In Betweener

I had no idea that our house would sell so quickly. But it did, and I'm grateful for it. The idea of keeping our house "viewing perfect" with three pets and two kids and real life and shit was not appealing to me. But of course selling so fast of course that meant that we had to jump on the whole looking-for-a-house thing in a serious way Which can be fun. But since we now had a closing date written in paper and happening sooner than either of us ever expected, we had to go in to warp speed. So many things we both wanted with our new house. We started looking, and saw some stuff we liked, some stuff we LOVED, and some utterly weird shit that just made you wonder about the homeowners.

The most important piece of the puzzle, however, was our meeting with the loan officer to understand what price range (and property tax rates) were do-able if we wanted to keep our monthly payment within a specific, comfortable range. Becoming "house poor" is not something either of us would ever be willing to do, so the monthly payment range was paramount We discovered, quickly, that houses within our price range, with the square footage and amenities we were looking for, in the school zones we were wanting were turning over very quickly--like within 24 hours. So one Thursday night, I saw a house that had just come on the MLS. It looked promising in all ways. We saw it the following afternoon, submitted an offer that night, and by Saturday afternoon, we learned our offer had been accepted. Bada boom, bada bing.

There she is! Our new baby!!

Since then, we've been in a whirlwind of earnest money, inspections, appraisals, paperwork, surveys, moving estimates, etc. It's been a wee bit crazy to say the very least. By early June, the kids will have finished school, we will have closed on our current house, gone on a family vacation to the beach, closed on and moved in to our new house.

Utter insanity, but the thought of being in this new place--OUR new place--with so much more space and a great neighborhood filled with kids for Geej and F to play with and wonderful schools and parks and pools and all of it, just makes me so very, very happy. (I'llh have to remind myself of this often when we start to pack. Man do I ever fucking hate to pack.)

Some other things of note recently:


San Antonio Riverwalk

Took a short, much-needed overnight trip to San Antonio to stay in a fancy hotel by my damn self and visit with a friend who was in town for work. We went to the spa (amazeballs) and had an unbelievably wonderful dinner at this place, and I got one of the best night's sleep I've had in ages.


So much fun!

Took The Geej and her friend Skye to the annual school carnival where they pretty much went nuts for a couple of hours. It was a cloudy, breezy day--so it wasn't as hot as it was last year, and the girls had a blast.

Participated in my first-ever 5k! It was actually fun, and miraculously, I didn't die! I did, however, end up with large blisters on each of my heels, which tells me I need some new running/walking shoes if I plan to get serious about my racing career. (Yeah, right.)

We have discovered the joy that is the CamWow app on the iPhone. OMG, the pictures that we've come up with of ourselves, the pets, etc. HiLARious.


Finally, if you haven't yet seen the movie "Bernie," go. Now. You talk about some good ol' Pine Curtain craziness, they NAILED it in this movie. Wow. I laughed out loud. A LOT. The town of Carthage (where the story takes place), is only about 25 miles from my hometown of Longview. The accents? The decor? The clothes and makeup? Holy CRAP, these people knew what they were doing. And Jack Black (who can be annoyingly over-the-top) was perfect and understaded in the title role

Liveblogging While The Geej Watches "Xanadu" for the First Time

FYI: I gave The Geej the 5 min. "Greek Mythologies for Dummies" lessons that one needs to fully appreciate the premise of Xanadu just prior to us starting the movie. And then I told her there would be, "lots of music and magic and roller skating." And then, that shit was ON!!

What follows are the questions and conversations that happened during the movie. If you don't know Xanadu like I do, this probably won't make a lot of sense.

Scene: Muses being awakened off the wall due to Sonny's tearing up his painting:
GJ : "Did Santa Claus make this happen?"
"They're small people."
"That's a lot of sisters."

Scene: The album cover art workshop, right after they see Olivia Newton John (Kira) on the cover he's supposed to paint.
GJ: "Was that Lady Gaga that went by him?"

Scene: Sonny with Gene Kelly on the beach:
"Why is he supposed to paint a picture of Lady Gaga?"

Scene: When Sonny discovers Kira skating in the (future) Xanadu location:
"He's really small now. I thought he was bigger."

