Saturday, December 27, 2003

Holiday Rush

Everything has been insane around here. That's why I hate the holidays. Yes I'm a Scrooge, a humbug, a Grinch the closer to Christmas it gets. I despise shopping among the crazy feeding frenzy of gift buying that happens at the malls. Don't get me wrong, I love shopping, just not when the malls are packed with the holiday lunacy. I dislike standing in lines that stretch all the way back to the other side of the store, the decorations loose their luster and just look tacky and the holiday music most stores play continually from Halloween until New Years day make me want to buy a gun. Even with all that I still must venture out and endure the torture of the holiday mania (no one delivers groceries in my area any more!)... But I digress.

Unexpectedly to me, hubby had the day before Christmas off. I did not find this out until Tuesday so I was sorely unprepared for him being home that day. He assured me that him being home the day before Christmas meant that I would have the rare and sweet opportunity to sleep in on Wednesday morning. This is something I took to heart and made plans for. Hubby got off work early on Tuesday then headed off to visit a friend, the little people and I had a nice quiet, uneventful evening full of holiday specials. They went to bed with only one trip up the stairs for me to make threats of great awfulness to get them to go on to sleep. Hubby got home around 1 am and I chuckled to my self as I heard him lock the door and head upstairs to bed. I thought "and you will be getting up early with the little people... hehehe..." Bright and early as usual the little people burst into my room to wake me. Cabbage Patch yelling "Wake up mamma! Wake up!" I told them to go wake their daddy and close my door. The door closed and my eye lids followed shortly there after. About an hour and a half later I hear hubby being upset with the kids, the kids being relegated to the sofa for time outs and him grumbling about something, I figure it's time for me to get up and see what damage has been done as I figured the little people had ignored my command to wake their father. Now I want you to for just a moment remember that wireless commercial where the woman is saying "Why would I say 'Flour the children'?" and you see the aunt/babysitter/caretaker/warden sitting on the sofa with two children covered in flour. Something similar to this is what I see when I enter the living room. The little people are sitting on the couch leaving large white powder marks on my navy blue sofa. Cabbage Patch is so white she looks like a ghoul. The little people were in the living room with a bag of powdered sugar. Luckily the mess on them and the tracks on the carpet and sofa were about the worst of it all. Most of the sugar was in two bowls. *sigh* After vacuuming the living room and sweeping the kitchen it was off to the bath for the kids for scrub.

After baths and getting the little people dressed we fed them breakfast which we realized was a bad idea since it was far to close to nap time by then. Oh well. Hubby and I discussed gifts for his brother and father and made a list of things to get at the stores. Yes we would have to venture out into the shopping frenzy. We decided on making baskets of Mexican yummies for both and headed off to the stores. The first store was like a mad house. There were people everywhere. We got a giggle at one man who had obviously waited until that day to do ALL of his holiday shopping and had decide that he wasn't going to go to ANY other stores for it. His cart was so full he was having trouble seeing over it to push - he even had things stacked below the cart as well. It was comical. It took us an hour to get $5 worth of things and head to the grocery store. Somehow I managed to misplace the list in the car and after hubby made an initial search that was fruitless we continued to shop with out. We got everything and got out of the store in another hour - and we managed to get everything on the list save two things, one I chose to not get and one we forgot.

Back home and naps for little people. The cooking began. It was much easier than I had anticipated. Even the donuts for Chanukkah (which were the hits of the evening). We lit the candles that night (although I was a bit afraid I would spontaneously combust while lighting them I felt so greasy from frying all the donuts and stuff - yuck). The little people got Barbies for gifts that night, which they enjoyed quite a bit - then started fighting over the shoes and the dresses until I threatened to throw the dolls in the garbage if I heard more fighting... ahhh the holidays are so special.

When the little people finally were asleep, hubby brought in the Christmas presents and we sat on the floor wrapping them, I gave some of the Chanukkah presents up to be wrapped as well. I knew we wouldn't do Chanukkah presents on Christmas (hubby and I had an agreement, no Christmas stuff on the first and last days of Chanukkah and no Chanukkah on Christmas) and since the little people have worked very hard to be EEEEEVIL this holiday season, I ended up with more presents than days of Chanukkah left. He filled their stockings with stuff.

