Archives for Category "Journaling"
May 13, 2008
Notify List for TheLittleGuy
Public Service Announcement: I've created an email notify list for TheLittleGuy's arrival. My plan is to add a bunch of people to it that we want to email once TLG decides to make his appearance, but I haven't gotten around to that yet, so if you want to get on it now (and save me some time :-) ), you can feel free to subscribe to:http://groups.google.com/group/tlgnotify/subscribe?hl=en
Note: We promise not to sell the list and will use it only for TLG news, yadda yadda yadda. And, of course, I may not get around to populating this list the way I want to before he shows up - in which case, watch our Twitter feeds, weblogs, and Flickr accounts for news and eventually pictures.
We are entering the stage when he could show up anytime or keep cooking for a few more weeks, so I'm entering triage mode on the ToDo lists. Aiyeeeee...
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May 6, 2008
Random Update - Mostly TLG Stuff
Some free association, just so I don't feel like a totally lame weblogger -Election stuff? I keep wanting to just quote random things and write "That is such bullshit" about them. For example: the "controversy" about Obama's pastor? Bullshit. The lapel pin nonsense? Bullshit. Obama's attitude towards reproductive rights activists? Bullshit. Clinton's pandering? Bullshit. Clinton's anti-economist gas tax nonsense? Bullshit? Everything John McCain says? Total bullshit. Anyway, you get the point. I'm finding it all very boring. Assume, that with rare exceptions, my commentary on almost anything to do with this election would be "That is such bullshit."
The Nationals got off to a horrible start, but are doing much better now. Seriously, the radio guys who call the Nationals games are sometimes really hysterical. Even when they're losing. I expect TheLittleGuy to recognize Charlie Slowes' voice when he's born.
TheLittleGuy got a cute little Nationals outfit at one of the baby showers for him - I look forward to getting a picture of him in it. Speaking of, yes, we've now had three baby showers and we are starting to be well-stocked (at least for the newborn phase) I think. Lots and lots of blue things. And some completely fabulous handmade blankets from TLG's super-creative ~Aunties, grandmother, and great-grandmother. If there are any other blankies in progress for him out there, though, never fear - one can never have too many blankets! I'm hoping to make him a quilt, too, sometime in the first year. Pictures one of these days real soon now...
Most of my mental energy, when not muttering "That is total bullshit" after reading the newspaper, is consumed with trying to stay on top of crap at work and preparing for the impending tsunami of sleep-deprivation and infant care once TLG decides to make an appearance. I have told him that almost any time after this week would be fine - this week is a crazy week at work, though. There are no signs that he's ready to move out anytime soon, though. Oh, for those who missed it, TheLittleGuy has his own Twitter feed now.
There was an earthquake here in Virginia today. We felt it in our house. Wacky times.
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April 21, 2008
Preggers Update
Today's pregnancy update:How do you know you're in your 8th month of pregnancy? You try to leave your office at the end of the day (which is on the 9th floor) and have to stop to pee twice on your way out.
Bladder humor - when you've reached the point where you just succumb to all the indignities...
Sigh.
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April 11, 2008
Siberian Kitties
Awhile back we ended up with a free subscription to Cat Fancy magazine for one reason or another. In the March 2008 issue they featured the "Siberian" cat breed. Reading through it, I realized that of all the cat breeds I've read about, our cats are closest to this one. (They are siblings and were adopted from a shelter - I think they're mutts, but the description of the Siberian breed matches closely - especially to my boy cat, Ubik.) Some snippets:"The fur is shorter on the shoulders and long and feathery on the stomach and britches.The article I'm quoting from doesn't seem to be available online, but there is this short profile.
Stocky, hefty, and muscular... with a sweet facial expression.
Eyes round, ears round, head round and muzzle round
Smart.. active and playful throughout their lives
Paws large and rounded with ample tufts of fur between the toes
A medium-large to large cat, with semi-long to long hair, depending on the season. Body is muscular, heavy-boned and of great strength. Head is a modified, rounded wedge with rounded ears and well-proportioned rounded eyes, giving an overall intelligent and sweet expression.There were several pictures in the article of Siberians that looked like Ubik, too. So cute. Anyway, here's my pseudo-Siberian shelter kitty:
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April 5, 2008
Farewell, Cinba
One of my parents' kitties went to kitty heaven today - he had an aggressive cancer and had stopped eating. Poor baby. We are very sad.
