Archive for blather
May 27, 2005 at 9:22 pm · Filed under blather
I slept in this morning, curled up with the dog until (!) 9:30. Then after showering and making coffee, I filled my thermos and headed off to do a few errands before my 11:15 salon appointment.
Today I did something different – I went to Josh, the kids’ stylist. See, yesterday I had a hair crisis. I suddenly hated it, and decided I desperately needed color. My regular person (who works at a different salon) wasn’t going to be available until next week. But Josh was able to get me in, and truth be told, I’ll probably go back. For one thing, when I confided that I was feeling fat and blah, he said, “No! I think you look great!”
And that’s always nice to hear, even when you suspect it’s simply kindness.
Anyway, I’m trimmed and colored. I was compelled to do a bit of clothes shopping after my appointment, because *ahem* I’m not fitting into some of my summer stuff. I picked up a few things to wear to work, plus some shorts.
Later, there was a cloudburst and then a gorgeous rainbow, and that’s pretty much how I’m feeling right now, if that makes any sense.
May 18, 2005 at 9:45 pm · Filed under blather, idol
As of yesterday, Pete and I have been married 19 years. Yes, 19 years. We went out to lunch, and lamented that our busy lives prevented us from doing anything too wild that evening. (Next year: a cruise? Maybe.)
In other news, I am over the moon about my American Idol making it to the final two. My Idol, no matter what happens next week. The moment I laid eyes on Bo Bice and heard his distinctive voice, I was a believer. Heck, I even joined the Bice Squad. SpiritMan and the kids are pulling for him, too.
We’ve become geeky AI people. I read aloud from rickey.org and Jaded Journalist episode summaries. We’ll be at the AI concert this summer in Milwaukee. Oh yes, we will.
April 28, 2005 at 10:39 pm · Filed under blather
This week has been almost too crazy for words. First, our phone was disconnected. Why? Because when we cancelled Vonage, and were assured that we didn’t need to do anything else, our transfer of service apparently went through anyway. Which means that a month later (Monday, to be exact), we lost our service and our phone number.
Several phone calls (using the cell, of course) later, we found out that we could only get our number back if we (1) signed up with Vonage again, (2) achieved a dial tone with them, and (3) transferred our service back to our regular phone company. Sorry, we’re not willing to do that. Four days without service is enough.
Naturally, Pete relies on the phone for his life coaching activities. Since he needed to be on a regular line for his Tuesday night teleclass, he went to the office and used our calling card. Peter and I went to pick him up and arrived early… and were flagged down by a woman who had run out of gas on the road we call the Beltline. She had climbed a fence to get to where we were. We took her to a gas station and back to her car. I’m making it sound much less complicated than it actually was, but suffice it to say we took our lives into our hands trying to get that gallon of gas into her tank.
Bizarre. But serendipitous. (Watch out, I’m trying to spell the big words here.) The dead phone…the class…the early arrival…meant that we were there to help someone in need. It was all quite surreal.
And my boss resigned today.
April 16, 2005 at 9:19 am · Filed under blather
Yes, I’m much better. And I’ve been working on my Clapotis – I just started the straight section, and in eight rows I’ll be able to drop my first stitch. *joy*
I had a business meeting with my spiritual buddies yesterday. Theresa and I are going to be revamping a web site together. We have so many ideas, and we pretty much finish each other’s sentences. It’s going to rock. Oh, and the weather has been absolutely astonishing lately. The drive was fabulous.
Speaking of astonishing, I am completely addicted to American Idol this season. Who would have guessed? I read all the news coverage and recaps, and I even visit the discussion boards at the AI site. After Constantine’s performance on Tuesday, Moon has developed a sudden interest in Queen. Which is cool, because I was a huge fan back in the day. I do think Con did Freddie justice, although I was delighted with Bo’s “Freebird” performance as well. I’d be happy to give my opinions about all the finalists, but I don’t want to reveal the full extent of my geekiness.
Only a few more weeks before our gym membership expires. I’m going to become an outdoor exerciser after that, but in the meantime I guess I’d better go hit the machines.
March 24, 2005 at 2:00 pm · Filed under blather
Lordy, this virus has had me down. The last few days are a blur. I do remember that I took Moon to her bass lesson, because Pete had class and somebody had to drive her. She brought her entourage (Nicole and Nicole’s boyfriend) and I brought Peter. So it was a full car. Instead of going inside the store, Peter and I went in search of a mythical Starbucks drink that I’d had a few years ago. My appetite was completely gone, but I remembered the orangey Tazo goodness and deeply desired to drink of it.
