Hadrcore Bender of Boring

My work trip to Ft. Lauderdale (Pompano Beach, actually) went really well. I saw the inside of a drab conference room during most of my time there, but hey--I was there for work, after all. However, we did go to a big group dinner at this insane tiki bar/restaurant place called Mai Kai. When I first learned about this place, I was worried that it was some ghastly theme restaurant (ex: Rain Forest Cafe), but this place has been there since 1956. It was just as kitschy as you're thinking, which was WONDERFUL. We sat right by the stage for the big Polynesian dance extravaganza.

Holy crap, I felt like I was on the Love Boat or something. Surprisingly, the food was actually decent and (not so surprisingly) the drinks were STRONG.

I'd like to go back to Pompano Beach with The Geej for some quality beach time. Aside from the evening we arrived, the weather was spectacular, and the beaches were uncrowded and lovely. And the direct flights from/to Austin is a nice touch (since, so often, you have to stop in Dallas or Houston if you're flying anywhere from Austin). So maybe this time next year...

Speaking of The Love Boat, Dah and her fiance are on a cruise in the Caribbean this week. I cannot tell you how happy I am that she has found someone with whom she can travel like this. My stepdad (RIP) developed a severe phobia to flying way back in the 80s, and for the last 15 or so years of their marriage, they never went on any vacations that weren't within a reasonable driving distance. If you live in Texas, that severely limits your options. In the last years of their marriage, he got to where he wasn't comfortable going anywhere (most likely due to the unease caused by early onset dementia), so the only time she really traveled was with me, which was nice, but infrequent. She deserves to explore and see the world, and she's done a BUNCH of that in the past five years.

This past weekend was filled with errands and laundry (as are most weekends), however while BH and his boys went camping Saturday evening, The Geej and I went to my friend Thelma Jane's for a sleepover. And not just any sleepover--a "Xanadu" sleepover! Thelma's daughter, Ruby, recently turned 7, so I got her roller skates for her birthday, and we all watched "Xanadu" together. Ruby and The Geej got up and danced during SEVERAL of the musical numbers, while the overall allure of the movie escaped Ruby's 3 yr. old sister, Mary. Her day will come, however...

The only bad part about the sleepover is that, well, I didn't really sleep all that much. I was in a full-size bed with The Geej, and I just couldn't get comfortable. So yesterday, I was SO damn tired. The gloomy, cool weather didn't help much.

Today, I'm back in my office--also known as my little metal storage container since that's pretty much what it is--for the first time in a week. I have lots to do, and it's (mostly) all good stuff--stuff that requires me to actually use my brain.Yay!!

Also good for my brain, some new (to me) music I'm enjoying:
--The Decemberists, "The King Is Dead"
--Blue Mountain, "Roots"
--Sera Cahoone, "Only As The Day Is Long"
--Carissa's Wierd (yes, it's misspelled), "They'll Only Miss You When You Leave: Songs 1996 - 2003"

And tomorrow, I'll get Iron & Wine's latest. Later this spring, new albums by P.J. Harvey and Elbow!

I'm currently reading two different books:
--Zombie, Spaceship, Wasteland by Patton Oswalt
--A Short History of a Small Place, by T.R. Pearson

It takes me me FOREVER to read a book these days (a side effect of parenthood), so who knows when/if I'll ever finish these two. But if I ever do, I've got plenty of new titles--mostly nonfiction--waiting for me on the bookshelf as I went on something of a book buying bender last month.

Sigh.

I am boring myself as I type this.

What a loser.

General Malaise

I don't know if it's the rapid passing of another year that's got me in a funk or what, but I am definitely in one.

Let's investigate, shall we?

Health:
Well, my shingles are not as painful as they once were (thank goodness), but now they're just sort of hanging out, looking gruesome and feeling uncomfortable. Thank goodness it's not shorts season. My biggest concern now is passing this nastiness on to BH or The Geej. I've taken precautions, but you just never know. In other news, I went to my semi-annual visit to my cardiologist yesterday, and my bad cholesterol has come down a bit. So, yay.

House:
Our house is sort of half-assed decorated for Christmas. BH doesn't really like all of the trappings of the season, so I try not to go too nuts. But going half-ass is somehow more depressing than not doing anything at all. Our cats have launched a full-scale offensive against the Christmas tree and its Ornaments of Doom. This is no surprise to anyone, least of all me. But it's still annoying as Hell. Cute, but annoying.

