This week, weather-wise, has been one of the absolute worst in recent memory. Foggy and misty the first two days of the week, and soggy and rainy the next two as well. I don't get depressed (much) by grey, snowy days, but rain just absolutely kills me. Especially when it's been coming down in one form or another, on-and-off, for the last 80-ish hours. Yuck.
I had no desire to wake up this morning--but faced with the pouring rain (again), and the prospect of another day stuck at the front of the store, hoping that someone will remember to give me a break soon, without a chance of actually getting to do something different for a change, who would be? Yesterday was pretty much nonstop, given the amount of product I had to unpack, unwrap, and merchandise. After work I caught the bus to J's apartment. The driver was a talker, meaning that while I would much rather sink into the seat and ride around in the dark listening to my music, instead I had to turn the volume down and maintain an unpredictable but more or less constant stream of small talk until someone else got on the bus for the driver to talk to. I suppose, though, that too friendly is better than some of the surlier types I've dealt with as drivers who seem like they really aren't suited to the job at all.
Last night we were all expected at a gathering of a club we used to be in when we lived on campus, because one of our friends and founders of the group is leaving town to move closer to his girlfriend. The company wasn't what I normally keep (though to be fair, I don't keep much at all) and J and I ended up spending a couple hours in the corner, playing rummy because she didn't really fit in either. Ah, well. I really wasn't all that disappointed that I wasn't forced to socialize with people I don't relate to. I can do it if I have to, if it's important, but it really wasn't.
Surprisingly, I have been reading a bit more lately. What's strange is that I've been doing it in a way that's most unlike me--I have three or four things that I've read partially, and few that I've finished. It kind of sucks, but I guess with the smaller amount of time I've been spending at work in the evening, it's to be expected. Thanks to a couple girls at work who live nearby here and almost always work dayshift between the two of them, I've been having rides home. This is awesome, as I actually get stuff done sometimes now before Evan gets home. But anyway, as far as the books go, I'll go ahead and add them onto my list here, because I'm not sure when I'll finish them and get a chance to really talk about them.
That's probably enough of an entry for now, though I'll try to put down some more later. Lots to talk about, really. It's the follow-through that gets problematic.
Today I think I must feel like those poor souls who lurk outside our store's doors each morning, waiting for the 9AM moment when the lights flip on and the gates are flung open, and then proceed to shuffle blearily past the tables piled high with books, the seemingly-infinite displays of cards, candy, and oh so much more Christmas Crap in order to arrive at the altar of hope for those who have yet to wake up: the coffee shop.
Hit the sleep alarm twice today, leaving about twelve minutes before Evan's normally 30-minute delayed alarm went off. The cat, having been fed late yesterday because it was Sunday and we actually slept in a bit, gave no insistent yowls for her normal 7:30am feeding, and lounged casually near the window even as I tottered into the kitchen and poured forth the manna she so eagerly anticipates every other morning, to the point of deafening, can't-ignore-them squalls from the foot of the bed, or sometimes, when she feels most deprived, my shoulder, shoving her wet kitty nose against an ear or an eye or my nose as additional enticement to drag myself out of bed.
Monday hangs over the cars outside with palpable gloom: a misty, greyish fog that clings to windows and hints threateningly at the possibility that the sun Will Not Be Seen Today, has Other Engagements that are Infinitely More Important than bringing a last few rays of warmth, the reminder of times not long gone, and a promise of spring's return to the town of Morgantown, traditionally enveloped in a funereal cloud for most of the months of November through March. Now, we are only promised that smudgy, gloomy mist, which hearkens of snow and ice, wind and rain, and you better bring your coat and hat because you never know what's going to be coming out of the sky the next time you turn around.
Winter is coming. Knocking on the door. Sun ain't gonna fight it off for much longer, folks. Get ready.
I never know whether to be pleased when I wake up on my own around my normal time, or dismayed that I'm already up so early when I could actually be sleeping in. Ah, well.
Already I'm trying to think about what I want to do for the day, what I have to do today, and what I should do today. Want involves a lot of RO and gaming and whatnot. Have to leads to the gigantic pile of laundry in the bedroom, and should leaves me glancing over my shoulder at the stacks of dishes here on my desk and from here to the kitchen. I don't particularly want to do most of it, of course, but since this weekend will be the only opportunity to get it done until next weekend, I really should.
