Well, I need more sleep.
How are you? I feel pretty good. I paid bills yesterday. I actually had to use some of my emergency money. Not much of that left, actually. I will feel some serious panic when it is gone. But I do like it when I can just pay the bills when they come.
"Dut, dut, dut, dut...." That's what I played at taiko last night. I know. Enough to give you chills. Okay, so it wasn't super exciting, but I was happy to be there. We have a performance the week from Saturday in Osage Beach. (Then, two days later, I go right back on my way to help Gran with her pictures.) Anyway, should be fun. The performance and the visit.
I have a ton of movies to watch, all of a sudden. We have Trainspotting, which we've never seen, and Netflix sent us The Proposal, and Brother gave me a copy of Serenity. Josh and I did watch a movie this weekend, though! We watched City Slickers. Haven't seen it in 8 years, probably, but it's a classic. Cute writing, great acting. Good stuff. ...And why do I get the feeling that there is another movie that I was supposed to watch....?
Actually a bit miffed with Brother. He was mean to my mommy, and she's got enough on her plate. You know, for a guy who reads Judith Martin he's still got a lot to learn politeness-wise.
Still hoping that Josh will find a fantastic new job and things will greatly improve. Don't really know what it would take, but I am hoping.
So, reading DRACULA for Halloween is fun. It really shows the difference a century makes. Personally, I think that the characters in this book are enormously more civilized than we are in all our technology. Depressing. And I feel at a disadvantage because of my advantages. Meaning the various characters spent a great deal of effort to beautifully describe their surroundings, but because I've seen pictures/movies of what they are describing already, my patience suffers. It shouldn't.
I may or may not go to the mall today. If I do, I should call Lisa K. and see if she wants to meet us. Josh thinks I should, but I mostly want to go back to sleep and hibernate.
And if Jay hadn't said something funny about the time change this weekend, I would have totally forgotten and been an hour late to taiko on Sunday. Um...that's right, right?
My mommy is coming on Halloween, and maybe my cousin Mackenzie, too. We'll have to see. I was given a bunch of spice cake mixes lately, so maybe I'll make cupcakes. Dunno. We'll have to see.
Hope you all have a great day and week and weekend!
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Parts of Speech
First of all, I didn't win the lottery.
Second of all, I'm still sick, and it's making me feel very tired. I took some decongestants. With any luck, it will keep me from getting infections in my ears and sinuses. Cross your fingers! I might make some green tea in a minute.
Third of all (That sounds weird. Is that common usage?), Brother has changed his plans, and I will only be seeing him on Saturday. As of yesterday evening, I was expecting him for Friday and Saturday, but he's staying in Rolla in order to see some other friends of ours who couldn't make it on Wednesday, like we had thought. The upside is that I can offload half of my today list onto tomorrow. Possibly, I will still need to go to Wal-Mart. We shall see.
And now, the gripe of the day. You know you were waiting for it! PBS Kids says, "The more you learn and know, the smarter you'll grow!" They are a self proclaimed educational program. Well, group of programs. Between the children's shows, there is an announcer/hostess who introduces the show and does some educational interludes. HOWEVER. Today the lady was showing how you can make your voice sound different, by, "TALKING LOUD! ...Or quiet. I can speak reallyreallyreallyfast!! Or....REAL.....SLOW."
Did you catch it? Did you? Did you, did you?
Educational. You would think that they would blush to expose the children of the nation to yet more incorrect English. Josh says that they are doing fine. They aren't speaking Ebonics, and nobody knows correct English anyway. Well, THIS is why!
For those of you who go under Josh's blanket generalization of "nobody knows", I will now tell you that verbs such as "talking" are to be modified by adverbs, such as "slowly" or "quickly" or "loudly" or "quietly". Adverbs are to be modified by other adverbs, such as"really". I won't even go into the fact that this would be a poor usage of "really".
