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I'm back! And just in time for a theme I can really get on board with: Sleeping.

Sleeping pictures (according to my Picasa 2) are the second most popular theme of pictures in my house. (#1 being All Dressed Up, which includes over 60 pictures of people in hats...Which is just... Strange.) I had upwards of 125 pictures to choose from (some of which I'm saving for the future dreaming theme I saw on the list).

Here's what I wound up with:

First off, a two-fer: SisterCh and my dad, Christmas morning 1987. This was back when she was still cute and snuggly, and actually liked us. (Today, not so much.)


Then there's my BigBrother (also 1987) and his boy, Punkin (earlier this year).
How awesome is it that my 6-year-old nephew is less of a geek than his 11 year old father was? SisterJ saw that picture of Punkin and said he was "pimpin!"; his father, on the other hand, is definitely not.

























And I'll finish up with my mom's absolute favorite picture of me, sound asleep in busy Logan Airport, July 1979. She says that I slept through most of the very long flight to California, while my brother (then 3 1/2) got airsick almost before the plane was in the air. It's a really good shot, though... and just precious.



So, that's what I've got for you today: I'm off to make the rounds right now (hooray!), and am glad to be back & up for playing.

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A meme kind of day

Courtesy of Diner Girl


TEN Random Things You May Not Know About Me:
1. My bookshelf is organized by author, genre and color (in that order).
2. I eat Snickers bars by taking a bite, then sucking all the chocolate off, then sucking on the caramel and peanuts.
3. I can move my pinky toe independently of the rest of my toes.
4. I hate mayonaise. And tunafish. And together? They are probably the most disgusting thing ever.
5. I believe in things a grown-up probaly shouldn't still believe in.
6. When there's a funeral at the church across the street, I sometimes cry just watching them all file in behind the casket.
7. When I was well, and a dancer, I could do splits easily and comfortably make my feet rest up behind my head.
8. I love to make lists, but don't always follow them.
9. My brother and I each have a chicken pox scar in the same exact place: over the arch of our left eyebrow.
10. I think poetry needs to be read aloud or else it's not interesting.

NINE Places I've Visited:
1. Kissimee, Florida (Where I saw it rain on one side of the street, with the sun shining on the other. Also where I saw my first rainbow.)
2. Point Sebago, Maine (I LOVED it... even though we were in a trailer)
3. NYC (In general, too loud for me, but I'd love to go and see a show, stay at the Plaza with Eloise, etc.)
4. Washington D.C. (History Day, 1993)
5. Wareham/Cape Cod, MA
6. North Conway, NH
7. Disney World
8. Newport, RI
9. San Diego, CA (although I was 2 months old, so I don't remember it)

EIGHT Ways to Win My Heart:
1. Love me for me: see past the broken down body enough to care about me as a person.
2. Be understanding.
3. Don't have pets. I like animals, but am allergic.
4. Love & be able to interact well with kids. (Not that goofy, totally fake crap that so many grown-ups do: really enjoy their company.)
5. Allow me to have the remote control more often.
6. Understand that reading is not a waste of time, but rather a necessity.
7. Stick up for me.
8. Get that talking to my mom or sisters about you [i] is [/i] going to happen. Deal.



SEVEN Things I Want to Do Before I Die:
1. Get Better.
2. Get Better.
3. Get Better.
4. Get Better.
5. Get Better.
6. Get Better.
7. Get Better. (Yes, there are other things I'd like to do, but if I could only get one, that'd be it.)

SIX Things I'm Afraid Of:
1. Outliving the people I love.
2. Never getting better.
3. Never finding my place in the world.
4. Losing my debit card.
5. That feeling when you know something is wrong but you can't figure out what it is.
6. That things will go from bad to worse.

FIVE Things I Don't Like:
1. Not being able to be nicer to myself.
2. Insensitive, rude, or just plain careless people.
3. Smells.
4. People who think reading romance novels equals being dumb. (Hey, I've read Tolstoy... I just didn't enjoy him as much as I enjoy Nora Roberts!)
5. When the UPS guy doesn't ring the bell. He was HERE, he stuck his little sticky note on the door that said we weren't home. I was HERE, so I know he never rang the bell. Wouldn't it be just as easy to give me my package as to stick the note up?

FOUR Ways to Turn Me Off:
1. Wearing a scent - again with the allergies.
2. Being rude to service people, strangers, or (God Forbid) your family.
3. Acting like you're right even when you know you're not. Just admit it already.
4. Suggesting that "everybody gets fatigued," or telling me about some "MIRACLE cure" you read about on the internet: I know my disease backwards, forwards and inside out. I stay current on research, treatments, new developments. I have tried everything my doctors can think of...if there were a cure, I would know about it. Thanks for thinking of me, but really, don't you think I do everything I can to not be like this? Perhaps you adding more pressure - kindly or otherwise - really isn't the greatest idea.


THREE Things I Do Every Day:
1. Read
2. Take my meds
3. Talk to someone I love

TWO Things that Make Me Happy:
1. My niece and nephews
2. Books

ONE Thing On My Mind Right Now:
1. I really need to get this site all spiffy. I need to get a new template, write and edit a new blogroll (as the old one still hasn't shown up completely), figure out what the heck blogger beta is. I don't know when I'll get any of this done, but it's on my mind.

(ETA: I do not know why my blog is yelling at you: I haven't screwed with the template at ALL. But I must.... hopefully, till I do, you can get past the shouting and read without getting a headache.)



Although I missed a bit of the month, there were still a ton of standouts up for this month's Perfect Post award (Via Lucinda and MommaK).


The runners up included:


Paper Napkin and her son, for an amusing game.


Dooce for making me rethink the definition of a picky eater.

And
Drunkbunny's
slightly older (ok, a year older & totally not eligble except that I just found it) post about Gay Marriage. That made me laugh, big time.



But I've decided to award September's Perfect Post to

WALL PAPER OF MY MIND, who's a recent addition to my blogs-I-must-read category. There's examples of why I like her so muchhere and here, but it was this post that I think is just perfect.
Because it reflects so much of what I feel is really, really good about the blogging community.

She writes:


"I came to love the comments on blogs. I am still realizing with each new blog I stumble-link to, in such a staggering ocean breadth of authors, that so many of them thrive on the feedback and the interaction it produces. Community is trans-morphing at a rapid pace for mothers. I not only read, but have met and become friends with the women I admire on-line. It has no precedent. "


I'm not, technically, a mommyblogger. Because I don't have any kids of my own. But I guess I am an Auntie Blogger, since the two beautiful souls that I am helping to raise are often fodder for my blog. And I love the amount of information and support and caring and fun that mommybloggers contribute to this strange new world we're all building here. So, I agree that it's something for them to be proud of, to claim.

So, WallPaper, you get to claim this prize, for standing up for Mommy Bloggers.

See, I've changed moods already.

I told you it wouldn't last long.

Just found out The Bitch Upstairs (tm) has ripped up the carpet on the stairs to the third floor, and has decided to paint and the recarpet.

Yes, you heard me right: Paint. And then recarpet. I know absolutely nothing about recarpeting, whether or not they use, say glue or something like that that would have an odor and/or fumes.

But Paint? Yeah, I'm pretty damn sure that has some fumes. And odors. And neither of those things are things my body is capable of handling.

