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.

Well, my husband came home and trumped me on the hotness of Saturday. He spent the day stripping the roof off his parent's garage and re-roofing it. Hewinshewinshewins.

I'm tempted not to blog on something near and dear to me, in a worry that I might jinx it.

But here goes anyway....

ACLS


5-0


3-0-1.

The Sox. How can you NOT love them? I guess there are a few people out there who don't love them or even worse, especially if you live in New England, don't care. And those people probably have a lot more spare time than I do, starting Friday. Whatevah, it is so sweet to be a loyal follower of this team. I didn't know it was possible but I think I love Jonathan Papelbon even more now.


(I know this is a week or so old but I love the man hug at the end)

And if you're a yankee fan? Hahahhahahahahaha.


Moving on.

There's another team over here in my neck of the woods that's not doing so badly either...
Tom Brady's quarterback rating is wicked high right now and Randy Moss? Randy Moss is the answer to my prayers. And probably Tom Brady's prayers too but this isn't his blog. And in fantasy football - apparently when you take Donte Stallworth and Ben Watson off your active roster that will virtually guarantee that they will have stellar performances. S'okay with me. Next week is the matchup of my two all time favorite teams....Patriots vs. Cowboys. My girlie's birthday is Sunday too. We're supposed to host some family for cake and ice cream....ergh.

And last but certainly not least - some youth hockey news. The husband's/son's team is undefeated. It's fairly early in a long season but wins = happy parents. So, for now, things are good. But the kids are skating well and seem to be enjoying themselves. Well, as much as you can enjoy mountain drills and such.. but wins = happy kids too. The coach is STILL not sleeping the night before a game, which makes for a long day when the game is at 5:00 p.m. Oh well, wins = happy coach.

Dudes.

It is 4000 degrees on the soccer field today.

The end.

There is some major DeLurk mojo going around the internet today

So, for all one of you lurking on this here site...it's time to De. As in DE-Lurk.


Last night was the daughter's open house. Our sixth consecutive year at this elementary school. The only thing we haven't seen, or rather, my husband hasn't seen is her classroom. It's even the same gym teacher that my husband had in Middle School. My son just likes going in hopes that he'll see his friends and then he gets to check out his mural and his plaque. Which is all good until you go to look for the plaque and find out that they've taken it down so that they can bring it to a meeting tomorrow night. Did I mention that because there is virtually no parking at the school that we have to be bussed in? Great fun, that.

And Thursday we do it all again for the boy. Different school though, this one is my husband's old middle school and I'm betting there's at least one teacher there from his formative years.

Tonight I get to sit at a school committee meeting where, if I speak up, I will be in an otherwise silent minority. They're looking to get an override so they can move the kindergarten up to full-day and move the third graders over to an intermediate school. And then they tack on the 'we don't have enough money for copy paper and books' line. So, basically, if you approve one you approve both...the 'in for a dime in for a dollar mentality'. I don't buy in to all of this foolishness, the school department has been less than forthcoming with their accounting and since they've already taken a half million dollars from town to cover this year's operating costs...well, I'm not giving them (willingly anyway) another dime.

Boring enough for you? You poor de-lurkers, I'm sorry. You come here and all I give you is town politics and stuff about open houses. No wonder you lurk.

Annie get your gun

Ever throw a tomahawk?

We have. Or rather, the kids have.

I took the kids to the Massachusetts Outdoor Expo yesterday so they could try their hand at shooting, archery, fly fishing and such. I shot a gun for the first time, a .22 rifle. I hit the bullseye five out of five shots and am officially in the market for a gun. Seriously. Not anytime soon because I've got to get an FID card and really, disposable income for a gun? Not likely. Could I borrow one after I get my card? Hopefully.

But it was so totally relaxing...finding the target in the scope, aiming, shooting and then the almost instantaneous PING of the bullet hitting the target. I have no urge to hunt, none. But I could easily spend an hour a week at a rifle range pinging bullets off metal turkeys.

