That time of year

Okay - as it's December 31st, it's officially time to assess the year past and figure out where the next year is headed. During 2008 I:

• Ended a relationship
• Worked a second job
• Moved into a new apartment
• Became a capable housekeeper
• Reconnected with old friends
• Went to the gym faithfully for 2/3 of the year
• Baked a Cheesecake
• Had a lot of fun with Asrai

That's a pretty decent list if you ask me. Granted there are loads of things I won't include (some examples are that I changed the litter box an average of 1.2 times per week, went to the gynecologist, things like that). But I think that's enough for the big 2-0-0-8.

2009's a whole new pot of spaghetti though, and I'm ready to make some Resolutions - here's the plan:

• Grow my hair past my shoulders
• Go to the gym faithfully for 4/5 of the year (I'm not even going to bother pushing this one in November and December)
• Continue my trend of keeping the house tidy - and try to stay more on top of the dirty laundry situation
• Learn how to make baked Alaska
• Learn how to operate the new sewing machine
• Keep having fun with Asrai while she's still young enough to like me
• Write more

Also, a totally rocking list, if I do say so myself. I didn't add boring things like change the litterbox an average of 1.4 times per week, or FINALLY quit those last few cigarettes I seem to be smoking every day. I am hoping those will evolve on their own, and if they don't - I don't want to feel like 2009 was a total failure.

I'd also like to lose a few pounds, however, I weigh just what I did when I started this year, which is very much better than weighing more, right? So I'm not going to push myself - if I work out and stick to a daily dietary regimen of cheesecake and pasta, I should break even, right?

The Overeducated, Underemployed, Pretty F@cking Complacent Girl's Guide to Relationships

This is the first book that Kathryn and I started working on back in 2006.

Thoughtful Chapters include:

1. I'd rather stay home with my cats
2. If he really loves you, he'll clean the house
3. Avoiding familial nagging about your single status
4. The big "O" - why you don't need him
5. 101 ways to introduce yourself without looking like a desperate dumbass

I'll try to visit the different chapters in future blog posts - but this is what I've got for major headings at the moment.

The Great Pigeon Rescue of 2008

Here in Libby Hall, we occasionally get birds that fly into our big air ducts (they're the size that toddlers could walk around in - we're not talking Baby Jessica-type spots, more roomy) and they twitter and tweet very loudly and we all feel guilty - then we'll take the grate off, and try to woo them with bird seed and water, and after a while they go away (or they die, but I'd like to think they find a way to escape and are maybe living in the break room or something like that).

Well, least week the twittering and tweeting started, and what sounded like wings thrashing around. Angela and I took off the grate and she put some seed and water in for it. Eventually it was comfortable enough to let us see it, but not to come out.

This morning, someone came and rescued that little bird, who I have named Sally - it's a baby pigeon - and so effing cute, I just want to bite it (I refrained). I got to hold it (then I promptly washed my hands, so as to avoid the pesky bird flu) and it was sweet - I wish I could take it home, but Acie and Gracie would just think I'd brougth them a live snack - and that wouldn't end well for anyone.

The gentleman who did the rescue is bringing little Sally over to the animal science or something people - hopefully they'll be able to nurture her and get her ready for a long life of living under a bridge and pooping on strangers!! Yay for Sally!!!!

Unfortunately, I didn't have a camera with me, so I had to google the closest picture I could find to my beloved Sally:

Somebody stop me!!!

I have a little problem. It's money related. Unfortunately - my little problem is NOT that I have too much money - it's not even that I don't have enough money - it's that money runs through me like a sieve. I've been caught up in this rush of excitement with Christmas shopping and really have no explanation for all the money I've spent. Tsk Tsk Tsk!!! I'm like the US government - just spend spend spend!!!

I just love presents. Presents FOR me are okay - but I absolutely crave the excitement of finding the perfect gift for another person - and unfortunately for me, Asrai is SUPER easy to shop for - everywhere I turn around - woo hoo - there's another perfect gift!! She's going to think Santa was smoking heroin when he put together her presents this year because there are so effing many of them. Thank goodness we have a basement!

I do feel bad about it - because the economy is in the toilet, and when I can't afford to buy groceries at some point in March, I'm going to look at all those American Girl doll accessories and outfits and curse my loose purse strings. They're just so goddamn cute. Whose fault is that???? Hello - it's got to be Mattel.

