Tell Me Why...

I don't like Mondays
Tell me why
I don't like Mondays
I wanna shoot the whole day down....

OK, so I'm not planning on shooting up a playground, but MAN! Mondays stink, Mondays with a crisis stink more, and Mondays with a crisis as you're coming off of a vacation stink most! To quote the Grinch (or, rather, the guy who sings the Grinch Theme Song), "The three words that describe you are as follows, and I quote, Stink, Stank, STUNK"

But, I've gotten caught up on email, and read my favorite webcomic, and caught up on Trina's blog. Oh, and my crisis mode work-issue has now become not-crisis mode, just have to figure out why the computer has lost it's mind.

Grrr.

But now I have another moderate crisis, involving bad database things.....

Does anyone out there ever check things OFF of their to-do list? Or do new crises always just subjugate the current tasks, until they eventually go away because no one cares anymore?

Oh! Let's Make Sure It's PRETTY!!!!

Well, it's Spring Break, so I'm taking a week off. Are we going to the beach? Nope. Mountains? Nope. DC, Williamsburg, or any other close and fun destination? Nope, nope, nope.

This is Meg, remember, so I must fill the week with a project!

Now, I have learned since the ceiling fan fiasco that NO home repair/improvement project comes without an unexpected twist. And, since my project for this week is stripping the wallpaper from the downstairs powder room and painting it (I HATE wallpaper), I know enough to know that wallpaper has it's own special level of hell associated with it. So, I didn't expect this to be a walk in the park.

But, OMG, whoever installed this paper was without a doubt a special demon from Hell. A true follower of Lucifer himself, and probably his own special protege, because I have never seen such a maze of ungodly traps set for any assuming person.

Forget the overlapping wallpaper in the corners; that's standard, and I expected it. Same with the wallpaper all the way behind the toilet tank; gotta do it, a paint to deal with, but I can work with it.

And, I knew that the wallpaper would go behind SOME fixtures; the towel bar, certainly.

But what's getting to me is that whoever hung this stuff wasn't consistent in how well/how much they overlapped fixture and paper. In some places, there's a half an inch or so, in others it just goes up to the edge.

But, for some demonical and unbeknownst reason, they TOOK THE BLOODY LIGHT FIXTURE OFF SO THAT THE PAPER COULD GO BEHIND IT!!! Holy Smokes people, was that really necessary?

Oh, and not only that, but in a couple of places it seems that the wallpaper paste (which is a big enough pain in the tuches to get off a wall) just wasn't doing it for them, so they decided to use something else to stick the paper to the wall. I haven't figured out what yet; it looks like Elmer's glue, but acts like Super Glue; regardless, it ain't fun to get off the wall.

Sheesh.

Memo to anyone considering wallpaper out there:

1. Don't. Just don't.
2. If you ignore rule #1, do not, repeat DO NOT use any other sticking mechanism other than paste to adhere said wallpaper to the wall. I don't care how neat and pretty it makes it look, do NOT do this. Pretty is as pretty does, and if you do this your karmic beauty will go down the toilet.

So, at this point my mirror is off the wall, my light fixture is hung askew (tried to get off, and the fixture part is, but the grounding wire is permanently stuck to the box, and is NOT coming off), there's bits of paper strewn around my bathroom, and I'm cranky.

I really do like DIY stuff....really....

Woot! REM re-emerges.

I'm on vacation this week, so I've been sleeping late. Today I kept hearing a blurb on NPR about an interview with REM, so I stayed in bed even longer waiting for it to play (but, I was working on my taxes: I love laptops and wireless!) FINALLY it did, so here are my random, disjointed, stream of consciousnes comments (swiped directly from an email I sent a friend at a time!)

• Michael Stipe comes from a long line of Methodist ministers! Trying to remember why I didn't know that (about Michael), and have a vague notion that I did once, so I'm chalking it up to over-40 brain cells not remembering 20-something trivia.
• Ooh, I really like this album. I'll have to buy this one.
• I wish Bob Edwards were interviewing them, though.....
• Michael Stipe is still about the most awkward person in the world.
• It amuses me somewhat that I can pick out Peter Buck and Michaels Stipe by their voices (and then of course the other guy is Mike Mills by default)
• Gotta like a group that rhymes 'nostrils' with 'apostles'. I'm not sure that I could've come up with a rhyme for that word.....