It's not as if this is new information, either. The Bitch Upstairs (tm), you might remember, figured it was worth almost killing me to repaint the porch because her daughter needed it to look nice for her graduation party. In addition to paint, her arsenal includes the dreaded Mothballs & so-called Air Freshners. All told, in the past three years or so, I've been forced to leave my house about 5 times, sometimes for longer than a week because of something she has added to our environment without thought or care as to how it affects my body.

Not that I'm surprised. Because, she is, afterall, a Bitch.

And my grandmother? This grandmother? Yeah. She's all "well, I TOLD her not to." No. You don't TELL her, because we know from experience that she doesn't give a shit about what you say: You yell and scream and walk off in a huff, & then she does it anyways and I wind up in the ER or my other grandmother's couch again.
You say "Listen Bitch: This is my house. These are my steps and that is my granddaughter. You make one move toward any form of paint, and you'll find your bags out on the street."

The End.

I guess, sometimes, it's just too much to expect people (you know, your family???) to stand up for you.

So, who knows what tomorrow will bring? Maybe I'll be posting from the Hilton?

Hello Peoples!

Well, I missed the SPH again this week, but I did manage to take a shower.... It's all give and take, people, give and take. And I decided that finally beng clean was worth a little bit more of my energy and effort than searching for a "Comfy" picture.



(Also? I couldn't find anything that was "comfy" but not "sleeping." And sleeping is coming up in a few weeks, so I'll just save them for that. I do plan to try to do a little touring, though, so hopefully, I'll be visiting a lot of you.)

Anyway, here's something that I realized in my two weeks away:

I can do without e-mail, blogging, etc. But I don't want to.


I like that I have a place where I can write whatever pops into my little head.


And that there are people out there who are interested enough, or bored enough, or who care enough to read whatever little thought pops into my head.

Also?
That there are people that I care enough about that not checking in with them for over a week feels wrong. I need to know what's on sale over at Want Not that I didn't even know I wanted. I need to cry over Noah's birthday, because Amalah was the first blog I got addicted to and I can't believe that I've been watching (e-stalking) their family for over a year already. I need to hear that people have been living their own lives, and doing their own things, and still care enough about me to check in every once in a while.

In short, even though I wish I knew more about html, and that I had more time and energy to comment and update, I'm so glad that there's space in the blogosphere for a partial broken, sometimes nonsensical chica like me.

So, thanks for having me. (And you can be pretty sure that I won't be stuck in mushy-post mood for too much longer.)

Dear Internet Peoples -

Thanks for sticking around.

I am feeling much improved, as far as the biopsy goes. In fact, if I had waited another day or so to post, I might have thought I'd imagined the whole "intense-pain" of the first few days. The Fibro-Flare is on it's way down too, thank goodness. So things are looking up.

I had all these posts planned for the past two weeks:

- My one year blog-aversary (how to spell that??) and a brand new blog design
- A post on banned books week ---> Which, hello? Books should not be banned. The End. I have read some H.O.R.R.I.F.I.C. books, books with no plots, or too many characters. Books with disgusting and lurid details about things that I wish I didn't know. Books I wish I could erase from my brain. And yet, if someone else wants to read them (why, oh why?) they should be able to.
- An update on my crazy family

and, as is always the case, I had about 62 different topics pop into my head while I was recuperating. Do I remember most of them? Of course not. But a few of them managed to stick with me, so they'll be up soon too.



I hope to be back, full force, this week. And can't thank you all enough for caring, for checking in, for coming back.

For Enquiring Minds

*Thanks for enquiring*

The biopsy itself went wonderfully: sugar-cube-o-muscle removed quickly, easily and with no complications. The incision is about 3 inches long, and I have a bruise the size of a dessert plate on my leg (I bruise beautifully, BTW: I always manage not to discriminate against any color in the rainbow.)


The after effects of the biopsy are not as easily managed, however. I have severely underestimated the amount of work my right upper thigh does on any given day (Hello sitting. And turning. And also bending. Or stretching). And now that it is unusable, my left leg is not happy to pick up the slack. Also, the constant shifting that my regular pain levels require only amps up the whole "muscle with a piece missing" pain. Enter the dreaded FIBRO FLARE. It is dreaded and deadly. The pain pills are having a hard time deciding where they should go, and mostly decide to float around aimlessly for their entire worklife.

So, my brain and body aren't exactly working at any specific capacity...Unless there is a specific capacity labeled "Holy Shit this hurts and why did I let my doctor talk me into doing this."

But I'll be back when I can, and (given the fact that my family, as a whole, has been ... less than supportive) I can't say how much it means to me that you all are thinking about me out there.

So thanks, mind Enquirers. :)

Where's House when you need him?

Here are some words that I don't think the doctor should say to me, just nonchalantly.

Biopsy and Surgery.

Yeah... Don't just sneak those in on me, when I am not looking. And certainly don't add the word "Friday" in, just for fun. Particularly in this context:" Yeah, I think we'll just see if we can squeeze the muscle biopsy in on Friday, if the surgeon can fit you in."


UM.... WHAAAAAAAAt?

So, instead of the muscle zapping test that I thought I was going in for this week? (and really didn't want, but was at least semi-prepared for...)


A nice muscle biopsy.


Because the tremors (that I didn't. even. know. I. had.) are noticeably worse.
(Seriously, don't your muscles twitch when someone is holding your feet and telling you to pull your toes up towards you? I never really noticed it before, but it didn't seem odd till they told me it wasn't supposed to happen.) And the docs think it might help them to see a piece of my muscle up close.

I bet it's really pretty. But I think it's probably pretty happy where it is.

To be honest, this is not supposed to be the biggest deal. Probably won't need anything more than a local (I'll find out tomorrow), and they'll take about an inch or two square out. It should heal fine & quickly, a few days of pain, and that should be that. Except... the last time I had surgery it screwed me over big time, for a long time. (But that was a pretty major surgery and this is a pretty minor one, so I'm trying not to freak out.)

But really? I'd rather not.

9-11 Tribute Post

I'm participating in 2996, a tribute to the individuals whose lives were lost on September 11, 2001. I'm not going to turn this into a political rant, or even my own personal memories: It's a post dedicated entirely to one person: Nestor Julio Chevalier.




Nestor, age 30 when he died, worked verifying trades at Cantor Fitzgerald in the World Trade Center. Here's what little information I was able to find out about him:



"Nestor was the type of person who was a friend to everyone. He always had a smile on his face and you could not be in a bad mood around him. I enjoyed talking to him and hanging out after work. We both worked downtown in Brooklyn. He was so dedicted to his parents and his brother, not typical of a guy in his 20's. "(From 9-11 Heroes)

And on a different tribute page he was described in this way:

"Allow me to say that truly, he was the most nicest, friendliest and classiest guy you could ever meet.

The thing that I most remember about Nestor is his easy going personality. He had a great sense of humor and a wonderful style for clothing. I pray every night to Nestor and I ask him to give me the strength to get through every day.
September11victims.com


The New York Times did a piece on Nestor and his family shortly after the attacks, the title was "Inseperable Brothers."

Nestor Chevalier always let his kid brother, Maurice, tag along. Though the brothers were five years apart, they were inseparable growing up in Washington Heights. They worked out together at the gym, and danced to salsa at the nightclubs. They even moved out of their mother's house into an apartment of their own in the neighborhood. "We were the best of friends," Maurice said. "We did everything together."

