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I'd love to write a nice long post about my day today, but my computer has other ideas. I don't know what's wrong with it, but it's been having seizures when confronted with any embedded Flash object, including LJ animated icons. If I suddenly trail off and disappear in the middle of a sentence, you'll know why.
The weather was gorgeous today but annoying. It's November. I'm slowing down for the year. I want to stay in the house and bake bread and wear big unflattering sweaters and curl up in a chair and read and yawn and nap. That's hard to do when it's sunny and 75 degrees and everyone is out walking and cycling and jogging and raking leaves and being disgustingly cheerful. Bah.
This afternoon we met Russ's family at the Shaw Nature Reserve for a picnic and a day of hiking. (After almost 20 years, I know Russ's family is my family, too, but that's just an easy way to say it. Otherwise I'd be saying we met my mother-in-law, sister-in-law and two brothers-in-law; very complicated.) My mother-in-law, who raised six kids, is a picnic veteran. When we talked the previous night, she said we'd have a "snack" together. When we settled ourselves in the picnic area, she brought out three coolers, two shopping bags and a cardboard box from which she removed cold fried chicken, coleslaw, biscuits, ham salad, potato chips, homemade bread, apple crumb pie, chocolate cake, vanilla ice cream, four different kinds of soda and a thermos of coffee. I love her.
After our light snack, I could barely waddle around but we did make it to the Bascom House and Whitmire Wildflower Garden. We sent all the boys out for a nature hike while we found some comfortable Adirondack chairs and sat and admired the view and talked. I took lots of pictures, laughed more than I've laughed in a while and had a wonderful, blessed day with people I love. I can't ask for much more than that. And before I end this post, I'll leave you with a small bit of wisdom I learned today:
If you're thinking about posing for a photo with a wooly worm clamped to your upper lip like a mustache, please reconsider. The wooly worm will instinctively head for the nearest, darkest location which will be your left nostril. No, I didn't get a picture of that and if by chance I did, I immediately deleted it.
Current Mood:  mellow |
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i am glad that we are getting things done... and kind of staying on schedule, but it means the weekend is packed with so many things and we don't have any relax time. :P
friday night we finished painting the baby's room (2nd coat).
saturday we went to baby basics class in the morning. it was well worth going. its a great thing for first time parents, and people like me who are only children and didn't grow up around babies. they teach you how to bathe your baby and change his diaper and all that... plus they had a car seat tech explain how to install your carseat properly... they also had a pediatrician come in and answer any questions we might have. so it was totally worth going. after that we did a little shopping, came home for the flooring guy to come and measure and give us a quote, then we went out again and went to IKEA. i needed a new dresser because the baby is getting my old one... and last night chris cleaned up all the tarps and towels from painting and put the area rug down in the baby room.
today we cleaned out more of the baby room stuff. i cleaned and moved my drawing table up to the attic. that gave me room to move my desk to the other corner... moved the bookshelf in next to my desk and clean out some space. i still have a ton of piles on the floor and things i need to go through... but hopefully i can do a little bit each night and by next weekend get my new chest of drawers up and functioning. in the mean time, chris ripped up all the carpeting that was on the stairs. it looked like a lot of work, and there are some areas where there are little carpet fuzzes stuck in staples that won't come out. :P
we finally took a break to watch the giants game only to watch them lose at the very end... stupid team :P but anyway.... now its sunday night and my weekend is over. :( i wish i had a free day off so i could sit around and loaf. but time to take out the trash and stuff before bed.... i'm sleepy.Current Mood:  tired |
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The other night I watched Valmont for the first time. It's a couple of years ago that I read Laclos' novel and watched Dangerous Liaisons for the last time, but Valmont came across as quite different. Still, I rather liked it in its own right although I still haven't decided yet what to think about the changed ending. It's not as dark as the one in the novel.
I really enjoyed Colin Firth and Annette Bening as Valmont and the Marquise de Merteuil. They seemed more human than John Malkovich and Glenn Close did in the respective roles. I wasn't too happy with Meg Tilly as Madame de Tourvel as long as she still resisted Valmont. She appeared very subdued and willingly repressed, but when she finally gave in, she became much livelier and more emotional.
I will have to rewatch Dangerous Liaisons sometime, but I think I prefer the look of Valmont. It seems to me that the settings were brighter. Not to mention that the film was quite funny at times.
