The Christmas spirit is finally creeping into Huddleston Drive. Yesterday, with out meaning to, all of my TV was holiday themed. I watched Tuesday night's episode of Glee, which was entertaining but weird. Why were Puck and Rachel so enthusiastically going along with all the Christmas music? Puck, in his own skewed, Puckish way, is very proud of his Jewish heritage. So why would he shut up now? And Sue playing out the Grinch story was so hackneyed I couldn't believe what I was seeing. The bit about Coach Beast and Artie's present from Santa made me cry a little, though. (But why was she Santa? That part was straight out of bizarre-ville, too.)
And then Mom wanted to watch the Charlie Brown Christmas special. Always a favorite around our house. It was followed up by a Prep and Landing short that was really cute. Dad slept through the whole thing, and Mom dozed off and on. I finished the scarf I've been working on for my brother's father-in-law. Yay!
After they went to bed I took the bag of Christmas refrigerator decorations that Mom found the other day and put them up. (It wasn't quite the ninja decorating I've been doing so far. They knew I was going to put them up, they just didn't know I was going to do it last night.)
And then to top off the festivities, I got 6 Christmas cards in the mail yesterday. It was just the tip of the domestic Christmas card iceberg-- there are many more to go. (The international cards went out on Monday. Fingers crossed that the recipients get them before New Year's.) But it was progress.
Last night, after the not-quite-ninja decorating I sat down and took a good look at the calendar. Then I took a look at the knitting that has to be done in the next two weeks. After I stopped hyperventilating, I made a list. If I stick to the schedule, I should be able to finish all my knitting in time for the big day. Fortunately for my schedule, my traditional, gotta get it done Christmas movie will be on TV next Friday-- A Very Brady Christmas. I don't know what it is about that movie, but I always seem to do my best last minute crafting while watching it. Thank you, TV Programmers!
Today I start with a tissue sweater for my great aunt. (It's a cozy for those little packs of tissues you put in your purse.) It looks to be a quickie project, so there should be no problem whipping it up and then doing another half a dozen or so cards. Maybe I'll even get a jump start on tomorrow's knitting!
It's a hope.
Thursday, December 09, 2010
Tuesday, December 07, 2010
Poor Man's Blog Post
I have many things on my mind right now, but no energy to express them. So I'm making a list.
1. Long Term Disability called. They've decided I could work, I just choose not to. Fuck them.
2. Talked to more medical insurance people today. I am too fat to qualify for insurance. Fuck them, too.
3. Talked to old apt manager. They decided to charge me $135 to clean an apartment that was fully emptied, with nothing more than normal wear and tear, and is scheduled to be completely remodeled, anyway. Fuck all y'all.
4. My brother declared at dinner tonight that he and his wife will spend Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with us, and then they're leaving at 11:00am to drive down for Christmas brunch and dinner with the in laws. Since my brother's idea of "morning" is 1:00pm, I don't think we're going to see much of them on Christmas day. Mom didn't say too much about it at the time, but I know I'm going to get an earful tomorrow.
5. My 71 year old father kicked ass on Wii Bowling tonight. He scored a 189!
6. I'm pretty sure I officially have all my Christmas shopping done.
7. I'm about 2/3 of the way through doing my Christmas cards.
8. I received my first three Christmas cards today! I'm going to hang them on my door as soon as I find the scotch tape.
9. It's freaking cold in Indiana. There is snow. I would like to go home now.
10. I'm reading an historical romance right now. There's some fairly improbable stuff going down, but everything else is so good that you don't notice so much.
11. I have many more bookish things to say, but I'm having trouble finding the motivation to say them.
12. Same goes here. This blog has been shamefully neglected in the last month or so.
13. I should make a commitment to write on one of the blogs every day, but I know I won't do it. Maybe I'll try that when it gets closer to New Year's. I always get excited about new projects and old stuff gets reinvigorated then.
So, that's the Readers' Digest version of what's going on in my head right now. Aren't you glad you asked?
1. Long Term Disability called. They've decided I could work, I just choose not to. Fuck them.
2. Talked to more medical insurance people today. I am too fat to qualify for insurance. Fuck them, too.
3. Talked to old apt manager. They decided to charge me $135 to clean an apartment that was fully emptied, with nothing more than normal wear and tear, and is scheduled to be completely remodeled, anyway. Fuck all y'all.
4. My brother declared at dinner tonight that he and his wife will spend Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with us, and then they're leaving at 11:00am to drive down for Christmas brunch and dinner with the in laws. Since my brother's idea of "morning" is 1:00pm, I don't think we're going to see much of them on Christmas day. Mom didn't say too much about it at the time, but I know I'm going to get an earful tomorrow.
5. My 71 year old father kicked ass on Wii Bowling tonight. He scored a 189!
6. I'm pretty sure I officially have all my Christmas shopping done.
7. I'm about 2/3 of the way through doing my Christmas cards.
8. I received my first three Christmas cards today! I'm going to hang them on my door as soon as I find the scotch tape.
9. It's freaking cold in Indiana. There is snow. I would like to go home now.
10. I'm reading an historical romance right now. There's some fairly improbable stuff going down, but everything else is so good that you don't notice so much.
11. I have many more bookish things to say, but I'm having trouble finding the motivation to say them.
12. Same goes here. This blog has been shamefully neglected in the last month or so.
13. I should make a commitment to write on one of the blogs every day, but I know I won't do it. Maybe I'll try that when it gets closer to New Year's. I always get excited about new projects and old stuff gets reinvigorated then.
So, that's the Readers' Digest version of what's going on in my head right now. Aren't you glad you asked?
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Big, scary day
Today I had an adventure. I borrowed my dad's car keys and left the house by myself. It's the first time I've gone anywhere by myself since Labor Day weekend, when I drove to the airport in Houston and got on the plane. It's only the second time I've been behind the wheel since then.
It was pretty damn scary at first. Almost three months is a long time to go without driving on doing anything independently. I was way out of practice. The fact that I was driving someone else's car didn't help. (My car is long gone. sniffle.)
Mom was in a foul mood this morning, and apparently all day yesterday, too. (I missed yesterday. After all the company and Thanksgiving hoopla, I declared Sunday an I'm In My Room, Leave Me Alone day.) She was upset because she thought she would have all the house done, and there are still boxes everywhere, and she can't find her Christmas stuff, and she was MAD. So while the 'rents went to the Social Security office to get stuff straightened out, I went shopping.
The two things she specifically mentioned were her Christmas mugs, which she always puts out first thing and are very important to her, and the Advent wreath. I found some cheap mugs at Michael's, so I was able to take care of that, but the Advent wreath was a bust.
Michael's had undecorated, do-it-yourself Advent wreathes for a while, but they were sold out when I got there. And they had one pre-decorated one, but it was way over the top and fugly. The whole things was covered with purple flowers and white things crusted with glitter. She would have appreciated the thought (and she damn well better if I'm spending 25 bucks for the ugly thing), but she'd rather die than have something that over done and ugly on her table.
I went to four other places-- four!-- and none of them had ever heard of an Advent wreath. Even Hobby Lobby, which is Christianville USA, didn't have them or know what they were . I was beginning to feel like a freak. I'm not the only one in the world, aside from Michael's Happy Glue Gun Lady, who knows what these things are, right?
One of these puppies. Light a candle every Sunday in Advent. You've seen these, right? I know a lot of people don't go in for the religious aspect of Christmas. I can't say I worry about it too much myself. But I grew up with one of these on my table for as far back as I can remember. My family can't be total weirdos. There have to be Advent wreaths out there somewhere. It's just so bizarre to me that I spoke to at least 7 people in 4 different stores, stores that carry all kinds of Christmas decorations and people who work in and stock those departments, and not a one of them even knew what an it was. Very strange. I knew that Indiana was the Twilight Zone, but come on.
Anyway, even though I couldn't lay my hands on a non-fugly Advent wreath, I did find a few other Christmassy things to brighten up the place. One was a small pillow that says "Those who don't believe get underwear." I was highly amused and had to have it right away. The fact that it was on sale helped. I got a magnet with a snowman on it that says "snow". (I collect magnets, so it's always exciting to find a new one.) And I bought a set of blocks that spell out the word "joy". Mom has a set of acrobatic elves that spell "Joy" that she always puts on the piano. My brother and I delight in scrambling them, so that they say "oyj" instead. One year I hid the J, so it just said "oy!", which I found highly amusing. So I took the blocks and put them on the piano, out of order, of course. So far Mom has noticed the mugs, which she couldn't help but notice since I put one at her place at the table, and the pillow, which she also couldn't help but notice because it was on the couch right where she planned to sit. No one has noticed the magnet or the blocks yet.
The weather is supposed to be cold and crappy for the next several days (plus I totally wore myself out shopping and will need a couple of days of rest to recover), so I think that's all the stealth decorating for a little while. I may call Michael's and see if a new shipment of the undecorated Advent wreaths have come in. If they have, I may pick up one of their decorated wreaths for the front door, too. There was one there that I liked. And maybe I'll get a fake poinsettia, if I can find one that's bushy enough. (Not a real one if I can avoid it-- they're poisonous to cats, and Trouble is dumb enough to eat the whole damn thing.)
This place may start to look a lot like Christmas, whether Mom finds any of her decorations or not!
It was pretty damn scary at first. Almost three months is a long time to go without driving on doing anything independently. I was way out of practice. The fact that I was driving someone else's car didn't help. (My car is long gone. sniffle.)
Mom was in a foul mood this morning, and apparently all day yesterday, too. (I missed yesterday. After all the company and Thanksgiving hoopla, I declared Sunday an I'm In My Room, Leave Me Alone day.) She was upset because she thought she would have all the house done, and there are still boxes everywhere, and she can't find her Christmas stuff, and she was MAD. So while the 'rents went to the Social Security office to get stuff straightened out, I went shopping.
The two things she specifically mentioned were her Christmas mugs, which she always puts out first thing and are very important to her, and the Advent wreath. I found some cheap mugs at Michael's, so I was able to take care of that, but the Advent wreath was a bust.
Michael's had undecorated, do-it-yourself Advent wreathes for a while, but they were sold out when I got there. And they had one pre-decorated one, but it was way over the top and fugly. The whole things was covered with purple flowers and white things crusted with glitter. She would have appreciated the thought (and she damn well better if I'm spending 25 bucks for the ugly thing), but she'd rather die than have something that over done and ugly on her table.
I went to four other places-- four!-- and none of them had ever heard of an Advent wreath. Even Hobby Lobby, which is Christianville USA, didn't have them or know what they were . I was beginning to feel like a freak. I'm not the only one in the world, aside from Michael's Happy Glue Gun Lady, who knows what these things are, right?
One of these puppies. Light a candle every Sunday in Advent. You've seen these, right? I know a lot of people don't go in for the religious aspect of Christmas. I can't say I worry about it too much myself. But I grew up with one of these on my table for as far back as I can remember. My family can't be total weirdos. There have to be Advent wreaths out there somewhere. It's just so bizarre to me that I spoke to at least 7 people in 4 different stores, stores that carry all kinds of Christmas decorations and people who work in and stock those departments, and not a one of them even knew what an it was. Very strange. I knew that Indiana was the Twilight Zone, but come on.
Anyway, even though I couldn't lay my hands on a non-fugly Advent wreath, I did find a few other Christmassy things to brighten up the place. One was a small pillow that says "Those who don't believe get underwear." I was highly amused and had to have it right away. The fact that it was on sale helped. I got a magnet with a snowman on it that says "snow". (I collect magnets, so it's always exciting to find a new one.) And I bought a set of blocks that spell out the word "joy". Mom has a set of acrobatic elves that spell "Joy" that she always puts on the piano. My brother and I delight in scrambling them, so that they say "oyj" instead. One year I hid the J, so it just said "oy!", which I found highly amusing. So I took the blocks and put them on the piano, out of order, of course. So far Mom has noticed the mugs, which she couldn't help but notice since I put one at her place at the table, and the pillow, which she also couldn't help but notice because it was on the couch right where she planned to sit. No one has noticed the magnet or the blocks yet.
The weather is supposed to be cold and crappy for the next several days (plus I totally wore myself out shopping and will need a couple of days of rest to recover), so I think that's all the stealth decorating for a little while. I may call Michael's and see if a new shipment of the undecorated Advent wreaths have come in. If they have, I may pick up one of their decorated wreaths for the front door, too. There was one there that I liked. And maybe I'll get a fake poinsettia, if I can find one that's bushy enough. (Not a real one if I can avoid it-- they're poisonous to cats, and Trouble is dumb enough to eat the whole damn thing.)
This place may start to look a lot like Christmas, whether Mom finds any of her decorations or not!