Watching the IRC, a bunch of folks just got up and left for work. Thankfully, that's not me this week. I think I'd probably go crazy having to work another Saturday. They're so hectic, especially this time of year, and I just really don't enjoy being that ridiculously busy and putting up with the screaming kids (wonderfully absent during the week for the most part, given that the majority of my schedule is during school hours) who do a fantastic job of putting out of order everything we work so hard to keep neat and organized. If there's one thing my kids will never be, it's holy terrors when we go shopping. If they try it, they'll get the same treatment I did as a kid: stay home. I tried that tempter-tantrum-buy-me-things stuff once. Following that event (in which I, shockingly, didn't get what I was crying about--hard to believe, I know) I didn't go back to the store with my mom for a year, and after that, when I was allowed to go out with her again, you can damn well bet that I didn't throw any more fits.
Of course, I think this also kind of led to the thing I have about asking for things, and accepting things that people give me for no reason. Evan's kind of gotten me past that one, which is good. I used to feel extremely guilty if anyone gave me a gift for no reason, or gave me something that required what I saw as a sacrifice on their part. Between Evan and I we can find some sort of balance for our kids. My best friend J is kind of the opposite in that she had to learn not to say what she wanted, because her parents would get it for her then and there. Surprisingly, that worked out all right. She figured out, in time, that if she said she liked something, it was likely that it would turn up later, randomly or for a birthday or Christmas or whatever. That requires some pretty attentive parenting, I guess, but they had it in them and it worked well. It doesn't hurt that J was probably one of the most well-behaved kids ever.
I can't really remember getting gifts outside of my birthday, Christmas, and other holidays, as a child. The fact that my birthday is June 24, just about as far away from Christmas as you can get in the calendar year, this meant an infusion of goodies every six months or so, with a few little things on Valentine's Day, Easter, etc. Probably one of the reasons I wasn't one those get-everything-I-want children was because we weren't really terribly rich (which is an understatement--single parent family of the 90s, anyone?), and I guess to that extent Mom taught me not to ask for things somewhere along the line. Of course, I also remember her deliberately avoiding the toy section (something Evan and I probably walk through every time we go to the store, even though we don't buy anything there) and pet stores, most notably. So I guess it was discouraged to even set my sights on something when she couldn't get it for me.
On the other hand, usually the big two holidays were really big, and I got a lot of awesome stuff, some asked for and some not. She really was pretty good at figuring out what to get for me, though my yearly obsession with the JC Penney Christmas Book probably didn't hurt.
Wow. I just suck. Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.
Sorry, guys.
Christmas in retail is crap. I feel like I haven't gotten to spend any time with my friends lately, not the online ones, anyway. Thankfully (ha) after next week, I'll have one more night where I won't be doing anything specific, so maybe I'll have a little more time for all this again. Maybe not, but a girl can dream.
Next week a friend of mine (And J's, and Evan's) is having a little to-do to celebrate his leaving town. He's getting the hell out of Morgantown and moving to live closer to his girl, in Missouri. I really hope things work out for them, but in light of the recent news that another friend and his fiancee have called it quits, I'm going to admit to a little worry on this one. The fact that he's been able to change enough to maintain a relationship this long is impressive, so hopefully they'll continue along that path. Alternatively, if they don't, at least let him learn what he needs to learn from the relationship and then not dwell on it for the rest of eternity. He's taking a big risk and I'm happy about that. I'd hate to see it turn out to be pretty useless.
In completely different news, it appears that just as our cell-phone contract is running out and as we're about to receive our deposit refund, both of our phones are suffering from issues. Evan's phone seems to have had complete loss of microphone function. Mine is developing a crack in the hinge, and the front faceplate (when the phone is closed) is a little bit loose. Not loose enough that I can tell what's wrong and try to snap it back, but just loose enough that dust is getting down on the little LCD screen. Ugh. In light of the fact that I really desire very little for Christmas, however, I'll probably settle on calling that a Christmas present.
I'm just not big on the gifts for myself these days, I guess. If someone sees something neat, thinks of me, and feels like I should have it, I'm not going to complain, but long gone are the days of keeping a mental list all year so that I can spout off a list of my desires come December. When asked what I want, my mind always drifts immediately to "What do I need?" and usually I respond from there. Right now, other than money, I really don't need anything.
I'd like a round-trip plane ticket to and hotel stay in San Francisco. Somehow I don't think this one is quite so reasonable. At least, not for and certainly not by Christmas (though I do have that week of vacation coming up in January...). On a random internet travel search, that one's going to go for around $800 if I pick my cheapest options. So, yeah. No.
As far as other luxuries in life, I already have a digital camera, an iPod, a computer that (mostly) still works, a PS2, a GameCube, at least two or three DVD players, a bunch of movies I never have time to watch, and a whole host of other things I'm lucky to have.
I really don't need more. So since I do need a new cell phone, that will be my requested Christmas present from the boy. I'm not going to say no to the cool stuff my friends usually find and give to me, but I'm going to devote more of my energy to finding the perfect things for them instead of the perfect things for me.
