And Bunnies. That's right, Bunnies.

Hello!

I've been busy.  Sorry if you have been feeling neglected.

Friday I had a taiko performance.  It was not what I was expecting.  I was gone from home for 7 hours for a 30 minute show.  But - we got to have free sushi from Sushi Sen.  They are located in Lake St. Louis, Missouri.  If you haven't been there, you should certainly go as soon as is convenient.  The performance wasn't quite perfect.  Drive had issues.  I didn't love being the leader of Kagura, but we made it through, and I kept smiling!  Well...I don't think I smiled for Kaifuu, but that was because I was precariously close to hitting a drum that was meant to be offstage the whole time.  As far as strange injuries are concerned, I really would love to know how I bruised the lower inside of my pinkie finger.  I also didn't do great things to my back when loading, but that isn't strange or mysterious.

Pretty much since then I've been applying for jobs, and such like.  And I also backed up and deleted all the pictures on my camera.  Now I can take some more!  Woot!

We had an ice storm on Saturday night/Sunday morning, so I missed the meeting.  Have I EVER missed a meeting before?  I don't think so.  I really didn't have a choice.  It was solid ice as far as I could see, here, and no road treatment.  Josh says it's because the local guys in charge are cheap.  They knew they'd have to shell out money for salt if it was a weekday, but they don't particularly care if people can't get to church.  Very depressing.  Of those who did attend the meeting, I hear that several fell and some even experienced injury.  Yikes.

Yesterday I made a profile on LinkedIn.  I think Josh is more excited about it than I am.  Hopefully, I can hunt down someone who has worked with me and can support that I know some of the stuff I claim to.  Right now I don't look very convincing.  I've also completely re-worked my resume, applied to several jobs (again), and registered for two upcoming job fairs.

No pressure.

I have been reading the Silmarillion.  Everyone warned me against it, and said it was difficult.  Really, I don't find it so.  The only thing that gets me is how everything has to have 3 different names.  Yay for the glossary!  I haven't really read much Tolkien lately, but I want to.  I started reading The Hobbit, you recall, but stopped when I realized that my dad wanted to read it to them.  Well, now when they visit, he reads it to them....and where does that leave me?  I was going to just pick it up and start reading it to myself, but then Josh bought me The Silmarillion.  He wants me to be able to explain it to him.  That, Friends, is why I am reading it right now.  But it really is not difficult to follow....just difficult to remember which names go with which characters/places/objects of nature/weapons, etc, etc, etc.....

I spoke to my brother on the phone.  He is super busy with school and tests, so it was a short call.  Josh is super busy, too.  Tonight he has to work late, on top of it all.  We are planning to celebrate his birthday this weekend.  Friday his work friends want to go out, and Saturday we are having his birthday dinner.  Sunday we are going to a Superbowl party.  I hope this doesn't end up being too much for him.

We had a thunderstorm today, but as Missouri storms go, it was not particularly worthy.  No hail, no power outages.  Quite disappointing.

My house is filthy.  It's kinda grossing me out.  Ew.  Maybe I will clean it tomorrow.  I'm assuming I won't have work.  Haven't had any in ages.

I know that gun control is a hot topic right now.  Here is a quote for your perusal:

""The Gun Is Civilization" by Maj. L. Caudill USMC (Ret)


Human beings only have two ways to deal with one another: reason and force.

If you want me to do something for you, you have a choice of either convincing me via argument, or force me to do your bidding under threat of force.

Every human interaction falls into one of those two categories, without exception. Reason or force, that's it.

In a truly moral and civilized society, people exclusively interact through persuasion.
Force has no place as a valid method of social interaction, and the only thing that removes force from the menu is the personal firearm, as paradoxical as it may sound to some.

When I carry a gun, you cannot deal with me by force.
You have to use reason and try to persuade me, because I have a way to negate your threat or employment of force.

The gun is the only personal weapon that puts a 100-pound woman on equal footing with a 220-pound mugger, a 75-year old retiree on equal footing with a 19-year old gang banger, and a single guy on equal footing with a carload of drunk guys with baseball bats. The gun removes the disparity in physical strength, size, or numbers between a potential attacker and a defender.

There are plenty of people who consider the gun as the source of bad force equations.
These are the people who think that we'd be more civilized if all guns were removed from society, because a firearm makes it easier for a armed mugger to do his job.
That, of course, is only true if the mugger's potential victims are mostly disarmed either by choice or by legislative fiat--it has no validity when most of a mugger's potential marks are armed.

