I’m sitting in the ER with my son JL. We are in an actual room with a door that closes and everything. I like this particular hospital, having been here with JM when he had his appendix out and most recently with a friend who had a bit of a health scare. There are phones in the rooms, and TVs with cable in several of them. This room doesn’t have a TV, but it’s ok because JL is sleeping and I have my laptop. And there is free wireless that doesn’t require a password. I could move in here.

We expect to be going home soon. They did a CAT scan a few minutes ago, but they will likely just send him home with steroids. He has some paralysis on the left side of his face. It started last night, apparently, but today was the first I heard of it. Kid’s only been home two days and he’s already creating a stir.

I’m hungry. The Boyfriend is right this very minute fixing barbecued chicken and corn on the cob. On the grill. Have you had grilled corn on the cob? Oh my heavens, it is fantastic. I almost want summer to never end. I would fully want it to never end if we could have the gorgeous weather we’ve had the past two days.

Fall semester started yesterday. I have assignments due on Sunday. I’ve half started one, and tried to work on the other one during lunch, but I can’t concentrate with everyone there. I might have to start disappearing into one of the quiet areas of the library during my lunch hour.

I hope they let us go home soon. I have limited battery power left and it’s freaking cold in this place. JL almost left his jacket in the car. Wisely (for once), he listened to his mama and brought it inside with him.

I’d be a bad mom if I stole his blanket, wouldn’t I?

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A week or so ago, JM’s friend called him to say that Best Buy had Wii Fit in stock, so I hopped into my car and headed over to get one. Never mind that we didn’t have the Wii console yet. We’d been told by his friend at Best Buy that the Wii was easier to find than the Wii Fit. True to his word, he let JM know that they would have some in stock when they opened this morning, and suggested that I get there before the store opened to insure getting one. So, that was my plan.

But then, my friend Wendy called me yesterday, from Target. Lo and behold, they had two of them in stock. So, she bought it. I stopped by her house with the cash and picked it up. YAY!

I love it. JM loves it. Even The Boyfriend likes it, and he’s not big on video games. But he was very interested in the Wii Fit and we played around with it last night after he came home from work. I like the fact that I can break a sweat playing a video game.

Tomorrow morning, I’m taking a little hike up the hill to our Student Rec Center on campus. They’re offering all full time employees free annual memberships. And since they have a track inside and I’ve been looking for a place where I can walk while listening to my iPod without worrying about traffic or getting mugged, it’s a win win.

My doctor should be happy when I see him in two weeks.

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I wouldn’t even be mentioning this if a friend hadn’t blogged about it, which in turn led me to looking at what people on BlogHer were saying.

I guess I just don’t understand why people are so upset about this. Oh my god a guy running for president cheated on his wife. I’m sure that’s the first time THAT’S ever happened. Personally, I’m much more concerned with the liars and cheats who are actually elected; and the lies they tell to that end up affecting  the entire world.

None of us on the planet is immune from making stupid mistakes that greatly affect the course of our lives. And if you can look in the mirror and say that you haven’t screwed up something? Give it time. You will.

Just call it my agnostic version of “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”

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I’m in one of the modes where I have all SORTS of things that I want to blog about, but there are so many that they’re all spinning around in my head and overwhelming me, so that all I’m really capable of doing is collapsing into a heap on the floor.

I’m aggravated (big surprise there, eh?), amused and feeling guilty all at once. And then some.

The guilt comes from the fact that I haven’t talked to my dad since the night my mom arrived. I want to call him, but then I’ll feel guilty for not going out to visit him and quite frankly, I can’t afford the gas right now. I can’t afford to get my hair cut either, which I also usually do when I’m out there since my stepsister is the one who does it. But alas! I go without seeing Dad AND I do so with long, shaggy, unmanageable hair.  It’s a real bitch.

