Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Supporting Local Businesses

Ace and I are supporting a very local business. 2 kids from our neighborhood are trying to make some extra cash, so they are going to mow our lawn for us.

Because of this, I've spent the past 10 minutes trying not to laugh as I hear them "discussing" what is going on with their lawn mower (which keeps starting and stopping). I'm thinking the kids are around 10, so discussions include insulting each other about perceived wrongs.

On the other hand, Ace is happy that he doesn't have to mow the grass, a task that makes him sneeze and/or get stuffed up. And they are willing to come mow it every 2 weeks, which will keep the grass from getting too high.

So, if you can, support local businesses like these. There are benefits to everyone when you do.

Leave and Cleave

Ace and I are spending some time today listening to some mp3s of a marriage enrichment seminar.

Right now, they are covering the idea of leaving your parents and cleaving to your spouse. It is an important step for marriages, especially for young newlyweds. And it's odd, because I'm seeing things that will be important for when I've got kids who are married (something a way off). Mostly things that will ensure that I'm a good mother-in-law, which is a good thing to be.

Right now, Ace and I are still working on the leaving of his parents. We don't see them often, but we need to stop telling them every detail of our lives (mostly our finances) when we do see them. They don't need to know all of this stuff.

Right now, we aren't sure what the response would be if we told them that they don't need to know the information. And right now, we aren't in a position to fully be able to not care about their response (soon, we will be, at which time it will hopefully be something we find amusing even if it's not meant to be).

And for now, we will continue to work on leaving and cleaving. And hopefully, we won't the only people doing so.

TTFN!

Sunday, April 26, 2009

If I Twittered

If I twittered, these might have been my messages this afternoon.

3:20 Let dog outside. Going to watch Baby Mama.

4:30 Remembered dog is outside. Going to let him back in, then finish my movie.

4:35 Dog is in neighbor's yard, again. Am very frustrated. Called Ace and left a message.

4:40 Dog won't go back under the fence and into our yard for me.

4:55 Giving up on trying to coax dog back under the fence. Going to go back to the movie.

6:00 Ace calling on his way home. Will let him know about dog.

6:10 Ace got dog back home. Is my hero. Dog is punished for being bad.

Two days in a row, Guillermo had decided to get into the neighbor's yard (we aren't sure how, but he's obviously being coaxed over as he has to be coaxed back). We are frustrated and he now isn't allowed alone in the back yard until we get the fence fixed so that it won't be a problem any more. And it's frustrating because he wanted to go out so many times today. And him being where I couldn't get him back caused me to tear up a few times.

Friday, April 24, 2009

The Case of the Missing Deodorant

Or A Matter of Perspective

Yesterday, Ace and I were about to go do our grocery shopping. That necessitated the addition of deodorant to my person (additional deodorant, actually).

I went to the bedroom, where I keep my deodorant. Unfortunately, I couldn't find it. Then I went to look on my dining room table, because I remembered having set it there temporarily a few days earlier. But, it wasn't there.

On the plus side, we keep some toiletries packed up for when we go on trips, so I got into that and put on some deodorant, so the main issue was addressed. Plus, with going to do our shopping, we could buy me some more deodorant.

Then Ace walked into the bedroom, looked on the dresser, and announced that my deodorant was on the dresser. I walked back into the bedroom and couldn't see the deodorant. Then he pointed out where it had gotten pushed to.

From the angle I was looking, it was completely blocked from view. So the whole thing ended up just being a matter of perspective.

And then we bought me some more deodorant while we were at the store so that this wouldn't happen again anytime soon.

TTFN!

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Craziness Insued

So, Tuesday I got a massage. My back felt so nice afterward.

Just as I started feeling good, Ace started fighting off what was probably a sinus infection. Other than a somewhat stuffy nose and a desire to blow his nose a lot, he's feeling much better now.

It was odd. I went from the least healthy member of this family to the healthiest in one hour (Guillermo wasn't feeling well earlier this week either). So, it's been a little crazy around the house.

Today, Ace was finally feeling well enough for us to go do our grocery shopping. Plus, we were both well enough for me to do a load of dishes (Although, my back was a little sore when I finished loading the dishwasher, so I was happy to get back to sitting down shortly afterward.) which had been terribly been neglected for the past week.

