Really? Oh, America.

I don't often get political. I have outspoken friends who fight the good fight while I quietly cast my vote and carry on.

But this shit is ridiculous.

And I'm not the only one who thinks so. Have you heard about the Bristol Conspiracy?

Seriously, America, COME ON! I'm not going to lie, the teabaggers scare me.

Friday Fill Ins and TV Boyfriend

I am obsessed. OB SESSED. with Income Property on HGTV. Their eye candy host/handyman/wonderboy is only part of the reason. Wherein "part" = 99.9%.

And on we go to the Friday fill-ins.

1. Sometimes, a little dab will do ya.

2. Let's just forget about the whole thing.

3. Small kids = small problems; big kids = big problems.

4. What a person has in their pantry/fridge is very enlightening.

5. I keep meaning to buy some groceries...

6. ...but we still don't have anything to eat ...yet.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to a complete and total lack of activity aka a veg-a-thon, tomorrow my plans include knitting! socks! for Christmas! and Sunday, I want to hang up some pictures and cool stuff in the condo... show and tell to follow!

Ever have one of those weeks when NOTHING and EVERYTHING is all happening at the same time

Ever have one of those weeks when NOTHING and EVERYTHING is all happening at the same time? That times a million is where I am right now. I have NOTHING exciting to blog about. Yet I am also balls to the wall busy with random shit and WE'RE MOVING IN THREE WEEKS holy crap. Not. Even. Ready. Not even a little bit.

I've spent some time getting caught up on missed TV shows (more on that below), and can I just say that my excitement over Seth Aaron winning Project Runway is ridiculous? I mean, granted, he is practically my neighbor and I did met him once for about 8 seconds in a crowded gallery. But still? Giddy. Downright giddy. Carlie and I both.

And these girls? Are coming to visit. They'll be here for three weeks. As luck (or my lack thereof) would have it, they will be visiting during THE MOVE. That's right. Maggy and Iris will arrive, unpack, spend a week in our chaotic OMG PACK IT UP WE'RE MOVING HOUSE, and then we'll move. Right smack in the middle of their visit.

Wait. It gets better.

The first week and a half that we spend in our cozy new 1,100 square foot townhouse? Will be spent with ALL FIVE OF US IN RESIDENCE. I'm thinking this might work to my benefit, because when Maggy and Iris leave, our cozy new townhouse should feel downright spacious when it's only three of us. Right? RIGHT?

In unrelated news... I got a haircut. Went from past the bra strap in the middle of my back to just barely dusting the shoulders. Tim came home from work and we had a 10-minute conversation before I finally screamed DO YOU NOT EVEN NOTICE THAT MY HAIR IS GONE. For real.

Today I got out of work freakishly and unexpectedly early and went to a noon matinee with two girlfriends (Date Night, which was good). They pulled up to pick me up, I walked outside and to the car. When I opened the car door, they both exclaimed, YOU GOT YOUR HAIR CUT! Which they were able to discern just by watching me walk across my yard.

What the hell is wrong with my husband?

I am moving in three weeks. I have not packed anything. Except for my winter clothes. Which explains the freakish cold weather we've been having. PACKING FAIL.

I don't even have any boxes. This picture? Is, like, wishful thinking. Let me repeat: WE ARE MOVING IN THREE WEEKS. I have not begun to prepare for this in any fashion. I can take about 1/5 of my belongings on this move. I can store about 1/5 of my belongings in our storage space. That leaves ALMOST EVERYTHING I OWN in the "must get rid of" pile. This? Makes me queasy. And it also makes me go LA LA LA LA WHAT MOVE when I should be packing. And it also makes me get caught up on every episode of every show that I've ever watched in my *free time*, the time that should be spent packing. And wherein *free time* = WHO THE HELL THOUGHT IT WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA FOR ME TO HAVE A FULL-TIME JOB, ANYWAY? What free time?

There's a lot of yelling in this post. The excitement is running high around here. In fact, it's teetering right on the brink of spastic hyperactivity. And I am having a real hard time finding a way to *make it work*.

