Enough already!

I think that this will be the third week in a row where we get a "major" weather event. It's supposed to snow, AGAIN starting tomorrow, and I've heard that we'll get anywhere from 2-15 inches. Seriously? SERIOUSLY?? AND ice?? What is this, my birthday? I know I've bitched about the weather a lot recently, but who can blame me? At this time last year, I was in Southern California. Wearing flip flops. And shorts. Like a normal person. Now I have to bundle up so much I can barely move my arms. And trust me, apparently you never grow out of the "phew I'm finally all dressed, crap, now I have to pee" phase. So. to combat my stress over the weather, I've been turning to my second favorite past time..reading. Sure, I've read all the books I own, but who cares? I don't, mainly because I love a good story. Almost as much as I love...ummm....let's just say cake.
   I've also been playing a lot of video games. Mostly WoW, but with some others thrown in to mix it up. I can't really explain my love for that game, the best I can do is to tell you that it's like starring in a never ending movie that keeps changing.  Here's a picture of one of my characters....

 That's Nik, she's my first and favorite. As silly as it might seem, I really am proud of what we've accomplished together in the game. From leveling all the way to 85 to meeting the hubs, Nik has been with me. Like an alter ego almost. Or a secret identity. Oh, you didn't know? I met my husband in "the world", as we nerds like to call it. Nik's face was the one he saw first, as the only way to communicate is through the in game chat program. It's like the ultimate blind date. I'll post the whole story sometime, with pictures of important locations later on. Now though, I think I'm going to go work out (YUK) and maybe have some breakfast. 

Thirsty Thursdays

So, as many of you know, it snowed here in New England. Again. We got about 13 inches at our place, resulting in school delays for the hubs and me having to move the car every hour so they can plow. On days like today, I really just want to sit back, watch the snow and have a drink or 7...but alas, that plan is not to be. At least, not yet. See, the problem is that being tipsy all day sounds cool, until you have to drive in the super slippery mess passing itself off as pavement outside. Drunk driving in good weather is stupid, drinking and driving in THIS crap is suicide. Even if it's just "around the corner", or "down the street"...still not a good idea. Of course, hubs didn't have to drive anywhere today, so he started his morning with a Raspberry Woodchuck. Delicious!!

There it is, nestled in it's own chilly holder. The snow was so deep when we went outside, that our first steps put it well over the tops of our boots. I feel kind of bad sitting here now in my nice warm room in dry clothes, knowing that poor hubs has to walk through downtown Boston twice today. I can't imagine that the sidewalks are all cleared off, so he'll more than likely be soaked all day. I think that's what I hate most about winter, the whole being damp thing. And cold. And the short days. And how long it takes to warm up the car..jeebus, I better stop now or I'll be writing this shit all day.
So, yesterday morning I decided that it would be a good idea to stock up on some foodstuffs in case we lost power or got snowed in or something. What I always seem to forget though, is that other people have the same idea, meaning that the grocery store was an unholy mess and the lines to check out were ridiculous. While standing in my line of choice, ( I somehow ended up with black pepper, rosemary, toilet bowl cleaner, sponges and face wash....don't ask me how ANY of that translates into dinner.....) there was a nice gentleman standing behind me. As we waited our turn to get the hell out of there, it started snowing. What makes this interesting, is that it didn't flurry first, there were no individual flakes falling gently..it was like someone pulled down a curtain and BAM..blizzard. So I'm looking at the snow thinking "shit" and looking at my future purchases thinking I should probably get some cereal or something when the guy behind me puts his stuff up on the checkout belt thingy. He's got a 12 pack and a box of Twinkies. I look at his stuff, look at my stuff and say something like "Glad we've got the essentials at least". He laughed like I said the funniest thing ever. I know I can be amusing sometimes, but his reaction was a little over the top, even for me. And I like stuff like this....

So, to recap...winter sucks, I wish I was getting drunk all day, moving the car can be hazardous, Twinkies and beer are awesome, and watch out for Jaws. Especially if you go for strolls on the ocean.

Something deep and meaningful..

