Betwixt and Between

I like this time between Christmas and New Year's Day, being inside the parentheses of traditionally major celebrations. One of Superman's favorite movies is "While You Were Sleeping" with Sandra Bullock and Bill Pullman. Are you familiar with that one? Sandra Bullock (Superman thinks she's sexy) plays "Lucy" who fantasizes she's in love with a guy who falls off the 'L' platform on Christmas Day. He spends this week between Christmas and New Years in a coma. Suspended animation. While I'm no where near being in a coma, and I have been known to get shit done, it is nevertheless a week of time where ordinary feels out of place.

As long as Superman has worked at his current place of employment, this week has been out of the ordinary at the plant. The first few years he worked there they had "shut down" and he had to work extra hours doing the maintenance shit that has to happen when the machines aren't running. This place runs a 24/7 manufacturing operation that doesn't stop willy-nilly. Then he moved into a position at the company where he had nothing to do during "shut down" so he took the week off. He had to save vacation time to do it, of course. Now that he's been with the company over 18 years he has lots of vacation time to play with. This year, however, the vagaries of production, sales, natural disasters, etc. have changed the traditional down time so the plant is still running. Also Superman's had to take a lot of vacation days for health related problems throughout the year. Health and family emergencies. Refer to the archives regarding drama with the kids. He hasn't got vacation time left to take off this week. But then, as if his subconscious knows he's not supposed to work this week, he caught a doozy of a chest cold and has been in bed most of the week. Including Christmas Day. He went in to work Friday, but only managed half a day before he got so weak and exhausted he had to come home. The fever has quit, he's able to stay awake for hours at a time now, and his voice sort of works again. His normal tenor voice is basso profondo, but he's at least able to speak.

Light and Twitch were both home for Christmas. I drove Twitch back to Charlotte on Thursday. It's the first time since my hernia surgery that I've driven, so of course rather than driving a few miles around town, I drove almost 300 miles, half of that with a loaded pick up truck. Twitch is moving out of his apartment, but with no other plans for housing, he will move in with some friends for temporary. He'll be sleeping on the floor in the living room. So he asked me to bring a bunch of his stuff home until he gets something permanent. Still not allowed to lift over 5 pounds (yeah, like that's happened), I couldn't do much to help him pack his stuff. I got home safely, but of course the others had to unpack the truck. I was OK with this plan.

It was really good having Light home for Christmas this year. She didn't make it home last year until the second week of January. She was only here for about three days, but it was a very good visit. I enjoyed Twitch's company for the most part, and he's much more chillaxed now that he's taking Celexa. Those SSRIs are wonderful. Sproing was a pain in the butt most of the week, and his outbursts really stressed out Twitch. Twitch's stress-out recovery time is shorter now, thank Celexa. Ironically, Sproing is also on Celexa, but it doesn't help him be less annoying. Unless it does and I just don't appreciate the difference. God help us.

Superman has a nasty cough. It's being productive now; I'll spare you the details. The man coughs very loudly. I feel sorry for him. To lessen the chance of contamination he hasn't kissed me in a week. That right there sucks. He's right beside me, but I miss him. Does that make sense? I miss being closer. He's my spouse, but this feels a bit like roommates. Ah, well. He's getting better.

I have read a lot this week. Mostly gay romance. I needed something light and hadn't had a gay romance fix in a while. Problem is, when I'm really into a story I hate to stop so I end up staying up half (3/4ths? 7/8ths?) the night to finish the story. Even when the story isn't that good, dammit! My mom always reads when she goes to bed, but she falls asleep with the book in her hand. Me, I don't fall asleep. Occasionally I'll get tired enough to put the book down, but unless I'm totally spent my brain will keep me awake thinking about the story. In which case I might as well stay up and read, right? Superman, the dear, is able to sleep even if the bedside light is on. Bless his heart. He has no idea (I think) how late I was up last night (this morning). My point is that wow, I'm sleepy. Think I'll go ahead and post this, floss and brush my teeth, shove the cat out of my spot on the bed and go to sleep.

Java! Do NOT pick up your Kindle! 

'Twas a couple o' days before Christmas...

