Thursday 13: More Random

1. This week has NOT been good. Everything just seems to go wrong. It's nothing SERIOUS...but one of those weeks where you stub your toe and then turn around and stub it again.

2. I spent the day cleaning house. Well actually I spent the first half of the day with my kids but then I cleaned house.

3. The kids and I watched movies and played board games. Aubry won two games of Sorry. I don't think she was sorry. ;)

4. I've started creating art again. I'm not painting because I don't really have a good spot in my apartment to oil paint and all of my supplies are at my mom's...but I found my colored pencils and I'm starting a few little things. I'm excited about that.

5. Still working on grad school applications. Uuugggghhh.

6. I've been all about strawberry shortcake lately. The food, not the little Hasbro doll. ;) Ashlyn likes the doll but hates the dessert...mostly because she doesn't like "whoop cream." Silly girl! ;)

7. I bought a bunch of books after I graduated...things I wanted to continue studying in the field. I still have yet to finish the one I started first. :P I'm more than halfway done now, though! I just don't make a lot of time to read. I sit down and read 10-20 pages and then I start thinking of all the other things I need to do. Most of my reading occurs when I'm waiting. I got most of the pages read when I was in waiting rooms at the doctor's office and the DMV. :P

8. It's probably really sad that my leisure reading consists of books about criminal psychology, substance abuse, and social work theories. :P

9. Friday I will be spending the day going to garage sales with my dad. :) We've gone together the last couple years and it's always fun. I don't really spend a whole lot of time with my dad because we just don't have much in common (other than our personalities!), he's a dude so small talk usually consists of him talking about his glory days, and most of the time he's playing outside with my kids. But a whole day buying someone else's junk that we probably don't need...that's always good times. :)

10. I don't have cable but I have all my TV shows on DVD. I tend to cycle through all my favorite shows and have daily marathons of whatever show I happen to be fixated on at the time. Currently it's Grey's Anatomy. Mark "McSteamy" Sloan is so yummy. It came to me the first time I saw McSteamy on the show and now I can't see my McSteamy without thinking of the resemblance.

11. I really, really like riding on the back of the motorcycle. SO relaxing and fun. It's probably been one of my favorite "me" things to do so far this spring/summer. :)

12. The girls can't wait to go back to Botanica. The butterfly house opened this week and they're SO excited to see it again. We also need to go to the zoo and children's museum again.

13. Mostly we've been busy with a whole lot of softball. From yesterday until June 22, one of the girls has a game EVERY weeknight. That's a lot of softball. I'm not really too happy with Aubry's level this year. We are a rec team and some of the teams we're playing are competitive teams. The difference in experience is HUGE. This is the first year for our girls to be playing kid pitch and some of the other teams...they're 9 and 10 year olds and they're throwing hard and fast. It wouldn't be that bad...except two games now the other team has hit at least four of our players. These girls seem to have lots of speed but absolutely no control. It just irritates me. But...I'm not a fanatical die-hard sports fan, either, so...maybe it's just me. :P

Health Problems = Suck

I woke up early this morning...and about two hours after I woke up, I wished I was asleep again. I ended up with a major migraine and spent most of the morning with vertigo and nausea. And the nausea is on top of the stomach problems I already have right now. Plus about an hour after the migraine started, I ended up with the worst neuropathy I've had in awhile.

Neuropathy basically feels like a million tiny shards of glass in your skin. So it's extremely painful every time it is touched. I have it in my lower back, stomach, and my legs. The medicine is supposed to help...but sometimes it doesn't Or maybe it helps it not happen as often. But today it's not helping.

There are a couple other MS symptoms going on but it doesn't seem as bad right now as the neuropathy. It wears me out. And it makes me hate to wear clothes. Which kinda sucks when I have to go to Ashlyn's softball game. :P So I found the softest, comfiest pair of pants I could find and made it through. I really didn't care how it looked that I was there in my "pajamas" because I'm 100% sure the person judging me for my comfy pants doesn't know what neuropathy feels like in the first place. So...we'll be happy for your good health, dude, and happy for my comfy pants. And next time...don't make your comments in front of my kid, kthanx.

And now I'm wiiiide awake because all the caffeine I had earlier to help my migraine decided to finally kick in at bedtime. :P So...I'm going to make good use of my time and try to work on these grad school applications!

Too late for Wordless Wednesday...

