the fifth year

September 4, 2008

holy shit, I'm so tired

I just got home a few minutes ago, even though today was supposed to be a half-day. Just as I was leaving work this afternoon Mike called me to ask if I could come pick him up and take him to the hospital because he was pretty sure he was having a heart attack. He's pranked me with similar calls before so it took me a couple of minutes to determine he was serious, after which I immediately headed up north to get him. While I was getting on the road, his clients ended up calling the paramedics for him, and by the time I was halfway there, the paramedics had picked him up and were en route to the hospital in an ambulance. One of his clients was kind enough to give me directions to the hospital, but I still managed to get turned around and ended up in DC before I finally made my way to the right place, and then when I got there, some feisty little lady in the ER tried telling me that I couldn't go back to see him until after I'd waited 15 - 20 minutes. She wouldn't even check the computer to see if he was registered or not! I burst into tears, and she tried to placate me by telling me that Mike was going to be fine (which was rich since she hadn't even bothered to look to see who he was!), then FINALLY she went back to check and see which room he was in.

They did chest x-rays, EKGs, bloodwork, checked for blood clots, damage to his heart - the works. All the tests came back negative, though, so they're not sure what happened to him. The doctor didn't want to "diagnose" him with something just to give it a label, but he told us that if it happened again, we should go to Mike's regular doctor and arrange to have more tests done. I'm praying that this is an isolated incident, because driving up from work knowing that Mike was being taken to the hospital and worrying that something horrible was going to happen before I got there is not an experience I ever, ever want to repeat. I was so scared he was going to die. I know I've joked about this being the year of the health insurance, but C'MON.

Posted by oracle at 9:07 PM | Comments (0)

pretty flowers and why Max is a nitwit

The kids and their mom sent me these lovely flowers yesterday to cheer me up on my first day back at work. When the florist rang the doorbell, the dogs went flying down to the door, barking madly to let me know that SOMEONE WAS THERE, and, as usual, I shut them in the landry room so I could answer the door without them dancing around my ankles, trying to escape. After signing for the flowers, I opened the door to let them out of the laundry room. Jordan came bolting out like his tail was on fire, in a hurry to get back to the front door to see who had been there. Maddy came cautiously creeping around the door like she was afraid of it. Max, well, Max was behind the door looking at me through the crack, and she didn't seem to realize that she could back up and go around the door. After a few minutes of calling her with no result other than more tail wagging, I gave up and went into the laundry room to show her that she could get out on her own.

Posted by oracle at 8:42 AM | Comments (0)

September 3, 2008

seems destiny ends with me saving you

As of yesterday, the Dr. Horrible soundtrack is available on iTunes. I like the "Horrible Theme," "My Freeze Ray," "A Man's Gotta Do," "Brand New Day," and "So They Say," but I think my favorite is "My Eyes."

Posted by oracle at 7:19 AM | Comments (0)

September 2, 2008

back to work I go

The doctor said it was okay for me to start putting in half days at work as long as I didn't overdo things, and today was my first day back since the surgery. As crazy as it sounds, I was happy to go back and get started back on the path to being a reliable employee again. I've been out so much because of the abdominal pains (and then the surgery) in the past five months that it's nice to be able to anticipate being at work regularly again.

Posted by oracle at 2:26 PM | Comments (1)

August 29, 2008

the world's filled with filth and lies

I can't believe I haven't written about Dr. Horrible before now! Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog is the result of Joss Whedon, his two brothers Zack and Jed, and Maurissa Tancharden all getting together during the writer's strike and putting together three acts of an online musical tv show. Neil Patrick Harris won my heart as Dr. Horrible, and Nathan Fillion does a great job playing Captain Hammer (corporate tool). If you haven't seen it yet, take a few minutes and watch. I don't think you'll be sorry.

Posted by oracle at 9:53 AM | Comments (0)

August 16, 2008

sliced and diced

So, I survived the surgery, and the only pain I'm having now appears to be residual from said surgery. If I am not counting my chicks before they're hatched, this could very well mean the surgery was a success!

I was pretty nervous pre-surgery, but everyone was really nice. The nurse who was doing most of my check-in stuff was a TALKER, holy shit. The first time she came in while Mike was back with me, he did not breathe until she left the room. There was this warm air machine they hooked my gown up to so I'd stay warm till it was time for them to wheel me back for the slicing. The anesthesiologist was way more awesome than the colonoscopy one, although not quite as awesome as the exploratory surgery one (that one won me over for good with his little tiny pre-IV numbing needle).

Post surgery was, eh. I was pretty sore and VERY itchy. My body does not like meds, apparently. I stayed in Recovery for a little bit, then they wheeled me up to my hospital room, which was arguably the most painful part of the whole experience. It felt they merrily pushed my bed over every possible bump, and when I pointed out (nicely at first, then in tears) that it hurt like mad, their only solution was to tell me to put an alcohol wipe right by my nose and tell me to breath deep over the bumps. What the hell is an alcohol wipe supposed to do? Reek the pain away? It was better once I was settled into my room and could go to sleep. The pain medicine button was a big help, too. Mike's mom sent me a lovely flower arrangement with a balloon and a teddy bear, and my mom stopped by after work to check in and bring Mike some Real Food since he'd been there all day with only bagels to subsist on.

The highlights of my overnight hospital stay: spilling my ice water on myself twice in one night, pressing the call button for the nurse when I was trying to turn on the light, and having to have help to turn off the tv. I'm pretty sure the nurse who on duty for all of that was beyond happy to go home at the end of her shift.

It was kind of iffy as to whether or not I'd get to go home on Wednesday as planned, because I had a slight fever and felt like death. In the end, the doctor decided to go ahead and send me home, which turned out to be the best solution. Once I got home, got settled into bed with a glass of ice water, and snuggled with my puppies for a bit, I started feeling better. I think part of the problem was the pain meds they switched me to after taking away the pain med button. My tummy gets really, really upset on this stuff, and I get a killer headache, which both combine to make me miserable.

Bill and Steph came over for a quick visit on Thursday and brought me some deelishus get-well-soon chocolate-dipped strawberries, which are possibly the best sick food evar.

Now that I've been home for a couple of days, I'm getting better at navigating around. Most of the time I don't even need help sitting up, although there are times when it's a bit more painful than I'd like. I'm already tired of being an invalid, though. I'm ready to do more around the house, or at least pick up my damn puppies. It's not like they're Rottweilers, you know.

Posted by oracle at 3:36 PM | Comments (1)

August 8, 2008

iz not weekend yet

:sigh: I'm ready for this week to be over, please.

* I've apparently quit taking my Paxil cold turkey, by way of forgetting to refill my damn prescription for over a week and not realizing it till I was trying to figure out why I've been feeling so weird recently. It feels like I'm on the hungover side of a two-day binge, and, oh, does it suck. Since my original plan was to quit the Paxil a few months after the sugery anyway, I decided, what the hell? No point in going through this twice, when I can just ride it out now and just start my plan (to take better care of myself and see how I do without it now that I don't have the birth control altering my biochemistry) a little early. The side effects this time around are HORRIBLE (I am constantly queasy, my eyes can't stay focused for longer than 30 seconds at a whack, and MY GOD THE DISORIENTATION), but I'd rather only do this once, so, fine, whatever.

* I thought I had all the pre-op stuff taken care of on Monday, but I got a call yesterday from the lab saying that they didn't draw enough blood to do a pregnancy test in addition to the other stuff they did, so they needed me to come back in for that. No apologies for the mix-up and/or the inconvenience, just "Hey, you need to stop by so we can get more blood." I did, and now I have a bruise on each arm. They promised that was all the blood they needed from me, though, so I should still be okay to get my IV in my left arm (better veins = less poking with needles = much, much happier Kate).

* Thanks to the Paxil de-tox, I haven't been sleeping well all week. I was stumbling along, tired but functioning fairly well, until last night. Mike took a four hour nap after we got home, which resulted in him waking back up around 9 and not coming to bed until close to 11. Then he started talking about things that were way more emotionally taxing than I had the resources for that late, and we didn't go to sleep until a few minutes before midnight. I am EXHAUSTED today, is what I'm saying. And grouchy, too. Oh, am I grouchy. I don't do well with not enough sleep.

* I dreamed that one of my puppies died - was hit by a car while I was watching - and I KNOW it's just a dream, but the images and emotions from the dream are still with me. I gave the puppies extra loves this morning before I left.

* I think I'm getting a touch of anxiety about Tuesday 'cause, in addition to the Paxil-related stuff mentioned above, I've been having chest pains since Wednesday. I've also been itchier than if I'd been rolled around in dusty ice cubes, but I don't know if that's due to anxiety or if my allergies are flaring up for some reason and manifesting that way. Really, it doesn't matter what's causing the itchies - I itch ALL THE TIME, and most of the time, it's my boobs that are the itchiest, which is uncomfortable in public, to say the least.

I need a nap.

Posted by oracle at 8:56 AM | Comments (0)

August 7, 2008

senioritis

Dear AARP,

I feel we must have some sort of misunderstanding. I'm not near retirement. I'm not near 50. Hell, I won't even be 30 for another couple of years, and yet you keep sending me literature. Let me repeat: I am not even CLOSE to my golden years, so stop with the pamphlets, please.

Thanks,
Kate

Posted by oracle at 8:49 AM | Comments (0)

August 4, 2008

finally, a date!

I talked to the nurse today, and my surgery is scheduled for next Tuesday. I'm going in this afternoon to fill out pre-op paperwork and stuff. In just a little over a week, I'll be recovering and hopefully on my way to finally being pain-free.

