Welcome to my wonderful, terrible, soap opera sit-com world.
Monday, January 31, 2005
SHE'S A MANIAC
PMS.
Gotta love it.
So this weekend continued in a great vein and we got to meet some wonderful new Oklahoma friends at the birthday party. We had a real blast and can't wait to see more of them. We also met two couples who live in our apartment complex, at the same party, and so now we don't feel quite so "alone" here. None of them work with S. at the base although they're all military, so we don't know how much we'll actually end up seeing of them. At least we have someone to wave to in the driveway if we pass one another coming and going.
S. has a 'productivity day' today so he's off work, and I'm close to finishing up for the day. We're going to go check out the Asian supermarket up the way, as we've heard some good things about it and I'm in the mood to spice up my pantry a little with some more Asian specialites and ingredients.
And yet, although I'm all in ethnic-food-mood, I made homemade Chicken Pot Pie for dinner last night (at S.'s request). How American-comfort-food can you get?
My mom's been calling me asking me what I want for my birthday. I'm so not a 'gimme' person, that I can't even think of shit like that when I get asked. Plus, we just had Xmas, and I feel like I have more stuff that I have places for it. But I AM turning 35, and that's kind of a milestone age, so I figure maybe I can get a deep side 5 qt covered sautee pan out of it. Hey, a girl can dream.
Okay well, gotta get back to some typing, I"ve got a load of laundry in, we just had lunch and the sun hasn't really come out yet (grey and gloomy and rainy here). Maybe I can talk S. into taking me out for dinner tonight since I cooked such a great meal last night and since we almost NEVER have evenings together any more since he's on Swing Shift.
Oh, but I have to be home in time to watch Trading Spouses.
My life, she is so hard.
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Friday, January 28, 2005
FRIDAYS I'M IN LOVE
I am home from a WONDERFUL evening out "on the town" - or rather "on the mall" - with the wonderful Non-Blogging Kay.
Not only did I get door-to-door chauffeur service for the evening, but the car was WARM when I got in it, and I enjoyed a few hours of some fabulous company.
We went HERE and I shopped HERE and bought some of this and some of this in "Sandalwood Rose," and got one of these for free.
Then we went here and picked up two calendars for $3 each, since we didn't have real calendars yet... so I got South Park and Muscle Cars. Whichever S. doesn't want, I'll take, or vice-versa.
Then we went to Ichiban and had some sushi, which for fast-food-ish mall food court sushi, was pretty good... but I'm gonna get Kay over to Tokyo Sushi w/me one night and we'll have another good time there, too!
AND I wanted to go back to Godiva but didn't, and I could have walked out of Origins with like $50 worth of stuff without even blinking, but I didn't.
And we also went here and spent SO much time in there gawking at all the wonderous and fabulous kitchen stuff that's available for the people who want to spend the money... but we both got out of there relatively cheaply. Kay came home with this and I left there with kind-of-this... a bottle to make Lemon Drops with and sugar-rimmer for same, plus a spicy cocktail glass rimmer for bloody marys. Cocktail party at Rose's house!!
Oh, man, was that such a nice evening. Now I'm home, there are 3 NetFlix that came in the mail today, the dog has been out for his walk, the snow is mostly melted, and I'm thinking of trying out that Lemon Drop mix.
Hey, it could be fabulous! Don't knock it!
Kay, thanks for a great evening out. This is definitely Rose's Social Weekend, as tomorrow we go to a birthday party and hang out with some more new friends. Maybe I'm finally settling in.
Just maybe.
I'm still staring down the barrel of 35 years old and waiting desperately for my real four-day weekend.
But I had a great Friday night!
UPDATE: I would like to say that I've made myself a Lemon Drop with the Williams-Sonoma Meyer Lemon, Lemon Drop Cocktail Mix and corresponding glass-froster sugar-dip.
MmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmMMMMMMM!
Not only is the cocktail mix PERFECT for a 1/2 vodka, 1/2 mixer, cocktail... the sugar rim-froster is ABSOLUTELY awesome. There's some citrus in the sugar itself, but there is also - which is not listed on the label of the tin - some type of minty goodness in it that makes my lip and tongue tingle.
Being a big fan of the citrus-mint combination, I'd like to whole-heartedly recommend this to anyone who is a fan of the martini cocktail or the Lemon Drop... at the WS we were in today they also had Bloody Mary mix (I got the salt for same) and Cosmopolitan Mix plus rim-froster sugar... I think I'm going to have to go back and get me some of the Cosmo mix just to make it a perfect set. Awesome.
DEEEElish!
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Here's what I did:
In a small saucepan I put about half a cup of vegetable oil because I did not have any olive oil. To that pan I added six or seven cloves of garlic, completely pulverized. Chopped into teensy weensy little bits. I then turned that burner onto "low," and heated up the oil so as to infuse it with the garlic.
While that was happening and before the oil got to bubbling slightly, I zested one lemon and took HALF of that lemon zest and put it in the pan with the garlic to infuse the oil with lemony goodness. You know, zest it into strips. Save the other half.
On low I let the oil bubble lightly until the garlic JUST starts to look kind of a honey color, and then I take it off the heat. At tha tpoint I strain a little bit out and put it in a skillet (to cook the shrimp with) and then I add some salt, pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, basil, and oregano to the garlic/lemon oil off heat and let it steep.
Sizzle up the shrimp in the garlic oil, cook up pasta (i used mini penne)
When the shrimp are done and removed from heat and the pasta is nearly al dente , melt a half a stick of butter into the garlic oil sauce and then squeeze the juice of half a lemon into it and bring it back to the boil.
Put the shrimp in the skillet. Put the pasta on top of the shrimp. Pour the garlic/lemon/pepper sauce over top and toss.
Sprinkle with about 3 tbsp of red onion finely diced, and the remainder of the lemon zest. Serve.
Deeeeeeee-lish.
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Only in Oklahoma, man, could we go from 70 degrees two days ago to a SNOWSTORM. I was going to get S. up and around, and went to weather.com to find out what to expect for the day when it said, "light snow."
"Light snow," I said to myself, "bullshit, rain maybe." And I opened my windows to see the following.
NOW... if you looked out over the pool or out to the parking lot it is currently snowing SO HARD and the flakes are SO BIG that it's not only covering EVERYTHING in a blanket of white, but it's actually hard to see two buildings over.
SNOW SNOW SNOW SNOW SNOW SNOW SNOW SNOW SNOW SNOW SNOW!!!!!!
UPDATE: See all the places in the pictures above that are NOT covered with white stuff? They are now covered with white stuff. Based on balcony railings and pool deck and other things around here, I am guessing in the last hour we've had about an inch of snow. S. is now preparing to take the dog out into his first REAL TASTE OF REAL SNOW... I told him to take the camera. Maybe I'll get some interesting photos when he gets back up here.
And it is still snowing.
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Thursday, January 27, 2005
ZIPPITY DOO-DAH.
Happiness is:
- Getting a new chair mat so my nifty wheeled chair can move more easily and I don't risk ruining the carpet.
- Making homemade shrimp scampi with homemade garlic oil, lemon zest, and crushed red pepper, and having hubby devour it.
- Knowing I'm going to go hang out with a new friend tomorrow night.
- Knowing I'm going to go hang out with more new friends Saturday night.
- Knowing that my dog took a normal poop today. Shut up. It's true.
- Taking a nap at 3pm and not waking up until 5:30pm.
- Vanilla bean ice cream.
- Watching The Apprentice.
- Making the decision that I ***WILL*** take off my birthday from work and I ***WILL*** take off Valentine's Day from work, giving myself a true-to-life four-day weekend with absolutely no fucking work.
- The chance of a little rain in the middle of the night but hopefully not a lot of rain tomorrow.
- The possibility of sushi tomorrow night.
- Another 'record week' income-wise.
- A husband who loves me.
- A true, alive, organic foot warmer in form of my cat who insists on sitting on my feet while I work.
- Being tired enough that maybe I'll have a fucking dream tonight that doesn't involve my truck getting stolen or a wedding being broken up or something else fantastically bad.
I'm just tired, you guys. Tired, tired, tired, tired, tired. But at least I'm not sick.
