Wednesday, December 22, 2010

CHRISTMAS!!! *Bouncing around the room*


Happy Christmas to you all! Ok, so it's technically not Christmas yet, and for the next few minutes that it's still the 22nd of December, we have 3 more days until Christmas! But I'm pretty sure I won't be blogging until then, especially since my track record with all this is . . . well, pathetic. Let's not mince words, here. So do you all want to hear what I've been up to? *Giggling to self* What am I saying, of course you do!

So, I think we've previously discussed my gift conundrum, the whole no money thing. Yeah. It's worse than I thought, actually, but through significant amounts of stress and an extremely charitable act from my sister in law, the presents are now almost completely done. I'm making a recipe book for my mom out of all the 3x5 recipes cards she has, and that has been by far the most complicated project, and it's the only one not done. I have 2 others that are done but not wrapped, and everything else is done or bought. *Looking around nervously, convinced I forgot something* This is very amazing. I am never making a homemade present again. EVER. Although, the pillow I made for my sister with a quote sewn on it is really freaking cute. But I am not making another one. EVER.

So for the moment, I am watching Christmas movies constantly, listening to lots of Christmas music, and really looking forward to Christmas Eve. We're going up to my Mom's, and since she goes crazy over all the holidays, Christmas is no exception. And we have a bunch of awesome Christmas traditions that we do on Christmas Eve. We do all sorts of fun finger foods, and the most famous might just be the Cheese Ball. My mom, my sister, and I usually work together on a fantastic concoction of a bunch of cheese and make a lovely cheese ball to have with crackers. *Smiles in anticipation* And then a veggie tray, little smokies with our own special sauce, just all sorts of stuff. I'm very excited. And then we'll do the Christmas Story, Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and have Sprite and eggnog and chips and dip, and each open a bedtime related present from our parents. I just get more and more worked up in anticipation talking about it! I was talking to someone at work about our Christmas traditions and stuff and she said that I have a really good family to do stuff like that with, and I agree. And something very special about my family is that all of us still remember how to be a kid and feel that love and excitement and off-the-wall craziness that makes everything fun. Being at my family's house is like being a kid again without adult worries, and I treasure that.

In the spirit of Christmas, I'm going to set forth a few favorite. My favorite Christmas movie is The Muppet's Christmas Carol, and the runner up is White Christmas. Contenders for 3rd place are We're No Angels, Polar Express, Charlie Brown's Christmas, How the Grinch Stole Christmas (the original). Other honorable mentions are the classics like Rudolph, and also Elf and The Santa Clause. My favorite Christmas songs are as follows: newer music winner is Hey Santa or Carol of the Bells (one of the funky versions). Classic is either Sleigh Ride by the Boston Pops or something by Bing Crosby. One of my new rediscoveries is Christmas in Kilarney and I had one fun trip down memory lane. (When I was little we used to go on a Christmas tree hunt the day after Thanksgiving and go up in the mountains several hours away and cut down a tree. We had a tape of Christmas music that we'd listen to over and over and it was great.) Anyway, back to the list, my favorite hymn is Angels We Have Heard On High, it's the whole "Glo-o-o-o-o-oooo-o-o-o-o-oooo-o-o-o-o-ooooria" part. Just so fun. I can't think of any others right now. I just really enjoy Christmas music.

Anyway, I'm going to go finish watching Muppets, perhaps wrap those other two presents, and pray that work goes by really fast tomorrow so I can go play with my family and get ready for Christmas Eve! I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and if I don't see you before New Years, Happy New Year!

Thursday, December 9, 2010


I have thought of an idea for a great children's book. You know the one "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day"? There should be one called "Mom and the Crazy, Psycho, Insane, Very Chaotic Day". I could be the main character. No, really. I have visible racoon circles under my eyes, I've been that crazy busy.

First of all, it is December (I know, shocker, huh?). Christmas happens in December, an unforgiving 5 weeks after Thanksgiving. And everyone else in the house gave one thought to the 17 billion boxes of Christmas decorations we had out in the shed and boycotted it. So I, me, my lone self, am solely responsible for getting the Christmas decorations up. Now, for Christmas we have several trees. We're talking 10 of them, and then one in my sister in law's room, and 2 little ones that are about 2 feet high. We have a lot of trees. I only put up 4 six-footers, one of the bitty ones, and one skinny four and a halfer. And of those, 3 are completely done, one has most of the ornaments on it, and 2 have just lights. I am not doing very well. Today and yesterday I finally put up the lights in our bedroom window and a string of them outside.

Second of all, that whole "Poor and Unknown" thing? I was not kidding about the poor part. It would take an entire month and a half's pay just to rent a 2 bedroom apartment, that's how poor we are. So, seeing as how it's December and Christmas is less than two and a half weeks away, I am facing a conundrum. I need Christmas presents for 15 people. I have one person done, one almost done, and one sorta done. That's it. *Slams head against wall* Do you have any idea how long it takes to make a homemade Christmas present? I don't either, but I can assure you it takes A FRIGGING LONG TIME!!! If I ever get ahold of Santa and there are no witnesses around, I am going to strangle him until his face matches his pretty red suit.

Thirdly, for some reason that I don't completely understand, I am being a nice person. I've been helping my mother in law get ready for my sister in law's wedding that she is freaking out about, helping my father in law with his second job as a janitor, helping my sister in law with what she needs, and helping myself to as much junk food as I can reach so I don't give in to the urge to sell my daughter on eBay and use the funds to go on vacation. Ok, so that part isn't very nice, but we are in the middle of a war zone involving potty training, an attitude problem bigger than the Soviet Union, and an addiction to chocolate milk and hot dogs. My three year old is lucky that I haven't run away from home.

And fourthly and finally, I hate ladders and folding laundry. No really. I do. Ladders hate me, they will find every excuse possible to try and tip me off to a very painful death. Or at least very painful bruises. Either way, I have never fallen off of one before, and I am just waiting for it. The revenge of the ladder. And I'm pretty sure laundry hates me too, and as soon as I put it in the hamper it multiplies like rabbits. And then when I put it in the washer and dryer, it does it again. And then again when it goes in the baskets to sit on the floor at the end of the bed until I fold it because I can't stand walking over and around them anymore.

So there's my tragic little story. Let's talk about you! Anyone? Anyone? Ok, fine. Well, now I'm off to do several things . . . possibly start a cross-stitched book mark, string mini sized candy bars on string to hang on my ceiling, or possibly write up a muse I had a great idea for when I was helping my father in law at work. Have a lovely day, enjoy your December, and if I manage to burn down my curtains over the headboard because the lights I put up on the window get really hot, I'll probably come crying to you sometime soon. Loves all!

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Christmas is coming . . . *Peeks around corner*


I am feeling somewhat depressed today, but I'll try not to be all Grinchy. At least on "paper". First things first, and I must announce that my room is a disaster. I basically beat myself to death last week during the busiest workday EVER (no joke) and went straight home to clean the house (I really did clean almost the whole house)for my daughter's birthday party the next day. I just about died of exhaustion, but I had to go back to work first thing in the morning and clean up after the insanely busy day before. I think I'm still recovering, actually. The good news is that I have survived to sludge through another day.

It finally feels like November outside, and I am really trying to convince myself that Thanksgiving is practically here and that means that Christmas is less than six weeks away! *Screaming* I love Christmas, it is my favorite holiday. I love the decorations, the feeling, the month, the presents, and especially the lights. And the food, holy moley. I'm a food lover, and the holiday season is paradise for me.

But last week I started panicking (literally, I panicked) about Christmas presents. I am poor, like, seriously poor. Food Stamps and Medicaid poor. So we have no money for presents until my husband gets a new job, which could be within a month or two, or could be as far as six months away. So I was trying to think of stuff I could make for presents, and I had some great ideas, but they would take up a ridiculous amount of time that I don't have either. So I'm contemplating something deeply irresponsible . . . a Target credit card. I know, that is so bad, but I don't have any real brilliant ideas otherwise. Bad, naughty me.

Side Note: So my sister in law is getting married in January, and she's having a snowflake themed wedding. Trying to trace a snowflake pattern on felt is IMPOSSIBLE unless you want to spend twice as much time tracing as you will cutting. It it ridiculous. However, parchment paper snowflakes are quite easy, and very purty.