Posted by oracle at 12:42 PM | Comments (0)

August 1, 2008

don't go away mad

So, I'm kind of in love with Mötley Crüe. As I've mentioned before, I've got a huge crush on Nikki Sixx, I'm developing a similar (if somewhat lesser) crush on Vince Neil after seeing them play live, and I've listened to at least one Mötley Crüe song every day since Crüe Fest. I can always find one of their songs that I'm in the mood to hear. My favorites include the following (somewhat lengthy) list:
"Kickstart My Heart"
"Shout At The Devil"
"Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)"
"Hell In High Heels"
"Too Young To Fall In Love"
"New Tattoo"
"You're All Need"
"Smokin' In The Boys Room"
"Looks That Kill"
"Saints Of Los Angeles"
"Motherfucker Of The Year"
"Toast Of The Town"

Hearing any song from that list evokes the same response from me that most AC/DC songs do - namely, excited squeaking and clapping of hands as I reach to turn up the volume. When Mike asks what I want to listen to in the truck, the answer is almost always the same: Mötley Crüe! I can't wait till their next concert in our area (hopefully it is on a non-kid weekend. I'd love to actually meet Nikki Sixx this time.

Posted by oracle at 9:09 AM | Comments (0)

July 31, 2008

organ donor

I had an appointment with my doctor this afternoon. I'm going to have a laproscopic hysterectomy sometime in the next couple of weeks. Since it's just my uterus that is the problem, that's all she's going to take out. Earlier in the week my understanding was that I'd have to have it removed abdominally, which had me freaking right the fuck out, so talking to the doctor today and finding out I don't have to have my tummy sliced open was a HUGE relief. I'm still nervous about the surgery, just because I've never had anything removed before, but at least I have an idea of what to expect recovery-wise since I had the exploratory surgery last month. They have to schedule with another doctor and the operating room at the hospital, so it might be Monday before I know what day the surgery is schedule for. It's easier to wait now that I know what's going to happen, though.

Posted by oracle at 8:51 PM | Comments (1)

July 30, 2008

my A-game

Grades are in: I got an A for the summer semester!

Posted by oracle at 4:06 PM | Comments (0)

July 25, 2008

Webkinz

Our youngest is a huge fan of Webkinz. Every time we get the kids, she asks to go on the computer so she can sign into Webkinz, and if she can, she'll spend hours online taking care of her pets. About a month ago I decided I wanted to see what the whole Webkinz thing was about, so she and I went to the nearest Hallmark to see which Webkinz animal I wanted to get as my pet. Since there isn't a Webkinz dachshund yet, I decided on the white Samoyed. As soon as we got home, we started setting up my account. When you first adopt a Webkinz pet, you get a room for them, a certain amount of Kinzcash (your currency to spend on the site), and a couple of introduction items for your pet, including an exclusive item for their house (mine was an arctic slide) and a special treat just for that particular pet type. (My pet is named Scruffy. He's a nerf herder.)

I initially dismissed Webkinz as something just for kids, a simple site with adoptable animals to keep kids occupied, but the people who came up with the idea put a lot more thought and detail into than I realized.

If you buy a stove, blender, and/or sandwich-maker for your pet, you can prepare food for them. I've actually put together a recipe book of the foods I like making for my pet (lasagna! bean burritos! berry tarts! cinnamon buns!). Really, it's much more entertaining than you might think. And if you put together the wrong ingredients you can end up with a blech sandwich or gak, neither of which is appetising to a pet.

If you buy an outdoor room and seeds, you can plant a garden, which you then can take care of by watering daily, raking as needed, etc. Once you harvest the produce you can either feed it to your pet (who finds it tastier and more healthy for them than the produce you can buy in the W shop), or you can sell it to the W shop to earn more Kinzcash. You can grow corn, pumpkins, cabbage, tomatoes, carrots, watermelon, and strawberries. I have crops of each of those growing right now, and it is surprisingly satisfying to harvest a little pixelated pumpkin every few days.

You can buy more rooms of varying sizes (5 x 5, 7 x 7, and 10 x 10) or an outdoor room (10 x 10 only) and then you can buy things to decorate the room with. There are various room themes to choose from - rock star, arctic, modern apartment, beach, and many others - or if you decorate the room your own way, there are several different floor covering (various types of tiles, carpets, and wood patterns) and wall treatment (wallpapers and paints) options available.

You can earn Kinzcash by playing various arcade games (solitaire, a skunk-themed version of minesweeper, and many more) or by working. There is a Webkinz employment center, and every 8 hours you can go there and choose a job. Some have various requirements, while others are ones you can do right away. Personally I can't stand having to wait 8 hours, but it's not like I have a lot of say in the matter.

If you've purchased a bathtub you can give your pet baths (there's even a rubber ducky that you can put in the tub for them to play with). If you have a sink you can wash your pet's face and paws, groom them, and brush their teeth. If you have a bed, you can put your pet to bed before you log out. In fact, you are strongly encouraged to do this, that way your pet gets an adequate amount of sleep and doesn't get sick.

Seriously, I love this concept. It's simple enough for younger kids to enjoy, but with enough detail that adults who don't mind playing a kids' game can still have fun with it too. I don't think I want more than one Webkinz pet, though. That just seems like too much for me to keep up with. Unless they put out a Webkinz doxie, in which case all bets are off.

Posted by oracle at 7:22 AM | Comments (0)

July 24, 2008

Crüe Fest

I was looking forward to Crüe Fest since I bought the tickets back in April, and I was not disappointed. It was a BLAST.

My friend Jenny had tickets to Crüe Fest too, so we met up with her and her boyfriend, Ray, beforehand and rode to the show together. They had VIP tickets which gave them access to a VIP area with a bar (and nicer bathrooms!), so we were planning on catching up with them in between sets in one of the common areas, but one of the ladies at the main gate walked us all over to the VIP entrance and asked the people there to give Mike and me VIP wristbands too. We thanked her profusely and rejoiced over the unexpected access to the nicer bathrooms (okay, that may have just been me). We waited in line for a bit to get some concert shirts, then split up to go to our respective seats. Mike and I were happy to see that ours were in the center part of the venue, giving us a great view of the stage.

The first band, Trapt, started playing shortly after we sat down. I enjoyed their show, although the lead singer seemed a little uncomfortable - possibly because half the seats were empty at that point. The next band to go on was Sixx AM, one of Nikki Sixx's side projects. I was so excited to finally see Nikki Sixx live I actually had goosebumps. He kept a pretty low-profile on stage, letting the other guys have more time in the spotlight, so to speak, and I have to tell you, the singer, James Michael, fills out a wife-beater pretty nicely. I was sorry when their set ended for more reasons than one.

Next up was Papa Roach. I'm not much of a fan of theirs, so I took that opportunity to run to the bathroom. Apparently it had started pouring while Trapt was playing so I got drenched on my way too and from the VIP bathrooms, which, by the way, had no line whatsoever, nor were they the icky germ-fest I usually associate with concert-venue bathrooms. I stopped to talk to Jenny and Ray for a few minutes until the downpour got the best of us and we migrated back to our seats again. Mike proclaimed me a drowned rat when I got back, and after wringing the water out of my hair, I bundled up in three of the shirts we'd picked up before sitting down and settled back to wait out the rest of Papa Roach's set. Soon after that I noticed a commotion off to our left, but I couldn't figure out what was going on until Mike pointed out the lead singer making his way down the aisle near us. That was cool enough, but then he topped it by walking on top of the backs of the seats right in front of us. Seriously, he was mere inches away from my face. He walked over to the soundboard area right next to us and finished the song from there, then made his way back to the stage. As I said, I'm not big on their music, but I was pretty impressed with that. What a way to get the crowd pumped up! They played one more song, then cleared off the stage to make way for Buckcherry.

Buckcherry put on a fantastic show. They had great stage presence, and their energy was contagious. It was impossible not to get into the music, and when they started playing "Crazy Bitch" the crowd got into it even more. Josh Todd's lead-in to the song was hilarious, especially when he called out all the chicks who like to think they're "crazy bitches" but really aren't. Energy-wise and musically, they set the stage perfectly for Mötley Crüe.

While the stage was being prepped for Mötley Crüe's show, we met up with Jenny and Ray again and used that time to get some food while we waited. After some fries, cheese pizza, beer (for Mike), and the flattest cup of Dr. Pepper in the universe (seriously, that stuff had no traces of carbonation in it whatsoever. Even Mike said it was horrible, and he's much less picky about flat soda than I am), we went back to our seats and waited for Mötley Crüe to take the stage.

I was looking forward to seeing them play live, but their show went way beyond what I was hoping it would be. They opened with "Kickstart My Heart" and went uphill from there. The singers from all the previous bands joined them onstage for "Saints Of Los Angeles," the crowd response to "Shout At The Devil" was amazing, and I had a blast watching both Nikki Sixx and Vince Neil on stage. Their stage presence is awesome to see live. Several times Nikki took a drink of water, spit some on the audience, then tossed his water bottle into the crowd, and I'll admit, I was a little jealous of the people in the mosh pit for being that close to him. I'm too old to appreciate a damn mosh pit though, no matter how much water I'd have spit on me by Nikki Sixx. I was meh about Vince before this, but seeing him live totally changed my feelings. While I don't have quite the crush on him as I do on Nikki, Vince's stage presence certainly bumped him up to crush status in my book. Watching Mick Mars play was very moving given his medical condition, and I was even more impressed when he bowed to the audience. Poor guy. I'm so glad we got to see him play. As for Tommy Lee, well, I still don't care much for him.

We had to wait a little bit for the gates out to the parking lot to be opened up, but Jenny had a VIP parking pass too, so once we got to her car it didn't take us long to get out of the parking lot and on the road home. It seemed like we were back at her place in no time, and, in spite of the rain, Mike and I got home before 1am.

Mötley Crüe was the highlight of the concert for me, of course, but I really liked seeing Buckcherry and Sixx AM play too. I've got my fingers crossed that there's another Crüe Fest next year, 'cause I'd love to see them again.

Posted by oracle at 7:35 AM | Comments (0)

July 23, 2008

tidying up

My work is having a family-invited event on Friday. In the past I haven't been too excited about these things, but this is a pretty major one, so Mike and I are both going to be attending. I'm pretty excited because this will be the first time he'll have been in my office. I'm preparing by cleaning up like someone getting their house ready for a date to visit, which is funny since I've been with Mike for almost five years, and we've lived together for almost four years. He knows what kind of clutter I am capable of producing, so it's not like a messy desk is going to come as a surprise to him, and yet here I am, tidying up paperwork, wiping down the top of the desk, and making sure everything looks all spiffy for Friday.

