the round of life Archives | Page 24 of 29

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Monday, December 01, 2003

DSL ROCKS

Oh. My. GAWRRSHH. I feel like I just emerged from the Stone Age into downtown Los Angeles, or something. LTL, where have you been all my life? My test page was Getty Images, which was a useful but painfully slow page with 56K access (which, back in the dark ages when we first connected to the Internet with a 33.6 modem, was lightning-fast). I used to do a search and then go make a cup of tea or something while the results loaded. Now I barely had time to inhale. I will have a fond feeling for that phone-check guy who was just here for the rest of my life. What a nice man, opening up this whole world of non-waiting.


ooh, I'm gonna go try downloading something. Just for fun.

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update: It is downloading an 11.5M file in 3 minutes. Download speed 80 KB/sec. I am just totally speechless. Think of the MUSIC I could download! (that is, if I weren't an ethical-type person who is way too afraid of getting in trouble to download any... more... music). But... more CHRISTMAS music! it's almost tempting. But not quite.

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Sunday, November 30, 2003

last dial-up entry, I hope

I just wanted to note that this is probably my last dial-up DIaryland entry, unless something goes wrong tomorrow or I can't figure out how to configure our new computer to use LTL, or something. LTL Man is coming tomorrow to work his magic. I am trying not to get my hopes up TOO much -- reasoning with myself that maybe it's NOT our modem that's making things slow, maybe some sites just ARE slow, stuff like that -- but really I'm pretty jazzed. Stay tuned tomorrow for some gushing gladness about finally having caught up with the rest of Western civilization...


We got more Christmas lights put up this evening. It's very pretty from the road. Then we came in the house and I had this laundry kind of spree where I actually felt like doing laundry so I folded all I had clean and washed some more and folded that and then I cleaned my room and T got into the spirit of things and cleaned off our dresser and WOW, it looks like we actually live in this house, as opposed to that refugee-piling-stuff-everywhere look. ("The fleeing-my-homeland motif", as Robin Williams says in "Mrs. Doubtfire"). Still have more laundry to fold but I think I'm going to take a shower (so as to be all nice and clean getting into our clean sheets) and get to bed. ahh, horizontal and soft sounds SO nice right now.

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Saturday, November 29, 2003

the season can start now!

Our Christmas tree is up! hurrah! just had to share. :) I've been listening to Christmas carols, sitting by the crackling fire drinking cocoa -- bliss. I love this time of year (as if you couldn't tell, right?).


also, just so you all know, this is approximately my fourth update in two days. Sorry for spewing out so many so quickly; it just kind of happened that way. There are links below in case you haven't been checking your Diaryland buddy list every four hours today. yeah, like anyone besides me does that...

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Friday, November 28, 2003

the day after -- especially for Valerie

Breakfast is in the microwave as I type this. Mmm. Can you guess? No? Well, I'll tell you then.


(wait a minute, it beeped, gotta go turn it; the turntable part of our wedding-present microwave died about six years ago)


OK. Here we go.

• small portion turkey
  
• small portion mashed potatoes, dotted with real butter
  
• medium portion stuffing (I am a sucker for stuffing)
  
• all of the above items with yummy rich turkey gravy
  
• corn casserole
  
• small portion ham
  
• (not in the microwave; waiting patiently to be added cold to the plate) corn salad; this is my brother's specialty recipe, nicked from the railroad museum where he used to work
  

Of course, we had more last night -- we had green bean casserole, caesar salad, cranberries, rolls, I cannot even remember it all. At least I virtuously decided to save the one piece of remaining pecan pie for a snack later. We also still have cherry pie and pumpkin pie, but those are the kids' favorites. In fact LT is having cherry pie with vanilla ice cream for breakfast.



The above paragraphs were entered expressly for the viewing pleasure of Valerie, my new Australian friend who bemoans the fact that she must wait till Christmas for a feast like this. Hope you enjoyed it. ;-)


Now I must eat my Thanksgiving Part II breakfast, and get on to work with this resumé that has to be finished by this evening. ack.

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Thursday, November 27, 2003

soleil du turkey

Today is going more easily than I thought it would. (did I just hex myself?). The turkey and the ham are in their respective ovens and I am free from culinary duties till around 1:15, when all hell will break loose in the kitchen for the following hour and a quarter or so. Guests should start arriving in about half an hour, and the house smells properly appealing.



It's funny, I'm using a roaster oven for the turkey, and the instructions for cooking a turkey in there state very plainly several times that you WILL NOT GET a brown turkey out of this oven unless you use browning sauce on it. And since no Norman Rockwell grandmother ever served a pasty-pale turkey, I can't either. Browning sauce is like fake tanning lotion for turkeys, seriously. I was spreading it on (mixed with melted butter) trying to keep it as streak-free as possible, cause who wants an obviously-faked-tan turkey on the Thanksgiving table? It was eerie seeing the turkey look all brown and crispy when it was still completely raw and cold.