Nestor Julio Chevalier, 30, verified trades at Cantor Fitzgerald and had planned to marry his girlfriend of nine years, Lillian Fermin, in October. He loved to tell stories about his life, often exaggerating the details for even bigger laughs. He found a rapt audience in his family and friends. Just last month, Maurice took Nestor to a salsa club to celebrate his big brother's birthday. Maurice danced all night.

"I miss him dearly," Maurice said.

Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on September 25, 2001 NYT


It's the things that I couldn't find out about that I wish I could tell you all today. All those little things about him that his friends and family are still missing today, 5 years later. I've told you what I could find out about him, just by doing some searching, but it wasn't the whole of him.

He was a son,

a boyfriend,

a brother.

Think about your brother: the way he points his finger at you for an E.T. touch instead of giving you a hug. The time he got you into so much trouble by convincing you that dog bones were good for people too. The way he laughs, or looks at you with one eyebrow raised. All the little things. That's what Nestor's family is thinking about today.


And now, we are too.

As we should be.

To those who were touched by Nestor in life, I can only say I am sorry.

See, sometimes the brain knows what it is doing...

even when I don't.

So, because of last week's little oops... Here's this week's post all done.
Finding pictures of food around here is very easy. Pictures of us eating probably come in second only to pictures of us sleeping. So, I had lots to choose from, and here's what I've got for you



Take 2 babies covered in cake:











Add 2 boys stuffing food in their faces:







And top of with one girl who should be old enough to chew with her mouth closed:


And that's our Food-themed SPH.

Have a great week everybody

Day 1 of a new drug

And I've taken all my doses.

Right now? Do I feel better? Do all my muscles and nerve endings feel anywhere near normal?

No. No, they feel like MINE. And Mine SUCK


So, instead of feeling better, like I'm supposed to be right now, I feel depressed. Fuckin Depressed.

Because you set yourself up everysingletime that this is going to be THE DRUG .


Because you read al the research, everysingletime.
You read about the side effects and the dosage you should be taking,and when you should call your doctor, and you hope.

You go to the messageboards, and you say "Has anybody tried LNOM? How did it go for you?" and everysingletime, you hear the reports: the "Oh, it helped-me-so-much-I-don't-know-how-I-lived-without-it!!!!!!!!"s, the "Oh-My-God-don't-take-that-it's-like-poison!!!"s, the "this-was-my MIRACLE"s.


And, everysingletime, you say to yourself "don't get your hopes up too high, let's just wait and see."

but you do - get your hopes up -

everysingletime.

And, yes, it's only day one, and yes, you're supposed to wait till the stuff has enough time to kick in and flood your bloodstream with all it's pain-killing goodness. and yes, I know all this stuff.

But there's that part of you - everysingletime- that thinks as soon as you pop this pill, everything will change.

And, so far?

Every. Single. Time?

Not. So incredibly not.

So, it's not that I'm not giving up, it's that right now, after a day, I'm just sad. Sad and waiting. Waiting for all that goodness to start it's magic.

Any time now, wonder drug #217. Anytime.

Things I cannot get myself to care about today (even though I probably should).

1) The fact that I cannot get this Firefox extension to work, even though it is the sole reason I downloaded Firefox to begin with.

2) Street cleaning. Seriously, how many times does the street cleaner have to go by today: the answer is Every Single Time the Baby falls asleep. I'd rather have a dirty street.

Things I care a little bit about, but am trying not to obsess over:

1) The stupid EMG that is taking over 3 months to get around to is still up in the air. Now, instead of the actual test on Monday, like it's supposed to be, I'm having yet another "consult." Whatever. Just give me my new pain pills today, and I'll do whatever you want on Monday. Maybe.

2) The fact that this new med has some pretty serious potential side effects, not to mention the fact that I'm usually not the best with new meds to start with. But, I won't worry till I have to. It could be the drug : you never know.

Things I don't want to care about at all, but keep popping into my head:

1) Somebody is cooking something on their BBQ and it smells fabulous. On the other hand, I am having rice cakes with peanut butter for my 2:00 meal. There is no justice.


2) That picture of baby Suri... All that hair! We are a buncha bald babies over here, so Peanut still has the beginnings of little wispies and that is ALL. :sigh: But I love to rub her head anyways, so maybe the no hair is good.

And lastly, things I have to go do, right this very second.

1) get the crying baby out of her crib

2) shoot the street cleaner-man.

Here I am!

Two days in a row, even. Can you believe it?

Except very little happened today, and I wasn't sure what I could tell you about. But then, I took a shower. And, showering, by necessity has turned into someting intersting:


It is both torture and treat at the same time.


First, a little background about our bathroom. We live in a very old house: the bathroom door is not wide enough for the wheelchair, so I can't get in or out on my own. It's a small little room, so even if it fit through the doorway, there'd be no room for it to actually move. We have a claw foot tub, which, while beautiful, requires climbing in and out of. I cannot climb. I (obviously) can't stand, so I use a showerchair. Showering stopped being a solo effort for me about 10 years ago. And it is a challenge I am not always up for.


And the actual shower itself is like my own special form of kryptonite: with nerves that read even the slightest touch as PAIN, it's not my favorite thing. I can't handle cold water, at all, and my preferred water temperature is somewhere between "boiling hot" and "actual temperature of the sun." This searing heat zaps my brains right out of me (It's the POTS: my blood pressure is about 20/0 by the time I get out of the shower), and I can almost watch my ability to think or move flow right down the drain with the water. After my shower, my mom pours me into bed, where I have my "coma." At least 2 (and sometimes up to 10)hours of lying in bed, not moving, trying to get my body and brain to reboot.

However, the only time my body is semi-pain free is right after a blistering hot shower. If I hold the heat over the sorest muscles for a sufficent time, when I get out, all I can feel is a blissful numb tingling feeling.

Wow, with the poor descriptive word choice.

I wish I could explain it better, but it's really just that: the intense heat leaving my body, the chill in the air interacting with that heat, it's as if my body is suspended right above my normal oh-my-god-shoot-me-now level of pain, even for just those 3-4 minutes.

Of course, those three or four minutes are just a bit shadowed by the fact that I can't move, or connect two thoughts to each other.


But here I am a few hours later: brain working again, fresh and clean, talking to you nice people.

So, that was my day... what sort of intersting things happened in your life today?

I am tired,

but my brain is content to ramble tonite.

Punkin and Peanut finally went home about 3 minutes ago, hopefully with enough time for Punkin to get a bath in before his first day of school manana. (Cheers! And I'm pretty sure it's been a good long while since I've been on the Cheers! side of that equation.)


Another first? Punkin lost his first tooth yesterday, had his first visit from the toothfairy last night ("lost" may be a bit of an understatement: "Yanked out while biting on a pillow in the middle of a tantrum so that blood poured from his mouth" might actually be more accurate, but who's counting? Oh, and $5 for the first tooth? I suddenly feel older than ever, since I seem to remember teeth = coins, and that apparently makes me saddd).

But, House is new tonight (Yipppeeee!); the baby finally cheered up a bit at the end of the day (which probably had something to do with the poop that her daddy will have to clean up when she gets home : hahaha); and I am under 1400 calories for the day (so far, I still have to eat at 10:00 for pills, but I can do it!).