I should add that to the list, but I'm too lazy.
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Wednesday, January 26, 2005
DUELLING BANJOS
So this guy gets in a car accident and he's on the phone with the insurance company trying to get them to pay him money to fix whatever-the-hell is wrong, with either him or his car. The following is not a segment of an official transcript, but will give you an idea...
Q: And what is your name?
A: (man says his name)
Q: And your Social Security number?
A: What do you need that for?
Q: For identification purposes. (note: if an insurance company is asking for your SS number, and you are claiming you were injured or are planning to get any money from an accident settlement, you need to give them that number at some point.)
I: I don't see why you need that.
Q: Okay. How about your driver's license number?
I: Same thing. That's mine. Why do you need that?
Q: For identification purposes.
I: I told you my name, that should be enough.
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Fuckwit.
I understand why one would be cautious about giving out one's social security number over the telephone to someone they don't know for sure, but you HAVE to give them SOMETHING or they can't prove that it's you.
How do I know this?
Because once-upon-a-time, I did a set of recorded statements for a car accident. And one of them was the adjuster calling what should have been a 17 year old boy, the driver of one of the cars.
And the kid's grandfather answered the phone, and he SOUNDED like a shriveled up little old prune, and he was a crotchety old man, and he kept saying he was the kid.
It was kind of like this (not a segment of an official transcript):
Q: And your name?
A: Billy.
Q: And how old are you, Billy?
A: I know you've got that in your paperwork over there.
Q: For the record I just need you to tell me how old you are.
A: For cripes sake. I'm uh, well, I'm 17.
Q: And what is your date of birth, Billy?
A: Uh... my date of birth? If you know I'm 17, why do you need that?
Q: For identification purposes.
A: (obviously rustling through papers) Uh, well, my date of birth, that's uh, I mean, well, I don't have to tell you that.
Q: Are you sure you're Billy?
A: Of course I'm Billy.
Q: And you're 17.
A: Isn't that what I said?
Q: And who do you live with?
A: With my uh, my grandfather.
Q: And what is his name?
A: (grandfather's name)
Q: And what is his date of birth?
A: (grandfather's date of birth)
Q: Are you sure this is Billy?
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This little old fart went through the whole interview, all hour's worth of it (because every time he didn't know something about Billy, he caused a scene about why he "shouldn't have to say"... and pretended that he was his 17 year old grandson who had wrecked his car. So the whole interview ended up having to be thrown out because it was all, of course, hearsay.
AND... how did we know this?
Because one day the adjuster called back without saying they'd be calling back first, and got Billy on the phone, and took HIS recorded statement after confirming that he had never had one recorded before.
So. THAT, you hillbilly fucktard, is why you have to give some kind of identifying information besides just your name, when you want the insurance company to pay you money. Cheeseandrice, people, christ on a cracker. Get with the program.
HILLBILLY UPDATE: After the adjuster repeatedly asking for clarification, we are still in the middle of a clusterfuck. (not a segment of an official transcript)
Q: Sir, I need to ask you to be more clear. You keep saying "she" this and "her" that, but there are two women in the accident.
A: Uh huh.
Q: So I need you to be more specific.
A: Uh huh. Well there was the lady in the car, and there was the lady in the truck, and she went trucking across the parking lot -
Q: Uh, sir -
A: So she put on her brakes and she slid into her. Now she was parked behind this other lady at the back of the building, kind of at an angle, and when she parked she got stuck behind her...
Q: Uh, sir...
A: Yeah?
Q: I need you to be more specific. Who slid into whom?
A: The car. Slid into the truck.
Q: Who was parked at an angle behind the building?
A: I have no idea.
And anyone has any doubt ever, why I might hear duelling banjos in my head, or mutterings of Special Ed from Crank Yankers? I'VE GOT MAIL! YAY! YAY! YAY! I'VE GOT BIG BOY HAIR!
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Tuesday, January 25, 2005
DREAM LOVER, SO I DON'T HAVE TO DREAM ALONE
Before I get started, let me just say that the weather is 70 degrees out, and all the windows and screendoors in the apartment are open, and I am airing this mother out. It needs it, the temperature is FABULOUS, and I wish I felt a little better physically to be able to enjoy it.
Found out (thank you, Dr. Ross) that the flu vaccine they gave S. the other day may have been a live, rather than a killed, vaccine, which is possibly why we are exhibiting some symptoms. S. is finally starting to feel better, so hopefully tomorrow will be my day.
And on that note, here's a little more about S.
Just another reason why my husband is perfect for me.
I get up this morning and was having one of those dreams where I had to orient myself. You know, things are so real and you awake with a start, which means you have to tell yourself things like:
Okay. I'm in my bed. Is this my bed? I'm in bed. There's my ceiling fan. This is my bedroom. What day is it? It must be Tuesday. It's 4:00 a.m. I have two hours left to sleep. Is it really 4:00? Am I awake? Okay, it's 4:00. I have two hours.
And then of course,
Fuckers.
So I had this dream all about how my husband and I were getting married again. Except instead of walking down the aisle we were walking in a circle. And instead of being in front of a judge it was a "real" wedding with friends and family present. And my mother and sister showed up and ruined the whole thing, then left right before the vows, asked us to wait for them to come back, and just never came back. So it's not like
So when I woke up I was all freaked at my wedding being ruined. Great.
I got out of bed just after 6 and did my thang, and was so frustrated that I ended up banging on the coffeegrinder which woke up S. We talked briefly, I told him I had a bad dream, and he went back to bed.
At 9:15 when I wandered in to
S: Hey. So I had a dream.
Me: Yeah?
S: Yeah. it's the dream you would have wanted to have, actually.
Me: Yeah?
S: Yeah. So I'm making cookies with Michael Chiarello.
Me: WHAT?
S: Yeah. We were cooking together. Actually, we were making some kind of a TV show, now that I think about it.
Me: You and Michael Chiarello. Were making cookies. On television.
S: Yeah. But we weren't making cookies as much as we were watching other people make cookies. We were hosting a show about people making cookies. And then they had to make their cookies, and we were judging which cookies were the best.
Me: You were a cookie judge.
S: Yeah. Except one of the chefs -
Me: Chefs? You were judging chefs?
S: Yeah.
Me: Anybody famous?
S: No. Nobody I'd recognize. So his one chef, right, he's making this pastry thing and it's not really a cookie, it's kind of a little pastry pocket.
Me: Like puff pastry, or like phyllo dough pastry, or like the pastry in cream puffs? (Note: I am a gynormous food geek, fear me)
S: I don't know, kind of like a croissant.
Me: Okay, go ahead.
S: And so he's making this pastry pocket but it's got like, grilled chicken, and broccoli, and some kind of cheese in it.
Me: So a cookie, not so much, then.
S: Right, but I'm looking at the thing and it looks really good, right? And we aren't exactly supposed to be sampling these things as they come "off the line," but the guy pulls it out of the oven and I think it looks great so I grab one and I take a bite of it. Mmmmm. Cheesy. (looks like he can actually taste it)
Me: So you ate it?
S: I didn't just eat it, I got Michael to look over and I went like this (*points to dream-Michael, points to dream-food, puts dream-food in mouth, gives thumbs-up*)
Me: What happened?
S: The chef said I was an asshole for eating his food before it was ready. So he lost.
Me: For calling you an asshole, even though his food was good.
S: Yeah. can't win if you're calling me an asshole.
I
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Monday, January 24, 2005
MONDAY MORNING, CAME WITHOUT WARNING
urgh.
I swear to god, I had interesting things to blog about. Fabulous things! Interesting! Amazing things! A jaunt through a not-so-typical day in my life, culminating in things that would give even the most serious of readers a deep belly laugh and make them shake their heads! With wonder! And awe!
And then I woke up.
And it was Monday.
Today was strange, not only because it was Monday but because I think I'm getting sick, and the hubby is most definitely feeling kind of sick. This sucks beyond major ass suckage not only because I hate being sick, but because we have a party to go to this weekend that I am looking forward to more than words can possibly express, and if I'm half way ill I'm not going to go.
And that, my friends, would suck major moldy ass.
