I am exhausted. My day started shortly before 3 this morning, and I couldn't go back to sleep so I got out of bed, did as much tidying up as I could without waking anyone up, went to the gym, showered, and got back in bed to nap for a couple hours. Although, can it really be called a nap if it happens at 6am? Mike woke me up around 8 so we could get things started for our New Year's 3rd Rock marathon with the kids, and while I was waiting for the boys to finish showering, I made a huge batch of sloppy joes for everyone to have throughout the day. We started the marathon at 9:30 and it ended around 7:30, so there was plenty of time for lazing around sharing time with our family. It's nice to have the kids here to start off the new year.
December 2007 Archives
It's winter, so I am ready for soups and chili and other hearty wintery foods, but it's difficult to get in the mindset to make and enjoy these things when it's so warm outside that I don't even need a coat. It's December for Pete's sake. The end of December. It's supposed to be freezing at this point, not a balmy 50-something degrees.
As much as I gripe and complain about Christmas during December while I'm trying to finalize presents and deal with last-minute changes alongside every other person in the tri-county area, I love the holiday. I love giving people presents and doing little things to try to make it more fun for them, and this Christmas was fantastic.
We got the kids at 6 on Christmas Eve, made a brief stop for emergency groceries (milk and eggs), and went home for festivities which included bowls of homemade bean soup and furtively wrapped presents. At various points during the present wrapping, certain people were directed to stay out of the living room until I had the present sufficiently disguised with wrapping paper. H was hustled to bed at 9:30 so she could fall asleep in time for Santa to get to our house (Santa likes to go to bed early, you know), and the boys got to stay up until I was through setting up all the stuff for her stocking. This year Santa brought her a Disney princess castle (with a light up roof, secret door, dove cote, working elevator, and stable), which I wrestled with for several minutes before finally freeing all the various castle parts and tiny accessories from their decidedly non-kid-friendly packaging, a pink 1 gig mp3 player, a pocket princess Belle doll, and various other girly odds and ends. Every time the packaging for the castle rustled, crinkled, or ripped, I looked up at the stairs to make sure it hadn't woken H up. At one point I had to go upstairs to check and make sure she was still asleep because I was convinced I had just made enough noise to wake the dead, but she was still sound asleep, so either I didn't make as much noise as I was worried I had or she sleeps harder than I thought. When I finally arranging her presents from Santa, I banished the boys to their room so I could set up their stockings and then mine and Mike's too. I was up until after midnight working on all the Santa stuff, and when I finally did get to go to bed, I was so excited about Christmas morning that it took me forever to fall asleep.
H was the first one awake on Christmas Day, but she stayed in her room and played quietly until I got up with the dogs. She and I woke Mike up before taking the dogs out, and once the dogs had done their business, I turned them loose in the boys' room to wake them up so we could all start looking at the stockings. The rest of the morning was perfect - slow and lazy while everyone opened presents and inhaled the candy from their stockings.
Things I will be making today:
a batch of chicken broth
prepping bread for stuffing (tearing it up and putting it in bags to be toasted tomorrow)
a pan of baked mac'n'cheese with ham (that is now the preferred method of serving mac and cheese in this house. It's not the same if the ham is served on the side - it must be mixed in before baking)
homemade bean soup with ham and carrots
biscuits to go with the bean soup
a batch of sloppy joe filling
a vat of tomato sauce
a tray of lasagna
a tray of stuffed shells
layered jello (for our Christmas Day dinner)
cranberry sauce (also for the Christmas Day dinner)
iced tea
things I will be doing today:
wrapping presents for the kids (I was saving this for tomorrow, but we might be getting them tonight, and if we do, I'd like to not have their presents laying around the living room)
wrapping presents for other family members
dealing with a metric fuckton of laundry (sheets, towels, pillowcases, whites, lights, and puppy linens - these are the fruits of my sloth this week)
a metric fuckton of dishes (the fruits of my cooking flurry mentioned above)
wrestling with puppies to get their nails trimmed down from "razor-sharp death-dealing talons" to just "damn, those are some long nails"
possibly giving said puppies a bath, depending on how sliced up I am after the nail trimming
Meh. Mike and I watched the original version of Black Christmas this afternoon. The premise (a killer in a sorority house at Christmastime) wasn't bad, but I was less than impressed with the way it was executed (hee).
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Mike and I were watching the third season of Will and Grace last night, and I was surprised to hear Grace throw out that she was 27. She can't be 27; I'm 27. In some ways I feel like she should be much older than that, and in others I feel like I'm much older than her. I miss the days of being the same age as Buffy.
