Friday, December 29, 2006

The New Friday Night

Well,

Sci Fi Fridays are over... no more Dr. Who /BSG combos until Jan. 21st, which is a Sunday, while SG1 and SG Atlantis take over on Fridays, um I think.

Not the point though.

The point is, now, tonight, I have planned a nice, child-free night.

Order pizza.
Stick the buggers in bed at 7:30 because they didn't have a nap.
Sit down in front of BBC America and chill out to My Family and Hardware, and when that's through, watch my Monarch of the Glen and Are You Being Served Again DVDs.

While eating Ice Cream.

Because honestly, this is what I'm going to be doing every weekend night until I get this #%*#( house on the market and sold, I might as well make it a tradition, and make it as cozy and fun as I can. Man, do I feel for the single moms that aren't dating or going out and having a social life.

And there is nothing more that I love than a good veg night of my favorite sappy shows and ice cream. Oh, and Baileys, but that's expensive so I'm rationing.

And if you think this sounds amazingly boring, and this is the dullest post you've read next to, say, the last post...

welcome to the current installation of 'my life'... i'm hoping it gets more interesting too.

Thursday, December 28, 2006

House Crap

What an inspiring title huh?

So I've done it.
I've put the blinds up in two rooms. There is a third set of blinds for the third room, but that won't ever make it up. One, they are too long, and two, it took me two hours to get the danged blinds up and so I'm done. Not to mention the injury to my thumb that I received opening up the curtain rod package.

My one last goal for the night is putting another coat of primer on the stairs before I paint them. Don't ask why I need to paint stairs. It'll set off a rant.

I'm almost ready to put the house up. I figure after I do the stairs, put the baseboards back and finish my daughter's room, and clean the basement, I'll call up some junk removal people to take all the garbage away (Kent has to have the WORST garbage collection company ever, they only take things that fit in garbage bags, so any bulk items or extra long items, you need to pay someone else to take or take to the dump yourself...) and put the boxes in the garage. Steam clean the carpets and I'm all set. Yay. Go Me.

Except it STILL seems like sooo much work. I'd make more progress if the boys weren't being so helpful.

ARGH.

I swear, it feels like I'll never get out of here.

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Yay Baby

I got some happy, I got some happy...

...in a year filled with bad karma, craptacular happenings, and complete exile and solitude (my friends know what I mean, um, and I believe many other SAHMs -- you know, the ones with the plastic smile in the grocery store hoping to catch a good conversation with the stock boy... ha ha ha) anyhow, all of that along with three fighting cats, two bellowing toddlers and one dramatic ten year old, a windstorm that took away my power and coffee, (waah) a head cold resulting from lack of said power, and a stupid broken gate, (stupid wind)

my hubby, McRed, has been given a free plane ticket as a Christmas present to see the said toddlers and tween, and get to spend some of Christmas with them...and me, yaaay. Arrives the 23rd, leaves the 25th, not much time, but hey, i'll take the day over nothing.

Oh, and he's bringing his first paycheck, half of what it normally is because of when he started, but lets face it, it's twice as much as what we weren't getting...

So There's Some Happy!!!!

I also read a disturbing study I think is crap. This study now gives people a scientific excuse for thinking less of people who come into hard times. Apparently, people are genetically conditioned to think that people who have it hard or suffer or are poor, deserve it, and think less kindly of them. Now, maybe I'm a bit sensitive on this subject, but frankly, i don't think my husband and I are bad people becuase an event out of our control threw our world temporarily out of control, and I certainly don't believe we should be treated as 'less' than others because of our misfortune (which, we are now coming out of the worst of..) but hey, I could be wrong. Maybe my worth IS truly based on my credit score...

In fact, YOU can help prove this study wrong. Yes, YOU can make a difference, and show that you do think the study is bogus. You can prove it's bogus.

Oh, I'd love to, you say. How can I help, you wonder. It's easy.

Buy my house.

It'll prove I'm lucky after all.

You'll feel good about it in the morning...

Saturday, December 16, 2006

Got power?

Thursday I wrote... "the lights are flicking, time to post" at 11:20 p.m. I logged off, finished some stuff up, and went to bed. I didn't shut out the lights, because just as I was about to shut the lights off, all the power went out. So I just went to bed, listening to wind just howling outdoors.

Est. Time, 2 a.m.

'momma' (crash into wall sound) 'moommma' 'light broke momma light it's dark it's so dark'

I grab my flashlight and go into hall to collect my bear. He's in a t-shirt, because my boys are not big on pants, and I grabbed him up and cuddled him up into my bed, where he asked me to turn on some lights. He fell asleep. The wind picks up and I'm thinking 'oh no, there goes the rest of the fence.' I hear things creaking, things howling, things possibly breaking...

Est. time, 4 a.m.

'MOMMMA moommma' that would be Turbo. If Bear feels slightly nervous in the dark, Turbo is terrified of the dark. I grab the flashlight and collect him. Now I've got both boys in my bed. Turbo wanted to have a conversation about the dark.

