ADD Symptomization & Carpal Tunnel Synrome

My brain is very organized, I’m sure, but my thoughts are another matter entirely. They wander tiny trails even the rabbits haven’t found yet.

“Random thought processes” is too kind a term – if I mapped out any one of my trains of thought, it would look pretty bizarre, but it would not look random. Ironically, there is reason behind every apparent leap of logic in there, even if it is completely obfuscated in my writing here. You have been duly warned. :P

Our wireless mouse (from Microsoft, insert appropriate comment here) is giving us fits. We have to click it multiple times to get it to function, and sometimes the obnoxious thing just randomly takes us to the bottom of the screen without warning. Argelfraster! (One of my favorite “non-cuss” words, from the pen of Patricia Wrede – a spell to melt pesky wizards, and it’s fun to say!)

“Oh, for the love of Chrysler!” - My son is obsessed with the Disney/Pixar movie Cars, and that little gem of pseudo-cussing was at the veeeeery end of the movie, for those diligent, watch-all-the-way-through-the-credits type of people. It’s a thing of beauty.

I think I’m having trouble with my “its” and “it’s.” Gesundheit!

You really, really, really need to check out Love and Hisses, and vote for Robyn to win the Good Mood Blogger gig. What can I say in a fast, loud, high-pitched squeal of happiness and obsession besides, “KITTIES!!! Kitties kitties kitties KITTIES!!!!” Okay, seriously – go.

Go now!

Don’t make me squeal again – GO!!!


“Manic much?” someone asks. “No, not really,” I answer. “It must be the combination of caffeine and housework accomplished.”
“O RLY?”
“Yes, really. Toddler got me up at 4:30, so I had lots of coffee, did a bunch of laundry, vacuumed the apartment, hand-cleaned the toddler’s spill mat, AND took the trash to the dumpster, all before lunch and naptime!”
“Wow.”
“Yeah, I know, right?”
“Right.”

Then we all immediately break into loud song: “It’s the end of the world as we know it!” (Repeated a couple of times.)



And I feel fine.

hmmm...

It's not hard to believe that its been a month since I posted last. No excuses - they're all blah blah blah and nobody wants to hear them anyway. :D

So the other day, the power went out here in the apartment for about an hour. It was early afternoon, so we still had plenty of light.

The first ponderous thing I noticed was the ubiquitous silence. No noise of fans, nor any other sounds of machine or technology. At first, it was unnerving; then, it was peacefully soothing.

No computer – if I wanted to write, it would have to be manually. No stereo – if I wanted music, I would have to sing or play. No TV – no picture and sound to suck my brain into another world. Hmm, what to do with myself? (That was the second ponderous thing I noticed.)

It was then I started wandering around the house, doing a few little things that were usually neglected - putting something away, replacing batteries in something, that sort of thing. I found myself doing activities in which I actually had to engage. My brain went down the obligatory thought path of what our ancestors had lived through without electricity, how different our modern lives are, what is better now versus what was better back then, et cetera.

That line of thought dovetails with a conversation I had with my husband on yet another day. We were discussing popular toys from the 80’s and their TV show marketing counterparts, and I mentioned not really being into a lot of them since our family went without a TV for seven years during that decade. My husband is still flabbergasted about that, since in his family home the TV was literally always on, even when no one was watching it.

Yes, we were freaks, my family of origin & I. (I use the term “freaks” very lightly and loosely here, folks, so don’t spaz on it. We were “different,” if you have to be P.C. about it.) Those seven were some of the most mentally rich years of my life. I was a voracious reader, and that love was nurtured & cemented during that time. The stuff from TV just wasn’t that important in the scheme of things. My experiences of that time were (and still are today) mind-altering.

My imagination is a little rusty these days, but I try to imagine actually experimenting with being “off the grid” electrically and it blows my mind. I’d be living a completely different life. I wonder what you’ll come up with when you think about it. Talk back, let me know.

Real Life gnaws at my tailbone

Labor Day weekend my parents were here visiting, and little Bubba came down with croup. (Oh, those barking coughs!) It settled down into just a cold for him within the week. Naturally, we the parents picked up the virus – and it kicked my butt all the way into the next week, which is where we are now. Man, for several days I felt like an old-school zombie that didn’t even have a desire for brains – and that’s saying something, isn’t it? My sacro-iliac joints were trying to mutiny, too, and that just didn’t go over well with the central nervous system, so we chilled out with a muscle relaxant before I reached the screaming stage of pain.

But here I am in “next week,” as it were, and I am once again functional. Will probably post more later when my brain catches up & finds something interesting to put here.

Ta!

Miracle in progress!

Thanks to all of you spiritual folks, and to the Great Organizer! My dining room actually looks organized, and in fact actually IS organized (and not by Chaos Theory this time)!

