Category: Life

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The small, insignificant, day-by-day things that happen in my life.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Took the boys to Hooters for Hair today (or better known as Too Hotties). I asked them on the way if they felt comfortable going to a salon where the girls were scantily clad (read spaghetti strap tight tanks and mini skirts). Dude said, “Not really. But they do a good job.” And I couldn’t dispute him. They DO do a good job, and I pay for it. But I guess you get what you pay for, right? They did a really good job on Dude, but I think they may have taken a bit too much off Jazz. He wasn’t too terribly thrilled about his cut, but he would have gotten it all cut off in a few weeks anyway when they issued his band uniform to him.

Personally, I feel like a dweeb sitting there waiting for them – for several reasons, actually. One, I’m like the oldest (and most wrinkled) woman in there. Two, I’m surrounded by hot young bodies and my saggy body simply doesn’t belong. Three, I’m starting to become a little uncomfortable walking my boys in, waiting for them and then paying. I notice that a lot of young men (the same ages as my boys), come in on their own – their moms wait out in the cars for them. Oh well.

Dude has developed a new phobia – hair in his food. Granted, I’m not crazy about finding hair in my food either, but I can pick it out and toss it without tossing anything else (namely, my cookies). Dude, on the other hand, gets really bent out of shape and so grossed out, he can’t even finish his meal. Or, he’ll cut a huge chunk out of it, the chunk that had the hair and POSSIBLY finish the rest. I mean that’s fine, like I said, I’m not crazy about finding hairs either, but his reaction amuses me. Which it probably shouldn’t, because it’s not fun finding a hair in your food and … oh, never mind. I have a weird sense of humor.

Kevin’s band buddy came over last night. He plays the keyboard and they worked on some songs together. I’m so glad he is playing with people – he’s truly enjoying them and playing. His band has another gig this Saturday night, I most likely won’t go, but we’ll see.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

There’s really nothing to write about. We stayed home all day … in fact, did we even leave the house?

I’m thinking no.

Jazz’s friend called – he wanted him to come over and play airsoft games with him. (Just for the record, I’m not crazy about airsoft guns – it’s like being pelted with a BB and those suckers HURT, there’s NOTHING soft about them, at ALL. Not to mention, I’m afraid he’ll put an eye out. Does that sound familiar? [Pst – Christmas Story]).

However, even though Jazz had been, um, jazzed about going over to his buddy’s house a few days earlier, when it actually came time to GO over there, he wasn’t interested.

I used to think this was sort of weird, but then I thought back to my own adolescence and I did the same thing. Friends would call and I just couldn’t summon up the energy to stop what I was doing and give them the time of day. I’ve always been perfectly happy entertaining myself and apparently, the boys feel the same way.

I said something to Kevin about how our boys don’t seem too interested in hanging with friends and he just smiled – he used to be the same way! So, since both Kevin and I were quite anti-social, I shouldn’t be surprised that our boys are the same, right?

What can I say? We like our own company. That sounds sort of pathetic, doesn’t it.

Friday, August 20, 2010

It was a pretty quiet day today. Kevin and I went on our weekly grocery shopping outing – we try and limit the number of times we go grocery shopping to ONE time a week. I can’t stand shopping to begin with, I’m not about to drag it out all week. I make a weekly menu, then write down the ingredients that I will need to make my weekly menu and we head out. Even though it’s sort of a pain to sit down and plan dinners for a week, I’m always glad that I did it because the boys have a menu they can look at (thereby not having to come to me twice a day, every day, “Hey mom, what’s for dinner tonight”) and I don’t have to stress when the clock hits five wondering what in the world I’m going to feed my family.

We go. We get it done. And I don’t have to think about it for the rest of the week. I do make special trips to a smaller meat market to buy fresher ingredients, but for the most part, I get all of my grocery shopping done in one day. I can’t understand women who make daily trips to the store … I mean, why??

Kevin did not take his cane with him this time. Though we’re still parking in handicap spaces (which still feels weird – our placard is only good through the first part of December), it sort of feels like we’re cheating a little bit because Kevin just doesn’t APPEAR to be that handicapped. Even though he’s doing a lot better and getting around a lot better, his stamina is still not quite where it needs to be, so parking close really does help him.

