four play

I came across this meme over at Terri's, and for lack of anything better to do, I did it.

The rules are as follows:

- Go to the folder in which you keep your digital photos.
- Choose the fourth folder.
- Find the fourth picture in that folder.
- Explain.
- Tag four people.

Unlike Terri, I followed the rules and this is the picture I found.

It's Chaco trying out his "new" bicycle which, at the time, was actually my old bicycle. Yes, the poor boy got a hand-me-down bicycle from his MOTHER!

This was nearly 4 years ago. Meego had officially outgrown the child seat that had adorned my bicycle and was heading off to kindergarten *sniff*. To celebrate.... er.... compensate for my loss, I purchased a spanking new Gary Fisher bicycle for myself, now affectionately known as "Bella".

Chaco inherited the minivan of a bicycle shown above. He was happy with it. Note that I had at least removed the toddler seat, lest Chaco be totally scarred for life.

But really, it was a good bike and suited his needs well at the time. He and that old Raleigh logged many a mile before the front shocks totally blew up one day. We purchased a new and mucho macho bicycle for Chaco last spring, and the old mom bike was donated to the bike store to be reworked and reborn as some other needy teen's bicycle.

That's today's meme. Go tag yourself.
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weekend update

We braved the mall on Saturday. It wasn't that bad, really. The kids had Christmas money burning holes in their pockets and it would've been worse around here had we NOT gone shopping, know what I mean?

Sunday was a beautiful day here weather-wise. Such a treat for this time of year. I was out running in it for a while and sort of got lost in the whole whoopee-do-it's-such-a-nice-day until I thought the family might wonder where I was, so I stopped running and went home.

Later, Magnum, Meego, the dog and I walked over to the nearby park that is home to the BMX track. Meego bought himself a new RC car on Saturday and was eager to test it out on the whoomps of the track.

See, while the track was built and maintained for BMX, it has become a popular hangout for the RC car crowd. And I don't mean little kids like Meego, I mean grown men with their expensive gas-powered toys (really, they are still TOYS if you ask me), often with their female groupies in tow.

Our kids use the track for both bicycle fun and RC fun, but we remind them that the bikes have the right of way. Others don't always see it that way, and small turf wars can start between the bikers and the RCer's, but they usually coexist quite cordially. Sunday's crowd was pretty low-key. Mostly younger kids trying out new Christmas bikes. Meego drove until the batteries gave out.

In the meantime, Chaco and Wolfgang had gone to a friend's house. They arrived home several hours later with worn out voices. There must've been much loud racousness as they both sounded a bit like Oompah Loompah's.

"Thanks for sharing!" the friend's mom said as she dropped them off back home.

No problem. Thanks for taking the hit.
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Silver Lining Saturday part XIX

Quick! What's the Roman Numeral for "50"?! Just thinking ahead here...

Another week down, and another week of good things.

First of all, it was Christmas here, yes, that's the one we celebrate. As I mentioned, it was relatively low-key here with us not travelling anywhere, and no visitors coming this way. It was a good day, and the kids like and appreciate their gifts. Now if they'd just all go back to school so I can play with their stuff!

The weather's been nice here too, making it easy to get out and about for those last minute shopping excursions and just to stave off the cabin fever. It's been cold, but not much new snow and ice to slip and slide around on, and I also appreciate that when I go outside to run.

For those days that are wintry, I'm thankful for our all-wheel drive Subaru. It's an animal!

And I'm thankful for the time off to get caught up on work stuff and around-the-house stuff. Also the family-time stuff. We played "LIFE", the board game, the other night. I ended up a teacher living in a trailer. I had a man, but no kids. That's LIFE.

Now I'm looking forward to the New Year. It's going to be a good one, I KNOW it!
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and then I don't feel so bad

Well, we survived Christmas. It was just the 5 of us this year. No dysfunctional in-laws, and I can't say that I am disappointed about that.

