Writers Workshop Thursday: How Do You Stave Off Boredom?

Usually I eat.

Since I have been on the whole weightloss/healthier me/exercise thing I needed to find another way to keep my brain active.

I redesign the house on the Cape that we rent in my head. Crazy? Yes/no. This house is where my body stays while my soul is resting on Cape Cod. I have been staying in it since I was 8 years old. It is much loved and I have always dreamed of making it mine.

It is pretty plainly furnished, but not in a bad way. I love what is there becuase of what it is to me. I love that the bed matresses are so old that you essentially end up making a nest in them as you sleep. I love that the showerhead in the bathroom is not a low flow one and can pummel your back into massage-like bliss. I love that the sun streams into the dining area in the afternoon bathing the table in watery, relaxing rays.

It I think about the things I would change and then sometimes, change back, not wanting to ruin the feel of the place. I could never change the seagrass rugs or the little desk in the 'office' room. I would keep the Julia Child-like pegboad where all the pots and pans hang along with spatulas and measuring spoons. I would however buy new knives.

Before I know it, I have whiled away an hour, dreaming and placing and relaxing. This is an exercise that I love and one that I think I will always have.

A Green Bean Spit at Me

Seriously. I don't think it was all to happy to be in that boiling water. I bet it liked it even less when after the blanching it got thrown into a sautee pan.

I wrote a phrase today that made me think a little bit the rest of the day. "It's so great when my love of food works with me instead of against me."

Yesterday I picked up my farm share and went into 'what is this and what do I do with it' mode. Yesterday it all clicked. We had turkey burgers with green beans and almonds and a big salad. The lettuce in the salad was crazy fresh and tasted of spring. All it needed was some craisins and a little vinaigrette. I also got some rainbow chard and beets. I promptly chopped up the chard and the greens from the beats and sauteed that in olive oil and garlic and then added left over brown rice, saving it for this evening's feast.

Last night I prepared a Chicken Tikka marinade, using homemade yogurt no less. It is in the fridge waiting for the grill. I still have garlic scapes that are new to me but dying to use and a few small beats and potatoes that I want to roast so badly I don't think I'd even mind the heat of the oven in the humid weather.

Usually my love of food gets me into trouble. I like my cheese. I also like butter and a heavy handed olive oil pour. It just sees like the fresher the food, the less I have to do to it. I am grateful for the veggies every week. I am grateful for the leafy greens that are turning me into a rabbit because as soon I get used to these wonderful things, they will be gone. Replaced by tomatoes and zucchini. Bittersweet.

Where Does Time Go?

I think about this a lot. It's funny that I chose to write about this topic when I have a digital timer next to me counting down the minutes 'till I am supposed to take the rice off the heat. I think about how much time I spend doing things I don't want to do and during those times I am thinking about things I want to do. For instance, there was laundry to be folded when I got home, laundry to be started, dinner to be prepped. There is a huge list and I can't ever figure out why it is that I don't have the time to do the things I was thinking about while I was folding laundry and chopping broccoli (insert music "Choppin' brocoli-he, choppin' broccolee. She was choppin' broccoleee!" must be an SNL fan from the good times for that reference).

People tell you that you need to 'make' time. What the hell does that mean, make time? Time is just there, you have a certain amount and it continually marches on (across your face if you are a woman, yes Steel Magnolias). It seems like other people have the time to do stuff besides house stuff. What are their ingredients for 'made time'? Do they have a spouse who knows how to empty a dishwasher or fold laundry without begging? Is it one cup helpful mate, 1/2 a cup of no one is coming over this weekend let the vacuuming go, a pinch of less control freak and a dab of JUST LET GO? What are your ingredients for made time? I need to know because according to my timer, I have a few precious minutes before I have to leave this blog and make dinner.

Jeez, This Thing Needs Work

Apparently, BlogHer no longer graces my blog with their ads and that has f-ed up my layout. Probably something I should look into but considering I have neglected my blog for about 3 months, it's probably not what will happen right at this moment.

