I scream and pull out my hair

And then you have one of those nights where they all just kind of piss you off.
The only thing that is getting me through the night, and is capable of not irritating me more than I am, is Oliver, who sleeps on his back up against me right now, and snores. Cooper is pretty cute, too, and he warms my heart, as well.
It started out as a pretty awesome day. I got to walk the trail, ran some errands, had tea with June. I also took care of my list at home, and put up all the St. Patrick's Day decorations.
But then, the other humans in my house came home, and my quiet sanity and serenity were gone. Quick question: how do you un-addict a child from their technology? Because I am there. Also: Brian decided that tonight would be the best night to come home sassy and dickish.
So, I've been holed up in my bedroom for the last few hours, and am eager to fall asleep and leave this evening behind me. "Calgon, take me away," right? Or is it, "Tomorrow at Tara"? Whatever it is, it had better include a decent lunch while the kid is at that birthday party.
I enjoy my family; I really do. Just a bit less right now.

A single jellyfish in a swarm of jellyfish

I've been super eager to hear anything about the job I applied to that had nothing to do with any of my previous experience. I checked the company web site a couple days ago, and the job was still posted, so I knew that it was at least still available. This afternoon, Aaron texted me the referral status (since he works there, he added his name to my application as a referral), and it said that they were currently considering my application. I don't need to tell you again how much I've realized I want this job. I would be most excited and eager to meet them, should they call. And I hope they do.
Sydney had her first eye exam this afternoon, and it turns out that she does need glasses. She's having trouble with seeing the smartboard at school, and these will help with that. She doesn't need them for reading or using the phone or computer, so these are, essentially, classroom glasses. On a positive note, she's super excited to have and wear them. She picked out exactly what she wanted, and is over the moon with them, and also is pouting because it'll take some days to get them.
I ate too many flautas today for lunch. They were delicious, which is what made me think I could stomach the last one, but really, I filled up too much. To the point where I didn't eat anything all afternoon, and could only force a croissant down for dinner. They were good, but I'll definitely practice more restraint in the future.
Yes, there were llamas on the loose in Phoenix today. Yes, they were entertaining.
Syd and I were bummed to not have an episode of The Voice to watch today. It made us very sad, and we are now impatiently waiting for next week.
Dude. You company. Call me so I can wow you with my awesomeness, and you can then give me a job.

Time for bed, my friends

I'm sitting here, all chill, watching Agent Carter (which is awesome, by the way), and suddenly, it's 12:24 a.m. I've been so good lately about getting to bed within the 11:00 hour. This is, of course, Brian's fault for coming up with a gross project for us late, and then distracting me from my show earlier. And so now, I'm all eager and hurried to get into bed so I can sleep and have energy to hike the trail tomorrow morning.
Information from Costco: The green chile chicken flautas are fabulous, and I can't wait to eat some for lunch. The chimichangas I tried were super good, too. We bought so much food; we should be able to live out of our fridge for a couple weeks.
This image has four space residents in it, just so you know. Do not dismiss it. The moon, Mercury, Mars and Jupiter. I never thought I would ever see this in something other than the all-over view of my Night Sky app.

I'm a princess in Uggs, too

This image reminds me of a few things.
First, that there is little in life more comfortable than a good pair of Uggs.
Second, that as a bride, I wore flats under my dress because I refused to worry about falling over, tripping, poking holes in the dress, or my balance during the day that was supposed to be the most romantic of my life. I'll never understand the girls who wear the sky-high heels, in any situation, let alone their wedding day. Comfort is key, my friends.
Third, after a couple weeks of warm weather, it has returned to regular temperatures here in the desert, and I'm sitting here composing this post in my sweatshirt and sweatpants, with the hood up. I had put the slippers away for the season, but I think I can still leave them in the closet. My socks are doing well enough for me now.
Fourth, I started a new puzzle this afternoon, and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. I love puzzles so much.

