Entries from April 2007 ↓

Watch this

I was reading a post over at Musings of a Housewife and was reminded of the first home improvement project I undertook alone.  The wax seal on the toilet was leaking.  I did my research and knew it was a simple fix, so I prepped everything and then called a friend to lift the john itself from the floor.  We were doing this project late in the evening, in an interior bathroom.

The second my friend lifted the commode from the floor the room went black.  A quick check of the breakers revealed nothing, so we ventured outside and the entire neighborhood was dark.

“Wow, Frank*, you’re the worst plumber ever.”

*Not his real name.

Margo and I rounded up the families and headed for The Depot in Moncks Corner.  They held their second annual Spring Fling Bluegrass Shindig.  We only managed to stay for the opening band, but the kids enjoyed the musical accompaniment to their usual shenanigans.   (pushing, shoving, bickering, chasing, and just generally having a good time)

Yes, we hung out at the very back of the crowd, to avoid torturing the audience, although I’m sure we still managed to annoy a few folks.

I’m 23 weeks pregnant.

Do you think it’s safe for me to shut off my daily pill reminder?

As I work on getting myself out of the rut I have carved for myself, I need to refocus on the positive.

Today I am thankful for:

• Internal nudges, bumps, and kicks that constantly bring reassurance.
• For a husband who is willing to accompany me to events in which he has little interest, so that I can relax the “mom” vigilance a little and speak to other adults.
• For cookouts on the lake.
• For the sunset on Lake Moultrie last night.  The sky was a canvas and the fiery ball of the sun melted into the water.  I love the look of the world cast in the last rays of light.
• For sunrise and exuberant birdsong, each day they remind me life goes on.
• For my mother, I think we stand in a place where our relationship may finally bridge the divide.
• For my boys who can occasionally make me laugh, even when I’m so frustrated I can’t see striaght.

I’d asked my three year old to put away a bag of diapers.  He claimed to be unable to find them, in response I snapped, “Use your eyes!”  he got down on all fours and pushed the package into my room with his face.  “You can carry that with your hands.”

“No Mama, I’m using my eyes.”  I can’t help but chuckle.

• For friends who listen when I most need an ear.

Thank you, I’ve needed every bit of this.

I have got to change something before I lose what little is left of my mind.  I’ve left the house exactly twice in the last two weeks without children in tow.  Prior to that was Margo and I’s quick trip to Strawberry Chapel.  Yes, that’s it.  I haven’t even been able to escape to the grocery store alone and well, that’s just sad.

I need some time out and alone before I end up on the news.  A couple hours away from Mr. I’m Cutting Four Teeth Just as I Decide to Establish My Independent Nature would probably do a world of good.  When I’m worn out from the boys’ antics my tendency is to close rank and not leave the house with them, so aside from errands for absolute necessities, none of us have left the house in the past week.

I’m looking forward to Sunday evening, but I think something else needs to open up, fast.

I’m also out of books, so we’re reaching critical mass here folks, critical mass.

Ignore any news blurbs about crazy women in Moncks Corner, it simply wasn’t me.

I’m working on a new project for Home Ec 101. I spent hours fiddling with a joomla template yesterday, finally had everything fixed exactly how I wanted, except for one text thing, but I was ready to just let that go and live with dark grey vs black.

Then I asked my husband to load the page on his computer so I could verify that the grey text was tolerable. You see, my husband is one of those strange creatures that actually likes Internet Explorer. Here I was excited that I had been very productive with the day’s programming and in the five seconds it took to load all my little hopes were crushed. IE hates my page. The objects are all over the page and I’m furious.

Why is it I can tell Firefox and Safari that a cell should be 20 pixels wide and they will listen, but not Internet Explorer. Oh no, apparently telling IE that a cell should be 20 pixels wide is the same as saying it should be 50 or 100.

Today I’m going to unload all I’ve done and reload from scratch. Thankfully I don’t have to remake all of the objects.

I think this is why I didn’t major in computer programming.

I’d like to thank Jared for letting me pester him with the occasional question.

I’m sitting her minding my own business.  The husband is playing WoW and eavesdropping on his “guild members” who are using a voice chat.

They are bickering over pronunciation of in game locations.

Unfortunately, I think can get worse.

Our house is officially off the market. We took a month to debate, but this is the formal announcement. We’re not going anywhere.

So now, we’re getting down to the business of acting like we’re going to stay and changing the house to fit us. I’m excited, of course I’m probably just nesting.  First on the agenda is the master bedroom.  Thankfully Eugene, buried deep in his archives, already has experience installing hardwood.  I’ll be pestering him for advice.

Don’t expect pictures in the near future.  The husband and I are agonizingly slow with these sorts of decisions.

Yesterday afternoon I posted that everyone should take a quick peek over at my friend Kat’s blog.

This was posted shortly before the crap hit the fan.  Not long after my post it was picked up by Instapundit.  Now, if you use Google Blog Search or Technorati, there are between 65 and 75 blogs posting on the incident and that’s only using the search term JL Kirk and Associates.

I was initially furious when I learned of the incident.  Right now I’m reading in wonder.  Who knew a word could become an Internet verb in less than twenty-four hours?  I spent far too long on the computer yesterday watching in awe as the story was picked up, first by Kat’s friends and then by others who were unimpressed by the actions of JL Kirk and Associates.  This whole thing wouldn’t have even been a blip on Google, but look where it is now.

You see, no one likes a bully, but you know who hates a bully more than anyone else? Nerds and geeks and lookie here, they came onto our playground to harass one of our own.  We’re all grown up now, we have millions with whom we interact and connect with.  We’re no longer relegated to a corner of the cafeteria watching everyone else have fun.  Sure, some of us might still look and feel a little awkward in public, but now we know we’re not alone.

We sure as hell don’t like getting picked on.