Flecks of Random in the Pudding That Is My Day

1. I'm sitting at my desk in a parka and fingerless gloves (all the better for typing, my dear!) and still freezing cold. I might require a coffee encore.
2. When I'm cold I get really sleepy. I think it's my body trying to shut down--ya know, to conserve heat.
3. It's the kind of sleepy where my eyelids droop as if they were hung with fishing weights and my legs and head feel like lead.
4. I probably wouldn't feel as sleepy if I didn't insist on staying up until 11:30, propping my eyelids open to watch a Jon Bon Jovi special on VH1 Classic. I don't even like Bon Jovi all that much.
5. I don't hate him either. He's pretty hot. He has great hair.
6. I was mostly avoiding the full garbage can and the sub-freezing weather I was required to walk through to empty it.
7. Old Man Withers' house freaked me out again this morning.
8. Tiffany didn't help...she voiced my newfound and witheld fears that itinerants might be using Old Man Withers' house as a refuge from the cold.
9. But then, you can't see the cabin from the street. And we live in the middle of nowhere. So it's highly doubtful that homeless people are living there. Still.
10. I have very little sympathy for homeless people, with exceptions of course. But mostly I'm annoyed that they've given up. Or won't try. Or would rather live on handouts then experience the pride one achieves in the knowledge that they have provided for themselves and their families through their own hard work and determination. Obviously these feelings are not limited to the homeless...but that's another blog for another day.
11. I'm excited for pizza at Max's tonight. I wish Paul could come, too.
12. But he doesn't like Papa Johns.
13. I wonder how big of a hit Papa Johns' sales numbers are going to take tonight. They're pretty much giving away pizza-- for an excellent cause, but still.
14. This world can be senseless, and this line of thought is way too emo.
15. I love going to Maxine's. She gives good hugs. And good liqueur. I feel at home there.  
16. I'm a student again, as of 4:36 last night.
17. I don't really want to be.
18. What can't be touched but can be felt, has never been given, and has a confirmation number, but was not purchased on line?
19. I don't want to know.

All I Want for Christmas Is for Mariah Carey to Stop Singing

It finally happened, and now you all can ease up on calling me Scroogie McScroogestein. I got the first real twinge of Christmas spirit! I mean, I may be grumpy about it, and I may talk a big 'I Hate Christmas' talk, but I'm human and easily susceptable to yuletide magic, too!

In my family, stockings are a pretty big part of Christmas morning, and I know they are in Paul's family too. Maxine has stockings for everyone at her house, but it's important to me that we have our own stockings at our own house. We even have a mantle to hang them from! So on Saturday, Tiffany graciously helped me create Christmas stockings. I cut and pinned, and she sewed! (I'm quite afraid of sewing machines. They move too quickly!) Here's a preliminary photo of mine, Lilli's, Lauren's and Chloe's stockings. I'm still working on them, adding trim and embellishments, etc...

They're obviously homemade, and maybe a little crazier than most of you would consider for Christmas, but they reflect each of the girls' personalities, and I love them! (Paul and Nicholas' stockings will be made out of Paul's old ACUs. We're going to have to go to Max's for those.) I'm really excited to do this for the kids...hopefully it will make Christmas just a little more special for them.

On the way home, as I was driving along Yukon Harbor, I caught sight of something amazing through the trees. A lighted sailboat parade! I had totally forgotten that Port Orchard was having their parade that night, but I was still able to see some of the boats as they made their way to the marina. They were beautiful--outlined in colorful lights and sparkling against the pitch black water. I literally felt my heart lift and I'll admit, I had a very hard time keeping my eyes on the road as I craned my neck to keep the boats in sight through the twists and turns of the road.

Yesterday Paul and I ventured out to Silverdale to commence the Christmas Shopping Experience. I've been kind of nervous about this, only because of the sheer number of family members we have. After eight hours of trekking through not-horribly-crowded malls, toy stores, discount stores and craft stores, we succeeded in completely taking care of all the kids in the family, and several of the adults, too. (I may also have a couple of new shirts from Old Navy, and Paul might have a few new DVDs) By 10 pm our feet were screaming in agony and our backs were bent under our purchases, but we had a wonderful time just being together and planning ways to make Christmas particularly special for everyone. It was truly a great day.

Here's some of what we got for you all... =D

Ok, so maybe I'm a little excited now. Maybe I can't wait to get our tree decorated. Maybe I'm starting to think about baking Christmas goodies and finding an angel and skirt for our tree. Maybe I'm considering the perfect spot for the Nativity. Maybe this Christmas will be a great one for all of us...

Retro Sunday

This morning I woke up to an e-mail from my mom. She tends to be bored on Sunday mornings before everyone gets up for church, and on this particular day she decided to visit Myspace.

I feel bad for Myspace. Its 15 minutes are over and we barely have the decency to visit, to pat its little head and assure it of its validity.