Feeling groovy. Ish. I'm not taking the high power pain meds anymore after my hernia surgery. Today I was finally able to take the bandages off the incision site. It doesn't so much hurt as itch like a sonofabitch. The area was covered with a gauze bandage and stuck on with one of those large pieces of clear plastic adhesive stuff. Superman called it a "plaster" and says the entire English speaking world calls that a plaster except the U.S. Anyway, I've had that adhesive stuck to my belly for six days. The skin doesn't like that foolishness. Now the whole area itches. I've got dissolving stitches covered by steri-strip bandages. Those will come off on their own, says the doctor. That part itches, too, but the worst is the freshly released skin all around my navel. I'd rather it itch than hurt, though. Being off the hydrocodone, eating real food, and taking a bit of laxative has helped the bowels behave better.  And as you know, a happy bowel contributes much toward general happiness.





Light and Twitch are home now. It was wonderful; Light stopped in Charlotte to see Twitch, and decided to bring him home so neither Superman nor I had to drive to get him. She's a good kid. That was Friday. She stayed the night (we took her and Twitch out to our favorite pizza and beer place) and left early Saturday morning for Charleston, where she met up with a good friend and went to the wedding of a friend of that friend. They stayed in Charleston last night and came home today. Tonight she and her friend and another good friend of theirs, all good buddies from high school, have gone out to the drive-in theater to see "The Hobbit." This was a picture the middle one put on her Facebork page tonight celebrating the reunion of these particular three musketeers. Light is on the right, the one with the biggest silly grin. :-)

(Warning: boring paragraph about cooking follows)
I'm back in the kitchen again. Haven't done much cooking since last weekend. Last night I fixed my favorite macaroni and cheese recipe, double-and-a-half, to make enough for this big hungry crowd. It was well received. Today I started some red sauce for lasagna, but never got around to putting together the lasagna. Perhaps that will be our Christmas Eve dinner. C made some red sauce to go with some penne for a late lunch for him and his he-wishes-he-was-his-boyfriend-but-right-now-they're-"just-friends" and I added his leftovers to my pot of stuff. I haven't tasted it yet, but I suspect it will be wunnerful. There are stealth vegetables in the sauce. I processed some carrots to just shy of puree and added them to the sauce. That might add a hint of sweetness, too. There's no way I'll ever be able to replicate that sauce.

Also, I baked some more bread. And I'll be making stuffing (or do you call it dressing?) to go with the turkey for Christmas dinner using a variety of breads. I'm getting excited about doing stuff again. For the last couple of weeks my give-a-shit has been hobbled. For the next week or two (or three?) I'm limited in how much weight I can lift. Five pounds. That's it. Do you now how many things in the kitchen weigh more than five pounds? My favorite cast iron skillet, for one. And the food processor. (Full disclosure: Superman actually  ran the carrots through the processor.) (He also scraped them into the sauce pot because if he does it all the carrot pieces get into the pot. If I do it a lot of carrot bits are randomly strewn around the stove top. And beside the stove. And probably other unlikely places.)

If there was more I intended to say I have since forgotten it. I could regale you with recent infractions of the law perpetrated by Sproing and/or Diva's trouble with her big mouth as relates to staying at school. A lot of that kind of shit happened while I was on my blogging sabbatical. It was depressing, and I didn't want to talk about it. It's merry happy holiday time now and I don't want to talk about it. And since I can't remember what else I was going to say, I guess I'll stop now. This rambling has gone on long enough for one post.

Thursday stuff

Doesn't seem like Thursday to me. Actually, I'm disconnected from days right now. I had minor outpatient surgery two days ago. A small hernia repair that the doctors seemed to think was necessary. I blogged about that recently. The surgeon disabled my pop-up timer. Yeah, I'm sore. It's a localized soreness, there at my navel. I'm fine if I don't move. Also taking Lortab. Hydrocodone. So yeah, I'm disconnected from days and a few other things as well.

Just talked to an old friend of mine. Received a Christmas card from her yesterday with a brief update letter to let everyone know their house burned down!! About 2.5 weeks ago their house burned down. They've lived there 20 years, raised five kids in it. It was an old farmhouse, and evidently there was some electrical short or something in the living room wall that started the thing. No one was in the house, but she and her youngest daughter were on the property. Poor gals had to watch their house burn down. They got the pets out before it got too smokey. I'm freaking out about it, but hell, it wasn't my house. I talked to her for maybe 20 minutes, and she sounds numb. They're managing. Going to rebuild. Have received a lot of help from friends and neighbors and the Red Cross. They live close to us, the next county over. She does our taxes.