Aubry had a softball game yesterday and I forgot to post my Wordless Wednesday photos...so I will post them today. :)

I went with Ashlyn's class for their Zoo trip. It was probably my best experience chaperoning a field trip. I had three kids in my group (including Ashlyn) and they were SO well behaved. Ashlyn and one of her best friends stuck pretty close together and the little boy stuck with me. He was my pal...kept telling the girls they needed to wait for us and chatted with me about all the animals. All three of them were posing all around the zoo wanting me to take their pictures. It was cute. :) It was definitely a great day! Here are a couple of the many pictures I took...








And here are a few pictures of the girls on our trip to Botanica for the Teddy Bear Picnic. My mom took some of these pictures because I was sick for the last half of our trip...but she did a good job with my camera. :)



Cool fountain...and a picture of me and the girls:


Listening to story time...

I have to vent!

There was one crappy part about my weekend. And--of course--it was an argument with the ex-husband. I don't gossip about the guy because I really don't care at all about his personal life and I stay out of his business just like he SHOULD stay out of mine. But...I will vent about the things he does to ME which affects the lives our our children.

On that note...

Both girls are in softball again this year and he is the coach. Now...I personally don't like softball (it's hot and long and dirty and I'm just not a sporty person) but the girls enjoy it so I support them. I don't go to practices...but my dad goes and tells me how everything went (and of course the girls always let me know, too). I go to their games when I can. Sometimes the heat is too much for me (it aggravates my MS symptoms) and ever since my colon surgery...sometimes I can't go to the away games if I'm having stomach problems because bathrooms aren't always readily available (or they're just nasty! ugh!). But my dad tries to make sure to go to every game because I want the girls to know they're supported by our family in everything they do...my grandparents and sister also come when they can. And his family is there, too, of course.

ANYWAY...I guess there was a scrimmage and pictures on Saturday morning. I don't know if it was a spur of the moment thing or what. It wasn't on the practice schedule, wasn't on the game schedule...nothing. We're on our way out of town and I get a text message saying "So Ashley (he needs to add ASHLYN to his phone's dictionary) is not coming to our pictures or scrimmage today at 9:00 since I just seen (SAW!) them leaving town." I replied that maybe he needs to TELL me about these things...because it's not like he sent me a text ahead of time or anything. We had two free passes to Botanica from my grandparents and we've had this planned for weeks. The girls have ball during the week all the time, so we've been making our plans on the weekends.

So then he replies "Maybe you should get involved in your kids activities" then tries to lie and tell me that my dad knew (Dad didn't have a clue) and then says "And they are not even with you immagine that."

Seriously?! I was sitting in the front seat! Just because we were in my mom's car, that doesn't mean I wasn't with them. And I AM involved in my children's lives. Kinda like the fact that I WAS WITH THEM AT BOTANICA. I take them to do things...our summers are spent going to the zoo, children's museum, botanical gardens, the art museum, etc. And we do arts and crafts at home, play board games, cook or bake, watch movies together, etc. I am also involved with them at school...I go to their parent teacher conferences, I have lunch with them at school, help with their school parties and go on field trips, and I help with their school projects and homework. I keep on top of how they're doing in school and help them in areas they are struggling. I communicate with their teachers and keep track online of how the girls' grades are and everything. *I* was the one who noticed Ashlyn was having problems reading and talked to her teacher about it and took her to the eye doctor to get glasses (which was the root of her problem). He doesn't do those things but *I* do. He can think whatever he wants about the kind of parent I am. I don't care what HE thinks. I care what my children think. ALL I care about is that my children are happy and that they know I love them.

I help, teach, support, and PARENT my children. I KNOW my children. You ask me something about who they are, what they like, how they are doing...I know the answer without even having to think about it. My children are an extension of me. I love those two girls something fierce. And I do everything I can to make sure they know I love and support them no matter what. So I may not go to their sports practices and I may not be able to make it to all of their games. But I make sure that someone is there to support them and I make sure they know that I care about what they are involved in.

I also make sure that my kids can do anything that they want to do. If there is an extra-curricular activity they want to try...I will do my best to make sure that happens. I want my children to experience everything they can and if they want to try something new I'm all about it! I am not a person with a lot of money...but I have wonderful family and friends who help me out when they can and I find ways to make it work. I don't want them to grow up feeling like they missed out on anything.

