Channel blocking and parental controls have been around for awhile now. There doesn’t seem to be any shortage of situations where you can block what your kids are and are not allowed to watch on TV or which website they can and cannot visit.

Never mind the setup that most of these controls require, in the long run, I have to ask… are they really worth using?

Take a look at prime time shows for example, the shows our kids want to watch. In the line up you find shows like Knight Rider, Life, Law & Order, 30 Rock, How I Met Your Mother, etc. Sure, some of these shows might seem to be appropriate for our kids and I don’t really have an issue with a lot of them. However, I have an issue with something else… something that your parental controls won’t handle.

The commercials.

Last week, Heidi Klum’s new commercial was announced. With a name like Heidi Klum, I’d imagine that I’d see fashion, beauty, makeup, or some other product that I’d be happy for my kid to watch. No, I did not think that I’d be seeing Heidi Klum in a lace bra and underwear rocking out with Guitar Hero.

This commercial is nothing more than 30 seconds of pure sex display. And generally, I’m all about seeing a hot girl do something crazy, I won’t lie about that. But this commercial is not something I would want my child to watch. And to make matters worse, the product it’s promoting is geared towards tween and teen boys and girls. Don’t believe me? Ask your kid if they want to play Guitar Hero, I’m sure we both know what the answer is there.

Is this even right?

So you’ve taken steps to block out all the bad on television and the Internet but during your kid-friendly programming hour, you’re shown this commercial for Guitar Hero with Heidi Klum. And now that you’ve seen it, I have to ask, what’s the point of even having parental controls in the first place?

Think this commercial won’t make it on TV during a kid-friendly hour? Think again.

With Heidi Klum appearing on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, the commercial has already played on Ellen’s show on November 10th. I don’t know about where you live but here, Ellen is on at 3:00 PM… prime time for kids watching TV and I certainly wouldn’t think that Ellen would be a show blocked by parental controls.

And you know, for me, it’s not just about the sexed up commercials. We’ve seen these for a long time. So, let me talk about other commercials.

The movies.

I am not a fan of scary movies. And I think what’s worse than taking your kids to see these horrific movies is allowing the trailers for some of these movies to be shown on television. Who’s in charge of approving these terrible commercials?

Flashes of crazy faces, clear distress, etc. are not great for children to see. It makes me wonder, should this really be approved for all audiences?

As parents we’re constantly trying to look out for our kids, do what’s best for them and give them some morals to stand on. Why has television become who can pay the most amount of money instead of who’s ready to show something moral and really appropriate for all ages?

I’m tired of the world fighting frivolous battles and am ready to see someone get pissed about what’s on TV.

In the meantime, I’ll keep my shows on TiVo for me to watch at an hour where I don’t have to worry about what my kid is seeing. Until things improve, TV is off.

I’m faithful about cooking dinner for my entire family every night. Three of my four kids eat great, I never have to worry about them cleaning their plates, regardless of what I choose to cook for dinner.

My problem however, is with my toddler. He won’t eat anything but a few select items and I end up cooking more than one meal per night. What do you suggest I do to turn around this picky eater?

Sincerely,
Chef Mom

Dear Chef Mom,

Cooking multiple meals is certainly time consuming and even harder on a budget. There are a few things I would suggest but I’d like to start with talking to your son’s peditritian. What does dear ole doc have to say about your son’s lack of eating?

Moving on from that, what I have heard most often is that children who are hungry, will eat. If your son doesn’t want to eat what has been placed in front of him, he doesn’t eat and he can’t have a cup of milk later to tide over his tummy (from my own experience).

I too have this problem with my 3 yr old daughter and I simply stop feeding into what she will eat and insisting that she eat what I have cooked for dinner. To transition from her being able to eat anything she wanted to eating what I cooked for dinner, I rewarded her for bites taken. After dinner she’d beg for a cup of milk but wouldn’t take a bite. Finally, at the age of reasoning, I was able to convince her to take a couple of bites of what I cooked to get her milk. After a few weeks, I was able to expand what she’d eat. It’s not the end of my war but practice will get your picky eater eating more!

My last suggestion, perhaps to work in conjunction with what I’ve mentioned above is to point out what his siblings are eating. “Jack finished all of his mashed potatoes and he said they’re yummy! Will you try just one bite, please?”

