Random interesting stuff

In honor of Blogger allowing me to post today, I bring you things my ADDled brain has found interesting.

• In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. -- Thomas Jefferson

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see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Frankly, I haven't seen anything else interesting all day. But then, I haven't done much.

Shhh, I'm supposed to be studying. Don't tell the Study Police

• I just got this request in an email:  "I have recently went back to college on line and I need to download microsoft office word."   Yes, honey, this time please pay attention in your English and Ethics classes.

/elitist comments.

• According to my counseling textbook, the homosexuals among you are considered a "special population." Don't you feel better now? You seem pretty normal to me. 
• I survived my Psych Intro exam this morning. I think I did well, at least on most of it. I hope I guessed well on the other bit.
• LOLcats and Bach's Brandenburg Concertos are good for what ails a sad soul. They don't necessarily fix anything, but they are good for the soul nevertheless. I have the even numbered concertos on my playlist tonight. 
• I have all my classes in one building. It's a small school, but not that small. My courses don't cover a broad range of topics this term. The water fountains on the second floor give a better arch of water and are easier to drink from than the ones on the third or first floor. 
• For some strange reason the toilets are mounted at different heights, even in stalls that are not handicapped accessible. These are wall mounted toilets. One on the second floor seems about the right height for 5 year olds. 

More randomosity, as my brain seems incapable of focusing on any one task for a significant amount of time

• I am disillusioned with my old brand of dish washing liquid, so I got a couple of different brands. The first bottle advertises a light citrus scent. To me it smells like fresh fish guts. Fresh fish guts smell better than old fish guts, nevertheless it isn't an odor I want to endure as I wash my dishes. The second bottle says something about "free and clear." I promise you it wasn't free, but it is clear. I haven't used it yet, as I want to finish the first bottle before opening the second. I'll let you know my impressions of that one when I get to it. 
• I registered for classes at Lander yesterday. I will post a separate entry detailing that excitement.
• The kitten acts much like a kitten. She is very playful when she isn't sleeping. It has been a very long time since I had a kitten (or since a kitten owned me). I'm more of a dog person. I didn't remember how much like puppies these cats are in their desire to chew stuff. Stuff like my fingers, for instance. And my toes. While I'm trying to sleep. I was sitting peacefully at my computer on Sunday with my ear-bud headphones on, listening to pretty music while trying to ignore the annoying screech from my children. Scher was on my lap underneath the desk. All of a sudden my music went from stereo to mono, then to barely an echo. The little sneak chewed into my headphone wire severing the connections. It wasn't a little cheap $5 set, either. Perhaps that's what I need to get, though, until her need to chew abates. 
• Our weather has been decidedly spring-like. We're getting a lot of rain, and temperatures this week are in the mid to upper 60s F (18-20 C). My Bradford Pear tree is once more threatening to bloom. We had some freezing temps last week for a couple of nights, but nothing extremely cold. The buds are still small and tight enough that I think they survived last week. But the forecast this week is for this warmer wet weather, our lowest low for the foreseeable future being 30F (-1). It will be interesting to see what the pear tree does. 
• 'Tis time to take down our Christmas decorations. Since we didn't put up the not-a-tree until Christmas Eve, I am not finished enjoying it. I don't really want to take it down yet. But it is time. 
• I went to bed at 6:00 last night. It started as a post coital nap, but extended until 4:30 this morning. I felt great when I woke up! I got up, took Scher with me into the kitchen. (She was being very playful and bite-ish, and I wanted to let Superman sleep. She didn't.) I used the 5 over-ripe bananas we had on the table to make two small loaves of banana bread. Twitch, the silly boy, doesn't like pecans. I made one loaf without pecans and used the full recipe allotment of pecans in the second loaf. That's some good banana bread!! I sliced the fresh hot banana nut loaf, buttered a couple of pieces, and took those and a pot of fresh coffee to Superman who was still in bed. By this time it was 6:45, way past time for him to be awake. He makes breakfast and coffee for me almost every day, and it was fun to return the favor.
• Scher had a wonderful time in the kitchen this morning. I had to shoo her off the table a couple of times, but there is so much junk on the floor she was plenty entertained down there. She found a small paper sack. OMG cute!! She kept running from one side of the kitchen near the refrigerator all the way across the room and into the utility room at the other end. She was pouncing at everything from paper towels that had been dropped and not picked up, to the bags of garbage waiting by the back door, to my feet. Totally adorable.
• I walked and stood a lot yesterday morning. It took all morning to get all the loose ends tied up so I could register for classes. I had to go from the psychology department to the registrar's office, to admissions, to financial aid, to the English department, back to psychology, back to admissions, back to the registrar. It's a small school, and all these offices are in the same building. I made use of the elevator. Nevertheless that's a lot more activity than I am used to. (Sedentary describes my normal activity level) All I carried was my purse and a clipboard. Plus the extra weight I'm wearing, which is considerable. I am 100-150 lbs heavier than I want to/should be. The sedentary lifestyle isn't helping. Yesterday afternoon and this morning I notice that my hips and pelvic area are sore. Most of my weight is around the abdomen (the most dangerous for heart attack risk, they tell me). My pelvic girdle holds a lot of weight, and that's where it hurts today. I hope I can build up strength and stamina, and perhaps lose some weight before I injure myself walking around campus carrying heavy books. Oy. 
• Light and Superman have pretty much finished preparing the other bedroom for her occupancy. It needs a bit of touch up painting in a couple of places where she did a sloppy masking job. I can do that pretty easily. I need to move all of her stuff and my sewing stuff out of her former bedroom that Sproing is now sleeping in. That, and taking down the Christmas decorations are my tasks for today. Right now I'm sitting here playing on my blog instead of moving things around. Hmmm. Time to get off my ample ass and get to work! 
• Happy Tuesday everyone!