Ok, since I got two, count 'em, TWO hours of sleep last night (not kidding, not exaggerating), I think I'm going to go nap now. I like naps. I love naps. Me and naps are like this *crosses fingers*. So good day to you all, imaginary audience, and I hope you don't panic that Christmas is now 5 and a half weeks away. *Screaming*

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

The Magical Moments of Halloween


Howdy pard'ners! Ok, so I read part of a cowboy romance book today, now I'm talking in a Southern accent. And after being completely immersed in the crazy world of Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland for the past few weeks, it's kind of a weird change. I've been thinking in quotes and talking in accents from that movie while I've been working on my costume, which turned out really good! And I made the whole hat, by myself. It took masticating a cardboard box, using 2 sticks of glue with my hot glue gun, and half a yard of fabric to achieve it. But it looks really awesome!!! There is only one sad part to the hat . . . somewhere between taping it together and gluing on the brim, we lost some space and it doesn't fit on my head! *Facepalm!* But it still looks great!!! And I made wonderful gloves and lace cuffs, a big floppy tie like his, and I did a wonderful coat and I found the perfect shoes at DI!!! They were only $6, and they fit me! It was a completely magical moment, I nearly cried.

Anyway, Halloween was fun, my daughter got to be Tigger and I, of course, was the Mad Hatter. We did a pumpkin carving party with my Mom's side of the family on Friday and my Dad and I took a battery-fetching sabbatical to Costco and saw my sister-in-law there. And on Saturday after work I went with my daughter, father-in-law, and another sister-in-law to go Trick or Treating along Main Street and Trunk or Treating at the grocery store. It was way fun. And on Sunday we went up to my Mom and Dad's house and had a ball! We had dinner in a pumpkin (no, we did not dine inside a pumpkin, we put dinner INSIDE a pumpkin and ate out of it. Yes, one of my friends did think that I meant we were going to be dining inside a pumpkin, and I laughed hysterically) and listened to Halloween music and had homemade root beer with dry ice. We had sooo much fun playing with the dry ice fog, and got some great pictures.

So, funny story. I am seriously laughing as I write this. My daughter, over the course of a few hours, sneakily stole all of the leftover Halloween candy we had been handing out and hid it. She brought me the empty bowl and said, "All gone!", all proud of herself, and I wondered where she had put it. So the next day, she goes running into the front room and my husband and I are watching her, all confused, and she goes to her pink princess chair and starts pulling out handfulls of Laffy Taffy! Like, an armload of stolen candy!!! We laughed so hard, and then she started passing them out to us. Oh, it was great!

Anyway, I'm being seven kinds of distracted right now watching a show with my sister-in-law, so I'm running away now. See ya!

Friday, October 22, 2010

Two Thumbs Up!




Ok, I just woke up from a bit of a catnap with my daughter. I am still tired, and therefore do not understand the rave about catnaps. But since it's 8:45 and I shouldn't be sleeping anyway, I'll let it pass. So now I am on my computer for the first time all day (shocker, I know), and the first link I clicked on from my homepage took me to the cast for the new The Hobbit movie that they've been trying to get going for years. And, if I am recalling correctly, Kili and Fili are two Elf brothers or cousins or something (I only made it halfway through the book, but I did watch the animated movie). My completely and hearty approval for the choices of those two actors!!!! Holy hotness! I am so very, very excited to see this movie now, even more excited than I was before, because I can now look forward to seeing those two actors. I feel like I'm in high school again. *Breathy, girlish sigh*

Onto other news . . . for Halloween I want to be Tarrant Hightop, the Mad Hatter that Johnny Depp (*swoons*) played in Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland. Well, there were and still are a few problems with that plan: I had NONE of the costume. Like, seriously, none. Not the hat, bowtie, shirt, coat, pants, socks, shoes, hair, the white face makeup, NONE OF IT! Well, after spending my $20 gift card at JoAnn's and taking a sneaky and not quite approved trip to Walmart, I got the fabric and pattern for the coat! I know, it would be 1000 times easier to buy the thing, except, the coat I want, a frock coat, is upwards of at least $50 online. I don't have that kind of cash, but I have exciting news on the matter . . . I made the coat! And it was surprisingly easy, once I quit being stupid and sewing the pieces together wrong. I made it out of brown costume satin (but turned the other way, so it was shiny side in), stretchy brown velour/velvet stuff for the collar and cuffs, and I even did lining, fell free to be impressed. I am so proud of myself! The only things I have left to do it hand sew a bit of trim on, and slip stitch the lining in place at the bottom and waist. I wore it out to lunch with one of my best buds today, and she said it was awesome, and I wore it to work too, and they were all suitably impressed. And I felt all sorts of awesome, wearing my Mad Hatter/Pirate coat. It makes me all sorts of warm and gooey inside. Oh, and I bought the white face makeup for my costume, and I already had the other makeup needed. So now I just need . . . all the other stuff. I can borrow the crazy socks from my sister in law, and the pink shirt should be easy, and lacy cuffs should be easy. And hopefully the fingerless gloves. I need to go to DI. They have everything there.

In other news, I finally read my stack of Dr. Seuss books I got from the library! I've had them for at least 2 weeks, and I finally squeezed in some personal time to read them. I read The Sleep Book last week and had the funnest Kid Moment. My dad used to read us that book all the time when we were little, and you have never heard Dr. Seuss until you've heard it read by my dad. He was about 17 different kinds of amazing. He could read it so fast, and he never messed up, and when I was reading it last week I could just hear his voice while I read it. It was the coolest thing ever. That is still my very favorite Dr. Seuss book, and I just read Oh The Places You'll Go for the first time, and that contends for second place next to Scrambled Eggs Super. I love Dr. Seuss. Brilliant, brilliant, genius man.

Ok, I may be done yammering on for now, and it's almost time to get my two year old out of the tub (she saw one of those Pillow Pets for the first time the other day . . . she latched onto the unicorn, gave it a HUGE hug, and didn't let go til we got to the checkout. Now we know what to get her for her birthday . . . ) and put her to bed. So, bonsoir everyone, have a lovely night!

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

For the Love of Autumn . . .


Today I'm talking about autumn, at least I'll start talking about that, we'll see where else it goes. Our neighbor across the street has a big tree, I'm not sure what kind, but every October all of it's leaves turn yellow. They're doing that now, almost all of them are this gorgeous golden yellow color that is the very color of happiness. The picture almost nails it, but think all highlighted by the setting sun and just that much more cheerful. And then, after they are all yellow and golden and gorgeous, they will all DROP, within twelve hours. It's like a slightly longer version of the Whomping Willow in the Harry Potter movies. It's hysterical. Last year we went up to my mom's for the day when it was all leafy and yellow, and when we came back, the tree was naked. I laughed really hard and my husband looked at me funny.

Ok, so aside from my deep and desperate love of autumn, I have been crazy busy to the extreme the past few weeks. Last night I was going crazy doing stuff on my computer. I had both laptops on (have I mentioned yet that I got a new one? Well, I DID! And it's gorgeous and fast and perfect, I love it), I was talking to one of my best buds on MSN messenger, and I had not one, not two, but THREE ideas for muses and I was also burning myself a new mix, or at least trying to (it was Mix 16, if anyone cares. Yes, I have 16 mixes. And that's not counting my Country and Oldies Mixes, Country Mix, and Rock Mix). It was overwhelming and crazy and I was all psycho for a minute, but I lived to tell the tale. I even managed to make my bed today. I didn't until almost 2:30, but it got done. And that was even after work, which was intense.

I'm very excited for Halloween. My mom is all sorts of crazy about holidays (I may have mentioned this), and Halloween is no exception. She used to make us costumes when me and my brother and siser were little, and she's not been able to do as much in the past few years because of health problems, but this year she's making my littlest sister a bunny (at least, that was the last report) and my littlest brother might have said something about being a ninja. I have no idea what to do for my daughter. My husband said he wants to be Batman, and she can be Batgirl, but that costume at Walmart is $20. I am not paying $20 for a costume she will wear all of once. Okay, she might wear it more than once, but still. $20 for a little knee length black vinyl skirt, a tank top with a yellow Batman symbol, and a mask. Perhaps shoe covers. So not worth it. I could make the whole thing for maybe $5-10 and they'd be warmer and cuter. It's cold in Utah in October, sorta, and we've had a few Halloweens when it was snowing. So, the jury is still out on that. I might make her a princess, there was an adorable dress at Target for $12 (now THAT I can handle).

