Catching Up on the Week

and Sorry I haven't visited new blogs, or even my own. I haven't been feeling well again. I have a weakness to gluten, and it seems that every so often it rears its ugly head. Without going into the nasty details, my stomach has been messed up enough that I haven't spent any time doing anything much.
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and Watched the debate. Nothing new, nothing I found impressive or mind bending. I give John McCain credit for a few sparkling moments. When he told Barack Obama that if he, Obama, wanted to run against Bush, he should have ran four years ago. Now that was a show stopper. But then again when McCain started whining about how Representative John Lewis likened him to Gov. George Wallace, he lost points with me. McCain said his feelings were hurt. I'm sorry but I think that when Sarah Palin called Obama out for 'palling around with American terrorists,' she placed a target on Obama's back, which is as much as Representative Lewis said. It was as if calling for the maniacs out there to take aim. There are some who think that if they do something drastic, they can protect the country from depravity or terrorists, or whatever. Remember Squeaky Fromme? Mark David Chapman comes to mind, as does Lee Harvey Oswald. And what was the name of the man who shot Ronald Reagan?
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and Placing that aside, I'll take this back to family. In preparation of having cable hooked up again, I took the opportunity to lay down some law. I ordered everyone to clean their rooms. Not just a cursory pick-up and time to tuck dirty clothes under beds or hide them elsewhere, but to pick up like they haven't since the last time I lost it over their messes. I even imposed the same conditions on our room. We took a day and made sure that everything, clothing and dishes, went to the proper places, and that old Sliders and MickeyD wrappers were trashed. We all found things we thought were carried off by leprechauns or fairies. My kids found clothes they forgot they owned, and brought me cups I haven't seen in months. (Note to self. No more eating in bedrooms. Right, like they're going to pay attention to me on the matter of food.) Anyway, it was badly needed. The result though, is a ton of clothing needing to be washed. Placed in baskets and stacked across from the washer and dryer, it looks like a new wall. (It's a very small room.)
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and So Friday came and so did the cable man. I hate to admit this, and it's only because I have no life right now, but I missed it. I missed all my dumb programs; Ghost Hunters, Project Runway, Top Chef, Top Design, Deadliest Catch, The First 48, Dog the Bounty Hunter, and almost everything on the History Channel and the Food Network.
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and One of those shows is Most Haunted on the Travel Channel. For those who are not aware, it is a British program with this chick, Yvette Fielding, who screams through most of it, as the 'team' wanders through haunted castles, homes, graveyards, factories, whatever, to see what they can catch. Every so often the 'team' makes a trip to America to our most haunted sights. This week they visited Gettysburg, one of my favorite spots, and sought out Civil War ghosts. They went places I wouldn't have bothered with, but that's only because the woods about the borough of Gettysburg, which holds more interest to me, were off limits to them. But it was fun none-the-less.
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and So here we were on Friday night. The boys were getting ready to go out and Becki was working. Bill took the front room TV and I found other things to do. He's a typical male, with clicker in hand, moving from channel to channel, and frustrating the hell out of me. After starting a load of laundry, and watching him with the clicker, I headed for our room. I almost fell asleep while listening to these people call out for ghosts in gray or blue to knock in answer to their questions.
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and I smelled something like melting plastic. I blew if off at first, but then decided that maybe I should check it out. When I opened my bedroom door, the hallway was thick with smoke. I glanced over at Bill, and he was sound asleep in his chair with the blanket tucked behind his head.
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and "Jon!" When the boys exited their bedroom, they gasped. They and their friends followed me into the back room. Smoke billowed from the back of the washer. Ed was ready to panic and honestly Jon wasn't doing much better. Both were screaming they're going for water. "Don't you dare. This is electrical," I told them. "Jon go pull the fuses in the garage." I shut off the washer, Jon did as I told him and Ed went for a flashlight. (Or as the Brits on TV call it, a torch.) That took care of new smoke. We had hell getting the rest to clear. I was terrified that there might be an electrical fire in the wall or that if someone turned the power back on, it would ignite something else. Thankfully no.
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and Needless to say, my washer is toast and the clothes are piling up more. I keep saying I'm going to go out today to buy a new one. Something always arises that knocks that idea back another day. Tomorrow though. When Jon gets home from work, I'll let him nap. Then him, Ed and I will go to Best Buy and pick one up. (Delivery is $90. Ouch. I might be able to scrounge enough money together now for a cheapo, but I have to skimp elsewhere.) Tomorrow. I hope.
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and Last night Becki went out with Crazy Ann and her boyfriend. The boyfriend, apparently lives in Indiana. This doesn't make me happy. It's only about 45 minutes from here. I just don't understand why Crazy Ann doesn't lure in her prey from around here. Or maybe everyone in Illinois is aware of her trap. (The thought gives me the chills.) Becki didn't make it home until after midnight. On a school night no less. I was livid. Bill went to bed early, but every half hour or so, rushed from the room demanding, "Is she home yet?"
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and "No." Finally I told him, "Yelling at me isn't bringing her home any quicker. You're really pissing me off. Go back to bed."
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and Very soon after that she walked in. She was upset, too. Apparently she, Crazy Ann and her boyfriend stopped at a fast food restaurant just this side of the State line. While there, this other crazy chick ran from the restaurant and assaulted Crazy Ann's boyfriend's brand spanking new truck with a brick. She said she wanted 'her' truck back. It turns out this chick was the boyfriend's ex. She and current boyfriend then decided to bate Becki and her friends, even threatening violence. Becki said they called the cops and then spent the next three hours with them discussing the incident.
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and "That's why I don't like you hanging around with Crazy Ann," I told her. "She scares the hell out of me."
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and "It wasn't her fault. It was that other chick."
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and "No," I told her, "Maybe it wasn't her fault." Crazy Ann reminds me of one of my closest friends from when I was Becki's age. My friend never really did anything wrong either. It just that drama followed whereever she went. I like my nice, quiet life, and that includes having my daughter safe and away from brick toting nut jobs. So when Becki isn't working, she's going to spend time at home at least for a while. That way I'll know she's safe at least a short time during each day.