We haven't been traveling as much lately as we usually do, so it was nice last week to finally get back down to Orlando again. I've missed everything about the area - the sights, the sounds, the people - so I really enjoyed being able to experience all of those things again. And this trip, we had some new things to enjoy as well.
After putting the trip off several times, we finally managed to lock in our dates and make all the arrangements. We stayed on premises at the Universal Resort for the first time, and really liked it. We were at the Loews Royal Pacific Resort, which reminded me a bit of the Polynesian at Disney World. It was relaxing and the room was nice. We definitely plan to stay there again. From our room, it was a short walk over to Citywalk, Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. The walk was very pleasant, along a winding path by the water. There was a pair of Red Shouldered Hawks living along the path and it was fun to watch them (and listen to them) as we walked along.
Caradorn and I had visited Universal before, but this was The Kidd's first visit. We all liked Citywalk, and The Kidd especially enjoyed Margaritaville. After we planned the trip, we discovered that Weird Al Yankovic was going to be performing at Citywalk at Hard Rock Live while we were there. We are big Weird Al fans but hadn't yet managed to see him in person so we decided to go and I'm so glad we did! His show was great, especially at the end when the 501st joined him onstage for "The Saga Begins" and "Yoda". I knew he had a very versatile voice, but I hadn't really realized how good he actually is. He does have a very nice voice, and he has a surprisingly large range.
Though Caradorn and I had visited the parks before, we had not ridden most of the rides. This time we rode almost everything. Spiderman was one of our favorites. Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit was also great - I especially love that you choose what song to hear during your ride, and I'm anxious to ride again to choose different songs. For my first ride I chose "Sabotage" by the Beastie Boys. Knowing how much I love Rock Band you might assume that's why I chose the song, but you'd be wrong. I actually just chose it because I always want to drive a car over a cliff when I hear that song thanks to "Star Trek", and I figured hearing it on the rollercoaster was the next best thing, and probably safer.
One of The Kidd's favorite rides turned out to be Men in Black: Alien Attack. We ended up spending a huge chunk of our last day there riding that over and over and over again just so he could try to get a higher score. We did take a short break to see one of our favorite performers, Blondie, in a show about movie makeup (We were a little disappointed by that - we had hoped he'd be the over-the-top character who is stabbed and sadly he was the "normal" guy instead. He was still very funny, though, and since he doesn't appear there often we were just glad to catch him there at all!), but after that we trooped right back over to MiB again.
Of course the main reason for our trip was so we could experience the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and we weren't disappointed. The theming in that area is amazing. It is small, and a bit cramped, but then that fits the despcriptions from the books. The books were fresh on my mind because I started rereading them just before the trip, and I couldn't find anything that didn't look the way the books said it should. The details were great. Honeydukes (the candy store in Hogsmeade), Zonkos (the joke shop) and the Three Broomsticks carried lots of things mentioned in the books. Plus there were other neat shops and so much merchandise that I just couldn't decide what to buy. . . though I did end up choosing a few things. :) We tried Cauldron Cakes and Pumpkin Tarts, Pumpkin Juice, Butterbeer (normal and frozen), Peppermint Humbugs, Hogshead Ale, Honeydukes chocolate, Trifle, Strawberry Peanutbutter ice cream and so many other things . . . and loved it all. The new ride, "Harry Potter and the Forbidden Jouney", was amazing. Walking through Hogwarts castle to get to the ride was the first time I ever wished a line would move more slowly - there was so much to see! "Flight of the Hippogriff" was cute, and Buckbeak was impressive. I wasn't quite as impressed by the show at Ollivander's as I thought I would be, but that could be because I wasn't a huge fan of the Wand Keeper that day. The show was very short but cute. I'm sure I would enjoy Ollivander's much more if a former Adventurer had been our Wizard. Face it, I'd be enthralled by a dramatic reading of the phone book if Snoopy was the one doing the reading, so if he'd been our Wizard I would never have wanted to leave Ollivander's! ;)
And I discovered a new love of rollercoasters. I've always enjoyed them before, but this trip I just couldn't get enough of them. We rode the Dragon Challenge (formerly Dueling Dragons) and it think it was my favorite thing we did on the whole trip. The Ice side (which I think is now the Hungarian Horntail) is my second favorite rollercoaster, after the Manta at Seaworld. We rode it many times, and went back in on our last morning to ride one last time, and I was so sorry to leave. I just wanted to keep riding! Swooping around on the Dragon was the best- and happiest - I've felt in a long time. Maybe I've turned into an adrenaline junkie!
We did manage to carve out a little time to go over the Disney World. We wanted to get in one last ride on Star Tours since it will be closed for renovations during our next few trips. We also caught the Main Street Electrical Parade and Summer Nightastic Fireworks at the Magic Kingdom, and (of course) rushed through Epcot as well. No trip would be complete without a visit to Japan! And as always, we had to swing through Innoventions, Italy and the UK to catch shows by some of our favorite former Adventurers. We bought a few Vinymations and got almost all the ones we wanted, including the Colonel from the Adventurers Club. And on our last night we went back to Pirates Cove for a quick round of miniature golf, as we do on almost every trip.
The trip was almost perfect, except that it was too short. It always surprises me how quickly the time flies by when we're on vacation. There were several things we didn't have time to get to this trip, and I had several friends in town I had intended to see but somehow our paths never crossed. (Even when we were in the same park, in one case. Sorry I missed you, J!). But we are already planning our next trip, so we have that to look forward to. We have WDW and Universal annual passes, and we'll be getting Seaworld ones in a couple of months, so I imagine we'll be back several times over the next year. Our family trips are always very different than the ones Caradorn and I take together, so I'm also anxious to plan an adults-only visit before too long. But for now, with school starting back again and so much going on here, we'll have our hands full for a bit. I'm sure the time will fly by and we'll be heading to points Southward (and to Congaloosh) in no time. I can't wait!
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Thursday, May 06, 2010
Life Goes On
As some of you know, my father did not win his battle with pancreatic cancer. We lost him a week and a half ago. I've been intending to write a post about the events of the last couple of weeks but somehow I just haven't been able to. Every time I pull up this blog and try to write, I just can't think of any words.
So many people who have been important to me and to my family over the years have reached out to us during this difficult time. And somehow it seemed that any time I was just overcome with the grief and stress of the situation, I would hear from someone who would say just the right thing to pull me through. I heard from all sorts of people who had good things to say about my father, or had stories about him to share. We reconnected with family members we haven't seen in years, and people who knew us when I was a little girl. I even heard from someone who I believed I would never talk to again, which meant more to me than I can say.
I don't know how I would have gotten through the past couple of weeks without so many people to lean on.
The day after my father died, before most people knew he was gone, we were sitting in the funeral home trying to make arrangements for the service. The man who was helping us left the room for a moment to check on something. I made the mistake of glancing up and saw the rest of my family (minus The Kidd) sitting around the table, and it really hit me that my father was gone. He was never going to sit around a table with us again; he was never going to be the one to take charge and make the difficult decisions for us again. I started to feel like I couldn't breathe, and though I knew it would be terrible for me to break down right then I started to tear up anyway. Trying to distract myself, I pulled out my phone and when I saw the cheerful little blinking green light I checked my email. And there waiting for me in my inbox was exactly what I needed: a message from a dear friend who has lost a parent, who knows what it feels like. He sent me the sweetest message, that had me tearing up again but for a different reason. The panicked, hysterical feeling started to fade away as I read his message. As much as the rest of it meant to me, the part that had the strongest impact on me was the very last line, where he told me something that no one else had mentioned - that this feeling won't get better, but will only dull.
As strange as it may seem, I needed to hear that. My father is gone, but we aren't ever going to forget him. This isn't something we are going to get over. Tomorrow he will still be gone and we will still miss him. That's okay; it's normal. And it's something we can live with.
I stayed with my mom after Caradorn and The Kidd had left, to help her work out some details that needed to be dealt with. A few days later I headed back to Rocket City. I didn't have my car there so I drove my dad's car back home. For the first few miles as I drove out of town I kept the radio off. Somehow it seemed disrespectful to be cruising along in my father's sports car listening to music so soon after losing him. He loved driving that car. I didn't feel right enjoying it, knowing he wouldn't be enjoying it ever again. I felt guilty. But after a few miles I finally couldn't take the quiet and the rumble of the tires against the road any longer and so I turned on the radio. The song that was playing was one I've never heard on the radio before. I didn't know any station ever played it. It was "Pancreas" by Weird Al.
!
I couldn't help but laugh. My dad would have found it funny. He would have wanted me to keep finding things funny, to keep living . . . to enjoy driving a fun car with the windows down on a beautiful day, listening to music. Life goes on. We will always miss my dad, but we still have each other, and all the other people we love. I'm still sad, and still angry. It isn't fair that he's gone, that he didn't get to retire and do all the things he hoped to do, that he got so sick and was so miserable for his last few weeks. But his life was so much more than the last months. He loved life, and he loved us, and he loved for us to be happy. He wouldn't want us to stop living, to stop embracing life, just because of the way he left us. I know we will get through this, and even though things will never be the same, we will still have good times. Our lives aren't over just because my father is no longer with us, and no one would be happier about that than he would be.
So many people who have been important to me and to my family over the years have reached out to us during this difficult time. And somehow it seemed that any time I was just overcome with the grief and stress of the situation, I would hear from someone who would say just the right thing to pull me through. I heard from all sorts of people who had good things to say about my father, or had stories about him to share. We reconnected with family members we haven't seen in years, and people who knew us when I was a little girl. I even heard from someone who I believed I would never talk to again, which meant more to me than I can say.
I don't know how I would have gotten through the past couple of weeks without so many people to lean on.
The day after my father died, before most people knew he was gone, we were sitting in the funeral home trying to make arrangements for the service. The man who was helping us left the room for a moment to check on something. I made the mistake of glancing up and saw the rest of my family (minus The Kidd) sitting around the table, and it really hit me that my father was gone. He was never going to sit around a table with us again; he was never going to be the one to take charge and make the difficult decisions for us again. I started to feel like I couldn't breathe, and though I knew it would be terrible for me to break down right then I started to tear up anyway. Trying to distract myself, I pulled out my phone and when I saw the cheerful little blinking green light I checked my email. And there waiting for me in my inbox was exactly what I needed: a message from a dear friend who has lost a parent, who knows what it feels like. He sent me the sweetest message, that had me tearing up again but for a different reason. The panicked, hysterical feeling started to fade away as I read his message. As much as the rest of it meant to me, the part that had the strongest impact on me was the very last line, where he told me something that no one else had mentioned - that this feeling won't get better, but will only dull.
As strange as it may seem, I needed to hear that. My father is gone, but we aren't ever going to forget him. This isn't something we are going to get over. Tomorrow he will still be gone and we will still miss him. That's okay; it's normal. And it's something we can live with.
