He Works Hard for the Money

Ok...not really. That's probably the best thing about my job. I do work hard...but it's not non stop work. I can play around here, check email there, run for a shopping break if I'm out 'networking'...it's great.

What's not so great is that I work a variation of 2nd shift, 1:30-10:30. For all you stalkers out there, I drive a blue minivan with a hello kitty bumper sticker license plate number ABC 123.

So every weeknight, I'm at work, while most of the rest of the world is at home watching primetime or going out on the town. Having mornings off is great to run errands or go to the gym when it's not so crowded, or for appointments, but I feel like I miss out since I don't work 9-5 (hit it dolly).

Granted in my line of work, it's the primo shift for doing what I do. Unfortunately, if I had a family and kids, I'd only really see them on the weekend. Even as a single guy, my dating time is strictly limited to weekends. Perhaps that's why I'm single (yeah, keep telling yourself that "W".)

My question to you the reader...what's your work schedule and would you prefer a different shift? I know I know...Dirk is already smacking me through the computer screen, Kevin is shouting 'try working two jobs 8 days a week', MQB will say 'Excuse me, her royal highness does not work, in between teaching her royal subjects and caring for the princess(es?), and Lewis is most likely shaking his head muttering, ' at least you have a predictable schedule.'

Hmm...maybe I shouldn't have answered for you...but it's still open for comments.

"W"

The Picture Game

Despite a rainy, cool weekend in the Big City, I had a blast from start to finish.

The fun started when I went over to a friend's house to cook pasta. How gay does that sound? Christian was making pasta dishes to take to the progressive dinner later that evening. I assumed he'd boil some pasta, throw in some canned sauce and viola! Wrong! Christian calls himself a food whore. We (he) made four kinds of pasta, and four kinds of sauce from scratch, including a 'yellow' sauce made with bell peppers, sun dried tomatoes, and mushrooms. He used nearly a bottle of wine for all the sauces. Fresh herbs, fresh ingredients, fancy olives and cheeses. The only thing I did was help slice veggies for the vegetarian lasagna. The fun part basically involved Christian giving a cooking lesson as he prepared the feast. I sampled a bit, which was a good thing, because by the time we ate the pasta course 4 hours later...well...it just wasn't as fresh tasting.

Onto the progressive dinner...

In case you don't know, a progressive dinner involves starting at one house for one course and traveling to the next location, and the next, and then to the last place. We did appetizers, soup/salad, main course, and dessert. It was during all this, Sarah and I had a lot of our fun conversations.

Oh, did I mention there was a drag show before the main course. The hostess for that stop is great friends with a lot of 'peformers', so she's got tons of dresses, gowns, feathers, wigs, glitter, etc etc. I called her apt, "Where bad drag goes to die."

For example...

BTW...see that leg and those hands...that's ME on the extreme left in the photo on the right!

Oh...here's a group picture of some peeps. Sarah's the foxy redhead, next to some hot stud, and then on the end is the guy we cruised all night.

Onto the picture game! A few people in the group seem to think they've invented the PG, but something tells me no, someone already made it up. The concept: everyone clears the room...someone sets a timer on the camera(s)...the 'counter' counts down and everyone runs into the room and poses. It can cause great laughter, funny poses, and often minor injuries.

Here are a few examples from Saturday evening. (you've probably noticed we had a red and black theme night).

After all the eating, dragging, and photo taking, a few of us went out to a few bars for drinks and dancing. It a great ending to a great evening. The one drawback, is that I missed hanging out with Thom, the guy I used to date. He's friends with most of the people who take part in the progressive dinner, but decided to not participate. I just thought he'd want to go out later since he loves to dance. Oh well, I understand I guess...he didn't feel like going out. This was the first weekend I went to the Big City and didn't stay with him. Instead I stayed with a friend who invited me up a few weeks ago. I did see Thom at church and lunch Sunday, so we got to talk a little.