Christmas morning, I got up at 6:30 AM to get ready for work. I got showered and dressed (I ended up spraying to much curl stuff on my hair so it looked nasty) then waited for the little people to wake. The came scampering down the stairs around 7:45 AM. I sent them back up to wake daddy so he wouldn't miss the frightening toy frenzy soon to come. Hubby let them have their stockings while I got the camera ready (had to clear the photos off my card) - in the time it took me to upload the photos they had emptied their stockings and eaten half the chocolate - the area where they were looked like a trash heap! On to the presents. I sat in my recliner and took photos as they tore through the wrappings. It's kind of funny now that they are 4 (almost 5) and 2 and a half. Both of them KNOW that things in brightly colored wrappings are PRESENTS and they LOVE know PRESENTS much be for THEM. We did all of the presents (they didn't get all that much) in about 10 minutes as I had to head off to work.

Work on Christmas. My first hospital didn't have any babies to photo - I hoped this would be a trend and I would have an opportunity to get a nap before we all headed over to the inlaws to do Christmas with them. My second hospital was FULL of babies! Unbelievable! I got there at 9 AM and worked straight through until 3:30 PM. My commission for that day sucked - people just don't buy on Christmas. I got several sympathetic comments from nurses about having to work Christmas - this I found a bit amusing as I really didn't mind being Jewish. I volunteered to work and I got holiday pay, so the sucky commission isn't such a big deal. I got home a little after 4 pm after checking my 3rd hospital - which had no babies either.

At home hubby had expected me home by lunch time and had prepared a lovely lunch of smoked turkey, sweet potatoes, green beans, brussle sprouts and rolls. Yum! He had held off feeding the little people or eating as well in the thought that we would all have a nice lunch together. I felt bad that he had waited. I had declined eating at the hospital for free as I knew hubby would have a nice meal waiting (which is not normal for him, he generally 'cooks' a pizza for lunch on Saturdays). I ate lunch then headed for a short (much too short) nap as I was dragging.

Off to the inlaws for Christmas. The little people were thrilled to see their cousin. They were mesmerized by the Christmas tree and had to be told several times to keep their little hands off the ornaments. After about an hour of the kids playing we called them into the living room for presents. Cabbage Patch had the whole concept of presents down by now. She came running into the room and slid on her knees right up to the tree (wood floors) - it was hysterical. Sister-in-law sorted out the presents for each kid then they tore into them like old-ladies at a 75% off sale in Wal-Mart. I was amused for the first 30 seconds but started getting pissed with the little people as they tore paper from a package, looked at the package for 30 seconds then dropped for the next thing in line. Grrr... I swear it took less than 2 minutes for them to get through everything - I couldn't even keep track of everything that was there! At that moment, I was really wishing someone had given me the kid-sized dog kennels I had on my wish list. Then they all headed off to play again. In the aftermath I realized that father-in-law had ignored my please to not get the kids much and had in fact gotten them everything I had suggested as examples and more - DVDs (3 in all), several books, a Leap Pad Jr for Super Girl. He also gets the prize this year for getting the two gifts I would gladly douse with gasoline and light I hate them that much but the kids love dearly. These dastardly items are masquerading as books for Cabbage Patch. They in fact are toddler toys made by Satan! One is a Barney music book with a guitar attached that plays music - which is nefarious enough, but it does more. It plays the catchy little kid tunes in what sounds like electric guitar, it has a little button so they can play them note by note and a whaaa-whaa bar that is kind of funny the first few times. I believe this item has already 'disappeared' . The next is a 'book' - The Cat In The Hat book with buttons that make noise. This wouldn't be so bad if not for the voice of Mike Myers. Ugh.

We made it home extremely late (for the little people) after watching my pressie from hubby - The Pirates of The Caribbean! I love this movie! Johnny Depp *pant* *pant*. The little people slept until almost 9 am the next day - something I truly appreciated.

OK, enough for now... Bed time for me.

Tuesday, December 23, 2003

State Of Texas Insanity

It still puzzles me that this kind of crap goes on here in Texas. Yes I know Texas is full of uptight, prude, hypocritical bible thumping, biggots who are desperatly in need of a blow job - but not many people I know share the same narrow mideset of the Texas Supreme Court. I don't even know what the rational is behind making vibrators illegal! (I do know what the REAL reason is, just to be able to crack down on all of the places that sell sex paraphanalia because uptight folks hate to think of people having fun with sex). It's rediculous to go to a sex store and buy $100 worth of hardcore porn DVD's but to have to buy a 'back massager' to enjoy your movies with. Sheesh. Why oh why does Texas care what people do in the bedroom?
Man Troubles