Posted by oracle at 1:49 PM | Comments (0)

July 22, 2008

and that's a wrap!

I finished the last part of my final exam today, which makes me officially through with classes, homework, tests, and the like for a month. Life without schoolwork feels gloriously decadent thus far. I can't imagine I'll get tired of it and start longing for the fall term to start up sooner, but we'll see how the rest of the month plays out.

Posted by oracle at 7:53 PM | Comments (0)

July 21, 2008

lots of looking

When I'm not doing homework or laundry or taking out the trash (or playing Webkinz), I am either snuggling with my puppies or taking pictures of them. Sometimes I do both at the same time.

Maddy looking at Jordan looking at me:

Posted by oracle at 7:41 AM | Comments (0)

July 18, 2008

invitation received, mallet freak

That was the title of a spam e-mail I got last week. It cracked me up when I first saw it, and it's had the same result every time I've seen it since then. I don't know why, but it amuses the hell out of me, and, since it makes no sense at all, it fits the bill nicely as a title for this entry. To say that I've not been motivated to write lately would be an extreme understatement, although the lack of motivation has not stemmed from a lack of material. I've seen movies (to include: Kung Fu Panda, Dark Water, Lost Ship, and Sleuth), read books (to include: Franklin and Lucy, The House At Riverton, and Invisible Darkness), and gone to a concert (Crüe Fest :swoon:). I've attended appointments for medical-y things (evaluation to determine whether or not I'm ready to have a hysterectomy; diagnosis: YES) and dealt with the after-effects of medical-y things (my belly button ring is a thing of the past until after the hysterectomy). I've talked myself out of buying things (an iPhone, a pretty shiny watch), and into buying others (DS games, namely, My Weight Loss Coach, Let's Pilates, and Gourmet Chef), found new ways to spend my time (it is called Webkinz, and I love it to tiny little pieces), determined that the sooner my pups get their damn teeth cleaned the better (MY GOD, their breath smells like poo), and played around in the kitchen (I made fudge! and barbecue sauce! from scratch!).

The summer school term is winding down, and by next Wednesday, I will have taken my final exam and be done with homework for a whole month! This is a prospect that fills me with great glee and will result in more free time, time I plan to use to write in greater detail about some of the things mentioned above. I love breaks between semesters!

Posted by oracle at 8:48 AM | Comments (0)

July 2, 2008

puppies and lip gloss and concerts, oh my!

I took the puppies to the vet for their annual check-up on Monday. All the tests came back negative, and Max has lost three pounds! I knew she'd lost weight because she's visibly slimmer (she has a trim little waist again!), but it's nice to know exactly how much weight she's lost. She weighs 11.10 pounds now, Jordan weighs 10.8, and Maddy weighs 9.15, all well in the range of where they should be. The vet said they all looked fantastic and that I was doing a great job of monitoring their body weight, and I preened like a proud dog mama, of course.

I'm in love with Smashbox's O-Gloss. I picked it up after Gemma recommended it, and it is fantastic. It turns a lovely shade of pink on me without looking garish. I've only had since Sunday, but it's already one of my makeup must-haves. Which brings me to my next point.

I am also in love with Philosophy's Amazing Grace. We smelled it on a waitress at Outback a couple of months ago, and it smelled so fantastic that I ordered some from Sephora as soon as we got home. Thankfully, it smells yummy on me too, and since then, it's the only scent I've been wearing. <3 (Interesting note: I like the perfume and the shower gel, but the lotion stinks.)

I have less than a month left of summer school. I cannot put into words how happy I will be to have a break from homework, even if it's less than a month.

We're going to see Mötley Crüe next weekend! SO EXCITED. Jenny won tickets to show, so we're going to be meeting up with them at some point during the evening. If I somehow manage to get Nikki Sixx to autograph me, we're going straight to get that tattooed over before it washes (or sweats :eep:) off. Seriously.

Lately I've been making salami sandwiches with colby jack cheese and mayo on honey wheat bread. It'll take quite a while before I get tired of them, especially with a small serving of Pringles on the side. My arteries are going on strike as we speak.

Posted by oracle at 3:03 PM | Comments (0)

July 1, 2008

Indiana Jones and the Kindom of the Crystal Skull

Mike and I saw Indiana Jones and the Kindom of the Crystal Skull right after we watched The Incredible Hulk. I'm a total Indy fangirl, so I loved it, of course.

*** SPOILERS ***

My main concern before seeing the movie was how Harrison's Ford/Indiana Jones' age was going to be handled. I was afraid it was going to feel like an old, decrepit actor trying to relive his glory years. Thankfully, the movie didn't have that feeling at all. The movie addresses the fact that Indy's older and there are references and jokes to it here and there throughout the whole film - not so many that it gets annoying, though. In fact, the only age-related complaint I have is about the grandpa pants they put Indy in at the beginning of the movie. Who the hell decided that Indiana Jones should be wearing PLEATED PANTS? Hate.

My other major concern was Shia LaBeouf's character, Mutt. I took a disliking to him from the little bit I saw in the previews, but that changed when I actually saw the movie. He played his character very well, and I'm okay with the idea of him continue on the Indiana Jones name, although I would prefer another transition movie with Harrison Ford before Indy retires. I may be looking into it too much, but I'm choosing to interpret the scene at the end when Indy takes his hat out of Mutt's hands after he picked it up off the floor at the wedding as an indicator that Indy's not quite ready to hang it up yet. Whether that's my overactive imagination or the real intention behind the scene, I thought it was a nice touch.

Initially I was very displeased that Marion was going to be included in the movie. I didn't think much of her character in Raiders, and I was anticipating more of the same. I have to admit, though, she was much better than I thought she was going to be. The way they worked her back in fit with the plot, and I was amused by the way she and Indy bickered back and forth, especially when even the Russian told them to shut up.

The movie was very much along the same lines as the other three with the expected whip action and narrow escapes, and I can't imagine that anyone was surprised by Marion's revelation that Mutt was Indy's son. (Side note: one of my favorite parts of the movie is Indy's rapid change of position on Mutt finishing school after he found out he was his father.) I liked the little references back to the previous movies (ex: showing the Ark in the warehouse scene), and I thought it was cute that the mountain in the typical opening shot turned out to be a prarie dog hill. As far as the MacGuffin went, I'm very interested in the Cities of Gold and Central/South American Indians, so the crystal skull premise drew me in, but then, as I mentioned earlier, I'm a hardcore Indy fangirl, so it's not like I watch these movies to pick them apart. As Mike put it, "If you like the others then you will like this movie. You analyze it any more than that then you shouldn't be watching the Indiana Jones movies to begin with."

Posted by oracle at 10:36 AM | Comments (1)

The Incredible Hulk

Mike and I went to see this a couple of weekends ago, hoping that it would live up to the standard set by Iron Man. We weren't disappointed.

***SPOILERS***

Edward Norton was a wonderful choice as Bruce Banner. He was very engaging, drawing me even though I had minimal knowledge of the Hulk going into the movie. I was emotionally invested in him by the time he went back to try to find the data from the experiment on him, and I may or may not have burst into tears when he was hiding from Liv Tyler outside the restaurant.

Liv Tyler was the only negative thing about the movie for me. I think her talent is over-played, and there were only a few times during the movie that I stopped thinking about her as Liv Tyler and thought of her as her character, Betty Ross (Side note: nine times out of ten when I'm talking about Betty Ross, I misspeak and call her Betsy Ross. Damn history classes.), the most notable of which was when she was yelling at the cab driver.

The rest of the cast was well chosen. William Hurt and Eli Roth were both excellent in their roles, and, even though we didn't see much of him, I liked the way Betty's boyfriend played his character too.

The effects were just as good as the casting. Most of the time we didn't get to see Bruce's transformation into the Hulk, but in one scene we get to see it step-by-step, and they did a fantastic job with that.

The movie didn't spend a lot of time on backstory. Instead, they addressed the origins of the Hulk at the beginning of the movie in a montage as the credits played. It was a nice change to not have the first third of the movie dedicated to establishing the character, to be able to get a quick look at it and then jump straight into the movie.

Probably my favorite parts of the movie were the little touches that connected it to Iron Man and the groundwork that's being established for an upcoming Avengers movie - the Stark Industries logo on boxes and weapons throughout the movie, seeing a document with Nick Fury's name and invoices from Stark Industries during the montage at the beginning, and, of course, the Tony Stark cameo at the end of the movie.

Aside from Liv Tyler, the only other thing I didn't like about the movie was the way Bruce's dog was treated in the beginning. If puppies aren't going to meet with a happy end, let's just leave them out of the movie, please.

Posted by oracle at 7:29 AM | Comments (0)

June 9, 2008

I didn't expect them to glue my belly button shut

Last week's surgery was a much better experience than I ever could have imagined. All of the staff was nice and considerate and courteous, the anesthesiologist gave me a shot with a teeny tiny needle to numb up my arm before he put in the iv so I didn't have any pain from that AT ALL, the nurses were fantastic about making sure I was comfortable - keeping me supplied with warm blankets, putting gauze between the IV line and my arm so the cool liquid going through the tubes didn't give me hives, etc. - and they let me read right up until they were wheeling me back to the operating room. When I woke up in recovery they were great about making sure I was comfortable there too, giving me a blanket that hooked up to some heater which kept me warm and cozy while I was waking up, giving me ice to suck on to help my cough, and constantly checking on my pain level. They were appalled to hear that I've been living with a daily pain level between 5 and 8 for the past three months and did their best to keep me as pain-free as possible.

The recovery has been better than I expected also, although I didn't realize quite how much it was going to hurt for the first few days. Even now, close to a week after the procedure, I still get worn out very easily, and lifting anything heavier than my pups is a no-go. My doctor was fantastic about working with me to find a prescription for pain meds that didn't knock me out, so I've got a prescription now that helps with the pain but still allows me to function enough to take them at work if I need to. I have two incisions - one in my belly button and one that appears to be about 1 to 1.5 inches long just above my hip - both of which were closed up with Dermabond, so it feels like my belly button has been glued shut.

