Monday, February 27, 2006

Serious gmail addiction...

I think it is very dangerous for me to keep gmail open, sitting peacefully in the dock until you mouse over, when it lists the number of messages in your inbox.

I don't use my gmail account for much, other than personal correspondance, flylady reminders, and comment notification for this blog. So, in the midst of doing other things, if my mouse happens to enter that area of the dock, and I see that there are new messages, I have to, HAVE TO check to see what's new.

Likewise, if it doesn't change for a long time, I have to CHECK TO SEE IF THINGS ARE STILL WORKING. Because there actually was a nearly 24 hour period when my account did not register or show any new messages, and then suddenly I had over 20, with timestamps covering that entire 24 hours. Including a couple from a friend that were important, and meant almost missing out on something fun!

SO... (I know, I use that word entirely too often)

So, like, post a comment or something. Tell me about YOUR gmail addiction, and how you try to quit, but just can't. Tell me about another technology that owns you, body and soul...

Come on, gmail, let those numbers change.... come on... big bucks, no whammies!!!

Sunday, February 26, 2006

Another Addiction

To look at me, you would never know how much I love fashion.

You can quit laughing!!!!

Seriously, I am the poster child for what not to wear. I wear jeans, t-shirts, zip-up cardigans, and hoodies (actual, just my favorite one). I have a skirt in my closet, that I wear on a regular basis, that I bought in 1999. It's still in my closet because every time I wear it, I get new compliments, and people wanting to know where I got it.

But anyway, I digress.

I am hopelessly addicted to Project Runway. It's to the point where I can't watch it. I "forget" that it's on on Wednesdays at 9 pm.

That's why the fact that they are having a marathon today, because the finale is this Wednesday, is causing me to be a couch potato today.

I did, however, clear off the coffee table, so I can mark the channels on my new corset. I don't have a TV in my room, where my sewing table is, so I am making do with the coffee table.

I also want to do my taxes quick, so I can figure out my refund. I found the perfect dress form online, and it's pretty reasonably priced. Who knew I was a small in a dress form??? Anyway, it's necessary, as I suck at hems, and have no one to help me pin up or fit.

Okay, my mind is going into withdrawal... Back to Project Runway.

:) *chuckle....*

When I picked up my son from the birthday party this morning, he was wearing the same clothes he was wearing when I dropped him off.

Apparently, they did not go to sleep at all. They stayed up all night.

When we got home, he had a bowl of cereal, because he was still hungry, then he wanted to to watch TV for a bit. I sat down to eat a bowl of oatmeal while he watched cartoons. I looked over at the couch when I was done, and he was asleep. I woke him up, helped him to his room, threw the covers over him, and he's sound asleep...

Saturday, February 25, 2006

Turtle Titans = 6th place...

out of six.

So, the improv team finished dead last in their catagory. My son didn't care - he still had a blast! Our high school group, and one of our other groups advanced to state. So, for the rest, DI is over for the year.

They got back around 9:20, so I ran to pick him up, we ran home, switched out the stuff in his bag, grabbed his sleeping bag, pillow, present and the game cube, and he went to his friend's birthday party at about 9:45. He didn't get a lot of sleep last night due to one of the kids (supposedly his best friend), throwing pencils and trying to scare him all night. He wasn't scared, just annoyed. After all, he's seen an actual ghost before (do-do-do-dooooooo!!!!). The boys at this party have already stated that they are not going to sleep tonight at all.

I ought to have a very fun Sunday...

My mom was concerned last night when she heard I only sent $20 with my son (plus $2 is quarters). "Is that going to be enough???" Of course, I immediately doubted myself, even though I knew he only needed money for dinner Friday, lunch and dinner Saturday, plus snacks (free continental breakfast at the hotel). He's been a bottomless pit lately... Somehow, he ended up bringing home $5.50, plus he bought a souvenir (a puzzle thing). It helps that about the only thing he likes at McDonalds is the double-cheeseburger value meal. And the shamrock shakes... Oh, the shamrock shakes....

Well, I have better get some sleep so I can deal with the grouchiest kid in the universe tomorrow....

I swear, half the reason I even look inside the spam folder in gmail is to get the latest spam recipe from the google ads...

BTW, I just sat down after doing my afternoon errands. My right hand is shaking, because I am suddenly really hungry. I didn't eat much lunch, because of the incident my mom was telling me about. In fact, it was only now that I realized I was even hungry. A bowl of oatmeal for breakfast can only take you so far, even when you are upset.

I washed the car while I was out and about. Looks decent for a change. I just washed it two weeks ago, but it's been very cold, then it snowed, and then it got slushy out. Yuck.