And it was nice. I think the kids liked all of the gifts they got, and there was no overload. The weather was nice, and I got out for a Christmas day run before making the Christmas ham. The microwave seems to have bounced back to it's normal self. Don't know what was going on with it the other day. It probably had a major leak that has since sealed back up. We'll see if the day of leakage made any or all of the kids sterile. Or maybe I'm just paranoid about these things, having flashbacks to my own mother shouting, "DON'T STAND IN FRONT OF THE MICROWAVE!"

So today, I relax and ponder.

I volunteered to play along in a "Ten Things I Like That Begin With the Letter ” “_" game from Terri who got it from More Than an Electrician.

Just list 10 things that begin with the letter assigned. Any readers that want to play can leave a request in the comments, and I'll assign their letter.

Terri gave me the letter “C” and these are ten "C" things I like:

Colorado. I grew up here, then we were living in other states for several years. Now we're back. Nice to be home.

Camping. No electricity, no asphalt, the more feral the better!

Cowboys. They're tough, down-to-earth, and just darn nice to look at.

What's not to like?

Candles. One of my few girlie indulgences.

The Computer. Duh. How else would I do these riveting memes?

Chinese food. Or pretty much anything eaten with Chopsticks.

Commuting on my bicycle. Have fun and get stuff done at the same time!

And I do like a good Challenge now and then. As long as it's not too challenging

China, the dog. My walking companion and fellow resident b*tch.

Cookie, the cat, because he's just plain cool, and if he finds out I included China and not him, he'll hurt me.

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12*25

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Love & Kisses,
Abby
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'twas the day before

Okay. Tree's up, smothered in decorations and on ice. The kids put the finishing touches on last night. One nice thing about these little baby trees is that the time to decorate them is minimal.

Yes, it looks a little more like a houseplant with things hanging off of it, but someday, it'll be the mighty dwarf blue spruce!

This morning, the microwave didn't seem it's normal perky self when I cooked my oatmeal. It heats, but something's different. It reminds me how reliant we are on the microwave. God forbid I should have to go out to some place retail today.

Can we go 2 days without a microwave?
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don't wake the baby

We got our Christmas tree yesterday. I know. It sounds pretty late, but that's just how we do these things. I think I've mentioned here before that we always get a live tree. And no, I don't mean a "real" tree that was once happily alive and then got lopped off at the shins, but a LIVING tree with roots in a pot and all.

It's just a baby. In the spring, we'll find a good spot for it in the yard. We already have three previous Christmas trees gracing the back yard. Should be four, but one didn't quite make it (may it rest in peace).


Here's a pic of last year's tree. It's a wittle Colowado Bwue Spwuce (that's baby tree talk for Colorado Blue Spruce). Those bluer needles are the new ones that sprouted over spring and summer. Just disregard the land of misfit toys there in the background of the photo *Cough*

This year, we got a dwarf blue spruce, so it won't get as big as it's older brother here. The previous ones are also dwarf spruces.

With these ALIVE trees, we have to be careful not to wake it up and make it think that it's spring and time to start growing and stuff. So it spent last night in the garage, then it will come inside for a couple three days, then back outdoors it'll go until plantin' time. The dog will promptly christen it, bet on it.

So, with that, I think I'm actually all set for Christmas. I got the last of the chickens yesterday, and today I actually BAKED! *GASP* I even got all of the kids into the dentist this morning for overdue checkups. Aaaaah, nice to be caught up.

Oh, wait, we're probably going to need food....
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Monday

I'm off to go tutor in about 15 minutes, but I'm feeling lazy. Everybody else in this house is in winter break mode, and it's contagious.

But it's good for me. My tutoring with this student is about complete, just putting on the finishing touches. He's a humble guy, he knows he won't be with the frontrunners. I just want him to make it to the finish line.

Running analogies, they make sense to me.

We'll work on Math and in the meantime, I'm pondering Chaco math. He passed me on the height chart a while ago. His voice is all deep and squeaky. He's got this pubescent mustache thing going on. Why does he sometimes still act like he's 3 years old?
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Silver Lining Saturday part XVIII

As another year comes to a close, I'm getting a bit contemplative and looking back over the past year and looking ahead to the next.