Posted by oracle at 8:25 AM | Comments (1)

June 5, 2008

Lego Indiana Jones

As planned, I picked up Lego Indiana Jones on Tuesday, and, holy shit, I love this game so much. It's just as much fun as Lego Star Wars, with the added bonus of Indiana Jones. <3

Posted by oracle at 8:23 AM | Comments (0)

May 28, 2008

now with more surgery!

In one week I'm having laproscopic exploratory surgery to check for endometriosis, adhesions, scarring, etc. It's an outpatient procedure, but I'm more than a little nervous because I'm not sure what to expect for the recovery. The doctor said one to two weeks is what it usually takes people; I'm hoping I'm on the shorter end of that spectrum. My only previous surgery experiences involve wisdom teeth and the removal of two cysts, so it's hard for me to have a feel for how quickly I'll be able to start doing normal stuff (work, picking up kids, taking Mike to and from his vanpool, etc.). I'm sure I'm just over-thinking this, as I tend to do with new procedures, and aferwards I'll look back and think how silly I was to put this much thought into it. For now, though, I'm making a list (OF COURSE) of everything I want to have done by this time next week to make things easier for me as I'm recuperating:
pick up my Lego Indiana Jones game to help keep me entertained once I'm home from the surgery,
pre-make a couple of meals to keep in the freezer JUST IN CASE,
pick up more dog food and treats so I don't have to worry about lugging around a heavy bag while they've just stitched my belly button back together,
wash every piece of dirty laundry in the house so I won't have to worry about it for a few days at least,
repeat that process for the dishes,
vacuum to keep the dust and puppy hairs from mobilizing and taking control of the house while I'm bed-ridden,
lay in a hefty supply of reading material and bottled water upstairs so I won't have to get out of bed for anything except bathroom breaks, and
make sure every area of the house that might possibly be seen by people who are not me or Mike is tidied up because GOD FORBID MY MOM OR SISTER SEE MY HOUSE A MESS.

Posted by oracle at 6:49 AM | Comments (2)

May 27, 2008

Iron Man

We've been to see Iron Man twice now - once as soon as it came out, and then again the following weekend with the kids - and I'd be okay with going to see it every week until it's no longer in theaters. I guess that might be a bit excessive, though. The score is wonderful (I ordered the soundtrack as soon as we got home from seeing it the first time, and that's practically all I've listened to for the past few weeks), the story is excellent, the casting is fantastic, visually it's fantastic - really, I don't think there's anything about this movie I don't like. Gwyneth Paltrow is perfect as Pepper Potts, Terrence Howard is perfect as Rhodey, and Robert Downey, Jr., is so awesome I can't put into words how much I love him as Tony Stark. I'm still trying to convince Mike that we need to change our last name to Stark. He's not buying it so far, but I haven't given up yet. One thing we do agree on, however, is that this movie has set the standard for us when it comes to superhero/comic book movie adaptations.

Posted by oracle at 6:51 AM | Comments (0)

May 18, 2008

how I spent my weekend

The puppies' trainer's chocolate lab Karma just had her first litter - seven purebred chocolate lab pups. As part of their socializing process, I get to go over and play with them, and that's exactly what I did this weekend. Is there any better way to spend an afternoon than playing with fat little chocolate lab pups?

Please pardon the crappy pictures. I meant to take my beloved Nikon D40 but forgot it at the last minute, so I had to resort to my phone's camera.

Posted by oracle at 9:22 PM | Comments (0)

May 14, 2008

I call it the Batmobile, actually

I had an appointment last week with a doctor whose practice has the tiniest parking lot ever. There was one space open when I got there, so that's where I parked, noting as I did so that the car next to me was taking up a little bit of my parking space. I chalked it up to a rushed parking job and took a couple of pictures, just in case something happened to my car when they were leaving, before going in for my appointment.

the parking situation:

The car was gone by the time I left the doctor's office, but its owner did see fit to leave this note under one of my windshield wipers:

And to think I was worried about them scratching up my "pice of crap" when they left.

Posted by oracle at 8:02 AM | Comments (0)

May 11, 2008

Dr. Jones says "Happy Mother's Day!"

For Mother's Day this year Mike and the kids pre-ordered the Lego Indiana Jones DS game for me. I love Indiana Jones as it is, but given how much fun I'm having with my Lego Star Wars game, you can bet your ass I'll be at Game Stop on June 3rd with my nose pressed to the glass, waiting to get my game.

Posted by oracle at 7:39 AM | Comments (0)

May 8, 2008

Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga

I love this game so much. Mike bought it for me the day before my colonoscopy, and I thought it would be a fun way to pass time when I picked it up, but I didn't realize it would take over my life.

The story mode is fun (except for the flying missions - I don't steer my little Lego crafts well!), and I really love being able to go back through the levels on free play. It's not possible to unlock everything in a level in story mode, which I think is neat. I like having areas that I can go back with different characters (a bounty hunter, storm trooper, Sith, etc.) to unlock. I'm stuck in one spot on the last level (a flying level, OF COURSE), but I'm determined to get past that without having to ask Mike or the boys for help. This will be a game I beat by myself, dammit.

Posted by oracle at 8:24 PM | Comments (0)

May 1, 2008

one year with Jordan

A year ago today we officially adopted Jordan. At that time he was very shy, hesitant with us and the puppies. Now he's completely part of the family. He still is more reserved than either Maddy or Max are, but he's much more comfortable than he was those first few months. While he still lies down by himself on occasion, he prefers to be curled up with his siblings, and he's just as likely to initiate a romp around the house as they are now. He is the cutest little man when he prances around with his ears perked up and his tilted to the side. It's very hard not to scoop him up and carry him around all the time so I can constantly cuddle him. Small wonder these dogs are spoiled.

We don't know when his real birthday is, so we mark the date we adopted him as his birthday, which makes him five today. Happy birthday, Jordan!

Posted by oracle at 8:15 AM | Comments (1)

April 30, 2008

I'm fucking tired of needles that don't involve ink

To date I have had several dr. appointments and tests during the process of figuring out what, exactly, is going on. That list looks something like this:

abdominal CT scan
abdominal sonogram
upper GI w/small bowel follow-through
abdominal CT scan w/thin cuts across the pancreas
endoscopy
pelvic exam
pelvic sonogram
colonoscopy
two ER visits
four rounds of bloodwork
seven dr. appointments
twelve prescriptions

My endoscopy came back showing nothing that would cause this, the head of my pancreas is slightly enlarged but that's not the problem, my colonscopy came back looking fine, all of my sonograms have been normal, the upper GI showed that stuff is moving through my system without any noticeable obstructions, and there's nothing in my bloodwork that gives the doctors an idea of what's going on.

I do not have celiac, I don't have gastritis, there is nothing structurally wrong with my gallbladder, I don't have gallstones or tumors or an inflamed bowel, and I don't have a lot of patience left anymore. Today's colonoscopy was the proverbial last straw. I didn't mind the prep too much, but getting the procedure started was what did me in. It hurt like a motherfucker when they put the first IV in, but when the anesthesiologist started to put the sedative in it, it felt like they were tearing out a strip of my arm. As it turned out, the nurse hadn't put the IV in a vein, so they had to put in another one. They started off putting it in one of the veins on my right hand, but apparently there was something wrong with that one too, so they then had to put it in another of the veins on that hand. That was when I hit my limit and started tearing up. I'm ready for them to take out my appendix, gallbladder, and uterus, just in case any of those three are the cause of my pain. If I'm still feeling bad after that, we'll start looking at which other organs I can live without.

Posted by oracle at 7:14 PM | Comments (0)

April 23, 2008

our second anniversary trip

Our anniversary trip was fantastic. We spent the majority of our time away relaxing, doing nothing more taxing than reading and coordinating internet time, although we did make a trip out to pick up some books and have dinner.

The dogs did very well on their first real vacation with us. No one was carsick, there were no accidents at the bed & breakfast, and even though they barked ferociously when they saw the owner's dog, they were amicable enough after the initial furor was over. They do need to get used to traveling, however. Jordan settled down quickly enough in the truck, but Maddy and Max took turns squeaking the entire trip there. They were a little calmer on the way home, thankfully, but I'm still determined to get them used to car trips before our next anniversary. Aside from the traveling, the hardest part for them was staying off the furniture. At home they have their run of whatever furniture they can reach to curl up on, so not jumping up on the chairs was a challenge for them, as was refraining from burrowing under the blanket I put up on the bed for them to lay on. Max in particular had a hard time not doing that, but eventually she gave up (with a huge sigh to let me know she was Not Pleased).

(picture courtesy of Mike)

When we got there on Friday we unloaded the truck, got the dogs settled, and ordered pizza before settling in for our four days of leisure. Saturday was spent in our suite, punctuated only by a quick trip out to get drinks. We debated walking to the nearby gas station but opted to drive because of the angry-looking clouds overhead - a wise decision, as it turned out, because as soon as we pulled onto the road, it started pouring. It would have been quite an uncomfortable walk in that downpour.

Sunday we had intended to spend in our suite as well, but we decided to make that our main trip out. We stopped and picked up some more books and magazines, just in case we ran out, and then had dinner before returning to the bed and breakfast for the evening. We watched The Descent shortly after we got back, and it's a good thing I hadn't seen it before our last trip there. There is no way Chicken Little here would have wanted to go see the caverns fresh on the heels of that movie!

Monday was pretty much a repeat of Saturday - lots of napping, reading, and relaxing, with a trip out for drinks thrown in for good measure. I did walk to a local grocery store, but that was the only real change in our routine.

We didn't have to check out until noon on Tuesday, so we were able to have a nice leisurely morning, sleeping in and taking our time getting everything packed up. We made our now-customary stop at the Blue Ridge Pottery studio so I could pick up more things for our kitchen.

