Last week some time, Steve referred to me as his "significant other". Maybe it is because I am still sick (I thought colds were supposed to disappear after 7 days so why is this one still clinging to me like a leech sucking my life away), but that term got me riled up. I went on a tirade about significant and insignificant others and then told him to never refer to me like that again. And I concluded my rant with, "I am your "wife",damn it!...or "the bitch you married"...but do not EVER call me your "significant other" ever again!!! Yeah, you guessed, Mr. Jolly Joker has been calling me "the bitch I married" all week long. If I didn't feel so crappy from this cold, I would actually be amused by that.

If I'm down to only one sense, pull the plug. I could maybe live without one of my senses, but that is all. Take away any more than that and I don't think I want to hang around any more.

I can't imagine not...1)tasting chocolate anymore...2)feeling Steve's just shaved face in my hands...3)...smelling flowers, coffee in the morning or Steve's aftershave...4)seeing sunrises, loved ones, or just navigating around the house/yard/town/world...5)hearing Steve whistle/sing/hum love songs to me. So just shoot me if I get down to only one sense. They are too precious to lose any of them.

Of course the fact that I have been sick for the past 4 days may have something to do with my crankiness over this question. Ask me again when I don't feel like crap...I just might have a different answer then.

Best: 1) The Belgariad/Mallorean and the Elenium/Tamuli series by David Eddings. 2) "With A Single Spell" by Lawrence Watt-Evans.

Worst: 1) The Dreamers series by David Eddings. Seriously, how can someone who wrote such great works sink to such stinker levels...and it's not just one book but the whole series stunk. I managed to choke my way through the first book in the series hoping that things would improve. Imagine my shock when the second book in the series was even worse than the first. They were the crappiest books I have ever read. Heck, even "Herzog" by Saul Bellow was more entertaining and for many decades I considered this one book the worst I had ever read.

My wishlist! =)

We needed to stop by the local Wally World so Steve could pick up a few Christmas cards and some child-proof locks (we need the locks because Thomas know how to open cabinet doors).  I drove.  While driving there, I admit to Steve that sometimes I wonder if my driving has deteriorated or if I'm the only sane driver in a sea of idiots.   It's hard to be unbiased about my own driving but I seem to have quite a few near misses.  However, I've always felt it was the other drivers who are bad and the fact that I haven't had a fender bender speaks well of my driving ability.  But like I said, it's hard to view it in an unbiased way.  Having said that, I stopped for a pedestrian in the crosswalk and almost had an accident because the lady in the car behind me, who had a cell phone to her ear, whips around us.  Seriously, I thought she'd hit the pedestrian, she came so close.  After I parked, Steve told me that if that sort of thing is what is making me doubt myself, then it isn't my driving that is bad. 

The last of Steff's fish died this morning.  I think I'm going to be giggling inappropriately in a corner now.

November 6, 2003...the day I held my father's hand and watched him take his last breath.  I replay in my mind that day over and over and over... *sigh*  I still grieve for  you, Dad.

I just found out my mother-in-law died last night.  Steve doesn't know yet.  He's taking the final exam of an important class (whether or not he keeps his job depends on him passing this class) today.  He is totally wiped out from worry and stress and now I have to break the news to him when he gets home.  *sigh*

I knew right away that my cat, Vince wasn't feeling well this morning.  He barfed on the rug in the bathroom.  My other cat, Thomas, barfs about 4 or 5 times a week.  But Vince almost never barfs.  He only does it when he's sick...Thomas does it because he eats too fast.  So I was concerned.  Then I noticed that he was straining and making grunting noises while he was in the litter box...not a good sign.  When he was done, I tried to clean out the litter box but there was nothing in it.  Another bad sign.  Well, at that point I had narrowed it down to constipation or kidney/bladder problems.  He then came back to the litter box and did a very nice, healthy whiz.  Okay, not kidney/bladder problem.  I cleaned the box and Vince came back, grunting and straining again.  So we took a towel, folded it in half, placed a heat wrap in it, folded it in half again and placed it on the bed for him to lay on it.  He's been doing that off and on all morning.  I also tried to get him to eat some oatmeal and later on I tried to see if I could get him to eat some fresh broccoli.  Anyway, he's managed to get things working again. Hoooo-weeee is he healthy.  Good boy, Vince.  I'm glad I don't have to make a vet appointment for him.

What was the intent? Intent determines whether I hold a grudge or forgive.   Was it a deliberate "slap in the face"/"stab in the back" attempt to cause as much harm/damage as possible?  That is when I hold a grudge.  Was it a "I know that's what I said but that wasn't what I meant" kind of thing?  That is forgiven quickly and we laugh and then move on.  You are not a friend of mine if you hurt me on purpose.  I assume you are severing friendship ties and I'm only too happy to oblige you.

Anything!?!?  I would say "I don't wish ill on others, really, I don't, but for you, I'll make the exception..."

Worst advice:  Never go to bed angry.  That works for some people but not for me.  The more tired I get, the more irrational I get.  Sleep deprivation isn't going to help the situation.  I need to get my rest so that I can judge my postition better in the morning.  And yes, I have apologized to my husband for my being an ass the night before.  Apologies flow both ways in this household.

Best advice: You will be given a ton of advice during your lifetime...not all of it will work for you.  Keep the good but ditch the bad once you find out it doesn't work for you.