I stayed with my mom after Caradorn and The Kidd had left, to help her work out some details that needed to be dealt with. A few days later I headed back to Rocket City. I didn't have my car there so I drove my dad's car back home. For the first few miles as I drove out of town I kept the radio off. Somehow it seemed disrespectful to be cruising along in my father's sports car listening to music so soon after losing him. He loved driving that car. I didn't feel right enjoying it, knowing he wouldn't be enjoying it ever again. I felt guilty. But after a few miles I finally couldn't take the quiet and the rumble of the tires against the road any longer and so I turned on the radio. The song that was playing was one I've never heard on the radio before. I didn't know any station ever played it. It was "Pancreas" by Weird Al.
!
I couldn't help but laugh. My dad would have found it funny. He would have wanted me to keep finding things funny, to keep living . . . to enjoy driving a fun car with the windows down on a beautiful day, listening to music. Life goes on. We will always miss my dad, but we still have each other, and all the other people we love. I'm still sad, and still angry. It isn't fair that he's gone, that he didn't get to retire and do all the things he hoped to do, that he got so sick and was so miserable for his last few weeks. But his life was so much more than the last months. He loved life, and he loved us, and he loved for us to be happy. He wouldn't want us to stop living, to stop embracing life, just because of the way he left us. I know we will get through this, and even though things will never be the same, we will still have good times. Our lives aren't over just because my father is no longer with us, and no one would be happier about that than he would be.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Things change so quickly
So I've been out of commision for a while. Even though part of me has wanted to blog about all that's been going on, another part of me almost felt like it wasn't real if I didn't write it down. But it's been going on for a couple of months now and as much as I hate to, it's time to accept that this is a part of our lives for the forseeable future.
My dad has cancer. Pancreatic cancer which has started to spread, to be specific. We initially thought his only problem was a tumor in his kidney, but sadly we've found that to be the least of his problems.
He went to the doctor about it for the first time on February 15, and by March 15 he had started his first round of chemotherapy. Tomorrow he starts the second round of one of his meds. We don't know if they are helping or not. We were told that a complete cure would be "extremely rare", but we are hoping and praying for a miracle. We don't think about "long term" any more. We think about today. We hope my dad doesn't lose any more weight, and that he doesn't catch anything while his defenses are low from the chemo. We hope he can get through the day without throwing up or falling down. The days when he isn't in the hospital, when he can get out of bed and sit in his recliner and maybe even eat something, those are the good days.
I've been spending as much time as possible with my parents. It makes me feel better to be there. But I miss Caradorn and The Kidd when I'm there, which makes me feel selfish.
I want to do something to help, but most of the time there doesn't really seem to be much I can do. My parents don't want to ask for help, so we have to keep trying to find things that need to be done and then we insist on doing them over their objections. And I want to run interference for my parents, because it's amazing how this sort of thing brings out the worst in people. He's had a few nurses caring for him who shouldn't be trusted with any living things. And he's had visitors say the most tactless things - one "friend" laughed about my dad's favorite teams losing in their basketball tournaments, and said "So now you won't have that to worry about" when the watching those games was the only thing my dad had been looking forward to or enjoying. Of course she's the same person who took great delight in telling him something she knew would upset him while he was at a low ebb, alone in his hospital room after throwing up all night. I'm glad I wasn't there; I think I would have punched that busybody in the nose. I hope I don't see her any time soon. I'm sure I would say something I ought to regret later, though frankly I doubt I would regret it.
Three months ago I thought my dad was the healthiest one of our parents; that he'd be around longer than any of the rest of us. Now I don't know what's going to happen. Suddenly things like vacations and "normal life" are a thing of the past. And I feel bad, because Caradorn and The Kidd are working so hard to make up for me being gone. Cardorn has to work really long hours when I'm home to make up for the hours he misses while I'm gone. The Kidd was so looking forward to our spring break trip, and he didn't bat an eye when we canceled it. He just wants my dad to get better. We promised to do something fun with him when we got home from my hometown on Sunday, but instead we stayed far later than we had intended to working on some things and got home just in time for him to go to bed. And he still didn't complain; he understands that my dad comes first right now. He loves my dad more than almost anyone, except maybe my mom.
I appreciate Caradorn more than I can say right now. He's giving up almost all his time to help me and to help my parents because "that's what family does".
My dad has cancer. Pancreatic cancer which has started to spread, to be specific. We initially thought his only problem was a tumor in his kidney, but sadly we've found that to be the least of his problems.
He went to the doctor about it for the first time on February 15, and by March 15 he had started his first round of chemotherapy. Tomorrow he starts the second round of one of his meds. We don't know if they are helping or not. We were told that a complete cure would be "extremely rare", but we are hoping and praying for a miracle. We don't think about "long term" any more. We think about today. We hope my dad doesn't lose any more weight, and that he doesn't catch anything while his defenses are low from the chemo. We hope he can get through the day without throwing up or falling down. The days when he isn't in the hospital, when he can get out of bed and sit in his recliner and maybe even eat something, those are the good days.
I've been spending as much time as possible with my parents. It makes me feel better to be there. But I miss Caradorn and The Kidd when I'm there, which makes me feel selfish.
I want to do something to help, but most of the time there doesn't really seem to be much I can do. My parents don't want to ask for help, so we have to keep trying to find things that need to be done and then we insist on doing them over their objections. And I want to run interference for my parents, because it's amazing how this sort of thing brings out the worst in people. He's had a few nurses caring for him who shouldn't be trusted with any living things. And he's had visitors say the most tactless things - one "friend" laughed about my dad's favorite teams losing in their basketball tournaments, and said "So now you won't have that to worry about" when the watching those games was the only thing my dad had been looking forward to or enjoying. Of course she's the same person who took great delight in telling him something she knew would upset him while he was at a low ebb, alone in his hospital room after throwing up all night. I'm glad I wasn't there; I think I would have punched that busybody in the nose. I hope I don't see her any time soon. I'm sure I would say something I ought to regret later, though frankly I doubt I would regret it.
Three months ago I thought my dad was the healthiest one of our parents; that he'd be around longer than any of the rest of us. Now I don't know what's going to happen. Suddenly things like vacations and "normal life" are a thing of the past. And I feel bad, because Caradorn and The Kidd are working so hard to make up for me being gone. Cardorn has to work really long hours when I'm home to make up for the hours he misses while I'm gone. The Kidd was so looking forward to our spring break trip, and he didn't bat an eye when we canceled it. He just wants my dad to get better. We promised to do something fun with him when we got home from my hometown on Sunday, but instead we stayed far later than we had intended to working on some things and got home just in time for him to go to bed. And he still didn't complain; he understands that my dad comes first right now. He loves my dad more than almost anyone, except maybe my mom.
I appreciate Caradorn more than I can say right now. He's giving up almost all his time to help me and to help my parents because "that's what family does".
And I appreciate all the prayers and positive thoughts that people are sending to my dad. Old friends and new ones, people I barely know, people who I only know by online nicknames . . they are all being so supportive.
I don't know what's going to happen. One day my dad seems like he might be a little stronger and the next he can't even sit up. I don't know when I'll be back to blogging normally again. I don't know when anything will be normal again.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
A brief public service announcement regarding bathroom safety.
If you happen to live in an older house, as I do . . .
And if your home has doors that tend to stick in the winter, as mine does . . .
. . . because the heat and/or moisture from the boiling hot shower, when combined with a somewhat warped door and/or door frame, might lead to the potentially awkward situation of you becoming trapped in your bathroom, unable to open the door at all. In fact you might end up spending several minutes trying repeatedly to yank the bathroom door open, followed by several more minutes of trying to slowly wiggle the door open. And if you happen to be the only one home at the time, you might be faced with the question of whether you should call your spouse at work to come rescue you (if you are lucky enough that your cell phone is in the pocket of the pants you took off just before you got into the shower rather than being out in another room) or whether it would be better to just stay locked in the bathroom until the door finally shrinks enough for you to get it open.
Of course if you panic enough at the thought of having to do either of those things, and you yank on the door even more violently while pulling backward with all your might, it might eventually fly open. Of course when it does you should be very careful so that you don't fly back across the room and fall into the tub.
(ouch!)
If all of that did somehow happen to you, and you decided to mention it to your spouse, they might respond by saying that you just have to pull down on the doorknob while pulling on the door in order to open the door after it has become stuck. And in fact they might seem amused by the whole thing, which might just upset you a little bit which might cause you to start yelling and flailing your arms and threatening to saw the top of the door off and beat them with it.
But I don't recommend that, because you might feel a little bit silly afterward. Of course I don't necessarily speak from experience here or anything. And if I did I wouldn't admit it. But still, you might want to watch out for those doors that tend to stick. I know I will from now on.
And if your home has doors that tend to stick in the winter, as mine does . . .
And if you like to take showers so hot that you use all the hot water and leave the room so steamed up that you can barely see a foot in front of your face . . .
You might want to leave the bathroom door open when you shower in the winter, and just close the bedroom door instead.
. . . because the heat and/or moisture from the boiling hot shower, when combined with a somewhat warped door and/or door frame, might lead to the potentially awkward situation of you becoming trapped in your bathroom, unable to open the door at all. In fact you might end up spending several minutes trying repeatedly to yank the bathroom door open, followed by several more minutes of trying to slowly wiggle the door open. And if you happen to be the only one home at the time, you might be faced with the question of whether you should call your spouse at work to come rescue you (if you are lucky enough that your cell phone is in the pocket of the pants you took off just before you got into the shower rather than being out in another room) or whether it would be better to just stay locked in the bathroom until the door finally shrinks enough for you to get it open.
Of course if you panic enough at the thought of having to do either of those things, and you yank on the door even more violently while pulling backward with all your might, it might eventually fly open. Of course when it does you should be very careful so that you don't fly back across the room and fall into the tub.
(ouch!)
If all of that did somehow happen to you, and you decided to mention it to your spouse, they might respond by saying that you just have to pull down on the doorknob while pulling on the door in order to open the door after it has become stuck. And in fact they might seem amused by the whole thing, which might just upset you a little bit which might cause you to start yelling and flailing your arms and threatening to saw the top of the door off and beat them with it.
But I don't recommend that, because you might feel a little bit silly afterward. Of course I don't necessarily speak from experience here or anything. And if I did I wouldn't admit it. But still, you might want to watch out for those doors that tend to stick. I know I will from now on.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Avatar (mild spoilers)
After all the hype that "Avatar" received before it even opened, I wasn't sure I really wanted to see it. Movies that get hyped that much before their release always remind me of "The Fifth Element". Remember all the ads for that one? It was described as "Star Wars for a new generation", and it most certainly didn't live up to the hype. It wasn't a bad movie, in fact I watch it when it comes on television. But comparing it to "Star Wars" was a horrible move - there was no way on earth it was going to have the impact that "Star Wars" did and building up people's expectations of it that way could only lead to a bunch of disappointed people. And of course it did just that. Maybe the ads were intended to be tongue-in-cheek - the movie was sort of cheesy and campy, and an ad campaign that poked fun at that could have been a great idea. But if that was what they were going for, they failed miserably. As a result, "Fifth Element" was judged much more harshly than it might otherwise have been.
The buildup for "Avatar" was strikingly similar, in some ways. No, I never heard it compared to "Star Wars" but in every other way they raised the expectations for the film sky high. My expectations for the film weren't terribly high, and though I knew I would end up watching it at some point I wasn't rushing to the theater to see it.