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First of all, a public service announcement that will only matter to a few of you: If you called me or tried to send a text message in the past two days, there is a very good reason I haven't responded. My cell phone was locked in my car trunk. I realized this today when I was driving home from Union with no radio playing because I wanted to think, and I kept wondering why I was hearing faint electronica dance music emanating from the back of the car. To the four people who left voice messages and the three who left text messages, I'm sorry. I wasn't ignoring you. I was just being my usual scatterbrained self.
Losing my cell phone in an awkward place isn't necessarily momentous; for me, it's more of a weekly occurrence. No, I titled my post the way I did because of something else that happened to me today. I met Kate Klise!!! Kate Klise, the author!!! Kate Klise, one of my writing idols!!! When I heard she would be giving a presentation at the Scenic Regional Library, I went into my special file box, the one that contains all the writing that has ever inspired me, and I dug out one of the columns from her stint as a columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. It's always been a dream of mine to meet her and have an opportunity to tell her what her writing means to me, because she taught me through her words that it's not only okay to laugh at yourself, sometimes it's the only way to cope.
When I made it to the library today, I walked toward the meeting room, my knees knocking, my mouth dry and the underarms of my shirt completely drenched, and there she was, standing in the front of the room! We were a small group, so I had a chance right at the start to show her the column I had saved. She laughed and told me she had actually been fired from that job and I did the inward wince/cringe because, you know, leave it to me to bring up what was most likely a painful memory. But then she told me that not long afterward, when she was snowed in her house, she found an advertisement for a fountain designer and that little ad was the start of her first children's book, Regarding the Fountains. She also told me that the editor who let her go from the Post later called her with questions about breaking into the childrens' book industry. Although she ultimately took the high road, when I recognized the look of evil glee that crossed her face while she was relating this, I knew that my adoration for her had not been misplaced. (And how can you not love an author who named one of her characters "Dick Tater?" I mean, really.)
During her informative and entertaining presentation/writing workshop, I'm afraid I sat there with a big, goofy grin on my face, nodding my head enthusiastically like one of those bobble-head car dogs. I couldn't help it. So much of what she said resonated with me, from the disastrous barber shop haircut at a young age (although my look was more "Little Dutch Boy" than "Shaun Cassidy"), early critique of our work, the amazing ability of our minds to be distracted when we're trying to write, and the necessity of being willing to write badly. During the question-answer session at the end, I babbled about Zack and the stories he writes and nurturing his creative spirit. I also admitted, rather sheepishly, that I was a blogger. I think what I actually said was "one of those annoying mommy bloggers - ha, ha." And then her eyes kind of lit up. She loves to read blogs, she said. (!!!) She'd like to check out my blog, she said. (!!!!!!!!)
Now imagine this. Imagine you're a baseball player. Maybe a minor star for your podunk town league, batting about .200 at best. Then you find out that Stan Musial is giving a presentation the next town over. So you head over to soak up a little wisdom and somewhere during the course of his talk he says, 'Oh, you play ball? Well, maybe I'll have to come watch you some time." It was like that for me.
At the end of the presentation, Kate graciously signed the yellowed column I brought along and signed a copy of her book, Over My Dead Body for Zack. Then she wrote my LiveJournal user name in great big letters across a manila folder. (!!!!!!!!) I'm sorry to say at that point I lost all decorum and tailed her around the room while she was packing up, blathering on (again!) about how much I Iove her writing and how we like to tell stories around the dining room table as a family and how I had a giant Barbie head makeup thing when I was a little girl and how much it looked like My Little Hooker when I was finished with it, and then, to my utter chagrin, I treated her to a re-enactment, complete with arm flapping and loud squealing, of my reaction to the news that she was giving a workshop in Union. She had the good grace to smile politely and I had the good sense to leave before she had to beat me into submission with the power cord from her laptop.
I walked out of the library today not a changed person, but with the understanding that I had just received a message I needed to hear. The message went like this: Kate Klise is a writer. She is one of my favorite writers. Everything she talked about today is something I've experienced or learned or can identify with. Which means I'm a writer. Not "I'm a writer, but I only write a blog." Not "I'm a writer, but not a very good one." Nope. I'm a writer. No qualifiers. Holy crap. And I will never look at the Leaning Tower of Pisa in quite the same way again.
