Nothin' Matters but the Weekend, From a Tuesday Point of View

Stinky texted me this pic at work, to prove to me she was home at the time she was supposed to be there. Ah, technology.

Sometimes it can be very overwhelming when there are two of them and one of me and we all have things we need to do all around the same time. This is what that looked like today: I got off work and basically every single one of my co-workers harassed me as I tried to unlock my bike at the rack. Thanks, guys. Then I rode home, and got ready and ran my 6 mile route as quickly as possible. I changed and washed up'ish and ran Stinky to the store because she apparently HAD to eat frozen waffles for dinner. I dropped her off back at home, while picking Coadster up at the same time and dropping her off at her babysitting gig. Then I came back and picked up Stinky and took her to my friend Bob and Allison's house where she was to babysit. They gave me the grand tour of their newly gutted and rebuilt 83 year old house and it was amazing. The difference was incredible. Their house is about 1100 square feet and mine is 1200 (both counting our upstairs dormer rooms) but theirs has this new open layout and looks about twice the size of mine. We talked about the proposed school redistricting and Allison asked me to sign the same petition I just signed the night before. Believe me, I'd sign it as many times as I could get away with.

I finally got home around 7:30 and answered an email and got on Facebook and wrote on my friend's wall asking her to tell her husband that The Kings sing the song "Switchin' to Glide". We were trying to remember that last night at the housewarming party and it finally came to me when I was running. Around 8, I decided I needed to just stop and try to read my book for a second and calm down. That lasted about 15 minutes until I fell asleep and took a cat nap for another 15 minutes. Whew! Now, I'm really glad I took the night before off just to have a good time with my friends.

Thank god tomorrow is my last day of the work week before I take a 3 day weekend. It would be great if I could just sleep those 3 whole days, but I have a feeling that won't happen.

I Was Happier Then With No Mindset

Here is a photo of a bird at the garden store we went to this weekend. I took it with my phone and I still can't get the angle right. So, the bird looks like it's on acid, or maybe it looks like I was on acid when I took this.

This will be hopefully very short. I went to my friend's St Pat's/Housewarming party thingy tonight. It's late and I've had a few and I don't trust myself not to write something that won't sound very, very loud through the computer.

Basically, I didn't get anything done after work. I didn't run, I didn't do any cleaning, and I didn't work on my kitchen. What I did do, is hang out with some great friends and have an amazing time drinking, eating and talking shit - the trifecta of fun.

Soooo, Happy St. Patrick's Day! I don't plan on going out, since I celebrated tonight. Both my girls are babysitting, so I'll go running, probably stop by my friend's Allison and Bob's house (where Stinky's babysitting) and check out their house that has been totally gutted and remodeled. Then I'll have my place to myself to work in the kitchen and read some more of In Cold Blood. Who knows, maybe I'll get all crazy and drink a beer while I read.

Inquisitions and Suppositions

Here is a before pic of my backyard. The amount of work it needs is pretty overwhelming right now. Hopefully, the after shot will be amazing..Or at least a little better.

Oh, kids. I'm pretty exhausted today. I got a weird text from Mr B. last night at 2 am, telling me he was lonely and thinking about me. Um, wow. Really? I was so annoyed. I texted him back and told him that if he was lonely, the only person he should be thinking about or texting at 2 am, was his girlfriend. I really was going to work at being friends, but he's getting worse and worse. He started doing that thing he used to do when we were trying to date a year or so ago, where he would text or call me on Saturday nights around 12:30, basically to make sure I was home alone. He has a girlfriend. I still don't understand why he would care what I did or who I did it with. The whole thing just makes me feel so bad for his girlfriend and I don't want to encourage his sleazy behavior. Apparently, we can't be friends, and I basically told him that. I really have lost any respect I ever had for him. So, I doubt I'll be hearing from him again. One less thing.

Stinky ended the weekend with some friends in front of the fire last night. Please note the tiki torches in the background. I guess kids today are all about the tiki torches.

So, onto something better and less full of bullshit....My girls are on Spring Break this week. Which means they're both doing a lot of babysitting. It also means I'm going to take one of my furlough days on Friday, so we can try to do something fun. Of course, the weather is supposed to get crappy again by then, so who knows what we'll end up doing.

It's also St. Patrick's Day this week. I have some friends who invited me to a bar crawl that night. I haven't seen them in a while and they're really fun, but I don't think I'm going to make it. For one thing, it's a work night and I would be wrecked the next day. The other thing, is that another friend of mine is having a little get together tomorrow night and that should be way more mellow and end early and is much more my style. I'm really excited about it.

So, now I think I better quit writing and go rest up. Luckily, I won't have to worry about any late night phone calls or texts tonight.

I've Seen Fire and I've Seen Rain

Here is my fire pit as seen through the screen of my porch.

Wow, kids. If there was ever a weekend NOT to lose an hour of sleep, it was this one. It was a really great weekend, but packed with so much stuff. I didn't get half the stuff done that I wanted, but I did a lot of other stuff that I didn't plan on either.

Friday night was just about perfect. I rode my bike home from work and got right into my running stuff and ran my 6 mile route. So far, one of the tough things I can see about doing a duathlon, will be getting my sea legs after riding a bike and then running. My legs felt so weak at the beginning of my run right after my ride.

The night kept getting better and better. We ate, and then I went out to start the fire. Of course, it started raining the minute I got it going, but that's okay. We now have a screened-in porch to hang out in and watch it. Stinky fell asleep before I got the fire going, but Coadster sat on the porch with me and we planned her graduation party and chatted about what she was doing for prom. It was a really nice talk. It started getting chilly, so went in the house, I drank a beer and we watched Up in the Air.

Careful, IronMan. Those new counters might be a little slick.

On Saturday, I got a call from my co-worker's husband asking if he could stop by around 10 and put the counters in and rewire the kitchen. I, of course, said, "Hellz yeah!" He brought his ten year old son to help him and it took about three hours to get everything done, but it looks a million times better. I still have to work on those damn cupboards. I just bought 2 saw horses so I can finally get the doors done. My goal is to be all done with the kitchen, including the backsplash by the end of the month. It should be interesting.

Here is a before pic, just for reference.

My stove is now where the fridge used to be. It's so much better this way.

The rest of Saturday was cold and dreary. It seemed like a good day to start getting excited about outdoor projects by shopping around for some things. Stinky and I ran into an excellent sale and bought some canna and gladiola and lily bulbs. Both of my girls love doing yard work as much as I do, so it makes it even more fun to plan it out when we can all spaz out together. We also got everything we needed to start some seedlings in the house. I am so excited about what I'm going to do with my backyard, I can hardly stand it. I've spent the last however many years, helping other people with their gardens, it's going to feel even better now that I finally have my own. Woo hoo!

Some of the fun kids at the Dublin.