I bought a bunch of golden yellow material for an overskirt for the second set of garb I am making for the next ren faire. I have a gorgeous blue for the bodice, the yellow overskirt, and the same celery green underskirt. The colors are striking together, and since my alter-ego is very flamboyant and funny, this should work well and catch the eye.

Okay, my right hand keeps shaking. I am going to go get something to eat...

Sick to my stomach and not happy

I just got off of the phone with my mom, and I am a little ticked off. Not at her, or at any of my family. I can't talk a lot about this yet, but I am ready to smack a couple of kids upside the head. Grown up kids, not kid-kids.

I will have updates later, and if you are a friend, you are welcome to email me for details. Erg....

Friday, February 24, 2006

No PKD tonight, just Cylons

One of the things my son was most concerned about was not the actual competition, or being a hotel for the first time without me.

"Don't forget to tape it, please!"

It, of course, being Battlestar Galactica. And tonight's episode was a doozy. It had the added, unexpected benefit of being work-phone-call-free, for the first time in a couple of weeks.

The sad part, however, is that the first part of the season finale is NEXT FRIDAY NIGHT. Can I stand the suspense????? Maybe I'll just have to watch everything from beginning to end again...

Milestones

I am feeling pretty crappy right now. Not sick-wise, but I just have this lump in my throat.

I dropped off my son's overnight bag at school, wished him luck, told him that I wouldn't embarrass him by hugging him in front of everyone, gave him some extra quarters, and told him to call me when they get to the hotel. Then he ran back into the school to go to his DI meeting.

Yep, my son is going on a overnight trip to a school competition... without me. He and two other boys on their team are riding with their DI teacher, and the one girl on the team is riding with her mother. They have to go tonight, because their studio time for their first event is at 8:20 am, and the competition is three hours away.

It isn't like he hasn't been away from home without me before. It's just that the world is such a big place for an eleven-year-old, and to be in a hotel room with just a couple of kids and no adult is something that I did not think would happen for a few years yet. I am perfectly comfortable with the thought of sending him off for a weekend of camping with the scouts, even though there are all sorts of opportunities for accidents. I know those people, and trust them completely. Not a problem. It's just that HOTEL is just a scary concept.

That's why the tears are kind of hanging out behind my eyes, just waiting to be set off. I didn't anticipate getting so choked up about this.

I'm going home after work and pulling the covers up over my head until it goes away...

Thursday, February 23, 2006

Paycheck

"Paycheck," is the most recent of the PKD stories to become a movie, and "A Scanner Darkly," is the next.

The premise of "Paycheck" is that a man wakes up, after two years agreeing to work for a company, with his memory of the previous two years wiped. In leiu of his $50K paycheck, he is given a bag with several, seemingly worthless items in it. In less than an hour, two of those objects pretty much save his a$$, and he's left wondering about the others, and he's got an idea of what he worked on during those two years. Very interesting.

Maybe I'll have a Philip K. Dick movie marathon this weekend...

Roog.

Unaccountably sleepy this afternoon... My eyelids are drooping, and it's all I can do to stay awake. Keeping busy is holding it off somewhat, but it's overly warm in my office right now.

I woke up from a very good dream this morning with an upset stomach. The clock said 5:03, or so I thought. I looked again, and it was 6:18. I set my alarm so that I can press snooze several times before having to face the day. This morning, I reset the alarm so I could go back to uninterrupted sleep for awhile.

My upset stomach has continued throughout the day. No fever, just too much heat in my office, and I wore my wool suit today (did I mention it is also lined, so twice the heat generating capabilities).

"Roog," btw, is the next story in the PKD collection, and is told from a dog's POV. Interesting. I am on my third read of this collection, trying to read it once a year.

I am on the third, longer story, which will be familiar to some from the movie by the same name. We'll save that for a future post...

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Hmm...

Okay folks, it looks like I am going to have TWO free nights this weekend: Friday and Saturday. Now, I already was wondering what the heck I am going to do Friday night, but now my son is going straight from getting home from DI to a friend's house for a birthday sleepover (mental note: BUY A PRESENT).

If I don't watch out, I'll be wasting this opportunity.

Ideas, anyone? I may be looking to see a grown up movie for a change, but I'll have to look and see if there is anything worth seeing in town. Or maybe if something new is coming to video. Any suggestions for something good to see?

I don't want to be a loser and end up asleep on the couch by 9:30 pm... Maybe I'll go look on StrangeTalk and see what's up this weekend...

"Beyond lies the Wub"

The short stories of Philip K. Dick are intense, fascinating and full of food for thought. There are so many layers of meaning, in all of his writing, that to read a story once and think you have mastered it is naive at best, and dangerous at worst. Prophetic in many ways.