After it opened and people I know started seeing it I was surprised by their reviews. They all loved it. Some of them went to see it over and over again. I decided at that point that we would go see it while it was still in theaters, but I still wasn't in any hurry. The Kidd really wanted to see it, but we had other things going on and didn't make time for it. We had so many holiday plans, there just wasn't time to fit "Avatar" in.
We finally made time for it while we were in Orlando for our New Years trip. We ended up going with Mr and Mrs O to the theater at Pointe Orlando. By the time the previews ended I decided that the previews alone had almost been worth the price of admission - "Iron Man 2", "Clash of the Titans", "Alice in Wonderland" . . . they all look like must-sees! But then "Avatar" started and despite how prepared I had been to dislike it, I was sucked in almost immediately. I know it's a long movie, but it really didn't seem long at all. Sure, there were a few scenes that could have been shorter, and it did drag in a few spots. The storyline was predictable - only one thing toward the end really surprised me. (And even then, then thing I had expected to happen did happen, just not at the spot I thought it would.) But even with all that, the movie was amazing. It was gorgeous and engaging. The 3D effects were well done and were well integrated into the film.
As the credits rolled the five of us sat and watched them, and then we gathered our things to leave. Mrs O mentioned that "Avatar" could end up being "Star Wars" for The Kidd's generation and it was the first time I have ever heard a film compared to "Star Wars" without finding the comparison ridiculous. She was right - it could conceivably be groundbreaking enough that people of The Kidd's generation will look back on it the way many of us look back on "Star Wars". Mr O did mention that it was basically "Pocahontas", and he had a point. There were some striking similarities, but we all agreed it was a fun movie and the effects and visuals more than made up for any weaknesses in the storyline.
I'll certainly be watching it again, and it will be a must buy for us when it comes out on Blu-ray.
I was catching up on Failblog the other day and was surprised to find something that reminded me of Mr O. Apparently someone else made the same observation he did, and though I loved the movie I still found it hilarious. Don't read it if you haven't seen the movie yet!
Thursday, January 21, 2010
I told you so!
Well, maybe I didn't tell you. But I did tell somebody.
So. I am not the biggest football fan out there, but I do love the Mississippi State Bulldogs . . .
(I initially typed that as Bullgods, but I promise I don't worship them that much.)
. . . and I like the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles, the Tennessee Titans and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I hate Ole Miss, as any good Dawg fan should. And (I'm sorry, Caradorn) I don't particularly like the University of Tennessee Volunteers. I do try to be supportive, since they are Caradorn's team. Though I haven't ever really liked them, I have not particularly disliked them. I didn't really care much one way or the other about Phil Fulmer. I didn't care about Lane Kiffin, either, until the day he introduced the new batch of recruits last year.
It was terrible. He was such a jerk - he went on and on about how the team deserved better than those players, he said they weren't the caliber of player that UT was used to and that next year the recruits would be better. I felt so bad for those boys. They were so excited to be announced as Vols and there they sat while he bashed them in front of the world. It must have been so embarrassing for them. Caradorn says that often coaches will belittle their players in an effort to get them to prove how good they are. I get that, I really do. I've done that sort of thing before too. But not like that - not in such a public venue, on a day that was supposed to be such a proud occasion for those players. I had no respect for Kiffin after that.
This year, for the first time since I married into a family of UT fanatics, I didn't even pretend to support the team. I openly rooted against them for every game. I wanted them to have a horrible year because I wanted Kiffin fired. My inlaws did not like that one bit. They defended him; they talked about what a good coach he was, and how great he was going to be for UT. They laughed when I said I wanted him to be a one year coach - they said he would be a fixture at UT for years to come and that they were sooooo lucky to have him. When the season ended with the team having done fairly well, they gloated. Kiffin was there to stay, they said. Every new season would be better than the one before, and it was all thanks to Kiffin.
Heh.
I was at my inlaws house the night the announcement came out. Kiffin was leaving the University of Tennessee for USC. And I was so pleased. I didn't gloat, I didn't say I told you so. I didn't say much of anything. I just sat there watching television with them as they switched from one channel to another, trying to be sure it was really true. They seemed so shocked. Once they realised he was really leaving, it was hilarious to hear them talk about him. "Well, he was never one of us." "UT Orange. . .
(which, might I add, is a really sickly creamsicle color and not a "real" orange, but for heaven's sake don't ever mention that to Caradorn's family, it offends them for some reason)
. . . never looked right on him." "UT will be better off without him." "I never liked him, anyway."
Seriously, Inlaws? Are you sure about that? Are you absolutely positive you are remembering this season correctly?
Really, truly? Because I think that's what I was saying the whole season! I said he was awful, I said he should leave, I said that he didn't belong. I TOLD YOU SO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I said it eleventy million times over the course of the season and you people told me I was wrong! And now you want to claim you thought that the whole time, too?! NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You were wrong, and I was right, and whether you want to admit it or not you and I both know it's true! SO THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thththtppppppppt! (Yes, that's me sticking my tongue out at them. Yes, I am very mature.)
Ahem.
I'm sorry about that. I really am.
It's just that they will be visiting this weekend, the whole lot of them. And I want to keep the peace. I don't want to goad them into an argument. I don't want to jump up and down and say "I told you so" over and over again. Well, okay, I do want to. But I think it would be a bad idea so I am attempting to get it out of my system now before they get here.
I'm not sure it's working, though. I think I might just be getting myself even more worked up about it. I'll try not to bring the subject up, but if they do I don't think I will be able to keep my mouth shut about it. This could turn out to be an interesting weekend.
So. I am not the biggest football fan out there, but I do love the Mississippi State Bulldogs . . .
(I initially typed that as Bullgods, but I promise I don't worship them that much.)
. . . and I like the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles, the Tennessee Titans and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I hate Ole Miss, as any good Dawg fan should. And (I'm sorry, Caradorn) I don't particularly like the University of Tennessee Volunteers. I do try to be supportive, since they are Caradorn's team. Though I haven't ever really liked them, I have not particularly disliked them. I didn't really care much one way or the other about Phil Fulmer. I didn't care about Lane Kiffin, either, until the day he introduced the new batch of recruits last year.
It was terrible. He was such a jerk - he went on and on about how the team deserved better than those players, he said they weren't the caliber of player that UT was used to and that next year the recruits would be better. I felt so bad for those boys. They were so excited to be announced as Vols and there they sat while he bashed them in front of the world. It must have been so embarrassing for them. Caradorn says that often coaches will belittle their players in an effort to get them to prove how good they are. I get that, I really do. I've done that sort of thing before too. But not like that - not in such a public venue, on a day that was supposed to be such a proud occasion for those players. I had no respect for Kiffin after that.
This year, for the first time since I married into a family of UT fanatics, I didn't even pretend to support the team. I openly rooted against them for every game. I wanted them to have a horrible year because I wanted Kiffin fired. My inlaws did not like that one bit. They defended him; they talked about what a good coach he was, and how great he was going to be for UT. They laughed when I said I wanted him to be a one year coach - they said he would be a fixture at UT for years to come and that they were sooooo lucky to have him. When the season ended with the team having done fairly well, they gloated. Kiffin was there to stay, they said. Every new season would be better than the one before, and it was all thanks to Kiffin.
Heh.
I was at my inlaws house the night the announcement came out. Kiffin was leaving the University of Tennessee for USC. And I was so pleased. I didn't gloat, I didn't say I told you so. I didn't say much of anything. I just sat there watching television with them as they switched from one channel to another, trying to be sure it was really true. They seemed so shocked. Once they realised he was really leaving, it was hilarious to hear them talk about him. "Well, he was never one of us." "UT Orange. . .
(which, might I add, is a really sickly creamsicle color and not a "real" orange, but for heaven's sake don't ever mention that to Caradorn's family, it offends them for some reason)
. . . never looked right on him." "UT will be better off without him." "I never liked him, anyway."
Seriously, Inlaws? Are you sure about that? Are you absolutely positive you are remembering this season correctly?
Really, truly? Because I think that's what I was saying the whole season! I said he was awful, I said he should leave, I said that he didn't belong. I TOLD YOU SO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I said it eleventy million times over the course of the season and you people told me I was wrong! And now you want to claim you thought that the whole time, too?! NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You were wrong, and I was right, and whether you want to admit it or not you and I both know it's true! SO THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thththtppppppppt! (Yes, that's me sticking my tongue out at them. Yes, I am very mature.)
Ahem.
I'm sorry about that. I really am.
It's just that they will be visiting this weekend, the whole lot of them. And I want to keep the peace. I don't want to goad them into an argument. I don't want to jump up and down and say "I told you so" over and over again. Well, okay, I do want to. But I think it would be a bad idea so I am attempting to get it out of my system now before they get here.
I'm not sure it's working, though. I think I might just be getting myself even more worked up about it. I'll try not to bring the subject up, but if they do I don't think I will be able to keep my mouth shut about it. This could turn out to be an interesting weekend.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Public Displays of . . . something.
I've always said that I am not a fan of public diplays of affection. And I really thought that I wasn't, but I've realized recently that I actually quite like public displays of affection. I think they are cute. It's public displays of other things that I dislike.
After being around other couples quite a bit recently, I've noticed that Caradorn and I tend to be more affectionate in public than most people we know. That surprised me, since I was so convinced that I was very anti-PDA. But we hold hands when we are together, and I often lean my head on his shoulder when we are sitting together. Sometimes he even puts his arm around me. (Gasp!) It doesn't bother me when I see other couples acting like that; in fact I find it adorable. These sorts of displays really aren't even limited to couples. I have friends (both guys and girls) who I hug when I see them, or friends I put my arm around or punch on the shoulder. And those are also displays of affection, from me at least, because if I don't feel some affection for you I'm going to do my best not to touch you at all if I can avoid it.
But then there are those other displays, the ones that I dislike so intensely. And I've discovered that those aren't really public displays of affection. They are public displays of other things. There are a couple of different types that I've been seeing quite often lately, and I really really dislike them.
The first is a public display of. . . attraction? Lust? Exhibitionism? I don't know exactly what motivates it, but it's easy to recognize. I think a quick peck on the cheek or forehead is sweet. Open mouthed kissing or groping? Not so much. That sort of behavior that ellicits cries of "Get a room" is not affectionate. Yes, I get that you find each other attractive, and that's great for you. Really, it is. But I don't want to see that sort of thing, and if I did there are plenty of videos I could watch to get my fix. Plus, they feature people who are much more attractive. (And trust me, there's a reason I am not buying those videos - I DON"T WANT TO SEE IT!) I don't want to see you licking each other's faces (Yes. I've really seen that, and it was as revolting as you might imagine.) I don't want to see you grabbing each other's butts. I don't care if you are exhibitionists or if you are just so wrapped up in each other that you forget the rest of the world is out there. I don't want to be a voyeur; I don't like it! Just get a room.
Fortunately I actually don't know any couples who act like this. I do seem to encounter couples like that quite often, though. And I have to think they are doing it on purpose. Kissing in a dark corner of a bar is one thing, but I keep running into these couples who are groping each other in the lines at Disney World or at a playground filled with children. Honestly, if you are so close to other people that they can hear the smacky, slurpy noises you are making while kissing then you are waaaaay to close to be behaving that way! It's nauseating. If you are such exhibitionists that you can only enjoy the physical side of your relationship when you have an audience, there are places that encourage that sort of thing. The city street, the grocery store, theme parks, city parks. . . those are not the kind of places where you should be putting on your own adult show.