Right now, I have time to eck out a few words. I don't know if I will have time tomorrow. I am still here, I am still thinking about writing but all the "small stuff" is being so sweated over these days that it makes it difficult to type. I keep shorting out keyboards.

So Is This What People Do Instead of Watching TV?

Lost night I made mini-cupcakes...70 of them. Homemade. Homemade butter cream frosting. Four different colors.

No I did not suddenly spring a 1st grader from my loins. They are for a Lottery Yarn function this evening. When I was asked to make a dessert for this class the cover of MS Living from February sprang to mind. I mean they are mini cupcakes. How hard could that be? I'll tell you...easy. The hard part...time consuming.

You see, during my recent hibernation, I have watched just about every old episode of NCIS. For some reason it became my favorite show. This is a sign that I am depressed, I watch too much meaningless TV. (I still like the show but how many times do I need to see the "Dead Man Walking" episode, really?) I watched my Dad do it and somehow I seem to slip into the very same habits as he did when he had his bouts of depression. I think one of my lobes is technically jelly now because I have been so attached to the TV.

Anyway, when I realized how stressed I was about the time consuming nature of said cupcakes because another show was on that I wanted to see is when it hit me, I have a problem. I am missing out on way too much by plopping in front of the boob tube to watch Mark Harmon slap Michael Weatherly on the back of the head. It was then I decided to not watch any TV that night, no matter when I was finished. I took my time, playing with colors and swirling the frosting on each mini cupcake. When I was done, it all looked so cute and pretty. It was about 3 and a half hours of work but I made something tasty and pretty. It was a pretty good feeling.

I guess what I am trying to get at is, I need to lift my head up to fully move out of my March crud and into the spring. There is too much out there to do to spend my life with my head down.

Small Grrr: Warming Up the Car

This has bothered me for quite some time. I live in Southeastern PA. We are not living on the frozen tundra nor are we living in a place that even resembles one. So please tell me why if you don't have an infant or a sick child or an elderly infirm person getting into your car at 7:00am do you feel the need to 'warm up' your car?

Today it was about 40 degrees when I was out walking G-dog. Not freezing, barely cold but as I was walking by houses I saw many cars with their engines running in the driveways. I know these homes. I walk by them EVERY morning. I know they don't have elderly people or infants getting in those cars in the morning so WHY must they 'warm up' their cars EVERY DAY?

Did you know that it is illegal to have your car idling for more than 5 minutes in some states? You can be ticketed for it. Also, most car manuals will tell you NOT to do it as it does the car no good. Basically, all you are doing when you leave your car running that that is wasting gas and contributing to greenhouse gasses. I mean seriously, do these people not own coats or gloves? Is 5 minutes of cold going to kill them while the car runs as they are driving to their destination? I think not.

The next time I see this happen and it is not cold and there are no infants or elderly people in the home, I am going to leave a note on their car asking why they feel the need to do this. Maybe it will shame them into toughening up just a tiny bit.

Are You Guys New?

I think it was probably the worst thing ever said to our football team.

Yes it is that time of year again. I am playing football on Saturday for the next 8 weeks. This week, however, we were handed a defeat and an insult (not meant as one) at the same time. You see we are all (ok not all) in our mid 30's. We have creaky joints, trouble waking up on the weekends and some of us could stand to do a little more exercise. We just love to play and are not ready to give up the idea that we could win a 6th championship. However, we looked like we were playing underwater this week. Afterwards, it was all we could do to crawl to the beer cooler to refresh ourselves and say that it was 'only the first game', no big deal. It was unfortunate that at this time one of our player was talking to one of the players from the opposing team and they asked, 'Is this your first season?'

Oh the SHAME!

We have played together for about 5 years and also been playing in the league for about 10. We just happened to play against a team we had never played in the years past. What do you do when you have been shamed as such? It made me think. Is this what it has come to? Should I still be playing? I admit I was pretty shaken. Then, another team needed some girls to round out their team (ok, they are required to have 3 of us). It was in the Competitive division (we play in Recreational) so it was a bit scary but we figured what the hell.

