10/24/06

reading: Stop Dressing Your Six Year-old Like a Skank, by Celia Rivenbark. With a name like that, it’s got to be good, right? I hope so – I’m only a few pages into it.

* * * One important thing I learned on Saturday is that being lazy is no excuse for wearing a sweatshirt over your t-shirt and sweatpants and knee-high black rubber boots on your feet to push the push mower around the hilly parts of the lawn so you won’t have to go inside and upstairs to change. By the time you’re done pushing the push mower around the hilly parts of the lawn, you’ll be dripping sweat all over the place, and there is little doubt that you will forever be known as “That weird woman who was wearing black rubber boots to mow the lawn” around your soon-to-be hometown. Also, I have painful spots on the backs of my upper calves where the boots rubbed and made raw spots. Ouch. * * * I got up early yesterday morning (I am really and truly not a morning person. I might get up early most mornings, but I still have one hell of a hard time dragging my ass out of bed, unlike you crazy morning people who bound out of bed with a smile on your lips and a song in your heart) to get dressed and go do my thing at the pet store. When I got home, my mother was up and dressed, watching TV and talking to my father. I put the groceries I’d bought away (she’d asked if we had any yogurt on Sunday, and I told her we didn’t, but later found out that we did, indeed, have yogurt. With an expiration date of September 10th on it. Blech.) and then went upstairs to let Maddy out of the kitten room. Maddy IS a morning person, and always runs out of the kitten room at full speed, pounces on my feet, pounces on Tommy or Mister Boogers (the only two who’ll really play with her; she’s a little scared of Miz Poo, and Sugarbutt’s a little scared of her. Spanky and Spot are just cranky old men who won’t play.), pounces on various toys, and then runs at full speed down the stairs to sit in the kitchen and whine about how hungry she is until I give her a little canned cat food. (Spoiling her rotten, I’m sure, so it will make her new mommy’s job just THAT much harder.) I took a shower, folded some laundry, and cleaned the kitchen a little until about 9:30, when the spud, my mother, and I left the house to have breakfast at Cracker Barrel. The spud didn’t have school because of “parenting day”, so I though the best way to parent her was to fill her full of fatty, high-calorie food for breakfast, and then drag her out to the Smallville house. Breakfast at Cracker Barrel was good – of course – and then we headed out to the Smallville house. I wanted to see if Momma and Daddy Kitty and their kittens were hanging around so I could lure them inside, but they weren’t, so I just dropped off the supplies I’d brought out to the house for the day when we are able to lure them inside (litter boxes, litter, toys, deworming medication), and swept the floor of the master bedroom (that was where we were keeping Maddy the last few times we took her out to the house with us, and she scattered litter all over the floor) and the kitchen. My mother pointed out the windows in the dining room (the ones on either side of the fireplace, as seen here) and actually suggested that we make them bigger – long, skinny windows was her idea, I think – and I pretended that I thought it might be a good idea, but HELLZ NO I’m not going to make those long, skinny windows – I LOVE those windows, the way they are. The dining room with the big fireplace and the windows on either side are one of my favorite things about the house! (Okay. I have a LOT of favorite things about the house, I cannot lie.) When we were about to pull out of the driveway going left toward home, my mother said “What’s out that way?”, and so I took a right instead, and we went down some long country roads before heading for home. Once at home, my mother sat in front of the TV and read, and I puttered around doing this and that, and eventually I went upstairs, Maddy in hand, to read for a few minutes and then ultimately take a nap. I swear to god, I never ever take a nap ordinarily, but whenever I’m on vacation in Maine I take one almost every day, and when my parents are visiting I do as well. My mother tends to nap every day when she’s visiting, too, so I don’t know if it’s a vacation thing or just a way to escape, but in any case, I should be well-rested by the time she leaves next week! This morning I’m taking Miz Poo to the vet, and then my mother and I are headed to Unclaimed Baggage to see if we can’t find some bargains. Or something to sell on eBay for a profit. Either would make me happy! * * * For those of you who requested pictures of me in more “form-fitting” clothes, I’ll have 9-month progress pictures up next Tuesday or Wednesday, over at OFB. Speaking of clothes and the like, when I was folding laundry yesterday, I came across a couple of pairs of the spud’s jeans. She wears a size 14 (though honestly I think they’re a little big for her), and I wondered briefly if I’d fit into them. So I tried them on – and they fit. Not comfortably (they’re too tight through the thighs), but I was able to get them fastened and in a pinch I could probably wear them in public and not get any weird looks. Not that I would (I’m still most comfortable in cotton pants), but it was neat to be able to fit into the jeans of someone I was sure is much thinner than I am! Also, last week when Fred and I were at the Smallville house, we were changing into our grubbies – well, I was changing into my grubbies; he was changing into his new flannel shirt and fancy farmer’s pants – and at first I told him to take his pants off so I could try them on, but then I changed my mind and tried on the shorts he’d taken off. This is what I do for fun these days, you know. I try on other people’s clothes. And his shorts not only fit, they were a little big for me. Not flattering, but they fit! * * *   * * * Tommy keeps a wary eye on my mother. * * * Previously 2005: “That makes me want to get pregnant and have a baby, just so I can name it Lavernicus,” I admitted. “That WOULD be an excellent name.” 2004: No entry. 2003: It took two days from the first time I called Stanley “Beanie-bean” in front of Fred before Fred started doing it too. He’s such a copycat. 2002: “She was giving me a handjob under the water, and I didn’t stop her, even though I’m not attracted to her, BECAUSE I AM ONLY HUMAN.” 2001: Fred is a freak. 2000: “Uhhhh….” I said, casting around for something smart-ass or impressive to say. 1999: My desk is a total shitheap, because I’m Robyn and I’m a slob.]]>