1. I am really full.
2. All that food DID NOT help my cause to get back to my skinny jeans.
3. Starting tomorrow, Wii for P.E. every day! Teacher and student.
4. Yes, that's right, I'm making her do school stuff tomorrow. But I said if her friend Red from across the street calls or comes over, absolutely she may go play.
5. Stuffing works really good in the crock pot. That's how I'm cooking it from now on. I liked the raisins, dried cranberries and cashews in it too. But I might put less dried fruit in it next time, it was a bit overpowering.
6. I cannot make good mashed potatoes to save my life. Blech. I'd better go back to roast potatoes next year.
7. I am really, really full.
8. I am not a big fan of "traditions." Just because we've always done something is no reason to keep doing the exact same thing year after year. My Freak Parents are the same. We never had big celebrations for holidays. Sure we have turkey every year for Thanksgiving, but mainly it is because we all like big turkey dinners and all the ingredients are on sale this time of year. I think we'd all be happy with a lasagna or roast beef. Sure I have happy memories of holidays from when I was growing up. I just don't see the point of trying to recreate them every year. Let's do new things and make new happy memories.
9. I'm also not sentimental.
10. I am, however, really, really, really full. I'd better go sleep this off.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Egg Inspection
Today I went to a grocery store I don't normally go to. We were visiting my parents and my dad rode with me into town (he's doing great from the surgery) and we stopped to get a couple of items. I needed eggs. As always I checked to make sure they were all there and none were broken back at the dairy case. Then when we got up to the checkout the lady opened the carton and inspected the eggs. Even turned the carton around and looked very closely at them all. It was very creepy I tell you! I was NOT comfortable with some strange lady breathing on my eggs and looking at them like that. Dad thought she was squirrelly too. (Although to be honest, Dad thinks most people are squirrelly.) (And one more parenthetical, Blogger doesn't recognize "squirrelly" as spelled correctly although my dictionary does. And if you say squirrelly enough times in your head it sounds, well squirrelly. And no I haven't been nipping at the wine this early in the day.)
Anyway, I was wondering if anyone had experienced this sort of egg scrutiny before. Mom said she never did, but she doesn't usually go to that store either. Did the lady think I was smuggling something out in the egg carton? A t-bone steak or pound of shrimp perhaps? Maybe a bottle of vodka? Did she think I looked shifty with my wool coat and pink purse and Sporto boots? I don't look shifty, Lady. I look like a suburbanite mom. Maybe that's it, my suburbia scared her (my parents live in a small town out of the suburbs).
Maybe I just have a weird egg paranoia. Ew, maybe she has a weird egg fetish. I think I'll go wash my eggs now.
Anyway, I was wondering if anyone had experienced this sort of egg scrutiny before. Mom said she never did, but she doesn't usually go to that store either. Did the lady think I was smuggling something out in the egg carton? A t-bone steak or pound of shrimp perhaps? Maybe a bottle of vodka? Did she think I looked shifty with my wool coat and pink purse and Sporto boots? I don't look shifty, Lady. I look like a suburbanite mom. Maybe that's it, my suburbia scared her (my parents live in a small town out of the suburbs).
Maybe I just have a weird egg paranoia. Ew, maybe she has a weird egg fetish. I think I'll go wash my eggs now.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Breathing easier again
A few glasses of wine (hey, if one is good, several must be better right?), some good nights' sleep and a few things crossed off my to do list have put me in a much better perspective.
I've decided not to go to the holiday party. I usually only make it once every three years or so anyway. I went last year. I work nights and weekends. I'm not supposed to be working during normal business hours. At least not such that would require day care, except in emergencies. Mandatory meetings, client meetings, presentations are one thing, a party is different. I can't have Mr. Incredible risk his job for a party. Especially one with a talent show. Yep, they wanted us to perform something at it. I don't think so. Although I can sing a mean camp song. I know all the words and actions to "Great Big Moose", "Going on a Bear Hunt" and "Herman the Worm." That would wow them in the tax department. Ha!
Thanksgiving is going forward as planned. If my dad decides even that morning that he isn't up to a car ride and sitting around someone else's house that's perfectly understandable. I talked to my mom and offered to bring a turkey pot pie to their house afterwards if he didn't want to make the trip. She thinks he'll be more than ready to come, but I think they appreciated the flexibility in deciding. I assured them I would make the same amount of food regardless of their decision and they'd still get some, just in a slightly different format.
We got a lot of school done today. We're shelving formal multiplication for a while and doing some decimal and measuring work in Key to. I did give her 6 multiplication problems to do on the white board and plan to do that each day. The main thing she needs to focus on is her own confidence in her abilities. She knows a lot. She doesn't think she does. And she clamps up when anyone asks her something.
