Happy Thanksgiving...

... to my American readers, a little bit in advance. We're off to the in-laws, then to see my mom. Posting will be sporadic, if it happens at all, for the next several days.

I hope everyone enjoys their turkey and has as little family discord as possible...but enough to keep things interesting. Me, I'm looking forward to the mashed potatoes. And the wine.

Mostly the wine.

Happy Holiday!

-Kristin

Because it's been a while...

Listening to: Rise Against, "Worth Dying For"

When was the last time I posted flower pictures? I'm not even sure--spring, maybe. Well, I have some gorgeous ones for you today, and some bonuses--my brother and I, and procreating insects! (Not in the same picture.)

First, the sunflower. I can't take credit for this--it was all The Husband. He planted the seeds along with all his vegetable seeds (I do the flowers, he does the veggies), and then pretty much crossed his fingers, since we've been gone the whole summer. Well, it seems to have done well on its own:


And it's not lacking in height, either:


Damn thing's as tall as me! (Note: I'm not particularly tall...but still.)

And here are my prized gladiolas...which I pretty much planted as bulbs back in April, then left to do what they would. Compared to the other two bulb sets I planted--anemones and something else, I don't remember--they're doing wonderful. I think I have one anemone, and none of the other bulb set. But look--pretty!




And here's the whole flowerbed, or at least the part by the pretty sidewalk we put in two years ago:


Okay, okay. Enough flowers, right? Where's the insect sex I promised? Well, here you go...some copulating beetles:


See the beetles on the bottom left, the two facing each other? They were both on top of another beetle. Threesome!

Sorry--this blog doesn't normally get so raunchy. But nature--even when it's getting a bit kinky--is a beautiful thing, isn't it?

And finally, one of the big reasons I went back to PA...my little brother, all tall and hairy and stuff:

Yeah, you can barely tell we're related. Riiiight. If you can, take a look at his shirt. I. Want. That! (It says, "Keepin' it Rural").

I did a lot more on this trip--hung out with my friends, got majorly surprised when my brother (above) and my big sister drove three hours to surprise me as I hung out with my friends (maybe I'll tell that story later today--it's mildly amusing, and it was one of the best surprises I've ever gotten).

I went to my little sister's graduation party, and got to see a whole bunch of my mom's family. Hung out with my mom, drinking beer and watching movies...hung out with my brother, drinking beer and talking. Hung out with my little brother, playing Sims.* Hung out with my little sister, cleaning my dad's house.

Good times. I'm very glad I went, even though on both the drive up and the drive back, I told myself over and over that I was never going to do this again. But it was all worth it.


*Yes, I have a lot of siblings. I didn't even mention the half-brothers on my dad's side there, either.

I'm Back, Baby!

Listening to: Guster, "Red Oyster Cult"

Wow. What a freakin' week.

I did the drive all by myself, both times, and made it out alive. It's not really that bad, but I get myself all nervous and worked up about it beforehand, and that makes it harder. But I did it yesterday in about 6.5 hours (one hour less than our previous record) by using my super secret strategy: I didn't stop. Okay, well, I stopped once, in southern PA. Then I hit Maryland and West Virginia, and sped all the way to southeastern VA. Without one stop.

Why did I do it so fast? Well, we had an appointment here in VA at 4:45, and I woke up 1.5 hours later than I intended.* The funny thing is, what woke me up was my mom calling to say my brother was missing his plane. So at that moment, the whole family, practically, was running late.

This is fairly typical.

I have to catch up with my writing, queries, violin, and a bit of housework today, but I'll be back with some pretty flower pics tomorrow.

Didja miss me? =)


*And I set both the alarm clock and my cell phone's alarm. I have absolutely no idea how they both failed. I need a backup for my backup!

On the Road Again

Posting will probably be sporadic until next Tuesday/Wednesday, as I decided to go to PA.

Seeing my little brother for the first time since Christmas, yay! Driving 7.5 hours by myself, not so much. But worth it. =)

The irony is, I've been wanting to write so bad for about 24 hours now, but haven't had a single free second. Tomorrow, I hope.

