Updates on that adventure to come, I'm sure!

ITEM!: So how cool is this? I am living across the street from a Christmas tree lot! Awesome! I don't smell the trees, because they're still a bit far, I guess, but I can certainly see them. And this is just the thing I need to push me over the edge into crazy holiday giddiness. You know what this means, don't you? It means that Brian and I can find and buy a tree, and just carry it across the street, like they do in all those big city-based shows and movies ... and best of all, it won't get all kinds of needles in my car!
ITEM!: I always love it when the space shuttles land in California at Edwards Air Force Base. Maybe, some day, I'll get to watch a landing, or even better and more incredible, a launch. From the inside, yeah, from the inside.
ITEM!: I'm taking the laptop in to the Apple store tomorrow. I would say that the errand should be interesting, but really, I'm pretty sure I'm going to walk away from the place disappointed. Somehow, I doubt they'll be able to fix my little door issue, because the computer is so old, and they'll tell me that the video problem is some inherent software hiccup, and, oh look at that, the whole piece of machinery may just melt if I take it home without a ridiculous amount of money paid to their Genius Bar.

When the chips fall, they sound the same

I played, and lost, two games of Connect 4 tonight. On a whim ... Brian's whim, specifically ... we bought the game at Target this evening. He made me promise I would play with him, "like, 10 times," before he put it in the cart, so he could be sure he would get his $10 worth of fun out of it. Two games down, eight to go. What's fun is the level of strategy involved. I had forgotten how chess-like it can be to play. And really, I was totally on board with buying the game. In fact, I would have gotten Operation too, if he'd asked me a second time. I love those games. I can't wait to play games with Sydney! My personal favorite, Chutes & Ladders, will be the most fun, I think. This time next year, Santa will be bringing a nice pile of Milton Bradley (and others) boxes to her. It'll be as much a fun day for me as for her when we get to open and play them!

This isn't our meal; ours was prettier

Well, I hope you all had a happy and fun Thanksgiving! I heard on the news that the typical holiday feast adds up to about 3,000 calories. I could see that. I mean, I love the big pile of stuffing, the mashed potatoes, the bread and butter, and the turkey (but on a sandwich, not alone). And I'm not one to deny myself a second helping of any of those, especially stuffing.
We all went down to Tucson to spend the holiday with Brian's side of the family, and had a great time. The end of the evening was spent in an all-out marathon game of Uno, that stretched about two hours. Oh, make no mistake, I won. It was a particularly competitive game -- happily so -- and we all thoroughly enjoyed the strategy. I didn't cheat, though Brian accused me of it, and I am very pleased with my win. We decided though, that the next time we're all together, we won't wait until the last hour to play. We'll start playing earlier in the day so we can get more than one game in.
I called the Mac place down the street about the CD door on my computer and to see if I could bring it in Monday morning. There was a very unhelpful guy who answered the phone who, first of all, needed to be told three times what the problem was, and seemed to only care what color the laptop is; then, wasn't sure of anything but that he didn't think they had any new doors, or could get any, or that they could even fix it; and finally, thinks that maybe the Apple store would be a better place to get the door fixed. Honestly, I hate dealing with the Genius Bar at my local Apple Store, the guys are super condescending and the whole enterprise is too expensive, and that's why I deal with this Mac places instead. But not about this, I guess. If I remember right, I have to make my appointment online. Okay, I'll head over there now. Let's get this started, yes?

And still a crazy flat stomach

I'll tell you, it's weird how little amount of sleep I've gotten over the last week. There's really no reason for it, except that, damn it, I just haven't been ready to be asleep before midnight since some time last week. I finished a book though, the other night, so that's a good thing. At any rate, my latest bout of nocturnal living is making it difficult for me to get earlier sleep tonight. It's a couple minutes before 10, I'm still sitting here at the computer (that has not been repaired yet), and I'm only really interested in dicking around on Facebook. And Gladiator is on TV. But the positive feeling I'm getting from this is that I don't really want to do anything else tonight, and I just stifled a yawn, so maybe I will get to sleep on time.
So, check her out. It looks like our dear Britney finally has her life back together, and she'll be rocking the newest cover of Rolling Stone, out this week. Doesn't she look pretty, and healthy? I'm loving the new single, "Womanizer," and I'm geeked about the new album, Circus, which drops on December 2. There was an article on Brit on USAToday.com this morning, and it was a positive, emotionally controlled, and logical interview, or so I gathered from the minimal quotes allowed in the story. I think I may buy this issue, and show my support.

