This Does Not Compute

It's 7.15 and still ... well, not light out, but it was light out five minutes ago. I don't know why Daylight Savings Time gets harder for me to get into my head as I get older, instead of easier. Shouldn't I be used to it by now?

We had some nasty winds here last night, it felt as if they were surrounding the house. I fully expected to wake up in Munchkinland this morning. Instead, I saw a big branch on our front lawn from the tree out front. I'm glad there aren't branches hanging over the house anymore.

It was so windy that R decided to stay in the city an extra night rather than deal with the train and then the drive home on the Parkway, so she came back early this afternoon instead. I admit I was just a little concerned about the grandkitty being alone all night with that wind going on, but of course, she was fine today because she is, after all, a cat.

My mission for today was to get a paper shredder that works, which I did, and I spent the rest of the day happily destroying papers I had no business keeping anyway and completing stage two of getting ready to go to the accountant. (Stage Three is next weekend.) And there was a Beauty and the Geek marathon on, so that kept me occupied in the background.

I also managed to read some more Truman, and to tidy up things in iTunes a little. As for Truman, I have managed to finish about a third of the book, and it's June, 1945. Seriously, how much more can there be? You drop a bomb, you win an election, you retire. Actually, I enjoy David McCulloch's writing because he makes all the details interesting. Next week, HBO is starting a mini-series about John Adams, based on McCulloch's book about him, which was almost as long as Truman and also very good.

It seems to be dark now, which I think is altogether appropriate for night-time. So I'm going to change into my jammies and curl up on the couch with Harry S. until sleepytime.


WATCHING KING OF THE HILL :: ENTRY #1697

Sleepytime Gal

You know, they say that when you set your clocks back in the fall, you "get an extra hour of sleep." That is just bullshit. First of all, you would only get an actual extra hour of sleep if you went to bed Saturday night at the same time you do every other night -- which a lot of people don't do -- and you woke up Sunday morning at the same time on the clock as you do every other day, like by setting an alarm -- which many people don't do on Sundays, either. As for me, I couldn't fall asleep last night until 3.00 am, so I not only didn't get an "extra hour", I barely got anything close to my normal hours of sleep.

The thing is, I actually did fall asleep before 3.00, many many times. Between 11 and 2, I would fall asleep, wake up in a minute or two, and then fall asleep again twenty minutes later for another minute or two. I did sleep from 2 to 3, but I was convinced that whole time that I was awake, and talking to the Hubs about how neither one of us could sleep. It wasn't until after 3 that I actually fell asleep for the balance of the night.

So I'm a little out of it today. Fortunately, I didn't have much to do except go food shopping. The most amazing thing of the day was that the cable guy came while I was at the supermarket and the Hubs was here with him and took care of it. Knock me ovah with a feathah! The last time the Hubs stayed home for a service person was in 1992, when I left him alone in the house for ten minutes on a Saturday morning and Sears came and delivered the wrong stove, and the Hubs signed for it and they went happily on their way. It took me forever to straighten out that one. But so far, the cable is working, so I have no complaints today.

Not looking forward to school tomorrow, but looking forward to getting the meeting with the principal over with. The SCM and I just need to get our ducks in a row before we go in there. I really hope this doesn't come out badly for us.

I'm going to go collapse now, and watch this year's Treehouse of Horror.

WATCHING THE SIMPSONS :: ENTRY #1620

Oh, What a ...

It was indeed a beautiful morning. I got up just about seven-ish, rolled myself out of bed and took a peek out the window, and got myself together for my practice run to the airport.

This is not as goofy as it sounds. When R went to college up in that area, I enjoyed nothing more than having to drive up there for some reason, just by myself in the car with some good music or an audiobook playing. It's an easy drive, and a lovely one, depending on the time of the year. (Winter is not so much fun.) Because most of the ride is through some sort of mountains, I was expecting it to be especially lovely today.

It was, but not in the way I expected. I anticipated glorious fall colors, but because it's been so oddly warm this fall, I only saw splashes of color here and there. Most of the mountainsides are still a pretty dense green, and almost nothing has fallen yet. What made the ride amazing was the mist, or fog. In some places, it was so thick that I could only see a few cars in front of me. In some places, all I saw was a wall of fog, and then I would round a bend and a magnificent mountainside appeared before me, clear as day. So I really did enjoy the ride.

