Tonight, I should be working on finalizing monies for our upcoming trip. I have bank balances to check, bills to enter into my Excel spreadsheet, old car rental reservations to cancel, wallets to empty, and a giant Disneyland Tokyo popcorn bucket full of change to count.
After we finished an episode of Lost (we're on Season 3 now) I left the tv turned on. Big mistake. Tonight on PBS, they ran a little documentary entitled Ferrets: The Pursuit of Excellence. Now, don't get me wrong. Ferrets are cute and I guess they could be lovable, well, for a weasel. I totally understand how much people love their pets. Miss Lissie was like my first born child. But, when they started talking about the "rainbow bridge" that ferrets cross when they die, I just lost it. I laughed so hard I couldn't get my breath. I paused Tivo so that I could regain my composure and then this part of the film happened.
Now, a first, I was laughing hysterically at the deep freeze. I have a coworker who has a "morgue" in her freezer sometimes because they "don't have time" to bury a dead cat. At one point early last year, I believe there were at least 5 cats in the morgue. (They have over 30 animals, so I guess it is hard to keep up with....) But, by the time I got to this lady talking about dividing up ashes with teaspoons, I honestly peed a little. However, I did admire her frugality. Honestly, who wants to pay full price for ferret cremation?
So, I'll leave you with the lovely trivia that a dead ferret equals two teaspoons of ashes when cremated, and a little ditty from the documentary.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
At least it is over!
The weekend has come and gone and with it the dreaded visit of DH's family. It wasn't as horrible as some of their visits, but then again, I really wasn't here! You know, I love my job. Sometimes I love my job more than usual. That was definitely this weekend.
However, I did notice that when I was here, my MIL wasn't as openly critical as usual. Which is kind of sad. Tee, who normally doesn't give a lot of unsolicited advise, and never advise of this nature, told me, "You need to snap at her. And you need to snap at her hard! Give her every bit of *****iness you can cram down her throat." Secretly, I felt like a bull facing a red flag, I was stamping the ground and ready to charge. But, I was also a little scared of myself. I mean, I had been keeping a close reign on my tongue for sixteen years. I was a little afraid to pull my finger out of the dam. I never got the chance to find out.
DH said he had a good visit, but was pretty glad to see them go. He had a little bit of a moment with his brother, who is autistic and spoiled (at 35 he gets whatever he wants). His brother was in the chair at the computer and DH needed online for a moment. (I'll call DH's brother "C") C wasn't going to get up because he is used to getting his own way every time. DH asked him nicely, but was ignored. DH told him to get up and C shook his head. DH shouted at him to get up and C came up shaking his fists like he wanted a fight. DH told him he wouldn't tolerate it in his house and asked him if he wanted his *** kicked. C moved but it was tense for a bit.
Then DH said, "At least it didn't cost us anything." I could've kicked him. Ha! So I ran down the list of expenses:
However, I did notice that when I was here, my MIL wasn't as openly critical as usual. Which is kind of sad. Tee, who normally doesn't give a lot of unsolicited advise, and never advise of this nature, told me, "You need to snap at her. And you need to snap at her hard! Give her every bit of *****iness you can cram down her throat." Secretly, I felt like a bull facing a red flag, I was stamping the ground and ready to charge. But, I was also a little scared of myself. I mean, I had been keeping a close reign on my tongue for sixteen years. I was a little afraid to pull my finger out of the dam. I never got the chance to find out.
DH said he had a good visit, but was pretty glad to see them go. He had a little bit of a moment with his brother, who is autistic and spoiled (at 35 he gets whatever he wants). His brother was in the chair at the computer and DH needed online for a moment. (I'll call DH's brother "C") C wasn't going to get up because he is used to getting his own way every time. DH asked him nicely, but was ignored. DH told him to get up and C shook his head. DH shouted at him to get up and C came up shaking his fists like he wanted a fight. DH told him he wouldn't tolerate it in his house and asked him if he wanted his *** kicked. C moved but it was tense for a bit.
Then DH said, "At least it didn't cost us anything." I could've kicked him. Ha! So I ran down the list of expenses:
- $65 at Target for cleaning supplies, new shower curtain, shower rod, shower rings, and rug for Hoot's bathroom (She really picked at me about his bathroom last time and I never finished fixing it up because of my No Buy. They also don't really respect our treat it like it is one bathroom law when we have guests.)
