Tuesday, November 18, 2008

It Isn’t Just the Holidays

In addition to all of the holiday nonsense, Tom and I have two other big events coming up.  In January, we are having a big 10th anniversary party, which we refer to as our Living in Sin party.  Here’s to ten years of not marrying one another!  Let’s shoot for at least ten more!  It will be on scale with your average* wedding reception, so there is quite a bit of work to be done.

We are also going to Colorado the first week in February, so I’m sure there will be trips to the sporting goods stores in our future.  We pretty much have everything we will need, but extra base layers and a fancy new hat never hurt anyone.

Oh, and I have had some phone trouble.  I inherited Tom’s Treo when he upgraded at work.  I had been using it for almost two weeks when it met with a tragic accident.  Last night I stopped to drop off cash for the upcoming ski trip to my friend Heather.  She works for a large hotel in town and, on my way out, I decided to use their very nice restroom with very powerful toilets (foreshadowing) before I headed back out into the cold.  I was wearing my jacket and had tucked the phone in one of the pockets.  As I was doing a final clothing adjustment before leaving the stall, the auto-flush feature whooshed behind me.  I turned just in time to see my phone getting sucked away.  Apparently, though I neither felt nor heard this happen, my phone leapt from my coat pocket and tripped the flush sensor.  It was gone before I could do a thing about it.  Luckily, because I am well aware of my limitations, I carry the full insurance, so the phone will be replaced with very little expense.

* When I say average, I mean average for the real people that I know.  I do not mean the average that wedding magazines would lead you to believe.  No single item, including the food or the beverages, will require a number of dollars that requires a comma.

Friday, November 07, 2008

Question

Before Halloween gets too far behind us, I have a question.  How did you approach houses for candy as a kid?  In our neighborhood, kids knock and, once the door is open, they may or may not say trick-or-treat.  That isn’t how it is done.  The way we did it (the right way) was to approach the door and holler “trick-or-treat”.  The whole point of the statement is that you are issuing a challenge.  If the door opens and treats are given, all is well.  If they don’t open the door, you are within your rights to dole out the tricks.  As a small child being led around by my dad, I never had an opportunity to trick anyone, but I understood the mischievous spirit of the ritual.

Thursday, November 06, 2008

Good Riddance

Today was tough.  I guess they aren’t all going to be winners.  Tomorrow is Friday and I’m looking forward to a much better everything. 

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

More Really Good Stuff

1.  That was pretty neat, that election thing-y that happened last night.

2. I am very cheap.  I used to wish for the day when I would be able to buy whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted it, regardless of price, but I had to wait for so long for that to become even remotely a possibility that I got used to hunting up bargains.  Now, I’m addicted to getting a deal.  I also like to share a good thing when I find it and yesterday I found a doozy.  At America’s Best, for seventy-five dollars and some change I purchased two full pair of eyeglasses and the full eye exam.  They are very trendy designer frames and I love them.  I know that there is an online place that does glasses for twenty bucks or some such, but you have to hunt up an optometrist to get an exam first, so the price ends up being around seventy dollars for ONE and I scored TWO pair. 

3.  Midol Complete is the finest product ever made.  My uterus is evil.

4. Pinot Evil is a pinot noir that is tasty, cheap (yes, that again) and has a very clever label.  I love it.

5. I picked up a small loaf of chocolate raspberry bread to share at work and it is the most delicious cake-pretending-to-be-bread that I have ever had.  It was not cheap, but it was absolutely worth it.

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

The Holidays

It is November now, which means that we are about six minutes from the end of the year.  I love the approach of winter, while I’m still enchanted with wearing sweaters and light snow flurries, but it is always over too soon.  With all of the preparation for travel, food, entertaining and sending gifts, I rarely have a chance to take it all in before it is January and the snow has turned to “winter mix” and we’re prying ice off of everything all of the time.

We are traveling to Wisconsin for Thanksgiving, Tom and one of his brothers will accompany their dad to Florida to visit his brother in early December and we might be hosting Christmas at our house this year.  Even if we’re not, we’ll have to drag food, gifts and our heavily bundled selves to one of his sibling’s houses, none of whom live in the same city that we do. 

