Today I drove Jenea around to look for a buffet for her living room.
I just got home from doing laundry and I have to get up early tomorrow so I really need to be eating popcorn and watching Die Hard right now but I had to tell you about this one thing.
We were in St. Vincent's where there's this very nice but completely loopy woman working the register. We waited forever in line because she was just ridiculously slow. We finally got up to the register and she rung up my baskets and glasses. While I was paying she handed one of my baskets over to Jenea, saying, "Here, you want to give your mom a hand?" My head pops up like a meerkat and Jenea lets out a "AHuh." The lady goes, "Or... your friend..." and we grab my stuff and just go, leaving behind a suddenly very quiet lady and a very quiet line of customers.
Outside, Jenea tells me that she thinks the lady didn't even look up at us until after she said that horrible line. Even so, she said, I'm pretty socially awkward and I would never say something like that. If you're going to assume a family relation, always go with sisters which at worst is going to be complimentary to somebody. She said all this while I just retained meerkat behavior.
Now, Jenea always looks cute but I'll admit I looked especially frumpy today. It was rainy and cold so I was wearing a very sensible windbreaker and mom jeans that were too short, but it was laundry day. Okay, I get the message, cute over comfy from now on. But even so, what a ding-dong.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Friday, April 22, 2011
Dammit! and Awesome!
What the hell did I do today to get 12500 steps?
I stood all morning, working on my book. I got four pages printed, four more to go (I think). My partner is only printing her colophon, the rest she's writing or drawing in. No linoleum blocks. I wish I had taken a picture of the type I printed today because it came out awesome but you'll have to settle for seeing my first lino block print.
Not bad for someone in a wrist brace.
Speaking of which, I went back to the Occupational Therapist today. He confirmed that I am, in fact, a ding-dong. The brace only had a velcro strap holding my thumb. Obviously, that didn't keep me from moving it. This time I got a customized splint, a follow up appointment in a month, and a lecture on actually not moving my thumb this time.
Cause you know, I've been writing, washing dishes, carrying heavy galleys of type, walking the dogs, turning on the car, carrying groceries, opening doors, you know- those totally unnecessary tasks. Apparently this will never heal without absolute rest. If it doesn't improve I get a shot in my hand. That got my attention. So now I have this custom molded and flammable piece of plastic to keep my thumb in a resting position. The OT tells me I can write because it doesn't require a strong grip, but picking up folders and papers does.
Holding a pen means I have to bring my fingers to my thumb or hold it between my first and middle fingers.
The OT gave me a foam thingee so I can hold a pen easier. I thought this was awesome.
So that's exciting news.
After the VA appointment I went home to get Ant, go to school to pick up homework for the mindfulness class, take the dogs to the park, drop Ant with his friend, take the movie back and pick up something for dinner. I bought a bagged salad and a roll to go with the chicken patty I had at home. I also bought two succulents. Let's hope I don't kill them. Chris texted that he was ready to go so I drove over to his friend's house, texted him that I was there, and waited in the Dodge. After a while, his friend came out and informed me that Chris was at his new stage. Chris forgot to mention that part. On my way over there I saw a medium sized black dog sniffing around in a vacant lot. She was wearing a harness and tags. I pulled over and tried to convince her that I was nice. She was terrified and wouldn't come near me. I called Animal Control and tried not to chase her into the street. She crossed anyway and went down a side street so I parked nearby and turned on my flashers. At first I thought she was home because she was standing by a gate but then she sniffed through another yard. I grabbed a leash and started searching for food. Why, after several years and numerous loose dog sightings, have I not put dog cookies in the car? I'm thinking and thinking and realize I have a roll in the backseat. My first few throws startle her but she immediately comes back for the bread. Then she's eating from my hand and I'm trying to read her tag. I call the number but get a recording that says it's not in service yet. I hold the bread closer and closer to me and try to figure out how I'm going to hold her harness and clip the leash on before she freaks out and suddenly she's bolting anyway.