New [Old Guys] on the Block

I had every intention of watching The American Music Awards tonight. We actually sat through Christina Aguilera's opening performance and Jimmy Kimmel's opening monologue. I guess we stopped watching after Pink's performance ... yes, that must be when, because I can't remember anything after that.
I'll admit to being an old woman in regards to the show tonight. I said to myself, in my head, "Let's check this out and see what all the young kids are listening to nowadays." I think I underestimated either my crushingly short attention span or my lack of real interest, because even when given the opportunity to return to the program, I chose instead to do my nails, watch The Bourne Ultimatum, and wait impatiently for True Blood.
My intentions were sound though. I wanted to see what The Jonas Brothers were about, the same with Taylor Swift, Ne-Yo and other acts that I've heard of, but not from. (Actually, weren't The Jonas Brothers on DWTS last season? I must have blocked it; I don't remember their actual performance.)
Honestly and sadly, I think it was the New Kids on the Block segment that pushed me over the edge. I felt so ... embarrassed ... for my generation. Though the girls who loved NKOTB were a couple years younger than me, I still knew the tunes. And I hated watching them do the same dance to "The Right Stuff," and listen to an older Joey McIntyre sing "Please Don't Go, Girl." Even Brian asked me, "Aren't they a bit old to be singing about being someone's boyfriend?"
So really, even though I would call it a valiant effort to get through the show and educate myself on today's music that's worthy of receiving an award, I didn't force myself into viewership, nor did I even check in regulary throughout the show, feigning an interest.
Sigh. Always the best intentions, but so many times, they fall short. ... Did I really miss anything amazing?

Tip: Don't let them run around unleashed

With yesterday's dog-walking experience fresh in mind, I approached Assignment 4 for my writing course with a specific purpose. The task was to write a 500- to 1,000-word nonfiction article for children or teens about anything we had knowledge of from our life, but in which we also could incorporate any current research we might do. It really sounds crazy vague the way I just said it, huh?
Okay, here's some help: my topic is how to walk a dog. I basically gave a tutorial, in a bright and refreshing turn of phrase, of course, on how an 8- or 9-year-old kid would go about walking a dog, including the best way to fit a collar, tips on allowing the dog time to sniff around, warnings for possible issues (i.e., eating stuff off the ground, and keeping them on a short leash around other dogs and children), and the reminder to always, always pick up the dog's poop.
I popped out the article in an hour, which makes me angry that I've been procrastinating so, but the more I think about the piece, the happier I am with it. I'm excited to read it again tomorrow morning and get it ready to send out to Judy. The hitch in my get-along right now is coming up with a stunning and catchy title. It's not really a hitch so much as something I haven't thought about yet. I'll get it ready for mailing tomorrow and get it out on Monday. Yay!

Prince thinks gay marriage isn't right

Really, one doesn't very often come across a rock star who goes on record about something that could very easily alienate a number of the star's fans. And it's even more rare that the rock star in question is one that's been around for a while and has legions of fans.
Prince, yes, Prince, was quoted in The New Yorker as saying he does not believe that gay marriage is "right." He said that he disagreed with a liberal "Democrat" view of life, pointing to gay marriage as something condoned by the party that he disagreed with because it clashed with the teachings of the Bible.
Here's a fun quote: "God came to Earth and saw people sticking it wherever and doing it with whatever, and he just cleared it all out," he said. "He was, like, 'Enough.'
"[In the USA] you've got the Republicans, basically they want to live according to [the Bible]. But there's the problem of interpretation, and you've got some churches, some people, basically doing things and saying it comes from here, but it doesn't.
"And then on the opposite end of the spectrum you've got blue, you've got the Democrats, and they're, like, 'You can do whatever you want.' Gay marriage, whatever. But neither of them is right."
I'll allow that the quotes might have been taken out of context. And I'll allow that he was probably on a roll about something and may have forgotten that he was talking to a journalist. But the words seem to speak for themselves, and the entirety of the quote leads me to believe that this was not a stray phrase here and a random word there. And my previous life as an intrepid reporter myself leads me to believe that he wasn't misquoted either, that's just what everyone who's quoted saying something they perhaps shouldn't have says to cover for themselves. And wow, I hate to say it, but I'm crazy disappointed in Prince having heard this from him. I always thought he was one of those people, Democrat or not, who thought people could do whatever they want.

