Hazards of the Profession

Missed another day. Sorry!

My usual blogging time is in the evening, after the Little Bug is in bed and before I myself stagger off to lay myself down in a horizontal position and drift into unconsciousness for a few hours.

Unfortunately, last night, I was putting the Bug to bed as usual, and I fell asleep. This happens on a rather frequent basis, and while I don't appreciate it (because I get nothing done and then I have a messy apartment in the morning AND I have to shower and do all kinds of stuff that I typically do the night before) I do realize that I probably really need the sleep.

Tackle-It Tuesday

I've been keeping up with a lot of responsibilities in my life, as per usual, but haven't taken advantage of posting anything for Tackle-It Tuesday. Today, I've decided to confront some pressing furniture needs that are looming in my life. I desperately need a few items, and would like to invest in some other items that would simply make my life easier and more productive.

New dresser - My current dresser is in a lamentable state of disrepair. It is more than 20 years old, having been the dresser that my parents bought for me when we moved to the US in 1990. It has been moved more times than I care to calculate at this time, and has been slowly disintegrating for at least 5 years. The lowest drawer does not really work any more; the front has detached from the rest of the drawer, and that bottom cardboard piece has fallen out. I've tried to repair with tacks and wood glue, but it hasn't really worked. Now, the bottom has fallen out of the top drawer. I think this dresser has had a good life, and I can replace it, in good conscience.
New shelves - I own some working bookshelves, but my largest set literally fell apart on my most recent move.
Work table - I don't have any place where I can spread out crafts or work with my sewing machine. The dining room table is where we eat and where lots of action happens, so there is no place for getting creative. I set up the back bedroom as a work/play room, and if I get a folding table, it will be very useful.
Sofa bed or futon - All I have right now is a loveseat that sits maybe two adults comfortably. I have no chairs for guests except my dining room chairs. And if I get a sofa that is multi-functional, then it will also serve as a place for guests to sleep if they visit overnight. I'm thinking of putting the loveseat as a comfy spot in my work/play room and having the newer (longer) sofa in the front room.

And, of course, I have to shop for and obtain all of these items at some point during my lunch breaks, because it is just really difficult shopping for high-stress items with the Bug in tow. Oh, and I have to find useful strong people who are willing to help me bring home, move, and rearrange furniture. Usually, offering food as compensation is a key point in the latter endeavor.

I'll keep you all updated.

14 Nov

Here we are: Another post for today, so I'm caught up!

First of all, I wish a very happy birthday to my dearest Elizabeth! I lament the fact that she is far away in Texas, but I hope I can see her some time in the next few months.

Second, I must admit that I am very tired. I'm sure everyone is bored reading my lists of "what I did today", but I enjoy posting them because they give me a sense of accomplishment. Today:

• posted on blog twice
• went to church
• went to grocery store
• made lunch and dinner
• put the Little Bug down for his nap
• sorted through some computer files, doing electronic decluttering
• washed dishes and did the dishwasher and put away dishes
• added bedding to my worm compost
• moved compost bins to the garage
• did laundry
• bathed the Bug, clipped his nails, and put him to bed
• baked cinnamon rolls
• made lunches for tomorrow
• folded laundry, put it away
• set out clothes for tomorrow
• showered and got ready for bed
• took out the trash
• called my BFF

I'm sure I did more, but I can't recall. It is nearly midnight here, so you'll have to wait till tomorrow for any more tales of my housewifely splendor.

13 Nov

I fell asleep before posting yesterday. Sorry! I ruined NaBloPoMo. If I post twice today, it's all good, right?

We had a good and productive Saturday. I spent the morning doing chores while the Bug played with his toys. We took a little nap mid-day, then went out to run errands in the afternoon. The weather was glorious (sunny and high 60s F) for mid-November, so we went to the park to run around. Our friend Bill met us there with one of his dogs and we walked partway around the Big Circle. Then we went home and ate a hodge-podge of food for dinner because we were cleaning out the fridge. Then we went to bed because a full busy day of chore-doing, errand-running, and park-going can really take it out of you.

Thankfulness

November has the distinction of being known for a few things: "fall back" time change, predominantly dreary weather in most places in the northern hemisphere, and US Thanksgiving. I like the time change, myself, because I enjoy having more light in the mornings and also the fact that we have returned to actual normal time. However, I have never been a fan of autumn or winter, and particularly not the weather. So far, November is a draw. But one thing I can say is good about November is that many people make it a point to focus on things for which they are thankful.

I know I am very thankful for the job that God provided for me more than a year and a half ago. It is not easy to be focused on productivity, and I fail often. However, I know I am very fortunate to have a job at all, much less one that I truly enjoy much of the time. This past week was very stressful, not because of anything related to my tasks at work, but because this was the week that we had to select our benefits for 2011. So many options! What plan should I select? What is the best decision to make for the Little Bug and me?! I must admit that having a child really bumps up the pressure to make the right choice. But amid the pressure, I forgot that even having the opportunity to make the choice at all is such a blessing at a time when so many are without employment and/or insurance.

Fortunately, it is all over now, and I am trusting to the Lord that I did make all the correct decisions. Our health and our finances are in His hands every moment, and while we should make use of resources He has given us, ultimately, He will provide and protect and He doesn't need paperwork.

Marketing 2

For the first time EVER, the Little Bug actually ASKED to wear pajama pants! They have Thomas on them, of course.

Now I have high hopes regarding the Thomas bedding that Meema Debbie is sending him for his special new big boy bed... He may soon be ready to sleep on his own!

Wednesday

Inspiration is failing me.

My day was long and in some ways productive.

It's late enough and I'm tired enough for me to just want to go to bed and sleep... without showering even. Wow.

Marketing

Conventional wisdom would have us believe that the marketing of popular children's characters is aimed at children. Seems reasonable. However, my theory is that much of the marketing is actually directed toward parents. Case in point: Thomas the Tank Engine outfits from Wal-Mart. I bought three sets (shirt and pants) as winter clothes for the Little Bug. True, they cost $1 or $2 more per set than would a more generic non-branded product. HOWEVER, from a parenting point of view, this relatively tiny markup is MORE THAN WORTH IT. If the Bug has Thomas on his shirt and pants, his resistance to getting dressed in the morning is greatly reduced. It's worth $2 to me just to have one easy morning. Amortizing this cost over an entire winter? PRICELESS!

