I can't believe it took them so long...

It is official, work has completely sucked the joy out of my weekdays.  Blogger has been blocked.

Let's Get Ready To RANDOM!

With a title like that, you'd think I'd have more than I do, but not so much.

All of the good candy is over at Keeley's.



Halloween was fun.  I just wish The Girl had some friends around the neighborhood to go out with.  She didn't seem to mind going out with her Dad, I just feel like she's missing out.  I guess it is more my issue than hers.  I feel like she's always been "out of the loop" with playdates and stuff because The Mailman and I both work full time.

Our pumpkins, and my ghostly vampire:

I'm not sure why, but the end of Daylight Savings seems to have really kicked me in the ass this year.  I'm all out of sorts still.  The Girl seems to be having a time of it, too.  She was up way too early this morning, and this kid (like her mom) needs to get enough sleep.

I'm working from home today, because I was going to be the only one from my department that was going to be in the office in our location.  My boss ended up being in the office.  Oh well.  He did give me the option, so why do I still feel guilty?  Maybe because I'm sitting here and not over there on my work laptop?

I've finally come to the realization that I need to do something productive about my eating and exercise habits.  For the past few months, WAY too much of one, WAY too little of the other.  I'm sure you can guess which is which.  I've been feeling lousy, my knee has been killing me and I'm just being blob-like.  I really think that shedding some weight will do a lot to help all of those things.  Now to just do it . . .We've got a lake in the middle of town that is about 3.2 miles to walk around.  I dropped The Girl at school this morning and walked the lake, which I haven't done in months.  It felt good, it was a beautiful morning (and I didn't think anyone would be looking for me at work - oops).  Too bad it is now dark whenever I'm home and I can't do it more regularly.  I'll have to hit the elliptical at the gym at work.

Dear So-And-So . . .

Dear People in the XYZ Department -
Thanks SO much for making me wait all day for a file from from you that, oh yeah, doesn't really need to be completed today.  Today?  Yeah, supposed to be my day off.  I'm so glad that I spent it waiting to run your file that you're now going to give me on Monday.  Oh, and this issue, the one that we're trying to fix?  This is the same issue that I gave you the heads up about 14 MONTHS ago, right?  And now we've got to get all of your "ducks in a row" so this year end isn't as F'd up as last year end?  Yeah, I thought so.
Sorry, just not happy right now.
Mary Anne


Dear Men Fixing My Bathroom -
THANK YOU for finishing yesterday.  I'm so happy to have a working toilet and running water.  A couple of things I might have had you do a tad bit differently, but that's the risk I take by leaving you at the house while I go make the money to pay you.  I'm just going to let it go . . .  And nothing personal, but I'm pretty darn happy not to have you in my house today.
Hugs and kisses!
Mary Anne


Dear Andy the Painter -
Yay!  You can come by tomorrow!!  I know, I said all along that I was going to paint myself, but really, did anyone believe me?  I know The Mailman didn't, but he's being a good sport about it and not rubbing it in too much.  Now, lets hope that you can do the work next week and we can really move in to the new bathroom and get all of the bathroom stuff out of my bedroom.
Thank you, thank you, thank you (and I know you're not just doing it because your my sisters friend!)
Mary Anne


Go see Kat for some more so and so fun and games. 

Spinning Halloween

I loved Halloween as a kid.  I remember going out with friends in the neighborhood - the dads would take the kids out and the moms would stay home giving out the candy.  There were a few neighbors that would give the dads their own treats (in frosty cans), and we'd travel the block and beyond in a big pack, each with a pillow case for our loot, crunching through leaves. 
My mom sewed a lot when I was little, so she made me some great costumes - Raggedy Ann, with red yarn wig, and a bright yellow and green clown with a big white collar with ric-rac around the edges are a few that stand out in my mind.  One year when I was nine or ten, my dad decided that I should be a die, as in one half of a pair of dice.  He got a big cardboard box and cut it down to a cube, painted it white and painted on the dots.  I remember it being really cold that year, and I was the only one that didn't mind wearing my big, puffy jacket!
In Jr. High, I stumbled across my grandfathers tuxedo (with tails AND collapsible top hat!) in the attic, and that was my costume for a number of years.  It is probably still hanging in the back of the closet in what was my room at my parent's house.
After The Mailman and I got married, we bought a house on a busy street in town and went for years without having a single trick or treater ring the bell.  I dutifully bought candy every year, "just in case."  And then The Mailman and I ate all the candy.  The Girl is a September baby, and was just a month old when we took her out for her first Halloween, dressed as a flower.  She was adorable and slept through the whole thing.  We took her to see all the grandparents and The Mailman stocked up on Resse's cups "for her." 
We moved to our current house a few years later, and it is at the end of a pretty long dead end street so I figured we'd have a boatload of trick or treaters, but we really don't get too many.  The street doesn't have a lot of kids, but it is starting to change over as some of the older folks move out or pass away and the younger people are moving in.  Unfortunately, there aren't too many kids The Girl's age, but we keep hoping.  Her one friend across the street goes to her aunt's house in a nearby town to trick or treat, where they apparently give out "the good candy."  So, we'll still go to visit the grandparents, and The Mailman and I will split the duties taking The Girl out.  So far, she's okay with the plan.  We'll see what happens next year!
The Mailman and The Girl will be carving the pumpkins tonight or tomorrow, so I'll post pictures when they do.  It is funny, because I always carved a pumkin before The Girl was born, and The Mailman really didn't show any interest (Halloween isn't really his "thing," excpet for the Resse's cups).  A few years ago, though, once she was old enough to be part of the process, he took over the carving duties.  They sit side by side at the table, and I'm only there to clean up the muck.

