I am on the verge of doing one of the many tasks around my house that demand attention. I am about to clean up some of the Christmas crap (seriously, why doesn't Tim's family pitch in and buy me a goat for some family in Africa through the Heifer Project than crowd my house with shit from the dollar store?). I am about to start the endless chore of thank you notes. I am about to empty my dishwasher, load my dishwasher and sort laundry. I am about to start the book I got for Christmas. I am about to organize my sock drawer. I am going to clean out the office, my closet and the refrigerator. I am also going to clean the garage while I am at it. There are a few other things I might try to get to before bed too.....
Really I am going to do none of those things (well, maybe one or two).
My house is (fairly) quiet. Christmas has officially passed, and now comes the clean up. I have been feeling bad that my lack of holiday spirit made the girls miss out on some fun things (the Christmas windows on State Street, the trees from around the world at the Museum of Science and Industry and so on), but I guess hind sight is always 20/20. I feel like I have spent the last week going through the motions, and today, now that everything finally has passed, I had a Coke slurpee (a pale substitute for the Mountain Dew one I truly craved) that put me back in the game. I am no longer (as my mom would put it) out of body.
My sweet little Eleanor is still illin. Her Christmas Eve chest x-ray showed nothing, and while the inhaler and the steroids have been helping her to breathe a little easier I was irritated to go back to the pediatrician yesterday morning to have her prescribe the antibiotic that I had asked for on Monday. Nora has been a trooper, but right this minute we are dealing with the side effects of her "roid rage" which keeps her talking away until all hours of the night (the stuff hypes kids up and now her sleep schedule is totally beyond fucked). I am trying to be the good parent who just ignores it, but she is so sweet singing and talking. She keeps yelling "Yuv Yoo Mama" and I can hear her jumping on her bed. I have gone in to settle her once or twice, but that leads to a story, and maybe a little milk and a snuggle. And I can't resist that snuggle....
This weekend Abby became a true 'big kid'. I don't know what it is but all of a sudden she is super grown up and totally the coolest chick in town. We survived the last of the holiday parties last night and she was awesome. Sure, she checked out and played her Leapster in the corner for a while, but hey, Tim checked out and played Wii for a while too.
So here it is 10 o'clock on a Sunday and I have plenty to do, but no motivation to do it. Tim is at work (yeah, I know) and my sweet little Nora is keeping me here on the verge of starting a project....
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Consumed
Every gift (with the exception of those to my sister and her family) has been opened. Every piece of wrapping paper is tucked safely in the recycling bin. Every toy has been played with, shared or fought over today. Every glass in my house has been used.
This means that Christmas is just about over and I am spent.
Here is the short version:
Saturday: Company Christmas party- I got drunk and told Tim's parents that they had to figure out what they wanted me to do with their bodies when they die.
Sunday: Christmas with Tim's dad's family. 11 Christmas trees with flashing blinking fiber optic multi colored everything. While none of us ended up having a seizure from all the blinking, we did get to sit around with some of Tim's aunts and uncles and pick at old family wounds and talk about those who weren't there.
Monday: A trip to the pediatrician's office which led to a trip to the hospital for a chest x-ray which led to an expensive prescription to fill. (all I wanted was an antibiotic) This fun was followed by Christmas with Tim's parents (a bunch of crap from the doorbuster's sale at Kohl's that I now have to find a home for in my already tightly packed house, and woo-hoo, we get to go to Disney World with them) the Christmas with my mother in law's family. Tim's cousin is pregnant, his other cousin is an alcoholic, and the kids all got guns that shoot marshmallows.
Tuesday: A joyous Christmas morning with our little faeries who were dazzled by the magic that Santa brings, followed by the arrival of my mother who was hammered by noon. We had a lovely dinner with the family, a visit from the chosen family, and more gifts than I can even deal with.
In all a lovely holiday that has left me exhausted and in the center of a crisis of self. But we can talk about that later.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night....
This means that Christmas is just about over and I am spent.
Here is the short version:
Saturday: Company Christmas party- I got drunk and told Tim's parents that they had to figure out what they wanted me to do with their bodies when they die.
Sunday: Christmas with Tim's dad's family. 11 Christmas trees with flashing blinking fiber optic multi colored everything. While none of us ended up having a seizure from all the blinking, we did get to sit around with some of Tim's aunts and uncles and pick at old family wounds and talk about those who weren't there.
Monday: A trip to the pediatrician's office which led to a trip to the hospital for a chest x-ray which led to an expensive prescription to fill. (all I wanted was an antibiotic) This fun was followed by Christmas with Tim's parents (a bunch of crap from the doorbuster's sale at Kohl's that I now have to find a home for in my already tightly packed house, and woo-hoo, we get to go to Disney World with them) the Christmas with my mother in law's family. Tim's cousin is pregnant, his other cousin is an alcoholic, and the kids all got guns that shoot marshmallows.