Friday, November 19, 2010
Twits
I have nothing of any depth to say today, so this is going to a group of tweet-ish length updates, or Twits.
Julie, yes my birthday was Monday! It's the first birthday I've spent with family in years. One of my favorite breakfast, one of my favorite dinners, birthday cake-- yellow cake with chocolate frosting and Homemade Vanilla Blue Bell Ice Cream (the best ice cream in the world and formerly available only in Texas), a dozen roses from my parents, and a bunch of birthday cards. It was a good day.
But my hand still hurts.
I was in the bathroom earlier this evening when I heard, "Bad cat! What did you do?" Turns out, what the cat did was get up on the table and chew up four out of the 12 hamburger buns in the package. I mean just totally annihilated them. It was bound to happen sometime. I warned Mom that he does this. She may be annoyed, but she also thought it was funny. She had a heck of a time telling me about it without laughing. Mom always smirks at how Troub has Dad wrapped around his little paw, but he's got her, too.
Tomorrow we get my stuff out of storage. It's lived there since I moved to Massachusetts Labor Day weekend. I can't wait to sleep in my own bed and set up my Wii. I want to see my Wee Peeple dolls again and have my own clothes hamper. Unfortunately, this means I'm going to be up to my eyeballs in boxes or the foreseeable future. Pray for me.
Things are... not going well for my brother's marriage. I would not be surprised if she files for divorce sometime after Thanksgiving. You never know, things could work out after all. But I'll be shocked if she doesn't file by the end of January. Ordinarily I wouldn't mention any of this, as it's most certainly Not My Business. But it's causing drama with the 'rents. If he does what he was talking about doing earlier today and moves to another state, there will be an explosion of epic proportions. Mom has been gloating for weeks about all of us being together again. She is going to lose her shit if he takes off now that we've moved across the country to be here. Maybe this is just early-onset divorce crazy, and he'll live on our couch for six months instead.
I finally broke down and ordered my new clothes today. I got:
2 zip front hooded sweatshirts
1 zip front, floor length, hooded bathroom (I spend so much time lounging in the one I already had, I decided to get another)
3 long sleeve tshirts
3 thermal shirts
1 long thermal henley sleep shirt
3 long sleeve sleep shirts
3 flannel sleep pants
3 layered look tshirts
2 pair of jeans, hopefully the right size this time
So, basically, I should be drowning in warm, cozy clothing by the end of next week. Yay!
Extra points if any of it comes in on Wednesday. They're predicting snow here for Thanksgiving. Yuck.
I think that's everything for now. I tell you what, this may be a particularly boring blog to read, but I could crank out these little updates all day.
Julie, yes my birthday was Monday! It's the first birthday I've spent with family in years. One of my favorite breakfast, one of my favorite dinners, birthday cake-- yellow cake with chocolate frosting and Homemade Vanilla Blue Bell Ice Cream (the best ice cream in the world and formerly available only in Texas), a dozen roses from my parents, and a bunch of birthday cards. It was a good day.
But my hand still hurts.
I was in the bathroom earlier this evening when I heard, "Bad cat! What did you do?" Turns out, what the cat did was get up on the table and chew up four out of the 12 hamburger buns in the package. I mean just totally annihilated them. It was bound to happen sometime. I warned Mom that he does this. She may be annoyed, but she also thought it was funny. She had a heck of a time telling me about it without laughing. Mom always smirks at how Troub has Dad wrapped around his little paw, but he's got her, too.
Tomorrow we get my stuff out of storage. It's lived there since I moved to Massachusetts Labor Day weekend. I can't wait to sleep in my own bed and set up my Wii. I want to see my Wee Peeple dolls again and have my own clothes hamper. Unfortunately, this means I'm going to be up to my eyeballs in boxes or the foreseeable future. Pray for me.
Things are... not going well for my brother's marriage. I would not be surprised if she files for divorce sometime after Thanksgiving. You never know, things could work out after all. But I'll be shocked if she doesn't file by the end of January. Ordinarily I wouldn't mention any of this, as it's most certainly Not My Business. But it's causing drama with the 'rents. If he does what he was talking about doing earlier today and moves to another state, there will be an explosion of epic proportions. Mom has been gloating for weeks about all of us being together again. She is going to lose her shit if he takes off now that we've moved across the country to be here. Maybe this is just early-onset divorce crazy, and he'll live on our couch for six months instead.
I finally broke down and ordered my new clothes today. I got:
2 zip front hooded sweatshirts
1 zip front, floor length, hooded bathroom (I spend so much time lounging in the one I already had, I decided to get another)
3 long sleeve tshirts
3 thermal shirts
1 long thermal henley sleep shirt
3 long sleeve sleep shirts
3 flannel sleep pants
3 layered look tshirts
2 pair of jeans, hopefully the right size this time
So, basically, I should be drowning in warm, cozy clothing by the end of next week. Yay!
Extra points if any of it comes in on Wednesday. They're predicting snow here for Thanksgiving. Yuck.
I think that's everything for now. I tell you what, this may be a particularly boring blog to read, but I could crank out these little updates all day.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
A Moment of Grace
I hadn't been out of the house for a couple of days, so this afternoon I decided to go grocery shopping with my mom. I made it as far as the driveway, where I committed one of the greatest pratfalls of all time. It wasn't pretty, ya'll. The only thing I could think as I sprawled across the pavement was, "oh, please, don't let me have broken anything." Because, of course, I don't have any insurance. Fortunately, while the palm of my left hand is pretty shredded, and the whole hand is stiff and swollen, there's no sign of broken bones. Whew.
And speaking of graceful, Julie mentioned in the comments getting food all over her sleeves. I don't have that problem so much, but I do have an amazing ability to dribble food down my front. I don't think I have a single shirt that doesn't have a stain somewhere. Since I'm getting new clothes, it's time to do something about it. When we saw my great aunt last month, she had something she called her "pearls", and I plan to try to make something similar for myself. Auntie's is a string of pearl beads with an alligator clip at each end. You sling the strand around your neck and clip each end to the napkin instead of tucking it into your shirt. The difference is that I plan to knit a length of icord instead of using beads. Sock yarn should make a thin enough cord, and the colors should be a lot of fun. When I told Mom what I was planning to do, she decided she wanted one, too. So now I have a new project, as soon as the swelling goes down. ugh.
And speaking of graceful, Julie mentioned in the comments getting food all over her sleeves. I don't have that problem so much, but I do have an amazing ability to dribble food down my front. I don't think I have a single shirt that doesn't have a stain somewhere. Since I'm getting new clothes, it's time to do something about it. When we saw my great aunt last month, she had something she called her "pearls", and I plan to try to make something similar for myself. Auntie's is a string of pearl beads with an alligator clip at each end. You sling the strand around your neck and clip each end to the napkin instead of tucking it into your shirt. The difference is that I plan to knit a length of icord instead of using beads. Sock yarn should make a thin enough cord, and the colors should be a lot of fun. When I told Mom what I was planning to do, she decided she wanted one, too. So now I have a new project, as soon as the swelling goes down. ugh.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Upon the Horns of a Dilemna
It's time to share another secret with you all. Despite my love of Project Runway and America's Next Top Model, I'm pretty ambivalent about my own clothing. I have few requirements, and none of them have anything to do with looking stylish.
The first problem is fit. I am a fat girl. I'm not being coy. I'm not talking about needing to lose 10 lbs or comparing myself to models on the covers of magazines. The last time I was on a scale I was over 300 lbs, and that kind of weight comes with clothing challenges. Shirts are constantly too short, revealing, if you'll forgive my mixing of metaphors, my fish belly white muffin top. It's embarrassing. If you notice us fat girls constantly yanking down the hems of our shirts, that's why. They're just too damn short.
With pants I often find them unacceptably tight over the gut, hips, and tush, but ridiculously wide from mid-thigh down. Sometimes the waistband is tight also, but more often it gapes ridiculously. Not only does the skin tight stuff over the tummy, butt, and thighs emphasize exactly what we'd like to pretend isn't there, but with the Crohn's anything that presses against my stomach is painful. So the challenge becomes finding pants that I can sit and stand in without swimming in them or being cut in half.
Those are two of the *ahem* biggest problems I have with finding clothes. The next problem is one of availability and standards. Have you noticed how often big women wear unnatural fabrics and sequins? This is not by choice. It's exceptionally hard to find sane clothing made from natural fabrics for plus sized women in stores. There are catalogs, but you never know what you're getting until it arrives. Will the quality be good? Will it fit right or will it be a complete disaster? And because fat clothes are apparently a specialty item, even though a growing portion of the population need them, they tend to be more expensive. It makes sense, I guess. Significant demand, plus limited supply, means higher prices and fewer bargains.
Well, I didn't mean to rant. I guess I had a few things to get off my chest. The real reason I started this post was because I have some wardrobe building to do, and I'm feeling stuck. I've already ordered a few things, a couple of which fit and are exactly what I was looking for. A couple were what I want, but the sizes were completely ridiculous. I bought jeans in two different styles, figuring one or the other would work for me. I followed the sizing instructions. And they both look like clown pants. I followed the same sizing instructions, and the flannel pants and thermal top sets I bought are just right. Go figure.
Anyway, I'm going to post a few things, and I'd love to get your opinion. Keep in mind that I spend 90% of my time at home, so comfy is the word of the day. When I do go out it will be casual-- jeans if I can figure out what size fits me and a basic top. And I've moved from toasty Texas to the frigid north, so warmth is an issue. I'm doing most of my shopping at OneStopPlus.com, but I can also get basics, like long sleeve tshirts, for a good price at Walmart.com. They might not carry the sizes I need in the store, but I can sometimes find them online.
So, here's some of what I'm looking at. I'd like at least a couple more pair of flannel pants for lounging around the house.
I'm not absolutely in love with any of the color combinations. There's a sage thermal top that matches the sage flannel pants in option one, but I like the top much more than the bottoms. The french lilac combo of option two is all right, and you can get discount on both pieces when you buy a long sleeve cotton tshirt to match. But again, I'm not totally sold. (I prefer more vibrant colors.) The red/white/black check in option two is all right, but I'm not sure the large square checks are the most flattering.
I do really like the yellow-with-blue-flowers version of this thermal, but several people mention in the reviews that it's scratchy. I'm a delicate flower, and if it's scratchy I probably won't wear it.
And I like the layered-look crewneck tee, which comes in colored sleeves and white sleeves.
I'm spoiled for choices with these-- there are a million colors so it's hard to make a decision. They're offering $4 off if you buy two or more.
And I really like the look of this sherpa sweatshirt. Looks snuggly and warm. I'm even pretty sure what color I want-- golden wheat. I'm just not sure I want to spend the money.
I know this is dumb. We're just talking about around the house slouchware. But funds are limited, and I can't try any of this stuff on before buying (although I can return it if necessary), and I need some help. So help! Which of these should I get?
The first problem is fit. I am a fat girl. I'm not being coy. I'm not talking about needing to lose 10 lbs or comparing myself to models on the covers of magazines. The last time I was on a scale I was over 300 lbs, and that kind of weight comes with clothing challenges. Shirts are constantly too short, revealing, if you'll forgive my mixing of metaphors, my fish belly white muffin top. It's embarrassing. If you notice us fat girls constantly yanking down the hems of our shirts, that's why. They're just too damn short.
With pants I often find them unacceptably tight over the gut, hips, and tush, but ridiculously wide from mid-thigh down. Sometimes the waistband is tight also, but more often it gapes ridiculously. Not only does the skin tight stuff over the tummy, butt, and thighs emphasize exactly what we'd like to pretend isn't there, but with the Crohn's anything that presses against my stomach is painful. So the challenge becomes finding pants that I can sit and stand in without swimming in them or being cut in half.
Those are two of the *ahem* biggest problems I have with finding clothes. The next problem is one of availability and standards. Have you noticed how often big women wear unnatural fabrics and sequins? This is not by choice. It's exceptionally hard to find sane clothing made from natural fabrics for plus sized women in stores. There are catalogs, but you never know what you're getting until it arrives. Will the quality be good? Will it fit right or will it be a complete disaster? And because fat clothes are apparently a specialty item, even though a growing portion of the population need them, they tend to be more expensive. It makes sense, I guess. Significant demand, plus limited supply, means higher prices and fewer bargains.
Well, I didn't mean to rant. I guess I had a few things to get off my chest. The real reason I started this post was because I have some wardrobe building to do, and I'm feeling stuck. I've already ordered a few things, a couple of which fit and are exactly what I was looking for. A couple were what I want, but the sizes were completely ridiculous. I bought jeans in two different styles, figuring one or the other would work for me. I followed the sizing instructions. And they both look like clown pants. I followed the same sizing instructions, and the flannel pants and thermal top sets I bought are just right. Go figure.
