Ok, final six of mine:

7. The “Everything is about me” people – you know these people, your talking about the latest happenings, say a local event. The conversation always comes back to them. “I can’t attend because my stupid boss has it out for me. The other day …. Blah, blah, blah.” (ok, I have to admit, this is sometimes me!!)

8. Liars – hate liars, I don’t mind exaggerators, I can deal with them. But lying is a big one for me. I don’t do it and it bothers me terribly when others do it. Once I find someone has lied to me, I have a hard time ever trusting them again and it spoils my thoughts about them. I do forgive, but they have to earn my trust again.

9. Telemarketer companies that use automated calling systems that call you then ask you to hold for their next available representative…. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??

10. Mass Faxers: those random faxes that come through in the middle of the night. If you turn off the fax, then turn it back on you’ll find they are still faxing you. There’s no way to stop them and no way to contact them and make them leave you alone.

11. I know what you’re going to say so I won’t bother listening people. A great example of this was a few years back. I was working on donating a car for a friend. The donation company was supposed to come pick it up. I called and made an appointment for them to come get it on base. They were supposed to call me when they got to base. I waited around all day… no call. This was on a Friday. I called on Monday. The conversation went something like this.

Azcason: Yes, I’m calling because I had a car for donation that was scheduled to be picked up Friday from Beale AFB, but nobody came.

Donation people: Beale AFB?? We didn’t pick up a car from there.

Azcason: yes, I know, it was scheduled but nobody showed up, I’d like to reschedule so we can get it taken care of.

Donation people: We didn’t go out to the base on Friday.

Azcason: yes, I know. When can you come out?

Donation: We didn’t pick up a car from there on Friday.

Azcason: yes I know.. that’s the problem

Donation: Where are you at?

Azcason: Beale AFB

Donation: Nope, we didn’t pick anything up from there; we weren’t even in the area

Azcason: AAAARRRRRGHHHHHHH

(Seriously this was very much how it happened!)

12. Those people who have to make everything a drama. The salesperson treated them badly and by the time they get done telling the tale, they have called the supervisor, the manager and the store owner and cussed them out and threatened to take them to court. They like to demonstrate the immense power they wield over all people who they deal with. These are the people who have to control all relationships and the people have to do what they want or they will get it with both barrels. Personally, I’m not afraid of them, just annoyed.

Other suggestions from readers:

sunnycaligurl added: Cell phones and restaurants.  I hate when I am trying to eat and I can hear the whole conversation, especially with the Nextel phones.  That chirping is annoying.  And,

People that say “Boys will be boys” drives me crazy.  Not all boys act like that.  (just another 2 cents from lil ole me.)

Tamara1221 had this comment about cell phones:

I used to work retail .Cell phones bother me when someone would come to the counter while talking to someone on the phone and expect me to “serve” them. My boss didn’t like this either. I would not “help” the customer until they were done with their conversation.  I would politely tell them so and wait on the people in back of them. they would get the hint, jump out of line and finish their conversation or they would get pissed off and leave the store.  Either way I was fine with it.

Stash_living_dangerously wrote: One other thing that bugs me about talking on the phone is when someone calls me and I say hello and then they say hello back then don’t say anything else (like I called them).  I get so ticked I want to yell “what did you call me for?” into the phone.

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I had to agree with all of these. Let’s face it the world is an annoying place. The benefit of that is that it gives me lots of stuff to rant about. After all… what’s life without a daily rant?? The important thing is to not let it really matter. In the big scheme… none of this really matters.

What’s really important is my family and my life. These other things are the jalepenos. They add a little spice, but are almost too much to handle. You need a little spice, but it’s not what keeps you alive.

What’s the main dish of your life??

Since the writing challenge from the Kween_of_the_Queens yesterday was for 12 annoying habits or mannerisms of mine. (Look below at yesterdays post for some of my annoying habits)I thought I would make a list of the 12 most annoying habits of others that drive me CRAZY!! So, here goes….

1. People talking on their cell phones while driving. I occasionally am forced by necessity to make or take an occasional call while in the car. I try to pull over, if not I try to have my passenger speak for me. If that is not an option, I try keep it as brief as possible. When in the car… driving is the priority, not chatting to friends.

2. People who call me for no reason, and then don’t even want to talk about anything. We are just holding the phones to our ears… in silence. (This my hubby does, all the time).

3. People who use excessive conversation fillers such as like, or you know?—I use these myself sometimes, and it’s doesn’t tick me off when others do it, but it does annoy me after awhile, particularly when it’s every other word.