I picked Michael Keaton, and lost

ITEM!: Last night, Brian won this year's Oscar contest, of which we have every year with JJ and Anthony. There are 24 categories. Brian correctly predicted 16 of them, and I got 14 right. Brian is a savant of some kind when it comes to picking the random winners, for like documentary short or feature documentary, or original score. It was an exciting game this year though, since Brian and Anthony were tied going into the last award. It was a good show, and we enjoyed watching it.
ITEM!: I had a dentist appointment this morning, which is always a good thing, because my dentist is hot. I have no cavities, because I don't floss regularly. My mouth is boring, to a dentist, but for me, it's pretty excellent. I feel kinda like I got beat up, though.
ITEM!: I'm watching The Grand Budapest Hotel right now, and I have to tell you, I'm enjoying it all over again. It totally deserved all the awards it won last night. I am, officially, a huge fan of Wes Anderson movies. My favorite? The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. I am, officially, a little bit crushing on Bill Murray. Isn't that fun and random?
ITEM!: I've been applying my Burt's Bees repair serum to my eyes before bed the last couple nights, and I think it may be working on these "dark circles." Or at least it looks like it might be working? I don't know. I'll give it the next couple weeks. Over Sydney's spring break, there will be pictures taken, and I'll know better then.
ITEM!: It's Brian's birthday today, and he's awesome.

Dark circles are NOT glamorous

I think the problem is that I'm not getting enough sleep.
I've been unhappy with the look of the skin below my eyes in pictures for a while, but a particular selfie I took today really ... opened my eyes (sorry, but the pun opportunity was too rich). I have this divot? Ditch? Pit? Valley? Below my eyes, and in this picture, it is really pronounced. It's actually pretty gross, and if there wasn't an awesome goat in the pic, as well as some Beyonce-level blowing hair, I wouldn't have used it. So I asked Mom. "What is that HOLE under my eye?"
Apparently, it's a dark circle. And there's one under the other eye too, it's just not as bad. This is unacceptable. How the hell do I fix this? Is this the kind of thing that will push me towards plastic surgery or Botox or something? Certainly, I should start with sleeping more, right? And nightly repair serum? And concealer during the day? Ugh. Though the serum is probably a super good idea, as is the sleeping.
All I can say is, I've seen it, it grossed me out, and now it must be fixed.

It's a BIRD; it's a MAN

We watched Birdman tonight. Let me tell you, the soundtrack music of mostly drums was annoying. Because they weren't just drums in the background, they were drums as loud as the dialog, and sometimes I had to struggle to hear what the characters were saying because of the drumming. This isn't good for a movie, I think, and it's perfectly horrible for me, I know. By the time the movie was over, I had a pounding headache, and couldn't handle any noise for several minutes. In fact, I sit here in absolute silence writing this, because my head can't even handle the noise.
As for the movie itself, I will say that I can see why it was nominated for so many Oscars. It's Academy Award bait, and it will probably do very well on Sunday. The long-running shots were amazing, and the camerawork was incredible. The acting was well done, and the script was an interesting one. It's nice to see Michael Keaton get an awesome part, and the recognition, he deserves.
Having said all that, it gave me a headache, and I'll probably never sit and watch it again.

Hot dude is cool as ice (cliche alert!)

This picture is super cool to me.  I love the look of this old-timey (though not too terribly old times) man just cruising around on the ice, in his awesome suit and hat. He seems so weirdly sophisticated. It's an elegant thing to be dressed superbly and engaging in an unexpected activity.
Like, fishing in a wedding dress.
All things considered, I'd have liked to know who this is. He seems pretty awesome. And like he knows what he's doing. It's kinda hot, right?

Grey wolves aren't always grey

So, I played the ultimate game of hide-and-seek with my sanity this afternoon.
Witness: proofreading and editing a third-grade report on grey wolves, with the author on my lap, and she's feeling sassy. ... I understand that this is a third-grade paper, but there are things that are just wrong, no matter what.
You can't start a paragraph talking about "wolf" singular, and then switch to "wolves" plural in the very next sentence. Keep the information ordered and organized. Spaces go after the commas, not before. Double spacing is important, so the teacher can read the information easily.
All these things are pretty normal, and should be quick fixes, but the SASSY AUTHOR wasn't having any of it. I had to go into full-on patient, calm, and "happy to explain a thousand times until you hear what I'm saying" mom mode. A couple times, she actually was all, "It's fine, she won't care about that." And I'm all, "I appreciate your saying that, but I can't have you turn this in like that. I have to sign off on this. It's not correct. Fix it."
We finished up the report, printed it out, and affixed the visual aid. After that, when all is done, she's all sweet and angelic and thankful telling me how much she loves me, and how great the report is, and that she's so happy we did it together. She's a sweetie. She even wanted to put my name on the title page after hers because I helped her.
She's super excited to turn it in tomorrow. I just hope her teacher is kind.

An uncomfortable writing experience

This is one of those random nights when I'm typing up the blog from an incredibly uncomfortable position, because Oliver is the king of the world. He has decided that the best place to curl up is in between my legs, so I'm sitting up, all splayed out, and he's content. In fact, right now, he's dreaming. The computer itself is on the lap desk in front of him, so I'm typing to you from a good two feet away from my body. I won't lie, it's weird. My neck is starting to crick. I have to hold my arms up because if I touch him, it tickles him and he flinches. And because he's Oliver and king of the world, he gets all the cuddles and sleep and coziness that he wants.