Scene: Back in the album cover art studio:
"They're really small people, aren't they?"

The Gene Kelly (Danny McGuire) apartment scene:
"Why do you keep turning it up, Mommy?"
(During their kiss) "Wait! Isn't that the roller skating lady who is in love with the other boy?!"
"Is she dead?"
"Why is she a spirit?"
"So...this is fiction, right?"
"Tap dancing! Whistling!"

The "Suddenly The Wheels Are In Motion" scene:
"They were flying!"
"Is it really raining?"

The 80s v. 40s imaginarium scene:
"Why are they all nekkid?" (during the 80s/Tubes scene)
"Why is she showing her butt?"

The cartoon ELO "Don't Walk Away" scene:
"He turned into a prince?"
"How many more hours, Mommy?"

During the "All Over the World" clothing store scene:
"What is THAT?!" (In response to the androgynous African-American person crawling through the spider web legs.)
"I think he looks nice in that." (Gene Kelly's 15th outfit.)

The scene when Kira's trying tell Sonny about her being a muse and shit:
"They're going to marry each other." (Right after Sonny and Kira's first kiss.)
"Can I have TWO oatmeal cookies?"

The scene where Sonny's contemplating skating into the mural of the muses:
"Why is she not alive anymore?"

In the Tron-esque "Suspend Me In Time" scene:
"That's where his girlfriend is."
(Right after Sonny gets banished from Tron/Heaven) "They're going to be together, and they're going to marry."
"Will you record this to my iPod?"

In the opening night scene:
When Gene Kelly's opening the scene: "What is he DOING?! He's on roller skates!!"
"What are they saying?" (Me: "Xanadu.") "What's Xanadu?" (Me: Sigh)
"Are they going to be back together? Mom, just TELL me!"
(When Kira/Oliva makes her big "Xanadu" entrance): "Look! She's back! How did she get back? Are those her sisters? Are they back forever too?!"
"Is he in love with someone else?"
(When the freaks on the tightrope are being shown.): "What is THAT?!"
"I like what she (Kira/Oliva) is wearing. Do you?"
"Please record every song she (Kira/Olivia) has on to my iPod."

Immediately after the closing credits started rolling:
"Mom! Let me show you how I'm going to roller skate the next time I put on my skates." (Folllwed by much galloping around the living room.)

And my job as a parent is pretty much done.

Recent goings on.

Last week ended with the arrival of the Austin City Limits music festival. For the 5th year in a row, I decided to take a pass. I almost regretted it when I saw how gorgeous the weather was going to be on festival weekend, but then I remembered how much I hate crowds, Phish, and port-o-potties, and I got over it lickety split.

Instead, on Friday night, I went with The Geej, Dah, and Dah's fiance (yep, Dah's getting hitched in April) down to watch the mighty Wimberley Texans whoop up on the Blanco Bandera Bulldogs in some 3A Texas High School football action. (My stepsister's son plays for Wimberley.) It was Wimberley's homecoming, and the game was packed. In fact, we had to sit on the visitor's side because the bleachers on the home side were filled to capacity.  

There's something so charming--so reassuring--about a small town football game. Granted, it's familiar territory for me having spent almost every football season Friday night of 10th, 11th, and 12th grade in the stands for Pine Tree High School's football games. But still, even if I didn't have my own experiences to draw on, it would be hard not to be sucked in by how much these games MATTER to those playing them, and those watching them play.

We stayed for the halftime show, and Blanco's Bandera's marching band inexplicably had some of these on the field during their performance:

Yep, those are those wind sock people. On a football field. I have no idea why... Their school is so small, that one of the cheerleaders picked up a flag and marched with the colorguard, and two of their football players took off their shoulder pads and helmets and marched with the band (one on alto sax and one as drum major). Awww...

We left after halftime because Wimberley was killing Blanco Bandera so there wasn't much of a game to watch. The final score ended up being 52 - 0. The Geej went home with Dah (because they hadn't gotten to hang out in a couple of weeks), and I went home.

