Last week was a big week for me. I turned the big 2-4, I started a new job, and I started to really search for a new place to live. My birthday was great, lots of fun. My friends Ann and Suzy came to visit and we went out for dinner and drinks, then to the Glass Nickel where Danielle was working. Justin and some other friends met up with us there. It ended up being a pretty late night, and unfortunately I couldn't call in to work Tuesday morning. (Not really cool to do the day before your last day at a job). Oh well, I survived. I even got a nap in when I got home from work. Jordan is so cooperative - sometimes.
Read MoreJustin and I decided to take advantage of his week off of work to refinish our dining room chairs to match the table. So far, it's going alright. We've got two seats and backs off and recovered, and one layer of stain on the frames. Now we've just got to dismantle, sand, and condition the other two chairs, and hope that we have time to get all three coats of stain and three coats of clear finish on before we have people over tomorrow for a cook out.
I don't know what my problem is, but I seem to like to cram as many things in to a few days as possible.
Read MoreLiving in this town has forced me to recycle. If you put out more than one container of trash you have to pay for it, but you can put out all the recycling you want for free. This used to annoy me, particularly when there were four adults and three children in diapers living in our house. Now that it's just usually Justin, Jordan and I, I've found it's not hard at all to keep the trash level down and the recycling level up. Sometimes we even put out two weeks of trash in our one container. (Since the trash man has been coming earlier and earlier and Justin still insists on setting out the trash Monday morning instead of Sunday night).
Read MoreI got the new job!!! I'm so excited! I start July 15. No more endless scanning and filing; I'm actually going to be doing something I'm interested in. It sounds like I'll be working primarily with graphics, as well as doing general office stuff, but I'll also get to do some writing and editing. Besides, I've always been interested in graphics. Maybe Suzy can teach me a thing or two.
Justin's summer shut down is coming up, starting this Friday. It will be so nice to have some time together and maybe even accomplish some things around the house. It would be great if we could get our dining room chairs refinished to match the table, especially since I have the great big roll of fabric all ready and waiting downstairs.
Read MoreI can't believe it - I may be on my way to getting a job that would actually make some use of my English degree. My job now isn't exactly dead-end (my boss wants to send me to tax school and accounting classes), but I have no interest in a career in accounting. So, if I ever want to fulfill my dream of becoming a freelance editor, or even of getting a decent job in publishing once Jordan is in school and I can work full time, I'm going to have to move on to something that will give me some practical experience.
Luckily one of our accounting clients runs a local newspaper and told one of my co-workers that he was in the market for a new employee. She told me, and I contacted him, and after a very long time and a lot of unanswered phone calls I finally have an interview. Supposedly, he thinks I'm overqualified, which doesn't bother me at all - better over than under, and he's not looking to hire anyone until August, which is fine with me too. That way I can relax and enjoy the summer without learning a new job (and having those "working" dreams that I always get for a week when I start a new job). So...we'll see how the interview goes (if I can find a sitter).
Read MoreWell, we got a fire going, no problem. It did rain a little bit at night, but it was nice and sunny in the morning. Justin grilled our steaks perfectly, using a technique he learned from a show about cowboy cooking on the Food Network, and our s'mores were definitely melted. And Jordan slept just fine at Grandpa's, which is a miracle, considering he hasn't slept anywhere but his own bed at home in a year.
We took Jordan in for his 18 month checkup on Friday, and I feel bad, because when the doctor asked us about how Jordan's talking was coming along, I pretty much failed as a mom.
Read MoreWell, naturally, it rained all weekend. So we didn't go to Festa Italia or Bratfest, although Justin did manage to squeeze in nine holes of golf on Monday. We had Memorial Day dinner at my mom and dad's and I ate way more than was good for me, as usual. In fact, we all weighed ourselves when we got home, and I weighed the most I've weighed since I lost my pregnancy weight (not that I lost all of it, but that's not the point, is it now?). Somehow though, I did manage to lose five pounds overnight (it's like a train-wreck - once I weigh myself I have to keep checking, there's just no stopping).