To note: enforce your eating rules by taking away the night time cup of juice or milk and forgo snacks until you’re toddler is ready to eat his meal. Once he’s had a meal that you’ve chosen for him, he’s rewarded with all the snack and milk he needs. Just remember to tell him “OK, you can have your snack because you ate so well at breakfast!”

Trust me, over time, he’ll get the message you’re sending when you remain loud and clear.

Good luck,
Katy

I have made no secret of my sexuality, ever. Nor have I been quiet about my stance on Prop 8 in California that was voted on November 4th. The results, if you have not heard, is that California (a blue state, remember) voted to ban gay marriage. So, in my normal fashion, though I may be a day late and a dollar short, I’m putting my arguments out there FOR gay marriage.

For this post, I ask you just one thing: check your religion at the door. Remember, if we’re going to live by the constitution first we are to keep church and state separate. To be blunt, your beliefs and Bible have no room in my bedroom.

While checking out what the final electoral votes were for Obama, I came across a poll at Newsvine asking “Do you agree with gay marriage bans?”

When voting in the poll, people are encouraged to leave their comments about how and why they voted as they did. I’m going to take on some of those in this post as well as address why I believe gay marriage is a good thing — for everyone.

The Economy

The stock market is crashing, we’re proposing billions of dollars be spent bailing out companies, Americans are losing their home to foreclosures, and in the last year gas prices have sky rocketed to all time highs. To say that we’re not in good shape would be an understatement.

In California alone, the cost of a marriage license varies from county to county. But, in Kern County, where I was raised the cost of a marriage license is $67.00 for a public license and $80.00 for a confidential license.

According to the LA Times, data released by UCLA’s Williams Institute says that between June 17, 2008 and September 17, 2008 an estimated 11,000 same sex marriages were performed in California. Take the 11,000 marriages times the estimated marriage license cost of $67.00 and you’ve boosted California’s economy by $737,000 — IN JUST 3 MONTHS! Meanwhile, other reports say that there have been an estimated 18,000 marriages which boosted California’s economy by $1,206,000.

Marriage was allowed in California for just three and a half months. Consider if Prop 8 hadn’t passed and these numbers continued to climb at the current rate. This means that in just another three months California could have boosted their economy by a staggering $2,412,000.

Newsvine Comments

Wade-296354: Though marriage may seen unnecessary for you, consider that’s not what you’re being asked. The fundamental question is not whether or not marriage is necessary but if you believe that people are equal and deserve equal rights under the constitution.

A. Columbo: With or without gay marriage, your kids at one point will know about homosexuality and will question their own sexual orientation. Furthermore, with or without gay marriage, the chances are very good that your kids will attend school with a child of gay parents and will know that their friend has gay parents. Kids don’t keep these kind of things secret and believe me, if they haven’t already, will wonder. Way to go, teach hate. What a positive influence you must be to your children.

Michael Buie: Great, more concerned about a title than the right. What you’re really saying here Michael is this:

“Because I don’t want gay marriage, I’ll settle for civil unions. This is to ensure that I look good by giving equal rights to everyone but can still treat gay and lesbian people as second class citizens because they don’t have that all powerful title of marriage. Either way, it’s all the same.”

Smooth.

quinaultcountry: Thank you for the respect. And you’re absolutely correct that marriage is a choice. However, what comes with marriage is rights and that is what is deserved for all people for equality. Thanks for the insurance though, don’t need your permission for that as each company gets to choose. But, you’re skirting the issue here. The truth is as a lesbian woman, I don’t want to be married. But I want the choice to have the same rights offered to heterosexual couples that choose to marry!

Civil Unions

In most cases, the title of Civil Union is given instead of Marriage but the rights that come with the proposed Civil Union are exactly the same as Marriage.

From what I have seen, the gay and lesbian community tend to believe that by giving marriage a new title, the world is still treating gay and lesbians as separate and not equal. I happen to slightly disagree.

For each form of intolerance and hate our country has had, we have had stepping stones to reach equality. Slaves were not set free in a single day and we will not win the fight to equality by going to the top first. Instead, I believe that we should go for Civil Unions. Though the title may suggest that we are still separate and still equal, we’ll still have our rights. The fight to achieve marriage will be easier if the rights are already in place. We’d have a better chance at winning the battle if we could just temporarily live with the title.