- $80 dollars at HEB for food, when I had plans to eat from the pantry and freezer last weekend. They aren't like having my parents here. When my parents are here, I cook like I always do, but we don't have leftovers. DH's brother and stepdad eat more than DH does!
- $25 for dinner on Friday so we didn't have to mess up the kitchen and spend time away from the cleaning frenzy.
- $8 on lunch out for me on Saturday because they showed up almost 2 hours earlier than they had said and I didn't come home for lunch.
- $12 at Denny's for breakfast on Sunday morning because C and the stepdad slept in the living room.
So their "didn't cost us anything" trip down cost us $190 that I definitely wouldn't have been spending this close to our Disney trip.
Overheard at the bookstore:
I'm sorry, that is a textbook and we really don't carry textbooks.
But, aren't you a bookstore?
Yes, we are a bookstore, but not a textbook store.
But, I thought you were a bookstore.
Friday, August 22, 2008
The best laid plans...
Today, Hoot and I were having a great time together. I had the day off followed by another day off and open shifts for Saturday and Sunday. With my schedule, this meant a dose of some decent family time. You know, four nights in a row with me being home for my baby's bedtime followed by that all too rare TV time. I had it all planned out. Today would be play day. We'd do very little work around the house and Hoot could help me make a pizza. Tomorrow, we'd do the chores. Each night would have a little Olympics and an episode of Lost that we've been getting from Netflix. Then, the phone rang.
My mother in law never calls. In the first ten years of our marriage, I can remember her calling us about five times. That was just fine with me. It averaged out to be a call every two years. Usually, this meant someone got married or died. You know, big stuff.
When the phone rang this afternoon, I looked at the caller id and let the voice mail have it. It was my MIL. When I checked, she didn't leave a message. Okay, no big deal, I guess no one died. Then she called again five minutes later. This time she did leave a message. It said that unless she heard from us, they would assume that it would be fine for them to come down this weekend. By this weekend, I knew she meant tomorrow.
Now, to give you an idea of the relationship with my MIL, let me say that I have been married over fifteen years. She does not know how to spell my name. I used to be tolerable and nice. Used to be. When I gave birth to Hoot, I had a few complications. I crushed my femoral nerve in my right leg and two disks in my lower back. For the first four weeks, I was told to not lift anything over ten pounds. Um, the baby was ten pounds, so this advice wasn't always followed. But, I spent the first three months of his life walking stooped and dragging around my right leg. My MIL came to see us when the baby was a little over three weeks old.
I made a nice dinner (which was totally tough to do) and while I was finishing it all up, she sat in my kitchen and dug through my drug basket asking me what everything was for. Then she pointed out that I was going to have to keep my floors cleaner now that I had a baby. Now, if this woman was a modeled after Bree Van De Kamp, I would've taken it. But this is the same woman who stored homemade preserves in a box next to the toilet in the back bathroom that doesn't have a door. The same bathroom where you couldn't wash your hands because there was too much clutter spilling into the sink. And, despite me setting all the plates, napkins, glasses, and silverware in front of her, didn't even offer to set the table. On that visit, I decided to just stop trying. I was officially over it.
And, guess who's coming to dinner. But, actually, there is a small ray of hope. We declined letting them come tomorrow. We told them they could come on Saturday and leave Sunday, but they are on the fence because they don't want to miss church on Sunday morning. So, everyone, cross your fingers and root for church! However, as it stands, they will be coming in to town on Saturday and spending the night with us.
I am not happy.
Things I'd rather do than have my in laws step foot into my house:
My mother in law never calls. In the first ten years of our marriage, I can remember her calling us about five times. That was just fine with me. It averaged out to be a call every two years. Usually, this meant someone got married or died. You know, big stuff.
When the phone rang this afternoon, I looked at the caller id and let the voice mail have it. It was my MIL. When I checked, she didn't leave a message. Okay, no big deal, I guess no one died. Then she called again five minutes later. This time she did leave a message. It said that unless she heard from us, they would assume that it would be fine for them to come down this weekend. By this weekend, I knew she meant tomorrow.