Alas, the Tazo cooler is no more, although the barista at the drive-through said that I was the second person to ask for one that day. (Hear that, Starbucks? Bring it back!) I settled for a Strawberries ‘n Cream Frappucino. Kind of like a smoothie, but less fruit and more cream. Whatever.
Yesterday I was just really sad and helpless. I think this whole experience is reminding me to just be happy with my regular, healthy body, and not beat myself up so much over not being cute and perfect.
Today my sense of humor is returning, but I stayed home from work anyway. The truth of the matter is that I tend to run back to the routine as soon as I feel halfway normal again. Maybe I’ll benefit from laying low one more day. I spend an awful lot of time on the phone, and it’s probably unsettling when I go into hacking convulsions in the middle of a conversation.
In a related matter, it’s Holy Week, which means fun times for church choirs everywhere. I made it through Palm Sunday, and the rest of the festivities begin tonight. The music means a lot to me, and I really hate to miss anything. Maybe I’ll have control of my vocal chords by evening.
Now for another graceful segue. Speaking of singing, we have become totally entranced with American Idol this season. The only thing I await more eagerly than the episodes themselves is the witty recaps posted by the Jaded Journalist. Tragically, Tuesday’s recap isn’t even up yet, and I’m guessing it’s because of the phone number snafu.
Who do you think is going down tonight? I think it’s gonna be Mikalah.
March 22, 2005 at 11:41 am · Filed under blather
Scratchy throat. Incessant coughing. Runny nose.
Last night, I had the chills, so Pete covered me with about a hundred blankets. (Okay, only three, but one of them was wool.) Shiver, shiver. At 1:30 I braved the elements in order to visit the bathroom. Two hours later, I awoke in a sweat. Hot! Hot! Hot! The blankets were dashed to the floor, and I attempted further sleep.
At 9, I decided to get up and take a shower. Might as well go to work, I figured. I might not last the day, but here I am.
Yay, it’s spring.
March 20, 2005 at 9:36 pm · Filed under blather
I guess the snow we had this weekend officially counted as a blizzard, because more than 9 inches fell in a 24-hour period. Or something like that. Maybe it was 48 hours, I don’t know.
What I do know is that Pete skidded just a tad when he was out Thursday evening, and the front passenger wheel nudged a curb. It didn’t look like much, but prior experience has taught us that it’s good to have these things checked out. Sure enough, the wheel is bent enough that it’ll screw up the car’s alignment and cause the tire to go flat.
“The wheel’s too expensive a part for us to keep in stock,” the repair guy explained. (Yay, that’s what I like to hear.) So it’s been ordered, and I should be able to drop the car off tomorrow.
I’d never just run off and spend nearly $400 on whatever, but this kind of thing always makes me think about what else we could have bought that would have been way more fun than a car part.
March 18, 2005 at 11:28 pm · Filed under blather
I had an email today from Strawberry Waffle, who turned out to be Moon’s friend Nicole. Now that’s a cute name.
Note to self: Food-related nicknames are cute. Waffles are especially cute, but waffle-imprinted thighs are not cute, so if you’re going to sit at the computer first thing in the morning, be sure you’re wearing pants. Or at least try not to catch your own reflection when you prance around the house after pantsless computer sitting.
March 6, 2005 at 8:22 pm · Filed under blather
I always mean to write something every day, but obviously it doesn’t happen. And then I end up like this, musing over the weekend’s events and trying to create some sort of flow. So here goes:
- On Friday, I did business-y things. Yes, I met a client for coffee. And I brought my laptop. Does that mean I’m a real entrepreneur now?
- I also decided to take the lab prescription I’d been hanging on to for the past six months and get a blood test. Finally. The technician won me over when she praised me for having coffee. (I usually make a ritual of avoiding it on bloodletting days, but I had made an exception.) Then she earned my undying admiration by actually hitting my vein on the first try. Wahoo!
- Peter’s school had an art fair on Saturday, and it ended up being the highlight of my weekend. Moon came along, and between the two of us we took many pictures. It so totally rocked. Poetry readings were held on the hour, although Peter wasn’t interested in taking the mic. I do regret that I didn’t get to see the sand mandala that was being created in the back of the LMC (library).
- Exercise…is good for my mind. I was feeling all scattered and strange today, until I hit the machines at the gym. It’s like I sweated out all the wonkiness.