So that's my update. I need a nap, I've got House to watch and that is that!

A TOTALLY WRONG SPH

Grab the Scavenger Hunt code. Photo Theme. Join the blogroll. Visit participants.

Yeah... I was a week ahead of time (thanks, Karen!), so it'll have to wait till later. On the Road, huh? hmmm...

Be back with (the right) post later!

August perfect post

(Via Lucinda and Momma K)



My choice for August's perfect post comes from the lovely Miss Zoot, for her post, He stepped up to the plate....

The post itself is wonderful, all about falling into the trap of "being the one who does it all," (with the really great line "Of course, since I'm still the reigning Bitchiest Woman On The Planet (with a trophy), I'm having the hardest time thanking him. "It's something you should be doing anyway, no one thanks me when I wash dishes! Or feed the baby! Why should I thank you?" (Although that title certainly doesn't fit, Miss Z). Really, though, it's the post of the month because it so hit so close to home for me:

With the Punkin and the Peanut here during the week, there's a ton of additional stress on my body: I'm having to move so much more, having to make my brain focus,etc. and it is really wearing on me. But it doesn't have to be this hard.

Mum and I are watching them Together, so why don't I let her do more of the work? Why do I insist I am fine long after we both know I am not fine? Why do I insist on doing all the little things that could very easily be overlooked for now? Why haven't I learned yet, after almost 12 years of being sick, that I need to listen to my frickin body???




Having the Punkin and Peanut here has highlighted just how far away I am from being able to have my own family, right now.

(Of course, I knew this: it is not exactly a surprise, since I am semi-bed bound and have a hard time getting around enough to make meals for myself, but spending 8 hours a day with a 6-year-old and a 3-month old? Very much clinches it.) Because I am totally a "One Who Does it All" person, and have a hard time not taking over even when I am very very sick (cough: Exhibit A: NTE has pneumonia, and yet chases after then 1-year-old Punkin when he comes to the doctor's with me. Exhibit B: Punkin and Peanut are here from 9-almost 6, when I really should have said: "No, I don't think we can handle that much P&P time, I'm just not up for it.")

I've really had to put a lot of dreams aside, for now: I'm not working, I'm not dating, I'm barely doing more than changing the baby's diaper and playing another round of Monopoly Jr everyday, and there's things that I am missing out on, sure. But there's a reason those things are on hold: because when I am a mom, and a wife, I'll want to be able to give it my all. Like Miss Zoot does. And, I'm giving everything I've got to getting well, to being an Auntie, right now. So I can't, right now, be a Mum. It'll just have to wait.

So, go over there and check out Miss Z's post, and see if it doesn't make you think about your own parenting style.


Although Miss Zoot's post made me think about my own situation, Meghan over at
My Dog Harriet had me thinking about other people's situations. Her post on Post-Partum Depression, (Letting the Cat out of the Bag) and the comments that followed it? Amazing. Catch-your-breath amazing. The kind of stuff where you know the blogosphere is actually helping someone: Someone who is sitting there at their computer, thinking they're all alone, and then crying tears when they find out they're not. Kudos to her, her commenters, and all the moms out there who made it through.


Also in contention this month were:


Maya's Granny, a self professed "elder of the tribe," continues to share her wisdom with the rest of us. She had two posts that really got me thinking this month:I'm the Granny Nowlike Miss Zoot's post, had me thinking about what it means to be the mom, the aunt, the granny.
& the intriguing Sexualizing Children, where she talks about the choices our society has made regarding women and children and how they are dressed. The implications of those choices maybe something you haven't really considered before.

The Lipstick Chronicles had a good post, Savage Breast, about something I didn't understand the big deal about (It's a boob, people... you've seen 'em before, ain't ya?)

A new blog I added to my bloglines this month was Within the Woods. Adding to my Bloglines is a very selective process, people. I only have so much time available to check blogs, and I want them to be the best. Well, I think this post, Tv Dad , shows I made a wise decision.


Lady Strathconn gets a nod for her post I Should Have Been a Better Friend, because it moved me. When I got sick, a lot of my friends (high school sophomores like me, mostly) just disappeared. It hurt so badly and in so many ways I doubt I could explain. But the few that stuck by me? Are treasures beyond measure. And the ones I've found since? Who've only known the "sick-me"? Just as priceless.

And a last minute nod to Sheryl over at Paper Napkin, because she made me laugh out loud yesterday with this little bit:

"Yes, well, the reason I'm not sleeping is because the dog was on the bed, trembling. This can only mean one thing: Mount Vipoopius is about to erupt. I grab her by the collar, and run to the back door to try get her out in time, and she tries to squat and release before I get there. It's a little game we play, much like fetch, only with poop and expletives."

Sheryl, I'm not sleeping either, but it's not for a reason as funny as that. If that helps.

So, go check out some perfect posts, my friends: wander to your heart's desire!

Accessible? I doubt it.

So I had an appointment yesterday, the first time at this particular doctor.

Everybody knows the list of questions you have to ask when you make an appointment with someone new: Does the doctor take my insurance? Is there anything specific I need to bring for the appointment? If you're having tests, is there anything you should/shouldn't eat beforehand? In addition, I always ask, because I have to, "Is the office accessible?"

"Oh, yeah. We're accessible."

This particular appointment was for an eye exam, something I am about 4 1/2 years late in getting around to. (When you're going to doctor's appointments every other day, it's hard to get a non-emergency appointment to fit in, not to mention the fact that the insurance wouldn't pay for it until this summer.) And I really, really need new glasses. So, I asked when I made the appointment; again when I called back for directions to the office; and one final time when the receptionist called on Friday to confirm my appointment.

"Oh, yeah. We're accessible."

Let me just say that having a ramp does not make your office accessible. Having a ramp is nice, but if the doorway it leads up to is too narrow for a wheelchair to fit through, it means squat. If, once I manage to crawl through your doorway while someone else pushes the folded up chair, I still can't get into an actual exam room, then your office is not accessible. If I have to sit next to the trash while you "clear out a little space" in the HALLWAY for us to condut our exam, you are not accessible. If you have to skip over the "not so important" parts of the exam because someone is trying to get by and you want to "move things along," then your office is not accessible.
Ditto if the woman who fits the glasses has to try and drag her display case in piece by piece (while being totally impatient, as if it were my fault that she had to do so) because I can't get in there either.

That's pretty damn INaccessible, if you ask me.

And, what I should've done was storm off in a huff.

But I couldn't do that, because my mum had already left, and there's isn't so much of a huff if you're stuck in their backhallway until someone can come back to get you.

GRRR!

Because I know you all like to know what I am thinking

As soon as I am thinking it, I thought I'd do a little Emmy -lovin post.

In almost real-time!


