2003-07-31

 

Intimidated. That's how I feel today. Not by any person, but by a new wrinkle in The Evil^TM that I'm not sure how I'm going to pull off. But I will do it. Eventually. As soon as I get over being so intimidated.

posted by bethanye 10:56:00 AM   

Comments: Post a Comment

 

No new news on the "Family Emergency" front. It was probably nothing. Why would she call my father, anyway? Doesn't make any sense.

posted by bethanye 10:43:00 AM   

Comments: Post a Comment

2003-07-30

 

Amazing sense of timing on that one. She called my father -- some sort of "family emergency." Well, we've called everyone in the family -- Doreen, Analine and Virginia -- and they're all fine. So, we're running out of family for that "family emergency".
On a far more pleasant note, the "Rhea and Ti-Fred's Soup Kitchen^TM" was splendid. What a fun time -- and what a mountain of dishes that James and Stephen worked through. Those boys are so good.

posted by bethanye 11:28:00 AM   

Comments: Post a Comment

2003-07-29

 

Name change. Bored with the other one. But I love me some Father Ted.

posted by bethanye 11:05:00 AM   

Comments: Post a Comment

2003-07-28

 

Soup of the evening... Beautiful soup! Tomorrow, we're hosting an official "Rhea and Ti-Fred's Soup Kitchen^TM" at Stately Blount Manor. Jenna came over tonight and we made tomorrow's dessert and one of the soups. The menu? Tomato-lentil soup, pasta e fagioli (yummy!), and Vichyssois courtesy of Adam and Jamie. While Jenna came over here to help me out, those two were drinking Mint Juleps and cooking potatoes and leeks.
I have to admit, the spirit of cooperation is a damn fine thing.
At any rate, I am now pooped! Not too heart-fatiguey, though, which I will take as a good thing.
Speaking of being tired, my father with family in tow is enroute at this very moment... well, perhaps not. Their itinerary says they're actually in Vegas right now. The crisis at hand? My beloved Volvo station wagon -- which was so good to me -- must hate them or something. It has caused them nothing but trouble for a year. Now, there's another transmission problem that has surfaced, and they're looking to put the car in the shop while staying here. Did I mention that they're arriving on Friday and are staying until Tuesday? That's a long visit, and I'm sure we'll all be good and sick of each other by the time it's over. On top of that, I need to practice my bassoon while they're here: my next lesson is the Tuesday that they leave. Ahhh... an excuse to retire to the basement?
To be fair, I don't think it's going to be that bad. My father's stepson -- who he intermittently refuses to refer to as his stepson, though I like to remind him that he made a commitment to the kid, and that MoMo and I dragged my ass cross-country to watch him do it -- may be so tired of being around the two of them that he's a holy terror... or, he might be on his best behavior. Maybe. I'm definitely keeping my fingers crossed for "good behavior".

posted by bethanye 9:37:00 PM   

Comments: Post a Comment

 

Pump up the volume. Dance. Dance. I just ordered a Dance Dance Revolution pad and game from gamestop. Should be here by the end of the week. Good, jumping fun (since I don't have to worry about Sadako the way I did Jacquin).
On a completely non-related note -- we saw Pirates of the Caribbean on Friday night, and it was a hoot! Recommended. Arrgh....

posted by bethanye 10:20:00 AM   

Comments: Post a Comment

2003-07-26

 

Do you miss your kitty? Try this to take the edge off.

posted by bethanye 10:33:00 AM   

Comments: Post a Comment

2003-07-24

 

Stats on the blogs are pretty damn funny. For example, last night someone Googled for "bethanye molly", and came up with one of my old blogs. Someone else Googled "kindergarden roundup" and came up with this from Molly's archives. Another avid Googler got this from "snake holding breath under water". And that's just in the last week!

posted by bethanye 4:50:00 PM   

Comments: Post a Comment

 

Jeez! Now Molly's blog has ads for WIGS! Got to get that damn ordering back online, so I can get rid of those ads.

On a very happy note Pete has made enough in donations to keep the comic going. Worship the comic!

posted by bethanye 3:51:00 PM   

Comments: Post a Comment

 

Finally, a modicum of success! I had abandoned the IDE/CVS integration I'm supposed to be using for The Evil^TM before I went on vacay. Just let it go by the wayside. Today, I was debugging a few things before I show 'em -- and nothing I did made a difference. No debugging, no logging -- nothing changed.

I was working on the wrong copy of the file. Damnit.

posted by bethanye 11:31:00 AM   

Comments: Post a Comment

2003-07-21

 

People shake their heads in disbelief... I actually had someone point at me at the airport yesterday. WTF was up with that? HELL-OOO, loser-man! I can SEE you doing that!

