Subtle Glow

The first couple times I notice, I asked him nicely to please excuse himself.  When that didn’t work, I started to get annoyed. The next time it happened, it was getting irritating.  Please - don’t sit next to me and scratch yourself.  I get it - sometimes things itch.  But, it is rude to do that in front of others.  Go.  Go in the bathroom and figure out what the problem is and take care of it.  Finally, I had had enough.  What’s the deal?  Why does your crotch seem so itchy today?
I guess I’m a little slow on the uptake, because it still comes as a surprise that I need to remind an eight year old boy that yes, you need to wash *with soap* when you take a shower.  That, Yes, it is not a dire need but certainly preferable for all involved that you do the washing each and every day.  Otherwise, we have issues. Like itching, for example.  But, be advised, sweet son - there are other issues.  Let’s not get into them.
Okay so I’m writing this and thinking Oh No, do I still need to tell him to wipe and stuff?  But then - I do the laundry, and I’m pretty sure I would KNOW.  So he either doesn’t poop or at some point he will catch on and not have to be told this kind of thing, right?  I want to build his independence but sometimes I guess I miss the mark on when to jump in and when to back off.
Honestly, there are some days where I don’t know who is more clueless about all of this - him or me.

In a couple weeks, my contract with my cell phone provider will be over and I’ll be free to take my pick of phones/providers for ongoing service. I have Cingular, and honestly I really don’t have any complaints with them. I get decent coverage and I pay about $50 a month for more than enough service and features. Most of my friends and family have Verizon, not to mention everyone at work so I’m considering a switch for the IN calling benefits alone.

It also means I’m in the market for a new phone. Ok, so this should be easy, right? I don’t have a long list of wants or needs as far as functionality or gadgetry. For a while, I thought I was sold on the RAZR - of course I want it in red or blue, but neither of those options exist with Verizon. I want a thin but not micro flip phone. It needs to have a speakerphone, not that I use it often but I want it there when I want it. I’d prefer to have other options besides JUST bluetooth for an earpiece, as I’ve read some models of the RAZR phones will only use bluetooth earpieces. Not to mention, I have read review after review of nothing but complaints about the various versions of the RAZR phones that are available through Verizon - from battery life to limited functionality and other various annoyances.

I’m starting to wonder if I’ve just been all caught up in the RAZR craze and need to consider other options. I like that it’s thin but larger than my current phone. I don’t need anything as fancy as a crackberry or Q phone - seems fun but I don’t have time to play around with it. Besides if I end up having to travel internationally for work - they will provide one of those for me.

There is a new phone out by Verizon - basically a “Chocolate” flip phone - the LG VX8600, which sounds promising and for now it’s the one I think I have settled on. I like the chocolate phone, but I don’t like that it’s a slider. I really don’t care that you can use it to play mp3s, as I have an ipod with way more room on it than any phone. I guess we’ll see what happens once December 15th is here - maybe by then there will be some sort of promotion going to make it even more enticing.

I was up at 5:15 this morning, and it was definitely NOT to go shopping.  My friend had a flight to catch and needed a ride to the train station.  Why she didn’t ask for a ride to the airport, I don’t know, but I think the fact that I had to almost beg her to let me drive her to the train station might indicate she just felt bad asking for a favor.  She is funny that way.  I would have drove her to the airport, but I have to say I was happy to be back in bed an hour later and took the opportunity to sleep in until late into the morning today.

Yesterday was fabulous.  It was great to have everyone over, although I got a little bit of an early start on things, which meant that dinner was pretty much ready once everyone made their way through the traffic to get here.  But there were appetizers to be had and gravy to be made while the turkey rested, so unfortunately the side dishes weren’t very hot by the time we got it all plated and on the various table arrangements.  I was a little disappointed, but no one seemed to mind very much.  Next year I’ll just have to occupy myself for a couple more hours before I get started on the turkey and trimmings.
As I drove my friend to the train station she asked how my dinner turned out and I told her it was fine - everyone enojoyed the food and had a good time.  She had called yesterday to check on me, which at the time I thought was odd but didn’t think too much about it.  A thought occurred to me this morning, after she mentioned how glad she was that my dinner turned out so I couldn’t help but ask.  For some reason she was under the impression that this was my first time hosting Thanksgiving.  Too cute.  I couldn’t help laughing and finally admitted that when she called to check on me yesterday I didn’t really understand why she was checking on me in the first place.

