Okay, so I don't know how the people with jobs have the time or energy to write anything worth reading. I barely had the energy to make myself dinner. Or the ability to get up and walk, for that matter. I'm not kidding. I spent four hours on my feet at work today, for the first time since I lost my job in December 2009 (when I'd regularly stand for 9-10 hours and be mostly fine), walking and shifting and reaching over my head and lifting heavy groups of hangers to bag orders, and that plus my decision to walk home (I was at the location within my perceived walking distance today) caused me to be unable to move around until about six hours after I got home. I am not pleased with this development, and I really hope that my resistance to that kind of thing returns quickly, or I'm just going to die. Maybe now. Maybe I'll just fall over sideways onto the couch right now and just die. Blah!
Anyway.. today I learned the Spanish word for stapler (es grapadora, apparently) and that you can get cramps in your knuckles. I also learned that I need more pants than I currently have. This whole owning only two pairs is not going to cut it for work. Anyway, I worked for four hours today, and I've started helping customers for real. As long as I stop forgetting that starch exists and remember to double-check the cash register when I close it, I think I'll be fine. (My cash register training took less than a minute - I don't know how exactly to use the credit card machine, but I imagine I could puzzle that out myself if I really needed to. I guess I'll find out on Monday.) I actually really prefer the main store, where all the action is - it just feels friendlier, and I can walk there and back. Please, scary boss man, let me have that location!
Today was also an excellent day at home - when I got home, S and the Toddler were outside because S was having a smoke, and you pretty much can't leave the Toddler in the house these days if you're going outside, because he will have paroxysms of grief over it. It's kind of hilarious to watch (hey, the kid regularly gives me injuries, I'm laughing at him when he's ridiculous!), but it's really annoying to cope with, so he gets to go outside a bazillion times a day right now, and that works out well for everyone, pretty much. Anyway, they saw me coming and he met me in the yard with a knee hug. It was really, really cute. After I went inside, I ate what was in my lunch box (I really don't need to pack a lunch for work - I never end up eating it, so I'm going to get grazing food instead) and watched Children of a Lesser God, which made me miss using ASL. It also made me cry. And I learned how to say "fuck you!" in sign language, which I'm sure will come in handy. Haha.
J ended up waking up really early (about 4:30), and he wanted to get food, so S went to McDonald's for him, and the Toddler went along, and he almost climbed into his car seat on his own. (I often put him in the car, so I've occasionally been asking him to try climbing in on his own.) When they came back, I took him out of the car (S's hands were full), and I asked him if he could say my name yet, sounding it out for him very slowly. And he said it. Then he said it again. And then he demonstrated for everyone else in the living room (Girl Child completely lit up), and then I used it as a form of bribery later when I was about to give him a bath - I told him if he said my name, I'd put him in the tub right then, and he immediately said it. I'm pretty sure he knows that he's saying my name, S is really the smart one in that department, being his mother and all. But oh god, what a rush! Every time he says it, I just want to grab him and kiss his face off. Totally made my day. (Seriously, this is the absolute best part of my day today, and I mean that. I would be more excited about him finally saying my name than if someone gave me $1000 right now. Not that I would pass up $1000.)
Anyway, I played some FFX later in the evening, worked on my iTunes playlists some more (because I'm just never going to be done with the tweaking, I think), and then I had the idea to look up speech pathology, which I've been thinking about on and off for about 10 years now. I think I'd like to become a licensed ASL interpreter and also get a speech pathology (or assistant) degree and work with deaf children and adults to help them learn to read lips and speak. Maybe. I've had a look at what you have to go through just for the interpreter certifications, and it's going to take me like four years just to get that, and usually a speech pathologist has a master's degree, so it's going to be a very, very long time before I get that, if I manage to do it at all.
Right now, it all kind of hinges on having a car. Doing the math in my head, if I spend absolutely no extra money for about four months, I should have enough saved to get a car that runs. Of course, Christmas is coming up, so I'll tack on an extra month for Christmas. But in any case, I should be able to buy a car by this spring, and hopefully I'll have my permit issues sorted out so I can start driving. (Though if I get the car and can't drive it yet, I'll just figure out how to make it be so S can drive it until I can drive it myself. If she's agreeable - I haven't talked about this with her yet because I haven't had any prospects for getting money until this week.)
I can't think of anything else to say. My brain isn't working very well - I'm really tired and I took two naproxen and a Zyrtec about half an hour ago, so now my brain is extra not working. See? I can't even make words be sentences. But I'm off tomorrow, so I'm going to sleep a lot.
Showing posts with label childcare. Show all posts
Showing posts with label childcare. Show all posts
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Thursday, September 22, 2011
New Chapter in My Story
I don't have time to do that links round-up, so it's going to have to wait until probably Sunday. In fact, a lot of things are probably going to have to wait until Sunday.
I'm going to begin at the beginning, though, just to be a horrid bitch. Bwahaha! Today, I slept in really late because I passed the hell out around midnight in the bedroom and slept through everything until I woke up in the middle of a seriously strange dream involving a mansion and a guy with thousands of ladies' socks stacked up in a gradient, so they made the entire color spectrum. There was also a room with a ton of antique furniture and things and lots of old lamps and an old guy restoring them or something. I don't know. It was weird. Anyway, between that and the company that was over bringing me further out of sleep, I was up for the day. Woo!
The day was basically the exact same day as the last several, until my phone rang at about 2:30. There was a man on the other end, the guy who owns the dry cleaner I applied at last Friday. He wanted me to come in for an interview this afternoon, so after much frantic running about (since I was still in pjs and all), I was dressed and S drove me to the interview, which was very short - if S had known how short it was going to be, she would have just waited until it was done and dropped Girl Child at her friend's house after.
The interview was okay. The guy was foreign, so I had difficulty understanding him sometimes, but he seemed really nice. He really liked my typing speed (80-90 wpm on keyboards that actually work), and he didn't like that I don't have a car right now (I decided to avoid mentioning the lack of driver's license), but I'm smart and willing to work, so apparently he's willing to overlook the slight transportation snag, since...
HE HIRED ME!!!!!!!!
(If I could, I would make that part sparkly and dance-y.)
Anyway, so he told me initially that he would call me by the end of the week and let me know if I was going to be starting training or not (I've heard this before, that's usually a sign that they're not going to hire you at all), and we thanked each other, and I went outside to wait for S. A few minutes later, I was on the phone with J, trying to figure out how long it would be before S came back, when he stepped outside and called me back over to tell me he had changed his mind and that I start training tomorrow morning at 10:00. Holy crap. I have to ask for a certain woman at the location near the house when I get there and I will learn things and it will be awesome.
When S picked me up, she decided we needed to go to Long John Silver's and have some food, and there was much excitement (I talk ridiculously fast when I'm excited, too!), and we ate and the Toddler displayed a love of tartar sauce the likes of which has never been seen - it got him to eat his chicken, which normally doesn't happen. When we got home, J was already in bed (he's been on vacation because his birthday was Tuesday), so after I got off the phone with C, I came outside and hung out with S and the Toddler for a bit, and we invented a new sport of walnut throwing. Ha.
After we came inside, I waited until I was sure M was awake, then I went downstairs and unstacked all my totes in the basement so I could get at the clothes I keep down there that I don't wear very often - most of them don't fit right now or are things I don't really need to wear at the moment, like my heavy sweaters and my bathrobes, which are all shorty robes and make me overheat anyway. Of course, I recently just switched my clothes around, moving the stuff that I only have for when I'm working downstairs and keeping all the fun clothes upstairs and also bringing up all my winter stuff so that I wouldn't have to worry about that later when it's actually cold. Then, of course, I end up needing my work shirts. Figures.
After I brought up all my work shirts, I did a quick fashion show for S so we could determine how many work shirts I have available to me, and as I was trying to get things moved around so they'd all fit (tiny dresser + a bazillion shirts = sad), I grew very frustrated with my complete lack of space - I have a small four-drawer dresser with a wide storage drawer thing sitting on top of it, which doesn't even begin to sufficiently hold all my clothes. So I went back downstairs and got the other storage drawers, which is the exact same size as the first one, took all my crocheting stuff out of it (all 58274 projects) and dumped it all in a piece of luggage, hauled the drawers upstairs and perched them upon the first one. I now have drawers reaching almost to the ceiling. It's a little ridiculous. I actually can't reach much above the top drawer in the first tote, so I will regularly need a step stool now if I need anything out of the other ones. Woo. I don't even care, actually, I'm just so damn happy to finally have room for all my shit.
Of course, this running around like a headless chicken (which is what S said about me on G+ earlier) caused me back pain, knee pain, ankle pain, shoulder pain, and foot pain. And I've got a headache and I'm starving. And I have to work tomorrow. God, that feels weird. I haven't worked in almost two years. TWO YEARS. That is a long time. I'm really nervous and excited about tomorrow. I hope like hell that I can sleep tonight, or tomorrow is also going to suck horribly.
Anyway, I'm really really excited. And stuff. Oh god.
I'm going to begin at the beginning, though, just to be a horrid bitch. Bwahaha! Today, I slept in really late because I passed the hell out around midnight in the bedroom and slept through everything until I woke up in the middle of a seriously strange dream involving a mansion and a guy with thousands of ladies' socks stacked up in a gradient, so they made the entire color spectrum. There was also a room with a ton of antique furniture and things and lots of old lamps and an old guy restoring them or something. I don't know. It was weird. Anyway, between that and the company that was over bringing me further out of sleep, I was up for the day. Woo!
The day was basically the exact same day as the last several, until my phone rang at about 2:30. There was a man on the other end, the guy who owns the dry cleaner I applied at last Friday. He wanted me to come in for an interview this afternoon, so after much frantic running about (since I was still in pjs and all), I was dressed and S drove me to the interview, which was very short - if S had known how short it was going to be, she would have just waited until it was done and dropped Girl Child at her friend's house after.
The interview was okay. The guy was foreign, so I had difficulty understanding him sometimes, but he seemed really nice. He really liked my typing speed (80-90 wpm on keyboards that actually work), and he didn't like that I don't have a car right now (I decided to avoid mentioning the lack of driver's license), but I'm smart and willing to work, so apparently he's willing to overlook the slight transportation snag, since...
HE HIRED ME!!!!!!!!
(If I could, I would make that part sparkly and dance-y.)
Anyway, so he told me initially that he would call me by the end of the week and let me know if I was going to be starting training or not (I've heard this before, that's usually a sign that they're not going to hire you at all), and we thanked each other, and I went outside to wait for S. A few minutes later, I was on the phone with J, trying to figure out how long it would be before S came back, when he stepped outside and called me back over to tell me he had changed his mind and that I start training tomorrow morning at 10:00. Holy crap. I have to ask for a certain woman at the location near the house when I get there and I will learn things and it will be awesome.
When S picked me up, she decided we needed to go to Long John Silver's and have some food, and there was much excitement (I talk ridiculously fast when I'm excited, too!), and we ate and the Toddler displayed a love of tartar sauce the likes of which has never been seen - it got him to eat his chicken, which normally doesn't happen. When we got home, J was already in bed (he's been on vacation because his birthday was Tuesday), so after I got off the phone with C, I came outside and hung out with S and the Toddler for a bit, and we invented a new sport of walnut throwing. Ha.
After we came inside, I waited until I was sure M was awake, then I went downstairs and unstacked all my totes in the basement so I could get at the clothes I keep down there that I don't wear very often - most of them don't fit right now or are things I don't really need to wear at the moment, like my heavy sweaters and my bathrobes, which are all shorty robes and make me overheat anyway. Of course, I recently just switched my clothes around, moving the stuff that I only have for when I'm working downstairs and keeping all the fun clothes upstairs and also bringing up all my winter stuff so that I wouldn't have to worry about that later when it's actually cold. Then, of course, I end up needing my work shirts. Figures.
After I brought up all my work shirts, I did a quick fashion show for S so we could determine how many work shirts I have available to me, and as I was trying to get things moved around so they'd all fit (tiny dresser + a bazillion shirts = sad), I grew very frustrated with my complete lack of space - I have a small four-drawer dresser with a wide storage drawer thing sitting on top of it, which doesn't even begin to sufficiently hold all my clothes. So I went back downstairs and got the other storage drawers, which is the exact same size as the first one, took all my crocheting stuff out of it (all 58274 projects) and dumped it all in a piece of luggage, hauled the drawers upstairs and perched them upon the first one. I now have drawers reaching almost to the ceiling. It's a little ridiculous. I actually can't reach much above the top drawer in the first tote, so I will regularly need a step stool now if I need anything out of the other ones. Woo. I don't even care, actually, I'm just so damn happy to finally have room for all my shit.
Of course, this running around like a headless chicken (which is what S said about me on G+ earlier) caused me back pain, knee pain, ankle pain, shoulder pain, and foot pain. And I've got a headache and I'm starving. And I have to work tomorrow. God, that feels weird. I haven't worked in almost two years. TWO YEARS. That is a long time. I'm really nervous and excited about tomorrow. I hope like hell that I can sleep tonight, or tomorrow is also going to suck horribly.
Anyway, I'm really really excited. And stuff. Oh god.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Goodbye, Facebook
Sorry it's been so long since I've posted anything worthwhile - my allergies and my sleep schedule nonexistence of late have made it hard to do anything that requires actual thought. So I've been spending quite a bit of time tweaking my iTunes playlist, reading news articles (so many links to share!), discovering new music, watching movies, playing video games, and crocheting. Also, playing with Twitter.
Things haven't exactly resembled anything exciting here lately - same old, same old for the most part. I don't remember if I've mentioned this previously, but I applied for a job with a dry cleaner in my neighborhood, and am still waiting to hear back from them. I don't know if this means they found someone else, or if they lost my application among the many they probably received, as everyone and their mother is desperate for work right now, or if they're just taking their time deciding who to call. I've been on tenterhooks for days, though, and am starting to feel pretty confident that they're not going to call, just like everyone else. I wish I knew what I was doing wrong.
J installed the dishwasher the day before yesterday. It's wonderful. Everyone is so damn excited. We had to have the power off for about four hours, though, so that was kind of a fiasco, but it's a fair trade for a successful installation. Also, because S needed to help J with the install, I had the Toddler for a large chunk of the day, and took him to the park. Of course this was the one hot day this week, and of course I got a sunburn and 12 mosquito bites, and a horrendous allergy flare-up. I'm mostly fine now, though, except I get new mosquito bites every single time I leave the house right now, which is really lame. I am so itchy!
This morning, I woke up to discover that Facebook made some major changes to the entire site. I was already angry with them to begin with after their last "tweak" of the privacy settings, making it more difficult to set them the way I want them because I can no longer tell what some things are set as at all. This makes me pissy. Anyway. I'm completely sick of the way Facebook is run, I hate everything about it, and I've decided to quit using it. I'm in the process of getting a copy of all my data downloaded from Facebook, and then I shall be deleting my account. I don't give a shit who's going to miss me. That's what Google+, e-mail, and fucking telephones are for! Not to mention that I actively use both MSN and Yahoo messenger clients (well, I use Yahoo for E's benefit only, actually), and the fact that I'm not hard to get in touch with at all. So fuck off, Facebook. (I believe S decided the same thing this morning, as did several other people on my Facebook friends list, so I imagine I'll be seeing them all on Google+ shortly.) I've even found a way to make up for the stuff that I was following on Facebook that it is now impossible to follow with the new News Feed - Twitter! So I'm using Twitter to follow Huffington Post and NPR and all the other stuff that I use to find the news articles I read, and will probably use Google+ to keep up with the people I care about.