I got a lot of work done over the weekend. My boss even commented about how busy I was. I'm going to be more proactive in looking for things I can do and proposing them. They like that sort of thing, and I can use the extra hours.
The mammogram is over with. No more squish until next year.
Still need to figure out a way to keep Christmas in check this year. I've been trying every year of my marriage (20 years next fall!) and I get voted down every single year. I don't want to exchange with every member of the extended family (Mr. Incredible's step mom's family to boot, not even any family either of us grew up with!), yet we do. I'll protest again this year. I'll lose. I'll come home with a bunch of crap I don't want and don't need. Maybe I'll work on this issue more before I give up. As I look at what I've typed, I think it is a fight worth fighting. "We love you, Merry Christmas, be well in 2009, no presents," seems like a really reasonable alternative to me.
I've caught up in reading all your blogs and have enjoyed reading what you've been up to. I know I haven't left many comments, but be assured I did read it all and laughed and sighed with you. ((hugs))
I've decided not to go to the holiday party. I usually only make it once every three years or so anyway. I went last year. I work nights and weekends. I'm not supposed to be working during normal business hours. At least not such that would require day care, except in emergencies. Mandatory meetings, client meetings, presentations are one thing, a party is different. I can't have Mr. Incredible risk his job for a party. Especially one with a talent show. Yep, they wanted us to perform something at it. I don't think so. Although I can sing a mean camp song. I know all the words and actions to "Great Big Moose", "Going on a Bear Hunt" and "Herman the Worm." That would wow them in the tax department. Ha!
Thanksgiving is going forward as planned. If my dad decides even that morning that he isn't up to a car ride and sitting around someone else's house that's perfectly understandable. I talked to my mom and offered to bring a turkey pot pie to their house afterwards if he didn't want to make the trip. She thinks he'll be more than ready to come, but I think they appreciated the flexibility in deciding. I assured them I would make the same amount of food regardless of their decision and they'd still get some, just in a slightly different format.
We got a lot of school done today. We're shelving formal multiplication for a while and doing some decimal and measuring work in Key to. I did give her 6 multiplication problems to do on the white board and plan to do that each day. The main thing she needs to focus on is her own confidence in her abilities. She knows a lot. She doesn't think she does. And she clamps up when anyone asks her something.
I got a lot of work done over the weekend. My boss even commented about how busy I was. I'm going to be more proactive in looking for things I can do and proposing them. They like that sort of thing, and I can use the extra hours.
The mammogram is over with. No more squish until next year.
Still need to figure out a way to keep Christmas in check this year. I've been trying every year of my marriage (20 years next fall!) and I get voted down every single year. I don't want to exchange with every member of the extended family (Mr. Incredible's step mom's family to boot, not even any family either of us grew up with!), yet we do. I'll protest again this year. I'll lose. I'll come home with a bunch of crap I don't want and don't need. Maybe I'll work on this issue more before I give up. As I look at what I've typed, I think it is a fight worth fighting. "We love you, Merry Christmas, be well in 2009, no presents," seems like a really reasonable alternative to me.
I've caught up in reading all your blogs and have enjoyed reading what you've been up to. I know I haven't left many comments, but be assured I did read it all and laughed and sighed with you. ((hugs))
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Feeling bogged down
I feel overwhelmed tonight. I know I'm just still adjusting to being back from 10 days away, and trying to catch up. But I am having one of my "I must be crazy, I can't do all this" sort of days.
There's more work to be done for my paying job. I scared of our new CEO. I'm sure she hates me and everything I stand for. She has small kids, yet she chooses to work full time at a high powered career. I choose to let my career barely tread water while I stay home and homeschool my kid. The partners at work love me. They are still in charge. But she has a lot of power and influence. If I lose this job I really can't get another one without re-entering the job market full time which I'm not ready to do. By the time I am ready, if I've been completely out of the industry for that long I'll never get a job. I have to stay afloat.
We haven't done any homeschooling in over two weeks. We have to get back into the swing of things. But everyday we plan to there are interruptions.
Thanksgiving is next week. I've invited my parents but I'm not sure if they are coming. If dad isn't up to a car ride they may not. How do I transport a cooked turkey to their house? I'd like to postpone Thanksgiving a week. Do you think anyone would mind?
I can't even think about Christmas. Mr. Incredible likes to buy lots of gifts for everyone. I don't want to spend a dime right now. This probably won't be pretty.
