Wednesday Whatevers

Because I feel slightly guilty at wishing for (and receiving) another snow day, when the rest of the world apparently wants to get back to business as usual,  and because I still feel like absolute hell and can't clean my house, which is soon-to-be-condemned, and because my brain is going to turn to mush if I just continue to stream episode after episode of "Justified", I thought I'd at least attempt to write the world's longest sentence a little post.  But the problem is that I've only been out of the house for twenty total hours in the last ten days, and nothing's really happening.  So, whatever!


An old friend found this picture of my mom and me the other day and shared it with me on Facebook.  I'm fascinated with it!  I've been thinking about (and writing about, some) this time period in my life quite a bit lately, so the timing was rather odd.  I'm about Andrew's age in the picture, I think, based on the hair and the glasses.  But what I can't get over is my mom in this picture!  She was going through one of the toughest times in her own life when this picture was taken, but she doesn't show it.  She's sassy--look at those hands on her hips--is it any wonder I stand that way a lot?  And she's smiling, put together, and gorgeous!  I don't tell her enough, but she has always impressed me with her strength and her stoicism and her ability to just do what needs to be done, regardless of her own needs or pain.  She did that for us as kids, and she continues to do so now, for all of us.  I've got a pretty kick-ass mom, and I hope I can do half as well.


My least favorite commercials right now are public service announcements discouraging the use of the word "gay" as derogatory comment.  The commercials are killing me slowly.  They aren't new, which I guess is why they're running during Scooby Doo and Tom and Jerry.  Don't confuse my disgust with the medium as disgust with the message, because that's certainly not the case.  My problem is that they run ad nauseum (no pun intended) on the Cartoon Network and some others of the boy's favorite networks.  He's eight, so Tom and Jerry is certainly appropriate fare, and God knows he hears my potty mouth enough, so that's not really the point either.  What he HAS never heard is the word "gay" used as a pejorative, so the context of Hillary Duff explaining why it was bad was completely lost on him.  We had to have one of THOSE discussions to make sure he knew what the word really meant, why it wasn't a bad thing in any context, and who some of our nearest and dearest gay people are, because he'd never given it a second thought.  He remembered that the biography of JFK that he was reading used the word in a different context, and we talked about that.  All in all, a very teachable moment, so what's the problem?  He now hears, "That's so gay," over and over in the course of the day, when he had never heard it before.  Does that defeat the purpose?  I'm wondering.  The most ridiculous thing about the commercials is that they all feature GIRLS using the word, and female role models pointing out why it's bad.  Hello, Ad Council!  Girls aren't the ones using the word that way; it's the boys!  How about the commercial with Victor Cruz talking to the teenage boys about throwing that word around?  It doesn't exist, and it should, because that's where the problem is.  Okay, rant over.  Until the next time the commercial airs.

I like having discussions with people.  I even like having arguments with people, sometimes, if they're respectful.  The thing is, those people have to be smart people.  They don't have to agree with  me--it's better if they don't.  The point of talking to people is to learn things, and I like to have things to talk about, even if the subject is one that pushes people's buttons or stretches their comfort zone, mine included!  I like to know what makes people tick.  Enough said.  Smart people, engage me. Teach me, expand my horizons.

Does it make me selfish that I'm delighting in the fact that not only is today another day for me to fight off this plague, but that the boy's karate class is also cancelled because the schools are closed?  I know, I know…I'm a terrible mom.  But, see…tonight was supposed to be a belt test, and those make me very nervous.  In my weakened and frail state, I'm not sure I could have handled the stress.  The class being canceled gives the kid another week to practice, to go over his form, and for me to feel more confident that he'll get that purple belt I've been dying to see.  (Orange is my least favorite color, sorry.)  By next week, hopefully I will be feeling better and up to the strain and the stress.  (Oh yeah, and one other thing…JMU Men's Basketball plays at Northeastern tonight, so instead of following the game on Twitter, I'll get to watch the video stream.  But that's totally irrelevant!)

I need to read a book.  I have stacks of them waiting, and one I'm in the middle of on my Nook.  But I can't do that until I've caught up on every single season of every single television series that I've missed over the past three years.  I have this Amazon Prime account that I need to milk for all its worth, for one thing, so I'm streaming away, but I've missed a lot of great things somehow!  First it was two seasons of American Horror Story, then it was on to Downton Abbey.  Once I caught up on those, it was on to Justified (I'm hooked), which I just might finish today, if I'm lucky.  I need to watch Lost, or so I've been told, and I'm sure there are many others I should check out.  Leave me some recommendations in the comments section, peeps.  And it's just a matter of a few days now before The Walking Dead returns.  I just might survive the winter!  I can always read this summer, right?

Speaking of Justified, Timothy Olyphant, the actor who plays Raylan Givens, also starred in one of my former favorite shows, Deadwood.  Which, daggone it, I now think I have to go back and watch again. Good thing he's easy on the eyes.

