so i'm sitting here, drinking an illicit afternoon beer. (yes, i know. the gluten! the gluten! what can i say? the queen and the weather have worn me down. plus i hear that the lighter beers have less barley or something. by this i mean heineken, not the nasty coors.) the peanut has tooth number two coming in, so there have been random furious midnight awakenings. today has been reasonably good, and a longer afternoon nap means i got to do this! with a beer!
spicy potato salad awaits our evening. there has been talk of a fire and some smokies, which sounds absolutely fabulous to me. the peanut got introduced to cherries yesterday. yeah. cherries-everywhere later, it's a hit. well, everywhere below her nose. thing is, it wasn't actually cherries that made such a mess. it was cherry. one.
we made it out to the city for two nights. the awesomes dropped their children off at mister awesome's sister's place so i challenged mr awesome to a drunken idiot contest. of course i lost, but i did some great acts. deep conversations - at least on my part - and some dirty dancing with the queen at the falafel place after two shows at two bars... mr awesome won though, by spraying the band at the first show with beer - by accident and then on purpose. then he group-hugged them. he actually does this a lot.
it was great fun and we had many party buddies. field-in-bloom made an intersection getaway on our way to the second show. i wasn't in that car, but i hear he hopped out at a red light and thanked everyone before disappearing into the neon-lit night. i actually couldn't remember how we got from show 1 to show 2, but the queen reminded me later it was our musician friend with the big gasket problem who was more focused on playing us a great phish tune than his steaming hood upon our arrival. and it was a pretty great phish tune...
we inherited a strange weirdo as we came back to hank (parked behind the gnome wreckage, where we made use of the old patio table and firepit. long live gnome spirit!) who we had to kick out eventually. i was passive-aggressive about his presence for most of the couple of hours we spent playing music, but to no avail. proper passive-aggressive techniques involve persistence and repeated follow-up, which is difficult when drunk.
the next day we were more mellow; visited a festival, had a fire and swayed the wife into coming over with a friend of hers. they were like elves, which just shows what happens when the gnomes are released.
i was reading this post on puking (the end is the best) and it reminded me of 'morning' sickness. my favourite place was sitting on one of those old railway ties people use in their yard, quietly puking under a tree.
August 22, 2011
August 14, 2011
at least there's a hammock now
so we didn't end up going to the city after all. our friend came down here for a night instead. it was lovely to see her. we made a fire in the front yard, and had put the hammock up earlier that day (why had we not strung the hammock up between the two apple trees immediately upon moving in? we have discussed this but failed to arrive at a solution. i saw it in hank yesterday and was all "hey, we have trees!"). we drank wine and talked about old crazy stories and a few new things.
last night the moon was full full full and the skies were clear. we went to sleep at about midnight and were woken at quarter to three by howling coyotes. of course, i couldn't appreciate it because i knew olive was outside, hopefully terrified and hiding. she came in later that night and seemed to appreciate a warm, coyote-free bed.
i've been feeling a bit down. well, actually, hella down. the queen's mom recommended that i take a daily walk, which is an excellent habit that i've fallen out of. so i started that again and have been exploring the parks and alley raspberries. i stopped promenading for a bit because the siren in town was going off. but i've asked a few people and no one seems to know why or care, plus the dogs were explained to me, so now i feel safer again. i was hanging laundry and noticed a police officer and trained dog booking it down the alley. i'm thinking "kay, drug bust or escaped prisoner?" but the bartender at the pub says they just train the dogs here. whew.
i started writing a bit but i don't feel very excited about it.
anyway. still a bit bummed i guess. going to try and enjoy the morning; the queen went golfing and his mom has the peanut. i guess this is the time where i should do all those things i want to do that i can't remember now. seriously, i don't have a clue.
last night the moon was full full full and the skies were clear. we went to sleep at about midnight and were woken at quarter to three by howling coyotes. of course, i couldn't appreciate it because i knew olive was outside, hopefully terrified and hiding. she came in later that night and seemed to appreciate a warm, coyote-free bed.
i've been feeling a bit down. well, actually, hella down. the queen's mom recommended that i take a daily walk, which is an excellent habit that i've fallen out of. so i started that again and have been exploring the parks and alley raspberries. i stopped promenading for a bit because the siren in town was going off. but i've asked a few people and no one seems to know why or care, plus the dogs were explained to me, so now i feel safer again. i was hanging laundry and noticed a police officer and trained dog booking it down the alley. i'm thinking "kay, drug bust or escaped prisoner?" but the bartender at the pub says they just train the dogs here. whew.
i started writing a bit but i don't feel very excited about it.
anyway. still a bit bummed i guess. going to try and enjoy the morning; the queen went golfing and his mom has the peanut. i guess this is the time where i should do all those things i want to do that i can't remember now. seriously, i don't have a clue.