The other type is that one that really drives me insane. It's a public display of. . . possessiveness? Ownership? This may seem a little bit hypocritcal since I think this sort of display is rooted in jealousy, and I admit that I can be a jealous person. I don't use PDA to "stake my claim", though, which many people seem to do. I dated a guy in college, Nate, who did that. He was very opposed to public displays of affection. He wouldn't hold my hand, would rarely dance with me, didn't even want to tell people we were dating. It was like I was his dirty little secret most of the time. Unless we were around someone that I had dated or who Nate thought might be interested in me. Then suddenly he was like an octopus - he couldn't keep his tentacles ("Ohhhh. Tentacles. N-T. Big difference!") off of me. He would throw his arm around me or cling to my hand like a vice. It was bizarre - like a weird cross between a little kid clinging to his mother's leg and yanking on her sleeve as she tries to talk to someone ("Mom! Mom! Mom! Hey Mom!") and a dog lifting his leg against a tree ("My tree. Mine. All mine. SQUIRREL! My tree. Mine.") I hated it, and after that relationship ended I swore I'd never be in a relationship like that again.
I know a guy now whose wife is like that, and it baffles me when I see them together. Why does he put up with that? Does he like it because it makes him feel wanted? Does he tolerate it because they are married and he doesn't have a choice? It seems so desperate and insecure. Seriously, hanging from him isn't going to keep poachers away, it's just going to make you look like you don't trust him. It sort of makes me sad, honestly. I like it when the people I like are in happy relationships, and seeing this weird sort of clingy possessiveness always makes me assume that the relationship isn't very strong. I really don't think that's the sort of message that the clingy people are trying to send - it seems pretty counter-productive. "Look how close we are. We're inseparable. Really. See? He can't get away from me. So give up. Stop looking at him. He's mine. All mine. Really. Right, Honey? Honey? Stop looking at her. Look at me. Me! Memememememe." Sorry, but clinging to your significant other like a vine any time you feel like someone is interested in him is not a display of affection. It's a display of immaturity. He's with you, presumably because he wants to be. Relax and enjoy the relationship and stop worrying about everyone else. Trust me, you - and everyone else - will end up happier that way.
It sort of makes me feel old, like I ought to be waving my fist and yelling at those pesky kids to get off my lawn. But I want to start treating these annoying couples like I used to treat my cats. Each time I see an innappropriate public display of affection I just want to whip out my water bottle and spray them in the faces. "Bad couple. Bad! No kissing/groping/clinging. No!" Or maybe I could just sneak up behind them with a can filled with coins and shake it by their ears. I suspect that wouldn't go over well. There are probably rules against doing things like that. It's really tempting, though. But I guess that would be considered a public display of aggression, which probably isn't much better than the displays I'm trying to prevent. So I'll do my best to fight the urge, for now at least. But if one day you happen to notice a crazy woman spraying couples with a water bottle, or bopping their noses with a rolled up newspaper, come over and say "Hi". It's probably me.
After being around other couples quite a bit recently, I've noticed that Caradorn and I tend to be more affectionate in public than most people we know. That surprised me, since I was so convinced that I was very anti-PDA. But we hold hands when we are together, and I often lean my head on his shoulder when we are sitting together. Sometimes he even puts his arm around me. (Gasp!) It doesn't bother me when I see other couples acting like that; in fact I find it adorable. These sorts of displays really aren't even limited to couples. I have friends (both guys and girls) who I hug when I see them, or friends I put my arm around or punch on the shoulder. And those are also displays of affection, from me at least, because if I don't feel some affection for you I'm going to do my best not to touch you at all if I can avoid it.
But then there are those other displays, the ones that I dislike so intensely. And I've discovered that those aren't really public displays of affection. They are public displays of other things. There are a couple of different types that I've been seeing quite often lately, and I really really dislike them.
The first is a public display of. . . attraction? Lust? Exhibitionism? I don't know exactly what motivates it, but it's easy to recognize. I think a quick peck on the cheek or forehead is sweet. Open mouthed kissing or groping? Not so much. That sort of behavior that ellicits cries of "Get a room" is not affectionate. Yes, I get that you find each other attractive, and that's great for you. Really, it is. But I don't want to see that sort of thing, and if I did there are plenty of videos I could watch to get my fix. Plus, they feature people who are much more attractive. (And trust me, there's a reason I am not buying those videos - I DON"T WANT TO SEE IT!) I don't want to see you licking each other's faces (Yes. I've really seen that, and it was as revolting as you might imagine.) I don't want to see you grabbing each other's butts. I don't care if you are exhibitionists or if you are just so wrapped up in each other that you forget the rest of the world is out there. I don't want to be a voyeur; I don't like it! Just get a room.
Fortunately I actually don't know any couples who act like this. I do seem to encounter couples like that quite often, though. And I have to think they are doing it on purpose. Kissing in a dark corner of a bar is one thing, but I keep running into these couples who are groping each other in the lines at Disney World or at a playground filled with children. Honestly, if you are so close to other people that they can hear the smacky, slurpy noises you are making while kissing then you are waaaaay to close to be behaving that way! It's nauseating. If you are such exhibitionists that you can only enjoy the physical side of your relationship when you have an audience, there are places that encourage that sort of thing. The city street, the grocery store, theme parks, city parks. . . those are not the kind of places where you should be putting on your own adult show.
The other type is that one that really drives me insane. It's a public display of. . . possessiveness? Ownership? This may seem a little bit hypocritcal since I think this sort of display is rooted in jealousy, and I admit that I can be a jealous person. I don't use PDA to "stake my claim", though, which many people seem to do. I dated a guy in college, Nate, who did that. He was very opposed to public displays of affection. He wouldn't hold my hand, would rarely dance with me, didn't even want to tell people we were dating. It was like I was his dirty little secret most of the time. Unless we were around someone that I had dated or who Nate thought might be interested in me. Then suddenly he was like an octopus - he couldn't keep his tentacles ("Ohhhh. Tentacles. N-T. Big difference!") off of me. He would throw his arm around me or cling to my hand like a vice. It was bizarre - like a weird cross between a little kid clinging to his mother's leg and yanking on her sleeve as she tries to talk to someone ("Mom! Mom! Mom! Hey Mom!") and a dog lifting his leg against a tree ("My tree. Mine. All mine. SQUIRREL! My tree. Mine.") I hated it, and after that relationship ended I swore I'd never be in a relationship like that again.
I know a guy now whose wife is like that, and it baffles me when I see them together. Why does he put up with that? Does he like it because it makes him feel wanted? Does he tolerate it because they are married and he doesn't have a choice? It seems so desperate and insecure. Seriously, hanging from him isn't going to keep poachers away, it's just going to make you look like you don't trust him. It sort of makes me sad, honestly. I like it when the people I like are in happy relationships, and seeing this weird sort of clingy possessiveness always makes me assume that the relationship isn't very strong. I really don't think that's the sort of message that the clingy people are trying to send - it seems pretty counter-productive. "Look how close we are. We're inseparable. Really. See? He can't get away from me. So give up. Stop looking at him. He's mine. All mine. Really. Right, Honey? Honey? Stop looking at her. Look at me. Me! Memememememe." Sorry, but clinging to your significant other like a vine any time you feel like someone is interested in him is not a display of affection. It's a display of immaturity. He's with you, presumably because he wants to be. Relax and enjoy the relationship and stop worrying about everyone else. Trust me, you - and everyone else - will end up happier that way.
It sort of makes me feel old, like I ought to be waving my fist and yelling at those pesky kids to get off my lawn. But I want to start treating these annoying couples like I used to treat my cats. Each time I see an innappropriate public display of affection I just want to whip out my water bottle and spray them in the faces. "Bad couple. Bad! No kissing/groping/clinging. No!" Or maybe I could just sneak up behind them with a can filled with coins and shake it by their ears. I suspect that wouldn't go over well. There are probably rules against doing things like that. It's really tempting, though. But I guess that would be considered a public display of aggression, which probably isn't much better than the displays I'm trying to prevent. So I'll do my best to fight the urge, for now at least. But if one day you happen to notice a crazy woman spraying couples with a water bottle, or bopping their noses with a rolled up newspaper, come over and say "Hi". It's probably me.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Happy New Year!
Since today is the first normal day we've had in a while, it's also the day we're starting to work on our resolutions for the year. Maybe if I tell you mine, I'll feel more like I have to actually follow through with them. So here they are:
*I will be more active this year. I feel so much better when I stay active and when I'm in better shape, and this year I'm going to stop using my headaches as an excuse. I'm going to make myself get out and be active, whether I want to or not.
*I will be more organized. I have made progress with this one lately, but I still have a long way to go.
*I will be more social. I am not a terribly social person. I prefer to stay in the background as much as possible. I have a really hard time making myself talk to people, especially those I don't know well. In the last year I've tried to force myself to be more outgoing, and I've met some really great people as a result. I still feel awkward and nervous around new people, but the more I make myself talk to them the easier it seems to get. Hopefully someday it will start to feel more natural - and in the meantime, maybe I can at least get better at faking it!
*I will cook more. I like to cook, but I don't do it much. We tend to resort to takeout or going out to eat far too often. This year I hope to make those the exceptions rather than the rule.
So. . . we'll see how it goes. I have a good feeling about this year. It's been great so far! I have so much to post about, and now that I think about it maybe that's one more resolution to add to my list. I'll keep up with my blog more. It's a good way for me to sort out my thoughts, and it's a good record of what I've been up to. And maybe more than anything else, it's a great way for me to feel more accountable for following these resolutions. If I can make myself be honest about my progress, at least, and I think I can. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a new lifestyle to work on.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Hiatus
If you're still checking for updates, you will have noticed that there haven't been any for well over a month, until now at least. For that matter, this really isn't much of a post either. I'm just checking in to let you know that I'm not going to be posting for a little bit longer. "Real life" has gotten too hectic and I've had too much going on. Mainly, though, I haven't been able to think of anything to blog about. Christmas is fast approaching and things have been going wrong right and left (I'm sick, a 50 foot tree fell and smashed our fence, our car windshield broke, my inlaws are about to visit, etc, etc, etc) and we've been going to concerts and playing video games (remember how I'm so bad at first person shooters? I'm still no better, and "Left for Dead" is giving me a nervous breakdown. I'm determined to get better at it eventually!) and so I haven't even attempted to post.
I feel bad about that, though. Each day I try to make myself post and I just can't do it. So I'm giving myself permission to quit for now. I'll be back after the new year has started. (Though I might have to make one exception to post about "Sherlock Holmes", which I am really looking forward to!) And if somehow I get inspired I'll start posting again sooner, but don't count on it. Look for me after 2010 has begun.