Also in house news, I'm ready to finish up the flooring by having the new carpet installed, but my bank account isn't. I was hoping to get the installation scheduled right after the first of the year, but it may be later than that now. Our carpet has never looked good: The color sucks and the state of the carpet itself is pretty sad. But now that the hardwoods have been installed, man does it ever look shitty.

There are parts of the house--especially the garage--that are beginning to look like they were interior decorated by psychotic hoarders. I wish I could spend like three solid days (or more) just de-cluttering and cleaning. I need to, but I just never have the right combination of time and energy to undertake this monumental task. Therefore, I just get more and more frustrated and disgusted by the whole situation.

Work:
The move on to the new team has gone well thus far. There are a still a lot of things we need to figure out about how we're going to fit in and priorities, etc., but so far, so good. I'm going to a big work meeting in Ft. Lauderdale in mid-January, so that should be interesting. I feel like I've got a lot to do to get prepared for that between now and then.

The Holidays:
I'm about 50% done w/my Christmas shopping, but I have NO ideas about what to get my mom and her fiance, my stepsons, or my inlaws. I guess I'll wrap up the remainder of what I need to do during lunch hour shopping trips since I don't know when I'll have time to do it otherwise.

Since I had to take time off for the shingles, I'll be able to take very little time off for the holidays. Having to choose between taking time off to deal with an illness or to be with family for the holidays is a shitty choice to have to make, but when you've got very little time off allotted to you each year, that's what you've got to do. I really love where I work, but (as I've said before) our paid time off policy SUCKS.

The Geej:
Man, that kid kills me. Her reading is getting so good, she's really enjoying math, and she's just generally flourishing and growing TOO DAMN FAST. She's so completely believes in Santa that it's just charming the Hell out of me. This is probably the last year that she'll have no doubts about the jolly ol' elf, and I'm just soaking it in. After today, she's out of school for two weeks. Thank God that the wonderful Dah will be taking care of her for most of that time. What would I do without her?! And this Sunday, I'm taking The Geej to see the Rockettes Holiday Spectacular. She is going to have her mind blown by the sparkliness of it all.

Chores:
I fucking hate grocery shopping with the fiery passion of one million suns. Well, not really the shopping, per se. It's the hassle of the shopping. The list making (which doesn't matter because I invariably forget something important from the list), the parking, the dealing with oblivious customers who are in my fucking way, the parking lot...I hate all of it. If I could shop in an empty store, by myself, and have my groceries magically delivered to my car, and then unpacked at my house and prepared into some lovely meal, I might--and I mean might--not hate it so much. But that's doubtful. Anyway, lately somehow our house has been getting down to stems and seeds in the groceries department, and it 85% of the time it falls to me to a) figure out what we need to replenish what's missing, b) plus what we might need to plan meals for the next few days and c) shop to get all of that stuff and then d) lug that shit home and unpack it and then e) whoop up something delicious and nutritious for dinner. And this is after working all day, fighting rush hour traffic, and picking up The Geej so that there's a six year old in tow during one of my least favorite domestic activities. Is it any wonder that after all of that I'm in a Grade-A shittastic mood?

Let's change the subject, shall we?

Thanks to a lovely hand-me-down from Dah, we now have a matching, less-than-a-year-old high-efficiency washer and dryer. They're kind of awesome, even though I'm still getting used to them. But regarding laundry: Why can't I ever stay on top of it? I mean, I know better than to wait until the weekend to do all of it (even though that's still when I do most of it), but no matter how much I do during the week, there is always more to be done. It seems like each morning, I'm starting a load before I leave for work, then I'm too damn tired to finish it up when I get home. So you know what I end up doing? Running the rinse cycle again the next morning (lest they get moldy), and aiming to complete the load that afternoon/evening. Sort of defeats the purpose of the whole High Efficiency thing, huh?

Miscellaneous:
God, I'm boring the shit out of myself just writing about this drudgery.

Look away, people. Look away...

Perhaps next post I'll be in a different state of mind.

I've got nothin'.

No seriously.

Nothing.

Woke up.

Got dressed.

Went to Bed Bath & Beyond to return a couple of things and to buy a new Brita pitcher.

Came back home.

