Tuesday, March 31, 2009

A snapshot of my life for the last week

Things have been hectic, for no particular reason. Just busy and crazy and lots of shit to do and stuff going on and a major case of blog neglect. A few highlights, in no particular order.

We went to a wedding in Lincoln City and spent the night at a hotel, with no kids. Always a treat! It was cold and rainy for the most part, but gorgeous and bright at the actual time of the wedding, which was beautiful. The couple reminded me of these guys, and not at all of these guys, and that's all I'm saying about that. The wedding was gorgeous and heartfelt and beautiful.

My cholesterol is high. Doctor has tried to get me to take Zocor for months and I have fought it, and now I have given in and am taking the stupid pill every night. (Hello, middle age! Nice to meet you NOT). So the first two nights I take the pill before bed and, wow!, I actually got a decent night's sleep, twice in a row. It was a miracle, because I am the worst sleeper ever. The third night, I actually looked at the pill bottle and WHOOPSIE, I'd been taking Valium, not Zocor, before bed.

What else can I report? Carlie is on spring break this week. I have nothing fun planned, but I do have depositions two days so she'll not only have no spring break vacation fun, but will also get ditched twice. Best. Mom. Ever.

We've started Operation Rearrange the House. Which sucks. Majorly. Because? Cleaning and such. To recap our plan, Taylor has moved out of the house and Erinna is here every other weekend for one night, which basically leaves me, Tim and Carlie living on three floors and taking up every inch of space in four bedrooms and two living areas. Kind of ridiculous. So Tim and I are moving down to Taylor's old room and we're closing off the upstairs of our house, which is our master suite, which is a drafty attic conversion. And the master bathroom, which was a poorly done addition by a sucky contractor, has black mold issues, so we're going to gut the bathroom while we live downstairs and do an overall rehaul on the attic. Did I mention the contractor who did it 12 years ago did a shitty job? Yeah.

Long term plans: we're looking for another house in the neighborhood that we can downsize into, but that would mean selling our house, and the market, while PERFECT for finding a good deal on a smaller house, is not so hot for selling our house. So we're doing the projects that need doing with hopes of selling, but if we never sell, at least those projects that have been back burnered for the last, oh, 11 years, will be done.

So yesterday I sold Carlie's two twin beds, dresser and nightstand to someone on Craig's List and we moved her into the smaller bedroom with Maggy's double bed. What a chore. Carlie's room was such a sty. Now it is empty. There's something about a clean empty room that is unbelievably satisfying. And Carlie was definitely living large last night in the mile high princess bed with six pillows and a cat. Because every time we move anything in the house, the cat has to claim the "new" spot as her own.

We also spent TWO FREAKING HOURS yesterday cleaning the laundry room, which consisted of sorting towels and sheets. Apparently I have an obsession with sheet hoarding, because we had at least five sets of sheets for every bed in the house PLUS at least half a dozen sets of sheets for bed sizes we do not even own. WTF? And the towel situation was also quite out of control. Apparently there must have been a blackout period of my life when I decided to just buy new towels instead of wash the towels we already owned, because we had literally DOZENS OF BATH TOWELS in the laundry room, laundered and folded and stacked up on every surface because there were so many they didn't fit in the bathroom storage. I am, like, one click away from being that lady with fourteen cats and stacks of newspaper. No lie.

I am totally out of touch with Facebook and the blogs that I follow, so I am allowing myself one hour this morning to hit all of the hot spots and then I have to work. All day.

And on the work front, I am busy. Very busy. Are you tired of my constant hot/cold whining? That is the nature of being self-employed and working freelance. I am either OH MY GOD, THERE'S NO WORK, WE'RE ALL GONNA STARVE or I am OH MY GOD, I HAVE TOO MUCH WORK, I WILL NEVER GET IT DONE. It is a horrible, horrible way to live your life. If you have a steady job with a guaranteed paycheck and benefits, NEVER LET IT GO!

Oh, I almost forgot another major event in my life. I am cyber stalking Augusten Burroughs. I have attempted cyber stalking Augusten before, but I was kind of lazy about it. But this time, I am going full throttle. As God is my witness, August and I? We shall be BFFs. I swear it. I know he will love me and we will totally connect on a deep and meaningful level once I get his attention. We are soul sisters, even though he is gay and psychotic and I am for the most part a yuppie housewife. These things don't matter, for he and I are meant to be bonded in undying friendship.

So that's it for me. Off to start my day with some blog reading and cyber stalking, followed by proofreading and closet reorganizing. If all goes well, I won't be found hanging from the rafters by lunchtime.

UPDATE: I forgot! Also? This week? We babysat my nieces, ages 5 and 7, for two days and two nights. Quite undramatic, but a lot of fun. Carlie also had a friend stay over to "help" her babysit. Much nail painting ensued.

UPDATE No.2: Oh, and I also joined a running club, with a 27-week commitment to train for the Portland Marathon in the fall. HOLY CRAP. But my running is just dribbled down to next to nothing lately (3 or 4 miles once a week) and my weight is up, like 7 lbs from my trip to New Orleans and not going down. Again, can I just say Hey, Middle Age, F Off, would you?

UPDATE No. 3: The plan was read blogs from 7 to 8, then get to work. Just FYI, it is now 10 a.m. and I am putting down the Mac and exiting the bed.
UPDATE No. 4: Speaking of Middle Age, I just plucked a weird-ass wiry hair from the MIDDLE OF MY DAMNED FOREHEAD. What the hell, people? Also, I have moved from the bed/laptop to my desk/work computer. Progress!

12 comments:

Maggie May said...

Augusten Burroughs is an awesome writer

and staying at hotels is one of my most favorite things to do, ever!!

Janet said...

I died laughing at the valium!

Unknown said...

The important question is, did you buy a Kindle 2 yet?

Kathy said...

please pass the valium already!!

justme said...

that is a whole bunch but the valium cracks me up...and so does cyber stalking AB

Just Us... said...

I have been reading and LOVING your blog...totally had to comment on the Augusten Burroughs cyber stalking as I love him as well! He lives maybe 20 minutes from my town, so I am continually hoping that I will run into him when I am in his area and that we become BFFs! =)

Fantastic Forrest said...

You HAVE had an eventful week, haven't you? :-)

Lisa Wheeler Milton said...

I'm exhausted on your behalf. You've got a lot going.

And when you befriend Augusten, please invite me for tea because I adore him.

He could bring his dear friend, Haven Kimmel, and I'll just move into one of your spare rooms and languish.

Anna Whiston-Donaldson said...

ok, there are a lot of aspects to comment on, but i'm way past my alloted blog reading time, so i'll just say, i, too, have a weird wiry hair growing out of my forehead, and i, too, have to work while my kids are on break next week. the bonus? they will need to go to work w/me. eek.

Keetha said...

You're still taking the valium at night, right? Because I would.

Cynthia said...

OK cleaning is good. Yay cleaning.

I am a loser, I have no idea who Augusten Burroughs is:P

Holy commitment on the running front Batman! Go you!

bernthis said...

okay, the part about finding out you took Valium instead of Zocor, falling down fucking hilarious.

on a serious note, I'm glad you're taking the meds. heart disease is the number one killer of women and lady, we all need you and your humor around for as long as possible.