Happy New Year!!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Happy New Years Eve!
I'm still sick and now I'm noticing that speaking is requiring effort and I know where that leads, right to laryngitis city! And of course its a nice long weekend to be sick too. The last time I had a long weekend down at my parents I was sick then too. Its not fair.
I suppose that it will be a much better NYE than last year though no matter the state of my health. It couldn't possibly be worse than last NYE when I spent the first part of the evening force feeding a dieing animal and then going downtown and watching chubby girls try to go-go dance in a bar window. They were more go away girls. Sad. Not as sad as watching the Acorn drop but almost.
I've tried the last few years to do something different every NYE, its a challenge but a worthy one.This year I'm going to New Bern to watch whatever drops in New Bern. I was going to go to Oriental, which I have done in the past, and watch the Croakier fall but plans changed. Its New Berns 300th Anniversary and they are planning a big party downtown to usher it in. Maybe we'll watch the tri-corner hat fall or shoot a bear or something. I'm feeling bad about Tex now, I ran across some of his syringes the other day and the package of pills he was on. Poor kitty! I miss him.
I think this is because I'm sick. I fell asleep waiting for the computer to boot and now I'm all maudlin and weepy about my late cat. Today at work I came thisclose to telling the woman across the hall if she did not stop her constant shuffling shuffling shuffling up and down the hall I was going to fetch a rehab aid from the hospital with a gate belt and walker and get her into her very own gate training program to force her to walk like a normal person because I was coming really close to shouting at her. I need to nap more.
I'm going to have a good time, I am going to enjoy myself and it is going to be fun and I am not going to mourn my cat, or whine or be a bitch. Damn it.
I'm still sick and now I'm noticing that speaking is requiring effort and I know where that leads, right to laryngitis city! And of course its a nice long weekend to be sick too. The last time I had a long weekend down at my parents I was sick then too. Its not fair.
I suppose that it will be a much better NYE than last year though no matter the state of my health. It couldn't possibly be worse than last NYE when I spent the first part of the evening force feeding a dieing animal and then going downtown and watching chubby girls try to go-go dance in a bar window. They were more go away girls. Sad. Not as sad as watching the Acorn drop but almost.
I've tried the last few years to do something different every NYE, its a challenge but a worthy one.This year I'm going to New Bern to watch whatever drops in New Bern. I was going to go to Oriental, which I have done in the past, and watch the Croakier fall but plans changed. Its New Berns 300th Anniversary and they are planning a big party downtown to usher it in. Maybe we'll watch the tri-corner hat fall or shoot a bear or something. I'm feeling bad about Tex now, I ran across some of his syringes the other day and the package of pills he was on. Poor kitty! I miss him.
I think this is because I'm sick. I fell asleep waiting for the computer to boot and now I'm all maudlin and weepy about my late cat. Today at work I came thisclose to telling the woman across the hall if she did not stop her constant shuffling shuffling shuffling up and down the hall I was going to fetch a rehab aid from the hospital with a gate belt and walker and get her into her very own gate training program to force her to walk like a normal person because I was coming really close to shouting at her. I need to nap more.
I'm going to have a good time, I am going to enjoy myself and it is going to be fun and I am not going to mourn my cat, or whine or be a bitch. Damn it.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
The 12 Days of Christmas
You better still have your decorations up. Christmas is not over.
Today is the Forth Day. This year I did not hear the song even once. although I did hear a "We hate the holidays" version over and over and over - Thank you lamo Raleigh radio! Not once did I hear a straight version.
I don't know if the general population finally gotten through their collective thick skull that the song is about the twelve days after Christmas or if there just isn't a pop version of it that gets any radio play in this market. I also didn't hear We Three Kings , another song about after the holiday that usually gets played a lot. I did hear Little Drummer Boy a lot and it essentially covers the same time frame but it has a lot of pop covers. A lot and they all showed up on the collection of Christmas CDs we had at the office. I want to kill the drummer boy now, I think I would just shove his drum sticks right down his throat.
Can you see Mary there? Oh. Thank you. I really need you to play your drum in the same desert as my NEWBORN. Sure. Bang away. He's been a sleep for ten whole minutes.
For all your 12 Days questions and related conspiracy theories, 12 Days. I am still ill and I have ingested enough cough drops to now consider them a food group as well as a miracle drug. Oh, Nyquil? is the bomb! I took it and felt nothing all night! I didn't even have anxiety about maybe feeling anything. I literally was feeling no pain. I didn't even feel the need to wake up until I rolled over to casually look at the clock and discover I should have woken up twenty minutes earlier. Oops.
You better still have your decorations up. Christmas is not over.
Today is the Forth Day. This year I did not hear the song even once. although I did hear a "We hate the holidays" version over and over and over - Thank you lamo Raleigh radio! Not once did I hear a straight version.
I don't know if the general population finally gotten through their collective thick skull that the song is about the twelve days after Christmas or if there just isn't a pop version of it that gets any radio play in this market. I also didn't hear We Three Kings , another song about after the holiday that usually gets played a lot. I did hear Little Drummer Boy a lot and it essentially covers the same time frame but it has a lot of pop covers. A lot and they all showed up on the collection of Christmas CDs we had at the office. I want to kill the drummer boy now, I think I would just shove his drum sticks right down his throat.
Can you see Mary there? Oh. Thank you. I really need you to play your drum in the same desert as my NEWBORN. Sure. Bang away. He's been a sleep for ten whole minutes.