"Beyond Lies the Wub," is the first short story in the book I checked out from the library Saturday. One thing that really bugs me about our library is that they have so few of his novels in the collection. Just the tip of the iceburg of the genius who is P.K.D....

Here is a summary, in a way:

TWRJOFTHTWIMIWTITYAAMW TTCGPWTINPCLYITRTWTTWIFIOFNIITYTITCIS TTATANTSMIIWHPTASAIQTITNHT TSPGIBAYCADFTGPIPWCIGISFYWTCTYTSTIFIFLFIMIHFAICTS TTMNMTWHTIPWHTCHAPT

First letter of every paragraph... Very interesting...

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

So, I figured out my problem...

Right after I quit feeling sorry for myself about having a bad day yesterday, things started turning around a bit.

I located our missing ladder! Yay! I figured out why our colorburst server was running out of hard drive space (it not only saves the .tif preview, but also a copy of the printed file. We had files dating back to JUNE in the "done" folder).

I also learned for real how to make a symlink on my server so I could move my radmind folder off the boot partition and onto its own volume. Which may seem really stupid of me, but the book I had that explained this was a little obtuse. All they needed to do was write down the command in such a way that it would be easily understandable to an idiot like me:

% sudo ln -s /path/to/new/radmind/location /var/radmind

(where /var/radmind is the original location, and the radmind folder having already been ditto'd to the new location, and the original folder moved to the desktop until confirming that the link worked. Yes, I am paranoid.)

Simple, and I already made a note in the MacOS X Unleashed book so I won't forget it.

So, lots of stuff got done, I learned a bunch of new things, and even got started on plans to update my radmind documentation, and various parts of the lab resource site.

To further get into a good mood after work, I am listening to some really good mash-ups on my iPod shuffle (favorite is Hot Rich Girls Dropped In A Grange (Stefani vs. Snoop vs. ZZ Top). You have to hear it to believe it!). It makes even boring housework fun!

Okay, time to hang up and get back to work....

Monday, February 20, 2006

Monday = Sucking my will to live

Today was crappy, and then we went to our meeting tonight only to have just three kids show up. My feet are frozen, and I had a bad day. I am going to fill up the tub with the hottest water possible, tons of bubbles, and try to forget what a crappy day it was.

Sunday, February 19, 2006

Meeting the parents

My little, baby sister, whom we affectionately call movie star is very excited. She called last night, on her way home from Fort Dodge, and we talked for over an hour. We haven't had much of a chance to talk for months, as she works and goes to college, and is seldom home anymore. We had a great conversation about everything that has been going on in our lives.

She was excited because she was meeting her boyfriend's parents for the first time this morning. She was going to church with them. He's hung out at mom and dad's house tons of times, so he already knows them fairly well. I could go on about the advisability of meeting in church, but really, I'm glad to see she can get up that early in the morning, especially since my parents were having most of their friends over last night.

We talked about Valentine's Day, and how sick she was. She nearly had to go to the emergency room, due to the stomach flu. She lost ten pounds, and since she really had lost a lot of weight the summer before last (when my grandpa was sick), and never has time to eat, she really got very weak. Her boyfriend brought her flowers, and stayed for quite awhile, until she fell asleep. He sounds very sweet, and us girls can't wait to meet him. My brother-in-law, Justin, who pretty much has been around our family for over seven years, is anxious to meet this kid to see if he is good enough for the baby of our family. Ought to be interesting...

Anyway, it was absolutely great to get to talk to her, as we have always been really close. She's the one who picks out my clothes sometimes, and gives me her cool jeans when she is tired of them (although, she's gotten thin enough that that is no longer possible). She keeps me from feeling too old, and I introduce her to new music in exchange.

It's been too long since I've seen my family, but in three weeks, I'll get a whole weekend to goof off and have fun with them. I can't wait.

"October Sky"

One of the movies that we picked up at the library is one that has become a favorite of my son.

A couple of years ago, I checked out "October Sky" from the library, and pretty much forced my son to watch it. He loved it. We've checked out this movie more than any other movie, and by all rights, we should just buy it. The reason I don't is because I don't want him to watch it over and over, for fear he'd get bored with it. It isn't often on the shelves when we look for it, so on those rare occasions when we find it, it's that much more of a treat.

We just finished watching it again, and he has new enthusiasm for rocketry. While my son's interests have shifted once again, from wanting to be a paleontologist and and an astronaut, to being a paleontologist and a geologist, he's still very interested in space, rocketry, and the machines that get us into space. Someday, those interests may be complimentary.

Until then, he'll build his spaceships out of Lego blocks, and bits of scrap wood, and draw his battle scenes and aliens on paper. And some day, in the future, he'll tell a group of kids how he got started...

