Blog Challenge: Day 11

"Describe Your Family"

Anyone who knows my family is chuckling to themselves right now. My family is complicated. My father had children with three women and I'm adopted too. I have two family trees and both are full of nuts! I will try and do this the best I can without confusion. I will break this into two parts, Biological and Adopted. I hope I can make this easy enough to follow along. 
Personally, I have a husband, a child, 2 dogs and a rabbit. Easy peasy.

BIOLOGICAL

As I stated before, my father had children with three women. The first woman had a son, my half brother. He has a wife and two kids. The second woman was my mother. They got married, had my older sister and brother, then me, then my younger sister. They divorced after my sister and I were sent into foster care. My Mother passed away in 2000 and had no other children besides the four of us. My father eventually remarried. My stepmom already had an adult child, my stepsister. She has a husband and a child.

Tally for those keeping score: 2 brothers (one is a half), 3 sisters (one step), 1 niece and 2 nephews.
5 siblings. 3 cousins for Mini.

ADOPTED

My foster/adopted parents already had 2 older sons. Both are married now with a child each. Next in age order is me and my biological younger sister. Since we already counted her, I'll move on. The next is my sister from another country. After that is a sibling set of four, 3 girls and a boy. Yup, my adopted parents raised 9 children.

Tally: 3 brothers, 4 sisters (not counting the bio sis), 2 nieces.
7 siblings. 2 cousins for Mini.

Grand total: 12 siblings. 5 cousins for Mini.

I decided to leave out my aunts and uncles because I would seriously need a calculator! My oldest living relative is my biological paternal Grandmother. She was the one who turned 90 this month..

My husband has 2 brothers, both older. One has a wife and 2 kids. His parents are still married..
Tally: 2 brothers. 2 cousins for Mini.
After reading about all my siblings, his fam is kinda, well... BORING!  :)

SO.. How many siblings do YOU have? Are any of you adopted or do you have adopted children?

Blog Challenge: Day 10

"Put MP3 Player On Shuffle. List First 10 Songs That Play"

Hold onto your hats. This will be fun!

1. Def Leppard - "Where Does Love Go When It Dies?" I LOVE everything about this song. The words speak to me and the music blows me away!
2. Elton John - "I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That"  I have a lot of Elton in my player, but I remember listening to this song as a kid. I can't sit still and I have to sing along every single time I hear it. 
3. Billy Joel - "My Life"  Yup. The theme song to the show "Bosom Buddies". My Mother used to love that show and I fell in love with this song because of it. I remembered Holland Taylor and Telma Hopkins were in that show before they went on to "Two and a Half Men" and "Family Matters".
4. Young the Giant - "Cough Syrup"  Dark, moody depressing. "Life's too short to even care at all..." It's an awesome song for when you're depressed.
5. NKOTBSB (New Kids on the Block + Backstreet Boys - "All In My Head"  Two groups that can harmonize like crazy, harmonizing with each other. Awesome!
6. Mr. President - "Coco Jamboo"  Always a song that makes me get up and dance. Go ahead and start singing. You know you know all the words!
7. Linkin Park - "Crawling"  I remember listening to this song when I went through a super-angry stage. I was mad at the world and listening to rock helped translate my feelings into a song. In a word? Cathartic.
8. Danny Wood - "Don't Settle For Less"  I love me some New Kids! I think I have all their solo projects. I love this song and his voice is amazing!
9. Michael Jackson - "Who Is It?"  One of my fave songs of his and one I kick as at on the MJ Experience Wii game. 
10. Jay-Z - "Can I Get A..."  Anyone who thinks this song is offensive is obviously who he is referring to in the song. I don't need someone with a lot of money, but I don't want someone who's broke either. 

I was considering adding youtube links to all these songs, but with my luck, the links wouldn't work if someone tried to view them. You will have to look them up yourself :)

What song gets a lot of mileage in your mp3 player?

Blog Challenge: Day 9

"How Important You Think Education Is"

Oh geez. I used to think education was super important. I did well in school and had planned on going to college. Life got in the way of my plans. I went to work right out of high school, sometimes working two jobs to get by. Most of my friends had gone off to college and I felt like I was missing out. When everyone started graduating and getting jobs, I realized something: I worked retail and they had a 4-year degree, but we were making the same amount of money.
I stopped to think about it. Did I actually want to try and further my education?
Nowadays, people seem to be finding their own paths in life and making money with no college education. It's all over the news as a big debate: Is college 'worth it'? Some argue that college students end up making more money than those with who only graduated high school. Others argue that the job market right now is so bad that people are graduating, not getting jobs in their fields and ending up in serious debt, barely making payments back on their student loans and therefore college is not worth the money.

A growing trend (that grates on my nerves) is people getting schooled by life and majoring in Stupid. Have you ever watched a reality show? People are actually PAID to be complete idiots! A scientist could possible bank a respectable 6-figure salary, but an idiot with a sex tape who is famous for being famous banks millions. I'm pretty sure she didn't go to college. Of course not, there are no cameras there.
It's plain and simple.

STUPID MAKES MONEY!

There has to be a reason why they are overloading children with work in the first few primary grades, then dumbing down the curriculum by the time they hit high school. Don't even get me started on this "no child left behind" movement. Children are suffering from educational burnout as early as the third or fourth grade!

While I do think it's very important to finish at least high school, I feel that college for some is becoming more of an accessory over a necessity. But, as always, to each his own.

How do you feel about education?

Blog Challenge: Day 8

"What You Ate Today"

Wow. First off, let me state: Please don't judge me! I don't have the greatest diet. It's not the worst, but it could definitely be better. I'm working on it. Baby steps, as you will see.
Breakfast
Bowl of Cinnamon Chex with 1% milk
A pop tart (yup!)