I suggested Kevin not take his cane with him this time (actually, Kevin forgets it most of the time and I’m the one telling him to grab it) because he pushes the cart and that acts as a makeshift walker, so he doesn’t really need it when we go shopping. He likes to go shopping with me – it gets him out of the house and moving – I like having him with me, but we always spend more money when he’s with me. I like to buy what’s on my list, Kevin likes to … buy. 🙂

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Audio version:

I love Oh life because they send you an email at 8:00 p.m. every night asking you how your day went. You reply to the email and it automatically posts to your Oh Life account.

Thanks for reading.

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The small, insignificant, day-by-day things that happen in my life.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

We went and looked at more sofas today – they’re all starting to look alike. And we’re discovering that it’s much easier to buy a dark one; there’s simply more selection. We finally gave up on the search – the color will really depend on what sort of hardwood floor we decide on.

Which means, we need to pick a hardwood floor out. And that’s what we did. Well, we didn’t pick it out, but we began the “official” search. We went to a hardwood liquidator and though I saw a few I liked, nothing really “spoke” to me. We then went to Home Depot and we grabbed about five sample pieces to take home with us. Our biggest issue is: we want contrast. We have an oak dining room table and an oak entertainment center (our living room and dining room are, in essence, one big room) and we don’t want to pick a floor that too closely matches those pieces.

Then it would be like, “where’s the furniture??”

I picked out three that I liked, Kevin picked out two darker pieces. I wasn’t crazy about his pieces. We brought the samples home, placed them on the dining room table and all three pieces I picked out? Match almost perfectly. Kevin’s pieces? Look much better.

Grr. I hate it when he’s right. lol

So. It looks like we’ll be going a bit darker on the floors than I thought. We’ve only just begun to look. We need to check some pictures out to get a better idea of what we want.

The boys talked me and Kevin into signing up for Steam accounts. That’s just a site you can go to and download games onto your computer. We all downloaded Quake (we all played that game eons ago and had SO MUCH fun with it. We would all be in our own rooms, on our own computers and yell tips and tactics to each other – we were all on the same team). When Dude noticed that the game was on sale through Steam, he encourage all of us to load the program onto our computers again and that’s what we did. Then we all got onto the same server and as a team, ganged up on the monsters. There’s a chat feature in the game and we had a lot of fun giving each other a hard time.

Example: Me: “Rats! I missed my ride!” (Referring to an elevator my character needed to get on to get to the next level). Dude: “Your ride just squished me.” (His character was standing too close to the elevator and it squashed him. I guess you had to be there).

We laughed. We yelled. We got killed and we had a great time together. I would love to find more cooperative games like that because truly, it’s so fun doing something all together like that.

A family who kills monsters together, stays together. That’s my motto.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Dude and I went up to the school to pick up his schedule today. I was asking someone where to buy a parking permit when I turned around and Dude was looking at his schedule with a puzzled look on his face. When I asked him what was wrong, he said that he was only scheduled for two classes.

*sigh*

I wasn’t surprised. I had been emailing his counselor off and on at the end of last school year because the classes he wanted to take weren’t available. Apparently, there are some classes they only offer certain number of times and then they can only hold so many students.

Which I think is both annoying and sad. Annoying because I think seniors should get first dibs on classes. After all, many students are building their scholastic portfolio and it can often times be important when applying to colleges. Sad because the school district can’t afford to hire teachers to teach more of the classes the kids want to take.

It’s a double-edged sword.

So, we made a trip to the counselor’s office. Only, she was busy, so I told the secretary we would return after we bought a parking permit. Dude had to fill out some registration information, show his schedule, his license and then pay $35 dollars (!!) in order to get the decal. Kind of a pain, but at least now he can drive to school, which is a very real possibility as I hope to get a (part-time?) job very soon.

We went back to the counselor’s office. The place was even MORE packed. Apparently, the school went to a new system this year and there were quite a few “glitches”. Dude didn’t want to wait, but I knew if we didn’t take care of it right then the first day of school would roll around and he wouldn’t have a clue where to go.

So we waited around.

