Random Wednesday

This is where I will be spending most of my time today. I was at the dentist bright and early this morning so that they could finish my root canal. I was injected with Novocaine 2.5 hours ago and the right side of my face still hasn't recovered yet. I should say that I never numb up fast enough and he always gives me extra. There was no sign of further infection (hurrah for antibiotics) and aside from general soreness today, things should be much better. I will go in over the summer for a crown and be done with this bad boy. And hey, who doesn't enjoy a day off? The chair is cozy, and that blanket that The Boy bought me for our anniversary this year is cozier. We are on the search for a new couch/chair set this year, and until then we use those icky slipcovers. They are only icky because I don't like the color. And they move. A lot. But I needed some with stretch for the weird shaped chairs, and it beats the cat damaged/fire damaged fabric underneath.

In Which We Find Some Neighbors

Every given thought to that little button up there at the top of your blog that says "next blog"? I do, all the time.. but I have never clicked on it. Tonight while waiting for dinner to finish cooking I decided to run a little experiment. I clicked on that link tonight... and followed it for 10 blogs. I left comments when I could. This is who I found hanging out in the 'hood.

Welcome to the Circus- She's a mom with 2 kids, her dh works awful hours and they are getting ready to move to MD. She's got that age old issue all mom's face... too tired to work out and food is not your friend. I feel her pain.

Musings About Life- "Don't let the bastards grind you down." Who can't like a blog that has that quote right at the top of the page?!?! She's a writer who has similar thought process that I have... ie. you start out with one thing, and then your brain moves onto 5 other things until you say something silly that makes no sense. I can so relate. Also, we're having baked chicken for dinner .. and that was one of the choices she gave her dh. Weird!

Baby It's Cold Outside!

My son tells me that Friday is his favorite day of the week. He gets to go to bed knowing that he doesn't have to get up the next morning and go to school. He gets to come home and play the computer (we have a no computer M-Th unless it's for homework rule, but he does get 30-45 mins on the game systems with his dad and sister during the week before bed). I never used to have a favorite day of the week. I would previously have said.. Saturday. No work, no getting up the next day... chance to be home with the family.. blah blah blah. My new favorite day is Friday. Friday signifies the end. The end of the week. The end of the busy schedules. The end of the craziness that is every work day. The end of the stress, and headaches, and high anxiety.

Today also brings the end of an awful week. Awful isn't even strong enough of a word, but in the spirit of not ranting, it's the best I have. Today brought the end of my student's school day at 10:40 am, and the start of his suspension from school. He has been suspended for at least a week, and we will have a large meeting on Friday morning to figure out where to go from here, and if/when he will be able to come back. This week also brought the half-way mark of the school year (not that anyone is counting) and I think I'm going to have some ice cream tonight to celebrate. Who says eating ice cream at 11:00pm is bad for you?

In The Drink.....

Do you miss my photos? Me too. It's a blech, dreary January in our neck of the world. Nothing worth photographing really.. even the weather is dull and grey... not a decent snowstorm to be had for miles. By the time I get home, nothing in the house is worth photographing because the best light is gone. So, I offer you Maxine. I love Maxine don't you?

I talked to my mom today. She is in awful pain. They did a battery of tests and ruled out Hepatitis of any form (though her liver function isn't good still.. but they aren't talking to her about that yet)... and did a spinal tap this afternoon because they think she probably has Meningitis.

Forever Autumn

The summer sun is fading as the year grows old
I felt like I needed some cheering up, and that is why there are summer flowers gracing the cold, dark January blog. The ordeal with my tooth isn't over yet. Turned out to be an abscess on a back molar. The same one with the deep filling from a few years back. Seems the weakened tooth might've cracked, and the shifting aggravated the nerves ... or who only knows. But last Tuesday, after 5 days of pain (2.5 of the worst pain of my life, childbirth included) I had a Pulpotomy (sp?).. which essentially is a partial root canal. The dentist covering for my own (who was in Florida for some schooling.. getting smarter about teeth) took out the most inflamed nerves, let the infection drain and released the pressure.. and put in a partial filling.

It Was A Dark and Stormy Night.....

