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.

Weekend Update

What a lovely, sunny, relaxing weekend. Wow.

Friday night was, of course, pizza and movies. Trish, Dan and baby Rosalind came over and we watched Pieces of April, starring Katie Holmes before Tom brainwashed her. I loved it. Patricia Clarkson played her mom, and you just can't go wrong with a Patricia Clarkson.

Saturday, Todd, Kayleigh and I drove up to CarPros to get the iPod chord and trunk cover that was listed on my window sticker, but somehow never made it home with me. And if I'm paying that much money for a brand spankin' new car that I didn't even want, by gawd, I'm getting the iPod cord and the trunk cover.

On the way home, we stopped by Blue C in Fremont for lunch. Kayleigh, and Tyler, love Blue C, as does Todd. I am a very lucky woman.

Saturday night we watched The Rocketeer and then turned in early. After having, gasp, dessert! Strawberries, angel food cake and vanilla frozen yogurt. Not too bad, huh? A semi-healthy dessert. The angel food cake has no cholesterol!

Because we've started reading labels more than ever now. The hubby's cholesterol was a bit higher than we like, so we're cutting back where we can. And butter was the first thing to go. We actually looked at labels, and holy cow, we switched to Brummel & Brown spread. The family had a stick of butter beside the toaster and that's what was put on toast and English muffins. But no more! A stick of butter has 30g of cholesterol PER SERVING. Margarine? Zero. And here's a tidbit - a stick of anything is worse than a whipped something or a spread. I've been reading up.

Anywho, Sunday was another sunny beautiful day, so Todd and I wracked our brains trying to come up with something the family could do outdoors that didn't cost any money. Ha. So we ended up walking down to the Junction and visiting the Farmer's Market. It got us out of the house for a few hours. Then I got a wild hair and decided to cook dinner. Pasta with a walnut pesto. Very yummy. Although, the kids didn't like it. What's new? Guess they'll have mac-n-cheese next time I make it. That's always a good standby for them.

And Sunday evening we watched THREE episodes of Buffy. Fantastic! There will never be another show quite as entertaining to me. The writing was so clever, and the humor so dry. Go Joss.

After Buffy, everyone retired to their respective rooms. And Todd and I settled in for story time. I've been reading him my journals. I started keeping journals when I was in 4 or 5th grade. I finally fell out of it around 1996, when I got busy with real life, and my live in boyfriend and partying five nights a week. At that point, you kind of forget to write.

We started reading them when I was freshman in high school. That was entertaining. I love so and so, but then so and so asked me out, but I think I love so and so..... Todd had a hard time keeping up. Then we skipped ahead and even at 20 years old, Todd was still asking, "Now, who was Bob?" I just tell him to keep up.

I don't know why my new husband wants to hear about all of my drunken exploits. But my "stories" absolutely crack him up. And I can't count the number of times I say, "Oh, Rae-rae. Really? What were you thinking?" The boy who called me a bitch and said I'd never find anyone to ever love me? Went out with him the next week.

Sigh.

So young, so stupid, so insecure, so desperate.

Thank goodness those days are over. I'm down to asking Todd maybe once a week if he still loves me. That's not too bad.

For Ma & Pa

We love CuteOverload.

If I Had a Million Dollars....

I would hire a personal driver. Because 1) I absolutely HATE driving now and 2) I am paranoid as all get out. It's like everyone is too close to me, or trying to merge into me, or breaking in front of me for no reason, just so I'll run into them.

My hands hurt by the time I get because I've got a death grip on the steering wheel.

Oh, but I've discovered a cool little trick.

If you follow a bus or a semi or cement truck, people will go around you. No one wants to ride my ass when I'm doing 30 miles an hour behind a slow moving whatever. So when I'm feeling really paranoid and can't keep up, I find the truck or the bus and get behind them.

Yes, it takes me twice as long to get anywhere, but by gawd, I can relax a little as I just putter along.

**********

And another reason I now hate driving, especially downtown, is that one of my greatest fears came true yesterday.

I was driving to my doctor's appointment and came to a stop light. I was behind another car, waiting to turn right on red, when a weirdo dude on the sidewalk, kind of squatted down and looked at me through my front window. I saw him out of the corner of my eye, but completely ignored him. Then he crept closer to my car, about the same time I locked my doors, then he came up to my car, on the passenger side and bent down to look at me through the window.

And then he KNOCKED ON MY PASSENGER SIDE WINDOW.

Excuse me?! Who the hell do you think you are? Get the frick away from car, you nutjob!

I've always worried that one of the beggars on the street corners would come up to my car and knock on the window or try to open the door. So I always lock my doors if I'm coming up to a light and see someone standing there. But they've never bothered me.

I ended up nudging the car in front of me, so he'd turn right so I could turn right and speed away. And then I was right back in bumper to bumper traffic, so I went back to gripping the steering wheel like a mad woman.

Yes, once I win the lotto, I will post an ad for a driver. Contact me if you know anyone who would be interested in the job.

Weekend Update (with a touch of love)

Our weekend of love began with a surprise birthday gathering for Trish on Friday. We had about 10 of her good friends over for a potluck and party hats. Rosalind was passed around and there was much laughter and conversation.

It was the first gathering, aside from the post wedding brunch, that we've had in our new house. And we decided 15 people was about the max.

Saturday morning, I met Jamie for brunch, then we did a little shopping up on Capitol Hill for some....personal items. Let's leave it at that.

After brunch, Todd and I were domestic, then it was time to head to Ballard for the Thornton Creek show. Kim-n-Tim joined us because Milo had an overnight, and since it was an early show, Steve, Todd and I invited ourselves back to Kim-n-Tim's for some low key social time. Low key social time turned into Tim playing some albums and us laughing our asses off. It was a great evening.

Sunday morning, I slept in. Until I was awakened by my husband, standing over me with our lap tray. On the tray was coffee and a plate with bacon, eggs and a biscuit. How fantastic is that?

And how sucky am I that I actually believed Todd when he said we didn't need to do anything for each other for Valentine's Day, so I got him nada? Pretty darn sucky. He even made me a card that was so sweet and earnest, it just made my heart melt.