4. Bad table manners: ok, this is a big one. I don’t want to see anyone’s half-chewed food, and I don’t want to hear them chewing it. I don’t mind elbows on the table, or grabbing (ok, I do, but I can live with them) but actually eating habits that involve your food is big. No using your fingers unless its ribs or fried chicken.. you get the idea.

5. People who correct everything you say. I don’t think they are smarter than me, I just think they think they are smarter than me and trying to stuff it down my throat, especially those that feel the need to “show you how to do it the correct way”. Guess what, I’ve been managing on my own for a long time now. If I didn’t ask for help…. you can assume I’m comfortable with what I’m doing.

6. “I’ve done that” people: You know these ones, who’ve done everything you talk about, but bigger and better. If you’re talking about a story you read, they’ve done that too. It’s amazing how much these people can get done in their lifetimes. This is especially true because no one ever sees them doing anything but chatting and sitting on their butts. They obviously live a double life where their other life is full of excitement and adventure.

Habits 7-12 coming tomorrow. Any suggestions?

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What gets on your last nerve???

 

Kween_of_the_Queens writing challenge:

List 12 habits you have that would annoy someone, somewhere at sometime. They don’t have to be huge, quite the opposite. They may be small mannerisms that you don’t really notice until someone else points them out. This may take some real introspection on your part. On each item I want you to tell us if: Is this something you might consider hanging?

If yes, why and why do you think you have this habit? This is fairly straight forward. I do think it might be difficult to come up with the entire 12, but I’d like you to really give it a good effort! (I just know that all of my Queens are perfect!)

Whew… this is a tough one!! The first couple was fairly easy…. Getting down to the minute was more difficult. Here’s what I came up with – Feel free to jump in if you can add something…..

1. Sarcasm: I love to make people laugh, often at my own or their own expense. Usually not a problem, but sometimes it’s out of place – wrong time, wrong place type of thing. This is my mask for the world, keeps people at a manageable distance and makes me feel in control. (All a facade, I know.) I’m working on toning this down… SOME… not a lot LOL!

2. Impatience: hmmm… not good at waiting, never have been, although I’ve made great strides at this. Continuing to work on this, but it’s just not coming along fast enough…..

3. The dreaded side seat gasp…. My hubby absolutely hates this. Only do it with him as a driver. He is fairly aggressive, follows closer than I would like him to, drives quickly, and frequently opts to not use turn signals. I have been in numerous auto accidents, like 14 or something, most I was a passenger in. Hubby was involved in one, rear-ended me – wasn’t really his fault, but never-the-less… there you have the reasons…. I do the “GASP” and grab the dashboard….. Contrary to what Bill Engvall says, I’m sure I’ve saved my life several times with this action – ha ha ha. I am working on this as hubby is actually an excellent driver, has much better skills than myself, which makes me nervous!

4. Not looking a speaker in the eye: I’m sure this is annoying. It would annoy me. This is a by-product of being a teacher. Yard Duty, Classroom management, etc. dictates I watch the children. I got into the habit… and it carried over in to all my routines. I’m working on this….

5. Laughing inappropriately: I often find things funny that others don’t… often it’s the internal thoughts related to what’s going on. Don’t even know if I could change this one. Guess they’ll just have to live with it.

6. Rolling my eyes: I hate it when my girls do it, enough said.

7. Shortness on the phone – I just hate the phone, hate talking on it. Can’t wait to get off – unless it’s my mom or my friends from other states, then I can talk all day.

8. Procrastination: procrastinators of the world unite – tomorrow. I’m always working on this… however the best laid plans of mice and men…

9. Rubbing my nose: related to my allergies. I’m sure those types of facial movements are annoying though.

10. Taking over control of the remote – I know it bugs the girls; hubby is fairly tolerant, but poor thing. Two teen girls and a pre-menopausal wife…… means its sap central around here.

11. Eating food in sequential, separate order: Doesn’t offend me, but evidently it’s a serious dining faux pas according to my Mother-in-Law….. Don’t plan on changing this, have no idea why I do it… its just one of those things that is what it is.

12. ok….. Let’s see, one more. Oh yeah, here we go… picking up the local colloquialism or even those of my teen daughters. I’m a chameleon, changing to fit where and who I am with – a holdover from my childhood days when we moved frequently. When we lived on the border of Texas, I spoke with a drawl and picked up ya’ll. When visiting my Hispanic relatives I speak with a Hispanic accent… here I started adding “yeah?” with a Hawaiian accent at the end of all my sentences. Thankfully, I have that one under control already!

