November 2003 Archives

Turkey day started not with a whimper OR a bang, but with a phone call. 6:30 AM the phone rings, jolting us out of sleep.

"hello?" I answer, groggily

"Hi, daddy." says my 6 year old, who is staying overnight at my mom's house.

Turns out that she wanted to know what time the Macy's Day Parade was, and instead of asking my DAD in the other room, she, being the smartest 6 year old on the planet, picked up the phone and called us. Whee! So, after I tell her, nicely, that it's really early and that she should go to bed and NOT call again without asking nana, the phone rings at 7:30 AM--guess who. Yep, her again, wanting to say "Hi.". *sigh*

Turkey was good tonight, though. Brined it overnight and it was moist and delicious. Gravy was crappy. Very salty. don't know why. Potatoes had enough cream/butter/cheese to kill a water buffalo, but yummy. And, we're waiting for Kim's chocolate-croissant bread pudding. Mmmmmmm.

Am I too sensitive? I dunno. I seem to get grouchy pretty fast. I feel so possessive sometimes and I try hard not to, but ever try NOT to feel a feeling? So, I muddle on, screwing it up as I go. But I care for the dear readers of this blog as intensely as I do for my own wife much of the time. It's the way I care for people. I think I smother people I love. I know I do it at times but it's very hard to not be...me?

anyway, there's that. ;)

Had to take the day off. I've been fighting this damn flu thing, and I still don't think I have much, but I've been coughing up a storm so I decided to head to the doctor and make sure I don't need any antibiotics. Last year I just rode it out and ended up with pneumonia. I'm not really sure if that makes me more susceptible to future bouts of it, but I'd rather not find out the hard way. It sucked. 106 fever, feeling like the walking dead.

I remember lying in bed, chatting on IOS with karen and gregory while I was burning up. fun fun.

I dunno. I've felt crappy all day, but I think I'm OK. I feel better. A good night's sleep would help. Let's hope that it comes.

Katie's better, mostly. I hope Ellen's not getting sick, though. *sigh*

I'm going to bed to see about that night's sleep.

Did I say that already?

All night katie was coughing. it is SO hard to listen to your child in distress. I just wanted to grab her and hold her, but that wouldn't stop the cough. *sigh*

My little one, katie (3) comes up with some good ones, but here are 2 in a row this morning.

1: Mommy, where do skeletons go in the wintertime? (my response was to just laugh and hope she didn't press the question...)

2: Me: What do you want Santa to bring you for Christmas this year, bug?
Katie (whispering): A space station...with Rudolph on it!

You can NOT make this stuff up!

I was going nuts with my laptop. It was dead--a bad hard drive. I am SO proud of myself for fixing it completely myself. I got a hard drive from a client and completely dismantled my iBook. I don't know if anyone out there has done it, but taking apart an iBook is NOT for the faint of heart. I had easily 50 screws and 15 pieces, including the top and bottom of the case, several heat shields, and various wires and connectors, but I got it all appart and BACK TOGETHER and it works perfectly! When I saw it all apart, I was sure I was a goner, but it worked! Yay me! ;)

Today was fun, mostly. I did have to spend about 90 minutes on the phone with a client, and then spent a "good" hour doing my invoicing for the month, but I got to chat with friends and watch the entire NY Giant football game, an excersise in frustration that lasted almost 4 hours, but remarkably ended with an OT win. I sat on the couch for the second half with my 5 year old who is learning to read and kept telling me what down it was, how many yards left, what time was left in the game, whether there was a flag or not, and when a touchdown had been scored. She did this not by having a clue about the game, but by reading the FOX ticker on top of the screen.

She also took the opportunity to make rhymes for every possible down variation (e.g., the cheerleader's "first and ten lets do it again" becomes "2nd and 6 lets pick up some sticks" in her nimble, but slightly mad mind.)

But, it was fun.

Tonight, maybe a movie.

Tonight was a Bar Mitzvah for a cousin a zillion times removed whom I've never met. 90 minute drive each way, a gift, $100 for a sitter and a saturday night wasted on what amounts to a wedding without a bride for 13 year olds. Truly silly. And my table consisted of one cousin whom I think is a complete ass with his grouchy wife, one cousin who I think is shy a chromosome or two and his pleasant new wife who should have her head examined, one cousin that I think I used to like playing with, but haven't seen, literally, in 25 years, and my sister and her new boyfriend. It was like an internment camp with a DJ.

If we could pick our family, would we?