And the kids loved it too:




We shied away from the shotguns because they were WAY loud and the line was wicked long, but the kids did get to shoot some arrows...


And the girlie climbed a big fake rock


It was quite a drive and we arrived home exhausted. The first thing my son did? Grab his Cabela's catalog to try and find his momma a gun.

Wii wish you a merry christmas

In our quest to get a big jump on our christmas shopping SP and I decided wii needed an evening out.

Basically, our evenings out consist of her giving me a hard time because I put 9/10 of everything back before I check out and me giving her a hard time because she forgot all of her money and she made me go to the ATM.

That last part was a lie. It was me, I forgot my money and she very generously went to the ATM so wii could get some dinner. My head was all scrambly last night. First the money and then later when I spilled half my bags onto the sidewalk at her house and didn't know how to unlock my car. How, after more than two full years can I NOT know how to unlock my car? Seriously, I'm asking you.

The one thing I was really looking for isn't all that available but wii got lucky...there seem to be a few hanging around here and there. So I got it. And I actually hugged it once wii got in the car.



Can you guess what it is? Huh? Huh? Canya?



And yes, I did too hug it. How could I not?




I mean, look at her.

And now, I'm wanting this. And this. And this too! I mean the kids, yeah, the KIDS are wanting these. Or they will be. Because they don't know they're getting one. And it has nothing to do with what I want. Nothing at all.

Now, how to tell my husband....

Over the past year or so, on occasion, I will sometimes tease the boy about girls. Not in a mean spirited way, more like a 'she's kicking you for a reason' type of tease.

Now, don't get me wrong - I'm firmly in the no way do you need to be having a girlfriend at this age camp. But he always laughed and made gagging faces when I would say something about A. pulling his hair or K. begging him for math answers.

This year, he says (with no prompt from me) that there are girls. Girls with crushes. On him, my boy. He's giggling the entire time he's telling me that he's heard from his friends that there are some girls crushing on him. So I ask him if there's some one who might be the object of HIS affection and he just laughs. NO DENIAL, NO GAGGING SOUND.

I call him out on the lack of gagging and he says that there is a girl. He refused to dole out any more information except more giggling and that, my friends, was that.

The next day he mentions a girl, M., who sits between him and his friend and I raise my eyebrows and say "M??" - He catches on in a blink and laughs and says "No, not M." and starts with the giggling. I tell him I'm going to keep throwing a name out there every once in awhile, until I get it right. And so for the next few days, I do. And every time it's a denial and some laughter.

I worried that he'd get sick of the name throwing out thing so I asked him if it bothered him. He says to me that he doesn't mind if I tease him, that's it's fun. And then he snuggled up next to me to watch Survivorman.

I feel like it's not long now, until I lose him bit by bit...to friends, sports and even girls. What two, maybe three or four years? And I just want to hang on so tight to every minute I've got.

And yes, this IS important

So, all three of you know one show I'll be watching this fall. I probably shouldn't mention that by last week, the second week of its new season, I had already forgotten to watch. Ergh.



What else?

Okay, well Dancing with the Stars because, well, alright there's no good reason. Before the first season I thought, No Way would I evah watch, no way. I think I caught the season finale that time. And then, I figured, maybe I would try to watch Season Two. It was a slippery slope people...Hi my name is Jenny and I am a DancingWithTheStars-aholic. I could do with less guest performers and dramatically placed commercials though.

And then there's Survivor. Between the casting and the editing...never mind the challenges and drama...It's my Thursday night, only talk during commericals, place to be.

I started off strong with Heroes last year. Watched it religiously. And then something happened, I missed one. And forgot to catch up online. So then I missed two and then three and the season finale would make four. So, while I know that they saved the cheerleader and the world, I've no idea HOW. Season Two started last night and I didn't watch, because of the same stupid reason...like if I don't watch them sequentially my head will explode or something. What's the matter with me?