Tuesday: A joyous Christmas morning with our little faeries who were dazzled by the magic that Santa brings, followed by the arrival of my mother who was hammered by noon. We had a lovely dinner with the family, a visit from the chosen family, and more gifts than I can even deal with.
In all a lovely holiday that has left me exhausted and in the center of a crisis of self. But we can talk about that later.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night....
Thursday, December 20, 2007
A Christmas Confession
I have abandoned all of my convictions and beliefs this holiday season.
I have shopped at Wal-Mart.
Not just out of necessity as I sometimes have had to (my sister has absolved me in the past- desperate times call for desperate measures), but I have gone there of my own free will. Many times.
I feel dirty, but it is just so damn cheap, and they really do have some stuff that I need. Today I went to 3 stores to find Mallowmars for Judy and not one place had them. Wal- Mart did. I went to 2 stores to find a yoga mat and both places were sold out. Wal- Mart wasn't. I was also able to buy diapers at an astoundingly low price.
True they look at me funny when I bring in my reusable bags, and no one there really knows what they are doing, and their corporation is singlehandedly destroying the environment, small town businesses, and much more, but it is close to my house, and they haven't let me down yet.
I hate that I am a hypocrite- I vowed to never set foot in a Wal- Mart after reading Nickled and Dimed in America- but alas, I guess I have to evolve.
I have shopped at Wal-Mart.
Not just out of necessity as I sometimes have had to (my sister has absolved me in the past- desperate times call for desperate measures), but I have gone there of my own free will. Many times.
I feel dirty, but it is just so damn cheap, and they really do have some stuff that I need. Today I went to 3 stores to find Mallowmars for Judy and not one place had them. Wal- Mart did. I went to 2 stores to find a yoga mat and both places were sold out. Wal- Mart wasn't. I was also able to buy diapers at an astoundingly low price.
True they look at me funny when I bring in my reusable bags, and no one there really knows what they are doing, and their corporation is singlehandedly destroying the environment, small town businesses, and much more, but it is close to my house, and they haven't let me down yet.
I hate that I am a hypocrite- I vowed to never set foot in a Wal- Mart after reading Nickled and Dimed in America- but alas, I guess I have to evolve.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Same Old Lang Syne
Again, 2 points to anyone who can name the reference in the title here....
So last week I got this random email from someone who I haven't talked to in 6 years. This friend of mine and I met in college, he and his girlfriend were who my boyfriend at the time and I used to hang out with. When my boyfriend and I broke up I got them in the separation, and when they broke up I stayed friends with both of them. He left school, but for whatever reason he and I stayed pretty close. He went to dinner with my family the night before I graduated college. He helped me move into my first apartment. He and I were really tight, and then I met Tim.
I remember being so excited to introduce the two of them, I thought they would really hit it off, but I couldn't have been more wrong. It was a disaster and as Tim and I got closer this friend and I fell apart. I invited him to our wedding, and when I didn't hear from him I called about 2 weeks before the big day and he told me not to get married. It was this surreal conversation that I can still recall quite vividly, and it was the last time he and I talked.
Recently through the joy of myspace I have reconnected with his exgirlfriend and she and I have both been kind of half assedly looking for him. Then he turned up, and now we have had these bizarre email exchanges.
How do you catch up on 6 years when there was so much left unsaid?
We have exchanged the brief autobiography and all that, and there is now talk of getting together. Tim could not be less interested in this turn of events, and while he has no reason to be I wish that someone would be as excited as I am that I have found someone I have really missed.
So could one of you get excited for me?
So last week I got this random email from someone who I haven't talked to in 6 years. This friend of mine and I met in college, he and his girlfriend were who my boyfriend at the time and I used to hang out with. When my boyfriend and I broke up I got them in the separation, and when they broke up I stayed friends with both of them. He left school, but for whatever reason he and I stayed pretty close. He went to dinner with my family the night before I graduated college. He helped me move into my first apartment. He and I were really tight, and then I met Tim.
I remember being so excited to introduce the two of them, I thought they would really hit it off, but I couldn't have been more wrong. It was a disaster and as Tim and I got closer this friend and I fell apart. I invited him to our wedding, and when I didn't hear from him I called about 2 weeks before the big day and he told me not to get married. It was this surreal conversation that I can still recall quite vividly, and it was the last time he and I talked.
Recently through the joy of myspace I have reconnected with his exgirlfriend and she and I have both been kind of half assedly looking for him. Then he turned up, and now we have had these bizarre email exchanges.
How do you catch up on 6 years when there was so much left unsaid?
We have exchanged the brief autobiography and all that, and there is now talk of getting together. Tim could not be less interested in this turn of events, and while he has no reason to be I wish that someone would be as excited as I am that I have found someone I have really missed.
So could one of you get excited for me?
Thursday, December 13, 2007
I wish I had a river.....
Hi, remember me?
There is so much to blog about. Like this:
And this:
And this:
Note what happens when Tim takes the pictures- all the kids are out of focus and look like they have Christmas lights as eyes.
