Bad Omen?

I have “Shall We Gather at the River” stuck in my head. 

Why?  I have no idea.

It creeps me out when I get gospel songs stuck in my head. Where the hell did that come from?

Is this a sign?  Is everyone okay?

Please let me know.

Random Thoughts with a Weekend Update

I am wearing my uber expensive DDD bra today.
And it’s too tight.

Crap.

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My weekend was good. I had my first meeting with Ann on Saturday (read about it here, eventually), which included a sushi lunch and digging through her clothes and purses. I have a few new big comfy sweaters.

Comfy. Not frumpy.

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Saturday night was dinner with Kim-n-Tim-n-Milo. It was low key, veg on the sofa and chat. And listen to Milo sing “Old MacDonald”.

And Sunday was domestic – Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, laundry, paying bills, helping Kayleigh with her Math project. We’re totally gonna get an A.

Sunday night was the season 4 finale of Dexter. Fan-freakin-tastic. Season 5 isn’t out on DVD yet. WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?!

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Saturday morning is when I woke up with an achy shoulder. And hip. I must have slept hard on my left side. But as the day when on, and the shoulder didn't pop, it got worse. It was making my arm ache and my back and neck ache. Sunday was even worse. I couldn’t carry anything with my left arm. Monday, I decided it was time for a doctor’s appointment. Not that he could really do anything about it, but he could prescribe a massage, of which I am in desperate need.

But then I popped a couple Tylenol 3 with codeine last night before bed (because they had been prescribed for this stupid 3am cough) and when I woke up this morning, my shoulder felt much better. I coughed all night, but my shouldn’t didn’t hurt!

I still went to my appointment this morning and got my prescription for a massage.
So, it was totally worth it.

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I am sick of our weather. La Nina, my ass. For the past month (and for the next month) it’s 50 degrees and rainy. Woo.Hoo. How boring.

I want snow. I want to be snowed in. I want to be trapped at my house for a week. It’s okay, I have the vacation time. I need excitement!

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I have many balls in the air this week - work party tonight, drinks with a friend tomorrow, creative work meeting on Thursday (yes, I have a creative work meeting!), Archer premiere party on Friday, more organizing on Saturday, a party Saturday night, cleaning for a friend on Sunday....

B R E A T H E

Plus, Todd and I are hosting the Chinese New Year party this year, so there was a planning meeting for that last night and will probably be another one more in the next two weeks.

I like being this busy.  Keeps me distracted from the crappy things in life.

We'll talk about that later....

The Mother of All Projects

I have a new project. It’s a biggie.
It will make good Mighty Tidy material, so I’ll blog about it there.

Where?

Here.

Things I’ve Learned Along The Way

When you open a little yogurt container, open it AWAY from you. Inevitably, yogurt spits out. I’ve gotten yogurt on my shirt one too many times. Now I know.

Unload the bottom rack of the dishwasher first. Then, when you unload the top rack and all of the water dumps from the punts in the glasses or the lip of the Tupperware, it won’t dump on the dry dishes below. Less dishes to dry off.

Tidy your room at night before you go to bed. Hang up your clothes, put away your shoes, throw away your tissues from the night before. Its easier in the morning when you’re getting ready for work or school.

Save every freakin’ email. Two years from now, someone will argue with you about something and it takes the wind out of their sails when you say “Well, let me just pull up the email about that….”

Take your rings off when you wash your hands.

When you clean, start at the top and work your way down. Cobwebs, dusting lights/on top of the cabinets, wiping down cabinets, wiping counter tops, wiping baseboard, sweep the floor.

Use “waiting time” to tidy. That way, you don’t have to make time to do it later. While my bagel was toasting today, I put away the clean dishes on the counter and soaked and stacked the dirty dishes in the corner. Less I have to do this evening when I clean the kitchen. And back when I used to pump gas, I would set the thingy to automatic and clean all of the trash out of my car. I know you’re not supposed to re-enter your car while gas is pumping, so I’d just get the stuff out of the door pockets.