We lost there too.

BUT!

My pass completion percentage was 80%.

Maybe I'll play a few more seasons.

Climbing Out from Under the Bed

There are a lot of dust bunnies under the bed and I am tired of them stealing my food.



That's not the only reason I am back. I am back I think because I need to be. I have writing in short bursts here and there. I see the humor and the insight that I thought had left me so I decided that I'd better start flexing that muscle again if I am going to take my place back in the land of the living.



Ok, the fact that it is no longer an ice box in the office anymore and the fact that someone else is taking care of G-dog today so I can write quickly in the office also helps but that's not the point.



I need to start somewhere and I think that starting here is the key. More later...I promise this time. :)

Losing The Battle

I am entering into the worst part of the year for me. March looms in front of me and I know what it holds; depression, fighting, tears...

It happens every year, even when I was on meds it happened. I feel like a snake working so hard to rid myself of the old skin so that I can emerge happy, healthy and ready for anything and I just can't get it off. It gets to the point that it feels like it is suffocating and all I can do us curl into a ball and do nothing. When I get like this I can't write, I can't focus on a project and I snap at anyone who comes too close.

I can tell its coming not only because of the calendar but because I have been trying, little by little to clean up the office so that I can actually sit down and write (and maybe get back a few people that have stopped following me) and read all my favorite blogs. I just get so overwhelmed when I walk into that room. I feel like I can't move. It's getting harder and harder to spend time in there when I want it to be the exact opposite. I want it to be the room I go to to write or read. I want it to be the room that is comfortable yet orderly enough to be used as an actual office (no help from paper hoarder husband there).

I have visions of the curtains softly floating in the breeze, me at the computer a cup of tea close by and maybe some music playing in the background. Right now it's cold, papers all over one of the desks like a dirty drift of snow and the bed from the guest room because SOMEONE hasn't finished painting (5 months ago started) that particular room. Between being overwhelmed by my emotions and the chaos in that room I just want to hide under the bed.

So, please understand that if I am not blogging, it's not because I am not thinking about it...it's because I am under the bed and I don't have an internet connection there.

My Island Spin Off - What About the Kids

If you are new to my blog and are unsure about "My Island" please click in the 'My Island' label at the bottom of the post. All will be explained.

On Friday I mentioned that I had a hard time sending Octo-Mom Nadya Suleman to 'My Island because of the children that would be left behind. Now I do think they would be better off with someone else but her mother is clearly not the one to care for them either. Then I thought, "What about Brit's kids and even Elizabeth's?" (I know, Liz is married but seriously.) The kids are innocents in their parents' lives, caught up in a web they did not fashion. What should be done with the children of the island inhabitants?

Where could kids go where it was happy but not over-commercialized?
Sunny days, sweepin' the clouds away.

Where could they go where is was healthy and safe?
On my way to where the air is clean!

Can you tell me how to get...how to get to

SESAME STREET!

Ok, is this not perfect? The kids would get attention from caring adults and would be able to cuddle up with furry monsters that would make them laugh daily. They would learn about things their parents don't know about like, manners and being nice to people (not depending on whether it makes God happy or not). They would learn to count with a Count and a pinball machine. They would learn a second language earlier than high school. It's a happy place but not so over the top that the kids would OD on saccharine.

From all my years watching Sesame Street there is plenty of housing in those cool brownstones and if a kid is adventurous there is a gient birds nest they can try out. All in all I think it is about the best idea I have come up with since the island so it is fitting that it is a spin off of such a place. There has to be balance in the universe and I think Sesame Street balances out My Island perfectly. :)

My Island: Fourteen Reasons Why

For those of you not familiar with the "My Island" concept please refer to my older posts by clicking on the "My Island" label at the bottom of the post. There are five I believe.