According to my mother, the English language (she uses fancy words like descriptive and proscriptive) is changed to whatever the "educated" people do. Every few years, the Oxford dictionary dumbs down our language a little more, based on the ignorance of the country. Did you know that it is now considered CORRECT to split an infinitive? Sure, I do it, but it's not like I thought I was being correct. I would never consider it for a formal setting.
YIKES!
Why is it that our scholars are required to know less and less. If English is so important (they all say it is, you know), than why is no one required to KNOW IT?
Well, you get the idea. I'm sick of people being taught, but not being expected to know.
It's a rainy Thursday. I'm off to bathe my son. Hope your day is treating you well. We're not so bad here. We even know how to use an adverb. So there.
Second of all, I'm still sick, and it's making me feel very tired. I took some decongestants. With any luck, it will keep me from getting infections in my ears and sinuses. Cross your fingers! I might make some green tea in a minute.
Third of all (That sounds weird. Is that common usage?), Brother has changed his plans, and I will only be seeing him on Saturday. As of yesterday evening, I was expecting him for Friday and Saturday, but he's staying in Rolla in order to see some other friends of ours who couldn't make it on Wednesday, like we had thought. The upside is that I can offload half of my today list onto tomorrow. Possibly, I will still need to go to Wal-Mart. We shall see.
And now, the gripe of the day. You know you were waiting for it! PBS Kids says, "The more you learn and know, the smarter you'll grow!" They are a self proclaimed educational program. Well, group of programs. Between the children's shows, there is an announcer/hostess who introduces the show and does some educational interludes. HOWEVER. Today the lady was showing how you can make your voice sound different, by, "TALKING LOUD! ...Or quiet. I can speak reallyreallyreallyfast!! Or....REAL.....SLOW."
Did you catch it? Did you? Did you, did you?
Educational. You would think that they would blush to expose the children of the nation to yet more incorrect English. Josh says that they are doing fine. They aren't speaking Ebonics, and nobody knows correct English anyway. Well, THIS is why!
For those of you who go under Josh's blanket generalization of "nobody knows", I will now tell you that verbs such as "talking" are to be modified by adverbs, such as "slowly" or "quickly" or "loudly" or "quietly". Adverbs are to be modified by other adverbs, such as"really". I won't even go into the fact that this would be a poor usage of "really".
According to my mother, the English language (she uses fancy words like descriptive and proscriptive) is changed to whatever the "educated" people do. Every few years, the Oxford dictionary dumbs down our language a little more, based on the ignorance of the country. Did you know that it is now considered CORRECT to split an infinitive? Sure, I do it, but it's not like I thought I was being correct. I would never consider it for a formal setting.
YIKES!
Why is it that our scholars are required to know less and less. If English is so important (they all say it is, you know), than why is no one required to KNOW IT?
Well, you get the idea. I'm sick of people being taught, but not being expected to know.
It's a rainy Thursday. I'm off to bathe my son. Hope your day is treating you well. We're not so bad here. We even know how to use an adverb. So there.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Looking Up
Maybe there is a hint of more relaxed, stress-free times ahead. Or maybe I just don't feel like being miserable.
We've been sick. Abbie was not alone. Last night was the first time this week that everyone slept in his own bed. It was a relief not to be sleeping with Abbie. I get no rest like that. So, we are all varying degrees of ill today, some a little congested, some a little horse, all better than yesterday and ready to feel better.
Guess what Josh did this morning. He applied for a new job. Even if work doesn't come through as promised, we aren't going to sit in this holding pattern forever.
I was sad that I couldn't go to taiko last night. I was more excited than usual to be going. Don't know why, I guess I was just in the mood. There's always tomorrow!
Do you think my lottery ticket is going to win tonight? Well, neither do I, to be honest. But I'm still enjoying the idea of paying the house off and buying us all some new winter socks.
You know what I'm in the mood for? Going to see a movie! And smuggling candy in my coat pockets. Or...going to the U.K. for a few weeks. (You might think that one of these is slightly unrealistic. But what you don't realize is.....they are both equally unlikely.)