Anyway, that's really all. As stated previously, nothing exciting has been happening lately. I'm listening to a really beautiful song by M right now, which is pretty awesome.
Speaking of M, he saved my butt on Sunday. I was already having kind of a bad day, and then my iPod got frozen while I was trying to force my computer to recognize its existence. Like really frozen. I couldn't reset it, turn it off, skip the song, hear anything, lock it, or adjust the volume. I could literally do nothing with it. M offered to take it with him to work, and I don't know exactly what he did (something fancy, apparently), but he fixed it within half an hour. Of course, I didn't have access to it until Monday morning, but I was just so happy to have it functioning again that it really didn't matter to me when I got it.
Also, S and I discovered raspberry ginger ale. It's a very happy, pretty shade of fizzy pink. I will be having some with vodka later to see if that's tasty together. I will be having some alone in a minute to see if it's tasty at all.
I hope that I get back to regular postings soon - I'm planning on finally writing that post about growing up Catholic and how I've always sort of known that I was an atheist, but I'm lazy, so here's hoping it actually materializes. Also, I have an idea for a new story bouncing around in my head, but I think I'm going to let it marinate for a little while before I try writing anything down, since about half my stories are poop. Not that I've ever finished one, except for this story that was six pages long that was about a little girl and a pond that I wrote when I was 19. I've been thinking about revisiting that a little bit and seeing if I can tweak it a little bit, and see if I can revisit the same family after a few years have gone by. Maybe.
Anyway, I don't have anything interesting to say.
Things haven't exactly resembled anything exciting here lately - same old, same old for the most part. I don't remember if I've mentioned this previously, but I applied for a job with a dry cleaner in my neighborhood, and am still waiting to hear back from them. I don't know if this means they found someone else, or if they lost my application among the many they probably received, as everyone and their mother is desperate for work right now, or if they're just taking their time deciding who to call. I've been on tenterhooks for days, though, and am starting to feel pretty confident that they're not going to call, just like everyone else. I wish I knew what I was doing wrong.
J installed the dishwasher the day before yesterday. It's wonderful. Everyone is so damn excited. We had to have the power off for about four hours, though, so that was kind of a fiasco, but it's a fair trade for a successful installation. Also, because S needed to help J with the install, I had the Toddler for a large chunk of the day, and took him to the park. Of course this was the one hot day this week, and of course I got a sunburn and 12 mosquito bites, and a horrendous allergy flare-up. I'm mostly fine now, though, except I get new mosquito bites every single time I leave the house right now, which is really lame. I am so itchy!
This morning, I woke up to discover that Facebook made some major changes to the entire site. I was already angry with them to begin with after their last "tweak" of the privacy settings, making it more difficult to set them the way I want them because I can no longer tell what some things are set as at all. This makes me pissy. Anyway. I'm completely sick of the way Facebook is run, I hate everything about it, and I've decided to quit using it. I'm in the process of getting a copy of all my data downloaded from Facebook, and then I shall be deleting my account. I don't give a shit who's going to miss me. That's what Google+, e-mail, and fucking telephones are for! Not to mention that I actively use both MSN and Yahoo messenger clients (well, I use Yahoo for E's benefit only, actually), and the fact that I'm not hard to get in touch with at all. So fuck off, Facebook. (I believe S decided the same thing this morning, as did several other people on my Facebook friends list, so I imagine I'll be seeing them all on Google+ shortly.) I've even found a way to make up for the stuff that I was following on Facebook that it is now impossible to follow with the new News Feed - Twitter! So I'm using Twitter to follow Huffington Post and NPR and all the other stuff that I use to find the news articles I read, and will probably use Google+ to keep up with the people I care about.
Anyway, that's really all. As stated previously, nothing exciting has been happening lately. I'm listening to a really beautiful song by M right now, which is pretty awesome.
Speaking of M, he saved my butt on Sunday. I was already having kind of a bad day, and then my iPod got frozen while I was trying to force my computer to recognize its existence. Like really frozen. I couldn't reset it, turn it off, skip the song, hear anything, lock it, or adjust the volume. I could literally do nothing with it. M offered to take it with him to work, and I don't know exactly what he did (something fancy, apparently), but he fixed it within half an hour. Of course, I didn't have access to it until Monday morning, but I was just so happy to have it functioning again that it really didn't matter to me when I got it.
Also, S and I discovered raspberry ginger ale. It's a very happy, pretty shade of fizzy pink. I will be having some with vodka later to see if that's tasty together. I will be having some alone in a minute to see if it's tasty at all.
I hope that I get back to regular postings soon - I'm planning on finally writing that post about growing up Catholic and how I've always sort of known that I was an atheist, but I'm lazy, so here's hoping it actually materializes. Also, I have an idea for a new story bouncing around in my head, but I think I'm going to let it marinate for a little while before I try writing anything down, since about half my stories are poop. Not that I've ever finished one, except for this story that was six pages long that was about a little girl and a pond that I wrote when I was 19. I've been thinking about revisiting that a little bit and seeing if I can tweak it a little bit, and see if I can revisit the same family after a few years have gone by. Maybe.
Anyway, I don't have anything interesting to say.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Music Explosion
Last night I decided I was fed up with my music being so disorganized and began the endeavor of getting it sorted out and deleting stuff I meant to delete months ago. Like my Enya stuff, which was a mess - I had six copies of the same song in some instances. I've deleted about 1,000 songs since yesterday evening, when I started, and I've added probably about 150 or so so far, but I'm also still deleting. Exciting stuff. When I started, I had almost 4,000 songs, and I'm down to just under 3,000 now, ranging over the entire musical spectrum. I'm fairly sure I don't have a single unrepresented genre. Well, I was, but S asked me if I had any punk or Goth music, and I'm not sure I have any big band (because, dude, 3,000 songs), but I've got at least a small sampling of almost everything. Obviously.
I've got access to my files from the other hard drive again, and I'm taking great advantage of this by getting everything off of it as soon as possible.
Anyway, the weather here is wonderful and cold and perfect. It feels delicious and like cocoa and crunchy leaves and long sleeves. Favorite time of year ever.
I've been working on a crochet project that my ex-fiance sent me (I left it in England with him because I thought we were getting married), it's actually the first granny square I ever made, which I made with a bunch of random scrap yarn I had, and I'm going to give it to S when I'm done, because she really likes the colors. I'll post a picture tomorrow after I get the chance to take a picture of it. This means when I'm working on it and the Toddler is in bed.
I'm about to go out and drop off a job application, and half the reason I'm so stinking excited about it is because I get to wear a long-sleeved shirt for once! Okay, getting dressed and leaving now, so posting. The Toddler is very displeased that we are not leaving immediately.
I've got access to my files from the other hard drive again, and I'm taking great advantage of this by getting everything off of it as soon as possible.
Anyway, the weather here is wonderful and cold and perfect. It feels delicious and like cocoa and crunchy leaves and long sleeves. Favorite time of year ever.
I've been working on a crochet project that my ex-fiance sent me (I left it in England with him because I thought we were getting married), it's actually the first granny square I ever made, which I made with a bunch of random scrap yarn I had, and I'm going to give it to S when I'm done, because she really likes the colors. I'll post a picture tomorrow after I get the chance to take a picture of it. This means when I'm working on it and the Toddler is in bed.
I'm about to go out and drop off a job application, and half the reason I'm so stinking excited about it is because I get to wear a long-sleeved shirt for once! Okay, getting dressed and leaving now, so posting. The Toddler is very displeased that we are not leaving immediately.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Epic Mall Trip with Clarification
Okay, so now that I'm not all goofy on a single Benadryl, I figured I'd actually write about yesterday in a way that made more sense than yesterday's post. If I can manage to type like a human, I'm failing today.
Anyway, yesterday morning, we went out to go to the mall to pick up the bras. As I said yesterday, mine didn't fit, which was pretty disappointing. I wound up exchanging it for one that fit really well that they had in stock in the store, because they didn't have the color I wanted in the size I needed at all, not even online. And it really was the most excellent shade of magenta. Of course, it wound up taking almost an hour to get all of that sorted out, because we had to first find the right size, and then I ended up with the same saleslady who sold me the jeans I bought there not too long ago, and she was awful. I started with the awesome manager, but was unfortunate enough to end up with the saleslady again. She was inappropriate and pushy and just like last time, insisted that I sign up for a Lane Bryant card, to "save" money. Thing is, she bugged me about it so much last time that I gave in and let her sign me up, and was still declined, and she still sold my jeans for the wrong price. Anyway, this time she decided to do the return separately from purchasing the correct size, I assume so she could get the commission, but she fucked me over by doing that, because when she returned it, it went back to my card, but that wasn't going to post right away because, you know, bank, and I didn't have any money left. So at first, it looked like I wasn't going to leave with a bra, and I was just getting angrier and angrier with her because she was a flaming idiot, and then the manager came over and fixed it by voiding the return so it never happened, and then processing it as an even exchange instead. The saleslady was also rude when she thought I was ordering it from online to be delivered to my house (when we were checking to see if they had it in the color I wanted online), but when we discovered they had the same color options online as in the store, I wound up with one from the store, and she was nicer after that. So the dumb bitch was just after a commission, but apparently doesn't understand that if you want repeat customers, you can't only care about the commission. Also, she was snarky again when the manager fixed it so it was an even exchange. Not the best shopping experience in the world. She should really learn that giving the best customer service experience possible is much more important than getting her commission.
Anyway, I got home, took photos (including a photo for ThinkGeek of my Firefly shirt), and decided I missed eating bananas. So I made a peanut butter and banana sandwich with a hilarious amount of peanut butter after taking a single Benadryl about 20 minutes before I started eating. Even with the Benadryl in my system, my tongue still swelled a little, and the roof of my mouth was a bit itchy, but it was nothing compared to how it would have been had I not taken the Benadryl. This also resulted in yesterday's rather special blog post.
Also, as briefly mentioned yesterday, I looked really good. I even took pictures. I even changed my Facebook and Google+ profile pictures to pictures of my face for the first time in months. (Well, first time ever for Google+.) Also, the hat I made for myself last summer now looks really good on me because my hair has grown enough that it no longer looks silly.
Woo! Well, anyway, the Benadryl made me very sleepy, which was kind of bad, since I was supposed to be watching the Toddler for S for a little while, but she got Girl Child to help me. Well, until Girl Child got distracted and went to her room, at which point I held the Toddler on my lap on the big chair by the TV so he could watch Sprout and I could sort of sleep - I'd wake up every time he moved, so it worked pretty well. Then S came back and I was able to sort of just sit and feel tired.
So that was yesterday. Today has been pretty uneventful, but I haven't been awake all that long, and the most exciting thing that's happened is that a door to door salesman showed up and made the dogs bark. There are links, though, because I'm tired of having a million tabs open on Firefox.
Links Round-Up
Someone had an idea of how to help fix the economy, except that we all know that no bank would ever do this, because they care much more about profits than about fixing things.
The nurse that did this was a moron, and I hope like hell that none of the patients affected by this caught anything from her doing this. Oh my god.
A woman who used to be a fashion merchandiser and is now a sociologist is committing to a year without mirrors, due to her fear that she will start having problems with her body image again. It's kind of interesting.
Michele Bachmann is making more gaffes than I think Sarah Palin did. This is one of the more idiotic things I've ever heard. Especially since no one's god should have a place in government.
How the ink industry really works. (Comic)
How Internet Explorer 10 should actually work, thus making it the best browser ever. (Image)
Anyway, yesterday morning, we went out to go to the mall to pick up the bras. As I said yesterday, mine didn't fit, which was pretty disappointing. I wound up exchanging it for one that fit really well that they had in stock in the store, because they didn't have the color I wanted in the size I needed at all, not even online. And it really was the most excellent shade of magenta. Of course, it wound up taking almost an hour to get all of that sorted out, because we had to first find the right size, and then I ended up with the same saleslady who sold me the jeans I bought there not too long ago, and she was awful. I started with the awesome manager, but was unfortunate enough to end up with the saleslady again. She was inappropriate and pushy and just like last time, insisted that I sign up for a Lane Bryant card, to "save" money. Thing is, she bugged me about it so much last time that I gave in and let her sign me up, and was still declined, and she still sold my jeans for the wrong price. Anyway, this time she decided to do the return separately from purchasing the correct size, I assume so she could get the commission, but she fucked me over by doing that, because when she returned it, it went back to my card, but that wasn't going to post right away because, you know, bank, and I didn't have any money left. So at first, it looked like I wasn't going to leave with a bra, and I was just getting angrier and angrier with her because she was a flaming idiot, and then the manager came over and fixed it by voiding the return so it never happened, and then processing it as an even exchange instead. The saleslady was also rude when she thought I was ordering it from online to be delivered to my house (when we were checking to see if they had it in the color I wanted online), but when we discovered they had the same color options online as in the store, I wound up with one from the store, and she was nicer after that. So the dumb bitch was just after a commission, but apparently doesn't understand that if you want repeat customers, you can't only care about the commission. Also, she was snarky again when the manager fixed it so it was an even exchange. Not the best shopping experience in the world. She should really learn that giving the best customer service experience possible is much more important than getting her commission.
Anyway, I got home, took photos (including a photo for ThinkGeek of my Firefly shirt), and decided I missed eating bananas. So I made a peanut butter and banana sandwich with a hilarious amount of peanut butter after taking a single Benadryl about 20 minutes before I started eating. Even with the Benadryl in my system, my tongue still swelled a little, and the roof of my mouth was a bit itchy, but it was nothing compared to how it would have been had I not taken the Benadryl. This also resulted in yesterday's rather special blog post.
Also, as briefly mentioned yesterday, I looked really good. I even took pictures. I even changed my Facebook and Google+ profile pictures to pictures of my face for the first time in months. (Well, first time ever for Google+.) Also, the hat I made for myself last summer now looks really good on me because my hair has grown enough that it no longer looks silly.
Woo! Well, anyway, the Benadryl made me very sleepy, which was kind of bad, since I was supposed to be watching the Toddler for S for a little while, but she got Girl Child to help me. Well, until Girl Child got distracted and went to her room, at which point I held the Toddler on my lap on the big chair by the TV so he could watch Sprout and I could sort of sleep - I'd wake up every time he moved, so it worked pretty well. Then S came back and I was able to sort of just sit and feel tired.
So that was yesterday. Today has been pretty uneventful, but I haven't been awake all that long, and the most exciting thing that's happened is that a door to door salesman showed up and made the dogs bark. There are links, though, because I'm tired of having a million tabs open on Firefox.
Links Round-Up
Someone had an idea of how to help fix the economy, except that we all know that no bank would ever do this, because they care much more about profits than about fixing things.
