Long Day Infinity

It seems as if every day is a long day, and I'm dead tired at the end. I could try and list all the things I accomplished today, but I'm too tired and can't even remember them all.

The Little Bug actually went to sleep (though not at a decent hour) and is still asleep, which allowed me to pursue many exciting activities during the evening:
-laundry
-taking a shower and brushing my teeth
-scooping the litter
-taking out the trash
-composting (a new venture)
-sorting papers
-sorting recycle and putting it in the car
-washing (and drying some) dishes
-prepping lunch for tomorrow
-setting out clothes for tomorrow
-putting my purse and other stuff all in one place so it is ready to go out the door tomorrow

So there is a list of at least a few of the things I did today. I'm exhausted and hope that I can get to sleep. I hate it when I'm lying in bed, wishing and wishing that sleep would come and take me...

I have some posts planned for this blog that I intend to be fun and funny, but need a larger block of time to get them all together.

Okay, I'll try and write more manana!

Mor Overwelmin Cyoots

A kitteh cat adopts a baby bunneh that lost its mommeh! Awww!!



If we work together, we can care for all needy, innocent (and incidentally adorable) creatures, whether human or animal.

Long Day 2

In my previous post, I left off very early in the morning of this day. The Little Bug and I made it to bed around 1 am, but he didn't go to sleep till after 2. I really think that Dante missed out on some great material by neglecting to devote one of his Circles of Hell to the description of people (perhaps the Selfish, or maybe the Intemperate) receiving the ghastly punishment of undergoing The Life of a Single Parent Whose Child Refuses to Sleep... FOR ETERNITY.

Anyway, due to sleep deprivation, I didn't get up super-early, and sort of staggered around getting ready, and then we went to daycare and work quite late. I hate it when that happens. I was so tired, but decided to take control of my day and make it work for me. I accomplished:
Productive work for several hours.
Pay bills and rent.
Bank paperwork.
Go to Target to get some shoes for swing dancing.
Go to Toys R Us to see if they carry toddler beds and bedding. I didn't buy any of those, but I did get a treat for my Little Bug.
Do grocery shopping for the week.
Research compost containers and methods.
Take out trash.
Pick up the Little Bug from daycare
Grab dinner and then meet a friend for frozen yogurt.
Come home to bathe and put the Bug to bed.
Get ready for bed.
Tidy up some of the kitchen and bedroom.
Set out clothes for tomorrow.
Make lunches for tomorrow.
Crash onto couch and wait for fatigue to catch up with me enough that I can finally go to sleep.

Long Day

Today ended up being good, and reasonably productive. At this moment, I am sitting on the couch, blogging, watching a cheesy movie, and drinking a mug of relaxing tea. Soon, I will brush and floss, take some vitamins, set out clothes for tomorrow, and crash into bed.