Read MoreNo, no, it's not puberty (once was enough), or menopause, or a sex change operation. I have come to the conclusion that as much as I love my loyal readers (all four? - fingers crossed) of them, I simply do not have the emotional energy to feel guilty about not having time/energy to update my blog on a regular basis. At least not for only four people, as dear to me as you all are. I have, however, come up with a possible solution. I've decided to start a new blog (yes, the best way to deal with not having time for one blog is definitely to start another), but this new blog will hopefully have a wider audience.
In the interest of quantity over quality, I will be editing the new blog down to a PG rating, and gearing it more towards family news, rather than my own personal weirdness. This way, maybe I can tell my grandma to read it, and I won't have to feel guilty about not emailing her more often.
Read MoreClare's story of a stalker who claims to be unbalanced by the fact that her father is dying (and by sugar) has inspired me to tell my own story of a man unbalanced by the death of his mother. This story begins in September of 2002 when I moved into my current home with my sister and her family. We did the customary check-in sheet for the security deposit, noting that, among other things, the screen door in the dining room was damaged, the light outside the garage was missing and the upstairs bathroom sink leaked. Our landlady promised to have the light fixed within the week, and suggested putting a bucket under the sink (she's brilliant, obviously).
In August of 2003 my sister and brother-in-law moved out, and we moved upstairs. We signed a new lease and called Bonnie (the landlady) with a list of necessary repairs, which included, among other things, the still leaking sink and the never replaced light. In spite of many phone calls and two letters, Bonnie never had anything fixed. Apparently her regular handyman was incapacitated by the death of his mother.
Read MoreSomehow I allowed myself to be suckered into going to a quarterly Mary Kay convention with my cousin last night. I think I felt bad because I told her I would have a Mary Kay party when she first started selling it, but I didn't, and because I turned down all her other invitations, and because she's pregnant (I never like to disappoint pregnant women, I guess). Also, I was desperate to get out of the house.
The good news is that I got my makeup done for free, and I actually looked pretty good (of course, then I wanted to buy the makeup, which I totally can't afford at this point, which is irritating). The bad news is that I was then subjected to a little Mary Kay awards show. Two hours of women in various combinations of black, pink, and red suits trooping across the stage, each stating her name and unit leader. It was like the army, only scarier because of the continual clapping, giggling, and trite music selections (volume lowered for speeches and raised for the marches, of course). I felt like standing up and yelling "Girl Power" but was afraid death by mascara brush would prove none too comfortable.
Read Moreomehow I keep reading these murder mystery novels where the protagonists are living these incredibly epicurean lifestyles. Even if their homes are not quite Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous (or MTV Cribs) caliber, these people eat, drink, and usually dress exceedingly well. Pages upon pages are dedicated to describing wine, brandy, and gourmet meals.
One of the characters in the last book I read lived in a shack out in the boondocks with a tent behind functioning as her art studio/aromatherapy lab. She worked as a waitress at a very posh restaurant/wine bar and got to eat and mingle with the clientele (in fact she dated the owner and inherited his house when he died).
This leads me to believe that perhaps I should be less interested in acquiring worldly goods such as pantry organizers, filing cabinets, children's toys and the like, and instead should dedicate myself to living a simple uncluttered life dedicated to the pursuit of fine dining.
Read MoreA few days ago I attempted to post a blog about how things have been going with Justin, Jordan and myself, but alas, blogspot ate it before I could post it, and I was too irritated to attempt to recreate it. So here is the current version: Justin had surgery on Friday, March 5. It took three very long hours, but seems to have been successful. The (highly reputed) surgeon found the leak in his lung, cut out the weak area, stapled his lung back up, and put in some talc to cause the lung to scar and adhere to the chest wall so his lung won't be able to collapse again. The surgeon said that he's never seen a leak in that location with a spontaneous lung collapse, but he found nothing else of concern.
After the surgery it seemed like Justin was hooked up to just about everything possible. He had an IV with a morphine drip, a separate ball with narcotics going directly into his incision, an epidural for pain, a monitor hooked up to his finger to measure heart rate and oxygen level, a catheter, an oxygen mask, and these things on his legs to keep blood clots from forming (which he had to wear over white thigh high nylon stockings - very masculine).
Read More