(picture courtesy of Mike)

Posted by oracle at 6:05 PM | Comments (0)

April 17, 2008

can you believe I haven't started packing yet?

We're leaving tomorrow after work for our anniversary trip. We're going to be gone until Tuesday, and this year we're taking the dogs with us. Normally I would have already started packing by now or have a checklist made at the very least, but I've not even done that. I did call the vet to see about getting something to have on hand for the pups in case they don't handle the trip well, so I guess that counts for something.

Posted by oracle at 2:32 PM | Comments (0)

April 16, 2008

What would Mötley Crüe do?

I just bought our tickets to see Mötley Crüe at Crüe Fest this summer, and I'm beyond excited about the show. Eep! Neither of us have seen them play before (which, given the amount of concerts Mike has been to, is something that doesn't happen often), and since Mike's the one who introduced me to them, I love that we're going to see them for the first time together.

Posted by oracle at 7:14 AM | Comments (0)

April 15, 2008

the Diva update

After road-testing my diva cup, I am an enthusiastic convert. Seriously, it's hard for me to keep from leaping around the room throwing flowers in the air, I'm that enthusiastic about it. It's comfortable, there's practically no leakage, and it's nice to have the freedom to forget about it for almost the entire day. Sure, emptying it out can be a bit messy, but I love knowing that I'm not using tampons anymore. Another tiny choice that fits well with my life. <3

Posted by oracle at 6:46 AM | Comments (0)

April 9, 2008

a little ball of grouch

I am grouchy x10000000 today. So far the only person to have crossed my path today who hasn't irritated me is Mike. Only two more hours till I can go home and not have to deal with anyone who's not part of my family until tomorrow, and God help the Jehovah's Witnesses if they knock on my door today.

Posted by oracle at 12:24 PM | Comments (0)

April 4, 2008

music just for me

I wasn't in Borders long when I went last week, but I was there long enough for them to play Bryan Adam's "Heaven," and Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart." <3

Posted by oracle at 4:54 AM | Comments (0)

April 3, 2008

From the Screen to Your Stereo, Vol. 2

New Found Glory covering "Hungry Eyes" and "The King of Wishful Thinking"? I'm in love. In fact, I'm kinda crushing on the whole album, especially the afore-mentioned songs and "Iris," "Crazy For You," "Stay (I Missed You)," and "The Promise." I predict that my co-workers are going to be hearing this album on repeat tomorrow.

Posted by oracle at 8:23 PM | Comments (2)

Zodiac

We watched this a couple of weeks ago, and holy shit, it was longer than I expected. Good, but loooooong, especially when the plan was to pop the movie in at 7:30 and go to bed at 9:30. HA. I guess we should've looked at the movie's running time beforehand. Aside from the "Sweet weeping Moses, when will it END?" moments after the two-hour mark had come and gone, I liked the movie a lot. I used to not really care much for Jake Gyllenhal, but now I like him more and more with each movie I see him in, and Zodiac was no different. I liked his character and the way he played him, although it was hard for me to buy him as a dad. Robert Downey Jr.'s character was appealling, too. Now I need to read the book it was based on.

Posted by oracle at 12:34 PM | Comments (0)

April 2, 2008

something to think about


Posted by oracle at 5:09 AM | Comments (0)

April 1, 2008

a glimpse into my last few weeks

The last few weeks haven't been my best ever.

I've been to the ER:

Had a CT scan and a handful of other tests (+ bloodwork out the wazoo):

Had a gajillion appointments at which I was given more prescriptions than I care to think about - none of which worked, except the pain meds:

Had to collect poo samples for analysis (ick):

And I still don't know what's going on or why I'm having such horrible pains.

Posted by oracle at 9:31 PM | Comments (2)

March 24, 2008

a first in my medical history

I had blood drawn today, and, for a change, when the nurse told me I would barely feel a thing, she was right. Normally I detest having blood drawn, but this time really wasn't bad at all. I didn't get light-headed, I didn't throw up, and I didn't pass out. I'm going to request that nurse every time I need to have blood drawn at that office from now on.

Posted by oracle at 8:02 PM | Comments (0)

March 19, 2008

one ringy dingy

Somehow I made it through 27 years without having a Ding Dong, a fact which Mike determined to remedy as soon as he found it out, and damn if he didn't. We made an emergency stop at a grocery store to pick up a box, and now I can no longer say I've never had a Ding Dong. They're damn good, too.

Posted by oracle at 10:22 AM | Comments (2)

March 18, 2008

every homework assignment finished is one less that I have to do

I looked at my degree progress (slow) on Friday and realized that I am not as far away from my goal as I thought. After the current semester is over I'll only have ten classes left to take before I'll have my Associates degree. I'm going to be taking one of those classes over the summer (ick), which means I'll only have nine classes left at the beginning of the fall term, and that means I'll have a degree in just a smidge over two years from that point.

Posted by oracle at 3:45 PM | Comments (0)

March 17, 2008

a Monday night list

I'm already ready for bed but not too tired to give you a quick list of things I know:

Posted by oracle at 8:09 PM | Comments (0)

March 16, 2008

the universe doesn't want me to own a van anymore

Mike and I have been talking about getting rid of our van lately, and after tossing around ideas of selling it or trading it in, we decided to donate it. The only thing holding this plan back was finding the title for the van. We paid it off back in 2004, and I know we have the title somewhere in my stacks of papers, but I couldn't find it right away. However, the universe made things easy on me yesterday by including an envelope from the DMV with the title for the van in it when I went to get the mail. Neither Mike nor I had requested another copy, and, as I mentioned, the van has been paid off for almost four years now, so unless there is some program where they mail people new titles every four years or so, I can't think of any reason for them to send it except as a giant nudge prompting me to get off my ass and get rid of the van. WEIRD.

Posted by oracle at 9:59 AM | Comments (0)

March 14, 2008

in which our heroine overthinks things, AS USUAL

I am growing my hair out and, for the first time in almost 10 years, letting it go back to its natural color. I love having pretty red hair, but it's been forever since I saw what my hair looked like naturally, so I'm giving it a go. I'm nervous about it because I feel like I look like a colorless ghost without my red hair, but if I look as washed-out as I'm worried I will, all I have to do is go in and have it colored back, and, voila! Red hair again! That doesn't make me any less nervous about it, though, and then on top of that I feel ridiculous for feeling nervous about my HAIR COLOR.

Posted by oracle at 11:44 AM | Comments (0)

March 13, 2008

my mom wishes this would've happened YEARS ago

I've become one of those people who has to have the bed made. For years this was not the case, as one might gather from the title, but it's finally happened, and this gives me hope that maybe one day I'll be one of those people who always hangs up/puts away their clothes, too. This is a fairly new realization, though. I was running late on Monday, so I didn't stop to make the bed like I've been making an effort to do since the beginning of the year. At the time it bothered me, leaving the house with the bed unmade, and it REALLY bothered me after I got home as soon I went upstairs and saw the messy bed. Even with all the clutter on the floor by my side of the bed, the room looks somewhat put together as long as the bed is made, but with the sheets and quilts all rumpled and the pillows tossed on it haphazardly, it was a very disquieting picture, and that's when I realized that I never want to leave the house with the bed unmade again. Too bad this didn't occur to me when I was a teenager.

Posted by oracle at 4:57 PM | Comments (0)

I could eat this stuff all day

I'd moved away from microwave popcorn when I started making my own, but Orville Redenbacher's Natural buttery garlic popcorn is enough to reel me back in. This stuff is so good I gave serious consideration to licking the bowl when I was done with the popcorn. SO GOOD.

WW note: this stuff comes in individual serving-size bags and is only one point. <3

Posted by oracle at 11:01 AM | Comments (0)

March 12, 2008

expanding my comfort zone

The more I read about reusing things and sustainability, the more I think about how I can apply those ideas to my own situation. Our family generates a lot of trash, and while that's something I'd like to minimize, I don't want to completely upend the entire household over something that hinges on my personal feelings about the environment, etc., which fits well with my decision to make small changes where I can. In light of this, I've decided to give the DivaCup a try. I'd been thinking for a month or so about switching to organic tampons when I read an article about the DivaCup and other products in the same vein. The article gave me a better understanding than I'd originally had of how they work, and since I love the idea of washable pantyliners (another tiny choice!), I went ahead and bought this Lunapads/DivaCup kit yesterday. I have some reservations about trusting a little cup to keep me from bleed-through humiliation, but I'm happy to try it and see what I think. If it works well for me, then it'll be one more tiny choice towards reducing my impact, and if it doesn't, well, I can always re-visit the organic tampon plan.

Posted by oracle at 1:40 PM | Comments (0)

I may end up liking vegetables after all

One of the advantages of Weight Watchers is that it's making me more adventurous food-wise. I have a spaghetti squash that I'm going to be cooking either tonight or tomorrow, and I'm making a eggplant lasagna dish on Friday, both things I probably wouldn't be trying if I weren't counting points and trying to make the most out of my food choices.

Posted by oracle at 11:58 AM | Comments (0)

March 11, 2008

what would happen if I drank a Coke?

"20 minutes: Your blood sugar spikes, causing an insulin burst. Your liver responds to this by turning any sugar it can get its hands on into fat. (There’s plenty of that at this particular moment)"

Healthbolt's "What Happens To Your Body If You Drink A Coke Right Now?" article was a very interesting read, especially in light of my recent decision to quit soda (which is proving to be much harder than I thought, by the way). I knew Coke had a lot of sugar, but 10 teaspoons? Yikes.

Posted by oracle at 2:36 PM | Comments (0)

why my husband is the best husband in the world

The following is just a small random sampling of the gajillion reasons why Mike is the best husband evar:

When I had to work late last week and was craving lasagna, he tried to get lasagna for me, and when that fell through, he made sure I came home to a more than acceptable substitute - pizza and cheese-bread.

I started Weight Watchers this weekend, and he offered to start following the points system too, just to be supportive of me.

He went to the grocery store with me on Sunday, even though it was much later than either of us usually likes to be out running errands on a Sunday, and he was EXTREMELY patient with me, even when we had to backtrack because my list wasn't very organized.

