ticker
Thursday, July 31, 2008
31 years
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
The box of happiness
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Currently, I work in a laboratory. I am sort of "between" genetic counseling gigs right now. Anyway, this is a laboratory I have worked at before. And anyone who has ever worked in a lab knows about monotony. So to combat the monotony and and help control a fellow co-worker's glucose levels, the "box of happiness" was born. This box has magical powers. It has the ability to wake you up from the inevitable sleepiness that creeps in after lunchtime. What does this box do exactly? Not much. But it is tons of fun. It's simple, really. There is a box that is filled with puffies (aka packing peanuts). We mix in a few pieces of individually wrapped candy (smarties work best). The person who needs a pick-me-up (in this case, Brenda) must sift through the box for 30 seconds. Whatever is found, the person keeps. Sounds easy, you say? Well, it took poor Brenda 2 days and 4 total tries to find one smarty. Backstory: Brenda has diabetes, so to help control how many sweets she eats, she must work for them!! I love lab antics. They are truly a highlight :).JPG)
Above, we see someone mixing the goodies in the box
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Ready? Set? Go!!!!
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Ahhhhh, success at last!!!!Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Neo says J. Crew is overpriced
We have a ritual everyday. When I arrive home, tpyically before K, I will let the dogs out. Afterwards I say the magic words to Neo and Nala....."Mommy's gonna get the mail" They absolutely love this. I mean all they do is get to watch me from the door go and get the mail from the mailbox and come back in, but by their reation, you would think I am taking them to Disneyland. So when I get back Neo is jumping up and down (Nala heads staight back outside in the backyard) You see, everday I let Neo choose one piece of junkmail that he is allowed to shred for me. He noramlly likes small envelopes because he can run around the yard with them and they stay in his bite. Today, Neo took his piece and immediately tore it up. As K and I are talking in the hallway, I begin to thumb through the new J. Crew catalog. Expensive? yes. Nice to admire? Also yes. As I am looking through the men's section to start off my home window-shopping (I always save the women's formal section for last....it's my favorite), Neo jumps up and grabs the catalog from my clutches. He runs upstairs with it. I yell for him. He now thinks this is a game. As he runs up the hall, he stops in the bedroom....and this is what happens next.
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When I reach for the remaining pieces....I should have seen this coming.....I get a terrible paper cut. I cry (fakely) and Neo goes into rescue mode. He drops everything and tries to lick the cut off my finger. Check out this picture. You can see his tongue sticking out a bit!
Monday, July 28, 2008
Do ticks have babies?
Well, if they did, then poor K must have walked into a nest or something. Sunday, we took the dogs for a drive so we could scope out kayaking launch spots. We were planning on taking the dogs for a walk once we got there (Backstory: K's idea of a "walk" last weeekend was a 5 mile hike, so I prepared with water and lots of bug spray.)...however, as we pulled in to the parking lot, Nala puked all over the back seat of my car. She looked as if she wasn't feeling great, so we cut the walk pretty short (just enough to let them do their business). It was especially hot and muggy that day, so maybe it was the heat. Anyhoo, we then drove to the DuPont plant a few miles away just to explore. We found a trail sign just off the visitor's parking lot. I told K I would prefer to stay in the AC with the pups and he could check it out. When he returned, he told me it was nothing but severely overgrown brush and I should be glad I didn't go down there. Ok, I thought, now let's go home!
When we got home, we decided to watch the rest of a movie that I fell asleep during the night before. I think it was "The Bank Job." So, after snuggling on the couch together, the movie finishes and K gets up for a drink. He was startled to see a "baby tick" on his hand, crawling around. I go get my tweezers, vaseline, and a square of TP in case there are any more. He says, "Oooh, there one, there's another one, and another!" He starts to get a little panicked, so I tell him he needs to immediately take off ALL of his clothes and throw them outside (in the pouring rain, with Nala's vomit blanket) so I can look him over completely..JPG)
Well this turned into an almost 2 hour ordeal. 72 "baby ticks" later, I think I finally got them all. .JPG)
I went back to the couch and carefully took off any I could see (luckily, the couch is ivory colored) and then used my handy dandy sticky-lint roller to roll the whole thing. I became paranoid that were ticks in my car. So I went out there and sticky rolled my driver's seat.