The Awakening

America is slowly starting to wake up and we’re making a move more and more to change. We no longer believe in slavery or segregation and have now gone further to elect our first African-American President into office. And just as the day that Rosa Parks sat at the front of the bus and refused to give up her seat, the gay and lesbian community will one day have the same rights afforded to our straight counterparts.

There are many reasons why a solider would call home while serving his country in Iraq.

• His misses home.
• He misses his Mom.
• He wants to check on his family.
• He wants to send his love.
• He wants to check up on his children.
• He needs to ask for items to be sent to him.

And these are only a handful of possible reasons why a soldier just might call home. However, if you’re my “brother” Doug, you’ll call for other reasons…

I presume that my sister-in-law, Tish had a phone conversation with Doug that went something like this:

Tish: “I found Katy’s blog.”
Doug: “And?”
Tish: “She made a post about me with my picture, our address, and wrote ‘ILLEGAL ALIEN’”

Alright, I’ll give the bitch this: you screw me and my family, I’m not really a nice person and I’m OK with that. But really, making a post with her picture and home address stating that she’s illegal is a little more extreme than my own thoughts. It’s also way too passive aggressive for me. If I wanted to do something, I’d do it!

If I wanted to be vindictive, I would have screwed up her house while I was there. I would have said a lot more to her than I did (which by the way, I enjoyed).

To get into the whole “illegal” thing, I simply would have called the authorities and provided them with her home address. I mean, if I’m going to do it, I might as well make sure the right people know about it!

For the record, I did none of those things. I’m actually impressed with myself at how nice I was given the situation that she lied about my sister, treated her and her kids like shit, walked all over my Mom, and back stabbed the ENTIRE family. I mean, I could have really screwed with the bitch for all of that. But I did none of those things. I was unusually NOT Katy-like.

Now, let’s get back on track about this call home.

This morning I call to check in with my sister who’s in California with my brother Cameron, his wife Nikki, and my Mother. Morgan proceeds to tell me about my Mom’s conversation with Doug explaining Tish’s new lie (because she hasn’t told enough of them), and how Mom had to say to Doug “do not do something that is going to have to make me visit you in prison for the rest of my life.”

Yeah, he treated me (again). And for the record, if I turn up dead, Doug did it.

My Mom’s explanation for my supposed actions is fairly simple: “I cannot control Katy. I can talk to her but you know that I cannot control her.” At this point, I know as much as I’m writing.

To take action, immediately, I made a very simple screen shot of all published posts here on Unedited Life and sent the screen shot to my Mom and Morgan. The screen shot also contains today’s date to prove that no posts have been removed. Additionally, the email of the screen shot went with a link to Archives.org which allows anyone to see the archives of this blog to prove again, nothing has been deleted.

How stupid is this woman to lie about something that can so easily be proven wrong?

Look, I’m certainly the kind of person that would fess up to anything I had done to someone I really don’t care for. But when the whole thing went down with my sister in Texas, my Mom made me make her a promise. And when you promise something to my Mom, you better keep your word or your ass is grass.

“Mom, I promise that I will not turn her in for being illegal.”

I’ve kept my promise. And though I have blogged about it, without the specific details like say, her last name, there isn’t much anyone can do. What does she think, she’s the only person on the Internet to be mentioned with a name and the word “illegal?”

She must be scared, she’s removed her picture from MySpace…

So, why have I continued to post about this even though it’s clearly causing conflict within the family?

• This isn’t the first time Doug has tried to use my blog against me. In fact, he didn’t speak to me for 6 years over a blog post I made on LiveJournal. (I think he thought it was punishment.)
• Clearly his dumb bitch of a wife is reading my blog and yeah, I’m calling your dumb ass out you moron!
• To prove that yet another thing this supposed woman has said is a lie.

The truth of the matter is that this bitch and Doug are perfect for each other. As a family, we’ve put a disclaimer to everything Doug says:

Question: “How do you know Doug is telling a lie?”
Answer: “His mouth is moving.”

Clearly, by the chaos that she’s created for my sister, Mother, and now me, she can fall into the same category. Problem is, anyone with an ounce of knowledge about me will know that no such post has ever been nor will be created. The thing is, it’s just not my style. I’d rather go straight to people that actually care that she’s illegal.