We were on the verge of giving up and leaving, when the people in her office finally left. I peeked my head in her office, told her my name and reminded her that we had emailed about his schedule a few months back and she saw us. She was very nice, if not a bit harried, and I felt sorry for her. This must be hell for her to try and get 300 students situated.

Unfortunately, Dude only had about three classes to choose from – they were the only ones available for the time slots that he had open. One was an art class, and he’s already had so much art, he really didn’t want to go down that road again, so he ended up picking Business Law, and a Science/Research class on Meteorology. The counselor told him they were harder classes, which Dude wasn’t thrilled to hear, but I personally think he’s up for it. He’s a smart kid, if not a bit lazy, and I think a little challenge will be good for him.

He just needs to get in the mindset that this first quarter is going to be a WEE bit busier than he thought.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Took Jazz to band camp an hour early today. There are a few freshmen who need a little extra help with the marching drills and the co-sectional leader wasn’t pulling her weight, so the sectional leader asked Jazz to come in and essentially do her job for her. I had to get Jazz up at 5:45 a.m. in order for him to get dressed, eat some breakfast and still leave in time to go by Krispy Kreme doughnuts – he wanted to give his fellow saxophone players a little treat.

I’m really quite impressed with how seriously he takes his responsibilities in band – he simply lives for this stuff.

I spent the morning alternating between getting some work done and trying to stay on top of the sinus headache that took me by surprise around lunch time. I drank my cup of coffee at 1:00, and the headache miraculously disappeared. Remember, I’m down to ONE cup of coffee per day now, at mid-day, and I don’t drink any other form of caffeine the rest of the day. If my body can’t handle one cup of coffee, TOUGH. I like my coffee, I’m not giving it up.

Since this was the last day of band camp, Jazz got out at noon. This was also the day he needed to pick up his schedule … he was only scheduled for three classes. (He needs four classes).

*SIGH*

What is up with not getting these schedules right?? So, I emailed the counselor, told her that Jazz was missing his first period class and what now? She emailed back and said the only class they had available for that time period was a forensics, CSI-type of class and the kids loved it. Would he like to take that?

Well really, what choice did he have? Oh right, NONE. So yeah, he would like to take that class. Luckily, he does seem interested in the subject matter so hopefully, it will all be good. But I have a feeling, because it’s worded the same as Dude’s Meteorology class (Science Research and Design) that it’s going to be time consuming, as in, a big-project-that-Kevin-and-I-will-likely-have-to-help-with time consuming. So, both boys have two science classes EACH this 1st quarter.

*SIGH*

Jazz passed out when we got home. This past week has been really hard on him and he was dead tired. He slept for an hour and a half.

The band had its parent preview tonight. That’s when the parents get to see what the kids have been working on all week. I took quite a few pictures using my new zoom lens – it was the first time I’ve used it – and I’m really hoping they turned out okay.

The show was awesome. The kids only marched the first two sets, they’re still working on the last two sets, but we are liking what we see so far! The director said it was amazing how much progress they have made, it was pretty rare for them to be this far along in the program this early in the season. It’s also really neat to see where the kids start and then watch them again later to see the new and interesting things they add later.

The weather was great. A bit overcast, but there was a cool breeze so it was quite pleasant.

As we were leaving, I ordered a band jacket for Jazz. I sort of wish they had band jackets for parents.

I love Oh life because they send you an email at 8:00 p.m. every night asking you how your day went. You reply to the email and it automatically posts to your Oh Life account.

Thanks for reading.

(photo credit)

The small, insignificant, day-by-day things that happen in my life.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

I currently look six months pregnant. I think I’ve mentioned that I occasionally have intestinal issues – it’s safe to say, I’m having problems!! I woke up several times last night with extreme pressure, one time I even cried because it hurt so much. Without going into too much detail, I think I have IBS – at least, that’s what my Google searches have produced. I’m just about to the point where I’m ready to throw in the white towel and go to the doctor. Fortunately, these “attacks” don’t happen very often, I’ve learned, through trial and error what sets them off – sort of. It’s really hard to explain what I’m feeling, but it’s pressure, bloating and trapped gas, all rolled into one uncomfortable package. It usually only lasts a day or two and things start moving again *ahem*.

