The Final Judgement

That is the name of the Richard North Patterson book. I finished it last night. It was a great book and I look forward to reading the other two of his I have around. I went three or four days a couple weeks ago without a book handy. It wasn't good.
I think I'll give it a solid 4 of 5 stars.

Dreams, Books and Driving

Two weird dreams recently:
A few days ago I had a sad, gut-wrenching dream that I put myself in rehab for a drug addiction. This is weird for a few reasons. One, I've never been addicted to anything, unless of course you count diet pepsi ;-)
Two, it was so real, so hard, so emotional. I called an ambulance to take me in. I had to share not only a room, but a bed with another junkie. The place I was in had called all my family members and I remember being embarrassed and sad that I had caused so much worry. So, weird.


Last night I had the other one. A friend of mine who is not married was pregnant in the dream. I forgot to get a gift for her shower so I left the shower and got her a gift card for Babies r Us. I didn't even bother to get a card to put the gift card in! I woke up feeling like a horrible friend.
Books:
I was reminded this morning by Heather of a book I read several months ago (and had somehow forgotten already? Maybe it's the drugs...
Anyway I thought I'd take a minute to talk about books.
Here are the number of stars I would give these books:
Flowers for Algernon 5
Enders Game 4
Memoirs of a Geisha 5
The Eleventh Hour -40(star)
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time 4.5
Life Expectancy 5
The Story of O 3.5
I'm reading a great book right now by Richard North Patterson (right), not quite done and I don't know the name of it. I really love this author's style though. He's great and I have two more of his books lined up (thanks thrift store). I read a Sydney Sheldon before that. It was okay, but I really really didn't like how the main players incessantly called each other Darling (even while eating at McDonald's). So I don't think I'm a big SS fan. Also I figured out the bad guy way way too early. I'm looking very forward to my next David Ellis read. He's great and wrote my favorite book ever, Line of Vision. He's got one out called In The Company of Liars, that I haven't read yet.

My commute this morning was HORRIBLE because nobody was following the rules. All the slow drivers were camped out in the fast lane, and therefore all the very fast drivers were passing on the right (which I do sometimes too) but they had no spot to get back into the fast lane and so I saw three different aggressive drivers who slammed into spots that were barely inches bigger than their cars...And then the slow folks in front of me would freak out, spiking the breaks. It was rough. Also a big fat bitch who was a camper and finally got in the slow lane gave me a smile and wave as I finally got around her. I wonder if she can read lips....

Turkey Vultures

Hey cool, we ate lunch outside today (it's in the 70's) and three turkey vultures were flying overhead...
Then two of them perched on the building where the windsock is (three story building). One sat with it's huge wings open for serveral minutes. Then they got real close to eachother (it looked like they were kissing). I thought this was really cool because they have an incredible wingspan.

They are super ugly, but serve a great purpose in taking care of all that roadkill. Quite impressive.
I think I got too much sun out there. But after 6 months of winter weather, I sure can't complain! It feels great outside. My lips feel a little burned. I don't feel quite right at all today. My guts feel hinky and I feel for some reason 'out of place'. Like I shouldn't be here at all! That's strange being that I've worked in the same place since 1992...

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

My eyes are burning. I barely slept last night. I have no idea why. I felt like I had taken speed before going to bed. Lying there, wide eyed wondering what's wrong with me. That really sucked. I don't feel that tired yet (which is weird). I fell asleep after one. Then it was very fitful and unsatisfying.
So I am sitting here and get a message that I am now logged into two places at once with AIM. That is scary. Is someone chatting as me? I never use auto-logon or 'remember me' options on computers so I am wondering how this happened. Maybe it was a mistake in the system. Who knows.
I heard from a high school friend today. She's cool. We always had so much fun together (well that was more in middle school actually). But she's the type you never forget. We had so many inside jokes and it seemed we had a lot in common. Maybe she's even reading this now...Thanks for the email reply!
It's weird to think that someone you know could be reading and you wouldn't know. An example is that I found out that a few relatives of a very close friend read this with at least some regularity. That was very surprising. For one I think my blog is boring. But I always think of it as somewhat anonymous. Like people I don't know read it and a few good friends. But it could be that everyone I know has read it. I don't really feel like censoring myself based on that thought. Why should I? I have nothing too exciting to blog about in the first place. Well I could. I mean everyone has deep thoughts they could share, but if I did that kind of thing, it would have to be a truly generic blog, one that didn't have my mug-shot on it.
I haven't been feeling well lately. Last Wednesday I got really sick, and I feel like my system is still recovering. And then the not sleeping on top of it... And yesterday it took me 2 hours to get to my mom's. I was stressed. My already tight schedule really went to hell.

Sunday

I am setting up a play area in part of our basement. The kids have way too much crap to keep in the living room (in the corner) and in their rooms. So I've been weeding out things they don't play with, and stashing them down there for years. I found two dead mice in the basement this weekend. One was a baby, one not so much. I also think I may be allergic to them as I have been working down there for 2 hours and my bottom lip has doubled in size. Nose is running but that is the norm so... (Googled 'small dead mouse', found this and thought it was more amusing than the other images I found).

I'm taking a short break because my ass hurts from running up and down the stairs. The area is ready for play. I used the vacuum on the area rug and the hose attachment along the walls and rafters. I polished furniture, arranged everything leaving a large area to play in the middle.

Now I'm staying upstairs and doing my usual weekend relaxation bit, you know dishes laundry, swiffering dog hair. Great way to kick back.

