The problem with working two part time jobs?

Sometimes you might forget that you didn't take New Year's Eve off and you might, y'know, forget to go in.

I was only fifteen minutes late - but still, it was hell getting out of those jammies.

I found my second batch of christmas cards, tucked away in the midst of various christmasy things. What do you think - too late to send them? Make out new ones that say "Happy New Year"?

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We have NO plans for this evening, other than a fundraiser/family skate. Well, we do have plans...games, popcorn and such - just us and the kiddos. I can't wait. I'm almost dreading the skating thing because it'll be hard to duck and weave the 'what are you doing tonight - are you going to the S. party? or the other S. party? or You'll be home? Mind if we stop by?

My husband has a hard time with the graceful declining of invitations and we sometimes end up exactly where we do NOT want to be.

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I have Wii-itis. My arm is aching. Tennis, golf, tennis, tennis, golf, tennis. We're loving it and my girlie? Who sobbed and sobbed on Christmas morning because she hated the Wii? She kicks our asses at bowling each and every time.


Oh and a public service announcement:

The HD thing, I can't find ANYTHING about it online, anywhere. The digital cable thing for 2009 is a definite - but as far as all HD in 2010? Nothing. I'm thinking Joe Q. Cableinstaller was misinformed.

More Meet the Family

The digital picture frame for my mom?

Huge, HUGE hit. Just in case, y'know, maybe you wanted to try it yourselves or something *looking in SP's direction*- total tearjerker, best gift of the night type of gift.


Here's my other grampy. My grandmother's second (third?) husband. Yes, there's a question mark because it's quite possible he was the fourth, one never really knows. Well, one sort of knows (first one: C from Maine, Second: G from the Cape, Third: C from Maine - again, Fourth: V from CT - there could possibly be another in the mix, identity unknown as my gram was in California for awhile and we have some pictures with a mystery man and I'm not totally sure she ever married G from the Cape, I'd have to double check) His reputation as a step-father to my mom is still in question but as a grandfather? He was everything you could want in a grampy - kind and snuggly and he would've spoiled me rotten if my mom would've let him, he used to call me his little plum.

I only remember bits and pieces...tons of phone calls during football games, a handkerchief full of diamonds in his shirt pocket, a different car every few months - always big cars, driven entirely too fast, the stuffed dog he bought me that I treasured for years, how he would go out to buy me vanilla ice cream when my grammy used to open her freezer and offer me the maple walnut that she always had on hand.

Funny, how when you're growing up you can think that EVERY grampy would have a trunk full of watches and jewelry and would let you sit on his lap and pick which teams you thought would be the big winners on Sunday. A bookie and small time fence, apparently. Maybe a little bigger than small time during some parts of his life...

If there's any chance there's a heaven I'm hoping he's there, I cannot wait to hear his stories...

Time sure does fly, doesn't it?


I can't believe it's already been a week since the attack of the kidney stone...


Without getting into too much detail, I will say this: After the initial excruitiating back/kidney pain...it felt like a shard of glass traveling through my system. And a shard of glass? It fucking hurts.


Okay, moving on.


There were many christmasy activities over the past weekend - a family party complete with the return of a favorite cousin (home from Iraq), a pajama party at my mom's where instead of a big dinner we opted for breakfast and pj's at five p.m. - very fun, christmas eve was spent alternating between fits of cleaning and cooking and totally vegging on the couch with the kids and a movie or two and then serving up dinner for eleven.

And then christmas....ah, christmas. Wii totally enjoyed it all. They opened their goods and were playing contently when we asked them, post breakfast, to start cleaning up or at least make some neat PILES of things. The Wii was in a regular cardboard box and I asked the boy to bring it downstairs as it must be full of rubbish.

Of course, it wasn't empty and when he checked inside he said as if he were discussing the weather "oh, it's not rubbish it's a wii." And then he screamed "A Wii!!" and started to bounce around. The girlie in the meantime, bursts into tears and is so sure it can't be for her too because she HATES the Wii (?? huh ??).


Super.


So, we cajole her into making the first Mii and she is hooked. We play a quick game of tennis and then start to bowl and guess what??


Can you guess?


The TV dies. Dead. Kaput. Kablam.


No amount of shaking it or banging it (I know, I know but it worked last time) helped and so wii were wiiless.

Until yesterday when we spent entirely too much money on a TV but seeing as the options are limited to expensive and MORE expensive we did alright.

Side note: All TVs will have to be HD by 2010 and guess how many nonHD tv's they sold? Four. Two in the clearance section and two in the 15-19" section. Not exactly great options. And one of those silly bundled packages from the cable company actually saved us ten dollars a month...

And the dreaded comcast guy came this morning (two hours EARLY) and set us all up so now I'm able to watch Mike Rowe in HiDef. Not to mention the Patriots.

Other places I've been

The local E.R.

The couch.

Some people get slippers for Christmas, some people get iPods.

I got a kidney stone and a vicodin prescription.

Yesterday, as I was leaving work I went from slight nausea to full blown excruciating pain in about fifteen minutes flat. Not a fun ride home. Apparently I was gripping the steering wheel a leeetle tightly because when I got out of the car my hands were tingling and going numb.

And then, a six hour stint in the ER complete with a Xrays and CT scans. Dudes, I have not EVER been in pain like this. I'm not a good vicodin taker...painkillers leave me queasy. The alternative though is sharp stabbing pain in my kidneys and a horrible ache in my lower back, so queasy it is.

I spent most of today sleeping, broken up with a bit of reading here and there. Mostly, figuring out how best to take the painkillers so my stomach doesn't flip every time I move my head too fast.

Naturally, being the weekend before christmas we've got family parties to attend and I'm supposed to be hostessing on Christmas Eve. Now we're just playing it all by ear...not committing to anything really. We can't. And you know what? I'm sort of liking it.

I did miss out on doing a few things, though. Returning the movie rentals, mailing the second batch of christmas cards, forgetting to pick up cinnamon hearts for the girlie's class...nothing too huge but my apologies to those of you who will be getting their cards after the big day and to my girl's class who had one less candy for their gingerbread houses today.

Well, I'm off to the couch. Or maybe the bed. Hmmm, the chair looks comfy.

Decisions, decisions.

Where I've been

The boy - who, it must be noted, tied his own skates. Cue the singing angels.

The girlie. Loving her step, step, lean on the stick and glide style.

I didn't think it'd be safe but somehow there's seven inches of ice in the cove and four to five where they're skating. It's kind of bumpy but my husband was the only one complaining. He was busy mapping out his week, trying to figure the weather forecast out - if there'll be enough cold weather to flood an area and have it freeze so that it's smooth during christmas vacation.

So he can hold practice for the team out there.

Sounds like he has too much time on his hands? Well, guess what....he totally does.