Saturday evening, I got a call from G. she was freaking out about a few things. I talked her down and told her we'd just go down to the Dublin, play some fun music on the juke box and have a good time with our friends...And that's exactly what we did. It was cool and I think G. felt a lot better after the first hour of being at our little sanctuary. I was super exhausted, so I went home by 11, but it sounds like G. went to afterhours and had even more fun. Good for her.

Today was another haze of working on the house, running and going on errands. Since it was so nice, I decided to grill for the first time this season. I made our favorite grilled foods - ribs and steak and we also had twice baked potatoes. Thank god, Spring is finally here.

I'm Coming Out of My Cage, and I'm Doing Just Fine

Here are some balloons. How festive.

For a while today it was really nice out. I decided to go home for lunch and ride my bike back to work. I'm so glad I did, because I got some fun exercise and then it rained shortly after I got home from work and I wasn't able to run. I did, however, take a quick nap. I've been so exhausted lately, that I finally wore myself down enough that I could sleep. Let's hope that works for me tonight as well.

Okay. So, it's the weekend again. My hope for this weekend is to calm down and slow down, while at the same time, trying to get a ton of stuff done. Yeah. I'm not sure how that will all work, but in my head it sounds great.

Hopefully, I'll be able to run after work tomorrow, then finally get a fire going in our outdoor fire pit if the rain holds off long enough. Either way, I plan to drink a beer and watch a movie at some point too. My girls are practicing Catholics, so they don't eat meat on Fridays during Lent. We're having fish sticks and mac and cheese for dinner. It reminds me so much of being a kid during Easter season, that I keep expecting to wake up and be able watch Hong Kong Phooey, Captain Caveman and Land of the Lost on Saturday morning.

Rumor has it that my counters might get installed this weekend, but I'm not sure which day, if at all. I have a ton of paper work to do as well (my least favorite thing) and I plan to start working on the bottom cupboard boxes and hopefully the doors too. I'm going to try to use my orbital sander for the first time. I don't really know how to use power tools and I'm a little intimidated. Wish me luck with that.

So, how about you all? Will you be spending relaxing nights in front of a fire or trying your hand at power tools?

When People Run in Cirlces, It's a Very, Very Mad World

On my way to my car Saturday night, I saw this Paul Revere's Pizza delivery van parked, with bad music blaring out of it and all these guys dancing. So, if your pizza was a little late and cold, now you know why...

Oh, kids. I had it all planned out. I was going to go for a nice long run in these balmy temperatures, then go to Menard's for a quick little minute to get a paint brush and a filter for my furnace. It had occurred to me to check that this weekend, after figuring the previous owner probably hadn't replaced it since she bought the furnace two years ago. Holy crap! It was a good thing I did. It was a nice charcoal gray color. Then I thought I'd come home, do some cleaning, do some touch-up painting and then give myself at least an hour or so to read.

The reality of tonight? The good news, is that I did get my run in and it felt amazing. I ran so fast and I felt like I could have gone on for hours. Then the minute I got back, Coadster informed me that her dad's van was stuck in mud at his house. I assumed she was going to ask me for a ride over there, but she said her dad asked if she could just stay at my house instead. Of course she could. I'll always take extra time with my girls. So, I changed my plans. Coadster and I went to the big scary maul. There was hardly anyone there, and it was much better than going on the weekend, and we got a few things we needed and then headed over to Lowe's for our house stuff. I wanted to check out the glass tile they had there, but they don't really keep it at the store. The guy showed me the stuff he had in a catalog, but I had seen it on-line and it didn't help me figure out what it would look like in real life.

Anyway, we got home by around 9 and I didn't get any work done, and I probably won't have time to read, but that's okay. In a few short years, both of my girls will be gone and I'll have all the time in the world for that stuff.

And Freedom Tastes of Reality

Coadster dispensing gifts at her final showchoir concert.

I might have to put a warning before every blog post for one thing or another, but I'll warn you about the sad, sorry sap potential for this one. My excuse is that Coadster just accepted her admission and signed her college housing contract tonight. (breathe, Churlita, breathe...Into a paper bag if necessary)

This is a year of lasts for Coadster. It was so strange this Sunday to think that we'll never see her flashing jazz hands and cranking up the cheese...On stage, anyway. I'm in the last few months of legally being able to tell her what to do, or being responsible for her. Starting this Fall, much of her life will take place without my knowledge. What a strange thing, this parenting gig is.

From a very young age, I experienced loss...And with my abandonment issues, I pretty much expect that eventuality from every relationship/friendship I have with people. But as every parent knows, it's different with my kids. I've never been so invested in another human being the way I am with my girls. I can pick them out of a crowd of hundreds, I know exactly what each facial expression, every bodily movement means and I really do feel every emotion along with them. I don't have the same control issues that a lot of my friends have, but it will still be hard for me not to be a part of Coadster's everyday life anymore.

This is also a year of firsts for Coadster. She will finally be able to vote (which for as political as she is, this is huge for her), she will live on her own, file her taxes, move to another town, make her own rules for herself, all for the first time. It's so exciting I could cry...And I'm sure I will..Often.

I'm not at all worried about her being on her own. I've said since she was born, that she's one of the most responsible, poised people I've ever met. It will just be hard for me to watch her make the mistakes she's bound to make and suffer all those slings and arrows that everyone does while they figure out how to be an adult in this world. All I can do is remind her that I'm here when she needs me...And keep those paper bags handy.

I Want to Ride It Where I Like

Here is a window, out in the middle of nowhere.

Good gawd! I feel like this blog has become me just detailing all the mundane crap I do every day, and I apologize for that. I'm going to try to actually write here and there in the next couple of weeks. Of course, today will be more detailing of boring crap that I did today, but it's all I got right now.

Today I was actually able to ride my bike to work and back. It was sooooo nice. It took me about 12 minutes to get to work. It normally takes me at least 35 minutes to walk it. I also just like to ride, so I can't wait until I get to do it every day. It's supposed to rain every day for the rest of the week. I guess I'll just have to wait until next week to make it my routine again.

I also ran my 6 mile route after work and that made me very, very happy....And a little tired. It's been a while since I was able to work-out so much in one day. I should probably ease into it a little more, but I'm obviously not smart enough for that.

I did give myself a little couch time and watched some house hunting type shows on HGTV and then finally finished sanding and painting two spots on my kitchen walls where there used to be a back splash with the old counters, but won't be with the new ones. Now, I'm more than ready to go read myself to sleep...I've heard In Cold Blood isn't the best book to read before bed, but you know me, I like to live on the edge.

Another Working Day Has Ended

Here are me and some of my girly friends. Check out the stalker guy in the background.

Booda Baby asked me once to warn her when reading my post would make her tired. So, here's your warning.

