No, I have no surprising news, just a story to tell. I somehow agreed to help a friend give a surprise party for his wife, also a friend of mine (no worries, neither are aware of the blog. Sheez, I may be flaky but not that flaky!). So how do I get myself into these things? He is such a sweetheart, but I am so not the organized party planner. Well, his first and foremost concern was how to get her out of the house for a couple of hours before the soiree. I asked if she had a close friend who could take her out for a little one-on-one girl time to celebrate the two milestones that she is about to reach (I'm thinking cocktails of course, even though we may be talking about 3pm on a Saturday). He gets excited, thinking of someone, and says they occasionally go get manicures and pedicures together. Err, okay, perfect! Until the phone call the next day. Girlfriend cannot do it, has other commitments on the one day husband can throw the party. Imperfect. Surely we can come up with another plan though. Ah, but husband already has another plan. Mathgeek will take her for manicure/pedicure! Wha? Huh? What just happened?
Thinking it through, after I more than likely agreed to this plan (the conversation quickly became a blur, I was so stunned), I see two main problems to this plan...a) friend and I are friends, I like to be around her, I think very highly of her, but we are not, like, girlfriends. We have hung out at neighborhood parties together, but we have never planned an outing for just the two of us, without either kids or husbands or both. Will she think I'm weird, taking this friendship to the "next level"? (on the other hand, maybe this is a good excuse for me to take it to the next level, I don't really have that many girlfriends in my life). And b), possibly causing me even more anxiety, is the fact that I have NEVER EVER IN MY LIFE had a manicure or pedicure!!!! Yep, pushing 4.5 decades, and I've managed to avoid it all my life. My fingernails? They bend like paper when grown, so I keep 'em short. I don't think the manicure will be too awkward, even for the mathgeek, but someone handling my feet? Erm, I'm beginning to realize I have some hangups. Well, on the bright side, I won't have to help husband-friend decorate for the party. I'll be "relaxing" with my new girlfriend. I hope. What if she rejects me? What if I freak out at the pedi and have to bring her home early? Before any of the guests arrive? Oh my, so much to worry about, so little time.
Headed to my dad's house this weekend. We'll be hauling the artificial monster called a Christmas tree out of his basement, since we won't be back until Christmas. Love that task, that thing is a fighter. And, with velo-dude not running at full steam right now, it will be pretty much me and the tree. And cotton balls in the kiddos ears so they can't hear all the Christmas Story-style swearing going on. And a stiff drink when I'm done, of course.
Oh, and thanks to laggin for mentioning somewhere in a comment to someone the most hilarious blog I've seen in a while. I thought I would quickly check it out last night before I went to bed, but I was immediately hooked. Stayed up way too late viewing as many posts as I could, stomach aching from laughter. That's the kind of laughing that'll do you a world of good when you're feeling down or stressed. Just good silliness.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Overheard
outside a Target fitting room last week...
I was looking through a clearance rack that was situated right next to the fitting rooms near the kids departments. A mother is standing outside the door of a fitting room, just a few feet from where I am standing, having a conversation with her young son inside. He opens the door slightly, she kneels down and examines, while he complains that the pants feel "funny". She seems to think they are fine; he seems to be finding everything he possibly can wrong with them. He begins to get agitated, so she, clearly at the end of her patience, says "fine, we'll take them home and you can grow into them, then they won't feel funny anymore". He closes door to change. A minute later he calls through the door, in a very loud, very clear, slow voice..."Moooommmm? I figured out why the sweat pants felt so weird. (Pause for dramatic effect)... I forgot to keep my UNDERWEAR on when I tried them on!!!!!!". I had to laugh. The mom looked appalled, embarassed, and amused all at once, head in hand, shaking head. But she also seemed to appreciate that I had seen the humor in it. Especially since the fitting room attendant did not. At all. In fact she glared at the mother, who then loudly reminded the boy that it was okay, they would be buying them.
Okay, enough of that. Excuse my self-indulgence, I was just seeing what it felt like to be the woman observing. I wish that I had been her, but alas, I was not. I was the appalled, embarassed, amused mother. There was a woman observing at a sale rack, and she did laugh. And there was a fitting room attendant, and she did glare. I love Curly dearly, but I find I need to brace myself for public outings. Oh, and if you shop at Target, all I can say is that I am fairly confident he only made this mistake with one pair of pants. He had already tried on 2 pairs, then unbeknownst to me had fully dressed himself again. He asked if he needed to try on the others, and when I insisted, I can only guess that in a fit of frustration he accidentally pulled off everything, and didn't even notice. Velo-dude came to the same conclusion independently, upon being told the story.
Curly seems to be all about the underwear, or the lack thereof. This past summer, I noticed at one point that he was going through underwear like there was no tomorrow. He's got a lot of pairs, and kept running out before I had the laundry done for the next week (we don't wear much white in this family). I finally had to go out and buy more. Then one night as he was getting undressed I happened upon him, and found him removing not one, but three pairs of underwear from his little bod. Huh?