People who argue for the banning of arms ask for automatic rule by the young, the strong, and the many, and that's the exact opposite of a civilized society. A mugger, even an armed one, can only make a successful living in a society where the state has granted him a force monopoly.

Then there's the argument that the gun makes confrontations lethal that otherwise would only result in injury.
This argument is fallacious in several ways. Without guns involved, confrontations are won by the physically superior party inflicting overwhelming injury on the loser.

People who think that fists, bats, sticks, or stones don't constitute lethal force watch too much TV, where people take beatings and come out of it with a bloody lip at worst.
The fact that the gun makes lethal force easier works solely in favor of the weaker defender, not the stronger attacker. If both are armed, the field is level.

The gun is the only weapon that's as lethal in the hands of an octogenarian as it is in the hands of a weight lifter.
It simply wouldn't work as well as a force equalizer if it wasn't both lethal and easily employable.

When I carry a gun, I don't do so because I am looking for a fight, but because I'm looking to be left alone. The gun at my side means that I cannot be forced, only persuaded. I don't carry it because I'm afraid, but because it enables me to be unafraid. It doesn't limit the actions of those who would interact with me through reason, only the actions of those who would do so by force.

It removes force from the equation... and that's why carrying a gun is a civilized act.

By Maj. L. Caudill USMC (Ret.)

So the greatest civilization is one where all citizens are equally armed and can only be persuaded, never forced."

What did you think?

Oh, yes.  And there's this:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=ZGrFqCIa-Vk

Have a happy day!!!

Pains

I've been at the doctor a lot lately.  Today, I was diagnosed with Pleurisy. Here is what Wikipedia has to say about it:

Pleurisy (also known as pleuritis) is an inflammation of the pleura,^[1] the lining of the pleural cavity surrounding the lungs. Among other things, infections are the most common cause of pleurisy.

The inflamed pleural layers rub against each other every time the lungs expand to breathe in air. This can cause severe sharp pain with inhalation (also called pleuritic chest pain).

 

The main symptom of pleurisy is a sharp, stabbing pain in the chest that gets worse with deep breathing, coughing, sneezing, or laughing. The pain may stay in one place, or it may spread to the shoulder or back. Sometimes, it becomes a fairly constant dull ache.

I was at Mom and Dad's Friday, and had just sat down with Mom and a soda (I really don't usually drink soda) when I began to have some sort of episode.  To translate for the benefit of the uninitiated, and "episode" is how elegant ladies refer to biological disasters of all sorts.  In this case - chest pain.  On the left shoulder side.  I am not yet of the age to assume that I am having a heart attack, so I did not assume it.  However, I did recall that in the movies, people are sometimes rushed to the hospital, only to be told they are suffering from indigestion.  So, I blamed the soda.  I actually stopped in the middle of a sentence and went to ask the resident pharmacist what to do.  He was outstandingly dismissive and said he was sure I hurt it at taiko.  (And the injury had a 24 hour delayed reaction?)  I was standing there, grasping my shoulder, and I guess my mouth was hanging open, so he added, "If it's bothering you that much, then do something about it."

 

"Like ask a medical professional?"

 

Later that night when I was lying under a heating pad after having taken Advil he came in with a face like a funeral to ask me if I was okay.  He doesn't know that it never stopped hurting - just got "better".  It still hurts, actually.

 

The receptionist giggled when she asked if all my information was the same (since last week).  The nurse said, "We meet again!"  The doctor said, "Long time, no see!"

 

But here I am at the other end of it all, armed with advice, and perfectly happy....until the bill comes.  I bought a lottery ticket on the way home, to help with expenses.  See the irony?  It's there...

 

Tonight is a performance practice for a show on Friday.  Yay, taiko!  I will be playing Kaifuu and Omiyage and Kagura....but not Drive.  Not even the woodblock.  I don't know how I feel about that.  I'm also playing shime on Itsuku Mata, a KODO song.  I think I need to listen to it a few more times...  However, it's the only song I'm particularly worried about.

 

We watched Brave for the first time the other day.  It was okay.  Not as good as Tangled, by a long shot.

 

And did I tell you that I read Shades of Gray, only to discover that it's a trilogy?  Yeah.  Rotten luck.  I don't even know if Jasper Fforde has written both other books yet.  Currently, I'm re-reading The Night Circus.  It's as good as I remember.  I would call the book an exercise in ambiance. 

 

It's snowing at my house.  It's been snowing for around two hours, but at first it was that very, extra cold, tiny snow that you can hardly see.  It's very pretty, now, though.  Like a snow globe.  Lots of flakes, fast falling, and of variable but very visible size.  It has even started to accumulate.