The short of it is, certain people annoy me to the point that I banish them to an island where they are to live their life out among others that annoy me. There they cannot harm the rest of us with their politics, their stupidity or their general annoying nature. Here is a list of current residents:

On the island:

Ann Coulter

Rick Santorum (escaped and captured)

Brittany Spears

Amy Winehouse

Lindsay Lohan

Elisabeth Hasselbeck

My newest addition deserves to be there almost as much as Ann Coulter. Look in the dictionary under the word 'selfish' and this woman's picture will be there. She has dragged her whole family down with her and still continues to defend herself on primetime and any media outlet that gives her fifteen minutes. That's right, it's Octo-mom, Nadya Suleman.

I held off on sending her to the island for 14 reasons. Her kids. This topic "My Island" is all in good fun but when I was putting this post together I started thinking about what will happen to those kids, even if their horrible mother was around. I struggled with even sending her...until today.

Today my first assumptions about why this woman decided to turn her 'vagina into a clown car' (props to Cherlyn for that phrase) were verified. She is panhandling via the internet. Yes, the woman who said she was never on welfare or accepted government money for having all those kids is asking YOU to support them via donations on the internet (not like you aren't going end up supporting them via your taxes or anything). Oh, she also lied about the not accepting $$ from the government, she is on food stamps. Excellent. I am not providing you with the link to said site because as you bloggers know, the more traffic she gets the more $ she gets. This is what she wanted all along. She decided to have multiples to cash in on the books, reality tv and bleeding hearts. She neglected to realize that those that DO have reality tv shows, etc because of their large family sizes did not TRY to have large families in order to GET a tv reality show. She did it backwards. Oh...she is also crazier than Jim Jones but just as self-centered.

I decided that she was done. She needs to be removed from the population NOW. I am worried that she and Rick Santorum might try to start a new race so precautions will need to be taken. Rick will need to be castrated. This will be performed by Ann Coulter. She agreed to do this as long as we provided her with a newsfeed of C-SPAN and a voo doo doll. I let her also pick the method of castration.

So Nadya will be welcomed with open arms by the other crazies that are there and we will not have to watch her pimp her children out to the world anymore. I think that is just lovely.

Now...the kids. What to do with the kids. While we are on the subject, what about the other kids of the inhabitants?

Tune in Monday for my "My Island" spin off. "What About the Kids?"

On the island:

Nadya Suleman
Ann Coulter
Rick Santorum (escaped and captured and neutered)
Brittany Spears
Amy Winehouse
Lindsay Lohan
Elisabeth Hasselbeck

Warning: Island Post Tomorrow

I know I have not been blogging daily and I should be flogged for it. I have been contemplating a "My Island" post but want it to be perfect so I have been putting my brain power there. I hope to have it posted tomorrow morning.

You may already know who is going but I promise there will be surprises and all around good feelings about the outcome.

This is Important

What Got Cut from the Stimulus Bill

I realize that the country is split on this bill but I thought that it was important that you should know what our representatives in DC call 'fluff' or 'pork'. I will not go through the entire list because the article is pretty self explanatory. I just want you all to remember that these are things that they considered 'wasteful spending', period, not just for this bill.

$98 million for school nutrition
- I guess our kids can continue to eat preservative laden, cheap food from China.

$200 million for National Science Foundation + $100 million for science
- Well we all know how most of the conservative right feel about science.

$16 billion for school construction
- I guess we can continue to educate our children in outdated facilities. Maybe it will just make them work that much harder.

$65 million for watershed rehabilitation
- Polluted water isn't all that bad. It's not like we are going to run out of clean water.

There are some things in the bill that I agree should have been cut but this list and the things on it that should not have been cut are an indication that many of our representatives, regardless of party affiliation, don't have a clue what we need in order to make our country a better place. They are not about looking forward, they only want a quick fix. While I realize that the many view the stimulus bill as just that, a quick fix, if the money had been put into education for the future, it would have kept us on the right track for decades to come. Instead, once again, it's those that come after us that are going to suffer.