Many many years ago, there was an article on NPR about REM, or actually about a group of fans that banded together to save the railroad trestle on the cover of Murmur (it was scheduled to be demolished). This was probably about 10 or 11 years ago, and I remember being absolutely appalled that REM fans were old enough to be mentioned on NPR. Well, I'm now significantly older, and have stopped being appalled by such things (and, in fact, am as big an NPR junkie as I am REM junkie).

Funny how the world moves on, isn't it? Almost like, oh, an REM song!

Peter Percival's Pet Pig Porky...

...Loved Pie.

And so do I!

Happy Easter!

Wow, it's amazing how quickly time goes by (and how little one blogs) when one is on vacation!

So, I took Friday off because Dick and Trina are in town; we hung out Friday, went to Cary for a family get-together on Saturday, and, suddenly, here it is Sunday, and I haven't blogged since Thursday! Partially it's lack of continuous computer access, partially it's because of staying up too late; whatever.

Highlights of the past 3 days:

• Carolina beating the POOP out of Mt. St. Mary's (no school should have that much punctuation).
• Barbeque Friday night (yum, bbq)
• Mini family reunion Saturday, where I saw my cousin Avery, who I don't see anywhere near enough considering we both live in the Triangle, and my cousin Cliff, who I haven't seen in years. AND my uncles George, Bob and Bryan, AND some of my Dad's uncles who I'd never met.
• Duke losing in the 2nd round.

And today there's MORE basketball (Lord, I hope Carolina wins), my brackets actually aren't all THAT bad, and we're having Easter dinner with Kathy's potato salad and devilled eggs! YUM!

Here are pictures of the kids and me in our Easter finery: Peter was supposed to at least be in suit pants, if not a jacket, but his suit from last year SO doesn't fit, and I haven't gotten the one from this year altered yet..... Luckily Kathy bought him a blue blazer about a million years ago on sale at the Gap; it finally fits, and his khakis, while not exactly the correct length, are better than his suit pants!

Tiny Little Morsels of Perfection

I love this time of year. I love the flowers and trees blooming, I love buying pretty Easter clothes, I love the warm weather and the way the air smells.

But most of all, I love Cadbury Creme Eggs.

Now, it used to be that the only Eggs you could get were the 'full size' eggs, which, truth be told, were a little much. I typically ate one a year, and afterwards felt a little oogy.

But now, Cadbury has come out with Mini Creme Eggs! Yum! They're teeny little Creme Eggs, just like the big guys, but less than half the size! I can eat two, and STILL not feel oogy!

Plus, they come packaged in little cartons of a dozen, just like real eggs! How cute!!!

EEEEEK!!!

Or, I am such a goober

I was downstairs doing stuff tonight after the kids were in bed, and when I finally headed upstairs, nearly all the lights were off. I'd turned on my bedside lamp earlier in the evening, so I knew I'd be able to see in my room once I got upstairs, and there's enough residual light from outside that I knew I'd be able to negotiate the stairs.

So I head upstairs, and suddenly I see this LARGE shape looming in front of me, just to the right, between me and the large window on the landing!

Of course, I gasp, though I don't let out a Hollywood thriller heroine scream (gasps I can do; full blown screams, not so much).

Turns out, it's the silly little tree I bought to go on the landing.....You'd think I'd've remembered that, since I bought it....

80's Music Quiz

Because I'm still listening to the online streaming station that plays 80s alternative music.....

If you were in a record store, looking for an album (they still made albums in the 80s) by the band The Dukes Of Stratosphere, and you couldn't find them under "D" what letter would you look under?

I am such a nicompoop

Since Sunday, I've notice a funny smell in my bathroom. Almost like there's a gas leak, but the only gas appliance I have is my water heater, which is down in the garage.

I could never figure it out, and pretty much chalked it up to something outside (I typically sleep with windows open).

Then, tonight as I was getting ready for bed, I discovered the culpret: An open bottle of nail polish removal.

I've been meaning to get out to get my toes done (it is, after all, nearly sandal season), but keep not having time, so I finally just did my toes myself one morning, and had the polish remover out to fix some boo-boos. Apparently I left it open.

Of course, this was on Friday.....

