Well, it looks my secret is out of the bag. It figures it was Tammi that spilled the beans first. She has a nasty habit of doing just that.

So there it is. Ktreva finally got off her butt and started a blog, The Reality Ranch. ItÂ’s about damn time. Her Royal Yappiness can finally have another outlet for her uncontrolled need to communicate other then talking to me. That means I can spend more quality time playing Madden and Blitz instead of having to pretend to listen to her.

On the downside, I think IÂ’m going to have to buy a laptop with wireless. With only having one computer in the house, that could lead to a fight over who gets to use it.

Go over and give her a warm and friendly welcome. Just be nice to her, remember who she married. Hasn't the poor girl been put through enough?

Posted by: Contagion at 09:24 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
Post contains 162 words, total size 1 kb.

1 "Can't you just pause at halftime, I've got something I *NEED* to post..."

Just preparing you for life without the laptop...

Posted by: Ogre at January 16, 2006 11:04 AM (/k+l4)

2 Secret to a happy marriage?

His & hers computers :-)

Posted by: Harvey at January 16, 2006 04:21 PM (ubhj8)

3 "having one computer in the house, could lead to a fight over who gets to use it."

Dude, you have no idea.

I say be patient. My ex-husband quit after 3 months. So if she's still blogging then you can do what I did with my son ('cause NOBODY touches my computer) I went to the Salvation Army and picked up an old one that has been working like a charm for the past 3 yrs. The kids can use it and it's a back up computer. However, if she's on the main one.... I suggest you just mosey on to the back up computer.

Otherwise I know what you'll be spending your tax refund on!

Posted by: michele at January 16, 2006 09:10 PM (beN4P)

4 That makes me her mother in law, right?

Posted by: Bou at January 16, 2006 10:08 PM (iHxT3)

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Ever since Clone first discovered he had the ability to make sounds using his mouth, he’s had three volume settings: Loud, Deafening and Sleeping (Which is just below normal human speech). He snores in his sleep and sometimes talks. This has sparked many a great debate in my house as to which side of the family he gets such a trait. My wife insists he gets it from me. I, on the other hand, know it’s from her family. If you’ve ever met Ktreva then you know she’s loud and doesn’t shut up… ever! Hell, right now I can hear her talking non-stop. “Don’t you dare post anything like that about me! OoOOOoo, I’m gonna kick your arse!” It’s a good thing I learned to ignore her years ago.

Well, tonight she feels sheÂ’s won the war. According to her royal yappiness, she now has irrefutable proof that CloneÂ’s loudness comes from my side of the family. I think sheÂ’s just exaggerating. Nope, to her she feels that there is no further proof required.

Tonight, Clone and I where in the Kitchen taking the clean dishes out of the dishwasher and putting them away. When I do various tasks, I tend to sing. Clone loves to sing along with me when he’s helping. We went through the classics of the Contagion household, “I’m H-A-P-P-Y!, Mares eat oats, Sponge Bob Square Pant’s theme, Ice Ice Baby”. Of course when I sing, I do it with gusto. Since Clone is my, well, clone, he also sings with much gusto. This turned into a contest to see who could show more gusto. (Wow, I think that’s the most I’ve ever used the word gusto).

Ktreva comes walking into the kitchen, smirk on her face as both Clone and I are singing as loudly as we can. Hell we’re yelling with a melody. Ktreva, smirking mind you, looks at me and says, “Loud!” We both stop singing and look at her standing there grinning back at us. “I told you he got his loudness from you.” She says self-righteously “You, don’t see me in here teaching him to yell songs.”

I tried to explain this was different. She just couldnÂ’t grasp the concept that being loud and having a contest to see who can be louder is not the same thing. You must have to be male to understand that.

Now if youÂ’ll excuse me, IÂ’m going to go replace some broken light bulbs.

Posted by: Contagion at 07:20 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
Post contains 420 words, total size 2 kb.