He got laid off this week. Sort of. It was the whole, maybe we'll shut the job sites down. Maybe we'll still need you next week, maybe maybe maybe.

And so, because he's not good with the leisure time, he was all pissed because he needed to call the dreaded unemployment office at 7:30 a.m. and not, and I repeat NOT at 7:36 a.m.

Apparently there is a glut of unemployed slackers waiting until 7:36 to call but if you are motiviated and make the call earlier - less hold time.

Why was he pissed? Because I assumed he would take the son to the bus stop (he was dressed, shoes and all) and could make his phone call six minutes late. God forbid he spends forty minutes of his day on the phone when that is the ONLY FREAKING THING he has to do in the six hours the kids are at school. Oh, and plus while he was trying to call I got a little snarky and may have said something like this while he was dialing:

If you're a control freak with too much time on your hands, press one.

If you think calling six minutes late will dent your free six hours, press two.

Can I still pretend I don't know why he got mad?

And so he calls. And the office doesn't open until 8:30 a.m.

*jenny marks her invisible tally board*

score one for me.

Rest assured, we squabble, we forgive and forget. We don't dwell. Well, most of the time anyway. Plus, last night, when we ran out of pretzels during our chocolate covered pretzel making frenzy...he went out to get us more. See? Nice guy. Really, he is.

Wednesday

I didn't want to post about it before it happened...I didn't want to jinx us.

The root canal fiasco of 2007 is done. Over. Finis.

We finally found the perfect endodonist. Perfect, in that he scheduled a two hour appointment so that he could administer the Novocaine well timed shot by well timed shot. All the while the son was so relaxed on his valium/nitrous cocktail - but never once was he even a little bit 'out of it'.

No palatte Novocaine shots. No, at this point, unnecessary root canal on the other front tooth.

Things are good.

Good but hectic.



I found a pie plate in my purse after I got into work today.



Empty. But still...wtf?



And I found the perfect little gift for my plant loving boss.

Which, I would totally thank bb for the link but it's from a store that doesn't ship to the U.S. and why is she teasing us like this? Nevermind that I am totally and completely ignoring the fact that they're sold out of this item.

And Em, blogless Em...with her Brookstone slide to digital machiney mention. You are killing me. THAT is what I want for Christmas.

I bought my parents a digital photo frame for Christmas. Usually, before I buy anything electronical I google the heck out of it, reading reviews and such.

This time, I got up at three thirty in the morning, stood in line at Kohl's and Target and came away with this frame. Kind of a waste, but funds being what they are this year, not entirely bad either.

Anyway, my bright idea was to load a bunch of kid photos into an SD card (a SD card?) and have at it. But the loading? To the card? Not as easy as I thought. At least for the first hour.

*sigh*

Then I remembered the trouble I had with the iPod last Christmas and I tried the supersecret USB port on the back of the computer and whammo. Instant success that only required a restart of this dinosaur.

But by last night my grand plan had changed. Why not scan a few (or maybe a hundred) photos and load those onto the card too? So without further ado...meet my family.

My grampy

Grammy

Their wedding photo. You'd never guess he was a lumberjack with a second grade education would you?

My mom and my aunt, her little sister. With my grandmother's pets - a mean ass chihuahua and a monkey. A monkey that she dressed in Ken (or some other male doll) clothes. As a kid I had all these hand me down ken clothes with holes in the butt. For the monkey's tail.

Me. With my momma.

I have to say, I only quickly went through my mom's albums when she wasn't at home and grabbed what I thought would be good. Now I want to go back and grab them all. There are tons of photos of my gram especially. I haven't gone through my kids baby albums yet (which I'm going to start off scanning just what I want for the frame) or the ones of my dad but this is like an addiction. A worthwhile addiction.

Like chocolate. And Peggle.

Good Morning

My morning so far:

Breakfast for three (five if you include the pets)

Get one boy off to school. He's easy peasy in the morning - hardly a complaint and does alot of it without my nagging reminding. O

Feel slightly guilty because he's feeling kind of crummy but he's got my cell phone number so we'll see how it goes.

Get the girlie's clothes together

(why doesn't someone ANYONE put the laundry away?) rhetorical question. no one is here to listen to me whine.

Look in the eaves for gifts that are going back to the store (wrong size)
Look in the cellar for gifts that are going back to the store (the boy's too young for The Golden Compass)
Repeat both steps, as the Barbie I bought on a whim is so not needed and where the hell is it?

Give up hope of finding Barbie and move on to making sure the girlie is brushing her hair.

Remember where Barbie is. Move half the cellar to access the Barbie.

Curse.

Bring all returnables out to the car. It's teeth chattering cold out there, why am I barefoot???

Return to cellar, where woodstove is cranking out the BTUs by the gazillion. Oh, yeah this is why.

Listen to one last run through of Cat in the Hat book report. Nice work, girlie.

Run upstairs, get a stray receipt, check a blog or two.

Is she brushing her teeth?

Will she want to buy the mystery lunch? (only a mystery because I lost the lunch menu)

Post.

8:43 a.m.

Y'know what I hate? Those ridiculous political commercials where, say, Mitt Romney is blabbing all these wonderful things about how he can improve America and how, basically - he's awesome and then he says "I'm Mitt Romney and I approved this message."

I mean, no shit. You were the one talking during the entire commercial, fool. Is your opponent going to spend their precious dollars to make you look good? Um, no.

Idiots.

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I got an eighty dollar AMEX gift card for switching the office phones to Verizon. Actually, it came to the business but my name was printed on it so the boss gave it to me. And this time? No groceries.

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I'm totally tired of the kids wanting to buy each other gifts with my money. I told them they could spend some of their own (as if!) or make things. So now, obviously, there is making going on. The boy is going to build a Webkinz bed and is repainting his old treasure chest and the girl has made a pencil cup, so far. There is much whispering and hiding of key things. Am loving it.

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Remember how he found the whole Christmas List, with the Wii? Well, we must've convinced him that what he saw was actually MY wish list - for things that they've mentioned or things that've crossed my mind this past year. Because now that I've already bought the Wii? He asked for XBox 360. Freaking perfect. Although, I could probably sell it on Ebay and earn more than enough to buy the XBox...

I'm so not doing that.

I guess I like to think of myself as a motivated slacker. And no, it is not an oxymoron. I tend to rush around, get everything done so that the thing I have to look forward too?

Slacking off.

Precisely the reason 99% of the presents have been purchased, the tree is up and decorated, the cards are in their envelopes awaiting labels and all 250 pictures I ordered from Shutterfly were put neatly into their photo albums within an hour or two of delivery.

I anxiously await the evenings where there are no commitments and my biggest decisions cover topics like

The Patriot's blanket or Snowflake blanket?

Cloud pajama pants or Plaid?

Knitting or Gameboy?

Reading or a movie?

Vanilla Chai or Hot Chocolate?

