Morning is a stupid time of day. Don't try to tell me otherwise, for as surely as I'm sitting here I will sock you in the jaw if you contradict me. Morning...who came up with that idea, anyway? I know afternoon would not be nearly as fabulous without the cursed morning to give it perspective but there must be another way.
Morning in winter is even stupider. It's dark outside. The sun has risen and it's dark outside. The sky is grayish white, which in the morning is a hideous thing to behold. The sky is whitey-gray, the ground and trees and cars and playground are covered with snow. Everything I see is the same color. Even the bright, cheery kite that's been stuck in that tree over there for months is white. Stupid morning. Stupid snow. If it has to be morning there might as well be some sunshine.
One of the things I really despise about morning is that I'm awake during it. I'd much rather be sleeping. I would like to experience as little of morning as is humanly possible. But...my sleeping schedule is whacking out from too many weirdly houred Christmas parties, especially that game night with the cousins that got us home at 2:30 a.m.
Darn you, morning. Why can't you start in the afternoon?!
-----
Oh yes, I'm back by the way. The holiday craziness is over for another year and I'm finally able to sit grumpily at my computer and complain to the world about the petty things in life again. Like morning. Stupid...stupid...hate...morning....
Christmas was basically fabulous. It was all it was hyped up to be...tons of yummy, yummy food, wild family get togethers, even more playing with GooberBear and Munchkin than I had hoped and dreamed. It was a poor (financially speaking) Christmas for us so I wasn't expecting much in the way of presents, but Jeremy got me the perfect gifts (The Life of Our Lord...one of the few Dickens I'd yet to attain, It's a Wonderful Life, a tin with three Charlie Brown holiday soundtracks, and tons of candy). By joining his family I also became related to a wildly sweet and generous aunt and uncle who dumped gifts on us from the sky...fun gifts but also gifts we really needed, like clothes and money to buy groceries with.
It was one of those Christmases that leaves you humble in its wake, one that has you remembering how much God is taking care of you and how blessed you are to have great family and friends to share it with (it does nothing for your feelings about morning, however).
-----
I suppose if I had any kids at this point I'd be babbling about what they'd done or said or how they'd acted this Christmas, so in their place I'll let you in on what Mutton Chop, the hamster of joy and affection, has been up to.
Mutton Chop, in the second year of her life, has turned into destructo hamster. She had already destroyed one water bottle and we've fixed her wheel with extra bits of plastic and superglue (and most recently, duct tape), so it probably should not have surprised us that she gnawed three gigantic holes in her second water bottle this past week.
Oh Mutton Chop. You can't really be mad at her or teach her a lesson about this since she has a tiny, tiny brain. At least I think she has a brain. Anyway, J has declared that we shall not buy her any more water bottles (they are, after all, $5 a pop), so we've been trying to get her to drink out of a little dish. This has turned into a disgustingly wet, smelly affair because hamsters hate all things wet. Being a desert creature she instantly throws a tons of shavings in the water dish trying to dry it up...so I empty the dumb thing and put fresh water in constantly and I think after a few days I actually saw her drink out of it once. I let out a yelp of triumph and then realized she was drinking water with a turd floating in it. GROSS.
Monday, December 31, 2007
Monday, December 17, 2007
my little tiny snowman
The past week has been a flurry of activity, hence the lack of journal entries. Today, however, things slowed down. We had a 'blizzard' over the weekend and so the maintenance man woke me bright and early by snow-blowing the walk below our window. I stretched, I yawned, I opened the curtains and oh, behold the snow!I hate snow, but was seized with the irresistible desire to make a snowman on our balcony. After fifteen minutes of flailing in the cold I finally realized it was not snowmanish snow, it was powdery stupid snow. The one time I need snow, want snow, to accomplish the ends to my madness I got nothin'. So I just tied a scarf around the poof on top of the little table we keep out there and threw in some bouncy ball eyes. Hooray!
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
insomnia and nerd-dome
Blehhhh. I'm a tired girl. Night before last J and I were hit with insomnia. Boring, mind-numbing insomnia - J got three hours of sleep before heading to work and I got four before our neighbors decided to start fighting and wake me up. Needless to say yesterday evening we both sat in front of the TV and stared mindlessly, even though the writer's strike has officially hit and there were only stupid repeats. We did this because we had several conversations going something like this:
"*mumble* hmmanumana"
"Huh?"
"yuhgabadee."
"Oh."
"What?"
"Huh?"
It was a long, confusing night.
Today, however, I woke up (to the neighbors fighting again) and made sure all my Christmas cards were stamped and ready to go (they are, yay!!)...well that's about it so far. My mind is still sort of numb and after a couple weeks of feeling pretty good my FMS is flaring up a little. So...I'm stealing the following thingy from my mama because let's face it...today is no day for original composition.
-----
What have you just read?
I recently finished a streak of Sinclair Lewis works - from most recent back: Kingsblood Royal, Babbitt, Dodsworth, and Ann Vickers.
What are you reading now?
Stories for Christmas (Charles Dickens) - a collection of long and short stories that appeared in various Dickens publications that I'm finding quite amusing and alternately a little disturbing. 700+ pages of goodness from my favorite author.
and The Brethren (John Grisham) - which I recently picked up at a rummage sale. I don't normally read two books at once since I'm easily distracted and confused, but Stories for Christmas is large and heavy and I needed a lighter, less arm-straining book for my bubble bath reading.
Do you have any idea what you'll read when you're done with that?
Truman Capote's first novel, Summer Crossing, that we got used at Barnes and Noble (that most wondrous of book stores!).
What's the worst thing you were ever forced to read?
Moby Dick. I hate Moby Dick. It's boring and long. And The House of the Seven Gables - curse you, Hawthorne, for putting me through that. And Catch-22 - oh my gosh. BORING. Redundant. Preachy. The kind of book that makes you want to stab out your eyes.
What's one book you always recommend to just about anyone?
I can never recommend just one, but I'll try to keep it short:
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Hiding Place
Jane Eyre
Dracula
Admit it, sadly the librarians at your library know you on a first name basis, don't they?
They don't because J and I are the book-owning kind of nerds and not the library kind - we prefer to deck our apartment with hundreds of volumes of classic lit, history books, and the like and then choose what's next from our own shelves. Our library sustains us quite well. They do recognize J from when he came as a kid to book hours and things and laugh because we usually only hit up the library to check out movies.
Is there a book you absolutely love, but for some reason, people never think it sounds interesting, or maybe they read it and don't like it at all?
To Kill a Mockingbird. I love it to death, it's my #1 fave and for some reason whenever I recommend it people are like 'eh.' - and they either never touch it or say they read it in high school and didn't like it. Foolish people.
Do you read books while you eat?
I have tried for years to master this practice, but have failed. I either end up reading and forgetting I was eating my food or have to close my book and eat first...I just can't seem to keep the book open while I use my fork, spoon, or hand to eat. It's too unwieldy, it's just too hard.
While you bathe?
All the time. I never bathe without a book, and usually if I'm looking around the apartment and can't find my volume it's because I've left it in the bathroom from when I took my bath. I have only dropped my book in the tub once or twice, but I've ruined many a bookmark from this particular habit.
While you watch movies or TV?
TV, not movies. Books are a great commercial-filler.
While you listen to music?
Yep.
While you're on the computer?
Not all the time, but I have been known to sit and check email with a book open at my elbow.
When you were little did other children tease you about your reading habits?
When I was little my friends were even nerdier about books than I...talking about you, Betty and Melissa...
What's the last thing you stayed up half the night reading because it was so good you couldn't put it down?
I know that this has happened, but if it's night I'm usually wiped out and even when I want to stay up reading I fall asleep. J has closed my book and turned out my light for me countless nights because I just can't do it.
Have any books made you cry?
Jane Eyre, David Copperfield, Beloved (Toni Morrison), East of Eden, The Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Jungle, ... I'm just gonna stop and say yes, many books have made me cry.
-----
Now THAT was a questionnaire I enjoyed. I love books, I just love 'em...it's put me in the mood and I'm gonna knock off a few more Dickens' Christmas stories. :)
"*mumble* hmmanumana"
"Huh?"
"yuhgabadee."
"Oh."
"What?"
"Huh?"
It was a long, confusing night.
Today, however, I woke up (to the neighbors fighting again) and made sure all my Christmas cards were stamped and ready to go (they are, yay!!)...well that's about it so far. My mind is still sort of numb and after a couple weeks of feeling pretty good my FMS is flaring up a little. So...I'm stealing the following thingy from my mama because let's face it...today is no day for original composition.
-----
What have you just read?
I recently finished a streak of Sinclair Lewis works - from most recent back: Kingsblood Royal, Babbitt, Dodsworth, and Ann Vickers.
What are you reading now?
Stories for Christmas (Charles Dickens) - a collection of long and short stories that appeared in various Dickens publications that I'm finding quite amusing and alternately a little disturbing. 700+ pages of goodness from my favorite author.
and The Brethren (John Grisham) - which I recently picked up at a rummage sale. I don't normally read two books at once since I'm easily distracted and confused, but Stories for Christmas is large and heavy and I needed a lighter, less arm-straining book for my bubble bath reading.