It ruined my afternoon, that's for sure

We, as a family, had a wretched walk this afternoon. Today marks the second time I tried to walk both my dogs and my kid around the complex. The first time went okay, but not so bad that I would refuse to attempt it again. So this afternoon, I leashed up my dogs, grabbed my toddler, and we headed down the stairs and around the building. The first half of the walk was fine ... really, it was. Sydney kinda listened to me, the dogs are good on their leashes, and the weather was fine. As we made our way towards the homeward stretch of the loop, we came upon the parking lot that must be crossed. I asked for Sydney's hand; "No." I asked again and a third time; "No." I grabbed her forearm, and a screaming fit ensued. I really ignored it, though the more screaming, the more irritated I got. Once we got across the lot though, I let her go to run ahead with the dogs and pick up rocks. She wasn't interested in listening to me, but I knew that we were close to home, so no big worries.
As we came upon the back stairs to our building. the girl living next door to us was coming down the stairs with her two dogs for their walk. The dogs were barking and straining at their leashes, but she held them well, and I pulled Ollie and Daisy toward the walk around the building, avoiding the now-occupied stairs. One dog pulled out of its collar though, and came ran down the stairs toward my pooches. The girl ran down the stairs to get her dog, but that, of course, brought along the second dog. The two dogs then proceeded to swarm over my puppy. They weren't viciously attacking, but it was hardly playing, I thought. Daisy tried to run, but could only go so far on her leash, and then ran back and wrapped her leash around the other girl's legs trying to get away. I reached down to grab her right as she started to really squeal. I picked her up, and then the dogs turned on Oliver. They ran at him, and were basically flanking him. He had nowhere to go and no way to get away. He circled and sat, and at that moment, the girl finally got control of both her dogs and dragged them away. Thankfully, even though she thought she could help, and did get caught up in some of the leash twisting, Sydney stayed out of the direct line of fire.
After all this, of course, Sydney decides to show me more attitude, and demonstrate more of her not-listening state of mind, so I grabbed her and carried both her (screaming and crying) and Daisy (shaking and muddy) upstairs, Oliver (ever calm, though knowing I'm pissed) following closely behind.
It was when I got home that I started shaking and freaking out. I mean, what if, when I had picked up Oliver, the dogs (which were no bigger than Oliver, but had more of an attack pack mentality) went after Sydney? How do you carry all three of your babies in only two arms? I know I would have been able to do it, but the actual fear that strummed through me when I thought of what else could have happened freaked me out.
So, it'll be a while longer before I try this again on my own.

I'm a Mac, and I won't open my CD door

It's been a while, so don't you think it's about time for the computer to need some fixing? I mean, it's been a couple years since the great hard drive crash of 2006, so the laptop should really have some kind of meltdown. It does not disappoint me. Currently, I'm dealing with two specific issues: the CD/DVD drive will not open, no matter how I smack, pull or jab at it; and, well, this has been an issue for quite some time, any videos, be they network television programs or YouTube segments, come through all pixelated, start and stop, and never are in sync so far as sight and sound. It's a drag, especially since so many of my favorite sites have streaming videos on them. But the CD thing is what finally tipped the scales toward a visit to the computer doctor. I went to upload the new Pink CD into my iTunes, and could not get the damn little door to open. If you can't insert the CD, you can't upload the CD ... and I refuse to buy the CD and then buy the music on iTunes, too. All that, even if I am living fast and loose with iTunes credits from my mommy. I hate to waste them because of laziness, even though I'm sure the repair of the CD door will cost more than the cost of the music. At any rate and for however much, I'll be taking the computer in to the Mac guys on Monday morning.

Wall*E rocks!