What the hell? Am I giving off pheremones lately? I mean STRONG pheremones. I've been on the quest for a real boyfriend and have been going through the interview process with several men. So far the guy with the horse is the front runner. But I've also suddenly had my phone ringing all the time with men from my past! Sheesh if they don't want to be my 'boyfriend' then they want me to be their mistress! Yes I really did have one tell me that he wanted me to be his mistress! Have another guy who wants me to be his girlfriend - yet I can't remember his first name! It's far to late to ask now - no matter, I don't want to be his girlfriend anyway - he's married! I did a short interview before shopping on Friday and realized that although the guy was very nice he just wasn't my type and never would be. Well today he sends me a message telling me how I was so beautiful and exactly what he hoped for and all that he expected and he had so much fun in our short meeting, hoped I did also, wanted to kiss me but didn't think that was appropriate (damn right he was!) yadda, yadda, yadda... Eh... No... Not going to happen. I also get a call from someone from way back who is the tortured soul guy - he's telling me how he misses me but that it's best if we don't talk now because he has so much he wants to tell me but now is not the time... That he loves me and that scares him but since we can't be together right now this is best, yadda, yadda, yadda. He's a nice guy, but very dark and brooding - very 1986-89 Breakfast Club-almost Goth-The Cure fan type of guy. Someone I would have definitely hooked up with in high school, but since I'm well past High School, this whole deep- depressing-brooding-tortured soul persona is a major turn off. I've dated my share of suicidal psychos - no more! See... This is why it's just easier for me to just hook up with my sancho - it's just sex, there is none of the rest of this shit. Ugh! Someone give me strength.
Holiday Letters

I've been getting a trickle of Holiday cards this year (yes Jayne I did get yours - LOVED it! Yours will be late, my apologies). In some there are these letters that summarize the year. I've considered doing this but have thought better of it... Why? Well why don't I just show you - this is how my letter would read:

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

2003 started with some of the major issues from 2002 having been resolved - thank G*d for good lawyers! In February Super Girl turned 4 - wow, where does the time fly? We planned a small party here at the town house, it was originally planned for the kids to feed the ducks at the lake but the weather was unexpectedly COLD so it was cupcakes at home with us. March brought more changes as Hubby was laid off from his job. Woohoo. Gotta love the economy. April was tense as hubby searched for work - thankfully he got a severance package and could collect unemployment. We celebrated Passover and for the FIRST time ever the kids made it through the ENTIRE Haggadah! We took the kids over to hubby's brother's house for Easter. Whew! It's a lot of work having a multi-cultural family - we seem to celebrate every possible holiday. Super Girl stepped in dog doo while searching for eggs. This made the EEEEEVIL adults laugh hard. May brought hubby's 38th birthday and guess what he got for his birthday? He got a contract job! Yes he actually started his job on his birthday - We all breathed a sigh of relief as his severance package had just ended. In June we celebrated our 9th anniversary - can't believe we made it this far! I bought myself a cool plate, Blue Willow - it's actually one of THE 9th anniversary gifts on the anniversary list. It's lovely, now I want a whole set of Blue Willow stuff. July we went to hubby's brother's house for the 4th. The little people and their cousin enjoyed the sparklers in the back yard - hubby set his brother's lawn on fire though hehehe... that must be karma balancing from way back - luckily bro-in-law was prepared for such an event and had the hose out. We also celebrated Cabbage Patch's 2nd Birthday here! It was hot as hell so the plans to feed the ducks were once again put on hold as hubby's father and step-mother were planning to attend the party and I knew they couldn't handle the heat. We had great fun as the kids ran up and down the stairs and ate lots of cake - which meant, lots of red velvet cake crumbs on the carpet... What the hell was I thinking? The next day I had the great task of scrubbing red spots off the carpet - what fun (shit I hate carpeting). Hubby's job went permanent. Woohoo! That was kind of an interesting turn of events, he was working payroll while someone was on leave, then when his contract was set to end he got offered the other job because the had JUST fired that person! HAHAHAHA! August I turned 32 - hubby surprised me with some lovely flowers. I didn't do a fucking thing though. I'm not even sure I talked to my sancho around then... I think that was during the 4 months that we didn't talk... Doesn't matter, I turned 32 - I think hubby had a cake for me at the next game night - got some cute cards, that's all. September - two of our dear friends got married. They make a cute couple. The little people loved the wedding - Cabbage Patch babbled through the ceremony, loudly at that. Thankfully it was a short ceremony. Then they ran around the reception like wild animals. Lucky for them they were dressed so darn cute that no one - save me and hubby, seemed to mind that they couldn't manage to sit for more than 5 minutes at a time (can we say ADD?). We also celebrate Rosh Hashanna and Yom Kippur, it was a lot of fun - and a lot of work! I didn't get a chance to go to the lake and throw crumbs into the lake though. October was boring, nothing happened, I know I was seeing my Sancho by then and the little people did Halloween, but nothing memorable happened, so let's skip it. November just started the holiday madness. We did Thanksgiving twice - once with hubby's brother and sister in law and other family and friends - I made the turkey which was the best part of the dinner and sister-in-law made the inedible stuff. We did that get together the Saturday before Thanksgiving, then we did it all over again at our town house on Thanksgiving - just had hubby's father and step mother over and I made all of the food, needless to say it was all FABULOUS. December - well that's this month, I've had SARS for two freaking weeks and that has really put my schedule off as I haven't been able to get much done. *sigh* I had planned to make several things for people - ya know, use all my creative energies to make heart felt gifts, but now that it's almost Christmas and I haven't even gotten Holiday cards out, well fuck that - if it's not done by the time I see you, you are not getting a pressie from me! But I thought about it, and as we all know 'It's the thought that counts' - at least that the bullshit people who get good gifts tell people who get shitty gifts. :o) Super Girl had her first dance recital the beginning of December. It was super cute. Some of my family came to see it - even my Grandmother who I haven't talked to since my car got totaled last year. So I guess the family has gotten over the whole car thing... Well almost everyone. My uncle still won't speak to me. Don't care really, he's an ass. My grandmother and aunt let it go because they wanted to see my kids. Ahhhh... Nothing like the disfunctional family get together to make the holidays special. We started lighting our Chanukkah candles on the 19th - the girls are LOVING this, Super Girl now wants to say the candle lighting prayer with me each night. Sooo cute. We only did the latkes one night as only half of the freaking family liked my efforts. I absolutely hate frying things and was pissed with the half who hated the latkes after all the trouble I went through (I cut my thumb on the grater!). Anyway - no more latkes for us, we'll celebrate the miracle of the oil in other ways... Chips... Chips are made with oil and they come in a bag already cooked! Woohoo!