Basically my game plan is to do as much as I can early on so that the majority of my evenings are spent making those big decisions.

In other news:
What do I get my boss for Christmas? I can't afford to spend too much but I hateHATE baking so cookies are out. He has a wicked green thumb and likes tractors and farmish stuff. Please, suggest away....

I know how most of you feel about Rachel Ray and I have just jumped on the bandwagon. Gawd, those Dunkin' Donuts commercials make me want to pull her flat ironed hair. But, her Italian Sub Stoup? Yumm-o.

Heh.

Really though, it is good. And it's my lunch today. Although, I'm sure none of you care.

y'know I did plan on REALLY posting tonight, but the son had a meltdown because my husband asked him for help unloading some firewood and I was just plain tired so I fell asleep and when I awoke?

11:52.

So, in a nutshell? Did I love NaBloPoMo? Hard to say. I mean, it lit a fire under my ass and made me post - which some days I totally needed. Other times posting when I've got nothing much to say? Not easy. And sometimes I just plain forgot until - quite literally - the eleventh hour.

So - we'll see you in December. Which is in like, two minutes.

I am skimping on the posting again for today. Our friend keeps hoisting his war movies on me and for whatever reason I am compelled to watch them. Also, it gives me an excuse to stay still and knit, so there's that too.

See you all tomorrow, where we will celebrate the end of the BloPo with much fanfare.

or not.

A random household meme.

From Pocklock.

What kind of soap is in your bathtub right now? A blueberry/vanilla mix from Sundrop Soaps. And some dial for the other people in the family.

Do you have any watermelon in your refrigerator? Nope, although I probably should check.

What would you change about your living room? I'd make it a little bigger if I could. I'm sort of limited when it comes to switching furiture around. The TV/Entertainment center thing can only go in one place.

Are the dishes in your dishwasher clean or dirty? Clean, I turned it on this morning before work.

What is in your fridge? Hopefully not watermelon. Otherwise the typical: milk, eggs, cheese, cool whip, ketchup...the usual suspects.

White or wheat bread? Wheat. Not split top - yuck. And white only if it's 'sandwich' bread. I don't like that flaky top crust on regular white bread.

What is on top of your refrigerator? Box Tops, Sox Tops and quarters for milk money. And a basket with sunglasses, winning scratch tickets and walkie talkies.

What color or design is on your shower curtain? It's purple, green and off white plaid.

How many plants are in your home? Live? NONE. I'm not a fan of live plants. I do not want one more living thing counting on me for survival. Fake? Four. Three small pots and one fakey ficus. Oh, this weekend there'll be the christmas tree but I'll have that dead in less than a week probably.

Is your bed made right now? Halfway, the covers are all pulled up but since the dog sleeps on it sometimes while I'm at work I'll neaten it up when I get home.

Comet or Soft Scrub? Soft Scrub with Bleach!

Is your closet organized? I just redid my linen closet. So I'll say yes.

Can you describe your flashlight? We have, um, a TON of flashlites. Drab green coleman styles, a black grippy one, two blue ones with a folding gizmo so they can stand up...and yes there is more but I'm not bothering...

Do you drink out of glass or plastic most of the time at home? Glass. My favorite McDonalds Disney glasses to be exact. I'm not a particular fan of either Disney or McDonalds but too bad, my answers don't have to make sense.

Do you have iced tea made in a pitcher right now? No, pink lemonade.

If you have a garage, is it cluttered? No garage. A shed. A very neat shed that will soon be home to all of the wrapped christmas presents.

Curtains or blinds? Both but wooden blinds in the kitchen and bathroom and lineny type of things in the living room. And pull down, room darkening shades in all of the bedrooms.

How many pillows do you sleep with? Two.

Do you sleep with any lights on at night? Just one downstairs in the kitchen. I hate light when I'm trying to sleep.

How often do you vacuum? A few times a week.

Standard toothbrush or electric? Standard. But I keep two or three in rotation.

What color is your toothbrush? Toothbrushes, plural. Blue and Purple.

Do you have a welcome mat on your front porch? Yep.

What is in your oven right now? The cast iron pans.

Is there anything under your bed? Clothes and two duffel bags.

Chore you hate doing the most? All of them. But if I have to pick I'd say putting away the laundry.

What retro items are in your home? Retro is just another word for old, right? Or is it new but an oldish thing? Let me know.

Do you have a separate room that you use as an office? Hah. Um, no.

How many mirrors are in your home?4.

Accidentally deleted this question...too lazy to go back and look it up...

What color are your walls? Living room? I can't remember but the trim is potter's clay. The kitchen has some rusty gate, I think. The boys room is blue and red, the girl's room is a light purplish blue, our room is a light drab green....

Do you keep any kind of protection weapons in your home? Why do you ask? Wanta take your chances?

What does your home smell like right now? Woodstove.

Favorite candle scent? Buttercream

What kind of pickles (if any) are in your refrigerator right now? Probably sweet gherkins. Not for me though, I rarely eat pickles but when I do...zesty dill.

What color is your favorite Bible? Huh?

Ever been on your roof? Yes.

Do you own a stereo? yep, two.

How many TVs do you have? 3 but only two are connected to cable, the third is gamecube only.

How many house phones? 2

Do you have a housekeeper? Sure, I do. ME.

What style do you decorate in? Whatever I like.

Do you like solid colors in furniture or prints? Solid, most definitely.

Is there a smoke detector in your home? Of course, and they all work - why take chances.

In case of fire, what are the items in your house which you’d grab if you only could make one quick trip? We'll just assume the kids, husband and pets are already safe. Then I'd go for the portable hard drive and baby books.

I'm tagging blackbird because she loves to be tagged *cough*weirdo*cough* and I don't know if I've ever tagged her for anything, ever.

Dudes, i am out of material so all you get is hockey and a movie review

Alternate title? Think long and hard about signing your kiddo up for hockey, a week in pictures.

Saturday: An evening hockey game, where our team fought their way back to a tie. The other team's website called my son's team a powerhouse. It makes me giggle, I mean...they're ten.

Sunday: Eight a.m. practice. I stay home with the girlie, enjoying the sleep-in. Photoless.

Monday: My mom runs a big fund raiser dinner for her employer and the guest speaker? None other than Cam Neely.
So the boy got to enjoy a dinner out and hob nob with a hockey VIP. Are those meat hooks or hands? My son said he seemed like a really nice guy and felt bad that he had to answer questions from people who were more concerned with the health of Patrice Bergeron than Cam's Neely House. Oh, and there was a practice that night that my son missed.

Wednesday: Skate with the Bruins. What I thought would be just a quick free skate with a few rookies turned into a super crowded event that featured one rookie and one superstar.

Meet Phil Kessel. Cancer survivor, excellent hockey player and hero of my boy. Damn, he's cute too.