The nurse that did this was a moron, and I hope like hell that none of the patients affected by this caught anything from her doing this. Oh my god.
A woman who used to be a fashion merchandiser and is now a sociologist is committing to a year without mirrors, due to her fear that she will start having problems with her body image again. It's kind of interesting.
Michele Bachmann is making more gaffes than I think Sarah Palin did. This is one of the more idiotic things I've ever heard. Especially since no one's god should have a place in government.
How the ink industry really works. (Comic)
How Internet Explorer 10 should actually work, thus making it the best browser ever. (Image)
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
To Me, Benadryl IS The Good Stuff
Okay, so there are things you should probably not do if you want to function for the rest of the day. Taking a Benadryl because you miss eating bananas is one of these things.
I can barely write this post, which is rather unfortunate, as I have a bunch of links. But I'm all slurry and stuff and can't really talk at all. Or write or something. Whatever I'm trying to say. Maybe you understand. I'm not sure I do.
I picked up the bras I bought. The one for me didn't fit at all, and they didn't have it in stock online or in the store in the color I wanted in the size that fits, so I had to get a different color, which I was sad about, because it was the most awesome shade of magenta ever. This is very boo. But yay, because it fits and looks terrific on me.
I had a pretty day today. There are pictures, but I can't show them to anyone because my USB ports don't work properly. Bad Frankenstein, no biscuit. I almost wrote business. That was hard. I don't normally have problems remembering how to spell words, but I can't today. Because Benadryl IS the good stuff to me.
So this is going to have to be a really short post. Because I'm not sure I can sustain this amount of typing for much longer, and I'm pretty sure none of this makes sense. Maybe it does. I don't know. The mall was ridiculous today. The Toddler was scared of the Disney store. Uh. Stuff happened. S and I are quitting smoking as of tonight. After we go to bed, there will be no more smokey treats. J will be smoking outside until he quits. If he does. I hope he does. But yeah. I'm tired of how they make me feel sometimes and stuff.
Anyway. Wow, I'm just getting more disjointed. So. I will write in normal words tomorrow when I am not on drugs. I didn't think Benadryl counted as a drug, but what do I know? Also, the shift key is a poor substitute for a space bar. Yeah. Okay. Done.
I can barely write this post, which is rather unfortunate, as I have a bunch of links. But I'm all slurry and stuff and can't really talk at all. Or write or something. Whatever I'm trying to say. Maybe you understand. I'm not sure I do.
I picked up the bras I bought. The one for me didn't fit at all, and they didn't have it in stock online or in the store in the color I wanted in the size that fits, so I had to get a different color, which I was sad about, because it was the most awesome shade of magenta ever. This is very boo. But yay, because it fits and looks terrific on me.
I had a pretty day today. There are pictures, but I can't show them to anyone because my USB ports don't work properly. Bad Frankenstein, no biscuit. I almost wrote business. That was hard. I don't normally have problems remembering how to spell words, but I can't today. Because Benadryl IS the good stuff to me.
So this is going to have to be a really short post. Because I'm not sure I can sustain this amount of typing for much longer, and I'm pretty sure none of this makes sense. Maybe it does. I don't know. The mall was ridiculous today. The Toddler was scared of the Disney store. Uh. Stuff happened. S and I are quitting smoking as of tonight. After we go to bed, there will be no more smokey treats. J will be smoking outside until he quits. If he does. I hope he does. But yeah. I'm tired of how they make me feel sometimes and stuff.
Anyway. Wow, I'm just getting more disjointed. So. I will write in normal words tomorrow when I am not on drugs. I didn't think Benadryl counted as a drug, but what do I know? Also, the shift key is a poor substitute for a space bar. Yeah. Okay. Done.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Winter Clothes, Laundry Success, and Rediscovering Music
I often completely forget about the existence of some songs. I will hear a song, love it, and then years later be reminded of it (usually because of a Wikipedia trawl), and be horrified that I don't have it on my iPod. I rediscovered Gone Till November by Wyclef Jean last night while I was reading Wikipedia articles about the previous MTV Video Music Awards shows, from back when they had a huge selection of categories and were actually about music. Anyway, Gone Till November won an award in 1998, and I remember seeing the music video on MTV, because it was right around the time I started watching MTV. (That makes me old, the fact that I can remember when MTV and VH1 had actual music videos broadcasting in the daytime.) But I loved that song, and I forgot all about it, so I am very happy to have rediscovered it. Now once I get all the music off the other computer and reorganize on this computer (J is pretty sure it's the motherboard that's gone bad, but he didn't even check to see if the power button is broken or not, so it could be that, too), I will have the ability to see what I do and don't have, and make sure I haven't already gotten it and just forgotten about it. Because that would be annoying, and I tend to do that rather often.
Anyway, I finished the laundry today. My shirt also arrived, which I'm very excited about, and it's now washed and dried and sitting in my dresser waiting for me to wear it. S and I are picking up the bras tomorrow sometime, after we go to the library to print the email confirmation to prove that I am in fact the person who bought the damn things, and then there will (hopefully) be new bras! Woo! Also, folding sheets is awful and I do not recommend it to anyone who wants to keep their sanity. But there's only one load of dirty clothing right now, and I need to wash the comforters, and that is it. Everything else is clean. I can't say put away because Girl Child won't let me put her clothes away for her and all she does is stuff them in a random part of her dresser and then wonder why nothing fits. All the rest of the clothes are put away, though, except for a few of S's because the dresser simply doesn't have the capacity for more. And the closet is so full I couldn't fit another thing in there if I was Hagrid. I'm feeling pretty good about the state of the laundry, though - it's whittled down to a point where I'll only need to do about a load a day, probably.
I actually had a disagreement with Girl Child about that. She doesn't see why I should want the laundry to be completely done. Because she doesn't care, and she doesn't think it matters. Sometimes I really just want to grab her and shake her - but I'll just fantasize about shoving a banana up her nose instead. (No worries, no crabby hormonal teenagers were harmed in the making of this blog.) Besides, the banana threat worked fairly well as a laugh-inducer earlier, even if she didn't bother doing any of the things I asked her to do until I nagged her about it. I would fall over in a dead faint if I discover tomorrow that she actually bothered to put her sheets on her bed like I told her to. I'm really frustrated with her right now, can you tell?
I spent this morning baby-sitting the Toddler because S didn't get to sleep until after 4:00 this morning and he woke up at 5:30, so at 8:00, she decided to get me up and ask me to take care of him until later. She got another three hours of sleep, which I guess is something. Unfortunately, there was so little coffee left in the house that what I ended up making was like weak tea. It was very sad. J was up until about 6:00 this evening (so almost 24 hours), so I had a little back-up when I was alone with the Toddler, and the day was generally a good one. Dealing with Girl Child was frustrating, the Toddler was both a giant butthead and really sweet, J was mostly playing on his computer and quiet, and S was S. The highlight of my day was playing Final Fantasy X. I'm finally ready to admit that I'm a little over-leveled - I killed Seymour in the battle on Gagazet so quickly that I barely got everyone in on the AP for the battle.
While I was folding the laundry this afternoon, the Toddler hung out with me. I stuck him in the crib while I was playing music and managed to get a decent amount done until he decided he wanted to go back to the living room. It was actually a pretty cool way to fold the laundry, too. I sang to him and he'd either "sing" or start to dance, and then he'd throw one of his stuffed animals at me and start screaming for no apparent reason. He's adorable.
I just heard a weird noise. It sounded like air rapidly leaking from an air mattress, and I was a bit startled, as it started very suddenly, so I began looking all around the living room for the sound, only to discover it was S, with her cheeks puffed out, blowing out air through her mouth. I told her that I was very startled by the noise and had thought it was a giant balloon or air mattress I'd somehow not noticed in the living room leaking air, which she thought was very funny. Then I said, "Oh, you're just leaking again," and she said, "Occasionally I just plug the hole with something.. You know, food, drink, cock, whatever."
Yeah, that's what it's like to live here.
Anyway, I had more stuff to write about. Oh, yes. This evening, I went through the stuff I have stored in totes downstairs (this is what my life boils down to - totes) so I could get all my winter clothes sorted out and ready for when it gets cold. Not that I really need them - if I wear a long-sleeved shirt, I only need a light sweater when it's 30 degrees outside. I barely wore my coat at all. Not that it fits anymore - my chest has gotten too big to button it, and it was the biggest size Kohl's had in that style, and was the first girly coat I've ever owned. I'm a little disappointed, but maybe I'll shrink a little once I lose some weight. Anyway, I got my small supply of winter clothes out and took the clothes that I never, ever wear downstairs to keep down there. They're all clothes that will count as work clothes if I ever manage to get a job, so they'll have to come back up once that happens, unless I have a uniform or something, but for now, they're fine downstairs. Especially since most of them barely make it over my stupid boobs right now. (Hence, new bra.)
Anyway, the hat I made last summer (I made a whole set for myself - scarf, hat, and two sets of arm warmers) finally looks good on me now that my hair has grown out - it looked really stupid last year. Which reminds me, I need to get my ass in gear on the hat I'm making for S so she can wear it with the scarf I made for her last year. Hopefully I'll be able to make Girl Child's Ravenclaw scarf soon, too - she'll like having that.
My hair is sort of long enough to braid. It's not a braid I'd ever wear out of the house, because it's all stubby and it'd fall apart in three seconds if I was moving around at all, but it's good for just sitting here.
Anyway, I'm really tired, and there isn't really a whole lot else to say.
Anyway, I finished the laundry today. My shirt also arrived, which I'm very excited about, and it's now washed and dried and sitting in my dresser waiting for me to wear it. S and I are picking up the bras tomorrow sometime, after we go to the library to print the email confirmation to prove that I am in fact the person who bought the damn things, and then there will (hopefully) be new bras! Woo! Also, folding sheets is awful and I do not recommend it to anyone who wants to keep their sanity. But there's only one load of dirty clothing right now, and I need to wash the comforters, and that is it. Everything else is clean. I can't say put away because Girl Child won't let me put her clothes away for her and all she does is stuff them in a random part of her dresser and then wonder why nothing fits. All the rest of the clothes are put away, though, except for a few of S's because the dresser simply doesn't have the capacity for more. And the closet is so full I couldn't fit another thing in there if I was Hagrid. I'm feeling pretty good about the state of the laundry, though - it's whittled down to a point where I'll only need to do about a load a day, probably.
I actually had a disagreement with Girl Child about that. She doesn't see why I should want the laundry to be completely done. Because she doesn't care, and she doesn't think it matters. Sometimes I really just want to grab her and shake her - but I'll just fantasize about shoving a banana up her nose instead. (No worries, no crabby hormonal teenagers were harmed in the making of this blog.) Besides, the banana threat worked fairly well as a laugh-inducer earlier, even if she didn't bother doing any of the things I asked her to do until I nagged her about it. I would fall over in a dead faint if I discover tomorrow that she actually bothered to put her sheets on her bed like I told her to. I'm really frustrated with her right now, can you tell?
I spent this morning baby-sitting the Toddler because S didn't get to sleep until after 4:00 this morning and he woke up at 5:30, so at 8:00, she decided to get me up and ask me to take care of him until later. She got another three hours of sleep, which I guess is something. Unfortunately, there was so little coffee left in the house that what I ended up making was like weak tea. It was very sad. J was up until about 6:00 this evening (so almost 24 hours), so I had a little back-up when I was alone with the Toddler, and the day was generally a good one. Dealing with Girl Child was frustrating, the Toddler was both a giant butthead and really sweet, J was mostly playing on his computer and quiet, and S was S. The highlight of my day was playing Final Fantasy X. I'm finally ready to admit that I'm a little over-leveled - I killed Seymour in the battle on Gagazet so quickly that I barely got everyone in on the AP for the battle.
While I was folding the laundry this afternoon, the Toddler hung out with me. I stuck him in the crib while I was playing music and managed to get a decent amount done until he decided he wanted to go back to the living room. It was actually a pretty cool way to fold the laundry, too. I sang to him and he'd either "sing" or start to dance, and then he'd throw one of his stuffed animals at me and start screaming for no apparent reason. He's adorable.
I just heard a weird noise. It sounded like air rapidly leaking from an air mattress, and I was a bit startled, as it started very suddenly, so I began looking all around the living room for the sound, only to discover it was S, with her cheeks puffed out, blowing out air through her mouth. I told her that I was very startled by the noise and had thought it was a giant balloon or air mattress I'd somehow not noticed in the living room leaking air, which she thought was very funny. Then I said, "Oh, you're just leaking again," and she said, "Occasionally I just plug the hole with something.. You know, food, drink, cock, whatever."
Yeah, that's what it's like to live here.
Anyway, I had more stuff to write about. Oh, yes. This evening, I went through the stuff I have stored in totes downstairs (this is what my life boils down to - totes) so I could get all my winter clothes sorted out and ready for when it gets cold. Not that I really need them - if I wear a long-sleeved shirt, I only need a light sweater when it's 30 degrees outside. I barely wore my coat at all. Not that it fits anymore - my chest has gotten too big to button it, and it was the biggest size Kohl's had in that style, and was the first girly coat I've ever owned. I'm a little disappointed, but maybe I'll shrink a little once I lose some weight. Anyway, I got my small supply of winter clothes out and took the clothes that I never, ever wear downstairs to keep down there. They're all clothes that will count as work clothes if I ever manage to get a job, so they'll have to come back up once that happens, unless I have a uniform or something, but for now, they're fine downstairs. Especially since most of them barely make it over my stupid boobs right now. (Hence, new bra.)
Anyway, the hat I made last summer (I made a whole set for myself - scarf, hat, and two sets of arm warmers) finally looks good on me now that my hair has grown out - it looked really stupid last year. Which reminds me, I need to get my ass in gear on the hat I'm making for S so she can wear it with the scarf I made for her last year. Hopefully I'll be able to make Girl Child's Ravenclaw scarf soon, too - she'll like having that.
My hair is sort of long enough to braid. It's not a braid I'd ever wear out of the house, because it's all stubby and it'd fall apart in three seconds if I was moving around at all, but it's good for just sitting here.
Anyway, I'm really tired, and there isn't really a whole lot else to say.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Harry Potter and the VMAs
It's been a few days. I haven't had much to say, really, so things have been boring! Sorry!
Anyway, today I finally saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2. I was really irritated by some of the (unnecessary) changes that were made to the movie, including the HUGE plot change at the beginning of the Battle of Hogwarts. I also cried from the point where Harry speaks briefly with Snape until just before the end of the battle. I was really disappointed, though, all in all - they could have done it more justice. I'm so glad Pottermore will be open in October, I'm looking forward to stuff that is actually canon. At least I'll always have the books.
This afternoon was fairly uneventful - I got a migraine from a combination of lack of caffeine and attempting to stop crying and probably eyestrain and had to take a nap, had to suffer through a millionth viewing of a Pirates of the Caribbean movie, and heard a funny story about the Toddler.