Anyways. She stumbled on some old blog entries of mine and told me to read them again. Here's what I found:

Aaaackk...puke...I've had an epiphany, a realisation, a new way of thinking that will forever change my life and the way I am. And this is the great part...Nobody ever reads these damn things, so I can blah blah blah all I want!!!! Brilliant! I can also use as many exclamation points as I want and not be accused of being in the 8th grade!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sweet!!!!!! So...I have discovered, are you ready for this? I've discovered I'm a cat lady!!!! Well, a future cat lady. I mean, I have cats now, but they're not mine. I just live with them. They just sleep on my bed a crap in my laundry room. But no, some day when I've saved up enough from my minimum wage paying job to buy a single wide trailer circa 1977, I'll be happy. I'll be happy in my single wide trailer with my 26 cats. That's right, 26 cats. One for each letter of the alphabet, and yes, they will each be named consecutively with a corresponding letter of the alphabet. Yay!!! I think I will name my first cat Anakin, because by then I should be a huge Star Wars freak, and maybe go to conventions and stuff, and spend hours sitting in chat rooms discussing...whatever it is that Star Wars-y people discuss. I'll find out some day after I've watched the movies. The second cat will be named Beaver, because that is really funny. The third cat...hahaha, you thought I was gonna sit here and name all 26 kitties! I could, but I'm not that lame yet. So now that I know exactly what my future holds for me, I can begin to plan ways of preventing that! Yay! It's this easy: college, brief stints of traveling (yeah right $$$), rich husband, pool boy, gratuitous charity work, midlife crisis...and I'm good!!


Interesting. I did NOT become a Star Wars freak, but I sure live with one! He didn't think the post was quite as funny.

I'm happy to report that I did not turn out as miserable as my 23 year old self predicted. While I do live with two cats, I also live with a wonderful man (neither millionaire nor pool boy) in a nice house (sans wheels) and I make more than minimum wage!

I hope you get a kick out of this. I know I did! Maybe it'll become a weekly feature...

P.S. The cats still sleep on my bed and crap in my laundry room.

A Handful of Things You May or May Not Know About Me

1. I think creatures with more than six legs are detestable. Except for octupi.
2. I love dark chocolate. In fact, there's a bag of Dove chocolates in my desk drawer right now. I have been successful in only dipping into that bag once a day. It helps that I haven't been able to taste anything since I purchased the bag.
3. I am kind.
4. I can sing--sometimes well, sometimes not so much.
5. I like the word 'goiter.'
6. I am fiercely loyal to my loved ones. I may complain about them every now and then, but God help you if you hurt them, criticize them or treat them poorly in front of me.
7. I still love DC Talk.
8. I'm 10 times smarter than I'll ever let you know.
9. I'm not nearly as good at playing dumb as I think I am.
10. Injustice makes me angry.
11. Selfishness makes me angry.
12. Inconsideration makes me angry.
13. Dumb frustrates me.
14. I assume that people will act with integrity, and am shocked and hurt when they do otherwise.
15. I see beauty in absolutely everything.
16. I can walk on the knuckles of my toes without breaking anything.
17. I was born with shockingly blue eyes.
18. I'm finally starting to be happy with the person I am.
19. I love airplane turbulance.
20. I hate tomatoes.
21. I love bright colors and patterns but can only bring myself to wear black.
22. I am easily irritated but have a freakishly high breaking point.
23. I have a hard time taking things seriously--even incredibly serious/important things.
24. Protestors piss me off.
25. I love odd numbers.

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful to be alive, because I'm pretty sure I'm having a close brush with death/the world's worst head cold.

I'm thankful that Nicholas is such a good kid and easy to take care of. He's such a little lovey. In my irrational state I lost it a little bit and had to have a good cry, and he knew exactly what to do. He climbed up into my lap and put his little arms around my neck and asked why I was sad. That little hug turned my world right side up again.

I'm thankful for chicken nuggets that only take a few minutes to bake in the oven. Maybe not the squarest meal, but sufficient.

I'm thankful for Maxine's quilts and the comfort I find when I curl up under one.

And completely unrelated, I'm thankful for our new five-shelf bookcase that holds 99% of our books. Much better than the leaning tower of literature that has teetered on my floor for the last several weeks.

Wordless Wednesday

In Between

Lauren's reaction was priceless as we rounded the corner to Canoe Pass and she, for the first time, experienced the breathtaking panorama of Deception Pass. "Oh wow!" she breathed, "Wow!"

I wish we had had more time. There's really not much I love more than showing off my island, and I was dying to pull over and walk her across the twin expanses, showing off the dumb facts I've learned over my lifetime as an islander.

But my parents were waiting for us, and I did not stop. Someday we'll take all of the kids north to explore the island. They'll love it.

Last Saturday, barely recovered from Thanksgiving, Paul, Lauren and I headed to Oak Harbor to drop my car off with my parents. This was my first trip back since I officially moved to Port Orchard in September, and I was kind of ready for it. I needed a mom hug, and wouldn't you know? My mom knew I needed a mom hug. She needed a Heather hug too.

Going back was a strange experience. It was my home, but not. I've moved away  before but maybe never with the clear knowledge that I am not coming back. And let me tell you dear reader, I am NOT going back. But I'm left with a feeling of limbo. I'm stuck between two lives...one that has definitely ended and one that is slowly being built. Please don't get me wrong--I'm disgustingly happy with the direction my life has taken. But patience has never been my forte. I want it all, and I want it now. I want a long history with Paul, memories and momentos, stories to tell and photos to reminisce over. It's kind of hard to have that kind of history from the beginning, and I feel silly even as I write, but it's how I feel. I look forward to writing our own story together. Ask me in ten years and I'll have a lot to say!