My requested birthday present this year was a couple of free-standing cabinets to match the one my parents bought for me last year, and lo and behold, they all three fit side-by-side along one wall in the dining room. Now I have a place to put much of the stuff that I don’t want my toddler getting into. (The cabinets are lockable, and I’m using reclose-able cable ties to secure them from the Category 5 Toddler).

The dining room table has been kept completely cleared off (except during actual usage) for 5 whole days now! The shine is almost blinding!

Much remains to be done, like dishes (as always) and other basic housework, but progress is being made!

More posting later, as time & toddler permit.

The joke of the day is on me!

I told my husband, "It may not look like it, but the stuff on the table is organized."

He said to me, "Organized by what? Chaos theory?"


I pretended to backhand him.

A little rythmic poetry to start the day...

Blog blog blog,
blog blog blog,
blog blog blog blog blog - hey!

Blog blog blog,
blog blog blog,
blog blog blog blog blog - HEY!

Blog
bloggy blog
bloggy blog...blog...
BLOG!

Just a little something I had to get off my chest this morning.

Reality ate my shorts, or Where the bleep did I go?

Sorry, guys, Mama's on the crazy train with a two-year-old son in tantrum mode, and I've been remiss in many of my responsibilities. Fear not, gentle readers - the notepad still lives and breathes! (Kinda like the oboe and the Heart of Rock-n-Roll.)

Speaking of Rock-n-Roll, the webcomic Questionable Content has a great educational-yet-hip tribute to Les Paul. (However, the name of the comic says it all regarding it's usual subject matter = not recommended for children or the socially ultra-conservative. You have been duly warned.) Now go check it out!

So, anyway, little Bubba is napping on me as I type this post, which is about the only way I can safely blog without having to wrangle an upset toddler. It amazes me how the emotions just pour out of the child, nothing held back - and then, when a different emotion comes along, out that comes, too. No grudges, no baggage - I think I could learn something here.

For those of you with a spiritual bent (or break, or kink, as the case may be), please remember me fondly to the Higher Power, as I am in need of a housekeeping miracle. I know for sure that I am a "Messie," a "Sidetracked Home Executive" - in short, a slob. I may also very well be a compulsive hoarder, but that needs to be confirmed by professional diagnosis. Anyway, my folks are coming to visit over Labor Day weekend to see their grandson (and the two people who live with him, haha), and the apartment is an unmitigated disaster. I know that miracles take a lot of energy, and I know at this moment I don't have what it takes to pull this Herculean task off by myself. My gratitude goes out to you for interceding for me with the Great Organizer!

Oh, I never meant to get so serious on y'all when I started writing today. I guess what comes out is supposed to be out, though.

Thanks all for the suggestions on "Creative Non-cussing" - definitely some winners there that I will be using!

Okay, I'm off to read blogs & comment, while my toddler still gently sleeps.

In Search of ... New Exclamations!!!

(Subtitle to this post: Lookin' for creative non-cussing)

I learned to cuss at summer camp as a pre-teen, and never truly broke the habit. Sure, I subdued it for a while in various contexts (you know, when attending conservative Christian college, do as the fundamentalists do), but the vocabulary is still there, and it comes out when I'm irritated (and beyond...).

My darling son is at the stage where he is starting to verbally imitate the words I say & sounds I make. I've started looking for replacement words & phrases that aren't really cussing, yet fufill the need to yell or say something loudly.

Examples I'm working with:

• "Ah, cheese!"
• "Peas and rice!" (from the DVD extras "edited? version" on Hot Fuzz)
• "Cheese and arborrio rice!"
• "Rubber duck?!" (from Finding Nemo)

(Edit:)Words I need replacements for:

• "S word"
• "G-D it"
• and others, I'll probably add them onto this post as I catch myself saying them.

So, intrepid readers, do you have any Creative Exclamations I can use? Boring and dull, weird and wacky, all are welcome. I will thank you here in advance for any help you can give me on this.

Who ever thought we'd see these guys again?

So the original movie version Oompah Loompahs have resurfaced in a Florida mall, and hijinks ensued.

I don't know a thing about the comedy tour they were promoting, but to me their appearance anywhere outside of VHS & DVD is like a real unicorn sighting! *squee*

I love the book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, first & foremost. Gene Wilder's Wonka was genius, even if they didn't quite keep him true to the book, and those colorful Oompah Loompahs were weird but iconic. Johnny Depp's Wonka was a bit bizarre, but then so was most of that movie. It's Oompah Loompa(s) was well-performed & seemed more true to the book - Deep did a fantastic job!

But anyway, so this wasn't really a trip in the wayback machine, but more of the wayback machine on a trip, if you see what I mean. LOL!

On an unrelated side note, my toddler is being WAAAY too quiet in his room, I must go investigate & do damage control. Toodle-ooo!

Cuteness on the loose!

Can't help it - I'm a sucker for cuteness, especially when I don't have to clean up after it. =P

Thusly, check out the puppy stampedes!

And don't forget the illustrious Cute Overload for your daily dose of super-cute.