i’m finally caught up! I gotta run though - trying to finish up a project before I’m outa here FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR! 
(Starting tomorrow at noon!)
Hugs, trouts and chocolate… And a warm welcome to the newly hatched Mumpers!
OK. It’s after 9:00 am and my youngest is still asleep. I’m letting him sleep. I think the kid is worn out. Staying up until almost 11:00 will do that to a kid. No, I’m not the strictest mom in the world.
So, a little backstory to prep you: I am twice divorced. Yeah, I’m not really that good at it. Husband #1 (or, BabyDaddy1) is SonOfABitch. Husband #2 (or BabyDaddy2) is Dastard. Anywho. I haven’t heard from Dastard in a long time. He hasn’t seen the baby (4 year old baby, I might add) in over 4 months. This is typical. He called last night. I was scared to death he was going to ask to see the baby (the 4 year old baby). Instead he asked if he could call me tomorrow and get my address because he lost it and he wanted to send me $100 and would I buy the boys (the first is his stepson that he hasn’t seen in much longer) a present from him. I said yes. He then broke down crying saying that he was seeing a psychiatrist now and really trying to get himself sorted out. He said he wanted to see the baby (the 4 year old baby) but that it wouldn’t be good and now was not a good time. I agreed that seeing his father for an hour and having him disappear for another several months would not be a good idea.
It was really pitiful. I have mixed emotions.
I will flesh this story out more later. I hear little feet upstairs. It has, in the words of my parents, transformed from the pitter patter of little feet into the thundering of hooves…
Up, caffeinating, get to go have a bone density test (I should be in good shape, if my bones are as dense as my skull is) before slipping and sliding to work.
And now we’ve got snow/rain/snow predicted for Wednesday afternoon into Thursday morning. I shoulda bought ice skates for my Subaru.
In the time-honored tradition of the MMP, you can call me whatever you’d like. I do quilt – although I seem to be knitting more than quilting these days, mostly 'cause it’s more portable.
Thanks, Nava. I actually didn’t expect “quilter” to be available when I signed up. It was the first thing I tried, and to my surprise, it stuck.
I live in the central coast area of California about 15 miles north of Santa Cruz. We’re the first range of hills above the coast at about 2000’ so I can see the ocean from here. (Well, I could if there weren’t so many trees in the way but there’s a great view from the roof.) The snow is down to about 1500’ and we got about 2". It’s starting to drizzle again so it will melt soon but it was great to wake up to. There’s still a chance that we’ll get some more today so I haven’t given up on my snowman yet. At the moment it’s too damn cold to go outside. My animals don’t know WTF it is and run back inside as soon as it touches their feet.
ETA: It just started to snow again. Yay!
That sounds tough, Shelli. FWIW, it seems like your ex is at least trying to get his shit together. I hope it works out okay.
Have a shitload to do tomorrow. Christmas loometh over me, and I have no shopping done. Eek.
Sorry for the spousal issues that folks are having right now. I’m gonna go home and hug KT too. I got a good 'un.
Tea’s a beautiful baby, kai!
My cold’s refusing to give up. And as with every cold I’ve had in the last ~10 years, it made its way into my sinuses. I thought maybe this time I was going to avoid this, that it’d stick to being a sore throat/coughing cold. But no. All colds always end up in my sinuses, regardless of where they start. Argh!
I picked up cute little boxes last night to put fudge and homemade truffles into as gifts. We’re leaving Saturday for birthday/Christmas travel so I’ve got to have it all finished before then. And my work xmas party is Friday night so I can’t work on stuff then. And I got coerced into participating in a cookie/baking exchange on Friday so I have to make something for that on Thursday night. Oh and somewhere in there I have to do laundry and pack a suitcase. Ugh. All while fighting off a sinus infection. Double ugh.
Holy shit, snow in Santa Cruz? I may have to go look this up in a concordance, but I seem to recall that’s one of the signs of the Apocalypse! S’pose we better get used to it, climate change means just that…
{{{Shelli}}} That is pitiful, but let’s hope he gets some good out of it and pulls his head outta his ass. There must be SOMETHING to this guy if you were willing to be with him and have a child together so perhaps the situation is salvageable. I sympathize, I’m also not so good at that relationship thing (Himself is #3–but my youngest sister is on #5 so I don’t feel SO bad) but I am very lucky that in spite of our differences my babydaddy has always been there for his children and they’re very close. We had a chance to actually spend some good time together at our son’s wedding this summer and it’s a good thing to be able to put behind all the years of crankiness and remember what it was that drew us together in the first place while celebrating that which still ties us.