Got BH and went and had brunch at Jack Allen's Kitchen.

It was YUMMY!

Came home and went to Lowe's with BH.

Bought and A/C filter and some paint samples for the kitchen.

Left to go to a movie with my friend Erin.

That movie? Burlesque. Awesomely cheesy.

Came home for a few minutes.

Went and met Dah and picked up the Geej (she's spent the night there last night).

Stopped by HEB for a few things on the way home.

Came home and made grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup.

Got the kiddo bathed and in bed.

Watched Boardwalk Empire.

Blogged about absolutely nothing.

SEE? Told you!!

I'm back. Sort of.

I'm not going to go on and on about how guilty I am for not blogging, even though I am. I mean, sometimes, at the end of my day (which is when I usually find the time, presence of mind and solitude required to blog), I think to myself, "I should really blog...but fuck it." And y'all? That's a recent thought. At least the "fuck it" part is recent. Never, since I started blogging several years ago, have I thought of this as a chore or something that I didn't WANT to do. To me, it's always been a release, a way to share, and--at the very least--a way to write and document what was going on in my fairly-normal-but-sometimes-extraordinary life. But lately? If I even think about this blog (which, admittedly, I rarely do), it's with a sense of dread because I haven't posted in so long or worse, because I'm simply overwhelmed with the idea of sharing the completely boring goings on in my life.

So to try and get my mojo back, I share some bullet points and a photo or two:

The Geej turned five last week, which is amazing in and of itself because it proves how insanely fast time flies but made even more so by the fact that she a) begged to get her ears pierced for 3 months, b) I caved and let her and c) she was as cool as a cucumber during the whole process:


Wow, people. Right now, she's in the middle of "performance camp," that culminates in a show this Friday, and in a couple of weeks, she starts freakin Kindergarten. WTF, indeed.

The Geej was showered with many MANY gifts and enjoyed a "bouncy house" birthday party with some of her favorite friends. But I must say, thus far, her most beloved gift has been the "Totally Hair" Barbie head given to her by her Aunt Jaye. You see, I am mean and evil and will NOT buy my child anything Disney Princess- or Barbie-related because I find their portrayal of womanhood suspect at best, and therefore will not support them with my well-earned dollars. I leave that to her friends and relations. So when Aunt Jaye presented The Geej with what we've affectionately been calling "The Head," it was a trip to say the least. I mean, The Head had to come with us to her birthday dinner at Red Robin that night and sit on the table next to her grilled cheese and lemonade. And right now, The Head is tucked in beside her in the bed (along with Sally and Chino) . Don't believe me?

Yeah...so there's that.

And right after her b-day party at Germ-a-Palooza, guess what? The Geej--who is almost NEVER sick--got sick. Fever and coughing. Got her in to see the doctor on Monday, and he confirmed that this was something viral that was "going around" and should run its course in "4 to 5 days." So we've been hanging out while I've been trying to play nursemaid while simultaneously working from home. Why not just take the time off and care for my sick child? Well, because I have only ONE GODDAMNED PAID TIME OFF HOUR in my paid time off bank, DESPITE the fact that I rarely ever take time off. Isn't that awesome?

So between that situation and the fact that we're on our 45th 100+ degree day here this summer, I'm in a pretty crappy general mood. Sorry.

But you know what IS making me happy? Kenny Fucking Powers. Don't know him? Well, maybe you should:

I am SUCH a lazy blogger.

Hey there, y'all. Just sitting here blogging while watching the evening news and hearing all about the Swine Flu and the rain that's supposedly coming this weekend. Oh, and Doug is making me play fetch with him. I'm about 27% more boring than usual, and for that, I apologize. There IS stuff going on in my life, but it's so utterly mundane that I dare not even torture you with a bullet-pointed list. I'm hoping that my blog muse and a modicum of interesting-ness returns soon of else I'm just going to have to start making shit up, and don't think I won't do it people...

Lunchtime blogging...again.

Seems to be the only time I can find to blog while I actually have the brainpower to manipulate the keyboard is in between bites while dining at my desk.

Another SXSW came and went without me participating at all. I mean, I did attend one itty bitty in-store set (by one of my favorite dudes of all time), but that was pretty much it. And I was even "child free" on Saturday and COULD'VE gone and hit some day parties. But I opted to stay home and work in the yard instead. I am truly astounded by my own lameness. But hey, at least the plants look nice!