If you have small furry mammals in your house, give them extra scritches today for Cinba-kitty.
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March 29, 2008
Pregnancy Update
So we are into the third trimester (I'm at about 30 weeks) and entering the homestretch, so I figure it's time for a pregnancy update here. I am, of course, keeping a pregnancy blog with all sorts of icky details, but that is closed to all but a select few. If you're interested - particularly if you're pregnant, or thinking about it, or have recently been pregnant, drop me a note. I do think it's important to talk about these things more than we generally do, but don't feel the need to share details of my bodily fluids with the entire Internetz. Anyway, here's some of the scoop so far.First, and least attractively (hehe), if you want to help us prepare for TheLittleGuy's arrival, we have created a couple of baby registries. One is at BuyBuyBaby (what a horrible, horrible name for a store) and the other is at Amazon. Search on my name (or TheGuy's name should get you to the right place, too.) Several people have asked what our color scheme is for the nursery. I say "Nursery?" "Color scheme?" "Buh??" Oh the poor kid, with a pragmatic geek for a mama. First, he'll be sleeping in our room for awhile and he won't be able to see well for months, so we're not fussing too much about a nursery (although we're obviously clearing space for his endless piles of stuff.) Second, we'll wait until he has an opinion and can verbalize it to think about what sort of colors to do his room in. (When I was a child I got to pick a color for my room and chose dark purple - it stayed that way for more than a decade - hope the kid chooses well!)
When TheGuy and I got married, we were all modest and stuff and didn't register anywhere (we were old, too, didn't need a toaster). We even suggested a couple of charities people could donate to. But I am feeling no such nobility with respect to the child. He's going to need a lot of loot! We're fortunate to have super-generous friends around who are helpfully loaning us things, but there's always more that's needed. Hence, the registries. I am finding it very hard not to buy loads of stuff for him -- but we are being disciplined and not buying much of anything until after the baby showers. In particular, I keep seeing plushies I want to get -- but he has a plush bear from his Aunt already for Christmas, and I just must restrain myself!
While I have not enjoyed being pregnant at all, really, there has not been a whole lot of drama so far with one exception. We found out a couple of weeks ago that I'm a cystic fibrosis carrier. There is no history of it in my family, so that was very unexpected. (Given that we, uhh, weren't really working very hard to conceive, there is no way we would have been tested pre-conception.) So, we had to have TheGuy tested. He's not a carrier - at least not of the most common genes - so TheLittleGuy only has about a 1/1000 chance of having it. I figure he's got a 1/1000 chance of any number of weird things just by virtue of being human, so I can now put this back into the set of background worries. But it was a very stressful couple of weeks.
Other than that, and apart from the first trimester puking and general exhaustion all the way through, the worst physical thing for me has been terrible hip aches. (I just try to tell myself this is a productive pain and will make for an easier delivery as the bones are moving apart.) We bought a thick memory foam topper for the mattress, which has helped, but I'm still pretty uncomfortable. And it made me start moving pretty slowly even before he really popped out belly-wise. Emotionally, I find the whole process to be fairly high-stress and high-anxiety -- it's a by-product of being over-educated, I think -- I know far, far too many things that could go wrong at every stage. And my training in software makes me obsess a bit about edge cases and boundary conditions. But thus far, all is checking out pretty normally, although I hold my breath at every appointment until we get the all-clear. At this point, the major thing to worry about is blood pressure/pre-eclampsia. So far, so good, but it can happen suddenly. Rrrrr.
As for TheLittleGuy himself, he's not so little! We've had 3 ultrasounds and he's measured ahead of dates at each one. At the last one they said he was measuring about 2 weeks ahead. I don't have gestational diabetes (which can cause large babies), but I and my sister were both big babies (I was more than 9 pounds and 22.5 inches long when I was born, apparently), and the men in my family are all built like football players, so it looks like we're building a little linebacker. Aside from the whole inflection point of delivery (stretch, little pelvic bones, stretch!) I don't mind - big babies always seems less fragile to me. He has periods of interactivity and he and TheGuy have played pattycake together a few times. But, if it's possible to attribute personality based on the very scant data I get from him moving around, he seems like a mellow kid. (Please, please, please....) He's not kicking and punching the crap out of me like I hear some women talk about. He's just moving and flexing and trying to get comfortable, I think.