First off, Conan is rocking as host:

Of course it's heavy, it's filled with the shattered dreams of four other people

And that rhymes with g as in g we're screwed.
the bit with bob newhart... too funny

The Segdway podium... also funny



--------------------

Sean Hayes pretending to cry

OMG --- the West wing won't be on this fall. I might cry RIGHT NOW!
-------------------
--- It better be chandra Wilson. (who looks be-a-uutiful).. and then it was not. That's just wrong: but then again, I don't watch huff.
----------------------
Mostly, I'm watching, thinking, wow we have some really crappy shows on TV, if these are the things getting nominated: Two and a Half Men (which, right ... my grandmother thinks is hilarious, but I think it's ridiculous). My Name is Earl? May be considered very funny, but I just don't get it at all.
-----------------
Commercial break: quick flip over to Pirates of the Caribbean on Channel 5, in the hopes of catching a glimpse of either Jack Sparrow or Will Turner. Nada. Fooey
----------------------
Never seen the girl in the cafe... oh well.
--------------------

I love how the name of the Weeds episode had to be bleeped out. That is too funny.
---------
The Office is such a funny funny show. Certainly funnier than My name is Earl (did I mention I don't get the appeal of that show?)

but I loved that guys acceptance speech. "God... that's just not cool."
---
also, lemme just say, that the Mac commercials? are seriously funny. I almost want a Mac, but know that I am too lazy to learn a whole different operating system. (I'd be all Where's the little talking paper clip? or why isn't my cursor turning into a pointing finger?)
-------
Simon Cowell's chest is not something that I need to be seeing. Button up, buddy.

Bandstand. Bonus. I looove me some Bandstand. Not that I ever saw it, but I love it just the same. And Dick Clark, well, he hosted Bloopers and Practical Jokes. That's all there is to say about that.
OMG... and the pyramid. Can I play the pyramid? Cuz I will. Don't make me. I will totally beat you, too.


Simon Cowell needs to not be talking. I dislike him right now. He's so smug even though he's not doing anything.

Dick looks FABULOUS. And y'all better stand up. He sounds better. And looks better and I thought his speech was very moving.

*also, just a side note here, as a wheelchair user who can walk with LOTS of help, the stairs on all these shows kind of pisses me off. There's no way for someone who can't climb the stairs to win & get up there. They have to wait backstage or something. It's not equality, people. It's little things like that that you don't notice till you need to notice. Even if somebody just broke their toe or something, they'd have to hop up there. Why not a little ramp on one side? Just sayin' End of rant*

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tina Fey is funny. I'm looking forward to her new show.



I also love the Colbert Report. And I think the Tony's should be in a separate category. It doesn't seem like those two things are similar (not to even mention
Barry manilow).



---------
I should probably be paying more attention, but this part was boring. Move on please.
To something interesting.

But Conan gets a bonus again, with the whole "Kareem Abdul Jabar" bit. (Is it sad that I would only know who he is b/c I watched Airplane a lot as a kid?)

I should probably be paying more attention, but this part was boring. Move on please.
To something interesting.

But Conan gets a bonus again, with the whole "Kareem Abdul Jabar" bit. (Is it sad that I would only know who he is b/c I watched Airplane a lot as a kid?)


Marishka Hargitay: Didn't she just have a baby. Cus she's too skinny for that.
But I don't like her new hair... or her dress. One is too long the other is too frumpy.

I liked the little Deal or No Deal bit, even though I don't watch that show.


The Bears for the Colbert Report. LOL
Also The David Blaine Bit. I'm sorry, but that was pretty funny.

All the variety show bits were funny, I usually like them. :)

Jon Stewart is a funny guy, and The Daily Show is excellent always. But I'm waiting for tomorrow night's Colbert Report, b/c I know it's going to be good. No, wait... are they on vacation??? UGH if they are. Not good.
-----
Just checkin back with the Pirates, and there, again, I'm watching the ghosties. These things should be timed better. I dont like ghosties. I want Depp or Bloom. Darn Pirates.
-----

They're running the Governor commercials already (have been for months actually), and I really have no idea of who I am voting for. I know who I am NOT voting for, but narrowing down who I will vote for is a bit harder.

------------------------------------------

I wish I had TIVO. That would be very, very nice. Colbert Report, West Wing, and Daily Show repeats whenever I choose. :drool:

House. I love that he has an English Accent. It just makes him Hotter. And the French bit was funny. I didn't see any of those miniseries. I can't think of the last time I watched a mini-series. Oh well.


I love Bradley Whitford, and I think they have some great chemistry. Another show I'm looking forward to. Yippee.
ETA: See, doesn't that look good? And it's not to far away.

The Office, it would be nothing without Steve Carrell. The King of Queens is nothing, even with the very funny Kevin James. And Monk is all about Tony Shaloub. So I'm very OK with him winning, because he does a fabulous job as Monk.

Uh-oh, dead people montage forthcoming. Must find tissues.
----


Candice Bergen is wearing something very unatttractive.

She looks exactly the same: Jackie Collins - it's been what, 20 years? Um... I'm going to decline to comment. But the tribute to Aaron Spelling was moving: I didn't know how much he had done, and how long his career was. (Although we could have done without Fantasy Island, IMO) But the And The Band Played On was such a strong piece, and I've watched 90210, Charmed, 7th Heaven, even the Angels on re-runs. (And they looked pretty dang good themselves) It's a strong body of work, that's for sure. Aww... little bit of tears, learning more about the man.

-------------------------&&&&&--------------------------------

10:02, and I don't know if poor Bob will make it.


Have to go scrounge up my 10:00 feeding, but I don't want to miss Jon & Steven together.

I didn't see any of the made-for-TV movies, either. Although I liked the commercial for the girl in the cafe. So, that's nice, anyways.
Also, the mention of a new Harry Potter movie is enough to cheer me up a bit.


LOL Conan. Fox News. Uck.

Here's my guys... I knew they would be funny. "Godless sodomites." "Pablum"
"Golden Idol... Babylon" There's sooo cute. I could melt.


"I Lost to Barry Manilow!!!!" Line of the night. Line of the night!


Why, in your acceptance speech, do you have to say "who's here tonight"? I don't think that matters one way or the other, does it? Not to me anyways.

I hate the "In Memoriam" because I always forget who has died, and then I'm sad all over again.
(Shelley Winters, Richard Pryor, John Spencer, Don Knotts)

And I hate how sometimes people clap and sometimes they don't. That just makes me sadder.

Emmys Part 2

Because that one was getting longer than I like to read, and I don't want you all to wander away.

While we are waiting... I have an appointment tomorrow. Which means I actually have to leave the house. Do you know when the last time I left the house was? Um.... over a month ago. Which means I have to figure out where my bra is (b/c I don't wear it in the house if I don't have to), and shoes. And all that kind of "going-out-of-the-house-try-really-hard-to-look-like-a-normal-person" stuff. And, as an added bonus, we've got the punkin and da peanut, and mum is still recovering from her bruised rib, so it should all be very interesting.

Now, wasn't that better than whatever commercial was on?

I actually saw Ambulance Girl; meh, wasn't all that impressed.

I wonder why Elizabeth the First is such a compelling figure for people? A few years back there was a whole slew of Elizabethian pictures, remember? And there were a slew about 30 years before that, and a bunch sprinkled in from the beginning black & FC-5-i386-disc2.iso
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Saturday Photo Hunt

and other assorted stuff.

Grab the Scavenger Hunt code. Photo Theme. Join the blogroll. Visit participants.

Today's theme is blue.

I don't know what everybody else is posting, since I don't like to look until after I've posted, but I took blue to mean not the color, but the feeling.

Here's some pictures of my bunch being a little blue, a little melancholy, or sad, or depressed in spirit.

Here's Older Brother with Punkin (Youngest Nephew) after waiting about 45 minutes in line for Santa Claus a few years back. Although I don't know why they're so blue: they went shopping while I waited in line. I guess maybe they thought I would roll over all the little children in front of me, like some kind of wheelchair bulldozer. Needless to say, I did not do that.

