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Perhaps it's time for some good

I was watching a marathon of Pit Bulls and Parolees today in bed. Before I knew it, the entire day had come and gone. I was literally that enchanted with the show and all I kept thinking about was how there were so many dogs and only so many people there. Even if the owner, Tia, had 20 people there, there are anywhere between 150-200 dogs there. I wonder how much human interaction these dogs get a day.  She is doing a great thing, but there just isn't enough of anything going around. Even if she had enough donations, there wouldn't be enough man power to help out.

That got me to thinking. There are plenty of animal shelters similar to Villalobos Pit Bull Rescue Center and they all have similar problems. There are way too many animals needing homes. I can't adopt animals right now but what I could do is volunteer. I'm sure it would be mostly cleaning kennels, feeding animals etc but it would still free up more time for the people who work there to do what they need with the animals to get them ready for adoption.

I'm not doing anything right now. I'm not working and I'm left alone in the house all day long. I might as well do something good with my free time assuming I can borrow the car while Daylan works. It would give me some adult interaction, I could tame my pet fever, it would give me something to do that would be beneficial and it would look good on a resume. Who knows, maybe I could donate stuff from time to time. Food, blankets, toys or things of that nature. Obviously I can't donate a lot, but I'm sure I could do a little here and there. Besides, I could maybe help these animals get loving homes by helping with my own marketing.

Who knows how long it will be till I get a job in Florida and I don't know how much I'll be working when I get there, but maybe I could find a shelter to volunteer with once a week or so. It would be good for my soul and who knows, maybe Gabriel would get a kick out of it. He likes to go to the pet store with me to look at animals. Some animals would need to be kid tested to make sure they can go to a family. Gabriel would probably think it is fun.

I don't know, it is just a thought I have been entertaining. I've been thinking about a lot of stuff. That would help and I've thought about possibly starting up the process to pump and donate breast milk (to hospitals or breast milk banks-who pay per ounce-) and donating eggs/plasma. I think that will be a long and expensive process but it is just another thought I've been entertaining.  I think volunteering at a shelter is easier and much less of a commitment.

I don't need anger management; what I need is for people to stop trying to piss me off.

1.Gay Rights
People have forgotten that equal rights no longer applies to just African Americans or women. The term is more broadly used to incorporate the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans gender) community. There is still a lot of racism and discrimination involved. Whether or not people agree with it, people need to learn how to not be offensive.

I understand that people do not agree with me because of their political or religious backgrounds and beliefs but when they become aggressive, I become defensive. It never ends well. It usually involves a person being disgusting, ignorant, condescending, rude and hateful towards me because of what I believe. My sexuality has nothing to do with it. I have plenty of friends who I support. It doesn't surprise me people are still in tolerate nor does it surprise me that people are hateful, but it does surprise me at the levels that people will take to show their dominance. Having an opinion is one thing but attacking is a whole other subject. I am passionate about this and I do become defensive quickly but I don't mind someone saying "No, I don't agree" as long as they aren't being rude. People will become an asshole just for their own amusement. There are plenty of times that I might agree with someone when they bring up a different topic, but I don't agree with the manner in which they are delivering their message. The delivery is key when it comes to a debate but a debate quickly becomes a heated argument if one person become so aggressive that the words that come out of their mouth become vile. Don't be hateful. It won't get a good response from me.

I feel that every human being regardless of their sexual orientation should be able to do everything that their neighbor can do. That includes gay marriage, serving openly in the military, being able to adopt children, be a politician (or the president), be the CEO of a company, win the lottery, buy cereal or whatever they want to do to be happy and fulfilled in their own lives. It isn't fair or equal rights if only heterosexual individuals can do it. Who is to say that someone within the LGBT community will want to do anything that I listed (if not more) but it is only fair that they should have the same options as anyone else.