So let’s just call this what it is. As a family, we all know that Tish is cheating on Doug with some guy that she met on the computer. Tish is making Doug’s family out to be worse than we are to give herself a reason to leave: “Your family is just too horrible for me to stay!”

Go on illegal gold digger, you’re not wanted. For as horrible as I believe Doug is, he’s still too good for someone like you.

I can’t remember a moment in my childhood where in family circumstances, I didn’t feel as though I was the black sheep. Of course, it took me years to understand what this meant and identify the feeling but never the less, I knew.

It wasn’t until I left home, became an adult, and began to get a grasp on the world that I really knew what to do with the idea of being a black sheep. And today, the term and feeling is something that I actually enjoy and am able to put to better use than using it against my family.

Being a black sheep, for me, means in that my divorced family where my 5 siblings are more like my Mother than my Father, I am Dad. It was something that was said to me in an a more accusing tone than complimentary “you’re so Dad!” And now, 10 years after I moved out of my Mother’s house, I realize that there is power in the statement that I am able to use for the bettering of my relationship with those family members that are still so my Mother.

Getting to Know You

Few of us are same kind of adults as we were kids. Surely you didn’t hold on to your childish views of parenting, naming children, politics, and career aspirations. Perhaps a few of those things but not all. So, it’s no surprise that even though you did grow up with your family, they don’t exactly know you.

My sister, Morgan started to learn a lot about me on our drive home from Texas. And within the first 48 hours of living together, she learned even more.

But now that we’re settling into life together we have private conversations where we share what it was like growing up, our memories, and of course, the pain. And in each of these conversations, I can hear her words as though my Mom was saying them and she’s astonished by my memories, opinions, and views on life. But these conversations and seeing that I am on the opposite end by being the “black sheep,” we’re learning more about each other than if we had never had these conversations at all.

Sharing Opinions

Being the black sheep isn’t just about family politics. But in the “real world” dealing with clients, jobs, working structure, and even in my own parenting and cleaning, the opposite view point on each of these subjects enables me to share a different side in every situation.

Joanne functions, cleans, organizes, and raises Zadey in a different way than I do. And because we’re parenting together, seeing eye to eye is more important than ever and having multiple view points to the same situation enables us to really think about the action we should take in every situation.

This is a benefit for us because we’re able to break the mold and find alternative solutions and creative ways to handle each situation that arises.

Do It Yourself

At times, the emotion of a black sheep is usually that others don’t understand you. You feel misunderstood, wonder if you have misspoken, or created unnecessary friction between yourself and another person. Consequently, from these feelings you begin to just do things yourself.

The power within this scenario is that quite simply, you have no one to report to. You’re accountable only for your own actions and not the actions of team. The black sheep is creative to find new solutions, new work arounds, and grows comfortable with their sense of self.

The Downfalls

There are times when I wished I worked the same as a business partner. Maybe had the same thought process of Joanne so that we could get on the same page. But for each downfall of living the life of the black sheep, there’s a positive that enables me to create a powerful situation that becomes win-win.

Black or White

If the world was as simple as black sheep and white sheep, where do you fall?

If you don’t know what Prop 8 is, the concept is simple: stop gay marriage in California.

As you could probably imagine, that isn’t something that I’m rooting for.

In fact, quite the opposite. And though this isn’t a political blog, it is about opinions and if there’s a single reason that I vote, it’s for equality.

Sure, I’m concerned about social security, health care, the war in Iraq, and many more issues. But I take note of one issue and that is my own freedom and equality which comes in the form of the right to marry. And here’s the hard truth, I’m not married nor do I want to be. But this is not the point, it all boils down to something really simple: equal rights.

So, when I found the site 8 Against 8, I took note of what lesbian bloggers across the web are doing: Raise 8,000 in 8 days to stop Prop 8. Good theme huh? Apparently many people think so because as of Oct. 21st, they have raised $10,118 and just because they have reached their goal doesn’t mean that it’s enough! The bottom line is that every penny possible is needed to stop Prop 8.

I once wrote an article about equality on I’m Blogging That. My feelings then and my feelings now are the same.

What do you think? Isn’t it time that we all share the same equal rights?

Links:
8 Against 8
No On 8
Mormons for Marriage

The guy featured in the video is from my brother’s unit. And regardless of what you do or do not think about the war, the soldiers, etc, watching the video is a good way to get a glimpse into the life of soldiers over in Iraq. It’s my understanding that what the guy is showing is exactly where my brother is now. Not that I care after the many horrible things he’s done to me and my wife. But, interesting none the less.

