weekend one

in which we think about a new beginning
take bins of costumes to the haunt
work on cleaning the room (entails much doing of laundry)
bathe the cat
and FINALLY start making a dummy or scare crow or something

possibly we will also
take the baby for her routine autumnal pony rides
bake something yummy
make a trip to the Home Depot
have at least one comfort meal

i LOVE October.

pee pot

i had a great post all set up to send and the freaking pop-up blocker wouldn't let me spell-check it and now it's gone.
i'm too pissy to re-write it. you have to wait until i'm in a better mood.
pleh

PSA

wash your hands
use a snissue - once - when you cough or sneeze, then throw it away
wash your hands
if you're sick, stay home - - if you can't stay home, don't touch anything
carry a personal sized hand sanitizer
and wash your hands

flu season is fast approaching. being a typhoid mary myself, i made a concerted effort this morning to pay close attention to the entire flu presentation being offered to me and my coworkers by the local health division (i don't know why they don't call it a health department anymore, but apparently they don't). i had to make the effort to pay attention because for the most part, i knew more about avian flu (from my somewhat regular visits to the cdc website)than the presenter. what i DID get out of it, though... the useful stuff... was this.

WASH YOUR HANDS - all the time - even when you think you've already washed them.

and a very powerful reminder that i absolutely MUST add one or two of those 5 gallon jugs of water to my shopping list each time i go grocery shopping for the next few trips. we don't have nearly the "emergency kit" at home that we need...

anywho... stuff to do beckons...

guilty pleasure

one of my guilty pleasures is reading the Diary of V from Redbook.
it's nothing more than a soap opera, meant to make most women feel incredibly sane in spite of the mistakes they've made and the things they might regret. some days, it works... most of the time it sort of makes me laugh. i've been visiting on and off for years (i liked it best when it was an 'article' and not a blog... but that's just a little tiny preference whatever...) i don't even remember what brought me there the very first time, it was so long ago...

anywho

the last post on this blog was last friday. i don't check daily... usually about once a week, typically when i need a break from the overwhelming stress of my work, and typically over a cup of tea and some toast. i checked tuesday because i had just returned from vacation. i checked today because the last couple of work days have been fairly intense. like i said, the last entry was from last friday. in that stretch of time there are over 400 posts, a good percentage of which are barking about the fact that it's been a week since there's been a new post. some of them even got downright mean, sniping at the author for her lack of creativity and for her tardiness in posting - - these people who check back daily to read her work - - griping about it because there wasn't any.

it got me a little bummed and it got me to thinking...

i'm possibly something of a hypocrite.

there are about 4 blogs that i check on a daily basis. each one of them makes me smile - for it's own merits - every time there is a new post. when there's not a new post, i have to admit to a little bit of a hollow feeling. they're little bits of lives that i get to participate in vicariously (i willingly admit to my almost obscene sense of voyeurism) and they keep me connected to people who matter to me (even if they think they don't - or even if they don't know how much they do). one of them is the reason i started in here to begin with.

ok - back on track - the short story is this...

i either have to get better at checking in here daily (at least during the work week) and saying SOMETHING once a day, or i have to let go of my hollow feeling and my disappointment when there's nothing new in the blogs i read regularly.

so there.

nippety tuck

it's starting to get cool in michigan. the nip in the air. the tucking in of feet.

the autumnal evenings are creeping deeper into the mornings. it's not yet "jacket" cold, but there is definitely a chill in the air.

still - i'm not getting excited yet.
every time i get excited about the onset of autumn, we get one of those ridiculous Indian Summers that go and ruin everything.

still - i really want to go get pumpkins. and corn stalks. and go on a hayride. maybe next week won't be too soon. and i just ordered our tickets for Greenfield Village's Halloween Walk. and we're already talking about/deciding on a HalloWeekend at Cedar Point.

roll on autumn...

vacation turd

ok...
i know i said i was going to try to log on and do my thing while i was away, but i couldn't...
ok...
didn't.

i suck

if it's any consolation i was sick on the last day - and still am. i think we caught a cold on the ride to florida and it incubated while we were there. all of us - except the baby, mostly - are down with some degree of snotty nose and sneeze and cough.