A girl day is a good day

I thoroughly enjoy my days with Sydney when it's just the two of us, and we have an adventure or two, and just hang out. We started off our day at the butterfly pavilion, and because it was kinda lame and super busy, we decided to go to the zoo, too. Sydney was blown away that I was amenable to this idea. "Really? TWO fun things in one day?" The zoo was packed, of course, due to the holiday, but we managed to see everything we wanted. Our yummy and late Sonic lunch was delicious, and the late afternoon hanging out at home was exactly what we needed.
Tomorrow, she's back at school. I'm going to miss her a ton, but I have a whole lot of stuff I want to get done. However, I haven't made a single list, so who knows what actually will get accomplished.

I (heart) new opportunities

It was a lovely, if quietly boring, Valentine's Day in the G. household.
There was a peppermint mocha on my nightstand when I woke up, which really, is my only requirement on this day. Brian and I ate cupcakes for breakfast. I spent my morning chatting up the parents, both mine and Brian's. We went to Chili's for lunch because we had a gift card from Christmas. Sydney tasted the southwestern eggrolls and had a couple bites of one, so that's a holiday win. We watched Ghost Adventures most of the afternoon, and finally ended up playing Lego Marvel's Super Heroes again. Once the kiddo went to bed, Brian and I watched a bunch of Brain Games and this week's Bill Maher. I'm now upstairs, tired, and ready for bed.
Like I said, a quietly boring day.
What I'm preoccupied by is the job I applied for on Friday, and how much I hope that it turns into something. it's a new job in an entirely different industry, and it's entry level, and I feel like I'd be super good at it. I have a friend who works at the company, and he attached his name to my application as a referral, which may guarantee me an interview. I can't begin to tell you how much I want this job. It's totally time to learn something new. I've realized lately that perhaps I need a more ... practical ... career choice. Journalism, editing and writing just aren't cutting it for me, and I really want to contribute to society (in a workplace) again. I feel like my penchant for detail and accuracy in reporting will benefit me a whole lot in this job, so that's the hook. It's kinda crazy how much I'm hoping this thing will work out for me. I won't know anything until they call me, of course, but I'm on pins and needles.

Hearts and happy things

As for my Valentines, it should be noted that I've got a little gift for Sydney, Oliver and Cooper. Brian is, of course, on his own. He doesn't need anything. And I don't need anything, so I hope he didn't get me anything, except my morning mocha tomorrow, duh. (Of course we bought each other cards! We're not animals.) Ollie and Cooper each got a new red devil weird toy, and Sydney got a couple cute shirts I saw at Target today. The chocolate cupcakes with bright pink frosting are ready for consumption.
It's all good stuff for my Valentines tomorrow.
As much as I can't stand the forced romance of the day, I do believe that it's a good thing to celebrate love. Hearts and happiness, yay!

The solar system via cross-section

This may be one of the coolest images I've ever seen. It's all nine planets (NINE!) cross-sectioned and made into a sphere. Honestly, it's super cool, and I thought you all should see it.

You remember yesterday when I was all depressed about losing the Powerball? Well, I'm here to tell you that we actually did win part of the Powerball jackpot. Brian and I were the incredibly fortunate winners of $8. EIGHT. DOLLARS. It's ridiculous, but it's better than nothing, I suppose. And it made Sydney super happy to take our winnings and put them in her piggy bank. So there's that. It's not at all what I was hoping for. I continued my day in the fog of fantasy regarding what I'd do with such money. Taking care of those near and dear would of course be first on the list, but after that ... the world is available to everything. I'm incredibly bummed to still be a non-jackpot winner. I guess I should keep buying tickets though. They're only $2. You can't win if you don't play.

Bitters AND losing leave a bad taste

Because I'm that kind of mom, I tasted the bitter licking-deterrent spray before I spritzed it on Oliver's leg and wart. And because it's a licking-deterrent spray, it tasted horrible. Like, super horrible. I can still find bits and little tastes here and there. This is problematic because I'm afraid to lick my lips, or even eat anything, just in case the bitter got on anything else. On the ridiculously positive side, Oliver is not licking the wart, and it's already less icky.

Mom just informed me that I did not win the PowerBall lottery tonight. This is problematic because I really had plans for all those winnings. Honestly, I had plans.