The server will be down soon. Hopefully not for long, but you know how that goes. Should be back in the New Year with good news and good cheer. 12/23/03 03:51 PM|Comments
December 22, 2003
Oh What Fun it is to Ride in a... 14' U-Haul? We are suspended in fog. It takes so much longer to dissipate here, by the river. I have to go out, but I see the all the stupid rear-endings on the morning news, and think I'll wait until it lifts. Of course then I'll have to deal with [thicker] crowds. In any case, I have to have things like orange juice and carrots and yogurt and Tums. And paper plates and cups so I can pack the everyday dishes.
I still have to take care of The Beast, a small mountain of thrift store donations, this teetering pile of crap on my desk, about a dozen holiday cards, and the DMV's double-cross (my seller is now in Utah, which makes things all the more interesting). Someone wants to visit, but I need to do laundry and the place looks grubby for my nauseated neglect and the teapot is packed, and we're moving small stuff and our bed on Saturday. I'm supposed to be walking every day, but it's damp and dark and I feel wispy, even though I'm on Super-Mega-Pregga Vitamins and I'm eating like a cow. I should probably break it into two smaller walks.
The only sign of Christmas here are the gifts on our empty living room bookshelf - my very first ever un-Holiday - and I'm too harried to be depressed about it. 12/22/03 09:31 AM|Comments
Hoping I'm Temporally Challenged Ultrasound was today. Sac, yolk, but no visible bean. The size of the sac was two weeks behind where it should be. Which means either that I was wrong about my dates, or that development stopped two weeks ago. Of course we're betting on me being a dunderhead, but another two weeks is an awfully long time to wait for confirmation of that. 12/17/03 03:58 PM|Comments
December 16, 2003
Cats Do Not Appreciate Your Inebriation Oh-oh-oh! We subject our bunch to some wearable abuse... but this is just priceless. 12/16/03 04:31 PM|Comments
I Love the Smell of Commercialism in the Morning I can't sleep in. Doesn't seem to matter how late I stay up - I'm awake by seven. Practice, maybe? In any case, I may as well shop in the morning. I was at the mall by nine, but there were surprisingly lots of shoppers. Not a Saturday-before-Christmas lot, but more than I care to deal with. At least Barnes and Noble was quiet.
I admit that the charming wooden toys sucked me in. Unfortunately, the aggressive salespeople chucked me out. What part of "No, thank you - I'm just browsing" don't you understand? Gah. For the safety of others, I should probably wear a shirt when I go out in the morning that says something like "Beware of coffeeless coffee addict!" 12/16/03 11:30 AM|Comments
December 15, 2003
Crest Reflex I can't help it. Every time I read the likes of "keep saltine crackers next to your bed to munch on when you wake up" as a remedy for morning sickness, I nearly gag. See also: 7-Up and green Gatorade.
I consider myself lucky in that I'm not throwing up. Just shaky and sub-barfy much of every day. We won't discuss the fresh Hell that is toothbrushing [clears throat].
Allowing myself to eat a little more meat and dairy sure is a kick, though. How I missed cottage cheese! Delicious with fresh baby spinach wilted in a bit of olive oil. 12/15/03 12:59 PM|Comments
"...a visceral experience, like an IMAX movie" The world's biggest published book. 5 by 7 feet and 133 pounds! 12/15/03 10:26 AM|Comments
December 11, 2003
Who Would Do Such a Thing? There's only one object of my desire right now - purple Powerade. Jagged Ice, I believe it's called. But can I have it? No.
As a rule, I don't enjoy the Ades. When sick as a kid, I was force-fed green Gatorade or 7-Up. Both make me gag to this day when I smell them. So I don't know how it happened that, on one of my walks last summer, I bought a purple Powerade from the vending machine on the other side of the complex. Surprisingly tasty and very quenchy! I enjoyed it often. Then fall came, and I forgot about it.
Until this week, when World War III broke out in my body, and its former whim has somehow become a screaming demand. If I didn't know better, I'd be tempted to believe that this is the doing of the two Midnorthern Temporary Command Centers, both loaded with bayonets and cannonballs and bitchy little generals, expanding in perimeter at a rather alarming rate.
Sunday morning I woke up at five, wanting the stuff. Wanting it so badly, my throat wouldn't stop pestering until I threw on some sweats and got some. Why don't I just buy a big bottle at the store? you say. Good question. I can't find purple. They stock all the other flavors - "fruit" punch, blue, green (shudddder). But not the barely-sweet nothingness of purple.
So today, after packing a couple of boxes (which is all I can seem to manage before the strong urge to power nap takes over), I craved the Ade. On with the shoes, dollar in the pocket, and off.
I arrived at the machine to find that someone - someone who should be drawn and quartered - had pulverized the bill slot, apparently with a sledgehammer. Little bits of plastic and electronics hanging all about. Pathetically, desperately, I tried to shove the dollar into what remained of the feed. Then whimpered, possibly stomped.
