Random Thoughts

The inside of my nose is so sore, I can’t even wear my nose ring. And that’s okay. I think it may be time to phase it out (shut up, mom). I’ve had it for 10 years. I think I got my money’s worth.

Wait. I didn’t pay for it. A girlfriend did. As my birthday present.

So, yeah. I may be over it.

**********

For those of you who aren’t on Facebook, my car was “broken into” over the weekend. Well, I accidentally left it unlocked, so there was no “breaking”. They just went through my glove box, went through my console. That’s about it. Took my bigass black Chevron $10 sunglasses. Big deal. They may have taken my good sunglasses, too. I can’t find them. But that’s nothing new.

Anyway, there was really nothing else to take. I’d brought my cd case into the house a few weeks ago because I listen to my iPod all the time now. And I’m not stupid enough to leave my iPod in the car. Or anything else for that matter. So, while it’s a little creepy, it ain’t no big thang. I’m just glad there’s no damage.

**********

Dawn simulator update – a waste of money.

I am completely sleeping through the bright light in my face now. Todd has started setting his alarm again for 6:35am and that’s pretty much what I’m waking up to.

But the simulator makes for a nice, soft nightlight, so after about 20 years, I’ll have gotten my money’s worth.

**********

I got my blood panel results. Everything is normal. Except my “good” cholesterol. It’s very low. How does that happen? What exactly does your “good” cholesterol do?

I was telling Kim-n-Tim this a couple of weeks ago, and Tim had the same problem. Low good cholesterol. And his doctor suggested alcohol (I love his doctor!) and almonds. So, I’ve started having a small glass of wine every few days (and sometimes tequila….ahem…) and I have almonds at work now.

But my thyroid was normal, so that made my therapist happy. And I’m taking iron regularly now so we can rule out any physical conditions that would cause me to be fatigued. Must all be mental. Good thing I’m in therapy.

**********

Our buddy Kyle and his girlfriend came over for dinner last night. I, of course, made my veggie enchiladas. And of course, they were impressed. But I told Kyle, next time he comes over for dinner, Todd will have to cook because I have already cooked my two impressive meals for him – the enchiladas and the coconut basmati rice with gingered greens.

I’m out.

But Todd! He made fried bananas for dessert (because you gotta love a theme dinner!) They were freakin’ incredible. I’ve never had fried bananas before, but they were super easy (dip the bananas in pancake batter and fry, top with cinnamon and vanilla ice cream) and super yummy.

I love my husband. He is an amazing cook. He whips up fried rice when we have nothing else in the house, and he made this cheesy pasta dish last week that fantastic – with cream cheese! Who knew!

And since I love to clean, we have a very balanced system.

**********

Tyler (and Kayleigh) got a wild hair yesterday and completely purged and cleaned his room. And if I’m telling you that it’s clean, you know it’s clean. Holy crap. He moved his bed, took out a couple of bags of garbage, a bag of Goodwill donations, did some laundry and actually put sheets on his bed.

Todd emailed me and asked me to check to see if hell was freezing over where I was.

**********

I kneed Todd in the butt the other night. In my sleep.

I turned over onto my stomach (which is bad for my back, I know) and cranked my left knee up and WHAM, my knee went right into is ass. Guess I was a little closer to him than I thought.

I immediately woke up and sputtered, very sleepily, “Sorry….sorry…”, then promptly fell back asleep.

We have all kinds of night time stories.

**********

Why don’t people at work understand that when you finish washing dishes with the sponge you MUST rinse all of the soap out of the sponge? ALL OF IT? Why is this so hard? Wasn’t this something we were all taught growing up? If you don’t get all of the soap out, the sponge goes bad so much quicker. JUST RINSE IT OUT!

**********

And lastly, boots:

(For the Mrs. Clause in you. I may have to save up for these....)

(For the Scotsman (or Scotswoman) in you.)

Sigh. I love boots.

I Am Not A Number!

So, I filled out our census. Or, as I called it a few days ago, in my half asleep state, the concensus.

Anywho, I was all gung ho to be counted as an American! Land of the free, bitches! USA! USA!

