and another thing...

This here bloggy thing is about to go on hiatus while current husband (whose name is Robert) and I vacate to sunnier and southier climes. House and cats will be looked after, but the blog will have to await our return.

d'oh! I've been tagged!

My friend j tagged me to write six random things about myself. I forget all the rules of this meme, but one of them is that I'm supposed to tag six more people. So here's the deal. I suspect I have about six readers on this blog. Consider yourself tagged, and comply at your whim. Here goes:

• All my husbands have been named Robert.
• My best friend in high school had the same first and last initials as my current husband.
• I work for the mother of an old friend.
• I belong to a secret club with just three members. We have uniforms. The three of us haven't been in the same place at the same time for over four years.
• A sick friend once gave me the last of his stash because "it was for a kitty."
• My middle name is taken from the name of a town in Prussia that was obliterated in some war or another.

Best. Answer. Ever.

You know those questions that have no good answer like "Honey, does this outfit make my butt look fat?" The ones that make you feel like you've been walking across a field of daisies that all of a sudden morphed into cow patties when you were momentarily distracted? Where the whole future of your relationship, reputation, and ability to walk hinge on what you say next?

This morning, out of the blue, I asked Robert if he'd stopped beating his wife. His answer: "Never."

avast!!

It's once again time to celebrate that hallowed day -- International Talk Like a Pirate Day! After I adjust my eye patch and my hook, I'll throw a cat on my shoulder and -- uh -- plunder, yeah, that's it! and pillage! ARRRR! (and the cat echos MEARRRRRR).

more from cnn.com

I swear I'm not making this up. I saw it this afternoon on CNN.com. The controversy rages. Were the headline writers in such a rush that they didn't notice? Or were they having a little too much fun with their readers?

swift or not so much?

Until a few weeks ago, I was perhaps the last person I knew who had a shred of respect for Jane Swift, our accidental governor. Now, not so much. A Boston Globe article says:

Citing the remarkable similarities in their biographies, the former acting governor of Massachusetts this week signed up as a leader of Republican efforts to defend the record of Alaska's governor, Sarah Palin. Swift, 43, was tapped by Republican presidential nominee John McCain to lead a "truth squad" defending his 44-year-old vice presidential pick.

Speculation is that Swift is angling for a position in a McCain government. Good luck to her.

This link is likely to be ephemeral -- http://snurl.com/3p99o [www_boston_com].

haven't yet crossed that inevitable line

At the grocery store yesterday, I hopped into a line that had one customer, just finishing up. I knew that my turn would come quickly. Then I waited and waited and waited while the cashier tried to help her operate the card machine. As she was starting to leave, I noticed that she had placed the cart behind her, so the bag boy couldn't start loading her cart until her transaction was completely finished.

When I got to the head of the line, I asked the cashier whether the machine was having trouble today or whether she was having trouble operating it. He said the machine was fine but she was having a little confusion.

Funny thing -- she didn't seem that much older than me, though her super-saturated dyed hair made her look older than I'm sure she was.

But the reason I didn't make loud sighing noises while waiting was that I know this is me in a few years. Technology seems to be whooshing past so quickly. So far, I've managed to keep up -- with cell phones, grocery store card machines, linkedin, blogging, twitter, and on and on. But I know it's not too long now before something comes along that just stymies me -- something simple and easy, albeit with a terrible UI. I will then be officially Too Old to Learn New Technology. I'm crossing my fingers that my TOLNT days are in the distant future, not just around the corner.

exhausted

We invited friends over for dinner tonight, friends with a very sweet and mellow and smiley two-year old. The wife is pregnant with their second, and we checked carefully about what is and what is not on the diet. I even got something I'd observed the two-year old eating last time I saw him. I'm fairly pleased with the menu we came up with.

Some impressions:
. Koa immediately knew what she was in for and did everything in her power to be on a different floor from the rest of us. At one point, a brown blur went shooting by -- if you didn't know what to look for, you barely saw anything.
. Theo was curious and wanted to sniff, but was extremely cautious and didn't get too close. Usually he's out and about, flopping on the floor, playing, and entertaining.
. Conversations lasted about two seconds each.
. Dinner went reasonably well. And then it didn't. The two-year old hated the special food I'd gotten for him and refused to eat it. He then announced he was having ice cream for dessert. I hadn't planned to serve any, but fortunately, we had some on hand. (phew)
. Theo figured out that the kid was tied down and paraded around during dinner.
. The two-year old was ALL DONE and let us know that repeatedly until the rest of us were all done too.
. At some point, the screaming started and nearly simultaneously, the rubbing of eyes started.
. Then, on an excursion to get another book, the child fell on the tile floor, which was slippery with humidity, and really started screaming. Poor kid. By this time, he was tired, cranky, annoyed at being told not to touch anything, not interested in any toys or books, throwing things. Did I mention he's two? And is cutting a couple of teeth? Bad combination.
. I forgot, or actually, it didn't occur to me, to kid proof the house. I'm not sure it's actually possible in this house, and the parents were extraordinarily attentive, but still. If we ever invite a two-year old over again, I'll have a serious talk with the parents about whether it's a good idea.
. Our visitors were here for 2.5 hours and finally declared uncle and went home.
. Just before they left, they did a diaper change, which easily took two people and might have taken a third had the third had a clue what to do. More screaming, worse than what had occurred after the fall, ensued.
. Soon after the front door closed, the cats came out of hiding.
. And I'm exhausted.

Sweet friends, sweet kid on every other occasion, and tonight was not his night. Maybe next time...

Labels

Went to a store today and noticed two labels of note.

On a pair of magnifying glasses (for those of us with middle-aged eyes who need a little assistance seeing the printed word): the magnification in the teeniest numbers possible. Um, it would help to be wearing a pair of reading glasses to see the numbers, guys. Yes, that pair of glasses *inside* the case with those teeny weeny numbers on them.

On a pair of socks:
How to have fun with your socks: Use as a hand puppet to entertain your family and friends. Or better yet, place over your shoes and slide around.
Thank you, Joe Boxer.

good old fashioned tired.

Earlier today, I tweeted that I was a little surprised that I'd found my week exhausting. But ok, let's say it in unison -- duh. At work, we recently met an intense deadline, then I temporarily loaned myself out to another project while they try to meet a slightly later deadline. OK, so on that second project, I'm working but not overexerting myself, but I am not quite getting a break. Also at work, we've had some intense personnel situations, comings and goings, that sort of thing. It's not necessarily bad, just tiring. That may be settling out. And this week, we had hours of meetings in a mini summit -- that's always tiring.

Last weekend, we were very social and trying to make things to bring to each event. Somehow, we never managed to plan our upcoming vacation, which we're taking at the end of this month. So this week, after dinner and dishes, we bit off a little bit every night. That led to a lot of late evenings, but at least we have now scheduled our flights, rental car, and three hotels. The rest will probably get crammed into the flight, but at least we have some place to go.

And a few bits of correspondance had to get out. Those took a while to think about and prepare. OK, so as I said, duh. I can imagine an early night tonight and perhaps some sleeping in tomorrow, kitties permitting.

you can't make this stuff up

As seen on CNN.com -- juxtaposition theirs, not mine. I will claim being quick on the draw with my screenshot program, however.