This morning, I awoke after a late night out dancing with the Newark Swing Kids. I had a nice time snuggling and laughing with the Little Bug. Then we rolled out of bed and the day unfolded thus:
Get us both dressed and ready for the day, although the Bug never did bother to put on pants.
Make breakfast, packed it up.
Go to Caribou Coffee for our nice weekly coffee time. They are used to us there, although I'm not sure how fond they are of having a regular 2-year-old visitor.
Go to church.
Come home from church.
Make and eat lunch-- easy because it was sandwiches.
Try to put Little Bug down for a nap. This always takes a while. No success, but at least I tried.
Watch Thomas the Tank Engine and Bob the Builder and play trains with the Little Bug because it is too rainy to go outside.
Skype chat with Little Bug's daddy.
Make dinner-- pretty easy because I'm working on cleaning out the freezer.
Eat dinner, clean up.
Research compost bins and chat online with Willow, while the Little Bug plays some more.
Go out and play in the rain with the Little Bug. Because every kid should do that once in a while.
Put the Little Bug to bed. This always takes a while. He doesn't like to sleep.
Shower.
Start load of laundry.
Scoop cat litter, take out trash.
Wash dishes.
Start dish washer.
Make lunches for tomorrow.
Remember that I need to bring cookies to Little Bug's daycare. Oh noes! No time to bake cookies! But wait-- I had a spate of cookie-making in the past few weeks and actually have homemade cookies stored in the freezer, ready to go. Super-Mom is on the job!!
Make chamomile tea.
Switch laundry to dryer, and hang laundry on clothes rack.
Put in another load of laundry.
Make to-do list for tomorrow.
Give into hunger pangs and eat a spoonful of peanut butter to last me through till morning.
Go to check laundry (it needs a bit more time in the dryer), and floss and brush my teeth.
In the midst of flossing, I hear a sharp cry. @#%$%$^@$^*(%$! Sometimes the Little Bug will wake up in the middle of the night. I don't go rushing in, because he will often roll over and go back to sleep. At the second cry, I go to the bedroom, and he is already out of the bed and staggering to find me, wailing all the while. I pick him up and cuddle him, asking if he is hungry. He asserts that he is, so I get him juice and part of a bagel. He sips the juice and munches part of the bagel, but soon is done with them and wants susu instead. @(%@%^$%()()!!! Oh well, maybe he'll go to sleep. He does relax and fall asleep. It takes more than 20 minutes. I finally slip out of the bed to finish flossing, brush my teeth, and take my vitamins. He wakes up and cries again. #*%)&^! He comes out into the hall and is in no mood to sleep. I ask if he wants to come out and sit with me in the front room. "Watch Thomas Train movie", he insists. At this point, WHY NOT?! We settle down on the couch to watch Thomas (who knows, maybe he'll really fall asleep this time) and I continue writing my ever-crankier blog post.
It's all worth it when he turns to me with a sleepy smile and says, "Thank you, Mommy".
Now all that remains is to set out clothes for tomorrow (might not get to that-- depends on laundry status) and then somehow get us both to bed.

I hope everyone else had a good day and is ready to start another fun-filled week.

Teh Cyoots Dey Are Overwelmin

Get ready to say "Awwww!" and possibly shed a tear or two at this heartwarming story of US Marines having a heart to care for stray kitties in Afghanistan.

World Cup Football - final match heartbreak

The match went into double overtime, but ultimately, Spain scored in minute 116 to triumph over Netherlands 1-0. Despite their disappointment, however, the Dutch have no reason for anything but pride regarding the way that they played. There were many (including Paul the Octopus) who predicted that Spain would emerge the winners, and while they were vindicated in the end, there were nearly two hours of intense football between two equally-matched teams, with numerous moments when the balance was very nearly tipped in favor of the Dutch team. If the Spanish were really that much better and more dominant, they would have scored early and kept the run of the game (as is their usual custom). Snarky post-game commentary indicated that "the Dutch got what they deserved" because they just weren't up to snuff, and it wasn't the "beautiful and artistic game" that viewers expected. Well, the Dutch were just fine, and there was some good footwork.

My pick for MVP of this final game comes out to be a tie between Stekelenburg (Netherlands goalie) and Casillas (Spain goalie). Okay, there is a reason why they are the goalkeepers for the #1 and #2 teams in the world. They are amazing. Stekelenburg was really the backbone of his side, performing save after save and seeming to be a calm presence that reassured his teammates and urged them forward. Casillas seems at times as if he can actually fly--he gets a lot of height in his jumps and seems to hang there, sometimes almost horizontal. In fact, the one consolation I had in seeing the Spanish team receive the cup was watching Casillas (as team captain) kiss it and hold it aloft, weeping. My impressions of him have always been that he is an outstanding athlete and sportsman and a very decent human being: a great ambassador for his sport, as well as his country.

All in all, it was wonderful to kind of join in with the whole world and celebrate something so universal as soccer/football, and I'm not weeping because I'm already looking ahead to the Netherlands' amazing success in future European and World Cup tournaments.

It's funny because it's true

This is how the fine people of the US see the World Cup... and the world in general.*


*Yes, yes, I know it's a generalization.