Sheesh. I need a brain transplant!

No, sorry, this is normal.....

This past weekend was fairly busy; I had plans on Friday and Sunday evenings, and I got to go to a really, really cool party Saturday night as Kathy's guest (which, sadly, I didn't get around to blogging about). Plus, there was basketball on ALL WEEKEND!!!!

Still, I also had stuff I had to get done; mainly working on the upstairs of my house, which is an absolute pig-sty.

Sadly, I didn't get quite as much done upstairs as I'd've liked, and I got none of my special projects done (cleaning out the garage, cleaning out the attic). I did, however, get the magazines picked up in Peter's room, and cleaned his bathroom. Very important, as my Dad was staying there Saturday night and will stay again on Easter weekend.

Even more importantly (to me, anyway) I also managed to get the downstairs picked up, vacuumed, dusted, and the half bath cleaned, which means my downstairs won't become a shambles while I clean the upstairs. I was happy.

So, today was a normal crazy day with kids -- call from the Nurse at school, another orthopedic injury (Peter, left arm again, highly probable broken again, because he fell out of his desk as he was reaching to pick up a pencil. His Dad suggested a seatbelt!), another trip to urgent care, another fast food dinner before a practice. Because of all that, it was nearly nine before we all got home and settled, so showers were quick, and then I was scooting the kids off to bed.

As I was tucking Peter in, he asked if I could move the nearly-life-sized stuffed horse off his bed; I said yes, and explained I'd moved it up there because I didn't think his Granddaddy wanted to trip over it. He said, "Oh, Granddaddy stayed here?" Yes, says I, and he's coming back this weekend.

"Oh, " says Peter, "so THAT'S why the house is freakishly clean...."

I've obviously failed somewhere along the way.....

What a great day!

OK, I am in SUCH a good mood today. I had yummy food last night at one of my favorite restaurants (Crooks, shrimp-n-grits, yum), slept late (for me) this morning, it's a beautiful day, there's basketball on TV later....

AND IT'S BASEBALL SEASON!!!!!!! Yay!!!!!

Grace had her first practice this morning. There were tons of kids back from last year, and all but one coach came back. We have a new Head Coach, who seems really nice (and has a very talented son!). The returning kids have each grown about a foot, the new kids are a nice mix between older kids and younger kids who are just learning, and while there was certainly a mix of abilities, I don't think there was anyone on the team who had to be taught what a baseball was!

Grace has really improved since last year. I knew her catching and throwing had, because I've been out playing catch with her, but I was pleasantly surprised at how much her hitting had improved! She made contact with the ball all three times she batted in the scrimmage.

There just isn't much better than being on a baseball field when the air is pleasantly chilly but the sun pleasantly warm, watching your child field a grounder or hit the ball.

Ahhh, Chapel Hill in the spring...

There are very few constants in life. Jobs change, relationships come and go, children grow up (aren't these the lyrics to a song? I'm thinking either Stevie Nicks/Fleetwood Mac or Neil Young, but can't quite place it), people get old and achy. Or at least I'm getting old and achy.

But, Chapel Hill in the spring is one of the few constants in life.

It's beautiful. It's always beautiful. And it smells good, too. Every year, no matter what. In the middle of a hundred year drought? Still lovely.

And the weather is nearly perfect, too; balmy, sunny, but cool enough in the mornings and evenings to not be oppressive.

And it's been this way forever! Seriously. Or, at least since 1985, which is the spring my brother was in his first year of grad school, and began commenting on it.

Oh, and to top it all off? IT'S ACC TOURNEY TIME!!!!!!

I should not be allowed to stay up this late

I'm trying to get my taxes done, and have HGTV on for background noise. It's a show about this couple who fell in love with a house (not sure why -- it's OK, but just a ranch), and decided they HAD to save it from demolition and move it to their land 50-ish miles away from where it was.

They're someplace cold and snowy (hey, it was supposed to be just background noise!), and the narrator said, "Christine and Chad want to move this ranch house to their property, but back to back blizzards get in the way!"

What I heard?

"Back to back lizards get in the way....."

Going to bed now!