After breakfast, I got cleaned up and dashed off to meet his sister, his niece and stepmother at the ballet. Because I am very cultured like that. We saw "Sleeping Beauty", and thank gawd Todd and I watched the movie a few weeks ago. I had forgotten the ballet has no dialogue. So there's a lot of acting out stuff. And if you don't know the story, it's very confusing. Sara was very helpful - she's a ballet connoisseur. Like when everyone started clapping for no reason toward the end, Sara leaned over and whispered "It's for the orchestra." Thank you, Sara.

The ballet was beautiful, but not something I could take part in very often. I'm a words girl. I need dialogue. I need action! But it was a nice afternoon of bonding with my new family.

Sunday night we watched Across the Universe. I didn't think I was going like it because I'm not a huge Beatles fan (back off!) but it was really good. A little spastic in the beginning, but it got much better.

Monday was a holiday!! We love the Presidents! Well, we love our current one.

Todd and I were up relatively early, so we walked down to the Junction, had some coffee and just toodled around. It was a nice, lazy day. I wasn't stressing because I felt like there was something else I needed to be doing. Except laundry. Which we got done that afternoon.

And we splurged that evening on Indian take out. Yummy poo. Kayleigh, however, had pasta. She's doesn't do Indian. But she liked the tandoori chicken, and the naan. So, baby steps to new food. And the movie of the evening was The Beastmaster. I'm sure it was a hit in it's day, but holy crap, what a bad movie. We just mocked it all the way through. And said "boobies" a lot.

By the time the movie was over, it was time for everyone to retire and get ready for the work week. Except those pesky kids are off all this week for mid-winter break. What the hell is "mid-winter break"? They get winter break and they get spring break. Who came up with "mid-winter break"? No wonder they have to go to school until late June. They're always on holiday!

Okay, yes, maybe I'm a bit jealous.

Because I'm running at break neck speed at work and it's just not letting up. I'm so tired and blah all day, however, we're hoping that changes as my brand new dawn simulator arrived today! It's a big 'un too. I got it all programmed, so we'll see how tomorrow morning goes. It will start lighting up at 6am and by 6:15, it will be at full light. Just like waking up to the sun....right beside your bed. Good stuff.

A side note: I'm sitting on the bed, blogging to you on my BRAND NEW LAPTOP. It's wonderful. I feel very hip. Now I just need to get Quicken loaded, and then I am done with the desktop computer completely!

Look at me! Entering this wondrous age of technology!

Now if I could just figure out how to email on my cell phone....then I'll be golden!

Random Thoughts

I am damn perky for waking up at 4:30 this morning. And to answer your next question, I have no idea.

I was awake at 2am Tuesday morning. Wasn’t nearly as perky that day.

**********

When I put my earbuds in at work, I put a note on the back of chair that says “I’m rockin’ out. Got the earbuds in. Can’t hear you. Approach gently.”

Then I tell my co-worker “I’m goin’ under.” He always laughs and says, “Okay.”

Dad used to say that. After dinner, he’d go in and lay in front of the stereo with these huge headphone on, listening to music. And he’d always yell, “I’M GOIN’ UNDER!” so mom and I would know he couldn’t hear us. And man alive, that music was so loud we could hear every word. We always said dad was going to go deaf like that.

*********

My new red laptop is scheduled to be delivered today! And as I was emailing mom to tell her this, it occurred to me that I have never purchased a piece of electronic equipment. Ever.

Mom and dad bought my very first computer (as a Valentine’s day gift because I’d just broken up with a boyfriend and was sad. Ahhh). All of my TVs have been hand me downs or a present, as well as VCRs and DVD players. My current computer that I use now was given to me by Sergio when his company upgraded and was giving away their old systems.

But this laptop? I purchased it with my own money. Mine.
Well, except for the whole marriage and common property thing.

Mine.

**********

I’ve never had Dots before. My co-worker, Matabulor, gave us some today as a thank you. For what, I have no idea.

Anyway, I learned something about Dots.

Never put one in your mouth when you’re on hold. Because there is no way you’re getting all of that crap off your teeth before the customer service rep comes on the line.

**********

I hate being stupid. HATE IT. I am very intelligent person who, for the most part, has her shit together.

However, I set up an automatic bill payment from my credit union to my new car loan credit union (because MY CU, who held my car loan for Ruby TURNED ME DOWN for a car loan for this silver thing. Something about “debt to income ratio”. Well, duh, I just signed a mortgage for an exorbitant amount of money, so yeah, I have a wee bit of debt right now. Because I wasn’t expecting to have to get a brand new car loan two months later!). And I set it up to pay half of the amount twice a month. My financial advisor told me this ends up accumulating less interest that you end up paying. You see that balance go down a lot quicker.

But I failed to tell my new car loan CU what I was doing, so come my due date, they only received half of my car payment.

Fantastic.

This just hit me out of the blue, so I called them, I called my CU, I filled out forms, I faxed back and forth to get a quick payment made before the end of the grace period. Which is Monday.

I am now exhausted.

**********

Did I mention my laptop arrives today?

Weekend Update. With 40% More Cake!

We have a lot of cake at our house. Well, we did before last night.

Friday night, Darlene and James came over for a zombie fest – Zombieland and Fido. Zombieland was fantastic. Except at the end. Where the girls were stupid. Sheesh.

We had pizza and our guests brought a chocolate cake and apple pie. This should have been a sign that weekend diet plan was shot to hell.

Saturday was shopping. Big event shopping.

Laptop shopping.

Actually, it wasn’t so much “shopping” as it was going to Best Buy and telling the guy what I wanted and buying it and bringing it home. Rae-rae (defined by Urban Dictionary as a “Polynesian transvestite”, thankyouverymuch) don’t just go buy expensive products without doing her homework.

To start, I had a spreadsheet that listed all of the laptops I thought were pretty. Cause you gotta start somewhere. I had columns for the vendor, model and the price. Then as I read about them, I determined what my priorities were and added columns for them – RAM, hard drive, number of USB ports, did it have a 10 key, did it have a gloss or matte area around the keyboard (fingerprint issues) and what were the overall reviews (good or bad).