Speaking of Sunday, the church service was hands down the best one. Rev. Carol talked about temptation and not acting on it, and how it comes to us in moments of great strength and moments of great weakness. She also shared a personal story about how she and her partner tried to have a second child. Medical conditions and age didn't help their case. She joked she'd never wanted to give birth, because some genes don't need to be passed on. She also wanted to try since her partner was no longer able to do so. She talked about the frustration, the waiting, the pressure, the very trying time. Then time ran out for her. The last time she tried and learned she wasn't pregnant, she was so distraught and broken spirited. Being 'a woman of God', she turned to her faith and remember the story of the disciples out on the water when a storm comes up. It's the o yea of little faith part. She said I realized God wouldn't send me out to the middle of a lake with a storm brewing and leave me to drown. I was crying, because of the similar situation with my sister and little Zachy. (still nothing new on that front btw.)

Alright...that's a wrap on the weekend.

PS If you look closely, you can find me in at least two of the pics.

Sarah Says

After a three week (or more) hiatus...we have the much anticipated return of Sarah Says.

At church Sunday while scoping out two new very hot guys, Sarah says, "Wow. I have a boner the size of Texas."

Outside with Sarah on a smoke break, several different cats run up and down the street, Sarah says, "Fuck, these feral cats are going to take over the "Big City".

At church Sunday while listening to the minister talk about boxes, Sarah says, "I like boxes." She later passes a note that says. "I don't want to think about Rev. Carol's box."

At a stop on the progressive dinner Saturday night after spending most of the evening drooling over a totally hot new comer, Sarah says from across the room, but plenty loudly, "'W', do you think if we stare long enough, Robert will realize we're cruising him?" My face turned as red as her hair.

While swapping favorite church stories, Sarah says, "One time someone gave me a small vibrator that goes on a key ring, so I put it on the pew in front of me and surprised people when they'd sit down."

Unfortunately Sarah said about a hundred and twenty nine more hilarious things, but I don't remember them.

During a centering song at church today, the cute but flamboyant choir director says..."i'm getting choked up...I hope I don't cry." Then he does get choked up, starts crying, and says I need a tissue." Laughter erupts and then "W" leans to Sarah and says, "Could this church get any gayer?"

Highlights from the weekend to come later!

"W"

Two Small Kids, 1 Puppy, and a Running Car

Recipe for a news story about a 5 & 6 year old going for a joy ride, right???

On Tuesday evening, a friend of mine decided to take her two small children to the grocery with her to pick up a few things. The little ones really didn't want to go in the first place, so the mom thought "I'll only be five minutes tops," and persuaded the kids to sit in the backseat and brought a new puppy along to keep them occupied.

She gets to the dairy case, the farthest corner away from the entrance and hears...

*HOOOONNNNKKKK*

At first, the single mom of two who worked full time and put herself through college, ignored the single noise.

*HHHHOOOONNKKK HHHHOOOOONNNKK*

The second and third times, she knew.

After speeding down the aisle to the checkout, the mom notices another lady at customer service frantically pointing outside.

Picturing a call to Social Services, she races outside to find her windshield wipers going full blast, the lights flashing, and the boys scrambling to get in the backseat.

"Boys! I told you to stay in the backseat. I told you to not touch anything. What happened?"

The five year old looks up and says, "The dog did it."

Keep in mind the dog, is a a small beagle/basset hound mix.

"Boys, why did you honk the horn?"

"You mean, you could hear it in the store?" responds the five year old. "Yes," says the mother. "Well why didn't you come out to see what we needed," he replies.

She then asks, why is the window down? Her answer, "Oh, that lady came over and knocked on the window to see if we were ok."

And that my friends, is why you hear about young kids going for a joyride, even with the best laid intentions of parents.

One Night In Bangkok (part 274)

Hey...

Last night, after an exhaustive day at work (company big wigs are in town this week...which meant I had to actually look busy and do something productive), I get an email from my pal James. James is the 21-year old student studying in Thailand for the semester. He's not actually in Bangkok, but goes there frequently for 'sight-seeing' (eg: ping pong shows).

James writes, "I'm going to BKK tonight and meeting Dean for dinner."