Stress is something I try to leave out of the holidays.  I have my shopping set for the same day every year - not too close to Christmas and certainly not with the throngs of Black Friday shoppers in the wee hours of the morning.  It’s a little tradition I started for myself a few years ago and it is something I look forward to doing.

I hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving as well, and that your holidays are looking stress-free.  If not, well, it is my firm belief that this is the one time during the year that spiking your morning coffee or cocoa (whether it’s peppermint schnapps, irish cream, or… whatever) is completely and totally acceptable.  Cheers!

Someone, somewhere out there today - is thinking about you and how happy they are to have you in their life. I hope you’re spending your day with that someone.  But if it so happens that you aren’t with them, I just wanted you to know that they are thinking about you and how thankful they are that you are part of their world.

Or: How to Invite a Friend to Thanksgiving Dinner

“Hello Friend, would you like to come over for Thanksgiving dinner?”

“Yes, I would.”

“Ok, great.  Except, well - I won’t have any of that canned cranberry stuff.”

“I don’t eat that.”

“Oh.  Phew. Also - I’m sorry but I don’t make yams.  With the marshmallows?  Yeah, I don’t make those.”

“I don’t eat those either.”

“Great!  Please come over for Thanksgiving dinner.  Bring pie.  But not pumpkin.”

“…   OK.  You will be having wine, right?  Perfect.”

How to Invite Your Mother for Thanksgiving Dinner 

“Hi Mom, I invited a friend and her family over for Thanksgiving.  Are you guys coming, too?”

“Sure - we can do that.”

“Good.  Can you bring some chairs?  My table only has two.”

“…  OK.  Uh, should we bring anything else?”

“Oh, don’t worry - I’ve got the wine covered.”

“Perfect!”

Seriously.

I have somehow managed to lost track of an entire bag of my knitting. It was this scarf/wrap that I started working on ages ago and packed away somewhere special right before I moved. Even better all my stitch markers and my set of circular needles was in that little tote bag, too. All convenient like so I knew right where to get to all of it. Damn me and my organization.
Of course I just bought loads of yarn - enough for two sweaters worth of knitting. I’ve never knitted a sweater before and I swear if it somehow ended up in the boxes in the garage I’m going to have a total fit, dammit. Or, you know, just buy a little stepladder so I won’t end up beating and bruising myself as I lug my ass up into the loft in the garage. Better get that stepladder soon, though. This chicky is itching to cast on some shit, yo.

OH - wait a second.

Ok, I found it. Woohoo. Except the set of circular needles was not in there like I thought - in fact I found those in my regular knitting box. Yes, that would be the same “regular knitting box” that I already looked in when I was looking for my project. Remind me of that the next time I’m buggin my eyes out and gritting my teeth as I point out something RIGHT. THERE. to my kiddo, ok?

Does it somehow explain a lot, when you think about it, that Borat is the number one movie for the last two weekends in a row?

Prior to that…  it was Jackass II (a sequel no less).

It’s no wonder Bush was elected and then re-elected.  It’s a nation of simpletons.

I am very scared.

Judge not thy woman; the more you judge her the less you love her.

-Chinese Proverb

I mean…   I’m just saying.

Yesterday I went to meet a couple friends as they crossed the finish line for the Breast Cancer 3-day walk.

It was awesome, in every sense of the word.  I believe they said for that particular walk there were over 6000 men and women who participated and raised over 11.3 million dollars toward the cause.  It’s hard to imagine that despite the thousands of participants and the millions of dollars raised the fight is not over.
While heart-wrenching to see the women and men walk past in their pink shirts, highlighting them as survivors to this disease, it was at the same time very moving and inspiring to see as well.

I remember listening to a call on a radio talk show once, where a woman called to ask for assvice and when she mentioned she was a single mother she was interrupted so the host could clarify whether she was a single mother or a divorced mother. WTF lady - I don’t have a spouse with whom I share parenting tasks day-to-day. Does it matter if there ever was a spouse or not? Not to mention it had nothing to do with the call, and added even less to the conversation except to let me know that I probably needed to keep on flipping through radio stations.

I mean, seriously? Is that why someone needs to know?

Marital Status (choose one)

• -Single
• -Married
• -Divorced
• -Widow/ed

This question inevitably irritates me. Married or not married. After that, it’s just nosy.