And the airport? Duh. I had gotten Google directions, not at all considering that something as big as an airport -- even a cute little one like this -- would have all kinds of signs pointing to it. Which it did, of course, so it was stupid easy to find. I'd make it a 50 minute drive from the Other Chai's house, which is where we'll be leaving from, and I'll have to leave time to park, because even though this is kind of like a Wee Tykes Toy Airport, the parking lots and signs are the requisite confusing. I can't even say, Well, I'll see the fall colors when we go in two and a half weeks, because it will still be dark in the morning when we take the trip, but it'll be nice when we come home the following Sunday afternoon, assuming we're not too exhausted to look at the scenery.

Speaking of which, I have achieved totally packed status, excepting only those things that have to be packed that last day (phone charger, make-up, like that.) So that gives your average OCD wacko a nice feeling of satisfaction.

Both of my feet are still strapped, and it still felt wonderful walking around all day with no real pain. But now it's driving me crazy again, itching and sticking. Mostly only on my right foot, but it's all coming off tomorrow night anyway. I did manage to find ankle braces at the store, and I'm hoping that they'll be a decent substitute.

And now I would like to sleep. I can see that it's only 8.30, but I can't say I'm adapting all that well to the shortening of the day/lengthening of the dark. Each year, it's more and more disorienting, which is funny because you'd think I'd be really really used to it by now. We're changing the clocks in two weeks, I guess, instead of this week, or whenever we used to do it. I only know that it was done before Halloween and now it's being done in November. And I'll still need the Hubs to tell me what time to change the clocks to, because a couple of years ago I re-set them all the wrong way. Yes, yes, I know: spring ahead and fall back. But I have a little trouble with just what we mean by "back." Okay, yes. I have a few, as we say, profound learning differences. (This is education speak for she's never been tested so we can't call them actual learning disabilities.)

And that's the day today.

WATCHING AMERICAN IDOL REWIND :: ENTRY #1610

Tick Tick Tick

I bought a watch today. I basically do not wear a watch anymore (other than wearing the dressy watch to the wedding Saturday night), which was a huge life change for me when I did it. When I tell people that I don't wear a watch, most reply "Oh, I could never do that! I always wear a watch; I have to know what time it is!" Yeah, well, me too. Remember, I live in a house where every room has a minimum of two clocks in it; the kitchen and the bedroom each have more like five. I too was always one of those "I have to wear a watch!" people.

Consequently, I have a dozen or more cheap watches that don't work, but which I keep nonetheless, even though I don't wear one. I don't wear a watch mostly because there is usually a clock to look at somewhere, and I use my cellphone as a pocket watch. But I bought a watch because it makes more sense to do it that way when I travel; I always wear a watch when I travel, especially since sometimes you have to turn your phone off. I was at the mall again this afternoon to exchange something I bought when I went with my sister on Tuesday, and there was a watch kiosk right outside. It looks something like this, a man's clip-on watch. I won't even have to take it off at airport security because I'll have it clipped onto my carryon.

Why, yes, I'll have a second helping of crazy, thank you.

We actually had this discussion at lunch today about being a crazy mother, and why it's often good to be that way, and I assured them that I take the crazy prize, and regaled them with a tale or two. And the Other Chai, whom I have known forever, stuck up for me, and agreed that yes, I probably was the craziest mother. Heh heh. And then I was telling R about this on the phone just before, and she said, "Well, yeah, except for Grandma." Oh, right.

Oh, and my watch has a compass, too, which I guess could be useful ... never, actually, because at DisneyWorld there's always some huge structure in the center of each park that you can orient yourself to, which is why they're there, actually. I'm just saying.

Did I mention that I may have a broken toe? This is next to impossible for me, since I wear shoes almost all the time, but I was briefly walking around the other night after I took my shoes off, and I caught my foot on the leg of a stool and I thought I had ripped three toes clean off. But only one of them looks bruised, and I'm going to a podiatrist on Friday anyway for something else, so I guess if he says "Hey, did you know you've got a broken toe here?" well, then I'll know.

And it's an indiglo watch, too, so it lights up blue when you press a button. In case you were wondering, because sometimes it gets dark in DW, so I might need that.

Oy. I need to take a pill.

WATCHING LAW & ORDER :: ENTRY #1591

Home Invasion

[copied from dland]

Yes, the ILs were here today. Long day. Let me recap for you:

I finished my cleaning this morning, which was good because I found out last night they were coming at 12:30, which in IL-speak means 12:00. Like K and I, the ILs are compulsively early people.