Seriously though, I don't know why I'm worried about the future. If I were an uber-Christian, I'd probably think the end of days was coming - when people are trampling employees to death at Wal-Mart and shooting each other at Toys R' Us over deals - nevermind the pregnant woman injured in a mall shooting in Atlanta - something is very wrong with the world. And while I'm not a very religious person - I do see the irony in people killing each other over cheap toys for the holiday celebrating Jesus's birth.

I'm not one to dwell on the negative, so I'll move on.

Tonight begins the two weeks of my person hell. For the next 16 days I have one day off - and most of the rest of the days I'll be working both jobs. I have two days off from LLBean in the next 16 days. Yuck-O. But - It will help compensate for my dreadful purchasing practices of late. Tsk Tsk Tsk. Honestly, I enjoy the LLBean work - it doesn't require any brainpower from me - I can be pleasant and present on the phone with one hand tied behind my back - oh yes. Unfortunately my day job is not quite so lenient. Such is life. In 22 days it will be Christmas, and all will be well with the world!!!

O Christmas Tree - O Christmas Tree

I am a big fan of Christmas. I'm into all Christmas-related items and activities. I enjoy shopping and decorating, baking - all of it is gold to me. It's become a tradition of mine to go and get my Christmas Tree the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Yesterday I dutifully went to an ATM and got cash out. I'd already called around for prices (the lowest anywhere is $25 - which is a sure sign of inflation if you ask me). I stopped where I guy had a whole bunch of trees set up in a parking lot, and was going to go back there (he's a local guy, seemed to make sense) - but then I saw that they had a bunch of trees at the Blue Seal store. We picked the skinniest tree we could find - not that I don't love big, full trees - it's just that the spot we have for the tree is near the doorway into the kitchen and a full tree could keep us from being able to get in there.

Yes - we got a skinny tree. When I got it home, I noticed that some of the branches at the bottom of the tree had been broken when it was bundled up (the tree was bundled with rope when we bought it), and that alarmed me a bit, but you have to cut the bottom off the tree in order to let it get water, so I didn't think much of it.

I stood it up in the stand and screwed it in while Azi held it straight, then she cut the rope, and immediately all sorts of branches started falling off. Apparently when they packaged our tree, they weren't very gentle with it - hell, maybe it fell off the truck or something. I decided that it's just a plus, because we've got to have the tree against the back window, and the huge bald spot actually gives it a nice, flush fit against the wall.

However, today it was bugging me a bit that the tree was so very obviously sub-par - so I called Blue Seal - I just wanted to voice my concerns and let them know they ought to check the other trees - the fact is that they're paying for those trees from somewhere and are getting a pretty shite deal. The lovely woman at Blue Seal offered me a partial discount on my tree - and when I stopped by at lunch time she gave me 1/3 of my money back - none too shabby!!

I also had to return some items to Penney's today. I spent a weeeeeeeeee bit too much money there on Friday when I was sleep deprived and debit-card happy - tsk tsk tsk.

The most important thing I did this weekend was to take this AWESOME picture of our cat Acie. She is apparently not a big fan of Christmas or hats.

Shopping as a blood sport

I am just about the biggest fan of shopping you will ever meet. I hate to admit it, but I get this high from spending money - this buzzing feeling in my chest. Seriously - it's like a super opiate for me. I also LOVE saving money and finding deals. That is why the day after Thanksgiving - aka Black Friday is one of my favorite days of the year. You wake up well before it gets light out, and chug down some coffee - then go out and warm up the car (because you KNOW it's going to be F-r-eeeeeezing out there) - and then head out to stores - most of them open at 5:00 - but at Best Buy, they're starting to give away tickets for the high-demand-super-low-price items at 3:00 am.

In years past I've had shopping carts rammed into my ankles - I've been a part of the human swell that rushes into the store - I've had to pee for HOURS, but been unwilling to lose my place in line - I've had my cart and items from it stolen, etc. And I've loved every minute of it. The day after Thanksgiving at any major retailer is no place for the weak of heart. I remember sitting at my mother's feet listening to her tales of buying cabbage patch kids back in the mid-eighties. I don't want anything that horribly bad this year - none of the big ticket items - but I'm excited to go regardless. Honestly, I'd be psyched if all I was looking for was a pack of underwear - as I'm positive I could find them for a mere fraction of their original cost.

This year, going out shopping on Black Friday has more significance than it has in the past - we've got the whole economic slowdown thing happening, and retailers everywhere are DESPERATE for us to spend some of our money (especially with creditors rapidly pulling in the purse strings) on the things we don't need for the ones we love. I'm eying some dvds and a $25 microwave at Walmart - along with some super fuzzy socks for Azi. This makes me happy because every penny I spend is just me doing my part to help the country - yay me!!!