On Friday, I sprinted home after work to tidy up before my co-worker and her husband came by to look at my counters. She had told her husband that I was kind of a hot tamale and she didn't trust him alone with me. She said that made him really interested to come over as soon as possible to help me out. Whatever works, right? I laughed with her about how stupid guys were and she agreed. She said it made it so much easier to manipulate them. Anyway, he's going to check his schedule and probably get my counters put in sometime this week. He's also going to rewire something in my kitchen so that I can trade spaces for my fridge and stove. Right now, my fridge is in this tiny little cubby and it doesn't really fit and makes it so I can barely open one of my very few cupboards. So, that will be another wonderful thing.

This was as close as I could get to the goods.

I did end up going out on Friday night too. I went to the burlesque show and it was okay. It was so poorly planned and that kind of put a little damper on the whole thing. It sold-out by 9:30, so half of my friends couldn't get in. Then they had a bad surf guitar band play what seemed like the same song over and over for at least two hours. I thought I'd get to see the girlies at like 10 and be home by 11:30. The girlies didn't even get started until 11:40 and by that time, I was so tired, I only watched a couple of minutes of it before I had to go home. Plus, it was so packed, I could barely see what was going on. Oh well. It was a fun idea, and I'm always up for seeing good spectacle.

My girls with my their youngest cousin.

I hit the ground running on Saturday. I got the girls to play practice and track practice and I went home to clean. I've been trying to be better about taking my recycling and Goodwill and bottles and cans every week to their respective places, so after Stinky got done with track she went with me to run a veritable shitload of errands. When I got back, I helped Coadster with some more of her college paperwork. She fought with me a little more about how she thought I should just do all of it for her and I told her I was here to help her and she wasn't particularly happy with my response. Thank god I'm not a people pleaser.

After that, I went for a nice long run and it was wonderful. I came home and cleaned gutters that hadn't been cleaned for years and let me just tell you how good that DIDN'T smell. Yeesh! Then I chipped at ice on the shady parts of my driveway and sidewalk. Then I fell down and went into a coma....Just kidding.

I really thought about staying home, because I was exhausted. But G. made a good case for me going out and I went. As usual, I was glad I did. I'm happiest when I go out, if I can just sit with one or two friends and shoot the shit, and that's how it worked out on Saturday. G. and D. were out, as well as this married couple. The husband was buying us all drinks and the wife was cracking us up with stories of her lonely childhood. She said she used to play school by herself, because her siblings were too old and wouldn't play with her. So, she had to be the teacher and the student and she would fill out worksheets and purposely write down exactly two wrong answers, so she could use her red pen to correct them. We laughed so hard at her sad childhood that we were crying. Mostly because we were all such weird kids in our own ways and we could relate.

Coadster singing her solo.

Today was another crazy day. I did a little work in my kitchen and then cleaned before my family came over. They hadn't been to my place since the first weekend I moved in, so they saw the before and finally got to survey the after'ish. Then we met my friends G., D., and K. for Coadster's last show choir extravaganza. She was amazing, as usual and there were jazz hands aplenty.

So, now I'm going to try very hard to plan a mellow, stay at home kind of week and work on projects and read as much as possible and hope upon hope that my counters get installed. Wish me luck.

I Felt Almost Demure

Here is a photo of The Golden Gate Bridge that we took on our road trip two years ago. I would love the promise of a great vacation right now.

Oh, thank god for the weekend. Today was kind of a weird day. The guy who was going to put my counters in, got back to me while I was at work. He apologized for how long it took him and said he was insanely busy and didn't know if he'd get to doing them next week, or next month. He also told me he was worried that I'd be disappointed in him. I told him not to worry. That I had a couple of other options, but I would see if I could get someone else who could do it sooner. Then one of the women I worked with said that her husband might be able to just come over and do it for free. She was going to check with him and get back to me.

After work I went to give plasma and got another hematoma. This time, the blood stopped coming out, so they caught it right away and it was a million times better...That was, until they were starting to put fluids back in me and I was so dehydrated that I almost passed out. They brought the nurse out and she checked my vitals and my pulse was under 40. Hmmm. I drank water at the same time they pumped me full of saline solution and I was much better in 10 minutes, but that was more than enough drama for one evening.

Okay. And now it's the weekend. As usual, there is a ton going on. Originally, I planned to go to this burlesque show tomorrow night. A lot of my friends from all different groups are all going to be there, and I thought it would be a great opportunity to see many different people at once. Then the woman who said her husband would put in my counters, said he might come over tomorrow night. I'm not sure if that would be just for a minute, to check things out, or if she meant that he'd actually put them in then. If that's the case, I'm sure I'll just stay home tomorrow night. I guess we'll see.

Saturday will be a day that I try to get as much done as possible. I have tons of paperwork and bills to pay and a new tax form to fill out to try to get my first time home buyer credit, on top of a bunch of projects.

Sunday is Coadster's very last show choir performance. She is also singing a song for the special acts portion of it. My sister and her family and my aunt, as well as a few of my friends are all going, so it should be a lot of fun.

...And now it's your turn. Will you be recovering from an old-fashioned fainting spell this weekend, or watching some old-fashioned, fun and raunchy burlesque acts?

Now You Wear Your Skin Like Iron, Your Breath As Hard As Kerosene

I still haven't taken and new pics, so digging out some recycled ones. Coadster took this of me a couple of years ago.

Sooo, today I didn't really meet my week's goal, but that's okay. I don't feel badly about taking a day off. What did I do instead? Well, I ran right after work and it was pretty nice. I'm still encountering some treacherously icy sidewalks, but I am happy in the knowledge that their days are numbered.

I also finally went to Supper Club for the first time in forever. It was hard to weigh it. On the one hand, I wanted to stay home and get things done in the kitchen and finish reading America America (I'm so close to finishing it). The other hand held the promise of cheese fries and one of the couple's 4 month old little boy. Alone time - cheese fries and cute baby. Alone time - cheese fries and a cute baby. Today I sacrificed my alone time. Lucky for me, that baby was pretty damn cute and the cheese fries were, of course, amazing.

Now, that means I still have a little time to work in the kitchen and read before bed. Who says you can't have it all?...As long as you have it in very small increments, that is.

I Watch It As It Loses Form

I'm out of recent pics and I'm trying to get excited about Spring. Here are some flowers that I'm going to plant in my backyard garden as soon as I can.

Remember how last week I said it was all about calming down and getting some alone time and living in my own little world? Well, actually that's pretty much my goal every week. But in addition to that, I'm trying really hard to get shit done this week. So, that means today I finally got my garage door fixed. ($144 later...) and can actually park my car in there again. How novel.