Anyway, I'm going to post a few things, and I'd love to get your opinion. Keep in mind that I spend 90% of my time at home, so comfy is the word of the day. When I do go out it will be casual-- jeans if I can figure out what size fits me and a basic top. And I've moved from toasty Texas to the frigid north, so warmth is an issue. I'm doing most of my shopping at OneStopPlus.com, but I can also get basics, like long sleeve tshirts, for a good price at Walmart.com. They might not carry the sizes I need in the store, but I can sometimes find them online.
So, here's some of what I'm looking at. I'd like at least a couple more pair of flannel pants for lounging around the house.
 |
| Option one |
 |
| Option two |
I'm not absolutely in love with any of the color combinations. There's a sage thermal top that matches the sage flannel pants in option one, but I like the top much more than the bottoms. The french lilac combo of option two is all right, and you can get discount on both pieces when you buy a long sleeve cotton tshirt to match. But again, I'm not totally sold. (I prefer more vibrant colors.) The red/white/black check in option two is all right, but I'm not sure the large square checks are the most flattering.
I do really like the yellow-with-blue-flowers version of this thermal, but several people mention in the reviews that it's scratchy. I'm a delicate flower, and if it's scratchy I probably won't wear it.
 |
| scratchy thermal? |
 |
| colored |
 |
| white |
I'm spoiled for choices with these-- there are a million colors so it's hard to make a decision. They're offering $4 off if you buy two or more.
And I really like the look of this sherpa sweatshirt. Looks snuggly and warm. I'm even pretty sure what color I want-- golden wheat. I'm just not sure I want to spend the money.
 |
| sherpa sweatshirt |
I know this is dumb. We're just talking about around the house slouchware. But funds are limited, and I can't try any of this stuff on before buying (although I can return it if necessary), and I need some help. So help! Which of these should I get?
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Fun With Drugs
I just finished pricing my meds at all the local pharmacies. Fun, fun, fun. I have no health insurance at the moment, and the future does not look promising on that front, so I'm paying for all my meds out of pocket. Let me tell you, this shit ain't cheap. If you've got prescription drug coverage, raise a glass to your insurance provider. You could be paying much, much more.
I was a little surprised at first how widely the prices varied at different pharmacies. Then I thought I would end up with a different prescription at every pharmacy in town. But it turns out that the best prices are evenly split between two places-- Sam's Club and Walgreen's, with the W card. All but one of the worst prices are at CVS. The cheapest refills will save me a little more than $150 over the most expensive ones. That's a pretty big difference when you consider it's the exact same pills in either bottle.
On a brighter note, I remembered something about the trip from Massachusetts to Indiana that I forgot to tell you. (I have Swiss cheese for brains, I swear.) As we were driving through Pennsylvania we passed about a million deer crossing signs. But someone in the Keystone State has a sense of humor, so they looked a little something like this (not my picture):
Happy Wednesday, y'all!
I was a little surprised at first how widely the prices varied at different pharmacies. Then I thought I would end up with a different prescription at every pharmacy in town. But it turns out that the best prices are evenly split between two places-- Sam's Club and Walgreen's, with the W card. All but one of the worst prices are at CVS. The cheapest refills will save me a little more than $150 over the most expensive ones. That's a pretty big difference when you consider it's the exact same pills in either bottle.
On a brighter note, I remembered something about the trip from Massachusetts to Indiana that I forgot to tell you. (I have Swiss cheese for brains, I swear.) As we were driving through Pennsylvania we passed about a million deer crossing signs. But someone in the Keystone State has a sense of humor, so they looked a little something like this (not my picture):
Happy Wednesday, y'all!
Monday, November 08, 2010
I'm Back!
Glory, hallelujah! We have achieved internet! I went approximately 9 days, four hours without any kind of communication with the outside world. Please God, never again. It may have been the cold, dry air that I'm totally not used to anymore, but I choose to believe it was the lack of internet that has been causing this all over body itching. Hopefully it will go away now that I have unlimited access to all the LOLcats and porn a person could ever hope to consume. (Oh, pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease! I'm not kidding about the itching part.)
We've only met a couple of the neighbors so far. Next door we have two sisters, somewhere in their 60s I'd guess. There are raspberry bushes at the back of our property lines, and they brought us a jar of their homemade raspberry preserves. This stuff is good. As of breakfast this morning, the preserves are already gone. I'm hoping if we return their glass jar, they'll share again next year. Either that or Mom's going to have to take up making and canning preserves again, because this was way better than what you get at the store.
Last week I went to visit my new LYS. (Local Yarn Store. Not that the store is new, although I think it might be new-ish. More that I'm new to the local.) It's small but serviceable. But the best part is that they're friendly. The shop cat, George, came over to make friends before I'd had a chance to more than glance at my first shelf. (That was a bit bittersweet, because George looks a lot like my best friend's cat did about 10 years ago. Nico-kitty is getting up there, and his plumage is much less plumy these days. Plus they are a thousand miles away now, so not much chance to stop by and see them.) They have knit ins on Friday nights, so I'll probably go this week and check it out. Goodness knows I have plenty of knitting to do.
There's probably other stuff I meant to tell you, but it's late and I'm high on internet. G'night, all!
We've only met a couple of the neighbors so far. Next door we have two sisters, somewhere in their 60s I'd guess. There are raspberry bushes at the back of our property lines, and they brought us a jar of their homemade raspberry preserves. This stuff is good. As of breakfast this morning, the preserves are already gone. I'm hoping if we return their glass jar, they'll share again next year. Either that or Mom's going to have to take up making and canning preserves again, because this was way better than what you get at the store.
Last week I went to visit my new LYS. (Local Yarn Store. Not that the store is new, although I think it might be new-ish. More that I'm new to the local.) It's small but serviceable. But the best part is that they're friendly. The shop cat, George, came over to make friends before I'd had a chance to more than glance at my first shelf. (That was a bit bittersweet, because George looks a lot like my best friend's cat did about 10 years ago. Nico-kitty is getting up there, and his plumage is much less plumy these days. Plus they are a thousand miles away now, so not much chance to stop by and see them.) They have knit ins on Friday nights, so I'll probably go this week and check it out. Goodness knows I have plenty of knitting to do.
There's probably other stuff I meant to tell you, but it's late and I'm high on internet. G'night, all!
Friday, October 29, 2010
Travelogue
It took several days, and the recovery has taken several more, but I'm finally in Indiana and sort of back to normal after the trip. Here are a few highlights.
We made it to Danvers, CT the first night, where we missed our exit and then drove in circles for half an hour trying to find the hotel. This gave us the opportunity to drive past the world's largest dairy store. The drive the next morning through the rest of CT, NY, and into Pennsylvania was gorgeous. We passed through or by a few interesting towns, including Lords Valley, PA and Frackville. We stopped to get gas, and everyone's spirits were lifted when I spotted a display of Tastykakes, the greatest snack food known to man. And available almost exclusively in Pennsylvania. (It was apparently not the first time the woman behind the counter had a group of semi-delirious travelers carry the entire contents of her snack cake display up to the register.) We stocked up on Krimpets and TastyPies and hit the road again.
Next stop was Hershey, PA, The Sweetest Place on Earth, and home to Hershey's Chocolate. Also home to Hershey Park, where I had such a good time as a child that my family still hasn't let me live it down. Wahoo! We drove down both Chocolate Avenue and Cocoa Avenue. Usually the whole town smells like chocolate, but they weren't making any the day we drove through. Apparently, they're in the process of moving the actual chocolate making to China. We also drove past a Dove facility.
The reason we were in Hershey is that my great aunt lives in the Masonic home next door in Elizabethtown. Wowza, is that place big. It could probably be a whole city by itself. Auntie was in fine form. 91 and sharp as a tack, she was overjoyed to have us stay with her for the night, even though Trouble decided to jump up on her bed and hide under her $1,000 hand stitched quilt. Otherwise, he was very well behaved. Except for the part when it was time to leave and he decided he wasn't going back in that damn carrier no matter what anyone said. He ran around Auntie's living room like his tail was on fire, while she crooned "poor baby" and my father and uncle alternately chased him and jumped away in fear of being bit. He wouldn't really bite anyone. Troub is a pacifist at heart, as well as being the original scaredy cat. But he did NOT want to go back in that carrier. (Can't say I blame him.) He actually growled at everyone, including me.
The next day was the miserable slog. Nine hours+ in the car, from Elizabethtown, PA all the way to Indianapolis. It was the long day, so of course my Crohn's decided to kick up about 15 minutes after we got in the car. Stupid stomach. We went through some tunnels, and we stopped at a rest stop where we stocked up again on TastyKakes and I found a Hershey Kiss magnet to add to my magnet collection. (I now have a magnet from every state I've ever lived in, except for Iowa, and a lot of other fun ones, too. I'm hoping to come up with a way to display them in my room that won't cost and arm and a leg. Large magnetic white boards aren't cheap.) I remember waving at Jenny and Lucy as we blew through Columbus sometime around 6:30 that evening. Other than that, the day is mostly just one long, dreadful blur. We rolled into the hotel around 9:30pm. I don't think four people and a cat have ever been happier to get out of a car.
And that is the story of my trip from Massachusetts to Indiana. I'd post pictures, but I didn't take any. (They wouldn't have been any good anyway. I'm a terrible photographer.) Sometime in the next 20 hours or so I'll try to fill you in on the house. I'm pretty sure we'll be moving out of the hotel tomorrow, and God only knows when I'll have internet access again. As far as I know, my parents haven't even contacted the phone company about setting up service yet. Oh, well. I guess that's why Starbucks was invented.
We made it to Danvers, CT the first night, where we missed our exit and then drove in circles for half an hour trying to find the hotel. This gave us the opportunity to drive past the world's largest dairy store. The drive the next morning through the rest of CT, NY, and into Pennsylvania was gorgeous. We passed through or by a few interesting towns, including Lords Valley, PA and Frackville. We stopped to get gas, and everyone's spirits were lifted when I spotted a display of Tastykakes, the greatest snack food known to man. And available almost exclusively in Pennsylvania. (It was apparently not the first time the woman behind the counter had a group of semi-delirious travelers carry the entire contents of her snack cake display up to the register.) We stocked up on Krimpets and TastyPies and hit the road again.
Next stop was Hershey, PA, The Sweetest Place on Earth, and home to Hershey's Chocolate. Also home to Hershey Park, where I had such a good time as a child that my family still hasn't let me live it down. Wahoo! We drove down both Chocolate Avenue and Cocoa Avenue. Usually the whole town smells like chocolate, but they weren't making any the day we drove through. Apparently, they're in the process of moving the actual chocolate making to China. We also drove past a Dove facility.
The reason we were in Hershey is that my great aunt lives in the Masonic home next door in Elizabethtown. Wowza, is that place big. It could probably be a whole city by itself. Auntie was in fine form. 91 and sharp as a tack, she was overjoyed to have us stay with her for the night, even though Trouble decided to jump up on her bed and hide under her $1,000 hand stitched quilt. Otherwise, he was very well behaved. Except for the part when it was time to leave and he decided he wasn't going back in that damn carrier no matter what anyone said. He ran around Auntie's living room like his tail was on fire, while she crooned "poor baby" and my father and uncle alternately chased him and jumped away in fear of being bit. He wouldn't really bite anyone. Troub is a pacifist at heart, as well as being the original scaredy cat. But he did NOT want to go back in that carrier. (Can't say I blame him.) He actually growled at everyone, including me.
The next day was the miserable slog. Nine hours+ in the car, from Elizabethtown, PA all the way to Indianapolis. It was the long day, so of course my Crohn's decided to kick up about 15 minutes after we got in the car. Stupid stomach. We went through some tunnels, and we stopped at a rest stop where we stocked up again on TastyKakes and I found a Hershey Kiss magnet to add to my magnet collection. (I now have a magnet from every state I've ever lived in, except for Iowa, and a lot of other fun ones, too. I'm hoping to come up with a way to display them in my room that won't cost and arm and a leg. Large magnetic white boards aren't cheap.) I remember waving at Jenny and Lucy as we blew through Columbus sometime around 6:30 that evening. Other than that, the day is mostly just one long, dreadful blur. We rolled into the hotel around 9:30pm. I don't think four people and a cat have ever been happier to get out of a car.
And that is the story of my trip from Massachusetts to Indiana. I'd post pictures, but I didn't take any. (They wouldn't have been any good anyway. I'm a terrible photographer.) Sometime in the next 20 hours or so I'll try to fill you in on the house. I'm pretty sure we'll be moving out of the hotel tomorrow, and God only knows when I'll have internet access again. As far as I know, my parents haven't even contacted the phone company about setting up service yet. Oh, well. I guess that's why Starbucks was invented.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Come On, Get Happy!