Saturday: An evening game after spending the day in your pajamas. Ugh, how the poor kid got motivated I'll never know. He's the one in the white helmet. Oh, we won and are *whispers* still undefeated .

Sunday: There was a seven a.m. practice. And hell would have to just about freeze over for me to go to one of those just for the fun of it, so no pictures.

The team was signed up to play the other Squirt B team in our organization. The game was in Providence at the Dunk (where the Providence Bruins play and right before one of their games). It was only for bragging rights but still my husband was glad to see his team pull off the win. Seeing these pictures makes me realize just how bad the lighting is in virtually every other rink.

Providence Bruins game. Where the kids sit together and act like typical nine and ten year old boys, i.e. stealing each other's hats, sharing popcorn and screaming like lunatics every time the players threw down their gloves for a fight.

Monday:
Hockey skills. I don't usually go as it turns to social hour after the kids are off the ice and we get home entirely too late for a school night.

And done. Granted, there were some extras in there that usually aren't (Cam, Phil Kessel) but it's a slippery slope people....

Movie Review:
Ratatouille. Meh. Started off pretty good and then got way boring. Don't bother.

I do not have long here...my laptop is a dinosaur and it's battery is on the verge of extinction.

I was so looking forward to a quiet night with the girl (the boys had hockey skills) and I found myself with one of those 'it hurts to blink' type of headaches. Sweet girl that she is, she made me a card and used about four tons of stickers on some other project while I curled up on the chair and tried to sleep. And then she rubbed my back.

I love that child.

A knitting question: I'm making a scarf (stockinette stitch)...I want to add stripes. Does it matter if I start the next color on a knit row or a purl row? Anyone?

And no, the fire place wasn't lit. No roasted duck. Apparently, though, it was dark when they came home and the man approached the fireplace with a flashlight and was nearly scared to death when the duck hissed and pecked his beak hard at the glass doors. They called the neighbors and got some crab nets and somehow managed to get a hissing, flapping, pissed off duck into one net, cover it with another one and run it outside. I still laugh when I picture it...

The boy's recent YouTube history:







and no, he does NOT know what "orgasmic" means.

Okay, so when you fall asleep snuggled and warm in bed with your little girl and then you wake with a start and think...I've gotta post. That's exactly when NaBloPoMo sucks the worst.

Some random for y'all:

Do you put those single clear bulb candles in your windows during the holidays? Electric or Battery? And how do the cords look on the INSIDE of your house? My outlets are not anywhere near my windows in most cases and while I'd love to quit with the batteries I worry about how much more I'd hate the cords.

Am loving the Thomas' Cranberry English muffins, with homemade blueberry/raspberry jelly.

I'm reading The Subtle Knife (a sequel to The Golden Compass) and while I'm enjoying it, a line about cutting off children's sexual organs kind of makes me wonder about finding it in the 'independent reader' children's section at Borders.

We've spent the vast majority of the last two days in pajamas and sweatpants alternating between gameboys (pokemon ruby for me and emerald for the boy), movies (transformers), barbies, knitting and reading. Perfection.

Not cooking on Thanksgiving leaves you with no leftovers. And dinner time hockey leaves you with no opportunity to cook a smallish version. I'm jonesing for some soup.

Getting out the door to go Christmas shopping at 3:20 a.m. is just way sick. On the other hand, I only have four things left to buy and I know exactly what they are.

I always wonder what I'm missing when I meet those people that everyone says, "Oh, you'll love A. she is SO nice" and then I don't really like them at all. And don't find them particularly nice either.

We bought the kids those winter jackets that zip apart so that there's a fleece liner and a windproof shell. My daughter lost her fleece liner part the first week she had the jacket. *sigh*

My son sat on my lap during his friend's hockey game today. He's ten and is sometimes allergic to me, so it was doubly nice. He also explained the term 'odd man rush' and showed me some examples during the game. He then rolled my eyes at my newly coined 'even man rush' and told me to pipe down before a hockey dad heard me.

A friend of ours had a duck fall down their chimney and into their fireplace.

I've been up for nearly twenty four hours.

I shouldn't have had two glasses of coke at ten p.m.

So many good suggestions about the teeth.

A few things -

He pretty much has a full on panic attack. I really believe that he thinks he can go through with it and according to my husband he WAS going through with it until he saw the needles. He doesn't just have us get all the way up there and refuse to cooperate, it's deeper than that. He knows he has to do it. But he's ten year old very healthy child and the whole serious infection thing? He can't wrap his brain around it. He may need pharmaceutical assistance. Which brings me to this...

We have been warned away, repeatedly, from having his root canals done by an oral surgeon. Apparently it's not a procedure they perform regularly and it would be a hell of a thing to go through all this and have what's left of his teeth even more damaged. And so goes the general anesthesia. Endodontists do not, at least not around here, do that. The last guy told me that it's risky to have them under, with the tube going down their throat while they are doing so much work in their mouth and so it's not something that's generally practiced in the U.S. (He's from South Africa, where it IS something they practice and this guy was telling me how unwise it is)

So. No sleepy.

And they don't do that contious sedation for anyone under the age of 18. So none of that either.

And strapping him to a chair? My stomach turns at the thought. Plus, for a root canal - stillness is key. And you can bet he wouldn't be still. And the mental picture of all of this raises my mamabear hackles.

The mean route? Honestly, I'm so apathetic at this point I don't know if I have the wherewithall (sp?) to even be mean. Well, I do but the problem is this...he knows, now, that he has the power to just rip that spit thing off his neck and get out of the chair and the endodontist won't touch him. Which sucks.

I haven't done the bribery thing, really yet. I may. Oh, wait. I did tell him if he did the root canal thing I'd let him buy a certain song for his iPod. Cheesy? Yes. Will I up the stakes? Probably, but not yet.

The latest and greatest guy, who we will see on Tuesday, can give him valium in a pill form first. He's gone this route before, with liquid valium, it didn't work but maybe this time we can up the dosage or hell, I don't know...our options are so limited and the finances of it all looms large. Children's Hospital in Boston may be able to help us but last I checked there was a three month waiting period and no one was even willing to give us a referral to get us in earlier. Maybe with the abcess...

I am sick of teeth.

As, I bet, are you.

This is what you get when I do NaBloPoMo.

Anyway, happy thanksgiving! hope you all enjoyed your turkey, your families and your football.

Day Twenty.

Done and done.

Be back later, if we're in by midnight.

So the root canal thing? A complete bust.

I leave work an hour early, my husband two hours early we drive forty minutes....

Only to have the boy jump out of the chair and throw the little spit catcher cloth from around his neck and onto the floor at the first sign of the novacaine needle.

Which, actually isn't true. Not the first sign. First they did the topical on his gums, let it set, explained the whole numbing procedure, answered his questions and THEN he freaked.