If you are looking for fun things to do, I highly recommend any of the things we've been doing lately: Star Wars: In Concert (which was amazing!), "The Princess and the Frog" (which is by far my favorite princess movie, and is a "real" Disney movie in every way), "Left for Dead" (which for me is frustrating but fun) "Super Mario Wii" (perfect Nintendo game, a return to the old-style Mario games), 1 vs. 100 on XBox Live, or the Brian Setzer Orchestra Christmas Extravaganza (so much fun!).
You'll see me on here after the New Year if you come back then, and some of you I'll actually see before then in real life. :) I'll still be Tweeting and updating Facebook, so if you keep up with me on those sites (or on my sidebar here) then you'll know I'm still alive.
In the meantime, have a wonderful holiday season!
I feel bad about that, though. Each day I try to make myself post and I just can't do it. So I'm giving myself permission to quit for now. I'll be back after the new year has started. (Though I might have to make one exception to post about "Sherlock Holmes", which I am really looking forward to!) And if somehow I get inspired I'll start posting again sooner, but don't count on it. Look for me after 2010 has begun.
If you are looking for fun things to do, I highly recommend any of the things we've been doing lately: Star Wars: In Concert (which was amazing!), "The Princess and the Frog" (which is by far my favorite princess movie, and is a "real" Disney movie in every way), "Left for Dead" (which for me is frustrating but fun) "Super Mario Wii" (perfect Nintendo game, a return to the old-style Mario games), 1 vs. 100 on XBox Live, or the Brian Setzer Orchestra Christmas Extravaganza (so much fun!).
You'll see me on here after the New Year if you come back then, and some of you I'll actually see before then in real life. :) I'll still be Tweeting and updating Facebook, so if you keep up with me on those sites (or on my sidebar here) then you'll know I'm still alive.
In the meantime, have a wonderful holiday season!
Sunday, November 01, 2009
November!
Somehow the time seems to be flying by this year, and suddenly it's November! This makes me happy. Well, the time flying by doesn't, but I do love November. I really love it once the time changes, since it feels so much more like fall once it gets dark so much earlier. It's cooling off finally, and the leaves are changing. . . or in some cases, they've already changed and have fallen to the ground.
I love the foods associated with this time of year, especially almost anything that uses pumpkin. I love seeing the Christmas decorations and foods showing up in stores. I love that more and more ads show Christmas scenes. I love Thanksgiving, when we usually go to my parents house and spend time with my family and eat way too much. (And watch the Egg Bowl, of course. Go Dawgs!) I love Christmas shopping, even though I worry I won't be finished with that by Thanksgiving. But each year I promise that this will be the year I don't have to fight those crowds between Christmas and Thanksgiving. I haven't managed that so far, but this year. . .
I always threaten to start decorating for Christmas on the day after Halloween, but Caradorn is adament that we wait until after Thanksgiving. We compromise by getting everything ready before Thanksgiving so we can decorate the tree as soon as we get home from my parents' house. I'm not sure that's much of a compromise, though, and I think I need to figure out a way to start getting some of the decorations up before that.
We have lots of things to look forward to over the next two or three months, but this time of year I really enjoy the normal days almost as much as the days when we do something special. Settling in with a mug of hot cider or hot chocolate and playing games or watching a movie, building a fire in the fireplace, baking pumpkin bread, taking a walk and hearing the leaves crunching underfoot. . . there are so many things I love about this time of year! I just want to enjoy every minute of it and forget about working. But of course I can't do that. We do have lots to do, and the one time of year I love even more than this is December. When Thanksgiving is over, I want to be able to sit back and know we've finished everything important for the year. That means we'll really have our work cut out for us this month. But that's okay, because I feel more motivated than I have in a long time. It's fall!
Friday, October 23, 2009
And by the way. . .
I forgot to mention that I am angry! We went to Epcot's Food and Wine Festival during our last couple of WDW trips, and found lots of food that we enjoyed. We bought the festival cookbook and I was browsing through it trying to decide which thing I would cook first. Several of the dishes that we enjoyed are in the cookbook, but I've discovered that two of my favorite things from this year's festival that I had intended to cook are not in there! I wasn't surprised to find that the Tangerine Mimosa from Morocco wasn't listed, but I think we can figure that one out on our own. Sadly, though, the Lobster and Scallop Fisherman's Pie from Ireland is also not listed. That is probably not something I can figure out through trial and error, which means I'm going to have to start Googling and hope that I can find a recipe for something similar. And I am most upset that the Milk Chocolate Creme Brulee from France isn't in there, either. That was my favorite thing at the festival this year. We trekked all the way through Epcot just to get that on our last trip. I fully intended to cook it once we got home - but now I have no recipe! I'll have to check last year's book to see if it's in there, and if not I guess I'll need to start Googling for that as well. I've been wanting to find a good recipe for orange creme brulee since Disney changed the Soarin' creme brulee at Seasons in the Land pavillion from orange to vanilla, so I guess I will start looking for a good milk chocolate recipe as well.
Grumble, grumble. Oh well, I guess of all the things I could be angry about this is pretty mild. But still, it's irritating. I want that milk chocolate creme brulee. And since I think it is highly unlikely that I'll be able to convince Caradorn to take me back to Epcot before the Food and Wine Festival ends (though of course I'll try!) I suppose I'm just going to have to search until I find the perfect recipe. I imagine that will mean trying quite a few different recipes until we find the right one. Poor us, having to suffer through lots of chocolate creme brulees. Hmmm. . . maybe I'm not as angry about this as I thought!
Odds and ends and way too much shopping
The past week or so has been really busy, but it's also has it's share of excitement. And somehow we have found plenty of time to shop.
Last Thursday afternoon my phone rang, and when I didn't recognize the number I almost didn't answer it because I've been getting lot of telemarketer calls lately. I grabbed it at the last minute simply because I knew it was a central Florida number. I'm so glad I did! It turned out to be a friend from the Orlando area. He was calling to let me know that Jonathan Coulton has finally scheduled a concert in Orlando. I was so excited that I almost started shrieking into the phone, but fortunately for my friend's ears I did manage to control myself. As we were talking, though, I was getting more and more excited about it. I was pacing back and forth and almost jumping up and down and talking faster and faster. Shortly before we got off the phone Caradorn walked in, and he looked really confused about why I was freaking out so much. Once I hung up the phone I tried to explain to Caradorn why I was so excited, but I was talking too fast and waving my arms and pacing and jumping and it took a while for him to get the idea. Of course we bought our tickets when they went on sale on Saturday. I am so excited! I am really excited about seeing Coulton again, because I love him. But I'm almost as excited because so many people I like in Orlando have been dying to see his show, and now they'll be able to.
After we bought our tickets we decided to go to Nashville for the day. I've posted before that I hate shopping, but that's not entirely true. I hate shopping for clothing or anything specific that I need, but I enjoy browsing in some stores. We hit all my favorite places in Nashville and I bought way too much. After grabbing sushi at Ru San's we checked out Urban Outfitters, where I found a Snoopy shirt and a book - "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies", which I'm reading now. (It's okay, but doesn't have nearly enough zombies so far!) Then we went to Green Hills and spent far too long at Davis Kidd, one of the best bookstores anywhere. I got Neil Gaiman's "American Gods" and Caradorn and The Kidd also found some books, plus Cardorn got me a packet of Opus postcards which I am now threatening to frame. I found my favorite new shampoo/body wash/bubble bath at Sephora - Philosophy's Pumpkin Spice, which smells like Fall. And I discovered that Macy's has a great selection of Snoopy shirts - though I controlled myself and only bought one, which has Snoopy and Woodstock and says "Chicks love Nerds". Caradorn and The Kidd found a big selection of Star Wars shirts, so they were happy, too. While we were in Nashville we also stopped by Trader Joe's and Whole Foods to stock up on groceries we can't find in Rocket City. I'm trying to cook more lately, and I have found that I'm more likely to do that if I have lots of interesting ingredients to work with.
Sunday we had to do some errands around Rocket City, and we made the mistake of going into Petsmart. Every time we go there I torture myself by visiting the cats who are waiting to be adopted. This time I saw the prettiest kitten I think I've ever seen. Her name is Willow, and she's white and grey with big beautiful golden eyes. We do not need a kitten. We don't need any more pets, but we've agreed that we would consider an older cat if we found just the right one. No kittens! But I can't stop thinking about Willow. She was so cute, and so pitiful. She really was pretty, though, and so surely someone already gave her a home. Hopefully. Because I am really tempted to swing back by there this afternoon just to be sure she isn't still waiting for a home. And if she's there I'm going to have to play with her. So I really, really hope she isn't there. We don't need a ktten!
Yesterday I found out that Star Wars in Concert is coming to Nashville, so I'm hoping to get tickets for that when they go on sale tomorrow. And tomorrow we are going to another concert. Kiss is going to be in Birmingham, and we are taking The Kidd to see them for the first time. Caradorn and I have seen them before, and we didn't love them - but we did like them, and it was a fun show and I think The Kidd will get a kick out of seeing them. We're going to make a day of it, I think, since we always enjoy visiting Birmingham. And now that I'm back on a cooking kick I need to visit Penzey's again. Penzey's is a wonderful spice shop (and website) and I need to stock up on all the spices I need for fall and winter. I don't know where the time has gone - I can't believe October is almost over! But I do love the fall - the color of the leaves, the cold air, the Halloween and Thanksgiving decorations and celebrations. The soups and stews and spiced ciders, and of course the baking! I see Pumpkin Bread in my future. And Gingerbread. In fact that sounds like a good thing to add to today's "To do" list. And then this evening we will settle in to enjoy warm gingerbread and "Dollhouse". And most importantly we will enjoy staying home and not shopping for a change!
Friday, October 16, 2009
Proctologist makes an ass of himself, no one is surprised
The other day I mentioned that the audience for the first show we saw at Bonkerz last week was not good, and I said that I would explain more about that later.
First, let me stress that the whole audience wasn't bad. Unfortunately, there was one fairly large group there who was completely rude and inconsiderate, and they just happened to be seated right in the middle of the audience. It wasn't a reflection on the performers that they were like this - they were bad from the moment they got there, and continued the same behavior through each stand-up routine that night. The one good thing was that they claimed that one of them was a proctologist and that most of the rest of them worked for him, which did lead to lots of jokes from the comedians that night.
Also, I will admit that I am particularly sensitive to what I consider to be bad behavior by audience members. I really have no patience with it at all. It makes me furious. So something that might seem like no big deal to most people can seem like a huge deal to me. I don't really know why I feel that way, but I take audience behavior very personally. . . especially when we are watching a performer that I particularly like. Since Karl Anthony (also known on here as Blondie from the Adventurers Club) is one of my favorite performers, I really wanted him to have a good audience for his show and it bothered me that he had to deal with such rude people.
First, let me stress that the whole audience wasn't bad. Unfortunately, there was one fairly large group there who was completely rude and inconsiderate, and they just happened to be seated right in the middle of the audience. It wasn't a reflection on the performers that they were like this - they were bad from the moment they got there, and continued the same behavior through each stand-up routine that night. The one good thing was that they claimed that one of them was a proctologist and that most of the rest of them worked for him, which did lead to lots of jokes from the comedians that night.
