I have decided that… March 30, 2006

… computer games, to me, are like crack.   Highly addictive.  I've been playing Journey to the Center of the Earth this past week.  Last night, I was playing it when hubby went to bed.  I just wanted to reach this one spot before I quit for the night.  I looked at the clock, and it was midnight.  I finally hit the place I wanted to get to, decided to play on just a little more, but then wasn't getting very far because I was too tired to figure out what I needed to do.  So, I stopped, shut the game down, and goggled at the computer task bar, which was telling me it was 2a.m.  *EEK*  

Peanut had had a long nap in the afternoon, and was still up with me… whoops.  Then, of course, we discovered that Baby Bear had once again been left in the car, so, down we went.  Rescue mission carried out, we both crashed pretty quickly.  Getting up to get Princess off to school this morning was fun, and I've been groggy all day, but… I've been in a good mood, and laughing at myself about it.  Hubby was laughing at me when he woke me up this morning, because he knew I'd had a late night – and why!

Fortunately, it was a quiet day at work. 

It seems like there were other things I had to say…. I know that there were.  But you know, they've slipped my mind!  I guess if I remember, I'll come back and post them!

well, poodle! March 29, 2006

I must have slept wrong last night. My neck is really sore today. Driving was interesting, to say the least. I can't turn my head very far at all, and when I try to tip it or turn it in any direction, the pain is so bad, it makes my stomach sick. Fortunately, when I got back from taking Princess to school, the occupational therapist was in, and she fixed me up with a hot pack. It's one specific for the neck, so I look like a whiplash victim with it velcroed on, lol. After I have some breakfast, I'll take some tylenol.

At least I don't have to work too hard for lunch today. I made so much manicotti last night, all I have to do is heat that up. I put one pan in the freezer, and after I share with my boss and the temp lady, I think the other pan will be pretty much gone. It tastes really good. I chopped zucchini and red and green bell peppers up, which I sauteed with some garlic, before I added it to all the cheese for the stuffing. I'd been planning to make lasagna, but wouldn't you know… when I was gathering supplies from the pantry, I discovered I was out of lasagna noodles. Whoops!

Hubby's surgery went well yesterday. He has 30-some stitches, in two layers. He said this morning he was a little sore, but not too bad. He has to go back next week, and I suppose they will have the biopsy results from the other spot they were checking back by then. His x-rays were all clear, which is good. That means it hasn't spread anywhere. His bloodwork got messed up at the hospital, so they had to redo that, so those results should be back next week as well. He has rehearsal tonight, but it gets out a little earlier, so he will be home to have a little downtime before going to bed.

The other day, I was talking to one of my friends. I told her that sometimes, you just have to take yourself in hand, and do what you need to do. I've been thinking about that ever since. There's been something I need to do, that I know I need to, and I keep making excuses not to get back to doing, because it is a lot easier not to do than to do. My mission to get myself in better, healthier shape. I need to go buy a new pedometer, because I discovered that my old standby doesn't work anymore. And, I am going to get back to it. I've decided that April 1st is the day.

Odds-n-ends March 28, 2006

I stopped at the store this morning on the way home from school to pick up…. Peter Jackson's KING KONG. One of the very few movies in my history of movie watching that I've seen in the theater more than once. I'm looking forward to watching the extras. Not tonight, though. Tonight is AI, House (love me some Hugh Laurie, yum!), and Amazing Race. I taped Prison Break and 24 last night, so we have yet to watch those, as well.  Peter Jackson is one of my favorite movie directors.  I have yet to see a movie of his that I didn't like, and several of them are on my list of favorite movies.  I think there are only one or two of his movies that I haven't seen.

When I got home, I decided it was stuffy, so I opened a couple of windows. The breeze coming in is a little on the chilly side, but it's nice to have some "fresh" air getting in, anyway.

Hubby will be leaving work shortly for his next round of surgery. He won't be able to do much when he gets home, so hopefully the girls will be good tonight. I promised my boss that I would hit the records room and do some file purging after hubby gets home this afternoon, oh, boy, what fun. It needs to be done, though, and will be much easier for me to do without having Peanut running around down there with me.