The Toddler was not very pleased at being left behind when S dropped me off at the movie theater this morning. (I went to the first showing they had available so it would be super cheap.) When S got him ready to go pick me up, he ran to the door and said, "Me? Meee? Me! Meee!" When they got outside, he chanted "ME!" while looking everywhere for me before S told him that they had to go bye-bye to get me. So he ran to the side of the car his car seat is on and tried to open the door himself. Then he checked the car for me. When I got in the car, he said, "Me!" It was pretty cute. He does the exact same thing, only with a lot more crying and screaming, whenever S leaves the house with M or to make a quick trip to the grocery store when he's awake and left in my care. I imagine he also didn't spend the two hours I was gone asking for me, either, like he does when S is gone. ("Ma? Mom? Ma? Mama? Ma? Mom? Mommm!" Imagine this protracted over the course of two hours, broken up by tantrums and staring at the television.) Moral of the story? Toddlers are a strange species.
I finally repolished my toenails tonight. This is probably the most exciting thing I've done in weeks. They're very dark, because it's getting to be fall and they should stay polished long enough for the weather to cool off so I can stop sweating profusely every time I move. Fuck summer. I had many problems polishing my toenails, too. There was less than an ounce of nail polish remover left in the bottle, and Girl Child managed to lose her bottle, so I had to be very careful when using it to make sure I got all the old polish off on the first try. Then, of course, the color I wanted to use died, so I grabbed the OPI bottle of black that was in the hallway, only to discover that the (almost completely full) bottle was permanently stuck shut. J couldn't get it open when Girl Child asked him to earlier today, so he didn't even try when I asked him. S saved the day with a different bottle of black that has reddish undertones, which was actually pretty cool and closer to what I was originally going for.
Speaking of sweating, S thinks I might have a thyroid problem. Gahoogy-hoo. I really need to get to a doctor sometime soon and figure out what all my myriad problems are.
Wearing my glow in the dark Toy Story shirt to the theater today would have been way more awesome if I'd ever been in a room that was actually completely black. On the other hand, it is totally entertaining to get under the covers and look at my shirt. Yes, I am easily entertained, and I do find it hilarious when Sunshine chases (and catches) her tail.
So tonight, after the nail polishing, S and I watched the MTV Video Music Awards. What a waste of time that turned out to be. I was so disappointed. It was completely moronic, Lady Gaga was pretending to be a man again, which was really irritating, and the only good performance was Adele. She was stunning. Her nails were a little scary, though. 30 Seconds to Mars was nominated for Best Direction, Best Cinematography, and Best Editing, which was why S wanted to watch it, but they didn't even show those on the broadcast. And they didn't win. I don't know who did, but that was pretty disappointing, especially since we got treated to a Lil Wayne performance before it immediately cut to the stupidest show I've ever had the misfortune to find myself watching in my life. It was called I Just Want My Pants Back. It was filmed very much in the style of another MTV show called Undressed, which was on in 1998, except with hipsters instead of college students. Snarky hipsters who don't behave like any normal person I've ever seen.
Basically, MTV is a travesty, and really needs to find a new name for themselves, since I haven't even heard of a music video being featured on MTV in at least five years. The whole thing was a train wreck. One part that was good was when some guy I've never heard of named Rick Ross was in his "dressing room" in a pre-recorded segment, and he was painting and pretending to be Bob Ross. That was absolutely hilarious. "Happy little tree... right there. Happy little trees."
Anyway. I hope I never have the misfortune to ever have to watch MTV again for the rest of my life. I don't care if that makes me old, I like quality music, and almost none of that was quality. It was pulp.
I have a lot of links. Because I am a lazy blogger. Crap.
Links Round-Up Ahoy! (Apparently it's a nautical edition.)
GameStop is a bunch of jackasses, and they'll be lucky if I ever set foot in one of their stores again after this stunt. I might apply for a job with them, though, but I will never shop there. I like my games unopened and unsullied, thanks.
Ron Paul finds FEMA unnecessary. Oh boy. I really do wonder which of the Republican candidates are going to terrify me into voting for Obama in the 2012 election, even though I was already pretty sure I was going to vote for him anyway unless someone truly awesome came along.
I'm disturbed by what some people label as unsafe. I don't think radio waves are harmful. I don't know why anyone ever would. And of course this crazy woman is homeschooling her kids! This is just as bad as that genderless baby. I wonder if they're friends?
Corporations suck. I want a job. Fuck the fucking shareholders.
I love Bad Translator.
You know, I want to make a Jayne Cobb hat. I would totally wear it. I do not, however, think it is a good idea to cosplay as a Jayne Cobb hat. What the hell.
Also, vote for my Rage Comic. I really want to make the front page.
(This blog title was so easy!! Haha!)
And now, I go to bed.
Anyway, today I finally saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2. I was really irritated by some of the (unnecessary) changes that were made to the movie, including the HUGE plot change at the beginning of the Battle of Hogwarts. I also cried from the point where Harry speaks briefly with Snape until just before the end of the battle. I was really disappointed, though, all in all - they could have done it more justice. I'm so glad Pottermore will be open in October, I'm looking forward to stuff that is actually canon. At least I'll always have the books.
This afternoon was fairly uneventful - I got a migraine from a combination of lack of caffeine and attempting to stop crying and probably eyestrain and had to take a nap, had to suffer through a millionth viewing of a Pirates of the Caribbean movie, and heard a funny story about the Toddler.
The Toddler was not very pleased at being left behind when S dropped me off at the movie theater this morning. (I went to the first showing they had available so it would be super cheap.) When S got him ready to go pick me up, he ran to the door and said, "Me? Meee? Me! Meee!" When they got outside, he chanted "ME!" while looking everywhere for me before S told him that they had to go bye-bye to get me. So he ran to the side of the car his car seat is on and tried to open the door himself. Then he checked the car for me. When I got in the car, he said, "Me!" It was pretty cute. He does the exact same thing, only with a lot more crying and screaming, whenever S leaves the house with M or to make a quick trip to the grocery store when he's awake and left in my care. I imagine he also didn't spend the two hours I was gone asking for me, either, like he does when S is gone. ("Ma? Mom? Ma? Mama? Ma? Mom? Mommm!" Imagine this protracted over the course of two hours, broken up by tantrums and staring at the television.) Moral of the story? Toddlers are a strange species.
I finally repolished my toenails tonight. This is probably the most exciting thing I've done in weeks. They're very dark, because it's getting to be fall and they should stay polished long enough for the weather to cool off so I can stop sweating profusely every time I move. Fuck summer. I had many problems polishing my toenails, too. There was less than an ounce of nail polish remover left in the bottle, and Girl Child managed to lose her bottle, so I had to be very careful when using it to make sure I got all the old polish off on the first try. Then, of course, the color I wanted to use died, so I grabbed the OPI bottle of black that was in the hallway, only to discover that the (almost completely full) bottle was permanently stuck shut. J couldn't get it open when Girl Child asked him to earlier today, so he didn't even try when I asked him. S saved the day with a different bottle of black that has reddish undertones, which was actually pretty cool and closer to what I was originally going for.
Speaking of sweating, S thinks I might have a thyroid problem. Gahoogy-hoo. I really need to get to a doctor sometime soon and figure out what all my myriad problems are.
Wearing my glow in the dark Toy Story shirt to the theater today would have been way more awesome if I'd ever been in a room that was actually completely black. On the other hand, it is totally entertaining to get under the covers and look at my shirt. Yes, I am easily entertained, and I do find it hilarious when Sunshine chases (and catches) her tail.
So tonight, after the nail polishing, S and I watched the MTV Video Music Awards. What a waste of time that turned out to be. I was so disappointed. It was completely moronic, Lady Gaga was pretending to be a man again, which was really irritating, and the only good performance was Adele. She was stunning. Her nails were a little scary, though. 30 Seconds to Mars was nominated for Best Direction, Best Cinematography, and Best Editing, which was why S wanted to watch it, but they didn't even show those on the broadcast. And they didn't win. I don't know who did, but that was pretty disappointing, especially since we got treated to a Lil Wayne performance before it immediately cut to the stupidest show I've ever had the misfortune to find myself watching in my life. It was called I Just Want My Pants Back. It was filmed very much in the style of another MTV show called Undressed, which was on in 1998, except with hipsters instead of college students. Snarky hipsters who don't behave like any normal person I've ever seen.
Basically, MTV is a travesty, and really needs to find a new name for themselves, since I haven't even heard of a music video being featured on MTV in at least five years. The whole thing was a train wreck. One part that was good was when some guy I've never heard of named Rick Ross was in his "dressing room" in a pre-recorded segment, and he was painting and pretending to be Bob Ross. That was absolutely hilarious. "Happy little tree... right there. Happy little trees."
Anyway. I hope I never have the misfortune to ever have to watch MTV again for the rest of my life. I don't care if that makes me old, I like quality music, and almost none of that was quality. It was pulp.
I have a lot of links. Because I am a lazy blogger. Crap.
Links Round-Up Ahoy! (Apparently it's a nautical edition.)
GameStop is a bunch of jackasses, and they'll be lucky if I ever set foot in one of their stores again after this stunt. I might apply for a job with them, though, but I will never shop there. I like my games unopened and unsullied, thanks.
Ron Paul finds FEMA unnecessary. Oh boy. I really do wonder which of the Republican candidates are going to terrify me into voting for Obama in the 2012 election, even though I was already pretty sure I was going to vote for him anyway unless someone truly awesome came along.
I'm disturbed by what some people label as unsafe. I don't think radio waves are harmful. I don't know why anyone ever would. And of course this crazy woman is homeschooling her kids! This is just as bad as that genderless baby. I wonder if they're friends?
Corporations suck. I want a job. Fuck the fucking shareholders.
I love Bad Translator.
You know, I want to make a Jayne Cobb hat. I would totally wear it. I do not, however, think it is a good idea to cosplay as a Jayne Cobb hat. What the hell.
Also, vote for my Rage Comic. I really want to make the front page.
(This blog title was so easy!! Haha!)
And now, I go to bed.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Overheating, Rage Comics, and Links
I'm overheating really easily today. This is most unfortunate, because I can't move. If I move, I break out in a sweat and feel sick. So I can't do the laundry, or put the folded stuff away, or play with the Toddler, or do anything at all that requires any motion at all. Typing is almost too much. This is ridiculous. It's only 85 degrees outside, and it's about 78 in the house! (The A/C works unevenly - the bathroom and bedrooms feel fantastic, and the rest of the house is miserable.)
Anyway, I don't have the most exciting post ever here - not a whole lot has changed since yesterday. As an example of how weird my memory is, J was talking about me being stressed over what happened yesterday before he went to bed this morning, and I was completely confused. I'd forgotten about getting the boxes in the mail. He looked at me like I was stupid until I remembered. Wow. Just wow.
The Toddler has taken to grabbing books off the bookshelves around the house at random and trying to destroy them. He's already destroyed on of J and S's Robert Heinlein novels and S's copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. We gave him a trash romance novel to play with so he'd leave them alone, but it's not much of a deterrent.
Today, I made a rage comic. You should vote for it so it makes the front page.
I also have a ...
Link Round-Up!!
Florida forces welfare recipients to take drug tests, which backfires horribly, as only 2% of those on welfare tested positive. Wonderful job, Florida.
Here's another case of too much paranoia in the airline industry. As if terrorists will use airliners again. At least, the serious terrorists probably won't. I imagine they'll use some other means of major destruction to terrorize the government into removing more and more of our civil liberties. I feel so sorry for the guy in the article.
I posted awhile back about a guy who wants to create a libertarian island nation in international waters. I found an article with more information. It still doesn't sound very promising.
Oh god, oh god, we're all gonna die! Washington, D.C. had a minor earthquake. WE WILL REBUILD.
A 12-year-old boy delivers his own baby brother after watching many hospital shows on television. Is it a surprise to anyone that he wants to be a doctor when he grows up?
When a young Navy SEAL died, his dog was loyal to the end, even laying on the ground next to his casket at his funeral. When I first read the article about it, I was worried the dog wouldn't have anyone to take him in, but the best friend of his owner has stepped up and given him a home. Poor puppy, I feel so sorry for him.
Anyway, I don't have the most exciting post ever here - not a whole lot has changed since yesterday. As an example of how weird my memory is, J was talking about me being stressed over what happened yesterday before he went to bed this morning, and I was completely confused. I'd forgotten about getting the boxes in the mail. He looked at me like I was stupid until I remembered. Wow. Just wow.
The Toddler has taken to grabbing books off the bookshelves around the house at random and trying to destroy them. He's already destroyed on of J and S's Robert Heinlein novels and S's copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. We gave him a trash romance novel to play with so he'd leave them alone, but it's not much of a deterrent.
Today, I made a rage comic. You should vote for it so it makes the front page.
I also have a ...
Link Round-Up!!
Florida forces welfare recipients to take drug tests, which backfires horribly, as only 2% of those on welfare tested positive. Wonderful job, Florida.
Here's another case of too much paranoia in the airline industry. As if terrorists will use airliners again. At least, the serious terrorists probably won't. I imagine they'll use some other means of major destruction to terrorize the government into removing more and more of our civil liberties. I feel so sorry for the guy in the article.
I posted awhile back about a guy who wants to create a libertarian island nation in international waters. I found an article with more information. It still doesn't sound very promising.
Oh god, oh god, we're all gonna die! Washington, D.C. had a minor earthquake. WE WILL REBUILD.
A 12-year-old boy delivers his own baby brother after watching many hospital shows on television. Is it a surprise to anyone that he wants to be a doctor when he grows up?
When a young Navy SEAL died, his dog was loyal to the end, even laying on the ground next to his casket at his funeral. When I first read the article about it, I was worried the dog wouldn't have anyone to take him in, but the best friend of his owner has stepped up and given him a home. Poor puppy, I feel so sorry for him.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Telemarketer Torture and Sad Memories
Today has been kind of weird. I spent a good portion of the day talking to C, who I haven't really had the opportunity to talk to at great length in years due to circumstances, about recent and ancient history. There aren't a whole lot of people that I talk to now who knew me well when I was a teenager, so it's a bit of a different experience. I can't say E, LK, or JHB fit into that category - JHB never talks about much other than his interests, and I wasn't as close to him at the beginning of high school as I was to C.
Anyway, talking to someone who knew me so well during that time period is a little weird in some ways, but it's also pretty awesome. Anyway, that was the primary activity of the day, talking about all manner of subjects. We basically picked up the friendship where it got left off in 2005, except with higher maturity levels. It's different to talk to him now. I can't explain why, as I'm in a weird state of mind and I'm having a hard time stringing a sentence together.
S tortured a telemarketer for 20 minutes today. He wouldn't let her hang up, so it's his own fault. He was really desperate for her to pay for a vacation to Branson. Eventually the Toddler got bored, and this resulted in a lot of noise between me trying to contain him and him screaming, and it became a hilarious phone conversation with a really weird telemarketer who wouldn't let her hang up. She kept telling him she didn't have money for that, and he'd suggest J was hiding money or that maybe I was hiding money, and suggested she tell the Toddler to go play in the sandbox and told her how he teases his kids with telling them to play in traffic. Seriously crazy telemarketer. Actually, at one point, I shouted at her that the kitchen was on fire in an attempt to get him to let her hang up.
The Toddler nearly broke the TV screen today because he decided to start smacking it. Fun.