In sum, downsizing and full-time employment are going on my THIS IS NOT AS MUCH FUN AS I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE list, right alongside sharing and adopting cats.

PS: I still don't have an iPad. Just saying.

Visiting old friends this weekend

Oh, Joey, what has he done to you?

Last weekend, we had a "Glee" marathon. Tim and I had already watched Glee via Hulu during the regular "season," but Carlie and Erinna had not seen it. So we picked up the DVD at Target and watched all 13 episodes. In 24 hours. Yes-huh.

This weekend, instead of, oh, you know, things like packing, sorting, cleaning, organizing and, you know, preparing to move in six scant weeks, I think I'm going to introduce my girls to my friends at Dawson's Creek. Because, you know, that's really productive. Plus, I miss them. Shut up.

Have you ever bonded with a fictitious character? Or is it just me? In addition to missing my friends from the creek, I also had serious withdrawals and grieving when Knots Landing went off the air, and was downright inconsolable for a month following the end of Buffy. Honestly, Angel was hardly any help at all.

It's not just me? Right? RIGHT?

Shred this, biyotch

Don't be fooled by her cute little dog. This chick? Is not nice. She tried to kill me. As a result? I have limited use of my arms. And my legs. WTF, Shred?

I went to Walmart today. No photos were taken, that I know of. I had to buy storage bins. So I can pack away our Christmas decorations. Yes, you read that right. CHRISTMAS. Now, you may ask, why do you have to pack away anything when you didn't even decorate your tree this year? Good question! Though the decorations never made it to the tree, they did make it to the mantle and the front porch. And then they made it back down into the basement, overflowing their random and tatty cardboard boxes.

Now that we are feeling pretty confident that we will be moving by summertime, whether the house is sold or not, I figure it's a good time to get that stuff organized and stored in a way that will be move friendly. Plus? Purging through. I am not so good with the purging, but I'm in the mood for it today. Inarguably, I will throw something out that I will want back desperately tomorrow, so I am going to make sure that everything in my OUT pile goes to Goodwill before bedtime tonight.

I have yet to watch a single episode of the final season of Lost, but I have them all on Tivo. So that's the plan... sit in front of the TV and sort thru Christmas crap. As soon as I regain the ability to lift my arms above waist level.

Home again, home again, jiggity jig

I'm home. My 24-hour stay at the hospital was much ado about nothing. I am fine, except for a squirrely little bit of a stomach bug. The good news is, I got my liver faucet removed, so I am no longer a member of the cyborg colony.

The bad news is I have a tiny little hole in my stomach where the tube was and HOLY HELL DOES THAT SUCKER HURT! Which means I am either an incredible wimp, or it is quite possible that the way Jack Bauer is able to soldier on after a knife wound to the gut is unrealistic. Because I am pretty sure Keefer Sutherland is a fucking real life kick ass ninja, I am assuming I am just kind being a pansy.

Viva la being home.

It's a Mad World

I finally gave up on purchasing Season 2 of Mad Men from Fred Meyer, because they still don't have it. I've checked. Twice. Impatient who? 

So I have rented the first six episodes. I have until Friday to watch them. If you don't hear from me for a while, send cigarettes and a highball.

Eyebrow Update and oh so much more

And in eyebrow news... red and scabby. Sexy! You know what makes it even prettier? The thick layer of goopy antibiotic ointment slathered on my eyelids. Am I making you hot? OK. I'll stop now.

I'm sitting on my ass cruising blogs, kind of like the guy playing violin on the Titanic as the ship sinks. So much to do that I've hit my saturation point and gone into shut down mode. It's how I roll. The more I need to get done and the closer the deadline looms, BAM, I pull the covers over my head.

Case in point: portions of my house are in complete shambles. We've been painting baseboards and doors (and by "we" I mean Tim, because painting? uck). Normally shambles doesn't bother me too much when it is controlled chaos, like painting projects or room relocation. There's just going to be a level of crazy until the project is done. The flaw in this zen-like approach to housekeeping hits a snag though when faced with the fact that I have 30 GUESTS coming TOMORROW EVENING for a Viva Las Vegas Casino Night fundraiser for Carlie's school.