Okay, one more topic then I'm leaving before I finish writing a novel . . . *casting around for a topic* . . . I have one. Laundry. I have a hamper sitting ominously at the end of my bed, full of laundry. It is taunting me. Because as soon as I fold it and put it away, there will be more laundry to wash . . . and fold . . . and put away . . . and wear . . . and wash . . . and so the vicious cycle goes. I need to just knuckle down and do it, but I just don't wanna! *Throws childish temper tantrum* Alright, on that note I should leave. I am either going to force a muse out or fold laundry or become completely distracted by something else. Probably tickling my daughter, who keeps expecting my hand to dart out and get her tummy. She keeps bouncing on the bed on her knees towards me, to see if I'll go at her. So ta-ta for now, be good while I'm gone. Clean up your messes that you make.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Conference Weekend


Hi all. Today is the second day of General Conference (I think I've said before, but I'm LDS and General Conference happens twice a year for us, it's this awesome church meeting that is broadcasted worldwide and our church leaders give amazing talks and it's just so many kinds of cool) and I sadly missed yesterday because I was at work. But after the second session today (there are 4 sessions, two each day from 10 am to 12 pm, then 2 to 4 pm) I'm going to watch the ones from yesterday. I missed half of the one this morning, too, because my stupid phone alarm didn't go off. Grr. But I'll just watch it online, and since my hubby hooked up his desktop computer to our TV, I can even watch it on our big TV! Yay me! The picture is of the new Tabernacle in Salt Lake City (I call it the Supernacle, since it's HUGE and lots bigger than the old one across the street with the shiny turtle roof), where Conference is held.

Ok, so news on my book. We had some sort of . . . we'll just call it a misunderstanding about how much it would cost for mem to get my book printed. I understood it to be about $60 for 15 paperback books. It's actually about $25 PER BOOK with an additional $35 for setting it all up. (The first word that came to my head was RIPOFF, but I was nice and kept that word to myself). So I'm getting 3 copies for $78. *Wincing a little* A couple people have already called dibs on a copy, but to make things affordable since I doubt anyone will want to pay $35 for a teeny little book (the printers also futzed up the sizing, so the font is teeny and therefore the book is teeny and it's all just annoying). So I'm going to reformat the document and print if off myself, then take it to a different copy store and do spiral binding. Cheaper, and I can make sure everything is how I want it that way. I'm picky. And that way people can actually buy a book that they can read that won't cost them an arm and a leg.

In other news, I tried out 2 new recipes this last week, both of them truffles. They were super simple, and the one with cream and butter turned out fabulous, and the one with cream cheese was very delectable as well, although I did like the first one better. And I have a recipe for tomato and red pepper soup that I've had before that is so many kinds of divine, and I think I'm gonna make that sometime today. Maybe for dinner . . .

Well, I'm gonna go now, the last session of Conference starts in 5 minutes and I'm going to watch the whole thing if it kills me. Love to all!

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Excitement in my life!


You know, I had this same problem with diaries. For the first few weeks (days) I wrote in it every day, I was very diligent about it, and then . . . nothing. The poor thing got abandoned until I had an emotional overload. Well, this isn't an emotional overload, that was last week. All week. I think I frightened people. I kinda frightened myself. Anyway, totally off the subject there, the point was that I suspect that I am going to be terrible at this whole blog thing from now on. I will make an honest effort to post something at least once a week, but no promises. Perhaps if I get bugged about it, I'll write more, but I don't honestly think anyone actually reads this stuff, so, my dear imaginary audience, you'll just have to survive with what you get.

The real purpose of this blog is . . . *looks right* . . . *looks left* . . . I am getting my book printed!!! I may or may not have mentioned this book (I should probably go back and read what I've written aready, huh?), but it's a contemporary romance and I have finished it and I'm going to send it to be printed on Thursday! I am so excited and for some reason I am completely FREAKING OUT about it! I am strange this way.

I put an excerpt on my Facebook page, asking if anyone would be interested in buying a copy, and what anyone thought. Now, this next part is sad. I got no comments. Nothing. I put up a note with the excerpt and then mentioned it as my status, and no one said a thing. No "Cool" or "Good job" or even "It's not my thing, but that's nifty". Nothing. I'll be honest, I'm a little hurt. This book is like a hugely momentous thing for me, and it was like nobody cared. But anyway, I do know of at least 2, maybe 3 people that want it besides me, so that's really cool. I'm gonna get it printed and I confess, when I hold my book for the first time, a real, honest to goodness book, not just a file on my computer, I might actually cry. And I rarely cry. The picture up there is what I hope will be the cover, if everything I'm doing cooperates and all that jazz. Pretty, huh? I actually drew that, feel free to be impressed.

So, imaginary audience, if any of you would be interested in reading the ignored excerpt, do let me know, I would be more than happy to email it to you. I was going to post it here, but that would make this entry ridiculously long and I don't think you want that. But the story line goes as follows: Brian is a ridiculously wealthy businessman with nothing much in his life but work. Samantha is a frustrated waitress with not much in her life at all. After a first meeting gone wrong, they meet again and end up plunging headfirst into an adventure that neither of them ever expected.

You want me to give away some of it? Ok, ok, don't be so pushy! *Chuckling at self* I crack myself up. Anyway, so after the first meeting gone wrong (not gonna tell how that goes), they meet at a bar with their friends and in this bar they get . . . married! To quote a line, "Totally legit, just like Vegas." And the rest is just amusing, and according to my friend who volunteered to be my editor, there are some parts that are soooo cute, and some parts that make you fall in love, and, to quote directly, a "fabulous ending". *Squees and hugs self* I'm glad it's not all in my head, seriously. It's great that I crack myself up and get warm fuzzies from my writing, but to know someone else does too is like my ego getting shot of straight caffeine.

Ok, I think, since it is 2 in the morning, that I should go to bed, but first I have a funny story. It is only funny right now because of how completely, awfully, ridiculous it is. I mean, seriously, who has luck this bad?! So, about a month ago, our water heater broke. Within a week of that, 6 of the computers in the house crashed, and a couple had the hard drives completely wiped. Soon after that we discovered that a pipe behind the washer and dryer was leaking all over and rotting the drywall. Then our blue car died. Then the shocks just fell off my husband's scooter (think an automatic motorcycle). This past week everyone in the house got sick. And today? The oven died. Like, oven, stove, whole thing, dead. SERIOUSLY?!?!?!? If it weren't 2 in the morning, I would be laughing my head off right now. So, yeah, that's my funny story. I am considering buying a lucky rabbit's foot and wearing a horseshoe around my neck. I need all the help I can get!

I am going to go wander off to sleep now, since I have an early day tomorrow, and I will seriously try to post again within the next few days. Loves to all!

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Terrible, horrible, awful, no good, very bad day.



I feel like I just got kicked in the stomach. I found out some extremely distressing news, and though I'm not as shocked and hurt as I was when I first found out, I still have that awful feeling in my stomach and chest. No, I am not saying what this distressing news is, let's just say it's right up there with family members dying and having your identity stolen by a terrorist.

So, whilst we wander away from that subject (my stomach is in knots again) I have fun news to report. This week my parents in law went on a week-long reunion in the Tetons. Normally we all go, but this year we couldn't afford it, my and my hubby both had work, and he had school. His finals are next week, so blowing all that off wasn't an option. Anyway, it was just my little family and my two sisters in law. Well, the week went pretty ok until Wednesday night. It was my best friend's birthday, and she wanted to hang out.

Long story short, due to unforseeable dinner circumstances that I wasn't told about, I ended up coming home almost 2 hours after I planned. This caused a rather explosive and immature fight between myself and my sister in law, which we got over fairly quickly, but for the good of everyone's sanity we spent the rest of the week in separate houses. (This isn't the fun news, by the way, we're getting there). So, on Thursday, my other sister in law went to join her parents camping for the rest of the week so all night Thursday and all day and night Friday we had the house to ourselves!!! Anyone who has ever lived with relatives knows exactly what I'm talking about when I say that it was so different and delightful and relaxing.

Anyway, we're finally at the fun part. We built a tent in our front room out of sheets and bandanas! We had two big sheets stretched over the sectional and tied to chairs and pinned to the walls, and another one covering the gap over the back of the couch and another for the door. It was barely three feet tall at the tallest spot, but it was so fun! We got ice cream and chips and watched movies with our daughter under it, and she thought it was rather the coolest thing ever! I wanted to leave it up until everyone got back from camping, but we figured they would probably want to put their stuff on the floor right where our little tent was, so we reluctantly dismantled it last night. :(

In other news, that same sprained ankle I had, like, a month ago is still not better. I was at my mom's house last week with all my siblings and two cousins and we all did an impromptu performance of the Boot Scootin' Boogie in the dining room (long story, involving internet karaoke, my dad imitating John Travola in Grease, and EFY dances) and I discovered that I am incapable of jumping or skipping without pain on that ankle. Still! How stupid is this! I find it quite inconvenient. I guess it's a good thing that librarians don't often find themselves in need of jumping on one foot.