- I’m still knitting like a madwoman. But when I started the heel flap of my sock, I messed things up. (Shouldn’t have tried using a stitch holder. Next time I’ll just leave the stitches on their needles.) While taking a deep breath in preparation of ripping, I started another project: a nubbly pillow cover in horrible fuzzy acrylic. So much for trying to save money! My bobbles look pretty good though.
- I’ve always wanted to have nice bobbles.
February 22, 2005 at 4:57 pm · Filed under blather
Didja miss me? The site was down for a while — I found out this morning, and contacted my service provider. And it’s fixed now, so I can update you on all the fascinating stuff going on.
- It snowed. Substantially. Enough for us to make a point of frolicking in the park with our pup on Sunday. At least it’s sunny. Otherwise I might sink into a horrible funk due to the February-ness of it all.
- Sunday also marked an event in the life of Sister #1. Niece #1 had been suffering flu-like symptoms which turned out to be appendicitis symptoms. She’s in the hospital, recovering nicely from her appendectomy. She even removed her own feeding tube (or whatever that tube going down her esophagus was supposed to be) and claimed that “it fell out.” Now, that’s feisty.
- I took Moon and Nicole to see Constantine, and while I enjoyed it (hey, I’m a Keanu fan, so pfft), I found it to be a bit dark. Dark is fine when my brain chemistry isn’t in adjustment. As it was, I needed a palate-cleansing, but unfortunately I didn’t have time to rent The Waterboy or anything else in that genre. (Of course you know that most Adam Sandler stuff is all about the light.)
- I’m really loving my new armwarmers, which are thisclose to being finished.
And so on.
February 16, 2005 at 6:16 pm · Filed under blather
I was getting ready to leave work today, and my co-worker came into my office, closed the door, and asked if I was okay. She said I seemed out of it, like I wasn’t myself.
Hmm. In some ways, I’m feeling better, but in other ways, I’m adjusting. Who would have thought that being without 25 mg of a substance would have such an effect? Actually, I think my scatteredness today had more to do with lack of sleep than anything else.
But still. It’s weird to think that other people are noticing that I’m “off,” especially when I thought maybe I was getting back “on.”
February 12, 2005 at 10:31 pm · Filed under blather
Moon and I took Foxxi for a walk this afternoon, and the sunshine was a welcome sight. The puddles were another story, but hey.
Let me tell you, withdrawal from Clomipramine is no picnic. After two weeks, the dizziness and nausea seem to have subsided. My emotions seem to be settling down, too. Timing this decision to coincide with my period was a master stroke of genius on my part. Yesterday I had a series of crying jags, and I think Pete was a little surprised when I picked him up for his Red Cross* appointment with tears streaming down my face and the sound of futility in my voice. Of course he was very good about the whole thing.
Fortunately, I had a lunch date with Carrie, and that helped brighten my spirits. I got to check out her new office and catch up with what’s been going on in her life. And it gave me a chance to step outside my own stuff for a while.
Today I spent several hours at the salon, which is always a good thing. My hair is shorter in the back, and I posted a terrible picture that doesn’t really show the cut very well, but you can peek at it anyway. In other news, I picked up additional yarn for Sis #1’s Fuzzyfeet and started my mom’s novelty yarn scarf.
February 2, 2005 at 12:18 pm · Filed under blather
I neglected to mention that I ran out of my OCD meds on Friday, and decided that it was time to go solo again. I’ve been on the tiniest possible dose for what seems like forever. I’m not a severe case anyway, and I’m ready for this. Thing is, any time you go off something that messes with seratonin levels, there are side effects. Long story short, dizziness and nausea have been my companions since… oh… Sunday. Soon I’m gonna feel great, though. Really.
So last night, I watched Love Actually and worked on Peter’s Fuzzy Feet, AKA Grinch Feet. (Slipper #1 turned out really long — I was using instructions for a yarn that felts more than Lamb’s Pride — and after obsessing about it for a while I decided not to frog the toe and start over.) Good movie, but a little hard to follow. What was the deal with the woman who had the hottie in her bed, but was interrupted by the phone call from her institutionalized brother? Why didn’t she and the hottie end up together? Or did my lack of seratonin cause me to miss something? I also wanted a more romantic resolution for Snape and Trelawney (I mean Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson). Someone fill me in here.
