Still Here!

Monday Update

I've been thinking to myself that I should make an attempt at the Microblog Monday style of posting.  I usually think of this on a different day of the week, and since I am finding it easy to not post, well, yeah, nothing has gotten posted to my poor old lonely blog.  BUT, today is Monday, and here I am.  Woot!  I'mma do a little bullet list... cuz that's easy.

• Sleeping Arrangements: When last we compared notes, T and I were fussing over who got to sleep on which side of the bed.  Well, you'll be happy to find that we have resolved that issue.  We were alternating sides, a month on the right, a month on the left, and that was working well.  But, then, she tweaked her shoulder again and it was giving her so much pain that she couldn't sleep comfortably on either side.  Basically, she needed the whole bed.  Fortunately, we have two beds.  We are now sleeping in different rooms, but both are so much better rested.  I confess, I like it better.  We sleep together sometimes, and not just for sex, but really, it is just so much more comfortable to have the bed to yourself.

• Holidays: Thanksgiving is just around the damn corner.  This used to be one of my favorite holidays.  There would be delicious food, beautiful dishes and silverware, and the best of company.  Besides my daughter and parents, one of my brothers would come, several cousins, and friends who didn't have anywhere special to be.  The house smells wonderful, there's a football game, glasses of wine while cooking... what's not to like?  But, now, it has dwindled.  My mom is gone.  My daughter lives away.  Nobody is calling to ask if there is room for an extra at the table.  I'm probably going to the in-laws for dinner and then cooking a very reduced meal for my dad and brother the next day.  I feel that I have to produce some kind of festive celebration to share with them, or they won't observe it at all.  They are likely to have a cheese pizza.  But, it'll probably just be the four of us, so I think I'll just cook a turkey breast.  I'd like a half a turkey but have yet to find such a thing in my grocer's meat department.  I'm sorry if I sound like I am whining.  I miss my mom.  

• Birthdays: T's birthday is next Sunday.  I already took her out for her big gift.  It was actually pretty fantastic, if I do say so myself!  It was the Big Birthday Adventure!  And, I kept it completely secret and she had no idea what we were doing so that was fun for me.  Especially fun since she liked it.  Would have been an expensive drag if she hadn't.  So, what was it, you ask?  We went ZIP LINING!  Actually, it was more than zip lining.  We went to this place.  Tree to Tree Aerial Adventure Park!  It was so fun!  It's an aerial obstacle course with lots of zip lines.  Wow.  We were exhausted when we got home!  But, it was possibly the best present I have ever gotten her.  She loved it.  So did I!  But, her birthday is still coming up and I have to get her a couple of small gifts to open, just because.  So, yeah, shopping.  Besides T, there are several other November birthdays all clumped together.  My dad, T, T's brother, my nephew, my favorite cousin, my sister in law... November is now competing with April for most expensive birthday month.

So, that's it for this Monday.  I understand that the point of the microblog Mondays is that one doesn't feel pressured to put together a lengthy post.  I like that.  I'll try again.  Really!

April 19

Today is my daughter’s birthday. She is 26! She is a beautiful, intelligent, compassionate, lovely person. I miss her every single day.

I don’t get to see her today so instead I am going to have dinner with my parents and we’ll toast her on her special day and bemoan the fact that she doesn’t live closer. I’m going to visit her in early May and I can’t wait.

Happy Birthday, Baby Girl! I love you more than all the rain in the Pacific Northwest; more than all the soybeans in Iowa; more than all the fruitcake in California! You are the best thing about my life.

XOXOXOXOOXOXOX
Love,
Yr mama

Back but Not Ready

I took the week of Thanksgiving off work. It was the November birthday week in my family and what with birthdays and the holiday it just seemed like a good time to be at home. Now, however, I’m back at work and struggling to give a shit.

T’s birthday went pretty well. She got what she wanted most: undivided attention and time. We worked on the house some, hung out a bit, took the dogs for walks, had a couples massage, drank mimosas, soaked in the hot tub. All good stuff.

For her big 5-0 birthday I got her a few things. Some fairly ordinary, wifely type things (underwear, candles, sweats and long sleeve t-shirts). And two things that she wasn’t expecting and really liked. A dog training treat pouch for dog walks, with some treats, of course; and a New Orleans Saints hoodie.

During the week I hardly logged on to the computer. Didn’t check my facebook page, didn’t read my usual blogs, barely checked my email and then only on the crackberry. I pretty much went without the electronics for a week. It was fine. The earth did not stop spinning. Amazing! T, however, has developed an addiction for one of those idiotic facebook games: Farmville. She is harvesting her damned crops all the time. It has started to become a bit obsessive. She was on it last night at bedtime, calculating what she could plant based on when the harvest would be. Oh, whatever, it’s not like I care if she plays a game. But, she missed some of the Saints game last night so that she could run upstairs and harvest something.

Coming back to work after time off is hard. It’s been a slog lately and the break was very welcome. I did ok yesterday, Monday, but today I really don’t feel like being here. I’m restless, and alternating between bored and antsy. I’d like to get out of the office and walk home, but I need to be here and I don’t have the time for that long of a walk today. Instead, I’m looking out the window at the rare winter sunshine. People are calling and emailing with issues and problems and I just can’t find the energy or interest to care. That sounds bad, I know. I also know that it will pass, eventually.

Suggestions?

My gf has a birthday coming up this month. Not just any birthday, either, it's the big 5-0!

Several months ago she had thought that it would be pretty great to go to Hawai'i for her birthday. Well, hell yes, it would be! And, it would have the added bonus of getting us out of town during the Thanksgiving holiday. No worries about hosting the dinner or whose house to go to, just us on a white sand beach. Well, she decided that she didn't want to do that after all.

I suggested just a weekend at the beach or the mountains or the Columbia Gorge. Stay at a nice hotel or B&B and just chill for a weekend. She thought about that for a few days and decided that no, she didn't want to do that either.

Well, how about just a night downtown in a fancy hotel and dinner somewhere swanky? No, she actually doesn't want to go anywhere. She doesn't want to leave the pets, especially the kittens (but wait, I said, we went to the beach a month or so ago and they were fine!). Nope. Doesn't want to go.

OK. I can accept that. We'll stay home. But, she doesn't want a party either. Now, I had a big party for my 50th in the spring. And had a smashingly good time. But, she is not as social as I am and the idea doesn't appeal at all. What about just a few close friends? No. Well, can we go out to dinner with our close friends? No. But maybe we can meet up with them after dinner. Finally! Finally getting some answers here!

So, it looks like we'll have dinner out and then maybe, just maybe, meet some friends and go to a club. Maybe some dancing, maybe some pool. She is being fairly difficult over this one!

I have a few ideas for gifts but haven't come up with anything that feels just right. That's where you all come in! I'm open to suggestions. So far I have purchased a New Orleans Saints hoodie, and a gift coupon for a massage. I'm going to pick up some shirts at Old Navy. I'm also getting her a planer ~ a woodworking tool ~ which I know she wants.

What to get the butch who has most everything she desires? Anyone have any brilliant ideas?