So, instead of writing insightful posts, I've been busy trying to make sure that Ace was getting better (if he says differently, don't believe him, I was just cleverly making sure he was better while looking like I was just sitting around doing nothing in particular).

Hopefully I'll be back with a better post soon.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Shifting Plans

Today, my friend/therapist/massage therapist Karen called me up and asked if she could borrow Guillermo for a couple of weeks. There have been some things happening that made her uncomfortable and she wanted a little more protection around her house. She did insist, since she called while Ace was at work, that I wait and confer with Ace before giving her an answer.

Of course, we said yes. We want her to feel safe in her own home and while Guillermo might not be a guard dog, he would at least warn off bad guys by barking. Since she is living with her mother (who had originally agreed to this plan), she had to make sure her mother would be home to watch her kids (Jack and Jill) while she came by to pick Guillermo up.

Around 9, she sent me a few text messages saying that her mother had changed her mind about Guillermo being there. But since her kids were so excited about seeing Guillermo (as he used to be their dog), she wants to bring them by tomorrow to see him. Of course, that is perfectly fine with me.

And, to add to the oddness of the day, one of our neighbors came by and told us that the pit bull next door (the one who barks at anything in his yard and ours and has gotten Guillermo to bark) got lose from his chain and got out of his fenced yard and bit a child. In the morning, the dog is being taken away (We don't know for how long, but we're hoping it won't be back. Also, the neighbors don't know it's happening, so don't tell them.). Hearing that, I'm actually happy that I haven't spent all that much time outside since the neighbors moved in (not that I was outdoors much before that, but still). Hopefully their little dogs will also be kept up with better now too, as Ace has almost hit one when it randomly darted out into the street (plus, they keep coming into our yard for no reason other than to bark at the kids playing outside).

I'm hoping that the kid that was bitten is okay. Recently, with the warm weather, the younger kids of the neighborhood have been playing outside (something that is only slightly annoying when Ace and I want to go somewhere/come home and they are in our driveway, otherwise we don't really care). My main reason for wishing the dog won't come back is for the safety of those kids (although, I won't miss the barking). They should be able to play outside without worrying that a fenced in dog is going to get out and bite them. I'm happy that the worst Guillermo would do is accidentally knock them over in his excitement to possibly play fetch (not that he's allowed out unsupervised, but still).

Hopefully, after Tuesday when Karen gives me a massage, I'll be feeling better and will come back and write more (I haven't really wanted to post a lot of posts about my back hurting this past week, so I just haven't posted).

And now, I think I'll head to bed.

TTFN!

Friday, April 17, 2009

Some Weeks End Well

While I'm still waiting to hear from anyone wanting to offer me a job, I have had other good things happening this week.

Ace and I went to look at the outside of a house we might possibly want to buy (maybe) if things go the right way. (No, I couldn't keep from making a definitive statement more if I tried.)

We also went by Home Depot and got some stuff to kill our ants and some wood strips to keep my massage chair from rolling off the back of the box that it sits on so that it will be the same height as a normal chair (it's much nicer now that it's at normal height, and now I shouldn't have issues with the chair trying to fall over the back of the box).

And yesterday, after being aware that I could free up some space on my laptop by deleting World of Warcraft (I was having issues with it not running right, so now I'll just play on Ace's computer when I want to play) off my computer. Then I fixed my DVD drive (my computer wasn't recognizing it, but it does now). And then I added a bunch of games I had been forced to remove to be able to run World of Warcraft. So, I'm all happy about having more games available to play.

All of that made for a nice end of the week for me. Now if I could just hear from someone about a job... Maybe next week.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Things I've Learned Lately

There have been 6 people who have found my post about hating my house lately.

I'm wondering exactly what those 6 people are looking for when they searched for "hate my house" or "I hate my house" and what exactly drew them to my post.

And I wonder if they read more than 10 words of the post.

I guess I'll never know for sure. But, I hope they find some peace with hating their house too.

TTFN!

Sunday, April 12, 2009

A Good Mood

After spending a couple of days in a funk, my mood has vastly improved.

Some of that could be attributed to me spending some time watching things to make me laugh. Some of it could be a better night's sleep. And some could be that I stopped focusing on me and started focusing on, well, nothing.