Hmm, that sounds like I’m bitter about this whole thing, but I’m really not, just overwhelmed.  We haven’t been up north for Thanksgiving in a really long time, so I’m actually looking forward to that trip.  I’ve also become reacquainted with some old friends who I am very eager to see again.

The Florida trip doesn’t actually involve me, but it will be stressful for everyone involved.  Tom’s uncle is having heart trouble and they want to make sure that his dad has this opportunity to visit with his brother. 

Christmas gives me the opportunity to decorate the house and make obscene numbers of cookies, which is never a bad thing, but the get-together part wears me out.  We have a day each month where Tom, his parents, his siblings and their families get together.  These are fun occasions that leave everyone a little worn out, but glad for the time spent together.  Christmas can suck the fun right out of that.  There are debates about food, location, gifts and attendance that just give everyone a headache.

I guess I just need to take the time to appreciate the bits that I like and roll with the rest.  Maybe even more Christmas cookies will help keep things in perspective.

Monday, November 03, 2008

Funny to Me

I commented to someone of my grandparent’s generation that, regardless of the outcome of the election, the results would be historic.  He replied that yes, it was down the the black or the girl.*

*I almost don’t want to offer any explanation, but I suppose I should.  There was humor very much intended in this statement.  This was not a case of forgiving an older person for the racist/sexist thing that they just said because of generational differences.  It was a comment making light of this long messy campaign.

Sunday, November 02, 2008

Halloween 2008

The theme was Jim Henson presents and Tom, Mike, our next door neighbor and I were Pigs in Space. 

For months, we have been watching The Muppet Show via Netflix, so we are very well acquainted with those characters right now.  Tom would have been a perfect Beaker, Animal or Swedish Chef, but I didn’t want to be Dr. Benson Honeydew to his Beaker, Janice to his Animal or a chicken to his Swedish Chef.  Well, I kind of wanted to be a chicken, but I didn’t want to sew a chicken costume and full body rentals give me the creeps.  This is a college town and I don’t like to think about the drunken-student-fluids that those things absorb.

Please note the Swinetrek hanging behind Captain Hogthrob.

That was a really brilliant creation of Tom’s made with plastic items from around the house, PVC pipe, corrugated plastic, hot glue, a heat gun and some spray paint.

Tomorrow, the Big Reveal

First, a preview…

Thursday, October 30, 2008

What's Been Going On

I haven’t been able to post here very often because none of the posts that I start writing are genuine.  Any time that I try to start a lighthearted anecdote about shoes or the dogs or friends, I feel like I’m being dishonest.  Things have been a little rough lately and I don’t know how best to address those issues either. 

A couple of years ago, I started taking medication for anxiety.  It was a necessary step that has helped me immeasurably.  Unfortunately, that wasn’t my only issue.  A couple of weeks ago, I saw a new doctor who has started me on a new course of meds for an additional diagnosis.  I can tell that this is a step in the right direction, but I think I’m going to have to start full time therapy if I really want to fix things and I do, genuinely, want to fix things.  The problems that I have been dealing with have, in the last year or two, impacted several facets of my life negatively.  I’m scared of what I might lose if I don’t make a serious effort to get better.

I have a follow up appointment with the new doctor this evening and I am looking forward to it.  She is the kindest most attentive doctor I’ve ever had, which only partially makes up for the fact that it was a big fucking deal finding someone with the appropriate qualifications who took my insurance and was willing to see new patients.  The insurance company’s website listed seventeen psychiatrists.  I called them all and was able to make an appointment with none of them, not a single one.  There were several numbers no longer in service, a few who only dealt with adolescents, a couple that never returned my repeated phone calls and a couple who wouldn’t take new patients.  The one single doctor that I was able to make contact with would have been happy to see me and provided the kind of treatment that I was looking for, but she didn’t actually take my insurance.  Her practice does for medical treatment, but I was out of luck.  Only after three calls to the insurance company, during which I was essentially accused of lying about the availability of the online-listed doctors, was I given the contact information for the woman that I’m seeing now.  As I said to anyone who would listen during the process, it might be helpful to have the information intended for the crazies, I mean the more delicate of us, up-to-date and easy to use.  I have never started or finished so many phone calls in tears.