For all your 12 Days questions and related conspiracy theories, 12 Days. I am still ill and I have ingested enough cough drops to now consider them a food group as well as a miracle drug. Oh, Nyquil? is the bomb! I took it and felt nothing all night! I didn't even have anxiety about maybe feeling anything. I literally was feeling no pain. I didn't even feel the need to wake up until I rolled over to casually look at the clock and discover I should have woken up twenty minutes earlier. Oops.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Merry Happy!
Hello Children! I'm back! Kind of. I was planning to be back on Monday but I woke up Sunday with some version of the creeping crude and very quickly decided that my schedule was going to have to change.
Sunday night I kept myself awake because I dread accidentally swallowing in my sleep and waking up with a screamingly painful throat - Really, I was awake a lot and I was anxious about my throat spray and if I could get to it "in time" and I have bad memories from my last run in with Mr. Throat Spray - He's a bad, bad man Mr. Throat spray. He makes you feel numbed, he smooths off the sharp edges of your pain and the next thing you know YOU ARE DRINKING THROAT SPRAY and then he turns you into an addict. With a sore throat.
Bastard.
This time however I took charge of my pain. True, it started off badly. I did fish under my oven for an escaped lozenge much longer than the picky dietitians at work would approve off - Ultimately, leaving the lozenge to evolve into a cat toy. Sigh, but I had others standing by and I have a new supply of very good hot chocolate to ease my pain. And honey! I have honey. I don't need no stinking throat spray! I am woman! Here me suck it up hot tea with honey style!
Which worked for me so well, I discovered I had two bottles of throat spray in my bed side table. Clearly Mr. Throat Spray plays hard ball and Ms. Honey and Tea is a lying, self hating bitch who proscribes to the ridiculous supposition that a woman in pain should stay in pain because its both "good" for her and "natural".
...And then I went to bed. I was awake for a very long time or I just woke up every forty-five minutes or so all night just to look at the clock to make sure it was still there and that I hadn't made any unscheduled swallows. I finally did have to "wake up" and I was so out of it I took three separate rest breaks before I left for the office.
It did not help that once there, the woman in the office across the hall from me fell asleep on her desk and snored for most of the morning. Not helpful and I bet she spent the week end with Ms. Tea and Honey. I then spent the day starved and dehydrated and awake damn it because office food hurts and even room temperature drinks are sting like hell on the way down and even I have work place behavior standards.
I ended up at Subway for soup at lunch - Learn from my mistake though, the coffee at Subway is not your friend! Ew. It had the consistency of motor oil, it ate my coffee stirrer and there was no cream provided! The nerve. After work I hit the store for some supplies and left armed with Nyquil, Aleve and two bags of Hall's sore throat drops. HA. I'll wake up tomorrow with no sore throat at all but I'll be well armed for the next time.
Hello Children! I'm back! Kind of. I was planning to be back on Monday but I woke up Sunday with some version of the creeping crude and very quickly decided that my schedule was going to have to change.
Sunday night I kept myself awake because I dread accidentally swallowing in my sleep and waking up with a screamingly painful throat - Really, I was awake a lot and I was anxious about my throat spray and if I could get to it "in time" and I have bad memories from my last run in with Mr. Throat Spray - He's a bad, bad man Mr. Throat spray. He makes you feel numbed, he smooths off the sharp edges of your pain and the next thing you know YOU ARE DRINKING THROAT SPRAY and then he turns you into an addict. With a sore throat.
Bastard.
This time however I took charge of my pain. True, it started off badly. I did fish under my oven for an escaped lozenge much longer than the picky dietitians at work would approve off - Ultimately, leaving the lozenge to evolve into a cat toy. Sigh, but I had others standing by and I have a new supply of very good hot chocolate to ease my pain. And honey! I have honey. I don't need no stinking throat spray! I am woman! Here me suck it up hot tea with honey style!
Which worked for me so well, I discovered I had two bottles of throat spray in my bed side table. Clearly Mr. Throat Spray plays hard ball and Ms. Honey and Tea is a lying, self hating bitch who proscribes to the ridiculous supposition that a woman in pain should stay in pain because its both "good" for her and "natural".
...And then I went to bed. I was awake for a very long time or I just woke up every forty-five minutes or so all night just to look at the clock to make sure it was still there and that I hadn't made any unscheduled swallows. I finally did have to "wake up" and I was so out of it I took three separate rest breaks before I left for the office.
It did not help that once there, the woman in the office across the hall from me fell asleep on her desk and snored for most of the morning. Not helpful and I bet she spent the week end with Ms. Tea and Honey. I then spent the day starved and dehydrated and awake damn it because office food hurts and even room temperature drinks are sting like hell on the way down and even I have work place behavior standards.
I ended up at Subway for soup at lunch - Learn from my mistake though, the coffee at Subway is not your friend! Ew. It had the consistency of motor oil, it ate my coffee stirrer and there was no cream provided! The nerve. After work I hit the store for some supplies and left armed with Nyquil, Aleve and two bags of Hall's sore throat drops. HA. I'll wake up tomorrow with no sore throat at all but I'll be well armed for the next time.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Friday, December 25, 2009
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Hey Kids!
Guess what? Its the day before the day before Christmas! Woo! This pretty much means I'm not going to be posting again until, say, after Christmas. I'll be around but there won't be formal entries in the traditional sense until the 28th. It'll be okay. I'll still post stuff but it most likely won't be the hard hitting content you've gotten used to from this site.
Guess what? Its the day before the day before Christmas! Woo! This pretty much means I'm not going to be posting again until, say, after Christmas. I'll be around but there won't be formal entries in the traditional sense until the 28th. It'll be okay. I'll still post stuff but it most likely won't be the hard hitting content you've gotten used to from this site.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Same bat infection, new bat antibiotic.