My recent posts have all been grumpy, angsty stress-fests, so I've decided to do another 10 Happy Things post.
1. I've picked out my parents' Christmas present! They love Cook's Illustrated, and they love the TV show America's Test Kitchen. Well they've come out with a cookbook, and Barnes & Noble has it for 50% off with a coupon through the end of next week. Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner! $20 for a joint gift, plus a pair or two of hand knit socks for my dad, and Mom has been asking for some more hand knit face cloths made from Cotton Tots (which is really soft and cozy). The 'rents are done!
2. Glory, Hallelujah! Mom just came in and told me that everything is finally a go with the house! Closing is now set for Monday afternoon. Then we'll beat feet for Indiana, and close on the new house hopefully sometime late next week. Woo hoo!
3. Last night we went out for dinner and had a really good time. My uncle is here, helping us get packed up and ready to go. I've always liked him, but we've never lived close or visited much, so I don't know him very well. We laughed a lot last night, and I think it's the first time we've all really relaxed and enjoyed ourselves since he got here. Maybe now that things are getting settled with the move there will be more time for that.
4. Most of the packing got done yesterday, so even though a couple of movers are here again today finishing the dregs, it is much quieter. Yay! I'm sitting on my bed with my computer in my lap (I take that whole "laptop" thing seriously) and Mom walked by and said, "I keep forgetting you're in here-- you're so quiet." Quiet is good.
5. I also just found out that I will have a hotel room to myself this weekend. Bliss. The stress and noise and commotion has really had my hair standing on end the last couple of days. Plus, Shark Week should be starting any minute, and that always sends my Crohn's out of whack.
6. I love funny names for your period. Shark Week ('cause there's blood in the water), Aunt Flow, Commies in the Funhouse-- they all amuse me terribly.
7. I've read 395 books since January 1, 2007. That's when I starting keeping track in a cool little journal I got for being the last Cherry to cross the finish line of NaNo 2006. My goal for this year was to reach 400, and I will accomplish that easily. I may even get there before the end of this month. It just depends on how much reading time I get in the next few days.
8. The neighbor across the street cut my hair the other day. I hadn't had anything done to it since right before Christmas last year, and it was getting bad. She chopped off all the split ends and stuff, and now it's less scraggly and doesn't tangle as much. It still tangles. I think that's just the nature of curly hair. But it's much, much better.
9. I'm gearing up for NaNo next month. Last night I googled around until I found some numbers for how much I might make with stories at a couple of different publishers. Then I had a high old time crunching numbers for highly improbable scenarios, like whether or not I could pay all my medical bills and a few other small expenses if I sold a book every month all year long. It looks like I could, at some of the more popular epublishers, if I continue to live with my parents. Of course, the likelihood of me writing, polishing, and selling a book a month is not great. Even when my health was better and my brain was sharper that was unlikely. But it amused me to look at all of that. (I know. I'm weird. For many people these speculations would be depressing. For me, it's a what if.)
10. It's Thursday, and I still have internet! I know it's only because the move has been put off a couple of days, but it still makes me happy. I thought I'd be cut off from the world by now.
And that's what makes me happy!
1. I've picked out my parents' Christmas present! They love Cook's Illustrated, and they love the TV show America's Test Kitchen. Well they've come out with a cookbook, and Barnes & Noble has it for 50% off with a coupon through the end of next week. Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner! $20 for a joint gift, plus a pair or two of hand knit socks for my dad, and Mom has been asking for some more hand knit face cloths made from Cotton Tots (which is really soft and cozy). The 'rents are done!
2. Glory, Hallelujah! Mom just came in and told me that everything is finally a go with the house! Closing is now set for Monday afternoon. Then we'll beat feet for Indiana, and close on the new house hopefully sometime late next week. Woo hoo!
3. Last night we went out for dinner and had a really good time. My uncle is here, helping us get packed up and ready to go. I've always liked him, but we've never lived close or visited much, so I don't know him very well. We laughed a lot last night, and I think it's the first time we've all really relaxed and enjoyed ourselves since he got here. Maybe now that things are getting settled with the move there will be more time for that.
4. Most of the packing got done yesterday, so even though a couple of movers are here again today finishing the dregs, it is much quieter. Yay! I'm sitting on my bed with my computer in my lap (I take that whole "laptop" thing seriously) and Mom walked by and said, "I keep forgetting you're in here-- you're so quiet." Quiet is good.
5. I also just found out that I will have a hotel room to myself this weekend. Bliss. The stress and noise and commotion has really had my hair standing on end the last couple of days. Plus, Shark Week should be starting any minute, and that always sends my Crohn's out of whack.
6. I love funny names for your period. Shark Week ('cause there's blood in the water), Aunt Flow, Commies in the Funhouse-- they all amuse me terribly.
7. I've read 395 books since January 1, 2007. That's when I starting keeping track in a cool little journal I got for being the last Cherry to cross the finish line of NaNo 2006. My goal for this year was to reach 400, and I will accomplish that easily. I may even get there before the end of this month. It just depends on how much reading time I get in the next few days.
8. The neighbor across the street cut my hair the other day. I hadn't had anything done to it since right before Christmas last year, and it was getting bad. She chopped off all the split ends and stuff, and now it's less scraggly and doesn't tangle as much. It still tangles. I think that's just the nature of curly hair. But it's much, much better.
9. I'm gearing up for NaNo next month. Last night I googled around until I found some numbers for how much I might make with stories at a couple of different publishers. Then I had a high old time crunching numbers for highly improbable scenarios, like whether or not I could pay all my medical bills and a few other small expenses if I sold a book every month all year long. It looks like I could, at some of the more popular epublishers, if I continue to live with my parents. Of course, the likelihood of me writing, polishing, and selling a book a month is not great. Even when my health was better and my brain was sharper that was unlikely. But it amused me to look at all of that. (I know. I'm weird. For many people these speculations would be depressing. For me, it's a what if.)
10. It's Thursday, and I still have internet! I know it's only because the move has been put off a couple of days, but it still makes me happy. I thought I'd be cut off from the world by now.
And that's what makes me happy!
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Odds and Ends
No big news to report today, just lots of little things.
Yesterday on Twitter I learned that Toni Blake has written a romance novel featuring a heroine who has Crohn's disease. The book comes out at the end of December. I'm hoping if things really settle in with Books and Bacon in the next 6 to 8 weeks that the author will agree to do a guest blog or an interview or something. I think it's so cool that someone has written a main character with Crohn's. Usually we're the weird, hard to solve problem on medical dramas. At worst, we're portrayed as drug seekers. It will be nice to see a positive, and hopefully realistic, depiction of what it's like to live with this disease.
In other book news, the latest Vorkosigan novel comes out today. And I just found out last night that all the first editions come with a CD that has all of the books in the series (well, all but one, which appears to have been left off for some reason) in ebook format. I wanted it before, and I've been checking Amazon pretty much daily to figure out when it would be available for Kindle. Now I'm foaming at the mouth for it! I don't particularly want the hardback, although I'm not totally opposed to the idea. But I really, really want those ebooks! I've been thinking about buying the whole series in ebook, since I got them all from the library and don't have my own copies. (Some of my favorite books, and I don't have copies!) This will save me big bucks. Amazon has it for a good price, and I've been trying to figure out what else I want to get to bring the total cost up to $25 for the free shipping. I'm thinking Wii game, since I'll hopefully be able to hook that up again soon, but I'm not seeing anything I really want that won't cost me $40. Maybe I'll just suck it up and pay the $3.99 for shipping.
The moving isn't going so well. There are problems with someone's mortgage up the chain. We're four days from closing, and we still don't have a written commitment to purchase the house. We're not putting all our stuff on a moving truck unless we're sure that the sale is going through. So as you can imagine, this is causing a lot of stress.
The cat went to "summer camp" this afternoon in preparation for the packers coming in tomorrow. (We're still packing, because we'll be up shit creek if we don't and the sale goes through. We're just not putting all the boxes on a truck.) I miss the little booger already. Although I won't miss him screaming in my ear at 6am because he wants his breakfast. I didn't have the heart to tell her, but Mom didn't make it any easier when she insisted on helping stuff him in his carrier. He loves his grandmom, but sometimes she freaks him out, too. She's not used to handling him. There was much scrambling around in my room for a little while this afternoon. And not the good kind.
Well, I guess that's everything for the moment. I should probably go stick something in a box, just in case we do end up moving to Indiana after all. I swear I haven't been sticking pins in a voo doo doll of the realtor, or hiring Witchy to cast a spell against the sale or anything. Really. I promise.
Update: My brother called tonight. He had a stomach bug yesterday that kicked off a round of seizures so bad that he doesn't remember the ride in the ambulance to the hospital. He's at home now, and he worked part of a day today. I love my brother, but he can be so FRUSTRATING with this stuff. One, his doctor is clueless as to why this is happening, but he won't switch doctors or get a second opinion. So his condition is only ever on the edge of being controlled. Any emotional or physical upset kicks them off again. Two, he's not always good about taking his medication, which only exacerbates the problem. Indiana leaves driving restriction to the doctors (Texas required a full 12 months without a seizure before you could get your license back), and his doctor is doing nothing. Which means my brother, who hasn't managed to be seizure free for more than a few months at a time since this started two years ago, is still driving himself whenever he wants. The "You could kill someone!" argument gets nowhere, because he claims he can feel them coming on and can just pull over to the side of the road. I don't know what's going to have to happen to make him take this seriously. The last time I talked to him about all this he said he didn't feel like it was something he had to worry about all that much about because they were only happening every couple of months. A seizure every couple of months is NOT acceptable. Not when your entire attempt to deal with the problem consists of one doctor shrugging his shoulders and saying, "I don't know." Grrr.
Yesterday on Twitter I learned that Toni Blake has written a romance novel featuring a heroine who has Crohn's disease. The book comes out at the end of December. I'm hoping if things really settle in with Books and Bacon in the next 6 to 8 weeks that the author will agree to do a guest blog or an interview or something. I think it's so cool that someone has written a main character with Crohn's. Usually we're the weird, hard to solve problem on medical dramas. At worst, we're portrayed as drug seekers. It will be nice to see a positive, and hopefully realistic, depiction of what it's like to live with this disease.
In other book news, the latest Vorkosigan novel comes out today. And I just found out last night that all the first editions come with a CD that has all of the books in the series (well, all but one, which appears to have been left off for some reason) in ebook format. I wanted it before, and I've been checking Amazon pretty much daily to figure out when it would be available for Kindle. Now I'm foaming at the mouth for it! I don't particularly want the hardback, although I'm not totally opposed to the idea. But I really, really want those ebooks! I've been thinking about buying the whole series in ebook, since I got them all from the library and don't have my own copies. (Some of my favorite books, and I don't have copies!) This will save me big bucks. Amazon has it for a good price, and I've been trying to figure out what else I want to get to bring the total cost up to $25 for the free shipping. I'm thinking Wii game, since I'll hopefully be able to hook that up again soon, but I'm not seeing anything I really want that won't cost me $40. Maybe I'll just suck it up and pay the $3.99 for shipping.
The moving isn't going so well. There are problems with someone's mortgage up the chain. We're four days from closing, and we still don't have a written commitment to purchase the house. We're not putting all our stuff on a moving truck unless we're sure that the sale is going through. So as you can imagine, this is causing a lot of stress.
The cat went to "summer camp" this afternoon in preparation for the packers coming in tomorrow. (We're still packing, because we'll be up shit creek if we don't and the sale goes through. We're just not putting all the boxes on a truck.) I miss the little booger already. Although I won't miss him screaming in my ear at 6am because he wants his breakfast. I didn't have the heart to tell her, but Mom didn't make it any easier when she insisted on helping stuff him in his carrier. He loves his grandmom, but sometimes she freaks him out, too. She's not used to handling him. There was much scrambling around in my room for a little while this afternoon. And not the good kind.
Well, I guess that's everything for the moment. I should probably go stick something in a box, just in case we do end up moving to Indiana after all. I swear I haven't been sticking pins in a voo doo doll of the realtor, or hiring Witchy to cast a spell against the sale or anything. Really. I promise.
