Secular Confessions

[Cosmosmom]

I know, I mean DH used to do all these complex equations and chemical reactions and measure things all carefully. I'm not handy but know how to read.
Yet anytime we have to put something together, the crabbiness comes out! Gawd, it took us almost two hours last year at this time to read the directions and figure out how to change the oil in the snowblower...and it wasn't that complex.

The bookshelf we got from Ikea wasn't too bad but bad enough. I am seriously going to have my dad come up and do the dresser when we buy that (dad already did an Ikea dresser for my sister) and the crib. DH is better off helping or in the kitchen making the pizza doughs (my dad seriously LOVES his homemade pizza).

My parents were cute...when DH and I were first dating, he could stay the night (he lived an hour away) but had to sleep in the living room. I was only 19 at that point. Pretty soon he could stay in my room but with the door open and him on the floor or the upper bunk...at that point I had a bunk bed in there with a full size futon on the bottom. Eventually same rules applied but the door could be kept shut. They wouldn't have let him move in through...mostly because the house was REALLY small at that point (like 900 sq feet). Now my sister they have talked about maybe her gf moving in with her. Right now they are half the time at my parents house and half at her mom's house. They would like to get a place together but money is a bit of an issue and both are applying for better jobs so avoiding a lease right now. Course my sister is almost 29 and my parents house is double the size and my parents no longer share a bathroom with the entire house.

[Suja]

I do not have the skill set I would require for the secret life I would actually want. I think it would be really cool to be a spy or an assassin. However, I'm really terrible at reading people and lying. Plus I'm bad at keeping secrets. I also wouldn't mind being a high-powered business-woman, but I can't wear high heels. Maybe my other secret life could involve staying in my pajamas and doing stuff on the computer. Secret stuff.

DH wishes he were James Bond. He tells me that in his secret life, he's a spy/assassin/allkindsofcrazy$hit, but I know that he cannot lie to save his life, and really, his secret identity would be Captain Oblivious/Obvious. He does have swords in the house. Like under the bed, you know, for slicing and dicing intruders. Me, I'd just sic the kid on the intruders, and they'd run for their lives.

[Cosmosmom]

LOL DH pretends that he's got this secret life once in a while....but yeah he can't lie to save his life either.

And sometimes if I say something really obvious, he will call me Captian Obvious or say was that your captain obvious comment for the day. LOL

Don't know what I would do for an intruder. My dogs are scared and timid. We don't believe in guns and fighting. And I sleep alone in the house (DH works nights) most nights and will leave some windows open.

[MashedUp]

Our dog would give us plenty of warning if someone was breaking in and would probably go after them. She's pretty protective. We have guns in the house, but not loaded and I am not familiar enough with them to load one under stress. We do keep an unloaded BB gun under the bed. It looks just like a real handgun and makes a really loud noise when you dry fire it even with no ammo. DH figures that if someone sees it pointed at them and it makes a gunshot noise, they might not stick around to see if it is really loaded.

[missychrissy]

I'd fight. I might lose, but you can bet the house would be a wreck and I'd have their dna all over myself. I'd use whatever was handy. If nothing, I'd run at them and try my hardest to dig my thumbs into their eye sockets. I'm not above biting either. I'm also very wiry and go spastic pretty good when wrestling around. It's difficult for someone bigger and tougher than me to pin me down. My father tried to teach me how to fight when I was a teen, just in case.

Anyway, I've always known that I'd never die wimpering and cowering and begging for my life. Even if they have a gun and I don't, I'm going at them if I can't run away. I've told this story before, but one time when I was home alone I was convinced two shady looking guys were coming in my back downstairs door and I stood at the top of the stairs with a butcher knife. If they started coming up the steps, I was going to run at them and attack the first guy and just hope that the 2nd one would get so scared he'd run off. I was shaking like a leaf and scared out of my mind, but I wasn't going to let them attack me without a fight. I figured surprise was on my side, and they were downstairs from me. I'd have used gravity to my advantage.

[missychrissy]

Lucky for them, they didn't come to the upstairs door to knock. It turned out they wanted to ask about a car we had sitting in our driveway without plates. I found out days later when they stopped in again and talked to my dh.

[raspberry]

Mylah, that duck story is hilarious. I don't blame you not wanting to eat duck again. I've never eaten duck before, I had heard it's greasy, that doesn't appeal to me.

When I watch spy shows, I often think oh what a fun life that would be. But I couldn't ever do it, I don't think quickly on my feet like they do in the movies, lol.

I never knew that about b/g twins. My dh and I have talked about our child being gay, we are both fine with it. But like Erin I really worry about bullying. That would terrify me. And bullying seems so out of control these days. Or so the media makes it seem that way.

