What a year, no? And it's going out with a bang what with The Godfather of Soul, Gerald Ford, and Saddam all biting the dust within a week of one another. I am happy to say that I am actually going out to celebrate the close of this strange year, and I'm super excited. If you've read this blog for any length of time and/or know me personally, you know what a psychotic Xanadu fan I am. So it makes TOTAL sense that I wouldn't be able to pass this event up, right? I mean, come ON!! That shit was made for me!! Plus, I haven't been out for NYE in at least 5 years. I'm not a big New Year's kind of gal anymore. In my twenties, sure. But now it all seems sort of asinine. I'm sure after tonight it will probably be at least another five years before something comes along that's tempting enough to lure me out of the house on NYE. Now I just need to go figure out what the fuck I'm going to wear...
This year was filled with high highs (falling in love with Mr. Wonderful, my promotion at work, making it halfway through potty training The Geej, the Geej's wonderful new school, etc.) and very low lows (the whole hospital ordeal, putting Ellen to sleep). I want next year to bore my socks off. I hope that it is utterly uneventful, but with my track record, I don't see that really happening.
I haven't made any resolutions per se. However, I have figured out a kick ass tattoo I want to get, and I'd like to have it designed and ready to go by April 5th--the date that the Geej's adoption was finalized. And the area of my body where I want this thing to go could use some, uh, firming up. So I guess that's sort of a goal/resolution.
Speaking of The Geej, she did something hilarious yesterday. I was talking with Mr. Wonderful on the phone, and she was playing near by. I told him "shut up" in a playful way, and suddenly, she was walking around saying "Shut UP! Shut UP!" to everything. She walked up to Earl and said, "Shut UP, purring!" And then she continued her tirade by saying, "Shut UP, door!" "Shut UP, Christmas tree!" "Shut UP, window!" And on and on and on. Sigh... That's going to be a hard one to explain she she goes back to school.
I guess I'll finish up this post by doing a fun new meme that Jaye made up.
Open iTunes. Click the column header for "Play Count". What are the first five songs listed?
Independence Day--Elliot Smith
Crazy--Gnarls Barkley
Black Sweat--Prince
Yellow Sarong--Yo La Tengo
Pitseleh--Elliot Smith
Click the column header for Last Played. What are the first 5 songs?
I Won--The Sundays
Street Spirit (Fade Out)--Radiohead
A Prayer for England--Massive Attack
Going Down to Liverpool--The Bangles
Get Happy--The Bud Powell Trio
Click Party Shuffle. What are the first 5 songs?
Easter Song--A Man Called Adam
The Hollow--A Perfect Circle
Not Too Soon--Throwing Muses
Tears of God--Los Lobos
The Space Between--Zero 7
Click the column header Year. What are the first 5 songs from 1994?
The first five songs from The Beastie Boys, Ill Communication
Click the column header My Rating. What are the first 5 songs?
Um yeah...I haven't ever rated anything.
Finally, look at the bottom of your iTunes window. How many days of music do you have?
25.4 days
Happy New Year folks!!
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Are you a troublemaker?
Watch this handy filmstrip to find out!
YouTube really DOES have everything on it.
YouTube really DOES have everything on it.
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
I know this was a bad idea...
Today I ended up working from home because an el grande water main break at the major downtown intersection where my office is located meant that there'd be no peeing or pooing in our building all day long. My bladder is, more or less, the size of a grape, so that wasn't going to cut it for me. Anyway, I used the opportunity to run up to Petsmart around lunchtime and stock up on Earl provisions. He was just about out of everything, and clearly he's about to starve to death.
Well, while I was back there in the kitty section, I had to swing by and glance at the potential feline adoptees, right? I always do that. You know, just cruise by and say hi. But this time, this very nice woman who volunteers for the rescue group where these cats come from started talking to me, and I told her about Ellen, and the next thing you know--boom--I'm meeting two of the kitties in the "getting to know you" room.
WTF?