Wait to the last minute much?

Projects for the day: clean bathrooms, sweep/mop/vacuum floors, deep clean the kitchen.

Projects for tomorrow: assemble blackjack tables, set up poker tables, stock the bars and help with food prep (thank God I have a friend doing the bulk of the food prep).

Yesterday was Take Your Child To Work Day. I'm a court reporter, and most of the attorneys I know, along with their clients, would be less than amenable to having a 10-year-old sit in on their private legal proceedings. Tim is a child and family therapist. Again, not exactly a job conducive to having your child sit in at work while a family comes in to spill their guts.

So we found a good compromise. I took Carlie to the Clackamas County Juvenile Center. We got to visit the courtroom where family court and juvenile drug court is held. She got to meet the judge, who could not have been more fun and gracious. She got to see the holding rooms where kids are detained, got a demo of how kids are put into leg shackles if they're dangerous and she got to meet lots of people that work with her dad (the family therapist for the juvenile drug court program).

After the court tour, we went out to lunch and trekked home. Carlie got her homework done and then I took her to the soccer kick around. (The kick around is a practice with coaches to prepare for try-outs.) It was for ages 10-13. She appeared to be the only 10 year old there this time. Everyone else was definitely bigger and looked older, more mature, more experienced.

The coaches work with what they've got, and apparently they had a good group of more experienced girls and decided to really push them. I don't know because I was sitting in my car on the other side of the building proofreading, not watching the practice. An hour and a half later, when practice ended, I was walking to the car with Carlie and she started to cry.

After a bit of tearful I don't want to talk about it drama, a bath and dinner, the crux of the heartbreak was that (1) the coach yelled (at everyone, not Carlie specifically) and the other girls don't want to be her friend.

Someone's little hormones are kicked into overdrive lately. Lord help us all.

On today's agenda, drill team practice with Carlie after school. Guess who's coaching the pompom squad, again? I don't know how I end up with these oddball volunteer jobs. But, hey, one more excuse to not clean bathrooms, right? I'm also hosting a little three-woman birthday celebration tonight for a girlfriend where we'll be watching this week's episode of Rescue Me.

Have I mentioned how much more productive I would be if I weren't addicted to television? Oy.

UPDATE: It is almost noon and I am just now putting down the computer and turning off the TV. I am defective.

Apparently Easter Monday is a holiday, and today is it

What I lack in egg decorating skills, I make up for in bunny cake skills. Notice how my pseudo-nephews* are eyeballing that cake? It's that good. And a dapper bunny cake, with a bow tie**, no less. And that's why the kids like to come to my house for Easter. That plus the 10,000 plastic eggs full of sugar. Why no one thought to get a picture of the cake that is not upside down, I don't know.

We started our Easter party with mimosas at noon and ended it with the last guests gone at 6 pm. 6 pm is nice and early and plenty of time for Carlie to wind down, shower, get ready for a good night's sleep for school the next day.

Except at 8 pm? She produced a crumpled piece of paper from her backpack to end the half-hour debate we were having about whether she had school on Monday or not. And the answer was not. Why do I not ever realize these things until the 11th hour? 

No school = no need for an early bedtime, so while the adults watched a couple more episodes of John Adams***, she stayed up playing gameboy, reading, playing computer games. And at 9:30 I told her lights out, and she complied. And at 10:30 she was still up, because she couldn't fall asleep. At midnight, she was still up, because she couldn't fall asleep. At 2 AM she was in my bed, WAILING, because... get ready for it... she couldn't fall asleep.

Me: Why can't you fall asleep? Look at me, sleeping, look how easy it is.

Her: My brain is too swirling.

Me: WTF? (silently) 

I fear I have gifted my child with my chronic insomnia, complete with racing thought overload. 

I did what any good mother would do, and gave her an adult dose of adult Nyquil (actually, Wal-quil, but whatever) and sat with her until she feel asleep at 4 AM. Yes. 4 AM. 

When the alarm went off at 6:30 a.m. for Tim to go to work, he and I were downstairs asleep in Carlie's princess bed while she was upstairs, sleeping in our bed. And the alarm going off upstairs next to her head did not even stir her. At which point I had a moment of Wal-quil guilt/panic and made sure she was breathing (she was) and let her sleep until she woke up at 10:00.