I don't watch any of those CSI or Law and Order shows. Nor do I watch Grey's Anatomy (I did watch one or two episodes and during one the main whiny girl rolled off a pier and into a lake (ocean?) and I thought...'thank god, I HATE that girl'. I said to a friend that I hoped that they wrote her off she totally laughed and said that she doubted it because it was the GREY from Grey's Anatomy that I was talking about. And that was the last I saw of that.

I rarely watch comedies, since my tendencies go toward shows like It's Always Sunny and Arrested Development (still mourning the loss, thankyouverymuch) and there aren't alot of shows on that are twisted enough for me to enjoy.


I always mean to watch Rescue Me, Friday Night Lights and The Shield but forget when they're on.

Last night I watched Journeyman with Lucius Vorenus. It was pretty good. Watchable. I'll stick with it, especially if I remember when it's on.

And Kid Nation? Did anyone see Kid Nation? I was totally anti when I was seeing the previews, then a few reviewers sort of sucked me in. Plus, the husband was at some hockey thing so I curled up on the couch with the kids and we watched. I have to say...I. Loved. It. Where did they find some of these kids? They're more mature than I am, some of them. The whole idea of it, fending for yourselves and relying on each other...it's all taken to the extreme, of course, but it's pretty cool. And the first season, where no one has preconceived notions about the show, is usually the best. *repeats to self*Wednesdayat8, Wednesdayat8, Wednesdayat8.

Which is the same time as Pushing Daisies, a show I wanted to try to watch. Oh well.

And then there's Cavemen. Um, hello. Who ever thought this was a good idea should lose their job. Immediately.

So...what shows do are you watching?

The Name Game

Swiped from Lisa, who generally tags me with the more difficult questiony type memes and but apparently NOT the nice easy fill in the blank styles. Hmmph. Plus, she got to test drive a Mini Cooper and I'm still a bit jealous.

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car)Jangles 4runner

2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fave ice cream flavor, favorite cookie)Praline Caramel Chocolate Chip

3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last or maiden name) JLan

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal)Blue Dog

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born)Anne Anchorage

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last or maiden name, first 2 letters of your first)Lanje

7. SUPERHERO NAME: (”The” + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink)The Purple Pina Colada

8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers)Claude Vincent

9.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names )Joy Wayne

10. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter)Buckley Birmingham

11. SPY NAME: (your favorite season/holiday, flower)Summer Hydrangea

12. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + "ie" or "y")Blueberry Caprie

13. HIPPY NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree)English Muffin Beech

14. YOUR ROCKSTAR TOUR NAME: (”The” + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + “Tour”)The Reading Blizzard Tour.

And tomorrow there's a sale at OUR town library

Not only is it the time of year for freshly picked apples, cozy fleece blankets and Sunday dinners cooked in that forgotten appliance...the oven, but it's also the time for thelocal semi-annual library book sales.

A dollar for hardcovers and fifty cents for paperbacks.

Who could resist?

Here's the goods:

A Civil Action by Jonathan Harr - Nonfiction, Takes Place in Boston, plus it won a prestigious award....-
Ship of Fools by Katherine Anne Porter - Older book, sounded good - I picked it up as I was walking out, at that point what was one more?
Gap Creek by Robert Morgan - I bought this in spite of the Oprah stamp on the front.
Crooked Little Heart by Anne Lamott - Don't think I've read anything by her, now's as good a time as any.
The Alibi Man by Tami Hoag - gratuitous junk read
The Hornet's Nest by Jimmy Carter - I love listening to Jimmy Carter talk, maybe this'll be half as nice.
Blow by Bruce Porter - I think this might have been a movie (Johnny Depp?). Regardless, I didn't see the movie but it looks fairly interesting and again with the local ties - this time Cape Cod.
Greenwitch & Silver on the Tree both by Susan Cooper - I started reading The Dark is Rising and was totally liking it but I was sidetracked by something else. It was a library book so I figured it'd be safer if I just bought my own copies of the series.
Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie - I don't think I've ever read this, thought it might be good to read aloud to the kids. Although the boy would rather not I might try to sucker him in.
Night by Elie Wiesel-This got a lot of press from the Oprah thing and again, I'm reading it in spite of her recommendation. I saw him being interviewed and this book has been hanging around in the back of my mind ever since.
Life Expectancy by Dean Koontz - Hey, winter in New England is long...don't judge.
Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All by Allan Gurganus - I've never heard of this book or this author but for fifty cents the worst that can happen is that it ends up on the book table at the transfer station.