Paring Knives and Subtitles

This weekend was the last one I'll have off between now and Christmas, and I had grand plans to do lots o' baking. I did not, in fact, do lots o' baking. On Saturday we pretty much just laid low around the house, and I planned on starting my barrage of baked goods when I took Azi to a birthday party at 4:30 - but I decided to swing by and drop off all of Sarah's mail that's been accidentally forwarded to my new house and we ended up playing Monopoly and watching True Blood (which I'd never seen and is absolutely laden with sexy, sexy, sexy vampires and non-vampires - good stuff). I finally made the pumpkin cheesecake streudel squares when I got home around 10:00 - they were QUITE yummy.

Sunday was a pretty lazy day - I finally watched Persepolis, which I've been waiting to see since the Oscars last year - it was as good as, if not better than, I expected - I totally give it many, many thumbs up - it was incredibly well done and I love the fact that it's from a woman's memoirs and that even though it's an animated movie, they kept the original voices and went with subtitles. My second subtitled movie of the weekend was Mongol - I'd started it on Saturday night after I finished making the cheesecake squares, and had fallen asleep. It's never good to watch a movie with subtitles as you're going to sleep - there's just no way to keep up unless you speak the language. Mongol does not get two thumbs up from me. It was an okay movie - but I was expecting more from it - and wasn't impressed. The costumes and visuals and everything were INCREDIBLE, but I just wasn't in love with the story.

Last night, Dad came over to eat some of the fish chowder I'd made earlier in the day - this is where my paring knife comes in - my nice, new, little pampered chef paring knife - while I was cutting up the last piece of pollock for my chowder, I sliced into the end of my thumb instead of the fish - or maybe in addition to the fish. Of course, the first aid kit I keep in my kitchen for just such a situation is in some unknown box (probably in the storage room) - so I went the fancy paper towel route for staunching the bleeding. I raided the first aid kit at work this morning and bandaged it up nicely (don't tell the director, we're facing big budget cuts and I did take a couple of bandaids home with me so I can replace them after I take a shower tomorrow - shhhhhh). That's my big life threatening injury story (okay - not life threatening, but my fingerprint on my left thumb will never be the same).

Dad and I got to talking about Night Watch and Day Watch - a couple of crazy russian movies. I gave him Night Watch for christmas a couple of years ago and was telling him that Day Watch is available on Netflix to watch on the computer. I decided I needed to watch Night Watch again before I could see the sequal - so after he left last night, I settled down and watched it - once again with the subtitles. That's when it hit me that it seems as though I've seen an extraordinary amount of subtitles in the past few days - weird, right? I might watch Day Watch tonight, but, I'm thinking I should probably - instead - go to bed at a reasonable hour because I've got both jobs tomorrow - YUCKO. At least I have a couple of hours between them, that's good - Azi and I can actually spend a little time together.

I'm starting to make my battle plan for Black Friday. According to my old landlord, I should be getting my security deposit back on Wednesday - which might allow for a wee shopping budget - we can only hope!

OH! The most important thing of all - we had our first real snowfall on Saturday - don't worry - I took pictures!

Would you like a warm, fuzzy feeling?

Who wouldn't? I just discovered the coolest website for those of us out there who love love love to buy presents for people, but who feel a little bit guilty about the blatant materialism all of these gifts represent - it's the Oxfam America Unwrapped - for specific amounts of money you can buy things in another person's name (they receive a personalized card with the details of your gift to them). It's not your traditional "$50 has been donated in your name to the Salvation Army" (not that I'm saying that it's bad to donate to the Salvation Army - I'm a big fan!!) - but you can buy specific items like:

For $150 you could purchase a Farmer's Flock - which includes one cow and two sheep to a traditional herder - which in turn provides nutrition to their family - pretty cool, right?

Now, if you're a really big spender (this would not be me, although I wish it could be) - you can spend $1500 to Rebuild a Primary School: Back to school! For many of the world's children, going to school is a dream. For kids living in war zones or conflict-ridden areas, their access to schools—even if families can afford costly fees and supplies—can be slim. During conflicts, schools are often looted and badly vandalized. With your gift, you replace broken windows and doors and supply new desks, blackboards, and books. Rebuilding a community school gives children the opportunity for an education, a safe haven, and a focal point for community peace building.

However, if that's way beyond your budget area, they do have a section of the website that only has gifts under $25, including: Beaded Jewelry, A pair of school uniforms, you can even Irrigate a farmer's land for two months, and a lot of other things.