And now? At 3 pm.? I am so effing tired I could sleep standing. So happy I did not have to work today. And now? At 3 pm? I am going to take a nap. Which of course will do nothing positive for my own chances of getting a good night's sleep tonight but, whatever, I am pooped.

Good night.

*Pseudo-nephews -- and how cute are they? -- are the children of my ex-sister-in-law with her new husband (not my brother-in-law), who are the little brothers of my nephews (sons of my brother-in-law) and, therefore, somehow must be related to me in all their cuteness. So at our party we had my brother-in-law and his partner, plus his ex-wife, thereby getting all four of the boys instead of just two. Win-win.

**Note the birthday candles in the bunny cake bow tie, in celebration of a pseudo-nephew turning four years old.

***During John Adams my brother-in-law commented about how hard life was, something along the lines of "I'd never have survived in that time period." To which my husband pointed out, "That's true for Shana of any time period pretty much prior to about 1970." And you know what? SO FRIGGING TRUE. I just want to go on record as saying I LOVE THE FUTURE and am so glad I do not have to toil in the fields to put food on the table. Because toiling? Sucks. If only I had a flying car, I would be set.

Dancing with the "Stars"

I love this show, and yet even I am going to have to question the use of the word "star" this season. That Apple guy? The Bachelor chick? A rodeo dude? For God's sake, Denise Richards?

The one-hit-wonder hot guy next door from the Sex and the City Movie, while not a star, is hot. So he can stay.

And I'll just go on record now as saying I like Steve-O. There. It's out there.

Tell me, please, what are your TV viewing guilty pleasures?

When Good Things Happen on a Monday

I almost went to bed without mentioning two big events happening in my world on Monday, wherein my world = the greater world of entertainment, by which I am so very entertained.

The premiere of Dancing With The Stars. SHUT UP, IT'S GOOD.

And...

U2 will be announcing their tour dates. If they do not come to Portland, we will travel to Seattle. If they do not come to Seattle, we will travel to Vegas, San Fran or LA. (Tim does not know about that second part yet... shhh.)

UPDATE: OK, only three US dates announced so far for Fall 2009 - Illinois, Boston and New York. Guess it'll be 2010 before they hit the West Coast? And woe is me.

The Weekend that I Ate EVERYTHING

Well, the weekend eat-a-thon that began Friday night continued through the weekend. Delicious dinner at church Saturday night. Delicious breakfast at church Sunday morning. Wendy's for dinner. Tomorrow, I swear, I am back on a diet. I really do not want to go to New Orleans in my fat pants. In fact? I don't have any fat pants. I got rid of them all. So if I don't get my act together, I am screwed.

I went to the Blazer's game with Tim. Wow. Talk about an exciting game! Blazer's won by one point in the last, like, nanosecond of the game. I brought a book with me and was reading during timeouts and half time. But once things got exciting I started paying attention. And it was my lucky day! It is Blaze's birthday, so it was Mascot Night. There were, like, over a dozen dufus ass mascot guys running around the arena. Am I turning into an old fuddy duddy because this had zero entertainment value for me?

Watching the Grammy's right now. Only about an hour into the show, but my thoughts so far...

I love U2 and I love Cold Play. And Justin Timberlake? Delicious. Al Greene? Timeless.

Kid Rock... strangely alluring. You just know he'd be a lot of fun to party with, but also might need a shower.

Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift? Also Carrie Underwood? Um, who cares.

Jennifer Hudson = smoking hot. And unbelievably graceful.

Jonas Brothers and Stevie Wonder combo? WTF?

Can't believe the weekend is over. Such a busy week ahead, but then, New Orleans. Can't wait!

DIY Eyebrows

Well, here I am, right now. Flaming red splotches are gone and burning sensation has faded. Yay! But, hey, kids, Nair on the eyebrows? Don't try this at home.