For one thing, I'm thankful I started doing these thankful saturdays, via Terri's prompting. I find myself being more alert to things to be thankful for during the week. There's really too much to post on these silver lining saturdays, I'll just hit some highlights.

I'm thankful for the light workload I currently have, starting this week, and probably continuing until the end of the year. It's given me time to get caught up on things, including the chicken hunting, and I'm looking forward to a nice break with the family before hitting it hard at work with stuff already scheduled for next year. On that note, I'm thankful for the job and the fact that the schedule is filling up.

This week, I initiated an awkward conversation that I felt was needed. I knew it would be awkward, and it was, but it was good to get some things sorted out with this person. I made myself leave my comfort zone to do this, but afterwards, I was so glad I did. That which doesn't kill you makes you stronger? I feel stronger and more authentic and honest. Now, I'm looking for other ways to push that envelope. Who's next? Neighbor Flanders?

And I mentioned how well our mental dog is doing with her social skills. She's come a long way. Now, if any sort of canine altercation occurs with another dog at the park, it's because the OTHER dog has issues, not China. She is now the happy friendly butt sniffer nature intended.
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the gift

A young schoolgirl. On the last day of school before the winter break. There'll be a party. She's brought a few gifts, carefully wrapped just so, for a few of her special friends.

Upon arriving at school, she finds that she's missing one of the gifts. She searches her bag. She searches her back pack. She checks the floor, retracing her steps. It's nowhere to be seen. Where could it be? She's sad. She's upset.

I take the crazy dog out for a walk nearly every day. The therapy has done wonders for her social skills, and for me, I enjoy being outside with her. On these daily treks, we find all sorts of "treasures". Baseballs with the outer skin falling off, slobber soaked tennis balls, various species of "scat". On a good day, I might find a dime.

But today, among the melting snow and muck on the walking path, there it was. A small red and gold gift-wrapped box, finished off with a tidy green bow. The label read "To Mickinsay From Stefani" in somewhat shakey young penmanship.

And that's when I saw her in my mind. This Stefani. Arriving at school, excited for Christmas. Missing one of her carefully wrapped gifts. "Aaaaaawww", I think I actually said it out loud. Dog probably thought I was weird.

We got home from our walk, and I headed back up to the elementary school after dropping off the dog. The office ladies might recognize the unique spelling of the names and know the owner.

"Ah, yep, I know who that is", the secretary said, "Thanks for bringing it in." I almost want to thank the girl for dropping it.

Finally something worth finding.
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fuel

I just ate half a peanut butter Power Bar. How are those things manufactured anyway? I imagine this Power Bar factory that starts out with all these healthy ingredients and nutrients being poured into a big hopper. Then they go through a series of vats and hoses and conveyor belts and emerge as this big Power Bar extrusion that is automatedly cut into Power Bar length and wrapped.

They're kind of like what I imagine space food is like. Real dense, hard to chew, in a shiny wrapper.

But they're loyal. They are readily available at just about any grocery store I shop. Everyone knows Power Bars. I remember a friend of mine adopting a baby from South America. She spent two weeks there handling the adoption process. She was determined not to get the runs, so she packed a bunch of Power Bars. She got the runs anyway, but I digress.

See, I really like those Clif Z-bars, but I have trouble finding them, and when I do find them, I notice the price has gone up. So, I'm relying on my loyal but not so pleasurable to eat Power Bars.

I figure I need the healthy fuel. I'm going to foray once again today into the land of Christmas shopping. Nothing too strenuous. Just half a Power Bar's worth.

Hopefully.
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on the hunt

First of all:

Yes, Jerry, that is a toilet seat that my foot is propped on for the picture of my chair war wound. Unsanitary, yes, but in this house there really aren't many better alternatives.

And, yes, I WAS wearing shorts. In the middle of December. In Colorado. But I was inside the house. It was early in the morning - before I put on my "real" clothes. We don't all live in igloos out here.