So anyway, XH texted me again saying "Don't worry we just wont sign her up next year. Im done trying to deal with how important your stay at home life is over your kids. We have plenty of money. Im not paying for band when I pay for every thing else from basketball to softball. 85 a kid and like i said since their mom has such a busy life we just wont sign them up for any more."

OMGWTFBBQ. That's pretty much all I could think. It's just MESSED UP.

Yes...I have "such a busy life" taking my children out to do fun things and other times I stay home WITH my kids. SO...WTF?

And he's not punishing ME by not signing the girls up for softball next year because *I* don't even like softball. But the GIRLS like it and if THEY want to do it then they are the only ones he is hurting. If my children want to participate in something...they should be able to have the chance. He seems too selfish (and too concerned with fighting against me) to understand that.

My oldest came home crying one afternoon because he claimed that he didn't have the money to allow her to play band and TOLD HER it was because he has to give me all his money. Really? Dude pays $150/month for 2 kids. And more importantly...WHY WOULD YOU TELL YOUR KID THAT?! Way to be a manipulative jerk. Not to mention the fact that he tells our daughter that he doesn't have the money yet now he's trying to tell me they have "plenty of money." It's always whatever lie is convenient at the time.

So I told her that I would make sure she is able to participate in band. All that had to be paid for was the instrument. I spent the evening looking online and found several options between craigslist and Amazon.com...was able to find a trombone for $75. So now my child will be able to participate in something new that she wants to do. Because THAT is important to me.

He also loves to make it seem like HE does EVERYTHING. HE pays for EVERYTHING. Um, no. He doesn't pay for their enrollment fees at school. He doesn't pay for their school lunches. This year, I bought their school supplies and their field day shirts. He doesn't take them to the doctor and he certainly doesn't pay for it. He carries their insurance through his job, but he REFUSES to give me an insurance card for the girls. Ashlyn needed to go to the eye doctor so I called the company and they were able to mail me a copy of the cards. Actually...now that I'm thinking about it...apparently he doesn't pay for much of anything at all!

I took both girls to the eye doctor and paid the copay for each of their appointments AND paid the entire non-covered portion of their glasses. I didn't even ask him to pay any of it because I knew it would just be a fight and it wasn't worth it to me. They needed to go and Ashlyn needed glasses and I took care of it. Then he even had the nerve to start a fight with me because HE mistakenly thought the insurance company sent him a bill and told me that *I* was going to have to pay the $465. 1) According to our paperwork, we share the expenses in proportion to our income and since I have NO income that means HE should pay it all but I still paid what was due that day myself. And 2) IT WASN'T A BILL. Insurance companies don't send you a bill. They may decide not to pay out for it and the DOCTOR sends you a bill...but the insurance company doesn't bill you for services.

He seriously argued with me about it forever and said "I pay for medical monthly not my fault you cant follow guidelines of the insurance." Well it IS his fault that I don't have the information because he REFUSES to give it to me. But I did what I was supposed to do...I presented the copy of the card at the appointment, made sure that they accepted that type of insurance, and I even paid the non-covered portion. What he got in the mail was a statement from the insurance company saying they needed more information from him before they could pay it off. So all he had to do was call the insurance company to give them whatever information they needed and then no big deal. But when I tried to explain it to him, all he wanted to do was argue. Oh and try to say "Im calling them and stating they are not to use my insurance unless notifying me first." Ah. There it is. Precisely the reason why he refused to give me the cards in the first place. Because he honestly thinks that he has a right to stop me from taking my children to the doctor. I'm sorry, but I'm their MOTHER and if they need to go then I'm damn well gonna do it. He didn't care at all that Ashlyn was having problems and NEEDED the glasses....he just wanted to control the situation and be "against" me. Because that's all that seems to matter to him.

ANYWAY...I went off on a bit of a tangent. Back to extra-curricular activities.

This year the girls didn't even play basketball because he didn't get them signed up in time. When they have played in the past, basketball is $35/kid. He said he paid $85 each for the girls to play softball. I just signed them both up for cheerleading and the total cost of that is $185 for Aubry and $175 for Ashlyn (minus a $25 discount for signing up multiple children). So he seriously wants to complain about the $170 he paid for one sport this year versus the $335 due for cheerleading PLUS $135 I paid for the girls eye appointments PLUS the money spent for Aubry's big school project this year...and everything else I've paid for. He currently has a good-paying job AND a live-in girlfriend with a job. So they are a 2 income household versus the fact that I get $150/month in cash each month for child support...but HE is the one complaining about money and telling my kids that he won't let them sign up for things they wanna do? Give me an effing break!