Earlier in the Month, someone that posts on the knitting blog I read posted a poetry challenge. You had a to write a poem that was more than three lines and contained the words green, winter and song. Here's my submission (and no it wasn't the winner):


Dusk falls earlier this time of year
Shadows dance in evening light,
Rays fall soft across the hills
As day gives way to night.

Through the night the winds blow strong
the snow swirls 'round and 'round,
Piling high against the trees
And covering green ground.

A glimpse of sun bursts through the clouds
as morning comes once more,
Winter weaves it's magic spell
as in song's of olden lore.

*I'll update tomorrow, when hopefully this migraine has gone far, far away

In Which Winter Finally Arrives

According to The Old Farmers Almanac, this was to be a slightly warmer winter with less snow and more ice storms. I'd say the folks out in Peterborough hit this one right on the head. It's currently mid- January. We've had maybe 3 days that I would call "really cold." The heat upstairs in my house, hasn't even kicked on yet, and I keep it set at 60. I have shoveled a grand total of zero times, and we haven't even taken the shovels out. We did buy a new extendable snow brush so we can clear the van properly, and have used that a grand total of zero times.

People, I live in NH. This is not normal. Especially my part of the state, which usually gets hammered when other parts are just getting rain/mix stuff. They got our hopes up today with "the first storm of the year!" and "3-6 inches of snow". Umm.. OK. Does this look like snow to anyone else? According to the radio weather guy, we're in for a bit of arctic air.. but El nino is sticking around till May.. and he foresees a fairly mild rest of the winter.

Everything Louder Than Everything Else...

This is my "Everything Else" playlist off my ipod for Carly, who asked:

In The End- Linkin Park "Hybrid Theory"
Forever Autumn- Moody Blues "Lovely To See You"
Closer To Fine- Indigo Girls "Indigo Girls"
Reason Why- Rachel Yamagata "Happenstance"
Open Your Eyes- Snow Patrol "Eyes Open"
Fix You- Cold Play "X&Y"
Somewhere Over the Rainbow- Isreal Kamakawiwo'ole "Alone in IZ World"
White Flag - Dido "Life For Rent"
One- U2 "One"
Radio Song- REM "Out of Time"
How To Save A Life- The Fray "How to Save a Life"
River-Sarah McLachlan "Wintersong"

In Which We Find A Meeting, A Veggie Burger and A Lot Of Pain

Happy Sunday ya'll. Sorry I've been away from the blog. This was a crazy, busy week. I know it's not an excuse, but it's all that I have. I don't have any recent photos, so I am sharing one from January 8th of last year. This is Mt. Monadnock as seen from the hill at school. We had gotten quite a snow the night before, and Ms. Thang went sledding with my little friend Lily from across the street. We haven't had snow this year (more than 1.5 inches), but they are calling for a storm tomorrow. Last I heard they were looking at 4-6 inches. We don't have school, so it will be nice to be at home cozy and warm.

I Wish I had A River....

Ya'll, with each day that passes, my rope seems to get shorter and shorter. If it's not the stress of the job, it's the kids or the extended family or some other thing that threatens to push me right over the edge. People talk about the edge as some mystical place that is "out there somewhere".. but I am here to tell you that it's a lot closer than you might think.

Today it was my son. Apparently being a Tween does something dark and twisty to your brain and makes you about 6 degrees of stupid. We are in the last year of elementary school with him. In some places he'd be the bottom feeder in middle school.. but in our town he's at the top of the food chain. Hormones are raging, growth spurts are happening, hair is creeping in over the lip and voices are cracking. Puberty is an ugly, scary time. He might not live to see the other side of it.

Now I'm Just Rolling Home

I set out on a narrow way, many years ago
Hoping I would find true love, along the broken road
So I walk after school. I think we've discussed this in previous blog entries. In the warmer weather, the Boy joins me and we walk after dinner. I walk year round unless it's icy/raining hard.. or so cold we don't let the kids out at school (15 degrees or below). I average 2.25 miles a day between this walk, my lunch walk and going to and from work. I tried the treadmill thing, and quite frankly I didn't enjoy it. I'd rather be outside. Besides, it motivates me more. If I'm walking outside, I have to get home. If I get bored on the treadmill, I can just get off.