I bought a pair of super hot faux metallic snakeskin pumps to wear to the auction Saturday night. I've been wearing them all day to try to "break them in" before Saturday night. The last time I wore heels all day long was a long time ago, when I was young and for some reason wearing pumps all day, working retail, on my feet, didn't bother me at all. Wasted youth.

Lots of little random happenings around here. Like my husband getting on Facebook. And kind of stalking me, frankly. Because he? Thinks he's really funny.

What else? Lots of work this week, which is not the week I wanted it, but I'll take what I can get. But between the working and the volunteering, I have not had a chance to do the things I need to do, like blog and email and watch Lost and 24 and, you know, important stuff like that. 

Frozen pizza for dinner tonight, between homework and basketball practice. Trip to the gym in the morning for a four mile run, then I have some finish up work to do on auction placards and bid sheets. Carlie gets out of school at noon for whatever reason tomorrow, so it'll be early pickup, out to lunch, and then she's going to a Build A Bear Party at the mall, so I get two hours of childless mall time with a girlfriend. That's something to look forward to!

Oh, and speaking of shopping, when did buying a bra become such a freaking ordeal? I tried on at least a dozen bras today and nothing worked. At all. So horrible. I won't go into great detail in case you're eating, but I'll just say one thing: back fat.  Also? The fact that I am apparently a size B and a half cup was a factor. It was ugly.

Time to haul my ass to the kitchen and unfreeze the pizza so we can start the carpool to basketball practice. Carpool meaning I drive kids there and then take everybody home and no one else has to do anything. That kind of carpool.

P.S. Did you hear? I am fabulous! Thanks, Holly.

Are you ready for some... Oscars!

Have I mentioned that I HEART awards shows? And red carpet coverage. Because? I have no life. But still. GLAMOUR!

I used to have a sister-in-law whose mom did an Oscar pool every year. $20 buck buy in, choose a winner in each category. Person with the most right picks takes the pot. And with 10 to 20 people playing along, it's a nice take.

When I no longer had that sister-in-law, I carried on the tradition within our family. With moderate success. Like, maybe 10 people? But last year I didn't do it, just kind of let it fizzle and die.

But I'm thinking of resurrecting the pool. Would any of my virtual homegirls be interested in that? Having money riding on the Oscars adds a whole new element of excitement to your viewing enjoyment! If I get five yes responses here, I know I will have five real live people I can pull in, so even with just ten of us, that's $200 to the big winner. And there will be a random tie breaker question answered in advance in the event of a tie. Are you a play-ah?

And the nominees are:

(links courtesy of Perez Hilton)

BEST PICTURE

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

"Frost/Nixon"

"Milk"

"The Reader"

"Slumdog Millionaire"

BEST ACTRESS

Anne Hathaway, "Rachel Getting Married"

Angelina Jolie, "Changeling"

Melissa Leo, "Frozen River"

Meryl Streep, "Doubt"

Kate Winslet, "The Reader"

BEST ACTOR

Frank Langella, "Frost/Nixon"

Sean Penn, "Milk"

Brad Pitt, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

Mickey Rourke, "The Wrestler"

Richard Jenkins, "The Visitor"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Amy Adams, "Doubt"

Penelope Cruz, "Vicky Cristina Barcelona"

Viola Davis, "Doubt"

Taraji P. Henson, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

Marisa Tomei, "The Wrestler"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Josh Brolin, "Milk"

Robert Downey Jr., "Tropic Thunder"

Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Doubt"

Heath Ledger, "The Dark Knight"

Michael Shannon, "Revolutionary Road"

BEST DIRECTOR

Danny Boyle, "Slumdog Millionaire"

Stephen Daldry, "The Reader"

David Fincher, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

Ron Howard, "Frost/Nixon"

Gus Van Sant, "Milk"

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Dustin Lance Black, "Milk"

Courtney Hunt, "Frozen River"

Mike Leigh, "Happy-Go-Lucky"

Marttin McDonagh, "In Bruges"

Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, "WALL-E"

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Simon Beaufoy, "Slumdog Millionaire"

David Hare, "The Reader"

Peter Morgan, "Frost/Nixon"

John Patrick Shanley, "Doubt"

