at the water pumps and gang raped for days on end.

What will you celebrate on the 4th of July? The freedom that we have to peacefully live in our insulated continent without having to know about these atrocities, or the freedom we'll have to vote Dubya out this November?

The plane I never got to ride.

Concorde aircraft opens to visitors

Am I an aviation nerd b/c I'm fascinated with air travel, airplanes, airlines and airports? I even love the television shows, Airport and Airline, although it's more interesting when it's in one of the UK airports rather than LAX. Seems fitting I almost got to work with a working airline. It's a shame they never flew, but I loved my office view of the landing strip at the Baton Rouge airport.

I don't understand why they're retiring these planes rather than just suspending the flights until the industry picks back up, but to be able to visit one of these would be almost as exciting as seeing Wrigley Field, Camden Yards, or the Baseball Hall of Fame for me.

Does this make me a planespotter?

But I doubt it will ever make it to the States.
I want to see This (La Meglio Gioventi)

Eriksson cools controversy

Bah

Seriously, I haven't witnessed a more biased referee ever.

Number of beers hubby drank while watching England vs Portugal - 11

Number of beers hubby could've drank without disappointing wife - 4

Number of times wife brought it up to hubby - Once (hey I did good)

Number of times the Swiss ref proved he wanted England to lose - probably about 15

Number of penalty shots England made - all minus one

Number of times Beckham impressed me throughout the entire tournament - 0

Number of Owen pictures I found about the game - 1 (BBC needs a talking to)

BBC NEWS | Magazine | Grim times in Sudan

Grim times in Sudan

Why is it so difficult to get certain people (*cough*myAmericanFriends*cough*) to read the news about other countries and just care? I cannot stand apathy.

Sudan's situation is so grim, and they're not the only African country facing possible Genocide. The Congo isn't faring well either.

Pete and I have made friends in church with people who have escaped both the Congo (one lady who lost her husband in the first civil war and her village in the second civil war), and Sudan (an entire family who somehow escaped and came here, bless them). It's amazing to talk to these people who are grateful to live through the day, no matter how bad their situations may be over here. It's inspiring. One woman described hiding out during a civil war in the Congo while spending all day thanking God to be alive, while guerillas killed her neighbors. Can you imagine?

I just can't stand the apathy over here. Sigh. Pass the news around. There are people like us who can't walk outside their house, or even have a house, b/c of militants. Spread the word that there is a war outside Iraq.

Courses I wish were offered in college:

How to be a secretary

How to accept jobs below you.

How to budget for EVERYTHING.

How to convince your family that even though you belong to a different political party than they do, it doesn't mean they have failed as family to teach you correctly.

Filing Bankruptcy 101

Taking on 2 jobs at once 101

Buying clothes at Walmart 400-Senior Seminar

Cooking with two cheap ingredients only 101

Taking criticism from a power hungry menopausal boss 101, 102 and 491

Learning curves at new jobs are a bitch - elective

Feeling successful even though you still live with your parents 101

Avoiding the 2005 class reunion 201

When to replace tires on a car 101

How to smile after every career dream has been crushed 102

How to keep your friends from hurting themselves while laughing at you for saying you want to go to seminary 101

Standing up to power hungry menopausal boss 401

Realizing that your college education has taught you nothing for real life in Dubya's economy 101

BBC SPORT | Football | Euro 2004 | Croatia 2-4 England

Go England!

Not impressed with tasty Owen, not impressed with Beckham, Go Rooney!

Hubby got to stay at home, watch the match and drink beer. I got to work and listen to it at low volume while processing payroll. Hmmph.

The hottest night in New Orleans

Saturday morning I was forced to work by the boss (that is another rant entirely that I will save for another day), and that afternoon/evening I picked up Pete and Mom, and we rushed down to New Orleans to meet up with my Princess Aunt Sari (pronounced Sarah), her husband and best friends, to take a walking Ghost Tour in the French Quarter. I don't know the temperature of the night, but it felt like 118 degrees. It must have been 94 with 110% humidity. Being outside felt like you were wrapped tightly in a wet, hot washcloth. According to my Princess Aunt Sari, sweat dripped down our backs "into the crack of (our) butt(s)!"

To that above comment, Pete replied, "I thought this tour wasn't supposed to be scary!"

