January 23, 2003

Wicked Busy

• Michael let us know that he was going to be shipped out to Kuwait. Then two days later he called back to say "never mind" - he wasn't going after all. So. Relief there - he's still crunching numbers (he works in some sort of financial department - and do they know what his math grades used to be???) instead of crunching bad guys.
  
  Since the Christmas break he's called a grand total of three times, and every time he's insisted that he has something "very important" he needs to discuss with Marie. If she's not home, he just says he'll "call back later" and doesn't exchange more than the briefest of niceties with either his father or I before he "has to go". I questioned him one evening what the big secret was that he was keeping with Marie (I can tell she's dying to talk about something - yes, we've asked her. No, she won't fess), and he said it was a "sibling thing". So I wouldn't understand. Humph. Well, Calvin and I have a thought on what it's about, so I'll let you all know if we're right. I'm rather irritated with Michael, though, because whatever's going on is a source of stress or concern to Marie. She's been told not to talk to us about whatever it is, she feels like she wants to talk to us, but she's afraid he'll kill her. No, not literally (though he could - with his eyelashes!). She's doing so well right now - still maintaining straight A's and staying out of trouble for the most part - that this is a source of stress she doesn't need.
  
  Plus, well, it kind of hurts our feelings. We've always had a pretty good dialogue between us before, and now he's pretty much cut us off. Ah, well, 19-year-old boys aren't known to be a terribly considerate species.
  
  And yes, I'm sorta using this website as a message board to him, should he read. Or should his girlfriend read.
  
  Ah, see, he's got a steady girlfriend now (a fellow Marine on the same base) who has e-mailed a few times to say hello, and has mentioned she reads the website. She seems very sweet, and Michael will be bringing her home soon so we can meet her. The poor thing - we have her e-mail address, and it's the only method of communication to Michael that we have available. He hasn't chosen to give us either a telephone number or a mailing address. So she's been the recipient of some rather bluntly worded e-mails, directed at Michael.
  
  And if you're reading, please tell a certain ET to phone home. Thanks muchly - you're so sweet for being patient about all of this.
  
  By the way, you can tell a lot about a person by the way he treats his parents. I'm just sayin. Oh, God, alright, I'm just kidding. Sheesh.
  
  
• Oz has destroyed the cushion on one of our bar stools. It was divine intervention alone that prevented a kitty homicide. We thought he had mellowed after he got fixed. We thought wrong.
  
  Part of the problem may be that he's lonely during the day - that's the only time he gets into any mischief. The plan is to turn Gypsy into an "indoor dog" - she's the one that gets along the best with the cat, and Kye and Gadget are inseparable. Or, well, Kye is heavily dependent on Gadget, anyway. I don't think Gadget gives a flip.
  
  Anyway, so last night I gave Gypsy a bath in the tub in Michael's bathroom. The idiot dog is still afraid of the stairs - it's been that way ever since we finished the addition and she took that first ill-fated trip up (and then rather rapidly down) the newly-tiled stairs. I stood at the top and called and coaxed and cajoled, but she just would NOT come up. Finally I had to go back downstairs, pick her fat ass up, carry her upstairs, and set her in the tub. Where she stood, rigid, while I scrubbed. Except her hind legs kept slipping and frogging out behind her, which looked pretty damned uncomfortable. Man, though, she was one happy dog when I got done. She couldn't figure out what the heck was going on when I let her out to pee last night, then called her right back in when she was done. The rest of the dogs had a shit fit, too - whining to beat Jesus because they had to stay out while Gypsy spent the night indoors. "No fair! No fair!"
  
  
• Marie's bedroom is now mostly blue. Calvin has one wall left to paint. We're buying new curtains this weekend. Such is our exciting life. Marie's happy with it, though, and it does look nice. Our bedroom is next, in a nice rose-ish color.
  
  
• Heather had a birthday. We went to Outback and stuffed ourselves silly. And then watched the second installment of "John Carpenter's Vampires", the one with John Bon Jovi. Drooooool. Heather has very kindly reminded me twice this week that I need to take the movies back tonight. I swear to God, I pay more in late fees than it would cost to buy the actual movie.
  
  
• We finalized our arrangements for Hawaii and sent off the deposit. Stalkers take note, we're staying here. The mission to save as much money as possible so we can spend it all during our vacation is progressing, if slowly. Also, I finalized the arrangements with my sister for the trip to Maine Marie and I are taking in July. Check out the website for Old Orchard Beach. My sister said to me, "Damn, OOB is going to seem like a shithole compared to Hawaii!" That may be true, but it's still home.
  
  Home sweet shithole. Heh.
  
  
• Time to do some pimping. Storyteller's still out there, and it's all lonely and wishing for some contributions to fill the aching void in its heart. Okay, so that was a little melodramatic. Let's just say that we didn't get any contributions for December, and January/February has a couple of interesting topics. So why don't you try your hand at it, hey? There's a peach.
  