It is nice to be back in the land where they aircondition outside, I have to admit that. Also, I think that Kla-Zaa puts barbituates in their cheese, because Molly and I were tranq'ed after pigging out there. Ahh, Kla-Zaa....

posted by bethanye 12:20:00 PM   

Comments: Post a Comment

2003-07-16

 

Help... me... I just called Scott "Google-boy". This can only end in tears when he decides to escalate the name calling. Oops! I guess I'll get what I deserve.

posted by bethanye 12:00:00 PM   

Comments: Post a Comment

 

What kind of luck do I have? The weather forecast says there will be thunderstorms here on Saturday. When I'm in Dallas. And it's 103°. And I haven't seen rain in a long time. Ah, well. It's worth the sacrifice. <grin>

On a lighter note, check out this adorable turtle. I saw a pair at East Bay Vivarium and absolutely fell in love. They're kind of expensive, though, and I'll need a new set up for one or more of them. But just look at that cute face!! What's a turtle-girl to do?

posted by bethanye 10:53:00 AM   

Comments: Post a Comment

2003-07-15

 

Paying bills reminded me of something I heard recently. The more money you have, the less time it takes to manage it. I mean, if you have no debt and only a few bills, you just set things up to deposit and accrue interest, and for the most part the rest takes care of itself.

I guess we just don't have as much money as we used to. But who does?

posted by bethanye 9:40:00 PM   

Comments: Post a Comment

 

Oh my god. What have I done? This says it's going to be something like 103° on Saturday. The horror...

posted by bethanye 12:04:00 PM   

Comments: Post a Comment

 

Mmm... Hot, sweet tea. With milk.

I had weird nightmares again last night. When I woke up, my stomach ached -- not because I was sick, but because I had spent all night curled up tight in a ball. It was muscle ache. I'm still a little bit sore, even after I decided to sleep in another hour before coming into work.

posted by bethanye 10:59:00 AM   

Comments: Post a Comment

2003-07-14

 

Well, there's something. First off, my father's picking me up at the airport on Thursday. Not wholly remarkable, like say... (are you sitting down?)

My father's family is coming out to say with us next weekend (starting 25 July), after a camping trip to Yosemite with aforementioned family.

ACK! Whodathunkit?

Now to get through the weekend without major incident. On a sort of related note, I had a realization last night. To have a somewhat uneventful life is a great luxury. Now, I don't mean that nothing happens to you. I just mean that the crazy life-changing times even out with the uneventful times. Lots of people don't get that opportunity. Over the last five years or so, my goals have slowly changed. Now, what I truly hope for in life is to spend it in relative comfort, and to have as much time as possible with the people I love. If I am a good person, treat others as well as I can without screwing myself over, and live responsibly, and things generally turn out okay for us... what else could I ask for? There are so many things that could go wrong -- illness, injury, horrible world-wide changes that put us in danger... If I am lucky enough avoid those situations for the most part, then life is pretty damn good. You just can't ask for more than that.

posted by bethanye 3:10:00 PM   

Comments: Post a Comment

 

I think I'm finally back to 100%. I should count my blessings that Scott was out of the office on Friday. He likes to torment the hungover, including grabbing them by the head and shaking it violently. Well, back to The Evil^TM.

posted by bethanye 10:23:00 AM   

Comments: Post a Comment

2003-07-13

 

Well, the movie wasn't really a zombie movie. More of a post-armageddon thing, though the disease did make the infected very zombie-like. It had a near-miss rape scene, which worried me greatly. I'd just gotten over the hangover, and rape scenes make me vomit. It was very well conceived and shot, highly original, and disturbing to the extreme. I confess, I thought I was okay until I went to bed last night, and I couldn't sleep. I made Stevie close the window (which we had kept open for the breeze). I kept thinking someone was going to look in at me. Then, I had nightmares last night were I beat a guy to death with a golf club. WTF is up with that? Too freaky. I think I need to get outside for awhile and not think about it anymore.

posted by bethanye 11:14:00 AM   

Comments: Post a Comment

2003-07-12

 

Thanks to the mention in Molly's blog, I found this, which at this exact moment contains the story that Chuck submitted to the McKinney paper. I'm pretty sure he's contracting -- which is why it says "special to the courier-gazette" in his byline.