It wasn't scary, except for the thought that we were all going to collapse from heat exhaustion. It was an entertaining tour, performed by a French dude named Pierre who picked on Pete for being the drunkard of the group (he drank two hurricanes while we walked), and who didn't seem to get Pete's Euro 2004 reference. I do recommend going on such a tour - but do it in January, NOT June. Normally September is the hottest month of the year for down here, but that was most possibly the hottest night I've ever felt in New Orleans. I just want to put that on the record. New Orleans was named the third sweatiest city in the country just recently, but I think that night it was THE sweatiest.

More later on the unpleasant job. I don't feel like bringing y'all down.

Hmmm

Not sure what to talk about today. There are a hundred things on my mind at the moment. For one thing, It's Friday! Another, tomorrow I have to work. However tomorrow night we're going on a night cemetery tour in New Orleans w/my favorite Aunt Sari who is visiting from Mississippi. Pete and I also begin housesitting today.

Pete and I went out again last night, treated by my parents who so graciously gave us a reason to be by ourselves - they asked us to go to a restaurant and pick up dinner for them. We had an interesting conversation about the worldly ignorance that most Americans Pete has met have. I reminded him that he is in the 49th least educated state of all, and the other Americans he has spoken to are from the 50th least educated state. What began this was a comment my Dad had told Pete about people from Iran, "they're just a violent people." Dear old dad. He comes from an age where it's impossible to separate "people" into specific persons. Pete and I talked about a friend we had in England, who worked with us at the gas station, who was from Iran. And then it dawned on me, we're awful as Americans when we make judgments about a "people". Iraqis are just like us, except they have some overly patriotic "people" walking around them with guns and bombs and are interfering with their daily lives. How can we expect them to like us? Yeah I'd be grateful if Mexico saved us from Bush, but if they had to bomb my house to do it, I wouldn't be so happy.

Anyhow, it also reminded me of how our media forces us to pretend that we as Americans ARE the world, and those other countries are "that other world." Who here knows about Belgium's case of the century? Who knows what is going on in South Africa and Vietnam, and the Dominican Republic? How many civil wars has the Republic of Congo had? It's hard to find out unless you search long and hard.

And the last thing on my mind, is one of my favorite singers of one of my favorite bands is in the news, for apologizing for smoking a cigarette:

CNN.com - Bono breaches Irish smoking ban - Jun 18, 2004

I don't know how one of the smoking-est nations can do it. Stop apologizing Bono, you're human.

LETTER OF RESIGNATION

I am hereby officially tendering my resignation as an adult.
I have decided I would like to accept the responsibilities of an 8 year old again.

I want to go to McDonald's and think that it's a four-star restaurant. I want to sail sticks across a fresh mud puddle and make a sidewalk with rocks. I want to think Smarties are better than money because you can eat them. I want to lie under a big gum tree and run a lemonade stand with my friends on a hot summer's day.

I want to return to a time when life was simple. When all you knew were colors, multiplication tables, and nursery rhymes, but that didn't bother you, because you didn't know what you didn't know and you didn't care. All you knew was to be happy because you were blissfully unaware of all the things that should make you worried or upset.

I want to think that the world is fair. That everyone is honest and good. I want to believe that anything is possible. I want to be oblivious to the complexities of life and be overly excited by the little things again.

I want to live simple again. I don't want my day to consist of computer crashes, mountains of laundry, depressing news, how to survive more days in the month than there is money in the bank, doctor bills, illness, and loss of loved ones.

I want to believe in the power of smiles, hugs, a kind word, truth, ,justice, peace, dreams, the imagination, mankind, and making angels in the snow.

So . . . here's my check book and my car, my forclousure notice I am officially resigning from adulthood. And if you want to discuss this further, you'll have to catch me first....

Date Night

Hubby and I had a date night yesterday. It was fantastic and reminded me that we should do things like that more often. Going home straight after work and doing nothing makes us very hum-drum and lethargic. He took me out to eat at Chili's, where I had the Wings over Buffalo Chicken Salad, and now I'm addicted to this salad. It was heavenly delicious. Boneless chicken with buffalo sauce on top of a blue cheese and ranch dressing salad, yum! I don't think I'll ever have a hamburger from Chili's again.

Afterwards we raced over to the cinema to watch the third Harry Potter movie which was excellent. The time passed so quickly that by the time the movie ended, I thought it was just getting into about halfway of the book. Now I'm re-Potter obsessed.