Things are pretty not bad. None of us are in the hospital. Jake doesn't have cancer. The good car and the crappy car both still go forward when you turn them on. The house keeps out the cold and the wet. And I have a chocolate bar hidden in my dresser. Emergencies, you know.
On to current events: The balloon kid. Eh. Don't want to talk about it. Lousy people. What else is there... Extortion, Politics...Hmm.... My favorite story in the recent news is the African king who was working as a nurse's assistant in the northeastern U.S.A. until the socio-political climate in his own country was such that he could return home and assume his crown. Yay! I think all leaders should have to have done some work in hospital-type settings prior to beginning their work as leaders. Whether he is an altruistic humanitarian or not, he certainly seems that way. I wish him luck!
In a movie mood. See any good movies lately?
In case you are curious, the job Josh is particularly interested in is shift work, and pays 17 dollars/hr. He told me today that that was like winning the lottery for him.
Off I go to make frozen totinos pizza again! Pretty yummy!
We've been sick. Abbie was not alone. Last night was the first time this week that everyone slept in his own bed. It was a relief not to be sleeping with Abbie. I get no rest like that. So, we are all varying degrees of ill today, some a little congested, some a little horse, all better than yesterday and ready to feel better.
Guess what Josh did this morning. He applied for a new job. Even if work doesn't come through as promised, we aren't going to sit in this holding pattern forever.
I was sad that I couldn't go to taiko last night. I was more excited than usual to be going. Don't know why, I guess I was just in the mood. There's always tomorrow!
Do you think my lottery ticket is going to win tonight? Well, neither do I, to be honest. But I'm still enjoying the idea of paying the house off and buying us all some new winter socks.
You know what I'm in the mood for? Going to see a movie! And smuggling candy in my coat pockets. Or...going to the U.K. for a few weeks. (You might think that one of these is slightly unrealistic. But what you don't realize is.....they are both equally unlikely.)
Things are pretty not bad. None of us are in the hospital. Jake doesn't have cancer. The good car and the crappy car both still go forward when you turn them on. The house keeps out the cold and the wet. And I have a chocolate bar hidden in my dresser. Emergencies, you know.
On to current events: The balloon kid. Eh. Don't want to talk about it. Lousy people. What else is there... Extortion, Politics...Hmm.... My favorite story in the recent news is the African king who was working as a nurse's assistant in the northeastern U.S.A. until the socio-political climate in his own country was such that he could return home and assume his crown. Yay! I think all leaders should have to have done some work in hospital-type settings prior to beginning their work as leaders. Whether he is an altruistic humanitarian or not, he certainly seems that way. I wish him luck!
In a movie mood. See any good movies lately?
In case you are curious, the job Josh is particularly interested in is shift work, and pays 17 dollars/hr. He told me today that that was like winning the lottery for him.
Off I go to make frozen totinos pizza again! Pretty yummy!
Monday, October 19, 2009
No Room for Stress. That Seat is Taken.
I'm super tired, so I don't feel bad that I just copied this from my other blog:
Abbie has a cold. Her colds, it seems, are like mine - miserable. Last night she slept in my room and Josh escaped to Grant's, I think. I'm not sure who this was designed to benefit. Abbie never slept more than 20 minutes at a time. So neither did I. She's very congested today, but doing fine. She's singing little congested songs. I, on the other hand, would like to fall over right now. (I'm just not so sure about the landing.)
The weather is beautiful. Wish we were all healthy and well rested, we might appreciate it even more.
Today, we took Jake to the vet at the Petsmart where he usually gets his nails clipped. The sore on his face is some sort of infection. For $200.00, we could find out what kind, or for 70 we could try Neosporin and an oral antibiotic and see if that works. We opted for that, although that's still a ton of money for us. We are broke to an unprecedented degree this week. Josh moved all our savings into our checking account, so now we have about 100 dollars. For the first time, Josh told me that he's afraid he's not going to get his raise at work. That was this morning. But I am too tired to wrap my brain around our depressing state of affairs right now. All I've got, brain-power-wise, is, "Frozennn Pizzaaaa...! Dishes are cllllllllllean.... Where is other shoe....?"
