Manscaping: verb:

A term used to define male grooming below the belt.   A male can use both an electric razor or a regular razor. A Mach 3 is preferable with the ladies on the testicular area. No female likes to deal with hairy balls, so men must education themselves on proper manscaping and maintenance techniques

This is a term I became familiar with via “Sex in the City“. It’s the male version of taking care of the “bikini area” for us females.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think Manscaping had made it to Mott, ND.  I thought it was one of the “Metrosexual” tendencies that you usually find in huge metropolitan area…I was wrong!

Not only is it in Mott, ND, it is in the locker of the Mott/Regent High School!

So ladies, guard your razors cuz you might be fighting your sons for them…ROFL!

Here is where the blubbering idiot part comes in.  I stopped to pick up the mail because I knew I had a bunch of new books waiting for me…that, in itself, is cause for a Christmas-like glee in me. But what I found in my personal mailbox was more like a Christmas Miracle.

Our tax bill to the feds and the state is, in my small world, equivalent to the national war debt. And let this serve as a caveat for you should you ever decide to prematurely pull money out of your 401K…

I pulled money out of my 401K to pay some bills. When I requested the money my fund administrator took 20% off the top for the feds. What I didn’t know was that the feds were going to penalize me another 20% of the gross at tax time and the state took 10% of the gross to penalize me.  So 50% of the money I took out ended up going to the two governments…I was under the mistaken impression that the 20% taken at the time the funds were withdrawn was going to be the extent of it.  I was WRONG!!!

So back to my Miracle.  I’d been stressing since discovering how much our tax bill was going to be. We decided to file an extension and have an accountant go over it and make sure I didn’t screw-up anywhere, plus it would give me time to sell all my photography equipment to cover the bill. My photography equipment was the only thing I could think of that might get us close to covering the bill.

OK, here is the Miracle part…today in the mail was a check for about 80% of my tax bill! It came from the bank that we did business with in Las Vegas before we moved a couple of years ago. The explanation accompanying the bill says it’s a credit balance refund found in a final audit of an account we closed a few years ago.  Which means I don’t have to sell my equipment.  Just thinking about it makes me start crying all over again.  What can I say, I’m a blubbering idiot and an emotional basket case!

Initially they wanted me to cover the Mott Varsity football game tomorrow but Brian and I are trying to get out of town for his birthday…so they asked me to cover the Mott Volleyball game on Tuesday, September 1st.  Should be interesting.  Wish me luck!  I’ll post what I submit next week.  In the meantime…have a wonderful weekend!

So there was a post with a title similar to mine…which, of course, I had to open.  It was all about the website “Ugliest Tattoos.com”.  Now, I find tattooing fascinating.  Some of the artistry out there is beyond belief…and to think it’s done with ink on a canvas of skin.  I can usually find something to appreciate with all art…with the exception of the so-called “art” on the ugliest tattoo website! WOW! Talk about tacky!  Well, I will leave it to you to decide…if you are strong enough and/or curious enough.  Just to warn you, I’ve posted an example of some of what you can see there…and this is a very mild, PG-rated example.  Make sure you check out the website: www.ugliesttattoos.com

Now THAT'S a six-pack ab!

The two Las Vegans who are not used to seeing too much snow, woke up at the “butt crack” of dawn to play in it.  I didn’t venture too far cuz I’m still in my pjs, but David through on his Dad’s winter clothes and went out in it.

I don’t know what David and I are going to do about how cold it is…all either of us packed to stay in the rental was shorts and t-shirts.  Neither one of us has a pair of long pants or a jacket between us!

Yes, I could go to the rental and pull out boxes of winter clothes, but they are at the very back, because let’s face it, who, the HELL, would have thought I would be dealing with snow in June???  NOT ME!

Well, here is a picture of Mr. Scooby Doo, checking out the white stuff from 7am this morning! He liked prancing in it, but really loved coming in the house and getting toweled down! Daphne, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with any of it.  Too funny!  Should make for a totally unproductive day!

The Poolside is also called “The Drive-In”. No, there isn’t a movie screen, nor are there little islands you can park next to for ordering and meal delivery. But then I am off the subject again.

Back to the topic at hand.