I also finally had my annual doctor's appointment about 6 months late. Oops. My doctor is pretty awesome. We're about the same age and temperament. So, when I told her I had this place on my lip that keeps chapping in the same spot over and over, she said she needed to set me up with an appointment in the dermatology clinic. "Yeah. That was what I was afraid of. They hate me there because they think I'm too tan for how light my eyes are and they give me brochures telling me that I should only go outside on sunny days wearing all black longsleeves and pants and carrying an umbrella. If I did that, I'd die of heat stroke while I was running long before I could ever think of getting skin cancer from wearing shorts and sports bras when I run in the Summer in Iowa...." And she said, she knew. They were like that with her too.

"We'll just make sure we schedule your appointment before it gets warm out, so you won't be so tan yet." How great is that?

I called the guy who said he'd put my counters in for me, and left a message. He hasn't called me back yet. I'll try again at the end of the week, but if it doesn't work for him to do it, I have a couple of other options. You know me, I'm a girl who always has a back-up plan...

Wouldn't It Be Good to be On Your Side. The Grass is Always Greener Over There

Here is my new hot water heater. She isn't really all that pretty, but she has a great personality.

Today was a series of hits and misses. The theme today was gaining and losing and minor annoyances, I suppose.

As you can see, I did get my new hot water heater installed, but it doesn't look like I'll get that extra $100 rebate from the state. I sure wish they had a better system for people to get their rebates, or would somehow figure out that everyone and their second cousin twice removed was going to want a piece of it, because it was so frustrating trying to access the website or the phone number. They were totally overloaded. I tried on and off all day, just to get to a place on the website where I could reserve my rebate. Fat chance. At one point in the afternoon, I got as far as the part on the site where I could enter my information and the minute I hit submit, it kicked me out of the system. Bastards. I don't know who actually was able to access the website in order to overload it, but I'm assuming they were people who didn't have to work during the day and could try every 2 seconds. Again - bastards. By 1:30 when I was finally able to access the site enough to get to the registration and before it kicked me out, I saw that they had already given out all the money and were only putting us on a waiting list. I'm not quite sure what we'll be waiting for. To see if some people have invalid claims? To see if there is more money allotted or maybe they just want to appease us so we don't revolt.

Since it doesn't look like I'll get my rebate, I figured I might try to give plasma to recoup my losses. It would take two weeks of donating to get that money. But, alas. It wasn't meant to be either. After I drove all the way out there and went through the whole rigamarole of questions and tests, it turned out that my crit (iron level) count was one point less than it needed to be. So, I was shut down there and had to drive home with no cash. Wah.

Once I got home, though, things looked up a little. I'm the opposite of those helicopter parents who hover over their kids and do everything for them, because they're sure they won't do it..Or at least won't do it right. So, I've been trying to get Coadster to fill out her financial aid application for a month now. She was good about filling out scholarships and auditioning for money from the school of music, but she really wanted me to do her FAFSA for her. I refused. Believe me, it would have been a lot easier to do it for her, but I'm supposed to be raising her to be independent and self-sufficient, and part of that is being here to help her with any questions she might have, but not do her shit for her. Anyway, of course she waited until the last minute to fill out her paperwork, (this weekend) but she did finally get it done and right now it looks like she'll get a grant to cover much of her tuition. Now, we'll just have to see if she gets any scholarships, before we make the decision to take out loans.

Well, I've Never Been to Spain, but I Kinda Like the Music

The top part of the cupboard boxes are finally painted.

So, kids. This weekend was much better than last, but still pretty crazy. Friday was very, very nice. I thought I'd give myself an evening to relax before I got all crazy for the next two days. I bought a nice bottle of Pinot at the Co-op on my way home, then went running and then Stinky went to the inter-town rivals' basketball game and Coadster and I watched Frost Nixon. It was pretty interesting. I was worried it would just be a reenactment of the interviews, and there was some of that in it, but the back drama was really interesting. It also tied-in nicely with me reading America America which takes place during the '72 election. Cool.

Saturday started out on a messy note. I heard Stinky yelling my name in the other room. Turns out the toilet was overflowing and instead of just plunging it, she called me and by the time I got to it, water had flowed into the hall and into my bedroom and under my new counters still sitting on my floor. Lovely. I cleaned it all up and got Coadster to the high school to pack boxes for the Haiti Earthquake victims and Stinky to track practice. I got a nice long run in and finally finished sanding my cupboards and got them primed for the most part.

By Saturday evening, I was in kind of a weird space. The walls of my house were closing in and I was tired of huffing oil based primer, but I didn't really feel like doing karaoke with my friends. Luckily, I found out some other friends were at the Dublin. It turned out to be a really fun night. One of the female bartenders got a few of us to play a game called "I Never...". If you don't know how it works, everybody takes turns saying something they've never done before and if you've done that thing, then you have to drink. It can be about anything, but of course, we all thought it was way more embarrassing and fun to center most of them around sex. It can also get tricky when you bring in double and triple negatives into it, "...I never, didn't do something, something, something...." And after a while you have no idea if you were supposed to drink if you did or didn't do said thing, so you end up drinking (and when I say you, I really mean me) to everything and get a little saucy. But after huffing oil based paint fumes, I was probably a little saucy to begin with. Hey, what's a few more brains cells, right?

So, today I finally finished painting my upper cupboard boxes. I can't tell you how happy I'll be when my kitchen isn't in a continual state of chaos and messiness. I'm going to see when I can get my counters put in and keep working on the rest of the cupboards. Tomorrow morning, I'm supposed to get my new hot water heater. Not super exciting, but it's so much better than worrying when the hot water heater is going to die in the middle of a cold Winter night (because as we all know, that's when that shit always goes down). Because I'm purchasing it on March 1st, I should be eligible for $100 rebate from the state and a $75 rebate from our energy supplier here. Sweet!

Okay. I think that's about enough out of me.

It Will End Again In Moonlit Song

Here is the edge of my very rustic screened-in porch. I can't wait until I get to start using it. The girls and I found some really nice chairs for it.

Ooooh, kids. I can't believe how damn fast this week went. It was so much better than last week and I got some sweet, beautiful alone time and I'm reading a good book and finally back into the swing of working on my house again. I must have been a little burnt-out and felt overwhelmed for a few weeks there, but now I feel refreshed and I'm trudging right along again. I can always tell when I'm back in the game when I start obsessively making lists. Maybe planning is a sign of being hopeful for me. Hmmmm.

Anyway, this weekend I have crazy to-do lists and to-buy lists and to-research lists and to-work-out lists. It's hard to believe, but the forecast calls for it to actually get above 30 degrees this weekend. I'm planning to run the next three days and hopefully start riding my bike to work as much as possible starting Monday. So far, tomorrow night I was thinking I'd stop at the Co-op on my way home from work and buy a nice, affordable bottle of wine. I'll run and then do a little, quick work on the cupboards and then either read or watch a movie and drink some of that bottle of wine. Saturday will be more work on the cupboards, recycling, a little shopping for hot water heaters, some biking gear and finally replacing those glasses that were broken when that stupid trashy girl punched Stinky a while back. I'm sure I'll go out on Saturday night for a bit...We'll see how tired I am and how long I last.