I started reading the directions aloud to the family. Todd was sitting at his computer, Kayleigh was at the dinner table drawing the Seattle skyline and Tyler was in the leather chair playing Super Mario on the DS. All the while, the cats were body slamming each other in the middle of the room. We are an all American family.

The very first question was:

"How many people were living or staying in this house, apartment, or mobile home on April 1, 2010?"

I stopped, blinked a couple of times, then read it again.
And the kids started laughing.

How many people "were" living here on April 1, 2010? Um. I don't know. I'm very confused. "Were" is past tense of "are". But April 1, 2010 hasn't happened yet.

Was the original plan to mail these out AFTER April 1, 2010?

So I underlined the word "were" and put a question mark beside it.
Then I wrote the number 4.

On to the people in the household.

The names are easy. Except for mine. I still haven't legally changed my name (any of it), so I have to put "Brenda R." which just feels weird. And I'm still a Marsh, for another month. I'll get around to going downtown and getting the documents to change it.

Where was I?

Ah, names. Easy. Then comes birthdays. I always choke on Todd's. 19....3... And then he yells at me. I've got the kids' birthdays memorized. They're very proud. Then I'm asked if anyone is Hispanic, Latino or Spanish. I want to check Latino for Todd, but he says no.

And then comes race. My options are:

• White
• Black, African Am., or Negro
• American Indian or Alaska Native

I don't have a "Black, African American or Negro" friend to ask right now (Oh! Gary!), but don't those terms all mean the same thing? Todd brings up a good point; not all Africans are American but then why would they be filling out the census? Is the government just counting residents, not citizens?

And didn't the word "negro" go away a while ago? I've read that having this word on the census caused a quite a stink with some people, but the older generation still consider themselves "negro" (even wrote it in on the last census) and the younger generation doesn't identify with "African American". So, now there are options.

But if you're going to get all technical with the African American, why not go with "Caucasian", rather than "White"? (Actually, I want to write in "Caucasoid". I like that word. Makes me sound like an alien.)

This baffles me. This whole thing baffles me.

But I filled out our census. And it made for good conversation this evening with my family. Maybe that was the goal. Get the family talking and bonding, and making fun of the government.
Yes, I'm sure that was the whole point.

Weekend (ACHOO) Update

Oh my gawd, when will the sneezing STOP?!

My (long) weekend started Thursday morning, when I came out of the bedroom, bundled up in my robe at 7am. My nose was completely clogged up, my head was throbbing and I hadn't gotten much sleep because I just can't sleep when I have to breathe through my mouth.

Todd looked at me and said, "You should call in."

I can't remember the last time I called in sick. For me. Maybe a year? I should go back and read my blog. Pinpoint it.

Anyway, I debated for a good bit, then called in. Then went back to bed. And I slept until 11am.

I got up ate a bagel, then curled up on the couch with Todd for a "long lunch" and The Hurt Locker. Which I actually liked, believe it or not. I usually avoid war movies. If any of the cast is in fatigues, I don't watch it. Why subject myself to that when it's already happening in the real world? I want love and happy and fluffy kitties.

But I liked The Hurt Locker. The banter between the guys was very entertaining, and you can't help but really like the main character. Adrenaline junkie that he is.

After the movie, I laid back down and sneezed and coughed and watched TV while I snoozed.

We had dinner, and then there was more snoozing and more sneezing and coughing, and then good Thursday night TV and then bed. Although, not much sleep.

Friday morning, it was just as bad. I finally made the decision to call in, then went back to bed.

And I was awakened at 8:30am by Sir Pukes Alot, as he fell out of the window above the bed and clawed my forehead on his way down. I have a very nice scratch now. Very nice.

Back to sleep until 11:30am. And then some iTunes hell, and then more napping. And then your standard Friday night - pizza and a movie. The feature was X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

And I LOVED THIS MOVIE. Todd was shocked. Pleasantly shocked.

After Wolverine, the kids went back down to Tyler's room to continue a game they were playing, so Todd and I popped in a grown up movie (I was going to say "adult movie" but that might give you the wrong impression of us. Shame on you). Our pick was Quills. In reading the description of the move, you'd think it would be a dry English sex fest. But no! Very witty, very sweet, not much sex. Despite what the pictures on IMDB indicate.

And after Quills, bed.