I'm not normally all about advertising and things like that - but I think this is a really right on way to give gifts. I'm not saying we should keep our children from all the plastic junk they crave - but I can't imagine your brother-in-law enjoying anything more than an Emergency Toilet!

At least I don't work at the stock exchange

Just in case you hadn't noticed - the country isn't doing very well economically. I hate to be the bearer of bad news - but I have a hunch you might have seen something on the news about this recently. I've been watching my retirement fund dwindling down (I've lost $305 in the last week alone) and thinking about the future. I wouldn't say it's bleak or anything depressing like that - let's just say it's a much thriftier picture than I had previously envisioned. I've always had this little pipe dream that eventually I would join that elite group known as the upper middle class. I've heard talk that the middle class is disappearing, and as I know that to be a richie rich is not anywhere in my future (no matter how cloudy your crystal ball) - I think I'll have to be happy where I am.

Asrai and I had a big talk about the big guy - no, not that one - SANTA!! She knows the reason I'm working two jobs is not so we can have "the most awesome Christmas EVER" - it's so that we can afford to be in our beautiful new house and I can (try) to put some money in savings. She said that she was just going to ask Santa for all the expensive stuff she wanted for Christmas. Now, I admit, I'm very lucky - my daughter is an intelligent little gal - and she's been following the news and everything lately - I made the point to her that with so many people having lost their jobs lately, probably Santa was going to need to pick up the slack for parents who had NO money for presents. She understood. Of course, I'm going to figure out some way to do amazing things for Christmas, and will doubtlessly spend more than I should on her presents - as I always have done, and to be honest, I think I enjoy it more than she does. But, I was very toned down with her birthday - so we'll see if I can keep that up for Christmas.

Speaking of which, I'm very excited - Kathryn and I are going to be going down to the LLBean Employee store on 12/5 - I am THRILLED at the prospect of 5 for a dollar shirts and new leather boots for $6 - I will be sure to take loads of pictures.

Okay - I've got to get ready to head to job number two - I guess with things the way they are, and unemployment rates soaring - I should feel extremely lucky to have not just one, but TWO jobs!! Go me!!

Wrapping Paper and Christmas Dinner

I love wrapping paper. In fact, I love wrapping paper so much that when Azi and I go shopping and we come upon a holiday paper display, she takes me by the hand (none too gently) and pulls me in another direction. Unfortunately, the internet has provided me with plenty of websites to keep me in wrapping paper for decades to come - check this out.





Maybe I should go to therapy to treat my wrapping paper addiction - I probably have enough rolls to wrap gifts for the next twenty-to-thirty years - I just can't help myself - it's all soooooo beautiful. Maybe I should get a new hobby. But when it comes time to wrap all my Christmas presents and I have dozens and dozens of choices - that makes me smile; and when I see all those beautiful packages under the tree - I smile a little more (my cheeks hurt a lot in December). I told Faith while she was visiting that the best present anyone could give me would be a big box full of wrapping paper (beautifully wrapped up, of course). I've already bought a few presents and am resisting the urge to wrap them before we get the tree - I want to do a whole big weekend around it.


Speaking of Christmas, I'm going to do a big family dinner at our new place. Conni, Dan and their kiddos will all be in Florida, and in all honesty, I'm pretty sure the whole family wouldn't fit in our house at one time -but I think I can squish Mom, Dad, Jeanne and Sarah's crew in. I can't WAIT to roast a turkey and do all the fixings. It'll be my first time hosting the holiday dinner. How very special!! I've already started looking for interesting recipes online - I got a recipe for artichoke puffs that sound super yummy. I'll probably do as much of it as I can on Christmas Eve when Azi goes to bed - we'll see!! I'll enlist Dad's help too, of course.

I shall keep all of my rabid readers (that would you be you, Sara) informed on my culinary decisions.

Some Reviews

So - I went and saw the Full Monty with my sisters and Janice and a couple of other gals - and I just realized that I hadn't reviewed it. We saw it at the Waterville Opera House, which is a really nice theatre - I was suprised, Waterville's actually quite a cute little town. The show was fantastic - I really can't even explain how fantastic it was. I had seen the show done by a professional group in 2006 and it was wonderful - but the fact that all of the actors/singers in this show were local was really awesome - we got to experience some wonderful local accents. And the most important part - at the end where they go the full monty - they totally did - and I totally saw some junk. Good times were had by all. Before we went to the show, we had dinner at this awesome little pizza place called the Grand Central Cafe - the food was totally delicious - it was a good night all around.