Do you have any idea what you'll read when you're done with that?
Truman Capote's first novel, Summer Crossing, that we got used at Barnes and Noble (that most wondrous of book stores!).
What's the worst thing you were ever forced to read?
Moby Dick. I hate Moby Dick. It's boring and long. And The House of the Seven Gables - curse you, Hawthorne, for putting me through that. And Catch-22 - oh my gosh. BORING. Redundant. Preachy. The kind of book that makes you want to stab out your eyes.
What's one book you always recommend to just about anyone?
I can never recommend just one, but I'll try to keep it short:
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Hiding Place
Jane Eyre
Dracula
Admit it, sadly the librarians at your library know you on a first name basis, don't they?
They don't because J and I are the book-owning kind of nerds and not the library kind - we prefer to deck our apartment with hundreds of volumes of classic lit, history books, and the like and then choose what's next from our own shelves. Our library sustains us quite well. They do recognize J from when he came as a kid to book hours and things and laugh because we usually only hit up the library to check out movies.
Is there a book you absolutely love, but for some reason, people never think it sounds interesting, or maybe they read it and don't like it at all?
To Kill a Mockingbird. I love it to death, it's my #1 fave and for some reason whenever I recommend it people are like 'eh.' - and they either never touch it or say they read it in high school and didn't like it. Foolish people.
Do you read books while you eat?
I have tried for years to master this practice, but have failed. I either end up reading and forgetting I was eating my food or have to close my book and eat first...I just can't seem to keep the book open while I use my fork, spoon, or hand to eat. It's too unwieldy, it's just too hard.
While you bathe?
All the time. I never bathe without a book, and usually if I'm looking around the apartment and can't find my volume it's because I've left it in the bathroom from when I took my bath. I have only dropped my book in the tub once or twice, but I've ruined many a bookmark from this particular habit.
While you watch movies or TV?
TV, not movies. Books are a great commercial-filler.
While you listen to music?
Yep.
While you're on the computer?
Not all the time, but I have been known to sit and check email with a book open at my elbow.
When you were little did other children tease you about your reading habits?
When I was little my friends were even nerdier about books than I...talking about you, Betty and Melissa...
What's the last thing you stayed up half the night reading because it was so good you couldn't put it down?
I know that this has happened, but if it's night I'm usually wiped out and even when I want to stay up reading I fall asleep. J has closed my book and turned out my light for me countless nights because I just can't do it.
Have any books made you cry?
Jane Eyre, David Copperfield, Beloved (Toni Morrison), East of Eden, The Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Jungle, ... I'm just gonna stop and say yes, many books have made me cry.
-----
Now THAT was a questionnaire I enjoyed. I love books, I just love 'em...it's put me in the mood and I'm gonna knock off a few more Dickens' Christmas stories. :)
Sunday, December 9, 2007
nooooo!
Mama just emailed to tell me that Sillyhead, the sister of delight and crazyness tripped and cut her head open this morning at church and has eight stitches...and now the phone is busy and I can't call to calm my worried sister mind!
Nooooo!!!!
Nooooo!!!!
Saturday, December 8, 2007
a very merry questionairre
It's true. I stole this from my Mama's blog.
We have two, soon to be three. The first is from J's sister when she went to Venezuela years ago. It's less than an inch tall, but cultural and cute. The second is about the same size, but made of ceramic...from J's childhood. We're inheriting his folk's old nativity (a more 'normal' sized one this year since they got a new one, so that's exciting. The one I unChristianally covet is made by Willow Tree, as you see on the left. Of course I love just about everything I've seen made by Willow Tree, but oh my gosh, I just adore this nativity set. Perhaps one day...
My brother-in-law. I have everyone else done and so far my ideas for him include....nothing. Everything he likes has to do with hunting and fishing and all manner of outdoors and thus anything to do with those hobbies is pricey, so I've come up with nada. Last year I think all he got from us was an assortment of candy. Poor guy.
J. I know everything he likes and my biggest problem with him is not buying him a thousand things.
Well. Sorry, Gramma C. One year when she was poor and I was like 11 or 12 she sent me a used spatula for Christmas. It was kind of a let down...
Mail!!! Yay! I know this phase of card writing will one day dwindle, but I just love jotting personal notes and addressing cards and applying stamps and sending them on their merry way.
It's a Wonderful Life and White Christmas are tied in my heart. The thing is there are so many different types and styles of holiday movies that I find my list of faves is huge because none of them really compare to each other.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
Usually the urge hits me around June...I start scouting for deals and piling things up so the spending isn't a deathblow in December. J adores Christmas so as soon as Christmassy things hit the store shelves he loves to buy little ornaments or crafts for us to do, and we can afford it if I have most of the shopping done by then. He's so cute browsing the aisles and looking at everything. :)
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
Oh of course. Who hasn't? There's not much else you can do with all those bottles and cans.
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
Cookies! Nog! Rolls!
16. Clear lights or colored on the tree?
Every manner of small twinkling lights...and by twinkling I mean not flashing or pulsing or any headache-inducing spectacle. Just little lights all aglow.
17. Favorite Christmas song?
Oh Holy Night.
18. Travel for Christmas or stay home?
This year, being poor, we are staying home. And by home I mean on Christmas Eve we have a get together with the Groovys almost all day, and sometime before that is the Funny Side's Christmas festivities. And Christmas Day we open our presents from each other in the morning and then probably head down to Blondie's for the day. Basically by staying home I mean we don't get to see my side of the family since they are across state borders. :(
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?
I admit to you...no. I never can remember all their names, probably because it's very infrequent that I try.
20. Angel on the treetop or a star?
My special, beautiful porcelain tree-top angel is about half the size of our tiny tree, so until a larger tree is procured she graces the top of a bookcase and a kind of corny, shiny star tops our baby tree.
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?
Last year we couldn't wait and each opened a present from each other on Christmas Eve - this year we've been especially horrible. For instance, J let me open a present today. YAY!!! It was the special Charlie Brown Christmas soundtracks - three discs of Charlie Brown music in an adorable collector's tin that I'd been eyeing at Wal*Mart a while back. I'm so happy! Needless to say we've been listening all morning and afternoon. :)
22. Most annoying thing about this time of year?
Humbugs. Like my mama. I just love all the decorations and the shopping (only because I do it ahead of time, if I waited until the last minute shopping would not be such a highlight) and the music and the smells and seeing Christmas lights. I'm enjoying it all so much that grumpy people annoy me to no end! (no offense, mommy)
23. What I love most about Christmas?
Everything, but mostly knowing I get to share it with J. He makes it all so fun and bright. Well, and of course, the reminder of Jesus' trip to earth. Pastor Dan has made some great points that hit me just right in his sermons lately to do with Christmas and it's really made me appreciate the real meaning of Christmas all the more this year.
-----
I assumed there would be 25 questions to this thing, but apparently I was wrong. Bizarre and kind of confusing.
1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
Wrapping paper - because if you wrap everything individually it feels like you are getting/giving so much more than if you dump it in a bag. Plus with a bag there's none of the joy of cutting and taping and ribboning...how I love to wrap presents!
2. Real tree or artificial?
Right now we have a two-or-three foot fake tree that J has had since childhood. Hencely most of our ornaments are laying decoratively on bookcases and window sills since not even half of them are small enough to fit on said tree.
3. When do you put up the tree?
This year we made until the week before Thanksgiving...but we couldn't take it anymore and had to decorate and be jolly. :-D
4. When do you take the tree down?
If it were up to J it would probably never come down, but I usually lose my Christmas spirit around February and pack everything away.
5. Do you like eggnog?
Eggnog is the beverage of my soul. I delight in every creamy sip, though sipping is scarce this year...$4.43 for a half gallon is just too much for these poor folks. We've only bought it twice so far - once when it first hit the shelves in October and once last week.
6. Favorite gift received as a child?
The first thing that comes to mind is the down comforter my folks got me when I was in my teens (I think). I was SO excited and it was so warm and cozy and I still snuggle into it to keep warm.
7. Do you have a nativity scene?
We have two, soon to be three. The first is from J's sister when she went to Venezuela years ago. It's less than an inch tall, but cultural and cute. The second is about the same size, but made of ceramic...from J's childhood. We're inheriting his folk's old nativity (a more 'normal' sized one this year since they got a new one, so that's exciting. The one I unChristianally covet is made by Willow Tree, as you see on the left. Of course I love just about everything I've seen made by Willow Tree, but oh my gosh, I just adore this nativity set. Perhaps one day... 8. Hardest person to buy for?
My brother-in-law. I have everyone else done and so far my ideas for him include....nothing. Everything he likes has to do with hunting and fishing and all manner of outdoors and thus anything to do with those hobbies is pricey, so I've come up with nada. Last year I think all he got from us was an assortment of candy. Poor guy.