Saturday! Something shook loose Saturday, let me tell ya. I was up at 8:30am and full of energy! Todd was getting ready to head off to a production meeting, so I wanted to get out and about while it was early since I was apparently cured! I called Stephanie to see if she needed to go to Target. She didn't, but she did need to go grocery shopping.

So I said, "Great! I'll meet you at the grocery store at 9:30!"

Steph - "Is Todd going to be okay with you going grocery shopping without him?"

Me - "Oh, I'm not going to shop. I'm just going to drink my coffee and talk to you while YOU shop."

Steph - "You are SO SWEET!"

So Steph and I got in some bonding time.

Then I went by Barnes and Noble to pick up a couple of cheap books (since there won't be any new Sookie books or Jen books until May), then on to Target to spend a $50 gift card that Hyundai sent me (two new shirts and a gray cardigan) and get some household stuff, then I grabbed a happy meal at McDonald's, then went home and since Todd was still gone, I cleaned the kitchen and started some laundry and called mom and talked her ear off and then Todd got home so we took a walk and looked at houses and bought Tootsie Rolls from some kids in a yard, then went grocery shopping then we got home and made tacos for dinner and we watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (loved it) and then WHEW, we went to bed.

And I woke up Sunday sneezing my fool head off. FOR THE LOVE OF PUPPIES. I was lured into wellness on Saturday, then kicked in the gut bright and early Sunday morning. Todd made it better with breakfast (biscuits, gravy and bacon) and Parenthood on cable.

I may have also decided that margaritas would be the best remedy for my massive sneezing fits. And then I may have tried on my wedding dress (still fits!)

By the end of the day, my throat hurt, my head hurt, my lungs hurt. Ack! So after dinner and Buffy, Todd and I curled up and crashed. The kids stayed up, as this week is spring break, but Daddy had to put the fun to a stop around 1:30am.

I remember when dad used to get up at midnight during the summers and holler at me to GET MY ASS TO BED.

Totally get it now. Yep.

I'm very much looking forward to a good night's sleep.

Pray for me.

Weekend Update

Friday was a happy day at work, albeit, there was some drama with CB which enabled us to leave at 3:30pm. I love carpooling. Don’t worry, all is fine.

Movie of the night – Starship Troopers. Quick note about this movie – I was forced to watch this when I was dating someone who was a complete ass. I didn’t want to see this movie, and I didn’t watch most of the movie. So when Todd kept suggesting it, I was just flat out uninterested. But I caved on Friday. I figured, if Todd likes it, it must be okay. And it was. And we now have a new quote – “MEDIC!”

I had one glass of wine. Oh, yes I did.

Saturday, we were off to see Alice in Wonderland in 3D. My job has this nifty perk – you can buy movie tickets for $6. Fantastic. I will utilize this more in the future. Alice was good. Seven out of 10 stars.

Afterwards, we drop Kayleigh off at an overnight, then walk down to the Junction for some Japanese dinner. And a truffle (or two) from Husky Deli.

Back home to watch Inglourious Basterds. It was just eh. Todd summed up the problem very clearly Tarantino likes his own writing. So he makes the characters talk and talk and talk and talk for no reason, other than to let Tarantino hear his own dialogue. However, Brad Pitt’s accent alone was worth sitting through this movie. Fantastic.

And then, bed.

Sunday began with a lazy, lazy morning and waffles for breakfast, with cheap, crappy syrup. There are certain things you just don’t want to skimp on. Syrup is one of them. We’re splurging for Log Cabin on our next shopping trip. Well, as “splurging” as can be with $5 syrup.

During breakfast, we watched Will & Grace. I love, love, love Will & Grace. I miss it a bunch. So very funny.

At this point, we kept meaning to get cleaned up and start the day, but we got sucked into The Karate Kid. How long has it been since you’ve seen that movie? It’s still great. “Wax on, wax off…”

Okay, now we get cleaned up. Then Todd plays Champions, and I go get Kayleigh from her overnight. Then I come home, pop in Dirty Dancing (don’t judge me) and clean out the file cabinet. Productive. Kayleigh joins me for the movie, as she hasn’t seen it yet. Blasphemy!!