I'm just really tired of the selfishness and the crap. I don't CARE about him or what he thinks and I'm not gonna put up with his nonsense. He doesn't seem to get that his empty threats don't scare me. He can't bully me into submission because I'm obviously smarter than he is and I know better (the insurance bill is just ONE example). Not to mention the fact that when all is said and done...one day the girls are going to realize that while he was busy fighting me over stupid crap *I* was the one who made sure they were able to participate in everything they wanted to do...even when he said he couldn't or wouldn't make it happen for them. Maybe he should wake up and figure out that it's not about HIM anymore...grow up and realize you're a parent, dude.

Ahhh....feels better to vent. :P

GREAT Weekend

I'm awake with a massive headache. And vertigo. Vertigo is horrible. HORRIBLE. It's like...if you were to ride a swirling, twisting amusement park ride over and over and over...and then stop the ride. That feeling where the world still feels like it's spinning and you're going to throw up? That's what vertigo feels like. The room is SPINNING. I'm actually not too bad...until I lay down. I've had vertigo off and on before but it wasn't until the last year or so that it started to cause problems when I'm laying down...which kinda sucks when I want to sleep. I can't sleep sitting up...never have been able to recline and sleep. I guess except in a hospital bed where there is a squishy mattress and I can lift the foot of the bed, too. But at home...no.

For some people, vertigo is an ear problem. My mom has had it and the doctor told her it had something to do with "crystals" in her inner ear or something. Mine is a brain thing instead of an ear thing...just one more thing on the list of MS symptoms that I deal with. But...I have some meclizine and that usually helps a little bit. So hopefully I will be able to sleep soon. :)

But anyway...aside from that I had a really great weekend. Friday night, my oldest had a softball game. It was here and aside from being REALLY WINDY it was a pretty good game. She just started her first year of kid pitch so there's a lot of crazy pitches and walking instead of strikes and actually hitting the ball. But luckily there is a 5 run limit PLUS a 1.5 hour time limit. So that helps. After the game we came home and had dinner and showers and then went to bed kinda early since we had to be up early the next morning.

Saturday morning we headed to Botanica for their annual "Teddy Bear Picnic." They had groups of teddy bears set up around the children's garden and the girls had a lot of fun seeing everything. Of course, I got sick about half an hour after we got there. I handed off my camera to my mom and spent the rest of our visit in the bathroom. :-/ I've been having a lot of digestive problems lately which may or may not be related to my adhesive disease (where the organs in the abdomen are fused together by scar tissue). BUT...after a looong half hour or so, I met up with mom and the girls to finish walking back through the garden to leave.

I haven't finished the pictures but here is a quick one that I snapped before we left the children's garden (I'll try to share more on Wordless Wednesday):

Afterwards, we came back into town and went to my grandparents' house. It was my grandma's birthday and a bunch of the family came over for LOTS of food and good times. The adults chatted and the kids played outside all evening until it started thundering. We stayed until about 8pm or so and then we came home, showered, and stayed up watching movies. Well...I stayed up. They played hard and fell asleep before our movie was even over. ;)

Today was a relaxing day. We slept in a little bit and lounged around during the morning. Then the girls got dressed to play outside for a bit. It was muddy from the storm last night so they mostly rode their scooters around. It was cut short, though, because poor Ashlyn got stung by a wasp. It had apparently made its way into her shirt because she got stung THREE times on her stomach. It was my first experience with bee/wasp stings as a mother and I didn't like it. :( Poor kid was crying so hard. She came inside and we put an ice pack on it right away. One of them had already swollen quite a bit. She laid down on the couch while Aubry did some dishes and I fixed lunch. After lunch Ashlyn was feeling better. The two spots on her ribs were just two little dots and not red at all. The lower one on her stomach was still a bit red and swollen. I made a water/baking soda paste and covered it with a bandage to help even more. Then she was feeling all better and wanted to go play at my grandparents' house again. I let them go over for about an hour while I showered and cleaned house a bit. They got home and we had just enough time to play a couple games of Candyland before they had to go to their dad's house.