It’s hard to live life, let alone focus on any sort of work, when I have these “attacks.” I’ve had to pace myself – get some work done, lay down for a bit. Kevin wanted to go out to lunch (we usually go out on Wednesdays), but the thought of eating just made me ill.

If there’s one good thing about these “attacks” it’s that I usually drop a few pounds before it’s over.

Don’t feel sorry for me, I could go to the doctor, I’m just too stubborn to do that. And if I’m right and it’s IBS, there isn’t a cure for that – only treatments. So I guess, in my mind, why go to the doctor if all they’re going to tell me is, “Sorry. But you’ll just have to watch your diet for the rest of your life.”

Well duh. I know that. Why would I want to fork over a few hundred dollars for someone to tell me that?

Exactly.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

I’m feeling better. Not 100%, but I’m no longer doubled over in pain, either. Whatever it was (or wasn’t), passed. This does not mean I won’t spend some time (later) figuring out what is causing these intestinal problems, but for now, life may resume. Thank God.

I got a lot of work done today. I turned my computer off feeling very satisfied with myself. Though I ran into a bit of a snafu on one project and waiting to hear back on how to handle it, the project is done and ready to go on my end. One of the reasons I got so much work done? I stayed off Twitter. Seriously. I love Twitter, but it’s a TERRIBLE time suck. I’m thinking of just forgetting about it entirely. Well, maybe not entirely, but definitely not as often.

The “Eat, Love, Pray” movie comes out today. I have mixed feelings about this book and I haven’t even read it! I’ve been reading the reviews on Amazon and that has piqued my curiosity. But I heard on the radio that it’s about a woman who suddenly decided she didn’t want to be married anymore and went on a journey to “find” herself. I’m going to have to read this book now, if nothing else, to find out what the story is really about.

I need coffee.

Thursday, August 13, 2010

The thermostat in my car got all the way up to 104 degrees today!!! I was like … shocked! I was also worried that my car would overheat because how hot does it need to get before it starts affecting your car engine?

Speaking of cars, Jazz wanted to go out to lunch today so I thought this would be a good opportunity to take Dude out driving, you know, just to make sure he doesn’t get too rusty because the boy never goes anywhere, hence, the boy never drives himself anywhere. Since it’s been so hot and the car hasn’t been opened up (or started) in over a month, I went out to air it out. I tried starting it: it wouldn’t start. AARGH! I was annoyed. We had just spent a chunk of change replacing the ignition box/starter thingy.

I complained to Kevin, but he couldn’t look at it as he had a luncheon date with an old colleague. So, Dude and I took off in my car and we went up to meet Jazz for lunch. We ended up eating at Steak N’ Shake and though we missed Kevin, it was nice to have my boys to myself. The boys stuffed their faces (okay fine, I did, too), we got Jazz back to school so he could finish out band camp and we came home.

Dude and I drove up to the house and the first thing we noticed? The black car is gone. I didn’t panic, I just figured Kevin got home early and took the car out for a run – and that’s what happened.

However, after about thirty minutes, I started getting worried about him because here is my handicapped husband, (but not for much longer!), out in a car I didn’t trust in 100 degree weather. You can see why I was worried, right? So I checked messages to make sure he hadn’t called to tell me what he was doing and I nearly had a heart attack when I heard the voice say, “You have one URGENT message.”

Say what??? So, I called to check and thank GOD, it wasn’t from, or about, Kevin. Now I’m spooked. So I called Kev’s cell phone, only he didn’t answer. I wasn’t too terribly worried because he has told me that he will no longer answer his phone if he’s driving (I don’t answer mine while I’m driving either. Actually, I never answer mine, but whatever). I leave him a message figuring his phone will notify him he has a message and he’ll check it when he can.

It wasn’t five seconds after I hung up that I saw him driving up. He had not only gotten the car started (duh), but he had taken it to get it washed. He said it was running great and that he had to give it a bit more gas before it would start up. Still, I’m a little nervous; I’m not sure I trust this car very much and my boys will be driving it. We’ll just have to make a point of making sure it’s started/driven once or twice a week.