And now, before I scurry away to catch the new zombie movie, I have to fess up about something. It's about the "dinner party" Stevie and I hosted Thursday night... See, I drank a lot of wine at this party. Adam guesses that I had about an entire bottle to myself. This, given my low tolerance for alcohol, is not a good thing. After everyone left (except Jenna, who crashed on the couch), I threw up. And I didn't quite make it to the bathroom. Stevie said that if he didn't know what had happened, he would have thought I was shot in the head. OUCH!! It reminded me of the dinner party we had years and years ago -- at the old apartment -- where Mol yakked up after she got home and thought she was bleeding from her stomach. Just the red wine. <shudder> I don't think I'm going to do that again for a LONG time. I had to take Friday off from work I was so sick. It was bad. Stevie brought me jello and water and by 5 or 6 last night I was finally up and around again. It was freaking terrible. I have no intention of getting that trashed ever again... Of course, I didn't set out to get that messed up on Thursday.

Technicolor yawns aside, it was really nice. The only thing missing was Molly. Maybe that's why I got so fucked up? Naahhh... I got so fucked up because I wasn't paying attention to how much I drank. I guess we all have to do that occasionally so we remember why we practice moderation in the first place.

Off to the movie. Maybe I'll post a review later.

posted by bethanye 1:34:00 PM   

Comments: Post a Comment

2003-07-08

 

So, I didn't ride my bike this morning. My tires were squishy, and I don't have an airpump. Got to get one of those things...

posted by bethanye 9:28:00 AM   

Comments: Post a Comment

2003-07-07

 

Dad's not going to Raleigh, after all. Instead, he's going here.

posted by bethanye 1:39:00 PM   

Comments: Post a Comment

 

Well, it's been over six months. Time to revisit the New Year's Resolutions.
-- Get money stuff taken care of.
This is going... okay. I have everything in Quicken, and am updating it frequently. We have one month's take-home pay in savings -- not great, but better than we were. I have signed up for 401k at work, and it starts coming out of my check this month. On the bad side, we have had a few significant expenditures this year. We bought new couches and a bassoon, and our housing costs have increased since we moved. On the whole, though, I think we're doing okay. I will continue to monitor the situation and adjust as necessary. Goal for rest of year -- increase savings.
-- Get health stuff taken care of.
I have done squat in this area, but that all changes effective today. I'm going to ride my bike to work tomorrow, and try to do it at least three times weekly by the end of July. That's 9 miles round-trip, which should help my CV health some. Also, our diet starts today, so the food situation -- while not bad per se -- will improve immediately as well. I need to back off the coffee, though. It's hard on my belly. From now on, only tea in the morning and decaf coffee in the afternoon. Swimming has fallen by the wayside, though, between preserving my haircolor and moving to the Solano Y, which has no pool. That's okay, I'll focus on what I can do.
-- Enjoy what I have, and stop concentrating so much on what I don't have.
I think I've done best on this one, and moving has probably helped that quite a bit.
-- Learn some new things.
That's it. I'm signing up for that motorcycle license class immediately, and will attend when I get back from Dallas. Also, I have a call into a woman who was recommended as a potential bassoon teacher.
-- Spend more time (even if only phone and email) with the people (and beasts) that I love.
I think I'm doing okay with calling my friends and keeping in touch -- thank you unlimited long distance! But the turtles do need more love than I've been giving them. We were at the Vivarium yesterday, and are now going to rethink the substrate for Nausicaa's house. Something with dirt and moss, instead of that dried grass we've been using.

posted by bethanye 11:00:00 AM   

Comments: Post a Comment

 

My god, the weather is psychotic here. We had to wear jackets to watch the fireworks -- it was in the mid-fifties at our house -- and now this says it's going to be something like 103° on Thursday. WTF is up with that?

posted by bethanye 8:56:00 AM   

Comments: Post a Comment

2003-07-06

 

Happy birthday, Molly! And happy 7th anniversary to us!

posted by bethanye 1:08:00 PM   

Comments: Post a Comment

2003-07-01

 

I've only just discovered "Something Positive." But after reading this, I think I'm in love.

posted by bethanye 4:35:00 PM   

Comments: Post a Comment

 

I am not proud of the fact that I am somewhat tipsy right now. See, it goes like this: I was going to go out for sushi with the group, but there was a car-arrangement-shortage that was unworkable so Jenna and I opted out. We met up with Adam and Grover at Juan's... and had many margaritas. It's a sad but true tale of a lunch gone awry...

Jeez, I can barely type. But I haven't started tapping my teeth. Does that mean I'm okay to drive? Not that that's an issue -- no car.

Speaking (writing) of cars, Karen is interested in buying a used car, and is planning to take me with her to be her negotiator. I'd better sober up quick, because it looks like I'm supposed to go with her in an hour or so!

posted by bethanye 2:41:00 PM   

Comments: Post a Comment