Can I tell you how long it took me to find an endodontist that uses nitrous oxide? There are only a handful in the entire state. And now, how it's an emergency because the nerves are dead and one has abcessed. And how much reassuring and discussing and hand holding and hugging we've done for the boy this past year. And how none of it worked. And how I have literally NO idea what to do next and how the doctor had NO suggestions for us except to stress how important it was to get it done? And how, even though I know, I KNOW this is a huge deal for him I'm not really feeling all that sympathetic right now? And how I'm kind of embarrassed by the way he carried on? And how we are totally out of dental insurance? Can I tell you all of that?

Please?

It just snowed!

Hurray!

Recent Projects

I've been knitting this for a week now, at least. Every time I think I'm almost done, I re-measure and find that I want it just a little bit longer. This has happened three times so far and I'm so ready to be done with it. I'm thinking tonight. Hopefully. It's super-soft chenille and I'm loving it. And naturally it's supposed to be sixty degrees this week. Thank god for hockey, I get to wear scarves from August through April.

A skull washcloth, I think from Fluid Pudding. I finished this in one night, granted I went to bed after two a.m. but the Sox were in the Series and I was going to be up anyway....

This is the first time I've switched between knit and purl in the same row, I think I only screwed it up once (well, there are a few mistakes but only one with the switcheroo). Not bad, especially for a sleep deprived baseball watching freak.

Live Football Blogging: Randy Moss has caught four touchdown passes in the first half. Thrown by my man Tom. The Celtics have only lost one and a certain Squirt B hockey team is STILL undefeated!

I spent this morning going church bazarring/craft fairing with my mom.

The most surprising question came as she filled out a raffle ticket in my name.

She asked me how to spell my last name.

Seriously? She totally did.

You know what's better than going to bookclub?

Going to bookclub with your best friend.

Knowing you cannot risk even one more glance at her because someone is bound to catch us rolling our eyes at the engineer's monologue. When I called the executive vp about a job and he said "are you looking?" even though...blah, blah blah hiring freeze blah blah

Trading barbs with her about a future 'resort' in her town and a never to be built Target in mine. Totally loving all her town gossip and knowledge.

Love that she tells me that I could vacuum my computer's fan out and the processor will be faster for it. Or that I can call her about the Sims or the Wii and she'll totally get what I'm asking.

Can't wait to hear the geography fair story.

She doesn't stick up for my husband when I'm reviewing his numerous shortcomings. And she so could, because they have that same Type A thing going on. And her husband and I? Not so much, let's just say we're a little less, grown up mature intense. And yet I would kill him and he me if those stars had ever aligned that way. We NEED our Type As to keep us on track. And no it's not fair. And you are saddled with two of us, SP. Did I mention that I didn't pay my dog registration for 2006 or 2007?(is it a form of irony if I work upstairs from the town clerk and see her every day that i'm there and STILL haven't managed to pay for two years?) See, I know that makes you crazy.

You got me TWO awesome jobs! Two!

Plus she has heated leather seats in her jeep and I love her even more for that.

Pardon me for being excited but I've been working for either non-profits or the town for the past twelve years and I JUST GOT A FIFTY DOLLAR GIFT CARD FOR THANKSGIVING from my most excellent boss.

Of course, in finding that image I saw that, at Stop and Shop, they sell gift cards to Barnes and Noble and iTunes and now I have to talk myself into groceries and out of new books.

Happy problems.

Plus I get to ask my husband what he's buying with his Thanksgiving bonus. Which is nada, seeing as their idea of a christmas bonus is that you are still working at that point of the winter.

Score one for jenny.

some days, okay ALOT of days, it's all about fulfilling the obligation here folks.

Well, today has been much, MUCH better. The boy is no longer in pain and is currently lacing up his skates at practice.

It turns out one of his front teeth developed an abcess, which I am assuming by the amount of tears, is extraordinarily painful. He refused to let the endodontist drain it (drilling! no pain killers!), well, really he just started to cry when he heard the word drill and then hugged me. The guy snapped off the rubber gloves and told us to come back in a few days, going the antibiotic route first.

Seems to be working, I have to call tomorrow as he still needs it drained. Then the two root canals to follow within the week or so.

I cannot imagine that we have even one cent left of dental insurance for this kid. Merry Christmas, son.

And speaking of ...

He went upstairs to hop on the computer and what did his absent minded mother leave open? The excel spreadsheet that lists everything I've bought so far. He totally saw it. He confessed to my husband who then told me, secretly, what had happened. I had no idea how to play it, when to bring it up and what to say.

And then at dinner, after his sister left the table, he told me what he had seen (Wii!). I told him it was my 'wishlist' of things I'd like to get them, for ideas when I'm shopping. And then my husband made a big show of saying that I had better not have purchased any Wii type of things. But I'm not sure if he believed us. Next to some of the gifts it says "stocking", "family party" and "family stocking". I don't know how much he really read and digested and I don't really want to bring it up too much more...but ugh. The poor kid, he was as mopey about it as I was.

Okay, now. Off to work...

I'm unable to type much as I'm barely awake and will be back tomorrow but the boy has a very painful abcess in one of his front teeth.

It kept him and I up most of last night and I'm looking anxiously at my comfy bed just calling my name...

He turned down a sleepover tonight because his teeth hurt.

I'm thinking the root canals are happening sooner rather than later.

The Runaround

And here I am. With precisely ten minutes, well more like eight before I have to leave again, I am posting.

A friend and I had talked of getting our families together - it's been too long, we never see each other, do you have any six a.m.'s (ice time)? And we had tentatively planned something for this long weekend.

So, I got this email:

hey you,

What's up?? haven't heard from you, are you able to come by friday night?? We'll have drinks!!!!!!!!!!

M

Sounded good. (Stupid italics now I can't get rid of them) I told my husband and he was on board. And so I called SP, rearranged our christmas shopping plans and then called M. to leave a message saying we'd be over, can't wait to see them and what should I bring.

And so she calls...it's a silpada jewelry party. And now she knows I have no plans and *pffft* there went my excuse. Around six thirty last night I was still debating, with my pajamas in one hand and my car keys in the other. I figured I'd stay for an hour. Likely story, I got home at 12:30 a.m.

And this morning to hockey, a tie. While we were all complaining about how bad the team looked we heard the other team's parents talking about what a great game it was and how wonderfully their team played. Which, they were horrible (and mean too, the crosschecking slashers) too but funny how they thought it was a great game and we thought it was horrible and it was all the same as a tie. Different perspective, I guess.

And then it was the final soccer game of the season for the girlie. They capped it off with their first win, so that was something. And no, I don't say as much about soccer but c'mon. It's soccer. Played by first and second graders. And it's soccer.

And now I'm off to the mother in laws, to show off the soccer trophy and then to the mall to get the girlie a jacket and then to home to drop her off and then to SP's and then to the Apple Store (or no?) and some christmas shopping. Oh, and I've got to print my list up in between all of this. And I've got an hour and forty five minutes.

