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Friday, February 29, 2008

Happy Leap Year!

So, yeah, I already new this but it was still kind of fun to see it play out in this little quizzie (as my old AP Bio teacher would say). Please, anyone who isn't the High Priestess, just leave me a comment to let me know. My cynical self thinks this is the only possible outcome.


You are The High Priestess


Science, Wisdom, Knowledge, Education.


So a friend of mine who I haven't seen since before Christmas (for crying out loud) called me this morning and we went for coffee and she offered to watch the kiddos tonight so of course I took her up on it (a down comforter isn't a too-bad trade for two hours of babysitting is it?) and DH and I had a nice time downing martinis around the corner. Too bad the owner wanted to comp us some drinks after we'd already had all we could handle. I don't have a clue how he knows us but on the few occasions that we've gone in he has been übercordial. So anyway, a good time was had by all, except for in the last few minutes before we got home when Ali G decided to sound the alarm. But, one down comforter later and all is forgiven right?

Wednesday, February 27, 2008


Forward Motion Returns

Phew!
We finally have Ali G's birth certificate ! Once we'd gathered all the documents that were required it was actually pretty efficient. We got the paperwork approved one day and typed up and stamped the next. And nobody noticed that my immigration papers have expired.
And I also got a nice long morning in with my friend and we tried out the newest coffee place in town which turned out to be great. Awesome omelette, awesome french press. Mmmmmm. Definitely going back, certainly before Starbucks arrives - two blocks from our house! No, I am happy that Starbucks is coming. Why? Shouldn't I be a knee-jerk anti-chainista? Well, depends on the chain. I don't think SB is all that bad in the ethics and service and raping the planet way. And they've got a much more sophisticated approach to selling coffee than the local places here do. I took dd out for a coffee one day recently and we literally had to order 4 times because the lady making the coffee didn't approve of her having one (or something, but I think that was it). Anyway, I'm all for small businesses but it won't be just because of the big name if they fail in SB's wake. After all, Subway came and got their ass kicked by the awesome torta shops in town. It can go either way.
Anyway. Today I tried to break my bad workout juju. I was poised to blow off yet another lower body weight training session, for some reason they don't interest me the way upper body workouts do. I thought that instead (lame but not total surrender to inertia) I'd go to the track and walk with my buddy. Walking + talking = a real workout right? But once that was done I thought about what a total loser I'd be if I left it at that, and thought about things that are really a lot harder to do than driving oneself to the gym and pushing some weights around. And, inspired by that thought I did it. The gym was chock-full of Gay Boy and Geezers today. And poodles. What is up with poodle (the little kick-me kind) owners thinking that it's cool to bring their dogs everywhere? I don't really mind the dogs, it's just that wafting smell of entitlement coming off the crotchety old owner who also happens to be hogging (not using) the seated hamstring curl machine. It's one of those times when I wish I had my dog and I wish she ate little kick-me poodles.
Okay, Ali G is all set with waiting for me. Time to cruise.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Doldrums

Blah.
That's today's feel.
I feel stalled on my exercise and energy. I mentioned that I've started back on Atkins right? Well, I'm in ketosis, that nirvana state of burning my very own fat to power my bod. Only the bod doesn't want to be powered. It wants to sleep. Or maybe practice the piano. Or really, go watch Oprah or Ellen or whatever late afternoon talk show is on cable. But Ali G is sleeping too close to the TV and too far away from the piano and Auggie is upstairs dismantling the birdcage (bye bye Birdie! Beaker all gone!). So, here I continue to sit in the vortex of my office chair. I did try out a new ab routine. I couldn't decide if they were totally kicking my ass or if my muscles are still so overstretched and numb that I couldn't do them right. I stretched a little and it was excruciating. The sciatica in my right foot seems to be contagious, I could swear I'm feeling that tingle in my left one too now. And that lower back pain is freaking killing me. I can't stand up straight for like 3 minutes every time I try. Fuck!
I suppose I also have PMS. If I didn't know I was in fat-burning mode I might convince myself that some sweet coffee thing would help my mood. But I don't want to blow the last three days of carb-free eating just because I'm feeling pissy.
Bitch Moan Bitch Moan Bitch Moan. Whatever, it's my blog.

Oh, and the latest HOT LEAD on selling this white elephant of a house is definitely not interested. They wanted a colonial in centro only not this colonial and not this centro. Whatever.

grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Week in Review

So it figures that the day that I finally am alive enough to wake up early for a little quiet alone-on-the-computer time, Ali G wakes up chirping first and then the internet is down.

But it feels like ages since I’ve had a chance to sit at the computer with two hands and type and think, both at the same time.

Valentine’s Day

I just want to mark the passing of Valentine’s Day. It was last week and this year, like every year I can remember, it seems that the majority of my women friends end up with their feelings bruised by the partners in their life who have VDRS or Valentine’s Day Resistance Syndrome. Why is it that so many men cannot bring themselves to acknowledge the holiday dedicated to celebrating love? Yes, we all know that Hallmark makes a killing and that Kay Jewelers ads make otherwise sane women suddenly fantasize about getting a piece of unexpected jewelry. So the marketing is heavy handed and the flowers cost 3 times as much as usual. But is that really an excuse to ignore the day? Isn’t the idea, the tradition of celebrating those you love a nice one? I have suffered through many a Black Thursday (or whichever day of the week) myself and it sure does get old. And when VDRS goes undiagnosed or untreated it can do serious harm to a relationship. Some women I know claim that they have ruled that the holiday be ignored in order to spare their feelings. I can understand why they would try to defend themselves that way, fighting fire with fire. But over time I wonder if it really works?