I have a voice, I tend to use it. I have an opinion, I tend to say it. And when I feel strongly that I want something politically, I go for the person who’s most likely to take my issue seriously.

So, not surprisingly, I’m walking with a bit of pride in my step today as I voted early for the candidate that best suits my issues and causes.

“While we have come a long way since the Stonewall riots in 1969, we still have a lot of work to do. Too often, the issue of LGBT rights is exploited by those seeking to divide us. But at its core, this issue is about who we are as Americans. It’s about whether this nation is going to live up to its founding promise of equality by treating all its citizens with dignity and respect.”

— Senator Barack Obama

My hopes are high. I don’t tend to do well when my preferred candidate doesn’t win the office. And I’ve had a bit of experience as twice now, my candidate hasn’t won. This time though, I think America is ready for change. This time I have winner and this time, I have a better feeling.

Official voting day is November 4th. Get out there and have your opinion heard!

Dear Best Friend,
You’re facing a hard situation that I’m sure many people have come encounter with. But if the problem was on my shoulders, I’d have to say that I would tell Sue.

If she’s the type of friend you must believe her to be after all these years, she’ll listen. Will she like it? Probably not. She may not speak to you for a little bit. But standing by her as a friend when you have been witness to her partner’s cheating, is what a friend does. Imagine the consequences if she found out you knew and didn’t tell her. I’d rather take the chance that she not talk to me for a little while than not talk to me forever.

Good luck!
Katy

Generally speaking, I’m fairly confident that you don’t analyze what it is that you do for a living. At least, not in the way I’m about to talk to you about.

Here I am, sitting in Starbucks having what’s turning out to be a tough conversation with someone that I’m working with. I didn’t expect the conversation to land at exactly where it is but it’s here now and I figure, no holds bard — I’m going to tell it like it is.

Now, you must know, that I fairly tolerant of the needs of my clients. Regardless of what those needs are, I’ll attempt to find a way to work it out. And if I can’t work it out, I at the very least attempt to explain why it can’t be worked out, why I don’t agree, or how I think there’s a better solution. Ultimately however, it is up to my client to decide what they want about a specific situation and together or apart, we’ll move on.

I attempted to explain to this guy I’m working with that I felt as though he regarded me as an expert but treated me like I’m an idiot. I said it and I meant it. Here I am explaining my thought processes for putting his blog into different social media sites and attracting attention when I’m told “that’s not a marketing plan.” Really? Because only 2 seconds after he said it did he put my exact same words in a different context and repeat it back to me.

Sounded like a marketing plan to me.

At this point in the conversation I’m thinking… damn it, I’m sick! I’m tired as hell and I did not expect to be having this long winded conversation about something we’ve already talked about several times. I just wanted to go home and back to bed but I kept my mouth shut, adjusted in my chair to attempt to make the heavy in my chest more comfortable and continued on with the conversation.

Somehow, it comes up and I utter the words “I’m a freelancer.” The reply I received nearly blew me away.

“You’re not a freelancer when I’m writing the check. Anyone who thinks that they are a freelancer in this day in age is coo coo.”

Think about this for a second as it pertains to you…

Pixel Drawers — you’re coo coo.
Web Designers — you’re coo coo.
Writers — you’re coo coo.
Bloggers — you’re coo coo.
Photographers — you’re coo coo.

But now, what really chaps me about the comment is the lack of recognition at how the comment pertains to the very person who said it. He’s a musician that’s unsigned and is more than happy to take some “gigs” to earn his living.

According to Google, freelance is defined as:

Work independently and on temporary contracts rather than for a long-term employer

If a musician was contracted to play a few shows and then was no longer needed at a specific venue, wouldn’t that musician be considered a freelancer?

Truthfully, whatever profession that you’re in, whatever your title may be, we’re all paid by other people. As a freelancer, I like to think that each person that hires me is someone that I’m working with not for. I define it this way because my objective is to listen to the needs of the one that hires me, and achieve goals that pertain to what they need. To reach those goals often times we must work together.

A boss, in a “typical” job, dictates what you do and how you do it. But for a freelancer, it’s up to them to determine the method that they use which enables them to work with their clients in a way that creates a team, not a dictatorship.