Ooh, I thought of another fun thing! My little family had a water fight on Thursday. It started out with me filling up the teeny blow-up turtle pool that Sammy likes to play in, then I decided to brush our black lab and got out enough hair to make a whole 'nother dog, then decided to give him a bath. Well, if you have a running hose and a mischievous husband about, you're just asking for it. So, after taking turns with the hose and the bucket, all three of us were completely drenched (except for the dog, who after having his bath steered WAY clear of the water). Then we turned the sprinklers on in the front yard and got drencheder (I know it's not a word, shut up). I'm so ready for summer to end now, we've gone swimming and had a water fight and all that summer stuff. Please bring me autumn!!!

Ok, I'm running out of things to say, so I'm gonna go and try to figure out what to make for dinner that doesn't require cheese, potatoes, hamburger patties, oil, milk, or prefferably an oven since it's almost 80 degrees in the house even with the AC on. Have a lovely day, I sincerely hope yours is a billion times better than mine!!!

Friday, July 9, 2010

Really Random Updates


Ah, it's been awhile, hasn't it? I'm not staying long (I know, I say that all the time) because right now the muse is smiling and while the muse smiles the writer must write! I've gotten 7 good ideas in the past few weeks and furiously trying to remember them from the little snatches I save in my phone. It usually works, but sometimes I have a particular sentence or expression in mind and if I don't remind myself constantly I forget it. Sort of like doing chores, except those I don't enjoy at all and writing comes as naturally to me as breathing.

Just an update, my sprained ankle is still sprained. I don't know how, probably because I couldn't stay off it, but it is still weak and hard to do anything other than walk on. At least I can wear normal shoes now.

Today my daughter threw the biggest tantrum she has ever thrown. We went to the park so my cousin/best friend could take pictures of her for a contest and when we were leaving she noticed the swimming pool and kiddie toys next door to the park. I said we have to go. She screamed bloody murder, threw herself on the ground, and we had to carry her to the car crying and kickig and screaming, literally. She screamed the whole way home, kicked the back of my seat, hit the windows, and I'm sure she was using swear words in whatever language she was speaking. It was a very impressive tantrum.

Ooh, ooh, I know what I was gonna say! I went to Lagoon with my hubby yesterday! That's what we did on our very first date, and it was sort of a reenactment. We were there for a good 9 hours, and we went on every ride we wanted to at least once, we got Dippin' Dots, mint chocolate flavor, and got soaked on Rattlesnake Rapids! I love Lagoon! But not enough to pay $50 every time, so I'll just have to restrain my adoration to Stake Lagoon Days and bouncebacks. It was so fun! There were four rides that either had issues while we were in line or already on the ride, and I almost got a henna tattoo, but we forgot to go back. And I taught my hubby how to work the Tilt A Whirl so that you get it going so fast it's just whipping you around and your stomach bounces around like a bouncy ball! It was so much fun!

Oh, and for the Fourth of July we sort of celebrated on the 3rd and the 5th. I saw fireworks in the 3rd, and I remembered how much I completely love fireworks, and on the 5th I made quite an amazing dinner, if I do say so myself. I was craving those boneless honey BBQ wings that KFC used to do, and I realized that I should just make them myself. So I made those precooked crispy chicken breasts and dipped them in honeyed up BBQ sauce and it worked out perfect! 10 points for me for brilliance!

The last thing to report is that I think this summer, for the first time in my life, I have severe allergies. I am allergic to penicillin, but I haven't ever been seasonally allergic to pollen and stuff. But I am now! How is that fair!

Ok, I think that's it so I'm going to go back to my smiling muse and keep writing like crazy now. Ta!

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Clumsy Me


Hiya! Ok, I'm going to try and keep this blog short since it is after 1:30 in the morning and I really should go to sleep. But I've been having fun today going onto imdb.com and looking up trivia on all the movies, and I wandered over to the Lord of the Rings movies and suddenly had the urge to watch them! I watched half of Fellowship earlier with my hubby while we folded laundry, but then he pretty much zonked out so I figured I'd be courteous and wait for him. I forgot how much I love LotR! It is the perfect movie trilogy, it has the big huge main plot, and all the little side stories and subplots, and every genre there is! Action, adventure, romance, fantasy, horror, everything! It's so cool! There's even a bit of foreign film in there if you count all the Elvish they speak.

I also discovered that they are finally coming out with the next Narnia movie in December. I love the Narnia books and for the most part I loved the other two movies. I liked Lion better since it stayed much truer to the books, and Caspian pretty much shredded the book and created the most awful romantic subplot between Susan and Caspian. So very, very wrong. But they were both great, so I'm very excited for Voyage of the Dawn Treader, although very sad since Peter and Susan won't be in them anymore. Especially Peter, since William Moseley is a hottie that could be my husband's twin, no joke. Yeah, I'm lucky. They're only four months apart in age, too, how funny is that?

So, you wanna hear what I did for fun today? Here's a bit of background. #1, I have completely screwed up ankles, and I do mean screwed up. If I ever have to have a body part replaced, it will be my ankles. #2, I have been ridiculously clumsy the past 2 days for reasons unknown. #3, it was a pretty big step down. I was digging a hole around one of those green metal fence posts that you wire fencing too so we could take it out. After finally digging deep enough (and realizing that there was no cement at the bottom of it like I though, as demonstrated when my father in law just tugged it out like it was stuck in runny pudding) and getting it out, I was going back inside with my husband and as I was stepping down from the dirt to the patio, my ankle totally freaked out on me and it got sprained and twisted at the same time. That's talent, right there. And typically, since one ankle is competely out of commission, I landed on my other knee and I now have a very impressive scrape that covers my whole kneecap and there are still little bits of dirt that I haven't been able to dig out yet. Left ankle, useless, right knee, almost useless, both of them, PAINFUL!

Here's the funny part. I have a pair of black boots, the ones that have a chunky squarish heel about 3 inches tall, and they zip up almost to my knee, kinda like the ones in the picture, just a titch taller heel and longer up the leg. I call them hooker boots, and I love them. They are the only shoes I can walk in with my stupid ankle right now, because there is a stiff support around the bottom half of my ankle, and they are form-fitting enough that I get plenty of support to keep my ankle braced and my foot stable. I've been sitting around all day wearing canary yellow gym shorts and calf-high black pleather hooker boots. Sexy, huh? At least I haven't been whining about it, except for right now, since nobody is reading this anyway. It really does hurt like the dickens, and the dumb bandaids won't stick to my stupid knee! And the kicker is that I don't even have bad swelling or any bruising on my ankle at all. If I'm going to suffer, I want visible proof, people! Stupid ankles.

Ooh, I just thought of another thing! My sister in law found a little scrapbooking store yesterday and she took me there because they were having a sale on paper, 10 for $1.00! Yeah, I spent $14 and change. *Sheepish grin* I won't need to go scrapbook paper shopping for a long time, that's all I'm gonna say. But I've got some of the cutest stuff!!!!!

Other than that, the only things worth noting are that I cleaned my room today, our laundry is folded and put away, and for the Fourth of July I'm gonna dye my hair red. Not clown red (although sometime I'll have to tell you about this one time in high school . . . ) just an auburn red. I've always wondered what I'd look like with different colored hair, and I want to try red, lighter blonde, and dark brown. I decided red is next, since it's patriotic. I'm also debating doing a blue streak with Kool-Aid (yes, it is possible) but I'm not sure my boss would approve. Still deliberating. Anyway, that's all, I'm gonna go to bed now and try to figure out how to modestly wear hooker boots to church tomorrow. G'night!

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Great Expectations

Not the good kind of great expectations. The kind of expectations that it's just impossible to live up to, that people just won't keep pestering you about. At the moment it's the expectation of doing "more" on top of a job that is physically exhausting, a 2 year old that has entered the most exasperating phase of being spoiled, ornery, bratty, and so clingy that I seriously considered running away from home yesterday, and dealing with trying to get my husband through school that is sucking up every minute of his time. Where, precisely, does it sound like I have the capacity to do more?

I wake up to that same patience-testing 2 year old every morning after seeing my husband off to school by 7 every morning. And at that point I get ready, and if I'm lucky I get to take a shower, and then it depends on when I work. If I work in the afternoon, I get ready for that. If I work at night, I wait for awhile, trying to control the patience-testing 2 year old and keep her from making more of a disaster of my continually chocolate-milk-stained room. She has no respect for the fact that I just barely changed the bedding, which now sports a whole host of new chocolate milk stains. So, anyway, I go to work, which is, if we're being honest here, a 4 hour workout in which I do squats, stretches, lunges, weight lifting, and more walking that some people do in an entire day. Yes, I'm a librarian. You wanna argue with me about the physical aspects of my job? Bring it on.