I got tired of guessing if my car would start in the mornings.  Sometimes, all I'd get was a clicking noise...sometimes I'd get a half-hearted er er er...and sometimes it would just act normal and start up right away.  So yesterday, I spent an hour in a gas-fumed waiting room looking at the newest (for them) magazines dated 2007 (and to be fair, I did see one that was dated Aug. 2009 but the rest were really old), while the mechanics did their thing.  Diagnostics showed a weak battery (the car is a 2004 and had the original battery in it) so they tried charging it for a half hour.  It didn't help.  So the good news is that it didn't need a whole lot of work...just a new battery. 

Let's play "Guess which appliance will break down next!!"  *spins the wheel*  Oooh...too bad...it landed on clothes dryer.  Since the dryer and the washer were here when we moved in back in 1996, there is a good chance that the washer will also poop out soon so both should be replaced.  Now comes the hard part...trying to decide how to replace them.  The trouble is that Steve works at Ft. Monmouth...Ft. Monmouth is scheduled to be closed by Fall of 2011...that means we won't be here once Steve's job moves to Aberdeen, MD.  This past week, Steve received his "Transfer of Function" notice which gives him first dibs on his job, provided he is willing to move to Aberdeen.  This weekend, he plans to email them a "Yes" response to indicate that he is willing to move.  After that, it is just a matter of time before he will receive his PCS (Permanent Change of Station) orders (that is where things get really funky and we have to try like hell to sell this place and find someplace to buy/live in the Aberdeen area). 

All of that means that we either (option a) buy new appliances and let the next buyer of this house have them (this is the expensive option) OR (option b) we buy decent used appliances and hope they are decent enough to last until after we sell the place.  Actually, there was an option c but that was for me to wash the clothes with the still usable washer and then cart the wet clothes to the laundromat.  Let's just say that option c was short lived and Steve actually survived my reaction when he posed it to me. 

We went with option b.  There is a used appliance store in town that had a nice washer/dryer set that was reasonably priced and he delivered and set them up today plus took away our old appliances. 

Let's hope I don't have to play this game again any time soon.

No matter how often I do it, and I've been doing it way more than I'd like, it doesn't get any easier.  I just ordered a funeral arrangement for my son-in-law's grandfather.  Later, I'll make a contribution to the charity chosen by his family.  *sigh*  These reminders of mortality are depressing on rainy days like today.  Heck, they're depressing on sunny days, too.

No.  If a person makes enough predictions, some of them will come true.  Then it's just a matter of hyping the correct ones and sweeping the wrong predictions under a rug. 

My family thinks I might have psychic *powers*.  My biggest claim to fame was when Alex was 10 or 11 years old.  Steve and I had to attend some Marine Corps function and Alex asked if he could stay home by himself sans babysitter.  We reluctantly agreed...layed down some rules and gave him a bedtime.   When we got home that evening, we rejoiced that the house was still intact and went to bed.  The next morning, Steve and I woke up at our usual time, but I wanted to sleep in a bit.  I was still tired because I had a horrible dream.  I told Steve about it before he got up from the bed.  The dream involved Alex.  I dreamt that people who hated him attacked him and slit his throat.  That dream evolved into a dream where Alex's friends attacked him and slit his throat.  So I was tired and told Steve to let me sleep for another hour but then come and wake me up.  I heard Steve head to the bathroom and then I heard Alex's bedroom door open.  A little after that, I heard Steve say in a panic-y voice for me to not panic but I really needed to get up and come out there.  Not knowing what to expect, I got up and went to find out what the problem was.  The problem was that Alex had a line of blood all around his neck!  While he was home alone, he slipped and fell and hurt his chin.  He went to bed without letting us know he had hurt himself since he didn't want us to think he couldn't handle being by himself.  So during the night, the wound to his chin oozed blood and it dripped down to his neck and just circled it.  It looked like someone had slit his throat.  After I cleaned him up, we took him to the emergency room and had two stitches put in since it was still oozing blood. 

I'm not psychic.  That was just a coincidence.  But people remember that one.  They forget all about the times I've been wrong.  (Well, they never really let me forget the really, really big bone-headed times I've been wrong.)  But I am not psychic.

Stephanie and Manny dropped by for a bit yesterday.  Stephanie was telling me about a fortunate series of events from college.  Some time last year, as she was waiting to speak to a professor about something, she overheard his conversation with a fellow classmate.  They were involved in Engineers Without Borders but they were having a dickens of a time with a CAD program.  At the time, Stephanie offered to do it for them since she used to do that kind of thing when she worked for Goodland and Clearwater.  They had been working on it for weeks and were totally frustrated so they told her to go ahead and give it a shot.  She completed it in just under an hour.  The professor was impressed and since she had specifically stopped by for clarification of something from his class, she managed to make big brownie points with him.  Yeah, she aced his class that year.

This year, all junior and senior engineering students are required to take a class that is basically just real life projects that are worked on to get experience in how engineering relates in real life.  There are a variety of projects to choose from, and the students work in teams and each team is directed by one of the engineering teachers.  Students choose 3 projects and then are hopefully assigned to one of their choices.  But like anything else...rhip...so the seniors usually get their first choices while juniors aren't quite so lucky.  Being a junior, Stephanie wasn't sure if she'd get on the project she really wanted.  However, that project was being directed by the professor she helped with CAD last year.  So, yeah, she got her first choice.

Steve and I are used to watching her go through life as if she has a chronic case of luck virus.  But really, she makes her own luck just by being herself...helpful and friendly.

I'm still feeling a bit cranky and out of sorts (haven't figured out why, yet), but I'm also trying not to take it out on others.  Not always successful, but at least I apologize if I can't hold back.  I remember when Steff was in High School and had to face school the day after a PMS day.  She'd groan over breakfast and tell me she had a ton of people to catch up with and apologize to.  Off hand, I can't think of anyone I need to apologize to, but then I have a crappy memory anyway.  =P