The Joys of Working for the State

Ok, so, I got a pretty good job last winter working for the State. I'd been out of a job for several months, and REALLY needed one! A friend of mine worked for a certain department in State Government and they had an opening, so he recommended me. I applied, and was lucky enough to get the position. It's been a good gig....made some new friends, learned some useless new skills, have awesome benefits, the hours aren't bad (although I drive an hour each way now...used to be just a few blocks from work!)

So, its all good, right? Yeah, well, know all State employees are turning blue from holding our breath. The Legislature of our fine state.....headed by a Speaker of the House who appears to be wearing a dead muskat on his head....could not set a budget for the next fiscal year during their regular session. So, they get called back for a Special Session to finalize one. Today is the end of the fiscal year....it is 1:30 PM and still no budget. If one is not signed into law by midnight, State Government shuts down.

Let's recap, shall we? The elected officials of our state....those we voted in to make decisions for us....could not accomplish their JOB during the time appointed to do so. So, they get OVERTIME to come back and not do their job AGAIN. All the while, we are paying them, paying for their gas, lodging, haircuts, food, etc. These people have other jobs outside the Legislature. That is NOT their sole support. So, they are raking in the dough and having a dick-measuring contest....while we are all in limbo.

Hmmm, if I don't do my job in the appointed time...I GET FIRED!! I don't get to come back and have another shot at it and the chance to make even more!!! WTF??? My job is my ONLY source of income. If I can't come to work tomorrow, I don't get paid! I won't even get paid for my 4th of July holiday!

On the up side, I have spent a lot more time on Pajiba today.....I mean, if they can screw off on taxpayer dollars, why can't I?

Ok, so haven't posted anything of real value lately, and this won't be either. But, what the hell? It's 8:30 AM on a Wednesday and I'm already bored. So, I might as well bore you all too!!!

Work is going ok....officially hit my 6 months mark with the State on Monday, so I am now a full-fledged employee of the great State of Indiana. WOO-HOO!!!

Home is great......still going through a lot of adjustments, but it's wonderful. I am not used to having anyone be so kind and attentive and caring. I am not used to falling asleep in someone's arms every night, and waking up that way lots of mornings, too. I have never been happier in my life.

Wedding planning progresses......who knew there was so much to figure out? Have I forgotten all that, or did I just not do it before, or what??? We want it to be very casual...come as you are, wear shorts, or jeans, or whatever. Got my cake topper (WOO!) and next week I'm ordering the flowers. Also next week, probably going to have a meeting with my chief "planners," Amanda, Lisa & Janet, to decide on some things. Mark has made it pretty clear that he just wants to show up!! And, that's ok....I guess all this planning is really more of a girl thing. The only thing that REALLY matters is, at the end of the day on July 25, I will be Mrs. Mark Miller...now and forever. And, ABOUT DAMNED TIME!!! (that part is TOTALLY my fault!)

Anybody know of any half-decent used cars for sale, cheap?? Trying to find something for Amanda. Good God, she and Jeremy are both SENIORS!!!! WTF???

And, the big news this week is that my daughter, Myrtle the Fertile Turtle (Brittany) is apparently pregnant.....again. I'm not really happy, but what can I do? She's a married woman now. Oy! 3 kids under 3. Have fun with that.

Yeah, so I'm just rambling.........

Bonnie & Mark
Our Wedding Date
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Just a reminder about the long-awaited upcoming wedding! Remember, it's going to be a very casual family affair. We hope you can be there with us. Time....1 PM at Greg & Janet Foster's, 803 S. 600 E. More info coming soon!
Love Bonnie & Mark













-->

Proud Mom, Beautiful Daughter


2 incredibly handsome men (yes, Mark is slouching to make Jeremy look taller!)

Trae, Amanda & Jeremy....all very lovely!!


