The Slob Who Reads a Lot

I am alive.  (Obviously.)  I am in Emporia.  I am about to go to bed.  Apparently, the best I can do is declarative statements at the moment.  I have a library card, a job (which I haven't attended orientation for, which makes me nervous), and I have other big news that I hope I'll remember to post about later.  It deserves its own post, both so I can shit my pants over it and squee incessantly.  I am currently reading (or rereading): Angels & Demons by Dan Brown, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, A Change in Altitude by Anita Shreve, and The Stand (expanded edition) by Stephen King.  I've already read Angels & Demons, but I haven't seen the movie yet, so I wanted a refresher on how disappointed I'm going to be.  I read 9 pages of Pride & Prejudice before I gave up a few days ago, further cementing my need to just own the book so I can read it like I read 1984 - pick it up every few months and read a chapter or two.  Of course, I haven't touched 1984 since 2006, but it worked for The Hobbit - it took 6 months to read, but damned if I didn't do it.

Things are looking up.  I'm terrified.  I'm on the edge of some (more) huge changes.  I don't know how I feel about this and how many I'm ready to accept, but I'm working toward something different.  I don't know if it's better, but it's different.

I miss everyone like crazy. 

My belongings are everywhere because I never pick anything up.  I have two binders, a blanket, two canvas bags, a bathrobe, various purse innards, a newspaper, a notepad, a sweater, and mail on the floor near my feet right now.  Oh, and four library books, and that doesn't even count the books I seem to have misplaced.  (I was attempting to read Mrs. Dalloway again.  I got as far as I did last time.  I just can't seem to follow it.  It's somewhere around here.)

Things I seem to be good at accumulating, now that all my stuff is in one place:

• Pens with varying levels of ink.
• Odd batteries.
• Shoes.
• Books.
• Purses.

I am odd.  I am tired.  Good night.

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.

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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)

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.

I Can't Think of Anything to Put Here

I've been out of the house more today than I have in the past week.  We went to the grocery store, my bank, and Wal-Mart, where I got some schizophrenic Halloween underwear and a glow-in-the-dark Toy Story shirt, but I forgot to get nail files and a new toothbrush and we never got anything for J for his lunch at work, so we're going to have to go out again.  We took the Toddler to Arby's for a quick lunch, and he got to sit on the bench next to S like a big boy, which was really cute.

Why is it that we always have lots of errands on days when there's a heat advisory?  It's some sort of... can't think of the word, but it's like the world is working against us.  S can't think of the word I want, either.  Stupid brain.

Today, I ordered some stuff online, one of which I am really excited about -  this shirt.  Oh yes.  I am so excited.

I'm still using the No 'Poo treatment, and my hair is wonderful.  I have next to no frizz, except on particularly humid days, so this winter will probably be wonderful.  My hair feels much thicker and silkier, and it's much easier to get a brush through it, unless it's in the morning.  I think I get in a wrestling match with my pillows or something when I'm sleeping, because I always wake up with the craziest morning hair ever.  It almost tops how I remember my mother's from when I was little.  Then again, she's always had curly hair, so her hair will always be crazier than mine.  Anyway.  My hair is great, and since S is also using the same stuff, we're saving about $240 a year, because we're not buying shampoo for each of us anymore.  (Everyone in the house has different hair types, so each person needs their own shampoo when we buy commercial shampoo.)  But that's a ridiculous amount of money we're saving by not having to buy shampoo and conditioner, not to mention styling products!

In other "crunchy" news, I still really want to make my own body wash.  I'll probably do that after I have a job and have the money to throw at it so I can get really nice stuff.

The dogs never got bathed last night because S was in too much pain and I was too tired.  We have to get it done sometime soon, but I don't even know when we'll be able to.  Whee!

Speaking of dogs, Shadow was just laying all over me.  He just leaped off the couch, though.  And now the baby is awake, so this post is done, because we have to get dressed all over again and go out and finish errands.  And oh god, the laundry!

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.

Sunshine Follow-Up and Other Stuff

So, after the last post, I was left with a lot of uncertainty.  We weren't able to take Sunshine in to see the vet until this morning, and S and Girl Child took her because I had to stay home to watch the Toddler.  When they talked to S, they told her that if Sunshine's tail was actually broken at the base, it could have caused nerve damage that hadn't developed yet that might render her permanently incontinent, at which point we'd have to have her put down if it wasn't possible to repair.

That... was pretty devastating to hear.  S came home with Girl Child from the vet's this morning a lot earlier than I expected her, because she had to leave Sunshine there, and that's when she told me all this.

A lot of the day was spent being really morose, not to mention physically exhausted (I'm pretty sure I bruised a rib with the wire of my bra when I tackled Sunshine yesterday, not to mention all the other pain I'm in from running like that), and I ended up curling up with Shadow on the floor and crying on him for awhile.

The vet called this afternoon, and they said that Sunshine has no cracks or breaks in any of her bones, and couldn't find the source of her bleeding (she may have peed on my leg and had some blood in her urine from the trauma or bitten her tongue, there's no way of knowing, since I had to tackle her twice to catch her) - but she's going to be fine.  We're not going to have to put her down, and she'll even be able to wag the Tail of Doom again in a few weeks once she's all healed up.  She's just very bruised and stiff and achy.

I'm so relieved.  J and S picked her up from the vet this evening after J's doctor's appointment, while I was baby-sitting the kids (that's a long story all by itself).  The vet gave her some narcotics for the pain (and they had to sedate her for x-rays), and she was wagging her tail at the vet's office, too.  Apparently she's very happy when she's on doggie narcotics, S said she was totally chilled out and delighted to see her and J.  They've got her on prescription doggie naproxen (anti-inflammatories that are chewable and meat-flavored), and she's doing a little better, though she seems stressed.  She's sleeping under the high chair right now, which she's been doing a lot since yesterday - trying to hide under things.  Damn dog thinks she's a cat.  Well, she's the biggest damn cat I've ever seen.

 Here's a picture of Sunshine from tonight.

Sunshine is hiding under the high chair, looking a little stressed, and very pretty.

Anyway, J and S were out for several hours, so I was home alone with the kids, which would have been fine, but.  There's always a but.  Why is there always a but?  The Toddler was an angel the whole time, it was wonderful and refreshing.  He did as he was told, he was as obedient as toddlers ever get, he didn't throw any tantrums or grab anything he wasn't supposed to.  Girl Child, however, started off really nice, then threw a tantrum when I told her to turn down the TV so the Toddler could nap and just gave me attitude for the rest of the day.  God.  If it's not one kid, it's the other.  She's had an attitude adjustment since her parents got home, so maybe that was her way of letting off steam about Sunshine or whatever, but I would really like it if she'd, you know, behave.  At least it's been awhile since she's been like that - we've been getting along great the last few weeks, so that's a huge improvement over how she'd been over the last several months.

So that's my day today.  Emotionally and physically exhausting.  I feel so drained, and so relieved.  I've been mostly giving Sunshine her space, due to the stress I imagine she feels about having had to go to the vet and have her butt messed with so much, so I've only pet her a little bit and taken some pictures of her pretty face.

I just wish I could get the mental image of her being hit by that car out of my head.