I've been rolling this idea around in my head for a few days that I wanted to say something important about friendships. Something poetic and beautiful, that shows my deep love and appreciation for the people I care about. But everything I try in that vein sounds schlocky and cliched..I feel like it's not original and that the words weren't expressing how I really felt. It's annoying. I can think beautiful thoughts, form sentences that roll off the tongue and resonate within..but when I try to get them out..they suck. So, instead I'll just write what I feel and see how it goes. OK.
   I think that having good friends, the kind that answer when you call and really listen when you talk is both the greatest luxury and most precious gift on the planet. I think that because it's rare. Look at your (social network) profile of choice and make a list of the people you could call crying at 4 am on a Wednesday and not feel awkward about. The list is probably pretty short, right? Mine is, and although I know lots of people, and count most of them as friends, I more than likely would only call 5 or 6 people in that situation. Why? Maybe it's just me..I'm not really a sharing type. And that's a little sad. One of the things that makes being human bearable is our ability to connect with others, share experiences and dreams. I feel like I'm missing some vital element in the whole "friend"....thing. (See? Sucks, right? Told you...)
                So, before I dive off the deep end and into weepy emotional land, I'll cut it short.
To all my friends, I love you. You are important to me. You matter to me. I want to hear about your day, and I want to tell you about mine. If we're far apart and haven't spoken in a while, I'm sorry. I'm bad about picking up the phone and calling. But know that I miss you, hope you are doing well and are deliriously happy. I'm doing fine, love being married and am worried about the economy. Hubs has started school, freeing up a little time for me to be able to share my crazy out here on the Internet. I think it's going well. How are the kids/pets/work/school?  Excellent.  Maybe when we all have more time and money we can get together and have supper or a drink. That would be cool. Maybe we could do something fun, like build a blanket fort, watch old movies or have a light saber battle. That would be super cool.
   And now that I've gotten that off my chest, I feel better. It didn't come out as elegantly as I had hoped, but this early in the morning, I'm just pleased that it doesn't look like slgkjfldgodijtr iwrjgs fkj.  So, hopefully everyone has a great day today, I'm certainly going to try my best.

Helloooo Nurse

Greetings all. I thought after the fire of yesterday,I might switch it up a little and share some of the things that relax me and help me from going on murderous rampages on a daily basis. I'll be adding links when I can, so you can all experience the joy. Let's start with music...ahh the sweet sounds of Lilly Allen, or my personal bassy favorite..DBMK. Here's a link to their soundcloud page..good stuff here!
http://soundcloud.com/discoballmurderkit

DBMK is two friends of mine, ed:e armand and Jack McDevitt. They run on steak, pono and pure awesome. If you like parties, check them out in either Providence RI or Boston, where they appear regularly at both Rise and Therapy. You can check them out on Facebook too..
Another great music site is http://8tracks.com/ . It's a streaming radio site where you can upload mixes of your favorite songs to make your own playlist, or enjoy the work of others, all neatly organized and labeled.


Music is great, but sometimes you need a good laugh, that's probably why I check out http://www.fmylife.com/ on a daily basis. Just when you thought you had it bad..
"Today, I got turned down from a job I really wanted. Six hours later, the guy called me again and delivered the same news, not realizing he had already called this morning. Thanks for rubbing it in. FML"

LMAO!!!!
And for those of us who are, or have been in the service industry, there's http://notalwaysright.com/
It's perfect. The stories are hilarious, and you know you've seen or been through some, most or all of the silliness that is working with these people.

Oh yes, before I forget.. for all my Western MA peeps, there's actually a webcomic set in Noho that's pretty excellent. It's http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1 and it's been running 5 days a week since 2003. When I was in Cali, it helped with the homesickness.. and it's really quite funny. Not for kids, of course. The best stuff never is though.
   (As an aside, I just looked out my window, and if the weather channel wants to be right today, it has to stop snowing RIGHT NOW. I mean, like immediately. Jeeze people, enough already!!)
  Well, I think, since it's snowing like a bastard, I'm going to go work out.. now the question is, do I play music or not ? Hmmmmmm after yesterday, I'm thinking yes. And I feel like disco. So suck it douchknocker...hope you like the Doobie Brothers.

WAR!!!!

Oh boy..my first rant of the new year! I am so excited to share this with you all!!!! Check it..it's well after 9 on a Monday morning..I'm working out with music on. Not too loud, our stereo goes to 30, and I had it set at maybe 14. Less than half goddammit. Suddenly, there's this pounding coming from my ceiling..like a three year old temper tantrum. Loud and repetitive. For a while. So I shut off my music, stop my workout and go upstairs to see what the issue is. Hooray for meeting new neighbors...except when they are douchey cave dwellers who walk like elephants. All the time. Now, I'm a very down to earth person, and I think my gesture of going upstairs to apologize proves that. But this asshat didn't accept my apology, and instead scolded me..ME about what time it was. Uhhh excuse me fuckstick, I've been up since 5 am, and I WAITED until a reasonable hour to even make any noise. AT ALL. Now, I don't want to be rude (too late, apparently! haha) but for reals..if this guy wants rude downstairs neighbors..I can play that role. I'd be good at it too. The only thing stopping me right now it the fact that a baby lives across the hall, and it doesn't make much noise, and I'm sure that my super bassy whomping music (DBMK anyone?) would disturb it's little nap time. I don't like people as a rule, and this just confirms my suspicion that most other humans suck massive amounts of donkey dick for pay. If the upstairs douche wanted to talk about when would be appropriate to play loudish music, I'd be down for that...or at least I would have been before this morning. I do believes that this means war..and I've got a lot of weapons in my arsenal. My only concession will be to tell the nice landlady about what's going on before I start..but she's awesome (example: when you don't move your car so the parking lot can be plowed, your car gets towed....to the other side of the complex. AWESOME!! And something I would do..) and I think she'll understand where I'm coming from..muahahahahah

Oh the weather...