{{{Bobbio}}} Man, that sucketh mightily, yea verily it doth indeed. I mean, really, here you are losing sleep and working like a dog to volunteer to help people out and you get accused of fucking around? Words fail me… :rolleyes: Your wife is an idiot, and you’re nowhere near as unattractive as you seem to think you are! Besides, has she not learned the very first lesson of wifery, which states that the more you accuse a blameless man of screwing around the more likely he is to think “Shit, got the name now let’s go ahead and have the game!”? You remind me a lot of a dear friend of mine, who was also a volunteer firefighter and an EMT, he’s the guy who WILL get up at 0300 to go pick up a drunk friend at a bar so they won’t drive home, who’ll take time out from preparing for his sister’s wedding to jumpstart a cranky car for a friend, the reliable guy who’s always there for you. His wife appreciates what she has, though…
What side of town do you live in, Q? I’m in SE near Powell Butte–fair amount of snow out here but at least it’s flat! I’d sure hate to live up in the West Hills when it gets like this–I nearly slide-rolled a big van into a downhill ditch during an ice storm once attempting to make a delivery up there. Yikes! My daughter drives a Subaru, it was the only make of car I’d let her get when she moved up here from Cali–I wanted her in AWD and side impact door beams when she found out about our winter weather up here. Turns out she loves that sucker more than any car she’s ever had and will probably be getting another one when it wears out. It’s good when they listen to mama!
Pugs, my grandson read the first book in the Twilight series but has yet to call or text me insisting I read it so I’m hoping I dodged a bullet. Sparkles in sunlight, my ass–that ain’t a vampire, that’s a fucking FAIRY!
Haze, is Christmas a big deal in Korea? Or is it just a big deal to you? 
I’m gonna have to brave the streets today, busted mirror or no. I have a library book overdue! cue chorus of shocked gasps Oh well, the library is near Trader Joe’s and I need more coffee beans, raw sugar and mayonnaise, all of which can be found at TJ’s so I don’t have to make it to Winco. Maybe I’ll find a big open snow covered parking lot so I can spin a few donuts–yes, I am fifteen sometimes! Since it’s supposed to snow again tomorrow (or perhaps it’ll be freezing rain, expectations differ) I’d better git 'er done today… My weather widget is saying the high temp is expected to be 38F tomorrow, so I’m wondering how that’s supposed to jibe. Guess we’ll find out! On the plus side, Stiggs has finally figured out that it’s Fucking Coldsup[/sup] out there so he’s only going out long enough to pee then zooming right back in again. He’s well equipped for the weather with all that fur but still, he’s an old man and I worry about him so I prefer he stay curled up inside soaking up therms. He even stayed on the bed this morning until I got up rather than rousting me at 0500 like he usually does. Guess he didn’t want to risk me sleeping late, which would mean he’d be stuck outside for several hours! Smart kitteh…
Welp, better feed the dogs and force Widget out for a wee, he’s curled up very small hoping I’ll overlook him. He is NOT a morning person!
{{kai}} and **{{Shelli}} **and **{{rigs}} **and {{any other Mumpers having marital troubles}}. I think smartypants put it best… marriage (and divorce) is hard and boys are dumb.
I’m starting to wonder if I’ve forgotten how to speak English or something. I was assigned a contractor to help me out with some analysis, and I thought I gave him very clear instructions on what to do… but apparently, he’s gone and done something entirely different, so we had to spent 1 hr this morning untangling his mess.
And then I had to spend 30 minutes on the phone with our benefits provider, because they couldn’t answer what I thought was a simple question (if I transfer my shares to the group retirement fund, do they retain their value as shares or do they get converted to mutual funds based on the asset mix I selected for the group fund) I thought it would be easy, but depending on who I asked and when I asked, I’d get a different answer every time.
AAARGH. I need a break. (ETA: actually, what I need is a stiff drink… but I’m not allowed to have those at work)
:bats his eyelashes ever so shyly:
Aw shucks, ma’am!
:blushes for good measure:
I know that. I can’t ever pass up the opportunity for sarcasm and the use of that line, whether referencing me or some one else.
Blurf indeed this morning. Thanks for all the nice things y’all said about Tea, she is a very good baby, and also a smart and funny little girl. She is good for my heart.
It’s dark as, well, it’s really dark. The kids are off to school, this is finals week, and quite frankly after a bad night (insomnia) I think I am gonna take my morning meds and go back to sleep for a while. Skiffman is off on a deer hunting charter (he’s guiding) so I don’t have to deal with him until Wednesday. Yup, I am gonna nap this cold morning away, sloth that I am. I am going over to my friend C’s house later to string mass quantities of popcorn and cranberries, and to see if I can’t get over my grinchy outlook on life. She makes me laugh a lot, and I have a feeling that beerverages will be consumed.