So, after this four hour workout in which my feet are substantially abused and aching by the end of it, I usually get picked up late because I'm frequently forgotten, and head home starving, exhausted, sore, and just wanting to take a break. No such luck. I am either immediately expected to make dinner, or I am greeted at the door by a certain 2 year old who demands in a very loud voice "Cocoa!" and "Boney!" (baloney) and "Teewee!" (TV). And I spend the rest of my night catering to the whims of the 2 year old. Then, after I wrestle her into bed, I help my husband with his homework. I'm a good writer, though you may not think so since I'm really not making any literary effort to write this right now. And since writing is not his best area, I pretty much do most of his homework for that class. When he has a writing assignment in his film class, I help with that too. He's completely on his own for math and computer.

At this point, it is usually somewhere between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m. Leaving me exactly no time for myself. So on the nights that it is 11 p.m. I stay up til all hours of the night, trying to restore a sense of equilibrium to myself. Usually it works. This week, however, it is not working.

And now the 2 year old is screaming at me because I won't let her eat cookies for lunch, throwing things at me, and looking about ready to demand I put yet another movie in for her. I also have laundry going in the washer and dryer with at least 2 more loads to go, bedding that needs changing again, and a room that needs cleaning since the 2 year old has so destructively graced it with her presence. I want to run away from home so bad right now.

Who wants to bet that when I come home I get reamed for not doing something else good enough or often enough? I've got pretty good odds on it. My husband and I got whaled last night because we can't afford to buy his parents' car that they don't want anymore. They want us to sell all of our movies and his video games so we have more money. I wanted to tell them to *$#! off. We tried to get a loan to buy that car two months ago and they wouldn't do it. So we got criticized for not doing enough, not being enough, and not paying my in-laws enough.

Lifestyles of the Poor and Unknown are sucking right now.

Well, I have a load of laundry that needs to be changed, a daughter that has gone from being violent to being clingy with the speed of light, and a room that still needs to be cleaned and a bed that still needs to be made. If anyone wants to trade lives with me, let me know.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Frustrations of a "Single" Mommy


I feel like I haven't blogged in FOREVER! Probably because I haven't. I've been a bit crazy busy this past week. Summer finally decided to make an appearance, much to my dismay, and for some reason I always forget exactly how much I hate summer until it's here. And I'm in the throes of a perspiration-dampened, stuffy aired, constantly overheated state of discomfort. I have never wanted to wear shorts more than when I'm at work. We aren't allowed to wear shorts or capris, it has to be pants, and my legs get so warm and it is so unbelievably awful. I really, really hate summer. And I am probably going to comment on that many more times before October comes.

This last week my hubby finally started his other classes in school, so now he's on a complete "part time" load. It feels more like full time plus some to me. Whenever he's not at school, he's at work. And those rare hours that he is home, he is in the other room buried in homework. I hate this new schedule! I hardly ever see him at all, and it just sucks. We have at least 4 more years of this. I'm gonna go insane. Whenever I'm not at work, I feel like a single mom.

I'm going to stop griping for a minute here. I have good news. I may have settled on a muse that I'm going to extend into a novel. I have upwards of 40 muses to work with, but this one I've been working recently on has been magically turning out so I know what's going on and how to get there. Getting from point A to Z is never as easy as it sounds, especially when the only letters you have are E, J, Q, R, S, and X. I need all the fillers now, but I have a solid plot line. Yay me! So now I have to balance my little free time between writing, finishing the stack of books on my nightstand, and finishing the movies I borrowed from my brother's wife. I have three left, so those shouldn't take long, but the books might. Half of them are more for research rather than just straight reading. I'm a lover of Greek Mythology, and I have two kids books with great pictures about the gods and goddesses and popular stories. I was going to work on an on-going project I've been doing for about 8 years, writing down all the info I can get on Greek myths, but I think I'll just consider this a refresher course in the interim and go back to my other stuff. I also want to paint, sew, and play with my online music. I am exhausted just typing all that!

Ok, so at the moment my daughter is on a Dumbo binge. She has watched Dumbo at least 4 times today, and that is not counting the 12+ times I have turned the TV off when she left the room, only to turn it back on 10 minutes later when she re-enters the room and demands "Dubbo!". I'm kinda tired of Dumbo, I admit. I also admit that there was absolutely no point to that paragraph.

Aaaand . . . my brain has stalled. I'm laying across my bed and I want sooooo badly to just collapse and go to sleep. It is almost 8 p.m., and I want a nap. I am in so much trouble. My train of thought has left the depot. My happy meal is missing the toy. My inner library has no index! *Gasp!*

Ok, so it's after 9 now. In between the last two paragraphs, I apparently succumbed to the temptation and completely zonked out. I even had 2 text messages on my phone that I didn't even know about, and my phone beeps and vibrates every few minutes until it's answered. I was out. I didn't even hear Dumbo, for which I am grateful.

I'm leaving now. Somehow a grumpy mood has installed itself while I was sleeping, and I just found out that my husband has a test Thursday and tons of homework due inbetween now and then. So I'll be single-mommying it for the next few days. *frustrated sigh*. And by the way, I have no idea what the animal is in that picture, but that is exactly how I feel.

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Rain Puddles and Special Moments


I played in puddles today. It rained most of the day up at my parent's house and my daughter was outside in it helping Grampy plant trowels in the garden. Yes, you read right. Trowels. So after she came in all wet, I decided on an impromtu puddle-jumping session. Now, normally I'm a bit picky about the puddles I jump in, but I wasnt' today. The biggest puddle was the dip in the gutter at the end of the driveway. So my mom, my siblings, and my daughter and I were splashing icky water all over each other until we were completely soaked, and we didn't mind a bit. The pants I have all are a bit too long, so they hung partly over my feet and acted as perfect scoopers to send big waves of water when I swung my leg through the water. It was fun! Their dog Miko, a white Miniature American Eskimo with a curious patch of yellowish fur low on his back, was more gray than white by the time we were done. So while the kids trooped into the house for baths, I gave the poor dog a bath with the hose outside. He did not appreciate that AT ALL. And he kinda looks like he's been through a losing battle with a blender. All his fur is matted so bad you can see clear down to his skin. Poor puppy.

Anyway, so that was probably the highlight of my day. Earlier we watched a movie I've added to my Must Get list. It's called Leap Year and has Amy Adams and a guy whose name I cannot remember, and it was really cute. So I now have 5 movies currently on my list, at least until I remember any other ones. Blindside, Shrek 4, Benny and Joon, Leap Year, and the new Alice in Wonderland. I just saw that one with my sister-in-law this week and I liked it. I don't like most of Tim Burton's movies, and I haven't seen a lot of them, but I love Johnny Depp so I went for it. Johnny Depp may just be my favorite actor of all time. There is not a role he cannot play, and the more crazy and over-the-top, the better. He is simply amazing. And freaking hot as well, which only improves things.

Also today I made chocolate covered strawberries with my sisters and youngest brother. We had fun, and it has been decreed that I am the master at chocolate covered strawberries and making garlic bread (yes, the garlic bread was a completely random point, but I made that tonight too and I have my own "secret" recipe for the perfect garlic butter topping). Also, I have invented a new delicacy. Strawberry Volcanoes. That's when you cut the tops off of strawberries, put a circle of melted chocolate on a flat surface (like a pan or something), set the berry flat side down on the chocolate so it covers the bottom of the berry, then with a spatula or fork or whatever, drizzle chocolate over the top of the strawberry generously. It kinda looks like a volcano. And Chocolate Strawberry Mountains are just the topless strawberries dipped in chocolate. Hey, the more chocolate the better! But none of this cheap, crappy chocolate you get in the baking aisle that come in those plastic bags that have pictures of different candies on the front. You must use a really good chocolate. My favorite is the plain chocolate Symphony bars. Hershey's chocolate chips or bars, or if you're of a mind to be a tad more expensive, Lindt Extra Creamy bars would probably work fabulously as well. Add that chocolate to perfectly perfect strawberries, and you have achieved heaven in a candy.

Let's see, other than that, I went to the store with my mom and sisters today and finally bought a new floofah (my lingo for loofah). One of the dogs chewed up my old one two weeks ago (the turds) and I've been needing to get one ever since and I finally did! And I got an extra for my travel bag. Yay me!