One problem with the movie was that while I was walking towards the restrooms before we entered the actual theatre, a man was walking in front of me and he had the strongest, worst Body Odor I have smelled since I lived in England (sometimes public transport makes people sweaty, is all I can say). I made a mental note not to sit behind this man. Later when DH and I sat ourselves in the theatre I didn't notice the man but could smell that awful stench - and there he was - EIGHT rows below me. I made us move to the very top of the theatre to the general teenage make-out rows for the duration of the movie. I believe that people need to pass a sniff test before they can enter the cinema. If they fail, then we'll turn a water hose on them with a little soap and let them air dry until the next movie. Sounds good to me.

I miss England.

I miss baguettes for lunch, never having to drive, always having to walk (and sidewalks to walk on), pubs, pub lunches with work colleagues, reading the back of the Evening Standard that the person across from me is holding on the train from Paddington back to Reading in the evenings, coffees in the morning while standing on a freezing train platform, day trips to Oxford with DH, weekend trips to Lake District or Barcelona, beans and cheese on a jacket potato, the scary mannequins in the window of the old department store, skipping work and watching Tweenies and House Invaders, listening to Chris Moyles, and revisiting the memories of when Pete and I first met.

Then I remember how expensive it is, how suffocating never having to drive gets, how much I miss my friends and family (including pets), and how rude some people can be just b/c you're American.

I still miss it. Instead of putting in my monthly job application to Google this month, I think I'll send one to the BBC again. Sigh.

Maxi the Golden

I thought I would share with y'all the reason that Pete and I love housesitting so much. Here is our hostess, Maxi, the Golden Retriever who makes sure that we will never be bored, lonely, or sad.




Sorry my posts haven't been daily lately, but I've been battling a stomach virus and dehydration due to said virus. Apparently when I poop water, I need to drink more water. Who knew!?!? The best part of it was when I went to the doctor, he ordered me NOT to go to work. Wonderful. I didn't want to go anyway, but it's nice to have that doc's excuse in your pocket to show the boss who rolls her eyes and says "Haven't you had this since SUNDAY? I haven't heard of anyone having it that long."

Maybe I should poop in her toilet.

Whoops

I feel like I need to follow up yesterday's last post with this one. When I posted the cost of the wedding we planned, I have to say that there's no way that we'll ever do that. It's way too expensive. We came up with that sum when we were dream-planning, you ever done that before? We know it's too expensive folks. We didn't just fall off the turnip truck and CAN use a calculator. So before y'all have heart attacks, thought I'd clear a few things up.

We still want to have a wedding type party, where our friends in both countries will feel it worth it enough to spend the money to fly down here, take time off work, and put out money for a hotel room. Our friends are cheapos, let's face it. Okay maybe not cheapos, but it costs a lot of money to come here from England, and we're quickly learning just how hard it is to even get an email from someone over there, much less an entire visit for a wedding when we're already married. We want to make it special.

Oak Alley is still the place in mind. The booze might be watered-down and cheap, the food might be miniscule, but we're having a party dadgummit, and you're going to be there. All I require about the dress is that it fits and doesn't make me look like an oversized wedding cake, it doesn't have to cost the price of an automobile. The requirements of this wedding party are: friends, family, food, booze, and religious wedding vows - oh and rings, we still don't have wedding rings. It would be nice to have them. We won't spend the cost of a down payment on a house for this, but we will spend more than the cost of a week's worth of groceries. Because we're special, we're married, and we're in love dammit.

We're not your average got-married-in-vegas couple. We've been through hell and highwater just to be together, and that experience taught us invaluable lessons about communication, patience, and what is most important. We already had the no cost no frills wedding so I don't want to hear stories about that, and I look back on that with regrets that we didn't do anything more for it. I'm grateful my mum in law had the insight to make it special as much as we would allow her. I've been to two nicely done weddings since then and all I feel is pain that Pete and I haven't had a chance to celebrate our love like that. So unless you're writing us a check, don't say a word except, "I'll be there."

Mmm-kay?

See you there.

Someone gave me some alka-seltzer plus cold, it's got me so loopy that I might lie down on the floor underneath my desk and take a nap. I said I'd work half an hour late today but all I want to do is sleep.

Pete bought new tires today for the truck. Finally, our no-tread tires have been replaced, however, the entire cost - $630. Can you freakin' believe it? That's only four tires folks (unless he got the spare replaced as well, since we didn't have any good tires to replace the spare with). I told him to go to Wal-Mart where it'd probably be $150 cheaper but he went to Tire Kingdom. Men.