Then Faith cut my hair afterwards and I feel a bit more like a normal human being now.

Azi just got her school pictures back. I've noticed something about school pictures - if you pay for the big package, you end up with not very nice pictures, but if you only go with the cheap little package, you end up with great photos you want lots and lots of copies of. I went with the cheap package and love the picture - she hates it - such is life, right?

I am so happy that it's Friday - even though this was a choppy week (Tuesday off, that is a good thing) - it still feels like I've been sitting at my desk for decades without reprieve. Unfortunately, I've got to work at LLBean on Saturday and Sunday - hopefully that won't wear me down and make me feel like I haven't gotten a real weekend - you need to have a real weekend, right?

I think I'm going to try making something new on Sunday - I don't have to work until 5:30 and Azi  ill be at Mom and Jeanne's house - I'm not sure what to make - I've never made fudge before and really want to try out the recipe I've got for eggnog fudge - man that stuff is goooooood. Just a reminder that I have no need/desire to be skinny and hungry for yummy stuff.

Ooooh - Christmas!

I'm in a holiday mood right now. I just called in and qualified for a contest through the local "easy listening" station. I feel a little bad because Mary has been listening to the station and calling in and trying to get entered into the drawing - and Angela came out and said it was time to call (she listens to the station during the day) - and I seem to have some sort of a knack for being the right caller on the radio. I made sure I knew the name of the station first too. I'd LOVE to win - because Azi and I could go to the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular - and stay in a hotel in NYC. So - they do the drawing the day before Thanksgiving - that means it won't be too long until I know if I won or not. I'm not quite as lucky when it comes to having my name drawn from a bunch of others, but someone has to win, so it might as well be me, right?

Each day I'm loving my new house a little bit more. We had Tuesday off for Veteran's day - Azi had Sam over for the day, and I tried out a recipe for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Whoopie Pies with a sweet cream cheese filling. They were obscenely good. But the recipe made so many that I was handing them out willy nilly, only to discover that we didn't end up with many at home! (not necessarily a bad thing if I don't want to have to purchase an entire new wardrobe. I love my lovely house - coming home after work and making dinner, and sitting down with Azi - I've been sewing a lot lately, making her different things for her American Girl Doll.

I do think it's a little scary to think that I enjoy going right home after work to hang out with my 10-year-old and sew and cook, and pet my cats. It's scary in a "jessy is a big old loser" kind of way - but I'm very happy - so I will accept the metaphorical "L" on my forehead.

Tonight I might make zucchini bread! I bet you're jealous!!

Karaoke, Slippers, and Being a Bad Neighbor

I am a very nice girl. I really am - I'm not a big ol' party animal or anything - if I'm staying up late, it's most likely because I'm reading a book. These are a few of the things I told my new landlords before I moved in. And I was speaking the truth - I'm just not wild and crazy (anymore).

By now you've probably figured out that the subject of this blog is going to be how I blew that whole idea less than two weeks before moving in.

Today is Dad's birthday (56 - Jeepers Creepers!!), and last night, Faith and I invited him to come over after he got out of work at Border's for his birthday presents. Earlier in the evening, I'd been talking to the landlord (they live next door) - she was putting my neighbor's cat upstairs because it was raining and Cindy (the upstairs neighbor) was going to be working all night (she's a nurse that works nights).

Dad finally got there a little before 11:00 - we did presents, hung out, and I told them Cindy wasn't home, so we should play some SingStar (because Azi could sleep through gunfire an inch from her head - the girl is a deep sleeper). We were playing at a reasonable volume, but then Faith wanted to make a video of it - so we cranked up the TV so you could hear it better. About 1 1/2 minutes into Dad and my battle/duet, we hear a knock on my door - by now it's 1:00 in the morning (on a Thursday).

It was my upstairs neighbor - I made Faith answer it because I was freaking out about it a little. Sometimes I don't quite thrive under pressure. Apparently she was not working last night, and was, in fact, trying to sleep when we started roaring away at karaoke. Not a very good thing.

I left her a very nice apologetic note this morning, and was thinking maybe I'll bake some bread this weekend and give her a loaf. I am just the girl who does silly things to get herself in trouble. If names in our culture were based on our character - that would be mine.

I'm trying to think of other ways to make up for the whole horrible karaoke at 1am on a weeknight thing.