The young kids are home now, on winter break. Or Christmas break, whichever term seems appropriate. I don't care what it's called, I just care that they are home. So far it isn't too bad. Had my surgery the last day of school, so I've been drugged and out of it since they've been home. I'm leaving them alone and they're mostly getting along.

I'm supposed to drive to Charlotte to bring Twitch home for Christmas. Was going to do that tomorrow, but might need to wait until Saturday. My boo-boo needs a bit more healing time before I drive for five hours. Light is leaving Pennsylvania this evening to head this way. She'll take a nap at Twitch's place on her way down, then she's going to Charleston before coming home. The weather between western Pennsylvania and here is a bit dodgy right now, raining with snow in the forecast. Hopefully she'll be far enough south by the time the snow hits so as to avoid it. I'm worried about her driving so far under such conditions, but hell, I've done the same thing myself many times. So I'm going to pretend not to worry.

If there was anything else to say I have forgotten. Kinda spacey. Might be nap time again. Sleep helps the healing process, right? And it's a cool, rainy day, the kind that 's good for naps. Yeah. Nap.

For everything there is a season

Is life always this hard?

And of course "hard" is a relative thing. Right now I'm struggling, but I can think of others, some I know, some I know of, who are going through worse, more difficult situations. That can change my perspective but not my situation.

Depression probably has something to do with this mess. I can feel it creeping over me like a shroud. I've been better recently. Over the past few months my depression has been lighter and I've had strange feelings of hopefulness, excitement, optimism. Strange, but nice. This darkness is familiar, but not so fun.

The hard parts that hold my attention right now involve parenting troubled teenagers. Again. As always. They are so difficult. Sproing seems bent on making poor decisions. He's failing half his classes, which is an improvement from a few weeks ago when he was failing everything except PE. He can be such a nice fellow, and he's intelligent. Intelligence is very different from wisdom. Yes, most almost-15-year-olds lack wisdom and have bad attitudes. This kid is extreme. He has always been extreme. Superman and I don't know quite how to deal with him.

In other news Diva is doing better. Not great, but better. Her attitude only stinks sometimes. But when she gets irritated her temper flares hot and high. She got two days suspension for insubordination to a teacher then to the assistant principal. She was home Thursday and Friday. Thank the Norns she goes back to school Monday. Unfortunately Tuesday is the last day of school before the winter break.

Maybe that's why I'm depressed. I'm looking at two weeks of having these little creatures underfoot all the time. Sproing is grounded until at least the end of December. Oh, I didn't tell you (I don't think) about him being on probation. That happened when I wasn't blogging these last few months.

He and a "friend" committed burglary in the second degree and malicious damage to real property less than $2000. He has to pay restitution, half of the whole, in the amount of $302.50. I'm thankful it wasn't any more expensive. He's working off the money around the house. Which of course means we are paying it. Getting some work out of him, but paying nevertheless. And he bitches about having to do anything. We don't work him hard enough, that's part of the problem. We are way too nice. He is on probation for six months or until he pays off his restitution, whichever is longer. So six months is the minimum (with time off for good behavior, which he hasn't earned yet) with a possibility of being extended if he doesn't pay. Since we're managing the money, "he" is paying. Of course if he doesn't do the work, he won't have the payment.

Superman mentioned the old apprenticeship system. If things still worked that way he would be apprenticed to someone by now, and a couple of years into it. We'd see him on holidays and such, but he'd be working for and living with someone else. And Diva turned 15 a couple of weeks ago, so she'd be married off by now, or close to it. Of course life expectancy back in those days was a lot younger, so me at 50 and Superman at 52 would be dead or close to it. Meh.

Superman and I are going out to dinner at our favorite place this evening. It's 'bout time to go. Perhaps we can have a fun evening. Beer and pizza are involved, so the prospects for fun are good.

Mid December rambling

Listening to


at the recommendation of Victor. I recently discovered his blog, and boy, do I like it! I'm trying to add his blog to my blog list over there on the right, but Blogger isn't cooperating. Either that or I don't know what the fuck I'm doing. The latter is more probable.

