Today is the longest day ever.
Ever.
It's one of those days where you can't eat enough and more than half of it needs to be chocolate.
I have a lot of stuff to do at home before I head to the Buel homestead, but not a lot of time. I went swimming this morning and then had to leave a half hour early to get to a physical therapy appointment in North KC. (For some reason, I decided against having breakfast and instead repotted a violet. I don't know why.) I have a rep dinner tonight, and then I'll go home, change Roo's cage, pack, fold laundry and try to remember to pay my bills.
I haven't knit in three weeks. THREE. I'm bringing the Ab Fab throw home this weekend and I swear to god I'm not leaving the couch.
Oh yes, and I do have a sty on my eye. I think that's the lazy one.
Do you weep?
I realized this morning that I haven't cried in, like, weeks. Maybe two. That's a really long time for me.
I have this thing on my eye. Can you get a pimple on your eyelid? Because it's either that or else I have pink eye on the outside of my eye. Huh.
I'm ready for this week to be over. I haven't had a day off since New Year's Day and I'm freaking sick of it. The woman who sits across from me is sick and still comes to work, so of course I'm going to get sick. My stupid eyes are stupid. I have to go to physical therapy for the next two days. I went to aerobics last night and now I want to die.
But you know what I really love? Those MTV house ads with that girl writing crazy letters to MTV. I especially love the Britney poem:
Do you sleep Britney Spears, do you sleep?
Do you weep Britney Spears, do you weep?
I also enjoy Timmy from
RR being 40 and when she proposes being
Made into a biological scientist so she can wreck havoc on the CDC.
He tried to eat my pretzel.
Dear Wind, Clouds and Rain,
Gary Lezak promised me you would come to my house at 9 p.m. last night. First it was 8:20, then 8:50, then 9:00. Sirens went off. I went into the bathroom with the Gay Pride Blanket, a big orange pillow, Abby's old alarm clock, a flashlight, a bottle of Hy-Vee black cherry water, Marian Keyes' new book, a box of pretzels and the mouse.
First of all, please note that the
Inferno finale was to start at 9 p.m. I was not happy that I would have to be in the bathroom at this time, but I did it for you, Wind, Clouds and Rain.
Second of all, that mouse tried to eat my pretzels. I opened the box and he climbed onto the walls of his cage and stuck his little nose through the bars and sniffed sniffed sniffed. I told him no and he got mad and went to bed.
Then I spilled the bottle of water all over the Gay Pride Blanket and the bathroom floor. Lucky thing I had an Aquis hair towel hanging on the towel rack right above my head.
I stayed in that bathroom until 9:14. I couldn't really hear the storm since the air conditioner was on, and it happens to be located in my bathroom ceiling. I came out of the bathroom and...nothing. No lightning, no rain, no neighbor's roof missing, no nothing.
Listen up. Don't fuck with me. Next time you promise a tornado, fucking do it. I'm sick of this namby-pamby shit.
Love,
Kristin
PS - And don't try to tell me that it was okay because the
Inferno finale sucked. That does not a rekindled friendship make.
Mute points
Sundays are strange days. I sleep for most of it and go out for groceries. This Sunday would be a lot better if I could knit. I think about it, but I never quite get there. I guess I'm scared that it's going to hurt and then I will be sad. I'll try tonight.
I have been able to craft, though. I've been making some AWESOME things for my secret pal. I also made my own stitch markers yesterday, and they turned out very well for the whopping $2.27 I spent on the materials. It also gave me a change to dive into my closet for all my beading materials. Remember when I spent the summer living at the Crowley's (as in Sue) and beaded coasters every single night? I have some half-finished ones and I threw those away. The coasters don't work so well with a condensating beverage. I'm sure a condecending beverage wouldn't be so nice, either. Anyway, I finally found my pliers and wire cutters, along with a kajillion vials of beads. I. Love. Beads. And I love making stitch markers. I'm giving them to everyone, whether they knit or not.
