Happenings

The viruses continue to stalk and stake claim.  But, we have been paying them less heed.  Interestingly, it seems to not have made much of a difference...but there is an element of "ragged" coloring itself in with more force than is pretty.

So, though I sent the kids off to swimming class, I think the rest of the day will be a quiet one.  For them.  Me, I have a date with a friend for tea.

What's been happening:

• went to Ikea with Sag and Cap to flesh out this idea we've been brewing to possibly put a loft bed in the kids' room.

• decided to go back to bunking the beds we have.  one of the things Sag loves about his bed is the mattress and we realized that mattress probably cost as much, if not more, than the loft bed frame.  it's a good quality mattress.

• something ephemeral reached out to me from the spirit of the woman working the register at Ikea and I struck up a conversation with her.  above and beyond my usual: how are you doing?  it turned out she was going to a wake after work for a co-worker who died suddenly of a heart attack.  she was 28 and left an 8 year old.  we were gripped in such a moment of truth and sadness.  I asked her if I could give her a hug and she said yes.  and we hugged.  it was a really interesting moment.  I think both of us behaved in ways we normally wouldn't have, but it worked and felt right and was gratifying and connected.

• our 25th college reunion is coming up.  we had a long conversation about whether we wanted to go or not last night.  I have yet to attend a college reunion.  I kind of feel like if it's going to happen, 25 is it.  I bet it would be pretty fun.  but we have a summer vacation plan percolating and I am not sure it will be in the budget to bookend the summer with not usual fiscal events.  we shall see.

• fell off the Paleo wagon.  it literally does not feel good: super itchy skin, bloating, aches and pains, brain fog, irritability.  but, man, the draw is incredible once off.  off gluten again as of today, off everything else Monday.

• not a coincidence that my interest meter ran out around the time I fell off the wagon.  made it 7 weeks before I started feeling bored with my food options and routines.  also interesting: the bits of non-Paleo food I've been eating have not been very satisfying.  last night's white pizza with fresh garlic from Whole Foods was.  that was very tasty.

• I'm getting tired of meat.

• feeling loved.  as I so often do.  I am one lucky creature.

• wearing my manatee knee-highs, which I love.  as most of us who grew up in the 70s, I wore knee socks a lot.  but once I was became a young adult, I ditched them because I was not a fan of my calves and felt knee socks accentuated the calves.  here I am decades later and I pulled on my birthday manatee socks with some trepidation because they were the dreaded length.  I LOVE them, Jamie!  they are so warm and cozy.  and, frankly, I think my calves appreciate the freaking support!  I am officially, again, old middle-aged.

•  Anna sent me some books.  the ones I was hemming and hawing about over at Amazon.  thanks, babe.  I am very happy to have the big old menopause doorstop of a book to peruse at my leisure over the next few years.  my stack grows and grows.  as Gem says, wish the could be 48 hours instead of 24.

• this has been cracking the kids and me up:

• and this woman just continues to inspire me and make me smile:

Peace and love.

Portal

I call this one "portal".  I was walking up the driveway lugging frozen meat and fresh eggs from the farmer's market.  It was quiet at 8:30 on a winter weekend morning.  I glanced and was riveted by the mass of thin branches vaguely green trafficking in what felt deeply like possibility.

In other news, the hot fudge sauce I was making for Ellie's family birthday party tonight "seized".  Sucks.

Oh, and this gem tumbled into my lap this morning.  Not for everyone, like everything else in the world, but to give you a hint, it's a tumblr called My Uterus Is Here, and He Is Pissed.

Peace.

More medicine

Prepare to cry this stuff is so funny (and crass, consider yourself forewarned).

Peace!

The best medicine

Dog Shaming.  Oh my goodness.  Haven't laughed this much since Autocorrect Fail.

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 posted to the Gifted Homeschoolers Forum today.

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My love affair with the 80s station on Sirius Radio continues.  Had not thought of this song in forever and when I heard it today it brought me a bouquet of happy.

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If we are Facebook friends, you've seen all of this (sorry!)

Peace and love.

Comic relief

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

He writes short shorts

Alex Chee tweeted a recommendation of this...if memory serves me correctly...which it usually does but not always.

I had it in my hand after I parked the car to return it to the library and it fell open to reveal poem-sized prose.  Not prose poems, but short stories.  Very short stories.

I can read this...is what I thought.

I have not been reading for a while now.  These stories are whispers.  Easily consumed though they take some time to digest.  I love them for nudging me back in the reading saddle.

The slim volume is called Blue Has No South.  And it's got a pretty, pretty cover.

P.S.  I've been watching Peep Show.  Very funny.  Strong language.  Cringes and oh no they didn't moments galore.  You can watch on the website or Netflix streaming.

