Bits and Blurbs

I'm a little bit sick. It is really no big deal. It's more annoying than anything, because I have not a lot of energy. It's forced me to put a lot of my Big Goals for 2009 on hold. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I already know... big frickin' deal. :) I'm catching up on bad television and writing silly (and not-so-silly) things in this draft post that's been brewing for a week.

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Last week John said something that totally surprised me but has been making me smile inside ever since. Jason and I joke around a lot and sing or make up songs... someone will say something that triggers a song memory and one or both of us will start singing. Like if I'm making dinner and put something in the microwave, Jason will say, "Warm it up, Chris!" and I'll reply, "I'm about to!" [Major points if you get that reference, haha!] After a shower we aren't just clean, we're "So fresh and so clean-clean." And on and on and on. :) We were joking around like this and John started laughing and said, "You guys are going to have the happiest kids, they're just going to be grinning all the time because you two are always making jokes and will keep them laughing." WOW! Wow. Super cool to have someone even think that.


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My best friend from high school, Lisa, is coming up to visit me for a couple days at the end of a conference. She'll be here Sunday, hooray! So when she called this week I just assumed it was about her visit, but instead she told me that one of our high school classmates died the day before. Of a heart attack. We are 32 and 33. Matt Saucedo and I weren't the best of friends in high school; I was a stress-case brainiac focused on getting college scholarships, and Matt was a fun-loving, free-spirited Leader of the Pack. And I don't think I've seen him in the almost 15 (!!!) years since, just as I haven't seen most of the people from high school since I moved away right afterwards. But with 54 people in our graduating class, obviously we knew each other pretty well back then, and we got along. And everything I've heard about him since his death makes me really sad that I didn't know him as an adult. He had a wife and two little boys and served as a local sports team coach; my thoughts and prayers will continue to be with his family and friends. :(

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Something happened to our garbage man right in front of our house yesterday morning. I don't know what went wrong, but he got a C-collar and was strapped to a backboard before being loaded into the ambulance! Hopefully he's okay. The other garbage man went back to picking up the trash on our street before the ambulance even pulled away, which either means that the injured guy is probably okay, or the other garbage man is a heartless jerk. I can't really call all the local hospitals and ask them the status of the garbage man, can I? So I guess I'll just peer out the window next week to see if he's back to work (fingers crossed, the poor guy!).

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I got a super-cool commission from my fellow Inspired lady, Joy. She is a lucky lucky duck and she's going on the Ultimate Scrapbooking Cruise! It looks like an amazing time. She coordinated a swap with some charm bracelets and wanted customized charms to add to them, so I whipped some out and express mailed them so she could have them today before she leaves tomorrow. I hope everyone likes them.


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I'm really angry about all the ads on television and the radio that are bombarding women with the "You're not good enough as you are" message. It's usually bad enough, but at this New Year's Resolution time of year it's just ridiculous. I don't know if the ads are just preposterously transparent or if my tenth grade Economics class marketing lessons about propaganda techniques was incredibly instructive, but hearing them just makes me really angry. I especially loathe the ads where "husbands" talk about how much better their "wives" are since they joined that gym / joined that weight-loss program / got that cosmetic surgery / bought that product / whatever. It's enough to make me scream for about a dozen different reasons... but I suppose that is another blog post altogether. UGH. I guess the positive side is that I recognize these despicable techniques and don't fall prey to them. So parents, teach your kids about propaganda techniques! :P

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Which reminds me of a funny conversation. An ad came on for some TV show that I don't watch, and our convo went like this:
Jason: "Is she supposed to be hot? Because I don't think she's hot. At all."
Me: "I think she's supposed to be sort of smart-girl hot. I'm not sure, I don't watch that show."
Jason: "She's not hot."
Me: "Okay."
...long pause...
Jason: "I was hoping to get points for saying a girl on television isn't hot."
Me: "Well, it kind of just made me think that you're actually a really harsh judge and you're just lying to me about how hot you think I am."
Jason: ".... So my plan totally backfired?"
Me: "Basically. Yeah."
Both: Dissolve into laughter.

I love my marriage.

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Seeing all the Avon Walk ads on television and hearing them on the radio ("For two days we walk as one.") is making me all misty and sentimental, remembering last year's event. I'm so glad I signed up again, although I know it will be hard again! All the training, and the fundraising (in this economy--ack)! But I know what worked and didn't work last year, and I have a plan to do a couple of special jewelry designs to help raise money. And I followed the training plan last year and was fine physically, except for all my damn stupid blisters, but I have a plan to prevent those, too. So my fingers are crossed and I'm trying not to worry and to just have faith! Later on this month is the Great Start Party and I'll see my teammates again for the first time since last year's event!


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Jason really hates John & Kate Plus 8. I mean, he really hates it. I like it because not only are the kids super cute, but it makes me feel quite sane. If Kate is such a control-freak germophobe and she can handle eight kids and a television crew, then I'll probably be able to handle a couple of kids, especially since I won't have a boom mike hovering overhead. But Jason hates it; he thinks Kate is a horrible nag (those are not the words he would use) and all the commotion and noise of the kids makes him edgy or anxious or something. I would never turn it on if he was home but occasionally he'll come home right in the middle of an episode, which is what happened the other night. As usual he starting sighing and then said, "I just don't know why anyone would want to watch such an annoying show." To which I replied, "Well, I just don't find it annoying." And he looked at me in wonder and said, "Really? Wow, you really are going to be a great mom." Ha ha! By which I think he meant, "You don't want to pull your hair out and run screaming from the room when you hear all those kids yelling?"

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I'm ready to post this mish-mash of a blog post and I just realized that there is one reference to sickness and two references to future parenthood. So let me just assure you all, I'm not pregnant. :) Ha ha!