April 2008 Archives
I woke up late Tuesday morning, turned on the computer, and did my daily rituals. One of these is to glance at the calendar. Imagine my shock to realize that I had TWO DAYS until my younger son's birthday. When did this month slip past me???
I went to The Weather Channel website and checked out the forecast for this weekend, and decided we would have his birthday party on Sunday. (Saturday was out because Michael needs to mow the lawn) I called Kobey into the room and asked him what kind of party he wants, and he decided on "Dinosaurs". So I googled dinosaur birthday parties and started making lists. I sent out invitations via email, texts on my phone, and snail-mail to the Great-grandparents that don't have access to the aforementioned. I quickly decided on a menu, looked up and had Kobey approve a birthday cake design, and am now working on the "To Do List" of things that need to be done around the house before we have company. (Time to finish painting the bathroom, I guess!)
It occurs to me that I might have a fetish for working under pressure. It seems that every time we are going to have people over, I am scrambling madly at the last minute to get things done. I even do this with vacation planning. I could touch on the idea 11 months in advance (as I did with Disney World), but I won't get much accomplished until the last moments.
And this isn't something that happened recently. I was always the person in school that did their research paper the night before it was due. I did the same in college. I would be busting my ass the night before it was due (nevermind that it was assigned over a month ago!). I even was so bold as to write my midterm paper for an English Composition class THE DAY IT WAS DUE. The universe was against me that day, because the computer I was using crashed three times during the writing session, and, silly me, I had not saved my progress. I got an extension and turned it in the following day. Oh yes, and I got an A. Along with a note that I should major in English, as I did such a fantastic job. Amazing.
Oh, did I mention that I am also planning a camping trip for NEXT weekend? I'll let you know how that goes, as we have NO camping equipment anymore. It will be interesting to see if I can pull it off!
I went to The Weather Channel website and checked out the forecast for this weekend, and decided we would have his birthday party on Sunday. (Saturday was out because Michael needs to mow the lawn) I called Kobey into the room and asked him what kind of party he wants, and he decided on "Dinosaurs". So I googled dinosaur birthday parties and started making lists. I sent out invitations via email, texts on my phone, and snail-mail to the Great-grandparents that don't have access to the aforementioned. I quickly decided on a menu, looked up and had Kobey approve a birthday cake design, and am now working on the "To Do List" of things that need to be done around the house before we have company. (Time to finish painting the bathroom, I guess!)
It occurs to me that I might have a fetish for working under pressure. It seems that every time we are going to have people over, I am scrambling madly at the last minute to get things done. I even do this with vacation planning. I could touch on the idea 11 months in advance (as I did with Disney World), but I won't get much accomplished until the last moments.
And this isn't something that happened recently. I was always the person in school that did their research paper the night before it was due. I did the same in college. I would be busting my ass the night before it was due (nevermind that it was assigned over a month ago!). I even was so bold as to write my midterm paper for an English Composition class THE DAY IT WAS DUE. The universe was against me that day, because the computer I was using crashed three times during the writing session, and, silly me, I had not saved my progress. I got an extension and turned it in the following day. Oh yes, and I got an A. Along with a note that I should major in English, as I did such a fantastic job. Amazing.
Oh, did I mention that I am also planning a camping trip for NEXT weekend? I'll let you know how that goes, as we have NO camping equipment anymore. It will be interesting to see if I can pull it off!
I clearly have a bit of a problem.
I am constantly losing things. Hand me something, anything, and within a few minutes I am scrambling to find where I put it. I can effectively lose any object smaller than a young child (and I am not completely discounting my ability to lose one of those yet).
In a world obsessed with small things, I am slowly going insane. Tiny is better, right? WRONG! Sure, I lose normal sized things too. Shoes? Yup. Books? Check. (and checkbooks, on that note) My husband recently took over the paying of the bills, because, honestly, I kept losing them and forgetting to pay them. Out of sight, out of mind. So he told me to get him the checkbook. I did him one better... I found seven. Yes, seven checkbooks that had two or three checks written from each one, spanning the course of a year or so. It seems that when I am heading out the door to the store, or the pizzaman is knocking on the door, I can never find my checkbook. The solution? Grab a new one out of the box. So much easier than investing time in actually looking for the current one.