And before you know it, it’s dinner time. Roast chicken from QFC, french fries, salad and bread. And of course, Buffy. We’re midway through Season 5 now. Cruising right along.

After that, clean up, do some admin work on the laptop, then sweet, sweet bed.

Good gawd, I love going to bed. It’s sad really. I just feel like once I’m in bed, I have no responsibility whatsoever until 6:30 the next morning. I just wrap up in Todd’s arm (whether he likes it or not) and curl up with my knees to my chest, and just breathe until I’m zonked out.

Ahhh.

I can’t wait to go home and take a nap.

Happy St. Patricks Day!

Actually, I don't own any green. So, I'm in black from head to toe.
Except for my silver and green shamrock earrings.

That counts, right?

While I'd like to go to the Celtic Swell and drink a pint (of wine), it won't happen. One, remember that whole not drinking thing right now? And two, Todd tells me there's no way we could even cram ourselves in the the Swell. Bummer.

However, the Seattle Fireman Pipes and Drums will be down there tonight, so I'd love to go hear them. I do love me some bagpipes.

But knowing me, I'll be in my jammies at 8pm, and laying in bed, cuddling with my honey and watching Modern Family at 9pm. Because I am old and lame and married and a mom.

Oh, I joke.

If I were single I'd be doing the same thing. Except without the honey. So I would be sad and depressed and well, yes, probably drinking.

I guess then, technically, I'd still be celebrating St. Patrick's Day. More so than I will be tonight.

My head hurts....

Weekend Update – ECC Edition

This weekend was the Emerald City Comicon, a festival for geeks of all kinds! And their significant others. The primary focus is comic books, but it branches into movies, role playing games and zombies. Gotta have zombies. Here are some pics from the Seattle PI.

On Saturday, we went for just a few hours, to see Todd’s friends and schmooze a little. You know how we love to schmooze.

That evening, we took a break from the geek fest and went over to Steve and Stephanie’s to hang out with them and Kim-n-Tim. And it was discovered that I am not able to drink AT ALL on the new pretty, now pink, pills.

My doctor changed my prescription since it seemed that the pretty purple pills weren’t doing a damn bit of good. Now, we’re back to the same pink pills I took in 2007. I never had a drink while I was on those. Not a sip (except at Christmas, while at my folks’ - supervised).

Now, while on the pretty purple pills, I would have maybe one glass of wine on Friday night and one glass on Saturday. Never really more than that. And everything was fine. But Saturday night, I was worn out and not paying attention, so I had three (small) glasses of wine. And boy howdy, I felt like I’d drank two bottles. I was flapping my gums to Steve and Stephanie, even after it occurred to me that I was talking way too much. And my fears were confirmed on Sunday morning when Todd gently suggested I maybe don’t drink in mixed company while taking these things. Of course I felt horrible, so I agreed. Gonna have to go cold turkey.

Later that morning, we headed back to ECC, where Todd was filming the Kirby Krackle concert. We were all cool and important with our Press badges so we got into the concert room early to set up and chat with other cool and important people.

Side note: my favorite song right now is “Can I Watch You?” by KK. Kyle himself describes this song best: "a song that is from the perspective of MARVEL Comics character "The Watcher" the the all knowing, all-seeing Celestial. But hey, just because you're 3 stories high with a big baby head and a wear a toga don't mean that you can't gets yours, right? RIGHT!? If Uatu is gonna sing a song to his boo, why shouldn't it be in the form of a 70's love jam over sexy ass guitar and a slutty solo? Slutty indeed. Oh Watcher, you crazy baby...you crazy.”

I finally had a chance to listen to their new album on Friday, and when “Can I Watch You?” came on, I started shakin’ my groove thang in my chair, with a white man’s overbite, while I ordered pipette tips and antibodies. Awww yeah.

I told Kyle about my new found love for this song and asked if it was on the set list for Sunday. He said it was the hardest song to sing, but he may have to work it in now. And he did – it was the encore. I feel special.


Anyway, KK was awesome, as usual, but the big news was that Joe Quesada, Editor in Chief of Marvel comics, was in attendance and actually played a few songs with them. Think about it – you’ve got a band that plays songs about comic book characters and superheroes. You grew up loving these guys. Now you write songs and sing about them. Then the Editor in Chief of THE comic book publisher says to a big crowd that your band is the most awesomest and then sings your songs on stage.