They'd better just hope I can scrounge up enough change. They better had. 12/11/03 04:53 PM|Comments
December 10, 2003
Postdated Harbinger Is a fortune still valid if you find it in one of the nooks of your new car? After having a brilliant smog check and an incredibly easy time at the DMV (even though you knew in advance that you didn't have all the appropriate title paperwork)? 12/10/03 03:52 PM|Comments
Quite the Holiday Last night we drove to Antelope in the messy wet to fetch my final reward for a dozen years of slavitude to The State - a shiny used Plymouth Breeze. Ironically, it also belonged to the government, but only for four years; I guess its only reward will be baby drool. It's burgundy, lacks any gaping holes in the exterior, is guaranteed not to make people stare pointedly when I drive past, doesn't leak through the window seal on my lap when it rains, and consequently doesn't smell like mildew.
Test driving makes me nervous. Driving in general puts me a bit on edge, but add the new environment to the unfamiliar streets in the rainy dark and watch my head spin. By the time I got it home, though, I was feeling wild and ready to break the speed limit by five miles. At least.
Now to figure out how to dispose of The Beast. Everyone and his cousin is accepting car donations, and the decision is agonizing. Animals or orphans or war veterans? Oh my. 12/10/03 08:13 AM|Comments
Still on the Move We've found such a great new place to live. A duplex, with hardwood floors, a yard with a tree, storage shed, tons of closets, three bedrooms, and a kitchen you can actually move in. It's one of a few hundred among the renovated military housing units left over from the McClellan AFB days. So it's not much to look at from the outside - homogeneous 50's kind-of ranch style. But I think the inside is awfully homey.
I can't help but get ahead of myself... Of course there are big plans for the yard. I'll grow some tomatoes in the spring, and there's plenty of room for a portable spa (which I wouldn't be allowed to use until August). And we have carte blanche to paint anything we'd like, as long as we return it to the original color before leaving. They paint one accent wall in the living area for you (a rich, deep red will set off our ash furniture and black-and-white photos nicely). I see lots of earthy tones in my future, and maybe a little mural. At least some Wallies. Color is so exciting.
If you come and pack for me, I'll knit you a... well, a scarf (but I taught myself how to knit ribs last week - I'm so proud of me!). 12/09/03 08:30 AM|Comments
December 08, 2003
Doctor Doctor We managed to squeeze in a visit with my busy Primary Care Physician today. Mostly paperwork! Reams and reams of paperwork. I had arrived with certain expectations - that, at the very least, I'd walk away knowing a little more than I did this morning. But they didn't even do any bloodwork. Just the same test I did at home (with the same results), blood pressure, and all that superficial throat-ears-eyes stuff. She referred me to a group of OB/GYNs upstairs, which left me a little bit sad, because I wished I could just stick with her. But she doesn't handle pregnancy and birth anymore - "too old!". Sigh.
Surprise! We got a little something extra in our stocking this year.
Somehow, it almost doesn't seem as real until people have been told. I wasn't going to say anything until I'd been to the doctor, but that could be...? For now, let's just say that my HMO has already made me cry twice this week (not difficult, ask D.). I'm too nauseous to think about it! I need some toast.
Season's Fleeings I had all these grand plans for the holidays this year. Lots of handcrafted gifts, make each card myself, baking, baking, baking. Because, theoretically, I was going to have the time. And the energy.
But now we're moving, and won't even have a tree. At least not our full-sized tree. I'll have one of those mini tabletop affairs, regardless, I will. All our major kitchen stuff will be packed away, so dinner will be interesting. Boston Market, anyone?
So it's gift cards and Hallmark for all this year. I'm sure you'll understand. If you give me some packing boxes, maybe I'll make it up to you on Valentine's Day. 12/04/03 10:30 AM|Comments
December 03, 2003
"Time for Some Thrilling Heroics" In one week, they will all be mine. Unaired episodes, Captain Mal's tushie, and all.
You Can Take the Girl Out of the Library... I still have work email access. While this has been handy for tying up loose ends with HR and my boss, I really should train myself to stop reading the rest of it. The school-wide mailings.
Because people are talking seriously about entering the system and... CHECKING OUT BOOKS THEMSELVES.
It's not as if the students would be unduly deprived without access for the next few weeks. There's a whole room stuffed with new classroom novel sets (freebies with the latest textbook adoptions). Enough reading there for months and months!
I know I shouldn't care at this point. I shouldn't. But, dammit! I drained myself into that collection, that catalog. It was all me. And now... Ugh. I can just see it within a week. The poor new person will flee - flee! - in terror. 12/02/03 09:57 AM|Comments
December 01, 2003
Hide Those Piles! Sauder now has a line of crafter's cabinets. My favorite is the one they've pictured in the Bee, which they don't seem to show on the Sauder site... 12/01/03 01:23 PM|Comments
The Hat Antidote With all the hype, you're having a difficult time thinking of cats in any positive way. And it's Monday morning.
