*Big DumpTruck*

Backfence: Surprising details from UN inspector

Hey! Looks like Lileks got two day's worth of work out of my letter to him a week or so ago. You know, the "this" vs. "next" saturday thing? Read part two on the Backfence.

James, if you're reading this: You're welcome.

Where are the Merry Maids?

I was gone almost all day today. Got SO many errands done, you'd all be proud. I filed the abatement paperwork at city hall (ya, sure, my little cape with no garage is worth more than the colonial with the two car garage next door. Both homes are the same age, she has a slightly larger lot, and slightly more square footage. All other things being equal, no way in hell is a house without a garage worth more than one with.

While we were there I also paid the water bill. The water department office is across the hall from Mayor Mazzarella's office. Last time I was there with Junior he said he wanted to meet the mayor, but the Mayor wasn't in. Today, when we came out of the water department office I spotted him sitting in his own waiting area, so I walked the three steps to say hello. I told him Junior wanted to meet him and he went to shake Junior's hand, and asked his name. Well, this is not a shy child by any means but he totally froze, didn't say his name, and then leapt behind me. He would NOT come out until after we left, and then he acted like nothing happened. I've never seen him be that shy before. Ever. At least the mayor and his two admins were tickled about it.

Oh, so the Merry Maids in the title. When I finally got home there was a message from the photographer at the Sentinel. They want a picture of me for the article. Oh dear Lord, how can we take this and somehow hide the fact that people actually live in this house? There is crap on every surface. I've got a birthday party until noon and then photog gets here at 2. That's two hours to take everything I own and put it in cardboard boxes and hide them somewhere. The clutter won't look scholarly. It will look like a pig sty.

I'm a New Me™

Okay everyone, slide over and make room for our company from thyroid.about.com! I had another article in Mary's newsletter this week: I'm a New Me™. For those of you who ended up here from there, welcome! I'm not a doctor or any kind of health professional. I cannot answer medical questions. Well, I can, but the answers could harm or kill you, if you catch my drift.

Okay, off to do errands. I won't post an official list but it involves the bank, CVS (ya, the same one from earlier) and buying a birthday present to take to a b-day party tomorrow.

Very Funny Stuff

I just wanted to share something I saw on another blog. When I go in to Boston (into?) I park at Alewife.

Fireplace Screensaver

For a couple of years now I get hits every day for people looking for a Fireplace Screensaver. I started to feel bad about that (I don't have one...I WANTED one) so every once in a while I search around to see if anyone's posted a new one that I can send people to. Here is the 2003 link:

http://home.t-online.de/home/stefan.riediger/scrnsav.htm#Fireplace I can't vouch for the quality, or if the file is even virus three. Download sensibly.

Step AWAY From the Introspection...

So I had my interview with the reporter today. At the end of our time together (which may have been an hour, I don't remember what time he arrived) I was left to wander the aisles and realized that I didn't have anything interesting to say to him. Nobody is going to care about me or my website. It doesn't have an agenda, I don't have some special purpose [note: Not the Steve Martin The Jerk type of special purpose] for it. Nothing I hope to achieve. I've been doing this for going on SEVEN YEARS now, running this website, and for what? Has it gotten me anything? Fame? Money? Work? Love? Yeesh, how egomaniacal is it to think that anyone cares about my to do list? Why do I waste so much time on this when it's so trivial that I start to panic in the middle of the interview that he's going to make me look like a complete loser. That maybe I am a complete loser.

Now now, I'm not looking for praise, etc., I'm just saying that I don't think anyone's ever asked me "Why are you doing this" in quite so many different ways before. I have no idea why I'm doing this. Do I just like the sound of my own voice? Do I hope that people will throw dollar in my violin case? If it's the latter, I'm in big trouble.

I just hope I don't look too "duh" in the article. I'll feel like I'm in Junior High all over again and I'll be forced to move and take an assumed name.

So if you've seen The Hours, you'll realize this type of introspection so soon after seeing the movie is NOT a good thing. That actually made me laugh, to be honest. I had a very Meryl Streep afternoon.

My Friend is a Sweet Potato Queen

My friend Karen B., who not only paid me to create a website for her business, sent me an Amazon gift certificate for my birthday so I could order a copy of The Sweet Potato Queens' Book of Love. She'd beent talking about the book and I said "I'll have to see if my library has it" and she very awesomely did the whole GC thing. Now I'm just going to sit in front of the window and watch for the mailman. They said the package should be here in 5-7 days (ya, I went for the free shipping, are you crazy?). It will also contain two items from my wish list that I actually remembered to go remove so nobody else would buy them for me.

Okay, enough chatter. I have been very productive today, and have already crossed two items off my to-do list (which is not online today). I also have to be a Barnes and Noble early this afternoon for an interview with a local reporter about this very website. I hadn't mentioned it earlier, because the last time I was interviewed, the article never came out. I was pretty disappointed. But I don't think this will be the same thing.

Anyway, I'm going to look to see how much a copy of Mrs. Dalloway is going for these days. They must have a new release to co-incide with the movie The Hours.