J woke up really early today, when I was laying the Toddler down for a nap, so once the Toddler got up, I was really excited, thinking I'd finally have the opportunity to fold the laundry in peace, but I only managed the kids' laundry before J came in to say he needed to take a nap, so I still have about five loads of laundry to fold. Crap.
Today's been boring. As usual. I think I may watch Firefly again tonight while folding laundry so I can get it put the hell away. Speaking of putting laundry away, I'm really annoyed with Girl Child, who won't let me put her laundry away and won't do it herself. I had that dresser completely neat and she dumped everything out of it all over everywhere in her room. And she's hogging a good basket because she won't put away the clothes I just folded for her. Ridiculous.
I really need to get enough sleep consistently every night. I'm always so tired. And I'm having memory problems, which may or may not be related to lack of sleep. I completely forgot what happened this morning.
My ex-fiance sent my stuff back to me from England, and it arrived this morning. Two mugs I'd forgotten about (he forgot the fridge magnets, though, which upsets me a little, but I'll live), some clothes, a crocheting project I started in 2007 and never finished, a bathing suit that's way too small for me, a purse I'd forgotten about leaving there, and the bucket we collected seashells and sea glass in when we went to Scarborough. This was the only thing that made me cry. It was broken when it arrived, too, so it had to be thrown away. The Toddler kept trying to steal it from me. I hadn't expected it to be so painful, getting all that stuff back.
Anyway. There's really not much to say after that. It's really too bad this is such a depressing note to leave this on, but there isn't much more to say. I feel like crap. Today was just totally lame. There were good parts, but my current state of mind says that today was a really dumb day. I think I just need to sleep. I'm just exhausted and kind of crabby. Hopefully I'll have something interesting to write about in a day or two when I stop feeling like this.
Anyway, talking to someone who knew me so well during that time period is a little weird in some ways, but it's also pretty awesome. Anyway, that was the primary activity of the day, talking about all manner of subjects. We basically picked up the friendship where it got left off in 2005, except with higher maturity levels. It's different to talk to him now. I can't explain why, as I'm in a weird state of mind and I'm having a hard time stringing a sentence together.
S tortured a telemarketer for 20 minutes today. He wouldn't let her hang up, so it's his own fault. He was really desperate for her to pay for a vacation to Branson. Eventually the Toddler got bored, and this resulted in a lot of noise between me trying to contain him and him screaming, and it became a hilarious phone conversation with a really weird telemarketer who wouldn't let her hang up. She kept telling him she didn't have money for that, and he'd suggest J was hiding money or that maybe I was hiding money, and suggested she tell the Toddler to go play in the sandbox and told her how he teases his kids with telling them to play in traffic. Seriously crazy telemarketer. Actually, at one point, I shouted at her that the kitchen was on fire in an attempt to get him to let her hang up.
The Toddler nearly broke the TV screen today because he decided to start smacking it. Fun.
J woke up really early today, when I was laying the Toddler down for a nap, so once the Toddler got up, I was really excited, thinking I'd finally have the opportunity to fold the laundry in peace, but I only managed the kids' laundry before J came in to say he needed to take a nap, so I still have about five loads of laundry to fold. Crap.
Today's been boring. As usual. I think I may watch Firefly again tonight while folding laundry so I can get it put the hell away. Speaking of putting laundry away, I'm really annoyed with Girl Child, who won't let me put her laundry away and won't do it herself. I had that dresser completely neat and she dumped everything out of it all over everywhere in her room. And she's hogging a good basket because she won't put away the clothes I just folded for her. Ridiculous.
I really need to get enough sleep consistently every night. I'm always so tired. And I'm having memory problems, which may or may not be related to lack of sleep. I completely forgot what happened this morning.
My ex-fiance sent my stuff back to me from England, and it arrived this morning. Two mugs I'd forgotten about (he forgot the fridge magnets, though, which upsets me a little, but I'll live), some clothes, a crocheting project I started in 2007 and never finished, a bathing suit that's way too small for me, a purse I'd forgotten about leaving there, and the bucket we collected seashells and sea glass in when we went to Scarborough. This was the only thing that made me cry. It was broken when it arrived, too, so it had to be thrown away. The Toddler kept trying to steal it from me. I hadn't expected it to be so painful, getting all that stuff back.
Anyway. There's really not much to say after that. It's really too bad this is such a depressing note to leave this on, but there isn't much more to say. I feel like crap. Today was just totally lame. There were good parts, but my current state of mind says that today was a really dumb day. I think I just need to sleep. I'm just exhausted and kind of crabby. Hopefully I'll have something interesting to write about in a day or two when I stop feeling like this.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Dog Baths and Head Injuries
Today has been extraordinarily boring. Seriously, I've completely run out of internet. S made an interesting dinner that she pulled out of her ass that's sort of modified chicken pot pie. She made a ridiculous amount of it, too, so we're going to be eating it forever. It was actually pretty tasty, even if it did have peas in it. I hate peas, but I ate them anyway, because vegetables are important!
S and I are currently conspiring against the dogs to get them bathed tonight so they stop being such itchy puppies. I think we have to clean up the floor and vacuum and Febreeze first, but then we're dragging each dog into the bathroom and making them suffer the indignity of a bath. If S feels good enough, she's been in a lot of pain lately, poor thing. We're going to have to break out the crutches again soon and make her use them so her foot will finish healing already.
I am easily entertained. S and I just sat here making faces at each other for a minute or two.
The Toddler was a terror today. I was watching him for awhile this afternoon, and it wasn't pretty. I got his toy hammer for him, and he decided to hit me with it and wouldn't stop when I told him to stop, so I took it away. I was going to leave it at that, but then he started screaming and hitting me, so he got a time-out for that, which was punctuated by attempted head-butting and more screaming and struggling. Then, when I put the hammer on the bookshelf to take it from him for the afternoon (because of the hitting and screaming behavior when I took it away for hitting me with it), he started screaming and crying again and threw his cup across the room, so he got another time-out for that. This was in the space of five minutes. I also got my face crawled on today, but it was while we were playing, so I don't count those injuries as much.
I've gotten a lot of laundry done today, and should be almost done by tomorrow if I don't burn out again. I definitely need to get to folding, which I'm going to try to get done pretty quick here before we clean the living room and bathe the dogs.
Today, Girl Child got PJ pants in her size that are the same pattern as the ones I just got, because S promised she'd get them for her this week. It's a good thing I remembered, because there were only two pairs of those pants left at Wal-Mart, and only one was in Girl Child's size. She was thrilled, though. Of course, this will lead to lots and lots of mix-ups, just like with the lemon shirts. Maybe less so, because it'll be ridiculously obvious that the pants don't fit if she accidentally steals mine.
Uh.. other stuff that happened today... Well, the Toddler fell on his head while we were at Wal-Mart. He was really excited and running in the aisle we were in and ran right past S and around a corner, tripped over his own feet, and fell on his head so hard the floor reverberated. He was very unhappy about that. He also peeled a scab off his eyebrow and made the spot bleed all over again. (The scab was from when he used his face to go down the stairs on the playground when we went to take storm pictures last weekend.) The whole area is swollen all over again, poor baby.
I haven't really had the opportunity to play Final Fantasy X in about a week. I've either been too tired or the Toddler has been around, and it's difficult to actually play when he's up because of constantly having to stop him from getting into stuff he shouldn't. Plus, there's all that laundry.
So, basically, nothing interesting happened today. There's a cricket somewhere in the house making way too much noise. I hate crickets. I'm also scared of them because of the jumping thing. I just told it to die and it stopped chirping momentarily.
Today I decided I'm going to apply for a job at the Sara Lee plant. I hope I get it. At least it'll be a job, and if I manage to keep all my body parts and stuff, maybe I can find a job closer to home or something, unless it pays ridiculously well.
I have one link to share, so it's not exactly a link round-up. Cracked has an article about things that stopped people from committing suicide, and it was actually really cool. It was pretty sappy, too, but I like sappy. I almost cried on the last one. You should definitely go read it.
S and I are currently conspiring against the dogs to get them bathed tonight so they stop being such itchy puppies. I think we have to clean up the floor and vacuum and Febreeze first, but then we're dragging each dog into the bathroom and making them suffer the indignity of a bath. If S feels good enough, she's been in a lot of pain lately, poor thing. We're going to have to break out the crutches again soon and make her use them so her foot will finish healing already.
I am easily entertained. S and I just sat here making faces at each other for a minute or two.
The Toddler was a terror today. I was watching him for awhile this afternoon, and it wasn't pretty. I got his toy hammer for him, and he decided to hit me with it and wouldn't stop when I told him to stop, so I took it away. I was going to leave it at that, but then he started screaming and hitting me, so he got a time-out for that, which was punctuated by attempted head-butting and more screaming and struggling. Then, when I put the hammer on the bookshelf to take it from him for the afternoon (because of the hitting and screaming behavior when I took it away for hitting me with it), he started screaming and crying again and threw his cup across the room, so he got another time-out for that. This was in the space of five minutes. I also got my face crawled on today, but it was while we were playing, so I don't count those injuries as much.
I've gotten a lot of laundry done today, and should be almost done by tomorrow if I don't burn out again. I definitely need to get to folding, which I'm going to try to get done pretty quick here before we clean the living room and bathe the dogs.
Today, Girl Child got PJ pants in her size that are the same pattern as the ones I just got, because S promised she'd get them for her this week. It's a good thing I remembered, because there were only two pairs of those pants left at Wal-Mart, and only one was in Girl Child's size. She was thrilled, though. Of course, this will lead to lots and lots of mix-ups, just like with the lemon shirts. Maybe less so, because it'll be ridiculously obvious that the pants don't fit if she accidentally steals mine.
Uh.. other stuff that happened today... Well, the Toddler fell on his head while we were at Wal-Mart. He was really excited and running in the aisle we were in and ran right past S and around a corner, tripped over his own feet, and fell on his head so hard the floor reverberated. He was very unhappy about that. He also peeled a scab off his eyebrow and made the spot bleed all over again. (The scab was from when he used his face to go down the stairs on the playground when we went to take storm pictures last weekend.) The whole area is swollen all over again, poor baby.
I haven't really had the opportunity to play Final Fantasy X in about a week. I've either been too tired or the Toddler has been around, and it's difficult to actually play when he's up because of constantly having to stop him from getting into stuff he shouldn't. Plus, there's all that laundry.
So, basically, nothing interesting happened today. There's a cricket somewhere in the house making way too much noise. I hate crickets. I'm also scared of them because of the jumping thing. I just told it to die and it stopped chirping momentarily.
Today I decided I'm going to apply for a job at the Sara Lee plant. I hope I get it. At least it'll be a job, and if I manage to keep all my body parts and stuff, maybe I can find a job closer to home or something, unless it pays ridiculously well.
I have one link to share, so it's not exactly a link round-up. Cracked has an article about things that stopped people from committing suicide, and it was actually really cool. It was pretty sappy, too, but I like sappy. I almost cried on the last one. You should definitely go read it.
Monday, August 22, 2011
I'm Boring as Hell
I meant to write a post yesterday, but I ended up not bothering. I'm fine. The bites are still there, but the swelling has gone down significantly and I'm no longer in any pain at all. Well, now that I'm thinking about it, I recognize that my elbow still hurts, but I'm no longer in agony like I was the last time I posted. I didn't need to go to the hospital, either.
It's been pretty uneventful around here the last couple of days. Nothing of note has happened. I took some cute pictures of the Toddler, and I tried to get pictures of Girl Child for S because she wants them, but Girl Child was very obnoxiously refusing to allow me to photograph her, even going so far as to nearly smack my camera out of my hand when she tried to stick her hand in front of the lens. Less than six months ago, she loved having her picture taken. Honestly, she was probably being contrary just for the sake of being contrary.
I have links to write about, but I'm going to do it this afternoon when I don't feel like I'm going to fall asleep any second.
S just announced to the living room at large that WarGames is being remade. Really? How on earth does that make sense? I think all the creativity that used to exist with movies got used up at some point, so they're just doing remakes of everything now. This is why I don't bother going to the movies anymore except for the Harry Potter films. (Speaking of which, we really need to go see the last one before it leaves theaters, I'll be devastated if I don't get to see it in theaters.) I don't want to waste money on something I'm more likely than not to hate. I just looked at movies that are in theaters right now on Fandango, and the only one that looked vaguely interesting was Cowboys & Aliens, and I'm not excited enough about it to bother seeing it until it comes out on DVD.
I finished the book I was reading last night. It was Chasing Fire by Nora Roberts, which I've been waiting to read for about six months. It was pretty good, but fairly predictable for her stand-alone stories, which usually all follow the same formula. At least they have a plot, though, which I think is pretty good for the romance genre. The first sex scene wasn't until almost 200 pages in.
Honestly, I just don't have anything interesting to write about. McDonald's coffee is disgusting, I'm wearing a drink carrier on my head, and I have laundry to fold and wash. This is pretty much my whole day. But yay for some form of caffeine that isn't nasty Mountain Dew.
It's been pretty uneventful around here the last couple of days. Nothing of note has happened. I took some cute pictures of the Toddler, and I tried to get pictures of Girl Child for S because she wants them, but Girl Child was very obnoxiously refusing to allow me to photograph her, even going so far as to nearly smack my camera out of my hand when she tried to stick her hand in front of the lens. Less than six months ago, she loved having her picture taken. Honestly, she was probably being contrary just for the sake of being contrary.
I have links to write about, but I'm going to do it this afternoon when I don't feel like I'm going to fall asleep any second.
S just announced to the living room at large that WarGames is being remade. Really? How on earth does that make sense? I think all the creativity that used to exist with movies got used up at some point, so they're just doing remakes of everything now. This is why I don't bother going to the movies anymore except for the Harry Potter films. (Speaking of which, we really need to go see the last one before it leaves theaters, I'll be devastated if I don't get to see it in theaters.) I don't want to waste money on something I'm more likely than not to hate. I just looked at movies that are in theaters right now on Fandango, and the only one that looked vaguely interesting was Cowboys & Aliens, and I'm not excited enough about it to bother seeing it until it comes out on DVD.
I finished the book I was reading last night. It was Chasing Fire by Nora Roberts, which I've been waiting to read for about six months. It was pretty good, but fairly predictable for her stand-alone stories, which usually all follow the same formula. At least they have a plot, though, which I think is pretty good for the romance genre. The first sex scene wasn't until almost 200 pages in.
Honestly, I just don't have anything interesting to write about. McDonald's coffee is disgusting, I'm wearing a drink carrier on my head, and I have laundry to fold and wash. This is pretty much my whole day. But yay for some form of caffeine that isn't nasty Mountain Dew.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
The Captain Obvious Club has a New Member!
I'm back from my trip to Topeka.
This morning, my phone played my text message tone several times back to back (the Final Fantasy X victory fanfare), and S said, "You have texts!" I said, "Yes," and she said, "I'm Captain Obvious!"
I love it here. I really appreciate it when I've been gone for awhile.