Now, to give you an idea of the relationship with my MIL, let me say that I have been married over fifteen years. She does not know how to spell my name. I used to be tolerable and nice. Used to be. When I gave birth to Hoot, I had a few complications. I crushed my femoral nerve in my right leg and two disks in my lower back. For the first four weeks, I was told to not lift anything over ten pounds. Um, the baby was ten pounds, so this advice wasn't always followed. But, I spent the first three months of his life walking stooped and dragging around my right leg. My MIL came to see us when the baby was a little over three weeks old.
I made a nice dinner (which was totally tough to do) and while I was finishing it all up, she sat in my kitchen and dug through my drug basket asking me what everything was for. Then she pointed out that I was going to have to keep my floors cleaner now that I had a baby. Now, if this woman was a modeled after Bree Van De Kamp, I would've taken it. But this is the same woman who stored homemade preserves in a box next to the toilet in the back bathroom that doesn't have a door. The same bathroom where you couldn't wash your hands because there was too much clutter spilling into the sink. And, despite me setting all the plates, napkins, glasses, and silverware in front of her, didn't even offer to set the table. On that visit, I decided to just stop trying. I was officially over it.
And, guess who's coming to dinner. But, actually, there is a small ray of hope. We declined letting them come tomorrow. We told them they could come on Saturday and leave Sunday, but they are on the fence because they don't want to miss church on Sunday morning. So, everyone, cross your fingers and root for church! However, as it stands, they will be coming in to town on Saturday and spending the night with us.
I am not happy.
Things I'd rather do than have my in laws step foot into my house:
- Root canal
- Followed by a second root canal
- Natural childbirth
- Attend a rattlesnake roundup (I hate snakes)
- Spend Saturday night at a Kingdom Hall brushing up on why I'm going to hell
Oh, I could go on, but you get the idea. Now, I have so many things to do tomorrow. I just hate it. I don't know what DH is going to do to compensate, but it better be good. And he better make sure she doesn't feed Hoot any of her preserves!
Overheard at the bookstore:
From in front of the Libros en español section:
Hey look, Skinny Bitch is Skinny Bitch in Spanish, too!
Oh, and on a side note: Bryan, TGIF!
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
25 to go!
We have only 25 days until we leave for Hoot's Walt Disney World birthday trip. Seriously? It is very hard to believe. But, things are starting to really come together nicely.
On the rental car front, we are now down to $138, including taxes, for a full size car for the entire week. The latest deal was scored off of the Thrifty website. We put in the dates and when the results came up, I clicked on the yellow Hot Deals banner planted right in the middle. It took our rates before taxes down to $97.75! We'll keep using Priceline and Hotwire to eyeball and see if we can't score a little more pocket money, but still we're very happy with this rate if that's what we end up with.
On the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party (MNSSHP) front, I received a call today from WDW's executive offices. I spoke with an incredibly nice cast member who agreed to extend our rain check until the MNSSHP on September 16th, which is two days after the rain check expired. Honestly, it wasn't something they really had to do, but they did it and it makes me very happy. Now I just have to mail off our old tickets and the cast member will call me back to confirm we have new tickets at the Guest Services window at the Magic Kingdom! Can you say I just saved another $157! Yippee and hooray for the Mouse! It looks like I'm going to get that view of the Headless Horseman after all. Now, if we can just keep the monsoon rains away....
I've also come up with a plan for a stroller. I know that Hoot is super big, and honestly, he has plenty of energy. But, with our plans for 7 days, if he has the option of a stroller, he will be much happier. And, I know I said this about Momma in one of the last posts, but if Hoot ain't happy, then nobody's happy. So, in the interest of sanity, I have been planning a stroller. But, stroller rentals have gone up quite a bit at WDW. A rented stroller would run us $65, using a length of stay option. And, we wouldn't have it Sunday at Downtown Disney. So, after some deliberation and lots of online poking, prodding, and review reading, I've decided to buy a Maclaren Volo Stroller at Target.com. The weight limit goes all the way up to 55lbs, so even my big Hoot will fit. I've redeemed some points at MyPoints and I have $45 in Target gift cards on the way. I also have a Target gift card that I have been adding small amounts to every time I go inside. So, this will cover my stroller after we land in Orlando. This does make the Volo cost roughly the same amount as the rental, but if we decide we don't want to keep it, it has great resell value.