August 8, 2011
rush hour: three cars at one intersection
day by day.
today has been rewarding. both enjoyable and active. cleaned hank today. vacuuming an environment that's composed entirely of nooks and crannies is a pain in the back. literally. while i was battling the carpet grunge in hard to reach places, the peanut was lying in the hank-crib, miserably gibbering to a toy that hangs from the mosquito netting draped over the two bus seats pushed together to make her "crib". it needs a baby gate; three walls will only stop her for a little while longer. olive, having decided that hank belongs to her (and where the fuck do we take it sometimes?), was sulking on the patio. later, she curled up in a back corner of the hank-crib and went fast to sleep, not even noticing that she got locked in there for several hours. her other favourite place in hank is the middle of the "kitchen" table while preening.
the littlest one's first tooth is prying through the walls of her gum, and it sucks to watch it suck for her. today she woke up shrieking from a nap. poor thing. i told her that "with power comes responsibility" but it didn't seem to make the looming status of bite-ability any less crappy. oh the thresholds we have crossed, people. bodies! development!
tomorrow we get picked up by a friend for a few days in the city. i'm weirded out trying to visualise it sans gnome home. i think i need to take some kind of action about that. stay tuned for emotional sayonara story.
i still read sometimes! when i visited my mom a few weeks ago, i found this mystery in the bookstore she frequents. who knew asimov wrote mysteries? apparently just this one. it is hilarious! i think i read one of his sci-fi's (the use of the apostrophe for plural can be used where, given the spelling of the word, the reading of the word would be easily mis-read without an apostrophe. or something. i learned this a long time ago. is it true? i cannot find it in "the elements of style". of course, if i'm going to be so anal about it, i might just spell out 'science fiction novels' and be sure that i'm correct. close parentheses). i think my dad used to collect asimovs, and let me read "i, robot" when i was young. it didn't take at the time. it was possibly my first science fiction. anyway, "murder" made me reconsider reading him again. his protagonist was honestly portrayed, and the words were witty. there is some sexism, for sure. asimov pulls off writing himself into the book quite well, using himself as comic relief.
kay, tired. 'night.
today has been rewarding. both enjoyable and active. cleaned hank today. vacuuming an environment that's composed entirely of nooks and crannies is a pain in the back. literally. while i was battling the carpet grunge in hard to reach places, the peanut was lying in the hank-crib, miserably gibbering to a toy that hangs from the mosquito netting draped over the two bus seats pushed together to make her "crib". it needs a baby gate; three walls will only stop her for a little while longer. olive, having decided that hank belongs to her (and where the fuck do we take it sometimes?), was sulking on the patio. later, she curled up in a back corner of the hank-crib and went fast to sleep, not even noticing that she got locked in there for several hours. her other favourite place in hank is the middle of the "kitchen" table while preening.
the littlest one's first tooth is prying through the walls of her gum, and it sucks to watch it suck for her. today she woke up shrieking from a nap. poor thing. i told her that "with power comes responsibility" but it didn't seem to make the looming status of bite-ability any less crappy. oh the thresholds we have crossed, people. bodies! development!
tomorrow we get picked up by a friend for a few days in the city. i'm weirded out trying to visualise it sans gnome home. i think i need to take some kind of action about that. stay tuned for emotional sayonara story.
i still read sometimes! when i visited my mom a few weeks ago, i found this mystery in the bookstore she frequents. who knew asimov wrote mysteries? apparently just this one. it is hilarious! i think i read one of his sci-fi's (the use of the apostrophe for plural can be used where, given the spelling of the word, the reading of the word would be easily mis-read without an apostrophe. or something. i learned this a long time ago. is it true? i cannot find it in "the elements of style". of course, if i'm going to be so anal about it, i might just spell out 'science fiction novels' and be sure that i'm correct. close parentheses). i think my dad used to collect asimovs, and let me read "i, robot" when i was young. it didn't take at the time. it was possibly my first science fiction. anyway, "murder" made me reconsider reading him again. his protagonist was honestly portrayed, and the words were witty. there is some sexism, for sure. asimov pulls off writing himself into the book quite well, using himself as comic relief.
kay, tired. 'night.
August 2, 2011
just a bunch of randoms
what the fuck: norway. and then muslish! at least it shows the idiots as idiots, but that's a fine fine silver lining.
the queen bought me flowers last week. they're still looking beautiful. we've been good lately. he took his iphone for a swim, but found a youtube video describing how to pop the battery out, and thebn something with methyl hydrate, of which he has a few litres in his mancave (see, he really does merit a whole cave. it has a separate entrance, as a cave ought). now his phone works again, mostly.
the peanut is enjoying textures as well as grabbing lately. she has a fierce grip, which is not just very cute, but also logistically difficult when you're trying to disengage her from something or someone. we play games like peekaboo, dancing and try-and-touch-the-cat. her current method of transit consists of wiggling her butt around and arching her back to sort of slither nearer to whatever she's grabbing.