Oh, and I have two more things to report. The first is that when we were out playing in the rain today, a train was coming by the house. My parent's house is right across the street from where the train tracks are, and my daughter loves to watch it go by. So my dad took her over closer to the tracks to see it better, and it was just the perfect photographic moment. It was raining, so the light was soft and pretty and bright colors stood out great. They were holding hands and watching the train, and one thing that is kinda cool is that my grandpa, my dad's dad, loved trains. He had a model train set put up in a room in their basement with a whole landscape that he built, and it was wonderful. Trains were his thing. So we got a great photographic moment there. Grampy and granddaughter watching the train go by, holding hands. It was so cute. I think there's a good Father's Day present right there.

The last thing is that my hubby got a letter today. It's a letter that he wrote to himself Senior year of high school for an assignment that they said they would send out five years later. That would be now. After quite a bit of pouting and threats, he finally let me read it. And although I am sworn to secrecy about what it says, it made me smile. In it there is one part that says that he doesn't care about anything else as long as he's married to me and keeping me happy. It was kind of a blast to the past to our dating days, and I miss those days. We had lots of fun and we didn't have to be adults yet. I was talking to my mom today, and if couples didn't have to worry about money, marriages would be so much easier. It's being the adult that sucks when you get married, not the marriage or your spouse. I've said before that I was completely ready to be married, even though I was only 18. And I was. It was being a responsible adult I wasn't ready for. Bounced checks and car payments and overdue rent. The love, however, I was always ready for.

And on that note, I'm going to do my calendar (what exactly is the point of calendars if you don't write down what you do that day? Calendars have kind of become my mini diaries) and read the next chapter in my scriptures (I'm on David and Goliath, I'm excited) then kiss my husband and go to sleep. Sounds like a plan to me.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Politically Uncorrect, and I like it.


I am going to be politically and culturally offensive here for a minute, are you ready? Judge me, I dare you.

Ok, here goes for some cultural offenses. I think that Robert Pattinson, the guy who plays Edward in the Twilight Series (never seen it, never read it) is one of the fugliest guys I have ever seen (thing ugly with a very meaningful F on the front). And Kristen Stewart, who plays Bella, constantly looks drugged, grumpy, and like she is so totally above everyone else. I can't stand either of them. I hated Robert Pattinson in Harry Potter, and his position has gotten worse on my Like List. However, kudos to whoever cast Taylor Lautner. I don't know if he can act, but through sheer gift of his genetics, he brought millions of people to watch those movies. He is very hot.

Another Twilight related culture offense. I cannot decide if I want to read or watch them. I don't like vampires, I don't like werewolves, I think the whole storyline is creepy. I like romances, but that kind of stuff sounds way too screwed up for me. And I have heard from several people that it's cheesy. I like some kinds of cheesy, but there is a point at which I lose complete respect when it ventures into that zone of cheesy that not even a desperate person would go to. I'm pretty sure I don't want to read it. Also, that fact that I was able to glean almost the entire plot simply from reading the absolutely RIDICULOUS number of flairs on Facebook was incredibly annoying. Anything that has that many crazed fans I am not interested in.

I'm now going to be politically offensive. I found out the other day that someone very close to me got an abortion last year. I wasn't exactly shocked, but I was still very, very sad. Abortion should be illegal except in cases where the baby will not live anyway or have life-threatening deformities, or in rape cases. That's it. When you get an abortion, you are not just taking an easy way out on your own screw up. You are murdering a person. You have no right to do that. It's not just an inanimate bit of tissue that you're removing, it's a living being. Shame on anyone who has ever done that. There is ALWAYS a better solution. You just didn't look hard enough. For the record, this person that I know that had the abortion regrets it. If she could go back and change it, she would in a heartbeat. She hates herself knowing that she did it. She can't even say the word abortion, she feels so horrible. Hindsight sure is a bugger.

Now I'm going to offend sports players, politicans, celebrities, and businessmen who make more than $50,000 a year. I think that for all of those people we should halve their salaries. Did you know that some athletes make more money in a single game than teachers, firemen, nurses, military servicemen, and police officers make in a whole year? Sometimes ten years? And politicians and celebrities are often the same. Celebrities spend more on an outfit that they will wear once than I spend in an entire year on groceries. That is sick. And some politicians, especially the high up ones like Senators and Presidents and offices like that get salaries and benefits that are often continued throughout their whole lives.

I am one of the thousands of uninsured Americans. My family of three, with both myself and my husband working part time earns about $600-$700 every month. One visit to the doctor is about $130, not including prescriptions. I know this because in the past 2 weeks we have had to go to the local Instacare three times, once for each of us. I had a virus that mimics strep throat, then an ear infection, and now a cold and I still have that ear infection and a very sore throat. We're going on three weeks with that now. My husband got everything I had except the cold, then he got pink eye. My daughter got the cold, the pink eye, and an ear infection. It was $75 for my husband and I just to see the doctor, then we had lab work for the strep cultures and two prescriptions for my husband (I didn't get anything, which is probably why I'm still sick). Luckily we're poor enough that our daughter is covered by Medicaid. Now wouldn't it be nice if we could take half of all the earnings of all of this country's filty rich people and funnel it into the bank accounts of people who need it?

Those politicians and businessmen who write speeches and plan projects wouldn't be able to without those teachers that taught them to read and write. Those athletes wouldn't be playing without the nurses that healed all of their injuries. Those celebrities would probably have a lot harder time if the police weren't there to assist with crowd control. And everyone would be in for a world of hurt without firemen and servicemen and every other public service employee that goes to work every day for a short wage, long hours, and little appreciation. Food for thought.

Ooh, I though of another culturally offensive pet peeve! This country is America. We speak English here. If you're gonna live here, learn the language. I totally know that learning a second language takes time, and I know people have to work to live. But if you can't speak English or your accent is too thick to be understood, do not take a job where you will be speaking. Fast food restaurants are out. If I can't understand a fricking word you are saying when I'm in the drive through, you should not be working there. And whoever hired you should be fired. I have absolutely no problem with immigration (as long as it's legal) but acclimate already, people! We're a melting pot of cultures, but we speak ENGLISH here. Learn it.

Did I offend anybody yet? I hope I at least made you think. You know, few things actually really piss me off, but I guess I'm just in a griping mood tonight. It's been a crappy day, I'll admit it. Except between 6 and 9 p.m., I was playing with my daughter then and we had fun. But the rest of the day pretty much sucked. I had to do an extra batch of laundry thanks to a leaky sippy cup, a dog that is not mine threw up ALL OVER my bedroom carpet, I'm still sick, and since I have been sick my check this week is going to suck. We have to buy two textbooks for my husband for school, we have two doctor bills to pay, and our phone bill. All with about $150. It's gonna be a great week.

My final thought: I finally have a firm grip on reality. Now I can STRANGLE IT!!! Have a nice day!

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Fairies, Big Toys, and Cliffs Notes



So, I was going to do my Things Your Waitress Won't Tell You, but I'm not functioning very well right now and I only got to number two and realized I was rambling. So we'll try for next time with that.

My baby is sick. *Sad face* I'm fairly certain we got colds after having that virus, and since she was a lucky bug and escaped the virus, she got slammed by the cold. She's got huge dark circles under her eyes and they're red and puffy, her nose is running like a train and she's just as ornery as a bear. I'm keeping her loaded up on kid's ibuprofen and nighttime cough and cold, but she's still having a hard time. One of her favorite movies is Polar Express, which she endearingly calls "Choo choo" but I hardly let her watch it because there's just something sacreligous about watching Christmas movies when it's not Christmas, but I've let her watch it as much as she wants today. Which is, like, 8 times. At least. I was at work this morning, so who knows. I'm hoping her cold wasn't made worse by playing outside the other day.

We spent the night at my parent's house and they live right across from the elementary school, so we all went over and played on the Big Toy for about an hour or so. We're talking 4 adults, two over the age of 40, a 17 year old, then 3 kids from 10 to 2. Us adults discovered via the monkey bars and zip line that we have muscles that have lain dormant for a good 10 to 20 years! I'm sure it was a riot to see us all playing around. My daughter was having a ball climbing up the slide and going down, and climbing up, and going down over and over. My littler sister was climbing everything, my other older sister was trying to simultaneously hold onto the dog (a very spazzy miniature American Eskimo named Miko) and jump on the tires in the sand box. My mom was alternating between spinning on the twirly stool-looking things and testing the zip line. My dad was busy crashing himself into the rest of the big toy while testing the zip line and helping my daughter climb back up the slide. My hubby was everywhere getting into everything, particularly the toy that's like a log in the water that you run on and try not to fall off. My brother was climbing around on the big tires in the sand box, and I was going between the zipline, the tires, and the Maryland bars (I'm not actually sure that's what they're called, they're two parallel bars that slope down to the ground from the Big Toy. You just hook your legs over the bars and zoom on down. In my case I was more of very slowly creeping down since my jeans weren't very slidey). It was a blast and we were all SO sore the next morning! And then before we left my baby insisted that we go back and we climbed up and down the slide for another half hour.