Update: My brother called tonight. He had a stomach bug yesterday that kicked off a round of seizures so bad that he doesn't remember the ride in the ambulance to the hospital. He's at home now, and he worked part of a day today. I love my brother, but he can be so FRUSTRATING with this stuff. One, his doctor is clueless as to why this is happening, but he won't switch doctors or get a second opinion. So his condition is only ever on the edge of being controlled. Any emotional or physical upset kicks them off again. Two, he's not always good about taking his medication, which only exacerbates the problem. Indiana leaves driving restriction to the doctors (Texas required a full 12 months without a seizure before you could get your license back), and his doctor is doing nothing. Which means my brother, who hasn't managed to be seizure free for more than a few months at a time since this started two years ago, is still driving himself whenever he wants. The "You could kill someone!" argument gets nowhere, because he claims he can feel them coming on and can just pull over to the side of the road. I don't know what's going to have to happen to make him take this seriously. The last time I talked to him about all this he said he didn't feel like it was something he had to worry about all that much about because they were only happening every couple of months. A seizure every couple of months is NOT acceptable. Not when your entire attempt to deal with the problem consists of one doctor shrugging his shoulders and saying, "I don't know." Grrr.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Confession Time
In case you haven't noticed, I'm not too excited about moving back to Indiana. Even the possibility of meeting the Great and Terrible Fokker hasn't been enough to get me jazzed about it. I've known in my heart why this is bothering me so much, but I haven't shared it with anyone yet. Well, what is a blog for if not confessing your darkest fears and secrets? So here goes.
I was not happy when I lived in Indiana the first time. We moved there just in time for me to start my freshman year of high school, and I didn't want to go then, either. We'd been living in Texas, and I was really happy there. I had lots of friends, and starting over at that age can be difficult. (Of course, as I'm finding out, starting over at any age is difficult.) Even thought I lived there for four years, I never really found my tribe. I was in band, and I had band friends. I was in honors, and I had honors friends. But I never found friends that I really fit with. I haven't kept in touch with anyone I knew in high school.
So even though I know this move is the best thing for my parents, that they are retiring in a place where they have many friends and roots in the community, there's nothing like that there for me. Mom is over the moon that her two children will be in the same city with her for the first time in more than 15 years. I'm glad that I'll get the chance to spend more time with my brother and that I'll be able to get to know my sister in law, whom I've only met three times. But that opportunity doesn't outweigh the dread for me.
The biggest part of the problem, which I realize is going to totally contradict what I said above, is that I'm terrified of seeing anyone I knew in high school. I'm sick, I'm fat, I'm not working, and I've moved across the country to live with my parents. It's the perfect Hollywood vision of a loser. And I feel like a loser. And I don't want anyone who has ever known me to see me like that. I don't know why this fear is so strong. I haven't seen these people in nearly 20 years. They have no meaning in my life, except as people I used to know a long time ago. But I'm still afraid.
Somehow, I didn't feel this way in Texas, The people who know me there watched my life tank. They saw my health go down the toilet. They know me and have learned to accept my limitations. They love me anyway. But all these new people, they don't know me any more. I used to be slim (although I couldn't see it then) and energetic. I was in the marching band and Academic Decathlon and a million other clubs and activities. I was always going. And yet all that activity has lead to no where. I'm right back to where I used to be, living in Indiana with my mom and dad, having accomplished nothing. It makes me want to curl up in a corner and hide.
I was not happy when I lived in Indiana the first time. We moved there just in time for me to start my freshman year of high school, and I didn't want to go then, either. We'd been living in Texas, and I was really happy there. I had lots of friends, and starting over at that age can be difficult. (Of course, as I'm finding out, starting over at any age is difficult.) Even thought I lived there for four years, I never really found my tribe. I was in band, and I had band friends. I was in honors, and I had honors friends. But I never found friends that I really fit with. I haven't kept in touch with anyone I knew in high school.
So even though I know this move is the best thing for my parents, that they are retiring in a place where they have many friends and roots in the community, there's nothing like that there for me. Mom is over the moon that her two children will be in the same city with her for the first time in more than 15 years. I'm glad that I'll get the chance to spend more time with my brother and that I'll be able to get to know my sister in law, whom I've only met three times. But that opportunity doesn't outweigh the dread for me.
The biggest part of the problem, which I realize is going to totally contradict what I said above, is that I'm terrified of seeing anyone I knew in high school. I'm sick, I'm fat, I'm not working, and I've moved across the country to live with my parents. It's the perfect Hollywood vision of a loser. And I feel like a loser. And I don't want anyone who has ever known me to see me like that. I don't know why this fear is so strong. I haven't seen these people in nearly 20 years. They have no meaning in my life, except as people I used to know a long time ago. But I'm still afraid.
Somehow, I didn't feel this way in Texas, The people who know me there watched my life tank. They saw my health go down the toilet. They know me and have learned to accept my limitations. They love me anyway. But all these new people, they don't know me any more. I used to be slim (although I couldn't see it then) and energetic. I was in the marching band and Academic Decathlon and a million other clubs and activities. I was always going. And yet all that activity has lead to no where. I'm right back to where I used to be, living in Indiana with my mom and dad, having accomplished nothing. It makes me want to curl up in a corner and hide.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Why I Hate the Drug Companies
This afternoon I crossed state lines in an attempt to buy prescription medication. In the good old days (you know, like August) I could go down the street and get a prescription from my local pharmacy for $30 because I had prescription drug coverage through my insurance. Now I am uninsured, but I still need medicines, this one particularly, because it's a steroid and you can just stop those puppies cold turkey.
So I called around last week to find out who had my prescriptions for the best prices. Target was the winner with this one at $1011 for a one month refill. That's right. One month. So, plan B. I remembered I had a card from the drug company that would help me pay for this medication. So I took it to Walgreens, where I was picking up another prescription at the time, and asked them to check it out. Turns out the card is worth $500. Woo hoo! But it's good everywhere but Massachusetts, where I currently live. sigh. Time for a new plan.
So I take my prescription bottle with all the info on it and my magic card to a Target across the state line in New Hampshire. No big deal. It's not that far away, and my parents had errands they wanted to run in the area anyway. I give the bottle and the card to the pharmacist, explain that I'd like to transfer my prescription to Target and get as many pills as the $500 card will allow. Call me if there are any problems.
An hour later I'm sitting on a bench in the mall, waiting for my parents to do something or other, when I get a call from Target. They're very sorry, but they can't get the card to work. You must have primary insurance that will pay for at least part of the prescription, and then the card will cover the rest, up to $500.
Hell.
After suppressing the urge to throw things, I asked her how much one week of the prescription would cost. $232.26. Fortunately, steroids require tapers, and one week of the prescription as written is actually three weeks of medication for me. (You're supposed to take 1 pill a day for 6 weeks to safely taper. It's going to be more like 30 days.) So I gritted my teeth and bought the damn drugs.
And then I had a perfectly miserable time thinking of all the things I could have bought with that $232.26.
Bastards.
One good spot in all this mess-- I got a $10 Target card from the pharmacist. I think she felt bad for me. I'm going to save it just in case I need more of this medication. It will almost buy me one pill.
So I called around last week to find out who had my prescriptions for the best prices. Target was the winner with this one at $1011 for a one month refill. That's right. One month. So, plan B. I remembered I had a card from the drug company that would help me pay for this medication. So I took it to Walgreens, where I was picking up another prescription at the time, and asked them to check it out. Turns out the card is worth $500. Woo hoo! But it's good everywhere but Massachusetts, where I currently live. sigh. Time for a new plan.
So I take my prescription bottle with all the info on it and my magic card to a Target across the state line in New Hampshire. No big deal. It's not that far away, and my parents had errands they wanted to run in the area anyway. I give the bottle and the card to the pharmacist, explain that I'd like to transfer my prescription to Target and get as many pills as the $500 card will allow. Call me if there are any problems.
An hour later I'm sitting on a bench in the mall, waiting for my parents to do something or other, when I get a call from Target. They're very sorry, but they can't get the card to work. You must have primary insurance that will pay for at least part of the prescription, and then the card will cover the rest, up to $500.
Hell.
After suppressing the urge to throw things, I asked her how much one week of the prescription would cost. $232.26. Fortunately, steroids require tapers, and one week of the prescription as written is actually three weeks of medication for me. (You're supposed to take 1 pill a day for 6 weeks to safely taper. It's going to be more like 30 days.) So I gritted my teeth and bought the damn drugs.
And then I had a perfectly miserable time thinking of all the things I could have bought with that $232.26.
- 1/3 of a month's medical insurance premium
- a car payment on my beloved Toyota that I had to sell when I moved here
- one of the super fancy Tivos that I was drooling over the other night
- a month's supply of three other prescriptions put together
- almost 5 months worth of cell phone service
- 29 books for my Kindle
Bastards.
One good spot in all this mess-- I got a $10 Target card from the pharmacist. I think she felt bad for me. I'm going to save it just in case I need more of this medication. It will almost buy me one pill.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Picturepalooza
I'm not feeling particularly wordy today, and I just downloaded a bunch of old pictures off of my parents' camera, so congratulations! You're getting pictures today!
These first few are Christmas ornaments that I knit for my brother and sister-in-law as Christmas presents a few years ago.
And one last set of pictures to finish off with the Christmas theme.
These first few are Christmas ornaments that I knit for my brother and sister-in-law as Christmas presents a few years ago.
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| The "body" of this little guy is a wine cork I got from someone on Freecycle. Recycling at it's finest! |
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| Mini sock |
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| Itty bitty sweater! You'll notice that all the other ornaments are Hallmark. My SIL works part time at a Hallmark store. |
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| Troubbie the Wonder Cat Also, you can see a very *small* part of my yarn collection there on the left. |
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| My Christmas tree. Wasn't it pretty? |
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| We had Christmas crackers! Isn't it lovely how my paper hat matches my outfit? |
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| Dad had a hat, too, and he looks absolutely thrilled about it. |
Huge time jump!
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| Here's a picture of what will be my bedroom in the new house. I haven't seen it in person yet, but according to my brother, it really is as small as it looks. |
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| Closet! |
And one last set of pictures to finish off with the Christmas theme.
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| Snowman! |
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| Snowman butt! |
Monday, October 11, 2010
It's Almost Time
Three weeks from today it will be November. You know what that means. NaNo time.
I haven't really done NaNo since 2006. That was an excellent NaNo for me. I made serious progress on a book that I really loved, and only got a little lost at the end. As opposed to other years where I started out strong in the first week/week and a half and then scrambled to throw any old words onto the page to finish out the month with my 50,000.
I'm not sure what I want to do this time around. I've kicked around three ideas. First, there's the story that I've been working on in Discovery. It's a good concept, definitely one worth working on. But it's... big. Slippery in my mind. And I keep finding the most creative excuses not to do the homework for class. (Embarrassingly, I fell asleep in class yesterday and missed about half of it. Lucy, if you're reading this, it was all me, not you. I woke up long enough to type I'M A GREAT WRITER!!!! and then fell asleep for another two hours.) I strongly suspect that this is just too much story for me at this time. I haven't done any writing worth mentioning in almost 4 years. Maybe I need to start with something smaller, with less at stake. I really want to try something with this story, and to do that I need more confidence, more practice under my belt.
My second idea is to write anywhere from 3 to 10 short pieces aimed at the Harlequin Spice Briefs line. I don't mean to say that these are easy to write. It takes skill to take a small concept and turn it into a full story without any extraneous bits or feeling like there's stuff that's been left out. Not to mention these are hot stories, and if you can't write a heck of a sex scene, you're sunk. But I think this is something I might be able to do this year. Take a moment, a look, a touch, and spin it into a story. Too short for saggy middles. No wallowing around, trying to figure out what to do next. It starts, they do it, you tie it all up. At NaNo pace each one should take me anywhere from a few days up to a week. (The length requirements are 5,000-15,000 words.) But can I come up with 3 to 10 little fantasies to write about?
My third idea, which has merit just for it's ridiculousness, is to just wing something, some silly, fun story, and blog it. Let any commenters throw out ideas when I get stuck. Something that will be just pure fun. Strictly writing for the hell of it. That winging it, writing on the fly type attitude strikes me as particularly NaNo-ish. And provided I can keep going and actually find a way to wrap up whatever mess I've created by Nov 30, I think it could be a pretty satisfying way to jump back into the writing pool. The only problem is, I have not the tiniest idea what this story would be about.
So, what do you think? Set my self up for failure with the big scary book, go nympho for the month and write a series of sexy shorts with an eye toward submitting one or more of them by the end of the year, or should I go foo foo crazy and blog the results for all the world to see?
I haven't really done NaNo since 2006. That was an excellent NaNo for me. I made serious progress on a book that I really loved, and only got a little lost at the end. As opposed to other years where I started out strong in the first week/week and a half and then scrambled to throw any old words onto the page to finish out the month with my 50,000.
I'm not sure what I want to do this time around. I've kicked around three ideas. First, there's the story that I've been working on in Discovery. It's a good concept, definitely one worth working on. But it's... big. Slippery in my mind. And I keep finding the most creative excuses not to do the homework for class. (Embarrassingly, I fell asleep in class yesterday and missed about half of it. Lucy, if you're reading this, it was all me, not you. I woke up long enough to type I'M A GREAT WRITER!!!! and then fell asleep for another two hours.) I strongly suspect that this is just too much story for me at this time. I haven't done any writing worth mentioning in almost 4 years. Maybe I need to start with something smaller, with less at stake. I really want to try something with this story, and to do that I need more confidence, more practice under my belt.
