Commercials.

Modern TV has progressed so much over the past decades, and we finally have the glorious ability to skip commercials. Thank you DVR! But if you are like me and are digging pennies out of the floor vents to pay bills, the majestic DVR is a luxury we cannot afford. Thus forcing us to sit through countless hours of obnoxious attorneys screaming at us to "Call Now," or "No credit, No Problem," car ads. I am a proud user of the "mute method," the process of muting commercials as soon as they start. But unfortunately muting them doesn't make them go away any quicker. I'd rather listen to National Weather Service test sirens over and over than to get stupid jingles stuck in my head. Now don't get me wrong, I know that's exactly what advertisers want from you, but most of the time I can't remember the product just the jingle. And as of recently, I've started critiquing the commercials unconsciously. I see little things here and there that absolutely eat at me! Let's start with the new #Trojan commercials. The couple's new apartment.....I literally can't stand the face the girl makes as she's walking away from the guy and they way her arms move look so unnatural. I know it sounds like I'm nit picking but I cant stand it! Then when they are laying down on the bed his shirt is on at the beginning, off when she's running the bottle around his neck, and then back on again!! Seriously watch closely, his gray shirt appears, disappears, then reappears! Next up the new /#Ford commercials. I get that they are trying to make it out to be a Summer BlockBuster sale, but the fake movie pitch drives me crazy. Its cheezy and really unrelatable to the cars themselves. The vampire boyfriend is stupid. It really makes me wonder if Ford has teenagers running their marketing. Now on to the less realistic commercials. Take the #Kindle commercial. The camera focuses on different views of people reading their Kindles in a beach setting. The one shot that really bugs me is the one of the lady's feet sitting on the log as the tide comes in. First of all, who sits on a log (or drift wood) in a swimsuit? Talk about a pain in the ass. You would assume a swimsuit since every person in the commercial has one on. Or at least that's where my mind went. Secondly I have been to the beach many times in my day, and I could never read my tablet with all that sun. Plus I was so worried about getting sand in it somehow. I may sound a little neurotic by now and for that I apologize, I just get so caught up in finding faults with the commercials that irritate me the most!!! Not only do I really hate commercials with songs in them, I find it completely distracts me from retaining product information! What happened to the old fashion jingles that had the product's name in it. For example, "Call us, at the Depot, Insurance depot!!" I remember that one vividly. Or "Call 1-800-STEAMER, Stanley Steamer keeps your home cleaner!" Those commercials actually influenced me to purchase services. Because I could remember what they were selling. Now if you aren't from Texas then I am sure you have not seen any of the commercials I mentioned, and for that my bad. I just can't handle some of the car commercials today. They play obnoxious songs that stick painfully in my brain...."If you could look in to my eyes, under the moon light, the serious moonlight.." OMG! I hate hate hate it! Lol. I should be in advertising! I am quite sure that is hard to produce never been done before ads, but where are their focus groups to tell them its a bad idea!! I don't know. And the cash advance commercials completely tick me off. Why is Montel Williams selling /#MoneyMutual. It just doesn't make sense to me. This post is a complete rant. I can't be the only one who sees how obnoxious commercials today are. But then again, the whole point of advertising is to get us talking. Well, I guess they did what they were supposed to.

A happy wife..a happy life.