No word from my brother yet about the cost of getting the car repaired. Hopefully will hear from him sometime today.

Grrrr. March 27, 2006

Hubby is having problems with the stupid child support people again. We thought we'd had everything straightened around a month or so ago… now they've changed their tune, and are saying a bunch of crap. We only have 7 weeks to go until stepd turns 18, and we can be done with it, but they are now increasing our amount – again! – and are saying we are in arrears, to the tune of nearly $1000. We aren't. It is an error on their end, something they did, but we are still going to be held accountable for it, because they can make us be, and our only recourse is going to court – which would end up costing even more. So, we're just going to bend over and take it, kissing the entire earnings from opera goodbye. F**kers. And because they are claiming we're in arrears, they can continue taking money out of hubby's check indefinitely – until they've decided we've paid up. Even if we pay them a lump sum of what they say we owe, they can still keep taking money if they want, and I expect they will, seeing as they keep changing the amount they say we owe. It went from $250 a month ago to the nearly 4 times that amount they are saying now. What's to stop them from saying "oh, we missed this, there was this error, and you still owe ___ "? Not a thing.

Oh, yeah – and someone stole all of my parents' chickens overnight. It wasn't an animal, because one animal wouldn't have gotten all of them. If it had been a pack of animals, there still would have been evidence – feathers, blood, maybe even a carcass…. but nope, there was nothing. The chickens are all just…. gone.

Monday, Monday March 27, 2006

Another busy weekend behind me.

I'm feeling somewhat better today. Still have the cold, but it isn't as bad as it was, so that's something!

Hubby's car still isn't fixed. Baby bro did go down to help him on Friday, but some fitting on the radiator is broken, so my oldest brother, who is a tow truck driver, is going to find out today how much his shop would charge to look it over. What we need to know is if the fitting itself can be replaced, or if we need a new radiator. Then, depending on the cost, we will either have them take care of it at the shop, or one of my brothers will take care of it. In the meantime, hubby borrowed his dad's truck to drive until the car is repaired.

I'm glad his mom let him borrow it, because he's got rehearsal tonight, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday this week, plus, he's supposed to have his surgery tomorrow. We couldn't get him to work and rehearsal, and Princess to school, with only one vehicle.

Tonight, the girls and I are going with my mom to the beauty shop so we can all get our hair trimmed up. Chances are, we'll get dinner out, as well, since it will be a long night, and hubby won't be home until late anyway. Both girls basically only need their bangs trimmed. Mil asked me yesterday if I was going to get my hair cut, too. I laughed, and let my own bangs fall in my face. They are currently below my eyes, lol. She said I needed to get a haircut like my mom's. I said, NO! My mil is one of those people that doesn't believe in long hair. For all the years I've known her, she's had a "boy's" haircut – really short all over; I guess the closest I could come to what it looks like is how Halle Berry usually wears hers, only imagine it straight, and on a petite older white woman. My hair is currently about to my brastrap. That's short for me. My mom's hair is only about chin length. The last time I had hair that short, I was in 6th grade. Just ain't happenin'! (This is part of the reason I won't let Princess stay with mil. When stepd was that age, mil didn't like her having long hair – which Princess does, she has beautiful hair – so she took her and got it hacked off. Stepson and stepd had matching haircuts. She looked terrible, and it took a couple of years for it to grow out enough that it looked good again.)

But anyway, enough of that. Need to get Princess up and off to school.

Urg! March 24, 2006

I am sick today. *bleh* Caught a cold from Peanut. Stuffed up sinuses, runny nose, sore throat…

I’m in a decent mood thus far, though, so that’s a good thing. Listening to good music this morning doesn’t hurt. James Blunt, whoo-hoo! I won’t even let the fact that the song that’s on right now always reminds me of a non-existant friend get me down.

Hubby took Princess to school this morning, and went to work late. I’ll have to borrow my boss’s car to go pick her up today – or maybe my boss will just pick her up for me, so I don’t have to go out… we’ll see. Anyway, it’s a half-day today, so instead of going this afternoon, she has to be picked up in less than two hours. It’s really not worth all the drive time to take her to school for such a short day, but she had two tests today, so couldn’t miss.