I had a very productive day, work wise. I’m cranking through my emails and now have them down to about three or four (trust me, this is a good thing). I got permission from the school district to work on another site and will be uploading their brand, spanking new website as soon as I finish here. I can’t tell you how satisfied I am with myself. I still have a lot of work ahead of me, but I’m making progress and not feeling quite so buried.

I’m nibbling on chocolate – I have a feeling I’m going to regret that decision in the coming days. Apparently, I never learn. *sigh*

Saturday, August 14, 2010

“Good morning sunshine.” This is how Kevin greets the boys every morning. This is funny because the boys are anything BUT sunshine early in the mornings. Jazz is naturally a morning person so once he has a few minutes to wake up, he’s pretty much okay. But Dude is NOT a morning person and takes a least a few hours before he’s feeling civil enough to speak. Me? Well, my eyes are open and I can answer questions when asked – I think that qualifies as awake, wouldn’t you?

Kevin and I went sofa shopping today. I know what you’re thinking, “But Karen, didn’t you JUST buy a sofa, loveseat and chair like, three years ago?” Why yes, yes we did and don’t you have a good memory! However, the fabric we selected, though totally awesome and the color is to die for, is not wearing well. We’ve been noticing bald spots. BALD SPOTS! On a set of furniture not even three years old! UNACCEPTABLE!! And now that we think about it, we’re not quite sure we even LIKE this particular style because the seat is too long and you sort of have to sit sideways to get comfortable and the back is not high enough so you get a crick in your neck whenever you try and lay your head back.

We checked out three different places and we found one we really liked. Our problem? We’re not sure what color to get because, wait for it, we’re ripping the carpets out of our living and dining room and putting in hardwood floors. Only, we have oak furniture, so we want a dark floor, which means that our sofa /loveseat combo? Should probably be light, as in either tan or taupe. We plan on looking at flooring tomorrow.

Don’t you love shopping for one thing only for it to lead to something else entirely? I’m pretty psyched out about these changes, but my pocketbook? Not so much.

I love Oh life because they send you an email at 8:00 p.m. every night asking you how your day went. You reply to the email and it automatically posts to your Oh Life account.

Thanks for reading.

(photo credit)

The small, insignificant, day-by-day things that happen in my life.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Headaches, ALL day long. I can’t figure out if they were tired headaches (for I slept on and off all day long, which helped a bit), a stress headache (I have a lot of stuff to do in the coming weeks – getting a part-time job is one of the biggest), or a caffeine headache (I mentioned I can’t handle a lot of caffeine, right??). I finally broke down and took some Excedrin Migraine, which worked, of course, I’ll be paying for it when Monthly Myrtle comes to pay me a visit, though. (Aspirin thins my blood too much – ’nuff said). I have decided I’m going to adjust my caffeine intake: instead of drinking a cup of coffee first thing in the morning, I’m going to try and drink one cup mid-morning and see if I’m not a bit more aware for the afternoon hours. Something must be done, I don’t have time for mind-numbing headaches!

Kevin noticed a crack in our kitchen tile grout last night. In fact, the crack extends to four full tiles. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!! Our new kitchen floor is not even six months old and it’s already cracking?!? To say we’re not happy, well, WE’RE NOT HAPPY. Kevin is going to call the tile people and see if they will come out and fix it, free of charge. I can’t remember if there is any sort of warranty on our floor or not, but grout cracks this early on should NOT happen, right??

Monday, August 9, 2010

I made an appointment with my OB-GYN today. I haven’t been in quite a few years – think about ten? (Okay, maybe not ten – more like eight). It has been so long that my account went into inactive and I’m considered a new patient again. They are going to send me a packet in the mail, which I have to fill out and turn back in. I made the appointment because well, it’s time. I had been toying with the thought of going in since before vacation and being a female, and having female problems, that only prompted me to get the ball rolling.

They can’t see me until September 13th. Which is fine, there’s really no hurry. I’m extremely nervous about going – one because it’s NEVER fun to go to the happy doctor, two because it’s been so long they are most likely going to yell at me, and three, I’m about 99% sure they are going to tell me to have a breast exam.