Plus seven easy readers and a very cool nursery rhyme book (with pictures I remember from MY old nursery rhyme book) for the girl and three owl books, a book about Unexplained Mysteries and one about Abraham Lincoln for the boy.

$14.25.

Not a bad deal at all.

Is that a warm summer breeze ?

Or the MFY breathing down the necks of my beloved Sox?

At 1.5 games back, definitely the latter.



I could watch this commercial a thousand times and it would still make me smile. I think.



The Patriots had a big win on Sunday and as hoped they beat the crapola out of the crying LaDanien and the Chargers. And remember how I said if they lost the rest of the games that'd be okay, y'know, cause they cheated. Well, I'm sort of regreting that now because I kind of want them to win. Every game. So, oops. And Belichick is a fool but he's MY our fool and I still kind of like the old grouch.

Cowboys are 2-0 in case you're keeping track. Which I know you're not (unless you're me. or Dawn. or maybe Amy, now that she's got internet) so whatever.

Survivor tomorrow night. Finally. Am looking forward to Blackbird's recaps almost as much.

My new boss, at my most awesome (if a bit dull) new job...he gave me a company credit card to buy fruit and soda for the office. I was hoping he'd say this and this too but no dice.

I'm feeling one step behind these days. I just read somewhere that someone was moving at 'kid speed' and I thought...exactly.

My concerns about school this year couldn't have been further from the mark. My boy complained for a solid hour on the first day, so much so that I gave him the 'find two positive things' challenge...and since then? Mostly good. Like 90 percent mostly, which is huge for us. He's been a member of the I Hate School Club since first grade (even though his grades and conduct have always been great) so to hear him say that his day was - and I quote - Okay. Well, let's just say it's awesome. What's helping too, is the end of grades that read like MCAS (some idiotic state standardized testing that has overtaken the school system) scores...."meets grade level standards"and other such nonsense. Which, I'm glad he meets the standards and all but isn't that just average, what the average kid should be doing? Or a C? Nope, don't be foolish. This year it's A's and actual Number grades. And what a difference it's made to him. Thank god.

The girl on the other hand, who I was sure would excel, I mean, EXCEL. Well, she's having trouble. Not with the school work, exactly but she's having a lot of trouble just telling the kids in her group to leave her alone while she finishes her work. They ask her for answers and call her name over and over and she gets "too distracted to finish on time" was how she put it. And her teacher is a first year lady and we're getting weekly progress reports with those 'meets grade level standards' type of things in like ten different categories. And she's not meeting them all. Ugh.

In other, more fascinating news, the boy's hockey team won their first game on Sunday. Which is a good thing....my husband has been waking up at FOUR a.m. reviewing drills and running through different plays in his head. He's exhausted. But he's exhausted and victorious, which is fine.

And I've been doing a bit of this and a bit of that and not enough of any one thing. Not enough time to blog, watch baseball, embroider, read, watch football, edit photos for the hockey website, work and perform all the various house related tasks. Of course there's enough time but I am a procrastinator and a general time waster so life's a bit of a scramble right now.

Hey there.

If it's between ten and eleven p.m. on Thursday click the red X and go watch my favorite show.

Disenchanted

So This. This has shaken my faith to the core of my being. Would it have been so difficult to just play football?

Apparently, matching up the defensive calls to the plays takes very little time. Polaroids are taken before and during/after the snap (this is a legal and general course of business) and then they can match them up to the calls on the video and by half time it's a done deal. And when the Patriots come out in the first quarter looking mediocre and then again in the third quarter looking like superstars, well, one has to wonder.