Where I am: at work, freezing. Where I want to be: at home, burrowed under the covers, napping with the puppies nested around me. I am exhuasted this morning, even though we went to bed before 9. Last night was not restful at all. I had a nightmare, and I woke up scared, sad, and drenched in sweat. I still have the unnerving feeling that something is going to explode or burst into flames at any second, and the weight of sorrow is still on my heart even though the reason for it was only real in my sleep.
Five days till Christmas
Four packages that need to be mailed
Three lovely little doxies snuggled together, sleeping on my lap
Two migraines in two days
One hot husband lying next to me, reading about cigars
I'm alternating between being overwhelmed with Christmas spirit and wishing it were all done and over with already. At least I have the dog to go with that Grinch mindset, right?
Last night was one of music nostalgia. Better Than Ezra - Porcelain, Chris Knight - Oil Patch Town, The Crystals - Then He Kissed Me, The Righteous Brothers - You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin', Mark Chesnutt - Almost Goodbye/I Just Wanted You To Know, Loreena McKennitt - Bonny Portmore, Queen - Princes Of The Universe, Mark Collie - Even the Man in the Moon is Cryin', Clay Walker - What's It To You/Where Do I Fit In The Picture, Aaron Tippin - Working Man's Ph.d., George Strait - Amarillo By Morning, John Berry - I Think About It All the Time/What's In It For Me, Metallica - Turn The Page. Each song is an emotional bookmark, an instant connection to a memory and a feeling, and listening to them last night felt like going through bunch of old photographs.
I've been loving Simple Plan's new song, "When I'm Gone," ever since Mike called it to my attention last week. The video for it, however, is another story entirely. I like the idea, that the chick sees him everywhere, but I could do without the weird lines during the scenes with the band.
PS: I am not thrilled about having to wait till February for their new album. I want it NOW, dammit.
Winter in Virginia, sometimes known as a season of coats and scarves, is not the best time to get a tattoo on the back of your neck. Good thing both my coat and scarf are charcoal, so any black smudges on them will be almost invisible.
I love the way my nails looked after I got the manicure on Friday, and they looked great all weekend. Today, though, the wear and tear started showing. I'm a little sad because they looked so pretty and shiny, but I'm also torn - is it worth getting them done if they're only going to look nice for three days? My toes, on the other hand, still look fantastic, probably because I'm not nearly as hard on them as I am on my fingernails.
Mike and I watched Identity last night for my birthday. I didn't expect much from it other than a couple hours of entertainment, but it went way beyond that. The premise was fantastic, the casting was excellent, and the ending took me completely by surprise.
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Today was fantastic. I took the day off so I could spend my birthday doing fun, frivolous things like getting a massage and a pedicure, and Mike did a fantastic job of making me feel special. He actually began on Monday, starting a countdown to today with a single red rose that was waiting for me when I got home. He continued on Tuesday with two red roses, on Wednesday with three red roses wrapped in yellow tissue paper and tied with a black tulle bow (Batman colors - how awesome is that?!?), and yesterday with four red roses waiting for me when I got home from taking my networking final. On a chair at the top of the stairs was my birthday present from him and the kids - a new camera, with a carrying case and a 2 gig memory care - and a card that made me tear up when I read it. When I went downstairs to take the dogs out this morning, I was greeted by a gorgeous arrangement of 27 red roses in a beautiful blue vase sitting on the dining room table. That is a fantastic way to start a birthday.
After Mike left for work, the dogs and I went back to bed and stayed there until a birthday call from one of my nieces woke me up just in time to get out the door for a doctor appointment. After getting more stuff squared away for my stupid TMJ problems, I stopped by the house to make some soup for Mike, who is suffering from some miserable bug, then headed off to get a massage. This was my first one, so I was a little unsure of what to do and what the protocol was, if there was any, but the massage therapist was nice, and it was a nice, relaxing hour in spite of my initial uncertainty. After the massage I went to another spa for a pedicure and manicure, which were more firsts for me. The verdict? <3. My nails look so nice and shiny that I can't help looking at them and smiling every time I happen to glance down at my hands. My feet feel so soft and smooth, and my toenails look a thousand times nicer than they ever do when I work with them.