We're able to afford it b/c his mum sent us the money she was saving to give us for our wedding. The wedding we never had, and the wedding it looks like we'll never have. We never had a wedding. We want a wedding. We have it all planned out, but it'll cost about $18,000 if we have everything perfectly planned, so that's out of the question. The most important thing we want is to have it at Oak Alley Plantation. www.oakalleyplantation.com . We were going to have it on our first anniversary, then our second, and now our fourth, b/c I can't see having it on our third. We just want to throw a huge party, be married before God (ie, with the religious vows and stuff in there), exchange rings (never did that, never been able to afford rings), and I want to wear the dress, dammit. Since we're already married, we could have fun with it, like me riding up to the place not in a horse-drawn carriage, but on the back of a john deere tractor. Wouldn't that be sumpn? And I was going to wear white cowgirl boots w/my dress. Sigh... I'm sick that we have to spend Pete's mum's wedding money on tires and truck tag, but we have to. We just have to do it.

It's depressing, and I can't feel my lower jaw thanks to the Alka Seltzer cold plus. Good stuff.

Oh Moany Moany

I'm sick. Caught the stomach flu from dear old Dad - another reason not to live w/parents, especially when they won't take their vitamins. It all started with what felt like a little too much dairy consumption, but without the successful toilet time if you catch my drift. Include the achiness, chills, hot flashes, and headaches of the flu, and it's "Make Ash feel horrible all week 2004."

Recap: Stomach flu with the nausea and diarrhea cramps, but w/out the satisfaction of relieving those cramps. The worst. Not even bathroom time will cure it.

What's worse is that this makes a perfect opportunity to lose weight - for a normal person. However I'm too far conditioned to never turn down food even when I know it will make me feel ill. The other day I turned down my lunch - no appetite even though my body felt starving. Hours later I felt well enough to have a bowl of ice cream. How does that happen? The ice cream will (and did) make me sick, but I just couldn't say no. A few bites into the bowl changed my mind, but a normal person wouldn't even have thought about making the bowl in the first place. That's the wrath of fat people, folks. Even when our bodies won't accept the food, we eat it anyway. What is it about junk food that makes us think it'll make us feel better? I wouldn't have sniffed at a bowl of chicken broth, but had DH came home with fries, I would've consumed them and dealt with the sickness later. I just don't get it.

Apart from that little problem, I'm also out of sick leave for work. That's the horrible thing about government jobs. When you're sick, you must have enough leave to cover your absence. Since I've only been working here and acquiring leave since February, I only get make about 8 hours of sick leave every month. People who have worked here for years will make 4 days of sick leave every month, but they can't lend any to me. I'm sick with stomach flu, pushing a button in the elevator breaks me out in a sweat, and I almost fainted while standing at the copier - but I have to come to work. I even had to come in early and stay late in order to "earn" more sick leave so that I can go to the doctor sometime. Ugh.

And why does it make an ill person feel better if they moan? What is it about moaning? Even if nobody is around to hear it, I'll moan and groan over feeling ill and feel better just for doing it. Why?

Why are Mondays such Mondays?

DH and I are house-sitting the nice couple/golden retriever's house w/the pool. I received my first lesson in pool cleaning via mobile, while Maxie the Golden took a swim, making sure that she would be the next item on my list to clean. That part hasn't been done yet, perhaps tonight after homechurch. It has been a lovely time away from the parents' house, mostly because we have a low maintenance dog (she just wants lovin' and won't tackle you or give you bruised ribs to get it - and she can be left on her own or without constant supervision), and the best part is that we can cook dinner, eat it together in peace and not have to immediately make the kitchen sparkly-sparkly before we do anything else. There's something very peaceful about being able to leave dishes in the kitchen sink overnight. There's also something peaceful about not hearing any type of sarcastic "Boy you'd make a great housewife, better quit your job" type of comments about my cleaning daily.

Before I go on, I must make it clear. We love being able to live in a house and not have to worry about paying rent, we love my parents for their generosity and kindness. We're very grateful. At the same time, however, it is nice to get away from that burden and feeling constantly guilty about what part of their lives are we interfering with. It's a true blessing to be able to get away, housesit and spend proper husband/wife time together.