And speaking of soaking dishes, I have trained my family to follow one of my quirks. When the dishes start piling up and I need to put them in the dishwasher, but just don’t get around to it, I fill up one of the larger dirty glasses with steaming hot water and put all of the silverware in there, dirty side down. By the time I get around to putting that silverware in the dishwasher, the dried peanut butter/Nutella/mayo(gag)/butter has soaked off and I don’t have to rinse them.

Consistent reminders really do work with teenagers. Even though you feel like you’re just repeating yourself to a wall and they get all huffy and said, “Duh. I know!”.  I see Kayleigh remember to turn the shower off BEFORE she turns the water off (it’s a rude awakening to have the shower blast down on me first thing in the morning when I turn on the water) and put the towel up over the tub when she leaves the bathroom. Gentle, consistent reminders.

At the grocery store, if you unload all of the freezer stuff together and the fridge stuff together when you check out, you don’t spend time running back to the fridge when you get home and unload stuff. If you have a good bagger, all of your cold stuff will be together. If you have a bad bagger, well, bag your own stuff next time.

*Tangent*

I remember going to Kroger with Mom every Saturday morning for the weekly grocery shopping trip. I remember her standing there to write out her check and chatting with the cashier because she knew them all on a first name basis. And I remember the mentally disabled boy who would leave whichever lane he was on when he saw mom, to come bag her groceries. He loved football and they’d talk about the Oilers while he bagged and as he walked her out to her car. He was nice. Wonder where he is now?

I also remember if he wasn’t there, and the other baggers were busy, Mom would look at me and say “Make yourself useful!”. And I would. I’m a good bagger. And I still step in and bag when Todd and I do one of our huge grocery shopping trips and there are no baggers available. If the cashier has to scan and type and bag, it takes too long. I always get a surprised look and a thank you. Makes me feel good.

Now. Back to our list.

Um. I think I’m done.

However.

You would think I’ve learned by now not to tell my mother I coming to visit her five months in advance. That’s way too much time her to think of all the things she wants me to help her with. It’s much better to just show up when she isn’t expecting it. Less time for her to compile a list.

I’m thinking about going home for a few days over Memorial weekend. I miss my folks. A whole bunch. And I need to be mommied for a while.

Random Thoughts

In local news today, a 13 year old boy was sent home from school for wearing a Steelers' jersey.


While I would like to jump up and down, screaming "Yeah, BOY.  Steelers can suck it!!", I can't in this particular instance.

The school allowed kids to wear their Seahawks gear for the game this weekend, but the boy chose to wear his Steelers' jersey.  Um.  Not Steelers spirit day.  Seahawk spirit day.  If you ain't got Seahawk spirit, wear your school uniform.

The Seahawks play Chicago on Sunday.  We're not holding our breath, but stranger things have happened.

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You remember the post about my sick vacuum?

Well, it completely went kaput.  The roller brush wouldn't even turn.  So I finally took it into Ballard Quality Sewing and Vacuum.  Yes, we have a Quality Sewing and Vacuum in White Center, but I don't like it.  So I took my vacuum all the way to Ballard.

When I dropped it off, a very nice boy (yes, boy) asked if he could help me.  I said, with weepy eyes, "My vacuum is sick."  The man, very dramatically, gasped and put his hand to his heart and said "Oh, no!"

See?  He gets it.

I told him what all was wrong, and he took the vacuum from me and said "Well, take good care of her."  Then I told him to shield her eyes because I was going to oogle the shiny new Ricaars.

When I went to pick her up, there were five boys working.  In a vacuum and sewing shop.  All young, all had Justin Bieber hair, and all just as sweet as pie.  I told Todd, it must be a front for a drug operation.  That's just bazaar.

But my Ricaar is feeling much better now.

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My left thumb joint is getting worse.  It hurts to hold my travel coffee mug now.  I'm consciously thinking about keeping my thumb close to my hand - not letting it stray outward so that it hyper extends. 

It's all downhill from here, isn't it?