However, as with everything in life, it seems like each time one item gets checked off of my to do list, another two or three pop up to take its place. And that makes 25 days seem very short indeed!
On the rental car front, we are now down to $138, including taxes, for a full size car for the entire week. The latest deal was scored off of the Thrifty website. We put in the dates and when the results came up, I clicked on the yellow Hot Deals banner planted right in the middle. It took our rates before taxes down to $97.75! We'll keep using Priceline and Hotwire to eyeball and see if we can't score a little more pocket money, but still we're very happy with this rate if that's what we end up with.
On the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party (MNSSHP) front, I received a call today from WDW's executive offices. I spoke with an incredibly nice cast member who agreed to extend our rain check until the MNSSHP on September 16th, which is two days after the rain check expired. Honestly, it wasn't something they really had to do, but they did it and it makes me very happy. Now I just have to mail off our old tickets and the cast member will call me back to confirm we have new tickets at the Guest Services window at the Magic Kingdom! Can you say I just saved another $157! Yippee and hooray for the Mouse! It looks like I'm going to get that view of the Headless Horseman after all. Now, if we can just keep the monsoon rains away....
I've also come up with a plan for a stroller. I know that Hoot is super big, and honestly, he has plenty of energy. But, with our plans for 7 days, if he has the option of a stroller, he will be much happier. And, I know I said this about Momma in one of the last posts, but if Hoot ain't happy, then nobody's happy. So, in the interest of sanity, I have been planning a stroller. But, stroller rentals have gone up quite a bit at WDW. A rented stroller would run us $65, using a length of stay option. And, we wouldn't have it Sunday at Downtown Disney. So, after some deliberation and lots of online poking, prodding, and review reading, I've decided to buy a Maclaren Volo Stroller at Target.com. The weight limit goes all the way up to 55lbs, so even my big Hoot will fit. I've redeemed some points at MyPoints and I have $45 in Target gift cards on the way. I also have a Target gift card that I have been adding small amounts to every time I go inside. So, this will cover my stroller after we land in Orlando. This does make the Volo cost roughly the same amount as the rental, but if we decide we don't want to keep it, it has great resell value.
However, as with everything in life, it seems like each time one item gets checked off of my to do list, another two or three pop up to take its place. And that makes 25 days seem very short indeed!
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Hooray for Tee!
In my hallway, tacked up close to the ceiling, is a paper chain with rings in different colors. Each ring represents a day left until we depart for Walt Disney World. After brushing teeth and donning jammies, DH lifts Hoot up and he snips a ring to get us closer to his birthday trip. Suddenly this chain is way too short.
Somehow, I managed to loose a couple of weeks in the countdown. One item on my to do list was to find a dirt cheap hotel for the Saturday night before our crack of dawn flight from DFW to Orlando. If we stayed at home that night, we would have to get up at 2am to make our flight reservations. Not something I really wanted to do.
So, I've Pricelined a few times and pulled up Hotwire almost every day. I really wanted to keep it below $40 and still be decent. But, I hadn't gotten too serious or concerned. Then, I learned about Super 8's $8.88 sale. On 8-8-08, at 8pm Eastern time, the first 800 people could book rooms for $8.88. And wouldn't you know it, I had to work and the DSL was still unhappy.
I called Tee and asked her if there was any way she could try for me. Since it was opening night of the Beijing games, she was having a house full of people. I was a bit sad, but I let it go and told myself I would get serious on the room as soon as I had the computer back in action.
On Sunday night, I was at work and Tee called me. She wanted my credit card info for the $8.88 sale. I told her I thought it was over, but she said it was for several nights. She said she wanted to give it a shot for me. Well, it wasn't 7:05 when she called me back to say it was my lucky night!
So Hooray for Tee! She scored us a room at the Super 8 in Grapevine for the night before our trip. Total with taxes: $9.95! Now, we get to sleep in until 5am on the morning of our flight. This will make a ton of difference in the quality of our Hoot on that Sunday.
Now, about the rest of that to do list....
Somehow, I managed to loose a couple of weeks in the countdown. One item on my to do list was to find a dirt cheap hotel for the Saturday night before our crack of dawn flight from DFW to Orlando. If we stayed at home that night, we would have to get up at 2am to make our flight reservations. Not something I really wanted to do.