After spending a weekend with a completely pathetic and practically bed fast Dogger I did what I said I was going to and called the vet first thing. They let me drop her off at lunch and pick her up later. Dogger was in such bad shape when I came home I almost had to carry her out to the car.
She did cheer up when she realized she was going in the car but she didn't have the energy to do her Doggy Dance of Joy and accompanying Doggy Song of Joy while we drove there. I had to pick her up to get her out of the car.
Once in the office she cheered up again but discovered the slick floor was not her friend. She had to be picked up and carried into the back. It was awful. I came back after work and she was a much happier dog. She danced and sang and carried one - I think its a ploy to go home. Its her way of saying Clearly, I am in good health! There is nothing wrong with me! You don't have to leave me here any longer! I am cured! I am in Perfect Dog Health! Here let me do the dance of health for you!
The vet and I agreed that the bacterial infection in her knee has become resistant to the ABT that she's been on more on that off since last March. It was inevitable and I will now how to remember for ever more that she shouldn't be on cephalexin because it doesn't work on her anymore. I guess I should call her other vet and let them know so they can chart it Sigh
She danced and sang in the vet office but she still had to be lifted in and out of the car. When we got home I gave her the new ABT and fed her and then she went and fell asleep in her crate. She was exhausted by all the singing and dancing, she hasn't as much as hummed in a week and she barely walks much less trips the light fantastic. She was worn out.
Lets all hope the new med works. I'm supposed to call the vet on Thursday to let him know how she is and to chart our course if it isn't.
Yesterday was Dogger and mines seventh anniversary. I adopted her December 21, 2002 curtesy of the Alamance County Animal Rescue. From a vets office. It should have been a sign...
After spending a weekend with a completely pathetic and practically bed fast Dogger I did what I said I was going to and called the vet first thing. They let me drop her off at lunch and pick her up later. Dogger was in such bad shape when I came home I almost had to carry her out to the car.
She did cheer up when she realized she was going in the car but she didn't have the energy to do her Doggy Dance of Joy and accompanying Doggy Song of Joy while we drove there. I had to pick her up to get her out of the car.
Once in the office she cheered up again but discovered the slick floor was not her friend. She had to be picked up and carried into the back. It was awful. I came back after work and she was a much happier dog. She danced and sang and carried one - I think its a ploy to go home. Its her way of saying Clearly, I am in good health! There is nothing wrong with me! You don't have to leave me here any longer! I am cured! I am in Perfect Dog Health! Here let me do the dance of health for you!
The vet and I agreed that the bacterial infection in her knee has become resistant to the ABT that she's been on more on that off since last March. It was inevitable and I will now how to remember for ever more that she shouldn't be on cephalexin because it doesn't work on her anymore. I guess I should call her other vet and let them know so they can chart it Sigh
She danced and sang in the vet office but she still had to be lifted in and out of the car. When we got home I gave her the new ABT and fed her and then she went and fell asleep in her crate. She was exhausted by all the singing and dancing, she hasn't as much as hummed in a week and she barely walks much less trips the light fantastic. She was worn out.
Lets all hope the new med works. I'm supposed to call the vet on Thursday to let him know how she is and to chart our course if it isn't.
Yesterday was Dogger and mines seventh anniversary. I adopted her December 21, 2002 curtesy of the Alamance County Animal Rescue. From a vets office. It should have been a sign...
Monday, December 21, 2009
Monday
Dogger is not doing better after three days of ABT therapy so first thing I'm going to call the vet and see what he can do for us. I'm going to see how we ll he responds to "FIX IT" .
In that vein, I bring you the transcript to the Dysfunctional Family Christmas that SNL did a few years ago. Love it.
How to Ruin Christmas for everyone.
On a completely different note...
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROSKEY !!!!!!!
Dogger is not doing better after three days of ABT therapy so first thing I'm going to call the vet and see what he can do for us. I'm going to see how we ll he responds to "FIX IT" .
In that vein, I bring you the transcript to the Dysfunctional Family Christmas that SNL did a few years ago. Love it.
How to Ruin Christmas for everyone.
On a completely different note...
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROSKEY !!!!!!!
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Friday, December 18, 2009
Infectious Diseasogger
Damn it!
Again.
Dogger woke up lame Thursday morning. Limping, leg drawn up, gate stiff. Damn it. Damn it. Damn it. I'm now channeling Florida from Good Times, thank you no Applause, please just throw money. My first thought was Well. It is kind of cold. Maybe she's just cold.. This was of course bull shit. its been cold and its never been cold enough inside to warrant fits of indiscriminate limping on her part.
We did not go for our walk. We wandered around the front yard while I chanted Foot Down Dogger, Foot Down, because in the past this has actually worked. However, it does not work when she has an infectious process going on, she's had enough of these now that I can tell from the get go that we need to go back to the vet and get her back on her good friend Mr. Antibiotic. Mama's know when their babies are sick and it doesn't take many ear infections before Mama knows when one is in the house.
I went to work and spoke with another dog person who suggested that maybe Dogger just "slept on it wrong", I said this might be it but I was thinking Dog Person please! Then I called my vet and told him about the limping and the sudden lameness and the swollen, bumpy nature of her knee - Thinking that he would just say Okay, its too swollen to properly tell whats going on, lets try two weeks of antibiotics and make an appointment for a week from now. I know it by heart.
Bastard told me to "apply heat to the knee and see how that goes". Dick! Its not going to do anything! She has an infection and Dogger is an antibiotic junkie, she "needs" her "medicine" to feel "well" again. Literally. The whole knee saga as turned my dog into a antibiotic addict. He messed up her knee and now in his words "Has some sort of bacterial thing going on" for like the fifth time in since last April. You do not heal up a "bacterial thing" by applying heat to the area. GAWD.