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These challenges are really fun, go on over to the Kween_of_the_Queens site to visit the rest of the entries and join in!

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Inquiring minds want to know…..What’s your most annoying habit??

My house is clean!!!

I cleaned the kitchen on Wednesday.. well I clean it everyday of course, but I REALLY cleaned it Wednesday. Cleaned off the island (otherwise known as the junk spot), cleaned of the dining room table (aka the folding room) and emptied the counters (previously clean and dirty dish storage area). I haven’t “cleaned” it since, but it still looks the same!!! It’s  amazing what happens when you only have two adults in the house who know how to pick up after themselves. The house basically cleans itself!! I cleaned both girl’s rooms, including their closets and drawers, put fresh sheets on their beds and am working on getting all their laundry done. I cleaned their bathroom (yuck….. it’s amazing how disgusting two girls can be, I’m glad I don’t have boys — and they cleaned that bathroom 3 times the week they left– yeah right!!) and cleaned the office, living room and entry way. I have two rooms left, our bedroom and bathroom, then I’m done!! All I have to do is maintenance for the next two weeks. Huzzah!! I love having a clean house, I forgot how much I miss it.

In other news, Squirt is having a blast in CA, although she got homesick one night and called crying. She’s over that now and enjoying swimming, riding, jumping on the trampoline and playing on a 20 ft. inflatable water slide. She’s also taking every opportunity to visit Target and Starbucks (although we have those here! Starbucks… not Targets… ).

Last we heard from SF was that they saw “The Producers” as their West End show. They rode the London Eye and were going to do some shopping and heading out for their home stays. She’s hoping her home stay family will take them to see Stonehenge, as they will be just about 20 minutes from it. Her calling card didn’t work on the pay phone she was at so we only talked for like 1 minute and that cost her several pounds. LOL

As for us, I went to lunch with a friend today and did some scrapbook shopping. This week we went to the beach. I’ve cleaned and played video games. Tomorrow hubby has a track day, I’m going to go hang out, watch, and take pictures. This coming week he has some time off so we are going to do some snorkeling and possibly he is going to get me on a surfboard and a golf course. The end of the week we hope to go to Lanai for the day (another island). We also have plans to go out to dinner with friends. It’s weird, being without the kids, but oddly freeing too. I’m glad it’s not for too long, as the house is way too quiet with out them. I find I get bored easily!!

I’m off to read and comment. Hope everyone is having a nice week end!

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***edit***

Please visit the Kween_of_the_Queens site if you are interested in participating in the most recent writing challenge. It looks to be a good one… very tough and honest. Feel free to join us!

Now the house is truly empty. The youngest daughter left for CA today. All is well with both.

SF arrived in London earlier today. She called about 11:30 our time letting us know they were safe and sound in London. They ended up being delayed in Los Angeles for several hours~ plane malfunction. Luckily they got a whole new plane…. whew!!

So far all is good.

After leaving the airport today, we came home. The house was completely empty. The silence was almost overwhelming. We talked for a little while, played with the dog, and then….. ran out of of things to do!! Yikes!! I called my mom and chatted with her for awhile. LOL

In five years this will be common place. I think I better have a scrapbooking room set up. Other wise, I could be extremely bored.

Plans for this week included: Housecleaning (tomorrow, then shouldn’t have to do it again), learning to surf, learning to golf, reading and some alone time at the beach. Oh yeah, I have to bathe the dog. Woo-hoo!!

So I thought I would post some info on what the girls are doing while they are off.

Squirt just got there today but she has been helping feed the horses, and when I got off the phone with friend she was about to help out withe the dog who had just gotten sprayed by a skunk. This week they will begin breaking one of the young fillies that is ready to be broken.

SF arrived late in London, but here is her itinerary for today and tomorrow:

Welcome to England! Introductions to your People to People delegation manager and motor coach driver mark the commencement of your program. They lead the way to the coach, where the adventure is just beginning. Hampton Court Palace, much of which was designed by renowned architect Christopher Wren in the 1690s, was the beautiful and historic home of King Henry VIII. Gracing a gentle bend in the River Thames, the palace is a mixture of Tudor and English Baroque architecture. Walk through Anne Boleyn’s Gateway and look carefully at the astrological clock installed by King Henry VIII. Do you recognize the signs of the zodiac? Explore the palace’s magnificent gardens and try to find your way through the living maze!