Tom is trying to be patient and understanding, but he has had to deal with the majority of the fall-out.  A lot of people would have given up on me.  I really am lucky to have him.

I am going to try to post a little more often now that I have dumped that little admission of frustration out there.  Halloween is tomorrow and we made awesome costumes.  We’re hosting the party, which should be a ton of fun.  The holidays are coming up quick.  There will be so much more going on than the crap clogging up my head.

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Gosh, A Lot Has Happened

I have been extremely busy at work lately, which I absolutely can not complain about.  On the 22nd of this month, our* little business will have been open ten months and not all of those months have been so busy.  Having very little time to catch up on my internet-ing is a sign that things are going well for us and, as long as things are going well, I continue to have a job I love.

* I don’t own so much as a scrap of vinyl in this place, but having been here since the beginning makes me feel very possessive.

I suppose I have time to update at home, but some days I would really rather get in a little Guitar Hero, catch up on all of the Mythbusters in the DVR or mop the kitchen floor* than open up the laptop.  I haven’t been taking very many pictures either.  I’m thinking about joining some sort of group on flickr to force the issue.

* That is a lie.  I would never skip another activity just to mop. 

Football has been taking up a big chunk of our time.  Mizzou Tigers are having a fantastic season and the boys on my fantasy team have been dominating.  Tom’s sister-in-law and I are usually fighting for last place, but this year I have been in first place for five weeks in a row!  This is just short of miraculous because I actually selected my players in the live draft this year.  My selections were based solely on name recognition because I have very little knowledge of anyone’s record.  As an example of how this has worked against me, Alge Crumpler has a very recognizable name and, in my circle, a hand gesture that we bring out every time he is announced*.  I snapped him right up and he has been underachieving all over the place, but I don’t know who any of the guys are on the replacement list.

* Because we are wildly creative, this consists of opening and closing your fist like you are crumpling a piece of paper.

My friend Kate was in from Florida and we had a really nice time.  There was a lot of football, good food, good drink and a chance to just sit and talk.  Living so far apart and my bad track record with sustaining long distance relationships makes keeping in touch hard.*

* I’ve got nothing, but the asterisks seem to have become a running theme.