The Winter That Wasn't

The camera couldn't quite capture the beauty that I saw when I took this photo. Partly due to those two trees on the right side (my neighbor is going to have them removed, and I can't wait!) and partly because I was shooting from lower than I should've been in order to get a perfect shot.

It's was a balmy 68 degrees in southwestern NH today. I had to double check my thermometer, but it was in fact correct. Last year on this date the temperature was 42 degrees. Both of those are above our normal January temps. Now don't get me wrong. I love this kind of weather. It could stay like this most of the winter and I'd be OK with it. (A little snow at Christmas would be nice).

My Give a Damn's Busted

In honor of eyecandy Friday, I give you the sun coming up across the street yesterday morning. The sun always comes up above the same brick building across the way... but the colors are so gorgeous some days. Especially in the winter. My favorite shots have been in the winter with snow.. but this is Winter 06/07 and umm, yah. No snow except for about an inch and a half over New Years weekend.

The week is over. We were only in school for 3 days this week, and aside from the first one, they sucked. However, beer thirty is in 6 minutes, and there's no school tomorrow. Cheers!

Some Yarny Goodness

I was going through my Favorite Places Folder (yikes, what a scary place that is).. and in my Knitting/Crochet folder (what, you didn't know I crochet too? I do a lot of things.. like painting.. wait until you see the awesome easel I got for Christmas) I found a link to a website I haven't been to a while.. and Look What I Found! How stinking cute is this??? I am so going to make these because they make lovely baby gifts. And if that isn't cool enough... it reminded me of a pattern I printed off a million years ago (or maybe just 2)...

We Now Return To Our Regularly Scheduled Blogging

I would like to thank you all for your prayers and support. It has meant a lot to me these past few crazy weeks. Somehow we ended up on Wednesday, so it the spirit of the blog.. let's have some randomness.

1. See those DVDs? My dad called me up one day last week. The conversation was as follows:
D: I'm at the UPS store mailing you a package.
B: Umm, you already gave me my Christmas gift.

Closer To Fine

It has always seemed to me that funerals should take place on rainy days. The kind of dark, gloomy skies that match your mood, and rain to mask your tears of sorrow. Instead, on a bright sunny January morning, they are preparing to lay my nephew into the ground. The funeral procession just arrived at the cemetery (11:30am) and soon the service will begin.

The boy has gone, to support his sister and his family. I however, chose a different path to take today. We gave it enormous thought and decided that we couldn't subject our children to see a room full of the people they love crying and devastated over a baby that they never met. It wasn't any easy choice to come to, but it was our choice. We have the oldest children on any side of the families involved and believe that we made the right choice for them.

National Catch Up Day

Here's an idea worth mulling about. The author proposes that on each 31st (7 total for the year).. you use that day as a "catch up" day for whatever it is you need to get caught up on. Your paperwork, time with your kids, take the cat to the vet.. etc. The idea is, who is going to miss that one day anyhow, and think of all the stuff you could get done.

Check it out: National Catch Up Day

Resolutions... or are they?

In the spirit of Ellen... here are my resolutions for 2007.

1. Keep on not smoking. In march it will be 6 years since my last cig.

2. Keep on blogging. In the spirit of the new year, I have a new look for my blog. I wish Blogger would add some new templates though.

3. Keep on knitting. I plan to have more finished objects in 2007. I also plan to finish old projects. I will post about them regularly to keep myself on task.

4. Keep on being good to myself. I need to drink more water. I am good about this in the hot months, not too good in the cold. I will start doing the exercises for my back again. I will get back into my walking routine that I feel out of when I hurt my ankle. All things that I've been doing.. just not lately.

5. Keep on keeping on. I've accepted the fact that this is a hard year, and some things are going to slide in the meantime. I'm OK with that. I'm going to do the best I can, no matter what that is on any given day, and that's all I expect from myself.

Happy - Happy

I was inspired by Rachel's post in which she wrote about how every year she resolves not to stab anyone, and so far it's working for her. I don't like New Year's Resolutions. I feel like they set you up for failure. So for this year, I resolve to drink more beer. Shouldn't be too hard.

Happy New Years!