Ugh....writer's block. And little brother just woke up..maybe he'll provide some inspiration...be right back....gah..he's has nothing funny to report either. Well, that's what happens when you stick two non-morning people in the same house before noon...we're too groggy to do or say anything.
 So, in lieu of jokes or funny stories, here's a picture of a kittie.

It's Wes, looking like I feel...grumpy. This was taken during our trip across the country in a big truck with all our worldly goods in it. He was grumpy because it was well over 100 degrees outside, he's stuck in a fur coat and the A/C wasn't helping much. I'm grumpy because it's cold, I don't have a fur coat (not that I'd wear REAL fur, I'm just sayin..) and I have to go out in an ice storm to get food. BLAH. Maybe something funny will happen on my way to the store..*fingers crossed*

A Couple Quickies

Ok, two short stories before I hit the sack tonight...
   A few nights ago, little brother took a shower. No surprise there, as he's normally quite clean. When he's done, I go to use the bathroom, and before I turned on the lights, I saw a large dark shape on the counter. My first thought was "BEAR!!!! OMG there's a BEAR in my bathroom!!!" Turns out, little brother just left his robe crumpled up on the counter. Why I thought bear is anyone's guess...but there ya go.

  Tonight was hub's birthday. We spent a lovely day, taking shots, playing video games and watching movies on the couch. As we're getting ready for bed, he notices that we're out of smokes, and I volunteer to bundle up and go get some. Since I'm going out, I ask if he'd like anything. He says "Yes please, a HUGE bottle of water..I can't drink the tap water anymore babes, it's gross." OK, so now I need to find a store with smokes and water. But it's no problem, I think to myself..I'll just hit the Korean market, grab water, Camels and maybe a Japanese Kit-Kat in cucumber flavor as a treat for myself. Snag one: the Korean market is closed. OK....I can hit the other convenience store up the street..settle for some American chocolate and call it a night. Snag two: the other store (called, of all things the "Dairy Carousel") is also closed. Nearing panic mode now, I turn to my trusty GPS, and it finds me a Cumby's about a half mile away. Awesome!!!! Except no..my third choice of store is now a parking lot.
Thank the gods the neighborhood liquor store was still open, so at least hubs will have an ice cold Gatorade when he wakes up. Oh, and little brother brought home chocolate too, the night is saved!!! 

Beginnings

I don't transition well.
  For those of you that know me, you'll all know this to be true. I don't enjoy the act of change (although the results are often awesome). This holds true for almost all aspects of my life, and is most evident in my inability to be a morning person. As long as I can remember, waking up has been an unpleasant and difficult process.  I'm groggy, cranky, and clumsy. As a child, I would show this displeasure by sleeping almost until I had to leave for school, skipping breakfast, and still nearly being late. I give all the credit to my mom, who IS a morning person, for my good attendance record.
  As an adult, I learned to compensate for this flaw in my personality by getting up much earlier than I need to. On days when I have to be somewhere, or talk to people outside of the house, I have to get up at least 2 hours beforehand. I don't like it, but it's true. This worked well when I was doing the corporate thing, working in an office with other humans, some of whom like to be awake when it's still dark and freaking cold.
     Now, as a person who knows this about herself, and accepts it..why on earth would she marry a man who's schedule demands that he get to work at five am, sometimes four. or even earlier? Knowing I need to be up for two hours before I can do anything safely, well let's just say that my day starts much earlier than yours. And you know what? It's OK. I'm super jealous of everyone who can sleep in until the sun rises, but by then, I'll be fully awake and fit for human conversation. When my husband decided to leave the Marine Corps. I really thought I'd be able to maybe..just for a while..get to try to "sleep in". And I did! For an entire summer, I slept until nine or so..loving that when I got out of bed, the floor would be warm, the sun would be well up and the weather beautiful. It was awesome. But I noticed I wasn't getting as much done in the day. Chores and tasks that I had laid out for myself weren't getting done. It took a while to recognize what was happening, but I realized that I missed getting up early. I was missing the satisfaction of knowing I had everything done that was needed for the day by noon. And if they weren't..I still had all afternoon before the hubs would be home and ready for supper. I'm glad to be getting my mornings back. Hubs starts school next week, and I am really looking forward to those few extra hours back in my day.