After that ominous start of my day, things did improve. I'm glad to say that we haven't been plagued by snow days at school this week like Whimsical Ranter. That would've seriously thrown a wrench in my Christmas prep.

For the remainder of this entry, I will substitute the code word "chicken" for words that may reveal too much, lest one of the kids happens to stumble in here.

After taking the dog for her cold-weather training, I headed out to the chicken store because Wolfgang had dropped a big hint about a certain chicken there that he wanted. So I was in the chicken aisle, looking for this very specific chicken and wasn't seeing it. In the meantime, I could hear one of the store employees talking very loudly. Just had one of those loud voices. I found it a bit annoying as I was hunting through all those chickens looking for the one chicken I'd gone to purchase.

To make matters worse, she started eating a sandwich yet continued to talk. I could hear the "see-food" in her mouth, it was as gross as seeing it. At some point, she peeked down the chicken aisle I was in. She put a hand in front of her mouth and loudly inquired, "Can I *garble* help *garble* you find *garble* something?" Like the placement of her hand helped much.

I asked if they had the specific chicken, and she said yes, they did and approached to locate it. She couldn't find it either though, so she calls loudly - in an even louder voice than before - to the front of the store. "HEY! WE GOT ANY OF THEM CHICKENS?"

No answer.

Loud sandwich woman then whispers to me, "his hearing's not what it used to be". So, I'm thinking, why is she whispering? "Or maybe he's just ignoring me", she continues, whispering. Now I start to warm up to her, making fun of her man and all.

Anyway, the man comes over and looks for the chicken too. Can't find it either and determines they must've all been sold. I leave the store empty handed.

Then I hit the mall *shudders*. I had better luck there. Got another chicken I know Wolfgang wanted and also found some chicken for Meegos' teacher. Oh, well, that's just hand lotion. Don't need the code word.

By then, I still had a few hours before the kids got home from school. I welcomed the time to sit and get quite a bit of work done at my desk as my shin was fat and throbbing. Dastardly evil chair.

I'm still hunting for the chicken, though. Eight more shopping days!
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ouch

A simple chair. Purchased at Office Max I think. Steel with an upholstered back and seat.

It was a chair.

It was a chair in the middle of the room.

It was a chair in the middle of the dark room.

It was a chair in the middle of the dark room that doesn't normally have a chair in the middle of it.

I walked into the dark room with the chair in the middle of it that doesn't normally have a chair in the middle of it.

I walked into the chair.

I was wearing shorts.

Too bad I gave up cussing a while back.

Good thing I didn't give up throwing chairs.

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fogged

It's fweezing cold outside. No, that's not a typo. That's how freezing is said and spelled when it's that cold.

I just crunched Meego up to school - that's walking in fweezing cold snow - then made the return trek home. My glasses immediately fogged up to epic proportions when I walked back into the house.

The weekend was good, though, and I've got lots to do today.

• Order those Christmas gifts so they get here in time.
• Write out some Christmas cards, already!
• Meet with a tutor student this afternoon.
• Prepare my lesson for this afternoon's tutor student.
• Put a bunch of heavy stuff in the back of the van to increase traction.
• Make sure the van will start.
• Get a gift for Meego's teacher.

I just remembered that I need to get a gift for Meego's teacher. I usually try to get them something perishable because I figure they get their fill of coffee mugs, candles, etc. I usually go for stuff like hand lotion or pretty paper - stuff that will get used up.

I was actually at the mall on Saturday. Wolfgang had a birthday party to go to yesterday and needed a gift. We looked around and he found all kinds of stuff for HIMSELF. Dropped enough hints anyway. Maybe that was the plan the whole time. He did talk me into splitting a mango slushie with boba with him from Vina Bubble Tea. Never had one before. Next time I will forego the boba. Slimy and look like deer poop. I don't care if it's all natural. So is deer poop.