Something else I’ve never done and probably should now that I’m over 40.

I don’t exactly dislike doctors, but they are not exactly my favorite people, either.

Jazz started band camp today. Our weather is supposed to be in the upper 90’s and we have a heat advisory all week, too. The kids are doing their marching part in the morning and sticking to the inside in the afternoon. Jazz has been coming home exhausted and complaining about his feet hurting again. Band camp is pretty intensive (six days of 8 to 5 days) and one half day, and they keep the kids busy. We’ll have a chance to preview their routine next Tuesday, the 17th – I’m really looking forward to it.

I’m really thinking about making my blog all about the day-to-day activities. That’s all I really want to record anyway, but we’ll see. I’m really sick to death of feeling guilty for not posting anything and having that guilt hanging over my head all day. Don’t be surprised if you see a change in my blogging routine. Besides, I love blogging and probably will never fully give it up, but I have so many other, more pressing things on my mind right now that it’s definitely taking a back seat to other priorities.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Went to my grandmother’s funeral today. I started crying before I even sat down. My aunt had made, and displayed, a board full of pictures of grandma throughout various stages of her life and it was really neat to see pictures I had seen before as well as ones I had not. I ended up sitting next to my cousin – he was actually the ring bearer at our wedding. I wanted to say something to him, but I honestly couldn’t get past the lump in my throat.

It was a closed casket. They had a few pictures of grandma on the casket, it’s amazing how much my dad looks like his mother. The service was really nice – I broke down when the pastor relayed some stories about grandma and grandpa. (I nearly sobbed out loud when he talked about how they were always holding hands and how she would reach out to him at night, even though she wasn’t 100% sure who he was at the end).

I also lost it when I noticed my dad and brother wiping away tears.

My mother discretely passed me a couple of tissues; I’m assuming she heard me sniffling behind her.

Dude dressed in a shirt and tie – he looked so handsome and grown up. Kevin wore a suit, he hasn’t worn a tie in oh gosh, years. I was also worried he wouldn’t be able to get his puffy feet into his dress shoes, but he said it wasn’t that bad. (He could have been lying). Jazz couldn’t make it, he was at band camp.

My grandpa wore suspenders, though one shoulder had fallen off. I honestly can’t remember a time when my grandpa DIDN’T wear suspenders. It broke my heart when he passed me, gave me a little smile and then walked on. He looked so incredibly sad. My grandparents were very close. I hope he’s able to cope with this loss. It must be terribly hard on him.

I came home and collapsed – too many emotions, I think. It was a sad day for my family.

I’ve been using Oh Life to record my daily events. I love it because they send you an email at 8:00 p.m. every night asking you how your day went. You reply to the email and it automatically posts to your Oh Life account. I’ve been wanting to record the day-to-day happenings in my life because, well, I forget this stuff. I realize it may be pretty boring and worthless to you all out there, but to me? They’re precious moments.

Thanks for reading.

The small, insignificant, day-by-day things that happen in my life.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

I just finished reading “A Walk to Remember” by Nicholas Sparks. I have mixed feelings about Sparks’ writing. There is no question that he writes emotional stories – I can’t recall a time I’ve ever read a story of his and didn’t cry, but his writing is so simplistic, it’s almost insulting. I’m reading “The Scent of Scandal” by Carole Matthews now. Matthews is pretty entertaining’ I’m looking forward to it.

I have a skinned knee. Do you know how embarrassing it is, a grown woman, to walk around with a big, ugly scab on her knee? Here’s what happened: Kevin removed the ramp to his office and stupid me forgot that little tidbit. I was carrying my computer chair into his office for his boss (who comes over twice a week, though that should change now that Kevin is driving – they are going out to lunch tomorrow) so he could use it while talking to Kevin and since you have to step down into Kevin’s office (he converted our screen-in back porch), I put my foot out there fully expecting to step on a ramp, only the ramp was gone and I stepped into nothingness, lost my footing, and fell onto the concrete floor (that has been covered with indoor/outdoor carpeting because we’re fancy like that), and went to my knees. I had a pretty nasty rug burn on my knee and the side of my foot. I suppose I should be thankful that I didn’t break a bone.