First up was Sheila, a 4 year old female calico. So mellow and pudgy and sweet, with green, green eyes.
Second was Zoot, a 1 year old tuxedo male with a fun personality and lots of affection.
Damnit! They were both wonderful.
I left there and thought about them all afternoon. Finally I couldn't stand it anymore, and took The Geej up to meet the kitties to see if there was any kind of magical sign that one or the other of them should come home with us. When I got there, I learned that Zoot had ALREADY BEEN ADOPTED!! I guess that made part of the decision for us. But The Geej wasn't feeling all that hot today (she'd been running a fever earlier that I'd kept at bay by alternating ibuprofen and Tylenol), so she was a tad bit underwhelmed by the whole experience. Once again, Sheila was sweet and playful, and better yet, she was not at all afraid of the baby. My impulse was to scoop her up and take her home with us. But I didn't.
I decided to sleep on it, but now I can get that kitty out of my mind. I'm not sure how that big, fat mama's boy (pictured above) would deal with having a new little sister, but I can tell he's lonely without grumpy, old Ellen to torment.
God, what should I do?!
Well, while I was back there in the kitty section, I had to swing by and glance at the potential feline adoptees, right? I always do that. You know, just cruise by and say hi. But this time, this very nice woman who volunteers for the rescue group where these cats come from started talking to me, and I told her about Ellen, and the next thing you know--boom--I'm meeting two of the kitties in the "getting to know you" room.WTF?
First up was Sheila, a 4 year old female calico. So mellow and pudgy and sweet, with green, green eyes.
Second was Zoot, a 1 year old tuxedo male with a fun personality and lots of affection.
Damnit! They were both wonderful.
I left there and thought about them all afternoon. Finally I couldn't stand it anymore, and took The Geej up to meet the kitties to see if there was any kind of magical sign that one or the other of them should come home with us. When I got there, I learned that Zoot had ALREADY BEEN ADOPTED!! I guess that made part of the decision for us. But The Geej wasn't feeling all that hot today (she'd been running a fever earlier that I'd kept at bay by alternating ibuprofen and Tylenol), so she was a tad bit underwhelmed by the whole experience. Once again, Sheila was sweet and playful, and better yet, she was not at all afraid of the baby. My impulse was to scoop her up and take her home with us. But I didn't.
I decided to sleep on it, but now I can get that kitty out of my mind. I'm not sure how that big, fat mama's boy (pictured above) would deal with having a new little sister, but I can tell he's lonely without grumpy, old Ellen to torment.
God, what should I do?!
Monday, December 25, 2006
Merry merry, and all that jazz.
Well, Christmas 2006 has come and gone. The Geej was more than delighted with her haul of Santa-provided goodies. Per her very steady request, she did receive "a baby, and a blanket, and a house." Plus she got a lot of other stuff that she has been enjoying. I've probably heard the question, "Do you want to play with my new toys?" about 100 times in the past 24 hours.
For Christmas, I got gas logs installed in my fireplace and a pretty new fireplace screen. It was a cold and rainy weekend, so the fireplace got used a lot. I miss the pop and hiss of a real fire, but the convenience and lack-o-mess that these gas logs provide means that I'll get a lot more use out of the fireplace than I would've otherwise.
Tomorrow, it's back to work. Her school is closed for the next two weeks, so my DEAR mother is doing the bulk of daytime Geej-tending. God BLESS her! I'm just glad this year is coming to a damn close. It's been a bit schizophrenic--very high highs, and shitacular lows. Know what I want in 2007? Calm. I want it to be boring and uneventful, even. I'm sure that won't happen. I've got quite a penchant for drama in my little life, but calmness is what I'm wishing for just the same.
By the way, this is what you look like after you scarf down a gingerbread Santa cookie from Sweetish Hill:
Hope yours was a good one. Now 364 days until we get to do it all over again.
For Christmas, I got gas logs installed in my fireplace and a pretty new fireplace screen. It was a cold and rainy weekend, so the fireplace got used a lot. I miss the pop and hiss of a real fire, but the convenience and lack-o-mess that these gas logs provide means that I'll get a lot more use out of the fireplace than I would've otherwise.