 

What a night to be on the roads.

 

Well. Wish me luck.

 

 

 

Irony vs. Rosie

Okay, so the day I wrote all about how wonderful everything was, and how amazing I felt....I went to sleep with the beginnings of a head cold.  Again.  Grant gave it to me, I think.  He's definitely into the unusual gift-giving this year.  I didn't go to taiko on Thursday.  I was very non-specific when I made my excuses, because I didn't want to admit to everyone that I was sick again.

Friday, I was Josh's designated driver for a work party.  It was actually a retirement party, and super fun.  Well, except that I was sick.  Josh's work buddies are so nice!  And the rumor is that the new exec is there to split them all up.  He has already (last night) recommended that they terminate the manager, who is pregnant with twins.  Ain't he a sweetie?  So, Josh is nervous as a cat.  And that's not including that he's started his last semester of school.

I still don't have a real job.  There hasn't been any work last week or this week, so far.  I really need something.  Help!  Does anywhere nearby even have a 5:30 - 2 shift?

Sunday, I went to the taiko PR meeting.  I think we got a lot done, and I came away with several things to do on Monday.  Monday, Grant stayed home from school and I took him to the doctor for an ear infection, and then to get meds and then to pick up Abbie and then to music lessons and then to Culvers to meet Josh so we could then go to Sams Club.  I was gone most of the day, so I am extra, super proud of myself that I got most of the PR stuff done, and even squeezed in a load of laundry.  I got dishes put away when I came home, but there are more to do already.  I was BUSY!  I decided to take today off to heal and stuff, but it's not happening.

Also, I have new books!  WOOT!  I went ahead an bought the Sarah Addison Allen book, and have already finished it. I like it.  And I've moved on to Jasper Fforde's Shades of Gray.  Already, two people have asked me about it, assuming it was 50 Shades of Gray.  (Sorry, folks.)  It's complicated and fascinating and hard to figure out.  Good for the brain.

I already gave Josh one of his birthday presents.  It's a lovely, thin, black sweater.  I noticed that he was wearing sweaters again this year, so I got him a nice one.  He's wearing it today.  I hope he likes it...

Taiko tonight, and I hope I'm ready.  In the meantime, I'm going to start on the Newsletter.  This months is particularly fun.

We've had a lovely ice storm.  Miraculously, it didn't affect the roads at all, but left everything looking as if it were coated with glass.  In the sunshine, even the grass is absolutely blinding.  It was very windy while everything froze, so we also have icicles on everything at a jaunty 30 degree angle.

I'm going to spend the night at my Mom's on Friday.  The kids don't have school, so we're leaving in the late morning.  Dad can read them the next installment of The Hobbit.  I'm looking forward to it.

You should look at this.  It's super cool:  http://www.amandamathenia.com

So glad we bought a dozen boxes of kleenex last night....

Great-ful

Hello, everyone.  The weather today is glorious.  Warm sun and cool air, moderate temperatures (okay, warm temperatures, considering it's January) and a largely cloudless sky.  And since we all know how dependent I am on the weather, we will not be surprised in the least to hear that I am feeling happy.

Happy, happy!

You know, I live a great life.  Yes, we are worried about money, but I am not worried about losing my house.  Yes, I would like to get a good job, but I am technically working for the school district, and I know a lot of people would give much to have that.  Yes, I oinked out at Christmas and need to eat right and exercise, but I can do those things, without limitations from my own body.  (Well, I hardly count the back trouble.  Something tells me I wasn't going to rush out and do some aerobic bungee jumping anyway.)  In fact, I just took a walk.  YAY!  I love walks, and forget sometimes that I don't need to wait for the whole family to go on one.  And how often do we take for granted that we are in possession of all of our limbs, or the ability to control them?  Yes, I worry about how my children are going to turn out, but really they are bright, reasonably well mannered, and happy.  I'm already way ahead of many people.

Look at the things we worry about!  If this is really the undesirable part of my life, then I'm doing pretty good, wouldn't you say?  Life is great.  Especially when the windows are open.

I just re-read a book I own called The Peach Keeper, by Sarah Addison Allen.  I really like her writing. It's charming.  I wanted to check another of her books out from the library, but my library is chronically disappointing.  It didn't have anything of hers in town.  In fact, anything I wanted (and I had quite a list again) had to be sent for, if, in fact, they had heard of it at all, which was a big negative in several cases.  They didn't even have Daisy Miller!  I found the experience repulsive, and so I didn't reserve anything.  I have a gift card to Barnes and Noble, and I am even more anxious than ever to use it now.  However, I do get tired of buying books I've never read and then not really wanting them anymore.  Maybe I should grab a box full of those and donate them to the damned library!