*runs away*

Yesterday's post at two minutes before midnight, today's at five minutes past.

Cheating? Or brilliant?

Hah!

I'll be back later...

Procrastinate much?

So when I said that receiving updates from my mother was another post entirely....

I really, really meant it. But I felt like I was throwing her under the bus so I deleted everything I had typed and now I'm starting from scratch.

I have a question for you...If you were a paycheck where would you be? And if you say safely in the bank you can kiss my ass.

I only ask because I misplaced my check between last Wednesday and Tuesday morning and I cannot find it anywhere. And it kind of stinks because it's a bi-weekly thing and um, it's pretty much my car payment.

ugh.

Another question, this one rhetorical...

How, when I'm labeling my posts, did I screw up the Day One, Day Two thing? I mean, c'mon, HOW? If November 1st was day one, how could I not keep that complicated system going? I'm like two days off already and it's only seven days in.

ugh.

Five minutes left....

Alright. I've got to get this post a day thing under control...a whole month of sentences posted at eleven forty eight p.m. is a bit of a copout, no?

Firstly and most importantly, C. is doing marginally better. They are attempting to drain the hematomas near her brain and she is a bit more responsive. I don't have much more information, I've tried to call the house but her parents do not have an answering machine nor do they have a cell phone. They are, or rather the dad is, a fairly sterotypical Mainer. Complete with ayuh's and flannel shirts. I can see that he would have little use for such things. But I'm NEVER sure about calling the hospital, I'm always afraid I will catch them at a bad time. And so I do nothing. Bad form, I know.

And getting updates from my mother is another post entirely.

You're thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated. Thank you.

I always tell my daughter if you pray to help yourself it's just regular but if you pray for someone else, it's a prayer x 10. Confusing, this coming from a godless heathen? Well, I'm very cautious about coloring my children's ideas of god and faith.

I'm switching subjects quickly here because this can not be ignored....

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Dungy, Peyton & the Colts couldn't win even with the (unpaid? paid?) help of the referees. Referees who have yet to figure out just what actual pass interference looks like.
I would've loved to see this game with good officiating, to see what the score might've been.

Take that Indianapolis. The Patriots ARE the best team. Neener, neener, neener.

There's another local team that's pretty hot right now too. The hockey team is 8-0-1 and has a lock on first place in their division.

My husband is kind of blown away by the success. It's even a bit sweeter because there've been emails flying fast and furious from the 'coaching coordinator'. The statement that put my husband over the edge was something about 'we will no longer teach the kids to just slap and the puck and cough it up'. Um, hello? Dumbass, no one has ever TAUGHT that. Maybe some coaches don't teach heads up hockey but I know they don't actively discourage it.

So anyway, this guy was at the game on Saturday. With a notebook. And quite honestly, it was the BEST youth hockey game I've ever seen. Total even matchup. They went goal for goal but the other team pulled ahead at the end of the second period. With two minutes left in the third my son, hold on caps necessary, MY SON tied it up. The place, literally, went wild. Coaches jumping up and down, us parents screaming and cheering, his teammates high fiving & hugging him. And then, with about a minute left, he gets another shot at the game winner but it went up and over the net. *sigh*

But not to worry, his teammate grabbed it and managed to stuff it in the back of the net anyway. We win. The end. Woot!

Mr. Coaching Coordinator said to one of my friends, "wow...this is some good hockey".

And it was.

Yeah, so four days in and I'm scrambling to get something posted with an hour left in the day.

Doesn't bode well...

I am finding that I'm having trouble concentrating today. My mind keeps drifting...

thoughts of our cousin and her family keep swirling around, leaving me feeling a bit detached.

They've put her, C., into a drug-induced coma. She has many, many broken bones and is being carefully monitored due to hematomas that have appeared in her skull. She did squeeze her mother's hand today, somehow, which gives us hope. I was told they are just worried about keeping her alive - all prognosis for the future is a glimmer on the horizon.

And so we wait for news as they are a few states away.

And our lives, as lives do, they go on.

A rainy day, a big hockey game, celebratory ice cream and a sleepover. A marathon Polly pocket session and some knitting. Today is more of the same, hopefully minus the rain and definitely minus the sleepover. Throw in some afternoon football, kale soup for dinner and some reading time with the kids.

I am counting my blessings.

We just got a call from a family member that a cousin was in a major auto accident.

She's sixteen years old, possibly seventeen. She wasn't wearing her seat belt and was thrown from the car.

At this point she's in critical condition and they aren't sure if she's going to live.

Please, think of her today and hug your babes a bit tighter before they leave.

This Really is the BEST team in Baseball

The Bot with bonus Youk dance off


The Papelpuppet



Jon Lester, cancer survivor and winning pitcher, with his parents


Timlin and Wake



Timlin with Parlay

Lowell photo courtesy of Kelly - Red Sox Photographer Extraordinaire.

Papelbon on Letterman the transcript

Trick or Treat with Varitek

Tell me, Yankee fans, does Posada do this type of thing?

54 Days Till Christmas

The Halloween! She is done!

I'm not a total hater of Halloween but it certainly ranks low on my list of holidays (Thanksgiving has a lock on the bottom spot). The kids rate it second only to Christmas, which I find amusing since trick or treating takes barely an hour, I throw over half the candy away and they don't even notice & my son refuses to let me really 'do' his costume - every time I tried to add a little something to his costume he's all "no, I'm all set" - and this year everyone said "and what are you? A hobo?" Nope, werewolf.

Last night though, I had just a little tableside light on and I ended up reading the second half of The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. Way to creep yourself right the hell out, halloween or no.

And then, remembering how your daughter acted when you got home - she was in the midst of taking her costume off (hockey player, complete with black eye & stitches) and she lay on the floor, like a starfish all spread out, and said "home, I love being home. home. home. home" Naturally, by itself - kind of cute and a little bit awwwwish. After reading the final pages of Hill House? More than a little freaky.

I probably should post on the World Series, but what can I say that hasn't been said? Maybe I'll link it up tomorrow...

Tomorrow NaBloPoMo is starting and I have to save my one coherent thought for tomorrow's post.

Okay, never mind coherent since when did THAT become a priority?

Sweet, sweet Victory

Yes, it's two thirty a.m.and of course I'll be paying for this for the next few days but I'll have plenty of time to sleep, next week.

More tomorrow. G'nite.

Bleary, I mean Blurry

It was late the other night, during Game One and I stepped outside on the deck. I love the nighttime in the fall...bugless and cool. Plus I needed the cool air on my face to keep me awake. 13-1 is a great game and all but it's easy to close your eyes for a half inning...

I know the shot is totally blurry but there was a rainbow around the moon. It was there for only a minute or two, at the most, but I couldn't resist at least trying to take a picture.