Eric Roth, Robin Swicord, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

"The Baader-Meinhof Complex" (Germany)

"The Class" (France)

"Departures" (Japan)

"Revanche" (Austria)

"Waltz with Bashir" (Israel)

BEST ANIMATED FILM

"Bolt"

"Kung Fu Panda"

"Wall-E"

BEST ART DIRECTION

"Changeling"

"The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button"

"Dark Knight"

"The Duchess"

"Revolutionary Road"

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

"Changeling" Tom Stern

"Slumdog Millionaire," Anthony Dod Mantle"

The Reader," Chris Menges

"The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button," Claudio Miranda

"The Dark Knight," Wally Pfister

BEST FILM EDITING

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Kirk Baxter, Angus Wall

"The Dark Knight," Lee Smith

"Frost/Nixon," Daniel P. Hanley, Mike Hill

"Milk," Elliot Graham

"Slumdog Millionaire," Chris Dickens

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

"Australia," Catherine Martin

"The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button," Jacqueline West

"The Duchess," Michael O'Conner

"Milk", Danny Glicker

"Revolutionary Road," Albert Wolsky

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

"The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)"

"Encounters at the End of the World"

"The Garden"

"Man on Wire"

"Trouble the Water"

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
"Slumdog Millionaire," "Jai Ho," A.R. Rahman

"Slumdog Millionaire," "O Saya," A.R. Rahman & M.I.A.

"Wall-E," "Down To Earth," Peter Gabriel & Thomas Newman

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

"The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button," Alexandre Desplat

"Defiance," James Newton Howard

"Milk," Danny Elfman

"Slumdog Millionaire," A.R. Rahman

"WALL-E," Thomas Newman

BEST MAKEUP

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Colleen Callaghan, Fionagh Cush

"The Dark Knight," Peter Robb-King, John Caglione Jr.

"Hellboy II: The Golden Army," Mike Elizalde, Thom Floutz

BEST SOUND EDITING

"The Dark Knight," Richard King

"Iron Man," Frank Eulner, Christopher Boyes

"Slumdog Millionaire," Tom Sayers

"Wall-E," Ben Burtt, Matthew Wood

"Wanted," Wylie Stateman

BEST SOUND MIXING

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Mark Weingarten, David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce

"The Dark Knight," Ed Novick, Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo

"Slumdog Millionaire," Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke and Resul Pookutty

"Wall-E," Ben Burtt, Tom Myers, Michael Semanick

"Wanted," Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño and Petr Forejt

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Eric Barba

"The Dark Knight," Chris Corbould, Nick Davis, Paul Franklin, Tim Webber

"Iron Man," John Nelson

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM

"Auf der Strecke (On the Line)"

"Manon on the Asphalt"

"New Boy"

"The Pig"

"Spielzeugland (Toyland)"

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM

"La Maison en Petits Cubes"

"Lavatory - Lovestory"

"Oktapodi"

"Presto"

"This Way Up"

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM

"The Conscience of Nhem En" 

"The Final Inch" 

"Smile Pinki" 

"The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306"

I need to get back to the island... stat!

I need for everyone to NOT talk about LOST in front of me, okay? Because I Tivo'ed it and haven't watched it. And now I'm afraid to surf the 'net for fear of learning something that I don't want to know about until I see it with my own eyes!

But just one question: any shirtless Sayid action? Because that is worth going back to the island for any day.

400th Blog Post

So now I'll write 400 things about me. Psyche. First of all, there are not 400 interesting things about me and, secondly... well, I guess that's it. There's just not.

It's 4:45 p.m., the day is winding down into evening, and I accomplished very little from my to do list today. I did go to the gym and run five miles (because I'm too chicken shit to run outside in the snow/ice for fear of slipping and taking a face plant into the sidewalk). I did start laundry. I did do some volunteer work for Carlie's school, about three hours worth.

I did not start my cleaning/organizing projects. I did not complete the laundry. I did not make anything for dinner. I did not sweep or mop my acres of hardwood that have not been mopped since our Christmas Eve party. Ew. I know.