Tomorrow, it's back to work. Her school is closed for the next two weeks, so my DEAR mother is doing the bulk of daytime Geej-tending. God BLESS her! I'm just glad this year is coming to a damn close. It's been a bit schizophrenic--very high highs, and shitacular lows. Know what I want in 2007? Calm. I want it to be boring and uneventful, even. I'm sure that won't happen. I've got quite a penchant for drama in my little life, but calmness is what I'm wishing for just the same.
By the way, this is what you look like after you scarf down a gingerbread Santa cookie from Sweetish Hill:
Hope yours was a good one. Now 364 days until we get to do it all over again.
Friday, December 22, 2006
ARRRRRRRGH! Oh, I mean: HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Do you feel it--the "joy" (a.k.a. insane stress) of the holidays? I drove past Target last night at around 9pm and the parking lot was full FULL, all the way out to MoPac. I was just in Whole Foods, and I'm pretty sure 2/3 of Austin was also in there with me. From where I currently am (on the 6th floor of my office building), I can see that traffic is backed up on 6th St. from Lamar to way past Guadalupe. I know most of this means nothing to those of you unfamiliar with the roadways of Austin, but it's all to say, PEOPLE ARE GOING NUTS because there are only a couple of days left before Christmas.
I've been busy as well, hence my lack of posting. So this one's probably going to be a long one because I have a lot to tell you fools. And besides, I know you've got all the time in the world to read my drivel.
Okay, first up: My kid. A couple of weeks ago, I had a talk with her because she'd been wandering into my room early each morning and wanting to get in bed with me. This in and of itself is not a bad thing at all. However, when you're sleep-challenged like me, and rarely--if ever--are able to get fully back to sleep after these encounters, then it does become an issue. Especially if the wandering times are getting earlier and earlier--5:30am, 4:50am, 3:20am, etc. So one night as I was putting her to bed, I told her how, if she woke up in the middle of the night, all she had to do was close her eyes, and she'd go back to sleep. That her waking up didn't mean she had to get out of bed and walk all the way across the house in the dark to get in Mommy's bed. Besides, it's not nice to wake people up when they're sleeping. Especially Mommy because she's very tired. Apparently, this one conversation was all it took, because from that night on, the midnight visits stopped, and my sleep was much better. Until Wednesday night, that is. I was sleeping (I sleep on the right side of the bed, close to the edge), and I reached my hand down to put it by my side, and I touched something that didn't feel like bed. It felt like a head. A little person's head. It was The Geej, and it scared the shit out of me. Normally, I hear her opening her door to come my way over the baby monitor, and I'm well awake before she even gets to my room. But I apparently slept through it on Wednesday night. So there she stood, leaning against the side of my bed, totally asleep. That's right people: she was asleep STANDING UP with her hed lying next to my hip. How freaky is this?! I feel like the worst mommy of all time. Apparently, she didn't want to wake me up, but wanted to be with me anyway... Or maybe she was just sleepwalking. Who knows? How long had she been there? God!! So I pulled her up into the bed with me an placed her head on the pillow next to mine. I lay back down with my heart racing from the shock of what had just happened. Suddenly, I heard the loudest purr imaginable, right next to my head. Apparently, Earl had been snoozing on the pillow next to mine, unbeknownst to me, and when I'd put The Geej over there, her head had ended up square in the middle of Earl's ample gut. She was wearing him like a helmet. And now GJ was steadily sucking on her pacifier like Maggy Simpson. So between the sucking and the purring and the racing heart, I pretty much knew my sleep for the night was done for. I was right.
Second, my mom. Ya'll: Cheryl's got a boyfriend!! She met this guy named Paul, who just happens to be the exact age of my deceased step-father, which means he's 12 YEARS OLDER than my mom. My mom's a very youthful 60, and she's going after a guy who's 72, just had cataract surgery and wears 2 hearing aids? Um, okay. Anyway, I'm FINALLY getting to meet this guy tonight as we're all hooking up for dinner. Should be interesting.