Oh - and Azi is sick now too. I figured it would happen, but yesterday I told her she didn't get to be sick because I had to work. Unfortunately that didn't work today, as i could see how raw her throat was when I poked her tongue down with a chopstick and held a lamp inches from her face (who needs flashlights and tongue depressors???). She's with Faith today at the house, but I've got to take her to the doctor's at 11:05 - they don't just trust me enough to call in antibiotics - or maybe they just want me to have to pay them $20. Who knows. I do appreciate that they're getting me in right away though.

Tonight is the Full Monty - we're driving down to Waterville for it. I'm quite excited - so that makes up for all the ridiculousness that's happened in the last 12 hours, right????

Presidential Mints

It's been a long past couple of weeks - the moving - the birthday party - the presidential election - and I've been sick - yucko!

Azi's birthday party should be the topic of an entire new blog - I am so pissed off at the people at the pottery place we went to - Paper and Clay - they had this horrible woman running our party - and she "jokingly" told the kids they couldn't play or talk or have fun - unfortunately, she was really nasty about it and none of the kids got that it was a joke - she argued with one of the guest-moms - and made a snide comment about her - she made countless mistakes, and was super rude - needless to say, we won't be going back.

The party itself, other than unusually quiet for a child's bday party - was a good time - I got to see Mylissa - I hadn't since the early summer - that was fantastico - and Azi got to have Lexi spend the night - the girls were great - we played several board games, and they played SingStar - which is officially the coolest game EVER.

Faith is still here which is WONDERFUL. Both of us started feeling a bit sore-throaty this weekend, and when I still felt cruddy Monday, I made a doctor appointment (as our little family seems to get Strep Throat monthly) - Faith made fun of me for being such a wuss, but I faithfully went to my appointment - the doctor didn't even do a strep test (weird, right?), he just looked in my throat and took my temperature, and explained that i had an infection in my throat (called Pharyngitis - like laryngitis - but it affects your Pharynx instead of your larynx) it could be strep, or it could be something else, whatever it is, it needs antibiotics. I had to work at LLBean that night, but didn't last very long there, I was cruddy, and the whole talking thing wasn't working very well.

I stayed home from work yesterday, as I didn't know if i was contagious, and was still feeling under the weather. I did get out to vote though!! And I must say I'm ridiculously happy that Obama was elected - waaaaaaaay happy.

Faith took me out to lunch, she was quite convinced that us eating Thai food would help my throat. Then I got to follow her to the grasshopper shop. Funny thing - they had these little tins of candies called "presidential mints" (cute name) - and they had five tins of republican mints left, and only one tin of democrat mints. I figured that was a sure sign that the Dems would come out on top (not like there was much question, but I'm trying not to be cocky like I have mistakenly been in past election years). Looks like the mints were correct.

Last night I tried to stay up to watch all the election coverage, but whatever Pharyngitis is - it looks like it's made me super duper tired. I fell asleep sometime between 9:00 - 10:00 - I kept waking up and watching for a minute then falling back asleep. Eventually i realized it was a losing battle and just went to bed. Azi woke me up at 6:00 this morning and asked who had won, and I had to admit I didn't know. So - we watched the news this morning, and then did a happy dance when we saw the Obama victory.

I'm completely disgusted with the majority of California's voters for having said no to Gay Marriage. What bullshit. Grrrrr. But then again, maybe I should be more disgusted with Maine because we didn't even have the question on the ballot.

Seriously - although there were sucky setbacks like the California vote, and some local issues that piss me off around here - I can't help but be excited about what's going to happen in the next years! Hooray!!

I need a nap now

The move was a success. Despite the absolutely torrential downpour and the vicious wind - my household has been transported to Parkview. I'm quite excited.

The whole experience was full of adventures, let me tell ya. Azi and I spent all of Friday night, and the whole day Saturday packing and bringing copious amounts of laundry over to the new apartment. Faith was scheduled to fly into Bangor around 9:15 on Saturday night - what excitement - she hasn't been home since last Thanksgiving, and we've been on the phone every day talking about her visit. Well, at about 6:00 on Saturday night, I get a call from Faith - she just arrived in NYC (the JFK airport) after the most horrible flight from Seattle (she ended up with some stranger's crying baby in her arms for half an hour during awful turbulence), and had discovered that Delta had canceled the flight to Bangor. After about 2 hours she finally got to the counter to speak to someone who told her the next flight she could get to Bangor would be on Monday, or she could fly to Portland the next afternoon. Either way, she would not be comped a room or any perks, as it was weather related and not their responsibility. She signed up for the flight to Portland, and prepared to hunker down in the airport for the night.