Dude, you guys, we just finished watching Wall*E. That is, by far, one of the cutest little love stories I've ever seen in my life. I mean, really, who falls in love with a robot? But my goodness, it was almost too cute and adorable! Of course, the movie had some great, but sometimes, it was unexpectedly depressing. Great: the little cleaning robot; Eve's attitude; Wall*E's house. Depressing: Earth as a disgusting garbage can; people who don't move on their own anymore; drinking all snacks and meals. And seriously, at some point, my husband said to me, "Wall*E's not going to die in this movie, is he?" I shook my head and said, "No. Not possible. It's still a Disney movie." But even as I said that, I was a bit concerned. Having finished the film, Brian and I couldn't be more enamored of the story, and the love, between the robots! Fun!

I'll miss you, orange chicken with chicken

I'll admit to first, loving Panda Express. It's one of my favorite places to eat; I enjoy the chow mein quite a bit, and I love that Sydney enjoys the chow mein. My usual meal, which I've eaten since I first tried the restaurant's food, is the chow mein and orange chicken. The second item can be anything, depends on what I'm hungry for at that time, maybe cream cheese rangoon, beef and broccoli, spring rolls, or crispy shrimp. So it was with some excitement that I realized that since Sydney and I were at the mall right at lunchtime today, we could eat lunch at Panda. So I ordered my meal -- chow mein, orange chicken, and my second item, chicken and string beans -- and happily found a table for myself and my kid. I piled up Sydney's portion of chow mein, added a couple pieces of the chicken and string beans, and then settled in to my own plate. But when I bit in to my first piece of orange chicken, I was disgusted to realize that the entire piece was a hard and too crunchy piece of fried batter in orange sauce. I don't think there was the tiniest bit of chicken in that bite. So I tried another. Again, it was a hard piece of fried batter in orange sauce. I tried again, because I'm nothing if not an optimist. AGAIN! Piece of fried batter in orange sauce with no chicken! I did not try again. I was grossed out. I moved on to the chicken and string beans. And there! THERE! That is the item that had all the chicken that should have been in my orange chicken dish! So instead of enjoying my orange chicken with chicken in it, I enjoyed the chicken and string beans with chicken in it. And honestly, from now on, when I go there, I will avoid the orange chicken in favor of another, visibly evident chicken dish. Orange chicken is obviously the dish in which Panda Express has decided to cut back its expenses. Because really, if it's all fried batter and orange sauce, who would notice that there's no chicken left in it?

Love hurts, and so does watching this movie

So I'm having a love/hate relationship with the movie, The Heartbreak Kid. I had no interest in it when it was in theaters. I remember the previews, and I remember thinking that this particular Ben Stiller movie was not worth my time or attention. Of course, on Netflix, every movie looks cooler than it actually is, so when I saw it on the web site recently, I added it to my queue. But as I was flipping through my extensive HBO channel lineup, I found the movie, and good news, it started only five minutes before I landed on it. Right now, I'm about an hour into it, and I'm feeling the burn. But you know, I need to watch it to the end just so I know what happens, whether I pay for it later with a diminished faith in humanity, or not.

And cupcakes love me

I once was told that when there's nothing to write, don't write anything. Sunday's are a bit of a drag because, even though it's a weekend day, not enough has happened to warrant a decent post. And so then, here I am, sitting with the computer, waiting for inspiration to strike. Actually, I've been sitting here with the computer for about 90 minutes. That says something to me.

La, la, la ... I love cupcakes.