Now. I promised to do this writing prompt and I'm finally going to do it. Mrs. Big hairy Woman started this with the first paragraph, tagged the Alien and he tagged me. So, here are their first two paragraphs and my third one added on. I'm also tagging Eclectic Tara for the 4th one. Have at it:

The first paragraph:
"The sun was edging on the horizon, peaking through silver slits of clouds. She sat there watching, waiting for the end of days. On this day she had wished for a fresh new start. Oblivious to what was really happening to her. She couldn't shake that feeling of being watched. She didn't know who or why, but she felt it."

Alien's Paragraph:

She looked over her shoulder, but saw nobody there. The feeling stayed with her as she got up and start to walk back toward the house. A rustling in the bushes caught her attention as she nervously peered in, squinting to see who or what was there. A squirrel ran out and toward the large oak tree. She jumped, but knew that wasn't what made the noise. She looked in again and said in a low-pitched squeak, "Hello?"

My Paragraph:

There was no reply. She didn't really think she'd get one, but it was worth a shot. The only way to really know what was back there, was to suck it up and take a second, better look. This time, she carefully separated the branches to be able to see better in the back of the bushes. At first it just looked like a large rock, but then she saw the two thin arms, bent and reaching up to cover his head. It was a young boy, curled up in the fetal position, and trying to make himself disappear.

Okay. Have fun with that Tara and to all the rest of you, have a great weekend and let me know what you plan on doing with it.

Eliminate the Need for Water, Replace It With a Safe Shell

Here is the underbelly of a railroad bridge.

I have three things tonight. I'm just going to go ahead and number them to make it easier for all of us.

1.) The married women in my office never seem to get tired of asking me the same question over and over. I haven't figured out yet if it's because they're smug in the fact that they're happily married and can get laid any time they want; or if they're unhappily married and want to think that as a single girl, I'm hooking-up with hot young studs who are decidedly NOT sitting on my couch in their underwear watching sports the next day. Today it happened again and this is how it went down:

Co-worker: Soooo, how's your love life?

Me: Uhhhh...Imaginary? How's your love life? You're married, right?

Co-worker: Oh, yeah. But the honeymoon was over for us a long time ago. Now we just....(searching for the right words)

Me: (trying to help her out) ...Complacently take each other for granted?

Co-worker: That's it exactly...And it's so much better than being out there trying to date.

Me: Oh, I'm sure. Most things are.

2.) Tonight I finally got some blessed alone time. I was all restless and itchy and I've needed to live in my own little world for weeks now. Coadster was at her dad's and Stinky went to a friend's house right after track practice to do homework and eat dinner before her youth group. I can't even begin to tell you how great it is to just have a few hours to myself...And how much I can get done when I'm not answering a barrage of questions and taxiing kids all over town. I read, did laundry, oven baked some BBQ chicken, cleaned the kitchen and FINALLY got most of the upper cupboard boxes sanded. It's not one of my favorite jobs, but I'm glad to have it done.

I'm close to being half done with Ethan Canin's America America, and I have to say, I really like it. It was kind of a tough transition from The Road, but I think anything would be. McCarthy created such a strong mood, that it took me about a week to shake it off. (not that I really wanted to, but I did need to move on) America America so far is such a great throwback to a lot of the classic American fiction I read in high school. Right now it takes place in the early 70's and a working-class high school kid gets a job working for the family who pretty much created his town. He is quickly being brought into their world of privilege, power, politics and what I can only assume (and hope) will turn into corruption. I'd like to finish it by next week, because Coadster told me I had to read Capote's In Cold Blood next, and according to her, I will LOVE it.

3.) I was tagged by The Alien to do a writing prompt. I am so sorry. I totally spaced it off. I promise I'll post it tomorrow and tag the next person.

Every New Beginning Comes From Some Other Beginning's End

Here is a mural of The Bix 7 race in Davenport.

Hey, I'm going to post an update on my friend's son. Here it is:

Even more good news today. Early this morning L. went ahead and self extubated. The nurse said it was a first for her to have a patient remove his own tube. We then had to hurry and get his catheter out as he was pulling on that and it was the next to go. With the vent out he seemed much more comfortable and was even opening his eyes a bit. By the end of the day he was nodding his head to answer yes or no to questions (even once he mumbled out a "yeah"), was able to take some tylenol liquid by mouth and drink a tiny bit of juice. He covered his mouth with his hand when he coughed and the grand finale for the day was he waved good-bye to P.'s sister and to B. when she left. We are super, super encouraged by his progress. P. and I feel like we can finally breathe a little bit. We have been mostly at the hospital and in and out at home.

So, it all sounds pretty good. I have a feeling it will be like things were with Stinky, where they won't really know what the long term effects will be until they do some follow-up testing in the next month or so.

Okay, now I'm changing the subject. Remember how I kept talking about how I was going to try to do a triathlon and some road races this year? Well, I think I got some of that actually planned now. I've been emailing some friends and the girl crush about possible events we might want to register for and so far I've come up with this: The River Run in Iowa City in April (5k), a duathlon in Des Moines in May, The Dam to Dam race in Des Moines in June and my triathlon in Coralville in September. I still wouldn't mind finding a race in July and August, but even if I don't, this should be enough.

I have a bunch of people telling me I should run the Bix again. I'm not counting it out, but it wouldn't be that handy for me. I don't really have anyone to stay with in the Quad Cities anymore. I can stay with the girl crush and her hubby for the Des Moines races and that's great. I'll finally be able to see their house too.

The other issue is my daughters' schedules. I checked with them about the races I've committed to and we don't seem to have any conflicts right now. Coadster said she might even race in the 5 k's with me. She didn't seem to be particularly interested in either the duathlon or the triathlon.

As far as training is concerned? I'm actually in okay shape for this time of year after such a bad outdoor running Winter. I'd like for the weather to calm down and start warming up now, though. I would love to be able to start riding my bike to work on a regular basis and run outside at least 5 days a week again. Um, pretty please, Winter?

One Minute I Held the Key, Next the Walls Were Closed On Me

Here is a railroad bridge in Davenport, Ia.

Sooooo, I know I have this running theme on my blog. No, not the theme of running this time. But the theme of the problems I have with balance in my life. Like I've said, most of my favorite activities are fairly solitary ones - reading, writing, running, and riding my bike are generally things I like to do alone. Of course, as I also always say, if I spend too much time by myself, it can make me a little weird(er). The last few years, I've tried really hard to make myself go out and socialize. This last week, I oversocialized and spending too much time around people can mess with me way worse than not spending enough time with people. I guess what I'm trying to say, is that the goal this week is to slow it down and spend as much time as I can at home, working on my kitchen and reading books. Now that's a goal I can easily reach.