In the end, it came down to a Dell Inspiron (in pink) and an Asus (in boring ol' black). I had a print out for each of them, so when we walked into Best Buy and were approached by an eager salesboy, I quickly held up the two printouts, as if to shield the onslaught of selling, and said “I want to see these two laptops and that’s it.”

Uh....well....uh...okay.....

He showed me the Dell (shiny!) then the Asus. I didn’t like the Asus because it has a 10 key, which is nice, but throws the keyboard off center. I want the keyboard centered in front of my screen. Because I am neurotic like that. And I can buy a USB 10 key for $20 and just plug it in when I need it, which is only when I balance the checkbook (which I am refusing to do because BECU blows goats right now and their two statements a month have completely screwed up my register, but don’t get me started…)

Where was I?

Oh yes. The Asus (which I keep pronouncing as “ASSus”. Hee.) It also had keys that were flat, so when you run your fingers over them, it’s more difficult to tell them apart. The Dell has beveled keys. That creates a nice distinction between the keys and therefore, I can type faster.

So, a Dell it was!

I told the salesboy I wanted a pink one, or if they did not have a pink one, a red one would do. He went off to check and came back a few minutes later to tell me all they had in the store was blue. Baby blue. Yuck. He said he even called around to neighboring stores, and there were no pink or red ones. But look how pretty the blue is!

I said thank you, but I want pink, so I’ll just go home and order it online.
And we left.

My instant gratification was squashed.

And even squasheder when I tried to order a pink one online and they were out. But they had red. I like red. And Todd won’t look like a sissy if he has to use it. I’m such a good wife.

Saturday night, we had JD and Alison over for some veggie enchiladas and sangria. They brought a chocolate raspberry torte. Oy. Delicious.

We just sat around and visited. It was a nice low key evening.

And Sunday. The Semi Okay Bowl.
Well, first there was sleeping in until 10:00am, then just laying there with my eyes open staring at the wall for half an hour. That was nice.

Todd and I got all domestic and cleaned and did laundry while waiting for the game to start. He also helped me color my hair, since I can’t do it our clawfoot tub now. I stood on my tiptoes and hung my head into the kitchen sink while he used the extendo faucet to wet my hair and then rinse the color out. He’s a good husband.

The kids hid downstairs in Tyler’s room as they 1) don’t care about football and 3) don’t like the screaming when we watch football. Steve came over right before kickoff and Stephanie joined us at halftime. And they helped us polish off the cake. Gawd bless them. There were also pigs in a blanket, chips, pizza rolls and of course, a veggie tray. To balance it all out.

It was a boring first half of the game, but boy howdy, the Saints were fired up after halftime! I’m sure many people thought the Saints just got lucky by getting to the Super Bowl, but they showed that they can play the game. I did feel bad for Peyton – I just love him, as a quarterback and as the host of SNL. But he has his ring, so let the underdogs have the day in the sun.

And after the game, I headed straight for bed. Not because of my excessive alcohol intake (shocking, I know) but because I think the pretty purple pills that I started on Friday are making me sleepy. They also prevent me from drinking, which is both a blessing and a curse, I guess. No wine for me. Sniff.

I’m very aware that something is amiss with me. I think we were just so cracked out busy the past year that I really didn’t have time to stop and think about how I was adjusting to my new role and my new life. Now that we actually have some downtime (and it's winter again), I find that I get out of bed in the morning, only because I know I can come home and go back to bed that evening. I have absolutely no energy and find it hard to muster any.

There are other symptoms that I talk about with my therapist, so we thought we’d try some medication, maybe just to get me through the SAD season. Those of you who don’t have a SAD season may think it’s a crock, but let me tell you, there are a lot of depressed zombies walking the streets, despite all the coffee, because we have no sunshine for months at a time (although, the last few days have actually been pretty sunny and warm. Weird)

I also bought a dawn simulator, which is recommended for SAD symptoms. The sun doesn’t fully rise here until 7:30am (this month. In December, it was around 8am) so waking up in the dark is hard for someone like me who can sleep for 12 hours straight. A dawn simulator is an alarm clock that gradually lights up, as it leads up to your set alarm time. Once it's the alarm time, the light is at it's brightest, so you wake up slowly. We'll see if that helps my mornings.

So, back to the cake. Yes, I've had a couple of pieces of cake this weekend. Shoot me. But it was totally worth it.

But Do You Have Red Travel Mugs and Whisks?

Today is National Wear Red Day.

You would think someone could have come up with a better title.
Although, I can’t right now….

Go Red For Women is an organization dedicated to raising awareness about heart disease, the number one killer of women (lung cancer is number two, then breast cancer).

I did not know today was National Wear Red Day, but I am wearing my new red shoes, so I’m inadvertently participating.

I have to buy a laptop soon, and I really want a pink one. Not for breast cancer awareness, but because I like pink. So I will inadvertently be supporting their cause, too.

What about lung cancer? What color is their cause? I would say blue, because pictures of lungs are blue and red. Although, maybe blue is for prostate cancer.

And don’t get me started on colon cancer…

Portland Road Trip

We were lucky enough to head down to Portland Friday night for a quick road trip. Adam (of Adam+Kris, and SweetJuice) emailed a few of us Seattlites last month to say, “You need to come visit. Here’s a list of shows we’re playing.”

Well, how do you argue with that?

So, the stars aligned, childcare was found and at 2pm on Friday, Todd picked me up from work and we were off!

I’d found the Ramada Inn at the airport for a mere $49 a night, so that was the original plan. You know, go the cheap route, save some money.

Oh, but you know Rae-rae don’t go the cheap route. I ASPIRE to go the cheap route, but in the end, I am a snob.

I booked the Hotel deLuxe two days before the trip and just happened to forget to tell Todd about that change of plans. Until he was driving into Portland and I had to tell him, “No, we’re not exiting here. We’re exiting downtown.”

Wha…?

I am such a good wife.

And not only is the Hotel deLuxe simply gorgeous, it has a theme – 1930’s and 40’s movies. Because my husband is a movie guy. Get it?

Who loves ya, baby?

Anywho, we checked into the hotel (free valet package!!) and changed clothes, then headed out to have dinner with one of Todd’s high school friends and his family. They went uber low key and ordered take out from an Italian place, so it was a nice, casual introduction.