And the space shuttle jumped over the moon

I've got a couple things for you tonight:
1.) You didn't really think this entire space shuttle mission would go by without me posting something about it, did you? I mean, you all know about, and love me for, my misguided desire to be an astronaut at some point in my life. That hasn't changed. So here's a time-lapsed photo of the space shuttle Endeavour as it took off from Florida last night. You know, there used to be a NASA channel on my cable lineup, but when I went looking for it yesterday, I was irritated to not find it. And I couldn't find the launch on CNN either. It was nowhere to be seen on any news station. I find that very disappointing! I wanted to watch the damn launch and I couldn't! But at least there are pictures, right?
And 2.) where the hell was all this righteous activism before the election? What on earth kept all these people from being loud and proud about their beliefs in allowing gay marriage before it was banned? Who knew that simply voting wasn't going to do anything? Who knew that all the additional voters could possibly change the outcome of this particular proposition? Oh, you bet I wanted to be there marching with all those other people. You bet I'm enraged that the proposition passed. But what can all these demonstrations do? The best that can be done is to just put making gay marriage legal on the next ballot, right? Someone enlighten me if something else can be done about this.
3.) I ironed Brian's scrubs for next week tonight. I'm bugged as hell about this. Apparently, his office staff picks on him pretty regularly about how wrinkled his scrubs are everyday. While I happily said that they could piss off when he initially told me about it, it's become a fly in my ointment, so to speak, every time he puts on a fresh pair in the morning. I've figured out a couple things that make them more wrinkled -- bib Velcro sticking to pants strings and twisting them in the dryer was a main problem -- but in the end, they're 100 percent cotton scrubs that just can't be wrinkle-free without being ironed. And I hate ironing. I tried the wrinkle releaser that Katy suggested, and it just didn't do enough for the thickness of the cotton. I refuse to take the scrubs to the dry cleaners. And I hate ironing. So now I'm at an impasse. What to do about the scrubs? I'm thinking that my initial reaction of, "piss off," may be my best bet.

Yes, I made an error

Okay, I also want to post a small Editor's Note in regards to the headline in my post from yesterday, "Ugh, but where's Dr. Ross and Nurse Hathaway?" It's grammatically incorrect. The phrasing should be, "Ugh, but where are Dr. Ross and Nurse Hathaway?" Duh, says the editor, there are two of them! Pluralize properly! I could have just fixed it, and those of you who noticed could have realized my error and smirked at me, or not; and those of you who didn't notice would be none the wiser, or not. But what fun would that be?

He sounds so Grinchy when he says it, too

And Christmas has begun in the house. Not so far as decorations and all that, because ... hello ... there's still that fun holiday with the turkey and all the food, but the preparations for the Santa holiday have officially begun. I have a list. I have created a list of who I'm buying for this year, and have wrangled a budget number out of my economy-conscious spouse. I'll choose to not account for the gifts that I've already bought, since they aren't part of the set budget (gifts purchased before a budget is established are as good as not being bought at all). I hate budgeting, on any level, but am already chafing something crazy over a Christmas budget. It just doesn't sound very ... festive. And by all accounts, I enjoy being festive. But, I consider this one to be a challenge, and am actually relishing the thrill of the hunt. I'll figure out the cost factor, then go searching for what I need. Fun? Not so much, but it's better than the constant attitude I've gotten over the last couple months that "Christmas is canceled."

Reservations for five

You know, if I or my husband ever were elected as president, I would totally have my mom move into the White House with us. What a fantastic thing to have happen with the Obamas. (It is Michelle Obama's mother who kept the kids to their normal schedules and enforced family rules during the campaign. She was, by all accounts, an incredibly stabilizing force in the family throughout those two years.) I find myself wondering how many other in-laws lived in the White House, too. It's actually not confirmed that Marian Robinson will live in the White House, but only that she's agreed to move to Washington with the Obamas. I can't imagine that she wouldn't be closer if she could be, as they say, down the hall. And hello? Life in the White House? That must rock ... you know, when you aren't in charge of the country and all that business. But yeah, my mom would totally be forced into living there with us.

Ugh, but where's Dr. Ross and Nurse Hathaway?