Damn it!
Again.
Dogger woke up lame Thursday morning. Limping, leg drawn up, gate stiff. Damn it. Damn it. Damn it. I'm now channeling Florida from Good Times, thank you no Applause, please just throw money. My first thought was Well. It is kind of cold. Maybe she's just cold.. This was of course bull shit. its been cold and its never been cold enough inside to warrant fits of indiscriminate limping on her part.
We did not go for our walk. We wandered around the front yard while I chanted Foot Down Dogger, Foot Down, because in the past this has actually worked. However, it does not work when she has an infectious process going on, she's had enough of these now that I can tell from the get go that we need to go back to the vet and get her back on her good friend Mr. Antibiotic. Mama's know when their babies are sick and it doesn't take many ear infections before Mama knows when one is in the house.
I went to work and spoke with another dog person who suggested that maybe Dogger just "slept on it wrong", I said this might be it but I was thinking Dog Person please! Then I called my vet and told him about the limping and the sudden lameness and the swollen, bumpy nature of her knee - Thinking that he would just say Okay, its too swollen to properly tell whats going on, lets try two weeks of antibiotics and make an appointment for a week from now. I know it by heart.
Bastard told me to "apply heat to the knee and see how that goes". Dick! Its not going to do anything! She has an infection and Dogger is an antibiotic junkie, she "needs" her "medicine" to feel "well" again. Literally. The whole knee saga as turned my dog into a antibiotic addict. He messed up her knee and now in his words "Has some sort of bacterial thing going on" for like the fifth time in since last April. You do not heal up a "bacterial thing" by applying heat to the area. GAWD.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
After spending two days in a row at work grazing on sugary snacks for eight hours, I am tired and have no attention span. So, Real Simple offered a very good solution. A real simple solution, if I may.
Site Addys! Neat places to go and do presumably neat things! Yay! Lets hear it for neat sites!
Site the First :
Inumbr.com - This site lets you use a automatically expiring temporary number that will forward calls to your real number. It allows you to keep your real number private and out of hands and phone lists you don't want it in. The magazine suggested questionable sellers on Craigslist, but I can think of a lot of reasons to have a disposable number at hand. FREE
Site the Second:
Netflixorigami.com - If you have Netflix you have thousands of sheets of Netflixian scrap paper. This site lets do things with that paper other than wadding it up and using it as cheap entertainment for your cat. FREE
Site the Third:
Site the third caused my computer to freeze and me to go to be early.
Site Addys! Neat places to go and do presumably neat things! Yay! Lets hear it for neat sites!
Site the First :
Inumbr.com - This site lets you use a automatically expiring temporary number that will forward calls to your real number. It allows you to keep your real number private and out of hands and phone lists you don't want it in. The magazine suggested questionable sellers on Craigslist, but I can think of a lot of reasons to have a disposable number at hand. FREE
Site the Second:
Netflixorigami.com - If you have Netflix you have thousands of sheets of Netflixian scrap paper. This site lets do things with that paper other than wadding it up and using it as cheap entertainment for your cat. FREE
Site the Third:
Site the third caused my computer to freeze and me to go to be early.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Dear Santa...
Dear Santa,
I have been a very good dog these last few quarters. I hardly pulled anything off the top of the tables at all this fiscal year! I didn't mistakenly kill that many things that I reasonably thought might conceivably be dog toys but weren't. I want it noted that during the first and second quarters I did a very good job differentiating between things that looked like dog toys and things that were not dog toys at all - but, sadly, when I was unable to make that distinction, most regrettably during the third quarter, I want it noted that I gave them back almost as soon as I realized there was a problem. I didn't make Mama shout hardly ever and I only made her cry once or twice.
I was very nice to the new not dog thing that came to live with us. I'm not sure what happened to the other not dog thing but it went away and hasn't come back. The new not dog walks past me every day and doesn't swat at me or hiss at me or say nasty things to me. I like the new not dog thing. Please bring the new not dog thing a kong toy. A very small kong toy for a very small not dog thing. If this is not what the not dog thing wants, I'm sorry but I'm not sure what not dog things ask for from Santa but please bring it its own futon and its own water dish. It must not have its own because it uses mine. its not that I mind sharing because I love to share, but perhaps it might like its own very small futon and very small water dish. Its just a suggestion.
I've been very good this year because I haven't had much of a chance to be bad. But if I had had the chance to be bad I most certainly would not have been bad because I am a good dog.
Santa please bring me the following:
1. More rugs. I love rugs. Rugs are my friends. I hate bare floors and they are slippy and make me scared. I can't walk on bare floors. Please bring more rugs! Carpet the world.
2. I lay on my futon and look out my window all the time. I want a bigger window.
3. I also want a padded window seat so I can have a better view.
4. Bones. Please go to the grocery store and get me more bones! I like the medium sized ones and not the fake bones. Fake bones make me vomit.
5. Squeaky toys! I love squeaky toys!
6. Kong Toys! Kong Toys! Kong Toys!
7. Baby leg warmers. My knees get sore when its cold. I want warmer knees.
8. Fancy dog shampoo! Mama's shampoo is nice but it smells like petrochemicals and I am sensitive.
Love,
Dogger
PS. Forget all of the above. Please bring me strong knees. All I really want for Christmas is to run again.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Monday, December 14, 2009
Garden Update 15
I would say this is the last last Garden 2009 update. I took out the two remaining pepper plants and the much-more-hardy than I had expected pansies. I'm so proud of them, they were beautiful right up until the freeze. I was beginning to think I wasn't going to have to replant in the spring. These were super pansies.