Posted by oracle at 12:37 PM | Comments (0)

I could talk about them all day, really

I love my pups to little tiny pieces. Even when I'm irritated at them (it happens occasionally) I'm still always ready to scoop them up for a snoogle, and I know that even if I've just yelled at them (this also happens occasionally), they'll still be ready to give me puppy kisses. HOWEVER. If Jordan does not stop eating his way through trash bags (particularly in Mike's office!), it is entirely possible that he will finish out the rest of his days as a wee pair of black-and-tan slippers. I really need to keep a better eye on him.

Posted by oracle at 9:43 AM | Comments (0)

March 10, 2008

The Fog

We watched the remake of The Fog Sunday night, and it scared the shit out of me. I was so jittery I didn't even want to get down from the bed to pick up the remote when it fell off. I was seriously freaked out. I enjoyed it, though, and I'm looking forward to watching the original version next.

***SPOILERS***

I liked the way the story alternated back and forth between what had happened so long ago and the present day events. I'm not a big fan of Smallville, but I thought Tom Welling was yummy, and I felt bad for him at the end when Elizabeth disappeared. I don't blame the original four guys for not wanting the lepers on their island (just looking at some of them made me cringe, movie or no), but what they did was pretty horrible. Too bad the lepers didn't have their revenge on them instead of their descendants.

PS: I'm SO glad I hadn't seen this before we went on our honeymoon, otherwise our drive through that creepy fog would've been much more nerve-wracking for me!

Posted by oracle at 8:18 PM | Comments (0)

I have enough prescriptions of my own

"We know we are being exposed to other people's drugs through our drinking water, and that can't be good," says Dr. David Carpenter, who directs the Institute for Health and the Environment of the State University of New York at Albany.

Holy hell. What are things coming to when even WATER isn't necessarily safe for us?

Posted by oracle at 10:05 AM | Comments (0)

in which our heroine stops eating everything that isn't nailed down

I started Weight Watchers this weekend, and I am extremely excited about it. I love the idea of having more structure to what I eat during the day, I am very goal-oriented (in that I feel fantastic when I achieve a goal, not that I pursue them relentlessly, sadly), and I like things that don't require a ton of thought right off the bat. This program works with all of those, and the fact that I can eat anything I want is a bonus. Granted, if I snarf down two pieces of pizza for breakfast that just about does me in points-wise for the day, so I will have to practice some moderation, but overall it seems like it's a good fit for me. I'm nervous about telling people, though, because, like the parenting class I took last summer, I feel like this is something I will be judged for, and I HATE that. Why should someone look down on me for trying to make myself better? And then I get angry for worrying about what people will think because it is my life. But acknowledging that doesn't make me less hesitant, in fact, I was even reluctant to tell Mike about it! I did tell him, and my mom and sister, too, but that felt horribly awkward, like when I told them I was seeing a counselor. Man, it is so hard for me to admit I'm not perfect.

The one thing I do not like about WW so far is the group aspect. I don't enjoy going to meetings for anything, and I don't need or want a bunch of strangers to give me support or celebrate my progress; I just want to get my materials and get started, thank you, good-bye. This isn't about losing weight - although I was horrified to see the scale stop at 146 on Saturday - it's about being healthier. I have a hard time making good choices when left to my own devices, and this is a good way to motivate me to make better ones.

Posted by oracle at 8:11 AM | Comments (2)

March 7, 2008

spring forward? can I opt out?

I can't stand the Spring Forward part of Daylight Savings Time. In fact, as much as I love the extra hour we get from Fall(ing) Back, I would be perfectly happy just skipping the whole DST thing altogether. Let it get dark when it's supposed to get dark, and let the sun rise when it's supposed to rise. Why do we have to try to mess with EVERYTHING?

Posted by oracle at 10:00 AM | Comments (0)

March 6, 2008

PSA #42

If you want to get a box of individual-serving orange juice cartons from Costco, double check to make sure you're not getting a box of four quart-sized containers instead.

Posted by oracle at 8:33 AM | Comments (0)

March 5, 2008

humane standards

I think it sucks that we as society need to have terms that let people know that the animals meat, dairy, and/or eggs have come from were humanely treated. The fact that there is a program that certifies that those animals have been provided with bedding and given access to sufficient food and water and a safe living environment t tells me there is a need to have such a program, and that makes me sick. I understand animals aren't humans, but I don't see why that means they should be mistreated, especially if these animals are providing us with food. The more I learn about this topic, the more disgusted I am.

Posted by oracle at 11:48 AM | Comments (0)

March 4, 2008

Girl Scout cookies? I'll pass, thanks

I have five boxes of Girl Scout cookies (three boxes of Tag-A-Longs, one box of Thin Mints, and one box of Samoas) sitting on my desk, staring at me, and I'm not even the slightest bit tempted by them. Hell is freezing over as I type.

Posted by oracle at 9:21 AM | Comments (2)

March 3, 2008

spring break means no homework!

This week is spring break for me, and knowing that I don't have to do any homework or take any tests is a luxury. How am I going to spend the time? Working ahead so I'll have a bit of a cushion for the next couple of assignments in each class. There will probably be some gaming (Burnout: Revenge or Psychonauts, most likely), too, though.

Posted by oracle at 1:31 PM | Comments (0)

March 1, 2008

off the sauce

Or soda, as it were. Karinne and I are quitting teh Coke, a feat that will test my resolve at work and when we go out to eat. I don't drink much soda at home, but when I'm in a restaurant I like to have a Coke (no ice) with my meal, and when I'm at work I've been known to indulge in a moon pie and a can of Coke for breakfast. I'm planning to bypass the temptation by resolving to drink water (with lots of ice) at restaurants and to find another solution to get me through at work.

Posted by oracle at 9:59 AM | Comments (0)

February 29, 2008

you have a new revenge rival

Mike bought me a present yesterday - Burnout: Revenge for the 360. We have it for the Xbox, but it's not backwards compatible with the 360, so if I wanted to play it, I had to fire up the Xbox. That's not a big deal, but it is an inconvenience, so I haven't played it much since we got the 360. Until yesterday. I spent a good couple of hours playing it, at first just trying to get familiar with the controls again (there was an embarassing stretch where I couldn't figure out how to accelerate. Luckily Mike was in the bathroom at the time and wasn't there to witness my ineptitude), and then trying to rank up. I unlocked a couple of cars, a handful of events, and ranked up a couple of times before going to bed, and I can't wait to play some more this weekend.

Posted by oracle at 1:25 PM | Comments (0)

February 28, 2008

Paparazzi

Mike and I watched Paparazzi this afternoon, and it's another movie I'm glad we Netflixed instead of buying.

***SPOILERS***

The main thing I didn't like about the movie was the way I felt after watching it. I was hoping that the detective (it would've been an awesome touch if they'd had Peter Faulk play the detective) wouldn't catch Bo (the main character, played by Cole Hauser, who was also in The Break-Up), but after seeing what he did to the paparazzi, I felt kind of guilty for cheering for him. He should've been the good guy, not someone who stooped to their level. Anyways, the one thing I liked about Paparazzi was the way they worked in cameos. In one scene, Mel Gibson is sitting in the waiting room when Bo leaves his anger management appointment. Chris Rock delivers a pizza to Bo's house, Vince Vaughn is on set when Bo is working on a movie (I LOVE Vince's lines in that scene), and Matthew McConaughey introduces himself to Bo and his family when they're at a movie premier.

An interesting note: the paparazzi with the English accent (played by Tom Hollander) played Lord Cutler Beckett in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and PotC:At World's End.

Posted by oracle at 8:49 PM | Comments (0)

February 26, 2008

better than oatmeal

The best food for breakfast after a night of broken sleep and an upset stomach? Coke and a moon pie, OF COURSE. My stomach isn't upset anymore, but my teeth are disintegrating with every bite.

Posted by oracle at 7:32 AM | Comments (2)

February 25, 2008

As Good As It Gets

We watched this after The Break-Up, and it was just what I needed to see - a warm, funny, cute movie that left me feeling much better than when I started watching it. The way Jack Nicholson played Melvin was fantastic.

***SPOILERS***

I started off the movie hating him (he put a dog down the trash chute!), and by the time the movie finished I was hoping he'd get a happily ever after with Helen Hunt. Greg Kinnear was great as Simon, and I LOVED his interaction with Melvin towards the end of the movie. I also loved the way Cuba Gooding Jr.'s character got Melvin to help out. Of course, one of my favorite things about the movie was the way Melvin and the dog got so attached to each other. It was definitely a movie to watch snuggled up with my husband and pups.

Posted by oracle at 7:49 AM | Comments (0)

The Break-Up

Mike and I watched The Break-Up Saturday night. It was a good movie, but I didn't like it much, mostly because it was very uncomfortable to watch.

***SPOILERS***


The fights they had, the things they said to each other, all of those struck too close to home more often than I would have liked. Brooke (Jennifer Anniston's character) should've spelled things out for him before they go to the breaking point, Gary (Vince Vaughn's character) should've paid more attention and given more of himself before she broke down; she shouldn't have broken up with him, hoping he'd realize what a mess his life would be without her, he shouldn't have acted like the break-up wasn't bothering him. The scene at the concert when she was waiting for him broke my heart as I reconnected to all the times I'd felt like that. I kept thinking (hoping) they'd get back together in the next scene, right until the credits started rolling. I know a happy ending wouldn't have been very realistic after all that, but I was hoping for one all the same.

I did like the way Brooke's friend (played by Joey Lauren Adams) didn't just agree with her on everything. It was nice to see her let Brooke know she wasn't handling things very well sometimes. I also liked the way Gary and Brooke got together at the beginning of the movie and the way Gary's friend Johnny O kept talking about finding someone to take care of the guy Gary thought Brooke was seeing. Justin Long was funny as Brooke's co-worker (quite a change from seeing him in Jeepers Creepers!), and I really liked the way Judy Davis played Brooke's boss.