TheGuy is managing everything (loads of house stuff/baby-prep and an occasionally sobbing wife) brilliantly so far. However, he did grow his beard out in January and it came in mostly white! I half-way attribute that to an after-effect of the shock of our mutual fertility (after all, who knew???). He's also taken over all of the cat-care duties (including a few vet trips) and various routine activities around the house. For awhile, I couldn't feed the cats because the smell of their food made me puke. Then I was having some reflux issues, so I didn't want to bend over, and now I just plain can't bend over comfortably - so the cats' loyalties have shifted to TheGuy. They even sleep on his side of the bed, now - I probably toss and turn too much for them.
Speaking of the house, we are racing the clock to upgrade a few more appliances and furniture pieces before TheLittleGuy arrives. We just figure it will be easier to deal with all of this before there's an infant in the house - otherwise we'd have spread much of this (and attendant expenses; sigh) out over a year or two, I suspect. The two big things that won't get done are new flooring and interior painting. Those are now deferred for at least a couple of years (unless we move). But, we have gotten a new washer/dryer (to deal with the upcoming piles of laundry), a new hot water heater, and are planning to add a freezer downstairs and replace the range. Oy. And that's just the appliances...
If TheLittleGuy sticks to his schedule, we've got just about two and a half months to get as ready as we can before the massive sleep deprivation begins. Tick, tock. Tick tock.
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January 1, 2008
Happy New Year
2008, here we go! *boggle*My exciting New Year's day included a silly touch typing test. Hehe.
It will also include a few episodes from season 3 of The Wire.
Oh, and I started the 365 Days project over at Flickr. Here's the inaugural shot - me, grubby sweatshirt, unwashed hair. Just call me glamour girl.
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December 30, 2007
Mundane Happenings
Random notes -We traveled over Christmas this year. Drove 2 days, visited for 2, and drove 2 days back. It was a lot of time on the road. And may I just say that the New Jersey turnpike is a hellish pit with horrible rest stops. Once we got into Connecticut and Massachusetts, the difference in quality/cleanliness of rest stops was quite noticeable. I don't know if I just never noticed before, if we never really stopped in New Jersey before, or what, but it was quite striking this time around. Anyway, apart from some rain here and there, we didn't really hit any bad weather, so we lucked out. The visits were nice, but we're glad to be home. Oh, PSA: The Doubletree Hotel in Norwalk, Connecticut hands out warm chocolate chip cookies when you check in -- we stayed there both on the way up and on the way back.
Replacing our low-rent washer and dryer has been on our house list since we bought this place. As often happens, though, events found a way of forcing us to action - the washer started leaking just before we left for our Christmas travels. When we got home, we scampered over to Sears and a new w/d were delivered this morning. We chose a mismatched set - one Whirlpool washer, one Kenmore dryer - cuz y'know, we're all iconoclastic like that. I must say, Sears is vastly superior to Lowe's when it comes to appliances like this. We had an excellent experience both in the store and with respect to delivery at Sears for the w/d and for the fridge we bought awhile back. By contrast, Lowe's was just annoying about the dishwasher we bought from them and they contract with a crummy third-party installation service who damaged our counters and then refused to do anything to make it right. So, I'm back on the Sears train when it comes to major appliances. I am so enjoying (there's already a load in the wash) having more options than on/off for the dryer and hot/warm/cold for the washer. Another bonus: this washer is completely closed off in the back, so there's one less greasy hiding places for the kitties. Sometime in the next month or two, we'll probably be replacing our range as well, and we'll scamper back to Sears (guided by Consumer Reports, of course), to do so. (The only drawback is the gang activity at the mall where Sears is located -- that's a bit, umm, offputting. When we walked out of the store at around 8:45pm there were 3 cop cars, several cops, and 2 kids in handcuffs right there on the sidewalk. I felt like I was in an episode of The Wire -- which we just finished the second season of, by the way -- and starting humming like Ellen DeGeneres in Finding Nemo: "just keep walking, just keep walking.")
I'm thinking about doing a 365 project at Flickr starting on Tuesday the 1st. Either the 365days project - which is to do a self-portrait every day, or Project365, which is to just take a picture every day. Not sure yet, but maybe if I write it down, that will make it more concrete and I'll actually do it.