After a lovely dinner, and lots of stories from high school, Todd and I took off to see the show.

Adam and Kris always, always rock it. I am never disappointed when I see them play. It was nice to have Todd finally get to experience one of their long, live shows, too.

As always, Adam wanted us to come up and play one of our songs, but since our songs aren’t really ready for public ears, we declined. But they still invited me up to take the lead on “Promises”.

And this was after three gin-n-tonics so you KNOW they love me.

(And now that they FINALLY have a bunch of videos up on YouTube, you have to watch them do "I Row the Boat". Holy crap, I LOVE IT. Adam is OWNIN' that guitar! It's one of my favs.)

At about 11pm, Todd started fading (poor baby was up at 5am) so I actually took the responsible route for a change and started drinking water so I could drive us back to the hotel.

Look me! All mature and crap!
That’s what happens when you get married.
So I hear…

We made it back to the hotel after taking a couple of wrong turns downtown because that little map that the hotel gives you just doesn’t cut it when you have no idea where you are. Thank goodness Portland uses the grid system/numbered streets like Seattle.

The next morning, we up somewhat early to check out and meet another old high school friend and his wife for breakfast.

Side note: Todd went to high school in Palo Alto, California and yet he has….um….6? friends up here in the Pacific Northwest. That’s not including their spouses, who may or may not have also gone to school in Palo Alto. I have never run into a person who went to my high school in Huffman, Texas. Go figure.

After breakfast and quick visit to said friend’s lovely craftsman home, we hit the road and headed back to Seattle. And believe it or not, it was a straight shot. No stopping to gas up. No pee breaks. No stretchin’ the legs.

Straight shot.

We got home about 3pm to find Uncle Gavin and the kids playing a game, and Aunt Michelle curled up on the couch reading. It was a lovely, Saturday afternoon. After Gavin and Michelle went home, Tyler retired to his room, Kayleigh got picked up for an overnight, so Todd and I made some dinner and watched Ray (after watching the CMA Awards for an hour and making up naughty adult phrases for the sparkly hot pants that Carrie Underwood was wearing – my gawd, to have legs like that!).

Since we’d been up way later than usual the night before, and drove straight for three hours that afternoon, we were in bed at 10:30 and sawin’ logs by 11pm.

It’s official – I am no longer a party animal.
It’s very sad.

What’s not sad is that I slept until 10:30am on Sunday! I had my earplugs in so no amount of banging in the kitchen or gunfire from Todd’s Champions game could rouse me. Once out of bed, I wanted to start my day with walk, so since Todd was busy flying around and throwing things with his buddies, I called Stephanie. To my amazement, she stopped what she was doing and came over to walk my 'hood with me. For a whole hour.

I felt very healthy.

After the walk, I piddled around the house a little, played some guitar with Kayleigh, then got cleaned up so I could dash off to my hair appointment. See previous post.

Once home, there was dinner and Buffy and finally, bedtime.

I love bedtime. I wake up looking forward to bedtime. I don't think that's such a good thing, is it? That's called depression, huh? I should work on that.

This week is already a colorful mess on our Google calendar, but there is a prize at the end. The Super Bowl! Or, as I called it in my email to a few friends The Semi Okay Bowl. Our football season sucked, so this really isn't a "super" bowl for us. But I am very excited to watch the Saints in their very first one. Even though Peyton is a hoot in those commercials, I would love to see the Saints crush 'em.

**********

I just went over to see if Todd put up a post today. And he did the same thing I did - lay out the weekend for you. Lucky you - you get both perspectives!

At least we don't do this every day, huh?

I’m a Big Kid Now!

(Really? A picture at 7am on a Monday morning? Really?)

I got my hair cut. Todd says I look a little more mature.

Which is probably good because his high school buddy that we had dinner with on Friday asked Todd, “How old is she?!”

He was quite surprised when I told him I’d be 35 in April.

I’m going to be 35 in April.

Oy.

Never Eat Fries with a Fork

That is my zen thought for the day.

Because CB and I got burgers for lunch and this particular burger joint has fries that are small and limp with grease.

Yes, it seems I had a heart attack for lunch.

Anyway, the only way to eat these fries efficiently and be able to dip them in ketchup is to use a fork. But if you use a fork, this mound of fries that I first thought was WAY too much, disappears WAY too quickly.

Uh oh.

Yet, I continue to remove my fingers from this keyboard, to go back and stab more fries.

What is wrong with me?

Priorities

I just spent 10 minutes sorting through my paperclips. I am very picky about my paperclips.

And I also maybe don’t want to work.

Now my paperclips are all free of each other and those stupid ones that have grooves in them are now back in the community paperclip bin over in the copy area. I hate those things. It’s like nails on a chalkboard when I pull them off paper. I don’t know how they make it to my desk.

Wait. Yes, I do.

The woman next to me LOVES them. And she brings me lots of crap. Which I immediately staple together because paperclips only cause frustration when you’re filing because everything gets stuck together.

Sheesh.

So now, my paperclips are groove free.

Oh. That’s normally not a good thing.

I’m glad I’m not groove free.
I know how to shake it.

Lots O' Random Thoughts

My IT department just changed our screensaver. It’s no longer some educational something. It is now multiple scenes of crystal blue water, sandy beaches, rolling green hills, beautiful landscapes in far away places. And the text reads “Thanks for all of your hard work.”

I think their real meaning is, “Thank you for sitting in front of this computer for eight hours everyday, but you still aren’t earning enough money or vacation time to visit any of these beautiful places, so we’ll just show you pictures of what you’re missing.”

Thanks, guys.

**********

I think I may have gained a wee bit of weight. I now sweat when I vacuum.

That can’t be good.

**********

I have a hair appointment on Sunday. It’s coming off. Not all off, not pixie off, but mostly off. Maybe a messy bob with layers and bangs. Who knows what I’ll feel like when I sit in the chair.

I wish I had enough money to get it colored, too. The gray is really starting to get to me.