How freakin’ amazing is that?!

The kids went with us and had a great time. They’re huge KK fans. Kayleigh brought a friend and they roamed around like teenagers and looked for some guys from their school. Tyler and his friend took the bus in by themselves and wandered around as well, but we all met back up at the KK show. So, it was kind of like a family outing.

By the time we got home last night, Todd and I were spent. We snoozed for a bit, then made some dinner and watched Up in the Air with George Clooney. FANTASTIC movie. Just wonderful.

And then!

We watched the raw video of our wedding.

Todd’s friend, Dan, videotaped the wedding on two different cameras, one of which was Todd’s. When Todd got out his camera on Sunday to get it ready to tape KK, he found two videotapes labeled “Todd’s Wedding 11/7/09” Dan had put the tapes back in, I’m guessing, after copying them so he’s have footage to work with and edit.

The first tape was from the camera set up on the balcony, that showed only the stage. The second tape was extra footage that Dan shot (upstairs while I was getting ready, exterior shots of the building, people signing rocks) and then the footage from down by the stage that also showed our readings and the guests. It was so cool to see all the things that were going on while I was upstairs. And it made me and Todd all mushy and giddy.

So, that was a nice topper to the weekend.

And BAM! Here we are at Monday.

I am very much looking forward to this weekend. We don't have a dang thing going on. Can you believe it?! We do, however, have a couple of World Market gift cards to spend, so there may be shopping. Maybe.

What a Crappy, Crappy Day

Corey Haim died and I had to get blood taken first thing this morning.

Why does the Universe hate me so!?

I had posters of Corey Haim on my walls for years when I was in middle school. Corey and New Kids on the Block (don’t judge me) and Corey Feldman and Johnny Depp.

I’d probably still have Johnny Depp posters on the wall if my husband would let me.

Anywho, Todd broke the news to me first thing this morning, and I was floored. Not really surprised; Corey had been an addict for a long time. But we had just been talking with Val and Doug at dinner Saturday about our teenage crushes, and I mention Corey Haim. So sad.

And I got blood taken today (and had to have an extra person hold me down – I was not doing well this morning) because my primary doctor and my therapist wanted to check my thyroid and my iron levels and all that good stuff to try to figure out why I’m exhausted all the freakin’ time. Am I just crashing from a year of constant go go go? Do I have an imbalance? Am I depressed? Is sitting at a computer for eight hours a day draining me?

Who knows. I’m just sick of it. And I think I completely slept through my dawn simulator this morning. I was up at 3am trying to suck air through my nose (because I cannot fall asleep breathing through my mouth), which woke Todd up and I’m sure annoyed him, so he got me some Sudafed even though I tried to be stoic and say “No, no. I’ll be fine.” I finally got a clear nostril and fell back asleep around 4am and when I finally opened my eyes, it was 6:45am.

Crap.

I don’t even know if the thing lit up, but if it did, I missed it. Maybe I should set Todd’s alarm as well, just as a back up.

Onward...

Dawn Simulator Update

I’ve been using my dawn simulator alarm clock for a few weeks now. It starts lighting up at 6:00am and by 6:15 (my actual “get up” time…supposedly), it’s at it’s brightest. I’m finding that I’m starting to open my eyes around 6:05 or 6:08am. I’m guessing that’s the light that’s getting through my eyelids.

I’m still able to snooze through the bright phase. The first few mornings, I got up at 6:20 and 6:25. But then one morning, there was just no motivation. None. Bright light or not, I’m sleepin’.

Then the real defect of this device showed itself. At 6:30am, the just light went out completely. Back to dark.

And so I slept until 6:50am.

You know what this as taught me? If I can withstand that pesky light for 15 minutes, it will go out and I go back to sleep!

But I’m trying, really. Now, at about 6:20am or so, I reach over and turn on my bedside lamp. Then when the dawn simulator goes off, there’s still light in the room. See? I’m making an effort.

I can’t say that the simulator makes a huge difference in my attitude and mood when waking up. It is nice to gradually wake up, without having a jarring radio station or buzzer come on. I’m still grouchy and I still bitch about having to even wake up at all, but at least it’s a gradual thing now. So, that’s something.