ITEM!: I just downloaded the new version of Mozilla's Firefox, because it's finally available for the Mac. Interesting side note: I had to completely remove the last version of the software from my hard drive before the new version would load properly. During that time, I had a moment of irrational abject terror when thinking that maybe I wouldn't ever be able to get Firefox back on my computer, and I would forever have to blog in Safari, which sucks for blogging. Anyway, I got the new version, mocked myself for my fleeting fear, and am now happily living in a well-managed blogger paradise.
ITEM!: I'm pulling together my Christmas list ... of gifts to buy and ideas for my side of the family. If I didn't have a fresh manicure right now, I would have broken out the legal pad and started work on the official "Christmas List 2008" tonight. What's awesome is that I've already got a few ideas percolating. What sucks is that all I've got to deal with money-wise is a credit card that I'd really rather avoid.
ITEM!: I watched tonight's very special episode of ER, featuring the return of Anthony Edwards as the show's beloved Dr. Mark Greene. I'll admit that it was nice seeing him in his scrubs and on the show, though it was not enough to get me hooked into watching the program for the rest of its final season. What else was on (at the very beginning) was a very nice and touching tribute to the show's creator, Michael Crichton, by Eriq LaSalle, who played Dr. Peter Benton. So we've got Benton and Greene on the show on the same night. While the stunt itself did exactly what it was supposed to do -- it got me watching the show -- I think the it may have backfired on them. All tonight's episode did was show me how awesome the show used to be, and how much I loved all those other characters, and how okay I am with not watching it anymore.

Lately, I'm more of a lip gloss girl

So how's this for totally random and absolutely fantastic? I got this article off the Yahoo! home page tonight.

The Lipstick Indicator
In this economy that's in the red, there may be one bright spot that comes in shades of pink, brown, and taupe: the lipstick index.
It's a financial indicator that's as true as that colorfast shade that stays on you, and doesn't get on your man. In bad times, lipstick sales soar while other sales sour. The term "Leading Lipstick Indicator" was coined by Leonard Lauder, chairman of makeup company Estée Lauder, after he noticed the trend during tough economic times.
And what is indicated right now? All lips are pointing upwards. After all, women don't need to think twice about plunking down eight bucks for a drugstore lipstick while passing on $800 Jimmy Choos.
History can be our guide here. As a Harvard professor explains: "The decade of the Great Depression, cosmetic sales increased 25 percent." After the downturn following Sept. 11, lipstick sales doubled.
Looks like we're on track for a similar lip-color craze with this latest economic funk. The New York Times notes that in the last few months, lipstick sales have shot up 40 percent, and even put out a list of favorites ranging in price from the budget-conscious $1.99 to the more pricey but still affordable $55. Preferred colors for this new economy? Red is out. Neutrals are in.

Well. There you have it. It'll all be okay; just put on some lipstick.

Best Starbucks visit ever

So I totally have to tell you about my trip to Starbucks last week!
Katy and I took a road trip to Tucson, and on the way back to Phoenix, decided to cruise through the Starbucks along the freeway. I'll do my best to re-create the visit.
Barista: "Welcome to Starbucks. How are you this evening?"
Me: "Fine, thank you. How are you?"
Barista: "I'm excellent! What can I get you tonight?"
Me: "Excellent? That makes my 'fine' sound boring. I'm fabulous! I'm fantastic!"
Barista: "You sound like you would be willing to play this game we've been playing with our customers tonight. I didn't start with it because the last, like, eight customers didn't participate at all."
Me: "Okay! Bring it!"
Barista: "Okay, pretend like I just turned on my mike and you just arrived at the speaker. Ready?"
What followed was a fantastic game show host voiceover, with musical singing accompaniment from the other employees, offering me prizes behind each door, the first door containing "our wonderful hot espresso drinks," the second held "the very popular frappuccino line of drinks," and the third hid "my personal favorite, the iced drinks." I played along, asking door #1 what fruit it would be (a Granny Smith apple), and finally selecting that door because we wanted hot drinks.
By the time we drove around to the window, all the employees had assembled there, and had one final challenge for us. Because we played along, and with such enjoyment, they would give us one of our drinks free ... if we would sing part of a song for them. Well, little did they all know, but because we were on a road trip, I happened to have my iPod plugged in and resting on my lap at that very moment. Katy and I happily agreed to the challenge.
Me: "So ... I'm thinking disco."
Katy: "That sounds good."
Me: "How about some I Will Survive?"
Katy: "Gloria Gaynor is always an excellent choice!"
So, we started up the song, I turned it up loud enough for the Starbucks peeps to hear well through the window, and we sang along at top volume, and with attitude and arm dancing even! And they also sang along with us! And we sang through the entire first verse and the first chorus! It was ... awesome!
The baristas were so pleased with our serenade, and with our willingness to roll with all of their craziness that night, that they actually gave us both our coffees for free! And those coffees "were made with love," they told us, too! Hands down, the best, most entertaining visit to a Starbucks ever!