I think it may have all started yesterday when I decided (on Sunday) that I was going to work, even though I really didn't want to work, to try to finish up a project by a deadline that I forgot I had. *clunks head on desk*
So aside from a few much needed and much enjoyed chat breaks with friends local and nationwide and worldwide, I worked until about 10pm last night.
Now, don't get me wrong. Overall, our weekend was pretty good. I mean, we went to the jeweler and picked up my (amazing beautiful wonderful now-fits-me-perfectly gorgeous) ring and I've worn it with pride since. (Thank you baby!) And we also had some amazing Posole soup at the Mexican place up the road, which has inspired me to make my own. And we had pizza for the first time in probably over a month, on Friday night. Which was yummy AND was a bonus because I was tired and didn't rightly want to cook. But that's okay because pizza is what S. wanted, and since he passed his USAF physical training test with flying colors, he was certainly entitled to pizza (and after he got home from work, beer) to celebrate. We were up until about 2am watching movies (Napoleon Dynamite, I loved it, plus a couple from Netflix we weren't thrilled about, but oh well). So we did have an interesting bit of fun in the evening, then. Yeah. So. Pizza, beer, I had a cocktail, I got a ring, ate good soup, got inspired, and S. did yet another fantabulous thing.
So, there's those things.
But when I hit the pillow at 10pm on Sunday night and by the time S. came to bed I was drooling a puddle into my memory foam pillow, I should have figured out that something wasn't going well.
I got up this morning after sleeping like a log, and my uvula was swollen up in the back of my throat (don't you fucking HATE that?!) and my mouth was dry. Bad sign number one.
I stumbled into the office, plopped myself in front of the computer, and saw that neither of my daily clientele (for whom I had worked into the night on the other project, to make room for my 'daily work') had sent me anything.
Sign number two.
So I finished up a Spanish project, emailed my daily clients, and wondered if they were going to send me anything or if I'd be workless today (I think I was secretly praying for 'workless,' as I didn't really 'have' a 'sunday' to speak of). (I'd like to take this 'opportunity' to 'speak' in 'quotation marks' just because, okay?)
And then I went and woke S. up - he was also drooling - and I said, "You better get up, it's 9:15."
S: "Already?"
Urgh. Yes, already. So he got up and I crawled back in bed.
Sign number three.
At 10:30 a.m. he came and woke me up because I had asked him to check my email in case my dailies sent work over... so I had about an hour's little nap, and I was dreaming in full force (psychotic freaky dreams, by the way) and DROOLING.
What is it with me and the drool?
So. I worked until about 2, hubby made lunch (he takes such good care of me)and then I spent about 20 minutes on the phone with the tax accountant to figure out just how much money we're going to owe this year (that's the danger of working for yourself, I almost always owe a little money and am typically happy to just break even). But we're over-withholding, both of us, plus you know, all the cool stuff. So we had to talk about things like IRA's and anticipated taxes and all that fun crappity crap, which promptly gave me a headache.
So then I talked to my mom which gave me a little more of one.
And about the time I was ready to get up and go to the gym, my headache was throbbing and I just wanted it to stop. So I threw up.
That didn't help.
Ooooogh.
Welcome to Monday.
By the time it was all over with, I couldn't remember ANY of the HILARIOUS antecdotes I wanted to share with y'all. Which makes me feel like a Bad Blogger Friend. Don't hate me cuz I'm sicky, ok?
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Friday, January 21, 2005
YOUR BOOGIE MAN, THAT'S WHAT I AM
Well.
Not me, but my dog.
Yes, my dog, he's got a thing for the ladies. It's just taken us a little bit of time to put our finger(s) on it, but we are in agreement.
My dog is a Ladies Man.
He is a Stud Muffin.
Bow, chicka bow, bow wow.
Boomer is a very curious, very affectionate, very fun dog, and he likes people. Sometimes I think he likes people more than he likes other animals, with the exception of "his" cat (read: my cat) whom he loves dearly.
When we take him out on walks around the complex and neighborhood, if there are people out on the street he will wag his tail and if they talk to him or ask if they can pet him, he is anxious to give and receive super duper people love.
But if it's of his own volition...
... he likes the ladies.
Especially the young-ish, cute-ish ones. But any lady, frankly, will do except for the "old lady" variety of lady.
If we're out walking and we see a man, for example another resident, or the mailman (who is a man), or the FedEx guy, or a lawn service guy or something... he will pay attention to them, he will perk his ears up and stand still and watch them, keeping them in view. But he won't pull, or whine, he won't act like he wants to GO and SEE the men... unless it's someone he "knows" already. For example, he's good friends with our maintenance guy. But I digress. If it's a man that he hasn't met before, he is curious and interested but in more of a "gonna keep my eye on you" way than a "wanna jump on you and smother you with love" way.
If we're out walking and we see kids, who usually adore him because he's so damned funny looking, he gets all excited and wants to go see them and will lick them and jump on them if I don't keep him under some kind of control. But that is a fairly normal reaction for a dog who has been around children with good results.
And then we get to the ladies.
If we're out walking and he sees, for example, a mid-20's gal coming home in the afternoon from work and walking up her stairs to her apartment, he will lurch against the leash and try to go up the stairs with the girl. If we see a gal coming home from the gym walking through the parking lot, he will change direction to follow her. If we see any other female resident of a reasonably young age, he will start pulling, running that direction, wanting to love all over them.
He digs the chicks.
We've started testing this theory and it seems to be true-to-form. Men: Eh. Kids: Fun. Ladies: Whooooooooooooooooo!
That's my boy. He's got just the charm to win them over, too. If his little feet weren't muddy when we were out walking, I'm sure the chicks would let him jump all over them.
I'm so proud.
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Thursday, January 20, 2005
AND NO, I AM NOT PREGNANT. YET.
I want half-sour pickles.
I want them, goddammit, I want half-sour pickles.
Crunchy, crispy, lightly salty, so light green they're almost white, absolutely deeeeeeeeeeeelish fresh tasting real Jewish deli half sour pickles.
I want them, and I need them, and I have to find somewhere to get them from. The commissary here and the grocery stores locally don't have them.
I will order them online if I have to.
But I need them.
Please. Help a girl out. Tell me where I can buy half-sour pickles. Because I am far too fucking lazy to make them myself.
And I don't want to pay like $12.00-$15.00 USD just for SHIPPING for a QUART of half-sour pickles, which I will be able to devour in two days.
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Could I have HAD a weirder, stranger day?
I intended on having a "short work day" today and finishing up by about 1:00 or 2:00 p.m. I did so, even though I really had to push to get it done. Got a little sidetracked this morning talking with a friend on the phone. A welcome break, mind you, but it pushed my schedule off just a little bit. I enjoyed it nonetheless, but it seemed to set the tone for my whole day.
I finished up with my work by about 1pm, and S. had a productive morning as well running around the base getting some things together that he had to turn in. I don't know the intricacies of all of it, and believe me I don't want to know. Anything that involves him having to sit i a waiting room or getting doctors appointments, well, I just ... it doesn't sound that fun to me. So, I will be blissfully oblivious of same.
I went out and had a cup of soup and bundled up in a blanket. For some reason, although it was 73 DEGREES TODAY, I felt freezing cold and I still can't quite get a handle on it. I sincerely hope I am not getting sick, because my nose has been running for two days. No sick! No sick!
So anyway, S. left for work at 2:30 or so, and I proceeded to FALL ASLEEP ON THE COUCH and not get up until about 4pm. JEEZ! I know I needed some rest, but to completely basically get NOTHING DONE because I was NAPPING... just have to believe and trust that my body needed it, I guess. After a big bowl of soup and a nice soft potato roll - oh, that and a cocktail or two - I am ready to go pour myself right into bed. Again. And sleep. Some more. I have to work on a Spanish project this weekend that I've been inadvertently putting off for other work, so it's not like I'll be able to lounge around all day and catch up on my rest. Hopefully I can work on it a little tomorrow.
Yes, yes, yes, I must insist on keeping babbling about the work. Me and my work. Bah.
It's only 9pm and I am ready to go collapse. I must seriously be finally really coming "down with" whatever I was fighting off a week or more ago.