The Hours

Turns out we couldn't see Chicago because of the showtime, so we saw The Hours instead. Well, very different movie. While it may be the best movie I've seen in years as far as the screenplay, the acting etc. etc., it's also the most mentally and emotionally draining movie I've seen in years. And it's impossible to talk about without spoiling parts of it, so I won't. But you really really should make a point to see this one.

In other news: The Church of [insert the name of the "church" John Travolta belongs to here] is hiring in Boston. I can't think of a company I'd like to work for less than that one. Going to work every day would be like volunteering to go to a vacation time share pitch on a daily basis. Gah.

Movie Night

It's girl's night out in Jody-land! My parents will watch junior (he's thrilled...I wonder what kind of manipulation will occur this evening?) and I'll go with D and K to see Chicago. The movie, not the band. I guess I wouldn't mind seeing the band either, if there wasn't anything else to do. I'm so excited to be seeing a "grown-up" movie! For me, it was a toss-up between three movies - Adaptation, The Hours, or Chicago. I let D and K pick. I think my mom will go see at least one of the others with me - we can go some afternoon to a matinee. Okay, back to completing the items on the list!

Wednesday

Indulge me a moment while I put my to-do list here so that I can remember the full list of all the things I have to do. I will put some of it in code, to protect the innocent (them) and the guilty (me).

• school dept
  
• abatement form
  
• send invoice
  
• draft newsletter
  
• update doc files
  
• CVS (do this one tomorrow)
  
• Clean my house because my parents are babysitting Jr. tonight
  
• Get Junior by 1pm

I think that's it. Actually, I think that's plenty.

What day is it?

Geez, I had other things to do tonight, too. Like figure out if there's a way to get the commenting software I use to open in a separate window (instead of below the entry). I think that might mean changing commenting software, though. I don't have time to do that right now.

The Broke Diaries

Erin, a fan of The Broke Diaries left a comment in the previous entry because she was looking for a place to chat about that book, and the author is/was a fan of THIS site and it's one of the links on the book site. I mean, that's one of my very very favorite links, and it's a REALLY incredible book. You should buy it (and read it).

I am going to do Erin a favor, because I know there's nothing on the book site for fans to comment or even send fan mail. I am going to set up a page where people can write comments about that book. Give me a few hours to figure out how to actually write the danged thing, and I'll put a link over in the right-hand column, 'kay?

Thanks Erin, for the idea! Anyone remember Spy Magazine? They used to print the Letters to the Editor for the New Yorker because the New Yorker didn't? That will be me!

Swiper, No Swiping!

Hey, did I remember to tell everyone that my 2.5 year old niece decided how my birthday cake should be decorated, and I am the only 38 year old with a Dora the Explorer cake? I think so!!!!

The new license photo....eh. I've seen better and I've seen worse. The DMV child was a grumpy gus and I think if she'd been nicer I wouldn't have accepted the first photo, but there's always that fear that the 2nd one will be worse! The really cool thing is that I took the eye test without my glasses and passed, so I'm not legally required to wear glasses while driving! WOO HOO!!!! That's a load off. I will drive with glasses, I always do, but I just didn't want the restriction on my license for those times when I'm out with only my sunglasses and suddenly the sun goes down. I think it's probably more dangerous to drive at night with sunglasses than to drive without. And now I don't have to worry!

Oh Just Great

Checking Tomorrow's Forecast:
Tomorrow: Windy with a few clouds from time to time. Wind chills approaching -20F. High 12F. Winds NW at 20 to 30 mph.

Tomorrow night: Mostly clear skies. Wind chills may approach -25F. Low near -10F*. Winds NW at 15 to 25 mph.

*That's just the low. Not the wind chill. Happy birthday, have some frostbite.

The Big DumpTruck

Excellent. What a nail biter. (Actually, as I was typing this, ready to give up on the game, Oakland blocked the kick and ran it in. Wow, that's some excellent football. I guess this means I can't change the channel yet.)

Too bad Shania had to go with the lip synching...Even my father was saying "Gee, that blond is running all over the place and SHE can sing live, and Shania can't even do it standing still.

Seriously, if you can't sing live, don't go. It's not going to help you (except maybe Shania's outfit will make the point moot). It can only hurt you.

Dixie Chicks? FREAKING BEST version of the national anthem EVER! I had big doubts, and they took my breath away.

Bud Lite? Why does anyone else bother to advertise. My vote for 3 best commercials (I feel safe voting now, because I can't imagine anything better than these.
1. Bud Lite "The Referee is a jackass" just barely edges out
2. Bud Lite Clown "I don't think so."
3. H&R Block w/WIllie Nelson

Honorable Mentions:
Osbournes Pepsi (needed a better writer, but any commercial with Ozzie and Donny and Marie is gold, baby)
Trident (why the 5th dentist voted no)
Bud Lite shell stuck to his ear.

Catch You After the Game...

I'm headed out, big bag of Ruffles in hand. Someone tells me there's some kind of football game going on this evening...

Superbowl Sunday

Got my plans for tonight. This year is going to be much less exciting than last year, I mean, last year WE WON. That really improves the game boatloads.

My contribution to the party at my sister's house is chips and dip. Can you believe that until I called there might not have been any at this shindig? And she calls herself an American!