It does have a nifty feature, where, if in the middle of the night, I need to see to get a Sudafed or my water, I can push the “+” button a couple of times and just a smidge of light comes on. Enough for me to see, but not enough to wake Todd.

And now that the sun is coming up earlier, I have some natural light to help the process, too. Oh, and the time changes this weekend! I had forgotten. That will be even better.

So, to sum up – the dawn simulator makes waking up a bit more natural, but it won’t cure your bitchiness.

I think that should be the tagline.

Random Thoughts

I think someone tried to break into my car on Tuesday.

I carpool with CB most days and we meet up at the Park and Ride parking lot under a bridge. A ton of cars park there, and we’ve never seen any damage to any. CB said she’d feel safe leaving her car there, so I wasn’t really worried.

On Tuesday, she dropped me off after work and drove away. I walked to my car and discovered my keyless entry didn’t work. My battery was dead. Huh. I called my hubby (after calling Hyundai’s roadside assistance, which is worthless) and he came down to jump start the car. As soon as there was a charge, my alarm starting going off. Yes, that could just be the power surge, but what I wonder what caused my battery to drain? Maybe my alarm going off for hours and hours?

The real eye opener was the next morning when I drove down there, there was shattered glass a few spots down from where I usually park. CB left her car that day; I’ll do the driving. If she wants to drive, I’ll drive all the way to her house and park there. No more parking under the bridge.

**********

Did you hear that Hummer has to close down?

This makes me very, very happy. I say HAHA, Arnold! Is there really a valid reason why anyone would ever need one of these things? Especially in the city!

Stupid. Thirteen miles per gallon!! Unbelievable.

And they take up valuable parking spots because they are too wide and spill over into neighboring spots. So there.

**********

I am sick of heartburn. SICK OF IT. Everything gives me heartburn these days.

And it’s not wine, so ha ha. I have maybe 1 glass of wine a week now (thank you pretty purple pills).

**********

I’m also sick of sneezing. Could be allergies (trees are in bloom, office is musty), could be the cold that we all seem to be passing around, could be my itty bitty sinuses.

[*burp* – chocolate. It was the chocolate that gave me heartburn. Dammit!]

Whatever it is, I’m sick of it.

And now my ear hurts.

**********

I love my kitty but Sir Pukes Alot chose to vomit on the bed the other morning. And while I didn’t know it until I was in the car on my way to work, also on my sweater that happened to be laying on the bed. Not a lot of icky, but enough icky to make me catch a whiff of it every now and then as I sat at my desk.

I now keep the bed clear of clothing.

**********

I have a huge ugly pimple on my chin, right in the crease.
It’s high school all over again.

**********

That’s all I got.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Spriiiinng

The bunnies are out!!


Poor Parsnip Pete. He just can't compete with The Professor.

And I think these are new this year. I've never seen Baby Binks.


Cute, no?
Just like me.

Weekend Update

Despite a Friday therapy session with Tyler’s counselor, this weekend was damn near perfect.

It began by arriving home after said therapy session to presents from my hubby – Gummy Bear vitamins (shut up – multivitamins make me nauseous), iron pills and a bottle of wine. My man must really love me.

That night was pizza and a movie. Although, I just had a Pag’s salad (and one glass of wine). Wasn’t in a pizza mood. We watched Troy.

Very.Good.Movie.

Brad Pitt as Achilles. Lots o fighting. A little lovin’.

I liked it.

And after the movie, bed.

Saturday, I actually woke up early (8:30am) so I called mom and we chatted for about an hour. Well, she bitched about the snow for about an hour. It’s just unreal. And if you look at the 10 day forecast for that area, it’s all more snow. When will it stop?

After chatting, I wanted breakfast from Easy Street, so the hubby and I walked down to the Junction. But the line for a table, and even the counter was way too freakin’ long, and Rae-rae had hit a code red, so there was no time to waste. After hitting a couple of other spots that either didn’t have what I wanted or were too expensive (Rae-rae is very high maintenance once she’s hit a code red. HUNGRY.) we ended up at Uptown Espresso. We had a nice little table by the window and good coffee and some kind of frilly, sun dried tomato scone and all was right with the world again.