Anywho, I got the funnest package in the mail today! I have a favorite site called Collections Etc. and they have the coolest stuff! It's one of those catalog places that have all sorts of stuff that you don't really need, but at the same time you can't live without it, you know? I ordered a couple things last week and they came today! Joy! I got a set of three blown glass art necklaces, they're really pretty, and a figurine set of fairies in the woods! I didn't know if I expected them to be bigger or smaller, but for some reason I was so surprised and downright tickled when I opened them up! They've got glittery wings and the details are so cool! They are now in a spot of honor on the shelf on my nightstand, next to my musical doll my daughter got me for Mother's Day and the silk flowers in the white pail that I change when I'm in a mood to. So today was a lovely package day! I am going to have the hardest time deciding which necklace to wear first! Gah!

On a side note here, I have discovered that I love Cliffs Notes. I see them at the library all the time, so a few weeks ago I just grabbed a handful and took them home. They are so awesome! You get the whole plotline without having to read hundreds of pages! I read Wuthering Heights (depressing, glad I didn't read the long version), King Lear (want to see it now), Othello (depressing), The Iliad (interesting), My Antonia (glad I never read it in school), I tried to read Canterbury Tales but there were just too many flippin' characters, I did Beowulf (pretty nifty, I love mythology), and Henry V (cool). Who knows how many pages I would have had to read and Shakespeare I would have had to decipher? I love the story of Little Women and the Jane Austen's, but I can't stand the language. It's fantastic, but it takes you a freaking eternity to read! So I am more than happy to settle for the movie versions, or, in the case of this paragraph, Cliffs Notes! Hooray for Cliffs Notes! I have another 50 or so that I'm going to check out, and Don Quixote is the next one in the stack on my dresser. I'm excited!

Okey dokey, I think my mouth runneth over enough for tonight, and I shall now . . . do something. I was so tired earlier that I actually slept for an hour, and it was 9 o'clock! I'm still tired, but my mind is going 110 mph so I'm going to have to find a calming activity. It's a challenge when the last 2 discs of NCIS are beckoning and I also have 2 movies from the library to watch. David and Bathsheba with Gregory Peck and Immortal Beloved with Gary Oldman, it's about Beethoven. If either are remarkable, I'll let you know. But not tonight! I am not staying up til 3:30 in the morning again, no way! And so, I take my leave. G'night, y'all!

Five Observations


Ok, so I don't have much time right now because I have to get up at 8 in the morning for work, and after sleeping for about 45 minutes last night, I NEED SLEEP!!!! But I have several thoughts to share.

The first is that I do not like rhubarb pie. My mom explained what rhubarb was when I was a kid and I think I tasted it, but I remember what it smelled like. One of our neighbors made a rhubarb pie and brought it over, and while the crust was perfection, I do not like rhubarb. It smells pretty good, though, almost like apple pie.

The second thought is that I saw a movie that was almost a complete waste of time. It was Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakel. It was kinda boring, pretty cheesy, and the only thing I got out of it was a very severe case of song-stuck-in-my-head-itis. I'm now glad I never saw the first Chipmunks movie. I used to watch the TV show, and I love the Christmas albums, but they should have stopped there. It was not near as big a waste as Napoleon Dynamite or Kingdom Something that Orlando Bloom was in, or the Garfield movie, but it's probably Top 5 on my Worst List. On a side note, I love Garfield too and used to watch that all the time. My dad has the comic books and I laugh every time I read them, and Garfield's Christmas is one of my very favorite Christmas shows.

The third thing is that I pissed off and 8 year old today. Ok, so I pissed off two 8year olds today, but one was my sister, so she doesn't count. It's a requirement that you irritate your sibings. I ticked off her friend, and I'm glad I did. She's a twit and she deserved it.

The fourth thing is that I hate being allergic to cats. My first younger sister has a mixed breed cat, he's very handsome with gray and black striped long hair, and I am allergic to cat hair. And penicillin, but that's beside the point. I love cuddling soft fuzzy things, and not being able to cuddle a cat without suffering a rash and very itchy eyes is just unfair.

The fifth and final thing is that I profoundly hate air mattresses. It does not matter if they are brand new fresh out of the box, they will leak. It's like they are programmed to spring a leak and deflate hours before morning. And that's only half the problem! If you get warm or start to sweat on an air mattress, it's too bad! You're sleeping on plastic! You just have to lay there and suffer. Stupid air mattresses.

Ok, I think that's all the random observations I collected that I can think of right this second (I'm sure I could think of more, but I REALLY need to go to bed) so I'm going now. I think I got a cold right on the heels of that virus I had, which means that two and a half weeks after first getting sick, I am still sick. *Grrr* So I'm going to set my alarm *whimper* and work on that whole myth of healing. Ta!

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Discovering, Deliberating, Drooling, Shuddering, and a Happy Dance too.





I'm having fun blogging right now. I just did the Librarian one and I have all sorts of other stuff I just though of that I wanted to blog about. Or just have a one-sided conversation about, whichever you prefer.

One thing is Elvis. So, for a few years when I was a kid, my parent's favorite radio station was oldies from the 50's, 60's, and 70's. I grew up on those. And until recently, I didn't realize that a few of my favorites were by Elvis! So I am sort of an Elvis fan. I don't like all of his songs, but I have 7 or 8 on my computer on my favorites list, so I think that counts as being a fan. It's his earlier stuff, when he was hot and sexy and it was completely understandable why every woman in America loved him.

My next topic is classical paintings. Personally, I'm not a big fan. The Mona Lisa? It's a fantastic painting, but I don't like it much. I don't think she's very attractive, and those facial features were pretty much the norm for a really long time in paintings. But recently I was on a cross stitching site trying to find free downloads (yes, I cross stitch, and I quite like it) and I found a section that converted classical paintings to cross stitch designs. I fell in love with some of them. I need to go back and get the artist names for them, but there was one in particular that had not artist name or date attached. It's called The Bride, and it's the one above. I love it. It is so beautiful, and for some reason it just jumped out and me and I was enthralled. She is so lovely! So yeah, I found my secret painting passion.

I'm almost done watcing NCIS. I'm on the sixth season now and I'll be done soon, which is good because I've really been wanting to watch some of my movies recently. Like The Duchess and Julie and Julia, and several chick flicks. I won't let myself watch them til I'm done with NCIS, though. I think I'll watch the 7th season online while I watch movies, because the only site I know of that has whole episodes to watch for free only allows you to watch about an hour and 15 minutes at a time, then you have to wait an hour. A couple months ago we did their unlimited access option for one month, and it was great. It was $10, so we won't do it every month, but I'm considering doing it for one more month so I can watch NCIS and one more show that I've been trying to watch for awhile. It was a pretty darn good deal! I actually really want to do Netflix, but we need to be a bit more financially stable before we do that.

So, my sister-in-law went on a British Literary tour this past month and she went to Ireland, Wales, Enland, and France and she brought back some of the coolest souvenirs for us. I got a gorgeous necklace that I can't do justice describing, and shot glasses from every country (I collect shot glasses. I don't drink, but I collect shot glasses, go figure. I do root beer shots when I'm in a mischevous mood sometimes). I also got a knight in shining armor figurine and an Irish post card. My husband got a felt Robin Hood hat (think Disney's Robin Hood), a shirt with a picture of a knight on it that says Dressed to Kill, a Robin Hood archer tie tack, and something else that I can't remember right now. Our daughter got a William Shakespeare picture book, a glittery cup from France, and a book of Irish fairy tales. We also got to try English toffee and Kinder Buenos, a European candy bar. They were very tasty, hazelnut cream inside a crispy rice wafer and all dipped in chocolate. *Drooling*

Ok, I'm having an emotional dilemma. The Twilight series by Stephanie Meyers. I have had some people insist that it is wonderful and I have to read it and that it is just life-changing. I have had other people insist that it is a few thousand pages of nothing but fluff and crap and they would rather vomit nails than read it again. I'm on the fence. I absolutely cannot stand the lead actors they chose for the movies, I think Robert Pattinson is fugly (that's ugly with a significant F at the beginning) and Kristin Stewart constantly looks grumpy and drugged and never ever smiles. However, I am of the opinion that Taylor Lautner is very hot and he would trump Rober Pattinson in looks any day. I would not mind watching a movie with him in it, if only the other two weren't there. Anyway, I'll have to let you know if I ever decide. I don't know if it's worth reading 500 pages just to see if I like the first book, but I don't know if I can stand watching that ugly man-boy and that emotional-vacuum girl for two hours. *Shudders*

I had a pretty tasty hot dog for dinner. It was not remarkable, by any means, but it worked in a pinch. It was Oscar Meyer, which is my all-time favorite hot dog brand, with Bar S in the runner-up position, and even though it was reheated it was still pretty decent. And I had it with ketchup and spicy brown mustard, but unfortunately no fries. I was too hungry to wait for the oven to heat up and then wait 20 minutes more for my single serving of fries to cook. Maybe I'll go grab a handful of my Chili Cheese Fritos instead. Now that's something to look forward to!