VALUE isn't just a question of how much something costs in money; it's a question of how much money and effort and some other intangibles are required in outlay, versus utility (and even enjoyment) you will obtain from it, and the appropriate cost-to-use ratio that you yourself are willing to assign. Nobody else can assign value on your behalf. And that's a beautiful part of being a wise and responsible consumer.

Which Harry Potter Character Are You?

The Potter-related question of today is, which character would you be?

Clearly, I am Hermione Granger. I first watched Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in a Talbot class, and by circumstance, my older brother was also in the class. Hermione is quite a little girl in that film, and is a Muggle-born witch whose first trip to Hogwarts is also her first experience ever in the magical world. She tries to make up for her insecurities by being a perfectionist and an insufferable know-it-all. When she first came on the scene, my brother leaned over to me and hissed, "Hey, Deb, THAT'S YOU!" I guess he would know. But one of the great pleasures of the Harry Potter books (and to a lesser degree, the films) is the experience of seeing Hermione grow through both the horrors of encountering ultimate evil (though her cool head gives her ability to handle the frights, I think) and the even-more-terrifying trials of adolescence (not to mention occasional forays into social justice, teen romance, and organized rebellion) into a self-possessed young lady who kind of does know it all but puts her formidable brain to work in service of loyalty and the greater good. I hope I could do even half as well in my own life.


Photo courtesy of emma-watson-pictures.blogspot.com

Mommy's Little Helper

Kneading the dough for some rolls.
They're never too young to start learning how to cook!

Saturday

I'm really tired and can't think of much of anything to post.

I made plans today to go see the upcoming Harry Potter film on 20 Nov. So exciting! Should I dress up for the occasion? As what, do you think?

Remember, Remember

The Fifth of November!

If I lived in the UK, I'd be readying my bonfire right about now. Those of us who are Stateside might wonder, what is Guy Fawkes Day all about?
Gunpowder, treason, and plot!

It's Curtains for Us

I'm not the most gifted person when it comes to domestic arts, but I am definitely excited about my recent purchase: tension rods and thermal curtain panels from Target. It gets cold out here in central Ohio, and the apartment doesn't have high-efficiency windows, which means that we lose a lot of heat through the windows during the autumn and winter. By placing thermal insulators over the windows, I should be able to retain more heat, thus lowering my heating bill and increasing my comfort level and overall satisfaction with life.

Expecto Patronum!

First of all, in NaBloPoMo news, I'd like to point out that I posted my review of Repo! on Nov 2, but since I began the post on Nov 1, my blog thinks it should put that date on it, and I'm too lazy to change it right now.

Second of all, I'm shamelessly copying Jennie with today's post. She is celebrating 30 days of Harry Potter over on her blog, and wonders what everybody's Patronus would be.

This is a tough question for some of us. Harry's, of course, is a stag, reflecting, among other things, his strong spiritual relationship with his father. Hermione's Patronus, curiously enough, is an otter, which seems unusually playful for a young person of her serious and scholarly temperament. I could not easily discern what my own Patronus would be, so I had to take myself mentally into Hogwarts and imagine casting the spell. "Expecto Patronum!" I had been hoping for an owl, but sensed that since birds are rather rare among Patroni (Dumbledore's phoenix--if one even considers a phoenix to be a type of bird--and Cho Chang's swan being the only ones mentioned, I believe), I would end up with a furry creature, and probably not even a large and intimidating one. Sure enough, what came out was none other than a cat! Not quite an ordinary domestic cat, but rather a Pallas' cat. Cute and fluffy but can probably inflict some damage. Good enough!


Photo courtesy of Wikipedia Commons

What about you, dear readers? Find the Room of Requirement, cast the spell, and let us know in the comments how you fared.

Review: Repo! The Genetic Opera

There are some works of human endeavor that present and represent ideas, whether good or bad. A philosophical treatise probably does so blatantly, whereas a piece of fiction or a work of art may do so more subtly. Repo! The Genetic Opera is a filmed rock opera that wrestles with such hefty themes as free will versus determinism, good versus evil, and the human condition. If I had to pinpoint just one Big Idea around which to wrap Repo!, however, I'd have to say that it provides the viewer with a pared-down but graphic view of the hideous realities of human trafficking. A bit of a stretch? Perhaps, but how else should I regard a production wherein human beings are clearly depicted as nothing more than sources of profit, and when the profit fails, the human beings are utterly dispensable?

Repo! is set in a bleak post-apocalyptic not-too-distant future. People can purchase organs if needed for survival or desired merely for some kind of upgrade. The leading organ company, GeneCo, eventually dominates the market and then the world. You get your organs on a financing plan, but if you miss a payment... your organ is repossessed! Who must perform the grisly work of repossession? Why would he or she stoop to do such a thing? Could there be any good in such a person? And could anyone love such a monster?!

We learn about the extremes to which some people must go for sacrifice and redemption, and how others rise above their seemingly omnipotent determinative genetics to seize opportunities to choose ultimate good (grace and forgiveness) above seductive evil. We also see that one can be the most powerful man in the world, but without love and respect given to or received from his children, he is revealed to be a pitiable fool with nothing for which he truly desires to live.

Repo! is not appropriate viewing for everyone. There is gore aplenty, although in truth, much of it is presented in a stylized, almost cartoonish, way. There is also some foul language, brief nudity, and a few rather suggestive scenes (although illicit sexual content is always presented as a hallmark of depravity, and not glorified as being desirable). Ultimately, however, a viewer should not see Repo! unless prepared to have heart and mind stirred to consider some truly heavy issues.

I would need to see Repo! again to appreciate more of the visuals and the musical score. There are some catchy tunes but most of the music is very tied to the narrative, so it is difficult to extract any particular song as being notable. I suspect that repeat viewings will remedy this, but for now, I can simply state that I found nothing unappealing about the musical stylings, and while not all performers were of the same caliber, all acquitted themselves at least competently, if not excellently. Standouts were Anthony Stewart Head, Alexa Vega, and Sarah Brightman, with special mention for Terrance Zdunich, who performed a pivotal role (the Graverobber) but also was one of the writers and composers.

So. It's NaNoWriMo, which translates to NaBloPoMo for those of us who are underachievers. Let us see how I fare...