2. Legalizing marijuana
This seems to be a hot topic amongst some of my friends back in Florida. It's no secret that I use to smoke pot when I was 19 and 20 but I don't see the need to make it legal. Not every substance needs to be. A lot of people are saying that if it were legal, it could be taxed. While that could help the economy, I don't see a lot of good to come from it. Whether or not it is safe isn't an issue with me. I see anything that is mind-altering as bad, which includes alcohol. Where I stand is anything that has the possibility of taking my son away from me is not something I want to be around. I do have friends that still smoke pot, but that is their personal choice. It just won't be mine.

People will argue that alcohol and cigarettes are far more harmful to one's health. It may be true, but I have yet to see someone who is high not be stupid. They may be more relaxed and they may not be so active but marijuana does induce paranoia. Just because people don't die of DUI's with marijuana doesn't mean that people are safe to drive while they are high. It is still a DWI, not to mention a gateway drug. Not everyone is content with the high that they get from marijuana. Their tolerance may increase and rather than spend more money on a higher amount of that particular drug, they may just introduce themselves to a different drug to "chase the dragon". Whether it is or isn't true is not the issue to me.

I want to set a good example for my five year old son. My son knows I drink. He knows his father and grandparents drink as well. He is very aware of which drinks are adult drinks and he knows not to drink it but I don't want it around him all the time. That is a personal choice because I don't want him to grow up believing it is ok just because his mother drinks. Marijuana is the same. I don't want him to do it at all, but I especially don't want it exposed to him as a child. If my friends want to, then I would request that they don't do it and/or bring it around my son. That is my personal choice.

. Politics
I'm not pro Obama. I'm not pro McCain. I'm not pro Bush. I just don't like politics. I find that it is so black and white. I tend to be more gray. Regardless of what my political standing is or could be, I know that it may change. Some devout Democrats may actually like a Republic candidate and the other way around. It does happen and people want to believe that it doesn't. People are so willing to start fights over politics in general and they love to blame the president.

Look, I may not have liked Bush and I don't like how things are going with Obama, but who is to say that McCain could have done a better job? The president isn't the one who makes all the rules. There are senate members. There are legislative members. The president just seems to be the face of it all. While I admit I don't understand anything about politics, I understand that not everything wrong with the government and economy is solely Obama's fault.

On top of that, I think it is un-American for people to be talking about causing harm to him. He is a father and a husband despite his title. Also race has nothing to do with how his term in office is going. If you want to blame anything, blame his party but not his race. An Asian could have made the same mistake as an African American. Lord knows we have had nothing but white presidents and many of them didn't do a good job. Some of them made a mockery out of the presidency. I think it was time to let someone else try it out. Besides, you never know. A female president probably would have cleaned up things more than any man of any race could have.

Yes, I said it. (May be continued on a different night)

A few major changes

I really should have wrote earlier. Within the past week and a half, I had given Daylan and ultimatum (move back to FL with me or you can be single in TX) but for right now, I will write about something else that happened.

About a week ago, Daylan's grandfather was talking about starting a Waffle House chain out here. The closest store is quite a few hours away in any direction. It would be yet another thing for his grandfather to have to keep him busy (even though he has retired for quite a number of years). I think the man just needs a real hobby. Anyway, the idea was a good idea but he never did it.

Instead, he bought a local restaurant that was for sale. That man spent an insane amount of money on a single restaurant. It wasn't that it wasn't doing well. It was just the owner came into some money from a relative dying and didn't want to be in the business. Yeah. So this person came into money....twice. I want to be her! Anyway, his grandfather wants Daylan because he is the only one who has had long term food experience, and management experience at that.