World Cup Football update - semi-finals 2

Germany and Spain battled it out in a tight match that ran 0-0 for the majority of the time. The Germans seemed to fall back onto a defensive game that stood them well as far as preventing the Spanish from scoring, yet ultimately was their downfall due to their failure to take the game down to the other end of the field and push Spain to rely on their own defense. Spain had a good offensive/defensive balance, yet seemed to have uncharacteristic difficulty in handling the ball. They took multiple shots that flew wide of the goal, and managed to score only when Puyol headed the ball in off of a corner kick in minute 73. That was the only goal of the game, and so the final score was Spain 1:0 Germany.

Now it is Germany vs Uruguay on Saturday, playing to determine who will take third place, and then NETHERLANDS VS ESPANA on Sunday, fighting for ultimate glory and first place in the World Cup. Interestingly, it's Red (or Red Fury-- La Furia Roja) versus Orange (Oranje). This is probably the only time in my life that I would pick orange over any other color.

PS Sorry, Mia! Looks like Germany didn't come through this time. But they might win that game with Uruguay on Saturday.

World Cup Football update - semi-finals

It was a tight match today but the Netherlands prevailed over Uruguay 3-2. I was at work, but was able to follow along via the handy live blog at National Post. The Dutch scored early on but then lost their lead and it was 1-1 for a while. At 70-something minutes, the Dutch pulled ahead again, but it was still a narrow win, as the Uruguay team (props to you, Uruguay!) fought to literally the last minutes.

So now, the Netherlands are through to the final game! They must stay focused and fight for the Cup! Who will my flying Dutchmen face next Sunday? The match for their contender will be battled out tomorrow between Germany and Spain. I'd say that Germany is most likely to be the winner, but this whole tournament has been so unpredictable that it's really anybody's game to win.

Glee

I watched a few episodes of Glee that are on Hulu. I don't know why, other than the fact that I've been doing random stuff around the apartment (including cleaning out my fridge/freezer, which explains my sudden spike in consumption of key lime pie, frozen pizza, and even raspberry-flavored vodka--but NOT all at the same time, of course), so I've been able to relax every so often.

Interestingly, I've found Glee to be far more addictive than Lost, another TV show I tried recently on Hulu. As far as I can tell from the first few episodes, the real themes are finding within yourself the power and confidence to be yourself and the need to have courage to believe in your dreams. Ideas like these are nothing new, of course, but in Glee, they are presented in such a way as to be inspiring without being preachy. In fact, it sort of reminds me of Buffy, in that it utilizes a high school setting to present deeper lessons of life.

My favorite moments so far have been when Curt tried out for the football team (so that his dad wouldn't find out he was gay and/or make him quit the glee club) and danced up to the ball (to the tune of "Single Ladies") and then kicked it right through the goalposts; and then later in the episode when he repeated the performance in the game to score the goal and cinch the win for the William McKinley High school (the first win in a very long time).

Wow, it's late here.

World Cup Football update - moving to semifinals

I think football fans all over the world were stunned by the quarter-finals' one-two punch of both Brazil and Argentina falling to European teams. Germany dominated the pitch to win over Argentina 4-0 earlier today. Spain beat Paraguay, but that was less unexpected I think. Now it will be Uruguay vs Netherlands and Spain vs Germany next week.

World Cup Football update - quarterfinals for Netherlands

Against pretty much all expectations, the Netherlands blew past Brazil to win their quarterfinals match 2-1. Powerhouse Brazil was heavily favored and dominated the first half, but Netherlands came from behind (aided once by Brazilian team member Melo accidentally knocking the ball into his own goal) and once they were ahead, the Dutch controlled it all to the end. The Brazilian teamed seemed too confused and demoralized to pull together and take back the pitch.

I was working during the majority of the Netherlands/Brazil matchup, but managed to catch the last 15 minutes during lunch at a sports bar. The pulse-pounding action was really over by that point. It was just fun to see the Dutch team essentially playing around and keeping the ball moving while waiting for the clock to run out. When the game ended, the Brazilian team and fans seemed stunned: It was over for them, and definitely not with the results they had anticipated.

Now Netherlands will face Uruguay, I believe, in the semi-finals. I actually didn't believe Netherlands would win over Brazil, but they accomplished it, and so now, Uruguay will be an easy win for them.