Paul is dead

Paul the Octopus has gone to that big coral reef in the sky...
http://www.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/10/26/germany.paul.octopus.death/?hpt=Sbin

Today

Some things I did today:
-went to the bank
-went to the costume shop
-cleaned the bathroom
-washed/dried two loads of laundry
-sorted recyclables
-took a bag of stuff to Goodwill
-put gas in the car
-took recycling to dropoff bins
-bought groceries
-went home and put groceries away
-took care of the Little Bug all day
-bathed the Little Bug and put him to bed
Some things I need to finish before I go to bed:
-finish and put away laundry
-tidy kitchen
-tidy front room and Nathan's room
-shower and brush teeth and toss myself into bed

CoN: VotDT

I must confess that I am very much looking forward to the December release of this film, despite the overall disappointment that was the misguided Prince Caspian, plus the fact that the producers somehow felt the need to make Dawn Treader 3D.

NPH has twins (so to speak)

Everyone's favorite amazingly multi-talented person, (openly gay) Neil Patrick Harris, is the new father of twin babies! Babies are awesome in and of themselves, of course, but I also found a fair amount of amusement from this article, which concludes by helpfully pointing out that "the babies were born with the help of a surrogate".

So Far, Still Good Anyway

The Little Bug hasn't been sleeping in his bed anymore, but there is always hope.

We've been doing a lot of basic life stuff: going to work and daycare, church, paying bills, and so forth.

So Far, So Good

The Little Bug actually opted to go to sleep in his own bed, three nights in a row. You have no idea how amazing this is, and what an answer to prayer!

Maroon 5: Misery

I heard the new Maroon 5 single "Misery" on the radio the other day, and thought, "Oh hey, Maroon 5. Cool! They must have a new album out." In all innocence, I proceeded to view the music video on Youtube. Okay, here's a tip, people: Don't watch it. It's VERY DISTURBING. You have been warned. But one good thing the video did is let me know that Adam Levine has actually become hot* with the passage of time. Remember the early 2000s, when he was all skinny and emo and still growing into his face? Well, honey, I took one for the team (you're welcome) and can now assure you that that face is still the quirky not-quite-handsome one we've come to appreciate, but now it is more rugged and definitely scruffy. Levine is working the jeans-and-tight-t-shirt-and-black-leather-jacket angle, and boy is he working it.

I tried to find a photo that I could link or upload but no image was available in the public domain. Try a Google Image search for yourself. I did find an article stating that Levine owes his newly buffed-up physique to yoga. General consensus is that the guy is a player in the worst way, but at least I finally understand why he gets away with it.

*Ah, my sad weakness for punk rockers and the occasional hipster...

Blog Template Update

I made some changes to my blog's template, hoping to make Youtube videos appear properly. Now you can see Youtube videos embedded, but other stuff is messed up. Sorry! I'll fix it when I can. It's too late to do so effectively now.

What is up with your templates, Blogger?!

Neon Trees: Animal

I haven't had much exposure to Neon Trees, but I am currently obsessed with this song and this video.



It's a potpourri of classic Deb, with the strangely hot punk rocker dude (and those black knit cotton gloves!), the white van in the desert (Biola Utah!), and the allusions to cannibalism. Take a bite of my heart tonight!

It's been a while, but I haven't disappeared from the planet.

I'm just checking in to assure folks that I am still alive and kicking, AND my boss had the kindness to bring me rambutans, guavas, and cookies at the beginning of the week, so while things could be better, they are nevertheless much better than they could be. Asian fruit makes things better.

Warped 1

I wanted to do a mega-post recounting our adventures at the Warped Tour, but I think I'll have to recap (now a few weeks later, sadly) in a series of snippets.

We started out in proper Warped fashion, by having our mom drop us off at the concert venue. This was hilarious because Mia and I, despite being grown adults who have things like husbands and children and jobs, were still in the same situation as all the teeny-boppers whose mothers were also dropping them off. We were told that there was plenty of space in the parking lot, whereas the dropping-off line was long indeed.

We didn't have to wait very long in line to get in the gates. While we stood about, we enjoyed the ambiance and chatted with the folks behind us in line (pretty much the only other people we could see who were over 21).

We got our picture taken. Photobomb sticker!!

One really cool thing about Warped is that when you're standing in line, people come up to you for all kinds of things. They want signatures for causes, they're passing out stickers or demo CDs, or they're band members who are trying to drum interest and get you to go to their shows later in the day. It's fun to meet such a variety of people (although the PETA folks are invariably annoying), especially the bands.

Coming soon

Warped Tour report!

Summer Vacation

The Little Bug and I flew and drove all day yesterday (Friday) in order to finally arrive at lovely San Diego. We're tired but having a great time with Willow, Mama Mia, and several other family members. It is unseasonably chilly but we're coping.

More later.

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.

World Cup Football update

Well, despite the temporary elation of last week (a few people in the US actually cared about soccer for a split second), the US team is now down and out of the FIFA World Cup tournament, having been beaten rather neatly by Ghana. Bye-bye, Mr. American Pie!

The Netherlands, on the other hand, are doing splendidly and moved into the quarter-finals, with a 2:1 victory over Slovakia. I was able to only see the highlights reel, but my guess is that overall, there was a solid game of football as it should be played. That second goal by the Dutch was lovely, with a simple pass from Kuyt to Sneijder, who then slammed the ball straight back, right past the Slovak goalie. The Netherlands are now set to hit their first real challengers of this World Cup, battling it out with highly-ranked Brazil on Friday. Has their series of straight wins been just a fluke, or is the Netherlands team (traditionally underachievers) really playing on a higher level in South Africa?

West Coast Represent

Now put your hands up!

Am I the only person who finds Katy Perry's new single "California Gurls" to be both tragically lame and diabolically catchy? And who, for that matter, also thinks that Ms. Perry is not a very good singer?

Never-the-less, we California girls* do appreciate a shout-out now and then.


*I'll always be a California girl in my heart!

Friday Five

Yes, I actually did something this Friday, and it's a list of Faves for the week.

• Finding some plastic storage containers on clearance at Target. I’m in a constant battle with clutter, and while I’m working on getting rid of stuff, I need sturdy containers to store the stuff that I keep.


• Finding Marie Callendar’s Key Lime Pie on sale at the grocery store. Some weeks, it’s the little things that count!