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what a nice day!

Aahh, peace. Everything went really well (nothing worth panicking about at all), with only the 45 minutes or so right before dinner feeling frenzied. Of all the problems to have, we had good ones: Too much food, and the turkey (such a tender turkey!) and ham were done ahead of schedule so we ate a little bit early. I did not overdo too much, although I did get really full which I haven't done much lately so it seems really uncomfortable. Oh my, the pecan pie. It was way too good. Fortunately there's only one piece left so I can't do myself too much damage with the leftovers. (refusing to think about the barely-dented three cartons of ice cream in the freezer).


Also of note: No broken bones. Although we didn't get the lights up, either, come to think of it. Maybe I'll work on that tomorrow while T is at work, if I finish early enough with the résumé I'm working on.


Now I'm going to build a nice fire, take a shower, and read a book in my bathrobe until I can't stay awake anymore. I'm sighing with bliss already.

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Friday, November 21, 2003

the Ugly Duckling Girl at 29

This morning I was getting ready to go out with the kids and I looked myself in the mirror and gave my reflection a great big raspberry. The nerve of my skin, to look so - so -- THIRTYish! I mean, I'm not OLD, and my skin doesn't look OLD, but it doesn't look 16 either, all even and glowing. It's more blotchy and multicolored and just ... thirtyish. I looked like the "before" picture in a magazine woman-on-the-street makeover. I read a while back that once you're thirty you can't get away with the "natural look" unless you're really blessed, and you start to actually need makeup, and I decided that today was the day I hit that point, at a month shy of 29. Now the problem was, what to do about it. I do own makeup, but I wear it so infrequently that it generally gets bad long before it gets used up. I couldn't find my mascara (which actually was probably only barely out of date; I wear that probably once a month), so I just put on eyeshadow (the eyeshadow I bought in 1994, for my wedding. Seriously. I also wear this maybe once a month). Didn't like the effect of that, my skin still looked distractingly icky. So I pulled out a sample-pack of Liquid Powder (bought for family pictures in May) and used that, still felt the need for a little powder on top of that, because it just felt wrong not to put powder over smeary stuff. So much for the "all in one" idea, I guess. I tried actual lipstick (don't know how old it was, so let's not think about it), liked the autumny red color and faint sparkliness it had, but got sucked into the "too much -- blot -- not enough -- add -- too much" vortex and finally gave up and pulled out my trusty "Touch of Bronze" CoverGirl LipSlicks -- a product which I think is aimed at 14-year-olds but I still like it, so shoot me. It's the only makeup I wear with any regularity at all. I also dug out a pair of earrings and put them on (later on I forgot I had them on, felt a tickle on my earlobe [which was, of course, my earring], and went to pull on my earlobe to un-tickle it, nearly ripping the earring out the painful way. duh. And I'd forgotten how weird it is to try and talk on the phone with earrings on). The effect of all this was that I looked, well, nowhere near the "after" picture in the magazine, but better than I had looked before, at least.

The whole experience made me feel like the Ugly Duckling Girl. You know, in those movies with the "ugly" girl, except in the movies it is sickeningly obvious that she is actually a staggering beauty who's been given professionally frazzled hair and unflattering clothing and accessories in an attempt to make her look ugly until her character learns to wear the right makeup and clothes and emerges as the staggering beauty she has actually been all along? Yeah. You know what movies I mean. Anyway, I was that girl, not in the shining emerging-beauty-gasp scene. Nope, never had one of those and don't expect it. No, I was that girl in the just-before-the-makeover scene where she attempts to put on her own makeup. Just so unsure and clueless. When my junior high best friend graduated from eighth grade, her guardian took her to the makeup counter at a department store and, as a graduation/coming-of-age present, bought all kinds of makeup and had the makeup person show her how to apply it properly and all that. That is such a great idea. I wonder how long and hard they would laugh at my retreating back if I went in at 29 and requested the same service. I need a good slumber party, that's what I need. Any takers? :)

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Thursday, November 20, 2003

up early, long day ahead

I have a fun filled day in the valley today -- shopping for Thanksgiving dinner, getting a few more presents, and taking the car by the dealership to get a new keyless entry transmitter tag thingie since when my keys were lost they got wet and the one we have is almost ruined and only works very intermittently (so that one becomes T's, and I get the new one, grin). It's not that we're some kind of snobs who can't bear to actually use a key -- sheesh, for the first five years of our marriage we never drove ANYTHING manufactured after 1972 -- it's just that I keep remembering this one time I was in Fresno at night and this drugged out person was following me pestering me to give him money (of which I had none on my person) and that keyless entry thing allowed me to get in my car just in time before he actually reached me. Plus we had already ordered the thing before my keys were turned in.