Anyway, that is all. There's really no point to this entry.
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going polar

I was running earlier today. On my treadmill. I normally would've been running outside, but because of various weather conditions including but not limited to ice, below-zero windchill, blowing snow, and erratic traffic, I decided to confine my run to the treadmill. It's just an expensive hamster wheel, really.

But I did open the window in the room to make it more outdoorsy-like.

It was a good run, but not quite a good enough fix for my usual outdoor jaunt, so I decided to hook up the dog and force her to go for a walk this afternoon. Cold weather turns her into a wimpy house dog, and this must be stopped.

We had a marvelous time, actually. The wind had died down and it was, by then, a whopping 18 degrees F. At one point, I reached up to push my glasses up my nose a bit, as they had slipped some. A total nerd gesture on my part, yes, but a necessary one. As I did so, I bumped my nose with my thickly gloved hand and noticed that I didn't feel it on my nose at all. The entire face was totally numb. I did a quick assessment and at least determined that I didn't have a frozen booger mustache that I was unaware of. I think one has to have an actual hair mustache for one of those to form.

China and I returned to the warm house, only to have her make a bee-line in the door. If I thought she was becoming a wimpy housedog before, our arctic trek probably pushed her that much further over the edge.

And yeah, she had a bit of a booger mustache going on.
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Silver Lining Saturday, part XVII

Another silver lined week, this makes number 17 since I started this thankful exercise. Today's the 13th so I'm feelin' lucky!

For starters, I'm thankful that I'm not nursing a hangover this morning. We went to Magnum's office party last night, and I was a good girl.

On that note, with the economy the way it is and employment numbers being the way they are, I'm thankful for Magnum's job as well as mine. I'd never met his current boss before last night's party, and he seems like a good guy and there seems to be a general sense of security within their department.

And I'm thankful that it's finally starting to look and feel like winter around here. The kids had their first snow day of the school year on Tuesday, and we've finally got a couple of good snowstorms under our belts. When it's too nice out for too long, I start to get anxious. Not because I'm fretting about global warming, but because I think that it will all catch up with us in one big major major snow DUMP if we go too long without. Like precipitation constipation.

I'm thankful that we've got some specific ideas of what to get the kids for Christmas that are in a reasonable price range.... not that I've done anything about it yet. But there's plenty of time, it's only mid-Decem... CRAP!!

I'm thankful for geeky kids. Chaco had an assignment to create a Rube Goldberg device, with at least 8 steps, for his science class, the purpose of which was to powder a brownie. He and his geeky friend constructed this huge contraption that I was actually getting a bit concerned about the size of. It took up nearly a third of our "wreck" room. They needed a ride to and from school just to transport the pieces. But apparently, they got the highest score in the class. Size does make a difference.... well, when it's properly utilized.
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symbols of love and fertility

I'm feeling good this morning. My roller coaster relationship with the milk man is on track today. Recall last week, we were having some communication issues and this consumed me for most of this week. Codependency is rough.

But after putting some serious work into this - mainly my inability to express myself and my needs in a way that he can clearly understand - we've made noticeable progress. I'm happy to say that the cheese was plainly absent from the cooler and had been replaced by lovable cuddly eggs, sitting right there alongside the unwavering milk.

As proof of his devotion, my Mr. Mm (that's just my pet name for him. Say it. "Mm") also left me this lusty missive:

Happy Holidays

from our family to yours!

_________ Your home delivery driver

*shivers with delight* He penned his name with his very own hand on the blank line. OMG! I would have reproduced it here on the blog, but it also happened to include a *ahem* photo.

It's his TRUCK!!

OH, what the heck! Here ladies, take a gander:

Be still, my heart
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fallen

I was over reading at Terri's, which then prompted me to go over to MTAE's. They've both got this walk down the awkward teen years memory lane going on, and it got my own memories bubbling. So I kick back, put my feet up on the head shrink couch, and jump in to join the fray...