• The Netherlands coming out of Stage 1 of World Cup competitions undefeated. This is a great start for the Dutch team, but they will face solid and skilled opponents in many of the other top-ranked teams during Stage 2 and beyond. Yes, I’ve decided to return to my roots and begin following world football in earnest. Football (American soccer) is one of the few sports in which I excelled as a child, as well as one of the few that I sort of intrinsically understand.


• The Little Bug being given a gold star! He had his 2-year check-up at the pediatrician and was pronounced to be in excellent health and progressing very well in development. He demonstrated good manners (he says “please” and “thank you” without being prompted most of the time) and behaved so nicely that the doctor observed that he was rather better than other toddlers at their 2-year check-ups. Also impressive: His vocabulary and the fact that he says basic sentences rather than just two word phrases, not to mention his knowledge of shapes, colors, letters, and numbers.


• The joy of anticipation. I’ll be spending much of tomorrow relaxing, doing crafts (inspiration boards), baking, and getting a facial, with some lovely friends.

Math and the Touchdown Jesus - answers!

Thanks to everyone who partipated in our mathlympics related to the Jesus statue! So, pretty much, thanks to Jeff Feely.

His second answer, of 8.33ish, is the one I was seeking, though technically the first answer (Jesus should be wearing the 7) is also correct, in a manner of speaking.

Here is how we addressed it:

Self:
My own approach was less orthodox. I tried to go the route of the geometric mean, in which 7:x = x:10, => x^2 = 70 => x=8.3666. If this is the correct solution, then 8.3666*12 = 10^2. We see that 8.3666*12 is actually 100.3992, the square root of which is 10.0199. Oooh, so close but not exact!
Note: Yes, I was all wrong. Serves me right for trying to assume a geometric relationship in an arithmetic number sequence.

Coworker #1
7 + 1.33333 = 8.3333
8.33333 + 1.6666667 = 10
10 + 2 = 12
So increments of 1.3333, 1.66666, 2.
Like Lost I guess, except my numbers make sense!


Coworker #2
Made a graph.

Math and the Touchdown Jesus

The Touchdown Jesus in Monroe (Dayton/Cincinnati area) actually burned down last night! Touchdown Jesus was a landmark of both cultural and physical variety, and I never saw it, but its destruction is big news in Ohio. The event has spawned much discussion as to what it meant if God struck down statue of Jesus with lightning. I would not be surprised at a sudden onslaught of theories regarding the coming judgment and doom to befall Dayton, OH. [Editor's note: Oh, puh-lease.]

My own view is that the Creator God is simply sending a message that physical objects are subject to the operating physical laws of the universe, and if there is any judgment to be had, it falls upon the Solid Rock Church for their stupidity in erecting what was essentially a flammable lightning rod in the midst of a region regularly beset by heavy thunder storms.



For my part, my attention was drawn more toward a photo that a coworker sent out of the statue prior to its fiery demise.


Clearly, the REAL question is: What number should Jesus be wearing to complete the sequence?


I posed this question to some coworkers, and a few of us obtained a solution via a variety of methods. Can you figure it out? Hint: It's not an integer. Have at it.

Gone but not forgotten

Happy Birthday to my favorite performer (and shirttail relative!) Judy Garland.

It's low quality, but here is a clip of one of her most famous song-and-dance numbers. It doesn't get any better than this, ladies and gentlemen.

Mommy Life

Why yes, there IS a reason why I walked into church an hour late and carrying an unpainted balsa wood toy fire truck. Thanks for asking.

UO On the Rocks

This video right here very nearly justifies the existence of Lady Gaga.

Awesome Mad Skills

Okay, I have no idea what is driving this sudden spate of work-related clumsiness, but I've had SO MANY incidents in the past few weeks. Is it fatigue? Too many things on my plate? Something of both?

I was in the lab yesterday doing some trouble-shooting on one of my projects. I was sitting on a chair backward, with my arms resting on the seat back. The chair was one of those adjustable-type office chairs, and so the back was leaning with me as I leaned forward. Suddenly, the chair went toppling over, and there I was spilled all over the lab floor. Naturally, instead of rushing forward to assist me and ascertain that I was unharmed, the guys in the room just stood around and laughed. They are very accustomed to my klutziness, and since I usually just pick myself up, dust myself off, and start back into whatever I was doing before I stumbled (or fell over or bumped into something or dropped or spilled something, et cetera), I guess they figure I'm pretty much unbreakable (which, clearly, I am).

I'm more than ready for the weekend!

Fun times

I went out to the Big Bang Bar in Columbus tonight with Amy and Spencer. They encouraged me to take some time for myself and do something fun with friends.

Quote of the Day

Emma Caulfield on female comic book superheroes' costumes, and Wonder Woman's in particular: "There's no sense in making her look slutty. Unless she's a slut, and then that makes sense!"

See the entire clip of Crazy Sexy Geeks.

I have strange thoughts.

You know what would be totally awesome?

A Bollywood production of "As You Like It".

Even Madder Skills

Yesterday at work, I managed to walk into a partly-open door and hit my nose pretty hard. It hurt! I don't have noticeable swelling or a bruise, but it is still painful to touch the area. It doesn't hurt so much, though, that I am unable to see the humor in the situation. How I've managed to live through more than three decades without ever even breaking a bone is a complete mystery, right?!

Further Mad Skills

This afternoon, I managed to top (or bottom) myself: I cut my thumb on my umbrella! No, really!

Mad Skills

I still has dem!

So today at work, I was sitting at my desk discussing something with my boss. I had been hungry, so I'd popped a bag of microwave popcorn and had a bowl of it in my lap. Suddenly, popcorn went flying everywhere!
Cookie Boss: [staring at me in consternation] How did that even happen?!
Me: It's a gift.
Cookie Boss: But there was no reason! You didn't even move. It was like some quantum thing.
Me: How long have you been laughing at me for dropping things, spilling things, and tripping over my own feet? I've been here almost a year now. You should know that I have a high level of klutziness, even when the very law of physics countermand it.*

It's true. I am terminally clumsy (I blame my long limbs). And there really was no logical reason that my popcorn suddenly spilled all over me and the floor. It's just one of those constant things in my life, and I've come to accept it.

*Okay, I admit that I probably did not use the word countermand in a conversation, but I don't remember the exact wording, so I'm putting this as "close enough".

A moment nearly 11 years in the making

I paid off my student loans in one fell swoop!

I just sent the check to Sallie Mae and wanted to share the joy with the world.

Zoo Visit

Early March, and just warm enough that we could wear light jackets during the day.