Sunday, October 05, 2008

Lifted from Cheaty Monkey

1. What time did you get up this morning? 10:33, which was fantastic.  I have had a lot of trouble staying asleep past 4:30 lately, so sleeping late was a very special treat.
2. Diamonds or pearls? Both!  The ring Tom bought me is a diamond with a black pearl on either side.  It is getting sized right now because my fingers seem to have grown along with the rest of me.  It was always a snug fit, but it has been a little rough on my circulation lately. 
3. What was the first film you saw at the cinema?  I remember seeing Grease in the theater when I was really young, but I don’t know for sure if that was the first.
4. What is your favorite TV show? Ace of Cakes is my very favorite right now.
5. What do you usually have for breakfast?  I have started eating Smart Ones frozen meals.  They are quick, easy and, sometimes, delicious.  I am too lazy to actually cook breakfast food and I don’t have any problem eating mac and cheese or Salisbury steak early in the morning.
6. What is your middle name (s)? I don’t actually have one any more.  It says that it is Sue on my IDs, but only because of a mistake at the Social Security office.  Legally, when my divorce was filed, I took my maiden name back and left the Sue out.
7. What food do you dislike? I hate anything with cilantro in it.
8. What is your favorite CD at the moment?  I listen to the BeeGees greatest hits CDs the most often.
9. What kind of car do you drive?  I have a zippy red convertible.
10. Favorite sandwich? I really like sandwiches.  I don’t know if it is my favorite, but I am very fond of tuna salad made with mayo, mustard, dill pickle chunks and onion.
11. What characteristic do you despise?  I am no fan of arrogance.
12. Favorite item of clothing?  I bought an extremely cute pair of black shoes on clearance sale for five dollars yesterday.  They are absolutely my favorite thing right now.
13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would
you go? I want to go back to the southern coast of Spain.
14. Favorite brand of clothing? I never brand shop.  If it is comfortable, fits well and is on sale, I’m buying it.
15. Where would you retire to?  Somewhere warm where I can live cheaply.
16. What was your most recent memorable birthday?  Two birthdays ago I was on the beach in Belize.
17. Favorite sport to watch?  It is a toss up between hockey and football.
18. Furthest place you are sending this?  Hmm, I’m not sure.
19. Person you expect to post this first?  I hope it is Kate.  She hasn’t posted in a loooong time.
20. When is your birthday? I will be 36 on February 14th.
21. Are you a morning person or a night person?  I hate mornings.
22. What is your shoe size? I wear an 8.5.
23. Pets?  I have two dogs; Millie and Tanner, a Tokay gecko named Colonel Floyd Stickeypants and three clown fish without names.
24. Any new and exciting news you’d like to share with us? Did I mention that I scored a gorgeous pair of shoes for FIVE dollars?
25. What did you want to be when you were little? I wanted to be an artist.
26. How are you today? I am very warm, which is odd for October.
27. What is your favorite candy? I love dark chocolate Milky Ways.
28. What is your favorite flower? I like lilacs and tulips.
29. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to?  I can’t wait for Halloween!
30. What are you listening to right now? NFL highlights are on TV and I can hear Tom splitting wood outside.
31. What was the last thing you ate? We had the brunch buffet at The Heidelberg and I think the last thing I had was a piece of waffle with strawberry sauce.
32. Do you wish on stars? Not in a long time.
33. If you were a crayon, what color would you be?  Purple crayons are the best.
34. How is the weather right now? it is beautiful, sunny, warm and breezy.
35. The first person you spoke to on the phone today? I asked the guy at Tires Plus about my oxygen sensor on the car.
36. Favorite restaurant? I don’t think I have a favorite, but I love Murry’s, CJ’s and B-12 (cheap appetizers at happy hour).
37. Real hair color? I suppose I would call it dark brown.
38. What was your favorite toy as a child? I had a plastic hula skirt that I used for everything.  It was hair, curtains, clothing, a pom pom, etc.
39. Summer or winter?  Winter, because summer heat kills me.
40. Hugs or kisses? Kisses are fun, but best with hugs.
41. Chocolate or Vanilla?  Chocolate ice cream, but vanilla vodka.
42. Coffee or tea? Coffee helps me to be a better person.
44. Do you want your friends to answer these questions? Yes.
45. When was the last time you cried? I cry all the time.  My brain is kind of broken these days and a touching commercial or sad song will bring on the tears.
46. What is under your bed? I’m guessing books.
47. What did you do last night? I watch the Mizzou game with Kate.
48. What are you afraid of? There is not enough time for that long list.
49. How many keys on your key ring? I think there are five.
50. How many years at your current job? Just 9 months.
51. Favorite day of the week? I like Saturdays.
52. How many towns have you lived in? One in Missouri, one in Wisconsin and four in Texas.
53. Do you make friends easily? No, which sucks.
54. How many people will you send these questions to?  The whole internets.
55. How many will respond?  I have no idea, but if you do it, please let me know.
56. Salty or sweet?  I like a combination of both (Snickers, Fiddle Faddle, chocolate covered pretzels)
57. Favorite soft drink? Diet Pepsi is a staple, but I like Diet Dr. Pepper an awful lot.

Friday, September 19, 2008

The Good Stuff

I have fallen in love with or rediscovered my love for several products or services lately.  I am so quick to complain about things that I thought it would be a nice change of pace to talk about the things that I am really happy with.

There is neither a Krispy Kreme nor Dunkin Donuts in Columbia and I am fine with that.  I’m not that fond of either of their donuts.  Luckily, our local chain, Dixie Cream, makes exceptional donuts in a wide variety of flavors and types.  They are also on my route to work, so I stop by there with some frequency.  Yesterday morning, I went in with a wad of dollars and change in my hand.  I had no idea how much I had managed to scavenge from the previous day’s jeans pocket, so I asked how much a half dozen glazed would be while I counted my change.  I didn’t have enough, so I ordered three (one for me, one for each coworker) and a small coffee.  The owner insisted that no one should be short donuts and gave me six for the price of three.  I felt a little embarrassed because I did have more money in the car and had only changed my order because I was too lazy to grab more cash, but she was so pleased to be helping me out and it was such a kind thing to do that I didn’t want to ruin the moment.  And, I like free stuff.