So after discussing this with a cowrker, I have discovered that these little critters were not tick babies.....they are CHIGGERS!!!!! Ewwwww. I am itching just thinking about them. Poor K.
When we got home, we decided to watch the rest of a movie that I fell asleep during the night before. I think it was "The Bank Job." So, after snuggling on the couch together, the movie finishes and K gets up for a drink. He was startled to see a "baby tick" on his hand, crawling around. I go get my tweezers, vaseline, and a square of TP in case there are any more. He says, "Oooh, there one, there's another one, and another!" He starts to get a little panicked, so I tell him he needs to immediately take off ALL of his clothes and throw them outside (in the pouring rain, with Nala's vomit blanket) so I can look him over completely.
Well this turned into an almost 2 hour ordeal. 72 "baby ticks" later, I think I finally got them all. .JPG)
I went back to the couch and carefully took off any I could see (luckily, the couch is ivory colored) and then used my handy dandy sticky-lint roller to roll the whole thing. I became paranoid that were ticks in my car. So I went out there and sticky rolled my driver's seat.So after discussing this with a cowrker, I have discovered that these little critters were not tick babies.....they are CHIGGERS!!!!! Ewwwww. I am itching just thinking about them. Poor K.
Friday, July 25, 2008
A couple of couples
I had to go to the doctor yesterday. Sounds simple enough. I walk in to the OB/GYN's office and they tell me to go to the waiting room down the hall. As I enter the waiting room, which is usually sparse, I am faced with a situation straight from high school. Remember when you were in high school and needed to find a seat in the already full cafeteria? You pan around looking for a friend or an empty bunch of seats and in that span of time, you know everyone is looking at you...judging you. OK so back to the waiting room. I look around in the sea of happy couples. They are all looking at their ultrasound pictures and pointing out minute details. Some are laughing. Some are crying. As I find one of 3 empty seats, I notice something. I am the ONLY "singleton" woman here. There was a beautiful African American woman who was sitting alone, but she was soon joined by her boyfriend/husband who was in the bathroom. The wait seemed like forever and there was little to amuse myself with other than baby and parenting magazines. As I sat there, a short, thin, dark-haired "singleton" walked in. Hooray! She was on her cell phone (loudly) so I can't help but listen. She is leaving a message for someone and states that her name is Funkyco.....the same as mine. How coincidental. This should be interesting when the nurse calls our name. So the time finally arrives. The nurse steps out into the sea of couples and says "FunkyCo????" We both stand up. The other Funkyco has the nerve to give ME the stink-eye, as if I am an impostor. The nurse looks at me and says "No, not you." Rejected, I must now face the couples in all of their bliss...again. I don't fit in anywhere and it is painfully obvious. Maybe I AM an impostor.......
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Indoor Waterfalls
I've always wanted a cool water feature in my house, like maybe an indoor waterfall or fountain. Sounds awesome in theory, however not in reality. A few weeks ago I woke up on a typical Tuesday to start my day with a shower. I rolled out of bed and turned the shower on. It sounded funny. Like less water pressure. I thought maybe it was just me....so I waited a minute. It seemed to get quieter and quieter....and quieter, so I woke up K (yes, the lucky bast*** gets to sleep 1 more hour than I do in the morning). He went downstairs to check the water main. Backstory: One day earlier, the sprinkler guy came to replace part of our irrigation system (which must have been made of gold b/c it cost 250$) so K figured the guy didn't turn the main back on or whatever. What happened next was straight out of a horror movie. He goes downstairs and yells to me (with audible terror in his voice) "Shut the water offffff!" I say "I did. I did!" I then hear "Get dowwwwn here!!!!" So I run downstairs and hear what can only be descibed as an indoor waterfall. I don't see water, but I can hear it....loudly...rushing all though downstairs. As K is running to turn our water main off, I look in the garage and see where the mass of water is pooling. But where is it coming from? It has filled the garage, gone outside, and down the road beyond where your eye can even see.