Tackle-It Tuesday

I am not very good about updating here lately, and I am definitely not very good about keeping up with regular weekly things like Tackle-It Tuesday. Today, however, I'm counting some stuff toward this effort: Today I'm tackling the paying of bills and sending some money as donations and such.

Review of Friday Five: Did I do what I said I might?

• Stare out at the snow. YES!! Did this.
  
• Hope the snow stops falling so we can run errands tomorrow. YES!! Did this. And then ran those errands.
  
• Rest and get better. Started on this, but we both have a long way to go until we're all the way better.
  
• Craft with paper. Hmm, started to do it, but didn't get far.
  
• Watch Elmo with my Little Bug. YES, I definitely did this.
  

Quite Possibly Best Cupcakes Ever

Created by artist Alicia Traveria: Brain Slugs!

I wonder if she could do a matching Hypnotoad cake...

Friday Five: Things I Plan To Do This Weekend

• Stare out at the snow.
• Hope the snow stops falling so we can run errands tomorrow.
• Rest and get better.
• Craft with paper.
• Watch Elmo with my Little Bug.

Caption Contest Winner

Remember how we had the caption contest last month?

We had some great submissions, and I hereby declare the winner to be... The Real Deal from The Road to Valinor. Similar to the dead deer in the truck at McDonald's, your prize will be truly representative of life in central Ohio.


That's right, Mr. Real Deal! Official Ohio State University Buckeye Candy! Congratulations!

Send me your address via e-mail (your wife can hook you up with my contact info) and I'll send your prize through the postal mail.

The Question

The Question: Where have I been for the past few weeks?
The Answer: I have had the sickies, and so has the baby bug! I got a cold more than two weeks ago, and the cough and sore throat are persisting even now. My poor little bug got so sick that his sinuses got infected and overly congested and mucus starting seeping out of his eyes! Ew!! Right?! He is on antibiotics and well on the road to recovery.

I also just haven't felt inspired to blog, mostly because I just don't know how much to share or what would be interesting.

Sweet Eleanor

Some of my readers may know Wendy over at Fish Crackers. She has mentioned that she has a good friend whose 2-year-old daughter was recently diagnosed with cancer, has already had one operation and is now beginning chemo treatments. God is using Eleanor (the little cancer patient) to touch hearts and lives already, and you can read about her progress on her Caring Bridge site (posted with her parents' permission):
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/eleanorruthdickson


Wendy, who is very gifted in all areas crafty and creative, designed and knitted a chemo hat for little Eleanor, and is now making the pattern available to knitters everywhere.
It is only $5 (a real bargain for a knitting pattern), and all profits will go to the Dickson family to defray the cost of their many medical expenses that are not covered by insurance. In just the past few days, Wendy has already sold more than 100. The pattern is that good!

Read more information about the Sweet Eleanor pattern on Wendy's craft blog, and find ways to purchase it.

Or Buy It Now directly from this link to Ravelry.

I realize that many of my readers are not knitters. However, perhaps you know someone who does knit and would be happy to get a great pattern and reach out to a family (and a tiny little girl) going through a difficult time. Pass it along. Sweet Eleanor can go viral!

Now the Face of BCBG Max Azria in Their SS 2010 Campaign!

And as a glamorous supermodel, I can now become a jet setter and escape my life of daily toil...

Just kidding! When in Austin with Elizabeth and Sara, we went to the outlet mall and found the most amazing dress in the BCBG MA shop. I tried it on and Sara took these pictures.

Midnight blue, great lines, great price (designer dress under $100)... I didn't buy it because I really had no reason to own it. Maybe someday!

Great for dancing!Am I fierce?!?!

Elizabeth also modeled the dress and it was fantastic on her, but sadly, my pictures of her did not turn out as well. She looked gorgeous.

I'll LOL you into a false sense of security...

Despite my assertion that my awesome picture does not NEED a caption, it has received a few anyway.

From Frisbee Guy at work:

From me:

Got a better punchline in mind? Post it in the comments! Or post the captioned picture on your blog and put a link to it in the comments here. In fact, let's have a contest. The creator of the best and funniest caption will receive a small prize of some yet-undetermined nature (Picture of Nathan? Genuine buckeye artifact?). Have at it!

Delurk

Someone, somewhere, made it so that January 14 was National Delurking Day. Obviously, I totally missed the boat on that one, but since it's not actually a law or whatever, I'll just do my own delurking event. It can last as long as I want.

So, readers! If you read this blog, however rarely or frequently, just go ahead and leave a comment. Please! It will make me feel all warm and fuzzy.

Mad Skillz

I haz dem.

I just managed to cut my finger while using a blunt table knife to make a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich. How is that even possible?!

I'm just naturally klutzy, I guess.

I Want Candy!

Or, It's Like a Party In My Mouth... And Everybody's Throwing Up!

I have, in the past, waxed nostalgic regarding Asian and European sweets and their availability (or lack thereof) in the United States. I miss a lot of those often offbeat treats, and definitely think that the US would be a better place for having more tropical fruit. However, I am definitely convinced that there are a number of confections that will simply never find much of a market here in North America. There's a story to back that up, of course.

A dear friend of mine recently traveled to China, and she brought back an assortment of candy and gave them to me last week. I'm not sure how much she understood about the candy, which is no reflection on her, since all the information on the package was written in Chinese, and while she is fluent in a few languages, it just so happens that Chinese isn't one of them. Her train of thought was basically, "Asian candy... Deb is from Asia and likes candy... I'll give it to her." This is all well and good, for the majority of the candy (coconut milk or tea flavor? yum), but included were some oddities that even I found a trifle offputting.
Meat Candy: I could not get to the website listed on the packaging (the only English writing there, in fact) of this confection, but I was clued into the probability of the content of the candy bag by the picture of an overly perky cow on the front. Meat is a luxury in many parts of Asia, so making a meat-flavored candy makes sense from that perspective, but meat candy is an odd concept to most of the western world (although a lot of people eat jerky, not to mention recent fancy bacon stuffs, which are not far off). While I was somewhat familiar with it, I am very nearly a vegetarian and generally eat white meat if I eat meat at all (mainly at restaurants and other people's houses), so beef candy just did not appeal to me, straight up.
Durian Candy: Durian, nicknamed "the king of fruits", is a love-it-or-hate-it kind of thing for most people. It's a not-that-bad-but-I'm-really-not-fond-of-it thing for me, primarily because (unlike a lot of westerners) I can handle the smell well enough but I'm just not a fan of the taste or texture of the fruit. Durian is popular enough in Southeast Asia that it has its own sort of subculture, and it's not surprising that people make durian-flavored candy, too.