I ended up going into work for a bit yesterday. It's a mixed-up story, but I was in the neighborhood and wanted to go to The Studio because I hadn't been there for a month, at least, but it wasn't open until 10. It was 9:15 at the time. So I decided, what the hell, I'll go clean off my desk and get some stuff done. It was pretty nice, actually. And when I left, I ran into the VP of the department. So my efforts were not unnoticed. I'm glad I stayed to go to the bathroom.
So then I visited The Studio. They have a bunch of new lines of yarn and I was tempted more than once. They're actually having an
Interweave Knits trunk show right now and have samples of the garments in the magazine. They had the tank I wanted to make, but I restrained myself. I can't knit very well right now anyway, so why add insult to injury? I bought
Cool Socks, Warm Feet by Lucy Neatby, and it was even autographed. I also bought a back issue of
Interweave Knits that has three (three!) sweaters I want to make. I can't wait for the Yarn Shop to open.
I passed out and then sweated all over myself
Yesterday was an Eating Day. Baja 600 and Tomfoolerie's. No fried pickles. I love fried pickles. I ate cookies for breakfast. At least they're gone now. I'm in dire need of a candy. That shall be my motivation for writing reports.
I passed out at 7:30 last night, after I talked to Abby (who is indeed in Iowa). Justin came over at 9:30 and I woke up all sweaty. Sexy. We stayed up for an hour and then I went back to bed. I love bed.
I do not love physical therapy. It's hard. I had to do all these forearm stretches and move putty with my hands. Afterwards, they put an ENORMOUS ice pack (the size of a pillow) into a pillowcase and wrapped it around my arm for 10 minutes. Imagine putting dry ice directly on your skin. I was glad when that was over.
I think I told Justin last night that Roo doesn't like motor vehicles. I don't know why I said that, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't. He's more of a self-propelling kind of guy.
Everytime I think of watching
All the President's Men (on extended loan from the library), I think of
Autumn because she sat outside Bob Woodward's office. For some reason, I think that Bob Woodward looks like Robert Redford, and then I think how lucky Autumn is. And now everytime I think of Robert Redford (which is quite a bit, actually), I think of Autumn. Autumn, are you holding something back from me?
I once saw Robert Redford's house in Sundance. We were riding horses up a mountain and the guide pointed to a house built into the side of the mountain across from us. He said, "I can't tell you who lives there." There was no road to get to the house. So Robert Redford must be able to beam himself places. Too bad he didn't beam himself out of that movie with Michelle Pfieffer about the news anchors. That movie blew.
New and Improved. But not.
Not carpal tunnel. I got sent to Corporate Care for Worker's Comp and it's tendonitis. Thank the holy lord. It still hurts like a bitch, but at least it's not permanent damage. Now I get to have physical therapy (whee!) and take different drugs. I also get new office equipment. Hoo-ray.
This whole thing reminds me of
Clue when Mrs. White (played by the darling Madeline Kahn) says, "Flames. Flames going up the side of my head." Because that's what my arm feels like. If it was my head, that is.
You're a gimp!
No, wait, I'm a gimp. I am the proud owner of carpal tunnel in my right hand. Yesss. That's one life goal completed. I'm trying to learn how to use the computer mouse with my left hand. Do you know how hard it is to format an Excel document with your left hand? Really hard. I'm able to type without pain so far today (way to go 500 mg anti-inflamatories!) and I have filed a worker's comp claim. Welcome to my American dream.
Wonderings
1. Where is Abby? More to the point, which state is she in?
2. Why do I keep getting Sex and the City DVDs I've already seen?
3. When will I be able to knit again?
4. Where the hell is all my underwear? I'm thinking clean in the laundry basket, but I've been throwing it out like its Kleenex for the past few weeks.
5. Why do I like squash so much and why did I not know this until two months ago?
Important breaking news
I would give up everything, EVERYTHING, for one night with Johnny Depp. His cheekbones alone are worth my entire yarn collection. Sweet Jesus.
File under "Movies I Will Never Watch Again"
If you're looking for cinema to make you physically ill, I highly suggest
Requiem for a Dream. The last 10 minutes really made me want to hurl.