9. Easiest person to buy for?
J. I know everything he likes and my biggest problem with him is not buying him a thousand things.
10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
Well. Sorry, Gramma C. One year when she was poor and I was like 11 or 12 she sent me a used spatula for Christmas. It was kind of a let down...
11. Mail or email Christmas cards?
Mail!!! Yay! I know this phase of card writing will one day dwindle, but I just love jotting personal notes and addressing cards and applying stamps and sending them on their merry way.
12. Favorite Christmas movie?
It's a Wonderful Life and White Christmas are tied in my heart. The thing is there are so many different types and styles of holiday movies that I find my list of faves is huge because none of them really compare to each other.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
Usually the urge hits me around June...I start scouting for deals and piling things up so the spending isn't a deathblow in December. J adores Christmas so as soon as Christmassy things hit the store shelves he loves to buy little ornaments or crafts for us to do, and we can afford it if I have most of the shopping done by then. He's so cute browsing the aisles and looking at everything. :)
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
Oh of course. Who hasn't? There's not much else you can do with all those bottles and cans.
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
Cookies! Nog! Rolls!
16. Clear lights or colored on the tree?
Every manner of small twinkling lights...and by twinkling I mean not flashing or pulsing or any headache-inducing spectacle. Just little lights all aglow.
17. Favorite Christmas song?
Oh Holy Night.
18. Travel for Christmas or stay home?
This year, being poor, we are staying home. And by home I mean on Christmas Eve we have a get together with the Groovys almost all day, and sometime before that is the Funny Side's Christmas festivities. And Christmas Day we open our presents from each other in the morning and then probably head down to Blondie's for the day. Basically by staying home I mean we don't get to see my side of the family since they are across state borders. :(
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?
I admit to you...no. I never can remember all their names, probably because it's very infrequent that I try.
20. Angel on the treetop or a star?
My special, beautiful porcelain tree-top angel is about half the size of our tiny tree, so until a larger tree is procured she graces the top of a bookcase and a kind of corny, shiny star tops our baby tree.
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?
Last year we couldn't wait and each opened a present from each other on Christmas Eve - this year we've been especially horrible. For instance, J let me open a present today. YAY!!! It was the special Charlie Brown Christmas soundtracks - three discs of Charlie Brown music in an adorable collector's tin that I'd been eyeing at Wal*Mart a while back. I'm so happy! Needless to say we've been listening all morning and afternoon. :)
22. Most annoying thing about this time of year?
Humbugs. Like my mama. I just love all the decorations and the shopping (only because I do it ahead of time, if I waited until the last minute shopping would not be such a highlight) and the music and the smells and seeing Christmas lights. I'm enjoying it all so much that grumpy people annoy me to no end! (no offense, mommy)
23. What I love most about Christmas?
Everything, but mostly knowing I get to share it with J. He makes it all so fun and bright. Well, and of course, the reminder of Jesus' trip to earth. Pastor Dan has made some great points that hit me just right in his sermons lately to do with Christmas and it's really made me appreciate the real meaning of Christmas all the more this year.
-----
I assumed there would be 25 questions to this thing, but apparently I was wrong. Bizarre and kind of confusing.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
keyboard filth
Everyone lives in squalor to some degree - whether you don't dust for months, leave stuff piled on the floor, never make your bed or...never clean your computer's keyboard. Since I bought this glorious desktop Dell back in...2002(?) I have never once cleaned it. Sure, once or twice I blew at it with a can of air, but that's about it. Five years. Five years of eating over it, drinking too near to it, painting my nails while I typed and swiping dust from the desk onto it.
And by eating over it...I mean constantly. There were a couple years there where I practically lived on the computer and I crumbled all manner of pop-tarts, pizza, sandwiches and cookies. I spilled sodas and water and juice.
My keyboard is disgusting.
So today I finally got around to cleaning it. Carefully I photographed it before dismantling the keys (thanks for that tip, Mama...):
a little dirty.
Then, bowl of sudsy soapy goodness at my right elbow and pile of Q-tips at my left I took a butter knife to my keys, popping them out one by one. In case you think about doing this yourself, I'd recommend staying away from the kitchen sink area since keys can sometimes unpredictably fly off in the most inconvenient directions.
I tossed the keys in the suds to soak and gagged at what I found lying in the bottom of my 'board:
some nice gross crap.
This stuff was nasty. First I tried blowing it out, but it wasn't just dust and yuck. It was stuck. It was bonded to the base with the bonds of all that is gross and ucky. I was able to distinguish at various times such things as jam and sticky soda residue. Most of it was just a mass of unidentifiable crumbs.
nausea-inducing grossness.
So I took a Q-tip to it. I took about twenty Q-tips to it. First there was the once-over...loosening layers of gross and then blowing it out. Repeat. Then the wet Q-tip scrubbing, scrubbing off the guck and sticky gunk. Then the dry Q-tip to wipe away the stuff. Then the wet Q-tip again. Repeat until keyboard somewhat resembles what it looked like right after it was born.
Then there was the wiping and scrubbing of keys. After a good soak the water was brown and full of dust and hair. It never occurred to me that hair would get stuck in your keys, but I found a great population had migrated from my head and into my keyboard, wrapping around everything and getting tangled.
scrub-a-dub.
After the soap-water scrubbing there was the rinsing with hot water and laying out to dry. I can't tell you how shiny and new everything looked!
Soon I was checking my pictures and snapping all the keys back in place. When I showed J the finished product he nearly fainted...that's how impressed he was.
Alright, he was impressed, but it didn't rock his world or anything. It rocked mine, though.
squeaky clean!
It only took me two hours to complete my cleaning project. It's a good thing we're snowed in...
Sunday, December 2, 2007
movie time!
Time to pull out the Christmas movies. Ours, of course, have been sitting on top of the VCR/DVD player since mid-November, but since it's December it's now acceptable to actually watch them.
Thusly on Saturday morning we got up and made cinnamon rolls (and by 'made' I mean I popped a tube of them, separated them, and put them on a pan to bake), snuggled up on the couch and watched that most classic of all holiday films....A Garfield Christmas. It doesn't get much better than that, but we also own and intend to watch
Alvin and the Chipmunks
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
White Christmas
Charlie Brown Christmas
A Muppet Christmas Carol
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
and of course will one day (I dream of the day!) own It's a Wonderful Life, one of the very few movies that makes me well up and weep every time, without fail. Even if I just see randomly that little blip of them all signing Auld Lang Sign my face starts dripping and I begin to blubber incoherently.
-----
J had Friday off so we hit up this bi-annual sale at a church nearby. One of those cosmically huge rummage sales crammed with people and unbelievable bargains. We came, we swooped, we spent $4.75 and got (you'll be shocked to hear) a bunch of books, an Ernest movie, and an awesome picture carousel that holds 12 pictures (you spin it around like a carousel...okay forget it, I should just post a picture of its gloriousness).
ta-da! now i just have to print some pictures...
-----
GooberBear's family got their Christmas tree from a lot yesterday and he was upset because he "wants a Christmas tree that comes out of the attic like Grammy and Pa's"...Mom and Pa keep their fake tree in the attic, which GooberBear apparently has stored in his little mind all year hoping for one of his own!
Thusly on Saturday morning we got up and made cinnamon rolls (and by 'made' I mean I popped a tube of them, separated them, and put them on a pan to bake), snuggled up on the couch and watched that most classic of all holiday films....A Garfield Christmas. It doesn't get much better than that, but we also own and intend to watch
Alvin and the Chipmunks
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
White Christmas
Charlie Brown Christmas
A Muppet Christmas Carol
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
and of course will one day (I dream of the day!) own It's a Wonderful Life, one of the very few movies that makes me well up and weep every time, without fail. Even if I just see randomly that little blip of them all signing Auld Lang Sign my face starts dripping and I begin to blubber incoherently.
-----
J had Friday off so we hit up this bi-annual sale at a church nearby. One of those cosmically huge rummage sales crammed with people and unbelievable bargains. We came, we swooped, we spent $4.75 and got (you'll be shocked to hear) a bunch of books, an Ernest movie, and an awesome picture carousel that holds 12 pictures (you spin it around like a carousel...okay forget it, I should just post a picture of its gloriousness).
ta-da! now i just have to print some pictures...-----
GooberBear's family got their Christmas tree from a lot yesterday and he was upset because he "wants a Christmas tree that comes out of the attic like Grammy and Pa's"...Mom and Pa keep their fake tree in the attic, which GooberBear apparently has stored in his little mind all year hoping for one of his own!
Thursday, November 29, 2007
the clapper
So today is Gramma Funny's 93rd birthday. That's right, and yesterday was the day of celebration. Apparently people on the Funny side of the family live forever...and by forever I mean most of them make it past 100 - which I find very impressive. It's also comforting to think that J will probably outlive me and I won't be a sad lonely widow...of course the flip side of that is that J would be a sad, lonely widower so I guess now I'm not really comforted at all. Now I feel all sad and despondent thinking about us being dead so I'm going to change the subject.