Posted by oracle at 7:45 AM | Comments (0)

February 24, 2008

PSA #41

Putting a mattress cover on is a tremendous pain in the ass. Make sure you're putting it on the right way so you don't have to wrestle with it twice in one day.

Posted by oracle at 7:24 PM | Comments (0)

February 15, 2008

Valentine's Day - 2008

Mike and I decided to keep Valentine's Day pretty low-key this year - no big presents for each other, just cards or something along those lines (although he did give me a early in the morning). The rest of the day was spent napping, sitting in waiting rooms, crocheting, talking to doctors, picking up kidlets, and taking a quiz. As a result I have three new prescriptions, the go-ahead on the mostly-vegetarian eating plan I'm thinking about, a slightly skewed sleep schedule, the warm feeling I've been getting lately when all of our family is together under one roof, and an 85 on that damn quiz. Oh, and a handful of these:

I found the pattern yesterday morning, and I immediately grabbed a crochet hook and some yarn so I could try it out. The trial heart turned out so well I went ahead and made one for each of the kids for Valentine's Day, and now I'm trying to figure out which project I want to use them in first: on cards or as embellishments for a cardigan for H.

Posted by oracle at 4:08 PM | Comments (0)

February 13, 2008

stupid stomach

I'm not sure what the deal is, but recently my stomach has been very decisive about its likes and dislikes. Fresh bananas? Ok. Reading about anything with bananas as a main ingredient (other than banana bread)? NOT OKAY. Peanut butter on apples? Yum! Any kind of baked good involving peanut butter? VOMIT. I'm not a fan of sausage under any circumstances (unless it's kielbasa, that's good stuff), but now I can't even stand to smell the stuff, much less cook it. And even though I've never had a problem with ground beef before, the smell of it cooking does me in now, too. I'm seriously considering asking Mike to take over the meat-browning duties for the foreseeable future.

Posted by oracle at 10:56 AM | Comments (0)

February 12, 2008

a tiny choice

I've been thinking a lot about finances lately, and being environmentally conscious seems to be an issue that often goes hand in hand with living frugally. One of the green sites I've been reading recently is Tiny Choices. The idea of making changes little by little is much easier for me to get behind than the idea of changing how I do everything, so I've been mulling over how I do things and ways I could make tiny choices to change. The first tiny choice I'm consciously making is my decision to hang-dry all of my clothes except for my jeans. Right now this means I'm putting all my clothes on hangers to dry, but as the weather gets nicer, I'm thinking about talking to Mike about putting up a removable clothesline on our deck. Our HOA won't let us keep one up there all the time, which I understand - they can be kind of tacky sometimes, so I'm thinking about a set-up that would let me put the line up when I need to hang clothes on it and take it down when I'm done. Until then, however, laundry days at our house will see my clothes hanging in doorways to dry.

Posted by oracle at 10:35 AM | Comments (0)

February 5, 2008

PSAs: special edition

(This list is a result of the conversation Mike and I had after watching The Texas Chainsaw Massacres: The Beginning.)

1. If someone's in the house with you, NEVER run back upstairs unless you feel up to diving out a window.
2. Never go into a dark basement. It doesn't matter if the light switch just isn't working, a fuse is blown, or the power in the whole house is out - it's a BAD IDEA.
3. If you hear a noise, don't go check it out. Assume it is not the cat, dog, or a squirrel and prepare for the worst-case scenario (ax murder/serial killer/supernatural creature, etc.) instead.
4. Don't fool yourself into thinking a piece of wood is adequate protection. Sure, if it's pointy at one end it'll help you take out the vampires coming after you, but you'll need more than that to stop the serial killer that's been terrorizing the surrounding neighborhoods recently. If you have a gun, check to make sure it's loaded. Then check again, just in case.
5. If your friends get taken somewhere, you can follow them to see where they end up (so you know where to bring help), but DON'T GO IN AFTER THEM. Even if you're in some deserted area, one way on the highway and start walking. You've got to find something eventually.
6. If you've been captured and you're being held in a deserted area, don't scream for no reason. If the skin is being flayed off your arm, okay, go ahead and scream, but if you're just tied to a table leg or something, shut up and conserve your energy for when it'll do you some good.

Posted by oracle at 11:43 AM | Comments (1)

The Texas Chainsaw Massacres: The Beginning

Mike and I watched The Texas Chainsaw Massacres: The Beginning Saturday night. It was another one of those movies I'm glad we didn't buy. It was okay to watch once, but I don't see myself ever feeling like taking the time to watch it again.

(interesting tidbit courtsey of IMDB: the guy that played Eric also plays Bryce Larkin on "Chuck.")

Posted by oracle at 10:02 AM | Comments (0)

February 4, 2008

a late day

I wasn't feeling good this morning, so I slept in and didn't get to work till 9:45. The upside? MOAR SLEEP. The downside? Working till 6:15. Although I have to confess, the day has gone by much quicker than I thought it would.

random things I'm loving today:

Posted by oracle at 5:21 PM | Comments (0)

January 30, 2008

goal progress - January '08

I did better than I thought I would with the goals I set for myself for January. Some of them I wasn't as committed to as others (read: giving up soda), but I only slipped twice on the candy one, and didn't miss it all the rest of the time. (The first time I slipped on it I didn't even think about the fact that what I was eating was candy until I looked at the box. Seeing "See's Candies" was a jolting reminder that it was still candy, even though it hadn't come in the wrapped form I'm so used to. Oops.) I did slightly better on curbing my impulse spending, although still not as well as I'd have liked, and I didn't slip at all on any of my savings goals. I'm thinking about which goals I want to carry over into February and which new ones I want to add to my list.

Posted by oracle at 8:04 PM | Comments (0)

January 29, 2008

my little scavenger dog

We had pizza over the weekend, and when the box was ready for the trash, I put it behind the trash can, thinking it would be safe enough there until I took it down to the garage. That would have been the case, I'm sure, if Jordan wasn't such a little scavenger. I was changing over some laundry when Mike asked what the weird noises from the kitchen were. When I got upstairs and poked my head in the kitchen, I saw that Jordan had gotten the pizza box out from behind the trash can and had dragged it into the dogs' bed in the corner of the kitchen. He was lying there with one of his paws on it possessively while he was industriously tearing up the cardboard, and he was quite put out when I took the box away from him. Really, nothing under two feet high is safe from him.

Posted by oracle at 7:51 PM | Comments (2)

January 28, 2008

Saw IV

Mike and I just finished watching Saw IV a little bit ago, and from what I saw through my fingers, I think it's gorier than any of the other three.

*** SPOILERS ***

The autopsy scene was HORRIBLE. I usually don't feel nauseous from watching things (I just shriek and flap my hands while I look away), but I had to breathe shallowly to make it through this part without throwing up. The washed out look of the autopsy room and the people in it was a nice contrast to the blood and guts as they were performing the autopsy. Seeing that fat guy's eyes get poked out then his limbs ripped apart was awful, as was watching that one chick's scalp get pulled off. Even using my usual method of peeking through my fingers didn't make it any easier to see. Ugh.

The one thing I heard most about this movie was how much it jumped around, but after watching it all the way through, I don't think it jumped around as much as I'd heard it did. Sure there were plenty of flashbacks, but all of those were obviously flashbacks. Once Mike and I figured out where the movie was in the timeline, we were set.

Scott Patterson (Luke from "Gilmore Girls") was one of the main characters, and while I love him to pieces as Luke, he was not cut out for the role of a grouchy hardassed FBI agent.

I liked the way the very end tied in with the end of Saw 3, and I'm looking forward to Saw 5 so I can get some answers to the questions they left unanswered. I'm not looking forward to the gore, though.

Posted by oracle at 10:16 PM | Comments (0)

January 27, 2008

PSA #40

If the past two weeks have been spent grumbling about itchy ears and eyes plus other random itchy spots, it's time to go see your goddamn allergist already.

Posted by oracle at 1:52 PM | Comments (0)

January 26, 2008

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

We watched Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End with the kids over the weekend, and, like PotC: Dead Man's Chest, it was much better than I was anticipating.

***SPOILERS***

I didn't like Kiera Knightly - she seems too skinny and sqwaky for a piratess - and I was very upset that Jack Davenport got killed. I thought the Calypso/Davy Jones thread was interesting, although I was a little disappointed at the way that turned out. Even though I hated Orlando Bloom's character, Will Turner, for the first two PotC movies, I really liked him in this one, and I was crushed when he was killed. I've heard rumors that this is the last PotC movie they'll be making, at least with these characters. If that's true, I'm glad because I don't want them to run the franchise into the ground - I'd much rather have them end on a high note - but I'm bummed because some of these characters (Will, Jack, I'm looking at you) are appealing. I would like to see them replace Kiera Knightly, though. Catherine Zeta Jones would be a much better piratess, I think.

Posted by oracle at 10:01 PM | Comments (0)

January 25, 2008

PSA #39

When your one of your toenails is long enough to leave a half-inch long gash on one of your toes, it's time to cut them. IMMEDIATELY.

Posted by oracle at 12:02 PM | Comments (0)

January 24, 2008

sugar cookies in a tube

Things I am loving right now:

Posted by oracle at 8:46 PM | Comments (0)

January 23, 2008

Hollywoodland

We watched this after we watched The Prestige, and all I have to say about watching the two movies back to back is, don't. Even though The Prestige sort of ends on a happy note, overall the ending left me feeling very angry and unsettled - a feeling Hollywoodland did nothing to dispel.

***SPOILERS***

I was very interested in the premise of the movie, (due in part, I'm sure to my recent interest in true crime) but, as with The Black Dahlia, the execution of the movie was not what I was hoping for. Ben Affleck was not engaging at all as George Reeves. I'm not sure if it's because of the way the character was written or if it was just Ben Affleck's portrayal of him, but Reeves came across as kind of annoying. By the time things were winding down, I was ready to smack him and tell him to stop moping and start making some changes already.