Work has been absolutely nuts this week. Just lots of stuff to be done in a very short period of time. But thankfully, today was payday. Speaking of, I had a message from a collections agency on my voicemail at home last night. I automatically assumed that--FUCK--some of my medical billing had gotten screwed up (as it has done in the past), and that now I was going to have some big, awful smear on my credit report. I called them back today, and thankfully, they had the wrong number. But Jim Price, whoever you are, sounds like you're fucked.
Remember when I told ya'll a few posts back about how cool I am? Well, I may have entered an entirely new realm of coolness today. I had to wear a skirt/tights to work today because all of my jeans were dirty. I put the tights on, and they seemed fine. But by the time I'd made it to work, I realized that the elastic around the hips/waist part was shot, and that they were steadily heading southward and taking my underwear with them. I sent out a panicked e-mail to my female coworkers asking for safety pins to secure said tights to the waistband of my skirt, but then discovered that to be a major issue when I had to pee. So I came up with this ingenious solution:
See? I had three of these suckers holding my drawers up: one on each side, and one in the back. I'm a genius. And a fashion plate!! God, you're lucky to know me...
I went and picked up Ellen's ashes from the vet's office this morning. I don't know what I was expecting, but they did a really nice job. There's a little clay paw print and a certificate of cremation. The ashes themselves are contained in a little wooden chest with a gold lock and a nameplate. So sweet... I can't believe she's already been gone a week.
Mr. Wonderful got snowed in in the big blizzard that just hit Colorado. He sent me some crazy ass pictures of the snow. I got cold just looking at them. I do NOT miss weather like that. I remember dealing with a couple of those suckers when I lived in Chicago--when it would get so damn cold that even our Siberian Husky had better sense than to go outside--and it was no fun at all.
Speaking of Mr. Wonderful, today is the 1-year anniversary of the day that he sent me that fateful e-mail out of the blue. It's funny to look back at what I thought back then. A lot's happened in a year...
Okay, that's it for now. Whew. I'll leave you with a Christmasy photo to hopefully instill some cheer into your busy day. Ho ho ho!!
I've been busy as well, hence my lack of posting. So this one's probably going to be a long one because I have a lot to tell you fools. And besides, I know you've got all the time in the world to read my drivel.
Okay, first up: My kid. A couple of weeks ago, I had a talk with her because she'd been wandering into my room early each morning and wanting to get in bed with me. This in and of itself is not a bad thing at all. However, when you're sleep-challenged like me, and rarely--if ever--are able to get fully back to sleep after these encounters, then it does become an issue. Especially if the wandering times are getting earlier and earlier--5:30am, 4:50am, 3:20am, etc. So one night as I was putting her to bed, I told her how, if she woke up in the middle of the night, all she had to do was close her eyes, and she'd go back to sleep. That her waking up didn't mean she had to get out of bed and walk all the way across the house in the dark to get in Mommy's bed. Besides, it's not nice to wake people up when they're sleeping. Especially Mommy because she's very tired. Apparently, this one conversation was all it took, because from that night on, the midnight visits stopped, and my sleep was much better. Until Wednesday night, that is. I was sleeping (I sleep on the right side of the bed, close to the edge), and I reached my hand down to put it by my side, and I touched something that didn't feel like bed. It felt like a head. A little person's head. It was The Geej, and it scared the shit out of me. Normally, I hear her opening her door to come my way over the baby monitor, and I'm well awake before she even gets to my room. But I apparently slept through it on Wednesday night. So there she stood, leaning against the side of my bed, totally asleep. That's right people: she was asleep STANDING UP with her hed lying next to my hip. How freaky is this?! I feel like the worst mommy of all time. Apparently, she didn't want to wake me up, but wanted to be with me anyway... Or maybe she was just sleepwalking. Who knows? How long had she been there? God!! So I pulled her up into the bed with me an placed her head on the pillow next to mine. I lay back down with my heart racing from the shock of what had just happened. Suddenly, I heard the loudest purr imaginable, right next to my head. Apparently, Earl had been snoozing on the pillow next to mine, unbeknownst to me, and when I'd put The Geej over there, her head had ended up square in the middle of Earl's ample gut. She was wearing him like a helmet. And now GJ was steadily sucking on her pacifier like Maggy Simpson. So between the sucking and the purring and the racing heart, I pretty much knew my sleep for the night was done for. I was right.