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So the gang assembled at Gramma and Grampa Funny's new apartment and we had a gay old time. One thing they never show in commercials for the clapper ("Clap on! Clap off! The clapper!") is that someone laughing loudly can turn the lights off. They also never depict what I find to be, by far, the most amusing benefit: eight adults all clapping furiously trying to turn the light back on and eventually giving up and talking in the dark until somebody laughs really hard again and the light finally comes on again.
Like I said, Gramma Funny is 93 and oh...the stories that older people can tell. For instance, when they first got married Grampa and Gramma Funny bought a farm and it didn't have electricity. When Gramma was pregnant with her first child (Pa's oldest sister) she was dreading having to start a fire in the middle of the night just to warm a bottle...but Grampa got the electricity hooked up at last right before Gramma and baby got home from the hospital. It is truly an amazing thing and listen to her rattle on about things like that, it blows my mind to even think of living without electricity!
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On Tuesday I had the van. Oh! Freedom! I have purposely not been counting the days since Ruby, the car of greatness, died. But it's been a long time and I was starting to go crazy and so we worked it out for me to have the van for a day. It had been so long since I've been the driver that I grabbed my purse and coat (and gloves and hat and scarf...darn you, winter!) and was standing outside the passenger door for a few seconds before I realized that I had the keys and would have to let myself in.
I drove all over and looked at many Christmas-bedecked stores and felt oh so jolly. I bought wrapping paper so that I could come home and start wrapping presents (one of my favorite things to do), I got some more stocking stuffers for J and yes, I picked up some groceries while I was out. I got stamps and...well I guess that was it, but it was a day of greatness and I enjoyed it thoroughly.
-----
So the gang assembled at Gramma and Grampa Funny's new apartment and we had a gay old time. One thing they never show in commercials for the clapper ("Clap on! Clap off! The clapper!") is that someone laughing loudly can turn the lights off. They also never depict what I find to be, by far, the most amusing benefit: eight adults all clapping furiously trying to turn the light back on and eventually giving up and talking in the dark until somebody laughs really hard again and the light finally comes on again.
Like I said, Gramma Funny is 93 and oh...the stories that older people can tell. For instance, when they first got married Grampa and Gramma Funny bought a farm and it didn't have electricity. When Gramma was pregnant with her first child (Pa's oldest sister) she was dreading having to start a fire in the middle of the night just to warm a bottle...but Grampa got the electricity hooked up at last right before Gramma and baby got home from the hospital. It is truly an amazing thing and listen to her rattle on about things like that, it blows my mind to even think of living without electricity!
-----
On Tuesday I had the van. Oh! Freedom! I have purposely not been counting the days since Ruby, the car of greatness, died. But it's been a long time and I was starting to go crazy and so we worked it out for me to have the van for a day. It had been so long since I've been the driver that I grabbed my purse and coat (and gloves and hat and scarf...darn you, winter!) and was standing outside the passenger door for a few seconds before I realized that I had the keys and would have to let myself in.
I drove all over and looked at many Christmas-bedecked stores and felt oh so jolly. I bought wrapping paper so that I could come home and start wrapping presents (one of my favorite things to do), I got some more stocking stuffers for J and yes, I picked up some groceries while I was out. I got stamps and...well I guess that was it, but it was a day of greatness and I enjoyed it thoroughly.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
sunday
Sundays follow a predictable pattern for us...
9 a.m. - J gets up and takes a shower
9:30 a.m. - J wakes me up. Apparently I make a very angry face when being woken up and the first few times he did it he stood as far away as possible in case I started punching. I don't punch, I just hate getting out of bed. I didn't realize until a recent conversation that the grumpy from my brain showed up on my groggy face. 0:-)
9:45 a.m. - We're both dressed. If there is Mountain Dew in the house I pour us a couple of glasses and we head out the door to church. If there is a lack of Dew we wish we had some and leave anyway.
10 a.m. - Church starts. Pastor Dan preaches. I make notes that within weeks I am unable to comprehend. Today's gleanings: "Bitterness smells like roadkill".
11:15 a.m. - (I'm guessing on the time here, I never actually pay attention to when church ends) Church is over and we ooze forward with the mob to exit the church, usually stopping to chat with Pastor Dan for a minute before leaving.
11:16 a.m. - We decide whether to go home or to go Do Something. Today we headed out to our new favorite haunt - a park with a volunteer wildlife refuge center full of injured hawks, eagles (bald and golden), buzzards, one bobcat, and owls. We walked and talked to all the animals (i.e. I talk to all the animals and J whistled, trying to sound like a scared rodent to get their attention) and then realized we were freezing and headed back to the van. It's see-your-breath weather. :(
Once in the van we realized we hadn't had enough animal contact and went to pet the bunnies, kitties, and puppies at the pet store in the mall.
Muuuuuch better.
1 p.m. - Home again - eat a brief lunch and
1:15 p.m. - I'm collapsed in bed for my afternoon nap. Napping is an essential part of a Sunday for me, my body enforces the ritual around the same time every week. During this time J will usually run to the library and pick up some movies (westerns, since I'm not a big fan of cowboy flicks and he gets to watch them by himself) - today it was Tom Horn starring Steve McQueen.
3:20 p.m. - Is when I woke from my beauty sleep. The rest of the day is a great affair of doing nothing in particular - reading, watching football, harassing each other, annoying the hamsters. Today, however, we lugged our laundry over to Mom & Pa's (4 loads worth...so much, in fact, that I have to go back and finish it tomorrow. Needless to say we had literally no undies left, and had been wearing the same clothes for a couple days now...) and sat down with them to watch the Pats/Bills game on NBC. This particular fam are Bills fans, so it was a painful, ugly, disturbing affair. By halftime it was 28/7 Pats and J and I went home...because we were tired and what was the point? *sigh*
10:49 p.m. - That would be the moment we're at right now. Home again and getting ready for our ritualistic 11 p.m.-climbing-into-bed routine.
I love Sundays for all their laid-back glory. Most Sundays are like taking a deep breath and contentedly letting it out.
9 a.m. - J gets up and takes a shower
9:30 a.m. - J wakes me up. Apparently I make a very angry face when being woken up and the first few times he did it he stood as far away as possible in case I started punching. I don't punch, I just hate getting out of bed. I didn't realize until a recent conversation that the grumpy from my brain showed up on my groggy face. 0:-)
9:45 a.m. - We're both dressed. If there is Mountain Dew in the house I pour us a couple of glasses and we head out the door to church. If there is a lack of Dew we wish we had some and leave anyway.
10 a.m. - Church starts. Pastor Dan preaches. I make notes that within weeks I am unable to comprehend. Today's gleanings: "Bitterness smells like roadkill".
11:15 a.m. - (I'm guessing on the time here, I never actually pay attention to when church ends) Church is over and we ooze forward with the mob to exit the church, usually stopping to chat with Pastor Dan for a minute before leaving.
11:16 a.m. - We decide whether to go home or to go Do Something. Today we headed out to our new favorite haunt - a park with a volunteer wildlife refuge center full of injured hawks, eagles (bald and golden), buzzards, one bobcat, and owls. We walked and talked to all the animals (i.e. I talk to all the animals and J whistled, trying to sound like a scared rodent to get their attention) and then realized we were freezing and headed back to the van. It's see-your-breath weather. :(
Once in the van we realized we hadn't had enough animal contact and went to pet the bunnies, kitties, and puppies at the pet store in the mall.
Muuuuuch better.
1 p.m. - Home again - eat a brief lunch and
1:15 p.m. - I'm collapsed in bed for my afternoon nap. Napping is an essential part of a Sunday for me, my body enforces the ritual around the same time every week. During this time J will usually run to the library and pick up some movies (westerns, since I'm not a big fan of cowboy flicks and he gets to watch them by himself) - today it was Tom Horn starring Steve McQueen.
3:20 p.m. - Is when I woke from my beauty sleep. The rest of the day is a great affair of doing nothing in particular - reading, watching football, harassing each other, annoying the hamsters. Today, however, we lugged our laundry over to Mom & Pa's (4 loads worth...so much, in fact, that I have to go back and finish it tomorrow. Needless to say we had literally no undies left, and had been wearing the same clothes for a couple days now...) and sat down with them to watch the Pats/Bills game on NBC. This particular fam are Bills fans, so it was a painful, ugly, disturbing affair. By halftime it was 28/7 Pats and J and I went home...because we were tired and what was the point? *sigh*
10:49 p.m. - That would be the moment we're at right now. Home again and getting ready for our ritualistic 11 p.m.-climbing-into-bed routine.
I love Sundays for all their laid-back glory. Most Sundays are like taking a deep breath and contentedly letting it out.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
she's a tired girl
We woke up this morning and had warmed apple cinnamon muffins I'd baked the day before - then J took a shower and by the time he got out I'd fallen asleep for a sound 3.5 hour nap. I think maybe I've been using up more than my normal allotment of energy lately...