Yammer

Nothing much to report, so I'm gonna ramble aimlessly for a while

• We survived the weekend. Superman is putting down flooring (laminate, sturdy stuff) in Light's bedroom. She comes home from her first year at college next Friday. We need to finish fixing up the room before she gets here and moves all that other junque into it. We'll probably not be able to SEE the floor until she moves back to the dorm in late August.
• Friday evening was the elementary school's Spring Carnival. I sent baked goods to sell in the bake sale. I DID NOT attend! The wonderful Superman took the kids and a good time was had by all. Including me. Who stayed home. Happily.
• Thursday was the day I needed to do all the baking for the school carnival. I delayed and ignored and averted until 'twas well after midnight when I actually baked those damn cookies. They were good, of course. By the time I was finished baking, then had to wait for the cookies (I also made a pan full of cake-like bar cookie things) to cool enough to put them in individual wrappings, it was too late to go to bed. Does that make sense? I had to make sure the stuff got to the school, so I just stayed up. Superman was able to take the box of goodies to the school when he took the kidlets, so that worked. Then I went to bed.
• And also on Thursday I bought myself a new sewing machine. The old one, very old, needed some repairs and maintenance. I took it to "the place" and the fella said a cleaning and tune up would cost at least $65, and it may need some parts, too. However, there were a couple of new machines, discontinued, on clearance. I got a fairly nice machine for $150. It does more than the old one did. I haven't gotten it out of the box yet, because on Thursday I was supposed to bake, not sew. Superman only last night brought the machine in from the truck. The table I use for sewing has been in Light's room since she left for college all these months ago. Since her floor is being installed, the table is now in the middle of the living room with stuff piled on it. There isn't a comfortable place to set up my new machine. So it is still in the box. Now that we've survived the weekend and I'm not required to bake more cookies, I might just get to play with my machine.
• But not today. At least not while the kids are at school. Because today I did something worthwhile, one of those chores that has been waiting on me for a while. I finished painting the trim in Light's room. She painted her room last summer, but never got quite done with the trim. I have of course intended to finish the trim since she left for school in August. Now that Superman has most of the stuff out of that room, I figured the time wasn't going to get better. I'd already masked the trim, it was ready to paint. Has been for MONTHS. So today I did it. Good for me.
• And because Superman has so many projects he needs to work on around the house, the house decided it wanted even more of his attention. S was in the backyard this morning when I was washing out the paintbrush in the kitchen sink. He knocked on the kitchen window to tell me he heard water leaking under the house. Leaking a lot, evidently. And it stinks. I called Superman. First I asked him how his day is going. He said busy, but fine. OK, it's safe to tell him. If he'd been having one of those days from hell, I'd have waited to tell him about the leak. I told him. He sighed that deep depressive sigh of a homeowner whose house is falling apart on him. Do you know that one?
• This is one of those things about me. When I think I don't have anything to talk about, I can nevertheless ramble on THIS long!! People who know me well are not surprised. Yet I'm always amazed. Is it denial? Or inattention?