It's going to be 30 today, so I'm going to look for some shorts and a t-shirt. Actually, I'm only half kidding. Yesterday I went to get the mail without a coat on for the first time in 2-3 weeks. (I normally do this. If nothing else, it wakes me up.) You just cannot understand what it does for your mood to have it be any warmer at all after the past couple of weeks. To be happy about 30 degrees is just too funny.

Is This Thing On?

Zoinks, that virus/worm thingy really did a number on my DSL service earlier this morning. I think I'm back...at least for a little while, right? Sheesh, that was unpleasant. Oh, the angst!

More angst, you say? Um, the only bottle of Diet Pepsi in the house is flat. FLAT I TELL YOU! I have a caffeine headache because I'm out of half and half, and the cup of tea didn't cut it. So I just drank a glass of flat diet soda (which had an expiration date of 5 days ago.) ANGST! I should have used the soda to wash down some Tylenol, actually.

So why don't I just buy some half and half, you ask? Well, because I'm "between cash" right now. I've got two checks due in from BirchBark work I completed last week, and I know one got mailed today. But even when it gets here it won't be available to me for what, 2 days? Anyway, my new unemployment claim still hasn't been processed. It's been two weeks, and I haven't heard from anyone as to whether or not I a)qualify, b) what the benefits will be. I'm actually very very nervous about this. I wasn't going to lay any REAL angst on you guys, but right now I'm completely consumed with trying to figure out little things like how to pay for a refill on my thyroid medication. Ahhh, I remember the good old days when I was employed full-time and being worried about something like this was inconceivable.

Next thing that gets cut from the budget is going to have to be my DSL service. You don't even want to be here when that happens, let me tell you. The day I do that, I'll have to turn this page black in mourning.

Other than that, it's a blue sky day, the birds are ACTUALLY eating from my birdfeeder...first time in weeks I've seen them do that. I don't think they like the seed I have in there, they seem to waste a LOT of it. But replacing it with something they like is very very low on the list of priorities. Silly birds.

You Want Angst? You Got It.

Here's the note from the maker of my dish scrubby sponge:

"Please be advised that the product you described has been discontinued and
is no longer available for purchase. We are sorry for any inconvenience
that this causes you."

Time to drink myself into a stupor. I can't live without these scrubbies! DO YOU UNDERSTAND??!!!

Trendy and Popular

I decided I want to be trendy and popular today, so I'm going to jump into the fray and comment on the Bloggies. Those are awards giving out to blogs, sort of like the Emmy Awards, except Price Waterhouse isn't in charge of the voting. They probably should be, given all the nonsense about them being fixed.

It's not surprising. It's almost impossible to have any kind of contest on the web without SOMEONE figuring out how to cheat and stuff the ballot box for their favorite entry. Even people with deep pockets have had contests mucked up this way. Popularity contests are like that.

But regardless, I've been a web presence since 1996, and I've YET to even make the first level of nominations. Never been narrowed down to semi-finalists. Ditto finalists. Ditto winner. I know, I know, it shouldn't matter. But it does. I wanna be a web deity. Is that so wrong?

Looks like maybe I don't have enough angst to be trendy and popular. Apparently being an unemployed, broke, single mom isn't enough if you don't bitch and moan about it every day. But if I did, that would be a fake "me". I'm just not full of angst (not every day, anyway). And I don't actually want to be perceived that way, even if it would get me a bloggie award. So there.

Hot Damn, I made Lileks' Back Fence!

I sent in a note in response to a question James Lileks wrote about stupid arguments spouses have. See Backfence: Peace and quiet -- at 10 paces to see my letter in glorious black and white. This a long and on-going stupid argument, regardless of where Mr. Dump currently lives.

Okay, I change my mind

Editing the last entry, I think maybe the Hot Date expansion pack is way better than vacation, especially if they are the same price. So THAT is the one I'll put on my wish list.

Carry on.

Sim Vacation

I am a member of a mailing list for Top Five List contribs (http://www.topfive.com) and lately conversation has drifted to the Sims (Online and the Pet expansion pack). I need to find my Sims CDs because I don't think I ever loaded the game on this computer, and I want to play it. I know I have the Livin Large expansion pack, and maybe possibly the party one, but in Target today I saw the Vacation expansion pack and that's the one I think I "need" most. Hot Date might be fun but depressing (oh, look, not only do *I* not go out, but my Sims can't get a date either!). And I don't want to do the online version. I know it's hard to believe, but for as many years as I've been online (and that dates back to the BBS I ran in 1987) I've never been into live "chatting". Exchanging volumes of email, sure. Even conversing here in the comments section. But not live chat. When I play JT's Blocks on Yahoo I don't even notice that there are conversations going on in the window below me (except for that one time there was a catfight going on between two women about this guy they knew).

Anyway, it was $30 at Staples and the same at Target. $30 seems a lot for an add-on to a game I haven't played in a year, which is why I'm going to find the disks. Not that I can afford to buy it right now anyway, but I'll put it on my mental shopping list.

Which for some reason reminds me: I need to get my license renewed by Monday. Don't let me forget!

Scrubby Crisis

I have this certain type of dish scrubber that I fell in love with years ago. They are the only kind I really really like...Ecco makes them and they are a sponge on one side and a scrubber surface on the other, with wire twisted around them on a handle. They are perfect.