I've mentioned here before, I think, that I grew up in a neighborhood full of boys for the most part. Sure, I was friends with girls at school, but as far as just being able to walk out the door and go find a neighbor kid to play with, it was Boy's Town. So I grew up liking sports and dirt and such and heard more than my share of crude humor. I still don't know if I was already tomboy inclined, or if it was just the environment that shaped me. I have no regrets. While I may not have been the daughter my mother envisioned after having two boys, I enjoyed those rough and tumble pre-adolescent years.

I do, however, remember vividly the point at which I took notice of the human male.

I was probably about 12 or 13 years old. It was a holiday - either Thanksgiving or Christmas. I remember that because my oldest brother was home visiting. He, my dad, my other brother, and I all went out for a walk (again, there I was hanging out with the guys). So we're walking up this street and up ahead there's a guy on a ladder, fixing a window, or maybe he was putting up Christmas decorations, I don't know. I'd guess that he was about 15 feet above the ground.

All of a sudden, his ladder slips, and the guy comes crashing down to the ground! My dad and oldest brother run to his aid with my other brother and me trailing. Surprisingly, he wasn't hurt, but was visibly shaken from the experience. He was kind of freaked out about what happened, almost shocked that he wasn't hurt, but after a few moments, he assured us and himself that he was, in fact, okay.

And all I could do was stand there and look at him.

He had light brown curly hair, was probably late teens or early 20's. We lived in a small town, and he didn't live far from our house, I'm sure I'd seen him before, but this was the first time I really SAW him. He was wearing a pair of bib overalls over a white t-shirt over an athletic build.

It was sooooo HOT!

Looking back, I almost feel guilty that I began to feel the early blossoming of my womanhood from this poor guy that had just come crashing to the ground. I don't know, I think it was the combination of his manliness - the muscles, the tight t-shirt, the fact that he was post-pubescent, unlike the boys I hung out with - and the contrasting qualities of fear and vulnerability from having just fallen off of a ladder.

It was right about that time in my life that I began to not like hanging out with the neighbor boys so much anymore, and I began hanging out more with girls. Then things really got rolling.

But that's for later.
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those two little important words

S N O W D A Y!!!

Yep, got us a full blown snow day today. For me, it WAS going to be a day of errands and general catch up, but I suppose that will have to wait, what with the kids all hanging around. It's like summertime, only colder and snowier, and more treacherous to drive in.

And that's okay. This is our first full snow day of the school year. We had a delayed start last week, but that was just the precursor. The "School's Closed" days are the ones that really test a mom's mettle!

No problems here, though. We'll romp a bit in the snow, I'll put them to work, then I'll regurgitate something for them later.

Wish you were here!
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Silver Lining Saturday, part XVI

The first week of the last month of this year. I think I made some "resolutions" last year, but I have no idea what they were. Since I deleted that other blog, I can't even go check my archives, so I guess I'm off the hook!

Which leads me to another episode of Silver Lining Saturday!

The week started off with a bang in the form of a major snowstorm - unforecasted by the way - on Sunday. It made me thankful that we weren't part of the mass of Thanksgiving travellers, but it was also the first real snow storm of the season and a little late in coming. I went running/mushing/whatever you'd call it through it in the morning, like Susan Butcher without the dogs! Later that day, we all went out and frolicked as it continued to come down - romping around with the dog while the kids thrashed about on the nearby black diamond sled hill. To top it off, the kids had a delayed start to school the next morning.

I'm thankful for the people around our neighborhood that are so organized and have their Christmas decorations up. Really makes the streets pretty and festive at night. We are total slackers in that area, along with the whole Christmas cards and gifts thing, but I can still look at and appreciate the pretty lights.

I finished up a round of tutor sessions with another student this week. He's a nice kid and seemed noticeably more confident than when I first met him. He should be taking his SAT as I write, and I think he'll do fine. My other current students are making nice progress, too, and I'm thankful to be doing something useful... I think.

And I'm thankful for friends and that whole give and take that goes along with friendships. Sometimes we're the shoulder, sometimes we're the crier. It would suck to be stranded and alone on an island.

And remember that new furnace we got? The local utilities company gave us a rebate for being so efficient! Employee discount + Utilities rebate and the furnace was practically FREE! Well.... not hardly, but every little bit helps.