P.S. I knitted something and can't remember how to bind off, so now it's stuck on my needles. Bah!

I'm one of those people who has to see it to believe it. I was a doubter in the whole higher power/god thing. For shame, for shame - I know, but it is what it is.

But lawd almighty.

I have seen the light, I tell you.

And his name is Josh Beckett.

And apparently, I'm not alone.

I have to say, Red Sox game aside, that I'm glad yesterday is finally over.

At one of my jobs, a guy came in about a permit. He's sort of a big guy, girth wise, and is one of those types that is just always so sure of himself - even when he's spouting bullshit - that you sort of think he knows what he's talking about - if you're the listener and you only know part of the story, that is. Plus the ponytail (recently cut off due to court appearances) and tattoos and general alpha maleness. I'm not usually intimidated by the contractors and builders that come in yelling or if I am, I'm a big proponent of the 'kill 'em with kindness or just be totally noncommital' theory. If you don't give them the ammunition it generally takes the wind out of their sails.

Anyway, this one guy gets to me. He's the very definition of sue crazy and he'll switch your words around to suit his purposes if at all possible. Which, with me is TOTALLY possible because I can't remember basically anything. So I make a conscious effort not to talk to him about anything of substance and I most definitely don't quote chapter and verse on anything policywise to him.

Yesterday, because I was the only one in the office he totally ripped into me about laws and depositions and some one who lied (which, she didn't - he was just seeing if I'd take his bait) and then he accused us of not liking Jewish people (??? which, I'll include the question marks here because as far as I know HE IS NOT EVEN JEWISH) and showing favoritism and said he'd sue us all. Which is totally his M.O. and he has a track record to prove it.

This morning I'm getting phone calls and requests to document the whole incident and given new security procedures so that witnesses can be in the office at a moment's notice.

My head is spinning a bit. Mostly, because this guy? Is engaged to a girl who used to be my best friend. I suppose I could wax poetic about our friendship but everything I've tried to type so far sounds all hokey and saccharine, so I won't.

We've sort of let our friendship fade away, she got divorced, a new job, I'd say she started dating but it's been more like a series of engagements, really. I got busier, with work and the kids and it just took a back burner. Even noticing that our friendship was hardly there wasn't a priority. I think it happened before either one of us realized it. We made a few attempts at getting together but everything fell flat and so it was easy for us to go back to hardly talking, outside of occasional emails.

And then she met this guy. And I have to say, I tend to give people the benefit of the doubt. One look at him and I thought she'd gone off her rocker but she said he treats her well and she knew five minutes after she met him that she was going to marry him. (this was one of our 'try to see each other more' phases of the friendship) So, the benefit of the doubt is what he got. After all, who am I to judge? God? Not so sure. Love at first sight? Absolutely.

The last few times I've seen her it's all in relation to the function of my job. There's bad blood brewing in her neighborhood and it was consuming her. I suggested she take her kids away for a few weeks last summer and clear her mind. It's easy to stoop to some one else's level when you're living it every time you pull in your driveway. She was having none of it and so, in the past year, it's escalated to the civil courts. She sent me an email six months or so ago and asked if she had put me in an awkward position at work. I replied that she hadn't, but that I'd be lying to say it wasn't difficult with so much of the drama centering on her (then) boyfriend.

That was the last I heard from her. Until I saw her at the lacrosse field with a nice engagement ring on. We sat together and I congratulated her but she knew my heart wasn't in it. I'm still mourning the friendship, not much, but it hits me once in awhile - how much I really do miss her.

And now this. With her fiance. The worst part is that I want to call her. And now, I pretty much can't.

Is it 8 p.m. yet?

In the past hour I have been threatened, on behalf of the town I work for, with two lawsuits and as a bonus have also been accused of being an anti-Semite.

Happy Wednesday!




On a lighter note: I've already started doing laundry so there'll be plenty to fold tonight and - and should I even admit this?? - I actually saved that popsicle stick from the other night. When Papelbon got his first six out save? I hid it in a drawer so it wouldn't get thrown away (like someone besides me would actually even clean the drawer) by accident. I. Am. Ill.

World Series Bound Baybee

Well, we've got two days to dirty up some more clothes.

I told my husband that I was partly responsible for the win, which in my mind I TOTALLY AM. And y'know what? He had no idea, he didn't even notice that I would jump up out of my chair during every commercial break and head downstairs to fold laundry, that there was some kind of freaked out pattern to my previously non-existent laundry obsession.

Sheesh.

And then there's the popsicle stick I was holding during the Papelbon's first pitch in the eighth. Which I then held for the Indian's entire at bats for the eighth and ninth because how could I put it down?

In other news...

Oh, come on --- AS IF THERE'S OTHER NEWS?!?!?!?

Very Superstitious, writing's on the wall

In case you're curious...

I did laundry during every commerical for the first four innings and managed to time my return so that I missed the first pitch or two after the commercial.

I got to talking with the boy and after the fourth inning I sort of forgot to leave.

All in all, I think it worked well. Don't you?


And don't worry - I've saved plenty for tonight.

Okay, so yesterday's bowling party with wild animals, um, escaped mental patients, I mean eight 4-7 year olds went pretty well.

Just so you know, they can only handle about forty five minutes of bowling-tops-before they need a cake break.

Two of the boys have those cochlear implants and y'know I thought they could hear, my daughter tells me they totally CAN hear and they're on her soccer team and I know they hear their dad and the coach. So, I guess they were just ignoring me?

_____________________________________________________________________


I've been posting pictures to our hockey team's website. Not many, maybe four or five a week. Just enough for the kids to see themselves and I think the parents are enjoying it just as much as the kids. The problem? Because it's me...you know there's gotta be a problem...I'm getting pictures emailed to me from one dad. He's sending them to me "just in case" I want to put them up. He's already edited out the kid's jerseys so you know he's hoping to see them. But. They're AWFUL. They're so blurry you can't even tell who the picture is of (except for the goalie). I know I'm going to have to bite the bullet and throw them up there but I just wanted to whine to all of you about it first.

____________________________________________________________________

Hey, now....the sun is finally shining! I'm off.

And it's not just because I'm a Red Sox fan

Am-I-Dumb.com - Intelligence Test




That was some game last night. It's nice having these nights off in between games...I can stay up until two a.m. one night, go to bed at eight the next...all in preparation for staying up until two a.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Way to start the work week.

I must make sure I do plenty of laundry because apparently I was watching too much of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th games. Last night I would go and fold clothes during the commercials and come upstairs midway through the first batter. So, if you need some laundry done...

Not that I'm superstitious or anything.

Lucky Number Seven

Sunday we celebrated my girl's seventh birthday.

Selfishly, I wish I could say it was only her fourth birthday, that we had a few more years until we hit seven. I really loved four, five and six. And yes, I'm sure seven through forever will be fine too, but she is frighteningly independent and I'm already missing her a wee bit.