I have a bum hand. My wrist got really jacked up when I worked late last week, entering stuff into spreadsheets, and I haven't really been able to knit since then. My whole hand started to hurt at Adrian and Sara's late Friday night and was quite swollen. I knit for a little while yesterday, but had to ice my hand afterwards. It's the computer mouse that's doing it, so now I'm trying to navigate with my left hand. It's not as hard as I thought it would be, but still not too easy. I really want to knit at Guild tonight, so I'm not taking any chances today. And I think I'm going to ask for some ergonomical solutions from my friendly IT person.
At the risk of sounding like a slutty co-ed, I had my first hangover this weekend. At 8 p.m. on a Saturday night. Connie sure makes some good punch. Justin and I had the best time at the birthday barbecue.
Okay, my right hand is killing me just from typing.
It's going to be a long day.
Suggest fairy dust and the clapping of hands, much like how one would keep Tinkerbell alive. I mean, sweet Jesus.
Now that I have the ability to actually post a title, I can't think of any. The above is an e-mail, in its entirety, that I sent to a co-worker.
My weekly "Headache at 4:00 on Thursday afternoon" has joined me an hour early today. Way to go, headache!
I worked until 7:45 last night. I got home at 8:15. I ate cooked and ate dinner (campanelle pasta and feta with sauteed mushrooms, onions and garlic), talked to my parents on the phone and was in bed by 9:15. That's when the Indian family across the yard started screaming goodbyes to their friends. It only lasted about 10 minutes.
Justin and I need suggestions on "how to have fun." It turns out that we don't.
An open letter
Dear Friday,
If you don't get here soon, there will be carnage.
Love,
Kristin
Miss Grumpsalot
I've been grumpy for the past few days. Sorry, Pookie.
ANTM: The Runway Ahead
First of all, it was like, 10 times better than the Friends finale. But that's not saying much. Second of all, WHY IS CAMILLE SUCH A RAGING BITCH? God, I hate her. I also hate stupid Catie giving stupid autographs. And Xiomara, I'm sorry, but you will never make it, not with that scary agent of yours.
Ooo, someone at work just gave me some shoes.
Lumpy
The baby mouse is all better - I think his little bump is gone. Poor Roo-Roo - I poked and prodded him so much last night that he made his "mad face" - he scrunched up his little nose and buried his head in my fingers. But at least he's okay. I turn off the air conditioning while I'm at work, and when I come home he's laying on top of his bedding instead of covering himself with it, and he's all stretched out like Penny. Maybe I'll make him a little mouse fan.
I love the new Blogger, and the new Blogger loves me
Way to fix the order of the posts. I also like the commenting - if you're not a Blogger user, post anonymously, but sign your name at the end of the post (sorry for all the confusion, Hottie).
Yay for a new Blogger!
If anyone can help me figure out how to get my most recent posts to post at the top, I will...be your friend?
First, a big 'ol thank you to my Secret Pal, who sent me some rockin' notecards, stickers and gorgeous stitch markers. I love them. And I'm a big poop for not thanking you a week ago when I received them. Thank you so much.
Best News EVER
I now work at a yarn store.
I KNOW.
It's a new shop, not too far from my house, called The Yarn Store and More. It opens on June 1. I'll be working Sundays 1-5. I get a 40% discount. AND I get to make things to display in the store and they pay me for them in yarn (or cash, but I'm all about the yarn)! I met one of the three owners on Saturday and she's just fabulous. We were in the stock room, looking at all the yarn, and I mentioned that I had always wanted to make the Colinette Absolutely Fabulous Throw kit but that it was too expensive. And she says, "I have some of those! Want to make one for the store?" And that's how I walked out of the store 10 minutes later with $180 worth of Italian yarn and my first pair of Addi Turbo needles (which I already adore). I started winding the yarn right when I got home and I'm about 1/7 of the way through the blanket. It's absolutely gorgeous.