Note, my daughter, drama, slept like a log through the whole thing. The worst windstorm in more than a decade, and she sleeps through it...

Friday

Est. time, 8 a.m. phone rings, but no one is there, I can't get service anymore. All I can do is send text messages every third attempt. Power still out. I figure, well, (becasue I had no way of hearing news) I'll get in my truck and just go to Starbucks. Pack up all the kids, head out, and realize, wow, all the traffic lights don't work. At all. Go home. Grumbling. NO COFFEE!

Later on, I find out Fred Myer is open and another grocery store, they are on generator power. Based on prior experience of people not being idiots on the road, I head out. Basically, every driver treated the light intersections like four way stops. They were very courteous.

Apparently, Fred Myer is the place to be during a power outage. It was packed. I bought Thomas pajamas for the boys, since they didn't have warm pajamas and it looked like the power would be off for the day and night. They were out of D batteries but that was okay, I already had some.

It's amazing, the human drive to go out and congregate when your creature comforts are taken away. I think we'd be a lot more social as a nation if we had less toys to keep us occupied at home. I mean, people were laughing and chatting and buying canned goods, clothes, Christmas trees, food for grills since nobody could actually use their electric ovens, things like that...

I also picked up some cold dinner goodies. All my refrigerated products were already outside, keeping cool in the freezing cold. Except for my turkey which was hardly likely to defrost in 24 hours.

I spent Friday night in front of our gas fireplace *gas and water worked* with two happily playing toddlers who would occasionally exclaim "Mommy, got to fix the power station" and a very bored ten year old. Ah yes, we relaxed by candlelight. I sent everyone to bed at 8, putting the boys in my bed since there was no way they would willingly go to bed in their dark room with no lights... also, I was afraid if I put them in their beds, they'd kick off the covers. As it was, all night I had to replace the covers over Bear who kept kicking them off.

Happily, power was restored this morning, but there are still hundreds of thousands of people who don't have power, so we're just lucky. Also, while Thursday was a mild night, temperature wise, and Friday wasn't that bad, temperatures today dropped. I could see my breath, and it's supposed to get chillier. It was chilly enough in our house before the temperature dropped! I had my daughter under two blankets and a super warm mink blanket on top of those. The boys were wrapped in their blankets, fleece blankets and my down comforter, in flannel jammies.

When the lights came on, all the children cheered.

Mommy cheered when the coffee pot made it's brewing noises.

I'm considering, when we finally make the move to colorado, of purchasing a generator, and oil lamps... I mean, three kids, no power... no cofee... someone's bound to go insane.

***also, fence not that bad, neighbor says fiance is fixing it, and just needs metal brackets.
***however, in wind storm, gate broke.. bro in law is fixing that, I'm sending him measurements tomorrow.. it just needs a piece of plywood nailed to it and the block of wood with the lock readjusted.

Stupid fence.

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Wind Watch

We've been having some winds, some rain, some windy rain, and tonight is supposed to be the worst of it. We have wind watches like some places have 'winter storm watches' or 'snow watches.' Yes, it gets that windy. I expect I may lose more of the fence and possibly one of the screens out of my window that's loose.

I knew we were going to have high winds late tonight and tomorrow so, I went to the store to, yes, stock up. I had groceries, but no munchies, and I seriously needed munchies. It's not that I expected to be trapped in my house due to high winds, but lets face it, when you have winds strong enough to fell trees into houses, rains heavy enough to cause 'urban and small streams flooding' and two three year olds and a ten year old, do you really want to have to run to the store, in that weather?

Turns out, I'm not the only one who thought that way.

There was a traffic jam right outside my neighborhood due to a lane closure due to said urban flooding, and the store was packed. It wasn't comforting halfway through it when the lights started flickering. On the way home, I, for the first time ever, flipped someone off, because I insisted on not turning left because there was, well, oncoming traffic. The nerve of me. On the way home I hit blinding rain, now I HATE driving in blinding rain, the rain that comes down so fast you can barely see out your window, and I don't understand how people in those weather conditions can continue to do the same speed. I HAVE to slow down, because I can't see. But no one else ever does. It drives me nuts. But I only live ten minutes from the store so it wasn't a big deal. However, I couldn't turn left into my neighborhood because traffic was thick and nobody felt inclined to leave intersections clear. I drove up to the traffic light and watch the rain literally pushed across the road by the wind, it was pretty neat. I also found out rain and wind put my boys to sleep... good to know... Then, BAM power went out on the other side of the road. Ugh. So I took my turn and drove home in time to feed the kids dinner, do some 'get the house ready to sell' stuff, talk to my little brother, and collect the flashlight from Turbo (he wanted to sleep with it, someone's scared of the dark) before the power went out. Twice.

I expect sometime during the night we may lose power longer, but usually it's not too bad, because we live close to the powerstation, so it never takes too long to get back on.

And was that not the most incredibly dull, monotonous, boring blog ever?

Right then, the lights are flickering, time to post....

Monday, December 11, 2006

.....

My fence fell down.

And it can't get back up.