So, I've Pricelined a few times and pulled up Hotwire almost every day. I really wanted to keep it below $40 and still be decent. But, I hadn't gotten too serious or concerned. Then, I learned about Super 8's $8.88 sale. On 8-8-08, at 8pm Eastern time, the first 800 people could book rooms for $8.88. And wouldn't you know it, I had to work and the DSL was still unhappy.
I called Tee and asked her if there was any way she could try for me. Since it was opening night of the Beijing games, she was having a house full of people. I was a bit sad, but I let it go and told myself I would get serious on the room as soon as I had the computer back in action.
On Sunday night, I was at work and Tee called me. She wanted my credit card info for the $8.88 sale. I told her I thought it was over, but she said it was for several nights. She said she wanted to give it a shot for me. Well, it wasn't 7:05 when she called me back to say it was my lucky night!
So Hooray for Tee! She scored us a room at the Super 8 in Grapevine for the night before our trip. Total with taxes: $9.95! Now, we get to sleep in until 5am on the morning of our flight. This will make a ton of difference in the quality of our Hoot on that Sunday.
Now, about the rest of that to do list....
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Blue is the new red
Early last week, Tropical Storm Eduoard blew through town. Not a huge storm, but it brought us a little relief from the heat and some much needed rain. He also took a limb out of one of the trees and ripped a phone line from the back of the house.
Yes, it is odd as we seem to have been the only people around to get any damage out of the storm. It was mostly rain when it got here, and really didn't even dump much of that, and just a few wind gusts. So, I was totally shocked when DH called and told me we had a giant limb down out front. But, sure enough, it took a giant live limb out of one of the front oak trees.
Now, both boys were in a state of high excitement over the limb falling. Yes, it was a big live limb blocking most of the front yard. No, it didn't hit anything, cause other damage or block the driveway. And yet, they were on full tilt freak out mode. Hoot kept saying we needed to get Beaver, who is a character from his favorite show Dragon, to come and chop it in to pieces. DH was all atwitter that we didn't have a giant saw. In the end, the boys chopped most of it up and had it to the curb in time for pick up by Thursday.
The phone line wasn't discovered until later in the week. I had been super busy and didn't try to get online until Thursday evening. Alas, the DSL wasn't working. After a long bit of trouble shooting, I discovered that it was the phone outlet behind the desk that was bad. We only use it for the computer and for Tivo, so if I hadn't tried to get online I might not have noticed for a few more days. Once I looked out back during the daylight, I could see that the line had come off of the house and it was so old the insulation had rubbed off. Hence the crappy signal.
Saturday I traipsed down to Lowes and picked up everything I thought I needed to run a new line from the phone box. Then, I started to fix it all up. But, as usual, I had far too much help and way too much frustration. Seriously, why does everything have to have so much drama? A middle aged man and a small boy ought to be able to entertain themselves without me for about an hour. Sure.
Three hours later, the men had been banished from the house and I had misplaced the phone jack that I had just bought. (Never did find it either!) I found myself at Home Depot picking up another one and a "plan b" kit consisting of 50' of phone line to string through the wall from the guest bedroom. Once I got home, it took me only 10 minutes to get the jack working. The jack from Home Depot had a "color chart" that explained that blue is the new red and white is the new green. Well, lets just say "Who knew?" Does this apply to anything other than phone lines? Will it change the major color schemes of Christmas?
Now the DSL is happy, Tivo is happy, and well, I guess that makes Momma happy. And we all know what happens when Momma is happy. It is good to be back in cyberspace.
Yes, it is odd as we seem to have been the only people around to get any damage out of the storm. It was mostly rain when it got here, and really didn't even dump much of that, and just a few wind gusts. So, I was totally shocked when DH called and told me we had a giant limb down out front. But, sure enough, it took a giant live limb out of one of the front oak trees.
Now, both boys were in a state of high excitement over the limb falling. Yes, it was a big live limb blocking most of the front yard. No, it didn't hit anything, cause other damage or block the driveway. And yet, they were on full tilt freak out mode. Hoot kept saying we needed to get Beaver, who is a character from his favorite show Dragon, to come and chop it in to pieces. DH was all atwitter that we didn't have a giant saw. In the end, the boys chopped most of it up and had it to the curb in time for pick up by Thursday.