So Danielle was working today and the “big” topic of conversation was the storm the the weather folks are predicting. Apparently they are predicting some heavy rain but the are also calling for temps in the mid-30′s.

Initially I laughed when I heard this…thinking “impossible!”…but then I also remembered the temp has not been much over 70 for the week we’ve been living here. So I guess it is possible, but probable??? I don’t think so!! Only time will tell, I guess.

On a side note, we’ve been gone from Las Vegas little more than a week and we are getting our first visitor tomorrow! Mom, Rochell, arrives shortly after noon, central time, tomorrow. I’m so excited to see her! I’m dragging her off to see the house we are getting and am hoping she will fall in love with it and order one for herself!! Keep your finger crossed for us! LOL!!

View from the Front Window

This is the view from the front window during our “snow storm” from the other day, Monday, I think it was.  As I mentioned in the post below…I am just now getting the photos downloaded off the card.

So we had snow again yesterday.  On the rare occasion that Vegas gets snow, it usually hits my area…the NW part of Vegas, as was the case on Monday.  However, yesterday, it started snowing again, only it hit everywhere BUT the NW part of town where we are.  In fact the South and East parts of town got upwards of 8″ of snow yesterday!

Yeah! 8″ of snow, in LAS VEGAS!!!  When people talk about hell freezing over, most people think of Vegas…between being know as “sin city” and the fact that it gets so freakin hot here in the Summer, but it officially froze over yesterday.

We did get a lot of snow yesterday, so much so that THEY SHUT DOWN THE SCHOOLS FOR TODAY!  Yesterday was an “in service” day (teachers and admin working but kids were off) and today is a snow day!  I’m stuck home with my kid for 2 days!!!  (just kidding)

Meanwhile, Brian is in North Dakota for a job interview (I’m anxiously waiting by the phone for his call).  He flew out early yesterday morning…before Las Vegas’ McCarren airport started cancelling flights (thank goodness he got out!).

When we found out he was going to ND for a job interview I started nagging at him to get some cold weather clothes…specifically a coat.  He asked if I thought Kohl’s would have warm jackets.  Ah, Yeah, cold for Las Vegas coats…not cold for ND coats.  I told him he needed to go to a sporting goods store where they sold ski supplies.  Did he listen, NO!  So as soon as he got in his rental car, he called to bitch about how cold it was in ND and that he almost froze to death.  (UM, HELLO!  Did I not tell him to get his ass to Sportsmart???)  He informed me that he was on his way to Schiel’s to get some warm clothes.  MEN!!!  Would it kill them to listen to their wives?  We might actually save them some pain and suffering!!!

My house, lightly bathed in snow.

David and I overslept this morning.  We woke up at 8:30 this morning, which is the time we normally leave for school!  David came running in to tell me that it was snowing but it was melting as soon as it hit the ground.  He was also sorta concerned that he wasn’t going to have time to have breakfast if he was going to get to school on time.  Guess what, don’t worry about getting to school on time today!  “HUH?” was his response.

First thing in the morning, David’s class has “specials”…which is PE, Music, Art or Library.  Monday and Wednesday mornings are PE and they weren’t going to be playing outside in this weather so I told him to get ready for school.  Then we took a “field trip”.  We stopped at McDonald’s for an Egg McMuffin breakfast, then we headed up the hill to where my Mom’s house was thinking that the difference in elevation would be the difference between the snow sticking or melting.  I was right, the snow was sticking up by my Mom’s old house.  I finally got David to school about 9:45.

When I got home the phone rang.  It was the company in North Dakota Brian had interviewed with.  Brian had thought the interview sucked because they were asking him, in the interview, for all kinds of computer skills that were not mentioned anywhere on the job listing.  Well, this morning they called to ask if Brian could be in Dickinson, ND for an interview on Thursday.  $1000 dollars later, I have him booked for a flight that leaves at the “butt crack” of dawn on Wednesday morning and brings him back home on Saturday afternoon.   If you are so inclined, say a prayer that he arrives safely and gets home safely.  The upside is that he will be at his brother’s house for his Birthday on Thursday.  The other upside is that he can hand carry our Christmas gifts, the downside is that I have to get my ass in gear and get them finished and wrapped! EEK!

And how was your Monday? OY!