And I can't put it back up.

And I have no money to give to someone to put it up.

Fracken crappen luck.

Stupid wind storms.
Stupid rain.
Stupid fence.

Anyone know how to fix a fence?

I bet it's garden karma. This happened because I let the garden go. The gnomes were angry. When the wind blew and the rains fell, the gnomes saw their chance, and went for it. I think I heard them laughing as they pushed the fence over....

Sunday, December 10, 2006

what hath happened?

I thought we had it good. He was a fictional representation of the sort of man that, if existed, did so centuries ago, only without straight teeth and permanent five-day stubble trimmed just right... Ahh Arragorn, ranger, king, hero.... dark, haunted, so unreachable, so desirable, so cute wielding that big sword...

but then...

I saw him on the television airing of LoTR

what is he without the pomp of the media frenzy? without Hollywood to help him keep that constant wet-hair and permanent five day stubble look? Who is he without that big sword and his fruity elf friend, who, mind you, still looks pretty?

I mean, I'm trying, I'm really trying here, but I think I'm in trouble here, I'm suffering a major paradox shift or something, because Frodo's looking pretty good, Arragorn a bit, well, preachy and bossy and 'oh i'm all kingly like.'

Oh the despair, oh how it makes me broody and contemplative and um, despair-ey and somehow, cute...

ahhhh hep me hep me must...not...fall...for....despairey hobbits....

Next, it'll be Boromir....

I must say though, I've always liked Faramir.

And how, you may wonder, is this relevant?

It's not, really. It's just on, and oh wait, wait, he's speaking elvish... nah, false alarm.

the point is...

I'm turning into a hobbit.

Saturday, December 09, 2006

Just a Saturday Night

Well,

It's 1:22 a.m. on a Saturday night and I'm up. I'm have a wild time, here, with my laptop, on my couch, with my sons, who are up, and not sleeping, while I'm tired, because I've had a long day and just spent three hours doing half of my 30 question management accounting final,sons and of half those answered, I've guessed on half, so we shall see how that goes. I would be going to bed now, seeing as I'm tired, however, my sons are sitting here, one sitting next to me, 'sharing' the laptop, the other standing there, pointing out the colors...

ah yes.

Saturday night as a mom.

Nothin' can beat it.

Monday, December 04, 2006

The last week

....of hubby's unemployment. He drives off to Colorado on Thursday and begins work on Monday.

In case anyone doesn't have personal experience in this particular area of life, unemployment sucks the big one. It's awful, especially when it lingers, pathetically so, when it's near the holiday season, and awfully so when it lasts more than a month, and even more tremendously so when you have a family of mouths to feed.

So thankfully, he's off to Colorado to his job which he starst next Monday. I think the two of us are suitably scarred by this experience. If life as a suburban mom for the past two years wasn't enough to convince me I'm the type of person that actually needs to work, than the horror of not having any income coming in at all has cured me. We will forever be a two-income family, unless, you know, the lottery, millions fall from the sky, likely things like that....

The house is a disaster but most of the major projects in preparation of home selling are done. That just leaves me with painting, window screen repair, more painting, packing and painting, cleaning, yardwork, more cleaning and some painting, along with sealing doors.

I am looking forward to Colorado for three reasons: This place has been nothing but a boring, droll lonely place with droll, boring, days and droll boring people that I never even got past 'nice weather we are having.' Two, I am excited about getting a job, which I could do here, except I like reason three, which is, FOUR SEAONS. A real winter, spring, summer and fall combo. Not this one season of rain and chill with a month of summer.

I'm also looking forward to a nice, family friendly, slower pace of life.

Okay lets face it. I have hated it here pretty much since we've been here, except for the first three months when I was busy unpacking.

Now my husband is sad, but I think it's because he's going to miss us and because moving is a pain, but I'm sure that once he gets there, he'll look back here and realize what a really not 'us' kinda place this place is. I mean really.

I find it interesting. I was happy on the East, he was miserable. He was happy on the West, I was miserable. So now we're moving smack dab in the middle. Talk about compromise.

So, here's to being sad he's leaving, being happy he's going to be earning a paycheck, hoping for a quick sale on the house in the New Year, and a sudden pathetic realization that in the past two years I've lived here, I count not one soul as even an acquaintance... I don't even have an acquaintance! Seriously? What numb-nut ever said people in this part of the country were friendly? Lordy lord me.

And my husband loved it. Of course he did, he's a recluse at heart. What's not to love for a recluse than a state of people that don't speak to you?

I just hope one of them buys my house next February.

Saturday, December 02, 2006

Parties

I can't believe I'm late for the Enterprise Christmas party.

I hardly EVER get invited to these things, and what do I do, but go and be late?

I wonder if I could impersonate a Borg caterer? Maybe I can get temporarily assimilated and slip in that way. Nah, too risky.

Well, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. I'm sure I've got a tight little ensign outfit hanging around. I'll have to practice my pouty sultry please let me in looks, but it's been a while since I've had to resort to such measures, so lets hope the crew is half into their drinks...