But I digress... my most recent loss is a teeny-tiny memory card for my digital camera. The one I recently found after misplacing it when we arrived home from Disney World (yes, that was last year. shut up.) I literally had it within less than a foot of me only moments ago, but I moved it because I was hooking up the new printer. I completely blame the printer company for this, because had the damned thing come with the USB cable, I wouldn't have had to wait two weeks to hook it up. Meaning I would have known where the memory card is... meaning I would already have those hundreds of photos uploaded to my computer.
Losing things on such a regular basis has an interesting side effect. It makes me talk to myself. I can be heard muttering the phrase, "Where the hell did it go?" repeatedly on my recovery missions. I also toss in an occasional "Goddamnit" for good measure.
Oddly enough, the missing memory card was sitting BESIDE the camera case for a few weeks. It would make sense to put it INSIDE the case, but oooh nooo! That is far too simple. No Sir, I would much rather put myself through the agony of searching for my lost treasures. At least... one would think so since I didn't take the half second it would have required to put the card in the bag.
So anyway, I have succeeded in going off on a major tangent and blogged about my plight. Now I need to get off my ass and look for that elusive card again.
Wish me luck.
I am constantly losing things. Hand me something, anything, and within a few minutes I am scrambling to find where I put it. I can effectively lose any object smaller than a young child (and I am not completely discounting my ability to lose one of those yet).
In a world obsessed with small things, I am slowly going insane. Tiny is better, right? WRONG! Sure, I lose normal sized things too. Shoes? Yup. Books? Check. (and checkbooks, on that note) My husband recently took over the paying of the bills, because, honestly, I kept losing them and forgetting to pay them. Out of sight, out of mind. So he told me to get him the checkbook. I did him one better... I found seven. Yes, seven checkbooks that had two or three checks written from each one, spanning the course of a year or so. It seems that when I am heading out the door to the store, or the pizzaman is knocking on the door, I can never find my checkbook. The solution? Grab a new one out of the box. So much easier than investing time in actually looking for the current one.
But I digress... my most recent loss is a teeny-tiny memory card for my digital camera. The one I recently found after misplacing it when we arrived home from Disney World (yes, that was last year. shut up.) I literally had it within less than a foot of me only moments ago, but I moved it because I was hooking up the new printer. I completely blame the printer company for this, because had the damned thing come with the USB cable, I wouldn't have had to wait two weeks to hook it up. Meaning I would have known where the memory card is... meaning I would already have those hundreds of photos uploaded to my computer.
Losing things on such a regular basis has an interesting side effect. It makes me talk to myself. I can be heard muttering the phrase, "Where the hell did it go?" repeatedly on my recovery missions. I also toss in an occasional "Goddamnit" for good measure.
Oddly enough, the missing memory card was sitting BESIDE the camera case for a few weeks. It would make sense to put it INSIDE the case, but oooh nooo! That is far too simple. No Sir, I would much rather put myself through the agony of searching for my lost treasures. At least... one would think so since I didn't take the half second it would have required to put the card in the bag.
So anyway, I have succeeded in going off on a major tangent and blogged about my plight. Now I need to get off my ass and look for that elusive card again.
Wish me luck.
There comes a time in any relationship where you feel the need to strangle the life out of your significant other. The longer the relationship, the more often this occurs. Lately I have been researching ways that my little family can "go green" and help reduce our impact on the earth. Every time I come across an idea that we can use, I gleefully share it with my husband. He, in turn, either nods in agreement (which means jack shit because 97% of the time he isn't listening) or thinks to himself, "Oh God, she's doing it again." The latter would occur the remaining 3% of the time, for those of you that don't hold any type of degree in the mathematics field.
Well, apparently some of what I have been spouting has made it into that 3%, because he came home from work last week and said that one of his coworkers said that if we were really going to commit to a green lifestyle, we should bring our own reusable bags with us when we grocery shop. This is something that I have actually given thought to, and the only thing holding me back is that we do our shopping every other week, and purchase two weeks worth of groceries at a time. And frankly, I don't have enough bags, yet.
So, I was proud that Michael had actually listened for once, and was basking in that when he hit me with this brick... "Some of these things are just too much work to actually do." WHAT?