Extremely Angry

This is a bit of a rant. Forgive me if it goes astray.


Please, someone explain to me how it is that one person who did something irresponsible is having things taken from them when another who was irresponsible is getting acclaim?


Who am I talking about? Michael Phelps and Nadya Suleman. Michael Phelps made a poor decision in an instant while Ms. Suleman plotted to grab media attention by having multiple children for years. She is using them to generate income and she planned to do this. Who is going to suffer from Michael Phelp's mistake? Only him. There are no children going out and buying bongs and sucking on paper towel cardboard rolls to be like him. It's just not going to happen so don't try to say he should lose everything. Who is going to suffer from Ms. Suleman's plot - her children...all 14 of them. By the way, where do you think the money is coming from right now for these kids whose mother is unemployed? The government. Who pays the government? Taxpayers, that's right, you and me so we suffer too.


So before you condemn Michael Phelps for destroying HIS OWN brain cells (it being his choice and all) think about how much money taxpayers are going to have to put out for Ms. Suleman's kids. It was her choice to use her children in this way and nothing sickens me more at the moment.

My Island may have a new inhabitant very, very soon.

Positively Positive!

You don't usually get that from me do you? Being winter I am in an Eeyore like state and I seem to speak in a low monotone and look down at the floor a lot.

Not today!

Something wonderful happened today. It may seem small in comparison to the economic crisis and salmonella-ed peanut butter but I am overjoyed with it...

My 10 year old neighbor came outside today and asked if I needed help shoveling my driveway.

I think that is just one of the best things ever. His Mom wasn't even aware that he did it. He just came out with his shovel and asked if I needed any help.

Now I know that many of you that I have gotten to know through blogging have kids that would do the exact same thing but this was a first for me. The more I think about it the more I want to do something for his parents because I realize that is where the idea truly came from. It may have not been said but good parenting is priceless and when your child can reflect that parenting in their personality and share it with the world, it's magical.

Mother Nature Let Down

Do you remember when you were a kid and the prospect of snow was the most exciting thing in the world? I remember going to bed on nights they were calling for snow and being so excited that the next day would be filled with things to do that you would not normally get to do. I mean think about it. If you live in a temperate zone in the US, how many days out of the year would you get to go sledding, make snow angels, have snowball fights and generally enjoy being outside in 20 degree weather? It really is a rare occurrence.

Do you remember the let down you felt when there was no snow on the ground? I have been feeling that way every time they call for snow here. We get like an inch maybe and if we get more, it's in the form of ice. You can't play in that.

I realize I am adult so I may do different things with my snow day but they are no less exciting. relaxing with tea or cocoa, maybe baking cookies or taking a mid afternoon nap in the middle of the work week is a VERY exciting prospect for me. I have been racking my brain trying to come up with the moment my Karma became stained enough so as to make Mother Nature turn on me so. It's not that I can't come up with one but I really can't come up with a total amount that would make it so that the ENTIRE winter would be like this.

I am ready to repent to Mother Nature. I am ready to run around naked in the cold. I am ready to dance with sticks. I am ready to give up my plastic freezer bags...ok maybe 1/2 of them.

JUST PLEASE GIVE ME A FREAKING SNOW DAY!

Scargosun's Grudge Classification System

I have often wondered what constitutes a grudge as opposed to an unpleasant memory of a person. Grudge is a very negative word and I would hate to be harboring unneeded negativity. I mean that movie was pretty scary (I'm told, you know I don't watch that) and there were like icky demon-like things associated with it. Are these what grudges look like on our soul? If so I am in trouble. Maybe if I classify my grudges I can reduce the amount of soot on my soul.

