Weekend Update

My weekend started with a breakdown. I love that.

I just wasn't able to wake up the entire day, and then I sat in traffic for an hour (which is quite unusual), so when I got home, I just wanted to lay down. Just for a bit. But the Friday night schedule had changed and, while it really didn't affect my personal schedule, I still felt pressure to things I didn't want to do, even though Todd said I really didn't have to do anything and well, that made me cry.

It's funny how I don't think I'm stressed, but then the stupidest things make me snap and cry. Maybe I should just suck it up and admit it.

I am stressed.
There.

I have a lot going on in my little ol' bubble. It may not seem like a lot on a day to day basis, but step back and take a look at the whole picture.

I am stressed.

Luckily, the crying and the snapping was short lived, so I was better by the time we made our french bread pizzas and sat down to watch "W". It was really good. You know how when you watched "Walk the Line" you kind of forgot what Johnny Cash actually looked like because Joaquin did such a great job? Same thing here. Josh Brolin did an amazing George Bush. The movie is a bit too long, but all in all, a thumbs up.

And you have to wonder, does Bush really talk with his mouth full all the time?

Saturday, we headed to Eiffel Printing in Ballard to visit Todd's friend, Brittany (the owner), and talk wedding invitations. One hour later, we had a demo in our hands and order placed. Easy as pie. It really helps when the two people getting married tend to agree on just about everything from graphics to fonts to how sparkly the paper should be.

After that, a quick lunch at Blue C, which, in hindsight, was just dumb when your fiancé is allergic to shellfish. TBFE never actually ate any shellfish, but he had a cucumber roll and apparently there was cross contamination because that evening he got sick. Really sick.

We had plans to see ThorNton Creek play, but instead, we curled up in bed while the kids were at game, and watched The Black Swan, Todd's most favorite pirate movie ever. I left briefly to pick up Trish and Dan from the airport, as they were returning from their lovely Hawaiian vacation. I did not give them a hard time, but I did mention that it snowed here while they were gone. I'm sure they got my point.

Sunday, Todd was feeling better so he went off to coffee and I slept in until 10:00am. And thus, begins the most fantabulous day EVER. I cleaned and cleaned and then we shopped and then we came home and I cleaned some more, then I got a little manic at 6:30pm and decided to rearrange the downstairs/laundry area to tidy up and make room for Elvis' litter box and bowls. The litter box was in the kids' bathroom, but that made an already small room even smaller. So now the kids' have some more space and Elvis' has less privacy. He doesn't seem to mind.

I finally came down around 8:30pm. I poured another glass of wine and took a hot bath and dipped my hands in paraffin wax*, then curled up to watch Family Guy with my family guy and a big bowl of popcorn.

Then at 10:00, the kids got tucked in and Todd and I got tucked in and then [blog material censored by the author] and then out like a light. Whew.

**********

*So, you know how you say "I am never going to be like my mother/father!"

Well, yeah. Good luck with that.

It seems that I may have arthritis in my hands (and probably even my knees). My left thumb joint started aching when I was in West Virginia in January, but I thought I had just hit it or bent it the wrong way like I do because I'm a klutz. So, I didn't really think too much about it. Then, I got a pinch in my neck that ran down my right arm and literally prevented me from using my right hand for two days. I got a massage and thought that would fix the problem, but here we are two months later and both of my thumb joints ache like a bitch most of the time. I'm sure it doesn't help that I type and mouse as much as I do.

Mom has arthritis in her hands (and her spine and her neck and her arms), as do (did) my aunts and my uncle. So, looking at heredity, that's probably what I'm dealing with.

Mom had purchased a paraffin wax dipper years ago for her hands, but upgraded to a commercial grade/size model that would accommodate most of her forearm, so I got the little one. The thing is fantastic. I did two dips last night (you just dip, wait for the wax to cool, then slide it off) and my thumbs feel much better this morning. The only drawback is that this thing takes 2.5 hours to heat up, and even then there is still a ball of wax in the middle. I don't know what to do about that ball of wax. It just won't melt.

Anyway, you have to plan in advance.

So, we're at achy hands, cracking knees, bad eyesight and gray hair. Hard to believe I'm only going to be 34 next month.

*cough*April 14th*cough*

Ahem....

Weekend Update

Quite the busy weekend here in Raechelle-land.

Friday night was our normal, routine movie night. And it was great. Trish and Dan came over, we had spaghetti, watched Wall-E. My nerves were frayed for some reason, but other than that, a lovely evening.

Saturday morning, Todd and I got up early and toured the Sanctuary at Admiral, a venue for the wedding. And we absolutely fell in love with it the moment we walked in the door. We had every intention of shopping around, but after getting an email with information about another location and looking at a couple of other websites, we decided the Sanctuary is exactly what we want. So there. Done deal.

Later that afternoon was shopping with Christmas gift cards. I bought four new bras. Crazy, I know. But those babies are $30 a piece, so what better way to spend free money?