Things that happened but I can't remember when... We got a new car, had to really, the Taurus just fucking died on the toll road. I had to get towed home late at night after work one day. Sucked. We now have a cute little Chevrolet Prism - love it. Unfortunately we now have a car payment - boo! My sancho and I have been seeing each other now for what will be 2 years soon. Woohoo! Since I'm his mistress, do I have to give him a present? Eh, who knows. My sister got a new vehicle - a pimped out Ford SUV - it's very nice. When she comes to the hood to visit me, she's the most popular person in the parking lot as all the project kids come out to gawk at her ride. My nephew joined the army, worked hard to find a way to get a medical discharge from the army before he even finished boot camp, came home, got thrown out of the house by his mother, lived with a friend for a bit, got thrown out by him, lived with his (useless) sister for a short while before she told him to hit the bricks and... Well I think you have the idea of what's going on with him. We are all VERY proud of the choices he has made recently, VERY proud. I stopped taking Zoloft sometime this year. I can't remember exactly when. I'm fine without it, I hardly ever threaten people's lives these days... I mean not a REAL threat that is... Ya know it's kind of weird getting off something like that, after you stop you really feel like "Holy shit! I'm a nut! I need that!" Then as time goes by you feel fine without it - I don't know it it's that you truly don't need it or your own psychosis just fools you into thinking that you just don't need it. At any rate, I'm fine to be out in public these days. And of course we are still broke dicks here in this house. Even though hubby got another job fairly quick, he's making quite a bit less - although MORE than what he would be making with unemployment. I can't complain to much, we have everything we need.

Happy holidays.
Love
Judy


See... Who the hell would want to read about that? Depressing not festive. *sigh*

Monday, December 22, 2003

SARS UPDATE!!

I'm feeling better FINALLY! It's about damn time too! I've fallen so far behind in just about EVERYTHING. Now I need to bust my ass and get things finished. *sigh*

Work Crap
This past weekend was our gaming weekend. We played about an hour or so past when we usually did and that left me freaking tired on Sunday when I had to go to work. I was supposed to meet my boss at work at 7:45 am to go over some 'training' materials (been there 2 and a half years and all of the sudden it's important for me to get trained???). I was there at 7:45 am but my boss didn't show up - the bitch. Sunday was just as busy if not more so than Saturday so I was not the least bit understanding of this. She called later that evening saying that she was *cough* *cough* sick and was sorry she didn't make it up to the hospital - let me correct myself - she called after I sent her an e-mail wanting to know why she didn't show up. Waste of carbon...