Insomnoblogging

Please note: I started this post at 5:47 a.m.

Oh, the circles under my eyes. How they darken. For about 2 weeks now, this is my nightly scenario (exept on weekends):

1. Go to bed at a decent hour (somewhere btwn. 10:45 and midnight).
2. Fall asleep immediately.
3. Sleep like a baby. Until about 3:30am.
4. Wake up to pee.
5. Stumble back to bed about half asleep.
6. Get back in bed and am, suddenly, WIDE FREAKIN' AWAKE!
7. Cats think, "Yay! Mommy's up! She must want to play and/or love on me, so I'll go walk all over her purring at an insane volume."
8. Cats get locked out of bedroom
9. Get back in bed.
10. Mind starts racing...work...work...work...work...work...money...work...family...work...
11. Notice that every muscle in my body is clenched, including my jaw.
12. Wonder, "What the HELL?! I'm tired! Relax and go back to sleep, jackass."
13. Consciously force myself to unclench muscles. Try to clear mind. Breathe deeply.
14. Works for about three minutes then...
15. Mind is at it again, body is clenched again.
16. Think, "Maybe if I roll over on my side..."
17. Do so. Makes no difference.
18. Roll on to other side. Ditto.
19. End up on back again. Eyes wide open. Staring at ceiling, clenching jaw and every other muscle in body.
20. Once again, try to forcibly clear mind and relax body.
21. Wonder, "What time is it now?"
22. Repeat steps 10 through 21 until the sun comes up.
23. Drag self out of bed exhausted and grumpy and not ready to face the day in the least.

And I've tried all sorts of herbal teas, herbal supplements and OTC sleep remedies. But they're more focused on helping one GET to sleep, not stay asleep. And it used to be that at least I could count on getting a good, solid night's sleep on my nights that I go to the gym. Not anymore.

By about 3 in the afternoon, I am yawning non-stop, my brain is jello, and I've got a raging headache. But (as all you working mom's know), there's no mental or physical break in store for me until well after the kiddos are in bed.

My life has become lather-rinse-repeat.

No wonder I feel so raw and on-edge. All day yesterday, I felt like I was on the verge of tears. Like at any moment, I might just become a sobbing snotty mess. And it's not because I'm unhappy. It's because my nerves are shot and I'M FUCKING EXHAUSTED.

Oh, and did I mention, I am utterly slammed at work? Because I am. That's one reason I've been neglecting ye olde blogge. I haven't even had time to lunch-time blog, which is really bumming me out.

So in an effort to stave off plunging into an abyss of profound sleep-deprived psychosis and depression, here's a random list of things that are making me very happy at the moment:

• The Geej is SO on the verge of reading, it's amazing. I love watching her get excited with each step she gets closer to being able to read on her own. She can also write the words: love, Dah, Mommy, and her first and last names.
• Smoked Gouda.
• The weather (although we've already hit in the 90s a couple of times, and I'm not quite ready for that).
• I've got an appointment to get my hairs did this weekend.
• We got bunk beds for BH's boys, so their room is slowly starting to come together.
• Got my tax refund. WHOOT!!
• Fresh strawberries. They're like CANDY. I'm addicted.
• Some great new (at least to me) music I've downloaded recently.
• The feeling I get after a good workout at the gym.
• The YouTube video of someone tickling a slow Loris.
• The fact that when I got home on Tuesday evening after working late, BH had vacuumed the house, planted a honeysuckle vine for me, and was making dinner whilst sporting the most hilarious moustache ever. I cracked up every time I looked at him and kept saying, "Dude, you've got a MOUSTACHE!!"
• Tamari almonds from Whole Foods.
• Thinking about my friend Julie getting married next week (despite the fact that I won't be able to be there...and boy could I use some Cancun and Julie right about now...)

So you see, it's not all gloom and doom around here. It's just that I'm too tired to get very psyched about any of it.

Things, they be a'happenin'

Please allow me to play a little catch up with you.

Valentine's Day Weekend: Went to Oklahoma with The Geej to visit my dear friend Julie and her two kiddos, two cats, and dog. Had a great time just hanging out. Her kids are so great, and she's such a good mom. Made me realize how much I miss them when I'm not around them.

The week after Valentine's day was pure nuts:

Monday: traveling back from Oklahoma. The Geej took this photo from the plane, btw.
Tuesday: federal jury duty. At 7:45am. Ugh. Went to the gym and worked out.


Wednesday: back at work with back-to-back meetings all day long. Came home, and my GORGEOUS new oven had been installed by the magical fairies from Lowe's.

Old oven:

New oven:I mean seriously, I know the photo's dark, but how much better does this look? And it cooks like a dream.