Happily for me Dh is beginning to overcome the disease. This year, though there was no token of affection awaiting me on the actual day, we did go out on the weekend for a very nice dinner. We had a great time too. It was a nice restaurant but the prices were lower than we’d expected, a welcome surprise! Sad to say that Ali G and the Bunny didn’t have nearly such a good time. When we got back the two of them looked as stressed as the babysitter as Ali G had yelled the whole time we were gone.

Body For Lifing

This week I’ve been feeling stuck with my Body For Life challenge. I’m halfway through and since my last weigh in day I feel like I haven’t made any progress. I’ve even missed a couple of lower body weight workouts and that gets me down too. So, to help reinvigorate myself I’m starting Atkins again. I don’t want to turn this into a boring let’s-talk-about-my-weight blog so I’ll just say that the low carb way is historically for me the most effective way for me to shed fat. So far I’ve been on the < style=""> I’m a total space cadet today but I am sure that by tomorrow I’ll feel a lot better and start to see some positive reinforcement pretty soon after that.

Short Timer Syndrome

Some good friends of ours who moved away a couple years ago first told us about this condition. They’d noticed that once they started closing their business, having garage sales and selling their stuff in preparation to leave some of their friends started to pull back and be less and less available to them. Now it’s my turn. I’ve noticed that one of my good friends is starting to drift a bit. It’s one of those things I guess. But I won’t pretend that it doesn’t bum me out and make me a little grouchy. After being blown off twice now my inclination is to stop asking, you know? And that doesn’t feel quite right either, but honestly, how many times do you need to hear the same answer before it sinks in?

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

The Joads - Take One

This Sunday we finally got back out to the country for the day after a long hiatus. We spent the first hour or so learning how to drive our Jeep with the trailer attached. Dh had driven the trailer once before from where it was parked when we bought it but I had never done it. We took it over to a soccer field to teach ourselves how to back up. I found it to be easier than I'd anticipated and I was quite proud of myself for backing it all the way up the driveway and parking it neatly outside the house. It was fun to be learning a new skill too. It's been too long since I've learned a whole new thing. I'm looking forward to more of that this year!

Friday, February 8, 2008




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Thursday, February 7, 2008

Ready to Go

Every morning as I drive dd to school I end up with a mild strain of road rage. Whether it is the guy in the Excursion who takes up even more of the narrow street than he needs, the pedestrians who NEVER look before wandering into the road, the traffic cop who is randomly waving a red rag and effectively making an intersection even more unpredictable and dangerous, the madness of setting up for a left turn across traffic when my signal means both "I'm turning left" and "Come around, it's safe to pass" or the dump truck/bus/car that is spewing the most noxious fumes imaginable I am guaranteed to finish the trip with extra adrenaline pumping through my veins.
Yesterday I found myself fuming figuratively and literally that one of the Bunny's friend's parents hadn't ever offered to carpool to the girls' swimming lesson. Because of road construction (another irritant) it is an even longer drive from school to the pool. When we first started the classes I suggested we carpool. I followed up by offering to do the first trip which they happily accepted. And that was that. Yesterday I ended up following the father into the school parking lot, picked up our girls simultaneously and then continued to drive behind him the whole 12 miles to the pool.
It just pissed me off so much. How hard would it be to alternate? I'd be overjoyed to not have to make that trip every other week. Wouldn't you?
HEAVY SIGH.

Monday, February 4, 2008

So who would have guessed that a Stephen King story about a guy trapped in a haunted hotel room would prove to be relevant? But it was. We watched 1408 on Saturday night. I wasn't really in the mood for horror but it was the only movie in the shop that I'd checked the reviews on and for which they hadn't been awful. And wouldn't you know it but ole John Cusak is healing badly from his daughter's death. I must say, once that point was revealed it ceased to be scary for me any more and only became poignant. In fact, I've had that dream too. It's a nightmare and then suddenly I'm holding Wendy in my arms and she's alive. For a moment. And then she's dead again and it's awful. But I'd gladly go through the nightmare for another fleeting moment of holding her alive.

Saturday, February 2, 2008

Happy Birthday Wendy!

I try to imagine what it would be like to have a little two year old running around, getting ready for her birthday party. What a nice day for a party this would be! the park is all decked out with flowers for the Candelaria celebration and I can just imagine Wendy in a sun dress picking out a special birthday flower, eating her cake, getting overstimulated and throwing a fit. All those two year old things. It is incredible to me that that was the possibility.
Instead we'll be having a cake in the shape of an angel on her behalf and dh and I are going out for a 5k run in her memory, a tradition I've picked up from the Dingos. It seems totally fitting since her loss was what got me on the run and it gives a nice quiet time for reflection.
Here is a link to Wendy's page.