Mom announced this week that she intends to make Saturdays "SI Days," with SI standing for self indulgence. Knowing Mom as I do, I think either she could turn this into a new project, wherein she sets schedules, to-do lists and deadlines for herself about what "indulgent" things she is going to do, or she'll feel guilty for spending time doing "unproductive" things and abandon the whole project.
I await the outcome. :)
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
And a good time was had by almost all
Because my sister-in-law insisted that she was prepared for chaos and repeated the invitation several times. on Saturday morning I plopped Little Miss Piggie Pie in the car and headed for Columbus, intending to stay until Monday. About halfway down, I gave LMPP an acepromazine tab and as soon as we arrived, Annabel brought Ralphie out and the four of us went for a walk, per the advice of my friend Bun, the dog-whisperer. Ralph was willing to be friends, but LMPP was not having any of it, so he very quickly stopped paying any attention to her at all after she snapped and growled at him a time or two. On Sunday, when she tried to make friends, he ignored her. Annabel said she hadn't thought he held grudges, and I said that he just remembered the hostile reaction and wasn't taking any more chances, so it was "Talk to the paw!"
Unfortunately, LMPP did not do well at all with my nephews. The Awesome Nacho tried very hard, and semi-succeeded, but after a post-holiday discussion with the above-mentioned Bun, I realize that I was at fault for not giving Little Miss a way to get away from the boys. She couldn't walk away from them without walking away from me, and she was too uncomfortable to do that. Because Annabel and I had both been focused on the dog-dog interaction, neither of us considered possible trouble with the boys, and when I discovered there were five more kids in the same age group coming over after dinner, I elected to skip dinner and leave at 3:30 on Christmas day.
Doggie difficulties aside, we had a nice afternoon and an amazing dinner on Christmas Eve, followed by a good night's sleep, albeit a short sleep, because my nephews were up at 5:40 and the rest of us by 6:15. SuperDoughnut burned through all of his presents and then was a little pouty when he realized there weren't any more for him to open, and both boys AND my brother had gifts that didn't work, but we still managed to have a good morning and a nice breakfast. I got totally spoiled as always--clothing from Mom, an Acer netbook and the promise of a new camera from Dad, a gorgeous ornament from Jeeves and the boys created their own candles just for me!
Jeeves and I both bought each other this year's Life Savers Sweet Storybook, and agreed that compared with the ones we grew up with, it's a ripoff--it has only one side now and half the candy! Still, it was a rare bonding moment with my brother, and I'll always treasure it. Dad really liked the photo collage I did for him, but his favorite gift was the giant spotlight my brother got him.
So next year I know that I can go and take the dog, and I'll just have to keep in mind that she needs an escape route when the boys are too interested in her. Overall, a lovely Christmas.
Unfortunately, LMPP did not do well at all with my nephews. The Awesome Nacho tried very hard, and semi-succeeded, but after a post-holiday discussion with the above-mentioned Bun, I realize that I was at fault for not giving Little Miss a way to get away from the boys. She couldn't walk away from them without walking away from me, and she was too uncomfortable to do that. Because Annabel and I had both been focused on the dog-dog interaction, neither of us considered possible trouble with the boys, and when I discovered there were five more kids in the same age group coming over after dinner, I elected to skip dinner and leave at 3:30 on Christmas day.
Doggie difficulties aside, we had a nice afternoon and an amazing dinner on Christmas Eve, followed by a good night's sleep, albeit a short sleep, because my nephews were up at 5:40 and the rest of us by 6:15. SuperDoughnut burned through all of his presents and then was a little pouty when he realized there weren't any more for him to open, and both boys AND my brother had gifts that didn't work, but we still managed to have a good morning and a nice breakfast. I got totally spoiled as always--clothing from Mom, an Acer netbook and the promise of a new camera from Dad, a gorgeous ornament from Jeeves and the boys created their own candles just for me!
Jeeves and I both bought each other this year's Life Savers Sweet Storybook, and agreed that compared with the ones we grew up with, it's a ripoff--it has only one side now and half the candy! Still, it was a rare bonding moment with my brother, and I'll always treasure it. Dad really liked the photo collage I did for him, but his favorite gift was the giant spotlight my brother got him.
So next year I know that I can go and take the dog, and I'll just have to keep in mind that she needs an escape route when the boys are too interested in her. Overall, a lovely Christmas.
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Cars suck.