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Can I get a "hell yeah" for a three day weekend?  Yes, I will thank Martin Luther King Jr when I wake up at 10am on Monday.

I Can Justify Anything

Which is why I am well past voluptuous.

Safeway has a four pack of these delicious muffins that are normally $1.99 (with the club card), or like yesterday, $2.69 but two for one. On therapy days, I usually stop and pick up a latte and muffins afterwards, on my way in to work – it’s a little treat to myself after I’ve purged my soul. Since there’s four in a pack, I share them with Mr. Cranky Non-Decorating Co-worker and CB. They have come to love Muffin Day.

Anywho.

Todd and I were out of coffee yesterday, so I stopped and got muffins and a latte. CB is still on maternity leave so Mr. Co-Worker and I enjoyed our muffins alone. And I put the rest in my file cabinet, happy in the knowledge that I have breakfast for the rest of the week (eight muffins, minus two muffins equals six muffins!)

We still don’t have coffee at home (well, we have coffee beans, but no grinder, and short term memory so we forgot to take the beans to get ground last night, or grind them in the blender) so I stopped again today for a latte, and very much looked forward to my muffin when I got to work.

And my muffin was good. Apple. I got banana nut too, because Mr. Cranky Non-Decorating Co-worker likes them, but they’re e a little too dry for me.

So I had my muffin and everything was dandy. Until I got an email and then the day just went to shit. Big project, lots of equipment orders, need to be delivered somewhere else, can’t deliver somewhere else, no one told us that, cancel that other order that was placed last week, okay cancelled, but wait maybe we don’t need to cancel that order…

Oh, for the love of puppies!

That’s when I ate my second apple muffin.

I didn’t need that muffin. But my mood was slipping and I knew the taste of that muffin would distract me (temporarily) and so I went for it.

Now I have two very processed apple muffins in my belly and I feel gross. And I bet I just gained three pounds.

Coincidentally, this is the same reason I drink wine every night.

Does Anyone Else See Kristin Here?

Horrified

Dear Republican Readers,
I understand that you and I have differences of opinion.  I still love you as a person.  I don't lump all of the extreme people into one group - Republicans.  There are extreme Democrats.  I get it.  I don't generalize.

However.

If you like Sarah Palin, and you support her murderous belief system, I don't understand you.

And that scares me.

Random Kitty Post

So, Tom has this creepy habit of just sitting in one spot, staring.  Sometimes it's at something, sometimes it's not.

Usually, in the morning, he sits on bed or the footboard of the bed and stares at me when I'm getting ready for work.  I'd love to know what's going through his head.

But on Friday, Todd slept in while I got up and got ready.  He had the covers pulled up over his head, because I had the light on, so he had no idea that Tom was just sitting there staring at him.  For about 20 minutes.

Eventually, Tom wanted under the covers so he started clawing at the quilt.  I knew Todd wouldn't tolerate that like I do, so I just lifted the quilt and Tom walked under and curled up against Todd.

I was a little jealous that I didn't get my Tom cuddle time that morning, but it was sweet to see Todd get his cuddle time.

Lazy Saturday

Our Saturday was completely lazy.  Completely.

Kayleigh and I had a morning date, so we walked down to the Junction at 11am and had a lovely breakfast (and six cups of coffee...me, not Kayleigh) at the Easy Street Cafe.  It was a long, leisurely time since they're always packed and service is less than speedy.  But that's why we go there.  To dally.

At 1:30pm, we headed back home for the now INFAMOUS Seahawks game!

Holy shit!

No one thought we could do it!  WE didn't think we could do it!  But we FINALLY played some football!  When it freakin' counted!  Go 'Hawks!

Whew.

Okay, so after the game, we were just sloths.  Lots of TV, more football, nachos for dinner, random crime drama shows, and cuddling.

Todd felt a little left out.  So as soon as Kayleigh went to check her email, he snagged her spot.

Yeah, they can't get enough of the Rae-rae.....

How Hard Was To Come To Work Today?

I am wearing my jammie pants. 

I kid you not.