Well, they don't appear on the shelves of the stores I normally frequent, and for a long time, I had to make do with vastly inferior scrubbies. Heartbroken, I searched the world for the ones I liked...and found them at the Odd Lots store in Fitchburg. The day I found them I bought 12-15 of them at sixty-nine cents each. A bargain bag full of happiness.

Well, I put a new one in the sink the other day, and realized I only have two left. Plenty of time to replenish. I headed out to the Odd Lots store and....they don't have them. None. Nada. Please oh Please tell me that I'll be able to find a new source before I use up the one I just took out and the two under the sink. I figure that's about 2 months or so worth of dishes, minimum. PLEASE TELL ME I'M NOT DOOMED!

Two Two Two Two Let's Sing a Song of Two!

It's two out right now. Two.

I'll let that sink in.

With the wind (and trust me, it's rocking the house) it's probably about 700 below zero out there.

Oh, wait, I re-check and it's 11, but with a windchill it feels like -2. Oy vey. This is the forecast: "Today: A mix of clouds and sun with gusty winds. Wind chills may approach -20F. High near 15F. Winds W at 25 to 35 mph." I hate to turn this into "Jody's Weather Blog" but some things just take over your life. I do have a question: the dew point is -9. Is that possible? So if it hits -9, what, we'll get dew? Heh. I wanna see that. All the poets will write things like

And through the morning sunlight's filter
a glist'ning on the world anew
settled the morning's first dewy kiss
AHHHHH! FROSTBITE!! GET IT OFF!!!!!!

Last night we got home and Junior tripped and landed hands-first in a snow bank. He stood up and I saw that he didn't have his mittens on (he ALWAYS takes them off in the car, and never remembers to put them back on) and I FREAKED OUT that he was standing in the below zero wind chill with wet hands. I'd get the Mom of the Year Award for sure. I'm screaming at him to hurry up and follow me to the house, where I'm fumbling with a purse, his backpack and an art project of his, trying to get the key in the lock. Sheesh. Luckily, I don't think he understood that I was freaking out. I'm pretty sure he won't need therapy. I can't say the same for me.

Nuff Said

I Knew It!

I don't want to say I told you so, but man, the story in today's Worcester Telegram about AT&T breaking the terms of their contract to upgrade everyone's cable service does NOT surprise me. AT ALL. First it was Continental Cablevision, which was bad enough. I hated dealing with them with a passion. Then AT&T acquired Cablevision (and a first round draft pick) and I got my hopes up. Finally, a company who would appreciate the over 30,000 people living here! But they said it would be years before they would start the process that would allow customers to have the proper lines for high speed cable and cable modems.

At that point I threw up my hands and bought a DirecTV dish. And then a few months ago, Verizon called to tell me DSL was finally available in my area. Boom, I'm ready to speed off into the future. AND I don't have to deal with that horrible awful terrible AT&T office on North Main Street in Leominster. No parking, hostile employees, and the place gives off the vibe of the part of the police station where you go to pick up your personal effects. NOBODY can pick up equipment except the person on the bill. AND the office closes at either 5 or 6 during the week. Excuse me? I have to take time off from work to pick up a new cable box? Are you out of your freaking minds? Why are the people of Leominster putting up with this kind of treatment???? They have a monopoly on cable service in this town, and you get better treatment at the unemployment office, or the Registry of Motor Vehicles.

And today's article (I'd link but the Telegram decided not to let people read anything for free...pity) says they aren't starting on the upgrades. Yet. They had three YEARS to plan this out...they knew the lines sucked...and yet NOW they're boo-hooing about it. Well this is just soooo typical. Some little rinky dink town like Lancaster (no offense, I love Lancaster, but what, 300 people live there?) have had digital cable modems for YEARS now. At least FOUR.

If this opens the door for some other company to come in, I hope they do things right, bulldoze that dammed AT&T office and start fresh with everyone who lives in this town. We deserve it.

Aside from the Wind, a Great Day

Boy, it's a nasty one! Windy? You better believe that I didn't spend a lot of time outside today. We did wave to the guy driving the recycling truck today! We happened to be standing near the car when he drove up. Man, I had a lot of boxes this week. It made me feel like maybe we eat a little too many prepared foods, but I also remembered that it included boxes from Junior's birthday presents too, which increased the bulk.

It hasn't gotten above freezing in weeks, as far as I can tell, and that's no exaggeration. It's not going to get above 28 for most of this week. I can't wait until it goes up to 40 and we all run around in shorts.

Okay, so the "great day" part of the title just refers to the amount of stuff I got done today...I've been unusually productive. I LIKE THAT! I want to be this productive EVERY day!!!!!

Anyone speak German?

Eventually I'm going to have to figure out how Dr. John Henry Burchsted got here in 1657, and I'm wondering if Burchsted would be the way it was spelled in Germany. He was apparently from Silesia, if that matters.

And why didn't people keep better records, huh?

I want to take a day trip to the North Shore to pretend it's 1657 and I'm living there.

God Forgot to Pay the Heating Bill...

Man it's cold here! Junior asked for McDonald's for supper and I pointed out that we'd have to go out to get it and he changed his mind. THAT is cold, my friends.