And we ended up walking about 1.5 miles, so we burned calories, too!

Once home, Kayleigh and I made a Target run. I needed more hooks for our closet (it’s the year of the hook, I tell ya!) and Kayleigh needed a straightener and some headbands. We picked up some other essentials, then headed back home to start being productive.

But first, a quick stop by Steve and Stephanie’s to say hi. They’ve been out of town, and I’ve missed them terribly and I hadn’t seen Isabella since before Christmas! We had a nice 15 minute visit, then we were on our way.

Back at home, I was muy productive. I cleaned the bathroom from top to bottom (even used a toothbrush on the baseboards) then moved into the bedroom. And then….the closet.

Todd had put my hooks up, so I hung up as much as I could, just to get it off the floor. And now…wala!

My tension just melts away when I have a clean space. Even if it's just the closet.

By then it was time to get pretty and go to the annual Chinese New Year party. This is the year of the tiger, so there was all kinds of tiger trivia and other games. The night ended with each team doing a magic show (tigers = Siegfried and Roy = Las Vegas = magic show….see?) and being judged.

Todd’s team attempted to make one woman disappear! All the while, Todd danced around and flung himself around the living room with the flaming hoola hoop in his hands. He was very committed.

My team attempted to levitate one of our team members. However, since we were judged on showmanship, crowd response and then actual magic, we chose to really play up the showmanship aspect…seeing as how we had three women and one man on our team.

We came in second. The first place team actually did some magic. I think they should have been disqualified.

We didn’t get home until after midnight, so we crashed as soon as we walked in the door.

And then Sunday! Beautiful sunny day!
(sorry mom.)

Our neighbors Dave and Greg came over for brunch. I made a dutch baby. They were impressed.

They filled us in on our new neighborhood. Like, how the house next door to us, which is absolutely incredible, was a drug house when they first moved here. It was a little one bedroom, one bath, with appliances on the porch and cars in the yard. Someone bought it when the mother who lived there died, and fixed it up, and resold it for $250,000 more a mere six months later.

I love good stories like that.

After brunch, I got in my grubbies, stood up on the bed and cleaned the window in our bedroom. Which was covered in mold.

I hadn’t paid much attention to it – it’s small, high above our bed, and has sheers over it. But when I looked out Saturday morning to see where the rhythmic dripping was coming from, I noticed all the black fuzzy stuff. So that’s why Todd and I get stuffy as soon as we lay down at night!

Come to find, the window just pops right out! So I sprayed a bleach and water mixture in every nook and cranny, and used a toothbrush to get into the really tight spots. I put the window back in and was very proud of myself for such a thorough job.

Then I looked down at the bed.

Note to self – lay down an old sheet when spraying a bleach mixture. Our sheets are now polka dotted. Very hip.

I don’t care that my black yoga pants have splotches on them.

So, with the window mold free, and my closet all tidy, and Todd playing some dinging game on the computer, I curled up under a blanket on the couch and read for an hour.

Heaven.

(That night, I remembered we STILL haven’t gotten all of our thank you cards out, so of course I felt guilty for reading when I could have gotten some of those written up. But oh well. By April! April 1st is my deadline. I mean it!)

There was dinner and movie that evening, but the movie (about the Zodiac serial killer) was not working for me so I cleaned up the dinner dishes, took a bath, read some more (chose to think it was too late to work on thank you cards) then went to bed.

And this morning, my head is completely stuffed up and my ear hurts. Allergies? The beginning of a cold? Who knows. Things are starting to bloom here, so it wouldn’t surprise me if it were allergies already.

But I don’t want to take my loratadine because I’m already taking the pretty purple pills, iron, Gummy Bear vitamins and my…ahem…No Baby Pills. I’m afraid to throw one more in the mix! My system will explode, I’m sure of it.

To add insult to injury, Sir Pukes Alot barfed on the bed this morning while I was getting ready for work. I thought my pink sweater that was laying near him escaped unscathed, but no. And I did not realize it until I was in the car on the way to work.

Fantastic.

But now, after a very long Monday, I’m sitting up in bed (with a freshly washed bedspread. Thank you, hubby), working from my laptop, enjoying a cup of Tension Tamer tea.

Life don’t look so bad.