I have to decide by Monday if I am going to my office holiday party. I don't want to go. I don't feel the least bit festive. I don't know who would watch Violet. I don't want Mr. Incredible to take the day off so I can go to a party. Or ruffle his company's feathers by asking to work from home. He holds our health insurance. I don't currently qualify to get it through my job. There's a full day training session the same week. I'd really like to go to that. I can't do both. Do I ask him to work from home so I can do the training? Then use that as the excuse for blowing off the holiday party? I don't know.
My mammogram is Monday. Squish. Blech.
The pet sitter/babysitter is graduating this year and going away to college next year. I'll have to find someone new. I can't believe she's all grown up.
I swapped out my summer clothes for my winter clothes in my closet. It was really depressing. I could really use something new. I have nothing nice that fits. I've had the same collection of t-shirts and sweatshirts for years. If the Republican party offered to buy me a whole new wardrobe right now, I wouldn't ask many questions. Let them rip me up in the media after the fact. A new suit that fits would be heaven. It is probably the only issue Sarah Palin and I will ever see eye to eye on.
For once, there's nothing Girl Scouty stressing me out. I delivered the food pantry donations last night. Violet's candy and nut orders can be picked up tomorrow, but I've been to the place where I'm getting them tons of times. There aren't any meetings coming up. The next homeschool Juliette day is pretty much planned. There are bags of towels and blankets sitting in my front room, but I'm waiting for the greyhound volunteers to let me know when to bring them. It is pretty much smooth sailing right now. That's sad when my volunteer activities are bringing me the least amount of stress (you have to know my Girl Scout history to really get that).
Obviously I should get away from my computer tonight. I'm getting too worked up. Time to pour a glass of wine and pull out a Sudoku book. I will put off deciding anything for tonight and maybe things will just make more sense tomorrow. If not, I have another bottle of wine in the house. Feel free to pour yourself a glass as well. It is better not to drink alone. (As long as we have a designated driver to get us safely through cyberspace!)
There's more work to be done for my paying job. I scared of our new CEO. I'm sure she hates me and everything I stand for. She has small kids, yet she chooses to work full time at a high powered career. I choose to let my career barely tread water while I stay home and homeschool my kid. The partners at work love me. They are still in charge. But she has a lot of power and influence. If I lose this job I really can't get another one without re-entering the job market full time which I'm not ready to do. By the time I am ready, if I've been completely out of the industry for that long I'll never get a job. I have to stay afloat.
We haven't done any homeschooling in over two weeks. We have to get back into the swing of things. But everyday we plan to there are interruptions.
Thanksgiving is next week. I've invited my parents but I'm not sure if they are coming. If dad isn't up to a car ride they may not. How do I transport a cooked turkey to their house? I'd like to postpone Thanksgiving a week. Do you think anyone would mind?
I can't even think about Christmas. Mr. Incredible likes to buy lots of gifts for everyone. I don't want to spend a dime right now. This probably won't be pretty.
I have to decide by Monday if I am going to my office holiday party. I don't want to go. I don't feel the least bit festive. I don't know who would watch Violet. I don't want Mr. Incredible to take the day off so I can go to a party. Or ruffle his company's feathers by asking to work from home. He holds our health insurance. I don't currently qualify to get it through my job. There's a full day training session the same week. I'd really like to go to that. I can't do both. Do I ask him to work from home so I can do the training? Then use that as the excuse for blowing off the holiday party? I don't know.
My mammogram is Monday. Squish. Blech.
The pet sitter/babysitter is graduating this year and going away to college next year. I'll have to find someone new. I can't believe she's all grown up.
I swapped out my summer clothes for my winter clothes in my closet. It was really depressing. I could really use something new. I have nothing nice that fits. I've had the same collection of t-shirts and sweatshirts for years. If the Republican party offered to buy me a whole new wardrobe right now, I wouldn't ask many questions. Let them rip me up in the media after the fact. A new suit that fits would be heaven. It is probably the only issue Sarah Palin and I will ever see eye to eye on.
For once, there's nothing Girl Scouty stressing me out. I delivered the food pantry donations last night. Violet's candy and nut orders can be picked up tomorrow, but I've been to the place where I'm getting them tons of times. There aren't any meetings coming up. The next homeschool Juliette day is pretty much planned. There are bags of towels and blankets sitting in my front room, but I'm waiting for the greyhound volunteers to let me know when to bring them. It is pretty much smooth sailing right now. That's sad when my volunteer activities are bringing me the least amount of stress (you have to know my Girl Scout history to really get that).