So here's a little back story on what's been aggravating me the past few days. I promised my spouse that I would not reveal my name or those of my family. For the purpose of anonymity, and just for the sake of not giving people the wrong idea of our family, since my rants tend to be one-sided. Its only fair.  My husband works in the government sector for a water department. He is on call a lot and has to go in at odd hours. When on stand-by he is a page away from getting up and leaving at any moment, so he takes as much time to rest as he can. That being said it is hard to have a good evening with someone when they decide to go to bed at 6 in the evening because of the fear of being called in without any sleep. I know I must not be the only wife out there that is completely irritated. He's very dedicated to his job and that can take a toll on him physically, mentally and emotionally. Not to mention take a toll on our relationship. With a young child being the only thing at home during the day, I am in desperate need of an adult conversation. During this 7 day stand by I get no such thing. Its really depressing on my part because of the lack of attention given at home. I get lonely and he chooses to sleep. Now, I am not dissing a man that gives a 110% every day at work because those are the ones who tend to succeed but I would like at least 5% to be devoted to a family at home. I feel like a nagging wife a lot because it feels like work comes first but since he is the only one working I know he really should be doing what he's doing no matter what it makes me feel. But what is dragging me down today is the fact that I slept in til 1 and got up and came in the living to visit with my husband, and he is now going to sleep for fear that he will get called in and he should really get a nap. We have a lot of missed moments like this. But so is the life of a busy on call man. I wish he had a pager I could call so he'd come home. Maybe I'll get him one. 
He is not the best communicator and he gets quite grumpy when I come at him with the "I just wanna spend time with you" card. As most men do. He says the same response every time "you think I like going to sleep early?!" The smart ass inside me says....UM YEAH! Lol the low self esteem side also says yea you do because you dont want to be around me. This post is a far cry from the first of being a strong married woman. I struggle just like every other girl out there with the every day ups and downs of female hormones and esteem issues. So here I am nearly 3 o'clock on a Saturday afternoon, buying time until that phone rings calling him in.  Booooooo. We need a vacation. Haven't had one since our little one was 6 months or so. But we have no time or money for that so we stay here and retreat to our yard and garden when things get stressful. But as with any garden in Texas, we don't produce much in the summer. Too hot and too dry for anything nice to grow. Although we have managed to save and plant nearly a dozen different rose bushes. We love roses and there is something sweet about going outside and cutting fresh flowers to display around the house. Kinda feels like you are your own little Martha Stewart! :) I have to admit I am a huge Martha Stewart fan by the way! :) I love that she can make something out of nothing all the time. Anywho that is just about all I can bitch/rant about for now. This post kinda got away from me there for a bit. I am easily side tracked.

Child Of the 90s

Being a child of the 90s (I was 6 in 1990) I witnessed first hand a lot of great trends. I've noticed these past few years that trends tend to come back around and they slightly modified for the current time. I often find myself thinking "hey, what happened to....." Those of you readers who grew up in my era, will appreciate this list of "Whatever happened to :

1. Skating Rinks - do you remember going to a skating rink on a Friday or Saturday night?! Back before roller blades we used those little orange rubber stoppers on the front of our skates. Back when couple skating was the cool thing to do with your elementary boyfriend. Or the races around the cones. I remember thinking the guy that set out the cones and the dj had the coolest job ever. When asked back then what I wanted to be I most definitely said "the person that sets out the cones!" Back when it was cool to backwards skate and dont even think about trying to skate in to the bathroom to go pee...it was next to impossible with out slamming in to the swinging doors on the stalls.

2. Slap Bracelets/Jellies - By far the coolest accessory to wear to the skating rink. And if you really liked someone, you'd slap your bracelet on their arms. Our skating rink had them in a giant crane machine, needless to say I never got one out of there. The Jellies have sort of been brought back in the form of crocs. But honestly the jellies were the most painful shoes ever. The thick plastic made your feet sweat and rubbed them raw on the ankles and the top of the foot. Good for the beach. (I wont lie I wore socks with them sometimes.....I was a tom-boy and appearance was not cool to me). Shirt rings were also cool too. You threaded your shirt through the top hole and then through the bottom to form a nice "shirt pony tail" off to the side at your waist. Yeah I had like a million of them.

3. POGS - oh man! I could go on about these badass cardboard/plastic/metal spheres! I dont think I know any one who actually knew the purpose of the POG but I remember begging my parents for as many as they would let me purchase. I had every "slammer" known to man. I was lucky to have the opportunity to go my dad's in the summer in California where I obtained rare POGs to show off to my Texas buddies. And remember the clear tubes that you're POGs went in to!! Ugh! I could go on forever seriously bring POGS back!!!!

4. Super Nintendo - Oh I soooo went there. I remember sitting in the living room with my sister all summer long taking turns playing Super Mario World. My sister always got to be Mario and I had to be Luigi. I literally spent the entire summer finding the hidden levels sadly though, I never got to fight Bowzer. And Donkey Kong on SNES was the amaaaaaaaaaaaazing. They need to make CDs of both those games soundtracks!!! And does anyone remember the large mat you plug in to the SNES and run really fast in place then jump (I think it was like the Olympic Long Jump or something). We used to cheat so much by slapping our hands as hard as we could and as fast as we could on the mat. 