Saturday, February 18, 2006

People, it's cold outside.

After I got home from lunch (Panera, yummy and fun!) today, I had to drag my son out to go to the library. He needed to renew a book, and we needed to take the movies back. I also needed some new books to read, as I have read everything on my bookshelf too many times to count, and my tote full of the rest of my books is in the attic of the garage at my parents' house.


I ended up with three Philip K Dick books, including one of short stories (he's the king of short stories, which is why Hollywood likes to make them into movies). I also picked up two romance novels, by one of my favorite authors, along with a few movies.

Obviously, I am preparing to stay inside the rest of the weekend.

It is cold outside. How cold is it? Well, it's 9°F right now, but it was -13°F overnight. Trust me, it's cold, and I intend to spend the rest of the weekend in my jammies, eating valentine chocolates, and reading trashy novels interspersed with intelligent sci-fi. Ah, what a life...

In between these bouts of self-indulgence, I will have to listen to, "mom, I'm hungry," at least 50 times a day, most often less than 20 minutes after he's eaten, and "Will you play with me" (which actually means, will you let me beat the crap out of you at Super Mario Smash Brothers).

But that's okay, because that's what weekends are for...

Friday, February 17, 2006

Thursday, February 16, 2006

Go to bed. You need your sleep.

So says FlyLady.

I know she's right. I should go to bed at 9:00 pm, since I should really be getting up at 6 am or so. I could be one of those hyper-efficient people who always manage to have time to make and eat a full breakfast in the morning if I got some rest.

I used to be able to stay up until 1 or 2 am, doing my work, as in actual artwork, or web design, or animation. I used to be able to get 27 hours out of every day, according to one of my professors (who, BTW, told me I was a human dual-CPU the other day, thanks!). Not anymore, though.

Of course, here it is, 11:06 pm. And the snowplow is scraping off our parking lot....

Yep. I need my rest. seven hours is good enough, I suppose.

Wow, complete with the backing up beep.... I am so glad I am on the second floor...

I guess I won't be getting to sleep anytime soon...

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

In which I drag myself off of the couch and drive my son to religious ed...

My son was apparently under the impression that since I was not feeling all that great, he would get out of going to religious ed tonight. I am just such a stubborn mom, however, that I got dressed and drove him there anyway. I made sure not to talk to anyone, and kept my winter gloves on the whole time.

You see, there was another reason to get out of the house.

Supposedly, we may get a bit of snow overnight and tomorrow. Now, the amounts are not supposed to be much, but as a born-Iowan, I understand that sometimes snow storms can creep a little further than expected, and turn 2-4 inches into 6-8 within a short amount of time. Which means...

I had to go to the grocery store. I bought bread, soup, and salad dressing (hey, I have a bag of really good salad that I want for lunch tomorrow, and I only had a tablespoon of my favorite dressing left. I am not going to be caught in a snow storm without my salad dressing!).

After I got home, I made some supper, and read until it was time to pick up my son.

I do have to say this: it is cold outside. I had a problem earlier this afternoon, when I first tried to sleep. I was freezing, and could not get warm, even with my fleece blanket. My head hurt, and I had the chills quite badly. I ended up turning up the furnace, which worked okay. But going out in the cold sucked.

My headache is mostly gone, and my temp is close to normal. I am hoping for a return to normality before tomorrow morning. I hate not feeling well. Such a waste of time...

99.5. Great.

I've been fighting a cold for a few days now. Congested for a couple of weeks, really. Monday afternoon, I started coughing, and really couldn't seem to quit. Monday evening was okay, and then Monday night, it was so bad that I slept sitting up on the couch.

Tuesday morning, I took my temp, and it was normal. Actually, a little below, but okay to go to work. Understand that I didn't feel sick at all, except for the dumb cough.

This morning, I felt pretty good, almost hyper, even. About an hour before lunch, I was really hungry, so I had a snack from the cafe. About quarter to noon, I started getting that feeling... you know, that feeling where you all of a sudden aren't sure what's wrong, but something isn't right. My head started to hurt, too.

When I got home, I couldn't find the thermometer, so I ate some lunch, and then started to look for it again.

99.5°F. Headache still there. I took some Tylenol. I don't feel that sick though! Unfortunately, the thermometer says something is going on. Maybe I am just at the beginning of the flu or something. I really hope not, as I have a bunch of stuff to do tonight, and I am stuck at home now without even any quarters to do laundry. Luckily, I have some movies from the library.

I just feel stupid to be here at home. It's not fair to get sick on the one day of the week that I get some "me" time in the evening.

okay, my head does feel a little funny now...

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Can I just say again how cool it was that I got flowers today????