I follow where I think she went and all I see is a guy in a car. He starts to back up and sees me. He rolls down the window and I ask, "Was that your dog?" He says yes and suddenly I see her through the tinted windows. "She was terrified," I tell him. He thanks me and asks where she was. He tells me that his son fed her and took her out with no leash. Then he drives off and I realize that she bolted because she heard him getting into his car. I thought his reaction was really weird. Where was he going? Did he plan on the dog coming along? Is this a regular occurrence? But at least she made it home safe. I called Animal Control back and went on my merry way.
I picked Chris up and he said he was starving and had to run back to the stage, so we swung through Jimboy's Tacos and he dropped me off at home. I can eat the salad tomorrow and Chris said he wouldn't be eating with me so I only bought the one roll. How about that for unintentional intuition?
Oh, and this morning when I put on the jeans that I can barely squeeze into? They slid right on. 12501, 12502, 12503, 12504...
I stood all morning, working on my book. I got four pages printed, four more to go (I think). My partner is only printing her colophon, the rest she's writing or drawing in. No linoleum blocks. I wish I had taken a picture of the type I printed today because it came out awesome but you'll have to settle for seeing my first lino block print.
Not bad for someone in a wrist brace.
Speaking of which, I went back to the Occupational Therapist today. He confirmed that I am, in fact, a ding-dong. The brace only had a velcro strap holding my thumb. Obviously, that didn't keep me from moving it. This time I got a customized splint, a follow up appointment in a month, and a lecture on actually not moving my thumb this time.
Cause you know, I've been writing, washing dishes, carrying heavy galleys of type, walking the dogs, turning on the car, carrying groceries, opening doors, you know- those totally unnecessary tasks. Apparently this will never heal without absolute rest. If it doesn't improve I get a shot in my hand. That got my attention. So now I have this custom molded and flammable piece of plastic to keep my thumb in a resting position. The OT tells me I can write because it doesn't require a strong grip, but picking up folders and papers does.
Holding a pen means I have to bring my fingers to my thumb or hold it between my first and middle fingers.
The OT gave me a foam thingee so I can hold a pen easier. I thought this was awesome.
So that's exciting news.
After the VA appointment I went home to get Ant, go to school to pick up homework for the mindfulness class, take the dogs to the park, drop Ant with his friend, take the movie back and pick up something for dinner. I bought a bagged salad and a roll to go with the chicken patty I had at home. I also bought two succulents. Let's hope I don't kill them. Chris texted that he was ready to go so I drove over to his friend's house, texted him that I was there, and waited in the Dodge. After a while, his friend came out and informed me that Chris was at his new stage. Chris forgot to mention that part. On my way over there I saw a medium sized black dog sniffing around in a vacant lot. She was wearing a harness and tags. I pulled over and tried to convince her that I was nice. She was terrified and wouldn't come near me. I called Animal Control and tried not to chase her into the street. She crossed anyway and went down a side street so I parked nearby and turned on my flashers. At first I thought she was home because she was standing by a gate but then she sniffed through another yard. I grabbed a leash and started searching for food. Why, after several years and numerous loose dog sightings, have I not put dog cookies in the car? I'm thinking and thinking and realize I have a roll in the backseat. My first few throws startle her but she immediately comes back for the bread. Then she's eating from my hand and I'm trying to read her tag. I call the number but get a recording that says it's not in service yet. I hold the bread closer and closer to me and try to figure out how I'm going to hold her harness and clip the leash on before she freaks out and suddenly she's bolting anyway.
I follow where I think she went and all I see is a guy in a car. He starts to back up and sees me. He rolls down the window and I ask, "Was that your dog?" He says yes and suddenly I see her through the tinted windows. "She was terrified," I tell him. He thanks me and asks where she was. He tells me that his son fed her and took her out with no leash. Then he drives off and I realize that she bolted because she heard him getting into his car. I thought his reaction was really weird. Where was he going? Did he plan on the dog coming along? Is this a regular occurrence? But at least she made it home safe. I called Animal Control back and went on my merry way.
I picked Chris up and he said he was starving and had to run back to the stage, so we swung through Jimboy's Tacos and he dropped me off at home. I can eat the salad tomorrow and Chris said he wouldn't be eating with me so I only bought the one roll. How about that for unintentional intuition?