The great thing about this job is that I love to make things but I don't want to keep everything I make. And I'm going to be one of two crocheters, and they want to have a lot of crocheting stuff in the store (Jo went to a retailer's conference last weekend and they said crocheting was going to be the "next big thing"). They're going to have a bunch of couches and chairs to use for knitting and Wednesday nights will be open knitting night. They're also really into charity knitting and philanthropy - they're going to be the only/first store in the area to carry Manos del Uraguay, yarn that's made by women in Uraguay and the profits go directly back to those women. The classroom table is an old dining room table and there's going to be tomato and vine stands hanging from the ceiling to hang scarves. I can't wait.
But now I'm worried
Little Roo has a little lump on his side. It's kind of like a skin tag. Maybe he scratched himself too much or something and it's just a wound. But I'm worried that he has a tumor.
I finally finished watching
The Wiz last night.
Have you seen
The Wiz? This isn't the Fred Savage movie about Nintendo. This is the 1978 Motown version of
The Wizard of Oz. I'd seen it before but didn't remember much - I think I fell asleep halfway through (incidentally, that viewing was the first night Abby and I spent together without other friends. It cemented our relationship. We also watched
Krush Groove, starring Run DMC, Sheila E. and The Fat Boys. I now own it.)
Anyway. If you haven't seen
The Wiz, do it. Now. It's amazing. Diana Ross is Dorothy, Michael Jackson is the Scarecrow, Nipsey Russell is the Tin Man and the Lion is Ted Ross, the guy who won a Tony for it on Broadway in 1974. Lena Horne is Glinda and Richard Pryor is the Wizard.
It's set in New York City. Dorothy is a kindergarten teacher and lives with her Aunt Em. She's scared to take a new job at a high school and move out on her own. Toto runs outside and a blizzard sweeps them away. Oz is actually NYC - Justin recognized a bunch of the locations. I watched a featurette about how it was made, and it was really astonishing. It's hard to describe, but there's this scene with 400 dancers (the Emerald City) and the backdrop is two big buildings kind of angling the set. It takes place at night and the buildings are only lit by lights in the windows. It turns out that they were the World Trade Center towers. It's a gorgeous scene - I orginally thought it was just a backdrop.
The music, arranged and retooled by Quincy Jones, is spectacular. I think the best part, though, is that it is so much truer to Frank L. Baum's original story. Dorothy wears silver slippers in the original, and so does Diana Ross. In the original, there are two good witches, not just Glenda. All of those people on the farm don't become the cast of characters. On and on and on. It's much more poignant and emotional - you actually care if Diana Ross gets home.
Anyway. See it. I really want it on DVD, so if I get it, everyone is invited to watch.
Really big important question
The
Friends finale is this week? For real? Because I thought it was next week. I've thought that since, like, July, when I was doing avails for Captain D's. Swear to God.
So should I watch it? I only watched one episode this season (the first) and I have yoga at 7:30 on Thursday nights. The only thing I find remotely interesting about it is that advertising rates are just a few hundred dollars less than the Super Bowl during the actual show, and the rates on the
Tonight Show that night and
Today the next day are astronomical, and those are just local rates. (They've been planning the entire cast to be on those shows for at least a year now. I'm sorry, but I wouldn't pay $1000 to be anywhere near Katie Couric's crazy eye shadow.)
What do I do?
Sometimes it's a relief when the weekend is over.
I think one of the hardest parts about being in a relationship is looking over at the person you've been sleeping next to for nearly four years and thinking, "Who the hell ARE you?" I know Justin better than I know anyone else except for my dog, but I still have no clue about him at all. I have no idea what goes through his head or how he operates. Those moments are stressful and often horrible. But when the crying and fighting are over, everything feels new and fresh again. He describes it as the fires that gut out the forest so new growth can emerge. That's the best description I've ever heard.
In other news
I made a container garden this weekend. Cutting-edge, according to my mother. It has a daylily in the center, then clamysia (?), which has tall red, yellow and orange flowers, and then English ivy that will cascade over the sides of the pot.
I put Roo into a box of dirt while I cleaned his cage. He was supposed to like it. All the mouse websites say that mice love digging in dirt. Roo's tail got really dirty and he was all pissed off and tried to dig through the box. I gave him a few Toastie-O's - he ate one and buried the rest.
Kate stopped by for mangled chicken parmesean and good conversation yesterday afternoon. It was really great.