Thursday: attended a Conflict Management training session in waaaaaay north Austin all day. Went to the gym and worked out after, however, my fookin' feet were hurting so badly because of my craptacular shoes, I had to cut my workout short.

Friday: back at work with (thankfully) no meetings. Played catch up. Had to leave early to go to The Geej's parent/teacher conference. Her teachers are thrilled with how she's doing, and I walked out of that conference with my feet barely touching the ground. I am one lucky mommy.

Saturday: met BH's mom (who was in town for the weekend visiting friends) and my mom for lunch. Mom took The Geej back to Horseshoe Bay with her so that BH and I could work on the Great Master Bathroom Facelift Project of 2009. (I will post before/after photos when it's 100% finished. Right now, it's about 75% finished.)

Sunday: continued work on the bathroom. Searched all over Austin for mirrors for the bathroom. Ended up finding them at IKEA, which is 31 miles from our house. I also purchased a new light fixture for the kitchen while I was there. Got home and realized that 2 of the 3 globes in the light fixture were shattered. Did I mention that IKEA is 31 miles away? When the hell am I going to have time to go back up there and return this thing? Grrrr...


Monday: Worked. Left early to go fetch The Geej from my mom.


Tuesday: Worked. Left early to take The Geej to her dentist appt. (She was SO brave and awesome!! Waaaaaay different than 6 mos. ago when she wouldn't let the hygenists clean her teeth b/c the noise of the brush, water squirter, and spit sucking thing freaked her out too much.) Met bunch of girlfriends out for drinks and dinner and more drinks. Got home way past my bedtime.


Which brings us to today. Fairly normal day, however, I have another all-day training thing at work tomorrow, and I have to be there an hour earlier than normal. Also, I have to do this pre-work and bring 3 copies of it with me to the training session. Have I done the pre-work yet? Um...no. Am I super freakin' tired? Yep.

So you see, dear friends, it has been a bit crazier than normal in my world. But normalcy is slowly creeping back into my life, so expect some more regular posting from me for the next few days.

Where I am.

I am in Norman, Oklahoma at the moment, visiting my dear and wonderful friend Julie.

I brought the Geej here this afternoon via Southwest airlines, and we'll be here hanging out and bonding until Monday. We have a movie planned tomorrow, and a museum on Sunday. There are two kittehs and a dawg to play wiff and some cute kids to laugh at and some good conversation to be had.

Photos--and VIDEO--to come.

They're starting to trickle in...

...the wedding pictures, that is.

Here are a couple:
The wedding party (why, in the name of God, did I wear hose?).

The new Mr. and Mrs.


BH and I with his boys, J and F.



My matron of honor, Julie, and the Geej. (Aren't they beautiful? I can NOT get over how much The Geej looks like she could be her child.)



Julie, my new adorable niece Chloe, and The Geej waiting for the bride (who was late for her own wedding).

More to come...

This one's for you, Julie.

Yep. I purchased this 12-pack before the crack of 9:30am this morning and am trying to figure out a way to ship it to you safely without bottles breaking. We may just have to wait to crack these open until the next time we see each other (which I hope won't be that far away).

O.U. Sucks!

Oh yes it's ladies' night, and the feelin's right...

Tonight's the Big Night Out for a lot of us who are over there in the blog roll on the right: Bookhart, Mags, The Texpatriate, Malcontent, Jaye, and others.


Watch out, Austin. We don't get out much, and we have a lot of gabbing to do. So just prepare yourself.


What else. Oh yes! My ark-building kit came in the mail today, just in time for the latest deluge. I heard the weather guy on t.v. say that we've had rain for 27 of the last 30 days. With today's downpour, that makes 28 out of 31. It's amazing to me that, at 1:15pm this July 20th in Austin, Texas, it's only 74 degrees. How is that even possible? But my GOD the humidity.


More stream-of-consciousness stuff...


I have two conversations with the Geej that I must relay to you:


Conversation #1 was had while she was sitting on the potty doing...you know...number two. Anyway, it was taking her a looooooooooooooong time, and when asked about it, she said, "I know! I'm frustrated with my poo poo."


Conversation #2 happened between Geej and Dah this morning.

Geej: Mommy's at work.
Dah: What does Mommy do at work?
Geej: Well, she plays with her friends, eats lunch and buys things.


Yep, that pretty much sums it up.


Now, here's the story of the "I amaze myself!" koozie:

Many moons ago, in the early 90s, Jules and I had gone to Dallas with another friend. I don't remember why we went, but I'm sure it involved heavy drinking. Anyway, I always buy a commemorative koozie when I go on a road trip. It's just one of my things. I usually look for the one with the stupidest phrase on it. If it's misspelled, sexist, or completely politically incorrect then that makes it even better. On this trip, I'd purchased the koozie in the photo below. For some reason--hangover induced deliriousness, most likely--I decided to explain the deep, deep meaning of the phrase combined with the graphic of the rabbit pulling itself out of a hat. I explained it over and over and over for at least 30 minutes. Annoying? Why, no. Hilarious? But of course.