Falling asleep was rough because I started reading Ann Patchett’s Truth and Beauty and didn’t put it down until about 1:30 a.m. Then I had some weirdness with my heart pounding (seratonin stuff again). I slept an extra hour this morning, but then our Amazing Builder Guy (remember him?) arrived and started removing the basement window from the outside of the house. Yes — the last step to our remodeling project, besides going through the pile o’crap in the storage area and bringing stuff out into the open again.
Besides all that, Pete’s at a dead end setting up his new computer system / recording studio, and is FedEx-ing everything back for reconfiguration. I’m expecting that soon the clouds will part, a ray of sunshine will illuminate our house, and all will resolve.
January 21, 2005 at 8:49 pm · Filed under blather
Nichole said it best…
The inauguration coverage made it sound like the class jock’s been elected, and the rest of us will want to spend the next 4 years playing D&D in our basements.
We’ll be in the Forgotten Realm of Everfair, where the peace-loving Moderate Folk dwell.
January 13, 2005 at 10:22 pm · Filed under blather
This guy made me feel better about the whole auger thing.
January 12, 2005 at 10:49 pm · Filed under blather
Let’s see. The rain we’ve been expecting all week is here, meaning that the streets and sidewalks were quite flooded when I was driving home from work. We were treated to the odd sound of January thunder this afternoon. Thunder! Although it’s been around 40 degrees today, the windchill is supposed to dip to -20 on Friday. Wacky.
This evening, while Angelica and I were at choir practice (yes, I brought Angelica! she was much admired, and joined the alto section for the evening), the toilet became clogged. Pete was quite flustered when I arrived home, because he had been alternately plunging and doing internet research on what to use to unclog the darned thing. He had already gone to Menard’s and purchased an auger, which the guy working there assured him was the right thing to purchase. However, upon opening the package he was greeted by a warning in capital letters: NOT FOR USE IN TOILET.
So I saved the day by calling Home Depot (aren’t we lucky to live in shopping land, with so many stores at our fingertips?) and locating a toilet auger. A toilet auger is much larger than a regular auger. Who knew? We certainly didn’t. I had never even heard the word “auger” before this evening. Anyway, we used that puppy on our toilet, several times over.
And it’s still not quite right. Too late to add another bathroom, ha ha! (Have you seen our basement pictures lately?)
UPDATE: Obviously, our household angels were working overtime last night, because this morning the clog had disappeared.
January 8, 2005 at 10:13 am · Filed under blather
I’m enjoying the snow while I can, because it’s supposed to be 40 degrees and rainy next week.
Latest news:
- I’m knitting like crazy, and I started my first Blythe sweater. Woo!
- Carrie and I had lunch yesterday and did massive amounts of catching up. She has a swanky new job, which she starts next Wednesday. *Hi Tobie!*
- Guy is here today finishing up the basement floor. Rumor has it that after he leaves, we’ll be able to start moving stuff back into the room. I’m not sure I’ll be able to sleep without tall pieces of recording equipment hovering over me in the bedroom. (kidding)
- Moon handed in her report yesterday, but didn’t present. But the kid who did his report on Jim Morrison? No problem. (Am I missing something? Or does the teacher just prefer the Doors to Nirvana?)
- Foxxi acts like a puppy when she’s tummy-deep in snow.
- I haven’t worked out since Sunday, but I plan to remedy that this weekend.
- My hair lately kind of reminds me of Groovy Groove.
That is all.
January 5, 2005 at 8:07 am · Filed under blather
And the snowplows came out! Il neige! Il neige!
January 1, 2005 at 11:29 pm · Filed under blather
Well, today I finished two knitting projects, and watched Return of the King with the kiddos. We played some Sequence as my skull bag was felting in the washer, and guess what? I’m still in my pajamas. Having a pajama day was an incredible way to start 2005.
I think it’ll be a good year.
December 30, 2004 at 9:47 am · Filed under blather
For Pete, stain and varnish. For me, cleanup week at the Campus. And knitting. I’m learning a lot working on the skull bag. I found out that bobbins really do help sort out the huge tangle of yarn on the reverse side of an intarsia project. And I think I’m changing colors correctly. (We’ll find out when the piece is felted, I guess.)
The kids are getting a wee bit stir crazy at home. Today it’s raining, which is leaving a nice thin sheet of ice on all the sidewalks and streets. I hope we can spent our New Year’s Eve vegging out on the sofa (like the kids have been doing all week) and eating (like we all have been doing all month).
Moon wants to get Chinese food tomorrow and eat it out of the take-out cartons, like they do in the movies.
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