As an interesting side note, however, I would like to point out that I got to take the dog out for his early evening walk today and didn't even have to wear a jacket. Sweat pants, a short-sleeve V-neck tee, and me and the dog, that's all there was. It was SO nice today. I aired out the house a little bit and plan to try to soak up a little more sun tomorrow while it's still nice. I didn't even mind having to go out to the gym and the store today. It was a pleasant afternoon all around.
You know. After I woke up, at least.
And I missed The Apprentice, though it looks like I missed a real hoot n holler. Gotta try to get all caught up.
And I also missed the inaugural speech because I was working earlier today. Anyone have a link to it? You know, the text? I don't have to watch the President ramble on, I just want to know what he said.
Thanky thanky. *burp*
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Wednesday, January 19, 2005
MONEY CHANGES EVERYTHING
I am money-hungry. At least today, I was.
And it sucked ass. Did I mention that it sucked ass? Oh, and it sucked some ass.
My "new" daily client gave me enough work today that I worked until almost 11, then finished an interview for someone I started last night, then did recorded statements for an insurance company until, oh... now.
OH yeah, I started working at 6:30am. The goddamn sun wasn't even up yet. Stopped long enough in the middle to make myself a sammich.
And it fucking sucked and now I'm pissed off that I took all that time to do all of that work.
I'm THRILLED to have the work. But I WANT TO WORK UNTIL TWO FUCKING O'CLOCK IN THE FUCKING AFTERNOON EVERY DAY SO I CAN GO TO THE GYM AND GET LAUNDRY DONE AND HAVE DINNER ON THE TABLE AND ACTUALLY FEEL LIKE I AM FUCKING RELAXING A FUCKING LITTLE FUCKING BIT.
FUCK.
S. keeps saying that I don't "have to work." I think he hates it when I get stressed out and frustrated at work, and I don't blame him. I'm trying to find a balance, and I keep getting sucked in, not wanting to say no. Sigh.
I want a cocktail, and I believe I am going to make myself one right now.
And then, Napoleon Dynamite came on Netflix so I think we're going to watch that this week. I saw half of American Idol yesterday, but missed the second half... anyone see anything good?
Any good suggestions for TV shows now that some of 'em are done with and new ones are hitting full stride? C'mon, throw me a frickin' bone here.
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Monday, January 17, 2005
I'M A NERD, SHA-LA-LA
Shamelessly stolen from RuneBlogKnitter.
I scored lower than I thought I would.
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Whew.
I wish I could say I've had a happy, joyous weekend, but I haven't. I wish I could say I were off today, but I can't. I wish I could say the client I asked for a "light day" so I could make up for the "heavy day" being given me by another client... gave me... a light day... but they didn't.
So I'm giving my ears a few minutes rest and thought I'd catch up on the last few days.
Friday was, dare I say it, kind of insane.
First of all, I should skip back to Thursday.
So Thursday night I had finally assembled our home altar, and was doing a little cleansing, and an affirmation, and going to do a spell, and had some incense going.
Okay, so I likes me some incense, and I particularly likes me some incense that I makes for myself, so I had a LOT of incense burning.
RIGHT after performing my affirmation and throwing some more incense on the charcoal disk... there came crashing upon my ears the most hideous awful noise one has ever heard, ever. Ever. Evar. Worst. Noise. Evar.
Let me back up a little bit so you can get a feeling where I'm going with this. Our apartment, our new apartment, is technologically advanced and fire-safe. As a result of same, there are not only sprinklers in all the rooms and all the closets, but there are also smoke detectors.
The smoke detectors, in order to provide the most effective service and fire safety, are all networked together. And they are wired into the electric source for the apartment. And they are all on battery backup. And they are all in the 9-foot ceilings.
Lots of them. Five of them.
Can you see where I'm going with this?
Mr. Smoke Detector in the bedroom caught a whiff of my incense smoke, and decided it should probably go off just to warn me that there was, you know, smoke. His brother in the living room thought it would be fun to play along. And down the line it went, hallway, office, guest room, until all five smoke detectors were singing their awful, hideous, screeching, kill-your-eardrums song. All five of them.
And me, 5'7", with a short stepstool, who couldn't reach the smoke detectors.
I got out a big stick and tried to push the buttons on the smoke detectors to reset them, but they were having none of it. Apparently it was much more fun for them to all go off at the same time and refuse to go into reset mode. I'm guessing that's the most action they'd seen ever, and they weren't willing to let go of the moment. So. I ended up breaking one of the smoke detectors, or at least breaking the reset button on it, jamming the big stick into the small hole (oooh, rawr) repeatedly while trying to get it to fucking. reset. fucking. reset. fucking. reset.
Somewhere along the line I called S. at work and asked him if he knew any special trick to turning them off. Then I tried to call the emergency maintenance, who weren't responding. Because this is my life, and this is how it works.
After about 15-20 minutes of this hideous screeching, my next door neighbors came over. I ran to the door thinking it must have been the emergency maintenance guy, but it wasn't... it was them. And HER! my next door neighbor is a rather nice, quite pretty, military gal who stands about 6'2" flat-footed. And her boyfriend, who is a rather nice, average looking, military guy who stands about 5'8". Takes all types.
They came in and told me they had had the same issue with their smoke detectors and the only way to fix them was to take the batteries out... well, we took the batteries out of the fuckers (or rather, Tall Neighbor did) and they still kept beeping. Flipped breakers, they still beeped. Whacked them with a stick, still beeped. Short Neighbor decided he should also try to just disconnect them from the wiring, which worked for a little bit until he decided to put the batteries back into them (hoping they had reset). They hadn't reset. And they all started singing again.
One at a time we went from room to room and just disconnected them all from the wiring AND removed the batteries out of them. It was absolutely un-fucking-real. So this all started at about 9pm, and I was finally kind of on my way to bed (giving up on the rest of the spellwork for the evening - you don't have to bash me over the head with a fucking brick, I can take a hint) by about 10:20. S. even came home to check on me and make sure everything was okay. I was fine, just had a little bit of a bruised ego and wished I was about a foot taller. No big.
When the maintenance guy finally showed up on Friday morning, we had to crack up laughing. The minute he started to futz with them, they all went off again. He ended up having to just replace all of them. Yes, you heard me, all new smoke detectors.
Mental note: when doing spiritual or spellwork and burning lots of incense, open a window.
So anyway, then on Friday I pretty much worked my ass off. Off. Worked it off. Which is good because it explains why I'm losing pounds without really doing much differently. Apparently, it's all the work I'm doing. Ha! A girl can dream, right?
Friday night is kind of a blur. We went out to dinner at a little Mexican place up the road (Date night) and decided that although we enjoyed it (Chelino's) it still isn't as good as our new favorite (Alvarado's). Good chips, that's about all I can really say. So anyway, then we went to the BX and bought me some new headphones which I am ending up to say I think I fucking hate, hate, hate. They hurt my ears. Beautiful $30 Altec Lansing full-ear headphones. Now. I don't have gigantic ears, far from it. I have well-proportioned ears. But these "full ear headphones" sit on the cartilege of my ears, they don't cup my whole ear, so after wearing them for a while my ears start to hurt. Which means I might end up having to go back to the BX and picking up the JVC's which were $5 cheaper but had a bigger ear-compartment.
How boring is this? Talk of ear compartments?
Saturday, I had kind of a meltdown. I suppose you could call it that. I just, well, lost it. Shit around here was dirty and messed up, and I was just pissed. I felt like every time I picked up one thing to clean it, something else got dirty. I felt like I was moving backwards and I was completely pissed off. Didn't talk to S. for about, oh, I'd say 2-3 hours, just got pissy. And angry. And pissy. And angry. And a little pissy. I get that way every once in a while. But since HE was in the office, I wasn't IN the office, so I didn't blog about any of it. I got over it by Saturday night... when we went to meet... the Mustang club.
Yes, there's a Mustang club in Oklahoma, and S. has started interacting with them, so now we're going to be members. Met a bunch of them up the road and had a pretty nice time, except we were surprised that so many of them wanted to go find a bar and drink, to socialize. It's too bad, since we don't really find ourselves going out and drinking here in OKC. Too much risk. Don't want to have to drive anywhere after having only one beer, even. We actually had a conversation about that (how "drinking" is so much in the culture here even though it's harder to get alcohol here).