Satruday was spent sleeping until 10:30 (awwww yeah), running errands and doing laundry. One of my errands was dropping off some donations at the ASPCA, and OH MY GOD Y'ALL, there were adorable, sweet kittehs EVERYWHERE!! But I managed to come home sans new kitteh, which is a good thing because Doug, Diane and BH would've disowned me.

Saturday night BH and I went on a real, honest-to-goodness date. A couple of weeks ago, I won a $50 gift certificate to a fancy schmancy restaurant, so we decided to redeem it. And although the food was good, it wasn't outstanding, which was kind of a disappointment. But still: A date!! At a restaurant that didn't have a kid's menu or crayons!! Whoo hoo!

Sunday I went to the grocery store, washed my car, did more laundry, and went to see Get Low. By myself. One of my favorite things is going to the movie by myself. I get a small popcorn (no butter) and a bottled water or Coke, and just get lost in the movie. Get Low was a good one to do that with--a wonderful cast, a great story, lovely soundtrack. I really enjoyed it--especially after I figured out who the actor was playing the character of Buddy. It was the kid from Sling Blade! All growed up!! (Man, it was driving me CRAZY trying to place that face and accent.)

After the movie, I went and got The Geej, and was able to surprise her by telling her we were going to dinner with one of her most favorite friends, Daschel. She was SO excited. They've been best buds since they started Montessori together (she'd just turned two, he was a few months younger, and they were literally inseparable from day one). They hadn't seen each other since the last day of school, and so it was quite the reunion. I know they're only 6, but it's like they really do love each other.

There they are with Dachel's dad (and Geej's former teacher), Mr. Gabe. We've got to get these two monkeys together more often.

On one final note, Diane received a new box to sit in.

She seems quite pleased.

"The Rainbow Connection" is the long, cold hand of DEATH!!

I haven't watched "The Muppet Movie" in a bazillion years, but I purchased the DVD recently thinking that The Geej would probably dig it. So yesterday, when she was home from school with hives and a fever (turns out she's actually pretty allergic to the --icillin class of antibiotics; she's doing better now), I popped in the movie and settled in to watch it with her. The thing that struck me most was how OLD I felt when I realized that almost every celebrity that appeared in this movie is now six feet under:

Jim Henson
Edgar Bergen
Milton Berle
James Coburn
Dom DeLuise
Bob Hope
Madeline Khan
Richard Pryor
Telly Savalas
Orson Welles

Crazy, no? Alls I'm saying is that Steve Martin (who plays the cranky waiter) better be having regular check-ups.

Come on in, the water's fine!

Dive into my stream of consciousness...if you DARE:


I caught Olympic fever, albeit a bit late in the game. The thing that caught me? The women's marathon finish this past weekend. I wept when the winner made her way into the Bird's Nest. And I don't even LIKE running!! But since then, I've been glued to the t.v. each night, staying up way too late to watch sports I normally don't care about. Damn you, Olympic fever! Let me be!


I scheduled and had a termite inspection done at the house today. Why? Well, paranoia basically. I'd had one done when I bought the house (back in late 2005), but not since then. Good news: We're termite free! Yay!


However, we DID kill a "roof rat" last night. I say "we", but really it was the brave and fearless BH who handled the whole thing (thank God). Being a wildlife biologist, he'd noticed some suspicious "droppings" on the roof of the house underneath where it and the deck roof meet. So he bought this evil looking trap and set it last night (with peanut butter) and when he checked this morning, grisly victory. I didn't look at the victim, but I could make out its outlines in the plastic shopping bag that served as its coffin, and that mofo was BIG, y'all. Ewww... BH claims we caught "the dumb one", but has set the trap again hoping for another, you know, capture.


Geej survived her first ever visit to the dentist yesterday. She was kind of freaked at the concept, but thanks to the VERY friendly atmosphere and totally kid-focused office space, she chilled out and did great. And how BIG does she look?

Why did I take this photo? So I could send it to her Dah who is on an Alaskan cruise this week. I'm SO jealous because it sounds like she is seeing some amazing sights and experiencing some exceptional weather. Today she took a helicopter tour of Glacier National Park. I'm so glad she's doing this!!