Thanks, Kate. Whether or not you ever visit my blog, it was a pleasure and an honor to meet you today.
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A little neighbour...
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Hey everyone! It's been a busy week for all of us, so we had a restful, recuperative weekend planned. Notice I said "had." In the space of two phone calls over twenty minutes this evening, our restful weekend is now planned to the gills. And I'm very tired. So tonight instead of a real post, you get a picture essay with an inside look at all the exciting things Zack and I do on a school holiday. ( Can you stand the excitement? )
Good night all!
Current Mood:  tired |
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i am rather pissed off, but better than i was this time yesterday. :P
official word says this:
Echo & the Bunnymen are saddened and extremely disappointed to have to announce the cancellation of their upcoming US tour dates. The band planned the performances in conjunction with the US release of their new album The Fountain, out November 10th. The cancellation of the tour is due to the rejection of the band’s Central Withholding Agreement (CWA) by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The rejection was unexpected as the Echo & the Bunnymen team submitted the necessary paperwork in due time and in accordance with the process that had been followed on previous tours. Additionally, the IRS offered no reasoning for the rejection and was unresponsive to our inquiries. This CWA allows for foreign entertainers to be paid in full, otherwise promoters are legally obliged to withhold a minimum of 30% in lieu of tax which ultimately will not allow for a tour to happen at this time.
However, we have some very exciting news for the rest of 2009 and on into 2010! The hotly anticipated new album The Fountain will be available Tuesday, November 10. Exclusive bundles will be available through band’s website, www.bunnymen.com, and are currently available for pre-order. The bundles include exclusive Ocean Rain sheet music for the well-known track “Silver” as well as an exclusive t-shirt. We will also be rescheduling the cancelled tour dates and adding additional dates in early 2010.
also the keswick theatre said if you bought your tix with credit card, refunds would happen automatically... check your statements... so at least i will get my money back no problem... but still...
i was looking forward to seeing the show with my friends. i was looking forward to seeing the band. i was looking forward to getting some silly OMG i am gigantic pregnant photos with the band LOL and even more than that... i was just looking forward to seeing a proper bunnymen show. the last one i saw was great but it was at a festival and its just not the same. the other thing that sucks is my friend pam who as flying in for the show has non-refundable plane tix. but she is going to come out anyway and we will have a mini get together for no reason... it will be fun, and it will be nice to see my bunnymen friends but still... i still wish there was a bunnymen show.
they promise a 2010 tour now. they better not flake on that one too or i'll be pissed off. :\Current Mood:  annoyed |
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I went to the casting the local theatre had organised because they are looking for extras for a production next year. But I don't know yet whether I've passed.
In groups of five women, we had to approach the set and costume designer and make him feel as if we confronted him. We were supposed to act as a group and react as one, not as individuals. This turned out to be more difficult than I would have thought. At least in my group, we managed to all start walking with the left foot.
As for the dates of the rehearsals and performances, the set and costume designer and the head of the extras were even more clueless than we applicants. So we now have to wait whether we will be needed in the first place and then find out what the dates are and whether we will have time then.
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Anyone who reads my updates on Facebook knows what kind of day I had today. And one "lucky" person whom I pester with text messages almost daily knows that I did everything while nauseous and dizzy. But everything got done and now I'm in my cozy cat robe, sitting in front of the computer, all my chores are over for the day, there is no school tomorrow and Zack has reached the age where he likes to sleep in. I'll be lucky if I see him before 10:00 a.m., so tomorrow promises to be a relaxing day off.
I worked a shift at the school's Scholastic book fair this afternoon. Zack worked with me and bagged the customers' purchases and when it was slow, browsed the books. I told him to make a stack of the books he wanted and we would narrow his choices down later. Except he just couldn't seem to part with any of the books. I was completely sympathetic to his plight because I do the same thing in bookstores. When we added everything up, he had spent $90 out of his savings, but it's money he's put aside for a while and we don't tell him how to spend it. When I came home later, I found him sprawled out on the couch, a bottle of water and a plate of cookies on the coffee table, with one book propped on his stomach and the others scattered around him. I wish I could have that much fun with $90.
The sale itself went smoothly, except when I inadvertently charged one hassled mother double what her total should have been. Luckily I caught the error before she wrote out her check. When she ripped the check out and handed it to me, she said, "Time to go home and pull some leaves off the money tree." I feel her pain. Oh, and I can't forget one very special customer!
