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August 30, 2005

Is It October Yet?
It is hot, and sunny, and I'm about to tear my heat-absorbent hair out by the roots. We had a few days of blissful, fallish cool - it was, for instance, cloudy and around seventy on Daniel's birthday - but back up into the nineties we go. I tell myself that it's just as bad elsewhere. Much worse, for instance, in Sacramento. But there we at least had A/C and indoor spaces to walk.

Most people don't feel like eating when it's hot, but I just get mildly depressed from being cooped up, and addicted to serotonin-inflating carbs. So very not happy with my weight right now, and the favorite/most effective form of exercise will give melanoma and sunstroke. I could join a gym, I suppose, but then Daniel would scream bloody murder at being left with strangers (that's even assuming that the places around here have childcare). And of course there's the fact that I'm not a big fan of indoor exercise, which leaves me feeling claustrophobic. Not to mention that whole Other People thing. Meh.

We did, regardless, wander out into the swelter this morning. The motivation was organic strawberries. But, alas, we arrived to find "Summer Hours: Closed Tuesday and Thursday." Dammit.
08/30/05 03:44 PM |  Comments


August 27, 2005

What I Am Up To That's So Damned Much Important-er Than Posting Here
  • Getting my ass kicked thither and yon at online Scrabble; I may well have lost my mojo

  • Finishing all my assignments over a week early - even the extras (read: embracing my inner Hermione)

  • Planning for a trip to Detroit for D's brother's wedding at the end of October (flying with bub = everyone should at least get some codeine, possibly Percocet)

  • Figuring out how to keep the bub strapped into the bike trailer - stupid grumble grumble POS harnesses

  • Not sleeping

  • Watching reruns of The Office. ♥ ♥ ♥

  • Waiting patiently for Serenity. Okay, perhaps the patience part is a little inaccurate.

    • 08/27/05 12:52 AM |  Comments


    August 25, 2005

    I'm It
    So, I've been tagged by Marielle. Here ya go:

    1. How many books do I own?

    Even after The Great I Thought We Were Moving Purge, I still own well over one hundred books. I don't feel much at home in our local library, so that may trend upwards again. Then again, the town north has toddler storytimes next month, and we've borrowing privileges there, so maybe there's hope yet. And I haven't been in the college library yet, either.

    2. Last Book I Bought:

    Classroom in a Book: Illustrator CS2

    3. Last Book I Read:

    HP VI

    4. Five Books That Mean A Lot To Me (without explanation or apologies):

    Jude the Obscure
    The Little House series
    His Dark Materials series
    The Handmaid's Tale
    Where the Red Fern Grows

    5. Tag Five More:

    Nope, sorry - I'm going to steal this one for forum use ;-)
    08/25/05 11:58 AM |  Comments


    August 21, 2005

    Arr.
    Daniel just broke the eighth tooth we've been expecting for about five months now. Since yesterday, things have been a little... well, screamy. And bitey. Ow. Today was the first time ever he flat-out refused to eat food.

    He was, though, momentarily happy at Michael's yesterday, as this pic that D. snapped proves.
    08/21/05 04:05 PM |  Comments


    August 17, 2005

    Class-ified
    I think this class is going to be a very, very good thing. The rusty old mindgears are beginning to whirr again. Learning is fun! Whee!

    Silly me - I thought I'd be among the oldest in the room. But I hover somewhere a tad lower than the average. Strange.

    So, being new to the community college thing - what's the standard etiquette for addressing an instructor that doesn't have an advanced degree? It's always been "Dr. Such-and-Such," or first names for graduate assistants. I was five minutes early, but she had obviously covered serious matters before I arrived (harrumph!), so I might have missed out on that bit of info.

    My only real complaint concerns the single parking permit meter on campus: a) There's only one? Really? and, b) You should be prepared when you approach it, so as not to make the line of three thousand twenty-nine students behind you wait for ten minutes so that they worry about being late on their first day.

    I already have this week's lab finished. I'm such a nerd.
    08/17/05 10:21 PM |  Comments


    August 15, 2005

    Disregard the Poor Me Wah Wah
    My Illustrator class begins on Wednesday evening. I haven't been inside a college classroom since 1997, so it should be interesting.

    Hopefully it will provide the added benefit of yanking my mind out of its current mire of bilge, which causes pretty much every misguided, stupid, or unmeant thing that slips out of my mouth to be met with impatient sighs, if not the quite-obvious desire to throttle.
    08/15/05 09:13 PM |  Comments


    One
    So the bub turned one on Saturday! I guess I'm still in a bit of denial.

    The B's came from Sacramento for a walk to the airport diner, some play at the nearby park, and then cake and ice cream. Daniel liked his cake very much, and it didn't even disturb his sleep at all.