Dress to impress for your meeting with a current or former Member of Parliament. This unique opportunity explores the British Constitution and discusses the respective roles of the House of Commons, the House of Lords and the Monarch, a true honor for Student Ambassadors. Explore the must-see Tower of London! Since its completion in 1097, the tower has been a palace, an armory, a mint, a zoo, a prison and now houses the Crown Jewels. As a prison, it confined such famous prisoners as Elizabeth I and Sir Walter Raleigh. Inside, meet the Yeoman Warders, also known as “Beefeaters,” who guard the tower and are caretakers of the mysterious ravens. Legend has it that if the ravens ever leave the Tower, the Kingdom will fall! Afterwards, cruise the River Thames taking in many of the city’s famous sights. This evening, experience London’s well-known theater scene by attending a performance of one of London’s most popular shows.

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 It’s weird, but nice to have a quiet house. I just have to remember to feed the fish!! That would be a real tragedy!!

What do you do with your free time??

This reminded me of Squirt with her new cell phone — she called me from the couch yesterday!!

 

 

5 hours. The packing is done. Instructions given. Father’s day gifts opened. Ipod loaded. Clothes laundered. Room cleaned.

5 more hours.

Then we put her on an airplane headed for LA and from there to London.

The last few days have been a frenzy of shopping, cleaning and packing. Now, we are done and nothing is left but to wait. She leaves out of Maui tonight, and flies overnight to LA. There they have a 12 hour lay over, but they have a day hotel where they can sleep, shower, use the pool facilities etc. Then tomorrow night she heads out for London. Wow. I am so excited for her!! Man to have an opportunity like this when you are 14…. what a great chance!!!

So, some of the many things we have purchased in the last week or so….

First: We of course need something to put our crap in!

    and of course we needed a new carry on….   (but the one we got was beige).

Next: the old ones were evidently too “grungy” for a nice trip like this. Although she is taking them for the hiking and castle rappeling adventures so they new ones don’t get messed up. They are named: Sonny and Cher (the old ones are Bonnie and Clyde).

 

She also got

 

    and a host of other clothes. What she is most excited about though….

Why did she get a new ipod video for the trip. Well… it’s long and complex. Her ipod which she baby sat for a year for died. It continued to malfunction, regardless of her dad’s best efforts. She was going to take her sisters mini — but. the camera converter that allowed her to upload her digital pictures didn’t work with that. We tried my nano… nope won’t work either. The ipod video was the final option. That allows her to have music, upload her photos so she doesn’t have to worry about storage room on her memory cards, and as an added benefit allowed her to download a few movies so she can watch on the plane etc. …. I know, I know.. but she’s agreed to pay us back 1/2 the cost, and give her old ipod to her dad (he’s going to fix it for himself– hopefully).

In addition: we got this for Squirt — she’s been wanting them forever and we can never find her size here. In addition, since we bought the above for SF, we made the same agreement with Squirt…. she’ll pay 1/2 of her new Heelys.

 

As a final expenditure, we upgraded our phones, and added a line so that Squirt can keep in contact (and we can track her down) while in CA.

So… now we are totally broke (luckily we paid all the bills first!!) and looking forward to the end of summer expenses! I told the girls that since they both got new clothes, shoes, bags, purses and accessories that their Back-to-School shopping was done! No mas! Most things are now paid for though… so that’s good. It’s all front loaded!!!

I’m off to get ready for church. After which we are going out to dinner, and then it’s off to the airport. Wish us luck (I know I’m going to cry).

 

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Well that’s that. With lots of smiles, luggage and final waves and I love you signs… she went through security and up the escalator without a look back.

I’m so excited for her. Yet, my baby is growing up.

Quite a day.

She’s off.

Alright. So I’ve been in a little computer avoidance mood. Can you blame me?? The final grades have come in and mercifully I have survived with my 4.0 GPA intact. Hooah!! The girls and I have been taking a break. We only really have a week of complete summer laziness before the traveling frenzy begins. And the week…it’s not that lazy.

Shopping yesterday…. that put a serious dent in the pocket book. A few more items to get tomorrow and we are all done. We spent a small fortune in Old Navy, which still surprises me. Last year you couldn’t have paid my daughter to shop in Old Navy. Hot Topic was more her style. Now, she’s changed and her styles includes a lot of Old Navy type clothes. Not that she dresses anything like those little preppies in the commercials. Nope, not her. She takes some black mid calf pants, layers some tanks, then puts on her intentionally mismatched ankle sock and her beat up, drawn on with markers converse and she’s good to go. Throw on the ever present black hoodie jacket, some earrings, a bracelet or two, some oversized shades or her BDU cap and she’s ready to go. One thing I have to say about both my girls, they are certainly individual! Love that about them.

