as an aside

just looked back at my sweeney todd post
and it occurred to me
that johnny depp has a very beautiful skull.

if you can't say something nice...

i'm quiet today.

that's all

begin::

I received an envelope today with two photos of me inside... both from a few years ago, office Halloween. I think my fingers were thinner back then. I decline to comment on the rest of me. The best part though, is the clown red wig - - it's not afro, it's a nice little Louise Brooks cut, but it's that plastic red that i've always (not so secretly) wanted to dye my hair.

My Francey Pants mentioned wanting to be called AJ on her resume. Called to mind how envious I've always been of folks whose initials make suitable monikers. I've always wished my mom had given me a "reasonable" middle name like Claudette or Delanie (or Delano?). My daughter is an E.M. - - which she can rather respectably use if she's inclined to maintain her ambiguity without sounding like a poseur. J.M. just doesn't cut it. Pleh.

Florida weather is less than hospitable, which I find woeful.

I never managed to mow the lawn this week. I shall be returning to a meadow. I am considering telling all the neighbor folk that I was "letting it go to seed" but the yardener in me knows that you can't let it go to seed one week, and put down your Memorial Day fertilizer just two weeks behind - - you'll burn up all the babies. Who likes burnt baby grass? Nobody.

Probably we won't be getting merit increases this year. I'm hoping I can use that to lobby for a work from home day. Send a prayer...

I am deeply addicted to my Bare Minerals. For someone who ALWAYS has a blemish somewhere, this stuff is heaven sent.

Just got the bad news that the job i might have posted for is for a different group that we thought it might be, so I can't really post for it because i'd be working with all the wrong people. I got it at the best possible time, though, considering all the stuff going down between next week and the middle of June. I'm being grateful for unanswered prayers right now.

I'm taking my camera when I go. I will do my best to take photos that are worth posting.

:: end

glorious

This is Detroit

My weatherbug says it's 63 degrees today With a blue sky and sunshine and

I

am

trapped inside this building for another 90 minutes.

some days, there is no justice. tomorrow, it won't be warm or sunny at least not according to all the weather geeks just another average april day in Detroit but today...

ah....

Chilly McBlue in Floodland

I'm cold and tired and feeling rather grim, on the overall.
last week Thursday night / Friday morning (1am) we got a call from my mom - - in whose basement most of our stuff is - was - stored - - informing us that there were 6" of ice water (she omitted the ice part) in the basement, and that we needed to get over and help out.

the water was very cold.
a lot of our stuff was in cardboard boxes.
we had television sets and press-wood furniture on the floor
we got cold and wet and spent the better part of the weekend cleaning, sorting, and disposing.

on Sunday my husband reminded me of how lucky we were that we had moved the sofa just a couple of weeks before. the multi-thousand dollar to replace sofa. just thinking about it made my stomach turn, and i agreed that we were indeed lucky.

somehow one of the sump pumps had quit working without notice (AWOL) and the other had slipped out of a "boot" designed to keep it from pumping water INTO the basement.

shudder - 6" of ice water.

now, a lot of our stuff has made it into our basement. oh, yeah, there's a lot more to go, but we're getting there. we still have a lot of going through, and organizing to do (if only i had a few thousand dollars for shelving, i would have library stacks in my basement!)

anywho...

for pete's sake...

:::UPDATE:::
as an aside, streaming on my computer is not an option - - the company i work for has blocked all streaming audio and video ...

no matter which of my radio stations i choose, i get sketchy reception... like, ok, you have to do ballet AND yoga at the same time if you want to be in the right position to encourage proper reception of this radio station.

the ugliest bit is that if i wanted to get one of the hip hop, top 40, or (shudder) country stations, all i'd have to do is turn the dial just a little.

for NPR (the addiction still rages) or WRCJ, i'm sticking magnetic bendy men to the antenna and practicing all sorts of contortionism.

my sweater - - as soft as it is - - is making my throat itch.
i didn't sleep very well last night.
i walked into the office to more "while you were out" requests.
all of my photos of the day (lately) have been of my daughter, and i won't post her here.

still - - i'm really focusing on happy thoughts. According to Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain i should be able to use cognitive techniques to keep myself from getting grumpy about all the silly little crap that causes momentary pleh in my life, and mood. i haven't read the book yet, (i heard it on NPR) but it is definitely on my list.

and soon i'm off to another mind-numbing meeting where i'm going to be expected to stun and wow people with my curent list of working on, to do, and done... and truth be told - - it's not stunning. sigh.

i'm going to scarf down some oatmeal and diet coke breakfast now

deep freeze day two

this morning my car informed me that it was only -1 degree.
apparently mother nature has decided to thaw us out some.
the kids are still home from school, most of them, and with them a lot of their parents. i don't mind, i've always liked things to be quiet around here.

i've decided to take the advice of the folks at CRAFT magazine (a birthday gift from my man) and journal my Moleskine (also a gift from my man, that until the CRAFT gift, went pristinely untouched). January is pathetic, just so you know. it's ok. i've never done anything LIKE scrapping (unless you count pathetic attempts at card making) before, and i'm cutting myself some slack. it helps that it's a journal - - MY journal - - and so i have no real intention for anyone to read it anyway.

the inspiration was also in part due to the fact that if i end up like Lewis Libby and have to testify, i need stuff down in writing - - my short term memory hasn't been this bad since i was pregnant.

i'm reading a lot of absolute pulp lately. i blame it on Suzanne at Dear Reader . she's wonderful, but she's also wonderful at feeding me just obscene amounts of horror fiction - - one of my greatest downfalls. i mean seriously - - this is from the mom who really doesn't have time to read, but steals it... and for what??? crap horror. still, everyone needs a guilty pleasure, and this, for now, is mine. (looking for a link i just realised that Guilty Pleasure(s) is a UK dance band, and now i'm perilously close to having a listen, just to see...)

my daughter says she misses me. every day when i come home from work. this so makes me smile... that sad mom smile that i suppose i'm now at the beginning of the perfection-journey on. she's also started telling me not to be a 'mean mama' when i disallow things, or scold her for others. i expect this is the precursor to the much feared "I hate you!" moment that i know is coming but am loathe to experience.

off to count my blessings...