A walk through gardens' memory lane. Sigh. They grow up so fast. They went in back in April and I took them out in December. I think that was a pretty good run.
Those were the days. Another sigh.
And then there were none. I pulled the most dead of the stranglers and left the strongest of the peppers but even the peppers finally gave up the ghost. We put a lot of leaves down and some dirt to get the process started and hopefully I can produce some of my own mulch so enrich the soil a little/ I put more dirt down when I unpotted the pansies. Pro Tip ? Don't wait until after the soil has frozen to try to get the plants out.
I can't wait for my 2010 seed catalogs!
I would say this is the last last Garden 2009 update. I took out the two remaining pepper plants and the much-more-hardy than I had expected pansies. I'm so proud of them, they were beautiful right up until the freeze. I was beginning to think I wasn't going to have to replant in the spring. These were super pansies.
A walk through gardens' memory lane. Sigh. They grow up so fast. They went in back in April and I took them out in December. I think that was a pretty good run.
Those were the days. Another sigh.
And then there were none. I pulled the most dead of the stranglers and left the strongest of the peppers but even the peppers finally gave up the ghost. We put a lot of leaves down and some dirt to get the process started and hopefully I can produce some of my own mulch so enrich the soil a little/ I put more dirt down when I unpotted the pansies. Pro Tip ? Don't wait until after the soil has frozen to try to get the plants out.
The baby brocs are still out there working - not very hard, but they're still in the ground and still green and they seem to be growing. The bugs got at them pretty good when they were really young and two of the plants didn't make it, but the rest are doing well.
In the midst of all this horticultural destruction, there is some life. My raspberry plants are still working. Don't they look sweet and delicious? They are. They really, really are.
I can't wait for my 2010 seed catalogs!
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Friday, December 11, 2009
Dona nobis pacem, pacem,
dona nobis pacem.
Dona nobis pacem.
Dona nobis pacem.
Dona nobis pacem, pacem,
dona nobis pacem.
Agnus dei
Agnus dei
Qui tollis peccata mundi
Agnus dei
Agnus dei
Qui tollis peccata mundi
Dona nobis pacem
Dona nobis pacem
pacem
Dona nobis pacem
[Translation:]
Lamb of God
You who take away the sins of the world
Lamb of God
You who take away the sins of the world
*The source material, although here lyrics were oddly credited to Rufas Wainwright.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Online, In Line
I learned something today. The US Postal service is a giant whore. We pay it a lot of money to make us happy and it does and then we go away until the next time we need it and then it charges us more for the same thing and there isn't anything we can do about it because they know how we like it.If the Tea-Party whack jobs wanted to look less like whack jobs they would turn their rummy, unfocused eyes towards the issue of postage.
I heard the guy working the window I was waiting for tell the custumer he was working with that he had a girl come through his line all excited about the Madonna stamps and then get very unexcited when he had to break it to her that the stamps weren't of that Madonna.
You know what you do when you finish up your holiday shopping early? Other peoples holiday shopping!
So I have a list and I went out on a preliminary trip, hoping that maybe I could kill all my birds with one stone - And you can imagine how that turned out. I found some things that I wanted while most of my list birds lived to fly another day. Feathered bastards.
I also decided that I'm going to shop online for my Secret Santa, I've tried in the real world but its not a whale year and I think I'm going with a whale theme for my person this year. I drew the same person I got last year which could be kind of a drag but she's a theme-y person so it's going to be okay. I only wish we could have drew our names earlier because when I was at the mall after Thanksgiving I saw lots of whaley things. I don't want to go back to the mall but I'm not sure I have a choice now that I am a foster shopper.
Well. I just tried my shopping online idea out and it didn't work the way I wanted. I decided to go trolling for whale DVDs. No Pun. And wasn't successful. I mean, there are whale DVDs out there, I just wasn't turned on by them. What would be a giant turn on would be the whale chapter of the Blue Planet series... Now that would be a big winner. I loved that series and I think my Santa-ee would be very excited by it. I choose not to think about whether or not she owns a DVD player. My other idea with her is to find her a desk calender/365 days of whales and a nice Whale-a-Month calender for her wall. I know she uses both, so it would fit into my self imposed "no knick-knacks" rule, thus far my Santa-ee has a lovely whale can opener so I'm not completely empty handed but I would be happier if I was juggling.
I learned something today. The US Postal service is a giant whore. We pay it a lot of money to make us happy and it does and then we go away until the next time we need it and then it charges us more for the same thing and there isn't anything we can do about it because they know how we like it.If the Tea-Party whack jobs wanted to look less like whack jobs they would turn their rummy, unfocused eyes towards the issue of postage.
I heard the guy working the window I was waiting for tell the custumer he was working with that he had a girl come through his line all excited about the Madonna stamps and then get very unexcited when he had to break it to her that the stamps weren't of that Madonna.
You know what you do when you finish up your holiday shopping early? Other peoples holiday shopping!
So I have a list and I went out on a preliminary trip, hoping that maybe I could kill all my birds with one stone - And you can imagine how that turned out. I found some things that I wanted while most of my list birds lived to fly another day. Feathered bastards.
I also decided that I'm going to shop online for my Secret Santa, I've tried in the real world but its not a whale year and I think I'm going with a whale theme for my person this year. I drew the same person I got last year which could be kind of a drag but she's a theme-y person so it's going to be okay. I only wish we could have drew our names earlier because when I was at the mall after Thanksgiving I saw lots of whaley things. I don't want to go back to the mall but I'm not sure I have a choice now that I am a foster shopper.