Look! It's me. (See, people, I sometimes post me, even though I hate, hatehatehatehate to have my picture 'tooken.') Here I am, looking pretty dejected, waiting for my Senior Prom date. I am blue because A) it is 5:30 and he is late. I hate being late. I have been ready since about 4; and B) it is 5:30, I have taken a box and a half of caffine pills in order to be semi-energetic tonite, and it is obviously not working. My hands are shaking, sure, but I could still curl up in a ball underneath the table and fall asleep... which, I maybe did (and, that wasn't even my worst prom story). CFS/FM certainly sucked during high school (and, unfortunately, hasn't stopped sucking since).


And, lastly, here's SisterM, being comforted by our grandmother, after surviving the terror that is getting up on stage to dance. She survived the terror, btw, by not actually getting up on the stage, but instead, bursting into tears and having to be carried away. But, to give her credit, she did manage to do it the next year.

So, there's us, with the blues.












Also of note today, according to to my NOW action newsletter, today is Women's Equality Day! Here's what they had to say about it:

On August 26, 1920, after 72 years of lobbying and protest, women finally won the right to vote in the United States.

In 1971, the late, great Rep. Bella Abzug convinced Congress to designate Aug. 26 as Women's Equality Day. Women's lives have changed dramatically since 1920 and even since 1971. By organizing, voting, speaking out and demanding change, we have made incredible leaps in every arena. But, we still have a long way to go.

Of course, we do. But I just have to spend a little while thinking about those "72 years of lobbying and protest," and how far we've been able to come. So, Happy Women's Equality Day, everbody!

Hopefully, this is a sign of things to come...

An actual post! With words and everything!

You all must be sooo impressed!

Or not.

I'm trying not to feel guilty about not posting more regularly, but I often feel guilty about things I have no control over. Which is why I'm trying not to. Because I don't need virtual guilt on top of everything else. So... we deal.

Blogging is a bonus in my life: I've "met" so many fabulous people, connections that I can't even believe. People show up here and read about whatever it is I am babbling about on any given day, and I can't express just how much I appreciate it. But I hate it when a blog I love is letting the new posts lapse, so I hate to do it to anybody who shows up here looking for some news.

The adjusting part should be slowing down after this week: As school starts up again, and Pumpkin/Youngest Nephew isn't spending the entire day with us, I should have a bit of energy and brainpower left at the end of the day, which I will GLADLY share with y'all.

So, hang tight. I really do appreciate it. (And will not feel guilty anymore... now that I've explained it all. Cuz I know you, my people, understand.)

Oh, and also, just to clean house a little bit... Thank you Thank You to those who helped with the whole backing up the blog thing: I knew there was a much much easier way than the way I was doing it. Welcome, to all the new readers (hello, I am not usually this boring.. I don't think), come back manana for a Saturday Photo Hunt, if you feel like it. And spammers, I do not want phetermine, or any sort of work from home scheme, so please stop leaving the links in my comments.

Peaces, my peoples.

I want to shop. It's not what I am doing (also falling into that category? Blogging regularly), but it's what I want to be doing. Instead I am trying to get my body to adjust to taking care of the punkin and the peanut (youngest nephew and niece) for a lot of hours. Every day. Said body would rather... revolt.

Particularly said brain, what with the whole "thinking" thing. Fun.

So I wanna go shopping. Be frivolous and buy something I don't really need at all. But what I'm actually going to do? Is probably play Pacman online or stare out the window.

Hope your week is looking happy.

NTE

My Very Exceptional Mother Could Just Serve Us Potato Chips, Xena

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---

In honor of all the new planets that have popped up this week, here's Youngest Nephew and his new, youthful solar system. (As represented by superballs).




Baby Planets Cerus, Cheron and 2003 UB 313 (Nicknamed Xena) are all represented, but you can't see them all. Cheron and Xena are in the hallway, because they are just "too far away to be in the close room." And one of those balls is supposed to be the sun, but not a red one. So there.

A little help from my friends

Hey there everybody... I'm just wondering.

Gotta little technical question for y'all.

When you talk about backing up your blog, how exactly do you do that?

Exactly?

Cuz I've been going through and copying all the posts and stuff and saving them in Word.

I'm thinking there's a trick or two (hundred) that I don't know, and that I am doing this entirely wrong.

So, help me out a bit, will ya?

Thanks!

I'm still (vaguely) here

I'm trying to write a post about pain and (lack of)sleep, but since the topics are hitting way too close to home this week, my brain power just ain't cuttin it. (Not to mention Niece and Youngest Nephew's Mum & Dad have gone back to work, so guess who's the boss?)

So, I really am here, somewhere, and hope to be legible soon.

Until then, check out what I am checking out:

Sesame Street goodness over at The Lovely Ms. Davis.

Something I am sure I am late coming to the party about over at Woot.com.


Maya's Granny (fast becoming one of my first-reads everyday), doing a little bit of linky-goodness herself on an excellent topic.


And Mom-101 having
a lot in common with me.

Be back soon, hopefully!

C'mon and have some fun...

Grab the Scavenger Hunt code. Photo Theme. Join the blogroll. Visit participants.

Well, today's theme was harder than I thought it would be, that's for sure.

The problem wasn't that I couldn't find anything funny, it was that everything was funny!

We are, as will be quite evident if you keep reading, a bunch of total goofballs.




Exhibit A:
Oldest Sister, SisterS. Age 2, Circa 1978. Wonder what the heck she is reading...




Exhibit B:
Oldest Sister's only son, Oldest Nephew, NephewR. Age 1, Circa 1997. After he got finished playing with the boxes he got for Christmas...




Exhibit C:
Youngest Sister, SisterK. Full of teeth, sometime during her first 2 years on Earth, so 1988-9 ish.



Exhibit whatever letter comes next... D, that's it:
Second Sister, SisterJ. At her christening, a couple of months old, circa 1983. Goofball genes are very strong here.





Sister M is Exhibit E:
Age 2, the summer of 1988.




Seriously, do you need more proof?

Then check out
Youngest Nephew, NephewA, takin a bath in our sink the summer he was 1. 2001.





And lastly, his daddy, Only Brother, being a goof when he was takin a bath, way back in the summer of 77.



I am sooo looking forward to what other people have posted as funny...

I'll be checkin you all out!

Thanks for stopping by!

why do we EVER throw anything away?

Seriously, people?

E_V_E_R!

Because now we are looking for a playpen. But not the new kind. The OLD kind. The kind with sides that fold down. The kind that has hinges and mesh and all those things that we, as babies, were apparently to stupid to know were extremely dangerous. The kind that we have had at least 3 seperate times in the past.

Where did they go?

And why are we looking for such a death trap?

To put our most precious baby in, of course.

Because the playpens they have now? With the pretty music boxes and mobiles and fabulous add-ons? Are too friggin tall. For people in wheelchairs. And unless the soon to be 3 month old decides that she would like to start climbing RIGHT NOW, then I'm going to need something I can actually use.

But thanks, for all the warnings.

And, also?

If these things are so dangerous, why are they so expensive on e-bay???

Just wondering.

----

Note to people unfamiliar with NTE: I am ranting. I will actually be buying one of these playpens, but will EXTREMELY careful with my use of it. Sarcasm, people. It's a gift.