  
• My review period is coming up at work. My manager asked me to put together a self assessment for 2002. Now, I HATE doing these things. I hate talking about myself. I hate trying to sell myself. I hate anything that could possibly be construed as bragging. She had to prompt me to add something under the "Strengths" category, and this is what I swagged:
  
  *** The ability to learn quickly, which was demonstrated in the knowledge gained in seven modules/tool sets, three highly dynamic platforms, Industrial Engineering, and support group relationships - in just two and a half quarters.
  *** Certainty in the expertise gained in the above areas, to be able to speak knowledgeably, defend decisions and be regarded with confidence for input given.
  ***The ability to adapt to the working styles and personal dynamics of peers and co-workers, in group and one-on-one situations. This is done by being assertive where it is required, organizing where it is needed, and supporting decisions where it is essential. In this way, strong working relationships are created, trust is maintained, and confidence in one another is developed.
  
  I sure can BS when I need to, can't I? Heh. But AcronymCo just announced today that it has a zero budget for raises this year, so it's not like my review means squat. Damn economy.
  
  
• I got my monthly "visitor" this week. I was getting ready for work yesterday morning, and Calvin kept moving around me from sink to sink, under the sink for a washcloth, under the other sink for the hairspray, behind me with the hair dryer... usually I don't mind him being in my bubble space at all. But I was having problems getting my hair to do what I wanted it to, and was huffing rather bitchily. I finally muttered "Oh, fuck it!" and stomped into the bedroom to find a hair tie. Stomped back into the bathroom. Raked a brush through my hair and threw it up into a pony. Paused for a moment, then reached into the upper drawer and grabbed my bottle of Pamprin. The last two pills. I went into the water closet to throw the bottle away - I could feel Calvin eyeing me warily. I came back out, and he says,
  
  "You're gonna want a refill on those."
  
  To which I shouted,
  
  "Oh, my GOD! Men are SO STUPID!!!"
  
  Why, WHY do they say the exact thing to make the PMS escalate into homicide??? Wasn't the fact that I was taking THOSE pills AT ALL any indication that he should just KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT??? I told him I was "so going to write about this" as his punishment. So there you go.
  
  
• Of course, I have to follow that particular story up with one in which he was being sweet and kind. See, sometimes I don't handle stress very well. I get overwhelmed, and tired, and all I can do is internalize. Calvin knows that since the beginning of the year I have been really stressed about work and about putting in enough overtime to make enough extra money for Hawaii, plus continue to pay off debt so that we're not still buried by the time we're, oh, ninety. So Monday night when I came home after putting in a twelve hour day, he sat down next to me on the bed and told me that he wanted to help me more. He said he knows that I take on a lot of responsibilities, especially in the area of our financial well-being, while he's able to not stress over it because I'm taking care of it. So if I needed anything from him, even if it was in the form of sitting down on a regular basis and going over the budget, he wants to do more to share in the responsibilities. Most importantly, he said, is that he doesn't want us to get to the day of our departure for Hawaii, he all energized and jazzed about the trip, me on the verge of collapse because of the energy I expended to get us there.
  
  He was so sweet about it (and you guys have NO idea how much he hates going over finances) that him saying that was all the "help" I needed. I know I can talk to him about it and he'll be supportive instead of fussing because we have to tighten our belts for the next six months. I don't have to play the bad guy and say "no" to every request to spend money. We're both clear on our goals and how we want to get there. All of that is a huge weight off my shoulders.
  
  He may say exactly the wrong thing at inopportune times, sometimes, but he's wonderfully caring and supportive and I am one very, VERY lucky chica.
  
  Now. Since he has a zero budget to work with himself, it will be interesting to see what he comes up with for Valentine's this year. Heh.
  
  
• I changed my eating habits at the beginning of the year, to significantly decrease my fat intake and significantly increase my carb intake. Whereas before I would eat around 1400 calories a day, consisting of usually between 45 to as many as 65 grams of fat (!!boggle!!), now I am eating around 1400 calories a day, consisting of about 33 grams of fat (22%), 202 grams of carbs (55%), and 73 grams of protein (22%), with 2% of my calories coming from alcohol (that's the average over the last two weeks). If I look at it over the past month, it's 1375 calories comprised of 25% fat, 53% carbs, 21% protein, and 1% alcohol. Gotta love FitDay's reports. I'm such a geek, but it's a really awesome tool, and it's free! Can't beat that.
  
  My next goal, which I've been saying for AGES, is to increase my exercise. Work is so kicking my ass that I hardly ever feel like exercising when I get home. And I am SO not the type of person that is disciplined enough to get up early and exercise before work. Um, heck no. The nutritionist said I should be doing weight training two days a week and cardio three days, but I'd rather do circuit training (such as what I described here). It just feels like I'm doing more and being more effective. So my goal is to do circuit training four days (two of them the weekend), doing cardio/upper body twice and cardio/lower body twice, plus abs and stretching each day. Maybe if I have enough energy on the weekends I'll do either the Yoga or Pilates DVD, too. I just can't expect myself to have the energy to work out on most weeknights.
  
  
• With that said, 130 days until my sabbatical.