Well. I just tried my shopping online idea out and it didn't work the way I wanted. I decided to go trolling for whale DVDs. No Pun. And wasn't successful. I mean, there are whale DVDs out there, I just wasn't turned on by them. What would be a giant turn on would be the whale chapter of the Blue Planet series... Now that would be a big winner. I loved that series and I think my Santa-ee would be very excited by it. I choose not to think about whether or not she owns a DVD player. My other idea with her is to find her a desk calender/365 days of whales and a nice Whale-a-Month calender for her wall. I know she uses both, so it would fit into my self imposed "no knick-knacks" rule, thus far my Santa-ee has a lovely whale can opener so I'm not completely empty handed but I would be happier if I was juggling.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Ho, Ho, HA!
I don't know what kind of self hating cow I was last year or what I did to deserve to be punished, but I want to know why I decided to hid so much stuff from myself? What I did that so pissed me off that I felt it was necessary to punish myself by not letting me have the widget that allows me to turn on and off the tree without having to physically turn on and off the tree! all I had to do is touch a button and the tree turns on. I love that widget and now I can't find it and I'm having to get down on my knees and find cords and plug them in and so far, I am not enjoying it. At all.
But even with that complication I am making progress. The Christmasification of the living room is pretty much done - The tree is fully decorated, the fireplace mantle is all pretty, the creche' is up, the moose is decorated, the coffee table is seasonal and I have my Christmas-centric pillows deployed. Speaking of deployment, Where are the Santa's Diana?, the Santa's are still upstairs. I haven't gotten that far yet. I'm going to, I just having felt them yet. I don't know, ultimately, I'll bring them down whether I feel them or not, but I would rather it not be a loveless arrangement.
I also don't have my outdoor decorations taken care of either. I have time.
I also have all these boxes stacking up downstairs and I hate them and I don't want to bring more boxes down to join them and then there is the matter of Doggers crate. I hate the crate and I want it out of my living room until the end of the season but to do so would mean more work I don't want to do and then I have to put it away and that is even less fin to think about so for the time being its sitting there with the boxes reminding me how lazy I am. Sigh. Other than the ugly crate and stack of boxes, the rest of the downstairs looks lovely though. I started on the dining room and even the kitchen is a little tarted up. When I tarted the office up I made Dogger sad. I "had" to put a tree in the window and now I've blocked her view. Dogger spends a lot of time looking out that window and now there is a tree in her way. I tried to explain it to her But its so pretty from the outside!, she doesn't care because its not so pretty from the inside during the day and I'm blocking her view. She has so little.
Speaking of Dogger. I got her official picture with Santa this weekend. We're going back the week before Christmas because my friends animal rescue group is sponsoring the pictures that day and supplying the Santa and I promised Dogger would put in an appearance but this weekend was for her Christmas card and it turned out really well - She's so cute and photogenic and also very co-operative with people who aren't me. I'll post the shot when I get is scanned.
I don't know what kind of self hating cow I was last year or what I did to deserve to be punished, but I want to know why I decided to hid so much stuff from myself? What I did that so pissed me off that I felt it was necessary to punish myself by not letting me have the widget that allows me to turn on and off the tree without having to physically turn on and off the tree! all I had to do is touch a button and the tree turns on. I love that widget and now I can't find it and I'm having to get down on my knees and find cords and plug them in and so far, I am not enjoying it. At all.
But even with that complication I am making progress. The Christmasification of the living room is pretty much done - The tree is fully decorated, the fireplace mantle is all pretty, the creche' is up, the moose is decorated, the coffee table is seasonal and I have my Christmas-centric pillows deployed. Speaking of deployment, Where are the Santa's Diana?, the Santa's are still upstairs. I haven't gotten that far yet. I'm going to, I just having felt them yet. I don't know, ultimately, I'll bring them down whether I feel them or not, but I would rather it not be a loveless arrangement.
I also don't have my outdoor decorations taken care of either. I have time.
I also have all these boxes stacking up downstairs and I hate them and I don't want to bring more boxes down to join them and then there is the matter of Doggers crate. I hate the crate and I want it out of my living room until the end of the season but to do so would mean more work I don't want to do and then I have to put it away and that is even less fin to think about so for the time being its sitting there with the boxes reminding me how lazy I am. Sigh. Other than the ugly crate and stack of boxes, the rest of the downstairs looks lovely though. I started on the dining room and even the kitchen is a little tarted up. When I tarted the office up I made Dogger sad. I "had" to put a tree in the window and now I've blocked her view. Dogger spends a lot of time looking out that window and now there is a tree in her way. I tried to explain it to her But its so pretty from the outside!, she doesn't care because its not so pretty from the inside during the day and I'm blocking her view. She has so little.
Speaking of Dogger. I got her official picture with Santa this weekend. We're going back the week before Christmas because my friends animal rescue group is sponsoring the pictures that day and supplying the Santa and I promised Dogger would put in an appearance but this weekend was for her Christmas card and it turned out really well - She's so cute and photogenic and also very co-operative with people who aren't me. I'll post the shot when I get is scanned.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Friday, December 4, 2009
Friday
I woke up this morning and it wasn't winter anymore. It was and then it wasn't, the rain washed it all a way, like it wasn't winter as much as it was a heavy coating of pollen.
I haven't got a real chance to see what the tree looks like with the sexy red garland on it. It looks okayish in artificial light but until I see the effect in natural light I won't know for sure. I can say that it doesn't stand out the same way as the gold garland did and I'm not sure that's all that good but I wanted different and I got different. I just don't know if its better yet or not.
It does look nice with my Santa though.