Anyway, in the spirit of generosity (and, I confess, hilarity), I opted to bring the candies in to work and share them. Cookie Boss, in particular, is quite fond of Japanese food and delicacies, so I thought he'd appreciate a chance to relish some other authentic tidbits of Asian cuisine. I gave him the durian candies (there were four in total), and he tried one after his lunch. Never one to mince words, he responded thus: "It was like somebody punched me in the taste buds with brass knuckles made of horribleness. It tasted like what I would imagine the inside of a toilet in South America would taste like." Likewise not one to let a good opportunity go to waste, he then set about tricking other people into trying them. One of the unlucky victims exclaimed, "It's like a mix of phlegm, vomit, and some other bodily fluids." The other declared, "Like a mix of pineapple and rotten onion," which, by the way, is as good a description of durian flavor as I've ever heard. [My opinion, for the record: "I am not a fan of durian, but come on, it still tastes better than beer!"]

Cookie Boss would not even sample the meat candy, but he got someone else to eat one of them, and that person spit it out and proclaimed it to be nasty, best described as tasting rather like bullion. I kind of thought more people could handle the meat candy, seeing as how most folks in the US eat meat all the time, but I guess the concept was still too extreme.

The moral of the story is, of course, that if Cookie Boss is handing out candy, don't eat it!!

BESTEST PIKCHER EVAR!!!

Rural Central Ohio.

Any further captioning would just be superfluous, don't you think?

Street cred...

...for Ellie and Fred!



Eleanor Powell and Fred Astaire do a little hoofing in Broadway Melody of 1940, aided and updated by one DJ Erick E. The music added to the clip is inspired and precisely edited. The dancing is, quite simply, amazing (and notice how he is clearly working to keep up with her). The best of the best, viewed in a new way. File this one under awesome!

Happiness is contagious

At least, that's the message I received from the wrapper on my Dove's Dark Chocolate Promises candy.

Is happiness contagious? I don't know, really. I suppose that happiness could be contagious, sometimes. But my general impression is that isn't necessarily so. The Declaration of Independence* asserts that all individuals possess the right of the pursuit of happiness, but makes no statement whatsoever regarding the actual state of being happy. I'm guessing the question of attaining happiness made even the founding fathers a little bit uncomfortable.

*Of course, one's judgement on whether or not the Declaration of Independence serves as any sort of authoritative document, whether philosophically or otherwise, is entirely subjective.

Happy (Late) Birthday, Luise Rainer!

Born on 12 Jan 1910, Luise Rainer is 100 years old yesterday AND the oldest living Oscar winner! She won back-to-back Best Actress awards for The Great Ziegfeld (1936) and The Good Earth (1937), but her career soon foundered due to her inability to conform herself to the Hollywood ideal of what a movie star should be. I've never been a fan of Luise's style of acting, but learning about her life story has given me respect for her, and while her contemporaries have spent the past half-century or so dying off one by one, she is still around, getting the last laugh (literally, if she chuckles about anything at all).

Merry Christmas!

Here I am to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!

And, in the light of inclusiveness coupled with a respect for history, allow me to also wish you a belated Happy Hanukkah, a jolly Jul, a festive Winter Solstice and Sol Invictus celebration, a fabulous Saturnalia, and so forth.

Syncretism. What would we do without it?

To-Do: Airport Countdown

Store – Buy quart plastic bag, travel size eye stuff
Go to bank
Check mail
Pack bags
Dependent care forms
Clean carpet spots
Vacuum
Take out trash, recycling, compost
Clean bathroom
Dishes
Clean kitchen, fridge
Laundry
Clean out purse
Clean porch
Send out non-resident mail
Feed & water cats
Pack car
Go to Spencer’s place
Go to airport

Week update

It seems as though I've suddenly turned into "can't catch a break" girl. In the past week:

• The Little Bug had a cold and cough.
• The Little Bug had stomach flu.
• I had stomach flu.
• I missed a lot of work due to aforementioned illnesses.
• I am way behind on cleaning the apartment.
• We had at least 4 inches of snow over the weekend.
• The Little Bug was climbing on a chair (though he has been told not to, again and again) and fell and hurt his foot.
• And so forth.

I hope Christmas brings some respite for both of us. A mere 38 hours remain until we depart for California!

Snow!

The Little Bug walks out into snow for the first time.


Editor's Note: I would just like to add that I am fully aware of the fact that I have the most annoying recorded voice on the planet. I cringe when I hear myself.

Vintage Sesame Street

A new-found dedication to Elmo, combined with a lack of actual television access, has led to a fair amount of time spent viewing Sesame Street video clips on Youtube. There is a decent selection, and there is always the fun of clicking on a "Related Videos" link and being transported to other venues of awesomeness, which is how I happened upon this clip, featuring folk singer Buffy Sainte-Marie teaching Big Bird about early pediatric nutrition.



I think this is so amazing, with the amusing but logical setup (of course Big Bird thinks nursing is a funny way to feed a baby: he's a bird, and females in his species do not lactate) and the simple way that breastfeeding is presented as a natural and healthy action, while at the same time respectfully avoiding condemnation of mothers who don't breastfeed.

I wonder if Sesame Street would ever broadcast a segment today with a celebrity mama nursing her baby in this day and age. I hope so. I'd watch it.

Let it snow, let it snow!

Winter arrived with a vengeance some time last night, here in Buckeye Land. When I awoke this morning, there was a dusting of real snow over everything, and the temperature has been hovering in the low 20s F all day. Fortunately, I had an inkling (i.e. the weather report) that winter would soon be upon us, and so I'd prepared for it just two days ago. I went to the mall to purchase some items for someone else, and while I was there, I got a few items for myself:

Eddie Bauer coat (30% off), nearly identical to this one below, except that mine has fur lining on the hood. Warm, wind-resistant, relatively chic. I wish the coat was longer (full length instead of 3/4 length) but I have to admit, the Eddie Bauer folks totally know what they are doing when it comes to making cold-weather gear.