I actually got out of the house for once and went to spend the evening with a friend of mine. It was nice to just go DO something for awhile. I haven't been feeling well a lot lately so I have been kind of a homebody. But I actually dried my hair and put some make-up on and wore something other than my ratty house shoes. ;) Very low-key but great evening. And yay for Walmart being open 24-hours because I needed to stop and get a few groceries and things on my way home. Now...here I am. :) All in all...pretty good weekend!

Such a slacker...

I know...I'm such a blogger slacker. There are lots of posts sitting in my drafts folder...all half-finished and abandoned. I either got busy, got bored, or just changed my mind about what to write about. It's been a lot harder to get back into blogging after a year off than I thought it would be.

Plus I feel busy lately. Even if it's not a very "structured" busy with lots and lots of plans and such...I just FEEL like I have a lot to be doing. Cleaning house, researching and applying to grad schools, working on pictures, taking pictures, doing things with the kids, helping with their school projects, making dinner, running errands, trying to get my health back on track, etc. I just sit on the couch and my mind still goes 100 miles an hour.

For example, right now it's after midnight and I'm sitting on my couch with my laptop. I have a spreadsheet open that has all my grad school options listed. I've narrowed my list down to 10 schools. I already applied for FAFSA for all 10 and now I have to fill out all my applications. I'm all good except for the whole personal statement part. WHY it's so hard for me to write these stupid little 300-1000 word essays about myself, I really have no idea. I'm a writer...and I write about myself a lot! But I guess the fact that it's sort of a "make or break" situation concerning admission...there just feels like more pressure. BLAH.

Anyway...I also have my Paint Shop Pro Photo XI open and I'm editing pictures from last month's Family Fun Day at mom's (which seems to be taking forever to get done). I still haven't even worked on the pictures from Ashlyn's school field trip to the zoo last week. I think I'll take a break from these hundreds of fun day pictures and move on to the zoo pictures. See...mind still going in all directions.

I also have a video converter program open so that I can convert some of these video files into a format that will play on my dvd player. Then I also have facebook and email and google reader open. I pop over to MWOP every once in awhile. And then sometimes I get distracted thinking of something else and go look that up or whatever. And then sometimes I get hungry or thirsty and go to the kitchen. I have a lot of things I want to get done and I think trying to do everything at one time is actually slowing me down and not helping me be productive. Yet that's how I always do it...crazy multi-tasking. :P

And here I am again thinking this blog post is really, really boring and who really cares about any of this anyway? But hey...a post is a post. Maybe I'll be able to get back in the swing of things if I just start actually blogging! What a concept. :P

Boob Tube Finales

Linking up this week to talk some more about TV... SPOILER ALERT...I'm talking about some TV show finales so if you haven't seen them and don't want to be spoiled, don't look! :P 

 Yep...I watched the finale of Grey's Anatomy. And I think I'm in the minority but I actually liked it. I hated the Season 3 Yang/Burke wedding finale, Season 5 Izzie Cancer/George Dies finale, and the Season 7 shooting finale. Hmm...I guess next year I won't like the finale. :P I think how viewers feel about the finale depends on how they felt about Lexie. I really like Lexie...but she wasn't a make or break character for me. Plus, I'd already pretty much figured out she was going to be the one to go. She and Arizona were the only ones on the plane who hadn't re-upped their contracts and Lexie looked to be in a lot worse shape than Arizona. I really liked Lexie and Mark together and their scenes in the finale were pretty heartbreaking (I'll admit, I cried)...but I'll still watch. I'm just glad McSteamy will still be around because he's sexy no matter who he's with. ;) He looks like he needs some comforting...I'll volunteer! ;)

Let's see...what other finales have I been watching...

Private Practice - Aww...poor Amelia. It was a really sad episode but it was a pretty good one. Violet gets on my nerves at times but I really like Pete and hope everything works out with him. I didn't used to like Charlotte but she's become one of my favorites, too. The only part of the episode I didn't like was the end. I'm over the whole Sam and Addison thing and I think she should stick with Jake. I'll be irritated if she accepts Sam's lame proposal...too little too late, in my opinion. 

NCIS - GREAT episode. I don't think any of the main characters will die in that one. They left it open as a cliffhanger...but I think everyone will be okay. The biggest shock was Ducky having a heart attack at the end, but I know he has re-upped and will be back. 

Criminal Minds - I thought the finale was pretty good. I'm sad to see Emily go but I think it will all work out alright. I think it will depend more on if they replace her and who they replace her with. Now Rossi...I'll be very sad if he ever leaves. :P He had a lot of good episodes this season and I loved the arc they had with his first wife. He needed some comforting too...I'd volunteer for him, too. ;) I'm excited for the next season.  