And yet, somehow, it's getting dark outside and I'm feeling like it's time to eat something warm, snuggle up and play a game or watch a movie. It's hard to believe this big extended vacation/prison sentence is about to end and life per the norm resumes on Monday, barring any unexpected freaky weather. Then we'll be back to violin lessons, and school, and work, and afterschool activities and the daily grind. I'm kind of longing for yet dreading it.

My son's "band" is practicing in the basement, and the noise is kind of unbearable. Carlie is on the main floor of the house, watching Hannah Montana AGAIN. Remember how we got rid of satellite TV and have no cable, no satellite, no nothing except for the free channels we pick up with our rabbit ears? Well, when Carlie had her birthday sleepover with two friends, the two friends were going on and on about the latest episodes of Hannah Montana and Hannah gets her drivers license and blah blah blah and I know this is ridiculously lame, but I felt soooo bad for my child, not being a part of something that is part of her inane little pop culture. (I could only imagine how I would have felt if I had been unable to watch The Brady Bunch or Happy Days and had to listen to all of my friends go on about it. Sad.)

So I gave her a $25 iPod card and she downloaded the latest episodes of Hannah Montana, iCarly and Wizards of Waverly Place. And has watched them repeatedly since they downloaded. And so the TV monster lives on in our house, even though the actual TV is now of little to no interest to Carlie. I, on the other hand, have been pretty unaffected by the whole loss of TV situation. The shows I love best are "free" (Heros, 24, Lost, Supernatural). We've been watching Season 1 of Mad Men on DVD since we had never watched that when it first came out (love it!) and I recently wrapped up Season 2 of Dexter on DVD. And now I'm watching Season 1 of Prison Break on my iPod while running. So I'm not nearly as bereft as I thought I would be, but that will change when the new seasons of Rescue Me and Project Runway kick off without me, I'm sure.

And while I am rambling about a bunch of nothing, I have a question about wedding rings. Mine are pictured (upside down, because it was kind of hard to get a shot with the webcam otherwise) in my post as my self portrait for Day 2 of 365 Days on Flickr (see how I multitask!). It's a gold three-piece set with a heart shaped amethyst, which is very beautiful and was what our budget alloted when we got married. Tim picked it out and frankly it's a little blingy for me, but I do like the rings very much. But I can't wear them anymore because they are way too big. Yes, I know I could take them in and get them resized, but I am thinking I might like to get a simple platinum band. And maybe resize just the amethyst ring for my right hand. Do you think it's very unsentimental of me to want a new wedding ring? My husband does.

I'm off to crack a beer and kick back for a bit. All hail the weekend!

Off to a good start

It's 8:00 a.m. on January 1, 2009. Happy New Year!

My husband just left the house to go help a friend with a project, wiring or rewiring or some such manly type project. They anticipate it will take all day.

Carlie spent the night with a friend last night, and called to ask if she could stay over all day long because they're going to do many fabulous things today.

And the big kids? Off doing their own thing(s) on sleepovers of their own.

Which leaves me home alone. Have I  mentioned that being home alone is one of my favorite things in the entire world? Well, it is.

So I am cozy in bed with breakfast (chocolate torta left over from last night's dinner) and a diet coke (don't judge me!), watching Tivo'ed episodes of "Fringe" with my laptop on my, um, lap, a kitty at my feet and the electric blanket on high.

Hello, 2009. Where've you been all my life?

Weekend Review

We've got snow. If I weren't snuggly warm under the covers, I'd go down and grab my camera and show you the snow. Our precise measuring technique indicates over a foot of snow on the ground in my yard. This was precisely measured by poking a stick that was about a foot long down into the snow until it hit the ground.

Saturday was spent doing a whole bunch of nothing -- other than making fairy houses -- until it was time to party like it's 1999 at a birthday bash for a great friend. Good food, the awesomest friends in the world, the wine was flowing, the house was cozy warm and the child was on a sleepover. What more can you want on a snowy Saturday night?

Sunday morning came early, and my aching head wanted to sleep it off, but that kid on the sleepover? Yeah, she was singing in the choir at mass and had to be met there and brought home. I gave some serious thought to sneaking into the back of the church for the last five minutes of mass and pretending like I had been there the whole time and, wow, you did a great job up there, honey. But my conscience got the best of me, so at 10:40 we decided to warm up the car and make the 10-minute drive to church.