Chrissy, that would have scared me so badly. I am the biggest chicken. I think part of it comes from watching too many scary movies when I was younger. I used to love scary movies, I watched a lot in my childhood/teenage years, but I don't like to watch them anymore. When I am home alone at night, any strange noise I hear will make me jump. I go around double checking that the doors and windows are locked.

[AmeriBrit]

Omg, Chrissy, your description of what you'd do to an intruder had me chuckling. That's exactly what I'd do, too. I have a lot of anger that I could unleash on someone.

We were just watching the news and I didn't see the first part to it but some guy had been injured somehow and 2 people pretended to be helping him but they actually just took what they could out of his briefcase and left him bleeding on the street. They showed a video of it. I think it was in London and they found the 2 people and they are now on trial. People really make me sick sometimes.

[Bridget]

Jennifer, talking about you and your dh putting together the pack n play. My cousin works for a company that sells fitness machines and several years ago she hooked up my mom and dad to get a free treadmill if they left someone come over and video tape them putting it together because it was a brand new one and part of the marketing research was how much tension and frustration occured while setting it up. I remember my dad joking about how cooperative and easy going they were with each other because there was a woman in the room with a video camera, not because it was easy to put together.

I've been freaking myself out about murderous intruders ever since my friend and her baby girl were killed 3 years ago. Granted, it was by her own boyfriend so not the same as an intruder but I guess it was just a reality check for me that terrible things really do happen. We have a baseball bat handy now but if dbf starts traveling for work I think I'd like to install an alarm system. It's gotten to the point that I can convince myself a stick hitting the ground is a band of ninjas casing the house.

Today I am really missing my mom because I need her. Dbf all laid up, Sawyer so sick, me fighting mastitis. I want my mommy.

[raspberry]

I want my mommy.

[Ky'sMom]

Awww Bridget. Hugs to you.

And remind me NEVER try to do surprise break-in on Chrissy or Suja. I'd get stabbed and attacked by a venemous woman and chased away by a toddler!!

We have two big dogs so people in our neighborhood don't bother us. They don't know our dogs are friendly and would probably run from them LOL! We also have a gun. I know people don't like guns but I live in a rough neighborhood and so I have one. Honestly I would have one wherever I live because I'm like that. I have never had to use it and haven't fired any gun since I was young, about 12 years old (I had crazy uncles who let us shoot cans with .22 caliber guns in the backyard unsupervised I might add). I am planning on going to the gun range soon, especially if DH will be moving to Chicago since he would be gone for nearly a year and I would feel better having some practice shooting.

If I didn't have a weapon, I would also fight to my death like Chrissy. I am really not afraid to die at all and I won't let anyone attack me without a fight, even if someone tries to rape me or something I will hurt them and if they don't give up they will have to kill me because I am just like that. I feel like I have been through way too much crap to be victimized again and if I have to die I will just have to die. I have spoken with my DH about this and he says I should just let myself be attacked since then I would be alive and the family would get to have me back but honestly, I think I am selfish in this way as I don't think I would not fight. I am normally very non-violent but when personally attacked, like assaulted so someone can hurt me for no reason, then I am a fighter.

Erin

[missychrissy]

I agree Erin and I haven't been through as much as you. I just will not be victimized without a fight.

Bridget.

Speaking of rotten people, someone in my building fell and broke her kneecap in the street and numerous people walked by her. I guess she fell hard and her glasses & bags & stuff went flying. Could you imagine?

[Cosmosmom]

Who knows, maybe I would instictively fight but I'm not much of a fighter. And Erin, much as I despise guns, if I lived in a rough neighborhood, I might have one. Shoot my volunteer was telling me that she was up at her cabin and they were skiing and came across very fresh wolf tracks....in the middle of nowhere. Um yeah I think that maybe I would also think about getting one and learning how to use it if I was going to be out the wild in the middle of nowhere where they have a bunch of wild things like bears and wolves!!!!

My town is strange. I mean people say hi and smile as you walk past, I know people who leave doors unlocked and windows open even when not at home. There is a little bit of crime, usually theft or drugs and most often it's down by the university. If there was a murder, it makes major news for weeks/months and the few (2-3) that I can think of since living here for 5.5 years were done by people they knew like a boyfriend. Granted anything can happen anywhere but for the most part, I feel it's about as safe as anyplace could be...the metro area is just under 100K population.

Bridget

[Suja]

I'm not afraid to fight, and I'm not afraid to die. But. I'm pretty sure I'd go meekly if someone held a knife/gun to my kid or dogs' head and said they'd hurt them if I didn't do what they wanted. Probably shouldn't have posted that in a public forum.