I think I hear a goose flying over my house.
Brother's plane arrived on time without any hiccups, and we had red stew and cake at our house. The stew was really good. The cake tastes fine, but is hideous! The nuts I added gave it a chicken pox appearance, and I didn't ice it, so it was very obvious. To make up for it, I served it on very pretty plates. It would be a fantastic tea cake. I was going to make some tea to go with it this morning, but the weather changed. Brother is in Columbia today with his friends. I still don't know which day he is coming back to Warrenton, or if he's coming to taiko with me, or where we're going Saturday, or whether or not we're doing pumpkins on Friday.
I have one baking apple left. If it lasts in the fridge, I'm going to make the cake again when I go to my grandmother's house next month. I'll do a spice cake with apple and walnut. Very seasonal, don't you think? And I'll make it in the bundt cake pan. I bet she'll love it.
Wish I had a few spare dollars. It's picnic weather. Oh! It's St. Louis Bread Co. picnic weather. I am now craving some baked potato soup. Yum. Hope your day is good to you. And I hope my lottery ticket is a winner!
Abbie has a cold. Her colds, it seems, are like mine - miserable. Last night she slept in my room and Josh escaped to Grant's, I think. I'm not sure who this was designed to benefit. Abbie never slept more than 20 minutes at a time. So neither did I. She's very congested today, but doing fine. She's singing little congested songs. I, on the other hand, would like to fall over right now. (I'm just not so sure about the landing.)
The weather is beautiful. Wish we were all healthy and well rested, we might appreciate it even more.
Today, we took Jake to the vet at the Petsmart where he usually gets his nails clipped. The sore on his face is some sort of infection. For $200.00, we could find out what kind, or for 70 we could try Neosporin and an oral antibiotic and see if that works. We opted for that, although that's still a ton of money for us. We are broke to an unprecedented degree this week. Josh moved all our savings into our checking account, so now we have about 100 dollars. For the first time, Josh told me that he's afraid he's not going to get his raise at work. That was this morning. But I am too tired to wrap my brain around our depressing state of affairs right now. All I've got, brain-power-wise, is, "Frozennn Pizzaaaa...! Dishes are cllllllllllean.... Where is other shoe....?"
I think I hear a goose flying over my house.
Brother's plane arrived on time without any hiccups, and we had red stew and cake at our house. The stew was really good. The cake tastes fine, but is hideous! The nuts I added gave it a chicken pox appearance, and I didn't ice it, so it was very obvious. To make up for it, I served it on very pretty plates. It would be a fantastic tea cake. I was going to make some tea to go with it this morning, but the weather changed. Brother is in Columbia today with his friends. I still don't know which day he is coming back to Warrenton, or if he's coming to taiko with me, or where we're going Saturday, or whether or not we're doing pumpkins on Friday.
I have one baking apple left. If it lasts in the fridge, I'm going to make the cake again when I go to my grandmother's house next month. I'll do a spice cake with apple and walnut. Very seasonal, don't you think? And I'll make it in the bundt cake pan. I bet she'll love it.
Wish I had a few spare dollars. It's picnic weather. Oh! It's St. Louis Bread Co. picnic weather. I am now craving some baked potato soup. Yum. Hope your day is good to you. And I hope my lottery ticket is a winner!
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Cold Rain
I hope the weather on Halloween is slightly more temperate, for Abbie's sake. What would be the point of being dressed as a ballerina if you are then required to be in a heavy coat and mittens? Well, maybe she will keep it on to help pass out candy. And I hope Grant's giraffe costume will still fit over a thick sweatshirt. I think it will....
Brother comes this weekend. I've decided, due to this very inspirational weather, to make a stew and another apple cake. Doesn't that sound about right? Hope it goes over well. Currently, we are living off the jambalaya I made Sunday evening. Still great. I love that recipe.