As previously posted, Twitch graduated from college yesterday. Superman and I went to Charlotte for the festivities. We had a lovely time, but did not leave the city until nearly 10:00 last night. Two and a half hours (approx.) to get home, then I had some baking to do. I think I mentioned in a recent post that I have renewed my domestic efforts, vis. cooking and baking. I am baking all of our bread now. A couple of days ago I fed the bread starter and had rather a lot of starter to work with. As many people as we have eating all my bread, I decided to make a large batch. I failed to account for spending all yesterday away from home. Before we left home I put the dough in the bread pans for the second rising, hoping that it would rise slowly. This bread does rise much more slowly than typical yeast bread. But not that slowly. It over-proofed. Nevertheless, I baked all eight loaves when I returned home after midnight last night. I can only fit four loaf pans in the oven at once, and it cooks for half an hour. By the time the bread was all baked it was 2:fucking-late a.m. Fresh bread usually has a lovely rounded top crust. These crusts fell. The bread looks kinda pathetic. I cut one of the loaves fresh out of the oven, slathered butter on the end piece, and enjoyed. It looks a bit funny, the texture is too loose (don't know how else to describe it), but it tastes damn good! Four pieces of fresh buttered bread good. In related news, I'm not progressing well with my weight loss. This too shall come. Still, last time I checked, I've lost and kept off 30 lbs. Yay me!

But the point I attempted to make is that I am SO tired today! I got up before 8:00 to take Superman to work. He wisely went to bed soon after we got home. I was at least 1.5 hours behind him.

I recently bought myself a couple of long sleeved t-shirts. This is my current favorite.

I'm wearing it today. Coincidentally (on purpose) I'm seeing my therapist today. She likes this shirt, too. At this point my plan is to make it a shorter visit than usual with the therapist (tried and failed at that last week) so I can come home and take a well-deserved nap. Have I mentioned that I love naps?

I'm going in for a bit of surgery next Tuesday (the 18th). Sometime over the past few months I have developed a small hernia just north of my navel. I thought it was an umbilical hernia, but when the surgeon checked he said it was slightly above there. OK. He described it as a small hole in the integument.* He didn't use that word exactly, but I really like it. My belly fat pooks out through the hole when under strain. You know, the way hernias do. I suggested that since the fat was pooking out anyway, he might as well remove all that fat, too. He didn't think so. Shucks. The procedure for the repair is kinda cool. Rather than simply sewing up the hole, he'll put a mesh patch-type thing behind the hole to block it up, sort of like they repair small holes in tires these days. Superman says I'm gonna get a rivet. He also describes the hernia as like unto a turkey pop-up timer.
  It's a lot of fun to be married to that man!

During the pre-surgery tests and paperwork this week I learned that I'll be under general anesthesia. I suggested since it's such a small thing perhaps a local anesthesia would work. But no, they won't do that. In case things are more complicated once they get in there they want to have me already under so they can do what needs to be done. That's how the nice lady explained it. Whatevs. I actually kinda like being under general anesthesia. It's a fun kind of stoned, you know? I also like to have the minimum fuss and bother, hence the request for a local.

Seems there was more I wanted to ramble about, but it is now time for me to go see my Thurpist, so I must depart. Here's the post. Enjoy. (past tense, now, since if you've read this far, you've pretty much read it all)

* Epimysium

The epimysium surrounds the whole skeletal muscle. This is a dense layer of connective tissue. The fascia forms an integument around the epimysium.

That's my boy!!

I am so proud of Twitch!! He graduated yesterday (12-13-2012) from the Art Institute in Charlotte. At mid day the graduates had a portfolio show. It was a networking opportunity; industry employers were invited. He had resumes and business cards to hand out. 

 In the evening they held the graduation exercises. It was a bit less boring than most graduation ceremonies I've been to. The speeches were shorter. I liked that part a lot. The audience was not encouraged to display decorum, which I did NOT like. Things were not done "decently and in order." There was lots of hooting and other embarrassing displays from audience members directed at various graduates. The giggle of girls sitting directly behind us were particularly shrill and loud, to the point that Superman and I covered our ears in pain when they expressed their preference and excitement for a friend. One of the girls leaned forward and apologized afterward, which I did appreciate.

Another frustrating aspect, and it was entirely my fault, is that I did not actually see the boy go across the stage and receive his diploma. I was trying to take a picture with my camera but it didn't work right. I concentrated so on the picture-taking that I missed the event. I regret that. I hate regret, even small ones, and am working to "let it go."