Okay, they don’t “look” like jammie pants.  They’re drawstring, wide leg sweat pants from Old Navy.  But when I go home and get into my jammies, these are the pants I put on.

I woke up a lot last night and completely slept through my bigass bright light and then just had a really hard time waking up and I just couldn’t stand the thought of wearing jeans or slacks and sitting in that chair all day.  So I convinced myself that my gray sweat pants, with my bright pink hoodie over a white tank top would just hover above the line of “inappropriate”.  I did put on mascara and a necklace, so it all balances, right?

Actually, I’ve seen much more inappropriate in this office.  Spandex leggings with a t-shirt?  Inappropriate.  Dirty sweat pants (complete with elastic around the ankles) and flip flops?  Inappropriate.  Camisole/tank top thingy?  Inappropriate. 

Okay, CB was pregnant when she wore that, and it was 90 degrees out, so I guess I can let the tank top slide.

Actually, I think I look like a hip stay at home mom.  I’ve always admired those mommies that I see in the grocery store at 9am with their hair done and make up on and fashionable sweat suit.  They’re comfy, but they still look good.

I’m comfy today.  And I think I look good.

It’s Friday.  Who cares?

Potty Talk

Upon my umpteenth trip to the bathroom today, the phrase “I’m peeing my freakin’ head off!” ran through my head.

I crack myself up.

And speaking of the bathroom, maybe one of you can shed some light on a cultural practice.

CB and I have both noticed that there are some women, most often Asian women, who wet a paper towel and take it with them into the stall.  Do I dare ask what they do with that paper towel?  I’m assuming I know (deductive reasoning and all) but I’m just curious.  I don’t know anyone to ask – I’m not that close with any of the Asian women in my office.

Also, some women wash their hands before they go into the stall, too.  And then when they come out.  Very hygienic.  Is that a cultural thing?

I’ve been drinking a lot of water today.  Hence, the potty talk.

This Year Goes to 11!

(Thanks for the line, sweetie.)

Happy New Year, dear readers!  Just when I get used to writing 2010...

Todd and I threw the kids on a ferry yesterday afternoon and shipped them off to their uncle's for the night.  Oh, I joke.  Uncle Gavin invited them.

At 6pm, we met Steve, Stephanie and Isa at Endolyne Joe's for dinner.  We were going to gather at Steve and Steph's, but she called earlier and said she wasn't up for cooking so could she take us out to dinner?  Well, you betcha.

And after dinner, we caravaned over to Trish and Dan's for a New Year's gathering.  We joined Gary and Amy, and Trish's brother and sister-in-law.  We drank and laughed and played spikey ball with Isa (I lost.  I still don't know how.)  There was some X-Box dance game that was just odd, and then the mocking of the New Year's Eve show.  A lovely night.

I'm feeling pretty good today, despite the numerous glasses of wine and not getting to bed until after 1am.  Todd and I took down the Christmas decorations, which always just depresses the shit out of me, and then we met some Twelfth Nighters for a quick drink and too see Muriel, who is visiting from Chicago.

Muriel is one of the reasons Todd and I met.  She was the vocalist for the And Tears Fell project, but after recording the CD, she moved away.  So Todd placed the Craigslist ad looking for a new vocalist, I responded, and BAM.  Love.

I gave her a big hug when we met.

After drinks was grocery shopping (I hate grocery shopping.  Hate it.) then dinner.  Todd made fried rice.  It's sooo good.  Big bowl o' comfort food.

And tomorrow is the last day of holiday vacation.  Sniff.  I'll be spending it cleaning for Rachelle.  She emailed a few weeks, asking if I could recommend someone to do a deep cleaning for her.  I said I didn't really know anyone anymore, and regardless, no one is as good as I am. 

Cocky, aren't I?

So, I offered to do her cleaning.  A few extra dollars ain't gonna hurt?  And I'm actually thinking I'd like to pick up a few deep cleanings.  The extra money would come in handy, post Christmas.

I'll have to think about that.

Anywho, happy new year!