Obviously I should get away from my computer tonight. I'm getting too worked up. Time to pour a glass of wine and pull out a Sudoku book. I will put off deciding anything for tonight and maybe things will just make more sense tomorrow. If not, I have another bottle of wine in the house. Feel free to pour yourself a glass as well. It is better not to drink alone. (As long as we have a designated driver to get us safely through cyberspace!)
Friday, November 21, 2008
I am back
We got back from vacation Tuesday night. We had a nice time. Mr. Incredible had some big work problems come up that cut into some of our time and a lot of his relaxation. That stunk, mainly for him. Violet and I went in the pool while he tried to fix the servers from 1200 miles away.
I'm still slowly catching up. I've got a ton of work to do, which is good since I'm paid hourly. I've been working on catching up with all your blogs. Some highlights since our return:
A co-worker and close friend of mine was laid off yesterday. Our boss just said to ask her about it. The official word was that she left to pursue other career opportunities. I tried to call her today but got her answering machine. I'm really bummed about this and more worried than ever about my own job security as well. I feel so bad for her.
This afternoon Violet and I helped sort candy and nut orders for the Girl Scout troops. It was fun. We only got through 10 troops. The lady in charge of it had other helpers for this evening. Violet liked that she got to do that instead of math and grammar today. Plus she liked playing with the doggies at her house.
Tonight I dropped off two copy paper boxes full of canned and dry goods for the Operation Thanksgiving food drive, another Girl Scout event. I set out hoping to fill one box from Juliette donations and ended up with 2 boxes plus a bag of "extras." At least one Juliette participated on her own as well (daughter of evil ex-leader). It was really cold here today and before I left to take the food donations I ate a bowl of chili for dinner. Then I got to thinking about the significance of eating a hot meal before delivering food pantry donations. Ironic, isn't it?
The next big community service project is a collection for an animal shelter. I'm really hoping to talk one of the other Juliette families into doing that delivery, it is much further away than tonight's was. I'm thinking maybe someone travels that direction on a regular basis anyway. Check back here in March, I'm sure you'll read about me driving the donations to the shelter.
My dad had minor surgery today and is back home tonight. I was quite glad to get the a-ok phone call a few hours ago.
As I catch up and decompress I'll write more of my witty, insightful, thought-inspiring commentaries on life. In the meantime, I'm happy to just read all of yours.
I'm still slowly catching up. I've got a ton of work to do, which is good since I'm paid hourly. I've been working on catching up with all your blogs. Some highlights since our return:
A co-worker and close friend of mine was laid off yesterday. Our boss just said to ask her about it. The official word was that she left to pursue other career opportunities. I tried to call her today but got her answering machine. I'm really bummed about this and more worried than ever about my own job security as well. I feel so bad for her.
This afternoon Violet and I helped sort candy and nut orders for the Girl Scout troops. It was fun. We only got through 10 troops. The lady in charge of it had other helpers for this evening. Violet liked that she got to do that instead of math and grammar today. Plus she liked playing with the doggies at her house.
Tonight I dropped off two copy paper boxes full of canned and dry goods for the Operation Thanksgiving food drive, another Girl Scout event. I set out hoping to fill one box from Juliette donations and ended up with 2 boxes plus a bag of "extras." At least one Juliette participated on her own as well (daughter of evil ex-leader). It was really cold here today and before I left to take the food donations I ate a bowl of chili for dinner. Then I got to thinking about the significance of eating a hot meal before delivering food pantry donations. Ironic, isn't it?
The next big community service project is a collection for an animal shelter. I'm really hoping to talk one of the other Juliette families into doing that delivery, it is much further away than tonight's was. I'm thinking maybe someone travels that direction on a regular basis anyway. Check back here in March, I'm sure you'll read about me driving the donations to the shelter.
My dad had minor surgery today and is back home tonight. I was quite glad to get the a-ok phone call a few hours ago.
As I catch up and decompress I'll write more of my witty, insightful, thought-inspiring commentaries on life. In the meantime, I'm happy to just read all of yours.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
What a day
It all started at 7:30 this morning with a knock on the door. It's the babysitter sitter I hired for tomorrow. Her mom told her the wrong day. I know I told them both Friday the 7th a dozen times. She felt so bad. She wasn't available Friday. A call to my boss, how critical is it that I attend the "MANDATORY" and "REQUIRED" meeting and training tomorrow? She said she could fill me in on the morning, but it would really be good if I could be there in the afternoon.
Call to Red's house. School is off tomorrow (and today) can Violet hang out there in the afternoon? Grandpa says sure send her over. (The grandparents live with them.) Red's mom was working and I really wanted to confirm with her that 5 hours in the afternoon with me 30 miles away was really okay. Sometimes she has plans that the Grandpa doesn't know about. And I wanted to make sure Grandpa knew what he'd agreed to while he still had time to get out of it.