I am SUCH a klutz

OK, in the past 18 or so hours, I've done the following:

• Spilled feta cheese all over my kitchen as I was shaking the box to loosen the clumps
• Mysteriously cut my thumb. No idea when or how, other than it looks like a knife cut and I noticed it on the drive to work when I saw blood on my thumb.
• Was stretching back in my chair in my office, and got a paper cut on my index finger knuckle when I hit some papers sitting on my shelf.

Sheesh. I shouldn't be allowed out....

People Are Strange,

when you're a stranger....

OK, so I'm not a stranger, but sometimes this is a strange place. Today I had to go buy coffee (long story, but for some reason I'm incapable of either making a shopping list or remembering that I need coffee filters when I go shopping. Hence no coffee at home, hence buying coffee at work).

Anyway, as I was walking to the coffee shop, I see a young woman, well dressed, heading towards the entrance of one of the "mixed use" buildings near my work: shops on the ground floor, and a mix of offices and apartments on the upper floors. As she got to the door, she paused, and took not one, not two, but three newspapers out of her satchel, still in their plastic bags, and put them in the trash container next to the entrance.

Now, this just got me thinking. And, yes, got the tree-hugger/stop-global-warming/environmentalist in me irked. Why on earth would she be doing this? Most residences have recycling, even apartments. Most businesses have recycling opportunities. Heck, in Chapel Hill you can frequently walk down a street and find a place to recycle. Why would you throw them away? And why go to the bother of BRINGING THEM WITH YOU TO WORK before you throw them away? Is it the anonimity? Maybe her garbagemen are rabid environmentalists, and strew recyclables that wind up in her trash across her yard?

Or, is it something more sinister???? I finally came to the conclusion that she's in an argument with a neighbor, and sneaks out early each morning to steal his paper. Not wanting to leave an evidence trail, she then stores them in her car till she can dispose of them at work, but not in the main recycling bin, where she might be discovered.

OK, so maybe not.....

Oh, yeah (game vignettes)

Nearly forgot in my previous post, but here are my random, in no particular order, faborite memories of last night's game:

• Ty Lawson swiping the ball and going coast-to-coast for a layup.
• Ty Lawson absolutely schooling Paulus and scoring over Scheyer.
• Danny Green dunking over Scheyer
• Christian Laettner watching his team lose
• Tyler Hansborough hitting his 2001st career shot, and being more concerned that it gave Carolina a 70-68 lead
• And finally (cause I am sappy), the moment of silence before the game, and the (light) blue and white ribbons that EVERYONE (yes, even the Dookies) was wearing. This was a bad week for Carolina, and it's nice to know that as much as the two schools hate each other in sports, as competetive as they are, when it really matters they can treate one another with respect and humanity.

Oh, this is no fun anymore

First of all, let me just say last night was GREAT!!!!

No, all you out there with dirty minds, that's NOT what I meant!

Those of you in the know, with minds out of the gutter know exactly what I meant. It was the Duke game. Senior night, in Cameron. The Duke Carolina rivalry is a huge one, so much so that there's no conventional wisdom about who might or might not win. Senior night? Visitors sometimes blow out the home team. Having a bad season (where your coach is avoiding taking the losses on his schedule)? Doesn't matter, play your way into double overtime. There is just NO way to figure this game out. The only givens are that it will always be the last game of the regular season for both teams.

So, yes, this year it was at Duke, which should've given the Dookies a slight advantage. Carolina, though, has been through a very emotional week; the Student Body President was shot and killed earlier this week. Plus, it's Duke-Carolina, so all bets are off.

Well, thankfully (IMO), Carolina came out hot and absolutely bludgeoned the Dukies throughout the first half. Duke came back in the second, and for awhile the lead shifted back and forth, finally, though, Carolina got over themselves and put the game away. Yay. Meg was a happy camper.

BUT

It was 11pm, and I was so wound up there was no WAY I could go to sleep, so I watched the post-game wrap up and did some emailing. Finally went up to bed around 11:30 or 11:45....

Except it was also Daylight Savings Time weekend. Who the heck thought it was a good idea to put DST and the Duke game on the same night??? So, 11:45 suddenly became....12:45, which is a whole 'nother thing.

Plus, Peter acolytes today at church, so we HAD to get up! Oh, and I've missed the Waffle Shoppe for the past couple of weeks, so we had to get up early enough to do breakfast!

7:45 rolls around really fast when you don't get to bed till 1...