And I learned that geeks are geeks, whether they are computer geeks, or car geeks, or whatever. People with special interests in stuff, we're all the same. Many of them are socially inept. A bunch of the Mustang people were... yeah, socially inept. I can say that, as I am a geek who is NOT socially inept, at least not as inept as I used to be. We ended up standing around in the front of the restaurant waiting for SOMEONE to make a DECISION about SOMETHING that we would all GO DO TOGETHER for at least 15 minutes. It was unreal. S. and I let them go do their thing and get their drink on. We just came home.
Sunday was a fairly lazy day. Commissary. S. did some running around for the car. I did some more laundry and we went and got a late lunch (so I didn't have to make dinner) and then I hit the sack again at about 10pm.
See? Boring life. I'll take boring over topsy-turvy any day, but boring just the same.
Except for my little Smoke Detector adventure.
So now, I have to get back to work. The sooner I get back to work the sooner I get to go to the harley dealership to exchange my dad's sweatshirt (which was closed on Sunday because apparently you can't buy Harley apparel on the Lord's Day) and go get my ring sized since we haven't actually BEEN to the jeweler yet for that).
*yawn*
Is it Friday yet?
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Thursday, January 13, 2005
THE TAX MAN
Urgh.
I just started my taxes.
Yes, yes, I can't even believe it myself.
Got the tax info packet from my accountant, and figured I might as well get as much of it put together as I can. Except for our W-2's and 1099's, I think I've got it all together. Or mostly, anyway. Darned close.
Damn tax man.
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It's a holiday weekend.
For hubby S., that means a four-day weekend since he's off tomorrow.
For me, that means a two-day weekend because I am probably going to be working on Monday. Sigh.
But that's okay. It all adds up, right? heh.
So, S. is going to take his car down to the auto hobby shop on base and put some new fog lights in, tomorrow, probably. And assuming I'm done with work in a reasonable amount of time, we will FINALLY go get my ring resized. So I can wear it. Every day. Bling bling bling bling bling.
I swear to God, I work harder for myself than I have ever had to do for anyone else. It's kind of scary. I am wore-the-fuck-out by 2pm (though I'm done a little early today) and have to try to stay focused to get housework and stuff done. But with S. on swings, that means I have the evening time to do laundry and things like that. He's always here in the office anyway with me - well not WITH me - but shopping for car stuff and doing internet junk and stuff, you know -- so we see each other all day. He doesn't sleep very late, which is nice, since I'm already in bed by the time he gets home.
So yeah, my neighbors pissed me the fuck off this morning. What kind of idiots are they. I mean, it was VERY windy last night - why leave your trash out all damn night? That's so stupid.
I'm going to go eat some lunch, now.
Word.
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Goddammit.
Dear stupid-ass dipshit fuckwad neighbors:
I don't know if you noticed, but we live in Oklahoma. The wind blows here. As a matter of fact, it pretty much blows here all the time. All. The fucking. Time.
I guess I'm wondering why you decided to take your bag of kitchen trash and put it outside in the breezeway when there were 35 mile per hour winds blowing all goddamn night long, instead of just putting it in a garbage can on your balcony or waiting until you could handle it yourself this morning.
Not that I'm complaining, of course. I think your trash would be the perfect accessory for my welcome mat.
And my dog LOVES it.
I'm just saying. Wind + Garbage = Mess. How hard is that to figure out?
Get a fucking clue.
Sincerely,
Rose
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Wednesday, January 12, 2005
TWISTING IN THE WIND
Wow.
It's like, gusting to 35 miles an hour winds here.
And it's 27 degrees.
And I get to go outside and walk the dog.
Is there a luckier girl on the face of the earth? IS there? No! I do not think anyone, right now, has luck like me.
It's a luck-o-rama. I am so one-with-the-luck right now. Take me to vegas, baby, cuz I'm ready to roll them dice. En Fuego. Cool as the other side of pillow.
From way downtown.
Bang.
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And here we are, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Wednesday. A foggy, rainy, little bit windy, kinda cold, definitely very gloomy, Wednesday.
Yesterday was quite the interesting day. My "issue" with my client seems to have been resolved, and I am sleeping much better. I have a new manicure, I've lost a couple of pounds as of the nasty evil scale this morning's announcement, and work is plugging along.
I actually got out of here for a little while yesterday and went... gasp... DRIVING. You'd think I would have forgotten how to do that, by now, for all the little bit of driving I do anymore. Not having a half-hour-per-day, each way, commute is something that took me about, oh, two SECONDS to get used to. But now getting out on the road can be a little hairy, especially when I'm not sure where I'm going.
Driving back and forth to the gym is no big deal, as that's about three and a half miles and it's a clear shot. Driving to Edmond to get the super-high-quality dog food that our dog eats because it's the best thing we can feed him, well, that's another story. At 4pm. On the freeway. In the fog. In freezing temperatures.
What? I sound like a whiney little girl? Yup. Whine, whine, whine, that's me. Shut up. I'm used to dry roads, hot sun, and no fog, thankyouverymuch. So driving to another town to get dog food, well, that's kind of a haul. If the weather hadn't been so bad I would have stopped at Bed, Bath and Beyond (I still have a gift card I haven't spent yet) but I just wanted to get HOME.
At least I'm getting a little used to driving in it. Kind of. You still won't see me hauling my ass out the door of this place in an ice storm, though, I don't give a shit what the reason is. I'd sooner cook a steak for the dog than drive to Edmond in an ice storm to get his food.
Today when I go to the gym maybe I will drive around a little bit more just to say I did, or something. I could always buzz over to the Commissary and see if there were anything I needed to pick up. Though the whole living-on-a-budget thing is working out rather well for us so far. If I were going to go there anyway, all I'd want to buy is Pringles and lemon drops and some caramel candies anyway. So, I should probably just stay the hell away from there.
So here's a question for you (how's THAT for a segue?):
When you lose weight, where do you see it first? I've got to tell you, for me it's my FACE. I notice a weight loss there first, and I SEE a weight GAIN there first. When I gain a little weight and my face starts looking rounder, I start to get frustrated and freak out. That is also where I usually notice a weight gain in other people, is in their face. Where do you guys or gals see it?
I actually can't wait to go back to the gym today. What kind of sick thing is that? Am I getting addicted to exercise?
This post says nothing and goes nowhere, and for that I'd like to apologize. I probably shouldn't blog during a "work break." My brain hasn't slowed down yet from attorneys and car accidents and what-color-was-the-light and stuff like that.
OH speaking of which... I think I have a little hearing-crush now on one of the attorneys I'm doing work for. He has one of those names that makes him sound like he'd be a blonde tanned buff surfer boy, but he speaks clearly, knows grammar, sounds intellectual, and ain't afraid to whoop some ass on the opposition. If I weren't married, I'd say that's my kind of man... but since my husband has all those qualities except being a blonde tanned surfer boy, I'm happy just the same. I'll just envision him in my head as he dictates boring legal letters to me. Makes the time go by quicker.
OH... and as a final note, the dog will finally poop on command. Miracles abound.
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Tuesday, January 11, 2005
TIME WON'T CHANGE ME
So. I'm working along this morning and I suddenly realized that it was January 11.
And it being January 11 meant that we had already passed January 1.
And January 1 was my blogaversary. The second, to be precise.
I almost can't believe I've been doing this now for two years. It's rewarding. I've made some amazing friends, I've learned some amazing lessons, and I've found a lot of love and support here. It wasn't even what I intended to do. I knew a friend who had a blog, and I'm a chronic journaler, so I figured it would be easier for me to type it all in than it would be to write it all out. And then two years later here I am.
You guys are all amazing, whether I've known you for 20 years or whether I've known you for five minutes. Everyone who's taken the time to comment, to IM, to email with me... you've seen me through probably the two most growth-oriented years of my entire life. And you were there with me, at least a few of you at a time were, for the whole thing.
You guys are great. Thank you.
And happy birthday, my wonderful bloggy blog blog.
Or belated birthday even. I've got my head so far up my own ass I didn't even remember my poor blog's birthday.
I'm kind of over feeling frustrated about my client, although the matter still isn't resolved yet. I'm throwing myself full-force into this day just to get through it and do things I need to do.