Today I also met with a cleaning service to see about getting them to clean our house periodically. Let me back up: my mom had a lady who cleaned our house FOR YEARS named Rosella. Anyway, she came once every other week, and did the big stuff that my mom couldn't get to b/c she worked full time and was a mom, etc. At the time, I was sort of horrified b/c I thought it was rather bourgeoisie. But, being a lazy teenager, I was secretly grateful that my lazy ass wasn't having to do the heavy lifting. Since then, however, I've been proud of how I've managed to keep a clean house and stay on top of things no matter how crazy busy my life has been. However, even though BH does his fair share of housework, the big stuff--cleaning the bathrooms, dusting, mopping the floors, etc.--eat up my weekends, and that? Sucks. So a couple of weeks ago, I'm on my way home on a Friday afternoon after a stressful week at work, and BH's boys were coming to visit, and all I could think about was, "I've got to get home and clean up the house." Like a sign from Jah, I ended up behind a cleaning service's van with its slogan: "Don't Go Home to a Second Job, " and I was like HELL YES, I shouldn't have to go home to a second job! I'm calling these people! I met with their rep today, and she couldn't have been more pleasant and professional. And their service sounds completely awesome and totally what I'm looking for. So we're starting them out at just a once-a-month cleaning, which should be plenty for us. If not--and if I can afford it--I'll bump it up to twice a month. I'm still feeling a bit guilty about having to enlist help for this part of my life, but right now, I really need it.


Speaking of stress relief...I finally went and got some acupuncture this week. I've done this before--for endometriosis and for sciatica, both times with great success--but it's been a while. I found this great local place, and hooked up with one of their practicioners, and am very happy with all of it. I'll be going for a weekly series of treatments for about a month and then go on maintenence. This is step one in Operation: Get Healthy Before I'm Freakin' Forty. Wish me luck.


Things at work seem a bit less grim this week, but there's still layoffs going on (in the regional offices) this week, so I'm feeling a lot of compassion (and worry) for my friends and colleagues who work in those offices. Just trying to keep focused and be productive and positive is my main goal at the moment.


I cannot wait until "Burn After Reading" comes out.


I'm happy that we've gotten a bit of rain this week. In fact, we got 1/2" in ye olde rain gauge yesterday. Wish we could get some more...


I won something!! Free lunch at this place (which is damn tasty, btw)! I put my business card in the proverbial fish bowl, and boom: I got an e-mail to tell me I'd won!! Why am I so excited? Because I swear that this is the first thing I've won since I won a strawberry sheet cake in the Kilgore Jaycee's cake walk at the city's Halloween carnival when I was 9. Honestly.


Okay. The U.S. just won beach volleyball gold, so I'm safe to turn off the tube and go to bed until I feel the fever tomorrow night.

Late to the party.

I'm in Colorado for work. I'm exhausted. But I thought about this meme in the plane all the way up here, and so I decided to do it. Some of my favorite bloggers have already done it some time ago, so I'm a bit behind the curve. But that is typical for me.

In case you've been sleeping, the rules are these:

1. Think of 10 movies you adore, then go to IMDB and get some quotes from those movies.
2. Post these quotes and ask readers to guess what movies they come from. NO GOOGLING OR CHEATING, readers, because that's just lame.
3. NEW RULE: One guess per reader, por favor.
4. Once a correct guess has been made, you credit the reader.

Simple, no?

Okay, let's get started...

(My apologies for the random underlining every now and again. It's a cut and paste thing...)

#1:
“Until you do right by me, everything you even think about gonna fail!”
Damn you, La Turista!! Yes, you DO know me so well. And yes, this is from The Color Purple. I personally love to stick my fingers out toward my enemies and lay this curse on them in my best Celie voice whenever possible.

#2:
“Take this quarter, go downtown, and have a rat gnaw that thing off your face! Good day to you, madam.”
La Turista strikes again. (I accidentally left out the rule where you're only supposed to guess one movie per person...oh well.) Uncle Buck. My very favorite John Candy movie. So sweet. So funny. And this scene? Where Buck tells off the principle at Maisy's school? Classic.