Bear Paw boots (40% off), very much in the style of the popular Ugg boots. I've always hated Ugg boots, but then I've always seen them worn in California with mini skirts or short shorts, which is just about as crazy a trend as anyone could find. I swore I would never wear boots like this, but then again, I also swore that I would never live any place that had snow. And with heavy denim trousers and a sensible jacket, these boots look great, utterly appropriate, and are water-proof, snow-proof, and extremely comfortable. Again, these manufacturers totally know what they are doing.

And never fear: Baby Bug also has his own cold-weather clothing, with a puffy down coat, a snow bunny suit from L.L. Bean (gift from Grandma Debbie), and water-proof baby Ecco boots (that cost, I might add, 25% more than a pair of my own boots).

Seriously?!

Seen at Barnes & Noble:
You really expect me to believe this book was written by an individual with the name of "Rosetta Stone"?

Elmo's Song

The little Bug LOVES this video. He is crazy about Elmo (or rather, about Melmo, as he's known around here).

Words of Wisdom

Eating leftover pumpkin cheesecake TOTALLY COUNTS as doing chores. It is cleaning out the fridge.

Virtue is her own reward.

No Business Like... Snow Business?

It snowed this morning. I didn't get all hyped up about it because it wasn't very much and I knew it wasn't going to stick. You can see in this picture that it was mostly melting on contact anyway.


You can see that there is a significant layer of fluff on the car, though.

Nathan was surprisingly unimpressed with the "snow" thing I kept mentioning, although I'm sure that when we get more of it, and it stays around for a while, he will be much more interested. The cats, by contrast, were rather intrigued, even disturbed. I realized that my hyper-aware and intelligent ninja cats had never seen snow before, and they were very cognizant of the fact that the white flakey stuff in the air and on the ground was something very new. They are inside-only cats, so they were not able to directly experience it, but let me know something was going on: They ran around my ankles meowing, then paced back and forth on the windowsill, their noses pressed against the window glass while their tails twitched and swished in slightly alarmed agitation.

The first snow of the winter season!

Friday Five: Thanksgiving Edition

In keeping with the spirit of this weekend (Thanksgiving Day is on Thursday, but I can be thankful for a few extra days, right?), I offer a list of a few things for which I am thankful.

1. My adored Baby Bug.
2. Caffeine.
3. My job, which provides me with a paycheck and which I generally enjoy very much.
4. Lovely kind friends Erica and Jill, who invited Nathan and me to join their family and friends for Thanksgiving dinner in their new home. [Why didn't I remember to get a picture?!]
5. My family, scattered from southern to northern California.
   

Giving Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving from the Buckeye State!

Career Day Volunteers

I'm sitting here at work on the day before Thanksgiving, and I found myself fighting to stay awake (not enough sleep last night, of course), so I decided to take a quick break to wake myself up.

And now, I present to you yet another conversation from work. Hey, it's my best material!
Context: It started out work-related, as some of our engineers had gone to a local school to do a presentation for Career Day.

ME: Best (or worst?) idea ever: Volunteer for Career Day and show up dressed as a cheerleader or Mexican wrestler or something. When the (probably startled) teacher asks, “What career are you here to talk about?” just give her an Are-you-stupid? look and say, “I’m here to share about engineering”, as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world.
HIM: That would be great. Go dressed as a giant fish or something. Or a sports mascot.
ME: A giant fish?! I don’t get it.
HIM: Oh yeah, the cheerleader and Mexican wrestler made a TON of sense. But GIANT FISH?? THAT’S STUPID!!!
ME: Because, you see, fish don’t have careers! Although now that I think of it, I wonder why they don’t. They do spend all their time in schools.
HIM: *RIM SHOT!*

Ohio High Holy Day

Yesterday was the Most Important Day of the Year. Bigger than Independence Day, Christmas, New Year Day. No holiday, no day of personal significance, nothing can compare to... the Ohio State versus Michigan football game.

After all, everybody supports Ohio State on game day. Even us.

We don't have a television, so we never watch any games, but we do like to go to the shopping mall (the mall, mind you, not even near the OSU campus) to see the hundreds and thousands of people decked out in OSU gear. I took a lot of pictures at first, because it really is a sight to behold; I've never seen anything like it in SoCal. However, I guess I've kind of gotten used to it lately.

Anyway, Ohio State beat Michigan pretty soundly, which is good; I won't have to deal with Cookie Boss being all mopey. He is obsessed with OSU, but I guess it's understandable in his case because (unlike most of the people around here) he actually went to school there.

Catch-up

If I can get my posts for November up to thirteen, I'll be fine for NaBloPoMo, right? Right?!

Well, this week has been crazy. Baby Bug has been fighting some sort of virus. He has no symptoms like coughing or sneezing, and just ran a low-grade fever some nights and has had low appetite. I was concerned enough to take him to the pediatrician (if he doesn't eat like the proverbial horse, I do get worried), but he is really okay and (per the doctor) just needs time, cuddles, and plenty of fluids in order to get better. That is all well and good, but the practical impact is that the Bug has trouble sleeping, which means that I get little or no sleep at all.

So, I'm TOTALLY EXHAUSTED. I fell asleep while putting Nathan to bed, three nights in a row. I have barely read e-mail and (obviously) haven't posted on any of my blogs. My apartment is a total mess, and nothing on my to-do list has been accomplished for something like a week. I don't concentrate well at work, and I have tasks piling up. In a word: WRETCHED.

Button, button, who's got the button?

Today, I discovered an otherwise accomplished person who does not know how to sew a button onto a garment. For reasons that I do not entirely understand, I was utterly flabbergasted. I guess I thought that things like sewing buttons and mending ripped seams were tasks that all adults just kind of knew how to do.

Numbers

A few numbers from my day so far:

Number of eggs Baby Bug and I ate for breakfast: 3
Thomas raisin English muffins, same event: 1.5
Incidental egg-to-muffin ratio: 2
Frappuccinos obtained: 1
Diapers changed: 3
Dead deer seen by the side of the road: 8 (The last one in a ditch by Arby's. Yeah, I know, right?! I so wanted a picture but I was driving.)
Live deer seen by the side of the road: 0 (But they're usually not out and about in the middle of the day anyway.)

Kiss the Girl

I'm not a big Little Mermaid fan, but for some reason I'm finding Colbie Caillat's rendition of "Kiss the Girl" to be very addictive. I saw the music video playing in a Justice shop at the mall, and looked it up on Youtube.


Enjoy!