Anyway. I woke up from a nightmare at 7 am, after having been awake reading The Princess Bride (I LOVE THIS BOOK, and does anyone still believe that S. Morgenstern was real?) until *ahem* 2:30 a.m. I couldn't get back to sleep, so for once in my life I am awake and both the kids are asleep. I feel like I should commemorate this moment in some way. A pester-free shower maybe? except I took one last night. Gonna go wake them up before I decide it's my duty to use this time to wash dishes or something horrid like that...

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Tuesday, November 18, 2003

letter to myself

ooh, interesting one today from Diarist.net (it's actually a random one, not today's per se).


Pretend to be 20, 30, or 40 years older and write a letter to your present self.

Dear 28-year-old Me,

First off, way to go on losing that weight. Good thing you did it at 28, because lemme tell you, at 58 you don't even want to try it, it's just too depressing. And while we're on the subject, would you quit griping about your looks already? For crying out loud, look at your skin! No wrinkles! Look at your hair, it's all there! (yep, you guessed it, those Flint thins-before-it-grays genes are just sitting there waiting for you. Sorry to break it to you.) You're worried about some stretch marks and that weird faint bumpy breakout you get and your teeny little mustache? I'm not even going to tell you what you have in store for you, just appreciate what you have while you've got it is all I'll say. And drink more water, and take your vitamins, for both our sakes.


And while we're on THAT topic -- appreciating what we have while we have it -- let's talk about those kids of ours. Yeah, I read where you whined about them not loving you enough. Girl, you do not know what you HAVE, did you not just carry that sleeping 4-year-old ballet princess to bed? And get a stuck-on kiss from the local Lego champion? They might be less attached to you than they were last year, but hon, they love you. They need you. They're there every single day for you to love on and influence and take care of. You want to see "don't love me enough," wait till they live an hour away with their own families and dogs and mortgages and kids and worries. Grandkids are fun, your parents (God rest their souls) are right about that, but it's just not the same. Quit looking at what you haven't got and enjoy what you have. And give them a big kiss for me while you're at it.


And woman, your priorities are screwed way up. Who cares if people read your goofball diaryland ramblings? Who cares if they leave comments? Did you really need to spend two hours today reading episode guides from "Little House on the Prairie" and "Saved by the Bell"? Not to mention the sneeze? OK, so maybe the sneeze was worth the time. But for the love of God, get away from that computer and do something! You're only young once.


See you in 30 years. Brace yourself, it's going to be rough at times.

love and kisses,
58-year-old you

OK, so it's not L.M. Montgomery. ;-)


funny link for today:

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Monday, November 17, 2003

the ballet lesson and other stuff

C's ballet lesson today was just precious. There's no other word for it. Unfortunately since we haven't bought a digital camera yet (although it's in the works), and Snappy sucks and I don't have it installed on this machine anyway, I can't post pictures yet. I'll have some up when I get the film developed, and you will agree, "precious" is the only suitable word. The studio hasn't changed in the ten years since I was last there (nannied for a family whose daughter took ballet there), and there's just nothing more precious (really! with all its connotations) than a gaggle of 4-year-old girls in ballet clothes running around on their tiptoes to the tune of scratchy vinyl LP music (the same music she played when I had ballet lessons 20 years ago, I'm sure it's the same records), there just isn't.

I am feeling all this parental guilt, though, because now things are uneven. As far as scheduled weekly activities go, C has ballet and Awana and Sunday school. LT just has Awana and Sunday school. Maybe this is how families wind up with five different activities for every day of the week. We've been contemplating Cub Scouts for LT but they meet on the same night as our Bible study so we're still just thinking about it. That's as far as we're going; I refuse to do soccer and all that (LT doesn't want to anyway). I simply won't. Maybe gymnastics...

Today I experimented and made mini meatloaves (in muffin tins), for the sake of speed of cooking. I wholeheartedly regret this now; I ate too many of them (BAD me!) and now just typing about them is making me nauseated. urrrgh. For the record, however, if you should want to try it, it does make cooking much faster, but cleanup is a royal pain, especially when the smell is making you sick to your stomach. Oh, please, can we talk about something else?

I finished a book today. I've been reading a new-to-me Maeve Binchy, Circle of Friends. I really do like it; it may be my favorite of hers so far. I love how real her characters always are, and in this one she does an even more masterful job than usual of exploring the relationships among her characters. If you like that sort of book I can definitely recommend this one.

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the round of life Archives | Page 24 of 29

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