So, Dad? If you’re reading this, HI! Sorry you haven’t heard from me. It’s the guilt. Having said that, now you’ll probably  call me and work that guilt trip a little more. And I’d deserve it. (But I’m screening my calls, HAH! Just kidding. You know I’ll pick up.)

I’m aggravated because… oh really, there are so, so many reasons. Local politics. National politics. Having a sister who has experienced bigotry indirectly firsthand, since her husband looks Latino, and yet finding out that she’s opposed to having Obama as president because (in so many words) it might cause an uprising among the black voters. HUH? You’ve been a collateral victim of racism and yet, it’s ok to be racist? (Incidentally? My view is that it’s NEVER ok to be racist. Are we clear on that?)

Having another sister who has made pretty much NO effort to spend any time with my mom, without being prodded. Having that same sister attempt to get me to visit a church that “has a great message.” And when I started my response, I was met with a “I knew it. Preconceived notions.”

Excuse me? Isn’t that essentially what YOU just demonstrated? And can I finish my sentence?

I did go on to try to explain my position on organized religion. I think spirituality is a very personal thing, and personally I don’t have much use for the particular church she mentioned seeing as I’m acquainted with several of its members and we definitely don’t agree on some important core issues. And it bothers me more than a little that my sister might fall into that category as well.

But hey, nothing is for certain right?

Except for the thing that is amusing me today. We have declared today to be National Bite in the Ass Day. You know what I’m talking about right? When you go out of your way to be nice to someone and it just comes back to bite you in the ass? Yeah. That’s today. We’re hoping that Google will come up with some clever little graphic for it, something along the lines of two nekkid butts being chased by Pacmans. With fangs.

Chomp.

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Must have been a rough game

JM and I were at the grocery store tonight, standing in line behind someone in a familiar looking uniform: a high school baseball umpire. His only two items of purchase? A box of Keebler Club Crackers and a 40 oz. Bud Light. Crackers and beer. The solution to all that ails you.

Speaking of baseball

My friend Rob told me a few weeks ago about how his mom, also a Cubs fan, once skipped school to see a game. It ended up being the first no-hitter thrown by an African-American pitcher, Sam Jones. Imagine being her, seeing that take place and being unable to share it with anyone because you skipped school! I’d totally face up to whatever punishment I had coming. Anyway, today is the anniversary of that game. If I heard Len and Bob correctly, there were only 2900 people in the stands. And my friend’s mom was one of them. Awesome!

Hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to camp he goes

JL left for Pennsylvania early Saturday morning, kicking off his fourth summer of working at a YMCA camp there. This time, I’ve suggested to him that perhaps he try to find something full time and establish residency, so that he can go to school there. JL is at his best when he’s away from home, much as it pains me to say it.

Fasting sucks

I have to have blood work done first thing tomorrow morning, and I have to fast in the meantime. So, of course EVERYTHING sounds good right now. Oh who the hell am I kidding? Everything always sounds good.

My biggest peeve surfaces yet again

Today was the first day of summer semester. At about 8:30 a.m., I walked over to the student union with two colleagues so that they could get coffee from Starbucks and I could get something for breakfast. Much to our surprise, Starbucks was locked up tight. TOTO went up to the office that runs all of the food services on campus and they didn’t seem to know anything, but we happened to bump into an employee of Starbucks who said that they were closed down for the summer. We also found out Subway is closed, but they were reopening the Scoreboard Grill in its place. Except that they had no register and no food. We heard they were going through all of the other restaurants’ freezers, trying to find things to prepare for any potential customers. That’s a little scary. Oh, and they’re serving non-Starbucks coffee in Starbucks cups.

Here’s the peeve part, though. Someone made a decision to change things and neglected to give any word that a change was taking place. I don’t care what the reason is for shutting both places down. I just think it’s wrong to not let your customers know. The only signs in the union stated both would be open all summer. The website says both places will be open all summer. The employees reportedly only found out over the weekend. One thing we’ve heard is they’re remodeling. My son came home and told me the organization with the food services contract is out the door. I know a bazillion people who would be OVERJOYED if that rumor is true, because that organization sucks. We have the most expensive Starbucks prices in the city. I kid you not. There’s a Starbucks in the grocery store I was at tonight and I compared prices. Some things were up to a dollar less than what they are on campus.