Oh, and this morning when I put on the jeans that I can barely squeeze into? They slid right on. 12501, 12502, 12503, 12504...
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Sad face.
When I woke up this morning I wondered where I would find the energy for everything I had planned today. I felt- still feel- completely exhausted. I feel like school has lasted for years this week yet it's all a blur. I thought I should have probably rearranged my work schedule but it was too late for that and off I went.
The fitness program I joined had a walk scheduled for today at 1. I was all excited to participate because I could fit that between work and my class. While at work it occurred to me that Riley would love that walk and I emailed the authority figure to ask. She said it was fine but I couldn't leave work in time to go get Riley. I was the only work study there and the office manager was gone. By the time another work study showed up I didn't have enough time to go home. I tried to just make it to the walk but I didn't even have time for that. Then I realized I left my water bottle at work again, which I would need for the mindfulness class tonight. Yes, my plan was to be up by 6:30, drive to work, drive home to get Riley, drive to UNR, park in the garage, walk to the Student Health Center, go for a hilly hour walk, have Chris pick Riley up, change into an unsweaty shirt, walk to class, walk to the library to research my paper, walk to the student union to eat dinner, walk to the mindfulness class, meditate for a few hours and THEN go home.
When the work study showed up I was all excited to go get Riley. I knew what time it was but I fought reality. I called Chris to see if maybe he could bring her to me- Nope. I whined and he was appropriately sympathetic. He consoled me with the idea of bringing her along for the next walk. I still felt sad. We hung up, I remembered the water bottle, said goddammit and made a u-turn. I did consider going on without it but I checked the time and found I was being REALLY unrealistic- I wasn't going to make it to the walk on time anyway. No, really. Twenty minutes to get there, park, pay for parking, then either wait for the slow shuttle or haul my ass uphill to the North end of the campus. I went back for the bottle. Looks like the schedule has changed.
I was so dismayed that my mood was hardly improved by having some girl hand me her parking pass upon entering the garage. I called Chris again to confess that I missed the walk and I was really upset. He felt pestered but made a totally admirable attempt at acknowledging my feelings. I kept thinking about my little girl and her happy little face when she finds out we're going somewhere- anywhere! I thought about bringing her little water bowl and what a trooper she is on long hikes. She is all about the long walks. Just that is enough to motivate me. She doesn't get the exercise she needs anyway, but especially around Jasmine. Jasmine has no endurance, she's good for a few short walks and a playtime or two. I've never seen Riley happier than when we took her along to Yosemite and hiked the trails all day. So I am sad.
On the walk from the garage I tried to be okay with not going and not taking Riley. What I came up with is that I am exhausted. I shouldn't have been axing work, it was the walk that was too much. There is plenty of walking in my schedule today and lots of other things to accomplish. I think the next walk is in a week, which is awesome because I don't have class that day. I could bring Riley early, meander up the hill so all her potties are out, do the walk, meander back to the Dodge and drive us home where we'll both surely take a nap. The Universe said I was not to do the walk today. Boo, but okay. I still got up at 6:30, went to work, drove to school, and walked to class. I will still go to the library, the student union, and the mindfulness class.
Tomorrow is super busy too, but there's a walk scheduled for 3:30! And on Saturday I'm sleeping in.
The fitness program I joined had a walk scheduled for today at 1. I was all excited to participate because I could fit that between work and my class. While at work it occurred to me that Riley would love that walk and I emailed the authority figure to ask. She said it was fine but I couldn't leave work in time to go get Riley. I was the only work study there and the office manager was gone. By the time another work study showed up I didn't have enough time to go home. I tried to just make it to the walk but I didn't even have time for that. Then I realized I left my water bottle at work again, which I would need for the mindfulness class tonight. Yes, my plan was to be up by 6:30, drive to work, drive home to get Riley, drive to UNR, park in the garage, walk to the Student Health Center, go for a hilly hour walk, have Chris pick Riley up, change into an unsweaty shirt, walk to class, walk to the library to research my paper, walk to the student union to eat dinner, walk to the mindfulness class, meditate for a few hours and THEN go home.