Once Upon a Time - I liked the finale. I pretty much knew Emma was going to wake up Henry with "true love" because it's a fairytale, after all. I really just started watching this show because I was bored one night but I've really liked it. I'm glad it will be back next season. I'll be curious to see how they play it out with magic coming back. 

The Secret Circle - I only started watching this show because Joe Lando was on it and I like that guy. But...they made him a bad guy and then killed him off so...I wasn't that upset that the show wasn't renewed for a second season because I wouldn't have been watching anyway. But...it was interesting while I did watch it. I'd like to see Joe Lando on TV some more, though. ;) 

House and SVU finales will air next week. I hadn't been much into House the last couple years but the last episodes of the series have been pretty good. I'm kinda indifferent to it being the last season of that show. But I'm REALLY sad that CSI Miami won't be back...it was one of my favorites. Tripp and Walter were my favorite. :) SVU has had a really good year so I'm glad it will be back. I was afraid it would suck after Elliot left, but they've done a good job with it and I'm still watching. 

I'm glad Burn Notice will be starting again in about a month! I've missed it! So I'm really excited about that. Gene Simmons Family Jewels will be back again this month so it'll be nice to have some new episodes of a show to watch through the summer. Oh! And I'm really liking Ice Loves Coco so hopefully that will be back sometime soon, too. 

I think that's it! 

TV Moms

Pioneer Woman had a blog post about TV moms and it got me to thinking about other TV moms. Her list was good...especially Caroline from Little House on the Prairie! That one was my favorite on her list. Loved that show growing up. There have been a lot of good moms represented on TV as well as variety in what kind of moms they were.

So...here are some more TV moms that I liked...

Clair Huxtable (The Cosby Show) - She was smart and funny and was a career woman. She loved her kids and taught them right from wrong. I think she was trying to raise her children to be good people...and that's something that I think is important. And she was funny. :)

Jill Taylor (Home Improvement) - As a mom...I think she was someone people could relate to. She had an annoying husband but she loved him...and often was more like the single mom of four children. ;) She had three boys...which I can't relate to specifically but I do like the way she taught them right from wrong and was always there for her kids. I also liked that the had Jill go back to school...I think it's important to show that we can do that...and do it well.

Carol Brady (Brady Bunch) - I think it wasn't very realistic in the sense that she was a little too perfect most of the time...but a good mom nonetheless. It was interesting to see the dynamic of the blended family and how she dealt with that as the mother. Of course...I also think she shares that limelight with Alice who was the maid...Alice was awesome. :)

Lucy - (I Love Lucy) - I loved this show! Lucy was funny and quirky and just seemed like a neat type of mom to have. And she reminds me a LOT of my grandma.

Roseanne Barr (Roseanne) - Okay...so I know she's not a traditional choice but I still like her on the list. They are a completely dysfunctional family, but she loves her kids and is fiercely loyal to her family. She protects them and teaches them right from wrong...even if it's not in the way most people would do. She was funny and I liked the show. :)

What are some other TV moms you like? 

WWTK - Week 56

{1} Please describe your blog. Does it fall into one category or many? How has it changed from post one? - My blogs have always been kinda "about my life" sort of things. Now it's more...blog carnival answer things. Since coming back from hiatus, I've had a hard time deciding what to write about. 
{2} What 3 things do you LOVE about blogging? - I just love expressing myself. I love having something I can go back and look on. And I really love being able to keep up with friends as well as find new and interesting people around the world. 
{3} What 3 things do you DISLIKE about blogging? - I dislike stalkers. I dislike that I have to censor myself because of people like my ex-husband. And I dislike some of the drama that can come about (though I do follow a few trainwreck bloggers myself). 
{4} What 3 things do you WISH OTHER BLOGGERS would do? Any tips for them? - I don't really have any tips or wishes concerning other bloggers. I typically browse and find blogs I like and if there's something in particular about a blogger that I don't enjoy, I just don't follow along. Sometimes it's just a feeling, sometimes I just can't relate to them, sometimes it's opposing beliefs, and sometimes there's just nothing there that's entertaining. 
{5} I know we all have lots of blogs we read, but what are 3 blogs your never miss? - My friend Erin, Mimi, and Mamarazzi...but there are a lot more I follow, too.