**********

As is our weather here in the great Pacific Northwest. It’s been 50 degrees and rainish for a few weeks. It’s winter, for cryin’ out loud. Give me some kind of extreme! Cold, snow, pouring rain, SOMETHING. I’m bored.

**********

Speaking of bored, my brain is wandering now. I’m in a lull at work. I was so busy with other things this past year that I was just glad to have a flexible job. Now I don’t have much else to dwell on (aside from my gray hair and excess weight) so I’m examining my job. I just don’t feel like I’m working toward anything the end of the day. I don’t feel like I’m accomplishing much. Except buying centrifuges and vials of antibodies.

Sigh.

I talk to myself a lot and I ask, “What could I possibly be doing every day that makes me feel like I’m accomplishing something worthwhile each and every day?”

The only job I can come up with is a stay at home mom.

Funny, huh?

**********

On to happier topics…

How’s about them Saints?! That was one of the best games I’ve watched in a long time. While I love Favre (even though I think he needs to call it quits, especially after the beating he took during this game), I’m excited to see the Saints go to their first Super Bowl. And against the Colts!

We may have to have a Super Bowl party.
I will buy football themed napkins.
And use our new serving platters!

**********

Speaking of the weekend, there was a lot of sittin’ around and reading and relaxing.

I am extremely proud of myself.

**********

Except for when Tom snuck out, after I caught his head in the door and yanked* it open again so I wouldn’t kill him. Rather than backing up and coming inside, the little bugger darted forward, onto the back porch. He kind of froze when he got to the steps, so I grabbed him and threw him back inside.

I got really ticked off at him and told him maybe I’ll just open the door and let them both run free. Let’s see how well they do out in the wild with the raccoons, coyotes, and cars that speed down our road. I bet they’ll realize they really don’t have it so bad being kept indoors.

But then I realized I really do love my kitties, so I think I’ll buy two kitty harnesses**, and take them for a walk. Then they can see the outside and not feel like it’s such a great unknown.


*I originally spelled that “janked”. And I wondered why it didn’t look right. I am losing my mind.

**Todd suggested buying just one kitty harness and taking them out separately. Which surprised me because I thought Todd knew me better than that. They are BROTHERS. They must go out TOGETHER. Silly.

**********

I get to see Val and Rachelle tonight, and I am uber excited. It’s been a long time since we’ve gotten together for one of our walks and gab fests.

The original plan was a walk around Greenlake, then maybe dinner afterwards. But then Val couldn’t make the walk, so it turned into me and Rachelle walking, then meeting Val after for dinner. But then Rachelle had an appointment come up, so while she could still make dinner, she wouldn’t be able to make the walk. So I thought, okay, I’ll walk Greenlake by myself (see: vacuuming and sweating above) then meet them for dinner.

Yeah, that’s a dumb idea.
I’m in a skirt and boots and all done up. I’m not ruining this for a walk.

I’ll just skip the margarita at dinner. That balances, right?

**********

Last Monday, when I was out shopping by myself, I went to Half Price Books to find some new stuff read. I’ve read seven of the 10 Sookie books, and I absolutely love them (but don’t care for the series they spurred, “True Blood”. Weird). But Trish, who is supplying my Sookie crack, is about to spit out her little girl Rosalind, so she’s been a bit preoccupied and I haven’t gotten the next book.

So, in the meantime, I picked up “Bitter is the New Black” by Jen Lancaster.

And I cannot put it down.
And I’m an expert and walking and reading now.

I started reading Jen’s blog after Todd sent me the link this post of her’s. It had me crying at my desk, so I bookmarked it and now I’m addicted to this bitchy, funny woman.

“Bitter is the New Black” is her first book of four, and it details her (and her husband’s) downward spiral from Dot Calm rich execs to barely scraping by to make bills. And what I love so much about this book is, while it’s really easy to not like her (although, I already did because I read her blog), you can’t help but love her. She knows she’s a bitch. She knows she’s materialistic. But over the span of the book, she evolves and realizes she needs to grow up. Then you start to really like her, and respect her.

I do believe I’ll have to make another run to Half Price Books to pick up her next three books.

Reading these also makes me want to write for a living. But what’s new?

**********

I’ve gotten really good at sleeping with earplugs in. I hardly wake up at all during the night.

But my ear holes hurt from having them in there all night.

What to do?

**********

Every now and then, I have a brief, powerful memory of the wedding that just hits me out of nowhere. And then I get teary eyed.

This most often happens when the song “Bombananza” by Bob Schneider comes across my iPod.

That was our first dance. And it turned into a conga line. And my bustle got ripped because somehow I ended up leading the conga line. As any bride should, I guess.

We didn’t want to have a first dance be a slow song, where we just rocked back and forth while everyone gazed at us and made us uncomfortable. That’s not our life at all.

So, after the cake cutting (during which we used FORKS to feed each other, thankyouverymuch) we walked down to the dance floor and hounded a couple of people to join us, while people wondered what the hell we were up to now.

Then Kyle pressed play.

Now THAT’S the way to start off a new life together.

**********

Okay, I’m off to kill time until dinner with my gals. Maybe a drink at the lovely little wine bar down the street while I read some more of “Bitter is the New Black.”

I’ll just skip the sour cream and guacamole at dinner.
See?! I can balance!

**********

UPDATE:

Rest assured, dear readers (and my HR department - Hi!), I am not job hunting. I really like my job. I love my boss and my co-workers, and I’m really lucky to have such a great group, especially with the wedding, honeymoon and all of the Tyler issues. They’re all very understanding. Yes, I feel like I’m in a lull right now, but I blame that solely on SAD. It’s dark here, it’s 50 degrees, and I just feel blah. About everything. So do most people I know right now.

Funny thing, though. In the book I’m reading, “Bitter is the New Black” Jen was bluntly turned down for a job just because of a website she put up. It was a list of all of the companies that wouldn’t hire her. She titled it “Companies That Suck”. As soon as she made mention of that website, I saw it coming. So yes, it’s always on my mind.

What Just Happened?

I have obviously crossed into another generation. I am no longer a young, 30ish hip chick. It’s like I took a nap and technology advanced five years on me. I just took a nap!

The episode of Modern Family brought this home. Well, that, and my experience at Old Navy on Monday.

But first, Modern Family.