5. Slip N Slide- Yeah I know they still have these but back when I was little it was brand new! No fancy sprinklers attached to the side or a wading pool at the end. Just a long tarp you haul ass down, and if you were anything like my siblings then you definitely ended up in the grass.

6. GAK - WOW! What a useless toy, but so fun. I remember bringing it to school and making fart noises by squishing the gak down fast in class. This slippery gelatin like fun hardly ever tore and kept its shape/ stayed cold on your hands/ but failed to maintain its texture. It always had dirt or dust stuck in to it. And leaving it out in a car....not a good idea.

7. The sketch pads with a face on it and you used a magnet pen to draw a beard on. Yeah, I dont think this is strictly 90s but I spent many a road trip drawing on this thing.

8. Mad Libs/ Brain Quest -  Noun is a adjective noun. lol I know you remember that. My parents used to have game night and we would actually beg to play this. lol And Brain Quest. I hated Brain Quest. It was supposed to be fun trivia.....but instead it made me feel dumb...and because I knew the goal was to learn which of course I refused to want to play. 

9. Popples - I dont know really if this is 80s or 90s but I remember playing in my Popple tent in the backyard with my stuffed animals. These furry little balls of stuffing goodness popped open to show a little furry critter to call your own. With little fuzz balls on their tails. Come back Popples.

10. Any Ernest Movie/Fraggle Rock/TailSpin/Darkwing Duck/Daria/Doug/Rocco's Modern Life/Rugrats/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/DuckTales/Family Matters/Step By Step/ Bill Nye the Science Guy/ Any movie with Pauly ShoreAnimaniacs/Gargoyles/Recess/Goosebumps/One Saturday Morning/Salute Your Shorts/ and lastly Are You Afraid of the Dark : were all my favorite shows/movies!! I miss them all so much. I can still sing all the theme songs. And to this day I still find myself singing "Darkwing Duck, when you're in trouble call D.W.! Darkwing Duck You better watch out you bad boys! "

And lastly the most memorable of books from back then

11. Sweet Valley High / The Babysitters Club/The Bernstein Bears/Goosebumps/Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark/Wayside School Is Falling Down/Nancy Drew (my fav by far!)/Fear Street (LOVED THESE!) I love to read, and back then it was so much fun. I can still remember reading Fear Street at night and being so into it I would stay up til I finished reading it. In Texas we had AR (accelerated reading) and we had to test on the computer over the books we read. If it was a big book you got the most points. Fear street gave like 2 points a piece. Then we'd use our points to buy stuff out of a goodie cabinet. Lol Incentive to read, bribery whatever you want to call it, it definitely stuck with me.

SO yeah, I have recapped all the things I have been missing over the years. Looking back at all of them I feel old, but I'm glad I can still remember those pieces in time. Hope this wasn't too boring I'm not sure I really have what it takes to be a riveting read, but hopefully I made you say "HEY I REMEMBER THAT!" Lastly before I go, "They call ya Mister Personality because your so UGLY. I heard when you were born, the doctor slapped your mother...." haha Gillette/20 fingers thank you for Mr. Personality. It was a great jam back in the day. "Gangsta's paradise" rocked my radio as well.

90s how I miss you! :(

NKOTB for life. Yeah, I went there. I was a Donnie lover, my sister - Joey and Jordan. Oh good times.

New to Blog----My story

Hey. So yeah I'm new to the world of blogging. I'd like to consider myself an interesting writer, but not everyone may agree. But that's the perks of anonymity! I am a crafty, resourceful mama of a three year old boy. I stay at home with him and I definitely need  to vent sometimes. If I'm interesting, like me. If not, be on your way. No negativity here! 