Yesterday J got home and said GooberBear and Munchkin were over and Mom2 & Dad2's house again so off we went to play! Three more beautiful hours of chasing kiddos in circles...well that's not exactly true since GooberBear and I spent a solid hour of that making up stories. Out of nowhere he says "Aunt B I'm going to put you in the garbage!" Of course I was outraged and told him I'd escape and this somehow morphed into an hour-long discussion of who would put who in the garbage and how we'd get away. Needless to say I was tired of coming up with ideas loooong before Goober was, but how can you not play along with that crazy 3-year-old imagination?
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I've almost finished reading A Christmas Carol (Charles Dickens) for, believe it or not, the first time. He's my favorite author, but somehow I've skipped the holiday classic until now...after all I've seen numerous versions on video every year (The Muppet Christmas Carol reigning supreme) and I guess that was good enough for me up until the present. I shall leave you this blurb, the reading of which made me love Dickens all the more, since I've often questioned this very thing:
"Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail.
Mind! I don't mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a door-nail. I might have been inclined, myself, to regard a coffin-nail as the deadest piece of iron-mongery in the trade. But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile; and my unhallowed hands shall not disturb it, or the Country's done for. You will therefore permit me to repeat, emphatically, that Marley was as dead as a door-nail."
I shall write a more thorough and interesting entry on Monday, I hope...for now I'm ready for bed!
Yesterday J got home and said GooberBear and Munchkin were over and Mom2 & Dad2's house again so off we went to play! Three more beautiful hours of chasing kiddos in circles...well that's not exactly true since GooberBear and I spent a solid hour of that making up stories. Out of nowhere he says "Aunt B I'm going to put you in the garbage!" Of course I was outraged and told him I'd escape and this somehow morphed into an hour-long discussion of who would put who in the garbage and how we'd get away. Needless to say I was tired of coming up with ideas loooong before Goober was, but how can you not play along with that crazy 3-year-old imagination?
-----
I've almost finished reading A Christmas Carol (Charles Dickens) for, believe it or not, the first time. He's my favorite author, but somehow I've skipped the holiday classic until now...after all I've seen numerous versions on video every year (The Muppet Christmas Carol reigning supreme) and I guess that was good enough for me up until the present. I shall leave you this blurb, the reading of which made me love Dickens all the more, since I've often questioned this very thing:
"Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail.
Mind! I don't mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a door-nail. I might have been inclined, myself, to regard a coffin-nail as the deadest piece of iron-mongery in the trade. But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile; and my unhallowed hands shall not disturb it, or the Country's done for. You will therefore permit me to repeat, emphatically, that Marley was as dead as a door-nail."
I shall write a more thorough and interesting entry on Monday, I hope...for now I'm ready for bed!
Friday, November 16, 2007
shopping and snow
I hate snow.
...that came out stronger than I anticipated. I was planning on saying something about how I went shopping at the outlet mall with Mom2 yesterday and then end with a ditty about how the white stuff is coming down outside but instead my inner feelings exploded onto the screen, blurbing the harsh reality of the moment. I really hate snow.
I know it's pretty and white and means Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming. I know it means snowmen and twinkle lights. I know it means sledding and hot cocoa. But I just don't want it. Not ready. Yuck.
-----
So...Mom2 and I went to the outlet mall yesterday. She and Dad2 are getting me fun clothes for Christmas and part of the fun is shopping for them (and then waiting 38 days to open them and be surprised - yay!!) - seven hours of
* foot numbing walking
* trying on (literally) 44 bras (and now, finally and at last I have ones that FIT! I seriously did not know how uncomfortable my girls were until yesterday when they were freed from the constraints of the too-small-bra-of-doom)
* putting on and taking off around 30 shirts
* admiring hideous clothing for the shock value (Mom2 has the best faces)
* window shopping and trying not to knock things off of displays
I came away richer by
* 1 awesomely wonderful vintage-y hat
* 2 shirts that are NOT brown and black like all my other shirts
* 4 bras of joy
I got home and collapsed on the couch, falling asleep on J's shoulder for a while before crawling into bed for the night.
...that came out stronger than I anticipated. I was planning on saying something about how I went shopping at the outlet mall with Mom2 yesterday and then end with a ditty about how the white stuff is coming down outside but instead my inner feelings exploded onto the screen, blurbing the harsh reality of the moment. I really hate snow.
I know it's pretty and white and means Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming. I know it means snowmen and twinkle lights. I know it means sledding and hot cocoa. But I just don't want it. Not ready. Yuck.
-----
So...Mom2 and I went to the outlet mall yesterday. She and Dad2 are getting me fun clothes for Christmas and part of the fun is shopping for them (and then waiting 38 days to open them and be surprised - yay!!) - seven hours of
* foot numbing walking
* trying on (literally) 44 bras (and now, finally and at last I have ones that FIT! I seriously did not know how uncomfortable my girls were until yesterday when they were freed from the constraints of the too-small-bra-of-doom)
* putting on and taking off around 30 shirts
* admiring hideous clothing for the shock value (Mom2 has the best faces)
* window shopping and trying not to knock things off of displays
I came away richer by
* 1 awesomely wonderful vintage-y hat
* 2 shirts that are NOT brown and black like all my other shirts
* 4 bras of joy
I got home and collapsed on the couch, falling asleep on J's shoulder for a while before crawling into bed for the night.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
one of Those days
So needless to say, yesterday was an exhausted, groggy affair. Our neighbors have been pleasingly quiet for a couple months now and I'd forgotten just how loud they could get. I didn't miss it. Neighbors can be stupid, inconsiderate things. Rawr!
But the day was great in spite of being half-asleep through most of it: GooberBear and Munchkin had come to play. This was because their mom thought Munchkin had a doctor appointment at 11 a.m. She didn't. It was scheduled for Friday at 9 a.m., so on Tuesday we had the kiddos to play with - oh happy surprise!
They found out about the mix up like this: Munchkin and her mom went to the doctor's while J, GooberBear, Mom2 and I played. Shortly after leaving Munchkin's mom calls and tells us she mixed up the appointment dates. She mixed up the appointment dates and decided that instead she and Munch would head to the Christmas Tree Shoppe for fun. Where one of her contacts popped out onto the floor and she couldn't find it anywhere. Being blind without her contacts or glasses, J drove Mom2 over to pick them up and GooberBear and I had some time alone (it was officially one of Those days).
We talked about fishing, and why the berries on the bushes were gross to eat, and he told me how oatmeal is his favorite food (oatmeal with honey), and we sat and ate an apple together.
By the time J and I got home I was delirious with lack of sleep and tried to take a nap...and sadly I failed. You know when you are so tired that you can't sleep? It's pretty darn annoying. So we watched a Marx brothers film and chilled on the couch and in general had a happy and relaxed evening.
But the day was great in spite of being half-asleep through most of it: GooberBear and Munchkin had come to play. This was because their mom thought Munchkin had a doctor appointment at 11 a.m. She didn't. It was scheduled for Friday at 9 a.m., so on Tuesday we had the kiddos to play with - oh happy surprise!
They found out about the mix up like this: Munchkin and her mom went to the doctor's while J, GooberBear, Mom2 and I played. Shortly after leaving Munchkin's mom calls and tells us she mixed up the appointment dates. She mixed up the appointment dates and decided that instead she and Munch would head to the Christmas Tree Shoppe for fun. Where one of her contacts popped out onto the floor and she couldn't find it anywhere. Being blind without her contacts or glasses, J drove Mom2 over to pick them up and GooberBear and I had some time alone (it was officially one of Those days).
We talked about fishing, and why the berries on the bushes were gross to eat, and he told me how oatmeal is his favorite food (oatmeal with honey), and we sat and ate an apple together.
By the time J and I got home I was delirious with lack of sleep and tried to take a nap...and sadly I failed. You know when you are so tired that you can't sleep? It's pretty darn annoying. So we watched a Marx brothers film and chilled on the couch and in general had a happy and relaxed evening.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
stupid neighbors
1:58 a.m. is too early (or too late) to be having a raucous party next door.
Also...my overall FreeCell score suffers dramatically when I play late at night (when I should be soundly sleeping).
The end.
Also...my overall FreeCell score suffers dramatically when I play late at night (when I should be soundly sleeping).
The end.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
the chirping
Last night I shot out of sleep at 3:10 a.m.
chirp! chirp! chirp!
In the midst of panic my thinking was clear: check the apartment for fire, smell the air for smoke, plan means of exit, grab discs with all our photos on them.
My one overwhelming, irrational fear is being caught in a house fire. Anything that remotely sounds like a fire alarm has me breathing raggedly and going through my emergency checklist; weird smells will send me into a frenzy.
chirp!
The apartment is small and it didn't take long to rule out a fire in our part of the building. I sniffed the air. Peanut butter cookies? Who the heck cooks peanut butter cookies at this hour of night? Wait...my nose is half plugged, maybe it's really smoke but I think it's a tasty treat.
chirp! chirp!
How is J sleeping through this? Should I wake him up? Nobody else in our building is moving around. Get back in bed and calm down.
chirp!