#3:
“Where do you get off behaving that way with women you don't even know, huh? How'd you feel if someone did that to your mother or your sister…or your wife?”
Ahh...Bookhart. This quote is from the scene where they make that obnoxious trucker pull over and then give him a tongue lashing before blowing his big rig away. But I'll never EVER forget laying eyes on Brad Pitt for the first time in Thelma & Louise. I went to see it with La Turista up at the old Lincoln movie theater up by Highland Mall, and I remember we both left the movie breathless. One, because of Brad, but secondly, because we'd never seen a movie about women quite like that.

#4:
When I came out into society I was 15. I already knew then that the role I was condemned to, namely to keep quiet and do what I was told, gave me the perfect opportunity to listen and observe. Not to what people told me, which naturally was of no interest to me, but to whatever it was they were trying to hide. I practiced detachment. I learn how to look cheerful while under the table I stuck a fork onto the back of my hand. I became a virtuoso of deceit. I consulted the strictest moralists to learn how to appear, philosophers to find out what to think, and novelists to see what I could get away with, and in the end it all came down to one wonderfully simple principle: win or die.
Yawn. La Turista. Again. She correctly guessed Dangerous Liaisons. I am a sucker for period films, John Malkovich, Baroque music, and Glenn Close. So the combo? Tres perfectique. I would give a jillion dollars to hoist my boobs up and get into one of those awesome costumes and play a role as meaty as the one Ms. Close owns in this film.

#5:
You know, I used to be in the music business, but now I'm what you might call retired. It's a refined name for bum.

#6:
Main Character: I can't believe it. I've been looking all over for this place. I don't know why, really. I spent a couple of days there when I was a kid, and, and I just remember having a really good time.
Old Motel Clerk: Me, too. My brother and I drowned a cat there once.
Main Character: Is that right?

#7:
Character 1: Do you know what the hell we had to go through after you took the car?
Character 2: Yeah, it was a dick move on my part. That's why I'm paying for your meal. [looks down to count money] Here's 80 for the meal, and 200 for the car
Character 3: What did you do to my car?
Character 2: I made some love stains in the back. You'll see...
Yep, Jaye--it's Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle. The best movie about pot and sliders ever made.

#8:
Female: How come you don't play during daytime? I see you here everyday.
Male: During the daytime people would want to hear songs that they know, just songs that they recognize. I play these songs at night or I wouldn't make any money. People wouldn't listen. Female: I listen.
Good call, Tuli. This quote is indeed from Once. I fell utterly in love with Dublin and Glen Hansard in this film. Amazing soundtrack.

#9:
Sicilians are great liars. The best in the world. I'm Sicilian. My father was the world heavy-weight champion of Sicilian liars. From growing up with him I learned the pantomime. There are seventeen different things a guy can do when he lies to give himself away. A guys got seventeen pantomimes. A woman's got twenty, but a guy's got seventeen... but, if you know them, like you know your own face, they beat lie detectors all to hell. Now, what we got here is a little game of show and tell. You don't wanna show me nothin', but you're tellin me everything. I know you know where they are, so tell me before I do some damage you won't walk away from.
The "Anonymous" Jimmy guessed correctly: True Romance. Although super violent, I love this damn movie, for this scene, if for nothing else--Dennis Hopper and Christopher Walken at the height of their game, just chewing up the scene.

#10:
Female: God, don't you ever feel like everything we do and everything we've been taught is just to service the future?
Male 1: Yeah I know, like it's all preparation.
Female: Right. But what are we preparing ourselves for?
Male 2: Death.
Male 1: Life of the party.
Male 2: It's true.
Female: You know, but that's valid because if we are all gonna die anyway shouldn't we be enjoying ourselves now? You know, I'd like to quit thinking of the present, like right now, as some minor insignificant preamble to something else.
Dazed and Confused it is, Sus. One of the most quotable movies ever, and filmed in Austin, to boot!

Schtuff.

Yep, it's gonna be one of those "brain dump" posts.

Sorry.

Try and stay with me.