Well, down to the last week in the cracker box apartment. Got some of the big stuff out over the weekend, when Mark had his dad's truck. But, still more to go. Amanda, Trae & Jeremy all seemed to have a great time at prom last Saturday, and they all looked wonderful. Amanda looked like a princess. Steven is going to try staying with Tom for a while...maybe a teenage boy needs to get to know his dad. So, over all, things are going extraordinarily well.....


That's what something that happened yesterday has me a little confused. Actually, it started Saturday. After Mark & I dropped the kids off for their ride in the mondo-truck-limo for prom, we went to get something to eat. On the way back, we passed....someone I haven't seen in several months. I know you have read my blog before, so if you are reading, you know who you are. Anyway, I was a little weirded out, but waved. I explained to Mark what was going on as the little green car turned behind us.

So, that was just a little.....odd. Not unexpected in a town this size, but odd nonetheless. On to yesterday...Mark & Jeremy had unloaded some big stuff, Mark & I had unloaded some shelves, and were unloading some boxes to take into the house. Mark had just taken a box in the house, and I was getting one out of the van when the same green car goes past. Again, not that unusual you might say...except that my new home is about 10 minutes out of town, on the county line road, in an extremely rural community. For him/you to be out there, right then, was either an extremely bizarre coincidence, or ... you were looking for me.

For anyone reading this, just so you know.....I am marrying Mark. Being dumped was the greatest thing that has ever happened to me, because it freed me to find what was right before my eyes the whole time. The fact that Mark still wants me after I left him to go back all those years ago is mind-boggling. I have never been so happy, or known so absolutely what I want or where I belong. Being with him is ... being home. So, checking up will change nothing. What we thought we had was never really as real as we imagined. THIS is real.

So, anywho, thanks for reading....and save July 25 on your calendars, because that will be the happiest day of my life!

Quite often, y'all know I steal completely from my friends in the on-line world....here, I'm gonna steal a little, and write a little of my own....

Last week, this world lost a beautiful soul.... a woman I had never met, but yet know with every fiber of my being that I would have enjoyed hanging out with, talking about obnoxious movies, books, TV, etc. Like me, she was not a "girly girl" but a tomboy...a zombie killer, a fighter in ways I cannot even imagine. Her name was Amanda Amos, but most of us in cyber-space knew her as Alabama Pink.

She was a frequent commenter on my favorite addiction, Pajiba. She also had her own blog, Whoa! Camel. A year or so ago, she was diagnosed with leukemia. Instead of hiding her pain from the world, she blogged about it. She was amazingly open about it...the pain, the fear, the hope, the treatments, the loneliness. She talked about her husband and young son. She talked about her parents. She talked about EVERYTHING. And that drew us all in. She was so eloquent in her ravings that we all fell in love with her. We listened, we talked to her, we sent her gifts, we sent money, we laughed, we cried, and mostly, we prayed.

But, last week, all that came to naught. Valiant though she was, the disease got the upper hand and Amanda's fight was over. Pajiba posted a wonderful picture of Patricia Arquette as Alabama in "True Romance" on their banner stating, "In Loving Memory, Alabama Pink" and ran what amounted to a sort of obit column. It was one of the most heartfelt things I have ever read. Then, following that column, the readers of Pajiba took over.....hundreds of us....ordinary schmucks who had never actually met this woman.....told stories about how she had touched us and how we would miss her. It was, to quote Tom Cruise in "Taps" ...."Beautiful, man, BEAUTIFUL!!!""

Several other columns followed, as did many other blogs. It's funny how one person, in the day and age of the internet, can touch so many people's hearts and lives. I am going to copy Pajiba's article from today, because there is some important information in it. But, before I do, I just want to say...Alabama....you were so cool.......