Today is Friday. I have the weekend off--I think that, most likely, the fact that I worked last Saturday and had my parents over on Sunday is why I feel like I haven't spent any time with my friends on here lately. That will be resolved this weekend, though I'm pretty sure the 'rents are going to drop by again. They'll come bearing food and/or furniture, however, so it could be worse. Mom actually wants to see Stranger than Fiction, which surprises me, but I'm not going to deny a free movie ticket, especially since I want to see it as well.
Speaking of dreams, I had a rather interesting one this morning before the cat-alarm woke me up. I was with a group of friends and we were touring luxury cars and luxury boats. I suspect this spin-off came from a comment I made as we caught the tail end of last night's Smallville (waiting for Supernatural), regarding Lex Luthor and living on a yacht. Anyway, the boats in my dream were the most fantastic things, bigger than houses on the inside without being so on the outside, and full of beautiful kitchens and living spaces but also containing great gaming areas, mini-movie-theaters, and that sort of thing. It was a cool dream.
I suppose I'm going to wrap this up for now, though it feels like I have so much more to add. I suppose that's what I get for not writing in here for a week and then having so much to cover to get back up to date. I guess it really doesn't matter--not very many people reading here anyway, so this is mostly for my own edification. Sometimes it feels nice just to get it all out there on the page and out of my head and hands.
So, yeah. Feeling a bit lonely, hating that I've been lacking time lately, and missing everyone a bunch. Hopefully I can resolve that this weekend. I know I certainly want to try. And maybe I'll get to write about the books I've read recently, too.
No real update this morning, because I'm going to go back to bed until I absolutely have to get up now that the cat's been fed and she'll shut up and stop bothering me.
I was up until 2ish, involved in an RP that had been going on since about four hours earlier. We'd just gotten down to the meat of the problem, but everyone agreed they were sleepy/needed to go for the sake of work/school today. J will be over later tonight, so hopefully I'll still be awake enough after our weekly TV Night Number One (tomorrow is Supernatural) to finish it up. No work tomorrow, as I've said before, so it's entirely possible.
Anyway, going to go doze for a little while longer, while I can.
As another effort towards getting back on track, I thought I'd post about the book I (finally!) finished yesterday.
Yes, more Stephen King. Shock and awe, I know. I actually read The Stand before this, mostly because of its correlation to Lost, and while it was kind-of-sort-of interesting, I found myself skipping over a lot of parts just to get to what I felt like was the meat of the story. I'm sure I missed a few important things here and there, and my only excuse is that there was so much story that by the end I just wanted to know what happened. Didn't help that it was the "complete and restored" edition where King put back in a good portion of the stuff that had been taken out when the piece was originally published. Anyway.
This one is new, brand new. It's taken me a week to plod through it, but I've also flipped through a few other things as well, and haven't read it on my lunch breaks or anything, just because the hardcover is a lot more bulky and difficult to deal with than a paperback that I can just tuck into my apron.
There were only a couple of particularly gory bits that made me uncomfortable, and in that, I suppose, it's somewhat uncharacteristic for the author. It seems that of all of King's work, I'm still kind of darting around the edges, reading the stuff that's pretty much not like all the other things in his repertoire. Also, of course, I wondered if the "dead author" aspect would connect to Dark Tower at all, and I guess the answer is not really, though the Long Boy kind of reminded me of the thing that chased Roland, Susannah, and Oy through the dark train stations/Dogan/whatever that was (it's been a while, or certainly seems it).
I really like the idea of Boo'ya Moon, and the 'pool where we go down to drink' that I think most serious writers and/or readers will identify with. King does tend to write about writers a lot, but I suppose there is some truth to the old adage, "write what you know." Also, I think almost dying after getting hit by a car is probably enough to make anyone think about the what-ifs and all the possibilities, let alone someone who's probably got one of the most vivid, unpredictable imaginations out there. Naturally, it makes you wonder just how much of the story he relates to himself, how much he tortures himself to face whatever it is in him that brings out the stories he writes.
Enough to make any writer think, really. The pool is an interesting metaphor, if nothing else. Evan has a copy of On Writing laying around here somewhere. I'll probably pick it up just to see if I can draw any lines between the two.
All in all, I enjoyed the book, and thankfully had enough reasons to pace myself without racing to the end. What I didn't have, to my relief, were nightmares, which this particular author tends to give me. Bleh. Since most people probably haven't read it yet, I don't really want to run the risk of spoiling, but needless to say, it's worth a look.
Not really much else to say this morning, except that I'm looking forward to my Thursday off, even if it does mean I have to work on Saturday. Right now I'm just wondering what they're going to do with my schedule next week...