It's just the you-need-to-change-my-battery chirp of a smoke detector. Breathe in and out, nothing is burning, you are safe. Just pull out the battery and go back to sleep. I drag a folding chair into the hall and try to pull off the cap thing of the smoke alarm. It's stuck. The chirps I'm hearing don't seem to be coming from it. They have to be. J would make this all better if I woke him up, but if he can sleep through why should I ruin his sleep?
chirp! chirp! chirp!
I'm back in bed. The chirping seems to be taking a break, try to sleep. Sleep? Are you kidding me? My heart is still racing and I'm panting for air. I talk myself down from my panic and close my eyes.
chirp!
Eyes open. I think my fear of house fires started back when I was a kid and we would watch Rescue 911. I loved that show - stories of all kinds of real emergencies, bad actors portraying it all. There were one too many house fire shows, though. One too many episodes of Christmas trees catching on fire and candles burning too long. I had three recurring nightmares about being caught in a fire until well through high school.
chirp! chirp!
My heart is still pounding. Whenever I'd sleep over at a friend's house around Christmas and they'd leave the twinkle lights on all night I'd creep into the living room and watch. While the rest of the house slept I'd guard the tree just to make sure nothing kindled, just to make sure nobody would fall asleep from the smoke and burn in their beds.
chirp!
Why won't it stop chirping? I can't sleep, I'm freaked out. Back out to the hall with a folding chair (J still sleeping peacefully), tugging at the smoke alarm. I get the cap off!
There's no battery. This doesn't make me feel better, why is it chirping if there is no battery? Why would it chirp when it's wired into the ceiling? J finally awakes from my shuffling and creaking and I whisper the whole story...I've been up an hour now freaking out.
chirp! chirp!
I sit tensely on the bed as J fiddles with the alarm. Sixty seconds later the chirping is gone. It was the alarm in the bedroom, not the hall. The battery is pulled and J has saved my sanity. He gives me snuggles and tells me everything is okay. He tells me next time to wake him up so he can take care of me instead of worrying myself to death for an hour.
"Silly B," he says, "that's what I'm here for!" We burrow under the covers and close our eyes. All is well, it's time to sleep.
silence!
chirp! chirp! chirp!
In the midst of panic my thinking was clear: check the apartment for fire, smell the air for smoke, plan means of exit, grab discs with all our photos on them.
My one overwhelming, irrational fear is being caught in a house fire. Anything that remotely sounds like a fire alarm has me breathing raggedly and going through my emergency checklist; weird smells will send me into a frenzy.
chirp!
The apartment is small and it didn't take long to rule out a fire in our part of the building. I sniffed the air. Peanut butter cookies? Who the heck cooks peanut butter cookies at this hour of night? Wait...my nose is half plugged, maybe it's really smoke but I think it's a tasty treat.
chirp! chirp!
How is J sleeping through this? Should I wake him up? Nobody else in our building is moving around. Get back in bed and calm down.
chirp!
It's just the you-need-to-change-my-battery chirp of a smoke detector. Breathe in and out, nothing is burning, you are safe. Just pull out the battery and go back to sleep. I drag a folding chair into the hall and try to pull off the cap thing of the smoke alarm. It's stuck. The chirps I'm hearing don't seem to be coming from it. They have to be. J would make this all better if I woke him up, but if he can sleep through why should I ruin his sleep?
chirp! chirp! chirp!
I'm back in bed. The chirping seems to be taking a break, try to sleep. Sleep? Are you kidding me? My heart is still racing and I'm panting for air. I talk myself down from my panic and close my eyes.
chirp!
Eyes open. I think my fear of house fires started back when I was a kid and we would watch Rescue 911. I loved that show - stories of all kinds of real emergencies, bad actors portraying it all. There were one too many house fire shows, though. One too many episodes of Christmas trees catching on fire and candles burning too long. I had three recurring nightmares about being caught in a fire until well through high school.
chirp! chirp!
My heart is still pounding. Whenever I'd sleep over at a friend's house around Christmas and they'd leave the twinkle lights on all night I'd creep into the living room and watch. While the rest of the house slept I'd guard the tree just to make sure nothing kindled, just to make sure nobody would fall asleep from the smoke and burn in their beds.
chirp!
Why won't it stop chirping? I can't sleep, I'm freaked out. Back out to the hall with a folding chair (J still sleeping peacefully), tugging at the smoke alarm. I get the cap off!
There's no battery. This doesn't make me feel better, why is it chirping if there is no battery? Why would it chirp when it's wired into the ceiling? J finally awakes from my shuffling and creaking and I whisper the whole story...I've been up an hour now freaking out.
chirp! chirp!
I sit tensely on the bed as J fiddles with the alarm. Sixty seconds later the chirping is gone. It was the alarm in the bedroom, not the hall. The battery is pulled and J has saved my sanity. He gives me snuggles and tells me everything is okay. He tells me next time to wake him up so he can take care of me instead of worrying myself to death for an hour.
"Silly B," he says, "that's what I'm here for!" We burrow under the covers and close our eyes. All is well, it's time to sleep.
silence!
Saturday, November 10, 2007
santa
Today we went to the mall to pet bunnies, puppies, and kittens in the pet store and then walked around admiring all the decorations (with a huge crowd of other people who apparently had the exact same idea).
Well this very morning, it turns out, Santa descended from the sky (in a helicopter...I guess the reindeer had the day off) to greet all the little children who were out shopping.
Including me. :) We were walking by Santa, whose beard is real and teeth are falling out and I waved to him and
... he made eye contact and waved back.
Clearly I have been a very good girl this year. :-D
Well this very morning, it turns out, Santa descended from the sky (in a helicopter...I guess the reindeer had the day off) to greet all the little children who were out shopping.
Including me. :) We were walking by Santa, whose beard is real and teeth are falling out and I waved to him and
... he made eye contact and waved back.
Clearly I have been a very good girl this year. :-D
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
oh how i played
It's what I imagine a bug feels like after a firm stomping from an unforgiving shoe. Crushed, pain wracking its mangled body (can bugs feel pain? Or is it more like paralysis? "That's weird, I can't seem to feel my thorax!"), eyes squinted in agony, dimly wondering what the heck happened to make him feel this way. Except I know why I feel this way. Yesterday I played...
J dropped the van off in the morning yesterday...an unexpected pleasantry causing me to jump up and down and yell "Yippee!". I threw on my clothes and ran out the door. What would I do? Where would I go? As I planned my moves I climbed into the van and let out a cry... For quite a while now we've just been tossing our cans and bottles into the back of the van, figuring we'd take them to the redemption center "sometime". It was yesterday morning that I realized the time had come - 9 garbage bags bulging, one box clinking - blocking windows and threatening to jump into the front seat.
I happily drove to the grocery store and loaded two carts, handily wheeling them to the redemption counter. To the chagrin of every old lady in line behind me I then unloaded all 389 cans and bottles. It was no small feat; in the end I was sticky and somewhat disheveled...but it was with triumph that I cashed my pay ticket of $19.45!
Skipping back to the van I smiled to myself with smug contentment (clearly it doesn't take a whole lot to make me feel special) and drove to Mom's...where my nephew (GooberBear) and niece (Munchkin) were having a snack with their grammy.
Due to somebody being sick or my Fibromyalgia being stupid or somebodies car dying it had been a long while since we'd played together and our meeting was filled with screams and giggles. GooberBear is almost 4. He was so excited to see me that he jumped up and ran in circles and yelled for a few minutes before he could calm down enough to play. Munchkin is around a year and half and smiled and giggled while GooberBear did his thing.
Then we played, oh how we played! We spent a good half hour playing "How high did I jump?". This means I sit on the middle cushion of the couch and GooberBear stands on one end and jumps over me, most of the time needing a little help reaching the other side. Finally I said, "Okay, two more jumps and then let's play something else."
"Okay," said GooberBear, "three more jumps and then hide and seek." He always sneaks that extra jump (or whatever we're doing at the time) in there so naturally that I cannot refuse. What aunt could?
Hide and seek with GooberBear goes like this:
"Hey GooberBear, are you hiding or am I hiding?"
"You hide....in the bathroom." (for "in the bathroom" insert anything from 'under that chair' to 'by that plant')
Goober then proceeds to count from one to twenty. I was impressed as he accurately hammered out 1-12 and then finished up with, "thiiiirteen. fiiiiifteen. foooouurteen. seeeeventeen. TWENTY!"
Now half the fun for this little boy when he hides is having you look for him everywhere he's not while he giggles to himself at how you can't find him. ("Aunt B, look for me everywhere else first.") So as I was crouched down getting my socks wet in the tub I let out my own set of giggles as I heard him looking for me in the other room:
"Hmmm. Where could Aunt B be hiding? Under the table? Nooooo. On the couch? Nooo. Behind the lamp? Noooo..."
In the meantime, Munchkin has decided to join in and gleefully pulls back the shower curtain, exclaiming, "GAAAHBLLLAAA!!!!"
Our games were interrupted occasionally by a "TRAIN!!!!" or "GOHBO!!!" (garbage truck)...in which case we dropped whatever we were doing, jumped on the couch and watched what was going by with fascination through the front window.