His plan here is to just move me back to FL, but he will get the money back soon anyways. He isn't sure if he is going to be the General Manager because he hasn't spoken to his grandfather yet. We don't know who is inside. However he is still going to ask for $2,500 a month with benefits. That would be $30,000 a year. From what I understand, it would be 6am-5pm Monday through Friday. They aren't open past five. Saturday is 6am-noon. He would have every Sunday off. That is 61 hours a week. He doesn't want to quit Sonic altogether, so he is going to ask to step down and be a crew leader. Even if he gets crew leader pay and works 20hrs a week, it would be an extra $8,000 a year. I'm not fond of him working that many hours, but I won't be there. It will keep him from spending money if he is always at work, with the exception of Sunday. He won't have to worry about groceries anymore LOL.

He still wants to pay for my cable/internet bill and to pay for my dvr so that I can record my programs and still have the internet to talk to him. Now it is just a matter of my finding a job and a place to live in FL.

I'm not fond of this idea. In fact, I am against this idea but it will be more money than he is making now. I would rather he move with me. It looks better. It sounds better and I have to be in FL. The thing is, none of this is set in stone yet. It really depends on what his grandfather will offer him. He isn't going to screw Daylan over, but it all depends on what they can agree to. If Daylan doesn't like it, then we just need to find him a good job in FL. The problem is, I don't think we will find a job that will pay what he wants to earn. ::sigh:: It's still all up in the air right now. We will see if the ultimatum will have to be null and void. We will see.

Throw me a bone here

As an extension to my grocery blog, I want to address coupons. The reason why I want to address this is because I haven't really seen any lately. It's cool, for those who HAVE money, to find "deals" on toys or clothes or things of that nature. With Christmas literally right around the corner, I can see how now is a good time to be posting stuff like that. It just sucks for me.

I live on www.hip2save.com and I frequent other coupon sites on Facebook, but the number of coupons I've seen literally went to six to ten a week to zero in weeks. Today is the first day that I am finally finding coupons again. The only issue is I don't have a working printer. I think it is just because I am running low on ink, Daylan thinks paper is jammed. If it is indeed an ink issue, I heard from a girlfriend (who introduced me to hip2save) that I can bring the ink cartridges to Walgreens and they will refill it for less than $20. I'd rather do that than to pay four times that amount. I still have the windows open for the coupons I need to print, just in case. If I have to, I'll email it to myself and then go to a library to print it.

Since the number of coupons available has been nonexistant, my coupons have been running low. It is part of the reason why my grocery bill has been higher lately (besides the fact that I've been buying whole foods lately) I'm not even sure if whole foods is the correct term but I've been working on buying foods that are as natural as possible. Foods that go bad. Foods that mold. Foods that are just as they are when they leave the ground or are picked from the plant. The issue with coupons, as I mentioned earlier, is that it is usually for processed foods. Of course it will be cheaper to use those coupons, but the caloric intake and fat intake is much higher. The coupons I do try to use the most are: yogurts, cereals, toilet papers (which are hard to find), toiletries and juice. I try not to use processed foods like the mashed potatoes and items like that, but I have yet to make my own so....sometimes I cheat.

I am starting to run out of stuff. I only have one bottle of conditioner ready and there are just some items you should always have stocked because you use it a lot. It is nice that I am seeing a lot of coupons again. These people need to get back into it and get their ass into gear. I need more coupons. Of course I keep asking Daylan to grab the newspaper, or simply steal the coupons from his grandparents, but he never seems to do so. Our grocery bill would be so much smaller if he were to just do as I ask. However, what I really want right now is a coupon book.

This is pretty much the one I want. Of course I want a different design, but this has everything that I need. The deluxe version certainly is temping, but I only need the basic organizer. I'm not a pro yet. It pretty much is a wallet and a coupon organizer with a mini calculator and a mini shopping list. Yes, it is all about convenience, but I wouldn't imagine that a basic organizer is going to be a huge thing. It shouldn't take up a lot of room in my already large purse. I can always just keep my mini spiral notebook and just add a small calculator. If I do that, it will just drive Daylan crazy since he says we spent too much time in grocery stores as is. This is the site that I want to gt my organizer from. http://sophisticatedshoppers.com/

With all this said, I will make my mental plea to both the internet world and the manufacturing world to produce more coupons! They made my grocery experience so much more enjoyable. Grocery shopping already is a great experience for me, but sometimes that bill at the end is a bit much. I mean I am just shopping for two people at the moment. My grocery bill should not be as expensive as it is, and I shop with coupons. Of course, going to multiple stores would help but Daylan will never consider that. I'll be doing it in March. Shhhh. 