Here he is, the new graduate. Cute, ain't he? 

In other news, my life is frustrating. But I want this post to be all about the boy, so I shall write another post for that purpose. 

The 'Spo Meme

Oh thank goodness. Ur-Spo has, after encouraging me to write a new post already, provided us with a meme so we don't have to come up with another idea for a blog post. 

______________ is jolly good fun!  (driving a truck)

Tea, wine, or champagne? Champagne, the not very expensive stuff, on the sweet side. Not Brut.

How left handed are you? Predominately right handed, but can accomplish a lot with the left hand.

The loudest item of clothing I have is that red skirt I found at the Goodwill store in Indiana, PA. I've only worn it once. I don't "do" loud clothes.

The Best Friend: who is s/he? If we're not counting the husband as best friend (which he pretty much is), my best friend is probably C, the 24 year old gay fella we took in six years ago when his mom kicked him out for being gay. 

I’d rather eat rats in Tewkesbury than attend a pep rally for a high school sports team.

How many of these have you done?:

1. Been to an opera nope

2. Read a novel by Dickens Yes, I've read a few, but the only one I liked was "A Christmas Carol." 

3. Drank Bourbon not that I remember

4. Been to Key West Yes: when I was 4 years old my grandparents took me. I barely remember it, save for my grandmama going swimming in the motel pool and my grandpapa not letting me get within four feet of the edge of the pool for fear I'd fall in and drown. He was a worrier that way. 

5. Visited The Stratford Festival of Canada nope. I've never visited any of Canada, though I'd sure like to. Considering putting "go to a Tim Horton's in Canada" on my bucket list. 

6. Spiders give you the heebie-jeebies. Not really. If it is rapidly approaching me and hairy and bigger than an Eisenhower silver dollar, then yes. 

7. Been to Michigan nope

8. Rolled down a grass hill. Oh YES! Over and over again. Short ones and long ones. One of the defining experiences of my childhood. 

9. Ate Synder Pretzels Butter Snaps. Go. Eat. Be merry. (That would be a "yes.")

10. Used the word ‘rubbish” in the past 30 days. I don't think so, but I will try to if you really want me to.

11. Worn a bow tie nope

12. Have a set of Viking horns Being something of a hoarder, I have many interesting and somewhat unique things. A set of Viking horns, however, is not among my collection. I guess the closest thing I have to Viking horns is a silver-colored metallic hardhat with my maternal grandmother's name  affixed via Dymo lable maker tag circa 1980. Do you remember those old label makers? They looked something like this:

The tag is brown but does not say "ETSY" because that's not my grandmother's name. 

My, my, it's been a while hasn't it?

Ur-spo recently asked for another post from me. I've been meaning to write stuff here for a while, but since it's been so long, it's hard to know where to start, what to pick up, what to leave off.

So I'll tell you what's on my mind right now. Well, some of what's on my mind. As has been demonstrated many times before (see the whole damned archives for my rambling nonsense) there are lots of things that crowd my mind all at once. I'll tell you some of the wisdom I have gathered in the last few months.

I seem to be getting my shit together somewhat. It all stems, I propose, from flossing my teeth regularly. Have I mentioned this yet? My New Year's Resolution for 2012 was to floss my teeth regularly. Of course I've made many a lofty resolution in years past and never fulfilled squat. A couple of weeks into the new year I had my semi-annual teeth cleaning, and at that point decided that I could floss my teeth regularly. It's a small thing, very small, and something I can probably keep doing. And I have. All this year I've almost never failed to floss before I brush my teeth at bedtime.

This has led to other changes in my personal lifestyle (or I credit the flossing since I don't know what else it could be). Sometime (I think) late in the summer (though I can't recall exactly) it slowly dawned on me that I don't really need all that food I've been eating. For many years (my entire adult life) I have been something of a compulsive overeater. If one cookie is good, twelve are better. If I want it, I eat it, and not in small quantity either. My size, my weight, attest to this fact. As I've said for years, I'm twice the woman I should be. But now, if I lost half my current weight I'd be a bit too small. Yes, I have lost weight! Over 30 lbs! I'm eating healthier and eating less. I don't need all that extra food to make me happy (or whatever my silly brain has been trying to compensate for).