Waiting

Listening to: Maroon 5, "Harder to Breathe"

Waiting to find out if I'm going up to PA alone today, or with The Husband this weekend. If I go today, I will be seeing my friends and probably writing in my ol' hangout tonight. I've been going a little crazy ("a little?!" (Okay, is it sad when I have conversations with myself on, of all places, a blog?)) lately, as I approach the difficult part of this novel and have nowhere to go and force myself to do it. Evidently I lack the discipline or focus to do these things when I'm not somewhere with nothing else to do. (Please forgive my convoluted sentence structures this morning. I've been awake for twenty minutes, and I've barely had any coffee).

If not, then The Husband and I will be going for a very short time, and will be heading to Warren with a very brief stopover at home, so I won't have time for the ol' hangout. In which case, I guess I'll just have to make myself freaking do it.

No matter what, though, I'm going to see my little brother this weekend, who I haven't seen since Christmas. Damn him and his "I have to live 3000 miles away" crap! And I think these last few months have been especially hard on my mom, since she's going through a lot as it is, and has to also deal with having a daughter in VA and a son in WA. That's two children, farther away from her than they've ever been for longer than a week.

Erg. My thoughts are super-scattered this morning. I'm going to go...wait.

Report from VA

Worst. Day. Ever.

I'm writing this from a Days Inn in Newport News, VA.

Why am I here?

Because we have the worst flea infestation in the history of flea infestations.

When did we discover this?

Today, after driving 9.5 hours (that's 2.5 hours longer than it should've taken) from PA to VA. We spent about an hour and a half, at least, stuck on I-95 in 100 degree heat thanks to this.

Why didn't we discover this sooner?

Because we were away in PA for five days, visiting family and friends.

What happened after we found out?

We bought some bug bomb, and spent an hour calling my mom and getting hotel phone numbers from her because--guess what?--the internet wasn't working!

What will I be doing tomorrow?

Vacuuming and doing massive amounts of laundry in 100 degree heat. Yes, the AC will be on.

Why am I still happy?

Because my husband is the most wonderful husband in the world, out getting food for us right now (we haven't eaten since noon), and my mom is finally reading my book! And my cat, despite the flea problem (he should be fine, we treated him a few weeks ago), is funny. He just tried to hop up on the headboard of the bed, which didn't work out well for him. And because there was no rejection waiting in my inbox, which I'm thankful for. And we have free wi-fi.
My day has sucked, but I'm still alive and well, and so are my loved ones.

All in all, things aren't great, but they could be worse.

Sweltering

Listening to: Letter Kills, "Time Marches On"

So. Where have I been?

Well, here, pretty much. Just haven't felt like posting this week. Needed a short break.

But I'm back, baby! With lots of random crap to talk about!

First of all, it is going to be REALLY FREAKING HOT today. The high is 97. That...is really, really hot. I will probably turn on the air conditioning at some point today, even though I'm not an air conditioning fan (teehee...get it? air conditioning? fan? Seriously, that was a total accident).

There are several reasons for my dislike for AC:

A. It's not so great for the environment. I know there are some things I do that aren't in the planet's best interest, such as driving a car that doesn't have the best gas mileage because it's incredibly safe and thus makes me feel safer, and also it has AWD and that's good when you live on a road that might not see the plow until late morning after five inches of snow fell the night before. So I feel like I should do something to make up for that.

B. It's expensive. Again, making up for the whole slightly-gas-guzzling car thing.

C. It dries out my contacts, and then I feel like I have an ulcer in my eye, except that I don't. That's no fun. Better than having an ulcer in my eye (this has happened several times, and it's quite unpleasant), but still. Not fun.

D. It's loud. The air conditioning units are three floors below our bedroom window, and I get to listen to them every night. Why do people need air conditioning when it's 60 degrees out, like it was night before last? Seriously. I think there might be some alien lifeforms that thrive in cold environments living in my building. Just a theory.