Yesterday's post

I wanted to do a nice, informative post on some fun topic, last night. I truly did. I need to get disciplined about writing, if only because goodness knows I need to be disciplined about something. However, things went, as things in my life are wont to go, aft agley.

The most significant issue was the fact that my Baby Bug just refused to go to sleep. If you've ever spent more than 24 hours with him, you know that it is a huge challenge for me to get him down to bed, whether for a nap or for the night. He just doesn't like to sleep, and if I am present, he thinks he needs to be nursing because that is what he likes to do. It's not always bad; most nights, we have a routine that he knows and generally finds reassuring and that I enjoy as well, because it's good and healthy to have regularly scheduled time for bonding. Every so often, however, he gets fitful and throws the routine to the proverbial winds, and then gets even more upset because (I think) he is out of sorts and out of his comfort zone. Then I get frustrated, which feeds his frustration, and then we are both exhausted and short-tempered and building on each other.

So, yeah. It is really awful. I know every parent has hard times like that, but it's doubly difficult when one is a single parent. There's a feeling of isolation and despair, because there's no one else to turn to for help, and while God is ever-present, that knowledge doesn't really help in the moment. Maybe my faith is too small. I don't know.

Anyway, beyond the frustration of just having to deal with the horror of a fussy, sleepless child, there is the anger of having a to-do list that isn't getting done. I had several things that I really wanted to do, and they just didn't happen last night. I'm not talking about some ephemeral plans for fancy nonsense; I'm meaning things like just washing the dishes.

Finally, I just gave up and said "Screw it", and laid myself down on the bed next to Baby Bug, holding him and letting him feel that it was okay to relax and drift off to sleep. At least I was well-rested when I awoke at 5 am, but I hadn't showered or gotten our clothes out or put together our breakfasts and lunches. And the little guy still wouldn't let up. I went to shower this morning, and he came and stood in the bathroom and howled. I have no idea why he was upset, really. Then he insisted on opening the shower door (crying all the while), so that he got sprinkled with stray spray and I got a cold draft of morning air while soaking wet, and I rinsed shampoo from my hair while fuming, "Why? Why me? Why, why, why?!"

My cheeks, jaw, neck, and shoulders are constantly tense. I know that I'm clenching my jaw at night when I sleep. I can't go on this way. Seriously.

The only thing that makes this all okay is the fact that at least I'm not doing NaNoWriMo, so at least I'm not failing at that.

The Zeitgeist Bus? I missed it.

During a discussion of horror movies (we've been having those a lot around here, perhaps because of Halloween), someone (not me) mentioned that Vincent Price had starred in an earlier incarnation of a recent scifi/horror pic.

COWORKER: Who's Vincent Price?
ME: Vincent Price? He's famous!
COWORKER: Famous? I've never heard of him. When was he famous?
ME: He was in movies maybe 1940-1990. He did a lot of horror, like stuff based around Poe. He's legendary! He was in Laura.
BOSS: (popping around the corner from the next cubicle) He did the narration for the "Thriller" video.
COWORKER: Oh, gotcha.
ME: Huh?!

What can I say? I didn't live in the US or have a television during most of the 1980s.

Penguin

Candy

In the wake of Halloween, there are thousands of parents attempting to dispose of thousands of pounds of leftover candy. We have some here at work, right this minute, and in my opinion, it never hurts anyone to have the occasional sugar high in the office. But one unforeseen side effect of this year's post-Halloween sugarfest is the triggering of another memory, this one primarily gustatory.

In the US, there is a popular candy called Smarties. I do not care for them. They taste like sweetened schoolroom chalk.

US Smarties are a huge disappointment because in Europe and Asia, there is another kind of Smarties, and these are a Nestle version of M&Ms: chocolate candies with a hard coloured shell. Infinitely preferable.


I have occasionally wondered, but with no satisfactory answer: Why is there such a great divide between confections available in the USA and those in other parts of the world (including Canada, just to the north)?
Nutella is now available stateside, but whither my Pocket Coffee?

My Silver Queen bars?

My kue lapis?

My es cendol?


People in the US have so much, and yet... so little.

A bit of funny

Here is an excerpt from an actual conversation I had with my boss regarding horror movies.

Him: I do like zombies as a horror antagonist.
Me: I can’t handle real horror [movies]. Nothing bloody or really scary. I think real life is awful and scary enough as it is, so I don’t understand why people feel the need to make fake nasty stuff.
Him: I think if you’ve lived next door to cannibals maybe zombies hit a little too close to home.

I'd add a bit of exposition, but I think it's funnier left as it is.

November already

November, and NaBloPoMo, crept up on me. I already didn't post on the first day of National Blog Posting Month (which someone, I don't know who, perhaps the Astronomer Royal, made up as a counterpart to National Novel Writing Month), so I'm a loser.

I don't know if I'll be able to even come up with anything entertaining enough to sustain 30 posts. We shall see.

Happy Reformation Day

On 31 October 1517, Martin Luther afixed his 95 Theses to the door of the castle church in Wittenburg, Germany.

He did end up bringing change to the world.

I'm a Barbie Girl

Do you ever have a memory that you didn't find significant enough at the time of its occurrence to file it away for conscious recall, but then have it unexpectedly be triggered, years later, by something totally random, and it's there in your mind, as fresh as if it happened yesterday?

I was in a situation at work wherein I was griping to my boss (Cookie Boss, yes) about how I was at a disadvantage in our industry, being female and blonde. I suddenly had a recollection of something that happened when I was a very young engineer at the Humongous Anonymous Technical Company, and apparently I had repressed the memory or just did not think much about it for the past nine or so years.

I was a lively young thing in a world of older, socially stunted men, and quite a few of them were holdovers from the era preceding political correctness (or just plain courteous treatment of others). One fellow was from somewhere on the east coast, and was known for (is still known for, in point of fact) being rather noisy and opinionated about a good many things, with a New England accent that just makes things funnier. I, too, am opinionated and can be noisy when I deem it appropriate. He and I had a discussion about some technical matter; I'd been less than a year at the HATC, so I had very little knowledge and no expertise, but that didn't stop me from being assertive, and I ended up questioning his methods and conclusions, and ultimately, disagreeing with him.

He looked at me, astonished at my audacity, and declaimed, "Oh, what, so now you're rocket scientist Barbie?!"

I may have found the Best Halloween Costume Idea Ever.