Ok, I'm going to upload all the photos I found for this post and continue watching NCIS while I munch my Fritos. I'm going up to my mom's tomorrow to hang out for a couple days, but maybe I'll write up my "Things Your Waitress Won't Tell You" post while I'm there. Yeah, I've been a waitress. Have I mentioned this? I've also been a photographer, a customer service rep, a chocolate shop clerk, a house cleaner, and a babysitter. And I'm only 22. Hopefully librarian will be my last job title, I really really really like this job! I keep having awful nightmares that I get fired, but I'm actually doing really well at work, so I think I'm just freaking myself out. One of the reference librarians (they know more than the ones that check the books out, like me) has even said a couple times that I'm doing great and that I will be a good candidate for a promotion. I did a squealing happy dance inside when she told me that. And she doesn't give out praise like that often, so it's extremely significant! Ok, on that happy note I'm leaving now! Farewell, my lovely imaginary audience, I bid you adieu!

15 Things Your Librarian Won't Tell You


You know, I actually love my job and rarely have any problems with it or with the people I help. I've actually gotten a lot of compliments on my jewelry. :) But sometimes there's that one person or that one problem that just stick out. And here are a few.

1. There are four people ahead of you in line. One of them has a screaming child. One a gigantic stack of books. There is only one librarian able to help right then. The very first thing we need from you before we can do anything is your library card. Why do you wait until you are at the desk before you start digging through your purse and pockets to find it?

2. No card, no checkout. Period. Would you go to the grocery store, bring up a cart of stuff, and say, "Oh, I left my credit card at home, can't you just use my driver's license or something?". Yeah. Didn't think so.

3. Whatever problem you have is likely not my fault, so stop glaring at me. All I can do is exactly what I say I can do, and then I pass you off to my supervisor. Then they get to deal with you. Which is why they get paid more.

4. Do you know how long it takes to put a cart of books away? Do you know that every time you or your children just pull random books off the shelves, look at them for 2 seconds, then just stick them wherever you think they go or to the sides of the bookends, makes that job two times as difficult? If you pull out a book, PUT IT BACK WHERE IT GOES. Or, if that proves too challenging for you, bring it to the desk so we can do it for you and get it back in the correct spot.

5. We have an astonishing amount of material in a library. There is no way we would ever be able to read, listen to, or watch all of it, especially since only about 3/4 to 2/3 of our entire collection is actually on our shelves. The rest of it is checked out. So if you come to us with no title and no author, the odds are not in your favor that we will magically be able to figure out which book you want by you describing the cover or the plot.

6. You remember the first time you saw your teacher in public and realized they weren't permanent fixtures in the classroom but were real people? We get a giggle when people that we've helped in the library do a double take when they see us somewhere else. "Wait, was that the librarian I just saw at Walmart? Weird!!!" Yes, we remember you. Yes, we're laughing at the triple take you just did when we walked past, just to make sure you weren't seeing things.

7. Control. Your. Offspring. Do NOT ditch your kids in the children's section while you go off to the adult section to browse. We are not babysitters, and we will come find you. Do not let them pull dozens of books off the shelves. Do not let them kamikaze leap off the chairs. Do not let them screw around with the handicap door openers. Do not let them have waterfights in the drinking fountain. Do not let them color on the computer screens with the pencils we provide for your convenience. Control. Your. Offspring.

8. Sorry honey, but you are not special enough for me to go against policy to help you with something that "really isn't your fault" or "was a misunderstanding". You turned in books late. You have a $3.00 fine. Man up, pay the stupid fine, it's your fault you have it. It's $3.00! You are acting like it's $100. Grow up. And yes, you are responsible for your kids too. This is why we require you to sign them up for a card.

9. It is completely true that sometimes we make mistakes. Sometimes when we are checking books in the barcode does not scan all the way and it doesn't check in. We do not always catch this, and sometimes we shelve the books. When this happens and you realize that you have an overdue book you remember turning in, we will do everything to find it. And if we find it on our shelves, it's our bad, we don't bill you for it. But do you have any idea how many people insist and swear on a stack of bibles that they turned that book in, demanding that we find out where we put it, only to show up a few months later with that very same book they swear they turned in? If it's our fault, we'll find it. But until we do, we will always assume that it's at your house, under your couch, collecting dust. And you know what? It probably is.

10. You don't have to whisper in libraries anymore. Quiet is appreciated, of course, but you don't have to remain silent unless you're in the study room where it is written on the door that no talking is allowed. That does not mean, however, that you may have a loud cell phone conversation while you're browsing through the stacks. You may not let your kids run screaming through the aisles. And when your baby starts wailing because it's nap time or lunch time, quit looking for more books and take the poor kid home! We'll still be here tomorrow, I promise.

11. I am more than happy to help you locate a book. I am also more than happy, when no one else is waiting for my help, to have a conversation with you. I'm a real person, I like talking to other people, and I love it when you treat me like one. Please just be considerate of other people that may also need my help. But if you want to hang around and talk to me when I'm free, be my guest.

12. We have regulars, too. We have the older guys who come in just about every day to get a new movie or book. We have the crotchety old lady who gets the maximum amount of CD's, keeps them as long as she possibly can, then gripes and grouches when she has to return them. We have at least 10 families that we know by name (although you may not know we remember you) that always get the enormous, and I do mean enormous, stack of books. We have the newly-arrived foreigner that can barely speak English but still comes in every day. We have the ones that love to talk. We have the ones that are always grouchy. We have the ones that put TONS of items on hold at once. We have the kids that we know will leave a disaster in their wake. We remember you.

13. We HATE IT when you come in two minutes before we close to drop something off or pick something up and tell us you'll "only be a minute". The only exception to this rule is when you really will only be in there for a minute. But when you come in, drop of a big pile of stuff, then go browse around at a leisurely pace, we get very annoyed. And we will bug you until you leave, so don't get miffed at us if it seems like we're stalking and watching you, because we are. We're closed. We're tired. We want to go home. Stop moseying and get out.

14. We are probably some of the most courteous people you'll ever deal with. We find your books with a smile, clean the mysterious sticky subtance off books without flinching (most of the time), help you pack your books back into your bag, if you ask we would even be happy to help you out to your car. Please be nice to us. We will remember if you are. And if you aren't. And even though we smile at everybody, if we remember you as one of the "good ones", we will go the extra mile for you.

15. If we are trying to explain something to you and it's not making sense, just let us know. We won't take offense. We know this stuff like the backs of our hands, but we were confused the first time it was explained to us too. Feel free to ask questions, that's what we're there for. And if we're doing a good job, or we really helped you with something, please pass on the word to our supervisor. We get evaluated every year and the more compliments we get on doing a good job, the better our job security.

I hope this gives you a good look into the life of a librarian. I actually love it, I get to see all the really good books that no one ever sees just glancing over the titles. Do you have any idea how much cool stuff there is in the nonfiction section? Books on tattoo art, language books, pregnancy books, cartoon books, drawing books, DIY house project books, travel books, animal books, just everything! It's so cool! And there are so many fiction authors, and we know which ones are really popular because they have the book that are always on hold or take up the most space on the shelves. I could list at least 10 authors that I have never read that I know are bestsellers because they have whole shelves to themselves. We have lots of movies, even newer stuff and movies you wouldn't think a library would have. Action, adventure, drama, horror, classics, black and white, musicals, documentaries, kids shows, all sorts of awesome stuff. Save yourself a trip to Blockbuster and come see what we have. It's free, and at least at my library you get movies for two weeks. That beats the crap out of a video store. And it takes about 5 minutes to get a library card. Quick and painless. So come on over and say hi. And be nice to your librarian! We know where you live. ;)