[Gwenn]

I like the idea of being a spy in a secret life. My sister used to be convinced my dad was a spy - he isn't - but it was a fun family in-joke. I always though I'd be great at code-breaking or something but I wouldn't want the fate of international relations hanging on my getting the code right so just as well I'm not a spy.

DH has a semi-secret life, I guess. I only know a little bit about what goes on when he has been overseas. I don't ask, just wait for him to share. I know as much as I want to.

As far as security, our dogs are very loud and take their job of barking at the doorway very seriously. Nobody could sneak up on us. We also have guns and always keep one loaded, but I've never fired a gun. DH really wants me to learn to shoot and I'm not opposed to it, but don't really want to either. I will say, though, when he was gone for a year I got to be terrified when random strangers would knock on my door, that they were watching the house and knew I was there alone. I really should learn to shoot. I would have a hard time using a gun in an emergency, I think, but I suspect if I had children and someone were threatening them I would feel differently about it.

[Gwenn]

Mandy, when I was asking you about Josh's past tense usage you linked to me a couple videos, something about Superman and one other. It slipped my mind and I have no idea what page they're on now. Would you mind linking them again?

Just for you. It's the two at the bottom of the page. They're slide shows, and basically identical other than the pictures.

http://www.speech-language-therapy.c...min&Itemid=117

[AbbeysMom]

Jennifer, talking about you and your dh putting together the pack n play. My cousin works for a company that sells fitness machines and several years ago she hooked up my mom and dad to get a free treadmill if they left someone come over and video tape them putting it together because it was a brand new one and part of the marketing research was how much tension and frustration occured while setting it up. I remember my dad joking about how cooperative and easy going they were with each other because there was a woman in the room with a video camera, not because it was easy to put together.

I've been freaking myself out about murderous intruders ever since my friend and her baby girl were killed 3 years ago. Granted, it was by her own boyfriend so not the same as an intruder but I guess it was just a reality check for me that terrible things really do happen. We have a baseball bat handy now but if dbf starts traveling for work I think I'd like to install an alarm system. It's gotten to the point that I can convince myself a stick hitting the ground is a band of ninjas casing the house.

Today I am really missing my mom because I need her. Dbf all laid up, Sawyer so sick, me fighting mastitis. I want my mommy.

I know the feeling.

Awww Bridget. Hugs to you.

And remind me NEVER try to do surprise break-in on Chrissy or Suja. I'd get stabbed and attacked by a venemous woman and chased away by a toddler!!

We have two big dogs so people in our neighborhood don't bother us. They don't know our dogs are friendly and would probably run from them LOL! We also have a gun. I know people don't like guns but I live in a rough neighborhood and so I have one. Honestly I would have one wherever I live because I'm like that. I have never had to use it and haven't fired any gun since I was young, about 12 years old (I had crazy uncles who let us shoot cans with .22 caliber guns in the backyard unsupervised I might add). I am planning on going to the gun range soon, especially if DH will be moving to Chicago since he would be gone for nearly a year and I would feel better having some practice shooting.

If I didn't have a weapon, I would also fight to my death like Chrissy. I am really not afraid to die at all and I won't let anyone attack me without a fight, even if someone tries to rape me or something I will hurt them and if they don't give up they will have to kill me because I am just like that. I feel like I have been through way too much crap to be victimized again and if I have to die I will just have to die. I have spoken with my DH about this and he says I should just let myself be attacked since then I would be alive and the family would get to have me back but honestly, I think I am selfish in this way as I don't think I would not fight. I am normally very non-violent but when personally attacked, like assaulted so someone can hurt me for no reason, then I am a fighter.

Erin

I'm a pacifist, but it's by choice and willpower and not natural temperament. If someone threatened my family I don't know if I would be able to control my actions because I do have that primal protectiveness, but to me it's rooted in anger and I try with every part of me to turn away from anger. It's really difficult, in spite of the fact that I carried around a lot of anger for a very long time, and I know how destructive it can be. I hope I would try to think my way out of a situation rather than fight my way out of it, but you never really know until you're there. I do know I've done some horrible things out of anger and I don't want to repeat that. If someone attacked me personally I would weigh the consequences... like if anyone wants to carjack me they are sure welcome to my car, as long as my family walks away.

That said, sometimes late at night when everyone is asleep and I hear a noise, I imagine it's some burglar or intruder and go through a long fictionalized series of events where I save everyone through superhuman actions, like using a bedpost for leverage to climb to the ceiling fan where I can drop down on them in a surprise attack like a human spider.

ETA: Abbey tested positive for strep today. A big WTH from me on that one, because other than a nagging cough (no fever, no lack of appetite) she didn't really have that many symptoms. My poor babe.

[daylilies]

Thank you Mandy! I watched it right away this time so I wouldn't lose it again. It was very helpful.