What they principally suck, of course, is money--right out of your wallet. On the 2nd, I took my car in for new brakes. I had that budgeted at $300, so of course it was $303. Then on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, Mom and I had three very rough days at work, and this culminated with me walking to my car on a cold, wet, dark evening only to find that it wouldn't start. The gentleman from AAA advised that I stop at an auto parts store and have them see if the battery needed to be replaced. I did, and the guy who helped me couldn't even get a reading because of all the corrosion. *sigh* So that was another $104 that I didn't have budgeted, and good bye pretty new nail polish, holiday smellies or anything fun.
Dad was still sick all last week, which is hard on Mom, Vegan Lawyer had two briefs due which were driving her and her staff crazy, and I have mice again. *shudder*
Speaking of the mice, I went to Home Depot and asked for some help. The sales associate took me to the area reserved for pest control, waved at the shelves and said "Here you go." When I asked about a poison that wouldn't kill my dog, he said all the baits were the same and that the mice would run away and die. I bought two traps and a bait station with refills, came home and checked the interwebbinetz, only to discover that if Little Miss Piggie Pie ate a poisoned mouse, she would be poisoned! So I set the traps, which are nice in that they are self-contained and you don't ever see the dead mouse. Tomorrow night I am going back to HD and exchange the unused bait station for more traps.
Last night I did have to use a trap that wasn't self-contained, and LMPP was very interested in that corner of the floor this morning. I made her leave it, because I was not up to dealing with a dead mouse before my second cup of coffee. Yes, there was a dead mouse, and the worst part of disposing of the trap was the tail. *full body shudder* I can't wait to get more of the fancy traps.
Dad advised just the simple wooden traps, and made fun of me for "killing at a distance," but Mom has him to dispose of dead mice and I just have me. I told him that if it wouldn't ruin my kitchen (and the house, and the neighborhood, and the city and so on) I would nuke the damn things! So far, I've gotten two, and I will keep setting traps and hope for the best!
Dad was still sick all last week, which is hard on Mom, Vegan Lawyer had two briefs due which were driving her and her staff crazy, and I have mice again. *shudder*
Speaking of the mice, I went to Home Depot and asked for some help. The sales associate took me to the area reserved for pest control, waved at the shelves and said "Here you go." When I asked about a poison that wouldn't kill my dog, he said all the baits were the same and that the mice would run away and die. I bought two traps and a bait station with refills, came home and checked the interwebbinetz, only to discover that if Little Miss Piggie Pie ate a poisoned mouse, she would be poisoned! So I set the traps, which are nice in that they are self-contained and you don't ever see the dead mouse. Tomorrow night I am going back to HD and exchange the unused bait station for more traps.
Last night I did have to use a trap that wasn't self-contained, and LMPP was very interested in that corner of the floor this morning. I made her leave it, because I was not up to dealing with a dead mouse before my second cup of coffee. Yes, there was a dead mouse, and the worst part of disposing of the trap was the tail. *full body shudder* I can't wait to get more of the fancy traps.
Dad advised just the simple wooden traps, and made fun of me for "killing at a distance," but Mom has him to dispose of dead mice and I just have me. I told him that if it wouldn't ruin my kitchen (and the house, and the neighborhood, and the city and so on) I would nuke the damn things! So far, I've gotten two, and I will keep setting traps and hope for the best!
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Put ze hendle beck!
Last weekend, I didn't really have time to do laundry, so I'd planned to at least wash a few things Monday night. On Monday, work was really rough, and I was tired and a little out of it by the time I got home. Still, I let the dog out and in and fed her, had a cup of coffee, ran downstairs and started one load of laundry. After dinner, I threw the clothes into the dryer and turned off the water softener to fill up jugs to water the houseplants.
After watering the houseplants, I washed a load of rags, then ran the dishwasher, and it wasn't until Tuesday morning when I saw that the water in the toilet was dark orange that I realized that I hadn't turned the softener back on. By then, I had to take a quick shower, get dressed, make my lunch and go to work, so I left myself a note on the basement door.
After watering the houseplants, I washed a load of rags, then ran the dishwasher, and it wasn't until Tuesday morning when I saw that the water in the toilet was dark orange that I realized that I hadn't turned the softener back on. By then, I had to take a quick shower, get dressed, make my lunch and go to work, so I left myself a note on the basement door.