After two hours of playing, discussing how we slept with our teddy bears, eating peanut butter off a big spoon, and talking about how we missed each other it was time to go. Fortunately they'll be up on Wednesday and we can play again for another day!
Tired out and sore I contemplated returning home, but having the van for a day was more temptation than I could handle and I hit up The Christmas Tree Shop and A.C. Moore for gifties and stocking stuffers (Christmas is coming!!!) before returning home.
This is where I should have taken the nap and painkillers my body was pleading for, but instead I got distracted and cleaned the hamster cages (gross), which somehow morphed into dusting and vacuuming...and sweeping the kitchen...and taking down 'normal' decorations to make way for Christmassy ones. And getting Christmas boxes out of the closet. When J came home the apartment was in wild disarray and I was ready to collapse. I did collapse, but after a brief nap and supper we got crazy, put on the holiday tunes, and decked the walls and windows with all manner of cheer. (Christmas is coming!!!)
We were done by 9:30 p.m. and after a few minutes on the couch I was painfully aware of having crossed the line physically by doing Too Much. Head pounding and muscles spasming, I went to bed around 11 p.m. No pill could keep the pain down enough for me to sleep, though, and by 3 a.m. I was comparing myself to the unfortunate insects. And now it is morning and once again I am full of pills and pain, but looking back on my day yesterday I can't help but smile and think that it was Worth It.
J dropped the van off in the morning yesterday...an unexpected pleasantry causing me to jump up and down and yell "Yippee!". I threw on my clothes and ran out the door. What would I do? Where would I go? As I planned my moves I climbed into the van and let out a cry... For quite a while now we've just been tossing our cans and bottles into the back of the van, figuring we'd take them to the redemption center "sometime". It was yesterday morning that I realized the time had come - 9 garbage bags bulging, one box clinking - blocking windows and threatening to jump into the front seat.
I happily drove to the grocery store and loaded two carts, handily wheeling them to the redemption counter. To the chagrin of every old lady in line behind me I then unloaded all 389 cans and bottles. It was no small feat; in the end I was sticky and somewhat disheveled...but it was with triumph that I cashed my pay ticket of $19.45!
Skipping back to the van I smiled to myself with smug contentment (clearly it doesn't take a whole lot to make me feel special) and drove to Mom's...where my nephew (GooberBear) and niece (Munchkin) were having a snack with their grammy.
Due to somebody being sick or my Fibromyalgia being stupid or somebodies car dying it had been a long while since we'd played together and our meeting was filled with screams and giggles. GooberBear is almost 4. He was so excited to see me that he jumped up and ran in circles and yelled for a few minutes before he could calm down enough to play. Munchkin is around a year and half and smiled and giggled while GooberBear did his thing.
Then we played, oh how we played! We spent a good half hour playing "How high did I jump?". This means I sit on the middle cushion of the couch and GooberBear stands on one end and jumps over me, most of the time needing a little help reaching the other side. Finally I said, "Okay, two more jumps and then let's play something else."
"Okay," said GooberBear, "three more jumps and then hide and seek." He always sneaks that extra jump (or whatever we're doing at the time) in there so naturally that I cannot refuse. What aunt could?
Hide and seek with GooberBear goes like this:
"Hey GooberBear, are you hiding or am I hiding?"
"You hide....in the bathroom." (for "in the bathroom" insert anything from 'under that chair' to 'by that plant')
Goober then proceeds to count from one to twenty. I was impressed as he accurately hammered out 1-12 and then finished up with, "thiiiirteen. fiiiiifteen. foooouurteen. seeeeventeen. TWENTY!"
Now half the fun for this little boy when he hides is having you look for him everywhere he's not while he giggles to himself at how you can't find him. ("Aunt B, look for me everywhere else first.") So as I was crouched down getting my socks wet in the tub I let out my own set of giggles as I heard him looking for me in the other room:
"Hmmm. Where could Aunt B be hiding? Under the table? Nooooo. On the couch? Nooo. Behind the lamp? Noooo..."
In the meantime, Munchkin has decided to join in and gleefully pulls back the shower curtain, exclaiming, "GAAAHBLLLAAA!!!!"
Our games were interrupted occasionally by a "TRAIN!!!!" or "GOHBO!!!" (garbage truck)...in which case we dropped whatever we were doing, jumped on the couch and watched what was going by with fascination through the front window.
After two hours of playing, discussing how we slept with our teddy bears, eating peanut butter off a big spoon, and talking about how we missed each other it was time to go. Fortunately they'll be up on Wednesday and we can play again for another day!
Tired out and sore I contemplated returning home, but having the van for a day was more temptation than I could handle and I hit up The Christmas Tree Shop and A.C. Moore for gifties and stocking stuffers (Christmas is coming!!!) before returning home.
This is where I should have taken the nap and painkillers my body was pleading for, but instead I got distracted and cleaned the hamster cages (gross), which somehow morphed into dusting and vacuuming...and sweeping the kitchen...and taking down 'normal' decorations to make way for Christmassy ones. And getting Christmas boxes out of the closet. When J came home the apartment was in wild disarray and I was ready to collapse. I did collapse, but after a brief nap and supper we got crazy, put on the holiday tunes, and decked the walls and windows with all manner of cheer. (Christmas is coming!!!)
We were done by 9:30 p.m. and after a few minutes on the couch I was painfully aware of having crossed the line physically by doing Too Much. Head pounding and muscles spasming, I went to bed around 11 p.m. No pill could keep the pain down enough for me to sleep, though, and by 3 a.m. I was comparing myself to the unfortunate insects. And now it is morning and once again I am full of pills and pain, but looking back on my day yesterday I can't help but smile and think that it was Worth It.
Monday, November 5, 2007
election day is coming
If I was unaware that local election day, November 6, was coming, the 497 messages on my answering machine would have left me in no doubt. Every manner of pre-recorded messages have made their way to us and they all say the same thing: our governor is crazy, vote Republican on election day!
Now I wouldn't say he's crazy, but certainly some of his plans (like giving driver's licenses to the illegal immigrants in our state) have me wondering. I mean, c'mon...what's the point of being an American citizen if you can get free health care (insurance which J and I, as citizens can't afford) and driver's licenses from the state as an illegal immigrant? I feel the plight of these people, but a little realism, please. The fact that 'illegal' precedes 'immigrant' should be a clue as to their status.
So aside from being annoying, these automated calls are pointless since they obviously know I'm a registered Republican and have every intention of making it to the polls on election day. That being said the phone is ringing again and I have a nagging suspicion that I know who it is...
Now I wouldn't say he's crazy, but certainly some of his plans (like giving driver's licenses to the illegal immigrants in our state) have me wondering. I mean, c'mon...what's the point of being an American citizen if you can get free health care (insurance which J and I, as citizens can't afford) and driver's licenses from the state as an illegal immigrant? I feel the plight of these people, but a little realism, please. The fact that 'illegal' precedes 'immigrant' should be a clue as to their status.
So aside from being annoying, these automated calls are pointless since they obviously know I'm a registered Republican and have every intention of making it to the polls on election day. That being said the phone is ringing again and I have a nagging suspicion that I know who it is...
Sunday, November 4, 2007
ho ho ho!
Lip update: Itchyness continues with little abatement. I think I may have to physically remove them from my face. I feel I ought to note that I have tried scratching my lips with my fingers and it is a very uncomfortable and awkward feeling. If you ask me probably you shouldn't try. Probably you should just stick to Chapstick.
While still itching abominably, they've entered a new phase of grossness: peely little pieces of dead skin detaching and staying stuck to my lips from the excess of Chapstick goo. J frequently looks and at me and says, "Gross...go fix your lips again." Okay...to give him credit, he's very nice about it. He just has a hard time looking at me ;-)
- - - - -
Christmas is coming. We put up our window clings today while giggling like little children. J adores Christmas and the feeling is contagious. He went out shopping for presents for me while I took my nap today (the suspense is already killing me) and came home with not only whatever it ended up being, but also these adorable little Pillsbury dough boy ornaments for me. He's so cute! Also we now have our first box of candy canes of the season. Ho ho ho!
While still itching abominably, they've entered a new phase of grossness: peely little pieces of dead skin detaching and staying stuck to my lips from the excess of Chapstick goo. J frequently looks and at me and says, "Gross...go fix your lips again." Okay...to give him credit, he's very nice about it. He just has a hard time looking at me ;-)
- - - - -
Christmas is coming. We put up our window clings today while giggling like little children. J adores Christmas and the feeling is contagious. He went out shopping for presents for me while I took my nap today (the suspense is already killing me) and came home with not only whatever it ended up being, but also these adorable little Pillsbury dough boy ornaments for me. He's so cute! Also we now have our first box of candy canes of the season. Ho ho ho!