A million thoughts flash through my mind. Ok, maybe like two or three. Both are rather tall gentlemen. Moving on, James also told me the reason he was heading to Bangkok on a school night was to catch a flight back to the states. His grandfather passed away :-(

He was holding up pretty well and in good spirits. (he ended up calling me INTERNATIONAL LONG DISTANCE...i felt extra special) So, since it's midnight as I'm writing this, I'm curious as to how dinner went. All I know there was talk of a sauna, which could be fun.

I'll let you know what I find out.

Later,
"W"

See You Later...

Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere...

I'm just poking fun at the ridiculous 'good bye' phrase that's used on Bravo's latest reality show aimed at the gays...Top Design. Now I know there's the stereotype of male interior decorators, but sheesh, couldn't the producers come up with a token straight man designer?

When one of the contestants loses, instead of saying 'the tribe has spoken', 'you're fired' or 'i'm sorry to tell you, you're the last team to arrive, you've been eliminated from the race (that's a long one)...designer Todd Oldham says "See you later decorator."

Since the show's been on for a few weeks, I'm sure it's been blogged about elsewhere, but yikes that's corny!

Of course I'm hooked on the show now.

Quick updates...

I'm feeling better...much better...thanks for all your well-wishes.

The first court appearance for Zach's case is Wednesday...I think it's just a motion hour, so nothing will be decided except ANOTHER court date.

I'm in contract talks with the boss man and he threw out some numbers that caught my attention...so the job front looks promising that I'll stick around the Small Town for a few more years perhaps.

Alrighty...here's to a great week everyone!

"W"

I'm back!!! (barely)

Hey all...

I know you've just been devastated without reading the usual crap I churn out several times a week. Sorry to say, I've been MIA due to a nasty cold/flu/bug crap that just doesn't seem to want to go away. I've had a lingering throat issue for more than a week...it developed into something worse and by Thursday I was really miserable. I left work early Tuesday and Thursday to come home and rest. That's saying a lot, since it had been a year and a half since my last sick day (including 'hooky' sick days).

Early on, I cancelled plans to celebrate Mardi Gras in the big city...standing out in the snow and cold with a bunch of drunk people isn't my idea of fun, even if I was feeling 100%.

I'm soo sorry MQB...I wasn't even checking in for comments this week...I just saw your question. I hope it's not too late. Just put your dry noodles in there right out of the box. Again, depending on your crock pot, you may want to keep a close eye on how fast/slow it's cooking and how the noodles are softening up.

Time for more cold medicine.

Later,
"W"

Dixie Chicks Hatch a $#!+ ton of Grammys

Do they give a Grammy for winning the most Grammy's? Cause last night, everytime I looked up, the Dixie Chicks were picking up another award. Five in all, including Best Album, Best Record (what's the difference between album and record?), Best Song, AND Best Country Album, plus Best Country Performance By a Duo or a Group.





Don't get me wrong. I can 'appreciate' the Chicks. Did they deserve the sweep? Maybe, maybe not. Was it the music industry's way of flipping the bird to the conservative country crowd? Perhaps. Will the country crowd even get it? Probably not.





One thing's for certain. I like that Corrine Bailey Rae, and felt she deserved Best New Artist over Carrie Underwood. I'm not a huge country fan, but I do like "Jesus Take the Wheel". And that "Next Time He Cheats Song."

However, the prize of the night. Watching the Dixie Chicks win all those awards, we got to see Natalie Maines husband, the tasty Adrian Pasdar.

Yum!

Ticket to Thailand (FOR TWO!)

Ok...it's done. I bought my ticket to Thailand. AND...

SO DID MY FRIEND SARAH!

Our friend James is studying abroad there (well not a broad, just a bunch of courses and some boys too!)...so Sarah misses him dearly and wants to see him....perfect opportunity so we don't have to travel alone! We booked online together and get to sit next to each other on 5 of 6 flights.

So there...no more suspense...I'm going...

Later gators!

Freakout Friday

Ok...

It's here. My tax refund got deposited overnight into my checking account (it's actually about a hundred dollars less than what I thought...oh well...damn Uncle Sam). Anyhoo...i'm SOOO nervous about purchasing plane tickets to Thailand. I know, I know. I'm going to get them. I need to go ahead and make the purchase soon. I am sooo freaking out right now.

