I know I promised pictures of redneck trucks, but...

I've been just too lazy to upload pictures from my camera to the computer, from my computer to Photobucket.

But I've seen this super thing around blogs called Wordless Wednesday, and I think I'm going to adopt them for my blog, too (and I'll put the redneck truck in there). Some days I want to sort of update, but I'm too exhausted or apathetic to write about my extrasuperultraboring life.

I try not to complain about my life being boring and routine. Because I have friends who would kill for boring and routine. Boring and routine means that nothing is going terribly awry for now. And that's alright with me.

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I think Bean has been getting fevers associated with mosquito bites. The past few days, she's gone out in the backyard to play and come back with at least three mosquito bites. And an hour later, she's got a fever and a headache, and she'll nap for three hours. Her highest fever was 102.3, so not terrifying, but still high enough to give some medicine to bring it down. But she'll go to bed and wake up with no fever. But as soon as she goes outside and gets bitten again, she's got a fever again.

Our little area is rife with West Nile Virus in the mosquitoes, so maybe it's that. Or, my brother reacted the same way to mosquitoes when he was little. He'd swell up around the site of the bite, and he'd get fever. The pediatrician had told my mom that it was something like mosquito-induced encephalitis. Kind of scary.

So for now, I'm keeping her out of the backyard. I'm sure the bugs are just loving the weeds that have grown to the height of her knees. I've got to get her outside, though, or she'll start to get nutty. Maybe the park tonight.

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Speaking of the park, have you ever noticed how cliqué-y the park is with regards to moms?

I took Bean to the park the other day, and we were swinging.

A couple of (obvious) military moms showed up with four kids between them.

Now, I make a point of calling them military moms in particular because I live in a military town. And the park where I take Bean is very close to the army base, and therefore, a lot of military wives/moms take their kids there. And if you're not also a military wife and mother? Forget about it. They won't talk to anyone outside their little group.

Anyway.

Bean and I were swinging, and I was watching their interaction with their kids. Or lack thereof. They promptly parked it on the bench and talked on their cell phones while their kids called for them to come push them on the swings or catch them at the bottom of the slide. "In a little while!" the moms would call. Now, I understand having children. And I understand the exhaustion. And I understand just wanting to park your ass on a bench and let them entertain themselves. But it's what came next that sort of pissed me off.

One of the women's oldest boy, probably Bean's age, was on the tire swing. You know, they do it horizontally so three or four kids can fit on. Bean had been wanting to ride on it, but she was waiting for other kids to get on so that it would be more fun and more balanced. So she went over there to get on with him. I followed and pushed them so that they could swing and spin and laugh and scream. And because their feet couldn't touch the ground.

So I pushed them for about five minutes, and Army Moms just sat on the bench on their cell phones. Then the little boy's little sister wanted to get on, so I slowed down the swing. And the mom shot up and said, "No, honey, you can't. They're bigger than you and will go too fast." I told the little girl we were leaving in a couple minutes and that she could get on with her brother then.

So it was time to go, and Bean wanted to go down the slide a couple of times so I sat and waited for her. I looked over to the tire swing to see Army Moms piling all four kids on and spinning them and pushing them faster and higher than even I was pushing Bean and the little boy.

And then, as we were leaving the park area, Army Moms went back to their bench.

Huh. This might be nothing, but if felt very... exclusive. Like heaven forbid they might actually have to *gasp* speak to me. Or let their little ones play next to my kid.

I know it probably seems like nothing, but I felt like they didn't want to interact with me OR my child, and they gave some crusty old excuse to their daughter just to avoid the social interaction.

I really try to be friendly to other moms and kids when we go out in the hopes that I might make a new friend. Or that Bean might make a new friend. I don't know ANY moms around here, really. My husband's and brother-in-law's friends' women are slim pickins'. I mean, I like a few of them, but I wouldn't call them friends, and one woman I avoid all together because I just can't NOT stare at her boobs because they are ALWAYS.HANGING.OUT.



So, yes, tomorrow. Redneck truck. And maybe some other photos. Who knows?