Shouldn't I be doing something?

There's no basketball this week.

There's no baseball this week.

There is no, repeat NO practice, skills evaluation, or anything else that I have to get my kids to today! Nothing! How bizarre is that?

Lest you think I'm exagerating, we haven't had a break, except for the Christmas holidays, since August 1st. Oh, and the Christmas holidays typically involves baking, baking, and more baking, so they're not necessarily much of a break.

But seriously, Peter starts football the week of August 1st, and runs through October. Basketball typically starts the first week in November, but if the football team goes to the playoffs then the football season gets extended, and they coincide for a couple of weeks. So, we've been having at least one practice and one game EVERY WEEK AND WEEKEND since August 1st. That's 7 months.

We do, however, have to go to Dick's to get cleats. And there are the baseball bags to get organized, and everyone's glove could use an oiling. But, that can be spread over the day, so for right now I'm enjoying a cup of coffee and staying in my jammies all morning!

When Your Past Comes Back to Haunt You

A month or so ago, I took the kids to the Monster Truck Monster Jam. It seems this will haunt me for the rest of my life! Or, at least several months.

Tonight I got an email from Live Nation Motor Sports (not a mailing list I thought I'd be on) urging me to Act Quickly!!! Time is running out to register for Monsters On Main Street!!!

My, heavens, we can't miss that, can we?

I Don't Like Helicopters

A couple of years ago, I came home to news helicopters hovering more or less over my neighborhood all afternoon. In addition to being an unbelievably annoying noise, it was very disconcerting when we realized that they were actually watching police guard and stake out an apartment near my house. No one had any information, but the words terrorism and explosives were bandied about. As it turned out, the reality was not quite so scary, but quite scary enough, thanks. It turns out a graduate of UNC had driven a rented SUV through a section of campus when it was most busy. No terrorism, just a disturbed young man, but still not a fun day.

Well, the helicopters are back.

Chapel Hill has remarkably little crime, but we woke up Wednesday morning to a news story that an unidentified body had been found, shot multiple times in the head, about a half mile from campus. OK, call me naive, call me unrealistic, but that's just not the kind of crime we get in Chapel Hill. It was scary.

Today, they finally released the name of the victim; I have to admit, I was assuming (hoping) it was going to be someone, shall we say, down on their luck? Of a different lifestyle than me? No racial overtones intended, but I really hoped, and assumed, that this person was someone who'd gotten caught up in a bad lifestyle (drugs or whatever), and had sadly paid the price.

But, it wasn't. It was the Student Body President at UNC. Oh, and a Morehead scholar.

Now, I know it shouldn't matter; one person's life should not have more value than anothers. But this threw me; this should not have happened, not in this town, not to this young woman.

Once her name was released, UNC began holding vigil; the Old Well will toll in her memory throughout the evening, and, yes, the helicopters are hovering again. I know that these things can happen anywhere, and I know that UNC was never exactly what my memory has idealized it as. But still, I don't like that this has happened, in my town, or to my school.

Oh, good Lord, people, get a grip!

Why do my children do this to me?

It's March in North Carolina, which means it's starting to get warm. Of course, we'll have warm days then we'll have a day where it's cold and rainy; again, all par for the course.

Today fell in between; highs in the low 60's, but cold this morning. I've about given up on getting my children to dress appropriately for the weather, so I just said they had to have long sleeves on for the bus stop. Peter picked shorts, Grace picked wind pants.

Then, of course, Grace remembered that she has PE today, and they're doing a roller skating unit. She doesn't like skating in long pants, so she decided to change into shorts.

That, of course, ticked Peter off; he hates it when she copies him. And he didn't bother asking anyone WHY she changed into shorts, he just assumed that it was to copy him.

Then Grace remembered that she DIDN'T have PE today, it's tomorrow. And that got her all upset, because she (and I quote), "Can't remember ANYTHING!"

So, with about 5 minutes to go before the bus gets here, I have one child sitting on the stoop crying, another in a huff, and I'm still trying to figure out who does or does not need to take skates with them today!

Finally got it all resolved; luckily I forget things at least 27 times a day, so I could tell G it's normal, and I reminded her of all the things she's working really hard on right now that might cause her to forget something like PE. She got on the bus reasonably happy.