Just talked to my baby brother. He and his girlfriend have to go down to the corner by where hubby works today, so they’ll stop in, check out the car, and my bro will fix it if he can. *fingers crossed*

ROFL!!! Peanut was just rummaging around in the kitchen, and came out with a bowl and spoon. I thought she was eating cereal, because I left a box down. Oh, no. Not cereal at all, the little twerp. She found the bag of unwrapped Hershey Kisses I keep around for making cookies with, and poured herself a bowlful. Needless to say, I gave her two, and took the rest away. *grin*

Such an exciting life! March 22, 2006

*grin* Not really, of course. And in a lot of ways, that’s not a complaint. Honest. I’ve gotten used to having things going on all the time, and now that I’ve given up a particularly addicting place, I find I have lots more time than what I’ve had in a long time. I’ve filled some of it, with computer games, and have a book or two lined up that I’m going to read. Yes, yes, I will (eventually) spend some time writing. This is a start – getting in the habit of writing a little most every day. I will go from there to working on my story, Nina. I promise, one day you will get to read the whole thing, lol!

I have my dinners for the week planned out. I haven’t done that in a long time. Shows to go you how much time I have to think about stuff like that. Tonight will be shrimp, asparagus and quinoa, tomorrow will be pizza (no hubby, the girls like pizza), Friday I will make my 10lb pan of lasagna, and Saturday I’m making corned beef, cabbage, carrots and potatoes…. a little late, I know, but it will still taste good. Sunday, we are going to mil’s.

This new Chicago album is really good. Of course, I am more than a little biased, but I’d be honest if it wasn’t good (like, for example, with Enya’s latest – *blech* Give me good ol’ Gaelic over that stupid made-up language any day.). I prefer the 2nd version of the song that is the first single, “Feel”. The second version utilizes their horn section, which is distinctly Chicago, and one of the reasons I’ve always loved them.

Let’s see… Idol results tonight. I’m hoping Chicken Little gets the boot, but that won’t happen just yet. *rolls eyes* Lisa could go. Or Bucky. Unfortunately, I see some of the less talented people staying on too long again this year, mostly because they look good. (Yes, Brett, I’m talking about you! And Kellie, as well!) I’ll be surprised if they don’t. Anyway, I’m sure I’ll have commentary after the show.

TTFN!

All’s quiet March 21, 2006

A little too quiet, really. It’s been a quiet couple of days.

Princess and I finished up Ghost Dogs (Nancy Drew computer game) last night, and moved on to the next in the series – The Haunted Carousel. It’s a good thing that I am in the habit of saving on a regular basis, and that the game has a “second chance” option. If you do something particularly stupid (or aren’t fast enough in the end game), that costs you the game, you can hit “second chance” and it will take you back to a place right before where you screwed up. Five minutes into the new game last night, we got fired from the case, because we left the iron on in our hotel room, and burned the place down! OOPS!!!

I was just going to write that hubby was off for his second round of surgery this afternoon, but as I started to type, he came in the door. I guess the doctor was sick today, so it’s been rescheduled for next week, same Bat-time, same Bat-channel. They tried to call here, but of course I didn’t get the message, and they didn’t have hubby’s work number, so he blew half a vacation day for no reason, but maybe he can just take it easy. Work has been really stressful for him the last few days. Hmmm… he’s on the crabby side. What fun.  He’s going to go pick up the brand new Chicago XXX album for me, and get himself some lunch while he’s out. I asked him if he was going to come back in a better mood. He said he’s not trying to be in a bad mood, just too much stress. I can relate to that. *sigh* Anyway, hopefully he’ll feel better. There’s two hours of Idol tonight, followed by another episode of Amazing Race to watch!