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I go in the house with K and look at the rooms that are adjacent to the garage. They are all hardwood floors and for some reason they are now burning hot on my feet. Must be the hot water heater. Damn it! I really could have done without that today. .JPG)
So we break down and call homeowners insurance at 6:30am. After explaining what has happened, they immediatly tell us to call "Disaster Relief". What? disaster relief? This is only a little flood we say. No no no. We MUST call. So we do. Half an hour later men show up and start assessing damage. They go under the house and see that there is tons of standing water and all the insulation has been completely soaked. By now our hardwood floors are doing this weird cupping thing and all of the boards are starting to warp. I start to panic a little, but K is great and tells me we will be OK. With a tiny battery operated tool, one worker begins to show me where the floors are wet...underneath. Basically where this thing makes noise is all the places where the floors will have to be replaced. So this thing starts making craxzy beepy noises in the dining room (as expected) also in the foyer (hmmmm) and in the living room (my heart rate is elevating) and up the dining room walls (oh God) and in the closets (I'm getting weak) and in the hallway and finally in the kitchen. At this point I need help standing and can only hear the sound of dollar signs and cash registers going off in my head. Backstory: Our homeowners insurance company is the same insurance company that we have our auto insurance, which we have had 3 major accidents in the past 5 months....can you say non-renewal??? As K heads off to work for an important meet ing that he just can't miss, I am left with strangers that are trying to help "dry" our home. Little did I know this involved cutting out walls, ripping up floors and tearing up the kitchen. Please pass the Xanax.JPG)
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! A Little Backstory
So this is my first time actually blogging. Guess it's about time I buck up and enter the 21st century...so here goes. I live with my husband K and our 2 doggies Neo and Nala. Since we have no children, these are our furbabies and trust me, we probably treat them 10x better than some parents treat real babies! Nala even has psychologist at Tufts Univ. who has put her on Prozac for fear aggression. Yes, my dog is on prozac. Don't laugh. Backstory: both our puppies were rescues from shelters and pounds. Neo was born in a shelter and Nala met us at an inner city pound. K and I bought our second home in 2004 and have lived there ever since (bone of contention) We tried to move after I graduated from grad school for genetic Counseling in 2007. This resulted in me taking a position in Springfield, MA, moving up there alone, having the house on the market for 1 year and eventually giving up and returning to the Mond. Backstory: it really was NOT that simple. Between marital problems, financial stress, 3 serious car accidents, a broken liver, and K's promotion, I had no choice but to quit and move back. P.S. stress can be the greatest diet ever. I think I lost 25lbs by the time I returned. So, I now work in a laboratory where my grad school knowledge is rotting away, but the people are nice and the work is easy so I can't really complain.
My rents live in Boston and K's live in the stix of CT. Both parents would probably sell their kidneys for some grandchildren. My mother once told me when K and I were looking to get a new car that my dad would probably get us one if we gave him a grandchild......(sigh) We have been married for 6 1/2 years now, so basically people either think "there's something wrong" or we hate kids. Neither of which is true, just timing is bad. K just started grad school to get his MSW. Family just keeps getting pushed back.
As far as siblings go, I have 2 brothers and K has 1 brother. My brother, J, is 1 yr older than me and lives in L. A. I live vicariously thru him and his celebrity filled life. My little bro, WB, is a sophomore at VA Tech, and yes he was there when the shootings occurred. K's bro, Dave, is 2 yrs older than he is and lives in CT with his very nice and very fun g-friend Debbie. Backstory: I lived with Dave and Debbie for 10 months while up north last year.
My rents live in Boston and K's live in the stix of CT. Both parents would probably sell their kidneys for some grandchildren. My mother once told me when K and I were looking to get a new car that my dad would probably get us one if we gave him a grandchild......(sigh) We have been married for 6 1/2 years now, so basically people either think "there's something wrong" or we hate kids. Neither of which is true, just timing is bad. K just started grad school to get his MSW. Family just keeps getting pushed back.
As far as siblings go, I have 2 brothers and K has 1 brother. My brother, J, is 1 yr older than me and lives in L. A. I live vicariously thru him and his celebrity filled life. My little bro, WB, is a sophomore at VA Tech, and yes he was there when the shootings occurred. K's bro, Dave, is 2 yrs older than he is and lives in CT with his very nice and very fun g-friend Debbie. Backstory: I lived with Dave and Debbie for 10 months while up north last year.