In the realm of annoying gadgets, my Powerbook battery has decided to give up the ghost. This is the second battery I've had for this thing and it seems to have just died very rapidly. I don't really like the MacBooks and I've heard not great things about the Macbook Pros, so I want this laptop to last at least one more year, which means I'm going to have to order another battery for it soon. On the plus side, I have 3 power supplies that work on this machine, so I've stashed one on each floor of the house where I tend to sit with it as a stopgap solution until I grit my teeth and spend the $130 to get a new battery for it.
I've got lots of things queued up in my head to blog, but as usual: who knows when or if I'll ever get to them. If I do one of the 365 projects, maybe that will help inspire me to post more here, too, in 2008. We'll see.
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December 19, 2007
Christmas Meme-age
It's lazy blogger time!1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
Paper, but with the occasional gift bag (usually re-used) thrown in.
2. Real or Artificial tree?
So far real, when we put up a tree. We don't have a tree this year due to our schedules.
3. When do you put up the tree?
Sometime in the first half of December. Like to have time to enjoy it before it comes down again.
4. When do you take the tree down?
Around New Year's.
5. Do you like eggnog?
Yes, if it's well-made.
6. Favorite Gift you received as a child?
Dunno - I'm old, it's been a long time.
7. Do you have a nativity scene?
I own a small white ceramic one (it was a gift) and sometimes I put it out.
8. Hardest person to buy for?
Many people are hard to buy for.
9. Easiest person to buy for?
Well, if I'm being lazy, then that would be TheGuy, because his AMZN wishlist is very handy.
10. Worst Christmas gift ever received
Don't really have any bad Christmas gift recollections.
11. Christmas Cards?
Yes, but this year they'll be late. May be Valentine's Day cards at the rate things are going.
12. Favorite Christmas Movie?
Don't really have one.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
January -- at least, I start making the list, then.
14. Have you ever "recycled" a Christmas present?
Not that I recall (although it could have happened.)
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
No one thing in particular.
16. Clear lights or colored or both on the tree?
So far I've just used colored, but could see trying clear at some point. Or blue. Or something.
17. Favorite Christmas Song?
This year it's a toss-up between "River" (which is not really a Christmas song) and "In the bleak midwinter" (which may not be either). We have several versions of each in our iTunes library and I'm really enjoying them.
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?
We roughly alternate, but sometimes we even change up that pattern.
19. Can you name Santa's Reindeer?
Yes.
20. Do you have an Angel or a Star on top of your tree?
Neither.
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or Christmas Morning?
Christmas morning.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year?
Grinches.
23. Favorite Christmas tradition?
Probably just being able to listen to Christmas music.
24. Family member you always try to stay away from during the holidays?
Oh, there's more than one.
25. Do you attend any actual religious services in celebration?
Only occasionally.
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November 23, 2007
Thanks
We had a nice Thanksgiving yesterday - hope you all did, too. I think our turkey came out particularly well this time. We adjusted the brine slightly this year. Today is a mellow day of relaxing with warm comfy clothes and warm comfy cats (not to mention warm comfy husband).A friend of mine on LJ wrote that she was thankful for resources, connection, and community. I like that list, so I'll say "me too" to that. We have had an especially supportive community of late in ways large and small -- ranging from a long-lost cousin I'm back in touch with to our veterinarian (of 7 years) who, like all the good docs, really treats the whole family, not just the kitties themselves.
I'm listening to Jane Monheit's debut album this afternoon -- new-to-us -- really nice stuff. I think I'll get the rest of her albums over time. Here's a youtube of her performing a Christmas song in Washington in 2005. Except for the shot of Dubya and the Stepfirst-lady, it's nice. Looks like they're at the National Building Museum.
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November 17, 2007
This and That
Did anyone notice that it's November? And Thanksgiving is early this year? Yeah. Eek! We made our first trip to the grocery store this morning to start stocking up on turkey day goodies. I think my apple pie this year will have three kinds of apples in it. Yummm. I started playing Christmas music yesterday. Not sure that TheGuy is totally thrilled about that, so I try to restrain myself to when he's not around - at least until after Thanksgiving proper. Hee.One public service announcement: if you're like me, and like to wear soft, warm cotton things in the fall and winter -- you must feast your eyes on this year's holiday Land's End catalog. They must have a new layout/design person or something, because it is excellent. It's a mostly solid green color with a little Christmas tree light motif on the bottom (at this moment it's the top catalog listed on this page - you can request one of your very own). I am feeling the urge to buy several of every article of clothing I like in there in various colors. Well done, advertising people! (Their quality and stitching is generally very good, too.)