Today, I am Charlie Brown

and my grandmother is Lucy Van Pelt. She's down at the other end of the field, making a good show about how this time she's not going to move the football. This time, when I get down there, it's going to be right where it is now & I'll be able to kick it, and our team will cheer because we've finally won.


And somehow... every single time, a part of me believes her.


A part of me thinks: "She can't possibly do this to me again! I mean, eventually, she's going to have to let me kick the stupid thing. She promised... and I know she's promised before, but this time she actually means it."

Of course, there's also a whole 'nother part of my brain saying "You idiot... Of course she's going to move the ball! You're going to get down there, prepared to kick, all amped up, your leg is gonna swing out, hit nothing but air, and keep going forward until you fly into the air and land on your ass.

AGAIN!!
Stop listening to her.
Her word, her promises mean nothing!"

So, yet again, I listened to the wrong voice: let myself believe that this time she was actually going to do the right thing: that she was going to stand up for herself, and her daughters, and me.


And, yet again, she caved. She gave in.


She picked the football up just as my foot swung out, full of momentum and as powerful as I could make it.

And, yet again, I landed on my big fat ass.

And, as usual, not so much as an apology.


Nana's more into the "denial" aspect of things... "Let's all pretend that I didn't just screw you all over again!"

Let's not.

I'm sorry if I can't be all happy and cheerful this time.

I'm sorry if I can't let you prattle on and on about how different next time will be.

The fact that you have the gall to look hurt when I tell you I don't believe you is just part of your Lucy-spiel. "Of course I am telling the truth!" You coax. All offended that I would even suggest such a thing. "All those other times, it wasn't my fault. I was holding the football and there was wind... or mud... or another player who came along and kicked it before you got there. I always keep my promises. And, next time, you'll see."

Well, maybe next time, you will.

But I won't be the one kicking.

I need to sit on the sidelines for a while.

I have to take myself out of your game.


"You promise me this; you promise me that
You promise me anything under the sun,
then you give me a kiss and
you're grabbing your hat,
and you're off to
the races again.

When I think of the time gone by...

When I think of the way I try...

I could honestly die."

Sue Me, Guys & Dolls.

Money makes the world go a-round...

Grab the Scavenger Hunt code. Photo Theme. Join the blogroll. Visit participants.

--------------------

But my nephew makes the money go a-round.

Here's today's SPH: Youngest Nephew practicing is new-found money spinning technique & me trying to figure out the "fast-action" setting on my camera. One of us (age 6) did really well; the other needs more practice.

Enjoy!






----

-----

lemme just say

that your age is not an excuse for your behavior if you are over 10 years old.

Honestly, telling me that you are "56 goddamn years old" does not help your argument. Just because you'll soon be old enough to collect Social Security doesn't mean you have carte blanche to act like an ass.

And don't tell me that your bad behavior is acceptable because you are over a certain age: if anything, it's the total opposite. Listen, I'm 27-goddamn-years-old, and I know better than that.


So, so should you.


The end.

July Perfect Post

Of course, there was debate. Of course, I have such a hard time narrowing things down to just one post (see the "oh-so-close" posts below), but I decided on

Maya's Granny's post about Dr. Anna Pou and the four patients
who died mysteriously during Katrina. I think she raises some very very good questions.




The "oh-so-close" posts this month:


Mom 101 questions her feminist credentials.

The tearjerker over at two peas.

This post, over at "Smart Bitches, if only for the lines, "Once again: Willem Dafoe in drag is NOT an acceptable substitute for a female model. Christ. And accordingly, cover artists should never use Uncle Herbert--you know, the uncle who always hugged you just that little bit too long and made the awkward, discomfiting jokes about your development when your breasts started growing--as a model for the hero. Common sense, people"

Today's theme = pets

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--------------------------

For today's theme, I give you our kitten, circa December 1986 (ie, before I became allergic). Named Thumper by SisterJ, for the bunny in Bambi b/c that was exactly how she would get your attention.




Thumper was the sweetest cat - as we later found out when we adopted the completely crazy Frostbite in 1992.


Frostbite had two different color eyes, a gray spot on the top of her head, and absolutely no common sense. She ran into walls and doors; she would lay in the threshold between two rooms and attack your feet if you dared to step over her; she was the kind of cat you laugh at on America's Funniest Home Videos.
Here she is eating my foot.





Notice that Thumper chose, instead, to actually eat her food.



Thumper had no use for her: you could almost see her thinking "What the hell is the matter with you???" She'd turn around when she say Frostbite coming, heading for a patch of sun to relax - Frosbite-free - in. Here, Thumper watches as Frostbite runs into the table ... again.





We had some interesting pets, that's for sure.

Seriously, as if I needed yet another time-eating, highly addictive, online activity:

Have you people discovered the wonder that is YouTube? I mean, honestly.

You can find ANYTHING.

They've got the PSA's and commercials from when I was a kid


One to grow on

R2- you're on Fire!


Beetlejuice Intro

Cartoons I'd forgotten


Candy they don't make anymore But they should!

This annoying kid who I saw about a million times (and was totally jealous of... a computer AND a set of encyclopedias... no fair!)

A double dutch routine that my friends taught me and we used to sing in the schoolyard.

I totally had a thing for Darkwing Duck: "Let's get dangerous..."

Not to mention some Animaniacs (now available on DVD, people... rush out to buy!) or Nose Marie (from the pound puppies cartoon). The GetAlong Gang, or some Gargamel, perhaps? Pick your poison!


---
So, now you know, all about YouTube and the joy it can bring (and the hours it can waste!)

And, if you were any sort of an 80's kid at all, you know that

Knowing is half the battle!

(Go... waste some time... It's Friday!)

...and..... ACTION!

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--------------------

Having totally missed last week's SPH (Um... all of the sudden? It was Monday. I honestly don't know where Saturday or Sunday went.), I wanted to be sure and get this up this morning.

So here's my action shots: It's SisterJ and SisterK at the hospital, waiting for our Niece to be born, this past May. We were there for about 12 hours. And, my sisters? Aren't exactly the greatest at waiting. (Face it, my 6 year old nephew waited better than they did.) Here, they have stolen my wheelchair (which I abandoned shortly after arriving for a more comfortable lounge chair),





and are fighting over who gets to ride in it.







Also, they are tickling each other.






Also, they are really loud: in a hospital lounge.

Also?
I wanted to shoot the both of them....


Now THAT would have been an action shot.

Happy Saturday, all!

Follow the fellow who follows the dream...

Today was a wandering sort of day...In real life, it was mainly about getting through the day while my brain wandered away (a post on pain meds & the fact that my doctor "doesn't want to interfere with my pain" until after I see a particular specialist ... in [strong]frickin September!![/strong] to follow... Stay on task, NTE!)

In the blogosphere, it was click-y wandering:

And, oh! The treasures you can find:


I started out with the fabulous

Mom-101, who led me to
SavvyMommy.com, where I found out about some contest, read some interesting product reviews, and was generally in awe of her internet prowess (drop down menus? All organized and such? Ugh!)

Mom-101 also led me to:

Troll-Baby, who has a heart melting letter posted... I'm going to have to search through her archives, get the whole story, but if someone wrote me a letter like that, I'd have it made into a shirt and wear it everywhere.