    We're determined to keep his gift load small at birthdays and holidays, and this was a good start: board books, some clothes and Duplo blocks from the Grandmas, and of course the Learning Home. I agonized over that last for some months, so you can imagine how happy I am that it's a huge hit.

    He still can't walk yet. I mean, he'll take a few steps if you're holding his hands, or sometimes if you open your arms to him while he's standing. We're in no hurry for the chaos that will come along with that, really, but I just assumed he would be by now.

    Things learned recently: waving and "buh-buh" when someone is leaving. Smacking his lips and saying "ahh!" after taking a drink (still makes me laugh). Clapping! Stacking, versus always destroying. His own little version of a "meow" to attract a kitty (uber cute).
    08/15/05 09:06 AM |  Comments


    August 09, 2005

    Don't Rain on My Cloudy Day
    There have been periods of cloudiness today. And, yes, believe me - that's noteworthy. My poor eyes need the break.

    Daniel and I drove up to Target for a few this-and-thats (and, yes, I did restock my supply). Then we had lunch at Panda Express. I'd always avoided eating there, thinking that, while there are many badly-prepared foods I can handle, Chinese isn't one of them. But it wasn't too shabby, at least not moreso than your standard takeout.

    Am I the only one? Really? That hates (hates!) it when I'm a ped, and I'm crossing some or other road (like, say, in a parking lot) that doesn't have a designated place to do so... and someone stops to let me pass. I know you think you're doing a good deed, but, really - it would just be so much quicker if you'd just go as you were supposed to, none of the waving/"okay, you're letting me go" realization/running to beat traffic coming the other way/backing up traffic dance. Just go! You have the right-of-way! Ack!
    08/09/05 05:06 PM |  Comments


    August 07, 2005

    And That Was the Third
    Whew, Blogathon was a long haul this time. I started with a short night of sleep, where normally I'd try to get at least nine. And then Daniel wanted to be up with me all through the wee hours, but ever so crankily. $275 is an amount with which to be pleased, though, so I'll still consider it a success!

    I slept much of the day away, and then we went to Denny's. I really do appreciate that they offer Boca substitutions - that way I only need to feel guilty about the fries :-/

    If you didn't get the chance, and still want to pledge for our efforts, the link is over to the right there. Blogathon will accept them until Tuesday evening.

    P.S. - our mail server has been compromised, and we still need to sort out which pieces went out (and which services haven't blacklisted us, gah). I probably did reply to your mail - you just mightn't have received it yet.
    08/07/05 08:51 PM |  Comments


    August 06, 2005

    Not Here
    Hey, we're over at Reusablog for the next 20 hours. Why don't you hop on over and join the chat room?

    While I'm gone, promise me you'll all play nice here. Stay relatively on-topic and be polite, to me and each other. I'm dead f**king serious when I say that I will remove comments from this site if they become a hassle.
    08/06/05 09:06 AM |  Comments


    August 03, 2005

    Christmas in July
    So I organized a swap with some forum cohorts on Elfster back in December (the only way I'll ever do a swap now, it's awesome). A few days ago, I received a package from the Elfster elves - a tee with the site logo, and a nice handwritten note. Thank you, elves!
    08/03/05 04:18 PM |  Comments


    August 02, 2005

    Busyness
    So, let's see...

    Yesterday was our third anniversary. I celebrated by wearing a skirt for the first time in eons. We went to get Daniel's 12-month portraits taken in Santa Rosa, and, luckily, there were no tears.

    Gearing up for the Blogathon. Have more work ahead than I thought, so I may have a pre-all-nighter all-nighter, since that's the only time I can be alone on my own computer and concentrate. Still need to get coffee and be-sugared snacks. I may run up to Krispy Kreme the night before - the slight staleness shouldn't be a problem once I hit two a.m. We still need any unique reuse projects you might have completed (we can't think up all the brilliant stuff on our own, after all!).

    Tomorrow D. turns the same age as me (a condition which lasts for only 42 days, and then I become a cradle-robber again, hee).

    The Saturday after this, Daniel turns one. We're having a small Cookie Monster party. I've yet to find a low-sugar but not artificially sweetened (or even a recipe that I like). Off to Whole Foods sometime next week, I think. Oh, and, as I've mentioned before - I effing hate Elmo.

    We're waiting for D's bike to arrive so that we can all go for a nice ride. The high handlebars are such a switch from my old Trek, I'm having a bit of a time adjusting. And coaster brakes are a real kick. I ordered silver rubber hand grips (with sparklies!) and a solid chrome bell. No... I think I'll have to stop short of purple streamers.
    08/02/05 04:38 PM |  Comments