I also pointed out to Peter that a. His sister might have a perfectly good reason for wearing shorts that does not involve him, b. Regardless, she can wear what she wants to, and c. Ask before you jump to conclusions. And, I drove him to school so he didn't have to lug his skates on the bus; since Grace wanted to ride the bus that gave him some extra Mom time.

So it's all good now, but holy smokes, do I really need this much drama before 8 am?

Under The Milky Way

Oooh, Under the Milky Way (by The Church, for those of you playing at home) is on. Takes me all the way back to the summer of 1988, and is one of the songs most likely to get me....well, not nostalgic, but lost in my thoughts.

Unfortunately, I'm already a smidge distracted today; I don't need more thoughts to get lost in!

Window Perks

I work in a cube farm. This is OK by me; I learned early on in my work career that a positive work environment is much more than just the physical environment. I used to work at a place where the dress code was, basically, cover the important parts and everyone had a large office, with a door and a wall of windows. Seemed like a great place to work, right? Unfortunately, upper management was populated with at least one person who was a certifiable sociopath; he used to get off on seeing how miserable he could make people before they'd finally quit.

So, yeah, I know that there's more to a good work environment than walls and windows, and I don't mind my cube farm, because as far as I can tell, there are no sociopaths here!

But, I did get a chance to move about a year ago into a cube with a window. Now, this is a double cube, which means I have a roomie, with no divider whatsoever between us. But, we get a window. And, a window that looks out onto a little wooded strip, not the parkind lot! And, to top it all off, there's a redbud tree right outside my window.

Normally spring just sort of sneaks up on me. I know that this isn't really how it works, but it seems as if one day everything is just in bloom. This year, though, I'm a little more aware of the gradual nature of the season. I noticed yesterday that the bud were starting on the redbud tree, and one had actually started opening. Well, today that one is slightly more open, and a second one has started opening!

What fun! It's almost like those time lapse photo montages they do on nature channels!

Where are my pink chucks and black leggings?

Man, it has been an 80's kind of morning.

First of all, I started with Document in my CD player, but as I've listened to that several times in a row (I get lazy about CDs), I popped it out, and put in Elvis Costello. Yay, Elvis! I still hold that Alison is one of the greatest songs ever, even if my kids don't like it and it didn't make my Breakup CD a few years back (come to think of it, why DIDN'T it make that CD?!?! Serious oversight on my part).

Then, I got into work, and decided that rather than listen to the 'normal' stream from the local classic rock station, as I usually do, I would listen to their "underground" stream.

What fun! First of all, regardless of the group/era, these are very 'alternative' songs. Sounds just like the stuff I listened to in college. And, then, just to top it off and make me nearly ecstatic with musical joy, I keep hearing GREAT songs (or covers) from my college days! So far I've heard a (really good) cover of Just Like Heaven, and the original Lips Like Sugar.

My only complaint is that the playlist feature is not working, so if I hear a song I really like that I don't recognize, I can't find out who it is.

Bring on the black t-shirts, the torn jeans, the leggings under skirts, and the pink chucks (but not the big hair)! I'm reliving the 80's, baby!

Really??? THAT long???

OK, I've had blog dry spells before. Like, most of 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and the first half of 2007.

But, since I jumped back into the magical, exhilarating world of blogging where people hang on my every word, even if it's about my breakfast, I haven't really missed that many days. A few here and there, but not THAT many.

Till last week. I just realized that I haven't had a blog entry since February 22nd. That's a week and a half, for those of you keeping track at home! That's a LONG time!

For the record, last week was pretty cruddy. I won't go into detail, but it involved sickness (Peter), and some pretty serious angst on the Grace front, which resulted in some pretty serious anger, denial, bargaining, depression and acceptance on her mother's part. Oh, and frustration. And more anger. And more depression! There were lots of tears, lots of clingyness to Mom, and lots of sleepless nights.

But, we seem to be coming out of it now! Grace and Peter spent the weekend with their Dad, there was essentially no angst, and G had a good day at school today. And Mom had a really good weekend -- the downstairs part of the house is now more or less clean, and I got to go see The Other Boleyn Girl which was really good, plus got to try out a restaurant I hadn't been to yet. Fun stuff!

So, hopefully this post will get me back on track in the blogging world...