Also, I will admit that I am particularly sensitive to what I consider to be bad behavior by audience members. I really have no patience with it at all. It makes me furious. So something that might seem like no big deal to most people can seem like a huge deal to me. I don't really know why I feel that way, but I take audience behavior very personally. . . especially when we are watching a performer that I particularly like. Since Karl Anthony (also known on here as Blondie from the Adventurers Club) is one of my favorite performers, I really wanted him to have a good audience for his show and it bothered me that he had to deal with such rude people.
I have fairly high expectations of audience members. I think that when you choose to attend a show, you are sort of entering into a contract with the performer. They are agreeing to give you their very best performance, and you are agreeing to behave in a considerate and respectful manner during the show. I also think that you have an obligation to your fellow audience members - that you need to make every effort to refrain from doing anything that might distract them from the show.
The group at Bonkerz last Friday night apparently did not feel this way at all. They chose to go to Bonkerz and there's no way they didn't know it was a comedy club. They knew they were there for a show. And yet they barely paid any attention at all to the people on stage. The spent the entire evening talking - loudly - to each other. They seemed almost oblivious to the comedians, except when they would occasionally make comments about the show. And any time a performer tried to talk to them they would argue or make rude comments to him. I guess in a way they were hecklers, but most of the time they didn't seem to even notice that there was a show going on. They were just rude. Each of the comedians tried to deal with them and make them pay attention and be quiet. I thought Karl did the best job of incorporating them into the act in a way that made sense, and his act didn't really suffer because of their behavior. It still made me angry on his behalf, though. I didn't feel as bad for the last performer of the night simply because he did not make any effort to be nice to them, and actually seemed to enjoy the opportunity to be mean to them. It didn't work, of course, but I'm sure he expected that after seeing how they responded to the first two performers.
I admit that I didn't find all of the performers that night to be expecially funny. The person who did the intro and warmed up the audience annoyed me more than he entertained me. He had a couple of funny moments but mostly his humor was not at all my style. Plus, he seemed big on audience interaction and I am most certainly not. (I know, sometimes I do I like shows that use audience participation. It's true that I grew to love participating at the Adventurers Club and of course I always am happy if I am chosen to interact with David Copperfield or Gaelic Storm. But if I am not familiar with a performer and I'm not already a fan of their show, I just want to blend in and not be noticed. It makes me horribly uncomfortable to have some random performer trying to interact with me. I really hate it. I even hated it initially at the Club, though I got over that pretty quickly.) Still, I was there in the audience and so I tried to act like I was paying attention and tried to be polite, while still trying to blend into the background so he wouldn't try to talk to me. I wish the rude group had done the same. But of course they didn't. And as the evening progressed I got angrier and angrier at them.
I wanted to say something to them, but it wouldn't have made any difference. They knew they were being rude - both to the performers and to the other audience members - and they didn't care. At times they actually seemed annoyed that the other people in the room would dare to interrupt their conversation. If it had been up to me they wouldn't have been in the audience at all. I would have escorted them out as soon as it became apparent that they had no intention of behaving appropriately. If they didn't enjoy the performances they didn't have to laugh or clap. They didn't even have to stay - they could have chosen a moment between acts and left the venue. But since they chose to remain there, they should have at least been quiet and acted as though they were paying attention. I don't know what their problem was. Maybe they had gotten an early start on their drinking. Maybe they just enjoy disprupting performances. Maybe they are just jerks. Whatever it was, I am sorry that the performers that night had to put up with them. I'd like to believe that it was an isolated incident, but judging from the reactions by a couple of the performers I'm guessing they are used to that sort of thing. Which is just sad. I know that the days when people dressed to the nines and were on their best behavior for a trip to the theater are gone. However, I don't think it is unreasonable to expect people to be considerate to those around them. It makes me sad that what was once considered common courtesy isn't very common these days.
But maybe I'm just being cynical. Maybe they were the exception and that sort of behavior is not becoming as common as I'm afraid that it is. Since I intend to go see Karl Anthony perform often in the future, I should get the chance to find out. And if you ever get the opportunity, I highly recommend checking his show out for yourself. You'll be glad you did!
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Brief Recap. . . well, maybe not so brief, actually.
Caradorn and I just got back from Orlando (again) and I realized that I haven't really been blogging much lately, so I thought I'd try to get some thoughts down about our most recent trip while they are still fresh in my mind.
This trip was much more low-key than I though it would be. I was battling migraines the whole time and had to take things much more slowly than I wanted to. Plus, it was unbelievably hot and humid - I've never been that uncomfortable at WDW before, which made my head feel worse. Because of this we didn't do everything I had intended to, but we still had fun.
We left Rocket City mid-day last Wednesday and got to Orlando that night. We spent Thursday morning at Universal Studios. I liked it, but not as much as the "real" studios in LA. After a brief hike through Epcot that afternoon for some creme brulee we went back to the room to crash before Halloween Horror Nights. I enjoyed HHR, but wasn't ever particularly scared. I did get startled and laughed quite a bit, but everything seemed to strike me as funny instead of scary. Of course we skipped the Saw house, which I was afraid would bother me too much. But the houses and scare zones that we did do were well done, just not scary. I was wearing a glow in the dark Snoopy Halloween shirt, and my favorite moment was in one of the houses when some Scareactor who was supposed to be jumping out and growling at people said "I like your shirt" and then waved his arms and said "Rarrrrr". Not too intimidating, but very cute. :)
Friday morning we had planned to go to Islands of Adventure but ended up sleeping late and lounging around the room for a while. We shopped for a while that afternoon and went out to dinner before going to Bonkerz comedy Club to see our favorite comedian, Karl Anthony. We always find him hilarious when we see him perform, but until this weekend we hadn't managed to catch his stand-up act. He was wonderful, just as we expected. The audience, on the other hand, was not. Or rather, part of the audience wasn't. I'll have to write more about that another time, but I don't know how Karl managed not to scream at them or throw things at them - I think I would have. We stopped by a party for a bit afterwards, and I know I was probably terrible company since the migraine was trying to come back and I felt sort of dazed. We stayed far longer than we should have, but we were really enjoying the company. (It's always nice to be around fellow Coulton fans!) And someone gave me my very first beer from a keg - yes, I'm sure I've had beer from a keg at bars before, of course, but never at a party. And I've never actually seen a keg before. Caradorn had trouble believing I hadn't seen one before, and I had to remind him of what I was like in high school and college - the parties I was invited to never involved kegs. So that was interesting. :)
Saturday we did make it to Islands of Adventure and we enjoyed it. We grabbed luch at Mythos, which was really good. (Mmmm - Risotto of the day. I'm drooling just thinking about it.) We took a billion pictures of Hogwarts Castle, and I was so excited to see it that I was practically jumping up and down over it. I kept telling Caradorn "But look - it's Hogwarts! Oh my gosh, I can't believe it's really Hogwarts! Look at it! Look! Hogwarts!!" I'll post some of the pictures soon. I'm so looking forward to the opening of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter next spring. I'll probably hyperventilate or just freeze and won't know what to do when faced with the "real" Hogwarts (and Three Broomsticks, and Zonko's, and Ollivanders. . .). It will probably be totally overwhelming for a Harry Potter geek like me!
Saturday afternoon we went back to Epcot for dinner and while we were there we caught the show at the UK, and met up briefly with my sister and brother-in-law. We used to go to WDW together all the time, but in the last few years I've been going with Caradorn and The Kidd and sometimes my parents, and she and my brother in law have been going with his family most of the time. She was with them this trip as well, so we didn't really spend any time together - we'll have to go back together sometime soon.
Saturday night we went back to Bonkerz to see Karl Anthony again, who was hilarious. The audience was much better this time and he was able to cover more material than the night before. A couple of the bits had me in tears. I'd go back to see him again in a heartbeat - he really is the funniest person I know. (And I know I'm biased, but he was by far the funniest performer of the people that were performing that night.)
Sunday morning we made a brief visit to the Magic Kingdom to ride Pirates and the Haunted Mansion (and to stock up on popcorn for my dad and The Kidd, and to get a Vinylmation I was regretting not getting earlier - it's wearing bowling shoes! So cute!) and then it was time to head home. For the first time in quite a while we weren't sure when we'd be coming back to Orlando, which made me more unhappy about leaving there than I usually am. I'm always happiest when I am planning another trip to Florida. Not having another trip on the horizon to look forward to makes me sad.
But then today I discovered that David Copperfield will be in Tampa in January. And of course Space Mountain will have reopened by then, and we promised The Kidd that we'd take him back as soon as we could after the reopening.. And January is usually a good time at WDW - the crowds tend to be low. So now I'm happy again. It's time to start planning another trip!
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Different ends of the spectrum
I've had encounters with two different types of pet owners lately and it has really made me think about how lucky some animals are to own the people that they do.
Tomorrow is the first day of October, and assuming that they are sticking to their plan my sister in law (Marie) and her husband will be breeding their dog within the month. They have owned several pets since I first met Marie 15 years ago. Marie bought a puppy shortly after I met her and owned that dog for several years. Then she decided to move into an apartment that wouldn't allow dogs, and so she gave Mollie to her parents. When she was finally able to have a dog again her parents had become attached to Mollie and so they kept her. After having her child, Marie decided to get another dog and so she adopted a chocolate lab puppy from the shelter. The dog turned out to be more energetic than Marie was prepared to deal with, liked to escape their yard, and the child was afraid of the dog. Marie kept him for a few more months - until he was no longer a cute and easily adoptable puppy - and then returned him to the shelter. This was not a no kill shelter, and I strongly suspect that he didn't manage to find a new home in time. Still feeling that their family was incomplete without a dog, Marie bought a mini daschund who seems to fit in well with the rest of the family. She wasn't satisfied with just one dog, though, and so she also bought a female Golden Retriever. They had a scare last year when they though they'd be expecting Golden/Daschund puppies and after that I thought they'd get smart and have both dogs "altered". Ha! Silly me. Actually, it made them decide that they really wanted Angel (the Golden) to have puppies and so they searched until they found an affordable, intact male Golden for sale. They bought him and if things go "well" Angel and Prince will be parents before too long.
I've seen pictures of both of these dogs. They're cute, but I find it hard to believe that either one is a full blooded Golden. Certainly neither one is a shining example of the breed. I'm sure they are both great pets but neither one of them has genes that should be passed on. And of course Marie hasn't had any genetic testing done on them, so they could both be carriers of all the health problems Goldens are prone to. I'm not opposed to the responsible breeding of purebred animals, but with so many dogs and cats dying in shelters each day I think it's horrible to breed a dog just so your pet can have puppies. And I wonder what will happen to Angel and Prince after the cute new puppies arrive. . . I'm afraid that they'll either end up in a shelter (having been replaced by a puppy or two) or that they'll become their own little puppy mill, cranking out puppies as long as they can.
Marie and her husband aren't abusive pet owners, but they aren't good pet owners, either. At best they are neglectful. Mostly they are irresponsible. They see pets as disposable, and are far more likely to abandon a pet to a shelter than they are to make any significant changes in their lives in order to accommodate the pets. If their dog escapes the yard repeatedly they'll take it to a shelter rather than getting a better fence (or keeping the dog inside, or in the garage, or a pen. . .). If the dog scares their child and acts too wild they will wash their hands of it rather than investing in obedience training. If the dog gets sick they'll have him put down rather than "wasting money" on potentially expensive treatments - but then they'll go buy a new motorcycle with the money they saved by not paying for treatment. A pet might be better off with them than in a shelter, but I cringe when they adopt a young animal because I know that it's chances of finding a new home will not be good by the time Marie's family tires of it and returns it to the shelter.