So instead I'm eating appetizers for dinner. Yes, some of the stuff I didn't eat New Year's Eve. I've got the TGIF Buffalo Wings and another serving of their Spinach and Artichoke dip. We all know how much I love that, so no need for details here.

The wings...well, they aren't bad. A little gamey tasting, but not bad. I happened to have blue cheese dressing in the fridge, so no worries there. Well, they were easy enough to make, 17 minutes in the oven. But I don't think I can give them a rave review. 3 out of 5 stars, maybe. I mean, if that's all you have, go ahead. But don't buy them special.

Hey, I'm an Original!

Okay, I've spent the past two days working with some AWESOME genealogists I know to finally FINALLY find the illusive "famous doctor" that was apparently the first Burchstead in America. I am 97% sure I've got the lineage right, I just need to get confirmation on two things from the official records in Lynn and Beverly MA. But here it is, in case anyone cares.

So now I need to find out how Dr. J. H. got to America in the first place. There's record of him being born in Lynn, which implies he had parents here, right? But I don't see anything about parents. Was he born on a boat on the way over here? Was he born there and christened here?

I guess I just like knowing that my family has been living in Massachusetts since 1657. How freaking cool is that?

1. Dr. John Henry Burchsted b 1657 in Lynn (there is a Lynn birth certificate for him, but we also have record of him coming from Silesia Germany) m. Mary Rand 24 Apr 1690 in Lynn d. 20 Sept 1721 Lynn. Dr. JH apparently lived in the same house in Lynn his whole life, and I have a cross street for it. He also owned property that became Nahant.

2. Dr. Henry b Oct 3 1691 in Lynn, m Sarah James 1713, m. Anna Bream 1728 Boston, d. 31 March 1755. One source says Dr. H was born in 1690, not 1691. His birth record reads "Busted, Hennery, s. John Hennery and Mary. His death record reads Burchstead, Henry (note the oldest instance of our current spelling that I have seen. Down through (7) I have seen records with the A missing.) Dr. H and Anna apparently owned pieces of property in the North End of Boston that she inherited from her father, Benjamin Braem. Marriage records form them list her as Mrs. Anna Alden of Boston, implying she was married to an Alden prior to marrying Dr. Henry.

3. Dr. Benjamin Breame Burchsted (son of Anna Bream) b. 1733 m. Elisabeth Skillen 1760 in Boston. D. 1785 in Lynn. He was the 11th child of Dr. Henry. His birth record says "Burshted, Benjamin Brame

4. Henry Tudor Burchsted b 19 Feb 1764 in Lynn. m. Esther Smith 10 Aug 1783 in Beverly

5. Job Burchsted b. 30 Oct 1802 Beverly m. Hannah Beeson 13 Dec 1829 Salem MA (Named after his maternal grandfather Job Smith)

6. David Wales Burchsted b.1843 (Christened 14 July 1844 Salem)
Enlisted as a Private on 14 Oct 1861 at 18. Promoted to full Corporal, Mustered out Comp F 23rd Infantry Regiment Mass on 12 Oct 1864. Put in for military pension as an invalid on March 1 1880.

7. Frederick Roydon Burchstead b Jun 1876 Salem MA m Alice Mary Walker 03 Oct 1900 Leominster d. 02 Mar 1959

8. David Warren Burchstead b 30 Dec 1906 m. Lillian Ruth Victoria MacDonald Leominster MA d Dec 1975

9. Richard Warren Burchstead b. 1930

10. Jody Burchstead b. 1965

Spoke Too Soon

Uh oh, I spoke, er, wrote too soon about the thyroid book thing. I'm on the cutting room floor, as it were. Unless the publisher asks for rewrites, in which case I might be involved somehow. But it looks like it's not going to work out this time. I'm cool with that. The pressure of being famous and all that....

A Tie

Jack has been so kind as to point out to me that if you put the phrase in quotes, he is actually listed first. Now far be it for me to point out that most people don't put things in quotes when they are searching...I have agreed to declaire the Great Borgnine War of 2003 a tie.

Google Search: ernest borgnine in a tutu

YES!!! YES YES YES!!!!! Look at that, just one notch above Jack but I did it! Woo hooo! In your FACE, House of Cheer!

Okay, that wasn't very nice. I apologize. Jack, it was a well-fought race to the top of Google.

And Yet Still More on my Literary Life

I don't know if I mentioned this here already or not, but in fact, words of mine are going to be appearing in book Dr. Ken Blanchard is writing on hypothyroidism. Some of my "funny" thyroid articles are being used as into bits to the chapters. That's right, I'm funny, dammit! So you will be able to pick up this book and my words will be there.

That's actually pretty cool, don't you think? It didn't really hit me until this morning, when I had an initial consult with Dr. Blanchard to be a patient of his. I don't think I can say enough about how happy I was leaving that office. The man spent time with me, listened to me, and made me feel very confident that we will be able to adjust my thyroid medication so I will feel great. Isn't that amazing?! I'm going to feel great! Take THAT, Mr. Broken Thyroid!

I think It's done

I believe this page is now working as it should. I know there will be bugs. For one thing, I can't figure out how to get the archives to work properly. But I'll worry about that tomorrow. For now, you should be in the right place.