Abbie can count to 29, using her fingers as a visual aid. (You know, first putting them all up, then putting them all down, then all up again.) As usual, she just did it one day, and didn't let on if she'd been practicing. At lunch today, she looked up at me and said, "H is for hotdog." Correct. Grant, lately, has been involved with memorizing the names of places and animals. Cahen, you will be amused that he is particularly interested in Oregon. And I hear things like, "Mommy, is Jake a mammal?" "Mommy, is a stingray a mammal?" "Mommy, a snake is a reptile."
Something is wrong with Jake. He has a sore on his cheek. It's close enough to his nose that it could even be an infected whisker or something. I was worried enough to consider taking him to Rolla Monday. But it looked better, so I didn't do anything. I'm not trying to, but I keep getting flashes to the cat of my childhood and the open sore on his head when he started to show signs of feline leukemia. (About 8 months later, they developed a vaccine for it, of course.) I don't want to worry. God knows I have enough to worry about this month. I can't help it. He may not be Dexter, but he's definitely the sweetest dog I've ever met. I don't want anything to be wrong.
I need to schedule a few days to visit my grandmother. We said November. Already I have to work around Grant's dentist appointment and a visit from Miss Penny and some taiko. I think. Have to update all that.
I took the kids to the mall yesterday. I had a gift card to Borders, and just needed to go. I bought a cute book, which I've already finished. I found another old Borders gift card while changing purses and it magically had ten dollars still, so I really only used 3 on the other card. I have another spree in my future! I also bought a canister for my favorite jasmine tea. I have three favorite teas, and now two have canisters. More on that in a sec. I also took the kid's ice cream money that my grandmother gave them over the summer. They each had four dollars. They bought a giant pretzel from Auntie Annie's, and Japanese gummy snacks from the tea shop, and shared both.
When I came home, I found out that my other favorite tea is discontinued. This is the one I can drink at any time, because it doesn't have caffine. I'm rediculously sad about this. Plus, if I had known 12 hours sooner, I could have bought some more. One last batch. And with my canister, who knows but it could have lasted me a year. But I've already squandered my free day and extra gas. So tragic.
Oh, and while I was performing last weekend, Josh bought a DVD. "Wallace and Gromit in A Matter of Loaf and Death." Cute. Not cute enough to watch 4 times a day, but that's kids for you.
Hope your day is a good one.
Brother comes this weekend. I've decided, due to this very inspirational weather, to make a stew and another apple cake. Doesn't that sound about right? Hope it goes over well. Currently, we are living off the jambalaya I made Sunday evening. Still great. I love that recipe.
Abbie can count to 29, using her fingers as a visual aid. (You know, first putting them all up, then putting them all down, then all up again.) As usual, she just did it one day, and didn't let on if she'd been practicing. At lunch today, she looked up at me and said, "H is for hotdog." Correct. Grant, lately, has been involved with memorizing the names of places and animals. Cahen, you will be amused that he is particularly interested in Oregon. And I hear things like, "Mommy, is Jake a mammal?" "Mommy, is a stingray a mammal?" "Mommy, a snake is a reptile."
Something is wrong with Jake. He has a sore on his cheek. It's close enough to his nose that it could even be an infected whisker or something. I was worried enough to consider taking him to Rolla Monday. But it looked better, so I didn't do anything. I'm not trying to, but I keep getting flashes to the cat of my childhood and the open sore on his head when he started to show signs of feline leukemia. (About 8 months later, they developed a vaccine for it, of course.) I don't want to worry. God knows I have enough to worry about this month. I can't help it. He may not be Dexter, but he's definitely the sweetest dog I've ever met. I don't want anything to be wrong.
I need to schedule a few days to visit my grandmother. We said November. Already I have to work around Grant's dentist appointment and a visit from Miss Penny and some taiko. I think. Have to update all that.