I finally got all my dog cookie address labels printed out ( thanks to the judicious mis-use of state property)so I'll be able to get them all mailed out next week but that means I;m going to have to put the boxes together and deal with packing peanuts and a tape dispenser thing, which I will absolutely break about half way through the process and then spend the rest of the time fighting a pitched battle with the tape insisting on sticking to itself. It's not the expense of mailing I object to, its the process.
It would be great if all we had to do was toss the item and the address to them and say Yo. Here it is. Asta!. That would be awesome. I also kind of wish I had my Christmas cards on hand so I could mail them out on my schedule, but they are at Alphagal and Broskeys and I'm not sure how cool it would be to go over there and take them while they are out of town. I don't want all of them, I just want to liberate a few of them so I can mail them with the cookies and save some postage. I think I'm going to get over my resistance to going over to their house and I'm just going to get them because its time and I want them. I am also assuming they are out where I can find them. My plan is not perfect. I don't know where they are.
Maybe I won't go get them, or I'll just make a security pass through there house... You know, make sure that there hasn't been a break in or any water damage or to check in the very least to make sure the house was not eaten by vines. That would be very disconcerting, to come home and fine your house covered by vines.
I woke up this morning and it wasn't winter anymore. It was and then it wasn't, the rain washed it all a way, like it wasn't winter as much as it was a heavy coating of pollen.
I haven't got a real chance to see what the tree looks like with the sexy red garland on it. It looks okayish in artificial light but until I see the effect in natural light I won't know for sure. I can say that it doesn't stand out the same way as the gold garland did and I'm not sure that's all that good but I wanted different and I got different. I just don't know if its better yet or not.
It does look nice with my Santa though.
I finally got all my dog cookie address labels printed out ( thanks to the judicious mis-use of state property)so I'll be able to get them all mailed out next week but that means I;m going to have to put the boxes together and deal with packing peanuts and a tape dispenser thing, which I will absolutely break about half way through the process and then spend the rest of the time fighting a pitched battle with the tape insisting on sticking to itself. It's not the expense of mailing I object to, its the process.
It would be great if all we had to do was toss the item and the address to them and say Yo. Here it is. Asta!. That would be awesome. I also kind of wish I had my Christmas cards on hand so I could mail them out on my schedule, but they are at Alphagal and Broskeys and I'm not sure how cool it would be to go over there and take them while they are out of town. I don't want all of them, I just want to liberate a few of them so I can mail them with the cookies and save some postage. I think I'm going to get over my resistance to going over to their house and I'm just going to get them because its time and I want them. I am also assuming they are out where I can find them. My plan is not perfect. I don't know where they are.
Maybe I won't go get them, or I'll just make a security pass through there house... You know, make sure that there hasn't been a break in or any water damage or to check in the very least to make sure the house was not eaten by vines. That would be very disconcerting, to come home and fine your house covered by vines.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Getting my holiday on
I have been feeling decidedly ennui-tastic about getting the tree decorated. I want to do it but to do it I have to bring approximately sixty tons of stuff down from the attic and that means the out door lights need to be put up and all the Santa's brought down and it just seems like so much work... I just don't have the energy
But then when I do deal with it, its just going to look exactly like it did last year and the year before that and why bother? I like the way my tree looks but I could also just look at pictures and get the same effect without all the work. And I would do that. I would sit there and look at a picture.Clearly, I needed to do something.
So the tree stands there. Dark. Its upright, pre-lit and in the right place but its just standing there and it makes me sad. I think I'm lonely for my old tree, the unlit, greatly shedding, mess making, eleven year old tree. My first tree for my first apartment!. The tree I hefted up three flights of stairs and then carted across the country.I got it and Tex at the same time and lost them at the same time. Sigh.
I needed help. I decided that what I need is for the tree to look different. I want to cheat on my decorations. I want a younger, hotter, blonder version of what I have now. And I figured out how: I would buy new garland! Sexy, sexy garland! This would change everything! It would put the magic back in our relationship! So I went to Wal-Mart. Do you have any idea how much Wal-Mart charges for tree garland! I was shocked. They wanted $5 for 15 feet! I was like What do you mean? $5!? Screw that! Do you have any idea how sad it is to go to Wally World and see something you want and have to say to yourself I can't afford that?
It sucks.
I went on to Poverty Barn and found nicer garland $7 for 35 feet. And then I had to over think what color of garland I wanted. There was neat green garland with shiny little paper lights but it was green and so is my tree and I looked at some red garland with little candy canes and then there was blue garland with snow flakes.This posed a dilemma. I'm a Blue person; Red makes me uncomfortable, it comes with so much baggage and issues... But. I didn't like the blue garland and I did like the red garland and then I had an epiphany : Are you trying to inject partisan politics into my Christmas tree? Are you making my Christmas tree about red state v. blue state bile? Are you Sarah Palening my holiday? Oh No! You will not politicize my tree!
I bought the pretty red garland and put it on the tree and it looks fab, and it will set off my awesome talking Obama ornament very nicely.
I have been feeling decidedly ennui-tastic about getting the tree decorated. I want to do it but to do it I have to bring approximately sixty tons of stuff down from the attic and that means the out door lights need to be put up and all the Santa's brought down and it just seems like so much work... I just don't have the energy
But then when I do deal with it, its just going to look exactly like it did last year and the year before that and why bother? I like the way my tree looks but I could also just look at pictures and get the same effect without all the work. And I would do that. I would sit there and look at a picture.Clearly, I needed to do something.
So the tree stands there. Dark. Its upright, pre-lit and in the right place but its just standing there and it makes me sad. I think I'm lonely for my old tree, the unlit, greatly shedding, mess making, eleven year old tree. My first tree for my first apartment!. The tree I hefted up three flights of stairs and then carted across the country.I got it and Tex at the same time and lost them at the same time. Sigh.
