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:

#901

I didn't even realize it until now, but my last post was my 900th!! Wow, y'all. That's pretty crazy. I'm going to have to do something BIG for my 1,000th, but thankfully I've got some time to think about what that something will be. Especially since I'm such an infrequent poster these days. Lame-o.

It took me a couple of days, but I eventually got back into the groove of work after my fun time out of the office during the Most Funnest Week Ever. I even managed to make it back to the gym and--gasp--have now officially worked the elliptical machine into my regular work out. I am a freakin' cardio MASTER. I can't wait to go back to my foxy cardiologist for my 6 mo. appt. in June and be all, "Listen to that heart muscle, Handsome!!" Maybe he'll even take me off my high bloodpressure meds. I hope...

This week was pretty uneventful, so I'm afraid I don't have much to tell y'all about. However, I think you should know that The Geej's long-suffering and most favorite baby ever, Sally, underwent a major cleaning this week. You can probably imagine how FUNKY and NASTY this poor doll was after being carted all over God's creation for the past nearly four years. So when we decided to run her through the gentle cycle along with a set of sheets, we had to prepare The Geej for the fact that she'd be without Sally for a day, maybe two, while she dried. She was brave, and said it was fine with her. But here's how wonderful my husband is: He took care of the whole thing while The Geej and I were at school/work. That's right: He laundered that babydoll--twice--and then sat her outside in the sun to dry. And she was totally dry and re-dressed by the time we got home. And not only that, he took before and after photos (which, sadly, don't really tell the whole and complete story of how filthy this doll actually was). So without further ado, Sally before:

And after:

Yay!!

Finally, I have to share with you this link to Good Magazine that a friend posted on Facebook and that I got TOTALLY sucked into. It's basically photos of the insides of people's refridgerators. And it's totally fascinating. And after looking at it, I decided to do my own:

Team Leader at a natural foods grocery company. - Austin, TX - 3-person household - Very good at singing harmony.

You KNOW you want it

A bullet-pointed update from moi:

• The trip to the Pine Curtain went fine.
• Except that on the way out of Austin we got stuck in an hour's worth of traffic and somewhere between Temple and Waco we got stuck in traffic--again--due to an accident
• So the entire trip--which without a bunch of stops and traffic takes about 4.5 hours--took about 6.5 hours.
• And The Geej never fell alseep or stopped talking. Not even once.
• It was muggy and green in east Texas--the opposite of what it's like here. Except for the muggy part.
• We stayed with BH's dad, Gramps, who lives on a lake.
• Saturday was BH's brother's birthday.
• And we got to go out on the boat.

Chloe (BH's niece), Geej and of course Sally

• But that wasn't until after I went to the Super Wal-Mart. Y'all know how I feel about Wal-Mart, right? Like, I'd rather have a tooth filled while listening to a Toby Keith album than go to Wal-Mart.
• But I'd forgotten my toothbrush, Geej's toothbrush, cotton face pads and q-tips, and Wal-Mart was the closest and pretty much only thing near the lake.
• I somehow survived this ordeal.
• The lake was fun. We parked the boat and the Geej got to play in the water.

• And now her swimsuit is pretty much ruined because the lake water up there is sort of brown.
• Saturday night, it rained and thundered and everything. It was awesome.
• It rained more on Sunday morning. (Did I mention that everything up there was green and lush?)
• We packed up and left Gramps's house, only to realize about 25 miles down the road that--GASP--Geej had left Sally (the Alpha Baby, pictured above) behind.
• Much crying and sobbing ensued.
• We called Gramps and asked if he could mail Sally to us. He said yes. Thank God...
• We stopped and had lunch in Kilgore with my elderly Aunt Mary Lois and Uncle Ray.
• They are really sweet, but really getting up there.
• They were each other's first date (in 1940), and have been married since 1941.
• We ate at a post-church hotspot that had a buffet.
• Everything on the buffet was from the same color family--chicken fingers, fried chicken, chicken fried steaks, beef tips and rice, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, black eyed peas, green beens (more brown than green, really), and carrots.
• The Geej slept some on the way back to Austin. Not much, but some.
• I had to pull the car over--twice--because she was acting like a jerk.
• God, I hope 4 is easier than 3 has been.
• Which reminds me: her birthday is in 28 days, and I have no idea what to do party-wise.
• And she's expecting something cool.
• Speaking of cool, we got REALLY good gas mileage on our road trip. But now my car is FILTHY with about 1 billion dead bugs on the windshield.
• Another cool thing? Sally arrived in the mail yesterday, safe and sound.
• And we're going to watch Dah march in a 4th of July parade on Friday. I may pee my pants.
• Then Saturday, we're going over to a friend's house to watch their neighborhood fireworks show which, if it's anything like last year's, will be super cool.