When the work study showed up I was all excited to go get Riley. I knew what time it was but I fought reality. I called Chris to see if maybe he could bring her to me- Nope. I whined and he was appropriately sympathetic. He consoled me with the idea of bringing her along for the next walk. I still felt sad. We hung up, I remembered the water bottle, said goddammit and made a u-turn. I did consider going on without it but I checked the time and found I was being REALLY unrealistic- I wasn't going to make it to the walk on time anyway. No, really. Twenty minutes to get there, park, pay for parking, then either wait for the slow shuttle or haul my ass uphill to the North end of the campus. I went back for the bottle. Looks like the schedule has changed.
I was so dismayed that my mood was hardly improved by having some girl hand me her parking pass upon entering the garage. I called Chris again to confess that I missed the walk and I was really upset. He felt pestered but made a totally admirable attempt at acknowledging my feelings. I kept thinking about my little girl and her happy little face when she finds out we're going somewhere- anywhere! I thought about bringing her little water bowl and what a trooper she is on long hikes. She is all about the long walks. Just that is enough to motivate me. She doesn't get the exercise she needs anyway, but especially around Jasmine. Jasmine has no endurance, she's good for a few short walks and a playtime or two. I've never seen Riley happier than when we took her along to Yosemite and hiked the trails all day. So I am sad.
On the walk from the garage I tried to be okay with not going and not taking Riley. What I came up with is that I am exhausted. I shouldn't have been axing work, it was the walk that was too much. There is plenty of walking in my schedule today and lots of other things to accomplish. I think the next walk is in a week, which is awesome because I don't have class that day. I could bring Riley early, meander up the hill so all her potties are out, do the walk, meander back to the Dodge and drive us home where we'll both surely take a nap. The Universe said I was not to do the walk today. Boo, but okay. I still got up at 6:30, went to work, drove to school, and walked to class. I will still go to the library, the student union, and the mindfulness class.
Tomorrow is super busy too, but there's a walk scheduled for 3:30! And on Saturday I'm sleeping in.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Well, that was awesome...
Why am I so woozy? I feel groggy and weird. Somebody get me a cupcake. If that won't solve the problem at least it will taste good.
Okay so I'm fighting through my wooziness to tell you about my day. Don't worry, it's the short version.
We had a good visit with our counselor and she cut us loose. We'll have a follow up in a while but it was nice that she feels we're doing good.
Chris had to pick up something for his stage and while we were in that area we went by the thrift store to pick up two beautiful lamps I'd seen on Sunday. I used a coupon.
We took the dogs for a walk at the park and enjoyed the sunshine. The girls skittered about with smiles on their faces.
By the way, I love that Snickers commercial with Roseanne. Frickin awesome.
Okay so then I ran off to school. Today was the last presentation (Remember that I got that out of the way at the beginning of the semester? Hee hee go Jenny.) and I rolled my eyes through a lot of it. One guy said when and where the author was born, where she went to school, and what books she'd written. That was IT. The other people did a bit more work, but the guy who covered diction was really awesome. Anyway, we got our analysis papers back at the end of class.
I packed everything up and carried my paper out to the Dodge so I could read it on the way. At the top she'd written: "Outstanding"
Whoa. I read through her remarks and at the end was this:
"An absolutely flawless essay- I'd love to copy this! Very well done, Jenny."
I almost cried. I am so excited. This is the essay that I started early and came back to it an hour or two at a time. I guess that approach worked. :D
I just got back from walking the dogs. It was cooler but still nice outside. Now I'm off to make some quiche for dinner. Mmmm.
Okay so I'm fighting through my wooziness to tell you about my day. Don't worry, it's the short version.
We had a good visit with our counselor and she cut us loose. We'll have a follow up in a while but it was nice that she feels we're doing good.
Chris had to pick up something for his stage and while we were in that area we went by the thrift store to pick up two beautiful lamps I'd seen on Sunday. I used a coupon.
We took the dogs for a walk at the park and enjoyed the sunshine. The girls skittered about with smiles on their faces.
By the way, I love that Snickers commercial with Roseanne. Frickin awesome.