I love this show. I love the characters. I love the scenes from every day life that are thinly veiled as a story line. Last night, Claire, the mom with three kids and a husband that loves technology, couldn’t figure out how to turn on the TV. Her husband explained “You don’t point the remote at the TV, you point it at the receiver”.

“What’s a receiver?”

When the husband gets home one day, his beautiful, expensive remote is in pieces in the middle of the foyer. Claire calmly explains that she lost her temper as she was trying to turn on the TV.

It’s funny cause it’s true. We have a remote for the receiver (volume), a remote for the TV (to turn it on and off), a remote for the cable box (to change the channel), a remote for the DVD player and a remote for the Blu-Ray player (which does the same thing as the DVD player, only better. I’m told).

There’s talk of getting a universal remote. I think that’s probably a good idea. It would save some space in the coffee table drawer.

Oh phewy, is that all, you ask?

Oh, no. There's more.

Kayleigh and Todd had to teach me how to use the Wii. There’s a big button on the top and a little trigger underneath that I hit without thinking and it always throws us back a screen. And I couldn’t figure out where the pictures went in my new phone when Todd texted them to me, and the salesman had to set up the Bluetooth in my car because gawd knows I don’t have a clue about it because there's no directions in the car manual (and I had to look up how to spell “Bluetooth”! E or no E?!) And I couldn’t figure out how to cancel the wash on the dishwasher when Tyler started it without thinking (and without soap) so it just kept beeping at me, which I absolutely hate.

And the thermostat is programmed for some reason so when I’m cold and I just want some heat, like NOW, I get so mad because I push and push and push the Run button, but nothing happens! I turn the heat up to 80, I hit Run, I flick the switch to Auto, and eventually I’m just pounding on the damn thing muttering “I just want HEAT. Can’t you just TURN ON!! PLEASE?!”

Then Todd walks up to it, winks, and BAM. I hear heat coming through the vents. He tells me he just turned it on. I don’t get it.

And it’s not just my own techy ignorance. That’s not the only sign that I’ve crossed over. The world is morphing, and while I know this, there seems to be more pronounced evidence. I’m suddenly seeing all of these things now that make me go, “Huh. That’s different.”

At Old Navy, I purchased a $5 receipt accordion file. Very cute. I can now organize my receipts! Joint checking, personal checking, Todd’s checking, credit cards. Good times.

I actually had cash with me on Monday, so I forked over a $10 bill to pay for it. When the guy pushed the button and the drawer on the register popped out, he looked at me and said, “Uh…. I don’t have a till.”

Wha….? You don’t have any cash in the cash register?
How is that possible?! You are a STORE! People buy things with MONEY.

Oh. I guess people don’t use cash much these days, though huh? We all just swipe our debit cards.

I had my card in my wallet. I could have whipped it out very easily and sped the process up.

But I was feeling particularly old and bitchy, so I stood there for five minutes and waited while the manager came over, verified there was no till and radioed to the back for someone one bring up a till. A few minutes later, a bored twenty year old shuffled up in her Uggs, sighed and dropped the till in the drawer.

So sorry to have taken you away from the CosmoGirl you were probably reading in the back, but mama’s got shoppin’ to do, missy!

I had almost forgotten that incident, but then at work today, yet another I'm-so-old moment popped up.

I need to get some software installed on my computer, as well as a couple of other computers, so I filled out a form for each of them. The form is a PDF file, so I typed everything in, printed out the forms, and forwarded them by interoffice mail.

I just got a call from the IT department. They can’t use the paper forms. I need to hit the “Submit” button that was actually on the form, so it would get routed to the appropriate person based on the location of the computer that needs the software.

My mouth fell open.

“We’re all within 25 feet of each other. Give all of the forms to the guy who handles our floor.”

Helpdesk dude: “I can’t do that. The forms have to be sent electronically so they get routed the correct person.”

“Do you know who that person is?”

HDD: “Yes.”

“Then can you route, i.e. “walk”, the forms over to that person and hand them to him?”

HDD: “I can’t. The forms need to come electronically.”

“Are you freakin’ kidding me? I have to fill out those forms again just so I can hit the little “Submit” button? You can’t just look at the paper forms? Just look at the location. That’s all you need!”

HDD: “We need them electronically.”

“Fine, I’ll scan them, so I don’t have to type everything again, four times, and send you the PDF in an email. Should I send it to Helpdesk, or the specific person?”

HDD: “You have to hit the “Submit” button on the form so it gets routed to the correct person.”

I hung up.

When, exactly, was it was declared that you couldn’t work off a paper form and a cash register didn’t need to have cash in it?

I must have been napping.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a chin hair that need plucking.

Super Weekend Update!

I have to toot my own horn and say, I was AWESOME on Saturday.

AWESOME.

I woke up at 8am and immediately bombarded Todd with, “I’m ready to go shopping now and we need to go to Target and get the griddle and use our gift card and we need new shower curtain liners and then we can go to Bed Bath and Beyond cause I want a new rug for the bathroom well I want a couple for the kitchen too so we’ll have to look for those somewhere and let’s stop at Starbucks for a big ass latte and one of those egg sausage thingies I LOVE THOSE.”

Todd told me I didn’t need coffee.

It was just one of those mornings where the stars align and I didn’t wake up at all during the night so when morning came, BAM. I was ready to hit the ground running.

We ran our errands and were back home by 11am, which left plenty of time to CLEAN THE GUTTERS.

I know!

With the rain we’d been having, the water was just pouring over the side of the gutters. We have a very large pine tree above us, so I was sure pine needles had gotten stuck in there and gawd only knows when those things had last been cleaned.

(A side note about this pine tree – I hate this thing. It will be the death of me. We track those freakin' needles all over the house. I hate them. HATE THEM. They remind me of every house we had in Huffman Texas. I love vacuuming, but there is just no way to keep on top of it.)

Since I was the one all gung ho to clean them, and Todd was in a more “let’s cuddle on the sofa and veg” mood, I climbed the ladder while he held on to it and, by hand, grabbed all the gunk out and put it in a trash bag. I am such a good grown up!