&

This Full House, which made me giggle: seriously.. Outloud and everything.


Then, because it is Wednesday, I had to head over to
Amalah & her Wednesday Advice Smackdown (even though she hasn't answered the question I sent in yet... There's always hope.) Amalah took me to her Daily Dose, and I went hunting thru her blogroll and wound up at
Jinkies, who showed me all the cool spots on the web, including 5ives

where I found this gem:

Five things, besides lying, that ShakiraÂ’s hips donÂ’t do:
June 15th, 2006
poach eggs
long division
tap your phone
moblog
take no mess

(And - I found a major contender for my July Perfect Post, as well).

And, if you haven't checked out this week's Post Secret, you should get over there, post haste.


Go.Wanderer. Trust me, You'll be surprised at what you find.

Do you ever have that thing...

Am I the Only One #3 (I think)

Am I the Only One who gets this "corner of the eye" thing? Where, no matter what you are doing, the entire day, you keep glimpsing things out of the corner of your eye? And there's nothing there... It's just some weird shadowy thing going on and it keeps freaking you out?

AITOO? I probably am.

Something else that I'm pretty sure is just my own unique brand of weirdness ---?

Exhausted fidgety. That's my mood right now. I want nothing more then to just close my eyes and sllllllllllleeeeeeeeeeeeeeep. But I'm having this weird wired kind of feeling too. It's like if I go to sleep, I don't know... I'm missing out on something (um.. Yeah. That's likely: I'm totally missing out on..... The mice crawling around somewhere in the house, or the absolute darkness that my room would be if I shut the computer off.) I can't explain this feeling very well (obviously): It's a CFIDS thing, I think... My body doesn't have the energy to do anything, but my brain is buzzing. As if sleep wasn't hard enough (Pass me another Neruontin, will ya?)

Alright... enough blathering for now.

Be back soon!

Naughty

I have been a piss-poor blogger this week. Suffice it to say, germs are not my friends.

However, today I am feeling a little more human, a little less sludge, so I do have some random thoughts I can share with you all:

First off, VH-1, in all it's Pop-culture, Clipshow goodness, is offering two fantastic opportunities to waste time: I love the 70s Volume 2 and The World Series of Pop Culture . Now, I love the 70s/80s/90s/60s as much as any other memorabilia obsessed, nostalgia happy freak, so I'm very glad for yet another helping of the decade in which I was alive for only 6 months, and yet still know way too much about. But this new show, this trivia World Series? I think VH-1 needs to seriously revamp it's audition process. Because many many many of the contestants should have been weeded out during earlier rounds. But I do love a game where I know every answer. (Except the stupid rap ones: I would need a teammate just for the rap ones.) Ah, Clip-show nirvana and a game show I can watch while in the midst of a fever high... VH-1, you are rocking this week. (P.S. does VH-1 actually play music anymore? Or is it like MTV, where there are no more music videos, only Laguna Beach and Road Rules?)

Next, I'd just like to mention that getting a family portrait taken, which seems like a good idea in the abstract, is NOT.

EVER.

PERIOD.

And also - SearsPortraitStudio? You may have totally duped me into paying your INSANEly high prices just this once, but now that I know you will put my pictures online? Never, ever again. (If I ever lose the rest of my marbles and decide to try this again, that is. Perhaps, when we're all grown. Oh crap, that's what this time was supposed to be.)

I think that's my random contribution to the blogosphere for today: Hope your weekend looks happy!

Sign, Signs, Everywhere a sign

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Everywhere, that is, except in my pictures.

This week's theme turned out to be harder than I expected, mainly b/c my scanner decided to scan everything in black and white. Yipee.

So here's this week's picture (which looks cooler in color, but what are you gonna do?)

I took it during a freak very late winter (read March or April) blizzard here a few years back.


I though it was funny: the signs read Spring and Summer Streets, and we were supposed to be well into spring and on our way to summer, and instead had a foot or two of snow. The original is nice, in that, the blue of the signs is the only color. (I tried to fix it in paint, but, please, people... Paint? Is useless. BTW - I'd appreciate any tips on a good photo editing program to try: I had a trial of Photoshop, which I loved, but it is wicked expensive. Anything you guys use, and love, and doesn't cost as much as a good winter jacket?)

Just to show you how much snow we got in that one day, here's another picture from the same storm.




Happy week everybody!

Words I learned just by listening to Disney Music

My niece and nephew were over yesterday; Youngest Nephew was singing a pop song I've never heard before (this is not unusual: 1)I only listen to the radio when I'm in the car and 2) I almost never listen to current music). But then he popped up with the "artist:" "Oh, it's by the Pussycat Dolls." He's 6. And he knows who the Pussycat Dolls are. Also? He likes to sing this particular line from another recent song: "What cha gonna do with all that junk, all that junk inside my trunk?"

Umm... Wow?

When I was six, I had a little red tape to tape recorder. I carried it around with me most days, playing a book on tape (My favorite was Little Women , because the sound of that CRACK when Amy fell through the ice gave me chills) or the newest Disney soundtrack. I was supremely uninterested in the popular music of the day (a trend which continues 20 years later). And the things I learned from Disney songs? Well, I think they might have had just a little bit more value than wondering about Fergie's "lady lumps."

A partial list of words I remember encountering for the first time via Disney music:
(made possible because, even then, I was a word hog, and wrote them in my own dictionary as I came across them)

Enchanted & Hovering (Winnie the Pooh)

Majarajah & Suffragette (Mary Poppins) Although, to be fair, the line "though we adore men individually, we agree, as a group, they're rather stupid?" might not have set the best example.

Briny, Castaway & Barren (Bedknobs & Broomsticks)

Arpeggios (Aristocats)

Cad (Lady & the Tramp)

Nom de plume (Aladdin)

Expectorating (Beauty and the Beast)

And from my most often played soundtrack, circa 1984?


Riled from the Fabulous Disco Mickey album. Seriously people: Disco Mickey. My favorite, of course being, Macho Duck("oh he is a manly sensation").

"Oh good evening Mr. Duck."


So which is sadder? The fact that my nephew can sing A Black Eyed Peas song, or that I now have to go see if I can get Macho Duck for my media player?

Huntin for Automobiles

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Searching for some caas (Hey, my brother literally parks his car in a Harvard yard (well, lot, anyways): we have no Rs here) to post. I don't know anything about cars. I know they go vroom (actually, they don't but that's what their supposed to sound like, I guess), and that they come in many different colors. Also, there are wheels - hopefully four. And perhaps an engine, or some sort of converter? & also... fan belts.

That is the sum total of my automotive knowledge.

My nephew, on the other hand, has been able to tell me the make of a car since he was two years old: "No, Auntie, that's not a Toyota... It's a Ford." or "Auntie NTE, if you look at the hubcaps you can tell the difference." (This is not true... I had to check the dictionary to make sure I was spelling hubcaps correctly: if I were to look at them, I would not be able to differentiate between specific kinds.)



And while I never had a toy car in my life, Youngest Nephew has enough to transport the entire population of his Little People village.



Since he used to get one everytime we went to the drugstore... I'm sure you can imagine how quickly he amassed a complete collection. Here's some of them close up:
















And here, he's trying to convince my Mum that he is ready for the real thing.


I mostly believe him... I think he could probably do it.

At least better than me.

Happy Week, Everybody!