The season premiere of Coupling was on last night on BBCAmerica. BBCA isn't the best channel, as it's still showing a Parkinson interview of Posh and Becks from two years ago, and every other show is Ground Force or Keeping Up Appearances (what do they think Americans like?); however, it shows greatness every now and then, and Coupling is one of those great, great shows. I just love the wit and humor involved. Americans ruined the chance to show it on network television here by taking the exact script and putting American actors in it, they ruined it so badly that it didn't even last two episodes. Why? Why couldn't they have just used the exact formula and episodes of the brit actors? Are we so overly patriotic that we can't listen to other accents? Can't we not be so proud and just admit - some british humor is better than ours? I hear that they're doing the same with The Office. I just don't get that, especially after The Office won all the Golden Globes. Shouldn't that say something? Anyway, love Coupling. The first episode of the third season wasn't as great as the others, but I still loved it. Highly recommend it.

DH and I's post-Alpha homechurch bible study class is tonight. We're completely leading it this time. Rather, I'm completely leading it and dragging DH along who is wonderfully obliging. He's in charge of the worship bit (the part where we sing praise songs before doing anything b/c it helps get rid of the day's stresses from our minds). I don't feel that we're completely ready, but I hope that people will enjoy it and come back for more.

Grrrr!

Outside our house we had a Union Jack flag and an LSU flag hanging on trees from little tree flagpoles. One for the University that rules the world according to people down here, and the other to represent my husband's nationality. I feared that some might view it as an anti-american statement, since it is a little known that other than Tony Blair, brits don't support us in the war - and that we used to have an American flag flying in its place. We had to take it down b/c the storms had shredded the bottom of the flag, and you can't have a shredded flag hanging, and put DH's union jack in its place.

The other night some #!$%^&*$& stole the flags. It may have been some kid's prank, but I feel greatly insulted by it. I hope it wasn't that they picked on us b/c we had the Union Jack out there. If that's the case, then they're being anti-American by taking the flag down. Proud Americans go on about free speech and the freedom we all have, and will even allow that to shadow their view of the rest of the world (such as the guy praying on my DH who said "Thank you Lord, for bringing him to a FREE country." What does he think England is? China?). If they took down the flag, they aren't supporting the free speech factor. They want us to be submissive and bow to only one flag. I know they also took the LSU flag, but I'm viewing it as a hate crime. They didn't think we deserved the LSU flag since we had the Union Jack.

I'd like to knock on every door in the neighborhood and ask all the parents if their kids all of a sudden have a british flag lying around. I'd like to put two England flags in its place, along with a Spanish flag (just b/c I love that place), a Dominican Republic flag (b/c I just feel so damn bad about their flooding and think we should do more to help them), and a Lebanese flag (b/c I love their food). I don't like having someone trying to censor us from our neighbors. I don't like someone making my husband feel unwelcome here in this country. What are we showing the rest of the world if we don't accept them? People are misguided. The "greatest country on earth" doesn't shun others. That's not brotherly love. Ben Franklin and George Washington didn't want that. You can't put your country on a pedastool above others until it starts to act like an admirable country. The greatest life lesson of all is from, you guessed it, Jesus. He said to love others just as he loves us, and if you understand his love, then you'll understand that it means really love others. No judging, no anger, just forgiveness, and offering a helping hand. Being brothers and sisters. That's what we need to do before we can begin to say that we're above other nationals. I've forgiven whoever stole the flags, but I'm still going to tell their parents!

Have a good weekend! Off to housesit at the Golden Retriever's house!

So close

The reason I haven't posted much and probably won't for a few days:

The blasted puzzledonkey.

I'm on Round 5, puzzle 8 out of 5 rounds and 20 puzzles per round. So damn close, but still so far. Driving me crazy.

Florida

Hubby and I are organizing a holiday in Florida (that's vacation to us yanks) for his English folks (mum, bro, best mates) and a few of my folks (sis, bro in law, ol' college friend). For two weeks in September we're renting a house near the beach with a private pool in Seagrove, Florida. Hubby is so darn excited that he's already planning things. Making lists, spending money, dreaming up stuff, buying hawaiian shirts . It's still four months away. June, July, August and 20 days in September we've gotta go through first.

Yet if you looked at him, you'd think we were leaving tomorrow.

Our folks in Florida are going to have a great time, I can tell you that.

But we just have to get through today first. Blah.