Changes Brewing

I was thinking this morning (always with the thinking!) that maybe it's just time to merge the main dump page with this here blog. They do both serve the same purpose. And I now am getting more traffic to the blog than I do to the main page. I think that's the kicker for me. Plus, it's a lot of extra work to do the main page, which, quite frankly, pretty much contains the same type of content you are reading right now. When I'm writing, I don't sit and think "Now is this more of a Dump entry or a Blog entry?" It's more that when I figure a Dump is due, I just write there instead of here.

So, you ask, how are you doing to make this seamless? And what about the email notifications of dump updates? Well I don't know. I haven't figured any of that out yet. I will, eventually. I don't think this will happen overnight. In fact, I know it won't. But this is just your heads-up. I know last time I considered doing this I actually asked folks first what they thought of the idea and the response was to leave things as-is. Well, I'm not going to ask this time. If I lose readers, well, I guess that can't be helped. Although I have no idea WHY I would lose readers. Anyway, which me luck trying to figure this out.

Dreamboat

Okay, I think I've just found a new boyfriend! Here's a photo of him. Aside from the X-treme mullet, the other cool thing is that he comes pre-tattooed with my name! On his neck!!

More on My Literary Life

I don't really have one, but my weak attempt is to ride on the coattails of anyone I can. My aunt [*waving*] just called to invite me to Leominster native Adrian Nicole LeBlanc's upcoming booksigning. Her book, Random Family is due out in February. It's been getting excellent reviews, and having read the New Yorker excerpt last year, I'm dying to read the whole book.

The thing that amazes me is that she spent ten years researching this and interviewing the family it's about. Ten years. And I can't get my crap together to finish my Nano novel. And that didn't require ANY research or interviewing. Hey, maybe that's my problem!

In the meantime, I really need to find a writers group in this area. The last one I was invited to join was in Waltham. Not that there's anything wrong with Waltham, but it's a bit of a hike. Plus that was a few years ago.

Driving Home

I was driving home, er, to the "office" after dropping Junior off at his home daycare place, and was listening to a CD and trying to figure out something to put here in the blog. I was actually giving it THOUGHT, I tell you. And I saw a Ben and Jerry's truck waiting at the same set of lights as me, and I thought. "Yum. I wonder if they have Cherry Garcia in there." And then I thought "It's forty below friggin zero out here and I'm lusting after an ice cream delivery truck? Am I insane?" But no, I'm not insane, I'm just from New England. We just put on another layer and grab the napkins. Junior and I were watching a Spongebob on the Tivo last night, the one with the fry cook olympics. One of the categories involves simulating an ice cream creation, and Patrick does a strawberry cone dipped in chocolate. The joke is that they show an actual picture of an ice cream cone and say it's him. I looked at that strawberry cone and thought "Damn, why do the ice cream stands have to close in the winter?" There was literally a ten below wind chill at the time I said that, and yet I was lamenting the winter closing of ice cream stands. Gotta love New England.

Oh, and the CD I was listening to? Duncan Sheik's Daylight. Oh my God, I love this CD. I loved self-titled 1996 CD greatly. Played it constantly. Then I got his Phantom Moon, which I wasn't crazy about. So I figured it was another case of me hitting someone's great first album that they couldn't duplicate on subsequent efforts. But still, I liked the first one SO much that when Daylight came out, I read a few of the reviews, and decided to buy it.

Holy cow. Fantastic. Overall it's better than the first one (although She Runs Away and Barely Breathing are still two of my favorite songs ever), if that's possible. And the funny thing is that when I first bought it, I listened to it two or three times, said "that's not too bad" and then kind of forgot about it. I found it in my glovebox about two weeks ago and put it back in the player and now I can't take it out. Is this enough of a good review for you? You want kind of angry-sad songs that work really well if you're unfortunately not in a good relationship? Someone dump you? He's the man for you. But what really got me is actually listening to the lyrics of the song Magazines today. I really really want to know if it's based on any kind of reality. It's about a guy who spots an ex-girlfriend posing for a skin mag. And the song is just lovely, too...but who writes about that topic?! Nobody! I love it.

Okay, enough from me. Can you tell I have something to do and I'm avoiding it? Go to his official website... a popup comes that plays the song I JUST finished listening to, On a High.

House of Cheer

Just to blow Jack's mind a little more this afternoon (hey! It's Monday!) here's another post about his post about my post about his post. Got that? It's accurate.

No hits yet on extreme baking or Legolas in a thong. But at least I'm not going to get hits for "Ernest Borgnine in a tutu" the way Jack will, because...oh, wait! Damn. Alright, let's settle this at 20 paces. In exactly one week, I will Google that phrase to see which of us ranks higher on the page.

Coats

I don't want to post a whiny rant today, so I'll talk about coats for a moment. I have several. My favorite is the jean jacket I got at a warehouse sale for $10. Can't beat that with a big stick. I have a windbreaker from the same sale, same price, but it's actually a little too big for me. Damned men and their lack of hips. I wanted a $10 windbreaker, though and I got it. My winter coat is from LLBean and it's the toastiest thing I've ever owned. I've almost got the whole zipper thing worked out (there's a slight flaw with the zipper but I didn't want to give up the coat to exchange it, so I am just learning to live with the zipper needed a bit of extra attention.)