I have to drive to Edmond today to get the gazillion dollar freaking dog food that my spoiled rotten dog gets (I swear he eats better than we do) and I have to go get my nails done (I swear, uh, oh wait. That's me. Yeah, I swear, I treat my nails pretty damn well). And I have some more work to do before I can do that, and I've got to think about getting S. out of bed. He's on Swings now, and will be for a while, so he comes home after I've gone to bed. And I want to get our home altar set up, which we haven't done since we moved out here. All the crap is sitting in the bedroom right where it should go, but none of it is put together. Gah!! Must get all this done today because tomorrow is Gym Day and I might not have afternoon-time available besides Gym stuff.
Speaking of the wonderful Swing Shift, aside from the fact that the schedule is working out pretty well for us, last night they were only 2 guys on the shift so he couldn't come home for dinner, so I didn't make breakfast for dinner, I just had leftovers.
Maybe tonight we'll have breakfast for dinner. Or something.
So yeah, last night was amazingly exciting for me, I did three loads of laundry and ate leftovers for dinner and watched Extreme Makeover: Home Edition on their little special show about "how did they do that," and walked the dog, and paced and fussed and fretted, and then went to bed.
Fretted.
Is that even a word?
Must. Have. More. Coffee.
PS: THANK YOU for all the wonderful anniversary wellwishes, it meant a lot to the both of us.
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Monday, January 10, 2005
UPDATE FOR THE SAKE OF IT
Today has pretty much sucked moldy ass, and it's all work-related, and I am not prepared to discuss it yet because I'm waiting to see if something works out the way I'd like it to.
Suffice it to say at this point that I have given myself a headache dealing with a client, and I just hope this can be worked out.
Like, on top of the other two (great) clients I worked for today.
Grr.
Maybe tomorrow will be different. We're having breakfast for dinner today so I should probably hop-to and get started on it some time soon. I didn't sleep that well last night, I'm sure that's part of why I'm a whiney bitch today.
Don't mind me. I'm just frustrated. Bleah.
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Sunday, January 09, 2005
ANNIVERSARY UPDATE
It's been a good day.
Finished hellaciously long Nicaraguan campesino translation project and sent off same with invoice.
Got a fabulous card from my husband, which made me cry, because he is the Best Greeting Card Buyer Evar.
Gave a card to my husband, which wasn't as fabulous as the one he gave me, because anniversary cards for men mostly suck moldy ass.
Laid around and was otherwise lazy for a whole hour or so before getting ready to go out to dinner.
DINNER!
Went and had sushi, and had some of the best Tuna Toro I have ever had in my entire life. This stuff was so oily and fatty and firm and amazing and wonderful, I can't even begin to describe it. For being a vice of mine, sushi will be something I will always endulge in. Can't get around it. Just can't. Period.
We also had Green Tea Ice Cream. Which is an amazing experience in itself.
And now we're home and I'm farting around a little bit before going and curling up in bed. This week we're going to take my ring to get resized (haven't been able to mesh our schedules to do that) and I'll probably have a pretty busy week. Busy weeks ain't bad.
This coming weekend we hope to be able to get together with some new friends here in OKC and hang out a bit and get to know them better. Time to start venturing out among the land of the living, I always say.
What else was I going to say?
I don't know. I just want to go lay on my mattress + memory foam mattress pad + memory foam pillow and float off into a weightless slumber.
Catch y'all tomorrow - thank you all very much for your amazing and kind well-wishes. I really appreciate it. Boy, am I going to be leaning on you when I turn 35 and want to throw MYSELF off the balcony onto the frozen swimming pool. This has been a training run!!!
Oop. Ack.
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YAY!!!
One year ago today, I was, at this moment, waiting to get a couples' full body massage with my fiancee, which would be followed by a light lunch, the ironing of clothes, shower/shave/shine, some phone calls from loved ones, and a trip down the road to the court to get married. Oh, with a brief stop-off in my mother's beautiful landscaping and bright, perfect sun for some wedding pictures.
Surrounded by best friends and very little family, we said our "I-Do's" at about 6:00pm on 1/9/04.
And then we went out and got our grub on.
And then we went to a hotel and got our drink on and hung out with Maury and had a great time.
Now, today, I sit here in the office working a little until S. decides to get up and out of bed. The swimming pool has un-frozen itself and it's supposed to be about 62 today, but it's cloudy and grey nonetheless with some fog and gloom to go with it. Instead of a massage, I will go to the Commissary and load up a cart with vittles for the coming week. Instead of saying "I do" to a judge, we will say, "More, please" to the sushi chef.
But I will love my husband just as much or more today as I did a year ago.
I know you don't read here often, baby. But if you read here today, I wanted to tell you how completely amazing you are, and how thrilled I am to be your wife, and how I wouldn't change this life for anything in the world. I love you.
I hope everyone has as great a day today as I plan to. *clink*
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Saturday, January 08, 2005
HAPPINESS IS...
When one very spoiled little dog, curled up in a ball on his squishy comfy bed here in the office, with me working away and S. playing on his puter(s)...
... is sleeping so hard and is so content ...
... that he starts "chasing bunnies" in his dream (you know what I mean, they start running with their little legs and stuff) ...
... and then suddenly YIPS with glee! ...
... and wakes himself up.
Ha, my dog had so much fun in his sleep that he woke himself up.
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I had a quicktime movie all ready for you guys. Or I thought I did. It was cold enough outside and we were enough in a hurry that while I thought the camera was shooting video, it was not. The quicktime movie ended up being of me saying "Holy shit, it just bounced off," and of S. saying, "That was a big fuckin chunk of ice, too. That pool is frozen fucking solid."
You see, I guess I didn't get the button pushed exactly BEFORE he made his little speech and threw the ice onto the... well... ice. I guess I didn't get the button pushed in my numb-finger-moment, and then when I pushed it to turn it off, it was actually turning it on, and, well, yeah. Dork.
Suffice it to say that a 1/2 pound block of ice out of our freezer resounded with a hearty "thud" and "clunk" on the what-must-be-very-thickly-frozen swimming pool, and now sits across the pool where it skated after its one and only bounce.
I'd also like to point out that this morning other neighbors in the building have TOTALLY copied us and our bitchenly cool idea, because there were a bunch of ice cubes sitting on top of the pool.
Not our ice cubes.
Someone else's.
Copycats.
So. The result of the ice experiment is: throwing a big chunk of ice from our balcony down to the frozen pool after an ice storm results in more noise than cracks. Or rather, all noise and no cracks. Not even a dent.
We're such easily amused geeks.
Now. I have to work on feeling better cuz there's somewhere we'd like to go tonight. AND I have to work on my work AND since we got our photoprinter from Dad last night (and this little thing is slicker than snot), I have to see about getting the hell out of here today some time and going and getting some photo paper and a cartridge for it, since it came with a sample pack of each and I'm going to use the fuck out of it.
Dammit, I wish you guys could have seen that chunk of ice bounce off. Or heard it. I think the hearing would have been the best part of the whole experiment.
Take a couple of desert rats and put them in the winter weather, and this is what comes of it.
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Friday, January 07, 2005
WORKING FOR THE WEEKEND
Holy mackerel, people. It's only 8:30 a.m.?
Daily Client #1: Done pending feedback from client.
Daily Client #2: Working on them now.
Spanish Client #1: Finished them up yesterday.
Spanish Client #2: Hope to finish them up today, maybe tomorrow.
Spanish Client #3: Finished them up WEDNESDAY!
Happiness is an invoice for $350.00 that is met with compliments and coos of joy from the client, praising you on the wonderful job you did. For like... three hours of actual "work." Unreal. I'm so blessed. I can only wish the most amazing blessings on all of you for this coming year of 2005, because I've got enough blessings to go around. I'm handing them out! What do YOU want in 2005? Blessings, get your super-hot blessings here!