As soon as I got said flowers, which smelled heavenly BTW, I cleared off a spot on my desk so I could see them while I worked, either on my laptop or my desktop machine.

While I was helping a student, my boss walked by my window to check out the flowers and gave a thumbs up. Having made their way to the admin office, then up to my office, it seems like everyone knew that I got flowers. COOL!!!!!

But, more important than any flowers or candy, or anything anyone gave to anyone else today, is the thought that went into it. I couldn't have been more surprised if a singing gorilla had suddenly showed up in my office door, as I was when those flowers were delivered. I started laughing, and could not stop pretty much all afternoon.

Here's a little secret - those were the very first valentine's day flowers I've ever received. Ever.

So tonight, while we ate dinner, I looked at those flowers, kicking myself for not inviting that person to be here with us. Because I am dumb that way, you see. I spent too much time laughing today or something :)

P. S. My son monopolized my attention from the time he got home from school until he went to bed at 9:30, so I couldn't check email, or blog, or do much of anything else other than make dinner and clean up the mess (bad toenail problem, again, because I forgot to put medicine on it last night and this morning, because I've actually had a bad cough the last couple of days).

P.S.S. I am trying to figure out if I can just carry those flowers around with me for the next week... :)

Of course, I am going to blog about this!!!! :)

So, I am on the phone with someone from our service center this afternoon. They had just delivered two Dells that had been repaired, and unfortunately, one of them was still experiencing a problem. I had my back to the door, and I suddenly could sense that someone was behind me. I started laughing because it was a friend, and joked that she was going to scare me to death doing that, when I noticed that she was reaching to put something on my desk. "You had a delivery," she said, and I turned and saw this on my desk:


flowers
Originally uploaded by jennifergeek.


Thank you, Troy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!∞

Monday, February 13, 2006

Somehow, I am not really surprised that I found this at Wal-mart.


larry
Originally uploaded by jennifergeek.

As promised, here is a picture of the gem of a candy box I found at Wal-Mart the other day. There is something so wrong about Larry the Cable Guy on Valentine's chocolate, that it boggles the mind.

Happy Valentine's Day!

P.S. Yes, I actually purchased this box of chocolates. It was one of only two left, and all of the chocolate fish were gone. Yes, I gave this box of chocolates to a friend, after photographing it for evidence.

P.S.S. You know, why don't they just sell Whitman's chocolates with only caramels in the box? No one actually likes the creams... Right?

Um... can we skip the nose job and go straight to the flowers?

Hot Valentine's Day Gift In China: A New Nose

SHANGHAI, China -- Forget the candy or the roses.
In China, the hot Valentine's Day gift is matching nose jobs.
The official newspaper China Daily reported that couples are going under the knife together to get their noses and even their eyes done.


Honestly, I prefer daisies to surgery...

Sunday, February 12, 2006

Yikes, I almost forgot to post today!

Went to see Arsenic and Old Lace this afternoon at the Actors building. We ended up walking, as it is only about two blocks from where we live. Considering I wore a skirt and heels for the occasion, it probably wasn't the best idea, but it was sunny out, and my son insisted.

The play was very good, and we had a great time. My son thought it was pretty funny, especially when Teddy yelled, "Charge!" everytime he ran up the stairs. In fact, I was treated to a reprise of that when we got home. And several times since then.

The play itself was very enjoyable, and the cast did an excellent job. There was one actor who needed to learn to annunciate, but other than that, very fine job all around.

The only downside to the day would have been that it is very awkward being amongst a group of people who all seem to know each other, and everyone in the plays. It seems like they've all either been going to productions for years, or have been in productions, worked in all aspects of the theatre. It's like a club, where no one sees you if they haven't already been introduced to you either on stage or backstage. It wasn't comfortable for me, mostly because I can be somewhat shy sometimes (okay, quit laughing!). I didn't know anyone in the audience, so we ended up just sitting and listening to everyone around us talk through the intermission.

Listening to everyone, I was struck by a thought. You can always tell actors from non-actors, simply by the way they speak. There is a particular style that those in theatre have, as opposed to those in film and TV. Actors have it even when they are in the audience. There's nothing wrong with it at all, it is just odd to be surrounded by it when you are not used to it.

By the time it was over, I was kicking myself for wearing a skirt and heels (and not even heels I like. These were in my donate pile when I suddenly realized that I hadn't yet bought a pair to replace them. They are already back in the bag. Yuck.). We went through the receiving line, and were out in the cold air before I really even registered that it was over. I spent what was left of the afternoon on the couch, my blanket pulled up around my ears, as they felt like someone had poured freezing water into them. Two blocks in freezing wind will do that to you.

