On working

A conversation the day after I worked:

ME: Good morning, man! Did you miss me last night?

SPYDER: We went to the movies with Dad.

ME: Oh, so are you saying you didn't miss me?

SPYDER: We like it when you go to work. Dad takes us out. And buys us the good snacks at the movies. We do miss you, but it all evens out.

So apparently, my contributions to the household are the equivalent of M&Ms and Junior Mints.

A story that must be told

Every Christmas season makes me think of one of my former bookstore managers. I had it in my mind to tell the story, but I've been procrastinating about this for a couple of weeks. I'm glad I did because Julie told the story for me (probably better than I would have).

Before you skedaddle to her place and read, let me say that the Christmas that Julie and I worked at the bookstore together was probably the funnest -- yeah, that's a word -- retail Christmas I've ever worked. Juxtapose that with the crazy manager and work was a love/hate thing.

I was a peon the first year that he had his Christmas breakdown. The second year, Julie had run off to a bigger, better, Jay-free place, and I was in Julie's third-key position. And pregnant.

Looking back on it now, I can laugh, but at the time he was just a source of frustration and annoyance. And just thinking about him made my blood pressure rise.

But, you know, it made me realize that some people just aren't cut out for retail.

The Real Me Meme

Tagged by CelticBuffy.

1) Take a picture of yourself right NOW!

2) DON'T change your clothes, DON'T fix your hair... Just take a picture.

3) Post that picture with NO editing.

4) Post these instruction with your picture.

5)Tag 10 people to do this..

If you've ever wondered .... The Real Me, big nose and all. :)

I won't tag, but come on and play along. Hey, if I can post that one, surely you are brave enough to do it too!

Pass the cheese

I am going to whine a little bit.

Last Sunday I did a marathon of laundry. About 4 or 5 hours in, I noticed water on the floor of the pantry. I interrogated questioned the children, and they claimed to know nothing about water there. "Hm," I thought. "Likely story." But I investigated anyway.

And I discovered a pretty significant amount of water on the floor of the laundry room as well.

Oh. Joy. This is probably the one time that I wish the urchins had been lying.

I thought it was the washer, so I asked a friend to come and take a look at it. Well, first I called Skeeter, who promptly left work to see what was up, and I went to buy a wet/dry vac so I could actually get the water off the floor. (Aside: that wet/dry vac that I bought in a panic absolutely rocks. I was just praying that it would be decent, since I didn't have time to actually look around, but it works really well.)

Skeeter and I got the crisis managed, and our friend came to look at the washer only to find that it wasn't the washer. It was the pipe in the wall that was leaking.

Great.

And it gets better. Apparently our homeowner's insurance policy doesn't cover plumbing.

Skeeter and I decided not to have someone come and rip the wall out 10 days before Christmas, so I have been making almost daily trips to the laundromat. That could be worse, I suppose, because it isn't far, and it is seldom busy. But it took me four loads to figure out how I could actually get the clothes clean. That's pretty pathetic, isn't it? But how was I supposed to know that the "single load" machines would only clean what would be half of a load in my washer?

I have started using the "triple load" which will clean what would be a single load for mine, plus a few extra. All for the bargain price of $3 per wash.

Thankfully the urchins see it as a bit of an adventure. We take a game and play for the 30 minutes that it takes to wash, then we pack it all up and head home to dry. The only problem with the "wash there, dry here" is that I can really only do two loads at a time. If I do more than that, I have piles of wet laundry waiting for a turn in the dryer.

I am trying not to whine too much because it could be far worse. But I will be so glad when I can use my washer again.

One Word

Shamelessly lifted from CelticBuffy.

1. Where is your cell phone? Here

2. Where is your significant other? Bed

3. Your hair color? Brown

4. Your mother? Kind

5. Your father? Clever

6. Your favorite thing? Books

7. Your dream last night? None

8. Your dream/goal? Travel

9. The room you’re in? Library

10. Your hobby? Reading

11. Your fear? Dependence

12. Where do you want to be in six years? Home

13. Where were you last night? Work

14. What you’re not? Wealthy

15. One of your wish list items? Travel

16. Where you grew up? Small

17. The last thing you did? Dishes

18. What are you wearing? Clothing

19. Your T.V.? Off

20. Your pet? Snoring

21. Your computer? On

22. Your mood? Tired

23. Missing someone? Friends

24. Your car? Zippy

25. Something you’re not wearing? Glasses

26. Favorite store? Target

27. Your Summer? Busy

28. Love someone? Absolutely

29. Your favorite color? Green

30. When is the last time you laughed? Today

31. Last time you cried? Recently

Early Christmas

This weekend we did an early Christmas with my sister Lisa and her boyfriend Jason. They won't be able to come on Christmas because of work schedules, so we decided to celebrate early with them. As if the urchins would have settled for less. Oh no. They think that Lisa and Jason are just beyond awesome.