Yesterday was an important day ~ Hubby and I celebrated 20 years married. Huzzah! The children were great…. they planned prepared and cooked a special dinner with an Anniversary cake. They cleaned the dining room and kitchen, set the table with a nice tablecloth, depression glass dishes and linen napkins. It was lovely. Dinner was awesome, Asian pork ribs with asparagus and noodles. GREAT!! I’ve got pics I’ll  post later… when I feel like waking up stairs and uploading them…. hmmmm… maybe tomorrow — hahahhahahhaaa

Spent a few hours at the beach today. It felt so good. The sand and sun were warm, the water was cool and refreshing and the rhythm of the waves and the blowing breeze was extremely relaxing. I think I might have to take a nap, I’m so relaxed I could fall asleep at the keyboard!!

I’m off to read and comment. Have a great evening!

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What store is the example of your style?

C-e-l-e-b-r-a-t-e   good    times    ….. COME ON!

 

 

I’m done.

 

 

Hooray!!!

 

<throws confetti in air, dances around, stands on head>

Ya know I’m happy now!

type, type, type, type…. backspace, backspace — delete, delete, type type type type type type type. type type — highlight, cut, paste, type type type type cite, type type read type type backspace delete type type.

FUN huh?

This is my life lately. Hooah.

I think I’m developing carpel tunnel. I actually took a wrist break yesterday. How sad is that?

The teacher let me submit my lesson plan… whew! My GPA is saved…. well as long as I continue to type type tyep type type.

So this is like the culmination week. So many endings this week. A retirement luncheon, ceremony and going away for some friends, Silver_fangz friends leaving for summer, everyone’s school ends this week — wow. It’s the end of the school year. It’s time for summer, and in a couple of months, we all start back again. It seem surreal. Next week we have no school, no classes, and no commitments.

Next week we begin preparing for upcoming adventures. Europe, California and New Mexico. There is shopping to be done, packing and organizing, boxing of saddles, arranging of phones and reviewing safety. Then … they will be off. I’ll be all alone during the day.

WHOO-HOO!!!!!!

I’m sure I’ll miss them terribly.

PAAAARRRRTY!!!

I’ll worry about them and think of them all day.

SCRAPBOOKING, BEACH AND GAMES — HERE I COME!

It’s going to be a long couple of weeks!

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 Now that is creative parenting!!

Well I have to go finish my papers. I will catch up with all my subs soon. Have a great day!

So, I’ve procrastinated my work. You have all heard about my difficulties with my school work. But still, the push is on, so in the last two weeks I’ve read 10+ chapters, written 9 reflection pages, 3 lesson plans, and 4 weekly assignments. Today I go to submit the final lesson plan and……………………. what!! It’s not available!!! WTH!!! That can’t be right. I have till 8:00 pm tonight. This can’t be right. I look at the time on the assignment… it says….. 8:00 AM………….. OMG!! 10 points — that’s drops me from an A to a B. How did I screw this up? I write a frantic email to the professor begging to let me submit it late.

I think it’s possible I’m going to throw up.  I feel sick.

I go back and look at how I have managed to make this monumental error. Wait….. what’s this?? In the syllabus (which is what I was using for a guideline for due dates) it says 8:00 PM. 

Where’s that email about due dates???…. I go searching and finally produce  the email in question (thankfully I am anal about my school work and save everything). Yep.. there it is again. 8:00 PM!

Ok, I didn’t totally screw up, but still my procrastination put me in this horrible predicament.

Now I wait, at the mercy of my professor who seems to be less than friendly towards me, but it’s all online, how can you really tell? I think another email (the third today) is order, this one with my assignment attached.

A — B…. I don’t want to even think about it. I think I’ll go and finish the rest of my assignments. I still have 3 lesson plan critiques, a case study, and a textbook reflection paper that needs to be 10-14 pages in length. Maybe they will distract me. Thank goodness I’m taking a semester off…. otherwise I think I would give myself a heart attack.

[heavy sigh...... a B  ]

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Now I know this is minor in comparison to most peoples problems. And don’t worry, I’m not truly distraught. I won’t swoon, or fade away. I’m just busy booting myself in the butt.

It makes me happy to stress over this inconsequential little bull crap. It helps to keep my mind sharp for when I have the opportunity to rant. It’s like sit ups for the sarcasm. Gotta do’em if I want to stay strong!

Now everybody have a nice night — I recommend skipping TV, since it’s all re-runs or plunking in a favorite movie instead.

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What kind of student were / are you?