My son already asked if we can see the next play on the list. This from a kid who swears he will not go out for drama, even after finding out that it's not all singing, like he thought it was. He enjoys his improv group, and is heading to a competition in a couple of weeks, but he does not, will not equate that with acting. Whatever. I guess it keeps me from having to drag him around to rehearsals and stuff.

In any case, it was a good day for a play. There are three more performances, so catch it if you have time. For more details, visit the Actors' site. Tickets have to be bought at Gallery 319 downtown, so don't leave it until the last minute.

"Bully!"

Saturday, February 11, 2006

The "V" Word

Yes, folks, in case you haven't noticed, the moment the Christmas decorations went down, the stores were covered in a tide of red and pink. Hearts everywhere, reminding everyone to for-god's-sake-don't-forget-about-Valentine's-Day.

As if we could.

I'm all about the concept of Valentine's Day. Love is wonderful, and we sure as heck need it in this world. I'm not about to get all grinchy and resent those around me because they are enjoying the holiday. But it's not a holiday that I decorate for, and I don't feel the need to run out and buy expensive presents for my family. Valentine's Day has always been low key for my family. We exchange cards, and I usually give my son a box of candy (as if he needs anymore, because Valentine's Day is one of the only holidays they are allowed to celebrate in school). It's more about appreciating family for us. It's been so long since I've had an actual Valentine Valentine that I don't even get hung up on it anymore. I just make a special dinner, we usually call my mom and dad, and that is that. When my son goes to bed, I watch a chick flick, and that's the end of that until next year.

Except for those who are all about rubbing it in. The singleness, I mean. "What are you doing Valentine's Day?" they ask, all innocent and just loud enough so everyone can hear.

"The same thing I do every night... Try to take over the world," I answer in all seriousness. Because you know that's what I am planning in my evil laboratory... ;)

So when I went to the store today, I really wasn't expecting the mad rush of people everywhere. It was as bad as Christmas Eve, almost, what with people crowding the aisles, flowers everywhere... I was glad to leave, after I wrestled my way to the boxes of chocolate, which, by the way, now come with "git 'er done," and other manly sayings on the lid. I also saw chocolate fish. As in, a hunk of chocolate shaped like a fish, with a semi-realistically painted foil cover, labeled, "You're a keeper!" I just about bought the "git 'er done," box for a friend, but couldn't quite bring myself to pick it up. What if someone actually saw it in my cart??? :)

On second thought, I may have to go get one of those anyway, as I doubt anyone will believe me without evidence. I'll take a picture for posterity. And this friend may just get this for Valentine's Day after all...

Kids. Erg.

After my son ate lunch, he sat down in the living room chair. I was going about my business, and happened to glance at his feet. He quickly moved his right foot to cover his left, but I had already seen what he did not want me to see.

His left big toe was swollen and had gunk around the toenail.

I immediately did the stupidest thing I could have done, which was to react normally with an "OMG! What's wrong with your toe!!??"

"Let me see it!"

"NO!!!!"

"... you have to let me see it. You have an ingrown toenail and it's INFECTED!!!!"

"NO!!!"

(at this, I made a slight exaggeration, backed up by fact, but it was NECESSARY, as he would not let me look at his toe.)

"Do you want to lose your toe?"

"Whaaat?!"

"You heard me. It's infected. If we don't do something about it..."

Obviously, I got to look at the toe. I also managed to get to use the tweezers to free the part that was ingrown. He is now soaking his foot in hot soapy water, with the attendant complaints that it is too hot. Tough, was my answer. We have to get it cleaned and the swelling down.

He claims that it didn't hurt, and he also claims that he didn't tell me because he didn't want me to worry. I explained that for things like this, he HAS to tell me, and it is RIGHT for me to worry about them. He says he first noticed it Thursday night. Bull, I said. But, he clammed up, and won't tell me more. I've had ingrown toenails before, and it has to be very painful for him. I don't know why he didn't tell me this before. If he had told me Thursday night, he could have seen the doctor yesterday. The clinic is closed now, and this is not yet to the point where he needs to go into the emergency room.

So, we are going to work to get this clean and keep the nail up and out this weekend. On Monday, he's going to the doctor if there is not significant improvement. He got a lecture on how important it is to pay attention to his feet, and how to spot signs of infection.

As for me, I could have done without this, especially since I haven't yet had lunch. But, I am glad I made him show me his foot. What a stinker to try to keep something like that from me. Like he'd get in trouble, or something.... I'm just upset that he had to go through more pain than was necessary by waiting to bring this to my attention.

Friday, February 10, 2006

BSG = OMGYHTWT

Battlestar Galactica last week was really good. This week, it was also pretty good. I hate it when something makes me cry.