Let me just say, that the whole third quarter turnaround is pretty much the Pats style of play. And as fans, we came to rely on it. To be proud of the way they could turn a game around in the second half.

Not that they came out, in this past game, looking mediocre...oh no, Tom Brady had so much time to throw that ball, from the very first passing play, that I called my husband in to watch him stand there and visibly pause. Can they match the calls to the polaroids that quickly? And with the questionable radio frequency issues maybe they got the calls into Tom in time for the snap.

Supposedly you can get the same info by recording from the stands...why take a chance on the sideline? The whole thing makes complete sense and no sense all at the same time. Do I think they're guilty? Sadly, sounds like it. Do I think they're the only team that does it? Not likely.

And do I still hope they kick the hell out of the Chargers and that bitch Tomlinson this weekend? You bet.

Then, if they lose every single game after that...that's fine. There's more pride in losing honestly than cheating. They would do well to remember that.


I suppose I'll have to put a little more stock in my second favorite team. A team I'm picking to go to the NFC Championship game. The Cowboys.

Two Hours

Until we see a little of this:

Some of this:

And a whole lotta this:

I love the Sox. Really I do. But football is my thing. Patriots football, more specifically.

I love the hard hitting intensity of those guys, the team spirit, the beauty of a perfectly executed play, the spiral of the ball as it lands in a receiver's hands thirty yards downfield and he never misses a step, a great 'knock him to the ground out of midair' tackle, the coach's sweatshirt with creative scissor action on the sleeves, being introduced not as indiviuals but as a team, watching a running back break a tackle or drag the defenseman those extra two yards as they cling to his legs and quarterback/wide receiver hugs.

One hour and forty five minutes.

Edited to Add

The man in the background is the bee sting victim.

Front of the girlie's shirt.

I added some wee birdies to the back of the shirt up near the collar.


And just so you know, I looked into those recipes...and they involved making some sort of butter. Butter? Yeah, well whatever...ain't happenin'.

I just heard about a fair that I so would like to go to. It's a bit of a ride AND opening day for the Patriots so it's looking like that won't be happening either.

Wham, Bam, Thank You Ma'am

And just like that summer vacation is over, school has started and I report to the new job tomorrow.

Labor day weekend was a blur of driving and hockey and fireworks and children. I can barely remember what I was doing and when so here are some highlights in absolutely NO particular order:

Went to our friends house for a last minute gathering and he and his neighbor had a fireworks battle royale which our party totally kicked his lame-o fireworks lighting ass, so that was fun. Our friend, M had purchased hundreds of dollars of fireworks up in New Hampshire, stuff that is probably best handled by professionals and not partially drunk hockey coach attorney types, but whatevah.

We went to cookout at my parent's cabin in Maine (we share 31 acres). While we were there one of the guys took a swig of beer and swallowed a bee. Which promptly caused his throat to start swelling shut. To say we are out in the sticks is kind of putting it mildly, the nearest neighbor is a mile away and if you go in the other direction? No one for many miles as the road turns impassable). His wife and a few others loaded him into a truck and high tailed it to the fire station where he was whisked away by ambulance. He had swallowed some benadryl before he left and by the time he actually got to the hosptial? He was fine. Still, we referred to the incident as a buzzkill. Har-har-har.

Red Sox are playing some good ball.

Hockey has finally started. There was so much drama surrounding the past few weeks (goalies, they pay half price...can they pay full price and skate out? If you could see how many emails this generated....oh my word) I was anxious to just watch the kids skate. Until I went to the rink and started meeting people as "the coach's wife". ugh. But then I watch my boy, who looks so at ease out there and I find myself rethinking my 'ugh' and will probably just sit by myself (or with a select crowd of those I already know). Christ, is that snobbish or what? Oh well, I just want to watch...and enjoy.

Am wanting to try out the recipes *wink wink* that they show on Weeds. Dudes, really, it could be fun.