Because we're a small school, the librarian said that if someone didn't have enough cash to cover their purchase, we could make a note of what was owed with the understanding that they could pay the money owed within two days. I didn't have to do this until towards the end of my shift and I am still confused.
Me: Your total is $34.56.
Customer: Oh, darn. I only have a twenty.
M: That's fine. I'll make a note that you still owe $14.56 and you can send the money to school with your daughter or bring it by the library.
C: $14.56? What's that?
M: That's what you still owe on your purchase.
C: But I have a twenty.
M: Yes, and once you use that, you'll still need to pay $14.56.
C: Okay, let's do that. (She hands me the twenty, I enter $34.56 as the amount tendered, write a note for her that reads "Please pay $14.56 - amount owed on book purchase" and write a separate note and put it in the cash register. She stares at the note for a long time and then looks up at me.) Don't I get any change?
M: Uhm, no, you don't. You didn't have enough money to cover your purchase and the note I just gave you is to remind you what you still owe.
C: Are you sure I owe this much? How much did I spend?
M: (I grit my teeth because there is a rapidly-growing line of people behind her.) You spent $34.56 and gave me $20, so the balance is $14.56.
C: Let me see the register receipt.
M: (I pull out the receipt and hand it to her, smiling sympathetically at the waiting customers and sending the subconscious message "Please don't yell at me when it's your turn.")
C: It says here that I paid for everything.
M: Yes, I know that's confusing, but on this cash register, I had to enter the amount tendered as $34.56 to close out the transaction. There's a note in the drawer that you still owe $14.56.
C: Well, this doesn't seem right.
M: LISTEN, YOU STUPID COW! YOU OWE $14.56 SO GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE BEFORE I TAKE IT OUT OF YOUR ASS PENNY BY PENNY! AND I CERTAINLY HOPE THAT CRETINOUS DAUGHTER OF YOURS IS BETTER AT MATH THAN HER BRAIN-DAMAGED MOTHER! (At this point I body slammed her to the floor and stuffed the note up one quivering nostril.)
Okay, that last part didn't really happen.Current Mood: tired |
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went for dr appt last night. baby is currently laying sideways. I knew this, but they prescribed getting an ultrasound to check position of the baby and make sure everything looks ok in there. because of my insurance, i can't go to my doc for the ultrasound, i have to go to a radiology specialty place. there is an office right above my dr office which specializes in high risk pregnancies that i am allowed to go to... they are a lot nicer than S Jersey radiology which is more of an in-and-out clinic. so i went there today (the specialty office) - they basically told me to come whenever and they would squeeze me in when they could... which was nice. i left over lunch expecting to be there for a good 2+ hours waiting, and it was only a half hour or so.
baby is a lot bigger than last time i saw him on the little screen. before the whole baby fit on the screen, now you can only get one body part at a time on there. with estimated measurements he is right in the middle of the average size for 34 1/2 weeks along. they also estimate he is about 5 lbs 12 oz right now. i asked if that meant he would be gigantic in 5 weeks time, but they said no, he's growing normally and will probably stay at an average size until the end.
he is laying sideways across my abdomen... head at right, butt at left, face down (toward my back). so because of that, no new "face" shots to show everyone. they gave me some exercises i could do to encourage him to rotate. i will go back in 3 wks time for another ultrasound to see if he turned or not. if not, there are 2 options: a) they move him manually if possible by pushing on my stomach (which i imagine would hurt), or b) i get a c-section. but we'll figure that out when it gets closer to the due date.
just keeping things up to date :PCurrent Mood:  happy |
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The empire strikes backIn recent weeks, we've taken huge steps towards blocking spam accounts on LiveJournal. In fact, we've suspended as many as 30,000 accounts in a single day! We've implemented several pre-emptive measures to prevent the creation of spam accounts, and we've honed our detection of suspicious content. Spam bots are a crafty lot, so we'll continue to refine our tactics and keep up the good fight to keep you safe from spam attacks on LiveJournal.
RSS feeds againIf you're addicted to , ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/syndicated.gif) icanhaschzbrgr, or other syndicated feeds, we're pleased to report that we've resolved the update error that was mucking up your RSS feeds. While content was being pulled correctly, it wasn't being posted to the feeds themselves. Late last week, we finally nailed down what we hope was the root problem, so content should post properly. We thank you for your patience.