Capt. Jack Chihuahua. That's funny

I'm feeling kinda bruised and battered, from the inside, tonight. And because I seem to tell you all everything, I'll go ahead and spill this one, too: I had an IUD (intra-uterine device) installed/inserted this afternoon. It hurt a bit more than I thought it would, and I'm still feeling it a bit more than I thought I would, but relief is soon coming. I took one of my "Shingles" pain pills a few minutes ago, and I'm waiting for it to kick in.
My appointment was at 12:30; I arrived at 12:25; I was in the car and heading to lunch at 12:52. It didn't take long at all, and having chatted with a friend who also has one, I now understand why. My doctor didn't put a heating pad on my lower torso for 20 minutes to help warm me up and loosen my areas; my doctor didn't invite me to stay on the table for another 20 minutes after insertion to cuddle with the heating pad and rest; and my doctor didn't braid my hair or massage my feet while I rested (actually, that last one is a lie, my friend's doc didn't do that either, he just might as well have. Clearly, the expect us to be super tough at this office; no pampering there!).
After leaving the office, I went for lunch, but eventually made it quick because I was starting to cramp pretty badly. So, I thought a walk around the mall would help a bit. That, too, was a poor decision, as my body was cramping even more. So I came home, rested for a few more minutes while the babysitter took Sydney out for a walk around the complex, and dosed myself with Advil. Tonight, having gotten past all the major cramping (I think), and bleeding (sorry for saying that, but it's the truth), I'll be bedding down in cozy warm pajamas, with my constant sleeping partner, Oliver, and removing myself from the day, with the comforting feeling of generic Vicodin rolling through my veins.

A new era begins ... let's see what happens now

Honestly, I'm kinda disappointed. I thought this would be some tight-ass race where I would be stuck sitting in front of the television for hours upon hours, watching and waiting, and freaking out over every state's returns. Instead, it was basically an Obama landslide, and the only fun I had was in waiting to see if McCain would carry his own home state of Arizona (it was really unsure for a while). And truthfully, I am loving the fact that it was the 55 electoral votes in California that gave Obama the victory. See! My vote counted! Awesome!
I'm also totally digging the fact that the "swing states," got so caught up in their own importance that they took too much time to count their ballots and ultimately didn't matter to the winner of the election. Look at Florida, Indiana, Missouri and North Carolina: They were all, "Hey, look at us, all big and important to the next president. We're going to take our time so the national spotlight is trained firmly on our wonderfulness and then we'll be the ones to decide whether it'll be McCain or Obama." [Editor's note: Add in a significant amount of high-school girl sarcasm and attitude in that quote, and you'll hear it as it is in my head.] I am so excited that, except for Florida, they're still, as I write this, firmly in the gray, yellow, white or whatever color on the big map graphic that isn't blue or red. Who needs them? This is my vindication for every time the electoral college decided on a president before California's votes were counted.
Of course, we did still spend the entire night in front of the television. We watched NBC's coverage for a few simple reasons: I can't stand Katie Couric or Charles Gibson; I totally dig Brian Williams and Tom Brokaw (a bit also because of how funny they both are whenever they visit The Daily Show); and I just feel like NBC is less flimsy with their knowledge, intelligence and pandering. But watching the national NBC news team means that I also was subjected to the local NBC news team, which I do not like at all. Among Arizona's news, I prefer ABC. But I couldn't skip back and forth, so I stuck with NBC. Except for the hour of the coverage by The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. At times very funny and very irritating, that program kept our attention and was a nice break from the serious coverage, but still, we probably would have been better served watching NBC and recording Comedy Central for later.
And hello, fantastic victory speech! I'm ready to help make change!

I voted; have you?

At the Children's Museum this morning, I saw no less than five or six "I voted," stickers on various moms and dads. I love it that people are standing in line for hours, and bringing books, and drinking coffee, and texting everyone they know, and knowing that their vote is important enough for them to do all this. What a great election day!
Let's see what happens next!