The phone line wasn't discovered until later in the week. I had been super busy and didn't try to get online until Thursday evening. Alas, the DSL wasn't working. After a long bit of trouble shooting, I discovered that it was the phone outlet behind the desk that was bad. We only use it for the computer and for Tivo, so if I hadn't tried to get online I might not have noticed for a few more days. Once I looked out back during the daylight, I could see that the line had come off of the house and it was so old the insulation had rubbed off. Hence the crappy signal.
Saturday I traipsed down to Lowes and picked up everything I thought I needed to run a new line from the phone box. Then, I started to fix it all up. But, as usual, I had far too much help and way too much frustration. Seriously, why does everything have to have so much drama? A middle aged man and a small boy ought to be able to entertain themselves without me for about an hour. Sure.
Three hours later, the men had been banished from the house and I had misplaced the phone jack that I had just bought. (Never did find it either!) I found myself at Home Depot picking up another one and a "plan b" kit consisting of 50' of phone line to string through the wall from the guest bedroom. Once I got home, it took me only 10 minutes to get the jack working. The jack from Home Depot had a "color chart" that explained that blue is the new red and white is the new green. Well, lets just say "Who knew?" Does this apply to anything other than phone lines? Will it change the major color schemes of Christmas?
Now the DSL is happy, Tivo is happy, and well, I guess that makes Momma happy. And we all know what happens when Momma is happy. It is good to be back in cyberspace.
Monday, August 4, 2008
What a long weekend.
What a long weekend! I swear it has been August for weeks now. The Breaking Dawn release party was a super smash hit! The attendance was at least double what I had expected and if Stephenie Meyer ever releases Midnight Sun, I know that full out riot, er, I mean Potter gear will be required.
I can't take all the credit for our success. I had a fantastic staff who executed our battle plans down to almost the minute. Yes, there was one who just couldn't wait another minute, but I am trying desperately to let that lapse of judgement go. My registration table rocked the pre-line and gave out all available unreserved copies. My decorator took fantastic pictures against her creative back drop. And the soon to be married couple practiced by passing out slices of wedding cake.
Tee even helped from Atlanta. She finally corralled a wolf for me, and he looked fantastic on the wedding cake. Wal-mart did a surprisingly great job with the wedding cake. It had tiny drops of red that looked a little like blood sprinkled on the icing. The cheap chess pieces, the white queen and the black king, made great toppers. And Tee's howling wolf looked up at the happy couple with the appropriate amount of anguish in his tiny plastic eyes.
And it is only out of tiredness that I don't post my lovely video of Stephan drooling on his tux as he attempted to install his vampire teeth. Well, that it would be totally ungrateful after all of his hard work. Of course, that doesn't mean I won't be ungrateful later. LOL!
As for the book itself, I really enjoyed reading it. I plowed through it very quickly so that I could discover things on my own and not be spoiled. I must say it was her gutsiest of the series and it had quite a bit of adrenaline. I still can't believe some of the issues she skirted. I will definitely read Midnight Sun when it comes out, but I can't really say that I will go back and carefully reread Breaking Dawn as I did with Potter 7. I know the story and I have other pressing items to read.
To everyone who helped, a great big thank you! I can plan, plot, and instigate strategies, but I can not do it myself.
Current reading:
The Eight by Katherine Neville. Reading in anticipation of the sequel The Fire which is coming out in October of this year. It has taken a little over 20 years for the sequel to come out!
Overheard at the bookstore:
Spoken by a man eating wedding cake surrounded by 400 teenage girls sporting vampire teeth:
Hey do you have something special going on tonight?
I can't take all the credit for our success. I had a fantastic staff who executed our battle plans down to almost the minute. Yes, there was one who just couldn't wait another minute, but I am trying desperately to let that lapse of judgement go. My registration table rocked the pre-line and gave out all available unreserved copies. My decorator took fantastic pictures against her creative back drop. And the soon to be married couple practiced by passing out slices of wedding cake.
Tee even helped from Atlanta. She finally corralled a wolf for me, and he looked fantastic on the wedding cake. Wal-mart did a surprisingly great job with the wedding cake. It had tiny drops of red that looked a little like blood sprinkled on the icing. The cheap chess pieces, the white queen and the black king, made great toppers. And Tee's howling wolf looked up at the happy couple with the appropriate amount of anguish in his tiny plastic eyes.