This site has been around for five years in June, and we’ve never been so proud to be a part of it as we were last Thursday. It was the worst of circumstances, but we were completely overwhelmed and touched by what transpired. The outpouring of grief and tears and affection and … fuck it … *love* that you all displayed after hearing about the passing of AlabamaPink — a woman none of you have ever met — was nothing short of magical. It was as though we were witness to a virtual, worldwide slow clap that built and built over the course of the day (and night) celebrating the wonderful life of Amanda Amos. It was the classiest thing we’ve ever seen on the Internet or otherwise. And it wasn’t just on the pages of Pajiba — there were tributes to AlabamaPink on blogs too countless to link, and all over Facebook; Skitz’s AlabamaPink seal began popping up in lots of profile pages. We were so moved by it all, we were tempted to change the site’s tagline to Scathing Reviews, Spectacular People.
We’ve all had a few days now to process Amanda’s passing, and if you haven’t read them yet, I’d like to point you to her husband’s most recent posts: The Last 24 Hours of Amanda’s life and Adrian’s own thoughts about the passing of Amanda. I’ll warn you: They may crush you. They are heartbreaking, and we can’t thank Adrian enough for sharing his thoughts so openly. It takes a lot of strength and courage to open your life up to thousands of friends and strangers. We can’t possibly put into words the amount of respect and admiration we have for Adrian. Really, they are just an amazing, wonderful family.
Over the last few days, we’ve also received a lot of suggestions. There are a lot of you out there who want to do something for Amanda’s family, to channel your sadness into something positive. Something tangible. We weighed a lot of the ideas, and what we’d really like to do is focus it in one place. Their church is putting together a Scholarship Fund for Amanda’s son, Alastair. And if you have anything to spare — $5, $10, $20 — it’d mean a lot to making a lasting contribution to her son’s future. Checks can be made out to the United Christian Church. Write “Alastair Amos” in the memo line. Those checks can be sent to P.O. Box 70759, Richmond, VA 23255.
We can’t thank you enough.
If you’re not in a position to contribute financially, we encourage you all to donate blood to the American Red Cross or put yourself on a bone marrow list. Hopefully, somebody out there can help prevent this happening to someone else. We think that would’ve meant a lot to Amanda.
Amanda’s New Orleans style service will take place this Sunday. There is a remote possibility that Adrian can get it webcast, but in any respect, please do send all your good vibes to Richmond this Sunday.
And finally, Adrian sent us the picture below of Amanda, writing: “The background swallows up the ginormity of her hand-cannon, but here’s Amanda in her 2006 Halloween costume. I was Ash that year, and together we kicked some zombie butt. Unfortunately the movies get it wrong: Zombie apocalypses always end in the total destruction of the human race. But we never lost heart, and I stood by her with my boomstick to the bitter end.”
Like we said: Amazing family.

The lovely Amanda....

Like, it’s TOTALLY an 80’s show!

Director Chante Wells, and Producer Bonnie Locchetta are pleased to announce auditions for Rush County Players long-awaited 80’s musicale, “Video Killed the Radio Star!” Auditions will be held at the Playhouse, 201 N. Morgan Rushville, on Monday, March 16, Tuesday, March 17, and Wednesday, March 18, from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm. Music and scripts will be provided for those auditioning.

“Video Killed the Radio Star!” is a scripted musicale, celebrating the hits of the MTV generation. Artists from Duran Duran to Tina Turner will be represented as the Montridge High Class of 1989 hold their final prom of the ‘80’s. Roles include students attending the prom, as well as teachers acting as chaperones! Those auditioning must be at least high school age. Thirty roles have been scripted, but “extras” may be needed to attend the prom as well! And, yes, there will be some dancing, but it’s 80’s dancing! How hard can that be?

Rehearsals will begin on Monday March 30, and will be held on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays at the Playhouse, also from 6:30-8:30 pm. This production will be held in a more “dance” oriented venue---the Rushville Elks Ballroom. The performances will be “in-the-round”, to put the audience closer to the show. And, audience members will be chaperones for the “dance” as well! Show-dates are May 1 at 8:00 pm, May 2 at 8:00 pm, and May 3 at 2:00 pm..

If you want to be totally rad and cool, come and revisit the years when MTV actually showed music videos! For more information, call 938-1711, or visit www.rushcountyplayers.org. And, like, it’ll be EXCELLENT!