On the other end of the spectrum are Mr and Mrs O. They are a very nice couple who lost their cat to kidney failure last weekend. After losing my Newton to kidney failure a couple of years ago, I know how much of a shock that can be. A cat can be healthy one day and on death's door the next day. I felt terrible for Mr and Mrs O when I heard about their cat. Then I found out that the cat was already older when they adopted her. They are good pet owners. They love their pets and they give them a good home. They chose this cat knowing they were likely to have her for fewer years than they might have a younger cat, but they wanted to give her a chance to find a loving home anyway. I wish I could be like them. I remember how hard it was to lose Newton, and to lose my dog Marc a couple of years before that, and I am afraid to adopt an older pet. I want to, but it scares me - what if I get too attached and then it dies? Of course you run that risk even with younger animals, but it seems so much more real with the older ones. And when we see those older pets at the adoption fairs I feel so torn. . . they look so sad. They need love, too. But it's such a risk for an owner to fall in love with an older pet knowing that your years with them are likely more limited than your years with a puppy or kitten might be. Especially when you are an owner like Mr and Mrs O, or like Cardorn and I. Our pets are a part of our family. They aren't disposable. They are ours for life, however long that might be. And it hurts so much when we lose them. I want to be the kind of person who can rescue an older pet and give it a loving forever home for the rest of it's life. Hopefully I will be willing to take a risk like that the next time we decide to welcome a new pet into our family.
These days, with so many unloved and unwanted pets filling the shelters, I guess even a temporary home is better than the alternative. But I can't help but think that while an animal might be lucky to find any home (even one with someone like Marie), they are even luckier that there are people out there waiting to give them a second chance. An animal might be lucky to find an owner like Marie, but the really lucky ones have people like Mr and Mrs O waiting to give them loving homes when they are abandoned again.
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
You Ruined Everything
For most of my dating life, I was in serious relationships. I had one boyfriend through most of high school and one through most of college, with a couple of shorter relationships thrown in between. I was never the type for blind dates or anything like that. . . I tended to date guys with whom I was already friends, and only those who I could imagine spending my life with. Shortly after my breakup with Nate, I resolved to change that. I wanted to date lots different people, and I decided that I would say yes when people asked me out even if I wasn't sure about them. I went on one date and had met a couple of people I was interested in, and then I saw Caradorn. I saw him across a room and asked a friend who he was, and found out he was the best friend of a guy I was considering going out with. Coincidentally, another girl liked both Caradorn and his friend Chuckie and was trying to choose between them. I was appalled by this (who tells a pair of best friends she's trying to choose between them?!), but once I saw Caradorn I wasn't too worried that she'd choose the guy I liked. Who would choose anyone else if Caradorn was one of the options?
Apparently that girl would, because she chose the other guy. I wasn't too upset about Chuckie being off the market, because I was still planning to keep things casual and date around and one of the factors in the girl's decision was that Chuckie had told her he was hoping for marriage soon. Caradorn had said he was not. A couple of weeks later I was juggling in a place where Caradorn was singing, and we discovered we got along really well. He was friends with two of my best friends and so the four of us started hanging out. One evening I cooked dinner for all of us and after our friends left, Caradorn stayed to help me clean up. We ended up talking for hours and by the time he left I realized that the casual dating thing wasn't going to happen after all. By our second date we were already talking about the future as though it was a foregone conclusion that we'd be together.
Jonathan Coulton wrote a song after his child was born. Every time I hear it, I think of Caradorn. I was happy before Caradorn and I started dating. I had all sorts of plans - most of which I changed after we fell in love. Now I can't imagine my life being any more perfect than it is right now.
You Ruined Everything
I was fine
Just in time
To throw myself away
Once my perfect world was gone I knew
You ruined everything
In the nicest way
You should know
How great things were before you
Even so
They're better still today
I can't think of who I was before
You ruined everything
In the nicest way
Bumps in the road remind us
The worst of the best behind us
Only good things will find us
Me and you
Days will be clear and sunny
We're gonna need more money
Baby you know it's funny
All those stories
Coming true
Despite my better efforts
It's all for you
The worst kind of cliche
I'll be with you till the day you leave
You ruined everything
In the nicest way
(Retrieved from http://www.jonathancoulton.com/wiki/index.php/You_Ruined_Everything/Lyrics)
Friday, August 28, 2009
Do I see a light up ahead?
I think that maybe - hopefully - there might be a light at the end of this tunnel after all. In the last day or two several things have happened that give me hope that maybe all this stress really is just temporary.
It seems Caradorn's testing has finally gained momentum and there might be an end in sight after all. I'm so happy that our schedule might be back to normal before too terribly long. These testing periods are really important for his program, and I do understand why they have to do them, but they are really hard on everybody - both at work and at home. I think everyone on his program has a really short fuse at this point and it will be better for all of them when they are done with this round of tests. I will certainly be happier when they are over!
I've actually started sleeping again. I'm still really tired, but I don't feel like I'm going to slip into a coma at any moment so that's an improvement at least. Even though I still haven't been managing to get to bed early, I haven't been lying in bed for hours trying to fall asleep. I fall asleep pretty quickly after my head hits the pillow - which is really unusual for me even when I'm not having trouble sleeping. I'm feeling so much better than I was even a few days ago. It's amazing what a difference it can make to your whole day when you don't feel like a zombie.
The Kidd - who I don't discuss all that often on here - is having a really good year at school so far. Last year was a little rough for him. He kept "forgetting" to do his homework (or even to write the assignment down) and we had to be really vigilant about making him keep up with his work. Even when he did do his work, he would often lose it before he got to class. This was especially upsetting because he's extremely smart and capable of easily getting straight As, and his grades were not reflecting that at all. It seemed like he just didn't care about school. It was a very frustrating year and I was worried that this year would be more of the same. Thankfully he seems to be taking school much more seriously now.
We have all sorts of half finished projects around the house that have been driving me crazy. We have so much to do, but not nearly enough time. Somehow every project we start tends to get far more complicated than we expect it to and they all take ten times longer than we anticipate. For quite a while now I've felt like we've been in a holding pattern - we never seem to make any progress because we are always dealing with unexpected problems that crop up. We had a brief bit of success with one of our kitchen projects a few weeks ago, but then several more things popped up that needed work and I started to get discouraged again. Finally it seems like we really are starting to make progress. We've actually finished a couple of things recently! Even though we still have lots to do, it feels wonderful to be able to check some things off our list.
We reserved a room for ConGaloosh yesterday. That's something we should have done as soon as we decided to attend the event, but somehow we kept putting it off. I think I've been a little bit afraid that I'd jinx things if we got the room. So many things could go wrong between now and then that would keep us from going! I am glad that we finally have started making concrete plans, though. We can't stop moving forward just because something might go wrong.
We are even planning another trip during October. I have decided to be brave and check out Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios this year, and I'm actually really excited about it. It isn't the sort of thing that I usually do, but I've looked at the pictures for the last few years and the theming looks amazing. I also want to go see "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" at the Mad Cow Theatre. I've wanted to see this show for a while - I've heard good things about it. The fact that one of our favorite actors ("Snoopy") is in this production means that we will like one character even if we don't end up loving the whole thing. I expect to like it anyway, though - everything I've heard makes it sound like something I would enjoy.
It seems Caradorn's testing has finally gained momentum and there might be an end in sight after all. I'm so happy that our schedule might be back to normal before too terribly long. These testing periods are really important for his program, and I do understand why they have to do them, but they are really hard on everybody - both at work and at home. I think everyone on his program has a really short fuse at this point and it will be better for all of them when they are done with this round of tests. I will certainly be happier when they are over!
I've actually started sleeping again. I'm still really tired, but I don't feel like I'm going to slip into a coma at any moment so that's an improvement at least. Even though I still haven't been managing to get to bed early, I haven't been lying in bed for hours trying to fall asleep. I fall asleep pretty quickly after my head hits the pillow - which is really unusual for me even when I'm not having trouble sleeping. I'm feeling so much better than I was even a few days ago. It's amazing what a difference it can make to your whole day when you don't feel like a zombie.
The Kidd - who I don't discuss all that often on here - is having a really good year at school so far. Last year was a little rough for him. He kept "forgetting" to do his homework (or even to write the assignment down) and we had to be really vigilant about making him keep up with his work. Even when he did do his work, he would often lose it before he got to class. This was especially upsetting because he's extremely smart and capable of easily getting straight As, and his grades were not reflecting that at all. It seemed like he just didn't care about school. It was a very frustrating year and I was worried that this year would be more of the same. Thankfully he seems to be taking school much more seriously now.
We have all sorts of half finished projects around the house that have been driving me crazy. We have so much to do, but not nearly enough time. Somehow every project we start tends to get far more complicated than we expect it to and they all take ten times longer than we anticipate. For quite a while now I've felt like we've been in a holding pattern - we never seem to make any progress because we are always dealing with unexpected problems that crop up. We had a brief bit of success with one of our kitchen projects a few weeks ago, but then several more things popped up that needed work and I started to get discouraged again. Finally it seems like we really are starting to make progress. We've actually finished a couple of things recently! Even though we still have lots to do, it feels wonderful to be able to check some things off our list.
We reserved a room for ConGaloosh yesterday. That's something we should have done as soon as we decided to attend the event, but somehow we kept putting it off. I think I've been a little bit afraid that I'd jinx things if we got the room. So many things could go wrong between now and then that would keep us from going! I am glad that we finally have started making concrete plans, though. We can't stop moving forward just because something might go wrong.
We are even planning another trip during October. I have decided to be brave and check out Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios this year, and I'm actually really excited about it. It isn't the sort of thing that I usually do, but I've looked at the pictures for the last few years and the theming looks amazing. I also want to go see "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" at the Mad Cow Theatre. I've wanted to see this show for a while - I've heard good things about it. The fact that one of our favorite actors ("Snoopy") is in this production means that we will like one character even if we don't end up loving the whole thing. I expect to like it anyway, though - everything I've heard makes it sound like something I would enjoy.
And finally, some good and bad news. Gigi's Cupcakes has finally opened a store in Rocket City. We've been hooked on these cupcakes for a while now - we always get some when we visit the Nashville area. I am glad that they are in Rocket City now, but that does sort of pose a problem for the big "lose weight/get in shape" program that we've been trying to follow. It's hard to lose weight when you're constantly eating cupcakes! But we've made a rule that we can only go to Gigi's once a week (except for special occasions!) and we can't eat them on a day when we haven't exercised. And of course it helps than I usually can't eat more than half of one of their cupcakes at a time. Those things are huge! There is a Merry Margarita cupcake waiting for me in the kitchen, and I plan to enjoy it while we play 1 vs. 100 on XBox Live tonight. I know - it's a wild and crazy start to the weekend, but I'm looking forward to it.