Saturday, November 3, 2007
itchy lips of doom
My lips itch. So bad. It's not my fault, I just woke up the other day and BAM! itchy. Overnight my lips went from normal human lips, to scaly, peely, itchy lips of doom. They are bright red and I want to scratch them. I want to scratch my huge lips. Boy do they feel big. The mirror says they are normal size but they feel like large puffy Angelina Jolie lips. I have used almost an entire tube of Blistex in 3 days. J and I went shopping for more chapstick today. I have three more tubes ready to use, because, to use my favorite Napoleon Dynamite quote:
My lips hurt real bad.
My lips hurt real bad.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
mangoriffic
So. What is up with the mango? During my grocery excursion yesterday I purchased one mango. I said to myself "Now there is an ugly-ish, funky looking fruit for $1. Probably I should buy that."
Now I've never bought/tasted/tried to cut up a mango before, so the whole thing turned into a very confusing experience. First I tried to cut it in half. Nothing doing, apparently mangoes have pits...no...it's not a pit, it's like a stalk through the middle of the fruit (note: the stalk doesn't taste good. At all.). So then I kept up hacking off random pieces from the stalk until we had a huge pile of mango flesh.
We settled onto the couch, toasted ourselves with mango slices and chomped down. Which is when we discovered that the peel is really nasty. We couldn't figure out if we were supposed to eat it, but it's wildly tough texture and tendency to taste like chemicals made us think no. So we spent a great deal of time peeling mango from its peel with our teeth. The flesh of this fruit is sticky...like juicy sticky that gets all over your face (if you are me) and hands and if you wipe your hands on your jeans it looks like somebody sneezed and got loogies on you. Still, it was a strange but tasty experience.
Not wanting to leave out our babies, I cut off little hunks for the hamsters. Mutton Chop loves fruit and grabbed it from me - then she tasted it and smacked her lips for a while. We'd never seen a hamster smack its lips and there is no way to describe it that will convey how ridiculous it looks. I think the laughter continued for 60 straight seconds. Chip picked up the mango and then tried to drop it, but it stuck to his little paw-hands and when he finally got it off his paws he sat looking at those little furry extensions with an expression of utter puzzlement.
I'm still not quite sure what I think of this bizzaro fruit, but the tasting of new fruits has begun: next up, the pomegranate. Maybe I'll look it up online first, though...
Now I've never bought/tasted/tried to cut up a mango before, so the whole thing turned into a very confusing experience. First I tried to cut it in half. Nothing doing, apparently mangoes have pits...no...it's not a pit, it's like a stalk through the middle of the fruit (note: the stalk doesn't taste good. At all.). So then I kept up hacking off random pieces from the stalk until we had a huge pile of mango flesh.
We settled onto the couch, toasted ourselves with mango slices and chomped down. Which is when we discovered that the peel is really nasty. We couldn't figure out if we were supposed to eat it, but it's wildly tough texture and tendency to taste like chemicals made us think no. So we spent a great deal of time peeling mango from its peel with our teeth. The flesh of this fruit is sticky...like juicy sticky that gets all over your face (if you are me) and hands and if you wipe your hands on your jeans it looks like somebody sneezed and got loogies on you. Still, it was a strange but tasty experience.
Not wanting to leave out our babies, I cut off little hunks for the hamsters. Mutton Chop loves fruit and grabbed it from me - then she tasted it and smacked her lips for a while. We'd never seen a hamster smack its lips and there is no way to describe it that will convey how ridiculous it looks. I think the laughter continued for 60 straight seconds. Chip picked up the mango and then tried to drop it, but it stuck to his little paw-hands and when he finally got it off his paws he sat looking at those little furry extensions with an expression of utter puzzlement.
I'm still not quite sure what I think of this bizzaro fruit, but the tasting of new fruits has begun: next up, the pomegranate. Maybe I'll look it up online first, though...
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
checked-up
Mom picked me up this morning (for the car of delight is still dead, never to run again) and drove me through narrow, harrowing streets of City doom to my little doctor's office.
Success! I am pleased to report that my new doctor did not scare, hurt, or yell at me. She was so great and easy to talk to. She put my cringes immediately at ease :)
After much talking and catching up (I'd gone MIA from the doc's for about a year and apparently they frown on this) I got my two RXs renewed and have a new muscle-relaxer to try...I'd tell you what it is but I sort of already dropped it off at Sam's Club (this just in: you don't have to have a Sam's membership to fill your prescriptions there and, even though under the same corporation, they are actually cheaper than Wal*Mart!) and have forgotten the long, hard-to-pronounce name.
So I'm happy and at ease. Except that I'm due for my next pap smear at the end of January. Gross.
After this jubilantly easy to get through appointment we ate dollar-menu Wendy's and hit up the grocery stores:
Aldi's...is the stupidest store I've been to, but I keep going back because of great prices on spinach, mac and cheese, juice, and bread. First of all, making people pay a quarter to get a cart - even if you get the quarter back in the end - will keep people from leaving the carts everywhere, but it's darned inconvenient for people who never have quarters in their pockets. I also must say that narrow, crowded aisles, along with a guaranteed long, slow moving line is (to put it mildly) annoying.
Wal*Mart...is the best store I've been to, and I've started getting my groceries there almost exclusively (no offense, Wegman's) because of the low cost, ease of finding things, and quick check out lines. I love Wal*Mart, it is my friend.
We came home and I collapsed upon the floor (after thanking Mom profusely for all the rides she keeps giving me) for about 30 seconds. It would have been longer, but let's face it - yogurt, milk, and cheese don't do too well sitting on the counter for long periods of time.
I then cheerfully sat myself down at the computer to hammer out this faithful account, and in the middle of doing so I remembered that oh yah...the worker's comp auditor guy is coming today at 4:30 p.m. Maybe I should stop spilling my tired brain into my keyboard and get things ready for him.
Success! I am pleased to report that my new doctor did not scare, hurt, or yell at me. She was so great and easy to talk to. She put my cringes immediately at ease :)
After much talking and catching up (I'd gone MIA from the doc's for about a year and apparently they frown on this) I got my two RXs renewed and have a new muscle-relaxer to try...I'd tell you what it is but I sort of already dropped it off at Sam's Club (this just in: you don't have to have a Sam's membership to fill your prescriptions there and, even though under the same corporation, they are actually cheaper than Wal*Mart!) and have forgotten the long, hard-to-pronounce name.
So I'm happy and at ease. Except that I'm due for my next pap smear at the end of January. Gross.
After this jubilantly easy to get through appointment we ate dollar-menu Wendy's and hit up the grocery stores:
Aldi's...is the stupidest store I've been to, but I keep going back because of great prices on spinach, mac and cheese, juice, and bread. First of all, making people pay a quarter to get a cart - even if you get the quarter back in the end - will keep people from leaving the carts everywhere, but it's darned inconvenient for people who never have quarters in their pockets. I also must say that narrow, crowded aisles, along with a guaranteed long, slow moving line is (to put it mildly) annoying.
Wal*Mart...is the best store I've been to, and I've started getting my groceries there almost exclusively (no offense, Wegman's) because of the low cost, ease of finding things, and quick check out lines. I love Wal*Mart, it is my friend.
We came home and I collapsed upon the floor (after thanking Mom profusely for all the rides she keeps giving me) for about 30 seconds. It would have been longer, but let's face it - yogurt, milk, and cheese don't do too well sitting on the counter for long periods of time.
I then cheerfully sat myself down at the computer to hammer out this faithful account, and in the middle of doing so I remembered that oh yah...the worker's comp auditor guy is coming today at 4:30 p.m. Maybe I should stop spilling my tired brain into my keyboard and get things ready for him.
Monday, October 29, 2007
it's check-up time
It annoys me, I admit, to have to make an appointment just to get a standard refill on my medication. Though I'm not nearly the RX junky I've been in the past, I still have 2 (sometimes 3) standard drugs to help me get through my Fibromyalgic days. While I've been meaning to talk to my doc anyway about some possible changes to my meds (including getting an opinion about Lyrica) I cringe at the thought of walking into the doc's office tomorrow.
Cringe factors:
* Not having medical insurance - those office visits are not cheap.
* My doc left (got married and wants to have kids - how dare she get her own life!) and this appointment is with a new face. It's hard to find a good doctor when you have FMS and I liked my old doc so much, she was open and easy to get along with. The new face is at the same office, but still...I liked the old face!
* My doc office is in the dreaded City...the 'bad' part of town. The part of town your husband doesn't let you travel to alone, and while he agrees that it's alright to have his mom along with you, everybody still worries until you are safely home.
Nonetheless...off Mom and I go tomorrow for the exciting appointment.
*cringe*
Cringe factors:
* Not having medical insurance - those office visits are not cheap.
* My doc left (got married and wants to have kids - how dare she get her own life!) and this appointment is with a new face. It's hard to find a good doctor when you have FMS and I liked my old doc so much, she was open and easy to get along with. The new face is at the same office, but still...I liked the old face!
* My doc office is in the dreaded City...the 'bad' part of town. The part of town your husband doesn't let you travel to alone, and while he agrees that it's alright to have his mom along with you, everybody still worries until you are safely home.
Nonetheless...off Mom and I go tomorrow for the exciting appointment.
*cringe*
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