In case you haven't noticed, I take a completely over-achiever-esque thrill out of knowing that my clients are happy with the work I do for them. It's probably unhealthy the way that I feel better about myself knowing I'm contributing to the household and that I'm doing a good job. I know that comes from some baggage I have as a result of my first marriage, and also as the result of some well-meant but a little off-the-mark guidance I got from my parents. I've had a job basically every day of my life since I was 15 and a half years old. I went to work at my local Public Library and have in essence NOT not-had a job since then... every job I quit, I didn't quit until I had another job lined up to go to. The one job I got laid off from, it took a headhunter one interview and two days to find me a new job, which I started right away. I worked my way through college, sometimes having 2-3-4 jobs at a time after I graduated. I'm a worker, this is what I do. I work.
As stressed out and freaked out as I can get about it on this end in the privacy of my own office, I do secretly get a little pump out of knowing that I have so much work I can do, and that it'll keep me busy. I joked with S. the other day that I'm working harder keeping up my business from home than I was when I worked at large-Phoenix-area-company. By 3pm, I am completely worn the fuck out, some days. I finish up with my work OR I hit the end of my "office hours" and I have to make myself get up and go in the front room or the kitchen or the bedroom or something, just to get away from the computer so my brain can quit racing and I can settle into my role as wife instead of my role as business owner.
I know I've been blogging a lot lately about my work, but that's most of what's been going on for me. If any of you had asked me a year ago, I would have laughed at you and said I could never make a full-time job or a worthwhile career out of transcription from home. But that's when I had one client and only wanted to work a few hours a night in addition to my full time job.
Now, I get up at 6:00am, I'm here in the office at 7:00 am, and I pick up work from my daily clients and get to it. And I'm usually done with them by about 11:00, I get a bite to eat, watch a half hour of trashy court TV (I love that Judge Marilyn on The People's Court, she's just a feisty Latina and I adore that) and then head back in here to start in on my "special projects" or "non-daily clients." I've never HAD so many clients! So many things to do, so many things to keep me busy. It's really helped me feel some worth, at least in terms of my crazy perception that I have to be contributing monetarily to the household to feel like I'm doing anything.
SO now I feel like superwoman, since I am working, bringing in money, AND getting dinner on the table every night and laundry done and house clean and all of that.
It's very rewarding.
I know, I should get back to talking about whatever-the-fuck else, right? I know. But I blog what's on my mind, and this has been what's on my mind.
Oh! Meg: our apartments sound similar to that, but not quite the same. I think this is a local Oklahoma company that runs these. Three levels instead of four. We are on an upper level and we have a concrete breezeway and concrete steps, but that doesn't mean it's anything but just different materials. If you want to email me I'll send you some other pictures and you can see if it looks similar.
Kay: I know you keep messaging me and I keep missing you. Please don't give up! I'll be around a lot of today if you want to try again.
Kae: Thank you again for yesterday.
Sorry, now back to our regularly scheduled rants...
It's still icy out there. The swimming pool is frozen over again. S. and I have taken to tossing ice cubes off the balcony to see if we would break the ice in the pool, but they bounce and skip along without incident. So we froze a HUGE chunk of ice in the freezer overnight in a Ziploc sandwich bag, and we're going to toss THAT down into the pool to see if THAT will break the ice. He doesn't think it will. I think it might.
I'm avoiding taking the dog out on his walk, since S. is still in bed and as soon as I take him out of his crate he'll jump on the bed and lick all over S. and wake him up. Our dog, so full of love there's no room for brains. So, I'm going to let the two of them sleep for a while, and maybe S. will take him out since he won't be around tonight.
I've been fighting off what I think are the early stages of a cold, so I've been staying inside. I haven't even left to go to the gym. I'm going to have to go double-time this weekend to make up for staying in as a result of the ice-storm. But it's feeling good, the whole going regularly to work out thing. I know, I've now seen evidence of the evil right-wing-nut part of the Curves program (selling T-shirts that say, for example, "this little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine") but I've met a couple nice gals there and I'm feeling better for the working out I've done. I'd like to get up to 5x a week. I think the pounds will REALLY fly off then.
I'm supposed to get a package from my dad today - it's a new photo printer. I am THRILLED about that, let me tell you. THRILLED. That means I will be able to take all these pictures my sister sends me of my niece and nephew and print them out to put in frames, and it also means I can take some pictures of me and S. to put in frames, too. I haven't taken any "real" portraits or photos in so long. It's a hobby I used to be REALLY into. Maybe come the spring, when things start to get green around here, I'll get back to it.
Okay. Enough farting around and trying to keep myself from working. Electric coffee coaster is keeping my third cup nice and warm and I've got to hit it. Thanks you guys for putting up with my amazingly boring writing and stories the last couple of weeks. I'll get my wit back soon enough, I hope. There's just zero going on in my life right now except husbandy-wifey love, work, and cold weather. I can only get so far on that.
Peezowt.
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Thursday, January 06, 2005
THERE'S A COLD WIND BLOWIN'
Okay, so not really. It's actually fairly caom here and clear-skied and sunny. Or at least party cloudy, and sunny.
But it's, like, 10 degrees.
The ice storm last night was pretty cool. It was snowing gigantic snowflakes when we finally went to bed. Dripped all the faucets and took the dog out this morning ... got a crackup out of watching him slip and slide around. Turns out he loves the ice and the snow, and would perfer to just stay outside. I guess the "raining ice" thing yesterday is what had him down, not the cold weather.
So I thought I'd pull myself away from the translation of Nicaraguan Dirt Farmers and various monotone attorneys from around the country and interesting interviews that I'm transcribing, and actually blog a little bit.
Work has been coming fast and furious. Clients I thought were flaky ended up telling me to charge them for all the extra work-time I had to take getting their projects done. New clients who like what I'm doing want to send me more work. I actually had a client of me phone me - well, two separate clients two nights in a row - phone me and tell me how fabulous they think I am and how they want to keep using me if I'm interested in working with them. How awesome is that! I'm making a little name for myself in this arena, it appears. Thank God/dess I have something to do that allows me to work without having to be out driving in the ice and snow. I'm eternally blessed.
As we come down the pike to our first wedding anniversary, which is this Sunday, I just keep thanking God/dess, and my husband, and my family and friends, for being so supportive through such a challenging first year. S. and I are more in love than ever, and little by little our conversation adjusts to include things like, "... when we have kids" and "... our kids will" and "...our growing family." He doesn't think I notice, probably, or at least doesn't expect me to be warming the cockles of my heart on such things, but it truly is. So since the first anniversary present is officially paper, and I already have my gold-and-sapphire-and-diamond gift from Yule, we're probably going to trade cards, go out to dinner, and give each other a little sumthin-sumthin.
Bow, chicka bow, bow.
Too much information? Oh well. C'mon, give me the right to be a little lovey dovey.
Work has been crazy insane. I've worked on a child abuse case (which is very sad and makes me want to take child abusers, round them up, and abuse THEM), some interviews for a nonprofit organization, insurance stuff, legal stuff, just lots and lots of... well, stuff. I'm trying to finish up a set of interviews for this nonprofit by Friday because they want them back by Monday, and that'll be a nice little chunk of change in our collective pocket. First jobs for clients are really important, because how you do it and handle it will influence whether or not you get more work from them.
Look at me. This has been a lesson in customer service. Sorry for the lecture.
Looks like my mom might try to come out and visit us in February just in time to see me turn 35. Yay, right?
I wish I had more to talk about you guys, I've just been so busy working and trying to stay focused. If I let myself work all the time, I would - well - work all the time. So mid-afternoon I get up from my seat here, go get a bite to eat, and start working on house stuff - cleaning, laundry, dinner, etc. I have to do it or I'll go a little crazy.
Thanks to everyone in the last few days who has IM'ed me to say hi and check on me. It's always a joy and pleasure. So it's January 6, how's your new year going?
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Wednesday, January 05, 2005
I JUST HAD TO SAY
I now have a new thing to cross off my list of "shit I haven't done before in my life."
I can now remove THIS gem:
And now that I think about it, I can also take this one off:
Yes, it's the first real ice storm of the year, and it's really the first one I've been in when I would be old enough to remember one. I'm from Alaska, y'all, that means in the winter it was actually WINTER ALL DAMN WINTER. Not this ice storm one week, 65 degrees better-open-the-doors-while-we-still-can the next week. I live on a weather roller coaster. Roller coaster, whooo-hooo-hooo.