I'm looking forward to lots of things right now, which is a nice feeling. Especially compared to the way I felt for the last few weeks. Life seems full of potential again! I was so tired of just seeing the darkness stretching out ahead. It is wonderful to finally see the light again.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
In cheerier news. . .
It seems like all I've done lately is complain. I am usually a happier person than I have seemed on here lately, but I haven't wanted to vent to Caradorn since he's not thrilled with work right now either and this has become my outlet. I haven't been sitting around moping all the time, though.
Last week we did manage to carve out enough time to go have fun together. Of course the time had to come from somewhere - and a band parents meeting seemed like a great place to find some. So to further dash my hopes of winning parent of the year any time soon, we skipped the meeting and went to a movie instead.
I used to love Mystery Science Theater 3000 when it was on TV. In recent years some of the folks involved have started doing something new. It's called Rifftrax. Now that they aren't on television they have branched out more. They don't just do commentary for bad older movies anymore. Now they cover all sorts of movies, including things like Star Wars and Indiana Jones.
Last week there was a Rifftrax Live event in some theaters across the country. It was a showing of "Plan 9 From Outer Space" with commentary by the guys from MST3K. There was also a special musical guest: Jonathan Coulton! It was broadcast from a theater in Nashville (and oh, how I wish I had known about it earlier so I could have tried to get tickets for that theater!). Fortunately one of those theaters was here in Rocket City. Caradorn and I debated and debated about whether to take The Kidd or not, but we finally decided we would. We were hoping he wouldn't be scarred for life from the experience. I was half afraid that Coulton would do "First of May", which I like but really don't want The Kidd to hear any time soon. (No, there's no reason he ought to play that at a sci-fi/outer space/zombie movie. It wouldn't have made any sense for him to play it. But I figured if we took The Kidd that he'd end up playing it anyway. Fortunately he didn't; he played "The Future Soon" and "Re: Your Brains" instead.)
It was great! We all really enjoyed it, and thankfully no one said anything that we would have felt guilty about exposing The Kidd to. I am hoping that they will do this sort of thing again. I think that tickets sold well, even here in Rocket City, so that's a good sign. In the meantime I will be downloading more Rifftrax to listen to while we watch some of our DVDs. It was so nice to just sit back and enjoy something and laugh and I think we could use more of that sort of thing. Lots more. There are lots of Rifftrax, and I think Caradorn and I need to work our way through all of them. We'll even let The Kidd join us for some.
I am thankful, really. But. . .
Let me preface this post by saying that I am truly thankful that Caradorn has a good job. . . especially lately, with all of the layoffs that have been occurring here in Rocket City. I was horribly worried when it was announced that there would be layoffs on Caradorn's program, and incredibly relieved when he was informed that he is considered "crucial" to his project. Yay! It would be darn near impossible to support our family (and our Disney habit) on a teacher's salary, so it's important for Caradorn to have a good job in his field. And I really am thankful. Very, very thankful. Truly.
Have I said I am thankful? I really am.
So I wouldn't want him to lose his job. Or to quit. Really, I wouldn't.
I really, really wouldn't. Honestly.
But. . .
I hate his job so much right now that I could scream.
His hours are usually great. He has quite a bit of flexibility in his schedule most of the time and he can even use "Flex time" to take more vacations without using his vacation days. It works out well for us most of the time. But there are a few times throughout the year when they start testing his product. I hate those times. He works ridiculous hours and spends the bulk of his time in another city during the testing process. The testing goes on almost all day and all night, every day, including weekends, and someone from his group has to be there the whole time. It usually only lasts a few weeks but this time is apparently more complicated because it has stretched into months at this point. That's months of Caradorn being away most of the time including weekends. He was supposed to be done before Labor Day, but now it appears that it's going to take even longer - which means he will likely be working that weekend. That is especially upsetting to me since Labor Day weekend is supposed to be a Rock Band Weekend for us, when my sister and her husband visit and we all do nothing but eat stuff that's bad for us and play videogames (mainly Rock Band) for the whole weekend.
I'm fed up. Especially since I recently discovered that one of Caradorn's coworkers refuses to work weekends, which means the other group members have to work his share as well as their own. He has also been leaving work when he's ready to leave and refusing to stay late if he is needed. Apparently this is because he needs to spend time with his kids. Well Caradorn needs to spend time with his kid, too. Caradorn finally said something the other day about being unhappy about possibly having to work Labor Day weekend, and Coworker actually said "Well, at least you might not have to work next weekend." Really, Coworker?! You haven't worked any weekend. I think it's your turn to work a few weekends. In fact I think you need to work Labor Day weekend. After, all, at least you didn't have to work last weekend. Or the one before that. Or the one before that. . . I've always liked this coworker before this, but I hope I don't run into him anywhere while I'm still mad about this. If I do it won't be pretty. I am furious with him right now.
I know the testing will be over soon. I know that things will get back to normal before too long. And in the meantime I do know how lucky we are that Caradorn has a good job. But right now I have had enough of all this testing. I'm tired of not knowing if it's safe to make plans for the family since I don't know when Caradorn will have time off. I'm tired of having to cancel travel plans because Caradorn can't get away. I'm tired of worrying about whether the testing will be over before we're supposed to go to ConGaloosh and what we will do if it isn't. I'm tired of getting angry every time his boss calls or I hear his coworker's name. I'm tired of Caradorn being stuck in telecons and conference calls during the small amount of time he is home. I'm just tired. I've been in a terrible mood lately, and a large part of it is this stupid testing. I want it to be over already.
But I am thankful he has the job. I really am. I'll just be more thankful when he isn't devoting all his time to it.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Karma
I don't know if I really believe in the idea of karma. Far too often I have seen horrible things happen to good people, and wonderful things happen to horrible people. I love the idea that "Cheaters never prosper", but it seems that far too often, they do. Usually I can keep myself from dwelling on this kind of thing, but sometimes the thoughts of how unjust life can be get stuck in my head and I have trouble of thinking about anything else.
When I was in high school, someone I respected and cared about had his life almost ruined by false allegations against him. I knew the allegations weren't true, and so did most other people. That didn't matter in the end, though - he ended up settling with the person who was making the accusations and then he moved away to start a new life elsewhere. I still think about him, and I hope he ended up happy, wherever he went. Later, I learned that the woman had made similar allegations against several other people over the years - both before and after the incident I had known about. I believe she benefited greatly from settlements each time. Either this young woman was a perpetual victim with unbelievably bad luck or she was a scheming opportunist who enjoyed ruining people's lives. I know which one I think she was. I hope that wherever she is now she's living the kind of life she deserves.
This sort of thing always makes me furious. Far too often all it takes is a whisper of an allegation and the accused is immediately assumed to be guilty. No one cares about any possible evidence. Just look at the Duke case a few years ago. It didn't matter that there was plenty of evidence that showed that those boys probably were not guilty. As soon as they were accused they were considered Guilty, and nothing they could say or do was going to change that. Those boys' lives will never be the same, and all because someone made false allegations against them. Of course we know the truth now, but still they are remembered for that case and none of their other accomplishments. Many people still consider their accuser to be the victim, even though the boys were the real victims in that case.
I've heard so many stories lately about people who have been accused of things, and everyone assumes they are guilty despite a complete lack of evidence. I'd love to think that these stories were the exceptions, but instead it seems to me that they are the norm.
Don't get me wrong - I know there are bad people out there. I know that often, the allegations are true. But I hate the fact that with any sort of "sex crime", people are always assumed to be guilty until proven innocent. That's not how our society is supposed to work. I don't know what the answer is. Obviously we want the real victims to feel they can come forward. We don't want them to assume that they will be disbelieved when they tell their stories. On the other hand, simply being accused of a crime shouldn't ruin someone's reputation for the rest of his life, and too often now that's exactly what happens - even when the accused turns out to be innocent.
I would like to think that both possibilities would be considered when allegations are brought against someone: Maybe they are guilty. Maybe they are innocent. I would like to believe that sympathy would not always lie with the accuser. I would like to believe that it wouldn't come down to a "He said, she said" situation but that people would consider the evidence involved.
Mostly, I would like to believe in karma. I hope that those who are guilty end up suffering far more than those that they victimized, and that they get to experience more fear and pain than their victims felt. But I also hope that those who accuse others falsely will reap their own rewards. . . I hope that they suffer far more than they would have if their allegations had been true. I hope that they live in their own personal Hell for every day of the rest of their lives, and that eventually the rest of the world sees them for what they truly are. I hope that the day comes when no one will believe a word that they say, and they have to live with the knowledge that it's their own fault they have to live that way.
When I was in high school, someone I respected and cared about had his life almost ruined by false allegations against him. I knew the allegations weren't true, and so did most other people. That didn't matter in the end, though - he ended up settling with the person who was making the accusations and then he moved away to start a new life elsewhere. I still think about him, and I hope he ended up happy, wherever he went. Later, I learned that the woman had made similar allegations against several other people over the years - both before and after the incident I had known about. I believe she benefited greatly from settlements each time. Either this young woman was a perpetual victim with unbelievably bad luck or she was a scheming opportunist who enjoyed ruining people's lives. I know which one I think she was. I hope that wherever she is now she's living the kind of life she deserves.
This sort of thing always makes me furious. Far too often all it takes is a whisper of an allegation and the accused is immediately assumed to be guilty. No one cares about any possible evidence. Just look at the Duke case a few years ago. It didn't matter that there was plenty of evidence that showed that those boys probably were not guilty. As soon as they were accused they were considered Guilty, and nothing they could say or do was going to change that. Those boys' lives will never be the same, and all because someone made false allegations against them. Of course we know the truth now, but still they are remembered for that case and none of their other accomplishments. Many people still consider their accuser to be the victim, even though the boys were the real victims in that case.
I've heard so many stories lately about people who have been accused of things, and everyone assumes they are guilty despite a complete lack of evidence. I'd love to think that these stories were the exceptions, but instead it seems to me that they are the norm.
Don't get me wrong - I know there are bad people out there. I know that often, the allegations are true. But I hate the fact that with any sort of "sex crime", people are always assumed to be guilty until proven innocent. That's not how our society is supposed to work. I don't know what the answer is. Obviously we want the real victims to feel they can come forward. We don't want them to assume that they will be disbelieved when they tell their stories. On the other hand, simply being accused of a crime shouldn't ruin someone's reputation for the rest of his life, and too often now that's exactly what happens - even when the accused turns out to be innocent.
I would like to think that both possibilities would be considered when allegations are brought against someone: Maybe they are guilty. Maybe they are innocent. I would like to believe that sympathy would not always lie with the accuser. I would like to believe that it wouldn't come down to a "He said, she said" situation but that people would consider the evidence involved.
Mostly, I would like to believe in karma. I hope that those who are guilty end up suffering far more than those that they victimized, and that they get to experience more fear and pain than their victims felt. But I also hope that those who accuse others falsely will reap their own rewards. . . I hope that they suffer far more than they would have if their allegations had been true. I hope that they live in their own personal Hell for every day of the rest of their lives, and that eventually the rest of the world sees them for what they truly are. I hope that the day comes when no one will believe a word that they say, and they have to live with the knowledge that it's their own fault they have to live that way.
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