Come to find, they weren’t all that clogged up. It’s just the gutters “tilt” the wrong way - away from the drainage hole. One more thing to take care of as soon as we get that windfall we keep applying for (see: lotto).

We ended up cleaning out the cottage’s gutters too, since we already were dirty and had the extend-o ladder out. We’re good landlords, too.

After the gutter fun, the cleaning binge kicked in.

Man alive, did I clean. Until about 6pm that night. I dusted and vacuumed, wiped down doors and door frames, scrubbed the bathroom and kitchen, put up the three new shower curtain liners – ah, the joy of a clawfoot tub. Todd helped. It kills my arms and shoulders to be so short and have to reach up to change out all three of them. One is bad enough! I then finished up with some organizing in the bedroom.

And in organizing, I found the rocks that people signed at the wedding. I saw them the day after the wedding, but in the chaos of the brunch and all of the visitors, the bin they were in got buried in the corner. So when I was moving things to vacuum, I pulled them out and looked at them again.

It seemed a shame to keep them in a plastic bin, so I got out my big vase that I use when I decorate for Christmas and put them in there. Now we can look them and remember that fantastic day.

That night, we curled up for Iron Man, which I’ve seen once before and is now one of my favorite movies ever. I love me some Robert Downey, Jr (and his acceptance speech at the Golden Globes? Fan-freakin'-tastic. Love him).

And then, bedtime.

Sunday, however, was not quite as productive. I think I used up all of my energy on Saturday.

I took Kayleigh shopping for some necessities and then we picked up one of her friends. They had a fun girly overnight while Todd and I watched Stardust. It’s a sweet love story about a boy and a star. And Robert DeNiro plays a gay pirate!

And then, bedtime.

Monday was a holiday for me, and the kids, so I took off on my own for a while and headed to Southcenter. I went to Old Navy to make an exchange then to Best Buy to check out the laptops and netbooks. I’ll need to make the switch by April. That’s when we’ll move into our office and studio space (that’s currently rented) but I want my computer to stay nearby. And there’ll no room for a desk in the main house, so I’ll get a laptop or netbook and be a bit more mobile. I need to figure out an office-type set up that can also be mobile, in the house. Some place to put receipts and bills that need to be paid and the like.

I do love a project.

Then, last night, Todd and I watched “Sleeping Beauty”. Would you believe I’ve never seen the movie? Hell, I couldn’t really recite the story to Todd.

Me: “So, there’s a girl and she falls asleep and then the hot prince kisses her and wakes her up?”

And “Snow White”?

“Um…. This dark haired girl shacks up with some short dudes who whistle WAY too much and she cleans for them? Oh! She falls asleep and then the hot prince kisses her and wakes her up?”

What is up with these chicks falling asleep? Maybe they should lay off the wine, huh?

"Beauty and The Beast"?

Uh..well…girl and hairy guy and…they dance? She’s in a yellow dress. And I don’t think she falls asleep.

It was quite a sight – laying in bed and listening to my husband tell me fairy tales as I drifted off. At 34 years old.

Anywho.

That was my weekend. And thank gawd we have a short week this week. Although, that just means people will try to cram even more into this week. Yuck. I am so done with the whole work-at-break-neck-speed-for-nine-hours-a-day-then-pass-out-when-I-get-home crap. It’s really no fun.

And it makes cutting back on my wine very difficult.

Even if I am being scrutinized.

(From I Can Haz Cheesburger)

Our Kitties

I don't have anything really interesting to tell you today, so I thought I'd share some pics of our kitties. Because who doesn't love seeing pics of kitties?

Tom has a habit of doing this. When we leave the door to the entertainment center open, he just sits there and stares through the glass. I wonder what he's seeing?

Elvis loves sleeping on our bed, and loves it even more when there's something to sleep ON. Like clean laundry.

We've finally gotten some downtime, so Todd and I have started writing our thank you cards for the wedding gifts. Tom is not happy at all. That lap desk takes up valuable snuggling space for him. But he still tries.

Randy took this one of Elvis when he was here for the wedding. Elvis is just beautiful.

Proof that Elvis and Tom like each other.

Goodnight...

Really? Fantastic.

Our new head coach was fired today.
After one season.

Yeah, that’ll fix everything.

I admit it - the ‘Hawks absolutely blew chunks this season. We ended up 5-11. Just shoot me.

But it was Mora’s first year! And half of our starters were hurt! I would think it takes a bit of time for a brand spankin’ new coach, as well the entire team, to develop a rhythm after such a major change. Hell, ask any Redskins fan about that!

What really, REALLY chaps my hide is that the team CEO tried to keep Mora on board. He knew it wasn’t entirely Mora’s fault. He was willing to try again.

But no. It was the team owner who fired Mora.
Paul Allen.

Aw, gawd.

I already have a HUGE beef with this man – he thought up the SLUT.

So, next season, we get yet another new coach and we then we’ll have a shitty season because everyone is still getting know everyone. And if that coach can't please Allen, he'll get fired and we'll get another new coach and then 2011 will be a shitty season, and so on and so on and so on. That’s going to be AWESOME for team morale!

Go back to buying buildings and snarling traffic, Allen.
Leave the football decisions to the guys who actually know about football.

Updates and Random Thoughts

First, a mom update.

She’s leaving the hospital today! And her parting gift will be a lovely, “life vest” defibrillator!

When I talked to her this morning, she hadn’t gotten the details of the “life vest” so she’s not sure how long she’ll have to wear it. I’ve read up on these (because that’s what I do when one of my parents end up in the hospital – I learn about all kinds of good stuff! It’s like medical school, but cheaper) and sometimes these “life vests” are the interim step before one gets a pacemaker. Mom said there was no mention of a pacemaker in her situation, so hopefully this is just a temporary piece of flair.

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In other news…

I finally broke down and shaved my legs last night, only to realize today, while wearing a skirt, that I completely missed my knees. How does that happen after 20 years of shaving?

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I was super strong and passed on the sour cream and guacamole when I got my baja bowl from Taco Del Mar today.

See?

My new year’s slim down plan is still right on target.

Forget the country chicken smothered in sausage gravy last night from the Charlestown Café. Just….just….disregard that…

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I am FREEZING in my office. Okay, could be the skirt.
But they won’t let us have space heaters! Unbelievable.