We've got a few small house projects -- well, purchases really -- to try to do this winter, among them a new range for the kitchen. After the big (expensive) projects of the yard and the windows, it will be nice to tackle things that are somewhat more manageable. This week's will be the last turkey we cook on this old range, I suspect. I'm also feeling another massive purge in our future -- both clothes (before the end of '07, so we can claim the donation on the tax return), and more books. In fact, if I weren't trapped under a cat, I might be working on a closet purge right now. But the kitty is so warm and cute!
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November 12, 2007
Media Rundown
Gah - the political stuff is so ghastly, and the environmental stuff such a nightmare, and the economic picture so depressing -- I can't bring myself to weblog about any of that stuff. How about recent personal media consumption, instead? Bread and circuses, yes! Let's see...I recently Vernor Vinge's The Peace War -- not nearly up to Deepness in the Sky or Fire Upon the Deep, unfortunately. But better than Rainbows End.
Lately I've been finding the Netflix movies I've been getting so boring that about a third of the way I browse over to Wikipedia to read the summary and see whether I want to bother to finish it. The answer was 'no', for example, for both Transamerica (however much I appreciate Felicity Huffman's work and Dolly Parton's song) and Notting Hill. I did, over the last few weeks, power through the bulk of Babylon 5 again. It's still good, 10 years later. Makes me think that I should probably try something like The Wire which gets rave reviews from everyone I know who's seen it, or Six Feet Under, which we only saw the first one or two seasons of. Extended stories may be where it's it at for me for awhile with respect to teevee/movies.
Most recently in music I've been listening to the new A.J. Roach and the new Bruce Springsteen. I've also given a listen or two to Morcheeba's The Big Calm album, which I bought after someone pointed me to a song of theirs. And, TheGuy had the brilliant idea to create a 'Sleepy' playlist for me to play when I'm not able to sleep very well. Been listening to that a lot, too. It includes selected songs (almost 500 of them) from artists such as: Ray Lamontagne, Sarah McLachlan, Randall Bramblett, Iron & Wine, Enya, Norah Jones, Nightnoise, Alison Krauss, Emmylou Harris, Cowboy Junkies, Harry Belafonte, Clannad, Sting, and many more. It's great - each of us keep thinking of things to add to it.
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November 4, 2007
Remembering Often Makes me Cringe
Xeney just put up a post noting, among other things, that she's been online-journalling for 10 years. She writes:I do read my own archives, not often, but at times when I need to. And sometimes they make me cringe, but more often they make me nostalgic, like looking at bad photographs from ten years ago: at the time you want to burn those photos because you look fat or you have bad hair or you can't believe you ever wore that plaid thing, but years down the road you just marvel at how young you were, at how much you still had to learn. Years later you cut yourself some slack and wish you'd gone a little easier on that girl.I don't think there's ever been a time in my life when I didn't look back 5 years and just cringe at myself. It's why I tend not to read my archives, actually, or look at old pictures, or reflect much at all, because I just end up embarrassed with myself. (Of course, I'm the type who can still remember things that happened in 5th grade and be embarrassed about them.) Things I wish I'd done differently, not done, or thought to do. It's almost never about what clothes I wore or car I drove or anything like that - it's usually some interaction or way of doing things that I just wish I'd been smarter, smoother, or more mature about. Probably the people who were the other parts of those interactions don't remember at all (I can hope, anyway), but if I think back too much, I start remembering all sorts of crap I wish I'd done differently or better. TheGuy would say that I'm altogether too hard on myself and that's probably true on a level. It's a hard, hard habit to break, though.
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October 18, 2007
Presented Without Comment
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October 6, 2007
Meme-ity, Meme, Meme
A meme making some LJ rounds. I liked this one. It made me think.20 Years Ago, I... was in high school and still on the math team before I quit because the boys on it were punks and the girls not on it were mean to me about it. I have since become much more thick-skinned.
15 Years Ago, I... was in college in a stupid relationship, but acing my courses. I was also spending a lot of time chatting online with B. (I still spend a lot of time chatting online with B.)