Oh and I slept very very well last night, and maybe for around 9 hours. I still feel like crap where my sinuses are concerned but today I'm not quite as much of a zombie as I have been lately. Also I am glad I got the kids outside for awhile, and played a board game with them today. I do so much for them that I have no time to do stuff with them...

Where to Start?

So much has happened.

Took Wednesday off. Got up at 7:00 (blah) fed and bathed the girls. Went to the mall for portriats. We ate in the foodcourt, picked up our pictures, came home and napped all afternoon. The highpoint was getting a great portrait of my little one (she was overdue) The lowpoint was having my almost 6 yr old scream at me and tell me she wasn't getting her picture taken (oh and spanking her in the restroom :-(

Worked on Thursday but decided to take Friday off. I wanted to get lots of spring cleaning done. I did a lot, but fell far short of my goal. The problem is that my sinuses are still fubar and somehow that has translated into a sleep disorder. I am (unmedicated ) tossing and turning all night long and waking up exhausted with a headache. This pattern has been repeating for at least four of five nights now. I don't know if it is a side affect of the decongestants I have been sporadically taking to clear my head. I have been using some non-drowsy formulas for the daytime and a nighttime one at bedtime, but I've only taken them maybe two times all week. I don't know if that is enough to make sleep impossible. But I don't seem to have trouble sleeping in the afternoon. Today I fell asleep with my daughter while attempting to put her down for a nap. I actually turned down the chance to go dancing downtown because I felt so crummy on Friday. I'm glad I didn't go though, getting going this morning was almost impossible after the shitty night of 'sleep'.

I guess I could take some sleep aid, although based on the news I'd be scared that I'd end up driving to work at 2:00 am on a Sunday in my pj's. I just hope that whatever it is stops happening soon. I've noticed that the kids seem extra tired too though (my older one announced today that she likes naps?!?) So I am wondering if we have poor air quality in our home. Well I guess we probably do as I am not the world's best house keeper and we have dog dander on top of that. Soon we'll have a few days warm enough we can air this place out. I'm sure that will help.

I have more to do, but I did spend a couple minutes catching up on blogs tonight. Does anyone know what has happened to Emma? I suspect she took down the blogs due to a 'sticky' situation of some kind...

I was Greeted...

Last night when I arrived home (kids in tow) by two excited labradors, but next by my hubby who came to the door with a smile and a mixed drink for me. My eyes became large and when he asked me how I was doing I gave him a surprising, "Great"(surprised me anyway).

It was a nice way to start an evening. I was very tired and I've been having more than my share of sinus issues. We didn't cook last night. Just ate whatever was handy and I got to bed really early. I was sleeping before 10. I really needed a night like that. It was relaxing.

The drink was a Kahlua n Cream (or skim milk to be more exact). It was yummy and made me feel calm and good. We always keep a bottle of that stuff around. We both enjoy it and it isn't too strong so you can enjoy one anytime.

Spring has Sprung

Just like Shirring, I’ve been seeing many signs of spring and although we are expecting SNOW tomorrow, I am very very happy to see these wonderful indicators that it will in fact get warm soon.

I saw a pair of Bluebirds checking out the Woodpecker box, which has already been claimed by the Starlings. I was very excited. This was only my second bluebird sighting in my yard ever. I even had the chance to watch them with the binoculars. They are beautiful little birds.

This morning when I was taking the dogs out, I found a very tiny toad trying to go into the garage. I always worry that they will hop in and die from lack of food and water. Although there are always bugs in the garage, but the water would be a problem.
This picture is a similar toad to the one I found and relocated to the great outdoors this morning.

Anyone got any good ideas for outfits/poses for my 5 and 3 year old daughters when we get portraits this week? I am going to try to get a nice pic of them together in their ballet tutus with hair up, but I was thinking about also something more traditional.

Things are Lookin' Up

Hey, I got my daughters Interim report (had to double check the spelling on that word). She got all S's although one was an S-, but hey, I'm good with that. I'm not all about a grade at all. I just worry that sometimes she isn't enjoying school because she is afraid to participate, afraid to make a mistake. She becomes withdrawn whenever she's part of a large group like that. So the really great thing about the report was the part that said she " is becoming more confident, staying more on task, improving in all areas, participating in discussions". Holy Cow is that music to my ears. I'm just happier picturing her in class with some confidence and showing that she knows what's up. I told her I'm very pround and that the best part is knowing that she's getting more comfortable with it. She's such a sweet kid.
My hubby (who is quite handy to have around) fixed our car. Remember the 900$ esitmate? Well he bought a spring for $40 and installed it. Done. Of course the brakework they quoted will still need to be done at some point, but we didn't need to do all that stuff at once, especially the struts we didn't actually need!!
Also, my husband bought a bunch of apple trees which he is currently busting ass to get planted. That is awesome. They flower in spring and will produce fruit this year. He got Spys, Fujis, Granny Smiths, Yellow Delicious, and Stayman? Not sure on that last one. But how fun is that? I know the dear will feast on them, but we can't eat 12 trees worth of fruit, can we? And they are being planted across our frontage amongst the wildflower garden. I'll post a pic when anything out there starts flowering. Last year the wildflower garden was amazing. We had so many varieties and I had huge boquets on my kitchen table all the time. Hope they do well this year too.
The girls and I are heading to Luke's tonight to hang out with him and his family. It will be nice. I haven't seen his little girl in a long time.