For looking good, dahling, I have a long wool coat that needs a button sewn on it. I think I'll add that to this week's to-do list. Or next week's. Oh, and I also have the long wool coat I got when I was pregnant with Junior. It's actually a big wool cape-like coat, and it has a faux leopard collar. I love this coat, it's just wonderful, but it's like 2 sizes too big because I bought it when I was about 34 weeks pregnant so that I could leave the house once in a while. It fit pregnant me, not current me. And because of the style, it's too flowy and I'll get all cold and stuff if I wear it now.

I'm sad about it, because it cost a small fortune (have you ever priced women's coats?) at the time, and I DO love it. But not enough to gain all that weight back.

Don't Even Tell Me That's a Tickle

Why am I coughing all of a sudden? Why do I have a tickle in my throat that makes me want to swallow my new toilet scrub brush to scratch it into oblivion? Why? WHY?

This had better just be one of those things that you have for like an hour and then you never have it again. Ever.

I probably caught it from that other Jodi's site (please people, note the spelling on that). She was sick all last week, and even had a reader create a picture of her drowning in NyQuil. Why don't my readers ever do that? And as a pre-emptive strike, I don't want an image of me swallowing a toilet brush, okay?

Hello Children!

My, but it looks like a busy day ahead of us here in Big DumpTruck land. I assume many of you are Boston bloggers? No? Well, welcome anyway. I've made some cranberry bread (from the box mix, silly) and we'll pop some corn later.

Oh, and we'll go beat the living tar out of the manager at Linens and Things because they sold me a humidifier that had already been used, and in fact didn't even have the manual or the little humidity-checker thingy that you supposedly got free with purchase. Am I angry? Oooooooooh, you don't want to know.

Better Hits than Me

And representing the west coast (okay, I know there are more of you out there, but I've known this guy for about 11 years now) Tim lists his top search engine links to his site. I do this periodically, but mine aren't this good. I can only hope the prior thong entry gets me more hits than the ever-popular "World's Biggest Tumor". The past few months were a little sedate around here. I think I should start throwing in odd words here and there. Like Extreme Baking. Someone might be looking for that. Anyway, check out his list. Way more disturbing than mine, but maybe he talks about more interesting things than Why I Don't Want to Commute Further East than Waltham. (Which hasn't been a subject yet, but watch this space)

I'm Ready for the Influx

According to Jack at the House of Cheer if I write about Purple Lightsabers I will get a ton of new traffic. I think that's cool. I'm sure that there are other terms getting more hits these days, maybe for terms like "Legolas in a thong". I don't know what that implies, I didn't see Two Towers, but I hear Legolas is hunkariffic. I guess I'd have to see the movie because the still photos only make me say "he has potential."

If you arrived here because I wrote that stuff about Legolas but didn't actually have a picture of him in a thong, or even simple bikini underwear, I apologize. If I do find such a photo I will certainly link to it.

Blah

I'm in a blah mood today. I feel cranky, and I'm wallowing in my crankiness. I have the whole day ahead of me with nothing planned and THAT annoys me because I wish I had something planned.

Today is the 1 year "anniversary" of me becoming unemployed. I can remember every detail of that day like it was yesterday. Coincidentally, a few days ago was the 1 year anniversary of the unravelling of my marriage. Yes, they happened only a handful of days apart. And you know what's annoying? I'm in the same position today as I was a year ago for both of them. What the hell is up with that?

[updated later] Okay, I'm not feeling as cranky as I was a little while ago. I'm going to rustle up some lunch and then figure out something "fun" to do. I may actually go see Catch Me If You Can if it's showing at a decent time. Either that or I'm going to go to B&N and wallow in something hot and chocolately instead of my own filth. (Kidding! I showered today. I'm even wearing the LL Bean sweater mom gave me for Christmas. Maybe I'll go out and meet nice people who recognize the quality of my sweater.)

NECN

There must be plenty of us in New England with DirecTV. Can you all please contact them and ask that New England Cable News be added to the lineup? I really really really miss having that network available to me for weather reports or just a quick check of what's going on locally. Thank you for your support.

Chuck Barris

I was reading James Lileks rant about Chuck Barris and I had to write him the following note:

"I am one of the 17 people who read that book when it came out. I didn't get the feelings of loathing you did...I just assumed he was completely full of sh!t from top to bottom.

For years, if his name ever came up I'd throw out "Hey, did you know he was a CIA assassin?" and everyone would look at me like I had not two but three heads. And now do you think those people will come back to me and say "I'm really sorry, now I understand what you were getting at"? No. No they won't.

I half wish I still had the book so I could prove to people that I owned in years ago, but maybe it's just not that important a point to make."

Now I've read his column twice, and I guess I'm still not sure why he detests Chuck so much. I guess the world will never know.

The Alarm Clock

I loved loved loved yesterday's Fussy entry about her new alarm clock. Every time I think of it I giggle. And then I laugh. I have the same clock, or maybe a model up or down, and those noises (birds, brook, ocean, wind) will NOT wake me up. The beeping and radio barely do. This morning instead of hitting snooze I hit the off button, but was coherent enough to realize I'd done it, so I forced myself to not snooze (because I probably would have slept a whole hour longer, given the opportunity.