Such a spaz.

I'll update after my purchase. Hmm...on the verge of being debt free or trip of a lifetime...hmmm.

Forget it...I'm going to Bangkok baby!

Cheers,
"W"

Crock Pot

Crock is a word that cracks me up. Don't know why...just does.

Instead of going to the gym for the third day in a row...I decided to give them a rest and make some crock pot lasagna. I thought I posted the recipe before...if so..my apologies...if not ENJOY!

1 lb Ground Beef
1 box lasagna noodles
1 med. Jar Prego Sauce (or your favorite tomato sauce)
1 packet Spaghetti seasoning
1 (15 oz.) Ricotta Cheese
1 pkg Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
½ cup water
(you can add diced tomatoes and mushrooms, if you like)
1.) Brown ground beef, set aside
2.) In separate mixing bowl, combine sauce, ricotta cheese, seasoning, water, and any additional ingredients you like such as mushrooms or diced tomatoes, then set aside.
3.) Put in the Reynolds Slow Cooker liner J
4.) Start layering! First put a layer of lasagna noodles in. They won't fit perfectly if it's a round Crock pot, but you can break them as needed.
5.) Next, layer the beef.
6.) Pour the sauce mixture
7.) Scatter the shredded cheese
8.) Repeat layers as you like. (I usually use about two rounds of the above layers, so the lasagna isn't piled up and hard to eat.)
To cook quickly, set on high for about 3 to 3 ½ hours, or set on low for 5 ½ to 6 hours. Enjoy!
Note: Don't use a metal spoon like I did to scoop it out, or it might tear the liner. Also, if you let it cool for a bit, it's easier to slice, like you would in pan-baked lasagna.

Some notes...my crock pot does just fine on low for 2-3 hours...so make adjustments...definitely don't do high. I usually don't put any beef in mine...but whatever you like is great.

Adios or should I say arrivederci!

Observations

*Do not piss off drag queens

I went to a fun little drag bar with Thom, Sarah, and some more friends and we were enjoying some drinks and drag. I hesitate to put 'good drag'...it was entertaining...some good...some bad. Well, some very rude people were talking loudly and sitting on the stage during a performance, so the 'queen' queen came out and kicked everyone out of the bar. Technically she said 'shows over', so we just left. This after she sang "If I only had a snatch, to the tune of If I only had a brain."

*If you're over 50 and a drag queen, do not wear anything sleeveless, strapless, or backless.

YIKES. One queen who usually gets only one or two words right when she lip syncs did some Evita number and was in a backless strapless dress...and YIKES.

*If you yell out Gwen Stefani songs will playing word games, you're probably gay.

While waiting for our table at Red Lobster Sunday, someone brought along a Catchphrase game. It was my turn. Of course I picked the food category, and the phrase was Go Bananas. Rather than saying monkeys eat them, they're yellow and grow on trees, I said, "Gwen Stefani sang about it in Hollaback Girl."

*Despite the fact we have laws and statutes and ordinances, those in power rarely follow them.

Yesterday I found some pretty damning evidence in the state laws regarding foster care/adoptions/terminating parental rights. In Zach's situation, when the biological father isn't present at birth, if he doesn't meet a set of conditions within a certain amount of time, he's not even considered to have any parental rights to begin with. So technically, when the bio dad came forward and entered a petition for custody back in July of 06, he was five months too late, AND they should have said sorry, you don't have any parental rights so you have no say in the case. See you. Of course that didn't happen.

In fact, on Saturday, Zach was handed over to his biological dad for 'trial visitation'...meaning permanent visitation. Poor thing had to go to a new daycare this week...not only is he living with a total stranger, he's also having to go to a new daycare which is equally strange and upsetting. I'm crying as I'm typing all this, because I just worry about the little guy.

Alright...it'll work out...crying and worrying doesn't do me any good.

Later,
"W"

Sarah Says

Last week, I blogged about Sarah. A wonderful, intelligent little spit fire. I'm going to have to start recording what she says, because it's so hilarious.