Wii have killer CSI Deadly Intent contests!
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If you're a gamer who loves CSI, have Wii got news for you! c_s_i is sponsoring killer contests. Simply post a question to a member of the CSI crew. The winner will get a free copy of CSI: Deadly Intent for Nintendo Wii (with a retail value of $39.99) and get their question answered by a member of the CSI writing team! There's also a fantastic monthly contest. To enter, join c_s_i, play the online version of CSI: Deadly Intent, and respond to a two-part query for a chance to win a Wii! Entries will be judged on composition and originality. Sorry, but you must be a U.S. resident and over 18 years old to participate. Check out the rules here.
Enveloped in postcardsLast week, we asked you to send in postcards to help us decorate our drab concrete walls. Here's a photo of the results so far! Thank you so much and please keep them coming! You can mail them to Frank the Goat, Esq., c/o LiveJournal, Inc., 539 Bryant Street, Suite 210, San Francisco, CA 94107. Be sure to include your username, since we'll be giving ten random users paid account credits.
Photos of the weekIf you haven't visited our new LiveJournal photo community, you're in for an amazing visual trip. LiveJournal users from around the world will take you on a scenic journey to everywhere. Post your own pictures or kick back and enjoy at lj_photophile. You can view some of this week's awesome photos after the jump. Please start tagging with geographic location, since we'd like to track all the places around the world represented in this community. Keep on commenting too!
( Read more... )
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It's been an out-of-sorts kind of day. My mood has been volatile, ranging from contentment to restlessness to happiness to sorrow to benevolence to impatience. There's nothing wrong, not really. It's just the monthly hormonal dance...one, two, bitch, bitch, bitch, and three, four, bloat, bloat, bloat and swing at your partner, do-si-do. A package of mini peanut butter cups lightened my mood considerably, as did reviewing the results of an insightful test I took the other day. I'm reproducing the test questions here for everyone (Dear Women's Health editors, please do not sue me. Thank you.) because I love you all and we should recognize and celebrate our hidden strengths:
For each question, answer Never, Sometimes or Always, depending on how often you feel each statement is true about you. Be totally honest!
1. This world is so damn fascinating I could never be bored.
2. No matter how things look, I don't jump to conclusions.
3. I do what I think is right, even if it's difficult or unpopular.
4. Taking time to help someone is a pleasure, not a chore.
5. Working as part of a team is fun and rewarding.
6. People use the term "cutting edge" to describe me or my work.
7. I am blown away by art, technology or just looking at the sky.
8. Every decision deserves careful consideration.
9. I finish what I start.
10. Compliments are embarrassing. I prefer to praise others.
11. When I say, "count me in," I mean 100 percent in.
12. I seldom feel envious, because I'm already so lucky.
13. I can do anything if I really set my mind to it.
14. I don't easily get caught up in the details.
15. Even if I can't stand someone, I treat them with respect.
16. I believe I'm alive for an important reason.
17. I say what I mean and I mean what I say.
18. There are people who would sacrifice everything for me and for whom I would sacrifice everything.
19. I'm good at getting diverse people to work together.
20. No matter where I am, I can connect with the people around me.
21. I jump at the chance to learn something - anything - new.
22. I give people second and third chances.
23. My emotions don't get the best of me.
24. I crack myself up.
I'm placing the scoring section and explanation under a cut so you can't look ahead and skew the questions toward your assumptions about your own strengths. You might be surprised. I was.
( Read more... )
Now it's your turn! Smooches to you all. I'm taking my cranky old self to bed now where I am going to appreciate my beautiful, beautiful pillow.
Current Mood: bloated and crabby and RAWR |
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You knows that you're a lot more addicted to coffee than you should be when you're being sick into the toilet and all you can think is "What a waste of a good cup of coffee!"
I've gotten myself a netbook. I call it Minilith. I felt it necessary to get one because it enables me to slink off and type stuff in private without SO bursting in and sticky-beaking. He's already eyeing my netbook, wanting to make it faster, higher, stronger. Of course, the cat doesn't like this idea. She sees Minilith as an intruder on her lap space and has been stridently denouncing it, which means I'm now awkwardly balancing the netbook on the arm of the sofa whilst she's crashed face first on my legs.Current Mood:  sore |
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