Being from a small town in the great state of Tejas, I am a little country and a little rock and roll. I spent most of my time in high school struggling to find approval from everyone...now that I'm an adult, I could care less what people think of me. You can't spend your entire life waiting on people to come around to you. You'll miss out on everything. I was a quirky Drama nerd. I wish I would have pursued my dream of acting, but really in today's world who really makes it? I guess there are a lucky few, but dreams don't pay the bills. Not that I'm paying them anyways. I have been married for 4 years and let me tell you it ain't easy. If you love someone you make it work, regardless of what this world throws at you. I am a firm believer of NO DIVORCE. I am a product of a very messy divorce that royally screwed up my brother and sister. I wouldn't wish it on anyone. Especially if there is a child involved. Now don't me wrong, if you're getting beat up everyday and cheated on all the time, yeah get your ass out of there, but I want to know without a shadow of a doubt I did everything I could to save my marriage. I have walked away a few times absolutely sure I wouldn't come back, but honestly you have to communicate your feelings to your spouse. If he doesn't know why you're mad its not going to get fixed. A lot of couples my age walk away for stupid reasons. I don't want that. I want a man that stays by my side and can count on me for anything. And that's what I got. He's not perfect by any means and we both butt-heads alot, but we made a beautiful little boy, and he makes us want to work to be with each other. 

I have always been afraid of marriage, because I was afraid it wouldn't last, but if you put forth the effort and you're partner does too, there's no reason you can't make it. Some times it just doesn't work, and I get that, but you should know if you are compatible before you get married. It shouldn't be a rush. It will happen when its time. Take it from me, I'm 28 years old and dated one guy for years (roughly 7) from high school on and I thought I was going to marry him. We split up all the time, and caused each other serious heartbreak, and then I met my husband....in a bar. Lol yea in a bar. We got pregnant nearly 3 or 4 months in (kids don't follow my example please) and suffered some insane heart ache when we lost the baby at 6 months. After going through that we got married. Probably not the most sensible time, seeing as we both were on a roller coaster of emotion, but we did. Been married ever since. And yes, I have had my doubts like any other human on this planet. And sometimes I wonder if it will work out in the end, but all you can do is love your partner the way you want to be loved. If he can't do that for you then get out. Just take in mind that if you have a child, its not just what you want anymore, its whats best for that child. So that's my twisted take on marriage. 
I found that even in the most tumultuous of relationships, the biggest problem is communication. I don't always practice what I'm preaching. I have been known to do the silent treatment and expect him to know why I'm upset. Looking back on situations like that I really stop and think God I'm an idiot how the hell was he supposed to know why I'm mad, he cant read my mind. But I have also been on the other end of the spectrum where I tell him whats wrong constantly and he gets tired of me complaining. He's not the most affectionate or the most romantic, or even the most approachable....but for some reason my heart loves him. He has hurt me pretty badly in the past, and lied and cheated, but I want people to know there is a way to forgive them, if they are genuinely sorry. This past year or so I have come to the realization that this isn't high school anymore, and people cant just walk away when they are mad. You have to accept a situation and find a way to fix it. It took a long time for me to be OK with the things that happened between us, and to believe him when he says he wants to be with me. But I found solace in a slew of verses to help with my pain. God tells us to forgive those who trespass us, and those armed with scripture are well prepared for what the devil throws at you. I am not an overly religious person but I will say this, when I am at my worst, at the very bottom, there is only one person that can lift me up and that's my God. I don't have a blog to preach to people. I just want to share my life...with who ever wants to read this, and to let other young mothers/young wives know they are not alone. Believe me I have encountered every possible horrible situation a couple could face to break the bond of trust. And I am still standing with my head held high. You can too. I didn't have anyone to talk to when my life hit rock bottom. My family judged me and my husband, my friends didn't want to hear about it and I felt completely alone. I don't want anyone else to feel that way. I am hear for advice, love and support. Even to a complete stranger. If my struggles help see the light at the end of the tunnel then I've done what I've came to do. 
I had a stroke when I turned 21 for reasons unknown and since then I have struggled to find my purpose in life. I was told I wasn't supposed to have children for fear of another life-threatening stroke, and the first baby just furthered the thought of not having children. But I did. And he's beautiful. He's 3 and he's a miracle. I don't know what I'm meant for, but if I can spread words of encouragement and hope, I will be happy. Well I hope I've sparked an interest in you for further reading!!! More to come......