So without further ado...."W" and Days of our Sordid Lives Productions present "Sarah Says"

"I wish I had a penis so I could jack off. Jacking off in the shower would be so hot. I'd jack off all the time!"

"That guy is so hot, I just came in my panties."

When asked who sang "Does He Love You..." with Reba McEntire, Sarah says, "How the hell should I know? Does it look like I don't have good taste?"

"I don't have nearly as many piercings as I used to. I used to have my nipples pierced, but they'd get too cold. Oh, and I had my hood pierced too!"



(Editor's note: A hood is also known to some people as a c!I+ )



Perhaps the best of the weekend (as if you can top any of the previous Sarah says)...

There was a similar picture of this bird up on the monitor screens at church...as a beautiful trio sang "His Eye is on the Sparrow."

Sarah leans over and says, "That's not a sparrow, that's a finch!" And when they'd get to the part of 'his eye is on the sparrow...she'd say no, finch."

Ah...fun times. Look for more Sarah Says segments after my next trip to the Big City for Mardi Gras in a few weeks.

Adios!

Snow Rescue

Well..it looks like the snow where my sister lives bought some more time. I don't understand things anymore...but somehow...in the visitation 'schedule'...it's written if there's no school do to weather...visitation is cancelled. I'm not sure what this means, since I thought visitation was over.

So tentatively, there's a few more days out there.

It's so confusing and frustrating for me, I can't imagine what Emily is going through.

Here's an excerpt from a recent Associated Press article on Jan 11.

"The 61-page report is a summary of the OIG investigation and lists several conclusions.
Several instances of false documentation and dishonesty by staff, including false signatures and omission or supplementation of case records, have been reported to the ***** County Commonwealth’s Attorney.
The OIG found several cases of unprofessional conduct by staff and supervisors. According to the report, regional managers abused their power, neglected to follow the chain of command and stripped supervisors of their authority, including case review. Some caseworkers exuded an attitude of superiority with clients...."

It goes on and on.

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.

Later,
"W"

Uncle Wes...No Just Wes

Bad news guys and gals. It looks like the Dept of Families in Children strikes again. My sister and brother in law found out yesterday they get to hand over Zach to his biological father on Friday...permanently.

What's worse, the case worker for the family, is one under investigation by the state because of mishandling cases and basically not doing her job right. Hmm...so she's still allowed to work and ruin more families?

I can have sympathy for parents who get off track and have their kids taken away, who manage to get their lives back together. That type of foster care is only temporary and foster parents know the chance of only being parents in the interim. However, in Zach's case, he was born, his mother abandoned him at the hospital, he's been in the care of my sister and bro in law since he was two days old. Birth mom voluntarily terminated her rights within a month of birth...biological dad denied the child could be his, refused a paternity test, and said 'that kid's not mine.'...again all within one month of birth.

I understand young kids (the parents are in their late teens) can't always make the best decision. However, I think if you're old enough to have sex, you're old enough to consider the risks and consequences. If you chose to not raise a kid, that's a lifelong decision. Apparently bio-dad's parents want to raise Zach after all...so after a year of being in the care of my family...he starts the custody process. Under state law the statute of limitations ran out, the adoption process was already underway...but apparently, laws don't matter and you can go back and 'change your mind'.

I can't imagine the emotional and psychological toll this will have on Zach...being stripped of the only Mom and Dad he's ever know and transplanted into some strange new place. A few weeks ago, my sis and her husband got an attorney who's handling the case...she seems knowledgeable...but I'm not sure if there's time to stop what's coming, stop what's on it's way (Tori Amos lyric there).

The Dept of Fam and Kids is already under fire for improperly handling foster children and cases. Sis lives in the county with the most violations. One lawyer (who's actually supposed to be representing Zach) says 'this will probably end up on 60 minutes'. Comforting...NO.

I don't think the DCFS can handle any more bad publicity. Unfortunately, my sister won't let me contact any of my friends who work in the media or any of my contacts in state government. I say the time is now to round up the troops. However, I have to respect her wishes.

Sorry for venting and ranting, but the blog is an outlet of all things going on in my life, so I need to get it out there.

Thanks for reading...I'll keep you updated.

"W"