Saturday, November 17, 2007

Just for you

I've been a little behind with my photos lately. Not to point fingers (Steve) but someone (Steve) has been a bit of a laptop hog recently (Steve). He - I mean SOMEONE - seems to think that I should be able to use my work laptop and leave him to play Spider Solitaire and view sports-related content in peace. The only problem with that is that all of my pictures and music are on our family laptop. The laptop which we purchased specifically for ME. Oh, sure, that was when I needed it for school, but whatever. It's all about me. Remember that.

Anyway.

I finally got new pictures downloaded and organized this evening and I came across a few photos that I thought you might enjoy. Because I'm here for you. You know, except when someone (Steve) is hogging the laptop.



A flower girl who stole all of the attention from the bride (1977)

I knew how to pose
Top: Butterball - good thing I got a little taller
Botton: First grade picture

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Now, where did I leave my high heels and pearls?

Yesterday was a good day. The kids had dentist appointments in the morning and, since they decided to squeeze Steve in to work on his cavitites (Two! He's such a bad boy!), I had to go, too. Andrew only had a half-day of school, so we decided to make a family play-hookey-day of it. Steve and I both took the day off work and after we finished with the dentist, we went to eat and saw The Bee Movie. It was Abby's very first movie, and she did pretty well. I think she liked it, even if she didn't recognize Kramer's voice half-way through it or get some of the jokes.

After the movie, Andrew actually convinced Steve to stop at a store I had pointed out on our way to the theater. It was a cute little antique store with a bunch of fun stuff set up outside. I'm pretty sure if it had been just me asking, we wouldn't have gone, but Andrew wheedled (that's a cross between whining and needling, with a dash of begging for good measure) our way there. Gotta love that boy. The store was very fun. Lots of things that I would love to have at my house. Or at least at the house I have in my head - the one where kids don't color on tables, spill drinks on couches, or break things with their energy force fields. Steve's reply anytime I suggest purchasing new furniture is, "What's the point of buying anything nice now?" Good point. But I had fun looking around and the kids also had a good time. The store was in the midst of reorganizing, so walking through it to look at things was a little like exploring your grandma's attic (WAY fun!). And as a bonus, not only was there a small Abby-sized playmate (the owners' daughter, Erica) and two adorable kittens who liked - or at least tolerated well - being carried around by three-year-olds, they had a play room upstairs, where Erica was more than happy to host some company. I think Steve was the only one who wanted to leave. And even HE liked many of the items we saw. I know this will be hard to believe, but he actually said he was surprised at how reasonably priced things were and was longingly eyeing a beautiful cabinet with an attached leaded-glass display case. I know! I had to check and make sure he hadn't been replaced by a pod person!

So we left the store without most of the things I wanted to pack up and tuck in my pocket, like the old rescued barn feed bin, which would have made a fantastic addition to our mud room, except for the fact that our house doesn't have a mud room, or even a spare wall long enough and empty enough beside which to place it. Sigh. But! I did not leave empty handed. I found two lovely soup bowl and saucers that came home with me. I question the actual antiqueness of them, but I love them even if they aren't that old, and I didn't pay more for them than I would have at Target. Also, I bought an apron. You heard me. Actually, I bought two. Because if I have an apron, you know that Abby needs an apron. Both of our aprons are quite lovely and have already been put to good use, except that Andrew was the first one to wear Abby's apron. I promised him I wouldn't take his picture, so I don't have proof, but I do have photos of our lovely aprons.

Mine:
IMG_0148

Abby's (& Andrew's) :
IMG_0146

Just wearing it makes me feel more domestic already!

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Told You So

See? I didn't do it. That blogging every day thing. I mean, seriously. Every. Day. Does it count that I THINK about blogging every day? I do, I swear! There is at least one moment every day when I think to myself, "Oh, right. Blog that." And then I actually write a few lines in my head. Because I'm just that much of a nerd. The problem comes in where I try to get that stuff from my head to my fingers at such a time and place when I a) have a computer in front of me with time to type and b) remember what was so great that I wanted to tell the Internet about it. Let me tell you, a and b? They don't cross paths too often.

But I did have a little flash of insight recently that I thought I'd share. Because I clearly have not yet publicly flogged myself and my neuroses enough...

Recently, I went out to eat with several of my co-workers when the conversation turned to discussion about a particular person, who I did not know. There was some venting going on. And then someone made a comment about this person taking Prozac. And there were some comments like, "That explains things." or "Well, I guess I'd better be nicer to her so she doesn't lose it on me." And I said nothing. I don't know this person. I have no idea how annoying she might be to deal with. And I obviously know nothing about her health issues. However, it finally occurred to me (in a big light bulb DUH moment) that the reason I was not and am still not entirely comfortable with my current prescription is that I make judgements about people who need to take medicine for depression. And clearly I'm not alone. I would feel pretty terrible if some of the people I work with thought about me the things they think about this other person, simply because they were to find out that I take Zoloft. A better version of myself would have said something to them. I would have defended this unknown person, at least from the perspective of her mental health, and explained that it is not her fault. It's a chemical issue. It is medically necessary and does not mean she is weak. But I didn't.

Because I don't believe that, either. I need to get off of this drug or come out of the depression closet and start getting over the stigma I've attached to myself. And I need to quit being a hypocritical jerk, even if I'm only doing that in my head.

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Nablopomo

There's this thing. I am not joining it. I want to. But I'm not going to. Because I am a sucky blogger and I don't think I can do it. Yes, this makes me the kind of person who is avoiding participation because I think I will fail. I know. Please, don't point it out to me, or otherwise I'll have to tell Steven Tyler about it. And you know, he doesn't think there's anything wrong with me, so that would really mess with him. He would have to write a song about it and sing it while he wears very tight striped spandex pants and plays with scarves. And no one wants that.