How he makes me laugh

Today's funny awesome.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Having a laugh

Key and Peele, which can be seen on Comedy Central (likely on CC's website, too, I am guessing), is a smart, engaging and funny sketch show we've been enjoying this winter. Take a look and enjoy.


 

Best medicine

Have you been to Autocorrect Fail yet?  A good site to keep in one's pocket.  For truly, laughter is the best medicine...  (Kiitos to Tiina who turned me on to this site.)

Peace and love and a laugh that'll make you cry...

Going the distance

Charlie was the best thing in this movie for sure :-)  But, the sentiment of "going the distance" when you find something worth running/waiting for, was not lost on me.  This was a nice movie and the R-rated humor popped.

Keepin' it real

So, I'm feeling pretty good today.

After wicked loud thunder storms passed through around 6am, I remained conscious for awhile.  With Cap gone, I was the keeper of the castle and it was my job to batten down the hatches and comfort the princes.  Though the weather report had said the thunder would come through around 4am, I could see that that the sky was lightening...but went into denial as I forced myself to fall back asleep.

About an hour later the phone rang.  My body revolted as I screeched awake...how could it feel so unpleasant when surely I'd caught a few more hours of sleep?  You know how sometimes when you fall asleep for only a short while you wake up really disoriented?  Or, when you are in REM sleep and something jars you awake?  It was like that...

Despite the rude awakening, I managed to tame the kitchen a bit and get the laundry going.  The kids got themselves going with their work.  Things were going slowly, but they were going.  Then, Tiina called and we decided to go ahead and have the playdate we'd thought about having when our lake date with Bridget fell through.

I hung up the phone and thought simultaneously, "what the frak did you just agree to?" and "it's okay, it's cool, what do I have to do?"

I washed the rice pot and put on some fresh rice to cook.  I dug through the fridge and pulled out cauliflower to roast and frozen haricot verts to steam.  I popped some briny kalamata olives into my mouth (I officially have a new favorite food: olives!)  I cleared off the big table with the help of the kids and wiped it down.

By the time they arrived, bearing goodies from Whole Foods (strawberries, raspberries, grapes, sushi, hotdogs, buns and these chocolate walnut meringue-y lumpy things that were GFCF without Tiina even knowing it), I had made peace with having the folded piles of laundry remaining on the couch and the kids' room being pretty cluttery.  These were not friends who were going to care about such things.

We had a lovely visit and late lunch and then they were gone, off to pick up the youngest member of their family from school.

Buoyed by momentum, I cleared the table, unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher, put away leftovers, monitored the kids while they did a thorough pick up of their room (running the vacuum in there later, I am), spoke to the mechanics who apologetically called to say the car will not, in fact, be ready till tomorrow morning, and finalized arrangements with Danielle about her kids coming over to watch Pirates of the Caribbean.

Then, as I got into a corner of the living room to "fluff" the beanbag chair back into shape, I caught sight of this:

Yeah, that's me, keepin' it real...

Streak of blue

I was blue yesterday.  Still am a bit today, but it is fading.

It's better than it used to be.  I don't turn into myself as much as I used to.  I do turn to the arts, to my loved ones and to food.

I watched The Lovely Bones yesterday in two sittings.  I got sucked into it, which was unexpected...and a small pleasure in its own right.  (I have read the book and knew what I was getting into.)  But, in the end, it put me right where I should have known it would.  In a tight, dark, sad mental space.

Thankfully, I had a Louis CK disc from Netflix waiting in the wings.  It was a performance with its own pockets of darkness, but there was also plenty of laughter.

I slept like the dead after tossing and turning the night before.

Then this morning, there was this:



Thank you, Shannon, this really gave me a lift.

Hope you get an unexpected lift today.  Peace and love.

Pink fluffy unicorns

Shannon's musical response to this morning's post. Thanks friend!

Home

It feels great to be home.  Will reflect and report in the next few days.  For now, I leave you with this hilarity:

In a nutshell

I'm not alone!

Check it.

Love louie

Everything's amazing and no one's happy...

Capitalism

Stay with this past the first minute for some manatee-style giggles.

Laughter

...in any language. Thanks, Tiina.

Louis C.K.

I just finished watching the last two episodes of the first season of Louis C.K. on FX.  I hope there's a second season.  He is thoughtful and funny.  A 40-something divorced dad of two girls making sense of life and letting us in on the good, bad and ugly with humor, but also, compassion.  I love art that makes me cry because I'm laughing so hard one minute and because I am so moved, the next.

Party down

Funny stuff...how come I never heard about this show till Cap mentioned it recently? We are watching Season One on Starz On Demand...I think it's out on DVD, too...