I took the kids to the mall yesterday. I had a gift card to Borders, and just needed to go. I bought a cute book, which I've already finished. I found another old Borders gift card while changing purses and it magically had ten dollars still, so I really only used 3 on the other card. I have another spree in my future! I also bought a canister for my favorite jasmine tea. I have three favorite teas, and now two have canisters. More on that in a sec. I also took the kid's ice cream money that my grandmother gave them over the summer. They each had four dollars. They bought a giant pretzel from Auntie Annie's, and Japanese gummy snacks from the tea shop, and shared both.
When I came home, I found out that my other favorite tea is discontinued. This is the one I can drink at any time, because it doesn't have caffine. I'm rediculously sad about this. Plus, if I had known 12 hours sooner, I could have bought some more. One last batch. And with my canister, who knows but it could have lasted me a year. But I've already squandered my free day and extra gas. So tragic.
Oh, and while I was performing last weekend, Josh bought a DVD. "Wallace and Gromit in A Matter of Loaf and Death." Cute. Not cute enough to watch 4 times a day, but that's kids for you.
Hope your day is a good one.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Birthday Introspection
So I had my birthday this week. And no, I'm not going to tell you which one. You'll just have to do the math yourself if you are that eager to find out.
You learn a lot of things in your later 20's, you know. Suddenly, your contemporaries are living through different kinds of things, and you are exposed to a different flavor of ambition, successful and unsuccessful marriages and ventures... Another milestone is the one your brain makes when you have children. Suddenly you have to orient you interpretations of right and wrong, appropriate and inappropriate, healthy and unhealthy, wise and unwise in terms of the innocence of the untarnished. Fresh youth, in all its inexperience and vulnerability. I realize that many people are parents before they are in their late 20's, but it still seems that there is plenty of emotional growth there, and then when you add the children in...
Well, I suppose you call it growing up. Do you ever wonder if the childless ever achieve the same level of adulthood? I think they don't. (Please don't infer that I think low of them for it. A different perspective is good.)
So, now that I am..ahem..older, it is time to look at myself. I'm due for inspection. What I have come up with is this: I don't often enough follow through with my better impulses. It doesn't matter at all if you wish you could help if you don't try. Knowing you need to finish something isn't any better than not acknowledging that you need to. Only finishing it is in any way useful. And keeping your eyes on your goals and working hard is a hell of a lot healthier than sitting around making lists of things you would do if you had different circumstances. So, with any luck, you will hear considerably less complaining from me. (But don't be too hard on me if I still vent a tad, periodically.)
My parents came to see me last weekend to celebrate my birthday. We went to Olive Garden. Josh was in heaven with his pumpkin cheesecake. For my birthday, my parents replaced my dead DVD player. (Enter Wave Of Guilt) Then, if that weren't bad enough, they also gave us our joint Christmas present early: a 42 inch TV. (At least it was on sale.) Josh was beside himself with joy. He loves declaring Christmas early. This might actually be the earliest ever - a personal record. Plus he was very interested in the TV. Me...not so much. Mostly I think the sound is better, but it makes all our movies look grainy and inadequate. Nobody would have thought I would be more than marginally excited about that sort of thing. My mother is usually more subtle in applying the pity and charity. BUT! Enough dwelling on my personal shame.
I also got a re-gift of a gift card to LLBean. Ah! Better. And Josh's mom and dad gave me a Borders gift card. (Really wish Josh would stop telling them what to get me when I'm sitting next to him. Yeesh.) AND....a giant chocolate bar. I haven't opened it yet, but that has more to do with the fact that mom brought me a pecan pie than its being less than appetizing. Mmm.
Oh, I changed from my summer purse back to the black one. Autumn, you may proceed.
The swelling in Grant's cheek went down far enough that I can finally see the problem. It's a bubble - type bump on the gum of his molar. Well, 2 molars, actually. It's big. Called the dentist again, and they are not terribly worried. It's what he guessed was causing the swelling all along. They say it should pop on its own. Ewwwwwww. I warned Grant.