His thinking is that it is really too bothersome to bring your own bags to the grocery store, or to bring your own containers to get take-out. I just don't understand it.
I, personally, get ecstatic when I can do something for the earth! The top thing on my wishlist right now is a curbside recycling program in our little city. It would make me happier than an 18 year old slut with new fake boobs! (now THAT is happy!) And that is quite another situation. Austin, Texas is one of the most eco-conscious cities in the county, but here in our little podunk neck of the woods, we don't have access to recycling facilities outside of metal. I literally cringe every time I throw out a milk jug or cardboard packaging. But what am I supposed to do?
I took it upon myself to email Recyclebank asking for advice on getting a program started in this area. Imagine my surprise when they didn't respond. Any sort of response would have been nice, but noooo, mine was just another unanswered email from some half-hearted tree hugger. I am thoroughly convinced that THIS is the very reason some people think it is "too much work" to recycle. The programs aren't widely available.
If I had my way, recycling would be MANDATORY, and upon random inspection of your outgoing trash, if a recyclable item is found, you would be fined. Why not? The EPA forces corporations to comply, why not share the love with the consumers? I can tell you, everyone's life would be so simple if I ruled the world.
Well, apparently some of what I have been spouting has made it into that 3%, because he came home from work last week and said that one of his coworkers said that if we were really going to commit to a green lifestyle, we should bring our own reusable bags with us when we grocery shop. This is something that I have actually given thought to, and the only thing holding me back is that we do our shopping every other week, and purchase two weeks worth of groceries at a time. And frankly, I don't have enough bags, yet.
So, I was proud that Michael had actually listened for once, and was basking in that when he hit me with this brick... "Some of these things are just too much work to actually do." WHAT?
His thinking is that it is really too bothersome to bring your own bags to the grocery store, or to bring your own containers to get take-out. I just don't understand it.
I, personally, get ecstatic when I can do something for the earth! The top thing on my wishlist right now is a curbside recycling program in our little city. It would make me happier than an 18 year old slut with new fake boobs! (now THAT is happy!) And that is quite another situation. Austin, Texas is one of the most eco-conscious cities in the county, but here in our little podunk neck of the woods, we don't have access to recycling facilities outside of metal. I literally cringe every time I throw out a milk jug or cardboard packaging. But what am I supposed to do?
I took it upon myself to email Recyclebank asking for advice on getting a program started in this area. Imagine my surprise when they didn't respond. Any sort of response would have been nice, but noooo, mine was just another unanswered email from some half-hearted tree hugger. I am thoroughly convinced that THIS is the very reason some people think it is "too much work" to recycle. The programs aren't widely available.
If I had my way, recycling would be MANDATORY, and upon random inspection of your outgoing trash, if a recyclable item is found, you would be fined. Why not? The EPA forces corporations to comply, why not share the love with the consumers? I can tell you, everyone's life would be so simple if I ruled the world.
So, obviously, by noting the huge gap in time since my last post, I have had some issues and couldn't log on. Thank God my darling brother came to my rescue (yet again). And now that I am able to log back in... I can't remember a damned thing about the mini-faux Maui getaway, so that ship has sailed and it is on to bigger and better things. Or, at least, on to other things...
The weather has been gorgeous the past few weeks here, and we have been working outside a lot. We grilled burgers one day, and I cut the top off of a tomato and tossed it to the dogs. Bella, the puppy, chewed on it a bit then dropped it. The next day we were all outside again, and Kobey gasps in this horrified voice, "MOM!! Bella is eating a brain!" He looked like he was going to puke his guts up. In fact, she just grabbed the previously discarded tomato top to play with. Poor kid. He clearly has a zombie complex.
The weather has been gorgeous the past few weeks here, and we have been working outside a lot. We grilled burgers one day, and I cut the top off of a tomato and tossed it to the dogs. Bella, the puppy, chewed on it a bit then dropped it. The next day we were all outside again, and Kobey gasps in this horrified voice, "MOM!! Bella is eating a brain!" He looked like he was going to puke his guts up. In fact, she just grabbed the previously discarded tomato top to play with. Poor kid. He clearly has a zombie complex.