So I suggested the company purchase us all Snuggies – complete with our logo.

I was laughed at.

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Despite my half asleep mood on Tuesday, this week has flown by. What is up with that? If this in any indication of how 2010 is going to be, I'm already exhausted.

Whew.

Cars and Kitchens

I’m getting used to the new car. Actually, without thinking I apologized to it last week when I hit a pothole at lunch. Crap. I may be getting attached.

I’ve finally figured out the bluetooth system and it’s pretty handy. I got a call on the way home last week when CB was in the car with me and it scared the crap out of her. This voice comes on and says “Incoming Call”. Then I just push a button and start talking. Apparently, I don’t have voice recognition, so I still have to manually dial the phone number. No biggie. I don’t normally dial calls on my drive home, just answer them.

I’ve gotten some suggestions for names for the car. “Sugar” and “Foxy” (as in Silver Fox) and "Silver Bullet" but I told Todd, this car reminds me of a little skinny 20 something guy, with a Beatles haircut who’s addicted to his iPhone and other techie gadgets. You can picture him – he’s in pencil jeans, hipster shoes and probably has stubble.

So, name that boy. If this were a German car, I’d call him “Dieter”, but it’s Korean, so Dieter doesn’t really work.

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We got our new kitchen cabinets and counter top!

(like, four weeks ago...sigh..I'm so behind)

We are officially done with the house.

At least for a few months.

Well, we still need a garbage disposal....

Mom Update

I called mom today. She’s doing really well. She got up this morning and is now walking around. She had to wait until the incision in her femoral artery healed before she could even sit up.

The change in her voice is startling. She’s clear and alert. Her breathing isn’t labored, like usual. And she said there’s been no pain in her legs, which she’s dealt with for the past 10 years or more. I’m no doctor, but it would make sense. When your heart isn’t pumping efficiently, by the time the blood gets down to your legs, you would probably have very weak circulation, which would make your legs ache. And the harder your heart has to pump to get the blood through those clogged arteries, the more taxing it is on your lungs. Now that she has the stents in, the blood is flowing better and it’s less work for her body.

If you’re a doctor and I’m wrong, please leave a comment.

She said she figures she probably had a mild heart prior to this. She had, what felt like, heartburn. She’s never had heartburn before (lucky woman). It lasted about three hours, then went away and she didn’t think anymore about it. But then Saturday night, it started up again and really hurt her throat. She said the pain went down to about the middle of her chest, and her left arm was tingly. But she’s felt that before, so again, she didn’t think anything about it.

Then early Sunday morning, in addition to the heartburn, she got hot flashes, but then would cool off really quickly. That’s when she woke dad and said something wasn’t right. It wasn’t just heartburn.

The nurse at the hospital said back pain, especially between the shoulder blades, is a clear sign of heart attack as well, but mom has had pain in her back for 30 years so, again, it just seemed normal to her.

She doesn’t know how long she’ll be in the hospital, but I’m much more comfortable with her there right now. I’ve been reading up on stents and blood clots are a concern at this point. The weather is horrible and roads are icy, so if something were to happen, it would be difficult to get her even down to the little clinic in town. With her at the big ol’ hospital (which is two hours away), she’s surrounded by doctors 24/7.

Thanks for all the good juju. Despite mom’s protests (“Did ya have to tell EVERYONE?!”) she really does appreciate it.

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We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog…

Happy New Year!

So, you may notice a change in the blog. Just a little one. I figured, new year, new marriage, new house (INHALE) new car, new kids and experiences, I might as well change up the blog, too. And why not?

Our new year started off Thursday with a lovely dinner at Anthony’s, downtown on the water, followed by adult beverages and games at Dan and Trish’s. They had a couple of other friends over, so it was a quiet evening. So quiet, in fact, that I asked if we could pop open the champagne around 10pm and toast, so I could go home and go to bed. No one went for it. I made it until midnight, then shortly after, Todd and I headed home (after I slipped on the stairs and drove the corner of the Apples to Apples box into my back. Happy new year, indeed!)

Friday was muy productive. I cleaned the kitchen and the bathrooms, while Todd and the kids took out garbage and recycling and tidied up. We took down the tree and other decorations, but left the multi colored lights up around the windows because we were having people over for a Rock Band movie night. The colored lights just added to the….rockiness….of it all.

At 6pm, Steve, Stephanie and Raff came over and we ordered pizza and watched This is Spinal Tap. Then, while still in rock out mode, we broke out Rock Band. And the house was officially rocked. I sang a couple songs, played drums once, played bass once, then just hung out to watch and chat with Steph. It was a fun night.

Saturday began with breakfast at the Easy Street Café (cheap, cheap, cheap) then turned into a mission to find a couple of Rock Band expansion packs (classic and country – just like Todd and me). Once those were acquired, back home for miscellaneous projects around the house. Then some family bonding with Family Guy’s Something Something Something Dark Side and few episodes of Buffy.

Yes, the new year was starting off well.

Until 5am on Sunday morning, when my dad called to tell me that mom had had a heart attack.

When he called, she was stable and being flown to WVU hospital. He called a few hours later and said by the time he’d driven to the hospital (two hours away), they’d already placed two stents in her completely blocked arteries and she was doing much better. The pain was virtually gone and she was able to eat. She was in good spirits and joking around with him.

She’ll be in the hospital for a few days, just for observation, but should be home for the weekend. I’m sure I don’t have to tell some of you this, but there is no feeling like being 3000 miles away from a parent when these things happen. There is panic, guilt, sadness, more panic… It’s exhausting. At least when I got the call about her lung cancer, I was in a position to pack up and leave for a month. Unfortunately, I’m not self employed these days and can’t tell my clients to just clean their own toilets.

So, needless to say, I wasn’t very productive yesterday. Todd and I watched the Seahawks game (thank gawd the season is over) then walked down to the store for dinner fixins. Hamburgers, french fries, onion rings and green beans. Yummy.

And here we are, back to the grind, the holidays over, my cube un-decorated. Sniff. Oh, but Presidents’ Day is a mere two weeks away. If we can just make it until then…