Abbie is about the same. Still no potty training in sight, but I remain hopeful! And she still loves dresses, so I ordered her one from LLBean. $25 bucks for a toddler dress? Well, that's what gift cards are for, right? The shirt I ordered for Grant is not nearly as impressive. Oh, well.
We all had a great time at Carter's zoo birthday on Sunday. It was a great day to see tigers, elephants, and random guys I used to sit with at lunch in college. ???? Yep. Ran into one of the lunch crew. Now I'm starting to wonder whatever happened to Andrea....
We decorated the driveway with chalk today. Hope you took advantage of the weather, too. Tonight starts the cold rains.
Happy rest of the week!
You learn a lot of things in your later 20's, you know. Suddenly, your contemporaries are living through different kinds of things, and you are exposed to a different flavor of ambition, successful and unsuccessful marriages and ventures... Another milestone is the one your brain makes when you have children. Suddenly you have to orient you interpretations of right and wrong, appropriate and inappropriate, healthy and unhealthy, wise and unwise in terms of the innocence of the untarnished. Fresh youth, in all its inexperience and vulnerability. I realize that many people are parents before they are in their late 20's, but it still seems that there is plenty of emotional growth there, and then when you add the children in...
Well, I suppose you call it growing up. Do you ever wonder if the childless ever achieve the same level of adulthood? I think they don't. (Please don't infer that I think low of them for it. A different perspective is good.)
So, now that I am..ahem..older, it is time to look at myself. I'm due for inspection. What I have come up with is this: I don't often enough follow through with my better impulses. It doesn't matter at all if you wish you could help if you don't try. Knowing you need to finish something isn't any better than not acknowledging that you need to. Only finishing it is in any way useful. And keeping your eyes on your goals and working hard is a hell of a lot healthier than sitting around making lists of things you would do if you had different circumstances. So, with any luck, you will hear considerably less complaining from me. (But don't be too hard on me if I still vent a tad, periodically.)
My parents came to see me last weekend to celebrate my birthday. We went to Olive Garden. Josh was in heaven with his pumpkin cheesecake. For my birthday, my parents replaced my dead DVD player. (Enter Wave Of Guilt) Then, if that weren't bad enough, they also gave us our joint Christmas present early: a 42 inch TV. (At least it was on sale.) Josh was beside himself with joy. He loves declaring Christmas early. This might actually be the earliest ever - a personal record. Plus he was very interested in the TV. Me...not so much. Mostly I think the sound is better, but it makes all our movies look grainy and inadequate. Nobody would have thought I would be more than marginally excited about that sort of thing. My mother is usually more subtle in applying the pity and charity. BUT! Enough dwelling on my personal shame.
I also got a re-gift of a gift card to LLBean. Ah! Better. And Josh's mom and dad gave me a Borders gift card. (Really wish Josh would stop telling them what to get me when I'm sitting next to him. Yeesh.) AND....a giant chocolate bar. I haven't opened it yet, but that has more to do with the fact that mom brought me a pecan pie than its being less than appetizing. Mmm.
Oh, I changed from my summer purse back to the black one. Autumn, you may proceed.
The swelling in Grant's cheek went down far enough that I can finally see the problem. It's a bubble - type bump on the gum of his molar. Well, 2 molars, actually. It's big. Called the dentist again, and they are not terribly worried. It's what he guessed was causing the swelling all along. They say it should pop on its own. Ewwwwwww. I warned Grant.
Abbie is about the same. Still no potty training in sight, but I remain hopeful! And she still loves dresses, so I ordered her one from LLBean. $25 bucks for a toddler dress? Well, that's what gift cards are for, right? The shirt I ordered for Grant is not nearly as impressive. Oh, well.
We all had a great time at Carter's zoo birthday on Sunday. It was a great day to see tigers, elephants, and random guys I used to sit with at lunch in college. ???? Yep. Ran into one of the lunch crew. Now I'm starting to wonder whatever happened to Andrea....
We decorated the driveway with chalk today. Hope you took advantage of the weather, too. Tonight starts the cold rains.
Happy rest of the week!