That isn't to say that I didn't get grouchy a couple of times, I did. Guillermo seems to find my buttons and push them until I've reached my limit (I know, kids will do the same). But the grouchiness came and went without sticking around for very long, so I'd say that my mood is very much improved, indeed.

Well, I should go to bed soon, as it is around midnight and sleep seems to help my mood somewhat.

TTFN!

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Complex Thoughts

Since my brain won't shut off enough to allow me to take a nap, I'm going to come here and write. Hopefully, my over-abundance of thoughts will be satisfied and leave me alone (and I should warn you that I'm kind of grouchy about not getting that nap).

I was laying in bed, thinking of how exactly I try to balance myself emotionally each month as Ace and I try to get me pregnant. The kind of things I try to tell myself to keep from letting my hopes get too high.

Every month, I have to remind myself that the week before my period is supposed to start that it's normal for me to start disliking spicy food. That just because I feel nauseous now doesn't mean that I'm pregnant, just that my hormones have made my stomach extremely touchy about what it will eat. I have to remind myself that we are being patient and that we will find out soon enough what is going on with my body.

And then, each month that I get my period, I have to remind myself that we will try again this coming month. That at least we get to enjoy the process of trying. That I'll soon be back to being fully sane and not crying at everything. That it's okay to hurt right now, but not to stay hurting for long.

Tuesday, I started my period. Today, the hurt has caught up with me. In a little while, I'll be fine again emotionally. But for now, I'm mourning what might have been (nothing special about the last month, just hope that's a little crushed).

And this month, I'll gear up to try once again to find the delicate balance between hopeful and realistic so that I don't get crushed emotionally if...

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Talkative?

Ace would say that I am very talkative. And he's right. I am normally very talkative, but right now I'm feeling a little quiet, at least when it comes writing.

I do have a bit of good news. Ace and a friend worked on snaking out the kitchen sink. Our snake gave up while they were at it, but it did clear out the pipes enough that we can wash dishes in the dishwasher again (it still has drainage issues, but they aren't as bad and I can live with them for right now).

So, I no longer have a kitchen full of dirty dishes. I still have some to wash, but it's a lot nicer in the kitchen now and I can easily finish up in a little while.

And that's the big news around here.

TTFN!

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Who is that Man?

Ace asked me a good question once (okay, he's asked me lots of good questions, but I only want to talk about a particular question).

We were watching TV, a common habit in this household, and some ad came on with Billy Mays (Oxiclean, I think). And Ace looked over at me and asked "Who is Billy Mays? I mean, other than the guy in the commercial."

I had no idea. I still don't, but it's odd to me that he starts off every commercial he's in saying "I'm Billy Mays." It's all well and good that he's Billy Mays, but why should his endorsement entice me to buy a product when all I know is his name and that he talks in a fairly loud voice? It's not like he's Walter Cronkite (not that I remember Walter Cronkite, but he has been named the most trusted man in America. Bonus fact, he's still alive!).

Can you give me a good reason to trust Billy Mays? Or should I just keep ignoring him?

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Butterfingers

A little while ago, I was feeling like I had butterfingers.

I walked into the living room and went to sit down. I put my food down on my tray, and moved around my footstool to my chair. Then, I lost my balance some and fell into the arm of my massage chair (which is up on a block, but can go sliding off if bumped). Of course, falling like that bumped my chair enough that it wasn't as solid on the block and as I put my weight a bit more on the back it started sliding off.

So, I get up, step over my footstool, walk around my tray, put my chair back up firmly and then, somehow, manage to spill most of my cup of juice all over the floor. Nicely I avoided hitting my laptop, mouse, and cell phone completely. Guillermo came over right away and started licking up the juice (it's now mostly just a big wet spot on the floor). Ace moved quickly and took care of cleaning the juice off my tray while I sat out of the way and tried to decide if I should laugh or cry.

Then, Ace gave me a couple of hugs and reminded me that it wasn't that bad a spill.

But I still feel kind of foolish about the whole thing. I'm just glad the butterfinger problem doesn't pop up very often.

Now, if only I could get a good night's sleep so I don't feel quite so tired all the time (which contributed to the butterfinger episode earlier, I'm sure).

And now I'm going to enjoy some ice cream and some Tom and Jerry.

TTFN!