First up: TITS! I had my bi-annual boob squish and chest X-ray today. Is there anything more awkward than getting a mammogram? Having some woman manhandle your boobage in between two acrylic boards only to have the girls squished six ways from Sunday is simply bizarre. I guess it's similar to the old "turn your head and cough" bit that you boys have to go through except that YOUR nuts don't get flattened and then photographed.

Anyway, my appointment actually took less time than I was expecting (when was that last time THAT happened at a medical appointment), but it still ended too late for it to make any sense for me to go back to work, so instead, I hauled ass to the movie theater and saw "Talk to Me." I've been a huge Don Cheadle fan since "Boogie Nights." His subtlety and depth is fascinating. This movie was great because of him. I'm so damn white that I'd never even HEARD of Petey Green before this movie came out, and after learning his story and the impact that he had on the African-American community, I'm pretty ashamed by that. Cheadle made you understand how this brash, in-your-face guy was also charming, compelling and attractive. All of the cast was great. And nothing really beats going and sitting in a cool movie theater on a sweltering summer afternoon after having your knockers mammographied.

Did I say "sweltering"? Yes, I did. After all of that rain that we were all bitching about, the summer has arrived with a vengeance. This week we had our first "ozone action" days, and I had to water my flower beds and yard for the first time. It is August after all, so I guess we shouldn't complain. I will say, however, that I wouldn't mind a bit more of that rain right about now.

Wait. I just realized that I totally forgot to tell you guys about the Rufus Wainwright show last Saturday.

Sigh.

Rufus...

Well, I went to the show with two friends from work and their other friend. We met even more friends there, and ran into more and more folks we knew throughout the night. Stubb's was sold out, and it's basically an outdoor pit, so with the teeming humanity and the lack of breeze and the fact that it's August in Austin, it was HOT. As fuck. But Neko Case put on a great--if waaaaaaaaay too short--set, and Rufus...well, Rufus was flawless.



His band was tight; his voice was perfect; and his banter was witty. Any guy who can pull off a striped "short set" with a huge cowboy hat, brooches, and a low slung belt and still look strangely sexy while singing his ass off is a-okay in my book.
And when he came back from the encore, he was sporting custom made lieder-hosen (I know I'm misspelling that. If you're German, please forgive.) Awesome.


Sunday was spent recuperating and blowing my Weight Watchers "Flex Points" with bloody Marys and Tex-Mex at Sazon. But fuck it: how often do I get to party with my friends while seeing Rufus? Never, that's how often.


For some reason, The Geej decided to board the "wake mommy up" train every night this week. Sunday night: 4 times. Monday night: 3 times (the last time was at 4:10 am, and I never got back to sleep until about 20 minutes before my alarm went off). So last night she went to stay with Dah, and man, was I ever looking forward to an uninterrupted night's sleep. But no: Earl had to do his thing: At about 3am, he crawled up on the pillow next to me and started making biscuits while purring so loudly that I'm pretty sure the neighbors' houses were shaking. Once he'd made his nest, he plopped his Rubenesque ass down and fell asleep. Then started snoring. When I shook him and told him to "shuthefuckup," he got up and started making biscuits and purring an inch away from my ear again. So, I kicked his ass out and shut the door. Then he started clawing under the door and crying. Fucking mama's boy. Talk about having to sleep in the bed you've made...

Lordy.

What else...let's see...

Oh! I went to BookPeople today and dropped serious cash on some books that I'm pretty sure I'm never going to have the time to read. I even splurged on two hard covers! What the Hell was I thinking?!

Finally, I'll leave you with one other funny Earl thing (sorry Badger). I wrote recently about how I got my autoharp back in shape. Well, I've really been practicing and picking out songs and working on my playing. The Geej loves it. She's always asking me to play my "music thing" during dinner, and since it takes her about 6 hours longer to eat than it take me, I gladly oblige to pass the time. Well, during one recent dinnertime serenade, I looked in my bedroom to find this in my autoharp case.

I love how he's maximizing his use of the space: head spilling over one end, tail over the other. Reminds me of that show on HGTV called "Small Space: Big Style."

Y'all, the boy has issues.

Spaaaaaaah Day

Really, why can't I have a day like this, say...once every other month? Hmmm? Oh yeah: I can't afford it.