A little while later, she called me and said she was at the JetBlue counter, and they could fly her into Portland that night, getting in around 11:45 - I checked to see if Dad could go pick her up (my car was doing some wonky overheating stuff earlier in the day, so was not up for a quick jaunt to Portland - I'd been concerned about making it to the Bangor airport) - I called him, he could - I called her back to let her know, she said she had to check and see if she could get her luggage switched over to them. Delta said no, they couldn't do that, it was already being routed to Portland.

Let's move to Sunday afternoon, when Conni gets down to Portland to pick her up. Everything is fine, other than Faith being (understandably) over Delta. After a considerable amount of time waiting for her luggage to show up, they went and asked why it hadn't. According to the counter agents, her luggage should be in Bangor. It turns out there actually was a flight available all the way to Bangor on Sunday, they had just neglected to let her know when she was in NYC. A little more pissed off at this point - thinking about all her clothes and stuff for two weeks as well as the frozen Halibut and Reindeer Sausage that were probably no longer frozen or delicious in her luggage, she and Conni headed up north to Bangor.

Fastforward to about three hours later, when they get to the Bangor airport. The Delta agents there thing it's crazy that the people in Portland would have said her luggage would be in Bangor - it obviously would be in Portland. Except, wait a minute, no, it's not showing up in their system at all. Of course, none of this is their fault, as it's weather related. Finally, they showed up at the house. Faith was a little wiped out after all the stress of the cockups at the airports and the sleeping on a concrete floor and the not having any of her clothes or shoes or fish. After dinner, we went to walmart so she could buy underwear and she just wore some of my pajamas to bed. Ha ha anyone who says that having three dressers and a closet full of clothes is overkill - it's just being prepared!!

We stayed up late and talked. Even though the journey was hellacious - I'm just so glad she's here!! The unpleasantness of the move, and only sleeping about three hours, and the rain and wind and sore muscles all really pale in comparison to what she went through!!!

I'm hoping that this week I'll be able to seriously rock through cleaning the old place as well as getting my new house set up. It's wonderful!!!

That's enough for now, I've got a meeting that started nine minutes ago. Even my fingers are long winded.

Mid-Week Doldrums

I can't say I'm a big fan of Wednesday. Maybe I would be if we could reorganize when the weekend falls - but until that happens, I fear I'll be on the anti-mid-week bandwagon. I just don't feel like doing ANYTHING.

I actually got motivated last night - my scary black hole of a bedroom is actually starting to look emptied out. Okay - well, emptied out in comparison. I wish I knew where my camera battery charger was. I'd have taken some before pictures. There's a distinct possibility I wouldn't be comfortable posting photos of exactly how celestial-black-hole-y my bedroom is online, but I'm not a very shy girl.

Tomorrow I've got to borrow the Extension digital camera. Azi will get her BIG birthday present tomorrow. The new bedroom set from Mom and Jeanne - it's the reason I'm signing my lease a little early - so they could go set it up before we move in. I've GOT to get a picture of her face when she sees it for the first time. That will be AWESOME.

I am so happy I'm moving. My current landlords keep becoming more, and more, and more moronic. Yesterday, I caught the husband going into Sarah and Rob's place next door. When I asked him if he'd arranged it with them, he said no, I said well, did you at least call and let her know, you're supposed to do that. Of course, that was another no - and he went in anyway. I emailed Sarah about it. Then this morning we both received an email from Greg that says he doesn't want to be contacted via email anymore. Methinks she might have said something to him. Well - good for her - they've paid through the end of the month - it's like these people don't understand that while a tenant pays rent - regardless of whether they're in the midst of moving out - you still can't just go into their house. Yuck. I'm looking forward to the new landlords. They seem really great.

In completely non-me related news - I was looking around online and found out that Alyson Hannigan is pregnant! As a lover of all things Buffy, this is interesting to me - I can't wait to tell Azi about it. She'll be psyched.

In more real-life stuff - I made the most awesome mashed potatoes in the world last night - I used almost a whole carton of sour cream in them, because I hardly had any butter. I don't think I'll ever go back!

No more boxes - please!!

I'm sick and tired of packing. The fact that I need to be finished in a few days has not escaped me. What it means is that I don't get to stop packing regardless of how sick and tired of it I am.

Last night I was sick and tired, but for a different reason - I think it was related to my tetanus shot - did you know that throughout your life, every time you get a tetanus shot, more and more of the stuff builds up in your system? I imagine that if I get one when I'm in my seventies, I'll just fall asleep right there in the doctor's office. As I'm still only in my twenties (for a short bit more time, but that's a topic for another day's posting) I felt like I'd been awake for days and days. As you may have guessed - I did not get any packing done last night. I did wash the dishes and sweep the kitchen, but that's it!