Sometimes It's Just a Week

This has been a week of serious ups and downs.  The weather is weird, we've had no snow, and the work weeks just keep coming with no end in sight.  No snow days, warm weather, and looking at the calendar and seeing that it's just January is sort of discouraging.  I don't know whether to hope for a blizzard that snows school out for a week, or for it to just get warm and stay that way in the hopes that the Powers That Be will give us back our unused built in days once the danger has passed.  So, some doldrums have hit, and while they're not big ones, they are the kind that just linger around and pester. 

The week started off with a Sunday night bedtime viewing of Steel Magnolias, one of my all-time favorites.  Shelby's wedding and veil reminded me of my own big, poufy veil, and a conversation with a family friend inspired me to dig out the wedding album.  I don't keep these out in plain sight normally.  I, of course, laughed at this, then went to bed bawling my eyes out, because no matter how many times Shelby dies and Jack Jr. smacks Weezer, it gets me every single damn time.  Julia Roberts, eat your heart out.

Family stuff is kind of weird, too.  I think my dad is seeing someone, but he's being very shady secretive about it.  The last experiment in dating (see this post) was so awful, he swore we'd never know about it when he decided to see someone else, and I think that's what he's done.  I think I'm okay with it, though...as long as we aren't exposed to her, it doesn't really matter who she is, right?  As long as it's not this.

My sister and I, who are normally best friends, aren't getting along very well either.  She's getting married this summer, and we're miscommunicating quite a bit over details like dress shopping and bachelorette parties.  I'm sure she thinks I'm a huge hosebag and just being difficult for the hell of it, but that's really not it.  She gets her feelings hurt and just shuts down, and I'm caught dealing with her well-meaning friends who are trying to intervene and solve the problem.  But that's a post for another day.  I watched Bridesmaids today, and while it took me a long time to actually decide to keep watching it, my issues are very much at the center of that movie's conflicts...right down to the overblown out-of-town bachelorette party that I can't afford.  But oh well. 

There's been some cool stuff along the way, though, too.  I was honored with the "Brilliant Bulldog" award at school on Friday, and while the prize was just a scratch-off lottery ticket worth nothing, it was nice to be recognized and appreciated.  The kids' cheering that was heard all over the school was enough to make me smile for a while.  I wore a sequined sweater to work and actually avoided looking like a dork or a hooker.  (I think.)  And we had another very successful Drama Club meeting before auditions for our production kick off in a couple of weeks. 

 Andrew earned his 2nd degree yellow belt in his karate class on Wednesday, which was very exciting.  I'm really proud that he's stuck with it and wants to continue to progress.  We were strongly encouraged to take "The Killer" (his instructor's nickname for him) to the state tournament in March, and while I have visions of Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita, I think we're going to go. 

JMU basketball season is in full swing...actually, starting into the end of the season.  That's full of ups and downs too, as our team continues to struggle with injuries and a depleted bench.  It's heartbreaking to see those kids out there playing their hearts out (sometimes not very well, but that's a different story) and running into brick walls almost consistently.  But we still go, and I celebrate the victories and the effort.  Plans are in the works to attend the CAA conference again, which coincidentally lines up with the location and weekend of the karate tournament.  Sometimes stuff DOES work out.

 Sometimes our view isn't very good.  :-)

We're into board games as part of our family time lately...well, the boys like to play card games, but I'll stick with the old-fashioned board games that I spent a million hours playing as a kid.  My favorite, and recently purchased Sorry!  was a hit on Friday night after homemade pizza.  While I got my ass kicked for a while...

I finally made it out onto the board.  Mr. Crankypants Six Year-Old, though, took his first trip back to his home base kind of rough. 

 (He's under the table.)

But he finally got over himself, and he proceeded to kick my butt for 2nd place. 

We finished up the week with a trip to Charlottesville for a family gathering...Charlottesville being the center point for people traveling from all over the state.  It was chaotic, and short, but it was nice to see everyone.  We don't see that side of the family enough.  You gotta love the Wood Grill Buffet, though, because where else can you create a dessert like this?

 No, that's not my concoction.  My niece, however, greatly enjoyed it, and when it melted to a thick pile of chocolate goo, she discovered the best way to get the last bits.

Tonight's accomplishments?  Saving the badge of Sheriff Woody, sewing patches on the Karate Kid's gi, and creating a yummy, easy dinner that had Andrew almost licking his plate...okay, licking his fingers that he rubbed across the plate, but same thing.Woody's badge, with its one-sided "buttonholes."  Impossible to sew back on, because there's no way to get a needle through!  Whose bright idea was this?

 Not quite good-as-new, but the best I can manage. 

Dinner...leftover pizza-dough-turned ham and cheese stromboli, and apple slices with my new favorite thing...peanut butter dip!  Like peanut butter pie, only healthier and guilt-free.  Well, until I eat a whole container of it, that is.