Okay. I have one more thing. Yesterday afternoon, my girls and I were in the parking lot of our local Hy-Vee grocery store. We were unloading our cart into our car when a guy parked directly behind us and said something that was a little hard to understand. Coadster was standing closest to his car and said, "Excuse me?"

"Ya'll are sexy. Are ya'll getting ready to pull out?" He repeated.

"Um. There are a bunch of other spaces around us and now there's a car behind you..." Coadster responded.

"He's being a creeper. Don't talk to him," I said to Coadster, quietly so he couldn't hear. And to prove my point the guy repeated,

"Seriously. All y'all are seeeeexxxxxyyyy."

We got in our car and quickly realized the guy wasn't going to move. He thought he could keep us from pulling out, by blocking our car. Thank god there wasn't a car in front of us, so I just pulled through and took off as quickly as I could, in the snow away from him. How weird and scary was that though? And who the hell trolls the grocery store parking lot looking for mother/daughter victims? Jaysus!

Day After Day, It Reappears

Here is a picture of me trying to stalk in the background and a friend of mine pointing me out. Drat! Foiled again...

I'm writing this really early today, because this weekend has been so crazy and I have no idea what things will be like later this evening or how tired I'll be.

Okay. So, the weekend started out great. I got the girls fed and situated and actually both of them were so exhausted from the week that Stinky was asleep and Coadster was finishing her packing and fast on her way to hitting the hay, by 7 o'clock when I left.

I met up with my girlfriends at Martinis and it was soooo dead there. Luckily, we left and headed over to the Dublin shortly thereafter. My original plan was to go home by 10 and I was so close to doing that. I almost even had my coat on, but then I got pulled back into the fun and laughed so hard and talked so much shit, that it was 1 o'clock by the time I left. Woops!

Here is a picture of me being a dork, because there are only a million more pictures of me dorking-out on the internets.

Saturday was when things got crazy. I got a call from a friend of mine. She had some bad news and was traveling and didn't have the resources. She said she knew that I liked to help people and had a million contacts on my phone and through Facebook. Then she went on to tell me about a friend of ours from college who lives in Iowa City but who I rarely see. He was taking his son over to a friend's house and thought something seemed off about him. Luckily, our friend is an EMT and a nurse, so he knew enough to take his son straight to the ER. It was a good thing he did, because his boy had bleeding in the brain. Nobody knows why. They operated on him immediately, and the first surgery didn't work. My friend asked me to contact as many people as I could who could help and give support to my friend and his wife. So, I called as many people as I had numbers for. Then I went to Facebook to message anyone else. Of course, Facebook was being all wonky yesterday, so I couldn't get to certain people's profiles. I couldn't get to my friend John who lives in Boston's profile to tell him, but I was able to access his girlfriend Maire. I had called her brother, who just happens to be my favorite bartender, S. as well. So, she messaged me back and forth a little and we kept each other updated on what we knew. As of right now, they did a second surgery that seems to have finally stopped the bleeding. They have no idea what to expect. He was able to move his arms and legs again, so that was a good sign.

Sorry, It was harder than you'd think to get pics of the poofy hair and sequins. Those show choir kids are always on the move.

Finally, Stinky and I were ready to go to the Quad Cities to watch Coadster perform. Coadster called us right as we were leaving and asked us if we could go to Panchero's and pick-up a burrito for her. So, that took about a half hour longer than we planned for and then our Mapquest directions took us way out past where we should have gone and we had to drive back into town for another 20 minutes. What that meant, was that we they had already started and we couldn't get in the theater to watch Coadster's performance. They had TV's out, so we could watch them on that, and we did see Coadster nail her solo, so that was good. I just felt bad that we didn't get to see her live. They have one more gig in town for their Spring show and some of my girlfriends said they'd like to see her, so that should be fun.

By Staurday night I was exhausted. I didn't really want to go out, but G. told me she was a little disappointed that she didn't get to talk to me much on Friday night, so I thought I'd make an effort. G. met a friend for dinner beforehand and brought him down to the Dublin. I'd met him before because they've been friends for a long time. She sat him next to me at the bar and asked me to keep him company while she smoked a ciggie outside. It was fine. He's a nice enough guy, but we don't have a lot in common and he's not particularly funny or all that easy to talk to and G. disappeared for an hour. I'm not sure if she was trying to set me and her friend up or if she just got caught up with whatever she was doing. Finally, a bunch of people came down and I talked to the owner of the Dublin and his wife and sister-in-law and I was happy. Since G. never came back and I was feeling guilty about not really talking to her friend after the other people showed up, there really was no reason for me to be out. I turned into a pumpkin around 11 and headed home.

This weekend, another friend of mine's mother-in-law got really sick again. She has been in and out of remission for a long time, but things seem really bad right now. I texted my friend from the bar when I found out and asked her if there was anything I could do to help. She called me this morning to see if one of my girls could babysit while they went to the hospital. Stinky was more than happy to help. So, now she's babysitting and Coadster's at her dad's, and I think I'll take a nice long run before the snow starts flying....Again.

Friday Nights Have Been Lonely. Change Your Plans and Then Phone Me.

Every time I find a fan, I feel the need to try and do the Stevie Nicks Dance in the Stand Back video. You'd think one of these days I'd get tired of that lame-ass bit, but I never do...

So, after such a busy week, I'm facing an even busier weekend. Welcome to Spring. Now, if only it would feel like Spring outside, I'd be all set.

I'm actually going out for a bit on a Friday night tomorrow. I always say, if I don't have anything going on with my kids and someone asks me, I can be talked into it. A friend sent out an email to the girls in my main social circle. She thought it was high time we all met together and the plan is to go to a bar called Martinis at 5:30. Of course, it's almost impossible for me to go out that early, but I told them I'd catch up to them as soon as I get my kids fed and sent off to their own little events. I will definitely be home early, though.

Saturday is Coadster's last show choir competition in the Quad Cities. Stinky and I are going to watch them perform in the afternoon and zip right back home. Don't worry, I promise to get several pictures of poofy haired girls in ridiculous sequined dresses. That's how much I like you all...

Saturday night I'll probably head down to the Dublin for a bit. Really? How strange. I have no idea how long I'll last, since I won't have had much rest beforehand, but I'll give it the old college try.

As usual, I will be trying to work in house projects and running into all of this. It should be interesting to see if anything actually gets done.

What about all of you kids? Will you be stepping out when you normally don't or will you be watching girls with poofy hair and sequins stepping out on stage making with the jazz hands?

Pick-Up the Pieces

Here is Coadster's choir.

Well, it's been a busy week so far. No doubt, this post will be a bit random...I'm sure that will surprise exactly none of you, coming from me.

Tonight Coadster had a choir concert. I didn't get my nice alone time, but that's just fine. Stinky didn't go to her youth group, because most of the kids in it are also in choir. She came with me to the show and we both made a huge point to make faces at Coadster whenever she entered the auditorium. It was awesome.