Anyway, my trip to Topeka was interesting. I stayed with E's dad, who I'll call DM, and E on Monday night. DM picked me up first and we drove together to the airport to pick E up from her flight. I talked his ear off, because I talk nervously when I'm.. nervous. Ha. Anyway, E was starving when we picked her up, so we went to a Cracker Barrel near the airport to get some food. I got a baconriffic BLT, and E got her usual standby, chicken tenders, mac and cheese, corn, and mashed potatoes. DM got a salad. I chronicle this because the food was pretty bad. Mine and DM's turned out fine, but poor E had a gelatinous blob of potatoes that she couldn't eat, and her mac and cheese was a bit burnt.
Anyway, after that, we went to Macy's to buy a suit for DM for the funeral (the reason E was in town at all), which was some serious hilarity, as E appears to think that she can make her dad be something he's not. She wanted him to get new shoes that had these scary, long squared toes - they were horrifying. Apparently they're quite fashionable, but they weren't him at all. The salesman and I found a pair that worked much better for DM that E said would do, and then she made him get a new tie and belt. And a shirt. Poor man. And immediately after the shopping trip, we made the two-hour drive to DM's house, which is about halfway between Topeka and Manhattan, way out in the country. The property is gorgeous. I took pictures.
Since I didn't know the man who died (he was E's stepmother's father), I wasn't planning on going to the funeral, even though E said it would be fine if I went. (DM did not agree and was perfectly fine with me being entirely too uncomfortable with the concept of going to the funeral.) The funeral was in Wichita, so DM and E dropped me off at LK's house to spend the day and night. Well, they tried to drop me off, but LK wasn't even there, she was at her friend-boy's apartment, and her mother, MK, was there with LK's puppy, Thor. (He's a four month old Akita.)
MK had no idea I was coming. She didn't even recognize E or me until we got right up to the porch, and then she got really happy. I haven't seen her since I was about 12, so that's probably a pretty dramatic change, I don't look anything like I did when I was 12. LK is apparently a master of communication, woo. After calling LK repeatedly, we managed to communicate that she needed to arrive like now, and she eventually showed up about half an hour later. There were hellos and goodbyes, and I spent the rest of the day hanging out with LK, and ended up helping LK paint her bedroom.
The house LK and her roommate are renting is owned by MK, and they're working on fixing it up really nice, which would be fine if their contractor would cooperate. He was supposed to be there by 11:00, and didn't show up until 6:00 that evening, screwed up the crown molding so they have a six-foot space that doesn't have any, and even though he promised to install the carpet, he didn't do it. He looked kind of like a skinny Jeff Daniels, except what hair he had left was shaved.
In the evening, LK's roommate came home from work and picking her baby up from daycare. The baby was 10 months old, but about the size of a typical 7 or 8 month old, and very cute. She really likes to kick. I got to hang out with her for a little while when her mother and LK went to the neighbors' house to get their wifi password, because they were willing to share the wifi until LK can afford to get internet in the house. So MK and I played pass the baby and kept her entertained. I love babies. Then LK had to pick her friend-boy up from work, and he decided to stay over.
After the contractor and MK left, one of their friends showed up to hang out right about the time I decided to go to bed, so I slept through the rest of the night's events. Apparently they were drinking, and LK's friend-boy decided it would be a brilliant idea to jump over the porch railing to get down instead of walking between the people on the stairs, and wound up badly injuring his ankle - they weren't sure if he broke it or just sprained it badly, but he had to be carried upstairs and was up most of the night crying from the pain. They couldn't take him to the hospital because they were all unsafe to drive, so LK took him to the hospital in the morning. No idea if he's okay or not, but I hope he will be, he was a nice guy.
E and DM showed up to pick us up for lunch while she was dropping him off at the hospital, so we had to wait for her to get back, and then we went to Bobo's Drive-In, which has been operating in Topeka since 1948. Then we dropped Leah off at home and E and I went to her mother's house to visit her for a few hours, while DM went off and did some work at his company's Topeka location. He likes to work. I'm calling E's mother CR.
CR has a new dog, a seven month old Shiba Inu named Sam. She had a Shar Pei named Ginger until May, but Ginger was too old and sick and had to be put down. Sam is nuts. He tried to eat my pants. One of CR's cats tried to eat my feet, too, which I wasn't too pleased about, especially since I don't even like cats. CR was pretty cool; I haven't seen her since E's wedding, and she knows about the divorce, so at least we could speak freely about that for awhile. She's convinced E's husband is going to try to kill her or something because he's really obsessed with her. There was a long talk about how E just needs to move the hell out and let her husband deal with not being able to afford their townhouse alone, especially since until about a week ago he was planning on trying to screw her in the divorce and get all her stuff, until he realized that under Tennessee law, you get to keep everything that you had before the marriage and only the stuff you got during the marriage gets split down the middle. He even wanted to take E's dog, Buddy, who he doesn't even like.
Anyway, CR knows I'm an atheist and that E is no longer Catholic (she's been involved with First Assembly of God since we were in high school), but it really bothers her, so she gave me a rosary. Not sure what I'm going to do with it. Girl Child wants it to wear as a decoration, since it's not like I'll ever use it. I've been an atheist since I was about 10. CR is really nice, though, and was pretty happy to see us. We set up her new speakers that E got her, and we explained that the new Firefox is the only one available now and that all of her stuff is still there and that she will just have to go through the effort of reorganizing everything. Apparently she just got a new computer not too long ago, and she's really mad at it.
DM picked us up after a few hours (we were there for two or three, I'm not sure), and we drove E back to the airport to go back to Nashville, and then he drove me home. He's really a sweet man, he told me I could always call him if I'm in any trouble, even though he lives two hours away. He also really wants me to get my learner's permit set up so I can drive with him next time he goes to Nashville to see E so I can get some driving practice in. I don't think he realizes how scary merging is, haha. But her dad is really, really cool. I think I kind of annoy him a lot, what with the incessant talking and all, but he likes me anyway. And I proved I'm capable of being quiet, because he had a business phone call when he drove me home after dropping E off and I only talked when I needed to tell him that we needed to take an exit.
Anyway, it was a pretty good trip. I called home while we were driving E to the airport, and S let the Toddler talk to me on the phone, and he was all kinds of excited to talk to me. Totally made my day. He calls me "Me" now, and it's really, really cute. I missed the hell out of everyone while I was gone, too.
Last night was also movie night, and we were watching the third X-Men movie. I played FFX for ten minutes after everyone dispersed, and then I passed out. And today's been pretty ordinary, I had my camera out because there's a massive spider outside the living room window, and I was taking pictures and then decided to take a photo of Sunshine, but the Toddler photobombed it. It's hilarious. I won't share the photobomb (no faces, remember?), but I will share a picture of the spider.
This morning, my phone played my text message tone several times back to back (the Final Fantasy X victory fanfare), and S said, "You have texts!" I said, "Yes," and she said, "I'm Captain Obvious!"
I love it here. I really appreciate it when I've been gone for awhile.
Anyway, my trip to Topeka was interesting. I stayed with E's dad, who I'll call DM, and E on Monday night. DM picked me up first and we drove together to the airport to pick E up from her flight. I talked his ear off, because I talk nervously when I'm.. nervous. Ha. Anyway, E was starving when we picked her up, so we went to a Cracker Barrel near the airport to get some food. I got a baconriffic BLT, and E got her usual standby, chicken tenders, mac and cheese, corn, and mashed potatoes. DM got a salad. I chronicle this because the food was pretty bad. Mine and DM's turned out fine, but poor E had a gelatinous blob of potatoes that she couldn't eat, and her mac and cheese was a bit burnt.
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| Mashed potatoes should not behave like this. |
Anyway, after that, we went to Macy's to buy a suit for DM for the funeral (the reason E was in town at all), which was some serious hilarity, as E appears to think that she can make her dad be something he's not. She wanted him to get new shoes that had these scary, long squared toes - they were horrifying. Apparently they're quite fashionable, but they weren't him at all. The salesman and I found a pair that worked much better for DM that E said would do, and then she made him get a new tie and belt. And a shirt. Poor man. And immediately after the shopping trip, we made the two-hour drive to DM's house, which is about halfway between Topeka and Manhattan, way out in the country. The property is gorgeous. I took pictures.
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| This is what DM gets to see every morning. So. Jealous. |
Since I didn't know the man who died (he was E's stepmother's father), I wasn't planning on going to the funeral, even though E said it would be fine if I went. (DM did not agree and was perfectly fine with me being entirely too uncomfortable with the concept of going to the funeral.) The funeral was in Wichita, so DM and E dropped me off at LK's house to spend the day and night. Well, they tried to drop me off, but LK wasn't even there, she was at her friend-boy's apartment, and her mother, MK, was there with LK's puppy, Thor. (He's a four month old Akita.)
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| Thor, the blurriest puppy in existence. |
The house LK and her roommate are renting is owned by MK, and they're working on fixing it up really nice, which would be fine if their contractor would cooperate. He was supposed to be there by 11:00, and didn't show up until 6:00 that evening, screwed up the crown molding so they have a six-foot space that doesn't have any, and even though he promised to install the carpet, he didn't do it. He looked kind of like a skinny Jeff Daniels, except what hair he had left was shaved.
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| Contractor Guy kind of looked like this. (Jeff Daniels) |
In the evening, LK's roommate came home from work and picking her baby up from daycare. The baby was 10 months old, but about the size of a typical 7 or 8 month old, and very cute. She really likes to kick. I got to hang out with her for a little while when her mother and LK went to the neighbors' house to get their wifi password, because they were willing to share the wifi until LK can afford to get internet in the house. So MK and I played pass the baby and kept her entertained. I love babies. Then LK had to pick her friend-boy up from work, and he decided to stay over.
After the contractor and MK left, one of their friends showed up to hang out right about the time I decided to go to bed, so I slept through the rest of the night's events. Apparently they were drinking, and LK's friend-boy decided it would be a brilliant idea to jump over the porch railing to get down instead of walking between the people on the stairs, and wound up badly injuring his ankle - they weren't sure if he broke it or just sprained it badly, but he had to be carried upstairs and was up most of the night crying from the pain. They couldn't take him to the hospital because they were all unsafe to drive, so LK took him to the hospital in the morning. No idea if he's okay or not, but I hope he will be, he was a nice guy.
E and DM showed up to pick us up for lunch while she was dropping him off at the hospital, so we had to wait for her to get back, and then we went to Bobo's Drive-In, which has been operating in Topeka since 1948. Then we dropped Leah off at home and E and I went to her mother's house to visit her for a few hours, while DM went off and did some work at his company's Topeka location. He likes to work. I'm calling E's mother CR.
CR has a new dog, a seven month old Shiba Inu named Sam. She had a Shar Pei named Ginger until May, but Ginger was too old and sick and had to be put down. Sam is nuts. He tried to eat my pants. One of CR's cats tried to eat my feet, too, which I wasn't too pleased about, especially since I don't even like cats. CR was pretty cool; I haven't seen her since E's wedding, and she knows about the divorce, so at least we could speak freely about that for awhile. She's convinced E's husband is going to try to kill her or something because he's really obsessed with her. There was a long talk about how E just needs to move the hell out and let her husband deal with not being able to afford their townhouse alone, especially since until about a week ago he was planning on trying to screw her in the divorce and get all her stuff, until he realized that under Tennessee law, you get to keep everything that you had before the marriage and only the stuff you got during the marriage gets split down the middle. He even wanted to take E's dog, Buddy, who he doesn't even like.
Anyway, CR knows I'm an atheist and that E is no longer Catholic (she's been involved with First Assembly of God since we were in high school), but it really bothers her, so she gave me a rosary. Not sure what I'm going to do with it. Girl Child wants it to wear as a decoration, since it's not like I'll ever use it. I've been an atheist since I was about 10. CR is really nice, though, and was pretty happy to see us. We set up her new speakers that E got her, and we explained that the new Firefox is the only one available now and that all of her stuff is still there and that she will just have to go through the effort of reorganizing everything. Apparently she just got a new computer not too long ago, and she's really mad at it.
DM picked us up after a few hours (we were there for two or three, I'm not sure), and we drove E back to the airport to go back to Nashville, and then he drove me home. He's really a sweet man, he told me I could always call him if I'm in any trouble, even though he lives two hours away. He also really wants me to get my learner's permit set up so I can drive with him next time he goes to Nashville to see E so I can get some driving practice in. I don't think he realizes how scary merging is, haha. But her dad is really, really cool. I think I kind of annoy him a lot, what with the incessant talking and all, but he likes me anyway. And I proved I'm capable of being quiet, because he had a business phone call when he drove me home after dropping E off and I only talked when I needed to tell him that we needed to take an exit.
Anyway, it was a pretty good trip. I called home while we were driving E to the airport, and S let the Toddler talk to me on the phone, and he was all kinds of excited to talk to me. Totally made my day. He calls me "Me" now, and it's really, really cute. I missed the hell out of everyone while I was gone, too.
Last night was also movie night, and we were watching the third X-Men movie. I played FFX for ten minutes after everyone dispersed, and then I passed out. And today's been pretty ordinary, I had my camera out because there's a massive spider outside the living room window, and I was taking pictures and then decided to take a photo of Sunshine, but the Toddler photobombed it. It's hilarious. I won't share the photobomb (no faces, remember?), but I will share a picture of the spider.
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| "Why hello there, Mister Spider, are you enjoying your breakfast?" |
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Broken Computer Redux and Other Crap
I had to switch computers yesterday morning. The power switch stopped working on the one I've been using, so I'm back to the stupid Frankenstein computer. I'm really frustrated - I've got a lot of stuff on there already that I don't have anywhere else, and my bookmarks on this computer are not updated to reflect the bookmarks on the other computer. I guess this is what happens when I shut the computer down. FML.
I slept most of the day yesterday because I woke up feeling awful. I'm sucking today, too, but that's mostly because of the events of last night - there was a giant incident with Girl Child late last night after S went to bed and after I got the Toddler back in bed. S won't want me to write too specifically about it, so I won't go into detail, but there was a lot of yelling and she's lucky that the police weren't called on her by the neighbors. Also, as awesome as M is, he only made things worse by getting involved. Let's just leave it with last night was very frustrating and stupid over something very simple, but I'm very proud of how J handled it when he got home from work this morning - he handled it beautifully.
But, partly because of last night, I only got about three hours of sleep, so I'm probably going to end up going back to bed soon. Once I get actually sleepy, because I'm not feeling sleepy at all right now.
Before everything went all stupid last night, S and I watched a few episodes of The Joy of Painting, which causes hilarity to ensue rather often, because Bob Ross is kind of unintentionally hilarious sometimes. I also made pudding from scratch last night and discovered that the recipe I used called for way more cornstarch than was necessary. It tasted okay, but it was so thick and gelatinous that you could have rolled it into a ball and bounced it off the floor, so the texture was rather awful. I actually dropped some on my shirt and it didn't even stick or stain or anything. Yep. Definitely way too much cornstarch.
My hair looks freaking terrific right now. I am so never, ever using commercial shampoo and conditioner again. I love the hell out of my hair right now. I got a wide-tooth comb the other day to use in the shower, and it distributed the apple cider vinegar through my hair very nicely, and everything is all soft and perfect.