She requested a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and a big spaghetti dinner. My son, convinced she was being ripped off, tried to convince her that she can choose anything for dinner - especially his favorite (roast chicken with mashed potatoes and steamed carrots) but she wasn't having it.

We made our annual pilgramage to Build A Bear, ensuring that she has yet another bear, or rabbit or dog as the case may be, that shares her birthday. It's completely expensive and almost foolish (skechers for the bunny? a must. A pink red sox hat for the dog? goes without saying) but she is practically jumping up and down by the time we get to the store and she plays and sleeps with these crazy animals every single day.

She was also showered with the standard 'drive your mother insane' fare from our lovely family. A singing Hannah Montana doll and the new Hannah/Miley cd? Thanks Grammy.

I was tucking my girl into bed Sunday night she said to me "I waited so long and it went by so fast". My thoughts, exactly.

Dangerously close to being Johnny Damon

Which Red Sox Player Are You? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Manny Ramirez You are Manny Ramirez! You can be a little strange, but in a good way. You also still act like a kid at times, but this makes you a very fun person to be around. You excel with your talents and are among the elite in your field. Yea Manny!! Manny Ramirez 63% Kevin Millar 57% Johnny Damon 57% Curt Schilling 50% Mark Bellhorn 40% David Ortiz 40% Jason Varitek 40% Theo Epstein 37%

Thursday is the new Friday

Okay, so I FORGOT all about the invitation until my boy mentioned to me yesterday that it was safe to R.S.V.P. because apparently P. told his mom what he had done. Now, if I could just find the invitation...

Supposed to have book group tomorrow evening. And I know that the hostess had no way of knowing that it would be Game One of the ALCS when she picked the date. As much as I had no way of knowing that it would be Game One of th ALCS when I told her I'd be there. I might, MIGHT go for a half hour, but with Beckett vs. Sabbathia - I'm doubting it.

I'm totally hooked on Kid Nation. Last week was kind of meh but last night? So, so totally great. There are some parents raising some pretty awesome kids out there. It was all about religion and worship and the kids just got it. They did. It was all bickery and cliquish (Christians Rock! and things like that) until one girl went around and just invited everyone to say a quick prayer of their choice at an impromptu service. A simple Jewish hymn/prayer sung by the fire and I was crying.

And tonight? Scheming and conniving and warrior suits (?!?!). And a visit to Philly because Dee is dating a retarded rapper and that can't be missed.

Do any of you watch Damages? I think someone does, Cat maybe? I've only seen three episodes and am struggling to keep track of it all...but the struggle is well worth it. Excellent tv. They don't seem to be rebroadcasting on the FX site so you're out of luck if you haven't caught it before now (only two episodes left) but if you see it in repeats - you must watch.

In case you can't tell - this working four days a week, at least one night and plus a few nights and weekends of hockey/soccer/archery/whatever are leaving me with ZERO motiviation to get things done after the kiddos are tucked away for the evening.

I've done a few embroidery things, but not much, not enough. I'll post some pictures tomorrow maybe. Ideas are swirling around my head off and on all day but by the time eight thirty rolls around they all run and hide behind thoughts of the next day's lunches and schedule.

I think I've posted three days IN. A. ROW. I'm getting in gear for the NaBloPoMo. I think I lasted less than a week last year. Not good, not good at all. I've got big aspirations for this November...I'll be laying my life out there so if you're having trouble sleeping or want to pretend to be working when you're not but have run out of clever bloggers to surf...This is the place for you.

Stolen from PeaSoup, among a few others...

These are the top 106 books most often marked as "unread" by LibraryThing’s users. Here's how I shape up against them.

The books I've read are in bold,
the ones I started but couldn't/didn’t finish are in italics,
what I couldn’t stand has a strike through,
those I've read more than once have an asterisk*,
and those maroon are on my To Be Read list.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Anna Karenina
Crime and punishment
Catch-22
One hundred years of solitude
Wuthering Heights
The Silmarillion
Life of Pi
Don Quixote
Sense & Sensibility
Moby Dick
Ulysses
Madame Bovary
The Name of the Rose
The Odyssey
Pride and Prejudice
Jane Eyre
A Tale of Two Cities
The Brothers Karamazov
Guns, Germs, and Steel: the fates of human societies
War and Peace
Emma
Vanity Fair
The Time Traveller’s Wife
The Iliad* (in three different translations no less)
The Blind Assassin
The Kite Runner
Great Expectations
American Gods
Mrs. Dalloway
A heartbreaking work of staggering genius
Atlas shrugged
Reading Lolita in Tehran: a memoir in books
Memoirs of a Geisha
Middlesex
Quicksilver
Wicked : the life and times of the wicked witch of the West
The Canterbury tales
The Historian : a novel
A portrait of the artist as a young man
Love in the time of cholera
Brave New World
The Fountainhead
Foucault’s pendulum
Middlemarch
Frankenstein
The Count of Monte Cristo
Dracula
A clockwork orange
Anansi boys
The once and future king
The grapes of wrath
The Poisonwood Bible*
1984
Angels & demons
The inferno
The picture of Dorian Gray
Sense & Sensibility
Satanic Verses
Mansfield Park
One flew over the cuckoo’s nest
To the lighthouse
Tess of the D’Urbervilles
Oliver Twist
Gulliver’s travels
Les misérables
The corrections
The amazing adventures of Kavalier and Clay
The curious incident of the dog in the night-time
Dune
The prince
The sound and the fury
Angela’s ashes
The god of small things
A people’s history of the United States : 1492-present
Cryptonomicon
Neverwhere
A Short History of Nearly Everything
A confederacy of dunces
Dubliners
Beloved
The unbearable lightness of being
Slaughterhouse-five
The Scarlet Letter
Eats, Shoots & Leaves
The Mists of Avalon
Oryx & Crake
Collapse : how societies choose to fail or succeed
Cloud Atlas
The Confusion
Persuasion
Lolita
Northanger Abbey
The Catcher in the Rye*
On the Road
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Freakonomics : a Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance*
The Aeneid
Watership Down*
Gravity’s Rainbow
The Hobbit*
In cold blood : a true account of a multiple murder and its consequences
Treasure Island
David Copperfield
White Teeth
The Three Musketeers

I don't come off as particularly literate...

For instance, if they're in my 'to be read' pile, must I own them? Or just want to read them?

My son came home from school with a birthday party invitation. The kicker? The boy who was doing the inviting crossed off the name and address of a different boy and gave the invite to my son during school. I was a leeetle bit hesitant to call the mom "hi, um, my son got an invite to your boy's party - even though he wasn't supposed to and um, I think you might want to know that it was J's name that was crossed off, in case you're like, um, good friends with his mom or something..."

I'd like to say that I wouldn't have so many ums and likes in there but, sadly, I so totally would.