Scargosun's Grudge Classification System
Large Scale Grudge(LSG):
You cannot help but think of revenge when you think of this person. You look for the karma bus to hit them repeatedly about the head and upper torso. They don't go away and they don't get downgraded.
Scargosun LSG Count: 2 maybe 3

Medium Scale Grudge (MSG):
You rarely think about these people. They come up in conversation or in a memory of something related. You don't wish harm upon them every time you think of them but you don't wish them well either. If you see them in public, brief bursts of LSG feelings might surface but will abate. These grudges can be downgraded over time.
Scargosun MSG Count: 1
*note - ironically enough I actually hold MSG - the additive as an MSG after I feel the effects. I know it's not a person but I thought of it in this way as soon as I started the discription.

Small Scale Grudge (SSG):
These are grudges that can almost be classified as just bad memories. You are able to look at them in perspective and learn from the events that caused the grudge. What makes them different from a bad memory is that you hold onto it in a negative way still rather than just moving on. SSG's are bad because if you are not careful, they can upgrade rather than downgrade depending on the state of your mind and the number of Prozac left in the bottle.
Scargosun SSG Count: @10

Temporary Grudge (TG):
These are temporary and most of the time go away on their own. In rare cases if provoked enough (constant contact with person who caused it, repeated reminders of person by others, etc) it can be upgraded to any of the grudges on the scale. Temporary grudges are the worst because they can just happen for small reasons that can be blown out of proportion (a perceived slight by friends or co-workers, an email tone interpreted in the wrong way, a reminder of another grudge or bad memory, etc). Most of the time, these grudges pass by the wayside and become bad memories. However, if you let them fester under the guise of not wanting to deal with it or giving it time, they can get worse quickly hurting people and friendships.
Scargosun TG Count: @ 5

I wrote this out of both amusing and sad things that were brought to my attention this week. One involved Facebook and my inability to friend someone because that person dumped me the day after I bought a prom dress to go to their prom in high school (SSG).

The other is the sad one and as Forrest Gump says, "That's all I have to say about that."

Yes Dear, That Bruise in My Nether Region is from Shoveling

So P has been away for a few days. Naturally we would get a snow/ice/crap storm while he is away. Now, I shoveled last time it snowed and it was that light fluffy stuff. Very easy took no time at all.

Today, not so much.

It was that slushy combo of snow and ice that refused to stay on the shovel and dropped to the place you just managed to clear. At one point I was not paying attention to my shoveling form and I was pushing the snow/slush like a plow. I hit something with the front of my shovel and it stopped yet my body kept going forward and I managed to stab myself with the handle right smack dab in my crotchital area.

There were a couple tears and a yelp a little moaning and I remained in a bent over position as I dragged myself to an area where the neighbors would not see me. (Seriously, what was I going to say if they asked what happened?) Eventually, I sucked it up and finished the job.

When I went to take a shower, I examined my wound and yes, a nice bruise was forming there about 5 inches below my belly button. Hopefully P will believe me when I tell him about how it got there.

It's Cold Up There

So yes. I have been neglecting my blog. I can see my error and I am dealing with it. Although, I have a good excuse...

It's cold in my office at home

No seriously it is flippin' cold. I go up there, the dog comes up, looks at me like, "Are you kidding me? I am going to go back downstairs, grab some trash out of the trash can and relax in the heated portion of the house."

Then I am all alone. It is sad, I know. You feel bad for me.

I have tried taking tea with me but it freezes too quickly for me to take warmth from it. It is even more pitiful when I have to chip away the ice skin on the top just to drink it. I have tried the portable heater but P freaks out about the electric bill when I use it.

That leaves trying to eck out a post here and there at work. Did you know they frown upon that? I am supposed to be doing THEIR work not mine apparently. They tell me they pay me for it.

So, because I love you all (all meaning the people that still remember me) I will be retreating to my upstairs home office more regularly now, eschewing evening re-runs of CSI and NCIS (yes I am a geek).

I am back and I will be back again tomorrow. :)

AYFKM: Chicken Pox Party?

I was listening to the radio this morning and my local morning show brought up the topic of "Chickenpox Parties" and I was intrigued. I could not listen to the entire conversation because I needed to get out of my car and get into work. What I did hear really bothered me.