Am still hooked on embroidery. Just finished a shirt for my girl...pictures to follow.

Okay, apparently it was only "permanent" until my husband fixed it by shutting the t.v. off and turning it on again.

Phew.

My Daughter. A gift that just keeps on giving.

Tonight, while we were out of the room she took a really strong magnet and touched it to the television screen in, like, a smiley face pattern.

How did we know?

Because now there is a big greenish or multi colored PERMANENT smiley face as part of our viewing pleasure. Only you can't really see the smiley face until the screen goes all one color so mostly it looks like patches of green and dark.

Sweet.

• With fingers crossed for a breakdownless day we are heaing to the beach. You're right bb...optimism is key.
  

• When the post office fellow found out my package had been 'en route' from Springfield, Massachusetts for about a week he told me that it was because it was being schlepped across the state in the slowest possible way.

My response: By foot???

His response? Unamused look over the top of his reading glasses.

• I heard from that interviewer from a few posts back. The job is mine. Which means I'll be working four days a week, total. I am ill-equipped for everything this will entail. Except spending the paychecks.

• Must remember to make it over to the boy's school to check the bus schedule. Must remember. Must remember. Also, must stop procrastinating.

A Silver Lining

Well. Let's see.

When it rains it pours. Literally.

The camping trip started off strong...even though on the ride up I had an eerie premonition about car trouble and when I went to get the change out of my cup holder at the toll booth and it was scary hot...I relayed the info to my husband and shrugged it off.

Setting up the tent in ninety degree heat with two kids? Not too bad. Ice cold pool with two wicked awesome waterslides? Perfect. Laughing so hard around the campfire that you fear you may never breath again? All good too. Leaving the tent, foam mattress in tow, to sleep in the back of the 4runner in the middle of the night because you saw a mini-tarantula that escaped from under the flipflop of death? Totally do-able. Especially with a fan. Tubing down a river with great friends, THE BEST TUBE and a few icy mixed drinks? Perfection.

Hearing a distant rumble of thunder and rolling up the windows of the car on a whim on the way to the bathroom? Smart. Staying in the bathroom during what seemed to be just a passing thunderstorm? Not such a bad decision. Seeing your friend, soaking wet and a bit stressed come walking through the door? Kinda funny. Driving up to the camp store with her to find out that the passing twenty minute thunderstorm was actually a mini-monsoon/cyclone that ripped our tarp from its grommets, collapsed our tent with rainwater, blew a tree down next to our site, blew numerous trees down all over the campground (crushing some trailers in the process) and knocked out power to that entire side of town? Not so great.

And so, with that we packed up our wet things and we all came home. I was planning on staying until Tuesday so it was doubly depressing but y'know...whatever.

The nagging feeling about the car revisited me on the ride home. I sort of knew I couldn't ignore it but figured I'd be able to wait until the kids were back in school before I had to deal with it. I made some tentative plans to go to the beach today. The same beach I was planning to go to this very same week last year. If you can't remember, check the link...this can wait. And why can it wait? Because it IS THE SAME FUCKING STORY.

Well, not exactly the same. There were no bike accidents, no refusal to toast and no loud clunk and I didn't even get as far this time as I did last year. Plus, y'know my car stays in gear (unlike last year when it wouldn't stay in park and they had to ratchet it down to the tow truck). But still. The week before school starts, car trouble, on the way to the beach for a last day of sun and sea glass.

Again.

Cripes.

So, I'm trying to figure the bright side of all of this...more down time at home with the kids? The chance to drive up to Maine with the kids crammed into the back of my husband's extra cab? An excuse not to go shopping for school shoes? The light headed feeling I get knowing that a big car repair bill and the last hockey payment will fall in the same week?

Some Random

• A big shoutout to the gigantic black dodge truck I was following this morning....your awesome tailgating skills made those slow folk actually pull off the road. Love you.

• And to the BFI dumpster truck we got stuck behind a few miles later... What's your nickname? Karma?