But whatever they’re trying to do, someone needs to COMMUNICATE with the campus community. Putting up a sign or two just isn’t that difficult.

In conclusion…

That’s really about it. Excuse the crankiness. It’s the fasting. It’s certainly NOT the Cubs who are currently leading the Padres 12-2. Maybe it’s safe to go to bed early.

** ETA: The decision to shut down Starbucks and Subway was reversed today, due to a large number of complaints. For what it’s worth, I had emailed the people in charge of food services and copied our president on it. I was pleased to see that he had forwarded it to someone in his office, asking them to investigate the situation and get back to me. It’s nice to know that someone is listening.

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I took a half a personal day today, in order to:

A) go out and get my Irish on last night for a bit with The Boyfriend; and

B) make arrangements for Lulu the Malibu to go to her doctor for a new tires and a checkup before I head south next week for my workshop.

The getting the Irish on was a bit of a bust. I had 2.5 drinks and my stomach was upset. I found out why upon my return home. The Boyfriend can relax because yet again, I am NOT pregnant! Woo!

(I hope my dad isn’t reading this post…)

So, yeah… we headed out at about 11 when The Boyfriend got home from work and we were back before 1, I think. And since I’d gotten up yesterday morning at 5:45, I pretty much hit the pillow and was out. Didn’t even take my allergy meds last night and I’ll be paying for that later on.

When I woke up this morning, I did a load of laundry, called the mechanic to let him know Lulu will be coming for a visit, had some breakfast and sat down to order a death certificate from the fine folks at Pennsylvania Vital Records. I decided to do it via fax, so I downloaded the PDF form. And that’s when I cracked up.

The file name is Death_by_fax.pdf.

Sounds like a horrible way to go…

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Today’s mail brought me the title to my car. And the promissory note stamped “PAID.” Which was signed on March 28, 2006. Not even two years later, I own my car free and clear. Sure, I used my income tax refund to do it, but as Princess and TOTO pointed out, I still did it. And I should be proud of myself. (I am.)

It’s proof that I can achieve something if I really want to badly enough. For some reason, it’s easy for me to forget that. I get caught up in second-guessing myself and before I know it, I’ve talked myself out of doing whatever it was that I wanted to do. I don’t want to be like that anymore.

I worry about everything. I worry about needing new tires on my car and then I worry that my mechanic lied to me and I don’t really need new tires at all. (I need new tires.) I worry that something else is wrong with my car and that it’s going to end up costing me the rest of what’s in my savings account right now, which would be a problem because I’m trying not to spend any of that money until my eye doctor appointment next month. (BTW, WTF??? The eye doctor can’t see me for more than a month??? It has NEVER taken me that long to get into that office.)

I need new glasses. My prescription didn’t change enough last time around and most of the time I wear contacts anyway, but I know this time will be different. So, I’m trying to stay prepared for that expense.

But I need to get tires and soon. I found out today that I’m going to a workshop in Columbus later this month, for ILL people. No, not sick people… Inter Library Loan people. The library paid for me to attend the workshop, but I’ll be driving myself down there.

I’m excited about the workshop. Is that geeky? God, I love my job. It’s amazing how much I love it. It scares me, too, though. We keep hearing about cutbacks and reallocations and wouldn’t it just suck if I finally found something that I love and that I feel I do well and then something ends up happening and I lose it? Or get bumped? After five years at the university, I’ve built up some seniority, but I’m still pretty low on the totem pole at the library.

So, in other good news, I saw the fall schedule of classes last night and made a lovely discovery. There is one class that I have to take (Flash Animation) before I get my degree. I’ve been putting it off because it’s never offered through distance learning and it’s never offered on main campus. Finally, they’re offering it online this fall! I’m jumping all over that.  That and Desktop Publishing.

