Impulse Shopping

While I was browsing in Barnes & Noble Friday evening, I gathered four items.  In 45 minutes.  To buy.  I have a little problem with impulse buys, which is why I try to stay out of retail establishments as much as possible.

First, I grabbed the latest edition of Cooking with Paula Deen magazine.  I did thumb through it first to make sure there were some recipes I would try.  Five different kinds of fruitcake?  Um, no thanks.  No, the recipe that convinced me I needed to buy the magazine was “Everything Baked Potato Lasagna.”  I was practically salivating on the glossy pages.  In the harsh light of day, though, I realize that it probably isn’t in my best interest to combine two of my favorite starches (potato and pasta) in one dish.  Hmmm.  Perhaps I should have picked up The Carbohydrate Addict’s Diet instead.

The second thing I grabbed was The Best Napkin Folding Book Ever.  One of Sophia’s chores is setting the table each night and she loves to make it pretty.  We learned a few basic napkin folds, but with Thanksgiving coming up I know she would like to do something fancy.  She’s looking through it as I am typing this and has declared that “Swanky Swan” is her favorite.

Third was Josh MacDowell’s More Than a Carpenter.  This wasn’t so much an impulse buy, since I’d been meaning to pick up a copy sometime.  For my dad, who has some really screwy notions about who Jesus is.  My pastor recommended it, and I’m looking forward to sharing it with my dad at the appropriate time.

Finally, I got Little Miss Christmas by Roger Hargreaves.  For me Sophia.  I just love the Roger Hargreaves Little Miss/Mr. Men books. Best of all, they are just the right size to fit in a Christmas stocking.

Thankfully, my impulse buys totalled under $25, so it wasn’t terribly naughty of me to buy them.  But I think I will stay out of B&N for a while now. 

About that trip…

We’re not going away this weekend.  Despite the really great deal that was being offered, a couple of circumstanceskind of forced me to lean a little to the “no, stay home” side of the dilemma.

Not the least of which was this, my election day surprise:

The roads were wet and I tried to brake in time to avoid hitting the Jeep in front of me.  When I realized I wasn’t going to stop in time, I swerved.  So this corner of my bumper is a little crumpled, and my headlight is busted.  It may not look like much damage, but we just got the estimate today and believe it or not, we are looking at a $1500 repair bill.

Astonishing, isn’t it?

Hopefully the shop will be able to located some used replacement parts for us to help reduce our bottom line.  But until that’s paid for, we sure won’t be going on any mini-vacations. 

Thursday 13: Songs from the ’80s

Oh, how I love the music of my youth!  The 1980s were a decade of big hair, big shoulder pads, big everything.  Here are some of the big (and not so big) hits I enjoyed the most (with links to the video where possible):

Thirteen songs from the 1980s that I still love:

1. Run Runaway by Slade (1984)
2. I Hate Myself for Loving You by Joan Jett  (1988)
3. Poison Arrow by ABC (1982)
4. Jesse’s Girl by Rick Springfield (1981)
5. Goody Two Shoes by Adam Ant (1982)
6. Funky Cold Medina by Tone Loc (1989)
7. U Got the Look by rince with Sheena Easton (1987)
8. The Glamorous Life by Sheila E (1984)
9. Express Yourself by Madonna (1989)
10. I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) by The Proclaimers (1988)
11. Master and Servant by Depeche Mode (1984)
12. Don’t Leave Me This Way by The Communards (1986)
13. Chains of Love by Erasure (1988)

I could go on and on!  There are so many more favorites that I loved then and still love now.

Hawaii, 1989

Typical tourist photo from the Polynesian Cultural Center.

That’s my former post-college roommate Cissie Viernes. She was from Hawaii originally, and ended up in Virginia, where I met her. We had so much fun together, and it broke my heart when her family decided to move back to Hawaii and she went with them. (Although really, who can blame her?)

So in 1989 I saved up as much money as I could and bought an airline ticket to go visit her. I’m glad I did. Hawaii is beautiful. I don’t know if I would have the nerve to take such a loooong trip now.

At the Cross

I was blessed to hear this song performed at our church twice yesterday (we had a special evening service, so I got to hear it in the morning and in the evening).  It was so beautiful!

We’re Baaaaaccck…

From a whirlwind 3-day vacation in the Pocono Mountains, courtesy of our good friends Suzanne & Tom.  We had a busy weekend of waterfall hiking (I kid you not!), scrapbook outlet shopping, and creativity.  Details to follow as soon as I get caught up on laundry and sleep. 

My Facebook Flair

I don’t really use Facebook all that much, but one of the things that I do find absolutely addictive about it is the Pieces of Flair application.  It’s fun to browse through the Flair and find cool buttons to add to my virtual corkboard.  Here’s a screen shot of what my board currently looks like:

An Expensive Lesson in Veterinary Medicine (with Photo!)