My second idea is to write anywhere from 3 to 10 short pieces aimed at the Harlequin Spice Briefs line. I don't mean to say that these are easy to write. It takes skill to take a small concept and turn it into a full story without any extraneous bits or feeling like there's stuff that's been left out. Not to mention these are hot stories, and if you can't write a heck of a sex scene, you're sunk. But I think this is something I might be able to do this year. Take a moment, a look, a touch, and spin it into a story. Too short for saggy middles. No wallowing around, trying to figure out what to do next. It starts, they do it, you tie it all up. At NaNo pace each one should take me anywhere from a few days up to a week. (The length requirements are 5,000-15,000 words.) But can I come up with 3 to 10 little fantasies to write about?
My third idea, which has merit just for it's ridiculousness, is to just wing something, some silly, fun story, and blog it. Let any commenters throw out ideas when I get stuck. Something that will be just pure fun. Strictly writing for the hell of it. That winging it, writing on the fly type attitude strikes me as particularly NaNo-ish. And provided I can keep going and actually find a way to wrap up whatever mess I've created by Nov 30, I think it could be a pretty satisfying way to jump back into the writing pool. The only problem is, I have not the tiniest idea what this story would be about.
So, what do you think? Set my self up for failure with the big scary book, go nympho for the month and write a series of sexy shorts with an eye toward submitting one or more of them by the end of the year, or should I go foo foo crazy and blog the results for all the world to see?
Better Blogging
I'm really enjoying this blogging thing, and I want to get better at it. So I did the logical thing and checked out a blogging group. Culture shock. They were all talking about stuff like marketing you blog, whether or not to pay to advertise your blog (do people really do this?), commenting on as many blogs as you can so that people will follow you back to your blog and comment.
Basically, it was all about increasing your stats and comments. Now don't get me wrong. I love comments. It always makes me smile when someone takes the time to comment on something that I've written.
But what I'm really looking for is suggestions on how to write a better blog. Maybe I'm naive, but I happen to believe that a good product, more interesting posts, will eventually build a larger readership. I want people to find my blog, through whatever means, and find it interesting enough to want to come back again. I don't want to spend my time trying to come up with something interesting to say about some random blog in the hope that the blogger will come back and comment here. Those comments are like the Twinkies of the blogosphere-- a brief rush but ultimately unfulfilling.
So what should I do to improve my blogging skills? Write better posts! Duh. But what is it that I'm lacking? Focus? Consistency? Is the tone too negative? Should I interact more in the comments?
Lay it on me, y'all. I can take it.
Basically, it was all about increasing your stats and comments. Now don't get me wrong. I love comments. It always makes me smile when someone takes the time to comment on something that I've written.
But what I'm really looking for is suggestions on how to write a better blog. Maybe I'm naive, but I happen to believe that a good product, more interesting posts, will eventually build a larger readership. I want people to find my blog, through whatever means, and find it interesting enough to want to come back again. I don't want to spend my time trying to come up with something interesting to say about some random blog in the hope that the blogger will come back and comment here. Those comments are like the Twinkies of the blogosphere-- a brief rush but ultimately unfulfilling.
So what should I do to improve my blogging skills? Write better posts! Duh. But what is it that I'm lacking? Focus? Consistency? Is the tone too negative? Should I interact more in the comments?
Lay it on me, y'all. I can take it.
Friday, October 08, 2010
And another thing....
I keep tripping over contests or donation schemes this week that require you to comment or follow or friend people. It's really bugging me. "If 500 people comment on my blog, I'll donate $500 to XYZ charity!" And then everyone in the world puts in on Twitter, and it ends up all over my Twitter stream. The blogger ends up looking like a good person, when all they're really doing is paying $500 for a huge number of comments and publicity. If you want to donate $500 to charity so bad, go do it privately. I don't need to hear about it.
Cynical. It goes with the cranky.
Last night a blogger announced that a book give away was just about to close. It was for a book I've been wanting, so I popped on over. All you had to do was comment, and you're entered in the drawing. Cool. But follow the blogger on Twitter you get x number of extra entries. And if you follow the author, too, you get x more entries. And if you friend them on Facebook you get this, and if you add them as a friend on Goodreads you get that, and by the time you're done, everyone who entered the contest had about 20 or 30 entries, and the blogger and the author's stats are through the roof. Annoying. This morning I checked my Twitter stream, and it's been totally overwhelmed by youtube videos and other worthless crap from the blogger and author. Super annoying.
And there are a couple people in my Twitter stream who I otherwise like and respect. They have interesting things to say, and I want to read them. But they keep sending out the same tweets over and over, flogging their blogs. Not, "I have a new post, come read it!" But identical tweets, about the same post or contest, over and over and OVER again.
I realize I am one hand, clapping in the darkness. I'm not an expert or anyone of any great importance. But really, people. Social networking-- ur doin it rong.
Cynical. It goes with the cranky.
Last night a blogger announced that a book give away was just about to close. It was for a book I've been wanting, so I popped on over. All you had to do was comment, and you're entered in the drawing. Cool. But follow the blogger on Twitter you get x number of extra entries. And if you follow the author, too, you get x more entries. And if you friend them on Facebook you get this, and if you add them as a friend on Goodreads you get that, and by the time you're done, everyone who entered the contest had about 20 or 30 entries, and the blogger and the author's stats are through the roof. Annoying. This morning I checked my Twitter stream, and it's been totally overwhelmed by youtube videos and other worthless crap from the blogger and author. Super annoying.
And there are a couple people in my Twitter stream who I otherwise like and respect. They have interesting things to say, and I want to read them. But they keep sending out the same tweets over and over, flogging their blogs. Not, "I have a new post, come read it!" But identical tweets, about the same post or contest, over and over and OVER again.
I realize I am one hand, clapping in the darkness. I'm not an expert or anyone of any great importance. But really, people. Social networking-- ur doin it rong.
Cranky
I can't help it. It's been coming for days, and I've been trying to suppress it, but it's just not working. I'm cranky. I hurt. I'm tired of trying to keep up with my parents' schedule and routine and of trying to be a helpful little monkey. I'm sick of being around people. I'm sick of shouting all the time because a) everyone is always trying to talk to each other from three rooms away, and b) my mother is going deaf. I am sick of being blasted out of my seat by the TV. I can be in my bedroom-- upstairs and on the opposite side of the house-- and hear the TV as clearly as if I was in the room. I've developed tinnitus, y'all. Seriously. My ears are ringing.
What I really, truly, desperately want is to close the door, pull the covers over my head, and not see another human until Tuesday.
What I must do soon is pull on a sweatshirt and a pair of shoes and go downstairs and greet people at this damn garage sale my parents are having. Every time they sell something they come in the house and holler up the stairs with the new sales total. We're up to $4.75. Yee haw.
Like I said. Cranky.
What I really, truly, desperately want is to close the door, pull the covers over my head, and not see another human until Tuesday.
What I must do soon is pull on a sweatshirt and a pair of shoes and go downstairs and greet people at this damn garage sale my parents are having. Every time they sell something they come in the house and holler up the stairs with the new sales total. We're up to $4.75. Yee haw.
Like I said. Cranky.
Wednesday, October 06, 2010
Great Googly Moogly
I spent part of the day today calling pharmacies and pricing my most urgent prescriptions now that I don't have insurance or prescription drug coverage. Never do this. It's too depressing for words.
I only priced the four that need to be refilled in the next two weeks. No point in going through the hassle if it doesn't need to be refilled yet, because the prices might be different in Indiana. One of my prescriptions-- just one prescription, for one month-- is $1011.49. And that's the cheapest price I could find for that one. It's a steroid, and I've been weening myself off of it anyway, so I may just take my last nine pills and hope for the best. I have a bottle of Prednisone for emergencies. It plays merry hell with the body, but it's cheap. If I start to crash and burn without the other steroid I'll just start up on the Pred. I could buy a couple of years' worth of Pred for the price of one month of the other stuff.
I will say one thing for my thousand dollar steroids. They make my $130/month Savella look mighty cheap in comparison. And the Savella, at least in the short term, would be much more miserable to go off.
I only priced the four that need to be refilled in the next two weeks. No point in going through the hassle if it doesn't need to be refilled yet, because the prices might be different in Indiana. One of my prescriptions-- just one prescription, for one month-- is $1011.49. And that's the cheapest price I could find for that one. It's a steroid, and I've been weening myself off of it anyway, so I may just take my last nine pills and hope for the best. I have a bottle of Prednisone for emergencies. It plays merry hell with the body, but it's cheap. If I start to crash and burn without the other steroid I'll just start up on the Pred. I could buy a couple of years' worth of Pred for the price of one month of the other stuff.
I will say one thing for my thousand dollar steroids. They make my $130/month Savella look mighty cheap in comparison. And the Savella, at least in the short term, would be much more miserable to go off.
Monday, October 04, 2010
Collage!
Check it out! I made a collage!
This was homework for the Discovery class I've been taking. My computer has been in the shop for most of the last week and a half, and I was feeling pretty frustrated. But I got my baby back today, and I was able to spend a couple of hours finding just the right images (I'd already picked out some) and putting them together. This probably isn't the end of the collaging for this project. There's still a boat load of stuff I need to figure out. But this feels like a good start.
This was homework for the Discovery class I've been taking. My computer has been in the shop for most of the last week and a half, and I was feeling pretty frustrated. But I got my baby back today, and I was able to spend a couple of hours finding just the right images (I'd already picked out some) and putting them together. This probably isn't the end of the collaging for this project. There's still a boat load of stuff I need to figure out. But this feels like a good start.
Friday, October 01, 2010
A review home of my own
I'm really digging this whole book reviewing thing. It's fun to take all those little conversations with myself as I read a book and put them out there for others to consider, too. It's fun to spend more time after I finish a novel really analyzing what worked and what didn't and why.
But from the first one it felt like this isn't the right place for them. This blog is only tangentially about books. It's called It's All About Me for a reason. I considered starting a second blog just for reviews, but since I've only managed, what, 3 reviews in the last six or eight weeks? Yeah, that'd go nowhere fast.
So here's what I'm thinking. A group review blog. The details can be worked out when it's more than just me babbling about it. But generally I'd like to find at least 4 bloggers willing to commit to one book review every other week. That should work out (assuming my math is correct-- something no one should ever assume) to two book reviews per week on the blog. If we find more than 4 bloggers we could either go with more reviews posted every week or back off the commitment by each blogger to one every 3 or even 4 weeks.
I'd like to be pretty broad about the genres. I read romance, mystery, science fiction, fantasy, and YA. It would be nice if we all connected in some way with our reading tastes, so that there is some continuity. But I'd love to have co-bloggers who read in different genres, too, and review things I would never have discovered on my own.
What do you think? Sound good? Crazy rambling of a woman who really needs to get some sleep? If it's something you think you'd like to do, let me know and we can start talking details.
But from the first one it felt like this isn't the right place for them. This blog is only tangentially about books. It's called It's All About Me for a reason. I considered starting a second blog just for reviews, but since I've only managed, what, 3 reviews in the last six or eight weeks? Yeah, that'd go nowhere fast.
So here's what I'm thinking. A group review blog. The details can be worked out when it's more than just me babbling about it. But generally I'd like to find at least 4 bloggers willing to commit to one book review every other week. That should work out (assuming my math is correct-- something no one should ever assume) to two book reviews per week on the blog. If we find more than 4 bloggers we could either go with more reviews posted every week or back off the commitment by each blogger to one every 3 or even 4 weeks.
I'd like to be pretty broad about the genres. I read romance, mystery, science fiction, fantasy, and YA. It would be nice if we all connected in some way with our reading tastes, so that there is some continuity. But I'd love to have co-bloggers who read in different genres, too, and review things I would never have discovered on my own.
What do you think? Sound good? Crazy rambling of a woman who really needs to get some sleep? If it's something you think you'd like to do, let me know and we can start talking details.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Review: Draw the Dark by Ilsa J. Bick
"The things I draw: They tend to die."Wow. This was a fantastic read. Mysterious and intense and creepy, this YA novel is definitely not for younger readers.
There are things the people of Winter, Wisconsin, would rather forget. The year the Nazis came to town, for one. That fire, for another. But what they'd really like to forget is Christian Cage.
Seventeen-year-old Christian's parents disappeared when he was a little boy. Ever since, he's drawn obsessively: his mother's face...her eyes...and what he calls "the sideways place," where he says his parents are trapped. Christian figures if he can just see through his mother's eyes, maybe he can get there somehow and save them.