2XMeme

Ed, who should have a blog of his own, but uses Dirk's comments as his oration station, has tagged me with this meme. Being an independent and stubborn bitch, I've decided to do it but make up my own rules about it. Part of the deal, though, is for Ed to seriously consider, and I mean SERIOUSLY consider that it is time for him to have his own blog.

The first rule I've changed is the one about posting the rules.

Two names you go by:
1. Mom
2. Java

Two things you are wearing right now:
1. Contact lenses
2. Old comfortable unstylish pants

Two longest car rides:
1. Macon, GA to Boston, MA Spring 1982, to visit my boyfriend who attended MIT. 2 weeks before I met Superman. The thing with the other boy? It didn't work out.
2. Gainesville, FL to Silverton, CO Summer of 197something. Through Texas. Have you ever driven east to west through Texas in summer? It takes a l-o-n-g time. At least three years.

Two of your favorite things to do:
1. Blog
2. Spend time with Superman

Two things you want very badly at the moment:
1. For my two youngest children to want to do what's right, rather than look for ways to irritate others and break the rules.
2. Can't think of anything else I want Very Badly

Two animals you have or have had:
1. Ruby – dog, current. She is old and in poor health and will not be with us much longer, I'm afraid
2. Clyde – a single male Lovebird. Who masturbated. A lot.

Two people who will fill this out:
1. [insert your name here]
2. [you, too]

Two things you ate today:
1. The most delicious scrambled eggs that Superman made for my breakfast
2. Really good meatballs over jasmine rice that Superman made for dinner (if it weren't for Superman, I might starve, or possibly become malnourished from eating nothing but Little Debbie Nutty Bars all day)

Two people you last talked to:
1. Sproing
2. Superman

Two things you're doing tomorrow:
1. Sleeping, since I'll be up late tonight baking cookies for the kids' school carnival bake sale tomorrow. (good mommy points for baking cookies)
2. Thinking up excuses to not go to the kids' school carnival tomorrow. (lose good mommy points for avoiding the carnival)

Two favorite holidays:
1. Christmas: Advent, and the Christmas season for the week after Christmas. You know, after everyone has taken down the Christmas decorations and they stop playing Christmas music on the radio.
2. The first day of school. Technically not a holiday, but mothers of young children everywhere will understand that it bloody well SHOULD be a holiday.

Two favorite beverages:
1. Water
2. White grape with peach juice That is my current favorite. Ask again in a few weeks and I'll probably have a different second choice.

That's the thing about time

One would think that as much time as I have spent online in the last few days that I would have posted something new. I have at least one good idea I've been working on for 2 days, and I started another post this morning. I will (hopefully) finish up what I started this morning and put it up later this evening. I need to download some pictures from my camera for the other post. It's about what I've done this week for Earth Day. That might go up tonight, maybe tomorrow, maybe in 3 months... With me you never know.

Random things that amuse me

I like words. I like to play with words and word meanings in and out of context. Not too fond of structured word games, though. No Scrabble, word search puzzles annoy me, don't even talk about crossword puzzles. I like the words that live around me, and I have loads of fun rearranging those words to change emphasis and meaning. I've been seeing things and thinking of things recently that amuse the hell out of me.

-The local Chrysler dealership has a fancy electronic marquee out front and they're featuring some of the employees. I saw this while driving the bus the other day and it entered my brain in another context. "Leroy is your Hot Rod Specialist." Hey, Rod, know anyone named Leroy? This fella' might be looking for a good time.

-I got an email from my aunt the other day. She was telling me about plans for her day, which included a trip for my uncle to a gathering of like-minded buddies. She wrote "Uncle B is going to a meeting of a paddling group tonight in (name of city)." *Gasp!* I had no idea my relatives were so kinky! Wait, they aren't. Y'all, this is an indication that I may be spending a lot of time reading your blogs.

