No Baboons Here

Have you seen this picture?

Do you believe this picture?

Please don't.

Even though Congress may act like baboons, they are not.
You may be insulting the baboon.

Checking into various sources, I have learned that a group of baboons are known as a troop.

We have troops of baboons running around the savanna.

Baboons are some of the world's largest monkeys.

Following the logic set forth in this lovely meme, you could be calling our soldiers baboons.

And really, for all we know, whoever decided to call our soldiers troops may have known this.
It may have started out as a slang term used only in the military.
But, like most slang, it eventually becomes mainstream.

However, in other countries, soldiers are called troopers.
Maybe the good ole USA just decided to shorten the word.

I really don't know.

All I could find was that journalists just started using the word troops because it was shorter than writing soldiers.

It doesn't really matter when it started.
Just know that baboons and Congress do not belong together.
In the dictionary sense, anyway.

A Mound of Money and a Mound of Food

That's what there is after Sunday's festivities.

I have way too much food. This week will be spent eating pasta salad, veggies and dip, chips and dip, crackers and dip, ham sandwiches, turkey sandwiches, snickers salad, and cake/cupcakes.

I think that about covers it.
I sent a lot of the cake to work with Honeyman, but left a little home for others to eat.
I did make cupcakes that I can eat and those are left.

It was rainy. It poured in the morning and supposed to do so later so we had stuff inside.

Kiddo did good.
She got so much money, she could almost pay all my bills for the month.

So, what do she do yesterday?
She goes shopping.

At the clearance rack.

After the craziness of last week, I am looking forward to getting back to normal and getting more rest.

What am I gonna do?
Well, I already deleted the high school phone number out of my phone.
Next up:
I am unliking their Facebook page.

After that...maybe a little happy dance that I am done with that school.

Climbing Out Of a Hole

Do you believe that you can get what you want by working hard?
Do you think some people are just destined to not be able to climb out of a hole?

I really don't know what I believe anymore.

What I do know:

My house interest rate is way high and we cannot lower it. Ocwen says "Too bad, so sad. You can afford it." Have I mentioned how much I hate Ocwen? Damn the people that keep selling my mortgage.

My truck interest rate is high. Because we got a used car, interest was higher. But, it is higher than it should be. My FICO was high enough for the best rate. Honeyman's was just a little lower so they decided to go by his so we ended up going through dealership.

Honeyman is not physically able to work a second job.

Due to various reasons, among them a mystery illness, I am not working. A few years back, I could bring in a few extra hundred a month online. Yeah, that's not happening anymore.

When pay goes down and insurance, gas, food, etc. goes up, it is hard.

I know there are many people that are living the way I am.
Not in my area.
Everyone around here seems to have plenty of money.

Sometimes it is baffling. How can they afford all this stuff?

Remember the good old days of looking forward to pay day?
I don't do that anymore.
It is just depressing.

See how much money I don't have after paying bills. Or to pay the bills.

But, as each month goes by, I can feel a little better. I am that much closer to paying off the truck.
The house? That is so far off, I really don't know what will happen. I could be dead by 2033.

OK, I could be dead tomorrow.
No guarantees.

Wow.
This was just really depressing.

You may have guessed that today was pay day.
And if you already guessed that somebody forgot to tell me about some debits, you might be right.

The Day Is Fast Approaching

My baby is going to be a high school graduate in just a week and a half.
Today is her last day of class.

Time goes by so fast.

I am really glad for her in so many ways.
No more putting up with a school full of people that think it is fine to dismiss other people as inconsequential. (There's my big word of the day!)

My husband says how tough it is in the real world, but I'd still rather be in it rather then back in school.
His life wasn't great, he had fun and friends. But he was also not sober too often in those days.

I had a horrible time in school. Not well liked as well as always sober.
My daughter is pretty much like me.

She is such a great kid, but no one ever gave her a chance.
And she is just so over pretending all of it doesn't bug her.

She doesn't like most of the kids so what they think really doesn't matter that much.
At the same time, being in that environment day after day takes its toll.

Character Counts is a thing in Iowa that schools tout and pretend that they give a crap.
They all pretend that bullying doesn't happen in their school.

Until the school gets sued or a student kills himself because of bullying.

She is glad she won't have to put up with the kids AND the school.
I am glad I don't have to put up with that school.

Kiddo plans to stay working where she is at and hopefully get full time soon.

For graduation, they gave her a sheet cake and I got that ordered.

Now, shit just got real.
I have to start cleaning and cooking and buying stuff for the reception.

I hope it doesn't rain.
I don't know how I would fit all those people in my house.

Are You Sure?

Do you notice how lots of people believe the dumbest shit, but when they read the truth they don't believe it?

I know too many of these people.

From what I understand, this has been around for awhile.
It is just making it's rounds around social media.
Again.

Why is this believable? If you have a question about the validity, do a search for tick eggs.

This is what you are gonna find:

.

These are tick eggs.
You are not going to find a picture of something strongly resembling squished blackberries or dewberries.

Yes, this annoys me. People don't check. They just believe it and pass it on and it goes round and round.

I could put out so many examples.
The Jackie Kennedy curtain that somehow became a Muslim curtain, Pepsi taking Under God out of the Pledge of Allegiance on a soda pop can, and the list goes on.

And telling these people does nothing to stop them from sharing the next thing they see.

Upon Further Reflection of the A-Z 2015

I meant to do this sooner.
But, I forgot.

Once the challenge was over, I decided to rest a couple days.
And a couple more.

Then my hands didn't feel like typing.
So, I waited a couple more days.

I saw Robyn's post and thought "Shit, I need to do that!"

So, I went to bed and laid there and when I finally got up this morning, I decided I must get it done.

I have done the challenge for a few years now.
A couple of years, I did it on both of my blogs.
I took a break from it last year and just did it on this blog this time.

One day I lost a follower and gained a different one.
Interesting.

I also gained a handful more.

They are just numbers, but it feels better when they go up.
When they go down, I have this feeling like "what did I do?".

I did have fun.
I found out that many people really seem to like potatoes.

Did I bounce around to as many blogs as I probably should have?
No. I will admit that.

A couple years ago, I spent so much time trying to get to everyone and leave a comment that it was just too much.
So, I decided to take it easy and do what I could on my terms.

My main goal of this challenge has always been to see if I could do it.
Finding new blogs come secondary.
Gaining followers come a distant third.

You, know, after watching the show The Following, followers kinda takes on a new meaning.

I know the talk about how we are a big community and commenting is a big part.
And that is true.
To a point.

Most of us blog for some interaction.
But, we also do it for ourselves.