Should I plug his nose?

Right when I am thinking that I could go to sleep (even though I've only been awake for ten hours), I came to the sudden realization that it may not be an option.

You know, it's a good thing I keep the laptop by my bed and we have a tv in our bedroom. Daylan's snoring would definitely keep me awake. What's weird is he rarely snores, and he never snores this loudly. He hasn't been complaining about not feeling good. I swear, this reminds me of my dad.

I hated having to sleep in a hotel with my parents. It was one thing having my bedroom on the other side of the house. I could hear him snore even then, but being in the same room was horrendous. I might as well just stay up all night. It never surprised me when Mom created her own bedroom in the spare room. She would have gone insane otherwise.

I am definitely thinking that I will sleep in the living room tonight. I have a feeling that if I nudge him on the side that he will continue to snore. However if I do, he may roll over on his side and I would be free of this nightmare and can sleep in my own bed. I seriously made a recording on my phone. It's loud enough to give me a headache. It's a good thing he is just snoring from his nose. The walls would shake if he were to snore from his mouth like my dad did.

The sad thing is I thought I had a victory just now. I made the sure the light on my laptop got in his eyes. His eyes popped open immediately and I made him roll over. I figured I could listen to the peaceful sounds of Blue Planet while I went to sleep, but it just doesn't seem to be an option tonight. I am beginning to feel like my mom as I take an aspirin, a pillow and blanket to the couch.

I really should invest in ear plugs....

Creepy McCreeperton

Obviously there is someone out there who shouldn't have my phone number. I try to be careful of who gets it and I don't readily hand it over to everyone. I certainly don't have it displayed on Facebook and if I do give it to someone, it is via message because I didn't want what happened last night to happen at all.

It could have been anyone. I have a few people on my mind that could have done it and it has to have been a female. The voice was a higher pitch. Still, someone who shouldn't have my number has it and has become stupid enough to do some garbage like that.

Around midnight, I got a phone call. The only person who calls me that late is Daylan, but this number said "Restricted". I've had "Unknown" numbers call. Those are usually blocked numbers ( the *67 stuff) or telemarketers. I've never had a "Restricted" number call. I should have answered it, but I screen every phone call, and with good reason. Not everyone who calls leaves a message, but this person did. It was a female. The first impression I got was that she was drunk, but not even drunk people slur that badly. She knew who she was calling because she said my name. At the end of the message, the voice got distorted and a demonic voice was talking. I got freaked out.

I had to listen to it again to make sense of what was said, but it was hard to understand it. I got half of it. All the parts with the periods are the sections I just couldn't desipher. "Hi Cassandra, um I was calling to say 'hhhhhiiiiiiii" hahahahaha. I was wondering if you you were ..........hahahaha....if you want I could call you.......hahahah".Yeah, this person does not need to contact me again.

I sent some emails out to people to see if anyone knew anything. I wanted to know if there was something to distort voices like that and then I started to ask later on if there was a way to see WHO in the hell called and left that voice message anyway! I want to change my phone number because I can block the one number, but this person can always call from a different number. I don't play that game. I get very serious about stuff like this.

How childish can this person be? Prank calling someone is stuff that high school kids do. "Is your refrigerator running? Well go chase after it!" This was meant to be freaky and it was a pretty long message. Daylan just thinks that I can block the number but if someone I stopped speaking to a long time ago has my number stored in their phone, all they have to do is contact me from a separate number and it is the same mess all over again. I'm sure he thinks I am over reacting, but I don't play.