Anyway, I have a couple pictures to share. I'd have links, too, but without my bookmarks from the other computer, I don't have any of them available and will have to collect others later today.
I discovered I was followed into the bedroom when I was taking the picture of my shirt, and found the Toddler, who had climbed on the bin of his spare toys and was just sitting there. Yes, his face is hidden on purpose.
I just ate a pile of bacon, so this morning just got transferred to the best morning ever. Because bacon does that. I love bacon.
I slept most of the day yesterday because I woke up feeling awful. I'm sucking today, too, but that's mostly because of the events of last night - there was a giant incident with Girl Child late last night after S went to bed and after I got the Toddler back in bed. S won't want me to write too specifically about it, so I won't go into detail, but there was a lot of yelling and she's lucky that the police weren't called on her by the neighbors. Also, as awesome as M is, he only made things worse by getting involved. Let's just leave it with last night was very frustrating and stupid over something very simple, but I'm very proud of how J handled it when he got home from work this morning - he handled it beautifully.
But, partly because of last night, I only got about three hours of sleep, so I'm probably going to end up going back to bed soon. Once I get actually sleepy, because I'm not feeling sleepy at all right now.
Before everything went all stupid last night, S and I watched a few episodes of The Joy of Painting, which causes hilarity to ensue rather often, because Bob Ross is kind of unintentionally hilarious sometimes. I also made pudding from scratch last night and discovered that the recipe I used called for way more cornstarch than was necessary. It tasted okay, but it was so thick and gelatinous that you could have rolled it into a ball and bounced it off the floor, so the texture was rather awful. I actually dropped some on my shirt and it didn't even stick or stain or anything. Yep. Definitely way too much cornstarch.
My hair looks freaking terrific right now. I am so never, ever using commercial shampoo and conditioner again. I love the hell out of my hair right now. I got a wide-tooth comb the other day to use in the shower, and it distributed the apple cider vinegar through my hair very nicely, and everything is all soft and perfect.
Anyway, I have a couple pictures to share. I'd have links, too, but without my bookmarks from the other computer, I don't have any of them available and will have to collect others later today.
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| This is my awesome lemon shirt. Girl Child has the same shirt in her size. This leads to confusion on her part. |
I discovered I was followed into the bedroom when I was taking the picture of my shirt, and found the Toddler, who had climbed on the bin of his spare toys and was just sitting there. Yes, his face is hidden on purpose.
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| This is the Toddler. |
I just ate a pile of bacon, so this morning just got transferred to the best morning ever. Because bacon does that. I love bacon.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
The Lazy Blogger and the Linktastic Post
Okay. I should write an update.
Things around here have been great. Really. Life is awesome, everyone here rocks. Girl Child finally came home yesterday afternoon, and it was great to see her. She's such an awesome kid. I really like it when she comes home after she's been away for awhile, it reminds me how much I love her and how great she really is, which I sometimes forget when I see her all the time.
Yesterday was S's birthday, as I mentioned in my ridiculously short post last night. My mother was nice and sent me some money so I could get some stuff that I've been needing that J and S can't really afford to get for me, and I spent some of it on S's birthday - I got her a Shoebox (Hallmark) card that has a dog birthday party, and the dog has just opened a present with a candle inside and the speech bubble says, "Butt-scented! My favorite!" I don't remember what the inside of the card says, but I was looking at noisy cards and happened to glance over and see that one and knew it was The Card. S liked it, I think. I also got her a new pack of white t-shirts, because the ones she already has are kind of dying, and she really likes wearing t-shirts.
I also spent some of the money on the kids - I got Girl Child a new shirt and vest combo that is terrific and will look wonderful on her for school, and the Toddler got a brown onesie that says, "My Mommy is exhausted," which I thought was very apt, since the primary reason S is always so tired is because of him. I can't wait for him to wear it, I'm so amused. I got some stuff for me, too, and am planning on ordering a pair of jeans that will actually fit me online from Old Navy this week.
In boring laundry news, I'm almost completely caught up. I have two hampers of laundry left that is dirty, plus the comforter that J and S usually use on their bed needs to be rewashed - Girl Child didn't check it when she brought it upstairs from the dryer, and it was still wet, and then it got on the floor. Yipee. I have a lot of folding to do, but I'm not terribly interested in doing that at the moment.
I cooked dinner last night because it was S's birthday. If you have back problems, you should not go on an epic Wal-Mart expedition and then try to cook a giant meal. I could barely walk when I got up this morning (hence my disinterest in folding laundry), and it took a hot shower to loosen everything up to the point that I'm able to at least move fairly well.
I'm going to be making tuna goop at some point today, which is a recipe of GM's mother's that I learned in 2004. I have also learned that usually when I make it, no one but me likes it. I think it's just wonderful. I'm planning on making curry soon, too, but definitely not tonight. Hell no.
Last night while I was cooking and singing very loudly, J and S rearranged the living room. J's desk is now against the wall the coffee table (cedar chest) was against, and a bunch of stuff in front of the fireplace has been moved to the corner where the desk was. It really opened up the room. The only downside I've seen so far (other than the Toddler constantly messing with J's desk and chair) is that I can't see the TV if J is awake because his chair is in the way - I'll have to move the chair across the room in order to see the TV from my spot on the couch at all, or else move to the big chair right next to the TV to watch anything, and since I'm pretty sure I've got some form of ADD, it'll be difficult for me to watch anything without having my computer, which can't be moved. (The battery doesn't work at all on this laptop, so if it gets unplugged, it immediately turns off, so I'd have to completely shut it down, transfer my entire TV tray and computer across the room, string an extension cord across the room, and generally create a hazard to have my computer in the chair.)
J's new work schedule is working out wonderfully for everyone - I can sleep in the living room without being disturbed on the nights he works, J is getting enough sleep and is much less grumpy, and he's up when we're awake more because he stays up until about noon and then gets up in the early evening before the Toddler goes to bed.
So I'm still experimenting with no 'poo, and it's weird. My hair feels kind of okay and kind of awful right now (I washed it this morning), and it's still damp, so it may turn out to feel great once it's all dry, or it may just feel like poop. It's a tossup.
I'm so glad the heat wave finally broke. It feels wonderful outside right now, and it's making me very excited for fall, which has become my favorite season.
Yesterday I wrote a summary of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows for someone who hasn't read the books since Prisoner of Azkaban, but has seen the movies. (She asked me to explain what happened after the events of Half-Blood Prince after I expressed horror at her asking if Snape was Harry's father.) I condensed the entire book into four pages, and a little over 2,000 words. It took almost an hour to type, maybe longer. I also learned that the character cap for Facebook comments is 8,000 characters, so when you write something with over 10,000 characters, it will sort of explode. I'm very glad I had the forethought to copy the full text and paste it in a Google document before I tried to post it.
I have a lot of links to post, because I've been collecting them for days. And a good bit of them will require me to bitch quite a bit, because a lot of them make me angry.
Link Round-Up
According to this Senate candidate, welfare recipients are like raccoons. They want to get the easiest way to live possible, and of course there's no possibility that they just might not be able to find work.
Michele Bachmann is a really, really big hypocrite, and I'm terrified that she's going to make it past the primaries. I'm definitely voting for each election that I can vote in, to try to keep her ass from ever being President.
Truck drivers are seriously underappreciated, and this story really points out what it's like for truck drivers in this day and age.
Apparently what's happening with E and her marriage (she knew she didn't want to get married before the wedding but felt like she couldn't back out after all the expense and everything) is becoming a really common thing among women who get divorced. I still say she was dumb for not telling me she didn't want to get married before the wedding - I'd have stopped the wedding.
The fashion industry is sexualizing 10-year-olds now. Lovely. Poor little thing.
These people are assholes and their smug, snide attitude about what they did makes me so angry.
I find the concept of courtroom dogs very interesting, and it certainly would have helped me when I had to testify in 2001. Of course, because the dogs are cute, that will totally sway the jury to convict the defendant. I hate lawyers.
I can't imagine how it must feel to move to America from the country of your birth, live and work in America for over 20 years, and then be asked to be Prime Minister of your home country and live there for nine months as Prime Minister before going back to America and your cubicle at your job that you've had for 20 years. that must have been so surreal.
Apparently what you eat during pregnancy and while breastfeeding will affect what foods your baby will enjoy eating as they're older.
Things around here have been great. Really. Life is awesome, everyone here rocks. Girl Child finally came home yesterday afternoon, and it was great to see her. She's such an awesome kid. I really like it when she comes home after she's been away for awhile, it reminds me how much I love her and how great she really is, which I sometimes forget when I see her all the time.
Yesterday was S's birthday, as I mentioned in my ridiculously short post last night. My mother was nice and sent me some money so I could get some stuff that I've been needing that J and S can't really afford to get for me, and I spent some of it on S's birthday - I got her a Shoebox (Hallmark) card that has a dog birthday party, and the dog has just opened a present with a candle inside and the speech bubble says, "Butt-scented! My favorite!" I don't remember what the inside of the card says, but I was looking at noisy cards and happened to glance over and see that one and knew it was The Card. S liked it, I think. I also got her a new pack of white t-shirts, because the ones she already has are kind of dying, and she really likes wearing t-shirts.
I also spent some of the money on the kids - I got Girl Child a new shirt and vest combo that is terrific and will look wonderful on her for school, and the Toddler got a brown onesie that says, "My Mommy is exhausted," which I thought was very apt, since the primary reason S is always so tired is because of him. I can't wait for him to wear it, I'm so amused. I got some stuff for me, too, and am planning on ordering a pair of jeans that will actually fit me online from Old Navy this week.
In boring laundry news, I'm almost completely caught up. I have two hampers of laundry left that is dirty, plus the comforter that J and S usually use on their bed needs to be rewashed - Girl Child didn't check it when she brought it upstairs from the dryer, and it was still wet, and then it got on the floor. Yipee. I have a lot of folding to do, but I'm not terribly interested in doing that at the moment.
I cooked dinner last night because it was S's birthday. If you have back problems, you should not go on an epic Wal-Mart expedition and then try to cook a giant meal. I could barely walk when I got up this morning (hence my disinterest in folding laundry), and it took a hot shower to loosen everything up to the point that I'm able to at least move fairly well.
I'm going to be making tuna goop at some point today, which is a recipe of GM's mother's that I learned in 2004. I have also learned that usually when I make it, no one but me likes it. I think it's just wonderful. I'm planning on making curry soon, too, but definitely not tonight. Hell no.
Last night while I was cooking and singing very loudly, J and S rearranged the living room. J's desk is now against the wall the coffee table (cedar chest) was against, and a bunch of stuff in front of the fireplace has been moved to the corner where the desk was. It really opened up the room. The only downside I've seen so far (other than the Toddler constantly messing with J's desk and chair) is that I can't see the TV if J is awake because his chair is in the way - I'll have to move the chair across the room in order to see the TV from my spot on the couch at all, or else move to the big chair right next to the TV to watch anything, and since I'm pretty sure I've got some form of ADD, it'll be difficult for me to watch anything without having my computer, which can't be moved. (The battery doesn't work at all on this laptop, so if it gets unplugged, it immediately turns off, so I'd have to completely shut it down, transfer my entire TV tray and computer across the room, string an extension cord across the room, and generally create a hazard to have my computer in the chair.)
J's new work schedule is working out wonderfully for everyone - I can sleep in the living room without being disturbed on the nights he works, J is getting enough sleep and is much less grumpy, and he's up when we're awake more because he stays up until about noon and then gets up in the early evening before the Toddler goes to bed.
So I'm still experimenting with no 'poo, and it's weird. My hair feels kind of okay and kind of awful right now (I washed it this morning), and it's still damp, so it may turn out to feel great once it's all dry, or it may just feel like poop. It's a tossup.
I'm so glad the heat wave finally broke. It feels wonderful outside right now, and it's making me very excited for fall, which has become my favorite season.
Yesterday I wrote a summary of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows for someone who hasn't read the books since Prisoner of Azkaban, but has seen the movies. (She asked me to explain what happened after the events of Half-Blood Prince after I expressed horror at her asking if Snape was Harry's father.) I condensed the entire book into four pages, and a little over 2,000 words. It took almost an hour to type, maybe longer. I also learned that the character cap for Facebook comments is 8,000 characters, so when you write something with over 10,000 characters, it will sort of explode. I'm very glad I had the forethought to copy the full text and paste it in a Google document before I tried to post it.
I have a lot of links to post, because I've been collecting them for days. And a good bit of them will require me to bitch quite a bit, because a lot of them make me angry.
Link Round-Up
According to this Senate candidate, welfare recipients are like raccoons. They want to get the easiest way to live possible, and of course there's no possibility that they just might not be able to find work.
Michele Bachmann is a really, really big hypocrite, and I'm terrified that she's going to make it past the primaries. I'm definitely voting for each election that I can vote in, to try to keep her ass from ever being President.
Truck drivers are seriously underappreciated, and this story really points out what it's like for truck drivers in this day and age.
Apparently what's happening with E and her marriage (she knew she didn't want to get married before the wedding but felt like she couldn't back out after all the expense and everything) is becoming a really common thing among women who get divorced. I still say she was dumb for not telling me she didn't want to get married before the wedding - I'd have stopped the wedding.
The fashion industry is sexualizing 10-year-olds now. Lovely. Poor little thing.
These people are assholes and their smug, snide attitude about what they did makes me so angry.
I find the concept of courtroom dogs very interesting, and it certainly would have helped me when I had to testify in 2001. Of course, because the dogs are cute, that will totally sway the jury to convict the defendant. I hate lawyers.
I can't imagine how it must feel to move to America from the country of your birth, live and work in America for over 20 years, and then be asked to be Prime Minister of your home country and live there for nine months as Prime Minister before going back to America and your cubicle at your job that you've had for 20 years. that must have been so surreal.
Apparently what you eat during pregnancy and while breastfeeding will affect what foods your baby will enjoy eating as they're older.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Laundry, Tattoos, Video Games, and Politics
So, this is kind of a boring post until after the links round up, so if you don't care about my daily life or what tattoos I want, just skip to that part.
I went crazy sorting the laundry last night and organized it by type. Girl Child and I now share a hamper for what she doesn't wash herself and all my stuff, the Toddler has his own hamper for his clothes and sheets and stuff, and J and S each have their own basket because a lot of their stuff dirty right now. I'd intended to combine it, but that was impossible. Today, I have washed all the towels in the house and all of the Toddler's clothes, and am currently working on a mixed load of sheets and other random household stuff, plus one of M's towels that S borrowed last night because we were out of towels. I'm such a slacker. I also folded a ton of laundry yesterday evening between the time J got up and the Toddler went to bed, so I also got to have loud music and lots of really loud singing. This coincided with Girl Child doing some dishes, so there was also presumably singing coming from the kitchen, so I can only imagine what the living room sounded like for J and S. Haha.
I just switched out the plastic drawer bin that has been the Toddler's toybox for the last several months for two of my totes that had all my yarn and crocheting supplies in them - now my yarn is in the drawers (the only thing that didn't fit was the pillows I still haven't made covers for) and his toys are in one bin, and he's currently in the other bin. It'll have his stuffed animals in it later, once he goes to bed.