And it is only out of tiredness that I don't post my lovely video of Stephan drooling on his tux as he attempted to install his vampire teeth. Well, that it would be totally ungrateful after all of his hard work. Of course, that doesn't mean I won't be ungrateful later. LOL!
As for the book itself, I really enjoyed reading it. I plowed through it very quickly so that I could discover things on my own and not be spoiled. I must say it was her gutsiest of the series and it had quite a bit of adrenaline. I still can't believe some of the issues she skirted. I will definitely read Midnight Sun when it comes out, but I can't really say that I will go back and carefully reread Breaking Dawn as I did with Potter 7. I know the story and I have other pressing items to read.
To everyone who helped, a great big thank you! I can plan, plot, and instigate strategies, but I can not do it myself.
Current reading:
The Eight by Katherine Neville. Reading in anticipation of the sequel The Fire which is coming out in October of this year. It has taken a little over 20 years for the sequel to come out!
Overheard at the bookstore:
Spoken by a man eating wedding cake surrounded by 400 teenage girls sporting vampire teeth:
Hey do you have something special going on tonight?
Friday, August 1, 2008
A whole year?!
August 1st marks the anniversary of my whole No Buy budget thing. I still don't know what to call it. Experiment? Awakening? Penance? And if it is penance, am I absolved now? I know one thing, what a long strange trip its been!
Our first month, in August 2007, seemed to be one of the longest months of my life. Hoot landed his first ER visit within the first few days with a badly twisted ankle and knee. It kept us there through the afternoon and into the evening and marked our first off the bandwagon fast food meal. Honestly, though, the hardest thing was to give up my coffee at work. It was a daily habit, and I still miss it.
But, all in all, the fall went very well. The Fall family birthday season was fairly controlled and Christmas was less stressful for the most part. January ushered in New Year's resolution season, and my thread on the Disboards was booming. I even had a hard time keeping up with every one.
Summer has seen some quiet time on the thread, and we seem to be slowly dying out. I am considering just letting it die a quiet dignified death, but we'll see. With it being August, and our trip to Disney World for Hoot's birthday will keep us on a pretty even keel. I know that my wardrobe is far shoddier that it should be, so I'll have to do some work clothes shopping soon. Honestly, I seem to hate shopping for clothes now.
My best success has been to really examine each month before it begins. Now, I plot my pitfalls carefully, and put caution tape around danger areas.
Ack! My Breaking Dawn counter is out of days! Heavens to mercutroid, even. I best get myself to bedfordshire soon. Oh, and if you haven't heard, there is lots of news in Potterland these days. The Tales of Beedle the Bard will be out on December 4th and the new trailer for Half-Blood Prince has been released. (It is delightfully dark and yummy.) All in all, I'd say Harry had a pretty good birthday!
Our first month, in August 2007, seemed to be one of the longest months of my life. Hoot landed his first ER visit within the first few days with a badly twisted ankle and knee. It kept us there through the afternoon and into the evening and marked our first off the bandwagon fast food meal. Honestly, though, the hardest thing was to give up my coffee at work. It was a daily habit, and I still miss it.
But, all in all, the fall went very well. The Fall family birthday season was fairly controlled and Christmas was less stressful for the most part. January ushered in New Year's resolution season, and my thread on the Disboards was booming. I even had a hard time keeping up with every one.
Summer has seen some quiet time on the thread, and we seem to be slowly dying out. I am considering just letting it die a quiet dignified death, but we'll see. With it being August, and our trip to Disney World for Hoot's birthday will keep us on a pretty even keel. I know that my wardrobe is far shoddier that it should be, so I'll have to do some work clothes shopping soon. Honestly, I seem to hate shopping for clothes now.
My best success has been to really examine each month before it begins. Now, I plot my pitfalls carefully, and put caution tape around danger areas.
Ack! My Breaking Dawn counter is out of days! Heavens to mercutroid, even. I best get myself to bedfordshire soon. Oh, and if you haven't heard, there is lots of news in Potterland these days. The Tales of Beedle the Bard will be out on December 4th and the new trailer for Half-Blood Prince has been released. (It is delightfully dark and yummy.) All in all, I'd say Harry had a pretty good birthday!
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