When they arrived, the FIL managed to get into the house -- his mobility is severely limited -- and parked in a chair in the living room and pretty much stayed there. So we all sat in the living room, which we almost never do. Living room seating consists of a couch that used to be the Sibs', two cushy club chairs, and one uncomfortable cane-backed chair (where the FIL sat); all three chairs are formerly my parents'. The MIL left around 12:45 to go to the baby shower she came up here for, and then ... eternity set in. The Hubs and his father were supposed to be going to visit the Hubs' uncle (FIL's brother-in-law) and cousin, but Uncle Al, slightly addled and pretty much stone deaf, forgot to call until after 2:00 to report that his son had arrived and they should go over there. So until then, the Hubs, K, and I rotated in and out of the living room, keeping the FIL company and listening to his endless stories. He is perfectly sharp and clear of mind, but he is painstakingly sloooooooooooow in everything he does. I don't know if he was always this way or it's due to his age. He also repeats the same stories to each new listener, even if there's one new listener in the room and everyone else has already heard him ad infinitum. But he is a dear, despite all that.

They headed out, R arrived, she and K and I went to the supermarket, the afternoon passed. When we got home, the Hubs and the FIL were already back, and ensconced in the family room. The only place the FIL can sit in here is in my desk chair, which I know and is where I expect him to sit when he comes. But the family room is down two steps from the kitchen, so once again, getting in and out is a chore for him. Handicap + slow = shoot me now.

Then the MIL returned, and we hung out until it was time to meet the SIL and her husband for dinner at 6:00. The real mercy here is that since the ILs had to be in our area anyway, dinner was about a mile from our house; in fact, at a restaurant virtually right behind the house the ILs lived in when they lived here until they moved to the Jersey shore (aka Where All The Old People In New Jersey Live.)

Somehow, the wait staff at the restaurant must have picked up on the FIL's vibe because OH GOD WHERE THEY SLOW. The food was very good, though, and the Hubs only lost his temper ... oh, let me see, I think three times. What can I say. This is why I don't take him anywhere, but I figure if we're with his parents, let them worry about it. Generally, his mother is the only one who will ever tell him to cut it out, but when she does, he loses it more, so he pretty much has her trained not to do that anymore, either. But I digress.

We parted at the restaurant, after reminding the ILs to call us when they get home -- heh heh, they always do that to us when we leave them -- and didn't get home until after 8:00, at which point I became distracted by every shiny object that crossed my path. I had Things to do, yet first I became charmed by an email from eBay about Bare Escentuals, that makeup over which I am passionate, and I got caught up in that for a while, and went into the bathroom to see what color blush I use but stopped to ask the Hubs if he wanted to talk to his mother when she calls -- he never answers the phone unless he's alone in the house, even if he knows it's his mother calling -- and forgot to ask him because I saw he was sitting in his little study in one of the living room club chairs and wondered when he had moved it because I know I had been sitting in it earlier today and also I had stopped in the living room on my way to the bathroom to lock the front door and hadn't even noticed that it wasn't there and he said he had moved it 12 seconds ago and had never noticed until today that these were comfortable chairs and I said didn't he think they were comfortable when he saw my father sitting in one 24/7 for years when they were in my parents' living room and then he said Oh, he had sat in them before. (breathe.) Anyway, I think I told him years ago to put one in his study because he's never had a comfortable chair in there and needed one. But now, of course, he will never buy a new chair for that room, because this one is as good as new, and new was in 1961, when they still built furniture to last. And anyway, my mother had the chairs totally re-upholstered twice over the years, so they're solid as a rock -- the insides, I mean; they're very comfortable -- and the fabric's in good shape, too.

[Just got the phone call; they're safely home.]

In the meantime, there is never anything on TV on Saturday night, except the pubic TV station is always running oldies concerts, most of which I pass on, but tonight is all British invasion groups and singers, and I am loving it. Every singer looks older than dirt, but they sound exactly the same. At the moment, "Go Now" is being sung by god knows who, because it's a Moody Blues song and these are not the Moodies, but I think it's the Moodies' original lead singer, who thought the group was going nowhere so he quit to be a solo performer and the Moodies put an ad in the paper for a guitarist and they got Justin Hayward and the rest is history. If you're a fan of Moody Blues history, that is. I don't think of them as an old-timey group (although they were a serious part of my brief stoner phase in college), since I've seen them live about a half dozen times over the last 15 years.

And what are the chances that a person is going to hear "Ferry 'Cross the Mersey" twice in one day? It's on my new CD mix and came on in the car and K said "Who is this?" and I said "Gerry and the Pacemakers" and she laughed and thought I made it up. ("Pacemaker" as a medical device didn't even exist when this group was big, big being a relative term.) And of course it was just on the show on TV and Gerry is old, man. I think I'm glad I missed Peter and Gordon; I seriously loved them when I was a kid although Gordon gave me a bit of the creeps. Chad and Jeremy, now there was an adorable duo.