Enough with the dark skies in the morning. And the past week of snow (yes, every day) hasn't helped. I need the sun shining in the morning. I need it to light up the room like a nuclear explosion. I want my shadow burnt onto the wall. Even my son, who used to bounce out of bed with the birds, grumbles at me "It's still nighttime" every morning when I start the 20 minute ritual of waking him. (Yes, I know, we need to go to bed earlier, but I think the boy is like me, and if it's dark, he's not going to wake up. Period.)

Is that the sun?

Don't tease me...I mean it! If that's the sun maybe the dinosaurs won't die during this ice age! Okay, now I'm being silly. But really, it's a nice day. Cold, but the only snow is already on the ground, not ready to fall everywhere. (Of course, the same may not hold true for tomorrow or Thursday, but I'm not getting ahead of myself.

Really, the reason I'm in such a good mood is because I treated myself to a cup of coffee at Dippin Donuts. And I did my grocery shopping in a nearly-empty store. Yes, there are new toilet bowl scrubbers in my bathroom (can you guess I'd put off buying cleaning supplies, etc. for as long as humanly possible? That's the shopping trip where you get three bags and it costs you a million dollars. But there's nothing like a fresh clean toilet bowl scrubber to make you feel like a woman of the world. Well, that and coffee in a take-out cup.

I Didn't Forget You

But I became the mother of a five year old today. I've been busy.

So here's the cake that his father and I made for the party yesterday. I baked the cake and got the frosting into the proper colors, he frosted it and decided that the ZipZaps Spongebob car made a better decoration than the one I paid $5 for at the bakery. That's still cool, I didn't have to pay for a bakery cake. Here is the final piece of art:

The Boy's Birthday Party

The party was a big success! No bloodshed, no tears. I'm thrilled. I think I suffered the only injury today, and that happened when I was cleaning the house prior to the party. Yes, I got a paper cut. Under my fingernail. It is one of the most painful stupid injuries I've ever suffered. I am having a horrible time typing right now, it throbs every time I have to use that finger, which means every time I need to type an E, a D or a C an electric jolt of pain floods my hand.

This is Junior's last day as a 4-year-old. I'm so sad. 5 years ago right now my contractions were just starting to really really hurt. And that didn't end until 4:30 in the morning of the 6th. Ahhhh, good times.

Thanks for all the help

Sheesh. Not only do I not get any help getting the snow out of the driveway, I am getting very little help getting the house ready for our little guests tomorrow. He did make a little effort, but not enough, darn it. I put him in charge of two boxes, one for things to put in his room, one for things to be moved to the basement. There was a bag for items to be thrown away - and it stayed empty.

Why does that not surprise me?

weather.yahoo.com says:

Tonight: Heavy snow. Low 24F. Winds NNE at 15 to 25 mph. 8 to 12 inches of snow expected.

Tomorrow: Snow. Snow will be heavy at times during the morning. Temperatures steady in the mid 20s. Winds N at 15 to 25 mph. 4 to 8 inches of snow expected.

And So It Begins

More snow. Boy oh boy, this is quite the winter. And I've been catching hell all afternoon because I sort of didn't do a good job yesterday getting the idea off the end of my driveway. Well I was out there, dammit. And it's the first time ALL season that I didn't do a good job. For this I should suffer?

Fine then. I'll just stay trapped in the driveway until spring. Stupid city plows.

But Will He Still Want to Play With it?

If you click on the link to this Buzz Lightyear Toy you'll see that there's a bit of a wait until it ships. Actually, if my math is right, it's a 56 year backorder. I'm just not sure that when The Boy is 61 he's going to still be interested in this item. Well, maybe it will be a collector's item by then.

Update on the Dirt Thing

I caught about 30 minutes of the HGTV coverage of the Rose Parade yesterday, and I just have to say God Bless those people for giving us a) commercial-free coverage, and b) commentaters who actually know things about construction and/or plants. What a breath of fresh air, after decades of watching soap stars read off index cards!

What I did learn is that the reason they don't use sand on the floats is because it's a mineral. DUH! Only plant matter! I think maybe loam might qualify as ex-plant matter, but I think it's probably not a good idea, and the judges might question whether or not any sand or clay got mixed in with it.

So there you go...now we've ALL learned something!

Firsts

First meal of 2003: Coffee and an english muffin with peanut butter on it. First coffee mug of the year is black with "I'm working much harder than it looks like I am." on it.
First email: Spam for inkjet ink
First television show: Rolie Polie Olie
First chore: Dishes
First Outfit: Jeans and a pink sweatshirt.
First Book I picked up for even a few pages: Marketing Outrageously by Jon Spoelstra, which technically means I was doing some work
First Image on my new 2003 Calendar: Amazingly, a picture of a place I know well, Willard Brook State Park in Townsend MA.
First Phone Call: A FREAKING WRONG NUMBER at about 12:10. She wished me a happy new year anyway.
First Thing My Son Couldn't Find That I Had To Help With: An empty toilet paper roll for him to use as a telescope