• Mr. Interviewer: When the welcome letter to your company tells me I can make personal phone calls, send faxes and order whatever I need and then you also mention that you supply drinks, a gym membership and if it's slow I can browse the internet and chat with my coworker. And I can work, sort of, which ever days I choose... Plus paid holidays (and over a week off at christmas!). Um, pleeeeeese call.

• To the engineer who climbed on top of my chair to get a file (while I was out using the copy machine) and knocked a picture frame off the shelf, shattering glass everywhere: Two weeks later glass shards are STILL falling out of my keyboard. Thankssomuch.

• Hockey season is creeping up on us...husband is head coach this year. I'm not looking forward to hearing the gripes from other parents about playing time and second guessing his decisions. He has ten days to get 14 random kids ready for their first game...oye.

• Am enjoying The Wire. Just finished season one and am a few episodes into season 2. Good stuff.

• Husband's boss was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in federal lockup and fined $150,000, the VP was sentenced to 1 1/2 years and fined $10,000 and the company was fined three million dollars (to be paid in installments). A memo was sent home in his paycheck a few weeks ago where the boss was promising that the company would continue to work and there was new leadership in place. New HONEST leadership I'm assuming, but whatevah. He also said he looks forward to getting out of prison (uh, not even IN yet) and enjoying another thirty years in the construction industry. *shakes head*

I love bullets but they do fuck with the formatting when you try to retrofit them in, don't they?

So nevermind with the bullets.

Have I mentioned how much I hate watching Sox games at the Trop? No? My husband was monkeying with the contrast buttons on the remote until I showed him that the warning track and on deck circles are really not clayish but RED turf and that no we do not need to adjust our tv. Never mind the folding chair setup they've got going on there for the bullpen. And the horrible mike they make Remy use and the silver color of the turf. Yeah, um, never mind all of that.

And doesn't Gagne look like he should be guzzling Yoo-Hoo, eating straight from a pizza box and playing PS3 instead of sucking it up on the mound? Maybe that's where he will be if he doesn't start pitching better...he's just gearing up for his future.

Supposed to be going camping this weekend...but the husband (and kids) were invited on his friend's yacht for a day, y'know to travel over to the Vineyard and hobnob. Well, not really with the hobnobbery but seriously, a yacht with bedrooms and bathrooms (PLURAL!). His wife isn't going so it's just the men and kids. The boy has visions of butlers, the husband has visions of beers and steaks...but they are just that - visions. Because we're heading up to New Hampshire, sleeping on the ground in our tent with two rooms (PLURAL!) and walking to the bathrooms (PLURAL!). Such luxuries await.

The 'broidery bug. It has bitten.

And now I'm seriously cursing myself for never learning how to sew. Not that I can't learn. But I am sewing machineless and even if I did have one...I don't even have a place to sew. Is it wrong to move one of the kids into the pop-up camper? Yeah? Thought so.

The boy, seeing my delight in making the girlie a book bag for the library, immediately asked for his own. He's a ten year old boy with a huge love of sports and outdoorsy stuff. No cute puppies, spaceships or flowers for this kid. Which, damn, is what I really want to do.

I am also fairly patternless. I mean, I don't have any books or anything...except for one and there are no hockey playing owls (or whatever is sporty and naturey) in them. I was at some store or other, perusing the threads and looking at some patterns and I came across something I thought he might like. Out of the eight or so choices he picked the fish:

I have to say... not crazy about the fish choice but it's his bag, not mine and I have a feeling that he's going to be getting the least benefit out of my new found love of stitching. Please excuse the lack of ironing.

Close up of the cattails. Did you know you can eat the stems and use the inside of the fuzzy brown part to line your clothes if you were say, stuck in the Canadian wilderness? Also, it's flammable. So says Les Stroud.

Dragonfly about to meet his untimely death.

The reverse side...the boy's name is edited out (that is NOT some jumbly mess of stitching below the pocket thankyouverymuch). I threw in some pine trees for good measure.

Star darn. I love this stitch.

And there you have it. Project Numero dos.