But Christian also draws other things. Ugly things. Evil things. Dark things. Things like other people's fears and nightmares. Their pasts. Their destiny.
There's one more thing the people of Winter would like to forget: murder.
But Winter won't be able to forget the truth, no matter how hard it tries. Not as long as Christian draws the dark...
Christian is a boy who is troubled and isolated, ostracised by many in town. But unlike many YA stories, he has the benefit of a loving and very present parental figure in his Uncle Hank. Hank may not always understand what Christian is going through-- it would take a leap of faith that a logical, law and order type like Hank has trouble making. But he always loves Christian and struggles with letting go and allowing him to fight his own battles, like many parents do.
There was a little bit of bait-and-switch in the mystery, however. The cover copy references Christian's parents, who disappeared separately when he was little. But most of the book focuses on an unsolved murder from 1945 and other strange events that occurred at that time, and Christian's frightening, unexplained abilities. The murder and other events are wrapped up through a combination of Christian's talent and the work of a forensics team. The issue of his parents is raised again at the end of the book as Christian steps out into the unknown. It's a satisfying resolution overall, and the mysteries that take up most of the book are very involving. They just aren't the mysteries that the first few chapters suggest.
While not a religious book, religious identity plays a part. How could it not when the history of a Nazi PW camp is discovered, and a whole Jewish community has disappeared? Also, Christian's only friend is a PK. (Preacher's Kid) It was refreshing to see that both faiths are treated respectfully in the story, with no one coming off as a caricature and no one viewpoint presented as The Truth.
There was one other big thing I loved in this novel-- the descriptions of Christian when he is drawing. As a writer I really related to how Bick described that all-consuming place you go when you create. I'm sure that anyone who has a passion, whether it's art or music or writing code or running or a million other things, will recognize it and relate to Christian in those scenes.
I definitely recommend this book. Engrossing and well written, the author pulls a lot of different ideas into a cohesive, entertaining story. A-.
And just to keep everything on the up and up, I received this book as a free digital ARC through NetGalley. No money or other goodies were offered or exchanged for this review.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Temper Tantrum
I'd like to think this isn't a temper tantrum. More like a frustration flail. Even if I'm not stomping my feet and generally acting like a 12 year old, I *want* to, which makes me feel just as bad.
Last night Mom and Dad came back from their house hunting trip. They've put in an offer and everything seems to be going smoothly so far. They showed me pictures that they took on a second walk through, and a sketch of the layout that my brother did, including dimensions on all the rooms.
Here's where the problem comes in. I hadn't said much about what I wanted this house to be. Even though both Mom and Dad keep saying "this is your house, too. You have a say," I don't feel that way. It's their money, they're the ones who picked it out, it's their house. Mom called from the house hunt in a moment of frustration. Everything they'd looked at was either too small, too expensive, or for some other very practical reason wouldn't work for us. I told her not to worry about me. The only thing I really wants was some living space of my own. A great room, a den, an extra bedroom, whatever. I just wanted some space other than my bedroom that I could relax in. Some place I can watch the TV shows that I love and they aren't interested in. Somewhere I can read or knit or play my Wii. Some place I can have guests when/if I meet new people and would like to invite them over.
The new house seemed to fit the bill. There's a living room in the center of the house and a smaller bonus room off the kitchen. The bonus room has the added benefit of being on the opposite side of the house from the bedrooms, so I won't keep anyone up watching a movie or whatever. Perfect, right? Yeah, except they've already decided to put my couch in the living room with their comfy chairs and the new TV. Mom has been referring to my bonus room as "the keeping room" and is making plans to set it up as some sort of library/sitting room extension of the kitchen. So that means that my portion of "my" house is a 10x12 corner bedroom. And by the way, that room will be furnished with all the crap they don't have any other room for, but can't bear to part with. Yeah. My room.
I know I need to stop fuming like a teenager and sit down and talk to them about all this. And I know this move is hard for them. Between two floors of living space, an attic, and the basement, they have approximately 4,000 square feet of junk. The new house is 1,800 square feet with no attic or basement. Everyone acknowledges that they need to let go of a ton of stuff, but no one is doing anything about it yet. I just went through this myself. I had to be brutal. And believe me, at this moment I'm glad I was, because there really is no room for me in this house they're buying for all of us.
Last night Mom and Dad came back from their house hunting trip. They've put in an offer and everything seems to be going smoothly so far. They showed me pictures that they took on a second walk through, and a sketch of the layout that my brother did, including dimensions on all the rooms.
Here's where the problem comes in. I hadn't said much about what I wanted this house to be. Even though both Mom and Dad keep saying "this is your house, too. You have a say," I don't feel that way. It's their money, they're the ones who picked it out, it's their house. Mom called from the house hunt in a moment of frustration. Everything they'd looked at was either too small, too expensive, or for some other very practical reason wouldn't work for us. I told her not to worry about me. The only thing I really wants was some living space of my own. A great room, a den, an extra bedroom, whatever. I just wanted some space other than my bedroom that I could relax in. Some place I can watch the TV shows that I love and they aren't interested in. Somewhere I can read or knit or play my Wii. Some place I can have guests when/if I meet new people and would like to invite them over.
The new house seemed to fit the bill. There's a living room in the center of the house and a smaller bonus room off the kitchen. The bonus room has the added benefit of being on the opposite side of the house from the bedrooms, so I won't keep anyone up watching a movie or whatever. Perfect, right? Yeah, except they've already decided to put my couch in the living room with their comfy chairs and the new TV. Mom has been referring to my bonus room as "the keeping room" and is making plans to set it up as some sort of library/sitting room extension of the kitchen. So that means that my portion of "my" house is a 10x12 corner bedroom. And by the way, that room will be furnished with all the crap they don't have any other room for, but can't bear to part with. Yeah. My room.
I know I need to stop fuming like a teenager and sit down and talk to them about all this. And I know this move is hard for them. Between two floors of living space, an attic, and the basement, they have approximately 4,000 square feet of junk. The new house is 1,800 square feet with no attic or basement. Everyone acknowledges that they need to let go of a ton of stuff, but no one is doing anything about it yet. I just went through this myself. I had to be brutal. And believe me, at this moment I'm glad I was, because there really is no room for me in this house they're buying for all of us.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Alien Revealed by Lilly Cain
I'm not calling this a review because it's really more of a recommendation. Alien Revealed is hot, sexy fun. The scifi world that Cain has created is interesting, and I'm hoping this is the beginning of a series. I liked Alinna and I really like David. There's some bondage, not super intense, but just a heads up. I know it's not everyone's thing. My only gripe is that it starts a wee bit slow-- Alinna and David don't start interacting together until page 18, which is pretty far in when the story is only 112 pages long.
This is a Carina Press title and can be purchased from all the usual vendors. But I recommend if your reader can handle epub that you hightail it over to Kobo Books by the end of the day today. They've got a $2 coupon running this weekend, which makes this an absolute steal. The coupon code is "twodollars". Enjoy!
And just so we're clear, I don't work for Harlequin or Kobo, and I don't know Lilly Cain or any other Carina Press authors, as far as I know. I just enjoyed a good book and a good deal, and I thought you would, too.
This is a Carina Press title and can be purchased from all the usual vendors. But I recommend if your reader can handle epub that you hightail it over to Kobo Books by the end of the day today. They've got a $2 coupon running this weekend, which makes this an absolute steal. The coupon code is "twodollars". Enjoy!
And just so we're clear, I don't work for Harlequin or Kobo, and I don't know Lilly Cain or any other Carina Press authors, as far as I know. I just enjoyed a good book and a good deal, and I thought you would, too.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
The Soundtrack
I spent the week working on my Discovery homework- creating a soundtrack for your novel. This is what I have so far:
Need You Now- Lady Antebellum
Evil (Is Going On)- Jace Everett and CC Adcock
The House Rules- Christian Kane
It's All Been Done- Barenaked Ladies
Everywhere- Fleetwood Mac
Your Man- Josh Turner
Por Un Amor- Linda Ronstadt
Down in the Valley- Pete Seeger
The Forgotten People- Thievery Corporation
I Want to Be Evil- Chiwetel Ejiofor
Guantanamera- Havana Mambo
Somebody to Love- KT Tunstall
The Yellow Rose of Texas- The Cattlemen
Skyline- Court Yard Hounds
The Coast- Court Yard Hounds
Ain't No Son- Court Yard Hounds
Freedom! '90- George Michael
The process has been an interesting combination of logic and instincts. I started off knowing I wanted to use It's All Been Done (there is time travel in my story and that just seemed to fit) and Need You Now. Vampire Diaries started up again Thursday a week ago, and although I was a little meh about most of last season, I've found myself obsessed the last two weeks. So even though there are no vampires in my story, I looked up vampire soundtracks. Which lead me to the True Blood season 2 soundtrack and Evil (Is Going On) by Jace Everett. Things progressed from there. I'd search a song and find a bunch of different versions. Maybe a particular interpretation of a song didn't work for me, but I'd like the singer or group, and off I'd shoot to check out their stuff. I just about wore out Amazon, following links and listening to samples.
I wore myself out, too. Lani was right, this Discovery stuff may look like play, but it's really work. Overall I'm happy with this list. I think I'll keep working on it, expanding it, as I move through the class in the next 5 weeks, although not at the same furious pace.
Is there anything you think I should add to the playlist? I'm open to suggestions. The story takes place in Texas in the 1800s. It has time travel, steampunk elements, and a slow growing m/m romance. I think it could use more folk music, including Spanish and German folk music. (There was a surge of German immigration to Texas in the mid-1800s, and I think one of my heroes was a German immigrant.) But as you can see, there's a lot of variety here, so I'm open to a lot of different styles.
Need You Now- Lady Antebellum
Evil (Is Going On)- Jace Everett and CC Adcock
The House Rules- Christian Kane
It's All Been Done- Barenaked Ladies
Everywhere- Fleetwood Mac
Your Man- Josh Turner
Por Un Amor- Linda Ronstadt
Down in the Valley- Pete Seeger
The Forgotten People- Thievery Corporation
I Want to Be Evil- Chiwetel Ejiofor
Guantanamera- Havana Mambo
Somebody to Love- KT Tunstall
The Yellow Rose of Texas- The Cattlemen
Skyline- Court Yard Hounds
The Coast- Court Yard Hounds
Ain't No Son- Court Yard Hounds
Freedom! '90- George Michael
The process has been an interesting combination of logic and instincts. I started off knowing I wanted to use It's All Been Done (there is time travel in my story and that just seemed to fit) and Need You Now. Vampire Diaries started up again Thursday a week ago, and although I was a little meh about most of last season, I've found myself obsessed the last two weeks. So even though there are no vampires in my story, I looked up vampire soundtracks. Which lead me to the True Blood season 2 soundtrack and Evil (Is Going On) by Jace Everett. Things progressed from there. I'd search a song and find a bunch of different versions. Maybe a particular interpretation of a song didn't work for me, but I'd like the singer or group, and off I'd shoot to check out their stuff. I just about wore out Amazon, following links and listening to samples.
I wore myself out, too. Lani was right, this Discovery stuff may look like play, but it's really work. Overall I'm happy with this list. I think I'll keep working on it, expanding it, as I move through the class in the next 5 weeks, although not at the same furious pace.
Is there anything you think I should add to the playlist? I'm open to suggestions. The story takes place in Texas in the 1800s. It has time travel, steampunk elements, and a slow growing m/m romance. I think it could use more folk music, including Spanish and German folk music. (There was a surge of German immigration to Texas in the mid-1800s, and I think one of my heroes was a German immigrant.) But as you can see, there's a lot of variety here, so I'm open to a lot of different styles.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
It's In The Cards
Discovery class starts on Sunday, and to prepare I've been doing things to top up the creativity tank. The last few weeks have sucked a lot out of me, and I rather desperately need the refill. I've been reading everything I can get my hands on, particularly stuff I've been looking forward to but haven't read yet for one reason or another. I've been listening to my mp3 player and song samples on Amazon. (The first lesson is on creating a soundtrack for your book, and I'm really looking forward to that.) And yesterday I did something I haven't done in way too long-- I pulled out my tarot deck.
I have an on again/off again relationship with the tarot. It's an interesting study, but it is a study, a discipline. It takes work to master reading the cards, and work is something I haven't done much of in the last few years. (I'm trying really hard to purge the word "lazy" from my vocabulary. I am not lazy. I have chronic, involuntary health problems that suck up energy and brain power. There's a world of difference. Maybe if I keep telling myself that I'll believe it some day.)