1 Oh, that y chromosome changes EVERYTHING!

(But I must admit, I'm with Ktreva here -- the "loudness" comes from your side. Just like the abject shyness...)

Posted by: Richmond at January 12, 2006 07:49 PM (e8QFP)

2 Contagion, I have know you for many, many moons now. I have seen you get the attention of a waitress across a restaraunt full of loud obnoxious people. You sir, are undeniably the source of your boys loudness. Your screams of "SERVING WENCH!" will forever be a favorite teenage memory of mine.

Posted by: littlejoe at January 12, 2006 09:45 PM (vBIjH)

3 WHAT? SPEAK UP, I CAN'T HEAR YOU!

Posted by: Ogre at January 13, 2006 08:00 AM (/k+l4)

4 I talk in my sleep. do I get that from your side of the family?

Posted by: oddybobo at January 13, 2006 08:01 AM (6Gm0j)

5 Sorry Contagion but I have to agree with Ktreva. In our family only the males snore. Noah is lucky to be alive right now. Sarah & Noah's bedrooms are right next to each other. After numerous times of yelling at Noah to quit snoring, she actually contemplated smothering him with her pillow! I know I don't snore because I've never heard myself snore. Case closed.

Posted by: Red at January 13, 2006 08:26 AM (mS1e/)

6 Over exaggerating is definitely a female trait. Really, if I've told my wife once, I've told her a million times not to exaggerate.

Posted by: phin at January 13, 2006 09:31 AM (Xvpen)

7 Phin - Are you saying that Contagion is a woman? That's what I got out of your comment...*snicker*

Posted by: ktreva at January 13, 2006 04:26 PM (e8b4J)

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It seems that Boopie is having a problem on the bus. HeÂ’s being picked on. Today some kids took his hat, that he just got for Christmas, and where playing keep away with it. He never got the hat back. IÂ’m not exactly sure what else happened as Boopie changed his story six times in ten minutes. My wife is very upset about the whole thing.

What I do know for a fact is that Boopie did not tell the bus driver about what was happening. Now, when we got home, Ktreva contacted the transportation department regarding the incident. To me this is a perfectly acceptable course of action to take. It makes the district aware, as well as the bus driver by default. The school district does have a strict no bullying policy.

My thing is originally she wanted to me to get involved by confronting the kids. Personally, I obviously have no problem doing anything like that. My issue was that we donÂ’t know which kids were involved. The information from our son is sketchy at best. Most importantly, I feel this would just bring on more harassment later on.

I remember when I was a kid, whenever another boyÂ’s parents got involved in a schoolyard conflict, that just made life more miserable for the boy. Heck, the worse butt kickinÂ’ I ever received was when my mother, unbeknownst to me, got involved in an altercation between me and another kid. A couple of weeks later the other kid and some of his friends used me as a punching bag.

What do you all think? Have we done enough in contacting the school or do I knock off work early tomorrow to intercept the bus and have a “talk” with everyone on it?

Posted by: Contagion at 05:03 PM | Comments (10) | Add Comment
Post contains 301 words, total size 2 kb.

1 I wish I had an answer for you. I'll need it in a few years. The only time I had a real problem was about that age. Someone at the bus stop had a knife and came after me. I made it close to home (faster runner) and my teenage sister was outside. She beat the crap out of them. End of story. Yes, it was two kids. Don't ask me. I have no clue to this day what started it. They never bothered me before nor after.

Posted by: vw bug at January 05, 2006 06:23 PM (UA4mV)

2 Dunno what my reaction as a parent would be.

As a wee lad, oh so many years ago, I utilized the best tools I had available. A sucker punch followed up by swinging a fully loaded backpack.

Knocked the little bastards two front teeth out.
Never screwed with me again.

Of course that was twenty years ago. Today, they'd probably charge someone that committed the same act with attempted murder.

You could always have him teach the other kids the capital of Thailand. A nutshot is always a very effective way to get a point across. As pops always said, there's no such thing as a fair fight.