I needed help. I decided that what I need is for the tree to look different. I want to cheat on my decorations. I want a younger, hotter, blonder version of what I have now. And I figured out how: I would buy new garland! Sexy, sexy garland! This would change everything! It would put the magic back in our relationship! So I went to Wal-Mart. Do you have any idea how much Wal-Mart charges for tree garland! I was shocked. They wanted $5 for 15 feet! I was like What do you mean? $5!? Screw that! Do you have any idea how sad it is to go to Wally World and see something you want and have to say to yourself I can't afford that?
It sucks.
I went on to Poverty Barn and found nicer garland $7 for 35 feet. And then I had to over think what color of garland I wanted. There was neat green garland with shiny little paper lights but it was green and so is my tree and I looked at some red garland with little candy canes and then there was blue garland with snow flakes.This posed a dilemma. I'm a Blue person; Red makes me uncomfortable, it comes with so much baggage and issues... But. I didn't like the blue garland and I did like the red garland and then I had an epiphany : Are you trying to inject partisan politics into my Christmas tree? Are you making my Christmas tree about red state v. blue state bile? Are you Sarah Palening my holiday? Oh No! You will not politicize my tree!
I bought the pretty red garland and put it on the tree and it looks fab, and it will set off my awesome talking Obama ornament very nicely.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Bake, Bake, Bake
I finished Operation Barn Yard and the pigs were not my friends. The last time I made bacon cookies I experimented with grinding the bacon up in the blender and while I was not thrilled with the results, I should have repeated the experiment. I had a hell of a time trying to roll the dough out thin enough to make it worth my while but not so thin it sprung holes. The other doughs do not spring holes damn it.
The dough just sucked all around, first it was too dry and then it was too wet and then it wouldn't get doughy and it stayed kind of crumbly and it was just not fun. it was too nasty even for the Kitchen Aid to whip into shape and the Kitchen Aid can be a real fascist when it comes to getting its job done. Kitchen Aid wears pointy boots and enjoys your pain. I am very nice to Kitchen Aid.
And then I tried to turn that badly behaved dough into pigs. The pig cutter looks like a pig, it's very cute, very piggy. Sadly, when the cutter hit the dough what it cut out was less cute, the little ear was hard to get right and the pig tail was a nightmare and kept getting nipped off no matter how carefully I pressed down the cutter and pulled away the dough. I did not have this problem with the cows! Subsequently, to my eye, very few of my pigs came out looking like pigs, they looked like bears, bears with very poor posture.
I was very worried about my herd as I put them into the oven, I was seeing a lot of bacon flavored bears and only a few piggies and that that was not working with my theme. Beef flavored cows, chicken flavored chicks, parsley/mint flavored bunnies and pork flavored pigs! I don't know what bear taste like or if its is available in the baking aisle at the grocery and I don't want to have to have an addendum stuffed into every bag explain what those weird bear-pig things are supposed to be. Porky the Bear! Nooooo!
There are no barn yard bears! My cows looked like cows the bunnies looked like bunnies and even the chicks look pretty much avian. They do not look like bears. Thankfully when the pig-bears came out of the oven they came out looking shockingly pig-like, well, a vast majority looked piggy, a few still looked like very pig-like bears. But pig-like. More oinking than whatever noise bears make.
And really, I do know that the dogs care only that the bacon flavored cookies taste like bacon and they could care less about the fact that they look like bears with bad posture. I know that, but the people who hopefully will buy them will know that my some of my pigs look like bears with bad posture and that I do worry about.
I finished Operation Barn Yard and the pigs were not my friends. The last time I made bacon cookies I experimented with grinding the bacon up in the blender and while I was not thrilled with the results, I should have repeated the experiment. I had a hell of a time trying to roll the dough out thin enough to make it worth my while but not so thin it sprung holes. The other doughs do not spring holes damn it.
The dough just sucked all around, first it was too dry and then it was too wet and then it wouldn't get doughy and it stayed kind of crumbly and it was just not fun. it was too nasty even for the Kitchen Aid to whip into shape and the Kitchen Aid can be a real fascist when it comes to getting its job done. Kitchen Aid wears pointy boots and enjoys your pain. I am very nice to Kitchen Aid.
And then I tried to turn that badly behaved dough into pigs. The pig cutter looks like a pig, it's very cute, very piggy. Sadly, when the cutter hit the dough what it cut out was less cute, the little ear was hard to get right and the pig tail was a nightmare and kept getting nipped off no matter how carefully I pressed down the cutter and pulled away the dough. I did not have this problem with the cows! Subsequently, to my eye, very few of my pigs came out looking like pigs, they looked like bears, bears with very poor posture.
I was very worried about my herd as I put them into the oven, I was seeing a lot of bacon flavored bears and only a few piggies and that that was not working with my theme. Beef flavored cows, chicken flavored chicks, parsley/mint flavored bunnies and pork flavored pigs! I don't know what bear taste like or if its is available in the baking aisle at the grocery and I don't want to have to have an addendum stuffed into every bag explain what those weird bear-pig things are supposed to be. Porky the Bear! Nooooo!
There are no barn yard bears! My cows looked like cows the bunnies looked like bunnies and even the chicks look pretty much avian. They do not look like bears. Thankfully when the pig-bears came out of the oven they came out looking shockingly pig-like, well, a vast majority looked piggy, a few still looked like very pig-like bears. But pig-like. More oinking than whatever noise bears make.
And really, I do know that the dogs care only that the bacon flavored cookies taste like bacon and they could care less about the fact that they look like bears with bad posture. I know that, but the people who hopefully will buy them will know that my some of my pigs look like bears with bad posture and that I do worry about.
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