We have a wii!  Christmas came early for me this year.  I have been coveting the wii Fit for several months now and, knowing that Tom just isn’t that into gaming, I expected to have to save my pennies and hunt one down for myself eventually.  I was totally surprised when I came home one day and found a great big box by the door.  Not only did the giant box hold a wii Fit, it had two guitars for Guitar Hero.  I used to think that people who liked the game were a little simple, but I was so wrong.  I want nothing more than to be a Guitar Hero Champion.

The reason that the wii Fit is such a wonderful product is that it allows me to get some exercise in without all of the bullshit that is involved with EVERY OTHER ACTIVITY.  I actually like the feeling of accomplishment that I get from going to a public gym.  The whole ritual of the thing appeals to me.  What I hate is that driving in clothes that are rarely weather appropriate at dawn is involved and that I am usually on the machine next to the college girl who got up, showered, did her hair, put on a little tasteful makeup and donned a fashionable ensemble.  I can’t concentrate next to that girl.  I also have trouble with the solitary activities.  Walking and running, even with my mp3 player, are boring.  Really, really boring.  I can’t get my ass out of bed early to spend an hour bored to tears.  The wii makes everything a competition and the progress charts are right up my alley.  I am excited to see if I can beat the previous morning’s scores.  I also like that I can stumble into the living room in a 20 year old concert t-shirt with unshaven legs to use the wii whenever I wish and no one but the dogs are around to witness it.

Oh, and my microwave is awesome, too.  It is actually a GE Double Grill Microwave with Rotisserie and it is the rotisserie that I love.  Pop a chicken on the spit and, one hour later, enjoy the most tender and evenly cooked bird you can imagine.  It makes a mess, but it is absolutely worth it.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Softball!

Tonight is the first night of fall softball league and we will be playing a double header.  This year, like every year and just like when we played volleyball, we have done nothing to prepare.  In spite of all of my athletic endeavors, I am not an athlete.  I join leagues and participate in rides and walks because I like spending time with friends (leagues) and supporting causes I believe in (rides and walks).  I also like drinking beer, which the leagues provide for nicely.  I suppose it would be better for the teams that I join if I spent a little time practicing, but I really am only in it for the fun and practice is hard, man.  Actually, my practice would involve standing in the middle of a grassy field doing nothing.  I don’t get a lot of action out in right field.

Saturday, September 06, 2008

I Am Crazy (No, Really)

Between my anxiety issues and a raging case of PMS, today was harder than it needed to be.  So, we rode our bikes the very long, very difficult 40 miles.  The weather was absolutely perfect with temps in the sixties and seventies and cloudy skies, but the course was brutal.  When faced with yet another steep, long hill, I cried.  When someone cheered for us, I cried.  When we passed one of the inspirational signs on the side of the road, I cried.  When I sent my dad a text, letting him know what our progress was, I cried.  My hormones and my broken brain were working to make me look even crazier than I felt.  When you’re riding along, feeling pretty good, but you have tears streaming down your cheeks, the safety folks get concerned.  I was asked if I was OK more that was really necessary. 

My goal tomorrow, if my ass will allow me to get on a bike at all, is to make it to the 3rd rest stop, which is roughly half the distance.  There is no way that I can ride the ridiculously steep second half of the route a second time.  I want to, but finishing it one and a half times is actually better than I expected, considering our lack of preparedness and the fact that I’m doing the ride on my mountain bike.  You know, the kind with the heavy frame and wide knobby tires.  One of the other riders commented that it was like bringing a four wheel drive truck to a drag race.  Yup.  I didn’t say we were smart, just well-intentioned.

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

I Must Be Crazy

The MS Gateway Getaway is this weekend and I am not ready.  We have been training, but the course is brutal.  We drove it on Sunday and, although it was a beautiful drive in the country with the top down, the hills that we will be facing make me nervous.  My goal is just to go out, have a good time and finish as much of the course as I can.  My team has been fantastic and has raised over $1500, I have developed a new appreciation for cycling that I plan to continue long after the ride and I know that when it rolls around next year, I’ll be prepared.  Just this morning I decided that I have to give it a second shot.  I didn’t start training early enough this year and I, personally, didn’t raise much money.  Of course, if you follow the link up above, you can increase my donations and make me feel better about the whole thing.

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