Every morning, at 9:30 in the morning, I go into Dude’s room to wake him up. I turn his fan off, pull the covers off his skinny body and then turn his clock radio on – to an old-time gospel station. I laugh because the music is quite annoying to begin with, I can’t imagine waking up to it. And judging by Dude’s reaction each morning, he’s not too thrilled about waking up to it either.

I bought an external hard drive today. I got it at Wal-Mart – 320 gigabytes for $60 bucks. And it’s purple. I have a purple external hard drive. That makes me happy, for some odd reason. (I’m also determined to buy a pink laptop next time, just you watch me). I can’t wait to use it. I need it because I’m constantly making backups and burning DVD’s drives me nuts. I have two DVD cases full of backups. Though I will continue to make DVD backups, with an external hard drive, I won’t have to make them quite as often. And it’s purple, I mentioned that part, right? I’m such a geek.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

I reformatted my laptop today. I both love and hate reformatting. On one hand, it’s like a BRAND NEW COMPUTER! when I’m finished. On the other hand, it TAKES NEARLY ALL DAY to wait while it updates and installs things. *sigh* Reformatting my laptop is a heck of a lot easier to do than my personal computer. The Internet, for example, practically installs itself. Since it’s WiFi, it just looks for WiFi hotspots and that’s it. (Well, I had to put our WEP code in, but you know what I mean). Whereas my personal computer, I have to go to “My Network Places”, set up the workgroup blah blah blah. But I mentioned it’s like having a brand new computer when it’s all said and done, right? (I just transferred my entire iTunes library over and the whole process was smooth as butta).

I took the boys to buy school supplies today. They both love those trappers that have the handles on the outside. It always amuses me whenever I see Dude walking to my car after school, carrying it like a briefcase. Hey, if it helps him take school a bit more seriously, then I’m all for it. I’ll gladly fork over the $20 bucks needed to buy the thing. (*gulp*) We didn’t buy much else. When your kids are in high school, the school supply list consists of trapper, paper and pencils, and that’s about it.

We headed to Shoe Carnival afterward. I actually dislike Shoe Carnival because of the non-stop jabbering about hot deals and so forth on the intercom, it all seems so cheap and tacky, but they have the buy one, get one half price thing and since I have to buy two pairs of sneakers, I usually save about $30 bucks going there. Jazz found his pair right off the bat. Dude took about thirty minutes to finally decide. I have made so many of Dude’s decisions for him when he was growing up, he has sort of gotten into the habit of stepping back and letting me decide on stuff. I don’t do that any more. I sat down in a chair, crossed my legs and simply said, “Let me know when you’ve picked something.” He kept gravitating toward a pair that he really liked, only the tongue is a bit rough around the edges and I’m concerned they will end up rubbing the top of his feet raw. We went ahead and bought them, but I have a feeling we’ll be monkey rigging those things in the near future.

I wish I could say the boys and I had a good time today, but I would be lying. I always look forward to doing things like this with them and I’m always disappointed. They both HATE to shop and what can I expect? They’re teenage boys, not girls, it’s sort of in their nature to hate it. Plus, we’re getting ready for school, and if I haven’t shared with you all, my boys LOATHE school. (Well except for Jazz, he likes it only because of band).

I followed a twitter link today to a really bizarre and disturbing news story. It was one of those stranger than truth stories and I loved it. So much, in fact, that I’m using the idea for my National Novel Writing Month story in November. It feels really good to already have something in mind for that writing project. It will be my sixth time participating in the program. I’m glutton for punishment, apparently.

Friday, August 6, 2010

What an emotional roller coaster day.

The day started out pretty quiet. I spent most of it on my laptop, installing my programs, tweaking the settings so that it was exactly how I wanted it. I also ran across a really nifty (and FREE) writing program called yWriter. I haven’t had a chance to really dig into it yet, but I plan to after I finish this entry.

Kevin and I had just gotten back from the UPS store (he needed to have a document notarized) when I got an email from my mom – my grandmother passed away this morning. (My dad’s mom).

We all knew it was just a matter of time, she’s been suffering from Alzheimer’s and Dementia for a number of years, but still, it was shocking. I took a moment to absorb it before telling Kevin and the boys. Jazz could see I was pretty upset and he hugged me.