Seven or eight years ago I took a tarot class, and periodically I pick up a book again and try to drum the meanings of the cards into my head. They don't stick. Probably because I need to stop reading the book and start looking at the cards. There's intuition in there somewhere, after all I'm a Scorpio. I just need to find a way to trust it.
Anyway, last night I picked up my cards and shuffled through them to see if anything jumped out at me. Two did:
The Nine is from the deck I use, Hanson-Roberts, and is the card that made me want to buy the deck years ago. I couldn't find a Google image of the Eight from Hanson-Roberts, so this is the Rider-Waite image. They are very similar. Choosing the Eight was instinctive, but after thinking about it for a minute it totally makes sense. This card is about walking away, starting over, which is where I am right now. What didn't dawn on me right away is that the Nine has almost the exact opposite meaning: persevering, staying the course. I think the Nine might be the card of my life overall. My health is something that I will have to deal with every day for the rest of my life, and unless there's a major change in treatment options, I don't see it getting significantly better. But the way I was attempting so soldier on just wasn't working for me. I had to walk away and start over. So in a weird way, these two contradictory cards really express where I am in my life.
I appreciate the insight, but I'm hoping that if I look through the cards again in a few days that they'll tell me a little bit about my characters this time!
I have an on again/off again relationship with the tarot. It's an interesting study, but it is a study, a discipline. It takes work to master reading the cards, and work is something I haven't done much of in the last few years. (I'm trying really hard to purge the word "lazy" from my vocabulary. I am not lazy. I have chronic, involuntary health problems that suck up energy and brain power. There's a world of difference. Maybe if I keep telling myself that I'll believe it some day.)
Seven or eight years ago I took a tarot class, and periodically I pick up a book again and try to drum the meanings of the cards into my head. They don't stick. Probably because I need to stop reading the book and start looking at the cards. There's intuition in there somewhere, after all I'm a Scorpio. I just need to find a way to trust it.
Anyway, last night I picked up my cards and shuffled through them to see if anything jumped out at me. Two did:
 |
| Nine of Wands |
 |
| Eight of Cups |
I appreciate the insight, but I'm hoping that if I look through the cards again in a few days that they'll tell me a little bit about my characters this time!
Wednesday, September 08, 2010
Settling In
The move went well, and the cat and I are settling in. After what feels like months and months of one disaster after another, things are finally peaceful. Relatively speaking. The cat is, surprisingly, really digging having three laps to sit on and three sets of hands to love on him and feed him. (He's asleep at the end of the bed right now. He's dreaming and his little toes are twitching. It's nauseatingly adorable.) We were all expecting him to hide for a while, but he's been running around like he owns the place from the minute we got here.
I'm... OK. It's been years since I've lived with anyone else, and so far I'm coping. Mom and Dad had doctor's appointments this morning, so I'm home alone. I think I really needed this quiet time. I'm just not used to having other people around 24/7. Also, I think I'm going to have to start wearing ear plugs while watching TV with them, or I'm going to rupture an ear drum.
In the good news for them, bad news for me department, it looks like they've sold the house. Later today or maybe tomorrow we'll probably start working on the packing. (Oh, goody! I haven't done that for ages.) Next week they fly to Indianapolis to look for a house. If all goes according to plan (does anything, ever?), we should be in a new house by Halloween. Mom's already scheming to get my brother, his wife, and his in-laws to the new house for Thanksgiving and Christmas. It's driven her nuts that she hasn't had all of us together for holidays the last few years, and if she has to invite my SIL's entire family to do it, she will. Not that she doesn't like the in-laws. She does. But having my brother and I both there is the most important part to her.
I just hope the new place has some space where I can have some semi-privacy, decent internet, and cable service with a DVR option. I've only been here for four nights, and we've already watched the same episodes of As Time Goes By and Keeping Up Appearances twice. Please, please let the cable be cheap enough to put a connection in my room, too! Do I sound like a teenager yet?
I'm... OK. It's been years since I've lived with anyone else, and so far I'm coping. Mom and Dad had doctor's appointments this morning, so I'm home alone. I think I really needed this quiet time. I'm just not used to having other people around 24/7. Also, I think I'm going to have to start wearing ear plugs while watching TV with them, or I'm going to rupture an ear drum.
In the good news for them, bad news for me department, it looks like they've sold the house. Later today or maybe tomorrow we'll probably start working on the packing. (Oh, goody! I haven't done that for ages.) Next week they fly to Indianapolis to look for a house. If all goes according to plan (does anything, ever?), we should be in a new house by Halloween. Mom's already scheming to get my brother, his wife, and his in-laws to the new house for Thanksgiving and Christmas. It's driven her nuts that she hasn't had all of us together for holidays the last few years, and if she has to invite my SIL's entire family to do it, she will. Not that she doesn't like the in-laws. She does. But having my brother and I both there is the most important part to her.
I just hope the new place has some space where I can have some semi-privacy, decent internet, and cable service with a DVR option. I've only been here for four nights, and we've already watched the same episodes of As Time Goes By and Keeping Up Appearances twice. Please, please let the cable be cheap enough to put a connection in my room, too! Do I sound like a teenager yet?
Monday, September 06, 2010
Review: Dark and Disorderly by Bernita Harris
"I was standing there naked when my dead husband walked into my bathroom..."I have some very mixed feelings about this book. I loved the concept, and the first line is a real attention-getter. (And the cover is beautiful, but as we've previously established, I'm shallow like that. Show me a pretty cover and I'm half way to buying the book.) This one has been on my list of Carina Press titles to read since I spotted it just before it was released, and I was so excited when I was able to grab it for 99 cents from Kobo last week.
Lillie St. Claire is a Talent, one of the rare few who can permanently dispatch the spirits of the dead that walk the earth. Her skills are in demand in a haunted country, where a plague of ghosts is becoming a civic nuisance.
Those skills bring her into conflict with frightened citizens who view Talents as near-demons. Her husband comes to see her as a Freak; so when Nathan dies after a car crash, she is relieved to be free of his increasingly vicious presence. Lillie expects to be haunted by Nathan's ghost, but not to become Suspect #1 for her husband's murder and reanimation.
But what's most surprising of all is the growing attraction between her and psi-crime detective John Thresher. He thinks that Lillie killed Nathan--and Nathan must agree, because his zombie is seeking revenge. Now she and Thresher must work together to solve her husband's murder--before his corpse kills her...
However.
The reading experience just didn't live up to my excitement. There was something a little off about the writing. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't quite right, either. In some places the phrasing or expressions used were distracting and left me wondering if the author was British and hadn't quite nailed the Americanisms. (I checked-- she's Canadian.) Then, as I was writing this, I started to wonder if it really was set in the US or if that was just my assumption. I've been skimming the book again, looking for clues, and as of page 75 I'm still not sure. This may seem like a dumb thing to nit pick about, but clearly it's still bugging me two days after finishing the book. Where does this story take place?
Also, I wasn't completely in love with the main character, Lillie. Most of the time I liked her, but there were one or two spots where she came perilously close to TSTL territory. At one point in the story, she and Johnny are trying to make their way through a riot. He tells her to run, and she decides to wade into the fight instead, because she doesn't want to be a coward and leave the others to fight. The idea might be nice, but someone with no training, whom the crowd is actively trying to harm, is a liability not an asset in a situation like that. If the professionals tell you to run, run baby run. There was a scene late in the novel that really redeemed her risk taking for me, though. (I won't give any specifics because I don't want to spoil anything.) The fact that she took this risk when Johnny didn't want her to, and was able to give reasonable, clear headed reasons for putting herself in danger, really showed that she wasn't reckless. She cared more about others than her own personal safety, which helped me like her as a character.
There were some things I really liked about the book, too. The supernatural entities that we meet are interesting and grounded in existing myths. Harris's concept of Talents and how the general public might accept them, or not, was different from a lot of other books in the genre, and I found that refreshing and probably pretty accurate considering human nature. And this is a small thing, but I really like Dumbarton the spectral dog!
Johnny Thresher, and his relationship with Lillie, is something else I have some mixed feelings about. Johnny is an enigma, and I definitely like the fact that there is much more to learn about him. I love a romance that develops slowly over the course of several books, when well executed, so I had no problem with this plot element still being up in the air at the end of the book. I didn't quite buy the chemistry between Johnny and Lillie, though. I really wanted to, but I didn't. The transitions between the mystery/supernatural storylines and the romance storyline were too abrupt and didn't feel natural. Johnny seemed to blow hot and cold throughout the book, and Lillie's sometimes overreaction to him got annoying after a while.
That said, I think this book showed potential. There were storylines that weren't resolved, not enough to be annoying but definitely enough to make you want to see what happens next. And I'm hopeful that as the series progresses the romance will be worked more seamlessly into the narrative. Overall, I'd give this a C-. I didn't enjoy it as much as I'd hoped to, but I'm interested enough to give the next book in the series a try.
Thursday, September 02, 2010
Light Me Up!
It's getting down to the end, which is a good thing since I think I ran out of rope yesterday. I need thoughts or prayers or vibes or whatever you happen to do. This moving business isn't pretty. I shipped a bunch of boxes this morning and then this afternoon I sold the car. I was expecting to cry on the way back to the apartment, but nothing so far. Then again, I got some excellent financial news earlier this week (not the Social Security yet-- looks like that's going to take some more fighting), and I think my response was, "OK." I'm just so overwhelmed, so tired, in so much physical pain, that there's no room for anything else.
Also this morning, I drove a 12 ft moving truck for the first time. Yay me! I felt very grown up for getting it from the rental place to my apartment about 2 miles away without causing any property damage or killing anyone. If I never have to do that ever again it will be perfectly all right with me. But now that I've done it once, I know I can do it again if I have to. Good knowledge to have.
Tomorrow morning first thing the movers come to put all the stuff in the truck. Then I have a handful of minor errands to run, and then in the afternoon I can check in at the hotel. Keep your fingers crossed that I make it that long. I want to get to the hotel, take a shower (the shower thing is particularly important to me at this moment, because I'm sweaty and grubby and I know I will be again by then), and then I want to just chill out and maybe take a nap for a while. Tomorrow evening I pick up my brother and his friend at the airport. Get a good night's sleep (I hope). And Saturday morning I get up, pick up the cat at the vet's, and head to the airport for my own flight. I'm fantasizing about the moment when I get through security and I can buy myself a bottled water and take a pain pill. That sounds bad. But right now I hurt. And I can't take a pain pill because they make me too fuzzy to drive safely. So I just keep slogging and thinking about that pill. I'm going to sit on that airplane-- first class, of course, because that's how I roll-- open my copy of Maybe This Time that I've been saving for the flight, and then probably fall fast asleep.
As long as I can make it that far.
Edit: Starting at midnight tonight I'll be going radio silent for about 48 hours or so. It's the move-- no internet access. But I'll be back in a few days to tell you how it all went and how many chapters of MTT I managed to read before the drooling and snoring started. (That's not a slam on Jenny's books. If they were dull I wouldn't read them. It's just a measure of how completely exhausted I am.) So anyway, back in a few, with less boring moving stories and maybe even a review or two!
Also this morning, I drove a 12 ft moving truck for the first time. Yay me! I felt very grown up for getting it from the rental place to my apartment about 2 miles away without causing any property damage or killing anyone. If I never have to do that ever again it will be perfectly all right with me. But now that I've done it once, I know I can do it again if I have to. Good knowledge to have.
Tomorrow morning first thing the movers come to put all the stuff in the truck. Then I have a handful of minor errands to run, and then in the afternoon I can check in at the hotel. Keep your fingers crossed that I make it that long. I want to get to the hotel, take a shower (the shower thing is particularly important to me at this moment, because I'm sweaty and grubby and I know I will be again by then), and then I want to just chill out and maybe take a nap for a while. Tomorrow evening I pick up my brother and his friend at the airport. Get a good night's sleep (I hope). And Saturday morning I get up, pick up the cat at the vet's, and head to the airport for my own flight. I'm fantasizing about the moment when I get through security and I can buy myself a bottled water and take a pain pill. That sounds bad. But right now I hurt. And I can't take a pain pill because they make me too fuzzy to drive safely. So I just keep slogging and thinking about that pill. I'm going to sit on that airplane-- first class, of course, because that's how I roll-- open my copy of Maybe This Time that I've been saving for the flight, and then probably fall fast asleep.
As long as I can make it that far.
Edit: Starting at midnight tonight I'll be going radio silent for about 48 hours or so. It's the move-- no internet access. But I'll be back in a few days to tell you how it all went and how many chapters of MTT I managed to read before the drooling and snoring started. (That's not a slam on Jenny's books. If they were dull I wouldn't read them. It's just a measure of how completely exhausted I am.) So anyway, back in a few, with less boring moving stories and maybe even a review or two!
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