Tuesday, December 06, 2011
A wonderful, exhausting weekend
Because my younger nephew's birthday is a week before Christmas, Mom makes sure that the boys come up to her house every year the first weekend in December, and no matter what else happens, we have lunch and presents before Mom takes the boys back to Columbus on Sunday.
This year, although PlaidJammies was miserably sick all weekend, Mom and the boys and I had a great time. On Saturday, I took Little Miss Piggie Pie and met the other three at Gorge Metro park, where we hiked down to the falls and then up to Mary Campbell cave. The dog was not on anything even close to her best behavior, and it took a long time before she would stop growling if one of the boys approached her.
After our hike, I dropped LMPP off at home, and then Mom picked me up and we had lunch at McDonald's followed by a trip to Stan Hywet Hall. In the conservatory, they had a display which included a complete replica in Legos of the hall itself!
In the house, there were painstakingly repaired holiday window displays from one of the old downtown Akron department stores and we ran into one of the Probate Court clerks taking the tour for the first time! Mom found it necessary to tell everyone we met that I used to be a guide there, and I then found it necessary to qualify that it was 30 years ago!
After Stan Hywet, Mom dropped me off at my house and then took the boys home to shower and change (which I did as well). When we were all clean and nicely dressed, we went to dinner at Bricco and then to an Actor's Summit performance of The Winter Wonderettes. It was silly and adorable and a ton of fun, and then we went and had ice cream at Mary Coyle's, where the Jammies family has been going on special occasions for the last forty or so years.
Sunday morning I put together the gingerbread trains for the boys to decorate, then headed out to Casa de SeniorJammies. SuperDoughnut opened his presents, then we had lunch, then the boys played with the new Nerf gun for a while, and then we decorated the trains.
This year, although PlaidJammies was miserably sick all weekend, Mom and the boys and I had a great time. On Saturday, I took Little Miss Piggie Pie and met the other three at Gorge Metro park, where we hiked down to the falls and then up to Mary Campbell cave. The dog was not on anything even close to her best behavior, and it took a long time before she would stop growling if one of the boys approached her.
After our hike, I dropped LMPP off at home, and then Mom picked me up and we had lunch at McDonald's followed by a trip to Stan Hywet Hall. In the conservatory, they had a display which included a complete replica in Legos of the hall itself!
In the house, there were painstakingly repaired holiday window displays from one of the old downtown Akron department stores and we ran into one of the Probate Court clerks taking the tour for the first time! Mom found it necessary to tell everyone we met that I used to be a guide there, and I then found it necessary to qualify that it was 30 years ago!
After Stan Hywet, Mom dropped me off at my house and then took the boys home to shower and change (which I did as well). When we were all clean and nicely dressed, we went to dinner at Bricco and then to an Actor's Summit performance of The Winter Wonderettes. It was silly and adorable and a ton of fun, and then we went and had ice cream at Mary Coyle's, where the Jammies family has been going on special occasions for the last forty or so years.
Sunday morning I put together the gingerbread trains for the boys to decorate, then headed out to Casa de SeniorJammies. SuperDoughnut opened his presents, then we had lunch, then the boys played with the new Nerf gun for a while, and then we decorated the trains.
Thursday, December 01, 2011
OhmydogOhmydogOhmydog! Boneshaker movie!
I fell utterly in love with Cherie Priest's writing and her steampunk Northwest when I read Boneshaker for the first time, and now it's going to be made into a movie!
It's about time the film industry branched out from sequels, remakes, and reboots and did something original, and I couldn't be happier for Ms. Priest! I don't know if I'll see it, both because I hate to see a movie once I've read the book and I know what is being left out, and also because I'm a giant wuss and scary movies scare me.
After all, I slept with the lights on for a week after seeing The Blair Witch Project. I'm thinking after seeing steampunk zombies, I might have to sleep with the lights on for a year!
Anyway, congrats to Ms. Priest, and to Boneshaker's alive and undead legions of fans!
It's about time the film industry branched out from sequels, remakes, and reboots and did something original, and I couldn't be happier for Ms. Priest! I don't know if I'll see it, both because I hate to see a movie once I've read the book and I know what is being left out, and also because I'm a giant wuss and scary movies scare me.
After all, I slept with the lights on for a week after seeing The Blair Witch Project. I'm thinking after seeing steampunk zombies, I might have to sleep with the lights on for a year!
Anyway, congrats to Ms. Priest, and to Boneshaker's alive and undead legions of fans!
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