I had wine with dinner, but you can't tell or anything, right?

If you're wondering what dieters eat at an Italian restaurant, the answer is apparently Penne Bolognese, which was excellent. As was the Pasta Fagioli, which put me right over my points goal for the day. But I didn't have any bread, and only put vinegar on my salad.

My distraction issue seems to have resolved itself; now I can't stop writing and trust me, I've run out of anything to say, unless you want to know that I'm making a Tuna Noodle Casserole tomorrow for the first time since about 1968 (when I last helped my mother make one.) I don't even know if I have a casserole dish in the house.

Jeeps, folks, I have got to quit this. I still have to figure out what color blush to order, and it's already past my bedtime. Or not. I am seriously perceptually impaired when it comes to Daylight Savings Time. I double-checked with the Hubs before when I changed my alarm clock. I know, spring forward, but I still don't always get it right.

GOOD NIGHT!


WATCHING PBS BRITISH BANDS :: ENTRY #1397

Where Does the Time Go?

[copied from dland]

Not any place constructive, I can tell you that. Oh, maybe a little.

I'm all mixed up on dates, which you wouldn't think I'd be, considering that yesterday was December 25, but since we had family Christmas on Saturday, I'm all turned around. I think I did post on Sunday, but not yesterday.

Yesterday was as quiet as a day gets. I never did get dressed (although yes, I did put on a bra; a whole day without one is not so much as comfortable as you might think) and other than that, I don't think I did anything at all. Were the girls both here? Uh ... I think so. They went to the movies Sunday afternoon, but I don't even remember what they were doing in the house yesterday, or what I did. I do remember that R slept until 10:30 while we were all waiting to open gifts, and just as we sat down to do that, the ILs called to wish us a Merry etc. and ask what we got, and so on, but we finally got to it. Here's the take:

K gave me a cuddly zippered top I had picked out at the Giant Jeans Conglomerate, as well as two very cuddly pairs of socks.

R gave me a pair of socks THAT SHE MADE (pictures tomorrow) and a matching belt THAT SHE MADE. (She knits.)

The Hubs gave me a couple of books (a new biography of Walt Disney and a book by Bob Newhart), the "new" Beatles album, Love, which is actually wonderful, and a Lenox statue thingy of Mickey and Minnie Mouse. Hey, it means he went to a mall. I'm impressed.

He seemed amused by his bobble-heads, and very much liked the newest Rumpole book that I gave him, as well as another trinket or two. The girls seemed to enjoy their hauls as well, although the backup battery I got K for her phone didn't have the right connector, and I took that back this morning. I'll get her a battery backup for her iPod instead, since she's got one day a week next semester where she has something like a four-hour break between classes, and her phone holds a charge better than an iPod does.

I actually braved the mall again today, twice in a holiday week, this time to get a little more info on that cool make-up I got last week. Okay, okay, I got another item or two, but I also got my make-up done in the store so the girl could show me how to use everything, so that was fine. Today's mall strategy was that I wasn't going to care where I parked, which made things less tense. Of course, I could have parked in my driveway and walked to the mall, considering how far it was, but since we're still having spring in December, it wasn't a big deal.

Then this afternoon, the girls and I headed down the Parkway again to go to a wake, which I think I mentioned the other day. It was a little odd to drive an hour and a quarter each way to spend fifteen minutes there, but it was the right thing to do. The colleague whose father had passed away said that only one other person from school had come, and although he wasn't expecting anyone, really, I did know that other guy was going -- he had told me the time and place of the wake -- and I knew it was the right thing for us to go, too. This guy has been an incredible teacher/mentor/friend to my children, and they wanted very much to pay their respects to him. He was touched that we came, and we were very glad that we went.

I just looked back at my last couple of entries, so, to follow up: I made the pumpkin pies. We did have cognac after dinner on Sunday, and may I say, yuck. Also red wine with dinner, probably the first red wine I've had in twenty years, but it was nice and dry, so I liked it. (I found the wine glasses and the huge wine goblets that were a wedding gift but which we had never ever used until the cognac.) We did have Chinese food last night.

So now you know where the time went, and so do I, I guess. I have some actual activities planned for tomorrow, so perhaps I will have something to write about. Keep your fingers crossed for no broken bones or torn anythings; I'm going to the gym in morning.


WATCHING no idea :: ENTRY #1331