The next step (one of them) is more stepping. The "trick" to weight loss is to eat less and move more. I have yet to psych myself up to exercise, but I'm thinking about it. Actually, I am moving a bit more. Weighing less has given me more energy. I can walk more easily. I occasionally park farther out in parking lots to walk extra. Oh, I'll tell you a tiny story. Last week I made a major grocery excursion; bought $300 worth of fairly cheap stuff at Wal-Mart. Took two carts to haul it all out to the truck. C was home to help me carry it all in from the truck, but I could have done it if I'd had to. And I put it all away. A few months ago I didn't have the stamina to stay in the store that long, much less haul stuff to the car, unload it, and put it away. Now I'll tell you, I was bushed afterward. Rested a while. Then I got up and did more stuff.

Thanksgiving I cooked almost the entire dinner (lots of stuff) by myself. Superman and Light have cooked most of Thanksgiving dinner in recent years. Light is now in Pennsylvania and hasn't been here for Thanksgiving for two years. Superman tore the medial gastrocnemius in his right calf the day before Thanksgiving and was practically no help with cooking. He chopped some veggies. Diva helped with a couple of things, but that was work for me, too, because I gave guidance. Dinner turned out great. That felt good!

I decided a month or two ago to do a lot more cooking. For one thing, I've cut out most meat. Still do poultry sometimes though I'm trying to cut that out, too. Still do seafood and have no qualms about that. We've had a lot of vegetarian meals over the past few weeks. I searched through some of my recipe collections for stuff that either is or can be meat free. I've been planning weekly meals!!  This is unheard of. Haven't been this gung-ho domestic since our early marriage. Tonight we had awesome mac-n-cheese with mushrooms, onions, and carrots chopped up fine in it. Four kinds of cheese, small shell pasta (my favorite). Awesome.

I've had a turkey in the freezer for probably over a year, and didn't use it at Thanksgiving, so Sproing convinced me to pull it out and cook it. That's dinner for tomorrow. It won't be the full T'giving spread, but I'll have a lot of the same stuff. No dressing, no green bean casserole this time. Sweet potatoes, definitely. Found a low fat recipe for sweet potato casserole that is, if anything, better than the rich delicious one my mother-in-law taught me.

Part of the impetus for all this domesticity is financial concerns. Our expenses are rising and income isn't. I'm sort of supposed to be getting a job now, you know, to pay off my student loans and shit. That was the agreement when I went back to school. Except I keep needing to be at home to take care of stuff. For example, Superman can't drive at all until after he sees the orthopedist in January, if then. He's got a big boot (walking boot they call it) that he might be able to stop using in 6 weeks. So I'm his chauffeur. The kids always need to be taken to various psycho-medical appointments. Diva got herself suspended for two days (tomorrow (Tues) and Wednesday) and I need to be here to manage her time. We do not want her to enjoy being suspended! Even if tomorrow is her birthday. But she is a whole other blog post I don't want to write right now. The point is that I am trying to do stuff at home that saves us money.

OH, and speaking of, I started making bread again. I used to make all our bread many years ago (before Twitch was born, I think. He's 21, almost 22). I use a starter called Herman. (I don't know why "Herman"). Here is the bread recipe. Have made it twice so far. The first time Sproing ate almost a whole loaf by himself. Yesterday I divided the starter into two containers so I can make a couple of loaves every two or three days. With all the hungry people in this house we need at least that much. I really like making bread. I had forgotten how much I enjoy it. And now I have the energy to do it!

That's about all I can think to share tonight. I endeavor to get back here before too long to ramble on about other things, like Diva and Sproing and their shenanigans. And Twitch graduates with a bachelor's degree in Graphic Design in less than two weeks. What's he gonna do next? So far he has no job lined up. My Mama just got out of the hospital today after suffering with a nasty urinary tract infection that had her fever up to 103+ for days. My dad goes in to the hospital for a heart valve replacement in less than two weeks. He told me he's getting a valve from an Arkansas Razorback Hog.
 
He's been a Florida Gator fan most of his life, and I told him he's gonna be compelled to root for Arkansas now. He's a trip.

Is there any past drama that you'd like me to update? Any questions I've left hanging that you'd like answers to? Just ask. I'll do my best to provide answers in a follow-up blog post. Soon, even!