Tonight I am making my easy meatloaf.  I'm looking forward to it.

Taiko last night was detail intensive, and I enjoyed it.  we had a workshop with Kris and Maz from On Ensemble.  For those of you who don't follow the "sport", On Ensemble are world famous, and also somewhat experimental.  Kris and Maz are ridiculously talented, fun, and fascinating guys.  We had a great time.  We were fine-tuning the strike when the taiko is on the slant stand, which our group refers to as a Sukeroku stand, as it was first implemented by Sukeroku Taiko. 

Oh!  Did I not tell you about our busy weekend?  Last Friday was Abbie's 7th birthday.  She had macaroni and cheese shells and hot dogs for dinner.  On Saturday, I made a white cake with chocolate icing, and we had smores ingredients, Muddy Buddy/Puppy Chow, depending on what you call it at your house, apples with caramel dip, and pringles.  We popped two kid tents in the living room, and I put orange ribbons on the grate of one of the living room vents, to be our campfire.  Abbie invited 7 kids from her class, and I invited many family friends, and a boy from Grant's grade to come play with him during the party.  I think about 4 people RSVPed, and they were all family friends.  Zero calls from the school friends.  Two girl buddies showed up.  We actually had a great time, and both girls spent the night.  We made a ton of popcorn and watched a movie, too, because when you are camping indoors, you have the best of both worlds.  They told "Scary Ghost Stories" too.  It was hilarious.  One girl wanted the zombies to be vicious, and the other one wanted them to have a nice dinner together.  They slept in the tents, but one of them talks in her sleep, so I didn't sleep at all!  If she was just talking, that would be fine, but she screams, "NOOOOO!" so I was constantly thinking the dogs had gone in the tent.  Not counting that, there were no upset words the whole time.  A success!  We ate doughnuts and played pirates in the morning.  It's good to be in elementary school.

Funny story:  It was time to put on daytime clothes, so I took the girls to Abbie room and made sure they had everything.  I was sitting on the couch, when Amelia walks in with her clothes saying, "I'm going to change in here!"  I said, "But there are boys in here."  She turned and headed back to Abbie's room, muttering, "They're everywhere you go!!"  Hee.

Amelia lives in O'Fallon, so we met her family half way, in Wentzville, for lunch.  I got bullied into getting a huge chocolate shake at Steak N Shake, when I only wanted a kids sized one.  Otherwise, the food was great, although the service at that location keeps getting worse and worse.  Our waiter was nice enough, but he screwed up the check, and the guys in the kitchen really didn't get our orders right.  Just fair warning to any of you who might consider going there in the future.  Actually, now that I think about it, no other chain gets our orders incorrect as often as Steak N Shake.  I hope someone out there is listening and can fix that, because we really enjoy eating there...

We went straight from lunch to a diaper party for our friends the Colburns.  They are about to have their 4th boy.  They are wonderful and sweet and I am very fond of them all.  We hadn't been out to their home before.  It was a little awkward, because we were the only non-relatives present!  However, everyone was super nice, and we had a great time.  We were the first to leave, because we didn't want to wait for the kids to start showing how tired they were.  It was still after 4 when we came home.  For family game night, we played Abbie's new Angry Birds card game.

I got my hair cut finally, and did some grocery shopping today that I've been needing to do.  If I don't have work tomorrow, I'm going to do some taiko photo archive work.

I love sunny days!

My life is a happy thing, and wonderful, and good.  I may be insignificant, cosmically speaking, but who cares -  I don't need more than what I have.  Well, unless it's a new book. 

http://www.signals.com/signals/New-Items_5AA/Item_BICYCLE-BOOK-LADY-TEE_HN6551_ps_cti-5AA.html#review-area

Love you all!!!!!

Hello, 2013.

I'm not sure how I feel about this new year, yet.  Most people I know seem to be pretty glad to be rid of 2012, and are looking forward with eagerness to this new year.  I've also seen a good many declarations of Resolution.  I suspect they are under the impression that when one is dealing with a self-discipline problem, having people know what you resolved is greatly helpful.  I just think it prompts people to be untruthful about their progress.