So, you tell me, is the musician a coo coo freelancer?

I think so. And I quit, happily.

Since then, we’ve moved out and have our own place, thankfully. My mother-in-law has also since passed away, unexpectedly. I’m trying to let go of what he said, for my children’s sake and my husband’s, as well as my own.

How, though, do I let it go and not let it fester. This was said over 3 years ago, and I’m still bothered by it.

Sincerely,
Daughter-in-Law

Dear Daughter-in-Law,
In-laws are typically touchy subjects for a lot of people. But for the sake of your husband and kids, you should really talk to your father-in-law. Sit down, privately, explain your concerns to him and ask him where he stands today. Being a parent, you must know that we tend to feel protective of our children and when we are acting out due to being protective, we can say things we often don’t really mean. Your best bet to clear the air is to have a civil conversation. If he flat out says that he still doesn’t care for you, ask him what would change his mind.

Good luck!
Katy

As Joanne and I started out on our road trip, we had warning from my Mom who spoke to my brother Doug who said “Katy is not to go in my house.” As if he even remotely thought that he’d be in charge of the day while in Iraq.

I didn’t care what he said, I was there to get my sister out of the terrible situation his wife created. Whatever she needed done, I was there to do.

Joanne and I decided that we’d attempt to drive from California (where we dropped off Zadey with my Mom) to Texas without an overnight stop. I’d take one shift, she’d take another and we’d just get there. The faster we could get there and back, the better.

The first day I drove more than 11 hours. And to tell you the truth, I was as happy as could be! I could have kept driving if dark didn’t come but I don’t see well at night, especially on dark highways so Joanne took over once the sun went down.

Our truck, from Enterprise, was so great to drive that I’d love to go and buy one today!

We were comfortable and had space which made the long hours in this truck easy to handle.

At sunset in Arizona I captured our first picture which is likely to be one of the most beautiful sunsets I’ve ever seen.

I’ll never again wonder why the mountains are purple on Arizona’s license plates.

Through the night, we drove New Mexico and part of Texas which included El Paso and surrounding cities near the Mexico border. It was kind of interesting to see one country to your right and another to your left. I’m not sure I’ve been through that type of situation before.

When day broke, we saw for the first time that the Texas highways are well taken care of, look very country, and really are quite beautiful.

We finally arrived in Texas around 10:00 AM. Just 22 hours after we left California. It was great time but what was next was probably the worst part of the entire trip/

Though my sister was supposed to be packing and get her things in order to get out, she still had a few things left to do around the house when we arrived to pick her up and take them to breakfast. My sister-in-law though had her own plans while we were gone and that was to literally throw Morgan’s stuff into trash bags and buckets and then pitch it into the garage. So, when we returned, most of Morgan’s belongings were in the garage and had to be shorted through. With just a pick-up truck there was no way that we were going to be able to take everything she had.

Arriving at the house, without kids and Joanne after breakfast we arrived to an empty house. Of course, our sister-in-law didn’t answer her phone when Morgan called so I backed up the pick-up truck in the driveway and waited. I figured, if she didn’t come home pretty quick I would have no issue breaking a window since Morgan’s name was on the lease it wasn’t breaking and entering. We waited.

About 30 minutes after arriving Tish, the sister-in-law came home. It look less than 5 minutes before more discovered the mess Tish made with her belongings and a fight started. I called the cops. In no way was I going to deal with anyone’s bullshit just to get my sister and her kids moved out. The cops however scared Tish. That’s what happens when you’re illegal in the country though!

To make a long story shorter, we got as much of Morgan’s stuff loaded as we could. And through the process or sorting out what was and wasn’t going, we didn’t hesitate to make a mess, throw crap around, we just didn’t have any care. My exact words to Morgan were “we’ll treat her home with as much respect as she treated you and your belongings with — none.” It’s exactly what we did!

So, after one night in Killeen, Tx, we got back on the road. This time, headed for Las Vegas were our Mom was going to meet us with Joanne and I’s car and Zadey.

Morgan neglected to tell us that she couldn’t stay awake at the wheel while on long drives — something we weren’t expecting when Morgan was in charge of driving her own car and her kids back to Las Vegas. The good news, Joanne was with us — something we didn’t originally plan on! So with Joanne and the kids in Morgan’s car and Morgan and I in the truck, we took on the highway in an attempt to reach home by Thursday, Zadey’s 3rd birthday.