"Curly, why were you wearing three pair of underwear today?"
"What? Oh, I have to do that or my shorts fall down. If I wear three, they fit perfectly."
Well, that explains that. He had 3 pairs of shorts that were identical except for color, that's 9 pairs of underwear a week, plus whatever he wore on the better-fitting shorts days. That's a lot. I have to applaud him for finding a solution to his problem, without going to me for help. Any 6-year old's mind is a fascinating thing, but this one is definitely wired uniquely.
Sorry for the "my kid's so cute/embarassing/etc." story. But hey, he's a big part of my life! I'll try to give warning next time.
I was looking through a clearance rack that was situated right next to the fitting rooms near the kids departments. A mother is standing outside the door of a fitting room, just a few feet from where I am standing, having a conversation with her young son inside. He opens the door slightly, she kneels down and examines, while he complains that the pants feel "funny". She seems to think they are fine; he seems to be finding everything he possibly can wrong with them. He begins to get agitated, so she, clearly at the end of her patience, says "fine, we'll take them home and you can grow into them, then they won't feel funny anymore". He closes door to change. A minute later he calls through the door, in a very loud, very clear, slow voice..."Moooommmm? I figured out why the sweat pants felt so weird. (Pause for dramatic effect)... I forgot to keep my UNDERWEAR on when I tried them on!!!!!!". I had to laugh. The mom looked appalled, embarassed, and amused all at once, head in hand, shaking head. But she also seemed to appreciate that I had seen the humor in it. Especially since the fitting room attendant did not. At all. In fact she glared at the mother, who then loudly reminded the boy that it was okay, they would be buying them.
Okay, enough of that. Excuse my self-indulgence, I was just seeing what it felt like to be the woman observing. I wish that I had been her, but alas, I was not. I was the appalled, embarassed, amused mother. There was a woman observing at a sale rack, and she did laugh. And there was a fitting room attendant, and she did glare. I love Curly dearly, but I find I need to brace myself for public outings. Oh, and if you shop at Target, all I can say is that I am fairly confident he only made this mistake with one pair of pants. He had already tried on 2 pairs, then unbeknownst to me had fully dressed himself again. He asked if he needed to try on the others, and when I insisted, I can only guess that in a fit of frustration he accidentally pulled off everything, and didn't even notice. Velo-dude came to the same conclusion independently, upon being told the story.
Curly seems to be all about the underwear, or the lack thereof. This past summer, I noticed at one point that he was going through underwear like there was no tomorrow. He's got a lot of pairs, and kept running out before I had the laundry done for the next week (we don't wear much white in this family). I finally had to go out and buy more. Then one night as he was getting undressed I happened upon him, and found him removing not one, but three pairs of underwear from his little bod. Huh?
"Curly, why were you wearing three pair of underwear today?"
"What? Oh, I have to do that or my shorts fall down. If I wear three, they fit perfectly."
Well, that explains that. He had 3 pairs of shorts that were identical except for color, that's 9 pairs of underwear a week, plus whatever he wore on the better-fitting shorts days. That's a lot. I have to applaud him for finding a solution to his problem, without going to me for help. Any 6-year old's mind is a fascinating thing, but this one is definitely wired uniquely.
Sorry for the "my kid's so cute/embarassing/etc." story. But hey, he's a big part of my life! I'll try to give warning next time.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Thanks...I think.
The thank you goes to laggin, for my blogger award(s?). I think I have done, maybe, 4 posts altogether? And I get an award? This was clearly just a thinly veiled attempt to get me to blog more than once a week. Sigh, never satisfied, that one!
Nonetheless, I will fulfill my obligation and report on 6 things that make me happy right now...
1. Margaritas
2. A good bottle of Malbec
3. Dove dark chocolate Promises
4. Hmm, something that I don't eat or drink? Fine. Feeling needed (Curly & Pinky are good at that. Too good.).
5. Snuggling with my dogs. Especially small brown one, on my bed (okay that last part was just to see if velo-dude is reading).
6. Losing lbs. Which obviously doesn't happen often, due to #1-3 above.
And now to pass the award on? Oh my, I guess I should have thought about that before I started this post. Two choices pop into head...Rowan and velo-dude. I'd like to give it to velo-dude, as I am hooked on his blog. It's the only way I get to see pictures of my kids, since I am one of those lame moms incapable of organizing photos. And his bike racing musings & rantings are interesting. But, he doesn't quite buy into the stay-anonymous-in-case-you-say-something-you-shouldn't-say kind of thing. I know, if I really wanted to be anonymous I would have to try harder, but at least I leave names out of it. So Rowan would be my other first and natural choice, because I faithfully go there every day. I love her brutal honesty. And her pictures. Especially when they are especially for me.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Something new
...and good for me too. I tried a new form of exercise tonight. The community center we belong to has an underwater treadmill. My friend has been raving about it for months. Today her exercise partner cancelled on her at the last minute, and they had the treadmill reserved (apparently the scheduling of this thing is cut-throat; prepare to have eyes scratched out by senior citizen). So, miraculously velo-dude was around to watch the boys and I went with her. I can see why the senior citizens like it. But man, it really felt like a decent workout. Maybe I'm deluding myself, but at the very least, it's got to be better than sitting at home on my arse.