Check out some more Halloween Spins over at Jenn's haunted house.  It isn't too scary, I promise!

And remember, as a wise man named Linus once said, "You've heard of the fury of a woman scorned, haven't you? Well, that's nothing compared to the fury of a woman who has been cheated out of trick-or-treats."

RTT - from Halloween to Christmas in 500 words or less

Fingers crossed! When I go home tonight, I should have a working toilet, sink and shower. (Amendment to this… the plumber, who is also a friend of the family, just called me at work. The sealed box with the faucet in it… missing multiple parts. I just walked him through all of the paperwork on my desk at home to find the Home Depot receipt so that he can go and exchange it for me, assuming they have another one with all the parts. ** sigh **)
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I went out last night to put out the trash and it smelled like Fall. I love how I can smell the different seasons, and I think the smell of Fall and the smell of coming snow are my favorites.
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I bought Halloween candy the other day and hid it. The Girl knows it is in the house, but has yet to locate it. Heh, heh, heh. (and I’ve only eaten two pieces…)
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I drove home last night in the mostly dark and then remembered that we move the clocks back this weekend. I’ll be getting up in the dark and driving home in the dark and can see no daylight from my office. I better start taking some vitamin D.
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So the questions of “What does The Girl want for Christmas?” have started furiously arriving from grandparents, aunts and uncles. I have NO IDEA what we’re getting her for Christmas, so, sorry, I have nothing to offer you. She’s past most of the “toy” stuff (and I just don’t want to bring any more crap into the house). She wants a cell phone and a laptop. Nope and nope. She’s been taking keyboard lessons on a rather crappy borrowed keyboard, so I guess we’ll go that route. I didn’t want to make the investment if she wasn’t going to follow through, but she says she wants to keep going, even though I have to tell her multiple times every day to “PRACTICE!” Maybe a nicer keyboard will help, and it will be a pretty big box under the tree.
Oh, and my brother sent me a link for a Galileospope, saying that a guy he knows through work is a pretty serious amateur astronomer who says that this is a great deal on a pretty good piece of equipment, so I ordered it.


If you want some more Random, click on the purple and go see Keeley. She's got the key to the good stuff.

I'm in a funk

I'm in a funk and I'm not sure what my problem is. I guess I'm feeling slightly under the weather (allergies, I think, compounded by construction dust) and I'm totally unmotivated to do much of anything. My house is a mess, my laundry is half done, there are several inches of leaves covering the back yard. I've been doing what I need to, but not a whole lot more.
Maybe my shiny new bathroom (which I hope, pray, will be done this week) will make me feel better.

RTT - still waiting to want to kiss him full on the lips

I can't get this old commercial out of my head, from about 10 years ago, I think. I don't even remember what it was for, but it had a contractor in it, and it basically said "You hire me, I come in and rip out your walls, your floors, you ceiling, everything, then I disappear for two weeks, leaving you with nothing. Then I come back without explanation, put it all together, better than ever, and you're so happy you kiss me full on the lips." Okay, I don't quite have the two weeks going, but I did have MIA plasterers for three days, and nobody can do anything else until the plasteres are done. I just want want my bathroom back, we should have been done this week ... it is only a little bathroom, people, how long does it take?


We went to our friend's daughter's wedding over the weekend. It was very nice, but I proved to myself that I am, in fact, not as young as I used to be. I got up Sunday morning, feeling a bit, how should I say this ... under the weather. The Mailman sent me back to bed after a while, he couldn't take looking at me curled in a ball on the couch. We had rain and snow (yup, actual snow, WAY too early for that) all day, so it was a good day to spend in jammie pants under the covers. The cats were happy because I didn't move much all day. Remind me of how I felt the next time I want to drink cosomopolitans, okay?


After much debate, I got The Girl the H1N1 vaccine this morning. I went to her doctor, who I trust very much, talked it out with him, he calmed my fears and I ended up convinced that it was the right thing to do. We've already had several confirmed H1N1 cases in her school, with a bunch more kids out sick. She's had the seasonal vaccine in the past with no issues, and will get that again when she goes for a checkup in a few weeks. This parenting thing is hard.



That's all I've got. Go see Keeley, over there by the purple button. There are probably some people over there that aren't still trying to recover from Saturday night. And let's hope Keeley's wrong about the "zombie virus" thing...