E. It gives me a reason to make lists. I like making lists.

But, 97 degrees...yeah. That definitely exceeds the lengths to which I am willing to go for my environment-guilt and low utility bills. Plus, extreme heat does not help with my inherent sweatiness. Btw, I have this wonderful disorder, so you can imagine how fun really hot summers are for me. Oddly, though, I still like summer more than winter. I sweat massive amounts year round, though, so really...well, I'm going to sweat no matter what.

Oh, and btw, if you think all this sweat-talk is gross or unnecessary, I'm going to have to ask you to STFU and go somewhere else. It's part of my daily life and has been since I can remember, so I generally keep people who look down on me for it out of my life. I don't need them, they don't need me.

In other news, my little sister is graduating today. Congratulations, Rach! I'm so proud of you, and I'm very sorry I can't be there to see you get your diploma. And I need to go get you a card.

Now, I must go write, and send out a query (Rather than send out five a week, I'm just keeping five out there at any given time). And shower. And go to the store to get a card. And find a new hand-blotting-dishtowel, because the one I've been using for the past few days has gotten cat-hairy.

Busy day ahead.

-Kristin

Randomnia Miscellanea...uh...Ergo Sum?

Now I'm just making crap up (see title).

I'm thinking about starting a new feature on this blog, one that will be rolled out next week. I haven't yet decided if it will occur on Mondays or Fridays. I'll make that all-important decision this weekend, and on Monday I'll introduce the new feature.

Speaking of this weekend, the blog will be dark until Monday, as we are trekking up to the in-laws' tonight and won't be back until Sunday. Our reasons for this trip are twofold:

1. My m-i-l's 50th birthday is on Tuesday, so we're celebrating it this weekend.

2. The Husband's friend is unveiling the third installment in his film trilogy (at least I think it's a trilogy) Saturday night. The Husband and I filmed our parts in the movie over Thanksgiving weekend. He plays a CIA operative or something, and I play his wife who is actually a secret agent from...somewhere else, I don't know...who married him to get at the secrets, but who used to be involved with the protagonist.

Now, about this. Filming it was definitely fun. I got to shoot at John Parker (the titular character, sort of a James Bond type with angst) in my m-i-l's kitchen, then scream the F-word when John Parker thrust my husband in front of him and I shot him (husband) instead. With my m-i-l in the next room.* We had an awesome time doing the whole thing, and a part of me can't wait to see the finished project.

But.

In the scenes after I shoot my husband, I chase John Parker downstairs. Now, this whole time, I'm in my freaking bathrobe, having just gotten out of the shower (in the movie, not in real life). I find him downstairs and confront him, and he recognizes me (I'd had some plastic surgery and such--again, in the movie, not in real life). JP gets the upper hand and, to try to save my own hide, I have to...um...er...try to seduce him.

I had to say the words, "You wouldn't want to let all this go to waste, would you?" as I untied and opened my bathrobe (calm down, I had stuff on underneath, and they only filmed from the neck up).

Do you think I'm looking forward to seeing this on screen? On a big screen, no less, as we're going to another friend's house to watch it on his projector screen?

The answer would be, resoundingly, NO. I have been dreading this for months. It's going to be very uncomfortable for me, especially with other people around. To them, it will be entertainment. To me--sheer humiliation, I suspect.

*Sigh*. The things I will go through for my friends.

And in the last interesting bit of miscellanea, my birthday is less than one week away. Now, having an early April birthday and living in the mid-Atlantic states has always been interesting. I've had sunshine, snow, hail, and rain--mostly rain--on my birthday. The weather has been so promising lately, though, that I was stupid and got my hopes up. Here are the projected temperatures and conditions for each day between now and my birthday, according to weather.com:

Today: Mostly Sunny, 67.
Sat.: Partly Cloudy, 63.
Sun.: T-showers, 58.
Mon.: Mostly Sunny, 65.
Tues.: Partly Cloudy, 66.
Wed....uh-oh...: Showers, 46.

Thursday, the big day: Rain/Snow Showers, 37.

