Monday, December 26, 2005
[All I want for Christmas is a Menorah]
 
Totally into Matisyahu.

That is all.

Oh, and my Grandmother B. said "masturbating" Saturday night while eating dinner.

The context is something like this:

The minister at her church had to be let go because...

there were a lot of paper towels being used during the day (of course, when I heard "paper towels", I knew what was coming--no pun intended. Isn't that sad that "paper towels" triggers that in me?), and it was discovered that he was masturbating at the church.

My eighty-something, country-fried, Christian grandmother said "masturbating". How charming.

And, right after she said it, she turned to me and asked, "You're 21, right?" As if I needed to be 21 to hear "masturbating." I wanted to reply that I've been 21 for eight years and that I've been aware of masturbation since climbing the pole in elementary gym class. But I kept my mouth shut, as this is the side of the family that thinks I'm defective by nature because I'm educated and unmarried.


Sunday, December 18, 2005
[Football Frenzy and Christmas Cheer]
 
I realize I've been absent from the World Wide Web for quite some time. I'll try to provide a succinct, yet scattered (as how else would anything from me be?), update of things important and things amusing, or not:

I am addicted to the Showtime miniseries Sleeper Cell. Unfortunately, after tonight, it will be ::poof:: gone.

I've shed 20 or so inches (and 10 pounds, finally) thanks to my weight-lifting routine. The callouses on my hands are so worth it.

Football rocks my Sundays. I'm so midwest.

I rescued a kitten from the BP on Kenard and Mitchell. She lives with my parents, and is a total lap cat.

I've decided that I dislike the AP's (dis)use of commas.

I polyurethaned the downstairs floors. The fumes were delightful.

I still have no furniture in the living room, though I do have my dining room table and chairs set up and I set up a Nativity scene on my mantle. I figured there's no harm in having a Baby J. in my house during the holidays.

My brother and dad bought me a washer and dryer. Buh-bye laundromat (where-people-get-shot).

My hot-water heater decided to spring a leak in the middle of the night. That was fantabulous. So, now everything in my basement is new and under warranty. Lesson learned: always demand a home warranty from the seller. Always.

As I do this, I realize that nothing of real value has happened over the last month or so. I work...a lot, and that's about it. I'm dead-tired on the weekends, and I rarely see past eleven p.m. Perhaps I am doing too much, or perhaps this is to be expected as creep towards the big three zero. Whatever happened to the days of staying out until three a.m. and being wide awake for Dr. Jones' Medieval Lit. class on Tuesdays and Thursdays?

If I stay up past ten nowadays, I can barely pry myself out of bed for work, something I get paid to do. When I'm at work, I think about home--the laundry, the dust, the odds and ends that still need attended to (when I'll get around to wallpapering the upstairs bathroom and spackling, sanding, and painting the basement bathroom is beyond me). When I'm doing chores, I think about work deadlines and freelance projects and opportunities for extra income and bills that need paid and credit cards with balances too high for comfort.

And, I'm sure, when I go on vacation in April, my mind will be fixed on all the catching-up that will need to take place when home again. It never ends.

I'm taking an extra day off of work this week. We get the 23rd off for Christmas Eve, which is on Saturday, and the 26th for the Sunday Christmas Day. On the 22nd, I'm planning on going shopping with several gift cards and coupons and vouchers that have been collecting dust for a while. I haven't made any major purchases, other than necessary items--e.g., appliances--since moving in February, because of the dust and clutter factor. I think I'm ready to look at odds and ends for the first floor, since it is highly unlikely that anything involving face masks and tarps will be taking place. Unless, of course, something else decides to break on me.

I'll also try to dig out enough Christmas cheer to send some cards, perhaps to mark the New Year or Epiphany because, well, Christmas ain't really over until January 9 anyway (am I around too many Catholics, or what?).

This Bengals/Lions game has me shaking my head. I actually feel bad for Detroit. Lord knows, we in the 'Nati know about mismanagement.








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