The bookfair is back this week at Princess’s school, so my mom and I are going to go over later, around the end of the school day today. Princess brought her wish list home. She’s not going to get much of what’s on it, but she’ll get a couple of things. I’ll also probably find things for her that she wouldn’t have looked at herself, but that I know she’ll like. And granny’s always good for a book or two that mom won’t buy, lol. Peanut will end up with some new books too, if things go as they usually do. (Um, mommy will too. )

Busy weekend March 20, 2006

It’s so nice to have blue skies and sunshine. Three days in a row now! It’s very nice to wake up in the morning, and not have to turn the lights on. All I need to do is open the blinds.

I hadn’t planned on going all weekend without making a post. Time just… slipped away from me. Saturday, the girls and I played on the computer for a little while, then I did some housework until lunchtime, then started a new computer game. Hubby got home a little early, so we got ready and went to my folks to go get his car.

Peanut fell asleep on the way. Hubby carried her into the house, and rocked with her, so she’d stay sleeping. She gets really cranky later in the day if she doesn’t have her nap! I went out to the barn, and opened the hood on hubby’s car. Had to make sure it had enough antifreeze in it, so I topped it off, then started it up to run the air pockets out of it. Dad came over then, helped me make sure it was all filled up good, then we went for a little drive around the yard, before parking it back on the cement pad by the barn to watch for leaks. We had a nice visit, about 20 good minutes, before hubby came out, and I went inside. It was beautiful and sunny… but VERY cold. *brrrr*

Mom and Princess had dinner nearly ready, so I helped finish that. After dinner, while I was cleaning up the kitchen, my dad was playing his guitar. I really enjoyed that – took me back so many years. Made me vaguely sad, though, for various reasons, which I won’t get into right now. Anyway, when I was nearly done, hubby came into the kitchen. I made a comment along the lines of, “I don’t know why I can do this everywhere else we are, but I can’t seem to do it at home” – referring to cleaning up, doing dishes immediately after dinner. He said he thought it was because I wanted to make a good impression elsewhere. I thought about it, but I don’t think that is it at all. At home, at my grandparents, at the inlaws – it’s a combination of long-ingrained habit, and the desire to not leave a mess behind when we leave. Thinking about that really made me think harder about why I can’t seem to do that at home. I haven’t come up with a good answer yet, but if I do, I imagine it would help me get a grip on the housework situation!!!

After I finished in the kitchen, I went out to sit with my dad. Peanut was still asleep. Mom and hubby were in the other room with Princess, who was playing on the computer. Dad was still playing the guitar, random songs, whatever happened to cross his mind. One thing would remind him of another, so he’d slide into that tune, run through it, then switch to something else. Really, really made me miss the old days, and made me wish I had my clarinet there! We sat quietly for a long time, sometimes talking, sometimes not. It was just nice to be there with Dad. I don’t get to spend much time with him, and I miss that. When we did talk, much of it was about my middle brother. He was in the Marines for 8 years, and served a year in Iraq. He’s been out for a couple of years now, but he found out that his unit is scheduled to go back, and he’s planning to enlist again, to go over with them. As you can imagine, this has caused some serious consternation – to put it lightly – in the family. He’s going to do what he’s going to do, and we will support him, no matter what, but none of us understand. And we all worry. Things were bad enough when he was there before – they’re worse, now.

Whoops – it’s time to get Princess up and ready for school! TTFN.

Okay – rather than start a new entry, I’ll just finish up here.   We went back to my folks yesterday to get hubby’s car, and Princess, since she stayed over.  It was too late when we left Saturday night – I was too tired to drive – so we left hubby’s car.  Since we had to go back for Princess, anyway, it didn’t matter.  We went to town while we were there, and met my brother and sil at the store.  They left their youngest with us.  He’s so cute and cheerful.  I hope he stays that way!  We took him shopping, then met up with my mom, and traded our girls (who had been shopping with her) for my nephew.    We headed home then, enjoying the sunshine.  Boy, I tell you what – sunny skies like that, I just want to do two things.  Road trip, and yard sale!!!  Won’t be long now.

Anyway, hubby took his car home.  I detoured long enough to drop Princess off at her best friend’s house for a playdate, then went home to pick hubby up.  Then we FINALLY were able to run our errands, and got all of our grocery shopping done.