The jasmine has been blooming like crazy for a couple of weeks now. It's right outside our bedroom window, so when we sleep with the windows open (which we've been doing), it just smells wonderful.
This is the Carolina Jessamine vine I planted a couple of springs ago. This is the first spring it's really put out blooms.
My sweet husband (who has a WICKED green thumb) stuck some bulbs in the ground this winter, unbeknownst to me. And so now, we have these happy guys popping up all over the place in utterly random locations.

And check out this cute little cedar elm he planted. It'll make a nice shade tree...in about 15 years.

You should probably also check out this nice bus that was parked across the street from my office building for most of last week during the festival.

Their mothers must be so proud.

Also, I TOTALLY forgot to mention the OTHER score we made at the Citywide Garage sale--paint-by-numbers ART!!

These guys go nicely with the other paint-by-numbers horse portrait we already had hanging in the dining room.

This week is going to be pretty eventful. BH is working in Kerrville today and tomorrow, so The Geej and I are flying solo tonight. Then, Wednesday is BH's big FOUR OH! We don't have anything special planned for that night, but I did buy us tickets to go see Neko Case at Stubb's next Tuesday. Also on Wednesday, he's going to College Station to get his boys who are going to be staying with us until Sunday (while their mother goes to help their grandmother move from Colorado to California). Friday, The Geej is going to a photo session as a little model! It's for a marketing campaign that Whole Foods is doing this summer, and it involves popsicles, so it should be entertaining if nothing else. And Saturday? A fairy princess dance party for Margaret's YG. Man! Whatta week!!

Hopefully I can find time to squeeze in a couple of workouts at the gym in the midst of all of this craziness. I'm actually ENJOYING my time at the gym and don't like it when I miss my regular days.

I know there's more I'm forgetting to write about, but my lunch is done and my brain is empty. Hopefully my next post will be less mundane.

Not much to report.

God, my life is interesting. Don't believe me? Read on, my friends...

My yoga workshop is over as of last Thursday, so now on Tuesdays/Thursdays/Sundays, I'm going to walk a couple of miles each evening. Hopefully I can also fit some random yoga classes in every now and again too. February is the month of making this "regular physical activity" thing a reality.

I am reading "A Thousand Splendid Suns" and really enjoying it. I'm not really a fiction person for the most part, so I'm sort of surprised I'm liking it as much as I do.

I started an at home microderm abrasion thingie tonight. Truthfully, I've had it for some time, but have only used it once every three weeks or so, so there's no way that I would've seen any results...if there are actually any to be seen with this bought-it-at-Ulta kit. But now I'm going to start doing it 2 to 3 times a week to see if there is any discernable difference. Did I mention that I turned 39 last week?

We've been watching tapes of the Geej at age 10 mos. to 1 year the past couple of nights. OH. MY. GOD! What a cute, funny baby she was!! It hurts my heart to watch these tapes because she's just so wee and adorable and charming and...well, quiet. Sometimes I really miss that time before words...

I conducted annual performance reviews for everyone on my team last week. Although it's a lot of work, I really love this process because it's a legitimate way to have a conversation that focuses in on their strengths and helps them understand the areas that they need to work on. Luckily, I have a really great team with very few serious weaknesses, and as an added bonus, they're all really open to constructive feedback. Now it's my turn--bi-annual anonymous Team Leader surveys are going on right now. We'll see how I do in about eight weeks or so...

I've got some work-related travel starting to appear on my calendar in the coming months: San Antonio in a couple of weeks, Toronto in late March, and Chicago in April--luckily, all places I enjoy.

I've decided that given the choice between cookies, pie, or cake, I would pretty much always choose pie.

See?! INTERESTING!!

Okay...now I'm off to check out the results of superphatuesday.

So. Damn. Lame.

Sorry to do this to you, but here's a meme stolen from Blackbird via Badger.