But of course there is also so much to clean, bake, wrap, shop for, stress about and so on that is preempting my blogging. I have been productive today cleaning, laundering, and preparing things to wrap and sew, as well as downloading some new music, but that is another blog post entirely. Abby has a friend over this afternoon which is also a whole other post.
2 points for anyone who gets the reference in the title of this post.
There is so much to blog about. Like this:
And this:
And this:
Note what happens when Tim takes the pictures- all the kids are out of focus and look like they have Christmas lights as eyes.
But of course there is also so much to clean, bake, wrap, shop for, stress about and so on that is preempting my blogging. I have been productive today cleaning, laundering, and preparing things to wrap and sew, as well as downloading some new music, but that is another blog post entirely. Abby has a friend over this afternoon which is also a whole other post.
2 points for anyone who gets the reference in the title of this post.
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Fa-la-la-la-sigh
I am up way too late watching the Kathy Griffin special on Bravo, and a Master Card commercial just defined a major life crisis I am currently having.
The problem is that I have no Christmas spirit. We put the tree up this weekend, and Abby and I finished decking the halls this afternoon (Abby is way into setting up the "activity scenes"), and seriously nothing has inspired me to get excited about the holiday season. This may seem like a trivial thing, but usually I am way into making Christmas fabulous for my girls and everyone else, and it is fun, but for some reason I just can't muster the spirit.
Anyway, I was watching Bravo, and this Master Card commercial came on (I can't lie, I was watching it on fast forward) and this husband gives his wife some lame gift then surprises her with some fancy car and then the slogan appears: "The joy of giving". It was like lightening struck.
That is what I am pissed about- there is no joy in giving this year.
Sure, it is fun to do stuff for the kids, but my MIL always over does and totally outshines Santa, which, despite my pleading, will not stop. Whatever. The rest of my Christmas list is filled with gifts I HAVE TO buy. I am not talking about my niece- I would love to spoil her rotten, but I know she doesn't need a bunch of crap. Neither does my sister, or Nate for that matter, and I can't afford to buy Tim something that will bring him as much joy to be surprised by as it would be to surprise him with, and those are the people (besides my kids) who it would bring me joy to shop for. These are the people I would love to shop for, but I have to waste my time and money shopping for a bunch of other assholes.
What I am pissed about is that I have to spend time money and effort on finding something "perfect" for people like my mom, and Tim's parents who have everything they could ever want and don't really need or want anything that I give them. Every fucking year I go out of my way to come up with some thoughtful gift for Tim's dad which is always met with a lukewarm reaction then gets tossed in his basement. My MIL is a similar story. I go out of my way to make her photo albums of the kids and find something nice just for her then I have to listen to a list of things she would rather have had, most of which comes from Kohls which is a place I avoid like the plague. And don't even get me started on my mom. She, like Tim's parents, needs absolutely nothing, and while she is grateful for whatever crap I come up with, I usually find whatever I gave her in a box to go to the church rummage sale.
What is the point?
The problem is that I have no Christmas spirit. We put the tree up this weekend, and Abby and I finished decking the halls this afternoon (Abby is way into setting up the "activity scenes"), and seriously nothing has inspired me to get excited about the holiday season. This may seem like a trivial thing, but usually I am way into making Christmas fabulous for my girls and everyone else, and it is fun, but for some reason I just can't muster the spirit.
Anyway, I was watching Bravo, and this Master Card commercial came on (I can't lie, I was watching it on fast forward) and this husband gives his wife some lame gift then surprises her with some fancy car and then the slogan appears: "The joy of giving". It was like lightening struck.
That is what I am pissed about- there is no joy in giving this year.
Sure, it is fun to do stuff for the kids, but my MIL always over does and totally outshines Santa, which, despite my pleading, will not stop. Whatever. The rest of my Christmas list is filled with gifts I HAVE TO buy. I am not talking about my niece- I would love to spoil her rotten, but I know she doesn't need a bunch of crap. Neither does my sister, or Nate for that matter, and I can't afford to buy Tim something that will bring him as much joy to be surprised by as it would be to surprise him with, and those are the people (besides my kids) who it would bring me joy to shop for. These are the people I would love to shop for, but I have to waste my time and money shopping for a bunch of other assholes.
What I am pissed about is that I have to spend time money and effort on finding something "perfect" for people like my mom, and Tim's parents who have everything they could ever want and don't really need or want anything that I give them. Every fucking year I go out of my way to come up with some thoughtful gift for Tim's dad which is always met with a lukewarm reaction then gets tossed in his basement. My MIL is a similar story. I go out of my way to make her photo albums of the kids and find something nice just for her then I have to listen to a list of things she would rather have had, most of which comes from Kohls which is a place I avoid like the plague. And don't even get me started on my mom. She, like Tim's parents, needs absolutely nothing, and while she is grateful for whatever crap I come up with, I usually find whatever I gave her in a box to go to the church rummage sale.
What is the point?
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