Oh, yes. I did this last week:
New glasses, and cut off about 10-12 inches of hair. I'm quite happy with the results~
And here we are, more than ten days later. Needless to say, the past couple of weeks have been incredibly hectic. Due to a fluke in my work schedule a couple of weeks ago (shifting it one day later in the week), I ended up working one forty-hour work week, having one day off, and doing another five days. After two days off this weekend, I'm finally feeling not only human but like I have time to sit down here and write again.
To be fair, anything that I could have written in the past two weeks wouldn't have been terribly new or interesting. Times like that lead to a fairly strict schedule consisting of waking up at 7:30-8, heading out at 8:30, getting home at 7, and going to bed at around 11:30.
I haven't gotten much ROing done lately, either, though last night I was able to attend an event that at least gives my character something to do, which she hasn't had in quite a while. It's also leading her in the direction I'd like to take her, though I'm kind of hoping that there'll be some great event in between that will turn her back into her brilliant jaded self. Though the war she's just been through is a good start...
Let's see. There's still not all that much new to say, but just that I hope I'll be able to get back to this with a little more regularity from here on out. We are getting into the retail holiday season, though, so God only knows how crazy things will get. This weekend we have our store's One Day Sale, but it's on Saturday, so my schedule is screwed up again this week. At least I have a day off closer to the weekend (Thursday) this time. Hopefully they won't try to beat me to death with another wonky schedule.
Anyway, I'm about out of time for now, but hopefully more to come, and not too long from now.
Whoops. Another weekend gone, another few days without a substantial post. I really gotta get out of this habit, but I swear, there's nearly nothing interesting or out of the ordinary going on these days, and the last thing I want to do is fill this thing up with the same old mention of the same old routine, time and time again.
Once more, I've been finding the QotDs particularly uninspiring, though I can't quite put my finger on why. I suspect that some of the problem lies with me and not them, but then again perhaps that was obvious.
Seeing how fast this entry is finding its way onto the page, I find it ironic that it is, apparently, easy to write about not having anything to write about--this is how Seinfeld got started, isn't it?
Today I wasn't supposed to work, but a co-worker's surgery was moved up from late this week to late last week, and so they needed me to cover a shift. Originally, like a sane person, when offered Monday or Tuesday, picked Tuesday, so that I could have three consecutive days off, at least. This wasn't the most practical choice, given that I also have an eye exam scheduled at the office that just happens to be right next to my store for today, Monday, at an hour that would coincide with the period that I wait after work for my husband to pick me up. But he had managed to arrange to get off work a few minutes early so that he could get me to the exam. Anyway.
A couple of days after I'd agreed to the extra day, my manager D comes up to me and says, "So, how would you feel about working Monday instead?" He knew about the eye appointment, but apparently they could find someone else to cover the Tuesday shift, but not Monday. Of course. So, knowing that it was for the greater good, I agreed to take Monday. At least I'll be off tomorrow and won't have to go out of the way to get to the eye doctor tonight.
The last time I got glasses was, as far as I can tell, five or six years ago, back when I was still on my mom's health insurance. Our own insurance, through Evan's employer, kicked in a couple months ago, but I'd kept putting off the appointment for one reason or another. Last week I stopped having a choice about it--the frame on one of the lenses snapped, and the only thing holding the frames together right now is some nail glue and a whole lot of hope. I'm just hoping that technology has improved slightly in the past few years and that it won't take a good couple weeks for my lenses to come in--usually they have to be special ordered because the prescription is kind of strong. I've been taking my contacts to work with me as a backup, but I prefer to leave them as just that if at all possible.
Last night we went out and saw the new Robin Williams' new film, Man of the Year. It was...somewhere between the comedy you'd expect with the supporting cast (Christopher Walken, Lewis Black, Laura Linney, Jeff Goldblum), and some kind of Manchurian-Candidate-esque drama thriller. Some parts were especially good, but it felt like the plot needed to be kind of tightened up and possibly be a little more coherent. While it's good to not be able to guess the ending until it happens, it's kind of awkward to say in your mind, "So where, exactly, is this going?" from after the first half hour until the last ten minutes. Oh, well. There were some excellent-looking trailers before the movie, so that's something, eh?
And now it's probably about time to go get ready for the grind. Yawn.
So, my husband, my best friend, and one of our friends from high school decided to get together this weekend and carve pumpkins. Here are the results of the carving get-together.
My design, for what it's worth, was completely freehanded both in a smaller planning sketch and once I applied the larger version, to scale, to the pumpkin. My hands are really sore, but it was a lot of fun. ^^