So, while the "rain" comes down and the dog thinks I am putting him through cruel and unusual punishment because I won't let him take a shit in the bathtub or some other appropriately warm place, I actually marveled at some of the things I hadn't seen in, oh, probably 23 years.
Icicles. Icicles hanging off the trees in the complex. Cars ENCASED in sheets of ice. It was actually a little bit fun to hear the little rocks of frozen rain bouncing off my hat and my gynormous winter coat. I was actually entertained at the fact that the balls of said frozen rain were piling up on Boomer's back and he didn't quite know how to handle that.
I tried to take some pictures, but the camera was out of batteries AND the wind started whipping a little bit, so I would have much rather been in here listening to lawyers speak in monotone voices and typing what they say, than trying to take photos.
I just came back upstairs and figured I'd look out the window instead. Opened the blinds. The screens are frozen with tons of little ice pellets in the holes, as the sideways-blowing-wind froze in there. And there's a sheet of ice on both the windows here in the office, so everything looks kind of surreal when I look out at the world.
Roller coaster.
Whoo, hoo, hoo.
Update: Just to prove that Mother Nature ain't fucking around: this has accumulated in front of my door which is in a covered breezeway - this is just from the wind - in the last half hour:
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Saturday, January 01, 2005
A RETROSPECTIVE
Happy New Year, everyone. Taking a cue from Steph at Pagan Remark, gonna do my own little retro-specto.
January was quite a good month for the both of us. We got married. We had a few little glitches building up to the actual legal marriage, trying to find someone who COULD legally marry us, but we finally just settled on a judge and a $50 check. We were surrounded by those we love and who love us, and it was a great day. 10 days after we got married, S. left for USAF training for his new career field.
February was a little rougher. S. felt terrible for missing both my birthday and Valentine's Day for being in Biloxi. On my 34th birthday I took off work early to take my dog to the vet, as he seemed to be losing weight and I couldn't figure out why. It was on that day the vet gave the preliminary diagnosis of terminal prostate cancer. Not a fun February.
March came in like a depressed lion (see February) and well, rolled out like.. a lion. March was when things with my father started to get creepy. S. and I were trying to plan a Vegas Honeymoon trip so I could meet his family, the families could meet one another, and our friends could party with us on a "wedding reception." That's when I first heard about Young Chippie and how my dad wanted to bring her to Vegas to my wedding dinner (we were actually even talking about maybe having a 'vow renewal' in Vegas for the benefit of the families) and things started to hit the fan. But we were half way through S.'s school time, so it gave me something to look forward to.
April came and I was the gladdest I think I've ever been. S. came home in the middle of April and we tried to get back to the business of having a married life. It took a little adjustment, since we'd been married all of 10 days before he left. My relationship with my mom was strengthening. But by now, we knew basically for SURE that we'd be moving from Phoenix come September. We were trying to get the timeframe lengthened, but there wasn't much we could do about it. So, my stress regarding that was kicking in full force.
By May, things with my dad were hellaciously bad. I was so glad to have S. home so I had someone to lean on. He listened to me rant and rave and cry, he supported me through the whole thing, and it was with his help and strength that I was able to make it through that month. It was pretty terrible. He had been in the hospital for a couple of weeks by the end of May.
June came and I couldn't have begged for it any more than I had been. We went to Las Vegas for our honeymoon trip, which ended up just being us and our friend Maury because of all the drama with the family and my dad and everything else. Meeting my in-laws would have to wait. We had the most fantabulous trip ever (and plan to go back and do it again) which was disrupted and upsetting in a convoluted way because of the underlying stress about my dad, who was still in the hospital basically confused and/or catatonic and in another world. I came home from Las Vegas with a bunch of pictures and good memories, and the looming reality that we'd have to go to Alaska to see my dad and probably put him in a home.
July, well, if I could erase July I probably would. On July 3, we had to have the dog put down for his cancer. He lived two months longer than they thought he would have, and that was a blessing in itself. But I then had to go to Alaska to see my dad. We went up with the purpose of looking at care homes to put him in but left there in a bewildered state when he snapped out of his alcohol-withdrawal-induced "wet brain" psychosis and suddenly came "back to life" after seeing us. To have seen the way my dad was taking care of himself and living his life, looking through his apartment and talking to people about the craziness of the last three months... well, that was.... frightening. But it all came together, my dad was determined to re-start his life, and we just wanted to support him in that.
August led us to prep for the big move. My boss was being amazingly understanding about all of it. Probably more understanding than I was. I had some periods of resentment about leaving, but then just had to keep telling myself that growing and changing is a part of life. I did more growing in August alone than I probably have in the last five years.
September led us up to leaving Phoenix, but it is also when we lost my grandfather. While S. was out here in OKC checking in and finding us a place to live, I was spending time in Flagstaff by my grandpa's bedside, knowing he probably wasn't going to wake up after his surgery and that we'd lost him. The day the movers came to our house to take all of our stuff away, and not five minutes after they pulled down the block in a big truck leaving us with a completely empty house... I got the phone call that he had passed away. By the 11th we were on the road to OKC and by the middle of September I was setting up our home, starting over in a new stage of our lives together.
October was basically a "month off" for me. I did NOTHING but take care of my household, my pets, my husband... I got a good taste of what it feels like to actually have all my shit together and done... I made dinner every night, lunch for him every day, and fell in love with having a 100% spotless clean house and healthy home environment. That is also when S. told me I wouldn't have to go back to work if I didn't want to... I was beating myself up for not bringing in enough $$ after being used to having a darned good income back in Phoenix... but he assured me that however I chose to contribute to this family, he'd be behind me 100%. So of course I decided to go back to work. I started sending out info and looking for a typing gig. How could I know I'd find one?
November came and I was buried with work in my new home business. I couldn't believe it. I asked the World and the Spirit and the God(s) for help, and they came through with flying colors. I was being asked to take on good paying projects. Word of mouth started spreading. By the end of November, I almost had more work than I could do by myself. I also got to spend my first Thanksgiving with S.'s family and meet them all for the first time... mom, stepdad, dad, stepmom, sister in law, brother in law... it was truly an amazing experience, and I felt included and loved by everyone in his family. We returned home feeling triumphant.
December started off a little rocky for me just because I let those "stinkin thinkin" feelings of unworthiness populate my mind for a few days. PMS or something, I think I told myself. Work was steady but not overwhelming. Who would have thought that by the end of the month I'd have made as much working at home as my net pay from my career position in Phoenix? Oh sure, the tax man has to take his cut, but it's still better than I ever anticipated I'd be doing. We celebrated our first Yule together as a married couple, and our first Xmas as a married couple, and our first Xmas really together (I was in Pennsylvania in December 2003 for xmas and S had to stay behind on-call at the base). We let ourselves splurge on one another, I got a beautiful ring, the weather was the coldest I've seen probably in 20 years, and it's all been a period of adjustment. But I think I'm finally finding my place here.
That's our 2004. A year of trials and tribulations, but lessons and growth and some amazing happenings. I couldn't have told you two years ago that I could be happy in Oklahoma living the life of a USAF wife... but I am. I have an amazing husband. I've made some amazing friends, both through this blog and in real life. I continue to learn about myself, and people in general. I have learned to grow and change no matter what life throws at me. It's all just amazing. I see myself as a stronger, smarter, woman with my shit together more than I even had it before.
Looking into 2005, I want to continue to grow my transcription business, actually get official about the incense business, plus bath prodducts and stuff, I want to continue to be the best wife I can to my husband, and hopefully will be planning to be the best mommy I can to my children, by the end of it.
Thank you to every single one of my amazing, amazing blogosphere friends (and the few RL friends who actually read this) for being there for me and standing behind me and being so supportive through this time of growth, change, pain and joy. I truly hope I have been able to be there and support each and every one of you the way you have all touched me.
Happy new year, here's to a great 2005. Sticking together, there is nothing we can't accomplish.
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My job as a military wife is
to make it as easy as possible
for my beloved husband to do his job.
Where he leads, I will follow.
Name: Rose
Age: 36
Religion: Pagan
Husband: SSgt, USAF
Current Location: Tinker AFB, OK
Job: Self-Employed Transcriptionist
and Domestic Goddess
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