Okay so then I ran off to school. Today was the last presentation (Remember that I got that out of the way at the beginning of the semester? Hee hee go Jenny.) and I rolled my eyes through a lot of it. One guy said when and where the author was born, where she went to school, and what books she'd written. That was IT. The other people did a bit more work, but the guy who covered diction was really awesome. Anyway, we got our analysis papers back at the end of class.
I packed everything up and carried my paper out to the Dodge so I could read it on the way. At the top she'd written: "Outstanding"
Whoa. I read through her remarks and at the end was this:
"An absolutely flawless essay- I'd love to copy this! Very well done, Jenny."
I almost cried. I am so excited. This is the essay that I started early and came back to it an hour or two at a time. I guess that approach worked. :D
I just got back from walking the dogs. It was cooler but still nice outside. Now I'm off to make some quiche for dinner. Mmmm.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Si desea hacer una llamada, por favor, cuelgue y vuelva a intentarlo.
I talked to Chris at noon today. Then at the dog park I called the following numbers:
6:35 PM 77
6:36 PM 78
6:38 PM 00087
6:42 PM +
6:43 PM 87
6:45 PM 888-9889
6:47 PM 888-888-808
6:52 PM +08-777
I think it's time to implement the key lock. As an added benefit, maybe I'll stop pocket dialing everyone I know!
6:35 PM 77
6:36 PM 78
6:38 PM 00087
6:42 PM +
6:43 PM 87
6:45 PM 888-9889
6:47 PM 888-888-808
6:52 PM +08-777
I think it's time to implement the key lock. As an added benefit, maybe I'll stop pocket dialing everyone I know!
Gotta love a bargain.
I was kind and agreed to bring Ant's friend along on errands. We dropped off the recycle stuff, looked at Big Lots for tracing paper, and hit up Harbor Freight for their coupon deal. I dug through my supply and found a free book coupon for each kid at the used bookstore. We hit the dollar store for a cheap leash for my book project and I let the boys each have a toy. We checked out five thrift stores before we found what Ant was looking for: roller skates. He's been going to this weekly kid night thing at the skating rink as often as possible and the skate rental is $5. That's not bad, but it's $12.50 just to get in. We hoped to find him skates but Chris insisted that thrift stores would be a waste of time so we checked out the sporting goods stores, Target, and Toys R Us. The cheapest pair we found in town were $30. He'd have to go six more times just to break even and it's hard to predict what a twelve year old is going to like in that time. Those pairs were shit anyway, so it would be $50 to find anything halfway decent. I'm not buying $50 skates. We told him anything we'd buy would be worse than what they rent, but to that we got a "Nuh-uh!" Ant is convinced that those are bad skates because "They're so ugly!" We had already discussed why bowling shoes are ugly but he hadn't made the connection.
Yeah, so I was looking at books in the Easter Seals thrift store when Ant came rolling by. The skates had no tag so he went to ask. $4.59. Um, yeah, we'll take 'em. What was that, Chris? Uh-huh. :D Unlikely does not mean impossible.
At the bookstore I picked up a flier of their sales for the month. Next Saturday is a free balloon animal workshop. Imagine that noise. Hee hee. Let me bring my chalkboard and maybe scrape my fork against my teeth while I'm at it. But yes, I plan to bring Ant. Maybe his friend too.
I'm home now and the boys are out playing. I'm not being a chore Nazi this weekend. Maybe it's because I'm exhausted, maybe I'm taking it easy on him because he's been in Topaz a while. Who knows. I'm going to go eat some cheese and crackers.
Yeah, so I was looking at books in the Easter Seals thrift store when Ant came rolling by. The skates had no tag so he went to ask. $4.59. Um, yeah, we'll take 'em. What was that, Chris? Uh-huh. :D Unlikely does not mean impossible.
At the bookstore I picked up a flier of their sales for the month. Next Saturday is a free balloon animal workshop. Imagine that noise. Hee hee. Let me bring my chalkboard and maybe scrape my fork against my teeth while I'm at it. But yes, I plan to bring Ant. Maybe his friend too.
I'm home now and the boys are out playing. I'm not being a chore Nazi this weekend. Maybe it's because I'm exhausted, maybe I'm taking it easy on him because he's been in Topaz a while. Who knows. I'm going to go eat some cheese and crackers.
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