I have worked in healthcare pretty much since highschool when I worked as a pharmacy tech up to about three years ago when I was running a disease tracking program along with a website for a well known pharma company. Go ahead, call me evil. Anyway, I believe in vaccines. I always have and I always will. You will not sway me on this topic, don't try. So when I heard that parents were purposely exposing their children to chicken pox so as to avoid them having to get the chickenpox vaccine, I was deeply angered. You see I am living proof that the antibodies that you get from catching chicken pox do not last a lifetime.

I have had the chickenpox twice. No, I do not have a problem with my immune system. No, I did not have one or two 'pox' and then get a worse case later. I really had it twice. I had the fevers, the itching, the lack of sleep, the embarrassment of having sores all over your body...during the summer (both times). Knowing how that felt and knowing that there is no 'get it once and your never get it again' immunity (and yes, you can get mono after you have had it once) I am sickened that anyone would expose their child knowingly to such a disease when there IS in a vaccine that can help either prevent the disease or at least get a weaker case. There is an article in "Mothering" magazine about Chickenpox Parties that made me sick to my stomach. It talks about developing 'natural immunity to Varicella (chickenpox virus). I am sorry but there is not one natural thing about this 'party' process. Naturally getting a disease means you come into contact with it, on your own. Actually forcing the illness upon a child is chilling and I am sorry, I am going to say it, negligent.

It is negligent because they don't have any clue as to how their child is going to react to the disease. Did you know that the fevers from chicken pox can cause swelling of the brain? Yes, fevers can be treated but since these parents are trying a 'natural' way of getting antibodies I am going to go out on a limb here and say they probably are not going to dose their child with Tylenol or Ibuprofen if their child gets a fever. They might take them to the ER (and then thanks again for continuing the spread) but if the fever is high enough for long enough, damage is already done. Also, chickenpox sores can easily become infected causing scarring and possibly secondary infections that, if left untreated (again, going to the 'natural' thought thing again) could cause serious complications.

If you have been reading my blog for awhile, you know I am all for organic and local living but I have the Hep B vaccine and I get my flu shot every year (yes it does work and no you cannot get the flu from the flu shot) and when I am in my 60's I will get the pneumoina vaccine. If I have children, they will be vaccinated with all the required vaccines. Why? I don't want my children to get sick from preventable diseases and I would not want them to pass them on to anyone else. Don't even try to tell me, "You're not a parent, you wouldn't understand." because I do understand. I understand the science and the risks probably better than many people because I am just that smart and I do my research.

Still Alive, Barely

I am still alive but buried under work. I have not given up blogging and I will try to post from home more often but our office is freezing in the house. :)

Here is something funny I thought about the other day.

When I drop off UPS envelopes in the drop box at work, I am very careful to make sure that my keys are not in the hand that is dropping off the envelope because I am scared beyond belief that I will drop my keys in the box and have to sit around until 7pm when the driver shows up to get my keys. I seriously think hard about this on an almost daily basis...

Smells Like Summer

So about 4 or so months ago I made a TON of pesto and froze it. We had some tonight after not having it for awhile and when I deforsted it the scent of late summer smacked me in the head like a wayward beach umbrella. I then opened up a bottle of Savingion Blanc and had a similar experience.

Scents have always been a big thing for me. Do you ever have one of those moments when you smell something and it's like a wave just washes over you? The wave contains thoughts, emotions, memories and every bit of an experience that you might have forgotten but could all be brought back less than a blink of an eye? I litterally feel like the wave hits my whole body, blowing back my hair, clothing and the inertia might even make me take a step back. I think that is my most favorite feeling in the world.

Let's Catch Up

So P is fine. He is swollen and the underside of his nose looks GROSS but he is fine. I did a good job I think of taking care of him but by today I was totally over it. Bad wife.