I finally returned one of my library books today, and discovered that I can't use the self-check or place holds online anymore because of my fines. Fail. But I can still check stuff out, so long as I don't accrue fines, so I'm going to check to see if the hold on the Nora Roberts book I've been wanting to read is still intact, because I would be very upset if I lost my place in line. It'd be my own fault, though. (I just checked - I still have my position, and I'm in 17th place, so my hold should become available in a week or two, yay!)
I've been working on a list of things the Toddler is really quirky about lately. He can't stand having a door be open, for instance. If he finds a door that is open, he must close it. This is most unfortunate when it's the bathroom door when the doorknob has fallen out of it, because this makes the person using the bathroom unable to get out of it without assistance if they happen to forget to take the knob in with them. (Me.) He also has a compulsive need to close any drawers that he finds open, but he also needs to open my dresser and "rearrange" my clothing. This usually means that my clean clothes get put in the dirty laundry sometimes, or he'll randomly put dirty clothes in my dresser. Sometimes it kind of sucks to have my dresser in the hallway, but at least I have it at all. He also can't stand it when S's computer goes to a screensaver - he'll run over and move the mouse or hit keys until it stops. He also hates it when the laptops are partially open. He'll either try to open it (potentially flipping it off the TV tray), or he'll slam it closed. He's also taken to demanding that the baby monitor be turned off if he sees that it's on when he's not in bed, and demanding that it be turned on when he's about to go to bed.
Now, some of these behaviors can get really irritating sometimes, but mostly they're just rather hilarious, and they're interesting personality quirks that make me wonder what he'll be like when he's older. I love that kid.
Recently, I made a list of all the tattoos I want for a Facebook meme that I still haven't done - it turns out that I actually want quite a bit more tattoos than I thought I did! I designed a celestial symbol about two years ago that I want on my left arm, and I'm going to put a Jecht symbol right above it (Final Fantasy X and X-2). On my right arm, I'm going to get those Chinese symbols done that S reproduced for me, in right about that spot. On my back, at the base of my neck, I'm getting the sign of the Deathly Hallows, and below that, I'm getting the Royal Crest from the Legend of Zelda games. I'm getting an owl right above my right ankle, and S designed a viney thing for me a few months ago, but I'm not sure where I want it yet. I'm also thinking about getting a penguin to match my owl for my other leg, possibly some stars on my right foot, and maybe an ankh somewhere. Wow, tattoo-tastic!
I like making lists.
Today's been pretty decent. Girl Child left for her great-grandmother's this morning, even though the poor thing is getting her wisdom teeth in and is in a ridiculous amount of pain. I think she's pretty excited about it, though. Maybe. I got her to put her clothes away for me before she left, which makes me happy, because now I'm not going to be without a basket until she comes home. I also worked on her file for Final Fantasy X because she never activated the Celestial Mirror and was all the way to Yunalesca and was unable to defeat her. I've also gotten everyone but Kimahri in overdrive mode (I never, ever use Kimahri unless I'm being forced to), and leveled everyone up a little bit - I may run around a bit more for her later so Lulu will have Flare, because it's nice to be able to do non-elemental damage! The Toddler's been exceptionally obnoxious today, partly because his nap consisted of sleeping on me for about twenty minutes.
Honestly, I don't know if today was decent or just boring. It's mostly been laundry, video games, and temper tantrums. However, last night I discovered I can lift Girl Child over my shoulder and carry her around like I'm a fireman. She weighs about 130 pounds and is taller than me. I AMSUPERMAN SUPER WOMAN!!! Holy crap, I am strong. I had no idea. I still can't hold a gallon of milk in my hand very long, or do anything that requires wrist strength because I simply lack the muscles in my wrists, but my back and upper arms are very strong... apparently. (I discovered this after Girl Child was poking me incessantly, and decided to try to pick her up and carry her across the room and put her somewhere... and I could.)
I have a few links to post, and some of them have sparked outrage for me.
Links Round-Up
Okay, this makes me angry. Really, really FUCKING angry. This man is more concerned with making Obama a one-term president than he is in trying to fix some of the royally fucked up problems this country is having. Seriously, your primary goal is to get Obama out of the White House? What about raising taxes to get us out of this mess of debt? What about some true educational reform instead of this No Child Left Behind bullshit? I don't want fucktards like this running my country. He doesn't give two flying shits about the debt ceiling or the economy disintegrating before our very eyes, he just wants to get rid of a president that seems like he actually cares and wants to bring some true change so he can just keep his cush, two days a week job doing a bunch of bullshit and generally being a corrupt asshole.
Speaking of Congress being a two day a week job, Congress decided to go on a month-long vacation without doing anything about the FAA's complete lack of funding. A political writer and blogger wrote a speech he's dying to see Obama give to Congress for their complete lack of responsibility. I have to say, I quite agree with him, and honestly, I think the whole political system needs a complete overhaul. Just because it worked 250-ish years ago, does not mean it works now. I am really unhappy with politicians not caring what the people they're supposed to represent want, because I thought that that was what they were there for, not to pursue their own agenda. I say we get rid of Congress and all those other corrupt people and just have a lot of voting days where the American public gets to vote on the issues at hand and decide for themselves how they want the country to be. Seriously.
In other outrage-tastic news, Fox News apparently thinks giving battered women the help they will need to get out of those situations and providing easy access to proper women's healthcare is as frivolous as getting a pedicure. Really? Really?! I am so angry at these people.
I feel so bad for this girl, and cannot believe the school district is standing behind this. I hope she wins a big fat settlement and goes to an awesome college and becomes their bosses and fires the shit out of them.
I don't know who I feel more sorry for in this case, the little girl who was kidnapped and adopted fraudulently, the couple who adopted her that apparently didn't know she was kidnapped, or her birth mother, who has missed the last five years of her kid's life. (Also, the girl's adoptive parents are from the North Kansas City area, which was a bit shocking to me, as it came completely unexpectedly.)
And, for a palate cleanser, here are some awesome storm cloud pictures from Canada.
I went crazy sorting the laundry last night and organized it by type. Girl Child and I now share a hamper for what she doesn't wash herself and all my stuff, the Toddler has his own hamper for his clothes and sheets and stuff, and J and S each have their own basket because a lot of their stuff dirty right now. I'd intended to combine it, but that was impossible. Today, I have washed all the towels in the house and all of the Toddler's clothes, and am currently working on a mixed load of sheets and other random household stuff, plus one of M's towels that S borrowed last night because we were out of towels. I'm such a slacker. I also folded a ton of laundry yesterday evening between the time J got up and the Toddler went to bed, so I also got to have loud music and lots of really loud singing. This coincided with Girl Child doing some dishes, so there was also presumably singing coming from the kitchen, so I can only imagine what the living room sounded like for J and S. Haha.
I just switched out the plastic drawer bin that has been the Toddler's toybox for the last several months for two of my totes that had all my yarn and crocheting supplies in them - now my yarn is in the drawers (the only thing that didn't fit was the pillows I still haven't made covers for) and his toys are in one bin, and he's currently in the other bin. It'll have his stuffed animals in it later, once he goes to bed.
I finally returned one of my library books today, and discovered that I can't use the self-check or place holds online anymore because of my fines. Fail. But I can still check stuff out, so long as I don't accrue fines, so I'm going to check to see if the hold on the Nora Roberts book I've been wanting to read is still intact, because I would be very upset if I lost my place in line. It'd be my own fault, though. (I just checked - I still have my position, and I'm in 17th place, so my hold should become available in a week or two, yay!)
I've been working on a list of things the Toddler is really quirky about lately. He can't stand having a door be open, for instance. If he finds a door that is open, he must close it. This is most unfortunate when it's the bathroom door when the doorknob has fallen out of it, because this makes the person using the bathroom unable to get out of it without assistance if they happen to forget to take the knob in with them. (Me.) He also has a compulsive need to close any drawers that he finds open, but he also needs to open my dresser and "rearrange" my clothing. This usually means that my clean clothes get put in the dirty laundry sometimes, or he'll randomly put dirty clothes in my dresser. Sometimes it kind of sucks to have my dresser in the hallway, but at least I have it at all. He also can't stand it when S's computer goes to a screensaver - he'll run over and move the mouse or hit keys until it stops. He also hates it when the laptops are partially open. He'll either try to open it (potentially flipping it off the TV tray), or he'll slam it closed. He's also taken to demanding that the baby monitor be turned off if he sees that it's on when he's not in bed, and demanding that it be turned on when he's about to go to bed.
Now, some of these behaviors can get really irritating sometimes, but mostly they're just rather hilarious, and they're interesting personality quirks that make me wonder what he'll be like when he's older. I love that kid.
Recently, I made a list of all the tattoos I want for a Facebook meme that I still haven't done - it turns out that I actually want quite a bit more tattoos than I thought I did! I designed a celestial symbol about two years ago that I want on my left arm, and I'm going to put a Jecht symbol right above it (Final Fantasy X and X-2). On my right arm, I'm going to get those Chinese symbols done that S reproduced for me, in right about that spot. On my back, at the base of my neck, I'm getting the sign of the Deathly Hallows, and below that, I'm getting the Royal Crest from the Legend of Zelda games. I'm getting an owl right above my right ankle, and S designed a viney thing for me a few months ago, but I'm not sure where I want it yet. I'm also thinking about getting a penguin to match my owl for my other leg, possibly some stars on my right foot, and maybe an ankh somewhere. Wow, tattoo-tastic!
I like making lists.
Today's been pretty decent. Girl Child left for her great-grandmother's this morning, even though the poor thing is getting her wisdom teeth in and is in a ridiculous amount of pain. I think she's pretty excited about it, though. Maybe. I got her to put her clothes away for me before she left, which makes me happy, because now I'm not going to be without a basket until she comes home. I also worked on her file for Final Fantasy X because she never activated the Celestial Mirror and was all the way to Yunalesca and was unable to defeat her. I've also gotten everyone but Kimahri in overdrive mode (I never, ever use Kimahri unless I'm being forced to), and leveled everyone up a little bit - I may run around a bit more for her later so Lulu will have Flare, because it's nice to be able to do non-elemental damage! The Toddler's been exceptionally obnoxious today, partly because his nap consisted of sleeping on me for about twenty minutes.
Honestly, I don't know if today was decent or just boring. It's mostly been laundry, video games, and temper tantrums. However, last night I discovered I can lift Girl Child over my shoulder and carry her around like I'm a fireman. She weighs about 130 pounds and is taller than me. I AM
I have a few links to post, and some of them have sparked outrage for me.
Links Round-Up
Okay, this makes me angry. Really, really FUCKING angry. This man is more concerned with making Obama a one-term president than he is in trying to fix some of the royally fucked up problems this country is having. Seriously, your primary goal is to get Obama out of the White House? What about raising taxes to get us out of this mess of debt? What about some true educational reform instead of this No Child Left Behind bullshit? I don't want fucktards like this running my country. He doesn't give two flying shits about the debt ceiling or the economy disintegrating before our very eyes, he just wants to get rid of a president that seems like he actually cares and wants to bring some true change so he can just keep his cush, two days a week job doing a bunch of bullshit and generally being a corrupt asshole.
Speaking of Congress being a two day a week job, Congress decided to go on a month-long vacation without doing anything about the FAA's complete lack of funding. A political writer and blogger wrote a speech he's dying to see Obama give to Congress for their complete lack of responsibility. I have to say, I quite agree with him, and honestly, I think the whole political system needs a complete overhaul. Just because it worked 250-ish years ago, does not mean it works now. I am really unhappy with politicians not caring what the people they're supposed to represent want, because I thought that that was what they were there for, not to pursue their own agenda. I say we get rid of Congress and all those other corrupt people and just have a lot of voting days where the American public gets to vote on the issues at hand and decide for themselves how they want the country to be. Seriously.
In other outrage-tastic news, Fox News apparently thinks giving battered women the help they will need to get out of those situations and providing easy access to proper women's healthcare is as frivolous as getting a pedicure. Really? Really?! I am so angry at these people.
I feel so bad for this girl, and cannot believe the school district is standing behind this. I hope she wins a big fat settlement and goes to an awesome college and becomes their bosses and fires the shit out of them.
I don't know who I feel more sorry for in this case, the little girl who was kidnapped and adopted fraudulently, the couple who adopted her that apparently didn't know she was kidnapped, or her birth mother, who has missed the last five years of her kid's life. (Also, the girl's adoptive parents are from the North Kansas City area, which was a bit shocking to me, as it came completely unexpectedly.)
And, for a palate cleanser, here are some awesome storm cloud pictures from Canada.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Record-Setting Heat and Body Canvases
I did not get nearly enough sleep last night, and it showed. I was baby-sitting the Toddler earlier because S had to pick Girl Child up from the relative's house, and the only thing that kept me from falling asleep was writing my last post on paper and sheer force of will. I was going to go take a nap/sleep until tomorrow after the Toddler woke up from his nap, but by that point, I'd gained a second wind.
I haven't gone outside during the day in about three days or so - it's been too hot. Today's official high was 109, which was record-shattering. Seriously, that record is smithereens, shreds, nuked.
I'm never going outside again. Oh my god.
Today, S and I became human canvases for each other - lots of doodling. I also had her draw the sign of the Deathly Hallows on my back in about the spot I'm planning on getting it tattooed, and she reproduced the Chinese symbols for Serenity (the Firefly) on my right inner arm, so I can get an idea of how exactly I want them when I get those tattooed on me. The rest is just a jumble of insanity. Also, I can't draw an ankh to save my life. S wrote "Trololololo" on my foot, for instance. She has it on her arm. There are leaves, misshapen lips, aliens, insults, derpy faces, and just all sorts of stuff. My left arm is covered in Harry Potter scars. S got a lot less of the "artistic" outpouring because I mostly drew on myself, but I wrote "Accio Brain!" on her leg and some stuff backwards and upside down.
At the moment, I'm watching Prisoner of Azkaban, but once I finish this post, I'm going to bed.
*squee*
I haven't gone outside during the day in about three days or so - it's been too hot. Today's official high was 109, which was record-shattering. Seriously, that record is smithereens, shreds, nuked.
I'm never going outside again. Oh my god.
Today, S and I became human canvases for each other - lots of doodling. I also had her draw the sign of the Deathly Hallows on my back in about the spot I'm planning on getting it tattooed, and she reproduced the Chinese symbols for Serenity (the Firefly) on my right inner arm, so I can get an idea of how exactly I want them when I get those tattooed on me. The rest is just a jumble of insanity. Also, I can't draw an ankh to save my life. S wrote "Trololololo" on my foot, for instance. She has it on her arm. There are leaves, misshapen lips, aliens, insults, derpy faces, and just all sorts of stuff. My left arm is covered in Harry Potter scars. S got a lot less of the "artistic" outpouring because I mostly drew on myself, but I wrote "Accio Brain!" on her leg and some stuff backwards and upside down.
At the moment, I'm watching Prisoner of Azkaban, but once I finish this post, I'm going to bed.
 |
| This is what S drew on my arm. |
 |
| ... And these are the original symbols. |
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