My Memaw was there too, although she wasn't her usual happy self. She has been diagnosed with diabetes recently, and she is thoroughly put out that she isn't allowed to eat certain things. It's almost funny to see her pout over it, but it really bothers her. It's more disturbing to her than when she was diagnosed with breast cancer (10+ years ago).

We only did gifts to/from Lisa and Jason. Sass thought she scored big time with a Crayola Art Set(and coloring books) and a Make Your Own Bracelet set. She has carried the Crayola set and a coloring book around with her ever since. Spyder got new boots, and apparently he is growing faster than I realized. It turned out that the size I told Lisa was 1.5 sizes too small. He went to exchange them today, and he fit into a size 5.5 instead of the 4 that I told her. No wonder he couldn't wear them. Lawzy.

And I? Let me just say, I got the best gift ever! My gift was a new set of Paula Deen Cookware. Oh yes, it was. And I was so surprised and thrilled that I could have cried.

And after using it, I can say that I love it. I even like the way that it stacks in the cabinet. I had decided that I was in Cookware Love when I put them away for the first time. I happily said goodbye to the old cookware, a set that Skeeter and I were given as a wedding gift 13 years ago. It had lived a long and useful life.

Skeeter got a new pair of gloves, nice leather gloves with cashmere lining. He's out in the cold in style. And they were particularly useful yesterday, when he was out in 20 degree weather for hours and hours.

Other than the gifting, we did the usual at Mom and Dad's place. Spyder and Jason went out to shoot the BB guns. Sass played with the puppies. The rest of us visited. It was a typical holiday-type day. I am looking forward to the next gathering on Christmas Day.

In the Dog House

I can't figure out a way to embed, but take 5 minutes to watch this amusing video.

In this gift-giving season, just think of it as a public service announcement for those men people who prefer to give only practical gifts.

Whiffy

It rained all day yesterday. All day. The poor dogs were stuck in the house the whole time, minus about 15 minutes when I coaxed them outside to do their business in the yard rather than on the living room floor.

Sass overheard me talking to them -- as I always do -- after they had come back inside and I was drying the rain off their fur. "My, my, Miss Lucinda! You need a bath. That rain has made you kinda whiffy!" Apparently Sass had never heard me use that particular term before, whiffy, and she thought it was the funniest thing ever. All afternoon, she kept going to one dog or the other and saying, "Phew! You are so whiffy!"

The fascination with the word has carried over to a new day. This morning just after breakfast, Sass wandered over to the kitchen table (where, I admit, I was lingering ...) to show me a picture. When we leaned over it together, she said, "Ooh, Mama. Your breath? It's kinda whiffy."

Oh that child. She does wonders for my self-esteem.

The bookstore

I can't even say how much I love working at the bookstore. I enjoy it for lots of reasons, but a big part of that is the customers. There is a fine line there though, because sometimes they make me hate working there. But that's another story.

This is about the nicest guy who came in on Sunday night. Very personable. We chatted for a moment, the usual small-talk, building up to what he really needed.

HIM: "I need to find a Prosthetic Bible."

ME: "I'm sorry. I didn't catch that. You need to find . . . what?"

HIM: "A Prosthetic Bible."

ME: "Oh, you mean a Prophetic Bible. They are right this way."

HIM: "No. Prosthetic."

ME: "I think you may have the wrong word there . . . ."

HIM: "No, it's a Prosthetic Bible. I am sure of it."

ME: "Um. Well. Hmmmm. I have never seen one of those. Let me show you the section for the Bibles."

About half an hour later . . . . .

HIM: "I never did find a Prosthetic Bible. You might want to think about carrying those."

ME: "I'll make a note of that."

Very personable guy, but slightly vocabulary-challenged.

Grilling Goodness #9

1. Do you send out Christmas cards? Have you done it yet?

I used to, but I haven't for the past couple of years. I send a few to friends if I happen to think about it, but I don't send them en masse the way I used to.

2. When you cook chicken, do you cook a whole chicken?

Sometimes, but mostly not.

3. What is your favorite Christmas movie?

We've covered this already. If I have to choose just one though, I think I will go with Emmet Otter.

4. How often do you go to the grocery store?

A couple of times a week because I hit more than one.

5. Do you play games online?

Only on Webkinz. Does that count?

6. Do you make your bed everyday?

Yes, even if it's 10 minutes before I get in. I have issues with the bed.

7. What is one of your favortie websites? (Hopefully this is understood, but please share only the G rated sites! lol)

Amazon. I spend way too much time there.

8. What gives you the most laughter in life?

My urchins. They make me laugh all the time. I told someone just tonight that without them my house would be far cleaner, but my life would be much more boring.

Now run over and check out Tina's answers!

Quickly

I am up to my ears. My Spyder has created a blog though. Yay him!

The Blog of a Magician

Check it out if you have a chance. He is all about the comments. LOL!

More from here very soon. :)