Flash forward to January 2006, Julie comes down for a visit and I have a big housewarming party at my house. I brought out my two big shopping bags of koozies collected over the decades, and gave them away to my guests. Julie ended up with the "I amaze myself!" koozie (appropriately), and she decided to whoop it out at the party SHE had last weekend when I was visiting her in Norman.


Yet another reason I love her.

Blogger's not letting me post a title. If it did, my title would be something along the lines of, "Stuff That's Pissing Me Off; Stuff That's Making Me Happy."

I guess the whole not-being-able-to-post-a-title thing is yet ANOTHER bug they can't figure out. Sort of like the whole spacing fuck up thing when you post pictures.

If I weren't so lazy and technologically ditzy I'd move this sucker over to Wordpress or something.

Damnitalltohell.

Other shit that's bugging the fucklights out of me?

The rain. Obviously. I mean, it's all anyone (including me) can talk or blog about. It really is ridiculous. Today we had lots o' sun. It was actually quite gorgeous. And then, around 7:30, lightning, thunder, and buckets upon buckets of--sigh--rain.

My dentist's office. I called to get a teeth cleaning and a) they said, "Oh, you also need an exam. Would you like to do that during the same appointment?" Um, no dumbass. I'd like to have to come there TWICE when I could do everything in one appointment. I am all about complicating my life, so yes, please, book two separate appointments for me. And b) they can't get me in until OCTOBER 15th. WTF, la gente? Really? This dentist--whose office is in the MALL mind you--is that popular? Yep, this is what I get when I go for the "low insured" dental plan.

My garage. Y'all, I know I've bitched about this before, but 1/2 of my entire garage is just filled with shit I need to either give away, throw away, or sell. I know if I would "Craig's List" half of it, it would be gone by the end of next week. There's some good shit out there. It's just shit I don't want anymore. Now it's too steamy and warm to get out there and do anything about it. Every time I go out there to get in my car, the mess at hand just makes me mad...at me.

Fucking jury duty. July 16th until ? And guess what: My "Fortune's 100 Best Places to Work" company doesn't pay you while you're out on jury duty. Nice.

My roots. I swear, it was barely a month ago that I got my hair cut/colored, and already, my roots are like 1.5" long, gray, and skanky. My hair's longer than it's been in a while (which I'm sort of liking), but I have no idea why it's growing so fast. It's certainly not because I'm having too much calcium. If anything, I'm calcium deficient. I'm going to get it touched up this week. But still, it's pissing me off.

My toenails. Wow, do I ever need a pedicure. That's all I'm gonna say.

Daya is closing. My favorite day spa EVAH is closing, and I don't know why. Not that I get to go there a lot or anything, but when I DO have the opportunity to go get a massage or a facial, this is the ONLY place in Austin I've really enjoyed going to. Damnit!!

My CD burner on my computer. It no workee. Grrrrr...

That's enough of that.

Now, for some stuff that's making me happy:

El Chile now sells its insanely good salsa at Whole Foods. Thank you, Jesus.

Karla will be here in a week.

Next weekend The Geej and I will be visiting our DEAR friend Julie (who REALLY needs to update her blog--HINT HINT) and her adorable kiddos and her two kitties and her house pony and her friends. I just want to hug them all to pieces.

KEXP's "Shake the Shack" rockabilly show. Flawless.

The taste-testing panels at work that I signed up for. Fun!

All of the Collective Wellbeing products. Especially their "Night Balm."

Hip Hop/Twirling Lesson Fridays. (We just established this at work. More on this later.)

This book that a work friend bought for me and The Geej. It is most excellent in every way.

The fact that not only did Mr. Wonderful get a phone interview for a local job this week, he's also been talking about coming down for a visit at the end of the month.

The fact that I raided my mom's pantry the last time I was out at her house and managed to release her from the ownership of these unecessary salt and pepper shakers along with the "Cinnamon" vial that is obviously from the set of Gunsmoke:

Um...WHY???!! Why did she pack and MOVE these from Longview to her current house? Do you see that there are two of these that have no mate? That's like packing ONE shoe. Or a piece of Tupperware with no lid. WHAT'S THE POINT? And then she just stuck them in the back of a shelf in the pantry behind packages of chicken bullion and ranch dip mix?

Okay. I'm signing off.

I'm equalized. At least there's more stuff making me happy than pissing me off.

Bye my little babies.