Bo and one of our cats got behind our computer desks today and Bo was barking very loudly and persistently. I was so scared for her and I had to pull out the file cabinet we have at the end of our desks and get her out. I put her upstairs behind the gate and Bo thought she was still behind the desk so he wouldn't leave. I had to drag him out too. In the process he unplugged some internet thing and I had to wait for DH to come home to figure out what was wrong. So if anyone missed me in the last few hours, that's why.


Hugs Bridget

As for fighting for my life, I really have no idea what I'd do. I've never been in a situation where I really feared for my safety except the time DH wanted to sit outside with me during a thunder and lightning storm. We had just started dating. I was seriously scared that night but he loves weather like that.

Sorry Abbey has strep!

Love your duck story, Mylah. I LOVE duck but we don't go to many places that have it. Steve doesn't like Peking duck so I can't even get it at Chinese restaurants because I'd have too many leftovers and it doesn't reheat well. But I love it. My mouth is watering now.

[Gwenn]

Mmm Peking duck!

The duck story was funny, though.

[daylilies]

Woah, I just realized I think I used DH's name for the first time here. I usually pretty automatically type DH...I must have been thinking about something else.

[Gwenn]

I'm always afraid I will call him DH at work or something.

[daylilies]

I call him DH on other sites and I usually have to explain myself. LOL

[missychrissy]

That said, sometimes late at night when everyone is asleep and I hear a noise, I imagine it's some burglar or intruder and go through a long fictionalized series of events where I save everyone through superhuman actions, like using a bedpost for leverage to climb to the ceiling fan where I can drop down on them in a surprise attack like a human spider.

lol...I've had visualizations like that too! Not quite dropping from the ceiling fan, but it's filed away in my brain now! I think I've gotten better about waking to noises in the middle of the night and having to get up and look out each window. I remember hearing my dad do that and always thought it was part of his PTSD from Vietnam. Then I started doing it when I had kids. It must be a parenting-syndrome.

I'm always afraid I will call him DH at work or something.

I've definitely done that!!!

I'm tired but we had a nice evening. We had an impromptu party of sorts. Although we had no plans for the night, my sil (Rich's sister) and my brother stopped in, and then Jesi had 4-5 friends stop in for a visit. I know we've talked about this before, but I have to say I just love that our house is the kind where people feel comfortable just dropping by unexpectedly.

[daylilies]

That is so nice Chrissy!
I gotta say I don't have the kind of house where people can do that. We don't keep things very neat and DH is very self concious about that and has to go on a cleaning spree before he'll allow anyone to come in. It's not THAT bad, we're not hoarders or anything but he hates all the clutter.

We're thinking of taking a family vacation to NYC in August. Any chance you'd be free to meet up with us somewhere?

[demigraf]

I was gonna say, Kate, how did I not know your DH has the sam name as
mine. I was thinking, "My Steve likes Peking duck?"

Bridget , . I hope it's not mastitis and that your family all gets well soon, especially you.

Molly, sorry to hear about poor Abbey. I hope you at least get. some extra snuggles in with her while she's taking it easy. For me, one consoling perk when B is sick is that he's too limp to do much more than cuddle

[daylilies]

LOL Mylah! I didn't realize your husband is named Steve too.

[missychrissy]

That is so nice Chrissy!
I gotta say I don't have the kind of house where people can do that. We don't keep things very neat and DH is very self concious about that and has to go on a cleaning spree before he'll allow anyone to come in. It's not THAT bad, we're not hoarders or anything but he hates all the clutter.

We're thinking of taking a family vacation to NYC in August. Any chance you'd be free to meet up with us somewhere?

Um yeah!!!

We had a bit of clutter but not bad. Our floors were actually a bit dusty 'cause Harley gets his feet all muddy and then tracks in and it was late in the week. By Friday it's the worst 'cause Rich & I both burn out trying to keep up with it all week. I can't wait till the ground hardens up.

[AmeriBrit]

Speaking of duck, I love the crispy duck from Chinese take aways when we order crispy duck pancakes with hoi sin sauce...yum yum yum! I once ordered duck for a meal when we were vacationing in Spain and I fed most of it to a stray cat that I felt sorry for. lol

Argh, my MIL has taught Travis to lick people and it's so annoying! She told him the other day when he gave her a goodbye kiss that his cousin Z likes to lick people and she licked his cheek and now when he is in a silly mood, he'll run up to me and DH and lick our trouser leg or if we're sitting next to him, he'll just turn and start licking us. It makes me cringe; I hate saliva!

[missychrissy]

Ewe! My bil will do that. He gives 'cowlicks' when he sees me.

[Inca]

Remy was on a kick the other night when he was licking me for like 5-10 minutes, despite me asking, then telling him not to. It was so gross.