Work environment. The big nasty project is apparently all but over for the year, maybe some minor tweakings. Yeah! That thing just about killed me. Last Friday I was frantically trying to finish it up. I had hoped to get done early to go to Curly's Halloween party at school, but twas not to be. At 3:30 I was frantically trying to finish up, when I somehow lost about 4 hours worth of work from the day. Doh! How in sam hell did I do that? I know how to save my work. What? VEERRRY frustrating. I was up very late Sunday night working on it. Earlier that day, the stress of this thing manifested itself in yet another way. I was listening to my iPod at my desk, which is in a cubicle. The iPod is necessary to ward off the sounds of the ice-cruncher, the gum-popper, and the potato-chip eater. These are 2 different people. Also have a new neighbor, haven't decided on the right term yet, perhaps the guffaw-er? Quite an annoying laugh. Anyway, the boss, who as I mentioned has only been my boss for a couple of weeks, stops by my desk. He was probably standing there for several seconds before I sensed his presence, and I quickly pulled out the earbuds. I've been listening to a lot of 80's and 90's stuff lately, nothing I'm particularly proud of but it makes me feel good. He tries to make conversation by asking what I'm listening to, but for some reason I am completely flustered by now, and just mumble something about some stuff from the '90's. He says oh, in a very nice voice, and asks again, what is it. And do I tell him? Do I act sociable with this guy who is trying to be human and personable and get to know his staff? Nooooo. Nope, instead, I say "I don't usually share my musical tastes with other people." Yep, that's what I said. WTF? WTF? WTF? Did that just come out of my mouth? There is no turning back. He asks his question and leaves. Good grief, what is wrong with me? I really haven't dealt well with this stress. Hopefully I haven't done irreparable damage. That just made me look like the classic, stereotypical, socially inadept mathgeek that I desperately do not want to be. I am sorry, fellow mathgeeks of the world.
Work environment. The big nasty project is apparently all but over for the year, maybe some minor tweakings. Yeah! That thing just about killed me. Last Friday I was frantically trying to finish it up. I had hoped to get done early to go to Curly's Halloween party at school, but twas not to be. At 3:30 I was frantically trying to finish up, when I somehow lost about 4 hours worth of work from the day. Doh! How in sam hell did I do that? I know how to save my work. What? VEERRRY frustrating. I was up very late Sunday night working on it. Earlier that day, the stress of this thing manifested itself in yet another way. I was listening to my iPod at my desk, which is in a cubicle. The iPod is necessary to ward off the sounds of the ice-cruncher, the gum-popper, and the potato-chip eater. These are 2 different people. Also have a new neighbor, haven't decided on the right term yet, perhaps the guffaw-er? Quite an annoying laugh. Anyway, the boss, who as I mentioned has only been my boss for a couple of weeks, stops by my desk. He was probably standing there for several seconds before I sensed his presence, and I quickly pulled out the earbuds. I've been listening to a lot of 80's and 90's stuff lately, nothing I'm particularly proud of but it makes me feel good. He tries to make conversation by asking what I'm listening to, but for some reason I am completely flustered by now, and just mumble something about some stuff from the '90's. He says oh, in a very nice voice, and asks again, what is it. And do I tell him? Do I act sociable with this guy who is trying to be human and personable and get to know his staff? Nooooo. Nope, instead, I say "I don't usually share my musical tastes with other people." Yep, that's what I said. WTF? WTF? WTF? Did that just come out of my mouth? There is no turning back. He asks his question and leaves. Good grief, what is wrong with me? I really haven't dealt well with this stress. Hopefully I haven't done irreparable damage. That just made me look like the classic, stereotypical, socially inadept mathgeek that I desperately do not want to be. I am sorry, fellow mathgeeks of the world.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Election Day
I am dead tired tonight, but I'm afraid to go to bed. Ohio, Pennsylvania...it's all good so far, but what if I wake up in the morning and things went the other way? Must. Stay. Up.
I wonder what it's like to have your presidential vote count? I mean, to not have it swallowed up by the strong leanings of your state. Actually I don't wonder, I lived in Ohio 4 short years ago. I miss that part of it. Wow, if I lived there still, I think I would really feel like I contributed to some history-making. If of course, things turn out that way. Which I hope to feel confident about fairly soon. Because I really want to go to bed. Did I mention that I'm tired tonight?
I wonder what it's like to have your presidential vote count? I mean, to not have it swallowed up by the strong leanings of your state. Actually I don't wonder, I lived in Ohio 4 short years ago. I miss that part of it. Wow, if I lived there still, I think I would really feel like I contributed to some history-making. If of course, things turn out that way. Which I hope to feel confident about fairly soon. Because I really want to go to bed. Did I mention that I'm tired tonight?
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