Did I mention that it’s cold? And dark? Five more days and then the solstice, yay!
Ta!
Only if she’s an old man who makes really kewl gadgets.
It’s not snowing down at sea level and I don’t remember that ever happening. Once we got 7" and it was amazing. The bad part was that hundreds of trees came down and we didn’t have power for 10 days. We have a generator so it was worth it.
I’m pretty sure that it’s not the Apocalypse because it’s happened before but if everyone gives up their tofu and tiedyes at once you might want to start worrying.
Grr… My second diary at Daily Kos, written in Latin and translated into English. 8 comments, half of which were mine, and everyone’s voting for ‘Crustum’, instead of anything actually helpful. Maybe I need to think of titles that grab people’s attention better, although I thought “In McAuliffem” was pretty clever.
To be fair, it IS a very good line! The friend you remind me of is similarly self deprecating, but now he’s in his mid-thirties, has gotten his crooked teeth fixed and lost the baby fat and beer gut and is a stone fox but he doesn’t quite believe it yet… Probably just as well! 
Despair not, Carrot, that’s a tough audience over there and it moves lightning quick. Best I’ve managed is that I’ve never lost TU status since I got it and one of my diaries ended up in a diary rescue thread. Rec list? laughs uncontrollably, wipes tear It’s a VERY big pond and it takes some time for us little fish to get bigger. If you really wanna have fun with Latin over there, do some common phrases and/or insult translations–that’s always good!
Mahna[sup]2[/sup], I don’t know about your spoken English skills, but your writing is crystal clear. I suspect dumbness on the part of your coworkers…
Am home. Man, it is snowing out there–coming down thick and fast. No point in shoveling yet, but I foresee it in my near future.
I is tahred. This 0400 thing is crap. Got a job interview tomorrow that I don’t really want but will go to so that I don’t kick myself later. If only it were closer. I will check the mileage tomorrow, but it’s north, north, north o’ here.
Hope everyone’s day is good. Off to try to catch a small cat nap or something.
Wow, Karyn! I lived in Capitola for a few years and, much as I love PDX, do still miss Monterey Bay sometimes. I worked in Hayward, though, and loved the days when snow closed the summit of 17! I don’t think I ever saw 7" of snow. Wowl! (I think that, along with giving up tofu and tye-dies, the other sign of the Apocalypse is every address in Last Chance Road meeting building code )
Bobbio, I’m only old. I’m neither male, nor do I make really kewl gadgets. I do have one attribute that may redeem me in your eyes: I work for the fire bureau.
Smarty, I live over Beaverton way. I come downtown on Beaverton-Hillsdale so I can avoid 26. That road is flatter than 26, but not much. $deity help me, this morning I was on the Sunset just from St. Vinnie’s into town – and from 217 to the tunnel took 30 minutes. I’m glad when people drive slowly and cautiously on slippery roads – but the road was dry, and people were still going 20 mph at their speediest. (That’s four-ish miles in a half hour, for non-PDXers.)
Had a “Winter Holiday Celebration” potluck at lunch today. I wanna crawl under my desk and take a nap now.
Hope you managed to catch a nap, rigs. I could use one right about now too.
And speaking of (insert generic holiday here) pot-luck lunches, ours is on Thursday. I said I’d bring an appetizer since there were entirely too many desserts already… that rules out bringing all the leftover cookies from our Chrismukkah party, so now I’m stumped as to what to bring. Any suggestions for a quick, cheap and easy pot-luck appetizer type dish would be welcome.
It smells sooooooo good in here - I’m doing a hunk o’beef in the rotisserie. Just turned on the N.O.T. for cooking prior to smashing. I’ve got a can of gravy to warm up, and I think I’ll steam some broccoli to go along with it.
SIL is working today and tomorrow, so we’ll be three for dinner. His loss - tonight is going to be yum.
I got a replacement control for my electric mattress pad - I sent it off last Tuesday, it was received Friday, and today, I got a new one. I am impressed with Westpoint Stevens. Plus I’ll have a warm bed again. So huzzah!
Having met **Bobbio **in person, I can attest that he’s a good guy and his wife is being a butthead. And reflecting on all the marital crashes around here, I’m going to give my sweetie and extra special hug, too. He’s definitely one of the good ones.
Snowing Mumpers - be safe and stay warm. Sickie Mumpers - get well. Hugs all around, with random gropes tossed in just because.
I suppose we could dub you Q if you like vodka martinis shaken, not stirred.
I’m old, too. Are you a responder?
Am I the only who one who, hears “Q” and thinks of the alien being who gave Capt Picard such a hard time for seven years?