Second, my mom. Ya'll: Cheryl's got a boyfriend!! She met this guy named Paul, who just happens to be the exact age of my deceased step-father, which means he's 12 YEARS OLDER than my mom. My mom's a very youthful 60, and she's going after a guy who's 72, just had cataract surgery and wears 2 hearing aids? Um, okay. Anyway, I'm FINALLY getting to meet this guy tonight as we're all hooking up for dinner. Should be interesting.
Work has been absolutely nuts this week. Just lots of stuff to be done in a very short period of time. But thankfully, today was payday. Speaking of, I had a message from a collections agency on my voicemail at home last night. I automatically assumed that--FUCK--some of my medical billing had gotten screwed up (as it has done in the past), and that now I was going to have some big, awful smear on my credit report. I called them back today, and thankfully, they had the wrong number. But Jim Price, whoever you are, sounds like you're fucked.
Remember when I told ya'll a few posts back about how cool I am? Well, I may have entered an entirely new realm of coolness today. I had to wear a skirt/tights to work today because all of my jeans were dirty. I put the tights on, and they seemed fine. But by the time I'd made it to work, I realized that the elastic around the hips/waist part was shot, and that they were steadily heading southward and taking my underwear with them. I sent out a panicked e-mail to my female coworkers asking for safety pins to secure said tights to the waistband of my skirt, but then discovered that to be a major issue when I had to pee. So I came up with this ingenious solution:
See? I had three of these suckers holding my drawers up: one on each side, and one in the back. I'm a genius. And a fashion plate!! God, you're lucky to know me...
I went and picked up Ellen's ashes from the vet's office this morning. I don't know what I was expecting, but they did a really nice job. There's a little clay paw print and a certificate of cremation. The ashes themselves are contained in a little wooden chest with a gold lock and a nameplate. So sweet... I can't believe she's already been gone a week.
Mr. Wonderful got snowed in in the big blizzard that just hit Colorado. He sent me some crazy ass pictures of the snow. I got cold just looking at them. I do NOT miss weather like that. I remember dealing with a couple of those suckers when I lived in Chicago--when it would get so damn cold that even our Siberian Husky had better sense than to go outside--and it was no fun at all.
Speaking of Mr. Wonderful, today is the 1-year anniversary of the day that he sent me that fateful e-mail out of the blue. It's funny to look back at what I thought back then. A lot's happened in a year...
Okay, that's it for now. Whew. I'll leave you with a Christmasy photo to hopefully instill some cheer into your busy day. Ho ho ho!!
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
You know what's NOT a good idea?
Reading the book "Cat Heaven" to your 2 year old who keeps asking, "Where's Ellen?" every 5 minutes after an exhausting day at work plus an after-work trip to the damn grocery store to stock up on stuff to make snacks for an entire Montessori class full of 2 and 3 year olds all week on a miserable, drizzly day that just happens to be the four-year anniversary of your father's death right after you've begun taking some new hormones and are running on only 5 hour of sleep.
Not a good idea at all.
Oh, I wanted ya'll to know that this dog is up for adoption at Town Lake Animal Shelter:
He's the funniest looking, most adorable dog ever, and I would go get him right this second if I thought I had the energy or time to give him the kind of home he deserves. Did I mention Town Lake is a kill shelter? Yeah, his days are numbered. Why was I looking at this website? Good fucking question.
God, I just want to crawl under the covers and not come out until March.
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