Adrien Brody was good as the private detective, but his storyline was pretty bleak, too. Seeing his interaction with his son and ex-wife was painful, and not even the implied reconciliation with his son at the end could counteract that. The sight of him staggering drunk, trying to pick his son up from school, was hard to bounce back from. Molly Parker played his ex-wife, and even though all of the scenes she was in were awkward, it was neat seeing her in this, especially so soon after we'd been watching "Deadwood."

Unlike The Black Dahlia, Hollywoodland didn't wrap things up neatly, solving the murder for the audience. Did George Reeves shoot himself or was he murdered? If he was murdered, did his fiancee (played by Robin Tunney) kill him? Was it his former girlfriend or her husband? I don't like leaving things unresolved, and I feel this movie did that on both storyline fronts.

Posted by oracle at 1:46 PM | Comments (0)

January 22, 2008

from this life to the next

My sister called me at 4:44 today to tell me that she'd just heard that Heath Ledger had been found dead in New York. I hoped it was just a rumor until I saw all the news articles saying the same thing, then the reality of it started to sink in. I feel silly for being this upset over the death of someone I'd never met, but this is very sad news for me. I've been a fan of his since I first saw him in Roar back in 1997, which means I've been following his career for over ten years. Even though I loved some of his other movies (particularly 10 Things I Hate About You and A Knight's Tale), he'll always be Conor first in my mind.

Posted by oracle at 9:07 PM | Comments (0)

January 21, 2008

bad dreams - I has them

Funny Pictures
moar funny pictures

I would really, really like to have one night this month where I do not wake up in a cold sweat, terrified by another stupid nightmare. I'm even willing to offer up small furry animals to make sure this happens.

Posted by oracle at 7:13 PM | Comments (0)

January 18, 2008

me vs. the dust mites

Since we just bought the new bed, Mike and I decided that now was the time to finally get the special covers for the mattress, box spring, and pillows, too. The box with all the covers was waiting for me when I got home Tuesday, so one of my projects this weekend is going to be washing all the covers and outfitting the bed appropriately. I have to confess, I feel a little silly doing all this, like I'm going overboard with all the dust mite stuff, although I guess I'd rather go a little overboard and feel better than not do enough and still feel crappy.

Posted by oracle at 11:25 AM | Comments (0)

January 17, 2008

a little bit of Christmas every month

My plan is to do more handmade things (ornaments, afghans, quilts, cooking mixes, etc.) this year for Christmas, but in order for that to happen on top of everything else without completely overwhelming me, I need to work on it a little at a time. My goal is to work on something each month so I can break things down into more manageable chunks, but January is already half over, and I haven't even begun thinking about what Christmas item I'm going to work on this month. Karinne and I are going to be doing craftly things on Saturday - I think that'll be a perfect time to get started.

Posted by oracle at 7:55 AM | Comments (0)

January 16, 2008

The Prestige

We watched The Prestige on Monday. All I really knew about it was that it was about two rival magicians, and one kills the others wife. Since it was about magicians, ignorantly I was expecting something very similar to The Illusionist, and in some respects it was almost exactly what I expected, but then in others it was very different.

***SPOILERS***

I didn't realize we'd see it go back and forth, from the end of the story to the very beginning to the end again to the middle, etc. It was initially very confusing, however, after seeing the whole thing, I'm glad they did it that way; it gave the movie the feel of a puzzle.

On a side note, Christian Bale with that faux British accent was very hard to take seriously until after I got more engaged in the movie, and even then it was hard to buy at times. I found it quite amusing that his character's name was Alfred, given that Michael Caine co-starred in the movie, and it was fun to watch the two of them interact in a different way than they did onscreen in Batman Begins. Even with all the clips we saw I didn't ever get attached to Christian Bale's wife, Sarah, but I did feel a little sad during that last fight they had when she asked him if he loved her and his reply was, "No. Not today." Similarly, I never cared much for Scarlett Johannsen's character, although my heart did break a little for her when Hugh Jackman sent her off to spy on Christian Bale. The scene where she told him to leave his family at home where they belonged while he was with her made it hard for me to be sympathetic when she was trying to get him to open up about his feelings for Sarah after she had killed herself.

When Hugh Jackman's wife died early on in the movie I wasn't emotionally invested enough to feel anything other than a twinge of sympathy. Same thing when Christian Bale's fingers were shot off. But as the movie led up to Christian Bale's execution, seeing his interaction with his daughter, his love for her, and the anguish of not being able to be there for her, there was no question about it - I hated Hugh Jackman's character. HATED. I don't care that he lost his wife. I don't care that Christian Bale might have been responsible for her death. I didn't care that they'd been rivals for several years. The way he set things up was despicable. And dooming his other selves to death every night in that water tank? Almost as bad. Mike picked up on that immediately, by the way. As soon as we flashed back to the scene where Christian Bales is trying to break into the water tank, Mike commented, "I bet that's how he gets rid of his double every night," and sure enough, it was.

The only thing I can't quite wrap my mind around is this: which Hugh Jackman died in the water tank each night? Was it the original one, the one who had started the magic show? Or was it the new one, who had been created? Mike and I tossed the question around briefly after the movie, but came to no resolution. The only way to know that, I think, is to know what happens when that electricity zaps an object. Does it get transported to a certain point while a duplicate is created in its place? Or does the original object remain fixed while a duplicate is created at that other point? I think, based on Hugh Jackman's reaction when Christian Bale was below-stage while he was drowning, that the original Hugh Jackman was transported to the other point, and the duplicate fell into the water tank, which is why he had no idea what was happening. But then, that's just a guess, because the movie didn't really spell that out for us.

Posted by oracle at 1:16 PM | Comments (0)

an uncomfortable truth

As seen on Debtspiration:

The list of reasons for not doing very well in your life is actually a very short list. It should contain only your name.
— Larry Winget, You’re Broke Because You Want to Be

Posted by oracle at 8:02 AM | Comments (0)

January 15, 2008

not flea, pea

Mike and I got a new mattress/boxspring set the day after Christmas, and it is fabulous. It's much taller than our old set, so I have to scramble up to get in bed. It makes me feel like a little kid, and I may or may not have described it to my sister as a "princess and the pea" bed.

Picking it out was fairly easy - we went to the store, tested all the beds we were interested in, and decided on the comfiest one - but bringing it home was a bit more complicated. It was pouring rain when we bought it, but since Mike wanted to have the new bed that night, we went ahead and brought it home. Everything went fine until we made a turn and discovered that the mattress hadn't come with us - it was still back in the turn lane with cars swerving around it. Mike made a u-turn and while we were waiting for the light to change so he could go and turn around to pick it up, I hopped out of the truck and ran over to get the mattress out of the way. Before I got there, though, someone had already stopped and was pulling the mattress out of the road. He propped it up on a sign for me, and then I waited, shivering in the rain, until Mike pulled up. The only sign of the mattress's detour was a damp spot here and there, so I think things turned out much, much better than they could have.

Since we were getting a new mattress set, we went ahead and picked out new bed linens too. We looked at coordinating sets but couldn't find anything we (I) really loved, so Mike suggested we put our own together, which we did, and I love the way everything turned out. Behold:

For the first few nights it felt weird sleeping on the mattress, like I was at a hotel. It wasn't the mattress I was used to, and that was hard for me to get used to. Truth be told, I'm still getting used to it, but each night makes it seem more and more like our bed and not some interloper.

Posted by oracle at 7:51 AM | Comments (0)

January 14, 2008

horror night - January '08

This month was '80s vampire flicks. We started off with Fright Night and ended with The Lost Boys, neither of which I'd seen before, and both of which I really enjoyed watching. Next month we're tossing around the idea of watching Bubba Ho-tep and some other movie, TBD sometime in between now and then.

Posted by oracle at 6:47 PM | Comments (2)

January 13, 2008

remember when we first had the thought of living?

Egypt Central's album is coming out on Tuesday! Now I'll finally get to see if I like the rest of the album as much as I like "Over and Under".

Posted by oracle at 8:51 PM | Comments (0)

January 11, 2008

Fables

Last month I was introduced to Fables - the best comic book series ever. I was intrigued when I heard the premise, but I had no idea how wonderfully it would be played out. Roughly: all different farie tale characters have been kicked out of their various worlds or "homelands" by the Adversary. A large group of them have formed a community called Fabletown in our world, where they all live and try to avoid catching the attention of the mundane humans ("mundies") surrounding their city. The writing is excellent, the plots are very engaging, and the characters, while not original, are very well-written for this series. Some of my favorites are Bigby Wolf, Snow White, Boy Blue, Rose Red, the Beast, and Flycatcher. With the exception of volumes 2 and 3, I have all the trade paperback volumes currently released. The next volume, 10, is due out in May, and after I get that I think I'm going to have to start getting the comics monthly to tide me over until the next volume is released.

Posted by oracle at 8:25 PM | Comments (0)

January 10, 2008

I am weary

I woke up clenching my teeth again this morning, so it comes as no surprise that I've been having problems with my jaw all day. I left work late, and since I've been home I've done three loads of laundry, gotten things ready for tomorrow, cleaned up the kitchen, made a pot of chili, and loaded the dishwasher. I'm ready to take my pain pill and go to bed.

Posted by oracle at 7:50 PM | Comments (0)

Sorry!

When the boys and I were at Target last week, Z spotted the Battleship/Connect Four/Sorry/Trouble game for the DS. There were a couple left when we went to Target this weekend, so I picked one up for Mike. He started playing it after we got home and discovered that up to four people can play together on their DSs, so I'm going to get a copy for each of the kids to keep at our house, that way we can play when they're with us.

Posted by oracle at 1:03 PM | Comments (0)

January 9, 2008

PSA #38

If you know the forecast for your day is going to hold jaw problems because you woke up with your teeth clenched, for pity's sake, bring some Advil to work with you.

Posted by oracle at 12:19 PM | Comments (0)

bare feet and brown sugar

Those are two little things that are making me happy today. I love the way it feels when I take my socks off, especially after I've been on my feet for bit, like at the gym. And I just recently discovered that adding brown sugar to my oatmeal makes it better x1000.

Posted