My son and I both were like, "No! You can't!" and "OH MY GOD!"

So, like, watch it already :)

Thursday, February 09, 2006

Okay, obviously I am stupid, and probably left my mail client running at work...

I remember quitting it. Honestly. But I am having this problem lately where all of the days are running into each other, and I have difficulty remembering exactly when something happened. This is what happens when you do the same repetitive tasks over and over again, until you can't actually remember doing them.

I have gotten a couple of list emails for the macosx server list, after changing my password (one way to force my mail client at work to stop working). I am assuming things are normal now, but I will have no way to tell before tomorrow morning.

You can still email me if you want to :)

WTH is up with email tonight?

I haven't received any of my isu email since about 4:30 this afternoon. If you have emailed me about something important, please use my alternate gmail account. I have no idea what is going on, and the webmail site is also showing zero messages.

Four hours + without email makes me nervous, especially since I know that I quit my email client on my work machine, so this isn't a case of it already having been downloaded to another computer. I think I might go in and change something quick and see if that helps...

Bummer, I really was looking forward to the two costume digests I receive every evening...

update: So I went in and changed my password. And I suddenly got the test email that I had sent from my gmail account earlier, after I had changed the password, but before I renewed my kerberos ticket. Weird. Anyway, so it is possible, but not likely that I might have left my mail client running on my computer at work. I am pretty sure that I quit it, though, as I even had a moment where I was going to check my mail again before leaving, and then decided to just quit anyway. I will be pretty upset if I lost four hours worth of email, even if it will mostly be listserv stuff. I need my email!

A little R & R

Put this on the calendar - I have nothing to do tonight. No places to go, no people to see. Zip, zilch, zero, nada.

I can almost gaurantee that in less than an hour, I will be asleep on the couch.

I don't know why I seem to be able to get more done on the days that we are busy than on the days when we are not. I just get this sudden urge to lie around the house reading romance novels, and eating chocolates. It's cold outside, so I am going to curl up with a blanket and a good book, and try not to fall asleep too early.

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

And so begins the flood of spam...

My spam box in my gmail account is filling up rapidly. I do not know what triggered it, as I don't think I have used it to sign up for much of anything other than our town newspaper registration.

I deleted everything in the spam-box last night, and about every other hour, I get another piece of spam.

Yuck.

I'd like to thank the little person, who ensured that my head is now full of music.

For someone who could not remember much of the words to the music of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat just hours after she had seen it performed, it is certainly strange that it should be stuck in my head now.

At this rate, I'll have it memorized without even listening to it again...

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

Once again, I forgot to set the VCR

I was pretty tired last night, which makes the fact that I went to bed early and forgot to set the VCR not so surprising.

TG for torrents...

Monday, February 06, 2006

Quick - get a post up before the outage!

Okay, this is my obligatory daily post.

Pertinent info about today:

1. My cold is getting worse.
2. I was sleepy at the meeting tonight, and therefore was not up to my normally sparkling conversational skills. You gotta have skillz...
3. My horoscope said it would be a "5" and they were right. They also said someone owes me money, so I don't know what's up with that.
4. My nose feels funky. Like I need about five boxes of kleenex. But I'm not stuffy. But my chest feels congested. Bummer.
5. Chili for lunch, and chili for supper. Traildust added to the supper chili made it even better... I'm buying some for my dad.

Gotta go set the timer on the vcr to catch BSG. This episode looks sort of good... It actually has cylons in it.

Sunday, February 05, 2006

"You mean, these guys are older than mima and grandpa?"

He hasn't stopped laughing yet....

"I think they resurrected him from the dead."

"This is my twefth Super Bowl, right?"

Yep, it is, and no, I am not going to explain who that old guy in the satin bathrobe with all of the blondes around him is, and what he does...

Go, go chili!

Okay, now I have music from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat running through my head. This would not be bad, and really isn't bad, except I don't actually know any of the words to any of the songs, and the music is kind of jumbled up in my head.

I had fun. The performers had such enthusiasm for their parts that it made it very enjoyable, as did the company. :)

After I got home, I called my mom to once again pick her brain about how she makes her chili. My son insisted that we have chili tonight, and it had to be the way Mima makes it. She gave me notes, and it was just the way I remembered it. Funny how one can doubt memory after years have passed. I even rememberd the brand of beans she used, but I thought there had to be some secret to how things were put together.

So, we sat down to chili at the kick-off, and it was good.

"But not as good as the chili you made yesterday, mom," my son said as he carefully navigated his spoon to avoid all kidney beans...

Saturday, February 04, 2006

I know I shouldn't say this...

After taking a two hour nap, and waking up all warm and toasty, I honestly can't be entirely upset that my son decided he HAD to go home this afternoon.