10 Years Ago, I... was in graduate school and had just spent the summer interning at BigComputerCo. Had a nice apartment, an ok but not great relationship, and was a pretty miserable graduate student.
5 Years Ago, I... was already in my current job and had just released one of my biggest impact reports, had married TheGuy (not the same relationship from previous), had bought the house we're currently living in, and had 'helped' at the birth of TheNamesake.
2 Years Ago, I... had just taken a short vacation on the coast of Maine and was, with colleagues, working on the process of digging out from a huge, huge mess at work.
1 Year Ago, I.... was dealing with 2 major report reviews and starting a new project at work, enjoying our backyard overhaul, and probably still cleaning up the house from our 5th wedding anniversary party.
So far this year, I've... released 4 reports for work, visited Virginia Beach for the first time, put all new windows on the house, become a member of Crackberry Nation, and tried (somewhat successfully) to send more snailmail notes to people.
Yesterday, I... had an offsite meeting in Virginia, went swimming, and had a steak for dinner with a friend visiting from out of town.
Today, I... did not get enough sleep and then sanded, primed, and repainted our front step railings with TheGuy.
Tomorrow, I'll... do a short volunteer stint, have a late lunch, do a bit of work (maybe), and drop my friend at the airport.
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September 23, 2007
New iPod Accessory aka Consumer Endorphin Rush
Here is my new iPod Classic - after my old black-and-white, no-video iPod died earlier this year, I stuck to using just my shuffle while waiting for Apple to announce the new iPods. I got this one just before my trip to California this past week. It was very handy, and watching movies on it on the plane wasn't too bad.
We've actually managed pretty well - and I've been proud of us for it - with just one car. But TheGuy got a job a few miles away from the house and started commuting. So that constrained things a bit more. And then, over the last year or so, there have just been increasing moments when it would be handy to have a second vehicle. Our lifestyle has changed a bit (rather, is continually evolving, I guess) and having just one car when not within easy walking distance of the Metro just won't cut it anymore.
Add to that the fact that there are things that just don't fit in the Civic for pickup and hauling and we decided that it was time to get a second car, AND one that added functionality to the household. In other words, not just another Civic (which we've been perfectly happy with, with the exception of a couple of things.)
So, I started poking around. I originally had my eye on a Toyota Matrix, but a colleague reminded me that she and I rode in one as a rental on a work trip once and it was a piece of crap. My *dream* car right now is the Lexus crossover... but... how shall we say it? Umm. No! Not until I win the Powerball.
The CR-V seems good because it handles like a car (is a car base, and 4-cyinder), but gives us the extra room we want and a few bells and whistles neither of us have ever had on a car before. Together, we've been driving for about 40 years and have had a total of 6 cars between us -- that's not too bad... The Civic is paid for, so we'll have just the one car payment and we hope that each of these Hondas will last a very long time.
The dealership experience was annoying as always, but TheGuy thinks I did a good job negotiating. We got taken on a few of the fees, but I just can't bring myself to be enough of an asshole, and of course they count on that. :-/
The most amusing part to me is that we haven't given anyone any money yet. We just said: "oh, we'll finance through my credit union" and they said: "Ok, bring us the check this week." So hopefully the credit union will give me the money! Ha. (I'm sure Honda ran a credit check on me, though.)
What a world, though --
"No, really, I'm good for it.."
"Ok lady, [...putter around for four hours doing not much of anything...] here are the keys to your car - see you later!"
I am more excited than this retelling conveys, I think. The Civic has become basically 'TheGuy's car' - as he uses it daily to get back and forth to work. So I feel like I've been without a car for a long time. And this one is nice, and while I *heart* Al Gore, I'm still a rural America chick at heart who assigns more significance to my carbon-producing conveyance device than I should. Still, this gets decent gas mileage and will be used as an occasional vehicle, not an every day vehicle. (TheGuy is still going to drop me at Metro in the mornings using the Civic.) To assuage some of my guilt, I'm thinking about getting a "Save the Bay" license plate. *cackle* (I'm already a member of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation... )
So that was our big news this weekend. I took it to the pool this morning and while TheGuy's off at his usual Sunday gig I'm going to pick up some stuff at the cleaners.. and who knows what else? Maybe stop at a Starbuck's! Oooooo.... ;-)
There are more pics in this set at Flickr.