Lunch
2 Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches
Mandarin Orange Propel Zero
Pepsi (I was tired and too lazy to make coffee plus it was hot)

Snack #1
Protein bar (MetRx chocolate chip cookie dough.. I have GOT to figure out how to make cookies out of these. I'm sure it's possible!)
More MO Propel Zero

Snack #2 (at daughter's request since we were having a later dinner waiting for her father to get home)
Apple Strudel Pop Tart (Toasted it... Mmmm warm apple pie!)

Dinner
Dredged chicken (if you haven't had it this way, you should totally try it!)
Pasta with garlic and herb spice (came out better than I thought)

Other than that, I took my supplements. Like I said.. Not my best nutritional day, but not my worst either.

30 Day Blog Challenge: Day 7

"Five Pet Peeves"

To be honest, there are a lot of things people do that irritate me. That sounds horrible, but the older I get, the lower my tolerance for BS. That being said, I have chose five of the worse things I think people can do..

1. Laziness.
Whether leaving crumbs in the butter (YUCK!), not closing cabinets, leaving dishes laying around or doing a project and walking away to leave a mess, it bothers me to no end! You're old enough to know better. What kind of role model do you want to be?

2. Unsolicited Advice from "Know-It-Alls".
This should have been #1. Seriously, if you don't know my ENTIRE story, keep it zipped. There are a few people in my life that I am stuck with who are always trying to offer me 'helpful hints'. I will politely tell you to shove off a few times, but then be prepared for a good tongue lashing if you persist.

3. Drama Queens.
The second you say "I hate drama and I stay away from it", I know you will bring the drama any way you can. You obviously have a need for attention and low self esteem so you feed off other people's misery because it makes you feel better about yourself. Move it along.

4. Lying.
I have touched on my hatred of liars in previous posts. Feel free to peruse at your leisure :)

5. Captain Obvious.
If you think my response to your statement will be "DUH!" it may be best not to say it. When it is 98 degrees out and the humidity is around 60% which is normal for around here, do NOT update me in a text telling me how hot it is, especially if you live in the area. If I am outside and caught in a downpour, don't yell in my face "It's raining!" Things like that just set me off.

I feel like a moody bitch saying these things. The fact is, I deal with all these things on a daily basis. They may be pet peeves, but they don't bother me as much as they did when I was younger. Well lookie there I have reached some level of maturity.
To anyone who reads this, what are some of your pet peeves?

30 Day Blog Challenge: Day 6

"Your Views On Mainstream Music"

Oh wow. Where do I begin on this one?
Every time you turn around, there is a "new artist" coming out. It seems like everyone wants to be a music star. Social media has made it possible to gain a fan base before a deal is even signed, but that's not breaking news. Before social media, artists were just that.. artists. They perfected their craft. They worked on actually producing a quality project. Some artists took a year or two to finish an album. Nowadays, artists re-release an album with 4-6 new songs and give it a fancy name. "My Album Plus Some New Stuff" or in other words, "I've Been Too Bust Promoting The Last Album To Make A New One But I Have Done Some New Songs So Here Ya Go". It's irritating. You pay for an album then have to purchase the new one if you happen to like the newer songs.
All this explains why some acts are able to come out of the 80's and 90's and still be making music today, but others that came out in prepackaged fashion last decade (2000-2010) are nowhere to be found. Some dropped away from the music scene to pursue other projects but are back together (HELLO NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK! YAY!) making music, selling records and touring as if it never stopped.

But aside from all that..
Mainstream music is all over the map right now! I never thought I would so many different styles represented on the charts. There is some country, classical, jazz, pop, rap, hip hop, r&b, you name it, there is probably a song or two on there. It makes me happy to see that kind of diversity in music. There is truly something for everybody.


Personally, I do prefer the music from the 80's or 90's. I would rather have a mix cd (YUP I still make those!) of all my old cd's than an mp3 player full of new stuff. I guess my musical tastes are broader than most. My brother used to give me crap for listening to pop until I caught him humming a New Kids on the Block song. Hush, bro. You love it too!

30 Day Blog Challenge: Day 5

"Things You Want To Say To An Ex"

HA!
That's the first thing that came to mind. My exes are tools, but they made me into who I am today. I won't say how many of them there were, but it was more than one. Everyone in your life is there to teach you something. Maybe I should thank my exes for the lessons they taught to me..

Thank you Exes 
Thank you for teaching me patience, perseverance and how much I loved being single.
Thank you for pointing out what I DON'T want in a life partner.
Thank you for taking the hint and stopping the late-night calls.
Thank you for sleeping with my friend. That meant so much to me.
Thank you for teaching me how to live with a broken heart.
Thank you for making fun of me. It showed just how pathetic you were.
Thank you for being controlling and possessive. You're right. I should never back down to anyone.
Thank you for showing me how to love and more importantly, how to hate.
Thank you for giving me something to remember and something I would rather forget.
Thank you for letting your dog slobber on my shirt and hump my leg. Guess he learned from you, huh?
Thank you for cheating on me. You're right. I should have had higher standards.
Thank you for proposing to me. It showed you were completely batshit and unworthy of a second date.
Thank you for choosing someone other than me. After your messy break-up with her, I realized it was a blessing she ended up with you.
Thank you for listening to me and repeating everything I did NOT say back to me.
Thank you for picking a fight over nothing.
Thank you for hitting me with a bottle while you were high.
Thank you for slapping my sunburn. You totally deserved being burnt with a cigarette.
Thank you for showing me the beauty of just letting go and moving on.


My dating life has been a roller coaster. To all the exes: thanks for the panic and fear.
At least I now know how to breathe when I feel like my heart will stop :)