It turns out that my uncle is only interested in kayaking. Is it wrong that I am relieved?

-You know the book Eats, Shoots & Leaves? Well, I was doing that sort of punctuation rearranging in my head. Here's the before and after:

Somewhere, Joe is tying up loose ends.
Somewhere Joe is tying up Loose Ends.

I swear, y'all, sometimes I just can't help myself. (hehehehehehe)

Christmas meme

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Paper, definitely.

2. Real tree or Artificial? A real tree every other year. This is our real tree year. On the alternate years I usually do some weird creation that passes for a tree. Last year I had Superman cut out concentric rings from a piece of 4'x8' luan plywood. We spray-painted them a few different colors of green and chained them together to form a basic cone shape. Then we hung it from the ceiling so it would maintain the cone effect. If I had a photo I'd post it. We might get that out again next year and tweak it. It didn't give the effect I had in mind when I designed it. Our second Christmas together I made a paper mache tree using wire coat hangers for the frame. That sucker was HEAVY!

3. When do you put up the tree? No more than two weeks before Christmas. On the years I make a "tree" usually fairly late, because I haven't yet gotten my act together to get it made any earlier.

4. When do you take the tree down? Either New Years Eve, Day, or on the 12^th day of Christmas, which I think is January 8^th.

5. Do you like eggnog? Like? LIKE? Honey, I LOVE me some eggnog. I use eggnog in place of evaporated milk in my pumpkin pies, and have made tapioca pudding and ice cream using eggnog. Let me tell you, eggnog ice cream is da' bomb!

6. Favorite gift received as a child? Either the bike I got when I was about 8 years old, or the stereo system I got in my early teens. Hard to decide.

7. Do you have a nativity scene? Mom has one she puts up every year, so I remember that from my childhood. I used to play with it as if it were a doll house. I currently don't have one that I'm aware of. I don't keep track of that sort of thing, and am not big into decorating.

8. Hardest person to buy for? C. I have no idea what to get for him. And he and S have been shopping for themselves a lot this past month. I got C a (insert gift name here) [he and/or S read this, so I'm not sayin'] a couple of months ago, so I'll give him that. S is a little easier to shop for, and I've gotten him a thing or two.

9. Easiest person to buy for? Light, I think. Also my Mama, mainly because she told me what to get her. I ordered it from Amazon, had it gift wrapped and shipped directly to her. It took less than 5 minutes and was accomplished with a few clicks of the mouse. Man, I love the internet!

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Huh? What are Christmas cards? Years ago, before I had all these children or a full-time job, I sent out Christmas cards. That was a long, long time ago.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Dunno. I tend to block crap like that out of my memory.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Most favoritest is definitely It's a Wonderful Life. I also really really like The Muppet Christmas Carol and Polar Express.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? This year- July. I try to start in June or July. Some years I do, some just sneak up on me and it's November, maybe after Thanksgiving before I even start.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Of course. I highly recommend it. I've received recycled gifts, too, and I really don't mind usually.

5. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Food. Cookies, maybe. Gingerbread cookies or a gingerbread house. I like to make gingerbread houses, and for a while was doing it every year. It takes a lot of energy to do that, and I'm not sure I've got what it takes this year. It is also getting kinda late to do it before Christmas. I might just make one the week after Christmas, twixt Christmas and New Years. It'll be a New Year gingerbread house. I'm not inspired by a specific design for a house this year like I often am. We'll see. If I do make one, I'll post a picture. I got my camera working, but have yet to successfully post one. I've tried a couple of times, but haven't had the gumption to work at it.

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Either is nice. Don't really care. Especially if someone else does the decorating. I'm not too interested in decorating. If we didn't have the kids, I'm not sure we'd even have a tree.