:: highlights ::
- - shopping at publix. i don't know if i'm politically meant to hate this store, but from one who honestly enjoys grocery shopping, it was a pretty good time
- - the pool. the water was warm and clean and didn't have even the slightest hint of chlorine sting or smell. it was a great option when the ocean was just too rough (i.e. most of our vacation)
- - the ocean. two and a half whole days of it... playing in the surf, picking up shells, and the roar of crashing waves when moving was just too much work
- - character breakfast on Saturday morning. Donald Duck is my daughter's new boyfriend. nevermind that we're all convinced that the actor in the suit was a woman...
- - quality time with my mom and my daughter.

:: the price ::
- - 9 days away from my husband and my cat
- - the cold
- - the two weeks of work i have to do this week

was it worth it?
totally.
would i do it again?
not without my man.

peace out - i'll get back again when i have less on my plate.

sous chef

i don't know what made me think i'd be able to get so much done today.
what's my so much?
i still have two months of data waiting to be shepherded into reports... i have about three hours, total, interspersed with meetings, follow up meetings, an office bridal shower, and printing up the boarding passes.
three hours isn't really even enough to do one of these report syntheses. still, i'm going to try. for the gipper - or someone.

then, when i get home, i have a dinner to make, two bags to pack, an appointment to attend, and an evening to enjoy with my man and my baby. tomorrow will be, without a doubt, hectic if not downright chaotic.

i need a sous chef for living to get it all done for me, so i can start my vacation by relaxing and making a little peace bubble around myself...

or maybe i AM the sous chef

coo coo ka choo...

babblage

- - how much wonderful lives in the world?
- - who do you love and who loves you?
- - when was the last time you were pampered (and i don't mean diapers)?
- - what's your jones, and how much of it does it take to get you going?

my husband is giving me ass-kickin' Halloween this year - - it's my anniversary gift from him.

- - he's building me a ghost (we're going to build the 'person part' together)
- - he bought me a skellington
- - i got a funkin
- - and some glow in the dark Halloween sculpey kit that's so new it's not even in their website!

oh yeah... i'm SO set... spooky mookie here we go!

:: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::

in other news, i have two nights to pack for our vacation at the ocean - - i'm hoping the weather holds and we can have some good days on the beach or at the pool (rather than trapped indoors for fear of being blown away). i could do it in the morning, but i'm rather keen on having a nice family breakfast on saturday morning before we leave. speaking of that, i'm not sure how regular my internet access will be (depends on how steep the charge for access, or how nearby the nearest Panera is!), but i'll try to post at least once or twice... if not, beware the torrent on my return.

in the meantime, i have office-wise ends (loose and otherwise) to tie up...

happy anniversary

3 years today.
happy anniversary to me and my husband.
the sky is as beautiful blue
the sun is as warm and bright
my heart is as full - no much much more deeply filled with love, love, love

early september in michigan

it's nighttime dark when i wake for work... and when i make it out to the car to leave, the stars are still high in the sky. the sun doesn't even start to shine through until sometime near when i'm pulling into the big lot at the office.

the nighttime is crisp and cool, still full of the sounds of the nocturnal life in the woods, but no longer even a hint of balmy in the air. sometimes, especially if it's damp, a wisp of the rusting of early weeds will waft its way up to my open bedroom windows.

the days are occasionally warm enough for late season swimming - though i prefer the porch swing and a book - and the sky is occasionally blue. more often than not, though, clouds - sometimes all the colors of a pigeon - fill the sky and generally do more than just threaten rain. thunderstorm season is hard on our heels. i, for one, don't much mind.

peaches and blueberries are in full swing, with apples soon to come full term. while i'm not overly fond of eating pies, i love baking them - - filling the house with the sweet and spicy warmth that only baking can truly claim. i bought fresh new yeast lately too - which means bread, from scratch. and beans and split peas, and i think we have lentils kicking around somewhere - the stuff of the hearty soups that can't come out in the summertime. stew and chili, soon, too on the menu... with crusty bread rolls and cornbread thick with corn and butter and maybe even some honey... just as soon as the air is right for getting fat and wearing a favorite sweater to make it not matter.

mmmm - i can smell the corn and straw coming our way... the scarecrows and pumpkins and hayrides and haunted houses and all the wonder of the year's rich middle age... and her halloween crisis!

enough, before i wish my life away...