It was fine, both grandparents and Red's dad would be home, plus Red, Little Red and Big Brother. Violet has a place to go. Meanwhile Babysitter and her mom had called back trying to figure out how they could rearrange their day to swap back and forth the watching of Violet. We're sticking with the playdate at Red's plan.
Sometimes I really hate working.
Violet was so bummed about not having the babysitter all day, she loves her. We went out to run some errands. In the grocery store parking lot, I'm not quite sure how, Violet slammed into the side mirror on the car. Big bruise on her forehead. And jammed her thumb. We had to go in the ladies room for an inspection and regrouping prior to shopping. I bought some Tylenol to give her before we got home. And bought her some bubble gum because I felt so bad about her bad day. She bit her tongue on the bubble gum. Sigh.
Mr. Incredible's train was late. He missed most of Batman with Violet. They watch the reruns at night together. She didn't want to watch without him. I messed up trying to set his VCR for him. Who knows what I recorded. That man has way too many remotes and I swear none of the buttons on any of them did a damned thing.
So if we can just get through tomorrow we are off on our vacation. I'm hoping all the troubles have happened today so that we can have a smooth vacation.
Call to Red's house. School is off tomorrow (and today) can Violet hang out there in the afternoon? Grandpa says sure send her over. (The grandparents live with them.) Red's mom was working and I really wanted to confirm with her that 5 hours in the afternoon with me 30 miles away was really okay. Sometimes she has plans that the Grandpa doesn't know about. And I wanted to make sure Grandpa knew what he'd agreed to while he still had time to get out of it.
It was fine, both grandparents and Red's dad would be home, plus Red, Little Red and Big Brother. Violet has a place to go. Meanwhile Babysitter and her mom had called back trying to figure out how they could rearrange their day to swap back and forth the watching of Violet. We're sticking with the playdate at Red's plan.
Sometimes I really hate working.
Violet was so bummed about not having the babysitter all day, she loves her. We went out to run some errands. In the grocery store parking lot, I'm not quite sure how, Violet slammed into the side mirror on the car. Big bruise on her forehead. And jammed her thumb. We had to go in the ladies room for an inspection and regrouping prior to shopping. I bought some Tylenol to give her before we got home. And bought her some bubble gum because I felt so bad about her bad day. She bit her tongue on the bubble gum. Sigh.
Mr. Incredible's train was late. He missed most of Batman with Violet. They watch the reruns at night together. She didn't want to watch without him. I messed up trying to set his VCR for him. Who knows what I recorded. That man has way too many remotes and I swear none of the buttons on any of them did a damned thing.
So if we can just get through tomorrow we are off on our vacation. I'm hoping all the troubles have happened today so that we can have a smooth vacation.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Update on the puffer fish bandit
Some of you might remember that over the summer a man was arrested for having 38 vials of a deadly neurotoxin in his house. The same stuff puffer fish use to kill its enemies and people who don't know how to properly cook them. This caught my interest because he lives less than 2 miles from me and we watched the SWAT helicopters hovering around all afternoon while they arrested him. Supposedly he was hatching a plot to kill his wife (and how many others in the process?) He denies it (of course). She stands by him (whatever). A few years ago he was arrested but not convicted in a plot to kill his wife that he said he didn't really intend to carry out, he was just bored.
Anyway, he's in the news again. He's been in jail since his arrest and his lawyers were trying to get his bond lowered so he could be released. They said he wasn't a threat to anyone.
On what planet does having 38 vials of a deadly neurotoxin make you not a threat to anyone?
What if he got "bored" again and decided to start taking target practice at other people, their homes, their pets, their lawn gnomes? (He had a mini-arsenal of weapons as well as the poison.) Or start a little side research on other toxins? Maybe decide that bomb making was his new hobby?
Happily the judge denied lowering his bond, and Puffer Fish Man still resides in jail.
Anyway, he's in the news again. He's been in jail since his arrest and his lawyers were trying to get his bond lowered so he could be released. They said he wasn't a threat to anyone.
On what planet does having 38 vials of a deadly neurotoxin make you not a threat to anyone?
What if he got "bored" again and decided to start taking target practice at other people, their homes, their pets, their lawn gnomes? (He had a mini-arsenal of weapons as well as the poison.) Or start a little side research on other toxins? Maybe decide that bomb making was his new hobby?
Happily the judge denied lowering his bond, and Puffer Fish Man still resides in jail.
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