17. Favorite Christmas song? That's a tough one. A hymn, definitely. I really like Once in Royal David's City and Lo How a Rose 'Ere Blooming. I like Away In a Manger, but not the traditional tune. My favorite way to sing a Christmas song is to harmonize with Superman. I'm soprano, he's tenor. We sound really good together, imho. In a non-professional way, of course.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Home. Stay home. Don't go away anywhere. Right here. No traveling! Nope.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeers? Yes. Want me to do it here? But I'll give away the answers to anyone else who does this meme! Oh, alright, then … Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder, Blitzen. Rudolph doesn't count.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel. Every time

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? What are you going to do on Christmas morning if you've opened them the night before? Where's the fun of the anticipation? I might concede to opening ONE gift on Christmas Eve, but everything else is saved for Christmas morning. It is important. (to me, anyway)

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? The crowds. In the shopping centers, the parking lots, the roadways, the grocery store even! As I've said before, I do not do well with lots of people around. Go away and let me do this without all these people getting in my way.

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? Huh? I don't care. Again, not into decorating/decoration. I appreciate a lovely decorated tree/home/street/whatever. I just look at the overall big picture and say "my, isn't that pretty," and move on. I probably don't even notice a theme unless it is so obvious even a sports jock "guy" would notice. OK, I've just had an idea for a Christmas tree decoration theme: Condoms! That I'd notice.

Going with this general idea, try to picture a Christmas tree done in this style. That would stand out.

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Today I don't care. Something that I like, obviously, but not necessarily turkey or ham. I remember fixing a duck one year. Superman liked that. I'm quite fond of a good roast. I draw the line at pizza, though. Today I'm feeling the answer should be "whatever someone else fixes."

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? I've got a bad case of the I Don't Give A Damns. That seems to be my theme throughout. I can't think of anything I really want for Christmas. Superman went out at Gawdawfulearly o'clock on the day after Thanksgiving to buy me a digital camera. That's about all I wanted, and I've started using it. The kids will probably get me chocolate. They know what I like (Russell Stover, dark chocolate assortment) (in case you're looking for an idea) and that'll be nice. But really, aside from the camera, I don't care. A big bag of nothing would be fine. I've got way too much crap already, and need to sort through my entire collection of everything I've ever kept and throw most of it away. That'll be a huge emotional cluster-fuck. I think I may have a mild case of whatever they call that psychological disorder where people keep everything for ever and their homes are so chock full of old newspapers and empty McDonalds Big Mac cartons and dead cats (yea, I saw that on the Discovery channel once. Icky!) that when they die or someone stages an intervention the crew comes in and it takes weeks to clear it all out and they figure it would have been easier to just torch the place instead. Anyway, I'm not quite that bad, but I have those tendencies.

So, there it is. If you like this and think you might want to answer these questions too, then consider yourself tagged.

Merry Christmas

More rambling thoughts

I'm ill as a snake. Grumpy. Unfit for human interaction. I've felt like this most of the day and there hasn't been a damn thing I could do except suck it up and do what needs doing. So of course that's what I did.

The bus drivers had our "office" party this noon. Pot luck. I took mocha biscotti. I really didn't feel like participating. I wondered whether I should. There are good reasons to go mingle and play sweet. It was a very simple pot luck lunch so there wasn't a lot of mingling required. I went through the line and got a few things. My appetite just wasn't there, which is odd for me. I'm morbidly obese, as the doc likes to say, so if my appetite is off I try to go with that flow. I sat at one end of a table, a couple of other drivers sat down beside me and we ate peacefully. I didn't stay long, but I smiled and responded pleasantly to those who spoke to me.

I was proud of myself for being nice to the driver who drives the regular route bus in the area of the county where I go. We don't share the road very well, and of course it is all her fault. Really, she's a mean bitch. But I have to work with her and it is easier to do if I play nice. One of my motivations to be pleasant to her today was that I just didn't have the energy to get into a bitch fest with her. She's very tallented at being a bitch, and I'm not as experienced.

The voices in my head have been naughty today, telling me all the bad things about me. I tried to tell them to shut up. My typical counter measure involves coming up with success stories and other random bits of goodness I exhibit. There wasn't anything in my arsenal today. On a positive note I did argue with them! That didn't shut them up but did confuse me. My head is all muddled. Maybe I'm just tired. Maybe if I get some good rest I will feel more positive about myself tomorrow. I go see my therapist Friday morning. I'd like to tell her a success story about how I worked to overcome the self-defeating attitudes. Right now, though, I'm just confused and conflicted.