But still...

First hour and a half--Hot stone massage. Oh lordy. Can I just tell you how fucked up I realized my lower back is during this massage? I mean, it's not good.

Next treatment (which took an hour), the avocado body mask--Listen kids, when you get old like me, you skin tends to lose a bit of that natural moisture it used to have in abundance. So basically, you start feeling like and itchy, dried up raisin. Yes, it's as sexy as it sounds. Anyhoo, this whole "winter," I've noticed this particular phenomenon more than ever (thank you surgically-induced menopause!!!), and damn if I haven't been one itchy, flaky mo-fo. So today this gal dry brushes all the sluff off of my skin, then she covers me in this deliciously amazing concoction that "she mixed up this morning" made of fresh avocados, cucumber and pure shea butter. Oh. My. LORD. I smelled like the best salad ever. Then you get wrapped in hot towels and covered neck to foot in a Steamy Wonder (tm), a steam tent that basically cooks you with that wonderful marinade on you. Meanwhile, up north, you're getting a scalp moisturization treatment and massage, and then a mini-facial. Wow. Yes, my skin feels like a 20 year old's right about now.

Finally, a spa pedicure (1 hour). It's sandal weather, people. Screw that "waiting until after Easter" bullshit when you live in Austin. My feet and toes needed their annual "lets get ready to appear in public" dust and shine. It was wonderful, and I even got to read People and Us Weekly while getting pedicurized. Extra bonus!!

After all of this insane luxury, I went and wandered around a book store. When was the last time I did that? God, I don't even know. Which is extra sad when you factor in the fact that I work across the street from one of the best independent bookstores in the country. Sigh. It was delightful, and I got out of there for less than $40.

Next up: Mindless movie. Went to see "Reno 911: Miami" with La Turista and had popcorn, Coke, and Twizzlers for lunch. Yum. The movie's not going to win any Oscars, but it was fun enough.

Went home. Decided to lie down "for a minute." The windows were open, and it was so pleasant. Plus, I was still feeling noodle-y from my spa treatments. Ended up sleeping for 2 1/2 hours. In the same position. Woke up stiff as the tin man and starving.

Started some laundry. Talked to The Geej and Dah. Tried to figure out if there was anything in this house I wanted to eat. Decided there wasn't. Called in an order to my favorite Thai place. Went to pick it up, and they were slammed! It took forever. I saw three people from work, and I looked like hammered/oily/relaxed hell. Oh well.

Came home, talked to Mr. Wonderful. I miss that guy. Ate dinner. Watched "Strangers With Candy." Finished laundry. Balanced checkbook.

Blogged.

See how important you are to me?

But seriously: Why can't I have a day like this once every other month?

Oh yeah...

Some random shizz.

I'm watching The Oscars right now. I'm not sure why, really. I mean, I think I've seen one of the movies that's nominated for stuff (Dreamgirls). Back in the day, I would've seen at least 80% of these films. Now I'm lucky if I see 5 movies at the theater in any given year. One thing I have noticed tonight is that there are a LOT of women on this show in neutral colored dresses. And there's the whole long hair over one shoulder thing. Other things I've realized:

• That segment/montage that the did about the foriegn language films that have won the Oscar in the past made me realize that there are a LOT of foriegn films I need to see.
• Why is Jack Nicholson totally bald?
• I'm still hot for Robert Downey, Jr.
• That "look who died this year" montage that they always do always makes me teary-eyed AND it always makes me go, "Really? I didn't know he/she was dead!" This year's surprise: Jack Ward.
• Mark Wahlberg is a hottie, despite the Boston accent.
• George Clooney really is one of the best looking men I've ever seen.
• Reese Whitherspoon looks better than she ever has. She makes me want to get bangs cut.
• I used to hate Leonardo DiCaprio, but I'm kind of a fan now.
• Forest Whitaker (who is from LONGVIEW, I might add) TOTALLY deserved best actor. I haven't seen The Last King of Scotland, but he was amazing in "Ghost Dog, Way of the Samurai," which is a great movie. Plus his acceptance speech was beautiful and heartfelt.
• I've heard enough good things about The Departed (and Scorsese just won best director), that I should probably see it. And man, he's short.
• Diane Keeton looks fucking amazing. As does Helen Miren. I need to figure out how to look like that when I'm their age.