Lately, I’ve noticed that Daisy’s chin seemed a bit swollen and wobbly. Also, she occasionally had a scab-like crust on it. I figured maybe Valentine had been biting her there in their almost daily tussles, but when it never cleared up, it was time to call the vet.

Daisy is a feline drama queen. When it comes time to put her in the mandatory cat carrier, she rolls herself into a ball and refuses to cooperate. The struggle usually ends with me setting the carrier on its end, putting her head inside it, and shoving on her rear end while gravity helps me out a little. Then the minute the door shuts the wailing starts. And it is constant. If I talk to her in soothing tones (or any tones, really), the wailing escalates in both volume and frequency.

Thankfully, we don’t live too far from the vet’s office. Once we got there and in an examining room, we had to take the carrier apart in order to get her out (oh yes!). She crouched down low, allowed me to pet her, and proceeded to lose about half of the fur on her body.

When the vet came in and looked at her chin, she offered her diagnosis in about 30 seconds flat. Feline acne. Yes, Daisy has a big ole’ zit on her chin. Who knew cats could get pimples?

So we got a little thing of antibiotic which I have to force into her mouth twice a day (which I’m sure will result in even more drama). We were in and out of there in about five minutes total.

And the bill? $65, which I am pretty sure is about as much as a dermatologist would charge me if I went in there with a pimple on my chin.

Sheesh.

Unwelcome Guest

It’s 4:30 AM.  I found myself awake and came out to the den to use the computer.  Questions such as “Is the length of a cat’s tail directly proportional to its body?” is the stuff that keeps me awake at night.  Thank goodness for Google.

Anyway, I was sitting here, pondering whether I should go back to bed, when I heard a strange chirp.  It was followed moments later by seeing a large green object peek around the corner of my desk at me.  Said green object was (again, thanks to Google) a katydid.  Such a cute name.  Such a creepy looking insect :

Armed with my best Tupperware, I was able to trap the katydid and toss it outside.  The cats, who are supposed to be fearless hunters, idly watched me from the floor, not even so much as twitching a whisker when I screeched and jumped up out of my seat in horror.

Losers.

Anyway, I don’t think I’ll be going back to bed anytime soon.

*shudder*

Updates & Miscellany

WARNING: Lots of random-ness ahead…

The latest on my dad… a little bit of good (it’s unlikely that he has an AVM) mixed in with a whole lot of bad (surgery definitely necessary, possible radiation/chemotherapy, extensive recovery time). Also, we’re being referred to a surgeon in Baltimore. I’m dreading this and I’m spending most of my time either trying not to think about it or (when I do think about it) crying.

My friend Suzanne came to visit this past weekend and brought her ice cream maker. We picked fresh blueberries and then made blueberry ice cream. It was delicious!

Last night I did something either weird or foolish. (Maybe both.) I removed my own sutures from the spot on my scalp where I had a sebaceous cyst removed. The sutures were itchy and driving me nuts. My appointment to have the sutures professionally removed is this afternoon. I bet that will be fun, explaining how I decided to do it all on my own.

A button seemingly made for me: “I have CDO. It’s like OCD, only with the letters in alphabetical order, like they’re supposed to be.”

I had planned to take Trevor to see “The Dark Knight” tomorrow because he really wants to see it, but after seeing the review on Plugged In, I think I will have to pass. A brief excerpt: “The Joker is as horrific a villain as I’ve ever seen onscreen—an embodiment of nihilism, a manifestation of pure, unapologetic evil. The camera may blink, but your mind’s eye doesn’t. The Joker forces us to imagine every cut and tear. He makes Jigsaw from the torture-porn Saw flicks look positively ethical, and frankly, I think I squirmed more through Knight than through the splatter-happy Saw IV. Why? The violence here feels more real, visceral … painful.” I think I will take him to see “Journey to the Center of the Earth” instead.

Sophia attended a Vacation Bible School last week.  I was unprepared for her Wednesday morning meltdown in which she cried that she wanted to just stay home and that she missed me, and why do I have to work so much anyway?!?!  Her being at a day camp twice a week and me working three days a week is taking its toll on both of us, I think.  And yes, I definitely have mommy guilt.  It must be time for more Kid Therapy.

It occurred to me that my birthday is less than two months away.  It also occurred to me that, ever since I turned 40 in 2006, I have celebrated my birthday by doing something new.  (In 2006 I rode a ferry, visited a winery and climbed to the top of a lighthouse.  In 2007 I went for a ride in a skipjack.)  I rather like the idea of doing something new for my birthday… it’s kind of like thumbing my nose at getting older.  So now I have to figure out what to do this year.  I’m open to suggestions as long as they don’t involved heights — no hot air balloon rides or skydiving experiences for me!