And now it's Sunday night once again, my least favorite night of the week.  Grocery lists, laundry, bathtime, harried blog posts while the kid is in the bathtub, and my overwhelming habit of staying up too late watching bad television and starting the week off exhausted.  Oh, and this week?  The added attraction of a Monday-afternoon doctor's appointment.  Whoopee!

Sunday Night Six-Pack

Okay, Sunday nights aren't normally for Six-Packs, but after this week in particular, and the fact that I'm woefully out of bloggy routine, what the hell.  There's a full moon, too, so why not? 

1.  I really, really miss blogging on a regular basis.  So many of my vents and rants take place here, that when I don't get them off my chest, it comes to meltdown status.  Not weepy, sobby meltdowns, but gripey, bitchy radioactive snarkiness that could bubble over at any point.  Right now that's directed at family members.  We have always been somewhat squabbly and quirky, I'll give you that, but since Edna's death, we put the FUN in dysfunction.  Actually, I continually have to remind myself that things aren't worse since her death--the things that are screwed up were that way long before she was even sick...but it's her absence that makes it seem worse.  I won't go into details, but there are members of my immediate family that need a swift kick in the ass reminder that family isn't just about traditions and holidays, but also about the nitty gritty and about being there for the not-so-pleasant stuff.  And yes, sometimes it involves inconvenience and changing one's plans, but SO WHAT?  It's coming from both sides right now, too, which doesn't help. 

2.  I'm in love with several household appliances...my Scentsy warmer and the Nook.  Well, let me clarify...I'm in love with one Scentsy warmer and one Better Homes warmer (read that, cheap Walmart knockoff).  My house smells like oatmeal cookies and gingerbread, and it's certainly not because I'm baking.  And it smells like that DAILY, not just when company's coming over and I light the candles.  It's no small feat in a house like this, either...when you combine 200 year-old house smells with a crotchety old cat who can no longer consistently aim into the litterbox and the fact that I'm a laissez-faire housekeeper, it's a small miracle. 

3.  The Nook Tablet we got for Christmas is my new favorite thing, but like all things--when I do something, I sort of do it obsessively.  So, I've downloaded about 76 books since Christmas Day, and I take personal pride in the fact that I've only paid about ten dollars total for books.  I'm on a quest for every free Nook book there is...so I not only check out Cheap e-Reads, NookJr, and NookTeen on Facebook for the new finds, but I personally search daily for the freebies.  I already have more books than I can possibly read (and even some that I know I'll never read, but I grabbed them "just in case.")  It's a family Nook, but we might have to add a little brother or sister to the family just so we can read the books we have and also play Angry Birds and update Twitter.  I'm really just waiting for the implants into our brains/eyes so that we can be connected 24/7.  Kidding, I think.

4.  College basketball season is in full swing...but unfortunately, our team is not.  I need a win soon, because even though I'll keep watching and cheering, my optimism is waning.  In the past, I could go to games just to go, and have fun, and be pleasantly surprised when we won...but I got used to winning MOST of the time, and that's not happening now.  My Dukes are struggling, and although I'm not calling for the coach's head on a plate like some other "loyal" fans, I really, really want something to turn around.  I'm too emotional about it to be a good fan, though, because I worry too much about players' feelings being hurt, or whether they're discouraged by the losses.  Okay, maybe I'm too much of a GIRL about it.  :-P

5.  I have had bronchitis/laryngitis/sinusitis for what seems like forever.  It actually dates back to before Thanksgiving when I had strep throat and tonsillitis.  I'm sick of being hoarse and coughing, and I should probably go back to the doctor, but there just isn't time.  Between basketball games, Andrew's karate classes, afterschool homework club, faculty meetings, sick and post-surgical parents, a house that's too flipping big and doesn't clean itself, and...oh yeah, and SLEEP...I just can't make the time appear.  So I suffer, and sound terrible, and uggggh.

6.  Andrew spontaneously requested going to his grammy's for a sleepover next weekend, so we're planning a (gasp) night out.  We'll start, of course, by watching our team get pummeled win at home, then hopefully we'll head out on the town, if we can manage to stay awake past 10 p.m.  It's really sad, and probably a sign of old age, when it sounds like too much effort to go out and I'd just rather come home, snuggle up with the  Nook and a snack, and get a solid twelve hours of night's sleep.   

With the college basketball season around the corner, I decided to take a more recent trip in the WayBack Machine. This shot is from November, 2005. Andrew is a wee pup - just three months old. We are at the JMU Convocation Center for an exhibition game. A tradition that continues to this day begins with this shot of Andrew with Duke Dog. I was flipping through all the Duke Dog shots at work this week. It is hard to believe it has been three years. It goes without saying that Duke Dog and Mommy look pretty much the same. Daddy has been losing hair - not Duke Dog's fault!!