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September 15, 2007
A Good Day
I had a really good day today. I had to cancel getting together with friends (which was not good) because somehow a cross-country trip I'm leaving on tomorrow had slipped my mind. Yes, I am lame. Really, I think I was just blocking it out because I don't want particularly want to go. But I'll manage.But, the day was good, anyway. First of all, I think fall is coming. We woke up and it was just stunningly good weather -- clear sky, fresh air, nice breeze, moderate temperature. We went swimming, and then came home and opened up all the (new!) windows in the house for the day. Got home, changed, and started working on laundry, housework, filing, organizing, and preparing to pack for the trip. I'm almost always super-productive in the house right before a trip because I hate coming back to leftover tasks or clutter. Also began messing around with the process of ripping DVDs for my new iPod so I can watch some on the plane tomorrow. Had that process running in the background while doing all sorts of other stuff around the house. Ran out and did a few errands, grabbed a salad at Panera as an early lunch (really, we should buy stock in Panera), came back home, and continued housework.
At some point I suggested we get an early dinner at Mike's since I'll be gone for a few days. So we did that - no wait; woot - came back, turned the baseball game on, and I started packing. My packing list is pretty refined, but every time I travel I find something to change about it. Eventually closed up all the windows and then I took a nice hot soak while waiting for the last DVD to rip. The Nationals beat the Braves. The house has been aired out. My iPod has a color screen and plays videos now. And TheGuy and the kitties are great companions. Nothing particularly out of the ordinary today - just a good-energy, productive, yet relaxing day.
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September 14, 2007
Book Purge - Phase I
Proof that the long-discussed book purge is actually happening:
There will be another round after these have been dropped off at our local library. But this is a nice chunk. It's still painful for me - after putting this pile together, they sat in the closet for about a year! But, even with this chunk leaving, we have not been able to reduce the number of bookshelves in the house. And stuff has a way of just accreting and encroaching, and without deliberate attempts to purge, purge, purge, it will all just become overwhelming. So, these books will go to the library. We've got another box of other kinds of stuff filling up for Goodwill. And as the season changes, it's just about time to go through the closets for clothes to be rid of. Out, out, damned stuff!
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September 2, 2007
6th Anniversary
We celebrate our wedding anniversary on September 1st, and yesterday was our 6th. Happy anniversary to us! Doesn't feel to me like it's been 6 years - on the other hand, a lot has happened in the last 6 years! TheGuy sent me some roses (among other things). In this pic you can see some of the roses, and a couple of our new windows (heh - which, really, we should call this year's joint anniversary present!).
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August 28, 2007
Lyric of the Day
I seem to be spending my evenings with the iMac after dinner and chores. Too funny. It's only been a few days -- maybe the excellentness will wear off after awhile. And the Nats are on the west coast, so baseball (which we'd usually have on in the background while doing other stuff) doesn't start until late, anyway. Putter, putter with snazzy computer. And I just uploaded a bunch more pictures to Flickr. There was a complaint (heh) that there weren't enough Myszka pictures, so I dug up a few more of her.Anyway, lots of iTunes tonight. Today's lyric of the day is from Cohen's "Everybody Knows":
Everybody knows that the dice are loaded
Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed
Everybody knows that the war is over
Everybody knows the good guys lost
Everybody knows the fight was fixed
The poor stay poor, the rich get rich
That's how it goes
Everybody knows
Everybody knows that the boat is leaking
Everybody knows that the captain lied
Everybody got this broken feeling
Like their father or their dog just died
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August 5, 2007
New Windows and Book Purge Progress
For those keeping track, our new windows were installed on Friday. Already, there is a significant difference in how hot the upstairs becomes. Not to mention, they look great and are wonderfully easy to use. So, yay! I took a few pictures of the installation and will post them as soon as I can find the little gadget that lets me move images from the camera to the computer.In other news, again for those keeping track, not only did I pull some more books off the shelves in my office to eventually leave the house as part of the big book purge of, uhh, 2005-20??, but a few books have actually left the house (instead of just being piled higher and higher in the closet). Shocker! We had a houseguest last weekend who got first dibs on going through the pile and taking away anything of interest. So - progress on that front, too.