I spent some more time playing Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake last night (Nancy Drew #7).  I’m really enjoying having the time to play, and being able to play in the first place.  I was so proud of myself – I got all the way through the first two parts without having to go online for a hint!   I think I’m about halfway through now.  I’m going to spend some time playing tonight.  Hubby won’t be home until late.  I have to tape Prison Break (YAY!  It’s back!) and 24 for him.  When I do that, I prefer not to watch while I’m taping, so it’s all new to me when we watch together.  There was an ad on the radio this morning for the 2 hour block of those shows tonight.  Said, “Find a seat with a comfortable edge, because you won’t be leaving it.”  I am sure that’s the truth!  This season of 24 has been excellent!  And I’ve been waiting for Prison Break to come back.  Really enjoyed that one.  Doesn’t hurt that both Wentworth Miller and Dominick Purcell are both very easy on the eyes, lol.  Capital Y-U-M.

Are you wearing green? March 17, 2006

‘Cause if you aren’t, I reserve the right to pinch you.

Is is just me, or has this been a really long week??

We all ended up being gone until late last night. I’d been planning to go grocery shopping after picking Princess up from school, but it turned out that hubby was having car problems, so he called off from rehearsal, and we met him up at my folks house. My brother came over after he got off work to help hubby with the car. We’d thought it was the thermostat sticking, but it turns out that, while that may be the case, the bigger problem was that the water pump was shot. So, they wandered off to the parts store for the new part, then went back to work. Meanwhile, I was inside by myself with all 5 kids… holy goodness, I’m glad I decided not to ever have another!!! And, wow, I had forgotten what an incredible drama queen my niece is. My dad was up north for a funeral (he arrived home just as we were leaving), and my mom was working late, so I had them all for several hours before she got home. I fixed them spaghetti for dinner, and tried to get them to settle down… *holds still aching head*

Anyway, they couldn’t finish hubby’s car last night, because they need a new gasket. We left his car there, and just headed home. We didn’t get home until nearly 11pm – I was so exhausted, I was sleeping in the car on the way home, and we all went to bed as soon as we got here!

Hubby took a vacation day from work – then realized that it wouldn’t look good to be calling off on St. Patrick’s Day, but what are you going to do? *shrug* So, at some point this afternoon, he, at the very least, needs to get back up to my parent’s house. I’d like to see my dad, but quite frankly, I really don’t feel like being gone again tonight. Maybe I’ll just make hubby ride home with my mom, lol.

I had a series of strange dreams last night. When I woke up this morning, I remembered three of them vividly, but I didn’t think to write them down, and now, I only remember bits and pieces of one, and more of another. The one I remember the most of, I was at my high school with my family. My dad was sitting at a large round table with a birthday cake on it, decorated with a horse, so I’m pretty sure it was for him. My mom and some other people were sitting across the way. I wasn’t all dressed up – it was prom time, but I had decided I wasn’t going to go since I didn’t have a date. My family was there to watch the promenade, I guess. *shrug* Anyway, one of my friends decided that I should go, and that I still had time to get ready, so she tried to help me out by giving me a set of false eyelashes to wear! *grin* Then, of course, I didn’t have a dress. Turns out that part of the school had a JC Penney in it, so I was there trying to find something suitable to wear. Of course, my favorite they didn’t have in my size, so I just grabbed something and left. I kept getting lost in the school, because it was so big (very much like a strange mall), and really needed to find a bathroom to change in. I wandered through a doctor’s clinic, spoke to one of our residents, then kept going, past all the people and stores. Couldn’t find a bathroom. Finally did find one, that was full of people. It had one large stall, with all of the toilets in that. (I’ve dreamt that before, dunno why). Anyway, I woke up before I managed to get changed and back to the dance. I just remember being very frustrated that I couldn’t find my way around, and at the extent things had changed. It made me sad, too.

Anyway, I suppose I had best get to work for the day. Hubby being home will shift my day a bit, but I have things to do, so I just have to do them as I usually would. Catch you later!