Josh and I had our Financial Meeting.  He made a chart.  Goals for the family, goals for himself, goals for me.  And how much money I will have to make up for when he no longer has the GI bill, and the extra money it gives us. [Before you start to have a Fiscal Cliff aneurysm, or some other fit regarding your tax dollars, please recall that this is the GI bill that Josh purchased when he was in the military.  the money came out of our paycheck monthly.]  Anyway, he wanted to know if he had my personal goals correct.  Um...no.  I informed him that the only goal I had was the one about the money I have to make up, and that I was a little insulted that it was being listed as mine.  Really.  Never before have I had a monetary value attached to my job hunting.  It's not very me.  And I'm insulted that things like bedroom furniture are what Josh would anticipate as my goals for the year.  My goal is to get through this year, be employed somewhere that doesn't involve my having to search again for childcare, and be a good wife and mother.  I also want to work hard at taiko and learn new stuff, and actually become good at something in that arena.  I want to be helpful.

I ended up having to put up with Buy New Couches at Ladue (or similar) Goodwill.  It's true that I've always hated the couches Josh's mom gave us.  And it's true that they have large, unsightly tears in the vinyl.  So, am I the reason we need new couches?  No.  Josh wants to put the house up for sale, and we can't have those out where they can be seen by potential buyers.

Speaking of buying, it's not like there aren't things that I like and want.  I just can't, in good conscience, claim that they are my goals ever, much less this year's.  They're more like pipe dreams.  Wanna see some?

I would like to use my china.  I adore my dishes, and have lots of really great ones.  But I have a crappy table that we fished out of a dumpster in Yuma.  Josh sometimes threatens to buy me a new one, but what is the point of buying a table when we don't even have a dining room to put it in?  However, once I have a dining room, one of these will do, I'm sure:

 



Don't forget to shop here for a few extra accents:

http://www.chinapetes-shop.com/asp/index.asp


And how about a walled courtyard with a garden?

Here are a few nice things:
http://www.signals.com/signals/Housewarming_8AG/Item_ARCHITECTURAL-CANDLE-LANTERN--DURHAM_PT3792_ps_cti-8AG.html
http://www.signals.com/signals/Housewarming_8AG/Item_VINTAGE-PATCHWORK-FOOTSTOOL_PT1804_ps_cti-8AG.html
http://www.signals.com/signals/Garden-Patio_1FZ/View-All-Garden-Patio_1FA/Item_GARDEN-WIND-SPINNER--MOUNTED_HN1652_ps_ctf-1FZ.html
http://www.signals.com/signals/Home-Accents_1EZ/View-All-Home-Accents_1EA/Item_POPPIES-NIGHTLIGHT_HN2282_ps_cti-1EA.html

Oh, and we'll need the house to put it all in, as well:

http://www.sothebysrealty.com/eng/sales/detail/180-l-1734-4333192/highfield-plantation-rougemont-nc-27572

http://www.sothebysrealty.com/eng/sales/detail/180-l-715-4313177/braemuir-asheville-nc-28803

http://www.sothebysrealty.com/eng/sales/detail/180-l-841-4428495/edgewater-edenton-nc-27932

Of course I would also have to but books to fill up the library shelves....
http://www.booksamillion.com/
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/
http://www.abebooks.com/books/antiquarian-rare-design/beautiful-collectible-antique-vintage-volumes.shtml?cm_mmc=msn-_-US_AbeBooks_Collectibles-_-Antique+Books-_-antique_books
http://www.newbostonfineandrarebooks.com/

And I'm not even tired!!

So, if you take away the part where I am practical and realistic, I could make you a shopping list that could not fail to impress.  If I ever win/earn/come into obscene amounts of money, you shall find me shopping for many of these items.  Until then, however, they shall be in their proper place:  a rousing game of What Would I Do If I Won 75 Million Dollars.

Even my more realistic dreams of moving to O'Fallon into a house with a nice (and fertile, for once) yard and a dining room are too far outside reality to be considered goals, even though Josh disagrees.

My goals for the year are unchanged:  Find a job with convenient hours (and enough pay to make Josh happy), be the right kind of wife and mother, get through the year.

I must go shower and such.  In a minute, I must rush off to Wentzville to buy birthday presents for my January birthdayers.  Abbie wants hot dogs and Mac and Cheese shells for her birthday dinner, and will be having white cake with chocolate icing for her party on Saturday (plus s'mores and popcorn).  Do I have any of that...?  Don't even know what Josh wants for his birthday dinner, but he can wait. 

Taiko tonight!  Gotta work off the yummy brisket I made for New Year's Eve!

May you have good health in the coming months!