Twinkie, Twinkie, Twinkie, Twinkie, Twinkie

Are you ready? Have you voted? Is it time to finally get the numbers together and figure out who will be the next president? I am so ready to have this whole thing done! Of course, I'm terrified of the outcome, should it go quite red, but it'll be an interesting several hours until the end result is reported. Brian would rather be home all day to watch with me, though we all know it'll be about the time he would normally get home when all the real information will start to be shown. So, he's to work, and Syd and I are off on a fun morning adventure before returning home to watch the results come in. No doubt, tomorrow night's blog post will be either excited or totally and completely bummed out, but we'll just save that for tomorrow. I just hope that you have voted, or will get out there and vote. It's so important.

Oh, and how's this for good news the day before the election: Twinkies have joined the ranks of the 100-calorie snack foods, with a new three-cake packaging that, when consumed, equals only 100 calories. Should this be allowed? Too late, my dears, it's done! (Hostess also has introduced a 100-calorie strawberry cupcake that I'm sure I will just absolutely have to try the next time I'm in Target or the grocery store.) An actual Twinkie, according to the article I read, is only 150 calories, but the public and the 100-calorie segment of the company apparently cried out for a 100-calorie version of the nation's favorite snack cake. Did you know that 500 million Twinkies are sold each year? If it smells like a Twinkie, looks like a little Twinkie, and tastes enough like a Twinkie, it must be a Twinkie. Go on, say it ... "Twinkie." If you say it enough times, it starts to really sound funny.

Even he seems to be saying, "I'm, like, bleck"

So I'm starting to get amped up about this Tuesday. This election is going to be ... and it doesn't matter who you all voted for ... crazy with a capital "C." I don't know about you, but I'm going to be glued to my television all day watching election results coming in. Of course, little to nothing of any import will be reported until polls actually start closing on the East Coast, but still, listening to all the pundits will be an interesting exercise for the day. I'm debating which news channel to watch. It won't be Fox, duh, but should it be CNN or MSNBC? I can't stand Wolf Blitzer, but I love Anderson Cooper. I don't know too many of the MSNBC people, except the ones who've moved over from actual NBC, so can't comment on them. But the fun is that there will be no shortage of random charts, graphics and wild predictions no matter what channel I may be watching. This is going to be an insane couple days, my readers, and I'm getting ready for them. Awesome.

It's flip flops for a few days for me

And so November begins:
1.) I chose the firefighter outfit for my avatar because I liked it. Sadly, there is no burning building background available, so I had to go with my second choice for a random, somewhat related background. An erupting volcano, I think, could be a suitable background for me as a firefighter. My first choice, in a completely ironic and self-deprecating way, was a background of a kitchen.
2.) My heels are so sore. It was my brilliant idea to take Sydney to the Arizona State Fair this morning. It actually was a brilliant idea, with only a few slight setbacks: I made a poor decision on shoe selection, and I paid for it quickly, with skin peeling off my heels before we even made it through the Fair; Sydney was freaked by the rides, the noise, the smells and the people, and insisted on being carried throughout the whole place; and it's November, and it was still too warm to roll through the place without sweating. The messed up thing about it? Brian was totally on board with the whole adventure, and cooperative and everything! Talk about a wasted opportunity!
3.) I just watched 27 Dresses on HBO. I'd seen it once before, with Mom, and totally dug it. This time, I liked it just as much, if you must know, and I'm happy to have spent two hours sitting on my butt watching it again!
4.) My obsession with Facebook continues. I changed my status three times today.
5.) I took down all my Halloween decorations and replaced them with the Thanksgiving turkeys for the upcoming month. I'll tell you, I'm a bit disappointed with my Thanksgiving decor this year. I actually tossed out four turkeys, and some other assorted pieces. I need to replenish the supply. I will head to Hallmark tomorrow, I think. Or maybe Monday. Target didn't have much the last time I was there, having skipped Thanksgiving entirely and moved on to Christmas already, but I guess I could stop there again. Oh! Maybe Michaels will have something! Idea!
6.) I ended up moving around some plants this afternoon, too. I've got a couple unhappy spaths that need someplace new to live in the apartment. I've switched some to different rooms, so we'll see how they do in new light exposures.
Damn. That sounded so random and boring. I must stop blogging right now.