Oh, and we won the office football pool again. We can practically buy another furnace! Well, not hardly....

And despite our ups and downs, I am thankful for the milkman. I will do better in making my needs known from here on out, and now we've got some new cheese to try out. On that note, I'm also thankful for the local grocery store and it's well stocked egg selection.
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problems with communication

Well, you know my guy on the side? The milkman?

Yeah, he comes around to service me once a week, and I sooooo look forward to it. And this week especially, I was really waiting in anticipation for him because the weather is cold and a little dangerous, y'know? That danger factor really gets me in an "appreciative" mood, yeah?

Yesterday, it snowed all day, and by nighttime it was really cold and the roads were quite precarious. But I knew my milkman was coming. He never fails me.

This morning, while it was still dark and bitterly cold, I went to "our place". I reached out for him. I reached into "our special box" for my milk and egg treasures, drooling with desire. I found his large familiar jug of milk, just like always, but then... but then...

CHEESE?!?! What's with this freakin' block of cheese?!? And where's my eggs?!?!?

I took out my order form and, holy cheddar, I'd checked the cheese box and not the egg box! The cheese row is right underneath the egg row, it's a conspiracy!!

So, bottom line, even though I ALWAYS get the milk and eggs, he brought me milk and cheese because that's what my order form said! Shouldn't he know by now, after all this time together? I want his eggs, not his cheese?

He delivered what I said I wanted, not what I actually wanted.

Men.
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comfortably college

Sitting in the middle of our mostly conservative, largely evangelical city is a small, private, liberal arts college. One of my current tutor students goes to school there, and we have our tutor sessions at the campus library.

I was there yesterday when he called and said he was running a few minutes late. No problem, I would just wait for him inside the library doors. I picked out a comfy chair and began observing the comings and goings of these rather boheme students.

As with first impressions upon meeting another person, I was first struck by the appearance of these kids. They all, particularly the males, had a rather disheveled rather homeless style to them. Hair, relatively long and unkempt - many with knit hats ala thrift store sitting atop. Shaving is probably not a daily activity - more like weekly if with any regularity.

As I continued my surveillance, I couldn't help but feel the comfortableness that each of these students seemed to be emitting. Yes, they were dressed and coiffed in a very relaxed way, but there just seemed to be this overall atmosphere of grungease.

I found it quite refreshing and relaxing sitting there. Being the private college that it is, the tuition is not cheap and I know that many of the students come from rather affluent families, but I detected no sign of pretention among them, with their genuine friendliness and I-sleep-under-a-bridge fashion statements.

I actually felt a bit overdressed and overcombed as I sat among them, but if I were to grunge things up to help close that gap, I would violate my company's dress code.

After about 10 minutes, my student entered. His familiar, fully-bearded smile as he walked up wearing a nondescript hoodie and similarly generic baseball cap atop his rat's nest of a hairdo, caused me to smile too, in recognition of just how well he fit in. I wondered if he'd just awoken from a nap...

... from under a bridge.
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alpha male to omega-3

So Magnum recently had a check-up at the doctor's. They called him back a coupla days later.

"It was my bloodwork", he says.

"They say my triglycerides are high, my HDL is too low, and I need more sex", he continued.

*pause for look of skepticism from me*

"Okay, I threw in the last one. What are triglycerides??"

"I dunno", I adeptly replied, "they've never called ME back *snicker snicker*".

True to form, Magnum looked up information on triglycerides. It's basically fat. He's one of these people that, for most of his life, has eaten however much of whatever he wants without too many repurcussions. Maybe it's catching up. To his defense, he had just returned from a business trip before the check-up. Those business trips are really just week-long artery hardening fests. Plenty of expense account food and beverages, very little exercise.

I guess he's supposed to eat "heart healthy" now? To get his numbers into the normal range? Does this mean I have to learn how to cook? What about my scrawny children?

Anyway, I'm off to the grocery store. At least I won't have to think too much to buy the toilet paper.
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