I finished The Road last night and started reading Ethan Canin's America America. I've only read a short story of his, but he's a local author and Coadster used to love a movie called The Emperor's Club, based on one of his short stories when she was younger. So far, it has a bit of Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy feel to it and I remember really liking that book when I read it in high school. As always, I'll let you know what I think about it once I finish it.

Before her concert, I finally worked up the guts to cut into the gross, stained carpet in Coadster's room to see what was under it. Thankfully, I found hardwood floors. So, now I can add another project to the list, and tear it all the way up and get the floors underneath it cleaned. When my brother ripped up the carpet in his living room, he found a spot in the middle of the hardwood floors, where someone had replaced it with plywood. Obviously, I'm hoping I don't find any unwanted surprises like that in this bedroom.

Okay, I'm beat and so I'm going to hit the hay. Tomorrow, I'll only work until one o'clock, so I can get Stinky a physical. I went to get my doctor to sign off on a physical for Stinky to be in track, and was informed that she hadn't had one since August 2008. I could have sworn she had one last February when Coadster had hers. Oops! I guess it's just another reason for me to start expecting that mom of the year award any day now.

It Comes to Us All. It's As Soft As Your Pillow

By the time most of you read this, it will be hump day. So, I thought this pic would be appropriate.

Hey, kids. I thought I'd do a little writing exercise tonight. This time I'm writing about giving plasma. Sounds neat-o, huh? I'm sure you know the drill by now. I just wrote this, so I know it needs a lot of work and feel free to point out anything that looks all janky to you:

You are now a commodity. You are questioned, measured, poked, and tested to make sure you will be good enough. Once you pass inspection, you are led to a room full of others like you lying in beds, hooked up to bags, which are in turn, hooked up to machines. You are instructed of everything you can and can't and some things you must do. You can bring a laptop (they offer free wifi), you can listen to an iPod and text or anything else you can handle one-handed. You can't eat or drink, but you must continually pump your hand while the product is being taken out of you. You also must stop pumping your hand once the product is skimmed of its plasma and whatever's left gets pumped back into you.

Even before you realize the girl next to you is droning on and on to someone on the other end of her cell phone, you hear one horrible song from whatever music stream they have going and quickly plug yourself into your iPod and open up your book. Some guy in a lab coat is preparing to start the IV. You say, "I have great veins, but they're really rolly, so you have to hold them down," to help you both out, and then you quickly look the other way. You don't like to watch the needle go in.

The iPod isn't completely drowning out the droning girl next to you, so you turn your ear to rest on the pillow to see if that helps. Doing this causes you to hear the sound of your own pulse. It's louder than you're used to. It keeps time to your music and counts down the seconds. Thump, thump. You pump your hand to it and almost forget to stop when the cycle is over. Your arm starts to feel sore and stiff and you wonder if that's how it's supposed to feel. You figure that the blood wouldn't pump right if there was something wrong, so you don't say anything. There is a shift change with those wearing the lab coats before you are done.

The new girl says they have all they need from you and starts to replace your fluids. You have done this once before, so you are prepared for the sensation. The saline solution they replenish you with is colder than your body temperature, and you cool down from the inside. A blanket or coat can't help warm you up and you start to shiver violently. Your arm is still sore and now you realize that it is much larger than it should be. You mention it to the girl who seems perplexed that they were able to still get the fluid they needed, since it appears that the needle pierced all the way through. It means that some of what your heart pumped out was wasted and seeped out into your body leaving you bruised and sore and swollen.

The new girl tapes an icepack hard to the inside of your arm and you think how strange it was to be totally unaware of what was going on inside your own body. It reminded you of when your daughter was younger and got so sick. You sat in your living room with her head in your lap gently dabbing her face with a cool cloth. You knew she wasn't well but you had no idea the battle that was going on inside her between her antibodies and the bacteria that had invaded her. You carelessly watched a movie while the bacteria launched a surprise attack and fought their way into her spinal chord fluid.

You leave the plasma center favoring your unbending left arm wondering what kind of internal wars everyone else around you might be waging.

It's Something I Said, Or Someone I Know

Here's how it's hangin' in Iowa right now. Are those electrical boxes covered in ice? I'm sure that's safe.

I will try to make this quick. My friend J. asked me to meet him out for coffee (or tea, in my case) this evening. He is recently engaged, and I hadn't seen him for a while, so it was good to catch-up. He seems really happy. He used to have a crush on me for years. At first, he was 21 years old and in college and I was 31 and newly divorced with a 3 year old and a five year old and we were at such different places in our lives. He's a physically attractive guy, but we never quite meshed in other ways (at least as far as I was concerned). We worked hard at becoming friends, and have had some rough spots. I've tried really hard not to lead him on in any way shape or form, but as we all know, everyone wants what they want.

So, anyway... We took a break from our friendship for a year and a half or so and in that time, he was finally able to meet someone else who he seems to mesh really well with. I'm very happy for him and it will make our friendship so much easier now that we both want the same thing. He promised to bring his girly down to the Dublin to meet me in the next couple of weeks during what my friend Sara likes to call my "office hours" on Saturday night. I'm so excited to get to know her.

On another relationship front, I stopped by a friend's house for a minute on my way home from the coffee shop. While I was there, I asked her if she and her boyfriend did anything special for Valentine's Day. She responded, "Well, I DIDN'T push him down the stairs...." Ain't love grand? Maybe it's just safer being single.

She Says, We've Got to Hold On to What We Got

My mom when she was a little girl.

Soooo, I'm going to wish anyone who celebrates it, a happy Valentine's Day. Currently, it's a holiday that doesn't really apply to me, so I'll just celebrate the fact that it would have been my mom's 78th birthday. I still can't imagine her old. All I can do is feel lucky that I had her the 10 years I got. She is definitely responsible for my love of literature, my appreciation of music and the outdoors. All of those things that pretty much saved me after she died.

This weekend was very long, but in a good way. Friday off was amazing. I got some stuff done, but most importantly, I got to hang out with the girls for at least a few hours without having to run somewhere or do chores or homework. Originally, we were going to eat at the Bluebird Diner, but it was packed when we got there, and Stinky wanted to make it to a basketball game at 7. So, instead we got take-out sushi at Oyama and Coadster and I watched The Hangover. It actually turned out better than sitting in a busy restaurant.

There was a lot of errand running on Saturday. I took all my recycling in, while Stinky went job hunting. She stopped in at 126 to see if they needed a hostess. My friend Amo was working and was really happy that Stinky wanted to work there. Amo called over the current manager, who said she remembered her from when she was little and I used to pull the girls around in a little red wagon. I'm sure my girls are so tired of hearing that story. But when they were little, it was so much easier to put them in a wagon where they could face each other and wasn't quite so big and unwieldy as a double stroller. Apparently, people found the image of them in the wagon quite charming.