“It’s okay, mom.”

That somehow made it worse, though I appreciated his kindness. I’ve been crying off and on all day. I have so many regrets when it comes to my grandparents (I wrote about those regrets) so I’m sad that she’s gone, I’m sad that she suffered so much these past years and I’m sad for my missed opportunity, an opportunity I blew, on my own and all by myself.

I wanted to call my dad, but I wasn’t sure he would feel up to talking. I think my mom is on vacation this week on account of the fair, so hopefully she’s with him. It bothers me to think he might be home alone. I can’t imagine how my grandfather is coping right now.

Her funeral will likely be on Monday, though no definite plans have been made at this time. Jazz will be at band camp, but Dude should be there with us. It will be Dude’s first funeral.

A couple of Dude’s friends dropped by today, but Dude wouldn’t let me answer the door. He didn’t want to see them. When I pressed him as to why, he told me that when he spent the night over at his buddy’s house a few months back, they smoked pot. He said they offered him some and he refused – I believe him.

It doesn’t bother me so much that he was exposed to that, it was bound to happen sooner or later, and I’m proud of him for refusing to succumb to peer pressure, but it bothers me that he held that in all this time. We’ve always told the boys that if they ever found themselves in an uncomfortable situation with their friends to call us – no questions asked. No lectures, no explanations needed; we would talk about stuff later. So the fact that he didn’t call and stuck around all night sort of bothers me. I hope he wasn’t too scared to call us, and I hope he’s not too scared to call us in the future, if it happens again. (Which it probably won’t with these particular friends. Not only does he not wish to be friends with them anymore, I’m not sure we would allow him to hang out with them anymore).

So, my emotions have been all over the board today – sadness, regret, grief, surprise, shock, worry, anxiety, a touch of anger. I’m ready for this day to end.

Saturday, August 7, 2010

It was a quiet day. I battled yet another caffeine headache; I seem to be getting a lot of those lately. I have to ration my caffeine intake. I have one cup of coffee in the morning and then every other afternoon I have either half a cup of warmed left-over coffee, or a Red Bull. If I drink too much caffeine in the afternoon, I inevitably get a headache that lasts for DAYS. It’s annoying. I found that if I drink more than 8 ounces of Red Bull, that seems to trigger these headaches, too. Excedrin Migraine usually knocks these headaches out of the park, but they have aspirin in them, which does strange things to me, so I have to ration how much I take of that, as well. I’m complicated, what can I say?

Nephew came by and mowed our grass today. We’ve been paying him to come mow our grass every week until Kevin can get back on his feet. I feel a little weird with this arrangement considering we have two teenage boys who could do that job, but Kevin likes how J mows our grass and he doesn’t feel like fighting with the boys on making them do it right. (Though it would be good for them, but it’s his decision).

Found out when my grandmother’s funeral is: Tuesday. My mother-in-law wanted to go, but I feel uncomfortable with that. I know her heart is in the right place (wanting to support me), but she didn’t know my grandmother and I’m going to have my hands full with keeping my own emotions in check while trying to offer support to the rest of my family. I just don’t have the energy to try and put on airs in front of her. She’s a sweet lady and I appreciate the offer, though.

We bought an external hard drive for Kevin. He wants to get rid of an extra computer in his office. In fact, he wants to simplify our lives, period. With his grandmother’s death, my grandmother’s death and his accident, his entire view on life in general has changed. He doesn’t want to leave a lot of crap behind for our sons to sort through. We’re also going to set up our wills and start a payment plan on plots of land for our burial. I know that all sounds morbid, and I’m not exactly comfortable talking about such issues, but they are real-life issues that need to be taken care of. You just never know when life will throw you a curve ball.

I’ve been using Oh Life to record my daily events. I love it because they send you an email at 8:00 p.m. every night asking you how your day went. You reply to the email and it automatically posts to your Oh Life account. I’ve been wanting to record the day-to-day happenings in my life because, well, I forget this stuff. I realize it may be pretty boring and worthless to you all out there, but to me? They’re precious moments.

Thanks for reading.