Okay, it's freakin' 11:15. The Departed just won Best Picture. I'm tired. I swear I'm going to write more this week. I've just been swamped.

Has anyone ever died from hot flashes?

I ask this only half-way jokingly.

I have kept count today, and since I woke up at 6:35 this morning, I have had no fewer than one an hour. More often than not, I have at least 2 an hour. For those of you who haven't had the joy of experiencing these things, it feels like you're standing in a un-airconditioned tin shack filled with roaring wood-fired pizza ovens in Death Valley in mid-August at high noon. And it comes on very suddenly. One minute, you're fine, the next minute you're miserable. It usually only last a few minutes, but it just knocks the wind out of your sails and pisses you off at the same time. And when you're in Texas in the middle of a very hot summer, it just adds to the fun. I know I'm not the first woman to experience menopause symptoms, but having them come on so fast and furiously has just been super crummy. It just magnifies the experience. Turns it up to eleven, so to speak.

Oh god...and the mood swings. They've gotten pretty bad too. Today I just started bawling because Geem was being so clingy it was just wearing me out. I just broke down and sobbed. And the new Coldplay album...I can't listen to it without crying. Or Elliot Smith. Or Lloyd Cole for that matter. I watched "Finding Neverland" last night and cried like a weenie. I don't guess they're mood "swings" exactly because that would imply that that there are highs that offset the lows, and there aren't. Then again, if there were, I guess it would be "manic-depression," so I guess I'd better be satisfied with what I've got.

One week down...

It's been a week since I got back to Austin from Russia. Just one week. It feels like so much longer than that.

I look at my baby's pictures every day. I've watched the video I made of her--20 minutes of watching her and listening to me saying, "Who's the pretty baby...hello sweet girl...hi..."--at least 10 times. I pray for her every night. I pray that someone is looking after her, caring for her, that she's staying healthy and strong and that, on some level, she knows that I'm coming back. One week has gone by which means I'm one week closer to going back to get her. I don't know how I'm going to handle at least five more weeks away from her. This separation and waiting part just sucks.

Christmas has, thankfully, come and gone. I've never been a huge fan of Christmas. It was never a big deal in my family because a) I was on only child so there wasn't a whole lot of hoopla going on and b) since my parents divorced when I was seven, Christmas always seemed to mean trying to figure out which parent I was supposed to be with and who was going to shuttle me where and at what time. Then, a couple of years ago, my father died right before Christmas. And this Christmas was the first without my stepfather. Plus, I'm nearly 6,000 miles away from my sweet baby. So Christmas. Not really very crazy about it.

This year, I went over to my work friend Francesca's apartment for Christmas Eve. She's the only person I know whose kitchen is smaller than mine, but she managed to whoop up one hell of a feast: Dungeness crab with homemade curry aioli, asparagus, horseradish mashed potatoes, an enormous salad, and toast points with triple cream Brie and fig spread. All followed by a slice of Yule Log. Yum. Then we proceeded to drink a LOT of wine and champagne and watch three movies. I ended up crashing there due to my copious consumption of the grape, and waking up with a banging headache at 7:15 am Christmas Day. Went home. Took a shower, brushed the moss off my teeth, and got back into bed. Woke up some time later, and Francesca and I went to see Wes Anderson's latest, "Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou" at the Alamo Drafthouse where we soothed our hangovers with mimosas and popcorn.

The only Christmas gift I asked for (and got) was from my Mother: a large silver locket that I put some of The Geej's hair in. (I snipped it off with some fingernail clippers and stashed it in a Ziploc while the orphanage staff weren't looking.) It is something I will treasure for the rest of my life.

As bleak as my Christmas sounds, it was really okay. The weather was beautiful. I didn't have to travel. I didn't spend a lot of money I don't have on gifts for people. But for the rest of you, I hope your holiday was filled with family, great gifts and trouble-free travel. Next year, Christmas is going to rock because my daughter will be here, and it will be all about her.

God bless.