I have tons more to do, and I think at this point I'd rather have a mild case of the bubonic plague than do anymore packing.

I did discover an incredible website today. Let's say you feel some itches in your britches... Oh snap - you've got crabs - how embarrassing!! Now you've got to tell all of your sexual partners - do you really want to have to call them all up? No!! Now with an easy click of a mouse, you can send an anonymous ecard to all of your potentially-crabby sex partners!! Just go to: http://www.inspot.org/tell-them/tell-them.aspx?sitelvl=1&regionID=25
Ah, look where technology has taken us!!!

Ow!!!

I might be accident prone. That is to say, you might consider me to be accident prone. I'm not quite to the stage of walking-down-the-street-and-a-grand-piano-falls-on-my-head, but I am in the, get-up-in-the-middle-of-the-night-to-use-the-bathroom-and-proceed-to-fall-down-the-stairs stage.

This weekend I packed my little heart out. I sat in the doorway to my bedroom, and slowly worked my way into the dreaded corner (where there were boxes still taped up from when we moved into this apartment just over three years ago). After many, many hours, I made it into the corner - yay me!! However, once there, I was surrounded by a wall of possessions. I had been tossing trash/broken stuff into a box, and one thing I tossed was a small wooden box I bought in Costa Rica. The top had come off, and the back piece of wood was loose. Apparently, when I tossed it into that box, it bounced out. When I climbed over the mountain of clothes and things, my heel came right down on the back of it, which had loosened enough that the nail was completely exposed.

That is how I got a 3/4 inch nail in my heel, with a wooden box dangling off of it.

On Sunday, Sarah and Rob were over moving more stuff out of next door. I talked to Sarah, as she's my closest health professional, and when I thought about it, my last tetanus shot was when I started college, about 9 years ago, she said I'd best get another one, lest I get lock jaw.

Do you know how badly tetanus shots hurt? I know it's quite bad, I'll know better in about fifty minutes. Then I'll be whiny and unpleasant for the rest of the day/week. I do not like pain. I do not like shots. But, I do not like lockjaw either - and since I love to talk so very much, I think I'll deal with the shot. Hopefully my whining won't get in the way of my ability to pack boxes tonight. Still sooooooo much work to do!!

I will be movitated.

Last night I took on the cabinets under the sink. And I won! Roarrrrr!!! For a while there, I really did consider leaving the heaps of sauce pans and jello molds, and scratchy-bottomed-non-stick-pans sitting on the kitchen floor. But I persisted, and came out with one box of things to keep - and two boxes of things to get rid of. I can totally hear the applause.

I had a strong woman experience last night (beyond parting with three identical glass mixing bowls that I don't need). We had to head to Petco to pick up some Iams for Acie and Gracie - it's worth the high price - I don't know the monetary value of not having to clean up vomit - but whatever it is - it makes up for the higher pricetag of the Iams. I was checking out and I overheard one employee say to another "Find a big, strong looking guy - he'll definitely have them." and the other say something about jumper cables.

I am not a big strong guy. I've actually never seen myself in that way. I do, however, have jumper cables. So - I jumped right in and offered my service. I probably would have offered them even if the girl hadn't made the big strong looking guy comment - but that totally sealed the deal. All people should keep jumper cables in their car. It's just the smart thing to do. Also - we should all keep a spare thing of deodorant, and a clean pair of socks. You just never know when you'll need them.

I have so much more packing to do. The problem is that I work best under pressure, and despite the fact that I only have nine days left until the moving party - I'm just not feeling the pressure. This makes me feel absolutely comfortable sitting at my desk and watching episodes of Project Runway instead of packing.

No more Project Runway! Yes more packing!!!

I love lists

I will always be thankful for short weeks due to long weekends (specifically the kind that have a paid holiday involved). I am so glad that the weekend is coming up so fast. This month is flying by, and I have so much to do in the way of packing and sorting and cleaning and EVERYTHING.

Here is my to do list for the rest of the month:

Sort through everything I own
Pack up everything I want to keep in a nice, organized fashion
Pick Faith up from the airport
Get Azi and my halloween costumes straightened out
Work two jobs
Plan Azi's birthday party (this includes invitations, making cake, wrapping gifts, etc.)
Move into the fabulous new apartment
Do loads of laundry

I know there's more - but that's all I've got for the moment!!