The drive was long and boring. Even more so, Morgan’s inability to drive for long periods of time made us more tired than we expected. With just a one-night sleep over, we made it home at 1:00 AM on Thursday morning.

Joanne and I hadn’t seen Zadey in 4 days, the trip was difficult on the way home but the road trip, in general, was great fun. I’d do it again today if I needed to! No worries.

With some sleep in our eyes, we enjoyed Zadey’s birthday with a very mild party. Thank God she’s just 3 and I didn’t ruin her life by having a basic birthday party.

She never had preschool or daycare, so being in school is a new situation for her. We’ve talked to her about not playing in the rocks. We’ve disciplined her as well as we could, since we’re not with her during the day. She knows it’s wrong, and she’s scared to get in trouble.

Is there anything else we can do to help change the behavior?

Sincerely,
Rock Mom

Dear Rock Mom,
Perhaps the behavior doesn’t need changed at all. Encourage your daughter’s love and fascination with rocks by buying her rocks. Spend time learning about different rocks, how they form, their weight, and maybe even pick up a tumbler so she can learn to clean and polish rocks. Maybe by encouraging her fascination in a constructive manner, she’ll behave more appropriately with the rocks she finds as school.

Katy

Sincerely,
Sour Owner

Dear Sour Owner,
First and foremost, lemon laws are different in every state. So before you can just call your car a lemon and get it off of your hands, check your state’s lemon laws.

But my first question would be, are you taking your car to the dealership for repairs? If not, you may want to do that. Often times car dealerships have different parts and resources than your local repair shop.

The second question is your repairs covered under your car warrenty?

Generally the requirements for your car to be determined as a lemon are:

1. Diagnosis or repair of a serious safety defect has been attempted at least twice without success.
2. Diagnosis or repair of a problem that makes your vehicle unreliable or diminishes its retail value.
3. Your vehicle has been out of service for diagnosis or repair of at least one defect as described in 1 or 2.

If you believe you’re encountering problems that are covered under your state’s lemon laws and the costs of the repair are effecting your pocket book, it’s time to call it a lemon. Get in touch with your car’s manufacture.

Katy

You see, at the time, he was highly addicted to the game Dark Age of Camelot and during the course of the game, he met a girl. He then proceed to talk to her on the game, over the phone, through webcam and one night, during a game, proposed marriage to her.

Yes, he’s crazy.

So he tells me this story and says that he knows it is crazy but he really does want to marry her and even though it’s quick, it just feels right.

Who am I to argue or protest love?

Being the nice sister that I am, I invited him to move to Las Vegas and out of my other sister’s house, bring the girl here, and marry her. They could get on their feet, he could get a job, and they could move on out. Joanne and I gave them to February 1st. I made it clear, even if they were homeless, they were getting out on the 1st! Nice huh?

There are no shortage of jobs in Las Vegas and as a former soldier I didn’t figure he’d have any difficulty.

Once they were here, I quickly realized that this woman was crazy — and I don’t mean crazy in love but quite possibly should be commited (or something). I didn’t know what to think, sure didn’t like her but dealt with her the best that I could for my brother’s sake.

It’s not like my brother, Doug and I were close. And to be honest, that’s exactly why I wanted him to live with me. Maybe after all these years and a 6 year stint of not speaking to each other at all we could finally get to know what another.

It didn’t last and he and his wife moved out and were simultaneously kicked out for the horrible way the treated us and took advantage of us.

They went back to my sister Morgan’s house, Doug quickly rejoined the Army and they were off to Texas but not before they invited Morgan to come and live with them in Texas and go to school instead of work at a dead-end job.

Morgan agreed, uprooted her 2 children and went to Texas.

In less than two months, our brand-new, illegal wife started talking shit to our brother in Iraq about Morgan and her kids. The problem is… everything she said was lies. Doug called our Mom to tell her what Tish was saying about Morgan and then Mom told Morgan. A vicious circle of horrible lies.

To save Morgan from the terrible situation, the family gathered money, I rented a pick-up truck from Enterprise and got on the road with Joanne to drive to Texas to get Morgan, her girls, and as much of her stuff as stuff as the truck could hold.

What happens next? Read Post: 2,861 Miles in 4 Days/Trip to Texas »