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Ready, Set, OCTOBER!
Cake cures all. I did make that wonderful cake yesterday, and it was a success. There really is something about warm cake that is a definite balm to my chapped emotions.
Mmmm...cake.....
Grant's cheek is almost normal looking. That is good. Josh left me some of the cake. Also good. Taiko tonight. That is good, too. Although, my practicing hasn't been very productive. I was more sore after Tuesday's practice than I have been since last year. I think it must have been because I was sick, but I can't guarantee that. Maybe it was doing the KA verse in Isami 7 times straight. And I keep thinking of pieces of Omiyage solos that I would like to try....right before I drift off to sleep. Oh, well.
Don't you find that you are multiple times more clever, creative, witty and insightful in those 3 minutes before you fall asleep? The only stories I've written lately have been in those minutes.
I talked to my Brother, Mother, and Grandmother yesterday. They are all at Brother's house, you know. Don't ask me how we got to it, but my grandmother and I ended up discussing protesters. She says she lived through the first wave of hobby protesters. Ever since the abortion protests, she has had a severe distaste for them. She says that the news was covering the Pro-Life demonstrators happily being carted off to jail, with their children left crying alone in the streets. Obviously there is a priority issue there. But she says it happened all the time. These people were clearly not concerned about others as much as they pretended to be. They just want to be righteous. Now my grandmother has no patience with that sort of thing, and encourages the less melodramatic but more official method of writing to one's congressmen. I think maybe I will agree. Educational "rally" stuff is fine, picketing and complaining is less so. Yeah. That's it. Besides, I've always been a fan of letter writing.
My mommy sent me a birthday card.
It's October! Are you setting up your Halloween movie program yet? Let's see....we've got Young Frankenstein, Nightmare Before Christmas, Harry Potter (I know...but it's got witches, right?), Arsenic and Old Lace, Wallace and Gromit and The Curse of the Ware-Rabbit....
Anyone else craving caramel apples?
Hope you all have a wonderful and happy autumn October day. I'm feeling pretty positive about it, myself. You how know I get bored with misery. Love to you all!
Mmmm...cake.....
Grant's cheek is almost normal looking. That is good. Josh left me some of the cake. Also good. Taiko tonight. That is good, too. Although, my practicing hasn't been very productive. I was more sore after Tuesday's practice than I have been since last year. I think it must have been because I was sick, but I can't guarantee that. Maybe it was doing the KA verse in Isami 7 times straight. And I keep thinking of pieces of Omiyage solos that I would like to try....right before I drift off to sleep. Oh, well.
Don't you find that you are multiple times more clever, creative, witty and insightful in those 3 minutes before you fall asleep? The only stories I've written lately have been in those minutes.
I talked to my Brother, Mother, and Grandmother yesterday. They are all at Brother's house, you know. Don't ask me how we got to it, but my grandmother and I ended up discussing protesters. She says she lived through the first wave of hobby protesters. Ever since the abortion protests, she has had a severe distaste for them. She says that the news was covering the Pro-Life demonstrators happily being carted off to jail, with their children left crying alone in the streets. Obviously there is a priority issue there. But she says it happened all the time. These people were clearly not concerned about others as much as they pretended to be. They just want to be righteous. Now my grandmother has no patience with that sort of thing, and encourages the less melodramatic but more official method of writing to one's congressmen. I think maybe I will agree. Educational "rally" stuff is fine, picketing and complaining is less so. Yeah. That's it. Besides, I've always been a fan of letter writing.
My mommy sent me a birthday card.
It's October! Are you setting up your Halloween movie program yet? Let's see....we've got Young Frankenstein, Nightmare Before Christmas, Harry Potter (I know...but it's got witches, right?), Arsenic and Old Lace, Wallace and Gromit and The Curse of the Ware-Rabbit....
Anyone else craving caramel apples?
Hope you all have a wonderful and happy autumn October day. I'm feeling pretty positive about it, myself. You how know I get bored with misery. Love to you all!