i think i'm going to write a letter to my therapist, to explain how i suddenly stopped going (summer she went on holiday, then i missed an appointment and didn't call back because i was having morning sickness and reeling in shock, then i went on a roadtrip and moved). i have been carrying around guilt about that for quite some time. if it won't go away, at least i can acknowledge it.
things is okay.
the queen bought me flowers last week. they're still looking beautiful. we've been good lately. he took his iphone for a swim, but found a youtube video describing how to pop the battery out, and thebn something with methyl hydrate, of which he has a few litres in his mancave (see, he really does merit a whole cave. it has a separate entrance, as a cave ought). now his phone works again, mostly.
the peanut is enjoying textures as well as grabbing lately. she has a fierce grip, which is not just very cute, but also logistically difficult when you're trying to disengage her from something or someone. we play games like peekaboo, dancing and try-and-touch-the-cat. her current method of transit consists of wiggling her butt around and arching her back to sort of slither nearer to whatever she's grabbing.
i think i'm going to write a letter to my therapist, to explain how i suddenly stopped going (summer she went on holiday, then i missed an appointment and didn't call back because i was having morning sickness and reeling in shock, then i went on a roadtrip and moved). i have been carrying around guilt about that for quite some time. if it won't go away, at least i can acknowledge it.
things is okay.
August 1, 2011
but i rock at volleyball.
we went away this weekend again. i look forward to next weekend, when we are staying home. or at least only going on a day trip.
the weekend was nice though. before we left, we had the queen's parents and two of his brothers over for a barbecue. one of his brothers' partner is pregnant, so i'm collecting a schwack of baby clothes. actually, not a schwack. i'm being merciful. more of a stack.
we lazily got ready saturday morning, and drove maybe an hour and a half to a lake where my mom's inlaws get together every year. their family is about the same size as the queen's, so there were many people and many games. the lake was great; sandy and reasonably warm, if shallow for miles out. there was a volleyball tournament i got signed up to, much to my dismay. i'm not really one for group sports. but it ended up being okay; 'anything goes' except finger-breaking, apparently that's my style. i hit the ball over the net exactly once, and my team won the tournament. could they possibly be related? sure!
we spent sunday night at the next campgrounds down, where two of the queen's brothers (one brother a crossover from friday night barbecue) happened to be camped. it was a neat coincidence, and it was nice to camp with a smaller group of people - after two festivals and a fifty-plus family gathering, i think i may be socialed out for a while.
there was a fantastic thunderstorm that came through. the peanut passed out solid (the louder the better for her; on this trip when we stumbled upon a hard rock/heavy metal wedding, she slept like, well, a baby) so after the thunder faded, three of us went three campsites down to the beach and watched the lightning across the lake. there was a second stormfront brewing up from another direction, but it mostly passed us. so there was lightning in two directions. it was really, really great. the wind was blowing hard and it had rained so much, the rainwater collected in the rut of a path - it looked like a small, still river that lit up with every flash of lightning. i don't know if i painted the picture so you can see it, but it was very raw and beautiful.
we didn't rush anywhere, and we didn't argue. it was an agreeable arrangement. the peanut expanded her fan base, hank held up, the queen and i enjoyed ourselves and the cat lived through it all - and that's all we ask of her.
the weekend was nice though. before we left, we had the queen's parents and two of his brothers over for a barbecue. one of his brothers' partner is pregnant, so i'm collecting a schwack of baby clothes. actually, not a schwack. i'm being merciful. more of a stack.
we lazily got ready saturday morning, and drove maybe an hour and a half to a lake where my mom's inlaws get together every year. their family is about the same size as the queen's, so there were many people and many games. the lake was great; sandy and reasonably warm, if shallow for miles out. there was a volleyball tournament i got signed up to, much to my dismay. i'm not really one for group sports. but it ended up being okay; 'anything goes' except finger-breaking, apparently that's my style. i hit the ball over the net exactly once, and my team won the tournament. could they possibly be related? sure!
we spent sunday night at the next campgrounds down, where two of the queen's brothers (one brother a crossover from friday night barbecue) happened to be camped. it was a neat coincidence, and it was nice to camp with a smaller group of people - after two festivals and a fifty-plus family gathering, i think i may be socialed out for a while.
there was a fantastic thunderstorm that came through. the peanut passed out solid (the louder the better for her; on this trip when we stumbled upon a hard rock/heavy metal wedding, she slept like, well, a baby) so after the thunder faded, three of us went three campsites down to the beach and watched the lightning across the lake. there was a second stormfront brewing up from another direction, but it mostly passed us. so there was lightning in two directions. it was really, really great. the wind was blowing hard and it had rained so much, the rainwater collected in the rut of a path - it looked like a small, still river that lit up with every flash of lightning. i don't know if i painted the picture so you can see it, but it was very raw and beautiful.
we didn't rush anywhere, and we didn't argue. it was an agreeable arrangement. the peanut expanded her fan base, hank held up, the queen and i enjoyed ourselves and the cat lived through it all - and that's all we ask of her.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)