Me covering my face. One of my favorite pics of myself.

Just so you know, you might not want to start reading The Road right before you go out, because you could get so engrossed that you won't want to leave your house. I did end up going out, and I was so glad I did. I guess I was in the mood to get really silly, and that's exactly what I did. We played a lot of goofy music on the juke box and danced around. One of our very flamboyantly gay male friends came down and was WAY over the top.

My friend finally brought her new guy down for us to meet and he seemed really cool. Poor guy. Us girls really put him through the wringer. At one point he asked me if I was the friend that stalked him on Facebook, and both G. and I said at the same time, "We both did."

As usual, right around midnight, I decided it was time to go home, but right before I did, someone said something that was a song lyric, and I started singing that song. Everyone around us started singing it too and suddenly, all kinds of people we didn't know and most of the bar was belting out, "Livin' On a Prayer". It was hilarious. Of course, I knew the night couldn't get any better so I took off.

Won't You Take a Walk Outside?

Here is a building by my office.

So, I have weird days at work sometimes - especially in the afternoon. I had one of them today. My job can be a bit tedious, and that plus the beige cubicle walls can close in on me making feel a little bored and isolated and restless. Luckily, it's pretty easy to wash the scum of the office off of me by walking home.

I ran after work and got really hopeful about the approach of Spring. It wasn't completely dark by the time I made it home from my run. FINALLY. It's still too cold to smell or feel like Spring yet, but the longer days will definitely help improve my mood.

Speaking of something that will put me in a better mood...I'm supposed to get my federal tax return back tomorrow. I'm hoping that it's all electronic and the fact that most of the federal offices were shut down for 4 days won't adversely affect me. I'm also taking my 3rd furlough day tomorrow. So, if things go the way I want them too, I'll have both time AND money for once. That's a combination I could get used to. Unfortunately, it will be very short lived.

The plan is for me to go running in the morning and do some work in the kitchen and measure some stuff. Then, since both the girls have their last hour at school free, I'm going to pick them up and we'll probably head to the mall (because that's what happens when you have teenagers). I'm going to price fridges and hot water heaters (party!) and then we'll go see a movie and then go to the Bluebird Diner to eat. My girls love it there and I know the guys who own it, so I feel good about supporting their business.

So, how is your weekend shaping up? Will you have money or time or both or neither?

All the Things I Care About (Are Packed Into One Punch)

I'm out of recent pics, so I'm recycling this one from a couple of years ago.

Wednesday's are becoming nice reprieve nights for me. Coadster goes to her dad's and Stinky is gone most of the night at rec league basketball games and then to her youth group. There was a time, before I was so house poor, that I would meet a group of friends at different restaurants around town for Supper Club on Wednesdays, but I haven't done that for many, many months.

Lately, I'm probably most happy spending Wednesdays by myself, anyway. That might change if the weather ever gets better and I tire of hibernating. But right now, my solitary evenings are exactly what I need in the middle of the week. It feels weird to have even a few hours to do with whatever I want. Yes, I did some chores and worked for a bit on the kitchen, but I also want to make sure I give myself time to read and listen to music if I can. I've got about a hundred pages left in The Sun Also Rises. It's been a quick read and such great escapism. I can't imagine a life where people spend most of their days and nights drinking and socializing. I couldn't do that every day without it making me really, really unhappy, but it sure is fun to read about. It's funny how I don't remember that they drank so much when I read it in high school. And as much of a drunken misogynist as he was reported to be, Hemingway sure could write the hell out of a novel.

Of course, as soon as I finish it, I'm moving on to Cormac McCarthy's The Road. The only book I've read of his was Blood Meridian and if The Road is anything like that, it will be about the opposite of The Sun Also Rises. I'm sure I'll be ready for it after a hundred more pages of frivolity.

It's Good to Hear Your Voice, You Know It's Been So Long

Here is a snowy gate.

Please allow me to be your cautionary tale...Again. So, yeah. You may not want to do a throw down on Winter, because Winter doesn't give a shit if you're tired of it. It will just laugh at you and then throw snow in your face, pelt you with ice and freeze you out, making it really, really difficult to do any outdoor triathlon training. I hope you all can learn from my mistake and dissuade yourself from doing any seasonal trash talking. Winter is one bad-ass mutha f*@ka and should not be messed with. Mea culpa, mea culpa. Uncle, uncle. Amen.

Because I work on a college campus, I like to keep an eye and ear open, (and apparently, I don't have to open those ears very much) just to do a little upper middle class, overly entitled young people sociological studying. Kids today....I saw a girl walking around downtown during a Winter storm in shorty shorts, a long sleeve t-shirt and Uggs. Wha?! Is there some way you can get your daddy to buy your way out of frost bite that I don't know about?

Later during the big scary rush of classes getting out, another girl was talking very loudly on her cell phone. And this is what me and about a hundred other people heard her say. "....So, of course we had sex. And then I didn't get home until like 5:15..." Um, excuse me, ma'am. You do know you're out in public and we can all hear you, right? It's still not quite as good as when that other woman on the Pentacrest, screamed into her phone, "How you gonna try and tell me you're lonely when you're calling me from your wife's house?" But it's going to be hard to top that one.

It's Hard Out Here for a Dumb-Ass

This is what one of the plasma people did to my arm. This was taken over a week later and I normally don't bruise very easily. Yowza!

So, this how sad it is to be me: Today I've been obsessing over home improvement websites, as usual. I found some really great instructions on the best way to paint my cupboards. I also saw a glass tile back splash installation how-to article and it seemed pretty inexpensive and simple. (I'm sure I might sing a different song when I actually try to do it myself) Anyway, by the time I got off work, I was all different kinds of excited to get going on my kitchen. On my lunch break, I had made a list of the few things I still needed to get to finish my cupboards. The main thing being non-shrinking wood putty. Hmmmm.

So, Stinky and I braved the slippery, snowy roads and made it to Menards. We found some really pretty alternating light and cobalt blue sheets of glass tile that will look amazing in my kitchen (if I don't fuck it up) and got some more sand paper and sand sponges and other stuff. Then we headed home. At some point, my car hit a patch of ice and we spun-out a little. For someone who's first instinct is always to spaz, I remained pretty calm. Luckily, there was no one behind us. Stinky's face went white and I righted the car and drove on, albeit much more slowly than before. Once I got home and made dinner, I suddenly realized I forgot the putty. So, I braved the elements for nothing. Derrrrr.

And now for something completely different....Coadster made it into the chorus of the school musical. They're doing The Wizard of Oz this year. She's never auditioned before because she normally does two sports in the Spring (soccer and track) and has never had time. Since her soccer coach left, and she's training to run a half-marathon on her own and it's her last year in high school, she figured it might be fun to do something different. So, she auditioned and got cast. Yea Coadster!