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July 24, 2007
Another ~Niece Portrait
Another portrait shot of NieceTheThird taken this weekend (she's 7 months). I printed this one. The thing I find so fascinating about babies faces (well, some babies faces) is that you can see a glimpse of their grown-up face and personality if you look at them just right.
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July 23, 2007
Of a Certain Age
Just an anecdotal observation, but for the record (and hey, it's my blog)..In just the past two weeks, two friends of mine - both women, both mid-to-late-30s - have faced situations at work where the obvious answer is to promote each of them to a leadership position. In both situations another individual, a man, junior in rank or qualification, is also apparently under serious consideration for the job, against all logic and in contradiction to previous discussions with my friends. Funny, that.
When I was in my early 20s I listened to and believed the feminists of a certain age who said that once you're no longer a cute young thang and have become serious competition for leadership--especially over other ambitious men, that that's when the glass ceiling really begins to make its appearance. I've seen my own effectiveness diminish in certain ways as I'm no longer the precocious and bright youngster (ain't she precious.. walks, talks, and thinks!), but instead become the authoritative and doesn't-want-to-deal-with-bullshit (approaching) middle-aged woman. ("A woman? Said no to me? Me? Mr. BIGSHOT?? How dare she!" I paraphrase, of course.) I've talked to women a decade or more older than me who have warinesses I'm only beginning to acquire. But acquiring them quickly, I am. There's a reason, after all, that age discrimination protections kick in at 40.
It's all so very, very depressing.
My vacation is over. I have to go back to work tomorrow. From peeks at my email box, multiple piles of messes to untangle await me. Ohhh. Joy.
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Virginia Beach -- First Impressions
We made our first trip to Virginia Beach this month. Spent 3 nights in the new Hilton on the north end of the beach on the boardwalk. We'd been thinking about heading to the Outer Banks, but since VA Beach is closer, we figured we might as well try that first. I just wanted "beach" (as in the ocean) for part of my vacation.My impression before we got there was that Virginia Beach is basically kind of a tourist pit. And parts of it definitely are. However, parts of it are being spruced up. The Hilton we stayed in is only a couple of years old, and there's another resort hotel going up practically next door to it. Also, the beach is just fabulous. It was busy, but not too busy while we were there. We could find space for a beach blanket near the water - and early morning walks were excellent. (Since we're cautious about too much sun, we walked the beach in the early morning, and then swam in the late afternoon, avoiding peak sun and peak crowds.) There is something truly atavistically compelling about the ocean - I could just bob in the waves for a very long time.
We'll be going back. Here are a few pics of the pretty water.
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July 21, 2007
House Projects (and Projects and Projects and Projects)
We officially have too many house projects to choose from. Put another way, we have not enough money (can't win Powerball unless I buy a ticket - I know, I know) to just do them all at once and are trying to figure out what to do next. We've done a number of upgrades and fixes over the years and are now trying to decide where the best leverage is, assuming we'll eventually sell this place. That is, if there are things that we'll be told we need to do when we put the house on the market, we'd rather do (at least some of) them now and in the near-term, so that we can enjoy them for a bit ourselves. So we talked to a real estate agent this morning about what the place needs and what kinds of things she would suggest we prioritize.Most of the things she recommended were already on my list. And a couple of things on my list, she said not to bother with. Basically, there's a huge list of things that could help when and if we eventually sell. So now we have to decide what order we're going to start doing these things in. I don't have the list in front of me at the moment, but some of the things we're considering (in no particular order), are:
- New flooring - all levels. The carpet on the main level is really rather skanky, so we definitely want to get that replaced (by hardwood or another carpet, not sure).
- New range/oven - again, our old range is original (read: old and not functioning well), so that needs to go sooner rather than later as I'd like to get some use out of a nice new range.
- New vanity in the master bath.
- New flooring in kitchen and master bath.
- Reface the cabinets in the kitchen? Sigh. I'd been hoping to avoid this.
- Front landscaping.
- Paint interior. Been putting this off as well - mainly because of the disruption. And having to choose colors.
- Get rid of tons of our crap if we ever want to show this place. I go into open houses a lot and we'll probably have to remove about 1/3 to 1/2 of our crap to show this house well. That's not for awhile (unless a miracle (aka DIVE housing market, DIVE DIVE!) happens), but something to keep in mind as I load up piles for Goodwill.
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