Will someone smack me upside the head for thinking about fall already? Sheesh! It’s not even spring yet. I can barely wait for summer to get here (though I’ll feel differently once the house heats up again). But still… thunderstorms… barbecuing… baseball games… outdoor concerts… warm summer evenings, friends and cold beverages… *sigh*

Is it here yet?

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This will be a long week. It’s finals week and while all of my coursework and exams are completed, the majority of the students are wrapping up their semester this week. Last night kicked off the first night of keeping the whole building open until 2 a.m. I was actually called in early because an ice storm was coming and the supervisor scheduled to open couldn’t make it in. I could understand not wanting to drive home…. but at noon, the roads were still just wet from rain. So… ? Whatever. It’s the third time in a week she’s called off. I’m not the only one noticing a pattern. And yes, I’m a little shocked I said it here as well, but you know what? It gets old having to cover for the same person consistently. If you don’t like what I’m saying, don’t read my blog. I’m entitled to my opinion here.

Why, yes, I *am* cranky, thanks for noticing. The Boyfriend held his Toys for Tots party on Saturday night. That’s right. He went ahead and did it. His parents went out of town and he invited people over there. I found out it was taking place on Friday night when I received an email from him (he was at work). I didn’t go. I had homework and a final to complete, and I had to work the following day. And he’s been informed that since my involvement mattered so little this time around, he can count on me remaining uninvolved in the future. Again, as his friend Dusty said, it’s The Boyfriend’s party. Obviously, The Boyfriend agrees.

(An apology would make me reconsider, but I’m not counting on one.)

Switching gears… thank goodness the world hasn’t gone completely crazy! Last night, I was up at the circulation desk and I noticed that someone had turned in The Notebook. Since I’ve heard more than one person rave about the movie and I prefer to read books before seeing movies, I checked it out to myself. I’ve now read about 70 pages and all I can is, “Ugh!” I logged into Goodreads and discovered I am not alone. The dialogue in this book is so stupid and forced. Seventy pages in, I think I’m supposed to give a crap about these characters; I’m supposed to believe all of the history that they have, but you know what? I’m not buying it. They were together for one adolescent summer. One of the people who raved about this book said that if you didn’t like the book, you’ve never been loved. Um… no. If you don’t like the book, it’s because you recognize bad writing. I’m not saying I can do better, but hey - I’m also not writing books and asking people to buy them.

I’ve heard the movie is better, though. Can anyone who’s read the book vouch for that? Because the movie is currently on my Netflix list, but if it’s anything like this book (which is going back to the library today), I don’t want to waste my time with that either.

I will end this post on two positive notes. First, geek that I am (shut up TOTO), I am tickled pink with the arrival of not one, not two, but EIGHT magazines containing logic problems in today’s mail. TOTO can roll her eyes all she wants, but in another forty years, we’ll see which one of us has still retained all of our mental faculties.

Second, today I was able to have my customary second cup of coffee, unlike yesterday when I had to venture off in the cold rain without it. And folks, sometimes that just makes all the difference in how a day is going to proceed.

The end. For now.

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Because I’m not… but it’s cold outside this morning!

I just switched cars with JM a few minutes ago and when he stepped outside he said, “Now THIS is fall!” Hopefully this means I’ll stop telling patrons that their books are due in August instead of October.

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I’m beginning to wonder at what point did someone pick up my house move me to the Bayou? The heat and humidity over the past few days has been absolutely crazy! It feels like August outside, not October!

I’d turn on the air, but… it’s October!

In between 15-minute study sessions (there are days when I literally have to set the timer just to stay on task), I spent a lot of time surfing the web for things I can’t buy, like pub tables from Target. Oh, how I would love to rip all the paneling down in my basement and renovate the space.

Alright, back to the homework.

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