By the time I got home, it was after 5, so I spent a few minutes playing with the puppies, then Mike and I went out for a birthday dinner. The food was great, and we had a wonderful time. When we got home, we each did our own thing for a bit, then settled down to watch our latest Netflix movie, Identity. It was a great ending to a fabulous birthday, which was accented by an awesome birthday week. Thanks, sweetie, for making my birthday so special. xoxox
I got a 92 on my web design final and a 90 on my final web design project*. My final grade for that class? 96. That's two As this semester! My current GPA? 3.897. I might survive this college thing after all.
* Yes, I was up until midnight taking that final and finishing that project. Yes, I submitted the storyboard and goals/objectives at one minute after midnight, which technically means I turned it in the day after the project was due. No, that will not happen ever again. I'm even going to take notes next semester. Novel idea, eh?
In spite of my horrible (nonexistent) study habits, I got an 84 on my networking final, which gives me a 91 for my final grade. An A! In the class I was worried I was going to fail (and seriously considered dropping after the first five weeks)! Now I have to finish up my final project and take my web design exam before midnight. Procrastination is not going to be a key player next semester.
Mike and I watched Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer with the kids Saturday night. I loved the first Fantastic Four movie, and this one wasn't a disappointment, either. In fact, I thought it was a fantastic (heh) follow up to the first movie. I've never read any of the FF comic books, so I don't know how true any of the details are to the original stories, but I really enjoyed the movie.
PS: Johnny Storm? Such a hottie.
moar funny pictures
I'm starting my day off with a papercut. I think it's a sign.
There wasn't a lot of snow yesterday, but Mike and I still stayed home and had a snow day. In spite of all my intentions of using the day and cleaning the house from top to bottom, I spent my snow day napping, snuggling with the doxies, and drinking cocoa, although I did take breaks from all that to fret about my networking grades and pester Mike into watching The Eye 2.
I don't know how it happened, but, grades-wise, I'm doing pretty well in my networking class. With the exception of two assignments, my scores on tests and homework assignments have all been above the class average. In fact, more often than not I've gotten 100s on my homework. And yet my weighted average for the semester is 74% before taking the final exam. 74%. That is unacceptable. I'd better fucking ace that final, is all I'm saying, because if I consistently got good grades throughout the semester only to turn around and walk out of the class with a C? I will be very displeased. Admittedly, some of said good grades were more a result of intelligent guesses and help from my hot geek husband than a result of the time I spent studying the material and preparing for tests, but that will not temper my displeasure much at all. I have a GPA to maintain, you know.
So, I guess my stretches and exercises have been helping. When I started physical therapy for my TMJ problems I was only able to open my mouth 35cm wide, but my therapist measured at yesterday's appointment, and now I'm able to open up 45cm.
Yesterday was one of those rare days in which I don't power up my laptop at all. The pre-work time in the morning was for cleaning the kitchen, putting away dishes, and loading and running the dishwasher. The afternoon was moar physical therapy, with an extra helping of migraine. It wasn't as bad as it could've been, though, because the PT aide who was working with me also had a migraine and was kind enough to turn off the lights so I could do my stretches/exercises with only the light from the hallway. After the physical therapy we went to get Mike a humidor and to pick up stuff for his clients, with a few extra stops in between. Even though I was bundled up against the wind, the cold took a toll and I was not feeling well when we got home. Instead of finishing my last two homework assignments and tidying up more, I burrowed under the covers with the doxies and read Stephen King's The Eyes of the Dragon. I went to bed around 9, and that was all she wrote. I'm not hating the cold weather like I usually do, but it does make it harder for me to maintain enough energy to get stuff done.
How do I celebrate the beginning of my fifth year of blogging? With a zombie entry. OF COURSE.
Last night was not one for sleeping, possibly because of all the soda I had after 5pm, but then it might have been because of the dreams, too. Even though I was exhausted when we went to bed, it took me FOREVER to fall asleep, and when I did, I didn't stay that way for long. I kept waking up and drifting off, over and over again, for no apparent reason other than the two mentioned above. The only exception to this was at 1:30 when Maddy started squeaking to go out. I got up and took the dogs out because it's not like I was getting a good night's sleep anyway, right? After they were back in their kennel, I crawled back in bed and still didn't sleep well, so I am a full-fledged zombie today. Stupid caffeine.
This isn't new news, but I'm just finding out about it. Sam Raimi is going to be directing a tv mini-series of Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series, starting with the first book, Wizard's First Rule. This makes me almost as happy as finding out about The Dark is Rising. All my favorite fantasy stories are being translated to film!
Last night was our monthly horror movie night. We started off with Audition, a Japanese horror flick Fantm had been talking about for a couple of months, and finished with Skinwalkers, a werewolf movie Mike wanted to see.
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