Posted by: phin at January 05, 2006 06:40 PM (DGPlf)

3 I think having a "talk" with the little bastards will eventually come to bad for Boopie. You've experienced it...

Notifying the company or school is a good start. Send him to school with a stainless steel thermos, with training on use as a club...

Posted by: Tammi at January 05, 2006 06:54 PM (lfQya)

4 naah. While I like that idea, he's more likely to get caught for retaliation.

Nail him down on details and then make him stand up for himself by telling on whoever did it.

Posted by: caltechgirl at January 05, 2006 10:04 PM (uI/79)

5 but first, make sure he didn't just lose it and is making up stories to cover his ass.

Posted by: caltechgirl at January 05, 2006 10:04 PM (uI/79)

6 Yeah, confronting them on your part is just going to bring the bullies down on him harder because he "had to have his daddy stand up for him."
Unfortunately, and saying this as someone who got picked on a lot when I was about that age, the only one who's going to be able to stand up for him is himself.
All the more reason to try to get the boy into weight training or a sport or something I guess

Posted by: Shadoglare at January 05, 2006 10:32 PM (x+/cX)

7 I would teach him how to beat the ever loving shit out of people so he can defend himself. That being said I would also find someone a lot bigger than the others and have him hang out with boopie, that always worked for me.

Posted by: Machelle at January 06, 2006 07:29 AM (ZAyoW)

8 I was always the one who hung out with the smaller kids so that they wouldn't get beat on. I was, afterall, a bully in my own right, sorta. Never picked on kids, I was the revenge bully. So when the stupid boy called me a chink, he got beat up by me, when another boy picked on the little girl around the corner for stuttering, he got beat up by me! Boopie needs lessons in fisticuffs, and possibly a bigger buddy.

Posted by: oddybobo at January 06, 2006 08:52 AM (6Gm0j)

9 First impulse is to step in and take the boys on. Further thought says, "Bad idea", as much as it sucks. At this point it is a hat. Step in when it escalates. Save that trump card.

You started in the right place. Now your son needs some boxing lessons. Perhaps you could have him take some Martial Arts. He needs to know when to walk away and when not to and how to seriously defend himself.

And get the details pinned down. Does he have a friend on the bus you can call their parents and get more info?

Posted by: Bou at January 06, 2006 11:31 AM (iHxT3)

10 I have to go with not interjecting yourself yet. I know Boopie, and I know how hard it would be to teach him to "beat the everloving snot" out of the other kids. So I say, teach him to at least go to the proper authority figure and try to take care of it. (Even though my gut says that is just going to cause more bullying also.)

Posted by: littlejoe at January 06, 2006 11:51 PM (vBIjH)

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If you are reading this, then you survived whatever celebration you had last night. I was a little worried that my head wasnÂ’t going to survive. This morning I woke up a little rough, mainly because Clone was awake bright and early and I got up with him. Why that boy wonÂ’t sleep is a mystery to me. He didnÂ’t get to bed until well after midnight. Now he is running around all bright eyed and getting into mischief.

I used this time to get some dishes started and clean up around the house while Ktreva sleeps. Ktreva was so tired, and she looks so beautiful while she sleeps, IÂ’m letting her sleep as long as possible.

Boopie is still sleeping as well, he fell asleep on the couch last night, I had to wake him up and send him to his bed. HeÂ’s at the age where heÂ’d sleep 12 hours a day if it were up to him.

Me? IÂ’d say I drank too much, but that depends on your definition of too much. No headache, no upset stomach, no nausea, nope IÂ’m doing just fine. Actually I currently am heating some chili cheese dip to make nachos out of. I always found an extra greasy breakfast makes the stomach feel better.

No strange or incoherant posts were made lastnight. There was some concern that something might get posted that would be difficult to explain the next day.

What a good way to start off 2006.

Posted by: Contagion at 09:16 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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