And then we saw the car under, like, four inches of SOLID ICE and it took half an hour to dig it out. Seriously. It was crazy. And the 10-minute drive was a little dicey. But the good news (not so much) is that my husband is from Chicago. He is all about driving in snow and ice. And he loves to show off his mad snow and ice driving skills. Which he did on the drive home from church in an empty parking lot. Carlie and I screamed our heads off until he got back on the road and brought us home. Why do men think doing donuts is fun? I don't get it.

We hunkered down for the snow day and everyone read books, watched movies, ate cookies and was generally cozy. I finished knitting two hats. Carlie and I finished making her Teen Beat crafty gifts for her friends and Tim and I watched a couple of hour of Mad Men.  All was well until CABIN FEVER set in at an alarming rate. The snow was still falling, the roads were covered, and at 5 pm we bundled up and took a walk to Mint Tea for a tasty treat and a break from the house. The poor Mint Tea people were scheduled to have a rocking Grand Opening in their new location yesterday, and pretty much all they got was us. Mint Tea and Walgreens were the only things open on Main Street, and oh how happy we were to have them open!

Trudged home, defrosted and played an epic game of Monopoly that lasted approximately 17 hours. Good times! After Carlie went to bed, we watched yet another episode of Mad Men, which puts us at six episodes watched in a 24-hour period. That could be indicative of a problem.

Now it's Monday, and from the looks outside, it's going to be more of the same. Only problem is: we're almost out of cookies. Crap.

Dexter

Just finished watching Season 2 of Dexter on DVD. Is it wrong to be hot for a serial killer? But what if he's a serial killer with a moral code? And, really, who doesn't love a bad boy every now and then?

One of those days...

It's been crazy. Thank God we have heat once again. The good news: there was just some kind of loose connection in the furnace and it took 15 minutes to fix, cost $93. The bad news: I wrote the furnace guy, the friend of a friend from our church, a bad check. I was having a rough morning, grabbed the wrong checkbook and wrote a check on my business account, which is empty. But I called the guy and told him I'd come over and bring him a new check, and he said just put it in the mail and he'd tear up the other one. And he was totally joking and gracious about it and made me feel like much less of a schmoe. Thank you, good furance man, for your holiday cheer.

Tim, Carlie and I went out to lunch (pizza) and did some last minute Christmas shopping (Target) and then picked up the prescription for my cholesterol medication (Walgreens) which I am now under doctor's orders to take. And by take, she means actually put the pill in my mouth and swallow every single day for the rest of my life, as opposed to fill the prescription, put the bottle on the kitchen window sill and take one every five or six days when it occurs to me.

For some reason, this made me cry. Ridiculous, right? But I have spent this entire day feeling very sorry for myself. And this put me right over the edge. A pill. Every day. That is the stuff that old age is made of. I'm being lame, and I'm mostly over it now, but still. It sucks.

Carlie went swimming with a friend (indoor heated pool at our community center) and since I had to drop her off there, it felt very wrong to drop her off and not go to the gym. So Tim and I hit the gym. I ran 5.5 miles. I didn't want to do it, but it felt good to get it done. Know what I mean? Since I was going with my husband, it would have been rude to bring along my running partner/boyfriend, Wentworth. Not having him there did make for a sadder run time.

Now I am going to climb in bed with my secret boyfriend du jour.. Dexter. I'm almost finished with Season 2. I love Dexter. Or if Tim is planning to join me, it'll be Mad Men, Season 1, because he gets too creeped out by Dexter.

Feels like the middle of the weekend, but it's only Friday. I love that feeling.

Oh, the fireplace photo in the last post. Carlie took that with my cell phone. I was working on knitting a hat for Taylor (finished). I now have something knitted and wrapped under the tree for Tim, Erinna and Taylor. Started on a hat for Carlie this afternoon, hopefully will have it done for Christmas. No knitted stuff for Maggy and Iris because, hello, Houston.