But still, I am not happy about missing dinner tonight at camp, nor goofing off, playing cards, exploring, and taking advantage of all that Mitigwa has to offer.

However, if there is anything I know about my child, I know that to have pressed the issue would have made him even more adamant, upset, ticked off, uncooperative, and would possibly lead eventually to him deciding that it is not worth it to be in scouts at all. That would be a big mistake. In addition, if it had been any other kid, I probably would have called their parents to come and get them, too. There is only so much you can do if a kid is that miserable and upset.

Yes, we'd like the kids to tough it out, stay in the game, finish what they started, etc. That would be nice if they could do that, but sometimes, physical discomfort, especially cold, can magnify other events into something kids just cannot handle. If it had warmer out today, and if he had listened when I told him to wear his extra sweatshirt and snowpants, we'd probably be sitting around the wood stove, eating with our friends rather than sitting at home by ourselves watching something incomprehensible on Cartoon Network (anime puppets... very weird). When they are able to start a fire, splint a leg, and use a compass, sometimes you forget that they are, in fact, just kids of eleven to twelve, and 14 to 18.

And just in case anyone thinks I let him off easy,he's grounded from video games for day, and we are going to go help unload when the troop gets back tomorrow morning. He did not once complain about being grounded...

Home again, home again?

It's a really long story... why we are home a day early from camping.

Just the facts:

1. It was very, very cold and windy.
2. A kid in a position of authority said something to my son that was pretty mean and completely demoralized him. Took all of the fun out of the day.
3. My reverse psychology did not work to fix it, and neither did bribery.
4. Even good chili couldn't bulk him up enough to want to stay. Not even the thought of beef and biscuits, and dump cake for dessert could entice him to want to stay.

That's why we are home.

Thursday, February 02, 2006

Fame! I want to live for-e-e-var!!!

Don't ask me why that popped into my head just a second ago... Maybe it's because I just drove by the Actors Building about 40 minutes ago and saw it all lit up, cars everywhere. Ah, to be back on stage again...

Actually, although I briefly considered this back in May, one look at the time commitment made me realize how very, very unworkable it would be for us. I currently only have two weeknights free as it is, and they are usually planned carefully to allow for things to be done that can't be done on Monday or Wednesday evenings. No way it could be worked out, even with the tiniest role possible...

Anyway, the reason I was out at the ungodly hour of 8:25 pm, was that I had to run an errand after getting back from picking up ny son's glasses. Yay!!!! Glasses!!!! He can finally see, and I can finally actually plan our days and evenings without thinking I may have to drop things at the last second.

Yippeee!!!!!!!!!

Wow!

When I went to lunch, I didn't need a coat.

How's that for wonderful?

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Non-whiny post #1

Five Good Things that Happened Today

1. The sky was bright blue when I came out of the apartment building after lunch!!!
2. I had leftover pizza for lunch!!! Yay, Food!
3. My son's actually been talking to me the last few days!!!!!
4. My son took out the garbage for me tonight, and I only had to ask once!!!
5. I got to play with my nephew tonight while selling my sister and her husband magazine subscriptions for my son's school fundraiser!!!!! (exclamation points infinity!)

I have to elaborate more on the "playing with my nephew" part of the evening, because it was the highlight of the day (besides my SON ACTUALLY TAKING OUT THE GARBAGE WITHOUT BEING BRIBED!!!). This poor kid has a terrible cold, but he was so cheerful and happy :) He was very happy to see me, and sat on my lap while he drank his bedtime bottle. He kept saying, "than djue," every time I would give it back to him when he would set it aside. Then, when I kissed him on the cheek, just because he smelled so good and looked so cute, he said it again.

I can still smell Baby Magic on my sweatshirt...

quitcherbitchin

The more I get to thinking about that last dear abby, the more I think that maybe the writer is a little off...

I don't want to be in a relationship where I am not allowed to have a bad day. I wouldn't expect the other half of the relationship to never have a bad day, either. I think it is incredibly naive to think that masking any emotion is a good idea in a relationship. Things happen, and part of a good relationship is helping each other get through difficult or upsetting times.What does it serve if one side thinks that the other always has it easy? Never has a bad day at work, everything is always perfect. It would breed resentment on some level in everyone.

My mom always told me to be suspicious of "perfect." If someone is trying hard to appear perfect, they are usually hiding something.

So, yeah, I can try harder not to whine, but you know what? This is my blog, and I'll whine and cry if I want to :) It's better than letting it fester inside me until I feel sorry about myself, right? In fact, most of the time, if I do write a whiny post, I'll read it later and wonder what all the fuss was about, or laugh about it. It helps me let go, and get on with what is important.