10 FAVORITES
Favorite Color: Aqua
Favorite Food: Cheese
Favorite Month: October
Favorite Song: I have no fucking idea.
Favorite Movie: Probably "Raising Arizona"
Favorite Sport: College football
Favorite Season: Autumn
Favorite Day of the week: Sunday
Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: Mint Chocolate Chip
Favorite Time of Day: Between 10pm and midnight

9 CURRENTS
Current Mood: Tired
Current Taste: Orange juice
Current Clothes: PJs
Current Desktop: Bluebonnet photo I took at La Turista's house
Current Toenail Color: "Freshwater Pearl"
Current Time: 9:43pm
Current Surroundings: Guest room/office
Current Thoughts: I don't have to set my alarm tomorrow morning!

8 FIRSTS
First Best Friend: Stephanie Graham at Honeysuckle Montessori
First Kiss: Kyle Gilbreath at Skateland
First Screen Name: Marlaesque
First Pet: A tomcat I named Sharon
First Piercing: Ears. 7th Birthday. Merle Norman store in Kilgore, TX
First Crush: Jake Gladden
First CD: Something I ordered from the Columbia Music Club, I'm sure.

7 LASTS
Last Cigarette: Can't recall. Many, many years ago.
Last Car Ride: Home from work and Geej fetching.
Last Kiss: The Geej
Last Movie Seen: In the theater--"Reno: 911," at home, "The Miracle Worker"
Last Phone Call: Mr. Wonderful
Last CD Played: LCD Sound System

6 HAVE YOU EVERS
Have You Ever Dated One Of Your Best Guy/Girl Friends: Yep. Doing so currently as a matter of fact.
Have You Ever Broken the Law: Yes, but in misdemeanor ways.
Have You Ever Been Arrested: Thank God, no.
Have You Ever Skinny Dipped: Hell yes.
Have You Ever Been on TV: Not exactly but sort of.
Have You Ever Kissed Someone You Didn’t Know: Yes. Built to Spill concert at Stubb's. October 2002. It was awesome.

5 THINGS
Thing You’re Wearing: Glasses
Thing You’ve Done Today: Read books to The Geej
Thing You Can Hear Right Now: Distant cars driving by my neighborhood (my windows are open)
Thing You Can’t Live Without: Laughter
Thing You Do When You’re Bored: Channel surf

4 PLACES YOU'VE BEEN TODAY
1. The Geej's school
2. Whole Foods
3. My office
4. Galaxy Cafe

3 PEOPLE YOU CAN TELL ANYTHING TO
1. Julie
2. Thelma Jane
3. Mr. Wonderful

2 CHOICES
1. Black or White: black
2. Hot or Cold: hot

1 THING YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE
Relax

Things I did this week.

Below, in no particular order, are some things that I did this week:

- Nearly had a wreck that would have majorly fucked up the front end of my car and the entire driver's side of the other car. A new Lexus.
- Nearly backed over 2 pedestrians.
- Rediscovered how much I like Sebadoh/Lou Barlow.
- Started a new book.
- Thought I was re-setting my alarm when, in fact, I was fast forwarding the time on my clock by about 1/2 hour. Talk about freaking out when I finally woke up.
- Made stir fry with tofu. (The Geej only ate the tofu and the onions. She's CRAZY for onions.)
- Was 15 minutes late to a big meeting that had about 65 people in it and had to enter through the front of the room. Walk of shame...
- Ate some organic chocolate covered cherries and nearly died because they were so good.
- Got serious fashion tips from and spent way too much time obsessing about this woman: "Isn't it glamorous?"
- Had to sit through an 8 hour training at work. 6 hours of it were pretty good. The other 2, pretty awful.
- Had to sit through another 4-hour training at work about how to discipline people who work for me. Unfortunately, "Time Out" and spanking aren't really condoned in the workplace.
- Downloaded "Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing" by Stevie Wonder. Great. Fucking. Song.
- Got sick and tired of the gloom and the clouds and the rain.

- Got paid.
- Paid my mortgage, car payment, phone bill and credit card bill.
- Managed to spend $95 in 20 minutes at Whole Foods. (I'm a shopping ninja in that place.)
- Had some really good pecan crusted sauteed catfish served over a mixed greens salad with grilled potatoes and a Cajun mustard sauce. SO good.
- Finally finished up a massive, 14-month, multi-faceted project at work.
- Sent Malcontent Mama's b-day card 4 days late.
- Didn't blog as much as I wanted to.
- Snuggled with The Geej every morning.
- Snuggled with Earl every night.
- Didn't get enough sleep.
- Meant to clean the kitchen floor and/or my bathroom every night. Never did.