I have had a bad day today as a Trojan Horse virus spewed crap all over my computer. What I don't get is it was my work computer. We are supposed to have uber security on our computers at the office so why is it that my home computer is fine and my work computer is doing the virtual version of the kid in the Exorcist spewing nastiness in the form of pop-ups? I don't get it. I am really hoping I caught it in time because my boss had it, ignored it and had to wipe his hard drive and reinstall EVERYTHING. Just so not good. Mind you, his computer crashed again today and do you know how much work I saved to his hard drive? I almost cried and then I almost crawled through the phone line to wring the neck of the pseudo tech geek when he told me "See the little computer looking icon, that 's the My Computer icon click it for me." WHEN I ALREADY TOLD HIM I HAD A BLACK SCREEN WITH HALT ERROR. Idiot. Why do they put these guys on level one support? Is it just to piss us off when we are at our lowest point? When you try to explain to them that you've been around the inside of a computer before and you are NOT going to reboot again they get all huffy like you've taken away their solution or something.

NOTE: I am NOT bashing all tech guys and gals. I have worked with many good ones in all my previous jobs and one or two in this job. It's just when I need help I don't like wading thru the kiddie pool first.

I apologise now for the lack of inserting paragraph spaces. I know it gets hard to read. Depending on the outcome of certain events in entertainment news, I may have a controversial My Island post coming up. I am still thinking about it, doing research and forming my (correct) opinion.

I am going to go have another beer in the hopes that it will help relax my shoulders and back into their normal position below my ears.

My New Job...Nursemaid

We'll see how long lit lasts. P had surgery today for his broken nose. We needed to be at the hospital by 6:30am so we had to leave the house by 5:45am. I got up at 5am to walk G-dog, expecting to be home early afternoon. Yeah, not so much.

While in the waiting area I got a call on their little phone that it was going to take 3-4 hours JUST for the surgery! What, they had grow him a new nose on the back of a mouse? Anyway, I called my Mom to ask if she could let G-dog out since I was not sure when we would be home. Luckily, it only took 2&1/2 hours and then 2 hours in recovery and then about an hour in the room before we could go. This was not before P got to crack some (what he thought were excellent) jokes and puns to the hospital staff (Example: Gets on the elevator after and asks for the Penthouse and surf and turf for lunch). Oh what pain meds will do. I don't want to know what I didn't get to hear.

He is now in bed, watching TV, bleeding into his gauze (ick) but...

he is home and all went well. :) I am happy and thankful for that.

Posting may still be a bit off as I will have to pick up a couple extra duties while he is recovering.

A Do Nothing Day...Why Is It So Hard?

It's hard for me, probably not a normal well adjusted person.

Last night we hunkered down with wine, cheese, pate, mushroom and seafood risotto (I made!) and then chocolate souflees (a la Trader Joe's). In years past we have treated ourselves to a lovely six course meal at The Marigold Kitchen in West Philadelphia. This year the other couple that usually goes with us had a child so our tradition is skipping a year (just a year I hope). Anyway, P was asllp by 11:30pm and I stayed up to watch the ball drop. I decided as I was falling asleep, that I would do nothing on the 1st, my day off.

Doing nothing is hard for me to get into. I kept finding myself wanting to 'clean up' or straighten things. We had a nice breakfast of eggs, (turkey) bacon, toasted French bread and coffee and when I went into the kitchen I had to will myself away from cleaning (I did put dishes in the dishwasher). As soon as I left the kitchen, I had to tear myself away from the 'tree area' because I was thinking it was time to put away the presents that were still displayed by the tree. I made it to my room and was finally able to find something to make me sit, drink my coffee and not worry about cleaning. I read. I read until 3pm when we pulled on cold weather gear and took G-dog to the dog park.

When we got home, I hopped into a warm shower where I stayed for about a half hour. I took my time using the exfoliating scrub. I looked at it as washing and scrubbing away 2008 and starting fresh for 2009. I know, odd but when you have been reading biographies all day, sometimes you fall into introspection. I emerged from the shower ready to take on the new year (I think my new shampoo and conditioner helped too though). I thought to myself, "I needed this day. I need every day and I just need to learn to live them a little better." :)