Saturday night, Kayleigh went to a sleepover, Tyler had a friend stay over, so Todd and I actually got to watch TV, on the big screen ALL NIGHT. We watched Get Smart, too, which was actually very entertaining.

Sunday morning, Todd went off for coffee and I made the boys french toast while tidying up and doing laundry. I'm so domestic. Then I headed out to meet Jamie for sushi and shopping.

But my plan was foiled.

Did you know that rats eat car cables? I knew this, as Todd had to have his spark plug cables replaced a few months ago. But just like everything else, you think "Oh, that'll never happen to me."

Ruby will tell you differently.

When I got in my car Sunday afternoon, it sputtered. A lot. I called Todd out to get his opinion, and he said, yes, it seems the rats have gotten to your car. Crap. Of which there was a lot under my car, another indicator that rodents were involved.

So, I called Jamie and asked her just how much she loved me and how badly she wanted to see me. She's a good friend, so she drove down, picked me up, and we had lunch at the Blue C in Southcenter (rather than the U Village, like our original plan) and shopped around for a bit. Plan = salvaged.

I took Ruby to the nearest Goodyear center Monday morning (at 8:00am ON A HOLIDAY!) then Todd treated me to breakfast afterwards. Because I was sad and I missed my car (and the money I was going to have to spend) already.

After breakfast, back home to clean up and head to Macy's to spend more free money on some new bedding. But first, a call from Goodyear.

And it was bad.

The rats had apparently not only eaten through a spark plug cable, but also my fuel injector cable. An $1100 part. That requires ("to start with") four hours of labor.

Shoot.Me.

After the initial panic set in, I called State Farm to tell them the situation. Bobbi said she's heard of this before, and yes, it's covered under my comprehensive. Big.Fat.Whew.

But now, a second issue. If you remember, I mentioned a while back that my rear brakes needed replacing. They were down to 30%. Well, now they're down to a ridiculous percent and it's looking like it's a warranty issue. The guy at Goodyear said I have 16,000 miles on my car and my rear brakes should not be that low.

So I've got that on plate as well. Good times.

We did, however, accomplish our mission of new bedding, after sitting on the floor at Macy's for 30 minutes talking about what we liked and didn't. We went from one end of the spectrum (formal, damask) to the other end (casual, rustic). And then we went to Bed, Bath & Beyond and bought a quilt we had noticed a while back. It's got the blue of the carpet and the tan/brown of the walls, and a little red to boot. Perfect!

Sunday evening was dinner and a movie - Southland Tales. Oy. Have you seen Donnie Darko? It's from the same guy, Richard Kelly, which means it's just as weird. The best scenes were the ones with The Rock, swear to gawd. And Justin Timberlake. Yes, I know how that sounds, but Dwayne Johnson (aka The Rock - one of mom's many boyfriends) is hysterical and Justin Timberlake is flat out creepy. And sad. Have you ever seen him on Saturday Night Live? Oh.My.Gawd. He is fantastic.

Okay, I'm starting to sound like a 13 year old girl now, so I'll just say, the movie has some good scenes. But someone also gets shot in the eye, so if you're squeamish about those kinds of things, skip it.

Now you're all caught up.

Horoscope

From Yahoo:
Challenged? You can do this, you just have to believe you can! Everyone else does. Take it easy -- you've got more going on than you realize and if you don't slow down at some point, it could all crumble at once! A steady pace is the only way for you to make it through the day.

Challenged is a good word for it. Today, I am reminded of why I started looking for a new job in the first place. We'll see if I can find a "steady pace" at some point.

I am very much looking forward to sushi tonight with Jamie and her mom. Sushi makes it all better.

Reason #129 Why I Love My Man

Todd brought me lunch today.

And what did he bring, you ask?

Sushi.

The man is allergic to shellfish and he brings sushi for lunch. That's love, baby.

We walked down to the lake, spread a blanket and had California rolls (dude, funny, since he's from Santa Cruz) and cucumber rolls. Then we just looked at the water and baked in the sunshine for an hour.

What a nice Wednesday.
Sigh.

Baby Meter

My baby meter is high today. I'm at about 98% in favor of an offspring.

I went to Blue C for lunch and there was a couple and their three year old boy sitting next to me. They were feeding him bits from the rolls with their chopsticks and he was sooooooo excited. He'd see the chopsticks coming and open his mouth really wide and wiggle in his seat. Just adorable.

And I love that they're exposing him to sushi at such a young age. He wasn't eating big chunks of raw fish, but the avocado from the california rolls and the tofu from the tofu rolls. I think they fed him some krab (fake crab) but they stopped at the spicy tuna. The dad would say "No, this isn't baby food. It's big people food." So cute.......

What the hell is happening to me? Thirty-two hits and suddenly babies are cute instead of annoying.

Crap.