To that, a resounding, WTF?!!

The Husband informed me that, as with all things, Canada is to blame. There will evidently be a cold front advancing on us, which will arrive just in time for my birthday.

To that, I say, DAMN YOU, CANADA! What did I ever do to you, huh? Tell me. I really want to know. I've visited you on a couple occasions, and I was always nice. I didn't take advantage of your whole lower drinking age thing. Why would you do something like this to me?

Damn you, Canada. Damn you to hell.**

Have a good weekend, everybody.

-K.



*I let her know ahead of time that I had to drop the F-bomb--because, let's face it, that's not a word you want to scream with your mother-in-law in the next room--and she was cool with it.

**I mean no ill-will toward Canadians themselves. It's only their geographic region's weather patterns that infuriate me.

Celebrate the Angels

Today, March 21, is the second annual World Down Syndrome Day.

If you haven't had the joy and frustration of knowing and loving someone with this condition, then you are looking at if from the outside. Let me give you a tour of that love.

As an older sibling, it means, first and foremost, sacrifice. Your parents need to devote a greater share of their love and attention to this one person in your life, as do you. At first, as a small child, the sacrifice is bitter. As you grow and come to truly love this child, however, every sacrifice becomes sweet. That sweetness, I believe, comes from knowing that this child--who, in her heart and mind, will always be a child--loves you unconditionally, whether you choose to renounce your own needs and wants in her favor or not.

It means, for any family member or close friend, pain. There are many sources of this pain, too many to enumerate here. But I'll give you a sample.

The pain of watching that child be an outsider in the world she travels through.

The pain of knowing, even if you never see it, that she will be degraded, insulted, and cast aside by those who know not what they do. The pain of knowing that you are helpless to stop this tragedy.

The pain of watching her try to make sense of a world that you, with no physical or mental disabilities, are unable to make sense of.

These are just a few of the little heartbreaks found on this voyage.

Loving someone with Down's means patience. There's really nothing else I can say--if you haven't been there, you can't possibly understand.

Above all, though, this love and the object of it means laughter. My little sister Rachael--my Munchkin, pictured below--has given her family and friends this gift over and over through the years:




Now, I don't hold much stock in traditional religious themes. But if there is anything that I know, it is this: these children are so much more than what they seem.

They are angels delivered to us to teach us patience and the joy of giving, to teach us how to laugh, and to teach us how to live. Rachael has given me these, and many other, gifts in her twenty years of life.

I don't think there's any way I could possibly repay her, but I'll keep trying.

That's okay, the voices in my head will keep me company.

So, my brother was supposed to come stay with me for a few days this week. He flew into Pittsburgh early Sunday morning, and one of his friends was slated to bring him here today or tomorrow. I vacuumed several cats-worth of fur from the living room rug and the rest of the downstairs, cleaned the bathroom, planned several dinners for the week, and told all my/his friends that he was coming.

As always with my family, it's best to just expect disappointment. That way, you won't be let down. Yes, that's right, he's not coming. He wouldn't have anything to do, and he'd get bored, and all that. So, a disappointment AND an insult, all in one. It's a banner day, it is.

But it's all right. I have...myself to talk to. Well, a good friend just called and chatted with me for a few minutes, and I called my mom and bitched about her jerkface of a son, so I'm feeling better. Still lonely and disappointed, but better.

And just so this post isn't completely negative, here are some pics from Saturday--The Husband's company "Holiday Gala":

Don't we look cute?

Hangin' with the girls


Say it with me: Awww!

I freaking LOVED this updo. Worth every penny.

That's all for now.

-Kristin

50th Post

Well, I wanted my 50th post to be something cool.

Too bad, I guess.

From a phone conversation with my mom:

"Did you know your dad had surgery?"

The scary thing is, my answer was "No."

This has happened three times to my husband, as well.

From what we can gather, it was a minor procedure and my dad's okay. My sister stayed with him and took him to the hospital and all that. Although we know few details, we are working on the assumption that everything's fine.

Not that anyone would tell us if that weren't the case.